Little BOY Blue

Brubbs has become enamored with markers.

Today he found Olivia's school box unattended and this was the result.

In the picture below he's saying, "MOMMA!! SEE!? SEE?! MAH-KER! BOO(blue)!!

Boy OH Boy! What am I going to do with him?

Ann has Sisters AND Brothers

This morning after we'd finished school early and I had a rare chance to go up into the playroom and just sit and play with the kids for a long time without having to hold any crying kids or nurse the baby. Addi, KK and Liv were playing at the desk with their toys while Mia was playing chewing some non-hair toys, and Brubbs and I were smashing horses into each other and laughing. Then I heard this conversation.
KK: "This is Ann's Sisters! Aren't they pretty!? Look at all of them, Sister!"
Liv(said with a blunt voice): "Yes, Emma Claire. They are all sisters."
KK: "They are the ancestors."
Liv(with a giggle): "Yeah,"
KK: And THESE are the AnBROTHERS!"
Liv: "What?!?"
KK: "The brothers! The ANbrothers and the ANcestors!! LOOK they are all lined up behind ANN!"
Liv(said in her best patient teacher voice): "Emma Claire. There aren't any anbrothers. Ancestors are dead people who are in your family before you. It's not brothers and sisters of a girl named Ann!"
KK: "Well, they can be dead too. Watch."(Knocks toys down.) "HA!"
Liv: "OK. Emma Claire. I'm not going to argue, but I'm right. There are no anbrothers."
KK: "Well, OK, but THESE ARE anBROTHERS and they are dead!"

I love these two. My big girls!

Two Second Tuesday

I just have a few seconds...

Brubbs said, "MIA. RIDE!!" So I helped him get her on his truck. Worried she'd fall right off, I was standing RIGHT beside them, but I didn't have anything to worry about. He wasn't letting her go anywhere. He held on to her and very slowly rocked her back and forth and said "WEE." Then he said, "MIA! KISS!" LOVE this picture of them.

These two are going to keep me on my toes, that's for SURE!

Mia is a Rock-n-Roll Hipster

No no no, not THAT kind of hipster.

Mia has sadly hit the milestone of being a hip-held baby!

She's a really tall baby, so it's always been kind of hard to know how to hold her,

 but now she seems more comfortable on my hip.

It makes me sad when they hit that milestone,

because you can't call a "hipster" a newborn anymore.

 She's also doing a lot of rocking on hands and knees and rolling around.

She'll do the lunge and plunge too, but after hitting her face a few times on the hard floor 

she's a little more cautious about those moves.

She sure can get where she wants to go quick though.

She's got the quadpod sitting down too, so I'm sure she'll be sitting alone in a few weeks! BOO!

I can't believe she's almost SIX months old! Times flies!

Four legs of LOVE

During a recent outing to the park we put our two middle littles in a baby swing together.

While they were swinging and laughing and having the time of their life

I just smiled and laughed with them.

What a blessing to have all these babies growing up together loving each other.

At that moment there was no where else those two would rather be than right there with each other.

It's tough you know, raising five kids, but the benefits SO outweigh the hardships.

Strangers in Wal Mart walk up to us and say things like:

"Are these ALLLLL yours?!"

"BLESS YOUR HEART, YOU POOOOOR THING!" 

"OH MY! Do YOU ever have YOUR hands full!!"

So, crabby lady at Wal Mart, this post is for you!

Have my hands full? You bet I do!! Full of LOVE!

Pin Pon and Friends

I've mentioned before that we are using My Father's World curriculum this year. The them of the year is Exploring Countries and Cultures. It's such a great idea starting first with an overview of the world, then it has us "visiting" all the individual countries across the globe. We just finished up a study of Mexico. To celebrate we had a Mexican Fiesta. Below are some of the pictures and a HYSTERICAL video of one of the songs that they kids learned to share with their dad.

First of all, we needed decorations, so we made a pinata'! I HATE paper mache, because I always end up having to do it mostly on my own and it's a HUGE mess, so I figured out how to make my own pinata with a paper lunch bag. It worked great, and there was virtually no mess!

Here's how we did it:

We took a paper lunch bag and filled it half full of "goodies." We filled it the rest of the way full of balled-up paper. Then I stapled the top of the bag.

I let Olivia design the pinata'. She wanted it to look like the Mexican flag, so I looked in our party cabinet and got some green, white, and red crepe paper.

I had Olivia measure around the bag then cut several strips of the paper to glue on.

 

Olivia also used the scissors to cut fringe on the strips of crepe paper. She really liked that part.

