The Tenbrink Family

Holiday photo shoot, 2010

2010-12-08T22:43:00.001-06:00

Baker presentation

2010-12-07T10:11:00.002-06:00

I had to create an introduction presentation for one of my Master's classes. We had to have 5 slides with exactly 6 words on each slide. This is what I made!

https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dh9p6xc_0cwd4hqhb&autoStart=true

Long lost update!

2010-10-09T22:05:00.013-06:00

Harper and Brody's 12 month pictures together...do you see a resemblance?

leaving NC-it took us 25 hours to get home (which we drove straight through)

summer haircut

13 months old

swimming lessons-June 2010

Brody's first VBS performance...he's in one of the middle rows on the left with a white shirt and green hat

new light

old light

Sowers rodeo

precious cargo

1st birthday cake

Harper's butterfly cake

Harper's birthday spread

Welcome baby Dylan Avery! May 30, 2010

Harper-12 months

eating carrots together

looking good, slick!

doing make-up with mom for the first time

Wow, I have really let this fall by the wayside. Here is a picture update for the past 4 months.

Harper 11 months

2010-05-18T21:23:00.005-06:00

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of Harper. She is such a happy little girl!

it was next to impossible to get her to be still long enough to snap a picture of her with Mimi cow. these were the best I could do!

I can NOT believe that my baby girl will be one year old in less than 10 days. This year has FLOWN by. At 11 months, Harper weighs 19 pounds. Her first tooth popped through on Easter and the 2nd popped through a week later. At the beginning of May, she was injured when she held onto Brody's glider in his room and it rocked into her mouth. Her brand new bottom teeth went up into her upper gums leaving two distinct holes (there was a LOT of blood-her first blood shedding experience). The next day, her two top teeth filled those holes so she now has 4 teeth! (At the time of these photos, she still only had the two bottom teeth.) She can take 2-3 steps on her own, and has recently starting saying, "Uh oh!" when she drops something. She is such a sweet heart!

April pics

2010-05-14T20:24:00.006-06:00

school carnival

Daddy's little helper...nice face Ty :)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

playdate with baby Reese (they're one week apart) I love this pic-it looks like Reese is saying, "Oh Harper!"

Chuck E. Cheese night

Myers family outing to the zoo/Gage Park!

Brody, waiting very patiently for the train. :)

My little sweetie-pie with her blankie and her thumb

smiling with her thumb in her mouth

I woke her up and this is the look she gave me-lol!

swinging

Brody, using his new Easter mower for the first time-cute!

Easter

2010-05-12T20:22:00.009-06:00

What a fun Easter we had!!! This was the first year that we actually dyed eggs. I never thought before that Brody was ready...but this year he was. He understood what to do and had a blast while doing it. Harper didn't care much for dying eggs...but she did have fun pushing her "buggy" around while Brody and I dyed the eggs. (She had just figured out how to do it!) On Easter morning, Brody was really eager to find the eggs. He did a great job of finding them even though we made sure they were well hidden this year. Harper didn't understand that she was supposed to look for eggs, but she really enjoyed shaking the plastic eggs that we would give her! We went to church, then spent the rest of the day at the farm. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we had a great time! We took Brody fishing for the first time. He got a great lesson from his expert-fishing Uncle Tanner, but only fished for a few minutes. (He enjoyed seeing the fish that Tanner caught though!) At one point, while lying on a blanket under a shade tree, holding my beautiful daughter in my arms and watching my husband and son fish together, I thought I was in Heaven. It was such a relaxing afternoon!

Harper-10 months

2010-05-09T20:28:00.002-06:00

Harper is always such a happy little girl! :)

Shaving Cream Fun!

2010-05-09T20:15:00.005-06:00

So for Christmas, Brody got a kid's table with a dry erase board surface. Unfortunately, the markers don't erase completely. They come close-but you can still see a faint line. My mom heard that shaving cream is a good way to remove dry erase marks from whiteboards so I thought we would try it on his new table! The kids had a blast squishing it, spreading it, and smearing it! (Needless to say, they both went straight to the bathtub when they were done!) *note-pictures are in reverse order of beginning to end-start at the bottom of the post and work up to see the progression of mess!

March 2010 photo blog

2010-05-07T20:48:00.009-06:00

My little loves.

Harper, borrowing Brody's sunglasses to watch the kite-flying expedition!

Brody's first time flying a kite.

Harper's first time going down the slide!

Dr. Brody

trying out Brody's new roller blades

one of her many expressions

Lightning + Mater = best friends. Brody + Addy = even better friends.

