Dear friends made this banner for us...

Somebody is potty-trained!

Bella got her braids back!

Last of birthday... phew!

MORE birthday!!

Birthday continued...

More of birthday...

Brooklyn's birthday surprise...

For YEARS, Brooklyn has been obsessed with limos. So, for her "golden" birthday (turning 7 on the 7th), we surprised the family with 2 hours of limo fun! The look on her face is captured in one of the photos, and it was worth EVERY PENNY to watch her revel in a dream come true! We had so much fun surprising her friends when we picked them up, too. Grandma got to go along for part of the ride as well. We had the music CRANKED, sparkling apple cider flowing, lots of screaming out the windows (was that ME?! oh my...), balloon fights, and TONS of laughter -- just too much fun.

We had a family birthday party here afterwards, and had a nice evening together. Well, at least most of us did... Brock crashed in to the edge of the coffee table, and he and I made a memory going to Urgent Care! Smile. Never a dull moment around here, I tell you. The karaoke machine Brooklyn got was a HIT. We have some future American Idol contenders! Ha!

Think Brooklyn feels duly celebrated. Mission accomplished. Karen

More pics of the mtns...

A day in the mountains...

If a family ever needed a day out in the gorgeous Colorado mountains, it was us. After enduring a month of LICE HELL, as we affectionately call it around here, we headed to the Breckenridge area with 5 kids, 4 bikes, and 2 bike trailers, impressively packed in to one Land Cruiser. Smile. We had a marvelous 15-mile ride from Breckenridge to Frisco and back, then enjoyed hours of splashing and searching for treasures in Lake Dillon. Our dear friends joined us for pizza and play time at the newly revamped gazillion-dollar playground up there -- it arguably has the best view of any park in North America. What a wonderful day. We arrived home tired, dirty, but really refreshed.

Booker is enjoying 5th grade and is now running a couple of miles with Brant and I to condition for tackle football, which starts in 1 week. He's so excited he can hardly sleep! The kid was born for sports, and it's fun to share in his enthusiasm.

Brooklyn is a 2nd grader now and is completely conscientious about her school work. She is also Bella's unofficial tutor, a role she created for herself. Bella enjoys the attention from her, and I think Brooklyn is a natural -- she has the patience of Job. Her hair is a newly dyed brownish color, and THANKFULLY, she didn't freak out about it. She's just grateful to be rid of the lice eggs.

Bella is eating up kindergarten and has brought home meticulous school work so far. Her teacher is so excited to have her in class, and is such a teammate in helping Bella succeed. Good teachers are such a gift! Bella is really asserting herself these days, and I'm enjoying watching her personality surface... she's a spitfire, something I recognize and celebrate in a girl! Smile.

Brock isn't going to get a choice about potty training anymore. Tomorrow is the BIG DAY and pull-ups are going to disappear. I may try to train Bode at the same time to see if the competition drives Brock towards the potty chair! Whatever works!!! Smile. Brock is such a lover... full of kisses and hugs and kind words for all. I adore him, and have such a hard time being mad at him about the failed potty training. Hee-hee.

Bode continues to smile his way through the day, cuddly as a bear, and his English is coming along quite nicely as well. He rarely speaks Amharic anymore, and while I'm glad he's assimilating, I'm sorry to watch it disappear. His accent remains, as does Bella's, and I hope those darling inflections stick around for a long while.

I am hoping to recover this week from the near-depression that set in from LICE HELL, and actually get to my long list of things to be accomplished. But if I don't, oh well. I have a loving husband and five beautiful children... and for them, I'm happy to accomplish nothing of worldly importance, but instead to assist them as they bloom. Someone recently said to me, after I'd nearly fallen apart over the lice mess and the summer it stole from us, "You know, Karen, mothering isn't all the fun stuff you take your kids to do... it's the every day, in-and-out work you do to help them grow. And picking nits out of their hair shows you'd rather be with them, helping them, than anywhere else in the world." Wise woman, that girl. Love my friends.

Brant is busy with work, work, parenting, and more work. It is so satisfying to me to watch him enjoy the fruits of his MBA and those long, crazy nights he spent procuring that degree. We are just so thankful that God continues to use him to provide for our family. He loves what he does...

We love all of you, and are REALLY missing our friends and family after being holed up so long over here. We hope to see you soon! Hugs... Karen

Lice HELL...

Oh my. I'm just now at the point where I can write about this and not weep. It has been a horrendous 4 weeks. We discovered lice on Brooklyn's head, then Bella's, then Booker's... and it has been downhill ever since. Our children now sleep on the floor with no pajamas, no pillows, and 1 blanket that gets washed in hot water every day. We put them in different places each night, and so much has been bagged up and put away. And after 5 treatments (including prescription poison) for each of the girls, 4 for Booker, and 3 for the rest of us (just to be safe), we finally decided to dye the girls' hair today. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd dye my children's hair. I had to hold back the tears -- I've poured so many chemicals on my precious babies' heads, and I'm the all-natural, organic, breastfeed-till-they're-nearly-too-old mom. We've been told the dye will do the final trick. We haven't seen bugs in weeks, but getting every SINGLE nit out of their hair (especially Bella's tight curls) is nearly impossible -- and if even ONE hatches, we're back to square one. Hours and hours and hours have been spent picking them out, but you just can't be too cautious. Suffice it to say, we are beyond tired, emotionally shot, and just plain worn out. I do laundry from 8 AM to 10 PM every single day... and when I'm not doing it, I'm thinking about doing it. Smile.

I hope to get the kids back in their beds soon -- once we're sure there are ZERO nits left in the girls' hair. Booker is clear, and so are the little boys. I swear, if we EVER get this again, I'm going to need to be institutionalized. Sounds funny, but it's actually not. It's been THAT bad.

Gotta run... heard the dryer quit. Duty calls... Karen