The Krehbiel Krew

The Holidays...

2011-12-28T19:54:00.001-08:00

Wow, The holiday season is almost over. Where does the time go??? I feel like I just put up the christmas decorations and now it is almost time to take them down. We've had a fun filled holidays. Here is a quick recap....

We made gingerbread houses at church... The kids had a great time. Those happen to be some well-built gingerbread houses!! Eva..being the stubborn little girl that she is...HAD to carry it to the car all by herself. Of course, she dropped it off her plate onto the floor...and it stayed in one piece!!!! I was so impressed!!!

Holiday Baking...This year we made chocolate covered preztels, peanut butter blossoms, chocolate crinkles, peanut butter pretzels, and candy cane cookies. The kids love to help, aka eat the cookie dough.

I put the kids in charge of the sprinkles...Eva got a little "sprinkle happy".

Can you tell which one is Eva's??

Ela can't help much when we make goodies...but she loves to stand by the stove and watch the cookies bake. So cute :)

Trimming the Tree.... I let the kids decorate the tree all by themselves this year. They did a pretty good job!! Ela was more interested in taking the ornaments off the tree than putting them on.

Christmas Canon.. The kids sang in the Festival Of Choirs at Church. The last song was The Christmas Canon. MY FAV CHRISTMAS SONG!!! They did such a good job..and were also super cute!!! Here is the video of them singing. Enjoy!

Santa...Of all places to see Santa...we saw him at a Pizza restaurant!! Jak and Eva were really excited to see him. Jak asked for a Wildcat helmet and Eva asked for a Barbie.

Christmas Eve.. This year we made the trip up to Nebraska for Christmas. Here are the kids before the Christmas Eve service. They were all dressed up..and so excited for Christmas.

Next post...Christmas day!!!!

Very Pinteresting....

2011-11-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been bit by the bug...the Pinterest Bug. Last month my bunco girls convinced me to check out Pinterest. So after a night of talking about all the cool ideas, recipes and projects they have seen on this website I went home and signed up. They were right, it is soooo addicting. I thought I would share some of my recent Pinterest projects.

Tulle Halloween Wreath..
This was so fun to make! I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 100 yards of black tulle (4 spools at 25yd/each..$2/spool) and a foam wreath at $3. I cut the tulle into many, many, many equal length and then tied them around the foam wreath. That's it. Easy, eh? I threw some plastic spider rings on it to give it a Halloween touch :)

Chalkboard...
Love this , and use it every day!!! I bought an open back frame ($11) a gessoed artist panel ($4), and a can of chalkboard spray paint ($7). I sprayed the panel with several coats of chalkboard spray paint then glued it into the frame. This is probably one of my favorite projects..and plan on making some more of these chalkboards!!

Dry Erase Calender..
I bought a blank calender pdf on Etsy ($2)..printed it off..attached it to a piece of colored cardstock and put it inside a frame that I bought a Hobby Lobby ($4.50) and VOILA! A dry erase calender!! Love it!

A Christmas Countdown..
This project cost a total of $2. I already had the frame, paper, stickers, clothes pin and ribbon. I bought two flip calenders at Dollar General for $1 each. I just cut the numbers off the calender...so easy! The kids love it!!! They remind me every morning to change the number.

this is the back..a place to hold the extra numbers.

As you can see...I have probably spent way too much time and $$ at Hobby Lobby. Oh well, it is so much fun!! This is just the beginning...I'm sure there are more to come!

Clean and Organize!!

2011-10-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I started feeling like this house was in DESPERATE NEED of some serious organizing. I found a blog called Delightful Order that has a 21 day challenge. I decided to take this challenge and get our house in order!!! I must admit, it is going to take more than 21 days. With 3 kids, prechool, and all of the other sfuff going on in our lives, I feel like this might be more like a 3 month challenge. So far, I have cleaned and organized..the junk drawer, the kids rooms, the master closet...and MY FAV, the kitchen pantry!!!! The pantry was by far the biggest challenge. It was a mess..and when I say mess, I mean a disaster!! We have a big walk in pantry and it was so unorganized and cluttered that I felt like the walls were closing in. It took me all afternoon....and it turned out AWESOME!!! It makes me smile every time I open the doors and walk in there. I never thought organizing would feel soooooooooooo good!! I took some before and after pictures....

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Not too bad, eh?? Next project...master and hall bathrooms.

Run Forrest, RUN!!

2011-10-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

October 2010 I set a goal. I wanted to run the Prairie Fire Half Marathon in October of 2011. Up until July, I thought it was just another goal that I had set and didn't follow through with. Then one evening at Bunco, a couple girls and I started talking about running. Something lit a fire inside me again and I decided that this was a goal I was going to make good on. 13 weeks ago, on July 18th, I started my training. I found a website with a training plan...and started running. I have to say, my training has had its fair share of ups and downs. I didn't exactly do all the strength and cross training that it asked me to do, BUT, I have logged 155 miles of running!! I did the math and that comes out to 25 hours of running..and 17,550 calories burned!! Whoa.

This Sunday, October 9th, is the race. 13.1 miles. The weatherman is forecasting a rainy morning..yuck. I have not ran in the rain so I really don't know what to expect. SOOO...please pray for a sunny Sunday and wish me luck!!

EMAW...

2011-10-03T12:21:00.000-07:00

For those of you who aren't familiar with the term "EMAW"...it means Every Man A Wildcat. Now you know!!!! K-State football is off to a good start this year and we definitely have a lot of Purple Pride here at the Krehbiel house!!

