All Growing Up Together...

Every Sunday morning on the way to church, our family recites this Psalm:

"Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the LORD is the great God, And the great King above all gods.
In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand. " Psalm 95:1-7

And this week we were reminded again of the need to come before our Lord with Thanksgiving. Not only does He provide all we need, but He has poured upon us all the blessings of salvation through Christ Jesus.

On Thursday we celebrated with extended family (sorry, forgot to take many pictures), and last night we gathered with Duane's immediate family. Six cousins, all within 2.5 years, and three more due to arrive in 3 more months! Life has never been the same- it's much more active:-)

Isaiah showing off his manly chest to sweet Isabella...
Two little ladies, learning to share...
Trying to get a pose...
Snuggled up with Helena...
We also celebrated Grandma's 65th birthday. Here Judah gets a kiss after having his card read...
And Selah enjoying the re-reading of her authentic birthday card...
Helping Grandma open her present...
...and blowing out the candles!
Imp and sweetness, wrapped together in one little man that grabs my heart...

Pretty little thing, feeling all grown up...

And, of course, jammy time!

Bountiful Project

I love wreaths- they just seem to cheer a door. So I was deliberating where to buy matching autumn wreaths (we have a double front door), and commenting on the priciness of such items. Rebecca suggested making them, adding it was much more fun...

It was fun, and cheaper, and more rewarding!

Humpty Dumpty and his Fall

In preschool last week we learned the 'Humpty Dumpty' rhyme, and created our own Humpty Dumpties...

Well, this poor Humpty became a bit more of a Dumpty after he was accidentally bumped off the table and then lovingly squished as he was rescued. Even though all the king's horses and men couldn't put him back together again, scotch tape does wonders!

Fashioned in Wonder...

Tempted, very much tempted, but we didn't find out the gender of this little one either. So we don't know yet if this precious little one is our ______ or _____, but we do very much know that we love him or her!

And here's a 3-D shot with the hands by the face. Selah had the privelege to 'meet' the baby last week. Question after comment after question poured out of her mouth. "Mommy, it looks like you have a crab in there!" "Mommy, does that camera hurt?" "Mom, can the baby see me waving?" "Look, those are the precious little fingers, aren't they precious!?"

Even the fourth time around, God's miraculous fashioning is still a wonder!

Big Birthday Boy!

Happy Birthday, Judah!

Wednesday was our big boy's birthday, but we celebrated on Monday. Below is the birthday spread...
And the waiting party hats...
And the waiting decorated train cake...
And then the fun began after dinner. First with a game of "Chugga, chugga, toot, toot!" (a train version of 'Duck, duck, goose'...
Tia & Helena race around the circle...(it was hard to keep all the kids from jumping up every time another person was chosen!)
Both Tia & Isaiah thoroughly enjoyed the head tapping part...
...and then on to musical chairs (another difficult game to teach to a combination of toddlers & preschoolers)
And the last game was a relay of scooping 'coal' for the engines. The coal was 'hot', so they weren't allowed to use their fingers...
Uncle Phil racing Helena...
The birthday blow...
Pretty excited kids ready to dig in for the candy...

Yup, it was delicious...
Lena's turn at the pinata with help from Grandma...
Isaiah never wanted to end his turn...
Birthday bash...

Candy, whistles, candy, silly bands, CANDY...

Birthday spoiled...

Thomas the Train underwear from Grandma- wow! (we needed more since we still have a few accidents with this little man)

Happy Birthday, dearest Judah! Our little bundle of 'praise' is growing bigger by the day. We praise our God for your sweetness, for your sing-song-y attitude, for your willingness to help in many ways. We will continue to pray that your heart will be filled with the praises of your God, as the words to your favorite song:

"Praise God from Whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him, all creatures here below,
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!"

Thank-you, Uncles!

The last stage of our reassembling our swingset is finished! We were waiting for a time when some stong men were around.

Uncle Daryl, unfortunately :-), didn't plan ahead and hoisted the roof while wearing a suit...

Some days it feels like...

...I'm raising triplets!

Tickle time! (Judah is by far the most ticklish)