Triplets and a Surprise

Christmas Program 2011

2012-01-14T19:20:00.001-08:00

The kids performed before the big Christmas pageant this year. They did great and are quite the little hams. I'm so glad that they enjoy this kind of thing. I grew up singing in church and hope they continue to love music like I do!

Here is the video of them singing. And yes, that really loud girl you hear, that's Ella!

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Kid's Birthday Celebration

2012-01-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

With the birthdays around here being so close to Thanksgiving (Charlie) and Christmas (Triplets), we have a lot of festivities to cram into a small period of time. We generally do presents for the kids from the grandparents on Thanksgiving since that is Charlie's birthday, and then on the the big kids birthday, we celebrate all four and give them gifts from Jake and I. Not sure how much longer they will be willing to share each other's birthdays, but for now it works out well! This year, my Mom discovered the Nook Color and told me about them. We decided that would be a perfect gift for the kids since they are obsessed with iPads and we travel so much. Now this is an unusually large ($) birthday gift, so my parents bought one, Jake's parents bought one, Jake and I bought two, and my brother and sister in law bought the covers for them. They absolutely LOVE them! I don't know how I did it before these things came along. Waiting at a restaurant just became more pleasant, standing in line at the grocery store just got a little less torturous, the five hour trip to our parent's houses just got a little shorter. With all that goin' on, life just got a little easier!

All the kids wanted for their birthday was "those giant number balloons". Welp fifty bucks and three weeks later those dudes were still floating about in our dining room. Guess we got our money's worth!

The quote of the day. They were pulling stuff out of their bags as fast as they could and the first thing they found were their headphones for their Nooks. They were SOOOO excited! We kept asking them what they were for, and finally Ella looks up and says "GUYS! There for your ears, geez!" Haha!My mom and dad got them each a towel and they LOVED them! It's the little things!

Once Huddy had that Nook, it was all over. Dude would not put that thing down for anything as you can see from the next few pictures.

These pictures are from when we were singing them "Happy Birthday". Their faces crack me up! Oh, and in the last picture, where the other three are all looking at Carter, that's because every year, we spend the entire song yelling at him to scoot back away from the flame. When he blows out the candle, he always takes in a deep breath, about an inch from the candle. I swear one day that kid is going to suck that fire right up into his little mouth!

Jake and I got the kids new suitcases filled with some goodies (PJs, house shoes, art stuff). We travel quite a bit and they now have their own rooms at my parents so we thought it would be a good practical gift. They drug those suitcases around for days! Who knew such a practical gift would be so loved by three five year olds and a three year old! Here's a pic of the big kids on their fifth birthday, can't believe it!

Thanksgiving Feast

2012-01-14T18:15:00.001-08:00

The big kids' class at school had a Thanksgiving Feast this year. I was able to take off work and help serve along with some of the other moms. It is so funny to see these kids interact with eachother. All but two of the kids in the class, have gone to school with eachother since they were 15 months old so they call eachother by their nicknames and just love eachother! The kids really enjoyd their turkey sandwiches and had a great time at their special feast.

Thanksgiving Feast Table

My little indian Hudson

Ella, for some reason called this her "feasting helmet". She took it off for some reason, and when we started passing out their food, she yells "Wait mom! I don't have my feasting helmet on yet!" Hilarious!

Little Carter indian

Goin' to the chapel...

2012-01-14T10:01:00.000-08:00

...'cuz my brothers getting married! Back in July, my brother got married to a wonderful girl. Jake the kids and I were all asked to be part of their special day. I'm not gonna lie, I was STRESSED/TERRIFIED/NERVOUS all of the above about how the kids would behave. With this crew, it either goes really great or really bad, we don't have much of middle ground. Charlie sat with my in laws during the wedding and did great. The boys took a couple of minutes to get settled on stage, they were a little fidgety in the beginning. Ella of course stood perfectly still, she had been waiting for that day forever! Overall the kids did great and were rewarded handsomely at the reception with lots of pop and candy before we shipped them off to my in laws, haha! The wedding was gorgeous and we are so glad Savannah is officially part of our family now!

My brother and I

Charlie getting a last minute touch up on his hair, looking beyond adorable!
The big kids getting ready for pictures.
Four generations, my Nanna, my Mom, me and Ella
Uncle Arin and Aunt Savannah with the crew
Me and Miss Ell
My little fam. So glad we got this picture!

The kids started to get a little antsy waiting to walk in, but they practed their "walking like soldiers". The only snag we hit was when Carter looked up at Jake and told him he needed to poop. Fortunately, it was right when my dad and I started to sing and the unity candle was being lit so I don't think too many people noticed that they stepped backstage for a mid-wedding poop, and then quitely stepped back on stage, haha! Except for the groomsmen who I am told thought it was pretty hilarious!

I love Hudson's face in this one

Miss Ell was in flower girl mode, haha!
My daddy and I
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. The pastor is also the one who married Jake and I and my Mom and Dad, pretty special, huh?
The reception was a blast! The kids were able to stay and dance for a while before they went to Jake's parents for the night. These kids LIVE to dance, so they practiced "their moves" for months. We are especially fond of break dancing, so needless to say watching them spin on the stomachs and backs and flip their little feet in the air was pretty entertaining!

Jake and I walking into the reception
My Poppa and Miss Ell dancing with me and Carter man

Huddy and Carter watching them cut the cake. They had to have asked five hundred times when they were going to cut the cake so we could eat it.

Happy Halloween!

2012-01-13T12:36:00.000-08:00

The kids were really excited about Halloween this year. There were months of discussion about what they were going to be and they finally settled on the cast of Toy Story, Woody, Jesse, Buzz and Bullseye. They had our church party, their school party, and my CCM group's party, so the cos times got plenty of use! On Halloween morning before school, the kids got a little goody bag that I made for them. It had some little notepads, some Halloween socks, a glow stick, some Halloween pencils and one of those gross squishy balls. They had a blast trick or treating and ended up with way too much candy, which eventually made it's way to work so it would no longer be taunting us from the candy bowl!

Happy Halloween from the Toy Story gang!

The photo booth at our CCM party

Me and the crew

Buzz aka, Huddy

Jesse aka Ella and her best friend Ariel aka Lauren

Woody aka Carter

Bullseye aka Charlie

Goody bag time!

Pumpkin Carving

2012-01-13T12:21:00.000-08:00

After our adventure to the pumpkin patch, the kids spent A LOT of time debating on how they would carve their pumpkins. Last year, they HATED the smell and gunk of the pumpkins, so we decided that we would take their Mr/Mrs Potato Head pieces, and decorate their pumpkins. It was a little tougher than we thought (think Jake, a drill, and a large drill bit), but they turned out too cute! Definitely will be remembering this one for future use!

Huddy and his pirate pumpkin

Ella and her princess pumpkin

Carter and his rocker pumpkin

Charlie and his potato head pumpkin

The Fab Four

The whole gang

Pumpkin Patch

2012-01-12T17:14:00.000-08:00

So remember that bribe I was talking about? The one I used when the kids were having their pictures taken? Welp, it was the pumpkin patch. My mom, dad and I took the kids and they had a blast! There was a big inflatable slide, pony rides, and a hay maze. It was a gorgeous day and I was glad my parents were able to enjoy it with the kids.

Recycled crayons

2012-01-12T05:21:00.000-08:00

One cold Saturday morning, we decided to recycle some broken crayons. We had so many broken ones, but I didn't want to throw them away, so we came up with a plan to give them new life. It was getting close to Christmas, so we thought some Christmas themed craons would be fun. The kids did a great job seperating the crayons and peeling all the paper off (way bigger mess than I had originally anticipated). It was an all day process between seperating, peeling paper, breaking crayons, filling candy molds, "baking" crayons, cooling crayons,then coloring with the crayons, but the kids enjoyed it and we ended up some fun little gifts for their goody bags for their class Christmas party!<

First we seperated them by color, and then tore all the paper off. "College Gameday" helped make this process a little more enjoyable for Jake and I!

Then we filled the candy molds with the crayons. I thought "fill them to the top" was an adequate explanation, but after finding two and three little crumbs in some candy molds, I decided maybe I should "help", despite the protests of "we can do it by ourselves!"

It did take a little longer than I had anticipated to "bake" them, Charlie thought so too!

In the end, we ended up with some pretty cute crayons!

Big E's Owl Room

2012-01-11T11:37:00.000-08:00

Now, while the boys' room can be easily changed from one them to another, Ella's is a TOTALLY different story! We were shopping one day, she saw an owl, and the rest was history. I tried to fight it, but Jake reminded me, the poor girl has shared a room with three boys for the first four years of her life. So why not, owl's it is! The pink was a lot for me to take, so we decided to paint the back wall, aka the wall you can see from the living room, a color that would match the rest of our house a little better. Ella absolutely LOVES it and spends a TON of time just enjoying her very girly owl room!

This was my bed growing up. I'm happy she is getting to use it.

This was also my dresser. My dad built the toy shelf and the shelves on the wall.

Her bow holder is an old window pane I found at Jake's parent's barn. Her "E" is the original one from the nursery, I just re-covered it.

Instead of closet door (it drove me crazy being right behind the door) we went with a shower curtain. It matches her sheets and I think it's adorable!

This is her tea table Santa brought her. We've had A LOT of tea parties!

My dad found this chandelier for E and I think it finishes out the room just perfectly!

Giddy Up Cowboys!

2012-01-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

The boys new room is cowboy "theme". I use the term "theme" loosely, since we decided not to make it too "themey" or "childish". All we would need to do to change the "theme" is take the stuff off the walls and put up new "themey" stuff. They are going through a phase right now, so we decided to go with it. It has taken us FOREVER, but it is FINALLY done! We were able to score a bunch of cool stuff from Jake's parents and siblings since they are all into to horses and all things cowboy. I absolutely LOVE how it turned out!

This is Carter and Charlie's bed. The barn door was in Jake's parent's Morton building.

This is Hudson's bed, ditto on the barn door!

This is a bunch of stuff my SIL gave us, and the Iron Gate Farm sign is from Jake's parent's house, and also the name of their farm

Jake made this table out of an old bench and fence posts he found at his mom and dad's.

These are the letters from their original nursery, I just covered them in scrapbook paper. Thanks to my SIL for the great idea!

