What was said...

While daddy was putting Sara's jammies on last night she said "Look daddy. It's an owie. Kiss it daddy. Pees. Thank you daddy.".

Luke eating dinner.

Luke woke up early yesterday morning, then didn't have a nap all day, which is normal. Then I guess he got his belly full while working on his second helping of spinach quiche, and started falling asleep while trying to eat. I am thinking of submitting it to AFV if only so he can see himself on tv. What do you think?

Video of Luke eating/sleeping

Saying goodbye to the breast

Well, it's about that time. Sara will be 2 in two months from today. I made a promise to myself that I would nurse her until she was 2. So, I have started the weaning process. I am starting by dropping a feeding every few days until we are down to nap-time and bed-time. Then, a little bit after she turns 2, I will drop the nap feeding and so on until no more "nana".

This is going to be very hard for both of us. I was thinking about this last night and just cried so hard on Mike's shoulder. Sara is my last baby and after this I will never nurse again. I suppose mostly I am sad because for the last 4 years, I have been nursing all but 6 months. Sure, some days I get tired of it and want to quit, but it has been the most rewarding, life-affirming thing I have ever done. "Look at me! I can nourish and comfort my baby with my breasts!". It has been such a large part of my life that it is strange to imagine not breastfeeding anymore. It feels like it is time though, and doing it gradually should be easy enough. I will still miss looking down at her sweet little face while she is nursing and having her smile at me.

On the other hand, it will be nice to have my body to myself again.

Growing up

Sara is talking complete sentences most of the time now. Luke is writing letters and drawing Mickey Mouse.. ears and all. I just can't believe how fast it is happening. Luke won't hold my hand in public anymore and Sara won't ride in the shopping cart. Maybe I am just feeling reflective because 2 of my friends just had babies and my cousin is about to. It seems like a good time to see some baby pictures...

Luke at 21 months

Sara at 21 months

Baby Luke

Baby Sara

Hi there... It's July!

'Tis the season... for birthdays! First, we have America's birthday. Our family had a fun time at the big fireworks display. It was at Landreth Park here. We left our house late afternoon and walked there with the kids in the double stroller.

When we got to the park we had a picnic dinner while listening to the bands. Then the kids played on the playground equipment until it got dark.


The fireworks display was beautiful. We saw star shaped fireworks, hearts, flowers. It was amazing. The kids were awestruck. Luke was a little bothered by the noise but then he saw that sissy wasn't plugging her ears, and he is not one to be upstaged. It was a lot of fun, but then it was time to walk home because it was already 10:00. We decided to take the long way down main street because it had sidewalks the whole way... that was a very long walk. We got home after 12:00. It was a nice walk for grownup talk though. Mommy got to take some nice pictures along the way.


I learned to make bread:
Then there is my birthday cake that Mike's mom brought for me. Before:
Then I put it in the oven (which was off) and told everyone I did so... then I asked Mike to make lunch. He preheated the oven and I opened the oven door... AAAAHHH!
Too funny! Hope you are all well! Love ya! ~K4

Grandpa's visit

About a week after Granny and Debbie left, Papaw came to see us.

We had alot of fun... even if it did rain. We went to Reptile World, and to the Joplin museum.

cute lil' guy

BIG snakeThere were 2 parrots that were fighting loudly.. Sara is grabbing her papaws leg.

What a stud!Very handsome

This little girl was a big help!
At the park
The kids were so happy to see him (and me too!). Then, he took me out to dinner. Just me! We had a nice talk and enjoyed some peace and quiet. My husband fed the kids and did the dishes (wasn't that nice?). Then dad and I got our kicks on Route 66.
We saw TowMater! in Galena Kansas

We saw this building on a back street and wondered what happened. Turns out it is a bar that had mining caves under it and it created a big sink hole. I imagine they are all throughout the town...(click to see big picture)
His last day we went to the park and hung out.


We love you Papaw. Thanks for coming to see us!

Granny & Debbie's Visit

Yay! We are so happy that we got to see our family! It really helped Lucas to know that he would, in fact, see you again. They stayed for 3 night and 4 days. We spent a lot of time in the hot tub. We went to dinner, got lost, did a little shopping. We had good fun. Mostly though, Debbie and Granny got their fill of Luke and Sara lovin'. Here are some pictures:

Sara realizing it is Granny

The never ending hug

Luke is SO happy!

Family Dinner

The following pictures are an attempt to get a good picture of these 2 wacky sisters I know. After about 15 or more tries, I gave up.
Us girls

Group Hug!
This is the best picture I have ever taken of my Debbie. NUH-UH!Hehe

Well, I am so glad to get to see you both. Next time though, we are having a girls night!

Video of the kids

James Brown Hamster

Rest In Peace
James Brown Hamster
?-May 15, 2007

I couldn't sleep last night and couldn't figure out why. Then I noticed the sound of silence. There was no squeaky hamster wheel to lull me to sleep. So, I got up to check on James and found that he had passed away. We are going to hold services on Thursday. James will be buried in the woods in an area we like to go to. James was a good little hamster and always very curious... wait that's Curious George. Really though, James survived 2 moves one being a 8 hour trip. That's something. Sorry you never got to taste the sweet nectar of freedom.. except that one time you ran off right before we moved, but it's your own fault you came back. We love you James.

It's raining here today and we are BORED! Well, not so much me. I can find plenty of things to do. The kids on the other hand have decided that it is trash the room day. Which is fine except that mom spent yesterday afternoon cleaning it. That's the way it goes. I am more than willing to sacrifice mess for my own sanity.

Happy Traditional Mother's Day to all of you mothers! We celebrated on Thursday and Friday. Since I am talking about holidays I figure I will pitch our new "holiday" scheme. None. We have decided to bravely stand in the face of commercialism and not celebrate any holidays on the calender. Excluding birthdays and holidays we make up and put on there ourselves. Along with this, we do not expect gifts for anything unless it is just because you felt like it, or because YOU are celebrating a holiday of yours. I hope you will not be offended if I don't send a card or present. The way I see it, everyone celebrates holidays according to their religion or traditions, so why shouldn't we? We are not religious and in fact I think we most closely identify with Humanism. I also don't expect you to go along with our calender. I just figured we should probably give a heads up.

Don't worry we are getting used to being non-mainstream. Someone in our apartment building asked why Luke wasn't in HeadStart and I told her because I home school. Then I recognized "that look" that I hear talk about on my non-mainstream parenting board. Oh well. Maybe I am really the normal one and everyone else is weird. What's wrong with them weirdos huh?

So, it's off to try to get some outdoor time in between rain showers.

Hi everyone!

This is our cool new family blog. You can come and see how we are doing any time you want!

Let's see... what's new with us? We are all healthy and most of us are happy. Sara has been getting teeth for the last month. I think the count is up to 5 (yes, in a month). She has grown some also. Her favorite things to do are play at the park and take walks.

She likes eating too. Yes, she IS using a spoon by herself!
or just digging in momma's kitchen drawers...

but her favorite past-time is.... feeding and kissing on her good friend, Tripp

Now, Luke... he has been busy. Luke has finally figured out how to pedal his tricycle!
He can go this way...
and this way...
He has been working on skateboarding too, though I think he likes it because he looks cool:
He loves the park too.
Luke has his own Windows profile/account and knows how to log on and get to his games. He thinks it is the greatest... but now we are all trying to get computer time. Which is why you may have to poke me to update this page.
Lovin' you all!
The Kroll Family