Insta-friday

My instagram pics from the last couple of weeks.  I am roddfam5 if you want to follow.


I just realized that you can upload your instagrams straight to flickr.  Such a time saver, however the pics are kind of huge.  I may have to adjust the size in flickr before I transfer them to the blog but I am not re-doing it for this week.  SO here are some LARGE pics of my week.  :)

Love this kid so much.

This is a day when these two crazies were avoiding nap time. They know if they get me laughing I may cave.

My sweet sister Molly brought me a coffee one day and Eli insisted on trying it.  I gave him some and it was comical.  He immediately tried to wipe off his tongue with his sleeve.  He was not a fan of the good ole pumpkin spice latte.  Not sure I  can claim him.  
Errands with my 3 crazies!

Making homemade granola bars from Skinny Taste.  Yum.

A pile of books, a bed and Addie.  Loved it.


Found this treasure at the thrift store.  All 3 of the kids LOVE sitting in it.

I try and get the kids out even when it "feels like 25 degrees" because they HAVE to get that energy out somehow and we all need the fresh air.

Alex made a picture on Nick Jr and wanted me to send it to a girl.  I did and her Mom texted me back to tell me how much she liked it.  He was very happy.  Oy.


Thanksgiving Parade with the family.

Jared and I at the parade.

The stockings are hung.  Alex checks them regularly to see if they have been filled.

My kids have the best oral hygiene AFTER bed time.  "Mom you forgot to brush our teeth".  Ugh.  "Mom will you fossil us."  Aka "floss".

Addie painting for the first time.  Had a little taste test, yum.

Nice long weekend gave us time to relax by the fire and play a game after the kids were in bed.  :)

I took a walk on thanksgiving day and couldn't get over how beautiful our weather was.  Very happy.
The tree.  We picked it up the day after Thanksgiving.  We actually got a great deal because it was Black Friday.  It was the only shopping we did that day.

Made a lattice pie crust for the first time.  I felt accomplished.  :)

Read this, this week.  I liked the reminder.  I am naturally a pretty sensitive person.  I often try and hold that back.  It is hard to stay tenderhearted but that's what God wants from us.  Tenderhearted and open to his words and will.

We also looked at Christmas lights and THIS is what Alex wants us to do next year.  Uh.  We need to up our game apparently.  Just to be clear, this will NOT be happening.  #MommyandDaddyareBoring We like white lights  but don't plan to do too many of them.  Of course Jared told him the classic "Dad" line:  "When you get older and buy a house you can put up all of those lights."  Ha, ha.  We are getting so old.  :)

So that is my last couple of weeks in a nutshell minus all of the crazy realities of life that we tend to avoid here on the internet.  :)  Ha!

Post Thanksgiving

We had a really nice Thanksgiving Weekend.  We enjoyed the traditional feast with Nani and Papa and Linda.  We watched movies.  Went on some walks (gorgeous weather here).  Laid around.  Bought and decorated our Christmas tree.  Drove around and looked at Christmas lights.  Went to see "Wreck It Ralph".  It was just good family fun.  Thoroughly enjoyed.  Thoroughly needed.
The boys had their Thanksgiving "feast" at school on Wednesday.  I was so thankful that Aunt Mimi came and stayed with Addie so I could be part of their day.
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Big surprise they wanted to be different.  An Indian and a pilgrim.

Look at this goofball.  I love Papa laughing at him in the background.  Classic Eli moment.  The boys ate so many crackers, cheese and summer sausage that they truly skipped the meal altogether.

I enjoyed making the table pretty.  Jared bought the turkey pre-cooked (love that man!).  Mom made the ham and potatoes.  I did the other sides and the pies.  Linda brought the ever-famous appetizers.  Good food.  Too much of it as always.

On the twine were things we are thankful for.

Poor Addie NEVER gets ANY attention.  *wink, wink

We have ridiculous amount of things to be thankful for this year and always.  We thank God who is the giver of all of these thing and we are completely humbled by all of it.  God is good. All. the. time.

Finally, Halloween.

The story in pictures:
This is how the night started.  Addie woke from her nap and didn't even want her fairy gear on.  We let her lay with Daddy a while and figured running late is better than having a crabby 2 year old.  So glad we did because she LOVED the rest of the night!

The classic sibling pic.  Should I be concerned that Alex (AKA Darth Vader) is about to "off" her with his light saber? Brothers.

I told the boys my hair was long enough to do Princess Leia hair.  At lunch I threw on a sheet and showed them.  They LOVED it and really wanted me to wear it for Halloween.  I did.  It was fun.  I haven't dressed up in, hmmmm?, 20 years or so.  At least not that I can remember.

Jared was going to wear our other Darth mask but it didn't work so he opted for Spiderman.

Her first year trick-or-treating.  She would have done each and every house that the boys did but she was frozen solid so I took her back to the house.

