So, mommy has been begging daddy to write the captions for the pictures that she spent 1.5 hours uploading the other night. After much procrastination, daddy has given in. His only request is that you don't hold him to the same standard as his superior blogging wife. She has a great way of adding humor to our othewise humour-less lives. (Some things are actually rather funny, but most are simply frustrating. I think its a two year old thing?)

So charlie has began making messes with solid food. Peas, and carrots for now, fried chicken and chocolate cake in the near future. (If you did't realize that daddy was writting this, you should now.) Charlie is so cute! He similes anytime you catch his eye, and laughs all the time.


We had a great time in KS. This was our final meal...grandma Jan's famous fried chicken, mashed potatos, and fried chicken gravy! oh my, you just don't know what your missing. (Hannah didn't really know what to do with all this yummy food)

Hannah had a great time playing with daddy's grandparents. I am simply amazed at how much energy all of my grandparents still have. This was a rare picture of Hannah and mommy together. Normally, mommy is on the wrong side of the camera.





I'm not sure...

Hannah introduced grandma jan to Veggie tails. Not sure if grandma was a huge fan, but they had a lot of fun together!

Does anyone else notice how great grandma jan's hair looks? We're so proud of how great she has done this past year with her cancer. Oh wait, that's right...she doesn't have cancer anymore!!! Many more memories to make.

Grandma is about to start crawling. You can do it!

I love you grandma, but hannah has a beautiful expression on her face in this picture. I still can't believe I had something to do with that???

Generation one and four together.

Kansas and porch swings go together like fried chicken and gravy. It was still a bit cold though.

Good looking girls.

Not sure how much he actually ate, but at least he is enjoying himself.

So in case you haven't heard, I finally resigned from Premier. Perhaps this was the reason I was having such a hard time selling?

So Hannah loves to climb into Charlie's crib. I think they are going to have so much fun together in the future.

Again, he is so cute!

This is s new exibit at the Dallas zoo.

Would someone please brush this childs teeth. Oh, I guess that's my job.

Mommy's little helper.

We'll that's it for now. Got to go pick up my pizza! ( I wish I was joking, but I'm not) Hope to have some good news on the job front really soon. We would appreciate your prayers!

A new day

we went for a walk yesterday after supper, now that the days are getting longer. so this was actuallya sunset. there are so many people and buildings that we never get to see much, so it was special. hannah just knelt down and looked at it, like she was worshipping.

hannah is such a special girl, as trying as it is sometimes! she currently loves her dollies, colouring/playdough/crafts, playing outside, going to church, watching tv (i still try to limit that, but that doesn't stop her from loving it!), changing her clothes, roughhousing with daddy, cooking with me, and making charlie laugh. she makes him cry quite a bit too, but we hope that's by accident! i'm pretty sure she knows her colours now, and she counts to ten. she loves to sing, and her current favourite is swing low sweet chariot. she calls it sweet cherry hot. she knows all the words. she is fiercely independent, she gets very upset if you try to help her with her clothes/shoes/potty/snacks/etc. i try to let her do things by herself, but sometimes we have quite the power struggle. at night, she absolutely refuses to stay in her bed, or leave the light off. i've almost given up. i know she's supposed to listen to me, but i'm quite defeated in this department. i guess she'll fall asleep when she's tired! she's growing up so fast.

hannah actually took this picture, while i steadied the camera. i think she did a pretty good job!

and then i took this one! does anybody want a print? :-)

so charlie's just such a mellow contended dude that he's really made no progress in moving. anywhere. or sitting. i thought i'd try to help him use the boppy, but he just fell right over! he does like to pretend he's swimming, by waving his arms and legs alot. kind of like a windmill, lots of activity but all in one place. he loves toys, but is willing to accept substitutions. for example, he is just as happy to play with the drawstring on his pants, his socks, or the seatbelt strap on the carseat. he doesn't actually have teeth, but you can see the top 2 perfectly, they're right there! but not through yet. he is really starting to babble, making actual consonant sounds. that's a good sign for his hearing. which i know we haven't talked about in a while, we never got another hearing test, the day we went in they wouldn't do it because he wasn't feeling well. but i'm positive it's fine, the original impairment was a result of the infection and blockage. and while i'm on a charlie update, he does have another ear infection. he just got over it last week. i guess this is what they mean by chronic ear infections. i worked so hard to get donated milk, it kills me to do this, but i think i'm going to try a lactose free formula for a while and see if that helps. but he's a trooper!

so, about our title. life is full of surprises, and it's a good thing i like change, because we seem to have alot of it! patrick resigned from Premier Aircraft Sales on friday, after a year of making it with no salary. We finally decided that it was not what was best for our family, even though he really enjoyed the job. We are pursuing a couple options right now, and really praying for God to prepare the way for us. i don't know why, but i'm reticent to ask Him for something really great, because we don't deserve it, and life isn't supposed to work out so well, i guess i think it's supposed to be hard. but i want the best possible for my children, so maybe God feels that way too? we should know something in the next few weeks.

