spring things

This week I'm super thankful for the Higerds. Having four littles makes it a bit difficult to hang out with just any family. There is a certain level of uncontrolled chaos that you become accustomed to once you reach the number four. There are just so many of them needing something that you often live just meeting need after need, putting out fires, preventing injury and just dealing with a lot of noise. And that overwhelms most people that aren't used to that level of crazy. When I hang out with Mari, I feel totally normal, totally accepted and in a weird way, completely relaxed in the midst of pandemonium. (Thanks spell check. I would have thought it was spelled like panda.)

Since we live in California, we can enjoy both the snow and the beach in the same season. Obviously we love us some Higerds so we invade them as much as possible. Recently we went to the snowy mountains as Addie and Angus call it. Probably Dora the Explorer's influence. Dan came too but I didn't get any pics of him. Sorry honey. Love you.

Then Friday, we planned a beach day/sleep over at the Higerds'.

They had an Easter egg "hunt" at the park down the street the next day. There were two eggs with a winning ticket in them. Out of like 200 kids Winter found one of the two winning eggs.

I love that these two are still besties. 💜

Wendy sent the kids presents and Easter eggs in the mail that she instructed me to hide all over the house for a hunt Easter morning. She also insisted I take a video and send it to her which I did because I always do what Wendy tells me to do. It's like she's still the boss of me. That's okay. I don't mind. It was nice having something for them on Easter morning. Mya is still finding eggs in the house that nobody found. It's the gift that keeps on giving. I guess I'm just a really good hider.

I've never done baskets. I'm still recovering from Christmas. And I don't really talk about the Easter bunny. Lying to the kids about the Elf on the Shelf and Santa is enough dishonesty. Addie asked me if the Easter bunny was real the other day. I sighed and replied, "No sweetie. But don't go telling kids that okay?" She nodded and continued playing barbies.

Every Easter I always promise myself we are going to pick out our outfits on Saturday, complete with matching shoes, hair accessories and necklaces. Of course this has not happened once in the history of Easter for me. This year, we all picked out our outfits 20 minutes before we headed off to church. Addie insisted on what is still her favorite dress in the whole world. It is red and sparkly and is unmistakably a Christmas dress. She threw on some bright pink flip flops to complete her look. I convinced her to change her shoes. Oh and she also wore some pastel multicolored leggings since it was a little chilly out. I begged her to take them off. But she shouted, "Mommy they're Eastery!" And they kind of were.

Mya and Winter wore matching little pink and purple dresses with little animals on them so they were cute and appropriate. Only Winter paired her sundress with black ankle boot heels with rhinestones on them and thick white socks. "Some people wear white socks with black shoes," she said when I suggested a nice pair of sandals. I wasn't even close to being ready so I didn't argue.

It's hard to let the girls dress themselves every single day of the year and then take away their freedom to have a semi cute Easter pic. Props to you all for putting forth the effort needed despite efforts from your very opinionated children. Mya looked great because she very much values my opinion for some reason and Angus was super cute because he still lets me dress him. (So does Dan for the most part) So two out of four kids is better than none I guess. I really wanted to get a pic of the 6 of us and totally failed. Sorry. It may have been subconsciously on purpose. Still no pic of Dan unfortunately. I promise to include you next time honey.

Here's one of Angus doing his Easter egg hunt dance with his buddy Becket. Angus calls him Bucket. But that's still not as bad as Anus.

We went to my Aunt Janine and Uncle Doug's for a family Easter party. Always a wonderful time.

This is my brother Michael guarding the door so the kids don't see where the eggs are being hidden. He was nearly trampled. 

TJ's recommendation of the week: Rice crackers

If I would have planned ahead I would have recommended something Eastery... or at least with eggs in it. But this is what I have. These are the best little crackers. They are super crunchy and pair well with cheeses of all kinds and any dip Trader Joe's carries. They are bite size too. Probably a little bigger than a quarter. If you were to make the OK sign with your hand, that's the size. Not the thumbs up cuz that doesn't make sense. 

Happy Tuesday/Wednesday! 

the good life

Do you ever catch yourself in a bad mood complaining to yourself about everything that's so horrible in your life, and then you catch your behavior as an onlooker would see it and realize how much of a spoiled brat you are? Then you give yourself a new perspective and remind yourself just how freakin' blessed you are to have the life you have. Ever do that? Yeah me neither. 😊

God has given me so much and I hate that sometimes I'm not appreciative. Dan and I like to remind each other from time to time that we are totally living the good life.

So this week I'm just thankful to have the imperfectly perfect life I have. The husband I have. The kids I have. The home I have. The family and friends I have. They are all wonderful.

Pirates... because they found the costume box I hid in storage. Things I didn't notice when I took the picture: Angus is holding the blender wand which I currently can't find. Addie is holding an empty wrapping paper roll... which is slightly worrisome because we had several fullish ones so I'm not too sure what happened to the wrapping paper. And Mya is holding my current favorite wrapping paper so I hope it's still in tact. 

