summer days...

Not a lot changes for us when Summer hits, as I already stay home with our kids and none of them are yet school age.  Though, I will be attempting to homeschool Manning for Kindergarten this coming Fall.

Summer is just a fun season though, regardless of whether or not you have been in school the rest of the year.

I have a feeling we are going to have lots of days like this...

Life in it's purest and sweetest form with kids. :)

Tapestry's 4th birthday party...

Tapestry had a rainbow party this year.  I thought it was such a cute party theme.

Can you believe how big my "babies" are getting?!

Trix krispie treats, rainbow fruit tray, different colors of Gatorade, cookie cake.

Tapestry always has less people show to her parties than any of our other kids because it's smack in the middle of graduations and school ending.  She didn't seem to notice and was super happy to have her siblings, a couple cousins and our neighbors as far as kids.

I sat out a bunch of pipe cleaners for crafts.  The kids twisted them into rainbows, lollipops, animals, whatever.

Tapestry and Cherish ate together.  They are becoming such good friends.  So sweet.

It is SO windy in our backyard that it is almost impossible to decorate cute for a party.  And the candles never stay lit, so we moved inside just to blow out candles.

Our kids LOVE sweets and treats, so they were in heaven with the cookie cake and trix krispie treats.  They aren't deprived or anything, but we don't do treats everyday so they think it's super awesome when we do.

Liberty learned how to ride the little four-wheeler by herself during the party.  She was so excited and it was precious!

Tapestry is so cute when she opens presents!  She says stuff like, "Awww!  So cute!  Little bitty tiny frog purse.  I love it!"  Pretty sure that's just like me.  Haha. ;)

Tapestry seemed to feel super special, and I think she had a great time at her rainbow party.  Yay! :)

four...

Happy 4th birthday to my awesome Tapestry!

Sweet, nurturing, obedient, fun, loving, spunky and quirky.  Her meltdowns are no less than mega dramatic when she has one, but she rarely does have one.  She is a lover of people.  And she has a way of making people feel loved and special.  Her very favorite thing to do is to take care of people and babies (real or fake).  She spends most of her days pushing her babies in strollers, hugging them, kissing them, putting them for nap, singing to them, loving them.  So sweet.  She also loves to dress up, sing and dance.  She's a spunky little princess for sure.  She brings sunshine and life,  joyful simplicity and lots of love.  I absolutely love and adore my girl!!! :)

Liberty's 1st birthday party...

We had a sweet birthday party for Liberty a couple weeks ago.

She was so cute!  She was her same normal self...smiley, curious, happy.

She LOVES pickles (and lemons).

I plopped down, with my pregnant self, and did a little craft with all the kids.  It was SO windy and our craft pieces were flying everywhere.  But I think the kids enjoyed it.

Liberty was not shy in showing love for her cupcake.  She downed that thing as fast as she could and was sad when it was gone.

She was so cute opening gifts.  Any stuffed animal or baby she got she hugged and kissed, and all the adults went, "awwwww!"

Manning spent almost the entire time working on his craft.  Decorating his little notebook with puffy stickers.  This kids loves arts and crafts...and that makes his Mommy happy! ;)

And I couldn't resist this picture of Liberty's big sisters just chillin' out at the end of the party.  Cherish and Tapestry have become quite buddies lately. :)

Liberty seemed to like all the attention, and I am sure she felt celebrated for her 1st birthday.  She is so absolutely precious to us, and I cannot imagine life without her!

We love you, Liberty Pearl!

In Christ Alone...

I was overwhelmed by Jesus when I realized that He was not awaiting my goodness...but that He died and rose again to BE my GOODNESS.  I am amazed by how much He loves and adores me.  You know, He absolutely loves and adores YOU too...and I am pretty sure you are His favorite! :)

one...

Happy 1st birthday, Liberty Pearl!

