Marissa's blonde moment

Marissa would be very upset with me for posting this but since she can't read much yet she'll never know:) Saturday morning Tim and I cleaned the house and threw away some of our junk. I got done mopping the floors and cleaning the bathroom late afternoon and had to get dressed for our date to the Blues game. Marissa was going to Grandma Patty's for the evening. Marissa was all dressed and waiting for me to finish getting ready when I heard her call out from the bathroom, "uh oh Mommy, Come help!" Geez the kid is 5 years old. She shouldn't need help going to the bathroom. I was praying she wasn't sick. I ran into the bathroom to find her standing in a puddle of pee with pee all over her pants, underwear and snow boots she had just put on. She had run upstairs from the basement to go pee and sat on the toilet without looking and peed with the LID CLOSED! Yes, she peed with the lid completely closed, which caused the pee to overflow onto the floor and her pants and underwear. I stood in the doorway laughing and called Tim in to come see the mess. I knew I would have to reclean the toilet and the floors I had just cleaned AND change her clothes that she had just put on but it was too funny to be upset about. We didn't have time to give her another bath so I told her to tell Grandma to. Tim's bright idea was to rub hand sanitizer all over her legs (which he did).
So that was Marissa's blonde moment over the weekend. She had done that one other time but she was half asleep that time. This time she was fully awake!

Christmas Picture

Here is the picture I took for our Christmas pic this year. It is just Marissa. We haven't done a family one the past two years but probably will with the new baby next year. Marissa is all dressed up and ready to go to her school concert, which was last Friday. I just ordered these pics on Sunday and I am hoping they will come in before Christmas so I can put them in our cards. Obviously I will not be mailing these cards due to time. I just stick the picture in the card and hand them out to family on Christmas day. I will hand them out to church friends Sunday if they are here on time.

This is the one we printed for the family to put in our cards.

Here is one of Marissa posing. She always wants to do really weird poses and I keep telling her to just stand "normal"

Another Marissa pose.

Who is the parent anyway?

The other night I was a little crabby. Tim was going to another hockey game and I really didn't want to be home by myself. Well I wouldn't be home by myself, Marissa would be with me. But I really didn't want to stay home and do all the dirty work myself (cleaning the kitchen, laundry, bath time, etc). So I was basically throwing a fit. Truthfully, I don't mind if Tim goes to the games. Everyone deserves time of their own. Especially him because he doesn't ask for much for himself. I was just in one of my pregnancy moods (I will post on that later).
Marissa is rarely ever crabby. She never has been. She is basically ALWAYS in a good mood. She hardly ever throws fits. She has been like this since she was little. So the other night she could tell I was in a bad mood as I stomped around the kitchen doing the dishes. "Mommy, let's play a game." I told her I had housework to do till midnight (much exaggeration) but I would play a game anyway. We got out the game SORRY to play first. She was winning by alot. It didn't really matter to me. I'm not a sore loser in my old age. But she didn't want to win. She wanted mommy to win so that I would be in a good mood. I explained to her that I was already in a much better mood just from playing the game with her and it didn't matter to me who won. I was still having fun, thanks to my five year old who was much better spirited than me.

Timmy's pumpkin

Dedicated Blues Fan.

pictures of the cold camping trip

Here is a picture of Tim and Marissa outside of the tent. It had rained right before we got there so we had to take our shoes off everytime we got in the tent. Notice the pop-up right behind our tent?

Decorations on the picnic table outside of our campsite.

Who are those hoosiers at Forest Park?

Most people can figure out that you aren't susposed to let your kid swim in the waterfall at Forest Park. But there's always that one family......

The Santa Clause Conspiracy

I am not a Scrooge. Christmas is my favorite holiday. BUT there is one thing I don't like about Christmas: Santa Clause!
Ok, I know that makes me sound like a bad person but let me explain. Every since Marissa was born our family has wanted to take Marissa to see Santa. Especially her Grandparents. I really don't understand why. Her first Christmas she was only 7 months old. My mom was determined to take her and my nephew to see Santa. No one could believe I wasn't planning to take her myself. Seriously , do you know any kid under the age of 2 who actually likes Santa? You could tell them anyone bought those presents and they don't really care. They don't even understand. So anyway, my mom decided to take Marissa since I wouldn't. Thankfully my husband didn't really care about taking her either. He hates long lines and hates the mall during the holidays. So my mom took her and my nephew. In the pic he is screaming (he was about 14 months old) and Marissa looks terrified. Wow, great Christmas pic. Couldn't we have just put them in front of the tree and gotten a good picture?
So I decided at that point I just wasn't going to tell Marissa there was a Santa Clause. The following year she was old enough to get excited about Christmas. I explained to her that it was a birthday party for Jesus! She already heard about Jesus from going to church so this made sense to her (as much as it can for a 18 month old). So I was all set. I had dodged the whole Santa thing. But wait, who is the fat man in the red suit that everyone keeps telling my daughter about?
So I couldn't escape the whole Santa thing. This year I even attended a breakfast with Santa! I tried to get out of it but my in laws kidnapped me and made me go (it wasn't so bad).
So every year I buy expensive toys for my child and instead of signing them with my name and my husband's name I sign the name of someone who doesn't even exist and he gets all the credit. And the really amusing thing to me is that in a couple of years I get to tell her that I lied to her for no reason at all and that there really is no such thing as Santa Clause. Now does any one see my point? Or am I just crazy?
But I still make sure to tell her the real reason behind all those presents. A birthday party for our Savior: Jesus! (I should have stuck with my original plan:)
Anyway, Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season as much as I am.

