Sunday

Autumn is now on an antibiotic. Janae is now sick as well...last one so hopefully we'll be all better soon! Unless Randy or I get it of course.

I'm taking Zach & Josiah to church today and Randy will stay with the little ones and sick ones.

Thursday

And Autumn is now sick as well. She's been complaining occasionally of sore throat or head ache the past few weeks. Now it's an earache and fever and dizziness. So I guess another trip to the doctor is in order tomorrow. This makes 3 out of 4 Fridays this month that I take someone to the doctor...one Friday twice...and 6 trips to the doctor in 3 weeks.

Janae still occasionally also complains of headache or a sore throat. I'm never quite sure if it actually is or just suggested because of someone else....I guess if she gets a fever I'll know for sure!

Books

I got some new books to read. I am so excited. I absolutely love to read and so make time for it whenever I can squeeze it in. As previously recorded, I read the top book on the stack a few weeks ago. Earlier this week I read the bottom book and am now working on the 2nd from bottom book. I had read the 2nd from top book quite a few years ago and wanted to read it again. I'm not sure how long it will take me to get through these....but I'm certainly looking forward to it!

Book Review:

• "The Five Languages of Apology" by Chapman & Thomas. This was a great book. It's premise is that we each receive apologies in different ways and need to hear different things to feel like the other person is sincerely sorry. I was fascinated that in marriage (and probably many other relationships), spouses frequently speak speak differing languages which can lead to the other person feeling as though their husband/wife didn't really mean their apology or they would've said it differently. And that also, the preference of your spouse is sometimes the language that is last on your list. I also really enjoyed the chapter on teaching children to apologize. I read this book fairly quickly (as I normally do on a first reading through a book) and look forward to reading it again in the future.

• I am now working through "Necessary Endings" by Dr. Henry Cloud. I really, really like it. It deals with letting go of the good to make space for the best in our lives and jobs. Dr. Cloud shows that endings are part of a natural flow of life and by not acknowledging that and preparing for that we can waste a lot of time, energy, and money. I also appreciated a section where he talks about how some of us are taught never to quit. But sometimes "quitting" or stopping an activity is actually a wise decision, not a cop out. I'm especially enjoying it knowing that we are at the "end" of our foster care time and that a good ending will free us to move on to what God has next for us...namely, raising these children...but also whatever else He has for us.

There were a ton of great quotes in simply these two books....but I think I'll just encourage you to read them for yourselves! And if you are one of my local friends, I'll be happy to loan them to you.

Spring is coming...I think.

Sunday morning I took these few pictures of our flower beds.

I think I should've rotated them to post them! I couldn't tell from my little pictures how I held the camera. :-) Anyway, above are crocuses.

These shoots are lillies and daffodils...I think.

These are tulips....and that line in the ground is evidence of voles or moles or something around here. Sadly, I have far fewer tulips then I used to thanks to these little creatures.

The weather forecasters are predicting 1-3 inches of snow for us tonight.

Oh yes, and the new header picture...that's from last February when we got those 2 big storms a week apart.

Valentine's Day

Here are a few pictures from our Valentine's Day supper the other week.

Yes, Micah is there too...you just can't see him yet. :-)

And on that subject....for some reason our clearances still have not come through....prayers appreciated...that they come through, and that I have patience to wait!

Basil

I bought a basil plant at our local grocery store. Now I know nothing about using fresh herbs and only minimal about keeping plants alive so we'll see how it goes. This is how it looked when I brought it home. Once I got it in water it did straighten up.

I kept forgetting to put any in anything I make. Today I finally changed that. I chopped up one leaf into my egg sandwich for lunch. I didn't want to much for the first time in case I didn't like it...but I could hardly taste it so I'll try 2 the next time. I also found a recipe for "basil jelly" so if I end up with a lot of leaves I may try that. It takes 2 cups (firmly packed) though and I'm not sure if I can get that much off of one plant. Basil Jelly is eaten with cream cheese on crackers or else mixed with bbq sauce and put on meat for cooking.

Sunday

And I think we're on the mend. Everyone seems to be doing better. We still have some runny noses. And Micah still had a fever this morning. But everyone seems better. I did keep the boys home from church this morning though to make sure. Everyone is ready to go away again though!

It's a lovely day here. Chillier then last week but sunny.

