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!)