Catching Up...

An update is definitely needed. We have had some milestones hit over the past several days as well as Memorial Day and other happenings. So let's take a look at what has happened since my last update.
Wednesday May 13th
The picture below does not show exactly what was happening at the moment but I will explain it. I was washing breakfast dishes when it got VERY quiet...too quiet. So I grabbed the towel, dried my hands and headed to the living room....to find....the kids all lined up and hugging each other. Are they to sweet or what?!?!?
Saturday May 16th
I had to work on this morning so that left daddy in charge. He caught the kids using the tote as a gathering place. He said they played in here for awhile without any agruments.

Sunday May 17th (daytime)

It was my goal to have all my rummage stuff over by Jean's (that is where the rummage was going to be) by Sunday. So I had the kids help me...well not really help but they were with me. While at Jean's the kids stopped playing for a snack. Here they all are...sporting their shades. I did not meet the goal of getting it all to her house but the kids had a great time helping me.

Sunday May 17th (nighttime)

Crazy naked kids...tonight it was all about the shaded and the brooms. As you may notice in some of the pictures the brooms are showing signs of wear and tear...duct tape and wood inside the handles is keeping them going at this point...lol.

Here is Alex making a run for it...

Liz making sure I get a good picture...

And Zach aka Mr. Smiles.

The Broom Brothers...

Tuesday May 19th

With a boat load of help from Jeremy, we were finally able to get my fish out. For those that do not know I have a pond garden. I winter the fish in the basement in a cow trough. At some points I thought they were never going to get out this spring with the crappy weather and lack of time, BUT they did. I have a total of 33 fish, in fact three of them I could not catch last winter and they lived thru it being outside the whole time!

Here Liz is helping daddy with the last weeds...oh wait...nope she just dumping dirt on herself!

The kids only got to see my fish a few times while they were in the house so they were quite excited once they were in the pond. Here Liz is checking to make sure the water is the right temperature...

Alex has to check too...

Here fishies, fishies, fishies...

Zach did not want to miss out on the actions either. Good thing we have two flat rocks to sits on.

The good thing is they know to stay on their bellies...and that an adult has to be around to help them see the fish...can you tell the fish are a little hungry...Even though he listens as good as the other two, my money is on him for being the first one to go in the water... I am so happy they are enjoying my hobby...

Wednesday May 20th

As I was making supper Jeremy was with the four kids in the playyard. He yelled for me to grab my camera and come quick...so the best I could do was the window. The kids had gotten themselves onto the teeter totter and they were taking turns so nicely.

Later that night after dinner we had Wrestle Mania 3 in our kitchen. Liz is hating every moment of this can't you tell?!?!?

Then there was the get naked and put on your brothers clothes and accessorize with mommy's pink scarf. I tell ya the fashion in this house is OUTSTANDING...lol!

Thursday May 21st

Today I packed up the rest of the rummage stuff and the kids and headed to Jean's for the day. It was prep time for the rummage. So mom joined me as well as Lexi. The day was not as productive as I wanted but it is hard to get things done with 4 kids "helping". One thing that was unsure for the day was how were the kids going to nap. Well naptime came and I decided to put my three in Jean's king size bed with bed rails...well Lexi was not having anything to do with her being in her crib while everyone else was in the big bed. Not only did I get 4 kids to sleep in one bed they took good naps too!!! And yes we did get everything done by 11:30pm.

Saturday May 23rd

Our rummage sale went great, got rid a some big item like the pack n play since we now know we can get them to sleep in a bed. We also were selling our cribs and many, many toys. One of those toys was Frank. Not sure if you remember who Frank was, so I will remind you. He was the Baby Einstein Catapillar that the kids got for their first Christmas. He was the model for their 1st birthday cake. Even tough they could not ride him right away, they climbed on him and played with is buttons and antennas. They LOVED him. When we took him to Jean's on the way home the kids kept saying 'buh-bye Frankie, buh-bye'. Now if that does not tear at your heart strings...

So I did get a chance to go rummaging during the weekend and find some great deals. Mom went out on Friday and found 2 boy sleeping bags, which is great for the next trip across the state. I went out on Saturday and found some great additions to our playyard like a digger. It will be great for the kids big snadbox (daddy is in the process of making it!). Here are some other treasures I found.
I picked up this Simon Says Sit n Spin for a whle $2.50. The boys took the first spin on it.Liz checking out her new big girl cup. Which reminds me...Jeremy brought the kids over Saturday morning. All he had with him was the kids! They played for awhile and stayed for lunch. Not a big deal but Jean does not have a stock pile of sippy cups, so big cups it was. Jeremy and I have been going to start them especially since they use big utensils now. Since then the only sippy cups they use is for juice. So not only will traveling be lighter without 3 pack n plays but where ever we go the kids can use whatever dinnerware is available.

You may have noticed in the previous picture the lovely shoes that Liz has on. I found a complete princess dress-up outfit that easily runs $25 without shoes in the store for $4!!! Here she is int he dress. I found some other dress up items that will keep them busy for hours.

Liz had to take a turn on the sit n spin too...behind her you can see the little tea cart I found. The kids have a tea set that they serve with their fake food, so this was a perfect fit! Another great bargain. There is a lot you can find for under $10!

Now it did not surprise me to find all three of them trying to get on the sit n spin...

