February So Far

 1)  The twins are teething (two year molars?) and Grant's especially taking it hard. Good thing he's got so many sisters to cuddle him.

2) We joined the Y to get us through these winter months. The babies and I are enjoying a weekly "Stay and Play" and the older girls and I are really loving the Family Boot Camp classes. At home, the new favorite exercise balls are a huge hit.

3) Excuse the blurry picture, but if you can see the scoreboard, it reads "22-8".  The EGL Wildcats won their first game!  It all came together for that feisty group of girls. I doubt there's ever been a louder post-game locker room.

 4) Carrigan's been sketching a lot lately, along with her little shadow.  Love it. She wants to be an author and illustrator someday.

5) And speaking of such talents, I have not one but TWO friends to brag about. Check out the links below to see each of their work. So proud of both of you, Ruth and Kellie.  The world needs more artists like you!
https://www.cph.org/p-30654-grace-alone.aspx
http://www.setonbooks.com/viewone.php?ToView=P-RD04-59

Fun Winter Times

Christmas Pictures Part 2

Delaney's Fifth Birthday Party

Lots of fun celebrating our brand new five-year-old! She requested sloppy joes with lots of pickles, chips, grapes, and cupcake cones. Her sisters organized all of the games for her (Mali's true calling in life!) and her friends all enjoyed the crafts too. In true Delaney-style, there was even an impromptu conga line.  Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Christmas Pictures

Five

Delaney!  What can we possibly say about that sweet girl that accurately describes her personality? She entered the world five short years ago and we thought that another little princess was exactly what our family needed. Her sisters adored her. She cried for the first several hours of her life and we were a bit shaken by that--what would we do with a fussy baby?  (Ha!  God must have been laughing then. Little did we know someday we'd have that in double the volume! For several months!) But somehow the crying faded and we've been giggling alongside our dear Delaney-cakes ever since then.

This has been a big year for her. She's now in preschool five mornings a week and rocking it. Well, she's doing great as soon as she fully wakes up.  She's our biggest night owl and sleeps in as long as possible each morning, throwing a breakfast in her backpack on her way to school. But then she plays hard and is warmly greeted by the twins as soon as she returns home. I'm so spoiled to have 1:1 time with her while the twins nap and before she has quiet time. We read, do "homework", and anything else she dreams up. Her imagination is big and I love to see it in action. She loves word search puzzles (especially after bedtime), lazy breakfasts, owls, cowgirl boots, fashion, the color blue, and her cousin Julia. She dreams of a world without cheese, soup, eggs, screen time rules, or spiders but still manages to cope with those drawbacks. Her personality is a delight to the whole family, even though she somehow hit the teenage years a decade too early. We are so thankful that God placed her with us. Delaney Fay, thanks for the burst of joy you are. My best belated birthday gift ever!

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!