Six years of fun....and a little drama

My baby is not a baby anymore! Yesterday was
number six for Evelyn. I can't believe how quickly
this little girl of mine has grown up!! It amazes me
really.

Ev has had quite a year. She's been in kindergarten
a whole 5 months now! She's learned how to tie her
shoes, read small words, count to 100, cross her eyes,
and write words by sounding them out (like "sata clos"
aka: Santa Claus) She also has got to be one of the most
thoughtful little girls I've ever known. She's always doing
something for someone. Just this morning she gave
Spencer the blue cup instead of choosing it for herself.
Yah, maybe that doesn't sound like a big deal but when
you're 6 and your favorite color is blue it sort of is. I know
I'm bragging on her a bit but I'm just so darn proud of that
girl and I'm so grateful that I get to have her!

Thankful for a crazy family!

Thanksgiving this year was quite an event. Isn't is always

though? Massive baking, crazy children, forever long car

rides, black Friday shopping, crazy brothers, park trips 

involving scary old men digging through trash cans. Good

times. Oh and in case you're wondering, my husband is 

squirting whipped cream into the baby's hand. I guess 

that's what happens when dad gets a hold of the fluff!

All in all we had a pretty swell time. I suppose I'm pretty

thankful for my crazy family.

A good ol' housewife and proud of it!

For some reason, I've had a terrible time thinking up

some subject to blog about. I think I'm either having a 

bout with writers' block or my life has gone mundane on 

me. Being as how I'm not really a writer, I'm afraid it's the 

latter. 

    With four babies to take care of I'm not really all 

that...uh...non busy? I mean I get up at 5  so that I can 

get ready before the little children invade. Then of course 

I have the task of readying all the little ones for the day. 

At 8:05 (or 8:20 whatever) it's off to school for Ev. We then 

proceed to the church to do some "wish we were in shape" 

aerobics, Tae bo, Pilates, or as of late a horrible step work out

 (90's spandex, high tops and all!) After a lovely workout we

all pile in to our vehicle and head home. It is now 10 o'clock

and you know what that means....snack time yay! Then it's 

chores, story time, tv time (don't judge!), and play time. 

There's more of course but I think you probably get the idea. 

I do this every day and you know what? How fantastic is 

that?! 

    I really am so grateful for my mundane wonderful 

life. There are alot of people out there that think that in 

order to be successful you have to have a PhD in physics, make

a hundred million dollars, and drive a super fancy car. I guess

that's ok. But I have to believe that this busy (often times

repetitive) life I'm leading is going somewhere great! 

Sorry for the soap box thing...oh and I'm truly sorry if this

little post is completely convoluted and hard to follow. I did

get up at five you know! Give me a break.

Tricks or Treats

Halloween is seriously one of my favorite days of the year.

I think It's because I never really grew up and it's a little

more socially accepted to wear go go boots, fairy wings, or

fro wigs (yup, I've done 'em all). James was the

Halloween scrooge this year...I made him wear the skeleton 

shirt. Secretly I think that his inner child is suffering and 

needs to be set free. He disagrees. This year our ward 

Halloween party/trunk or treat was on Halloween so we 

opted to just do that and call it good. It was fun. The kids 

got to parade around the cultural hall showing off their fancy 

pants, then of course there were a million "awards" for the 

costumes. Caitlin won the "Queen of the Ball" award. 

Unfortunately there weren't enough awards for every kid. 

Evelyn shed a few secret tears over that. Then we did the 

whole begging for candy thing. It was great. Now I'm up to 

my eyeballs in wrappers. I think it's safe to say that the 

candy will be gone by Wednesday. Until then I'll just have to

strap down the kids so they don't hurt themselves. 

                   Cow Girl

           Crown less Princess

     Dorothy (I couldn't resist)

Scarecrow (couldn't have Dorothy with out this guy)

Amazing shot of all my Goblins...at the same time!!!

Little baby getalong

Not only am I a terrible blogger but I also am
kind of a creepy mom. This little baby turned
a year on the 2nd and I'm just now getting around
to telling ya'll about it. (how do you like my usage
of the popular Southerism?) At least I'm doing
it now, right? Right!
I cannot tell you what a joy it has been to have
Madelin be a part of our ever expanding family!
You know when I found out that James and I were
expecting 21 months ago I was completely knocked
off my rocker. It suffices me to say that I was a very
stressed, unhappy momma for awhile. Anyone that
had close contact with me at that time could testify.
But then an amazing thing occurred, I actually met her!
What a wonderful spirit she has brought into our lives.
I honestly can say that I can't imagine NOT having her
here. It's interesting that for 9 straight months you fret
and wonder what it'll be like to have the extra little
body in your home and then all of the sudden it's like
you were never really with out them at all.
Now she's all sorts of crazy busy! Hence the pics
down below. She picked up the whole walking thing
recently and will not be stopped! She also has
developed a temper to match her hair. It's incredible!
I never knew such a sweet looking baby could be so
insane with rage....it's kinda scary. Oh and she
mastered the cake thing. She's pretty much a pro at it.
She wore that cake down to the very last crumb!
Go figure.

Lovely Autumn

I'm in love with fall! Seriously, as soon as the temperature
drops and the leaves turn I'm all about pumpkins, apples,
cinnamon and Halloween costumes! I also seem to turn into
some sort of retro house wife. All of the sudden I have a
strange desire to can fruit and sew all of my children's clothes.
I also get a hankerin' to scrub my house from top to bottom with
a tooth brush. I often wonder if maybe I was born in the wrong
era but then I remind myself that I don't actually have that much
motivation...so I'm glad that I wasn't born back in the 20's. I'd be
such a disgrace!

Among other things, I really love to take my kids to the Fruit and
Berry Patch. Evelyn and Caitlin accompanied me this year. It's
always such a treat for us to go. I get to buy my apples in bushels
and they get free license to filthify themselves. It's great! I always
leave feeling slightly nostalgic. It's that "born in the wrong era
thing" again. Oh well.

Here we go!

Ok so for any of you interested the Fly Lady blog thingy
starts today! I'm sorry for my convoluted way of getting
the point across in that last post. Here's the deal. My lovely
auntie and I are starting a blog game. The incentive? Organizing
and keeping up with the mundane AND actually learning to enjoy
it! She and I will take turns posting tasks but we also are taking
part in participating. If you decide to join us in our quest just perform
each task and then leave a comment. It should be fun. There's a link
in my "Places to go". Hope to hear from all y'all!