The Destructo Duo at their Cutest

A couple of weekends ago, I braided Zoe’s hair in small braids so that when she woke up on Sunday and took them out she had wavy hair. She loves that! Ceili Rain saw it and asked for braids too. Braiding a two year old’s hair in tiny braids…um, yeah, she doesn’t stay still…wasn’t happening. So, I curled it in sponge rollers instead. And while she fussed at night, she didn’t take them down. And this was the result. Too precious!And it stayed curly for two days.

 We’re big Awana buffs…since Mark is now the sole Commander of our club!  Bryant’s ready to be a Cubbie if he can figure out how to get the vest on.

Wednesday’s trash day.  It doesn’t matter where Ceili Rain and Bryant are, when the trash truck comes through they come running to our school room and sit at the window.  And sometimes, they get along and do this!  Josiah’s pretty excited to watch too but not as much as the Destructo Duo is!

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What a Weekend!

We started the weekend off like we normally do…cleaning the house.  I know.  That’s really exciting.

However, Saturday afternoon, the women at our church (and my dear “little sister”) helped us celebrate Malachi’s coming arrival with a prayer shower.  It is such a blessing to gather with women and know that they are there to pray for our sweet baby and to celebrate  how God has already blessed us with him!  So much fun!

 How adorable is that???
 And, if you must know it was a chocolate cake thankyouverymuch!
 The spread!  We girls like to eat 🙂
We ate, we prayed and we played games…then some very gracious ladies gave Malachi some sweet gifts!  Ceili Rain was my on again off again helper.  
Okay, I don’t care who you are…baby clothes with little appliques on the back are just too cute!
And, of course, my weakness for homemade gifts…and he got quite a few…I was giddy!  One of them, that I didn’t include was a hat Tracy made.  I purposefully didn’t include it because I know she’ll work her camera magic on Malachi and the hat and I can’t wait to share those pictures.

Right before Zoe, Ceili Rain and I left on Saturday, Mark got a call from work.  He texted me to let me know he was on alert but didn’t have to go in.  Now, it’s very, very rare that he actually has to go in, but it can happen.

I was very thankful he did not have to go in at all on Saturday.  Because…when we got home from the shower, I was showing Mark all the sweet gifts when Ceili Rain and Bryant apparently took off with the baby bath soap…you know where this is going right?

I’m taking tags off and sorting and showing and we hear this blood curdling scream from Bryant.  The Destructo Duo had struck again.  They had gotten the top off of one of the soaps and was in the bathtub where, Ceili Rain felt it was her responsibility to bathe her brother.  With his clothes on.  She dumped about half a bottle of baby bath soap on his head.  Which trickled down.  Into his eyes and on his face.  She even got some on herself as well.  They got their baths early and praise God…yet again…no one was seriously hurt.  And Ceili Rain now understands that it is not her job to bathe her baby brother.  I’m not entirely sure that Bryant didn’t help her out a bit on the whole opening and dumping thing.  I apologize that we didn’t get pictures…it was a bit of a crisis moment, but I wouldn’t be a good blogger if I didn’t think throughout the crisis that this was going to make for a good post.

Then Sunday rolled around…Mark got a call before church that the same problem was going on.  Again, we praise God that he didn’t have any problems during church that would cause him to go in but he as soon as church was over…well, he got he call.  And he had to go in.  We even had to turn down a pizza invite from a visiting family and everything. (who really turns down pizza???)

The other problem came in that I had a pass to attend a pre-sale for a “friend shop” at a semi-annual children’s consignment sale for Sunday.  Now, I could have just gone with the crowds on Monday but noooo, stubborn me wanted to get it over with today.  We had a gracious friend who willingly went with me.  And all six kids.  We divided and conquered…and found some cute cheap outfits to boot!

And we shopped…for three hours (including standing in line to check out).  And the kids were awesome.  Well, as awesome as they can be when they were plum tired and hungry.

When we all got home (Even Mark was able to get home at a decent hour), we cooked up hot dogs and settled in to watch a movie.  Now, I’m not saying that Mars Needs Moms is a bad movie…just that I’m wondering, as I type this on Sunday, how many of the kids are going to come in to our room tonight to check and see if I’ve been beamed up to another planet.

And we capped off our busy weekend with Zoe (the one who doesn’t get sick) feeling congested and a bit feverish…hmmm.

I’m very grateful to have busy weekends to pass the time before Malachi comes…wonder what we’ll do next weekend?!