And the next Kempf baby is.......................

A BOY!

We had our ultrasound today at 11:15 am. Tim picked Marissa up from school so she could go with us. Tim was very happy when we found out the baby is a boy. On the other hand, I could tell Marissa was a little disappointed (I think all little girls want a sister). Marissa said, "I wanted it to be a girl, but I guess I'll love a brother." Well, that's good because she really didn't have a choce! I am happy either way.
Well the not so good news is that after taking the babie's measurements the ultrasound tech pushed my due date back to May 5th! So I am really only 18 weeks, not 20! Now I feel liked I've gained too much weight to be only 18 weeks and Tim will have to put up with my crabiness 2 weeks longer:)
Everything went great and the baby appears healthy so thats good news! Now we just have to decide if the baby will be a Timothy jr. The Kempf name will officially carry on.

Boy or Girl?

Tuesday is the day! December 2nd Tim and I find out the sex of our baby. I am very excited. I am not a patient person and it is so hard for me to wait for this. Plus, I would like to get started on the nursery, which will either be a Blues theme (Tim's choice) or something that Marissa and I pick out if it is a girl. What makes it even worse is that I will be 20 weeks by then. You really only have to be 16 weeks (although that is a little soon if you really want to be accurate). There is another agent that works with us and she is due 3 days before me and she has already found out. So, now I only have to be patient for 4 more days!
Stay tuned. I will post as soon as I have my ultra sound.
I also never realized how many people don't find out the sex till the baby is born. I don't know how they do that! One of my best friends is pregnant with her 3rd. They found out with the first 2 but they are going to wait till the delivery for this one. I also realize that people my parents age didn't really have the option back then. So I guess waiting 20 weeks isn't so bad. After all it's alot less than waiting 40 weeks....
Well Marissa is rooting for a girl (of course). My husband would like a boy since we already have a girl and I would like a girl since I always wished I had a sister. Of course we don't really care either way as long as it's healthy but it is fun to discuss. I know all of my in laws want a boy because there are already 3 girl babies (Marissa and my 2 neices) on that side. So all the discussions will be over by Tuesday.

Top 10 things I am Thankful For

I am aware that this is kind of corny but I have alot to be grateful for. Plus, writing it out makes you more aware of your blessings. The following are the top 10 (not really in order):

1) God

2) Marissa

3) My husband and are wonderful marriage.

4) the baby growing inside me

5) my church family and bible study group

6)my neices and nephew

7) my parents and the rest of my family and Tim's family

8) our house

9) our health

10) our jobs

A few other things I'm thankful for: Family vacations, the beach, a day off with my family, Holidays, float trips, camping (in the summer), my friends, and cold beer on a summer day.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you have as much on your list as I do.

The October Camping Trip

I have been wanting to blog on this topic since the trip but haven't had the chance. Let me start by saying that camping is meant to be done in warm weather. I did have a great time thanks to good company but I will definitely not be going camping at the end of October again UNLESS I own a trailer with heat!

