Time in a bottle

 All these pics were taken by the girls.  They were part of a Christmas present for me this year.  I love all these little (maybe not so little?) faces.  Time is flying by.

 I started this blog when I had only 4 children and was expecting Nathan.  He will be 5 this month.

 Life gets busy and time passes, but these little ones?  They don't wait.  They just grow.

 I want to remember each smile and moment.  I want to savor them and not wish them away.

 Hard though they may be sometimes.  It all passes so very quickly.

 If I could put time in a bottle..... Feeling extra thankful for all of these blessings right now.

How to have a Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day and Grace's 10th birthday.  

I love this girl.  And I am so blessed to get to be Mama to all these.

As we celebrated Graces' birthday on Sunday, I realized something. The day was about Grace, about our sweet girl coming into the double-digits.  As it should be, the day was about making her feel special.  The birthday breakfast, the gifts, the family fun and special meals.  However, this was Mother's day, as well.  My sweet kiddos gave me cards and my hubby got me flowers.  I was loved and remembered, but the day wasn't about me.  I wasn't "celebrated", and I didn't expect to be.  This day was decidedly not about me.

And you know what?

It may well have been one of my favorite Mother's Days in quite a while.  Why?  Because I wasn't focused on myself, on how I wanted to be treated.  I was free from expectations of how the day should be and focused on how I could best love my daughter.  As a matter of fact, everyone in the house was pretty much focused on how they could make the day special for someone other than themselves.

We spent a great day as a family.  It wasn't a perfect day.  It never is.  And I didn't expect it to be.  But it was a day that we spent loving on one another, dying to ourselves (for the most part) and putting one another first.  And it turned out to be a lovely day.

Go figure.

I don't update this blog....but if I did....

If I did update this blog....

I would post insanely adorable pictures of a soon to be 9 month old...

 and I would show you 3 pictures of basically the same thing....

 because they are way too cute to pick just one.

And I would tell you how proud I am of the Daddy for selecting for promotion to Captain.  Looks like a few more years of Navy life for us!

And a snapshot of Nate's first t-ball game.  I will treasure this picture when he is bigger than me.

And an "at least we tried" family photo on a chilly Easter morning in Illinois.  A beautiful Easter that was part of a hard but very worth it roadtrip.

And here's what preteen girls do to entertain themselves...after about 12 hours in the car.

 I love these silly faces.

 And Levi's first time in the pool with the crew.  His life will never be boring.

 The child weighs half as much as his 8 year old sister.  So she can only hold him "like a baby" in the water.  Love the rolls.

 A sleepy Easter morning photo of my gang with their Easter baskets from Grandma.

Snuggling in the backseat during 16 hours of driving.  Happy to get there.  Happy to get home.  Happy that God has blessed us with so much.

And that's what I would show you if I updated this blog.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the McNeills!  Here are a few photos from our Christmas journey south.  I've missed writing the chronicles of our adventures and am trying to work my way back into this.  The pictures aren't big and shiny yet, and the blog isn't edited all pretty. But, then again, neither are we.  :)  But we are still here...grace-filled imperfections and all.  Enjoying life with all the blessings God has given us this past year.  Praying for a joy filled 2013 as we try to keep our eyes on Him!

Here we are....one year later.  It's been over a year since I visited these pages.  This picture isn't the greatest, but it's the first snapshot of us as a family of 8.  Levi Michael was born just over 3 months ago and has been a blessing to us in every way.  We have now lived here in Virginia for 2 1/2 years....longer than we've ever been anywhere.  We are looking at possible retirement for Ken next year.  This could mean another move..... or not.  The kids are growing and learning and happy, and we are thankful.  Jacob started Kindergarten this year with the girls.  He is thriving now in this school that is classical and Christian and part-time and not at all typical but very "typical" all at the same time.  He's not requiring any accommodations for his special needs....and that is a blessing beyond measure!!  We're not sure what the future holds, but we are so very thankful for how God has provided for us right now.

I forgot how much I like this whole bloggy thing.  Maybe I'll be back...  :)

My name is Grace. I am 9 years old. I am blogging for my mom. She has not blogged in a little while, so a lot  of things have happened. she had a baby and named him Levi. we got another dog , named Scout, and his birthday was a couple weeks ago. Hannah turned  11 in August , Claire is 7, Jacob is 6, Nathan is 3 and Levi is 3 months old.

 This is Scout. He turned 1 on October 29, 2012. He is a nice dog. He loves to play with Alfie,the cat. Alfie is not so sure of this. He growls and hisses and swats at his nose but, now he just growls and occasionally hisses. Scout is a good puppy.


