Florida-bound!

We will be loading up 2 cars and heading to DisneyWorld for Christmas break this year! We're meeting my parents there to spend a week visiting the parks and spending some quality time with eachother!

We decided to make t-shirts for everyone to wear at least one day while we're there, so Allie got on the computer and make this awesome design....
We'll all have black t-shirts and this will be on the front. On the back of the adult shirts we will have: gramma, grampa, mom & dad! And on the back of the kids shirts we will have numbers 1 (being Allie) through number 8 (Caleb)!

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN ;-)

Ready to shoot

I'm thinking about trying to re-launch my career in photography!

What do you think?!

Consequences

The other day, Zack brought home a brand new toy for the boys...
It was an instant hit- even the big boys joined in ;-)
Sadly, one of the boys wasn't able to play...
Nope. Mr. Matthew was being punished, and the new toy couldn't have come home at a better time! You see, Matthew is a HUGE fan of toy cars, so to have to sit out while this new toy was being broken in was a major consequence!

And since the punishment meant no touching the new toy for the whole night.....
Mr. Matthew was rarin' to go first thing in the morning ;-)

In fact, all the boys were right back at it the second they got up!
It's nice to have a new toy around the house....not to mention a new punishment ;-)

How do you spell relief?

Around here...
we spell it....
P.O.O.P. ;-)
And normally, I would take a baby in this particular situation straight to the bathtub.
However, this particular baby is very particular about his bath.
Translation: he HATES it!
So we find other ways to clean up after a big mess.
Translation: LOTS of wipes ;-)

My baby can read!

My
baby
can

read?!
At least, that was the plan anyway!
Maybe next time
we should try
a more boring seat ;-)
And oh, by the way, Allie thinks he can play football too- looks like Caleb has multiple talents ;-)

No guys allowed!

Well, that's it.

The end of an era.

Allie's final Homecoming dance.

I can hardly believe she's a senior this year, and it won't be long before she'll be putting on that cap and gown!
But let's not get ahead of ourselves ;-)

Allie was stunning last night in Jessica McClintock....
And Emma, well, I'm not sure who Emma wore, but she looked divine...
And VERY grown up!
The girls decided Homecoming would be more fun with no dates!

And while no guys were allowed.....

little brothers were ok ;-)

Emily went to dinner with some friends but didn't go to the dance, and Sophie stayed home- maybe next year!

(I'll have to start working on them now!)

I have to admit, when this year is over, I'll really miss shopping for dresses with Allie!

And while I'm not in a hurry to start looking, I dream of the day that we get to go shopping together for wedding gowns ;-)

Overjoyed for overalls

After having 5 boys in a row....
I'm not a big fan of boys' clothes ;-)
But one thing I do love for my little tykes...
...is a good pair of overalls!
They're just so....
...stinkin'....
CUTE!!

Liberated!

I would love to tell you that this isn't a room in my house...
...but sadly....it is!
And while it may be hard to believe, there is an upside to this mess that belongs to my first-born...
yep- just a year ago I would have been on my hands and knees cleaning up this disaster, but not anymore ;-) You see, I've learned to relax and let the mess "be!" I finally realized that cleaning up for her just prolongs the madness- she'll never learn to pick it up on her own.

Fortunately for me, she's the only messy teenager I have right now.....
Sophie (who shares a room with "the queen of messy") and Emily manage to keep their spaces tidy most of the time!
And while I can always tell where Miss Allie's been....
I'm finally able to turn a blind eye and do something more fun than worry about her mess!

Dedicated

Yesterday, the Gang celebrated a very special occasion.....
We all went to church to dedicate our newest member.....
We sat together and listened to one of our church's pastors talk about the importance of raising our children to know God and our responsibility to model the right behavior for our young ones. We got to watch a wonderful slideshow with pictures of all the babies that were there to be dedicated, and then we were asked to come up to the front and pray with one of the pastors...

After the dedication, the Gang had some grub! Jacob had his on the floor...
Caleb had an exciting "first" while we there- his first drink from a cup!
Woo!!
Yummy?!

It was a wonderful day, and we are so happy to have another child we get to raise to know and love the Lord! We can hardly wait for the day that he will decide to be baptized ;-)