Deck the halls!

Well, there are no "boughs of holly" yet, but we did get a good start at putting up the Christmas decorations this week-end. We always have a great time putting up the tree. The kids love helping Rob put the tree together. We all enjoy pulling the ornaments out, remembering when we each got our special ones. It is so cute to see the kids pick the "perfect" spot for each of their ornaments.

Each year the youngest capable child gets to put the star on the tree after we've put all of the

other ornaments on. This year was Miss J's turn, but she had a cold and was not in the mood to do it, so Mr. S was more than happy to step in and help us out!

Rob hung all of the stockings up on the piano for us. I think they look so cute there. After we do our gingerbread house we'll put it on top of the piano to fill in the empty space up there.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a fun Thanksgiving this year. We expected it to be a bit quieter, but we ended up having some extra guests! It is fun to see who God brings into our home each year. This year a friend from church who could not be with her husband because of military assignments got to join us. Also a family that we had been stationed with in Virginia came over (it is an interesting story, we had no idea they were here, but through the need for a computer monitor and craigs list we met up just before they moved on. They would have been spending the holiday in their hotel room otherwise.) It was nice to have them all here with us.

We all had a great time. Nana spent much of the morning holding Miss C or playing legos with the big kids. We all enjoyed the wonderful meal, dessert and plenty of play time together!

Rob's first pig!

Rob went hunting at the ranch yesterday and got his first pig! He had so much fun, and was quite excited. He got to go hunting with our pastor; the two of them had been looking forward to this hunting "trip" for a while now. Rob is also learning to bone/butcher a pig, and took the kids with him today to finish up the job. They were so excited for their Daddy (cheers arose around the house when I read the text to them that he had got the pig), and thought it would be great fun to see the pig! Miss E even got to help.

So, along with our Turkeys we'll have plenty of pork this year in the freezer! Rob made up a little bit of wienerschnitzel soon after he got home last night to try out his pig. She shared with me and my mom, and it was very good!

2 Weeks!

Wow, two weeks sure have flown by! We've been having fun loving on Miss C and having some great family time too! I've been getting plenty of rest and I'm slowly getting back to "normal".

*Rob changed all of the sheets at one time, these two enjoyed the pile of la las and cuddles together for a while! You can see the piles of quilts/sheets in the back ground.

Miss C is doing GREAT! I took her in for her 2 week well baby appointment today. I was excited to see that she now weighs 8 lbs. 5 oz! That is 9 oz past her birth weight! She is sleeping fairly well at night (for her age/weight). She takes one 4-5 hour stretch each night and after that she goes to every 2-3 hours, mostly I'm just happy that she is making steady improvements on her sleep patterns. She is falling into a nice schedule during the day too. She is a very easy going baby, though she is not afraid to let us know if she really does not like something. Mostly she just loves to cuddle with mommy, and I am more than happy to cuddle with her!

Miss J is still in love with her new baby, maybe even more so now! She still comes in every

morning to check on "baby" and asks several times a day to hold her too. She loves to pat her head softly and kiss it and to point out her eyes/ears/mouth/nose/head/hands/toes! All of the

other kids are still enjoying her too, but mostly I think they are just enjoying having Daddy home and having him teach them for a change! Rob has been taking them on little mini hikes

and pulling out some of our camping gear to let them practice some outdoors/survival skills.

*this picture is of Mr R putting together his camp stove with his eyes closed!

German food and shaving cream

Rob's computer is having problems, and that is the computer I use to post pictures to this blog, so no pictures for a while. :( I'll add some later for this post....

Rob made German food for dinner last night! He mentioned about a month ago that that was something he would like to have soon, but knew it would have to wait a while since I would not be up to cooking it. We realized though, that since he quite capable in the kitchen that maybe he could make the dinner! So, he made jager schnitzel, wiener schnitzel, and spatzle for us! It all turned out well and the whole family enjoyed the meal! Is he great or what?

Then today he told the kids he had a fun activity planned for them. I had no idea what he had planned either so it was a surprise to everyone. It was a simple activity, but the kids had a great time (at least some of them did). He pulled out a couple of cans of shaving cream and had the kids "finger paint" on the table! Not surprisingly Mr. R and Miss J were not too interested in participating. They don't like getting messy, even if it is for fun!

Look ma...

..no training wheels! Mr. S has been working on this off and on for a few months now, the training wheels have been off and on a couple of times. This last time he asked that they be taken off Daddy would not put them back on. We've known he could do this for a while, he just did not think he could. Rob has been working with him more seriously the last couple of weeks. Today he finally got it! By this afternoon he was zipping up and down the street on his own and even getting himself going on his own! What a big boy he is getting to be!

*Miss C is doing well. She is starting to get into a bit of a routine with eating and sleeping and is having more awake times. She seems to be a fairly easy going baby, and we are all enjoying having her here!

My Guys

I've got a bunch of wonderful guys here! Rob is an awesome husband and father, and is teaching his sons well!

Rob has been taking such good care of all of us these days. He is letting me get the rest I need so that in three weeks I'll be set to go back to caring for six kids, doing home school, running the house, and feeding everyone (he is taking two weeks off, then my mom is coming for a week). He is feeding and caring for everyone and doing school with the kids, and he is doing it all with a smile on his face and a happy heart (and I think he is getting in some of his PhD work/reading too)! God is so good to have given him to me!

Today was errand day, and Rob took four of the kids with him to the commissary (it went well, I'm told). Mr. R asked if he could stay behind since it is his special helper day. He wanted to take care of Mommy and Miss C! How sweet it that? What a thoughtful young man he is! Now, I'm sure that having the playroom to himself to build with legos was a big draw too, but he was quite the eager helper! We shared a special snack of sliced apples with carmel dip while we watched Miss C sleep, but mostly I rested and he played with legos.

The boys are just as eager to come see Miss C every morning as the girls are (maybe even more

so?). They are very protective of her and always want to make sure she is okay. They love to hold her, or even just look at her and talk to her. I found Mr. R playing "peek-a-boo" with Miss C this morning, I guess she had started crying in her bassinet while I was in the shower and he had decided that this was the best way to calm her, and it worked! Her eyes were so big, just watching him!

What great guys God has given me!