Joey's Video Debut

It would be great if there was sound, but for those that can't see Joey in person you can see how big she is getting.

Watch for her to smile, it can melt your heart.

Evelyn Having Fun

This is a picture of Evelyn and the East Jessamine School mascot. Evie couldn't get enough of this Jaguar. If you ask her she will tell you she hugged or got his attention 5 times. She was much more interested in the mascot than she was the East vs. West football game. Shawn, Joey, Evelyn and I really enjoyed watching the game and hanging out with our friends the Barnes.

This is Evelyn on here scooter. I got her to stop long enough to get a snapshot. She can scoot like no one else's business. She has gotten very good on it coasting long distances. Her number of falls has decreased significantly. Now when she does fall it is a sight to behold. Thank God for knee pads and helmets or we would be visiting the hospital on a regular basis.

Smiling...

Here are some pictures of our smiling girl. Josephine has really started to recognize us and smile when we are near her. We can actually get her to smile and it is for sure no longer "possibly" gas. We are intrigued by how aware she is of her surroundings now. Testing her watchful gaze by moving around. Evelyn loves the smiles she gets when she is near. Evie will now dance in front of Joey and is starting to play those baby games. There is nothing like 100 rounds of peek-a-boo. It is so cute.

Joey is also getting to be master of her head. Here is a picture I took on Wednesday, October 1st while we were listening to the band practice for Sunday worship. She loves the music and trying to find out where it is coming from. I also got some video of her head/neck skills, but can't figure out how to put it on here. I'll keep working on it. You will be amazed.

Just look at those chubby cheeks. It makes you just want to reach out and pinch them. Joey now weighs in at 11lbs 4oz.

Hoof-A-Nanny

Evelyn, Joey and I had a girls day out. We spent the whole day together and ended it at the annual Lions Club Hoff-A-Nanny. Evelyn enjoyed seeing the horses in action. There were so many kids that participated. There were even some so small they couldn't stay on the horse by themselves. It is quite funny to see one parent running and holding a child on and the other parent trying to pull the horse as fast as it can go. Great effort by the parents, it something I surely would not do.

Here is a gal at opening ceremonies.

Evelyn loves this hat. She also wore her pink cowboy boots.

One example of parental participation.

This is a picture of Evelyn watching the barrel racing. I think this might get expensive.

This is where Joey enjoyed the Hoof-A-Nanny from. The confines of a wrap. She was nice and cozy (she has her pacifier in this picture, it is a family blog after all) and warm all night long. I kept her hidden in there so they wouldn't try to charge me admission for her again.

Lebak visit

We were so blessed to have so many family come and visit us. I'll update more photos when I get a chance.

Here are some pictures from the visit from Jacki, Matt, and Grace. We had a great time hanging out with family. It surely is something we miss from Minnesota.

Here is Jacki, Matt, and Grace hanging out with Joey. Evelyn was still at school when they arrived. Evelyn was so excited to see them. She practically flew off the bus when she got home.



We had a pic-nic up at Highbridge park. Here Evelyn is practicing her right as an older cousin and showing Gracie around.

We all went out for ice cream at my favorite place. Brusters! Grace managed to get ice cream on her foot and in her arm pit. It was a sight to see. Don't worry, Joey got to have some ice cream too, it just took longer to get to her.

After church on Sunday we went to the apple orchard. Ate some apples and snuck some peaches. Evelyn had a great time catching butterlies and other bugs. Grace caught herself a few times.

First Day of School

Evelyn was so excited to start Kindergarten.

Here is a picture of Evie and her new teacher Ms. Randolph. Evelyn likes her being the teacher because she plays games.

Here is Grandma and Grandpa Pirate, Auntie Denise and Evelyn on open house night.

Evelyn and Joey pose for pictures.

Shawn and I can't believe our little girl is grown up and will be riding the bus the four blocks to school. It feels so good to send her off when she is excited to learn. I hope she stays that way.

Here she is getting on the bus. There are three adults on the bus: the driver, a person to help her on the bus, and someone to help with the seat belts.

The first day of school was amazing for Evelyn, she was so excited she couldn't tell us anything about it. We pretty much had to drag it out of her. They had lunch, played games and went on a gingerbread man hunt. She strives every day to get a green star from her teacher. Any other color will mean that she miss behaves. When she leaps off the bus at the end of the day she tells us right away what color she got. She is very proud of herself and we are proud of her.

The Newest Addition Is....

Josephine Iszabella

She was born just 3 days after Evelyn's birthday. Here are some pictures. She weighed in at 6 pounds 4 ounces and 20 inches long.

All wrapped up. First picture with Mommy and Daddy.

She already has Daddy in the palm of her hand!

Joey had to go to the NICU for breathing problems. Luckily, she was only there for a short time.

Finally, they let me be with my baby. It was a long time before I could spend any time with her, Shawn didn't come to the NICU because he wasn't feeling well and didn't want to get the babies sick.

Our very first family photo.

Who came first the Chicken or the Egg?

The answer is Evelyn.

We celebrated Evie's birthday on July 16th with many family and friends. It was a luau themed party with a trip to the pool and then food and fun in our backyard. Evelyn had a great time. It was truly a day to remember.

Shawn got his first opportunity to use a friend's smoker and really enjoyed it. I often catch him looking through the cookbook for ways to smoke different things. If I were in Kentucky I'd say the squirrels better watch out!

Here are some pictures from the big day.

5 Years Old!
Cake decorated by Grampy Mickschl, enough for an army!
The army playing in the backyard.
Evie and her friends
Enjoying cake.

Barefoot and Pregnant in Kentucky

Just trying to fit in. 40 days to go!

