The Cash Crew

This Year's Home School Plans!

2011-06-15T16:17:00.009-04:00

We are enjoying our summer and watching Kerrigan grow WAY too fast but while we have fun this summer, I'm busy preparing for our next year of homeschooling (something I admit I enjoy WAY too much and get a bit too excited doing lol).

Kerrigan is 4mo old here

After a lot of research, prayer, talking with other parents, and attending a homeschool convention, we have decided to use My Father's World next year. We are SO excited about it. I got to get my hands on it and look at some of the completed projects families had on display at a curriculum fair this spring and fell in love.

The younger kids (2nd, 3rd, and 6th) will be studying the Middle Ages (Rome - Reformation). I'm so excited to explore castles and knights with my kids! We even get to construct a castle this year as we learn and many more things! and Karly will be doing MFW Ancients High School for her 9th grade year.

Math:
Karson - Singapore U.S. Edition for 3rd
Kolton - Singapore U.S. Edition (although I may switch him to Math U See if this doesn't fit him well) for 2nd
Karaline - Math U See Zeta
Karly - Art of Problem Solving Algebra 1 which she has already started and may be finished with before fall. If she is, we will move on to Algebra 2.

Language Arts:
Kolton - Primary Language Lessons, Spelling by Sound and Structure
Karson - Primary Language Lessons, Spelling Power, & Cursive Connections
Karaline - Intermediate Language Lessons, Writing Strands, and Spelling Power
Karly - combined into her MFW literature and history studies

Science:
The younger 3 will have science built in the MFW curriculum (Apologia Astronomy and Human Biology)

Karly will be studying BOTH Chemistry (Apologia) and Biology (Apologia)

As far as extracurriculars, we are doing the weekly homeschool co-op which we love. I'm teaching 4th-6th grade Botany (apologia) and assisting in high school anatomy for co-op. Karly is playing volleyball for the homeschool team and also starting her 8th year of classical ballet. Karaline will be playing soccer and participating in Heritage Girls (a Christian Girls Scouts). Karson and Kolton will both be doing the soccer and flag football still as well as Upward basketball in the winter.

Kollin, although not homeschooled, will be playing for the high school marching band again this year. He has moved up the percussion totem pole to snare drum. :) That and year round soccer for him and a full load of sophomore honors/AP classes as well...whew!

The most recent picture of the whole Cash crew taken on Easter. :)

One of the things I didn't know 5yrs ago

2011-04-16T09:41:00.007-04:00

When we started the adoption process for the first time almost 5 years ago, I thought if we did our research (and BOY did I!), picked a great agency, flew through the adoption process,picked the right flights, had plenty of hairbows (LOL), and showered Kemry with love, life for her would be no different than if she had been born into our family. Sure I knew some kids had scars and problems bonding, but that was OLDER kids, right? Not babies. And kids from orphanages, not kids from loving foster homes! So or baby would come home at just a few months old and not even notice anything had changed. BOY WERE WE NAIVE!!!!!! I had heard of attachment issues and RAD, but knew that most kids with those issues were severely abused before adoption and older. I skimmed a few online articles and websites on the subject, but that was the extent of my "adopted kid issues" training and basically all of those backed up what I thought- babies don't remember the loss of their first mother and adjust without any problems. Kemry came home to us at 7mo old and we immediately knew these people were all quacks!!!! She grieved and grieved HARD. Only, the experts, including pediatricians, refused to believe her issues were adoption related because she came to us at such an early age. She didn't like that her perfect little world had been turned upside down. She wasn't waiting on us to come get her like we were on our side. Adoption was very much more about US at that point than her. I feel God used Kemry to show us that we didn't have to adopt one of those "older harder kids" to get a child with deep scars from "just" loosing a mom. So for 2 years, she continued to protest us being her new mommy and daddy. She wanted us to hold her but then didn't want us. We weren't what she wanted but she knew she wanted and needed someone. At this point I started reading everything I could get myhands on about attachment and bonding. most books were written about the older child because, well ya know, "babies don't have those issues". The more I learned and talked to other parents the more I realized they do, but they are often ignored as being related to adoption. There's a saying that it takes a child being in their new family the same amount of time they were without their family to get past the grieving and to bond. I myself have said this 100 times at least without putting a lot of thought into it until now. Suddenly it occurred to me it's such an incredibly OVER simplified way of thinking of the lifelong journey many adoptees take to accept and deal with their story. For some they may not need to put a lot of thought into it and may adjust well from day one. For others, that deep sense of loss will stick with them forever.

She finally came to trust us and deeply bond with us, but it's obvious the scars from the "miracle of adoption" are still there and may always be. Today she is a very happy little girl for the most part and adores us as we do her. It's so easy to forget she is adopted because she is so deeply a part of our family. I sometimes "forget" that I didn't birth her. Even though she is a well adjusted little girl who loves her family smiles all the time, and doesn't seem to have a single need in the world, she still hurts because loosing what she lost in her first 7mo of life (her birth mother she was DEEPLY bonded to from conception as well as a foster mother who had loved her for 7mo) is traumatic.

The other night she woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible night terror. Instead of being afraid (terror), it was deep intense sadness. She cried so super hard and I couldn't console her. Finally she woke up from it and I asked her what was making her sad. She said with huge tears rolling down her cheeks, "I miss my mommy." I knew she didn't mean me even though she and I are very close and bonded. I knew it was something much deeper than I could fulfill. The bond between a mother and her baby already at BIRTH is DEEP. Loosing that is a huge deal, even if the baby goes straight home from the hospital with the adoptive parents, they know. They know they aren't with the same person they were with for 9 mo. Even in the perfect adoption situation, something terrible had to happen for adoption to be needed. Going into this I thought love was all these children needed, but while they of course NEED love, that's by far not going to erase what they have been through. Of course we don't spend every day talking about everything that happened to our children for them to become orphans, but we don't pretend it hasn't affected them either. Almost 5yrs later, we are still learning and growing on this journey to provide all we can for our children. There's SO much to know and even the experts still have so much to learn. Most of what I am learning about my children I have had to get from little bits of information from naturapaths, neurologists, psychiatrists, other parents, child development experts, etc. Not one person has all the answers and not one book can cover all the dynamics of what they are dealing with. And to think I once thought LOVE IS ALL THEY NEED.

Crunchy Couture

2011-03-18T23:04:00.008-04:00

A friend of mine sells adorable tie dye shirts so Kerrigan just HAD to have one. How cute is she modeling Crunchy Couture? I think she may keep her blue eyes. They seem to just get brighter and lighter. That would give us 3 kids with blue eyes and 4 with brown eyes. :) She has turned into the BEST baby. Seriously I have to pinch myself because it feels like a dream come true. I know things could change at any given moment, lol, but she is so happy and smiles or "talks" with the sweetest girly voice NONSTOP. :)

John also started a new job this week. It has been a huge change (and a reality check for me) with him going from an extremely flexible schedule with lots of work at home days to being 2hrs away from 5am-6pm every day with practically no access to him. He was home a lot before to help with pick ups and drop offs if I needed it, but I'm on my own again. ACK! :) He loves it though. He was actually offered this position by one of his clients he had with his former job. It is a very nice promotion with a very secure company. The most important part, though, is this is a very family oriented group to work with. He didn't feel that way with his last company. District meetings were more like frat parties. Men and women employees sharing rental houses and cabins mixed with lots and lots of drinking. John has never been a drinker or a party guy and is a little old fashioned in his belief that women and men shouldn't share rental cabins without their spouse (and I have to say I TOTALLY agree lol). Anyway, I am thrilled to say the least he is now with a family oriented Christian company. Oh yeah, I brought this up to comment on how TIRED I am now that I'm back to fulltime kid care. I have no idea how single mommies do it. I'm POOPED! And spring 'stuff' is just starting too with sports and birthdays and soccer x 5 of our kids. I need a stunt double. ;)

Dairy Allergy?

2011-03-10T16:34:00.007-05:00

Kerrigan broke out in a rash all over her face, neck, and back. At first we thought it was the detergent, but it didn't seem to be that. We had started a probiotic at the same time she broke out so we took her off and the rash started to go away. Then I drank a frappe (I don't get a lot of dairy otherwise, sadly) and boom, it came back. So I cut out dairy and her rash is almost completely gone. How will I live without dairy?? It's in everything! Well, everything GOOD. :) This is a whole new world for me, but I'm determined to stick it through.

Here's her sweet little face, rash and all
We LOVE days when we can get these two together.

How KISSABLE are those lips??? Oh my word, it's all I can do to not smooch on her all day long!

I have been "bloglecting" my other kiddos since Kerrigan arrived.:) This was on my birthday (march 2) which is why they are all posing so happily. They can't say no to me on my birthday can they? LOL

Homeschooling is starting to get back to normal too. :) In science this week the little boys were learning about the insect's body parts. Well any chance to play with play doh brings all the kids out so they all ended up making their own insect. lol

Homeschool science can make the kitchen super messy!

One Thousand Gifts

2011-03-07T16:16:00.003-05:00

http://onethousandgifts.com/tell-a-friend

This book had been recommended to me by lots of different people. I ordered it (it doesn't take much to convince me to order a book with my Amazon Prime addiction) and sat on it for quite a while. I procrastinated reading it because it wasn't something I was really interested in since Kerrigan was born. Instead I was researching cloth diapers and baby clothes and vaccinations and all the things that are new since I had a baby last. On Saturday, I was at an all day ballet event with Karly (and Kerrigan) which left me sitting in the dressing room for hours. It was the only book in my diaper bag so I picked it up and started reading. WOW!!!!!! First of all, I cried through the first two chapters. In public. Not pretty. lol I almost quit reading this book before I had finished the first 2 chapters because I knew I couldn't handle the rest of the book if it continued to rip my heart like that. I'm glad I pushed through it. WOW this book is fabulous!!!! It's definitely a must read for anyone! It is definitely Christian based, but really a good tool to improve anyone's life outlook.

