Hi, Mom!

Hello everyone!

(I'll edit this and write something when the kids are napping...)

Glimpses of our Life

Daily (or nightly) math work.

Have you ever seen a cuter mismatched baby?

Handsome, busy, creative David

Have you ever wondered what Dabney looks like when you're talking to her on the phone, Grandma and Pop Pop?

The two younger boys really do love each other a lot. They had a great time playing with the doctor kit yesterday.

Valentine's Day 2011 -- and 500 posts!

Ah, Valentine's Day.

However, you might notice it is after 10:30 pm, three days after the 14th. I really wanted to have a post on Valentine's Day, all lovey and sentimental. This year, Valentine's Day really didn't feel all sentimental, to be honest. It felt like the Monday to a very busy week, which it was.

My husband brought me roses and a card and chocolate and a dinner reservation (for the 6 of us), though we didn't actually make it to a restaurant. Tim saw the way that the day was proceeding, so we opted for take out lo mein instead. We love lo mein.

Valentine's for me really didn't come until last night.

Last night, we put the kids to bed and Tim snuck out to Sonic and brought back a Peanut Butter Cup Blast for us to share while we watched one of our favorite tv shows that we had on the dvr. And that's it. We sat together with a blanket and held hands and chatted. He kept my feet warm. It was delightful. Perfect. Exactly what we needed. After a long day (or two or three) with the kids, being alone with my husband absolutely refreshes me. I find myself becoming more dependent upon him for my sanity and direction in these crazy days. His hugs can take a lot of stress from my shoulders. His presence encourages me. He's my partner, my leader, my best friend and the man I love. I'm so grateful for him.

Best $3 date ever.

This votive holder was one of the things that Tim gave me for our very first Valentine's Day ever. We were about 6 weeks away from our wedding day.

Something else that has blessed our marriage immensely in the last few months has been our early morning coffee dates. Normally, Tim leaves for work while I'm still snoozing, but now, 4- 5 times a week, I wake up early with him and we enjoy a wonderful cup of coffee, read the Bible and pray together. It's also been a wonderful time to synchronize our days together.

Whether it's 10 minutes together or 30, this time together has been a huge blessing with great benefits to our marriage. A time to read your Bible is absolutely necessary, but if you can do it together with your husband, I would highly recommend it. This time has brought Tim and me much closer together and it is so worth the tiny bit of extra effort.

Hope your Valentine's Day (whenever it was) was as great as mine.

Speaking of Creativity...

My precious David decided on a whim the other day to draw a portrait of his mom and unborn brother. Forget the fact that I have no legs in said illustration and that my hair looks like Moe from The Three Stooges, my big boy drew a picture of me and his little stick figure brother. I love it. He could have drawn a dinosaur or a fire engine, like usual. He even captioned it with his brother's name next to it. (The "R" and the "O" ran together a bit, but hey, give the kids a break, he just turned 5.)

David's heart is one of my most prized possessions.

Flowers Pins

These wintery snow days can be pretty dreary, especially when the puny amount of snow doesn't warrant a snow day for Daddy or the kids. Flower pins to the rescue! I saw this tutorial first from here, but the original source was here. These sweet pins really are perfect for crafting through the slow days in winter.



The girls I mentioned above, who made these before me, made them from felt, and I did too, but I think you could be creative with what you have on hand. I think felt is such a great, wintry, warm choice. And guys, this is so easy! Just cut the templates (or make your own), trace, cut and glue together! I had some acrylic felt in the basement but while we were out the other day Dabney and I picked up a few 9x12" sheets of a few more colors for $0.29 each at JoAnns.

Dabney chose hot pink and baby blue. I think the baby blue ones sort of look like sweet little hydrangeas.

If you trace and cut carefully, you can make at least 3 flower pins per sheet of felt! Not counting the hot glue and the pin base (look for them in the jewelry making section) that's less than $0.10 per flower! Quick, cute and cheap~ my kind of craft.

Guess What I Got for Christmas?

(*hint*)

(closer...)

A really big griddle. Why? Because I feed an army. Or a rugby team. Maybe both. And I will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. My new gigantic griddle has taken pancakes and french toast (and many other things) to a whole new level! I can make a dozen at a time and actually eat at the same time as the rest of my family. This is huge.

I have always loved making breakfast for my family, but now it's heaven! Seriously.
Thank you so much, Mom and Dad!

Did you see that girl?

It was her birthday morning.

Dabney Turned 7

My dear girl is 7 now. I just can't believe it~ it seems so unreal. SEVEN. She was my first baby, born on a snowy Friday, eight days before her due date. Six pounds, 14 ounces. It was the day I became a mom.

I'm so grateful for Dabney because even at such a young age, she has a great servant's heart. She helps me and helps her brothers all the time. She is such a joy to me. She encourages me with hugs and brings me glasses of ice water "because you're pregnant". She can't wait for the new baby. She writes notes to her daddy and me just to say that she loves us. God is working mightily in her life and it's a great privilege to witness this as her mother. I can see her mortifying her sin, even though it is such hard work. She has a compassionate heart and a very tender conscience. I can see Jesus in her already doing His great work.

We love to have "girls' nights" together~ we stay up late together and paint our nails and watch a movie or be crafty together or make cookies or just read. We girls must band together in this house.

I know it sounds so cliche, but she is truly one of my greatest friends.
I love you so much, Dabney. I pray God's many, many blessings on you in your 7th year!

Ok, ok. Now to the family party pictures.

Did I also mention how beautiful she is?

Dabney asked for chocolate ice cream cupcakes, so that's what I gave her. Chocolate cupcake + scoop of chocolate ice cream + hard chocolate top. I think they were well liked.

One little Giedd wasn't feeling so great and observed from the couch.

Dabney has really enjoyed the shoe book series from Noel Streatfeild. I also gave her copies of the books in audio format since they're over 200 pages each.

Adventures in Odyssey at Whit's End

My baby girl is 7. Well, today is her birthday but I'll be posting about that tomorrow. It's always tricky when birthdays fall upon the Lord's Day. We still celebrate it, but we can't always fit in everything the birthday boy or girl wishes. As you may have noticed, Dabney is a big fan of Adventures in Odyssey. We were the happy recipients of a large amount of cds of Odyssey adventures for Christmas and our kids, Dabney especially, just eats them like candy. We've seen good fruit from this~ their stories are poignant and she's even memorized Scripture from a few episodes. Anyway, we happen to live in Colorado Springs, home of Focus on the Family, which produces AIO. They have a little play area at the Focus welcome center devoted to AIO and the soda shoppe, Whit's End. We took the kids yesterday as part of an early birthday celebration for Dabney.

The boys' favorite activity is coloring pictures of Odyssey Adventures on a touch screen.

The elevators are magic in Odyssey.

Harlow Doyle is the main character in one of Dabney's favorite stories.

Yes, he was quite gentle with the puppets.

Tim was changing A's diaper when when the big kids decided to pose with Whit.

On our way out, we came across a big cut out of Whit, and the preceding moment was completely unscripted. I'm just glad my camera was ready.

You Know Your Kids Have Listened to Too Many Adventures in Odyssey When:

You get notes from your daughter that look like this.

(BTW, this message is a few months old and must be read from bottom to top.)

Catching Up

Pajama Days: the beauty of homeschooling!