I discovered bery quickly that curtain rods and finials are EXPEN.SIVE! So I spray painted our old curtain rods, and when I found these stars for a nickel, I knew I could make them work!

I love, love, love these pictures of the boys. Show their personalities perfectly!

These are the fence posts we used. They are super old, and the wood on the inside is BEAUTIFUL!
I found these little drawer pulls on -line for fifty cents! I love the little western theme it gives the room.

This is their toy shelf, Jake built it and I love how it turned out!

These little decals started it all. The boys saw them and went nuts for them!

Bday pics for Daddy

2012-01-02T05:52:00.000-08:00

After seeing a friend's pictures she had done for her husbands birthay, I thought it would be a great idead for Jake! We've only had proffesional pictures done once, mainly because spending all that money and then praying and hoping the kids behave well enough to get a few decent shots stresses me out, big time! But, I decided they were old enough......to accept bribes for decent pictures. And you know what, I'm not ashamed to say the bribe worked and our photgrapher was able to get some AWESOME pictures of the kiddos! After seeing them, I decided they would definitely need to be our Christmas card pictures. Two birds, one stone, 'cuz that's how I roll.

Happy Birthday Charlie!

2011-12-02T20:41:00.000-08:00

I can not believe Charlie is three years old! I can still remember what I was wearing, what was on TV, the exact feeling in the pit of stomach, the moment I saw the positive pregnancy test. But I have to say three years later, I can not imagine our life without him. Their are so many things about Charlie at this age that I don't want to forget. The way he rolls his tongue when he talks. How he says "Huud-seein" instead of Hudson. I love that he is the PERFECT combination of his brothers, and I mean perfect. One second he looks and acts exactly Carter and then in the blink of an eye, it's like a smaller Hudson standing in front of me. He plays better by himself than any of his siblings. He is always in his own imaginary world, whether he is riding a buckin' horse, or hitting a home run for the Rangers. I love that he dominates Jake at night time, it's hilarious. He tells Jake when and where he can sleep, too funny! He believes with his whole heart he is the same age as the triplets. When you ask him how old he is, he says 5! I don't love, but want to remember, that he talks RIDICULOUSLY slow, not slow like he's trying to figure out what to say, slow like he has the thickest southern drawl ever. When he looks at food, he automatically says "Aaah (I) don't lack (like) it"(told you he had a drawl), even if it's favorite dinner. He plays so hard, it sometimes amazes me. He loves his lion and has to have him to sleep. He still has the BEST hair. His daddy HAS to watch him sleep every night. He absolutely loves babies and would have made an awesome big brother. To sum it up, Charlie is Charlie and one hot mess!

Toddler Beds

2011-12-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

This is long overdue, but back in February, yes February, we finally moved the kids out of their toddler beds into big kid beds. The boys now share a room, and Miss Ell has a room all to her girly little self. Here's some pics of the last night in their little kids beds!

The next morning, we got to work. The kids were so excited and Jake and I were glad to be moving on from the toddler beds and redo their rooms. Little by little, and almost a year later, we are finally done! Next post, their finished rooms!

One last hoorah!

2011-12-01T17:59:00.000-08:00

Our friends invited us out to the lake to send the summer out in style! The kids have never been to the lake, so we were excited to take them. We were able to ride wave runners, jump off the diving board on the dock, ride the tube across the cove, and jump off the roof of a dock. We had an absolute BLAST! The kids jumped off the diving board no less than 1,000 times. I thought they might be a little scared of the water being that you can't see anything, but it didn't phase them at all. We played for hours than had a great cookout and the kids were BEAT! Can't wait to take the kids back next summer!

Big E jumpin'!

The Big Timer takin' his turn

Carter did jump, I just didn't get any pictures of it, but he looks super cute in this one!
Huddy and I got tired of the regular jumping, so we decided to do some flips!

Hud and I rode the wave runner together. He just kept yelling "FASTER! FASTER!", and pushing my thumb down on the throttle, it was hilarious! The other three rode and enjoyed it too, they just enjoyed it much more slowly, ha!

This is our tube we took across the cove, it was a tedious balancing act with eight wiggly kids, but so fun!

This is the roof we were jumping off of. Huddy and Ella were the only two from our crew brave enough to try it! It was HIGH!

This is probably my favorite picture of the day. Let me explain. Poor E had a really tough time jumping off the high dive. She wanted to hold someones hand every time, and we couldn't get her to understand to let go when she got close to the water. She landed on her stomach more times than I can count and her legs were bright red, but she kept at it God love her. One particular time, she was jumping with our friend's daughter. They were holding hands, Ella jumped after Julia and went in head first holding Julia's hand, and landed with her cheek right on top of J's head. There was a lot of crying,and a pretty good shiner for E, but after a promise of some ice for their injuries, they seemed fine. Too bad we didn't have any way to give them ice, so this was the next best thing! Our friend Julie said "If that doesn't say I'm a Barron, I don't know what does!"

Ten Year Reunion

2011-09-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

Back in August, I had my ten year high school class reunion. And let me say, we had an absolute BLAST!!! I have SOOOOOOO many fun memories from high school, football games, showchoir, Nationals, too many to write! I was a little worried that I had built this whole thing up in my head to be way more fun than it was going to be, but it definitely did not disappoint! We had a little get together at a local bar on Friday night, toured the campus Saturday morning, a picnic Saturday afternoon, and the big party Saturday night. Everyone fell back into the same crowds with the same friends, but it was AWESOME! We danced and laughed for hours and I can't wait until 2021! Here's some pics from our fun weekend.

Jake and I Friday night

Some of the girls

Me and Ben, we've know eachother since we were ten years old!

My bestest friend, Gardner!

Best friend and college roommate, Shelley!

The kids in the weight room wathcing the football team practice

Checkin' out the therapy pool

At the aquatic center
The penguin, Tulsa has them all over, and this is the one at JHS

Picnic at the park

Feeding the ducks with Nathan, Amanda, and "New Carter"

The Lindsays (too bad there are about 15 other L's not in this pic, haha!)

Me and Gard and our awards. I won the award for "Most kids at one time", ha!

SHELLEY!

Jake and Me

Don't these husbands look pumped? We are a loud, probably annoying bunch at times!

Me and Ben

Best buds!

I hate that this picture is blurry, but I still love it, we had a blast dancing!

The 2am trek home! See you in 2021!

First Day of School!

2011-09-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

We had our first day of school today. All four kiddos are going to school three days a week, and I am teaching two. The big kids are in Pre-K this year! I can't believe they are so close to kindergarten! They really like their new class. Their favorite part of the first day was their "jobs". Ella's was cleaning the table after lunch, Hudson's was the attendance chart, and Carter's was book helper. They've been talking about all of the other jobs their friends had and which ones they are most excited about! I was a little worried about how Charlie would do. I have been his teacher for the past two years, so this is his very first time in a new class, but he did great! i let each of the kids pick their own backpacks and lunchbags this year which was a HUGE step for me. My only requirement was that their backpack and lunchbag had to match. Big shockeroo, the big kids each picked "their" color, and the same brand backpack and lunchbag. Charlie wanted the same kind, so he got stuck with the only one that was left, luckily he loved it. After a couple of battles in the Target aisle, we were all able to agree! Here's the typical first day of school pics!
Huddy

Eezer

Carter man

The Big Timer

Great group picture, ruined by Charlie, thanks dude!

And another, typical, ha!

I was trying to get them to look over their shoulder, but it was NOT happening. They kept leaning their faces on the wall, yelling CHEEEEEEEEEESE!

The big kids in front of their door, at this point they were done with pictures and were ready to play and learn!

Charlie in front of his door. "Look whooooooo's in twos!" Too cute!

Little Golfers

2011-08-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

When we first moved to TX, I worked at a golf course and we lived on a golf course, where Jake got a part time job. We played for free at both clubs, so we would meet after work, and we would play until it got dark. We played quite a bit, until I got pregnant with the big kids. We played a few times after we found out, but I would get so tired about half way through, and after one particular puking incident on the 11th tee box, I decided it was time to hang up the ol' clubs. Jake still plays occasionally, not as often as he would like, but hey, life changes! So back in May, we decided to take the kids to the driving range by our house. They LOVE to hit golf balls in the backyard, but are getting too good, and can now hit them over the fence. We realized pretty quickly that we were going to need to get them own set if we didn't want to have to replace all of Jake's from being slammed into the concrete. But overall, they did great, and I can't wait for it to cool down so we can hit the driving range more often! And hopefully I can get some better pictures, when I don't have to stand so close to make sure one of our small ones doesn't take a golf club to the head!

Jake and the crew

Huddy tee-in it up!

Big E had a VERY soft and gentle approach

Carter man, our little natural

And Little C, our swingin' southpaw

Still working on the rules "PUTT, CHARLIE, PUTT!" "WATCH OUT ELL!"

4th of July - 2011

2011-08-21T18:23:00.000-07:00

We spent the July 4th up in OK. We stayed with Jake's youngest brother and his wife, and their kids, who my kids absolutely adore! We played in the barn, played in the sprinkler, bought some fireworks, swam our little hearts out, and had fun shooting off fireworks. The whole family was able to get together which ALWAYS makes for a super loud, super fun time! I wasn't able to get pictures of the fireworks. Our kids were not quite sure of how they felt about them, so there was alot of time spent holding ears, yelling "scoot back", and putting out fires, haha! I also didn't get any pictures of Jake and his brothers, ages 30-40, jumping and flipping off the diving board, I was too busy laughing! They quickly realized they were not young enough for all that business, but not before a few red backs and tummys. (I for some reason don't have any of Charlie jumping either, oops!)

Buying fireworks with cousin Brooks, Cousin Halle was asleep in the car

Huddy doing the "scissors"

Big E

Carter's cannon ball

Huddy really like "surfing like the Backyardigans"

All the cousins - 12 total!

Fun at the club!

2011-08-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

Back in June, we were able to spend the weekend with Jake's oldest brother's family. Jake and his brother played in a golf tournament, and while the dads were playing, my SIL and I took the kids and spent the day at the club pool. The kid's had an absolute blast playing together. They jumped off the diving board, climbed the obstacle course, and were asleep before we left the parking lot everytime. It was a fun time for all!

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Veggietales!

2011-08-18T17:55:00.000-07:00

The big kid's spring musical at church was Veggietales. They had so much fun learning the songs in Sunday school. They did a great job!

