ok so I know I said I was done, but you should all know I am never really done talking...this is for Nikki & Bryan (why don't I just tell them in person you ask? because I have ADD and I will never remember my thought by morning) ok......I was relooking at the pictures of the house and I have a small suggestion...take it or leave it :- )....when I look at the front porch you only have one chair, as a person looking for a house that does not appeal to me, it makes me thinking of being lonely, BUT if there were two seats somehow, then the person can imaging sitting with someone on their nice new "porch" chatting with a friend or snuggling with a significant other enjoying the outdoors. Again, not saying it will be the make or break a deal obviously, but as a person who goes off their gut instinct and emotions on things that small change would trigger a more positive emotion towards the house for some :- ) k, now I'm really going, hehe!

Kaitlyn Elizabeth Klusman

Here are a couple pictures of my new little "niece" and her big sister. She was born Monday night, 3 weeks early, and as of today is 5 lbs 3oz and 18 1/2 in long. She is a tiny little thing!! My cousin Lori is doing great, she had such an extremely rough pregnancy, and in fact today is out at the race track for the Deerie Brothers Night. Aunt Linda and Grandma Marcia have the kids since Lisa went with her (so add 1 yr old Savannah), so to help out I picked Payton up and took her with me to Sherry and Dales for dinner. She really likes helping Uncle Dale "do the dishes".
Not much else new going on here, working on the house and working is about it. Sorry we can't make it to Kansas City this weekend with the rest of you, we have a lot of work to get done, plus we promised Payton we'd go with her to the Dogwood Parade, and my best friend from high school and her husband and little boy will be in town from Chicago. I haven't seen them in like 6 months, so it will be a busy weekend!! OH, but Aunt Chrissy, I guess I had not mentioned to Lori about your new salon, I did last Tuesday and she is already trying to figure out when the soonest we can make a trip over is so I will have to let you know if you don't mind us girls coming over for a weekend!
Next weekend we are headed to Taylorville for Keegan's soccer game, so I will post some pics once we get back! Which reminds me mom, he does have a soccer game the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend as well, just an fyi, don't know all what the plans are that weekend or anything, but just thought I'd let you know in case you wanted, but I may have a lot of work for you to help out around the house that weekend too.....lol.
Well, I haven't been feeling up to par today so I am going to go on up to bed and relax and get a good nights rest...counting the days until Friday...OH! but one other thing before I go that I am kinda excited about...yesterday one of the supervisors in my department gave me a "special project", and I get to have one of the newbies (one of the ladies who just started a couple months ago) sit with me for an hour a day each morning. She is struggling and they think sitting with me might help :- ) It doesn't really mean much other then looking good if I ever go for a promotion or whatever, but it makes me feel good that they think that highly of me, out of all the various people in our department. Still waiting on additional help on the finding a pharmacy program though mom......the lady from John Wood has never responded.....ok well now I really am going to go, this is getting long!!!
all my luv to all, good night!!

Move over Hannah Montana!

Cool! I've never even heard of a Bumbo but wish it'd been invented sooner. I like your website Benj- you are very talented. Bryan & Nikki- the house looks great!

From Iowa- Kenzie made her singing debut at Redeemer Idol yesterday. She said she was nervous but never even considered not doing it. She got right up on stage and sang beautifully, loud and clear. It was soooo impressive and I, of course, did my usual part by crying. We have it on dvd (the singing, not the crying) but I'm not sure if I can get it on here. I will for sure bring it to KC. She got rave reviews by the judges and lots of attention afterwards, even a few emails!

We got to hang out with Lynn & Mike this weekend at the Simpson baseball reunion. All is well in Topeka, although she has been a bit crazy getting her new job & stores up and running. Things are starting to get better. I told her about the blog & she is going to send me Danny & Rosemary's email, so we can invite them on.

Think that is it. Can't wait til Friday!

Bumbo

We got Ty a Bumbo and he loves it. I think he looks funny sitting up like he's 6 months older than he is. It's nice because he is always tired of lying on his back all day, and in the Bumbo he can sit up without us propping him.

Ty's had severe acid reflux and for a few days wouldn't eat anything, but we're finally starting to get it under control with some medication. I feel bad for the poor little guy, I hate it whenever I get heartburn because it hurts.

New things going on here? We love watching Ty grow. He is starting to get more interested in toys. Ash is going back to work on Friday for five weeks. That'll make me a stay-at-home daddy for those five weeks. (Technically, I am at home all day every day, but I work).

Feel free to check out our family blog. Ash keeps it updated with tons of Tyler pics as well as what's going on regularly.

