Our Thanksgiving celebration...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
The day before had been spent preparing for the day (and the day before that!). Tori made the pumpkin pie (which was delicious!) and Bethi did the filling for the bishop's chocolate pies (which were delicious!) almost all by herself. I made the cinnamon rolls that Daddy was going to take to his store on Black Friday (Andrew helped me with these, and in the process of making them we managed to drop a whole egg in the milk mixture (thankfully it didn't crack!), brake a whisk and drop half of it in the milk mixture (haha...), and Andrew laid on a couple of the rising cinnamon rolls (which he helped me put on the table!), haha... aren't you glad that you didn't have to eat them ;)!), and Mommy made the maple twist, cookies, and cranberry sauce (yum to all but the cranberry sauce... haha. Daddy and sometimes Bethi and Andrew are the only ones who like that stuff! Although Mommy loves the smell- "It's time for *the sniff*" she says while taking it off the stove :)!).

Bethi making the pies...

Emmi playing under the tree. Isn't she a *wonderful* gift :)!!!

On Thanksgiving, the day of Thanksgiving traditions started. First, I made the maple twist icing with Emmi. It was so sweet, she doesn't get to help me cook as often as the others at this point, mainly because she hasn't learned yet how dangerous it is to dance on chairs, :), so she really only helps me with quick projects. She does love to help though, and she was fascinated with the powdered sugar, haha :)!

We ate our breakfast while watching the peanuts' movie "The Mayflower Voyage" and a couple short documentaries of the pilgrims.
We started the big meal almost immediately after breakfast was cleaned up. We tried making the macaroni and cheese in the crock pot this year to free up oven space, which would have worked if we had longer than four hours to cook it. As it was taking so long, though, we had to move it to the oven for about thirty minutes. On Christmas, we'll probably put it in the crock pot at the same time as the turkey goes in the oven, instead of a little after, and it should be fine.
After the macaroni was in the oven, we children held a "corn husking" party. This is probably the favorite thing for the little ones, because they get to help me make a corn husk doll for them after they husk their ear of corn.


Andrew named his "Johnny"... and quickly sent him to time out or something, I'm not sure why...


Tori named her's "Cornelia", haha :)!
Mommy read some Thanksgiving books, both story books and history books, and Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation.
We ate at about five o'clock, and we went around the table, telling what each person was thankful for. Some of the things were Jesus dying for us, our family, God choosing to bless us with another baby, God protecting us when someone tried to break into our house and we were run off the road by a eighteen-wheeler earlier this year, and other things. We truly have a lot to be thankful for this year!!!
After we ate came the big task of cleaning up after the meal, but it actually didn't seem as big a job as it has in years past. After cleaning up, we decorated the Christmas tree while listening to Todd Agnew's Christmas CD, "Do You See What I See" and drinking hot chocolate. Although we do have "just for fun" decorations in other rooms of the house, we try to keep the main room, the living room, decorated in only meaningful decorations. Ribbon on the tree to stand for the gift of Jesus, three nail ornaments to stand for Jesus pierced hands and feet, ornaments with scripture verses that speak of his sacrifice, and so on. It is really neat, but our tree stays well UN-balanced through the season. Every time the current baby gets an ornament... it moves up the tree :). After a while they are all on the top half of the tree, haha! We laugh at it every year, but we would rather have babies to love then to have a"perfect" Christmas tree :)! (It wasn't until about an hour later that we remembered that the star wasn't on the tree yet, haha!)

Emmi thought the nails were necklaces ;)!

Sweet girls :)...

So thankful :)... (she was crying because she had to
wait her turn to put up another ornament, haha!)

Dueling photographers... another yearly tradition!

After the tree was "done" aside for the star, we watched a "Little House" Christmas show while we ate the pie. We then put the star on the tree and did devotions before getting to bed at about twelve, true to our tradition on Thanksgiving ;).

Bethi helped with the star this year.

We had a wonderful day, one to be thankful for :)!!!

The cornucopia I crocheted for Thanksgiving

has been used just as often as a hat ;)!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The pilgrims took a voyage,
taking food and luggage,
they had a simple explanation-
they wanted a Godly nation.