100% girl. 100% fabulous.

Addie quote of the week: When is Jesus coming down to say hi to us?? I've been waiting like FOREVER!

I took Angus to the thrift store with me. I always let him get one thing. I tell him the store won't let him have any more than that. He picked this giant ambulance. He takes it everywhere now. This is where he naps usually when Dan's at work because he has to tag along when I pick up the girls. It's so funny to think about my first kid compared to my fourth. Mya napped in her room every single day with a sound machine on and blackout curtains. 

Winter originally didn't make the blog this week so I decided to include this one. She's such a little photo bomber like her Auntie Wendy. Anytime I say smile to anyone, she runs over. 

TJ's suggestion of the week:

They call these "Teeny Tiny Avocados" and they really are just the perfect size. I like the smaller ones so I can use the whole avocado and not have to store the other half in the fridge where it often is lost and forgotten. And in my experience, Trader Joe's avocados are the most consistently perfect on the inside. 

Happy Wednesday and happy Easter week!

spring fever

I'm thankful for spring in SoCal. It is beyond perfect. We've been eating dinner on our back patio and in our front yard. Food always tastes better outside in my opinion.

I may have dropped the pizza upside down while trying to take it out of the oven. "What happened to the cheese?" they asked. "Don't worry about it." I replied. "I'll eat it if you don't. I'm hungry." 

So they ate it. I have to say I'm getting great at handling imperfect moments and days. Just this morning I spilled my coffee in that horrible corner in the family room that requires moving furniture and squatting in challenging positions to clean it up. BUT I didn't get mad. Well I didn't get super mad.

Spring pics came home. I didn't order them of course but I did snap a pic of all 3 and send them back.

Addie smiles great for strangers, Winter is always able to flash a nice little smile anytime, anywhere. And Mya has yet to perfect the fake smile. They all wore their fancy dresses for the occasion.

If you're thinking of buying a big house because you want a big family, it's not necessary. Make your big family but know this; they will all hang out in the family room where you hang out. They will always be just a few feet away from you. This is where Dan and I spend most of our time when we're home. Either in the family room/play room or in the kitchen where I took this pic from. The kids are rarely more than a few feet away. I've thought about dedicating a whole room upstairs to a playroom and putting all of their beds and dressers in the other room, but I have a feeling all the kids along with their toys would slowly trickle down the stairs into the toy-less family room.

Addie right before bedtime: "Mom, can you please buy me a new blanket and pillow. I don't like those ones anymore."

Addie's latest amusing blessing was few days ago. She thanked Jesus for the food then she farted mid prayer. She paused, not knowing what to do, assuming since she's not supposed to fart at the dinner table, she probably isn't supposed to fart at the dinner table while she's saying the blessing. So she said, "ummm excuse me" to Jesus and everyone burst into laughter as she finished the blessing. 

I love that Mya is almost more excited than me to go thrift store shopping. She already very much grasps the difference in price between something new at Target and something at a second hand store. If she has $20 to spend, she's for sure going to Community Thrift in Glendora.

You're welcome Mya's future husband. 

I borrowed a book from a friend. This is me trying to read it... 

I snuck out to the back patio because it is just GORGEOUS out these days. He found me after one minute.

Speaking of cheese. I LOVE this cheese. It's my new favorite. Dan loves it too. We ate a lot already... obviously.

And if you're looking for a little surprise for a friend or neighbor or yourself, head over to TJ's and grab an inexpensive little bouquet of spring flowers. Aren't they super lovely?

Happy Spring!

emetophobia is real

If you're reading this while having a snack, you may want to stop reading. Especially if your snack is brown... or maybe a light green color like guacamole. 

The Wags were hit with the stomach flu. I won't go into too many details. But I will say this. Three out of four kids got it. And there was lots of puking and uncontrollable projectile diarrhea. Sorry, I said not too many details. It was the single most disgustingly horrific 8 hours of my life. I'm sure Dan has experienced grosser things working as a medic for 18 years BUT I have not. I simply chose to be a mom to sweet darlings who maybe had a cold from time to time. That's the dream right? 

Anywho, I'm still recovering from the trauma. It's like a PTSD situation. When I hear coughing I spring out of bed and get an acceptable puke container only to discover all 4 sleeping children. If you're thinking about having a bunch of kids, take this information into consideration. I apologize for the grossness. 

Mya avoided the bug of course. I believe she willed it away because of her puke phobia. It's actually called Emetophobia. She definitely has it. 

SO my thankful thing this week is that Mya didn't get the stomach flu and neither did I. Or Dan. 

I don't have a lot of pics. Just Angus sleeping with random objects. He LOVES plastic eggs. 

And tools...

Now that I've grossed you out, it's time to talk food.

And my TJ's item this week is... Everything but the bagel sesame seasoning blend. 

I'm pretty sure everyone already knows about this stuff but I just bought it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I love it on avocado toast or sliced tomatoes. And I've heard it's great on hard boiled eggs, or salads. I'm pretty sure it'll be a part of my life from now on.