Grandpa Krebs

Well, it seems that I'm the last in the family to blog about this. My paternal grandpa passed away yesterday. He was battling 3 types of cancer (prostate, bone, and lung), so it is for the best, but it's still hard to let him go. I am really feeling terrible for the kids--they love Grandpa and don't want him to die. To make it harder, Kendall and Jon are in Texas for the week and aren't even here. I haven't heard about any funeral arrangements yet, so hopefully they'll be back or can make it back in time--it just helps for closure, I think, to be there. We have so many fun, good memories of Grandpa. Here are just a few (sorry it's so long):

When I was a teenager, we went camping to Jackson Hole, WY like we did every summer. My grandparents had this big 5th wheel trailer, with only the two of them sleeping in it, so my parents sent me and Jen (my sister) over there to sleep. I woke up and just knew a bear was outside of the trailer. Turns out, it was Grandpa snoring. He sure could snore!

I used to put a big pillow in my pants when it was my birthday because Grandpa liked to give me birthday spankings (and they HURT) and he'd always lose count and start over. So, instead of 8 I got 39. He must have wised up because he didn't even try. Then days (or weeks) later when we'd be visiting at his house, he'd say, "Katie, I forgot to give you your birthday spankings."

He sang me the song, "K-K-K-Katie"--or whatever it's called--every single time I saw him for years and years. I loved it!

He took Kendall fishing (with Jon too) and Kendall has begged to go again ever since.Kendall loved to hear about his WWII stories--so did Jon.

The kids loved to go and visit him and play pool or ping pong, chase the chickens, and go see the horses.

One of my most special, recent memories is of the great visit we had with Grandpa just 6 months ago, before we all knew about the cancer. We were able to have a good couple of hours with him. We had some great talks and really had a good time.We will sure miss Grandpa and love him sooo much!

Hair...again

I've decided that I can't style my hair. Here's a look at my attempt:

Easter 2009

We had a very nice Easter. It turned out to be a beautiful day and a lot of the bulbs were in bloom--pretty daffodils and tulips. Spring is in the air!

The kids colored eggs on Saturday night and again, Jenna liked to fill up whichever color bowl(s) were near her with eggs.We have our church meetings at 9 am which meant that the kids either searched for eggs really early or after church. They voted for really early. I had a monster headache and the kids were so excited that no one got to bed until really late. They got up around 7:30 am though! Jenna was tired and didn't want to go on an egg hunt. She finally did though. It had rained the night before and was quite cold in the early morning. The Easter Bunny always hides the hard boiled eggs outside in the cool "refrigerated" temperatures and the plastic eggs in the house. The kids just got some candy in their baskets this year--typical stuff: cadbury eggs, nestle caramel reeses peanut butter eggs, jelly beans, and a chocolate bunny. Oh--and a banana and a kiwi--can't forget the healthy stuff. :)I made a turkey dinner, but everyone was pretty stuffed from snacking on their candy and deviled eggs. I think the hit of the day (for the kids) was making deviled eggs out of all those hard boiled eggs! We made at least 3 dozen of the things.

Pinewood Derby

Kendall had his last Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts last week. I had to go to my youth activity so Jon and the kids went and supported him. His is the red car with the Lego driver in it. I think it was a lot of fun, but there were some boys missing--it was held on the same day as the start of Spring Break.

Random Photos

I am a little behind. I forgot where Jon had put the camera cord and kept forgetting to ask him when he was home. So....here are some catch up photos.

Here's when Jarren was so sick. For those of you who know him, you can see that twinkle in his eye is gone.
Jenna loves to get a bowl of water and let her animals go swimming. It entertains her for hours sometimes.

Here's Jenna with her potty rewards--she keeps losing the penguin and then she'll get it back. Silly girl!
Kristen earned student of the month for her class in the category of honesty--way to go! Our lovely April Fools snow storm. Lucky us--they're calling for more snow on Wednesday and Thursday.
Jenna drew with marker all over her face and told us that she was Mr. Moustache. It was pretty funny...

Haircut

This is it!
You can see the shortest layers here.
After...

Before....

First of all...thank you soooo much to everyone who gave me advise and their opinions. It's so hard for me to look at myself and to know what I want and what looks best on me. I really appreciate it!!

I guess I'm not as brave as I'd like to be. Hair grows back, but it can be a pain. I ended up getting about 4 inches or so cut off and then got some layers. They're not heavy and it's hard to tell in the pictures. I wish I was more photogenic, but since I'm not and I took these right after the cut and hadn't styled it yet, well....I don't look the best. I'll have to post another picture when I get it styled cute. Anyway...the point is, it's soft, lighter, still long, and I love it! And maybe I'll get brave and do heavy layers or bangs later, but this is good for now. Maybe if I had a face like Carrie's, I'd go for it! By the way, I didn't realize my hair looked so reddish--guess it's time for a new color now. :)

Ready for a Change!

I am officially sick and tired of my hair. It's just....blah. I think I need a change, but I can't decide how to do it. From past experience, any time I cut it above my shoulders, I have no idea how to style it and you almost always have to style it, so it looks a mess. FYI...it's about 4 inches above my waist.

Here are a few styles I'm considering. PLEASE feel free to vote on your favorite (on the side). Or if anyone has any other ideas, I'm open for suggestions.
So....lots of layers or lots of layers with some long, side-swept bangs. Or I guess I can just get a trim. :)



PS I couldn't get the poll to work, so just leave comments I guess. :) Thanks!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Yesterday was my grandma's 80th birthday. My mom planned a surprise party for her and all but one uncle, one aunt, and one grandson (in-law) were there. We all made some memory scrapbook pages and put them into a nice book for her--it ended up being HUGE! We had a nice dinner and a great time! We love you Grandma!!!

April Fool's Day

Yesterday was a fun day, full of tricks! It started with me looking out the window and seeing S*N*O*W!! I told Kendall and Kristen that school was canceled. Why, they asked? Because of the snow. Then, of course, I told them "April Fool's!" Then I put a couple of drops of food coloring in their cereal bowls and poured cereal on top of it. When they poured the milk, it turned blue or green. Kristen said she couldn't eat her breakfast because it was rotten. Hehehe. I told Jon I was backing the van out of the garage and the kids were fighting so I turned around and I don't know what happened, but I scraped the whole side of the van against the edge of the garage. April Fool's again! For dinner, we had "fish" sticks--vanilla wafer cookies, covered in peanut butter and rolled in graham cracker crumbs. We really did have fish sticks though--then they could smell the fish cooking. :) I got a picture of those, but can't find the camera cord, so check back later for pics. Jarren really got into things--everything was a joke. "Look over there Mom--it's a spider! April Fool's." "Mom! What is that? April Fool's." etc. What a fun day....

Yesterday was also my younger sister's birthday. I remember one year, she got a can of motor oil and a box of JELL-O and stuff like that. She said, "It's okay. I know we're poor." Happy Late B-Day sis!

And here Jarren is starting into it again today. I hope I can make him understand that it was ONLY yesterday.