Easter "Outfits"

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I can no longer say "dresses," because we now have added pants. :) Here are the Easter outfits on Sunday. No, I didn't make these, (the question asked a lot at church) but I bought them at Marshall's with the matching doll dresses. They were only $17! Great deal and they were so cute! Julia chose to dress her teddy bear, instead of a doll, but that was cute too. Liam had a matching shirt, which was Greyson's. And so Stew and I wore red also. Not your usual Easter color, but hey, who made the rules! Our darling cherubs!

Easter Sunday!

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Here are some pics from decorating the eggs, to finding them the next morning. My mom bought us 60 eggs (WOW!!) and the girls had a blast decorating them. Stew and I even got into the fun. Kirra, our little photographer, took a lot of these pictures too. That's how I got to be in so many. (Thank you Kirra!). Happy Easter!!

Born a BOY!

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A funny Liam story. I can't believe already, at 4 mo. old, how different things make Liam excited, than with the girls. Animals make him go crazy and cars. Very cute! But the best was the other day at Trisha's house. Liam does not like to lay on the floor (spoiled, I know) and at home he just cries until a sister picks him up. I was at Trisha's working on recital things with her, for our combined recital in May. Liam was cranky, and so I laid him on Aleigh's floor. (My first idea to put him...toys, pink kitchen, etc.) He was still crying. Trisha suggested putting him on Greyson's floor. DUH! He stopped crying immediately, and just looked around in awe. He laid in there for over a half hour without a cry. He just laid there kicking his legs and cooing. I guess he really does like "boy" toys, instead of the girl ones. He was so happy to be surrounded with trains, cars, and cowboy stuff. Here are some pics of him with Greyson's things. He's so DARLING!

Kindy 500

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Malia's kindergarten theme this year is race cars. They had a Kindy 500 race, and everyone had to make a car. Malia wanted a princess car, (surprise, surprise) but instead I convinced her to do an ice cream truck. (easier) She did everything herself, of course, except the hood. :) She was so proud.

St. Patrick's Day Dinner

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Growing up we had a tradition that my mom would make us dinner with green food coloring. It was pretty fun to see what she had made green. So, I continue this tradition with my family. This year I made pancakes, eggs, and even died the apple juice and milk. The girls loved it! It looked a little scary, but we ate it! I made pancakes and eggs, because it was a dance/piano day, and that's crazy enough. This was quick and easy. They thought they were eating greens eggs and ham.

Happy St. Paddy's Day

I (Stew) got this video from my sister, Tara. You have to be able to laugh at this. If not, then you are dead inside.

Artist Husband

Many of you know, that Stew is an art teacher and a true artist. He has an opinion over everything artistic. From decorating the house, to the paper on our blog. I was trying something new, with Trisha, and so I changed the paper. Well, Stew's sassy way of having an opinion over the blog is to change the name. Hence the name of the blog is "Kristine's Blog" and Stew's name is eliminated. So, to be stubborn, I will leave it. These are our arguments. I guess I should be glad it's just over blog paper. ha ha. So, for now, it's not the Van Buskirk Family, but MY rendition of MY family. :) Enjoy Stew!

And for those of you who can't hear the tone of my voice, this is all in fun, and there is no counseling needed. ha ha! That'll be next week, when I put up wall paper in our bedroom!

Background Paper

Okay, so I've seen all these cute blogs with cute paper. I found a friends site that directed me how to do it. SO SIMPLE! Here is the link that I used for directions.

www.sjhblogdesign.blogspot.com

I loved all the paper, but couldn't find one that said ME. Until I found these fun colorful circles at shabbyprincess.com. Now that's me! I love color! Check out my house and you can tell! :)

Enjoy. It's all free!

Hair Cuts!

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I recently cut the girls hair. Mostly, because Julia still had uneven hair from when I grew out her bangs, and Malia's was so long, it was getting hard to maintain out of the shower. (Since we're the ones brushing and drying it. She's still learning) They both love their "new" looks. I cut off over 12 inches on Malia and about 6 inches from Julia. Aren't they cute?! I also thought they would be good summer/wedding hair cuts for Michelle's wedding in June. Still playing! Having girls is fun. Liam's first haircut? We'll see.

