Happy New Year

My favorite picture from New Year's Day!

We had such a great day...all we did was eat and eat some more.  Christian fried fish and then made a gumbo for supper.  Good times with friends and family...

Just a Few Things

As we were sitting around the Christmas table sharing stories of things that the kids have done, I was reminded of a few incidents that I don't think I have blogged about but wanted to remember.

The other night, I was putting Sarah to bed.  We read a story and then we were saying prayers.  I was propped up on my elbows and she was lying beside me so that we were pretty much face to face.  I was just praying about all sorts of things and when I opened my eyes, Sarah was just sitting there looking at me holding her nose.  I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I smell hot dogs!"

I may have already blogged about this.  It happened several years ago when I was pregnant with...somebody.  The hormones were surging and I was actually praying that I would be nice to my kids each day.  I felt so guilty about my short fuse!  

Levi comes in from outside and says, "I just saw a Mom lizard!"  Puzzled, I asked him, "Levi, how did you know it was a mom lizard?"  He replied with big eyes and hand gestures, "Because it was REALLY angry!"

Rebekah called out to Jackson the other morning, "JACKSON!  Come here honey!"

I may have already blogged about this, too.  This spring, Anna Grace and I were sitting at the kitchen table chatting.  The windows were open and the kids were outside playing.  Levi appears with something all over his face.  I asked him to come closer to the window so I could see what the heck was all over him and I realized it was mud.  I very calmly said, "Levi, what is all over your face?"  He answered, "Mud." 

 "Why do you have mud all over your face?"  

"Because there are gnats out here."

"What???"

"On Man vs. Wild he said that mud is like bug spray and these gnats are bothering me!"

Of course! 

We had a very sweet Christmas.  Christian and I never give each other gifts, we just have gifts for the kids.  I was quite surprised when Jackson brought in a big box and said that Santa had left a present in the hall closet.  It was a Keurig, something I have been wishing for for a while.  My sweet boys pooled their money (with daddy kicking in some, too) and bought it for me.  I pretty much cried, it was so sweet!  They are so thoughtful sometimes:)  I should have know that they were up to something.  They were all out on the deck one afternoon and I went out to shake out a rug.  Caleb said, "Mom, what do you want for Christmas?"  Jackson, Aaron, and Levi all said at once, "CALEB, SHUT UP!"  They were afraid he would spill the beans.

It was a fun morning, but pretty much all of their toys were torn up before the morning was over....I kid you not!  It's just the way we do things around here...

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

This was happening at my house a few weeks ago...

These girls are so funny!  

They were jamming' out!

Between shredding up wrapping paper all over my room and playing in the washing powder (it looked like it snowed in my laundry room), they took some time out for a little guitar picking and bed jumping:)

Welcome Terrible Twos

In my last post I left out one of our birthdays...Rebekah Claire turned 2!

It was like some change happened overnight and she is now Miss Independent.  She also likes to tell me that her siblings are "boddering" (bothering) her.  She is into EVERYTHING!  Markers and crayons hold a special place in her heart.  I need to post a picture of what she did to my stairwell.  Picasso couldn't have done better.

On this particular day, it got really quiet upstairs...

and just so you know, green washable Crayola markers aren't that washable.  Christian picked her up when he got home and commented that she had a bruise on her cheek.  Nope, that would be the remnants of her afternoon body art.

We baked Christmas cookies yesterday and she was quite the helper.  She has a lisp like Sarah and she kept saying, "Oh, good gracious!"

Such concentration....

We plan to decorate the cookies today, but we will have to do without the peppermint sugar sprinkles...

I must add that she did this not once, but TWICE!

This morning I was in the shower when Caleb strolls in and announces, "There is a turd on the floor in the kitchen!"  What???  Rebekah had apparently taken off her diaper when no one was looking.  

I yelled, "I will give $1 to whoever cleans that turd up that is on the kitchen floor!"  Then I started laughing hysterically at what had just come out of my mouth!  There is just nothing else to say...

