End of year thanks!

We celebrated a late Christmas with all of my family on New Year's.  It always promises to be interesting when you get this many children under eight together...

Yep, it's 11 and counting!

Miraculously, we still had some moments like this:

There are so many things to be thankful for as I think back on this year!

56. a new sprinter to drive around with plenty of space for the entire family

57. the excitement of adoption and the hope that we will add more little ones to our family soon!

58. lots of lost teeth

59. a major surgery that (Lord willing) allows for a long break before we head into another season of surgeries

60. squeals of delight from the water as my kids swim and splash at the beach

61. TWO children in school

62. a puppy that is sweet and the kids enjoy chasing

63. What an awesome privilege it is to be the mom of boys.  I always desired to be a mom, but the reality is so much greater than the dream.  Boys that run and play and wrestle and constantly amaze me are such a joy!

64. My Bo! Bo just blows my mind sometimes.  That smile that comes so easily at times, and that mind that is always working.  He understands things in ways that I can only dream about and asks questions that keep me on my toes! 

65. Jack-attack.  What can I say about this firecracker of a four year old.  I have a hard time getting my head around the fact that he will be old enough for kindergarten next year.  How did we get here?!  My Jack that feels things so intensely and loves with such abandon.  He is creative and imaginative, and I love being part of the stories he creates every day!

66. My girls and sisters.  I always thought it was really special to have sisters growing up.  I dreamed about what it would be like to raise girls and to watch them engage as sisters.  It is awesome.  Each one is so precious and unique in her own way, and yet I see the things that bring them together.

67. Mae.  I really don't think there is a one year old girl who could be more precious than this.  She oozes delight and pleasantness.  Those blue eyes sparkle and she smiles and giggles at the simplest of things.  I am delighted that the Lord allowed her to be part of our family.  What a gift!

68.  Sadie.  My sweet girl would not look up from the lawn mower to let me take a picture.  She was so excited to have control of that thing!!  When Sadie enjoys something, she enjoys it fully, and the lawnmower was no exception.  Sadie has this way of engaging people that is so precious and endearing.  She connects with people on such a heart level and can convince you to love her quickly! I am humbled every day that I get to be her mom, and I am beyond thankful for how Jesus has worked in my heart in her three years. 

69. My big girl Ella.  Goodness, this one is so tender and so sweet.  She will mother anything that she comes in contact with and just radiates joy.  I love seeing her delight in the things around her and experiencing that delight.  I feel like I can almost hear her grow if I listen closely enough and I know these precious days of childhood are fleeting!

70. This man.  He knows the deepest parts of me, and loves me anyways! Marriage, for me, is a constant unveiler of what is really going on in my heart, and sometimes it is hard to see the depth of my own sin!  I am thankful for a man who leads me and loves me so well!

71.  I can say that as I look back on the past 12 months, I am most overwhelmed by the sweetness of this year and this season in our life.  After a decade of transition and lots of unknown, this felt like such a nice year of rest.  There were so many blessings for me that my heart could just burst!  I am excited for what I know God has in store for us in 2013.  I am forever grateful for the depth and passion that I sensed this year in my walk with Jesus. 

Christmas recap

We celebrated Christmas Eve with a yummy family dinner and a beautiful service at our church.  The kids were very excited to get up Christmas morning, and waited patiently while we got the camera and the coffee ready.  Thankfully, not a creature was stirring until after 8 AM, so it wasn't too early a morning!

I love the squeals of excitement!

Mae was content to shake her container of tic-tacs for a long time!

After a big yummy breakfast, we got dress and headed down to J's parents to finish out the day and celebrate with the rest of his family.

I did a terrible job taking pictures, but we enjoyed a few days of celebrating and eating and relaxing with his family.  With 11 kids under eight and 12 adults and 6 dogs, there was enough chaos to keep us all pretty busy!

I am so thankful to celebrate the birth of our Savior!

Late Thanks

It wasn't until I was settling into bed last night that I realized it was Monday, and I had forgotten to post thanks!

42. Sooo thankful for babes tucked quietly in their beds and sleeping peacefully...for a house that is full and the excitement of Christmas that is to come.  I think often about the families in CT who are feeling a very deep void in their homes as they prepare for this holiday.  Lord Jesus, come quickly!

