Independence Day '08

This was taken last 4th of July.
It's amazing how much they have grown!!!

Sometimes I still can't believe we have 2 more precious children!
I can't wait for this year's picture!

Weekend Recap

I'm posting a little later than usual but things here have been a bit busy. I guess that's the way it's going to be from now on. Funny, it still surprises me!

Hubby and I are still working out the kinks on the dinner/bath and bedtime routine. Just about the time we think we have it under control, one of the kiddos throws us a curve ball and we have to figure out a new plan! Thankfully, it went pretty smoothly tonight with our new changes. We'll see what tomorrow holds!


This weekend we were busy too. It was the first weekend in a while that we didn't have somewhere to be so we took advantage of it and tried to get some things done. Although, Sunday night I looked around and several of the "projects " that we were planning to finished were still left unfinished. ohhhh. There are just not enough hours in the day anymore!


I was able to finish some dresses for the 4th. They turned out pretty cute! Now I'm working on my kids' outfits for the 4th.

We also squeezed in a little pool time. We've upgraded our pool and the kids LOVED It! Although- it still isn't big enough, but it will do for this year. My little Monkeys have turned into a couple of little dare devils on this thing! They were so fun to watch!

We broke open the box of cool pops! Yumm!!

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We had a piano concert on our new baby grand. Monkey Do was so excited to see it he didn't even wait to get his diaper on!

We had a little brother bonding time... They look like they have concocted a plan! Maybe I shouldn't have exposed poor little Bud to these wild boys!

And the babes tried cereal for the first time. They did ok with it but I think we will wait a few more weeks. It still a little early to introduce it but when you are suffering from VLS you'll try about anything to get a few more hours of sleep.

Bud wants more!!

Daddy helping out!

And today we had cupcakes with our "cousins" the Kennedys! We all had a great time. And I just have to say, it was fun to have them over! I had 8 kids by myself ranging in ages from almost 4 months to 8 1/2 and they were all super! It helps that they enjoy spending time with each other. And for the record- it was the better part of my day! (The morning had been a little stressful).

Hope your weekend was great too!

Sleeping Beauty

Since Daisy so frequently misses our photo ops... here's a picture of just exactly why she misses them so often!



She is her momma's daughter and this babe can sleep anywhere, anytime, anyplace!!

That's my kind of girl!

If only I were so lucky!

Busy Bees and Babies!

Things have been busy here! I have so much to do I don't know whether I'm coming or going! In fact, today I "lost" the defrosted chicken for supper tonight. I finally "found" it in the pantry!

It wasn't gone for too long but I felt really silly when I found it.

I have projects galore I should be working on. But instead tonight, I started finalizing the birthday party plans for the monkeys... I'll be giving my thoughts on that later.

I still need to make Puddin's lunch for preschool tomorrow, I have 3 loads of laundry waiting to be folded, a sink full of dirty dishes, a dishwasher full of clean dishes, Puddin Pops to finish and make, dresses and john-johns to finish and make, my bonus room is half finished, as is Puddin's room. And our room, well it's a P.I.T. 'nuf said. Oh- and Monkey Do has a runny nose. And because he is sooo melodramatic, it's been a long day of me holding a 30 pound, whining toddler who constantly requests to watch the "Barney Show". Don't you wish you were here??!

All of that going on and I just have to share this...

Remember my friend Kate? She is the photographer who is "following" our family over the next year and capturing our life in photographs. It has been such a neat experience so far! Anyway, she has new pics up on her blog and a few others she has shared with me that I want to share with you! So hold on.... there's a lot to see. I'll try to be good and just share a few of my favorites!
Oh- and just to warn you- these kids are so stinking cute you might have a few heart palpitations!! Viewing my be hazardous to your health!

I love this one with Daisy's tongue sticking out! Bud was a little difficult this time. He has eyes for 1 woman only- his momma. So he doesn't pass out smiles too freely to anyone else!

Check out Kate's blog when you have a chance- she has some others that are super cute posted there too.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

I wish I could see you today and give you a big hug!!

Your card is on the kitchen counter. Sorry!

I will mail it tomorrow morning!

