Nick's 1st Grade Portrait

Nick loves his glasses! He was so excited to get them! And he looks so cute in them! Now we need to work on relaxing that smile a bit! He kept practicing that morning and he couldn't get the kink out! He doesn't care one bit!
Still my cute 1st grader!

Climbing out!

Over the last week and 1/2 the girls have been climbing out of their cribs! After several days without nap and wrestling them back into their cribs again and again we finally gave up and they crashed on the floor at the door of their room. Luckily they can't get over the gate... yet!

Say Cheese!

All I have to ask is, "Say Cheese" and Kate is ready to pose! Even with a feather in her mouth and blankie in hand. She snagged the feather from Nick's indian costume, I'm sure he wasn't happy about that!

Cowboy Nate!

Nate loves his cowboy costume! Especially his cowboy boots and hat!

A cowboy, an indian and Indiana Jones!

What a troop these three make! Way too cute!

Cowboy Nate and Ballerina Twins

Once the kids were all dressed up it was almost impossible to corral them into one picture taking spot. I think these are the only pics I have of the girls all dressed up! They loved their tutu costumes! I think they ate about 7 tootsie pops each while Joe and I handed out candy. I had to hose them down in the bath to get all the stickiness off! It was a fun night!

Headbands!

The girls love their headbands! They don't stay on for long!

Playing in the Rain!

The kids escaped out the back, through the dog door and into the rain! They loved getting all wet!

Fun at Conner's Corn Maize!

We had so much fun at Conner's Corn Maize! It was actually more fun than the work to get there! I think I finally wore my wild indians out!! We'll have to go again!

Tractor Time

The kids loved riding those play tractors!! Ally made sure to ride the pink one!!

Buckets of fun in a bucket of Corn!

Nick and Nate loved the bucket of corn at Conner's corn maize! Ally tried it and wouldn't have it. Kate protested and wouldn't get in. They both decided watching from outside and playing with hay was just as much fun!

Stroller Fun!

Stroller Race!

Kate's in first! I love the look on her face! Kate, Nate and Ally love pushing strollers down the street! Thanks Mema for the strollers!! They've been put to good use!!

Kate & Ally!

This is from the few days it got cold here in Florida a few weeks ago. The girls finally got to wear some winter clothes! We can't wait for some more cold fronts!!

Ally kissing her baby!

Kate & Ally Love their babies!

Kate & Ally pushing strollers!

The girls LOVE pushing babies in their strollers!

Mema and kids!

Mema Visit Sept 09

Looks like one nice Mema surrounded by a bunch of wild indians!

Nate the Great!

Nate is pretty great! He has managed to poop in about 2 packages worth of underwear in the last month or two! Which all end up in the trash. He has about two pair of underwear left. Every time it happens it makes me feel that much more like a failure! As a stay at home mom I should have a handle on these sort of things, right? Well, I guess not. He had just gone poop in the toilet before he pooped his pants! I thought I was free from poop for an hour or so at least. Not even 10 minutes later he walks by with it in his pants like nothing even happened!

On a positive note, Kate and Ally woke up completely clean today!!!!!!! For the past 6 days, yes I counted, Kate has greeted us in the morning with crusty poop up her back and Ally soaking from top to bottom. They either eat too much or it's the milk. I'm still trying to figure that one out! It takes about 20-30 min each morning to get them bathed and the beds cleaned up.

I think the stress of multiples is so great it effects the entire dynamics of a family! There is just not enough hands to do it all. The stresses of everyday life fall on the child to do on their own. And although it may make them more responsible. Some tasks may just be too much for them to handle or they know they'll get attention if they just scream long enough - which just dumps more stress into the stress bucket of life. The stress is a non-stop cycle.

I have never had such a heavy load of stressful responsibility in my life before these twins. Not all the time but most of the time I feel like I'm about to drown in the sea of stress. We continue to work to survive. I guess I need to get more organized help around here or something!

