Doggie Love and more Thanksgiving pics!

 Oh my gosh, two days in a row?! Quick, someone pat me on the back!

I got to help my aunt clean up her house for our large Thanksgiving brood and it gave me a chance to spend time with her babies! And by babies, I mean her three 160+ pound Mastiffs! This one is my favorite (shh! Don't tell the other two!) His name is Zeus.

You can hardly see his face when taking a picture, it is so black! He is beyond sweet and is a really big baby:)

This is the oldest and wisest of the bunch and his name is Diesel. He has been sweet from the moment they got him.

And this is Zoey. she likes to bark at you at first to let you know you are a stranger in her house and she's not too sure of you! But then she settles down and let's you pet her and tell her how beautiful she is:) Love these doggies!

I got to help make our family coffee cakes this year! Usually my Aunt Judy makes these but it is often overwhelming for her to do for Thanksgiving on top of getting ready to host and working the night shift. So she whipped up some dough for me and I took them home and made 12 coffee cakes! It took 7 hours from start to finish (not including the making of the dough and rising in the fridge overnight!) and let's just say that I appreciate my aunt so much more, now knowing how much work she puts into delighting our taste buds!!

My munchkins on Thanksgiving. Samuel is getting old enough where he is a bit embarrassed by my public demands for pictures. Sigh. Gotta squeeze them in while I can!

 

Yesterday I had to take our van in for some recall work at the dealer, which ended up taking four hours! We wandered through several nearby stores browsing and killing time for the first 2 hours. This was a car at Toys R Us that caught her eye:)

  

Look who we ran into at a quilt shop!! Fancy that:) We got tired of standing and walking so we headed back over to the dealer to wait. Unfortunately, it took 1-1 1/2 hours longer than they told me so we were pretty antsy by the time they were done! Thankfully, I packed E a lunch and some books, etc to keep her occupied.

An adorable drawing by our young Picasso, er, Eliana, of a reindeer! So cute!! This one is going in the keep pile:)

Tonight, Eliana was killing time while waiting to do the Jesse Tree so she tried on my boots:) She gets a kick out of making us laugh!

We are letting the kiddos take turns with the different parts of the Advent tree. Tonight Samuel read our verses (Genesis 1:1-2:3), Eliana cut out the ornament (an earth symbol) and Zakkai got to tape it on the tree. Eliana woke up insisting that she was going to be doing the reading tonight but we were able to talk her into letting Samuel instead:)

See you tomorrow! (hopefully with a good recipe or two to share!)

Thanksgiving, Jesse Tree and Month of Blogging!

 I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We did! I have a pretty cute picture somewhere around here of our trio on Thanksgiving but I haven't uploaded it yet. So, you'll have to use your imagination:)

It was SO nice not to have to travel. Really really nice. We have only not traveled twice in our entire married life! But this time we got to not travel and still see family! Win win!

Ben got off a couple hours early on Wednesday so we all had a nice relaxing evening together and then we just hung out and had a great Thanksgiving day! We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then turned on the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and the kids alternately played Legos (that's all they do these days!) and watched it, while I baked coffee cakes for the big family shindig all day. We were in pj's until the mid-afternoon!

Then our late afternoon and evening was busy going from family event to family event. The funny thing was that I barely ate a thing all evening, despite being surrounded by such yummy food! I'll have to try again next year:)

I told Samuel I had to get one last toothless picture of him because one of his front teeth started a serious growth spurt in the last week. One day he had no teeth and the next it was practically half way in! So cute:)

haha:) I sang "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" to him today. I thoroughly enjoyed it:)

Some pretty fall flowers to grace our table!

Tonight when Ben came home Eliana heard him talking to me and shouted, "Daddy's home!" from upstairs and about 30 seconds later, this is what happened:) What a greeting!!

 We are doing a fun new thing this year called the "Jesse Tree." Our church celebrates Advent and they were passing out these trees for families. Each evening we will read daily bible verses, cut out the coordinating ornament and tape it to the tree. It is supposed to help you reflect on the coming birth of Jesus through the month of December. Our kiddos are really excited about it!

Tonight's verses were Isaiah 11:1-3a about how a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse (father of King David), meaning he is the ancestor of Jesus.  Hence the name "Jesse Tree." The ornament (Placed by a very excited Eliana) is a stump with branches coming out of it.

Very excited for our new tradition!! Can't believe how big they all are getting. We definitely got a lot of comments at Thanksgiving about their growth, especially the boys!

Eliana woke up today and said, "Mommy, I was looking in my bed and I saw that I grew! Now I'm the biggest one in the family!" Well....I hated to burst her bubble but she is most definitely still the littlest!!

