Pictures!

Happy Birthday Harper!Harper's Mad Bunny Cake

My Martha Stewart Wreath I made

Haley Mae eating our turkey cupcakes

Harper the Indian with her cupcake Pinata

Haley "sneaking" snacks

She looks pretty scared, doesn't she?

Best buddies...well starting to be!

Lily did her hair & Harper did her makeup...with marker.

Hanging out!

Smells like sickness!

This morning the big girls got up before their alarm which is unusual and Lily comes down just itching to tell me this,
"Mom, I've got to tell you something"
"What's up?"
"Lacy's breath, it smells like, it smells like...like SICKNESS"
"Everybody's breath smells bad in the morning Lily"
"No, this is just like SICKNESS!"
"Well, don't smell it"
Poor Lacy has Lily up in her face smelling her morning breath...

Lacy's new love

Lacy loves her Kindergarten teacher & here are some of the ways I know this....at the dinner table we usually ask the girls to talk about the best thing that happened to them or their (just had to take a break in blogging because the girls were trying to drag a laundry basket upstairs..with Harper in it) very favorite thing and their least favorite thing. Well, over the weekend, Lacy said her least favorite thing was, "It was the weekend so I didn't get to see Ms. Foster" and then she said she loves Ms. Foster like, "a reindeer mommy loves her reindeer babies" Everyday she comes home super chatty, super animated and interrupts Lily while they talk about their day. I even have to say, "Lacy, not so loud." I don't love that she's a little bit less mine when she's at school but I'm so glad she loves it so much.

PSYCH!

So Lily comes home the other day and announces she learned a new game called Psych...it's not a game but she thinks it is soooooo all last weekend we spent saying things like this
"There's a hippopotamus in the bathtub" PAUSE "PSYCH"
"We're eating donuts for dinner" ....."PSYCH"

So, Harper who sometimes still mixes up her colors but has the sense of humor of a 10 year old is cuddling up with Jason watching football last weekend and comes out with this.
"Daddy, what's wrong with your TV?"
"Nothing, why, what do you see?"
"PSYCH!!!!"

Ready or not...

Ready or not, school has started. I dreaded this year when both of my big girls would be gone from me all day. I feel like it's the beginning of end of our peaceful bubble of goodness that we have created for them over the past several years. I hate the thought of not having long, unscheduled hours with them, when we are still the primary influence in their little psyches. Alas, it was time to send them off into the world...
The night before I told Lacy I would walk her to the playground in the morning to make sure she found her teacher. She said, "Can we do car line?"
Me, "Well, if we do car line, Mommy just drops you off and I won't be there to help you"
Lacy, "I want to do car line"
Me, "Ummm...how about we decide in the morning? You might change your mind."
On the way to school in the morning...
Me, "Lacy, do you want Mommy to walk you to the playground to wait for Ms. Foster?"
Lacy, "Car line"
What happened to my little toddler that didn't want to be left in childcare when I went to a Moms group?????
Dropped the girls off in CAR LINE & off the went. At least Lily waved goodbye.
The night before school, Lacy's prayer was, "I pray that Ms. Foster takes good care of me and that I learn amazing things"
So, ready or not...a whole new season for our family has begun.

Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)

Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)
This article so spoke to me as I get tons of not so positive comments while I'm out with the girls and I know soon they will ask me about it or at least notice. It seems less common up here to have more than 2 kids so GASP 4 girls seem like quite the anomaly. I always answer comments very positively because honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. It seems too quiet when the older ones are at a playdate and too quiet when the little ones are napping....

"I a fairy...."

Harper comes up from the basement after jumping in the jumpee in just her panties and some torn up fairy wings. She then announces,

"I a fairy who needs to poop"

That's our crazy Harper!

So,that's why they put a lock on the fridge water!

So, hanging out in the TV room before bed like we usually do, didn't see Haley and this is where I found her. She had opened our cup drawer, picked a cup, then carried the stepstool over to the fridge, and got her own water...of course most of it ended up on her but I was super impressed with her ability to get what she wanted! I think she knows how much we value independent girls in this house! Of course she used her newfound skills to steal warm cookies off the counter the next day...

I.LOVE.SUMMER!

