December Randoms

Posted on February 10, 2019 by Abbie

Emmie’s last blood pressure check! She had to be on midodrine after her surgery to keep her blood pressure up. Basically, she was on it for three weeks but slowly weaned off of it and each dose required a blood pressure check before getting the meds. She was amazing and her brothers and sisters had fun checking their pressure with her!

Getting ready to be a footballer.

Tobin can, occasionally, be the king of chill. Don’t underestimate him. He can also be Super Descructo Kid. But he is so cute when he chills.

Tobin helped me test out our new reading chair.

Everyone has been happy that Emmie is home! Including her buddy, Josiah.

Ya’ll, the way these littles love their big sister and the way she willingly loves on them, it melts my heart. Don’t get me wrong, Zoe can be very much a typical moody teenager but she can also be loving and caring for her little brothers and sisters. When it’s movie night, you can often find one or both of these guys sprawled on her.

Now to the furry kids. Ignore that Tot needs a giant haircut. Just focus on how these two snuggle up with each other. They are fiercely close and it is so much fun to see.

Emmie lost her first tooth! Yes. She’s just four. She did get them early (right at 3 months). But this is the earliest that we have seen our kids loose a tooth. Bryant got teeth at two months but didn’t loose them until 5 or 6. Emmie’s an overachiever.

Tobin sometimes cuddles in bed with me. And sometimes we enjoy seeing each other in the phone. Yeah, I know I have a double chin. I’m working on it now with an attitude, diet and exercise change. Sometimes, though, you just have to share the cuteness no matter what you look like. Memories for my crazy kids.

Our god-daughter’s parents sent the kids the Watch Your Mouth game…ya’ll my kids looked and sounded hilarious! They love it!

While the kids played Watch Your Mouth, Emmie rocked the wig.

How we said good-bye to our crazy 2018! Welcome to 2019!

Happy Birthday, Liam! 2018

Posted on February 9, 2019 by Abbie

We officially gained a third teenager in December! Liam is currently looking hard at joining the Air Force and requested a fighter jet for his birthday cake. He has way too much confidence in me.

However, with my trusty 2-liter of caffeine and a lot of prayers, I think I did a pretty decent job.

It was at the point of this drawing that I realized the cake was going to need to be larger and then things just escalated.

To this!

And this. Five boxes of cake later. Mark did the piping details. Ya’ll. I breathed a sigh of relief when this was done.

Now to birthday gifts:

Liam has requested role-playing games. This kid loves games. We found a Christian RPG game and Papa and Grandmere ordered it for him. They have already enjoyed the quests in it! From there, we found out that one of the guys over this game is an author also AND is a former fighter pilot. Absolutely crazy coincidences!

Thirteenth birthdays are a big deal in our family. Starting with Zoe, we developed the tradition that 13th birthday gifts would be a trip. The birthday kid gets to choose somewhere to go. Zoe got Ukraine because we were going there and she had learned the language. Subsequent trips, unless they choose a mission trip, will be in the lower 48. Ace chose St. Louis for the arch and general architecture. Liam was a little iffy. Mark was supposed to go to training in San Francisco and after much discussion had chosen there. Then the trip got cancelled and he went back to his number one choice…we’ll share about that in a few weeks.

Happy Birthday Zoe! 2018

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Abbie

Zoe turned 16 in December! I can not believe that my first baby is growing up so much and so fast. She is an amazing girl with quick wit, a fierce love, and a strong desire to do it right the first time. She is also extremely smart. We love having teenagers (for real, ya’ll) and I’m so glad Zoe is so patient with me as we learn how to live with teenagers! It’s so exciting watching her grow in her walk with the Lord and in her amazing gift of languages. When she practices in the evenings, it’s music to our ears listening to her speak in whatever language has caught her attention that evening.

Her want was not a new car (sorry ya’ll…that is earned and not a given) but a backpack that she had been asking for. I’ve never spent that much on a backpack but it was something that she strongly desired and we were excited to see her smile when she received it!

Cake choice was a hot chocolate cake. Decadent to say the least and I got to use a kitchen torch to toast the marshmallows on top!

November 2018 Randoms

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Abbie

In November,

Books were read.

Dates were had (Mark and I ventured to the fair…for the food and a few rides!).

Pizza was enjoyed (don’t worry, we fed him too).

School was done with goofy kids.

Cuddles were had.

And cat trees were built (this time by the littles).

It’s Beginning to Look Like

Posted on January 3, 2019 by Abbie

I know it’s a new year but we’re still a little over a month behind and slowly catching up! Let’s pretend that we’re still back in 2018.

