sweet faces

my sweet family in SC.

our most recent family photo.

it was so fun to laugh and be crazy with all of them at the same time.

oh, wait the pic wasn't complete without our baby in the pic.

i had to talk with him too-in form of a whistle:)

[he gets so confused with where all that whistling is coming from.]

can't wait for after Christmas when i get to see them in person!

no picture post.

i felt great this morning.

so i bustled around like any normal sunday morning.

we had a picnic at church and it was alot of fun.

some of the kids came and enjoyed it with us!:)

we ate, visited with others, and enjoyed yummy food.

one family from church asked the kids over to their house and they were so excited!

so they went, and that gave ryan and i a sweet afternoon alone...

or so we thought.

i came home.

sat down.

and then realized as i rested how much pressure was in my head.

it hurt.

there was so much pressure in there that i couldn't handle it anymore.

i was a mess of tears and throbbing.

i think i overdid my movements and activities during church and picnic today.

i wanted my mom more than anything to hug me.

i wanted my dad to stroke my hair and tell me it was ok and i'd feel better soon.

so, ryan and i took a trip to the hospital.

to the ER is where we were recommended to go.

i got checked out.

still not sure what's happening in my twenty something year old noggin.

the sweet lil doctor lady said something about muscle spasms?

and that the slamming of the car might have triggered migraines or stress and tensions headaches?

on the bright side they took a CT scan of my brain.

i tried to make my brain smile big for the picture.

i felt like i was entering a ginormous dyson fan!!

or a space thing!

and they wheeled me around in a wheelchair-that's always fun.

so, that's where i'm at right now.

laying down again resting.

hmm...wonder when this'll end.

until then-happy week to you all:)

stupid head

life was not meant for sitting around and watching movies all day.

unfortunately, that's alot of what i've been doing lately.

sunday i slammed my head between the car and door.

pretty hard i might add. both sides of my head.

so hard, that it's wednsday and i'm not feeling any better than when i first slammed my head.

my head is swollen on the inside. (that's what the doc said after he squeezed it and asked if it hurt).

a couple weeks for the swelling to go down.

gr.

now, how did i do such a thing?

i couldn't tell you. cuz i'm not even sure how i got my head stuck between the car and car door.

all i know is that i felt stupid.

and i'm wasting time laying on the couch.

i hate feeling lazy.

i tried going to work yesterday.

but the parts of it that i love (being with the kids, getting hugs, talking to people, teaching) were painful.

it made my head throb more.

especially when i had to bend over to talk to a lil person or do my duties in the lunchroom or recess.

and walking around the whole day made me want to puke.

so now, i'm back in my same spot.

icing my head with a bag of frozen berries.

i'm getting bored.

but hey, as long as i'm sitting still, i feel ok. but that doesn't give me many options of things to do.

oh, but look! i love that our new couch is cozy and has a lovely chase.

it's perfect for laying on and curling up on with a blanket.

our lil home is getting a little cuter:)

[see my lil corner? i'm getting to know it really well this week!]

it's definitely feeling cozier-it's not just a big empty room anymore!

with this spare time, i've been putting together a wishlist of things to cutify my home.

a circle rug.

picture frames.

a wall chalkboard:-D

a couple more lamps.

all in good time. one thing at a time.

anyways, i guess i'll go back to my icing and resting.

hope you're having a great wednesday!

a letter from my dog.

this just about made my day.

i recieved it yesterday.

a letter from my brother/dog.

(typed out by ilene, but peyton's own words)

(writing on behalf of peyton elizabeth manning gamboa):

dear ate kristine,

i miss you so much.

ilene and ashley are always teasing me -

then they are busy with their nails and justin bieber.

so i can't wait for you to come home and play with me.

i'll be here on the couch waiting for you.

love, peyton e. manning-gamboa

yeah, i know, heartbreaking. you'd feel the same way if YOUR dog said these things.

colorful vintage

the antique show at the clay county fair was something else.

the toy section tickled me pink and my eyes got bigger each passing color.

i was tiptoeing around this section because each lil tiny piece of colorful glassware costs like a hand and a foot.

but i had to take a look.

take a look with me:) and let your eyes grow bigger with each bit of color that paints the rainbow.

remember raggedy ann and andy? the sweet friends ready to hold your scarfs or hats!

and of course, you've seen this before, but the kissing couple: me and ryan:)

what do you think of the old dolls? I think if i'd been around during this time of dolls, i might have gotten scared of them.

