A spring snow

After enjoying our day at the Grand Canyon we headed back to camp.  The next morning while still in bed we kept hearing whispers of "snow" from the kids.  That was hard to believe after all we could still hear the rain drops coming down.

It seems those drops were leftovers that the tree was dripping on us.  Sure enough, there was a dusting.  It continued through the morning and some of the kids had a good time playing in it.  Despite being ill prepared.

We spent the morning up at the lodge.  This was my view most of the morning (when I wasn't cuddling with her).  Yea, its a rough life.

Everyone enjoyed some time upstairs playing pool, (pretending to) play video games, playing card games and just hanging out.

We headed back to the trailer for lunch and a quiet afternoon.  The big kids had fun firing up the BBQ grill to warm up and roast some lunch.  Mr. K enjoyed some play time out there too.  Miss A was content to hang out with Miss C while she colored some Hello Kitty pictures.

This was a great little vacation; we're somewhat rested and refreshed.  Now its time to head back to the heat and move preparations!

A Grand (Canyon) adventure!

We promised the kids that we would go to the Grand Canyon while living in Arizona.  Well, we have under two months left here, and we are just now going.  Nothin' like waiting 'til the last minute, eh?  So we packed up the trailer and hit the road.

We were headed up to a favorite camping spot.  The kids were so excited they almost wanted to skip the big hole in the ground to just stay and play!

The Grand Canyon was absolutely beautiful.  I think it was lost on the kids though.  Mr. K and Miss J were awfully excited about the water (the river...WAY DOWN at the bottom).  Nearly all of the kids were excited about the snake at the first stop.

We (all) managed to climb all the way to the top of the Watch Tower.  What a hike, but what a view!

We enjoyed a nice lunch and a few more stops and then headed back to camp for the day.

6 months

Miss A is 6 months this week.  She is 15 pounds 9.5 ounces (so she is growing quite nicely).   She is one happy, healthy, and active little girl.  She is sitting up, scooting around, and would LOVE to be able to cruise the furniture on her own (she's not quite there yet).

She is still nursing, and loves it.  Miss A loves to eat "real" food too though.  She is happy as can be to gnaw on teething biscuits, large apple slices, and celery (no teeth, so she can't get chunks off).  Bananas and cantaloupe in her mesh teether are a hit as well.   Spoon feeding her is a big mess, but she loves it too.

Funny faces, massive drooling, and some rough nights are all results of the teething that she is going through right now.  Her first tooth just poked though and the second is not far behind.

Miss A loves her big brothers and sisters.  She is happiest when she is in the middle of all the action; lucky for her we have plenty of action going on here.  She has a sweet open mouth smile that is almost always on her face; it makes me think of Auntie J and the "wide mouth frog" story she used to tell us kids when we were little.

A fun, busy (and blessed) week-end!

We had quite the fun week-end, starting out on Friday evening.  We had been missing some dear friends that we had not been seeing enough of (including "Aunt J" who had yet to meet Miss A!).  We got together for a fun evening of dinner, play, and conversation.

On Saturday we joined a few families at a park for a fellowship meal and a time to catch up.  It seems we were too busy visiting and eating to take many pictures.  The kids had such a good time playing together!

On Sunday (Resurrection Day) we headed up to a church in Phoenix to visit and say "good-bye."  While there we ended up connecting with some new families as well.  We had a great time at church, having lunch at the pastor's house, and fellowshipping with several families.

On our way home we stopped for dinner.  Everyone had a fun time and had some special treats.

We had a great time this week-end.  What a blessing to get to have some great fellowship time; now its time to rest up for the next adventure!

Little blessings

Miss A had a cold, and is now teething.  That means little/no sleep for mama.  The other day daddy had to leave VERY early for work.  I was sleeping on the couch in the living room so that I could be close to Miss A; she was sleeping in the baby swing.  I started hearing the pitter patter of little feet, fully expecting to be greeted by some sweet faces soon.  Instead I heard some whispering.  Then I heard Miss A give out a large cry followed by some quick hushing.  Then silence.  A couple of minutes later I heard the sweet sound of all of my children singing "Amazing Grace" trickling down the hallway from the girls' room.

