Christmas 2013

Tim and I just celebrated our 16th Christmas together married. What?? Where has the last 15 yrs gone? How is our oldest 14 yrs old? I'm beginning to feel the whirlwind of life that older people speak about. Blink. Another month has passed. Sigh. Another year gone. Nod. Your diaper-clad toddler is now graduating from 8th grade. 2013 seems to have literally flown in and out in the breadth of a day. It has been a interesting year to be sure. 

Our family has seen many changes, some big, some small, some that seemed insignificant but ended up leaving a large dent. March was a difficult month health wise, we had sick kids the entire month, and it ended w momma getting sick for a whole week. Just awful. We missed Easter for the first time, battling a horrible stomach bug that just refused to leave. Caloway went to the ER twice, he was so dehydrated. April came and brought a respite from illness, thankfully. In May, Cameron was blessed with a scholarship to go on his class trip to Philadelphia. This was his first big trip away from home - he had so much fun!! Had $39 to spend and came home with some interesting souvenirs ha! I missed him so. 

Our summer swept in the wettest, coldest weather we've ever seen! We barely squeezed in one trip to the pool, and even that ended up getting rained out ;) July boasted one full week of 90+ degrees and sweltering sunshine, during which we made full use of the splash park every day. Then the rain returned as well as the cool temps. Sigh. Caloway has repeatedly said, 'this was the worst summer EVER!!!'

My precious Opa passed away on July 15, at the ripe age of 96. He finally was released from his tired shell and ushered into the warm, healing presence of his Savior Jesus. Oma was waiting for him with open arms!! Tim celebrated his 36th birthday on the same day. Our little baby boy had his first birthday on July 25- how has my Levi been with us for a whole year already?! It seems like I was just holding his tiny little head in my hands and marveling at his sweet newborn wrinkles. Excuse me while I go bawl my eyes out. 

We made an impromptu road trip to Minnesota at the end of July to spend a few days with Suzie and her family in their brand new home. What was I thinking bringing 5 crazy kiddos to a newly constructed home ... Haha!! Macky did christen a wall with sharpie. Thank GOD for magic erasers. The kids had the time of their life on the farm, running on haybales and catching tadpoles in the pond. Of course we stopped in Chicago on the way home and gorged on Garrett's popcorn!!

August graciously ushered in sunshine after the first two weeks rained us out again. Claire celebrated her 12th birthday - how is my baby girl almost a teenager?! She is everything tween these days - full of girly enthusiasm over makeup, cute shoes and the cute boys of One Direction. She started cheerleading this fall and has become an amazing cheerleader!! She surprised and impressed me with her courage and tenacity in learning something completely new and challenging :) she's an amazing girl. 

Caloway turned 9 on the 17th, and had a perfectly boy MineCraft party in the backyard. I don't know why I bothered planning games, all those boys did was tear around the backyard with nerf axes and beat each other up!! 

School started and Caloway started his third grade year homeschooling with mama. He has seriously been a trip to have at home :) Claire officially entered middle school, and her 6th grade classes now co-exist with big brother. Cameron is in 8th grade and not too pleased some days to be sharing territory with his sister. I really wish Cameron could find a buddy to connect with, but it just hasn't happened yet. He is playing basketball again for the second yr, and likes it most days :) Claire gets to cheer for all his home games! 

The worry and fear over your children to be happy and well adjusted can be overwhelming sometimes. Our move to ashland proved to be such a dichotomy for our kids. Claire has flourished and made some deep friendships while Cameron has experienced a dry spell in that area. I'm not sure why, and my heart hurts that he hasn't found acceptance the way Claire has so easily. I pray daily for a Godly mentor and friend for my precious son. 

October came, and our sweet little Mac celebrated his golden birthday - 3 yrs old on the 3rd! When he went to his well child checkup, we found out he was 33 lbs, and 3.3" tall. Ha!! 3 must be his lucky number :) 

Early fall and winter brought many financial challenges for our family - we've been stretched to so many points in our ministry here. Emotionally. Spiritually. Financially. We've dealt with multiple stomach bugs and fevers for the last couple months, and tim ended up with the worst stomach bug he's ever had in early December. It really took a toll on him, I've never seen him so sick. I am desperately praying for a season of health for us. 

November came, and although we had made plans to spend thanksgiving in Minnesota with my family, Mac and Tim both ended up coming down with a virus, and we were forced to stay home. Cameron celebrated his 14th birthday on the 29. How has my little boy become a man-child overnight?? He is taller than me now, 5'8, and wears the same shoe size as daddy. His voice has deepened and he is in that crazy stage between childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. He is trying hard to navigate through these brand new feelings and emotions, my heart goes out to him. These will be interesting years with our boys ;)

So in all honesty - not the best of years this time around. Anxiously (?) awaiting the arrival of 2014 and what it will prove to unfold for our clan of 7. Praying for God's continued strength and provision that He has ALWAYS so graciously and lovingly provided on every tenuous step of this past yr. I am increasingly and overwhelmingly thankful for the sweet loves I hold in my arms every single day. Cameron, Claire, Caloway, Mac and Levi. And my ever faithful, always loving husband Tim. Where would any of us be without the love of our Father and that darling man!!! Tough year? Yes. God-given scars? Yes. Grace, humility, self-denial, increasing generosity and tenderness of spirit have been our teachers. I pray we've been good students ❤️

