Spring has Sprung???

I have been wanting to post for a few days but have not gotten the time to do so. It seems like days are just flying by or at least I am not getting anything done. The amount I try to do during nap time is always more than what the kids actually nap for. So I start this during naptime and hope to finish before they wake.

So what is new??? It seems like everyday there is something these kids are doing to make us laugh and/or challenge the rules. Most recently has been the escaping of the play area. Gates AND doors are no longer a challenge. Thanks to Zachary learning to open the doors and scale the gates we have had to come up with a new plan of attack. Now I would be more than happy to give them the entire first floor to roam, BUT I am running out of areas to put the things I use daily aka the things the kids LOVE to play with, so we are keeping them in the playarea. We have taken the one gate that Zach was scaling down and put the protective door knob things on the guest bedroom, bathroom, door to the stairs and the door to the dining room. I did have to empty one cabinet in order to give them that hallway space. As of right now the gate in the kitchen has not become an issue although it has been scale a few times and they are getting more and more clever as to how to get over.

That is not the only challenge facing us recently. With the weather getting warmer spring fever has set in...and bad! They have had a few great days outside and want more, unfortunately the weather is not cooperating. You may ask how can I tell they have spring fever...well apparently they have lost all their hearing and/or have changed the language they understand and I am still speaking English...they like to laugh a lot usually when getting disciplined...they mimic very well too...they are bored...etc, etc, etc. Today I got a great example of how to tell they are bored. Normally they will play with a few toys and the mess evolves at a slower pace. When they are bored toys are "tossed" and they move on to the next and the play area is destroyed in a matter of minutes (sometimes seconds). Here is only part of the mess they created this morning. I like to title it "Where's Roxy?". Not only are all four kids in the picture, but Sadie (Jean's dog) and Roxy. Can you find Roxy??? The bad news is they are calling for 6 to 8 inches of snow this weekend...I can only hope that the forecast is very wrong!!!

Last week the kids dumped the wooden block (this is done all the time) and as usual I asked if we could at least play with them for a little bit. They al happily sat down to play but we needed to be separated with the same amount of blocks for each.

Four kids and four different ways to play with their blocks. Although it did nto last a long time, they did sit for a decent amount of time.

As from past posts, you may remember that Alex is very attached to his daddy. Recently Alex has been using daddy as a lounger. He Alex is getting a last drink before bed sitting on his new favorite "chair"...

On Saturday I has to work so daddy was in charge. They had a great morning and the day turned out to be very sunny and nice. Once the kids woke from their naps we decided to head outside. Alex had to wait for the other to wake but found that Roxy is great to play with. First Roxy used him as a pillow as he happen to be sitting in a great spot of sunlight as you can see in this picture...
Alex what are you doing???

Apparently Roxy makes a good stove top for making fake cookies...whole new meaning to 'hot dog'...lol! She is such a great dog!
We were hoping to start doing yard cleanup while we were out that day, unfortunately the kids had other plans. First we had a snack. We don't have their table and chairs out just yet so we improvised with a ride-on toy...makes great chair!
Once the kids saw our rakes there was no getting them back. I tried to have them help me rake, but in the end it is just easier to watch them play and read a little (a book I have been trying to read for a year). Here are the kids hard at work...

The boys are the rakers...
Liz is the leave gatherer. She worked on throwing the leaves aroun first and then started putting them in the wheelbarrow.

Here Alex is asking Zach if he has seen Liz recently...

Oh, there she is taking a break...can anyone else see what the future holds with this?!?!?

Liz also found great fun out of pulling the dried grass and putting it on Roxy...have a mention what a great and patient dog she is?!?!?

Auntie Jackie stayed with us for a night early this week. One of her kitties needed some surgery done at the clinic I work for so we invited her to stay with us and spend time with the kiddos. I think Zach (as well as the other two) were very happy to have her here.