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White Trash Water Slide

2011-08-18T17:27:00.000-07:00

So it's been super hot here, and not just regular Texas hot, like 112 degrees for a month and a half. So needless to say, we have been trying to find ways to stay cool. The kids and I go to the pool everyday, but it is too crowded on the weekend so we have to kick it at the house. So we've tried several different versions of our water slide, but this was by far the fan favorite. Probably not supersafe, but they loved it and didn't melt in two minutes, so I'll risk it for some cool fun!

A couple of things I love about these pictures. The safety goggles, seriously guys?! They were honestly upset that they wouldn't keep the water out. Secondly, the whiteness of my two youngest boys is ridiculous! We spend three hours a day in the pool. Ella, Hudson and myself are super dark, Carter and Charlie, glow in the dark white, it's hilarious!

This series of pictures so perfectly describe Ella. She has such a short fuse, but can cool down in an instant. She is one hot mess this one!

Country life!

2011-07-21T06:02:00.000-07:00

All of Jake's brothers and his parents live in the country. They all have horses and cows and chickens. Our kids love going to visit and get a taste of the country life. Enjoy it when we visit little ones, 'cuz I like Target and Chick-Fil-A being less than three minutes away, haha!

The boys found one of their cousin's trucks to play with in the backyard

E working a puzzle on the patio

Carter man just enjoying the space to run

The fresh air wore Charlie out, so he slept through our time in the backyard

We got to go to a little street fair while we were visiting too. Woudln't you know the mascot showed up, and you know how we LOVE mascots, (insert sarcasm here)! If people weren't already staring at us, they were for sure after the mass hysteria caused by the Mustang.
Charlie and Ella, too sweet!
We also got to go watch Uncle Willie at a Ranch Rodeo
Hudson rode the bull probable five times, and was so mad when it was time to go!
E rode it as well, but was not to sure if she like it or not, haha!

Let's Go Rangers! (clap, clap, clap, clap, clap)

2011-07-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

My dear sweet children are obsessed with the Texas Rangers. So much so, when they are on TV, they will not go to sleep unless we absolutely promise to wake them up when someone hits a home run. And they must know who won as soon as they wake up in the morning. They also want to know every morning if the Rangers are playing, what time they are playing, and what team they are playing. When one of the Rangers' hits a home run, they run through the house yelling the players name at the top of their lungs, it's so funny! They also have their favorite players. Hudson and Carter's alternate between Ian Kinsler and David Murphy aka Murph. Charlie's fave is Josh Hamilton, and it is adorable the way he says it. And Ella's is Yorvit Torrealba, and it is hilarious to hear her yell his name! So in honor of the Rangers second half of the season that started this week, and their 11 game win streak, I thought I'd share with you some pics and videos of my Little Rangers. And a little disclaimer, Jake and I are convinced our voices get way louder and way more hickish when on the video camera, so those that know us, just humor us, haha!

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Spirit Day at School

#1 Rangers!

Antlers up!

New Park!

2011-07-19T07:10:00.000-07:00

We live in such an awesome area. The kids and I are always finding new trails to walk, or new parks to play at. I can definitely say though, we have found a new favorite. It has just opened so everything is so nice. It tops my favorites list too, because it has a restroom that I can walk to and still see the entire park. So nice not to drag all four kiddos to the bathroom!

The treehouse! It makes super cool animal noises like crickets and owls. It's pretty obvious why the kids love it!

The big boys love the rock wall and ropes!

The spinning toys are awesome! All five of us can ride and they go soooo fast!

The spider web is definitely a fan favorite, even though I fear it will cause me to have a heart attack!

Texas Rangers Birthday Party

2011-07-19T06:44:00.000-07:00

Back in January, one of the big kids' friend from school had a birthday party at the Ballpark in Arlington. Our kids have become absolutely OBSESSED with the Rangers. They know every player, their number, where they play, where they bat in the line-up, it's hilarious! So needless to say, they were PUMPED. It was right after they had played in the World Series so all of the banners and flags were still up. It was also right before the Super Bowl, so we were able to see all of that at Cowboy's Stadium as we were driving by. The kids were able to tour the batting cages, the locker room, the press box, the press room, and even go into the dugout. They had an absolute blast, and I don't know who enjoyed it more, the kid's or all the parents!

All the kiddos before the tour
The Fab Four!
Hudson and Carter with the birthday boy Joseph
Checking out the batting cages. Nice pouty lip E!
The big kids in front of Josh Hamilton's locker. Jake has a MAD man crush!
Carter checking out the view from the press box
Huddy in the press room
E giving a brief news conference
No comment from the lefty Carter man
Please hold all questions until after the Big Timer's nap. He was a little sleepy that day!
Huddy and Carter in the dugout
Jake and Charlie in the dugout. Jake had a blast!
The whole gang at the top of the dugout
Can't you feel the love!
And he's out! Before we even got out of the parking lot!

Potty Training Champ!

2011-07-15T06:40:00.000-07:00

I had planned on waiting until after Vacation Bible School to potty train Charlie. There was a span of two weeks where we were at church from about 8:30-1:00 everyday, so I was afraid it would be too hard. But on the last day of school, we came home, and he told me he was all done wearing diapers. He took it off, threw it in the trash, and has never looked back. I am so proud of him! I was really dreading it due to my past experience with the older boys, OK, just one older boy, ahem, Huddy, but I honestly didn't have to do a thing! He has only had maybe four accidents, too! Way to go Charlie, you're a potty training champ!

Livin' the suite life!

2011-06-28T08:41:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Jake's job, we've been able to take the kids to some really fun things that we usually would not be able to do, and do it in style! Unfortunately, they've become entirely too accustomed to suites and are a little disappointed when have to sit in regular seats with no free cookies and pop, haha!

First up, the Frisco Roughriders!

We also got to see our first soccer game when my parents were in town. Go FC Dallas!

Easter 2011

2011-06-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

Don't they look totally adorable! So I may be a little biased, but they are pretty cute!

The kids were so excited to see their Easter Baskets this year. This was the first year they even realized that there was going to be something special for them when they woke up. We were given very strict instructions, that under NO circumstance, should we let the Easter Bunny in the house. Surely they'll get over the whole trauma of the picture eventually.....right? So bedtime came, the alarm was set, the doors were locked, no one was to come in. So in the early morning hours, I snuck the kids' Easter baskets onto the front porch. When we told them we had to go on a hunt to find them, they were very happy we had not let him in our house. They loved all their goodies the Bunny brought them. We headed off to church where all of the children got to release butterflies. Ours were not huge fans. There was alot of screeching from the younger group. But it was very cool. After church, some friends of ours invited to their house for Easter lunch with their family. Since we don't live near our family, it was nice to be with such good friends during such a special day.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It's all about what you don't see!

2011-05-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

What you don't see, is Ella screaming "GAAAAAAA! GAAAAAAAA! GAAAAAAA!" at the top of her lungs. What you don't see is, Carter shaking in terror yelling "Don't let him touch me! Please Mommy don't let him touch me!" What you don't see is Charlie puking on the Easter Bunny because he was crying so hard. What you don't see is the snotty woman with her ONE little girl, who stayed to watch us, telling me in an, aww look at the poor little girl tone, "I have some wipes in my diaper bag if you need some sweety." (I've got four freakin' kids lady! I got wipes comin' out my ears!) What you don't see is the dirty looks the four girls who were trying to take the kid's picture are giving me, and the shock on their faces when I told them, yes, I did indeed want to buy the picture. What you don't see is the permanent damage I fear I have now inflicted on my children. Eh what are gonna do, haha! I will cherish these screaming Easter Bunny/Santa pictures always!

What you can see though, is Hudson absolutely rockin' the Easter Bunny scene. He even requested one by himself since all the other kids were crying in the other one, haha!

Palm Sunday 2011

2011-04-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

This year at church, the kids were able to participate in the Palm Sunday service. They sang a song with all of the children, and then waved there palm branches while the older kids sang. They did great, especially in front of such a big audience!

Our friend Brady was in town and we were able to get a pretty good family picture!
The big kids getting ready to sing

"Hosannah unto the King"
Ella remembering to smile!
Huddy patiently waiting to start his song
Waving their palm branches

Here's the video of their big performance!

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Start 'em early, raise 'em right!

2011-04-22T11:09:00.001-07:00

The kids and I made our annual trip to Norman for the OU spring game. The kids were so excited this year and starting yelling and chanting "OU Sooners, OU Sooners"! It was hysterical. Hudson asked a million questions, "Why is that guy wearing a blue jersey?", "When are they going to kick it between the yellow pails?", "When are they going to score a touchdown?", "Where is the coach?", "Which team do you want to win?", it was EXHAUSTING! Ella was mostly interested in the cheerleaders and complaing about how hot it was. Carter sat very quietly and intently studying every play. And Charlie, surprisingly sat and watched everything! I was about their age when I went to my very first game, and since there is no way I am ready to take all four of them to a real game yet, the Red/White game is a great warm up!

The crew and I in front of the stadium The kiddos with Yia-Yia and Pops
Big Poppa with his great grandkids
Big Poppa, Ella and Carter
Charlie checkin' out the Sooners

Huddy and his "binock-wee-ers"
Big Poppa and Big E
The Hud man
Me and Eezer
Love this pic of my Poppa and Carter!
Ella and Big Poppa singing "Boomer Sooner", I used to do the same thing at that age!

Art Fest 2011

2011-04-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

We had the our annual Day School fundraiser a couple weeks ago. The kid's art was adorable and they sang great! Can't wait until next year when Charlie performs too! Here's some pics and a video from their big night, and yes, I now realize their shirts are too small, gotta love the belly shots!

"My God is so BIG!"
"So strong and so mighty" "The mountains are His" "The rivers are His"

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For less than a penny a day.....

2011-04-17T19:52:00.001-07:00

you could support one of these beautiful children.

So as soon as I saw these pictures, my mind jumped straight to those infomercials where they ask for money to support a needy child. Now are children are definitely not needy, just dirty! They LOVE being outside, and are filthy by dinner every night. I know one day I will have to beg them to go outside, so right now, I'm cherishing those dirty little faces and the dirt, mud and grass they track in!

Take me out to the ballgame!

