Fun at Crown Center

 Josh with his Great-Grandma

 Josh and Mamaw's hands

 They thought the dino eggs were pretty cool!

 Leah didn't want to leave hers!

 Me with the kids (including an extra cousin)

 Cecilia loved this little glowing place

 The kids with another dinosaur

 Building food chains

 "Digging" for "bones"

 Kira just posed so nicely!

 Cecilia loved riding the triceratops!

 So did Leah!  She wanted to draw a triceratops!

 Kiddos plus a cousin and an adorable little girl who likes having her picture taken!

 Cecilia loved this bridge!

 Coloring in Kaleidoscope

 Coloring with markers under black lights

I LOVED the melted crayon! I did it too, it was so fun!

 Right after the black lights

 Ben making his necklace that he says he will wear on his date with Aurora.

 Me and my kiddos!

 Walking back over to Crown Center

 We HAD to eat at Fritz's!

 Ben loved the train!

 The kids wore their hats pretty well!

 So excited to get their food from the train!

We had a blast this afternoon at Crown Center!  

Bad news, again?

I think it's very interesting when I hear someone complain about their money situation.  I know that I do, but usually it's just with my husband.  I don't think it helps to complain about it.  I prefer to think positively that things will work out!  We have so much and are so lucky!  We have great families and kiddos who are (for the most part) very understanding about us not being able to spend money.  Every once in a while they ask questions or complain, but that's very rare.  We have an adorable little baby boy who is very healthy!  We have two vehicles that run pretty well!  We have a place to live!  Scott may not have gotten the school job, but maybe he'll be able to find something better?  I still have plenty of hope left, so we'll be just fine!

Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my 31st Birthday.  I woke up early, because the guy was supposed to come and fix the girls' windows.  No dice, he didn't show.  Oh well!  I got my photo props all set up outside and took pictures of Josh in the bed I made for pictures, using the blankets I made.  Woohoo!  I was so excited when the very first picture I took was AWESOME!

I made everything but the owl, that is courtesy of Fuzzy Wuzzy Boutique.  She makes awesome owls!  I was so lucky to win one a month for a year!  My kids are LOVING them!

Here's some more of my favorites, before editing, since I can't bring myself to edit on Sunday.

I made the hat.

I LOVE the glow!

And I made this hat.

 Ben holding Cecilia's hand as they walk to the Park.

 All six of my kids!

 My boys!

 Scott is all about beeping noses!

 I love it!

He's so little!

Soon after I took pictures, Josh and I went over to my family's house.  Mandy dyed my hair a little lighter.  I guess my hair looked purple while the dye was setting.  Us girls (and Josh) went to Texas Roadhouse to eat. Yum!  Then we got an ice cream cake and went back to my house to have cake.  The kids really liked it!  Which was great considering I hadn't made cupcakes (oops)!  We went to see Avengers.  I thought it was a pretty good movie!  Lots of funny moments intermingled with action, so a good combo!  Josh managed to sleep through it, which was crazy, considering how loud it was!  We went back to my parents' house and Mandy put the highlights in.  I packed up all of my awesome birthday presents (I got a Kindle Fire and case and lots of other cool stuff) and came home.  Poor Josh wanted attention and I had to rinse and condition my hair.  Luckily Scott was up to give him some daddy time!  Scott even swept the kitchen floor!  Happy Birthday to me!

And now, some more pictures:

 Aunt Sam finally got to hold Josh!

 His little tie onesie is one of the few onesies he has that fit!

 Wrapped in his new blanket from Chris and Melissa!

 My highlights from the top.  They kinda match my eyes...

 And from the front

Here's Kira taking her turn on my Kindle.  Although technically, she was taking my turn.  Now they're watching Johnny Lingo.  I love it!

Once again...