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Let the travels begin

As stated previously, we went to Williamsburg in November.  This was my first trip (and the kids too) and we were all so excited.  We spent two days there and walked and walked and saw just about everything.  It definitely was a good trip for us and a great learning experience for the kids.  They only wore their costumes the first day.  Which was good because the second day it was cloudy and rather cool.

The princess in her chariot.

To the stocks with ye!

Sad lot!
Might I say, we went at a great time and were able to see some beautiful fall trees!  Bryant loved the leaves.

Lunch anyone!  This was the only way I could get him to allow me to take his picture.  

The hits for the girls:  The Millinery and the Weaver.  The boys:  the Gunsmith and the Battery.

We didn’t stay in Colonial Williamsburg but opted for a very affordable resort, The Historic Powhatan (not paid to say that…we paid them)  about ten minutes away (and a beautiful drive too).  I would recommend searching the travel discount sites for reservations here.  We got a great deal on a two bedroom, two bath condo.  It was a wonderful resort recommended by a friend.  They had an indoor pool and the rooms had a ton of space which was awesome for our size crew.  The first morning we were there, we drove out and saw the swan above just a swimming in the pond.  And then the geese.  Oh my, they took their sweet time crossing the road but it was so neat to be close to such lovely birds!
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Dance Time

As I said in an earlier post, Zoe is taking ballet now.  They gave us a short presentation of a dance based on Esther’s life a week ago.

Zoe just lights up when she is on stage.  She’s very comfortable performing and it shows in her face.

And for one little sister, this was like watching a real live princess dance.  She was in awe.  Zoe said that when they got home Ceili Rain made her dance with her.

Our two little princesses.
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Up, up and away

Ever since I’ve known Mark (which would be high school), he’s had a love of planes.  I don’t know how he does it, but he can spot a plane way up in the sky and tell you what kind it is and more.  He loves them!  He’s always had a dream to get his pilot’s license and while, right now it’s a bit out of our price range, God did allow him to take an introductory lesson.

Our local newspaper ran a deal with an aviation company that offered introductory lesson/flights for a good price.  A really good price.  I didn’t even ask Mark.  I just bought it for him for Christmas.  We had to tell him early though because the coupon expired November 1st.  He was excited none the less and really enjoyed his flight.

It was a small airport so the pilot allowed us (meaning the kids and me) to hang out right outside the airport.  They taxied out in front of us and landed in front of us.   And in between those two times, the kids found things to occupy their time.

Like climbing on columns.
Rocking in chairs.
And hamming it up for the camera.
The airport was hosting a drag racing competition that weekend (which we would have loved to go to had our weekend not been completely full already).  So, the guys in the background were setting up for it.  That provided a lot of the entertainment.
Mark said it was a lot of fun!  If you know Mark he doesn’t get super excited.  But this.  Well, he got as excited as he usually does!  


Mark’s Christmas Flight 01 from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.

Taking off!

And landing!

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Dairy Farmin’

Another day in October found us at a dairy farm.  A local farm (meaning about 20 minutes away…that’s the closest dairy farm too), has started an agritourism business both to promote their farm but also so that they can eventually purchase a creamery and sell their own milk.  This is the second year for their Corn “Maize” and it was just as much fun as last year!  The kids had a blast as always.  This was a field trip day and the only set back was that they had the maze marked off so that it was just a simple walk through instead of an actual maze.  That was a bummer.  Other than that, we learned a lot more about dairy farming that I ever knew.  For instance, cows are milked just like we pump milk off our selves.  Except the machine is a bit more high powered!  I know everyone wanted to know that.

Here’s some more pictures before I embarrass myself any further.

Twas a bit nippy and I forgot to bring Bryant a coat.  So, we found one of Zoe’s jackets in the van and wrapped him up.  He was snug as a bug but very tired on the hayride.

Petting zoos are awesome.  Bryant called everything a “goggy” (doggy) but he loved watching the animals!

They had a wonderful play area that included a huge slide, a bunch of wooden structures (like a ship, castle, and the like), and a jumping pillow.  Five kids pretty much dispersed across the whole play area so it was hard for us to get pictures of everyone. 

Aha!  Two in one frame!  We did it!
The corn pits.  Like sand pits but instead of trying to get small grains of sand out of a diaper, the big pieces of corn fall out…and they also fall out of clothes.  For weeks.
By far, our family favorite is the duck race area.  There are four troughs and water pumps at each one.  You can race to see who gets their duck to the other side first.  But, Josiah.  He’s all focus when it comes to that water pump.
I have no idea what it is.  But the kids like it.
Jumping…
off…
the…
haystacks.
Always fun.
My goodness, she’s growing up too, too fast!  Please stop her!
So is this little tyke.  But she’s still got a loooong way to go!
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At the Station

My goal, for the blog at least, is to post once every day this week (during the week).  Wish me luck!

