and the vacation posts begin.....

Way back in the beginning of June, we had the chance to go to Gatlinburg to hook up with Joe, Lisa (Chris' sister) and Jackson. It's been since Creed was born that we saw them so we were pretty excited about a couple of days to hang out!  

On the way, we had decided to stop at a Stuckeys. The kids are way into the Veggie Tales "on the road again" CD right now and at the end of the song "The bear went over the mountain" one of the characters makes a reference to Stuckeys and so Caleb was asking daily to go to Stuckeys. So, we went off in search of one!  I think Caleb was kind of disappointed when we actually got there, but we did the best we could to make it a big deal. Which basically means we bought lots of candy :)  

So, here we are at Stuckeys!

 Everyone got to pick out a treat...or two....

We then headed on to Gatliburg to hook up with the family.  We happened to eat breakfast at a pancake place right next to the Museum of Salt and Pepper Shakers. and would you believe, it's the only one in the world?!?  Shocking, right? We did not go in. 

After breakfast we did what most people with a bajillion kids in a tourist trap would do and went in search of a playground. It was really a great option because it gave us time to hang out with Joe and Lisa and talk and catch up while the kids played. and the weather was beautiful so that was really helpful too!!  So, here are some pictures of the kids having fun. 

and of course, we had to attempt a "cousin" picture - and were fairly successful!

The boys

The babies

 Sometimes it's hard to keep everyone focused :)

 Family Pictures!

and the reward of it all was blow pops! because how could that be bad?

We are so grateful that we had some time to hang out with Chris' family. It was so fun and something we should definitely do more often!

Life with the Littles

We were talking the other day with the fact that our blog is called "life with shae" because she's who was around when we started it!  The truth of the matter is that we now have these 2 other permanent people in our home as well as one who is still questionable on how long she'll be around and they're all a HUGE part of life in the Andersen house. So, this post is dedicated to them and their ridiculousness ,child-like interactions. 

Boys:  I always thought I'd have boys and these 2 have exceeded anything I could have imagined when I was thinking about children.   Caleb in all his smallness, definitely leads his brother!  Sometimes well and sometimes not :)  He is FULL of life and everything he does has drama attached to it. Whether he's laughing, crying, hitting someone, dressing up like a pirate or Woody, all of it is done HUGE and with Creed watching every step of the way ;)  

Tink: still trying to find her way in the Andersen house. The youngest of the littles.  She's come so far since February and yet we still have miles to go for her to be "age-appropriate" We have called poison control more times since she came than in the 6 years previous. EVERYTHING goes in her mouth! and yet she's learning....every day making another step forward. Our common phrase where she is concerned is "drugs are bad" There's just no other way to say it. Babies and drugs are not a good idea. However. when she smiles or laughs and her blue eyes light up, we see that as bad as drugs are, love covers a multitude of sins.

Creed is the love language of personal touch personified! This baby LOVES to be held. have a back rub, have his ears played with, be tickled. etc. It's funny because we are realizing that if he hasn't had enough one-on-one time in a day that he gets up at night just to be held. Usually for just a little while - but it's something he requires. :)  We love our stubborn little man and he's really lucky to be so cute because his face saves him from many spankings!   He is so smart and already knows his colors and has a love for books that's unbelievable. He LOVES to be read to, or sit and look at them by himself. He's also very timid and a loner (as much as you can be with 5 other people in the house).  You can't push Creed into doing things. It takes him watching what's going on and deciding whether or not to join it.

These 3 together are trouble and fun all at the same time!  We love watching the dynamic of our littles (when they're not making us lose our minds). I am so grateful for this season we're in......

Fun with Daddy

A few weekends ago, our church had their annual women's retreat. This weekend is much looked forward to in my (Ashleigh) world because it's an entire 48 hours of straight girl time!   The only reason that I can pull off such a weekend and it be relaxing is because I have  such an incredible husband who is also an incredible Daddy!  Chris is such a trooper and takes care of all of the kids by himself for the entire weekend! This year he also had the extra thought process of having to preach on Sunday. So, after Friday and all day Saturday with the kids, he got all 4 of them dressed, to the church AND preached. He really is an incredible man :)  So, along with being SuperDad, he also had the duties of being the photographer of all things fun over the weekend. Here is their Saturday fun in pictures as only a Daddy would capture. 

 And you really couldn't have  mommy-free weekend in the Andersen house without it involving ice cream. So, just to prove how much fun he is, here are the ice cream pictures!