My Crucibles

Here are some of the crucibles I use. I do not have a pic for my larger #6 crucible yet.

Back Yard Metal Casting Hobby

So this past fall I took up a new Hobby, Backyard Metal Casting! I use a green sand method to cast aluminum, brass, copper and someday bronze (I just don't have any yet). Below are a few of the projects I have done so far.

Trip to Colorado

We recently journeyed out to visit Russell's family that live in the Ft Collins/ Loveland, CO area and had a great time! We got to visit a farm and feed the animals as well as just play and hang out with family. We also traveled up into the mountains one day. We had a great time and overall, the boys did great! While we were there, Micah turned 3 months old. Time sure does go by fast! Enjoy the pictures of our time away!

Introducing Micah Peter Soppe

As most of you know by now, Micah Peter Soppe was born on July 8, 2010 at 3:55 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 7 oz and was 21 and 1/3 inches long. Mom and Micah have been home for several days now and we are enjoying getting settled into being a family of five! Russell's aunt and uncle were here to watch Caleb and Joshua for us while I was in the hospital and it was great! The boys had a great time with Grandpa Gary and Grandma Jo and it was good for mom and dad to know they were in good hands! I was successful at having a VBAC, so recovery has been much easier this time around! I must say that while taking care of a newborn is definitely challenging, we have also found it easier to have one instead of two at a time! Russell has been home for the week to help with the transition, which has been very nice. I am not looking forward to him returning to work and taking care of all three of these boys by myself, but I'm sure everything will find a way of getting done. Here are some pictures of Micah from the past week as well as a few from Caleb and Joshua's adventures while we were in the hospital.

Happy Father's Day!

We also had a great Father's Day! Thanks Russ, for being such a great Dad!

Happy 2nd birthday boys!

Well, it's official... we now have two 2-year-olds in the house! Alison's parents were in town to visit the weekend before the big day, so we opened some presents and had cake with them. We saved a few gifts for the actual day and just had a good time! For the most part, the boys were more impressed by the fact that Pooh and Eeyore were on their cakes than they were with how they tasted... Just goes to show they don't get sweets very often! We also had them in to the doctor for their two year checkups - both of the boys are about 33 1/2 inches tall. Caleb weighs 22 lbs and Joshua is 23 1/2 lbs. They are still small for their age, but Dr Duff says they are following their own curve and to continue feeding them as much as they will eat!

Both of the boys are HIGHLY mobile and into everything these days. Joshua decided to climb out of his crib the day before they turned 2, so we have transitioned into toddler beds. We were hoping to wait until after baby # 3 arrived to make this transition, but safety prevailed, so it is done. The boys are doing okay with this... they take longer to fall asleep, but usually stay that way once they are out for the count. We're not always sure exactly WHERE they end up sleeping, but they get some rest! Overall, we are enjoying our final days as a family of four and looking forward to being a family of five soon!

The past few months...

Just wanted to post a few pictures from the past few months before the boys' birthday comes around, which is almost here! We have been busy playing and getting ready for little boy number 3 who will be here before we know it! As you can see, the boys are growing like crazy. They are slowly but surely gaining some new words and we are hopeful their vocabularies will increase so we will be able to understand them more and they will be less frustrated.

Communication continues to be our biggest challenge - the boys can understand TONS of what we say, but are not able to let us know what they want/need. Frustration is evident from both sides as we struggle to understand what they are trying to say. Each time there is a new word (or we understand a new noise that is supposed to be a word) there is much rejoicing in our house!

The boys absolutely LOVE being outside and as the weather has gotten warmer, we have tried to be out more frequently. My pregnancy has been going smoothly and I am still feeling good for the most part - it is AMAZING how much I can still move around and do with "only" one child inside! =) Currently, I am 34 weeks and counting... The boys have figured out that Mom can't move as fast as she used to and do take advantage of that from time to time!

The other exciting thing that happened a few weeks ago, was that Russ was given a motorcycle from a family in the church. He has worked at length with their son and they chose to show their thanks with what we think is a generous, extravagant gift. It was a complete surprise for Russ and a bunch of the people from church, who own motorcycles, came over on their bikes to be a part of the presentation. It was a lot of fun!

Last weekend Russ took a motorcycle safety class and passed all the tests, so once the paperwork comes in the mail, he will have his license. Enjoy the pictures and I will post some more soon after the birthday celebration!


The boys...

The motorcycle!

Baby Boy Number 3

We had our ultrasound a little over a week ago and found out that we are indeed having another boy in July! We are also now able to officially say that it will just be one baby joining our family this time, which is okay with us. Everything looked great on the ultrasound and we are looking forward to welcoming this little one into the world! Enjoy...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...

Okay, so life around the Soppe house has been full of fun and surprises! In case you haven't heard, we are expecting a new addition to our family in July! We are looking forward to having another member in our family. We have also had some family stop through over the past couple of months and have enjoyed seeing all of you! The boys finally got their first haircut in December and I think they grew up right in front of my eyes in a matter of minutes! They definitely look like toddlers now instead of infants. We stayed here in KS for Christmas and had plenty of snow to make it nice and white. The boys had a great time opening all of their gifts, but insisted on stopping to play with each one before moving onto the next. We had a good time!

The boys had a good check up in December. At the time, Caleb STILL did not weigh 20 lbs, so their car seats are still facing backwards... They are not saying official words yet, but we have LOTS of fun with all the animal sounds they can make: cow, sheep, chicken, duck, donkey, dog, snake, monkey, owl, rooster, and probably a couple more I'm forgetting. It has truly been fun to watch them begin to express themselves more and more! They LOVE to read books and I usually get tired of reading before they get tired of listening. =) Enjoy the pictures of our growing boys!

Happy November!