Many people died,
though to save them they did try.
One baby was born at this time,
one baby- Oceanus- added to the line.

When they reached the shore,
God they thanked once more.
Winter hit as they worked,
still, they did not shirk.

They got five kernels of corn,
their clothes ragged and torn.
All this to Fathers, Mothers, daughters and sons,
still they said "Thy will be done".

Springtime came again,
and with it an Indian man.
Squanto was his name.
Without him they could not have lived, that was plain.

When the harvest came, they thanked God for so much,
They were very happy and invited an Indian bunch.
they feasted several days, three to be exact,
And they were truly glad that not one had gone back.

Today the feast is kept on the 27th,
And we thank our God in heaven,
glad that the Pilgrims had no misgivings,
and so we celebrate... Thanksgiving.

~Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Just a few thoughts...

I used to hate doing dishes. I liked anything better than doing dishes, especially if it was sitting on the couch with a baby and a book. But, over the past few days, I have realized that I actually enjoy doing dishes. Sure, I still don't like it well enough to shout with joy every time I see a counter full of hand wash-only dishes. But I have come to see that doing dishes is. really, enjoyable.
When I do the dishes, I usually have a helper (or two, or three, or four). What better time to talk about anything under the sun like we love to do? I cherish the memory of some of those hilarious talks Tori and I have had while doing those dishes, and it is sweet how the littler ones love helping!
And, washing dishes right in front of the window that is right above our sink brings it's own treasures. On a Summer day, I can watch diapers on the line blowing in the breezes, birds looking for worms, or playing on the clothes line, and our garden changing day by day. On Summer nights, we can watch frogs sitting on our window, attracted to the bugs that are attracted to the light. In the fall months, beautiful leaves and birds flying can be seen through that window.
And then there is the fact that every dish I wash is a way to help my family in the exact way that God has chosen for me :)!

I'm not sure...

What Abbi was doing last night, haha :)!
Due to having several children with colds at the moment, Daddy put a humidifier up in our room last night. The one we had been using had stopped working, we are not sure why, but he bought a new one to replace it last night. All humidifiers have a light to indicate when they are on, but this one was BRIGHT. Abbi could see clearly to come and talk to me (all us children share a room at the moment, Emmi sleeps with me, and then the other girls sleep together and Andrew has a bed all for himself), and she did so quite often, haha. Finally we all went to sleep, but not long after, I woke up to Abbi climbing into bed with Emmi and I. I asked her what she was doing "I just want to sleep with you," she answered. "Why?" I asked "Because," she promptly replied... and just as promptly fell asleep!
What could I do? She wanted to sleep with me, she was already asleep... and she was too cute! I let her stay, but was really surprised to wake up in the morning and find Abbi in between Tori and Bethi again! I asked her about it this morning, and she said "I was just done sleeping with you." Haha... She's hilarious!
Now, I need to go. Tori made Bethi's day by asking Mommy if Bethi could stay up from quiet time and play The Game of Life with us while eating ice cream, just like "old times" when Bethi was our youngest board game player- three years ago :).

Christmas is in the air!

Just a few more weeks until Christmas! Everybody is getting into the "Christmas spirit", making presents, decorating, singing Christmas songs and the like, getting ready to celebrate the birth of our wonderful Savior!
We put up our tree last Thursday (we'll decorate it on Thanksgiving) and have mostly gotten decorating the house done. Putting up the tree has been really funny the last few years, because Daddy cut the base of our tree to make it shorter, so that way it looked okay without the bottom row, which was too wide for the tree. The past few years we have forgotten that until we've already started looking for the missing row, haha :). We did better this year, but we still didn't know if we were supposed to start one or two rows up farther than the tree was made for!

Daddy bought this just last week. Isn't it *adorable* :)?!!!

Isn't it wonderful that Jesus came to earth to bring us the Joy of living with him :)?

Once In Royal David's City...

Once in royal David's city, stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a Mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed;
Mary was that Mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child.