They had sweetly conspired to try to let me get a bit more sleep.  Our baked oatmeal was even started in the oven!  My kids had gathered together to do the family Bible reading together.  What a sweet blessing!  After taking a couple of quick pictures I joined them.  Each of these sweet kids are truly a gift from God (yes, even the one that was keeping me from sleeping)!

Dairy is still a "no no"

Since he was just a week or so old Mr K has had a noticeable dairy issue.  Even small amounts of dairy can give him an icky tummy.  His digestive system may not show the nasty signs if he gets just a bit, but my night will be shot.  He feels icky and can't sleep peacefully.  Last week he helped himself to a bit of whipped cream that was on the counter.  He spent hours in bed with me tossing and turning that night.

*We're raising a little Trekie.  He loves to watch StarTrek with us.  At least we know how to make him happy on these nights.

Tonight a sweet (older, but not old enough) sibling helped him get some pizza.  That sibling left the mozzarella cheese on the pizza.  By the time anyone noticed; half the slice was gone. :(  He is a grumpy bug tonight and we've faced the fact that he will be hanging out in our room for most of the night.  Hopefully Miss A's teeth will not be bothering her too much tonight.

*Mr. K can tolerate small amounts of cultured dairy products once or twice a week.  Uncultured dairy in any amount is a big "no no" for him.  

Sittin' pretty

Little Miss is sitting on her own now.  She has been more stable the past couple of weeks, and we could see that this was coming soon.  It is fun to see her sitting up on her own playing.  She also stays in one place longer when she is sitting.

Maybe this new skill will slow her down just a bit?  Maybe she will not be too mobil when we are moving into our new house?  I can hope.  I won't count on it though.

*incase you are wondering; she is not yet six months

She loves sitting in the high chair now at meals.  We can tell she loves being one of the big people.

Trying to move

At 5 1/2 months old Miss A is itch'n to get up and go.  She's been watching all of the big brothers and sisters around here and seems to think she should be able to follow after them.

She can scoot her way across a blanket in no time if she sees something she really wants.

She is getting herself up on her hands and knees all the time.  She is very proud of herself.

She also gets very frustrated that all she can do up on those hands and knees is rock.  She wants to move!  Its not gonna be long.

Feed Me!!!!!

Miss A is just over 5 months old and has been very interested in food for a while now.  I've started feeding her some mashed bananas in baby oatmeal as well as some sweet potatoes.  She is also rather insistent that she be able to hold/chew on something while we are eating.

She likes her teething biscuits.

Celery is fun to gnaw on since she still has no teeth and can't get chunks off.

These mesh bag teether things are great!  She has enjoyed bananas and cantaloupe in hers so far.

Happy Birthday Mr. R!

We celebrated Mr. R's birthday this week-end.  I can't believe he is 12 already.  He is growing into quite the young man and is such a blessing to be around.  He took me out on a date for his birthday.  He chose The Cheesecake Factory.  It was so nice to get to spend some time with this sweet young man, and I loved seeing how he cared for me and his baby sister while we were out.

He had been saving up for a Lego mindstorms set.  We offered to pay for half of the set.  G'ma and Grandad found a great (used) set locally and pitched in the remainder of his part so that he could get his set.  He is one happy boy working on this every chance he has.

He requested minion cupcakes for his birthday.  Miss E did a GREAT job putting these together.

The boys were all dressed in their yellow shirts for church, they put on their "minion goggles" and were all set for the day.

Miss E added to the fun by putting on a purple shirt and getting her hair all crazy.

I love seeing my kids get all excited about their sibling's birthdays and helping them celebrate.  Miss E and Mr. M decorated for Mr. R and all of the kids had a great day together.

April Fools!

Some years we do this well.  Other years the cold and flu season still have me dragging and April sneaks up on me; this was one of those years.  We did have some fun though.

Mr. M slept in, so he got some funny eyebrows and a mustache (though they are hard to see in the picture, I think he had already tried to wash it off)

The little girls decided to dress as twins to confuse us all day.

Miss E made funny faces on apples for breakfast.