A Restfull Night Before the Twins

Cox Hospital provides one of the best patient services I have ever heard of within a health care system..... a hotel within the hospital. Now I know what you are thinking, what kind of a hotel could be in in a hospital??? Let me tell you, this place was very nice, not like a hospital room but actually like a hotel room. Kristy had no idea what I had up my sleeve when I asked for her parents to bring her to the hospital. The fact of the matter was that I could foresee that she would be under allot of stress following the arrival of our twins and this would be the last night that she could get some rest. So her parents brought her to the hospital and I led them up into the hotel.

Before they arrived I decorated the room in pink and blue to commemorate the big occasion.

So we let Kristy get some rest early on in the evening and her Dad and I went to the local auto auction. After the auction I, and I alone, returned to the room where I ensured that Kristy got a well deserved night of rest. After all the Twins were scheduled to arrive the next day at Noon.

Kristy was certainly in high spirits as we slipped into bed for our last night as parents of 2. The next day our joy would be fulfilled with twice as many.....

Transition Item

According to certain theories of psychology a transition item serves to assist an individual with a dramatic life change. The item serves as a means to assist in coping with the many adjustments that will be a result of the life change. In terms of our situation, while Mommy and Daddy are busy with the twins, Molly and Neleha will be busy with their transition item. At least that is the plan......

Thanks to our local Sam's Club we were able to purchase this very unique cabin style playhouse. Having Dale, Tove and Gary here to help me put it together was most welcomed. Relatively, it went together pretty quick, especially the roof, of course it had begun to rain and Gary, Tove and myself didn't feel like taking a warm Missouri shower if you know what I mean. The kids loved it and we got it just days prior to Kristy's scheduled delivery, perfect timing for a transition item.

Earlier.......

The Silence is Broken

After one of the craziest years of our life we are back and roaring on through our journey of life. The delay of chronicle entries came soon after I was elected student council president at my graduate school. Although the experience has been very enjoyable and fulfilling it certainly came with a great time commitment. Along with the extra responsibilities of the council, Kristy and I learned that we were expecting our third child. We were most excited but also a bit apprehensive about our financial situation as we were living on student loans and a work study I was fulfilling at my academic library. So I re-entered the work force as a supervisor with an agency that supports individuals with developmental disabilities. The extra money and health insurance certainly has come in handy, especially when we learned our third child was actually our third and fourth child. TWINS!!!!! Certainly a good thing that I got a job, for sure. Along the way Molly and Neleha have also been keeping us on our toes with all sorts of little adventures of their own.

That pretty much catches you up to present day. I have not officially blogged within this forum since May 2007. I will, slowly, enter and upload late entries regarding our crazy year. For now however, onward we go. Hopefully steadily as well, from a family of 4 to a family of 6 ...... the best of times are ahead!

Loretta Lynn at the RFD-TV Theater

For Mother's Day I got Kristy tickets to a Loretta Lynn concert in Branson at the newly opened RFD-TV theater. Loretta Lynn is kind of Kristy's inspiration when it comes to singing, and Kristy loves to sing. So I thought that it would be important to seize this opportunity for her see her inspiration live in concert. After all Loretta is not getting any younger.

I found it kind of amusing to see all these tractors outside of the theater, especially these old Allis Chalmers which I am sure Kristy's grandpa could appreciate.

Kristy got all dolled up for me and Loretta and we headed south to Branson. As often as we have come to Branson this was the actual first known musical artist that we had come to see. I am sure Kristy would not have had it any other way. Kristy was so beautiful and so happy as we approached the theater, she was like a kid in a candy store.

The first thing we did was grab a few snap shots of Loretta's bus, this certainly started the nights experience out right.

Loretta had a couple opening acts including her youngest two daughters also known as the Lynns. They sang their hearts out but they certainly have a ways to go to fill their Momma's shoes. It was enjoyable all the same to listen to the next generation of the Lynn family.

Loretta Lynn may have some years behind her but she can still sing her heart out like she was a young girl back in the Opre for the first time. She hit the stage singing her hits that everyone knows and loves. The filled theater was a good indicator of how well she has held her fan base through the years but I must admit, I think Kristy and I were the youngest people in the audience.

After her first set of songs they brought out a very nicely decorated rocking chair and that is from where Loretta sang up until the very last set of songs for the night. I guess when you have sung as long as she has in front of audiences you have earned the right to sit on the job.

We had such a wonderful time together enjoying the genuine songs from a genuine American entertainer.

