A Celebration

Today I celebrated.

This is the first time all month that I have had NOTHING on my calendar.

No places to go.

No people to see.

No appointments to catch.

No errands to run.

It was glorious.

So, I celebrated....by wearing my pajamas all day long just because I could.

We did school, cleaned the house, did some laundry, watched a few episodes of Cupcake Wars, the kids did some rollerblading in the basement.  I was happy to stay in the house.

And here are my 80's birthday party pictures, as promised (I admit I was saved by someone sending me pictures of the party so I didn't have to send you my REAL blackmail 80's pictures of me posing solo in poor lighting).  It was my friend, Jessica's, 30th birthday on the 30th of March (she's the one with the white headband and black and white polka dots).  It was a really fun party.  Games of MASH, 80's movie trivia, food, and lots of girl talk.

See how well you do at the 80's movie trivia.  Each represents a movie from the 80's and the title of the movie starts with each letter of the alphabet.  I only got 10 points.

Since My Blackmail Photos are Having Upload Problems...

I know I told at least one person that I was going to upload the pictures from my 80's themed party I went to today...but it seems that they are refusing to upload.  Looks like you have to deal with pictures of my kids.  They are much cuter anyway.

Hopefully, I'll be able to upload them tomorrow.

Then you can start to blackmail me.  They scare me...

So, without further delay.....a few kid pictures.

Paige loves chocolate crepes.  Then again, who doesn't?

I had to rush out the door to make an appointment.  I finally was able to see Molly but was too late to do anything about it.  She put her dress on OVER her pajamas and had two different shoes on.  She then told me that today is "crazy day".

A No Picture Kind of Day

The day was so busy it's really all just a blur.

No pictures today....they'd probably be blurry too.

Stress.  Drama. Unexpected setbacks.  And missed opportunities.

Between Mary and Martha, I took the Martha approach today.

You know....living life with lists.

"To do" lists, "To be" lists, "To clean" lists, "To....whatever" lists.

Instead of Mary who took a minute to sit and listen to what Jesus had to say and what Jesus would have her do.  Put her worldly lists aside and realize that they are just what they are, lists.

I regret being Martha today.

I'm exhausted.

I bet Martha was exhausted too.

Well....goodnight.

Daddy's Sick Day

Dad's got a sad tummy.
So, we left the house.

Library story time.
Picnic lunch.
WIC appointment.
Play at the park.

Finally we returned.

Dad had at least stopped throwing up.

We ate dinner, cleaned the house, took tubs, called grandma, played on the iPad, read scriptures, read stories, and put the kids to bed.

Paige missed dad.

Happy Easter

Breakfast creamed eggs over toast.

Took the Watsons to the airport.

Showered, cleaned, napped.

Had dinner and dessert at our friends house, the Barnharts.

Had a mini Barnhart Easter egg hunt.

Had a major Barnhart plastic egg fight.

Went home.

Read about Christ and the resurrection.

...Now it's off to bed.

Happy Easter.

T'was the Day before Easter...

Early Easter bunny visit

Science City "Egg"stravaganza

Coloring eggs

Egg hunt

Happy day.

...and to ease curious minds...I am feeling much better...and I'm not pregnant. 

Another Sick Day for Mom

Lots of movies.
A little bit of bubbles.
And a sick tummy.

Let's not forget my amazing husband who brought me pho for dinner tonight.  A co-worker told him that pho is the ultimate soup for sick stomachs.  He was right.  I haven't been able to eat much these last few days...but I could eat the pho.  And it was delicious.
(note: this is not MY pho...I didn't take a picture of it.  But this is from the restaurant Big Bowl Pho where Tyson got it from.)

Also, I feel the need to point out how awesome Eden is.  We were supposed to go have a party at a friends house and we were all spending the night and they even made a little fort for her to sleep in.  Since I'm sick we cancelled out and she was overly bummed.  She started to get really upset and I said, "Eden, it's OK to be disappointed and sad but please don't be mad at me.  I'm really sorry."  She said, "I'm not mad at you."  Then she took a small moment to cry and made the decision to do something happy.  "Since I can't sleep in the fort at Dorothy's house, can I make a fort in my room instead?"  I could tell she was still disappointed but made a conscious decision to try and make the best of it.

Lame Sauce....

While driving to a swimming pool birthday party, it hit me.

I am horribly sick.

I wanted to vomit out the window, but I drove on.

This is a lame sauce way to spend time with my sister while she's in town.  

Luckily, the Watsons had planned to spend the night at a friend's house. Hopefully that will keep them from getting sick.

Laura took my three oldest to the pool party so they weren't devastated they couldn't go and I took a nap in the car with Paige.

