The absolute sweetest anniversary cards ever!

The kids got pencil pouches from grammie for the 1st advent gift. Lucias liked using hers as a hat

Today was the day! This lil doll baby was a champ with her ear piercing! She cried for a few seconds and calmed right down when I nursed her.

"I want to hold celina on my belly"

My three helpers doing an awesome job prepping the veggies for roasting

Thumb sucking buddies!

Grammie took Alexia out for her bday lunch and shopping this weekend. She chose a Lego hotel set and an adorable pair of gold flats.
Here they are at lunch at nordstrom cafe.

Diego went to a Falcons game with Luke and Henry today and had a super fun time!

My life saver! My mom has worked so hard and packed so many boxes. Seriously could not have done this without her!

We had a wonderful thanksgiving at Aldo's house!

Coffee date with Grammie!

New haircut for this big boy!!

This chunk of love had her 6-mo apt this week. She weighs EIGHTEEN pounds!!

Packing, packing, packing! And oh so cozy!

Lucia having a blast with Eva at Bella's bday party

Diego's soccer team was in a tournament last weekend and they did awesome!

Glorious fall morning!

Oh the giggles!!

This was the only picture I snapped tonight, but not the only picture-worthy moment!  The kids and I went to have dinner with some friends this evening.  It's the 2nd time we've done it with them and I can see many more dinners together in the future.  The plan had been for them to come to our house, but Laura's keys were locked in her car so we loaded up the food we were going to serve and took it to their house so we could still hang out and enjoy dinner together.  She has 7 kids, ranging from 13 to 4 months and each of my kids adore each of her kids.  It is wonderful to have friends to do life with who understand the craziness of our days and will encourage and love us through it!

November, 2016

Now that I'm trying to bring the blog back, I feel like I need to give a little recap of what our life has looked like for the past half a year.  Wow, half a year!  So here goes:

- 5 kids.  We have FIVE children.  SEVEN people in this house.  That's a lot.  And it's just right.  It's so much work.  And it's amazing.  It's overwhelming.  And it's wonderful.  It's chaotic.  And it's blissful.  It's constant.  And it's exactly where I want to be.  Really and truly.  Nowhere else and with nobody else.  Right here doing life with these 6 people is my paradise.

- Above sentiment can only be such because of my Rock and my Redeemer: Jesus.  His sustaining grace has been more powerful than ever in my life and absolutely carries me through my every day. This life He has called me to his busy and it is a lot, but I can truly say it is pure joy.  Oh it is hard and has heartbreaks and letdowns and freak outs, but it is all covered in grace and His grace and His joy are constant and never ever change or give up on me.  No matter the mess I make, He redeems it all.  So, so often people say to me, "How do you do it?" or "I really don't know how you handle this." I usually respond with some variation of "It's not me, it's the Lord that carries me through" or "it's not in my own strength" or something along those lines.  But people don't really take that at face value.  They think I'm just trying to take less credit or politely accept their praise.  But no, really and truly, it is Him.  The peace that floods my heart can not be fabricated.  The joy that floods my heart can come from no other source, but the One who is Joy.  And that joy is mine because I am His.

- So back to five kids.  And homeschooling.  And building a house.  We've been busy!  We broke ground on the lot in April (4 days before Celina was born) and the actual construction began in June.  It has been the coolest project ever and we have enjoyed it so much.  Of course we never would, but it has been so pleasant that we would do it again next year.  There is no better way to build a house than to hire your best friends to do it!  We enjoy almost daily visits to the site and the kids have learned so much about the phases of building a house!

- Celina is a dream.  I know I've said that before.  But I think with each dream baby it just strikes me deeper each time because I realize how much more difficult my life could be if she wasn't a dream baby.  She barely ever cries.  She is 6.5 months now and is a chunk of love.  She sits up, rolls over (sometimes, but not much), gives me slobbery kisses on my cheeks, loves toys, thinks her big siblings are the best, is content to hang out in her bouncy seat or exersaucer and loves to be held.  She has not started solids yet, but loves to sit at the table with us in her booster chair.

- Homeschooling is going so well.  We are grateful!  The children are attending Veritas this year which is a hybrid program where they go to classes twice a week (once for Marco) and we all love it! I'll try to write a post all about homeschooling soon!

- That's all for now. Would love to write more, but need to get some sleep!

This boy adores his baby! He asks to hold her multiple times a day and can often be found kissing, cuddling and hugging her.

We voted!!

Slumber parties continue!!!!!

Tio Roby came to visit last weekend. We had a blast with him!