Happy Halloween!

Madison as Tinkerbell, Breanne as Irdessa (the orange fairy) & Aliya as the cutest little ladybug I've ever seen! Notice the girls' hair in (as Breanne's says) a "bundle," or bun...whatever.

..on a jet plane..

"I'm leavin' on a jet plane," was Derrick's tune this morning. Except we think we know when he'll be back again. Things seemed to go smoothly as the Ethiopia Work Team left this morning. They arrived in Chicago without an problems and we won't have phone contact with Derrick again until they get back to the states. They do have a blog, if you'd like to follow:

http://www.ehworkteam.blogspot.com/

Madison & Breanne had their own tunes to sing this morning. They were excited about the Halloween parties in their classes. Madison's school wasn't allowing kids to dress up, but she did get to dress in her favorite team apparel. Isn't she an awesome Viking? She even has the blonde braids! She's wearing Derrick's old jersey.

Last weekend we carved our jack-o-lanterns. This is a super exciting endeavor for a 4 & 5-year old. And it may be less than thrilling for a 1-year old. We made them clean out SOME of their own "guts" and they got to draw their own faces. Breanne's ended up with a face and legs. Madison's has a mustache and a beard ("may I help you?")

Birthday Boy

"Mom, is the birthday boy at home?" Breanne asked as I picked her up from preschool today. Unfortunately, the birthday boy had to go to work today, but we're planning a party tonight. Here's what other nonsense is coming out of the mouth of our five-year old. "Daddy, mommy is WAAAAY older than you!" Of course, Derrick just eats that up....

Last weekend was fall break from school and we had Minnesota cousins come visit us! It was really a fun time. On Friday, we went to the REEF (indoor water park) and the kids had a blast. They also had a blast playing the Wii. Although, I'm not really sure who had more fun-the kids or Kelly? We made popcorn, played games, watched movies, made homeade icecream and also went to the Corn Maize that was full of fun adventures. We took in the pig races, the hay slides, Lucas and Carter liked the pedal karts, lots of fun mind games, duck racing and the corn pile. Madison was the biggest trooper during the maze itself. She never complained and was determined to finish. We've also started a new family tradition. After the corn maize, we head to the Funky Monkey for smoothies. We roped the Krachts into this tradition with us. Aliya was especially fond of those smoothies. I've never seen a baby suck through a straw so fast in my life. She polished off mine and anything the big girls didn't want to finish.

Aliya was also become a little traveler. She's now taking first steps. My, what a big girl she is. We're so proud of her.

Derrick is getting prepared for his trip to Africa. Please be in prayer for him (October 30-November 7). Pray specifically for:

1. That he wouldn't get sick (flu/cold) before leaving

2. That he'd be able to meet our sponsored Compassion International Child, Andinet, while he is there

3. For effective mission work

4. The girls and I as we stay home

Sunny, Sunny

As Breanne puts it, "I just want it to be warm outside!" After a week and a half of cold weather, the warm front is headed our way. It was so wonderful to experience 50 degrees again yesterday! And Breanne got to visit the Fire Station with her preschool class. She kept going back and forth on whether or not Aliya and I could accompany her. It all hinged on whether or not she'd get to ride with her friends. She definitely ditched me for Trinity and Natalie. Literally, she didn't want to ride with me. She rode with Trinity in her car which is "WAY faster than our van." Breanne was her typical shy self infront of the firefighters and wouldn't sit at the driver's wheel or answer questions I knew she knew (like stop, drop & roll.) Instead, she quietly watches and listens, processing it all and talking about it later. It was a great morning to be out and about.

Madison is excited to have some time off from school (MEA) and is wondering where is the homework she's suppose to work on over the weekend. (I guess she likes school.) The Kracht cousins are enroute to our house for a visit and Madi & Bre are sooo excited!

Aliya continues to be a sweet, busy baby. She loves the tub and now tries to climb in herself (fully clothed) when I start running the bath water. Her two top teeth are really starting to come in. Here's what Derrick & I gave her for her birthday, now hanging in her room.

The first snow

We woke up Monday morning to a light dusting of snow over everything. Ironically, Derrick decided to hire Madi & Bre to help him clean out the garage on Saturday, making room for the truck in the garage again (after a summer of bikes and toys parked in that side of the garage.)Lucky guy - no scraping windows for him. I am amazed at how long it takes to get ready for school when you have to set up the camper to dig out the snow pants (which weren't there, but hanging neatly in the closet in the house), find everyone's snow boots, Aliya's winter coat, find gloves and mittens (which were in the camper), and then bundle them all up. Then 15 minutes later, check into the pediatrian's office for Aliya's 1-year well-child visit.
Aliya is growing well and measures in at nearly 30" long and 19 lbs and 6 oz. She got two shots but it didn't slow her down even a little. Above is the picture of her digging into her birthday cupcake. We picked Breanne up from preschool as usually and she was more determined than ever to make a snowman. "Mom, my teacher (the little one) asked, 'who's going to go home to make a snowman?' and I raised my hand. So, I have to go out as soon as we get home." Didn't she do a great job?
Later that afternoon, she was emptying the dishwasher, being a great helper, and talking on the phone. Look so closely as this picture, because she tucked her cell phone in her pocket when she finished her call. I don't know where she learns this stuff.
Derrick has done another wonderful job on our bathroom. Or should I say, Derrick and Aliya? (I peeked in on her and I saw Derrick working and Aliya pulled up next to him. Unfortunately, when she saw the camera she started crawling toward me.) We love it. I finally got the paint color right and Derrick actually picked out the shower curtain. It ties everything together. The one element we are missing is a mirror. We're having a problem finding the right one. Let's hope Hobby Lobby has one, because the 11x14 setting on the counter isn't cuttin' it!