Tim and I are in a wonderful bible study group (later blog). Our group usually meets once a month on a Friday. One of the couples in our group loves to camp (Ted and Kristi). We went camping with them on our July trip which I posted about previously. Anyway they had reservations to camp at Babler the 24th & 25th of October. They invited the bible study crew. The plans were to carve pumpkins, eat chili and make smores by the fire. Since Babler is only 30 minutes away those who didn't want to camp could just drive home after the bonfire. Our friends who were hosting the outing own a travel trailer. Somehow they convinced us and another couple to stay overnight in a tent. I am absolutely ok with camping and outdoors but I HATE cold weather. I think any temperature below 70 is cold. So anyway. We were the only ones with a tent so the other family, The Muellers(Gregg, Dianne, Rachel and Rebecca), were going to stay in the tent with us. Gregg wasn't so happy about the camping thing and would probably end up driving home after the bonfire.
So anyway the Friday of the planned camping trip I was getting everything ready and decided to call Kristi who was hosting the campout. She informed me the the youngest Mueller kid had the flu and so the family would not be going (Marissa was very sad about this). Great, now we were the only fools staying in the tent. After my husband got home from work and packed the car (that's when the mini van statement occured:) we set out for our cold camping trip. The evening was great. Another guy from our bible study group showed up with his daughter and her friend. We carved our pumpkins, ate chilli, made smores, and chatted around the bonfire. But as you know the later it gets the colder it gets. By the time we were ready for bed it was about 48 degrees. And since we were sleeping outside it wasn't going to get any better. We had an air mattress with a blanket on it to sleep on. We each had on 2 pairs of pants and 2 shirts and 2 pairs of socks. We had a sleeping bag and two blankets on top of the sleeping bag. IT WAS STILL COLD. You are not meant to sleep outside when it is below 65 degrees unless you are crazy. Anyway, my daughter fell asleep watching a movie on the portable DVD player. That girl is so easy she can sleep anywhere. She was not complaining at all (unlike her mom). So I snuggled in next to her and it really wasn't so bad. I convinced myself that I could sleep for a few hours and by the time it was morning I would barge into my friend's trailer and warm up. Or take a walk to the heated bathroom/shower house. Except for one thing.... The was a VERY loud man at the campsite next to ours. It seemed as if he was having a one sided conversation. Sure he was talking to someone but the other person couldn't get a word in. The later it got the louder he got. So now I just had to wait for him to fall asleep and then I could finally get some peace and quiet. Around midnight the drunk man finally piped down and went into his pop up. Great! I could sleep finally. I dozed off for about an hour when I was suddenly wakened by a loud roar!!! Holy cow! A bear? a train driving right by my tent? No, it was neither of these. This load roar that wouldn't cease was the LOUDEST snoring I had EVER heard in my life. and it was buzzing right in my ear. I turned over to kick my husband when I realized it wasn't him. I should have known better because he never snores. The snoring was the loud drunk man in the pop up behind us!!!!! I decided to wake my husband anyway. I wasn't going to suffer this alone.
"honey, are you awake?" (me)
"I am now"
"Do you hear that?"
"How could I not?"
"I can't sleep"
"me neither, now"
"ok, take me home"
"no, go to bed"
So I lay there trying to drown out the snoring. I put two pillows over my head and could still hear it. I shut my ears with my fingers and could still hear it (my husband can't fall back asleep now but Marissa is sound asleep.) Finally around 2am. I loudly announce I am going to sleep in my car because of the loud snoring (I tried yelling this in hopes of waking him but it didn't work). Once in my car with door shut I turned the car on to see what the temp is. 42 degrees!!!!! I shut off the car and curled into a ball and finally fell asleep till about 5am. I couldn't lay straight because my car is too small. Then I dozed for a while and finally left the car about 7am. The snoring had finally ceased. I took my little one to the bathroom and when I came back our friends where finally awake. Kristi asked me if Tim usually snored that loud. The snoring was so loud they had heard it in their pop up with the door closed and the thought it was Tim (poor Timmy). I explained to her that it was not my husband and pointed out the pop up right behind our tent. She laughed. I didn't.
Anyway they made us a great breakfast and we took a long hike after that. They weather warmed and we ended up having a great time. We grilled for lunch and then made smores again. We all headed out around 3pm. We were going to stop somewhere on our way home and the other couple was going to head back and stay another night in their nice heated camper. Our family was heading home. There was no way I would sleep there another night.
It ended up being a wonderful experience (except for the snoring man) but I made it clear to my friends that I will only be camping between May and September!
another note, most people who know me know that I exaggerate ALOT when I am telling a story. Whenever I tell this story Tim makes it clear to everyone that for once I am not exaggerating about how loud this man's snoring was!

Free Time

Now that the Music Man is over I will have tons of free time on my hands. I wish I had written a blog about the Musica Man but I never got around to it. Anyone who went knew it was a fantastic show. I only had a small part but the last month is VERY time consuming. I'm not complaining though, I love it!. My tech week schedule looked like this:
Sunday: 9:15-10:20- help Sunday school in the 3 year old room
10:45-12:15- church service
12:15-1:00 eat lunch
1:00-5:00 practice at church for Music Man, run show
5:00-6:00 dinner break
6:00-9:00 practice at church, run show again

Monday: 11:00am-4:30 work (did laundry and packed everything for the day in the am)
4:30-5:30 eat at my moms with Marissa
6:00-10:00- Music Man run show

Tuesday: 8:30-2:30 work
3:00-5:30 eat, bathe Marissa, get ready for practice
6:00-10:00 Music Man, run show

Wednesday was the same schedule as Tuesday except it was a dress rehearsal.