43.  freshly slip-covered couches! I am still trying to decide if I love them or not, but at the very least it is a small break from the stripes that have been in our living room for a decade.

44. The smell of pumpkin bread that fills my whole house.

45. A fenced in yard and a warm day so the dog can be sent outside for a while when she poos on my floor. 

46. The promise of advent.  I feel the groan of anticipation for the Savior in so many tangible ways this year. 

47. new, (to me!) cozy sweater

48. music floating into the kitchen as the kids practice piano

49. hugs at just the right time.

50. holiday projects with kids

51. spontaneous eruption into Christmas carols from the kids as they "practice" their songs for the kid's choir

52. Christmas "presents" that the kids keep making for one another and wrapping to place under the tree.

53. twinkling lights

54. forgiveness for harsh words spoken hastily

55. thankfulness for a God who was willing to come and walk with man and a season where we remember that choice and that sacrifice!

Thanks

Monday almost got away from me!  So glad I remembered to post :)

28. Christmas bunting finally finished and hung! It's also doubling as a display for our Christmas cards this year and it is so festive.  When Bo walked in and saw it this morning he exclaimed, "Wow, that new decoration is awesome! Can it go in our Christmas decoration boxes for every year?"

29. squeals of laughter coming from underneath a blanket as Sadie screams, "Where am I? Can you find me?"

30.  Laundry.  Done.

31. Jack who was begging me to scrub toilets this morning, and Sadie quickly jumped in as well with a chorus of "please, please, please." It was only after they were done that they asked how much I was going to pay them for their hard work :)

32. Ballet and a daughter who loves to dance:

33.  Babies and babies who love baby dolls...

34. Parents who love us and serve us well.  Even when a kid vomits at Chipoltle during dinner or they get stuck on poop clean up duty when they went to get a child up from a nap, they are gracious and kind and don't complain! (And seriously, the throw up at Chipoltle was gross!)

35. Packages of pictures and Christmas goodies that the mailman brings to the door so they don't end up getting wet in the rain.

36. Christmas music, and music in general.

37.  Sadie's love of all things pink, especially her new light pink dress AND her sheer delight at finding it neatly folded in her clean laundry, "My light pink dress is all cleeeeeean!"

38. Christmas cards and pictures from friends and family near and far.

39. Peppermint (and especially peppermint and dark chocolate together!).  Yum.

40. Dinner in the crock pot so I don't really have to "cook."

41. And early bed time :)

Nothings says 33 like being in a sprinter in the carpool line!

It seems nearly impossible that it's already been a week.  With a birthday last week, it is not difficult to come up with thankful things!  I did giggle on Friday morning as I prepared five children to get in the car and head to school.  Married with five kids at thirty-three may not make for the most glamorous or relaxing birthday morning, but there was much to look forward to and make me smile.  J whisked me off to Athens Friday night to enjoy dinner in our college town and reminisce about the 10+ years since we were there together.  It was a huge treat!

15. ten years with a man who keeps me on my toes!

16. A couples massage...a first for me and J

17. freshly painted fingernails

18. clean children (who are all in the bed!)

19. delicious oranges

20. a week of almost 70 degree temps!

21. parents who were willing to keep the kids entertained while we went off to Athens

22. birthday scavenger hunts planned by the kids with dollar store treats as the prizes...Bo's hunt even included several "trickery" clues to take me on the wrong path.

23. raw carrots and cucumber (a recent lunch favorite!), especially with delicious hummus

24. puppy snores

25. another appointment with the audiologist and ENT for Sadie where everything looks great!

26. a baby girl who loves to play with the puppy!

27. a new bed that is wonderfully comfortable

Thankful Thoughts

I am utterly overwhelmed with thanks as we move back into "real life" after the Thanksgiving holiday.  There are so many good gifts in my life that I far too often take for granted.  I read Ann Voskamp's 1000 Gifts last year and have been working on listing my gifts ever since.  However, I want to be more intentional so my goal, my hope, is to update here weekly with thanks.  I would love to say that I will be back to do more than just that, but we are starting with baby steps :)

1. For a husband who loves me well.  He is patient and kind when I am not, and he delights in me and in our family in such profound ways!

2. For a son who loves technical things so much.  He can change the settings on the printer faster than I can even figure out what is going on!  The good news is that he can *almost* always change them back for me. 