Go State!!

First day of school...

2011-09-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

I am a little slow with this one, but better late than never....right? September 6th was Jak and Eva's first day of preschool. This is the 2nd year for both of them, so needless to say drop off went smoothly. I asked them to pose for a 1st day of school pic...they were so cute!

Even Ela joined the picture fest!

When we arrived at school, Graham and Lilah were just getting out of their truck too. The kids were so excited to walk into the building together. Eva and Lilah held hands on the way in...it was ADROABLE!!

We made all 4 kids pose for one last pic before they went inside. You can tell they were really excited about it :)

The 1st day went well. Both kids LOVE their teachers and have made good friends in their classes. It looks like it is going to be a busy, but fun school year.

Our summer in a nutshell....

2011-08-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

Bachelorette parties, graduations, concerts, birthdays, 4th of July, a wedding, camping trips and much, much more! To say that this summer was busy would be a huge understatement! I feel like we have barely had time to sit down and catch our breath...and now summer is over and school is just about to start!! I have not been very good about updating this blog because our lives have been so hectic...I will do my best to recap the summer.

June: Kathleen came to live with us for the month of June. The kids always love to have their Aunt Leenie come and stay! I'm sure after a month of hanging out with our 3 hooligans, Aunt Leenie was ready to go home and get some peace and quiet!! :)

One of my favorite memories in June was taking the kids to the Randy Rogers Band concert at the River Festival. They are huge fans..and so are Trev and I!!!

Kristen's bachelorette party was in the beginning of June...We went to Kansas City for the weekend..it was a blast!!! As part of the event, we took a pole dancing class. It was sooo much fun, and Kristen is a natural..hehehe. I would love to post a bunch of pics..BUT, I think Kristen would kill me!! :) Here is one that is probably acceptable.

June was also the last month of Trev's residency. I can't believe how fast the last 4 years have gone!!!! We attended his residency graduation on June 25th. It was a great night and I am so incredibly proud of his hard work and accomplishments.

July: Oh, July. The busiest month of all. We took the camper to Lovewell Lake for 8 days, celebrated the 4th of July and 5 birthdays, attended bible school and went to Nebraska for my little sisters wedding. Phew..makes me tired just thinking about it all. Here are some pics to recap the month.

Our trip to Lovewell Lake was lots of fun. Lovewell is only 10 minutes away from where my parents live so they were able to come and visit every day. Nana and Papa even made a trip up for one day to hang out! It was fun showing them around the lake that I grew up on. A big thank you to The Rott's and Papa&Nana for letting us borrow their boat for the trip. We spent a lot of time boating, roasting marshmallows, playing bocce ball and having water fights. It was a great trip!

This year the kids were super excited about the 4th of July. They LOVED the fireworks. The 4th also happens to be Uncle Garrett's birthday. Its hard to believe, but this year he turned 17!! We went out to Nana and Papa's house to celebrate Garretts b-day and shoot off fireworks. The favorite fireworks this year were smoke bombs, sparklers and snaps. We also were able to take our 2nd annual, 4th of July kids pics...and this year we had 2 more kids to add to the picture. They are so stinkin' cute!

July is known, in our family, as the month of many birthdays. Garrett, Brady, Kylie, Trever and Ela!!!! That is 5 birthdays!!! That also means a lot of cake and ice cream!! This year was Ela's first birthday. I can't believe my baby is 1.

July 30th was Kristen and Brock's wedding. It was soooo beautiful. She was the most beautiful bride...and Eva and Jak were the cutest flower girl and ring bearer. We spent the hours before the wedding drinking mimosas, having our hair done and taking pictures. It was a super long day for the kids. They were up really late the night before, up early that morning and had NO NAPS. That is a recipe for disaster...at least for Eva. :) They both did a good job taking pictures and at the ceremony, but by the time the reception rolled around she was in the middle of a complete meltdown. Thank goodness Nana and Kylie were there to take her back to the camper and put her in bed. That was a HUGE job!!!

We did find some time inbetween all the chaotic weekends to go camping at Cheney Lake. We love to stay at Smarsh Campground. There is always fun to be had there. Swimming in the pool, eating push-ups, helping prepare our "gourmet" camping dinners, playing in the creek, waters fights...the list goes on and on!

Wow, that was alot...and that didn't even include August!!!! I will take a break and update on August some other time. I hope everyone had an awesome summer!!! NOW...BRING ON FALL!!!!!!

13 weeks...

2011-07-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

NO, I'm not 13 weeks pregnant. Shame on all of you for even thinking that :) I have 13 weeks until I run 13.1 miles in the Prairie Fire Half Marathon. I have made up my mind!! I am tired of saying that I'm going to do this..and then not following through. SO...here we go. I offically started training this morning and I have 13 weeks until the race on October 9th!!! I am very excited AND nervous about this race...but I WILL finish!!

FIRST STEPS....

2011-07-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

ITS OFFICAL!!! July 5, 2011...Ela Sue took her first steps. Our baby is growing up too fast!!!

Girls on the Run, Mother's Day 5k...

