Bound to happen sooner or later

Well, Hannah had been begging me for a pair of scissors. So, I finally got her some. She loves to just sit and cut paper up into little pieces. :) When we gave them to her, we explained the rules. First of all, she had to ask permission before she could use them. Secondly, she could only cut paper--nothing else. I didn't say anything about hair because I didn't want to put the idea into her sweet little head. Well, the other day she was back in her room playing. She came into the living room all proud of herself. She said, "Look at my baby. She needed a haircut." I couldn't help but laugh--to myself of course. I said, "Hannah what did we talk about? You are supposed to ask permission to use your scissors and you are only supposed to cut PAPER!"

Her reply, "I want to do it like Jennifer." (For those that may not know, Jennifer is our good friend and our hair dresser. I know she will get a BIG kick out of this!)

It cracks me up that she put the hair she cut off in a plastic bag! The bottom picture shows a close up of the baby's hair all cut off!

Lots of things going on!

It's been a while for me! I usually try to update my blog every couple of days, but things have been so busy in the Keim household the last couple of weeks! Here's a little bit about what's been going on:

1.) We had a Cinco de Mayo party. Hannah enjoyed her margarita.

2.) The kids have been sick, Hannah with an ear infection that won't go away and Lincoln with a fever virus. Not fun.

3.) Hannah decided she wanted to run a daycare out of our house. Here's a picture of her kids napping.

4.) The biggest news of the last couple of weeks: WE'RE MOVING! We decided to put our house up for sale on May 4th. We accepted an offer on it on the 14th. We were so fortunate that it sold quickly and pretty easily. We made an offer on a house in Bryant on the 15th and found out that they accepted our offer on the 17th! We are so excited! We are moving to a house that will have SO much more room, is in a great school district, and is really close to some of our closest friends. God has truly blessed us recently and we are SO greatful!

Now we are in packing mode. Our house is filled with boxes. I wish we were moving this weekend, but we still have a couple of weeks to go. On a side note, I'm not sure what Hannah thinks about us moving. She's been in the new house several times and when we talk about the new house, she calls it "Shelly's house." Shelly has helped us out alot purchasing this house! Thanks so much Shelly! Now we have to convince Hannah that it is OUR house and not Shelly's! I guess she'll figure it out soon enough!

5.) We had a blast at the Wilsons for a playdate/mommy lunch on the 19th. We had some delicious salads and desserts and got to enjoy some great fellowship. We were having so much fun, we didn't stop to take any pictures. :(

6.) Lincoln turned 16 months! A few things going on with him:

**Nothing too new -- He's into EVERYTHING! He especially loves to climb up onto the stool in front of his bathroom sink, grab his toothbrush, and start brushing his teeth.

**He is climbing a lot more! He can climb into the bathtubs now. This is one of his favorite places to play. Here he is climbing on boxes today. He used the vacuum cleaner to help get him up there!

**He got is bottom right eye tooth--just one more to go! He had a hard time getting this one too. He ran a fever while he was cutting it, but the doctor said he probably just had a virus. I still wonder if it wasn't just that he was getting that tooth!

**His hair is getting blonder and blonder it seems. We are laying it down more instead of spiking it up. He is really looking like a little boy more now.

**A couple more words he is saying are bubble, flower, water, Pappaw, MiMi, Jeff, Jack (his buddy Jack Vick), and cheese (when you're taking his picture). He can tell you what the horse, sheep, cow, snake, dog, bee, lion, and chicken say.

**He still loves to look at books. He'll come running up to me with one and point and show me a picture, usually of an animal. He gets really excited.

**Lincoln loves for me to sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." When he wants to sing it, he'll put his fingers together like he's trying to make the spider and look up at me and start jabbering something. I'm trying to get him to say spider, but he knows I know what he wants so he just says, "ugh ugh" really expectantly. He can do most of the motions to this song as well as "If You're Happy and You Know It," The Wise Man," and "God Made the Big Round Sun." I love that he likes to sing.

**He is your typical boy. He loves to go outside. He'll run to get his shoes on and then run to the door. If he sees the bubbles, he gets excited and says "Bubba Bubba." When he's hot and tired and needs a drink, he comes to me and screams "WaWa" for water. He knows exactly what he wants.

**He is hard to handle in church. We should probably take him to the nursery more than we do. He won't sit still and can get loud. Even food doesn't help sometimes.

Lincoln is so precious. I love watching him try and do new things. He brings so much joy to my life!

7.) Back to what's been going on lately...Last night we went over to the Vicks for ice cream. It was yummy and the kids were so cute.

It was hot, but these little guys were loving it!

8.) To end the month with a bang, we're having a garage sale on Friday and Saturday.

It's been a jam-packed month. June is looking like it is going to be busy, busy too!

Remembering An "Old" Friend...

This is the first blog post I've ever made, and I'm not sure I have intentions of ever making another post. However, I thought it was appropriate just this one time to make an exception to my own personal rule about never making a blog.