Wow! It has been a busy couple of months around here... Fall is in full swing and so are the boys! They are moving and "running" all over the place which means we are moving right after them. They have figured out how to crawl down the stairs and giggle the whole way. They are putting more and more food in their own mouths which is FANTASTIC! They also are much more proficient at using sippy cups, so eating has become much easier for Mom and Dad. We are still waiting for those first words, but they are starting to sign for "more" and are waving goodbye and understand much of what we say. Their play is becoming more sophisticated and they are starting to play with each other more all the time. We recently went to visit Russ's family in Wisconsin and had a great time. We got to celebrate Ayden's first birthday and spent lots of time with family. We even got to see Alison's family on the way there and back as we passed through St. Louis. It was good to be there and also good to be home! The boys were real troopers and did well in the car and sleeping in lots of different places. Joshua has had a battle with hives for the past few weeks. We have no idea what has caused them and are on our second round of steroids, so hopefully he will soon be on the mend. The boys wore their pirate overalls for Halloween and looked cute as ever. After all the activity of the past couple months we are now looking forward to a little bit of "normal" for a while. Enjoy the pictures!

Caleb's Climbing!

I wanted to share one more special thing that Caleb has been doing the past couple of weeks... climbing on top of the chair! So far there is only one chair that is low enough for him to climb up on, but I'm sure that won't last as long. He is such a ham and is always so proud of himself once he accomplishes his goal as you can see by the pictures! I can only imagine what I will find him on top of as the days go by!

1 year and 2 months old

We have had a busy, but enjoyable second half of the summer here in Kansas! The boys continue to grow and change all the time. Both Caleb and Joshua are now walking proficiently and even starting to pick up the pace quite a bit! Both boys continue to chew on EVERYTHING... Joshua has a total of 6 teeth and Caleb still only 2 to show for their efforts. Both of the boys will now put food into their own mouths which is fantastic!!! We are making progress into feeding ourselves independently! We are still working on figuring out how to tip the sippy cup so we can get a drink, but I think we're making progress. I still enjoy being at home with the boys and Russ is getting into full swing again with fall programming at work. Enjoy the pictures of the antics the boys have been up to!

One year checkups and more family!

We had the pleasure of having some of Russell's family visit us as well this past week. Willie and his fiancee Christine came for a quick visit this past weekend. What fun we had playing with the boys in the pool and going out to eat while the boys slept at home with the babysitter. Mary Jo and Gary also came to visit for a few days and we had a lot of fun with them as well. The boys continue to enjoy all the company we have been having. Caleb showed off for Mary Jo and Gary while they were here by starting to walk! He can now walk across a room all by himself and he is so proud! We went to the doctor yesterday for their one year check-up. The poor little guts had to get 4 shots each, but they were troopers. It was a good visit and he says they are doing great! Here are their current heights and weights:

Caleb: 29 inches long, 17 lbs 12 oz
Joshua: 29 1/2 inches long, 20 lbs 6 oz

We now know just how much heavier Joshua is than Caleb and trust me, you can tell when you pick them up! Here are a few more pictures of us and our recent visitors. Let us know if you want to come and visit too!

Happy Father's Day and fun at home

We celebrated Russell's first Father's Day this year by going out to lunch together after church, since Russ had to work the rest of the day. We had a good time together and we know that many more fun father's days will come... The boys are continuing to explore EVERYTHING now that they are more mobile. They are very curious and will open any drawer, cabinet, etc... that they come across. Caleb can now walk about half way across the room (or about 10-15 steps) without falling down and he finds it very exciting! Joshua has chosen to expand his horizons by trying to climb on top of or into various things. We definitely have our hands full! Both boys have been teething, so they have been a bit on the fussy side as of late. Hopefully those teeth will come in soon! The dogs continue to be very good with the boys and Joshua just can't get enough of them. Enjoy the pictures of their recent adventures!

They're ONE!!!

Wow! It is so hard to believe that these two little boys are already one year old! Time has gone by so quickly and we are having such a good time! Grandma and Grandpa Witbrodt came to visit this past weekend and helped us celebrate the boys' birthday a little early. We had a great time opening and playing with gifts, although Caleb didn't care for the sound of the paper ripping. Cake was fun to squish around in their hands, but neither of the boys was interested in having any of it in their mouth. Caleb is now taking 4-5 steps on his own in a row and Joshua could really care less about walking as crawling is really much faster. Here are a bunch of pictures of our birthday weekend... more will follow over the next few weeks as we celebrate with other family!

11 months old

It is hard to believe that the boys are just one month away from being 1 year old! As you can see from the pictures and the previous videos, the boys are on the move! They are now quite proficient at crawling and can get just about anywhere they want to go. Both of the boys can also pull themselves up to standing and Caleb is cruising everywhere! You can even tell that they are doing their best to see if they can climb up on top of things. So far they have been unsuccesful at this endeavor, but I'm sure at some point they will succeed. All of this has opened a whole new world of exploration for them and they are loving every minute of it.

The washer and dryer are always entertaining for at least a good 10 minutes when they are running and even 2-3 minutes when there is nothing inside! We have a tunnel that they like to explore. They will both go inside and then sit and giggle with each other. Another favorite activity is to empty every drawer or shelf that they can get their hands on. They also like to climb on top of and tackle anyone brave enough to get down on the floor with them. Needless to say, we are loving every minute of the time that we have with them! Joshua has developed curls... we're not exactly sure where they came from, but they sure are cute. Both boys are working on tooth number two, so they are starting to get toothy little grins and are looking less like babies and more like little boys every day. I had a great first Mother's day and I'm looking forward to many more!

Many of you are planning trips our direction this summer and we can't wait to see you! Enjoy the pictures of all of Caleb and Joshua's explorations and antics!