2011-05-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

This year, my mom and sisters drove down to Wichita to celebrate Mother's Day. It was sooooo nice to have them here. We decided that we would all particpate in the First Annual Girls on the Run, Mother's Day 5K. There was an awesome turnout..almost 1000 participants! Kathleen and I ran the 5k, while Mom and Kristen pushed the kids in a couple strollers. I think Kathleen and I got the better end of the deal!!! Mom pushed Ela in one stroller...and Kristen pushed Jak and Eva in another stroller. Kristen was definitely a trooper...she pushed an extra 75lbs for 3.1 miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We all were so proud of ourselves for actually finishing the race. I finished in 207th place with a time of 30.36 min and Kathleen finished in 307th place with a time of 33.19 min. Mom and Kristen finished in just under an hour at 56 min. Not too shabby!!

BEFORE THE RACE:

MOM AND KRISTEN FINISHING STRONG!!

WE DID IT!!

After the race, Jak asked if he could take some pictures with my camera..so I gave it to him, and off he went. I ended up with lots of random pictures...trash cans, strollers, grass, sky, buildings, and cars. The funniest pictures were of shoes. He probably took about 15 pictures of just shoes. Here are a few samples....
Neno

Jak

Me

Kristen

Eva

I think we might have a future professional photographer!!! :)

As you can see, we all had a lot of fun...and I hope we have a chance to do it again next year :)

Let the camping begin...

2011-03-30T08:16:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure you can call it camping when you have a comfy queen size bed, toilet/shower, tv, ac/heater, stove and microwave........BUT, nonetheless..it is our kind of camping. Last fall we bought a fifth-wheel camper...and after a long winter spent in a shed, down in Oklahoma, we finally broke it out and went on our first camping trip of the season. It was kinda cold...39 degrees...but the whole Krehbiel/Rott crew braved the winter-like temps and had a good time!!! I'm looking forward to many more fun camping trips this spring and summer!!!!!!

Pixie Party...

2011-03-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

My sweet girl, Eva Mae, turned 3 years old on the 9th...3 YEARS OLD!!!!! I'm having a hard time believing that 3 years has past since she was born. A while ago, I asked her what kind of birthday party she wanted. She responded with "I want a Tinkerbell party, and a Tinkerbell cake, and a Tinkerbell candle...." Okay Eva, wish granted!! After a few hours of googling for ideas I was ready. I sent out some Pixie Party evites, made a sign, bought a Tinkerbell birthday banner, purchased some Tinkerbell plates and napkins, made a cake (that I was a little disappointed in....) and some other treats and we were ready for a party!!

Here are a few pictures of the decorations and the goodies table. One of Eva's favorite treats were the Fairy cookies. Debbie, aka Nana, has a friend that makes beautiful decorated sugar cookies. They turned out sooo pretty.

When Eva saw her table for the first time...she pulled up a bench, crawled up on it, and sat there forever admiring all the goodies and decorations. It definitely makes all the hard work worth it.

I have to say, my favorite part of the party was when the kids were running around outside in their costumes....on a sugar high. We let them eat way too much candy...cookies, m&m's, cake, and pixie dust (pixie stix....straight sugar!!!). They were so cute!!!

The Pixie Party wasn't the only birthday celebration for Eva. Since her birthday was on a Wednesday...and the party wasn't until Saturday....we had a daycare party Wednesday afternoon and a little family birthday party that night. Needless to say, Eva had many opportunities to blow out candles. She was a happy girl!!!!

When daddy came home from work the night of her birthday...he gave Eva her most favorite gift of all, chocolate milk and candy!!!

We also gave her a new bicycle. A princess bike!! She was in love :)

Peek-a-boo

2011-03-09T06:14:00.000-08:00

Love this!!!!

Earrings!

2011-03-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

Well.. She did it... This afternoon I let Eva get her ears pierced!!! She was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited! The girls and I were having a fun girls day out. We went out for donuts..went to the garden show..then to the mall. Although, I didn't go to the mall with the intention of getting Eva's ears pierced. We just happened to walk by Claires when 2 little girls, about Eva's age, were getting their ears pierced. I asked Eva is she would like to do that. She wasn't sure, so we watched the 1st little girl do it. That little girl started crying, so Eva said "no way!" BUT....she still wanted to watch the other little girl go. The 2nd girl was sooo tough and didn't cry at all!!! That was it..Eva wanted to do it!! Just to be sure, I made her think about it for a while. So, we went and ate lunch and talked it over. She was bound and deteremined to get it done today. After lunch we walked back to Claires..signed some papers...and voila..earrings :) Yes, Eva did cry a little but she was a tough girl and she is super excited about her new, pretty earrings. I hope she leaves them in!! The hardest part of the day.....not having my camera for the big event!!! DANG IT!!!! I had to wait and take pictures when we got home. Oh well..we can't take pictures of everything, right?

A look back...

2011-01-07T07:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday it was soooo incredibly nice outside...59 degrees in January!!! We took advantage of the nice weather and played in the backyard with no coats and barefoot!!! Yes, I know, mother of the year :) Anyway, I took a picture of Jak pushing his tractor around on the deck and it made me think of a picture I took almost exactly 2 years ago. I did some searching through my picture archives and found it. I can't believe how much Jak has changed...but still loves playing with the same toy. Melts my heart :) Here is a picture of Eva outside in her New Years hat that she made at school. She was so proud of it..and wore it all day yesterday. This pic is too cute to not post in here :) Since it has been a while since I updated my blog I will let you all know what has been going on with the Krehbiel family the last month or so... Ela has been growing like a weed. She is 5 1/2 months already. She started eating rice cereal and so far has tried peas..and doesn't like either of them. One spoonful in..one spoonful out. Ela has also started sitting up on her own and rolling over...and just had her first tooth pop up! What a big girl!!! Geez..sometimes I wish I could just freeze her at this age. Eva and Jak love Ela sooo much...maybe a little too much. They want to play with her every minute of every day. AND..by play, I mean dance, sing and yell about 4 inches from her face. Ela handles all the attention very well. In fact..sometimes it bothers me, more than Ela. I took a video yesterday of Eva "playing" with Ela. It is calm compared to most days. It has been a very busy month...and I apologize for slacking on the blog updates!! I will try and do better in 2011!!!

