December Happenings

1)  The Ryans were here! Visiting with them is always a treat, and here's a shot of the kids playing cards while waiting for gingerbread scones to come out of the oven. I made a double-batch for breakfast and there was literally not even a crumb left over. Mali and I stumbled on it in a Taste of Home Cookbook (Thanks, Kara!) and it was a hit.

 2) The tree is up and still standing, even with all of the twins' antics around it. Here's Everly hanging ornaments that her Grandma Deni sewed with Everly's Aunt Amber was a toddler.

 3) We have not one, but TWO EGL Wildcats on the basketball team this year!  Both Mali and Brinnly made a great showing at their first game. Brinn had great playing time and attempted three shots. Mali managed a steal and drove it down the court and scored her first ever two points. Ice cream all around afterwards!

 4) It woudn't be December without some round of sicknesses.  Thankfully, this was a mild virus that hit all kids but Delaney. These two cuddle-bugs comforted each other.

5) Our new Sunday evening in Advent tradition is hot chocolate after the twins are in bed. We light the Advent wreath, the Christmas tree, and start the fire in the fireplace Then we huddle on the living room couch and soak it all up. We look forward to it all week!

Snow!

Pumpkin and Ice Cream Birthday Fun

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from Little Red Riding Hood, a 50's girl, a 70's girl, a penguin, and a peacock.  Amalia determined that our twins's theme would be "flightless birds" this year.  Jonathan dubbed it "failure to launch". Amalia was the Queen of Hearts one night, and another night she was a Greek empress. I didn't manage to get a good picture of either, so here's a shot of her cuddling her brother earlier that week when the stomach flu hit us hard.

Brinn's Birthday in Pictures

Nine

Nine years ago this sweet baby girl was placed into our arms and not only did we get to be parents again, but our Amalia now had her sister. Her partner. Mali adored Brinnly right from the start and it was easy to see why. Brinn was precious and cuddly, learning quickly to smile as well as to express her very own thoughts about things. She's still all of those things and more. She is a cheerful soul--hardworking, friendly, but with a silly sense of humor. She loves fashion (especially shoes), Harry Potter, motorcyles, campfires, and sweet desserts. We see glimpses of each of her grandmas in her personality on a daily basis. She's a wonderful help with the babies and they love her sitting between them in the van. She's still Mali's partner in most of life's adventures and she's Carrigan's and Delaney's biggest role model. 

God certainly gave us a gift in our Brinnly Ruth Ward. Our days were full of busyness and baby care her first year of life, but now they are filled with her hugs and jokes. We are so blessed to have her in the perfect spot in our family and pray that her year ahead is filled with experiences as lovely as her. 

Summer Wrap-Up

Happy First Day of Fall, Y'all!  I remember Mali learning that greeting in her PreK 3 class many years ago.  We had an absolutely fantastic summer here and the ages of the kids really allowed us to soak up summer. A few highlights:

Mali and Brinnly took summer school classes through Wauwatosa Rec again. They loved learning ukuele, fitness + technology, and STEM.

Speaking of Tosa, our TOSA pool membership got a lot of use in the hot weather. All three oldest girls passed the swim test, and the babies conquered the play structure and slides.

Beautiful trips to Michigan with lots of visiting, eating yummy fruits, and a magical night showing off the sunset at Weko Beach to our Pittsburgh friends.

Taking Mali and Brinnly to the Harry Potter event at Barnes and Noble the night before "The Cursed Child" was released.

State Fair with the Ryans. We always have fun with that gang, even if the fair was hot, crowded and not quite as kid-friendly as the Berrien County Youth Fair.

Our  cul-de-sac had tons of action with all of the neighborhood kids playing in the backyard and riding toy cars and scooters up and down. The big kids sweetly entertained the babies and everyone played well together for the most part. We had a few intense rain showers but the kids played right through them.

Summer reading programs at the library that resulted in coupons out for lunches and custard.


And finally--a few random pics of our fun. We were blessed by this sweet season!

First Day!

Today we launched our PreK 4 girl, our 2nd grader, our 4th grader, and our 5th grader. We pray God's richest blessings on them and students everywhere this year.

The babies and I didn't know quite what to make of a quiet house!