Kerrigan Elizabeth's Birth Story

2011-02-22T14:59:00.007-05:00

I had been experiencing prodromal labor for 3-4weeks which was just taunting me because my OB had told me I wasn't allowed to go past 40 weeks if I wanted an intervention free vba2c (vaginal birth after 2 c-sections). I had done everything possible to naturally speed things along...from spicy foods to acupuncture, a chiro adjustment, and Baby Come Out track from Hypnobabies, etc. Nothing worked beyond just a few hours of contractions. She was also posterior and I knew that could cause weeks of pre-labor because her head wasn't putting pressure in the right spot to get me dilating. I was trying to encourage her to turn. I was so desperate because I was once again in the same situation I was in with my Karson (first baby was a c-section, 2 & 3 were VBACs and #4 was another c-section). I had a clock ticking with him...had to have him by 39 weeks without being induced or it would be a repeat c-section. Labor never happened on it's own with him by 39w so he became my 2nd c-section which has caused me so much more trouble finding anyone who would allow me to vbac with this pregnancy. My ob (that I LOVE) this time had given me until 40 weeks to go on my own. She wouldn't induce (which I agree with) but wouldn't let me go past 40 weeks either. Monday (I was 39 weeks 3 days), Kasey's water broke (my sister)in the middle of a TERRIBLE snow/ice storm and my sweet nephew was born 3 weeks early. I was OVERJOYED but naturally a little upset with my own body because I had tried everything to avoid a c-section and nothing was happening. Wednesday, 2 days before my duedate and that all important 40 week appt, I had nothing all day to indicate birthing day for the first time in weeks. No contractions, nothing. I cried and cried because my nephew was here and the roads were too bad for me to get to the hospital to see him. My sister was able to make it to my parent's house the day they left the hospital and nothing was going to stop me from getting there to see him. I held him for at least 2hrs and I fell head over heels in LOVE. Every maternal instinct in my body went crazy!!!! I truly feel, now, that this was jump starting my system.

Went to bed about 11 that night and slept well all night, but woke up to pressure waves at 6am and pink watery "show". This was quite the red flag for me. They were painless, weren't terribly strong and only every 18-20min apart but they were different. I had painful contractions with prodromal labor but these gave me the perfect feeling/mental image of a bearing down pressure with no pain. I asked John to stick around (my inductions were fast labors) and just work from home for a while just to see which way they were going to go. By lunchtime, they really weren't much stronger although they were a bit closer and not letting up no matter what I did. John really needed to go to work just for a bit so I told him to go on. While he was getting ready to leave though, they suddenly jumped to about 10-12min apart and increased in intensity and I asked him again to stay home. In the past few weeks of prodromal labor, I would be sure it was the real thing but the minute John left for work, everything would stop. I was sure it was from my body being "afraid" to labor with him gone, so I begged him just to stay home this time so my contractions didn't stop again (LOL this sounds silly looking back but I was a woman on the edge at that point lol). By 4pm I was certain it was baby time but it was going so slow. They were still about 10-12min apart but nothing was stopping them like activity, rest, showering, drinking water, etc. During this time I alternated between listening to my Hypnobabies tracks while sitting on my birth ball and pacing around the house. I wanted to get on with my day as usual but I had so much anxiety (noise and little things the kids did agitated me more than usual) I felt I needed to stay in my room and keep things as calm as possible while John took care of the kids.

At 5pm I started feeling some really strange sensations around my c-section scar. It felt like her head was popping back up out of the pelvis during each pressure wave and I got afraid. As much as I wanted a vbac, keeping my baby healthy and safe was #1 and I knew the ruptures had to happen to SOMEBODY and didn't want that somebody to be me. I was 45 min from the hospital and didn't want to risk it, so I called my ob. I knew I was probably sabotaging my vbac and drug-free hypnobabies birth if I went in to the hospital too early. As I predicted, she brought me in to L&D. The second we parked in the parking lot about 6pm, my contractions picked up to about 6-8min apart or so after hours of being stuck at a 10-12min apart phase. Got inside and was hooked up to the monitors just to make sure the baby was fine and there was no rupture. Everything looked GREAT! YEAAAA!!! Now to decide what to do from there. I was still only dilated to 2cm and 50% effaced which is what I was the week prior at my 39 week appt (and 38 week appt), so no one believed I was in "real" labor. I was also still feeling perfectly fine with a tiny bit of focusing through my contractions. Everyone was SO respectful and let me focus in quiet during each contraction and all the nurses were on board with my Hypnobabies requests and even excited about it. We agreed that going home would be a waste of time because my goal was to head into L&D at 6min apart anyway. My ob told me just to stay overnight on 24hr observation. We got a nice quiet room away from everyone else who was having their babies because I'm sure they didn't want to be bothered by us on a busy night just as much as we didn't want to be bothered by them. They took me off the monitors and encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to encourage labor or just rest. We got to a room about 7 or so and just watched tv (The Office and our other Thurs night shows...woohoo), timed contractions, talked, and walked. It really felt like a fun date night with John! I sat on the birthing ball quite a bit and just walked and drank (yummy slushies and my pregnancy fav, orange crush)and ate...I had no restrictions at all. The contractions quickly got more and more intense and were already about 4min apart. From 7-11:30 no one came in our room at all and I didn't have to deal with any monitoring. The contractions were just intense pressure with no pain although they did take a bit more focusing and strength to relax instead of tensing up. At one point (between 10-10:30ish) I sat for 30-45 min on the birth ball with my head on the bed in front of me listening to my hypnobabies tracks. I slept through most of it (or was in deep hypnosis from Hypnobabies, I could never really tell the difference) and woke up feeling sick on my stomach just a bit. I think at this point is when labor really kicked in and I started dilating fast.

When she came in at 11:30pm just to hook me up for 15 min of monitoring, she noticed I seemed to have to focus more through the contractions than I had been before (and I had my hypnobabies playing on my ipod to help me focus more at that point) and asked if she could check me. I was 6/7cm and she nearly fell through the floor. this was totally a God thing that they thought all that time I wasn't in labor because I was able to just be left alone with no restrictions just like I had prayed for. She called the doctor at home and started trying to get me admitted as a "labor patient" instead of just observation. I was ready! I felt such a HUGE exhilarating rush of energy and determination at that point. Almost instantly the anesthesiologist showed up (very creepy like she sensed my progress and needed to come spread drugs..the nurses had no time to go get her so I don't get how she knew). She looked like the mean principal from the movie Matilda and even though we were trying to joke with her she had no smiles. Looking back, that was another way God was helping me get the natural childbirth I had prayed for. She terrified me and I just wanted her out of the room because I sensed such bad vibes from her. I stayed in my BOP (Bubble of Peace....a Hypnobabies tactic to help block out negativity which could cause you to feel pain) and was EASILY and CONFIDENTLY able to smile and tell her that we wouldn't be needing her services because I was feeling no pain. No one could believe it. They kept saying over and over how calm and "easy" I was for them. At this point they gave me the IV lock but didn't hook the iv up. About 1am they checked me again and I was only to an 8. I lost a lot of wind in my sails because I thought for sure she would be there by then (I went from 7-delivery in 45 min with my other two VBACs but they were induced). Now that I look back, I cannot believe I didn't just trust God. Everything that was happening was what I had prayed for. I prayed that my labor would go just fast enough that I wouldn't tired completely out yet slow enough that it wasn't too much for me to endure.

By 1:45ish I was just a 9 and baby was still high (and possibly still posterior). She said I was EXTREMELY stretchy and if I wanted to start pushing I could but I declined. At that point I felt like my hypnobabies went out the window and I felt pain for the first time in the whole process. I couldn't focus, I felt tremendous pain, and I couldn't figure out how to get back to the peaceful place I had before. I know it was because suddenly we were being "bothered" by other people (although they were very respectful, them being there took away so much of my focus because I wanted to be polite and kind). I just wanted it all over at that point. I felt like I was quickly loosing control at that point. That's also when I started begging for an epidural. Luckily my wonderful husband and amazing nurse both knew that's not really what I wanted and knew I was SO close even though I couldn't realize that. I knew by the time they got my epidural to me and in me it would all be over, but I thought I needed something right THEN and didn't care what it was. lol My wishes changed with each contraction...one minute I wanted John touching me, the next I was yelling at him for it (and then immediately apologizing for it making him laugh that I felt that was necessary). Up until that point standing and swaying or bending over the bed was the most comfortable position, but not anymore. I just wanted in the bed on my left side holding onto the bed rails with my face buried in the railing through each contraction. My nurse was trying to encourage me to change positions and I refused to listen to anyone. John put my "Pushing Baby Out" Hypnobabies track on my ipod and put my ear buds in but I was too unfocused to listen or even "hear" anything. I just remember being annoyed that I couldn't hear what everyone was saying to me but not aware enough to take my earbuds out. LOL At that point my body was already bearing down and trying to push on it's own and I hated that. I had always heard that the pushing made the pain feel much better in a relief sort of way but it didn't so much for me. It reminded me of that uncontrollable feeling you get when you are throwing up. You know it's going to hurt and feel terrible but your body does it anyway. I didn't like not being in control of that. One thing that helped during this part was praying out loud and laying all my heart to God. At times I got nervous about her heart rate dropping and I would ask the Lord during those contractions just to keep her safe because I would gladly take the discomfort if He would protect her. Those were my easiest contractions even though I wasn't asking for them to be easy. Knowing I was doing it for her made them feel like nothing. I had totally forgotten about the "ahhh" to breathe the baby out we were taught in hypnobabies. I kept apologizing for being "out of control" and they kept saying, "Are you kidding? You are more in control than many women with epidurals!" I didn't feel that way though at all! I felt like I was a raving lunatic, but it helped that everyone was still amazed at my weakest moment at how calm and relaxed I was.

