SURPRISE!

After many months of planning and secrets, we actually pulled off a surprise party for my mom's 60th birthday. She thought she was going out to dinner and a movie with my dad. He got a call saying they needed his help with the sound at church as they were on their way, and we were all waiting. :)

This is one of my favorite pictures of my mom. She was so extremely surprised. You can just see it on her face!

Let's eat some fried chicken!

We got all the grand kids to serenade her in the birthday song for a second time.

Cute pic of Addie just chillin with my Aunt Sue.

A picture of the family. Not perfect, but you try and get a picture with 16 people! :)

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I can't believe it has been almost two weeks since I've posted! CRAZINESS! We Addie is finally better, and we are so thankful Emma and Josie did not get it.

Joe and Tomesia came up with their kids and stayed over. We were so blessed to get (FREE!) babysitters for our six kids to go out for an evening. We haven't done that with them in...ever?

We had a surprise party for my mom's 60th birthday. That was a lot of work, but a whole lot of fun.

Josh was also able to go hunting for the first time with my dad and a very good friend of ours named Lucas. All three of them got a deer on opening day!

I am going to post a bunch of pictures of it all to share. Thanks for reading!

More sickness

Addie is sick again. She now has strep throat. My poor baby seems to be getting every bug there is! We got to spend the whole morning together playing though, so I guess that is a bonus. Please pray that she will get over it, and that the rest of the family will not get it.

Thanks!

Emma, Josie and Addie watching "Little Einsteins"

Punk Rock Addie

Addie is getting lessons on how to be a hard core rocker from her dorm brother, David. I think Addie's mohawk is more impressive than Davids! Ha!

Littlest rock star

Rock on!

All Dressed Up...

For three years now we have been able to take the family to Rives Baptist Church's trunk-or-treat party. It is a fun time for the kids to go to the church and dress up. They have pony rides, big blow up games, hay rides, donuts and cider and car trunks full of candy...and everything is free! Our dear friends Brad and Rachel went with us, and we had so much fun with them. We went for an hour, and then the rain came, so it was a perfect time to go home.

Josie was a rooster. She kept saying "cock-a-doo-doo!" :)

Addie was a goldfish. I am not sure what she was thinking, but this was her expression all night!

Cowgirl Emma got to ride a real pony! Nana made the costume for her. Thanks Nana!

Here I am torturing Brad and Rachel with a picture. This was about the sixth try getting everyone to look and smile at the same time. :)

After the girls were in bed, the real party started! :) I promise, there was PLENTY of candy left over for them.

Jack-o-lanterns!

Last night Josh and I decided to make some Jack-o-lanterns with the girls. It was a lot of fun. Josie REALLY did not like getting her hands all gooey. It was so funny!

Making the princess pumpkin.

Emma digging in. She called the insides "pumpkin cheese".

Josie was totally grossed out! :)

"Look what we made!"

Check them out! :)

We each picked a part. I picked what shape the mouth would be, Emma picked the nose, and Josie (with Daddy's help) picked out the eyes. :)

Baby Dedication Sunday

This past Sunday Josh and I stood before our church family and shared with them our desire to raise Josie and Addie in a loving Christian home, where they will hear the truth of God's love through his son Jesus. (We dedicated Emma when she was 4 months old). This was an exciting time, as nine children were dedicated that day. How exciting to know that these families have the same desires to raise their kids in the will of God. :) My friend Rachel took some pictures for me. (Thanks, Rach!)

Pastor Steve reading from Deuteronomy 6.

Pastor Glyn praying for Adelaide. We were all smiling because she was talking during the whole prayer. :)

A prayer for Josephine and for her future husband. (Not that there are any prospects right now. Ha! )

I wish Emma was in this picture.

Look how sweet Josie is, snuggling with her Daddy!

My awesome man!

Josh is so great! I just had to tell you all how wonderful he is. Here is a picture of him around midnight loading music on my mp3 player for me (because I am the nerd that STILL hasn't learned how to do that yet!). He was tired, but he wanted to make sure I had some new music in the morning while I worked out. What a great guy...and a cute one too! :)

I got a haircut!

My friends Kristi and Sarah came over yesterday, and Kristi gave me a haircut. :) Just thought I'd share...

She took a couple inches off. I really needed it!

Here is the back.

Pint size Pumpkins

I thought it would be fun to compare some pictures of our three daughters getting pumpkins.