Harper and Grammy

Harper is ready to party!

pre-naptime story with Dad

yep...snow...on Brody's birthday (the 2nd day of spring 2010)

birthday boy's breakfast of choice? biscuits and gravy (graybee)

playing cars together (on Brody's birthday)

Brody and Elijah playdate

Harper's first St. Patrick's Day

playing outside

Brody's 3rd birthday

2010-05-04T20:48:00.006-06:00

Wow. Brody is 3. It's hard to believe. He is such a sweet guy. At 3 years old, Brody is in the 75%tile for height, and 25%tile for weight (hard to believe...tall and skinny...wonder where he got that?) He speaks very clearly and has an advanced vocabulary. He says words like "actually, definitely, spectacular" etc. He sleeps from about 8:30 to 7:00 (or 7:30) and takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. He loves Lightning McQueen, Thomas the train, Dora and Diego, KU jayhawks, cows, four-wheelers, and tractors. He doesn't pay much attention to his sister, but worries about her if she cries and always makes sure the basement door is closed so she won't fall down the stairs. We potty-trained Brody the week prior to his 3rd birthday. It was actually quite easy. Since I was home on spring break, I just stopped putting a diaper on him. He had some accidents the first couple of days, but it's been pretty smooth sailing since then. He loves to read books before bedtime. He has some of his books memorized. He always eats a good breakfast and lunch, but we struggle at dinner time. He hates carrots and broccoli. He loves his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousin. His best friend is Elijay. I love the way he says "yesterday"-he says "westerday". I just think it's cute. He is a very happy boy. He has a LOT of energy. The past couple of times we've been to the farm, he would rather run next to the four-wheeler than ride it. We might have an athlete on our hands! We love Brody so much and are so thankful to have him in our lives.

Brody and Harper's rooms

2010-05-04T20:32:00.003-06:00

Grandpa Charlie's chair

Grandpa Charlie's shelf and "Bless this Child" plate from Aunt Rita (it was a gift for Harper on the day of her baptism.)

Harper's homeade artwork. These pictures were embellishments that I cut off the "It's a girl!" banner that Brooke bought for my baby shower. I just cut the embellishments off and Brooke arranged them and glued them to construction paper. I bought mattes from Hobby Lobby and frames from ebay. Voila...homeade, meaningful, cost-efficient artwork!

Her room is tiny...but I love it!

name letters that I painted 3 times before I found a color that I liked

the wreath above her bed was made by my best friend Jenny. the crib is borrowed from Tyler's aunt and uncle.

I stole this artwork idea from my friend Quinci. I tacked some strips of ribbon above Brody's bed to hang his masterpieces on with clothespins.

Brody's name letters. These letters are really helping him learn how to distinguish letters. He can identify every one of these letters and is starting to recognize them in books.

Just wanted to document what the kids' rooms look like at this stage in their lives.

Harper-9 months

2010-04-07T07:55:00.000-06:00

Feb. 2010 pics

2010-04-07T07:25:00.001-06:00

Valentine's Day

2010-04-07T07:19:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm almost 2 months late in posting some V-day pics, but it's better late than never! :)

Brody and his "big boy bed!"

2010-03-11T21:13:00.006-06:00

loves it!

first look the new bed!

picking out his mattress

helping daddy put the bed together

last time sleeping in his crib (The crib now belongs to Harper and we need to return the crib we had been borrowing for her.)

Well, last month we decided to move Brody to his big boy bed. I bought this bed (and mattress) for $10 at a garage sale. (I know the family that I bought this bed from. This family has triplet girls at my school and they are a very clean, responsible, respectable family. I was happy to help them out and the bed is in GREAT condition!) Tyler was proud that I got such a good deal on such a well-crafted bed. According to my book (that I lovingly refer to as my "sleep bible"), parents should wait until their child is old enough to really understand the rules and expectations associated with sleeping in a real bed before moving them out of their crib. Brody never had a problem with climbing out of his crib, but I wanted to move him into a toddler bed before his 3rd birthday. Brody got to pick out his new bedding-he chose Buzz Lightyear/Woody the Cowboy. (We didn't have a very good selection, but he really loves this bedding set!) One Sunday afternoon, Tyler put the bed together, I let Brody choose which mattress he wanted-the crib mattress he was used to or the new mattress that came with the bed. He chose the new one. When Tyler was done putting the bed together, I put the sheets on, then called Brody in to see the bed. He was SO excited! He loved it! I was a little nervous on the first night, but he did GREAT! He understands that once he is put in his bed, he is not to get out until we come and get him. He has not once fallen out of his bed or gotten out without permission. Even when he wakes up in the morning, he just calls out for us to come get him. He is such a good boy!

Harper-8 months

2010-02-15T21:48:00.004-06:00

can stand by herself!

riding the cow

Well, on Harper's eight month birthday, she weighed around 17 pounds. (I'm not sure what her exact weight was, but I know what she weighed at 7 1/2 months, and what she weighs now, so I would guess that on Jan. 27, she was around 17 lbs.) :) In Harper's eighth month, she went from her crawl-lunge-fall movement to an actual crawl. She also had TWO double ear infections. The doctor spoke to me about possible ear tubes last week, but we're not exactly to that point yet. She'll be checked again in about 3 weeks to make sure she doesn't have any lingering fluid behind her ear drums (but as of last Friday, she did. boo.) Here are some pics of my cutie-pie on her eight month birthday!

Snowy winter days

2010-02-12T22:04:00.007-06:00

Well, this has been a very snowy and cold winter. We haven't been able to spend much time outside because of the super cold temperatures, but we've been creative and have come up with good ways to spend our time. Enjoy the pics from the month of January!

Bundled up!

cute cousins!

Brodster playing with his tractor, dump truck, and magnets.

ready for church!

new stroller

crawling! (and making messes-please ignore the background of this pic!)

cleaning his dora book

such a happy little girl!

crafts on our snow day

snow-round 2

she looks a lot like baby tyler in this picture

copying a silly face from Yo Gabba Gabba on tv

i love this picture-they were watching some men working on a sign outside our house

poor brody-he crashed on the sled with tyler-major fat lip, bloody nose, and scraped forehead

sledding with Grandma Laurie

Harper and I watched from the truck

Tanner, Addy, Brighton on the left, Ty, Brody, Sophie on the right-cute!

he had so much fun-smiles all the way down the hill

going up for the first time!

