Tobyn at Eight Months!

I'm a little behind with this post, but hey, better late than never! Reality is starting to hit, Tobyn is getting so big! I can't say I'm too excited about him getting big, especially if he is my last baby. I really do wish you could freeze your kids at certain ages and just keep them there for a longer period of time! He is so sweet! This past week he has been a little more demanding. I'm not sure if it's teeth or he's just aware of so much more! He is also becoming interested in really small objects! You know the kind like you just vacuumed the floor and he still manages to find the fuzz that was left behind kind of objects. He is really fascinated with my rings. I don't remember the girls doing that. He still loves to snuggle, but he is starting to push away so that he can see whats going on. He loves his sisters! For some reason, he thinks they are really funny! He is also learning that if he fusses, they will bring him a toy or at the least, try to entertain him. He loves to bang things, squeal and make screaming noises, and jump. He hasn't figured out the crawling thing yet, but he has mastered rolling and is finally sitting fairly well. All in all, he is still a Mama's boy and I'm alright with that!

First time swimming! The jury is out on whether he likes it.

The jury's in! Not so much! (He actually did really well, this was just a moment!)

He loves his sissy time!

He loves his toes!

And being nakey!

Inspired/Convicted!?

Yesterday, our Pastor gave a great sermon. I left there feeling first convicted and then inspired to do better. Bottom line, I shouldn't be a passive Christian. If I really believe that Christ died on the cross and that there is a heaven that I'm going to, then what am I doing right now!? Honestly, I'm waiting for the opportunity to land in my lap and then I make sure that it's the right timing, and that I'm not going to offend anyone before I share Jesus with them. No! What is wrong with me! That's not love. There are moments when I have stepped out there on the ledge, but they are few and far between. There definitely should be more of them, and maybe, just maybe, they should be a normal occurrence. I have been noticing lately, that there are a handful of people in our church where you see real fruit. It seems like there is always someone new coming to faith in Jesus with them, someone that they have shown the way. So, I've been asking myself, "What is the difference between them and me?" It seems like they are continually stepping out there on the ledge and sharing their life with lost people. I want to do that! I cry out "Yes, Lord! Use me!" But then I have this negative side that rises the question, "how do I do all that and balance the rest of my life (kids, husband, work, church commitments, etc.)?" Part of me feels like all that becomes an excuse, yet they are genuine obligations. Then there's the question, "How do I realistically be a part of this world, yet not of it? And right now what is even heavier upon my heart is, how do I have my kids be in the world, yet not of it?" There are times when I feel like all I am doing is sheltering them and not letting them be salt. I'm teaching them God's word and His principles, yet I'm not teaching them how to use that in the world which they will live in after they leave my house? How do I really get them to understand how many lost souls there are out there, and that they are people we love? So, I guess my point is with all this blabber, is that my New Year's inspiration is to Live My Life In Light of Eternity, and to some how teach that to my children! That seems like a huge statement, so I'm going to start with taking it one day at a time and picking four people with who I can connect with and share Jesus (and who knows, they may not like me after our conversation!)! And the rest, I'm still working on!

Little Entrepaneurs

On Monday night the girls had AWANAS. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically a Christian cub scouts where the kids memorize Bible scriptures. This past Monday they got to use there shares at the store filled with prizes. When I picked Taylin up, she had a sack full of goodies, but she wouldn't show them to me. She mentioned she got a ring pop and a sucker. I left it alone for the rest of the night. Yesterday, I looked in her bag to find five ring pops, six suckers, and two small toys! I was in shock of how much candy she got! (You would think I never let her have any candy!) I told her she couldn't have all of it and she had to share some of it. She was ready for the blow, I could see it in her face that she already knew she got to much. So, she thought for a minute and she said, "Mom! I've got a great idea! I can sale it!" With that, she set up a little table in the driveway with a sign attached and put her candy on it and waited patiently. She had one customer (mom). I don't think a single person went by the whole 45 minutes she sat out there, but she was still motivated to try it again another time!

Today, the neighbor girls came over with a sign up they had made for free ballet lessons at their house at certain times of the day. The girls signed up for a time slot of 4:30pm, put their leotards on, and went to their free lessons. I was told when I picked them up, they learned dances in the nutcracker. Their creative minds are the cutest things!

Christmas in Waves

Christmas this year came in three different waves! Our first wave started a couple days before Christmas with my family. We had everybody at our house except for my brother and his wife, but we got lucky enough to have his kids! My mom and dad had all of their eight grand kids together, which it has been a while. They all sure have fun together.