The kids took a field trip to the fire station.  As always, it’s a blast to go to our fire station.  The firemen are always good with the kids and very excited to educate them!

It’s been awhile since we have been.  So, for this trip, I gave Ace the camera.  Here’s the field trip proof straight from Ace’s eye!

That’s just a tidbit of what Ace caught.  I thought that might be all you could handle in one post.  He has a great eye for details!  For the record, Josiah was there.  He just opted out of the photo opportunity (which was done by Mark…obviously since Ace was in the picture).

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Stepping Back in Time

September and some of October was spent frantically trying to get costumes made for five anxious children.  It wasn’t for Halloween, though.  Last year, we had attended a local living history park event called Colonial Times.  We left with a very anxious older daughter asking sweetly if she could have a colonial dress to wear next year.  And of course, if one wants one, they all do.

And I was happy to provide.  Although Mark and I were a little tired as we sewed (yes, we, Mark finally revealed his secret talent of sewing) buttons on to vests at 11:30 at night.

But the results and the smiles were so worth it!

Aren’t they adorable???  Ceili Rain put her dress on and said, “I a princess.”  She saw Zoe in her dress and made the same declaration.  Guess what?  They don’t make boys’ colonial costume patterns unless you want them to look like a mini version of an adult George Washington.  Which I didn’t!  So, I had to get creative.  The knickers are pants bought at Goodwill.  I cut them off and put elastic in the bottom to make them poof and look like short pants.  The shirts are Goodwill too.  I cut the folded over collar off and serged it.  The vests were a lucky find of a pattern of multiple vests.  I had some old looking buttons that we sewed on (Did I mention we did that at 11:30 at night?).

 The rat catcher.  He was trying to recruit new workers for himself.  The sweet little boy in the yellow shirt took him seriously.  He turned around, looked straight at me and in all seriousness announced, “I’m going to go look for rats.”  And took off while his mom was talking.  We quickly got her attention and she called him back and had to break his heart.  So sad.

M. LeFarceur de Villeverte, And if you can translate his name, you’ll get a good giggle.  This guy has actually won awards for his lace making.  But he’s not a lacemaker.  He’s a lace merchant!  Lacemakers are all the poor people…like us.  He was quite the entertainment and after Ceili Rain stopped freaking out over his make up, she enjoyed him too.

There’s a group in our area that does English Martial Arts.  That includes fencing and other things.  They were there and this year, they let the kids hold their swords.  Can you see the look of utter excitement spread across Liam’s face?  Ceili Rain thought it was cool, although she couldn’t hold it up by herself!

Benjamin Franklin and his wife.  We caught them at tea time!

There were sheep and goats and turkeys and chickens to pet.  And the animals were all more than willing to let us get all around them!

Mark and the kids really enjoyed the blacksmith this year.  They stayed there while Bryant and I got a bit of drink.  They saw him make a nail.  That’s all I know about that.

The toymaker is always a blast!  Except when you’re trying to dodge toys!

Liam enjoyed playing the dulcimer.  He’s got a lot to learn if he’s going to actually play it though!
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Princess Dresses and the Lion

This afternoon, I told Ceili Rain I wanted a hug and kiss and asked her where they went.

“I don’t know!  Maybe the lion ate them.”

So, I told her she better find that lion because I wanted a hug and kiss and a chase began only to be ended quickly because we realized daddy was home and a daddy trumps lion chasing any day.

And since daddy was home, she had to follow him in to our closet where she spotted my dresses.

She came out with one hand on her hip and the other over her mouth grinning.

“I saw your princess dresses, Mommy!”

Mark said she spotted my dresses hanging up and asked in wide eyed wonder, “Are those Mommy’s princess dresses?”

I have proof she’s silly and fun and just adorable.

I’ve still got the clothes boxes down from the Great Seasonal Swap Out.  She found a pair of one of the boy’s swimshorts and decided she need to pretend to go swimming.

Here’s the result:

Someone please tell me how to get blogger to realize I’ve saved and uploaded my pictures the right way!

Pay no attention to the overturned shopping cart, toys, puzzles and other various things scattered all over my floor.  This is real life people!  I will clean up if you come over though.  Well, most of the time.  For now, let’s just focus on the most adorable 2 year old around.

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