Harper laughing (kind of!) on 7 month birthday :)

2010-01-28T21:43:00.004-06:00

Harper 7 months

2010-01-28T21:35:00.003-06:00

Christmas 2009

2010-01-28T21:02:00.004-06:00

What a memorable Christmas we had!!! We had more snow than I can ever remember having (especially at Christmas time!) It was beautiful...but caused some stress! We canceled our plans to attend church on Christmas Eve (it ended up being canceled anyway) so we had a quiet home at home. When I put Brody to bed, I told him that Santa was coming to our house when he fell asleep. Brody then woke up at 3:30 wanting to know if Santa had come. I told him that it wasn't time to get up yet and to go back to sleep. Harper woke up at her normal time (around 7:00), but Brody kept snoozing. I got Harper up, changed her, took some pictures of her in her Christmas onesie, and waited. I woke up Tyler and we all waited for the Brodester to wake up. Finally, at 8:00, we decided to wake him up. It took him a while to "wake up" so he wasn't immediately excited that it was Christmas morning. When I was changing him, he said, "Did Santa come?" I said, "I don't know...let's go see." His face was precious when he came out to the living room and saw the multitude of gifts under the tree. He had a look of incredible disbelief. How cute! It was incredibly special to watch him calmly open his gifts and see how his eyes sparkled when he saw what he got. He was so sweet when he brought Harper her gifts and helped her open them. It was a wonderful Christmas morning. What a great memory. We had plans to be in Lawrence around 11:00, but around 9:00, Ty's dad called and told us that his truck was stuck on the road. Ty immediately jumped in our truck to go help him. Mike and Laurie ended up having to drive their tractor through fields out to the highway where Tyler picked them up in our truck. After a few close calls on the Lawrence roads, all 6 of us (Mike, Laurie, Ty, me, Brody, and Harper) made it safely to the Leland house. Christmas night, Ben went to pick up Brooke and Todd with his Jeep...but he got stuck. Tyler jumped in the truck to go help them, but luckily, thanks to Brooke and Todd's neighbors, they were able to get unstuck before Tyler got there. Everyone made it to mom and dad's and we all had a great time. We had a wonderful Christmas day...but it sure was busy!

Harper-6 months

2010-01-07T23:37:00.001-06:00

Harper pics-Nov. and Dec.

2010-01-07T22:53:00.007-06:00

Harper's baptism

2010-01-07T22:23:00.004-06:00

Harper was baptized on Nov. 22 by Rev. Sandy Vogel. Thanks to all the friends and family that were able to make it! Harper did not cry at all during the baptism. (Brody whined a little bit because he really wanted to put his hand in the bowl of water like Sandy!) After the baptism we all enjoyed a nice lunch at The Brick Oven.

2009

2009-12-30T22:44:00.004-06:00

I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on the past year. 2009 was full of many ups and downs.