You have been such a sweet baby, near perfection for sure. :) You are extremely happy, and you show that in your beautiful smile and cute little laugh many times a day. You light up any room with your sweet, cheerful presence. You are very busy. You crawl as fast as you can and are typically on the move trying to keep up with your siblings. You adore your siblings, and they adore you. But there are two things you see worth stopping for. You are tiny but very hungry. You can eat lots and lots of food and still want more. So, you definitely will stop for food. You will also stop to be held by Daddy or Mommy. You love to give hugs and cuddles. You love to be hugged, kissed, tickled and talked to. But you won't stay for long. Once you get the loving you need, you start wiggling those legs to let us know you are ready to go again. You are not walking or pulling up yet. None of your siblings had by this age either. You have several teeth and you seem to be working on some more. You say "mama", "dada", "uh-oh", "bye-bye", and you love to scream for fun. You and your siblings egg each other on yelling. You love to laugh. You think your Mommy is very funny. :) You just love music, especially worship. You will wiggle to the beat, sing by yelling, and you will just beam with joy while doing so. You love playing guitar, keyboard, and anything you can find that makes music. Worship at church is probably your favorite. We have tried taking you to the church nursery several times now. You will stay anywhere from 5-30 minutes, and then you are ready to be back in our arms. We come get you and are letting you gradually work up to staying longer. You seem to love playing there, I think you just miss us. We have never left you with a sitter or anyone yet other than the nursery. You love holding and hugging baby dolls and stuffed animals. You are already a nurturer. You will sometimes let other people hold you, but you want to get back to your Mommy pretty quick. The main person besides Mommy and Daddy that you seem to really love and are 100% okay being held by is Lolli. You have beautiful dark brown hair, gorgeous big brown eyes and an amazing smile. You are tiny and petite. You have such a precious personality. Your Mommy and Daddy are completely enamored by you, and we love you so very much! I am excited to watch you grow, but I will definitely miss having you as my precious baby! :)

I love and adore you so very much, Liberty Pearl! You are one special little lady! Happy 1st birthday!

four (almost 5) little bits...

We have gotten more and more used to have a bunch of little kids. By this I just mean that going out and about doesn't feel very hard anymore, but rather normal. Life at home feels very normal. It's a lot of fun having this many kids this small. There are things about it that feel hard (like being around water and having to make sure 4 little ones don't go jump in, since none of them know how to swim yet). There's more laundry, dishes, groceries, diapers, beds. There's more needed space. Or at least wanted space. :) All of them do nap at the same time. And all of them are generally obedient. Someone whining is definitely normal, as it is very normal at any of these ages for a kid to whine some. That has probably been the #1 hardest thing for me...learning how to deal with what used to feel like constant whining. Now, I realize that there are merely phases or just when one of them doesn't feel well, wants something and doesn't know how to communicate it with their words, or feeds off of another kid who's currently whining. I have gotten better at dealing with the whinies. And it helps a ton to just nicely communicate with them and not start whining myself. Haha. Seriously though!

I have friends with one kid who have a hard time with the whinies. It may sound intensified in our house, but at least we never have to deal with whining out of boredom. Boredom never occurs in a house with this many small children. For me or them or my husband. Ha.

I love having this many kids this close in age because they really are all best friends. They play together continuously. They laugh like crazy. They have a ton of fun. They have built-in playmates. They seem very happy. They argue some, but they mostly enjoy each other. One thing about "the baby"...she is pure and innocent and everybody always feels good with her. Always. And Liberty couldn't possibly be a sweeter baby.

We are at the point, when we are out and about, that we get stopped and asked questions or are given comments multiple times most everywhere we go. It is funny to hear the same comments over and over..."You know what causes this, right?" "Wow, you've got your hands full!" "God bless you." "I will pray for you." "Are you going to have more?!" "Are they triplets?" "Are they twins?" It doesn't bother me at all. In fact, it's fun and I find it very humorous. Some people ask, "Are you crazy?!" And I respond, "Haha...yes, but we love it!" :)

So...having this many kids this small is hard in some ways, of course, but it is so amazing and wonderful in so many other ways. I just adore each of my kids. And I am not necessarily one who always looks for the easiest path, but rather an adventurous one and the one God may have in His best plan for me. This is certainly an adventure, and I could not imagine life without Manning, Tapestry, Cherish, Liberty, and my little turkey in the oven.

Crazy? Probably. Love it? Yes!!!! :D