Tuesday

We hung out for a little bit at Aunt Danielle's house today while Kami was at pre-school. Kami had "Fireman Day" today at pre-school. She walked out of school with her cute fireman hat and fireman badge. Miss Mindi and Miss Kylie are such incredible little teachers. They do some of the cutest projects with the kids. Kami just loves it! The kids ended up getting the crayons and markers out tonight and just sat at the table and colored for the longest time. It was amazing... They all got along so well! Robert was trying to be nice and get home early (7:30) for me tonight! I just love being a mother (especially when they get along ; ) ! There is nothing else I would rather be doing with my life. The kids can definitely be difficult at times, but I wouldn't trade them for anything. They are such a blessing in my life!

Monday

Tonight we went to see Miss Gretta. She is Emily's new tutor and Emily just LOVES her. She has asked almost everyday since she saw her last if this is the day she gets to go see Miss Gretta. She is such an awesome person! The rest of us hang out down the street at Grandma's house. Nathan fell asleep on the way at 4:15. He has been asleep since. I guess we will be up nice and early! Grandma was being so sweet and fixing Kami a sandwich when out of the blue Kami asks... "Grandma, are you old?" I never know what is going to come out of her mouth. She is one that just says what is on her mind! Then last week Grant cried for 30 minutes after I left and did not stop until I got back. Hopefully we are not giving her a complex? Thanks for putting up with us Grandma!

Saturday
I have the best husband. I hit my point and needed a break yesterday. He kept all of the kids while I went off to have my alone time. I came home and the lawn was mowed, upstairs (all my laundry that sits on the couch day after day was put away) and downstairs was cleaned up, and dinner had already been made. It is one thing to have a break, but to also come home to a clean house... now that is the best! The kids worked right along his side and helped him every step of the way. Thanks you guys! The only thing left was baths. I figured I was ready to jump back into mom mode so I bathed the kids. Danielle has been giving me a hard time about Grant's old man hair. I just couldn't do it Danielle. I got ready to cut the wings off of Grant and just couldn't do it. For some strange reason I love his little old man hair. This is his first real bath in the big kid bath tub! I can't believe he is already 9 months old!

Nathan crashed waiting for dinner. He is definitely a boy that plays hard... all day long!

Kami is always helping out and taking care of Grant for us. She is a sweetheart! She always tells me that she wants to be little like a baby because babies are always cute. You are definitely a cutie Kami!

Emily is her mother's daughter... Give her a hat and she is good to go! She is just adorable!

ZOO DAY ON PRESIDENTS DAY!

Do you want a piece of me! These boys are going to have a blast when they are a little older!

What a fun day! Emily had school off because of Presidents Day! It pretty much took all morning to decide to go to the zoo. Maria, Danielle and their kiddos went with us. We finally got there a little after lunch time. So we have 3 adults and 8 kids. Not a good adult to child ratio. All kids are 6 years old and younger! We knew it was going to be a little rough but we WERE GOING TO HAVE FUN! As soon as we walked through the entrance we had to do the bathroom run. Long lines but it was moving quickly. The place was just packed with people. While finishing up we noticed there were quite a few bees around us. No big deal we'll just get moving. The bees were at the next stop... and the next... and the next. Finally... one of the bees got Brogan... the poor little 11 month old... in his mouth while eating a banana. Poor Brogan. It was so sad. The bees were everywhere. There were 4 or 5 around you at one time. Not cool. Nathan kept getting out and wanting to run off. The kids basically just wanted to eat the whole time we were there which attracted more bees. Needless to say, I was ready for bed when we got home. Too much stress. (Thank goodness I didn't buy the annual pass!)

Relaxing Sunday Afternoon!

... And of course, someone always gets hurt.

CHARGE!!!

Went to church and then came home to be bums. I left Grant on my bed for just a second while I went into my closet. Sure enough, only a second later, I heard a thud and he started crying. He had fallen off the bed. I am not used to him being able to move and get around so quickly. Nathan has been bringing wooden steaks and bats up to me all week asking me if I want to fight. We decided to pull out the knight costume we were saving for his birthday and let him play with it. What a blast they all had!

VALETINE'S DAY!

