Life as a Princess

I have been trying to get some cleaning done today. As I was dusting our bedroom upstairs, I heard the kids playing Cinderella downstairs. Kylee was starring as the famed princess, and Connor was playing the role of the stepmother, ordering Cinderella to do various things. It was quite precious.

I then notified the children that we needed to get ready to leave the house to go run errands. I asked Kylee to go downstairs and pick up her mess. She looked at me and said, "but I'm Cinderella!". I said "Cinderella needs to go downstairs and pick up her mess". She again informed me that she was Cinderella. I stood firm and insisted that even if she was Cinderella, she needed to go downstairs and pick up the mess, because that's what Cinderella would do.

Finally, she looked at me and said "well...then you're Cinderella, and I'm Jack" (for those of you who don't know, Jack is one of Cinderella's mouse friends).

What a smart little stinker.

Old Stomping Grounds

We made the trek back to our hometown (Lindsborg, KS) this weekend to spend some time with Brandon's family. His Grandmother has been in poor health and seems to be having some issues with her memory over the last several weeks, so we took off for a quick visit.

Justin and Mary brought their children, Drew, Amy, and Beth, to Lindsborg too, and Rachel was there as well, so it was fun for the cousins to spend some time together. It was so fun to see all the kids--especially the twins, who have grown up so much since Christmas when we last saw them!

We got to see several of Brandon's extended family while we were in town, which was fun. It is always a bit surreal for me to be in the midst of such a large, bustling family. At my extended family gatherings, there are just a few of us around the table, but with the Carlson family, many times there are no fewer than 15 or 20 people present at any one gathering. They are all very gracious and welcoming to us, so I do genuinely enjoy being in the mix.

Our extended family gathered in the basement of the church that Brandon grew up in on Saturday evening. While we were there, a wedding was taking place. Brandon and I got married in that same church, so it was a trip down memory lane for me as I watched guests file into the reception and then saw the bride and groom drive away from the church together to begin their lives as husband and wife. I thought back to our wedding 7 and 1/2 years ago and was so thankful for the way that God has blessed us since then. We attended church on Sunday, and as I sat in the sanctuary, I looked at the aisle I walked down when we got married. As fun as it is to remember that very special day, it is even more fun to see what God has done in our lives since that day. We were so young and I don't think we could have comprehended the ups and downs of the journey that was to come even if someone had been able to tell us. I am confident that even if we had known, we still would have married each other, which is a bonus. ;)

On Saturday afternoon, I had a couple minutes by myself in the car. I seized the rare opportunity to listen to MY music and take a spin by the house that I grew up in. The owners are currently renovating it and I was shocked to see that the two huge picture windows that graced the house are being replaced with smaller, but probably more energy efficient, windows. It was kind of a sad moment for me. I lived in that house for 20 years--it was where birthdays and graduations were celebrated, where I came home to in college, where my friends and I hung out, and where I said goodbye to my Mom in her last moments on this earth. It will always be a special place to me and to see it changing made me a bit teary-eyed.

It's always neat to see how things change in Lindsborg and yet, how things stay the same. I miss some things about the small town atmosphere--the pace being a little slower and the streets being quiet--and even though Liberty is just where we need to be, I am thankful that Brandon and I got to grow up in a smaller, quieter place, and that now, we can take our children back there with us to experience a small sampling of what life was like when we grew up.

A big part of life in small-town America is farming. Brandon's Grandpa has farmed forever, as has his Uncle Dan. Dan and his wife Jane invited us out to their farm on Sunday afternoon, where we got to look at tractors and corn fields. Brandon took Connor out for a spin on some of the equipment, and it was hard to tell who was having more fun. :) Connor has since been trying to convince me that "Daddy needs a 4-wheeler for Father's Day".

Please pray for Brandon's Grandma and the rest of the family as they navigate through these current challenges with her health. She is an amazing woman that means so much to so many people and continues to be an example of Christian love even when she doesn't feel well...I watched as she and Grandpa walked together hand-in-hand this weekend and can only hope that after that many years of marriage, Brandon and I will also show that same love, concern, and dedication to each other. Grandma once said: "I know everything is right with my world when I wake up in the morning and hear Grandpa stirring around".

What an example for us all.

Good Times and Good Laughs

This weekend was a crazy one for us. We celebrated my Grandpa's 80th birthday together as a family, and also got to spend some quality time with our niece and nephew, Cara and Collin. The kids had a great time playing together. We hosted our babysitting co-op at our house on Saturday night. Brandon did the powerpoint presentation at church on Sunday, and I read Scripture in the service. We crammed a lot into one weekend, but had fun doing it.

Connor started soccer on Saturday and he LOVES it. He is playing through Upward Sports and his team name is the Lions. Brandon is the official coach of the Connor's team (no, he's never played before, but he's a fast learner) and Connor is SO excited that his Daddy is out on the field with him (he is just sure that his Daddy is going to "get a whistle and wear a black and white shirt" eventually). Connor did a great job out on the field and has already asked repeatedly when he's going to get to play soccer again. He came home with a soccer uniform that included socks and a new water bottle. You know how much our son loves accessories, so this was a banner moment for sure!!

