i'm starting to wonder if we happened to pour an exceptionally hard drive way.
we are having so much fun being able to play outside here at the new house, but everyone is scraping knees, stubbing toes, skinning elbows, foreheads, noses....

and it's not only the kids......

i took a really hard fall a couple of days ago while playing football with tyden and one of the neighbor boys. i was running across the driveway to make a pass and didn't see the bike in my way......

it was cute though, the neighbor kid -zack- came running over to help me up and move the bike.

what is also cute is that every now and then he will whisper to tyden, "will you ask your mom if she wants to play football with us??"

he's a year older than tyden and the youngest of 3 boys. and his parents aren't home much so he finds his way over everyday. and we are glad to have him :)

and playing outside has gotten even more fun now that we can finally walk on the grass! it's wonderful! kind of a splurge to lay that sod, but i think it was worth it!

dave mowed it for the first time last night- it looks awesome!

and then there's our grassless backyard- which is also more fun now that i brought our trampoline over from my parent's house. it's an old trampoline that one of dave's employees gave us but is so nice to have!

i didn't intend to move it that day- i stopped by my mom's to get a pool because i was having extra kids over.

it was a gorgeous day.......

and i saw the trampoline........then looked at my van full of kids.......and thought that maybe i could take the tramp apart and squeeze it in somehow.......

and it worked!!

okay, i may not have been completely legal with all the seating arrangements after i put a trampoline in my van- but the point is that we got it in.

and brought it home.

and i singlehandedly put it back together with 5 little kids watching.

i was just glad they were the only ones watching because it took me forever. with it falling back apart over and over :)

but so worth it! especially now that i can sit on the back porch and watch them jump :)

and also now that i discovered the whole child birth and jumping curse doesn't last forever :)

had our our first day at the lake! so fun!

there's a mouse in that cup.....dave caught neiko petting it on those stairs, and then he captured it......and the kids fed it to the fish......:)

okay, now i have to see if i can get through this next part in one piece-

first of all no adoption news- haven't heard anything at all. not sure how this is all going to go down since our guardianship is still temporary and still expires on april 15th.

and then-

the last two weeks have been HARD.

staring with a parenting conference.

i am under some major conviction- not just in parenting but in every area of my life. i haven't been sleeping well and i feel the Spirit pretty intensely. calling me deeper into Him and into holiness and showing me the ugliness of my heart, my motives, my thoughts, my words, my actions.

i am NOT LOVING LIKE JESUS LOVES.

it is not enough to be a good wife if i'm not loving my husband better than i love myself.

it is not enough to be a good mom if i'm not daily mirroring the self-sacrificing love of my Savior. or if i'm not showing my children everyday how much they need Jesus.

and what am i even doing if i'm not doing these things??

Jesus help me-i need more grace!

tyden has been causing some trouble.

he's been teasing the girls, arguing with dave and i, rushing through homework and getting F's, complaining about helping out around the house, messy room......

last night i sat down on his bed and told him that being a part of this family requires more than that. i gave him a list of 5 areas that need some major improvement. then i asked him if he thought he could change in all 5 areas- if he could wake up tomorrow and do them all better.

he thought for a minute and then said, "i can try, but i don't think i can do it all exactly right."

to which i said, "well, YOU have a list of 5 things- and I have a list of about 50 things that i need to do better. and i can't do it on my own. do you know anyone who can help us?"

he said, "Jesus."

and i said, "yep. we both need Him. and we are in it together."

and he slowly pulled his fist out from under his blanket and held it up to me.

fist pump.

and my heart melted.

also churning around in my head is the news we got last week that neiko has a sibling on the way.

she is keeping it.

just weird that he will be a big brother and he won't ever know it. and i wonder if he will ever want to meet his siblings someday. hopefully with 4 adoptive siblings he will feel like he's got plenty!

once again, adoption is beautiful and heart-wrenching......

this is a picture i took on sunday morning as i was getting everyone ready for the big easter program at church. the day where you wake up really early and make sure everyone looks beautiful and has their part memorized......it's a big day.

which was going great until we had everyone ready and loaded up in the van. i dashed back inside to get wren's new sandals to replace the flip-flops she had put on- and it hit me.

i started sweating and shaking and knew i was going to throw up. and i ran to the bathroom and did.

out of no where.

so then i wasn't sure what in the world to do- i couldn't send dave to church with all the kids without me. i couldn't miss the program. so i jumped in the van and rode to church feeling worse by the minute.

once we got there i stumbled downstairs and curled up on the floor of the church bathroom.

SO AWFUL!!

well, somehow dave and i ended up back at home with neiko, and my parents kept the 4 older kids at church.

i missed it all!!

i came home and crashed for a couple of hours and thankfully started feeling better by that evening.

but i still can't believe i missed the program!!

and now, speaking of bathrooms....

today was supposed to be the very last day of working on the tile for the shower.
i had my 3 youngest kids plus lexi here all day- and 2 people in and out of my shower.
loooooooong day, but i kept telling myself it would be the last.
and then they ran out of grout.
so they will be back tomorrow.....sigh....

......and tomorrow is bike day-
the long awaited day for tekoa where she gets to take her bike and her mom to school.
and she learned to ride without training wheels just in time!

she was the easiest one to teach so far- but i did lose half a toenail to the driveway during the process :)

3 kids down and only 2 to go!!

and, okay, i know this is the world's longest post- and i'm sorry- but i have one more bit of super exciting news!!!!

i'm going to be an aunt again!!!!

grand kid #14 is on the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!