Thank you Laura. Seriously. Thank you.

We also had tickets tonight to see Disney on Ice. I stayed home with Molly and Paige and cancelled our babysitter.

Tyson went with Eden and Leila and Eric took Ramona.

Tyson took the girls (they are still out partying) and I got some snuggle/movie time with Molly and Paige. At least I had company.

Four Centimeters and Sixteen Ounces

Four centimeters is how much Molly grew in the last 3 months.

It was wonderful news.

Our pediatrician was concerned about her growth and we needed to schedule an extra height test to find out if she needed to do further blood work and other tests to make sure she's healthy.  He was impressed by her 4 centimeter increase and sent us home, test free.

(Picture Below:  My girls at the pediatricians reading while waiting for the doctor to arrive.)

Sixteen ounces is the amount of frozen yogurt we got at Yogurtini tonight with the Watsons, Eric's aunt, and the Calkins.  Sixteen ounces of dessert and a zillion ounces of happiness.

Another Party is On Its Way

Today was a "running around" type day.

(Tomorrow won't be much better...)

We had co-op school at 9:30.  I taught one of the classes today and it was a bit of a mad house in there.  I left co-op early to pick up my brother-in-law, Eric, at the airport.  I left Eden at co-op because she really wanted to go to her last class that she LOVES.

Turned out Eric's flight was delayed an hour.  I didn't know, so I waited and waited and tried to figure things out.  When I finally figured it out, I had to go back to get Eden from co-op.  I got Eden, went back for Eric, took Eric to the car rental place, and went home.

(Eric headed for Omaha to pick up Laura, Trey, Ramona, and Breck....long story short, they couldn't get a flight into Kansas City, but could get to Omaha.  Eric could get into Kansas City.  So he went to pick them up in Omaha and come back here.)

The girls and I played outside for a bit then went inside for dinner.

After we ate, we did a big (and very needed) clean up and bath.

Tyson was working late, so I went up to put Paige and Molly to bed while the girls had quiet time.

I came back downstairs to this...

I love that Eden is a good enough reader to read to Leila.  Leila can read but isn't as speedy as Eden. Leila would much rather be read to.  They read together quite often.  It's wonderful.

Now to wait for the Watsons to arrive.

Another cousin party is on its way!

Videos from Yesterday

With kids on the mend with sickness, we stayed indoors and played inside.

My Sick Ones

It all appeared so suddenly.

Boogie noses

Sore throats

Coughing

And a fever

I can tell you right off the bat who has the best to worst immune systems in our family.

Leila's the one whose got a fever and sore throat...cause she's always the one to get the most sick.

Molly has a bad nose and wicked cough.  She's my second on the sick list.

Paige has a bad nose and gets stuffy at night.

And then there's Eden....she's got the rockin' awesome immune system that can fight a team of infectious germs blindfolded with their arms tied behind their back.

We joke that Eden took all the good health genes and left Leila with what was left.

So, while all the other kids are snotty, coughing, and feverish...there's Eden. 

(Yes, that was her playing hippie today.)

That same spunk also woke me up this morning.

I was exhausted last night and Tyson let me sleep in. I apparently was extremely tired as I remained sleeping until 10:30 when Eden woke me up.

(Just before 10:30)

Eden: "Can I print out a picture for church?"

Tyson: "I don't know if you're going to church cause all the girls are sick and I need to stay with them."

Eden: "No! I want to go to church! Can't I go with mom?"

Tyson: "She's still sleeping. How about you go up real quietly, gently wake her up, and see if she'll get ready to go to church (which is at 11)."

(Eden runs upstairs)

Eden: "MOM! GET UP! Dad said if we don't leave in 20 minutes then we'll miss church! Hurry!"

Not quiet as gentle of a wake up call. But we made it to church. 

Grocery Shopping with Four Littles

Sometimes I wonder what others see when they look at me....cause most likely if you see me you don't see ONLY me....its me with four little attachments.  And if I am seen childless, people who know me almost don't recognize me anymore.

Many people, especially in the grocery store, tell me a little of what they see.  My favorites have been,

"You get an award for grocery shopping with four kids!"

"Four GIRLS?  Man, what did you do wrong in your lifetime!"

"Are you having any MORE?"

"You are so brave.  I could never do that."

It's really not as bad as it seems.  Sometimes it IS as bad as it seems.  For a while, Paige had a major disagreement with grocery shopping.  But between our local grocery store's cookie samples and Costco's samples, we're doing alright.  But I do suppose I look a little like the circus came to town.