Before our summer started, I thought, "I'll have so much time to get stuff done now that we're done running around to school and back everyday" Ummm...not so much. Here's our breakdown of what we've done today:
Took like an hour to eat breakfast
Played out back with our neighbors, ate some snacks
Rode our scooters in the front, Harper pushed Haley on the sidewalk in the stroller because as she says, "I Haley's Mommy"
Filled up our pools
Ate lunch
Jumped in the jumpee while I cleaned up, threw in a load of clothes
Washed the car which included standing in the soapy bucket, jumping out and yelling, "I've got bubble shoes on!"
Used the sprayer to wash off the driveway
Read 4 books
Did some ab excercises while the girls tried to do it too
And now it's nap/quiet time & I'm sure we'll continue to accomplish big things the rest of the day like walks, popsicles and changing our clothes alot because we're dirty. Soooo...I've given up my giant to do list for the summer and switched it out for a much better one!

Room cleaning excuses

It was room cleaning time and here were some of Lily's excuses
"But I can't see anything to clean up" because their shades were closed
"But we've been doing so many fun things and we really need a rest"
"But it will take sooooooooo long"

Because I'm a grown up

I don't usually resort to "because I'm a grown up" but sometimes it's true. Lily had put a nightstand on top of her bed which was not a great idea.
Me, "Lily, you need to take that down"
Lily, "Why?"
Me, "Because it could fall on you and hurt you"
Lily, "No, it can't"
Me "Yes, it could fall over and hit you on the head"
Lily, "No, I'll be careful"
Me, "Yes, it can. I'm the grown up, I know better that it could fall. Take it down"
Lacy, "Daddy's the bigger grown up so he knows even better"
Me, "Yes, and he would tell you to take it down"
Lacy, "And Adam & Eve are even bigger grown ups because God made them first"
Me, "Yep"
Lacy, "And God is the biggest grown up because he made himself"
Me, "Yep and he would tell you to take it down too"

Faith & Family

As the girls get older, I think we've been trying to solidify what our family will be and what is most important. I kept thinking of all these different character traits that I wanted to see develop in them and how to be intentional in teaching those. But I think we've been able to bring it down to two simple things that we want to instill in the girls, a strong faith and a strong, tight family bond with us & their sisters. Faith encompasses all of those character traits that we think is important and puts a guidebook there for it, the Bible. We're still working on making Faith a daily, regular part of their world and a few times, I felt overwhelmed because it's not like I have them memorizing scripture everyday, heck, I still don't know 1/4 of what I need to from the Bible. In talking to Jennifer about how she practially applies God "stuff" on a daily basis with her kids, she gave me great advice. That advice was, when your kids see you making it a priority to have Bible/God time each day, they'll follow. And of course because God knows I usually need at least a few diferent sources to drill it in my head, our Fathers' Day service @ Church focused on how it's not teaching scripture and discipline that will ensure your kids grow up to walk with God, it's the example that we set as parents. Little bit of pressure!

Picture Catch Up

Happy 5th Birthday! Lacy requested chocolate crinkle cookies instead of cake

Still shy sometimes when you snap a picture!

Haley & Colby hanging out before Jennifer hit the road

Front porch popsicle time!

Haley LOVED her first popsicle!

Happy girl!

' 'Cause you need goggles in a pool that's 4 inches deep

Painting our pots to plant flowers

Harper making her MESSterpiece

Love doing crafts with them!

Lily & Lacy's birthday party!

Harper making sure she eats every last crumb

Lacy with her peeps

Lily with her peeps

Preschool Graduation...they even played Pomp & Circumstance. Jason had to roll his eyes at that!

She LOOKS super sweet!

Action shot...blowing out the candles on the cake she & Lacy decorated

Opening Rapunzel

Pink Rubber Pancakes

Need to blog about birthdays and parties but didn't want to forget this...Lacy requested pink heart shaped pancakes for her birthday dinner. On their birthday, they get to pick whatever they want for meals that day. So, after spending time making the batter the right shade of hot pink, using our heart shaped pancake mold, produced her requested pancakes.
Me, "How do your pancakes taste?"
Lacy, "Well, you know how when you haven't eaten something for a long time and then you eat it..you know how it kind of tastes like rubber?"
Me, "What?"
Lacy, "You know, when you haven't eaten it in a long time, it tastes like rubber"
Me, "Are you saying your pancakes tastes like rubber"
Lacy, "ummm..yeah"

What will I look like?

