The Engbers Blog

 We were able to take a short trip last weekend to Kansas City.  Jon had a medical conference to attend with his residency program, so Liv, Clara, and I decided to ride along and hang out and see Leah and Travis, of course! Leah was gone on a trip and Trav was working for the first part of our stay so the girls and I found a few fun things to do on our own.  We decided to check out the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead in Overland Park.  It is like a little farm right in the middle of the city with many different animals, a fishing pond, play areas, gardens, and walking trails.  Olivia even got to feed the goats with a bottle.  If you know Olivia, you know she LOVED this!  She giggled the whole time, especially when the goats tried to suck on her shirt! :) There was an old-fashioned ice cream parlor that we just had to try out.  Clara shares Olivia and my love for ice cream I am afraid.  Olivia enjoyed seei...

Olivia had her last day of preschool on Thursday.   Olivia really loves preschool and has done so well this year, but we are all excited for the fun activities of summer too! Olivia has come a long way from the first day of being dropped off at school.  She proudly gets in line with her classmates now and eagerly says BYE MOM, which is much better than the first day of tear-filled goodbyes. Olivia has had fun learning so many different things from writing her name to learning even more about her favorite Bible stories.  Her favorite parts of preschool were circle time, painting, hearing stories, gym time, snack time, and playing with her friends (which is just about everything!)  We are very thankful that Olivia had the opportunity to attend preschool this year and couldn't be happier with how well she has done.  Olivia and her teacher Mrs. Korn. Next year Olivia will attend the 4-5 year old preschool at SFC on Mon, Tues, and Thurs mor...

Pictures I have taken the past few weeks just to capture a moment here and there. Jon and the girls 'playing' piano.  This is usually how it goes...Jon starts to play, Olivia hears and attempts to join in, Clara makes her way over and starts pounding away as well.  I got a double jogging stroller at a garage sale this spring and we have already put it to great use!  I can't say a lot of jogging has taken place, but it pushes very easily and the girls like being next to each other.  This picture is at the zoo.  Clara is enjoying her snack...no surprise there! Olivia being silly in the big egg at the zoo. We call Clara our "little rascal."  She just loves to get into anything she can.  She especially likes hoarding all the socks she can find and carrying them around. This is how I found Clara the other day.  She climbed up on the box of toys so she could see out the window a little better.  Little Rascal. Great ...

Soon after Jon visited Olivia's classroom, I also had a turn to see her in action!  All the moms were invited to a Mother's Day Tea put on by the lovely preschoolers. They started by singing us songs.  Olivia still loves to sing, and usually she isn't too shy about singing for all to hear.  She was very proud of herself, especially when she was singing her favorite song, "Bullfrogs and Butterflies!"  It was very cute. The only picture I have of us that day.  Forgive the food in Olivia's mouth. :)  The little girls in Olivia's preschool class. Olivia's very best friend in preschool. Who are those two trouble makers on the end?!?  :)

I am thankful for these two girls today and the blessing of being a mom to them.

Olivia was very excited to take her dad along to preschool with her last week for 'Donuts with Dad' day!  She told me the preschoolers sang for the dads, ate donuts, and played bingo together.   Jon got to take home this special little craft that Olivia made for him at preschool.

Our little girl cannot possibly be one month away from turning one already, can she?  I really love this age as Clara is beginning to interact with us, give us little insights into her personality, and learning so many new things! Our sweetie.  Most of the time Clara is just go with the flow and smiley.  She does have a strong-willed side to her though.  I like to say she is determined!  She loves to be on the go.  No walking yet, but she does walk along furniture and has even tried standing by herself a couple of times.  I would hate to race her in a crawling contest though! Clara loves this little trick.  Whenever she finds a little treasure she holds it up as if she is saying, "Look Mom!"  Today in the grocery store she proudly jingled and held up my keys to any passer-by who would look her way. Da-da is still the phrase used most often in her vocabulary.  She is not saying any true words yet, besides ma-ma and da-da...