Dara's sewing project

Dara was invited to spend the night at a church friend's house last night. I dropped her off just after 4:00 pm as I was on my way to Cadillac. She had so much fun. Her friend (who is only 6) and her friend's mom (my friend, Jennifer) taught Dara some sewing skills. They helped her make some pajamas for Hope, her Friends & Faith doll. Jennifer made her a bed cap, but Dara did the nightgown and slippers. Dara was going to stay until we all had church, but church was canceled because of the freezing rain, so Chad had to pick her up on his way home from work. She had so much fun!

Happy Birthday, Martha & Jaina!

Martha & Jaina are 1! We will be celebrating on Saturday with a party, but today is their actual birthday. It is hard to believe that a year has already gone by. Chad and I took them out for their birthday dates yesterday. For those of you who don't know, Chad always takes the girls on a Daddy/daughter date on their birthdays and I take them on a Mommy/daughter date on their 1/2 birthdays. We had decided with the twins, we would both take them out on their birthdays and 1/2 birthdays. Eva is spending the week at my parents and Dara was invited over to a friend's for the night so that only left three for our sitter. We took the babies to Care Net of Cadillac's Spaghetti Dinner and auction. We met up with an old friend of mine and Chad and her husband talked for two hours!

They just started feeding themselves yesterday. Partly because I was waiting for Martha to get her top teeth, but also partly because all the finger foods you normally start babies on have wheat which they can't have. I finally wised up and realized I could just tear up pancakes into small pieces. They loved them! Today they had cinnamon breakfast biscuits for breakfast and fry bread for lunch. I made them baby food for dinner and they ate some brown rice.

What a Blessed Day!

Sunday, February 22, 2009 was a blessed day! Dara had told us about a month ago that she wanted to be baptized. After talking with her about it and realizing that she understood what that meant, we decided to go ahead with it. Since my parents were already going to be up here on the 20th and 21st, we chose the 22nd as the day since they could just stay one more night. Chad had already decided that he wanted to baptize Dara.

After attending the Pastor's conference earlier this month, Chad realized that he was being called to preach and talked to our pastor about going about doing that. Well, our pastor decided to license Chad to preach before the baptism. Chad didn't know that this was happening and I had to keep it a secret from the Wednesday before (I had to know because I am the "clerk" for the church and had to sign the license). It was hard to keep the secret and didn't even tell my parents or his. Everyone was greatly surprised!

Once Chad was licensed, he not only baptized Dara, but another lady from our church. And at the end of services, a family that has been regularly attending for over a year officially joined the church. It was a great day! We celebrated everything with a meal after the church. I had made a 20 lb turkey, sage potatoes and green beans as well as a cake. Chad's mom surprised me by bringing a jello salad and deviled eggs and we put out the leftovers in the church refrigerator from the previous week's meal. We invited everyone who was at church to stay for the celebration.

Large Families

I know there are some people who either do not agree with us having a large family or just don't understand it. I found this entry on a blog that I occasionally follow and found it not only interesting, but in line with my thoughts. Check it out if you feel called to do so.

Large Family Mothering

A Tisket, Tasket, Two Girls in a Basket!

Success!

Sabra is finally potty-trained! We were getting pretty discouraged at her not being able to be successful in being potty-trained, so we asked our herbalist if there could be a physical reason why she couldn't do what she said she wanted to do. She gave us a regimen of herbs and after doing a vaccine detox and being on another herb for a week, she finally showed some control in being able to hold it until we got to a bathroom. She has been dry since Feb. 5th except for a few accidents during nap times. She has also been dry for the past two nights!

Daddy told her that if she was potty-trained when he got back from Florida, he would buy her the Snow White doll that she has been wanting for a really long time. Here she is in all her excitement! She is still thanking him for buying it for her and she has had it for three days!

