Some oldie but goodies.....

Jax and Coop chewing on their squeakies.  

He has always been such a sweet big brother!

LOVED these shirts!

Ok, so apparently they weren't happy with the turtle necks.  Can't say that I blame them but man they are some kinda cute!

Always been a character...wonder where he gets that from...ahem....

Those eyes!  I could just eat.him.alive!!!

My goofy boy!  I saw that same silly, sly face right before bed tonight!

We'll never forget Poppi dancing around with Jax on his shoulders at Disney while the men on stilts danced to the drums!

See you again soon Disney!  The Duke's can't wait!  Oh, and you better watch out...there's a new princess in town.....

Ok, so not an oldie...but boy she is a cutie!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I have seen quite a few people posting things they are thankful for each day on their blog.  I wish I had thought to do the same thing!  Here's a few things I am thankful for:
*Daddy-O
*my sweet blessings
*my parents who do SO much
*my grandparents who are.the.best
*my in-laws who gave me my soul-mate
*the rest of my family who I can't name one by one...(I mean, I can name them, but I'm not gonna...)
*my friends
*my sister-friends
*my homeschool group
*my church family
*a warm home to live in
*a running car
*the fact that I am free to serve a gracious, forgiving, loving God

This is a pic of some of our homeschool group at our annual Thanksgiving party.  Such a great group of families!

Here's the princess at Grandma and Papa's house on Thanksgiving day.  Who would know we had to bribe this sweet face out of her.....hehe

The Duke's!  

Election thoughts

I'm not a political person. Never claimed to be. To be honest, I'm glad this election is over.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, their own vote. I choose not to discuss my choices with many, mainly because I don't enjoy the drama that can come from those discussions/disagreements.  We should be thankful we live in a country where we have that right, that voice, regardless of whether or not your "choice" won. You may be happy about our president for the next 4 years or you may be disappointed. Either way, God wasn't surprised by this outcome. He knew the results. The petty arguing and bantering about the subject did/does no good.  

While I may not discuss who my vote was for in this election, I will discuss this.  My ultimate choice is Jesus Christ. That's what really matters in the grand scheme of life. Not who won last night. Because in the end, God is still God and He is still good.  And no matter who our president is, we as a whole need to pray for our country.

Mothers of Multiples

That's children.....NOT personalities... ;)

The first weekend of November is always the NCMOM convention.  Mom's from all over the state come together to get away and enjoy each others company.  This year Greensboro hosted at the Embassy Suites.  It was a lot of time and planning on our part but it went SO well!  We were VERY pleased with the outcome.  Our theme was "Giddy-Up to Greensboro".  Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Learning country line dances.....or trying at least!  

Spivey and I had fun texting pics of ourselves to Katie while she was trying to be "formal" during our general session.

These are just evil good.  Period. 

Dinner Saturday night

The GMOM crew.  Oh, and the Lone Ranger.  Do you see him creeping in the back left corner?  Tonto is hiding back there too with John Wayne.

Missing in Action

I have been lacking in the posting business lately!  October was filled with illness!  The day we came back from the beach (last post), I felt like I was coming down with a cold.  Well that cold was no joke!  I am still feeling effects from it!  Joss decided to catch it the week before last and it lingered a while with her and ended up in her ears resulting in double ear infections!  Daddy-O was 3rd in line and while his has been more short-lived, it has caused a lot of pain in his sinuses.  Poor Jax seems to be coming down with something as of this afternoon.  Please pray the sicknesses LEAVE the Duke household soon!  

During all this the boys continued to play baseball.  Their season ended this past weekend.  From what I hear, they all played the best games of the season.  Yes, this Mommy of the year missed their last games due to the NCMOM convention.

They also tested for their yellow belts in Tae Kwon Do and did awesome!  I get a bad case of the nerves for them and they rock it out every time!  

Joss is still sweet as pie.  She loves to sing, count, color, dance and is oh so independent! 

Field Trip Fun

We were very blessed to take a homeschool field trip to the beach with 3 other families.  We had a total of 11 kids and 8 adults. We had a wonderful weekend full of exploration and relaxation.  We couldn't have asked for better weather or better behaved children! Here are a few shots of our time!

The whole crew on the beach.

Of course we needed a beach pyramid!

We had a few first time surfers with Camron and Caden! Unfortunately I only got Camron on camera! They both mastered boogie boarding as well!

We also had first time friends who created a bond that made my mama heart happy!

We explored the sound and found all sorts of creatures! Some fun to touch, others not so much ;).

And finally, we got to see those beautiful beach skies at sunset. 

We look forward to our next weekend field trip!

Oh Happy Day!

Today has been a rather good day!  First of all, while I have been thankful to wear this aggravating wonderful heart monitor, I am glad to see it go!  I wore it for 21 days and thank the Lord, I didn't have anymore crazy issues!  Now, I'm just praying I don't ever again!  I am curious to see what the Dr says at my follow up...in December.  Why is it so far off??  I haven't the slightest idea!

Secondly, I got a phone call today that made my day!  Let's have a little recap for those who may need one.  Plus, I just love reminding people what an awesome God we serve!  Remember my polymyositis has been giving me a fit.  It's been "flaring" if you will.  It all began back at the end of August when I got really sick with shingles.  My levels went from normal to over 1,200!  As of about 2 weeks ago they were still over 1,000.  Soooo, after praying about what to do, Chris and I decided we would go ahead with an infusion suggested by my rheumatologist.  I didn't necessarily think it would work but I also knew it wouldn't hurt me.  We, as a family, as well as many others, have been praying that God would lay a healing hand over this.  Trusting Him fully to do so.  Well, Yesterday, I went in for my first of 2 infusions.  These take about 2 weeks to start working.  I asked to have my levels checked while I was there because I like to know where we are before the infusion.  I will be honest, I prayed specifically that my levels would be lower than 800, "lower than 500 would be great, but lower than 800".  Angela, the awesome nurse at the rheumatologist office (who has listened to me cry many times over the years) called me today with my levels.  I can always tell by her voice if they are "good" or "bad". They were  398!!!  I was beyond ecstatic!!  I told the boys and they all started dancing and whooping and hollering, "God answered our prayers, Mommy!".  What an awesome feeling!  He is an on time God, that is for sure!  Of course, my levels could stand to be a little lower but that is pretty close to normal for me!