Sick Kid Update

Josiah is still not feeling so well...but I think slightly better.

Autumn and Janae are feeling fine.

Zach woke up from his nap yesterday with a fever of 103' so I ended up taking him to the doctor. His ear infection of 2 weeks ago which had cleared up was back. So we're trying a different antibiotic.

Mark and Micah are running low fevers and cranky and congested. Mark's symptoms that got him on an antibiotic 2 weeks ago are back...oozing eyes, runny nose. They had all cleared up....

As long as the meds (tylenol or ibuprofen) are in their system they are doing well. But I can always tell when the 4 hours are up.

Hopefully by next week we will all be on the mend.

Today I'm doing laundry. I also baked some sugar cookies. I'm hoping to get out to the store this afternoon during naptime while Randy's here.

Have a good weekend!

Friday

The recipe for the cookies I made the other day - http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Peanut-Butter-Oat-Cookies - for our family I doubled it and added a bag of chocolate chips.

Boys are still sick in various forms. I had Josiah to the doctor this morning and he is now on Amoxicillin. Coughs and runny noses are quite prevalent here with sides of sore throats, earaches, headaches, other aches, swollen tonsils and glands, and vomiting (due to excess mucus I believe).

It is cloudy here, but warmer, so several children have been in and out this morning. They wanted to go out barefooted but I squashed that idea. :-)

Today's plans - take care of sick kids, wash dishes, wash/dry/put away laundry, finish bookwork.

My cousin's wife had a "Scentsy" party (another friend is the consultant) and I got my stuff that I ordered last night. It is really cool because the wax melts but stays cool so I don't need to worry about anyone bumping it and burning themselves. I am currently melting a scent called "Home Sweet Home" and the whole house smells lovely. I also got a night light warmer for the (master) bathroom to make that smell good as well. I wanted to put one in the main bathroom but am afraid the kids will bump it and spill the wax...I'm still thinking about that.

We have no plans this weekend so hopefully we will get all rested and healed .

Karen

Thursday

No MOPS today...Mark and Josiah have fevers. Josiah is actually pretty sick...I have an appointment for him in the morning at the doctor. Of course, I'm hoping he'll wake up in great form and I'll be able to cancel it but I have my doubts....

Anyway, the dishes have been stacking up all day long so I'm off to unload and reload the dishwasher at least.

Food

I tried a new recipe for cookies today. The kids said they were good. I did not tell them that the cookies contained whole wheat flour and bran in addition to the oatmeal, peanut butter and chocolate chips. Actually, I didn't really realize it all either until I started making them....they aren't to bad...a bit more fiber then I'm used to in a cookie. The addition of the chocolate chips was helpful. :-)

Okay. Really will go to bed now.

Random...again.

• I recently read the book "God's Power to Change Your Life (Living with Purpose)" by Rick Warren. I really enjoyed it and want to go through it again a bit slower. One of my favorite quotes from the book is "the grass is greener where you water it."
• I have several books on my "to read" list right now. Unfortunately, one of them will not be released until sometime in March and the other one is not at our local library. It is also so new that the 2 libraries in the county that do have it will not send it to other libraries yet. I am debating about buying both of them....we'll see.
• We are still struggling with various illnesses here. Prayers are much appreciated! We've been dealing with everything with Tylenol and Ibuprofen and not missing much school but it's getting old. Zach finished his antibiotic on Monday. Mark & Micah finished theirs today. Tonight Mark suddenly spiked a fever of 103'. Hopefully it disappears as quickly as it came! Josiah is coughing a lot. Janae and Autumn both complain of sore throats and/or ear pain from time to time. Like I said, everyone is managing nicely with over-the-counter meds. And I know viruses take awhile to run their course.
• I was planning to go to MOPS in the morning....but we'll see. I obviously can't go if someone is running a fever! I have plenty to do around here, though, if I do need to stay home....not that it really gets done if someone is sick.
• The kids were outside this afternoon...riding their bikes in the very wet and partially snow yard. They came in covered with mud. I decided to immediately wash those clothing...and managed to drop the Oxi-clean bucket (I keep it high on a shelf) and spill it into the washer. Later Zach came to me spitting and saying "soap". When I asked him to show me...he took me to the washer where there was still some white powder around the edges. Thankfully he didn't taste much!
• Good night...