Here's how I grocery shop (when I'm fully prepared):

• Write a list of what in my fridge needs to be used up so I don't waste food
• Write a list of meals to make that would use up those items
• Write a list of food I need to buy at the grocery store to make those meals
• Separate the lists into things I buy at the regular grocery store and things I buy at Costco
• Look at my WIC checks to figure out which of those I need to use (cause I'm poor)
• Add the WIC foods list to my other two grocery lists
• Get out the door (sometimes the trickiest part of the whole event)
• Drive to the store, park and get a cart
• Fill my cart with children (Paige and Molly always ride in the cart, Leila and Eden often want to ride as well)
• As groceries pile up, I kick children out of the cart one by one when they no longer fit
• Usually there's a child who needs a bathroom break at some point
• Pay and leave
• Sometimes I go to the next grocery store right away, sometimes I don't depending on how much time I have, if I have what I need for dinner that night, if my kids are going crazy, and what perishables are in the van

The downfall, I'm unable to stop and price check it all.  I just do a quick scan of the section for the best deal.  If I stand too long in one place, problems inevitably arise.  So, my budget may suffer.  I'm also really bad at looking at newspapers for sales.

So....Just for record keeping sakes or for when the day comes and I think, "What was it like when I had four little ones at home?", this is how I grocery shop with four little kids.

Strattons, We Miss You Already.

Not much more to say than that.

We had a blast. Glad you came to visit us.


*Now its back to real life.  Tyson went back to work.  We didn't go out to eat for dinner OR use paper plates and plasticware.  And we cleaned the house.  Goodbye vacation.

Stratt Attack: Day 6

Day 6:  Kansas City Zoo

It's the last full day with the Strattons.  *sad face*

We had a blast at the Kansas City Zoo.  It was Millie's first time at the zoo and she loves animals.  She even got to live one of her dreams to hold a birdie on her arm.

Fist bumps all around.

Even to the orangutan.

Stratt Attack: Day 5

Nelsen-Atkins Museum 

The loved and hated glass maze where every child inevitably comes out crying because they have run face first into a glass wall.....and yet we still go inside.

 Walking Path

We also went out for BBQ.  You can't come visit us in Kansas City without BBQ.  There are two places we tend to debate back and forth on....tonight we chose Q39.  Soooo good.  I'm salivating just remembering those ribs and burnt ends....

Stratt Attack: Day 4

The trip home from Nauvoo...

Printing press, John Taylor's home, Lucy Mack Smith's home, the Red Brick Store, Smith family Cemetery, and the Fudge Shop.

Carthage Jail

Hannibal

Overall, an amazing trip! We all had a blast. 

...and Eden, who is fascinated with all things pioneer, has officially decided that she plans to live in a little cabin with a mini farm and going to live her pioneer dream.

Stratt Attack: Day 3

We spent the day at Nauvoo! 

Wagon ride, brickyard, blacksmith, bakery, candle making, Mississippi River, and the temple.

Nana also sent the girls a surprise gift of pioneer bonnets.

Stratt Attack: Day 2

Day 2: Trip to Nauvoo

I made each of the girls a rag doll to take with them to Nauvoo.

Liberty Jail

Far West

Adam Ondi Ahman

Stratt Attack: Day 1

The Strattons have come to visit.  We are so excited to party!

Day 1: Science City

KJ's mad skills on the Sky Bike.  What you don't see, is that the bike is several stories above the ground.

Bedtime Routine

After playing with friends, having a picnic with neighbors at the park, cleaning, school, and bathtubs...you'd think kids would be plenty tired. But somehow kids are never ready for bedtime.

Four children later, we finally have come up with a bedtime routine that works well for us....at least for now.

It's always been the battle. Crying, excuses, threatening to lose privileges, and more crying.

Our new schedule is to get PJs on, brush teeth, family scriptures, then prayer.

Paige then gets a song and is off to bed.

Molly then gets special story time with mom or dad in their bed while Eden and Leila have quiet time. Then Molly is off to bed.

Finally, Eden and Leila get a few stories and then they are off to bed.

I hope this continues.  Its been nice to have a few minutes of love with each of my kids at nighttime.

"School"

School was slightly unconventional today.

8:00 AM - Spanish

• We had a friend who needed to take pictures of her teaching a Spanish class to kids to help her advertise, so she asked my girls if they would like to participate.

9:00 AM - Art

• We walked around a mini-art gallery and tried (and failed) to make my own paint from colorful foods, which we learned about a while back.

11:00 AM - Science

• Create a way to save your egg from breaking after dropping off a set of cement stairs.  Eden's creation was tissue cushion and a parachute top...which did not survive.  Molly's creation, wrap it like crazy with a large blanket...which survived.  Leila's creation, stuff a box full of rags with the egg in the middle...which also survived.