9 months and counting

Wow....My co-worker said today, "she shouldn't be doing that, she's 9 months pregnant". (And I didn't, for those of you concerned.) This sounded so foreign to me. Just a little over 6 weeks to go before the newest Mickschl comes into our family.

Evelyn has plans for a huge party/carnival/festival complete with merry go round, hay rides, cotton candy and sno cones. We asked her when she was going to get a few jobs to pay for all of her planning and she said "wait a minute, hold on, we'll make this stuff ourselves."

My blood pressure is good. It was 104/70 the other day. No signs of bed rest, for that I am very thankful. I'm still waiting for my nesting instinct to kick in, of course, I've never been much of a nester. We'll see what happens. This baby is on the move already. I don't remember Evelyn being so active. Flips and turns, jabs and pokes. I don't know which end is up, but I'm sure it has been there several times. It must know that to survive in our house you have to be ready to hit the ground running. Evie likes to come over and say things into my belly button to the baby, I don't know what she is saying half the time, but I'm sure the baby is getting used to the big sister hollering at it.

Our Little Angel

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

This was our first Christmas away from home and it was a busy one. Evelyn was in a Christmas pageant at church. Visit http://www.numcky.org/ to view pictures from the pageant. Evelyn did a fantastic job and even had a solo!
We missed our family tremendously, but did enjoy the season. We continued our tradition with our family Christmas Eve party with made from scratch angel food cake and a birthday party for Jesus.

On Christmas Day we hosted an "I'll not be home for Christmas Party" for anyone that would not be with family. It was a fun filled afternoon with friends. Shawn even got to play poker.

Holiday Review

Hello Everyone!

We have been one busy family. Let me just say that one more time. We have been one busy family. I used to complain that I didn't have anything to do at work. Now I have so much to do that I'm even getting to work overtime. This is great at this time because we are working on becoming debt free. This will be a long process with a lot of sacrifices, but we are prepared to work on it whole heartedly. Shawn has picked up a second job to work on this as well.

Shawn has been accepted to Asbury Seminary. God sure has a plan for us and he seems to be moving it in fast forward right now. Call Shawn sometime and ask him about it.

Evelyn is busy with school and dance. A few weeks ago she had a dance recital. She is a ham and loves to be on stage. Her class danced to I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas. Here are some pictures from that day.

Some down time before the recital.
Evie is the tallest in her class, but not the oldest.

We snuck back on stage after the performance and took a few family pictures.

Daddy and Evie always a photogenic pair.

Fall is Here

We are a busy family this fall.

Shawn: Shawn has gotten a second job. He is the drum line instructor for Lexington Christian Academy. www.lcamarchingeagles.org. He is really enjoying sharing his experience with the drummers. The group has a lot of talent and potential. Shawn is very excited at this new opportunity. He is also taking 2 classes at the community college in town. We're that much closer to finishing his Bachelors. Yeah!

Tammy: Tammy continues to work at UK in Audiology. She has taken a new job, within this same group, that keeps her busy. www.ukhealthcare.uky.edu/services/audiology/index.htm. At church she is volunteering in the nursery and learning the sound board. Instead of taking a class at the community college she has joined the gym at work and hopes to spend some time there.

Evelyn: Evelyn is in pre-school at Trinity Christian Academy. www.tcalex.org. She loves going to school and being a helper. There are many kinds of helpers in her class and she can't wait to tell us which one she has been that day. Her first field trip was scheduled and rained out. They have rescheduled her trip to the apple orchard. She continues to take ballat/tap classes and is enjoying Ms. Mindy's class. www.jscd.net. We tried to sign her up for swim lessons, but they would not let her because of her age. Her previous swim teacher said she would be fine for the lowest level being offered at the time even though the age group was 6-12. We'll try again next swim session.

We are starting a new adventure as a family. We are participating in Financial Peace University. www.daveramsey.com. This class is being offered at a church near our house and will help us obtain and use the tools that we need to become debt free. Shawn and I are very excited to be working on this and perhaps helping teach the class to people at our own church.

Fall is Here

The weather in Kentucky has been interesting. Just last week it was in the 90's and humid, now it is cool and sweatshirt weather.

This fall has found our family quite busy.

Shawn:

Shawn has taken a second job as a drum line instructor at Lexington Christian Academy. http://www.lcamarchingeagles.org He is having a great time and is having a lot of fun. He says the drummers he is in charge of have great talent and is excited to share his experiences with him. Competitions days are going to be long for Shawn. After going in and working at the bakery he heads off to the competition not to return home until after 10:00p.m.

Tammy:

Tammy continues to work at UK Audiology

She's a Monkey

Evelyn tries her hands and feet at climbing the tree in our front yard. Videography work by Denise. She is here for a week after bringing Evelyn back to Kentucky from Minnesota.

I'm not as high tech as my friends in Australia (see Brooke, Ben and Zoe), but if you click on the box on top of this post you can see the video of Evie climbing.

She's A Fish

Evelyn has been enjoying swimming lessons at the pool in Nicholasville. She started out in the "Pike" level and was moved up during her first lesson to an "Eel". She has recently graduated from the "Ray" class and just needs to take one more set to finish her Pre-school swim series.

Here are some pictures of her adventures in the pool.

Evelyn loves going off of the diving board. This is the first time she did it and there was a teacher behind her and one below. She now jumps off the board on a regular basis, by herself.

Here is our little graduate from the Eel class.

The YMCA teaches boat safety and what to do if you fall out. Miss Ashley is Evie's teacher. In her class are Nathaniel, Evelyn, Emma, and Tia.

This is the waterslide at the park. Evelyn likes to go down the open one.

Evelyn has now graduated from the Ray class.

We are so proud of our little "fish".