Updates

Laundry Soap:

I am currently more pleased with the homemade laundry soap. I started using a cup of it instead of less. Especially since my loads are usually pretty large. I also started adding the homemade fabric softener and I think that helps. I've been debating about whether I should try washing in warm or hot water instead of cold to see if that helps with the grease spots. I am still quite pleased with the "cleanliness" results...just not the grease spots that stay on the little boys clothing. But I do think it's better now that I'm using more soap.

Potty Training:

Zach's been doing quite well. I noticed that he uses the potty if he's in "undies" but otherwise will just go in his pull-up so I am now only using pull-ups at night and naps. Today he told me he wanted to wear "undies" for his nap. I was a bit leery (he naps in our bed!) but it all worked out quite well. He was in undies most of the weekend, even when we went away. And he did well all weekend. So, unless we have a major regression, I will consider him trained. I (of course) expect that he will continue to have accidents from time to time just as the other children in this family did. :-) So this means....only 2 kids in the house in diapers. Amazing! I am pleased that he does initiate going on his own as well. It's not only when I tell him to go. Anyway, that's my excitement for today. ;-)

Well, it is way later then I intended to stay up so it's off to bed for me....kids still aren't sleeping the greatest with their colds, but much better then a week ago!

Valentine's Day

Around here holidays in general are rather understated. We notice the day, perhaps something a bit special, perhaps not, depending on the specific holiday. We have tons of junk so I didn't feel the need to get the kids another little knick knack to trip over. We have plenty of candy. Anyway, as I mentioned, I gave them a couple of DVDs the other week and said it is their gift.

Now, to make supper slightly special, I plan to use my red table cloth. If I remember, I'll dig out the goblets for the water. This morning I dug out the parfait glasses and made "jello layers" in them. (Jell-O and Cool-Whip mixed together. As it cools, it separates into layers. Serve topped with remaining Cool-Whip.) I did find some little square cards with a scrapbooking kit I won at an open house last fall so I made tiny cards for each member of the family. I plan to put one at each plate with (1) heart shaped peppermint patty (I put Randy's in his lunch box since he's headed west). And that'll be about it. Perhaps we'll talk about St. Valentine a bit. More likely we'll discuss their school Valentine's parties.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sunday Afternoon

and we are relaxing. 2 boys sleeping, 1 doing everything possible to stay awake. 3 others playing with legos.

Friday night the girls went to a birthday party at their cousins house and stayed overnight since everyone was going over in the morning anyway while Randy & I went to meet with the accountant. Quite lovely to verify that the boys adoption qualified for the adoption tax credit and what exactly that means. Any time we don't have to pay a lot of money to the government makes me happy. :-) Frequently we need to pay in, so it was a pleasure to find out that we don't have to this year. For our adoptive parent friends, if you or your accountant needs more info on this credit, check out the website: www.nacac.org.

In the evening our friends babysat the kids and Randy & I went out. This time we tried "Romano's Macaroni Grill". Not bad...and a much shorter wait then at Olive Garden where we normally go. Frequently I get our "cash back" from our credit card in the form of restaurant gift cards for us to use when we get a "date night". I'd like to go again because there were various things on the menu that I'd like to try. We then did a bit of shopping at the local mall....which is much busier on a Saturday night then I had remembered. (Kim, if you read this, we saw your brother & family there.)

This morning we went to church. Our pastor preached a sermon on "The Widow and the Oil" from 2 Kings. He included a movie clip showing the story which really made it come alive. While we like to think that kids aren't sold for their parents debts today....unfortunately that is simply not the case everywhere. I've been hearing/reading more about human trafficking and it's a huge problem. http://www.truckersagainsttrafficking.com/ is just one site with info on this issue.

The kids are starting to get better...still have some runny noses and ear pain though. Hope they all are soon over this. We have a busier week this week....we'll see what happens!

Adoption Update

"In everything give thanks..." (can't remember the biblical reference right now...).

I'm coming to realize that this adoption is not going to happen when I had hoped (Feb.-Mar.). We have friends who just got an adoption date of March 17 so I need to realistically adjust my hopes for April. I do feel rather disappointed and frustrated because the delay is due to some paperwork that should've been taken care of by now (this is out of my hands...someone else's paperwork)...so because of the delay, we are still waiting on our "clearances". And until we have them, our adoption caseworker (not her fault either!) can't finish our "family profile". And until that is done, we can't do the legal stuff and get a date for the adoption.

