8 Months!

My how time flies!  How can it be that she's already been with us (outside me) for 8 months?  This little girl certainly fits in here and does great rolling with everything we've got going on here.  The red head in her is starting to come out more too.  Oh my!

Miss F LOVES her people.  She likes people in general, but don't try to take her from her people.  She'll cry. :)  Even among us she has her favorites.  Mr. R had better not walk by without saying "hi" and coming over for a hug would be best.  Miss J is a favorite play mate.  Oh, and she sure loves her daddy!

She's been crawling for a few weeks now.  About a month ago I could tell she was working on it, but after watching some little friends at church race (crawling) by her she really got to work on it.  She studied those two carefully as they raced by her over and over again.  She'd lunge after them and sadly realize she couldn't follow.  Within a week she was making great progress and was quite proud of herself.  Most of my little ones have had a sort of mental block that kept them from moving from room to room the first month or two of crawling.  Not her!  She goes to where the action is; very much like Miss A did.  It's so cute to see her notice that someone is in the kitchen and head on in there.  Or that all of the other "littles" are having fun in the nursery so she makes her way on in there to join the fun.

She's loving eating real foods.  Miss F does NOT like to be fed from a spoon.  She likes to feed herself, but not finger foods.

I love watching her learn as she plays.  She loves pulling things out of baskets and putting them back again.  The other night she had fun opening a cupboard door and exploring what she found inside.  She's kinda over baby toys and likes it when we let her play with "big kid" toys like blocks, duplos, and play kitchen items.  We're more than happy to help her learn and play with the others.

This little girl brings so much joy to our family.  We are all so very thankful for her.  I love seeing how all of her siblings love and dote on her in their own ways.  I love seeing how she knows she belongs in this clan and wants to participate in all that we are doing whether it's sharing a meal, reading together, singing, working, or playing.  If we're outside she's more than happy to be out playing/walking/exploring with us.  She's up for being "on the go" as well, but she's a home body and I can tell she's happier when we get home after being out.

Happy Reformation Day!

Happy Reformation day from our little pumpkins to yours!

We've been enjoying our Reformation reading this month.  We are so thankful for those that have gone before us and the encouragement we receive in these studies to continue to study God's word and to cheerfully obey Him! 

What a silly little eater...

Miss F is enjoying getting to explore some new foods.  At first I thought she was not interested; she wouldn't take anything from a spoon.  Then one day I put a banana in a mesh feeder; she gobbled it up and asked for more.  She still wouldn't accept the banana from a spoon.  Oh no, only if she could feed herself.

Have you ever tried to clean one of those mesh feeders?  They are the most difficult things to clean.  We never could be sure we got them clean enough and she was holding on to this feeding method.  I suspected there must be a better option by now.  Sure enough, there is.  Silicone feeders!  We tried out a few and I posted my reviews on my other blog.  Bottom line?  She loves them all and we're all much happier with them too 'cause each and everyone of them is easier that those silly mesh ones.

Speaking of silly eaters....We love the book Seven Silly Eaters.  It's not often that we find books about large families.  This one has been a family favorite for years.  Some of our kids even have it memorized.  It's sweet, silly and encouraging all at once.

Make a wish fun....

Make a Wish recently reached out to the Air Force Academy in hopes of making a little boy's wish come true.  He wanted to be a part of a base ball game between firefighters and minions.  Part of the wish was that it be like a REAL game complete with cheering fans.  The Academy reached out to the cadets and faculty to make that part happen.  Our kids enjoyed the fun evening and we had the opportunity to talk to the kids about this great foundation and what a blessing it is to these sick and struggling children (as well as their families).

We were very thankful for the opportunity to cheer this little guy on and we had so much fun doing it.  Make a Wish was very generous to provide meals as well as popcorn and cotton candy.

Happy Birthday Miss A

Oh this girl!  We are so blessed to have her in our lives.  If you ever think of feeling sorry for kids in a large family, think again.  I just LOVED watching my big kids plan and shop for her.  They love her (they all love each other) SO MUCH!  I barely needed to do anything for her (I did anyways) they were all so excited.  They had a big pile of gifts for her (all purchased with their own money).

Miss E and Mr M decided she needed a pinata.  They found all of the materials they needed and made it up with just a bit of advice from mom and dad.  Then Miss E purchased all of the filler as well as some decorations.

Mr. R wanted to make sure Miss F got in on the action as well.

She wanted a pink cake with chocolate inside.  We did 4 layers of cake (pink AND chocolate) and it was a VERY pink cake.  It had pink sugar sprinkled all over it.  Miss E baked the cake and I frosted/decorated it to Miss A's specifications. :)

Mr. M offered to finish off what was left of the cake

I loved seeing how her big brothers and sisters cared for her and gave of themselves to make her happy.  What a wonderful opportunity that was for them.  I loved how she enjoyed sharing all of the special gifts and treats with her siblings.

October fun

We've been so busy this month (and last) with school, projects around the house, and just having fun.  Here's a quick post on what we've been up to this month.

Our house sustained quite a bit of mild damage in some hail storms this summer.  We didn't realize we had much damage until a friend was over and we somehow got on the topic.  He inspected our roof for us (he's a roofer) and suggested it may be a good idea to have our insurance company come out and take a look.  Sure enough, not only did we need a new roof, but the house needed to be repainted too.  Rob and the boys took on the job of painting the house.  We were happy to give them the opportunity to learn through some hard work.  They (the boys) were happy to get paid! :)

Same color, just a bit brighter 'cause it's new paint. ;)

I got a red door!  It makes me smile. :) 

We had a fairly mild cold go through.  I think it hit me hardest since I was up with little ones and didn't have much time to rest....life goes on.  It may have turned into a sinus infection, but thanks to lots of home remedies and essential oils I'm on the mend.

Mommy's bed is always the best place to be when you're not feeling well.

Lot's of love around here...

Some fun...

A trip to the zoo!  The boys worked so hard on painting the house and got it done in only 1 weekend!  We'd planned for the job to take 2-3 weekends, so we had a free weekend.  It's so nice having the family pass this year, we just went for the morning and everyone had a great time.

All ready for the zoo with her tiger blanket!

It's fun to feed the giraffes!

Baby girl learned to crawl!  She does not think she is a baby anymore and seems to think that she should be able to play with all of the big kid toys.  Some of us are more excited than others about this new development.

Ah, it's fall.  That means apples!  Lots and lots of apples for apple butter, apple sauce, apple pie.  We've been peeling, processing and....best of all...eating!

Well, that's some of what we've been up to.

Reformation, and obedience to God...

We've been busy, busy, busy.  I've got back blog posts that I need to do to update, but wanted to do this post while I was thinking of it....

We're enjoying Autumn.  We love the changing colors, the foods, and the cooler weather that October brings.  Another thing we love about October is the yearly opportunity to study some Church History as we look at the Reformation.

                                                         

"My conscience is captive to the Word of God.  I cannot recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.  Here I stand.  I cannot do otherwise.  God help me.  Amen!"  

Martin Luther

This morning we were reading Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed The World.  Ah, what a sweet reminder and encouragement that was to us this morning.  Obedience to God and HIS word is what is important; not what others think.  To do otherwise is not right or safe. (to rephrase Martin Luther's famous words).

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

John 14:15

***I'm an Amazon affiliate.  If you shop through my links I make the tiniest bit of $$ which will just be spent on more great books for my kids. :)