Liam's First Disneyland Trip

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We went to Disneyland, as a family, in February, before our passes expired. It was Liam's first trip! And at 3 months too. Spoiled! To get Stew to go to Disneyland, is like going to the dentist. It's not his favorite place. Too many people and money! Agreed! But, the girls and I love to go! We went a lot when I was pregnant with Liam, and Julia was still free. So, we dragged Stew along for our last hurrah! It was VERY fun! Julia and Malia are tall enough to go on everything! (except Indiana Jones) Stew took turns with each daughter and went on EVERY roller coaster! All of us agree, the best ride is Space Mountain! Seeing little Malia and Julia on that was a little scary as a mom, but they were screaming the whole time! (a happy scream) I'm glad they all love fast rides. It makes it more fun for the adults! This hat on Liam, is actually from Kirra's doll, but we couldn't resist putting it on Liam, before he can protest. Poor guy! It was a GREAT day!

A Dad with Daughters

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You can't take a nap around here without your crown and umbrella. What a manly man to be confident enough to snuggle a pink blanket, wear a crown, and use a Hello Kitty umbrella. Stew had no idea that Malia had done this, until he woke up. It was very funny! He's actually taken this umbrella to work before. I guess we should get our umbrella from Stew's parents house. It's a little more versatile.

No ordinary cupboard!

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My sister, Tracey, had posted some fun pics of her son, Jonas, hiding in fun places. As to her request, I'm posting this fun "hideout" of my girls. Needless to say, the cupboard is now filled with DVD's, so they can no longer fit. Sorry girls!

I've been LOVE Tagged!

Happy Couple, originally uploaded by caine975.

I was "tagged" by Emily Nelson, and then the same day I saw this game on a couple other friends blogs. I thought it would be fun to join in. Thanks for the tag Emily. I tag Tracey and Missy!

1. WHAT IS YOUR HUSBAND'S NAME? Stewart Caine but everyone calls him Stew (like the food)
2. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN MARRIED? almost 10 years!
3. HOW LONG DID YOU DATE? We dated for 7 months and engaged for 3 months.
4. HOW OLD IS HE? Well, I always round up for my age but he doesn't like when I do that for him. So, he's only 32 and I'll be 31 in 7 weeks.
5. WHO EATS MORE SWEETS? Definitely me! (Is that something to be proud of?) The dentist's paycheck LOVES me!
6. WHO SAID 'I LOVE YOU' FIRST? Me. But that's another e-mail story! :)
7. WHO IS TALLER? Stew. He's 6'0 and I'm 5'8
8. WHO CAN SING BETTER? Funny question. According to his family, he can't sing. But he sings a great bass at church. But if the question was who sings MORE, than I take that one. He doesn't sing for an audience.
9. WHO IS SMARTER? We argue about that one. I think we are both comparable. We are both smart in different things. But he answers more questions to Jeopardy than I ever have!! Stew, you need to get on that, we could use some money! ha ha
10. WHO DOES THE LAUNDRY? ME! I'm so picky about that! But, as a good mom (even though my kids don't put it that way), I've broken down and taught them to fold. Even though secretly I refold somethings. I told you I was picky!
11. WHO PAYS THE BILLS? Me, for now. We are putting everything on auto pay, so then neither of us! :)
12. WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED? Well, technically we both sleep in the middle. We are cuddlers. But he snuggles on the right side.
13. WHO MOWS THE LAWN? STEW! I'm not into yard work. How sad is that. He helps me ALL the time with the inside chores. He does the bathrooms and mops the floors WAY more than I ever do and has to do all the outside himself. Fair?
14. WHO COOKS DINNER? Me. But someday I hope to turn that job to one of my kids. I really don't enjoy cooking. I think it's the mess after that ruins the fun. But I do make the best tacos around!
15. WHO DRIVES? Usually Stew, but he drives in traffic during the week, so I like to drive to give him a break.
16. WHO IS MORE STUBBORN? That's a toss up. He's Scottish and I'm Irish. Our children have NO chance!
17. WHO ASKED OUT WHOM FIRST? He asked me out first and always. I don't think I ever asked him out. Yeah!
18. WHO PROPOSED? Stew. At my teller bank window in front of the other tellers and customers!
19. WHO HAS MORE SIBLINGS? Me. Stew's the youngest of 3 and I'm the middle of 5.
20. WHO WEARS THE PANTS? Ha ha! I'd say we're equal, but I have more opinions. We, luckily, have the same opinion about most things. That helps when making decisions.

Well, this has been fun going down memory lane. So, Tracey and Missy, TAG you're it!

Liam Crazy Arms and Legs

I (Stew) was changing Liam's diaper and getting him ready for bed. Prior to this he was crying non stop, and just ready to go to bed. After getting him undressed, he went crazy with his arms and legs. He loves being naked. This is a short video of it, after he had been doing it for a little bit, so he had been much more animated. It is hard to see it in the video, but his stomach was incredibly red, from his own hands beating on it. It was hilarious.