On Tuesday we had a full house in the morning. Not only was Jackie here but Jean and Lexi came to play. Grandma also stopped by...not only getting to see her grandkids but Jackie too. While chit chatting I decided to try putting Liz's hair into piggy tails....it worked! She has enough hair finally!!! Isn't she cute?!?!

That morning we had a little bit of a fashion show. Thanks to Auntie Jean bringing some clothes for Auntie Jackie, they kids got to help. Here is Alex using the big pouty lips with a serious look...

Zach is very serious in this jacket...

Lexi went with the unconventional way to wear a shirt...

Lix found this shirt as a great fit for a dress...

And like other fashion shows there are mishaps that happen...such as Liz getting stuck in a shirt...she is not happy...

There is always time to stop a show to catch a glimpse of Sesame Street...

or to follow Auntie Jackie around...

Yesterday I had the tent in the hallway. The kids were not interested at first but later found a new way to play with it. Turn it on it's side, climb in and get your hair as full of static...

Yesterday I also found the solution to a small problem that had presented itself a few days ago. I decided to put all the crayon into one container. When we colored the kids were more pre-occupied with getting as many crayons as they could on their paper than actually coloring the picture. So I decided to pull a few crayons and put them in paper cups and everyone got their own cup...worked like a charm! They were so proud of their cups.

Well that is all for now. As you may have guess I did not make the end of nap deadline...in fact it is almost 11pm. I guess I am just happy I got it done yet today. I hope everyone has a great weekend. We will be trying to enjoy the snow.

Love, Jen

Lots of posts & pictures, again

I put the last 9 posts including this one for the same date...so if you are reading them you will have to click on older posts to see them all. The last one is titled "Buzzzzz".
Enjoy!
Jen

Dress-Up anyone?!?!

In the last week and a half the kids have shown that they really take after me with their fashion sense (I have none, really). They are willing to wear anything. I think it is time to get some dress up clothes. They have recently been playing in the bench that stores their shoes as well as hats and mittens (ours too), so the outfits have been getting better and better.

Here is Liz all dressed up in a dress. What can it be paired with better then a blaze orange hunting hat and a pink scarf...lol. At least the shoes go with it, right?



This is not the first time that buckets have been the hat of choice. This time both boys wanted to try the pink bucket. I think it goes well with the Cars and Bob the Builder PJs, what do you think?

It can be as simple as Lexi going home for a fashion show to start. Her hat was the item of attraction on this afternoon. Zach started the show and Liz was the finale.

Last Saturday I ran errands and Jeremy stayed home. Apparently Liz was preparing for shopping as well. If you have two purses you can buy more, right? And you can't go out without some sort of head gear. Today she was showing off her support for her bank (old employer of mine).

We never know what they will walk in wearing next or not wearing. They are into undressing themselves which is good but then not so good. It is another great milestone to hit but can cause some issues like the night we found Liz with only her diaper on...it is a pain to try to dress a sleeping kid...lol!

Hope you enjoyed our fashion show.

Love, Jen

Row-row & Choo-choo

The kids are loving dancing and doing nursery ryhms. This is partly do to playgroup where they do a mixture of songs/dances to end the time. One of the kids favorite is Row, Row, Row your Boat. The day this picture was taken the girls rowed against the boys. They try singing the song which is just too cute.

Sing it Alex...

Guess the girls won...lol!

The other thing they like to do is play choo-choo train. They learned this one from Grandma but recruited daddy on this morning. The one thing to watch for when playing train is that no one is getting choked as they sometimes get very excited and do not realize how tight they are holding onto the person in front of them.

The other thing they love to do and are able to do without an adult is Ring Around the Rosey. Zach loves the 'we all fall down' part and usually starts falling when the 'ashes, ashes' part is being said. They are too cute to listen to...they will walk around saying 'ashes, ashes' or 'rosey'.

Love, Jen

Laughing Liz

No explanation needed for this post. She's got a beautiful smile and a fun personality. That's our girl!!!

