Fun with Friends!

Today was our last play group for a while and we had so much fun at the Bass's house praying together as mom's and making graham cracker houses with our kids! It did get a little crazy though... at one point, after all the peaceful praying had happened and the babysitter left, I had to feed David lunch while helping Kenzie make her graham cracker house and Aubrey needed to nurse at that exact moment and was crying non-stop! Thank God for good friends who jumped in and helped me even though everyone had two of their own to care for! Here is a picture of Aubrey with her boy Isaac who she couldn't get enough of today! On Tues. night Lauri babysat for me so I could go to Financial Peace University with Jake. Mackenzie absolutely adores both Lauri and Chris and both our girls had a blast!
I LOVE their little girl Maddie... look at her big smile! She was so cute... as soon as the camera came out she started pulling out this huge grins!

Aubrey and Maddie were wearing matching jammies because someone gave Lauri the same ones and she passed the extra on to me... they are my favorite jammies too... so snuggly and with little lambs on the feeties!

Thanksgiving at Mommom's

On Saturday we went to my Mommom's house for our traditional Thanksgiving dinner... and I'll tell you what, with all these in-laws our families have been gaining these past few years, the dinner keeps getting better and better! Emily made to die for bread that everyone fought over and Katie made delish apple bars and Angie made her famous pound cake! We've come a long way from steamed squash and greasy mashed potatoes! Besides the new food these wonder girls have added, they are all so much fun! I love how each of my cousins is so adored and love seeing my brother and sister so well taken care of... there is much to be thankful for this year!

Number One reason to be thankful for though is Emily's pregnancy!! Finally someone else for the "Four Littles" to dote over... selfish, I know... even someone else's baby is all about me! But we really are excited for Ben and Em to join us as new parents at these functions! They are going to be wonderful parents together... I can't wait to learn from them!

All the men congragate in front of the football game as usual...

We spent some time as a family praying for Jeff's health. The very next morning he went to the ER with a lot of pain. He had a CAT scan and it is showing that the infection that is in his intestines is still there and spreading, he will need surgery, it's just a matter of deciding if the time for that is now or if they can wait a little longer. He is going to stay in the hospital the rest of the week because they are trying to get some weight back on him. He hasn't been absorbing any nutrients... even with all of the work Angie has been doing for him with the juicing... and has lost 40 lbs. since March. The doc said they can't even talk about surgery until Jeff gains more weight. Anyway, this picture means a lot to me... I'm so grateful for my family... what a blessing to know everyone here has a personal relationship with Jesus!

Here are some adorable pictures of Aubrey from Thanksgiving....

This is the cute face she makes when the camera comes out...

Uncle Matt... Aubrey was working on widdling down his "10-year-plan" of no kids...

Some cute pictures of the sisters from the other morning...

As if Aubrey wasn't smiling enough, her big sister decided to help her...

"Say Cheese, Aubrey!"

"Thanks, Mom, you saved my life... my big sister almost killed me!"

On a much more tragic note, I dropped my brand new phone in the toilet this morning! Mackenzie had an accident and I was talking to Jamie and had it on my shoulder while I put Kenzie on the potty, only to have it slide of and into the toilet bowl! I pulled it out right away and threw all three of the kids (I have David today) into the car (never left the house so fast before) crying all the way to the phone store praying they could get it to work. They told me to stick it in a bag of rice and that would absorb the moisture and then I can just hope for the best... so will you join me in praying for my brother and praying for my phone?? If you don't have that many spare prayers, make my brother the priority, but if you have any leftovers... can you please send them up for my phone? I'm not usually attached to stuff, but this was an iphone that we got at a bargain price... I didn't need it, but Jake's heart was to bless me with it and it was amazing... it had everything on it... all my contacts, grocery list, Christmas list, email, music, games, pictures... stuff that is on my computer or scattered on scraps of paper but was all of a sudden conveniently contained in my pocket... until this morning at 9:57! I didn't get angry at Mackenzie (it wasn't her fault at all) and Jake didn't get angry at me (I didn't think he'd yell at me, but I know he was so excited about blessing me with it I hated to disappoint him) when I called him from a friend's house... but I am really heart broken about it... and I'm so hoping it will work again. I'm supposed to wait 2 days... I guess that is so I can pray really hard??

My Favorite Family

Two-years-old is apparently the most amazing age in the world for getting cute quotes... here are two more:

Mackenzie: "Daddy, you have boogers!"

Daddy: "No I don't, you do!"

Mackenzie: "No I don't, I eat them all up!"

Mackenzie: "I love this family! It's my favorite family in the whole world!"

(I swear she said this, totally unsolicited! I didn't even know that she knew what the word "family" meant! She was just dancing around the living room with Jake and I watching her and she came out with this and than ran over and gave us each a hug and kiss... I cried... it was so sweet!)

