Baby in the Bath

Sometimes (which means every day) Micah makes a HUGE mess when he eats.

 Usually, it's worse than this. 

 So I get to plunk him in the bath.  Which he LOVES:

 He's trying to catch the water...this might be his concentration face :)

 I love to "style" his hair.

 He doesn't love that!

 Splashing is more his thing! 

Micah's First Haircut (and I Wish I Could Take a Good Picture!)

 Micah got his first haircut today, his 13 month birthday!  Here are the before pictures:

Crying because he was a little under the weather and I took his sippy cup away to get a picture:

 Another before.  It was raining cats and dogs so we got soaking wet.  The stylist didn't even need to wet down his hair!

 Handsome, even with wet, stringy hair :)

 During:

 He liked the blocks!

 After...I didn't take one good picture of after.  Not sure why I'm such a dunce with the camera.  But I did have a wiggly subject!

 This one would have been cute!

 And I love his face in this one!

And the blurry cell phone picture:

Swimming 2012

It's always difficult to get back into blogging after I accidentally took a TWO month break!  So I'll just jump in...


Kara is in her 2nd session of swimming lessons this summer (her third time in Level 3).  She's doing great and more importantly, she LOVES it!  I can attach anything to..."Do you want to be on time to swimming lessons?" like finishing her reading or cleaning her room.  Works like a charm.

 Micah started a "Tots" class and it's mainly just getting used to the water.  Mom or Dad is always with him.  He likes to splash!!

  Both Micah and Kara have friends in their classes which makes going to swimming all that more fun!

American Girl comes to St. Louis

Kara has been diligently saving every penny she got for birthday, Christmas and chores to buy a "real" American Girl doll.  She received an "Our Generation" doll from Target (an 18" knock-off doll) for Christmas 2010 and quickly realized she wanted the real thing.

After lots of saving and hard work she had the moolah saved (gulp...it's a lot!)  And wonders of wonders, a new store opened up not far from us.  Here are some pics of the excursion to get "Ruthie" (Kit's best friend for those who speak Amercian Girl) and have a nice tea with her new doll.

 Micah and Aunt Michelle joined us!

 Kara pays for her own purchase!

Drinking tea (hot cocoa) and Ruthie has her own chair and cup!

 Micah, a little out of place with all the pink around but still a happy boy :)

 Her afternoon tea included lots of yummy sandwiches, fruit and desserts.

 Aunt Shell chose the "picnic platter."

All in all, a GREAT day!  And we have "Ruthie" the newest member of our family!

Papa and Grandpa

 Kara and Micah are blessed children indeed.  They have MANY aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, great-grandparents and countless others to dote on them!  This post is dedicated to a very special Papa  
 and a very special Grandpa.

Both are great and loved by Kara and Micah!

Ballard Nature Center

For our homeschooling field trip, we went to the Ballard Nature Center in Altamont. When I originally planned the trip, the temps had been in the upper 70s. Then they dropped and thunderstorms were forecasted. We decided to go anyway and were rewarded with a chilly, cloudy, but rain free day!We traveled on some of the many trails and found docks and overlook areas.And then we explored the exhibit room. Like bug tic-tac-toe:And a couple of cool trees:

And bird watching (with one way glass so the birds weren't scared off by us!)

We used a brush to uncover and identify different animals' tracks.
And looked at other interesting wildlife!Kara didn't like that bear but Micah sure did!
Micah just kinda hung out all day :)
The kids had lunch at a kid sized table. Then we visited a fun park. Sorry, no pics :(...but it was an awesome old school park with a merry-go-round and huge slide that would make any mom nervous.

Sorry if there are any grammar errors or typos. Cranky 8 month old is on my lap!