... or this one (which is too bad b/c I love the background and the lighting - a beautiful setting)

Yeah... don't look for this in the 2008 Christmas cards

The FIRST day we got to Williamsburg, Ben woke up w/ a fever (shocking, I know). This beach trip was day 2 of our vacation and the poor guy is still running a fever. He's not so happy to be on the beach (his first trip to the ocean).

Ahh - vacation pictures! I'm going to take this nice and slow and not do too much at once (b/c I have a lot... well, a lot for ME anyway)...
We went to Williamsburg, VA for vacation and it was SO nice! We had to take a trip to Virginia Beach, of course... gotta go to the BEACH on vacation, right? Ha. Here we are before venturing out on to the beach. The sweatshirts are an indication... it was chilly! In the 50's and windy. Here's the best pic I got of all five kids. My goal was to get some good beach pictures for Christmas cards but you'll see how those turned out in a minute.

I can't NOT smile when I look at this picture... :)

I love this picture...

Kate loves Lucky Charms too (what kid doesn't?) -- but thankfully, she eats them a little more "normally."

... and as soon as he realized he was being photographed he turned into a cheeseball. "Deese!" That's my Ben!

Ahh - success! :)

This was Ben this morning - eating Lucky Charms... well, eating the CHARMS out of the Lucky Charms anyway. :) I had to get a picture of him fishing through the milk looking for the charms.

Cute pic of my boys playing soccer on the sidelines of one of Jesse's games

Hey, 13 candles makes a lot of smoke, man!

Look who's a TEENAGER!!!! :) Happy bday, Sam!
Enjoying cake after eating at his restaurant of choice - Olive Garden.

Isaac wanted to make Kate a cake to eat ON her birthday.
We went out to eat to the restaurant of her choice (Red Robin) and then came home and had cake and presents.

Proof that he climbed in there voluntarily (Kate actually caught this picture)

NOT a bad idea, Ben... NOT a bad idea......

This doesn't give the best idea of what it will be like in the end (esp. since those 2x6's will eventually be a wall covered in cabinets) but... I had to show a bit of my husband's awesomeness since he did such a good job on the future-family-room windows. And there's my little girl vacuuming sawdust. What a helper. :)

This pic is for my mom b/c she couldn't come see it the other night. The new windows in the kitchen... just a tiny taste of what it will be someday -- and notice that it's not a picture of "things with no people." ;)

She wanted me to take a picture of the finished product to put on the blog

Kate working diligently on her first paper

We sat down to start homeschool and look who popped himself right up on to the bench. :)

Today is a BIG day for Kate!! It's her 6th birthday AND her first day of Kindergarten at the Anderson Academy for the Extremely Gifted and Adorable. :) She wanted to start school ON her birthday.

Happy bday, sweet girl - and happy first day of school.

Numbers 11:4-6
Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving and the people of Israel also wept again and said, "Oh, that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at."

"Obsessing on an unmet desire takes away our joy and delight in all that God has provided for us TODAY... If we focus our thoughts on looking only at what we hope tomorrow will bring (or what yesterday had), we will miss the pleasure of today. Life is made of todays, not tomorrows. What do we have today? Whatever it may be - a good friend, a hug, a freshly baked bagel, sunshine, a place to call home - can bring us joy because it is God's gift for our enjoyment. Taking joy in the little things is... CONTENTMENT."
- Lydia Brownback

Oh... I love you cheeseball...

A little background on this picture... our little Ben LOOOOVES to help Todd w/ the remodel. He's so funny! If you give him the option of a pile of toys and a few tools in a half-demoed room, he'll pick the tools everytime. And he loves just following Todd around "helping." It's pretty cute. He even has a preference for certain tools... Todd has a tool bag w/ various sized socket wrenches and screw drivers in it. Ben will pull each one out, look at the tip to see if it's the one he wants and if it's not, he puts it back in the little slot where it belongs... and he just keeps going until he finds the one he wants. It's pretty funny to watch.

ANYway... here's Ben helping when Daddy's not even home. And as you can see, he even got into some paint. I had to take a picture b/c I knew someday it would be funny (it wasn't funny at the time)

Kate, you crazy girl - why would you WANT to get in this picture?

Ben fell down right before this picture and Eliab didn't like getting his picture taken, I guess. It makes for a hilarious picture though, don't you think??? :D

Hi Eliab!