We then headed to church for our harvest festival.  Since Halloween fell on a Wednesday, we did both my sister's party and the church one.  The pic below is of my niece Bella with Addie.  She said to me after we took the picture.  "She is the princess, but I am still the queen."  It was SO funny.  She wanted to let her place in the family be known.  Actually she probably was just referring to their costumes, but it was funny!

Here are a couple more of the cousins at the church party.  None of them we actually looking at the camera except for Colin but I had to add it because when we got home Alex and Eli insisted that Celia was a banana.  I assured them that she was mustard.  Of course as any parent of 5 year olds knows, I was wrong. :)

So there you have it.  Such a fun filled night.

Teddy

I haven't posted in a little bit because quite frankly it felt weird to do so. We received news last week that our nephew Teddy's MRI didn't go well.  The cancer is back.  With news like this every thing else going on seems ridiculous.  I remember this feeling when the boys were born.  I remember looking at other people while I was driving to the NICU to see my critically ill infants, two of them, and thinking "Wow, those strangers are just going about their day.  They are probably headed to work.  Doesn't the world know that it should be stopping?  I need it to stop, so I can breathe and try to cope with this."  I am guessing that Steve and Laurel are feeling this way.  The world doesn't stop and we must trudge through but that doesn't make the trudging easy or even bearable.

Jared took the boys to church and I am home with crabby Addie.  I always have the best intentions on Wednesdays but often Addison doesn't make it through dinner without her "I am tired and want to be in bed" meltdowns.  So, I spent some time in prayer for my family.  I don't do it often enough that is for sure.  Jared questioned recently whether or not they would do another MRI before putting Teddy's port in to make sure the cancer is still there.  He is believing in a VERY BIG GOD and would love to see a miracle. It definitely convicted me.  Am I believing in such a big God that would take the cancer away before the chemo even began?  I should be.

We want Teddy to be healed of this, of course.  That is our prayer.  We have plans to see him and Laurel and Steve, Nathanael and Allie and for that we are very grateful.

As for the plan, they have a long drive ahead of them to have Teddy's port put back in surgically.  He will receive chemo through it for the next year. Steve wrote about how they made this drive last week with Teddy's wheelchair so that they could take it to someone else who needed it. I am sure they never expected to be returning now and starting this long journey again.  Please keep them in your prayers.

A Halloween Teaser

You Capture: Weekly Favorite

I really do plan to post Halloween Pictures.  In the mean time however, here is one of my favorites of the night.  This is definitely the stage Addie is in.  She wants to do EVERYTHING her brothers do.  She is always a few steps behind them and doing things her OWN way though.  Love this kid.  AND she loved, loved, loved Halloween.  What's not to love?  Free, never-ending candy.  Smart Girl!

She was a fairy but refused her wings and had to wear her rain boots.  The next morning however she HAD TO wear her fairy wings with her pajamas!  Naturally.

Uncle Steven

Uncle Steven left today.  The boys told me they were sad and missed him.  I guess we will just have to visit him in Colorado soon (*wink, wink).  Addie and the boys LOVED it when he read to them with funny voices and accents.  The one they kept making him read was the Potty Book.  Good times.  :)  Look forward to seeing Uncle Steven and the rest of the family soon.

Insta-Friday

Here are my last couple of weeks of cell phone/instagram (roddfam5) pics.
A B-day Party for Tanner.  I love watching Addie and the boys interact with their 5 children. It is like the best play date EVER.  You have so many fun friends to choose from.  :)

Pretty Pumpkins

Last day of Occupational Therapy until we find out if  there will be more in December.

"Mom, get a picture of me by the pumpkins".  Alex totally "gets" the picture taking thing.

A pretty day with my Adds.

As I was snapping a picture of Eli in his headdress I realized he didn't have his glasses on.  This was the face he made when I asked him where they were.  :)  They were missing for several days after this pic only to be found next to his bed by his dear brother Alex.

Cold, windy, wet, morning and I was feeling spoiled in my warm house with Addie on my lap.

My make-shift Princess Leia costume.  The boys LOVED it.  I was just trying to prove that I could do the hair and they insisted that I wear it  for Halloween.  I did.

Bread, completely intimidates me but I watched this video and forced myself to give it a try but only after calling my sister Molly for back-up.  We had fun making it and laughed at our lack of skill quite a bit but it turned out beautifully.

Addie painting her HI (hearing impaired) therapist's nails with dry-erase marker.  The woman is so kind to our girl.

Screen shot of a November challenge to list 3 things you are thankful for during the month of November based upon her prompts. @annvoskamp
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Morning walk with my Addie and her baby.  I was attempting to work off some of the Halloween candy I'd been snacking on all morning.  Do the really tiny candy bars count??? Nah!

Happy Friday to all!  Enjoy!