Turning a corner

Yesterday marks a new era in the Gunn household. Gracie learned how to put sheets on a bed all by herself! She worked so hard for an hour and then called me in to surprise me. I was so thrilled to see her try so hard. The girls beds are particularly difficult because you can't pull them out from the wall. Even I have a hard time getting the corners all the way down. She is becoming such a wonderful helper and companion to me.

In other news, we are thrilled to announce that we expecting a new little one sometime next June! So far so good with the morning sickness, but I'm losing my taste for chocolate :(

BTW- my other computer had a nasty virus on it, so I've switched to another one for awhile. This unfortunately makes me lose access to my pictures so none to post right now. I will try to figure out how to do them on this machine soon.

New

I've updated my profile pic!  

Sabbath rest

21 But there the majestic LORD will be for us
A place of broad rivers and streams,
In which no galley with oars will sail,
Nor majestic ships pass by
22 (For the LORD is our Judge,
The LORD is our Lawgiver,
The LORD is our King;
He will save us);

Isaiah 33

Dresses, movies, and new friends

I promised a while back to post some pics of Gracie in her party dress, but one of her brothers decided to erase them so that he could take pictures of his Spiderman shoes. We finally got some more pictures, and although these didn't turn out as good as the first ones, she still looks beautiful. :)
Last night, we drove to Dallas to a movie premiere! It was a wonderful Christian movie done by the Heumoore team. We really loved this film and can't wait to get our own copy. These are the same men who made the famous Bubble Trouble movie which is one of my kids' favorites. The boys got to meet their hero Gator and Gracie got to meet Reagan. They were beyond thrilled. Noah kept saying, "Mom, I didn't know the people in the movie were REAL!" The viewing was held at the Faith Prebyterian Church where we got to fellowship with some wonderful new friends. Colin made his rounds with the men and I met in particular a couple of beautiful sisters that were so sweet. They are stay-at-home-daughters and are becoming so skilled in the arts of homemaking. They are where I wish I was when I got married. No - they are where I wish I would be now! The Heumoore boys and the Reins sisters are such inspirations to me as I seek to raise my children to be godly men and women. They are proof that with God's grace, it can be done!

Another post about 8

Happy 8 years to Colin and me!

Random 8

Thanks to Amy over at Moms3Psalms! I think this is the first meme I've actually done. Let's see if I can do find 8 whole facts to tell.

First, the rules are to post 8 facts about yourself, then tag 8 people when you're done.

So.....(cue drum roll)
1. I sometimes imagine I can sing like Celine Dion. Usually in the car when I'm by myself. I love, love, love singing really loud but I'll only do it when I'm by myself, or with Gracie - looks like she inherited this from me! :)

2. I am officially at the same weight I was when I got married, exactly eight years ago today! This is also the lowest I've been since I got pregnant the first time.

3. I'm very, very introverted but have learned to enjoy being in social situations thanks to God's grace and some pushing from my hubby.

4. One of the reasons I hate being in social situations is because I end up really, really, really regretting something I said - either it was inadvertently rude, or just plain embarrassing.

5. I am often inadvertently rude. If I've done this to you, chances are, that I realized it later and then have deeply regretted it but was too embarrassed to apologize to you. So, for the record, I'm sorry!!

6. My pet peeve is people who are fake. I would rather deal with rude than insincere any day.

7. I admire, in probably an unhealthy way, the Duggar family.

8. I'm secretly very, very sad that I don't know anyone else IRL that isn't quiverfull minded. If I meet someone with several kids, I'll try to find out where they stand on the issue. I think people might take this like I'm passing judgments, when in reality I just want someone I can relate to and talk with on this subject.

Okay, so enough about me. Anyone else wanna play? Tag! You're it!

Tunnel of love

FYI - Every time I try and leave a comment on a blogger site, my computer does this weird thing and the page freezes up. I just didn't want anyone thinking I was ignoring them!

Weeeeee!

Music time

It's amazing how quickly dancing and singing....

degenerates into tackling and wrestling.

BTW- Molly managed to lodge our cable for the camera deeply into a hole on the computer so I can't upload any pics of Gracie in her beautiful new party dress she got from Grandma and Grandpa Gunn today. But she L-O-V-E-S it and all her other clothes and presents as well! In the mean time, the above pics are from yesterday with Gracie in one of the other pretty dresses. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa Gunn!! She's really had a blast with all the packages coming her way :)

A walk on the wild side

That's right! She's officially making her way across rooms. And she's getting her first teeth, a full two months ahead of the rest of the kids. I thank God for these great blessings and mercies!

Ballantyne Books

I apologize for being so terrible at updating this blog lately. I keep trying to remember to take pictures of the kids so I can have something to put on here, but it somehow keeps slipping my mind. I'm also trying to find time to update my profile pic by getting a decent family photo of us since Mercy's arrival - wow she's already nine months old (blink, blink)!

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to let any readers out there that are left :) of a great giveaway:

Life in a Shoe is hosting a giveaway of Vision Forum's exciting new adventure series, Ballantyne Books.

The sleeping house

Okay, I know she's not actually sleeping but she is wearing her nightgown, and she just looked so cute!

Luuuke who's One!!

Win a new header!

Did I mention I love contests? Being a competetive person by nature, I like to win just about anything, but I'd really like this new prize. Everyday mommy is offering a new blog design. But if you don't want to enter that's fine by me. More chances for me to win ;)

On pizza and cuteness...

We got pizza this week from Pizza Patron as a little treat and we made up a little jingle that went, cleverly, "Pizza, Pizza Patron! Ahh, aahh, ahhh." Molly must have really liked it because she's gone around the house singing it to herself the last couple of days. Mercy has also started babbling and saying, "mama, dada" and now funnily enough, "'ahhh, ahhh, ahhh" just like in our jingle :)

Commuting

To all my Bay area friends, I offer my utmost sympathy. I feel your pain.

Yep, they're mine alright

The kids took a tub of chocolate icing and four spoons out to the back yard today. When caught, they explained, "It's okay , Mom. We're pretending we're feasting in heaven with God." Chocolate as a feast?! I'd say my genes are definitely dominant :)

The Gunn Clan

Here we are in Texas this past January! I've been wanting to get a group photo for a while now, but it's not very easy to get everybody in the same place at the same time. How cool is this?! :)

Did you know..

that Nancy Wilson has a blog now? It's about time. :)

Birthday boy

This last weekend was Knox's fourth birthday. The camera ate the pictures. That could've been my fault. He got lots of toys from Grandparents all of which he promptly shared with his brothers and sisters - I take no credit here or I'll have to also take credit for the boy/girl who tried to get the grandparents to buy presents for Knox that he/she wanted. He also got a birthday card that sang "Happy Birthday" with a British accent when you opened it up. You should have seen the look on his face - it was like he'd just won the lottery. Then he played with that card for the rest of the day, even taking it to bed with him. I couldn't say enough wonderful things about this kid. He always has a very sweet and jovial take on things. Like laughing after falling down and scraping his knee, or asking for kisses and hugs instead of just plain begging and whining when he's trying to get out of going to bed. I admit I'm a sucker for that last one :) I thought you might like to hear a couple of quotes from the little guy.

In church last week, referring to the big stain glass window at the front: "Mom I can see God from here."

Said everyday since Mercy was born, and with the same level of excitement every time: "Mom, can I hold Mercy? Look she's smiling out me! Look Mercy likes me!"

Said to the Rescue Hero in the bathtub: "Here you can stand on these bubbles like they're the ground. Oh, no it's quicksand! AAAGGGHHHHH!"