Thankful

The Alexander Five, October 2011

I always ask the kids what they are thankful for. I love seeing how their answers are more mature each year. Here are their answers for 2011!

Isaac, age 10. He is thankful for our house and our Bibles (that we can worship freely).

John, age 8 1/2. He is thankful for our house, lots of food and clean water.

Josiah, age 7. He is thankful for his sisters and brothers, our animals and our home.

Chloe, age 4 1/2. She is thankful for clothes, food and friends.

Hannah, age 4 1/2. She is thankful for her toys and mom and dad.

I thank the Lord daily for blessing me with these five treasures. They are all amazing little people. I have learned so much from them and their willingness to put others first.

From our family to yours, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Surprise!

Here are some recent pictures of the kiddos! More blog posts will be coming soon...

Happy New Year!!!

I pray that each one of you has entered 2011 with your hearts open to the awesome plan the Lord has in store for you. He has a wonderful plan for each one of us. We serve an amazing God! I am so excited to see what unfolds for our family this year. The details are things that I ponder in my heart. Only the Lord knows the timing, but I am excited to see it all unfold (if it does at all). Obviously most of you know that I am talking about adoption. I would LOVE to adopt again. Those are words I NEVER EVER thought I would say after we brought the girls home. It has taken a good year for me to feel that we have found our new normal, but now I feel like we are not done. Who says that when they already have 5 kids? I guess that would be me! I don't care about having a bigger house or new cars, I dream about having our house full of kids! We'll see what happens. We are not even in the planning stages... just talking and praying! I obviously will keep you all posted, but prayers are appreciated!

My one and only new years resolution (I usually don't do them), is to do more crafty things with the kids. This is something I have failed miserable at and it is something that they all love dearly. So there you have it. I WILL be the crafty mom in 2011!

Here is our first attempt... a Rice Krispie treat snowman.

Happy New Year to each of you!

Apple Picking

Last Friday Monte left for a long weekend away. He went to Green Bay with some friends to see a Packers game. While he was away I tried to think of a few fun things to do with the kids. I like to keep busy normally, but it is a must when he is out of town (thankfully it isn't often). It helps all of us since we miss him like crazy when he is not here.

I decided to take the kids apple picking. It was a little late in the season and the apples didn't look very healthy, but we still had fun. It was the girls' first time and I honestly don't remember the last time I took the boys.

Here are some pictures from our adventure! I hope you all are having a great week.

Wedding Fun

This past weekend Monte was in a wedding for one of his good friends. He had to be there super early, so I just brought the kids right before the wedding started. It was only 45 minutes away so not a big deal.

Here are my loves before the ceremony...

The kicker was after the wedding and the reception. I had to entertain the kids all by myself while Monte had pictures and then he had to sit with the wedding party at dinner. That was the hardest part. LOTS of glass and fancy things with my five kids, that is an anxiety attack waiting to happen for this mother! Thankfully nothing was broken and I actually enjoyed the dinner!

Here are the fabulous five before the food arrived...

I seriously can't get over how big he looks here.

Yes, John is our comedian. Who would take him serious with that hair cut anyway?

My sweet little guy...

Hannah is in HEAVEN! More on that later...

Our other ham...

She is a hoot!

Then the party started... music and dancing. Here is Chloe getting down!

Monte dancing with his princesses. This is huge for Monte! Neither one of us were brought up dancing. We didn't even have dancing at our wedding, but he is an amazing Dad and will do anything for these two little girls!

Daddy and Chloe grooving.

Josiah even got in on the action a little bit!

Hannah went to her first wedding (at least in America) in July and she has been hooked on them ever since. She talks about getting married a lot. She dresses up as a bride. She plans on marrying all her brothers. She pretends her dolls are getting married. And most importantly is the dancing (Monte and I are going to have to take dance lessons before her big day). She loves to dance and she made her rounds at the wedding. Chloe mostly stuck by our family, but not Hannah... off she went to find others that could actually dance with her!

She danced with...

the bride (she calls brides princesses... yay I am thinking she'll want a Disney wedding? My wallet is hoping not!)

The groom's daughter and friends...

The groom's mother...

And of course the groom...

She is so funny! Weddings are something that she adores. I was NEVER like that (Chloe isn't either). We ended up staying until 10pm just for Hannah. She was having such a great time, we didn't want to pull her away. She is our girly girl and I wouldn't want it any other way!

Wordless Wednesday, AGCI Picnic

I promise I will write again, but until then... enjoy ANOTHER Wordless Wednesday!