So, here is an amusing and sweet story that almost makes me cry. I am so proud of Katherine and so amazed at how innocent little children are and how big their faith can be.



Abbey decided to take a whole roll of toilet paper and play with it, in the bathroom. Katherine thought she would help clean it up. The yellow trashcan in the bathroom was full, so Katherine decided to just flush it down the toilet.



Katherine came out into the living room where Kris was and said "Daddy the toilet's full of water."



Kris went into the bathroom and decided that the best solution would be to flush it. When asked later (by me after I got home and heard the story) why he didn't just take the toilet paper out, he just had this look on his face. So he proceeds to flush it, causing the toilet to overflow.



In anger, Kris hit the door. It is important to state that this is in anger because it will play a large part in this story. Katherine got upset and started to cry. Kris let her know that he wasn't angry at her and that he was proud of her for trying to help.



They went out of the bathroom and were discussing the whole situation. Kris told Katherine he was sorry for getting angry and said "You get angry too sometimes, don't you?" Katherine said "yes". Kris asked her if she knew what they should do when they got angry. She said "yes" and he said "what?" Katherine said, "I want you to say it with me daddy."



Kris said "Why?" Katherine then said "Because I don't know what it is but I want to say it." Kris told her that they should pray to God to help them when they get angry. They talked some more about stopping and praying when they got angry. So then they prayed together, something about helping them be slow to anger--Katherine was repeating Kris.



Katherine afterwards started talking about the toilet again. She said she didn't know how to fix it and asked what kind of tools Kris had. Kris told her he had a hammer and a saw and some other tools but that they didn't work on toilets. "Let's pray that God helps daddy fix it." So they prayed. Then Kris went into the bathroom, plunged it and the water went back down. Then Kris went to Katherine and showed her that God had answered her prayer. Katherine got really excited. She said, "I can't believe God has tools to fix toilets." And then they just talked about how great God was after that! It was so cute because I came home as they were talking about it when Kat was in bed. And she was SO excited about God answering the prayer about it. It was so cool to see that!



So that was one story. Here is another funny story. It's not the story about how Kaleb keeps painting his fingernails and doing a really good job--that will be saved for a later day. Kaleb 2 nights ago apparently told Kris at bedtime that he had prayed earlier for a baby brother and God said yes. AHH!! Scary huh? But I wouldn't mind if God did tell him yes I suppose. But the problem is that Katherine really wants a baby sister. So tonight, after hearing the toilet story, we were talking and somehow the subject got changed to that of a baby. And we told her that Kaleb had asked God for a brother and asked if she wanted a baby brother. She said no, that she wanted two sisters first and then a brother. (So now I'm up to having 6 kids total!!)



Well, I was getting ready to go out of there and decided to see if she would pray with me before I left. She asked me to do it with her and so I told her I would repeat after her. So she started praying and she said "Dear God..." and then there was this long pause and you could tell she was really thinking about what to say. "God, I pray that I have a sister and that Kaleb doesn't pray for a brother ever again. She thought some more and had this cute smile on her face, and then said "In your name, Amen." It was great!! How funny they can be!

My grandmother turned 80 last week. We had a big bash at my mom's house in Indiana for her. She really enjoyed it. I am hopefully going to get to Florida in a couple of weeks to spend some time with her. It's kind of sad that before this weekend the last time I saw her was 5 years ago at her 75th birthday party. She had never even met any of the kids. Sad, I think. But it is difficult to get to Florida, not to mention expensive. So it isn't like we were avoiding her.



Kris told me a funny story last night. When he was putting the kids to bed, right before they prayed, Kaleb told him "I asked God for a baby brother and He said yes." Interesting. I wonder if that will happen?? We'll see I suppose!



My sister Jenny got engaged this weekend. I can't spell the guy's name-he is Indian and I don't even want to try to mispell his name! He is very nice though, so I'm happy for her. He really seems to care about her and is very kind to her.



Not too much else has happened really. Kind of a boring few weeks.

As crazy as my kids make me at times, I love them more and more each day. Sometimes I look at them and I am amazed that I can feel such great love and appreciation for them. Each day it is more than the day before and if you really think about it, it seems like it isn't possible for that love to keep growing, but it does.



Today they have been so cute. They play "house", or "work" or "doctor"--not the bad kind though, of course. Sometimes they are mommy and daddy and all you hear is their babies crying. That part is annoying, but it is still cute. I start to get onto them for whining and they inform me that it is their babies that are crying. Today Kaleb and Kat were running through the hallway and Kaleb says, "Let's go to my work." I love it when they can actually play well together. And though Abbey can't really talk much, she follows them around mimicking them.



This morning Katherine was singing her ABC's. When she finished, Abbey was sitting there and she looked at her and said "Abbey, sing with me." So Kat started again and you hear her singing and Abbey making all these noises, which is her way of singing. It was adorable!



So, while I still look forward to nap time everyday, I love them. With all my heart. And I wanted to share that.

Kaleb is now 3. We had a birthday party for him Monday night. I think he had fun. Kris let a bunch of the neighbor kids come over. I'll stay away from my perspective on that and just say that I think Kaleb enjoyed it anyway. Kaleb was really excited about all his spiderman deocrations and he got 3 spiderman gifts, so he's loving that. Katherine and Kaleb had a good time Monday morning discovering that they were both 3 at the same time. It was cute.



I need to get back to sewing again. I miss it. I wish that our basement wasn't torn up since all of my stuff is down there. I have projects to work on, but it's so daunting to go down there to get stuff so I just don't. We're all lucky if I get the laundry done. I have it in my head that if only it were main level, I would keep up with it. I think that is just wishful thinking but who knows...it might be true. But I won't know until we have a house with main level laundry!



Having trouble with our van now. We have spent about $1000 between our van and Cindy's (grandad's) car in the last month and now might have problems with our radiator. Hopefully it was just low on antifreeze, but unlikely with the luck Kris and I don't seem to have with cars. Oh well...God has always provided and I know he will continue to.