Hand-me-downs

My husband is frugal (ahem cheap). And I LOVE a sale, a deal, a bargain. So it may come as no surprise that we are THRILLED with free!

Where would we be without our treasure trove of hand-me-downs? My sister Meghan has graciously clothed Henry for the last 15 months. Since Michael came to us past the infant stage we never had the little tiny weeny baby clothes. And Ava being the oldest girl in the family of cousins has no one to hand down to her.

However, we hit the hand-me-down lottery! Henry from Griffin and Ava and even Michael from a set of adopted siblings I have never even met. Aunt Patsy (MamaSue's sister) takes care of a little boy named Ryan and his sister Chanel. They have given us BAGS of clothes for the older two.

It is very rare that we have to buy anything for the kids. Man are we blessed! My friend Leanne has two girls, Abbie and Anna, that have shared a boat-load of clothes for Ava too! And they are adorable, in great condition.

When I was in NYC for work, my mom flew out to help care for the kids. She actually VOLUNTEERED to go through the bins of clothes and sort them for each kids, into too small, too big and just right. Piles headed for Sydney, Griffin, Grace, and Jackson, Goodwill... Boy she didnt have a clue what she was getting into! SIXTEEN bins of clothes, shoes, coats, boots... SIXTEEN! She had her work cut out for her. Ava had so many pants they wouldn't even fit in her new dresser. And not one pair were new!

Here is Ava and Henry showing off some of their hand-me-down jammies. I am pretty sure these ar ethe third kid for Henry's. And they are just as adorable as a pair off the rack! Horay for hand-me-downs!!!

Christmas in July

Well not quite, but it has taken me forever to post these. Before the destruction...

Trying to control the LD (little destroyer)...

BINKS!!! Or "mah" - depending on who you ask.

Michael telling Derek all about the pottery we painted for him. This was one of his, blue on top red on bottom. In the construction we lost a shelf of serving platters. The kids and I painted some for Daddy to help replace those that shattered.

Ava and her big gift, a DS.

Michael and the lamborgini diablo.

Book he has been asking for forever, new diary of a wimpy kid. He loves the ones Grandpa Sandera got them last year.

Getting into the action

Lets see, mom got a tiney weeney camera! Perfect to fit in her pocket or diaper bag. And daddy got a la crueset dutch oven he has wanted forever. It was so nice to have the long weekend and to have Derek around for the holidays (first time in 6 years!). We had our traditional dinner with Mama Sue and Patsy and their family. We missed the church service (Michael had a ear infection and Ava a stomach bug) but over all it was another FANTASTIC Christmas!!!

Say Cheese!!!!!!!!!!

We say, "Hold it up and show me what you got!"

And Michael,m being Mr. Literal does just that.

Most of our christmas photos look like this:

Looks like the little guy follows exacty what his bubba does.

With reminders, sometimes we get a glimpse of his cute smile (albeit toothless). But usually it's best to take pictures when he isnt quite so ready.

Georgia

I went to Georgia to spend some time with my Grandma Sandera. I had such a fun and relaxing time (sans kids) with her and my Dad. She is having heart issues and each day finds her weaker and sadly closer to the end. I anticipated a sad trip but was pleasantly surprised that it was more of a celebration of life. I am so blessed to have the resources to do things like this at the drop of a hat. And that I have a fantastic husband that can pick up where I left off and hold down the fort.

A kind of tortoise I had never heard of. Too bad we didn't see any!

Houseboats

Lake Seminole

Their road, red clay

The moss, I couldnt get enough of the gothic, creepy moss

Holy cotton rolls

Oreo Boy

Henry is a boy. ALL boy. He loves to run to be physical and to get dirty. He only likes black oreos. Why? Because they make a bigger mess, I am convinced. The vanilla ones don't do it for him. You have to have 10 black little pudgy fingers and a big dirty face so everyone knows you REALLY enjoyed your cookie.

LEGO Mania!

Don't be fooled by the expression, Michael is in heaven! Lego heaven. Hannah (our super awesome babysitter) put all his sets together over Christmas break.

He's not happy about me interupting his play, and we all know he hates the flash.



Kids at Play

It's our daycare and I can not say enough wonderful things about it! Kid focused, home based and beyond reasonabley priced.  Crafty, inventive, entertaining all of these words and more describe our Daycare.
Stephanie has the patience of a saint. And Bonnie (aka BonBon) is so important to Henry that her name was actually his first word!

Stephanie is ever patient with our difficult schedule. She helps support Michael should he have a rough day. Bonnie spends time talking him through why things are the way they are. They both praise Ava endlessly for her attention to detail and extra set of hands. Stephanie has other helpers too. Her mom Pam (who has her own daycare) is another favorite. michael told me last week that it's a special day when Pam is there.

I am ever thankful that we have such an awesome place to take our kids AND it's across the street from our house!!!!

Stephanie made us TWO Cds of pictures taken over the last year. Here are a few of our kiddos!

Stephanie reading to the big kids

Happy Happy Happy (as usual) hanging out with best buds Mason and Will. Henry is older by 2 and 3 months.

Seriously? Does your smile get any bigger?

Trying the sugar free zuchinni muffins.

Painting with applesauce

Henry and Cheeks, the only baby girl

BonBon with the babies on Halloween

Book swap

Michael reading his christmas book

Ava enjoying her christmas cookies that they helped decorate.

The final product, well almost...

The kitchen is DONE! Well not really all the way done, but done-er, more done, almost done but not quite. We have the island left. We have a plan and hopefully in the next few weeks we can wrap this entire project up!