By far, the best part of 2009 was welcoming my daughter, Harper Beth. Our family of 3 became a family of 4 on May 27 at 1:52 pm. Harper weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. My labor with Harper was induced to ensure that she would be old enough to travel to North Carolina for Ty's cousin Hansen's June 20th wedding to his lovely bride Betsy. (and because school was out, I wanted MY doctor to deliver me, and I was ready to not be pregnant anymore!) Harper is an amazing baby. She loves to cuddle. When she buries her head into my neck, I wish I could just stop time. She cuddles far more than Brody ever did. She is a very happy baby. She is a good sleeper and a good eater. She loves to watch her brother, snuggle with her pink blanket, and suck her left thumb. She has yet to be sick, started sleeping through the night at 4 months, has met all of the physical milestones early, and is a wonderful addition to our family. I love her more than words can say. As the year comes to a close: Harper is partially crawling (crawls a couple of steps, then falls-but definitely makes intentional forward motion), eats cereal and vegetables, sleeps 11 hours at night and takes 2-3 naps during the day, sucks her thumb, loves playing Peek-a-Boo and Pat-a-Cake, loves her pink blanket, jabbers-says many different sounds (m, d, b, n, vowels), sleeps on her tummy, plays with rattles and teethers, like to shake things, wears 6-9 month clothes, loves Mommy more than anyone (sorry everybody-but Daddy takes a close second), has very little hair, and smiles a LOT!
Brody: What a difference a year makes! Brody is 2 1/2 and talks, runs, memorizes, plays, hugs, kisses, and sings. He is no longer a baby-he is a little boy. In 2009, he learned his colors, shapes, how to sing songs, memorize books, started watching t.v., and learned to play independently. If I had to pick one word to describe Brody, it would be happy (or smart...or energetic...or cute...or sweet...or funny...guess I can't pick just one!) But truthfully...Brody is a very happy little boy that loves life. He brings joy and happiness to all who meet him. Just tonight, after I put him to bed, he called for me. When I went to check him, he said, "I just want another hug and kiss Mommy." How sweet. I love him more so much. For Brody, I will remember 2009 as the year of Molluscum. In April, Brody developed a rash on his chin. (Not a bad rash-it just looked like a few pimples on his chin.) After the rash had failed to disappear in a few weeks, I took him to a dermatologist that diagnosed him with Molluscum. Molluscum is a viral rash (meaning he could have caught it anywhere-at the grocery store, the mall, etc.) It goes away on it's own in 9-24 months, but is cosmetically unappealing, so we decided to treat it. Treating the rash turned it in to embarrassing scabs and scars on his neck and chin. Luckily, we now have a new dermatologist that is treating it in a better way and everything is starting to heal and look better. In September, we had a bit of a scare with Brody when he developed a fever. I took him into ExpressCare and they sent us to the ER. We spent one evening in the ER (after enduring several AWFUL tests and procedures) and were sent home with a diagnosis of a viral infection. I spent several days home from work with Brody while he fought off this infection and was incredibly thankful when my happy, spunky, little boy started acting like himself. As the year comes to a close, Brody's favorite things are: trucks, tractors, airplanes, grapes, strawberries, pizza, juice, waffles, cheese, suckers, noodles (pasta), his grandparents, playing outside, riding "bikes" (anything with wheels),aunts and uncles (and cousin), Dora and Diego, Mater and McQueen, snow, singing, reading books, running, blue blanket, "scaring" and tickling people, and of course his mommy, daddy, and sister.
Tyler: Ty marked the one year anniversary of working for the state in the department of labor as an economist. He still loves his job. He looks forward to going to work and enjoys working with his coworkers. What a blessing to be at a job you love! For Ty, 2009 will be remembered as the year of Shingles and Meningitis. Oh my...what a mess that was. The last week of October, Ty was gone on a business trip to Washington D.C. Upon his arrival home, he developed a painful rash on his side. That Monday morning, he went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Shingles. The following Friday morning, he woke up with an awful, debilitating headache. Per Jamin's suggestion, I took him to the ER where he was diagnosed with Viral Meningitis. He spent 3 days in the hospital and 2 whole weeks off work...in bed...in the dark...not moving...or talking. It was awful. Obviously it was the worst for Ty, but we all suffered during those 2 weeks. Thankfully, no one else got sick and I am happy to say that Ty recovered well and is back to his normal self. Tyler did a lot of construction work this year also. He transformed our unfinished basement into a beautiful finished living space-almost doubling the livable square footage of our house. We have great friends (especially Brian and Zach) that helped tremendously, but for the most part, Ty did the work himself. We now have a large family room, an office, and another bathroom (with gorgeous tile!) Ty sold a lot of his cattle this year...lessening the amount of time needed at the farm so that he could be home with the family a little more. (Yay!) Tyler was very busy this year, but we have some great things to show for it!
Katie: Hmmm....this is my 6th year of teaching, my 3rd year at Auburn, and my 2nd year as a 3rd grade teacher. I LOVE my job. If I could handpick my grade level and school, this is what I would pick. I have the best coworkers and I have a very special class this year. Although another teacher perfectly described them as "lacking self-control", I really do have a special bond with this group of students. I had this group when I taught first grade so I feel proud to see how far they've come since having them when they were six year olds. I feel very maternal toward them. They will be one of those groups of students that I will always remember. In December, I had a "redo" foot surgery. I had to take a week off of school, but doing it that way meant I wouldn't miss any of my summer recovering from surgery (like the first time!) (And because my deductible was met from having a baby, I didn't have to pay for it!) I am loving being a mom to the best 2 kids in the world. My life pretty much consists of playing with, teaching, or taking care of kids all day, but I wouldn't change anything about it!
Sophie: Our Shih Tzu/Poodle mix was welcomed into our family in January. She is a very smart dog that is a welcome addition to our family. The one area that she needs to work on is not playing so roughly with Brody. Other than that, she is a great dog!
Mom and Dad: Mom has helped me out tremendously this year. With Tyler's business trips, his illness, my surgery, and having a 2 year old and a newborn, Mom has always been there to help. I constantly tell her, "I'm so glad we live close to each other!" Dad retired this year. We had a retirement party for him in August. He seems to really be enjoying retirement. The bad thing that happened at Mom and Dad's home this year was losing our beloved dog Pattie. She was a great dog and is still sorely missed.
Brooke and Todd: Brooke and Todd had a major tradgedy occur in May when Todd's brother, Sheldon was T-boned by a drunk driver. Sheldon was severely injured-many broken bones and brain injury. He spent several weeks in a traumatic brain injury rehab. facility in Nebraska. Sheldon has thankfully made (pretty much) a full recovery and is back to working as a para in a Topeka middle school.
Ben: Ben left his job with Cumulus in Topeka and started working for Kern Advertising in Lawrence. He moved out of Mom and Dad's house and into mine and Tyler's old apartment at Trailridge. He is very happy he made the switch.
Mike and Laurie: Mike is still working away at Stormont Vail and on the farm. How he does it? I don't know. He is a work horse. It amazes me how much he is able to get done in his life. Unfortunately, this summer, we lost Mike's father Fred. Grandpa Fred was an amazing man and is greatly missed. Losing Fred was one of the most difficult things our family has ever endured. Fred always treated me like I was his real granddaughter and I loved him very much. Tyler and I visited Fred frequently and we were shocked when he passed away in his sleep this summer. RIP Fred-we love and miss you. Laurie was thrown a kink in her life this year. Her company, Yellow Freight, closed their Topeka office. For Laurie to continue working for them, she would have to choose to work in their Overland Park office. She had to decide between starting fresh at another company (3 years away from retirement) or somehow, make working for Yellow Freight work. Luckily, because of the following, she was able to make it work.
Tanner, Jamin, Addy: They moved back to Kansas!!! We were all so excited to hear that the Kansas City Cabelas had an opening and that they might get to move home. Tanner interviewed for the job and was chosen to be the hardlines manager in the KC Cabelas. They moved home in June. They bought a house in Lawrence. Jamin works at St. Francis hospital and Addy enjoys getting to spend time with Jamin's parents when Jamin is on call. Because Tanner and Jamin moved home, Laurie is able to stay with them during her work week, cutting her commute to Overand Park in (more than) half. Brody loves having cousin Addy here and we're all excited to meet their newest addition in 2010.
Other: My best friends, Jenny and Julie lost their father, Frank, in May. They have gone through a lot this year. They are strong women-much stronger than me. Our friends, Zach and Sarah bought a new house and are now our next door neighbors! I bet Ty never imagined that he would someday be living next to one of his best friends-we're loving it! Ty's best childhood friend, Kevin welcomed a daughter exactly 2 weeks after Harper was born. We actually had several friends welcome babies this year. How wonderful! Betsy narrowly avoided being on the flight that crashed into the Hudson river by being bumped to an earlier flight. Ty was punched in a softball brawl that resulted in $500 worth of dental work. Dad was in a car accident (not his fault) that totaled the jeep resulting in a new jeep. Mom is contemplating retirement. We still drive the Ford truck and the '99 Chrysler. Our evenings and weekends are filled by playing with our kids. We took an amazing trip to North Carolina this summer and got to stay in a beautiful home and created several memories. Our family started going to Sunday School. Tyler and I finally have more than one TV (and DVR). This New Year's Eve marks the 10 year anniversary of mine and Tyler's first date. It is hard to believe that 1o years ago, Kevin Kibbee asked me to come to his New Year's party. When I asked for directions, Kevin said, "Ty will pick you up." And he did. And that was that. We've been together ever since. 10 years. Wow.
Overall, this has been a great year. Everyone in our family is healthy and happy-what more could you ask for? Here's looking forward to a new year with hopes of health, joy, and happiness. :)