Love, Jen

Let us OUT!!!

Saturday and Sunday afternoons were spent outside as the weather began to be nice and the ground started to dry up. Saturday I took the kids out to my parent's and met Jean and Lexi there. We have ALL been needing to get out! Cabin fever has set in. Out at the farm the kids played with the garden tool in one of the little piles of snow that was remaining. Alex think a hoe works just fine in the snow...

Liz took a quick spin on the motorized 4 wheeler...

Zach was interested more in what he could get messy with...
3 out of the 4 kids found a small pile of snow in the field and all had to stand on it at once. Grace, my parent's German Shepherd, helped supervise.

The 4th kid, Alex, was taking his time making it thru the field...looking at each and every little thing.

Then it was to the deck for a snack...and in after that as we were getting cold.

Sunday afternoon we took them out to their play yard. The sun was shining and Roxy was loving it!

Alex was the stick man...picking up all he found.

Liz helped daddy find a new hat, the bucket.

Zach did what we expected...found the messiest thing he could...the water down sandbox.

The best thing to do when you find such a treasure is to share it with your siblings...lol.

Reading the Sunday morning paper...

How to read your Sunday morning paper with 3 two years olds.

1st - eat breakfast and make coffee

2nd - let wife clean up while you watch the kids

3rd - grab your paper and go to your rocker

4th - let first child up

5th - let second child up

6th - let third child up

7th - don't forget the dog

8th - enjoy the moment as they grow up too fast (picture #1)

9th - give into the fact that you are not going to be able to read the paper with all of them on your lap and just try to keep the fighting to a minimum (picture #2)

10th - let the kids read the paper (picture #3)

11th - try to read what you can with the kids

12th - have the kids clean up their mess

13th - try not to laugh when they try to give your paper back (picture #4)

14th - vacuum up all the little pieces with the kids help of course (picture #5)

15th - let your wife blog about it

Picture #1

Picture #2

Picture #3

Picture #4

Picture #5

Brotherly Love

Again, no words needed to describe these pictures. Our future heartbreakers.

Love, Jen

The Milk Bar

The other morning as I cleaned up after breakfast the kids noticed their cups from breakfast on the counter and decided they wanted more milk to drink. I told them they could have them but they needed to stand still since the sippy cups do not have valves in them so they would end up leaking everywhere. So this is the sight I saw...doesn't it look like they are standing at a bar table? Hopefully not future bar-flies...lol.

Hope you got a giggle from it.

Love, Jen

Buzzzzzzz

Zach needed a haircut...so I decided to buzz it...took the plunge yesterday and did it! He is just too cute!

Love, Jen

I did IT!!!

As some of you may remember from a previous posts, I had a goal to take the kids out by myself. I wanted to accomplish it earlier rather than later. Well today the stars and the moon aligned and I attempted to accomplish my goal. We needed a few items from the store, one of which was milk (we were completely out). So in order to feed the kids lunch I needed it, so I had the choice to take them out before Lexi got here or to have mom come watch them while I ran later in the day. I thought since mom has enough to worry about with my dad recovering that I would take the plunge. The store that had the items on sale was one of the quieter stores in town. So after breakfast the shoes went on as did the jackets, hats and mittens. Here is the happy crew on the way out the door. Oh and how is mom doing...majorly nervous. Nervous like your first date/kiss or nervous like getting ready for a job interview. There was a fear that has kept me from doing this...every scenario was running thru my head. I cannot remember the last time I was this nervous. They are not nervous at all...they are going for a ride, so it is all good!
The first scary thing to conquer...get out of the truck and across the parking lot. The kids are learning to hold hands but I feel safer holding them. As you may know I only have two hands, so with Liz on one side and the boys sharing a hand on the other we started our journey. Liz is usually the one that trips a lot due to not paying attention...this time it was Alex...THREE times! Luckily the parking lot was quiet. We made it in all in one piece. Now the last time I took them grocery shopping they were smaller. Here they are prior to getting into the actual store...good thing I only had milk, bananas and grapes to get. Here it the full cart...of kids!

