Introducing….. THE NEW ABBEY !

 

 

Meet  Brinley

{ mom choose that name b/c how do 6kids name 1 dog?! and I really didn’t want to do the ‘pick a name out of hat’ and end up calling “Monster Truck” to “come” ! for the next 10 years:)

……. but we let each kid choose a middle name for her.. SO in order of the kids ages ..here are the names they chose….

Noel…

Quality Street …{someone likes chocolate }

Jewel….

Planet…..

Milly….

White….

ABBEY!!

~ our new “baby” arrived this morning to wake up the kids who were sleeping under the tree.

{ today was our Christmas morning}

She is SO sweet that even my d/h who does not really like dogs is totally taken with her !

She is a Bichon Yorkie Shitzu cross and she is VERY loved :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

Christmas Fundraiser 2011 is in full swing !

 

It has been one wild Fall for us..…{ OK for me }

I keep telling people that I feel like I got on a ride in September that still has not stopped …. !

{ I even got my first grey hair ! }

BUT with our first term report card session now complete, - phew- Bless my teacher !!

       

We can now focus on!!

DECEMBER  ~ !

Oh how we love December and Christmas here at the Abbeys house! 

I am passionate about Advent ! 

{ You can read about it in last years blog post }

…we really focus our kids on giving at Christmas Time and SO  this year to give …. first in line is

This little lady OF OURS

 

 

WHO …….is going to cut off allll

                    her hair !!! -

to her ears !!!–

before Christmas …

to raise money for our new orphanage in Mexico that we are sponsoring this year !

We are all learning Spanish here at Abbey Academy this year {even DAD} and hope to be able to go and visit the orphanage over the next few years for Christmas, as a family missions trip!

Miss Grade 2 has been growing her hair for three years to do this fundraiser ! And is Sooooo excited that she raised $30 dollars at church yesterday, for the little kids who don’t have Moms and Dads!

We were talking about how that could feed five babies dinner for a whole week !

It is such a gift to see her eyes sparkle at that thought…  she is a little mother hen and like her mommy has a soft spot for babies:)

She is donating her hair to be made as a wig for cancer patients too.

 

{ I am thinking I might have a wig made for myself out of those goldilocks !!}

Let us know if you would like to sponsor her fundraising effort!

It’s Snowing!!

This little guy

 

ran outside around and around like he was being chased he was so excited !

Unfortunately, I had the wrong setting on my camera! duh!

OUR VERY OWN ……..

Prince Charming

 

I have been SO blessed !

YOU know they are tired when ……

 

 

You see this through the banisters as you are coming up the stairs …

 

and then find this at the top :)

….out cold !

 

 

AND then You find this one in the next  room over !

Both of them passed right out in the middle of the day!

te- he…oh nap time-it is a thing of beauty and how I miss it …and enjoy it when it comes to visit here every now and then !

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

 

Our big Mr. # 5 !!

with his special request Smartie Cake

 

This boy is sweet to the very core of his nature !

 

He is my humming bird …always making music !

He is gentle, and continually forgiving to his brothers who continue to {due to their sheer size} overtake him by force on a daily basis.

He is obedient and cheerful …always reminding the twins of the rules.

HE is such a hard little worker ….bit of a perfectionist…very competitive ….hmm wonder where he go that from ?

The other day his biggest sister got “ the weekly reward treat” from Dad for our character quality of the week challenge…. AND He was SO jealous !

I gave him a  little pep talk about being happy for others…sent him off to repent to his big sister for his jealousy and self centeredness…when he arrived at her bedroom door she asked him why he was crying ..to which he obediently answered her “because I am so happy for you “

AH- HA we had such a laugh over that one!

He is surprisingly loud  …and talkative.. OH can he talk!.. every detail must be shared from beginning to end!

At a play date last week he turned to his little girl friend and said “your pretty” she said ” thanks” then he said “ I don’t have much experience in prettiness but you do “!!!  ~Sweet talker like his Dad !

He is very bright, he absorbs absolutely everything reads and reads and loves to read books!

He loves to lead his little friends around while holding their hands…very cute at church!

HE has a MAJOR sweet tooth and I think b/c he is so tiny HE is very sugar sensitive and can hit the ceiling in 2.2 seconds on a sugar high

 

This little man …. is a mommas boy xo

 

We took him out for his birthday date breakfast to I -Hop but he got a very sore tummy before we could even eat or get pictures and so we had to leave and come home for a snuggle instead…..

Oh I LOVE THIS LITTLE GUY~ HE IS SUCH A SWEET SWEET GIFT!

For our new birthday tradition {that Big brother started }This little guy choose to serve others cake first instead of being served first  :)

We will have a 15 10 & 5 year old this year ….wow!

Happy Number #10 My BOY!!

 

My first baby boy ….is 10 !!      …10 !!!

10  is a big year  !!

It all seems to change at a mock speed from #10 on …..this boy~ is becoming a young man….and He is a JOY to his old parents hearts !

 

I remember little after he was born…the fact that we discovered there was no film in the camera Kelly had been taking a million pictures with…. that he was 9 lbs.. just like I told him to be:)  and smiling at the proud new DAD who would not take his eyes off his BOY !

He might look like his Mom ..but this boy is a Daddies boy….and a “mans man” he loves being a boy ! Who wouldn’t with all these great men God has put in his life !

 

 

He spurred on a new tradition this 10th birthday year !

He choose to come home from his special Father and Son weekend trip away… instead of sleeping over …just so that he could be here, to go early to our church… and help set up…he wanted to serve others on HIS birthday !

