Today

Today I took this picture right as the girls walked in from school.

 

Today Ava was coming to terms with the fact that the dreamy boy in her class will not be back; he is moving far away!

Today Vivien came in the door with the treat that is the bane of my existence.

 

Today Nicolette continues to be the one in charge of taking out the dirty diapers.

Today these cute girlies made craft projects.

Today Nicolette had a hide in the closet tantrum.

 

Today Lexi Practiced the piano extra long:)
( I love to hear her play)

Today this sweet boy is 6 weeks old!

 

 Today I can make him smile.

 

 I am so grateful to have this smile for all of my tomorrows.

A Friday and a Saturday and A Determined Me!

I recently noticed a rapid decline in my blog posts since 2007.  I had over 100 posts in 2007 and exactly half of that for 2009.  I decided this is a terrible trend for me.  I am the first to admit I don't have the greatest recall for things that have happened in the past.  I am not an intense journal writer or scrapbook gal and that's why originally I was on the blogger bandwagon.  I was making memories I could keep!  Well, sadly and surely I'm afraid a good portion is lost because of my bad blogging habits.  I have been looking back at 2007 and the fun posts I had, many I don't remember even posting or the event, but hey...I've got proof, those memories are in cyberspace!  I was actually thrilled to know I have much of one very darling baby girl's memories locked up here in the blog...(not to mention her baby book is over the top excited about this). So, I am once again determined to be a better blogger. Record more memories, and more pictures. So that one day when my sweet girls, who all have high hopes of moving to exciting places, leaving their mother and possibly being farmers, actually leave, I'll have a little something left:)

Friday afternoon these two little darlings decided that it was snowing and they were making a snowman.  Well, there was not a whole lot of snow as you can see.  I was very skeptical of the whole idea, yet, being the fun mom I am I said sure have a carrot.  This is what we got, a real live snowman by two tiny girlies...fun times!

 

 Friday night Lexi and Lilli decided they were out of here for greener pastures.  I try to keep them all locked up in this house so I can have them all to myself.  They are not going for this at all!  So, Ava, Vivien, Nicolette, Mom, Dad and baby Owen decided we were having our own Friday night fun...even if it killed us!  Well, the movie did almost kill me, but I am happy to report I survived it..."Stuart Little Three". I have to admit it, but I cannot recommend it.  Sorry if it was one of your favorites, it's just not getting a thumbs up from me.  ~Moving on, do you see these sweet girls cozied together with their babies wrapped up?  We have a lot of that going on at our house lately and I just want to eat it all up as much as I can because it is extremely precious! 

  

 This sweet baby turned 5 weeks old, and he is definitely on Daddy's team!  Go boys!

Saturday~ I have no pictures from Saturday, sad yet true.  I do believe I got to sleep in and have a shower and go to the grocery store.  That's a big day for me of late, so no laughing!  Then, Saturday night came and Doug and I and baby Owen  got to go to my new favorite place.  Check it out HERE it's good food, pretty close by and the ambiance is awesome!  There it is, a weekend in the life...recorded!  Yay Mom's Team.

What i've missed...

Things i have missed while being sick:
taking care of my kids.
bedtime kisses, stories, and hugs.
cooking
having clean laundry
feeding my family
being able to truly eat
enjoying treats and being able to taste how good they really are.
my husband
exercise
yoga
my friends that i exercise with
feeling productive
being able to look my best
a good hard playing summer
freedom...I've been trapped in a sick world in a sick body that can't perform simple daily tasks.

THE GOOD NEWS IS...
I am FINALLY starting to feel better! I think I can now say, I am grateful for this experience yet again because this time it cemented something in my brain. I will never take for granted, bed time kisses, making my family dinner, clean laundry, playing hard with my kiddos, etc. I have realized that these simple and sometimes mundane tasks are a blessing in my life.

THE GREAT NEWS IS...We are going to have a new little baby at our house:)

Bear with me

The photos were taken on my phone! So, the very horrible quality, but a fun photo anyway:)

These two kiddos crack me up. Ethan and Nicolette spent practically the entire day together today! They had a terrific time, got along well, and rode in a very tiny cart together!

This was some real fun... hanging on to the dirty car by its handles. Fun stuff when your 2 and 3! :)

It Appears...

I have not done the greatest job on my commitment of a photo a day for March...I am sure this is not too surprising to some of you familiar with my commitment issues.
Anyway, I am not giving up, I'm back in the saddle and here are two pictures for this lovely Monday in March!
Vivi and Nicolette enjoying a movie this morning. Notice the large couch they have to stretch out on? Well, they prefer to be cozied up together in one little spot:)



Remember this box? Yep...gone! We have been through 850 gumballs at our house, in very little time.
It was fun having around, and here is what I learned about gumballs these last couple of months:
1. There are 30 calories in ONE gumball!
2. The yellow hold their flavor the longest.
3. The red run out of flavor first.
4. The green have the best flavor.
5. I can chew 20-30 gumballs in one day.

So, we probably need a gum break at our house...it was fun while it lasted, but I might be able to loose my gum weight now that it's gone;)

Finally!

My baby has the crib all the other babies had:). We officially moved Nicolette and Vivien into the new room that they will be sharing together...Serious joy going on here tonight:) Mommy gets her closet back!

Really Late!

So, thanks to day light savings we were REALLY late to church! We woke up on time (we thought) and then went on our way rushing around getting ready. Doug took himself and the girls who were ready, and went to save us a seat till I could get there. (hopefully just a little late). Doug called me a couple minutes later to let me know I was REALLY late! About an hour to be exact. The especially horrible part of being late this particular Sunday, was the fact I was assigned the closing prayer...whoops$#@!


The carpets finally dry!!

