Puddin's Room

I was saving this post for another time but after I read about the give away on Kimba's blog I just had to go ahead and do it now... minus the pictures! Maybe I can post those after I get the final product!

Anyway, since we moved Puddin's room several months ago to make room for the babies I have been trying to get her room "little girl" perfect. She had the most adorable nursery ever so it has been a hard task to manage. After all, I did also have to decorate another nursery and had just completed the boys nursery! It's really ok though, I love doing this kind of thing. the problem is there are only so many hours in a day and our house did not come with a money tree in the back yard! So, I have been frugal and crafty. Imagine that.

We managed to get her bed on sale at JCP and it's perfect! I found a hutch/dresser at a second hand store and it's perfect! Several of the things from her nursery also followed her down the hall too.. perfect! Now, I have a few other things I am wanting to do. They involve, in no particular order, a tree, a ballet bar/mirror/ vinyl letters and a bird.

Today I read a post by Kimba which may (cross your fingers) help me with the vinyl letters and bird. Now, I would just buy these things but the babies need formula and vinyl letters aren't in the budget right now! Check out Kimba's blog if you are curious... or go to to Lewa Designs and pick out some thing for yourself! They have really great prices ( I've already been comparison shopping) so you won't break the bank, even if your like me and many, many babies to feed.

I went to their site and found lots of things! In fact, all of babies could use something from their site! So, if your like me and have pottery barn style without the pottery barn budget, go check them out! You won't be sorry!

Run, Hop, Ride!

As I type this now, all 5 children are

peacefully snoozing the afternoon away.

It is nap time. Sacred, sweet nap time!

If only mommy could take a nice long, restful nap.

*sigh*

Oh well, I feel good that I have washed the diapers and sheets, unloaded the dishwasher and made a strawberry pie for dessert tonight. The last of our glorious strawberries from Saturday have finally been used. The rest were all used to make strawberry freezer jam and strawberry honey popsicles... yum!

All of that, plus we went to Puddin's dance class today!

Oh- and I fed them today too!

Not that I don't usually feed my children,

I just thought I should add that to the list!

Unfortunately, there is still a lot to do around here.

Thankfully, I seem to have some extra energy

so I am on a mission to get

as much done as possible.

Wish me luck!

Ok- the real reason of this post???

To share some pics of my little luvies of course!

People ask me all the time,

"How do you get them all to sleep

at the same time every day?"

Let me show you....

Monkey Do... "JUMP!"

Look at that girl go! Wow!

Monkey See singing- no he's not crying-

just singing with emotion!


If only we all (meaning me) had so much energy!


We also like to race!

Go, luvies, go! It helps to scream while you run.

Apparently you run much faster that way!

We also ride our bikes on our indoor race track...

kitchen, foyer, dining room, living room.... fun!

Finally, they seem to be running low on gas!
Could it be nap time is approaching??

We do lots of things during the day besides watch TV. Don't get me wrong, they watch TV. Usually it's on in the morning and they watch Backyardigans (my favorite) or Dora. But I only leave it on for about an hour and it's usually when we are getting ready to go do something and are finishing up with breakfast and getting dressed to leave. In the afternoon they can watch TV while they have a snack after nap time. We usually watch Barney then, cause you know,

Monkey Do will have a major meltdown

without his Barney fix.

So for all of the rest of the hours in a day we play.

We play with play dough and paints and glue and scissors.

Lately, (since the babies) I need at least 1 clean hand free

so we haven't done as much of that.

We read stories.

We build towers with our blocks.

We also spend some time outside playing and digging.

We go, a lot.

We love the park and the jungle gym

surrounded by the big fence.

When I'm by myself with them that's the park I go to.

We meet up with friends for picnics.

Really, we just make good old fashioned memories.

Hope you are making memories of your own today too!

Now- back to my mommy work!

MONKEY SEE

Monkey See 8 months old

Meet Monkey See. He is my 3rd born child and for a short while, the baby of my brood.
He is DELIGHTFUL!
He has the sweetest temperament and biggest heart.
He is the yin to his brother's yang.

He has the goofiest laugh that makes my heart pitter patter when I hear it!

His smile- oh, his smile! It melts my heart everytime!

He's a thinker. He watches everything and comes up with a plan. He is not usually first at doing things (because he's watching and thinking about how to do it) but he is pretty successful at everything he tries. I haven't seen him not accomplish anything he has tried.
cleaning the garage

sliding with a friend at the park

This is my little Monkey See.
catching a frog

He was a late walker (13 mo) but, because his brother and sister were walking, he wanted to keep up with them so he devised a plan. He would crawl as fast as he could to the riding horse or the scooter that we kept in the house...they both had wheels on them. Then he would hop and on and ride away! He would push that thing like crazy to keep up with them and got really good at it. So good he could sometimes pass them by~ with a smile on his face!