Thursday & Friday were the same shedule as Tuesday and Wednesday but we preformed the show instead of having a rehearsal. My husband was not able to help with anything around the house either because he was helping the set crew and had to be at all the same practices. Marissa either went with us or went to my moms house. Saturday Tim's mom took her while we did the Saturday night show. Sunday we went to church and then there was a show at 2:30, then a cast party and then we helped clean up. We got home around 8pm and Music Man was finally over. As you can see I barely had time to eat and sleep last week. Now I will have tons of free time. We will be back to watching the Blues atleast 3 nights a week and we also need to get our house ready for the baby, which consists of cleaning out extra bedroom (not extra anymore:) and cleaning up the basement. Then in January I plan on starting my VBS work. Tonight I am going to try to relax (hard for me to do). I will also have more time with friends and I am going to try to blog more. I need more blog topics. Any suggestions?

I Can't Believe I Said That!!!

Last Friday night my family was getting ready to go camping (that will come in a later blog). I have a very small family (for now). There are just 3 of us. My husband packed the cooler and loaded the car. After I got in I turned around and realized that the seat next to my daughter was full of blankets and bags. The trunk was full with the cooler, more blankets and more bags. I realized with the new baby on the why the little one would have no where to sit! Knowing I would totally regret it I turned to my husband and said those horrifying words, "Honey, I think we really do need a mini van." I CAN"T BELIEVE I SAID THAT! I think I aged 10 years instantly in that very moment.
Seriously the whole mini van thing is really a joke BUT I am already regretting the words. I prefer to just rent a mini van when we take long family trips. My husband is an Insurance Agent and gets a 50% discount. I started looking at mini vans and the gas mileage stinks. We both drive cars that get over 30 mpg. I don't like wasting money on gas when I could drive the same distance for less money. 2nd, I have a hard enough time driving my little car. I have never had an accident with a moving vehicle but I have bad judgement on the amount of room I have between non moving objects when driving in reverse. Most recently (about 6 months ago) I hit my Grandparents mail box. This mailbox is positioned to where it would be almost impossible to hit. Somehow I managed. 3rd, it really would make me feel like an old lady driving a mini van around taking my 2 kids to miscellaneous activities
So if anyone has any suggestions on a fuel efficient vehicle that is roomy but not too large and won't make me look like a soccer mom, I am totally up for the advice.

Go Blues!

It's the beginning of my favorite Saint Louis Sport Season: Hockey! Basketball would be my fav but STL doesn't have a basketball team so I kind of lost touch. Anyway, for my birthday my dad bought tickets for me, Marissa, my mom, Tim and himself to go to the game. The home opener usually falls on my birthday as it did this year so I get to celebrate my birthday watching the Blues Game. My husband is a huge Blues fan. If we are having a boy he has already decided that the nursery will be a Blues theme in which my sister in law (a talented decorator and artist) will paint a Blues sign on the wall (she has not agreed to this yet but we still have time to convince her:). Tim went to over 20 Blues games last year. So far he has been to all of the home games. Tonight he is at the 3rd home game of the season. He always says he will stay home and watch the game with me but then one of his friends calls and he looks at me and says the same thing every time "you don't mind if I go, right honey?" Of course I don't but I am jealous because now I am stuck at home watching it by myself. Oh well, he is always in a super good mood those days and helps more with housework. So far the Blues are 4 and 1. Legace is undefeated. Hopefully they will make the playoffs this year.

Go Blues!

My family before a Blues game last year.

Marissa has been to 3 games in her lifetime. 2 last year and one this year. She loves to go and cheer on the Blues with mommy and daddy. She has never made it to the end of the game without falling asleep (they usually last till atleast 10pm). This year she made it the longest and fell asleep with only a few minutes left.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Tomorrow is my 27th birthday. For anyone who may read my blog, that is probably not very old. For me, it is the oldest I have ever been (hahahha). Seriously while I don't consider 27 to be old it does mean that I am coming upon that dreaded number of when I totally lose any hope of being considered youthful. I think the number is 30.
Anyway I am not posting to sob about my old age, really, I'm not. But to say how grateful I am to be where I am at my age. No, not materialistically. I have a great husband. He supports everything I do, even when he knows I am pushing myself over the limits. He has never ending patience for me and Marissa. Sometimes I think God took all the patience in my family and gave them to Tim and left me without! I have a healthy, happy daughter who brings so much joy to many people. I have another child on the way. I have 2 great nieces and a great nephew and a great step niece. My parents are still in great health. Most importantly I have a strong faith in God.
This is more than I could ever ask for on my birthday. So Happy Birthday to Me!

12 week appointment

I am 12 weeks along in my pregnancy and I had my 2nd appointment today. Timmy is able to go with me now that he can take a break from work. When I was pregnant with Marissa he could not take off at all so he didn't get to go to any appointments. He will probably not go to all of them but I wanted him to come today because they check the baby's heart beat. Well the nurse located the heart beat quickly and everything sounded great. It was exciting because it helps give you a little peace of mind knowing the baby's heart is beating fast and steady.

