Lars' Birdhouse

Lars is crazy about wood, nails, screws, hammers, screwdrivers, etc. In fact, one day we were at Lowe's looking for some wood for our basement and he cried right in the middle of the store because we wouldn't buy him some decorative wood end caps or crown molding to take home and create something with.

Well, one of Lars' Christmas presents was a birdhouse that my uncle Richard crafted. He cut all the pieces and pre-drilled all the holes for the screws, and even etched in one of the pieces of wood "Made by Lars Kain". Lars had been waiting and waiting for dad to help him and threatened several times to just do it himself. Well, tonight was the big night and Lars was just beside himself with excitement. He wasn't quite sure of the power drill at first, but he loved hammering away at the nails. After he was done, he proudly took it upstairs to his room where it will stay until we see the first birds returning in the spring.

Poor Dakota

Jamie decided to take Dakota on a run Sunday afternoon before Uncle Matt and Aunt Diana came over to help us celebrate Drew's birthday. When he got back, we noticed that Dakota had a big gash in her leg. Jamie was a little unsure of how it got there as he never heard her yelp or anything on their run, but it did look like a barbed wire cut deep into her leg. Jamie wrapped it up with some gauze and figured it would be ok until morning when we could get her to the vet, but about 30 minutes later we noticed that the blood was going to start seeping through the gauze. Poor thing!

Jamie decided to call the vet (remember this is a Sunday at about 6 pm...) and their answering machine directed us to a vet hospital in town that is open 24/7 on the other side of town. Jamie got Dakota in the van and headed on over.

Being that it was Drew's birthday and the poor kid hadn't even gotten to open his presents yet, we went ahead and ate without dad and even opened presents. It wasn't the same without him, but at least Matt and Diana got to be there and eat Grandma Paula's Chicken Casserole that I made and a batch of buttermilk brownies. (Drew's two most favorite foods ever).

Jamie and Dakota made it home about 2 1/2 hours later, and he had to carry her up the stairs to our bedroom because she doesn't come out of anesthesia very well and was still having trouble walking. She had gotten a few stitches and the docs said all should be fine. So far so good, but what a night!

Happy Birthday Drew

My baby turned NINE yesterday! Where has the time gone?? I think about how fast the last nine years have gone and realize that in nine more years, he will be leaving home for college. WOW! I know nine years is a long time, but it is amazing to put it into perspective that way. Especially considering life will continue to get busier and busier, making the time go that much faster.

He is such a great kid and has been such a blessing to us. It is so fun to watch him grow into a "big guy", yet at the same time see the things that keep him my little boy. He loves his WebKinz and sleeps with at least one each night. He loves to snowboard and even wants us to move back to Colorado because, "...that's where I'm from and all." (He was born in Denver for those that didn't know that). He is the most awesome, kind, helpful, happy, PATIENT, and special big brother that Lars and Maddi could ever have, and he truly loves them. He loves his dog Dakota. He loves God. He loves and is great at drawing. He far surpasses me in all things technological.(Not hard to do, but still...). He loves school and his friends. He loves equality. He loves to play sports. He loves to take self portraits with my camera. He loves cartoons. And he loves ME! (I am sooo lucky!) Mom and Dad love you so much big guy, and we thank God for you every day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Spring Break 2009

So we started a new tradition at the Kain Household this year. We have decided that every year, the very last Christmas present that the kids get to open will be the announcement of our Spring Break plans. Truth be told, we are secretly hoping that this new tradition means a few things for us:

1. Our kids will always WANT to come on a Spring Break trip with us

2. As they get older and have families of their own, we can still all take a family vacation together every year

I know this all sounds a little hopeful, but you've got to start somewhere right? Jamie and I have yet to take a vacation without the kids (that means 9 years!) because we just can't think of any trip we would want to take that they couldn't be included on. I'm sure someday we will, but spending uninterrupted, fun, family time together is just too priceless right now!

So this years trip (drum roll please.....) is to Minneapolis, MN! Lars was MORE than thrilled because it means he can go to the Mall of America where there is a LEGOLand and he can buy little Lego guys by the handful. We also plan on staying in the Water Park Hotel to get a little pool side action, and we are going to top it off with a little slope side action at Afton Alps. We can't wait and hope our new tradition brings fun for many years to come!

Cupcake Heaven

So Maddi's Santa gift was a cupcake maker/decorator. She just HAD to have it and everytime we were in a store and went by it she reminded me of how badly she wanted/needed it. So on Christmas morning she was thrilled to see it sitting there! I think we had made our first cupcake by 7:30 am. And we all know how tasty those mixes that come with the toy are. (Blech!)

Santa was also creative enough to bring her a little chef's apron, and a matching one for me! How clever that jolly old man can be! There were several occasions during holiday baking that I wished Santa had dropped mine off a little earlier, but oh well. Maddi loves her cupcakes and thinks she is an awesome cupcake baker--she'll make one for ya if you want!