I am thinking of you today and remembering lots of fun times!!!

We love you and miss you very much!

Love,

Melissa, Hubby and Kiddos

For Bebe

To see more Puddin Pop Kids go here or here or here.

OR Here, or here!

Puddin went to a birthday party for one of her friends today.

It was a glass slipper ball. CUTE!

She had a BALL!

She really didn't want to leave... but isn't that how the real Cinderella felt too?

Thanks for a fun afternoon, Bebe!

Hubby's Birthday

Ok- this post is long and has a lot of pictures. So if you are not a grandparent of my children- this may totally bore you to tears. You have been warned!

Friday was the Hubby's birthday and he had the day off from work. He had decided he wanted to spend his birthday fishing with the kiddos. Sounded like lots of fun to us until we heard that the temp would be up to 100 degrees! Yeah, not so much fun, especially with 2 tiny babies still in a car seat.

So we came up with plan B. We hit an all time favorite.. the pet store! It's a great way to spend a good hour, and it's cool and best of all, FREE FUN!
The kids love, LOVE going here! We just look at the animals and occasionally ask an employee to let us hold one. Our favorites are the birds. Puddin has loved birds since she was a baby and they are still her favorite animal.




Next stop on the Birthday Express was... SHONEYS! WooHoo! Yes, we live LARGE around here!

We chose Shoney's for 1 reason only... all of our kids ate for 3.99 total! That is a DEAL! they also had a buffet which translates to our family- hot food, fast, for hungry kiddos. Hubby even got a hot fudge cake for his birthday!
This was also our first trip out to eat with everyone in tow. That meant it was Bud and Daisy's first out to eat dining experience. It was a little crazy. But,really, all in all it wasn't bad. The biggest question of the day was, "Are all those babies yours?!"

Shoney's is "family friendly" and there were mostly senior citizens there and they really enjoyed the kids. Good thing since no one gave us a high chair or booster seat. That meant Puddin and the Monkey's stood up in the booth to eat their food and had 2 important things that make every dining experience, well, an experience... freedom and an audience! Let's just say they took advantage of both!

Finally, we decided a little fun was in order and if we didn't do something quick, these kids might stage a take over. Since we were outnumbered we opted for some outside fun (it cools everyone off and wears them out. hint- a good nap is in the future!)

So, off to the creek we went.

This was our first family creek visit and almost everyone had fun.

Monkey Do just wasn't feeling it. In all fairness he had been extra crabby all day. The first step into the icy cold creek and he was done. He wanted no part of this kind of fun.

Monkey See on the other hand, had the best time of all! He is very tactile. He loves the way things feel. So the icy water, pebbles, rocks and mud were right up his ally!

the infamous snarl

Puddin was sort of in the middle where fun was concerned. She wanted to like it but when she saw some big boys there with their dad catching craw dads ( and saw what a craw dad was) she wasn't really having much of a good time after that.

Bud and Daisy just hung out with me and Monkey Do on the blanket. Such good babies! They each took a bottle and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was warm but by the creek in a shady spot with a little breeze it felt pretty good.

Monkey Do made his own fun... looking adorable for the camera and wearing Puddin's shoes! (not necessarily at the same time!)

After a couple of hours the heat and sun started to wear on us all so I stripped everyone down and dried them all off and we loaded the van once again.
Now the hard part started.
My precious nap time was at stake and I did not want to loose it after this busy day. It was important, extremely important, to keep everyone awake for the drive home.
So, I did what any good mother would do and gave them all candy! This treat kept them occupied and awake long enough for us to get home.
Then it was NAP TIME!!! And my precious babies slept HARD!
Puddin was out for 3 1/2 hours and the Monkeys slept for 4 1/2 hours!! Amazing!!
When Puddin got up she helped me make Daddy's birthday cake (it ended up being a sort of trifle like cake... long story I'll explain later).
She enjoyed helping!

Bud and Daisy even napped a little bit. This picture was taken, literally, 1 minute before he zonked out too! He is sooo cute!!!!

So we ended our day with a birthday dinner and fun with the kiddos. It was just the day Hubby wanted! We were all lucky to spend it with him!