friday night fun . . .

2 budding little chefs in the kitchen . . .

mixing . . .

and kneading . . .

the perfect pizza dough for a super yummy pizza . . .

to provide lots of energy for a game of charades!

can you guess what little miss is?

no, it's not a trapeze bar . . .

yes, it is a fun little corner in the playroom for the girls to let their imaginations go wild and pretend to be who or whatever they want to!

that little space isn't quite done . . . so i will share more pics when (who knows when that will be!) it is finished!

it's not easy . . .

preparing dinner with a 2 year old, a 3 year old, and a 5 year old in the kitchen isn't an easy thing. they seem to want to take over and not let me actually get dinner ready.

so i distract them with some pots and pans to 'cook' with . . . but i'm sure you can guess where this is going. empty pots . . . spoons . . . forks . . . can you say major headache?! they decided to form the naked sisters band and i'm sure neighbors 4 blocks over could hear their lovely percussion skills!

when i confiscated the instruments band practice was over it was time for a little body art!it was such a loud lovely night in our house . . . and i'm so glad to say these crazy girls are all in bed sound asleep and most of the blue marker washed off!

apparently . . .

this is how a funny clown smiles!

(and i think she would know . . . she is definitely the clown in this family story! and from what i understand she is quite the clown at school too!)

role call . . .

well sorta! i don't know whose name to call . . . but i want to know who all visits this little corner of the blogging world. my little feedjit thing shows people from all over the world and i want to meet you! so . . . leave a comment and say hello!

i'm happy . . .

because he's happy!

i'm doing it . . .

as much as i wish my girls would just let us tuck them in, snuggle for a couple of minutes, and then drift off to dreamland . . . i really do love sitting with them for the really long time that it actually does take them to go to sleep. i love it because that's when they talk the most. that's when they talk the most about what is really on their mind and what really matters to them.

and last night was no different. little shrimp is the one with the 100 million questions every night.

"do you know where pink lemonade comes from?"
"why is pops your dad?"
"why is nana your mom?"
"why do carrots have grass on the top of them?"

last night i had an aha moment (isn't that one of oprah's catch phrases?). little miss wanted to know which room was mine at nana's house when i was a little girl and what kind of toys i had when i was a little girl. so i started telling them all the things that i loved to play with the most . . . barbies . . . a barbie house . . . a pink barbie corvette . . . cabbage patch dolls . . . a play kitchen . . . baby stroller . . . a memory game . . . and that's when i realized something.

they really do not need to have all the toys that they have! i have been wanting to get rid of a lot of the toys they have but have been feeling really guilty about it. so they are still here . . . all over the floors.

so it's decided . . . i will get find new homes for the extreme amount of toys in this house! my plan is to keep the toys that require them to use their imagination . . . only their imagination. i want to keep the toys that they will remember the most . . . like the things i told them last night that were my favorites. what is so funny . . . all the toys that i told them last night . . . the ones that i remember playing with all the time are all the same toys they love the most and they play with everyday.

i'm sure i will keep a couple of toys that i would rather not keep . . . because i don't want them to be the kids with no toys when they want friends to come over and play.

to me the most important thing is a happy house . . . a house that is easy to keep clean and picked up even with 4 children . . . a happy dad who comes home to a clean house and good dinner . . . happy children that have a lot of one on one time with mom because she isn't constantly picking up toys every singe moment of the day . . . and when dad and kids are happy . . . you know that mom is happy!

just some monday jibberish . . .

why are sean and i the crazy people for not allowing our children to overload on sugar? i'm very proud of the fact that my children don't drink soda . . . and actually ask for water at meal times and throughout the day! i'm proud of the fact that they eat what we at mealtimes. i'm proud of the fact that they eat carrots and hummus, apples, broccoli, etc. because they choose to for a quick snack.

i did good at the grocery store this morning and only spent $138 for a week of groceries . . . for 5 people . . . and that's for cooking 5 meals . . . not to mention the snacks . . . breakfast stuff . . . and lunch stuff. just to let you know . . . i do like this so far.

