Monday, January 31, 2011

What?!

Benjamin was contently writing his name, over and over, in a notebook during church yesterday. I corrected the way he was making his "n", and he quickly wrote a beautiful "n". And not wanting to waste that "n", he promptly and without help, wrote his entire name BACKWARDS!!! He started with the "n" on the right side of the page, and ended up on the left side of the page.

Teaching this child to read could be exciting!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Pick a picture

Which pic would you pick?

#1
#2

#3 (this one makes me smile, but isn't my favorite pic. The wind blew right as I took the pic)
#4

School

No two ways about it, homeschooling is hard!! This year, my struggle has been what to do with the boys while I work with Elizabeth. Timothy is more than happy to either sit in him highchair and watch, or roam around the house looking for something to put in his mouth. I've been working with Micah on some kindergarten work. Which just leaves Benjamin.

Benjamin is a VERY motivated little student. He really wants to work, he really loves to do school, and though I might be a little biased, I think he's a really smart little guy. But I've struggled with finding time to put so school with him, since I'm doing school with his older siblings. I know that in a couple years, when Micah and Elizabeth are both reading, this will be much easier! Until that time, I've just been trying to work with his as the opportunity arises.

I decided I needed to work with him a little more when he handed me a bulletin during church. I opened the bulletin, expecting to see a picture he had drawn for me. Instead I see the name, "Micah" beautifully written across the page. He can spell and write his brother's name, but not his? Mommy fail.

So this morning, we started working on the very long and challenging name "Benjamin". And for the record, he can spell and write "Ben" but doesn't like to be called Ben, and wants to learn how to spell "Benjamin". Here's my sweet little student, very proud of himself!
And here's the final product (which for some reason was automatically rotated by blogger. So tip your head).

Though he didn't spell it all by himself, he did write it all by himself, and didn't once ask me how to form any of the letters. And did I mention he's 3 1/2?

What a sweet and encouraging way to start my homeschooling day! I'm so proud of Benjamin!!!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Rather than walking....

Timothy thinks it would be fun to stand in one place and laugh.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Aggie Hoops

On Tuesday, we realized we had a free Wednesday night. Our community group starts up next Wednesday, so we decided to "do something". We tried inviting a couple friends over, but nothing panned out. Tuesday afternoon, Curtis mentioned that tickets to the A&M basketball game were on sale. Did we want to go?

HECK YES!!!!!

For only $12.50, the Krajca 6 experienced our first Aggie basketball game.

And we had a BLAST!!
the teams, warming up. A&M played OSU. You might remember that we have a (mostly) friendly family rivalry with OSU. The fact that we WON, made the evening even more fun.

And notice the blimp in the picture above? It was a remote controlled mini blimp. The kids thought that was pretty cool.



The pictures of the three big kids and I were all taken in the bathroom, since I made a total of FIVE trips with them!
Timothy was the most into the game. He clapped, he yelled, he made friends with everyone behind us. The game didn't start till 7, we didn't get home till 10, and he was perfect the whole time!

And what's the best part of a sporting event? The FOOD! I love these big A&M buckets filled with popcorn. Only $7!

As we were driving to the game, it dawned on Curtis and I that this was the first "big" thing we'd taken all four kids to, without backup. Yay us! Though we'd done lots of different activities (highschool football games, movies, and such) we'd always taken someone with us. It only took us a year to be brave enough to do something like that with all four kids. Quite an accomplishment, it you ask me.

Saturday, January 08, 2011

family picture

We were asked for a family picture. Which one do you like?

#1

#2

#3


#4

Friday, January 07, 2011

Wedding Song


If You Could See What I See

All of my life
I have dreamed
that somehow love would find me
now I can't believe you're standing here

If beauty is all
in the eye
of the beholder then I
wish you could see
the love for you that lives in me

(Chorus)
And you would know you have my heart
If you could see, what I see
that a treasure's what you are
if you could see, what I see
Created to be
the only one for me
If you could see, what I see

I know there are days
when you feel
so much less than ideal
wondering what I see in you

It's all of the light
and the grace
your belief in me drives me to say
that I promise you
a faithful love, forever true

(Chorus)

If you could see
then you'd understand
why I fall down to my knees
and I pray my love
will be worthy of
the one who gave his life
so our love could be

If you could see
what I see(x2)

You're created to be
The perfect one for me
If you could see
What I see

If beauty is all
in the eye
of the beholder then I
am beholding...
true beauty



Thursday, January 06, 2011

Vows

I know, I know. My anniversary is over. But before our December was hijacked with chaos, I had planned on doing a few blogs about our wedding. So here's the first of (hopefully) a few blogs about some of the special details of our wedding.