2011-04-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

Baseball is a big part of our lives. Jake and I met at a baseball game, got engaged at a baseball game, our rehearsal dinner invitations were sent out on baseballs, you get it, it's important to us. When we first moved down here, that's one of the things we were most excited about, was being able to watch major league games regularly. Before the kids were born, Jake and I went to a TON of games, and the big kids were even able to go to a few when they were babies, but Charlie has never been. So when the Rangers announced $6.00 tickets on the 6th of April, and it was dollar hot dog day, we knew we had to go! We picked the kids up early from school and told them where we going, and the boys were PUMPED! Ella, on the other hand, thought we were just going home to watch them on TV, and was hysterical because she wanted to stay and play with her friends. Once we convinced her we were actually going to the game, she was as equally as excited as the boys.

Now, our big family outings usually begin with high expectations of fun, picture perfect family moments and end with high levels of frustration, numerous meltdowns, and seventy trips to the bathroom. But today, was as close to perfect as you can get. The kids were great! They SAT and WATCHED the WHOLE game! It was so fun to actually thoroughly enjoy an outing as a family. Here's some pics from our fun day!

The whole crew before the game outside the ballpark
On our way to our seats, we had a great view of Cowboys Stadium

It was HOT, so we quickly started peeling off layers of clothing and slathering the kids down with sunscreen

Ready to cheer on the Rangers!

After a hot dog, chips, twizzlers, peanuts, and chocolate ice cream, E had a tummy ached and needed to rest on Daddy's shoulder, but she bounced back quickly

Me and Charlie, he really did have a good time, haha!

Charlie wanted to sit all by himself, and was yelling "Go Rangers!"

Super strong Daddy with H and E

The Big Timer and I after the game

Snow Storm 2011

2011-03-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

We don't get too much snow around these parts. So when it snowed this year, alot, the metroplex literally shut down. We just don't do snow. No school, businesses were closed, rolling blackouts, gas shortages, grocery stores were running out of food, it was miserable, not as bad as our family up in OK, but bad for down here. By the fourth day, we were brave enough to play outside in it. We didn't last long, we just don't have the equipment to play outside, mainly, waterproof clothing. So we got wet and cold pretty quickly, but not before we were able to build the kids first ever snowman. This was also the first time the kids had ever played in the snow. Seriously!

Carter man getting his first up close look at the snow. E surprised me and lasted as long as the boys did outside Typical, Huddy immediately picked up snow and started throwing it at us Charlie is WOR-KER! This kid "shoveled" snow the whole time! E and her sassy look, we get this one alot! Carter man got into the snow ball throwing action Yep that's a broom, we have no snow shovel, so resorted so sweeping the snow out of the driveway every couple hours so it wouldn't freeze and trap us in. Charlie hard at work This face perfectly describes Hudson, mischievous, devious, hornery, and theirs a little laugh that goes with this face, hahaha! E and her "yittle bitty tiny snow ball" Now were talking Carter man! E and C with Frosty, who promptly melted in two days, eh what are gonna do!

Rodeo Cowboys

2011-02-23T10:58:00.000-08:00

The way these kids act, you would think that they were being raised on a farm. They believe they are real live cowboys. Other than visiting family, we have never lived on or around a farm or near horses, and yet they talk about them ALL the time and pretend they are roping calves 24/7. They only refer to eachother as "cowboy" or "horse" and play rodeo constantly. Every year we take them to the "Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo". They start seeing the signs up around town and ask EVERYDAY when we are going to the rodeo, and are so excited on "rodeo day", as they call it. So here's some pics from this year's FWSSR.

Charlie is ready for the rodeo

E and C are ready for the calves (which they asked about 700 times)

E, C and H totally mesmerized

Perfect cowboys taking their hats off when the "American Flag" came out.

The whole cowboy crew!

2011 - The Year of Me

2011-01-26T10:49:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's what I'm calling 2011, "The Year of Me". Selfish, yup, probably, but I don't care, so there. I always heard that once you have kids, it's all about them, you take a backseat to their every need and want. Well I've tried that, and while I will NEVER, EVER put my needs or wants above my kids or my husband, something had to give. I was tired, cranky, and wasn't enjoying all of the small things in life. So I woke up one morning and decided, only I can change this, this is going to be "The Year of Me". And I'm here to prove, "selfish" is not always a "bad" trait.

I have decided I need to take better care of myself. I need to take care of myself the same way I take care of everybody else. I need to take care of my mental health, the way I take care of everybody else's mental health. It's not fair to me and especially not fair to Jake and my kids for me to not be the best person/wife/mom I can be. Now I'm not talking drastic life changes here, just little things here and there. I'm going to get my hair cut every six weeks, sure it's just at the beauty college, but it makes me feel better about myself. I'm going to give myself a manicure once a week, nothing fancy, just a little clear paint, but it will make me feel better about myself. I'm going to get up a little earlier every morning and shower and do my hair, not because I have to, but it makes me feel better about myself. It may seem silly that I need to feel good about myself to be at my best, but hey, that's who I am, and it's time I own it. Some people may not agree with this, but it's working for me and my family! So far this year, I'm happier, more laid back, enjoying all the small stuff and having more fun with my family than I have since before the triplets were born. Selfish, yeah! But when my kids are grown and have kids of their own, I want them to know it's OK to be a little bit selfish, especially when it makes you a better person/spouse/parent. And who wouldn't want to be the best person for these guys!

Come to think of it, with me making my family's life so much better, really, I'm not selfish, I'm just awesome. OK, that was a little pompous, but hey, it's "THE YEAR OF ME"!!! HaHaHa!!!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-17T11:14:00.000-08:00

Let's wrap this bad boy up, 2010 that is! This year, we were lucky enough to have my side of the family down to our house for Christmas. We had a blast, and it was so much fun to see the kids Christmas morning so excited to see what Santa brought them. There was quite the discussion on how Santa would get inside. We don't have a fireplace, therefore no chimney. I had no idea how to answer when approached with the question, but Hudson quickly decided he could just come through the skylight. They were pretty concerned that he would try to sneak in their room. But a promise that Pops would sleep on the couch, and a baby gate across the hallway, seemed to put the boy's minds at ease. Ella on the other hand, wanted him to leave the presents in the driveway, and have Pops go outside and bring them in. We promised her Santa would come no where near her room, and she reluctantly agreed to go to bed. So after Christmas Eve service, dinner out with the family, brand new PJs, milk and cookies for Santa, and reindeer crunch for Santa's hard workers, the fun began. After the kids went to sleep, we wrapped presents, got everything "Santa" ready, and made breakfast for the next morning. I was so excited for the next morning. Jake and I had a blast shopping for the kids and I just couldn't wait to see their faces in the morning. We went to bed WAY too late, and were up bright and early at 6:00am to get the party started!

The kids were so excited about making a special snack for the reindeer. They were especially excited when I told them they got to use the mallet. I don't have a meat cleaver, but a mallet seemed to work just fine.

Christmas Eve
Santa's milk and cookies and reindeer cruch for Rudolph

Attempt #1 at a group picture

Attempt #2 - Charlie would be climbing on the TV trying to get Santa's snack

Attempt #3 - Not quite

Attempt #4 - Ella is yelling "Just. Take. The. Picture. Already"!

Huddy got a bike, helmet, kneepads, elbowpads, riding gloves, a firestation, coloring book, toothbrush, Diego undies, a movie, and sunglasses.

Ella got a bike, helmet, kneepads, elbowpads, riding gloves, Barbies and a carrying case, a gLee magazine (which is ALL she asked for), toothbrush, undies, movie and sunglasses

Carter got a bike, helmet, kneepads, elbowpads, riding gloves, a spaceship, coloring book, toothbrush, Cars undies, movie, and sunglasses

Charlie got a bike, helmet, kneepads, elbowpads, a Chuck Truck, coloring book, toothbrush, Matchbox motorcycle, movie and sunglasses

I think Santa did GOOD! They also got Wii Mario Kart and wheel remotes, and each of them got a Toy Story doll (Woody, Jesse, Buzz, and Rex), from Jake and I.

Christmas Morning

It was an absolute blast! By far the best Christmas we've had with the kids, and I just know they will keep getting better!

2010 Birthdays

2011-01-13T18:01:00.000-08:00

So the trips turned four and Charlie turned two this year! At this point, it is easier to celebrate them all together. Charlie's birthday is always right at Thanksgiving day, so we celebrate all four up in OK when we are with our families, and then we celebrate here with cake and presents on the triplet's birthday. We are going to start doing half birthdays for the kids, because with Charlie's on Nov. 26th, the triplet's on December 8th and four or five family Christmas celebration before December 25th, there is whole lot goin' on around here! As they opened gifts at each different celebration this year, I stole some toys that the kids opened and they are safely hiding above the refrigerator to open up when they are tired of all their new stuff. So, on to the birthday celebrations!

First up was my parent's house. We sang to each kiddo and they each got to blow out their cupcake with everyone watching. They were really excited and got it for the first time.

Hudson is turning 4!

Shockingly (said in a sarcastic tone) Hudson was impatient and blew his candle out before we finished singing to him.

Ella is turning 4!

Of course, she was in heaven with everyone singing just to her

Carter is turning 4!

Carter was getting sooooooooooo close to the candle, like ridiculously close. So the entire video of us singing to him someone is screaming "Carter, get back!"

Charlie is turning 2!

He's kind of in a "ONLY my daddy can hold me/change my diaper/do anything for me" phase.

Then it was time for presents! My parents got the kids those big driving cars. They live in a new neighborhood with brand new sidewalks and the kids can just drive forever. They love them!

Then it was time to celebrate at our house on the big kid's actual birthday! They helped me make their birthday cake, we had their most favorite dinner, and then opened presents.

Doing a little baking

All the loot! They each got a "Nerf Gun" and a baseball glove. Hudson got a football, Carter got a soccer ball, Ella got a speaker for her iPod, and Charlie got baseballs. Then they got a basketball goal, t-ball set, and giant bowling pins to share.

Halloween 2010

2010-12-30T07:15:00.000-08:00

This was first year we have purchased costumes and really got into Halloween. And let me tell you, the kids LOVED it. We went with a superhero theme, and the streets were a little bit safer with these four out that night. They were beyond adorable and we have gotten a ton of use out of their costumes. We had a Halloween party for my CCM group, Trunk or Treat at Church, Boo at the Zoo, Trick or Treating, and now all of the costumes are now in our dress up baskets and are worn daily. I had to do a slide show because there were way to many good ones to now post! But this is my new all time favorite!

