Jude the jumping maniac

This boy still LOVES to jump in his jumper. What a noisy boy!

Sweet Mary

"Look at the pretty new nightgown that Grandma Mary made!"

Mary told me that she was being like "Charlie Brown" and then walked around with her hands in her pocket. Little mimic.

Showing off her "school" page. I wrote out the alphabet and she placed stickers over the appropriate letters. We had fun.

Jude the Busy Boy

Boy, does life change when your baby learns to get around! Yikes! This boy is so busy.

Jude is 9 months old now. He can crawl "for real" (no more "army crawl") He can walk around furniture. And he can get into EVERYTHING!!

We sure do love him.

2007 Recap

Since I did not send out Christmas cards this year, I though I would give a little overview of our year. Hopefully, next year, I will be back on the ball with that, but this year, I just had to let it go. I will be posting this in several different posts because I am having trouble with doing it any other way! Sorry if it is confusing!

We spent the first several months of the 2007 looking for a house to buy. Our lease on the current one was up in April and baby number 4 was due early May, so there was a bit of a time crunch. Finally (and it really felt that way to me after 5 months, each month bringing us closer to due date!) we did find a house. We moved in 3 weeks before the baby was born. Many times during the move, I thought "What was I thinking??" but it all worked out. We were blessed to have my parents and sister Karmen help us get things painted and settled a bit. Our church and some of Grayson's work friends also helped SOOO much with painting, moving etc. What a great blessing! It was wonderful to get settled in our own home.
Our sweet, darling baby boy - Grayson Jude - joined our family on May 8th. He is such a joy! We all enjoy him so much!

We were thankful to have Grayson's parents as well as my own around for the big day.
Sweet sleep!

2007 Recap part 2

Grayson's job at Integrity is still going well. He really enjoys it. He works with a good group of guys. I continue to feel so blessed to be able to stay home with my children and homeschool them. I love being a wife and mom!
Kate is nearly 11. She is getting so tall and grown up! She has been an great help to me this year with the new baby and the move.

Kate

Believe it or not, Kate says she wants at least5 more like this!
Kate is becoming quite handy in the kitchen. She makes killer cookies from scratch! We have fun experimenting with healthy versions of different snacks and desserts.
We are studying American History this year, so it was great to be able to go to some reenactments. Kate made her own skirt and bought a hoop skirt!

Jack

Jack is 8. He is thrilled to have another boy in the house! He anxiously awaits the day when Jude can play football and basketball with him.
He is still our resident wildlife biologist, pouring over animal books and filling us in on little tidbits of information. He has also become interested in collecting rocks, playing chess (and trying to teach me) and pretty much any sport. He is his fathers son! They had great fun cheering on the Vikings again this year.
Almost daily during the warm weather, you can see different lizzards and frogs or toads in our yard. In this picture, Jack is holding a tiny gecko. I must say, it was pretty cute!
We got another boxer in April. Jack was elated! He loves Dixie (no, we did NOT name her ;-)!) He finally has a playmate with even more energy than him! Jack got to show off his knowledge of all things creepy during a trip to the local Exploreum.

Mary, Mary

Mary is three. She is a so much fun (most of the time!). She is full of funny phrases and terms and keeps us laughing. She is making up for being such a quiet baby by talking or singing or "play talking" with her toys much of the time.
She is learning to be mama's little helper.
Mary loves Jude and is sweet with him albeit a bit too smothering. We have to remind her to give him space often, but I am glad to see how much she enjoys him.
Little lady likes to wear a dress up bracelet as a knecklace. This was just a few days after Jude was born.

Jude the dude

Jude is nearly 9 months now and such a delight! He crawls (though army crawling is his mode of choice at this point) and walks along furniture.
He plays pattycake - thrilling himeself as well as the rest of us!
He will be happy for hours if outside.
He loves to be noisy!!

A few other highlights...

The beach is always a bright spot in our year!
Wish I could claim that castle, but it was already there when we arrived!
Tracey Moushon came to visit in October and took these pictures while we were at the beach. We were blessed to have visits from several WCIC friends this year. Great to catch up with Scott and Jeanette, Mo & Tracey, Todd & Diane and their families! Come again anytime!! We love visitors! Just some more of the kiddoes.....

Can't forget ol' Dixie

We celebrated Jude's 1st Christmas in our new home and then headed up to Nashville to spend the holiday with Grayson's family.

Time to open presents!

I think she likes it!!

Three close in age cousins, Lillian, Mary and Priya, having fun at the mall.

Too much shopping, we need a break!

We stayed a few nights in a hotel so the kids could swim. We had a hard time getting Mary and Priya out of the pool.

We continue to stand in awe of the Lord's great mercy and grace in our lives. There is so much to be grateful for. What a amazing blessing to know the source of peace and joy in all circumstances! When I consider all that He IS and all that He does, I wonder how I could let another unthankful moment pass in my life. The One who "does all things well" is in control of my life. True PEACE.