Merry Christmas

Well it is December 26th and I hope everybody had a great Christmas day. We had a lot of fun, here are some pictures of our day. Merry Christmas!

Happy happy birthday Kirsten dear!

Today is my sister Kirsten's birthday I thought I would share with you readers some of what makes her such a great sister:

1. In high school she would sometimes take me with her when she went on a date.

2. She knows just about everything when it comes to music of the 1980's.

3. she is a great mom and has two a mazing boys to prove it.

4. She thinks of others, she's nice.

5. Kirsten always made me feel like she genuinely enjoyed being around me, when I was little she would tell me how funny I was, and I believed her. I grew up thinking I was hillarious, still do.

Happy birthday Kirsten I love you!

Just Elfin' Around

Check this out:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1542646763

Happy Anniversary

Today is a big day it is my parent's anniversary. What can I say about my parents they are the greatest. I will share five fun facts about my mom and dad:

Mom:

1. My mom has one arm that is shorter than the other because she broke it so many times when she was a little girl.

2. She doesn't care much for music, but she does love Roy Orbison.

3. She is a history buff and an avid reader, she is great to have on your team in a trivial pursuit game.

4. She loves animals (although she may argue that) as far as I can remember we have had 5 dogs, 3 cats, countless fish and lizards/newts, and 1 turtle.

5. She is the youngest of 7 kids and she was a full fledged tomboy (see #1).

Dad:

1. My dad firmly believes that "daddy long legs don't go to the bathroom they just get really bad stomache ache's and die."

2. When my dad was a little boy his brother John hit him in the head with a 2x4.

3. He is a great story teller, he made up a whole series for us when we were little one about a little frog that could run fast and one about a little frog who gets to put the star on top of the Christmas tree, my kids love these stories.

4. Every summer he would have a baseball card game series with the kids in our neighborhood.

5. He loves music and has atleast 50 Al's all time greatest hits tapes (see mom#2, good times).

As you can see I have some great parents and growing up Fosse style was awesome. I love you mom and dad! Happy Anniversary!!!!

Cousins are the best

We were able to to go to Utah for Thanksgiving. It was so much fun, my whole family was there and my kids had a blast. They loved being with their cousins. This is what I heard them playing the other day. They were running down the hallway screaming "run Wyn is chasing us, Wyn is going to get us!" This is now there new favorite game and they also have named one of their doll house dolls Wyn. He made a big impression, isn't he cute.

The ice storm cometh

I thought you guys might be interested in seeing what the frozen midwest looks like. We are grateful that we haven't been hit nearly as hard as Oklahoma. These are pictures from my back door. We are waiting for our loss of power, so far all has been well.

And the winner is......

The final game came down to Ryne and Kate, and fortunately church was canceled on Sunday, so we had time for the big game.

But, in the end Kate was the big winner, not only did she win she went undefeated. She was very happy with the prize, a sucker boquet which I scrounged out of left over Halloween candy. Yeah for Katie!! Also, a big shout out to Dick Vitale, thanks for your interest in our little tournament.

Baby it's cold outside

Well it is December in Kansas so we are expecting an ice storm, and I must add that ice storms are a nasty business. The roads are bad and the air is cold. So what do you do with three kids who are stuck inside all day? Can you say Trouble tourny? Matt even made a bracket, and it is becoming a very big deal. So far Matt, Emma and myself are out (Matt and I are so sad :)) The big championship game is tomorrow we'll keep you all posted.

We're Here, Too!

So, Leah and I decided to join the club and start a blog to keep you guys up on all that is going on here in Kansas! Yes, we're still in Kansas - 6+ years now. Hard to believe.

Let's start by getting you caught up on our lives. We'll start at the youngest and work our way up.

This is Ryne. He is a five year old bundle of energy. Ryne started kindergarten this year and he loves it. He is starting to read and is really good at math. Ryne fell in love with two major sports teams this year - the Kansas City Royals and the Kansas Jayhawks. Needless to say, Dad is beaming with pride. He even got to go to Memorial Stadium and see the Jayhawks play. His highlights? Getting some nachos and a foam finger. Ryne is just a happy kid and it's hard not to fall in love with him.

Joining Ryne in kindergarten is his twin sister - Emma. Emma also loves kindergarten and is really doing great. She can read with the best of them! Emma will talk your ear off about all the people in her class and what each of them did each day. She was so excited to start Daisy Scouts and loves to talk about all her friends there. Emma has one of the strongest personalities you'll ever find in a five-year old. She knows what she likes and she likes things her way. She is really incredible.

Kate is the oldest - and she knows it! She loves to tell everyone what to do and how to do it. Kate is in love with frogs. She wants a frog for a pet, frog stuffed animals, books about frogs . . . you get the idea. Kate told Leah this week that she really likes some parts of school - Recess, Recess, Centers and Indoor Recess. So, she has already figured out that school is not always playtime. But, she really does well. She's in First Grade, but is reading at the same level as kids one or two years older than her. She is really amazing.

So, that leads us to Leah and me. Mostly, we just try and keep up with the kids! Leah has it much harder than me in that department. She keeps our house going and we'd all be living on Top Raman and wearing dirty clothes without her. In her "spare time", she is working with the Young Women and helping them be "Fascinating Women."

As for me, I still work for the phone company - now it's called Embarq. At some point, someone thought I should be working in Finance, so that's what I've been doing for the past two years - determining pricing for business customers that think they're too good to pay list. If you think it sounds fun. . . you're crazy!

So, that about wraps us up. We'll try and post as often as possible to keep you up on all the excitement that is the Karpowitz Family of Edgerton, Kansas! We love and miss all of you and hope this allows us to keep in better contact!