At 2:15am my ob was finally there, checked me, and said I was complete but baby's head was still at a -1. As soon as she walked in I said, "I'm SO SORRY I got you out of bed in the middle of the night!" LOL I was SO apologetic to everyone for some reason. My water hadn't broken yet, so she asked if she could break it. I said absolutely NOT because I knew it would make the pain worse. She said that it very well could make it worse for a little bit but it would go faster. I said I didn't care, I knew I couldn't handle any more pain than what I already had and with her head still being so high I knew it could be a long pushing phase. Maybe 10 seconds later I asked her if she promised it would make the baby come faster (LOL) and she said yes. I said ok. They waited until between a contraction and broke my water at 2:23am. Fluid shot out like a rocket soaking my ob and everyone laughed. She went to get booties on her shoes while the nurses were to break the bed down and get me ready to meet my baby. With the next contraction, they said I could push. With that first contraction I pushed like my life was ending if I didn't get that baby out...yes completely opposite what I had planned which was to "breathe" the baby out. Suddenly it felt as if someone dropped a bowling ball in my pelvis from several feet above. A HUGE heavy bone bending weight/pressure was felt in my pelvis, tailbone, and hips. I felt the head come out in a very sharp stinging, burning, pressure sensation and them telling me to stop pushing with lots of commotion trying to hurry and get the doctor back in there but I didn't listen. I just couldn't stop letting her be half way in and half way out with that flesh ripping/stinging feeling. She was born in that one push (with one loud beastmaster scream from me that John says wasn't loud at all I just thought it was lol) at 2:25am, 2 minutes after the ob broke my water. She was partially caught by nurses. My ob walked in just as this happened. LOL The first thing she said (as the nurse was yelling out the time of birth) was "I told you it would be faster!" LOLOL She climbed up on the bed to stitch me up so I wouldn't have to be bothered. She peed on the nurses (something we have since learned is her life's mission, to pee on everyone coming and going lol) and I was so worried because she looked so little to me compared to my other babies. They immediately put her in my gown to warm her up and let me nurse while they did all they needed to do as far as exams through the collar of my gown. lol Never had this with my other babies so it was AMAZING! Her apgar was 8/9 and she looked so healthy and alert as was I! She stayed there nursing for over an hour. They did her exam and bath right beside my bed about 5am then gave her back to me. It was simply an amazing experience. I KNOW I couldn't have done it without hypnobabies, my amazing husband/coach, and the Lord carrying me through.

Kerrigan Elizabeth was born at 2:25am weighing 6lb13oz on 1.14.11 just about 8 hours before the appointment where I was going to have to discuss c-section or other interventions to get her here. Just in the nick of time, whew! I have felt AMAZING and she has been BY FAR the most alert and content baby I have ever been around. Also, I had episiotomies with my other two VBACs and they were very painful and took a long time to heal. With my tear have had NO pain at all! It feels like I never even pushed a baby out. LOL It has been by far the best childbirth of my 5. If I am ever blessed again to have another child, I will definitely use Hypnobabies again and hopefully correct the ending next time.

Oh and p.s. when my ob came back in to see me the next evening she said as she was leaving, "Aren't you glad you didn't just go with the repeat c-section?" (I had fought and fought for a vbac for 9mo lol)

Kerrigan & Avry at 3 weeks old

Avry was born at the beginning of the snowstorm, Kerrigan at the end - 4 days apart :)

Baby Smiles and Ballerinas

2011-02-13T14:44:00.019-05:00

Kerrigan started melting us with her baby smiles this past week. Oh my goodness, we could eat her up when she shows those sweet gums. She just turned 4 weeks old this weekend..where does the time go?!?!?! Oh and the chunker is 10lb already bringing her weight gain up to 3.5lb since birth.

We have started a loose homeschooling schedule. Luckily we were a bit ahead before little bit came along and could take some time off. :) Co-op started last week and that got us motivated. :) Karson is taking Spanish, Magic School Bus, and Art. Kolton is taking Community Helpers, Magic Tree House, and Chorus. Karaline is taking IEW Writing, Piano by Ear, and Jonathan Park Science. Karly is taking US Government, Chemistry, and Home Management (hoping she can take over...LOL). They LOVE it! They are also in several after co-op clubs (princess club, lego club, etc)

We have also started talking about the vehicle situation. Our plan was to just take 2 cars since Kollin will be driving in the fall, but we are already seeing how inconvenient this is. We have 2 cars that seat 8 each - my Honda minivan and John's Saturn Outlook. Several times though in the past couple weeks, we have just wanted to jump in the car and go somewhere as a family, even just to my parents' house or riding around. So we are in the market for a big ole van. :) We could fit all of us in a Surburban or Excursion with an extra bench seat added to the back, but John is on this 12 passenger kick. He has been researching all the options and the pricing of those. I always said I would never drive one of those but seeing how excited he is about it makes me a little excited too. :) It's for our family and the space will make everyone much happier on trips. I would hate to think that the tightness of our vehicle prevented our kids with a bit bigger "personal space" from wanting to go places with us and we have started to see that with our older two. Family time is so important to us. So watch for me on the road...I'll look like a school bus driver and will most likely be taking out every curb and traffic sign around. ;)
Kerrigan's first bath!!!!!!!!!

We have also taken CRUNCHY to the next step as well going to cloth diapers!!! :) I had no idea how ADORABLE these things could be! :) Kerrigan has had terrible rash issues and we are finding she is quite sensitive to a lot of things I eat and products (even Mylicon broke her cheek out where a drop was on her face). Here she is modeling her adorable cloth diapers we are borrowing from our friends.

And don't let her sleeping in the swing fool you, this was the only time she has ever been in it and it was only long enough to take these pictures since she matched the swing. LOL This girl is ALWAYS in someone's arms or the sling/wrap.

The cuteness never ENDS (no pun intended) lol

How lucky is this girl to have 3 handsome brothers to watch out for her (the 3rd one has had a cold and can't be around her right now :( )

Three MUST HAVE baby products -a pouch sling (khaki below), a baby wrap (brown/purple/green below), and the Swaddle Me thingy (the baby straight jacket).

I look terrible here (no makeup, hair not fixed) but I AM in regular jeans here...WOOOOHOOOOO BUTTONS and ZIPPERS rock!

I'm such a huge Dr Sears/Dr Purvis attachment parenting FAN it's ridiculous ...breastfeeding on demand, baby wearing, selective vaxing, co-sleeping, delaying solids, etc! I wouldn't have it any other way. :) We have done this with all our kids, but I will admit it's easier with bio children. Our adopted kids need it just as much, but they struggle to accept it as easily as our bio children do. Some day I'll expand on all these issues. :)

We also just finished Karly's 7th ballet production with our ballet company and Kemry's first! Kemry was the most adorable little firefly in her 30 second stage appearance. LOL This year they did Cinderella and of course had a Christian theme. Karly really enjoyed it and it was a beautiful, as always, production. Kerrigan was a week old at opening night so I didn't get to spend anywhere near as much time with it as I usually do.

Kemry had gone home with my mom when this picture was taken. Kerrigan hung out in the wrap through the show.

Kemry and Karly...our two ballerinas

Karly at the ball getting recognized by the prince. :)

Karly (center) dancing as a trillium fairy in the corps de ballet.

A village dancer (Karly's in purple)

And here's our little firefly! Karly (in purple) mourning the death of Cinderella's mother.

Kerrigan is 3 Weeks Old!

2011-02-07T14:50:00.005-05:00

Kerrigan is 3 weeks old already! It's amazing to me how 3 weeks feels like months when you're pregnant but flies by after the baby is born. She really is doing great! She has her fussy moments and has been battling a TERRIBLE diaper rash since she was born, but she is gaining weight so fast (2lb in her first 10 days). We are so incredibly in cloud 9 with a newborn in the house. This is truly what God means being blessed by Him. None of the hard stuff (tstitches, postpartum leftover weight, sleepless nights, 15 diapers a day, etc) matter at all.
Our other kids are all in love with her as well. I am not kidding when I say this child hasn't spent more than an hour of her life outside of someone's arms...total! I'm just as guilty as everyone else. I don't feel like she should ever be put down. :) I have learned by now that they grow up WAY too fast and cannot be spoiled! :)

As regular schedules resume around here and I adjust to doing my normal "stuff" with a newborn in tow (WOW I had forgotten how much extra time this involves), I am realizing more and more how two things are VITAL to a mom of many...a wonderful husband and our amazing God. I have no idea how women with a less than supportive husband or without faith in God do this.

I'm trying to figure out how to post my birth story (which was a DREAM birth for me), but blogger won't let me cut/paste. I'll figure out a way, somehow. :) I know not everyone is into that kinda thing, but I always love reading birth stories and wanted to share mine for others who do. :)

Kerrigan Elizabeth is HERE!

2011-01-20T18:21:00.014-05:00

Kerrigan Elizabeth is here!!!!!!!!Kerrigan was born Friday, January 14 at 2:25am on her duedate!

She weighed 6lb 13oz and was 19.5in long.

