Catching up,really...

How can I possibly catch up on the past 6 months or so of our full and busy life?? I admit that I have succumbed to posting pictures on Facebook(I know Aunt Sharon, shame on me!) and because I keep in touch with many via that venue, I have neglected this blog which had become a chronicle of God's faithfulness to us over the years. Now that we have celebrated Christmas and I have a bit of 'down time' from homeschooling, I am feeling motivated to play catch up through pictures....we were just looking at old photos today and commenting about how quickly the kids are growing up...it is bittersweet to see them transforming before our eyes and I am suddenly compelled to get this post done!

I have searched my computer and sadly can not find any pictures from P,C, and L's May birthdays :( P turned 16 and prior to our trip out west, he had his official 6 hours of driving instruction. He now has his permit and has been driving both our vehicles for practice...it is indeed strange to be sitting in the passenger seat!! Another reminder of how quickly they grow up!

I can't believe I never posted a picture last spring of Odesco and L enjoying their 1st season of Little League!! It was fun watching these 2 work together 'for the team'!

Before our big trip out West, Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bill joined us for dinner and baseball...in prior years they came to watch big brother,C play ball...now it's the little guys' turn :)
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In early August we sadly said goodbye to my Aunt Margie...she will forever be in our hearts. What a comfort it is to be able to grieve with hope,knowing her suffering is now over.Because she placed her faith in Jesus, we know she will spend eternity in heaven with Him and as Believers, we also have the blessed hope and promise of seeing her again...

Mimi,Pop-Pop, me, and the 4 youngest kiddos made the trek to Massachusetts for the funeral. We had sweet times with cousins...It was Mercy and Odesco's first time meeting Emma and Grace~

My brother and cousin also had some time together after many years( 17 years or so) of not seeing one another.

It was wonderful to reconnect with my 1st cousins too... We hope to have a reunion with our spouses and all our children on the East Coast in the near future...
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My sweet friend, Kari has been a huge blessing to our family helping me take care of Mercy and Odesco's unique hair needs... on this day, she gave Odesco some team spirit as she crafted a Phillies P in his hair!! It was the only way I could get him to agree to a haircut!!

Thanks, Kari :)
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Later in the month, while the older boys and Daddy were away at youth camp, the younger crew and I took a trip to Mimi and Pop-Pop's where we had loads of fun~

We love their new place and the scenic walks we can take there...

It is so peaceful and beautiful...

And there's nothing like special time with such special people!
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In September, Odesco celebrated his 8th birthday...we finally made it to Mimi's in October ... and after enjoying this homemade Phillies creation, we headed outside.

The fall foliage was just beginning to peak so we took a walk to enjoy God's colorful palette~

...Unfortunately, 'someone' managed to wind up in the mud...too bad we didn't bring any spare clothes...thankfully Mimi's shower, washing machine, and some spare adult sized clean clothes were readily available while we waited for 'someone's' clothes to dry!! This same 'someone' had previously declared,"Wherever I go, trouble is sure to find me!"...this curiously sounds like a classic line from 'someones' favorite series, "Anne of Green Gables"...
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Fall Saturdays at home were spent raking leaves galore...here the kids and our neighbor friend created a 'leaf fort' which stayed intact until it was raked to the curb for removal by the township.

L neck deep in his 'thinking spot' :)

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Our sweet and spicy girl turned 10 on November 9th...Daddy gave her sunflowers...her favorite! We had both sets of grandparents over for a celebration:) How loved she is!!

I will end this post here. As always, I am so very grateful for the loving kindness and sustaining grace of the Lord. He has been so good!

Where have we been???

I know I have been quite delinquent with blog posts...again!! We actually just returned from a whirlwind tour out west. We went with our dear friends, the K's (who adopted from AOH at the same time as us) . We were gone for nearly 3 weeks and had quite an adventure.The picture below was taken at Yellowstone and yes, it was snowing in June!!! To quote mamaK," Nothing like 3 weeks of camping to make coming home seem like a vacation!" I would add that it will seem like a vacation once the mountain of laundry and clean up is completed :) Cyberboy set up a separate blog for our trip and if you would like the link to it, please leave me your email in the comments section and I will send it to you.

It is so good to be home but I am so grateful for the many wonders of God's creation that we were privileged to experience!

G is 11!!