The first month of this pregnancy I was VERY tired. I felt like sleeping all the time. The 2nd month I was VERY nauseated. This is something I didn't experience with Marissa. I have been feeling sick everyday for a month straight. The last week has been a lot better. Now I am starting to gain more energy and not feel nauseous any more. I am very happy about feeling better because I have a lot going on (The Music Man, work, Marissa, etc) and I don't plan on cutting back with any of it.

After I picked Marissa up from school I told her about my doctor's appointment and about hearing the heart beat. She wanted to know if that meant that I knew if it was a boy or girl. She is just like her mommy and daddy and can't wait to find out the sex. I told her we still had to wait about 2 more months. The week that I could find out is over Thanksgiving so I guess I will have to wait till the 1st week of December.
I am so happy that my family will have another blessing in April. We can't wait to meet baby Kempf.

Good News!

Timmy and I are happy to announce we are expecting our 2nd child! I am due toward the end of April. We found out about a month ago and we wanted to wait till I went to the doctor to share the news. Well of course I couldn't wait to tell my mom so I called her right away. Then we slowly told the rest of the family members within the next few weeks. Last Tuesday I went to the doc and found out my estimated due date (April 22nd) and how far I probably am so then we decided it was ok to tell everyone. Well last week Tim told one of our friends from church and his 12 year old daughter. Then one of Marissa's friends announced it to her Sunday school teacher this morning so the word is pretty much out! We are very excited. We knew we wanted another child but didn't want our children to be close together at all. I have had 5 great years with Marissa as my only child but now it is time for her to experience a sibling. Back in July Tim told me he wanted to try for our second. Within 2 weeks I was pregnant!
We are very happy and anxiously await our new family member. Marissa is already picking out names (Miley, Mira, and many other disney characters appear on her list of names).
We will find out what sex the baby is sometime in November.
Thank you God for this wonderful blessing!

Tagged -Six Absolutely Unspectacular Things About Me

If anyone visits my blog (and I'm not sure if anyone does:) they have probably noticed I am lacking on the posts. I am new to the blogging thing and have a hard time coming up with interesting topics to write about. Well my friend Gregg has helped me out today! He tagged me in a blog so I am supposed to write a meme about 6 Absolutely Unspectacular Things about Me. Pardon me if I don't follow the rules but I'm new to this!


1) I work in a 500 sq ft office all day with my husband. I have been asked many times the following questions:
1)have you ever wanted to strangle each other? 2)How are you still married? 3)Do you still want to be together when you get home?
Here are the answers: 1)YES!!!! 2)Love?? Insanity??? 3)and of course we still want to be together when we get home. We work great together and wouldn't change a thing. Well, I wouldn't but I would have to ask if he feels the same:)

2) I look at real estate online when I am bored or even when I have things to do (atleast once a day) and secretly dream of being a realtor or investor. this goes along with my obsession with the TV show House Hunters and House Hunters International. I would also love to drive around on Sundays to look at Open Houses but gas prices do not permit me to do this.

3) Between the ages of 11 and 18 I had a strange obsession with Charles Barkley. My room was decorated with 8 posters of him. I had 5 or 6 tshirts of the Phoenix Suns (from before he went to the Rockets), I have over 40 of his cards and I have atleast 3 of his books. I was a big basketball fan and he was my favorite player. I watched almost evey game he played that was on TV. I was very sad when he retired from the game and I haven't watched much basketball since.

4) My husband and I look forward to coming home at night to watch Fox news. Especially Greta Vansusteren and Bill O'Reilly.


5) I live in St. Louis and love to drink beer but have never toured the brewery. WOW! That sounds totally pathetic. I love going to the city too so I'm not sure why I haven't been there. Well I think because I didn't know until recently that you could take kids there so I never wanted to get a babysitter to go. Now I really need to take the time to go because some friends told me the brewery is totally kid friendly. Why would I think YOu couldn't take a kid to a brewery??


6)I absolutely positively can't stand to be at home and be bored. Sometimes this drives my husband nuts but I think it might have rubbed off. I always need to have something going on and I love to get involved with as much as I can. From February to June I work on VBS at home after work. Then from August to November I work on the fall musical. Then I have a little time off for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Next comes the Spring Musical and then time for VBS again. I don't just do these things because I'm bored though. These are all outreach programs through my church. I love my church family and like to help in any way possible with mission outreach programs. For me, I would rather target my energy toward something I hope can make a difference. Other things I do if I am bored: visit family, go to parks, watch movies, bug my kid or husband, shop for things I have no intention of buying, etc.



