The toddlers are growing! They enjoy playing outside every day.
Little T cheesing it up
They enjoy the new "big kid" swing I made for them.
Littlebug is growing like a weed! He's starting to talk up a storm, and he loves interacting with the babies as well as the big kids. He is getting better at feeding himself, he can take off his shoes on his own, and he is learning to put them on, although I never realized how many steps are involved!
Step 1: Don't put the shoe on your head.
Step 2: Don't bang the shoe aimlessly and upside down against the bottom of your foot. No, you need to LOOK at the shoe. The SHOE. Not me. Not out the window.
Step 3: Open the velcro, Littlebug.
Step 4: No, not that side. The other side. PULL! Good job.
Step 5: Ok, put it on your foot. No, the other foot. No, turn it around. No, your toes are going through the side.
Step 6: Now you need to pull the strap around your ankle. No, not that direction!
Step 7: You can't close it yet. See, the other side of the velcro is stuck under your foot. You have to take it out...like this...
Step 8: Close the shoe! (I open it again and tighten it.) Good job! Now you can go play!
*to be repeated again in 5 minutes when it falls off*
Special K is into E V E R Y T H I N G. She follows me around and jabbers constantly. Her goal in life is to be as underfoot as possible. Here she is "helping" make baby food. It's nice that she wants to help, since she eats about 8-10 ice cubes full of food at every meal! It is almost impossible to keep these babies in food!
Cupcake is finally scooting (she's almost 1), although she'd just as soon scoot on her bum as she would on her stomach! Littlebug enjoys entertaining her.
Mr. "Cool Dude" Babybear is also crawling. He enjoys physical exertion in its varied forms, including planking (shown below).
And our littlest (Squishy) enjoys being the center of a gaggle of attention!
We enjoyed the holidays here in SA! Here we are having an American Thanksgiving. I had plans for a beautiful table set outside amid all the flowers, but it rained cats and dogs and we fit all 30+ people into our VERY modestly-sized house. It was chaos, but fun chaos.
I really enjoyed dressing up the house for Christmas.
My first Christmas tree from 2015
Nativity set and new mirror that I made from a broken one!
In the kitchen
I love the red and green!
Snowflakes were from last year, and the pine garland I made from some branches I picked on the side of the road.
The toddlers enjoyed their stockings!
We had a sleepover and pancake breakfast at my house! It was a great Christmas. I spent the rest of the day hanging out with friends and enjoying a cookout.
Now January has started, and it's back to life as usual! Below is our church's Sunday school - we take turns helping out and it was my turn a couple of weeks ago.
My friend Sarah and I managed to sneak in a quick "vacation" (aka, we finally had a little quiet to get some admin work done!) for a few days out in the country. We stayed with some friends. Did I mention it was QUIET?!
Our house mom has started her own little homeschool! The kids are doing really well and we have some three year olds that will probably be reading soon! It's so much fun and takes me back to when I was a kid.
Oh, Littlebug....!
I've managed to sneak in a little time to work on home decor. Below is the bookshelf that I finally finished...
Simple shelf and heart garland (from music paper)
I've been enjoying learning to hand letter! I have a whole wall in the dining room with hand lettered art - maybe I'll post a picture when it is finished.
Plant "bookshelf"
Oh - and I can't forget a picture of my sweet housemates who share this home with me! I love them so much - they are such a blessing.
So, probably my biggest news (for those of you who don't know) is that I am *gulp* going back to school...after 8+ years of very little official academic exertion whatsoever. I am taking this program: https://smti.co.za/. It is hosted by one of our sister churches and it teaches Biblical counseling. I'm excited to learn but I'm really nervous about homework and due dates and a whole lot less free time! Please keep me in your prayers, that I will be able to keep up, to manage my time, and to really internalize what I'm learning.
It's getting late here, and I have a few things left to do, so I'd better get going! Hopefully soon I'll have time to write something more than just basic updates - but we shall see!
