Me and my family

Christmas has come and gone...

2011-01-15T11:24:00.014-05:00

Now that the hustle and bustle of Christmas season is over, maybe I will find the time to update this more often!

We managed to survive a chaotic Thanksgiving/Christmas season that was liberally sprinkled with sickness throughout our house! Sean's had multiple bouts of strep throat, we've had a stomach virus run through us, and the odd sniffle and sneeze has blown by. Overall, we survived, and hopefully have come out into 2011 sickness free for awhile!!

Christmas was great this year! The kids are all getting older and SO much fun to watch them open presents this year! The beginning of Dec was of course the Christmas parade in town. The twins were far more interactive this year about it and it was adorable to watch them watching all the floats and dancers and such walk by! And they were thrilled by the "Ho Ho Ho" at the end of the parade!!

It wasn't long after the parade, that Kaelyn had her Christmas program for her school! She did so GREAT, singing the songs they had learned in school!

And then, before we knew it, it was Christmas time!! We had so much fun, David was off work for several days over the month of december and it was a wonderful month of memory making for us!!

Christmas eve had the kids opening their new christmas jammies, and a movie to watch! But the best, of course, was Christmas morning! Oh the fun they had opening presents!!

But the biggest, and bestest, surprise of all, was the SNOW we got right after Christmas!! How wonderful for the kids!!

The kids had such a blast in the snow...all except Rylee! She was scared of it or something, didn't want David to put her down the entire time we were outside! :( But the other kids had fun, they had a snowball fight, made snow angels, and Liam ran around going "choo choo" like a train all afternoon! We came in, made some hot chocolate, and enjoyed the lovely snowfall outside for the rest of the day!!

Once upon a month ago....

2010-11-16T17:45:00.004-05:00

Apparently posting once a month is going to be my "thing" right now! Wow, who knew life would get so busy with 4 kids, right?!

The end of october was lots of fun! Sean and Kaelyn both started soccer and had a blast with it! At least this year Kaelyn actually got out on the field with her team, last year she was a side-liner, by choice! And Sean is getting much more aggressive playing, he actually played offense a few times. I think he enjoys soccer more than baseball because he gets to be moving all the time. I may look into a spring soccer league for him, depending on the cost and how far we have to travel for it.

For halloween this year Sean decided to be Indiana Jones, Kaelyn was tinkerbell, and we had b/g twin pirates to round out the foursome. I took the kids, with grandmother and granddaddy, to the Fall Festival uptown for awhile, and then after daddy got home from work we went to the church fall festival, and then on to Aunt Linda's for some halloween socializing.

The kids had a great halloween! Sean and Kaelyn each had their own pumpkin to "carve", Sean chose a bat, and Kaelyn a silly face. I think they turned out pretty cute myself....considering I did a good part of the cutting! :D

The beginning of november has passed in a blur of sickness yet again. I have a feeling this could be the new norm for our little family of 6. A run of a wicked stomach virus for the 3 little ones, 2 bouts of strep for Sean, 1 bout of strep for me...it's been a busy few weeks here. As of right now, everyone is fairly healthy...let's hope it stays that way for awhile.

Thanksgiving is coming up next weekend. It's still very strange to me to have Thanksgiving so late in the year, it feels like it infringes on the Christmas season. But, there's not much i can do, so I roll with it! :D I have so much to be thankful for. An amazing husband, 4 fantastic kids, an adorable poochie, a house to live in, food on my table, clothes on our backs....and a God who provided it all for us! Thank you God, for my many, many blessings! <3

Bu-bye September!

2010-10-16T18:07:00.006-04:00

What a crazy month that was! I hate I don't get a chance to update as much as I would like, but life with 4 kids is chaos!

September flew by in a haze of school homework, and sickness for us! Sean's transition into 3rd grade has been pretty rough. He was averaging 2.5-3 hrs of homework every night. After several weeks of this I contacted his teacher and discussed him doing some homework on the weekends, to help take some of the pressure off his weekly homework. We just started that this week and so far so good. We also had a bout of the stomach flu fly through everyone, 4 nights in a row we had a kidlet up sick. David had a little stomach issue but somehow, thankfully, it passed mommy by! Thank goodness, I was too busy taking care of everyone else to have time to be sick!

And october crept up on us like a mouse sneaks up on a piece of cheese! So far this month we've enjoyed a playdate with the twins club to nivens, a playdate with the church to a park and a picnic lunch, and a trip to the mountains for some leaf-gazing! Such fun! Here's some pics:

Sean's finally settling into his homework routine and only spending about an hour or so each night on it. Kaelyn is loving going to preschool and is so excited to tell me about her day when I pick her up! Both big kids started soccer this week, to add to the chaos! But they are having fun, and wears off some energy for them too!