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Freedom Run

2010-12-27T09:30:00.000-08:00

Every year, Jake's company participates in the "Freedom Run". It's a benefit run for Police Officers and Firefighters. It get bigger every year, and the kids and I always have a good time going to watch.

Our first Freedom Run - 2007

Alot has changed in three years!

There were some very kind firefighters who let the kids play inside their truck

Cheering on all the runners

Here come Daddy!

After the big race

Our New Favorite Park

2010-12-27T09:12:00.000-08:00

This past summer, our city opened a brand new park. We drove by it everyday on the way to the pool to see if it was ready, and when it finally was, we decided t was well worth the wait. It is great! It has the soft, squishy ground, the zero entry ramps, and no one is EVER there. Not sure why, but we sure aren't complaining. We went almost everyday this summer and after school while the weather was nice. Here's some pics from our new favorite play spot.

Friday Night Football

2010-12-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

Back in September, when the kids and I were up in OK, my parents and I took them to a football game at my old high school. They LOVE football and started yelling "Go Jenks Trojans" as soon as we pulled into the parking lot.

Hudson refused to be in the group picture, typical

The more cooperative three

Headed to the stadium with Pops

The big kids watching the band before the game

Ella and my mom

Charlie and my Poppa

Carter, Huddy, Ella

Best Buds!

2010-12-13T12:28:00.001-08:00

Hudson and Charlie, where to begin with these two. Two peas in a pod, hot mess, disaster, the two that will be the death of me. Yeah that sounds like a good start. Let me start off by saying God knew what he was doing by giving three totally different kids when I had the triplets, because had I had two Hudson's (ahem, Charlie) I don't know that I would have survived. Correction, I would have survived but I would have been a total crazy person! These two love each other so much, and it is SCARY how much alike they are. Charlie got Hudson's personality, athleticism and ability to not listen to a word I say, with Carter's smarts and sneakiness. Deadly combination! But there are a few rare moments where these two sit down for more than two seconds, and luckily I was able to capture a few. They both LOVE to have their heads and back rubbed. So almost everyday, one of them will bring their pillow pet and Ella's play scissors over to the couch and try to talk someone into "cutting" their hair. On this particular day, they decided to take turns and help each other out.

Big E's Tantrums: Frame by frame

2010-12-13T12:17:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has ever just "met" Ella always talks about how pleasant and great she is. How grown up she seems, and how rough she must have being the only girl. But for those of us who really know her, know there is a bit of a dramatic dark side to little miss. She also holds her own with the boys, trust me! Here is the proof. These pictures are from this summer in the car. We were on our way to the park, and she was obviously told something she didn't want to hear!

Goggle Goobs!

2010-11-15T07:59:00.000-08:00

Since we spent so much time at the pool this summer, I found the kids some goggles. You would have thought they were the best thing in the entire world when I gave them to the kids. The boys walked around in them all morning long!

Back to School

2010-11-08T07:17:00.001-08:00

Well back in September, all of us started back to school. The big kids are going three days a week, Charlie is going two days a week, and I am teaching two days a week. The kids absolutely LOVE school. This is the first year they are really interested in the actual learning as opposed to just enjoying art time and recess. Ella was writing her name within the first week and the boys are doing better. Their names are obviously harder, but we are working on it. I am teaching Charlie's class, but it is so fun to see him interact with all of his little friends. They each have their best friend and it is hilarious to hear them talk about who they played with, who they sat by, who was the line leader and who had to sit in the "Thinking Chair". So far, none of our crew has had to sit in the "Thinking Chair"!

I'm letting them help pick what goes in their lunch each day. They get to pick a fruit, a veggie, yogurt/applesauce, pretzels/crackers, and a special treat(animal cookies, teddy grahams, etc.) So I decided very quickly that I needed a system to remember who wanted what, because Heaven forbid I should make a mistake, the world will surely come to an end! So every night before school, we sit down and right down on "their color" sticky note, exactly what they want and then I stick it by their lunch bag so I know what goes where. I pack as much as can the night before so it goes a little more smoothly in the morning. I also found the cutest containers for their lunches so we don't have to use pre-packaged food or plastic bags, which at 13 lunches a week can get pricey! So here is what our counter looks like during the week.

Here we are on the first day of school

And of course they all picked the same backpacks and lunch bags, (we're working on individuality) so I found some ribbon to tie around their bags to tell us which bag belongs to which child!

The big kids and their cubbies (Charlie refused to stand by his)

Ella's Tonsillectomy

2010-10-25T06:13:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago Ella had to have her tonsils and adenoids out. She has never had strep but apparently her tonsils were so enlarged they were shocked that she was able to eat and breathe OK. She did snore HORRIBLY, so that's what sent us to our favorite ENT in the first place. I had my tonsils out when I was 17 and I remember how painful it was, so I knew it would be rough. It just turned out to be a little more dramatic and earth shattering to Big E than I had originally anticipated. It was a ROUGH two weeks, but, eventually she got to feeling better and I am happy to say we have a little girl who no longer snores and eats more than I ever thought a three year old girl could.

I am not one to get emotional when one of my kids get sick or scared, but this face absolutely crushed me. She was so scared and just kept asking me to take her home. I felt so bad for her and couldn't help the tears that welled up.

But we were able to find a few good distractions at the awesome Cook Children's! Wii is one of favorites!

I also pulled out the "special surprise", Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.

Just after surgery, we were still a little out of it, but talking and drinking well.

The boys colored some pictures for E while she was at the "hosapital"

Day two was rough, but a little "pedicare" and some oatmeal made things a little better

"Princess" was sick too and went everywhere E went. The shower, dinner, bed, etc.

I could do a whole nother post about this girl's obsession with "gLee". So needless to say, "gLee" book went everywhere too!

Fish babies

2010-10-18T10:24:00.001-07:00

I already blogged about this once, but we spent so much time at the pool this summer I took too many pictures not to share!

Summertime Adventures

2010-10-11T11:13:00.001-07:00

We spent alot of time outside this summer. Especially in the mornings! We tried to go to the park everyday and go on a little adventure after we played. Now our adventures usually consisted of walking a trail or exploring a little patch of trees the kids referred to as "jungles", but even so, they thought it was awesome! At times, these kids are ridiculously easy to entertain.

Getting ready to hit the trails

Enjoying our brand new park

On the teeter totter with E and C

Huddy

Ell

Carter

Charlie

The big kids

Charlie thought he might be missing out

The whole sweaty crew after a hard day of playin'

Back-blogged!

2010-09-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

I am so behind on blogs. I have a ton to blog about, but just no time to get it done! We are back in school and staying busy. But I am hoping to get some blogging done this week! Coming soon!

Summertime Adventures
Fish Babies
Ella's Tonsillectomy
Back to School
Goggle Goobers
Big E's tantrums: Frame by Frame
Best Buds
Friday Night Football
Our New Favorite Park
Freedom Run
Kid's Spaces
Seven Kids Three and Under
4th of July

So that's all I can think of right now. I'll get right on it, hopefully!

Converstions with Ella

2010-08-19T06:02:00.000-07:00

A little background. Ella is girly. I'm talking, pedicures, jewelry, flowery, fluff, shopping, non-physical working, laundry folding, cooking, emotional, drama queen girly. Not sure where she gets this. I'm not girly, I'm no tomboy, but I JUST recently learned to accessorize and do my hair, thanks to my brother's girlfriend. And she has always been like this, since birth, it is CRAZY! Now all three boys, are workin' dudes. Hammers, drills, screwdrivers, weed-eaters, mowers, blowers, you name it, they know what it is, and they know how to use it.

So last Saturday morning, Jake and I were talking about what all we needed to do that day. There were a few errands and some outside work. So everyone is getting dressed and talking about who is going to do what, and the boys are pumped. Huddy's favorite phrase is "Let's get crankin'". So Ella is doddling, did I mention she is ridiculously slow, and Huddy tells her, "C'mon Ella, we gotta get crankin', there's lots of work to do outside!". Ella tells the boys in an indignant tone, "I'm NOT going to get crankin' outside, it's too hot, I'm going to run errands with Mom". So the boys head outside, and gather our stuff to leave the house. We are brushing our teeth, getting ready and Ella says, "Ugh, Mom, I don't know WHY those boys like to get crankin' outside. It is hot and you get all dirty. Let's let the boys do all the work outside, and we should go check and see if the pedicure place is open." I proceed to tell her, that we have work to get done that day and we will not be getting a pedicure, which causes a total and complete meltdown. Her toenail and fingernail polish is falling off, she needs a bow in her hair, she can't find her bracelet, and she IS. NOT. WORKING. OUT. SIDE! "OK", I tell her, "First, chill out!". Shockingly, the tears immediately the tears stop and normal conversation resumes. (Maybe she'll make us some money one day with those tears). We decide that maybe she can go get a pedicure next week, we will get here a clippy before we go out in public, we will find her bracelet, and I promise her she does not have to work outside. This seems to temporarily appease her, not that she didn't ask me thirty two time what time the pedicure place opens! She is a hot mess that one, but a cute one! Oh dear, I wonder what the teenage years will hold, I'm not sure how to handle all the drama and girlyness!

PS: Thanks to everyone for all your sweet comments on my last post. Glad to know we are all in this together!

The good, the bad and the ugly

2010-08-06T05:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a ROUGH couple of months around here, to put it mildly. The kids are at a REALLY tough age. And quite honestly, at this particular point in time, we have WAY more bad days than good. They spend most of their days fighting over toys, spots on the couch, who gets to sit by who in the stroller, what game they want to play, etc. Nothing is simple, everything is a battle, and by the end of night, we are all beat down, and more than one of us is usually crying. Jake and I stay up way too late, because I know as soon as we go to sleep, we will be up all night with someone (oh yeah, did I mention Hudson wakes up every one or two hours through out the night), and then, we wake up for the next day, just to do it all over again. I have debated for a long time whether to write about all this, but this is a journal for my kids, and when they look back at it, I want them to see and remember everything, the good, the bad and the ugly. I don't want them to read this when they have kids and think it was all sunshine, roses, unicorns and rainbows. It's not! It is hard; really, really, really hard. Harder than I ever thought it would be. There are many nights I go to bed feeling like I failed at the only thing I ever wanted to do, raise a family. Did I ever think I would four kids in less than two years, no. Did I ever think my kid would be the one screaming wildly at Wal-Mart, no. Did I ever think people would stop and stare at me and kids anytime we walk into any establishment, putting extra pressure on how I think they should behave, no. Did I ever think I would walk out of "Vera Bradley" because my oldest threw something hitting a kind old lady in the leg, no. But the truth is, this is our world. I wish I could be one of those parents you see at the park or the pool, who just sit and let their kid do whatever they want, it would be so much easier that way. But I'm not, I expect my kids to follow the rules, listen when I'm talking to them, and respect the people around them. That was / is never going to change, so it seemed like I was fighting an endless battle. And then I got a break, and it came at the perfect time.