Ho Ho Ho....

2010-12-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of Ela Sue... Merry Christmas!!

The "Camper Box" ...

2010-11-08T14:05:00.000-08:00

After weeks of looking through classifieds and Craigs List ads, visiting dealers and lots of research....Trev and I purchased our first camper. It is a 2010 Jayco Eagle Superlite.

We are SUPER excited!!!!! The first weekend we had the camper, we went camping in Rick and Debbie's backyard. LOL! The kids like to call it their "camper box" ....and needless to say, they LOVE IT!!! Since it isn't exactly camping season we haven't had it many places yet...but, before the weather became too cold we did manage to go camping twice.

The first weekend we went to Cheney Lake. Rick and Debbie brought out their camper too...and we had a very nice weekend. The weather was perfect for fall camping!! The kids rode their bikes around the campground and went on several walks on the nature trails looking for animal tracks. I have to admit...I might like fall camping better than summer camping! The temperature is perfect and no bugs!!

Our next camping trip (and last one..until next spring) was at Perry Lake. Trever's brother, Garrett, had a football game in Holton, KS..which just happens to be close to Perry Lake. So we hauled the camper up there and made a weekend trip out of it. Neither of us had ever been to Perry Lake...it was interesting to say the least...but, the kids had fun riding their bikes and picking up rocks the the "claw". Ela spent most of her time either sleeping..or sitting in the bumbo on the picnic table. Trev and I decided that next time we drive that far with the camper, we would like to have more than just a weekend to hang out. It is lots of fun, but also a lot of work to set all that up for just two days!

Yes folks..this is a family picture!!! It doesn't happen often..so take a good look!! :) This was taken in front of our camper at Perry Lake. We had to bribe the kids with animal crackers to sit still for the picture.....and as you can see, Jak fell and scraped his lip. Not a perfect picture of all of us..but it works :)

Next summer is going to be full of many camping trips.....I can't wait!!!

Trick or Treat...

2010-11-01T08:59:00.000-07:00

Halloween 2010 has offically come and gone. It was a great night..lots of candy and lots of spooks. This year Jak was Spiderman, Eva was Tinkerbell and Ela was the cutest Chocolate Chip Cookie EVER!! .

After snapping a few shots at home we went over to Kylie and Brady's for more pictures with Lilah and Graham. Lilah was Belle, from Beauty and the Beast and Graham was a Dragon.

I thought I would share some picture from the other Halloween parties this fall. The first event was our daycare Halloween Party. We had lots of fun decorating pumpkins and eating our Halloween lunch. The kids looked so adorable in their costumes.

The next day they had their Preschool Halloween party. There was a Halloween Parade through the church and then a party in the individual classrooms. I was able to snap a shot of Eva's class, but wasn't fast enough to get over to Jak's for the group picture :(

It wouldn't be Halloween if we didn't get to carve pumpkins. We went over to Kylie and Brady's for yummy Taco Soup and pumpkin carving. All the kids were very interested in the pumpkin guts. Fun times :)

Next on the agenda....THANKSGIVING. YUM!!

memories.....

2010-10-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot about how our Halloweens have changed in the last four years. We went from dressing one kiddo in a costume..to three, just like that!! I spent the last couple days looking at pictures and reflecting back on those past Halloween costumes...we have definitely had some good times!!

2006

2006 was our last year in Oklahoma City and it was also Jak's FIRST Halloween. We thought he would make a cute Jack-o-lantern. That seemed to be the obvious choice since his name is Jak ;) He definitely was the cutest Jack-o-lantern ever..and the perfect pumpkin on our porch!!

2007

2007: This year we moved to Wichita and lived with Trever's parents while our new house was being built. Jak was 1 year old and ornery as ever!!! He was still an only child...but #2 was her way!!! I decided that I would try and make Jak's costume this year...but procrastination prevailed and I ended up buying part of it :) It was still really cute though.. he was a mummy! I bought a white jumper and tore up a white sheet to wrap him up with. Trying to get a one year old to stand still long enough to wrap up with sheet strips, turned out to be near impossible. I tried my best..and I think it turned out okay!

2008

2008: Eva's first Halloween and Jak is finally old enough to enjoy trick or treating. I made a bumble bee costume for Eva...it turned out so cute. She even had a little stinger on her bootie!!! Jak wanted to be a Biker Dude. He would sit on his little bike and make motorcycle sounds. Jak thought he looked like Papa Rick in his black leather vest. :)

2009

2009: Eva was a lady bug and Jak was Handy Manny. We put Jak's costume together with items we already had at home..so he was a "homemade" Handy Manny. I ended up making Eva's costume again. A little red and black felt, some black thread and you have lady bug. I don't know why I like making bugs...first bees and then lady bugs!

The little spooks were lucky enough to go trick or treating twice!!! Our first go around was in Superior. They walked down to Papa and Betty's to get some candy and show off their costumes. The kids were very excited to get candy in their buckets. The second Trick or Treating adventure was with their cousins, Lilah and Graham. Lilah was a cowgirl and Graham was the cutest, little Charlie Brown. What a fun Halloween!!!

