Kai's 4th Birthday

Some dear friends of ours had extra tickets to the Shriner's Circus in Kansas City last Saturday, so we decided to take Kai for his birthday. Yes, it's true--he turned FOUR on Saturday! I can't believe it!

Anyway, we went to the circus and the kids did really well. Kai was very interested in all the acts. We saw some really cool things. I had never been to a real circus before, so it was very neat to me. It made me feel very child-like and dazzled. There were all the standard acts; dancing poodles, tight-rope walkers, trapeze artists and other fun and exciting things. Because Shawn and the husband of the family we went with had to both work that evening, we ended up staying only until intermission. Even still, we got to see so many exciting things.

Quinn wasn't quite as impressed. Or maybe she was just tired, because she fell asleep about halfway through. We couldn't believe she could sleep through all that noise, but she did.

Kai giving me a smile on his fourth birthday.

I'm really not sure what he was doing here.

My Girls

Latest pictures of the girls. Here's Claire lifting her head and looking around.

A little bit of a smile. It's so hard to get a good smile picture because my camera has a short delay, during which the smiles usually evaporate.

Quinn on the stairs.

A smile picture from her, too!

Taking Inventory

November 4th was my 27th birthday.

It brought about a lot of introspection, but also some wonderful realizations about my life. In my 27 short years, I've done a lot of living. And fortunately, most of the living I have done, I have done well. I have few regrets and have made many friends. I have seen and experienced incredible things.

I have to admit that when I woke up on my birthday, I was bummed out, questioning what I have "accomplished" in my time here. I haven't made much money. I haven't had an impressive career in anything. I have failed at many, many things....including organic chemistry. I've failed at love. I've made mistakes. SO many mistakes.

But I've experienced joy. True joy that only God can give. I haven't made much money, but I have been rich beyond measure. God has shown me many miracles in my life--miracles within the world, within His plans, within other people and within myself. He has helped me through so many things in my life.

I graduated college debt-free (one major miracle!) thanks to the love and support of God, my family and having the opportunity to work throughout school. God has blessed me with three amazing little children to tend to. How amazing is it that God trusts me enough to take care of these babies? He has given me a husband who I love and respect in a way that I didn't think I'd ever be capable. God has worked in me to touch so many people's lives. That's what I think it all boils down to for me. I think I was never meant to be a star. I was never meant to be a bigshot. But God is using me (amazingly!) to love a little at a time. I feel so blessed to have the friends and family I have. I feel blessed that God can even use ME to bless others as well.

Here's to the next 27 years! Thank you, Lord, for the first 27.

Fall Nights

Our three jack-o'-lanterns. The one on left was one I carved with Kai's direction on what I should do. The middle one is mine and the one on the end is Shawn's.

For Halloween, we had dinner with some friends and their kids, then tagged along as they trick-or-treated through their neighborhood. Kai was Spiderman, Quinn was Lady from Lady and the Tramp and Claire was a chicken. Unfortunately, my battery on my camera was low and I did not get any pictures in all the hustle and bustle.

Claire was a little cranky during trick-or-treating; Quinn didn't really have a clue what was going on, but she still seemed to enjoy herself thoroughly. Kai, on the other hand, got the trick-or-treating thing down after the first house. He reminded me so much of my brother, Henry. When we were kids, Henry was super-serious and motivated about trick-or-treating. He thought seriously about trick-or-treating strategy in order to maximize candy acquisition. Kai strategized to rachet up his adorable-ness factor to get more candy. It worked. We took all three kids around a couple streets, then went home.

After we got home and put the girls to bed, Kai and I went to a few houses in our neighborhood. It brought back so many fun memories I have of Halloween from when I was growing up. It was probably my second favorite holiday throughout the years. We bought lots of candy, but surprisingly only had two trick-or-treaters the whole night. I don't know if it is because we live on a busy street or what, but I was disappointed. Too bad we now have soooo much candy left....sigh....life is tough.

The following pictures are not from trick-or-treating, but from a few nights ago when we let the kids play in the leaf pile as it was getting dark.

Quinn in some super cute overalls.

Kai and Quinn enjoying the leaf pile.

Even Shawn gets in on the fun! The kids loved that! Fortunately, there are no pictures of when Mommy jumped in the pile.

...and Fall Days

Kai and Quinn enjoying the leaf pile.

Kai getting leaves raked onto his head.

Quinn playing in the leaves.

Quinn throwing leaves on the pile.