Joy goes golfing

We finally got Joy out to the golf course last week. Of course, she enjoyed riding the golf cart again and she even took a swing, with dad's help, at a few balls. She demonstrated some great problem solving skills on how to get the ball from point A to point B. She has been practicing at home ever since and has quickly learned how to hold the club and hit the ball on her own. Dad is pretty proud! Enjoy the videos below...

Joy enjoys the guitar

Hi. We have all been enjoying a less humid week after last week's hot and HUMID weather. We even attended a kid's concert mid-week where one of the musicians played a guitar. Joy talked about it often for the next 24 hours which prompted Danny to bring out his guitar again. She was so excited and danced her heart out. She has been requesting it a lot lately. She innocently called the guitar pick 'money' at first, which took us awhile to figure out, but now we are all clear on what everything is labeled. We worked Monday-Thursday this week. So we are enjoying a 4 day weekend! Yesterday we took Angel, our cat, to the vet to learn that she has diabetes. We have chosen not to give her the recommended 2 insulin shots per day. Instead, we will adjust her diet and enjoy the time she has left with us. :( We have had a couple play dates with our friends the last two mornings which may have been over-stimulating for Joy because she has had a really hard time falling asleep for her nap the last two days. Lastly, we are preparing to switch Joy to a regular single bed soon. We went shopping for a new mattress for her last night and man did she work it. She kept making statements about random things in the furniture store, like "That's cute" or "Ohh, I like that." Danny and I couldn't stop laughing. This girl loves to shop! I just hope it is a phase and she will become more balanced over time.
Below is a video of Joy dancing to Danny playing his guitar. Enjoy!

Chicken Dance

Joy had a busy start to the week. She went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Krafve for two nights (Sunday - Tuesday). She got to help them pick up debris from a strong storm that went through on Sunday night, taking down 6-7 of their tall pine trees behind the house. Evidently, Joy slept through the whole thing.
Joy was happy to see her pseudo-siblings at work upon returning home. We were are the families new home starting this week. We are definitely enjoying the extra space they have now. Joy adjusted very quickly and took a nap with no problems on the first day.
We enjoyed a visit from Grandpa and Grandma Rainbow last night. Joy enjoyed being the center of attention, which we caught on video. She has a pretty funny version of the chicken dance. :)
Lastly, our weekend plans consist of helping out some friends today. Joy and I are hanging out with our godchild and her baby brother for the day. When Danny finishes work, he's going to help the parents with some house projects. Tomorrow will consist of watching golf, resting, and catching up on a few things around our house. We're bracing ourselves for a VERY hot week.

Enjoy...

practicing 'Happy Birthday'

We had a great 4th of July. We were home on Saturday doing things around the house and yard. We had Joy in her kiddy pool when she started singing her heart out. Check it out below...



On Sunday, we drove 5 hours to my cousin's place in MN. He and his family live on a lake and own two jet skis and a pontoon. We snacked, grilled out, and then spent the last part of the day out on the lake. It was very relaxing and so fun to watch Joy experiencing so many new things with some of the people she loves so much. She even was brave enough to ride on a jet ski with dad. She was smiling from ear to ear and asked for more when she was done. Here are a few pictures that capture our visit. You can find a lot more photos on facebook. Happy Independence Day!

Joy Blows Bubbles

Joy has been practicing how to blow bubbles a lot lately. She cracks us up with how big of a breath she takes to blow them. Check her out in the video below.



Here are a few pics from our weekend. Danny introduced Joy to her sandbox. She played in it for 1.5 hours while I got some much needed cleaning done. The second picture is of Joy, myself, and our cat, Angel, hanging around the house Saturday afternoon.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there! We had a low key day with a lot of golf on the tv today.

Visit to the Krafve farm

Last weekend, Joy and I ventured up to visit my parents. Danny stayed behind because he had to work and to take advantage of some free time to put in a new mailbox, light post, and flood light in front of our house. All of which were really rusty and probably the originals with this 1960's house.
After an hour delay in the Dells because of construction (only to find the workers were taking the barrels off the road), Joy only sleeping 20 minutes because of it, and some very rude drivers, we finally made it there late Friday afternoon. We enjoyed a visit from Joy's aunt and uncle, Christi and Bart Chapin, and their dogs on Friday evening. The first half of Saturday was spent on the farm and the second half was spent at a friend's 30th birthday party. There were lots of babies and older kids for Joy to play with. She was a busy and happy girl, as long as we didn't talk to any one person too long so she could keep playing. We came back on Sunday and Joy is taking a nice long nap this afternoon to make up for some of the lost sleep over the weekend. Here are some pics that capture our visit.

Aunt Christi, Grandma, and Joy were coloring together on Friday when Joy missed the paper by a long shot and got her forehead instead.

We got out the old little people and scrubbed them up for Joy. She has been on a huge kick over little people lately so she was really excited about this. She didn't want to wait until they were dry so she just sat on the counter and got busy. An hour later, we moved them to a bench so they were more her level and we could all sit down. :)

We went for a ride in Grandpa's truck out to see the Angus with 14 babies. Joy was nervous about the truck at first, but loved it and wanted to ride more the rest of the visit. She also loved the baby cows. We'll work on teaching her the different between calves, cows, steers, and bulls in the future. For now, they are all just baby and mama cows.

Here, Joy is jumping by herself because all the kids ran inside for cupcakes. But let me assure you, she wasn't too far behind them. This girl LOVES cupcakes!