BASEBALL!

(I just added this picture of Michael- he was there, too...)

At the last minute, Michael and I were offered 4 free tickets to a Sunday afternoon Royal's Baseball game. It was raining when we left church, but we bundled up the kids, grabbed an umbrella and lots of snacks and headed for the stadium. I couldn't believe that we actually did it! Two Toddlers. During Naptime. In the rain. I know we must be changing (or going totally nuts) because we are never that free-spirited.

I'm so glad we did it because it was such a blast and the boys did great. They watched a little bit of baseball, made friends with some kids around us. They even got a stuffed koala bear when they came in, which they can take to the Kansas City Zoo and get in for free! We also got free kids meals from Bob Evans restaurant. We gotta do this more often...

Birthday

These are some pictures taken at a birthday get together/BBQ at Drew and Lauren Timberlake's. Paul Spears and I were both celebrating our 30th birthdays this week, so we thought it was a good excuse to hang out. It was a rather rainy evening for grilling, but Drew was determined to cook the all-natural hot dogs and brats he'd bought.

Haley Spears, Me, Lauren, and Ezra in his infamous sling (he's nestled in that sling most of the time, so we have to be fast to get a look at his sweet face!!)


Drew, Paul Spears, Michael. This was taken just before they polished off the whole package of "chorizo dogs" that they ate. They were pretty darn spicy- I think they were very proud of themselves!


Instead of a birthday cake, Lauren made cupcakes, and we each decorated and frosted our own. Josiah was totally into this. He's got two kinds of frosting, and he's toppping it off with sprinkles! Yummmmy!


This is a picture of Oliver Timberlake and Josiah during one of their calm, gentle moments with each other. They slowed down enough for us to take a picture of them, then they were off again!

New haircut!

So this is a picture of me with my new haircut. It was a little birthday treat for myself! I was hoping to put it next to a picture of Michael. I guess I thought was ironic that I chopped my hair and he hasn't cut his in months! He will not let me take a picture of him, so I don't have a picture to show you. Sorry. You'll have to remain in suspense (I will tell you that it's getting all curly by his ears and the back tickles his neck) Weird...

Answer to Latest Engineering Joke

Ok, so I know you've being dying to know the punch line to Michael's latest joke.

Here's the recap:

How do you know if someone is an Introverted engineer or an Extraverted engineer?


Answer:

If he's an Extraverted engineer, he looks at YOUR shoes while he's talking!!

Home Improvements

We have been busy as bees here at the Gossenauer hive, I mean, house, and I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the newest changes.

The first massive project that I undertook was sewing curtains for three different rooms in our house. It wasn't enough to use fabric alone; I decided I needed to attach black-out fabric onto them, too. I pulled out my beautiful antique Singer and went to work. I think it took me about 3-4 weeks to finish them. They definitely have what I call "personality," but I am so proud of them!
This is a picture of the set I made for Asher and Josiah's bedroom. The guest room now has cream colored curtains and our bedroom has beige with tiny brown flowers (those are yet to be hung, so no pictures yet!!)


Another lovely addition (that has been long overdue) was buying new curtains for the living room. We've had black-out fabric hanging over the three living room windows for months and finally we found some affordable curtains with lining to keep it warm in the winter and cool in the summer. They're pretty basic, but the color adds so much "life" to the room.




The final, and most noteworthy improvement was landscaping in the front yard. I'll call it "Project Front Yard: Phase I." The reason I call it that is because we have many aspirations for our little hilly wonderland, but we can only do it in very small pieces. You can see the "Before" and "After" pictures we took.



Oh, and when I say "we" I do mean Michael. I took off for Manhatten, KS with the boys and left him alone with the house for a few days.
He amazes me with his knack for all kinds of handiwork. He shocked several of ours neighbors when he mentioned that he'd never done anything like this before. (notice those serious knee-pads he's wearing, courtesy of Martin and the Unites States Army).
I have to mention the fact that Michael was extremely sore for several days after this project. He told me that he lifted about 2 1/2 tons in three days- what a stud!!

Latest Engineer Joke...

Michael just told me a pretty good one...

How do you know whether someone is an introverted engineer or an extraverted engineer?


Think about it and I'll tell you the answer soon.

Mastering the Straw!

I took this picture of the boys the other morning and thought it was pretty cute. They love to copy each other... What you may not notice right away is that Asher is drinking out of a sippy cup that has a straw. A couple weeks ago Michael let him experiment a little with one of Josiah's cups with a straw and he's gradually gotten the hang of it! This is huge for Asher because, as you know, he was born without the ability to move his top lip. Watching him suck his beverage through a straw is one of those things that only his parents could truly enjoy- It really is rather loud and impolite sounding, but he's doing it! We couldn't be more proud!

28 weeks and Counting...

This is a not-so-flattering picture of me and my belly (I think I'm about 28 weeks). I'm actually feeling great- no more nausea, yippee! Unfortunately, I have begun the "back pain phase" of my pregnancy. I've been seeing a chiropractor- yes, Michael approved- and it is actually helping a whole lot. Little "Bubba" (of course we don't have a name yet, are you kidding?) moves around a whole lot these days. He's not so interested in the smooth, fluid movements, though. He pretty much sticks to jabs, kicks, and punches. I've never done Tae Bo, but I imagine he's doing something similar to that in my tummy. He and I have a 3:00 am alert time every morning- we both wake up and move around a whole lot together. I suppose we're both just trying to get comfortable...

Gossenauer Family Easter

Here we are on Easter Sunday (sorry about that hideous glare!) Ok, technically it was Easter Saturday, but you can't tell the difference! We dressed up and went to the evening service at our church- which was no ordinary Easter service. First we sat down with a dozen or so other families in one of the classrooms and ate pizza and carrot sticks. Then we decorated "Easter centerpieces." (7 wooden eggs with corresponding verses for the 7 days of the passion week, hanging on curly wires that were stuck into a plaster base) Good luck visualizing that one. You can just see it for yourself when you come visit!!


After we ate, we shuffled into the sanctuary for the actual service. Asher threw a little kink into the evening by having a nasty cold. For the first time since he was really young, Michael and I sat outside the sanctuary in the "reserved for mothers and babies" section and tried our best to listen while keeping him occupied. We ended up taking shifts, letting him walk down the halls and climb the stairs until the service was over. We were wiped out when we got home!!











These are pictures of the boys hard at work with their Easter eggs. It was surprising how well they both did decorating such fragile objects. Look at that concentration!





My big project was making an Easter cake with Josiah. I really wanted him to understand what we were celebrating, so I used an idea from a MOPS magazine and taught him about Jesus while we baked.

You can see his red lips- he was tasting the batter of our red velvet cake mix (the red illustrates Jesus' death on the cross for our sins) It didn't seem that weird until I starting asking him questions about the cake we were making, like "Josiah, what color is the cake?" "Blood," he answers...





Here's the finished product. You can see the frosting is white, showing we are made clean, white as snow by His forgiveness (you may notice the rainbow chips stuck in there, too- no significance, I just really like that kind of frosting!!)
The pretzels are for the crown of thorns that Jesus wore. The little red circles are skittles, for the nails in his hands and feet.
It was a lot of work to make the cake and tell each part of the story, but it was totally worth it. I think it's officially become a tradition!

Baby Cramer has arrived!

Last night we visited Malachi Salem Cramer, the first baby of our dear friends, Steve and Emily. It was a little wild holding a newborn that weighed almost 9 lbs! Way to go, Em!