Now ... who needs mommy?

To add to the humor that Ryan experienced Sat morning while I was shopping, today Ms. J and Mr. A again wanted to play mommy and baby. So Ms. J grabs her laundry basket (which is full of a weeks worth of clothes), carries it down the stairs, and into the laundry room. There, Mr. A gives Ms. J a piece of clothing out of the basket, and she puts it in the washing machine!!! Absolutely hysterical!

Now, mind you, I had no intention of doing either of their laundry today, but since most of her clothes were already in the machine... why stop? So we washed their clothes, but as I was placing the clothes into the dryer, Mr. A runs in and is asking to help... well of course! So, individually, piece by piece, I give Mr. A a piece of laundry, and he places it into the dryer.

He hasn't quite caught onto the concept that the clothes need to be dried though... so as soon as the dryer is full, he starts taking clothes out of the dryer and putting them in the laundry basket!!! NOOOO!!!! They need to dry first!!!

But knowing that he wants to do this... when the dryer was done, I let him pull all the clothes out of the dryer and put them in the laundry basket, while I was making dinner. When I went to check on him, I found him taking the clean clothes, that he had placed in the laundry basket, back into the washing machine.... Funny boy!!!'

So anyway... I wish I could have gotten pics, but by the time I would have grabbed the camera, the moment would have been lost. We got one great chuckle out of their laundry adventure!

Who Needs Daddy

When Michelle goes out grocery shopping on Saturday mornings, Ryan watches Jadyn and Andru. One of Jadyn's favorite activities is going into the garage, sitting in the car, and pretending that we are all driving somewhere, and paying for food with make-believe money.

This past Saturday, Jadyn and Andru were in a hurry to embark on our make-believe trip. So much of a hurry that they decided to get Andru into his car seat all by himself!

It usually takes some effort for an adult to properly secure a two-year-old into a car seat, but Andru managed to climb into our tall Jeep all by himself, and with the help of sister Jadyn, fasten himself correctly into his car seat.

When Ryan went to get into the Jeep, they were both seat-belted in, and ready for our trip. Good to have kids who know where they are going!

Merry Christmas

The Koehl's 2009

Only one life will soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last.

Ryan's Report - I have enjoyed the simple blessings of family, work, and my relationship with Christ this year. I continue to work in the State's Attorney's Office and have been challenged with some interesting cases. Watching Jadyn and Andru grow and participate in church activities has been a blessing. The best part of my year has been to enjoy more of Jesus and find my satisfaction in Him.

Michelle's Matters - God has continued to be good to us again this year! I am still blessed with the ability to be able to work part time, and still be home with the kids for most of the day. In addition, I have taken up running again, which makes for a "happier mommy." We have been able to do a little bit of traveling to see friends and family, with trips to Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, and soon to Kansas. And we are looking forward to the blessings that God has in store for us this next year.

Jadyn's Journey - This year I started going to school. Mommy has a preschool at her work, so I get to go to school with her everyday! There, we go on field trips, paint pictures, and I'm learning to write letters. My favorite part of every week is going to Awana where I learn about God and say many memory verses (which I'm really good at!).

Andru's Account - I've grown a lot the last year! I'm able to walk, run, dance, and I love playing with my friend Ian. I'm learning to talk, and my favorite words are "thank you." I also love following my big sister around! I'm excited about this next year!

Back to Reality

Well, we made it back home without any problems, and have just started getting back into the routine. Jadyn and Andru were very excited to go back to their babysitter house on Monday... they didn't make a peep when I left. I guess that's a good thing! They both still seem very tired from the week at the Grandparents, but I'm sure they'll catch up on it soon.

Jadyn has definitely entered the "terrible three's". The struggle between being a "big girl", but still not capable of doing a lot of things is dominant. And Andru seems to have no desire to crawl. We are working with him, and realize he may just go straight to walking, but are looking forward to the day when he will move without being carried. We covet your prayers as we parent these two miracles.

Ryan is back to work, but missing the kids. He loves going to Colorado, and doesn't like to come home. Spending so much time with the kids makes him not want to go back to work... to the caseloads of people in the court system. Ryan does realize that once he gets going though, it's going to be hard to tear him away from work to come home... so we are praying that God helps Ryan have balance this year.

And, back at school, my students were very happy to see me! We had a snow day on the last day before winter break, and my students were supposed to have a test. Many thought that I was going to give it on the Monday after break instead... but it was postponed until Tuesday. I've never had so many gracious students!!! What a great way to start 2009! We are praying that God's power will be revealed to me this year, in as many ways as possible, and that he will make it clear as to what we are supposed to do for next school year (part time, full time, Jadyn preschool or not, etc).

We just wanted to post some of the pictures (and a couple of movies) from our time with the Grandparents that were a favorite. Hope you enjoy!

Christmas with the Campbells

First of all, please take note of the open box on the right hand side of the screen. This has been very helpful for me with other blogs I follow. You simply type in your e-mail address, and Feedburner will e-mail you whenever we update our blog (which I promise to do a lot more often this year!!!).

In addition, Ryan and I have both become active members of Facebook. It is a fantastic way to stay connected to friends on a regular basis, as well as post pictures and videos that we would like to share. Please consider becoming a part of Facebook.

Ok... now to our Christmas. We made it out to Denver on Christmas Eve without many problems. There, my parents were anxiously awaiting our arrival, as well as my brother Jeff and his family (wife Erin, and sons Carson (almost 4), and Kyle (almost 4 months)). We had a great Christmas morning, with so much going on that Carson and Jadyn actually were "tired" of opening presents. It was great fun! My youngest brother Scott and his wife Therese (who live 20 minutes away from us in IL) arrived in Denver on Friday, so we had a little family reunion, and had some family pictures taken. Here are just a few of the good ones.


After pictures, we celebrated a small Christmas with Scott and Therese, ate our Christmas dinner, had a late birthday party for Jadyn and an early birthday party for Jefff, and just enjoyed time with everyone together. Sunday morning, Jeff and his family headed back to Lincoln, NE, and Scott and Therese left early Tuesday morning. We are still in Denver, heading back to Chicago (and real life) on Friday evening. Please pray for our travels!