WE DID IT. :)

and wow.  9 kids is a lot.
we definitely had our ups and downs, but for the most part we all had fun. and the kids got along great.

we had them off and on wednesday through saturday, with thursday night being the only night they stayed over.  and that went surprisingly well.
well, besides baby kevin (or KJ as we call him) having a cold and a hard time sleeping, wren ending up sleeping in our bed, camrie having a nightmare and needing to be held a little (she went to dave- it melted my heart :),  and my dad calling at 5am cause he was out shopping for his company christmas party and had a question for dave.
besides all of that our night went great :)

in church on sunday we sang a song about God being a Father to the fatherless.  and my eyes welled up.  probably mostly from pure exhaustion, but also for His calling on us to be His body and to care for the fatherless.
it is a calling that just keeps calling over and over.
who knows what's yet to come???  ......i have a feeling it will be incredible......and exhausting :)

and then we had sunday afternoon to ourselves to unwind a bit.  it was some much needed down time with our kids.  with a touch of guilt mixed in over the school work that was sent home for the weekend and that was very much left undone.....and the amount of house work that was calling to me- which was also left undone.

and now we are back to the school schedule......and already behind with Christmas. :(

I AM SO VERY GLAD THAT JESUS WAS BORN.  

but i can hardly handle the Christmas chaos.  

on sunday i was adding up in my head the number of gifts i have to buy in the next 4 weeks..........and with teacher gifts, gift exchanges, gifts for family members, gifts for my kids from grandmas and grandpas who don't know what to buy them, gifts for our kids from us, gifts for the Gilberts' kids and Destiny, and secret santa gifts at school........the number is 56.

56 gifts. some big some small.  plus the neighborhood cookie exchange.  plus christmas cards. 

and it all starts this saturday with the kids' sunday school christmas party.  for which i need 8 teacher gifts. 

kinda makes me want to leave town and come back after the new year. 

especially with 2 toddlers to drag around town from store to store.  and let me tell you, even online shopping is hard with little ones in the house.  

but i can do all things through Christ who gives me strength :) i think i have mentioned that before.  actually, I repeat it to myself a lot......

so here we go.....let the chaos begin.....we are putting up our tree tonight :)

and since neiko and wren have already learned (thanks to the christmas tree in the mcdonalds playland) that ornaments break when you knock them off a tree, i'm sure they will be very careful around ours........:)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

say a prayer for us tonight! we have the Gilberts' kids overnight since LaKisha had to work at midnight because of black Friday.  

baby Kevin has a cold and sounds miserable.....and i'm very out of the "wake up during the night to feed a baby" phase.  

we'll see if i remember how to do it ;)

i hope you all had a very blessed thanksgiving! :)

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus you."
1Thes 5:18

just when i'm starting to be able to kiss my little sweeties again....they turn on me.
puking.
i'm pretty much regretting those kisses.

i heard neiko crying in his crib around 1am last night.  i assumed he was cold or something. so i went into his room and reached my hands into his crib to cover him up, and my hands landed in his dinner.  sooooo gross.  so i had to bathe him and strip his bed.  and work around the chunks of food suck in his hair and to his clothes and bedding.
and they don't go down the drain in the bathtub- or the washer.

i finally got everything cleaned up, changed my puke covered clothes, and climbed back into bed.
only to repeat the process 2 more times.

and then i woke up this morning to a sick tekoa.  she puked once and pooped in her pants.

oh the laundry for today.  sigh.

but at least i am finally getting some of my energy back.  and my appetite.  just still waiting to be able to take a full breath without doubling over in a fit of coughing.  and waiting to get my voice back so i can practice for a performance i have coming up on the 30th.....yikes!

and with thanksgiving only 2 days away i am hoping and praying that today is our very last day of sickness!! neiko seems fine now, he is eating and running around and teasing the girls and getting into things.....
and tekoa says she's feeling a little better too, so say a prayer!!

especially cause i'm lined up to have the Gilberts kids tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday while LaKisha is at work.  and i've never had all 4 of them plus all 5 of mine.
i'm gearing up to be a mother for 9 for 3 days.....ages 3 mos to 12 years.....
with God all things are possible, right??? :)
and dave and i will be bringing all 9 to the kellenberger thanksgiving on friday......should be interesting for sure :)

and now for the things i am most especially thankful for this year-

1.  my keurig coffee maker.  mornings like this morning are much easier to get through when you have delicious, piping hot coffee ready in 1 minute.  my early birthday present from dave. :)
2.  my van.  cause i have seen up close what life is like for a mother with out one!
3.  family.  who will let you through the door at thanksgiving with 9 kids.  and who will tell ya straight how awful you look when you are sick.
4.  my teammate. who is especially thankful to have his wife back.  i'm SURE it's cause he missed me.  has probably nothing to do with desperately wanting the housekeeper/chef/maid/nanny position filled again, right?
5.  my Father.  in whom i can bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things.
even a little puke.  :)

our trick or treating group.  yep still growing.

