Grant

I had taken these pictures last month one evening when we were cooking hot dogs over the campfire one night. I just love these of Grant! He's really concentrating on those hot dogs!

Family Pastime-Biking

Brent has always worked out and run to stay in shape for his job. About two years ago the kids and I started to join him and make it a family fun activity- biking and jogging! Cait, Grant, Jake and I ride bikes and Brent jogs with Quinn in the jogging stroller. We usually just go to the bike/hike trail in Susquehanna State Park (convenient!)

We usually bike between 3-5 miles and finish off with the kids getting to play on the rocks in the stream at the end of the trail. The nifty camelbacks they got for Christmas keep everyone hydrated (and just looking cute).

5 arrows

Ready for our latest surprise???

Baby #5 is on it's way! Shocked? Us too! In a good way!

God is good and faithful to give us many blessings we don't deserve. I am so grateful that He sees fit to give Brent and I another gift to love and raise for His glory.

We had a blast telling the kids. I wanted to do it in a memorable way. We looked up a bunch of Bible verses that had to do with "children being a blessing", "olive plants around a table", "we shall not all sleep, but we shall be Changed", etc. Then we wrote the references on slips of paper and stuffed them into balloons. During devotions, they had to pop the balloon, find and read the verse, and figure out "God's message for our family" from those verses. We started with the hardest and most ambiguous, but even by the end they couldn't figure it out. So I whispered in Quinn's ear, "Mommy's going to have another baby". They all laughed. They didn't believe us! Grant even said, "Nuh-uh, Mom's not pregnant. You're just teasing. I can see the twinkle in Daddy's eye!" LOL! After I convinced them that we weren't teasing, Cait just sat there dumbfounded for about 10 minutes! It was funny seeing each of them react in their own different ways. Cait-serious, Grant-disbelief and then talking a mile a minute, Jake- bouncing everywhere, of course, Quinn- just excited that we were popping balloons!

The first week, I felt great. But, shortly after, the "all-day" sickness began. Still going through it. Brent has been fabulous and has truly taken over all the household stuff. Cait's training is really paying off. I'm so glad I put the time in over the past years teaching the kids how to do household chores, because she's able to do just about everything. And the boys are right there to give her a break when she needs it. How did I manage during all the other pregnancies?

Sadie

Well, we have a new addition to our family! Little Sadie the puggle. (Half beagle/half pug) We had been getting closer and closer to making the decision to add a puppy to our family when God tossed her right into our lap!

In our last small group I began keeping a prayer journal. I noticed in my journal that I had started praying last February that if it was God's will give us a puppy that he would provide a puggle for under $300. (A big deal since it is considered a "designer dog" and they run for between $700 and $1200. FOR A MUTT! Sheesh!)
Over the past few weeks I had casually checked a few websites for breeders in MD, PA, or NJ. A lady in PA had a female left but it was still $400- too high for us. Then, I just happened to check back on a Monday morning and saw that she was reduced in price to $250! She was the last to go for her litter and the lady just wanted to find her a home! Amazing! Brent was on his way to the store, so he turned around and we drove 2 hours up past Harrisburg to get her!

She is toooooooo cute. Lots of wrinkles on her face! We're all smitten! She has a wonderful cuddly personality. She loves to be held and petted and will roll over just begging to have her belly scratched.
So far, she's doing fairly well becoming house trained. Still a few accidents here and there, but she's still young. She is learning "come" and "sit" already. She loves to chew just about everything so that's been a challenge to keep our stuff "safe"! I just have to say how thankful I am for the Puppies for Dummies book! I didn't have a clue how to do dog training, so it has been very helpful.
The kids are loving every minute of play with her and are tolerating the potty time rotation schedule! LOL! Grant is having fun as the self-appointed "Pooper-scooper" of the family since he got his own cool tool to do it!
I'll try to get pictures up as soon as my dial-up co-operates!