Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day from the Macks, where Patrick seems to have everything to do with Spongebob, (!?)

 and green food reigns.

Hope you all had a good day! We did!

Who Knew...

Who knew that AWANA was a contact sport?

 Contact with the floor, that is....

 Ouchie!

Poor Leah!

Valentine's Day on a Budget

With no income, we had to be creative this year!

Handmade gift bags with a handful of goodies for each.

Valentine attire

Valentine sandwiches,

and homemade special treats!

Valentine hairdos

We're hanging in there and making do. The most special memories are made this way, right? 

Happy Valentine's Day from the Macks!

News

We received some news almost 3 weeks ago.

 It wasn't happy news.

Scott was suddenly and unexpectedly laid off from work.

 It was quite the shock. Since then we have moved from the shocked stage to the "huh, what now?" stage.

Naughty, naughty girl!

It hasn't been easy,

We whale spout, do you whale spout?

but we have felt God's blessings at every turn!

 We know He will take care of us, and we are trying not to be anxious.

 Life has a funny way of continuing on despite hardships.

Getting ready to sword fight the princess.

I'm glad it does.

His dramatic death by sword :)

And I'm thankful for all our blessings, especially my happy 12 Macklets.

The princess that won

 Yep. I think we're going to be alright!

This Week

This week brought an end to soccer season. I'm sad to see it go. Seth's team only lost one game this year. He's such a hard and determined worker, it's a delight to watch his athleticism on the field. We were truly blessed by wonderful weather to watch every game, but the very next day after soccer was done?

 The rain came to water our thirsty yard. We are happy that our volunteer pumpkin plant produced so many pumpkins! Almost one for every kid, although some will have to be happy with green ones. 

This week also brought orthodontic appointments (Seth got top braces and Abby got her arch wire adjusted), drama practices (Megan was cast as Meg in Little Women), AWANA, and a birthday party for Sarah to attend.

Do we sound busy? 

Yes, and totally blessed.

Look At Who Is

WALKING!!

Anna took her first steps less than two weeks ago and now is walking everywhere. I can't believe it! She is adorable with her shaky steps and big grin. The bumps and bruises have been hard, but that's part of the process, right? She's growing up so fast! 

Having A Big Family Means...

there's always somebody to help you learn and explore.

The Blessing Of Hair

4 of my babies were born with heads of full hair. One, a boy, was a blondie which required a buzz cut at 4 months of age. My other three hairy babies were all girls and blessed with dark curls. Beautiful, right?

Unfortunately though, a side effect of thick, long hair is cradle cap.

Yuck.

 Into the tub, Annie! 

With my previous babies, I tried some different cradle cap remedies. The worst? Olive oil! Sure, it takes care of the cradle cap, but it took weeks to get it back out of her curls.

 So this time, my favorite remedy is baking soda. You mix up a thick paste and scrub their little head with it. Let it dry for awhile, comb their little heads, and then wash it out!

 Anna doesn't mind this too much as long as she has a washcloth to chew on!

 And after? A nice, clean baby to snuggle in her hooded towel. 

 So now my baby girly is mostly cradle cap free (it takes a few times!), 

 and ready to be on the move again!

 

Beware Of Corn Dogs!

To date, they've claimed two teeth in our house. My older kids, who don't like corn dogs anyway, said they always knew they were evil.

I think Abby looks totally adorable with her toothless grin!

 

We Have 2 New Babies At Our House

Baby chicks that is.

Seth's hen, Miss Blue, decided she wanted to raise some babies. So we bought 6 possibly fertile eggs and slipped them under her. 3 weeks later, this is what we saw:

 Awww, Miss Blue, you're a mommy!

Only 2 of the 6 eggs hatched, but we are all thrilled to watch these 2 little ones enjoy their new lives!

 These little babies are growing so fast!

Miss Blue is an excellent mom to her 2 babies! We all love watching the interaction between mom and babies. I'm so very glad we bought those 6 eggs!

You Know...

most days pass by in a blur.

 Life can be so busy that it's hard to catch your breath and truly reflect on the blessings that surround you.

 And there are many.

Having A Big Family Means...

 there will always be somebody to lift you up, 

and there will always be shoulders to ride on.

Another Down

Abby- "If I lose this, am I going to look funny?"

Me- "No! You're going to look super cute!"

Finally the tooth was freed and Abby inspected herself in the mirror.

Abby- "I look weird...."

  No Abby, you couldn't look more adorable!

Having A Big Family Means...

there will always be somebody

 to read to you.

It Was Time

for Sy's first haircut.

Personally, I love his curls. But the "she" and "her" comments were starting to be said, (not that he looks at all girly!) so it was time to get the scissors out!

 We were both a bit nervous as I strapped him into the highchair this morning.

 I mean, this is one active little boy!

 Wow! That hair was looooooong!

*Sniff*

Goodbye curls....

(Oh, and that sucker that he's holding? Didn't help my cause AT ALL!)

 It was a little touch and go for a while. When he got hair in his mouth he started screaming and gagging, but we both made it through.

 Barely....

 Having a haircut turned him into a little boy! I know it had to be done, but I think it's going to take a while to get used to!