News

**First things first. Our five-year-old Australian Shepherd, Sheba, let us know about a week ago that she was going to have puppies (she got REALLY fat). Well, last Sunday she had them. 10 of them. Yep, that's right 10 little puppies have now been added to our "farm". They are getting to be pretty cute and I know they will just get cuter and cuter, which will make giving them away in 8 weeks all the harder, but alas we don't actually live on a farm, so away they must go.

**I am on day 3 of little to no dairy. Someone told my hubby that dairy affects eczema and since I have it pretty bad on my hands he thought I should give it a try. So here I am, no cheese, no milk, no dairy. Its sad, I must say. I love dairy products, but I am going to give it a try, because I hate eczema.

**My not having dairy products has positively affected William who is now a happy, happy little guy. No more bubbles in the tummy and he is eating like a champ. So, one more reason I shouldn't have cheese, oh the sacrifice :-)

**We've started "school" with Josiah, Benson and their cousin Thomas. It is pretty fun. We've been learning about the letter B this week and we're excited to move on to the letter C. They are doing great, loving to do projects, read new library books and color pictures of all sorts of things. When we learn about a letter we also focus on something that starts with that letter. A was Airplanes, B - Bears. I am thinkin' Cars for C, but maybe somebody has a better idea? We already know an awful lot about cars around this house :-)

**Last but not least, the break in whether has provided great opportunities for the boys to use their rain boots. They LOVE puddles. Jumping, throwing rocks, peeing in the puddle - what more could little boys ask for?! Thank you God for puddles!!!

Brothers

"Brothers don't shake hands. Brothers gotta hug!" -Tommy Boy

The magic of the blinking light

In our family (Joey's side of things) there are 11 adults and 11 children, at this point. The oldest of those 11 children is 8, almost 9, and the youngest is 2 months-ish. So you can imagine trying to get a family photo and all the craziness that would come with attempting such a feat.

Unless you introduce the blinking light of the self timer. Wa-la, everyone is looking, everyone is happy, everyone looks great. Seriously its magic! We were amazed when we looked at the pictures after taking them the other night. Every single picture looked good, only one, maybe two little guys watching their crazy parents. We couldn't believe our eyes.

So no more asking someone to take the family picture for us. We're complete believers in the magic of the blinking light!


and for fun, our mafia photo...

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles

My boys are obsessed with things that move. When I say obsessed I mean obsessed. Josiah spent our entire flight from Seattle to Philadelphia looking out the window and talking about the wings, the jets, the clouds, ect. Ya, like I said obsessed.


So when we got back to the states and found the old wooden train set just sitting there waiting to be played with, they were SUPER excited. They have spent hours setting up elaborate track systems, long trains and tunnels. One of their favorite activities is to build a big track and then have an "accident" otherwise known as "destruction time". Train tracks go flying, trains end up toppled and across the room, in terms of disasters it is major.


While in IKEA the other day I spotted more of these wooden trains. See, the company that originally makes them, Brio. Is sadly out of business and hard to find, but now they have similar ones at IKEA and they match! Plus they aren't too expensive! So now we can buy more trains and even take some back overseas with us! Woo-hoo!!! What are you waiting for?! Haul buns to IKEA and get yourself some wooden trains. We promise loads of entertainment value, not to mention we'll be stopping by to visit!

Just a chubby little man enjoying his bath time.

Happenings

Just a few things going on with us...

*Josiah walked over to Aunt Sarahs today on a mission for me. It was his first time going it alone thru the woods and back again. The dogs were his companions and I watched with tearful eyes as my "little baby" was so grown up and did it "all by yerself".


* We got Super Mario Brothers from my Sister and Bro-in-law for the Wii for Christmas and have consequently not made it to bed before midnight for the last 4 nights. I have never laughed so hard or had so much fun! Thanks Kate!

* My In-laws leave for Morocco in less than two weeks! It is hard to believe that our bulging house will be down to just the five of us. It is going to be so quiet and boring...which I confess is both a blessing and a sadness.

*Our new favorite lunch treat - Tortilla Pizzas. Tortilla, Ketchup, Cheese, a dash of Oregano. Toasted on the stove with a bit of olive oil. Yum.

Also can be enjoyed "Mom" style.

Ranch. Mozzarella, tomatoes, blue cheese & Oregano. Double yum.

*I am in desperate need of a pedicure. I had to take off my nail polish at the hospital when I had William. Now I look at my sad little toes and while I remember the blessing of having my third son, I also think to myself "sad, sad little toes". Maybe Saturday I'll slip away.

*William's temporary nick names are: Coo-Coo-A, Num-Num, and Lummy Lu. Benson also affectionately calls him "Bay-bee", While Josiah likes to stick to "Will-Yum"

*Things generally are good, 2010 is off to a great start and we are feeling abundantly blessed. It doesn't get any better than that! How has 2010 started out for you?

2 Months

As the holidays wrap up and 2010 gets off and running we're taking a few moments to treasure these memories in our hearts and ponder on them just as Mary must have done so many years ago...