Altrogge Family

Three of Charis' favorite things to do during the day:

1. Follow me around (she's usually no more than a couple feet behind me, which is dangerous, because when mommy's on a mission, little girls can easily be trampled).

2. Imitate me (hence the dishes).

3. Call out, "Mommy, mommy, mommy," whenever she is more than a couple feet behind me.

Aw, I love that girl.

On Stephen's day off, the three of us headed to the zoo. What a delightful day. Charis' favorites (determined by the volume of her squeal) were the ducks (go figure!) and the fish (especially Dori and Nemo). Although, I think she enjoyed the other animals too, because when she prays, she still thanks Jesus, "fowa the bears andddddd the monkeys anddddd the cows. In the picture, she's petting a snake. I'm not quite sure why they let 2-year olds do that. Hmm. You just never know with her. She may not walk on the grass, but she'll pet snakes (update: Charis is thoroughly enjoying playing in the yard, grass and all).

I received conflicting opinions as to whether or not I should cut Charis' hair. The back was getting really long, but she still had bald spots on the sides. I finally cut it. Looking back, I'm wondering why I didn't do it sooner. Why didn't you tell me? Of course, her mullet/mohawk combo was adorable the her daddy and I.

Well, as you've noticed, I haven't made it to the blog much recently. We don't have internet at the time, so you can imagine how that would make things difficult.

Charis loves playing outside, especially with her new "bike" as she calls it. She gets in and out and in and out, and scoots along like Fred Flinstone. As I look at these pictures, I still can't believe she stayed still long enough for me to take them.

Since I haven't been blogging, I'll give you a little taste of what we've been up to. As you can guess, things have been pretty busy around here.

My sweet husband encouraged me to train for a 10K race with a friend (although I feel as though "train" is hardly the right word for a race that's 6 miles). I finished. Stephen and Charis were cheering me on at the finish line.





In the midst of Stephen's heavy, heavy work-load, he planned for us to take a 2-day trip to Williamsburg. There were a million other things he could be doing, but he chose to leave it all and get-a-way with me. What fun it was to steal away with my best friend and have 48 hours of uninterrupted alone-time. W&K, you're the best, by the way. Thanks for taking our girl.




Here's our we're-late-for-church-but-taking-a-pic-in-the-worst-possible-light Mother's Day picture.



Today Charis and I explored outside.



This girl really knows a plane when she hears one.





"Eww, yuck," she says about some dirts and rocks that she picked up with her fingers. Oh brother!




The predicament she got herself into is simple: the ball is in the grass, and that'd be fine if you didn't mind the grass underneath your feet.



She eventually warmed up to the idea.