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas

We are wrapping up birthday season around these parts.  I now have a 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 year old.  

All of Jack's presents were clothes or shoes.  No toys for this 12 year old.  He is growing up...

Sarah asked for Barbies...wha?  She never played with baby dolls, but all of the sudden is interested in Barbie dolls.  Anna Grace was going to buy her one, but she called and said she just couldn't do it.  They all looked like hookers she said:)  So, we settled on Belle with some modest dresses to go with her.

Caleb got a new bike.  He is a bike riding machine!  He also asked for some envelopes and stamps.  He loves to color pictures and mail them to Mimi and Nannie and he is always asking for a stamp.  I have told him several times that stamps are expensive and that he can't have a few EVERY day.  Now he has his very own stash...

This is the first family photo taken in a looooong time.  It is time to head up to Michelle's for a family photo shoot I do believe!

I snapped this after we decorated the Christmas tree...I cropped Christian out.  He was asleep on the couch!

Merry Christmas!!

Happy Birthday Levi!

Levi turned 8 on October 19 and kicked off "birthday season".  Our family has ridiculous amounts of birthdays between October and December!

I told Levi that he had a dentist appointment that day at noon.  He was seriously bummed about it, but unbeknownst to him the dentist was a trick to get us all in the car and heading in the general vicinity of the park.  I had already invited a few friends to meet us there to surprise Levi with a party.

The plan was that Jackson was going to holler out that he had to go to the bathroom REALLY bad right before we reached the park.  Aaron would follow suit and I would fuss them out as I turned into the park parking lot for everyone to go to the bathroom.  Sweet little Levi just sat there worrying that he was going to be late for his appointment.  All of this seemed completely normal to him.

I pulled in the parking spot and yelled, "Everyone out!  Let's just all go to the potty!  Hurry!  We are going to be late!"

As we turned the corner to the eating area at the park, Levi started to notice that he recognized some of the people there.  It was so cute to see him processing it all, and then he said, "Hey, there's daddy!"

Surprise!!

No dentist appointment...just food, friends, and fun!

There is always some football playing in the mix...

Nannie kept an eye out on the girls...

Poor Mac took a tumble...

Levi played with his friend that he affectionately calls "that kid Will"...

Davis drank 15 cokes...I don't think his mom and I are friends anymore:)

It was a fun day....Happy Birthday to Levi!

How is it October?

My life is flying by!  I can't believe that it is October and the holidays are just around the corner!

Remember the Trot to Adopt?  I was raising money for some friends to bring home their baby girl from China.

Guess who enjoyed a popsicle in my backyard recently....

I just love adoption.  It is such a beautiful picture of what God has done for us in Christ.  We were once without a hope in the world and He brought us into His family.  He adopted us as sons and daughters and made us heirs...a beautiful picture of the gospel!

Sweet friends...

So, just to keep it real I decided to try and capture the disarray of my home most days...

By the way...LOVE my slipcovered couches.  Yes, I know they are white and I have 6 of the dirtiest children on the planet.  A run through the wash with bleach and they are like new!! 

I just would like to pat myself on the back for that healthy Little Ceasar's and Pepsi dinner we had this night... 

Someone has decided to decorate quite a few of the walls in my house with crayons....*sigh*

Sometimes you just have to send the kids outside and lock the door and then just ignore them when they come and press their noses on the glass!  I should buy stock in Windex...

Football season is ending soon.  Jackson's team has their last game this Saturday.  They are ranked #3 in their group! (There are only 3 teams in their group...:)

Aaron's team has done really well, only losing 1 game.  They are heading to the playoffs next weekend.  The FUNNIEST thing ever is to watch how excited Aaron gets on the field.  It doesn't matter if he was in on a play or 20 yards away,  I can promise you he will be celebrating and carrying on.  Christian and I have an idea that he practices in front of the mirror or something....