Merry Christmas!

This cute couple came to us from Dorothy in England. It was part of an ornament exchange. We love them! They look adorable on the Christmas tree and the children enjoyed showing their friends. We sent a log cabin quilt square ornament for our recipient. I learned a valuable thing - I'll never make a whole quilt out of tiny log cabin squares! That requires way more patience than I have at this stage in my life. :)

We are not sending out Christmas Cards this year.

I feel a little guilty, but life is busy and we're cheap. lol. We love all of you dearly and I know family does read our blog. For those who miss the Christmas Letter here is a condensed version..

Charlotte.. now 12. She still stays up all hours to read. Now she's started this thing called "Sleeping In". We're hoping this will rub off on all of the other children. She's still attached to her violin and it's not surprising to hear fiddling coming from her room at various hours. She likes to try new things and is into crafty stuff. Her recent accomplishment has been making a hunter elf costume. I'll try to get a picture of her.

Bethany.. now 9. (soon to be 10). She talks a LOT. For those who are convinced she's my quiet child, well, I don't think so. The quiet child is Naomi, simply because she's limited to a few words. Her best friend in the whole world is a 7yo friend that comes over every Thursday. They have a lot in common. I have a picture on the blog of her showing him some cello music. They're a military family and relocating in the spring. She is also very crafty and likes designing new games.

Both girls adore their little sister. She's spoiled SO much. For those that think the 6th child is lacking in attention.. well.. you haven't seen our home. It's a blessing that for each new child there is a new sibling to give attention.

Naomi.. now 8 months is a cutey-bug. She still has her blue eyes and has quite a few quirks. One quirk is she doesn't like to be held while you're sitting. She will *scream* like she's dying and as soon as you stand up - silence. Charlotte claims they're not going to spoil the 'next baby'. Um. We'll see. It's so fun to have a pink bundle of baby, the novelty still hasn't worn off. (No, there isn't a 'next baby' yet, we'll keep y'all <-- see my southern speak? informed)

James.. now 7 (8 in Feb) has grown so much! He's still Bethany's size. He has a snap circuit set and has enjoyed learning about it. He's also our Bible digger in the family. He's enjoyed the Good and Evil book. It has brought up a lot of great questions. His copy is almost worn out and we'll have to replace it soon. He's also great at making Naomi giggle.

Joseph.. now 4 loves to learn new songs. His favorites are Veggie Tales. His favorite food is peanut butter toast. He's my picky-eater.. he could survive on peanut butter and bread indefinitely! He also loves his stuffed teddy bear. When all else fails.. he loves to pick on his little brother. The two of them! Geesh. One day I'm sure they'll be great friends. If they both survive to 'one day'.

Noah.. now 2 loves new songs too. His favorites are fingerplays like itsy bitsy spider and patty-cake. He will request endless ENDLESS singing of those songs. He's convinced he can count and read. He loves ladybugs (he alternates between squishing them and letting them out). We're trying to transition him into sharing a room with the boys.. preferably before he's 10.

Both Joseph and Noah adore Naomi. We do have to watch to make sure she doesn't get squished. Sometimes it turns into a battle of which brother can be closest to the baby.. and ... well.. the battles almost always end bad.

All of the children are anxious to hit the dollar tree to shop for each other. Charlotte has the boy's presents done already, so she has just her sisters. We usually wait until really close to Christmas to minimize the suspense. :)

Currently we're taking a stab at unschooling. Bethany and James worked on a project about the solar system. Charlotte is writing more on her book. After the holidays we'll return to our traditional method. I'm sure Puppy101 counts for something too!

Oh.. the pet count. Someone asked me the other day about them.

We have:

3 cats - Sugar (Charli's older cat), Peppermint (Bethany's under 1 cat), and Tuna (James's under 1 cat). Joseph wants a cat, we told him he has to share. Bethany offered him co-ownership of Peppermint.

1 dog - Meadow. This is my dog.

1 lizard -she's a mali uromastyx. She hibernates when her light needs replaced. It'd be nice if cats would hibernate with the click of a switch. :)

I keep waiting on the random chicken to wander up. Jim has nixed chicken ownership *unless* a stray chicken wanders onto the property (hint to friends... hehehe).

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6 puppies - these are temporary, we're not really counting them as 'our' pets, although they're adorable and a lot of fun!!