He came down to earth from heaven who is God and Lord of all,
And His shelter was a stable, and His cradle was a stall:
With the poor, and mean, and lowly, lived on earth our Savior holy.

And through all his wondrous childhood he would honor and obey,
Love and watch that lowly maiden in whose gentle arms he lay:
Christian children all must be mild, obedient, good as he.

And our eyes at last shall see him, through his own redeeming love;

For that child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heav'n above,
And he leads his children on, to the place where he is gone.

Not in that poor lowly stable, with the oxen standing by,
We shall see him, but in heaven, set at God''s right hand on high,
When like stars his children crowned all in white shall wait around.

~Cecil Frances Alexander~
(1818-1895)

Crocheting lessons...

About three years ago I thought it would be really neat to learn how to crochet. I had already known how to knit for about two years, thanks to a sweet lady who lived next door to us back then (she was an amazing knitter, and she also knew sewing/crocheting!). Well, about eighteen months ago I found some good instructions, and got serious about crocheting. At first I still liked knitting better, but crochet is slowly growing on me to where I like them pretty much on equal levels now :).
Tori started learning just over a year ago, and Bethi learned chain stitch not long after that. The other day I decided to do something Andrew had been asking for for days... he learned chain stitch as well, while Bethi got a starter on learning single crochet!
He did so well, I guided his hands for about five stitches, gave him reminders for four... and he had it! He accidentally took out all of his first stitches, but here are some of his earliest, he had only done about 15-20 stitches before he was able to do this:


Andrew wasn't feeling too good that day (we have all had a bit of congestion/ fevers and all that, Emmi's breathing sounded so bad that Daddy and Mommy took her to urgent care just to make sure it wasn't turning into pneumonia, but not a thing had settled in her lungs, we're not sure why she sounded so bad!), but he so wanted to keep working at it, because his hope is to crochet a "Larry" (a character from Big Idea's show "Veggietales") for Abbi for Christmas.

Bethi was excited to learn the next step in crocheting, too!

This is how tired they all were from being sick...
They NEVER fall asleep on the floor!
And I don't see how anybody sleeps like that :)!

Update on Miss Rhonda: She is doing much better, she can not talk at the moment, but she can communicate, recognize people, etc., and they are sure she will recover!

Update:

We have received word that Miss Rhonda has gotten over the surgery and has gained consciousness. They are still not sure how well she is doing, but they are almost sure that she is going to make it. We are so thankful that she has made it this far!!! Thank you for all your prayers, please keep praying for a fast, wonderful recovery for Miss Rhonda, and grace for the whole family on this rough journey.

Please pray...

A couple years back we met a wonderful family. About a month ago they moved to Kentucky so that their Dad could go to seminary. Thy are eventually planning on being missionaries.
Early this afternoon Mommy got an email that said her friend, Miss Rhonda, had had a brain aneurysm last night, and may have had a stroke. Please pray for this dear family, that Miss Rhonda would be healed, and that God gives peace to her husband and three children, two of whom are between Tori and Bethi in age, and the youngest Emmi's age. She is having brain surgery today, and we are waiting to hear some more news. Prayer for them would be much appreciated!!!

The colors of autumn...

The trees are starting to change color and lose their leaves... I love trees all year, but especially in the fall...

"Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

~Act 14:17

What we are up to now...

Mostly...

Sleeping :)...

Can you tell that it is quiet time? :)

Other than that, Mommy and Bethi are out shopping,

Tori is doing some extra school,

And I'm holding down the fort until Mommy gets back :). I'm about to go do some more crocheting (I think that's all I do now... okay, maybe not quite :).), and wake up the little ones. They need to sleep tonight, too :).

Once again, nothing much,

I just thought these flowers were pretty :).

Crafting!

After four weeks of off-and-on crafting, here's what I have to show for it...
Nine tatted bookmarks. Two given to some dear friends who moved a couple weeks ago. We had a wonderful visit with them the day before we left on our trip! Another four were given to the sweet Maxwell ladies, although I had no idea who I was making them for when Mommy asked me if I would have time to make them before the twentieth of October! Another one was for Mommy, she wanted a red and white one for Christmas books :). Then the eighth was for a sweet friend, we celebrated her birthday the other day by meeting together, having lunch and fellowship together, and packing up boxes for Operation Christmas Child. The last one is for another friend who's birthday was last week. Sorry no pictures for most of these, they were a new style that I didn't get pictures of, and

this style, and

this style.