Lego Freaks

Ok, so my boys are a little bit obsessed with Legos, Lars particularly, but both boys are always thrilled to get Legos of any kind. Lars also has an obsession with Star Wars, so of course he loves all Lego Star Wars ships, especially the big ones. We have had to make a deal with him though, since the big ships cost alot more than the little ships, that once they are together, he has to leave them together and play with them in that way.

Our kids are allowed to ask Santa for one gift, and of course he asked for the Lego Star Wars Imperial Fighter Gunship (got all that?). Good 'ol Santa came through and of course that was the first thing Lars wanted to build on Christmas Day. This one was pretty detailed so Jamie decided to help him with it. SIX hours later, they were done. Lars is very focused when he has a goal in mind, so he was not about to let up on building this ship until it was done. Even when Grandma and Grandpa came over, he ran over, opened his gift (another Legos kit--which he did later that evening!!!) and went back to his big ship! Now that is some dedication. If I could only find a way to tap into that enthusiasm when it is time for him to clean his room, I would have it made!

Merry Christmas

Christmas time again! This was such a fun year as my kids were at such great ages to enjoy Christmas! Old enough to understand that it is REALLY about Jesus, yet young enough to still believe in a little magic as well. The other day Lars came into the kitchen and said, "Mom, on (such and such cartoon) they were asking each other about the true meaning of Christmas. Can you believe that not one of them got it right? None of them said it was about Jesus!" A huge smile came across my face and my heart melted a little, as my 6 year old gave a me a sign of hope that as parents we are maybe doing something right.

What a glorious and unselfish gift God gave to us so many years ago! I hope that your Christmas was a merry one, and that God has many blessings in store for you and your loved ones in the upcoming year.

Merry Christmas to Me!

The annual (well, sometimes annual, considering we skipped last year for some reason) Kain Family Eye Care Christmas Party was last Saturday despite arctic style temperatures, dangerous winds and snow to top it all off! We headed out to HuHot (mongolian barbeque style) for some food and fun and had a great time. Due to the sub par weather conditions, the restaurant wasn't very busy (usually at least a 30 minute wait on a Sat. night) and we were able to be seated right away. Lots of plates of good food and some dessert to top it off left us all feeling pretty full, but NOT too full to open a few presents.

I must say, I am SOOO spoiled because I was given a BEAUTIFUL Tiffany's bracelet (my first gift ever from one of those tell tale blue boxes). I have loved wearing it and showing it off, but truth be told, it represents a lot more to me than just a gift of kindness. To me, this gift represents the fact that I have a great group of people that work for me, and it shows in how hard they work for me day in and day out. I am constantly getting comments from patients about what a great staff I have and I am fortunate to be able to look back at them and say "I know!"

Because of them I have been able to cut back on how many days I am in the office, which has been so rewarding for me and my family. I have known for a long time that I wanted and needed to do this. By God's grace, I was able to jump on an opportunity allowing me to do this. One of the best parts is knowing that the patients are still getting great care from my tech staff and Dr. Voyles when I am not there. I am so truly blessed in so many ways, that all I can say is "Thank you, thank you, thank you" to each and every one of them. God is so good!

Winter Playground

We live in a neighborhood where there is a bunch of open space and the city has decided to build a sports complex on it. It will be awesome when it is done, but who knew all the fun it would give us this year while it is under construction. They started pushing dirt around this fall and it is amazing what they have already accomplished, the best part being that it has left us with some awesome sledding/snowboarding hills right outside our door! Lars cracks me up in that he uses his snowboard for a sled. He knows how to snowboard and is actually pretty good at it, but it's just a whole lot easier to slide down on your belly! Even Dakota had fun, and then we went inside and had hot cocoa (with marshmallows fo course!)

My Backup Career

Saturday the kids and I (Jamie had to work--then ended up barfing all day Sunday) went to Ames to see our good friends the Overmans. They had invited us and a couple of other families from Iowa City to come over and see the Christmas production that their church puts on every year. (BTW--FABULOUS!!!)

Lars was tired and decided to fall asleep in my lap during the play. He woke up with 5 minutes left in the program, but was wimpering and saying his tooth hurt. Trying quietly to calm him and get him to stop, it was getting worse so I had to leave the auditorium. By the time the program was over a few minutes later, Lars was beside himself and in such pain that he couldn't stop crying. (He had mentioned to me on Friday that he thought his filling that was in that tooth had fallen out, so I was planning on calling the dentist on Monday.)

