Princess Babies!

The girls were playing with the crown Allyn got at her birthday party. They put it on the babies who looked so cute (of course!). Jaina is even "kissing" a frog to turn him into a prince! (Actually she is just chewing on a toy frog as she is teething.)

Princess Allyn's Party

It has taken me longer than I wanted to get these pictures posted. The parents of the party guests did not want their pictures on the web, but said I could white out their faces so I could put the pictures up. This took me a little longer to prep the pictures.

Princess Allyn
She wore the Jr. Bride dress Eva wore in my brother's wedding as well as the little tiara.

All the Princesses & The Princess with Queen Darcy
Allyn wanted me to dress like a queen so I wore the bridesmaid dress from my brother's wedding. It was a little loose (yah!), but it worked for the short time I was wearing it. I wore a tiara that Dara had won in a cutest baby contest on my head. Five of the other little girls wore dresses they had worn as flower girls in weddings, one little girl's mom made her a pretty new dress and Dara wore a dress that had been given to us. Each little girl received a tiara to wear. They colored a princess and castle. They made crown magnets and then played place the crown on Princess Allyn (I put an 8x10 picture of Allyn on the refrigerator and they had to get the crown on her head). We had four girls who were almost dead on, so they each won a sparkly necklace. Each girl left the party with a party bag of princess goodies (necklace, bracelets, candy jewelry, and ring pops).

I used the puppet stage as a backdrop for the table (made with dark blue velvet). The girls dined on heart peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, star jello jigglers and bugles (as in little trumpets). They drank pink lemonade.

I read "The Princess & the Kiss" to the girls and then they each blew a kiss into a metallic box to save it for man God has for them (you'll have to read the book to understand).

Allyn wanted a cake with a crown on top. I had quite a few problems so a cake that was supposed to be easy. The cake stuck in the pan, I had to do a crumb layer of frosting, the crown I was going to use kept tearing the cake apart when I put it on, the frosting was runny, but Allyn like it despite all those problems!

Polly Pocket & purse with goodies.

Princess book, princess puzzle, princess paper & pencils and princess accessories.

First Tooth!

I have been running my finger along the babies' gums every day for the last couple of weeks because I thought they were teething. After having them in to see Kelly, she said that Jaina was definitely teething, but not Martha. Well, today I felt a tooth in Jaina's mouth! It is on her bottom left (right side of the picture). If you really look for it, you can see it (it's really hard to get a good picture of the inside of a baby's mouth!). I can also see the other middle, bottom tooth under the gum right next to it. I am assuming it won't be long and that pops through as well.

Woodstove functional, but not done

Praise God, our woodstove is up and working! Chad was able to fire it up last Thursday night (it has the same birthday as Allyn and Gordon!). Although he didn't get it insulated until Saturday, we were using it and boy is it nice! I have been keeping the house a little warmer and I don't have to worry about running out of hot water! I can't wait to see how much we save on our electric bill this way!

Chad is still working on covering it so it looks a little nicer and has a few spots he noticed needs some more insulation, but I know he will finish that soon. He had to take a break to fix his truck that needed some work, but that is done now and back to the stove. I'll post pictures when it is completely finished.

I am so thankful that God gave me such a wonderful, intelligent husband. I am continually amazed at how his mind works (he thinks of things that I NEVER would!). He has been able to provide for our family in some very unconventional ways. We are so blessed by his ingenuity.

Gordon's & Allyn's Birthdays!

Allyn has the privilege to share her birthday with her Papa. They both celebrated their birthdays on Nov. 13th. Allyn turned 5 and Gordon turned 74! We had Papa and Nana over for dinner to commemorate the events.

We gave Gordon a magnetic parts bowl for when he is working in the garage.

We gave Allyn a magnetic Cinderella doll that she can change her clothes, shoes, etc. It reminded me of the paper dolls I used to play with only modernized!

Papa & Nana Carmichael gave her a pretty pink jumper and sweater.

Aunt Charity, Uncle Doug, Lil' Charity, Cole and Claydon sent Allyn's present with Papa and Nana. They gave her a pretty pink shirt and a cheerleader doll.

Papa & Nana also got her a lap desk. She has used it as a lap desk and a bed for her Cheerleader doll! Nice double-duty use!

Allyn received a fun game from our neighbors whom the girls call Papa Jerry and Nana Sherry.

Gordon & Allyn with their cake. Allyn wanted green frosting because Papa wouldn't want pink!

We all enjoyed the cake. We made it with spelt flour, organic sugar, and natural food coloring. It was yummy!

Allyn wore the shirt from her cousins under the jumper and put the sweater on top. It all went together so great!

Allyn had a wonderful birthday. I will post pictures from her princess birthday party with her friends later. She will celebrate with my parents and brother's family when we go to Muskegon for Thanksgiving. We will have lots to be thankful for as not only will we celebrate Thanksgiving, but my Mom's, my sister-in-law's and Allyn's birthdays!

I serve an Awesome God!

I just have to say it, I serve an Awesome God! I am continually amazed at how He works (although I shouldn't be).

A few weeks ago, I felt led by God to bless another family in some way. I prayed about how to do it and talked with Chad about it. Then I discovered they were having some financial problems and felt called to help financially. We didn't have much to give, but God allowed me to earn a little extra money so we gave it to them. I haven't even thought about it for a couple of weeks because I just was trying to be obedient to what God called me to do.

Fast forward to yesterday. I took the girls to see our herbalist. I wanted to have the babies checked to make sure we were still taking the right dosages to completely get rid of the rashes as well as most of the family had runny noses so I wanted every checked for viruses. I almost canceled my appointment because I wasn't feeling very well and didn't want to drag all seven kids there, but knew I needed to BECAUSE we weren't feeling well.

Kelly was running a little behind and I had the opportunity to talk with another lady while we were waiting. We talked about the girls, homeschooling, etc. She told me about her grandkids and even played with the girls a little bit. It came time for our turn so we said goodbye. After my appointment, I went to pay for my co-op order and was told that the lady I had talked with before had left some money for me because she wanted me to be blessed. Can you believe it was the same amount that we had given to the family a few weeks prior! AND. . .it almost completely paid for my co-op order!

God is so good! I am thankful that I was able to see His hand in this. I am thankful that He provides in ways that I would never dream would happen. I am thankful that He uses people around me to lift my spirits and draw me closer to Him.

Praise God, I serve an Awesome God!

Just Too Cute!