We are all looking forward to Halloween again this year. I let Jak and Eva pick out their own costumes...and I made Ela's costume. She is going to be super cute!!! Come back next week for the trick or treating pictures!!!

The Changing of the Seasons....

2010-10-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

I think Autumn is my favorite season. There are soo many fun things to do this time of year....pumpkin patches, corn harvest, trick or treating..and many more. This also means LOTS of fun picture opportunities.

The kids were SUPER excited about the pumpkin patch this year. This was the first year that they were both old enough to appreciate all of the fun activities that were offered. There was a "cow train", hay bale playground and a hay rack ride. I'm sure the kids would have spent the entire day at the pumpkin patch if we would have let them. Here are a few pics from that day.

Last weekend we made the trek up to Nebraska to visit my parents. This time of year my dad is busy with harvest. We went out to the farm so Jak and Eva could ride the combine with Papa. Jak was in love!!! He rode on Papa's lap for a while..then sat on the floor and just watched all the corn going up into the combine. Eva rode for a few minutes but then decided she would rather play in the dirt.

Happy Birthday Jak!!!

2010-09-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

Jak... you are 4 years old today. Seems like just yesterday I was holding my brand new baby boy in my arms...now you seem like such a big boy.

When asked what you would like to get for your 4th birthday you said: "a tractor with a scoop, a combine, cowboy hat, boots, and a Buzz Lightyear doll." Sounds like a pretty good list to me!!

Love ya dude!!!

a baby photo shoot...

2010-09-01T11:29:00.001-07:00

So, this is a little bit out of order...but, I really wanted to share these pictures. Aunt Kylie came over when Ela was 2 weeks old and took some BEAUTIFUL pictures of her. It was so much fun!! We draped a blanket over the dining room table and started posing Ela. She was fast asleep and let us do whatever we wanted. Here are a few of my favorites....

A big thank you to my photographer!!! Who needs Portrait Innovations when you have Aunt Kylie?!?

Speaking of Portrait Innovations.... I took all three kids to that evil place last week!! Yes, all by myself! It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. As a matter of fact, the two older kids were perfect little angels! I wasn't too thrilled about how the pictures of all 3 kids turned out, but their individual pictures were pretty darn cute. Here they are.....

6 weeks old..

2010-08-31T11:41:00.000-07:00

Ela Sue is 6 weeks old!!! She is still a huge sleeper. Most days she is only awake 1-2 hours a day............and still sleeps almost all night!!

Jak and Eva love her so much and cannot get enough of her. During the rare moments that she is awake, they constantly are asking to hold and play with her. Eva has this weird obsession... every time I nurse Ela, Eva will come up and start pulling at Ela's toes and fingers, she thinks its hilarious!! ...poor Ela!!

I have to say, having 3 kids hasn't been that big of a change, so far. Ela sleeps so much that it is almost like she isn't even here. Check back in a few months and maybe my thoughts on 3 will change ;)

Preschool...

2010-08-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

Today, both Jak and Eva started preschool. Can you believe it??!!! Jak started the 3 year old class and Eva is enrolled in the 2 1/2 year old class. Enrolling Eva was a last minute decision. I didn't realize they even had a class for 2 1/2 year olds until last week. After talking it over with Trev, we decided that it would be a great opportunity for Eva. So here am I, sending my baby to school. She looked like such a big girl walking into the classroom. Jak was super excited to start school again. He took the summer class and was already exposed to the preschool setting. Everything went well and they both said that had a good time. When asked what he did at school, Jak's first response was "we ate goldfish" and "we sat on the black line and then I read a t-rex book" Eva took her favorite bunny to school for the Teddy Bear Picnic. When I asked her about it, she said "me go hop, hop" I guess that means she had a good time? I think its going to be an interesting year!!

Welcome Ela Sue!!

2010-07-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

ITS A GIRL!!!! After a long 9 months...and just 3 short hours of labor... Ela Sue finally graced us with her presence. She was born at 12:23pm on July 21st...weighing 7lbs 15 oz and 20" long. She is such a good baby!! Sleep, Eat, and poop...that is about all she does right now :) Here are just a couple pictures. Hopefully I will have time later to post some more!!

The pictures were taken by Aunt Kylie...thank you!!

SOON......

2010-06-28T06:46:00.001-07:00

yes...this baby is coming soon!!!! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone..it seems like just yesterday we were telling everyone the good news. Jak and Eva are super excited but I don't think they really have any idea how their life is going to change. I admit I'm not 100% ready for this baby. We don't have the nursery done yet...but I'm not too worried about that. As of Sunday I am 36 weeks...and started having quite a few contractions on Friday. They seems to come all day long and then disappear at night. I'm not sure what that means..maybe that I'm trying to do too much?? ...nah!! I took the recent contractions as a wake up call and decided to get my bags packed and ready to go the hospital...so now I can check that off my to do list. Now..if I could just keep the house clean and all the laundry done until the baby gets here I will be golden :) ya right!!!

Through out the pregnancy I have taken quite a few belly pics. When I first started I thought it would be fun to take the picture every week in the same shirt. I soon realized that I picked the wrong shirt for that!! It quickly became too small. I think it is interesting to see your belly grow...and grow and grow!! I thought I would share my progression pics... don't laugh!!

