Almost Heaven, West Virginia

For Christmas 2010 we had a plan; a plan for a white Christmas. Reese searched to find a place within driving distance that was statistically likely to have snow on December 25th. He came up with the Canaan Valley Resort in West Virginia. Everything was squared away for the trip, including our non-refundable payment. Then........we decided to move to New York. The resort was understanding and allowed us one year to use the cabin. We thought, "Perfect, we'll go for Thanksgiving!" Then........I got pregnant and things didn't work out for that. Then.........we moved again. The resort was understanding.....again. They gave us until the end of March to use the cabin. We loaded up our fifteen passenger van with our eight kids and Martha (the lady we hired) and took off on our 20 hour trip.

Vacations for parents are not a vacation from stress and work. In fact, they add to it. Before we left I kept thinking to myself, "What are we doing? This is way too much right now!" But, it's a different and good kind of stress. We had a FAB time and made some great memories. We dragged our close friends, the Addison's along with us. Five adults supervising 11 kids is totally manageable. I'd do it all over again in a second. Ok, maybe give me a few months.

Almost Heaven

Dak and Tagg

Lots of baking by Bella and Tay

Tay and Bella doing baby lifts

Dakinator

A little wood chopping

LOTS of games and crafts

Cary, Rook and Tigue

A little rifling after hot tubbing

These two pics are of Tigue instructing the kids not to get too close to the water.

They obviously weren't listening to her.

Maren, our official diaper changer

Isaac and Payte

Reese and Sade

Tagg-man

grass whistiling

the spider

Rook 'n' Tigue

My life right now is crazier than I could have imagined. It's a good and VERY blessed crazy. In the last two years we have had two sets of twins and moved twice. Everything in pairs I guess. I ought to be pushing for two washers, dryers, fridges, etc.

Rook and Tigue are quite a pair. They are best friends. Their polar opposite personalities compliment each other well. Tigue is all girl. Rook is all boy. She always has a mouthful to say and he is unintelligible. She is tidy and careful. He is a beat up mess ALL the time. His food lands everywhere but his belly. Tigue is bossy and he is accommodating. She cuddles and sings to her babydoll while he drives trucks over my bowls of fresh cut strawberries. She loves to draw. He loves to read. She sits nicely on the couch while he purposely face plants onto the floor from the back of it. They are the BEST! I am soooooooooo glad they came to our family.

Whoever gives a two year old a BIG Blow-Pop sucker has either never had kids or forgotten how terribly MESSY suckers are.

Just waking up

Twins are good at sharing (for the most part).

Tigue walked into the room I use to pump. She said, "Oh you're pumping. That's CRAAAAAAZY! Good job you silly goose!"

Like I said, a beat up mess

Going for Crazy!

I might just be nuts, but I have a new goal to post once every other week. I have so much to catch up on, including my last pregnancy, which is actually an interesting story. We hired someone to help us out with the housework which has been a HUGE blessing for me, and allows me a little more time. Soooooooooooooo, if you care, stay tuned!

This is a typical dinner with all eight kids at the counter.

Our Little Surprises!

I suppose it's time to introduce our newest family members, Sade and Reese Reynolds!

I became pregnant at the beginning of our fabulous year in New York. We kept it a secret because we thought it would be fun to go back to Florida with a BIG surprise. We ended up coming home with TWO big surprises. Sade and Reese were born October 4th. They were 8 weeks early and spent about 6 weeks in the NICU. They are now beautiful, healthy, and tiny 3 month olds. I will post more details later. For those interested in their hospital adventures you can visit sadeandreese.blogspot.com.

Sade weighed in at 3lb 3oz.

Reese (twin b) was 3 lb 9 oz.

Reese

Sade

Sade (left) Reese (right)

November Catch Up

My biggest (ok, maybe she's not the biggest). My oldest baby turned ten! I remember being very upset on my tenth birthday. I didn't want to be double digits. I wanted my childhood to last forever. Tay on the other hand is a pint-sized grown up. She thinks, dresses, and acts like an adult. I have to remind myself she's only ten. Ha ha, I can't believe she's already ten, yet at the same time, I can't believe she only ten. She received a kindle for her birthday. The children in her class made a going away book for her. Many of them made collages of her reading on her kindle. She LOVES it.

Also, Tay, Tigue, and I took a road trip to New Jersey for her first grade teacher's wedding. Ms. Sequeira asked her to be what every girl dreams of, the flower girl!

Tay with Grandma and Grandpa Miller on her birthday

The best part of staying in a hotel............jumping on the beds!

matching outfits to get ready in

A gorgeous bride and flower girl

On our way home from Jersey I saw an exit for Tigue Street. It was the middle of the night but I couldn't pass this up. It turns out there was no on ramp at this exit. I was forced to backtrack and got lost. Grrrrrrrrrrr. We finally made it home safely.

Our BFFFE (best friend forever for eternity) Emily

We had 19 people living under our roof for Thanksgiving. Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds, Cody and Jess, Uncle, Ryan, and the Ellsworth's crashed Fredonia. Ryan, pictured above with Tagg, surprised us from Turkey!

Cody and Tigue

Headstand contest

A tornado went through Fredonia hitting our garage. Thank goodness it missed the house.

Another episode of Tigue Greed anyone?

Rook pulled a burnt grilled cheese sandwich out of the garbage. Yum!

Grandma and Grandpa Miller had us over for a memorable Family Home Evening. We "let our light shine" by making candles. Thanks for a great time Mom and Dad!

Camping!

Reese took the kids camping every weekend throughout the Summer and into the Fall. We have some dear friends who own some property on Lake Erie. They set up a campsite for us and we were able to leave our tent up through the season. I loved allowing the kids to freely explore the woods and lake. I especially loved seeing their smiley, hot chocolatey, dirt smeared faces..........oh, and the laundry that followed.