12 years

Chase turned 12 on Oct. 22. He's been 12 years of interesting. ;) One of his best traits is his heart for and willingness to care for his siblings. He is almost always willing to lend a hand. He's a bit of a dare-devil (I'm a little surprised he's never broken a bone) and is generally willing to try anything once. I look forward to watching him continue to grow into a young man.

10 months... and more

Phoenix reached 10 months on the 16th.  I took more than 40 pictures trying to get one good one.  None of them were super, but a few show his personality. :)

This is slightly unusual... he's so busy he doesn't often snuggle (this only lasted a few moments) and he also doesn't use a soothie.  But, for some reason, he felt the need for both at that moment. :)

He's a big ham... and LOVES it when he can get his hands on the remote!  He stood at the end of the ottoman and popped up and down off the floor for a while.  Every time he would pop up he'd give me a silly little grin.

He sucks those same "best" fingers that I did as a child.  Usually he does this when he's getting tired and ready to take a nap or go to bed (these were all taken at bedtime).  Love it when he grins at me around those fingers. :)

He also has this sweet little cowlick that is almost always sticking off his head.  It's absolutely adorable. ;)

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Recently we had friends over on a Sunday afternoon.  There were 12 kids in our house... 10 of them were 9 yrs old and under.  Three of them were 2.5 yrs old - twins from their family, and one from ours, all born on the same day. :)

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Finally, these were just too beautiful not to share.  Fall is my absolute favorite time of year!  These colors are just one of the reasons...

Sick Jokes

There's always someone crackin' a joke around here.  Tonight it was Tim.

Phoenix hasn't been feeling all that well for a few days (cough, runny nose) and tonight after supper he'd had enough.  He started puking.  Just as we'd start thinking he must surely be done, he'd start again.  For supper I fed him prunes (among other things).  He's been a little "irregular" lately and had some tummy problems.  I figured the prunes would help.  Here's the comedy...

Tim: (after PJ puked all over Tim and himself) I thought those prunes were supposed to work the other way.

Laugh a minute.

Hoping and praying that now that PJ is sleeping he will not be sick anymore.  Also on that list is the wish to NOT have to change any clothing or bedding during the night.

poor sick baby :(

Truer words...

I looked out the kitchen window this evening to spot Alex just as he rolled out from under the side of the van.  My response?  I called out the window, "Um.  Alex?  Just because you CAN, doesn't mean you SHOULD!"

Tim pointed out that those words are applicable in so VERY many situations.  LOL

Maybe I should make that the new family motto?  ;)

$20 well spent

All the kids seem to have grown by leaps and bounds this summer... must be all that fresh air. ;)  Today, I was able to score some good deals on pants at Goodwill.  For Phoenix and Levi I was able to take advantage of the Blue Tag Sale (50% off).  PJ now has a cute pair of Wranglers, a pair of OshKosh bibs, and a pair of Gymborie black corduroy bibs.  Levi has a pair of slightly worn (but no holes) windpants, and a pair of jeans.  $1.50 each, except for the Gymborie bibs which were $2.

I was also able to find 3 pair of boys jeans without holes in the knees (a rare commodity in this house!) that I hoped would fit either Alex or Chase.  Two pair fit Chase, and the third was perfect for Alex.  They weren't on sale, but still only cost $3.99 a pair.  Chase is notoriously hard on pants, so it's good that TWO fit him. :)

Not bad for $20!

Now, the big task for the coming week is to go through ALL the kids clothes and make a list of everything else we need for the winter.  I'll admit, I'm not really looking forward to tackling this job, but it will be nice to have it done (until April or May...).