Zippity Doo Da....

Zippity doo da, zippity day, my oh my what a wonderful day. Zippity doo da, zippity day, Daddy made a zip line so we could play. Plenty of sun shine, laughter and play! Zippity doo da, zippity day!
Chris worked very hard to put up a zip line for the kids! It is kinda a birthday gift for Connor but I guess it is more a gift for everyone. When we received the box in the mail yesterday neither Chris or I were convinced it would be a safe idea. After sleeping on it Chris decided to put it up and give it a try. If we still felt it wasn't safe we could take it down and try again in a few years (it goes up to 225 pounds). I am happy to say it is up and we are confident that it is safe for our monkeys! It was a balance for sure to make it fun for all the kids given their different heights but I think my talented hubby got it perfect.

The kids just love it!!!!

They go fast enough for them but not fast enough that I am at all worried...

Zippity doo da, zippity day, my oh my what a wonderful day!!!!

Surprise!

Sometimes I get good surprises and sometimes I get not so good surprises......
I thought I would share one of my recent not so good surprises with you....
A couple of weeks ago I was busy feeding Ben while Maggie and Connor played down in the basement. Not long after I started feeding Ben the other two ventured upstairs and into the bathroom. A minute later I asked what they were up to. Connor's answer was, "playing in the water" and Maggie said, "we are making blue water". Honestly this was not a big red flag for me for two reasons. One being, the kids play in the bathroom sink all the time. This really isn't a big deal in my opinion and they don't typically make too much of a mess. The other reason it wasn't a red flag was that Maggie has a wonderful imagination.
They played for a bit and then left the bathroom. I totally forgot about them being in the bathroom and went on with my day. It wasn't until about an hour later when I went in to use the bathroom that I found this.......

Oh, WOW! Paint! Dishes! Towels! Wash cloths! Hand soap! Blue water! WOW! Maggie was telling me the "truth"! They were making blue water! And actually with the mix of the blue paint and the yellow soap they also made green water!

So, what was my reaction? Well.... OK.... Guess we better clean this up.... Glad it wasn't an even bigger mess because it could surely have been a complete disaster.... Good science lesson.... Let's ask mom next time so she can supervise a bit more.... My days are never boring....

I got my hair done!

I went three days before Ben was born to get a hair cut and seeing that he is now three and a half months old I desperately need to get it done again. As you can guess getting to the hair salon is not an easy thing to find time for.



Well....



I



finally



got



my



hair



done.....

The best part is that it was.... Free!!! Compliments of Connor and Maggie!

No words needed....

Memorial Day weekend fun...

What a great weekend it was! Saturday was cleaning the house day for me and cleaning the yard day for Chris. Then Chris took the three older Monkeys to go bowling which they quickly discovered wouldn't happen since the place closed down. A bit disappointing but the kids were happy they went mini golfing instead. Then they went to visit my father-in-laws grave. They love going there and I am really glad they see it as a "happy" place to go. (Not sure that sounds the way I mean it but hopefully you can figure it out anyway!)

Sunday was Charmingfare Farms for Chris and the three older Monkeys while I ran a bunch of errands with Ben. When everyone one was back home it was tye-dying time! The kids had a great time doing it and there wasn't even too big of a mess to clean up afterward. We first did red/white/blue shirts for Memorial day and then we added green and purple to our color scheme. I was a little bummed that the red/white/blue wasn't vibrant after I washed them and I really did follow all the directions. Oh well, it was fun anyway!

Monday was a day full of outside time! The weather was great although I didn't think it was pool weather like the kids did. They spent hours in the water and we had to drag them out when their lips were purple like Ben's!
I was excited when the three big kids happily helped me to weed the front flower garden. It desperately needed it!

Hope you all had a fun Memorial Day weekend! I know we did!

Purple People Eater...

So we had another round of thrush fighting! It came back, or more then likely was never fully gone, and this time we skipped the nystantin and went right for the gentian violet. So I thought I would share some pictures of my.......
"Two eyes, One nose, smiling purple people eater...."

Please tell me you have heard of that song before.... And yes, I was taking pictures of my crying baby instead of picking him up right away because I thought his cry was too funny.... As you can see though, he was smiling and happy in no time once I picked him up....


