Christmas 2007

Christmas was quite exciting this year....it started precisely at 6:35 when Abbie announced she was going downstairs to see if Santa had come. We were able to divert her for about 20 minutes before Paw Paw & Kiki came to see the big "reveal."

It was a Christmas of American Girl Dolls, Littlest Pet Shops and their very own MP3 players. Oh, and how could I forget--the Sqwaker's Macaw--a talking life-size parrot. I think I'll have to talk to Santa about that one.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Oh ya, there is a link...right down at the end of the page to leave comments!!! We want to hear from you...ALL of you!! We want to know who is visiting our blog! Many of you have told me you read the blog...so leave a comment!! :)

Hope everyone has a safe and fun New Year's.

High School Musical...featuring Abbie Kluiter

I must fill you in on Abbie's newest career---ACTING. She has always had a "thing" for putting on a good show, so we signed her up for a drama class that met up at her school for 6 weeks. Of course she was super excited because it was a take-off of High School Musical 2--her all-time favorite movie! She had a few lines and did great! She really enjoyed it and I'm sure we'll sign her up again.

Christmas in Iowa

Yes, it sure has been a long time since I've updated....things haven't been all that exciting---I've been meaning to update for the past...ummm, well, ok...a month! yikes!

Since I last updated we've all suffered through the WORST stomach flu EVER!!! I was the only one that made it out. Abbie picked it up first at school (I heard it was going around!)--5 days!!! Then Jon got--he was sure he was going to die by the 5th day as well, and then Lauren got it, but not near as bad as Jon and Abbie. It was horrible...all in all, it lasted about 10 days between the 3 of them. Then, just to make matters worse, we thought Abbie was over the bug and we headed to Iowa for our big Christmas with Jon's family. By the time we got home on Sunday evening....we had infected Jon's mom, sister, step-sister and niece...can you even imagine??? I felt HORRIBLE!!! I hope everyone is finally feeling better now...and I've already started making alternative plans for Christmas 2008, as I'm sure we wont be invited back next year!! :P

Other than the sickness, we had a great time catching up with the family and the girls just LOVE meeting up with all the cousins, and of course the INDOOR POOL! Grandma and Grandpa were kind enough again this year to put us all up at a local hotel. Its about the only option as all the kids now have at least one baby. I think we had a total of 20 this year (plus 3 dogs!). We were only missing Tammy and her family, as they moved to Arizona this year and were not able to make it back for Christmas. All in all, it was a GREAT weekend! Thanks Jim & Sandi!

Christmas Elves...

Yes, Yes, I know!! I haven't blogged at all in a month! I promise I'l try and catch everyone up this week....until then, we're joining the masses...we've been elfed....:)


http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1509732531

Tag--I'm it??

Ok, Lyndee, you asked for it!

How long have you been together? We've been married 10 years..yikes!

How long did you date? 4 1/2 years

How old is he? 33

Who eats more? HIM!

Who said "I love you" first? He did, but he thinks I did.

Who is taller? ummm, Jon for sure!

Who is smarter? It depends on what we're talking about...I think I'm pretty smart, but I know he was in the Gifted & Talented program in school...

Who does the laundry? Almost all me, but I wont do his clothes!!

Who does the dishes? Me, unless he's desperate.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you're looking at the bed, then Jon does.

Who pays the bills? ALL ME!

Who mows the lawn? Jon

Who cooks dinner? Me.

Who drives when you're together? He does most of the time.

Who is more stubborn? Probably me.

Who kissed who first? He did.

Who asked who out? He did!

Who proposed? He did, of course!

Who is more sensitive? Totally me.

Who has more siblings? Tie. We each have one other sibling, although Jon has 3 step sisters and a step-brother.

Who wears the pants in the family? Probably me. I'm much more organized and a better problem-solver.

Trunk or Treat

Oh, and here are a few pictures from our Trunk or Treat last week. The first picture is after Lauren went and filled up her bag, we found her hiding in the back of the truck all wrapped up in a blanket scarfing down her candy!

Pumpkin Carving

We carved our pumpkins last night...Abbie wanted to do a bat on hers, but then decided on a traditional jack-o-lantern. Lauren had Jon cut this elaborate spooky face one...

Lauren really loved getting all dirty with the pumpkin guts...

