A Peek at the Poulsens

We've taken quite the break from the blog sphere the past month or two - I've missed it! I am ready to get rid of the nagging guilt of my accumulating pictures and events. It's always frustrating to fall behind on the blog because I never feel like you can quite catch up and do it justice.  BIG HAPPENINGS:  ~we said goodbye to apartment living and are now happy residents of 331 S 54th Street - notice the lack of apartment number! first time in our marriage! it was a relatively easy move and we are very content with our new situation. more on that later.  ~Stockton turned ONE! what!? more on that later. ~Natalie started stringing words together first into phrases and now into sentences. She's such a big girl! ~Austin and I ran a half marathon together! I use the word "ran" loosely - more like "gently jogged and walked." more on that later.  ~my dad started his new job as the JROTC instructor at Lincoln Northeast High School, and he live...

Fact: Every important man in history has had a beard. Evidence: Qui-Gon Jinn Obi-Wan Kenobi Gandalf Dumbledore Uncle Si Fact: Evil men are more likely to be clean-shaven. Evidence: Emperor Palpatine Sauron Voldemort Conclusion: Heroes have beards, and sadistic psychopathic murderers shave everyday. So, after reaching this conclusion a little over a month ago, I decided I needed a beard. It was the only obvious choice I could make after uncovering such overwhelming evidence. So I grew a beard. Pretty heroic, right? But, alas, it grew uncomfortable, and itchy, and Jessie wasn't fond of kissing me anymore, so I decided that it was time to chop it. I wanted to have a little fun doing it, though. I have wanted to do the sideburns-to-mustache combo since eighth grade when we learned about General Ambrose Burnside in the Civil War. I'd say the resemblance is pretty striking. The Hulk Hogan I think I pull it off a litt...

For Family Home Evening this week we made one of our favorite dishes, chicken filo, and our friends brought a favorite dessert, pavlova. Teamwork is the best, people! Our lesson was on Noah's Ark, which was really fun. We sang a song and told the story and then had Natalie and Will pile all the animals we could find in our apartment into the "ark." Then we shut them in and it "rained" until Olaf the "dove" brought news of land and the flood was over and they took turns hiding in the box. The next day Natalie saw the box and said, "boat! aminals."  we rocked the box to make it seem like it was on water...croc didn't make the cut for the ark  If you noticed that their shirts looked wet, they definitely were, because we had had a water gun fight previously (which is SO FUN with two-year-olds, haha!). We calmed down with dessert and a movie. It is so fun sharing family night with awesome friends!

Never mind that it was over a week late, but we had a blast celebrating Natalie's birthday with our Lincoln family. Natalie got more cake, more presents, and more love!   Bad Cop Lego LED keychain, a stuffed Olaf, froggy backpack from the aquarium, and a bubble gun. Plus snacks and cards from Great-Grandma Poulsen. Natalie wanted to play with each toy more than she wanted to open more presents, ha. I guess she's content with just one or two; we're not at the "what's next!?" phase yet. We had cake, and as usual, Natalie took blowing out the candles very seriously. She loves it so much!  contrary to popular belief, she is 2, not 11 haha Probably (okay, definitely) her favorite gift of the night though was her brand new red bike from Grandma and Grandpa - she was SO excited! Grandpa brought it out of the garage and she immediately said "on! on! rrrride it!" It's the perfect size - her feet reach and everything, and she plays in...