Succession of improvements... Open House tomorrow...

Well we're having another open house tomorrow... we're hopeful that we'll atleast get a nibble. We have been working hard on continuing improvements on the home. Last weekend Bryan and Dale resurfaced the front patio, which has made a dramatic difference. We're both actually going to be sad and miss this little house once we move. It's beginning to look very cute and homey.

I'm going to attach successive photos....

5th at State!

PHOTOS: By Brady Held

Well, we have now survived our first State Tumbling meet. We learned alot about our girl- her tenacity, grace and sportsmanship. We arrived Saturday morning to Vets Auditorium in Des Moines. It's a large auditorium where concerts and state touneys are held. Her eyes were wide as she walked in and saw the crowd and size. First up was tramp- an event she is very strong in. I could only walk her to the door & she was on her own with a couple of teammates but literally could not smile any wider if she tried. Her pass was beautiful however her nervousness caused her to lose track & she did one skill twice. Unfortunately, her score stopped there (mid-way). She knew immediately and sat down & hugged her knees while my heart broke. But not for long as within a few minutes her teammate was terminated and in tears. Kenzie was immediately more concerned for Kelly's tears- patting her and reassuring her they would be back next year. The afternoon was the double mini and the flip dismount which has caused her so much trouble this year. Again, she was just pleased as punch just to be there and all smiles as she was called. Pass 1 was strong & pass 2 was even better but alas she just could not get up the nerve to flip off on pass 3. She reassured us she was OK and seemed to be. We talked about doing her very best and trying, even if she needed spotted. As long as she felt she did her best, we couldn't be prouder. So Sunday dawned & it was the day for floor- a tough event. Again, she surprised us with a sunny attitude and determination. She astounded us with two strong passes- much better than we had seen her do this event ever. She was rewarded with 5th place and she was tickled pink. She was even more thrilled when an older teammate became a 3X state champ as well as one of the 6 year olds on her team. While she won't be going to nationals (her dream), she gained a great deal of experience & is already planning her summer at the gym.

Now that this is through, she is concentrating on singing her solo this Sunday at 4pm at Redeemer Idol. She practiced yesterday with her pianist and "miked up." She shocked her Sunday School teacher who couldn't help but peek in to watch. The pianist just happened to have a beautiful arrangement of America the Beautiful written for her age. I was a bit nervous as the piano does not follow the melody but she nailed it. To sing, she will be front & center on the altar. She is a bit nervous but very excited.

Brady has started Little League practices and cannot WAIT for May.

Hey Jules- cute boy :).

See ya!

hi everyone! sorry it's taken me a while to get around to actually posting something. i've been reading! but the wireless internet at my apt. can be a bit dodgy, so i don't always have a connection for very long. i'll make this one longish and include pictures to make up for it. anyways, things are good in the STL. i've been at my new job now for about three weeks. it's a nice little law firm. very quiet and very laid back, so that's good. the attorneys have lives and interests outside of work, so they aren't crazy about time/billing/working 80 hours a week. it's nice, and i like having a regular schedule again. and not working in frontenac anymore is great. of course, it's hard to keep me entertained for eight hours a day, so i get a little bored sometimes, but all in all it's a good place to be for a while. until i decide to get another degree. i haven't done much on the theatre front lately, but that may start up again. i want to take some more fun classes, too, this summer. dance and choir are up there, but i'd like to take Spanish and guitar lessons also. and about a billion other things. i'm working through a training thing to do a 10-K. i'd like to do a marathon eventually, but i'm baby-stepping it. oh, i'm a newly converted pliates fan, too! my gym has classes, and my teacher is great. it's really good exercise, but way tougher than i thought it was going to be. let's see....well, i went to pigeon forge, tn. this past weekend, land of dollywood and smoky mountains and lots of fried food. my boyfriend, kevin, is playing with an irish group called glen road there during the month of april. so he was a very nice boyfriend and flew me there to visit, and i got to hang out in the park for free. it's a really nice area. we drove around the mountains for a while before he had to play on Sunday, and that was beautiful. dollywood is a little crazy, and the whole area is bred for tourists, but it was fun. they had a couple good roller coasters and some neat shows. it's a fun place to visit. but i will be glad when april is over and he comes back. aw..... i'll put a couple pictures up for your enjoyment. that's it for now, guys. now that i've been on once though, i promise to be back soon.

These are the Great Smoky Mountains!
Pretty! and Smoky!! and Great!!!















And for my mom, this is Kevin. He can't make a straight face in a picture, we discovered, and he's wearing a peasant shirt coz he's on break at dollywood, but you get the general idea.