Connor has also gotten into answering the phone recently. Fair warning to those of you who call. He does really well, but unless he knows you, he will assume you are one of my students. That tells you a lot about how last semester was for us. :)

Speaking of my students, 54 of them have passed boards, which means we have only a handful of them that still have to take. We have, unfortunately, had a couple who have been unsuccessful, but I am optimistic that our pass rate will be better than people thought it would be. We have a few more taking over the next couple weeks, so please say a prayer. God has been very, very good.

Kylee is still keeping us on our toes...if you ask her how old she is, she will tell you (VERY emphatically) that she is four. If you try to tell her that she is two, she will collapse on the floor and cry (Brandon has done this a couple times purely for his own enjoyment). Our favorite part of this whole exercise is that when she tells you she's four, she holds up one finger.

Life is good.

Road Trip: The Creation Museum

As a part of Brandon's birthday present, we went down and visited the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum in Kentucky last weekend. Brandon has been following the building of the museum for the last few years. Creationism is something that Brandon is especially passionate about, and we thought it'd be neat to take the kids to learn about it. Therefore, it was only natural that our family would make a trip down south to see the newly-opened museum.

We started driving on Saturday morning. It was a 10-hour trek with stops (you stop frequently when you have a 5 year-old bladder in the backseat). We stayed at a hotel near the museum and the kids really enjoyed that part of the experience. We had the pool to ourselves on a couple different occasions, which was really fun.

We went to the museum on Sunday. It was pretty amazing, especially considering that the museum is entirely supported by donations and it opened debt-free. A guy from Disney designed most of the museum displays, which was apparent by several neat animatronics displays and the special effects theatre. The museum presents concepts of both evolution and creation and encourages visitors to think carefully about both processes. Not having studied creation vs. evolution in great detail, I learned a lot, and was impressed by the museum's seeker-friendly, non-confrontational atmosphere. There were beautiful gardens to explore outside the museum, which was nice and relaxing.

The downside to our trip was that the museum was not so great for the kids. Connor did okay, but Kylee was a mess for most of our time there (thus the picture above). It would be great for children older than seven, but not so wonderful for the little ones. Live and learn.

We began the long trip home on Monday and arrived safely to our house in the late evening. It was so nice to have a couple days away from the normal routine!!

We Have a Big Girl Room!!

Good Morning!

We hope you all had a great 4th of July. Ours was fairly low-key, with a lazy day at home and then dinner and fireworks down at the Chase home in Blue Springs. The kids enjoyed the fireworks this year, with the favorite being glow worms. I think they liked them because they were cool without being noisy.

We have a lot to update you on, but I will start here:

A couple weeks ago, Kylee announced that she didn't like her crib anymore and wanted a big girl bed. When our little redhead makes a decision, there's no turning back. We had planned to do her "big girl room" as a part of her third birthday in September, but she was ready!! So, we pulled her bed out of the basement (we had some friends from church who passed it down to us, and were lucky enough to have scored a mattress from Great Bend--we love FREE!!!), and Mommy and Kylee painted it purple (the color was Kylee's choice). I got the bed painted while Kylee managed to create a lovely purple mural on the garage floor.

Anyway, then it was time to move the bed upstairs. Brandon began breaking the crib down, and I was hit by some pretty strong emotion as I realized this would be the first time we'd broken the crib down since before Connor was born. I hadn't thought through the fact that with the arrival of the big girl bed, I would need to pack up all of the Pooh nursery decorations and sheets that had graced our babies' rooms for the last 5 and 1/2 years. Ouch. Tears. Stomach lurch. A new phase...meanwhile, I swear I heard my husband singing the Hallelujah chorus under his breath. :)

We went shopping at Wal-Mart for some sheets that night--I refused to put Spiderman sheets on our daughter's big girl bed...Kylee instantly selected Dora sheets. Then this week, we went and picked up her comforter and a Princess pillow to round out the scene. I picked up the letters on her wall on clearance about a year ago at Target, painted them pink, and glued ribbons on to them to hang them from. I had seen the idea in a catalog and thought it was way cute. I have to highlight this because it is rare that I am actually able to effectively duplicate a concept like this at a fraction of the cost (those letters in the catalog with adorable ribbons on them will cost you a fortune, by the way). Usually, my money saving attempts at decoration just end in frustration, so I was pretty happy with how this turned out. We selected a simple flower theme for the room so that she doesn't grow out of it next year when her character tastes change.

I have dreamed of Kylee's big girl room for months as I rocked her to sleep at night, yet somehow, I didn't imagine our little girl growing up so quickly...she looks so small in her twin bed. The smile on her face when she saw her big girl room all put together for the first time was priceless.

Sweet dreams, little princess!!