Emma is 8 months old in this picture. We were in Jersey Shore, PA at the time. (2003)

Josie is 13 months here. This was at Uncle Johns cider mill with our friends the Curds. (2006)

Here is Addie. She is 8 months old here at Spicers. (2007)

Spicer's with Nana and Papa

Saturday we went with my Mom and Dad to Spicer's orchard, a perfect way to celebrate the autumn season! We had a really good time! The girls loved playing around in the kiddy area. Josie loved the miniature town. Emma tried the zip line and fell off the first time. I was SO proud of her, because she got up (after a big fall, and a bit of embarrassment) and tried again. She went three times! My big girl!

We met up with my brother Jason, sis-in-law Shanna, and Ashlyn and Cayden. It was good to hang out again.

My Dad bought some fresh pressed cider and hot out of the fryer donuts for all of us! Thanks, Dad! Addie looking silly.

Josie peaking out of one of the windows of the miniature town.

Me and my Mom! I love you, Mom!

Look! My Emma can fly!

Josie in a different atmosphere. :)

Autumn is here!

This time of year is my favorite! Josh isn't really that fond of the fall. It is too gray and depressing to him, but to me, there is nothing better.

Even on cloudy, overcast days, my heart is filled with warmth, thinking of fond memories of my childhood. I remember helping my dad bring in the firewood. The sound of your steps as you trample through the leaves. Tomesia, Jason and I used to play in the barn, and make forts. They were secret forts though, so when we referred to them, we called them "cow". "Hey, let's go to the cow!" Oh, how sneaky we were!

All that to say that, autumn is here, and I am overjoyed. I am now making new memories to cherish with my own children. I hope that fall becomes one of their favorite times of year too!

We went to Spicer's orchard and got some great pictures of the girls by with the pumpkins. :) Josie and Daddy finding a pumpkin.

My lil punkin.

Three little cuties in the pumpkin patch!

Josie still is so little! :) I feel like Addie is catching up to her!

When the wind blew, it got chilly. They look a little frozen in this pic.

I am bummed!

I have been trying to post on my blog for a while, and it won't let me upload any of my photos. :(

I am not exactly sure how long it will be to get the problem fixed, but stay tuned...I have some great pictures from the weekend!

Thanks for checking our blog!

The lives of the poor and famous!

Can't these girls get a break! Always trying to dodge the "mom-arazzi". You know they are going to end up all over the Internet. (Well, on my blog at least!)

Meet Hollywood

And her big sister Movie Star.

Can this be October?

We had such a great Saturday. After eating brunch at the school we loaded the girls up and went down town to the farmers market. It was 10AM and already 76 degrees outside!

After loading up on red potatoes, scallions and honey crisp apples we took a walk down town to the Jackson Coffee Co. Josh got a gift card there from some dear friends for his birthday. He was so sweet to share his birthday gift with us. We both got coffee, and Emma and Josie split a muffin. Who would have thought with three kids we could have a leisurely visit to a local coffee shop?

A little while later we went to Steve and Sarah's house. They girls had a blast seeing their cousins again, and we had a blast seeing Steve and Sarah again! :) They fed us a delicious chicken dinner and apple crisp for dessert! YUM!

Emma wanted to get one on those HUGE pumpkins! :)

Josie trying to stay cool at the market.

All the kiddos decorating the driveway.

No one looks very happy that I brought the camera out!

Poor Josie was so hot! The thermometer in their neighbors garage said it was 90 degrees! They kids all ran around in the sprinkler and got cooled of before dinner.

Our children's involvement in our ministry

Sometimes I feel like a lot of my time in ministry is spent after our kids are in bed, or with a sitter. This week has been a great week in showing me that that is not always the case.

We took a shopping trip with Jenna. The girls loved having her tag along on a usually boring chore to them. We also had wonderful times in the dining hall this week. Emma, Josie and Addie were each sharing their thoughts (or at least smiles in Addie's case) with the students we were eating with.

I love it. I love that the girls are involved with the students. I love that the students are just like family. Life is busy, but it is so much fun!

Here are some pictures of Addie playing with a dorm brother, David. Addie is much more fun to play with now that she is feeling better! :)

"Mom, this guy is cracking me up!"

Toothy grin.

"Hmm, I wonder if Mr. David would notice if I took that phone?"