I am also (hopefully) really thinking about attempting to blog every day this month. Boy, that sounded really certain, didn't it?! That was my loophole in case I need an out:) I have just really gotten out of the habit of blogging often because of all of the changes and craziness that we have gone through in the last several months. I think that sitting down every day to do this will get me back into thinking about our daily life and what I would like to remember about these days, as they are all too fleeting.

So, I hope you don't mind that you will be seeing a lot more of me this month! (And who knows, maybe from now on!) Happy Monday!

I'm Ba-ack!

 I took an inadvertent blog break this past week for a few reasons, one being I couldn't sign in due to Google. Anyone else having Google issues? I had to go in through a different browser to even sign in. Weird!

We have had a busy weekend with a lot of church activities and a birthday party for Z! Yesterday our church had an event called Spirit Village where volunteers dressed up and there were different stations where you could buy things for people in poorer countries. For example, at the livery you could pay $1 and "buy" a chicken for a family or at the apothecary you might pay $10 and buy medicine for someone for a month. It's a very neat way to teach your children that Christmas is about giving, not receiving! There was also a petting zoo (inside the church!) and music, amazing balloonist and even a lunch if you stayed that long. It was really neat!

Then this afternoon we braved the snow and went to an awesome concert at our church! It was part of Handel's "Messiah" and a Carol Fest, with really beautiful renditions of Christmas carols. The performers were a mixture of people from the church who sing in the choir and professional musicians and even opera singers! The boys sat through it all; Eliana did not fare so well and I ended up running down the aisle with her having a very loud meltdown. It was very embarassing! She ended up playing with other kids in the childcare:)

Here are a few pics from last week and this week! Eliana got a belated bday gift from one of my sisters, which included a pack of lip gloss. She was completely obsessed with the lip gloss the whole weekend! I got several coats of it, Baby Anna got some and she told Samuel if he was a good boy, he could have some, too:)

Aunt Gretchen got the three youngest girls adorable Christmas outfits, which we had to try to capture on camera. Not very easy with an 18 month old, a 2 1/2 year old and a 3 year old! Aren't they sweet, though?!

Three little princesses!

Plain City has some beautiful sunsets! Maybe because the land is so flat so you can see the whole sky. I tried to capture a quick picture on our way to my Gma's one night. The sky looked like it was on fire, with swirls and artistic designs!

This was Eliana after 2 days in Ohio:) She hasn't napped well since she turned 3 but all the crazy to and fro wore this girl out! She fell asleep about 3 minutes after getting in the car from visiting Grandma. Zakkai wasn't far after....

This past week, we had Chicken Tostadas with homemade tortillas! Deeeeeelicious! Eliana saw me getting out mixing bowls and she immediately started dragging over a chair so she could help me:) She rolled out almost every tortilla! With a little bit of help...;)

Zakkai had an assignment in school to write a letter to Farmer MacNugget about why he shouldn't eat turkey for Thanksgiving. He wrote, "Dear Farmer Mac Nugget,

Please don't eat me for Thanksgiving dinner. I have worms in my stomach. I am not tasty. I eat bugs. I have no meat. Eat ham and cupcakes and macaroni and cheese and pizza. Eat cookies and cake. I have yucky things in my stomach like bugs and dirt and worms. I am dirty. Please do not eat me.

Love,
The Zakkai Turkey

Isn't he something?!

Over Thanksgiving, Papa set up a really awesome army battle for the older boy grandchildren! He seriously spent hours setting it all up, staged and ready for action! He did it in their garage and put space heaters to make it warm. I wish you could've heard their gasps and yells of delight when he opened the door and they saw it! They spent a couple hours playing and had such a great time. They couldn't stop talking about it! Papa's pretty awesome:)

And I'll leave you with a picture of Eliana napping this week with Baby Anna all tucked inside her shirt:) Sweet dreams!

Thanksgiving 2013

Happy Thanksgiving! We have been having the busiest time ever here in Ohio! All of my sisters were in town so it was the first time all of us have been together in SIX years! Most of us got in town on Wednesday so we all got together for dinner and just enjoyed catching up and watching all of our kiddos play together. And of course we had to sit them all down, line up with all of our cameras and snap a million pictures!

This one was the best of the ones I took. I'm still trying to figure out my camera! Plus, how in the world do you get ten children to cooperate perfectly for pictures? You don't! The four littlest ones (all on the couch) were very wiggly!

We are the last to pull out tomorrow morning and will enjoy a quiet evening, rejuvenating ourselves:) We are so thankful for our families, for a special few days for our kiddos, and for the love and encouragement we have received while we've been here!

In a nutshell.

Traveling to be with family.

Hearing the laughter and giggles from the kiddos.

Allowing myself to finally listen to Christmas music!

Noise.

Kisses and hugs from loved ones.

Shopping on Black Friday.

Giving thanks for God's goodness.