3. Excitement about learning the basics of division...him, not me :)

4. Imaginative play in costumes with rehearsals and tickets to future shows.

5. Christmas fabric + a sewing machine = new holiday pajama pants for all!

6. scraps from pajama pants to make festive Christmas bunting.

7. A girl who is sooooo excited about being an angel in the kindergarten program for school.

8. A boy who makes up songs about his new green pajama pants and sings it all afternoon.

9. A THREE year old girl who is so excited to see her "new light pink dress" in the clean laundry that she cannot stop squealing.  And she tells everyone it is clean and that she will wear it tomorrow.

10.  A baby girl who is ONE and less and less a baby every day.

11. A new puppy.  Yes, we got a dog.  We are crazy!

12.  Paper towels to clean up messes from the new puppy!

13.  The hope and promise that there is more than this life, and the moments that make me long for an eternity of perfection.

14. Clean sheets!

Labor day road trip!

I got on here the other day to update and was kindly informed by blogger that I had utilized all of my free photo storage space.  Silly me did not even realize there was a limit!  Anywhoo, I had all of 4 minutes to upload pictures and attempt to do a post and I could not recover from this unexpected information.  I simply could not process it quickly enough to come up with a solution and get a post done.  Seems to be how things roll these days.  I am shorter and shorter on brain power :)

After a few days to think it over, I opted to delete a few old photos that were duplicates from the boutique blog, and clear up space for a few more shots.  The reality is that this prompted me to do some more thinking about this space in general, and I am trying to decide where to go from here...

More space on this blog?

New blog?

No blog?

I have loved having this place to journal so many aspects of our every day and it has preserved so many moments that I know would have otherwise been long forgotten.  I think I need more time to really figure out what it is I want to do, so in the meantime, posting will likely be sparse.  At the very least, pictures will be sparse :)

I must include a few shots of our awesome Labor day weekend.  We had a blast on a family road trip.  J worked a the weekend before the holiday, so he ended up with Friday off and he already had Monday and Tuesday off, so we decided to make the most of it.  We opted to visit some awesome friends from med school and their four kiddos in Dayton, Ohio.  What?  You didn't know Dayton was the coolest new vacation spot.  Totally!

We left Thursday after work and took the "long way" through Nashville, but broke the trip up by stopping there for the night. 

It was great to see "Tappy" and meet Arthur!  Kathy was an incredible connection for us during our year in Nashville, and it was so fun to see her and be back.

She spoiled us with an awesome pancake breakfast and we got to hang out with Becca (Arthur's momma) for a little while too.  Ella was especially excited.  Even after a year away from Nashville, she is quick to remind me how generous Tappy is with her syrup portions on pancakes.

The kids and I also managed to squeeze in a few minutes at our favorite Nashville park while J visited with his old department at the hospital.  It was a little sweaty, but a nice way to burn off some energy before a long ride in the car!

The Higeys are one of those couples that J and I connected as newlyweds.  It's just hard to explain how much they have encouraged us over the years.  Jill and I taught at the same high school and the men did med school together so we were able to establish a friendship before either of us had children.  That is huge!

The Higeys have four little ones so everyone had a playmate except for Sadie.  She seemed to be okay without a friend her own age although I realize that may not be the case a few years from now!

Saturday morning we all ventured to a local park.  How about this crowd?!

Jill got some fun family shots at their neighborhood garden.  Seriously, it was so beautiful!  I would never have guessed Ohio could be so cool.

All the kids.

Yeppers, that is nine little ones ranging from 10 months to 8 years old.  The oldest six paired up and played so well together.  It was frighteningly easy.  Seriously, I took a nap Saturday afternoon and Sunday because they were playing so happily.  I never do that at home!!

We made it back home Monday night and Tuesday we got to celebrate this man...

We had a fun family dinner and cake here on his actual birthday and then I was able to surprise him with a date Saturday night.  Much needed time for us, if I do say so! 

I am more and more overwhelmed by how full this season of life is for me.  I am so thankful for our family and the many gifts I too often take for granted!!

Outside time!

This was the only shot I could get of Sadie.  She was too buys playing to smile for me :)

Helpers

Ella's favorite job is "helping."  It doesn't really matter what the task is (most of the time), but she loves being able to assist. 