Brody pics-November 2009

2009-12-19T22:33:00.006-06:00

This fall Brody has really become not only a great big brother, but a very independent and creative little boy. He is constantly amazing me with all that he knows, remembers, says, and creates. Brody has started playing with his trucks and tractors in a way that he is able to assign them roles and voices. He will drive one truck onto the air vent in the kitchen and say (speaking for the truck), "Oh no, I'm stuck in the mud!", then he'll drive a different truck or tractor over to the "stuck" truck and say (for the truck/tractor), "Hold on, I will save you!" Then he'll have the truck/tractor pretend to pull the other truck off the vent (mud) and he'll continue playing with them while they have a different adventure. He does this all evening long. I love to just sit back and watch his imagination come to life. He does a great job of playing independently with creativity and imagination. One morning while I was making breakfast, he brought a random assortment of play tools and scraps of wood up from the basement and pretended to be "working" for almost an hour. Again...I was just amazed at his creativity. Brody is also turning into a great big brother. Don't get me wrong...he's always been a great big brother, but he's really starting to show love and affection for his sister. He loves to "soft" her (pet her head) and when she cries, he says, "It's okay sweetheart." (SOOOO cute!) When I take the kids to Pattie's house in the morning, I carry Brody and our diaper bag in first while Harper waits in the truck. Before I lift Brody out of the truck, Brody says to Harper, "Hold on sweetie, Mommy will be right back." Melts my heart. We had a great time playing in the snow this month and enjoyed celebrating Thanksgiving. Brody is still bothered with his Molluscum rash on his neck and face, but he has been seeing a new dermatologist and I have high hopes that it is on the mend. Enjoy some pics of my favorite boy from the month of November!

kisses for Harper

blowing out candles at Brooke's house

playing outside at Brooke's house

watching the Thanksgiving Day parade

"working"

at Chuck E. Cheese (fundraiser night for my school) NOTE: the boy in the gray is a student in my class this year, Zac. He was very helpful playing with Brody.

first snow of the year-we had umbrellas because the temp. was in between above/below freezing so it was kind of snowing, and kind of raining

my buddy

Halloween

2009-12-14T15:28:00.003-06:00

For the first time, I let Brody pick out his own costume. I would give him two choices: "Cowboy or dog?" and he would pick one. Then I would use that choice with another choice: "Cowboy or dinosaur?" As soon as I said 'dinosaur', we were done. Everything was dinosaur. So...I searched for a great dinosaur costume. I got a great deal on his costume on Ebay. Next I had to figure out what Harper should be. I thought she would be an adorable little pumpkin with her big cheeks. I got her costume off Ebay also. The night before Halloween, I took the kids to Mom and Dad's house to carve pumpkins (Tyler was out of town.) Brody LOVED it! This was also the first year that we actually took Brody trick or treating. He didn't really understand what to do the past couple of years. Jenny and Elijah came over and we pulled the boys around in the wagon and pushed Harper in the stroller and walked the neighborhood behind our house. It was a lot of fun!