My mom gave me one of her nativity sets this year. It happen to be the one that we had while I was growing up. It's a wooden set and pretty beat up. One of the shepherds foot has broken off and been re glued, the angel's wing has been chewed by the dog, and there is several scratches and scuffs on the rest of the pieces but, I can remember spending hours playing with it as a child. Every year this nativity set was one of my favorite parts of bringing out the Christmas decorations. When I brought it home, I really didn't know where I was going to put it and I just left it on the dining table. The girls found it and started playing with it before I could even explain it. So, needless to say, many memories of my own came flooding back. Some traditions just happen naturally.

"I want some of the goodies too!"

Tobyn has convinced Kyler that he can do a better job feeding himself! (He had a bath after this feeding)

The eight Troup Grand kids!

This is our attempt at a family photo Christmas Eve. I just can't seem to get this family photo thing down.

Our second wave of Christmas started Christmas Eve. After our church service we had a couple of friends over for dinner. My mother helped out with our advent and gave the kids a lesson in "What God wants for Christmas." With 9 little ones under the age of seven, I think she did great!
Christmas morning! Here's the girls opening their stockings.


This is the perfect age to give Tobyn clothes! His favorite presents were the ribbons!


He was bushed after the busy morning. He was satisfied with sissy's blanket and the couch!

Trying out the new tramp!

Rayna's natural modeling skills, showing off new jewelry! Christmas day was ended with a candle lite, fondue dinner. Taylin actually ate more meat then I've ever seen her. If only we could do fondue every night for dinner!

Our third wave came two days after Christmas with Daniel's brothers family. We started out with high expectations of things to do, only to find out Taylin had strep on their second day here. Then we got lucky enough to have all four little girls come down with it! In spite of it all, the girls still had a blast playing together and yes, being sick together!

Our New Year's celebration was quite the smash! We counted down to 9pm and then celebrated in our pj's with confetti, poppers, streamers, pop its, whistles, and of course sparkling cider! (It was quite the mess to clean up afterwards)

It's amazing what grown men will do when there is a competitive spirit and boredom!

On the last night the girls decided to put on a play about princesses and fairies and ? Carys was the director/narrator and the other girls were the dancers! They set the stage, had costumes and props!

Sledding!

Snuggling on the couch watching movies while sick!


Christmas is sure fun to celebrate with lots of family and friends! It gives a constant reminder of how important Jesus birthday is. Merry Christmas (late)!

Our Annual Gingerbread House

Decorating anything with icing is not my forte, but my children love to decorate the gingerbread houses, so I play along for them. And here it is our lovely, beautiful gingerbread house!

Thanksgiving and Beyond

For Thanksgiving we went down to my parents house in Prescott Valley. My sister and her family joined us there. The kids had a great time playing together and we had a lot of good food!

Out of the three pictures I took of the three of them, of course the best one is the blurry one!

Here's Daniel and Kyler playing a tossing game (I don't remember what it's called!)

The biggest cousin holding the littlest!

On Friday, we took the kids to a big gingerbread house display and normally they have gingerbread cookies there that the kids get to decorate, but we went on the wrong day. My kids were a little upset, so we made and decorated them at home, compliments of Dad making the frosting and Aunt Jena making the cookies!

My sweet munchkin!

Hideouts are always so much better at Grandma's house!

My sister let the girls paint her toes with nail polish that she gave them. It looks like she is having second thoughts!

On Saturday, we went over to the White Mountains to cut down our Christmas trees. This is the first year we have down this as a family. We got there a little late and didn't have as much time as we would have like to hunt for the perfect tree, but it was still fun. Daniel definitely felt like the Griswold family from Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation. Here is Brett and Kyler cutting down there tree and trimming it up.

Here is Daniel cutting down our monster of a tree! It was so big it was hanging out of the truck on the way home!

Here's Kaylee trying to entertain the girls and keep them warm.

Here's me trying to keep Tobyn warm. It snowed on our way home.

Here's our tree decorated! It barely fit through the door, we had to shove it and trim it up quite a bit! We have 10ft ceilings! As we were decorating it Daniel got the girls believing that we brought a squirrel home with us and it's living in the tree! (Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation is Daniel's favorite movie, can you tell?)

This is just a proud mommy moment of Rayna writing her name! Yeah Rayna!

Snow Day

Today has not quite been the day I envisioned it would be, but I guess we have made the most of it. This is our one day a week we actually go to school (and it is one of the last one's before the holiday break) and it got cancelled (along with everything else)! Oh well. The girls have had fun playing in the snow, sipping hot chocolate, and playing with the neighbor girl instead! I have got a few household chores done today, but with extra add-ons of shoveling snow and suiting the kids up for the snow, I haven't accomplished as much as I wanted! These pictures were taken this morning and its been snowing nonstop today, so we probably have another foot out there!