And the Tic-tac-toe board, WITH pieces! (Also a
built-in pocket for those pieces!)

I've also done two amigurumi project, but I can't tell what they are... I have sisters and a Mommy who read my blog... ;)! I've also worked on altering a few things that I had made before hand, and am ready to get really serious about Christmas presents :)! The whole family is getting into the Christmas mood. We watched our first Christmas movie on the 31 of October, Tori has pulled out the Christmas books, Christmas music is playing in the kitchen right now, and it feels like the perfect time to go do some more crocheting! After all, we only have 47 days until Christmas!

The young suspect...

As Mommy tries to figure out what is wrong with her sewing machine that is making the loud rattling noise, Andrew jumps right to the conclusion:
"Probably somebody touched it. It WASN'T ME though!!!"
Haha, you have to wonder... :). It couldn't have been him though, it was behind locked doors :)

More about that elastic ostrich...

Haha!...
At supper a couple nights ago, Tori mentioned the fact that Daddy was going in "a whole opposite direction then us" the next day (he was going to work, we were going to a friend's birthday party.). She then said "So, we should all go as straight as we can, and then we will bonk each others noses at the end!"
After asked why, she had no idea why she decided that this would be a fun idea, but she had plenty of answers to the other questions (she is so funny!)
"How will you keep your car going without any gas stations to fill it up in the desert?"
"You get a elephant to pull you!"
"How will you get across the desert without burning up?"
"You have your elephant cool you off by flapping his ears!"
"What about the mountains?"
"You have a falcon fly you over."
"What are you going to do about the extremely cold temperatures in the mountains?"
"You just make your falcon keep you warm by letting you hide in it's feathers!"
"Okay... but what about the ocean?"
"You ride on your ostrich with elastic bones, of course!!!"
... All said in good fun, not seriousness, of course... I think ;)...

Abbi's flowers

While out shopping a couple of weeks ago, Abbi showed GREAT interest in the yellow Chrysanthemums that she saw. For the past year she has shown us that she loves flowers, and yellow is certainly her favorite color!
Tori decided that she would buy her the plant. Abbi was so excited! It was cute!
Now, have any of you ever watched "It's a Wonderful Life"? The one where Zuzu earns a flower at school? Well, Abbi acted the same way with the flowers that she picked off of "her" plant. "My flower needs a drink. Oh no! It b'oken! Daddy, you fix it?" It was adorable :).

Nothing is sweeter...

Then seeing little ones loving to read God's word :). ESPECIALLY when they love to read it to their little siblings :)!

Heehee...

The trip wrap up...

The last day of the trip, we took our traditional picnic and photo shoot at Forsyth Park, and walked around the Colonial Cemetery, before heading back home. It was a wonderful time!

She was like this the whole trip- she's so fun!
Aww...

:)...

Emmi's first meal from MacDonald's... She LOVED it!

Spanish moss is EVERYWHERE in Savannah!
You know the saying "Good night, sleep tight,
don't let the bed bugs bite"? It started with that
spanish moss. People use to fill their mattresses
with this stuff... and bed bugs nest in it... yuck...

Abbi :)!

LOVE IT!

The best picture we got for our traditional
picture by the fountain, this was the first time
we have been there that we haven't had a baby
that was so small that I had to hold it for this picture...
Oh well, Emmi is adorable in this one, she couldn't
have done that if I'd held her...




One of Bethi's dreams for a while has been that
"One day she will eat a great big lollipop." So,
Mommy got some while we were in Cracker Barrel.

On the drive home...

Mommy brought small gifts for the ride home.
Abbi and Emmi got small babies...

And Andrew and Bethi got lizards.


Tori and I were given a travel chess
board! We had so much fun...
We each won a game :).