Feeding Mae is an especially fun job!

Messy, but fun!

Life with boys

Been finding Buzz on all kinds of adventures here lately.  It cracks me up to see him hanging around!

To infinity and beyond...even upside down!

Scattered, Smothered, and Covered

I have certainly found a lot of pride over the years in my Icankeepitogetherness.  There is a systematic breaking down of my own independance and pride that has come with the children we continue to add to our brood.  I just can't get it all done!  I can't keep it all together.  Things are sticky and faces are dirty and we leave the house without the things we need on a regular basis. 

School starting has been a giant wake up call for me too.  It's quite a feat to get them all up and fed and (mostly) dressed and out the door by 7:50 AM.  It is such a feat actually that we've only done it once.  And that was the morning I locked my keys in the house. 

Yep, there we were all in the car, all dressed, all fed and I was feeling pretty good about myself until I went to start the car.  Oops.  I had to stop and breathe and be still for a few minutes and I knew God was showing me that the task is not always the most important.  The time is always secondary to these precious souls I get to to steward.  It's a hard lesson for this task oriented mama, but one I am willing and trying to learn!

We've had some fun scattered in these past few weeks too.  We got to spend a weekend with all of J's family at his parents house.  His sister Natalie is back from her summer internship in Germany, so we were all able to gather and celebrate summer birthdays and her return. 

11 cousins on the stairs...and no one is crying...miraculous!!!

And here is the whole clan.  The last shot we got of everyone was Christmas 2010 so it was definitely time!

Birthday celebrations abound in August, and we were so excited to celebrate with my dad on his birthday as well.

Happy Birthday Papa!!

In other, very exciting news,  Sadie Bess is potty trained!!

We made a few earlier attempts but she just did not have the verbal skills she really needed to communicate with me.  She's had a language explosion lately so we decided to try again last week.  She's only had two accidents since last week (including a road trip and lots of mornings running errands) so I'd say we're doing pretty good. 

She also insists on only using the big potty like everyone else, so we're going to need some sort of system to help her figure it out before she is completely autonomous. 

Lots of thankfulness here, eternal thankfulness that I am covered by the grace of God.  I am seeing my own need for God's hand in my life in very tangible ways.  It is a blessing to know that I do not have to try to do it all on my own!!

Transition and Tension

First of all, let me just say that I'm surprised you're here.  No really, I haven't posted in so long that I am surprised anyone keeps coming back!!  I have been downright delinquent on the blog, but I'm hoping to get back into a somewhat regular groove. 

We've had an eventful few weeks around here.  Ella is now SIX!

I am sure this is starting to get ridiculous because I say it all the time, but how did we get here??

I am finding myself more and more in transition these days.  I have TWO school aged kids.  While there are still lots of little ones with lots of little needs around the house, I can't help but feel like I am moving into a new phase of mothering.  I watch the "young" moms with a baby and a toddler and that feels like forever ago.  It's just so different parenting a seven year old and a six year old.  Amazing.  And different. 

Birthday celebrations were exciting and abundant. 

We did a small party with just a few friends. 

Pedicures and frozen yogurt.

Seriously, it was the best. party. ever!

Ella has been asking to get her ears pierced for the last 18 months so that was her present from us on her actual birthday.  She was nervous, and I know it hurt, but she handled it like a champ.

We got to have a fun birthday lunch with Aunt Maggie and Maddox and Gigi too!

And a yummy strawberry cake with purple [blueberry] icing.  She also requested a gymnast doing a handstand on top of the cake.  Due to some poor planning on my part I had to ice a cake that wasnt' completely cooled so it was a bit of a mess.  At least it was a delicious mess. 

And we capped off all the festivities with a birthday date with daddy.  They had a blast.

Today, my six year old went to school.  What?  I didn't expect to be emotional, but it was hard to hug her and walk out of that classroom.  I love where she is going to school.  It's four days a week and she's finished at noon, but it's still hard to imagine that she won't be here with us every day. 

Dang, she looks so grown up!

There's a tension here for me too.  It seems so easy to wipe a toddler's bum or nurse an infant, but now we're talking about character issues and seeing sin patterns.  Yikes! I am humbled, in almost every moment, that God allows me the privilege to be a mom to these littles. 

Paintin' Time