Living near a cemetary always leads to questions about Heaven, dead people,etc. & yesterday, as we headed to the park on a hot, sunny day (finally!), here was a snippet of their conversation:

Lily, "That's the where the dead people are"
Me, "That's where their bodies are, I bet alot of their souls are up in the Heaven"
Lily, "Will I go to Heaven when I'm 6?"
Me, "Probably not, probably when you're really old"
Lily, "What will I look like when I'm really old?
Lacy, "Probably like Grandpa"
Lily, "No, I won't! I don't look anything like Grandpa"

Caught!

So, we had our first experience with STEALING! And I just knew it was going to be Lacy, she's such a "stuff" person and our big hoarder of the group. I routinely clean stuff out of her bed because if I don't, she tends to accumulate tons of little things which are then put into various containers that she also collects like Altoid tins, oatmeal containers, shoe boxes,etc. So, I opened up her oatmeal container to find some coins, chapsticks, littlest pet shop pets, some Barbie shoes AND an unopened little container of Mentos gum. I was LIVID! I called her upstairs and began the inquisition.
Me, "Lacy, where did you get this?"
Lacy, "From the toy store" lip is trembling at this point
Me, "That's stealing, you know that's stealing? When you take something without paying for it?"
Lacy, "Cause I didn't ask you?"
Me, "It's against the law to steal, to take things from the store without paying. Mommy is just so upset"
Lacy, "I'm sorry"
Jason was in a meeting but I sent him a text, "Lacy stole gum. Any advice?" Of course he replied we should take her back to the store to return it and apologize. Figuring doing it right away would have the most impact, woke the little ones up from their nap, told Lacy to get her piggy bank because she was paying for the gum and loaded everyone up. Of course Lacy couldn't steal from Walmart a mile up the road, she has to steal gum from a store all the way in Gurnee. So, during rush hour, Lacy and I practiced what she needed to say & even though I was so upset and embarassed, I was also proud of her because when we got to the store, she spoke up when I told her it was time and said, "I'm sorry I took your gum and didn't pay for it" When Jason got home, he read her a Ten Commandments bible story and explained it's not just our rules but it's one of God's rules that we don't steal. I hope & pray she got it and that Lily got it too. Later, Lily asked for a snack and I told her no. She said, "we're not having a snack because Lacy steals???" Progress not perfection!

Lacy's Mother's Day

Lacy's school put together a cookbook compiled of all the kids favorite recipes that we sent in & then the back page were questions that the kids answered about their Moms. Here's what Lacy's said:
My Mom's name is Jenny (great, she knows my name)
My Mom's favorite color is: Aqua (this is really Lacy's favorite color)
My Mom always wears pants
I want to buy my Mom a new faucet for Mother's Day (when I asked her why, she said it's because ours is so dirty, awesome)

Jason also gave the girls each gift cards to give me from different stores. Lacy gave me one from the GAP, she said it's so I can buy more sweatshirts. Ummm...I guess I should start wearing some different shirts besides GAP sweatshirts since she can now read GAP and counts it as one of her sight words.

I just teasing...

I'm fixing lunch, Harper's already at the table and yells out, in her happy go lucky sing song voice
"Mommy, I pooped in my panties"
Me, "Harper, you what?"
Harper,"I just teasing Mommy"
She did this ALL day long today...outside, playing in the playroom. Jason thinks it's hysterical that she knows how to tease and make up jokes already. Which is great,I just wish her jokes didn't center around something I may have to potentially spend time cleaning up.

Happy Mother's Day!

