Happy Dr. Seuss Day!

I know everyone will think that we are crazy, but ever since Ike was born, my sister has reminded us when it's close to Dr. Seuss' birthday so that we make sure to read his books. Our kids love Dr. Seuss books thanks to Aunt Kim (she has given Ike LOTS of them)! This year we decided to make a Green Eggs and Ham cake in honor of his birthday. We had lots of fun!

Ike, of course, helped to mix up the cake. His favorite part, as usual, is licking the beaters and scraper!

The finished product. We didn't spend lots of time frosting it, so don't critique it too much. Plus, Elle snuck in the house when I was outside and the cake was still in progress. Unbeknownst to me, she grabbed the scraper and literally dug into the cake with it. I wish I would have grabbed the camera, but I didn't. Her face was covered in green frosting, as were her hands. After I cleaned her up and patched up the cake, even I had to laugh at her sneakiness.

Andy got in on the action by eating the left over frosting.

Can we say "sugar high"?

Happy Dr. Seuss Day! Make sure you read a Dr. Seuss book today!

Hats

Elle decided this week that she NEEDS to wear a hat when she leaves the house. I never thought the day would come (she never wanted anything on her head before), but it has and they are so adorable on her!

Hey Grandpa, do you remember this shirt??

When Ike was a baby, Grandpa K gave him this sweatshirt from Tennessee, but I just put it on him for the first time yesterday. Thanks Grandpa!

Buds

Elle and Joe have become pretty good buds lately despite the "Loser" sign it looks like she is making (she's trying to make the peace sign). Actually, she's already started to "mother" him. Poor guy, he's not even 9 months and already his sister is acting like his 2nd mom. I think he'll survive!

A Visit from Friends

Every year we get a special visit from J&K. They come to see how we are doing, to encourage us, and to pray with us (and they even babysat for us). We had a wonderful time with them again this year. Thanks J&K (and Sidney, too)!

Ike's favorite part of their visit is when Sidney comes out of his bag to play (he looks almost real)!

This year we took them to our favorite coffee shop in Emei

Joey's "big steps"

This past week was a "big one" for Joey. He decided to take some big steps all at once...no not the walking kind. Joey went from not sitting up to not only sitting on his own, but getting to the sitting position on his own. Then he decided it was time to crawl on his knees instead of the army crawl he was doing before. When he found out how fun that was, he decided it was also time to pull himself up on things and walk alongside them a little. Let's just say the Larsen kids are now keeping their mom and dad VERY busy!

Just Joey

Hmmm....he crawled in there, but can he get out? Yep!

Too bad his mom doesn't wash his face off after he eats!

Precious

I wonder what they are looking at...

"I can't put my arms down!"

How Elle is dressed at night in order to stay warm while sleeping in her 52F room (of course she isn't too happy about it)!

Hey Uncle Greg, check out my sweatshirt!

I hear this is your favorite team, so today I wore Ike's old sweatshirt just for you!

Hey Uncle Kyle and Grandpa K, I'm ready for hunting this fall!!

Okay, maybe he'll have to lose the flip-flops!

8 months

Joey is now just over 8 months. He was in to the Dr. a week or so ago for a vaccination and he is still a little guy. He now weighs 17 1/2 lbs. Yep, he's still in the 10th percentile.

It's not football season anymore, but.....

For the first time ever I dressed the kids in matching outfits. Who knows if it will ever happen again, so we snapped a picture of it. Actually, all the outfits are really Ike's (from different stages in his life, of course), so they have gotten lots of use. Rest up Vikings. We want to see some good games when we're home this fall!

Such peaceful kids we have.....

Don't they look so innocent and sweet. Most of the time they are, but on VERY RARE occasions they are rambunctious (ha, ha). Two Sundays in a row they have all fallen asleep on the way home from church (Noelle rarely does this). Last Sunday we decided that since they were all sleeping we would head up into the mountains and buy coffee beans for Andy to roast. It was a perfect Sunday....kids sleeping, fresh coffee beans to roast, and the best lattes in Hsinchu county! Thanks kids!

She ate what??!!??!!

