Back to routines

Almost.  After the fun and excitement of the holidays, I was looking forward to returning to our regular routines.  But I forgot that the kids got ONE MORE DAY off of school.  So I got to take all four kiddos with me on my weekly grocery trip.  I usually swap kids with my friend Ashley while I go to the store, but they were busy that morning.  It was actually pretty fun to bring them all with me since it's not a regular occurrence.  And they were so happy when the bakery gave them free cookies.  It kept them occupied for a while! (Jan. 5)

 

My cabinets were in sad shape, so I did some purging and re-organizing.  It felt so good!

Before:

After (Jan. 8)

Lest you think my cabinets are always in good shape, Jack keeps me grounded.  This is before family night on Jan. 12.

We made popsicles from bananas and orange juice--Brooke's turn for treat.  She was so excited to share them.

New Year 2015!

Here we are in the wee hours of the new year.  That makes 2 years in a row of staying up til midnight.  I guess having good friends to party with gives us energy :).

My sister Jamie and her family were in town for a few days, so we spent the day with them and Dad and Sally on New Year's Day.  And Grandpa and Giagia were so kind to share their stash of noisemakers with us--they made the girls SO happy.  Unfortunately, they "disappeared" within a few days of bringing them home with us (wink, wink). 

I love the New Year.  I just like the feeling of having a fresh slate and setting goals.  This new year also marked the return of 9 am church--YAY!! I really love 9 am church, especially with kids (and being in nursery).

Our cute Jack on his 14 month birthday, Jan. 4.  He is still a crawler for the most part these days.  And I LOVE him all dressed up in his shirt and tie. 

3 cutie girls.  They are growing up fast and it is exciting to see who they are becoming.

Megan (7), Brooke (5), and Candy (3) on Jan. 4 before church

December Randoms

So Candy has been asking to have her hair up in 2 buns a lot lately.  It's adorable and it keeps that crazy curliness contained for a day or so.  I let her leave them in for two days and brushed it when I took them out on Dec. 5--hilarious!  Her hair was HUGE!! 

 She was pretty excited about it.  I love this girl.

I've always loved nativities at Christmas and as a little girl I remember collecting and organizing all of my Mom's nativities when they were out.  I'd have all the Mary's conferencing in one corner of the room and all the Joseph's in another, etc.  So I'm not surprised that my girls are always playing with the nativities they can reach.  Brooke was feeling very creative on Dec. 6 and build this manger out of tinker toys for her doll (complete with some of the tree ornaments and a few random nativity pieces under it).  I thought it looked like a spit for roasting a whole pig and thought it was so funny.  I'm weird, I know, but there you have it.  Our roasting manger.

There was a time when I bathed all of my children all at once all the time.  But that time is no more.  So I thought I should document the four little cuties all together in Mom's big tub on Dec.  7 for a before-church bath.  They had a great time.  And splashed like you wouldn't believe.

This lovely drawing was what Candy drew when her joy school class made cards to pass out when they performed the Christmas story at some nursing homes.  I told the kids to draw their very best nativity scene.  Candy drew this and when I asked her about it, she mentioned it had a rainbow, a boat, and some water.  "Okay, but where are Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus?" I asked.  "Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus are not in this picture," she responded.  We decided to let her classmates' more traditional pictures grace the cards we actually handed out and saved this one just for our family.  I love 3 year olds (another classmate filled his entire paper with black marker and orange streaks and told me it wasn't Jesus, it was a garbage truck...his didn't make the cut either!)

Megan had her very first piano recital on Dec. 12.  She had been practicing hard and performed "Jingle Bells" beautifully.  It really is amazing to see how much she's learned in just a few months of piano lessons.  She doesn't always love the practicing (and especially the theory pages), but she loves making music.

 Brooke was hamming it up and I had to take a picture of them together before she'd let me do some individual shots of Megan.

And Candy (never wanting to be left out) then insisted on her own picture.  Squinty eyes and all.

Tree Decorating 2014

We were on the ball this year and got our tree set up for family night on Monday, Dec. 1. 

Jack quickly reminded us that having a busy 1 year old at Christmas time means a tree that is bare for the lower 1/3.  

The tired almost 13 month old...

The girls were so excited to decorate.  We put on Christmas music, talked about Christmas symbols a little bit, and decorated away. 

Brookie (5 1/2) got to put on the star this year...

Candy (3 1/2) was too focused on her task to look up for a pic...

Megan (7) enjoyed directing where all the ornaments should be placed...

Brooke...

Jack is so happy when Daddy gets home each day.  He crawls as fast as he can and pulls up on Dan's legs and waits for a hug.  He was being the sweetest snuggler on Dec. 2.

The night Jack kept crawling over by the fireplace and so I made the girls go sit by him and grabbed a quick picture.  These four sure do love each other.  And I love watching them play.