12:00 PM - Math

• Sliced fruit into eight pieces with my apple slicer and did fractions with Eden.

1:00 PM - PE

• Outside play time and play time at the park

2:00 PM - Writing

• Had Eden write down a list of 23 good manners that were mentioned in the book "Clifford's Good Manners" to prepare her to have good manners at a birthday party she was going to.

(3:00 PM to 5:00 PM - Birthday Party)

6:00 PM - Home Economics

• Cleaning.  Lots of cleaning.

8:00 PM - Religion

• Family scripture study

Paige Discovered a Puddle

Going out to buy a gift for an upcoming birthday party was for Eden.

Leila got in her fort building time.

Library story time was Molly's time to sing and play.

Mom and dad were able to renew their temple recommends.

....and Paige discovered a puddle.

Today's a Better Day

Today's a better day.  Much better.

Today was the second day of Spring Co-op.  We are enrolled in a family craft class.  (Thank goodness I have a friend who is willing to watch Paige during this class because I highly doubt my ability to help three kids craft while watching a baby during the time she normally takes a nap.)  Each parent in the class has a day scheduled where they take their turn preparing and teaching the craft.

Next class, its my turn.

Last week's family craft was a mini tie-dying project with pillow cases (they put a piece of the pillow case around the top of a plastic cup, colored on it with permanent marker, then using a water dropper they dropped rubbing alcohol on it so the colors spread out.  Mostly they loved having pillow cases to roll around in and have waddling races.

This week they decorated Easter baskets and made hollow eggs by dipping yarn in glue and wrapping them around a small balloon.  As it dries, you pop the balloon and the yarn holds its form in the little egg shape.  Perfect little Easter craft. They loved it.

Flashback...

A little flashback video of Eden when she was two and Leila as a baby...

Life with only two kids seems like such a cake walk.  I love all my kids, but with days like today I reminisce the days of old.  Today was productive...got my oil changed, paid our rent, went to the grocery store, had some friends over for a kid's Easter lesson, and cleaned (while Tyson had to work late tonight).

My day looks pretty good on paper, but in reality, it was hard.  I got way angrier at the kids than I should have and simply needed some peace...which is hard to come by with four kiddos.  But in the end, we all made it out alive and tomorrow is another day.

Happy (and Crazy) Sunday

Sundays are not always a walk in the park for us.  You know, even though this little one can make church a little rough (running up to the pulpit, running quickly away to get lost as soon as my back is turned, yelling "MOM!" as loud as she can, needing diaper changes, working on her stunt work on the benches...just to name a few incidents during sacrament meeting) she sure knows how to melt my heart.  Love my Paige.

Good Date, Bad Date

Leila was thrilled this morning to have a mini daddy-daughter date to get a new booster seat and underwear.  She got all dressed up for the occasion and Eden's response was simply, "I sure hope dad dressed up nice for the date." (And was pretty disappointed to find him in jeans and a t-shirt.

Later we went on a family date to see Zootopia.  The review from both Eden and Leila, "Terrifying." The kids were rather scared out of their minds.  Eden even said, "It was so scary, I started to get dizzy and light headed....but I didn't pass out.  But my legs are really wobbly."

Getting Under My Skin

Homeschool is definitely a large part of our lives. Every month, Eden and Leila have a school subject that they do special projects for.  Leila finished up (late) her science project from last month on the 5 senses.  We put together a diagram of her skin and what is underneath it.

And I was also playing with camera settings on my phone, using the time-lapse feature to show us putting her project together.

Cub Scout's Blue and Gold Banquet

Tonight was the cub scout's blue and gold banquet.  The theme, "Mustache Bash".  I WAS the leader of the Bears and recently became the leader of the wolves.  So, I got to see both my bears and wolves receive awards tonight. *Beaming Pride*

It made for one busy day for me. Kid's school, making cupcakes, run to Target, baking potatoes, making the photo booth mustaches, putting together photo booth props and helping with party set up and take down. But in the end...we created a rockin' awesome bash.

My partners in crime Michelle and Anne.

She Likes to Move It, Move It

Library story time, Costco, taking dad his lunch, cleaning the house, homeschool, outside play in beautiful weather....and somehow she still has this much energy.  Love Miss Molly.

First Day of Spring Homeschool Co-op

My kids were thrilled to start their spring classes! The first day is always exciting for them...and exhausting for me...

It was still a lot of fun! This is our new Tuesday routine!

Eden's classes:

- acrylic and oil painting

- family crafts

- choir

- STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)

Leila's classes:

- Five in a Row (world cultures class)

- family crafts

- snack and play

Molly's classes:

- family crafts

- snack and play