Riding with the twins

So, we bought a second vehicle today! Check out this great Infinity (I don't even know what make it is - just that it's an infinity and that Jason said they are good cars and we got a great deal). It's so exciting to think I can have the van during the day now! We are so thankful for the generosity of the body of Christ.

Since we were close to my cousin, Katy's house when we bought the car, we called and asked if she wanted to meet us for lunch. We grabbed some Mexican with Katy and her daughter, Kennedy. I asked Jason if I could drive the car home (since I'm sure it will quickly become his baby). He was happy to share the non-van (see, that's why I don't know the make of the car - I don't care! It's just NOT A VAN!!) and somehow I ended up with the twins as my passengers.

On the way through the parking lot I was explaining to them that they weren't going to like the peppermint candies they swiped from the restaurant - but since I'm wearing down in my old age I let them keep them. While I was backing out the car, and looked over my shoulder, I noticed Will had already spit his candy out. He had sugary red spit smeared on his left cheek, his chin and both hands - just waiting to get it on the impeccably clean "new" car. So I pulled in to another parking spot so I could run back inside to get wet napkins.

Before running in I asked Tyson where his candy was. He started saying "I already ate it" but since it was still in his mouth he only got through the beginning of the word "it" when a breath of air caused the candy to lodge in his throat. He clearly couldn't breath. I jumped out of the car and yanked him out as quickly as I could and tried to something like a Heimlich maneuver. It moved enough for him to be able to breathe but it was still stuck in his throat. He started crying and said in such a pitiful little voice "Now I am going to have this every day!" (meaning... that it was going to be stuck there forever and he'd have it there every day from now on) A few coughs led to a gag and finally the candy was on the ground in the parking lot and he was perfectly fine.

As we drove they chatted and were pretty cute. Wilson wanted the sun roof open but Tyson was a little nervous about it. At one point there was an unpleasant odor and their discussion was as follows:

Tyson: did you toot!?

Wilson: no.

Wilson a few seconds later: I think it's a squirrel.

Tyson: No, you mean a skunk.

Wilson a few seconds later: Nope, I think it's a squirrel.

Conversations like this are endless in our house... so are dramatic moments like with the peppermint. It barely phases me. But today, driving the cool car with just my little guys, I soaked in their cuteness. I let them roll their windows down once we pulled into our neighborhood and they were delighted! "This is the first time I'm ever doing this!" Wilson said. They are funny little guys. This was the first pose they gave me when we pulled into the driveway and I asked them to let me take a picture:

Look at Tyson and his sly little lean in pose. Man, I love these little guys. I still am amazed to think that I have TWINS! I remember them as little bitties and how they were always holding hands. They have been full of trouble from the moment they could both crawl! But they have also held my heart from the moment they were born. I loved riding with my twins today.

Rinn and Creed come to play

Every new momma should get some time with the new baby while her other kids are being entertained elsewhere. We all feel awful about this and don't ask anyone to do it because we are already changing the little worlds of our kids by bringing home a new baby - how can we say that we need a little break from them? I know this was my experience.

I'm not putting any words in Sunny's mouth - and I didn't really give her a chance to argue. I wanted to get my favorite little faux-hawked and red headed Kershes over for some play time and hoped some alone time for Mommy, Daddy, and JuJu would be appreciated.

Ally loves Rinny. She found her a little teacup (which Rinn gave to Ally for her birthday!) to use with lunch. Here she is pouring more water in the cup with a measuring cup...

The girls watched a few minutes of a princess movie, colored and made books, and played outside. The boys only wanted to do one thing...

... play the Wii, of course. I made them turn it off a few times and had them go play outside - I just couldn't be that babysitter that let them play endless video games but that sure is what they wanted. In their defense... trying to take turns between 8 kids doesn't give any one child much playing time!

I painted Rinn's finger nails and we put bootiful flowers on them!Cookie monsters!! We had fresh from the oven cookies as a treat!

This is Piper's new "big smile for the camera" face. Lovely!

We had so much fun with our good pals. Come back again soon!

They take what they can get...

we didn't really get snow - we got ice with a dusting of snow - but that didn't stop these guys from going out for a little while today.

Daddy's Girl

For the first time EVER today Piper wanted Jason over me. She wouldn't come to me when I tried to get her! What is going on here?? Jason always hates that the babies prefer me when they are little - Pip has been a true blue mommy's sugar. But today, she went to J, raised her hands and when I tried to get her so Jason could work she turned her head and snuggled into Jason's neck. What a moment for daddy! Even after repeated pleadings from me she still wanted her daddy. They've been two little peas in a pod today.