She was a 100% drug-free birth

She is such an amazing baby, so content but not afraid to let us know what she likes and dislikes either! :) She is nursing like a pro and just doing remarkably well! We are sooooooooo totally head over heels pathetically in love with her!!! She is truly a gift sent straight from heaven!

Kerrigan's first picture

Plopped on mommy's belly...ahhh that's the most AMAZING feeling in the world to have that warm solid little thing put on your tummy after 9months of anticipation.
Here she is about 3 hours later getting her first bath (after 3 hours of bonding time first....so amazing) and watching every move the nurse made.

She has the longest, skinniest toes!

Funny picture...she watched the nurse so closely while she was bathing her. I really believe having her drug-free made her so much more alert. My others weren't anywhere near this alert at birth. Check out that cowlick. LOL

All clean and back in daddy's arms

Itty bitty and PINK :)

The kids arrived later that day to meet their new baby sister. They all held her and fell just as in love as John and I already were.

Then John's family arrived to meet her. John's sister held her too but I didn't get a pic (John was photographer for the weekend and wasn't used to remembering these things hee hee). John's mom had a cold and didn't get to hold her.

PURE MOMMY LOVES

This was after we came home from the hospital. All the kids are madly in love with Kerrigan, but Karson takes it to a whole new level. :) He never leaves her sight and wants to talk about her NONSTOP.

Aunt Kasey getting to meet Kerrigan.

Finally both babies are here!!! They were born 4 days apart. Kemry and Alex, who are 15 days apart, each have their own baby (seriously God knew these two when He planned it this way LOL).

My mom and dad with Kerrigan

These are all out of order, but here she is in her little isolet before we left. I just had to take a pic of it but she wasn't in there other than this. lol

Exhausted doesn't even begin to describe how we felt after being up all night with a 2:25am birth and being too in love and excited to sleep the rest of the night and then visitors all day on Friday (which we wouldn't change for the world).

Snuggling with mommy after her sponge bath...love this smooshy baby picture. :)

My Nephew Is Here 3 Weeks Early

2011-01-12T13:45:00.009-05:00

My nephew is here!!!! He arrived 3 weeks early (Kasey was due 2 weeks after me), so he was quite a surprise but a VERY happy one! :)

Avry Lyn

1/10/11

6lb1oz

Kasey's water broke in the middle of the night in the middle of a HUGE blizzard. They had to drive nearly an hour to get to the hospital in TERRIBLE road conditions dodging snow plows and salt trucks. He's our little blizzard baby! This is also the reason I can't get to the hospital to see him (and it's KILLING ME!!!!!!!!!!!). Her hospital is an hour and a half SW and my hospital is 45min NE and road conditions are still terrible. No one will let me go 39.5 weeks pregnant. :(

As for me, I'm due Friday and no major signs she is coming anytime soon. Because I have had 2 c-sections and hope to have a VBAC this time, I am under a few more restrictions than most. They didn't want me to go past 39 weeks but I kinda slid under the radar until 40 weeks, but my other ob had said she definitely didn't want me to go past 40 weeks. That's Friday and I have an appt that day. We will see what happens and what I can get away with. I'm not sure what she means by not letting me go past. VBACs aren't typically supposed to be induced because the stronger contractions of pitocin is harder on the scar than natural labor, but she may allow a few less invasive things to try to get me going. I don't want a c-section,but I don't want to be induced either. And I don't want to risk going too long past my duedate because of rupture risk. I'm just really between a rock and a hard place. If she would just come on her own before Friday that would be a HUGE blessing.

Here are a few baby bump pictures (hopefully my last)..
Me.....today

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T12:39:00.004-05:00

Blessed!!!!

We wish you a blessed Christmas from our big crazy family to yours!

Love,

John, Kelly, Kollin, Karly, Karaline, Karson, Kolton, Kemry, and baby Kerrigan

Christmas with Family

2010-12-24T11:21:00.012-05:00

PRE CHRISTMAS with the CASHCREW

At our Christmas party with my mom's side of the family, Santa came and gave all the kids a goody bag! :) They were SOOOOOOO excited. Karson is convinced that it was the REAL santa and not just a helper like mall santas are. :) The little ones were beside themselves and even the big ones enjoyed their treats!

We also got a surprise ice/snow storm to play in! :)

I LOVE that our whole neighborhood comes out to play! :)

The high school marching band put on a wonderful Christmas concert for us to enjoy as well! :) Kollin is in percussion. :)

And we had an ultrasound to see baby Kerrigan! :) She reminds us so much of Karson but she is a bit on the small size (about 2 weeks behind). They are expecting her to be in the mid 6lb range at 40 weeks instead of the mid-upper 7's like my other macho babies were. :)

To be small though, it isn't showing on mama! Here I am at 35 weeks with a month left to go.

34 Weeks Pregnant

2010-12-06T22:11:00.007-05:00

Here I am today at 34 weeks 3 days. Can you believe I have to go for an ultrasound tomorrow because I'm measuring 4cm SMALL?!?!?!?! lol I am ginormous and growing out of all my maternity shirts. What do you do when maternity doesn't fit?!?!

And here is what happened when a ceramic platter fell off my wall and landed on my foot. Today is day 3 of barely walking at all, but it IS getting much better. The swelling is almost all gone at least and I can put more weight on the inside of my foot. Don't make fun of the paint job. :) At 34 weeks pregnant I cannot reach my toes. I slapped this mess on my toenails right after I did this because I was afraid I was going to have to go to the ER and have a lot of focus on my badly ignored feet. LOL

Giving Thanks

2010-12-06T16:02:00.015-05:00

Here is a recap of our Thanksgiving. I forgot to get my camera out until after several people had left. What's wrong with me??? And some of these are from the few days after Thanksgiving when I was wilding Christmas decorating. :)

Warning: The pictures from here down have had no editing and they are grossly out of order...sorry, I am seriously lacking in the time dept these days. :)

This is what your front door looks like all the time when you have a great dane. Muddy pawprints to the very top of the door.

This is how all our family get-togethers end. Kemry and Alex end up in their undies usually from completely destroying whatever had been put on them earlier that day. LOL Then they act like silly monkeys. Wait, they are always silly monkeys!

This couldn't describe them better....Kemry's undies backwards (ALWAYS) and being rougher than Alex would like. LOL

LOL her granny undies turned backwards TOTALLY cracks me up. You can tell her J-Lo booty has them stretched out a bit in the back. ;)

This was one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving. Every year everyone signs our Thanksgiving tablecloth with what they are thankful for. Last year Kolton had been home 6mo and I had to write what he told me (except his name). We also pushed for him to say anything other than materialistic things (and yes he says Etiopia instead of Ethiopia).

This is this year's, written by him and completely UNprompted. He wasn't around when anyone else signed theirs, so this was 100% him. My sisters and I headed out to shop Thanksgiving night looking a little worn and rough already! lol I was wondering at this point if we had lost our minds! Kasey was 30 weeks pregnant and I was 32 weeks pregnant and we were leaving at 10pm knowing if we were lucky we would be home by 10 am (we weren't home until more like 3pm).

Our sales papers after we ate lunch :) Ready for devouring :)

Kollin thinking of what to write on the tablecloth. :)

My brother, Kellon, and Karaline

My youngest sister Kayla and my brother Kellon

The kids playing a game the colonial children played, possibly at the first Thanksgiving. :) Fox and Geese

My siblings and I! Kellon , Kasey, Me, Kayla

THEN I hit the Christmas spirit after I had rested a few days from our 17hour shopping trip! :) I loved this fabric and couldn't figure out what to make from it so I made pillows. I had also broken/bruised my foot that day moving dishes from one wall to the other so I made these with my foot propped up (and it SHOWS).

Our tree

Then I decoupaged this C for our door wreath. The bow looks horrible because the glass storm door mashes it.

Then I made this coffee filter wreath

Then I made these advent tags for the Christmas tree (I totally copied this as well as the wreath and the C from other blog mamas who are way more creative and talented than I am.

I only half did it and didn't make it anywhere near as cute as the other preson I saw.

We also went a little Buddy the Elf and made these for our doorways. LOVE how they look at night

And I made these picture ornaments out of canning lids. I have seen this a dozen times but on the one blog I follow theywere WAY more adorable than any I have ever seen. I'm just lazy (and had to do what I could with my foot propped up) so they are no where near as cute as hers. :)

Birthday Girl Fun

2010-11-23T16:59:00.012-05:00

Karaline's Birthday, Last Day of Homeschool co-op, the zoo, Dollywood, a little bit of everything in this post. :)

We'll start with Karaline's birthday :) We just did a small little thing here with family with the promise to have a bigger party later although life hasn't slowed down for us to arrange that bigger party yet. My big girl turned 11...so hard to believe.

Karly is our newest homeschooler! :) We have been praying that she would come home if it was the Lord's will and she decided while she was out with possible mono that she would just stay home and finish out the year. :) She is doing Switched On Schoolhouse with a few supplements thrown in and doing very well so far. I cannot even tell you how much happier she is. It's like the outer 5 layers have been removed and the real Karly has emerged again! She just shines. It's amazing how much stress and pressure school and all it brings with it was putting on her.

Kollin got to spend the birthday party making up missing Language Arts work...yikes. He finished a literary portfolio on To Kill A Mockingbird while we celebrated.

The two preggo ladies in the family! I'm 31 weeks here and Kasey is 29 weeks here...won't be long!!!!!!!!!!

My two girlies who love each other again now that Karly is happier and homeschooled.
The babies attacked my mom. They were supposed to be getting cheek to to cheek for a pic and this is what happened.

