That's my zay!!!

The house has been full...

overflowing with extra teenagers all of this past week... The big boys Arizona friends are in town as well as two of my nieces... and other friends... you know they all had to meet the Arizona friends!  

And tonight we traded one teenage niece for the tween niece:)

And all amidst the added noise and fun this little man is learning how to continue to navigate the terrible twos...

Although I have NEVER called it the terrible twos...I actually LOVE this age and stage...

He is curious, funny as all get out, so affectionate, full of the hootspa, quite the bull dozer, learning to talk so well, so kind to Levi,  full of the best deep belly laughs, and a real JOY giver!!! 

All of this while learning...

You can't just whine for Anna because she is your favorite...

You can't climb into the cabinets and sneak candy...

You can't cry on and on and on and on... (you get the picture)

You can't throw tantrums...

You can't eat ALL day long...

You can't throw toys EVERYWHERE...

You can't just eat the frosting off a dunkin donut...

You can't stall bedtime by getting out of bed, time and time again...

Being two is hard work for both this little guy and his parents...  But so worth it!  :)

Everyday as I put Isaiah down for bed or nap I pray over him from head to toe....

I consider it a total joy and priviledge to be his mom... 

What a precious gift his birth mama gave us in choosing us to raise, love and get to experience life every day with him... I am forever grateful!

This is what happens when you are a 7th kid and your girl cousins get a hold of you and a flat iron:):)  He didn't seem to mind one bit:)

Welcome Spring... Well maybe not:)

The cousin crew at the Above Rubies land... 

My niece Ella is volunteering at this ministry and since we have never seen Nashville we thought we would head down to TN, visit her, my cousin, and take in the beautiful city of Franklin...

It doesn't take long and the fun starts happening... like immediately!  Family is a gift and these kids are getting their fill of cousin time these last few weeks:)

Jojo, loved the land where Ella is staying... I think he told me at least 5 times that He loved the country and said it was his favorite place!  I love my little Jojo's  heart for the outdoors:)

Selfies in downtown Nashville!

We were so thankful to be able to stay in Franklin with my cousin Cathy and family!

Franklin... such an incredibly charming city... I have always thought this part of the country was beautiful with it's rolling hills and horse farms .

They were so incredibly hospitable!  We had loads of laughs while playing games, enjoyed catching up over walks through the woods, and loved seeing our kids get to know each other better... 

The kids with their second cousins:)

And...

This is what we woke up to following morning after we arrived home...

Praise God we had clear roads traveling all the way home... 

I would say that we got about 6 inches of new fresh snow... It is beautiful, but thankfully it is melting...

This family is officially ready for Spring:)

Thankful hearts...

Moving your teenagers is NOT an easy thing...
Waiting on the Lord to provide them with new friends can be hard...
But God has showed up and provided friends near and far for our kids...
And my heart is so so very thankful!

Louis, Jordan, Megs, and Caleb all dressed up to serve at the youth spaghetti dinner, a fundraiser for their youth mission trip to South Dakota this summer.
The food was great, servers all decked out... and the kids testimonies were so great!

I don't think that there are too many things that touch my heart more than seeing and hearing about young men and women living out their faith in Jesus!  It was AWESOME!!

Teenagers tie dying  before the dinner!

Best buddies...built in buddies

With these two little buddies in the house... there is ALWAYS lots of laughter...

Lots of hugs and smiles...

Lots of pillow fights, chasing, wrestling, and rowdy times...

And eventually lots of times to chill out, read books, and become each others best little buddy...

Seriously, they love each other so much and it warms my heart... 

What a gift and blessing these two are to the family and what a blessing they are to each other... 

Birthdays...

Our sweet Jojo (Elijah Thomas) turned 10 last week... 

With the cousins, Jojo and Levi we celebrated 3 birthdays within 5 days... 

Lots of "kings for the day" and lots of birthday meals... 

Jojo picked biscuits and gravy, cheese dip for lunch, and pizza and soda for dinner.  Not the healthiest of choices, but for one day we splurged:)

I will never forget the day 9lb 6oz Jojo entered the world after a quick 4 hour natural birth... It was perfect... And so was he!! 

