Friday, May 27, 2011

Praise

I woke up this morning with a song in my heart. "Great is thy Faithfulness." And it is soooo true. Today I am soaking up Gods love and Faithfulness. I am very thankful for all God provides for our family. We are BLESSED beyond measure. I am overflowing with God's love today!




Sometimes it is the simple things that remind me of all the blessings we have been given.






Thursday, May 26, 2011

Swingset Fun

Papaw bought the kids a new swingset for their Birthday.


Daddy was going to get it all put together during naptime...Bahahahahaha.

It took FOREVER.



Edi


Sophi



Henry



Sean




We have REAL kids now. I love this age they can do so many things!! I am looking forward to consistant warmer weather. The kids and I will be having MANY MANY great adventures!



Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Happy 3rd Birthday!

The kids had a wonderful Birthday!


Papaw came to visit and share their Birthday with them!


Daddy went in late to work so he could help take all the toys out of boxes and put them together. We did the kitchen the night before. Hahaha. It looked like Christmas.



Sophia and her Tinker Bell kitchen. Now I am a very thrify person, I mean come on I have 4 kids the same age. We bought this kitchen after Christmas for $20. You just cant beat that!!


Sean and Edi with Sean's Chuck Car and Track. Again another after Christmas purchase for $10. They have not stopped playing with this thing. We have replaced the batteries EVERY day! Eeeeek.



Edi openning her present from Papaw.



Sophia loves these boxes. They all fit inside each other and they turn over and stack up. They are Melissa and David and they came with a wooden shape box with all the shapes. After Christmas sale $4.81 at Sam's Club.


Sophia and Henry stacking the boxes.



We had such a GREAT relaxing day. We stayed home and played all day long. Papaw went home after nap and the kids enjoyed their toys. I just played with them and enjoyed them all day also. I am loving the age they are now. Right now at this moment my life is so complete and wonderful. I honestly cannot imagine that it could ever get any better than this. God has blessed us and continues to bless us everyday and I praise His name!!


This Saturday we are going to make a 3 hour trip to have a Birthday party with friends and family. We originally had rented a Big Bounce House but the Orthopedic Surgeon said Sean cannot bounce until July because of his arm. So...with inspiration from an awsome friend, nurse, and crafty blogger, Brooke of Shorties Funny Farm. I have purchase a ton of craft supplies and we are going to have a craft party. Their theme is Toy Story, that is what they wanted. I found a bunch of craft supplies that are actually Toy Story theme at Target and The Dollar Tree. Oh and Oriental Trade. They will be so excited to see Grandma and their cousins! They talk about them ALL the time! Just 3 more days!!


Thursday, May 12, 2011

Reflecting on 3

In less than a week my kiddos are turning 3. I can hardly believe it. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday I was longing to be a Mom and other days I cannot remember what my life was like before my name changed to Mommy. I remember when the kids were very small and Chris used to put his giant hand on their tiny little heads and close his eyes and say, "Turn 3 Turn 3." I knew when he was saying it that the day would come soon enough and now it is almost here.

The past few years have been the biggest most rewarding, most trying, scariest, wonderful, frustrating, confusing...of my life. Not only did we live through a very scary quadruplet pregnancy and birth but we also made it through the first years. In the beginning the main concern was keeping them healthy and feed while keeping US healthy and somewhat rested. Hahahahaha There was pretty much NO sleep in the first 3 months and I didn't start getting a good nights sleep until they turned 2 or so. 3 hour feeding resulting in roughly 32 bottles a day. CRAZY! SO MANY diapers. SO MUCH laundry. They spit up ALL THE TIME. Especially the boys and Edi had reflux which was very scary at time. I was the only one that fed her because you had to be so careful. Anyway we made it through bottles and cereal, baby food, sitting up, crawling, walking and much much more. Even though it was hard I wouldn't change it for the world.

Let's not forget our moving adventures. Going to Southern Alabama them moving to Northern Indiana. Oh and we are not done yet. In the next year or two we will be most definately moving again. Hopefully this time will be more permanent. Ya know somewhere where the SUN SHINES alot!!!

I will never forget all of our awsome memories over the past 3 years. I am excited to add more and more each day! Right now the kids love the Zoo and Choo Choo Trains. We are having such a great time with the stage they are in right now. They are starting to understand more and they can tell you what they want and what they like. I feel like I can better get to know each of them because they are developing opinions and are able to articulate their thoughts and feelings better.


Each day brings a new wonderful gift from God and even though I am undeserving, I am soaking up every moment with each one of them. My kids are the most precious gift I have ever been given and I do try to take time out of our busy schedule to just enjoy them.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Where's the Bread?

It is very important to me to teach our kids to make healthy food choices. I have struggled with my weight my whole life and am trying to teach my kids to eat healthy and be active. I am always looking for new creative ways to get veggies into our diet. I like to introduce new fruits and veggies every chance I get. They do not always eat it but it is always on their plates. Our kids LOVE bread. I have always given them whole grain wheat bread, they don't even really know white bread exists. Recently I started making homemade whole wheat bread for them and now they will not eat regular bread.



