Black Eye?..............

So, last week, Jacob comes home from Grandma and Grandpa's house with a black eye. It was a bit shocking, since he's never had one. Lots of things ran through my mind ( as to what might have caused it). So, when I asked him....he hesitated. Finally, he spilled the beans.....he held the pool vacuum up to his eye while he was swimming. What????????? I guess these are the kinds of things you get when you have boys. Aye yi yi!

Home from the Doll Hospital!.....

Julia is really into her American Girl Dolls right ow. the 1st one she got was when she turned 6. It was a look-alike doll. then, when she turned 7, she got Rebbecca. Our friends, the Fays, graciously and generously passed Felicity onto us, as they outgrew this phase. (They also passed on her horse and several of Felicity's outfits and accessories). When we received her, she had some minor repairs that were needed because of all the love she received from her former family. So, we decided to send her off to the Doll Hospital. Julia would ask about every other day when Felicity would get home. We......she came home!!! And, Julia was thrilled!!!! She was dressed in a hospital gown, with a hospital bracelet and had a certificate of good health! Had to capture this moment of sheer delight! Oh, how I love to see my kids get excited!

A favorite pastime.....

I don't know why...but my kids love to dog pile. I get worried when they decide to do the reverse order, with smallest on the bottom to biggest on top. This is so fun for them and they all crack up and topple over and do it again. It usually ends in tears. Today, Jonah joined in so I thought I would capture the moment! This also meant they were more careful and it didn't end in tears. :)

Photos Projects

I have a love/hate relationship with all of the photos I have, and all of the projects I want to do with them. I LOVE photos, especially photos of my kids...but I HATE how the things I want to do with them never get done and the projects pile up. I had to give up on my scrapbooking a couple of years ago, and moved to digital scrapbooks. Now...I am even falling behind on those. :( Then, there are photos that I print or enlarge because I love them and want to display them somewhere in my house. They plague my life, because they sit in piles and I never get to them. Well...this week...I tried to get the ball rolling. Today, I did a couple of projects I have been meaning to do. I ordered several gallery wraps recently and have been waiting to hang them on a wall where old "head shots" of the kids hung. So...I got to that today (yeah) and finished it. I have also had a collage frame forever (not a huge fan of collage frames) and I have wanted to put photos in that forever. Well....both were completed today. I am on my way. My list is longer than I care to share, of all the things I need to organize around my home. We spent all of July out of town and now I am paying for it. I really want to get a few things accomplished before school starts (then I will have NO time). So...today got the ball rolling. I am hoping it will motivate me to continue. The photos of the projects are horrible...bad lighting, weird angles (trying to avoid glares, etc) but it least it gives an idea of what I put together today. Both are in the upstairs hallway, on different walls. Hoping for many more projects to be crossed off by the end of this week.

Canvas gallery wraps of the kids....

LONG overdue collage frame project.

Mighty Mite

I had to write this post, as my heart overflows with love for this little guy in our house. He makes my heart smile almost every minute of the day (almost). Louie has nicknamed him Mighty Mite becasue of his super determined, strong, busy, vivacious personality....and his little tiny body. It cracks me up! He has so much personality that we just marvel at him. Yet...he is so little. He is pretty much walking 95% of the time now...which is sad and happy and good and cute and hilarious. He is the size of some 6-9 month olds yet his personality seems to come from someone at least twice his age. The combination is comical. He has no fear. He is a complete adrenaline junkie. The faster you swing him, throw him, run with him...the bigger his smile gets. He loves when daddy skateboards while holding him (I know...scary) and tries to ride the skateboard himself. He learned, months ago, how to climb to the top of our slide, turn around and slide down. He even pushes off to make himself go faster, if he feels he is going too slow. Everything he picks up, he throws across the room with as much determination as a baseball pitcher. Daddy puts him in a backpack and rides on his bike and Jonah yells the whole time with a huge smile. He loves to play the drums with Josh and feels so left out if his older siblings go off and leave him out. His memory for things amazes me. I know this just sounds like a list of things but each one kills us and amazes us as we watch him. Maybe it's just that we haven't had a 1 year old around the house for so long that we forgot what is "normal" for that age. It sure makes it a fun experience, though. He is so joyful and friendly and full of life. He gets into EVERYTHING and makes the cutest little noises to "ask" us for something. He sure keeps me busy though. I don't know how I would have done it with 4 other little ones if they were closer in age. We love him so much and our hearts grow more with each passing day. I marvel at his personality and how God made him just who he is, and none of it has come from us.

Yesterday, all my kids were gone all day and night, so Louie and I were alone with Jonah. We played with him at home, and took him on errands, out to lunch with us and then to the carousel at the mall. We had so much fun spending time with him alone. It was a simple day, but a great one.

My sweet boy eating bread at Wolf Creek.

Cute Jonah keeping himself busy after finishing his food. (He kept wanting to eat the edge of the table but daddy kept stopping him)

Loving the carousel

This was the day before but I was too lazy to do a separate post. This is Jonah and little Bella. Stefanie and I have pictures of Jeremy and Christine at this age together and these little ones remind us so much of our oldest ones together. They were so excited to see each other and I am happy we could get this cute photo!