The New Generation!

julia, originally uploaded by caine975.

Great story! Julia loves playing on the computer. She's 3 1/2 and can do more than we give her credit. She got a Webkinz for Christmas, and she is good! I came in to check on her one day, and she was downloading from iTunes 56 songs. I scream, being 99 cents a song, and freak out! Then I realize she not only was downloading those songs, but had already downloaded $40 worth of songs. It was almost $100 in music!! AUGHHHH! Luckily, they had pity on us, and only made us keep 1 album of $9.99. We now have a 3 step process and a password to buy music. Also, she LOVES to print. She has used more ink printing her Polly Pocket pictures. So, we decided to turn off the printer, so she can't print. (Luckily she hasn't figured that out yet) Well, the other day, I see a file marked "Chelsea" on our desktop. Instantly I had worries of some bad picture I would see. So I clicked on it, to check and delete, when I realized it's a picture from Polly Pocket that Julia had made and saved it to the desktop! I can't believe she figured out how to do that!!! She's too good for a 3 year old! It must be a 3rd child syndrome (hint hint: that's Stew and me). At least that doesn't waste ink!

Living Room

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We recently redecorated our front living room. I knew I wanted the green walls, but I couldn't quite get it all together. So, with the help of Trisha and Lisa, we moved everything around. The piano used to be where the table is, and vice versa. I love the idea that you walk in and see my gorgeous piano! The piano, we bought from some friends who moved to Hawaii and didn't want to take it with them. This man's grandma was the original owner. It was made in the 1940's. I have always loved the vintage style and 30's and 40's is my favorite. Luckily, Stew and I have the same taste. I had a lady from Chino give me all this old piano music, so we picked our favorites and framed them. The rectangle pictures behind the couch, were from Stew's grandma's. They are from the world's fair in NY, that they went to, in the 50's. My dad had given me an original print (from an antique store) of one of my favorite shows, "A Song is Born," with Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo. So, it all came together with some really cool old things. The couches still need to go and be updated, but that's another paycheck. :) We actually spent $0 on this room. Besides the paint when we moved in, we had all these things in our garage and Trisha and Lisa put it in just the right places to look fabulous!! Stew did all the pottery work too. Anyways. I Love our new room! I always wanted a music room, and I think this looks GREAT! All I want to do now, is hang Stew's and my guitar on the wall, side by side. I think that will top it all off. Enjoy!

Liam's 2 Months Old!

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Liam is 2 months old! (Jan. 18) Already! He is such a GREAT baby. He's so mellow and calm. We were just told he has RSV (a respiratory virus and very scary for babies) and his ear drum burst a few days ago, and through all that, he's still so HAPPY! The girls love to hold him and play with him! This boy is definitely not short on LOVE! He's already 13 1/2 lbs. CHUBBY!! We love our little boy!

Liam's Blessing Day!

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Liam was blessed on Sunday. The girls wore their dresses from my sisters wedding and Liam was in cream also. Lynn (my mother-in-law) found her Grandfather's blessing outfit and we were so honored she let us bless Liam in it! It's Liam's Great Great Grandfather's. It's from 1864! Yes, it was a dress (true to the times), and Stew was not happy! I begged for WEEKS! Finally, 6 pm Saturday night, he approved! Lynn brought it over immediately, before Stew changed his mind! It was a very spiritual day! Liam was wonderful during the whole thing. I even had to stop nursing him early to make it in on time. He never cried once! But he was less squirmy when I put him in his pants and flannel!

New Year's Pictures

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Here is the pictures to go with the video. It's our "toast" to the New Year! I hope it's a good one! We had such a FULL 2007, I don't know if 2008 can match it! A move, a baptism, a birth, and a wedding, and a sad farewell to my Grandma. This all happened between September through December. Can't get bigger than that! I hope 2008 is a little slower. ha ha!

Christmas Morning

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Here are the kiddos (can't say 'girls' anymore) on Christmas morning. Stew beat me to the punch getting pics on here, so the holidays are a little out of order. The girls had a great time, and Liam, I'm sure, did too.:) We had a nice, quiet morning, then visited my Grandma at the hospital (who flew in for Lisa's wedding, and had to be in the hospital for 2 weeks from kidney failure. She's home now in Washington and doing better), and then had Christmas dinner with Stew's family. We had dinner with my family on Christmas Eve. It's fun to be able to see both sides of the family for the holidays. The girls loved it and had a wonderful Christmas!