Golden 3

Our sweet precious little macky turned 3 years old on the 3rd! Where has time gone. This guy ... is our pride and joy. He is every bit as mischievous and charming as Cameron was, but with his own golden floppy haired spin! He loves loves loves thomas the train. He breathes Percy, Arthur, Skarloey and Diesel. I love watching him line up all his engines like trophies, his chubby little finger resting on each little gray face, reciting their names. He sneaks in my room to grab my iPad, and watches videos of little kids lining up their own Thomas trains and making up voices and stories (he is well monitored while watching kid-safe channels). He loves to sing 'gone fishin', which was Cameron's favorite song too :)

Things I want to remember about Mac being 3??

fluffy blonde curls

Impish little eyes when trying to grab my phone 

Blue and green crocs

Shorts and undies lying in the bathroom, half naked macky running around outside 

'Go this way, mom? Go to church??'

Hot dogs 

Broken eggs in the kitchen

Sharpie on the walls

Sharpie on the couch

Sharpie on his shirts

Chair in kitchen shoved up against counter

Stool in kitchen shoved up against counter 

Blue and white blankie

Monkey 

Thomas trains!!!

Rabbi 

Empty gum wrappers 

'I hold you??' 

'Will you scratch my back on my belly??'

'Mommm!!' throwing head back

Sooo many sweet, precious things to remember about Mac being 3 :) how I love him. 

 

Birthdays and blessings

!

We usually get to meet mom and dad in Columbus for claire and caloway's birthdays! Easton is always fun, and we always meet at Barnes and Noble. Mac gets to play with the train tables and the older kids tell Grammy what they want for Christmas ;) we had a great time! Grammy brought the birthday gifts for the birthday kids and as usual, she always has a little something for everyone else. It feels a little bit like a circus lugging the big double stroller everywhere, I seriously felt like driving straight over some perfectly manicured toes that simply didn't feel like moving over or who stared at us while we walked by. Yes, they are all mine. Yes, I know how they got here. Yes, they all have the same dad (can't you see the resemblance?? Can you see dad standing next to his dad, carbon copies?) Why am I so thin?? Do YOU want to try chasing after Mac for a few hrs and carrying a 25lb baby everywhere?? And those are only a few of the questions I face when out in public. Literally every.time. 

Ahh, well most people simply don't see the sheer joy that comes from having a full house!! There are so many little arms that wrap themselves around my neck and tell me they love me. Little eyes that follow me as I walk by, and run to hang on my legs. Hurts, bumps and bruises that can only be soothed by Momma's embrace. Sweet voices that say, 'thank you for the food, mom!' 'Mom, you make the best food!' 'Mom, you're so pretty.' 'Can I have a snack??' :) and really, it's not just about what they say - its about the fact that God has overwhelmingly blessed Tim and I with 5 perfect pregnancies and 5 beautiful, healthy children. It isn't normal. We are not lucky. We are BLESSED. Some days I can't stop staring at my blessings. I'm so in love with them. So YES! They are ALL mine and each one has God's fingerprints all over them. Happy 12th birthday Claire Elisabeth!! Happy 9th birthday Caloway James!! Xoxoxo

mom, Levi has the chockit milk!!!!

it's about time ...

wow, i had no idea life would take over, and there would be a two year gap on this blog! actually, what really happened was i forgot my username and password, and got locked out of the blog. it was too much of a process for me to be interested enough to figure out how to fix it!
i got somewhat convicted lately, of how little i'm documenting our life, though. a friend of mine writes in journals for her kids, and while the thought of writing in 5 different journals (yes, 5!!) is somewhat akin to nails scraping on a chalkboard, the idea of the blog came drifting slowly back to me. so here i am, password issues fixed, and all set to start blogging again for our sweet little family. or BIG family i should say ...
we've seen lots of changes these past 2 years! we added a sweet little boy who is going to be our caboose - levi anderson holman. he is a precious baby who's not even just the slightest bit naughty. well, ok - maybe sometimes. he is a momma's boy through and through, and i will eat that up for as long as i can! cameron, claire and caloway went to ashland christian school last year, and they loved it. cam and claire are back again this year, but we decided to bring caloway home, and homeschool him for 3rd grade. i was really afraid he was going to be left behind academically, for a number of reasons, one being that 3rd grade was tim and cam's hardest year, and two - he was already struggling with the curriculum change and expectations at a private school vs. public school. so armed with my brief homeschooling experience with cam and claire, i compiled a curriculum and began homeschooling caloway.
he is a trip, i will say that. it's been interesting having him home alone, even though the other two little boys are here too. yesterday, we had a short conversation in between spelling words:

cal - 'mom, can i have a no-bake?'
me - 'no, you just had breakfast. finish your words.'
cal - 'can i have grapes?'
me - 'ok, yes - when you are DONE with your words.'
cal - 'in about 10 seconds ... there better be a bowl of grapes on the TABLE!'

... in about ten seconds i'm going to introduce you to the back of my hand! haha - he is a lot of fun. it is challenging managing the naughtiness that is mac and levi, who are rapidly becoming a dynamic duo of destruction, but i'm hoping we settle into a good rhythm soon.
 here's little levi at 6 days old :)