Messy (Delicious) Christmas

In case you were wondering what it looks like to make cinnamon rolls with five kids:

Meet Frankie!

Surprise, the Deterdings actually got an interactive pet!

When Mom's not a cat person, and Dad's not a dog person, a cockatiel seemed like a good option.  I had some cockatiels as a kid (one coincidentally shared a name with our nephew Gus) and they were a lot of fun-- easy to take care of, and able to learn whistles and words and tricks.

We picked up Frankie in Lancaster yesterday morning, and today he seemed well enough adjusted that we all held him for the first time.  He warmed up to Steve first (I don't blame him).

 He's super cute.  He's not very vocal yet, and we're hoping we have a talkative birdie-- talkative between the hours of 8am and 8pm, that is!

A Decade of Camping Adventures

Last weekend we joined up with the Sanders family at Deep Creek Lake State Park for our tenth annual Deterding-Sanders Camping adventure!  Alison, are you impressed that I managed to post these pictures so soon after our weekend together?! (Alison is a much more consistent blogger mama than I am).  

It took us five hours to get to Deep Creek thanks to traffic and a flat tire, but much to Grace's relief, the Sanders girls were still awake and a campfire-- and s'mores-- were waiting for us!  Steve and Kevin set up the camper in the dark, bless them.

Saturday was the day for the usual Daddy-Kid hike.  We moms always encourage a nice long daddy-kid hike, *wink *wink*

Peter and Evie!

A triathalon was happening during our stay, and the athletes ran right past our campsites.  This created hours of entertainment for all six of the kids who are over the age of one!  They even came up with this clever cheer:

"C'mon person you can do it, just put a little power to it!"

Leah's Seventh / Evie's Golden First Birthday Party

Your "golden" birthday is the birthday when your age matches the date of your birth.  Evelyn turned one on the first, so this year was her golden birthday!  (Grace is miffed that she has to wait until she's THIRTY to have her golden birthday). We had our usual big family party in the back yard, and Leah was excited to have a shared party with a sister, since Grace and Avery always have a party together, too.

The Birthday girls:

Jane and cousin Leanna:

Lots of overly-helpful sisters to open gifts:

Leah with cousin Kip presiding:

Our family with our two new electronic dogs (the dogs are girls, too!)

Every kid in the family gets one of Aunt Candy's bear cakes to smash on their first birthday!

What a twenty-first century cake smash looks like… complete cell phone documentation:

Jane got impatient and decided to show Evie how it's done:

Leah got Frozen stick-on nails that made her feel like Aunt Becki!

Steve's Six Ladies!

It took many tries, but we managed to get a Mother's Day picture of me with all the mint green girlies!

Evelyn's Baptism & Six Month Update

I'm not sure why, but I always neglect to get photos of our girls' baptisms.  I was so happy that this time, our pastor's wife took two on her phone and sent them along to me.  

Sweet Evelyn, may you never remember a day when you didn't love and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Friend!

I think she's taking the opportunity to read out of the Book of Church Order while Pastor Peck prays.

I've skipped the four and five month updates (maybe I'll go back and add them later…. poor fifth child!) but today Evie is sixth months old, so let's make note of all the cute things she's doing.

She is very happy and pleasant, unless she is hungry!  She has a very loud cry but only uses it when necessary.  When Evelyn gets sleepy (usually 1.5-2 hours after waking from her last nap) she starts to fuss a little, kick her legs, and stick her thumb in her mouth.  Lay her down on her tummy in her crib, and she's off to sleep right away!  We're still waking her at 10:30 for a bottle of formula, just to make sure she's getting enough to eat, and she often sleeps through the night.  Randomly, she'll get up at 4 or 5 am to eat before getting right back to sleep;  the great thing about being several kids into this parenting thing, though, is that now I just say "eh, she'll be over it in a couple of months."  

Evie can pass toys from one hand to another, sticks everything in her mouth, is hilariously interested in food (we need to get around to starting her on solids!) and really enjoys blowing raspberries.  She may be getting a tooth, so stay tuned (I may update again in another two months-- ha!)

Grace and Leah love to carry her around on their hips, now that Evie has good neck control.  I love having so many helpers.