Spring Times

 Life has been super busy with all kinds of programs, field trips & events.  Hannah was a wonderful bunny in her spring play.  She said all of her lines perfectly & she hopped like crazy! We practiced those lines & songs so much I think I have the whole thing memorized!  I can't believe she is finishing up second grade already!

 The kids found this snake one night.  Tyler came in to tell me & I kind of said ok, they must have found a little grass snake.  5 minutes later I went outside & I was shocked to see one so big!  Now I just hope it goes away. 

 Chloe is almost done with pre-k and will officially be in kindergarten next year.  Now that might be even scarier than that snake!  I had to take a picture of her hair this night.  With the humidity her hair goes crazy curls just like her moms!

And this boy...he will be in MIDDLE SCHOOL next year!  I'm not sure I'm ready for this yet.  He is enjoying growing out his hair to have a "real" hairstyle.  I didn't get any pictures because I forgot the camera, but I went to watch his track & field yesterday & he did awesome - he got three ribbons.  Way to go Tyler! 

Our summer is set to be a busy one.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for us.  He is so good & we are so wonderfully blessed.

Mother's Day

 The girls and I were able to go to a Mother/Daughter Tea on the Friday before Mother's Day.  It was so much fun to be able to get all dressed up and do our hair.  And go somewhere just the 3 of us.  Tyler was kind of sad and made me promise to do a Mother/Son time just for him. So we have to find a time for that.

The food was wonderful and the speaker was great.  But the favorite part for both girls was the chocolate fountain.  Chloe of course put chocolate on her plate, and swirled her M&Ms around in the chocolate and ate them by the spoonfuls.  She was a mess, but she loved it!  It was a blessing to see so many people that I knew there - thank you Nicole for inviting us to enjoy the night.

I wish I had gotten a picture with Tyler, but I didn't.  But I am so incredibly blessed by the 3 wonderful kids God has blessed me & Jon with.  By His grace, may He use me as their mother to help to continue to point them along the path of true joy, which can only be found in Jesus.

Happy Birthday to Hannah!

 This weekend we celebrated Hannah's birthday (which is actually March 23).  Hannah & I spent Saturday, just me & her, doing some of her favorite things.  First up, a HUGE surprise for her - she got her ears pierced!  She was so excited, but it turned to fear pretty quickly.

 

 All done!  We are getting used to them, but she loves them.

 Then we went to Wausau to eat at Olive Garden - her favorite place to eat her favorite food - spaghetti.  And as a bonus - they gave us our entire meal for FREE!  The waitress took a little longer to get to our table so they surprised us with no charge!  WOW!  What a blessing!

 She drank a whole cappuccino - her favorite.

 We went through the car wash - it was horrible after going to Wausau & she loves the car wash.  And we didn't have Chloe with thank goodness.  That Chloe- she hates the car wash with great passion!

 We had a little party to remember Grandpa Art Saturday evening & we had some birthday cake.  This is half the kids - the other boys ran away, but Tyler felt compelled to stay.  She got to curl her hair & play with Taylor - one of her favorite things to do.  The family even had a present for Hannah - which they didn't have to do, but what a blessing!

 Then Taylor was a huge blessing and let Hannah have her American Girl doll!  What an amazing present, and she loves it!

Then the neighbors came over on Sunday & they all got to go on the tobaggan with the snowmobile.  We had a great weekend celebrating our little - or not so little - girl.  Hannah loves to serve other people and the evidence of God working in her heart is lovely to watch.  Happy 8th birthday Hannah Jo!  Daddy & I love you so very much & we thank God for blessing us with you!  Our prayer is that you continue to grow into a beautiful young lady, who seeks to follow Jesus more than anything else.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my husband's birthday.  Happy Happy Birthday to the man that I love beyond words.  Today I am so thankful for the man God has given me to share my life with.  I have been praying for God's abundant blessings to poured out on his life today.  That God would pour out His grace & mercy on Jon and bless him beyond what I could ever imagine for him.  Today we celebrate the man God created in my husband.  That his life would be used to bring God glory & honor & praise.  What an amazing story God is writing with this man's life, and I am honored to be a part of it.

So why a picture from our engagement pictures?  Well, today is also an anniversary.  Fourteen years ago today (February 12, 1999), Jon got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.  He said my saying yes was the greatest gift I could ever give him for his birthday.  I have so many wonderful memories of that night.  They make me smile.  And when I look back over all these years, with all of it's ups & downs, saying yes is a decision that I would never, ever take back.  So his birthday will always hold a special place in our hearts.  It was a beginning of a wonderful, God-inspired lifetime journey that we are on together.  And I am so excited to see where it leads us.  God is so good isn't He!!