Invitations to stay with family next month.

Victory over Michigan.

Images tucked away of love, family, laughter, memories.

New beginnings and miracles.

Good eating and Game playing!

Busy Days!

I am so thankful that we came "Home" this year for Thanksgiving. It's been a really special week and busy, too. We have a whole bunch of tired peeps over here!

Tonight we had a dinner to say goodbye to those heading out of town and filled with leftovers and the party ended quickly when the babies said, "Enough!" It's been so tiring for the adults, let alone the little kiddos.

This morning, at 4 am, my mom, 2 of my sisters, my aunt, cousin, grandma and I got up and did a little Black Friday shopping. It was so weird because there were NO lines whatsoever! All the kooks (sorry if that was you!!) went out last night apparently and everyone else must've thought the deals were gone and didn't go out.

We didn't think the deals at any of the stores were particularly good this year but we still enjoyed a few stores and our annual breakfast meet at Panera:)

Tomorrow we watch the final Buckeye game with family and then we head home! Back to cold weather, school and regular busy life. I do love this time of year though. Extra time with those we love. Priceless to me and even more valued after all these years of living away.

However, after 4 thanksgiving dinners/lunches 2 days in a row.....I think I'm all turkeyed out.....

Happy Thanksgiving!

 I am sitting here, totally sated by turkey and all the trimmings (the ones that turned out anyways:) The hubster and I have been up since 6am preparing our Thanksgiving feast.

We started out with cranberry scones, eggs and fruit for breakfast which lasted B and I til our big dinner at 3pm. The boys snacked a little in between. It's hard to ask the little people to wait hours and hours to eat!

I just knew something wasn't going to turn out as I'd hoped, it always seems to happen that way. This time it was the stuffing. Lesson learned: do not stuff the turkey with stuffing (no matter how loosely) and definitely do not put stuffing around the turkey. Put it in a different pan!!!

Soggy stuffing just does not do the trick.

But all the rest turned out perfectly....or almost!

Turkey (with lots of leftovers!!!), mashed potatoes (my first perfectly turned out batch!), gravy, fresh green beans and homemade herbed dinner rolls. Mmm, mmm, mmm! And for dessert?

 Pumpkin Streusel Pie and Texas Crunch! Oh and definitely don't forget the whipped cream:)

 Z enjoying his treat:)

Missy gobbled up turkey, mashed potatoes (with a little gravy!) and green beans. It was fun to eat with her at (or near) the table:)

 Samuel showing how happy he was to have such a full belly!

 My wonderful hubby who worked his tail off today, and me:)

We also made a Thanksgiving craft together: A Native American and 2 Pilgrims:) The boys had a blast!

We also got to skype with my family as they were still gathered together. I could just picture myself right with them and missed all the hugs, the laughter and the ornament making. We missed you all today!

We all chose at least one thing to thank Jesus for tonight:

Ben: That Eliana's heart is healthy, for our wonderful family and food to fill our bellies.

Samuel: For breakfast, lunch and turkey dinner, for dessert and for his Pilgrim:)

Heidi: For my wonderful, loving husband, for my sweet precious boys and darling daughter and for our food.

Zakkai: For Christmas.

Let the festivities begin!

It felt like such a strange day today, almost like a Friday! The boys haven't had school all week so we've just been hangin out, having fun being sick and all. B was finally done with teaching this afternoon, an event we all were anticipating. Hopefully good health will come to all of us over this long weekend!

This little Birdie is having so much fun with "new" toys that I've pulled out. (a.k.a. the boys' oldies but goodies). Actually the boys are having fun with them, too, and we've had to set up rules because before we know it, they are playing with the baby toys and E is driving cars!

She does make a pretty mean car noise....

 The boys and I were feeling kind of sad today over not traveling so I kept us all busy cleaning, switching out toys (best trick a mommy can have!) and looking forward to daddy coming home.

Here are the boys in deep conference over something important:)

The boys have recently started collecting baseball cards ~ a hobby that may or may not have been instigated by Daddy:) They weren't too sure at first but are really getting into it, especially now that they know Daddy collected as a boy.

Tonight B pulled out some of his carefully guarded collection to show the boys. It was the cutest thing I've seen! They all took it so seriously talking about how to take care of the cards and why, who the players were, what years the cards were from (to them 1989 in OLD!!). Ben is so excited to share this with his boys:)

And for the past hour and a half, B and I have been chopping, mixing and preparing what we could for our first Thanksgiving feast tomorrow. See, there is this old, old story called "The Little Red Ben" that we like to talk about around here. The Little Red Ben claims (jokingly) that he does not have to share in the Hen's (a.k.a. Heidi) feast preparations but can merely enjoy the fruits of her labor instead.