Approximately 12 years ago I met a young guy that became one of my best friends, and a person who has had one of the largest impacts on my life. While I was living in Brisbane, Australia, Steven Bishop started coming to my youth group and quickly became a crowd favorite in the group. Steve - "Widget" as we called him - was very personable and quick witted, and he had a great sense of humor. You see, Steve was struggling with friedreich's ataxia and was slowly losing control of his nervous system.

Through all of this, it was Steve's outlook on life that endeared so many people to him. Even with all of the struggles that Steve had, he never once allowed these physical ailments keep him from living life. I can remember one time when a group of us decided that we would go sky diving and Steve wanted to go too. He was so put out when his doctor wouldn't sign a medical release so he could go with us. Ultimately, he found a doctor that would sign a release, and he got to go sky diving after all! A few years after I moved back to the States, he travelled half way around the world by himself just so he could come and visit some close friends here in the States. If you've ever flown a long distance, you know how much a trip can wear you out even when you are totally healthy. But Steven did it-and with his typical mischevious smile!

One year ago today (18th), my friend lost this struggle with this terrible disease. But one year ago today, Steve received his new body. He'll never have to worry about not being able to walk, or have help eating, or struggling for his next breath. And as painful as it is for those of us that loved him and miss him, I couldn't be happier for him. I do miss him terribly, but I know I'll see him again, and the first thing he's going to ask me is, "Where you been? It sure took you long enough to get here!"

In the short time I knew him, Steven taught me so much. Here are just a few things:

1. He taught me what it is like to truly look forward to Heaven. It would do us all a lot of good to do this half as much as he did.

2. He taught me patience.

3. He taught me the value in taking care of a close friend.

4. He taught me to appreciate my health--however good it is.

5. He taught me that I need to appreciate my family more.

6. He showed me what it's like to smile in the face of adversity.

7. He showed me that you can make an impact on people that you've never even met.

I miss my good friend, but I am truly happy for him, and I know that some day we'll be hanging out together teasing each other and laughing--just like old times.


Steven--I love you brother.


K

Weekend Trip

This past weekend we went to Missouri to celebrate Kris' nephew, Austin's graduation from high school. Kris' sister, Mona, had a big graduation party for him on Sunday.

Kris, Austin, and Kris' parents

Granddad & Lincoln
Mona & Kris

Lindsey, Les, Carol, & Logan

Kris' brother, Les, bought several acres of land a couple of miles from their parents house. So, on Saturday, Kris, Les, Logan, and Lyle (Kris' dad), all went to work on putting up a fence. I wish I'd gotten a picture of that, but I didn't. Kris LOVES to do work on the farm!!! It is crazy how much joy he gets from it.

Here they are joy-ridin in Lyle's kickin truck!! That's Kris standing up in the back like a big redneck!

The girls decided we'd take the boys a picnic lunch. The grass was so tall it was hard to sit on the blankets!



Grandma taught Linc to pant like a dog. So now everytime you ask him what a dog says, he sticks out his tongue and pants! Everytime he goes outside he starts looking for dogs.

Our picnic was really short. It started to rain almost as soon as we got everything out.

It was a great weekend. Hannah wasn't feeling well the whole time though. I took her to the doctor this morning. She has an ear infection and is really congested. We got an antibiotic, so hopefully in a day or two she'll be back to normal.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there and a special Happy Mother's Day to MY mom. Mom, you are the greatest! I am so blessed to have YOU as my mom. I miss you and I love you!!!

Someone sent me this and I thought I'd share.

Before I was a Mom, I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom, I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom, I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

Saying His Prayers

Today at lunch I forgot to say our prayer before we started eating. A few minutes into the meal Lincoln started saying "May Men". I said, "Oh we forgot to say our prayer." He bowed his head and Hannah said the prayer and he said "May Men".

Last weekend we were in Texarkana. When I went to pick Lincoln up from Bible class, the teacher told me that when she said they were going to say a prayer, he bowed his head. It made me so proud!

Zoo Trip With Friends!

Saturday morning we went to the zoo with a big group of friends from church. It was a very chilly day! It was a lot of fun though. I loved seeing the excitement on the kids faces when they saw the monkeys, the gorillas, the elephants, the zebras, the lions, the tigers, and the snakes. We took picnic lunches and ate outside the zoo afterward. Hannah and Lincoln both were so tired. I think they really had a lot of fun.

Waiting to get in. Lots of baby strollers!

Lincoln was ready to go!

Sweet little girls, Hannah, Addison, & Kenzie

That's Benson looking like a little pea pod and Jack all bundled up.

Four little monkeys watching some other monkeys!
Ethan, Kenzie, Hannah, & Emma

Hannah got to feed the fish, ducks, and turtles.

Linc with the flamingos!

The boys all took a turn sliding. First Benson,

then Lincoln,

and then Jack.

Train ride!

Precious Jack Nahlen!

Hannah & Emma with the lions!

I love this picture!

I think Ethan and Hannah were roaring like lions.

Hannah wasn't quite sure about the snakes at first. Look at her face!

Family picture.

He thought he was so big walking around.