we're going to ks on monday so patrick's family there can meet our sweet charlie. i'm sorry i haven't been taking pictures, it seems we never do anything. the past few weeks have been dentist for me, dr for charlie, and church. next week will be better. then, mom and bob will be here for easter and we're really excited about that!

random rambles

so as i think i've mentioned, nobody seems to get much sleep around here. last night was par for the course: got home from church after 8, got the kids into bed around 9, patrick got home from worship team practice at 9.30, he works for an hour to get ready for his expos this weekend, i do some laundry and ironing for him to pack, we go to bed around 11, i can't fall asleep because of stupid restless leg and not being able to turn my brain off, charlie wakes up, i go get him and come back to bed at 12.30. hannah wakes up at 5.30, goes into the kitchen, turns the light on, and starts getting herself food. patrick tries to get her back to bed. she makes a big commotion, patrick goes and gets her junk (blankets and animals) and hauls it to our room where she amazingly falls back asleep on the floor. unfortunately, all this woke charlie up. at 6 i bring him into our bed, and 3 of the 4 crisps are asleep. (not me, of course). patrick's phone rings. then his alarm clock goes off at 6.45. charlie sleeps, but hannah's now up. she jumps onto bed with me and charlie, now charlie's up, and it's all over. aggghhhh. 5 hrs is not enough! patrick leaves for the weekend, leaving me with 2 very unhappy children and the one i babysit on the way.

which brings me to my next point. consider above picture: homemade cinnamon roll with cream cheese icing (patrick has a new flight student who made these and gave to him. don't worry, she's old(er), vs. the proteinpowder/flaxmeal/oatmeal/carrot/apple/raisin/walnut/1 tbsp of oil in whole batch muffins i (and hannah) made yesterday. one cannot be expected to make a good decision under these circumstances. i told patrick to take them with him and he said no. put these two scenarios together, and what do you get? we had muffins for a snack, then when charlie went for an early nap, we (yes, hannah too) had wonderful warm cinnamon rolls, perfectly scrambled cheesy eggs, and absolutely wonderful hazelnut coffee (from brett and jess). oh my. AND, we ate it in front of the tv! decadence at our house, i'm telling you. you just wish you were here! but the catch is, you have to be up all night in order to deserve it. :-)





oh. my. gosh. he's so cute! and i can't decide which one i mean. i know my mom will hate this, but i'm thinking of actually doing his hair, with gel, for Sunday. it's rocker dude adorable! maybe he'll join daddy on the bass. :-)




so he's a very hands on kid. he doesn't do this to everyone, mind you, so either he really loves me or thinks he can eat my chin. whenever i pick him up, he claws my face/hair/glasses/nose in an attempt to get my chin in his mouth. it's really funny, but he kept looking at patrick. he's remarkably strong for a little guy.

i don't think i've had a picture taken with charlie for about 2 mos. see that hole in my teeth? i'm getting braces. ugghh. 16-20 mos. very not thrilled. anybody have any advice to pass on?

i kept thinking we can't cut hannah's hair because she doesn't have hardly any. but then i decided, the mullet just has to go. so, she got her first hair cut! it's 1.5 in shorter, and looks way better. maybe now it'll grow straight. i guess since i have another baby, these milestones don't make me that sad. but when it's my last one (so 5 or 6 from now :-), i'll be so sad!

i finally caved to popular opinion. she asked me if hannah could have a sucker, and for some crazy reason i said yes. i guess i was tired of how people look at me when i say no. but it was the cutest thing. she said mommy, what is this? i don't know how to eat it. YEAH! that's my girl :-).

a mouse in the house? no, this is just something she does know how to eat. we had a lock on the fridge for a day or so, but it broke, or it was annoying so we took it off, i don't remember. i keep thinking she should just learn that she's so not old enough to get her own snacks. but the girl's so bloody persistent. so the other day i found her just eating the block of cheese. thank the Lord she didn't try to cut it herself, i guess. i have no idea how much she ate.

so, i think God was trying to teach me a lesson the other day. Hannah has different levels of clothes. play/stay at home clothes, going out clothes and church clothes. it is very important not to confuse these categories. unless, of course, it will make her overdressed for the occasion as opposed to underdressed. so patrick, wonderful man, got her dressed one day. no, it shouldn't matter, but i actually made her change. then, she has a potty accident. i'd stopped carrying extra outfits around. so, i have to find the tub of reject clothes at the church, and she has to do the walk of shame out to the car. (this was the best i could find, really. her shirt says 'firecracker'. i wanted her to keep it). as if that's not enough, we had to go to the grocery store like that, and we were having company that night so i was really distracted. her bag of wet clothes and shoes stayed on the washer until the next day. when i took them out, the shoes had stained the shirt. it wouldn't come out. not happy. my fault? probably.