Thanksgiving 2014...

We had such a nice Thanksgiving this year.  The kids were off the whole week and it was fun to have a break from the school routine.  Monday we did rotating stations (20 min each of puzzles, computer, and playdoh), grocery shopping, and family night.  Tuesday we had friends to play in the morning and sent the big girls to play in the afternoon.  I spent most of the day Wednesday getting my food assignments ready, so I kept the kids busy with rotating stations and more playdates!  I made 72 crescent rolls, a key lime pie, 2 pumpkin pies (all with homemade crusts), jello salad, and a sweet potato "souffle".  Yum. 

I met 2 of my friends early on Thanksgiving morning to go for a run in the nice weather.  We did a little over 4.5 miles and it felt great.  Then I hurried to get ready so we could get our family out the door by 7:30.  We made it downtown for the parade around 8:05 or so.  Dad, Tyler, Shad and Amy and their 5 kiddos beat us there and claimed a fantastic spot (although the street we were on didn't fill in for until the parade was close to starting).  It was cold enough for coats but not nearly as freezing as last year.  We had fun chatting and keeping the kids busy with races and relays while waiting for the parade to start.  It was a good parade this year.  My girls were especially excited to see Elsa and Anna on one float and a giant balloon of the Magic Schoolbus. 

 

Our whole family--we almost got everyone to look in the same direction...

The little girls sang a nice (LOUD) rendition of Let It Go before the parade.  It was adorable.

We went straight to Shad's house from the parade and enjoyed the day.  Carrie and Tyler met up with us there (Carrie did the Turkey Trot in lieu of the parade).  We ate our big meal around 1 pm, played games, napped, and watched the kids swim (too cold for me that day with the air at 60 and water at 78).  Carrie and Ty headed home around 9, but Dan and I and our kids stayed the night.  Dan and Shad got up early to play basketball and Amy and I got breakfast for the kids.  All the boys (Dan, Shad, Dad, Ty, and my stepbrothers Alex and Charlie) went shooting around 10 am.  The kids played and we swam again (this time the water was at 85 and I even got in!).  We enjoyed leftovers and headed home around 3 pm.  We came home and enjoyed some Friday night redboxes (one for the kids, one for us).  We were exhausted but had a great holiday! 
 
The babies' spot (Ellie and Jack)...

The 3 to 7 year olds (Molly, Brooke, Candy, Chloe, Megan)...

The spread...(delicious.  everything.  so so yummy!)

The 10-11 year olds (Hailey and Zach)...

And Megan's thankful turkey from school that made my heart happy.  "I am thankful for: my hose (house), my famly like my brother and sisters"

Look-alikes

Dan's Dad sent us some old photos of Dan as a young toddler.  And while I always thought Jack favored Dan, this proved it.  They are both pretty cute!

Dan is somewhere right around one year old in these pics.  That's his Grandpa Jack (our Jack's namesake) in the top left picture.  

Our little mini-Dan on his first birthday--Nov. 4, 2014

One Year...

One year ago we were sitting in a hospital room waiting to meet our sweet little boy.  It was love at first sight of that little bruised face and we have loved every minute of this year with him.  He is easy-going and happy.  He brings so much joy to our family.  I love watching each of his sisters interact with him.  A common fight in our house is over who gets to play with/sit by/hold Jack.  In the past few weeks especially, he has turned into a squirmy worm, wiggling off my lap and exploring anything he can find.  He has 2 teeth, eats anything he can gum, and loves to sleep with a binkie and a satin/soft blankie.  He is very ticklish (especially under his chin) and gets very giggly at night.  He loves to swing outside, take baths (which happen often since he is STILL spitting up!), and give kisses.  I can't believe it's his birthday already!

Our One Year Old:
Favorite food--bananas, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, cheesesticks, yogurt, sliced apples (he gums it until is dissolves)
Favorite drink--Mom's milk!  but since he's almost completely weaned, he'll also drink cold whole milk and water
Favorite toys--any ball, push toys, remotes of any kind
Words--Mama, uh-oh, no-no-no (also wo-wo-wo like my grandfather used to yell to call us for breakfast)
Schedule--sleeps from 7 pm to 7 am most nights, naps from 9-11 am and again from 2-4 pm
Skills--crawling, cruising, going up and down the stairs, climbing the bunk bed ladder (aah!), opening cupboards and drawers (no attempts at walking yet)

Our sweet boy on his last night of infancy (Nov. 3, 2014)

Good morning birthday boy!  I came home from running at 6:10 this morning to find the girls in the kitchen singing happy birthday to Jack at the top of their lungs.  Love them.  

To celebrate his birthday, Jack got his first haircut.  I love those little wispy curls, but it was getting a little long!

And the comparison shot, a few hours after birth and this morning post-haircut.  It never ceases to amaze me how much a child changes from birth to one year.  I love this boy!