Meme terms & conditions
1. link the person who tagged you-Gregg http://onedadslife.com
2. mention the rules on your blog
3. list 6 unspectacular things about you
4. tag 6 other bloggers by linking them- I am going to break this rule because Gregg already tagged all the bloggers I know except my sister in law who I am going to tag-http://keepingupwiththehaners.blogspot.com

Goodbye Summertime

Yesterday's cool weather made me realize summer is pretty much gone. Alot of people look forward to fall but I will really miss the hot summer weather. I was a little sad that summer is over so my husband reminded me of all the things we got to do over the summer. Here are a few of our summertime highlights:

1) Our trip to Daytona and Siesta Key in which we got to visit Grandpa and eat at Sharky's twice. and dance in the rain at Sharky's.

2) Our camping trip in July to Bennett Springs with the Anderson's and Eberley's.

3) Four trips to Goose Creek which means relaxing and swimming in the lake with friends

4) VBS

5) my nephew visiting St. Louis for a week. He lives and Chicago and his parents let him stay with Grandma and Grandpa for a week over the summer.

6) our final trips to great Grandma's on Fridays. This was a tradition my cousin Stacey started about 3 years ago. Whenever she was in town from Chicago she would call me to meet her at Grandma's Friday. I started going there every Friday even when she wasn't in town. We met for lunch for 3 years and it finally ended when Marissa started Kindergarten.

7) many BBQ's

8) Marissa's first sleepover

I will miss all of the fun things you can do when the weather is hot but now I can look forward to Thanksgiving, Christmas and the fall Musical.

Reliant Community BBQ

Saturday we had a free afternoon so we decided to head to Reliant Church for their community BBQ. Reliant Church is located in the Central West End at Pendleton & Olive. Obviously this is no where near the community where I live but Reliant is a church that was formed by one of the Pastors at Christ Memorial and a few other young adult members so I wanted to go and check it out. Before Reliant held there Sunday morning service there the church was known as Saint Stephen's Lutheran and they were down to only about 10 members. I think there are currently about 80 people that attend the service on Sundays now. The church is a beautiful building that could use a little restoring but still has great wood work and stain glass windows. Here are some pics my husband took for me:

Check out their website for more info:http://www.reliantchurch.org/.

Marissa had a great time too. My aunt came with her grandson and her great nephew. One of Marissa's friends from church came too. They did face painting, games, ate BBQ, and played on the playground. There were quite a few members from Christ Memorial there to help so we had good adult company too.

Here is a pic of Marissa with her face painted:

It turned out to be a great time and a success for the community out reach. Some people from the neighborhood came and said they were going to check out the Sunday morning service.

McCain Rally

Sunday our family headed to O'Fallon to join the John McCain rally. We left around 2:15 pm. Our friend Jeremy and his daughter followed us out there. Once we arrived we met our friends Jen and Shawn and their two kids. Here is a pic of my family at my mom's house before we left for the rally:
The rally was at TR Hughes ballpark in O'fallon, MO. We could have gone at 2:00pm to try for good seating but since we had 4 kids in our crew we figured it would be best not to go too early. We were stuck sitting in the field but it worked out great because the kids sat and colored while we waited for McCain and Palin.

After the political speeches (Mitt Romney, Matt Blunt, Kit Bond, Mike Huckabee, John McCain and Sarah Palin) we made our way toward the front to see if we could get better pics. We saw some of our friends from church. My friend Larry emailed me his pics this morning, which I decided to use since they turned out better than mine.

John McCain at the O'Fallon rally. Picture by Larry Jost.

another John McCain pic by Larry Jost.

It turned out to be a great day even though it was incredibly hot. Th kids kept entertained and we got to show our support.

Musicals at Christ Memorial Church

Every year my church puts on a fall musical. The first one they did in 2005 was Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor dreamcoat. I went to see the show but was not involved in the performance. The show was great (it was nominated for some Arts for Life Awards) so they decided to do it again in 2006 (total of 5 shows in one weekend). That year I was asked to be the Props Director (even though I had no "props" experience). I had alot of fun and decided I would definitely be involved again. In 2007 we did Once Upon a Tree in the early Spring for a Passion Musical. I was Props Director again and also took part in the women's chorus. This probably seems funny to anyone who knows me very well because I don't have a great singing voice. My husband and dad were both disciples. Once Upon a Tree was a wonderful experience. I was able to get to know alot of new people at church and we were able to show the story of Jesus' death and Ressurection on the Cross. The fall of 2007 we performed Narnia. This show was nominated for 5 Arts for Life Awards! Again, I was Director of Props and also in the chorus as a "Crulie". My husband had a part in the end as one of the children once they became adults. Here is a pic of my family before the Sunday Narnia performance:

In the Spring of 2008 our church did Once Upon a Tree again. My whole family was in the production. My husband was Judas and Marissa and I were townspeople. Here is a pic of Marissa in her custume before the play with her friend Rachel.