My awesome brother with Karson :) They look a lot alike I think.

Now we will talk about the last day of homeschool co-op! :) We have SO enjoyed co-op this semester. The elementary kids had 10 weeks of it and it's from 9-12 on Mondays. Then we all eat lunch together and the kids break into their afternoon sports and clubs. We do lego club and princess club. I taught Apologia Astronomy for 1st-3rd graders and had SO MUCH FUN (even though those kids really kept me on my toes). Both the younger boys were in my class. Karson also had a Magic Tree House class and Spanish. Kolton had Community Helpers and Choir. Karaline had IEW Writing, Art, and Piano. Next semester I'm taking off to have baby Kerrigan Elizabeth and John is teaching a high school economics class for co-op. Karly will be going next semester too. She has Intro to Chemistry, US Government, and Art.

This is our scale display of the solar system our class did for the end of the semester presentation.

Karson posing in front of the sun

Karaline's piano piece for the program.

Kolton's favorite community helper was a policeman. He was so cute up there telling about it. Don't ask me why he fixed his handcuffs to look like ovaries. LOL

Karson sang a song in Spanish.

DOLLYWOOD! We went to see the lights the other night. AWESOME!

We went to the zoo the same day. The kids LOVE this sign that's posted there.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-23T16:44:00.005-05:00

HALLOWEEN 2010!

Kolton and my nephew Alex

Crazy Nesting = lots of work for the guys - Ripped up the carpet

2010-10-31T21:29:00.007-04:00

A few weeks ago I got a crazy nesting spurt and decided at 8:30pm on a Friday evening just as John was getting home from work to rip up all our carpet because I was tired of the "dirty hair" feeling it gave me. The carpet was out by 10pm and piles of disgusting dirt was swept up by midnight. We spent all day Sat sanding the subfloor and then on and off the rest of the week and weekend routing grooves in the subfloor. Yep, the subfloor. I got the idea of decorating blogs when people like me (extremely impulsive) rip their flooring up with no budget or plan to replace it right away. lol

This was the finished product (minus trim and some touching up) just before it was completely dry. It dried just a bit less shiny. I love it...imperfect, full of nicks and dents like an old farmhouse floor. I don't have to stress over it because it's already imperfect and it JUST a subfloor.

The best part...no yucky gross carpet that still feels gross after it has been steam cleaned! I have to swiffer constantly because it really shows everything, but at least it shows it and I can get it up unlike carpet! :)

Goodbye Summer Fun

2010-08-06T20:22:00.019-04:00

All this summer bliss must come to an end. School starts on Monday. I am SO excited about starting a new homeschool year with my smaller 3 but so sad that my biggest two are leaving me to go back to school. 8th grade and HIGH SCHOOL. I cannot believe Kollin will start high school this year.

I rarely make an appearance on my blog but got my picture taken at a family reunion this summer with all the cousins I grew up with. Ahhhh the memories. :) I'm between my two sisters in the front standing row.
This is one of the few pics I got of my big boy this summer. He was always at band or hiding from my camera. Ain't he GORGEOUS? ;)
Karson hanging out on my great grandmother's front porch. She raised 7 kids in this house and this spot was her favorite spot...her front porch glider.

The food our family can produce is mind blowing. :)

Kemry with her two cousins!

Kollin & Brad (Kayla's BOYFRIEND...oooooh)

Tying a string to a June Bug's leg with uncle Daniel. Who needs gameboys?

Kolton getting bear hugs from Nanny, my mama!

the cornhole obsession has struck the Cash Crew two beauties in a swing

We also went to Columbus, OH this summer to meet up with some amazing friends.

Of course I couldn't leave out baby #7! LOL We got to see her this summer too. :) Here are a couple more u/s pics. The top one is of her loooong legs (she will fit right in here) & the bottom pic is of her sleeping with her little hand propped on her cheek. As of today the name decision is down to either Kallie Elizabeth or Kerrigan Elizabeth. We are SOOOOO in love with this girl already!!!

showing me how she holds her nose before going under water

Kemry feeding the kids in the pool because they would starve to death otherwise. They won't get out even for food.

Ridin' the coasters at Dollywood

Kolton found a friend....although he wasn't pleased with him being that close to his skin. lol He was totally faking enjoying this for the pictures

Ahhh the sweat...Dollywood is SO HOT

It's a GIRL

2010-07-25T00:50:00.009-04:00

IT'S A........................

LOVE the toes shot....gotta be my fav pic

It looks like a little monkey here....LOVE IT!

Figured it out yet??

How about now??????

YEP!! GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The PINK team is about to outnumber the BLUE team in the Cash Crew!

Ok to narrow down K names. That's the HARD part! :) We like Kerrigan, Kamdyn, Kolbi, Kinley, Klare, Kate, Kenna, Kessa, Kendi, Kamilla, etc. Her middle name will most likely be Elizabeth. As you can see we will have a hard time narrowing it down.

Bad picture of me (no makeup) but here's the bump this week

Getting Organized

2010-07-05T11:26:00.005-04:00

I am NOT the most organized person in the world. I am organized in my head and I want to be organized so bad, but when it comes to actually implementing it, I fail horribly. I have always gotten by, but by the skin of my teeth. Well, that HAS to change now. I cannot bring a newborn home along with his/her neediness, extra laundry, extra "things" right in the middle of a homeschooling year as well as Kollin being in his 1st year of highschool (and in band, running cross country, and playing soccer) and Karly being in her 8th grade yr (and cheering at all the football/basketball games, doing the big ballet, chorus, running track & playing soccer) without being organized to the minute. That doesn't even include the schedules of the homeschooled kids (co-op where I am teaching a class as well, gymnastics, basketball, soccer etc) or Kemry and her speech therapy. We never miss any of their games/concerts/performances. John or I will always be there and most often we have to spread between several things. I read a lot of big family/homeschooling blogs and get a lot of ideas from them. The issue is most homeschool all their kids or none of their kids. Our situation is a little unique that some are homeschooled and some aren't and I still want to be very involved in both.

I MUST GET MORE ORGANIZED OR I AM GOING TO SINK! Michelle Duggar says that they were unorganized until #5 came along. I'm a kid past that and need to catch up. Their house runs like a well oiled machine and they have ...what? 12? 13? kids more than we do? I know it can be done.

I have tried tons of books and programs (ie flylady, titus2) over the years and they always fail because they either have a homeschooling mind-set or a public schooling mind-set, not set up for both.

I would just like for someone who understands all the ins and outs of a big family some in PS and some HS to tell me exactly what to do...I SO would do anything. I just have to know where to start and what to do.

So if you have tips that worked great for your family or organizing books you love or blog posts that changed your life (LOL), please share! :) I'm ready for a whole lifestyle overhaul and need to know where to begin.

LOTS of MAMAS

2010-06-26T13:21:00.004-04:00

LOTS of MAMAS around here

Our cat Peyton had 4 kittens on Mother's Day. They have had the most amazing group of mamas looking out for them in addition to the already amazing mother, Peyton!

The funniest one of course is 85lb Barlow who thinks she is mama cat.

And of course the kids...the kittens were born in Karaline & Karly's room so they have slept in the floor every night with them since (even though they are supposed to stay in their basket). The kittens are so attached to the girls.

And of course Kemry is a good mama too. :)

They are all spoken for except for one and they are ready to go, so I need to find a home for one of them soon!

God is blessing us with #7

2010-06-21T14:38:00.007-04:00

First of all, when I wrote the post a couple posts ago titled "Are We Done Yet" we truly had NO plans to have or adopt another child. Looking back, it was obviously God preparing my heart for what was to come even though I had no idea yet. I had been bombarded with comments that week asking if we were done and I felt I needed to address it.

So we thought we were finished HAVING children and if we were to ever add another child in the future it would be by adoption again. I have had several miscarriages and one ectopic pregnancy (which was actually a much more rare abdominal pregnancy). The ectopic pregnancy has been the most difficult to recover emotionally from. We were not expecting that baby and it wasn't at the best time and we were initially, for the first time ever, not very happy about that pregnancy. That didn't last long but shortly after we realized we would accept God's blessing, we found out it was ectopic and the rest is history. I never forgave myself for initially being upset about that blessing and felt that's why it was taken away from me.

So life went on. In May we found out, to our surprise, we were expecting. I had no reason to suspect that I could be expecting....seriously, NONE! But I had a dream one night (about 3 weeks 4 days pregnant) that I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. I woke up cracking up because there was "no way" I could be pregnant. That didn't stop me from taking one though! LOLOL I went straight out and bought a test and lo and behold it was POSITIVE! I thought it was a fluke...John thought it was a fluke. There was just no way I could be pregnant AND a DREAM told me to take it?!?!

Not only that, but we are due the exact same day I was due with the ectopic pregnancy! It truly felt like God was saying, "Ok I'm giving you another chance...will you happily accept my blessing and TRUST me that I am in control at ALL times now???" I was immediately through the roof with joy. So was John! The fact that God was choosing US to bless once again trumped all other things (expense of another vehicle, addition, baby expenses, negative reactions from some family, busy schedule already!!!, etc). We could easily become consumed by worldly reasons not to have a big family, but that is not what we want for our lives. We never want to miss a blessing from God or believe we know more than God. God would never give us more than we could handle.

Ok so my next concern was my sweet sister. She had been trying for over 2 years to get pregnant and I didn't want her to be hurt that I wound up pregnant before her while trying to PREVENT. While I was exploding inside with happiness and my sisters are my best friends, I dreaded telling her.

