Our boy

Will works with many people throughout every week. He spends time with Miss Kitsy, the speech language pathologist; Miss LaDonna and Miss Trudy, the Occupational Therapists; Miss Amanda and Miss Jay his classroom teachers; Misses Julia, Jamie, Kelly and Era, the administrative and lunchroom staff; and multiple ladies during the after school time. (One could say he has a lot of "girlfriends.")Despite all of his struggles to sit still, control his body, listen to directions, stay in the classroom, take out works and use his words before his hands
we get many compliments on how charming, sweet and caring he is.
Sometimes when we're tired and frustrated
we have to try to remind ourselves of those kind words.

Especially when it seems like he can't keep his feet on the ground,
and when he is talking a mile a minute.
We need to remember to appreciate the times he is calm and relaxed a bit more,
try to find outlets for his seemingly endless energy so it's not so wearing,
and make sure he spends lots of time with Gram.
If we can stick to this plan the next 13 years of home life should be a bit more manageable.
We can't wait to see what kind of excitement is right around the corner.

Extended Family

Em, Will, Gram and I had the marvelous opportunity to spend some time with our Minneapolis family last weekend. Okay, the aren't "blood-is-thicker-than-water-family" but they are about as close as it gets. We had a fantabulous time! We mostly stayed home and visited with different people throughout the day Saturday and then we had the chance to go swimming at the YWCA in Minneapolis before coming home. The kids slept well, played well and rode well which made things very pleasant.Minke, Noah and Oliver took some time out of their very busy day to have breakfast with us. We had some yummy food and sparkling conversation before they had to leave for ECFE classes and a church event. The boys will be 5 this month - they have grown so much since we last spent time with them.

Em and Augie were the next to arrive after their music class. They were a bit hungry so they had a snack and then went right to work.
Zoe, Jen and Lily joined us about an hour later after they finished up dancing and singing. Zoe, who informed us will be three in April, has gotten so tall and has such a trendy haircut we barely recognized her. She decided Emmy's giggly baby was pretty cool and adopted her for the day.This was the first time we got to meet the newest Patrick. Lily, the world's most contented baby, was a big hit with the Karstens Clan. Will immediately asked if he could "take her" and held her very gently for while. A bit later, after she fell asleep, he covered her with a blanket, kissed her head and whispered "I love you." Maybe another baby wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Em was okay with the baby as long as she could share my lap. She smiled and touched all of her body parts gently. Lily just cooed, blew bubbles and smiled back. She is so beautiful with her fuzzy little head of hair.

Lily told Gramma Myra all kinds of stories. She is very chatty.

Since it was about 38 degrees outside, Jen and I decided to let the toddlers break out and run off a bit of energy. It was a beautiful afternoon but very puddly. Despite our pleas the kids waded through every puddle and by the time we got home were soaked up to the knees.Emmy's dolly got to come along, too!

The mommies had a chance to spend some time together Saturday evening sans children which was fun. It was so nice to hear that other people have similar challenges with their children as we do.

We got up early Sunday and met the family at the Y. Will is generally a little trepedatious around the pool but he loved the zero entry and was all about swimming. He waded all over the place, going as deep as up to his neck. It was amazing and so much fun seeing how confident he was.

Em was all over the place. It was hard to keep track of her sometimes. She was everywhere and didn't even mind when she slipped and went under for a second. I think swimming lessons are in her near future.She loved the water slide best of all going up and down about 52 times, blue lips and all. Will is up there too squirting water at people through the spouts in the coral.

Emily and the girls swooshing around.

After swimming we took our hungry babes to MickeyD's for lunch. Lily chilled with Gramma and Grampa while the rest of us ate our lunch.

Chechup. Emmy LOVES chechup. Oh, and the fries, too.At the end of it all, Zoe and August touched base to make plans for the rest of the week. They are so very busy.We had so much fun and can't wait to go spend some time with our Minneapolis family again soon. We have big plans for this summer. We may even bring Dad along next time.