Milestones...

My babiest of babies, Elias, had his first johnny jump-up ride today...how do they grow up so fast...as if that is not enough...
At 11:55 am on Oct. 23...he rolled over!! it broke my heart as i rejoiced all at the same time. These little ones change and grow so fast. they are constantly learning, absorbing, giving back and taking in. i love this little man so much it is hard to explain sometimes. but his little life is truly flashing before my eyes. i cherish him so much. i am thrilled that we all get to cherish him as a family. he lights up when his dad walks in the room and he laughs at the antics of his siblings already! he is loved! and he already loves...

it's days like this that i think how impossible it must have felt at times for God to save us with the life of His Son. that he would ,and could, willingly give him to this world for the sole pupose of dying for our sins is inexplicable...especially as i stare now at my son in my arms with a love that overflows my heart and i have spent the day watching him with his father so enamoured, so enthralled, to realize my unwillingness if i were ever asked to do such a thing. how much do i truly want to be obedient to Christ? am i willing to do whatever He asks of me? my family? what will i sacrifice? i hope my answer is always...Everything!

A Fun Filled Weekend...

This last weekend included more fun than any family should be allowed to have! there were too many activities to keep track of. First we had an open house for the ranch Isaiah "works" at which was soooo much fun. there were so many people there. God really blessed them with a huge turnout. after about 5 minutes of trying desperately to keep track of all 5 kids, i quickly realized this was one of those places you just let the go and have fun. there is not a lot of trouble that could have been gotten into there! There aren't many pictures because all my poor deprived (yeah right) children kept doing was eating. they could just walk right up to the popcorn lady and request just one more bag. i can't count the number of sno cones they each had. i had to seriously turn off my mommy instincts that night.

this is Mrs. Jeni, Isaiah's mentor at the ranch when he "works".
We never could find Ian almost the whole night. that kid was in heaven! we caught him just in time as he attempted to feed the horse popcorn!

then the kids went to Mamalane's house for the night! We could not have ordered a better grandma than her! They so adore going to her house. The boys get to do "boy stuff" that mommy is just not cool enough to let them do. they spend much of their time "mowing". Mamalane got Ian a real lawn mover (with no motor) because his favorite thing in the world is to mow like daddy!
this picture was just too cute!

More boy stuff mommy doesn't let them do. Dig in the Yard!!!


they all get to pile in and watch a cartoon in the morning. one thing that is forbidden at our home...any children in our bed! plus we won't put a tv in our bedroom! so this is quite a novelty!


breakfast at Mamalane's. doughnuts of course!


this is why she is so great! look at her house...totally trashed. you know what she says when i call to ask if she is surviving? "everyting in perfect. I am in heaven". it just doesn't matter that they play so hard her floor can't be found after. She is the best grandma ever!

Mamalane also took the kids to New Salem to see the "pioneer days" thingy they had there. i am positive that is not at all what it was called, but i am REALLY not into this stuff. my mom tells the kids stories all the time about Pioneer days (real actual family stories) and this was one way she used to make it all real and teach them in person about what real pioneers did and how they did it. they even got to see a real covered wagon which was the highlight of the night for sure!






then we just HAD to go to the circus in town! Boy was that...LOUD! there were mixed reactions of course. makenna hated it. bella enthralled until after intermission when she decided the whole tent was her for her own roaming pleasure. Ian loved it so much he was mad when we left. and Isaiah had mixed reviews. intrigued...then bored...intrigued...then bored...


This lady must have been a mom, cuz only we can balance that many things at once!



A wonderfully sweet moment with father and son. Elias wouldn't stop kissing him. I don't blame him..i don't either!

This was a special picture because Ian was soooo impressed he ran over to me and said, "MOM...TAKE A PICTURE!"

and the stars of the show...the elephants!!! really, i think they just stunk!

Goin' To The Chapel...

Today Isaiah and Isabella decided to get married. Isaiah dressed the part in full super hero garb while Bella sported the pretty princess look. They stood together...

made a few comments about being together forever...until he married Makenna later...

She wiped something off his face like all good newly married wives do...

and then they kissed!!

It was truly a glorious ceremony until makenna began to whine asking Isaiah when he was going to marry her. after her 12th time he finally huffs...."fine, i will just have to marry both of you!"

Tummy Time...

Elias hates tummy time. Now 4 months old he is finally starting to tolerate it a bit though. for the first time i could actually snap a photo while he was not screaming. the first picture is the funniest looking picture ever, but the rest were kinda cute.

Music Class...

Elias has been enrolled in the Homeier Music Class. It seems each day his siblings are teaching him a new instrument or the new "hottest dance craze" (which is whatever new way they can find to contort themselves to music!), by the time he can walk he will be the leader of the band!

Cereal...A whole New World...

My baby got his first cereal Saturday!!! I was really trying to wait...don't ask me why, but he really started to act hungry and it was messing with his schedule a bit. so...we all gathered around in amazement as he sucked down his first few bites. He loved it of course, but mommy about cried! Strangely enough he was as clean as Ian was (and still is), so hopefully that will stick. that is one anal mommy trait i don't mind one bit if he keeps!

There is something to be said for being the oldest child of 5 kids...much less 5 kids all 4 and under! After all the talks about being a leader, following Christ, helping his brothers and sisters, and having perserverance, sometimes a kid just needs something to call his own...no parents attached! So, I got him hooked up with a local ranch for children and mentors. It is called Refuge Ranch. They pair people up with kids and do work coupled with mentoring and sharing Christ. Although Isaiah is not really "in need" or lacking positive role models in his life, they were gracious enough to let him come anyway. It is really great for him! It is something that is all his, no siblings allowed and he loves to work and be needed. Sometimes at home it is a little hard to let him do all those things he can do because he is capable of so much more than most kids his age. So, as to not imfluence the other kids the same age, he often gets "held back" from what he can do...enter in "frustration"! So we are trying desperately to let go and allow him to be a little more free even though that means my little guy might be climbing counter tops to help himself frequently...who ever said you can't do that anyway? if it gives him more self-esteem, more feelings of being needed and more independence that he is craving, i say "climb those counters all you want!...so long as you ask first!

So he will be "going to work" at the ranch every other week. here are some pictures of his first day at work.

He learned to never wrap a rope around his hand...luckily he learned that the easy way!

He learned to groom the horse.

He even got to ride after all his hard work. it was funny because the girl, Mrs. Kris, asked his where he got his cowboy boots (thanks to mamalane) and he replied, "the same place i got my shirt". so she naturally asked "where did you get your shirt?" and he says, "the same place i got my boots!"

He learned that the small place on a horse's hoof was called a frog! did you all know that?