Here is a pic of Timmy and I:

I love the story and I am sad that last year would be the last time we did Once Upon a Tree. But after 2 years in a row we have to move on in the spring.

This fall our church is doing The Music Man. There are two main differences this time than all of our previous shows: 1) this is a secular play 2)they opened auditions to the public.

I think they opened auditions to the public because just using the members of our church doesn't usually give us enough people for the cast and we end up begging people to join. Also, this is a way to involve people outside of our church and bring more people into our church for the performances.

I am VERY excited this year. Expecially since I made the cast and they didn't take everyone! (maybe they took pity on me or was afraid I wouldn't do the props).

I will post more info on the Music Man as it becomes available or feel free to check out the website for CM Productions: http://www.christmemorialproductions.org/.

Florida trip June 27,08-July 4,08

Over the summer Tim, Marissa, Kathy (my aunt), Trever (her grandson) and myself went to Florida. Part of our trip was a Farmers Acheivement club (for top agents in the country). The Farmers part of the trip was in Daytona. Kathy came to help us with Marissa while we went to the company dinners and because we wanted a fun vacation together.

Here is a pic of the view from our hotel room :

Hilton Daytona Ocean Walk

Rissa on the beach.

A favorite pic of Rissa and I on the beach.

On Wednesday we left Daytona and headed over to Venice to visit Grandpa. We went to dinner ar Sharky's that night.

Our family dancing in the rain at Sharky's.

We went to the beach all day Thursday. We went to Siesta Key. I like that beach better than Daytona. The water is very calm and you can sit in it without fighting the waves. It is also clearer so you can see a little of whats swimming around.

Beautiful Siesta Key

We went to Sharky's again Thursday night so we could walk along the pier and dance on the patio.

my family on the pier

Sunset at Venice Beach

We hope to go back to Siesta Key sometime within the year to visit Grandpa and hang out on the beach and eat at Sharky's.

A day at the Garden

I was off work last Wednesday before Marissa's first day of school. I wanted to do something fun with her so I decided to take her to the Missouri Botanical Garden. One of my friends works there so we can get in for free and I also get some adult company while Marissa is playing in the kids area. I love to go to the Garden but I don't get to see alot of it because I end up hanging out in the kids area most of the time. Right now they have sculptures by an artist named Niki De Saint Phalle. I really like her artwork and it will only be there till October so I am trying to see it while it is in St. Louis. My friend that works at the Garden told me that Niki made a lot of the pieces to be used with water but no one had ever hooked it up with water until it came to the Garden.

Here is one of the sculptures with the water feature:

This picture was actually taken at a different trip over the summer.

Marissa and I in front of another sculpture.

Marissa in the Climatron. Marissa is wearing her swimsuit because there is a play area with water in the children's park and when she finished playing she still wanted to wear her swimsuit.

Marissa and mommy.

Lilly Garden

Kempf Family soccer player

Marissa has decided to start playing soccer for her school. Although this is my absolute least favorite sport I am trying to act excited for her. Well not really. I've decided to let Tim deal with this. I figure Tim will enjoy this anyway because him and his sister both played soccer. I'll probably just show for a few games. I must admit she does look cute in her soccer gear. Check it out:

Not only do I have to digest being the mother of a Kindergartner but now I am the mother of a Kindergartner that plays soccer (no, that does not make me a soccer mom). I swear, I will not be caught driving a mini van now. No offense to anyone who drives a mini van but that would be way too much for me: a mini van driving mom of a school age child that plays soccer. How could I possibly hold onto to the little bit of youth that I have left?

Marissa's first day

Last Thursday was Marissa's first day of Kindergarten. Yes, I had to say goodbye to my only baby. The first 3 years of Marissa's life I only worked at night or on the weekends when daddy or Aunt Michelle or any of her Grandparents watched her. When she entered preschool I worked while she was at preschool and also in the evening when my parents watched her. Her 2nd year of preschool I signed her up for extra classes and activities so that I could work about 30 hours a week. My point is, I have been with her alot over the past 5 years. For 3 years I took her to my Grandma's house every Friday for lunch. Last Friday was one of the 1st Fridays I was unable to do this because of school. In the last 5 years we have had trips to Loralie's house, the mall, the bridal shop, gymboree, Starbucks with Grandma, and anything else we could come up with to get out of the house and have a little fun. My mom has watched her every Monday for the last 5 years except for a year when she had to work on Mondays. Today is my mom's first Monday without her. Although she will get some time to herself she is still sad over not having her "fun day" with Marissa.
Well Marissa was not as sad as the rest of us. She could not wait to go to school. Aside from having to wear a uniform she was excited about everything else. We got her to bed early the night before (after a few tears over trying on the uniform:). Thursday she got dressed and was ready to go. She was so excited she even commented that the uniform wasn't so bad! My husband and I both went to drop her off. Here are 2 pics of her outside the back of the school:

She always has to pose and make faces.

