FIVE years old!!

How did this happen??? My sweet Daniel (who at times ISN'T so sweet as of late, but par for the course of a five year old!) is now FIVE!!! Unbelievable!!! I am amazed at the changes in this little guy over the past few months. He can now write his name, knows all his letters by sight, can count pretty high, is asking quite a few (hard) questions about God, and has become a VERY committed big brother! He LOVES Drew and can't wait to teach him all kinds of things and play with him all the fun things he enjoys playing. Daniel has also become pretty good at the Wii - getting less frustrated while playing with a sibling. Of course there are still things that are the same - like his big smile from ear to ear, his laughter, his constant curiosity about EVERYTHING!!! and his tender spirit towards his family members and God. Since this kid has entered my life he has been a blessing and source of great joy!!! He was our "unexpected" miracle child and definitely one God desired to have on this earth!!! I am so blessed and privileged to be his mother. Thank you God for such an indescribable gift in Daniel!!!

Daniel was quite pleased with his cake! He had been WAITING for a whole day as we didn't get to one on his actual birthday!!Daniel with PopPop and Grammy!

The Grands with the crew!!! Drew is crying because we sang Happy Birthday too loud again! Poor boy - he is SO in the wrong family if he doesn't like loud noise!!Daniel LOVES his sister!! The two middles!!

ANOTHER PROJECT!!!

There are days I am extremely thankful that my husband has the gift of putting things together. After all we went through with the bed bugs and demolition on our house it would have cost us thousands of dollars to do what he did if we would have had to contract out the work. On the other hand - my husband is always coming up with new ideas of what he would like to do to our house. This project was brought up several years ago and tabled because of more pressing needs. But when a friend of ours built his project - it spurred Andy into pursuing his project. What is that project you might ask?

A deck.

Off the schoolroom.

I am not sure how I feel about this project as of yet. (Andy knows all of this as we have discussed it at length!) I am REALLY tired of projects. Especially those that don't get done all the way. I am worried that this project may take longer than projected - especially because he has to take one of the windows OUT of the school room and make it into a door. That means my schoolroom may be a mess for several weeks - to a few months. I hate a mess when I am trying to teach school. It clutters my mind and I am unable to focus on the important things. I also worry about the easy access people may have to the back of the house. It is off Sarah's room and I really don't like that. But Andy is all for this project and seems to believe it will expand our living space. I really can't imagine using it all that much - but then I have never had a deck before either. So, I will continue to pray for the safety of our house and children and pray that this was a wise use of both time and money. And pray that the next project will be to complete the alarm system that was put in about six years ago!

Friday Fun!

This past Friday was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a. We LOVE this activity!!! This was our third year participating. If you dress up like a cow you get a free meal!!! I am a HUGE Chick-fil-a fan and eat there any chance I get - so if it's free you KNOW I'm going to be there! All five of us got a free meal - Drew will have to wait another year!!! Here are some pictures of our fun!

I love how this picture looks like it says I (heart) Drew!!! My herd!!! Aren't they a cute bunch!!!

Daniel was VERY excited about Cow Appreciation Day!!Drew was more into eating his mask than wearing it!!!Friends from Cornerstone! We had such a blast eating with them!!!

Can't wait until next year!!! I'm going to make better costumes for next year since this seems to be a yearly activity!

Birthday Bash!!

Today we celebrated the kids birthdays. My first three kids are all summer babies - June and July. My sister's son is a July baby as well. (Drew is the odd man out - but we have already decided we will be celebrating his half birthday next year!) So rather than have an individual party for mine and hers we combine them and today was the day. We met at my mom's house - she always puts on an incredible spread - fruit, salad, stuffed shells, shredded roast beef sandwiches! It's incredible! My Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Doug as well as my mom's friends Marie and Jim all joined in the fun. We had a great time and the kids really enjoyed celebrating their day. Here are a few shots of the fun!

Each kid got their own little cake. Matt and Daniel ripped into theirs pretty quick so I didn't get a shot of theirs - but Sarah was savouring hers!Daniel enjoyed his cake!!!
My mom made a giant cupcake for the rest of us and for the kids to blow out candles. Each candles flame burned the color of the candle! It was pretty cool!Daniel got a new bike for his gift from my parents. He was pretty excited!My family from left to right - my sister Lisa, nephew Sam, Bruce, Mom, Daniel, Sarah, Drew, me, Andy and Matt.My parents with the grands!!!
It was a great day!!!

We have a tooth!!!

Yes, it is official! He has his first tooth. I knew it was coming - he has been a drooling Drew for over a month now - but I felt it last Friday - on his fifth month birthday. I was finally able to get a picture of it. Here it is!!! He has been rather grumpy the past few days and waking up at night again - so I believe the second one is on the move. He is my earliest teether - and my grumpiest! None of my other kids were really phased by teething so this is a new experience. I am hoping it will pass quickly!

Here are a few pictures I snapped while he was happy for a few brief moments!

He was "talking" in this one. He "talks" A LOT now!!!!!

This is why we call him "Drooling Drew" - do you see all that drool!?!?!He sneezed during our photo shoot! I thought it was cute!!!

I know, I know.....

I said I was going to blog last week - especially because I had two kids with birthdays - but I failed!! This is why I failed: I had been working on these portfolio for weeks and had to turn them into the school by June 21st - as that was the last day of school for Philly and all the staff leaves for the summer. Technically we have until June 30th to report our work - but why fight it? There is no sense and I don't want to be targeted as a "problem homeschooler". So, I worked hard, got the evaluations done and turned them it. Oh! It felt so good to be done with another year.

So that was a week ago - and I think my brain went on vacation! I have been so tired and have done nothing but the necessities - feed the baby, play with the baby, play with the almost 5 yo, feed the crew, and SLEEP!!!! I have done a few loads of laundry and cleaned, but that's about it!! I will start my major cleaning this week - I just needed a break!

My sweet baby turned 5 MONTHS OLD yesterday!!! I can't believe he is that old!! He also presented his first tooth yesterday!! It is gleaming white in his cute little mouth! It made me kinda sad - I so love those gummy smiles!!! He's growing up way to fast! He also tried to roll over to his belly today!!! (I grabbed the camera, but it was on the wrong setting so it didn't turn out that well - but I got a shot!) I so don't want him to grow up!! I love this sweet baby and his grins and giggles!!! Before I know it he will be 5 - just like my third child - or 11 or 13 like my older two. I do love watching them grow and learn - but so miss those days where I could hug and cuddle and whisper lullabies in their ears to calm their tears. Knowing Drew is our last I find myself holding and cuddling all the more - trying to memorize each moment in my heart.

Drew also went in the pool for the first time today. All our other kids are summer babies and have been in the pool as soon as their umbilical cord fell off. It's funny to put a 5 month old in the water! They have more of a reaction than infants!! See what he thought of it.....

But by the end he was smiling!

I'm still tired. Reading Rocks starts next week and I am so not ready for it. I am thankful that I have a lot of the school supply shopping done as I don't know if I have the energy to do it all this summer. Hopefully, Staples will have their deals and I'll be able to get most of the supplies in one spot.

So sorry!

I know it has been FOREVER since I have last blogged. End of the school year details have been keeping me away. I WILL WRITE more - especially Wednesday and Thursday as I have two children having birthdays! I have so much going on this week. In the mean time - enjoy some sweetness I caught with my camera today. He is really becoming quite a little guy! He's 20 weeks old today!!! I am so in love!!!