The Crafts

 Kate spent this weekend in Ames with Matt as they stayed with Uncle Mike. And  if a bad 80's movie creeps into your head  when you hear that you shouldn't be alarmed. It's becoming an annual tradition and as also is tradition, Matt documented this excursion and is guest blogging the event for our enjoyment. . . .  The trip started with a Friday afternoon visit to the Sukup Basketball Complex so we could take in Iowa State Women's Basketball practice. After an hour long discussion about her favorite player, Anna Prinns, I had Kate convinced that Anna was going to be busy practicing and that we could not try and talk to her or distract her. Kate begrudgingly accepted.  Of course the first thing to happen when we walk in is that Anna and Amanda Zimmerman come directly over to us, introduce themselves and say hi to Kate. After a few minutes practice starts and Kate is over the moon forever remembering to not trust Dad about anything further. A few...

Looking at these pics do you notice a theme? Someone loves being a big sister.  Someone also has a hard time sitting still and that is why many of those pics are blurry. I have to take the photo as fast as possible because I don't fully trust Miss CJ to not toss little Natalie to the side. Still...there is a whole lot of love here. (Kate loves Natalie too but has taken less of a motherly role with her.) ********************* We had a visitor last weekend. Uncle Mike made the short drive to the Craft house to pay a visit to his newest niece. I think Mike and all of his nieces will get along just fine. ************************* Our dining room is the hot spot for art projects and since Natalie's arrival I haven't really stayed on top of keeping the dining room / art center clean. (Note: I cropped the mess out of the picture to save your eyes from exploding.) The room has taken on a life of it's own. BUT a lot of great ...

What's up? What is new with you? We've been a little absorbed here and I feel slightly out of touch with the rest of the world. I did, however, find time to watch the debates so I at least remember there is a presidential race going on. I won't tell you who I'm voting for. Matt and I agreed we weren't even going to tell Kate. That way as she grows she can decide for herself what kind of policies are important to her. Although I imagine it will be quite awhile before she cares. Matt started growing a beard. He does this on only two types of occasions...vacation and new baby in the house. He has since shaved it off. His beards are always short lived but the girls had fun rubbing his whiskers for the past several days. Aunt Lindsay came for a short visit last weekend and in honor of her arrival we had a dance party. CJ arrived in style wearing a Scooby / fuzzy cat / Cinderella ensemble.  Afterwards we taught the girls how to do the chicken dan...

It's a girl! Our long awaited baby Craft is another girl! Natalie Claire Craft made her appearance Sunday, October 7th at 5:54 p.m. Matt and I are now parents to three wonderful little girls and I couldn't be more thrilled about it. Long story short I had been having contractions for a week plus. So when I woke Sunday morning to more contractions I didn't think much of it. I dressed myself and the girls for church but Matt put a stop to that. He was worried that if this was real labor then chasing two little girls while I suffer through a contraction in the church pew would be a poor decision. But as per usual, the contractions stopped (AGAIN!) and we took the girls to Sunday School. With only the occasional contraction plaguing me I grabbed Kate about 11 a.m. and we made our Wal-Mart for groceries. While pushing our cart I about doubled over and realized that maybe these contractions weren't false labor. I sure as heck didn't want to have a baby in Wal-Mart so Ka...

While no one in this house, even the person carrying the baby, knows when he or she shall make their grand entrance, it is fun to predict. And here are those predictions: CJ wins the prize for most creative by guessing a 200 lb, 10 inch boy whom she wants to name, and I quote, "Hippo Cone Poop". She laughed hysterically at herself. Kate hopes baby is a girl and that we will grace her with the name of Christine. I don't think she knows one single person named Christine so I have no idea where she came up with it. If you look v-e-r-y closely at the words on the other side of the prediction page you may be able to see some potential baby names up for consideration. Yes, that's right. We don't have a name yet but we're getting closer. (I imagine my mom, if she reads this blog post, will be Sherlock Holmes style examining the photo with magnifying glass in hand.) We're at three, 3, THREE days and counting. I don't care who's prediction is right o...

This past Friday was a gorgeous day. So gorgeous that I decided to surprise the girls with an impromptu stop to my own personal happy place, Hickory Hills. (Disclaimer: my real happy place is probably sitting ocean side on the beach but this is as close as we could get in a short 10 minute car ride.) I have some mad love for this place. Seriously there is almost no one else there when we visit. The girls run like free range chickens and I take in the peaceful views. Of course, this time of year we have to sometimes play a little goose poop hopscotch. We don't actually touch the goose poop, we just bounce over it in attempt to avoid stepping directly in it. While no one has fallen in it YET we have come dangerously close. Thankfully I wised up and tossed TWO buckets and TWO shovels into the van this time. CJ filled her bucket with rocks, dirt and sand while Kate dug for 'buried treasure.'  I just love the light out there. Plus the photo subjects are pre...