Domestic Kate

The past couple of weeks have just been what we've needed. Time at home. Time together. We had time to get a little creative with our toys. These pop can boxes served as trains and boats. Hans is so creative. I love getting in his little imagination and playing along with him. Enjoying a snack, bundled up with his new coat on. Caroline has discovered the love to grab toys and put it in her mouth. She is getting so big already (4 months!) A trip to the library and bringing home books on tape. Hans really enjoyed the books on tape! When I sit with him, I help him turn the pages when the "chimes ring". He still needs to be supervised though otherwise I hear from another room, "new page, new page" and come back to find that he is on page 14 while the reader on tape is only on page 5. ;) Good times at home! My heart is refueled and refreshed!

We had a blast celebrating Hans' 2nd Birthday! Hans woke up on his birthday with a room full of balloons. With Daddy's help, he promptly filled his crib with the balloons and began a game of hide-and-seek. Needless to say, he woke up pretty happy! His birthday-balloon-fun was followed by a delicious snowman pancake breakfast before heading off to Bible study with Mommy and Caroline. He loved having his snowman pancakes! If you ever want to spice up your meals with toddlers cookie cutters work wonders! I will sometimes cut out his sandwiches with our cookie cutters and that sure keeps him occupied for awhile. He enjoyed driving around PB&J trains all over his plate the other day. After naps, we took Hans out to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. The animals and thunderstorms really did their trick at keeping him distracted during the (looong) wait for the food. We also let him open up one of his gifts (Lightning Mcqueen) before dinner arrived. He loved playing with Daddy...

They say that when you have another child, you look at your first born and can't believe how big they seem. Boy, are "they" so right on. From the minute we brought home our little girl, our "little boy" slipped right into "big brother" mode. He has been an amazing big brother from the minute he laid his precious blue eyes on his baby sister. He started to do more Big Boy things around the house too.... Shaving with Daddy... Helping Mommy do the dishes... Cooking... Drawing... Devotions... ....hmmm...not sure what I think about this part of growing up.... Learning his letters... Getting smiles from his little sister... ...and keeping mommy on her toes! Hans, we love you so much and we thank our Lord for you every day. You have a great big heart and such a strong, energetic spirit. You are kind to others and love getting a good laugh out of everyone. You are very outgoing and love to greet people when we're out during the day by flashing your be...