Sunday May 24th

Today we were heading out to my parents for a big family get together. But before we left we had some fun of our own. Like Liz proving she can walk better in heels than her mommy.

And then there is the three of them ride the sit n spin...absolutely no one is enjoying this!!!

Monday May 25th

Happy Memorial Day! There is no better way to describe today except...great. We planned to go get our annuals for my pond garden as well as planters, pond plants and vegatables for the garden. We have been wanting to put a veggie garden in at tis house since we moved here in 2004...we finally have done it. Also the lack of flowers the past two years was just depressing. So tis morning we packed the family up and head to Stein's. We got our seeds, annuals and some veggie plants. We then headed to the local nursery for the pond plants. After both of tose stops we decided to treat the kids to lunch since they had been soooo good. After lunch at Wendy's we headed home for a nap.

The afternoon is best described as....fun. This spring/summer has been much different then the past 2. We can actually go outside and ot be worry about who went which way or how fast can you run to catch tis one before the next one gets too far. They are in the helper stage completely and just want to be by us. So I jumped in the pond to put those plants in as Jeremy raked the garden (it had just been tilled while we were shopping). We hoped to get it planted but just ran out of daylight hours. The kids had a blast...I will let the pictures explain.
Daddy and is three helpers....

Alex looking like a pro on daddy's tractor....

Zach also looking like a pro...now if their legs were just a bit longer....lol

Liz trying to convince Zach to let her try...

Alex helping pick up sod...

The kids were pretty quiet the whole time we were outside. They had found a fun project themselves. Jeremy had gathered all my planters (some with dirt in them) and loaded them in the trailer. Since we were both working on something different the kids decided to "help" organize the planters. They poured all the dirt out of them...in the trailer, on the ground and on themselves. All I can say is good thing it was bath night...lol!

This is Liz right after she poured dirt down the front of her...start at her head all the way to her toes.

Alex hard at work getting dirty...

Zach's white part of his shirt was black by the time we got into the house.

Such the helpers...

He looked like a raccoon. Black all the wa around his eyes. His blond eyebrows were black. You should have seen the bath water. This summer is going to be AWESOME!

There...it only took two days but this update is done! I hope you have enjoyed the stories as well as the pictures.

Love, Jen

Another successful rummage sale

A quick post...it is done...the rummage sale that is. The last few days have been long and tiring. But after all is said and done, it was all worth it. I just wanted to write a quick note to say thank you again to everyone who has given things to the kids like hand me downs or gifts. It is a gift that keeps giving. Starting with our very first kid rummage sale, we have been able to take the profits of the sale and use them to buy the next set of clothing and put money away for the kids. So thank you for all the generous things people have given us. Not only have these gift keep giving to us but others as well as...things that have not sold at rummages are donated to families in need. The gifts that keep giving! We are forever grateful for the support!
Love, Jen

1 sick mommy + 3 sick kids=

...a not so happy household and a mommy that is now behind trying to catch up. I had a bunch of posts that I intended being up on the blog last week, but it did not happen. So make sure you look back to the older posts. Today's post will catch me up as well as be the last one until after Memorial day as we have our rummage sale...so that is where my "extra" time will go.
Last week on one of the beautiful days we had, I had four kids refuse to eat lunch until they were allowed to go outside. Isn't great that they can talk?!?!? So outside we went...allow though it was VERY close to naptime they found enough energy to play while I made lunch. Here is what the lunch scene looked like...

I went to a rummage sale just up the road from here on Thursday night. One of the treasures we found was a dust buster (toy). There were two so Jean took one and I took one. Let's just say the kids LOVE it! Here are the boys using it and the vacuum...not the most conventional place to use it but hey cleaning is cleaning...

Jeremy also got a chance last week to put the "playhouse" into the playyard. The kids love ringing the bell and going down the slide on their tummies. It also makes a perfect place for snack time. Here are some of the pictures...

Saturday morning we took the plunge and took the cribs down. We did it before we went downstairs for the morning so the kids could get "use" to the idea of big kid beds...maybe making naptime easier. This time daddy had three helpers...putting the cribs up took a lot less time. We have since moved how the boys beds are since I took this picture...they are now parellel to each other. After the boys cribs were down Liz ran to her room saying my turn, my turn. Another bittersweet moment...

Auntie Jackie spent the weekend with us, which we loved having her here. The kids liked seeing her. They also played with her...here they all are taking turn putting "lotion" on her...

Roxy also enjoyed Jackie being here...she LOVES her. Roxy did not get much sleep while Jackie was here cause she was guarding her room. As you can see Roxy was quite depressed when Jackie left on Monday...

The three reasons she is depressed...Libby, Inky and Joe...

Here daddy is going thru the photo flip book that the kids have...everyone want to be the one to turn the page...

Our girlie girl...trying on the baby doll clothes...actually happens to be an outfit that Liz wore..now she can only wear it as a hat...lol

is she too cute or what?!?!?

Well I am now officially caught up. Hope you have enjoyed all the posts and pictures. Will tell you a little funny story before I go...since the kids are sick...nights are long...so last night when Alex woke, he also woke Zach...so I decided to give Jeremy the bed and go sleep in the boys room with them...turned into a little slumber party...Liz ended up joining us...then daddy took Zach...when daddy had to go to work he brought Zach back in...so Alex was in his bed...Liz was in Zach's bed...Zach and I were on the floor...what a slumber party! lol

Love, Jen