Is it weird that when I look around I see things that match the color of his lips and mouth???? These three flowers match his mouth during different stages of the medicine from when I first put it on to when it is slowly fading away....

Purple mouth or not my "Purple People Eater" is pretty happy, well most of the time, and very CUTE!

Thank you God for our Ben!

God, I would like you to meet Benjamin Adam.... Ben, this is God....

Ben's Baptism was wonderful! He did great! We were up and out of the house early because he was being baptised at the 8:45am mass. With some prep the night before it all went smooth.

Father Don baptised Ben and he did a wonderful job. Father Don is a fairly new priest at our church and this was the first of our children that he baptised. It was actually pretty different then the other three but I must say it was beautiful and very special. I brought my video camera but never got it set up so I am a bit bummed about that. He did a special prayer over Ben that I would love to have written down in his baby book but I can't seem to find it online. I will have to ask him if he could write it down for me. It is a prayer he always says when he baptises a baby but Father Andy did not say it for the other three so I am wondering if it is something special that Father Don says. Next time I get a chance to talk to Father Don I will have to ask him.

We chose my best friend Neala to be Ben's Godmother and Chris' good friend Joe to be his Godfather. Chris and I are honored that they are going to be such an important part of our son's life.

A tid-bit you may not know is that Neala was actually there by my side when Ben came into this world! There is already a special bond between the two of them!

By the way, Connor was there but he was being a bit of a nudge, as we would say, and refused to come in the picture!

Tid-Bit's of Katelyn's weekend

Katelyn had a busy weekend for sure! On Saturday she had pictures for T-Ball and then a T-Ball game. She did great in the game! Not only did she play pitcher (AKA:stand on the pitcher's mound) but she also played first base and third base. She threw some good throws to first and home base. I am proud to say she even hit three home runs! OK, let me be honest by saying that she was the last hitter and so all the kids on base ran home but whatever, a home run is a home run!

Then a little while after her game we all went out to the Longhorn for dinner. It was yummy and the kids were super well behaved so we all enjoyed a great dinner out.

This morning we had Ben's Baptism (a post just for that will be coming as soon as I can get the pictures from my Mother-in-law, Nancy) and a nice gathering after. She really enjoyed having some cousins to play with!

So here is Katelyn chatting on the phone before bed tonight.... Wanna know who she is talking to and why? She is talking to Nana because she lost a tooth that has been hanging by a thread for weeks now! Poor kid, it is only May so she is going to have to wait many months before she can get her new teeth for Christmas....

What a great day...

Today was a great day and I will tell you why but first I want to tell you why last night was a great night....



Katelyn had her first school show last night and she did great. It was wonderful and the kids all did such a great job putting on a show for all the moms, dads, nanas, uncles..... you get the picture. It was a musical show and more then once I had tears in my eyes. This is the only real picture I got and I was lucky that Katelyn was close enough at this point for me to at least get this one. I did get to video tape the whole thing though! I took a short video clip with my camera too so I could put it on here but I can't figure it out tonight.
It was such a pleasure watching my baby in her first show!

Oh, I also wanted to mention that Katelyn was very concerned that one of her siblings would "ruin the show if they scream" but her brothers and sister did a wonderful job and behaved perfectly. Thank goodness they didn't "ruin the show" after all!




Now I will tell you why today was a great day.... I belong to a Mom's group in Milford and we went to the local home depot today. I really had no idea what was going to go on and I had to convince Connor to go. There was a few times I almost said forget it but I am really glad we went. Connor was too.
The kids had a blast! First off they got a cool orange home depot apron to wear and keep. They built their very own tool box. Next they had a snack. Finally we went on a tour of Home Depot and the kids got to see how wood was cut, paint was colored, and keys are cut. I was even the lucky recipient of a new Finding Nemo
house key because they used my house key to show everyone how the machine worked. Then before they went home they got a goody bag with all kinds of fun stuff in it.
As the matter of fact, it was so much fun that Chris is going to be bringing Connor to another, "kids workshop" in a couple of weeks.


When we left Home Depot we stopped by Chris' work to show him all the cool stuff. The kids love going to Daddy's work!
Once we got home we didn't even go in the house. It was sooooo beautiful outside today so we spent the entire afternoon outside enjoying it. The sun was warm and there was a perfect warm breeze blowing on us. Connor even brought his tools outside to continue on his "fixing" adventures. I caught him on camera fixing our steps. Guess what he said, "oh Mommy, you have to take pictures of everything.". Yep, Connor, I do!


