Naomi: 16 Months

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

Oh, this little girl! She is growing up so fast! She is wearing 2T clothes and doing her best to keep up with her brother. :)

She says a few words, like uh-oh, daddy & mama (finally) but I think Ben talks for her, and so she doesn't really have a need to talk. :)

We loves music and dances with any sound of music.

I must admit I LOVE doing her hair, I never thought I would have this much fun. Who would have ever thought I would be brushing BLONDE curls. :)

Kidless Wedding Weekend!!!

Well, we left our kids for the first time ever this weekend. We got off to a rocky start, with Andrew getting delayed in Philedelphia for so long that he missed his connection in Charlotte and ended up renting a car and not getting home until 2am Saturday morning... but we proceeded anyway... just added a few more coffee stops.

We left the kids in the very capable hands of Aunt Becki & Uncle Jonathon and headed to Augusta, Georgia to party with the Goodrums. :)

If you don't remember, the Goodrums are a family in our church, whom we love almost as much as our own family. We took care of Cecilia's daddy for a while before he moved to assisted living, he and Ben had a wonderful time together. :) Andrew also also employed Caleb when we were doing construction and Caleb and his sister Mary-Lisa were in youth group when we helped out. So, needless to say they are near and dear to our hearts!

My constant battle is whether or not to "document" the event, or just sit back and enjoy it. 95% of the time I go for the former... but this weekend I went for the latter. We had a great time away... although not quite long enough I think... and had a wonderful time being a part of Caleb & Nada's wedding! The ceremony was beautiful, the food amazing (Nada is Egyptian so they had a Mediterranean themed dinner), and unique to this wedding was a Lego video created by the groom's little brother depicting Caleb & Nada's relationship (sort of), learning the Egyptian Wedding Call and watching Nada's aunt teach Caleb to belly dance. :) Good times! And here are the three pictures I DID take. :)

Richard & Cecilia (Parents of Groom, and Richard was the Best Man)

Mary-Lisa, Kim Pierce & Caleb

The Radiant Bride & Groom!

Bumpersticker of the Day

EAT MORE OPOSSUM

Ice Cream & Apples

After picking up Andrew from the airport Friday night (he had been gone a little over a week)... on the drive home:

Andrew: Ben, were you good for mommy this week?

Ben: Yes!

A: Did you obey her right away?

B: Yes.

A: Were you good enough to get ice cream?

B: Umm.... maybe?

----

Ben: Mommy, your computer is old.

Leah: Yes Ben, I know.

B: Mommy, it is super old... it is going to die soon.

L: I know.

B: When it dies can we get one with an apple on it?

Completely unprompted. But cool Uncles Daniel & Jonathon have apples on their computers. Apparently theirs are far better than my 7 year old dell:)

Cool Chick

Mango Eaters

We Krishnans love eating mangos. I remember all standing around when my dad would cut one open when we were little... and there was always a battle over the pit. :) I love having my kids experience some of the things I did growing up... and mangos are just awesome. :)

Oh Say Can You Say...

Forget Saturday Morning Cartoons... Uncles who read Oh Say Can You Say before 8 in the morning are the BEST!

Asheville Swine

Why do we live in Asheville, NC? Here is one of the many reasons:

Because any old day you could see THIS while driving down the road. :)

Bele Chere Weekend!

Bele Chere 2011!

Bele Chere is a funny thing... half of Asheville heads downtown to enjoy the festivities and the other half goes out of town or hides in their house. I am one of the former. I love it, for so many many reasons. I used to love it for the music, the booths and an evening out, now I enjoy the air conditioned kids area and the balloon man... and the 5K... and I have ALWAYS loved it for the food (Corner Kitchen reuben and Mama Citas guacamole tacos!) and especially the people watching.

My brother Micah flew down for the weekend and we tried to pack it all in, as we always do. We managed to do Bele Chere Friday & Saturday night, watch/run the 5K, see Harry Potter 7, go to 12 Bones for lunch, Birthday Dinner for Daniel and we also packed coffee and a nap or two in there. :) So here are some pictures from our awesome weekend.

Pre-5K on Saturday morning.
Daniel (brother-in-law), Eric (father-in-law), Lara (my amazing 7 1/2 month pregnant friend), and Micah (brother).

Hopefully next year I will be on the OTHER side of the camera with a number pinned on. :)


There they go! It was so nice of Eric & Lara to wear bright colors, much easier to see them!


Eric crossing the line... and the time was a minute or two faster since they were at the back of the pack when starting.


Micah & Lara coming across.


Post race. Note how far apart they are now as compared to the first picture. :)
Running at the end of july in humid A'ville makes you SWEAT!


