100 teeny tiny pics of Chris!

so...the problem with having 4 kids at the same school district...who year after year have to do the same project of creating a collection of 100 somethings to celebrate the 100th day of shcool. Since we could not complete Chris's wish of 100 matchbox cars...I asked him if he wanted to gule 100 teeny tiny pictures of himself onto paper. "Glue? Yeah!"

So here is a way to reuse those index prints that come with your photo order! Pretty clever...I think! The girls saw this and started suggestions all ways we can use these little tiny images...picture frames, birthday cards, etc! Now we havea little ziplock in our craft box with 100'2 of tiny pics in it! LOL

A weekend away....at the Cabin in the Woods

We headed to to the cabin...just the 6 of us! It was actually...relaxing! No major projects or chores to do there...just watch the kids, prepare meals and have fun. Not so bad for a family of 6! The kids played outside in the ice...I mean snow. Literally 3 feet of snowy ice! We could just walk on top of it! The kids tries sledding and skiing, but they were flying way to fast...into the woods... so going down on their bellies like penguins was way more fun...and less dangerous!

We hung out at the cabin all weekend...I think it was the first time we did not venture outside of the development to do something...and it was nice! We played our first (non toddler) family game of monopoly (Simpson's version of course), the kids attempted skiing ...but not the perfect snow, Dave used Andy as a bowling ball on the sheet of ice that was the driveway (Andy kept asking for more!), I got 800 photos into albums ~ hooray for me!!! (2011 photos uploaded and waiting for March FL vacation to order and place into albums so I do not fall months behind ... AGAIN!) And Dave & I got our picture taken by Sarah...who loves the camera..YAY!)

Big Boy Bed....

Need I say (write) more?

I will add this: The "supernanny (Jo Frost) method of getting your kids to bed is totally working, just keep putting them into their bed after they get out, and don't say anything. We are down to 3 times!!! LOL

V-Day with the loves of my life.

So...Dave & I do not get the fancy romantic dinner out for V-Day these days. With 4 little ones, it is near impossible to even find time to coordinate our calendars, much less get 3 hours out for a fancy V-day dinner! These days, holiday and birthdays are all for the kids enjoyment. this year, it seemed crazy busy. I had a headache ALL DAY, made jello shaped hearts for the kids class parties and made some extra for V-Day dinner that night.

We have started this little V-Day dinner tradition for the last few years. We make heart shaped pizza's, the kids get to decorate their own which they love! Then we followed with these yummy jello hearts and exchanged chocolate candy hearts. No big gifts, just chocolate hearts, one for each one of us. It is simple and sweet and I hope the kids really enjoy it for many more years... at least until they can watch themselves, while Dave & I go out to dinner!

Happy Birthday, Thomas

Today is my nephew, Thomas's birthday. This is my twin sister's son... the absolute love of her life! He is my children's first cousin and they are super close and fortunately live close and get to see each other practically every week!

I will never forget the day he was born, my sister went into labor at Sarah's Christening...right in the church. I had no idea that Thomas was even coming until the after party at my house when I wondered where my sister was. My friend told me that she was doing her "labor breathing" in front of her in the church trying to stay for the entire ceremony! 28 hours later, this cutie was born.

Thomas was a beautiful baby...I mean one of those babies that you see only 1 day old and are really truly beautiful. (I find most babies are funny looking when they are first born...even my own). But not Thomas, he was a beautiful baby, super cute infant, adorable toddler and is turning into quite the handsome little guy. He still has this shy, silly grin with the most amazing dimple.

We have had some pretty cool memories with this little kid and look forward to many many more memories with him in the future!

Happy Birthday, buddy! We love you!

Love ~ Hate relationship...

So...as a mom of 4 little ones...who just happens to also have a few more little ones visiting throughout the week...we have lots of plastic colorful items taking over the shelves in our kitchen cabinets... where nice pretty plates and bowls used to live. I look forward to the day when we can replace the kids plastic & our generic white ceramic dishes (if the kids drop them they can easily be replaced) with hand glazed pottery plates and bowls like we once used to own.

At the same time....I know that when the day comes where I open the cabinet and see those pretty pottery dishes and not these colorful plastic dishes, I will be sad that my little ones are not so little anymore....

With a little imagination... almost anything can be a telephone.

So, AJ is 2 now. And I will not go on with the drama of not having a baby anymore (insert me crying here)...he is clearly a toddler now... (sob, sob) I know, I know... get on with it... the telephone story:

Andrew has the same morning breakfast routine. Pretty much never changes. Comes into the kitchen, and without fail, "banana please". Except now, he can get onto the step stool and grab the banana out of the fruit bowl. Great...need to find a new place or he will help himself to more than one a day! This morning, Andrew grabbed his banana... placed it to his ear and started talking to Papa. I laughed and he knew he got the right attention. He peeled his banana (and threw away the peel! Good boy!)

Then he proceeded to open the kitchen drawer to get himself a spoon for his oatmeal. He found a melon peeler...this became a phone, too! Throughout the day, he found many objects that could double as a phone, anything long enough to reach from his ear to his mouth. The ladder from his lego fire truck, the girls hair brush and even my spin toothbrush! It was hilarious to see him realize this...& to realize that I would giggle every time he used a new object as his telephone!

A new blog....

Hi all! My name is Melissa. As you can tell, I have 4 little ones...kids that is! I guess some of them are not that little anymore...but to me, they are...and probably will always be!

What's it like for me, for us? Some days, my days go smoothly, we get errands done, do some cleaning, sneak in playtime with the kiddies. I said some days...these days seem not to come as often as the days that are absolutely crazy where nothing goes as planned...nothing. Where your list of things to do go undone and left for another day to really just never get done! (Like creating a blog that you have wanted to do do for a few years! LOL)

We have a fun life, we laugh, we play, we cry, we even sometimes yell. It is our home, our life. We do chores, we make messes, we tickle and giggle. We blame, we tattle, we hug and we cuddle. (sounds like a poem my 9 year old would have written...ha! ) Just trying to say...I think we have a normal family, although aren't I like every mom wondering if I am the only mom to say this, do this, has a child who? etc.?

So here...a little place on the web where I can write a little something about my life, our life. A little online journal to keep our family and friends up to date with our 4 little ones! (Especially for those not on Facebook!)

PS~ The above picture, is probably my favorite picture of my 4 little ones! Not because they have on perfect outfits with prefect smiles or because the quality is great. Clearly, not all of these statements would be true. I love this photo because it completely captured their personalities (& their ages) perfectly!!!!