It also means that I'm going to need to sit through 1 more court update...wait all afternoon (during naptime), have a 30 second hearing (required every 4-6 months). Get another babysitter. Oh well.

It will all be worth it in the end.

Now, is there anything through this that I can be thankful for in this situation?!

• An April adoption means a better chance that our adoption party can spill over into the outdoors...weather permitting of course.
• God is ever working in developing patience in my life.
• And because of the delay, some caseworkers will remain in my life for a bit longer. And I do get along well with them.
• We'll receive the foster care $ for a few months longer then expected. $ is always helpful. :-)

Sometimes (okay, almost every day except when we have a caseworker meeting) I forget that Micah is not ours yet....

Prov. 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord

with all your heart.

And lean not on

your own understanding.

In all your ways

acknowledge Him.

And He will direct

your paths.

FRIDAY!

And the house is in some semblance of an order after coercing the kids into cleaning up last night. The 3 little boys are constantly making huge messes in every room of the house.

New strategy/morning routine for kids - eat breakfast, get dressed, make bed, straighten room, come out of room....LOCKING THE DOOR BEHIND YOU! Hopefully I can contain the chaos to the Kitchen, Living Room and downstairs Family Room.

Randy is home...getting more wood up to the house for our wood stove. It's been so cold we go through it quickly. Zach is outside helping him.

I need to go back to loading the dishwasher now that the boys are distracted. When I tried earlier they came to help me.

Oh yes, and no one woke me up last night until 5:00 this morning when Janae needed her closet door shut so she could sleep. Baby woke at 6:00...early, but better then throughout the night!

A few of the blogs I enjoy

Someone commented quite a bit ago wondering about my favorite blogs. I have quite a few that I read frequently. Some that I "follow" and some that I just know how to get to through other blogs. For everyone I list (in no particular order), there are quite a few more that I also like! (So if yours isn't on this list, it might be on the next list). :-)

• Cookingwithlittles.blogspot.com. Tereza is a mom to 9 and I enjoy her writing style and find her blogging fun and encouraging.
• hishandshisfeettoday.blogspot.com - Kim & her husband have lots of kids...all adopted. I enjoy reading about other families whose children have joined them via adoption.
• carol-coram-deo.blogspot.com - Carol challenges my thinking
• groetjes-ks.blogspot.com - I enjoy keeping up with my friend's life even if we are not in the same time zone. :-)
• arethesekidsallyours.blogspot.com - as mentioned, I enjoy reading blogs of people with large families and kids who joined via adoption.
• cerwindoris.xanga.com (or xanga.com/cerwindoris) - These friends of ours are involved with Transport for Christ. (www.transportforchrist.org)
• overthemoonwithjoy.blogspot.com - another large family/adoption blog.

And many more.... :-) I really hate to stop...because there are a lot more! I'll have to do a part 2.

The Problem

with tackling any additional task....is the resulting chaos in the rest of the house.

Today I dragged out all the various boxes of hand-me-down boys clothing and sorted by size, setting aside the things I will not wear on them (to many stains, not our styles, etc.) for Reuzit, and reboxing in a more organized fashion. While I am pleased that this got accomplished and that the boys "played nicely" while I was doing so, their "playing nicely" resulted in lots more stuff for me to clean up (like cleaning out Mark's clothing cupboard...again!). It's a side effect of doing anything extra... Oh well, this to will pass, and I will be longing for my little boys and wondering who these preteens with attitudes are in their places. :-)

Now, off to clean up! Then planning to run to school (it's open house this morning) to take advantage of that "Auntie Anne's" stand that's there.

The sun...

...shines through the clouds...at least part of the day. This makes me happy! I have missed the sunshine. :-)

We went grocery shopping...went quite well actually. Only mommy knocked the apple juice off the checkout counter and the lid popped off....thankfully they were slow and someone could attend to it quickly. And I discovered when I got home that I accidentally bought decaf tea instead of regular...oh well, I can drink that in the evenings. :-)

My house is clean (Thank you, my friend!)....although the boys are doing their best to change that quickly (think: throw the yogurt on the floor at lunch).

Janae is at her cousin's house.

3 little boys are about to go down for naps.

And I....I need to get our tax information in order for our appointment with the accountant later this week....

