Catching Up #1

May Going's On

So many things kept us busy in May.  Here are just a few of the highlights.

School Programs

Unfortunately husband was out of town on a work related trip (High School Mock Trial Competition) the week of the kids programs at school.  I videotaped the whole thing for him but that meant I didn't take many actual photos.  Here are a few I did manage to take in all the happy chaos.

Daddy may have missed it but someone was sure excited Granny Susie and Grandpa H. could be there.

Part of the family photo....You would think at least the adults could be looking at the camera.  At least Ava and I are.

John David's awesome self portrait.

After program fun with friends.

The following day it was the twin's turn.

Ahhhh.....twin love.

Playing the drums.

I tried to get a picture of all four of them.  You can see how well that turned out.

The twins' amazing self-portraits.

My favorite part (which I'm not sure you can see in this photo), Harrison's portrait was complete with tiny wire rimmed glasses.  ADORABLE!

Last Day of School

May also brought the last day of school and yes, I was that mother crying over another year being finished.  I love our little preschool.  It has been and continues to be a wonderful, loving place that teachers and nurtures my children in so many amazing ways.  I am so truly blessed to have St. Mark's in my life.  And my children ADORE going to school.  They love going to music, and chapel, and doing art projects, and practicing their letters, the playground, their friends, and their teachers.  This was John David's last year at St. Mark's.  He "graduated."  Now he's a 'big kid" and has to go to "big school."  I am sad every year when it is time to move on to the next class, but that made this year even more tough.  Thankfully the twins have another year at St. Mark's and then after that it will be little Ava's turn.  

Last day of school photo op on the front steps.  Gosh mom....it's sunny!

Here is the first day of school photo just for comparison's sake.

They have grown up so much in the last year.  

Last day in carpool.

Last morning drop-off.

Big hug from their fabulous teacher Ms. Tish.  We all loved her and will miss being in her class next year.  

John David and Ms. Beth.  Another fabulous teacher who taught John David so much this year.  John David will really miss her and being in her class but he is excited about Kindergarten and being in Ms. Estes class in the fall.

And so another great year at St. Mark's is in the books.  We can't wait to see what this summer and next year bring.

I'm Back!

I'm back.  These past two months have been the craziest and busiest ones I can remember, and it doesn't look like things are going to slow down anytime soon.  I don't know where the time has gone.  I can't believe it is already mid-July and my precious first born baby will be starting Kindergarten in a month.  Yikes! In all the  crazy busy-ness I let blogging slide.  But over the past weeks I have found myself composing blog posts in my head over and over again and haven't found, or made the time, to sit down and write them.  We have been up to so much around here and I want to share all of that with you...and I will.  I will get things caught up around here.

But before I do that....I have very BIG, EXCITING news to share with all of my friends.

My brother is engaged.  Yeah!  I am gaining a sister.  Another big Yeah!  Of course, I already think of Jessica (my brother's fiancee) as family but this is making it official.  We are all so excited and happy for both of them.  John Robert couldn't have nieces and nephews that love him anymore than my four (even though Ava is still a bit leery since she doesn't get to see him that often).  And Jessica, she was loved instantly.  She became Ella's "best friend" within moments of Ella meeting her for the first time.

I am "stealing" a picture of the two of them from Jessica's facebook page (I took the picture for them so it isn't really stealing, is it?).

Congratulations John Robert and Jessica!

We couldn't be more excited for you two.

We love you both with all our hearts.

Time To Party!

This year's big birthday bash for all my April babies is in the books, and despite unseasonably cold and rainy weather for May, it was a HUGE success.

We had planned an outdoor party at a neighborhood park that has both a playground and a grassy area for playing ball and the bounce house but alas, it was not to be.  We woke up Saturday morning to very cool temperatures and blue skies.  I had hope the rain would stay away but by noon it was raining and by 1:30pm we made the decision to move the party to our house.  Needless to say I was not thrilled with having to move the party to our house, not because I don't love entertaining or mind having a house full of children because I do and I don't.  It is just that our house was in party prep mode rather than have people over mode and it was a frantic rush to get everything cleaned up and ready for guests.

A big thank you to my parents and in-laws who helped get things ready.  I will admit I wasn't a very nice person to be around during that frantic hour and a half so my apologies go along with my thanks.

This year our "theme" was supposed to be Outdoor Fun at the Park.  A pretty generic theme I know which means almost anything  goes for invitations, decorations, etc.  I found some cute, polka dot invitations and used those as the inspiration for colors, decorations etc.

As I did for Ava, I made a big "Happy Birthday"  banner.  It was supposed to hang in the tent at the park so it was bigger than the one I made for Ava.  Since we didn't end up at the park it was swagged over the window in the front room.  It was a little long but still fun.  Sorry it isn't the best picture.

I also tried to have "polka dot" food so we had cheese balls, whoppers, mini chewy sweet tarts, fruit skewers and fruit dip (not polka dot but still yummy).  Instead of a big cake I made polka dot cupcakes. I got the idea from pinterest for a polka dot cake and adjusted it to make cupcakes instead.  Here is the original pin I found.

The cupcakes weren't hard, just a little time consuming.  First I made a batch of vanilla cake batter, divided it into six mini bread pans and dyed each one a separate color.  We had blue, green, yellow, pink, orange, and purple.  I baked the dyed mini cakes just like normal.  After they were cooled, I made mini cake balls using white butter cream icing and the colored mini cakes.

Here is a quick shot of the mini cake balls in process.  Two colors down, four more to go.

After making hundreds of mini colored cake balls I made another double batch of vanilla cupcake batter.  I put a couple of the mini cake balls into each cupcake tin and then added the vanilla cake batter.  The result I hoped would be polka dot cupcakes.  Here is the end result.

