Skinny Legs!

She's such a skinny happy baby!

Naked Aowyn!

This face was too cute not to post. 

Fire truck!

At a gas station stop we stumbled upon a big red fire truck! Drakeford wanted his photo even though there were no firemen around. After the photo op they returned and turned on the lights and siren for Drakeford and Marlow. What nice men!

Craft fair

Marlow and I had a morning out to a craft fair on Saturday. It was so fun to hear her thoughts on all the art and people. Yay mommy daughter dates!

Which hair bow do you like, Marlow?

Marlie-locks found a little chair just her size!

I stepped on that lady!

Drakeford climbs down from his chair and says

"I stepped on that lady!"

I'm thinking an imaginary lady but I look anyway.

What lady?? Realizing he is talking about a real figure...oh...that lady!

She looks like a geisha. Interesting that he was looking at this upside down from his chair and still saw a lady and then wanted to step on it :) creative mind!

Too tight?

Mom: "Hey Drakeford, I think these undies are too tight..."

Drakeford shakes head

Mom: "No...? They look small..."

Drakeford: "No they are not too tight, they are Mickey Mouse underwear so they fit me."

And that's all that matters to a three year old :)

Recorders and Penny whistles

We spent some much needed time outside today running, chasing, and exercising. I got out my penny whistle and played some tunes while the kids played freeze dance around the tree. Then of course they needed to join in the musical arrangement! The recorders are actually Kevin and uncle Ryan's. Somehow we ended up with both in the childhood memorabilia and I am so glad we have two! Thanks uncle Ryan! They were having a ball! Hopefully the neighbors weren't too disturbed. I may be hearing about it on the HOA Facebook page...haha

Serious musicians

What's that I see? A smirk?

This is soooo funny!

Trying food!

Aowyn ate a half of a banana and coconut oil today! That's my idea of home made baby food :) She did so well! She hasn't quite got the hang of the goats milk in sippy cup yet. Big girl!

And thank you English Moseley for the adorable handmade bib!

Pregnancy days

Sickness, rough nights, and morning sickness takes some effort to manage. One effort was splurging on a special breakfast item I knew I could stomach in the morning. 

That way I can wake up, eat, study, and be ready when the kids wake up. This is the theory...this morning was somewhat successful. Got up at 6 am, got ready, read bible, and managed to fall asleep in between getting the kids up. But thankfully it was a cat nap and we were back into gear at 7:30. 

Get the kids dressed, groomed, read bible to them, eat breakfast, and put aowyn down for morning nap (she was up with me at 6:30). 

I turn to our sticker books for our morning activity. Now it's snuggle up on the couch with a book and peanut butter sandwich time. Yum!

Sweet Lips.

Awwww......

Sky Top Apple Picking Day!

The start of an apple picking day in the mountains between Greenville and Asheville. Our baskets are empty and ready for the picking!

Oh, and ask us about the apple donuts!

My little kitchen helpers.

Kevin here. I love my little helpers in the kitchen. I just wanted to share this sweet smile from my little girl. She grows up so fast. 

Dimples!!!

This is just the cutest picture I think of Aowyn yet....

marlow LEILANI

I found some accessories in the attic and Marlow asked to get dressed up. What a doll! I think we can see what she will look like when she gets older! We are so blessed by our children. 

Dad's 60th Birthday Party

Here is a picture of us from September 2013. We went down to surprise my dad in Greenville for his 60th Birthday. Dinika is so beautiful!

The kids had a blast as everyone talked to them and asked them questions. 

Drakeford is Writing!

Daddy wrote the top "Marlow". Drakeford traced it, and then wrote it below! 

Best Documentary Award!

This October, we were honored to receive best documentary at the Kingdomwood Christian Film Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. Our film, which has been on DVD since December 2012, was accepted by Scott Dix on Sunday October 6. Thank you to Kingdomwood for honoring us with the gold place award. This is our 3rd award for our documentary! 

New Wall Art!

We are so excited to show off our new canvas collage in our home - thank you to Bev for her excellent photography! As soon as we saw it we knew it had to go up on the wall. Together the 4 canvas' are about 9-10ft wide. Come over and see it in person!