We simply spread glue around the bag and added the paper. As a finishing touch we added the crest that's found on the Mexican flag. I got it from one of our school pages, but there are TONS of free clip art sites on the internet.

Last, we added streamers to the bottom with tape.

The finished product! Worked like a charm and was still really fun for the kids to make.

For other decorations we made Mexican flowers. Olivia made a Mexican flag(Yes it's on yellow paper.). We also used some of our work pages for decorations.

Spanish color words.

John 3:16 in Spanish with Mexican flag worksheet. The one on the end is Bubby's.

Our kitchen decor. I pulled the "vines," red table cloth, and green napkins out from Addison's Watermelon party leftovers.

A sweet little Mexican doll a friend gave me over 15 years ago was our centerpiece.

Mis bebe's. Olivia picked out their "spanish outfits."

We had some old fashioned spanish music records that we played. This is the kids clapping while they were waiting to be served their Mexican meal.

Mis hijas

Pin Pon y amigos!

Pin Pon's a paper doll and his clothes are all in place.

He uses soap and water to wash his hands and face.

He straightens out his hair with a tiny ivory comb,

And even if he pulls hard he doesn't whine or moan. 

Pin Pon the paper doll. He was such a little HAM!

The pinata' busting.

el profesor

And, without further ado, I give you...PIN PON!!!

What a blessing to teach these Little's.

Boys Love Tractors and Tricycles

This weekend we went up to Manly's hometown for his 10 year high school reunion. Yes, he's actually that young. While we were there we visited with his family who still lives in the same place where he grew up. It was the first time we've been up there in over a year and a half, so it was the first time Brubbs got to spend time on the farm. He LOVED it!
While we were there the kids got to visit the tractor, the horses, run free in the field, and fly kits. Brubbs also got to play on some of the same toys that Manly played with as a child. I love that we have these pictures.

Manly as a wee child with the same sense of direction he has now. Isn't he the cutest thing?

I almost loaded this tractor into the suburban while no one was looking.

Maybe some day they'll let us have it. Brubbs LOVED it!

My Manly Man sporting the trike.

Brubbs on a farm tricycle. Not sure it's the exact one, but still it makes me smile.

A Good FRIEND is Hard to Find

Have you ever had someone in your life that you want to spend more and more time with because they just get you. That's how we feel about our friends Wes and Bailey and their family. Scotty first met Bailey in the 6th grade and they have been friends since then. Wes joined the picture as Bailey's husband shortly after high school and that's when I met them.
They are crazy about each other and love their kids near flawlessly. Bailey is a labor/delivery nurse, but now just works two nights a week so that she can spend most of her time with their five kids 6 and under(just like us!). She's just started the homeschool journey with their oldest who is in Kindergarten this year. Wes builds the most beautiful handmade guitars you've ever seen. He's a great musician and a fantastic father. Their kids are hysterical and sweet  and BEAUTIFUL! Bailey and I keep saying that we're going to arrange marriages between our kids because they have 4 boys and a girl and we have 4 girls and a boy! We'll see how that turns out in a few years...Our kids get along so well with each other that it seems we spend a lot of time together, but really we only get to see them once ever few months. We got to see them this weekend and it was just so fun to get to live life together. Now I'm going to start praying the Lord brings them closer to us, because they are such a blessing to us!
These are a few pictures of our time together. I wish I'd gotten a group photo, but with 14 people, it's tough to get everyone in one spot long enough to snap a picture!

Scotty with their youngest Elijah. He looks like he could belong to us!

Scotty with their Eli and our Isaiah. I'm telling you these two look like brothers! 

Some of our kids eating a picnic lunch. This is everyone except the babies and parents.

More picnic.

Olivia with their oldest, Josiah. These two are so much alike and had such intelligent fun.

Wes with most of the kids. My girls were talking about him this morning and Olivia said, "Sometimes I'm a little scared of Mr. Wes because of his long hair and deep voice." Emma Claire said, "I'm NOT scared! I think he is HAAAANDSOME! He looks like Jack Sparrow." 

The Isaiah's! Our Isaiah is maybe 2 weeks older that theirs. They don't look alike AT ALL, but they are near identical in personality.

Addison with her "BEST BEST BEST friend!" She said this because he shared his oatmeal cream pie. Ha! She said, "I think Noah is NICE!"

Olivia and Josiah looking for "clues."

Our Little Girls and their only girl, Anna Ruth. Isn't she so CUTE! Such a sweet personality and those eyes!

The Isaiah's invade Mia's personal space with kisses and hugs. Their Isaiah started it, but our Isaiah didn't want to be left out. In this picture it looks like their Isaiah is saying, "Awwwww!"

Liv and Josiah. These two had so much fun. So sweet!