Well, as luck would have it, our friend Jacob (aka Dr. Overman) is a dentist and suggested we go to his office so he could take a look at it and make sure there wasn't an abscess. Luckily there wasn't, so he was nice enough to drill out the gunk and refill it with some white stuff. As it was after hours, Jacob had me be his assistant so I got to use the water squirter and the suction tube thingy, and I was pretty proud of my duties. Jacob said I did fine, but my guess is that he won't be offering me a job anytime soon. If the economy gets bad enough however, maybe I could moonlight a few days a month :)

Oops! He Did It Again

Here we are again, another photo of Drew with some sort of ailment...

So today after school the boys in our 'hood were all thinking it would be a blast to go find a steep, icy driveway on our street and slide down it on their bottoms, knees, backs, whatever they felt like. All was good for a while until they decided they were going to add a snowball fight to the mix. Well, I don't know about the rest of you reading this, but we really don't HAVE any snow here right now, it's all ice. Therefore, (you may sense where I am going with this) as one of these snow/iceballs was coming at Drew, he zigged when he should have zagged, and now his face looks like this!

Of course Dad was at the gym when it happened so I had to look at it and decide if it needed stitches (I called my neighbor Christi-also a nurse) and we decided that it would probably be ok. They say things happen in threes, wish me (or Drew) luck!

Superheroes

We went to Grandpa Jim and Grandma Irene's house for a belated Thanksgiving/early Christmas last weekend and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins and being silly. Irene's son Jim and his wife Dani are always so thoughtful and get the kids a little something for Christmas every year, this one being no exception. The kids were thrilled when they got to open their presents-pillowcases!! (even better because Dani actually made them herself)

Drew and Lars got Transformer pillowcases and Maddi got a pink Iowa Hawkeye one (they know her pretty well, eh?) The kids all wanted them tied around their necks after they opened them and wore them as capes for the rest of the night. They didn't even take them off to eat dessert! And of course the kids wanted their new pillowcases to be put on their pillows before they would go to bed!

Experimenting 101

So this morning as Drew was outside waiting for the bus to come, he decided to do a little experiment. You know, the one where you stick-your-tongue-to-a-frozen-metal-pole-just-to-see-if-it-REALLY-will-stick-to-the-pole-and-pull-your-skin-off? Well, what more could a good scientist want than for an experiment that gives results that can be proven time and time again! Here's Drew's proof! My guess is that he will lay that experiment to rest. On a side note, he did make the comment that he thought it was cool that he could still see the parts of his tongue that stuck to the pole. GROSS!

All I Want for Christmas...

Now Lars can sing the ever popular "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" song as he lost another tooth today. We have been waiting for that darn tooth to come out forever. What perfect timing!

Christmas Decos on a Budget

My friend Steph Overman will be so proud!! Here are a couple of Christmas tree decorations I made this year and they look even better in *real life* than they do in the photos. They rock on so many levels, including the fact that I made each one for less than $0.30. Yes, 30 cents!! Also, they were so easy that even my 4 year old could do it, and so fast that they didn't even have time to get bored before they had a project completed right in front of them! As my friend Steph's daughters would say, "Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!"

Here are the how to's and the cost breakdown:
(all products were bought at Hobby Lobby during one of their MANY 50% off sales)

1- 12 pack of clear tree balls $2.00

3- 1 yard rolls of ribbon $1.00

1-pack of rub on transfers $2.00

For the ribbon filled balls, first take the top off of the ball. Cut about 1/8 of a yard of ribbon and push it down through the top of the ball. Replace top. Done! See, easy!

For the balls with rub on transfers, cut out the transfers you want to put on the ball and rub away! Done! Unfortunately the pics of these did not turn out well. If you want to see them you'll have to stop over and have some Christmas cookies with me ;)

This is such an easy way to let the kids help with Christmas decorations, and a way for them to let some of that craftiness show through!

Have fun!!

Tree Decorating

Well it is that time of year again--Christmas tree decorating. A few years ago we decided to buy an artificial tree because we (ok, Jamie) was sick of cleaning up pine needles and dealing with the mess of a real tree. After all, buy a few extra candles and it can still "smell" like you have a real tree. In an attempt to save money (i.e. be cheap) our new artificial tree left something to be desired. It made it through a few years ok, but each time we put it up we would groan about how miserable it looked.

Enter this year. Our basement (FINALLY) finished, we decided to let the kids use the artificial tree down there, and decorate it themselves. About 2 weeks ago we started a mission of creating ornaments using perler beads. (Those beads that fuse together when you iron them.) We got this idea from some friends of ours who did this a few years back. Unfortunately they don't live here anymore, but it was great to be able to think of them while we were making them. Thanks Hammetts!

So here are some pictures of the kids decorating the tree and then Drew just messing around with the camera taking silly pics of his sister. My favorite is the shot of Maddi's legs...?? Note, once again, the desire for long hair my daughter must have, as she wore that shirt on her head most of the day.