He's shy, most of the time.
He's a talker and an eater! Very much like his Daddy in those areas!! They are usually the two left at the table when everyone else is finished eating!

1st birthday...yummy cake!

last weekend... strawberry smoothies!

He adores his sister. He has become her little shadow, following her around and imitating everything she does (except wearing the princess clothes- that's Monkey Do's job!)His brother is his best friend! They can make each other laugh so hard it's hysterical!
He is tender hearted and can easily get his feelings hurt.
He is a helper and a pleaser.
He loves books and loves to sit and "read" with his sister.
He is content and happy, most of the time.

Animals fascinate him.
He snarls. A lot. Not because he's unhappy, he's just thinking- hard.

the snarl

He can skip!! It's sooo cute!!
He kicks and throws a ball with amazing accuracy- he's only 22 months old!
He sings... all the time... yes, it's precious! I love it when I hear him late at night signing in his crib... so sweet. He holds his mommy's heart in the palm of his hand.

He loves being a big brother. Our new babies bring him joy each and every day! He greets them every morning with "babies!" and a kiss. And he is sooo gentle with them both.

His first few weeks of life were the hardest of my life but I wouldn't trade

them now for anything.
He is strong!
He is a miracle.
Each day with him is a gift!

More Good Times???

So, we are headed back to the pediatricians office again today. Monkey See has a mysterious bite on his leg that needs to be seen. He seems fine but the bite isn't getting better and I don't know what kind it is so we are off to the doctor, again.

Unfortunately, our last visit is all too fresh in my mind. Remember those good times?
I do, and I'm pretty sure our pediatrician does too! If you think about us today we could use a little prayer around 4:30 this afternoon!

I'll post later and share our boring, uneventful visit!!

Special Deliveries

These dresses were made for some very special teachers in Pulaski. Since school is almost out I know they are very happy ladies!


As a former teacher, I know this time of year can be "bittersweet". Everyone is ready for a nice summer break but that also means change and moving on and most teachers I know become very attached to their "kids". So for all those teachers out there- enjoy your summer! A new batch of kiddos are headed your way!

Froggy Went A Courtin

** Just so you know...no dogs or frogs/toads were injured or mistreated in any way.

We are back and semi rested from our 1st family (all 7 of us in tow) trip to Pulaski. After you get past the car ride (2 hours) which involved much crying, a lot of vomit and a little whining as well as some gnashing of the teeth and clawing of the face, the drive wasn't so bad.

Upon arrival, 2 of our children then proceeded to roll down a very steep embankment after they were frightened by my parents beast dog they affectionately refer to as Molly. Thankfully the children were saved by their crazy, screaming mother (screaming for their father to get rid of the dog!!) and their brave, super hero father who chased the dog until she was caught and imprisoned. Whew!

Once we finally unloaded everything but the kitchen sink from our van the day went into full swing and involved a LARGE pool and a LOT of people. Momma was NERVOUS to say the least. But my little people did great and had lots of fun. I will post some pics from that later.

What I really wanted to share was what happened after everyone left. I washed a load of diapers and while I was waiting for my moms washer/dryer to do it's thing I gave the kids a bath and hubby started to reload the van. During this time it had started to rain and the yard started filling up with toads and frogs. So hubby comes back in telling me about this HUGE frog out on the steps. I REALLY wanted him to catch it! I wanted the kids to get to see one up close and experience the whole frog thing. So,off he went. He came back with not 1 but 3 frogs!!!
We were so excited we loaded those puppies up in a shoe box and added them to the load of stuff in the van. The kids never knew their were frogs under their feet the whole way home!

So this morning I remembered the frogs! We were getting ready to leave to go to my Bible study but we first had to see the frogs. I told them I had a surprise for them and we headed to the backyard. Oh what fun!! They had a great time with the frogs/toads (I'm pretty sure they were toads). Monkey Do started out brave but was more comfortable with a little distance. Monkey See liked poking them with the bubble wand and Puddin puffy heart loved them! She sang to them and baby talked them, she even found a hole they could live in! She was very sweet.

So enough from me- enjoy the show!

Stawberry Saturday part 2

Walking hand in hand to the strawberry patch.

Puddin and Monkey See picking with Daddy and Nana Flowers.


Monkey See, Puddin, Monkey Do picking berries.

"I need a basket, please!"

"I'll just eat this one!"

Beautiful!

"Hunh?" also known as the snarl~ a new thing he has recently picked up!

YUMMMM!! Strawberry honey popscicles!

Cheese!

"Watch this, sis!"

Daisy and Bud- just chillin

"See what we did!"... they actually picked almost 3 baskets full!

"AHHHHHH!"