Camp

When the Handsome Man was born, I'm pretty sure Ben calculated what year he could take him up to Northern Frontier...a Christian camp only for boys in the Adirondacks.  He grew up going there and has been looking forward to taking his son there. Finally, the time had arrived. Father-Son Camp 2012.

 

Only 2 bee stings and one rough night after the Handsome Man had far too many grilled cheeses for his stomach to handle.  Plans are underway for Father Son Camp 2013.

Summertime Fun

We really had a great summer. Even though our family is bigger than ever before with 5 kids, we still tried to do a lot of fun things and have fun along the way.  Here's some snapshots of Summer 2012.

We got to see The Little Man who lived with us from June 2010-July 2011. He's the one behind the sippy cup. :) It was so nice to seeing that he's doing great with his parents.

We spent many weekends at the beach.

 

The kids got their faces painted by their very talented uncle (we're talking Spiderman and Dora face painting, here...he should really charge money for this).

We visited cousins and had a blast hanging out with them.

 

We went to a local farm and petting zoo.  Another "first time" event for the Littlest Brother and Littlest Sister.

 

Spent time wrestling and tickling with Daddy. So nice to have him home most of the summer!

Summer kick-off

I know that as I write this, summer is actually coming to a close. But I'm behind in blogging (no surprise) and still trying to catch up (what else is new?). Ben's co-worker offered to give us this chiminea that her parents were getting rid of. How awesome is that?!? So we kicked off our summer with some s'more making. Pretty sure it was the first time for the Littlest Brother and the Littlest Sister to ever make s'mores. And, would you believe it was the first time that Ben ever ate a s'more? It's never too late to try something new...especially if it includes chocolate.

 

 

One reason we do what we do...

I was explaining to the Littlest Brother (who is with us through foster care) today that we are soon going on vacation.  He asked if he was coming with us. I said, "Yes. Of course. The whole family is going." He looked at me with his big brown eyes, tilted his head a bit, and said, "What's a family?"  My heart ached when he said it, and it aches now writing it. Knowing that this little three and a half year old boy has never experienced a family long enough to know what one is reminded me of why we do foster care. Why God called us to this roller coaster.  Why we didn't get to adopt the first (or second or third or...) child that came through our doors, even though I've wished many times that we did.  I believe that we all have a God given purpose in life and this is ours for now.  I'm thankful that God reminds me of this when the days get long or loud or busy or messy or all of the above.

Happy 6th Birthday!

I still can't believe it, but the Handsome Man turned 6 this May. Happy birthday, buddy. We love you! 

Here are some pictures of his family party....

This is his birthday morning scavenger hunt...

His gift which he quickly built....

His birthday party with his buddies at a boucny place. I didn't get any pictures of them in the bouncy houses; they were all moving too fast. :)

Everybody, let's go outside!

They love it. We love it.  Outside playtime is my sanity fun!

Painted nails

I've always loved painting my girls' nails. But everytime I do now, I am reminded of the Lord's gracious healing of the Princess' finger.  She has a full finger on her hurt finger now!  Hooray!!!

Mother's Day

Ben tried really hard to get a good picture of the kids and I on Mother's Day this year.  Somewhat comical (and somewhat frustrating) to get five children smiling, looking in one direction, and sitting still. There were ten takes; this is the final shot and the best of the bunch.

Hope you all had a great Mother's Day last month and Father's Day yesterday.  We are crazy blessed (really, crazy AND blessed) with all our kiddos.

The Beach in May

Last month, we were down at my parents house for the day. It was a gloriously warm May day, so off to we went to the beach. I'm pretty sure it was the first time the Littlest Brother and the Littlest Sister had ever seen this part of God's creation.  It's fun to be able to show them a whole new world.

 The extra cutie in the middle is my sweet niece.

 Walking with Nonna.

 Checking out this new place.

Yes, they went in.

 So. Cold. Water.

 Still fun though.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Our new Littlest Sister turned two on May 4th. We didn't have a big party since she and her brother were still adjusting to be at our home. But we still celebrated in the morning with some gifts and a special breakfast.

This little girl is cute and feisty. She fits right into our family. We're so glad you're here, Littlest Sister!

How to Brush Your Teeth

Back in April, I got to go to the Munchkin's classroom when she gave a presentation of her How To book. She taught me (and all the other parents there) how to brush our teeth. It was a terrific lesson. The sweet girl really brushed her teeth while she showed us how which means she brushed about 10-15 times that day.  The dentist would be very happy.

I love the Munchkin's new school.  It's so open to having parents in the classroom.  It's such a caring community. It's culturally diverse. The teachers are awesome. We're excited that the Handsome Man will be there in the fall too.

Venturing Out

When our two newest family members arrived, we knew we eventually had to try venturing out of the house with five kids. This is one of our first attempts when we went to a local zoo and playground. The zoo part went well. The playground was a little stressful because it was way big and it was hard to keep track of everyone. But we went with 5 kids and came home with 5 kids. Success.

The Karate Kid

This post is a bit late but better late than never since I have some blog catching up to do. The Handsome man started taking Karate this year. It's a deal of a class because it's at the local school instead of a regular place. He passed his first test to get one stripe on his white belt.  He didn't have a uniform yet to even get his stripe on (he does now--we weren't sure he was going to like it enough to buy one initially).