We spent Thanksgiving morning over at my parents house where we had a delicious brunch and a fun Turkey Bowl... boys won again this year, but it was a better score of girls 3 boys 5. Jake scored 3 of their touch downs! (I told him that I 'let' him... hee hee, yea right!)

After my parents, we came home for naps and then we went over to our friends the Williams' house for a wonderful Turkey dinner. Jake made the turkey and did a fabulous job! It was so flavorful and juicy! Mackenzie LOVES "Joshua and Calove (Caleb)"

After the kids went to bed we played Dominos and then got out Rock Band... Kim and Jason had never played it before so we had more fun watching them do it than doing it ourselves... look at Jason's face!

We spent the night there so we could stay up late... it was a great memory! Of course all of the children were up by 6 a.m.... we had breakfast with them and were home by 11 so we could decorate our house for Christmas!! I can't wait to post pictures after we get our tree!

Ahhh, A Break...

Let me paint a beautiful picture for you: Jake is sprawled out in his sweats reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by the fire, Mackenzie is sitting... pantless since we're potty training... in her little rocker reading books from the pile next to her, Aubrey is sound asleep, my kitchen is clean, dinner is ready in the crockpot... yes, all is perfect in my world right now! I'm so excited that for the next four days Jake doesn't have to go to work! He can stay home and relax and enjoy the home and the people that he works so hard to provide for! The past few mornings the first words out of Mackenzie's mouth have been, "Daddy work hard? He come home and play with me soon?" I'm so glad she'll have her favorite buddy (and mine too!) for the next four days to play with her!

Last night Aubrey started to crawl as soon as Jake came in the door! He held her baby out in front of her and she crawled a good 10 paces before falling to her belly and reaching for it as far as she could!

Today we had Hannah, Ella, and Alaythia over for the afternoon. Jen and I did a kid swap and I definitely got the better end of the deal! The toddlers slept the whole time, Alaythia slept for most of it, and Hannah and Aubrey kept me company all afternoon. Aubrey must have played happily on the floor by herself for well over an hour while Hannah and I baked the afternoon away! I taught Hannah how to crack an egg and by the time we were finished with all of our baking, she had cracked a total of 16 eggs! Not bad for a six-year-old! She also peeled and chopped five apples and did tons of mixing for me! I love my little ones, but I'm excited about when they get older too... it was fun having real help in the kitchen!

Alaythia and Aubrey got to play together for a little while this afternoon. Alaythia was a little worried about where her next meal was going to come from though... she kept looking for her mommy... it was really cute!

This was Aubrey trying to comfort her...

I really do hope they grow up to be great friends!

Here are the "big" girls... we had to wake Mackenzie and Ella up from their naps because Jen was coming. They didn't even get playtime together at our house, but it was ok because they had played together all morning at Jen's while I went shopping without them (oh my gosh, it was so much fun to breeze through the aisles, pop in and out of stores, hold a coffee with one hand and still have a free hand for shopping, etc... I say kid exchanges once a week!) In this picture Mackenzie was busy showing Hannah the "Christmas house" across the street. They put up their lights last weekend and Mackenzie loves to stare at it and talk about Christmas! I can't wait to get our lights up!!

Some More Good Quotes:

We had Kenny and Naomi over this past Sunday and Aubrey and Ava really enjoyed playing together!

Some conversations from around our house:

Mackenzie: "Mommy, I share with Aubrey!"

Mommy: "Mackenzie, thank you for sharing, but peanut butter is only for big girls!"

Mackenzie: "Mommy I need lots of wipeys for my baby, she's all messy."

Mommy: "Mackenzie, you may only have one. [ insert lots of whining here] Wipes cost money and Daddy works hard for our money. We don't want to waste Daddy's money."

Mackenzie: (throwing the box of wipes over her shoulder and running out of the room) "I waste Daddy's money! I waste Daddy's money!"

Mackenzie: (Laying on the floor obviously pouting), "Mommy, I'm having a sad day."

Mommy: "Why is your day sad, Sweetie?"

Mackenzie: "Because you said one wipey and I sad I no have two wipeys. You make me sad Mommy."

(Tough life, isn't it?)

Aubrey doesn't have quotes yet, but she's been busy becoming an accomplished eater and crawler. She eats all sorts of baby food now and I'm very proud of myself that I haven't opened one jar of food for her yet, it's all been home made! She is so close to being an expert crawler, right now she can get anywhere she wants and can even do one full crawling motion before she falls. She'll definitely have the hang of it by Thanksgiving!

I wanted to share one quote that my friend Julia sent me today. She sent me a whole bunch of quotes on anger and discontentment... both things that have been a battle as of late, but this one really jumped out at me:

"I know I've failed to be the kind of mother He wants me to be, and that is why I need a Savior, and that is why my child needs one too. Thank you, Lord, that you've given me your perfect record, and even though I sin, I am accounted perfectly righteous before you. Please forgive me and help me to respond to this great gift you've given me in faith and obedience. I trust you to work in me."

