Oh Happy Day!

What a beautiful sight... that big yellow bus rolling around the corner and slowing to a stop to tkae 2 out of 4 of my children off to school again.....Yeah, Spring Break is over! As soon as we put Bear and Lo on the bus, Coop, Park, and I headed off to the gym for some much needed MOmmy Sweat time. I got to send them to the kid zone while I broke out into a good sweat for the first time in over a week.. It felt so good to be back.
Having said that, our Spring Break was wonderful. The kids were great! They really got along most of the time and we just hung out, relaxed, played, and recooped from a busy few weeks. Daddy was able to take a day off so he had a three day weekend with us and everyone really enjoyed their time home. I have some cute pictures from our JAUNT to Maymont of Friday with my 3 nieces but Chad took the camera today so I will have to add them tomorrow. Hope everyone enjoys their Monday and the end of Spring break!

NO NO NO NO

Well the Park monster has a new trick. The minute you start to stop him from doing something he is not supposed to do OR you need to catch him to change a diaper or put him in the bed or car, he goes running away from you at top toddler speed shouting, "no no no no no no no....." I wonder if that counts as putting two words together in a sentence (a skill he is supposed to have aquired but is not even close to being there unless we count BYE BYE as a two word sentence)
SO, if we count BYE BYE and NO NO NO as sentences, we are right on track! Yeah for me!

Having a BLAST!!!

Well, I was really really worried about how spring break was going to go. Staying here with the four little ones does not sound like a ton of fun BUT they have been great! We have had so much fun, I am actually a little sad that tomorrow is Friday. We have slept in, stayed in jammies, played outside, gone to the park, had lunch with Daddy, and put up the tent. We will culminate our week with a Maymont Visit and picnic lunch with my three nieces (who I am so sad are leaving). We then get to ship them off to their WONDERFUL Nana and Granddaddy's house for a sleep over. YEAH!!!!! Chad and I get to go out to dinner and maybe even a movie and NOT PAY FOR A SITTER!!!!

Day Two

Here we are at Day two and everyone is stlll alive.....even mommy! YEAH for me!!!!!!! Who knew I was so good.

So it is Spring break...

Okay, so we all had a wonderful Easter weekend with the HIghlight of our weekend finding out I AM GOING TO BE AN AUNT AGAIN! Courtney announced she is pregnant again and due in October. This makes me exceptionally happy because we are also excited to announce that My sister and her family are moving. Jack got a new job very far away and so my 3 nieces and big sister are going to be moving this summer to Cashiers, NC. I guess getting another niece or nephew might take some of the sting out of losing my 3 little girls.
Anyway, on to Monday, today, the first full day of Spring Break. I have already pulled out the special new videos, taken them to Target for a treat to play with (which they have already played with), made it to Total WIne to stock up, and broken out the Break and Bake Cookies for a special snack. And, Parker took an EARLY nap so he has been up since 2:30. Now, if I have already done this on Monday, what am I going to do the rest of the week? It is cold and cloudy today so I can not send them outside, hopefully it will warm up later this week and we can have some outings to the park or playgrounds nearby. THINK SUN!!!!!!

What could be more fun?

Cooper has a friend over today. They helped me make cookies/brownies and then took their dress p clothes long enough to lick both bowls. What could be more fun than sitting on a stool with your buddy licking a bowl in your Dora Panties?????? THEN, putting the dress ups back on and having a snack in front of a Video. What a wonderful way to spend a Wednesday!

Happy Birthday to Logan!

Well Yesterday was the big day. The day that my little girl turned SIX! I can not believe it, Six years old. She chose to have a Girly High School Musical Not so Sleep Sleepover. She invited a few little girls over, they ran around and squealed AL LOT, ate ice cream sundays, had finger nails and toe nails painted, got in jammies and watched the movie then EVERYONE WENT HOME!!! YEAH!!! She had a blast. Yesterday we celebrated as a family and had ice cream cake. It has ben a wonderful few days. Still, looking at her asleep in her bed last night, snuggled under her blankets, I thought back to holding her in my arms, six years ago and it did bring tears to my eyes. My little girl is not so little anymore.