Dinosaur Exhibit

Last week we finally got out to the Dinosaur Exhibit at Powell Gardens. We had planned to go back in August, but it was WAY too hot to go, so we put it off, and we almost didn't go last week because it was too cold...but we put on our heavy coats and headed out. Abbie didn't have school most of last week due to fall conferences, so we had a lot of free time.

Abbie has a fascination with dinosaurs so this was perfect for her. There were lots of life-sized dinosuars, most of which I had never heard of. They had some hanging in the trees (yuck!) and some HUGE ones guarding their nest of eggs. Interesting stuff. The girls really enjoyed it!

Bernese Mountain Dog

Ok, here is a picture of the dog the girls are sooooo in love with. Don't you think that he looks like he belongs somewhere in the Alps...not in our backyard. But, he is really cute :)

I can't figure out how to post the pic..here is the link...

http://www.dale-gudbrand.no/HUND/C-Geilo%20100207.jpg

Pumpkin Patch

Woh! Look at us! I don't blog for a month and then wah-la...2 posts in one day!

Last week we finally got out to the pumpkin patch. We tried to head out the week before but it rained ALL DAY LONG!! We've had quite a bit of rain lately, but last weekend was BEAUTIFUL! We took the girls out with Paw Paw and Kiki and Uncle Mike out to the pumpkin patch. They both picked our their own pumpkins straight off the vine. Afterwards they went running out into the corn fields...Then Abbie found the soybean plants and she was infatuated with pulling off the soybean pods(?) and pulling out the beans. She called herself the "Queen of Soybeans"--how funny is that!! She is so "suburbia"--totally not a country girl. She is afraid of grasshoppers and anything that flies! :)

The big hit of the day was when we met this nice lady with a horse, ok, seriously, it was a great big dog-- a Bernese Mountain dog. This dog was gorgeous...and the girls LOVED him. He was so calm and totally a lap dog...oh, and did I mention he weighs 125 pounds..yes, I said 125 pounds! We had been looking at little dogs for them for some day, far off in the future. Now, they both want a Burnese Mountain dog. Sure, 125 pounds--not gonna happen! We don't even have a fence! I'll see if I can find a picture, just so ya'll can see just how big this horse, er, I mean dog really is.

A Date with Daddy....

Wow! How time flies. It seems like just yesterday when we brought Abbie home from the hospital. It was a rainy day, the week before Easter. She was so tiny. Now, 6 years later, she has her first date....with her daddy.

Last Friday night was the Daddy Daughter Dinner Dance. She was sooo excited...well, she was really excited to see her friends! The dinner was down at the club at Arrowhead Stadium where the Chiefs play football. So of course all the dads were excited...Abbie was excited because she and Jon drove down with her friend Marie and her dad. Jon said that Abbie happily ate dinner with him and then she was gone...just like that...out on the dancefloor with her friends. Jon said he got ditched for abotu 3/4 of the night. Abbie danced her heart out to High School Musical songs, Hannah Montana and Avril Lavigne. Abbie did oblige Jon and danced with him a few times, but she said she was "embaressed" dancing with her dad...???..all the other girls danced with their dads, too. Jon even got her (ie. I ordered and he picked up) a corsage...My how time flies...

Webkinz! Everywhere Webkinz!

Lauren had her birthday party last Saturday. She and Abbie both convinced me to have a Webkinz party at the house. It has been YEARS since we've had a birthday party at our house--and now I remember why! I always love having someone else have to set up the party and clean up after we leave. All WE have to do is show up!

This year they really, really wanted a Webkinz party. It didnt take much convincing, as I even have my own Webkin--shshshhhh! don't tell! Well, I soon find out that Webkinz have not licensed their stuff yet--so no going to Party City and just buying the plates, banners, napkins and games. Oh no!! I had to come up with the games and actually MAKE them. Did you hear that MAKE them! Anyone who knows me at all, knows I have absolutely no creative bone in my body. But, we finally picked some games and wah-la...a Webkinz party is born. Oh, and did I mention I invited 15 four year olds---figuring only 10 or so would actually be able to make it....guess what! All 15 came!!! Imagine--15 four year olds INSIDE my house. Oh, and did I also mention, we had planned for an outside party--until it was 52 degrees and raining that morning.

Anyway, the party was a HIT! Webkinz galore--Pin the Tail on Scarlet (Lauren's cat Webkin), Candy Bash (pinata), Lily Padz, and we made our own Legendary Crowns of Wonder--and of course--the Employment Office--we made hamburgers for lunch.

