Meet Me in St. Louis

Kyra following her fishing lure back downstream at the
St. Louis Children's Museum, the Magic House


Naaman and Kyra on the bubble organ


Naaman and Kyra touching the electrostatic generator at
the Magic House


Kelsie playing in the water outside the Magic House


The whole family in the Mork and Mindy
pod that would take us to the top of the St. louis arch



The view from the arch. A Cardinals baseball game was going on while
we were at the top. Someone hit a homerun, and fireworks were shot off well below us.
It also happened to be sunset when we were there--beautiful.


Kelsie posing with a grizzly bear outside the museum below the arch. cutie patootey



We had a really fun Saturday in St. Louis. It all started when we found some Pokemon sheets for sale on Craig's List. We promised Naaman a Pokemon room in the new house before we found out that Pokemon bedding is no longer made in the united States. We finally found this set of good condition, used bedding on Craig's List only 2.5 hours away and decided we would make a day trip and go get them. We've been wanting to visit St. Louis anyway. Besides, wouldn't any parent do the same for a kid who has been through what we have put our kids through this year? We just really wanted to live up to our promise of the Pokemon room even though he wasn't asking about it very much. By the way, he is ecstatic over his sheets and comforter. He doesn't care one bit that they were used.
We decided to hit the AWESOME St. Louis Children's Museum since we have a reciprocal membership card through the Normal Children's Museum. That place was worth the trip in and of itself. Then we made a run to Costco. We sure have missed our huge boxes of goldfish, Life cereal, and nuts since we moved to a smaller town:) We had pizza, smoothies, and frozen yogurt at Costco before heading to the famous St. Louis arch, "The Gateway to the West." The kids were amazed how high up we were when we made it to the top. We walked around the museum at the bottom of the arch, stopped by to get the sheets on the way out of town, and made it home by midnight. Good times were had by all. i've posted some pictures of the day. Enjoy!
Oh, and I enjoyed my first day of work today, but i didn't take any pictures:) I think this job will be a good fit for me.

Naaman's Best Friend

A few people have expressed their concerns about Naaman at school.  I just wanted to post a quick update.  Things are going better.  I was unable to go to school for lunch today because it conflicted with my pre-employment physical.  Naaman said 3 other kids sat at the peanut-free table today, so he had people to talk to.  Two of them had allergies, and the other was a buddy of one with an allergy.  What a huge relief!  He also has a new "best friend" named Christian.  I think he knew they were destined to be together when Christian wore a Pokemon shirt to school today.  Yea!  I hope he can make another friend like Patric from Purple Sage.  Those two loved each other so much, and Patric is such a great kid.  I trust Naaman to make good choices in his friends.  Kyra, of course, has a new best friend every day.  We'll see how that turns out:) 

Settling in and pictures

Sorry this picture is sideways, and i'm too computer illiterate to fix it.
Naaman and Kyra looked cute their first day of school. They ride their scooters since
we live so close--only 0.2 miles away!


Kyra outside our house on the first day of kindergarten. she wore a dress since her first day was only 1 hour.


Kyra with her friends Natalie and Gillian at a dairy farm back in June. can you believe
we had to wear jackets?


the basement needs a paint job but has been great for hanging out with
students. I've been making lots of popcorn these days:) My mom and stepdad gave us their awesome, 25 year-old sectional sofa. love it! thanks guys!


basement guest bedroom featuring my great aunt's antique bedroom suit. can't wait to have out-of-town guests!


we love our kitchen, even if the faux granite countertops don't actually match the backsplash:)
the cabinets are beautiful and so is the new tile floor


view from the kitchen into the eat-in area, laundry closet, and soon to be office/Rudy's mom's guest room since she can't go downstairs. we're going to put up a wall and french doors for privacy in that area


our bedroom is actually smaller than the girls' room, but the bed David built for us has allowed us to be dresser-less. the closet is quite small, too, but we store all our off-season clothes in the basement. We love the floors and the cozy feel


I think this little bitty master bathroom is my favorite room. Rudy put in the vanity and cabinet, and we decorated with our stuff from Austin. It's just so cozy!


Naaman's room will eventually have a Pokemon theme. I had to place a blanket around the leg of his bed so I wouldn't stub my toe every time I walked in. His room is very small, and his bed legs angle out because it is actually the top bunk of a full-twin bunk bed set. He loves having his own space:)


We went ultra girly in the girls' room. they share the bottom bunk of the bunk bed set. The butteryfly curtains pull back to reveal pink, sheers with sequins:)


the hall bath is quite pretty, too. It actually has a bathtub.



We decided to follow the IKEA "bold, not beige" idea in the upstairs living room. Our purple couches fit in nicely with the colorful pictures and rug. The 1960's wood floors are a little creaky, stained and uneven in places, but we love them.


So we are almost all moved in--only a few boxes left inside the house. (The garage will have to wait until Rudy has more time.) Lots of you have been asking for pictures of the inside of the house, so I finally took some tonight. Too bad you can't see the windows and pretty lighting during the day, but I had to take the pictures while I had the time:) We are in love with our house! We haven't even thought much of our beloved home in Austin since we've moved in. I have to admit to being completely overwhelmed by all the unpacking and the feeling that I've been dealing with organization and boxes and renovations for 7 months. At least this house was almost all redone when we moved in. We just had to add some storage in the bathrooms, paint a few walls, pick out all the window treatments(ugh), and hang the pictures leftover from our Austin house staging to make it pretty nice. The Illinois State students have been hanging out at our house a lot to play games and stuff now that we live only a mile from campus. Last night we hosted our first home group, and it seemed to be a great success. I think we actually fit 40 people pretty comfortably in our basement before breaking down into smaller groups for discussion all over the house. I honestly don't know how the kids slept through everything, but they did. Yea God! He is answering prayers here. We think one girl even came into a relationship with Christ during home group last night.
The kids started school this week, and it's going fairly well. Kyra made friends right away, but Naaman has been struggling a little to fit in to second grade at a new school. The school is seriously overcrowded, and some of the teachers seem to have yelling issues, especially in the cafeteria. I've been going to lunch to make my presence known and to help the kids feel more comfortable. Poor Naaman has been sitting at the peanut-free table all alone despite our encouragement for him to find non-peanut eaters at other tables. I think he's just too intimidated to find somewhere to sit in that tight cafeteria where he doesn't have to be afraid of peanut exposure. It's hard to have no friends and a peanut allergy. I've been sharing my own experiences from being an Air Force brat, but my heart breaks for him. I just hope we don't have to move again anytime soon.
I received and accepted a job offer at a local hospital and am fairly excited to start back to work. Unfortunately they wouldn't hire me unless I could work 24 hours a week instead of my usual 16, but we have a good childcare arrangement. At least only Kelsie is home now. She is adorable and reminds me a lot of Naaman with her ability to strongly focus on a task at the age of 2. Tonight she actually worked on a puzzle for an hour while we watched a movie with the bigger kids! She did the cutest victory dance every time she completed it. then she'd start again. Too cute! I hope to start work in the next 2 weeks, but they haven't given me an official date yet. Let's just hope I pass the drug screen and physical:)
We hope to update again soon. Love to all!