So…. we have told the kids that they can choose one very special thing they want to do on their birthday…. to serve others.. and we will make it happen …. what a great heart this kid has !

No wonder God choose him to be the first boy ..he is a leader who makes fantastic choices for his siblings to follow after !

He is A BLESSING ! 

Who was entrusted with a shiny new pocket knife from his Dad to celebrate his new double didgit…10

{{hug}}

and a safe with a code and lock to keep it in…. from his MOM !

Hugh ?

Oh I get it !!!

As his Nanu says …

“ HE IS A DELIGHT ! ”

That’s my boy!

Happy 7 th Birthday ~ Little Princess ~

 

 

MY Sweet Little Girl

How wonderful it is to have a little girl ….when you are watching your big girl morph into a young woman EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Our littlest princess loves animals, she loves to color, and she loves to snuggle at night listening to bible stories! She is our cat still she loves to be in your space laid out allll over you! She loves to hold your face when she smoooches you in both her hands, she loves hugs and she just adds so much depth to the mommy place in my heart !

She is just good at loving ! She is very special !

She let all her friends yesterday have their faces painted by big sis with HER new face paints while she waited quietly and patiently for her turn –she made my heart glad!

Happy Happy You do make our hearts little girl ! xoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

For her birthday date this year she wanted to go out for dinner to White Spot  again for a Pirate Pack

 

Someone’s found her prince :)

 

And then she has been planning for months to go to …

SHE had fun…

& We had FUN!

~x0

IT NEVER - EVER STOPS !!

 

During chores- meals- church- and sleep……

              BOYS WILL BE BOYS!

When all the kids are lined up wanting to show me “something” …..I make sure I bring the camera !

While I play along …….. I snap pictures too

“ Whatever do you mean ?  It is just a garbage can "

“OH MY WORD !!! …….IT”S MOVING !!! “

IS IT A GOAT ?! A CAT  ?! NO !!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is MR. KINDERGARTEN  !

OH brother !!

As in  which brother put you up to this !?

Maybe the biggest ?

At our house because of the huge audience that lines up to watch these pranks unfold… they are becoming a regular part of our days ….

YEP those boys sure keep me on my toes  !!

 

God knew I needed all these boys to get all of that ridiculous perfectionism out of me  ….I have come soo far ……and still have far to go…..

AND HE still got stripped and Purelled from head to toe !

Our LOVELY Little Lady !!

 

IT WAS ………

a glorious afternoon…. the sun was FINALLY shining and out came the hose to water the plants….and the kids:)

{ Why go to the beach when you can make your own! }

 

The end result !

 

 

Mr. Funny decided to have his shower outside

{ and I was hiding behind the post getting pictures}

 

Can you see the wet mud water running down the wall ?! Yep …ahhh BOYS they sure help us keep the house clean ! :)

 

Mike and I had a great laugh about it as we followed the slop trail of muddy water along the walls …

I came back with cloth and bucket { and my camera in hand }  to find my little lady doing THIS !! …without being asked by anyone !!!

 

She had mopped the whole entrance to surprise us!!

I had come to get pics of the muddy floor -that was no more!

 

What a little blessing she {& her servants heart} is to her Mommy and her Daddy !

Who new !

AT  6 1/2 she has learnt to use a mop  JUST  by watching her big Brother, big Sister, and her Mom…BUT she is also learning how to be a blessing to others:)

~ FANTASTIC !!

AND here HE is again !!!

 

With fresh puffy nap eyes and all :)

 

The twins are obsessed with roller blades ~ they put their little hot wheels in one each and  push the roller blade around like a big bus.

That morphed into figuring out they go on your feet, and hopping around with one on each of  their feet……Until this day !

“Mr. Photo op kid”  figured out how to put both of them on!

 

I was hanging clothes up on the line and I hear this desperate “HELP” …the big kids were inside doing school so I knew it was one of the trips up from their nap.

I go running over to answer “the cry for help”  and find ..

 

 

THIS!

 

 

NOW before you think of me as the WORST mother in the world for taking this picture >>>>>let me explain !!

 

I got him off the post he was hanging on to like a wet cat and had him back sitting safe on the ground  *BEFORE* I went in to grab my camera.

He is in his “FANCY PANTS ” as  we call em’ - they wear at nap time { just incase }

To this day the twins have both had one roller blade each BUT this guy, woke before his twin and being the smart boy that he is- he put both on and got to the white post :)

 

AS  I was running in to get my camera the determined little guy decided not to wait for me and as I walked out the door he was in full attempt at number two try to get back up !….and I got the most hilarious pictures of him doing it !!

{ which is where all the pics above come from too –

*** see- ~good mommy ! }

 

The second round sequence went like this as I tippy- toed in behind him…..

 

 

 

OH he saw me !!

 

What a kid …waving at me for a perfect photo op again !

That Mr. Funny ~He is such a gift ! 

 

 

        I  am ALWAYS saying to Mike …..

{especially b/c I have just had another birthday and  “my clock” is a ticking- which is why I stopped counting how old I turn back at 30 } 

 

“ What IF ?!” ….you had gotten  “that” operation before God could give them to us !!

 

Neither of us can imagine life without our icing and cherry on the top “twin-i-gans” { as we call them } - they really are SUCH a blessing.

Our family has litterally been turned down an ENTIRELY different path as a result of having to figure out how to     “ do it all  “  and- in so many wonderful ways~ WE Abbeys are ALL better people as a result of God giving those little blessings to us -exactly when HE did.

 

SO ---we do ask ourselves why we are resisting more of these precious gifts ….. obviously God knows what HE is doing in this area…..

~  standby :)