Thankfully, he decided to reverse the story and help me instead, in great humor:) I think Ben, most of all, is looking forward to tomorrow. His sick body and weary mind crave rest and relaxation. He works hard and needs this little break. And as hard as it is for me to miss family and special traditions, I am glad to help create a happy Thanksgiving for him and for our family.

Pics tomorrow!

Tonight I am thankful for my mom, who is being so understanding about us not coming, even though she is so incredibly sad. She has such a compassionate, gentle heart and loves me unconditionally. I love you, Mom!

To be Thankful.

We got the official good news today that E's heart is just fine!! Her murmur is small and functional and will cause no symptoms so she can run (someday) and play, eat and be active (which she is) as much as she wants with no problems. Yea!!!

So thankful.

Z has turned the corner and is finally improving ~ more yea! He was more himself today and his cough is nasty but much, much better, as in not sounding like he has bronchitis or croup.

So thankful.

Unfortunately, my dear family has shared this lovely illness with me. I just finished some hot tea to sooth my poor sore throat. I am hoping that somehow I will get a mutant germ that never fully develops and I'll wake up tomorrow feeling grrreeeaat. Right.

Not thankful.

Made our second ever trip to Aldi today. I have been scared of Aldi's ever since visiting there with my aunt back in the 90s. It didn't have the greatest reputation for awhile but apparently Aldi's is the bomb these days. It's Ben's new favorite store. He loves the whole quarter/cart thing.....And we love that things are waaaay cheaper there than Target. (Sorry, Target. You had 100% of my business until you started raising your prices like crazy. Good way to kick a person while they're down.) Glad for a chance to save a little $!

Thankful.

About to spend our very first Thanksgiving in our own home. While we are very sad about missing family (and especially those we haven't see in FAR too long!) and special traditions, we are really looking forward to relaxing together and making special memories. And hopefully making a nice turkey. And mashed potatoes that don't resemble brick mortar. Not that I've ever done that or anything....

So thankful.

I'm thankful that I've found at least one thing to be thankful about every day this month, even on the toughest days. It's a good habit to get into, forcing yourself to weed through all of the distractions, the stress, the nitty gritty in your life and in your day and find at least one thing, one blessing to be thankful for.

Chances are you'll find a lot more than just one. And maybe you won't notice or focus on the not-so-nice things quite as much.

Thanksgiving 2010

 All dressed in her pretty pink dress and bow for her debut:)

 Uncle Chris snatcked her right up! her big cousin, Jackson getting a peek

 My sweet Grandma meeting her newest granddaughter;)

 Attempts at a family pictures...Zakkai was feeling quite rebellious (A Shocker, I know..) and refused to sit by me and smile

 We will have to try again....

 My beautiful sister and I!!

 Black Friday Breakfasting at Panera:) Auntie K enjoyed holding Eliana for the first time...until she spit up all over her!! Sorry, K!!

 Sweet cheeks:)

 My friend Sarah and her son, Luca, meeting our girl!

 The boys and their buddy and all in green!

 Patient Uncle Tim catering to Zakkai's renewed light obsession...

 Our little Buckeye girl at her first (and our first!) Buckeye party getting some Mugga-love

 Go Bucks!

Sucking her fingers for the first time when Grandma held her!! Maybe she will follow in the footsteps of her brothers? We shall see...
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Miss E was an absolute angel for all that we put her through these past 4-5 days! Our 6 hour trip on Wednesday turned into almost 9 hours due to weather and traffic. Yuck. She did absolutely perfectly for about 7 hours and then decided enough was enough! We were all glad to make it to Mugga and Papa's house.

Our sweet Little Miss was pronounced beautiful and perfect about a million times!! It was really fun to introduce her to our favorite people in the whole world. I am so impressed with how she handled meeting so many new people, having sleep get crazy, traveling, shopping...it could've been a lot worse!

She really started changing while we were in Ohio, smiling so much more at us and talking to us. There were a couple of times that she spent several minutes talking to my mom and Ben and just melted our hearts completely! As if they weren't already melted....

The boys were so good. They weren't thrilled with the hours and hours of driving and only asked about 1020 times when we were going to get there but over all did well! They were so good at our families houses and really enjoyed all the love they get when we are home. Zakkai renewed his light obsession and about drove everyone crazy flipping light switching on and off and having mugga and papa change lightbulbs on every burnt out light:) He had a good time! They are counting down the hours til we go back!!

And driving in the new van was AWESOME!! It was so smooth and so spacious! I can't imagine how we ever got along without it! Ben actually enjoyed packing up the car (ha!) and driving. He even didn't really mind driving through the sleet on Wednesday because he felt so safe in the van. So thankful!

Well, I am off to get some sleep while E is sleeping (we began sleep-training tonight...more on that tomorrow!). Videos coming soon!