Christmas 2014 has come and gone

50+ degrees the day after Christmas!  We headed to our local "zoo" to check out the lights and  have some hot chocolate

entertainment during Anna's concert

Justin's Christmas crew, Heidi decorated her sweater for "ugly sweater day" at school, but then decided she liked it too much to wear as "ugly"

Christmas morning (late-morning, I make everyone waaaiiittt for a while to open gifts :) )

Anna and her look alike doll

we actually saw the sun on Christmas Day, which helped make for better pictures

Emily and her doll, Emily

first Christmas!!

After all the preparations that go into Christmas it always seems to go so fast!  I hope everyone had a wonderful time of celebrating God's love sent to us as His Son.  Our Christmas was spent at home, as a relaxed time of reading, opening gifts, eating, doing a little Skype-ing, and watching Elf. The kids started out with the germs the week before Christmas and the germs have slowly traveled to all, except myself.  Caleb and Justin are the longest lasting, though thankfully it really has just been a bad cold (Luke's was more of a stomach episode).  Our weekend is nice and quiet, with plans to catch up on sleep.  I will post another day with some pictures of our "handmade holiday", in the meantime I have a massive pile of laundry to fold!

Preparing for Christmas

Yikes, this is super fast, a few photos and off I go to another project.  We have had some very busy weeks here, with 3 concerts and out-of-town guests, and meetings and whatnot.  I am trying to do several handmade projects, so naptime is filled with the whirring of my sewing machine (I will post some of those pictures another time).  Merry preparations to all!

Caleb's first Thanksgiving

How does he know to look at the camera lens when we do a selfie?

3rd annual trip to the Harley Santa, Emily decided this is the only Santa that exists

Emily's first school Christmas concert, I curled her hair and it looked adorable!

This sweet boy is already 8 months old!  He started officially crawling on Thanksgiving, at just a little over 7 months, (earlier than any of the other kiddos and he does the "drag one leg" method, unlike any of the other kids)

  We are all looking forward to resting these next two weeks and celebrating our Savior's birth, Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2014

Caleb at 2 weeks old, so thankful for this healthy growing boy, he is a joyful addition

so thankful for Luke's lovie-dovieness, he is a softie, and for his joy in being a brother!

so thankful for Anna's even keel personality, and for her great job as a big sister

so thankful for Heidi's ability to step up and get things done, and for her preference for one-on-one time

we used this photo for a certain card that Justin was so happy to get this year; so thankful for this guy, his willingness to provide for us, for his energy and wild side ;)

so thankful for Emily, for her oozing joy, for her zest for all things

Here we are again, almost the end of 2014 and time for giving thanks!  I have read somewhere recently that
Thanksgiving is not a day, but a lifestyle, and I totally agree, and it's something I aspire to.  It's easy to give thanks when things are going well, but also necessary when life turns upside down.  Life is not perfect, or perfectly smooth, but IT IS GOOD and we praise God for His good gifts!  In no particular order (and there is always more that is not mentioned):

• We are so thankful for good test results for Emily, so unbelievably thankful for medicine that continues to work to make her body healthy.  We are so thankful for a great school year for Emily, for her excitement in the classroom, for her stamina, and for the good friends she has made.
• We are so thankful for the quality of schools and teachers God has provided for our kids.  We are amazed that God has brought us to this town and kept us here, it's not by our own doing, that is for sure (this one is more just me, lol).  We are so thankful for the easy transition to middle school for Heidi and Anna; who knew middle school could go so well! 
• We are so, so thankful for the provision of Justin's job, it is not something we take for granted!  We are so thankful for good health insurance and the health that has been restored to Justin after surgery in April.  We are so thankful for successful surgeries, for Anna and myself also; praise God for a picture-perfect delivery!
• We are so thankful for family and friends, for the support that we can count on no matter what, for the care that comes our way.  We are so thankful for the variety of people God has brought into our lives, you each play an important part!
• We are so thankful, not just for the "things" in our life, but the joy, the peace, the fulfillment that God is in us, for us.  God is our contentment and for that we rejoice!  And we are so thankful for the hope of Heaven, the hope that looks forward to something more than this life.
• And I am so, so thankful for my sweet little family, such a wonderful gift, such a privilege to be a part of!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. Psalm 28:7

"Cheese"

at 7 months Caleb already has 4 teeth and has learned to clap, though we call it "yay!"

this is his goofy smile these days, I was so happy to capture it

isn't he a cutie!