what kind of dishwasher soap do you use? right now i am using this . . . but it just isn't doing the trick. i like not using detergent with all the yuckies in it . . . but it just doesn't clean as well and leaves lots of cloudy spots/residue all over my dishes.

my best friend from high school and college is going to the hospital at 6 a.m. tomorrow to have her first baby! i'm so excited for her and her husband . . . and can't wait to see him. unfortunately . . . she is in nashville . . . i am in new orleans . . . so that means i will get to see him in pictures. hopefully it won't be too long until we are both back in missouri at the same time!

i already have dinner cooking and it smells really good. my mom's chili recipe is the best! how can it not be . . . it has chocolate in it!

love this . . .

'forts' were a common thing around the house when we were growing up and it's fun to see that my girls are really into making 'tents' for themselves now!

i don't know any child (or adult for that matter) that wouldn't absolutely love this!

(image from gardenymph)

this idea has definitely been filed in the 'to do' folder for that special treat for the little ones!

just a minor emotional breakdown . . .

today, i'm afraid, is the first of many more emotional breakdowns to come! i am in denial that my little miss will be starting kindergarten in the fall.

i really don't know where the past 5 years has gone. really! i feel like we blinked and our sweet baby girl had turned into a beautiful little lady overnight. wouldn't it be great as adults to have the same concept of time that a child has! maybe the days wouldn't fly by so fast. i am very excited that this milestone is approaching (way too fast) . . . but at the same time it means that our baby girl is getting so big!

it is only november . . . so i'm sure you are wondering why in the world i'm already thinking about all of this today. well . . . when you live in a city that you don't just go to the school that is in the district you live in . . . you have to start thinking about school very early. this morning i went to an open house at one of the schools that we are considering for little miss. it's time for us to fill out applications and take tours and all of this kind of stuff that makes starting kindergarten way to nerve-racking for me!

tomorrow we will be taking a tour of the school that i visited today. i saw a small glimpse of it this morning as i made my way into the cafeteria to listen to the principal speak and it truly was a beautiful building . . . inside and out . . . the halls were lined with outstanding student artwork, the classrooms were bright and colorful . . . perfect for a young mind's creativity and knowledge to fluerish, the old wood floors and the gorgeous floor-to-ceiling windows . . . have seen many children pass thru the halls the past 91 years.

i never would have thought that my children would be going to school in new orleans. but life is what it is. when you are married to someone who has a construction company . . . you do what you have to do and sometimes that means you have to go where the work and opportunity is. especially in today's economy. and you do with excitement and enthusiasm for your children.

i just have to keep telling myself that little miss is beside herself that she is starting kindergarten next year . . . and maybe by the time she is finished with kindergarten i will be able to accept that she is growing up . . . but probably not!

with a face like this . . .

how could i not want to keep him next to me at every possible moment? and not to mention . . . the fact that there are 3 other demanding little ones in the house that make the use of my 2 hands greatly needed! and 1 of those 3 demanding little ones (ahem . . . brown eyes . . . ahem) is a little more on the rough and what can i do to make my baby brother cry side than on the sweet side so i have been searching and searching for that perfect baby carrier to keep my little man out of harms way. i had a baby bjorn for the 3 girls . . . but now i'm ready for a change. i am thinking a pouch sling is exactly what i want. i thought i had found it but realized that little man needs to be a little bigger before this will work. then after a little more searching . . . i came across the perfect sling! the fabric is gorgeous . . . and from 1 of my favorite fabric designers. i mean it is named the emily baby sling . . . it must be a sign that is the one i need to treat myself to! the only thing . . . i have never used a pouch sling before and i would love some recommendations before i make the plunge. do you have a recommendation for a pouch sling?

i read today that it is international babywearing week . . . funny that i am in the market for a new baby carrier right now!

you would think . . .

that with 4 children . . . that 1 (just 1 is all i'm asking for) would look like me.