Martha & Jaina (almost 1 year) update

Martha is on the go! She started crawling a few weeks ago and nothing can stop her now. It doesn't take her long to make her way down the hallway or over to the movies where she makes a lot of mischief! She gained a whole pound this last month! Although she still isn't on the growth charts, she almost is back on. She weighed in at 15 lbs 13 oz and is 27" long.


Jaina is on the go as well, but she does the army crawl. She likes to stand up and even walked along the couch the other day! Although she is barely on the growth chart, she must think she needs to lose some weight (see the pilates video in the picture?!). She weighed in at 17 lbs 11 oz and was measured at 27 1/2" tall. Something must have been wrong because last month she was measured at 28" so either last month or this month was wrong, but either way, she is doing well.

Fun times in the Carmichael Home

Sabra and Cora were sad that Dara, Eva, and Allyn were going to a slumber party so they wanted to have their own. I told them that us girls would sleep out in the living room together. They got their sleeping bags out, and laid down to watch a movie. I slept on the couch. Although I fell asleep during the movie, Sabra woke me up when it was done. I turned it off and we all went to sleep. They enjoyed their themselves and Sabra wanted to sleep in the living room every night! I told her that she needed to sleep in her own bed until the next time we have a sleep over!

Martha and Jaina crack me up sometimes! I heard them "talking" after their nap and went to get them and this is what I found. Jaina was using Martha's butt as her pillow! It is so fun to watch them interact. Sometimes they fight over the same toy and it is cute how they just keep taking it away from the other. They'll let out a little grunt of frustration and then take it back.

Lucille (Butler) Curtiss, 1917-2009

My Grandmother, Lucille Curtiss, went home to be with Jesus January 13th, 2009. She was 91 years old. I haven't posted about this yet for a couple of reasons. 1. I needed time to grieve and get my thoughts together and find a quiet time to write them and 2. I have been trying to find a picture of her where she is looking at the camera and from before she started looking so tired and sickly, but in all the pictures she is either looking down at whomever she is holding or her face is partly covered with someone else's face. The picture I would love to put on here, I can't find to scan it because it is from about 5 years ago. I know I have put this picture on the blog before, but Grandma loved kids (especially her great grand kids) and this shows her surrounded by them.

My Grandma was a very special lady. She was a godly woman who shared her love of Jesus with almost everyone she met. She was so strong in her faith. She endured many hardships in life, but you wouldn't have known it to talk to her. She was a prayer warrior, not only for her family, but for others she knew as well. She was a very independent woman (after my Grandfather passed away) and took care of others. Although we didn't live close to her for my growing up years, her influence was still there. I really wish I would have had the opportunity to spend more time with her and I would have taken better advantage of the time I did have with her.

When I received the call that she had passed away, I was a mixture of emotions. Of course I was extremely sad that I would no longer be able to go visit her, send her pictures the girls had colored for her or celebrate the things the girls did with her, but I was also happy that her prayer was answered. Grandma had been saying for quite some time that she was ready to go home to be with Jesus. She knew where she was going and she was ready to leave this life for a better one. She knew that although we would miss her here, she would be able to be in the presence of Christ. I will never forget the time Chad and I were visiting with her without the girls and we were talking about the past and my Grandfather. It was after that reminiscing that I first heard her verbalize her wish to be in heaven. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to live for almost 24 years without my Grandfather. They were so in love and you could see it just by looking at them. Sometimes I wonder if she was a little jealous of the fact that Grandpa got to be with Jesus so much longer!

I know that she is glorying in being with Jesus in heaven. She is having the time of her life singing praises to Him all the time. And I know that she continues to look down on us, watch us, and hope the best for us.

Although it has been hard to explain to the girls where she is, I am so thankful they had the chance to spend time with her and get to know her. Dara and Eva seem to understand and say they will one day see her again in heaven. Allyn sometimes still asks where she is. Sabra and Cora may have questions later as they get older and see pictures of her. And I hope that Martha and Jaina realize how much she loved them.