A long time gone...

I’ve needed more iCloud space and finally broke down and bought some tonight...after all I don’t won’t to forget moments like these 

Friends

I hope these girls are encouraging and supportive friends for life...they sure do love to giggle with one another! 

A flower from my son

This energetic boy picked two flowers for me and ran to me yelling, “Mama I got you flowers!” My heart melted...I’m so thankful for this sweet and LOUD little boy. So thankful!

Basking in Baskin Robin’s Ice Cream!

The girls took care of the neighbor cats and as a thank you they generously gave us a gift card for Baskin Robins! YAY! We had a great time but when Gabriel’s I’ve cream was the only ice cream remaining they girls began to circle him and we had to make sure that little buddy got all his just desserts! 

How do you do it?

1. Together

2. Accept help when someone offers

3. Ask for help when it’s needed

4. Pray and sing like mad! 

Here’s the crew together unloading the dishwasher...Catherine puts away the high objects, Emely does the kid dishes and Tupperware’s and Gabriel is the silverware sorter. 

And the never ending amounts of laundry...

BFF (best friends forever!)

Catherine has a dear friend Bronte who is so down to earth and funny and we just love when she comes over to hang out! She is very accommodating to the Littles and still 100% middle school girl! I found these pics of the silly two BFFs the other day after they used my phone for homework. Clearly they were working hard!

Coffee time with my girls!

I’ve started a new Sunday tradition: I take one girl out for coffee to the place they chose. They get to pick their drink and a treat and we can chat, read, play games and do whatever they want! It has been a great time connecting with one another! 

Little Hikers on MLK Day

Dasher got his first hike this past Monday! The older girls were away at snow camp and we got to explore the outdoors by our house!

Little shopping buddy

My Gabriel is the worst in stores. He has energy to go so asking him to sit while I grocery shop, get things at target or browse at Hobby Lobby is like saying, “Son, today you will be tortured but it will be okay. You won’t have to go through this again u til next week.” He is growing in patience and I am growing in my bag of tricks to keep him happy...gum is usually a huge hit. 

Lunchtime mess

There are days where I feel like I feed kids, clean up kids, clean kids, clean up kids and so forth. The cycle of dishes and laundry never end because of lunch times like this pasta time 

Thankfully salads are much cleaner!

Music class with my Buddy

The older girls had no school on Friday do they joined Gabriel and me at music class (with the promise of coffee afterwards...so I guess I bribed them...). Hannah took a few pictures of The two of us using the parachute...the smile on his face at music class is priceless!

Just one picture

It was such a lovely afternoon together a s a family. The girls had the day off of school, Jeff got home from work early. We took the kids to the park, played and laughed and on the way home there was a beautiful sunset! I told the kids please stand over there so I can get a picture...well you can see the pictures I got. Treasures of my kids being my kids!

All I have needed thy hand hath provided

A dear friend Paulette send out a message at 2:30pm Friday afternoons saying she was headed to ER and needed someone to watch her foster babes overnight. Being the helper that I am, and knowing it was just for a night I told her we could get them. I picked up the girls from school and went straight over to her house. Rachel Lee said it accurately, “Wow! We went from a family of 7 to a family with 7 kids. I sent out a quick message to my Columbia moms facebook group and found a second pack n play. We were set for the night! 

The next need on the agenda was to figure out basketball games on Saturday morning. Jeff had to fill in as head coach for Hannah which meant I would need to take all 6 other kiddos to Rachel Lee’s game. That seemed a bit difficult so I sent out a message to our support friends and asked if anyone could take her. Our kind Jesslyn stepped up and arrives Saturday morning at 8:30am to get RL to her 9am game 15 minutes early to warm up. Amazing!

As the day went on we realized Paulette was needing more than one night. We got a double stroller, bouncer, bumbo seat and small swing from Sami to have places to set the babies down when we needed to do something else. 

Then there was Gabriel’s birthday party...what do we do with babies when we’re trying to run a microphone party? That’s when Michael and Marianne stepped in. They held the babies and when they fell asleep they set them in their pack and plays. I was too busy to get a picture but here’s a Polaroid that Emmy took

Paulette said she would be ready for the babies Monday morning...just one morning getting ready with all the kids. I could do it...but I didn’t do it alone...my amazinfnolder girls were up and helpful holding, feeding, and helping load the kiddos.

 

I dropped off the babies and took my birthday boy out for coffee and a scone just as he asked when we got the call that Paulette was headed back to the ER. Back we went to pick up the babies. When I showed up the firefighters were there and she refused a ride in an ambulance but her neighbor took her to the ER. Gabriel got tattoos from the firefighters and I got two babies.

We weren’t sure how long we’d have them this time. Joan brought target stuff (diapers, wipes, formula and clothes). Sami had two car seat bases that would help get the babies in and out of the car and Gretchen picked up the bases and brought them to our house. Michael and Marianne already said they would drop off a meal, even though I protested that the babies would be gone Monday night jeff reminded me that we say yes to help. And I’m so glad we did! The one item I really wanted was a formula dispenser bc the babies used different formula and I didn’t want to carry large formula containers. Michael and Marianne once again came to the rescue and brought one by! 

All I needed to take care of the ALL the kids was falling into place. Jeanette also brought groceries and another meal and Wednesday morning the babies went back. But during that busy time when I felt pulled to give attention to so many kids and get kids to and from places in a time frame I also marveled that everything I needed was provided. And some things were provided before I knew I needed them. Stepping out and doing crazy things helps you see that you are not alone but that I have a community and a God that cares for each step I take. Praise God!

Random little asks

When I recieved a text message from Audrey asking what gift Gabriel would like for his birthday I asked him, “Son what would you like for your birthday?” and he responded, “A scone.” So today on this magical day when he turns three I knew I wanted to get him a scone. And here he is, one happy three year old!

Another random ask was when I asked him what food he wanted at his birthday party and he looked at me and said, “Crutons!” I looked at him puzzled and Catherine said, “What a great idea! We should make a Caesar salad!” And so we did. 

But the best random ask was when I asked him what type of party he wanted. I suggested a car, train or fire truck theme and he said, “A microphone party!” And so I threw together some songs on a playlist and had a microphone singing and dancing party...it was perfect for my musically inclined little guy!