The Good News Cruise

Our older three were in a musical last Sunday. They've been practicing at AWANA for a couple of months, and they all did a fantastic job! It was called "The Good News Cruise" and it was very cute. Most importantly, it was a clear presenation of the gospel. Nathan had the part of the captain, and Megan got to be Kay LaHay. Nathan's part included a solo, but Megan's didn't. She desperately wanted one, but she understood that the older kids got first dibs on them. At the very end, though, the director decided that one of the verses of the songs should be a solo, and Megan got to sing it! She was so excited!

Carsten's Birthday

Carsten turned 3! His personality is really starting to blossom. He is a very hard worker. He loves to haul heavy things in from the car to help Mommy. We call him our little lumberjack. Carsten also has a very firm sense of how things should be. He doesn't like to deviate from his determined path. He and Justin are best buds, and Carsten hangs on every word Justin says.

For his birthday, I had assumed that we would do a Spiderman theme. Carsten has like Spiderman ever since he turned two and got his first "real" underwear. They had Spiderman and friends on them, and he was hooked. "Spiderman" was one of his first words. Imagine my surprise when I started planning his birthday, and he announced, with great emphasis, "I NOT have a Spiderman birthday. I want lots and lots of Ele's." Ele is his stuffed elephant that he sleeps with.

Hmmm, lots and lots of Ele's. Carsten does love elephants. When we took him to the zoo awhile back, he just sat there in front of the elephant's enclosure completely silent. Then he said, in that little low, husky voice that just melts my heart, "That's mine."

I couldn't decide on how to implement the Lots of Ele's theme. I sent out a cute elephant picture for his invitation, and then I hit on the idea of cupcakes with little elephants on top. I figured I could make them out of marzipan. Of course, I wasn't thinking about how LONG it would take to do all of them, but I managed, just barely, to have them done before the party.

We weren't sure how he was going to handle all the attention at his party. He goes to great lengths to avoid being the center of attention. He was VERY embarrassed to have to open his gifts, but he was polite, he said, "Thank you," very quietly, in a sort of monotone, after each one.

He was happy about his party, though. Afterward, he said he had a good time. I still can't be believe he's three!

Steffen is Walking!!

Well, Steffen has finally started walking! He's 13 months old. He started taking steps 2 weeks ago, but has been a little (a LOT) resistant to giving up crawling. This week he's been doing a lot more walking. He's not a toddler yet- he's more of a wobbler. He thinks he's hot stuff when he walks, an opinion that is validated by his siblings who cheer him on.

Megan the Gymnast

Megan loves gymnastics. She's on the Level 2 Girls' Team and has started competing this season. This is a video of her most recent meet a few weeks ago. She did really well!