Life Around Here

We've been blessed to have a nice summer.  Jon's brother and his family came for a visit, which made 5 adults and 8 boys in our home for  a week.  It was great fun, although unfortunately I didn't take any pictures.  Emily, my sister in law took a bunch, so hopefully I can get some copies from her.  :)  Then Jon's mother came to visit for a week, which was really nice.  Currently we've been blessed with another young lady to stay with us, Colleen, who is serving as an intern at the office.  She'll be here for about another 2 weeks.

Here are some random pictures:

 Simeon loves playing with Auntie Ruth~ and her camera.  :)

Simeon has become quite the eater now.  He loves tomatoes, avocado, and believe it or not but raw onions.  He is also following suite with his brothers and developing a taste for spice.  He enjoys having salsa on his eggs and anything else we'll let him put it on.  :)

 

A friend and I  were able to put together a little tea party for a sweet momma who was on bed rest.  It was a lot of fun!

The boys were blessed with a car package from some dear friends.

Simeon really liked his book about a "Neigh".

They enjoyed playing the games together and the new clothes!

Kyle got an Etch a Sketch and even figured out how to write his name on it.

I was able to get some sewing done finally!  Here are some night time undies for Simeon. 

And a couple simple, fun skirts for me.  And once again Blogger is insisting that these pictures go sideways no matter what I do....

So there is a brief update.  :)

Horses, Blocks, and Lollipops!

I know, I know I said I would be better at this and I haven't been~ but I have decently kept up our gratitude blog.  So if you want to see some things that have happened the past months, you can take a lookie there.

For now here are a few recent pics:

Simeon got a horse for his birthday and he really likes it:

Although it is a little small to ride.

But perfect to cuddle with.  :)

Andrew had some fun with the pattern blocks:

Pretty neat designs~ but then again I'm his momma, so a little biased I am sure.

And Simeon learned an important lesson today~ OK not really~ but it sure was fun~ how to lick a lollipop!  :)

I know this bottom pic is totally out of focus, but I put it on anyway, because this is one of his "looks" he gives when he is being silly.  :)

Big Happenings in February Part 1

OK mid March and I am now getting the February update out...not too bad I guess...

One big thing for February was deciding to potty train Simeon.  Never done one so early, but all and all it is going well.  The first week or 2 were crazy.  I was needing to be right by him all the time, which meant little time for other things, like posting blog updates.  :)  Even my gratitude blog didn't get any post for awhile.  I about have that caught up though.

Here he is with the undies on his head silly boy!

The older boys were a big help with Simeon potty training.  From cheering him on to helping me with daily things.  Here are Cody and Andrew making Thai Peanut Noodle Salad for dinner:

 My children never really used a pacifier.  Recently Simeon found some old ones and had a little fun:

 

And here are the boys in one of their most favorite toys:

 

Grandpa

As most of you know my grandpa passed away on January 22.  By a complete miracle from the Lord I was able to fly to CA to be there for my mom and grandma.  I even got to see my sister whom I haven't seen in a couple years. I wrote about my grandpa on my gratitude blog here and here.  My grandma needed to move to one room where she lives, so I was able to help her with that and what a blessing it was to be able to be there for her in that way.  I am so grateful!!!

Here are some pics:

 Flowers from us granddaughters.

 The picture that was used at the memorial.

 My sister and I eating Klondike bars in memory of grandpa, who loved them.  :)

 My sis, dad, and I

 Love my sis in this one

 My grandma, Simeon, and me.  Simeon wouldn't look at the camera, just his great grandma.  :)

 My mom and Simeon.

 This is about as close as Simeon would get to my mom's cat.  He did not like her and kept saying, "Away meow!"  (He called the cat "meow")

Thank you sooooo much to all those in CA and Texas who made this trip possible.  It means more than you'll ever know!

A Year Focused on Gratitude

This year I really felt lead to purposely focus on gratitude.  This lead to a different blog where I have been writing about something that I am grateful for everyday.  You can view it here.  It really has been such a blessing and done so much for me.  I really encourage everyone to do it themselves~ even just getting a plain notebook and just write down one thing~ or more everyday that you are thankful for.  :)

Here are some pics from January:

 Kyle and Simeon snuggling

 Jon measuring the boys.  Praise God for growing boys!

 An incredible yummy dinner made from us by our new house guest, Ruth.  Oh my are we blessed to have here living with us!  She is a fellow staff member and a very dear friend.  :)

 Jon showing Kyle how to hand wash the dishes.

 Kyle's model of a cell.  This was a school project he did.

 Simeon blowing his nose.  Oops uploaded the pic with our the red eye fixed.  :(

 Kyle's birthday.  I like this pic because on the wall you can see his first year picture.  :)

 We were blessed to have the Carnine children, Hosea, Timmy, Gen, and the Copes over.

 Things were pretty fun and crazy, but here is Kyle in the midst of it all reading a book!  :)

 10 years old!

 Yummy sorbet and chocolate cake.

 Happy boy!

 Cody also had his birthday in January, but since I was out of town we actually didn't celebrate until February.  I'm so blessed by my boys!

What's been going on...

Oh my I haven't posted since December...well the last half of December we were all sick.  I can't remember who it started with but I think it ended with me.  In fact on Christmas the boys waited until the afternoon to open their presents because right after breakfast I feel asleep and they graciously let me sleep.  I couldn't believe that...don't know if I would have been so gracious as a kid...  

So here are a few pics from December:

 The boys homemade Christmas Tree

 Real men do sew!  Actually he did a much better job than I did.  I had some extra material from the lap quilt I made my mom.  I decided that I would make her some place mats.  Here is what mine looked like:

 If you click on the pic you can see it larger.  I just sewed straight lines down the place mats to hold the batting in.  Not too bad....but then Jon came up and said, "You know you should sew around the penguins.  It would look much better."  I said, "I can't do that.  I'd have to change the foot and then do free motion quilting and I don't know how.  It's hard."  He said, "No you don't.  I'll show you.  I took home ec."  So then he sat down at the machine, asked me how to use it and then proceeded to do this:

 If you click on his you can see that it does look much better...

Then here is the quilt that I made for my mom.  Due to being sick it was the only Christmas gift I actually got done in time for Christmas. Cody wrote a poem for me to go with it:

 Comfort Quilt

Tis a comfort quilt, which
Will help you, if worn,
When you are lonely in the morn.

In the cold, dark silence
You remember us,
And you start to feel lonely
Take this quilt and trust,

That this gift we give to you
It will stop you being blue,
And make the distance short
between us and you.

And when the autumn breezes
Come and you get the sneezes
Get a warm cup of coffee
And the quilt so lovely.

Or when the winter cold,
Comes and freezes, as it's foretold,
Go on a chair and sit down
And wrap this on you around and around.

It will warm you, yes it's true.
Through it you'll feel our hugs
You'll feel our hearts booming towards you
The way a train chugs and chugs.

See the dancing happy penguins,
They are meant to make you smile.
And soon the distance will only seem
As if it were a mile.

So take this quilt of love,
That we give to you.
It will make you peaceful as a dove
As you wrap it around you.

This quilt of love will warm you,
When it is cold out on the lawn.
This quilt of love will comfort you,
In the clear light of the dawn.

 

 Here are the boys making some cards.

 Sickie daddy and Andrew

 The boys made some ginger bread cookies.

 Christmas Morning.  Not too many pics, since both Jon and I felt lousy.

 My mom sent Simeon the book "Goodnight Moon".  It was one of those recordable books, so when you open it you can hear her read the story.  Pretty cool!

 New pillow cases from Auntie Emily!  :)