Today I got to take Joe to his class and drop the little ones off at the nursery for 3 hours! Finally, a break! Tuesdays are good! The breaks are few and short in between but God has a plan and a future for each of us. I'll keep cleaning fannies as I go!

Nate turns Three!

This past Sunday Nate turned three! And although it was a rough week for me I'm going to try to keep things positive! Adam was gone for 3 days over the weekend. To sum it up Nate's birthday, Sunday, was when I came undone. Isn't there a book called She's Come Undone or something. Well I've never read it but that's pretty much what happened. We drove to church listening to Kate scream and when we arrived Nate took his turn and tantrumed over me taking his new birthday toy away. It was his 5th or 6th tantrum in 2 days not including the girls tantrums and my ears were already very sensitive from all the crying. I really think these kids have damaged my hearing. And as I walked in to church to drop the girls at the nursery and Nate was still screaming, I came undone. The flood gates were opened and I fell apart. It was really emarrassing since I was suppossed to teach 1st grade sunday school. I tried to pull it together. It didn't happen, I ended up crying in a room with a dear friend for about a 1/2 hour then going home.

So on a positive note I'm doing much better today! Here is what I am grateful for today:

Laura my cleaning lady came yesterday. She makes my days so much brighter. I don't know what I'd do without her!

I'll have to say Nate is completely potty trained! Yes, he's been going strong for the last 2 weeks or so. It all came together when I decided to wash him in cold water if he pooped in his underwear again. I think he liked getting a warm bath after pooping in his underwear. After washing in cold water once he was over it and pooped in the toilet from then on!

Kate and Ally have been peeing in their potty seats in the morning, before nap and at bathtime! They are getting an early start!!

Nick is doing really good at school this year, it is like a lightbulb went on and he's getting it! Awesome! I think the glasses are helping!

Joe is also doing very good at homeschool 4 A's and 1 B for his 3 wk grade report.
Football has been a challenge but he's learning to never give up on his committments!

On a scary note, as I was washing dishes I caught Kate walking around with a steak Knife in her mouth. As I type that I'm thinking I must be such a neglectful parent. But the knife was on the table and she climbed up and got it down then put it in her mouth. It is a rounded knife and thankfully not a pointy one! Thank God I saw right away and she didn't hurt herself or anyone else. I just cringe thinking of it! Recently, the girls started climbing the dinner table chairs to try to see what's on the table. Obviously today Kate found a knife! They have also realized that there aren't any child locks on my drawers only on the cabinets and have been trying to dig out whatever they can get their hands on!

Happy Kids!

Kate & Mommy!

Nick is a 1st grader!

Here's Nick on his first day of first grade!

Little Manchee chees

Sharing Marshmellows!

Nate loves to be in charge of passing out treats!

Fluffy Pink & White Dresses

The girls love their dresses and shoes!

Making Milestones

Today has been an event filled day of milestones. I am very excited to say Nate is successfully potty training. We had some accidents over the last few days but today he pooped in the toilet completely on his own!!! And did not wet his pants all day. He stopped wearing pull ups this week and progressively got better each day.

Yesterday, he woke up with gunky infected eyes and a cold so he's been to the doctor and now on eye drops to clear it up. And in the midst of his sickness I thought of just putting a pull up on him just in case. But after reading Potty Train Before 3 I realized it is all about the parents initiative. Duhhhh! How do I so easily forget these things. Nick potty trained earlier and easier so it just didn't seem that difficult then compared to now. So I stuck with the underwear today and it was his best day ever! We are going to beat the 3 yr cut off! I'm sure it will be a process to be completely trained but we are on our way! Yes! One less in diapers!

On a sick note, Nate's eyes are really gunky, red, and seem to hurt. I'm praying the girls don't get it! I've made a huge effort in keeping his hands clean and not letting them bathe together.

The girls are talking more and more. Their favorite words for now are No and cracker! They are also saying Uh-ho, thank you, please, cup and whatever else they can copy! I can't really think of them all right now.