I can hardly believe that our little girl is 11?!!! I still remember the raw emotion of hearing the doctor say,"It's a girl" and the utter joy to be experiencing pink bows and lace in the midst of our Tonka trucks and mud!! G is becoming a young lady and I feel so blessed to be her mom. We hosted a "Minute to Win It" themed party for G---what a blast it was! Mimi also hosted a gathering at her home and Grandmom and Pop-Pop B joined us...what a fun day we had together. So thankful to be a mom to this brood :)

G with her 2 sets of godly grandparents...how blessed we are!

Mimi and G with her piano cake creation~

G had such fun picking out party favors, and Mimi surprised her with handmade 'snap purses' for each of the girls

Dizzy Mummy game~The girls had to wrap themselves in a roll of toilet paper without ripping it...harder than it sounds!

"Face the Cookie" This game is a hoot...the girls have to get the cookie to their mouth without use of any other body parts...they have to move their heads and facial muscles to get the cookie into their mouth...some girls got close but no one was quite able to do it ...the best part? eating the cookie of course!

"Junk in the trunk"--the girls had to bounce 8 ping pong balls out of the tissue box attached to their waist.

"Hanky Panky" Each girl had to empty a tissue box as fast as they could with one hand...the dust was amazing especially when after the boxes were emptied, they tossed the mess of tissues into the air!

It killed me to waste all these tissues so I saved them in a trash bag and have been shoving handfuls of mangled tissues in our tissue boxes around the house for over a month now with no end in sight! My wise hubby told me to put the bag in the garage...he'll use them for clean up with oil changes. We are all relieved to have neat tissue boxes again :)

It was a fun night...I'm so grateful G is growing up with so many sweet friends!

Just after this picture was taken, the majority of the girls piled into our huge van and I taxied them all home...believe me the party continued until the last girl was dropped home!

Celebrating Daddy's birthday

In March we celebrated my hubby's birthday with a visit from Grandmom and Pop-Pop B. I am so grateful for my husband's diligent example in our home, for how faithfully provides for us, and for his commitment to raising our children in godliness. I am a blessed woman!

Everyone got in on the preparations...peeling 10# of potatoes...to go along with the meatloaf I prepared and froze earlier in the month....the meatloaf that I thought was fully defrosted but took hours to cook all the way through! Thankfully, I have understanding inlaws who don't judge me by my cooking blunders ...it tasted great-finally!

The floor and cabinets were covered in potato peels but these guys were a huge help in getting the job done!!

Pop Pop has taught Odesco how to play a mean game of checkers.... they always have a match during their visits and Pop-Pop usually wins:)

Mercy had the grand idea to get Daddy a new shredder-yeah, I know, sort of like getting a vacuum as an anniversary gift BUT, my hubby truly appreciates these kinds of gifts...we use shredded paper to start our wood burning stove and our old one bit the dust. She was so proud of her practical and useful gift idea!

Mercy and Odesco in their glory... singing "The Red River Valley" as G accompanied on the piano...

Even Pop-Pop got into the song...it was hysterical listening to them all!

Let's just say, they (Mercy and Odesco) could use a little practice--Daddy and Pop-Pop sounded pretty good! :) P and C seriously wear these headphones throughout the day in order to get their schoolwork done in peace (well, maybe not peace but at least the decibel level is dimmed a bit! )

The gang :)

Catching up...

We have been changing things around on our computer and until yesterday, I was unable to access any of my photos. Since this is a family archive that I hope to print out for everyone one day (in my spare time :), I need to play catch up and post a ton of happenings. These are a conglomeration of pictures taken at various times...

PEACE :)
We were studying the 60's movement and I convinced some of the kiddos to dress up for a coop I was teaching to the older students. Mercy certainly looked authentic, don't you think? They came into the class handing out flowers and peace necklaces ...

G actually made this skirt with Mimi...cool, huh?

Mod Squad flashbacks?

Odesco sure looks like a cool dude...but he bailed on me at the last minute and did not dress up for the class~ I can't blame him...there were other kids there playing ball outside!

Then there was the bin of costumes loaned to us for our annual Summation event...can you guess who Scooby Doo is??

These 2 were hysterical in these costumes!

The theme for this year's Summation/youth-parent banquet was Disney...
C is surely secure in his manliness and came as Piglet!!

Hundred Acre Wood Buddies....Mimi rescued us once again with costume help after we hit the thriftstores!

My handsome man in the mirror!

Mimi created my costume as well!

Totally unplanned, my old college buddy showed up as the evil witch!
I was awed at the creativity displayed at this event...the decorations, the themed food, the creative skits and the costumes were just amazing!!

Thanks for checking in on this very delinquent blogger!!!

Love,
Mama B