Sleepover

Anne had a friend over for a sleepover for her actual birthday this weekend...

 A second set of twins in the house?

Painting finger nails

 Silly makeovers

 

 Baking cookies to take to Sunday school

Park fun!

Yes, we tend to dominate the playground. I think parents cringe when they see kids keep popping out of our van like a barrel of monkeys (incidentally, why is it monkeys and not monkies?)...

We are also occasionally non-conventional in our playground maneuvers. 

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Elijah comes in from riding his bike...
Hey Mom! I want to tell you something. If there's no God, there would be nobody to make us. Or forgive us.
Two minutes later....AND Mama, if there's no God, there would be no Heaven. And no kids in Heaven. And Mama! Something else. If there was no God, there would be no sticks to carve.

Retreat

Here are a few pictures of the retreat that I stole from a friend since I didn't pack my camera. Oops. Sort of. :) I'm one of those timid photographers that feels weird taking pictures of pretty much anyone but my own kids. Something to work on in the future. Anyhoo...our theme was "More than Conquerors" with the Olympics thrown in here and there in games and funny skits.

The amazingly humorous synchronized swimming skit.

One of my greatest friends, getting a chance to chill.

Lovely bridge/stream

Our group! 

It's was such a neat and encouraging weekend and I came back ready to meet my challenges! 

5:00 yesterday was amazing. I had just sent the boys into the tub, had just started rice for dinner and thawed the chicken, when a friend showed up to borrow a trailer from our backyard, which involved more of my time than I anticipated. By the time I was done with that it was time to milk Nellie. I got back inside and made dinner, remembered to tell the boys to wash up and get out of the tub about 5 min. before dinner was done. As soon as dinner was on the table, Elijah informed me that the twins had just gotten in the tub. So, dinner wasn't very hot and all the clean ones ended up getting chocolate ice cream smeared all over themselves anyway. But you know? God gave me the grace to roll with the punches and it wasn't really a big deal. So thanks for your prayers if you prayed- I think it was the best retreat I've been to- in so many ways.

Happy Birthday!

Anne is EIGHT. Well, almost. But we celebrated a few days early and had a combined party with Uncle Mike, whose birthday was a few days ago. Happy birthday to Grandma, too- long distance! Fun times!

 Anne's friend gave her a rock painted like a sleeping puppy- pretty cute. :)

I wonder why Andy goes to the chiropractor so often....?

 Can you guess what we had for dinner?

Great Grandma Alloway sent this cute skirt- Anne loves it!

And a bike bell from Uncle Mike-able

We were the lousy parents that had to make coupons telling her that her presents were in the mail... Oh well, it could be worse.

I'm not sure if Elijah's more interested in what's in the box or the knife that's opening it...

Happy birthday to all and to all and good week!

Anticipation

Ok, I have nothing really to say right now except, I'm soooooo excited for this weekend! I haven't been on our women's retreat since I was nigh bursting with the twins (Ok, I was about 22 weeks. I thought at the time I was bursting. Little did I know how much skin can REALLY stretch...).

25 weeks along (3 weeks after the retreat)

About 35 weeks along (still had 2 weeks to go!)

 Anyway. I digress.
 Since then our church has started using a Young Life camp's facilities- much closer to home and it's sounds oh-so-much nicer than the other place. There's a sand volleyball court (please someone bring a volleyball?), pool with water slides, hot tub, coffee shop, ropes course (I wish I weren't afraid of heights...), beautiful scenery, SLEEPING IN PAST 5:30, but most of all great friends and soon-to-be friends! Our speaker is a neat lady from Scottsdale Bible that actually did a marriage seminar at our church with her husband. They seemed very genuine and wise and I'm looking forward to gleaning some of that wisdom! Often getting a break brings me home overwhelmed and completely ill-equipped to get back into "real life" of feeding and cleaning up after a family of 7 at least 3 times a day, plus taking care of the animals and other household stuff... I'm hoping to keep the perspective this time about getting a break- not just to have a break- but to recharge for the next year of just LIFE. Christian will be heading off on a long tour next week, so it will not be a time for weakness! Please pray with me that this weekend will be a big encouragement and life-changing for all of the ladies there! (If you remember, you can also pray for Christian who will be trying to learn to milk a goat this weekend on top of taking care of the kids and the house and garden...if anyone can do it, he can! What a man. :) )

Quote of the Day

"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." -Paul

Miscellaneous

Christian had the opportunity to visit his brother and his family in OH last week- we haven't seen them in almost 3 years, so it was fun seeing the pictures of how much they're maturing! One day they visited an airplane museum.

 D. in a tower of teddies!

R. is turning into a lovely lady!

J and D with the family Turtle (a model of the motor home the Youngs grew up in in MX). Every Christmas we have some competition and whoever wins gets the Turtle for the year. Last year the #4's won by proxy in a card game- I think it might have been Apples to Apples. The year before was a marshmallow gun shooting competition.

 In other news, I find E. sleeping in all sorts of positions- this one just made me shake my head. How...?

His most recent funny saying, "You freaked the willies out of me!"

The kids will be going to their new homes this week! They've grown so much and are finally looking cute again as their hair on their foreheads is growing out and their disbudding scabs are falling off.

 Meet Tribble! She's pregnant, due early November (for sure!) and should be a great milker, unlike her predecessor Nellie, whom we are trying to find a new home for... :)

 Some sillies

A Little Catching Up

The older 3 kids were involved in a bike rally to raise money for Gospel for Asia to use in purchasing bicycles for national missionaries. Elijah rode 15 laps, Anne-9, and Peter a whopping 35 laps! We so proud of them! They also had a rope swing and some other activities for kids who weren't as excited about riding the bikes...

The amazing Cooper and Katie volunteered to take the older 3 to the county fair while Mama and the twins went to Cracker Barrell and got some special candy. Daddy stayed home to work on a project sans enfants. The kids took these pictures...

 Anne and Peter rode the ferris wheel (I think 1st time for both of them, maybe just Anne)

 They packed their own snacks of fresh veggies!

They were able to make it to the demolition derby.

 And lots of rides!

And an added bonus was getting to ride the bus to and from the fair! Thanks Katie and Cooper!!!

And some last random veggie pictures...

 My mound of butter chard (ended up fitting in just over 2 gal. freezer bags)

 A couple ginormous cheddar cauliflowers

 A few peppers

 

I love zinnias!