We have had a busy week/week and a half here!  Just a quick post, I attended Heidi and Anna's conferences on Thursday.  It was great...all their teachers love them, saying that they are "a joy to have in class".  They are doing so well academically (many parents I have talked to have agreed that 6th grade almost seems easier than 5th grade, so the girls are well prepared).  A common thread was once again the "quiet factor".  "She has so much to offer, I just want to hear her voice more" is written on most of the teacher's notes.  Once again, I am just so thankful for the quality teachers/schools that God has provided and for amazingly wonderful children that God has blessed us with, we are so proud of them all!  I will do my "official" Thanksgiving post another day (do you notice I use a lot of quotations and parenthesis).

Derby, Dye and DC

Luke and Justin building their derby car/arrow

It was crazy hair day, in 11 years as a parent I have never colored anyone's hair

Luke's was the best ;)

Justin wasn't too happy about the results, lol

Luke has quite the artistic touch (Browning is a company that makes real arrows)

First, derby: Luke and Justin built their arrow derby car for Awanas (they have built one in the past for fun, this was the first time racing and making the car "official").  I think they enjoyed the process, picking out details, getting it the right weight, etc.  In most heats Luke's car came in 2nd and occasionally 3rd, with a top speed of 176 mph.  Luke didn't win any awards, which bummed Justin out, but it was a fun activity and Luke is already making his plans for next year's race.

Second, dye: Luke has been wearing his hair "spiked" for several weeks now, both because it was in an awkward "growing out" stage and because he wanted his hair to look like my cousin, Nathan's (it's like a faux hawk type thing).  Anyway, Luke really wanted Blackhawks colors for his hair for crazy hair day, so we sprayed away, and he was so excited to show everyone at school, which is a first.  A few days prior I contacted the school social worker in hopes that she will be able to help Luke have some tools to help himself in the classroom.  He is just very overwhelmed, both with the school work and with the social atmosphere.  It sounds like he was comfortable enough to talk to her and I think just that little down time out of the classroom was beneficial.  He is actually doing very well academically, he just has zero confidence and is easily stressed, and then unable to unwind at home.  We are waiting on results for his bloodwork yet (they goofed up one test, so we have to go back, plus he was sick and I wanted the medicine to get out of his system before they did any tests).

Finally, DC: Justin and Emily made it to Maryland and back, safe and sound (they fly in and out of DC).  I knew it would be a little bit of a challenge to get the information second-hand, so here is what I have so far (they will email me official results shortly).  Overall they are very pleased with Emily's health, it seems that we have found the "sweet spot" for her medicines/doses and her food.  Her triglycerides were 90!!  That is totally within normal ranges!! (they were once as high as 1,100 when taken not fasting, but generally range in the upper 200's, normal is 0-149).  Her liver enzymes are still elevated, but stable, as is her liver size (the fact that she has grown and her liver hasn't is good).  The echo-cardiogram was good and I am waiting to hear her bone age.  They still want to see her about every year, as they can continue to monitor her, and do all the tests in one place, plus they are a hub for new medicines/treatments.  Emily had a fun time with Justin and both were pretty tired last night.  It was neat for me to have the older kids, though we didn't do anything out of the ordinary (obviously I still had Caleb too, he is basically attached to me).  I did enjoy seeing from their end how much they missed Emily (and Justin, of course), Luke was up at 2am and couldn't sleep (they still share a room), and the way the girls talked to each other on the phone was so sweet.  Even in a big family it is very noticeable when someone is gone, and I was very grateful to be back together.  So there we go in a nutshell, I have a non-napper on my hands so away I go.     