Some of the entertainment at Bele Chere. I love the gold girls. :)
They have Ben a chocolate kiss when he gave them a $1.


Ben getting balloons.
This is my brother Ryan's friend Mark, so he totally hooked Ben up. :)


That right... crazy hat, light saber WITH holder. :)
And what do you do with a light saber? Attack uncle micah of course!


Watching the Dog Jump.
Tall Uncles ROCK!


So this is Bele Chere. And can you believe that some guy came up to me when I had stopped to talk to some friends to tell me that "my stroller was in the traffic pattern."


Bele Chere!

Thanks for letting me steal your pictures Micah!

And finally a video taken by my brother Micah, which perfectly captures why I go to Bele Chere... there is nothing quite like the people at Bele Chere. It is worth the 17 seconds to watch. :)

A Week in Pictures...

Naomi went from NO interest in books, to wanting to read ALL the time. I love it. :)

Making Oatmeal Pancakes

It is a little dark, but that is Ben at the top on the left.

Auntie Becki in one of her finer moments.
Flash back to the early 90's. :)
Thank you Becki for bringing laughter to my week!

A frog and a butterfly. Toddler towels ROCK!

Mama's Little Helper

Naomi was my little helper while making banana bread yesterday.


That's right folks... she licked the FLOUR clean. :)

(And now you see why we always have her hair in a pony tail, because she has to tip her head back like this to see me otherwise :).

Thankful

It has been a LOOOONG week, and yes... it is only Tuesday. Andrew left Friday and I think my kids knew he was going to be gone for 10 days and wanted to mess with mama as much as possible, get some much needed teething in, as well as let sleep take a back seat to just about everything... But there is still A LOT to be thankful for, so here is my list of things I am thankful for... so I can remind myself often:

• SC peaches and fresh picked blueberries
• brothers and moms who call to check in... often
  
• a husband who has a job he enjoys
• a sister-in-law who takes a 3-year-old to a movie, and squishes between two car seats on the ride to the theater because said 3-year-old freaks out about leaving mom
  
• a little boy who, out of the blue, says: "Mommy, can I hug you, 'cause you are the best mom ever!"
• a little girl who takes time out of her busy schedule put her head on your chest and let you tickle her back
• a friend who brings you sunflowers because she says they remind her of you
  
• a brother-in-law that takes your kids for walks
• a mother-in-law who feeds you dinner and takes your 3-year-old to a meeting so you can have a break (and entertains him by letting him lick an altoid... 45 minutes folks!)
• a God who is gracious and lavishly covers me with grace when I am FAR from the parent I should be
• and there are so many more!
  

Coconuts, China and Other Fun Stuff

Ben: Mom, if you need a coconut you should just call the airplane guys.

Leah: Oh, and what would they do for me?

B: They would just take you to the place that has coconuts of course!

L: Ohh...

B: But, they would just bring you home too...

L: Good to know.

----

While drawing with wok bok (sidewalk) chalk:

B: Mom, look at what I drew!

L: Wow Ben, tell me about it.

B: Well, it is a pweonvaoko and it is super super scary. You can't go near it because it will surely eat you.

L: Oh...

B: But, we don't have them in this world... only in China.

LOVE THIS TOWN: Thursdays

I love my town. It is laid back, casual, a perfect blend of hippies, hillbillies and rich retired folks... with a few of us "none of the above" sprinkled in. Big enough to have lots going on, not big enough for horrible traffic. Voted most independent restaurants per capita recently, very earthy and organic but you can also find a walmart when you need one. :)

Well, a friend mentioned that I should blog about fun things to do here in Ashevegas, so I will try and list some of the fun things we do... some free, some not, but hopefully all fun.

So, tonight we will start with THURSDAYS!

On Thursday nights we head to Earthfare for free kids meals! With a $5 purchase from the deli area (I usually treat myself to some sushi or lettuce wraps, but you can also get wraps, pizza of stuff from the hot bar) you get up to six free kids meals. (They are usually only $4). You get your pick of sandwich (chicken salad, ham and cheese, pbj, soy nuggets and more), a fruit or vege (carrots and dip, raisins or grapes/bananas/oranges/apple... and you can pick), a snack (cheese stick, yogurt, animal cookies- that are dairy, wheat, rice free! - organic goldfish or gummies) and a drink (milk or juice box).

We usually pack up our lunches and head out for a picnic... sometimes on the front lawn. But a couple weeks ago we went downtown and found a concert in Prichard Park. Put on by a local radio station for the summer (so it is almost over), they have Homegrown artists from 6-8. Fun music... as you can see Ben, Naomi and my friend Missy's little girl Alina really got into it!

These kids can move! Enjoy the videos!