Birthdays and blessings

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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 :)