13 weeks

14 weeks

18 weeks

23 weeks

24 weeks

25 weeks

26 weeks

29 weeks

30 weeks

32 weeks

36 weeks

So there they are....I know, I'm huge. AND..NO, I'm not having twins..there is only one in there. Hopefully everything shrinks back down to size after this baby arrives. We will try and keep everyone posted on baby news...I can't wait to meet our little one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

growing up...

2010-06-07T08:40:00.001-07:00

Today was Jak's first day of preschool...and this mommy is having a hard time with it :( It is just a month long summer program..but it doesn't change the fact that my baby is growing up!! Jak has been talking about going to school for months now..and this morning when he woke up, he just couldn't wait to go. My neice, Lilah, is the same age as Jak so she is in the same class with him. Kylie and I took the kids together this morning...for moral support. When we walked into the school Jak and Lilah practically ran into the classroom and didn't look back. They were so excited that they didn't even care about saying goodbye. I guess it is better that way...no kids crying, just mommies.

Of course, I had to snap a few pictures of the first day. He looks like such a big boy!!

This is Jak and Lilah in front the preschool....

blood, sweat, and tears.....

2010-04-28T08:13:00.001-07:00

Okay, maybe not tears but definitely lots of sweat (and just a little bit of blood) ............As many of you know, we have been working on finishing our basement for a little over a year now. Let me rephrase that, Trev has been working on finishing our basement...I've helped here and there. Most of the time I have no clue whats going on and figure it is better to just stay out of the way! Trev is definitely a "Jack of all trades" ...In the last year he has been a framer, plumber, electrician, painter, finish carpenter, and a tile layer. Even though he can do it all himself, it has been a blessing for him to have help along the way from other people that know what the heck they are doing!! Trev's dad, Rick, and his brother-in-law, Brady, have spent many evenings helping him work on the basement.....THANKS GUYS!!!! Without their help this project would definitely have taken a lot longer!!

This week the tile is going down. I'm happy to say that we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel...and even though there is still lots to do, the basement project is closer than ever to being finished!!!

I think back to when we very first started...the room was full of boxes from moving in, a HUGE king size waterbed...and a bunch of other, for lack of better words, crap. We started in Jan of '09 cleaning up and getting rid of all of the crap..then Trev built shelves for our storage room.

After that came the framing....

Wow, Jak looks so little!!! Papa let him hold a saw...he was pumped!!

After the framing was complete, it was time for all the electrical work. Rick and Debbie's friend Lloyd Dawes is somewhat of a genious when it comes to that sort of thing, so we "tricked" him into coming up from Oklahoma to help. We traded a gourmet steak dinner at the Krehbiel house for his knowledge and labor.

Skip ahead a few months....now its time for sheet rock. The one thing that we were willing to pay to have installed!!

Okay..a few more months have passed and we are ready to paint ceilings and walls. This is one area that I was able to help. I have to admit Trev did the bulk of the ceiling painting, but I did spent quite a few hours helping!!

After a few more months have passed we decided it was time to get the ball rolling again and start the trim work. This is one area that I would have to label Trev as an expert in. He does an AWESOME job!!!!!!!! He built a beautiful bar...make that two bars....and the rest of the wood work in the basement is just goregous!! Good work Trev!!!!!!!!

Here is the finished product.... Isn't it pretty??

The bar....

Oh boy, I can't wait to have a icy cold beer at this bar!!!

The view from behind the bar. The wall you are looking at will be where the TV will live... To the left is Trev's baby...the garage door. I haven't always agreed with the installation of the garage door, but its growing on me :)

The walk up bar...

This is the club house for the kiddos. If you look inside the clubhouse on the left you will see an opening for a tunnel that goes into the playroom (aka, daycare room) This is probaby the kids favorite part.

The tunnel opening in the daycare room. It runs through the hall closet...

Jak has enjoyed working with Trev on the basement. He often asks if he can go "help daddy build a basement" He is daddy's mini-me!!

When Trev finished all the trim work the painters came in and stained all the woodwork...then Trev (and Brady) got to work painting.

This week Trev has taken "vacation" to lay tile. He has been putting in 12-14 hour days...and then Rick and Brady have been helping when they get off work til the wee hours of the night. It looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good job boys!

Here are few pictures of the tile process.

Jak's job was to pick up all the little white spacers. He picked up 700 of the darn things!!!

It has been quite a process so far!! When this basement is finished we will be having a BIG party!!!! So, stay tuned :)

Easter Time = Lots of Pictures

2010-04-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

Easter 2010 turned out to be a busy time for my camera. Coloring eggs, egg hunts, church pics, etc...click, click, click!!! I think I was dreaming about getting the perfect picture when we went to sleep Sunday night. I sorted through 175 pictures and will share some of my favs....

Thursday we let the kids dye eggs.... It was so hard for them not to stick their hands in the dye. Jak thought that the vinegar smelled gross..but that didn't stop him from from sticking his nose in the cup every time I looked away. Over-all the egg coloring experience went well. No major spills or messes. A success in my book.

Easter morning the kids came out of their rooms to find that the Easter Bunny had left them a present and had hid easter eggs full of money all over the house. They grabbed their baskets and began to search. When we found all the eggs they got out their piggy banks (or as they call them "penny banks") and put the change in them. For some reason Eva refused to put her money in her bank. She gave it all to Jak. Weird-o!! Jak didn't seem to mind.

