Kiddie Christmas Party

Ms. LaDonna hosted a Christmas party again for the kids, just like last year.  It is fun to compare how much they have grown and changed, and now we have an additional 5 little siblings (soon to be 6 as Ms. Bridget is due with Leyla's little sibling in a month!)

We started off the morning getting the kids all dressed up in their Christmas attire and taking a few pictures, only to realize that the dress I bought for Summer last fall at a garage sale was too small!  Even though it didn't button in the back, I still took a few pictures because I loved the dress too much!  (Then, for the party, I changed Summer into a different dress I found at a consignment sale last fall that DID fit!)

  

At Ms. Ladonna's, there were 10 toddlers + 4 babies for a total of 14 kids under the age of 3!  It was definitely fun!!!  It was also the first time we got to meet Lilly's little sister Amelia, 3.5 weeks old...

Ms. Tara and Amelia....LOVE the boots!!!

and it was also the first time Colton got to meet his new buddy Brody (2.5 weeks old, Addison's little brother).

Colton 8 months, Brody 2.5 weeks

Here is a picture of Colton with his buddy Rylan...

Colton 8 months, Rylan 4 months

 The kids had fun playing and eating snacks, and we Mommy's had fun catching up on life :-).  

Summer, Leyla, and Noelle

Colton and Brody

My favorite two kiddos!

 Here is our infamous "couch picture" with the toddlers....

On the couch from left to right: Brandon, Sydney, Adry, Addison, Summer, Noelle, and Faith.  In front of the couch from left to right: Lilly, Leyla, Cassedy

 And here is the first "couch picture" with the lil' sib's....

Amelia, Rylan, Colton, Brody

Thank you, LaDonna for hosting the craziness!  So fun to see everyone (although we did miss seeing Ms. Kaity, Adelyn and Baby Ian)!  We are so blessed to know each of you, and are so thankful God brought you into our lives.

Favorite Moment

My favorite moment of today was tonight at dinner...we sat down, prayed, and then the conversation was started by Summer tonight, completely unprompted.  It went something like this:

Summer: "Hi Daddy!  How was your day?"
Daddy: "It was pretty good!"
Summer: "What was your project?"
Daddy: ...named some of the companies he was working with....
Summer: "Hi Mommy!  Good to see you!"
Mommy: ...laughing....
Summer: "How was your day?"
Mommy: "It was good!.....laughing...."

We have been working on having Summer ask people questions, but this was the first time it was COMPLETELY unprompted!  Pretty cute to see our little 2 year old asking us questions....Totally made my night :-)

Learning

Summer is learning... a lot!  Not much escapes her attention, and she often will remind me of things I have forgotten, including names of people we have met!  Her "wheels" are always turning as she continually processes information and makes connections about what we are seeing/doing/hearing.  Character-wise, we are working a lot on obedience lately.  When she disobeys, instead of getting a time-out as she used to, she gets something of importance taken away for a time.  Then each time she wants to play with that item, it is an opportunity for us to discuss again why it was taken away and that obedience is important.  Then, when the item is given back, (after naptime for a morning offense and the next morning for an evening offence) the slate is wiped clean.  You can tell what kind of day we are having by how many stuffed animals and other items are on top of the dresser  :-).  I think this technique seems to be working in getting her to constantly think about how important obedience is.  It also allows me to provide a consequence when the disobedience occurs in a place that is inconvenient for me to give her a time out, such as in the store or at church.  I hope and pray that God works in her little heart so that she desires to do right from the inside out!  We talk about how Summer needs to obey Mommy and Daddy, and Mommy and Daddy need to obey God, and when Summer obeys Mommy and Daddy she is obeying God too.  Summer is also learning a lot about counting (we are working on counting up to 25) and starting to write her letters.  She is getting better at tracing.  Here are two videos of during "tot-school" this morning...she is very focused as she traces in the first video, and erases in the second.  She loves the dry erase markers!