Oh yes, I have a cup of coffee on the counter....better go drink that before it gets cold.

Tuesday

• The little boys slept all night - how wonderful! This meant that I slept much better as well.
• The 6-year-old did not...bad dreams.
• The 11-year-old did not either...once again he has a sore throat (he had this 2 weeks ago...not sure if I should be concerned....)
• The 3-year-old did wake once, but only to be covered back up.
• Today my friend comes to clean....I need to clean up the kitchen!
• The younger 4 and I are going for groceries while she is here.
• I'm drinking English Breakfast tea - different brand - I really should just stick to the (more expensive) ones that I like. I find cheaper teas have what I call a "soapy" feel to them. If that makes any sense. Or perhaps I should never have started drinking better teas so I wouldn't know what I was missing. :-) Actually, since I stopped using sugar I am much more sensitive to how the tea actually tastes.
• This morning I got up early again. I had missed it, but with minimal sleep I was sleeping as late as possible!
• I also need to fold the laundry I did yesterday. As I have nothing tomorrow (planned, that is) I think I will not wash any more today...although I may change my mind. :-) It's nice sometimes to just get everything away before doing more...even when I know it means more for the next day.
• We will see what all is accomplished. The little boys have been much more clingy since they haven't been feeling well (quite understandable)...but when they do feel well they are into everything...either way, I never know what I will get done. :-)
• Zach's current favorite song is "The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock"
• Mark's favorite activity - looking at scrapbooks.
• Micah enjoys - cleaning out drawers and such (particularly ones he's not supposed to be in...the toy ones don't have the same fascination).
• Josiah & Autumn - are learning to play the recorder at school....I prefer them to practice in a different room then I am in.
• Janae - will complain today that she has no one to play with. She goes to school 3 days one week and 2 the next. This is a "2-day" week.
• Their school has Open House tonight (6:30-9:00) and tomorrow (9:00-12:00). Auntie Anne's will be there tomorrow so I may need to stop by. :-)

Have a good day everyone!

Random

• I'm tired. I do not do well on minimal sleep. I also don't do well taking naps. So after 4 nights of minimal sleep...I don't have much energy. This to will pass and we will be back in our sleeping all night mode.
• Child #4 consistently brings up situations that I did not have to face with child #1, #2, or #3...or if I faced it, it was easily resolved. Not so with #4....Children are each unique! One of the things I have learned since getting child #4 is that children are different and do not respond the same way! Even if 98% of children respond to a given situation in a certain way, there are always the 2% that respond differently...
• Books: I read the book "Seven Deadly Sins" by Anthony Campolo (copyright 1987) yesterday and today. It was very good, and though the statistics are dated, the message is still very valid!
• I have laundry and dishes to do. But since the children have been so needy, and the visit to the doctor this morning was rather chaotic, I have given myself permission to take a break and read blogs instead of laboring...even if my friend will be here promptly in the morning to clean.
• I am dreaming of 70 degree weather and sunshine....of going outside with no shoes or coats. And then I remember that heat and humidity come quickly after spring....maybe winter's not so bad after all. But I really would like to see the sun again!

Illness

I haven't been on the computer much recently. Partly because it was the weekend. Partly because I am tired. The kids haven't all slept through the night since Wednesday night. Friday I took Zach to the doctor. He has an ear infection and is now on Amoxicillin. This morning I took Mark & Micah. Micah has a double ear infection and Mark has a very severe sinus infection. So I will go pick up their prescriptions after the kids get home from school.

Die Another Day

I recently heard this song and appreciated it...

Randy's Job

Awhile ago someone had asked about how it works with Randy being gone frequently. Actually, I'm not quite sure, but by the grace of God it does. It's the way it is and so I'm rather used to it. I'm very thankful that he has a good job that he loves and that God can provide for our family through Randy's hard work.

At this point in time he usually makes 2 trips each week to the midwest. He is usually home weekends and once or twice during the week. Sometimes he needs to leave on Sundays right after lunch. In the past when he was leased to a different company there were times when he was home most evenings. But because he would get up at 2:00 every morning, he was rather exhausted in the evenings. With his current schedule he gets more sleep so when he is home he can be with us mentally as well as bodily. His schedule varies so I'm never exactly sure what it will be. Depending on what he is hauling, he can be home more frequently.