Before church I tried to snapped a few pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits...we were already late so I didn't try too long. This was the best one...at least they are both smiling :)

We all went out to Rick and Debbie's house (aka, Papa and Nana's) for Easter lunch and an Egg Hunt. The kids were super excited for the egg hunt and it took everything they had to wait patiently on the steps before hand. When we gave them the go ahead they all started running and picking up eggs. The best part... the kids would pick up and egg, shake it, and if it didn't rattle (there were some real dyed eggs out there) they would throw it back down!!! Smart little turds!!!

After the Egg Hunt we tried to get a family picture..but Jak and Eva were more inerested in eating the candy than looking at the camera. So we decided to just get a picture with Trev and I....which turned out to be almost as difficult. Trev just loves to get his picture taken.

That evening we tried to fly kites. Rick got his kite up in the air right away...but Trev and Jak didn't have as much luck. They tried really hard...but those Kansas winds weren't blowing hard enough.

Finally...Trev got it to fly for a few minutes, but when it started to fall I told Jak to blow really hard so it would stay up. He blew and blew...but it just didn't seem to help :)

After kite flying Uncle Garrett gave rides on his 4-wheeler. Jak loved it...Eva not so much. We finally convinced her to ride with Daddy and Jak...and she had a blast.

One last note..... I've started the count down til #3 arrives.... 15 1/2 weeks left!!! We had the ultrasound a few weeks ago...no gender news. We decided to stay strong and keep it a surprise.

24 1/2 weeks along (aka 5 months..) YAY!!!

I'm two!!!

2010-03-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

Last tuesday we celebrated Eva's 2nd birthday....actually it was more like a week long celebration. We tried to make Eva feel like it was her special day. She got to pick out a dress to wear (pink, of course) and also got a special pink "birthday visor" to wear. We had a party during daycare.. and then we ended the day with a pizza party. Fun times!! Here are some pictures to recap the days events....

...with daddy in the morning before he left for work :)

Lilah brought Eva a Tinkerbell balloon when she came over for our daycare party. Eva LOVED it..and had to take it everywhere with her. We even had to tie it to the back of her chair when she ate lunch.

Blowing out her candles...

Eating the cupcake...in record time!!!

The daycare kids (at least the ones that would stand still long enough for a picture)

Eva in her new shades.. of course, this stubborn little girl has to put them on all by herself. Miss Independent!!

On Saturday we had the family birthday party. It was a Cookie Monster themed party. If you didn't already know, this little girl is a just a little obsessed with cookies. She sleeps on a chocolate chip cookie pillow case for pete sake!! Eva's face lit up when she saw the table with all the cookies and cookie monster cupcakes. I think everyone had a good time... I know the kids did!! The only thing that would have made the day better would have been a K-State victory.....darn Wildcats!!

The Cookie Monster spread....everything turned out pretty good! I was a little disappointed in the way my cupcakes turned out. They looked more like fish than cookie monster... LOL! BUT...the first thing Eva said when she saw them was "cookie monster!!" so, I guess it was a success :) If you look on the bottom left corner of the sign behind then table you will see that 2 chocolate chip are missing from the cookies. Yes, I used real chocolate chips for that..and yes, Eva ate two of them after I hung up the poster. Silly girl!!

Here is Eva looking over her table. She is probably thinking "oh, I don't know where to start first!!" She is such a sweets girl. I wonder where she gets that from??

I didn't really get any good pictures during the party.. . :( I kinda forgot for a while....then when I realized I hadn't taken any pictures yet, it was too late. BAD MOMMY!!! Aunt Kylie posted some cute pictures on her blog from the party.. Thanks Kylie!!

Snow Days

2010-02-08T16:50:00.000-08:00

Playing in the snow can be sooo much fun... especially when you can experience it again through a childs eyes. It makes me feel like a kid again!

Pretty, Pretty Princess...

2010-01-27T08:26:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I found a pink princess bath robe in Eva's closet. It is clearly meant for an infant.....but Eva quickly fell in love with it and insists on wearing the robe almost every day. This girl is obsessed..and refers to herself as a princess while she has it on.

The other night while the boys were at Home Depot (doing manly things) I decided Eva and I would have a girls night. I painted her fingernails and we had a tea party...of course she had to wear her princess robe. I snapped a few pictures while I was painting her nails..but didn't get any of the tea party :( Maybe next time!

Here are a few pics of the princess....

It has been a while since I posted last so I will try and catch everyone up on the family happenings from the last month....

Trev has been working very hard on the basement! He just finished all the trim work last weekend..and now we are trying to decide what to do for flooring. This topic could be a whole post on it own! I will try and get some good pictures of Trev's work and post them later. Jak has been daddy's little helper..and even has his own work bench downstairs in the clubhouse... if you ask him what he is doing at his bench he will tell you that he is "building a basement" too cute...

A couple weekends ago we went with the Rott's to Exploration Place. The kids loved everything about that place...but I'm pretty sure they could have spent hours at the water table. Afterwards we went on a walk to check out the Keeper of the Plains. It always amazes me that we have lived here for over 2 years now and still have sooo many things we haven't done or seen.

Last weekend we attended Emmy and Heath Harp's 30th Birthday Party. It was an 80's themed party.. and was totally awesome :) Of course I waited until the last minute to come up with an 80's outfit...but thanks to Kylie, we made a trip to Claires where we hit the 80's jewelery mother load! Who knew 80's was back in style? Not me! Kylie and I even managed to get the guys to dress up! Kylie broke out her old crimper...I put my hair in a side pony tail...add some neon clothes and jewelery..and we were ready to go!

