Anna Kate's 6th birthday morning

We can't really believe that it has been 6 years since this . . .

But it has! Here is the birthday girl this morning . . .


waiting to begin eating her requested birthday breakfast of pumpkin and cranberry scones and a fruit plate!
We almost always have the girls open their presents from family in the morning because then they get to enjoy them all birth-day long! Take notice of little Samantha quietly in the background. . . .
because this is what she was doing!
Opening a present which was waiting for Anna Kate! Oh my! This is Anna Kate and her new doll, whom she named Jasmine.
Auntie Heather sent her Twister Hopscotch. The girls had a great time playing with that this morning. With a snow storm on the way, this is perfect timing! :)
And Aunt Hillery and the family sent this great outfit - perfect according to Anna Kate's specifications - and a matching outfit!
Our "little" Anna Kate is such a delightful daughter, really a blessing to our entire family. She is so patient with her sisters, so generous and a great teacher. I see her teacher's heart almost every day. She is a great nurturer, too. And, of course, she has a great laugh! She loves to learn - already reading and excelling in math - and to play games.

This is for heather! :)

Unfortunately, Heather, this video is oriented the wrong way, and I don't know how to change it. But, if you cock your head to the side, you can still enjoy it! :)

the last week or so

Together with Ellen, another woman on our staff team, we hosted a baby shower for Jen, who is also on our staff team. She is expecting her first child in mid-January. The big girls wanted to participate and the guests were super sweet at including them. Here, the girls are working together to diaper a baby, each using only one of their hands. They did a great job, and it was so fun to see them working together!
The weekend before Thanksgiving, we always head to one of our favorite places: Camp of the Woods. Every year, the northeast region of Campus Crusade for Christ hosts their staff for a four-day conference. It is always a highlight of the year in large part because of the facility. We can give our young children some freedom that they can not experience elsewhere. And we are encouraged by friends, colleagues and the Lord. This year, however, was a little different because after the conference David headed to the woods with two great friends, J.W. and Adam. The three of them set out for four days of camping and hunting. The weather was great for this time of year. However, they did not see anything. So, really it was more of a camping trip. J.W.'s family - wife Steph, sister Rachel, three boys and daughter - came to our house for those same days. We had a great time living under one roof! Likewise, the weather was great for us, and with seven children under six it is really a blessing to get out! One day we went to the New York State Museum.

Here's Lucy on the subway car. That's the back of Titus' head next to her; he turned away just as I was taking their picture.
There they are from the back! So cute!

Josiah on the subway car at the museum.

Jack hanging on the subway car.

Of course, we had to ride the carousel! One of our favorite places to share with people who visit! Can you imagine the sight of us? Seven children under six and pregnant me, Steph, and Steph's sister-in-law Rachel (what a god send!) . . .

The tiger Heather recently sent to Samantha was a big hit! Here, Anna Kate and Titus are hanging out together in the morning.

MINE! Roar. I ride.

Auntie Heather and Decker sent Samantha this tiger for her birthday! Oh my! She loves reading books about animals. And in every single case the conversation goes something like this:
Samantha: "This?"
Mom: "Dog." (or fill in the blank with any animal)
S: "Ruff."
M: "That's right. A dog says ruff."
S: "Ride?"
She wants to ride every animal we see! It is the cutest thing, and, so, this tiger, which she can actually sit on is perfect. So perfect, in fact, that she slept with it for a couple of days, which is also saying something since it is as big as she is.

New York City!

Our family spent 3 nights and 4 days in New York City at a conference. We weren't sure how it would go, but we're excited that it went fairly well. We could ride the subway with both Dave and I (even better if there were more hands to help, and sometimes there were!). I could walk around the neighborhood of our hotel during the day. While we were there, the weather was excellent! We couldn't have asked for better weather, really.

This is how Samantha rode the subway and, sometimes, how she traveled around the city. This is on our way home from lunch the day we were leaving. She fell asleep on Dave's back for just a few minutes, which was long enough to eliminate a "real" nap later in the day.

Our great friends, J.W. and Stephanie, were also there with their 3 boys and newest little girl! Isn't this cute, with Titus (who is the same age as Samantha) on Lucy's lap?

All of us went to campus one afternoon. From left to right, this is Josiah (in the back), Jack (in front of Josiah), Lucy, Samantha, and Titus.
The beautiful campus of City College, one of the most diverse campuses in the United States, if not the most diverse!
One morning, while Dave went to a meeting at the office, we explored around our hotel with the Betts family. (I'm sure this is Anna Kate snapping at Lucy, not my favorite thing she chooses to do! Her sisters don't really like it either!)
I wish I could remember what everyone was looking at, but I can't.
We traveled down (strollers and all) a number of steps (where the above pictures were taken) and found this adult playground with rings. The kids all loved swinging on the rings, anyways!

We bought breakfast at a Dunkin Donuts close to our hotel one morning. It had one table with 2 chairs and 4 bar stools in the entire place. As you can see, those seats were taken and we were left to discover our own place. Surely, everyone who walked and drove by us that morning knew who was visiting their city! These are benches between the two sides of traffic on Broadway Street. Definitely busy, but the best we could do! Our good friend, Tracy, is sitting with the girls in this picture.

fall leaves (round one)

I just know this is round one of leaves because even though we filled 5 lawn bags for our trash pick-up, the very large tree standing at the back of our yard has not yet dropped its leaves. We aren't quite sure where these leaves came from! :) Somehow, leaves seem to blow and stay in our yard. The girls have been looking forward to raking leaves and jumping in them. Here they are helping Dave (even using snow shovels to do so) . . . . There was so much activity it was challenging to get clear pictures with our little camera, but . . . .

Samantha's second birthday

Samantha Joy was two on Sunday, October 25. To celebrate she and Lucy had fevers, coughs, and ear aches (which turned out to be ear infections). As you can imagine, it was a low-key day. We called our guests who were coming to help celebrate and decided to keep our germs to ourselves. We managed to have Dunkin Donuts in the morning, anyway, and grape juice.



And a present, which Anna Kate picked out just for Samantha - a baby doll dressed in purple which takes a bottle and cries - and Anna Kate used some of her own money to buy the doll, too! It sweet to see Anna Kate think and plan ahead and to go with her to choose a doll. It was great to see Samantha embrace this gift, too.




Unfortunately, I did not take many pictures documenting this birthday. We did have cupcakes - Samantha had hers before dinner was over - and some more presents. Mostly, we had lots and lots of snuggles.

I am happy to say that we did not have H1N1, which I was concerned about since both girls had come-and-go fevers! And we are doing much better now.