Happy Easter!

What a joy to celebrate our risen Savior on this day (and every day!).   The night before we tried a new method for decorating eggs.  Shaving cream and food coloring.  It was fun and went well enough.  Not sure we will use that method again though.

Before heading out we snapped a few pictures of some of the little ones.

When we got to church we snapped a quick family picture.

We enjoyed an afternoon of sweet fellowship with a dear family.

Happy Saint Nicholas Day!

December 1st and 2nd we got the house all decorated for Christmas so we'd be all ready for our guest.  Uncle C was coming for a Saint Nickolas feast!

The kids had a great time playing with Uncle C.

Rob and the bigger kids took him up to check out The Academy.

After a quick, fun week-end together we enjoyed a German feast before Uncle C needed to take off.  It was a nice visit and we're thankful he took the time to get out here.

Happy Thanksgiving (and a road trip)

It had been several years since the whole family had been together...to put it in context, I think we've had 3 kids since the last extended family get together.  Thanksgiving happened to work out for us and we trusted/hoped that weather would not interfere with an eastward bound trip.  The trip was broken up into two days (each way).  Several kids were VERY excited at the thought of getting to stay in a hotel.  Miss F was just happy to be free of the carseat and able to crawl around.

Loads of fun was had by all.

All she wants for Christmas is her two front teeth!  Due to an unfortunate run in with a bannister she lost one of those front teeth just a bit earlier than expected. 

Saying "goodbye" to aunt, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.  Is Mr. R taller than grandad?  Maybe not quite. :) 

Miss E has been studying cathedrals and stained glass in her art class.  Her tudor suggested that a cathedral that was along our way may be a fun stop.  We all enjoyed the stop and getting to enjoy not only the art, but the stories of Christ's life that the pieces told.

Operation Christmas Child!

It's that time of year again!  Time to go shopping and fill up those boxes for children elsewhere that may not otherwise receive anything for Christmas this year.  Collection week is November 14-21 (I believe, it is here).  Look up your local drop points and give them a call to verify dates and times.

In years past we've matched funds with the kids to do 2-3 shoeboxes per child in our family.  This year it became evident that they've got this.  They'd been quietly stuffing their jar all year long.  They earned this money.  They paid for all of it; plus had some cash left over to donate to other needs.  I'm so thankful that the Holy Spirit has been working in their hearts to cultivate and attitude of cheerful giving.

I do not share to brag, but to spur others on to love and good deeds.  "....and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."  Hebrews 10:24-25   

Independence Day!

What a blessing to be able to celebrate our country's independence and to remember the sacrifice those men made.  It was no small thing to sign that Declaration of Independence; had things not gone the way they did they were risking being hanged for treason.  God has been good in blessing the United States of America.  We are thankful for those that continue to sacrifice to protect us and our nation.

"Land of the Free Because of the Brave"

Uncle D's visit

Uncle D was in the process of moving from one assignment to another at Christmas this year.  We happened to have some of his things that he needed to pick up in the process.  Yay, we got Uncle D for Christmas!

The kids enjoyed having an extra adult to have Nerf Gun battles with at Christmas.

On the coldest, windiest,  and most miserable day of his visit he got to help cook lunch outside.

I'm not sure how many games of Cattan were played, but his choice in gifts was obviously a hit.  He also wisely brought the Minion movie for the littles which freed up even more time for games of Cattan.

We hadn't gotten to the gingerbread houses before his arrival, so he got to participate.

We introduced Uncle D to our favorite burger place.  It met with his approval.

At his last assignment he was very limited in his shopping options.  He'd been wanting to try the Core's ice cream flavors by Ben&Jerry's and sweetly shared the experience with our crew.

Thank you Uncle D for coming to visit!  We loved having you here!

Merry Christmas!

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house (it seemed) every creature was stirring.  Maybe even a mouse?

We've never had a night before Christmas like this one before.  A certain young man had to be told a 1am and 2am to go back to bed.  Miss A climbed into our bed after that and promptly wet our bed.  As I was in the nursery getting fresh PJ's for her Mr. K sat up and thanked me for the cool car set; the one we set out under the tree unwrapped after he went to sleep.  I could hear Miss E coughing downstairs.  Later I found out that  Miss J was having a hard time sleeping.  Mr. M had asked Miss E if he could borrow her kindle because he was having a hard time sleeping.  Yep, it seems just about all of us were awake through the night.  So much excitement having Uncle D arrive that evening AND Christmas.  :)

Never-the-less ALL of the kids were up and ready to go at 6am to get into their stockings.  I heard the stampede at 6am on the dot.  I dragged myself from bed and was glad I did.  It's so much fun to watch them all discover the goodies in their stockings.  My favorite stocking stuffers?  The matching onesies for Miss A and baby that Rob got for me them.

Our day was a slow relaxing one filled with Nerf gun battles, games, play time with new toys, good food and lots of yummy treats.  The kids had all bought themselves Nerf guns earlier in the month and felt that Daddy and Uncle D should be able to defend themselves against our small army; so they got them their own. :)

Star Wars and Snoopy

Everyone wanted to go see a movie, but the new Star Wars movie was not a good idea for the littles....I got to take the "bigs" to see Star Wars while Rob took the "littles" to see Snoopy.  Everyone thought they were getting a good deal and I was especially thankful to Rob for offering to take the littles.  I'm not sure when the last time was that I got to see a movie in a theater without taking care of a little one on my lap.

Since we're now on Christmas break we thought we'd start the day celebrating.  Miss E made the Wookie Cookies the night before.  Mr M made the Chewy bacon (he's recently become the bacon master in our home).  I picked up the cereal and put together to Christmas themed Obi-Wan Kabobi.

Miss E made herself a Star Wars hat for the occasion.

Woo Hoo, 2nd row!  Oh, wait.  Thats not a good thing at the movies.  We were only 30 minutes early for the showing having already purchased our tickets on-line.  The theater was already packed.  The movie was great anyways and it wasn't too painful. :)

Daddy and the littles had fun in the arcade before and after their movie while they waited for us.

Happy Saint Nicholas Day- Family visit

9 pairs of shoes all lined up and filled!  Our 8 kids and 1 sweet little cousin.

It was so much fun to see the kids slowly get up and get into their shoes.  There was quite a bit of excitement as these shoes were stuffed a bit better than usual.  "Uncle L and Aunt K added to your shoes too!" I told them.  "Oh, that makes sense!  Mom doesn't usually put fireworks in our shoes" *it was just party poppers, but much more exciting than usual.

The day was filled with cousin baths, more games, walks in the snow, sledding, outdoor cooking and naps....naps are important.

We ended our day with a big German/Polish dinner.  The kids all had special outfits from Nana (she made all of the dresses at the request of Miss C).