A review of 2012

To close out 2012 I had thought it would be neat to do a review of some of the year.
I'm always slow at things and many blogs that I read did the same thing in a more timely manner than I!  I really enjoyed the photo collages a friend did so I decided to go that route.
(Sorry to be a copycat Susan!)

• Julia sharing her birthday hat & backpack with Isaac
• Sweet siblings holding hands on our morning walks
• Isaac is hilarious when he sees beggar weeds on anyone's clothes!  He will not rest until he has picked the very last one off.  :)
• The 5 monkeys enjoying Isaac being big enough to sit with them at the table for breakfast
• Showing off their cookie flowers from a school project we did
• Mercy & Isaac sit beside each other in the truck, they often hold hands and it is so precious!
• Isaac wanted to help the big kids bring in the trash cans one day
• Caleb & Isaac playing in a load of rocks that my dad had for a project he was doing
• Julia having trumpet time with her daddy

• Julia enjoys holding baby Seri at her baby shower
• Charis loving on Serenity too
• The children set up a set of bunnies in their sibling order including a baby girl and boy bunny just in case God gave us another baby  ;)
• Someone's interesting way of setting the table
• Charis having fun learning to make a potholder
• Her finished product!
• Julia proud of her washrag folding
• Isaac got a bloody nose from a sibling!
• Math blocks can make fun creations  :)

• Isaac at the zoo with Simeon
• 3 girlies at the zoo
• Cousins enjoying the penguins at the zoo
• The old truck is still going strong even after 220,000 miles, thank you God!
• Samuel walking with Isaac at the zoo
• The Crane crew with us
• My 5 little monkeys
• Do little boys ever look at the camera (or phone?)
• One of the most oddest eggs I have ever seen

• Someone's masterpiece!
• This little guy emptied the silverware drawer into the jug of water on the counter...
• Zonked out when we practiced sitting for church (he has by far been my most challenging child with this!)
• Breakfast on the porch one morning 
• Matching brother jammies
• Isaac eating his "chicken bone" as the kids call it
• Sweet napping baby boy
• Super Isaac scaling the shoe shelf!
• Daddy was trying out the new (loud) duct cleaning machine so Isaac got some hearing protection  ;)

• My haircutting helpers...not!
• Cute little man singing in church
• So tired one day he fell asleep on the potty
• Siblings make up fun games!
• Taking a ride in the clothes basket
• The day I ate too much turkey on Thanksgiving...errr...I mean, the day we announced the blessing of #6 on the way!  ;)
• The kiddos promptly made Isaac into a "Baby Jesus" for their manger scene
• Silly kids helping put up the tree
• Christmas lights at night

Praying you all had a blessed 2012!

Happy New Year!!

The beach trip that killed the camera...

So way back in April our family took it's first (and what ended up being only) trip to the beach.

We tried out one we had never been to before that you could drive close to the shore and park.




The kiddos had a blast, Isaac loved the sand.  Everywhere you walked though you sunk waaaaay down but Isaac thought the holes were great to look in and apparently crawling like a crab was much more efficient than walking!  ;)

While there we encountered a sand storm and we were literally caught in cloud of sand swarming all around us!

I wanted a group shot so here are our attempts.  Mercy wanted to hold Isaac, he did not want to be held at all and Julia was very upset that she didn't get to hold him.  ;)

So we let her hold him for the next shot and she was happy but he still was not!

The children found a neat little crab they brought home and then someone little snapped this last shot of me unloading the suburban before the camera decided to never work again.

Although I kept it safe in the diaper bag during our trip that sand storm got sand everywhere and ruined the camera. We had hoped to be able to revive it but it never did and we didn't replace it until December which is partially why the blog went blank.  Not a good excuse but one of the reasons why.  I'm hoping to be more diligent this year, we shall see!

Miss Mercy

 Miss Mercy, she is a bundle of energy.  

She has 2 volumes, loud and off (meaning asleep!)

I thought she was just going to be a one of kind type of girl in those aspects but alas, 

she has trained her younger sister to be her partner in crime.

She has got the biggest smile and while her hair isn't as curly as her big sister

I just love it when the humidity hits her.  

She has this silky hair and it will make the most gorgeous ringlets.

Notice the wide blue eye look in this picture,

this is a very typical, signature Mercy face!

We just love her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes!

Redneck Rollerskates

 Not every little girl is so fortunate to have a big brother who invents redneck rollerskates  for his little sister.  Made with love with train pieces held in place with rubber bands!

 Just a *tad* bit scary but she was oh so excited if you can't tell by her face! :)

*Disclaimer: No children were harmed in the photographing of this post.  ;)

Cheer Up!

 "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." 

 Proverbs 17:22

My little herd

After having missed Chick Fil A's Cow Appreciation Day last year due to being sick the kiddos were even more excited to get to dress up like cows and go this year.

On the rare occasions we go I 

1) always go through the drive thru

and 

2) by a few things to split up amongst everyone

My little herd was thrilled that we

1) went inside to eat

2) got their own food

and

3) got to play in the play area!

Simple things but it was special to see them enjoying themselves so much.

And I tried to make their outfits such where they can where them next year as well.  

Hopefully all the prep work is done.  :)

And this adorable little cow went to greet his daddy when he got home from work that evening.

This was after a nap, as you can see in the above picture that he was a grumpy cow before his nap.  ;)

Oh So Easy Ice Cream Cake :)

I found this post unpublished from about a year and a half ago at least!  I was getting ready to make this again and thought it too fun and easy of a dessert not to share.  Enjoy

I don't know why I am torturing myself with a post like this. ;) I have a cough that just will not leave me be so eating ice cream is definitely not in my vocabulary as possible menu items right now. I'm still 5 wks out but already feel like I'm about to pop and that someone pulled the plug on my energy. Where oh where is that nesting energy rush? I am gonna need it! :)

But anyways, I made this about a month ago and it was only the 3rd time I've made it but it is easy, pretty and of course, yummy! My sister pulled it out of a Kraft recipe magazine but I made a couple modifications to it but it is a really nice treat.

What you need:

12 ice cream sandwiches
1 pint heavy whipping cream (or you can use Cool Whip)
1 small box chocolate pudding 

8-10 oreo cookies
1/2 cup chocolate syrup (or fudge topping warmed)

So I start off with homemade whipped cream, chocolate syrup, a box of chocolate pudding and a package of oreos.  Use what you'd like but I use all organic to help me feel better.  ;)

Take 1/2 cup chocolate syrup and mix the pudding mix into it, then add 1 cup whipped cream.
Chop up 8-10 oreos and stir in.  Try not to eat too much!

Take a piece of foil and place 4 of the sandwiches next to each other.

Spread half of the pudding mixture over the sandwiches.  Add 4 more sandwiches, the remaining pudding mixture and then top with the last 4 sandwiches.

Take the remaining whipped cream and ice the outside of your cake.

It should look something like this:

Wrap it up in the foil and freeze until hard.

Unwrap it when ready to serve and...

Yum!  You are ready to eat.

It's gone fast I can assure you!   Enjoy!