One

One year has passed since our newest little blessing arrived. Aliya is the sweetest little baby and we think she is so much fun. We may be a bit partial. It's amazing to watch how much she is learning and doing. She might be the fastest crawler ever. She has 4 teeth on the botttom. She waves and says hi to everyone, especially strangers. Knows how to zoom up and down steps and she says about a dozen words. She is not particularly fond of baby toys, but loves to play with her big sisters' toys. She's also grown attached to a particular blankie. When I got to get her up from a nap, she hands it to me. Derrick said last night, when he put her to bed, she picked it up off the floor as to take it to bed with her. She loves mom best, but gets really excited when she sees dad for the first time of the day. I wouldn't trade her for anything! She has been a great addition to her family and we continue to feel absolutely blessed through her. It's tricky to celebrate a one-year old birthday. I made a sunflower cake for her yesterday and we brought it to small group to celebrate with the families there. Tonight, we have an icecream social with Breanne's preschool class that we'll call a birthday celebration as well. Afterall, Aliya is my daughter, she LOVES icecream!

Last week, at work (church) Breanne's preschool teacher, Ms. Amy, said, "I just love your daughter." She went on to praise Breanne for how easy-going, compliant, and what a good listener she is. We're so proud of her. She knows almost all her letters (except for maybe 2). What a sharp girl! And, I think she might even look a little bit like me.

One of the projects that has been keeping us busy lately is remodeling our main bathroom. Derrick is amazing! We've had help from a friend from church too. Here you can see the tile floor. We loved the original 1978 vinyl flooring, but thought it could use a bit of a facelift! On Saturday, they installed the cabinets and countertop and sink, but I'm reluctant to take and show any pictures yet, because, we hate the paint job. I promise I'll post pictures as soon as I get the paint color figured out. (This will be the 4th time we've painted that bathroom in 3 years...good thing it's a small room.)

SuperChick & Lincoln Brewster

Ahh..a relaxing AT HOME Saturday. I love those when they come along. Time to catch up on the blog since there have been some exciting events in the past week!

Breanne's first day of preschool was Wednesday. She was so very excited and she did great! Her favorite part was.....SNACK! Her friend Gracie brought icecream sandwiches. What's not to love? She was especially excited when they got to do the weather on Friday. She told me on Wednesday that she'd really like to bring snack on the next day to preschool because she really wants to be the snack helper. Her before school pictures...she totally hammed up. She kept posing, making weird faces and "hugged" the door. Oh, Breanne!

We made it to LifeLight in Sioux Falls, SD and back again. It was a really fun time with our girls (plus one.) We invited our niece Braelyn along with us for the weekend. She was a joy to have with us. On Friday night, we got to see Stellar Kart (Derrick & I went up front). They were very entertaining! Following that, we took the 3 big girls up front to see SuperChick. They loved it. They danced up front and sang. All weekend long, if you asked Braelyn about the concerts, she would say, "I like SuperChick." Aliya adapted very well to her surroundings for the most part. She crawled around the lawnchairs and was very peculiar to stay on the tarp we laid down. She enjoyed her meals strapped into her car seat. Spaghetti everywhere and all.

Saturday morning, I got my swimsuit on and went out to the girls who were playing catch. "So, do you girls want to go swimming?" Braelyn stops instantly, turns her head, throws the ball and mit into the air and starts running to get her swimsuit. It was priceless. We had a fun time swimming with them (even if the water was FREEZING!). We even got to do bumper boats and go-karts.

On Sunday, we got to hang out with the VanKlei cousins. It was fun to connect with them since we seldom do anymore. I got to rock out to Newsboys (or News Talk-Newsboys/DC Talk) with Alyssa, Deb & Riley. Our girls absolutely loved Kyli and Alyssa! Breanne (the shy one mind you) walked up to Alyssa at the beginning of our afternoon together and said, "Hi, I'm Breanne. What's your name?" Too funny!

All weekend long, Madison kept saying, "I don't want to miss Lincoln Brewster." We weren't gonna let her down. Sunday evening he was scheduled to perform. We took the girls upfront and took turns holding them up to see Lincoln Brewster's mohawk. It was awesome to see the girls singing along.

On Monday, as we were leaving, Derrick asked the girls, "What was your favorite part of LifeLight?" They both answered, "Swimming." "What was your favorite part of the concerts?" Madison answered Lincoln Brewster and Breanne said SuperChick. Madison wrinkled up her nose, "What? Didn't you like Lincoln Brewster?"