this wild thing might be my only hope!i can definitely say:

she has inherited my cheekies (is that a word?). and by cheekies . . . i mean cheekies on the face . . . and cheekies on the backside!

and the big brown eyes definitely came from me.

and i think that might be the extent of it!

now . . . the personality is definitely from her daddy! my little brown eyes doesn't know a stranger. and if you knew me 'back in the day' you would know that i was (okay . . . probably still am!) shyer than shy!

it's a good thing i have a cute husband . . . because now i have 4 little ones that look pretty much just like him!

eyebrows . . . messy house . . . and festival fun . . .

pops . . . you would be proud of your smallest grandson! he is a 1-brow raising little man! (and aren't these the cutest little jeans?)

this is the reason my house is messy . . . this little vacuum elf won't leave my vacuum on for more than 2 seconds at a time. which means . . . this small foyer took about 30 minutes to vacuum this afternoon!

little man experienced his first festival yesterday . . . and had a great time strolling around in his stroller at lakeview fest. and of course i didn't have my camera with me. i took a pic on my phone but i have no idea how to get them from my phone onto my computer. so just imagine a picture of little man in his stroller looking super cute with his saints shirt and stylish blue jeans on and his big blue eyes!

(insert pic here)

friday night fun . . .

with 4 little ones that were all awake before 6 a.m. this morning (gotta love the time change) . . . it was a very easy bedtime tonight! at this moment i am the only one awake in the house. i could be doing laundry . . . but i did 4 loads today and i think that was enough for 1 day! i could clean bedrooms . . . but everyone is asleep. i could clean the dining room . . . but i don't want to. i could clean . . . well there is a lot of cleaning that could be done . . . but how fun is that for a friday night?! so i'm enjoying the very quiet house and getting my blogging fix before i join the others in dreamland.

i think this is fun . . . so i'm going to do it too!

Where is your mobile phone? kitchen

Where is your significant other? bed

Your hair colour? brown
Your mother? survivor

Your father? greatest

Your favourite thing? beach

Your dream last night? ???

Your dream goal? lots

The room you're in? messy

Your hobby? creating

Your fear? loss

Where do you want to be in 6 years? settled

Where were you last night? home

What you're not? musical

One of your wish-list items? house

Where you grew up? Missouri

The last thing you did? tuck-in

What are you wearing? jammies

Your TV? conan

Your pets? cute

Your computer? fingerprints

Your mood? sleepy

Missing someone? family
Your car? huge
Something you're not wearing? makeup
Favourite shop? online

Your summer? fast

Love someone? absolutely

Your favourite colour? every

When is the last time you laughed? tonight

When is the last time you cried? ???


now it's your turn!

watching and waiting . . .

and learning about politics in a preschool kind of way!

warning this will melt your heart . . .

this wasn't the little man's first smile . . .
but the first one i was able to capture!

little buddies . . .

(the dorothy shoes haven't come off since we bought them on halloween . . . except for bath, bed, and school!)

the big guy's turn . . .

there are a couple of members of our family that don't get the same amount of attention on here as the cute, little ones! the really hairy one in the family . . . and the biggest one in the family.

all of that hard work during the day (read as i'm so lucky to have a husband who works very , very hard so i can stay home with the cute, little ones) . . .

and the playtime (aka wear them out before bed time) in the evening . . .

can wear the big guy out!

(they were both snoring!)

just a little change of plans . . .

the covered deck project that we (or i guess i should say sean) started in the spring has had a little change in design . . .

and it became a room addition . . .

and is almost complete and ready to be a new playroom for the girls . . . and course little man too!

ahhhh . . .

halloween is over and i can breath now! well it's not over for the people across the street that are partying like it's 1999 . . . but for us it is and i'm glad!

it has been a long week with doctors appointments . . . ear infections . . . working on costumes . . . baby pooping all over little shrimp because she took his diaper off because he pottied in it while i was in the other room!

