The Keeper of the Plains

I guess this is like Birmingham's Vulcan or New York's Statue of Liberty (just maybe a little smaller). This is the Keeper of the Plains. It is a beautiful metal statue down by the Arkansas (pronounced ar-Kansas here) River. We took the Redmonds down to see it while they were here visiting but somehow I managed not to get them in a single picture. Sorry about that.
Before we moved here we had an informational book about Wichita that had a picture of this statue on the front. EC use to look at that book and ask us questions about Wichita so she was very excited to see "the Indian" in person. Walking across the really cool bridge to get there.
Don't ask me what I did to deserve this pose and smile. He volunteered it and I took advantage of the moment.

First Day of Kindergarten

Emma Caroline finally started to school. I say finally because she has been talking about it everyday for the past 2 months. She is going to a private Christian school here and we are just so excited about it. But when she put on this uniform she seemed to grow before our eyes. She loved her first day and is looking forward to more. She actually only goes half a day and not until the afternoon. Which means, I take her, come home, put Knox down for a nap and I have almost 3 hours all to myself.....YEAH!!!! Who knows what all I could get done. I don't because I'll be taking a nap for the first few weeks. (: Yeah school!!

Welcome to the Jungle

So, on our last visit to the zoo we discovered an exhibit we had not seen before. It is called the Jungle and well, it looks like a jungle, except that you are inside. I have to say I was quite impressed with this. For one, the growth is beautiful. But secondly there are animals out, meaning not in cages. There are some in cages, a sloth, some crazy looking squirrels, monkeys oh and a komodo dragon, a big one. But there are other animals just out. This was a crazy looking bird. The pictures don't do it justice. But it was just walking down the path.

Looking up there were huge bats hanging in the trees. I am assuming they were not dangerous since they here just hanging out up in the trees. These were not small. They were probably about a foot long.

Then there were these beautiful birds just sitting on a limb. You can't tell but this guy was eyeing me as much as I was eyeing him.

There is also a "stream" with sting rays, a "pond" with some of the biggest fish I have ever seen. You could actually go under the pond and see them swimming all around you. This was the kid's favorite part. And lastly a water fall that you can walk behind. We didn't take pictures of anything else that day. Nothing else compared to the Jungle. Have I mentioned we love our zoo?

A Knox update

I wanted to give a double update on my sweet boy, Knox. First, he is doing great. He was puny a few days but the day the grandparents got here he was all better!!! As far as his hair (and clothes)....well, I decided to keep both, but I did give him a trim. He may be my only little boy and it won't be long before he will be telling me what he will on wont wear. Besides, he is just too cute like this.

What a week

This has been a week of sickness at our house. This time it was Knox with some kind of stomach bug. I will spare you the details but lets just say I have gone through a few packs of diapers this week. So I had to take EC to the doctor to have a physical to start school and had to take Knox along of course. I mentioned our problem to the doc and she suggested the B.R.A.T. diet and if he still had a problem in 2 weeks then bring him back..... 2 WEEKS!!!! So we leave the doctor and I have got to run to Walmart (desperately needed more diapers and some extra strength Tide). While running through the store Knox "gets sick". Yep, I was that mom. You've seen her before. And in the back of your mind you wondered, "what is she thinking bringing a sick kid to Walmart". Well, on behalf of "those" moms everywhere, I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS GOING TO DO THAT!!! Thankfully, I had picked up a pack of wipes already so I cleaned up the best I could (even the floor) and got the heck out of there. We got home and he did it again. Let me just remind you here that I am still very nauseous pretty much the whole day. These are the times my mom says you forget. I hope so. The only thing getting me through this week is the reminder that my wonderful in-laws are on their way for a visit, Praise the Good Lord above!!!