This year was a little more special just because the girls prepared their gifts as a surprise at school. I never thought I would get sentimental over the "treasures" that they made but I did get a wee bit choked up. Days before Mother's Day, here was a conversation before school one day.
All of us are watching for Lily's bus in the playroom.
Lily, "Mommy, I'm not going to tell you what I got your for Mother's Day but I will give you one clue. It grows"
Me, "Hmmm...is it a baby boy? Babies grow and we don't have a boy one."
Lily, "Nope. I'll give you one more clue. It's got dirt"
Me, "Maybe a worm. Worms grow and they like dirt?"
Lacy, " I know, it's a plant!"
Lily, "LACY! I'm not giving anymore clues because I don't want you guessing!"
So, on the way to church, it comes up again...
Lily, "I'm not going to tell you what I got you for Mother's Day but I'll give you a clue, it has leaves"
Me, "Maybe a Christmas tree? It has leaves."
Lily, "No, I can't grow a Christmas tree & I GREWED (still working on our verb tense) your present"
Me, "Gosh, I don't know what it could be!

Harper's got MOVES!

Tympanoplasty AKA Lily's most exciting day EVER!

Lily post surgery with her infamous bowl of cheerios
Enjoying some Daddy time

Mommy cuddles

Lily livin large with her own remote and unlimited PBS kids viewing. I didn't even say "TV is not good for your brain" one time!

The day finally arrived for Lily's surgery, she didn't seem anxious about it, talked about it alot at home & at school but seemed excited, not worried. Wasn't sure if that meant we had done a good job preparing her or a horrible one since she was looking forward to it. Got to the hospital, settled in to our pre op room. She asked the nurse what her gown was going to look like, wanted to put that on right away, what was on her bracelet, all about her sleep medicine,etc. Had a blast because she could adjust her bed, use the tv remote,etc. And she had us all to herself which just about NEVER happens.
Of course they were late getting us to surgery, when they came to get us, we had to walk and walk and walk to the pre op area. I could sense her getting a little nervous, wanted hold me hand so that's when I got choked up but I held it together. The anesthesia nurse & Dr. Chen came in & of course Lily had questions for them:
"What does the sleep medicine look like?"
"How big is my IV?"
"What are you going to put in my ear"
"What does it smell like?"
And on and on and on....
Jason asked if I could go back to the OR with her until she was out which isn't what they usually do but they said Ok so I suited up and they wheeled Lily on the gurney while I held her hand. I knew at some point she was going to start freaking out and she didn't disappoint! They started t put the oxygen sensor on her toe & then the kicking, screaming for Mommy started. They ended up having to hold her down while putting the mask on & then she was out in a few seconds. I think they were afraid I would freak out too but I figured that was going to happen. I've had to hold her down by myself for a blood draw so I knew! Surgery took about an hour/15 & went well. Lily was weepy and irritable when she came out but didn't have any vomiting. She kept saying, " I want this IV OUT!" Within an hour or so, she was eating popsicles and then was ready for cereal, here's how that played out.
Nurse, "Are you ready for cereal?"
Lily, "What kind do you have?"
Nurse, "I'll go get them and you can pick"
Brings back several kinds and shows them to Lily
Nurse, "Cheerios, froot loops, etc."
Lily, "What other kinds do you have?"
Nurse, "That's all we have"
Lily, "Ok, I guess I'll have cheerios"
Then, poor Jason gets the task of feeding her the Cheerios because they bandaged up her hands so she couldn't rip out her IV. Jason tries to feed her a normal amount on the spoon but Queen Lily would have none of that!
Lily, "Daddy, can you just feed me one cheerio at a time"
The look on his face was priceless!
Jason, "Umm..how about 3 cheerios at a time?"
Lily, "Yeah, that's Ok"
A few bites late...Lily, "Daddy, I counted them in my mouth and there were 4 cheerios the last time"
Love it! Got home past 8 that night, told Lacy all about it, slept decent (well, she did,I did not!) and was almost back to normal the next day. And now we wait 6 weeks until her hearing test to see if it worked..praying!

How did a month go by?

Way too much to catch up on! Here are some pictures from Easter, we hadn't been "home" since Christmas so it was a great break for all of us especially Jason working so much lately. Played with cousins, Mammy braved taking care of all 4 girls so we could sneak out for a date which included shoe shopping for the girls, yeah, we're wild. The girls did well at church on Sunday even though keeping Haley still is much like wrestling a 20 pound pig. Jason asking Lily what she liked best about Easter and she said it best, "Being with everybody"

One of these things is not like the other..Thomas, holding his own!