Meanwhile I am having to go in for bloodwork and ultrasound scans every couple of days because of my history of ectopic and miscarriage. Everything looked fine but I was still a nervous wreck and having a ton of the same symptoms I had had with the ectopic. During all this it became too impossible to hide it from my sisters because they knew I was going to these mysterious doctor appts every couple of days. lol They thought I had cancer. ACK!

I started praying that my sister's potential adoption situation would pull through (it was looking rocky) or that she would get pregnant so the pain of our pregnancy wouldn't be as hard for her. Just a few days later, she called me to say she WAS PREGNANT!!!! After 2 years of trying she was pregnant due 15 days after me (and Kemry and Alex are 15 days apart too).

Kasey had had a dream a few weeks before that she and her SIL were pregnant at the same time but it was really she and her sister.

It's all so crazy how it worked out but we are SO grateful and excited. It's amazing how God is showing us that by trusting Him, He will provide. We have gotten mostly happy and supportive replies. We have a few family members who have never been supportive of our growing family from #1 and still aren't with #7 and that's ok. Their lack of support has no impact on our happiness. :) It does hurt a lot, but in the end all that matters is our walk with God and our family. We cannot let the opinions of others control our obedience. :)

SOOOO that's our enormous story! lol If you made it through all of that, you're amazing. Here is another picture of "baby K" at 6 weeks 4 days. I'm now 10 weeks 2 days and I'm sure s/he has changed tremendously. I keep having dreams that it is a girl, but everything else points to it being a boy. We will see in 7-10 weeks I suppose. :) Either way we will throw off our boy = girl balance. :) Also for the first time I truly have NO preference even slightly whether we have a boy or a girl. :)

God's Sense of Humor

2010-06-06T17:09:00.007-04:00

Wanna know how we know God has a sense of humor????

We are very unexpectedly expecting!

Yep, Baby K #7 is due in January!

Wanna hear something even crazier??? My sister, who has been trying for over 2yrs with no luck, found out a few days after me she is expecting too!!!! We are due 15 days apart (Kemry & Alex are also 15 days apart). I'm 8 weeks & Kasey is 6 weeks.

In a few days I will post my whole "how God is written ALL OVER THIS" post. It's truly truly amazing how He is in control and knows and prepares our every moment.

"Baby K" at 5 weeks 6 days beside some of my 2 billion pregnancy tests

(Yeah it took a while to "get it" lol)

Kemry

2010-05-11T13:05:00.005-04:00

Mr. Photoshop, Meet KEMRY

Are We Done Yet?

2010-05-02T11:26:00.003-04:00

ARE WE DONE YET?

I have had something weighing heavily on my heart lately and I didn't know what God wanted me to do with it. Then a friend sent me a WONDERFUL blog post that described my heart with such clarity and boldness.

http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/2010/03/we-didnt-get-memo.html

It is such an AMAZING read! Linny is a fabulous writer and always convincts my heart in such a powerful way. I love reading how God has blessed her through her faithfulness. I also love her VERY frank way of putting things into perspective, something I struggle with. :) You must also read some of her other "special posts" in the sidebar of her blog, especially the post about not being able to afford adoption.

Lately it seems like I have been bombarded with questions regarding our decision to have a large family or if we're "done". (I have been bombarded with other questions too like why we adopted from Guatemala and Ethiopia instead of the US or the comments like "it takes special people to do what you do" which is not true but I will address those in other posts.) I'm not sure what sparked it suddenly unless now that Kolton has been home a year, people feel it must be time to quit or start again.

Linny put it perfectly that in worldly terms "our hands are pretty full" but that isn't what we want our life to be about. When people ask me if we are "done", I struggle to answer that because my worldly mind was "finished" after our 3rd child (which was still more than the 2.2 national average), but THANKFULLY the Lord had other plans. How can I answer for Him? I can't. So when people ask me if we are done, I can tell them how I feel at that very moment but that doesn't mean God won't change my heart for His will the very next day nor would I want my limited vision and understanding to decide my life.

When people ask this question, it is usually (not always) asked with a lot of sarcasm and little understanding. According to the world, why would anyone be open to more than 6 children (or more like 2 or 3 or 4)? The world, typically, views children as obstacles. Obstacles to relaxation, obstacles to a cushy savings account, obstacles to a dream sports car, obstacles to work promotions, obstacles to sleep, obstacles to exotic dream vacations......the list goes on and on. When I look at any of my sweet sweet babies, I want to cry at the thought of us not having any of them for any of the above reasons. They are worth more than a million years of relaxing on a gorgeous beach or having 10 million dollars "lying around" in a savings account or the most envied sports car or mega home or being promoted to the top of the biggest company! God is VERY clear in the Bible that we are not to desire "earthly things". Trust me, I know how hard that is. Every time my sister brings over a realty magazine oh how I want a bigger, more convenient house with a nice view and lots of land...how nice would a house with so much room I could have my own craft room be?! Every time I see a new SUV in school car line I, even just for a slight second, think how nice it would be to have new (which equals CLEAN and "unmarred" in my mind). And trust me....I love my Target, but I definitely think I could get used to nicer clothes. ;) I know it isn't easy. But is it worth not having any of my precious babies (or FUTURE precious babies)???? NEVER EVER EVER! Not for a SECOND!

In worldly views it's irresponsible to add to your family before you have everything squared away perfectly, but how are you to ever see God's mighty hand at work if you are always the one in complete CONTROL? How can you have a close walk with Him if you never NEED Him? How can you tell God you have faith in Him if you never trust Him to be in complete control of your life and mold you according to His will? We never were able to see His unbelievable MIRACLES until we let go of the ideas we were holding onto and let HIM work in our lives (even when it seemed irresponsible or "crazy" to the world). Since letting go of our own lives, we see Him, feel Him, hear Him, KNOW HIM more that we ever have in our lives.

We pray that God lets us see children as HE sees them. We pray that He gives us HIS heart for them. That He allows us to love them as He does.

I don't know when God will be finished adding to our family, but I hope WE never stand in the way of HIS blessings for us. Every child is such an incredible blessing from God whether they are number 1 or 10. I would feel completely honored if God were to trust us with another one of His blessings.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWINKIES

2010-04-27T12:56:00.010-04:00

The boys turned 7 this month and we celebrated with a MAGIC PARTY! This was the first time I have ever thrown a magic themed birthday party and it was really fun!

We are lucky to have a friend of our family who is a magician, a VERY good one at that! He came and did a show for the kids.

All the kids got a magician cape and wand as their "treat" so they could go home and practice their magic tricks.

Kolton's first time EVER having Happy Birthday sang to him. He was SO HUMBLE!!! It was the sweetest thing EVER! He giggled through the whole song amazed that it was HIS turn to have his "FIRST BIRTHDAY".

Life with boys....there's nothing FUNNER!

Poor Injured Turtle

2010-04-13T10:04:00.003-04:00

For some reason our kids attract injured animals that will most likely not survive. I know it is a good life lesson for them, but at the same time I get sad for my kids when their efforts to "save" an injured animal don't work.

Meet Tuck. He was found after my brother-in-law burned brush on his property. His shell had been burned and while it isn't too bad and we read the shell can regenerate, we're pretty sure since the burn was above his head (while he was tucked inside his shell), that it gave him some sort of brain damage. He sticks his head out, looks around, waves his arms, but cannot walk and hasn't taken his back legs out. He won't eat either....a recipe for disaster. He kind of acts like he's in his own little happy world.

Any turtle neurologists out there? We seem to be in need of one.

God's Calendar

2010-04-09T12:46:00.006-04:00

I have been struggling lately with how to get everything done that needs to be done. I know the seasons have a lot to do with that too. Spring and fall are crazy around here for birthdays and sports and end/beginning of school activities. But it has gotten out of control. In ALL of April there are only 3 days on my calendar that are free and we haven't even gotten the schedule for soccer games yet which start soon. I find myself struggling to keep up and praying and asking God to help me get it all done.

Finally I became frustrated because it didn't seem God was answering my begging for help and I said, "Lord, I thought you would never put more on us than we can handle." I got my answer as clear as day. HE won't put anything on us that we can't handle, but WE often put most of what we are dealing with on ourselves.

WOW what an eye opener that was for me.

It's SO easy to get wrapped up in all the "shoulds" our culture puts on us as parents and women we miss out on so many wonderful moments with our families. If we don't stay on top of all the shoulds, we feel incredible guilt or failure. I am putting this on my blog because my blog is one of those things I feel like I "should" be doing. I am forever feeling guilty when I get behind. WHY I have no idea. I have maybe 5 readers and they can catch up with me on facebook. lol I want to be the mom who never has a pile of laundry (even though I haven't experienced that in 14yrs), feeds the kids homemade healthy foods every night of the week, knows exactly what they are learning in every subject at school at all times, has kids with perfect manners that get along all the time who can quote the whole Bible, makes it on time to every event, volunteers at the school 10 hours a week, can have guests over at any minute of the day because the house is always clean, has the perfect blog that is updated every day, isn't afraid to open her van door in car line for fear something will fall out, and never forgets a friend's birthday. I am finally realizing I can never be that person and I'm really struggling with it. Others seem to pull it off without a sweat. I have just always wanted to be and felt I "should" be this person and lived in tremendous guilt all the time because I couldn't figure out why I couldn't pull it off.

SOOOOO as of today I am giving myself permission to not even try to be this person anymore. I'm going to do the best I can for my family and stop feeling guilty if the neverending list doesn't get finished or I don't fit the perfect model of all things motherhood and housewife. If you see my van a wreck (and if you look in it, I can assure you, you WILL), I'm not going to try to explain it. If you stop by unexpectedly, I'm not going to panic and try to meet you outside so you don't see the mess (and I may not even change out of my PJs if I'm still in them at 2pm lol). If I'm late to something or miss something, I'm not going to beat myself up anymore.