I love our wedding vows! When we were trying to decide on our vows I knew there were three things I wanted in our vows. #1 We wouldn't write them. #2 I wanted the focus of our vows (and our entire wedding) to be on Christ, and our love for Him that brought us together. #3 I wanted there to still be some tradition in them.

Thank goodness for the internet!! I believe my mom found these, read them to me, and Curtis and I decided they were perfect. Here's what we promised each other 10 years ago.

Curtis: Believing that God has brought us together in His love, I take you Kierstyn to be my wife. Before God and these witnesses I promise to love you, to be your faithful husband, and to lead our family in obedience before the Lord. I commit my life to you to share in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, to serve Christ together as long as we both shall live.

Kierstyn: Believing that God has brought us together in His love, I take you Curtis to be my husband. Before God and theses witnesses, I promise to love you, to be your faithful wife, and to submit to you as head of the family before the Lord. I commit my life to you, to share in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, to serve Christ together as long as we both shall live.

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Sweet Surrender

2010

1. What did you do in 2010 that you had never done before?
Gave birth to a preemie, taught Elizabeth to read, watched Micah learn to ride a skateboard, helped Benjamin learn to write his name.

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions and will you make more for next year?
I don't even know what they were.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
ME!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My Uncle

5. What places have you visited?
No where new, but several visits to Wichita, Wichita Falls and Oklahoma City. We also made a trip to LaVernia, and Austin.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
A peaceful mind a heart.

7. What date from 2010 will remain etched in your memory and why?
Groundhog Day, February 2nd. The day we welcomed sweet Timothy into our family.

8. What was your biggest achievement this year?
Making it!

9. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing too major, thankfully. I did have one brutal c-section, and shingles this summer.

10. What was the best thing you bought?
A new lip for Timothy.

11. Where did most of your money go?
The doctor and the house

12. What song will always remind you of 2010?
Hmmmm. Not sure. At first I couldn't think of anything, but now I have several. The Doxology (Benjamin learned to sing it, and Elizabeth learned to play it on the piano), The Benediction Song (I sing to Timothy and Micah every night), Lead Me.

13. What do you wish you would have done more of?
Devoted time to my husband.

14. What do you wish you would have done less of?
Worrying, fretting and stressing.

15. What was your favorite TV program?
Thanks to our new DVR, I was able to regularly watch many shows! Gray's Anatomy, Brother's and Sisters, Biggest Loser, Cupcake Wars.

16. What was the best book you read this year?
Twilight Series! Don't judge. ;-)

17. What was your favorite film of the year?
Harry Potter 7!!!!

18. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
for my 30th birthday, Curtis threw me an awesome 80's themed party.

19. What political issue stirred you the most?
Unfortunately, I wasn't very involved in politics this year.

20. Who was the best new person you met?
Timothy Joel Krajca

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

10th anniversary

It was a quiet anniversary for the two of us. We just enjoyed a few hours away from the kiddos, had a tasty lunch, ate some delicious donuts, and continued rereading Harry Potter 7. Though we had hoped to take a trip, or do something big to commemorate a decade of marriage, I think our celebration was perfect, and very fitting for where we are as a couple.
One of the things I have learned in the 10 years since we've been married is that it's not about the trips, the gifts, the dozens of roses, or the huge decelerations of love that make anniversaries special. It's the quiet time we get to spend together, reflecting on what we've learned as a couple, thanking God for his faithfulness to us, and enjoying quiet uninterrupted moments together.
I'll admit that as our anniversary approached, and I saw our celebration budget shrinking, and more and more craziness seemed to enter our life, I anticipated being disappointed. In a perfect world, I had hoped to be in New York, celebrating New Years Eve there, and enjoying some place new with Curtis. Our anniversary started with Curtis saying to me, "Benjamin pooped. Do you know where more toilet paper is?" How appropriate!! Curtis, after helping Benjamin, quickly redeemed the start of the day. He's hidden two cards for me to find as I began my day. He'd also written a blog for me to find. I love that he did things for me in my love language! And though our days wasn't filled with romance, roses, or a trip, I wouldn't have wanted to spend it any other way. We were together. We were happy and content. We were healthy. And we were with our family during a hard time. What more could I ask for?!

So our 10th anniversary has passed without anything big or fancy. And I am so happy! I feel like we were really living out our vows to each other during that time.

Happy anniversary, Curtis! I love you so much, and wouldn't have wanted to spend the day any other way.