Graduation & Mother's Day

What a busy weekend!

Saturday my sister graduated from OSU...I am soOoOoOo PROUD!  She has worked so hard putting herself through school and now has a degree in interior design.  Smart and beautiful. 

3 sisters

And single, I might add...yeah this just turned into match dot com.  I've set her up before and it was disastrous.  Now she thinks I have no clue...but I am determined...if you know a single guy that can handle this sass...

send me his resume.  Now that she's out of school she may have time to date.  She's gonna kill me. 

Happy Mother's Day!!

It was kind of a weird Mother's Day.  The boys spent the night at their PaPa'a last night and Ely went to the Temple this morning.  So it was just me and my two favorite girls.  They decided to take me out to breakfast.  We went to Coffee House on Cherry Street and had pancakes and fruit.  And I had my current obsession a dirty chai latte...mmmmm...

It was really nice.  We had our breakfast then read books on one of the couches for about an hour. 

Later on we met up with the rest of the family for Jacque's graduation party.  What a fun....and looong...weekend. 

Murphy's Law

"Whatever can go wrong will go wrong." 

There are two things that I am absolutely sure of by being a mother of 4 small children.  #1 I will have to do at least 15 loads of laundry every week .  #2 If we are running late to the bus stop in the morning one or both twins will have a dirty diaper.  Never fails. 

The other morning I was in ultra-frantic mode.  Running late....again. Trying to get 4 kids dressed, fed and out the door in a timely manner.  Like clockwork both girls left a nice deposit for me in their diapers just as we were trying to load up in the van.  I got aggravated and marched the kids back in the house. 

Zander (5) noticed my frustration and said, "It's ok Momma.  They just had to go poop.  It's ok if I miss the bus, you can just drop me off at school."  How is a five year old so much wiser than a 31 year old??  It isn't a big deal.  Murphy's law is true if you believe it...but my goal is to not give in the that frame of mind anymore.  Wish me luck!  

In a perfect world, I would get up 2 hours before my kids.  Take a shower, do a little yoga and meditation drink a cup of coffee with my husband before seeing him off to work.   Be totally awake and centered before diving head first into mommy-mode.   But that would put me at getting up at 5 am....ugh.  Do you get up earlier than your children?  If so when and why?  I totally want to try it, but the truth is I'm lazy in the mornings and kind of a night owl. 

The Witching Hour

Please tell me my household isn't the only one that is absolutely INSANE between the hours of 4-6. You know, the kids just wake up from their afternoon naps...but even though they were sleeping for two and a half hours they somehow manage to be cranky? To add to the chaos daddy's coming home soon and you're trying to get dinner on the table. I like to refer to this as "The Witching Hour"

You have 3 choices when this time rolls around.
A. Have a mental breakdown
B. Stop everything your doing, get nothing done and just play with your kids
C. Open a bottle of wine

I choose C. JOKING! (sometimes. cough, cough)

No seriously, the answer is GET CREATIVE!! Bring out the big guns. Think outside the box.

Let them play with all those plastic sacks you've been saving to recycle. FYI, I was right there cooking dinner, watching them very closely so they didn't put them over their heads!

Give them pots & pans with spoon and make some music.

It helps to have a very enthusiastic 4 yr old to pick up the stuff when they start playing "fetch"

As you can see these tricks don't always last very long but maybe, just maybe, long enough to finish chopping veggies and throw them in the steamer.

Here are a few other ideas I've used with my kids when they are "bored" with their toys...and remember my children are still very young...

1. Belts...between my hubby and I we have about 20 belts. The boys love to connect all of them and make a long snake. Hey, you laugh, it takes them 20 minutes.
2. A wet wash cloth. Simple yet amazing. The babies "wash" each other and the kitchen floor. The boys usually run around the house with it over their faces, but whatever.
3. When they are big enough to stand on a chair in the kitchen I will pull it over to the sink and have them "wash" dishes. Fill the sink with soapy water and a couple of plastic dishes...at least 30 minutes of fun!
4. Have older kids put coins in a piggy bank. I don't know how many times I've secretly dumped Gavin's piggy bank out and sat him up at the kitchen table and gave him this 15 minute project. Killing two birds with one stone here. He stops tormenting his sibling for a few minutes AND gets to practice some hand-eye coordination.

Please share your creative ideas with me....I'm running out and the older ones are beginning to catch on.

busy, busy!

It's been pretty busy around here...imagine that! We are in the process of buying a foreclosed home. We're getting a fantastic deal, it's just a LOT more work on our part. Today was suppose to be our closing date, but no such luck. It's been pushed back until the 24th. Instead of the seller getting the house ready for us, we are getting the house ready for the inspector. Hopefully everything goes as planned and we are not wasting our time and money on this home. The bank wants us to go ahead and move into the home...there is a lean on the title and we're waiting to get it cleared. This weekend we want to start painting and cleaning. Warning: you will all be getting calls to babysit and or help paint! lol. Here is a link to the home we're buying. Needs a little TLC, but we're up for the challenge. It's actually fun deciding how to refinish the cabinets and finish the attic. I can't wait to paint the outside...I'm not into yellow houses...but we're going to wait until the fall to paint the exterior.

***sorry, took down link***

Maya and Camille are feeding themselves now...and loving it! (this is Maya)
This was at the Tulsa Home & Garden Show. The boys yelled, "The News on 6 helicopter!" when they saw it. So funny...they can't read yet, but knew exactly what it was!

Busy, busy

Cami Rose...one of the 4 reasons I'm so busy

I just thought I was busy with a preschooler, a toddler and 2 newborns....but now that the twins are 7 months (time sure does fly!) it's a whole new ball game. They are nearly crawling and need to be entertained constantly. Ely and I have a bet going, I said they will be crawling by Christmas....but deep down I hope I'm wrong! We've got to baby proof our home again, ugg.

Tomorrow my sister Jacque and I are driving to Harrison, AR to go to our great grandfather's funeral. He was in his mid 90's and ready to go. It will be good to see family I haven't seen in years. Funny how it takes a death in family to get together.

Wish I had something grand to write about, but my mind is blank right now. I finally get time to blog and my mind is mush...maybe I should finish my drink and sleep while I have a chance!