Dear Santa

 "I would like a Doc McStuffin set."

 "I will just take some snacks."

"Madden 2012 for the Wii."

Merry Christmas

The season is here, our hearts are full, our heads are full, our noses are full...
Merry Christmas from our family to yours...or not we don't want to share our germs!

So much to be thankful for

Kre-bee

 I love this picture so much. Captures so much of who she is.

She is a baby loving lady. She is constantly smooching on those baby dolls. Cracks me up!
She has been adding to her vocabulary like crazy! My favorite and most annoying thing is when she stands in her seat at dinner and shouts, "SIT".  I also love when you hand her something and she says, "thank-you". Her all time favorite word, use way more than it should be is, "uh oh".

little pumpkin

 It happened, I am not sure when or how, but it happened. This morning as I was tucking little treats in their backpacks to give to their teachers, Malachi noticed the attached note.
"No way mom, how embarrassing."
Needless to say Malachi's teachers will be getting pumpkin chocolates, with no cute little pumpkin notes.

Dan is doing a fundraiser, by sleeping on the streets in Detroit in a few weeks. We have talked about a few times at home. When Malachi came home from church with this note to our family, we couldn't help but wonder what the Sunday school teacher was thinking!! I love this little note, and the sweet "little pumpkin" who wrote it.  haha!!

Together

 It has been a while, but we are just busy doing life. I have adjusted well to my time at home with our little peanut! I can count on singing every preschool song I ever learned, start a thousand books and not finish one, pick up a million toys, and hold this little lady hours a day. Oh boy we are in trouble! I honestly thought I would have more time, two in school, one home....nope! The days are full, but yet the hours are free.

So while we are busy doing life, we are doing it together!
"We may not have it all together, but together we have it all."

Celebrating our little peanut!

 It happened she turned one!

 So we had some circus fun!

 We played some games and won some prizes!

 We got cheap entertainment (and good thing because she wasn't thrilled!)

 Lots of gifts for our special lady!

And some yummy cake to top it all off! 

how did it happen

How did a year go by so quickly?

How did she finally sleep through the night?

How did we fall so completely in love with her?

How did she take those steps?

How did she learn to say mama and dada?

How can we be so lucky?
 Kreana turned one on Wednesday!

Bittersweet

 I sent her off in tears twice this week. Honestly made my heart ache, but made my blood pressure lower! This girl is going to be the last of me. Sweet, innocent, beautiful, fun, sassy, crazy, cocky, and everything in between. Sending her off to school has been bitter-sweet. I miss her in so many ways, but know she is where she needs to be.

So far she is really enjoying it (tears come out of morning frustration and exhaustion). When she gets home she is full of ideas on how to run our home more efficiently (marble jars, stop sign behavior charts, etc). She also is telling me all about who looked cute that day and what they were wearing, new hair do's, etc! Five going on twenty-one!
Look out people she is going to change the world, well maybe not that far but for sure the fashion industry!

Adventures

 The past few weeks have been full of adventure after adventure. Castaway is such a fun place to go!

 On the way home we took Grandpa and Grandma for a visit at the Dells! Then we headed up the cabin for Labor day weekend.

 Now on to a much bigger adventure. Last night Korra was so afraid we wouldn't wake up on time (if she only knew she has barely slept past 8 all summer). Before my alarm went off this morning she was up and getting ready! I love her excitement, and I miss it! I know she will do great in school, but I will miss her here. It is quiet here right now, but my heart is loud. As she got on the bus today it was like watching the next 13 years go by! Now I can only hope I did enough, but more importantly I can pray that they do more than enough for Him!
Welcome to the real world honey....a place no one is really ready for, but God will guide your path!

So here is to 2014-15 school year! Be blessed!

She is loved

 We had extended family pictures on Sunday, and surprisingly it went fairly well for 9 kids under 8! Anyway I got a few cute ones of our three too!

 I just can't imagine life with-out them, and I think on a daily basis I think about what a perfect fit this little peanut is! She sure is loved!

turning 8

Happy Birthday to a sweet boy!

Today we lost someone very dear to us, Grandma Cook (your great-grandma). While we will miss her dearly, we know we will see her again! When you found out she went to Jesus on your birthday, you thought that it would be a great way for you to remember her by!

Ups and Downs

 We spent the past week soaking up the sunlight during this beautiful week! We also got to meet our sweet new niece Zoe Joy!

 Life is so unpredictable, and this week we was one of those weeks. While we celebrated the life of sweet Zoe, we also prayed for the life of my sweet Grandma.

 Things got a little messy.

 and scary

 but we pressed on, and are holding to hope.
Friday night we got a phone call telling us that my Grandma C had a stroke. We are continuing to pray for healing, but also feet for the path God has chosen. She is a believer and right now I am clinging to that!

A Summer week

Playdate

Cousin time

Mama-chi date

  a new baby visit

       a bike ride for ice cream

a trip to the children's museum

garage saling

car show and parade

 a trip to the lake for some skiing 

 and some knee boarding

 all in one crazy fun filled week!