The twins are being little monkey's as usual :P Liam is such a busy little boy, he gets into absolutely everything, and always has bumps and bruises to prove it. Rylee is such a sweet little bug, she's so loving and adorable...until her brother ticks her off! HAHA!

These are the kids having fun at Nivens Apple Farm.

This is my fearsome foursome, sitting on the little wooden wall in the exact spot that david and I got married at, 13 yrs ago! How precious is that! And everyone was exhausted by then, we'd been in the mountains all day and it was time to get some supper and head home!

Another first day of school….

2010-08-23T14:16:00.001-04:00

Monday, August 16th, marked yet another first day of school for Sean! Where are the years going?! I remember taking a picture of him his first day of 4K in front of our bedroom door, and it seems like it was forever ago. But alas, this year he’s in 3rd grade. He has two homeroom teachers, one in the morning, one in the afternoon. He’s been upgraded from the little kids playground, to the big kids playground. He’s in the gifted and talented class. The kids he’s with this year he will likely continue to be with for the majority of his school career. Thankfully he has several friends already!

And today, August 23, marks my baby girl, Kaelyn’s, very first day of her school career. She’s in 3 yr preschool, or 3 yr kindergarten as they say here! I can’t believe she’s old enough to start her first day of school picture career! It’s 3 mornings a week, from 8-11 on mon/tues/wed. She was so excited to start today! She did so good, daddy only stayed with her for a few mins before leaving her. She played on the playground, sang songs, did pictures, had a snack…and soon I hope she’ll start making some new friends! These are some of the kids she’ll share her school career with, and I’m so excited for her to start making some friends!

My beautiful, fearsome foursome…. And an incredibly rare, but very precious picture of our entire family. I have been so amazingly blessed by God that it brings tears to my eyes every time I see these children.

M&M QOTW ~~ Potty training

2010-08-17T17:37:00.003-04:00

What are your tips and tricks for potty training?

What age did you begin with your child(ren)?
How long did it take?
Did you use a "system", or just wing it?
Did you use specific rewards for incentive? How did that work for you?
If you could change anything about the experience, what would you do differently?
Did you use Pull-Ups?
Do you think it's easier to potty train multiples at the same time, or separately?

DS #1 ~
I started at age 2.5 with him. I tried for 2 weeks to potty train him, and he was NOT getting it! We tried m&m's, bribes with toys, sticker charts, tons of encouragement....and he was still peeing in his underwear. I used pull ups at night, but not during the day unless we were going somewhere. I gave up, tried again in a couple of months....this time for a week, and it STILL didn't work. I let it go, and left him be, and 2 months before he turned 3 he suddenly decided HE was ready to go on the potty.....and it was a piece of cake after that! He was day trained within a week. Night training happened shortly after he turned 3.
DD #1 ~
I tried at age 2 but she was nowhere near being ready. I was pregnant with the twins at the time and it was exhausting trying to run her to the potty every hour or so. I attempted it again right before she was 2.5, just before the twins were born, but she still wasn't getting it. The twins were born when she was 2.5 yrs old, and because of having them, there was no potty training going on anytime soon. I tried again when they got about 6 months old, right after my dd turned 3, and she was close to being ready, but after 3 accidents in one afternoon, one of which was all over the floor and the baby toys, I gave up. At 3.5 yrs, she'd been going on the potty randomly for a few weeks....before baths, in the morning, etc, so when she went one morning I suggested she try her new fancy tinkerbell undies. We used m&m's as incentives, and potty training was finally a success. Originally we set a timer for every 30 mins, but when she wasn't going very often I extended it to 60 mins. Eventually it was every 2 hrs. I limited liquids for awhile until she understood what it felt like to go. It only took a couple weeks for her to be fully day and night trained. I only used pull ups at night for her as well.

I'll let you know how potty training the twins goes when they are a bit older (they are almost 18 months old). For now, I will say that the most important thing I learned with my older kids, was to not push them. They won't go to school with diapers on, they'll potty train when they are ready. It created a lot of stress when I tried to push my oldest son, to the point where we would both end up in tears everytime I said "Let's go potty!". Not cool mom, not cool.....

Let the school year BEGIN!

2010-08-17T17:15:00.005-04:00

Yesterday marked the first day of school for my big boy, Sean! Last friday we went and met his teachers, he has TWO this year! He was very nervous, he's pretty shy until he gets to know you, but he was super excited that he knew several kids in his class. His teachers seemed very nice and excited to start a new year. One was even very excited to be teaching Sean finally (her words).

Kaelyn will get to meet her teacher this thursday evening. She's excited, and I'm excited for her! It'll be great for her to have something of her own that she doesn't have to share with the babies. Although, the transition to getting up early is going to be rough, she's already grouchy, and she's only been getting up around 8-8:30 am! 7am is going to be haaaaaard next monday when she starts school. lol!