Attempt #1 at picture of girls in their Easter finery.




Attempt #2, Look @ Daddy, put your legs down, quit playing with your hair..and on and on

Attempt # 2657...this is when I usually tell Jason, "let it go, it's good enough"

Lily taking a picture of herself, could she look anymore like her Daddy?

Sweet baby girl!

Grant took her tootie! Priceless!

Hey, I just took her tootie, now I have two tooties!

Lacy is so excited because Mammy has like 1000 Easter eggs and she's going to try to shove them all in her backpack, take them home and then shove them under her bed. And Haley said she doesn't have to wear a shirt because we're back in the south.

Harper the Happy Pooper

Girls & I were eating breakfast this morning, Harper is on her potty reading her Elmo Potty Book for the 54, 262 time this week and I hear: "OH HAPPY HAPPY DAY, I POOP ON POTTY" pause " I get Hershey Kiss?"

The potty training of Harper!

Bit the bullet this week and decided to potty train Harper, had put it off for awhile because quite frankly, it adds a full time job of being a potty cop to my other 8 full time jobs I do! So glad I did because she's just about there! Even on day 1, had 2 accidents and now on day 4, NO ACCIDENTS. We've made two outings in panties with success. Here are some of her funnies: She pooped in her panties and of course comes to tell me with a giant grin on her face because, well just because she's Harper. Harper, "I poop my panties" Me, "Oh, no. Harper, no pooping in your panties, where does the poop go?" Harper (with her giant grin), "IN MY POTTY!" Me,"let's go in the bathroom and sit on the potty now" Harper, "I get hershey kiss" Me, "No, you only get a hershey kiss when you go on the potty" So, I'm putting the poop from the panties in the potty and she says, "Now my poop in the potty, I get hershey kiss?" Me, "No, no hershey kiss until you go in the potty" Harper, "Ok Mommy"

Our daughter GINORMICA

The girls are always pretend playing, pretending school, pretending to be Mommy, pretending they're on a Disney cruise (this is thanks to Lily's friend who is on one),etc. So, the other day I overhear Lily telling Lacy that her name is Ginormica. I'm like, what in the world but didn't say anything. Then, at lunch yesterday, I hear this conversation: Lily, "Lacy, the government is changing my name is Ginormica" Lacy, "The guvment?" Lily, "Yeah, the government" Lacy, "What?" Me, "What?" Lily, in a fit of giggles now repeats,"The government is changing my name to Ginormica" Okay.

Cauliflower

Lacy's question of the day, "Does cauliflower come from California?"
Me, "I don't know, maybe"
Lacy, "it does"

More than funny

I do this blog because I don't want to forget a moment of this season of our lives but I also do it as a diary for my girls & me to look back on. Good days, bad days, funny days...right now I feel like our family is in survival mode but it's been that way for too long and I just want to get back to where I feel like we're thriving. I feel like time is going by too fast & I'm missing opportunities to teach them, experience things with them & how do you make it slow down? Will I 5 years from now realize that I didn't spend enough time teaching them something? Motherhood seems a evermore overwhelming task as they get older.

Having 4 little ones can be lonely. Not that I would change how many we have or how closely we spaced them but it makes it more difficult to do things that when you have two or they're older, it's not a big deal. I've never shied away from taking them with me everywhere but with our preschool, Kindy schedule it makes it hard to do planned activities or a bible study or a regular Moms group which is isolating to me. We had a whole night away last weekend when Mammy & Cheryl came which was so awesome to just have some time together but it was also a reminder that it is so hard to do things like that now.

Today has been a rough day, it's going to be a rough few weeks with Jason gone & I'll try and pray to have a happier heart tomorrow. Haley was grumpy, Harper was whiny, Lily was full of drama and Lacy, well Lacy almost always has a happy heart!

Conditioning for Dorm Study

One of my most important goals each day is to have Lily read to me for at least 20 minutes a day, we usually do a book or two after lunch and then always before bed. I truly think that Lily will be able to study at college in her dorm room with the door open, friends in and out, music playing loudly and while she chats on the phone. Why will she be able to do this? Because most of the time when Lily is reading to me, Lacy is letting us know her opinion on the book, Harper is trying to claw her way onto my lap and Haley is pulling hair or trying to rip the book out of our hand. And yes, we strive to do our reading during quiet moments but more often than not, it's a family affair.

