Brianna's Birthday

I went and had some pictures copied to a cd!!! hip-hip-hooray! I am not planning to post ALL the pics at once- hehe. A little at a time.

Today's pictures come from Brianna's birthday party. She turned 7 back in February. For her party she had 4 friends over for some craft time and a sleepover. Only 2 friends were able to spend the night, which turned out to be just fine : ) They all had a great time. I can hardly believe Brianna is 7 already. She's grown up so fast. She loves math and science. Part of the homeschool curriculum I'm using has me go through verses in Proverbs with her; I'm always impressed by how quickly she understands the concepts we talk about and the examples she comes up with (some concepts in Proverbs are difficult to explain!). She's enjoyed loving on Peyton recently- she hasn't always been the first to play with the babies, but lately I'll find her helping Peyton with a puzzle or a toy- so sweet. Oh, and she loves to help me in the kitchen. She'll help with just about anything- she'll cut, add ingredients, stir, set the table, think of things I haven't thought of for the dinner table, make sandwiches, etc. She's a great helper. I look forward to seeing her learn and grow more in the months ahead.

A Bridal Shower and Clothes Projects

We had a wonderful weekend! I was able to take the girls to a bridal shower for Chad's cousin. The shower was beautiful and it was really fun to do something girly with my girls : ) Upon returning home, Daddy and Isaac were working in the garden; Isaac was helping Daddy pull weeds. Too cute!!!!

I was able to spend a couple hours working on a project: putting away all the clothes that have accumulated from the kids outgrowing what is in their dressers. The accumulating clothes prompted me to make some decisions about kids' clothes in general. 1. I need not keep so many clothes. This has only created more work than it's worth. I love that the kids have been blessed with so many hand-me-downs, but a girl/boy can only wear so many clothes and we only have so much room. 2. I need a place to put the clothes in transition. Isaac's dresser was becoming the leaning tower of clothes... that just wasn't exciting to look at and was a source of anxiety every time I entered the boys' room. So, there is now a designated bin for such items and once it's full, I must put said items away. This is the plan anyway. Long term, I have visions of being more organized about clothes and season transitions, but one step at a time, right?

And we had a blessed Sunday with wonderful fellowship at church and relaxing time at home. Chad's parents took the four oldest home with them in the evening and we enjoyed a nice bike ride with just Peyton. Peyton enjoyed having Mommy and Daddy all to himself. Which brings me to today and only having Peyton- can you guess what might be on my to-do list??? You guessed it- making a picture cd!

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

Back to Blogging

Wow, it's been a while, again, since I've posted. I had a few minutes this morning so I thought I'd post an update.

I had a great visit with my Mom and Ken. They came for a week and we all had a great time! Our activities included shopping (Bri got a new bike!), going to see a kids play (Stellaluna), card playing (so fun for me! I love cards!), evening walks (so fun), LOTS of outdoor playing with the kids (including a picnic at the park), and a breakfast out-to-eat at Bob Evans. I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting. Oh, yes, Chad did lots of gardening! You should see our garden!!! (Maybe someday you will.)

I've had some morning sickness and fatigue that hasn't been so fun. Overall, it wasn't as bad as it could be, so for that I'm thankful. But it's never fun to feel sick. I've felt much better the last couple days :)

I was sooooo incredibly blessed to have coffee and dessert with a group of friends this week. I was encouraged and laughed so hard my cheeks hurt. The group included a couple women who always bless us younger women with godly wisdom. We are so blessed to have their input in our lives. Did I use the word 'blessed' enough? hmmm.

The kids are outside playing with the neighbors; it's a BEAUTIFUL day. The plan is to eat lunch outside and head out for some afternoon shopping.

(If you are wondering about pictures, here's the deal... our computer won't allow me to just download pics from my camera to the computer. I have to have the pics on cd and to get the pics on cd, well, that just takes a trip to the store down the street and an hour (or more) to wait for the pics to download. Hopefully I'll find time, I mean make time, to do this soon so you can see our cute kids and beautiful garden. If I don't get it done soon, you have my permission (not that you needed it) to bother me about it. You know, like, WHERE ARE THE PICTURES???)

Blessings,

Graduation, Soccer, and Ice Cream

We had a wonderful trip to Colorado and Wyoming! We flew into Denver on Thursday evening, enjoyed visiting with family, and the next morning drove 2 1/2 hours to Laramie, WY. My sister Mary Jo graduated from the University of Wyoming - yay Mary Jo! Great job! After the festivities on Friday and Saturday we drove back to Denver for more time with family. We really enjoyed the visit! Besides seeing family, the beauty of Colorado is always fun to see; the mountains always amaze me.

Back in Ohio, Chad and I continue to enjoy playing soccer on Sunday afternoons with our co-ed team. You may remember me mentioning it in an earlier post (ok, so how do I link back to an earlier post???). You may recall that the season is only six weeks, so there's only two games left. I cannot tell you how incredibly fun it is for me to play soccer. I wish I could play more often. Really, it feels like Christmas!!!