Harper-5 months

2009-12-14T15:23:00.002-06:00

Fall

2009-12-13T21:34:00.007-06:00

This fall was very busy at the Tenbrink house:

We started playing inside instead of outside in the evenings.

Harper discovered her feet-and is very happy about it!

We played in leaf piles.

We went to a Halloween party. Brody loved painting the pumpkin!

We went to the Pumpkin Patch.

Harper started sucking her thumb!

Harper's first mulligan.

Auburn's 100th annual fair. Harper's first ride.

Brody looking at his loot from the parade.

Brody and Elijah at the races (Brody got 2nd-Elijah got 1st!)

All smiles

2009-11-24T23:20:00.006-06:00

I love her so much!!!!!

Harper-4 months, Brody-2 1/2 years

2009-11-24T23:12:00.003-06:00

Omaha Zoo

2009-11-10T16:06:00.006-06:00

Harper waiting for the train

Brody called this guy a "bad guy"-I think because the scuba diver on Finding Nemo took Nemo away from his daddy sea lion

penguins

i love this picture of this penguin just chilling under the snow machine

shark

Oh my Harper...she has since switched to her left thumb. family pic on the train

aerial view of what this poor swan has to put up with

mommy and harper

mommy and brody

this baby seal kept screaming for it's mother-it was very cute daddy and the kids

jaguaralbino alligator-cool

Over Labor Day weekend, we packed up the family and headed for Omaha. We arrived at our hotel on Friday night. We swam in the swimming pool before heading to bed. We only had one room in our hotel, so it was a little interesting having all four of us in one room. Luckily, everyone slept (pretty much) through the night and we were ready for a fun-filled Saturday. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and walk along the Missouri river before heading out to the zoo. The zoo was AMAZING! There is too much to do in one day, so we did what we could, and vowed to make this annual trip. Mine and Tyler's favorite part was the Creatures of the Night display-particularly the alligators. You walk over a wooden swing bridge through a swamp like display and underneath you are lots of alligators. It was very cool. I think Brody liked the jaguars the best-probably because Go Diego Go has jaguars. Harper...well, she enjoyed being rolled around in a stroller all day. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time!

Snacks and Playing

2009-11-01T21:31:00.007-06:00

Brody's snack

Harper's snack

Sophie playing with the neighbor dogs before they moved :(

Brody still loves this truck...thanks Lelands!

Brody is wearing a shirt that belonged to my brother when he was little.

kisses

Books and Bedtimes

2009-11-01T21:00:00.007-06:00

Harper 3 months

2009-11-01T20:49:00.006-06:00

first time in the exersaucer

Harper 4-5 mo./fair/mulligan (281 photos), by Katie Tenbrink

2009-10-27T21:36:00.001-06:00

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Harper:3-4 months Brody: 2 1/2 (218 photos), by Katie Tenbrink

2009-10-23T15:32:00.001-06:00

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Dad's retirement

2009-09-28T19:38:00.003-06:00

After almost 30 years of working as an attorney for the state, Dad retired. His coworkers threw him a very nice ceremony in August. We all had a nice time.

cutie pies

2009-09-25T22:39:00.006-06:00

"Pilot Brody" flying his airplanes through the yard

Harper-2 months

2009-09-17T20:24:00.004-06:00

precious

Summer Fun

2009-09-16T21:37:00.008-06:00

looking at ants

at the lake with aunt brooke

tickling harper

Elijah and Brody waiting for a train to drive by

throwing pennies in the fountain

Here are some pics of some of the fun things I did with Brody and Harper this summer. We went to the zoo and played in Gage Park several times. We went to the library, walked around Lake Shawnee, and visited the train station to watch the trains drive by. We played with Elijah and went swimming a few times. I've only been back to school for a month and I already can't wait for next summer!!!

Cheeks and Smiles

2009-08-30T16:36:00.004-06:00

The Circus

2009-08-23T22:11:00.005-06:00

showing his new Dora doll his Dora book

absolutely enthralled with the circus act and loving the snowcone

clapping to the music

first cotton candy (wasn't sure at first, but then he realized he loved it!)

first snowcone

riding an elephant

petting a donkey

with a llama

having a blast

feeding a goat

riding a pony

Brooke and I took Brody to the circus. He LOVED it!!! There were many activities offered prior to the start of the circus. Brody rode a pony and an elephant and fed many of the animals in the petting zoo. Once the circus started, he tasted his first snowcone and his first cotton candy. When the acts started, he was in an absolute zone. He did not take his eyes of the show the entire time. He had a great time. Brooke bought him a souvenir. He got to choose from several different blow up toys-elephants, monkeys, cartoon characters, etc. Brody chose a Dora the Explorer doll. He was ecstatic. We had a blast and I was happy to spend some good quality time with him before going back to school.

baseball

2009-08-03T16:12:00.002-06:00

high five!

good hit buddy!

Brody LOVES baseball! He really enjoys watching Ty's softball games-he is enthralled with the game and cheers for the players. He says things like, "Go Daddy go!" and "Good hit!" He also loves playing baseball at home. Playing baseball is an activity that only Ty does with Brody-it's their special time together. I love to watch them play.

Typical summer morning

2009-07-30T14:16:00.006-06:00

This is what Brody did a few days ago while I was making breakfast:

First, Brody fills his bucket with dirt. Then he carries the bucket of dirt into his house.

