The Engbers Blog

Clara Mae will soon be 1 1/2, so I thought I would give an update on what this little stinker has been up to.  This little girl is trouble with a capital T.  She truly is a bull in a china cupboard.  She goes after anything she wants and plows over toys, sisters, furniture, parents...until she gets it.  She can destroy a perfectly clean room in 10 seconds flat with toys scattered in every direction.  One thing Clara does love to 'quietly' do is read books.  Her favorite spot to read is sitting in Livi's bed! Clara is getting better at sitting and doing activities with Olivia.  She likes to try to color.  She will play with play-doh for a short time before she tries to eat it or throw it on the floor.  She also loves stickers.  She has no interest in videos yet.  She would rather be on the go. This picture is somewhat dark, but it cracks me up.  It is such a typical Clara picture.  Getting into some mischief and th...

Yikes!  I need to catch up on some blog posts.  I have been working on one of Olivia's photo books for Christmas, and finally got it ordered last night.  Which, actually, is one of the reasons I like to continue blogging.  It gives me a way to remember specific details and then later record them for our and the girls' memory books.  I better start with the Christmas Tree post because grandpa Jim has been (not so politely) telling me to hurry up and post pictures already.  We set out to get our Christmas tree on Friday after Thanksgiving.  My mom and aunt Rose were in Sioux Falls shopping and generously offered to stay with Clara because it was very cold out and we didn't think hauling her along sounded quite as fun!  Olivia was very excited for the whole process.  She remembered picking out our tree last year, so she knew how it worked.  We bundled up and and met Grandpa and Grandma Engbers, uncle Connor, and uncle Bryant out at the tre...

This type of scene can be found daily at our house around various rooms.  Olivia likes to gather all her "friends" for a party, show, school, or some other social gathering.  She really does play with every single one of these stuffed animals at some point throughout the week.  One day brown bear might be her favorite and the next day she will be attached to 'pandy' or 'little penguin I love you' (yes that is her name).  It is amazing to listen to her talk away to all her friends and use her imagination while playing with them. Clara snuck in for the photo op while her sister wasn't looking.  This is Clara's sneaky, just wait until Livi sees me, look!   I decided I have to write down a few more of her animal's names, just so we remember. Fleecy (lamb) Ruffy (dog) Wolfy (wolf) Little brown (a brown monkey) Kitty (white kitten...grandpa Jim calls her "smelly cat") Little hopper (bunny) Scarf (bear with the ...

Jon and I have been trying to educate Olivia on the process of voting this week and help her understand (at a 4-year-old level!) why it is important to vote.  (No, we did not address political agendas.  We really didn't need her talking to her preschool teacher about economic issues and healthcare reform.)  We had fun taking Olivia with us to the polls and letting her see the process in person.  Thankfully, we didn't have to wait in line, or it may not have been as enjoyable! Olivia had fun filling out her own home-made ballot.  Yes, her president pick may have been slightly different than her parents. haha.  Olivia seems to confuse the terms president and pastor.  Pastor Cal and the pastor at grandma and grandpa Eekhoff's church have both been referred to as the president.  We haven't figured that one out yet.  Also, when we were talking about re-electing President Obama or electing a new ...