Brand Loyal

Four Generations in Fort Wayne

Yesterday we were up in Fort Wayne. I had volunteered to participate in a pharmacy alumni reception, which ended up turning out to be a fantastic opportunity for us to all head up and visit family. Kari had a wonderful time playing with her cousins, Abby and Sidney, Great Grandpa got to see his great grandson, and we had another opportunity to get a Four Generation photo. It was a wonderful day. Oh, and it was daddy's birthday too. Happy halfway-to-70, Kevin.

Saturday Afternoon Craft

It's a tad chilly and wet outside so we're staying inside this afternoon. I quickly searched for a project for Kari to head off her restlessness. The crayon shaving flowers turned out really well.

Earlier this week the weather had been great for playing outside in the evenings. We dusted off Kari's bubble collection and organized everything into a milk crate. Yup. She really does have
enough bubble supplies to fill a crate.

Grandmas and Springtime Activities

We've had a fun week with grandmas visiting. Grand-MO was here most of last week. She and Kari were able to spend quite a bit of time together and enjoyed the nice weather we've been experiencing. We put Kevin's firepit together, roasted marshmallows and made S'mores for the first time. As you can imagine, Kari loved every bite.

This past Saturday Grammy Pammy and Dale came down for the day. The timing was perfect as we all headed over to Purdue for the Bug Bowl and Spring Fest. It was the first time for all of us. Kari enjoyed many of the activities and demonstrations. We were surprised at her genuine interest in many of the engineering demonstrations. Perhaps we have a little engineer in the making?

Grammy Pammy loved that her jacket matched the Slug Bug. Kari just loved the Slug Bug. Mama loved the Smart Car.

As we were looking at the cars on display, we learned about the first annual Electric Vehicle Grand Prix. It's the first one in the country, to be expanded regionally in 2011 and then nationally in 2012 as part of a $6.1 million grant through the Department of Energy. Kari was quite intrigued by the cars and was beyond excited to check out the race. As I was putting her to bed Saturday night I told her that she needed to sleep well so we could all go to the race the next day. Bed time, as is probably the case for most young families, involves lots of negotiating and pleas to push back bed time a few minutes later, but Kari immediately shut her eyes and focused herself on falling asleep in preparation for the EV race. The weather was beautiful and turned out to be yet another event Kevin and I attended for the first time. In all our years at Purdue, we had never attended the gas powered Grand Prix. (The original GP is this coming Saturday.) We were quite impressed with the EV race and was perfect for young children because it was so quiet!

Springtime Arts and Crafts

In the spirit of warm weather, fresh and vibrant colors and new beginnings, we've worked two new crafts.
The butterfly was simple, pretty and most of the supplies I already had on hands. Kari even attached one to a birthday card to a neighbor.

These hats were something I discovered by way of a blog I follow, Creation Corner. Tasha has so many wonderful posts and crafty ideas. She also has such a keen electronic knack for finding other equally crafty blogs out there. Bryce's hat is a modification from the original- I wanted something without bows and perhaps a bit more boy-ish. Kevin selflessly donated his old Harry's t-shirt for the project. Who'd have ever thought a bar shirt could ever be so versatile?

Grand-MO was also here this past week and we'll have some pictures to share from that shortly.

Look What's Bloomin' In Our Backyard

Easter videos

Wait no more...

The delay of getting Easter photos on the site has officially come to an end - and we apologize for the delay. It was a great Easter weekend as we spent most of it in Indianapolis with Beep Beep and Gran.

Kari participated in her first legit Easter Egg Hunt - at least one that she remembers. The first one took place at church Sunday morning in Bargersville with my parents. Kari has been to worship services there a handful of times and several of the members knew her. However, this was their first in person glance at the rest of the Keckler clan from West Lafayette. Needless to say both kiddos were a hit.

Kari had an egg hunt back at Gran and Beep Beep's, too. It was cute to watch and listen to Kari's hunting abilities. Each time an egg appeared in her sight she would proclaim "I found one". Nevermind these colorful plastic ovals were fluffed up on the grass in places even Stevie Wonder could see :)

Bryce got a kick out of watching his sister gleefully run from egg to egg. However, he's far too immobile to have any fun with this activity. Instead, he spent the majority of the weekend being held, eating and sleeping. Ahh, sounds quite nice, doesn't it?

He has recently popped two teeth on the bottom and one on the top. So consider yourself forewarned should you hold him and let him gnaw on your digits. We're all very happy to have had such wonderful weather of late. Record highs in the upper 70's and lower 80's last week made for all kinds of fun in the sun. Kari even started to give thunderstorms their proper credit when one hit here last night.

"Oooooh, thunder. I like thunder Da Da. Momma, I just saw lightening... I like lightening. So, did you know it is raining very hard right now? It is, it is raining very hard."

This weekend we receive a visit from Grand-mo Haugstad. Kari is very much looking forward to seeing her and hearing stories of their month of March in Ouray.