As for the twins, we're just going to chill at home for the most part! It'll be nice to be able to spend some time with just the twins for a change. Since the big kids have been going to be early last week, David and I have enjoyed having some fun with just the twins, and they've enjoyed the 1 on 1 time with us I think <3

Monday, August 09/2010

2010-08-09T18:25:00.003-04:00

Today officially marks the last full week of summer vacation for Sean! Where did the summer go?! It's been very busy, lots of fun....but it flew by much too fast! :( My big boy is going into 3rd grade this year...wow. He's in the gifted and talented class this year, we are so incredibly proud of him! He's much more excited about starting school now that he knows Henry (his friend) will be in the same class as him! I'm sure he'll know more kids too!

Kaelyn is also starting school this year, 3 yr kindergarten. *thud*. She's going to First Baptist preschool, and she starts in 2 weeks! It's just 3 mornings a week, from 8-11, but she is so excited. We ordered her very first bookbag today and she can't wait to get it!

And my babies, my twins, are almost 1.5 yrs old now. We packed up all the "baby" toys the other day, and have started taking gates down in the house. It's all flying by so very fast. So far the no gate thing is going okay, they now have full access to the kitchen and dining room. As long as we can keep the bathroom door closed, it's allllllll good! *thumbsup*

And the last of the trip pictures!

2010-08-09T18:10:00.006-04:00

Lots of water fun at Grandma's and Papa's house! Along with a little "twin rivalry" over the scooter!

Sean and his two missing front teeth, the twins doing the pow-wow on the loose boards on papa's front deck, and granddaddy and papa watching the kids in the pool.

My sweet smiley Rylee, Liam motoring around on the scooter, and Liam on his very first quad ride. He wasn't too impressed. Rylee, however, was THRILLED....although since i was driving I didn't get to take a picture of her! :(

Rylee on her first big girl swing ride, Liam very proud of climbing on Auntie 'Chelles swingset all by himself, and my pretty girl Kaelyn.

My best friends beautiful kids, Brady and Keelie! Love that girl and those kids!!!

The twins very first popsicle....mmmmmm......and the whole group enjoying their popsicles at Auntie 'Chelle's!!

What a busy couple of weeks!!

2010-07-22T22:18:00.001-04:00

Day 4 of our journey went not too bad, we had to stop a little bit more but overall the kids did fantastic! My wonderful little sis was kind enough to get our groceries for us so we didn’t need to stop to do that, and were able to get to grandma and papa’s farm sooner! We got there around 5pm or so, and just let the kids go wild!! It was tough getting them settled down that night, yet another new place for the twins meant they were completely out of sorts! But once everyone was asleep we were able to relax a little bit and visit with mom and dad!

The next day we let the kids run around outside in the beautiful Saskatchewan weather! Around 70 degrees for most of the time we were there, the kids LOVED it!! Michelle and her boys came out that night around 7pm and the cousins had a blast playing and racing around and generally filling grandma and papa’s house with noise and laughter!

Thursday we spend just chilling, and washing clothes! Friday we took everyone to the park in Regina for a picnic, and then to the Royal Saskatchewan Museum! Megamunch is looking much better than he used to! He still roars just as loud as he did when I was a kid, and he scared the twins and Kaelyn a little bit.

Saturday the kids raced around some more. Sunday we went to church, before packing up Sean’s clothes and taking him to camp late that afternoon. I’m very proud of not crying, but it was very difficult for us to leave our big (little) boy at camp with his big cousin Brandon!

The week passed by very quickly! Liam had another double ear infection that I had to take him to the dr for, we visited grandma at the hospital where she works, and the 3 little kids played outside. Michelle and Gabe went back to Moose Jaw for a few days while she worked, and we puppy-sat Jinx. Thursday we went to pick up the boys at camp and then headed straight to Moose jaw for a couple of days. After some pointed questions, we found out the boys had changed their underwear far less than we hoped (not at all), showered far less (once or twice), neglected to use deodorant, brush their teeth, or use sunscreen and bug spray….but in spite of all that they took most of their medicine, and most importantly, had a fantastic time!! I have fond memories of lots of years at camp, and I hope my kids get to make those same kind of memories too!

Thursday night at Michelle’s we got to visit with Great Grandma, and let the kids run through the sprinkler and play on the swingset! Friday my bff came over with her two kids for a bbq, and some more water/swingset fun! All the kids ate some yummy popsicles, and made a general mess of them in the process!! I hate living so far away from my best friend, but it’s wonderful to get together with her and have a blast every time we visit!!