VALENTINE'S DAY was not much different than any other Saturday. Robert always spoils me by making breakfast and letting me sleep in. He had a dozen roses waiting for me downstairs (that is something different :)! At 9:00 he was off to school to work on his group project. Maria shortly came over and all of the kids decorated valentine cookies. They had a blast! Maria was a gem and helped me clean up and swept my floor several times. Thanks Ria! I think she was amazed at how dirty it could get so quickly with all of the kids. Later on we met Robert to go to Pei Wei's for dinner. It wasn't a romantic dinner for two, but all of my sweethearts were there! I feel so blessed to have the husband and four children that I have! Other than Robert almost backing into someone, it was an awesome day!

Friday was a fun day because Emily had a half day. Call me crazy but I just want my kids with me! She had her Valentine's Day party today. We ended up hanging out with Grandma Dear that night. She is always so good to take us in at the last minute. Nathan was pretty much flipping out with uncle Matt's giant dog Maggie. Anytime Maggie came near Nathan he would run and scream and say "I don't want Maggie to eat me". He also said "Maggie is going to taste me". It was so funny yet so sad because of how truly scared he was. Can you guess where Robert was? That's right... studying.

Thursay I went in and helped out in Emily's class at school. It is so amazing how I can send her off to school everyday and be so oblivious to what she does and her routines at school. It was so sad to see her cry when I left. I thought her seeing me in her class would cheer her up. She is such a tender hearted girl. I just adore her. Kami also had her Valentine's Day party in
pre-school today. What fun!

Wednesday night was the time for the Valentine festivities to begin. Kami had to get all of her cards ready for her party tomorrow. She picked out cards with stickers that had rhinestones on them. All about the sparkles! Nathan had to join in with his McQueen cards. It is all about Mcqueen these days!

OH MY CHEERIOS!

I was pretty busy this morning in the kitchen trying to get dinner made. Grant was needing some attention so Nathan decided to help me out. I turned around and saw this awesome smile. Nathan somehow was able to open a new package of cereal and dumped the whole box on Grants tray. Instead of getting angry I just decided to make it a memory! It brought a smile to all of our faces!

Rare To See

Hail is something rare for us to see. Just had to grab the camera!

Grant Is On The Move... Slowly But Surely

At 8 1/2 months, we finally left Grant on the floor long enough so he could figure out how to crawl. He has been pretty frustrated the past couple of weeks trying to get around. He was pretty happy about moving around today. He crawls and then will leap with his hind legs like a frog. Pretty cute Grant!

Happy 5th Birthday Kami!

Yesterday was Kami's 5th birthday. It is amazing how fast children grow up! I ran to the store at 10:00 the night before her birthday to get her something "My Little Pony". When she opened it up she asked me why I got it for her. I told her I thought she would like it and then asked her "Do you like it?". She just flat out said "no". I was so glad I ran late the night before to get her something she didn't like. One thing about Kami is she will always let you know what she is thinking! She is so funny! She is also the proud new owner of a baby chick. "Thanks aunt Christine"! She was also finally able to open the toys that "Just Grandma" bought her on their shopping spree. Kami also got a polka-dot tea set (that she loves) from "Grandma Dear" that she has been playing with Nathan today. Shh...Don't tell dad.

We got lucky tonight! Grandma Dear offered to watch the kids tonight so Robert and I could go out to dinner. Date night is very rare for Rob and I between getting a babysitter and having free time. We actually ended up going with my Maria and Ryan to Texas Roadhouse. (Grandma was also watching their kids). Yeeha! Thanks "Grandma Dear" for the fun night!

Chickens & Kami's Shopping Spree

Dad said no dogs would ever be allowed in the house. I don't see any dogs... Do you? (Time to break out the sanitizer!)

We finally got the chicken coop set up and in the backyard. What a fun experience it has been so far... dealing with chickens sleeping in a box in the house for the past few weeks! They sure did grow in size pretty quick. The kids have really gotten attached. Kami got to go shopping today with "Just Grandma" for her birthday. She takes after her mom and found some great deals! What a girl!!!

Today was an odd day. I ended up being at home with only Grant. Presley wanted friends to play so Kami and Nathan went over. I tried working on the chicken coop doors and using the table saw to cut the angles. I was too much of a chicken... so it sat and waited for Rob to do when he got home at 9:00 tonight. Emily got her homework done in record time so I ended up taking the kids to the store to get Valentine cards. They had a blast looking through all of the different cards and things they could pass out. Little things like this are so much fun for the kids!

Today was a BIG day at our house. Emily lost her first tooth! She has been so anxious and could not wait for it to come out. She was outside playing with the chickens when it happened. Now she is trying to wiggle another tooth loose. I can remember those days. So much fun!

Wow, I feel really old. This has taken me all day to figure out!