Kristy's face lit up so brightly as she watched and listened as Loretta sang her songs and cracked jokes left and right. After the concert we tried to get an autograph but unfortunately Loretta went right to her bus. We even stood outside of her bus with a handful of other hopeful fans but after a while we all realized that at her age you deserve a full nights rest and so we understood and slowly dispersed. In the end my sweetheart and I had a wonderful night together and were most pleased to share it with the First Lady of Country Music, Mrs. Loretta Lynn.

Dinner for two at Backyard Burger---$17

2 tickets to a sold out Loretta Lynn Concert in Branson---$90

Being able to watch my beautiful sweetheart smile and laugh for an entire evening---priceless

Kindergarten Field Trip to the Nature Center

Molly had the wonderful opportunity to visit our local Nature Center as a end of the year field trip with her Kindergarten class. It is so hard to believe that Molly's first year of school is quickly drawing to a close.

Kristy was able to tag along with Molly's class and Molly buddied up with her best friend, Aaliyah as they explored the Nature Center.

Their tour included actual interactions with animals and all sorts of creatures that live within the center.

The kids had such a wonderful time learning about the lives of animals and insects.

Not only did they learn much but they also got to play much. The Nature Center provides so many fun things for kids to do.

Kristy had such a wonderful time following Molly and Aaliyah around as they learned and played.

Molly displayed her vivid imagination as she donned this antler and pretended to be a deer.

It is so joyful to watch how excited children can be over learning new things about the world around them.

Molly's field trip proved to be an awesome opportunity to spend some last moments with her Kindergarten friends and to learn much about nature and the world around her.

Team Forest at the Kitchen 5K

The Student Council elections came up roses for me and I along with an awesome team of officers were elected to take the reigns for the coming year. Our first major event was raising money and participating in an annual 5k run that benefits the local homeless shelter. We raised funds for 10 members of the Forest Institute community to participate in the run, I was lucky (or maybe unlucky depending on how you look at it) enough to be one of those participants. The following is the original email we sent out to the school after the event. By the way my time wasn't the best ever but not bad for it being the first time I ran all year- 31:30)

Team Forest arrived bright and early Saturday morning outside the City Utilities Building just adjacent to the starting line of the 16th Annual Kitchen 5K Fun Run. Uniformly clothed in our new Team Forest tee-shirts we were ready for a nice jog through the heart of downtown Springfield.

With the side-line support our trusty Student Council Secretary, Amy Duncan, we were certainly in a perfect position to do our best in this race that included over 600 other participants.

Our 10 person sponsored team included Brent Anderson, Emily Abel, John Weems, Kiri Tesnar, Polly Vandenburg and her Fiancé Bob, Renae Courtney, as well as Student Council 3rd Year Representative Andy Huls, Student Council Vice-President Dana Sweatt and Student Council President Adam Batchelder. With our sun glasses or iPods in place we were ready for the 5K ahead.

We each found our desired pace and then put our treads to the road in an effort to support this most noble cause.

At the completion of the race we each felt much better, better for helping the cause, better for our fitness, or simply better because we could finally rest, regardless of the reason we felt better.

We know that each of us gave our very best but one amongst us was recognized for their most impressive diligent efforts.

We are most pleased to announce Polly Vandenburg's 3rd place victory for her age category!
A BIG CONGRATS out to you POLLY of Team Forest!
We wish to thank all those who made this Student Council sponsored event a reality, the FIPP Administration, those who donated or purchased items at the bake sale, and especially those who got involved and participated in the event. Thank You!

Great Work Team Forest!!!

Sincerely;
Student Council

Mother's Day 2007: Singing Card & Baby Ducks

We awoke bright and early to celebrate one of the most important days of the year, Mother's Day of course. The girls were very excited about being able to give their card to Kristy. Their excitement stemmed from the fact that they had chosen one of the new singing cards that actually sings a recent popular song from the actual artist. They could not wait for Kristy to open her card and listen to the song "Born to Fly".

This day is so important as we are able to place Mothers exactly where they belong, on a pedestal. I sure hope we did a good job placing Kristy there, we sure love her so much and she is such a wonderful Mother for Molly and Neleha.

To further extend the days festivities the girls and I decided to buy foods Kristy grew up with for her Mother's Day dinner. This of course included fresh green beans which Kristy loves to snap and prep.

We attended church and all of my girls looked so beautiful that I just had to capture the moment.

Back at home we enjoyed a wonderful spread of traditional Midwestern food including steak corn-on-the-cob, green beans, fresh biscuits and a garden salad, all of Kristy's favorites.

