Toddler Semantics

Last night on the way home from church, Taigen and I were talking. From the back of the van we hear Shaylen say, "Daddy, excuse me, Daddy."

Taigen said, "Yes, Shaylen."

She said, "Daddy, excuse me, but I want to tell you a question."

It was so hard to not laugh at her. She's got the right concept though.

Marshall was singing "Feed the Birds" today from Mary Poppins. Here's how he was singing it:


"All awound the cathedwal,
The saints and apostles,
Look down as she shells her way.
Although you can't see it,
You know she is smiling,
The time someone shows theeeeyyy caaaare!
Though her words are simples and few,
Listen, listen, she's cowling to youuuuuu."

It's really a hoot to listen to.

Let the Games Begin

Tonight officially starts the volleyball season for those on the city leagues here in Saco. Break out the knee pads, the sweat pants & the white t-shirt. Oh yeah...and the Advil and ice packs.

I (Crystal) look forward to this season. I get to play with Wendy Maskell. She's a friend from church as well as a neighbor. She graciously invited me to play last year. Janelle was convinced to join us this year too. I'm looking forward to seeing how competitive she really is.

Update: Hey...we had a good first night. We are in the "B" league, (read that "Below Average") and we ended up practicing against two "A" league teams last night. Needless to say, we rot. There is no doubt in my mind that we BELONG in the B league.

One of the teams we practiced against last night had some tall players so it made for an interesting few games for me when I was up on the net. We were up against two teams that have a good spirit and are friendly. I love that. We have two new players on our team and I am looking forward to getting to know them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are excited for Thanksgiving this year. We will be having the Bowmans, Trena Penney and Scott Lowicki over to our home. Trena and Scott both don't have family in town so we adopted them as family for the day. The Bowman children are all down in South Carolina at Bob Jones University. We were glad that they were available! We are having a delightful menu! Here's a peek at what we are having:

Appetizer
Cream Cheese & Pomegranate Pepper Jelly Dip
with Wheat Crackers
Cranberry Spinach Salad

Main Course
Turkey & Stuffing with Homemade Gravy
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Sweet Potato Crunch
Maple Glazed Turnips
Sweet Corn
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Pumpkin Foccaccia Bread & Rosemary-Olive Oil Demi Loaf
with Cracked Pepper Olive Oil

Dessert
Double Layer Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream
Bowman Apple Pie a la Mode
Krupnek Peanut Butter Pie
Penney Homemade Oatmeal Pecan Pie

Beverages
Sparkling Cider
Chilled Water
Skim Milk
Egg Nog
Decaffeinated Coffee

Matt and Jessica Krupnek will be bringing the Peanut Butter Pie later on in the day and will be delightful to have around come evening. Jessica is a helper in Marshall and Shaylen's Sunday school when Trena is away on business. They LOVE her! We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for, don't we?

A Trip Down Memory Lane

The kids birthday is right around the corner. I thought I would let you see the progression of our lives. Watching this brings tears to my eyes and gratefulness to my heart. Taigen and I have much to be thankful for: The happiest marriage in the world and two very precious lives: Marshall and Shaylen

New Beds in a New Room

Here are some pictures of Marshall and Shaylen on their new beds. Sherry bought them their comforters and sheets. They love them and they look perfect in their new rooms.

This also gives you a peek at their rooms. Marshall's we changed from a light blue to a dark blue and Shaylen's we changed from light pink to a cream. Marshall's accent colors are primary: red, yellow and light blue (with a hint of that sage green from the afghan and in the comforter) and Shaylen's are a bright pink and green polka dot that are in her comforter and curtains.

Hello!

Greetings from cool and crisp Maine!

We have mowed the lawn for the last time this year and the majority of the leaves and dead branches are off the lawn. It looks so good and I know that Taigen is glad to have accomplished that task. Looking at our calendar I realize that it is filling quickly. I can hardly believe the kids will be three in less than a month. 2007 is just around the corner.The holidays are always a time of mixed emotions for us since we cannot be near our biological families. However, we are spending Thanksgiving with our adopted family from the church and it should prove to be a grand time.

A Bit of Humor

November 7th: This morning the kids came downstairs after they were all dressed. We have the computer on and a continual stream of pictures scroll on our computer as our screen saver. Recently I sent pictures of Taigen and me in our wedding garb to someone and so they were on the thread of pictures to display. As I came down the stairs this morning, Shaylen greeted me at the bottom and said that they "saw the prince and the princess and it was Mommy and Dadding and they were marriage!!!" I said, "Did you see Mommy and Daddy in the picture of their wedding? Were we getting married?" "Yes" she said, "and Daddy was a prince and Mommy was the princess!" Nothing like an almost 3 year old to boost your self esteem early in the morning!Shaylen is watching me type this and I've already posted the pictures. She just said, "When I am a mommy and a big girl, I will get married and I will be a princess!"

New Dictionary Entry

tireplace: Formally known as "fire.place"; n. (frpls) n. An open recess for holding a fire at the base of a chimney; a hearth. New entry is from Shaylen Joos in N. America.

Tonight we were headed out to church and I stepped outside and said, "Oh it smells so good! Someone has their fireplace burning!" Shaylen was coming out with me and I told her, "Do you smell the wood? It smells good!" She came out, sniffed and quickly opened the screen door and told Taigen, "Daddy, quick! Do you smell the wood? It's the tire-place and it smells good!"

Master Bedroom

I thought I would start posting a series of views of our house. This post will be of our bedroom. We decided to go bold and go with a purple hue. When we tell most people "purple" they think of Barney. I would rather say "eggplant." We love how it turned out. We have two different shades in the room and we think it looks cozy and warm.

 

Guest Room

Here are a couple of pictures of our guest room...where you would most likely stay if you came for a visit.

Umputer

um.pu.ter: formally known as "computer"; n. A device that computes, especially a programmable electronic machine that performs high-speed mathematical or logical operations or that assembles, stores, correlates, or otherwise processes information.

I love the fact that the kids are talking about everyone and everything. Marshall carries around a purse that I was going to sell in the yard sale and he USED to call it his purse. I told him, "Marshall, boys don't have purses, they have briefcases." So now, he is walking around with his "briessecase." Marshall and Shaylen both get excited when we go out to eat...which isn't often, because it means they get french fries! They know that they can only get those french fries at the "Estraunt!" Since we got DSL I can stay connected to the internet all the time. Frequently I will be playing with them and I will hear the "beep" letting me know that I got a new email. I will go and sit down to read it, and most likely, respond. They will come over and ask, "Mommy, are you done with the "umputer?"