Chilly Chatterbox

As if we weren't late everywhere, ALL THE TIME, now we have to add bundling up time! 

Isn't she a cutie :)

Her language has exploded the last several months. Not just for our benefit, but I have received comments about it from preschool teachers, Sunday school and in the nursery at bible study. It is crazy to hear her say "bless you, mommy" when I sneeze or "excuse me" if she burps (which happens rarely, although she hears it from her brothers, plenty). Sometimes she randomly busts out with "we will, we will rock you..." And if she just feels the need to fill a void of silence (heaven forbid) she will ramble on and on without using actual words and I catch myself thinking, wouldn't that be funny if she all the sudden started speaking in Chinese ;)

Speaking of Patience

This is Ryan's newest version of a "fort." Although it was more for containing his "animals." Because as you know, he is a farmer ;)

I tried not to let it bother me for a few days (they were cleaned up at the end of each day) but I finally had to put an end too it. First, because it was far too easy for Avery to pillage and disperse the contents everywhere. Second, these baskets can't handle the wear and tear of his new found purpose for them. I need them to last for the sake of our bookcases and so I don't have to drive 2 hrs to ikea and buy replacements ;)

It did make for happy, creative kids and at least 3 of them played together, which doesn't happen all that often. Today, he moved onto couch cushions ;)

Praying for Patience

This little one, requires every ounce of patience I have in me and that's not normally enough to get us through the day. Thankfully God continues to refill me. It boggles my mind that after 3 boys, she surprises me hourly with her mischief.

On this particular night, I needed to wash more than usual by hand, so I got out my gloves. Well, she was so curious about them and quickly got a stool (her personal helper) and "washed" dishes with me. It looks so cute in the pictures, mother and daughter, working side-by-side and if she hadn't spent nearly every second of her day with me, it would have felt like a hallmark moment, but instead I had to dig deep and remind myself, someday I will miss this.

Artificial Tree Hunt

We finally took the plunge. We have been talking about it for YEARS, just always too sad to actually do it. After suffering this fall (3 of us) with allergies, I do not want to prolong the problem with a live tree. We are fairly certain that I am allergic to the tree each year and suspect some of the kids are too.

  

We had some funny conversations with people as I was taking pictures ;) 

Not nearly as lovely inside a mega store as outside in a lot (never did the farm thing).   

 

This is how the older 2 feel about it ;) Mason is the only one expressing sadness. 

I am looking forward to NOT restringing the lights each year!

We are not putting the tree up earlier than normal, just taking advantage of the 50% of sale ;)

Avery's 1st Dentist Appt

I can't tell you how many times I thank God for Ryan's relationship with Avery. He truly is THE best thing for her. Today was Avery's first teeth cleaning. She watched her awesome brother go first. Then while we were waiting for the Dentist to inspect his cleaning, she climbed in the chair next to him. Up until that point she insisted that I hold her. He let her stay in the chair while the dentist took a peek. I didn't get any pictures of her turn, because she laid on me the whole time. I've never had to do that before, but it worked and she did everything they asked. Sadly she has two cavities, so we will be making another appt with a ped. dentist soon. It could have been much worse considering she probably had never brushed her teeth until she was home with us.

 

Speaking of teeth, Mason lost his 4th top tooth tonight. Yes, FOUR missing teeth on the top. I didn't even know that was possible. Poor thing has trouble eating but he sure is cute!

Blessed by the Barnhouse Girls

I spent the past weekend in Austin, Texas, with these lovely ladies (college housemates). From left to right, Michelle, Kate, Becca (with twins), me, Courtney and Christy. We were missing two, Mary and Kathy and it just wasn't the same without them.

 

I have been dying to get my hands on these two since they were born in MAY. 

Kevin is in the white t-shirt and Greg in the gray (I am almost certain).

 It was such a joy to watch Becca be a mom x 2. I don't know how she does it. Wow!

We talked a ton, laughed, cried and ate lots of yummy food (thanks Christy and Becca). I am so grateful for these dear friends who I have known my whole adult life!! We always pick up where we left off and it's a privilege to be with them.

 I enjoyed extra time with Michelle on our flights to and from.

It was nice to be away. I totally disengaged from my family and completely relaxed. Thankfully EJ's back was doing well enough for me to go. He handled everything beautifully and I came home to a clean house :) Avery did great and seems to have grown closer to EJ while I was gone.

Happy Helper

She is still underfoot most of the day. Sometimes this drives me batty, but most of the time it's ok with me, thankfully! She wants to help, which will be wonderful someday, but for now it means a lot of redoing and undoing on my part. She is learning (quickly) so I just need to be patient and thankful that she wants to help. The boys could care less. She does their chores if I am not careful. They might have to start sharing their allowance ;)

We all FALL down

The older two did not have school today! We stayed home, but EJ joined us for lunch :) The kids were excited for leaf jumping so they were motivated to rake. Having older kids is awesome! Ryan and Avery had a hard time waiting until they said the pile was big enough.

 

 And look what Owen discovered. 

Fortunately, it's WAY up in the tree with no hornets flying around. UGH!

Happy Halloween!

There was so much excitement about trick or treating this year. Having 3 kids who know what's coming, changes the atmosphere ;) It was an all-family affair as my parents and sister's family joined in the fun. We feed the kids first and the adults ate after the littlest 3, were done on our cul-de-sac. The older 2 joined neighbors on their first ever golf cart trick or treating! It was weird having them off on their own, but it was such a treat to enjoy the adult dinner and then hear about their night when they returned.

 My crew

This girl handled the night so much better than I anticipated. First, until very recently she has been very scared of the dark. Second, when there is candy around, she HAS to eat it. She got a little nervous as it got dark, but as long as she held my hand she was fine. She did ALL her trick-or-treating without eating a single piece. I knew if she started she wouldn't stop. She listened and didn't throw a fit when I told her to wait. It was awesome.

I must say, we are SO blessed by our neighbors. Most are retirement age and they just love our kids. There was such a since of joy on their faces b/c they were waiting for MY kids. Until recently my kids were the only ones that came by ;) They ALL were concerned for EJ and offered to help whenever I needed.

 "Strong Man" dashed from house to house with such joy.

This is my kids' 3rd grandma. She came to my rescue a few weeks ago when the boys were camping and I had a small medical emergency. I will never forget the sight of her running to my house at 8 in the morning on a Sunday, before I had even set the phone down.

 I am bummed that this pic didn't turn out better. Trip was Evil Knievel and simply adorable.

My fondest memory of the night was at every door, Ryan always shouted, "don't forget about Evil Knievel." He knew that Tripp was the last to the door and too little to be noticed. If Tripp didn't make it in time, he'd bring his candy to Lissa. Love him!

 

He counted and sorted all his candy and even graphed it for school. 106 pieces

I let Ryan stay up to wait for his brothers. The advantage to having him still nap! Especially since he shares a room with Mason. EJ had to head to bed early b/c the day was a lot for him, but I was so grateful he could walk around with us. I am normally the one whisking them off to bed, but God gave me extra strength to just sit back and enjoy them.