The 8th Day

Conversation between Lily & Lacy today..
Lily, "Lacy, guess what God made on the 8th day?"
Lacy, "Me"
Lily, "No, on the 5th day he made animals, on the 6th day he made people, on the 7th day he rested and didn't have to do any chores"
Lacy, "He made me, he made Lacy"
Lily, "No, on the 8th day, he made hair"
Lacy, "Hair?" (my thoughts exactly)
Lily, "Yeah, he made people and then he wanted them to have hair so on the 8th day, he made hair"
Lacy, "Oh"

Pumping

The girls were running around like crazy people the other night. I said, "What are y'all doing?"

Lily says, "We're getting our BLOODS pumping!"

Wrappers

Me, "Who wants grapes?"
Harper, "Me"
Lacy, "Can I just have the grapes, not the wrapper?"
Me, "Grapes don't have wrappers"
Lacy, "yes, they do. I don't like to eat the wrapper, just the grapes"
Me,"You mean, the peel?"
Lacy, "Not the peel, the wrapper"
Me, "Ok"

Patterns & Poop

So, after the gym, I decided to make a "quick" run into Hobby Lobby with Harper, Haley & Lacy since who can pass up 99 cent patterns??? My plan was to run in, look through the pattern book and grab some patterns. Wasn't going to be picky, really, they're 99 cents! Walk in the store, of course all of the Easter stuff is right up front. Lacy, "EASTER STUFF! Can we look?" Me, "Yes, just for a minute"...20 minutes later, we're finally headed to the back of the store to look at patterns. I try to sit down to flip through the book while Lacy sits by me, little ones in the cart. "I get out", Harper starts yelling. Get her out of the cart. Haley starts whining since she's the only one stuck in the cart now. Dig in my bag for a snack or a toy or something to keep the peace. Sit back down, where did Harper go? "Harper, where are you?" "I pooping" Ugggghhh...of course there are people around. "Ok, we'll change you" "I poop Hobby Lobby" "I know you pooped, Let me grab my patterns and we'll go change you" Now, I'm trying to grab my patterns out of the drawer while Harper keeps announcing, "I pooped, I pooped" I know, all the other customers know and Lord knows everyone is smelling it. We hurry to the checkout, by now 99 cents doesn't seem like such a deal for so much WORK to get in & out of the store. While checking out, the cashier says Hi to the girls, Harper of course answers super loud, "I POOPED!"

Our Last 1st Birthday!

This is not a birthday picture but Haley LOVES to sit on the dishwasher when I'm trying to load or unload the dishwasher,
I like my cake! Jason got shower duty after she was done.

Who needs forks?

Happy Haley!

Oooohhh...cake!

I love this picture because you see Lily & Lacy in the picture who are the ones aggressively tearing open Haley's gifts

My ladybug cake, well Haley's ladybug cake!

Yay, we've made it a whole year of being the parents of 4 little girls AND survived it! Even thrived most days! I sent Jason a text on Haley's birthday that said,"Congratulations on making it a whole year being the daddy of 4 little girls & not running away?" His response, "Gosh, no one told me leaving was an option, thanks for letting me know!" The big girls were really excited about Haley's "party" which was just us and we told them that but presents, cake and ice cream are a big deal I guess. Made Haley a ladybug cake, Jason said it was very Martha Stewart so I'll take that as a compliment. I like doing things like that, it makes a memory for me & the girls when they help.

My Haley is pretty laid back most of the time, a super snuggler, super fast crawler, smiles at just about everybody, says Hi, Mama, Dada, Bye bye and a bunch of other things that sound like a baby dinosaur. Not walking yet but stands up on her own. I've told her that she needs to start walking as soon as all the snow melts so we can ALL get out and play!

A tiny part of me was a little sad that she was turning one, my baby days are numbered but then that same evening, she cried LOUDLY all the way home from church and that made me decide, Nope, four is the perfect number for us!