"O Christmas Tree"

We got our Christmas tree this last week. It was a lot of fun decorating this year because Dylan is so into it, he wanted to have a say with where all the ornament went and he keeps asking for us to go to the store to buy more decorations for the house. :) We also have the lights up on the house, we haven't put them up for a few years so it is fun to have them glowing at night.

Picture below is Mark unloading from the roof of our car.

This year the tree went up no problem...there have been issues in past years of the trunk not fitting correctly in the stand. Thankfully all went well

Cadence loves all the lights in the neighborhood, when we drive at night she says "look mama" at each and every house. A few nights ago we went for a bike ride tour of lights in our neighborhood, the kids had so much fun.

5 Months Old

Isabelle is now 5 months old. She is getting to be a lot of fun, making noises & starting to play with some toys. She also loves to suck on her toes. :)

She started eatting food this last week. So far so good. Yesterday I gave her carrots, they went over a lot better than the rice cereal has.

Rarely does she get any space. If Isabelle is awake, usually Cadence is right there next to her trying to hug her or sit on her (which she calls snuggling...actually she says "nuggle").
Isabelle is either going to grow up loving to be around people or go the opposite and just want some space!

Thanksgiving

We had a nice meal at Mark's parents house. My side of the family always comes over for the holiday as well
AAll the kids...(isabelle not so happy :))

When I was a kid my mom had a tradition that she would make up a basket of little surprises and every time we said something we were thankful for we could pick something out. This tradition has been passed down to her grandkids. They love it and it is so fun to hear what they say now that they are getting a bit older.

Good Morning

This morning was so precious...I was laying in bed with Isabelle when Dylan came in to snuggle with us. He started hugging Isabelle and kept saying in the baby talk voice that we all do, "I love you Isabelle". And then told me how much he loves her.

Then I went to get Cadence up and I was greeted with "I wuf you, mommy". What a great morning of love. :)

The kids have been saying some fun things:
-Cadence and I were doing animal sounds in the car today, she would say a animal and I would make the noise. It went something like this, dog, cow, tiger, mickey mouse. :) I told her I wasn't sure what sound he made.

-The other day he went to play with our neighbors but they were sick. When he came back to our house I asked if he had asked them if they needed anything. He answered that he thinks "they needed some vitamin seeds"

-Dylan prayed for the family tonight at bed, he also thanked God that He was taking care of Lincoln.

-Our tangerines are starting to get ripe on our tree in the front yard. Dylan told me today that it was a good thing we had food growing in our yard just in case the grocery store ran out of stuff, then we would have things to eat.

-Dylan asked if God was bigger than the sea.

Isabelle - 4 months

My friend Camilla let me borrow her good camera to take some pictures of Isabelle. I needed some close ups of her hands, feet & head for a picture thing that I have of all the kids. It captures so much of the details...oh, to have a nice camera of my own. :)

Music to my ears

It recorded a little quiet but hopefully you can hear her.

Can you recognize the song?

Jesus Loves Me

So precious!

I read this on someone else's blog today...

Grief may be a thing we all have in common, but it looks different on everyone.

It isn’t just death we have to grieve. It’s life, it’s loss, it’s change. And when you wonder why it has to be so hard sometimes…it has to hurt so bad…the thing you have to remember is that it can turn on a dime.

But that’s how you stay alive…when it hurts so much you can’t breathe, that’s how you survive. And you remember that one day, somehow, impossibly, it won’t feel this way. It won’t hurt this much.

Grief comes in its own time for everyone, in its own way. So the best we can do, the best anyone can do is try for honesty. The really hard thing, the very worst part of grief is that you can’t control it. The best we can do is to let ourselves feel it when it comes. And let it go when we can. No, the very worst part is that the very minute you think you’re past it, it starts all over again. And always… EVERY TIME… it takes your breath away.