The other day I ran out of bread and had to give them bread from a store bought loaf. Sophia started crying and said, "NO, that is not bread. I want bread." Hahaha. Now I make it a point to make sure we ALWAYS have homemade bread.



Monday, May 9, 2011

Mother's Day

Mom's Day 2011

So, Mommy is always behind the camera. It is a rare occasion when Mommy actually ends up in a photo. We did try to get a Mother's Day photo though but this is the best one we could get. Henry is mad because he wants to leave for church.




The group picture was a little better...I said A LITTLE better!


I had an awsome Mother's Day. Hubby and the kids are getting me a personal trainer. Thank goodness. I finally came to the realization that I need HELP getting the weight off that never came off when the kids were born and has also been slowly creeping even higher. Hopefully a little guidance and a butt kickin' here and there is all I need.


We started our day with attending a new church. We have only been in our new town/state for a month or so and we have not found a church home yet. The kids were very excited to be going to church. They really like church. Anyway we went to a VERY LARGE church. I had done some research online on area churches and this one seemed to have a good kid program. Was I right! The room our kids were in was actually 2 huge rooms called THE FARM. It was decorated with huge farm animals and had tons of toys a little barn and a slide. They were in heaven and didn't cry at all!!!! That was an absolute relief for Daddy and I. We rarely leave our kids with anyone and when we do I have a lot of anxiety. But this time it was easy breezy. Praise God!!


After church we went to Salsa's a Mexican restaurant followed by the Zoo and then a trip to the South Bend Chocolate Cafe for cookies and cheesecake and lastly we walked over to the College Football Hall of Fame and let the kids run on the football field. We had so much fun but it was exhausting. Mommy and Daddy were just as pooped as the kiddos.


I am truely thankful to God for blessing me with these four AMAZING kids. Without them I would not be celebrating Mother's Day.


I am the MOST BLESSED mom on earth. Yup, I get to be called MOM! One of the most precious words I will ever hear.





Mayfest Shipshewana, IN

Mayfest 2011 Shipshewana, IN

This is the local Merchantile where we parked our van. It was a little out of place. Haha

Here comes the elephant...Run!


The kids love trains that is all we ever hear. We ride them at the Mall and at the Zoo at least once a week. I told Daddy he needs to buy us one of our own!!!

They threw a lot of candy but this float was handing out hotdogs!
Too funny!!


The owner of this buggy, Kenny, was so excited about our family that he gave us all a ride in this buggy. The kids thought it was so fun. Thank you to LeRoy and Bob, the horse, and Kenny for the great experience!

The Wainscott's watching the parade. It was a little cold.


Lunch

The buggy races. This was not exactly what we thought it would be. Haha


We all had a great time. I wish we would have had a little warmer weather so we could have done some more shopping but we will surely visit Shipshewana again in the near future!










Thursday, May 5, 2011

To Party or Not to Party...

Ok so the kiddos are turning 3 years old in two weeks. I can hardly believe it. We were planning a Birthday Party in the town where our families are at our old church. Since the fiasco we had over Easter weekend we decided to cancel the party. It is a 3 hour drive and I didn't know how I would be able to get there take care of the kids and get ready for their party.

Now I am feeling SO guilty. My kids LOVE to be around family. Since we moved over 700 miles away from them when the kids were just a little over a year old they haven't had the opportunity to see them very much. Everytime they are around family they have such a good time. I had told the kids several weeks ago that we were going to have a party with Grandma Grandpa Kerigan Caymen Christi Lissa Manda...well you get the picture. I really didn't think they would remember BUT yesterday morning when they got up Edi asked me when we were having their Buzz and Woody party with Grandma and Kerigan and Caymen. Broke my heart.

I really do want to do what is best for the kids and I want them to be happy. I know they will not really care if we don't have the party because they don't really understand what it is. I do want them to have a special Birthday.

Aaaarrrrggghhh!!!!!

It really would not be a decision at all if it wasn't for the fact that last year we didn't really do much for their Birthday. We were moving into a different house and we ate supper with a couple of friends. I definately do not want my kids to miss out on any experience just because it might be a little difficult for us. I never want them to feel like they are being punished because they were all born at the same time.

So with all this said I will probably be making some calls and sending out a few email invites. Oh and also confirming our rental on the big bounce house. I mean you only turn 3 ONE TIME.

Right????
I will keep you posted on what we decide.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

"My Arm Hurts."



Since our little Sean broke his arm, he has really learned how to work it!




Imagine an almost 3 year old pushing, biting, jumping on his bed, not picking up his toys, not listening to Mommy and Daddy...you get the picture. Then those beautiful blue eye look right up at you and say...




"Mommy, my arm hurts."




How quickly they learn!!! As a Momma my heart melts. But...I have to stay strong!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Hooray for Zoo Day!

We found out that we have a Zoo within 2 miles of our house!! Yay, we bought a year membership yesterday and took the the kids. We all had such a great time. The weather was nice although it did get a little cool toward the end of the day. I look forward to many visit this summer...if it ever gets warm.