One more thing.....

I remembered the other tip I wanted to talk about when reading a good friends comments.
TIp:
Use old sandwich bag box for old plastic grocery bags to dispose of diapers with

5 Great Tips

Here is what I am thinking. All of us do of lot of reading and brainstorming on ways to make our lives easier as moms. SO, I thought I would try something. I am going to post my TOP FIVE TIPS that I have tried. Then, you are to either reply in the comment section with your favorite 5 mom tips or post on your blog and then leave me a message in the comments so I can scoot over to your blog to check. Hopefully, we can get a whole lot of wonderful new (but tried and true) tips or pointers....
Here are mine:
1. Keep a ZIploc Gallon size plastic bag in car for car sickness or random vomiting. It holds everything in, conforms to your child's chin, can be sealed to keep in odor, and thrown away at the next stop.
2. Keep sunscreen on your child's changing table so when you get them dressed in the morning, you can put a coat on them to protect them while you play outside without having to stop to apply.
3. Keep a generic change of clothes in the car for above said vomiting so any of your children can wear them (tshirt and gym shorts)
4. Kid of the Day: Each day one child is the kid of the day. They get to make all the choices and do all the things most kids fight about....which TV show, get the mail, which book to read, etc!
5. Special nights: each kid gets to have a special night once a week so they can stay up 15 minutes past bedtime and have one on one time with mom and dad, no TV but that is the only stipulation. it is the same night each week. They look forward to it and go to bed much easier other nights so as not to miss out on their special night!

LIVE LAUGH LISTEN LOVE LEARN

Okay...I try and read a few blogs each day and one of them I visit frequently is: http://www.largerfamilies.com/drupal/. It posed a question about what one value or moral or quality would you want to instill in your children if you could choose only one. Oddly enough, this came very easy to me because I have been doing a lot of thinking about this concept lately. In my Sunday school class a few months ago we had to write Family MIssion Statements and ours was as follows:
LIVE LAUGH LISTEN LOVE LEARN
My husband and I felt these were the most important qualities we wanted our children to have and grow up with. Okay, it is kind of cheating because the question said ONE and I gave you FIVE but STILL, choosing only five is pretty good.
BUT, if you made me choose one out of the five it would be LAUGH. I want my children to enjoy life and laugh through it. Even when times can get really hard, a good smile and happy thought or laughter can help make things a little brighter. It is certainly not a cure all but sometimes NOTHING is so why not do as Peter Pan says and THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS... and Off to Neverland you will fly. Also, it absolutely helps make the world a brighter place for all those in it. I want my children to bring happiness and joy to others and to themselves as much as they bring joy to me. Heck when it comes down to it, being a mom of large family, we ALL have to learn how to laugh!

Random Thoughts

Well I was having a hard time getting to sleep tonight. I don't know if it is the coffee I crank, the 3000 thoughts running through my head, or being overly tired. What is it with being too tired? Why then do I have a HARDER time falling asleep. Anyway, I thought I would come down and put some of my rambling thoughts into a post. Before I start, bear in mind I do not have my glasses on so I am doing the best I can with the spelling errors.
First things first, I found out some wonderful news today.... a good friend from a long time ago is moving back closer to home AND she is expecting baby number two...YEAH!!!! I hope that with her moving closer we can get back in touch with each other and let our little Whirling Derbishes...Masters of Disasters......WIld Boys......Dirt Devils...... Our little boys play together and really get to know one another. They seem like two peas in a pod.
Secondly, Logan's birthday is next week. She made her own calendar a month ago and has been counting down the days. I can not believe my little girl is going to be six. It is so cliche but it really seems like yesterday that she was born. I can not imagine how different my life would be without her in it. She is such a wonderful little girl, helpful and kind, energetic and passionate, talkative and insightful. Even tonight, she told me she had to wear a dress to school tomorrow...why you might ask?? (which I did) Because she has Art tomorrow. Most people would think this was NOT a good thing to wear on art days but she informed me that she is allowed to sit in a chair during art class if she has a dress on and she likes that better than the floor. Smart girl.... She takes such good care of all of us, our lives and everyone she comes into contact with are much better and fuller because of her.
Thirdly, .......... can't remember what else was soaring through my head. I guess I spent too much time typing about the first two. Oh well, I am sure when I head back up to bed they will come back to me! Good night! See you in the morning!