:) their cute...but kinda creepy. their eyes just stare right at you.

and then of course the section that i adored and wished i could take home with me just to look at.

prettiful.

happy monday, ya'll:)

toy version:)

i love my husband.

so very very much.

found this toy at an antique show and loved the simple sweetness of it:).

it's me and ryan:)

perfect rainy saturday

school has started and there's a fall chill in the air.

it was rainy and pretty dreary if you were walking around outside with nothing to do.

but not for me:)

i got to spend it with two crazy gals.

they just started highschool and it was their "welcome to highschool" day.

(i'm a lil late, i know.)

but we grabbed lunched at pizza hut and i took them to get their first manicures ever...

and of course i only enjoy only the best: at Serenity, the Aveda Salon here in Storm Lake. (can you believe our lil town has an Aveda salon??)

well, anyways, so much fun:)

great gals. good convo. fun nails.

K and Fey don't like pics of their faces:) even though both are photogenic.

anyways, it was a fab day. happy welcome to highschool!

first time fair

the fair for a child who has never been is like a huge land of colorful wonder.

his eyes grew bigger and bigger for each activity we did.

his brothers and sister was supposed to join us, but they had football, volleyball, and work.

so it was a day with damian:)

it was still really pretty fun.

the big tractors were a treat for both luis and ryan.

he was absolutely fascinated with the sling shot ride.

every single turn we made, he would stare at the slingshot and freak out how cool it was.

we made so many mini stops so he could watch the slingshot.

he was so excited to see the horses.

turns out he's scared of them.

he hadn't realized how big they were.

he would jump and hide behind ryan when their heads would pop out of their stables.

it was actually pretty funny.

he made friends with the baby cows and horses though.

he's going through a ninja phase, and was so excited when we found this ninja sword.

he went flipping, kicking, and hi-yahing through the whole fair.

here's a future picture that we thought was real cute;)

we went through each booth to try samples, toys, and massages.

we had told him that we would wait til it was night time for rides and games.

it was worth the wait.

he was so excited all day long.

we called that part of the day, "the grand finale."

as it got darker and and ride lights got brighter, he became more excited.

we got there and he was overwhelmed with excitement.

he just stared and stared at all the rides.

he has always wanted to ride bumper cars, and guess what? he did!

remember the first time you ever went to the fair?

i think damian had fun for his first fair:)

he fell asleep in the car on the way home after riding three times on the starship ride.

i think ryan and i had more fun seeing damian have fun and get all excited.

can't wait for next year!

coffee before you go?

we have a full sofa now!!!

actually, it's a sectional sofa, but we were living with only half of it, and now we have this monstrous sofa in our lil apartment.

it's kinda fun.

kinda different.

kinda alot bigger than we had expected.

but that's ok.

cuz now we have plenty of places to sit when you come visit us!

you might not ever make it off the sofa...

it's so cozy!

come see our lil place,

it's finally coming together!

and hip hip hooray! it's friday!

yeah, dog.

life is kinda crazy.

[uh-huh. it's a dog in the air]

[it's a jumping dog]

i'm interested in showing the progress of my lil home.

but can i be honest?

our home just isn't cute yet.

so i thought i'd show something interesting.

and the jumping dog is all i've got.:)

two great things about this Wednesday...one thing that's not so great:

1. working til 5 each day is officially over:). i was working ETA, which is the after school program here. but they hired a college gal, so now i can go home at a decent time each day now.

2. i love my Wednesday afternoons and evenings with this nut:

we go to Bible club together, and then grab a bite to eat at either Burger King or Mcdonalds.

i like hearing about his day at school when it's just the two of us.

hear his thoughts on his teachers (he's a huge fan of his classroom teacher, one of the few men in our school),

his reading,

his recess,

his friends.

he's got alot to say:)

we choose a place to eat after club.

usually its burger king (cuz he things it's hilarious that i'll climb into the play place to race him up and down the slide.)

one thing that's not so grand...

i hate it when adults yell at kids.

they choose not to talk to them like people.

they just scream to get their point across.

i think my face gets really hot when i see it happen.

if i could turn bright red, i probably would.

today, i about burned up when someone yelled at some kids who were just being...well, kids.

it's a hot spot and it is one of my biggest annoyance.

respect the kid, please.

screaming doesn't work.

i'm pretty easy going when it comes to most things.

but that's one i find no excuse for.

no matter how unruly that child is.

they might not have anyone to tell them otherwise at home.

show them love.

through words.

actions.

even the way you SAY things.

you might be the only one that shows that kid love.

color galore

the clay county fair is the biggest county fair in the united states.

it's like color eye candy everywhere.

i love color.

and light.

and color.

and colorful lights.

and bright happy colors.

i feel like a kid when i go to the fair.

i get excited and want to see and try everything in sight.

[no, i didn't end up trying this. that's actually a really old couple in those seats!]

my favorite treat during the fair was my pickle on a stick!

crazy what people come up with, huh?:)

[happy it's monday]