All 8 of Us: A whirlwind week....

I love this time of year for so many reasons. I love our Advent and Christmas traditions which focus us back to the "reason for the season". I especially love a break from our typical school days. Alas, the day opens up to this home school mom when I am not consumed with keeping all those balls in the air simultaneously. My absolute favorite perk of this season is spending time with the friends we do not get to see on a regular basis and opening up our home for hospitality. I save these weeks for scheduling special play dates with these friends and their families... we are rich indeed!

Mercy and G enjoyed a tea party with our new friends, the E family... we met them during the homeschool soccer season. The little boys were off rolling around on the floor wrestling with the brother of these sweet girls. What a fun visit we had and I enjoyed the time I had to get to know my new friend, C better while our kiddos played!

The little boys were busy ALL day planning the 'Mario and Luigi' Show... they chose costumes, made signs and the girls made 'tickets' with seat numbers...too funny:) These 2 are hysterical together and had us rolling with their antics. G is in the background holding up an 'Applause' sign. Another benefit to the break from our school schedule is the kids can really get creative (that is when they are not complaining of being bored)...when I remind them we can whip out the books in a moment's notice, they usually find something to do in a hurry :)

On Wednesday evening, our care group gathered at our home and we went out caroling to a few of the neighbors. We only made it to 3 houses due to the cold...and yes, that is our son, dressed in shorts! After caroling, we headed back to our house for yummy refreshments and fun just being together~

On Friday, we helped the DiF family who had just moved the day before into their new abode. The Kach and Di families also were there and between all of us and the kiddos, we had some significant workers. Here the kiddos are enjoying a snack after a few hours of yardwork, furniture moving, and box unpacking. What a blessing to have the time to serve another friend in this way while making memories in the process~

On Friday evening we had the Kachs over for the 3rd annual celebration of our Liberian children's homecoming...while it was a few weeks late for Mercy, Odesco, and Jenkins, it happened to be 3 years to the day since Felicia's homecoming...perfect timing! I still stand in awe at how the Lord sovereignly led both of our families to adopt from Liberia at the same time. What a gift they are to us!

The Kach and B kiddos....all 10 of them!

Here they are trying to look 'serious' ...celebrating 3 years together!!
Go here to MamaK's blog to see the remarkable change in our children in just 3 years!!

Then came the BIG storm on Saturday!

The first thing I heard Saturday morning were the squeals of our very excited children as they peered outside their windows at the Winter Wonderland.
Odesco has been dubbed 'marshmallow man' in his puffy coat...What fun he had enjoying this white fluffy stuff!

After Daddy and the big guys did some shoveling to try to stay ahead of the storm, we all took a walk to the local hill for some sledding. We were joined by a few neighbors too...

The other sleds were a bit disappointing but this tube which had been gathering dust for many years, finally came in handy!!

L was ready to head home before the others so P decided to join us for the trek back. The snow was so deep it made it difficult for L to plod on...P gave him a much appreciated ride :)

After dropping L off at home, P went back outside and began shoveling out our neighbor's sidewalk without being asked...gotta love a boy who takes initiative :) He certainly has taken on my hubby's heart to serve. What a blessing to see that in action~

It was great to have some slow down snuggle time during the storm too :)

One disappointing aspect of the storm were the plans that had to be canceled due to poor travel conditions. Mimi and Pop-Pop were supposed to visit us for their annual gingerbread house decorating tradition...fortunately, I had all the supplies so the kiddos went to town decorating (and eating!)...(but it wasn't the same without Mimi and Pop-Pop)

When we awakened Sunday, the storm was almost over...now the great digout began! Everyone played a part...after our cars/walkways/driveway were cleared, M and the big boys moved on to the neighbors, then a single mom's in our neighborhood. It took most of the morning and early afternoon for them to do this...