{thankful for amelia}

She's energetic.

She's appreciative.

She's giving.

She's inquisitive. 

She's constantly moving.

We're blessed beyond measure.

{thankful for meredith}

She's compassionate.

She's nurturing.

She's a cuddler.

She's passionate.

She wears her heart on her sleeve.

We're blessed beyond measure.

{thankful for claire}

She's as determined as they come {when she wants to be, of course}.

She's extremely helpful.

She's a problem solver.

She's a leader.

She's our least emotional child.

We're blessed beyond measure.

{thanksgiving prep}

We're spending this week prepping for Thanksgiving!  We're hosting Josh's family for the first time ever.  There will be 8 adults and 15 kiddos.  I'm really looking forward to it, and hoping my first turkey will be tasty!  

Happy Thanksgiving week!!

{olivia: 20 months}

Can you believe this little peanut is 20 months already?!  I know that I should have done an 18-month post...but what can I say?  Olivia's lucky she's getting an update before she's 5.  

Here are some things I'd like to remember:

-points to anything that she likes/wants and then immediately points back to herself. 

-says Mama, Dada, Pipper {her favorite puppy}, thank you, uh-oh, and...drum roll please...STOP!  As child number 4, I've decided that it's completely appropriate for her to know the word "stop" early on in her vocab. 

-she went through a phase when she scrunched her nose and gave a funny smile each time we asked her to look at us. {see photo above as proof}

-when she dances, she spreads her legs wide and rocks back and forth {she's got her daddy's moves}

-loves shoes, books, animals, balloons, coloring, pushing things, and drawing on each and every school book that is left unattended.

-entertains herself extremely well throughout the day while tagging along behind me.

-has effectively trapped herself in the bathroom...twice {just like Amelia}.

-jibber-jabbers and squeals on and on and on when she sees something that excites her {like all of the tacky inflatable lawn ornaments at Lowe's}.

-could happily play with her sisters all day...she adores them.

-runs to greet Josh with a huge hug every.single.day when he walks through the door. 

-ridiculously sweet.

-nicknames: Liv, Livi, Livi Lu, Livers, stink pot, sweet baby

Could not love her any more than we do.  

{groundhog down}

Oh yes.  That's my first kill.  Ever.

I know, you're impressed.

Our friend, Mr. Groundhog, had been residing under our barn for quite a while, digging holes and such.  Josh kept encouraging me to shoot him when I would see him strolling through our front yard, but seriously, I had zero confidence in my ability to make that weapon work correctly.  

We shoot handguns on our shooting range fairly often.  The one in my hand?  Not so much...or ever for that matter.  

We set up a live trap for our groundhog friend.  We put out lettuce, spinach, fruit, covered it all in vanilla, and even purchased {yes, purchased!} a cantaloupe for him. He didn't take the bait.  He ate all of the food leading right up to the live trap, but he would not enter.  Instead, we caught a couple of possums.  Let's all take a minute and take note that groundhogs are obviously smarter than possums.  

Thankfully, Josh conducted a little groundhog shooting 101 class with me a couple of weeks ago.  He even removed one of the window screens so we could shoot it from the family room.  We're classy in this house, I tell you.  

This is how it all went down {exact times may not be accurate}:

2:17 p.m.  I'm reading about the vikings for our history lesson.

2:22 p.m.  One of the girls spots our chubby little groundhog friend out in the driveway.

2:23 p.m.  I send the girls to our bedroom to watch from the window, and I grab the gun out of the safe.

2:25 p.m.  I open the unscreened family room window and locate chubbs in the scope.  

2:26 p.m.  I click the safety off and attempt to pull the trigger.  Problem: the gun is not ready.  Safety back on.  I must recall groundhog shooting 101 information.  

2:27 p.m.  Gun is ready.  Back on track.  Groundhog has moved closer to the woods.  

2:28 p.m.  I think the groundhog has ran back into the woods, so I close the window.  

2:29 p.m.  Ooooo!  There he is again...he didn't go into the woods!

2:30 p.m.  Watch him through my scope and click the safety back off.  

2:31 p.m.  Fire!!!  Success.  Groundhog down.

2:32 p.m.  Totally feel like a big deal.

2:33 p.m.  Gun away, children out of bedroom, resume with the vikings.

And that's pretty much it, my friends.

{learning a new language}

Claire and Meredith are currently in the process of creating their own language.  I find it pretty amusing when I hear them making statements to each other.  Most of the time they have to discuss their choice of words because one of them can't remember what half of the words mean.

I haven't paid too much attention to their created words, but they did inform me tonight that "Mom" is now "Model".  Flattering.  Thank you. :)  ...especially compared to "Dad" which is now "Oodoh".

They obviously know who cooks the meals around here.