Yeah....it worked.

I topped each cupcake with chocolate buttercream icing and then added multi colored sixlet candies as polka dot decorations.

Besides the weather, everything went smoothly.  We had a great turn-out.  Thankfully children don't seem to mind cold weather like adults so once the rain stopped husband put up the bounce house in the front yard and let the kids go wild.  They had a blast and the added benefit, all that jumping wore everyone out.

Now for a little cupcake and ice cream.

Time to blow out the candles.

Yummy!

After all their friends left, the kids had some fun with Uncle John Robert in the bounce house.

A great time was had by all.  Thanks to everyone who helped me pull things together at the last minute when the weather forced us to change our plans.  Thanks to my brother and to Jessica for making the long trip from Ohio in time for the birthday party.  It meant the world to my three that you were here.

You would think things might slow down now that the party and all that it entails is over but that just isn't the case.  Things around here never slow down.  And as tired as I am, I don't think I would want them too.

Happy Birthday my April babies. 

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers, stepmothers, mothers in law, Godmothers, and future mothers out there, I wish you a very happy Mother's Day.

To my Mommy...Happy Mother's Day.  I wouldn't be who I am without you.

I am blessed to have a wonderful Mother and Grandmothers who have inspired me and guided me in my life as Mommy.

I didn't know or understand how much my mother loved me until I became a mother myself.

And every time I became a mother

my heart grew

and grew!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you Mothers out there.  

Call your Mom.  She loves you!

More Than One Hand

I am horribly late (bad mommy) but HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my baby boy.
You are 6!  That's more than a whole hand old.

In honor of his sixth birthday I sent cupcakes to school with him on Friday.

Homemade, red velvet cupcakes with a filling of white chocolate whip cream and cream cheese frosting.  YUMMY!

Photo op before school with the birthday hat!

He is so grown up.

Now one of the whole gang

And one with his fabulous teacher Ms. Beth.

Lastly, one from Saturday morning right after he woke up and was "officially" 6.

These have honestly been the fastest 6 years of my life.  I can't believe how much he has grown and changed over the years.  I wish I could freeze time and keep him my sweet little boy forever, but I also look forward to seeing him grow into a wonderful young man.

The big birthday bash for all my April babies is this weekend.

I'm frantically trying to get everything ready.  The party is outdoors at a local park.  Please pray for beautiful weather.

A Clown?

Harrison has always been my "helpless" child.  He is super smart and can do things for himself, he just chooses not to.  I can ask him to go get his shoes and socks on and he will instantly say "I can't find them anywhere."  Of course, he hasn't bothered to move from where he was and look for them either.  If I have him try to zip up his jacket or turn off the light in his room he will grunt and say "I can't do it.  It's too hard."  In the mornings when I ask him to go get dressed for school his response is usually, "I can't move.  My legs are straighted."  I know I shouldn't, but depending on how tired I am, I just give in and do whatever it is for him.  I know, I know.  Definitely a bad habit to get into.  I don't want him to be completely helpless his whole life.  I do want him to move out on his own...eventually.

With that in mind, husband and I have been pushing him to do more things by himself, or at least give things an honest try before giving up and asking for help.  And he has made major improvement.  He can buckle his own car seat belts, get himself a snack or a drink, turn the lights off sometimes but given how short he is this one isn't complete laziness on his part, go to the bathroom on his own, and various other tasks, including get himself dressed.

The getting himself dressed thing is a double edged sword however,

Because sometimes he comes down dressed like this

and tells me "Look mom.  I'm not a clown anymore."

My favorite part of the outfit....

the gray dress socks pulled up to his knees.  They go so well with the blue striped t-shirt and plaid shorts.  He is definitely a fashionista in the making....but at least he's not a clown.

Another One Bites The Dust

This week I have been waging a war.
A war against a vicious fever/stomach virus that has been going around.

I've been waging the war....and losing horribly.

It started with John David who came down with this mess on Sunday.  The first time he threw up I was hoping it was just extreme exhaustion due to a super packed weekend of ball games, ball practices, grandparents visiting, birthday parties, and church.  I was wrong.  He soon spiked a fever over 102 and felt horrible.  He lay curled up on an extra crib mattress in my bedroom crying and whimpering because he felt so horrible.

I went into disinfectant, hope to keep anyone else from catching this mess, mode.  I have done countless loads of laundry, scrubbed bathrooms, walls, cabinets, floors, everything, in hopes of killing this virus and sparing the other three, and husband and I, from the sickness.  All to no avail.  On Wednesday, Ava woke up from her nap with a fever of 102.  On Thursday, Ella's temp went up to 102.  Both girls have been vomiting.  Oh the joys of motherhood, and the joys of motherhood with a houseful of small children who love to share their germs.

Last night as I was dosing both girls with fever medication and setting out the "puke pots" just in case either got sick during the night, the lyrics of Queen's 80's hit "Another One Bites the Dust" popped into my head.

Another one bites the dust

Another one bites the dust

And another one gone, and another one gone

Another one bites the dust

Hey, gonna get you too

Another one bites the dust

Husband found the song on the internet and played it for me while I laughed and danced the stress off.  I mean, when three of your four children are sick as dogs, you haven't left the house in a week other than to run carpool for the ones that haven't yet gotten sick, you haven't had a full nights sleep in 5 days, what else can you do but laugh and dance to 80's rock music.

Harrison is the lone hold-out among the children and has yet fallen victim to this nasty virus.

Husband and I are fighting hard as well.  

I pray no one else catches it.

I pray I don't catch it.  If mommy gets sick, who will be left to take care of me.

On a positive note, my house is really clean, the laundry is caught up, and I have gotten a decent amount of sewing done this week.