My name is Claire. I am 7 years old. Grace turned 9 in May, Jacob is 6, Hannah is 11,Nathan is 3, and Levi is 3 months old.i am in 2nd Grade and my two favorite subjects are Latin and history.



my name is jacob i im 6 years old i went to tca and played wipeout on ms;claires phone.

Disclaimer from mom:  Since I've taken a year long break from blogging, the kids have decided to take my place.  The periodic pictures and stories that will appear on here are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or photo choices of others in this house.  :)  We are enjoying our life as a family of 8, keeping busy and being thankful everyday.  Stay tuned as my kids (largely unedited by me) now enter the world of digital media and blogging. This could get interesting. 

What it's all about

These are my people. My favorite people in the whole wide world. Really. The whole world.

This picture is several months old. But then again, that's fitting because it's been several months since I posted much of anything on here. As much as I loved blogging before, I'm just not there right now.

These are my people. And they're what it's all about right now.

Some people are super organized and together and can do it all and blog about it.

That's not me.

I love taking pictures and sharing and writing. And I really could spend hours doing that right now. But those hours, for me, have to come from somewhere. And I'm just not willing to take them from these people right now.

Maybe when I'm more organized and settled and life is less busy (which I don't think will ever happen). Maybe then I'll blog again.

But maybe not.

Either way. I'm still here. And we're doing okay. And I'm loving that I get to be a wife and mommy. I love my husband that is my teammate through doing all of the exciting and the mundane things that make our life what it is.

I'll hopefully be spending this Fall taking care of the most important things first. Choosing more wisely than I have before. Or maybe not. But I'll try.

For everything there is a season. And this is my season to be all here. All the time. Making our house a home. Serving my family. Not giving my energies to something else. Because there is nothing more worthy than the calling to which He has called me. And because I'm sinful and am so easily lured away by bright and shiny objects... sometimes I just have to step away. And remember my calling. And the One who has called me.

These are my people.

And what an amazing gift that is.

Yeah... about the dog....

Well, it saddens me to say that Max really wasn't meant to be a McNeill after all. I can't tell you how bummed we were. How mean is that to give a kids and puppy, then take it away??

He was the sweetest little guy. Until he wasn't.

We noticed on his second day here that he began growling at the kids when they would try to take his ball from him. I chalked it up to "being a puppy". Surely, he was just playing, right?

So Ken and I sat down with him that night after the kids were in bed. We were playing with him and I wanted to test him a little and see if it really was a growl. Well, I tried to take his bone and he tried to take my hand. It wasn't pretty.

He didn't hurt me because he's such a little guy, but he made it very clear that we would very easily bite if provoked. Then Ken tried to pick him up when he wasn't even holding the bone, and he tried to bite him, too.

We lost alot of sleep trying to figure out the best thing to do. How do you tell kids that the puppy can't stay? But Max will be a very big dog, very soon and we just can't take the chance that he will bite someone.

We called the breeder we got him from the next morning and discussed it with her. She said that it is possible that we just happened to get a particularly aggressive dog. She told us to bring him back and she would work with him some more. Though it was a tough call, we returned Max to the place from whence he came.

It made the kids feel much better that he was going back to be with his mother and brothers again. And surprisingly, they weren't as sad as I thought they would be.

It seems that 2 days was enough time for them to get a good taste of how much work a puppy really is. Although they were disappointed, I was glad that they could see that this was the best thing for our family... and for Max.

So the dog hunt is back on. Hopefully, this time we can choose a little more wisely. We're hoping to adopt from the local shelter when the time is right. But, after a few days with Max, I for one don't mind waiting a little while.

the newest McNeill

The McNeill family has a new member.

This is Max.

It's not a real baby... but close. Max is a Golden Retriever puppy that joined our clan yesterday. He is a 10 week old bundle of cuteness, fur and love. And trouble. But aren't all puppies?

We just thought that we weren't really busy enough right now, so perhaps we could train a puppy in all our free time.

The kids adore him.

Except when they don't.

(Those pictures totally crack me up because 1) they were taken literally 2 seconds apart and 2) because of the mismatched camo paired with one pink shoe?)

We had been telling the kids that once we moved and got settled in that we could get the puppy that they have been so desperately pleading for. Well, we're not settled in, but we have moved. And I think Max is going to make a great addition to our family.

Yes, he's going to be a whole lot of work. But as my sweet friend reminded me today, aren't all good things a whole lot of work?

Welcome to the family, Max.