I'm not offended. It's time for daddy to have a turn. I wasn't quite ready for it yet though. Maybe it's just a fluke. Or maybe this means Jason will have to deal with her in the middle of the night - only seems fitting, right? Maybe her daddy's immense love for her is starting to make sense in her little heart. Maybe she's just starting early at getting him wrapped around her little finger! (note to Piper... it's already done.)

Snow Day

We have ice covered by a thin dusting of snow... enough to shut everything down around here and keep daddy home from work! We are still doing school but don't feel too badly for my poor children, they didn't have to do school yesterday due to other factors. Any which way, having daddy home is a treat! And now, the fake snow that is still on my windows from Ally's birthday party (2 weeks ago) looks perfect!

My Madi is 11!

Madison has turned 11. I can hardly believe that it was 11 years ago that I was the young, new mom that I still think I am today! She looked so grown up here, the night of her party, but what I love the most about my Madison is that she is still so sweet and young inside. She loves her dolls, she loves to cuddle with her daddy, she holds my hand when we are out and she doesn't have a clue about pop culture or fashion. She wears anything I buy her. She trusts anything we tell her. I know this will not last forever, but for now I truly love it.

For her birthday party I took her and her 4 good friends (and their American Girl dolls) to the Melting Pot for chocolate fondue. What a special treat for a special birthday girl.

When they first got to the house we did our nails. My friend, Andrea (Maddy's mom) helped me provide superior service to our young clients.

After the nails were beautiful and dry we headed to the Melting Pot. I hung Christmas lights in the van and had water bottles for the girls to try and made the ride special.

The girls were so excited. You have never met such a sweet group of "tween" girls. I feel so good about heading into teenage years if these are my daughter's good friends. (Way to go parents!! I have prayed for you and your daughters long before I ever met you!) They were also very silly... which I have to love as well - they are still little girls.

Only one of the girls had ever been here before, so it was a new and exciting treat. At one point Madison said "He just called me ma'am!" They tore through those desserts like a group of hungry linebackers! We had to ask for more treats to dip into the chocolate twice!

Madison had so much fun. She was exhausted by the time we got home (after 10!) and went straight to bed. She is still our precious Sweet Pea. She has increasing interest in the things of the Lord and serving Him. She still thinks that she wants to spend her life serving in a foreign mission field. Nothing thrills my soul more than to see that. She once again, decided to send her birthday money to Samaritans Purse even though she has really been wanting a few things from the American Girl catalog. I wish I were more like her!


Happy Birthday, Sweets. We are so proud of the young lady you are becoming and love so much the girl you are now.

Baby Jude comes home... at last!!!!!

I know it won't stop me from continuing to write, but I barely have words to describe how I feel about little Jee Han finally being here, in the arms of his parents. We went to the airport today to welcome the finally complete Kersh family home.

We all wore our BE(LOVE)D t-shirts. The shirts were part of a fund raiser the Kershes did to help raise money to get little Jude. We missed out on the initial order but Sunny did a rush order for us just last week. I made little buttons with Jude's picture on it for all the kids to wear. They were so excited. The twins have been asking every day if this is the day we go to the airport to get Jude.

Here are some of the kids waiting at the airport. Everyone here was just so invested by way of prayer for this little baby and this family. It was so exciting to know were all there with something in common - even if we didn't know each other.
Here the kids are trying to look up the escalator to get the first glimpse of Sunny and Jude.

And then the moment came... this little baby that I have stayed up nights praying for and loving was right there in front of me. My dear friend, who has been so incomplete without her son, had him there in her arms - and he seemed so happy and content to be with his mommy.

Even though we had told the children to stay back and not touch I guess they just couldn't help swarming in on the main event.
Oh, how I cried. It was just overwhelming to feel like a part of something so much bigger than you. To see in front of you so many answered prayers. To see the joy in Micah and Sunny's faces - it was just amazing... truly special.

Welcome home little Jee Han. You are loved so very much. God has given you the most amazing parents. Thank you, Lord for your sweet mercy and ever present providence. You are so Good.

Family Devotions

It has been really great to get back into the swing of having regular family devotions. Big props to Don Whitney for reminding us of the importance of this and reminding families that your devotions don't have to be some big formal Sunday School lesson - just get into the practice of reading the Scriptures, singing, and praying together. And big props for my hubs who is faithful to lead us and desires greatly to disciple the children.

