The extraordinary ordinary

To say that the last few weeks have been busy would be a massive understatement!  Thankfully in the midst of the craziness, we've captured a few moments of ordinary- just being family.  Here's a glimpse of the extraordinary ordinary days that bind us together as family.

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom....Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days."

Psalm 90:12,14

 Sister snuggles

Dividing school supplies

We took a drive up to Mt. Nebo with some visiting friends and tried out our baby backpack that some friends gave us.  Looking forward to lots more hiking!

Miss Anabelle hit the 16th month mark on September 11 (which incidentally is also the 20th anniversary of Jason and my first date- last year, I blogged here about our own version of this date).  Anyway, I tried desperately to get a sweet picture of the little missy, but she was not very cooperative.

Here she is smacking the camera out of her face...

and here she's making every face but a smile..

Then she decided it would be cute to run and hide..

Finally, a shot of that stunning profile- check out those lashes!

In other milestone news, this little beauty is now a teen!  I guess that definitely qualifies as more extraordinary than ordinary.  Abbey Joy you have extraordinarily blessed our lives and we love you!

Yep, I am officially the mom of a teenager.  There's a blog entry about that swimming around in my head, but for tonight I only had the brain power for a post that's heavy on pictures, light on words...  Can't believe my baby is 13!  She got to celebrate her birthday with one of her besties who also has a birthday this week..

These 2 have been sharing birthday for a long time.  Here they are 5 years ago on their 8th birthdays!

We had a family birthday dinner of homemade sliders, oven fries, feta coleslaw, and oreo cupcakes.

With school starting, we've had to get back in the homework routine.  Our little first grader has had her share too and big sis has been happy to help her!  Here they are working on Arabic script.

And math..

Naomi taking a break from her studying to work on those art skills.  Her favorite subjects are, after all, art, P.E. and recess.  She set up her own little studio in her room and dressed the part...

And the masterpieces..

Anabelle has been busy discovering new things to climb on..

Like I said, it's been a stressful few weeks.  We're hoping things will slow down a bit.  So what better way to speed up the effort to relax than a little family workout session.  Anabelle was very curious and jumped right in!

don't know what I'm doing but it sure is fun...

"May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us-- yes, establish the work of our hands."

Psalm 90:17