The best laid plans . . .

So, I decided I could do it finally: Make a meal from scratch (albeit a very simple one with very few dishes) and have a new couple and their kids over. It would be the FIRST time I cooked everything and had a whole family over. I was left with one kid, David, while Gavin took the others away so I could focus on getting ready. David was still proving a little bit needy, so I put a show on for him in Isaac's room, on Isaac's bed. He couldn't get into much trouble there, right?

This is what Gavin found when he got back:

Oh my. David found the kids' toothpaste in Isaac's room (because Isaac left it there when brushing his teeth the night before). He managed to get toothpaste all over the tablet he was watching the show on, all over the bed, and all over himself. Thankfully, little to no toothpaste actually make it INTO his mouth, although he was clearly flirting with the idea. We caught him with it raised to his lips, and you can see the proof on his chin!

We laughed it off and cleaned it up later. We also had a great time with our company, even though the kids seemed to be in rare form like they were showing off how crazy they could get! It was fun nevertheless. The family has a great sense of humor and just watched, laughed, and helped out as needed. Their six-year-old son was obviously overwhelmed, however. :o]

Three silly boys on the changing table

Seth and David though this was a fun place to read their new Christmas books.

Will decided to join in the fun, too!

As always, it turned a bit physical and goofy.

Will getting pushed around

Will pushes back!

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Boys and their books

Will and David are completely taken by any kind of automobile or  "craft," be it boats, planes,  etc.

Seth, on the other hand, prefers animals!

(Marcie in the background with the pink tent)

Random, funny December photos

Guess which one of these boys did not want to pose for this photo ;)

I think Annika took this photo with her parents' camera! Good job!

Uh-oh, what have we discovered upon arrival at our Christmas Even luncheon?? A very chocolatey, guilty Marcie who quietly sat in the back of the car and made this much mess in a span of literally two minutes! That pie became the quints'. We stripped off their pretty Christmas clothes and sat them around it in diapers and let them plow in. Thankfully we had three more of the exact same pie.

We swapped cars with friends of ours and the kids loved playing in their big van. It was like a playhouse in our driveway.

Our our center's back gate. I love this photo of Gracie, Seth pointing, and the clouds coming down over the mountains - a common sight and beautifully mesmerizing!

A pile of happy quints! Is it any surprise that Marcie and Will are on top?? (Francis, you could have predicted this in the NICU, right? And David is doing some acrobatic pose with Marcie leaning on him; again, predictable!)

Playing in the pink tent

We have our Internet fully operational again and I have a few moments to finally catch up on some of the backlog of photos and mini stories of adventures. Note: I can't get our blog to format correctly but am not going to worry about it since I am not a real blogger - I just post pictures, prayer requests, funny stories, and updates as I can. :) Hope you can put up with our weird pages!

Taken by Debbie during their Friday play date way back before Thanksgiving (I somehow forgot to post these - how could I?? They are so cute!):

Seth playing peekaboo!

Seth, Marcie (for those who still can't tell her from Gracie - it's okay!), and Will

David

David again

Will

Silly, happy little pixy Gracie!

Silly, happy Will and Day-ded (as Will calls David).

Momma Marcie and the other kids

Watch this link first, then see below for translation:

Momma Marcie

This is just SO classic of all our kids! I think Will and David keep talking about horses. Marcie is busy playing Mommy. I love the switch between the stern "No, no, come!" and the sweet "Okay?" Her exact words at the beginning are "No, no, Gacie! Hands! No! Hands!" [Hold hands with her.] Will at first says, "No," but then says, "Come on!" He keeps babbling about horses or something and Marcie says, "Hold the hand," then turns around to yell, "Come, David! No, no! Come, Gacie! No, no! Okay?"

In the past couple of days David and Marcie started speaking in complete sentences, not leaving out any words. It's SO fun to hear them converse with each other and Gracie. Seth and Will have lots of words and disjointed sentences, so they can definitely communicate what they want to. Will's latest cuteness includes saying he's big and strong, then listing all the other kids (the ones I tell him it's his job to protect), but listing Mommy and Daddy and Isaac, too. I tried to get it on camera, but he's more interested in seeing the screen of the camera than he is in performing for it.

There will be no real blog post until our normal way of posting pictures comes back online. It's been out for days. Sorry folks! We appreciate your continued love and prayers and are doing well. :)

Gratefully,
Carrie

Swimming for the first time in PNG!

Thank God for helpers! Our Ukarumpa "family," James and Natalie, as well as our wonderful "mother's helper," Dilu, came with us. The pool is at a nearby restaurant. It's a beautiful spot! It was nice not to cook either. :)

Marcie refused to wear a shirt. From now on it's obligatory - no sunscreen is enough to protect her fair skin!

Seth, Will, Gracie

"How much fun is this??!!!" - Will, with David behind him

David's delight is evident in his little trotting run and huge grin

Three boys in a row: David, Will, Seth, with Gracie lying on the edge of the pool, Isaac on the far left, and Marcie's head barely visible, lower left.

Isaac and Dilu were a huge help because they could touch the whole time and help babies in and out and around.

Sleeping David and Seth with a very-nearly-asleep Gracie between them. The sun and fun wore us all out!