Happy Monday!

WEll, I took my eldest girl shopping yesterday at the outlets in Williamsburg and helped her pick out some super cute clothes for the Spring/summer. I had to spend a fortune but we were both happy with what she picked out and came home with. My mom and Cooper joined us and we had such a fun day with the girls......
As a side note, I did have to steer her away from several items and told her they were just too tacky and ugly....she was not pleased but took it well and moved on. I guess she realized I would only buy her clothes that made her look 6 not 16 so she had to conform to my way of thinking.
While we were out and about, Chad kept the boys here and had a wonderful BOY day. They went to the Car Show, out to lunch, played football, and watched not only a basketball game but some of the race as well.
ALl in all, we all six had a great weekend! Hope you all did as well!

2 days in a row

Can you believe it? I am posting 2 days in a row... it must be a record, right? well no actually it is the combination of a few things.... Cooper's good friend Jenna over to play, a wonderful fenced in back yard, and a beautiful day! Put all three together and I might get quite a few things done today. First on my list, shower...... Then I might even try to add something to that list. WEll, maybe let's not get crazy....... I do want to start to look at what spring clothes I have for the children since we need to go shopping but that involves quite a few boxes and trip to and from the attic. THEN, I either put them all back in the attic after sorting them or trying to find a place to pit them until it warms up for good. Maybe they should all just stay in the attic a little bit longer and I should read my magazine on the porch.......Who votes for that?? ME!!!!!

A little Offended

I was at a funeral yesterday for a family friend. Here I was, feeling like I was looking prettty good and snazzy and together in my blouse, skirt, and high hell boots...no food on my or stains on my clothes and BAM! Somebody called me PREGNANT!!!! AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!! I know I missed th gym while the Wild MAn was sick, but come on.... PREGNANT?? All I could do was simply turn around and leave quickly....I hope I was not too rude, but I would have to say, they were not concerned about being rude. SO< needless to say, my butt was on the treadmill first thing this morning..... and tomorrow and the next and the next.........

Peaceful

WELL, I am finally getting around to posting. Things are quiet and still around the house and I finished everyithng else on my "TO DO" list so far...(not including dinner or dishwasher) NOW, what to write? HUMMMMMM... HUMMMMM... don't have much to say.....
Sad really, I finally get a quiet moment and am able to sit down and write something and I can not think of anything. I am so pathetic!
Okay, here is something. I was just approached by a friend of mine asking whether or not they should think about a third kid. They said things have slowed down and they were wondering whether it really made that much of an impact to our lives or not. I was not sure of how to respond. I mean YES, having more children is an impact and YES it speeds things back up again but it is what we chose to do and what I WANTED to do. Sh said they were in such a good groove right now, how much would it change? Well, it will change...A LOT but that does not meant you will not fimd yourself in a NEW groove. She told me she was floundering with what to do because her youngest had started school and she had been a MOM for so long that she felt very empty. WE talked and I said I Totally understand that and am sure that I will feel the same way in 5 or so years but the empty feeling probably will not be just cured by having a baby. Because what happened when that one grows up and heads of to school? Aother baby????? A baby is not a quick fix..... HELL, if for no other reason as there are a lot of other fixes that are CHEAPER!!!!! AND cause less HAVOC on your body.......
What do you guys think?