Then he "cooks" and stirs the dirt in his sink.

Then he spoons it up with his shovel and carries it to one of the windowsills.

Then he serves it from the window sill and yells, "Sophie...come eat!"

Sophie usually ignores him. :)

Harper, in the meantime, is still fast asleep.

When she finally wakes up, Brody and I get her dressed.

After an hour or two of playing, she's back to sleep.

This is what a typical summer morning looks like for us: First, Tyler gets up and goes to work while the rest of us sleep. Around 8:00, Brody wakes up. I get him up, change his diaper, and we go out to the kitchen to let Sophie out of her kennel. Brody takes Sophie outside for her to go potty, but they usually end up playing while I get myself ready for the day. Once I'm ready, I make breakfast for us and then Brody and I eat together. After breakfast, I get Brody dressed and clean up the breakfast mess. In the meantime, Harper is still fast asleep. Brody and I play until Harper gets up, then we get her dressed and fed and then we all play for a while. After an hour or two, Harper goes back to sleep. Brody and I play some more and then I get lunch ready. I love summer!

Bumbo

2009-07-29T14:35:00.004-06:00

Brody loves it though!

still didn't like it, but didn't scream this time

try again

nope...doesn't like it..."Get me out of this thing!"

thinking...

1st time in the bumbo...not too sure what to think

I thought Harper would love the Bumbo seat because she does NOT like to lay back. She likes to be up, looking at everything around her. However, Harper does not like her bumbo. She's okay for the first minute or so, but then she starts crying. I hope that she will like it better as she gets older/bigger/stronger. Brody loves the bumbo though!!!

4th of July and basement pics

2009-07-28T14:29:00.005-06:00

Ty working on the shower

Harper admiring the green accent wall

SW corner

NW corner (office is right around the corner of the wall and the bottom of the stairs are in the bottom right corner of the pic.)

Harper, supervising the work

the NE corner and bathroom door (the stairs have all of our cleaning supplies we were using to clean up after all the construction)

SE corner and sump pump room door

the office

Brody was so much fun this 4th of July. He LOVED the fireworks. His eyes were glued to them and he would copy the sounds they made. It was more fun to watch him watching the fireworks than it was to watch the actual fireworks. Harper didn't really care. She slept in Tyler's arms the whole night. Sophie did not like them and shook in fear. Here are a couple of pics of the kids in their 4th of July outfits. Harper had 2 outfits b/c her red, white, and blue dress was too big for her. :(

The basement is 99.9% done! Ty and his buddies did an amazing job. The only things left are really small (like a shelf in the bedroom closet, finish plumbing the shower, blinds for the windows, etc.) I don't have any finished bathroom pics yet b/c the boys still have a few loose ends to tie up, but I will post when I get some. The bathroom turned out very nice. Now we just have to get all of our stuff moved in and put away. Wahoo!

First bath together

2009-07-27T15:54:00.002-06:00

Brody and Harper love taking baths together. Brody like to pour water on Harper's tummy and Harper likes to watch Brody splash around!

My little loves

2009-07-27T15:06:00.003-06:00

I am so lucky to have these two! Brody is a great big brother. For the most part, he ignores Harper, but when she starts to cry, he gets very concerned. He likes to "soft her", which means giving her soft pets on her head. He likes to give her her pacifier and he brings her a blanket if she doesn't have one. He tells her goodnight and goodbye and is always happy to see her when she wakes up in the morning. It is so cute! Before I had Harper, I was scared that having another baby would be hard on Brody and I didn't want to do anything to upset him, but Laurie told me that I was giving him the best gift in the world...and she was right!

Sleeping Beauty

2009-07-27T14:55:00.004-06:00

Harper 1 month

2009-07-27T14:42:00.004-06:00

Well, it has been exactly 1 month since I took these pictures, so I guess it's about time to share them!

NC-flying home

2009-07-20T10:38:00.003-06:00

The flight home was SUPER easy. Harper was asleep before we even boarded, and Brody fell asleep right after takeoff. Ty and I just relaxed during the 2.5 hour flight. On the descent, Brody's ears were really hurting him. I tried to get him to eat or drink something, thinking that the chewing/swallowing would help, but he didn't want anything. Finally, after some tears from the pain, I gave him one of Harper's pacifiers to suck on. It was pretty funny seeing a 2 year old boy sucking on a little pink pacifier. It seemed to help his ears and he gave it right back as soon as we landed. We had a great trip, but were happy to come back to Kansas. We went and got Sophie from my parent's house, then headed back to our house. We had turned the AC off while we were gone and our house felt like an oven, but we were still happy to be home. right before take-off
right after take-off

Brody with Harper's pacifier to help his ears

Brody with his monkey backpack/harness, looking out the window at the airport telling the planes goodbye

NC-Sunday...our last full day

2009-07-20T09:04:00.003-06:00

On Sunday, our last full day in NC, we traveled up Grandfather Mountain to see the beautiful views from the mile high swinging bridge. One of the workers told us we better hurry to the bridge before they closed it due to the 60 mph winds. I was far too scared to venture out onto the swinging bridge in 60 mph winds (as was Val) so we stayed in the car with all 3 kiddos while everyone else checked it out. After the bridge, we went to the Grandfather Mountain museum and wild animal exihibits. They had cougars, deer, otters, bald eagles, and black bears. Brody loved the bears because he got to feed them. We were standing above the bear pen and we threw pieces of food to one one of the bears and she would sit on her back haunches and catch them in her mouth. It was pretty cool. Sunday evening we went out to dinner to celebrate Father's Day. We had to wait WAY TOO LONG for our food so the kids were pretty grumpy by the time it got there and everyone was ready to go home. After dinner, we went home to clean up and pack our stuff to be ready to leave in the morning. :( waiting for food

kisses for Addy

Addy ate lemons while waiting for dinner :)

feeding the bears

at the museum

NC-rehearsal dinner and wedding

2009-07-13T14:53:00.005-06:00

Harper at the reception.

