Finally some Fall Fun!

Se we are still learning some leasons about how to deal with having a big family...  There is a balance we are trying to figure out.  A balance of having family down time and having our kids involved in various activities.   When we signed all 5 kids up for soccer, we knew it was going to be a busy season, but I don't think we realized just how over our heads we were getting.  Our every weekend has been completely consumed with soccer.  Saturdays and Sundays,,,sometimes 8 hour days spanning 100 miles of travel to get each kid to their respective games.  Plus practices, 3 nights a week at the fields for 3 hours.  The hardest thing has been not having time to do all of the family things we love.  So yesterday we got an early email that the soccer fields were closed due to rain...but the forecast for the rest of the day was nice and clear.  It took us about 2 seconds to come up with our plan of action. 

 Hiking!!  it is over a four mile trek to the top.  Finn didn't get her "I'm an indoor type of girl" pass either.  

 She did ride about one of those miles in "style".  She did more than her fair share whine a little on the last half but over all she hung in there better than expected.

Once at the top the kids had a picnic lunch and we enjoyed the view :) 

 Brothers. I want to hang this pic in their room.  There is quite an interesting dynamic going on between the two of them.  I really can't wait to see how it plays out.  At this point, it's anyones guess.

 Jackson is such a turkey....I wonder where he learned to be such a stinkin' goofball ?????

 Oh, nevermind.  It's genetic, there is no hope.

 Somone stole his sisters Haloween socks that are 2 sizes too big :)

 love overflowing for this motley crew :)

 This is the good stuff :)

 Taking in the sights...

 Really this hike is so beautiful... looking down over the fall foliage. This is the best time of year.

  It is such a sence of accomplishment for the kiddos.  They love seeing how far they have climbed. Such a beautiful payoff!

Finn was wiped out and quickly fell asleep in the car.  Come on...who sleeps like this?????  The cuteness is ridiculous.  I love those little lips and those cheeks keep her outta heeps of trouble :)

Hopefully we will make her into an outdoorsey type someday???

The difference between raising girls and boys...

Conversation with Girl Child : 
 
Me:   Would you like Cheerios or Mini-Wheats for breakfast? 
 
Girl Child:  What else do we have? 
 
Me:   We have Cheerios or Mini-Wheats. 
 
Girl Child: Do we have waffles? 
 
Me: No honey.  We have Cheerios or Mini-Wheats. 
 
Girl Child:  I like waffles. 
 
Me: I know you like waffles. We don't have waffles.  Would you like Cheerios or 
Mini-Wheats? 
 
Girl Child:  Ummmmm.   Can I have them mixed together ? 
 
Me: Child, which do you want, Cheerios or Mini-Wheats? 
 
Girl Child:  I'll have Mini-Wheats, in the pink bowl. 
 
Me:  Ok, here's your breakfast. 
 
Girl Child:  Not that pink bowl.  The pink plastic one with the built in straw. 
 
Me:  Arrrrrgggghhhhhh 
 
 
CONVERSATION WITH BOY CHILD; 
 
Me:   Would you like Cheerios or Mini-Wheats for breakfast? 
 
Boy Child: Cheerios, Please. 

****Disclaimer:::This is my experience with the differences between my 3 boys and my 3 girls in a nutshell. Cereal is just the metaphor for every conversation and option presented every day/ all day.

Wanna be a part of something BIG???

Hey all!  Remeber back HERE when I told you about two precious little girls waiting for their families?  

Well one sweet little girl is getting one of my very favorite families in the whole world!

They are a model family that inspire Marc and I to be better parents.  They lead their children with faith and a strength that you can just feel in their presence.  We admire them for so many things but right now we are in awe of them stepping out once again to adopt this beautiful little girl when everything of this world would have told them that they should play it safe.  Not step out. Not commit financial suicide but commiting to adopt when finances are tough.....but they didn't listen to the norm... They stepped up big when they decided to bring Pearl home.  Now they are holding a raffle to try to raise funds for the orphanage and travel fees.   I would love to see some of us rally around this family.  They are so deserving.

Here's the cool part!  One family has already stepped up and purchased TWO ipads for them to raffle off!  How cool is that.  So every penny they make on raffle tickets goes straight to adoption costs...not purchasing the TWO ipads!!!!

The deal is $2 for 1 ticket OR $10 for 6 tickets.  Drawing will be December 1st.  It is a chance to win an ipad, but it is also a chance to stand up with this family and support them in bringing home their daughter.  One less orphan waiting!!!!!  Visit their website, by cliking here and you can donate in the upper right corner....It's really easy and every dollar counts!  Thank you friends! 


  http://thebarbeebunch.blogspot.com/

Randomness & TMI

First off, I want to thank you all for sticking with me during my fuzzy photo phase... I have my sights on a new camera and hopefully will be scoring it soon.... I have a few silly photos that I thought I would throw together for a random  blog post...so here we go. 

My girls are on the same soccer team this year...probably the only time we will ever get to slide on this one.  I think they felt sorry for us having 5 kids on different teams so they let us squeak in an age bracket to keep the girls together..   It's pretty comical watching 3 & 4 year olds playing soccer...especially ones like Finn, with no love for the outdoors or physical activity.  So funny. 

 This girl has been sitting on counter tops and "helping" for 9 years now. All of my hard work has finally paid off, now she is super helpful and I am loving putting her to work.  She is going to have her own food network show someday.

 Just in case you were wondering, this kid is a total jokester, a scootch if you will, an in your face always jabbering about comedian.  We love him to bits but I will be honest that I am loving that he now he thinks Jackson is the coolest thing ever...over the past year, he has been all about mommy, every second of every day.  He is just now realizing that Jackson is way more fun than mommy...Thank You Jesus...mommy needed some breathing room.

 During our weekly house cleaning hour, I walked into the bathroom to find Jackson decked out in this get-up...complete with mouth guard???  Boys crack me up.

 Does anyone else bribe their kids with slushies and let them try on Halloween gear to keep the peace during a Target run?, No?  Me either..

 I think my kid has a triple nipple, like Chandler on "Friends".   Can you see it? Is that TMI?  Is that just gross? I think it's hysterical and now he has just one more crazy nickname, "tri-nip".

 My favorite time of the day,,, my boy reads to me for 20 minutes outside on the swinging bed.  It's required by his teacher and I love it.... I can't resist the urge to take his picture when he's concentrating on a good book... but he caught my goofy face this time :)  You should be paying attention mommy.

 My B-day was a couple weeks ago.  My girl asked her Papa to take her to the store so she could buy me a present with her own hard earned cash.  I know your jealous, don't you wish you had a florescent orange man watch....  and just in case I ever forget..It is Water Resistant up to 30 Meters.  How helpful. So sweet.