My beloved, may you have many more years.  May you be blessed by our loving Father, drawing near to us as we draw near to Him.  I thank God for you each and every day.  YOU ARE LOVED!

The New Year

 I am going to focus on New Years' Eve.  Christmas is done, it was a little chaotic & not normal.  It was good, but different.  These two love ladies here, they were diagnosed with whooping cough the Friday before Christmas.  So we were cut off from seeing people for 5 days.  Which meant not being around extended family for Christmas.  And they couldn't go to Christmas Eve services.  So it was different, but God blessed it in so many other ways.  They are recovering, and don't worry - they are no longer contagious - but still coughing for up to 3 more months.  Don't you love their New Year's dress up?  I love Chloe's purple lipstick which went around her lips more than on her lips.

 Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the Thursday before Christmas we discovered at the doctor's appointment for the coughing - that Chloe had a broken arm!  The poor girl broke it the Saturday before & I didn't know how it happened & that it was broken until the following Thursday.  So we left that day with a cast - which was not on my to do list!  Especially since it was the day of the big snowstorm - and school being cancelled! She hates the cast & wants to off because it itches, but we have some more weeks to go on it.  Despite the arm - she played Twister with the rest of them on New Years.

 Our dear friends & neighbors came over for some KFC & Twister on New Years.  The kids loved it.  Hannah & Caden (shown in the blurry pic above) are both 7 & in the same class.  And they are both really good at Twister.  And they didn't care at all about getting up close & personal if it meant the difference between winning & losing.

 Tyler was much more aware of his personal space.  But there was really no competing against Hannah & Caden.  They literally had them selves twisted into pretzels & held their positions.  It was an awesome time.  Us moms also took out turns - but I won't post those pictures :)

 Here is the crew of kids.  The 6 of them had a lot of fun & so did the parents.  We are looking forward to many more Christmas & New Years together.

 Silly face time.

And this is me with my dear and precious friend Tanya.  I have many friends that I thank God for in my life.  They all get me through the days by pouring God's love out on me.  I thank God for this special friend today because she is one of God's blessings to me in more ways than I can say.

Christmas

 Here the kiddos getting ready for Christmas.  Getting this picture was a challenge.  I thought it was suppose to get easier to get a picture as they got older?  But I like it, how can I not love a picture of such cute kids!

 We have been intentional about getting all of our Christmas things done.  Cookies, shopping, gingerbread houses, the lights in Marshfield, etc.  We went & saw the lights last Thursday - and there was hardly any people there.  It was so nice.  Easy parking, no crowds & we were able to also do the drive through without any waiting.  Going on a week night is definately worth it!  The kids love all of these things where they put their heads through the holes.

Here they are sitting on the ice sculpture.  This week on Thursday after school we are ringing the bell for the Salvation Army at County Market - come say hi!  We pray that you are all having a wonderful Christmas season.  Celebrating the gift of Jesus is a precious time.  Enjoy your families and the goodies.  But never take your focus off the reason we have Christmas in the first place - the birth of Jesus.

Merry Christmas from the Kapitz Family!

Kap

In college Jon became known as Kap.  Pronounced like c-a-p, cap.  Not like c-o-p like our last name actually sounds.  Everyone called him Kap.  The above is a picture of Jon in college.  Yes, he is wearing an earring- oh how I remember that day so clearly!  Wasn't he such a hot guy (sorry, can't help it)

After some years together he asked me to be his bride.

After that day, I became affectionately known as... Mrs. Kap.  Our group of friends consisted of mostly slightly younger guys and it worked for them to refer to us as Kap & Mrs. Kap.  I've always said that I wanted to get a license plate for our vehicle that said Mrs Kap - maybe next year when I renew it.

Then we had a baby.  I know I look not so fine in this picture but oh well.  I did just go through my first labor & delivery you know!  Although we did have an overflowing waiting room which consisted family - sisters, parents, cousins, aunts, friends, roommates, and even some that I didn't know.  It was kinda weird, but a memory we will never forget, everyone coming in 2 by 2 and the awkwardness of "oh, it's nice to meet you, I'm glad you came to meet me & our baby 30 minutes after he was born".  I say that in a laughing way not a mean way, because I love that memory!  And none of that has much to do with this post, but I couldn't stop myself.

The point is that now that little baby boy plays football.  And my heart is overjoyed when I hear all of his friends & teammates refer to him as.........T-Kap!  Those boys don't even know the story and he naturally became T-Kap.  He loves his nickname.  And I love seeing how we are the Kap family.

Kap...Mrs. Kap...T-Kap... and well those other two.  I'm not so sure that H-Kap & C-Kap work.  For them we will stick with Hannah Bo Jangles and sweet pea/green bean.