So, all that matters is that Lauren and her friends had a great time. And next year,--we're going bowling! :)

Lauren starts Pre-School!!--finally!

Finally, after almost 4 years of waiting---Lauren started Pre-School!! :)

Here in Kansas, the cut-off date is September 1, so Lauren missed starting school by just a few days. Last year when Abbie went off to Kindergarten, Lauren had a hard time--she was really ready to go to school, too!

This year she started at Lord of Life in the 3 year old room--even though she's going to turn 4 next week. She had her backpack packed and ready to go at LEAST an hour before it was time to leave. She has two of her friends in her class with her--Henry and Brett. I don't know what it is around here, but there are NO GIRLS her age. It's the same thing with Abbie's class, too. Out of 80 kids in Abbie's grade, only 21 are girls! Looks like both Abbie and Lauren will have to get used to playing with the boys!

Lauren was so excited when I picked her up from school on Tuesday. She told me all about the songs she sang and a few new friends she met. And of course, she told me all about snack. Anyone who knows Lauren, knows she's very food motivated!! :)

We don't have very much going on this week, but we're gearing up for Lauren's party on Saturday---a WEBKINZ party!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend...here are a few pictures of her first day!

Weekend? What weekend?

Ever wonder why they call it a "long weekend?" I do, because it takes a LONG time to recover!

We sooo love having an extra day withoug work at the Munky store, but it just seems that we can always cram MORE into that extra day! Between the BBQ's, garage cleaning, swingset staining, and yard work, I'm beat!

The big news of the weekend was that Abbie got a new bike! Her old bike was WAY too small to learn how to ride without training wheels. Jon took her out on her old bike a few weeks ago and she was TERRIFIED to ride it. She's a pretty cautious kid, but she was missing one elbow pad, but had all the other gear, and of course a helmet, but was so scared it turned into a tantrum, so Jon just gave up. She's been scared to try again. So enter...new, flashy, pink and purple bike with STREAMERS on the handle bars and what amounts to a "purse" where they USED to put baskets back in my day. Oh, and she was INSISTANT that it have a kickstand...hmmm, we never figured out that one...but her don't worry....her new bike does have a new kickstand :)

All geared up with new elbow and knee pads and even WRIST guards(?)...can you say overkill? We took her up to school to let her try riding in the parking lot...and lo and behold...she is SOOOOO close to being able to ride by herself, but she is so afraid of falling she is almost too afraid to try.

Meanwhile, Lauren couldn't wait to get her hands on Abbie's old bike with the training wheels...she was off! She has no fear! She's definitely our risk taker!

So here are a few pictures of Abbie and Lauren's biking extravaganza!

Hope everyone had a fun and restful weekend...I think I'll go take a nap!

1st Grade---Here we come!

Abbie started school on Wednesday!!! She is officially in 1st grade! How did this happen? Where have the last 6 years gone? Last we checked, we were bringing her home from the hospital in a heavy spring rainstorm in her car seat! We just stared at her...not knowing what to do next. Gosh, I can't believe how big she is!

She didn't have much to report...She gets along well with everyone and makes friends pretty easily, so I just have to assume that we'll only hear about school if its bad!

We started carpooling with our neighbors this year, and Abbie seems much more excited about riding with Anthony and Marie to school each day, then actually GOING to school! Ahh to be a kid again!

Lauren complained all day that Abbie wasn't home and asked constantly if it was time to pick her up yet. But, after Abbie came home Lauren just started jumping on her and even kicked her in the shoulder--don't know what that was all about! As you can probably tell, Lauren is my "spirited" child :) We just can't wait until pre-school starts for Lauren...T minus 12 days and counting....

So all seems well here. We are hoping for a quiet weekend and maybe 0ne last trip to the pool before it closes for the year. The girls will be devastated.

We finally did it!

We finally did it! After months and months of talking about it--we finally have a blog! The Kluiter's have finally joined the techies!

I struggled with doing a blog at all--our lives just aren't that exciting on a day to day basis. But, since most of our families live far away, we thought this would be a great way to keep in touch and post pictures of the girls.

I can guarantee I wont be blogging everyday, but I will try to keep it up to date with our "happenings". Someone reminded me that family and friends out of town are interested in hearing from us and seeing pictures, even if it doesn't seem exciting to us!

The summer is coming to a close very quickly. Abbie had her 1 hour orientation/meet the teacher this morning. She has a great teacher--Mrs. Magsamen. She's excited and has a lot of great kids in her class this year.