the two big kids....(and kylie's glasses)

So, we've all been home today recovering from yesterday when six of the seven of us had a stomach bug. (Tom is actually starting to feel sick this afternoon) Josiah has bounced back quicker than the rest of us (but he also got it first). Kylie was well enough to go out to pick up her glasses that were ordered last week. She only really needs to use them for school to see the board...she picked them out herself and likes them. (I think they're cute) We were discussing last night how hard of a day yesterday was....blow-out diapers, cleaning up throw-up off the floor and bed, endless loads of laundry...but even in the midst of it we're so aware of the fact that if this is as bad as it gets for us, it really isn't that bad. I'm thankful for God's grace in reminding me of His goodness to our family.

the 3 little kids....

I've decided to experiment with the black and white setting on my camera....I think I like the way the pictures turn out. Sweet Matthias has had a fever for two days now...he's been pretty pitiful. So far Leighton and the rest have stayed well...today I've noticed that she's happy to see her brother when he's up - he's been napping more so isn't around her as much as he normally is. AJ has been a sweet big sister. We've been in the house all day because it's so cold (50 degrees?) today. I am glad to be able to stay home with my kids. There are days that I feel like I'm going crazy (thankfully today is not one of them...yet) , but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Sleeping babies....

There is something sweet about a sleeping baby. I was about to get the babies up to get in the car to head out one morning and decided that I ought to capture the moment of peace before I had to rudely wake them up.

They have a lot of fun with each other. Whenever they are just crawling around playing they are usually together. They were headed out of their bedroom to crawl down the hall when I called their names to get a quick picture. It's fun to hear the slap slap slap of little hands on the floor going throughout the house. (actually the slap slap slap noise only really comes from Matthias...Leighton's little paws are more mouse-like) :)

Fresh fruit and highlights from a stream of fussy days!

This is the beginning of the first of two strawberry seasons. It has been so nice to stop by produce stands and get fresh sweet strawberries to take home and eat. This past week Miss Patty stopped by our house with two pounds of strawberries for our family...what a treat!
I bought a pomelo from Mr. Burnett's produce stand last week. Tom says that this picture looks like chicken meat, but it was soooo good. Sadly, I am the only one in the family that enjoys any grapefruit type food...so I ate alone. The one consistent thing that we have going on during the week is storytime on thursday mornings. We enjoy going to hear Miss Dee read stories and doing the craft that she has planned out. This past thursday we made snowflakes...I helped AJ with the one on the left...and she insisted on doing the one on the right by herself. I thought it was wonderful....how fun that she was so excited to create such a sweet snowflake. :)
AJ had "book time" in her room one day this week. Sometimes I require her to take a nap and other days I just have her have room or book time. This was a book time day and when Josiah went in to tell her she could come out (when they got home from school), he found her like this....fast asleep in her diego book. hilarious!
This was one of very few non-crying moments on a very fussy day this week. I've been trying to give the twins some pack-n-play time during the day so that I can do things without having to worry about what they're into. Usually AJ is in the pack-n-play with them. They have a lot of fun together....often laughing at each other for reasons unknown to me. They continue to bless us, even in the midst of fussiness.

Our Christmas trip, Part 2

So, after church on sunday I packed while Tom napped and the kids played. On our way out of town we were able to stop by and see the Storella's (Shernae was Kylie and Josiah's kindergarten teacher) and visit with them as we put babies into pj's and did our last feeding. We hit the road around 9:30 pm....
...and arrived in Jacksonville around 8:30 am. We'd never done the all night driving thing...I think it worked pretty well although we were definitely exhausted by the time we got there. The Smuland's made a bacon and eggs breakfast for us and the kids were able to crawl around and get a little energy out before we got back in the car to drive 3 1/2 more hours to get home! We had a great "vacation"....and are very glad to get home.

Our Christmas trip, Part 1

We spent Christmas day at home in Florida....Tom's favorite part was Matthias with the bow on his head. :) Most of the day was spent eating, playing and packing for our trip!
We were able to break up our trip to VA by stopping at our friends from seminary in Raleigh on the way up. Kylie and Megan were best friends when we were in St. Louis and whenever they see each other they are able to pick up where they left off! It was really good to see the Busbice's.... thanks friends!
My brother and his family were visiting our parents from Kentucky, so the cousins were able to get together and play (which sadly only happens once or twice a year)...they had a really good time together. Tom and I spent the week up there going back and forth between my parents and Tom's mom's place....trying to get as much grandparent time in as possible for the kids. We also got away for a night to celebrate our 10th anniversary!
After NoVA we headed for Harrisonburg...we stopped in to get some of Kylie's teeth pulled and then spent a night in Lexington (with a side trip to Charlottesville)....after that we spent three nights in the 'burg with the Couric family. It's a little tricky for seven of us to find somewhere to crash, and it was such a blessing to all of us to be able to stay with the Couric's...the kids had a really good time with each other and we adults were able to enjoy some good conversation after the kids went to bed.
The highlight of our Harrisonburg time for the big kids was Kylie being able to spend a day with Allison and Josiah being able to spend an afternoon with Barrett. They miss some of those good friendships that we've left and it was fun for them to be able to just play with old friends.

As a side note...I know that I've mentioned my friend, Rachel, to some of you. Rachel is Allison's mother and has been at UVA in the hospital for three weeks now. They are hoping that she will be going home tomorrow, but there is a long road to recovery for her. Please continue to pray for Rachel...for her paralized vocal cord and healing there (she has a 'peg tube'? for food b/c she cannot swallow), she had a defribrillator put in...so she could use prayer for the pain that she's experiencing from both of those things. And lastly, please pray for patience as she continues to recover... for her and Anthony and the kids.