Ahhhhh the freedom I feel already. :)

I'll let you all know how it works (and if it works!). lol

Bible Study

2010-03-12T09:04:00.004-05:00

When we are doing our "meat and bones" Bible study (we're studying James right now with the older 5 kids), we usually wait until Kemry is in bed. Anyone who knows Kemry understands why an intense discussion of anything cannot involve Kemry at this moment in time. lol Well last night she had a late nap and wasn't ready for bed when Bible study time rolled around. She was so funny. She tried so hard to be "big" and discuss big kid things with us. She kept her little Bible on her lap and would frantically flip through pages like she could find James. She cracked me up. Bible study was still quite a disaster with her involved (she likes to talk/read, which 90% of it right now is impossible to understand, in a VERY LOUD voice without breaks that effectively blocks out anything anyone else wants to say). Sweet thing just wants to be like us but doesn't fully understand talking turn taking just yet. lol

How funny is this picture of her kicked back with her Bible?

Homeschooling Perks

2010-02-25T09:03:00.004-05:00

WHY WE LOOOOOOOOOVE HOMESCHOOLING

Getting to do "bible/history/art" in your PJs.....making a coat of many colors like Joseph's
VERY cute classroom pets

Science experiments, literature, and BREAKFAST all combined in one .....who doesn't LOVE Dr. Seuss???

But the BIGGEST REASON I LOOOOOOOVE homeschooling is.............

getting that "OH NO what are they doing" sinking feeling when the house suddenly falls QUIET, but finding this instead

Can you fall in love with a stock pot?

2010-02-22T11:07:00.004-05:00

We have been stuck in decorating disaster the past couple of weeks. I decided I was tired of my drab darker colors and needed a fresh facelift in the house. The walls have gone from dark olive green to "Bermuda Sand". The kitchen backsplash has a very southern beadboard now. The powder room is now light blue, cream, and black. I'm no where near finished or I would post pictures.

HOWEVER I had to post that I have a new LOVE. I am in LOVE with my new stock pot. I haven't cooked anything in it so I have no idea if it does the job, lol But I have it sitting on my stovetop and I look at it at least 100 times a day just because I think it's SO PRETTY sitting in there. Does this make me a bonified country bumpkin? I'm afraid it probably does.

B is for...

2010-02-07T18:31:00.009-05:00

- B -

Basketball, Ballet, Blizzards, Barlow

Well we are smack dab in the middle of winter, edging closer and closer to spring (and not soon enough!) Karly just finished up this year's ballet production. It was the best yet (I say that every year)!!! We are so blessed to be part of such an amazing Christian CLASSICAL ballet company! Karly gets taught proper ballet and is surrounded by Christian principles at the same time. Dancing for Jesus is the BEST reason to dance! I will upload pictures as soon as we get our copies of the professional shots. Mine were about as good as these basketball shots below. lol

The little boys are both playing Upward Basketball and Karly has been cheering for the middle school basketball teams trying to balance cheer and ballet as always. Both boys have totally opposite ways of LOVING it but they both LOVE it. :) Kolton is well...ummm..a bit of a ball hog. yikes! Karson likes to watch the game go by from the sidelines (OR center court as part of the team). I love that they are all so unique!

Karson....swooosh

Karson dribbling down the court... doesn't he look like he has it all together in this pic? ;)

Karson and Kolton side by side
(and little teeny Gabriel on the end)

Kolton taking a shot

Can you tell they are having a BLAST?

Taking instruction

Karson's first at dribble drills

Kolton learning to "chest pass"
devotion time

SNOW SNOW SNOW

Kemry & Karly

Karaline playing dinosaurs in the snow...Barlow is about to crash that party

Karly and Barlow

Sweet Kemry prior to being sick. She has had pneumonia and thanks to our ped's aggressive treatment she bounced back fast. Scared the daylights out of me though!

Peek a boo

Kollin enjoying the snow day from INSIDE (I finally kicked them all off their laptops and gameboys and sent them outside for some exercise in the snow!)

I'm SOOO ready to be eating steak on this table straight off the grill!

Kemry and Barlow are best friends and almost the same size already at 11 weeks old! She is learning so quickly too. She has mastered sit, hand marking, shaking hands, and almost has the down command. She is already about 80-90% housetrained.

puppy love

TWINSIES lol

Kemry hearts Barlow

Christmas 2009

2010-01-17T20:18:00.009-05:00

Christmas 2009

REWIND

Kolton's 1st American Christmas.

It took me a while to get these on here, but I wanted to make sure I did. Here is a glimps of the 2009 Cash Crew Christmas.

notice Karaline's blue lips (thanks to blue candy canes)...it gets harder and harder to get a good family pic. lol

Mindflex gave us some great entertainment!

Uncle Logan, are you focused enough??

Christmas Day at Gran and Grandad's house

Karaline's gift from Santa...yes she asked for a pet RAT. Mama wasn't thrilled at the idea but it really is such a sweet thing. Karly loved it so much she took her Christmas money a couple days later and bought her one too. They really are quite nice....for a rodent.

Roscuro, the little girl rat

Christmas morning at home. Kolton's first American Christmas. I think he quickly realized it was overrated. He wasn't ready for it at all. It's so easy to forget when they are adjusting so well that they are still so new to our overindulgent society. He was extremely overwhelmed and didn't enjoy it very much. We scaled back drastically, but it didn't matter.

Our kitty thought the pet rat was for HIM. He still does.

Have you ever seen Kollin with such a HUGE smile???

Christmas Eve...everyone has gone home and we had some great family time to talk about the real meaning of Christmas and why we should, despite all the gifts they had just received (and would receive the next day), focus on Jesus.

Christmas Eve with my side of the family.

Aunt Kayla playing Santa

Aunt Kasey, Alex, and Kemry

Aunt Kayla

We were blessed to have some new friends join us. Hezakiah and his mother Annette joined our celebration this year.

SWEET

2010-01-10T15:54:00.001-05:00

Kolton & Barlow cuddling on daddy's lap

Princess BARLOW

2010-01-04T11:49:00.007-05:00

MEET BARLOW!!!

She is 6 weeks old, a great dane puppy, and the sweetest thing ever! She is worth the sleepless nights we are having right now. lol

We can literally see a difference in her size every morning. It's crazy how fast she is growing.

She is a total lap dog even though that is tougher and tougher each day (to FIT)

She has HUGE feet and it is so cute to see her try to run with those things.

She and Kemry are best buddies

Bentley, however, is going to need more convincing that she is a good thing. He is a little more than wigged out right now and any time we play with her even for a second, he grabs his ball and wants to redirect the attention back to him.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T00:28:00.003-05:00

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”

Matthew 1:23

Kolton's 1st SNOW

2009-12-07T08:46:00.004-05:00

The day Kolton has been waiting for.........

Kolton has begged me for SNOW since he came home on April!!! God must have heard his pleas because this is possibly the earliest we have ever gotten snow here in the steamy south. :)

HOME SWEET HOME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KARALINE

2009-11-15T13:11:00.003-05:00

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY

KARALINE OLIVIA

Homeschooling

2009-10-11T17:29:00.003-04:00

Homeschooling is still going really well. I am amazed at how well they are doing. Karaline has always really struggled in Language Arts but just took a placement exam after the first unit and scored a 97 on it! Karson is taking off in math like I could have never imagined.....as well as reading. Kolton went from not even having a concept that letters have sounds 2 months ago to sounding out 3 and 4 letter words now!

We are studying rural Appalachia through The Rag Coat, Ancient Egypt through The Story of the World (yes we have dragged this one out quite a while), and the Civil War through The Story of George Washington Carver. Karaline is choosing to do a project on Harriet Tubman on the side. We have several field trips planned for the next couple of weeks to go along with these topics too.

With all of that said, I am still not 100% pleased with our Math curriculum or Language Arts for Karson. I think I am going to buy Teaching Textbooks for Karaline and something different for the boys. I really want to try Right Start Math with the boys, but I'm not sure I want to keep up with all the "parts" that we would need. Something just keeps talking me out of RS math for the boys (but my head wants to jump right in). As for Language Arts for Karson, I am at a complete loss. I feel like he has the ability to really take off in that area, but I am not finding a program that allows him to do that.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KOLLIN

2009-09-20T17:11:00.002-04:00

HAPPY 14th BIRTHDAY KOLLIN

Well I updated my blog for Kemry's birthday and just realized I never wished my sweet Kollin a public happy birthday on my blog (did on Facebook though). So here it is......HAPPY BIRTHDAY KOLLIN!!!!!!!!!!! Their birthdays are only 1 day apart and it's always a very busy week or two because of that.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEMRY

2009-09-19T18:58:00.005-04:00

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY KEMRY-PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today our sweet baby girl is turning 3 years old. Her birthday party is next weekend so the poor thing has had to spend her day today running from soccer to ballet to grocery shopping to visiting relatives.....everyday norm. :)

The first picture we ever saw of her...she is 2 days old here

Kemry's 1st birthday

Kemry's 2nd birthday-ish ;)

TODAY- our big 3yr old!

Jurassic BUGS

2009-08-27T07:42:00.004-04:00

This place gets buggier by the day! Karaline caught this HUGE dragonfly yesterday. The pictures don't even do it's size justice. It was at least 4.5-5in long with a wingspan just as long. Rarely do we get to see such fast bugs up close.