My mom invited me to Las Vegas. Just her and me, no kids, no husbands, just us. And I must say, it is the best, most refreshing thing I have done since our kids were born, for both me and the kids. It was the first time I had totally let go and didn't worry one time about the kids. Were they behaving themselves? Were they eating well? Were they sleeping well? Were they listening? Did Hudson take his inhaler? Were they happy? Were they having fun? Were they being safe around the pool? Were they being nice to their cousins? All the things that run through my head on a daily basis, I just let go. Which for me, is really, really tough. But I knew they were being well taken care of, so I did it, I let go, and totally enjoyed it. In four days, I read two and a half books, I saw three movies, I saw "La Reve", I laid by the pool, I sat down and ate by myslf, I slept great, spent some alone time with my Mom, and came back a whole new person. The past three days, have been the best days we have had in a LONG time. The kids are happier, they are sleeping great, they are behaving, and not fighting! As I type this, sitting in my big comfy chair, the kids are playing peacefully with each other on the floor with an occasional dance break to a song on the "I-Bot". We just needed a break, from eachother, from our daily routine, from everything we were used to. And with the break, I've come back a better Mom, a better wife, and a better person.

And with faces like this, who wouldn't want to be happy and enjoy the little moments!

Fun with Cousins!

2010-07-26T05:43:00.001-07:00

Last month, Jake and his brothers were all down here for their annual golf trip, so we took advantage and headed up to Oklahoma to spend some fun time with the cousins. Ella was staying at my Mom and Dad's for the weekend, so it was just me and the boys. We stayed with Aunt Brynn, and cousins Sam, Olivia, and Julia for a couple of nights, and also stayed with Granna and Big Boss Dog one night. My kids absolutely ADORE their cousins, and I have to say, I think the feeling is mutual. We had a great time and stayed super busy. We went to Jules softball games, to the kiddie park, and swimming at Granna's and Aunt Missy's with cousins Jack, Ben, Reed and Brooks and Aunt Crissy. We were up until eleven almost every night but the boys and I had a blast and can't wait to hang out with our cousins soon!

There were way to many cute pictures to choose from so I had to do a slide show of all of them!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Welcome to Our Home!

2010-07-21T05:28:00.000-07:00

If you were to drop by any random afternoon and enter our home, this is how you would be welcomed!

This is what Charlie does every day. After nap, he goes to the restroom, and grabs his potty. He sits, and sits, and sits, until he is "DONE!", which he exclaims very loudly. He LOVES to sit on the potty! We are not in any way trying to potty train him. I think he is probably ready, but I'm not, I mean didn't we just go this mess less than a year ago?! I need a break. All in good time!

Dancing for Dinner!

2010-07-13T07:07:00.001-07:00

This is what the kids do every night while I am making dinner. Sometime they wear clothes, most of the time they don't. But no matter what they are wearing, there is always alot of silliness, and alot of dancing, usually ending up in a mini mosh pit with someone getting hurt and crying. Oh yeah, and you can thank their Daddy for their super sweet dance moves!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Little Fishies!

2010-07-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

A normal Texas summer is HOT!!! Welp, this year, not so much. It has been warm, but not hot. But still, every afternoon, that it is not raining or storming, we go to our city pool. The kids LOVE it, and it's a nice, safe place for the kids to play. I will say, I have never been nervous about taking them anywhere by myself before, but the pool stresses me out slightly. We always have a talk on the way to the pool about being safe and staying close. And after one particular incident where a certain little girl thought I left her, which of course I didn't, we talked about how the lifeguards in the red bathing suits with the white cross, are the ones who keep us safe, and they will always help us. We love our lifeguards, especially Charlie and me! I always stay very close to him, but there have been a couple of times where he has tipped forward in his life jacket. The first time, I was sitting down and the lifeguard got there before I did, the second time I was right there to pick him up. And don't think I'm a terrible parent, neither time, was he under for more than two or three seconds, I promise! And yes we are going to get him some puddle jumpers. So here are some fun pics of the kiddos enjoying the pool!

Huddy showin' off
Huddy under water (cool new camera, huh?!)
Classic Hudson face
Big E enjoying the slide
Miss Ell enjoying the "long tall bridge"
This is as close as Ell gets to going under the water
Carter after a big jump
Totter doing some sliding
Cheesy C
Charlie baby shooting the water gun
He's like a beached whale 90% of the time
At times, the Big Timer, looks little special in his swim gear
The crew!

Little Football Players

2010-06-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Jake and I were cleaning out the garage, and the kids found his old football helmet. These kids are some ball playin' dudes, so they had a blast with Daddy's old helmet. They would put it on and "Football Playa! Let's getin our stance!" Then they would crouch down and wait until someone said "hut" and then run around like crazies. Needless to say it kept them occupied for a while!

Hudson makes this face all the time. It is accompanied by a "ho, ho, ho, ho" laugh!

The Hud man

"Look Mom, there's eye holes!" - Big E

Miss Ell

Carter man

Sweet little Carter man

Our very first fort!

2010-05-25T04:18:00.001-07:00

On Mother's Day, Jake took the boxes that our dishwasher and stove came in and made the kids their very first fort. They played for hours in the backyard, all by themselves! They ran through it, piled stuff on top of it, laid down in it, everything you can think of. So here's some pics of my little cuties having a great time!

Hudson and Ella

Sweet little Huddy

Mischievous Charlie baby

Ella and Carter, up to no good I'm sure!

Lawn boy Charlie

Worker man Huddy

Again with the mischief, Charlie!

Huddy and Carter

Huddy decided to take a little break and lay down

The gang playing peek-a-boo

Carter man, love that smile!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

We had a great Mother's Day around here! My parent's were in town for the weekend and we had a fun visit. The kids gave Yia-Yia her Mother's Day gift which was adorable, but I can't post a pic yet because Granna hasn't received her gift yet and it is the same thing, but trust me it's way cute. My parents left early Sunday morning to head back home and I got to sleep in a little, which was nice! Jake got me some beautiful flowers, and the kiddos made some special gifts for me. The big kids made me a bouquet of hand print flowers in a flower pot. Charlie made a little decoupage flower vase pretty much all by himself! Our oven went out a few weeks ago, so we also got a new oven and cook top. And because we go through alot of dishes around here, we got a new dishwasher too! We can now watch TV at night,while the dishwasher runs, without having to turn the volume up so loud that it could actually wake the kids! Hope all the Momma's out there had a great day!

My flowers from Jake and my "flowers" from the big kids

All my goodies, aren't they too cute?

The kiddos helping install the new oven and cook top

They were a ton of help

And didn't get in the way at all!

New oven and cook top!

New dishawasher!

My little performers!

2010-05-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

We had "Art Fest" at the kids school a few weeks ago. It is our biggest fundraiser of the year. Each class does a class project that is auctioned off, and each child does two pieces of art work that the parents can purchase. It is alot of fun! This year, the kids got to perform. They sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", a personal favorite in this household. I was nervous at how they would do on stage, in front of hundreds of people, but they did awesome! So here it is for your veiwing pleasure, the big kids very first public performance.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I've already told them, next time, they have to stand closer together!

Happy Easter! The Finale

2010-04-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

After church Sunday morning, we headed over to the Ford's house for some good food and some egg hunting. Mrs. Myra is Hollee's mom. Hollee and I met when she was pregnant with her triplets and have been friends ever since. My kids LOVE Mrs. Myra. Whenever I tell them we are going to see Marlee, Lilly, and Beau, they say "Is Mrs. Myra gonna be there too?!" So they were very excited to go over to her house! The kids enjoyed playing in the backyard on the swing set and the bounce house, and after lunch it was time for the Easter egg hunt. There were eggs EVERYWHERE. So the kids loaded up there baskets and couldn't wait to dive into all the candy! There was also a surprise visit from three baby chicks which the kids just adored. So here are some pics from our fun afternoon.

*Warning: There are more pics of Charlie than the big kids, they were just way to busy hunting eggs to be bothered to stop and take some pictures with dear old Mom and Dad!*

Huddy scopin' out some more eggs

Miss Ell and the baby duckling

Carter man looking so grown up

Big E and Carter Man

Charlie baby got the hang of it in no time

And couldn't be stopped!

The Whole Fam!

Charlie baby and Momma

Daddy and Charlie baby

Charlie baby taking on the wall

And a blooper from the day that I just couldn't resist sharing! Nothing says Happy Easter like droppin' your britches and peein' all over Mr. Bill's tree. Hey, at least he turned around!

Happy Easter! Pt. 2

2010-04-12T06:12:00.000-07:00

Easter morning, the kids woke up to see that the Easter Bunny had left them a serious stash of goodies. We hid each basket in a different spot so we could watch each on of them check out their special treats. Charlie was up first and could have cared less. Up next was Carter and he was super pumped. He took out every single item and inspected each one very carefully. By the time it was Ella and Hudson's turn, they were over it and ready to get out their stuff. So here are some pics from Easter morning!

What the Easter Bunny left! They each got an animal visor, a Dr. Seuss book and movie, shovel and pail, and a few candies.
Carter showing off his finds
Checking out every single thing!

Big E and her elephant hat

Silly Charlie baby

Huddy and his tiger hat

Daddy and the crazy animal crew after finding all the goodies
Next up, the finale! Easter egg hunting at Mrs. Myra's house!

Happy Easter! Pt. 1

2010-04-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

We are back up and running around and enjoying the AWESOME weather! The kids and I have been spending every waking moment outside playing, so the ol' blog has really been neglected. But I have a bunch of new posts ready to go so hopefully over the next week or so, I'll be able to get caught up!

