The holidays are approaching us!!!

We love the holidays!!!  Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner.  We spent the whole day out shopping and being with sisters on Tuesday!!!  It's stressful to be out of the basement first thing in the morning, but I did it.  Two mornings in a row actually!!!  Not my way of everyday living let me tell you!!!  We get up and pack lunches.  Make breakfast.  Keep reminding the kids of the time and that they need to stay focused on what they are doing.  Brush teeth.  Comb hair.  Pray.  Head out the door for the bus at 7:45AM!!!  I know that one day I will look back at these times and call them the best times of my life!!!  :)  Then I focus on the little, little ones.  Bath baby.  Feed him.  Get breakfast for Ashlyn.  Get her dressed and combed.  The girl still hates to be combed.  I think often of shortening her hair because that would help with some of the drama!!!  For now, I love her long, blond hair!!!  On Tuesday, Austin went to sister Jody's house for the day.  Then Ashlyn went to Kia's house to play!  I came back to get the van and pick up the ladies for our day out!!!  It was a blast!!!  We went from store to store!  I was much more focused to get the Christmas names crossed off my list because we still hope to be moved into our new home before Christmas!!!  I am so happy to say that my list is crossed off mostly!!!  :)  I didn't get back home till 7 PM!!!  What a fun day it was!!!

The other day I jammed out on a new Christmas CD (thanks Erma) while I wrapped some gifts!!!  I am so happy to have them ready to put under the Christmas tree!!!

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Austin turned 5 months old!!!  He is the happiest in the morning and coos and coos!!!  He holds toys.  He puts them in his mouth.  He jumps in his jumper.  He can sit in a bumbo seat.  He was at the doctor for more vaccines.  He weighs 14.7.  2'1.50 long.  I bumped his feedings up to 6 ounces.  He is doing great!!!

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The kids both had terrific report cards this quarter so we took them out to eat at DJ's Diner.  They love this place!!!

And they act crazy!!!

 

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House update ...

A ditch was dug for the electric wires.

 

Fire place brick is laid.

 Painting has begun.

 Water run off ...

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The first time Austin sat in a shopping cart.  Just for a little bit. 

She don't ever get tired of this mixture.  Corn.  Mushrooms.  Black olives.  Got love it!!!

We are getting very excited about moving back home.  Only a few more weeks for living in the basement!!!

Cabin fun with family!!!

We had a wonderful weekend at the cabin with family!!!  This is what my family calls MACSA weekend.  Normally, the kids are off of school some extra days so we get more days at the cabin.  The past two years now Linville had regular school days but we stick to tradition and still go the mountains!!!  :)  Lot's of fun games and food!  We played games of "panic".  It was 1 AM till we got to bed one night!!!  The guys went out hunting and came in with two dead!!!  LaVern got a buck and Ryan a doe.  The kids always have a blast with their cousins!!!  We had such a blast in dad's new, big cabin!!!

 

Shaelyn loves babies and was all over Austin!

 

 The kids loved the "I spy" books this weekend!  Finding objects on pages can be challenging but fun.

 Austin and Colson both enjoyed the toy gym together!

 

 More story time!

 The babies did great at the cabin!!! 

We already are looking forward to more cabin time together in a few weeks!!! 

Thanks everyone for the fun times!!!

Crepe's and pottery fun!!!

I'm tired of always saying that our Internet service is bad ... but it is.  I was hoping to keep up with my blog while we live in the basement but it's so hard.  I finally came to Lena's house today to do some catching up. 

 

Last week we took some girls to Rachel's Crepe's and then to Pottery Works.  The whole event was so much fun!  Hadassah and Courtney sold a ticket at our school sale this fall for two girls to join them on this day.  Katrina and Jenna bought the tickets and they had a blast!!!

 

You can never go wrong with eating at Rachel's Crepe's!!!  They have the best sandwiches and salads and totally huge desserts!!!  We ewed and awed over the whole meal!!!



 

And then we ate dessert!!!  The girls ordered the nutella ice cream crepe!  It was enormous and the four of them downed it in no time!!!  Sherry and I shared the pumpkin crepe!  So, so good!!!

Then we went right around the corner and did some art!  Each girl picked out a piece of pottery and then painted it.  Hadassah picked out a mug with a tray for cookies.  Perfect for cookies and milk. 

 The girls chatted while they painted!!!

 Hadassah loves this place!!!  And loves art!

 Her finished product!!!

 

Thanks girls for having such a fun day together!!! 

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Austin is growing in leaps and bounds!  He rolled over from belly to back a few more times.  He jumps in the johnny jump.  He sits in the saucer and plays with toys a little bit at a time.  He chews on his hands all the time.  Drulls always.  His hair is growing more!  We love him to pieces!!!

 4 1/2 months old.

 
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Life in the basement ... we had cousin fun the other evening.  The girls played with play do.  The older kids played with Matthew's little basketball hoop inside.  We are ready to expand and have more room to play and be loud without everyone being involved!  :)

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The house project is coming along well!!!  Most of the brick is now laid.  The interior is being worked on now.  They are trimming and we are getting ready for some paint. 

There are so many choices to make with this house project and we cannot wait to live in it!!!  It's only a few more weeks and we will be packing up our bags again and moving back home!!!

 

We are so blessed!!!