and now that all of the fun is over . . . i'm tired (or pooped as shrimp loves to say!) and falling asleep as i type this post. which i'm not sure how considering i have pretty much just polished of the girls candy . . . don't tell them it was me when they wake up!

the girls' halloween party at school was a lot of fun today . . . and i was there helping so i was able to get some pics of the girls. it was so much fun . . . little man slept thru it all!

trick or treating was fun until the neighbor across the street ran out with his leaf blower that was supposed to be his chain saw! then the girls were ready to go home . . . well actually they were ready to go the parade. unfortunately for the girls . . . the parade ended right before we got there. fortunately for us . . . that meant no more candy to deal with in the morning and sleeping beauties at a decent time tonight! and once again . . . little man slept thru it all!

happy halloween!

happy spooky day . . .

(they were much more cooperative for pictures last year!)

it doesn't get any fresher than this . . .

satsumas picked right from the tree on sunday . . . yum!

we picked a lot . . . and i'm thinking about making this with some of them.
(if we don't eat them all first!)

it's time . . .

to get this little monkey a big girl bed!

a couple of mornings ago . . . mommy and daddy were laying in bed wishing it wasn't already morning. little miss had made her way in when the sun came up to snuggle. shortly after, shrimp made her way into the bed with us to snuggle too. and then shortly after that . . . little miss said good morning to brown eyes as she climbed into bed with us as well.

then the light went off in my sleepy head . . . mommy and daddy didn't go get brown eyes. little miss is in here, so she didn't go get brown eyes from her crib either. shrimp is laying on me and so i know she didn't get brown eyes. and of course little man is . . . well . . . too little to get brown eyes.

brown eyes climbed out of her crib by herself! so now . . . we are thinking about a big girl bed for our little brown eyed girl!

(and no we don't let our children climb on the stairs . . . but i did feel it was photo worthy before i rescued her!)

yes i am very cute . . .

and at 1 month (and a few days) young . . . i am up to 9lbs 13 oz!

uh-oh . . .

(photo via her cup overfloweth)

chocolate cake . . .
single serving recipe of chocolate cake . . .
easy to make in the microwave single serving of chocolate cake!

what does this mean?
hyper kids . . .

a mom who doesn't care they are hyper because they are going to love making their very own cakes!

happy mom . . .

what mom isn't happy when she has her very own chocolate cake to eat while watching her hyper kids?

now i am off to the store to get some cocoa!

this is what happens when . . .

you ask little miss to put her dishes up and she says no . . .

because brown eyes was on the table and i asked her to get down and she said no . . .

and this is what happens when i forget to put the paper towels up after i cleaned up the spilled cereal . . .

because brown eyes was still on the table and i asked her to get down and she said no again . . .

on my mind right now . . .

i think my girls might be the messiest children god ever created!
(but i wouldn't trade them for anything in the world)

*****

we have completely outgrown our house and are very cramped!

*****

we finally have a contract on the last house sean built in missouri that we have been sitting on for 2 years!

*****

sean is finishing a remodel on house that has more space than ours but it's not in one of the areas we most desire to live in. it's a nice area . . . a very nice area . . . but the character and charm and the community like what we have where we are now is not the same (even with the empty, flood damaged houses that are still around us). but it's on the same street as my sister-in-law and a few blocks from my mother and father-in-law and its a couple of miles from my brother-in-law. it has a yard for the girls. the surrounding neighbors are crazy . . . and i'm not even joking in the least bit. (and i'm not referring to my sister-in-law. she lives at the very beginning of the street and this house is at the end of the street.)

*****

why won't the lady who has the huge empty lot next to us . . . sell us part of it?

*****

i love the grunts and funny little sounds i am hearing come from the living room as i type all of this mumbo-jumbo!

*****

3 hours sure does go by fast!