We had a great Easter this year. Our weekend was filled with fingernail painting, egg decorating, egg basket hunts, egg hunts, and fun with friends. Our kids are still a little young to get what Easter is actually about. We went to church and talked about it, but they are still not quite able to comprehend. They are still trying to grasp that baby Jesus (Christmas Jesus), grows up to be a man. Very interesting conversations! So here are some the pics from our jam packed holiday!

Big E and Momma getting our nails pretty for Easter morning!
Carter man carefully selecting which sticker goes where!
Huddy getting down to business

Charlie baby and his stickers and eggs
Big E and her "bootiful" eggs
Momma and the crew decorating eggs

Trying to Catch Our Breath

2010-03-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have a month or two where you feel like big things seem to happen all at once, or stuff just keeps coming and coming and you just need a second to catch your breath. Well, that it is what it has been like that past month or so around here. Between sickness, travel, surgeries, birthday celebrations, kids, a new "job", and everyday craziness, we are stretched a little thin. We are due for a break and are ready for one! So let me catch you up on all that's been going on.

We'll start with the good. Thankfully, everyone is healthy and has been for several weeks now. We were also able to head up to OK to celebrate Granna's 60th birthday. And since she has now opened her gift, I can say that we are headed to Vegas in December! So pumped, I've never been. The kids are doing great and are loving school. They have been such troopers throughout everything that has been going on.

Now to the previously not so good, but now good. My Poppa was supposed to have a stint placed a couple weeks ago. Once they started the procedure, they found out the damage was a lot worse than they thought. He ended up needing open heart surgery. They scheduled a quadruple bypass for last Wednesday. So we drove up to Talala Friday for the big birthday celebration, drove home Sunday, unpacked Monday, went to school/work Tuesday, and drove back to Talala Tuesday evening. Over the next few days, the kids just bounced back and forth between grandparents' houses and whoever was available to watch them, but they did AWESOME! They were even able to go see Big Poppa at the hospital. They took him some pretty pictures they colored and some big balloons, which Ella thought would make Poppa "much happy". I let them each pick out on their own. (Carter-It's a Boy, Ella-It's a Girl, Huddy-Get Well Soon and Charlie-Happy Face covered in band aids) Yeah, we got a lot of weird looks in the cafeteria while we getting donuts for Poppa. The kids took Poppa on two walks and were very well behaved. We finally were able to head home Monday morning and had a great trip.

So, I'm hoping we are done with surprises and trips and can get back into the normal swing of things. I'm still trying to get used to working two days a week and keeping things up around the house. And as I always do, I will promise to try and do a better job at posting and documenting all the stuff we are doing around here!

Here are just a few pics of the kiddos when we were outside playing one day.

Big E taking care of "one of her boys"

Toughy McTougherson and her sidekick Toughy Totter

Charlie baby, don't let that sweet face deceive you, he is a devil in disguise!

Huddy showing "how he does Longhorns"

Charlie is 12 months!

2010-03-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

OK, so I know he is 15 months old now but I never got around to posting his 12 month pic with his bear. So where to start with this little pistol. You know how you hear people say, "We weren't sure if we were done having kids, but after(insert name here), we are POSITIVE". Well, that "insert name here", would be CHARLIE!!! Even though we knew we were done having kids, really, really done, this child is one big, fat mess! He is fiery, opinionated, and mean. He hits, he screams and believes he is a three year old trapped in a one year old's body. I'm serious! There is no playground structure that can not be climbed, no couch that can not be jumped on, no table that can't be stood on. There is no three year old that can not be dominated, no dog that can't be tackled. He eats more than his older siblings do and weighs a mere two pounds less than Carter, thus the dominating kids two years older than him. He knows what he wants, and he wants it immediately. He doesn't say anything but "Momma", but gets across in creative ways exactly what he wants. Whether it be banging on the refrigerator door for juice, screaming in your face if your not paying attention, or dragging you by your finger to show you what he wants you to take away from his older brothers or sister. He, at most times, is more work that all three big kids combined. With all that said, he is AWESOME! I can not imagine my life without him in it. He loves me and thinks I rock and the feeling is totally mutual, even though he drives me CRAZY! I love seeing how grown up he has become, and all the changes he is going through. But the thing I heart the most about him, is his goofy smile that has not changed since the day he first melted my whole heart with it!

So here are Charlie's pics with his bear along with the big kids for comparison. He is way tall and way skinny!

Charlie 11 months

Charlie 12 months

Hudson 12 months

Ella 12 months

Carter 12 months

Healthy again!

2010-02-24T11:31:00.001-08:00

Well, its safe to say that we are on the mend. After all the medicine and sleepless nights, we are back to normal. And for the first time in six months, all the kids are sleeping through the night. Hudson's asthma seems to be under control. He is hardly coughing at all and his wheezing is almost non-existent. We are definitely OVER WINTER. It has been cold and cloudy and rainy for what seems like forever now. Bring on Spring and the warmer temperatures!

I started a new job at the kids school. I'm working two days a week in the toddler class. So far I really like it. I'm kind of learning as I go so I think it will get better each week. I do enjoy seeing the kids play with all of their friends. It is fun to see the way they interact with other kids their age. We're still trying to get settled into our new schedule so hopefully I'll get back to regularly blogging soon! But, to hold you over, here are some pics from the last week or so.

Just a typical Saturday night!

The whole crew enjoying a little snack

Charlie baby and Huddy, eating again. Apparantly that's all we do around here

I can not believe how big he looks in this picture!

Quick Catch Up

2010-02-18T18:41:00.000-08:00

We have been crazy busy around here, and not good busy. After our week of ER visits, ENT visits, and Pulmonology visits, I was kind of hoping for a sick free week. But as of last Thursday, it was apparently not in the cards. Carter came home from school with a fever. Then Saturday night, Ella got a fever. Then Sunday afternoon, Charlie got a fever. Then Monday morning Hudson got a fever. Along with the fevers came coughing. I'm talking crazy hard coughing to where they would they would throw up. So after a LONG visit to the doctor on Monday afternoon, we were diagnosed with 3 ear infections, one for Charlie, two for Carter, Bronchitis for all four, and the worst medication regiment EVER. On Tuesday alone, I gave 35 syringes of medicine, 16 breathing treatments, 4 inhaler puffs, 10 ear drops, 16 tsp of Tylenol. And unfortunately, my kids picked this week to HATE taking medicine. But they all seem to be on the mend. And hopefully THIS week will be better! Oh yeah and in the middle of this, we got 12 inches of snow! Drove to Tulsa in it, and then drove home in another blizzard! SO OVER THE WINTER! Props to you people in the north, I don't know how you do it.

Some quick pics of the snow.

This tree is usually way up high where you can see our neighbors house under it, this day, not so much

Another year has come and past

2010-02-11T18:30:00.000-08:00

So last Monday was my birthday. Twenty six. You know those little boxes you have to check with your age when you're filling something out, I have officially moved up a box. The 26-35 box, yikes! So here is the official birthday pic, and pics from the past few years.

2010

20092008

2007

And because it was too funny not to post, an outake. Carter and Charlie are TICKED, and Ella and Hudson are enamored by something on TV.

Poor Little Huddy

2010-02-07T19:03:00.000-08:00

Hudson has had trouble with asthma since he turned one. It has gotten progressively worse each year. Tuesday night, it got bad enough that I had to take him to the ER. For those of you that know me, I don't freak out very easily over sickness and injury. Unless you have a bones sticking out somewhere, a band-aid can fix almost anything. So Huddy had been doing breathing treatments since Sunday, but by Tuesday night, he was struggling for every breath. His poor little chest and stomach were retracting so bad and he would just cry like every breath hurt. So at 10:30, I packed a little bag, and we headed to Cook Children's. WE got there and it was PACKED, and I thought we were going to have to wait forever! But as soon as we signed in the nurse listened to him and said "OK, that's really bad, you'll be the next one back". Sure enough, as soon as we set down, they called our name. We only had to wait in triage long enough for me to tell them what meds he was on and then they got us to a room. Have I mentioned how much we love Cook! If you live in the DFW area, they are the BEST! So after a few hours of breathing treatments, steroids, and a couple of movies, we were given the all clear to head home, at 3:00 am! Luckily, we already had an appointment with the Pulmonoligist on Thursday, it took us almost four months to get into him, and it came just in the nick of time. So after a three and a half hour appointment with all four kids in tow, we are now on Symbicort,a steroid preventative inhaler, twice in the morning, twice in the morning, a rescue inhaler, and steroids when needed. He hates the inhaler, and screams every time he has to do, but I'm hoping it will get easier the longer he does it. He is already feeling a million times better. And last night, for the first time in months, he slept through the night! Usually he is up every two hours, and is cranky through out the day, and the more upset he gets, the worse his asthma gets. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that on Wednesday, Huddy had an appointment with the ENT. His right ear has been giving him trouble for a month or so. It bleeds really easy, its smells absolutely terrible, and he screams if you get close to it. So basically what has happened, is his body rejected the tube he got back in May, is pushing it out and a mass has formed around it, so it is half in, half out. So now we have drops every night for four weeks, and then we go back and get it checked. And Charlie needed to make a pit stop at the doc for a fever and suspected sinus infection. So needless to say, by Thursday night, I was done, I had a bit of a meltdown, but I've pulled it together and think we are all back on track. Hopefully this week will be a little smoother, and everyone is on the mend!

My brave little Hudster

You think we would be fat

2010-01-28T10:46:00.000-08:00

With four growing kids in the house we consume alot of food, although you wouldn't know it to look at them So as I was making my weekly grocery list, I got to really thinking about how much food these four little monsters take in. Here is a list of just the staples. These are the things I buy every week without fail. And keep in mind, this is not lunch and dinner, just snacks and breakfast stuff.

Drinks:
5 gallons of juice
1 gallon of lemonade

Breakfast:
2 gallons of milk
3 boxes of cereal
24 cinnamon rolls
30 biscuits
20 pancakes
20 bananas
1 lb of butter

Snacks:
1 bag of grapes
1 can of olives
2 bags of "Nutter Butter"
1 box of "Mini Vanilla Wafers"
1 box of "Goldfish"
4 lbs of yogurt

Add on to that lunch and dinner and you would think I would have some "chubbies" walking around. But nope, they are skinny minny's! I can't even begin to fathom the amount of food that these four will be able to put away when they are all teenagers, plus they are pretty cool so I'm sure they'll have friends over eating our food too. YIKES!