We have no money, but sure have an adorable baby!  I think we're so lucky to have such incredibly cute kids!  They are great kids!  This morning Emma and Kira worked together to make breakfast, so I could feed Josh (for what seemed like hours)!  Kira also did some laundry, and felt horrible about not getting the trash out in time!  She did get the recycling out though, and that one was full!  She was so excited to stay over at her mamaw's house!  She was willing to do whatever it took in order to get that break!  I love that my mom is helping me out!  We only have seven seats in our van, so can't fit everyone!  My mom even bought the kids' school supplies!  Awesome!
I'm recovering pretty well, and Josh seems to be doing pretty great!  He's a whole week old today!  I got my birthday present early!  All I wanted was to have my baby out and not be in the hospital for my birthday!  Success!
The whole not having money at all is stressing, but I'm trying to avoid thinking about it, in the hopes I don't freak out.  Scott's interview with the Principal yesterday went well, so we have high hopes that he'll get the job.  But, it doesn't start until next month.  I'm just going to take a lot of deep breaths, and keep praying!
I was super excited yesterday, because the lady I do reviews/giveaways for (on her blog), had us do some of the write ups for her and I got paid $50!  Now to figure out how to do that "full-time!"  It only took me about an hour and I was able to feed Josh as I did it, so perfect!
I've been getting free books on my Kindle daily too.  I love free stuff!  I'll be ready for a ton of animal lesson plans!
In other news, Leah had dental surgery yesterday and I felt so horrible for her for the hour (or so) that she was sad, because her mouth was frozen.  Then she slept and when she woke up, she felt MUCH better!  But then she realized how huge her "new" tooth was.  Seriously, it looks like the one and only adult tooth in my little three-year-old's mouth!  It looks a little vampire-y.
I'm super looking forward to doing Josh's bed pictures (using the bed I made)!  I was just waiting until I was recovered enough to be carrying that heavy bed.  I'm ready!  Bring on the cute pictures!

We're home!

We were able to spend some quality time with family that came to visit the day after he was born.  Ben was so happy to hold his little brother!  It was very sweet!

 Josh with his Grammy

 Ben and Josh

 Cecilia wanted that baby for herself!

 She beeped his nose!

 Kira had to give him kisses (I completely understand)!

 That happy face!

 Leah was pretty happy too!

 Josh and his daddy

 Kira made the hat that doesn't quite fit on his head!

Josh and Aunt Kim-she was on her lunch break 

 They were playing peek-a-boo!

 Watching the movie

 Mamaw's got her newest grandbaby

 Josh waited for his Aunt Mandy, Ben and Lexi to be close before he was born!  They were in Louisiana.

 Helping Lexi touch nicely

 Josh and his Papaw

 The flowers and balloon my family brought!

 Josh in his bowtie!

 Josh and Uncle Bill

Josh and his Aunt Laura

All the girls were thrilled to hold Josh too!  They all wanted multiple turns!  Poor Cecilia had a rough time!  She cried when she didn't get to hold him first, so she held him second.  She was so excited that she was shaking and giggling!  She gagged on the chewy Spree I had there and threw up on the couch and floor.  She hit her head at least twice.  Poor kiddo!  Then she was so tired!  I'm sure she was thrilled to leave the hospital!  The older kids were happy to watch a movie!  Everyone left and I had Josh all to myself until Bill and Laura showed up for awhile.  Laura's due to have her baby in September, so she was pretty excited to visit and hold Josh!  Josh spent most of the night in the nursery, in order to get all of his blood tests and such.  Then he got his circumcision first thing in the morning. Poor baby!  I worked hard to get him to wake up and eat!  We were ready to go for awhile before we were able to.  We had to wait for my doctor to release me!  As soon as she came, we were out of there!

 I didn't even have to ride in a wheelchair!  Phew!  I made Scott take the long way back, because Staples had some awesome penny deals on school supplies!  So, I went in and found the deals, along with paper products that I knew were needed.  Poor Scott got worried about me and called as I was walking out.  He's so sweet!  We went to my parents' house and got the kiddos.  I drove most of them home and Scott took his van.  I figured it was safe, since I only took ibruprofen, and it's maybe a five minute drive.  I was sad by how much the kiddos wrecked the house in the few days I had been gone, but not surprised!  They all were so excited to have Josh and I home!  I had won a bunch of candy, which came in the mail today. Perfect timing!  So, Josh was able to give them a present!  I got some cute pictures of all my kiddos!

After a little rest, I got my first few setups done, so I was able to do some pictures of Josh and the boys.  I got some of him with Ben, with his Dad, and by himself-using the hat props I made!  I edited for quite awhile!

Then I was able to go to bed.  Although Josh ate off and on a LOT of the night!  It sure is nice to be home!  I'm sad that we can't go to church for a couple weeks, but it's probably better that way.  I want to keep my lil' man healthy!