Funny Faces!

Building Alters

Come read about our own memorial - though not a pile of rocks, perhaps just as able remind us of the goodness of God in our lives!

Child Of My Heart
at: Plunged Into The Deep
(click here)

Discovering Lights and Cherishing Moments

"Our" Christmas tree this year:





















This particular tree is not actually real (gasp!), but it's not ours (belonging to our dear friends and residing in THEIR HOUSE in-which-we-are-trespassing-upon-sweet-hospitality) and we are VERY fortunate to be able to share it with them! - Or rather, that THEY share it with US:-)

By the time it was finally erected some few days ago, I breathed a sigh of relief and contentment. It began to feel a little more Christmasy here at the Smith's. What in the world has that woman been doing, that she can't get to the IMPORTANT stuff!!























The other evening Mrs. Smith told me that she prefers real trees, but that her husband vetoed that option several years ago with this (not-too-bad-at-all...for-a-fake) replica, and since he "wears the pants" in their family...

(I hope I'm not in too much trouble for sharing this story dear Mrs. Smith, but it gave me no end of pleasure and I think of you both with glee every time I look at your tree!)

...So sitting on the couch staring into the glowing lights with a sideways smile and a far away look (and I know that in her minds eye, she is enjoying the image of her beloved man), she says dreamily and with good humor:

"I like real trees the best, but every time I look at our man-made model, I just think how glad I am that my husband is the head of our family!"










Now THAT is a womanly woman. And I like her tree better and better! :-)



This year, Carolina Truth is just old enough to get acquainted with the lovely tradition of a lighted tree, and it is always a delight for momma to watch the discovery and awe. The "newness" of it all and baby's delight!















































Once again, I am thankful she isn't mobile yet - that is a kind of fun I am willing to forgo with a Christmas tree!

We're having a season filled with thanks-giving and many sweet moments.
May the Lord richly bless each of you!

She's TOO Cute - I Just Can't Stand It!!

This one too...

Little Lina-loo

Warning Warning: You might notice a little background noise in this video clip!
9 other children in the same room will do that occasionally:-)



It sure is nice to see those smiles again!!

Each Unique

Last night we made a run to Raleigh (about an hour away) for a family outing to Costco.
That IS where you take your family for an outing, isn't it?!
Unfortunately there were zero taste testers out last night, and I was very hungry.
Fortunately we ate dinner at Qdoba - which would have been nicer if Carolina hadn't decided to throw a hissy fit about not getting food right when she thought she should have it. Some things are a little hard to explain to a one-year-old.

After that we went to the grocery store.
Each of the three older children had scrounged up some coins and dollars, and had permission to pick out whatever they wanted to buy within the means of each.

Here's how it went, and let it paint a picture for you of the personality of each.

Zachary had 10 dollars.
He went straight to the produce section and picked out some exotic fruits to try: a Plantain, some kumquats, and a pear.
He spent less than 2 of his 10 dollars.
Efficient, practical, healthy? And thrifty too!

Susanna knew before we hit the store, that she wanted to buy a soda.
A soda.
And she reminded us with complete assurance that she was going to buy a soda!
She spied the soda vending machines outside the store, and wasn't the least bit distracted by all the candy we passed, waiting patiently until we had made our other purchases.
We read the choices to her, and she hesitated not in choosing grape soda. Grape was all out, so she quickly turned her sights on Ginger Ale and never looked back!
She was a happy happy camper holding her green can all the hour-long drive home.




























Clayton had to peruse the whole store, and was asking the price of every item as we went.
He wanted to buy something he could share with the Smith and Tjaden children.
Share his loot. That is Clayton, my big-hearted one!
He finally settled on a large package of jelly belly type jelly beans which exceded his four dollar budget by several cents. That is Clayton too - not shy to spend every last penny on others.
He has really enjoyed reading off all the flavors, and trying to identify which jelly bean goes with which name.

Each of the children had to wait 'till today to eat any of their loot, and though Clay carried around his package all day, I think he forgot to actually OPEN it until I tucked him in to bed tonight ;-)
Zack ate everything but the plantain, discovering it wasn't quite ripe yet,
and Susanna savored every last drop of her soda throughout the day!
I sure took pleasure in watching each one make their purchase, and then enjoy it.

How different they each are.

Filling In The Cracks

All of our children are big eaters, but they are just lately growing into BIG big eaters - which means their size = greater volume in food consumption which = more $ per grocery shopping trip.
Not to mention lots and lots of servings (seconds, thirds, and sometimes fourths and fifths!), plus cutting into little pieces for the smaller big eaters.
All this takes up the time I could be joining my family for the meal.

One tried and true success I've had, I like to call: Filling in the Cracks.

When I shop for groceries, I stock up on baby carrots, apples, bananas, and any other low cost, healthy-ish food item that I can buy in large quantity.

Then, I ration the main course ie. each child gets one whole peanut butter and jam sandwich at lunch time.
After they have eaten their allotment, they may fill in the cracks with as many carrots (or fill in the blank) as they like, until they are completely full.

I like this method because I don't fix sandwich after sandwich after sandwich... and if they are eating just to eat, I soon find out because they won't go for carrots at that point.
If they ARE still hungry after their main serving of food, they happily chomp away at the healthy "crack filler-upper" food until every last crack is full!

For all you with expertise I would sure like to hear other food ideas for filling in the cracks of many big eaters.
Lead me to your site if you don't comment here!

(Click HERE for more Help for Growing Families)

Outtakes

Dozens and dozens and dozens of pictures, and this is what the majority of them look like!
(pretty fun actually)

Very true to life, and it's a shame not to post some of the outtakes of our photo shoots, since THIS IS LIFE! Isn't it silly when we see a great Christmas picture of some family or other, and actually BELIEVE that was the only shot they took?!!!

















These guys are hilarious! Hope your Christmas is full and blessed... and full of great family pictures!

Getting into the Christmas Spirit, and Curing Cabin Fever

Yesterday morning at twelve P.M. (because that's what the morning stretched into), we all loaded up (in two vehicles) and drove to a quaint little town to play!













The sun which had been tantalizing us through the blinds, disappeared once we went out, but besides being rather COLD, that didn't stop us from having a lovely time.






















First we squeezed into a crowded little Pizza shop for lunch















































Then we walked,




























































































And played
































and sat (I don't think I sat quite enough!)




























and played some more before loading up and returning home.





































































































I was pretty wiped out after this outing, but it was worth it - just wonderful to get out of the house!
It really was a lovely, lovely day:-)

Baby Scents

I pulled this fuzzy little ball over on my lap this morning after Daddy placed her on the bed beside me. Burying my nose in her neck I was taken by the familiar smell of baby.

This morning it was banana and Cheerios, but what about the aroma of grahm cracker?
There are other baby scents of course, some not so lovely, but my favorite of all-time is the newly bathed baby smell.
This one I haven't sniffed for a while, but hope to this evening:-)

At present there are seven smallish children picking up a sea of legos so both our families can leave the house to enjoy the sun-drenched December day we see peeking in through the blinds.
I'm hoping we'll run off a ton of steam, enjoy each other's company,take some pictures, spend a teensie weensie bit of money, and then come home to crash!

I'll let you know how it all plays out!!:-)