Because of his schedule, I am no longer used to cooking large suppers every night. Frequently we eat eggs/pancakes/french toast and such for supper as well as leftovers and grilled cheese sandwiches. That may have to change as the kids get older... :-)

We talk on the phone at least once during the day and often several times.

This is our normal. The kids don't know any different. Our family is on an early schedule...bedtime is 8:00 because that worked well when Randy was getting up at 2:00 every morning. We have kept it that way and that gives me some time at the end of the day to relax (or work) before going to bed. We tend to get up between 6:30-7:00 in the morning.

Once the kids started school, I started getting up earlier then them. I feel calmer and at peace by having some unrushed time in the morning rather then trying to get dressed and eat breakfast at the same time as them. That being said, every time I had an infant I would not get up early very often until the baby was sleeping well. I don't do well on minimum sleep.

I rarely schedule things in the evenings. It would require getting a babysitter....and if Randy would happen to be home I'd rather be home with him. Now that some girls at church are old enough to babysit I am starting to occasionally do something in the evening. I never liked to impose on other people (even though they are willing) during the time of day when their husbands were home and their kids were home from school.

Because of his schedule I also tend to just take the kids with me shopping and such. Waiting until he would be available to be with them would be rather inconvenient...although I do take advantage of it when I can. My sister-in-law who lives close by has been a great help as well. We swap babysitting during the day as needed.

Well, the children are getting up...gotta run!

Freezing Rain

The results of freezing rain.

This is actually the buildup of snow/ice from all the storms on our roof. the snow is melting and turning to ice. You'll notice there are no long icicles near the door where I was standing...the kids like to get them.

Our arbivitae (no idea how to spell that--bushes!) have taken quite a hit from the heavy snow and now the ice. Not sure they'll recover.

The trees were all coated in ice yesterday.

By the end of the day the ice had all melted off the trees and there was water running everywhere. The sun even came out...a rather rare occasion this winter!

MOPS craft

Two weeks ago at MOPS we did a simple craft. I had not gotten to the store for supplies so I worked on an afghan. However, last week Randy was home most of a day and I slipped out to the store and got what I needed. This was a super easy & cheap craft. And it would make a great gift! Addie from http://www.etsy.com/shop/waldeckdrygoods taught us how to make these.

supplies:

(1) Marbled Covered composition Book

Adhesive

Scrapbooking Paper & Embellishments

Pens

I actually did 3...

Step 1
Step 2 - cover with adhesive

Then I forgot to take pictures.

Step 3 - place scrapbooking paper on adhesive and trim edges.

Step 4 - Repeat for the back of book

Step 5 - OPTIONAL - cover the insides of the covers

Step 6 - Embellish as desired

These are my finished products. I made one for each of the girls for Valentine's Day...I gave them to them already. And the 3rd one is mine. I want to use it as a gardening journal. Glue in tags when I buy things, record what I plant, etc. I'm sure it will be disorganized...but that's okay. It will give me a spot to do all that. I've wanted to for awhile but just haven't taken the time to do so. My journal ended up with a few extra stickers because my finger cracked while I was doing this and dripped a bit of blood on the paper...

Anyway. So there's a super easy craft/gift idea from this craft-challenged person. Have a lovely day!

Josiah's Birthday

Josiah with his gifts from Grammy & Grandpa - a hooded sweatshirt & lego set.

Gift #1 from Dad & Mom
Gift #2 (okay, this looks like 2, but it was wrapped together so that makes it 1). :-)

And gift #3 - his own toiletry bag for when we go camping/on vacation.

And the cake. When I went to take photos at supper when we served it, the camera batteries were dead so there are no photos of him with it.

Speaking of cakes...there is a fabulous blog by Rosanne who is the sister of a childhood schoolmate of mine called uniquesweet1.blogspot.com. She makes the most gorgeous cakes and such. It's a pleasure just to look at the photos. :-)

The storm

really wasn't much here. A bit of freezing rain. The kids had off yesterday....2 hour delay today. Everything froze overnight and needs to thaw. Lots of rain....and the kids are getting up now so you all have a good day!

Happy Birthday

JOSIAH!

This photo was taken last summer. And when I looked at it I realized that he's really growing up. He looks even more grown up now...a mere 6 months later. Maybe it's that his hair is now longer. :-)

He has requested pancakes & eggs for breakfast

and

Haystacks for supper.