Halloween thrills and spills

Caleb the lumberjack (this was taken a week before our chilly Halloween)--Mom R., those are the Carharts you gave Caleb when he was born, put to good use already (all I  had to make was the beard)!

Emily the peacock, I bought this from a mom in our area, we already had the boots, so nothing much to do here (Emily was a lot more bundled up on the actual Halloween)

Justin felt that he needed to move up to pumpkin carving with a chainsaw

the squirrels made a mess of our pumpkins this year, we bought 5 and only 2 were somewhat usable for carving, so the rest met a creative demise

look, its a family picture, Justin and I are in the reflection on the door; the pumpkins were super soft so we were limited in creativity (the right pumpkin has an arrow)

the last two pumpkins were targets

Heidi and Anna had spirit week, this was for decade day on Friday

Luke the Mountain Man (from History channel) (made the beard, found the hat, camo and orange puffy vest at Goodwill)

Anna the pig (found the pink jumpsuit and just made the mask and tail)

Heidi the Hershey kiss (we found the hat at a resale shop, I made the "body" with fabric sewn around an innertube)

I am supposed to be the tree that Caleb is climbing, he actually fell asleep in the carseat for the little bit of time that we went out trick-or-treating

at least Luke had a nice warm face

Halloween was a fabulous day...not.  The Monday before Halloween was near 80 degrees and sunny, by Halloween it was barely 40 with 50 mph wind gusts.  The kids' parade was held indoors, thankfully, and we did maybe an hour's worth of trick-or-treating before retreating to our semi warm house (we get a new furnace tomorrow).  October was the month with the most school attendance days (though Luke, Heidi and Emily missed several days), so I feel like the next few weeks/month will go fast.  Emily and Justin head to NIH next week, then we get a visit from our favorite Kentucky folks, then Thanksgiving (a week off), then three weeks of school and two weeks off again for Christmas, and good-bye 2014!

And speaking of good-bye's, my aunt Joyce entered Heaven's gates early this morning.  It has been 5 years since her initial colon/liver cancer diagnosis.  She fought a hardy fight, thru countless surgeries and rounds of chemo.  I once again picture the joyous crowd that must have welcomed her into Heaven (Joyce is my dad's sister and my grandpa's, who passed away this summer, daughter).  I have more thoughts I will share another day, Caleb is squirming away off my lap.   

Fall photos, fun...not

I treated myself to a remote for my camera (the best $15 I have spent), but I kept forgetting to hide it!  And I should have moved the blanket...

nice stranger in the background (need to crop that out)

I think this is the best kid one we got

best of the 7 of us, if I ever get Christmas cards out this will come to a mailbox near you

even with the tripod I was still getting up-shots of us

Caleb was so tired both times, not up for smiling

Caleb cut his 3rd tooth already!

So I love photos, taking good ones, but I really like looking at pretty pictures and if you have ever been to our house you can I agree I have a lot of pictures out.  So I do this every so often, I buy a Groupon or Living Social deal that is a great price, but then have no picture to use for it (I have done canvases several times and photos transferred to wood).  Rather than spend the big bucks to pay a professional (which would defeat the "great deal", and Justin's fabulous photographer sister, Melanie, is too far away), I try to take photos myself.  Epic failure this time around, well, maybe not epic, but a frustrating process anyway.  Our kids don't like taking photos for the most part, apparently I have over-photographed them (and of course it is too sunny or cold or they are upset they aren't holding the baby, whatever, it was beautiful sunset with 70 degree temps)!  So we took two different rounds of photos, well over 100 photos and finally got a few decent ones.  On a boring day in November I will post the bloopers because there are some goofy faces being made!