Then tonight Nancy, John and Andrew came over for our weekly Friday night dinner. It was great food and even better company. The perfect way to end a great day!!!

Do you ever see something and think, "That was put there just for me."?


The above is a picture of a little area in front of our house. I try to plant flowers and a couple vegi plants to make it look nice. I am far from a gardener but I usually make it look decent. Last year I planted two Rose of Sharon bushes in memory of our lost babies in addition to pansies in the spring and mums in the late summer. So far this year I can't seem to find the time to do much with it. Hard to believe why that is with four young kids and all.

Well, God and Mother Nature decided to help me out this year. There are Johnny Jump-ups and pansies growing randomly mostly around the edges.... The mums from last fall seem to be growing, which I didn't think was possible.

The colors are vibrant and beautiful! No, they are not perfectly placed in the eyes of many but to me they are perfectly placed just where they should be....

And I truly believe these gorgeous flowers were put there just for me....

Mother's day...

Mother's Day was wonderful! A few of us had pretty terrible head colds so we weren't feeling great but I enjoyed the day just the same. I really spent some time just thinking about how lucky and blessed I am to have my family.
God blessed me with a wonderful Mom that I was able to chat with! He also blessed me with a fantastic Mother-in-law that I had dinner with!!
I spent much of the day in deep thought of just how amazing my life is. I am very thankful for my life and not a day goes by that I don't thank God for that, but Mother's day I really focused on that all day. I am one of the "lucky" ones that is living my dreams every day. All growing up I just knew that I wanted to be married to a great guy and raise children. My dreams have really come true and I couldn't be more thankful for that. I am a Mom! I have four unbelievable children! My family is my life. My world. My everything. And I wouldn't have it any other way!
Mother's day started out laying in bed with Ben spending my favorite part of the day with him. He is so happy first thing in the morning. He wakes up with a smile on his face. We chat, coo, smile, and giggle at each other for as long as I can. Since Chris was down stairs with the other kids I was able to spend a whole hour doing this and I truly can't think of a better Mother's day gift from Ben.

Connor made this pinch pot for me at school. It is beautiful and I will treasure it always. Another child in his class has a mom that does pottery so she brought the pots home to bake. Connor is so proud of it and I am so proud of him!

I will also mention that this is not the only gift he gave me. On Saturday he cleaned the bathroom (he never does such things!) and when he was done he said, "I cleaned it for you mom because tomorrow is Mother's day!" Amazing! Boy do I love him!



These are two "Fairies in training" that Maggie and Connor bought just for me! Chris brought them to Hallmark and these are what they picked. I think they are adorable! The one on the left is the Garlandvine Fairy and she is learning to believe in affection. The one on the right is the Gossamerwing Fairy and she is learning to believe in adventure. Aren't they precious? And isn't it precious that my wonderful husband was brave enough to bring two young children into a Hallmark store to get a gift for me?!
They also picked up a card for me that is wonderful. It is a recordable card so they all said, "Happy Mother's Day Mama" together and then each said,"I love you". So sweet!
This is a magnet that Katelyn made for me at school. She told me she drew the sun, flowers and roses because she knows I love those things. What a beautiful day! This magnet will be proudly displayed on my fridge to always remind me to stop and smell the roses no matter what kind of day it is.

Katelyn also made me these flowers at school. I must say that I have never seen a flower so beautiful as this. Look at that sweet face!

I love my kids. I love being a Mom. There really is no better job in the world and although I am pretty sure there is also no harder job in the world I wouldn't trade it for anything...

soft, squishy, new playdough....

There is only one thing better then playing with soft, squishy, new playdough..... Are you wondering what that is? I will tell you... It is making the soft, squishy, new playdough and then playing with it!

As a preschool teacher in my past life I see some serious value in this simple project. Math, science, language, and following directions are just a few of the lessons learned in this soft, squishy, new playdough adventure! Not to mention the self confidence acquired in the process...

Maggie and Connor had a great time making it and then played with it for a very long time!




What was that?? Oh, you want the recipe?? Sure....