He is our steady eddy, usually pretty calm  and is so so generous and sweet... He has blown us away on more than one occassion where he has emptied his piggy bank to give to someone "who needs it more". 

He is an absolute joy to have as a son!  I am so thankful for his precious life!

This sweet miracle baby turned four... 

Seems impossible!

I will never forget his first cry after suffering the silent stillbirth of Samuel and being on bed rest for 10 weeks, 7 of which were in the hospital.  

He was 3 weeks early but perfectly healthy and whole and I was totally in awe of God's miraculous work through embryo adoption to bring Levi Ryan to our family!  

There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about his amazing biological family who so graciously have shared him with us!  

We celebrate his life, and all the kids lives everyday, but on this day he wanted to celebrate with hot dogs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner... We settled on just breakfast:). 

What a funny kid.  He is literally the happiest, most enthusiastic kid I know and we love watching him experience new things... His excitement is awesome, hysterical, and downright precious! 

We feel so blessed to have the priviledge to raise these two boys!!!

Cousin blessings... And answered prayers...

Off to Sam's, the crew and I went this morning to pick up Jojo's birthday cake... 

A first for the family, a store bought cake for one of the kids... 

The Sam's cookie cake is always what I ask for on my birthday... this after Greg's infamous lemon pudding cake he attempted for me probably our 3 year of marriage... When the recipe calls for 1/2 cup water, adding 1 1/2 cups will leave your cake a bit moist... I really appreciated the effort though:):)  

Right away we ran into a sweet congregation member who asked if he could treat the kids to ICEES? They were thrilled and definitely was a treat for them all... 

I was so blessed by this sweet man's kindness to us, especially with the extra 5 kids this week...

It is sometimes the  little things like this that go such a long way to bless my heart!

Then there are the big things that God does that sort of knock your socks off...

I have been praying for one of my sweet friends since the day we met almost 4 years ago...

God knows the hidden prayers in my heart for her for so many things and for so many reasons...

This precious friend has been through a lot and today I realized many of my prayers for her were answered.

Oh how my heart leaped for joy as I literally had to run into the laundry room to let the tears fall and gain composure before I ran back upstairs... My hearts cry for her has been answered if even in a somewhat small way for now... That I don't mind... This small answered prayer will go such a long way in surrendering to God's will and trusting in His plan for you... And I am so thankful... 

Oh how He teaches me new things and reminds me of His faithfulness, goodness and amazing love and plans for us... I am so grateful for the beautiful little things that bring a smile to my face and the wonderful answer to prayers today... Thank you Jesus! 

Jumping on the crazy train...

We added my sister's kids to the house for the week:)

Today was filled with making lots of fun plans for the week, loads of lego making, train playing, talent show practicing, and of course taking the top off the jeep, because you know that when it reaches 40 degrees, it is summer,  you knew that right???  We had our fair share of learning how to share toys as well...  All in all it was a great first day of having 12 kids in the house:) 

We are so thankful that they are here and the kids get a week together.  What a time of special memories being made. One of the great advantages of living closer to family:)

A city excursion...

Last Saturday the kids and I hit the big city to visit the Field Museum... It was the last free for all Illinois residents and who knew the entire city would turn out???  

The traffic was crazy, Chicago drivers even a bit crazier... but we had a great time:) We were only able to spend a few hours there and could spend days upon days there if we had time... Now that we know our way there... we will have to go back sometime during the week when it is less crowded:)

The crew in front of Sue... the T-Rex!

Jojo and Lou in front of another dinosaur exhibit.  I think that was the little guys favorite exhibit by far.   Levi won't stop talking about the dinosaurs he saw.  

It was a crazy day, but really again made us realize what a fun place to visit Chicago is... We need to make more of a point to watch for free days (during the week:) at the Museums, or spend some more days exploring the city this coming summer.  

It has been so cold... but we are expecting a heat wave this weekend... It may reach close to 50 degrees!   A part of me can't wait to see green again... while another part of me loves the beautiful snow.  

The kids aren't sick of it yet... Today was a big sledding day for Anna, jojo and Levi:)  They are trying to

 get every last bit of sledding and snow fort building in while they can:)  

It will be melted before too long:)