For the second straight year we were able to enjoy SNOW!!! It snowed in December here. This was the 5th snow in my lifetime here, and the 3rd for Korbin & Kailyn, and the 2nd for Lacey & Maddox!

frost across the street :)

Leilu was even excited!

Getting 4 kids to take a good picture is an elusive art.

The "bulk" of the snow fell during the little ones' nap time.

So much fun!

additional photos of haircuts

august vacation

For our August vacation time, we made a LONG drive out to North Carolina to see some good friends who moved there last year. Here's Lacey and Cameron. They were so happy to finally see each other! The biggest surprise, however, was the way Cameron just LOVED Korbin! He was everyone's big brother that week. He didn't mind everyone climbing on and roughhousing with him, in spite of the fact that he's usually quiet and not so rough and tumble. We felt like we just got to relax and have a wonderful time there. Harby and Elliot let us stay with them... which made 10 of us between both families and it never felt crowded! It wasn't even until the very end of the time there that Cameron started to seem that she wanted her space back. These photos were taken at the Greenville Zoo in South Carolina.

Once we got home, we decided it was time for the little ones to get their first haircuts. Kailyn decided to donate another 10 inches of her hair to locks of love as well. Maddox was very wary of the stylist until she took the time to make him comfortable with bubbles. What a great experience! He never cried.

Garden "fruits" and other goings-on

This is my FIFTH batch of tomato sauce! It contains garden tomatoes, oregano and basil. I also add some sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and sugar. Makes a great base for spaghetti and other italian dishes.

Isn't this beautiful? I noticed the cloud forming through the front window as I was in the house. The sunset was starting, as you can see a bit if you look at the bottom of the cloud.

For two weeks Maddox had been telling me his foot hurt. He would sit and look at it...much like in the picture and say, "ow" in a whisper. I finally found a splinter in his toe! This is him checking it out after I got finished.

Here are Kailyn Melody and Anna at our Terra Cotta Warriors field trip. I believe they had statues that big for sale! The actual warriors were larger than a man. It was quite fascinating. The favorite was the Shark IMAX. Even I was reaching for the jellyfish right in front of me!!

Good friends, and good food!!

Here is Lacey wearing the same boots that Jeff wore as a little one! Korbin wore them, Kailyn wore them, and now it's Lacey's turn. She is in love with the boots!

This is a sample of our wonderful fruit and vegetable harvest! The tiny pumpkins are called pie pumpkins. I discovered them last year at the grocery store, and it just grew out of our compost!! In the picture there are chinese eggplant (they made a wonderful eggplant parmesan with the homemade tomato sauce from the millions of roma tomatoes we're getting!  There is also plenty of cucumber, bell pepper, and basil, oregano, rosemary and chives. It's so much fun for me to go outside pick something, and cook it!! (I never appreciated that growing up!) What's in the basket with a handle is all that we picked in one evening.

Rebecca, Anna and Joel came to visit us today. The kids played as Rebecca and I sorted through my scrap fabrics and organized them into the zipper bags that came with sheets inside. (Rebecca is so clever!) Anyway, as we were working on this, I had showed her something in my craft room. Now to see anything in that room required a degree in acrobatics, the room was really really really a disaster. Not even a path. When we were later rounding up kids so that they could leave, I walked into the room, which, from the outside of the closed door I was marveling that 4 kids could fit in there in the state it was in, I opened the door, and to my shock and delight found it stunningly CLEAN! 

Because of such a thing I was very inclined to keep up the momentum after they left and turned the bed into a sort of day bed (it's the bottom of a bunk) and I love it!!!! I even hung lots of things on the walls that have been on the floor around the room, brought an extra nightstand downstairs to have a side table for a guest, and hung some dry-erase boards that were given to me so that the kids could do handwriting in a fun way. Thank you, Kailyn and Anna!!!!!

Kailyn did such a wonderful job dancing as a Hebrew child in "Deliver Us -  The Story of Moses." We look forward to her ballet each year. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the studio, it is a Christ-centered establishment. Each year all levels participate in the production, so there is no "recital," they just dance what they learned as part of a whole story. At her dress rehearsal she was very much ahead of the whole dance. All the lights, makeup, etc made her so excited! I video taped her rehearsal and let her watch it several times so she could practice and remember when to start. She did perfect on performance day!!!

 Sweet little Maddox fell recently, needing 3 stitches on his lower lip. That was just awful as a mom to see! He did so well at the hospital though, the doctor just couldn't believe it. He of course, cried when they injected the numbing medicine into the area that was cut open, but just looked from one person to the next, examining our faces as the doctor stitched him up. I do my best to be very encouraging during times that can be scary. Children really play off your reactions to things, so I find it most important to be the best I can be emotionally when I want to cry outside. The stitches were removed in about 4 days. It looks very good now.

Rachel graduated this year! She was accepted at both Baylor in Waco and UT at Tyler. She decide to go to UT Tyler. She is working this summer to save money for expenses. I'm so excited for her. I can't imagine her living on her own, but I guess we all have to grow up sometime.

 While you can't see it, I have braces now! They are ceramic brackets, so they really don't stand out. I had clear ties the first time around. After that, I let the kid choose the color. The current color is light blue. :)

For the 4th of July we took a drive and met some friends at Washington on the Brazos. That is the place where the Texas Declaration of Independence (from Mexico) was signed. I had been there as a kid, and it was fun. The fireworks were the best part, although as time passes and I don't look like a pack-mule at places I'm sure they will become more fun. (I walked all over hills and stickers in flip-flops  carrying 2 sleeping bags, (for laying on during fireworks), diaper bag, reusable grocery bag full of food/water, Lacey on my shoulders and Maddox in my arms. Everyone else was carrying chairs that we forgot straps for. Can you say w-a-g-o-n? What were we thinking?

We had a wonderful spot for viewing fireworks. They were setting them off right across the field from us. Just before they began, we saw a longhorn cow. I didn't think much of it. The fireworks began, and after a few of them, I looked across our group to make sure we were all there and Lacey wasn't! We were calling for her, but how could she hear us over all that noise? Jeff found her down the fence line. She said, "I was just with the cows." I will say this is by far not the first time Lacey has done something like this! The next day we ordered the child locater package from Brickhouse. It came in yesterday, but only time will tell if it was worth it. I have to really watch that child!! But at least I can set it to give me a heads-up if she walks out of her range.

Poor Maddox! This is what happens when a mosquito bites him. The actual bite occurred right over the right eyebrow. This picture was taken at the worst of it all, which was TWO days later! (Approx. 30-40 hrs later.) Currently he has another bite on the side of his face near the temple, and there is an area of about 3 inches in diameter that is just swollen. The mosquitos are so bad. It only takes one and they get to him before I know they're out yet. We had been really enjoying the evenings, but I'll have to find something to use to repel the mosquitoes before we can be out at dusk again!

Here is Lacey at Lake Somerville. All 6 of us went camping with the cub scout pack. The first night it poured down rain. Our tent held up very well, but others were not so fortunate. We took in some water along any edges that were being touched by coolers, etc, and there was a slight misting from the top. Since Lacey and Maddox slept through it, however, we just stayed put. It was just wonderful to be out in otherwise great weather, spending time with the family.

Here is Maddox hunting eggs. He was just so cute!

It's too bad this is a fuzzy pic, but this is Maddox's hand holding a screw for me so that I could drill it into the deck. I pre-drilled the holes and he would come along with a screw and hold it in place for me. :o)

This pic is courtesy of Kailyn. Maddox really enjoyed the building stage of the deck!