Happy, Happy 2nd Birthday Kiefer!

Last Tuesday, January 29th, Kiefer turned 2 years old! We started the celebration the night before because Aunt Ali came to visit. We made "gluten free-wheat free" vanilla cupcakes for Kiefer (allergic to wheat products ~ they were actually pretty good) and sang him "Happy Birthday"! You can see in the top picture that Kiefer shows he is two by putting up one finger from each hand. It is so cute.

Kiefer loved it when we sang to him, but wasn't a big fan of the candles. He prefered everyone else trying to blow them out for him.

Opening up lots of fun art supplies from Lee and I.

Kiefer had so much fun trying out all of his cool new paints and paint brushes. He spent about 40 minutes painting.

Krue, working on his masterpiece. He titled this one "A Berry Dolphin". (I have no idea where he gets this stuff!)

Ah, yes. The mess that goes along with painting. At least he was having a ball! Check out Kiefer's hair.

Kiefer taking his work quite seriously.

Krue pauses to ham it up for the camera.

It was a fun day for our birthday boy. Can't believe "Little" Kiefer is 2.

We love everything about you, Kief!

Ice Skating Fun

Last Sunday, Lee, the boys, and I went up to Sam & Beth's lake house to go ice skating! Lee's youngest brother, Nick, had cleared off some of the ice on the lake for us to skate and play hockey. The ice was 10 inches thick and the day wasn't too cold to be outside. It was perfect!

Sam, Dudley, Nick, Cody, Lee, and Erin Marie (Nick's Erin)

Kiefer and Krue, all bundled up and excited to go out on the ice.

Kiefer walking out with Lee and Krue walking out with Erin Marie

Kiefer had a blast being pushed around by this snow shovel. He also enjoyed wearing these really big hocky gloves! He's a crack up.

Kiefer being pushed around by Lee.

Erin Marie, Krue, Grandma Beth, and Sandy ~ Krue and Erin had a blast together

The boys also loved being pulled around on these discs. So much fun!

Dudley was in heaven playing in the snow with everyone.

I like this picture. Cody is strategically planning his next snowball attack on Lee and Nick.

Nick and Erin bought Dudley this cute shirt that says, "Love Bites". It suits him well :)

Movie and Dinner with Myah

On Saturday, I invited my good friend, Myah, to see a movie screening at the Fort Wayne Library with me. The movie was a documentary called "The Business of Being Born" and was produced by Ricki Lake. I have been very interested in seeing this movie and had asked Myah to go with me 1) for a fun girls day out 2) I hardly ever get to do things with "just" Myah 3) I knew she had a great deal of interest and found great joy in her pregnancies/deliveries with her two little girls.

To sum up this documentary... "It is amazing and eye-opening". It asks the question: should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potential medical emergency? I highly recommend anyone who is thinking about getting pregnant or is pregnant to watch it. It is beautifully done and allows women to see what all of their options are when it comes to pregnancy and birth. You will be able to rent it on Netflix starting in February.

Myah and I had a fabulous time and really enjoyed the movie. We went to Henry's afterwards and had a nice meal and talked. I was driving Myah back home and we got a call from my sister, Ali. She was at her high school friends' Christmas party down the road from Myah's house. We stopped by for a while and hung out. It was fun!

Thank you, Myah, for your friendship!

My Heroes!

Krue has never been one to dress up in costumes. He is a very "real" kind of guy :) I am always trying to get him to do some imaginative play. Before Christmas Krue really started to show some interest in pretending to be a firefighter. We would act like the office was on fire, run around like we were driving a firetruck to the fire, hook up the hose, and spray it down. Kiefer is always quick to join in on this cute little skit. Santa must have noticed that Krue liked acting out the role of firefighter, because he brought him a fireman's outfit for Christmas! The boys have had a ton of fun dressing up and playing the part. Here are some cute pictures:

Let's Go to Chuckie Cheese!

Last Saturday Lee and I decided to take the boys to Chuckie Cheese. We called up the Blythes and they joined us for our little adventure. We had so much fun!

Kiefer thought he was hot stuff turning the steering wheel.

Laren, Krue, Graham, and Kiefer (check out his method of holding on)

Lauren and Krue having fun.

Lee (the Green Goblin) couldn't resist getting in on the action.

This was, by far, the boys favorite game. They are obsessed with shooting hoops.

Lauren looking down from a really cool "elevated tube maze" (this was Lee's description).

Apples to Apples

This just cracks me up! Check out these pictures:

How Krue eats his apples: A perfect little line of bites around the center.

How Kiefer eats his apples: Straight through!


These apples say it all about their personalities at this age.

New Years 2007

This is my last blog and I am finally caught up!!

New Years was a blast this year, thanks to Dan and Abby and Sam and Beth! Dan and Abby (I think mainly Abby) planned a theme party ~ New Years Around the World. Each couple chose a country and had to dress-up like someone from that country & bring an appetizer and drink from that country. Abby had tables set up around the room with labels telling which country each couple was from. Sam and Beth were kind enough to let us use their lake house (once again) for the party. Thank you!

Lee and I chose the country of Italy. We dressed up as Gondoliers a brought an antipasto tray and served lemon cellos in carved out lemons! We even had a dance party room with strobe lights and techno music (because Italians are known for this.) The room was a hit!

The night was so much fun... complete with marriage proposal and snowball fights! Here are some pictures to fill you in:

The North Pole ~ Erin, Nick, and Megan

"White Trash" United States ~ Travis and Courtney

Hawaii, United States ~ Dan and Abby

Germany ~ Tom and Lindsay

Italy ~ Lee and I

Sam, Dan, and Lee enjoying the night.

Drinking lemon cellos in the dance party room!

Brazil ~ Christopher, Amy, John and Stephanie

Around 10pm Dan made a special announcement. He thanked Abby for planning this party and then got down on his knee and asked her to marry him! It was so sweet. Here are a cute series of pictures capturing the moment:

Good friends Zach, Andy, and Nick congratulating Dan and Abby.

Having fun at the party.

More countries... Ashlie (center) and Eric came as Russia

Kelli (right) and Shane came as Jamaica

The Nagel Girls... Missing Amy and Sara

A self-portrait shot of Jamaican Shane and I

Snowball fight outside after midnight!

Lee with a whole new look... He was cracking us up!

Dance party!