We stopped at the bank first (the one I use to manage)....they did great. Then onto the grapes, which I gave to Liz to hold. They like being helpers. Then to the bananas...a bunch for each boy. Then to the milk aisle...luckily the 5 gallons fit under the cart as I am not sure where else I would have put them. Then to the checkouts. Of course the cashier was talking, so I started unloading...milk, grapes, bananas. This is the point where Alex starts screaming cuz I took his bananas. Let me tell you how quick the cashier got back! She quickly checked them and put Alex's bunch in a bag for him...quiet restored. They got some Easter coloring contest to color and bring back and oh yea, mommy got herself some chocolate....hey I deserve it. It was that or a drink, but it was only 10am...lol! Anyways, so exit the store no problems. Hat and mitten check before existing...check. Going out to the truck much easier as they were all in the cart...lol. So I start putting the kids in the truck. Normally they get put up and they walk to their seat and get in it....but not this time...oh no...Zach goes completely limp...apparently he does not want to leave the store. So Liz goes next I put her directly on the seats to crawl across while Zach is blocking the walk way....she lays there, doing NOTHING. Then there is Alex...I should have mentioned that I put the groceries in the front seat before the kids got in...including his bananas (bad idea). So he gets in and is trying to find his bananas. Here is what it looked like...that is Alex butt and legs, Zach trying desparately to get out of the truck and Liz laying doing nothing...

We eventually all got strapped in and headed home. Zach touched Alex's bananas which caused some crying as well as when he dropped them. But other than that it was uneventful ride home. I will not go into the tantrum that was thrown once we got home and the bananas needed to be put away.

The trip was a success. By the time I got home I was filled with adrenaline. I had feared for so long taking them by myself and I finally accomplished it. Some may not understand why this is so big to me, but it is HUGE! My amount of freedom has increased. No, it was not a perfect outing but no outing will ever be perfect. It was good. I have learned some things and that is what really counts. So I will pat myself on the back...way to go me!!!

Hope you may have gotten a laugh or two out of this story and yes I am a photo addict...that camera goes almost everywhere with me.

Love, Jen

A long weekend....

Our weekend did not start out the way anyone would want to start one. We found out Friday afternoon that grandpa, my dad, needed emergency surgery. He had developed an infection in his shoulder and it needed to be "fixed" right away. Friday night I spent about 4 hours in the hospital. His surgery started an hour and a half late, which made it a long night for all of us. I had to work Saturday morning, so I did not like hearing my alarm go off a short time after I set it. Surgery went well, so it made sleeping a little easier for me. Work on Saturday was busy so that helped me stay awake. After getting home from work I had to make a couple of things to take with us to a friends' house. We stayed at their house until the kids' bedtime and then went home and tucked them in and me on the couch (Jeremy went back to their house). I was out like a light! Sunday we hoped to go visit grandpa but the weather was just plain icky. After talking with my dad we decided to stay home. He was still pretty "out of it" anyways. Yesterday afternoon we did finally make it to visit. Grandpa was doing MUCH better, even tried sharing his ice cream with the kids. They did a good job at the hospital...no wires or tubes were pulled or buttons pushed. We had some issue with the elevator, which we will have to work on, but it was nice to see him in a lot less pain. He is to be released today so I will try to get the kids out there later this week to see him again.
Even though we have had some no so great things happening, the great pictures keep coming. Here are a few from the weekend. Enjoy!
Jen
Daddy's lap is always the best place to play...it is just REALLY crowded! Zach is really hamming it up in this picture.
Mommy is trying to convince Liz to crinkle her nose too.

After emptying the chest of shoes, hats and mittens the kids came into the living room with their "treasure"....blaze orange hunting hat. They all took turns trying it on.