My little Blueberry

Ok, so my baby is now about the size of a blueberry according to the weekly update I get from BabyCenter.com. So how come my stomach is soooo much bigger? At this rate I will be in maternity clothes before my 3rd month, how embarrassing. I guess the biggest problem is my very short list of things that sound good:
Grill cheese or cheese toast
Pepperoni pizza
tatter tots - oh my, these are good
Cheesy potato soup (from Jason's Deli)
an occasional hamburger with nothing but cheese, mayo and ketchup
Do you realize this is the diet of a 5 year old and a college student. I steer clear of this kind of stuff as much as I can normally. At the rate I'm going I'll gain all my pregnancy weight before the end of my 1st trimester.
Several of y'all have asked if we will find out what we are having. If you know me at all, you know that I am WAY to practical to not find out. I have clothes to go through and wash and most of all a name to come up with. I really don't want to have to come up with 2 names, 1 is hard enough. Besides, it's going to be a surprise, I just get to decide when I get the surprise, right?

Baby #3

Some of you may have noticed that I have slowed a little on posting. Well, that would be because every opportunity I have to myself I go lay down. Yep, we are expecting baby #3!!! This was a little bit of a surprise but we are excited just the same. I am due March 31st so we have a long way to go. I got to go have an ultrasound today and see our baby who is currently the size of a grain of rice. As I have told some others I said I don't know which is more amazing the technology to see the grain of rice and hear the heartbeat or the fact that this tiny baby has a heartbeat already. It stops me and puts me in awe of our God who is so good to us. Please pray with us that this will be a good pregnancy (that I can make it through the nausea with 2 kids running around) and for a healthy baby.

Italian Hoagies (in the crockpot)

I'm still on a crockpot kick, especially since the oven in my new house makes half the house way too hot for summer time. So I found this recipe on a blog but I have no idea which one (not one I have visited before) so I can't give anyone credit, sorry. But I thought it sounded like something Matt would like so I made it. It was very good and so easy. Probably too spicy for kids. My kids don't really like shredded roast yet so I didn't even try.

Italian Hogies:
2lb beef roast
1 envelope of dry italian dressing/ seasoning mix
1 jar of peppercino peppers - mild (you find them on the pickle isle)

Put the roast in the crockpot. Dump the entire jar of peppers and all the juice on top then sprinkle with seasoning. Turn it on low and let it go 8 hours. Then I shredded the whole thing with 2 forks. We put it on hoagie rolls topped it with swiss cheese and toasted it in the oven until the cheese melted. Then we dipped it in a little bowl of the juice that left in the crockpot. We ate on it until the rolls were gone and then Matt made quesadillas with some of the meat. That was good too. It is a little spicy but I can't handle much spice and I enjoyed it. Just a good easy meal. Would probably make 6 to 8 sandwiches depending on how much meat you put on each.

Playday and Popsicles

Rigdon was Emma Caroline's first friend here and one of the funniest kids I've ever met. They play so well together (Praise the Lord). A few weeks ago Rigdon came to play and this is the conversation I heard in the back of the car.
Rigdon: "Emma Caroline why are your eyebrows brown?" (not sure where that came from)
EC: (No response)
Rigdon: "Well, I think you are the prettiest girl in the whole world."

I agree

We're not in the South anymore

OK, so 6 times in the past week or so Knox has been called a girl. It's the haircut. They don't cut their boys hair like this here in the Midwest. So the big question has become, do I need to get his hair cut like a big boys and lose the "baby look". But, oh my, he is so cute I hate to do it. Matt says if I just don't dress him in jumpers and put him in little boy clothes (meaning khakis and polos) then I don't need to cut his hair. What do y'all think. It's not an official pole, I just want y'alls opinions here. I just had to include this picture too because really, does it get any sweeter?

My Little Pirate (with a little chocolate on his face)

Knox, who has never let me put anything on his head before, has really taken to the pirate look. I just about had to force him to let me put this bandanna on him but once I said he was a pirate he didn't want to take it off....boys. Too bad I don't have him on video saying "ARRRGGGG". Lori, where was this guy last year for VBS. We could have used him.