Here lies Goldy

We said goodbye to our first real pet...Goldy the gold fish. He lived a fine life. He was admired by some, loathed by others. He did his part as good as any gold fish could have done.

Doug had the honors of sending Goldy on to another place... Doug was reluctant to any pictures being taken at this time.
I felt we needed the record..."we did have a pet once".

I will confess, Goldy sat on the counter covered up with paper towels for a good day and a half. I didn't have it in me to help Goldy "move on" and it's been a busy work week for Doug. Hence, he stayed on the counter...ewww...

The tank is pretty empty now. I really did feel bad that we couldn't keep him alive longer. I told Doug I just can't have pets because I have guilt over Goldy's death. We could have done more... a bigger tank, perhaps? Cleaner water more often? We could of had someone feed him when we had to leave town? I know some of you have witnessed our fish, and he had some neurotic tendancies, but it just helped him fit into our household all the better;)

Let's reflect on Goldy's life for a moment...This is when he was brand new from the July 4th carnival. Lilli was thrilled to have him...me, not so much. Most of the girls couldn't leave him alone, for the first three days...Lexi, not so much.

Here is a cute family picture Ava did at school. Notice she even has Goldy as part of the family!
He really will be missed...by some more than others.

Oh Vivi...

Last night Vivien told us... "When I grow up I want to work in a store... or have 40 cats"

What in the world??? oh my...Doug and I looked at each other and cringed just a little. I had a quick flash of seeing my 4-yr.-old working at the 7-11 with cats trailing behind her.

I then asked her..." how about being a doctor or a lawyer?"
Vivi..."Nah"
Me: "Ok, how about a computer programmer like daddy?"
Vivi: "Well, what do they do?"
Me: "they tell the computers what to do"
Vivi: " OK, I'll do that."

~Looks like we really dodged a bullet on that one, Doug! I'm a little concerned that to her computer programming and 40 cats sound about as good as each other...but, for now I'm glad she is letting the cats go:)

August 25,2008...That Big First Day!

Well, here she is my daughter that is in Jr. High...is it really true, or just a crazy dream?  Ya, it's true..I'm OK, really I am...(kind of)

Anyway, Lexi was up and ready to go and even let me take her picture:)

Although, she did only allow one picture which was kinda annoying for me, so I just took some more for fun.  I really like the action shot here...well, not really I'm just trying hard to be more positive.

Now, here is a lovely shot of her bright neon finger nails.  It's all the style, neon nail polish....if you didn't know that you must be as old as me:)

Here is dad and Lexi getting ready to leave...lots of big breaths for me this day...lots of serenity now:)

My big first grader!  Ava girl going to school all day.  What a cutie:) I love this girl.  She is really nice to me.  Lately, she has been a little out of sorts, I know that it is just her new adjustments to all day school though and she will be back to her sweet self soon...(more positivity from me here)

4th grade just watch out!  Lilli is out and about.  School and Lilli go hand in hand.  She is going to have a fabulous year because she is my positive, outgoing, school lovin girl...yeah for my Lilli:)

Vivi J...you go girl!  Vivi has got the preschool thing going on. This is her second year in a row with a very terrific preschool teacher!  She is pretty annoyed that she isn't going to Kindergarten with her one true love Carson, but she will be OK.  I am still convincing her of this...of course:)

The toddler...oh the hardships of being the youngest.  Having to hang out with mom all day, taking naps, people preparing your food.  No sisters to steal your cookies..serious hardships!

The preschool carpool...This carpool rocks.  We have 4 kiddos going.  I drive one week a month.  Life is good with the preschool carpool.  

Nicolette enjoying sprinkler time.  I decided to let her have some fun...I actually was not looking forward to going back into my empty lonely house.

Vivi and Nicolette after preschool.  Nicolette was so happy to have Vivi back home:)

We really did have a great first day, it's always so exciting, that very first day of a new school year.  I am trying to remain positive, but it has been a hard one for this mom this year.  We have some serious logistics  going on at our house. For the first time, we have four kids in three different schools.  The driving alone could do me in!  Not to mention, the major Jr. High carpool politics that I was completely clueless to. (newbie jr. high mom that I am.) I am wishing that Jr. high carpools were illegal so that the hurt feelings and frustrations of it all would go away!

It is truly intense and I find myself wishing for those days of pajama mornings and the Price is Right.  Serenity now...

Long Ago...

This is the side yard of the place I grew up. I have been thinking of this place lots lately. I really had a nice uneventful childhood. I grew up on a culdesac surrounded by wonderful neighbors and tons of young friends to play with. I think summer brings out the most memories for me. We spent so many dog days of summer running around that culdesac and playing long and hard till we were forced to come inside.

Sometimes I do wish I could go back to those nice days where my biggest problem was who was I going to play with for the day. Those days where my biggest responsibility was to get myself dressed. I would love to go back for a day and feel that freedom that only comes with being a kid. It is extremely ironic because as a kid I didn't realize the freedom of being a child and so wanted to grow up.

I have been thinking of my childhood friends and missing those days of fun and leisure:) It is hard once we grow up, the realities of life and trials that come to each of us. One dear friend Heidi, who has since passed on. Also, I have to mention Stephanie and the trial she has recently gone through. I am so amazed by her strength and testimony. I have read her blog and gained so much in my life lately from her example.

I would take us all back, even for just one day, so that we could feel that freedom that only comes with childhood. The freedom from the world's worries and the trials that come to each of us as adults. I am more determined than ever to teach my children to enjoy those moments in life where they are and not wish them away, because we don't get them back. I am grateful to be able to catch a glimpse of these moments through my little ones. My children are my greatest blessings and joy. Thank you Stephanie...I have held them tighter and hugged them longer like you have asked.