right after that, she had another outfit, with a matching sweater that happens to be white. she goes in the fridge herself, tries to get a bowl of pasta, and spills it all down her sweater. it was red sauce. (if only i'd gone with the super unhealthy alfredo!). this was one of my favourite outfits, so when i see her i start yelling. (i never knew i'd do that, until i had a 2 yr old). HANNAH! YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE FRIDGE BY YOURSELF! she stands there dripping in sauce and says, mommy, don't yell at me, that's not sweet! it was definitely a turn around and count to 10 moment before you proceed.

this is the sweater.

i found it on ebay. not to buy again, just to show you because other mommies might recognize the collection, so you know how cute it is so you'll know i was justified in being frustrated. ok, maybe not. any hoo.

lest you think i'm not aware of anything outside my house, how bout that ghanaian skiier? more importantly, there is something other than the olympics that has occupied my almost every waking thought, and many sleeping thoughts, for the past 2 wks: my former roommate, kari #1 we call her (both my roommates were named kari/carrie), and her husband jonathan, also a former Lebou teammate, are back in senegal! just on a visit right now, but they're going to be moving soon. it would be much to difficult to attempt to share my feelings on this, so i haven't tried. but i will be sharing some pictures she sent me, of people and places very special to my heart.

there's not alot i can say right now other than we're surviving. i'm not sure when the thriving should kick in, but i'm sure we'll get there one day! everybody's been sick, first stomach flus and now colds. both of my kids first time throwing up was within a week of each other. coincidence? i think not! I'd never seen Hannah like she was, not eating and just laying around on the couch. Charlie had a really rough time, i actually took him to urgent care because he couldn't stop throwing up. he's been to the doctor more in his 5 mos than hannah has in 2 1/2 yrs.

as i'm sure you heard on the news, we got snow! real snow. about 9" in frisco. we went over to a friend's house, fellow canadians, actually, to play. the men came up with a bigger than life snowman, that is sure to be the last thing to melt. (patrick's on the right)

we went out the first afternoon to play, but it was still snowing really hard so we didn't last long.

we being charlie, i guess. he wasn't thrilled with the snow yet.

so, i can't wait to get my "I'm with the band" t-shirt. :-) patrick has taken up the bass again, so we're excited to start jamming with the bass and the violin.

in the absence of a valentine's day party, we made up some treats for some friends and neighbours. some of them never got delivered, so we ate them ourselves.

Grandma left Hannah a surprise, and i have to say, it's really easy to please a toddler! almost every day since then, she's reminded us, Grandma gave me a present! socks, and a headband! it's SO cute.

so the day Hannah was throwing up, i gave her a bowl to carry around just in case. i was in the other room and she yelled, quite concerned, mommy, charlie's in the bowl. a little confused, i peeked around the corner, and sure enough, he was in the bowl. good thing it was still clean!

i'm not sure what skills she'd be working on in preschool right now, but i was proud that she's using scissors. she loves doing crafts. i'm sure the gluegun will be quick to follow :-)

oh, she thinks she's such a big girl. and she's getting there, unfortunately.

at first glance this may just be a jello salad, but it is actually representative of a new friendship i'm working on with a neighbour. i'm still trying to figure out my role in/out of the home, and how to be involved in ministry without sacrificing what's best for my family or letting the church nursery workers partially raise my children! so, i met this persian woman a few months ago, and we hit it off. she was a midwife in iran, and likes gardening and music. anyways, awhile ago she sent me home with this, complete with pomegranate seeds from the tree she transplanted into her backyard. i'm supposed to helping with her English, and hopefully be able to share the hope that's within me in the process.

so long story short, we're very short on sleep, but good other than that. happy belated valentine's day. i hope everyone felt loved!

i am tired. so, so tired. it is now 8 oclock, i just got everyone asleep, patrick's at choir practice, i have to do the dishes and pick up the playroom that is currently spread across the entire house, and i haven't even been to the grocery store to get the ingredients for some vday stuff i'm making that i wanted to start tonight. however, i wanted to make sure i write a few things down, before i forget. i don't keep track of anything anywhere other than here, so even if nobody else cares about these little things, 10 yrs from now i will be able to look back in cyberspace and remember my baby girl before she grew up.

