HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!

Happy Father's Day Chris!!! You are a great dad and no doubt about it, Kristin is "Daddy's girl!!!" We love you and are so glad to have you around!!!!

Love,

Laura and Kristin

I can't believe June is almost halfway over!!! This summer is flying by. Chris had to go back to work today...on Father's Day!!! But he had a good vacation and spent lots of time with Kristin. Hope all you dad's had a wonderful day.

Summer is in full swing at the Arft house. Kristin has been playing in the water almost every afternoon (we're STILL working on the pool) and she gets more water time during water play at school. The preschoolers are also taking turns going to the aquatic center with the school-agers. Kristin's first time to go was last Thursday. She was there from 1:30-4:00 and was absolutely worn out when they got back. In fact she laid down on Shawn's couch and slept until we had to leave at 5:30. About an hour later she was back up, roaring and ready to go!!

Slip-n-Slide

Yesterday Kristin had a blast on her new slip-n-slide. At first she would not lay on it because little grass spiders and other bugs were crawling on it, so she freaked out. Then everytime she would get on the grass, it would stick to her wet feet, which made her mad, but she finally got over it. She wore herself out, which is always a good thing!!!!

Eureka Springs Pictures

I've downloaded some more Eureka Springs pictures of the flickr site. Just click on it too see them. I think using flickr is easier than downloading onto the blog site...sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Anyway...that's our picture status. I'll be adding more so check it often!

Eureka!!

Relaxing on our patio
Christ of the Ozarks
Inspiration Point--just outside Eureka Springs


Well, our relaxing and fun weekend is over. Chris and I spent the weekend in Eureka Springs while Kristin stayed with friends. I can't believe it's already Monday night. On Friday Kristin went home with her buddy Ethan and spent the night with his family. Ethan's mom had told him that boys and girls don't have sleepovers, but we discussed it and figured since they are only 4 and 5, it's no big deal. They had fun playing in the creek and just being typical kids. On Saturday Ethan's mom took Kristin to Shawn's house and she spent the night with Shawn and her girls. Kristin considers Maddie and Kenzie her big sisters and they are pretty much Kristin's second family. I picked up Kristin Sunday afternoon and she was NOT ready to go home, but once she got there, saw her surprises from Eureka Springs, then laid on the couch...she was out for the count! Completely worn out!!!

While Kristin was having fun with her friends, Chris and I enjoyed some peace and quiet for a short vacation/anniversary trip. I started getting sick throughout the week and by Friday was ready to just stay home (or either go by myself and sleep the weekend away in the cottage). But I loaded up on TheraFlu and Dramamine and was ready to go! We got to Eureka Springs around 7:30 Friday night and almost got lost looking for our cottage. When they said it was "secluded and on a much hidden road" they weren't kidding!!! But the cottage was great--in the woods, but close to town and very cute and cozy. It was so nice to open the windows and not hear anything!!!! While sitting on our patio I did see some deer and a family of armadillos. We spent Saturday walking all over town and shopping. If you've never been to Eureka before, the roads are very hilly and curvy, and needless to say, we got our exercise. After a long day of shopping we had to edure a climb of 104 steps then a hill to get back to our cottage. It was no problem when we left, but boy was it tough that night!! But we made it and it was worth it to walk instead of fighting traffic in the car. We left Sunday morning, stopped in Rogers for lunch, then came home. I was off work today and our plans were to take Kristin to the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, MO. But we awoke to rain...and lots of it. When we got to Joplin it had quit raining, but some of the highways were closed due to flooding. So, we spent the day in Joplin. Now we are back home. Chris is on vacation and I think Kristin is going to stay home with him tomorrow.

I will load more pictures soon...the computer is being very slow. I'm trying to figure out how to get my pictures on Flickr put on my blog. Oh well, that will have to wait until tomorrow!!!

YUM-O!

a perfect pizza!!!!

On Saturday Kristin made a pizza for lunch. She loves to cook and will watch "Emeril Live" or just about any cooking show over kids shows. Sometimes while "cooking" in her room I'll hear her yell "BAM" or "YUM-O" like Emeril and Rachel Ray.

Today was her first day of art camp. Ms Shawn took her and picked her up so I could rearrange my room at school (it's still a disaster). She said Kristin was a little nervous at first, but after a few minutes she was fine. Kristin said that she cut and glued some wood pieces and did some coloring. She also made a new friend, Rachel. Tomorrow they are going to paint and on Friday they will have an art display showing off all their work.

The pool water is almost completely clear!!! I should've taken a "before" picture. It was pretty nasty. I guess enough chlorine will kill anything!

New Glasses!!!

Kristin's glasses came in this afternoon and she is so proud! She's having a little trouble getting used to wearing them all the time, but all in all is very excited about them. Probably because she can see now! It's a whole new world!!!

I'm still working on the pool. Last year was easy getting it set up (once we got the ground completely level), but this year it's harder since the pool has been sitting since last summer. So, I'm adding chemicals and vacuuming until it's ready...which hopefully will be soon!

I Can't See!!!!!

Kistin has inherited so many characteristics from me--stubborn, no attention span, artsy, loves to read, and now we've discovered that she is lucky enough to have bad vision--like me!!

I'd planned to take Kristin to the eye doctor since I'd noticed her getting REALLY close to papers when drawing, reading, etc. I waited untilthey did a vision exam at the pediatirican's office for her school physical. Well, lo and behold, she had lots of trouble. So, I made an appointment for Thursday to go to the eye doctor. Chris said he'd heard good things about the doctor at the Wal-Mart vision center, so that's where we went. It was an interesting visit, to say the least. Kristin has issues with strangers, especially men, but by the end of the exam, she'd warmed up to Dr. Brewer (who was wonderful!). He said she is definitley nearsighted and has an astigmatism. He said that is rare to see it this early and the good news is that we found it early. The bad news is that her eyes will continue to get worse, as mine have done. When the doctor held up some lenses in front of her eyes and asked if she could see better, her eyes lit up, she grinned and said "YES"! So, we picked out some frames...the vision center was having a 20% discount for associates and their family, and we found a cute pair of frames on clearance for 10 bucks--thank goodness for Wally World! We are anxiously waiting for the glasses to come in...maybe today, if not then on Monday. I will post pictures of Kristin in her glasses.

We have been busy busy busy. Chris is back working nights for a couple of weeks and things at school have been hectic. Last night was graduation--it went well and it seemed to rain all over Siloam except for where we were. Now we have to get ready for our summer program. Next week Kristin will be going to art camp for a couple of hours in the morning. She is excited about it and I can't wait to see the creations she will come up with. Next Friday Chris and I are going to Eureka Springs for the weekend. Hopefully it won't rain on us.

I'm off to try to get our pool clean and running well...anyone want to come visit and help??hehehe!