Last night after seeing grandpa we stopped at Papa Murphy's to get a pizza due to it being late. To keep the kids entertained and help them forget they are hungry daddy let them play with some paper towel rolls. They were allowed to keep them until someone got their opened. Zach did eventually get his opened, just as dinner was being served. At one point Liz sat down on Roxy's bed to work on hers as you can see in this picture the boys followed her...

Can you tell Roxy is really happy about sharing her bed?!?!?

Last night was also bath night so Jeremy got them ready whiel I cleaned up. One by one they came running into the kitchen. I swear you undress these kids and they go crazy. It is a lot of giggling and running around and wrestling. They decided to do a monkey pile in the kitchen as I was washing the counters....crazy I tell ya!

This morning Jean stopped by with Lexi for a little play time. At one point I asked where was Roxy, she is normally on the couch by me. After looking for a little bit we found her in the kids' house, sleeping on Scooby. Really I think she just wanted to stay away from the 4 crazy kids and no one was using the house, so it made for a great hiding place. (Don't blame her!)

Blogging fool wants to hear from you...

I have been a blogging fool today! I had fallen so far behind and decided I must do something about it. The last post I had on here was Feb. 18th...I put 10 new post (not including this one) on today. I did back date them so you will have to click on Feb. on the side to see those.
We had a pretty awful night last night. By 3am all three were awake, wide awake. We struggled for quite some time to get everyone back to the sleep state. So I should have been napping when the kids napped due to our awful night, but I wasn't. Instead I was downloading pictures and typing away. So I want to hear from all that read our blog...make my sacrafice worth it...lol. So post a comment...it could be as simple as "hi" or more. It does not matter to me how much you write but that you let me know you are with me. I hope to hear from you all soon. Enjoy all the posts.
Love, Jen

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today is my birthday. It was wonderful! Jeremy took a vacation day so I could have the day off, which was much needed. It was nice not having to pick out the outfits for the day or worry about what to feed for lunch or breakfast. It was nice to know that even though I picked out what to have for dinner (cuz it was my bday dinner) I did not have to cook it. I had received a spa gift certificate from my bosses for Christmas, so I put that puppy to good use. I spent a good chunk of time at the spa getting an full body massage, facial and steam canopy. Let me just say...heaven! After leaving the spa I took my time getting home. When I did come home there was three smiling children happy to see me as well as a birthday cake made by Jeremy. But no it does not end there...nope. Due to finances being tight due to a paycut, I asked for no presents. But that did not stop Jeremy, oh no...he had the kids color for me...the best type of present if you ask me! So you know me and pcitures...I just had to get one with the kids and their present.
So thank you to Jeremy and the kids for making my day awesome! I love you lots!
Love, Jen

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

This was too cute to not share, so here you go. One of the things that is done at playgroup is singing songs and doing actions to those songs. One of the favorites is row, row, row your boat. The kids know what to do for that song. So today Jean had the day off so she spent the morning here and then we visited her at her place in the afternoon. Jean and I were talking and the next thing we know the kids are working on row, row. I think it orginally started out with Liz and Zach and then Lexi joined in....
Alex was doing a solo of row, row in the lego basket...

Then Auntie Jean did row, row with them.

Lots of fun had by all today!

Love, Jen

Happy Birthday Alexis!

Today Alexis turned 2 years old. We helped her celebrate! The kids actually helped her open her presents. Nothing like having to share new things right away. It is nice that they are so close. It actually reminds me when I was younger and how close I was to my cousin that was the same age. We hope they will forever have a close relationship. So back to the party. Here are pictures from the celebration.
First it was just Zach helping but that did not last long...
Auntie Jean is obviously no opening the package quick enough for everyone...

The theme for her party was Abby Cadabby. Jean did an awesome job with the cake.

Cake and ice cream at the kids' table...

I am one very proud Auntie as well as godmother. I always will be.

Happy 2nd Birthday Miss Alexis.

Love, Jen