An 18 Year Old in the House! What!

Hannah turned 18 two days after Thanksgiving.  How can this be?!  She gave me a list of requests and we tried to accommodate as many as possible.  Top on her list was hibachi grill and sushi.  So we went to a hibachi grill on Friday with my parents since they were in town for Thanksgiving.  

Roman sits in the regular wooden high chairs so much better now!

On Saturday, her actual birthday we started the day off piling in the van to go get our Christmas tree.  Normally, we don't get our tree this early, BUT we have been searching for a decent place to cut down a tree or even buy a decent precut tree here in Texas.  And we heard of this place an our away that was only open for three weekends, and one of them had already passed us by.  So we decided to do it anyway, although I had had my reservations about the tree living until the 12 days after Christmas if we bought it that early.  Turned out I was right.  It was crispy as toast by Christmas day.  Nonetheless, we went to this farm the morning of her birthday and we stopped to get her coffee on the way.

Riding to get the tree!

Brian said that it was the easiest tree to cut down, and we fondly remembered cutting down our Griswald Family Tree years ago in Germany when we had super high ceilings and let Hannah choose the tree.

Hannah opened her presents from the family and cards from her siblings.  Then she went to dinner with her dad for all you can eat sushi.

Here's her creepy creative cake that I made her.

Shortly after her birthday weekend was her drama production of the Greek play, Antigone.  She is super shy in front of people so she volunteered to be the assistant stage production manager.  She's in the black sweatshirt on the far right of the back row.  The play was really enjoyable.  I had read this play for my book club a year or two ago and it was really nice to see it performed.  Her class did an excellent job!

The whole cast

She's finished with theater and can move on to Art class where she feels much more at home.
 

The Fennec Fox Experience, A Very Late Birthday Gift

 I had the joy of taking Isaac and his buddy to the Animal World Snake Farm Zoo (I previously went with just the homeschooled boys in May) specifically to have an experience with his favorite animal, a fennec fox.  Genevieve babysat Roman for me.  It was a stress free day and we had a great time!

The moment we've all been waiting for!  Isaac got to hold the fennec fox, named Janet (my mom's name ironically.)  Janet was raised from birth to be tame and held throughout the day even though she is nocturnal and has to be woken up for these encounters.  Poor girl!  She has a buddy, named Jo, that she plays with all night long.

We all got a turn to pet Janet.

Janet was a timid little thing.  Look at those ears!

I fell in love with this cute little wart hog.  

Gibbons grooming each other.  They made they most insane noises when they swung across the top of the cage back and forth at top speed.  Apparently, they do it every day when the bison are getting fed.

These girls were fed with tongs on special blocks so they don't fight each other.

Hyena, we got to watch them be hand fed through the bars and hear them laugh.

Feisty goats, I told Isaac to show them who's boss.

Look at the micro mini cow!  She is a miniature cow with dwarfism.

A friendly Lemur

A very moody llama

The Nine Year Old Privilege: Holding a baby standing up

Judah's ninth birthday came upon us while we were visiting friends for a fortieth birthday party.  We ordered him an ice cream cake just like he wanted.  He got to choose dinner, and he chose a meatlover's pizza.  Judah, like Isaac, is sweet and easy to please.  

A fun trip to the park during our visit

The nine year old privileges involve a new book series that he can read, a special date with dad, and holding a baby while walking around.  The last couple boys really haven't had a baby around to carry, but Judah has Roman now and is so excited to carry him.  He is Genna's "mini me" and they are so much alike that I asked him if he could try to "beat" Genna by not dropping any of my babies.  Genna dropped Judah on his head when she was 8 or 9 from the couch.  She also fell hold Bobby and saved him, but broke her own arm in the process.  So we're hoping for Judah to have a better track record, but I have to admit he makes me nervous sometimes.

 I love this sweetheart!  He is my Bunny Twenty-one (This is from the book, The Country Bunny where her twenty-first bunny baby pulls out her chair for her at the table each day.) who makes my coffee in the morning and rubs my back when I am getting overwhelmed or sad.

  

Judah's done with his palatal expander, but now he has two front braces and a retainer expander.

One Year Old in the House

More pictures of our resident cutie on his special day!  I love this boy more each day!  Yes, he takes more work and time than the other babies did, he has to work harder for every milestone, and his adoption isn't even finalized yet.  However, none of this matters to me one bit when I cuddle him up for bedtime snuggles and stories.  I look at him and wonder how I can possibly love him so much.  He is such a treasure that has already blessed our family beyond words.  I can only imagine how man more blessings are to come in the days and years ahead.

My green twins!

Sleeping with his hedgehog like always

A perfect background for a photo