After dinner we walked down to the duck pond to enjoy a nice evening with each other.

We enjoyed a simple stroll around the beautiful serene pond.

As we were about to depart from the pond the strangest thing occurred, a duckling walked right up to us and then began to follow us. In fact this duckling was so friendly that he did not put up any fuss at all when Kristy picked him up. Next thing we knew the girls were playing with this duckling too.

We called Kristy's Mom to ask if knew why a duck would act this way and we also talked to one of the park rangers and from all that we learned that when ducklings are first kicked out of the nest they immediately attempt to socialize with anything nearby, in this case the duckling chose us. We also learned that the duckling would be okay and so we played for a short while longer and then left the duckling with another duckling we also found nearby.

The girls were very sad when we told them it was time to go, they wanted to keep the duckling, after all it was more friendly than most kittens, but we comforted the girls by telling them we could come down to the pond and feed the ducklings often. They eventually understood and our wonderful day came to an end.

Molly Awakes to Her 6th Birthday

Even though Molly had celebrated her birthday in Ohio her Grandma could not resist in sending her another box of gifts for her actual birthday. The box arrived a few days prior to her big day and we made her wait until the morning of her birthday to open it. She was so anxious about wanting to open that box that she woke up very early to do so.

She received lots of gifts from her Grandma Tove and that certainly started her day out right. After she was done looking through her gifts, Kristy got Molly all dolled up for her big day at school. She was really looking forward to being able to have Kristy bring in cupcakes for all her classmates.

Little Miss Molly is growing way too fast, it is so hard to believe that she is a big 6 year old, a very pretty 6 year old, but she is still my little girl.

Kristy brought a happy meal for Molly, Neleha, and Aaliyah for lunch at the girls' school. They had a blast eating their McDonalds food and then passing out the cupcakes to all the kids in their class.

For Molly's party we gave her many choices on what type of party she could have. Molly however was very insistent that she get to invite every kid in her class and so for that many kids her only option was a party at home. The good thing is that we have a very nice playground area and we also set up our gazebo tent to shelter the food. We decorated in Molly's chosen theme of "Happy Feet".

We decided to organize some fun games for the kids to play, the first was a balloon toss.

The kids had a wonderful time trying to catch the water filled balloons without of course becoming soaked in the process.

Next it was time for the 3-legged race which was very fun for all.

The boys were very fast on their 3-feet.

The last game was everyone's favorite, the "Cake Walk" was a simple and yet very fun way to earn a prize. The kids simply walked around the circled numbered squares while music played and when the music stopped so did they. Then a number was drawn and who ever was standing on the number won a prize.

The grand prize winner won a cake of course.

It was finally time to have some food and so we served up pizza and juice to everyone.

Which of course was followed by the cake, ice cream and singing "Happy Birthday" to our sweet 6-year old Molly.

It is so hard to believe that our Molly has grown up so fast, she has been such a blessing in our life and she brings so much love into our family. We sure do love this 6-year old birthday princess.

After cake and ice cream it was finally time for the presents.

It was so fun watching all of Molly's little friends crowd around her to watch her open her gifts. Her sweet spirit must resonate to her classmates as so many of which came to celebrate her birthday.

Molly has recently been very interested in these new dolls called " Soda Dolls" they come in a plastic bottle that mimics a coke bottle. She bought one for a friend at their birthday and now it is the biggest thing amongst the girls in her class. Molly received one of these very dolls as pictured above.

I must say Molly made out very well. After all the presents were unwrapped it was time for what Molly has always said is the best part of a birthday party, handing out the birthday goodie bags.

After the party the fun kept going as one of Molly's request was that she could have a slumber party with her friend Aaliyah. So we set up her pink tent in the girls' room and there they watched a movie and slept the night away.

The next day we went to Silver Dollar City with Aaliyah and her Mom, Angie. Molly loves this place and since we have a season pass it seemed like a very easy birthday request to fill.

Molly and Aaliyah had a blast enjoying the big park.

They wore their swim suits under their clothes which proved to be an excellent idea.

We decided to ride some of the water rides that we hadn't tried yet, and when they say you will get wet, they mean it.

Kristy had a blast getting splashed on the ragging rapids ride.

We told Molly that they could each play one game while we were at the park. The great thing about this park is that all the games have guaranteed prizes, everyone walks away a winner.

The girls each played and won themselves a stuffed animal which was a perfect end to this great trip to Silver Dollar City and to Molly's 6th Birthday adventure.