2 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup salt, 2 cups boiling water, 2Tbs veg. oil, 2 small packets of unsweetened koolaid

First mix the flour and salt in a separate bowl

Pour the boiling water, oil and koolaid into a separate container and bring the water back to boiling

Pour the boiling water mix into the flour mix

Stir till you can't stir anymore then use your hands to kneed the dough for a long time. Yep, it's hot so be careful! I usually give the kids a small amount of dough that has cooled off some to kneed while I kneed the big chunk.

Make sure you let it cool completely before closing it up and always store in an airtight container.

Most important.... Have fun! Seriously, playdough is fun for all ages! Maybe someday I will even get my Mother-in-law Nancy to play!!!

Tree Climbing...

My kids love climbing trees! Thank goodness we have "woods" by our house that they find trees to climb in. When I watch I am a complete wreck calm and relaxed!

Katelyn has been climbing for years now. I have to watch her though because if I let her she would surely climb to the very tippy-top of the tree!


Yesterday was Connor's first time climbing the tree. He is a bit more cautious then the girls are, thank goodness! He did great though and I was very proud of his new self confidence...

Under the tree is a huge rock that the kids climb on to then get onto the tree. My rule has always been that the kids can't get on the rock unless they can get on it themselves. In other words no one is aloud to help them get onto the rock. With the older two they were a bit more then four when they could finally get on the rock. Well, not my Maggie! She started getting up on it when she was still two! I really have to watch her because I have no doubt that she would be swinging from the branches if I let her! By the way, I only allow her to climb up the first two branches...

Family...

Yesterday was a lot of fun with my family. As you may remember my mom is in the state for a bit so we decided to have a BBQ at my house. We ended up having ok weather so the kids were able to spend some time outside. That, by the way, is a very good thing considering there were 11 kids all together.
This picture to the above is my niece Sarah cuddling with Ben under the blanket she made for him.... Below is my nephew Kyle playing on our new play structure. (I really need to do a post about that soon.)





















This is my niece Theresa pigging out on a hot fudge sundae! I teased her that I would put this picture on myspace but since I don't have a myspace this will have to do....

Speaking of the hot fudge sundaes... My wonderful husband made them for everyone and everyone loved them!
As you can see my kids waited patiently for theirs. Oh, wait, is that Connor's hand in the ice cream container? Busted pal! Maybe they weren't waiting as patiently as I thought...

We are so blessed!

I just wanted to show everyone just how blessed we are! I get comments all the time about the fact that we have four young children. Most are really innocent comments not meaning any harm. Some however are really rude and it blows me away! A couple of weeks ago a women at the park had a look of disgust on her face when she realized I had four children. She actually said to me, "No, seriously, are you crazy?!?!" I was just floored that someone could be so disrespectful to me. Luckily I have had some practice so I automatically responded, "No, not crazy, but very blessed..." That usually stops the commenter right in their tracks as well as showing my children that I adore them. We are so very blessed and I just love it!

Out of Town...

The kids and I went "out of town" for two days and one night the other day. My Mom is visiting my Grandmother for a couple of weeks so I decided to take the drive up to visit for a night. It is too long a drive for my kids to do the trip in one day. My sister and her kids went up for the day too. Once we arrived we spent some time enjoying the sunshine on the deck while the kids got out some extra energy. Ben took a snooze while I snuggled him in the wrap. AAAHHH...

Oh, for all of you who may be worried, we definately brought Mr. Octopus along!

After a bit we decided to put the kids back in the car to take a ride over to my uncles camp ground about a half hour away. My Uncle Jim took us all on a wagon ride which was so relaxing and fun! We stopped and did a little nature walk. The kids spotted a polliwog in the water and Uncle Jim found "beaver sticks" for all the kids. It was just wonderful and hopefully we will be spending some time this summer at the campground.

The kids were super excited to spend the night camping in Great Grammie's living room. My mom and Grammy set up a tent for the kids to sleep in. It was a lot of fun for them and the best part is that they were so tired we didn't hear a peep out of them once the door was shut!

The ride home was quiet for a little while but then Ben woke up and the screaming began! He does not like the car one single bit! When I finally got a chance to pull over he was full of smiles. Luckily he only fussed on and off for the rest of the ride.... Once we arrived home the kids let loose in the yard to get out the pent up energy!

It was a fun trip and I am so glad we went. Having four generations together makes for wonderful memories!