Fall is here! (Wardrobe)

We are getting fall clothes out here in North Carolina. It's starting to get chilly!

Performing for the Camera!

She's starting to understand getting her picture taken! See how she makes faces at daddy to make him laugh!

6 months and pulling up!

I must have blinked because she was not even crawling fully and now she thinks she can stand! One handed! A couple of days after, she started crawling everywhere. Good! Crawling is really good for the brain and organizing proper communication for when they are older. It also reduces chances of learning challenges like dyslexia. Crawl baby crawl! Right left right left right left...

Bag head lady

Look what daddy made me!!

Kevin has been blessing me by taking the kids out to play before dinner so I can cook and rest a bit. Funny things happen when daddy's involved! Making memories - priceless. 

Pancakes and ergo

I am loving the ergo carrier this morning! Got up at 5:30 am by Gods grace and my husbands diligence. Aowyn woke up at 7. I could have nursed her back to sleep but that would have meant me going back to sleep so I hitched her on the back with the ergo and we are making pancakes this morning! And not at 9:30 but at 7! Maybe I will have time to clean the kitchen afterwards too! What a thought. 

Aoywn has been really struggling with sleep lately. Not sure if its pain, the illness in our house, teething, gas...who knows! But she is really happy out and about in the ergo. She also could just be turning that 6 month mark where they decide they have a vote to cast when bedtime is. Thankfully the parents-guessing-and-doing- everything-they-can-think-of fiasco only lasted 2 nights but it seemed like much longer. I said I would wait a week or two before taking drastic measures (getting the pack n play out :) And here we are, sleeping peacefully after only two nights. We have been spared! Thank you Lord! It too has passed 

Slow autumn days

Our days have slowed way down lately. Our home has been struck with illness for five weeks straight. The Lord has been so merciful and taught us many lessons. A big one being: 

quarantine!!! 

Sarah reminded me that even though people have slept in the same room for many hundreds of years, when someone was sick they also kicked them out! In our case we decide to send daddy to the other room since by that time all the children were ill. He is recovering much quicker!! I would say he is 100% better after only 4 nights away but he still has pain from a potentially broken rib from the extended time of severe coughing. But he is back on his feet! And I believe the children are close on his heels. 

So today, we read some books in bed for a little while until mommy decided she could no longer go without breakfast. We had a wonderfully big breakfast of French toast, hash browns, and orange juice. Organic sourdough, free range eggs, raw milk....but those pre made rectangle hash browns MUST has some GMOs in them. But how can I resist when every attempt I have made at home fries, hash browns, potato anything has resulted in an achy hand and breakfast taking well over an hour to prep? Alas...baked rectangle potato mush is the least of my worries :) yum!

Then more resting time, me and Aowyn cuddling on the couch while the big kids build with gears and color pictures at the train table. 

How did it get to be lunch time already?? I remembered I baked an acorn squash yesterday and I should make something with it. Maybe a soup! And that's just what I did. 

First, I gave the kids the job of separating the slimy seeds from the pulp and putting them on a cookie tray. A constructive "multi-sensory activity". My biggest issue with most Montessori activities are that they tend to make a MESS for the experience...and I get the experience of cleaning it up. Fun. My heart is much more willing to indulge in messes when it's actually necessary! They had fun too!

Although aowyn still got banished to the walker after trying to help too many times :) did I mention she is crawling and pulling up on everything?? We love her! (Just watch your feet, ouch!)

Baked yummies!

Adding the cream to the soup

All finished! It is so good. Marlow really likes it and Drakeford gobbled it up! The neat thing about squash seeds is that the outer shell is so soft the kids can just chew it all. They liked them in their soup. Like a chip!

All this put our nap back to 3! It was a slooooow day. See the sleepy eyes?

Yum!

Aowyn ate three spoonfuls then told me it was nap time. See the thumb? 

Yes she is testing some food out! Just for the experience though. 

Here is the soup recipe. The thing I REALLY like about this website is that you can type in however many servings you want to adapt it to and it converts the whole recipe for you. Because I only had one acorn squash instead of two I set the serving size from 6 to 3 and it halved the recipe. 

http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/229087/roasted-acorn-squash-soup

Enjoy your cozy autumn days!