AND...last, but not least... :) This last sunday I realized I was 14 weeks pregnant...ALREADY?!?! It is funny how fast time goes by! I thought I would put a picture up to mark the second trimester. I know..I'm huge already! I'm going to be as big as a house by the end of 9 months!!!!

(thank you to kylie for some the pictures from Exploration Place and the 80's party!!!)

Jak Krehbiel...aka Pablo Picasso

2010-01-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

Jak has always loved to draw. In just a few short months Jak has gone from drawing squiggly lines and scribbles to drawing cars and people. I was amazed when he brought his magna doodle to me and said "mommy, look! I drew Jak!!" I might be a little biased...but I think his drawings are pretty good for a 3 year old!

The two drawings below are the first two pictures he drew of himself. Trev and I kinda laughed cause he looks a little bit like Wall-E

This is supposed to be Mommy, Daddy, and Jak... LOL!

December...its been a busy month!!!

2009-12-21T10:57:00.000-08:00

Wow...December has flown by!! It has been a busy month for the Krehbiel family. So far we have to traveled to Nebraska, Texas, Kansas City, and next weekend we will be going back to Nebraska to celebrate christmas with the Sweet family. We have yet to spend one weekend at home this month! I will try and touch on a few of the high points from this holiday season so far...

The first weekend in December I took the kids up to Nebraska to visit my family. Some of our highlights from the weekend included a trip to see Grandma Evelyn on the farm and a Christmas light tour through Candy Cane Lane in Lincoln Park and around Superior. The kids LOVED the christmas lights!! I also was able to help my dad and sisters hang christmas lights outside my parents house. It has been almost ten years since I've been home to help hang the lights! It has always been a tradition to wrap the tree in the front yard with as many christmas lights as possible. My dad is the poor soul that gets to unwrap the tree afterwards...but he never seems to mind :) Here are few pictures from christmas light hanging.

Since it has been so busy this holiday season I was VERY late getting our tree up and decorated. I decided to let the kids decorate the tree this year. They were very excited!! I showed them how to hang the ornaments on the tree branches then let them take over. Jak quickly became a pro..but Eva just couldn't quite figure it out. She decided that she would just hand Jak the ornaments to hang up. They were quite the team! Even though all of the ornaments ended up in a small cluster at the bottom of the tree, it still looked good! Jak and Eva were very proud of their work!!

and the finished product...if you look close, you can tell all the ornaments are at the bottom!

One last note..... it looks like we have one more thing to be grateful for this christmas. Baby Krehbiel #3 is due in July!!!

Thanksgiving Fun...

2009-11-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

I am very thankful that I was able to take the entire Thanksgiving weekend off to spend with my family. It has been a nice, relaxing weekend...so far.

These are pictures of Jak and Eva helping me bake for Thanksgiving. They helped me pour ingredients in the bowls and stir...then they were rewarded with the beaters and bowl to lick clean. They thought that was the greatest thing ever!!

I was in charge of making the cherry pie for our Thanksgiving feast. I decided to attempt a latice for my top pie crust. My Aunt Pam always makes the prettiest latice designs on her cherry pies...so I was bound and determined to make mine look just as good! To my surprise, it actually turned out pretty good!! I think Pam would be proud of me :)

before baking...

finished product!

Saturday morning was soo beautiful! I decided that it would be a great day to go to the park.....and maybe try and take pictures for our christmas cards! We had a nice little picnic..tried sooo hard to take some good pictures, and then went and played at the Sunrise Playscapes...they love that place!!!

Off Roading....

2009-11-19T08:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I walked into the living room to find that Jak had made a "road" out of his books..and was driving his dump truck on them. He thought it was pretty hilarious!

Jak has also taken up photography. He learned how to take pictures with my camera and thinks he needs to take a picture of everything!! Well, I guess he gets that from his mommy :) Here are some samples of Jak's pics....

Jak says "say cheese mommy" then after the picture he says "awe, mommy that was a good one!" thanks jak!

Baby Shawn..one of our daycare kids

I had just taken a picture of him with the lion mask on...so he made me do it too! Not a bad picture though..other than the fact that I look like a dork!! :)

My Whiz Kid!

2009-11-16T16:07:00.000-08:00

I am so impressed with Jak's puzzle skills!!! Today Aunt Kylie brought over two, 25 piece puzzles for the kids to play with. Jak was so excited! He sat at the table and started working on them. About 30 minutes later he started yelling "mommy, mommy come look!!" I went in the kitchen..and WHOA!! He had finished both puzzles! He must be a natural at puzzles, just like his Great Papa Bill!!

This is Eva with her 3 favs...... pink cowgirl boots, cookie pillow, and Cookie Monster book. What more could you want?

A girl and her boots

2009-11-11T12:57:00.000-08:00

Eva loves shoes....especially her pink cowgirl boots that were handed down from her cousin Lilah. Sometimes I have to hide the darn things because she wants to wear them constantly. Almost every morning she will go find them and put them on over her pajamas!! I think the her favorite thing about the boots is the sound they make as she is walking across the hardwood floor. She will stomp around watching her feet with the biggest grin on her face. She even discovered that the boots can also serve as a koozie for her sippy cup. What a crazy little girl!

Here we go.......

2009-11-11T12:36:00.000-08:00

For the last three years I have been considering starting a blog. I have been reading blogs that my friends keep and every time I look at one I always say to myself.... "I need to start one!" So, here I go...I am finally going to start a blog so my family and friends can keep up with my life and my kids!

I can't promise that it will always be interesting....or even updated that often.....but I will try my hardest!