18 Years and Counting!

Today we had a fun visit from some of the most special ladies in my life-- I met Tina, Cathy and Becky when my family moved to a new church in 1994 and although there are some miles between us now, when we get together it's as if no time has passed at all.  How awesome is that?  

Lois was our beloved youth group leader and we still love getting together with her when we can.  She's the most faithful letter-writer and encourager I know.... and that reminds me, Lois, I owe you a letter!

Grace and Leah really like it when they visit, too.  

Our Favorite Song

You know that kids like to do the same things over and over again... same cereal for breakfast, same video, same book, etc.

Music has been no exception for Grace and Leah.  They are absolutely hooked on the Newsboys.  Not so much the old-school classics like "Breakfast" or "Shine" or "Take Me to Your Leader"... they ask for the worship albums over and over again.

Now, I'm definitely not one to enjoy such a lack of variety.  Back in 1992, April drove me crazy when she insisted on watching Free Willy on VHS every. single. day.  But, fast forward to 2012 and after listening to the same Newsboys CD every day for months and realizing what we had going here I 'm the one happily hitting the "repeat" button.  I'm going to share the lyrics to one of our recent top songs, to which the girls like to sing along and do the sign language:

Stong and mighty
strong to save us
like a fortress
never failing


Strong in battle
strong in kindness
when we stray, Lord,
You're strong to find us


When the winds come hard against us
You are steadfast, You are true
When the ground beneath us trembles
Your foundation never moves


Strong Tower
High and glorious
Strong Tower
Mighty in love
Our refuge
Our defender
Strong Tower
Lord above


Strong to lead us
through the shadows
Strong to carry 
all our sorrows


When the enemy surrounds us
closing in as darkness falls
though his armies rage against us
they can never scale these walls


Strong Tower...


You are my Shelter, my Shield
You are the home I could never deserve
Here I will serve, ever under Your gaze
here I will serve, ever singing Your praise


Strong Tower...


I can't think of a better song to fill their little heads and hearts with.  Play it again, girls!

I'll have to share a video of them singing this sometime soon!

Unfortunate Cravings: 14 weeks

New baby is 14 weeks old, and my first trimester cravings left much to be desired.  As in vitamins and minerals and worthwhile calories...

~ McDonald's fish sandwiches (only indulged once, thank goodness)
~ lemonade
~ strong aversion to coffee
~ Cinnamon Toast Crunch
~ Ramen noodle soup

Avery Lynn: One Year

After the fastest year in the six-and-a-half year history of our family, Avery turned one year old!

She is already proving to be quite the adorable little goofball, who loves to tease us and has a great sense of humor for a 12-month old.  Avery will definitely add lots of laughter to our family as she grows up.

She's comfortably in the 25th percentile for weight and 50th for height, where Deterding girlies love to be.  We're happy to move on from relying on formula to feed her, and she loves her three cups of milk a day.  She's also eating lots of table food with her 6 little pearly teeth.  Here she is on her birthday morning with a candle stuck in her pancake:

Avery can say "Mama", "Dada", and some variation of "baaa" for bottle.  She likes to groove to any sort of music, cruise along walls or furniture, climb stairs, play peek-a-boo with her sisters, and she can point to her belly button.   We can't wait to see what the next few months bring!

Avery (little unsure) and her birthday buddy Bryce, who turned 18 on the 27th!

IKEA-ify your name?

Thought this was funny.... a while ago I came across some website that will create an IKEA version of any name you enter.  I tried out "Deterding", and this was the best it could come up with:

I guess our name is already IKEA-worthy!

Oh my, I'm trying....

I'll have to direct you to my Project 365 {366, actually} for some bit of a Deterding family update.  I am keeping up with it, thankfully, and enjoying collecting photos of the every-day sort of things we're up to.

In most of my other spare time, I admit, I've been napping.  I am so very tired, because I am so very 12 weeks pregnant.

In the coming days and weeks, I'd love to update you with news about:

- Our surprise blessing of a new little baby, who is due on October 16th 

- Avery at the age of one year (and backtracking to talk about Avery at the age of 11 months)

- Grace at the age of five years

- Leah who is three and a half and hopefully doesn't feel too left out since she doesn't have a March birthday like the other sisters around here

- our plans for our garden, which include ditching the idea of starting from seed and "eliminating" our resident groundhog

- our trip to the zoo

- Avery's nursery, which is pretty much complete (just in time to start thinking about changing it for the next kid)

Grocery List

Grace and Leah love writing lists, just like their mother!

When it's time to write out the weekly grocery list, we end up having three versions: mine, Grace's, and Leah's.  Just in case you're wondering what Leah likes, here's a close-up of her list~

pizza, cucumber, tomato, sushi