I mean c'mon, wouldn't you want your kids to hang out with these dorkos?!

Birthday Pics - Pt. 2

2010-01-24T18:59:00.001-08:00

I figured if I didn't want to be still talking about the kids' third birthday when their fourth birthday rolled around, I better get on this thing!

So the night before HEC's birthday, Jake and I put together their big gift.

A kitchen! And yes it is manly enough for the boys, it has a grill!

All night I kept thinking of how excited they would be. I had visions of them coming around the corner, shouting and running over to investigate. Jake had the video camera at the ready, I manned the still camera. I was prepared to capture every glee filled moment. But alas, I quickly realized I was filled with delusions of grandeur. They come around the corner, look at it, and walk right over to it and start playing with it like it has always been there. No shrieks of excitement, no hoots of joy, nothing. They played with it all morning before school, they still play with it everyday, they LOVE it, but is it to much to ask for a little excitement?! I joke of course! I know they are three and don't really get the whole birthday thing yet. But I vow to one day buy a present so awesome they totally fall apart when they see it!

Carter man grilling a burger

Big E giving her bear a bath. The ketchup is shampoo, obviously.

The whole crew makin' breakfast

One more birthday post to come!

Birthday Pics

2010-01-13T11:26:00.000-08:00

In all the craziness of Christmas, I totally forgot about the kids birthday. Well we didn't forget it, I just forgot to post about it. Charlie's was Thanksgiving day so his kind of got smooshed in with all the other holiday festivities. We did do a combined "party" for all four of them at my parent's house the day before Thanksgiving. They got to open all of the gifts from our family. Here's some pics from our little celebration.

I'll put more up of the big kids actual birthday and the stuff they got from Mom and Dad, that's right they call us "Mom and Dad", aren't they supposed to be like eight before that starts?!

Christmas Catch Up!

2010-01-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

So it's been over a week since Christmas and I'm just now blogging about it. And what's even worse, I only took TWENTY pictures the whole time we were up in OK! We were there for four days! The kids actually understood it this year and it was fun to watch them and see there reactions. I got caught up in all the cheers and hoots and hollers, I just forgot about pictures. We had an awesome Christmas, TERRIBLE weather, and I promise to catch up over the next couple days. The kids start back to school this week, and we are finally caught up on everything so hopefully I'll have more time! So here are a couple of the pics from Christmas morning.

Our traditional family Christmas PJ pic

A pic of the kids patiently waiting to go into the room with all the presents

Sweet little Charlie baby

Live and Learn

2009-12-23T11:37:00.000-08:00

So I lived and I learned. Santa was a disaster last year so, we've been really talking alot about him this year. Every time we go to the mall, or any place Santa might be, we go and check him out. We stay a safe distance away, but talk about him,how he is just a guy, probably someone's Poppa. We look at him, they love his red hat. And watch the other kids sit on his lap, they always get a candy cane after they see him Hudson was instantly on board, Ella was tentative, and Carter wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. So after seeing him about fifteen times, I quickly realized that there was no way these kids were going to sit on Santa's lap. Charlie baby included, he really, really likes me! And it's not as if this man can hold all of them down, I mean there are four of them. So I decided the easiest, most painless, least traumatic way to get this done, was to be in the pic with them. So as opposed to the Easter bunny pic last year where they were all dressed up and I was in my jeans and t-shirt, I decided to get up and do my hair and put on something decent. And I'm happy to say, the kids did awesome! Carter was still a little leery of him, but he ended up doing OK. After we got done, they asked for their candy canes, but all they had were suckers. Ella asked where the candy canes were, and Santa told her that Wal-Mart was all out when Mrs. Clause went. She said, and I quote, "Oh you shop at Wal-Mart too! We love Wal-Mart. That's so awesome! Oh, I want a pink doggy toy, Carter wants a dump truck and Hudson wants a motorcycle". She kills me! So here's our pic with Santa and some pics of Christmas' past! And yes it's the same Santa, and yes he does remember us, he even said "No crying this year Mom!"

2009

2008

2007

Back by Popular Demand

2009-12-21T18:11:00.000-08:00

I've had a special request (Aunt Leann) for a video of the kids dancing. So your wish is my command! Here's a quick clip I took of the kids while I was cooking dinner tonight.
A few of my favorite things about this video:
-Huddy at the beginning. He is by far my biggest music lover. I love driving in the car and looking in my rear view mirror and seeing him with his eyes closed just bobbin' his head. The brother just has the music in him!
-Carter yelling "It's Tricky". This old school Run DMC song is Carter's favorite!
-Big E, finding a way to boss the boys around even when we are trying to have fun and dance. "Stop running Cotter!"
-Some of our moves include, raising the roof, the sprinkler, Beyonce (All the Single Ladies), Frank the Tank (from the greatness that is "Old School") breakin' it down, and each of the kids own personal made up dances, along with much more!

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And extra special thanks to blog buddy Feris for the new awesome blog header!! Isn't it too cute!

Playing Catch Up!

2009-12-14T18:38:00.000-08:00

Well, once again, I have gotten way behind in my posts. I have a long list of things to blog about. Every time something funny happens, I go to my little drawer and right it on the list. I have about fourteen things currently on the list. So, I have to decided to start from the top, way back in October.

For those of you who know us, know we are HUGE OU fans. Boomer! So when our friend Miss Hollee invited us to a little friendly OU/TX plane pull, we were in! Hollee used to work at Southwest, so she had a little inside track. The kids are BIG into airplanes, or errplanes as my little southern talkers would call it. So when we got there and were surrounded by airplanes, they were pumped. We got to stand right next to a plane, which at first terrified the kids. Any time any one would get close to the propeller, the kids would freak. I aint raisin' no dummies! But once I assured them that the planed would not run over us, or suck us up in their wings, we kind of warmed up to the idea. We also got to meet real live OU "cheeyeadas" or cheerleaders for those of you not fluent in two year old Ella. Then, when the two teams pulled the plane, the wing went right over us and the kids loved it. They didn't want to leave so we watched a couple of planes take off and land which was just an added bonus to a great day.

Me and the kids with the "errplane"

Me and my people

Me and the kids, and Hollee and Lilly, with the OU cheerleaders.

Ell and her new friend Miss Courtney showing how we do "yonghorns" (longhorns)

Big E and her "real cheeyeadah pom-poms"

The trips turn three!

2009-12-08T18:39:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my three big kids! Hudson, Ella and Carter turned three years old today. They had a great day. Presents this morning, a party at school, cupcakes and more presents after dinner. I promise some pics and video later this week. We've been super busy with doctors appointments three days this week, plus two days of school, two days of CCM meetings and geting ready to head out of town this weekend. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Happy Birthday Hudson, Ella and Carter!

Happy Birthday Charlie!

2009-11-26T19:36:00.001-08:00

Dear Sweet Charlie baby,
Today you are one year old! I can't believe it has been a whole year since we met you. I will never forget the Saturday night we found out you were joining our family. I won't lie, I was terrified. I cried, I had no idea how I was going to care for and love another baby. I prayed, trying to understand what God's plans were. But before long, I was so excited! We never planned on having another baby, but without you, our family would not be complete. You bring joy to my life everyday! Your sweet smile, your killer blue eyes, your stubborn attitude. Your sweet snuggles early in the morning, your crazy splashing in the tub every night. The way you kick your legs when your putting yourself to sleep. The way you think you can do anything the big kids are doing. Your funny noises. Your crazy chicken fuzz hair. Your cheesy grin that is exactly the same every time. Every little part of you. I love you more than you could know and can't wait to see what the next year brings us! Happy Birthday Charlie Baby!

Love,
Momma

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A big ol' pile of.....

2009-11-23T19:42:00.001-08:00

LEAVES! Get your heads out of the gutter people! Last Wednesday, the weather was crazy nice, so we took advantage of the beautiful weather. We live in an older neighborhood with huge trees. And while those trees give us valuable shade from the hot TX sun, they bring a whole lotta leaves in the fall. Last year, with Charlie's impending arrival, we let the leaves go. But not this year. I decided while the kids were taking their nap I would rake some leaves up and we would jump in them when they woke up. It was a bit more daunting than I had originally anticipated, but I got us a big pile of leaves to jump in. I had visions of the kids in their winter hats and mittens with little red noses, but since it was seventy five degrees I decided I would not force my two year olds to sweat to death for my my own artistic vision. I did make them wear long sleeves to keep their little arms from getting scratched up. It didn't take long for the big kids to jump right in. Charlie baby on the other hand absolutely hated it. The leaves were really loud and the big kids were jumping around like crazy so he was not a fan. But he was more than happy to push his mower far around the perimeter. We played for a couple of hours and then it was time to bag all the leaves and get them ready for the trash man. The boys bailed and left me and Miss Ell to do all the dirty work. Lucky for me she is a big helper. It took us over an hour to get them all picked up and we had a great day!

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"Daddy's cuttin' the Punkin off"

2009-11-17T07:40:00.001-08:00

That's how the kids described Jake and his pumpkin carving. Needless to say, we did not allow the kiddos to carve, instead we chose to decorate with markers. I think the kids ended up with more marker on them than the pumpkins, but they had a great time!

Carter man
Huddy
Big E
Charlie baby

The whole crew

Big E-ster Huddy
Carter man
Charlie baby
All our little pumpkins

Pumpkin Patch '09

2009-11-06T12:16:00.000-08:00

So I'm a little bit late with this, but better late than never right. A few weekend ago we took the kids to the pumpkin patch. We went when the kids were about ten months old, and didn't go last year, because it was hot and I was WAY pregnant. So it was like a whole new experience this year. The kids loved it. They did the pony ride and picked pumpkins. I think they thought the goal was to load up every pumpkin that was there. We had a little wagon to pull the pumpkins and they just kept loading pumpkins into it. Jake and I would take them out, but they would fill it right back up.

So here's some pics from our day, next post, decorating the pumpkins!

Huddy and his pony
Big E
Carter-man
Charlie baby and his baby blues
The four little monsters
Me and the big kids pulling our loot, love the people in the background staring!
The whole fam!