i'd like to say we had a great night......

but between the kids fighting over the wagon, the tired legs, the cold hands, the tripping and falling, and the older kids running ahead......i don't know......even the happy looks on their faces when they got their candy just somehow never really made it worth it......

my last pics of my time with Kevin.  he is in day care now. 

i miss him.

but i don't miss this!

seriously don't recommend trying to run errands like this- 

and i'm not talking about the odd looks you get from people.

i will always look back on our time together as yet another sign of God's amazing love.  for me and for Kevin. :)

shaeya worked so hard on making her own bow and arrow for her holloween costume.  she even formed the arrowhead out of clay and waited for it to dry and then tied it on.  i truly love her independence and her imagination.  

and i love love love finding her notes. they crack me up. 

and you can learn a lot by paging through her journal.....

apparently the neighbor kids mentioned in the above note and below are moving just in time.

too funny.  

and just to clarify- i didn't say she could be his girlfriend when she's 16.  that was her thought....

which needs to be corrected. :)

i haven't broken the news yet that the family is moving.....

and now i have some super exciting news to share.  guess which two are FINALLY playing together???

(for short amounts of time anyway) 

he is growing and changing.  still constantly into trouble, but starting to play and converse- and it's making a big difference around here. 

and does he not seem huge for a two year old???

he is wearing size 4T.  so crazy.

he spends a lot of time in this corner :)

and when there's nothing better to do.......why not strip yourself.....

i love this picture :)

who needs a nail salon, right? 

please don't look too closely at my toes for the next 5 years, okay?

so i have the flu.  the full blown flu.  this is day 6 of pure misery.....i'm starting to feel like i'm never gonna beat it.

and i can handle the fever, chills, muscle aches, cough, and sore throat. the WORST of it- and maybe this is TMI- is that i'm waking up all night long completely drenched in sweat.  and my pillow is soaked, my clothes, sheets and blankets.  so i get up and peel my clothes off and stumble my way into my closet to grab more clothes.  multiple times a night.  

which means A LOT of laundry.  all of our bedding has to be washed every morning.  

and when you add that to the normal, every day laundry of 7 people......let's just say it's very discouraging for a very sick mama.

ok and one more thing-

my kids are going crazy from being stuck at home with me. and i'm running out of ideas of ways to keep them entertained.  everyone is climbing on me and whining to me and needing me- and i just want to crawl in bed and sleep til i'm better.  

and i won't even get started on the condition of my house.  sigh. 

i'm so thankful for my wonderful husband who has stepped it up and has been helping with everything.

the kids and the laundry, homework and packing lunches, wiping bottoms and cleaning up accidents and wet beds, and making homemade soup for me.  

he has decided once again that he does not like my job. 

and i feel so bad for him having such long days at work and then long evenings here at home. 

he didn't get to sit down til 9pm last night- while i laid on the couch with a fever of 104. 

okay changing subjects now- 

i've been wanting to say my piece about the election.  

first of all- i am the most non-political person ever. 

i don't even know who the vice president is. seriously.  i don't watch the news or read the newspaper.  basically i don't know anything about anything.  except changing diapers.

but i do read the Bible and I know that things are going to get crazy as we get closer to the end.  so i wasn't surprised that our country voted Obama back in- even though i did my duty and dragged 3 kids along with me to vote for the other guy.   

but our God is in control.  He is still on the throne.  He holds the whole world and each life in His very capable hands.  He promises that He will win in the end and that's all i need to know.

and i firmly believe that our job as Christians in an uncertain world is to show the world His love.  in the way that we love each other and the way that we love the unlovable.  and the only way to do that is with His help.  WHICH MEANS WE NEED KNOW HIS WORD.  inside and out. 

and it HAS to start at HOME.  

our country is full of broken homes and empty lives and loveless relationships.  

and we have to hold on to FAMILIES at all costs.  we have to love our husbands and children with the self-sacrificing love of our Father.  we have to remember that our husbands are our teammates.  they are not the enemy! they are the ones fighting beside us against the enemy!  

and added to that- we need to help the fatherless and provide homes and families for those who don't have them.  

we need to reach out past our comfort zones and open our homes to show people how beautiful marriage and family is for those who love through Jesus.  and that there is no better way.  

the death of the family will be the downfall of our nation.  LETS NOT LET IT DIE. 

let's turn off the TV and raise up warriors for Jesus who will grow up to be leaders in their own families.  

our children need to become men and women who can stand firm in hard times.  who can do without if it comes to that.  who don't believe that they are the center of the universe.  who live for a higher calling.  who can live with integrity and self-denial in a very evil and self-focused world.

we don't need to worry about the president and the future, we need to put action to our words.  

and to HIS WORD.

and that's all i have to say :) 

i love you all. 

please pray that no one else in this house gets this awful flu!!!!