Harper riding to the wedding.

Our 14 passenger van (with 15 passengers) headed to the wedding.

rehearsal dinner

The rehearsal dinner was held at a beautiful country club on the same mountain as the reception. We had delicous food and wonderful views. The wedding was in a gorgeous old stone church. I did not take many pictures because I knew the photographer was taking plenty. (To see the photographers pics, go to http://www.benchrisman.com/ , click on client proofs, Betsy and Hansen, password is McDonald). After the ceremony, we were shuttled over to Betsy's Dad's home for the reception. It started off with cocktails and hor deurves (spelling???) in the house and on the deck, then we were moved to the tent for dinner and dancing. There were waiters and waitresses circulating the crowd to hand out champagne and other drinks and goodies. The food was amazing. There were rattlesnake, duck, bison, and elk appetizers. We had ostrich and shrimp for dinner. I really enjoyed the ostrich. The house was also amazing. We compared it to a castle or a ski resort. It was all stone and wood and HUGE! The front door was probably 6 feet wide! I didn't get any specs (bedrooms, sq. footage, etc.), but it was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, we couldn't see much of the view because we were in a cloud the whole night...seriously...IN a cloud. The house was so high up on the mountain that we were in the clouds. (It was kind of cool to say that we danced in a cloud.) After dinner, we danced the night away to awesome music played by the band Hot Sauce. Harper came with us to the festivities because she was only 3 weeks old, but Brody stayed at the house with Addy a babysitter that Betsy's family hired for us. It was incredibly windy, and many feared that the tent was going to blow away, so everyone took turns taking care of Harper in the house. We had an AWESOME time...it was incredibly amazing!

NC-the beach

2009-07-09T15:02:00.007-06:00

This is a view of the lake and beach from the country club where we ate for the rehearsal dinner.

all the little cousins

Alex and Brody playing in the sand.

Harper relaxing with Daddy.

most of the family

We had rights to use the beach at the large lake within the gated community of the home we stayed at. The water was pretty cold, but everyone had a good time anyway!

NC-the walks

2009-07-07T21:26:00.004-06:00

I love this picture!

Daddies and daughters.

Arden helping Brody look for stray golf balls.

The hills were killer!

Jamin and Brody racing down the hill.

One of our favorite activities of the vacation was going on long family walks through the gated community/golf course where we stayed. Everything was beautiful and picturesque. We had a blast!

North Carolina-Day 1

2009-07-03T15:08:00.005-06:00

the view of our backyard from the house

Paul watched Harper while the rest of us explored

one of the ponds in the backyard

the back of our house

on one of the bridges in the backyard

exploring the backyard

Harper on the plane

Brody on the plane

Tyler, Brody, Harper, and I flew to North Carolina on the 18th of June for Betsy and Hansen's wedding. Both of the kids did fine flying on the airplane. We opted to buy slightly more expensive airplane tickets in order to fly non-stop (totally worth the extra cost.) When we landed in Charlotte, we had about a 3 hour drive to Linville. We stayed in an amazing 3 story, 7 bedroom house in a gated community. Ty's Aunt Val's friend owns the home and let our family use it while we were all in town. It was a beautiful home and it was a perfect fit for the family. Tyler and I had the Master Suite. Harper slept in the main part of the room with us, and Brody slept in one of the closets. (We didn't want Harper to wake him up multiple times in the middle night.)We didn't feel bad about putting him in the closet because the closet was about the same size as Harper's room at home! The house was on a golf course and the backyard was amazing! It was landscaped with little ponds, streams, waterfalls, gravel paths, bridges, and beautiful flowers amongst the large trees and boulders. Val and Paul were already there when we arrived, but the rest of the family didn't get there until later so we had some time to explore.

Summer Fun

2009-07-01T08:46:00.003-06:00

Now that it's warm enough, I was able to set up the pool that Brooke gave Brody for his birthday. Brody and Elijah had a great time!

Harper and Paige

2009-06-27T22:39:00.005-06:00

Daddy and Harper visiting the Kibbee family.

Daddies and crying babies.

exactly 2 weeks apart

Paige on the left, Harper on the right

Tyler's best childhood friend, Kevin, and his wife Carie welcomed their baby girl, Paige Marie on Harper's 2 week birthday. Here are some pics.

Harper's 1st bath

2009-06-27T22:30:00.004-06:00

out like a light!

all clean and ready for bed

Before picture

The day after her 2 week birthday, Harper's umbilical cord fell off and she was finally able to have a "real" bath. She loved it...totally opposite of her brother's first bath (he hated it!)