*****

i'm so thankful for the fact that i have 3 (messy) healthy little girls . . . i'm so thankful for the fact that we have been blessed 4 very quick times with beautiful children that fill up our home . . . i'm so thankful that we have only been sitting on this house for 2 years because it could have been longer . . . i'm so thankful for the fact that my husband is a hard working man that has the ability to create beautiful homes that gives us options as to where we can live . . . i'm so thankful for the fact that we have a big empty lot next to us that we can use whenever we want because the lady who owns it doesn't live here and we don't have to pay for the lot . . . i'm so thankful for the grunts and sounds i hear because i have a happy, healthy, and very hungy baby . . . and i'm so thankful for the 3 hours i get each morning to myself.

what i'm looking at now . . .

have i mentioned that we have been blessed with a really good sleeper?

not to mention he's a good snuggler . . . really laid back . . . very handsome . . . and wanna eat him up sweet!

(and yes . . . he already has us wrapped around his little finger.
wrapped very . . . very . . . tight!)

not my post, but such a good one . . .

when i get a comment on my blog i'm not able to reply via email and it drives me completely crazy! i just came across a post about changing the setting in your profile to enable blog authors to reply back to comments thru email!

i found the heads up about the post on tip junkie . . . and the genius post is at good & crazy people.

this is the post from good & crazy people:

Please.

For me?

Would you mind? It's easy I promise.

Will you edit your blogger profile to SHOW your email address?

I really want to reply to YOU. I have no idea who No-Reply is? I'm sure she's nice and all. But I just replied to 15 comment emails and AFTERWARDS realized half of them were to Ms. Fancy Pants No-Reply. Crap.

How to add your email to your blogger profile. (A tute)

Why? I love to reply directly to YOU when you comment! And it’s goofy to put a response to my blog in your blog comments!

{Don’t worry. I promise I’ll be the first one to comment on your lovely post!}

Step One: Open your profile page, click EDIT Profile on left side of profile.
(If you need help finding your profile page let me know).

Step two: make sure the box marked show my profile and show my email address are checked.

Step Three: Under Identity, add the email address you want comment replies to be sent.

Optional, change your display name to match your blog somehow?
Or leave as your fist name? (I use GoodNCrazy so people can relate it back to my blog).

Step Four: scroll to bottom and click save!

There!

You did it. Now come back and comment, so I can reply to you in real email form!!

Thanks.

happy weekend . . .

a yummy after school treat!

my yummy treat . . . a burrito baby!
there is nothing cuter than a swaddled baby!
(ok so i treated myself to a sundae too!)
(ok, ok . . . and a vanilla ice coffee!)

fun family games . . .

i just came across the box girls . . . not even sure how that happened but it did . . . and these little box of questions look like such a fun way to get the family talking and spending time together and sharing things with each other! first thought that came to my mind . . . what a great thing to do on those 11 hour car rides to and from missouri! the family dinner box is the best bet for our family . . . but it would be great if they had one with questions geared specifically towards younger children. they don't . . . so the family dinner box is getting bookmarked in my 'need to buy folder!'

around our house today . . .

"thank goodness they are at school!"

"can they go back to school please?"

fun in the halloween costume box!

and yes the three's can be worse than the terrible two's!
(did i just say that outloud?)

{speechless} . . .

just came across this article and i am completely speechless! i'm not one to judge someone else for their choices . . . but this is completely nuts to me! taking valuable class time to expose 6 and 7 year olds to something that is completely against all the values that our country was founded on and call it a field trip! oh . . . it's a good thing that my children are not in that class . . . or that school! what do you think?

a first time for everything . . .

we are getting ready to head out . . . and go to missouri! i think this is the first time ever that we have left to go out of town and the house is clean . . . the laundry is done . . . the house is completely in order! it's such a great feeling . . . knowing i will come home and not be behind on housework!

thank you nana . . .

for bringing our wagon from missouri!

(and for helping with bentwater, and taking care of the girls when little man was born, and all of the baby stuff you brought, and taking care of roxy, and keeping the house cleaned, and we could go on and on and on . . . )

proud mama moment . . .

i sprayed the table . . . and i had 3 little girls begging to wipe it down for me!