Once we got into the classroom and she saw that everyone else really did have to wear the same type uniform she was even more excited (she thought we had made it up to torture her). We put her school supplies in her cubby and found her desk. I made the process take as long as possible. A few other moms had tears in their eyes but I was trying to keep composed. Finally the teacher assistant called the children over to listen to a story and we knew it was time to go. I said goodbye and my husband and I hurried to the car so I could shed my tears in privacy.

Ok, I know I'm being dramatic. But that's ok. It's a moms given right.

When I went to pick Marissa up she was just as excited as when I dropped her off. She loves school! (so far). She said she couldn't wait to go back the next day. While I wanted her to somewhat miss me I am quite relieved to know she is happy while I am at work. I made it through the 1st 2 days and now I just have to adjust to being the mother of a wonderful Kindergartner.

Here is a pic of Marissa washing her hands at the sink before we left. As you can see she is extremely happy to be there:

I'm famous

My friend Gregg has a blog that he keeps up with regularly. He is a very funny guy which you can tell from reading his blog. He has a lot of blog traffic and I recently joked with him that I would like to appear on his blog so that I could be famous. Amazingly enough, someone actually listened to me! I made it to his blog. Truly, I feel privileged. There is a link to his blog on my page. Check it out.
or click on the link below:http://www.onedadslife.typepad.com/

family day before school starts

Tim and I took off work Friday to spend time with Marissa before she started school. We wanted to go to Pickle Creek but because we only had a few hours so we went to Forest Park, The History Museum and then Wilmore Park.

Marissa at the Waterfall at Forest Park

Tim and Marissa at the Waterfall

The Waterfall at Forest Park

Tim and Marissa at Wilmore

Beaches I have been to in the past 3 years

Siesta Key, FL

July 2008

Hollywood, FL

July 2006

Ponte Verda Beach, FL

June 2007

Daytona Beach, Florida
July 2008

Cancun, Mexico

January 2008

I would have to say my favorite beach is Siesta Key, then Hollywood. My favorite water is Cancun. The only reason Cancun is not my favorite beach is because there was no sand to lay on. Only about a 6 foot stretch of sand. This pic shows how close the water was too our resort wall:

But the ocean water was warm and crystal clear.

I love these pics because the beach is my favorite place to go no matter what beach I go to. I hope to be able to go to the beach every year.

Goose Creek Saturday August 2nd

Saturday we went to Goose Creek with our friends Tom and Christine and their family and other friends. Marissa loves to swim in the lake all day. She swam from about 1:00pm till about 9:00pm. Here is a picture of Marissa in the lake.

After swimming everyone decided to sing Karaoke. The kids loved singing Hannah Montana.

Marissa's first camping trip

We took Marissa on her first camping trip over the weekend. We have taken her floating (1 day trip) before but never camping for a whole weekend, in a tent. We went with Katie and Mike Anderson and their two girls, Mollie and Maria; our friends from church, Kristi and Ted; and Katie and Mike's friends, Jodi and Bill and their kids. Everyone but us had travel trailers so we were the only ones tent camping. We arrived at Bennett Springs Friday evening around 9pm, so we had to set up our tent in the dark. We did not book reservations with Ted and Kristi so we had no idea where their site was. We had decided to put the tent on Katie and Mikes site so that Marissa could be close to the kids. Katie and Mike had called an hour before so we knew they were not there yet. We found the site and immediately spotted Ted's and Kristi's truck. Yippee!! They were right across the street! It worked out perfect.
Ted helped us set up our tent in the dark (thankfully they were there or it would have taken all night). Katie and Mike arrived around 10pm right after their friends.
I wanted Marissa to sleep in the tent to experience the full effects of camping but she fell asleep in the trailer with Mollie. Being the wonderful mom that I am (ha) I knew better than to move her out of the cold air conditioning so she slept in a trailer the 1st night.
Well the next day we floated with Ted and Kristi while the rest of the crew stayed back and fished and swam in the pool. The river was too crowded but we had a great time anyway.
After we got back and had dinner Mollie and Marissa went into the trailer to watch a movie. Of course Marissa fell asleep again. I was determined for her to sleep in the tent atleast once so I carried her over to the tent and she slept in there. Atleast I could say she really went camping! We left Sunday morning around 10am. We had so much fun we already have another trip planned for September. Hopefully we'll arrive before dark this time so we can set up the tent in daylight!

The dreaded day

I have been dreading Marissa's first day of Kindergarten all year. I have been pondering the words to write this blog. I finally figured I can sum up all my feelings in one sentence:

Can I please just have my baby at home for one more year?

Here is a pic of Marissa as a baby:

Here is a pic of Marissa now: