lil creature

A few nights ago we came home late from my mom's house. I put the girls to bed and unloaded the car. I noticed some toys on the front porch so I picked them up and over my foot hopped a FROG! I have never had a frog encounter... that I can recall. This thing was so huge. It had cheetah like spots. Kind of cool after I got over the initial surprise of a frog hopping over my foot in my driveway at 9:00 at night. I knew Winter would be super into it but I didn't want to wake her up to see it. Soooo after going back and forth with the idea of capturing the poor little guy, I decided to do it. I went inside, grabbed a mason jar and let out little squeals while scooting it into the jar where it tried to hop out eeeek. Gives me heebie jeebies just writing this. I'm not really one for little critters. I decided to put it in a casserole dish so it would have some room to move around. I put the lid on loosely so it could breathe and covered it with something heavy so it wouldn't get away.

The next morning I told the girls I had caught a surprise for them, a living something for them to check out in the backyard. Winter was super excited. Mya was a little unsure. So they both went out and took the lid off of the casserole dish. Winter leaned in closer for a better look and Mya screamed and ran back inside. Ahhhh a frog!!! haha. Why would anyone run away from a frog? That's Mya.

It quickly hopped out onto the grass where it hung out for a while so we could look at it. I told the girls we were not keeping it since Dan said they live in the sewer system usually. Yuck. But still kind of cool. 

I am a C. I am a CH. I am a C H R I S T I A N yeehaw!

Remember that song? I'll never forget how to spell christian thanks to that song. 

Sunday at church the youth pastor, Dave Newkirk, gave a great sermon that inspired me to share my love for Jesus today. Get ready I'm about to get a little Jesus freakish if you're not in to that sort of thing. 

I really have no idea who reads this blog. I have like 5 followers that include my mom and sister, my biggest fans. However, blogger.com reports that around 30 people read it daily which is interesting and fun not knowing who these mystery readers are. I have to assume that they are not all believers of Christ, so I'm posting about Jesus to make sure all of my MANY many readers have heard the good news. 

And I have a hard time sharing in my normal day to day. I don't like to make people uncomfortable or awkward so I rarely ask my non believing friends and family if they have heard that Jesus died for their sins. Not okay, I know. But that's the fact of the matter. I would rather talk about my kids, the weather or pretty much anything else safe. 

So here it is, basically Jesus loves you. He loves everyone. He died on the cross for your sins and mine so that we could live in heaven with him one day. The penalty for sin is death. But He took our place so that we wouldn't have to die. That's it. Jesus loves you that much.

Hopefully you will think about that a little bit. I know most people have heard about Jesus at some point in their lives and have either chose to get on board the Jesus train or choose to take their own means of transportation. Trust me, you want to get on the train.

Try not to think about all the things you may or may not like about Christians or churches you've been to. It's not really about that. Yes, we represent the body of Christ but we are not perfect and we really shouldn't be the reason someone doesn't want to know more about Jesus. Everything you need to know is in the bible. If you want answers, feel free to start reading. 

Moms like to ask other moms things like, how do you do it? What's your secret? How are you surviving this madness known as motherhood? Well I'll tell you my secret. It's prayer and a lot of it. It's knowing that I have a friend who takes me just as I am and forgives my crazy behavior day after day. He renews my spirit each morning and holds my hand throughout the hard days and reminds me to love my children well and treat others how I want to be treated. His name is Jesus and I can't imagine life without Him.

TWO!

We made it to two! As I recall from the other two, I think this is where the fun begins. 

I heard an uh oh from the other room. Uh oh is never good. But something tells me this wasn't an accident. 

Every animal is a goggy (doggy) or a wushie (horsie) right now. I think this is a wushie. 

Every morning Addie asks for wawa, yaya and bobby. Good thing I speak toddler and get her water, cereal and a gummy vitamin. It's a fun age when they are learning to talk. It's pretty cute I must say. Let's see, a few more... Pacifier is apashi. Amen is UHMAN! Outside is ah hiii. Balloon is boooo. Moon is mooooo. Grandma is MAMA, always said with lots of excitement or squealing. I'm Mommy, not mama and it is always a yell. Mommy!

Happy birthday my Addie. You are little girl with a big presence. When you are not performing to get attention you are running the show. You have everyone in the house wrapped around your little finger. Not sure how that happened but you're the boss around here. What you say goes. You know exactly what you want at all times. You are smart and remember everything. You are tidy and efficient. Your hobbies right now include eating, closing doors and cupboards, playing outside with the neighbor kids and yelling at your sisters.  And you LOVE to swing. You call it wawyyyy. I think that means ride. Your favorite people include Grandma, Rylie Anderson and Buddy (brother). 

You are SOOOOOO cute. Love your squishy cheeks and your teeny tiny nose.

Happy 2nd birthday baby!

yay it's november

Every single November the whole family gets this cold. Dan brings it home from work and it makes its way through the kids and ends with mama. With Mya and Addie it turns into croup. Mya has outgrown it finally. I get a cold and lose my voice. Every single November. Last year we were sick from November pretty much until April. So I'm excited to see what's in store for us this Winter! 

10 points for babies, -10 for mommy

Tuesday morning after I dropped off the big girls at school, I decided to go to the only store I take both babies really, TARGET. It's safe there. The aisles are big and there are other moms pushing strollers and it's .5 miles from home in case of a poopie diaper blowout. And there is a starbucks inside. And it's Target. Who doesn't love it there? I told myself we needed eggs but really I was going to try to look for the perfect sweater that would complete my every outfit this Fall. 

I always think to myself, what's the best way to carry the babies today? How much am I buying? Do I take the stroller and the Ergo (baby carrier)? The car seat and a cart? The Ergo and a cart? So many choices. I opted for the Ergo and the stroller. I would get the most time out of the two (so I could browse the sweaters). Angus would fall asleep in the Ergo and Addie would stay happily in the stroller if I bought her a pretzel (another reason to go to Target).  In the cart she always turns around, tries to get out and touches everything and tries to open stuff. (See my Adventures in Groceryland post)

So before I loaded up the kids, I put my Target card and coupon in my pants pocket for easy access, my phone in my other pants pocket in case I needed my cartwheel ap and my keys hanging around the stroller handle so I didn't have to dig around in my purse after I had a bunch of groceries and cranky babies. I was feeling smart and on top of things as I walked in the store. I strolled over to starbucks to grab a misto and then over to the snack shop to buy a pretzel for Addie. We went to the grocery section first just in case we didn't have enough happy baby time for both grocery and sweater shopping. 

Just as I was finishing up grocery shopping Angus fell asleep in the Ergo and Addie was still content with her pretzel so I thought I would press my luck and check out the clothes. I found a few cute things and walked to the checkout with a smile on my face. What a perfect Target trip this was shaping up to be. As I got in line, Addie started to get restless and Angus woke up from his Ergo nap. I talked to Addie (who threw her pretzel at me while shouting NONONO!) as I bounced Angus while trying to hurry up and get everything I had stuffed in the stroller on to the counter. I am always amazed at how much I can squeeze into that bottom stroller basket and my favorite Trader Joe's bag I hung on the handle. 

As the checkout lady was ringing up my groceries I pulled out my Target card and coupon still feeling awesome and handed her the coupon and swiped my card. Addie continued to fuss saying, ow! ow! (out) and Angus was now grabbing my face and chewing on my chin. One by one I stuffed bags in the stroller and hung them on the stroller handles. The checkout clerk looked at me like I was an idiot and asked if I'd prefer a cart. Yeah, that's just what I needed. As if I didn't already have my hands full. So I politely said no and tried to deal with fussy Addie. I just needed my receipt so I could leave. 

I started to walk away a little like I was leaving but the lady told me that the coupon didn't go through so I needed to come back. I said, "No it's fine, I'll use it next time! Can I just get my receipt?" Addie started crying because I wouldn't let her get out or play with my coffee cup. She continued to say ow! ow! (out) Then the checkout lady informed me that I needed to swipe my Target card again because she canceled the transaction so I could use my coupon. Why would she do that??! I already threw my card in my purse. Did she know what a pain in the butt it would be to find it again? Ugh! 

Well after a minute of Angus hanging upside down in the Ergo I found the card in my purse. So I left fussy Addie in the stroller on the other side of the checkout and backed up to the dumb card swiping machine and gave it an angry swipe as Angus clawed at my face. I rolled my eyes at the situation blaming the checkout lady entirely. 

Just then Addie managed to wiggle out of her stroller buckle and stand up in the stroller. Her 24 pounds was not enough to balance out the heavy bags hanging from the stroller handles so the stroller fell over backward and Addie went with it. 

Everyone gasped and the checkout lady was like, "OH MY GOSH! I'm sorry! Is she okay??!" I replied, "Yeah she's fine." as I picked up the stroller and sat crying Addie down in her seat and buckled her in again. "Can I just get my receipt?" I begged feeling totally defeated, keeping both hands on the stroller. "Here you go." She said. "Are you sure she's okay? I'm so sorry!" Not really sure why she was apologizing, I assured her she was just fine. And I know she was fine because the groceries broke her fall. The eggs to be exact. I could see the yellow yolk oozing out of the carton as I left the store. 

But on the upside I did find this fabulous sweater!

christian barbies and boys

Winter: Barbie's gonna sit down and pray cuz she's gonna eat.

Addie: UMAN! (amen)

At least we're doing something right =)

Parker and Landon (neighbor boys across the street) were over at the house playing barbies and girl legos this week. I love that little boys don't care about whether or not it's okay to play with girl toys. Parker was fixing the elevator and the roof to the barbie dream house. He did get bored after a while though because I heard this little convo:

Parker: I'm going home
Mya: Why are you going home?
Parker: Umm, I gotta get something
Mya: What are you gonna get?
Parker: Umm, I dunno

and out the door he went. Then Mya opened the door a minute later. She looked across the street and gasped, "Hey! He's playing basketball!" haha the nerve. 

All of my crafts

Okay I made this into one big craft post. Only because it seems silly to make a bunch of posts about pseudo (wow. did not know how to spell that one!) crafts but I feel that I should document them in case of something... dunno, just in case.

It's craft time!! Yep, it's that time of year again. The fall GUM craft boutique is coming up in a couple of weeks. I get very excited about it. I love to think I'm crafty. I'm actually not really but I can follow directions on Pinterest.

Here's my first "craft." Home made bath paints. 

Super easy to make. And cheap too. It's shampoo, cornstarch and food coloring. I had all of that stuff. I bought some fun paintbrushes on Amazon.com for a few bucks.

My grandma always said I was really smart. I haven't proven her right since Mya was born (over 6 years ago) but I would make her proud with this little idea. Pure genius. I used egg cartons to hold the little cups and paint brushes. Come on! Well done Amie. 

Cost to me: $3ish

Next: Cookies in a jar! I had everything in my cupboards for oatmeal cookies so I went with that. 

Cost to me: $0

"Homemade" body wash. It's not really homemade. Basically you grate bar soap, add water and boil on the stove. I had almost everything already. I had to buy bar soap which is not as cheap as it used to be let me tell you. 

Cost to me: $5

Homemade play dough. Super cheap. Flour, salt, oil, cream of tartar and food coloring. We make play dough from time to time so I already had all of the ingredients in my kitchen.  

Cost to me: $0

And coasters again! Made from tiles and scrapbook paper. This literally cost me nothing since I had everything from last year. 

Cost to me: $0

Homemade bar soap. Had the stuff leftover from last year as well. I have a large craft section in our storage. Drives Dan nuts I'm sure.

Cost to me: $0

Picture frames made into dry-erase boards and chalk boards.

I think these came out okay. Obviously hand made but I'd use them so I'll see if someone else will. I got the frames at the thrift store for $1 or so. I had to buy the chalk board paper for a few bucks online too.

Cost to me: $10ish

And decorated mirrors. I think this one is funny because in the word flaw I accidentally used the stencil with the upper case W instead of the lower case one. Ironic isn't it? A flaw in the word flaw haha. Also, beautiful doesn't exactly fit but I made it happen and am not so pleased with the result. We'll see if someone takes pity on my attempt. 

Cost to me: $2

And star ornaments! These actually turned out pretty darn cute. Free to make AGAIN. Dan would be so proud of me if he knew how much money I DID NOT spend this year on crafts. I saw this on Pinterest. You take cardboard, cut it into a star and wrap yarn around it. So basic and easy. I used hot glue to make sure the yarn stayed on the ends. And craft wire to make a hook at the end. 

Cost to me: $0

When I'm in the crafting zone, I just can't seem to get out of it. So today, I wanted to see if I could make something with my nearly expired chocolate chips. Since the craft boutique is also a treat/bake sale. I searched my pantry and cupboards and came up with this:

Salted chocolate nut bark. I melted some chocolate in a double boiler and poured it over a pile of nuts and m&ms (left over from Halloween) I added some little hershy bars I also saved from the kids candy. After that, I added salt on top and popped it in the fridge. I've never made bark before and I probably did it wrong but I'm loving the way it came out. Soooo yummy. 

Cost to me: $0

I realize this seems like a lot but I only work on crafts for like 30 minutes a night. I started a month ago. So that's this year's crafts! 

Total Cost to me this year: Around $20! Not too shabby.

more random

This may be what Winter will look like 45 years from now... 

She was under the weather the other day. Just a cough and runny nose but she stayed home from school and laid around and watched movies. As I was kissing her goodnight I told her that she was a really good girl. I like to remind her of that on a regular basis in hopes that it sinks in and stops her from misbehaving so much. But her reply was, "Yeah (like duh) cuz I was sick today!"

Not sure what to say about this pic except that it was just too cute to leave out.

Mya is obsessed with curly hair. She always wants her hair braided so it can be curly when I take the braids out. Her hair is so super straight that this only lasts like an hour.

I found this stick horse at a swap. They love it. This does not look like a good idea...

Here is Winter helping make cookies last week. She is in heaven in the kitchen. She's going to make an great wifey some day =) 

What? Isn't that what the cup holder on a stroller is for? I really didn't notice how bad this looked until I put all of the groceries away and was left with this sight. 

It's his fav.

This is Angus's new thing. I'm not sure if he's hungry or teething...or both. I'm glad I can offer him my chin when he needs it.

For some reason I was really set on at least taking a picture of the babies in a Halloween costume even though they didn't go anywhere on Halloween. I felt bad that Mya and Winter have pictures as babies dressed up on Halloween, probably a few different ones too. 

This is as close as Angus got to wearing a Halloween costume this year. An orange onesie. Mari gave me some cute costumes for Addie and Angus but they are in a bag upstairs. Next year kids!

We waited years to cut Mya's and Winter's hair, 4 for Mya's. We'll probably wait years to cut Addie's as well. But Angus is a boy so I've already taken it upon myself to give him a little trim. Just like a half inch off the top of the mohawk. All of the kids have had mohawks for some reason. That's just the way their hair falls out. It hasn't been so cute on the girls but I'm loving it on the boy =)

close one

I got pulled over Friday! As I made a left out of Mya's school, the popo got behind me and turned on his lights. I was so confused. The only thing I had done was stop for some jaywalkers. I thought, what, did he want me to run them over? So we pulled to the side of the road and as he walked up I asked, "What did I do?" I forgot to be charming and ask how he was doing, wups. He informed me that I made an illegal left turn out of the school parking lot. I was like, "What?! I do that every day! Are there signs?" And he said yes actually two large ones that are not hidden at all. Ugh. I thought to myself, yeah, nobody reads those.

Then he asked me for my drivers license. Oh man, I panicked. Who knows where I put that little card. It could be so many places. In my wallet? Nah, too easy. In my change purse/wallet that I sometimes throw in my diaper bag? Nope, not there. I apologized and told him I was totally flustered and that it was definitely in my purse, just didn't know exactly where. He smiled and was super patient with me. Meanwhile Winter was yelling at me in the back seat wanting to know what the nice man in the uniform wanted. Addie was saying "Hiiii! Hiiii! Hiiii!" and waving. Angus was asleep thank goodness. Didn't need a crying baby on top of it all. I finally found it after what seemed like an eternity. I said, "So sorry, I have too many kids." It's true. 

How am I supposed to know where my ID is when I usually just throw it in my purse after they card me at Target for buying wine. I'm 34 people! By the time I get to the checkout, the baby in the Ergo is grabbing at my face and the credit card swiping machine as I try to swipe my card. Addie's usually yelling and trying to get out of the stroller. My purse is way too low hanging on the stroller for me to grab my wallet and put my ID exactly where it is supposed to go. And that's just two kids. What about the other two that are dancing, twirling, grabbing heavy bags from the checkout lady and jumping up on counter tops. It's a wonder my ID makes it home with me. And those silly checkers. They should know me by now. I'm in there like thrice a week. I know them. They know me. And yet they ask to see my ID every time. 

But I don't think the nice policeman wants to hear my Target story so I simply say, "I have too many kids" because it kind of covers any short comings I have these days. He laughed and went back to his car. Winter asked worried, "Is he gonna keep your driver license?!" She only knows about those because she got one at Disneyland after driving little cars on the race track. It's very precious to her and she'd be pissed if some guy walked off with it. 

I assured her that he was just borrowing it.

So he came back and said, "Well, I rarely do this but I'm going to let you go with a warning today." I could have hugged him. He gave me some story about knowing the principal and how she was really on him to ticket people lately because of the danger it caused to students when the traffic laws weren't being enforced. Okay, whatever. Whew! We cannot afford a ticket right now. And when exactly am I supposed to take traffic school? I don't think you can bring a breastfeeding baby.

Not sure why he let me go. I could say I looked extra cute that morning but that's never the case. I didn't even brush my teeth. I barely make it out of the house most mornings that Dan is working. Sometimes my flip flops match, sometimes they don't. I have 4 kids to get fed, dressed and into the car. I always ask the girls as we drive away if there are 4 kids in the car. I'm half serious. I always fear I'll leave one of them behind one of these days. 

SO, I'm thinking he gave me a warning because of the fire sticker on the back. Or maybe my "Faith, Hope & Love" sticker. That's always nice to see. Or maybe he was a Hume Lake fan? OR maybe he appreciated how clean my van was since I just got it washed. Who knows. 

faceplant

As a mom of four, I tend to let the kids do a little more than I would if I were a mom of 1 or 2. For instance, when I see Addie performing a pretty crazy balancing act to get into and out of the baby swing, I sit back and watch. She climbs in while the swing is moving then somehow flips around to her back without falling out. I let her do it since she's only a foot away from the floor and it improves her balance. What's the worst that could happen?

Well as I was getting ready to get rid of it, as a final farewell, Addie lost her balance and did a complete face plant without even using her hands to break her fall. Just one tooth actually... The one that is higher up than all the rest. 

We took her to the children's dentist and I guess it is supposed to grow back out where it was before, and it's not broken hallelujah. 

No prob bob. 

thigh update

In case you were curious, they've grown.

Angus is 6 months old!! It happened a few days ago on the 1st. He's just the happiest guy ever. He smiles at anyone who looks at him. He eats A LOT, obviously. He still wakes me up a few times at night to eat. I feed him because he probably needs it. I'm cutting him off of the night feedings soon though. He's eating cereal but I've stopped feeding him lately because he chokes really easily so I want to talk to the doctor about it before I give him more food. This is such a happy time. I'm getting rid of baby stuff even before he grows out of it. I just can't wait. 

(I don't know why I love getting rid of stuff so much. I must have some deep-seated issue that stems from living in a cluttered apartment most of my life. It wasn't moms fault. She had 3 kids living in one room. What was she supposed to do?) 

I love this little guy so much! I know, it's expected. I just wasn't sure if the love would be the same with a boy. I know it so silly to think that way but I've never had one of these. And I've never been peed on so much in 6 months. Don't you just want to take both of your hands and put them on his cheeks and smush?! Love him.