The next best milestone today was a semi-peaceful, stress free time eating out. We went to our local Japanese restaurant and the girls, Joe, Nick and Nate behaved nicely. We gave the girls their own Japanese soup bowl and spoon, you know the unbreakable kind, first with some ice to play then with some noodles to eat. They were so distracted with their bowl I actually got to eat all my meal and enjoy our time together as a family. It really has been a long time since I felt that way! Although we did make a quick exit since Nate and Kate started making a couple signature screams and Nick was flinging his chopsticks through the air while stealing steak from my plate. I made a mad rush for the car with Kate, Joe brought out Ally along with some pineapple treats and the girls were content again in their car seats. Adam paid the bill inside and we were off. I only wish I would've thought to take a picture to capture this milestone moment.

Another milestone moment happened yesterday when I was lucky enough to sit down and watch Joe practice football from 6-8pm. While I did do some reading, I got to see Joe make some really awesome catches and most amazingly watch him take first place in a race relay of sprinting, bear crawling forward and backward and who knows what else at the end of practice. Now, I couldn't tell if Joe was in first since all the players wear white practice jerseys and Joe's has only a faint last name we wrote on the back. The sun was going down, it was about to get dark but as he came in he looked over in my direction, waved and I knew it was him. My heart just swelled with pride over him. He is growing up, turning into such an awesome young man and I am so very proud to be his Mom... regardless of if he comes in first or not. He did really great and it was so nice for me to finally get a moment to watch him since I am usually at home with the little ones during his football practices and games.

Our milestones may not seem like much to some but during a day filled with cooking, cleaning, going for a bike ride with 3 toddlers, homeschooling Joe, keeping him on task and all that entails, cutting Adam's hair, paying bills, reading to toddlers, putting together puzzles, disciplining toddlers, cleaning gunky eyes and wiping running noses, and whatever else it is that I do here ....
I find it a huge accomplishment and awesome transition into a new stage of life! I am continually amazed at how much one person can accomplish and delegate in one day!

And it is not of my own doing. I can only do these things through Christ who strengthens me! Really true! Thank you Lord for each of these milestone blessings, for giving me the strength each day and for sustaining me in my weaknesses!

I guess I should read my daily Bible blog verses more often. Today's is Psalm 16:8“I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

Let me just start by saying I use this blog to vent my daily stresses. I am very thankful for everything I have, I really am. I just find this season of my life very humorous. I want to blog about it because I know I will completely forget tomorrow about today. And if I can write about it and laugh I feel much better afterwards. So...

Do you ever feel like everything in your home starts to break at the same time? Our microwave has now been broken for I think over 6 months. I have found I can survive with a toaster oven, it just takes a little longer. More recently our front window covering cord broke and I can't get it to open...ever, our dog chewed through the screened in porch the other day, the vacuum hose has a hole in it, the dishwasher has a missing part, the faucet lever won't stay on and the most annoying of all is we have somehow misplaced two cordless phones!! They have been MIA for almost 4 days now. Thank goodness I had a regular phone with a cord to hook up in the meantime. You just don't realize how helpful a cordless phone is until your without one for FOUR days! I am very thankful these are very minor repairs. I guess when I can't even keep my house clean, the broken things just seem that much more burdensome. Oh and I forgot... for the last several weeks when we get those torrential down pours the drains in the street overflow over halfway up our driveway. A little scary since we are in the middle of Hurricane season! I finally remembered to call public works. You know ...that is one of my greatest accomplishments today! I am seriously proud of myself. I also took the boys to the library and for a milk shake without the toddlers. Wow, it's so nice when your kids can buckle themselves up! So on that note.. I am also proud that I finally found where all the sippy cups had run off to... UNDER ALLY's Bed! FIVE of them! I am smart enough now to only fill the cups up with water when the girls are not in their highchairs. The girls are on a mission to toss those cups completely outta sight!
I thank God everyday for protecting us and providing for us, today is a better day! We are blessed! I learned a neat acronym to use in prayer from John Piper: IOUS
So know that before I go to bed and in the quiet times of my day I pray this over my family and friends:
For God to:
INCLINE your hearts towards Him and His truth
OPEN your eyes to His will for your lives
UNITE your hearts toward Him and not have a heart divided
SATISFY your soul completely in His truth and not be deceived by what this world has to offer.
I love it, what a great way to cover those you love in prayer!

