Time is flying

So much has happened over the past couple months! First Facebook has robbed me of my desire to post...but because this is as close to a journal as I get...I'm going to post even repeats from Facebook. So time is flying by and I'm feeling so old lately or at least feeling like I should feel old given that I have FIVE kids and a THIRTY year-old husband. Yep Daniel just turned 30 and we had a little surprise party for him with some of our friends....even though the picture looks like maybe we have no friends.

The kids got to see Santa downtown Normal to start off this Christmas season. The paper said there'd be all kinds of fun Christmasy things for everyone....but this is all we found. Oh well seeing Santa for 30 seconds is better than nothing.

The weekend after Thanksgiving we decided to decorate our Christmas tree. As you can see it only made sense to decorate the top third of the tree. Henry and Max spend their spare time pulling off ornaments and shoving pine cones in the tree.

Maxwell and Henry have really ramped up their efforts at being destructive lately. While I was on the way out the other day, Henry spilled a half gallon of milk all over the kitchen floor and a few days later Max decided to lead the way in pulling all of the keys off our laptop keyboard...AGAIN...sigh.

Last year when I found out at around bedtime that Andrew's school was having a Christmas hat spirit day, I decided to use what I had and make him a santa/elf hat. This year I got 2 more hats for the other kids and figured they'd all be jolly. Turns out my hat isn't the most coveted hat this year but somehow they managed to pose without ripping each other's heads off to get the hat they wanted.

Max loves dogs...and this one won't bite him so bonus. We thought this looked like it came straight out of a catalog...minus the blurriness.

When I got my new Iphone I came across these pictures from my old phone from when the twins were babies. The first one is Max and the Second one is Henry. They were so little and elf-like. :)

We had another birthday in the family recently. Little Ashley turned 6! And if you can't make people look silly on their birthday when can you?!

Henry and Max spent time during the birthday party in their favorite chair at Grandpa's house. Henry was very serious about watching his show and not being disturbed.

I got the twins moose hats recently...and Henry was kind enough to keep it on for more than 5 seconds. Max was not so kind. I bet he'll change his tune when it's -20 outside and it's his only hope.

And finally the van has also been dressed up for the holidays. To my shock, many people have not embraced its new look and in fact are embarrassed of it. Do I think it looks classy?...No. Do I think it spreads Christmas cheer and makes things more fun for my kids?...YES. So, the costume stays. There aren't many good things about a big brown van, but why can't its uncanny resemblance to a reindeer be one of them?

Trick or Treat

The windy day we had our trunk-or-treat at the church....the picture gives you an idea of just how windy it was.

Daniel and the troops assembling on the porch before going out to get some candy!

Grandma and Grandpa with the kiddies before trick-or-treating. Pretend like Ashley's eyes are open and this is a perfect picture. We had to be quick because Max was terrified of Andrew the werewolf. :)

Holly was a cowgirl....a goofy cowgirl.

The two most courageous looking super heroes I've ever met.


The three of them trick-or-treating together.

I'm a very intellegent Occupy Wall Streeter.

Fall Fun

Last weekend the kids and I and their grandparents went to Tanner's Orchard. It was a beautiful day so needless to say other people had the same idea for fun. It was crowded. But, we all still had a great time. Max and Henry's favorite part by far...besides whining was feeding the animals. Max would get so excited every time the goats would get near.

At first Henry was really shy so when he got food to feed the animals he would just run up and throw it at them and then quickly run away. But by the end he started warming up and feeding the goats more than food.

Andrew and Ashley spent a fair amount of time running on top of the straw bail maze but stopped for me to take a photo.

The girls road in style while their grandma peddled.

The kids all ran to the top of a big hill...even though you can't tell.

I am blessed

Today was a rough day. Daniel taught a class last night...and then again this morning...followed by a church meeting which made me a single mom of 5 for more time than I would like. Okay so any amount of time as a single mom would be too much for me. Anyway, Henry and Max really make things hard. They are soooo adorable and so sweet but they can be real bears...hard to believe...I KNOW. I anticipated these couple of days being hard...so I tried hard to keep a positive attitude and get through it. Things were going as planned...hard but manageable and then tonight at a friends my boys took turns seeing who could cry the loudest...after I spilled a cup of milk in my newly purchased...over-priced purse and just never a break. I had had enough....I was feeling sorry for myself. After getting home and finally getting everyone in bed I came down to start cleaning the kitchen when I looked over at a piece of decor I bought today. It's the word Blessed cut out of wood in big black cursive letters. I had plans of putting it on the mantle and set it there earlier today. When I looked over to see how it looked I realized it blended in with the background. I nearly missed it. Then the big lesson from this hit me. So often I nearly miss the blessings in my life. I get so focused on everything else that I don't take time to really see and appreciate just how blessed I am. So that's my thought for tonight...I need to make sure I am aware of and grateful for how truly blessed I am. By the way. I will be moving the picture up so that the word Blessed stands out....I won't miss it. :D

dilly bars

After Ashley's soccer practice tonight, the coach surprised everyone with dilly bars from dairy queen. The biggest surprise of all was that he gave one to Henry who acted like it was a trophy or an award and was grinning from ear to ear for quite a while after accepting this prestigious award. Here's a little video of the happy times with the dilly bar. Also, here's a tip for anyone who wants to stay on Henry's good side....Do NOT take a bite out of Henry's dilly bar ever. Not even to show him how to do it....he may never forgive you...and if he does...he will never forget. :)

Good Question?

Holly's grandma bought her some new clothes recently which she was excited to wear to preschool today. When she was having some trouble getting dressed this morning, she came to me and asked, "Can you please help me get on my dress?". I replied, "Oh Holly that's not a dress....it's a shirt." Then Holly appropriately asked, "Okay mom is this shirt made out of dress?" She is always thinking...that Holly. We love her and her astute observations. Sorry the picture is blurry...my ipod was all I had.

postworthy events

We've been busy the last few weeks with the start of school for Andrew and Ashley(as you know)...and preschool for Holly. Here are a few first day of school pictures. Must have been quite sunny.



Those were some bittersweet days. They'll always be my babies though. Andrew and Ashley also started soccer a couple of weeks ago and had their 2nd and 3rd games today. It's definitely kept us busy but it's been a lot of fun too. I love going to the games and watching them play. Henry and Max love it too. They kept running on the field to let the coach know that they were ready to go in at any time....truly dedicated players.


Henry and Max love a good soccer game. They get in plenty of practice while waiting for their call to go in from the coach.

Henry is such a sweet and playful guy!

The soccer fields are right next to the airport runways so the boys get to see lots of airplanes too. yay!

Finally Andrew recently was the "star of the week" at school and he had to bring in 12 pictures that told about who he was. It was fun going back through old pictures. here are a couple.