However, I did want to remind families of one thing Don Whitney forgets to say. If you have young children, or 7 children, your devotion time might feel more like teaching algebra to chimpanzees. Where you think your super spiritual devotion time might look like this:

What is more often looks like is this:

So, if you are daunted at the thought of starting family worship of your own and assume when you hear me or others talk about theirs -that we must have it "all together" let me give you a glimpse into last night's devotions...

* Wilson was in only pajama bottoms and for some reason, Piper could not stop trying to touch his nipples.

* Cole could not keep his legs off Madison and finally had to be threatened with a spanking.

* Tyson snuck in a Little Einstein toy (which he was sitting on) and turned it on while Jason was talking.

* Piper picked up a hair clip and made a remarkably high pitched noise while scratching it on the coffee table. This, of course, made all the kids laugh. (touching Will's nipples is what made me laugh)

* Ally raises her hand and asks "Would it feel different if God never made the Earth?" (in her defense, Jason was talking about the similarities between God and the sun... which I guess sent her thoughts to the solar system etc...)

That's what I can remember off the top of my head. It can feel like reigning in a circus at times. Still, we are determined to be faithful. We are hopeful that hearing and singing and praying God's Word will resonate in their hearts. We want them to know this is the most important thing to us.

We know that as they grow it will be easier. We already have some really great discussions with the older kids. Some day I think we will all look forward to devotions as a favorite part of the day - getting to share with one another what the Lord is teaching us and share in the worship of our great God. And I am quite certain that one day we will all LOOK BACK and realize it was something we are so glad we took the time to discipline ourselves to do. So, we press on through the crazy nights, savoring the precious times and looking forward to seeing fruit in the days to come.

Ah, one of the joys of homeschooling...

... having bacteria literally growing on your counter top.

For Chad Duncan... the most hilarious thing in the world.

Right now, the most hilarious thing in the world in my house is when the naughty little twins think they are all alone in a closet and the reach into the naughtiest parts of their little hearts and do this...

and then they laugh - because, as I already mentioned, it is the funniest thing in the world.

The last thing in the world we need...

... a dog. Tonight when our kids were begging for a dog Jason said "If you guys can keep your rooms spotless for 30 days we will get you a puppy." He said this with complete confidence that there in NO WAY in the world that they could possibly do this. They, however, ran into their rooms, jumping up and down and starting making plans and schedules about how to achieve the 30 day clean room challenge. Feeling a little sorry for them, and not wanting to actually have to buy them a puppy if they succeeded, told them that daddy was kinda kidding. Madison and Carson started bawling. Bawling. I mean, 15 minutes later they were in their separate rooms crying their little eyes out. I felt AWFUL! For the first time ever in my life I actually want to buy a dog - just to give it to them.

I've always known that they really wanted a dog - but they've always known that I REALLY didn't. I guess I never knew it was such a deep issue for them.

Tomorrow, Jason and I decided, we will actually sit down with the kids and talk about getting a dog. We will talk about the responsibilities and what we need to see in them as far as knowing they are ready to add a furry little monster into the house. I can't believe it has actually come to this. I can't believe my heart has melted at their little tears and has opened the forbidden doggie door. But look at them???? Can you blame me???

Nothing to do... this is the best!

Just hanging out around the house tonight. Nothing to do except pray for the Kershes. I love nights like this. I'm finishing dishes (and praying for the Kershes!) and cleaning up - of course! But here are some other things going on around the house...

Jason is playing with Ally with her new Disney Princess barbie dolls

Of course, Jason has to be Mulan and give her a fighting stick (I think he pretends she's Bruce Lee with long hair)Knowing how much we treasure modesty around here Ally was concerned about the Ariel doll (anyone who knows us well knows there is no Little Mermaid in the Woodard house! :)) and asked if she could give her to Carson to light on fire. What?! Now, I know where she got the light on fire thing - probably when she watched her daddy and some other elders from our former church blow up a Telletubby doll (nice huh?). It's that she thinks Carson is allowed to play with fire that concerns me. Better check up on that one. Anyways, I noticed tonight that she, on her own, has found fabric to tie around Ariel. I love it. What a sweet Peach!

Madison is doing one of her favorite things... reading... about animals.

Cole is playing with his Knex and begging for his computer time (he's the helper today... computer is the big perk!).

Carson is making a shrine to his Bionicle collection.

And Wilson and Tyson have begged to watch an episode of Sid the Science Kid. Ty might even give up his obsession with Little Einsteins for Sid!

So, that's what going on around here. It's time for all the little chickens to get in jammies and have family devotions. Then me and my hubs get to cuddle on the couch and watch The Office. This is my favorite kind of night!