Last week of Summer Vacation

Okay, is anyone else feeling stressed about getting ready for this next school year?? I'm having the hardest time keeping my house in order now. I don't know how I'm gonna do it while transporting Nick to school and homeschooling Joe. From football practice every night of the week 6-8:30pm to getting to school on time. I'm feeling the pressure! Then Nick starts soccer in a few weeks after school. I'm in a weird stage of disorderly mess. I'm constantly searching for my own socks in the clean pile of clothes and on a real backed up day my underwear! I can never find matching shoes for Nate! And someone always goes poop when I'm ready to leave. The dishes and laundry are a constant. I can't figure out why I continue to find random choking hazards in my house. Like the broken hangers I keep finding in the hallway. No one fesses up, it is a mystery! Why in the world does Ally have a penny in her mouth AGAIN! I just put it up... how did she get it again?? And while I'm clearing the penny from Ally's mouth Nate pulls the gate down. Nate and Kate run off to my bathroom to play with the bath faucet, trying to soak themselves or anything else they can find. I'm sitting in my half wet bathing suit perplexed at all life throws at me everyday! And most of the time I'm just not energized enough to keep up with it. My back aches every morning I wake up as I begin thinking of what is to come of the day. I must go shower and put the glass back in the cabinet door that fell out earlier and replace the hose on my vaccum. Always something!

Tackeling Twins and Pooping on the Patio!

Nick asked me the other day if he had to get married when he goes to college. I said no, you can get married when you find the girl you love and that may or may not be during college. Nick responded with saying, he doesn't want to get married. He wants to go to college and live with me forever. How sweet! I did tell him as nice as that sounds now, he probably will change his mind when he gets older! I guess he really loves being around me. I would never had guessed he felt that way as much as he misbehaves and as much as I'm disciplining him!

Patio Poops! Ally had a leaky poopy diaper mess on the patio yesterday. I'm so glad it happened on a Sunday while Adam was home to help clean it up! It was all over the patio furniture and tile. Of course Kate stepped right in it. Always a mess to clean around our house! Adam cleaned and hosed off the patio while I hosed off the girls. What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon together!

Tackeling twins! Kate keeps tackeling Ally and pinning her to the ground. Not in a mean sort of way. They end up rolling around giggling non stop. It is kinda funny to watch until someone gets hurt or bites the other! I think the boys are certainly rubbing off on them and I don't know how to prevent it from happening!!

Hurricane Nate!!

From sleeping beauty to cat 5 hurricane! Nate is our new little tazmanian rebel! No stopping him! From high pitched screams to iron man dreams!!

Sleeping Beauty!

Doesn't Nate look so quiet and peaceful when he's sleeping? Just like a little angel! NOT!!

Playing with gates!

The toddlers pushed down this gate one day and thought it was so much fun!

Joe Football

Joe started football training these last few weeks! He really is tough stuff! He's 12 and in his eyes, "FINALLY getting to play tackle football!" I think I could do without the worry but I know he's going to do so good and God will protect him!!

Girls Swinging wearing Shades

We played outside in the water and the girls loved their new shades. At least Ally does, she didn't break hers like Kate did!! Kate also got a hold of Nate's shades and broke them also!

After Nap one day!

These pics were taken after nap one day. Nate wasn't very happy cause he didn't get to go to the pool with Nick and Daddy, so he had a 10 minute tantrum instead. This is after the tantrum.