We are the Kafkas

Saturday, January 24, 2009

First Birthday!

Maraliese "reading" her birthday card from Grandma and Grandpa Bob.

Izabelle snuggling her chipmunk from Grandma.

Opening their gift from Radley... Noah's Ark Little People. He picked it out from the children's consignment shop and he played with it all day. : )

I made the girls tutus for their birthday and I am hoping to get some 1 year photos of them in their tutus. Notice the teal, hot pink, and black... because if my girls are going to wear a tutu, it has to be a little bit punk rock.

Not sure if they like them!

They both got their own big cupcake. The inside was pumpkin apple harvest cake that I modified with wheat flour, apple juice consecrate instead of sugar and I added raisins. The frosting is cream cheese, heavy whipping cream, vanilla, and a little bit of powdered sugar and it was colored pink with cranberry juice. I made a third cupcake for Robert, Radley, myself to share... and it was so good!!!

Izzy

Mara

Their birthday was actually last Saturday, but I am a lazy blogger! I can't believe we survived twinfants! There were parts of this year that went by painfully slow, but mostly it just flew by... in a state of blur. We have two toddlers now and I think this next year will be really, really fun! Izabelle is silly and spunky. She is loud too. Maraliese is silly, but a bit more mellow (but mellow is not a word to describe any of my kids). Mara loves to talk... not many real words, but she talks! They are both walking fools. They fight over toys and they hug and snuggle. They still sleep together in one big queen bed (well for part of the night... then they move to our bed : ) ) We are so greatful for such healthy fun kids. God has and is teaching Robert and myself so much trough these little ones.... it is hard sometimes, but so, so worth it.

Stats:

Izzy
27 1/4 in
17 lbs.

Mara
27 in
17.2 lbs

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Christmas.. kinda late!

Christmas eve we bake a birthday cake for Jesus and this year I wanted to try out the recipe that I am going to make for the girls' birthday cupcakes, pumpkin apple harvest cake with whipped cream and cream cheese frosting. Well Maraliese snatched Radley's piece. I guess we know she will like her birthday cake.

Pumpkin cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.

Maraliese is my climber and Izabelle is walking, she has not crawled since Sunday.

Rob gets a new MP3 player.

So, here I am because some would have said why no pictures of Christy. Greasy hair and all. But where there is no pride, there is no embarrassment. ; )

Radley trying out his recorder. He's not too bad.

Izabelle cooking in the kafka kid's new red retro wooden kitchen.... THANKS GRANDMA!
She really gets into it and make mmmm sounds as she pretends to eat.

Maralise playing in wrapping paper.

Radley helping Izzy play his harmonica, which by the way was his favorite present.

Our church is a church plant and still small so we did not have a Christmas eve service. So here are the kids in their "Christmas outfits" on Sunday morning.

Little Izzy trying to put her jacket on.

Masha girl... look at those rosy checks!

Way too hard to get a good pic of these kids. They are always moving and being silly.
But cute none the less.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and were able to experience God's love, grace, and mercy. This Christmas was a struggle for us . So, Robert and I decided to make some changes in our "traditions", so we can fully celebrate the greatest gift mankind has ever known...
Jesus Christ.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Ice Sculptures and More

Radley's ice sculpture. It lasted about 30 seconds and then we played table hockey with them. Next we moved to the kitchen floor. That was fun, but wet!

SNOW!

3 jackets, 3 snow pants, 3 hats, 6 boots, 6 mittens... I thought spring was going to come before we got outside.

Izabelle... she was very hands-on with the snow, or should I say face-on!

Maraliese... a bit more cautious in the snow than her sister.

At first Maraliese cried, but then everyone had so much fun. I pulled them down the trail and ran a couple times across the soccer field.

First Snowman of the year. He looks a bit scary to me!

And the making of...

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Family Picture

So here it is... our first family picture. This is the first time we were all in a picture together since the girls were born!

Here is the link to check out all the pictures.

"Home"

I am all grown up with my own family and live in Colorado, but I still call Upper Michigan my home. As a teenager I could not wait to leave that little town of Iron Mountain and get to a city. Through my time in college, I began to realize what a wonderful place the UP is and how much it has to offer and just how comfortable I feel when I am there.

We took a two week vacation back there to visit our family and enjoy the fall colors. It had been 14 months since our last visit. Robert and I drove around and got that weird feeling when you have not been someplace for so long. Buildings were gone and new business where in their places. So many things can change in a year, but there is a steadfastness about the Iron Mountain/Kingsford area that will always make it feel like home. But maybe "home" for me is where my mom is. For me, my mom represents stability and it is a struggle to be so far away from her. But through this struggle over the years, God has challenged me and continually reminds me that He is what brings stability in my life and He is steadfast and contentment comes from resting in Him. While we where home, we played outside and went the park, picked out and carved pumpkins, played in the leaves, went to camp, rode 4wheelers, Radley went fishing, spent time with family and friends, celebrated my 30th birthday, and ate way too much food. I think the best part was watching my children interact with their grandparents and great grandparents. There were so many pictures, so I put them in a slide show.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

My Favorite Season

September 22nd was not just Radley's birthday, but also the first day of Fall, my favorite season. I already have all my fall decorations out and I hope to get some pumpkins and corn stacks when we get back from our trip to Michigan. I am so happy that I am going to the great UP to see some of the best fall leaves anywhere.

My love affair with Autumn.

I love...

when the leave change colors... brown, gold, orange, red, purple

when they crunch under my feet

the crisp fall air

pumpkins

pumpkin carving

pumpkin patches

pumpkin pie

pumpkin bread

apple picking

apple pie

apple cider

apple butter

hey rides

sweaters and long sleeved shirts

mums, sunflowers, and fall daisies

scarecrows

Halloween costumes

candy corn

thanksgiving dinner

cranberries

cranberry sauce

yams

squash

acorns and pine cones

My birthday!

I Think I Will Keep Them...

...If for no other reason than that they are so darn cute!

Our Little Man is 3!

For Radley's third birthday, we did a construction theme. Each child was given a hardhat upon arriving and then they were free to play in the bounce house, the tapped off construction zone filled with construction equpipment and tools, or a coloring station with Bob the Builder and Handy Manny pages. Next we played Dump Truck Rock Toss, where the kids threw bean bags ("rocks") into a dumptruck and them we played Pin the Dirt on the Front Loader. Then we ate. Robert grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and we had varrious other dishes, including Ants on a Log and Dirt Cake (inside one of Radley's dump trucks). Radley had informed me months before his birthday that he wanted cupcakes, not a cake. So I made cupcakes but let the kids decorrate them with grass (green died coconut), dirt (crushed graham crakers and oreos), rocks (chocolate chunks), and worms (gummie worms). Radley had his own giant cupcake (pictured below). He then oppened his presents and got a ton of great stuff and the next day he helped me fill a box with toys to give away since he had gotten so many toys.

There were 17 adults, 14 kids, and 6 babies at his party!

I can't believe he is three. When I look at him, he is all boy... the baby has dissapeared. I miss that, but I am excited to see what the next stage brings.