• looking at pictures, Hannah asked, Did daddy marry to you mommy? yes, i say. When I get bigger, Daddy will marry to me. (i know this phenomenon is not unique to my daughter, but it's widespreadedness does not lessen it's preciousness for me!)
• making muffins today, she helped me pour the honey. we don't use honey very much except for things like tea. she stops, looks up all excited/worried, and says, this honey is for winnie the pooh!
• then filling the muffin tray, she's standing beside me on a chair. she asks if she can do it, and i say this is more a job for mommies. you can do this part when you're older. so she rubs my back and says, well, you're doing a good job mommy!
• changing charlie's diaper, she notices that elmo is on his diaper. she asks, is that charlie's elmo panties mommy? no, i say, charlie's a boy he doesn't wear panties. oh, she says, when charlie gets older and bes (pronounced bees, she says i instead of is, i guess) a girl, then he can wear elmo panties.
• and my favourite: picking a book to read tonight, i asked if she knew why her bible was different from all her other books. yes, she says. why? because it's from God, she says. and who's it to? she doesn't know. to you, i say. God wrote it for you so you would know Him better. she looks at it, gives it a big hug, and says thank you, God! yes, i got teary eyed.

we have been having some very rough days around the crispy household. Hannah is kind of, uh, dramatic at times. major meltdowns. hysterical screaming because i gave her the wrong fork, or something. patrick and i are often at the end of ourselves. so thank God for sending moments like this.

so, no particular order here. we found the downloading cord for my camera, but we only had a few pictures from christmas. i depended on everybody else's pictures, that we'll get soon so you can see. this is katy, a baby who comes for a fews hours tue/thur. she's a cutie patootie. very active, alot like hannah was.






this is my attempt at homeschool preschool. i got this map and had it laminated, then put pictures of our family so she can visualize where people are, and in relation to us. nana and pop pop are absent because the picture i printed out for them ended up being way too big for the map, so i need to do another one. but we didn't forget you!



this is one of my 2 new years resolutions. it's amazing (shameful, probably!) how the days can go by without me spending any real one-on-one time with my girl. if i'm not purposeful, almost all my interaction with her would be sit down/be quiet/eat/don't touch that and so forth. so, we came up with this little tool. every day she picks one idea out of the jar, and that's what we do. we've been playing with all her christmas toys and games that she needs an adult for. believe it or not, i have been much less OC about the house. patrick told me i don't actually have to sweep every day :-). so, i've been slacking a little with the housekeeping but i know 20 yrs from now i'll have made the right decision.

my little charlieman is doing great. he has another ear infection :-(, so he's been up alot more than usual. but he's a trooper. he now rolls over back to front as well! and he's very grabby. i used to always hold him while we're eating, but i can't anymore because he steals my food and spills my drink! and so strong. he and hannah are already friends. he laughs alot, more with daddy than with me. that's ok, i know my role and it isn't exactly the fun one :-). i'm hoping he may start sleeping through the night one of these days. . . He will be 5 mos next week!

at brett and jes's house, his makeshift bathub. it made me think of moses in the nile.

christmas morning at dad's. i think emerson looks like a tudor queen or something.

i think hannah was saying, now here's what goes on at christmas, emerson. just stick with me and i'll show you the ropes!

charlie enjoying one of his presents. (before hannah stole it from him very soon after and has really been enjoying).

so we all have our not so photogenic moments, eh? charlie had these two tufts right above his ears that were just getting really funny looking, so we finally cut them off. honestly, we didn't photoshop these pictures. it really was that long, just in that one spot.

hannah enjoying a bubblebath unlike any other!

my dad helped bunny out quite a bit with all those meals. i'm not sure what his role was with the turkey, but i know he did a great job!

my grandma was down from canada and it was so wonderful to spend time with her and to introduce charlie to her.

so, one day we went up to boone. they had snow upon snow upon snow. and it was cold. very cold. we were not adequately dressed. well hannah was, thanks to meghan. but as you can see, i had grocery bags tied over my target so-not-waterproof-$15-boots. that's my old church in the back, they have a huge hill there. boone (and the appalachian mountains) is my favourite place, and i really want to go back for more than one day. i've moved so many times i don't really have roots, but i feel strongly about there, for some reason. i really miss it still.

brave auntie meghan and hannah, sliding. we did the kids up with duct tape so the snow wouldn't get into their cuffs. my kids are not quite as hardy as hers. hannah lasted about 10 min. Emerson, on the other hand, was out for hours. she eventually just fell asleep in her little bucket sled. they're just little polar bears.

this is from before christmas, making gingerbread. i left to get charlie or something and came back to flour everywhere. predictably, i know. she communicates so well, sometimes i forget she's still little. oh, what can i say about Hannah? she is so independent, i've never seen the like. has quite the passionate spirit. if we can get through the next, oh, 15 yrs or so, i will be really excited to see what God has planned for her life! assuming we can channel all that fierce determination to do her own thing. i've got to go for now, charlie woke up!