So, we are currently on a retreat and staying in a hotel. The meals here are great for the most part. Every evening the meal includes this amazing fish. The fish is served whole.....scales and all. I don't know why, but people seem to like to eat the fish eyes. Well, one of our friends was going to try to do this, so she had taken the eyeball out and put it in her rice bowl. She left her bowl for a few minutes, and wouldn't you know, Elle climbed up in her seat and popped that eyeball right in her mouth. I was horrified!! I don't think that she really liked it, but it must have just slid right down! She didn't lose her meal, but I almost lost mine.

Andy's Big Day

Well, it finally happened....Andy finally joined me in the 30-something category on Thursday! I think I even saw tears in his eyes as he said, "I don't know how a 30 year old is supposed to act." I think that he'll figure it out, but feel free to send him some advice! Happy Birthday to a wonderful husband and dad! We love you!

He started his birthday a couple days early when his first gift from the US arrived. Those of you who are former roommates know his love for cheese and crackers. He was in heaven when he found his gift to be Hickory Farms beef sticks and cheese balls. Joey tried to get in on the action, too. Soon Joey. Soon you can join your dad for his favorite snack.


Ike helped me to make Andy's favorite cake.....lemon cake with chocolate frosting. Can you tell who licked the beaters??

Enjoying a rare taste of Mt. Dew (it is hard to find and costs about $1.10 /can when you do find it, so he only got 2 cans)

The kids gave Dad another of his favorite treats...cashews

The Baker and the Birthday Boy

A Rare Moment

Joey was in such a good mood tonight that he did something he rarely does....he let Andy give him his bottle! Usually that is my job around here. So, I had to snap a picture of it for the baby book.

He and Andy were having a great time playing together!

Check out the great smile on this kid!

Just like Dad

Andy was reading in the chair this afternoon. When I looked over, this is what I saw. Elle had grabbed a book and was doing the same!

Elle and Her Cart

We got this cart for Elle for Christmas. She just loves it and pushes it around all day long. You can find just about everything inside of it....dishes, pacifier, CareBears, and of course her phone!

I had to put these pics of Elle hammin' it up for the camera.

Giving the traditional "peace" sign (or trying to).

What's in there?

What is it that Joey is trying to show us??

It's his first tooth! It finally popped through last Saturday, and he is now much happier!

He even thinks this tooth is strong enough to bite through this dinosaur. Nummy!

'Tis the season

Well, as all of you know, 'tis the season for colds and other yucky viruses. Ike and Joey got some sort of bug this week (which they have now passed on to me and Elle). Joey did ok with his cold, but Ike ended up with bronchitis....again (number 3 in 9 months with a mild pneumonia in there somewhere, too). We finally broke down and got a nebulizer for him after the doctor suggested it for the 3rd time (we aren't very good listeners I guess).

Looking pretty miserable on the couch. Not to worry though, whenever his fever would break, he was up and running around like nothing was wrong...despite hacking up a lung

Trying out his new "toy"

Ike wasn't so sure about his new mask, so Dad tried it out to convince him that "look, it's fun"

And He's Off!

Despite being sick with coxsackie virus (basically a sore throat caused by 3 ulcers in his throat and a fever), Joey decided that Saturday was a good day to start crawling. It's not an "up on all fours crawl", but more like a worm. He gets around though, so the baby gate went back up on the stairs. Oh well, the time without it was short but nice!

"Watch out world, here I come"

Napkin Boy

Keeping Warm....or trying to!

It has finally gotten cold here...okay, not as cold as Minnesota, but cold enough when you don't have heat. Right now it is 48 F outside and 55 F inside. The kids are sleeping in many layers...pj's, socks, robes, onesies, etc. During the day you'll find us walking around with our down vests on to stay warm.

Christmas Outfits

The kids got all dressed up for our mission Christmas party, but do you think that I got one decent picture of the three of them? Nope! I'll have to try later!

You can't see Joey's outfit well in this pic, but doesn't he look adorable and peaceful?

Ike kind of modeled his outfit for me

Noelle's outfit actually had tights and black shoes, but we had a leaky diaper and the tights had to go. Sorry Elle!