Our trip to the Christmas tree farm was, as always, full of lots of laughter. This time, though, we broke the record for the fastest selection of a tree. It was beautiful and just barely made it to Christmas day!

The kids have enjoyed checking their growth to the Christmas tree over the years. This farm has been our go-to farm for several years now and each time it has always been very memorable.

Mark secured it tightly to keep it from tipping over. It was lopsided but we all have really enjoyed it.

Tobin helped Mark with the lights.

At the Zoo

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Abbie

The week after we returned to California, we eased back in to our normal routine. That afforded us the opportunity to head to the zoo. It was just what we needed too! The weather was perfect and Mark was able to meet us there late in the afternoon.

Zoe had to make a Voltron V and then a silly face. Teenagers!

Down to Monterey

Posted on December 28, 2018 by Abbie

On our free day, we headed down to Monterey. We were blessed to have friends who had just happened to move there this past summer. Not only that but when they knew Tobin was coming, they were willing to watch him on surgery day. Then when we realized we had to be at the hospital at the crack of dawn, they offered to watch him overnight! I think they enjoyed their time with a baby in the house again. But boy, i sure did miss him.

We spent our day sightseeing and playing and visiting. It was a great birthday indeed.

We drove out to Big Sur. It was a very harrowing drive for me (big bridges and driving on the edge of a cliff were quite terrifying for me). The view was astounding though!

On the way down from Big Sur, we stopped at a beach and stuck our feet in the Pacific Ocean. It was ice cold but Emmie couldn’t get enough of the water! Tobin enjoyed it too.

We drove over to Dennis the Menace Playground. It was huge and the kids played and played! After that, we headed to Fisherman’s Wharf. I was thrilled that we saw several sea lions and even a couple of otters out in the bay! Such a fun treat. I could have watched them all day.

We left Tobin that evening after he nursed and then headed back to Stanford. It was time for us to focus on surgery day.

Nerd Tour

Posted on December 27, 2018 by Abbie

So, on a free night in California, Mark tells me we have to go eat at In-and-Out Burger and that the Android statues for each operating system were on display at the Googleplex. Lo, and behold, Googleplex (Google’s headquarters) were right near an In-and-Out Burger. So, off we went with a slight eye roll from me.

But then, we got there. They had all the statues in a back lot. But they all looked so cool! And, yes, even I got excited on the Nerd Tour.

Emmie fell asleep on the way to the statues and was not in the mood for pictures or giant statues.

Tobin, at least, thought they were pretty neat.

On the Hunt

Posted on December 22, 2018 by Abbie

For Ace’s birthday this year, we gave him a unique experience: A scavenger hunt through Operation City Quest. Groupon has several options and companies to do city scavenger hunts. It just so happens a local city was on Operation City Quest’s website.

We finally decided to do the hunt in November. And oh my! It was so much fun! We saw a side of the city we had missed in so many other visits. The kids loved acting goofy and we all enjoyed just spending time together.

We all would highly recommend a scavenger hunt for a fun family outing!

October Randoms

Posted on December 21, 2018 by Abbie

Tobin enjoyed a little sink play one afternoon.

Busted! And he tried to win me over by those smiles. That’d be fresh toilet paper that he spun off the roll in a matter of seconds.

The roller skating crew.

Liam levitating? Nah. Just a good shot of him jumping.

A visiting friend at church. He’s a couple of months older that Tobin. We have enjoyed watching these boys grow together and change their interactions every time they visit (they live out of town).

This is not a Tobin post but ya’ll, he’s one years old. So, I guess it is.

Before our bake-off, our neighbors had their own. Here were the contestants’ entries.

Me after family pictures…Sopping wet.

It melts this mama’s heart seeing my kids cuddling with each other.

A baby that is not Tobin! I did it! Our sweet chiropractor allowed Josiah to feed her daughter K. Josiah did a pretty good job even though he had never fed a baby before.

Tobin was not happy that daddy had to take a work trip. Oh, and he cut a couple of teeth too.

We may not dress up for Halloween but we will dress up for free food! Krispy Kreme always gives away doughnuts to people in costume on October 31st. I usually get a group picture but only managed these three. A Smart Cookie, Emo-girl, and Callum from the Dragon Prince.

A blurry picture of a cat who likes to read (or small spaces).

Emmie wanted a Super Ems costume and who are we to argue!? She wore that thing for over a week and everywhere. It was worth every single penny.

That is a picture of a baby who enjoyed his second round of birthday cake.

Just a Bunch of Characters

Musings of everyday life in a house full of Characters.

Category Archives: 2018