Don't look at her dirty fingernails...she was digging in the dirt right before she found it.

Monarch Butterflies & nomads

2009-08-24T16:17:00.007-04:00

We started the insect portion of our science curriculum this week (Apologia Zoology 1), so we decided to "adopt" some Monarch butterflies and follow their life cycle.

We have several eggs that haven't hatched yet. They are so teeny tiny it's hard to find them.

We also have several caterpillars in different sizes. I actually think I got a picture of this one's hiney thinking it was his head. HA HA

We didn't realize that we also got ladybug eggs and larvae so we get to study the life cycle of a ladybug too! Here are the ladybug eggs. They are in clusters and much easier to find.

And the larvae are kinda gross looking. This one is munching on an aphid while I take the picture!

Here are pictures from our "nomad night" I mentioned in the last post.

Guess Kolton thought it was going to be cold because he grabbed flannel PJs. LOL I told them to make sure they were long sleeved because of mosquitoes.

NOMAD Week

2009-08-22T11:31:00.013-04:00

NOMAD WEEK

This week we were studying nomads in history and had so much fun with it. We went on a nature hunt for things that the nomads may have used as paints for their cave paintings. Then we made cave paintings. We also made game bags just like the nomads carried and a hut they would have slept in (we cheated on this one). Then on Friday night the kids slept outside under the stars with daddy just like the nomads would have done. About 3am they burst in the back door soaking wet after a downpour. LOL Karson decided that nomads didn't move place to place looking for food. They moved place to place avoiding rain and thunderstorms.

Last weekend we also had a cookout with neighbors and a marshmallow roast. It was a lot of fun!

Kemry and the neighbor's daughter - this picture cracks me up! Are they twins or what?

Oh dear, what are we going to do with all her sass???? Her hitting 12.5 has been such a huge change for us.

Our sweet neighbor helping Kemry with her marshmallow

We also hit the pool again....Kolton showing me his wrinkled toes. Karly playing with our friend's new puppy.

This goes on NONSTOP

Then there's always a retaliation

ROFL

blowing up a beach ball...those EYES

John and the kids hit a baseball game. While I normally love this, mama needed a break so I stayed home with the other kids.

Playing outside after our school work is all finished

First Field Trip

2009-08-17T18:49:00.006-04:00

Oops I totally left off our field trip from my last post. In history (Story Of The World - Ancient Times), we studied archaeology. In science (Apologia - Zoology 1), we studied extinction, classifying animals, and instinct. So we took our first field trip on Friday. We went to an actual fossil site that was discovered nearby a few years ago.

Our Homeschool Room & Trip to Chicago

2009-08-13T12:56:00.013-04:00

Our first week of homeschooling got off to a great start! We finished our classroom (after this photo was taken) on Saturday the 8th and started homeschooling on Monday the 10th. The big kids went off to middle school the same day. We missed them terribly!!!!! We are LOVING homeschooling though.

This was my kids around lunch on the first day. Early morning was a harsh reality after a summer of sleeping in.
We studied The Story of Ping and got to do science experiments on bouyoncy - FUN

We took lots of breaks to play with the kittens (which are still needing homes! LOL)

and to watch tv in soccer uniforms

The week before school started we went to Chicago with John on business. It was a short but VERY eventful trip! Karly got very sick and ended up in the ER. The end result was SWINE FLU!!!!!!!!!!!! And I thought it was just media hype! Oh and this picture taken in Indiana was just after Kolton spilled his water in his lap. lol

We also got to meet with some very special friends while we were in Chicago. Two of Kolton's best friends from the orphanage he is from now lives in Chicago with their precious precious mom.

They are like brothers and it was as if they were never apart a single day!

Summer fun 2

2009-07-27T15:30:00.026-04:00

SUMMER FUN part 2

We are continuing to settle in very well with Kolton Behailu! It's amazing to me how fast he is learning English and adjusting to his new life. He is starting to open up and tell me a lot about his past which is a great sign of bonding. He is experiencing so many firsts and loving them all. We have had a busy summer (hence the no posting). We have been to the beach and to Chicago this summer. The trip to Chicago (I'll post pictures in the next post) was great because we got to meet up with some friends half way in Indy and then Kolton's best friends from Ethiopia in Chicago. That was like a breath of fresh air to see those kids together again. They have such an amazing bond. While we were in Chicago though I had to take Karly to the ER (and I now have a fav new hospital - Good Samaritan). She was SO SO sick. They took very good care of her and the end result was pneumonia and SWINE FLU! Anyway more about Chicago later. Here are some pictures of the beach and the week or two before the beach.

Shelling crabs
Kemry and my nephew...I thought this was so precious
Karson and my nephew, Alex
Karly's tshirt says "Nature Needs You" and she is about to eat this crab. lol

Lizard girl and her friend

morning puffy eyes

Kolton with white gloves lol

The whole fam including scowling Kemry LOL

Karaline

Kollin holding a jellyfish ever so small

Kollin burying his dad

and someone gave him boobs lol I think he needs a new plastic surgeon

Karson

Kemry drinks-a-lot

So excited he doesn't know what to do....except a handstand

Me and my sisters - Kayla (the baby), me (the old one), and Kasey (the middle child). Our brother didn't get to come :(

Brothers

Karaline is such a die-hard fisherman (errr um fishergirl) she sat out in the pouring rain all day on the rainy day we had.

Kolton loves fishing too

Kemry didn't sleep so well out of routine but when she crashed, she crashed hard. Hotdog and juice in hand

The kayak was a HUGE hit!

forever hunting for critters

Karly became pretty good at it

July 4 in Mobile, AL

We loved the canoe too

Kemry and my nephew

kissing cousins

Karly skimboarding

my 3 babies

The Cash Crew

The Cash Crew + Alex :) All my parents' grandchildren

Ft Gaines

She's so hard-core

Dauphin Island Sea Lab

SISTERS

BROTHERS Karly who's growing up way too fast

summer fun

2009-06-08T20:56:00.006-04:00

SUMMER FUN

We are having a blast so far this summer. Lots of swimming, basketball camp, cheerleading camp, football camp, vacation Bible school, playing with neighbors. Kolton takes it all in stride. He is doing so well, it's AMAZING! He has been home 6 weeks and understands nearly everything we say. He can also get us to understand him most of the time as well. Both Karson and Kolton learned to ride a two-wheeled bike on Friday night. Kolton has had several crashes, but Mr. Caution (aka Karson) hasn't had any yet. Also Friday night, Kolton caught his first firefly! He was in awe! That is such an amazing thing to experience through the eyes of a child for the first time.

Slip-n-sliding at the neighbor's house - making the slide slicker with dish soap

Last day of school....Karaline, Karson, and Kolton will be homeschooled next year. We are SO excited, but our last day at school was so bittersweet. We love our school and all the wonderful people there.

Karaline and her friend (and our neighbor) on the last day of 3rd grade Karson, Kolton, and their friend (and our neighbor) on the last day of Kindergarten.

Our spring soccer season is over too. John coached Karaline's team to 2nd place in tournaments and Kollin & Karly's team to tournament champs! It was so much fun! Here are the kids at the soccer park for Karaline's game.

My brother-in-law with a little stinker on his back :)

The first 3 or 4 weeks home, this is about all the kids did (and yes Karson has twine tied around his waist...don't ask me why. Maybe the Friar Tuck look is back?)

It quickly turns into this (keep in mind this is during a soccer game that is going on just a few feet from them wrestling on the ground)

Which leads mommy to do this (time out). lol
Of course it doesn't last long and they get out of timeout and have their smiles back too. Of course my brother-in-law wastes no time getting them all riled up as soon as they are out of timeout.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KARLY

2009-05-13T08:09:00.005-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today my sweet girl turns 12 years old (at 10:46am actually ha ha). It's hard to believe. I know I say that every time one of the kids have a birthday, but seriously where does the time go???

Yesterday we spent the afternoon before soccer enjoying the sunshine. It has rained here nonstop for weeks....good for our drought, but bad for our playtime. :)
Karaline, my nature girl

It doesn't take sweet Kemry long to wilt in the humidity. lol She sweats like nothing else! She is beautiful even sweaty. :)

Karson is adjusting as well as expected to Kolton, but he is still

having the hardest time of all adjusting to our newest addition. :) In the trees.....lol

Kolton playing soccer with anyone willing to kick it with him. He puts his soccer cleats and pads on first thing in the morning. Ihad to hide all the soccer socks because he was wearing them all and the kids wouldn't have any clean for games. Now he just raids mommy and daddy's drawers for regular socks.

Karaline Olivia

Kolton wrote his name on the driveway. He can spell it verbally too - K, O, one, cross, O, N. LOL

I'm so sad that my sweet Kollin is on a field trip with his school until Friday night. :( Seriously, don't these teachers know that's FAR too long for mommies to be away from their kids, even if they are 13? lol

"the boys"

All the kindergarten boys - our neighbor, Kolton, and Karson. They are all the same age. Kolton is actually smaller than Karson but is closer to the camera here.

Even though they haven't gotten along very well lately (they have oil and water personalities), they sure look sweet here don't they? lol

Kemry lost a shoe and all the boys came running to her rescue! ha ha It was so sweet!

Kolton pushing his sister

Karaline - my tree hugger....for REAL

Who wouldn't melt with that smile and those eyes?

Kemry, aka Miss Class! lol She had to stick her hot dog in her mouth so she could focus on putting her shoes on the wrong feet. LOL

Mr. Handsome

Kemry cracks me up...she is so funny.

Don't ask me why he is making this crazy face...lol. Or eating a burrito outside in the yard.

Those lashes...it's so unfair.