- Because He Love Me by Elyse Fitzpatrick

My Funniest Blog Ever... read all the way thru till the end!

On Tues. we got to go to a water park for FREE! They are running a promotion this week and next week Mon-Thur. get there before five and get in for free! So we went and met the Finn's there. It really wasn't a baby friendly place, very loud and cold once you got wet. But our two perfect little babies had fun splashing each other in the pool anyway!

Liv got mad when Jamie wouldn't let her bite Aubrey =)

Yea, none of the kids would actually look at the camera, but do you know complicated it is to have a camera in a pool with three babies... two that can barely sit up and one that constantly runs away from you?? It's a miracle no one drowned and the camera didn't drop in the water!

Yesterday I trekked over to Mommom's for more sewing lessons and "we" made a duvet cover for my bed.

Lianna and Timmy was a HUGE help with Aubrey... I didn't even do anything for her except nurse her! Lianna took care of feeding her her baby food and changing her diapers and putting her to sleep! Melanie and Aunt Robin babysat Mackenzie over at their house so I could be undistracted and it was a very nice, and much needed, break!

I'm reading this book called, "Womanly Dominion" with my mom and sisters and we're meeting once a month to discuss it. Last night I read: "A mother is handling things for great magnitude. She is handling never-dying souls. She's daily conducting heart surgery on eternal spirits whose forever destinies are influenced most profoundly by the hands that rock their cradles, wipe their noses, spank their fannies, open their Bibles, prepare their after-school snacks, and turn off their bedroom lights. Those motherly hands are molding characters which will become men and women who will turn the world upside down either for good or for evil. Now that's a job that counts!"

If the concept that I'm handling never-dying souls isn't enough to fuel my passion for this season of wiping noses, changing diapers, constantly making food, cleaning up the mess the food made, getting poop stains out of clothes, and picking up toys... surely this quote is: "There she [the mother] sits exhausted on the edge of her bed, her face in her hands, wondering, 'Where's the glory in this?' She needs something more empowering to keep her going. She needs to gain and maintain the deep conviction of the glory, honor, and nobility of selfless service. This she finds at the foot of the cross, looking up to the One who earned for Himself 'the name above every name' (Phil.2:9), by 'emptying Himself, taking the form of a bond servant' (2:7), humbling 'Himself by becoming obedient even to the point of death, even death on a cross.' There she beholds her Savior who mopped up the damning vomit of her own sin with the precious sponge of His perfect life and atoning death. The love of Christ constrains and compels her to press on (2 Cor. 5:14). The Spirit of Christ empowers her."

I'm loving this book and feeling newly empowered for this season... there is so much more I want to quote, but that seems to be what God is impressing most on my heart at this moment!

Addendum: Ok... NO LIE... as soon as I turn around after writing all that stuff about motherhood and feeling newly empowered... I turn around to find this on the floor!!

God sure has a sense of humor about timing! Did I mention we are potty training?

Jake's Birthday!

We got to make breakfast in bed for Jake this year since his birthday fell on a Sat. Mackenzie had so much fun "helping" me!

I LOVE this picture... Mackenzie so proud of herself for making him breakfast, Jake so happy with his girls on either side of him, and Aubrey happily eating her daddy's birthday card!

Mackenzie was explaining to Jake what she wrote in his card...

We were able to get Daddy a really special present that he wanted this year... the Beattle's Edition of Rock Band. I'm actually really excited about it too! I didn't think I'd ever like anything close to a video game, but this is really fun and it's something we can do together! Mackenzie likes to get out her instruments and play them while Jake and I rock out to the Beattles!

We decided that we were going to go trick or treating this year and Aubrey was the cutest little baby ballerina! She LOVED being all dressed up!

Mackenzie was Cinderella and insisted on wearing her Cinderella-plastic-light-up-high heels that are 5 sizes too big! She was so adorable clunking over to Sammy's house in them. We officially trick or treated at two houses, my parents' and Sam's. Then we drove to Amy and Andrew's so they could see the girls in their costumes, and then we drove to Jeff and Angie's and by the time we got home we were in the middle of meltdown city! Mackenzie hadn't taken her nap so she and Aubrey were in bed at 7 and Jake and I got to stay up and play Rock Band together all night... I think that was the perfect end to his birthday!

This is a picture from a few minutes ago. They love to snuggle together with this "silty's" (silky blankets). I peeked over the side of Aubrey's crib and they were just loving on each other and snuggling... I am so happy that they love each other! Mackenzie said, "Mommy, say 'Night-night, sisters!" So I had to say "Night-night, sisters..." and leave the room. Too precious!

My babies are getting so big!!