The kids are having loads of fun playing outside- trampoline, bikes, sidewalk chalk, planting weeds in plastic containers (ok, some real picked-flowers too), dollies in strollers, helping Daddy plant tomatoes, playing in the dirt, etc. School work continues to get done, but more and more it's hard to not get pulled outside. The weather is just so perfect this time of year. :)

We went to a neighborhood garage sale this afternoon. I am learning. Do NOT pass something up that you'd really like to get because it WON'T be there when you go back for it. ergh. The kids had fun buying little beanie babies with their own money. And Bri found a deal on a pair of toy horses. Boy was I tired when we were done. I need to get better at these things; there are some good deals out there! I'd love to get some tips from the seasoned garage sale folks out there.

The "Moment of the Day" was getting ice cream with all the kids after dinner. We go down to Kelly's - a miniature golf, driving range, dairy bar - and get the kids soft serve. I always enjoy this so much. I think it's just the kid excitement and enjoyment- there's nothing like it.

Blessings,

Ok, so it's been a week or so since my last post. Two reasons...





1. I've been getting ready to go to Colorado (and Wyoming) to see my sister graduate from college. Congratulations Mary Jo!!!! Getting ALL the laundry done so I can then pack all the kids (except Peyton) for Grandma and Poppy's takes, oh, a little bit of time, ok, a lot of time. And then comes packing myself and Peyton. Hopefully Chad will pack himself.

2. Expecting a baby takes a bit out of a person. :) Yes, you heard right, I'm pregnant, and along with that (for me) comes that not-so-fun sick-to-my-stomach feeling and the need for a nap at random times of the day. So, not much time for this newly-found adventure of mine called blogging. And YAY for the baby coming!!!! How awesome is that that God would bless us with another blessing!!! Thank You Lord. We're very excited. You can keep track of how old baby McFadden is with the baby tracker on the bottom right. Today marks 8 weeks. :) Approximate due date: December 17. Now, I must say in regard to the due date that the last two babies have come significantly PAST their due dates. SO, I'm going to TRY to think of the baby coming somewhere between Christmas and New Years. I can see you laughing at me... yes, only God knows when the little one will come. Just humor me, will ya?!


I'm off to finish packing. And yes, that's just a random picture of Isaac. Enjoy the cuteness!

Blessings!

Summer in April

This evening I thought I'd share with you THE "Moment of the Day". (That has a nice ring to it, maybe I'll have to include that in each post.)

Here it is: My wonderful husband was grilling hamburgers, the breeze sending me the wonderful smell of summertime grilling (in APRIL! 85 degrees) while all the other precious children (except sleeping Peyton) were happily riding their bikes up and down the driveway. This was especially fun to watch because of all the 'improvements' with the bikes: Brianna has become more confident riding her bike, Kayla learned to ride without training wheels a day or two ago, and Daddy (did I mention how wonderful he is?) fixed up a free boy bike for Isaac, complete with a new seat and Daddy-cut and Daddy-bent training wheels. Boy is Isaac proud!! And to top it off, Elisa was singing as loud as she could: "The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me. I stand alone on the word of God, the B-I-B-L-E!!" She sung it over and over and over and they all rode happily until it was time to come in for dinner. So wonderful. Such great times. We are sooooo blessed!!!!

Dandelions

Here's a list of a few happenings of the last few days:

• Isaac is wearing 'underwear' ALL day and has done a great job keeping them dry!! Yay for potty training! And Isaac has told me several times, "They are not panties Mommy, they're UNDERWEAR!!!" I've apparently formed the habit of using the term panties ~ I guess the three girls who came before Isaac could explain that.



• Dandelion picking is the new outdoor activity.



• We had visitors yesterday: Mary Beth Miller and her kids Jakin, Corban, Annie, and Lauren. (We have known the Millers for a long time; Chad and Jack were great friends before I even knew Chad. Thus, Jack was Chad's best man in our wedding. They currently live far away so it's wonderful to get the chance to visit with them.) The kids had a great time playing outside while us ladies had a nice visit inside :) We will get to see them Saturday for Lauren's baptism.



• Chad and I played our first soccer game of the spring season. Soooooo fun! We play on a co-ed team for old folks. Hehe. Boy were we sore the next day, oh, I mean the very moment the game ended. Hehe. Don't blink, the season doesn't last long - all of six weeks.



• Peyton has been really fussy. Maybe it's the molars coming in.



• Brianna finished her 20 reading books for 1st grade!!!! Not that she's done with reading, just with those particular books. She's done such a great job this year!!!

• And the cute picture is not from the last few days, but I wanted to share it anyway. The kids love to help bake and they love their cute aprons. Thanks Renee Maggelet for the cute aprons!!!