Friday night we headed back to the farm, and saturday was spent recovering and washing more clothes! Sunday morning we got to visit with my cousin Darla and Sean, and their daughter Mackenna got to go pea-picking with the other kids. A campfire and smores finished off a great weekend!

Monday was laundry and, sadly, packing up to go day! Let’s just say it’s a good thing we had the motorhome to pack some things into! :D

Bright and early tuesday morning we headed out the door! Our first day of travel went fairly well, a few grouchy sessions but overall not too bad. Made it through the border easily, and were into Grand Forks, ND by about 5:30-6 or so. Day two was a little rougher, but the kids hung in there, and by accident we discovered our hotel in Eau Claire, Wisconsin had a swingset in the backyard! A good 30 min romp had everyone ready for a bath and bed!

Day 3 started off with a pile of rain, about 4 hrs worth! It’s now 11am and the rain has cleared up, and the clouds are breaking up! We’re in Illinois now, and just trying to keep the kids settled down until we get down the road a bit more to get some lunch!!

Today we’ve learned…

2010-07-22T22:17:00.001-04:00

what two angry, tired, grouchy, tired, squeally, tired babies sound like cooped up in their carseats in a moving vehicle. At 10am. What a day it’s been!! Thankfully we “borrowed” grandmother and granddaddies motor home for lunch again, and let the dynamic duo roam around while eating lunch. That burnt off at least a little steam. After a bit of a nap this afternoon they started becoming squeally again, so I suggested milk shakes. I was hoping it would buy us 30 minutes of silence…..they both finished them within about 3 mins! WOW! How they didn’t get brain freeze I’m not really sure! lol! Now, not only are they tired, but they are hyped up on milkshakes! :P

It’s 4:10 on day 3. By this time tomorrow we will be settled into mom and dad’s place, and the kids can run their little legs off! We’re going to stop shortly and let them race around with the soccer ball for a few mins, and then it’s around 2 hrs until we get to the hotel! Hopefully they’ll stay kinda settled down until we get there!

Tomorrow is the last day of this leg of our adventure, we keep reminding ourselves that they will never be this little again, and the trip will never be this stressful again. Over all the kids have done fantastic, minus a few twin meltdown’s, so I really can’t complain about them. But I will be looking forward to next trip, when they’ll be more entertained by movies, and toys, and coloring books and such!!

Day two of our journey.

2010-07-04T19:01:00.001-04:00

Well it was a super duper early morning this morning, started off with the alarm clocking BLARINGLY loud this morning! Forgot to adjust the volume, the last person to set it must have been deaf! But nevertheless, at 5:15 am the alarm went off and we began our second day of driving!

To back it up a bit, last night when got to my best friend’s house at about 5pm or so. We had SUCH fun visiting! I finally got to meet her phantom hubby (haha), and her bro, sis-in-law and their adorable little girl came over for supper and cake as well! The kids had a blast playing with her 2 kids and her niece, and the twins had fun racing around her house and climbing her stairs! What a great stress relief after a long day!

Back to today, so far everyone is tolerating the trip well. The babies have been a little fussy, mostly tired I think. Rylee just fell asleep, and I’m hoping Liam follows suite soon. We’ve already stopped to play at one playground today, LOVE the rest area’s with playground’s, whoever thought of that idea must have had children on a long car trip before! Here’s to hoping the rest of today continues smoothly, and that tonight everyone gets a better night’s sleep so we aren’t quite so grouchy for day 3!

On the road again!

2010-07-04T19:00:00.001-04:00

So it’s been awhile since I updated! But today is now July 3rd, 4pm, 2010….and we are ON THE ROAD TO CANADA!!! Woot!! The last month or so has flown by! It’s been a whirlwind of David working overtime, Sean on vacation from school, Sean and Kaelyn going to VBS at First Baptist Church, and the babies both being sick! But we managed to get everything together, get a few things bought, get everything cleaned at the house, all the laundry washed/dried/folded (mostly, minus our clean clothes folded), and everything packed into the yukon!!

We left bright and early at 6am this morning! Ugh! It took us about an hour to get everyone up, dressed, and out the door! So far everyone has done fantastic! The twins have had a couple fussy periods, but otherwise it’s been a great drive! The inlaws are with us, they are just behind us in their “holiday inn on wheels”. Boy are they in for a shock when they see how wide open and non-commercialized Lipton, Saskatchewan is! lol!

We still have 3 days of driving, but today is the longest day of the drive. We planned it specifically to make a pit stop at my bff’s house in Indiana! Beautiful lady is going to cook us some supper and save our sanity by letting my fearsome foursome run around with her kidlets and niece! I can’t wait to see her again! We haven’t had a good visit in a year so I’m psyched! T-1hr and counting!

In between times here, Sean and Kaelyn attended VBS and they had a blast! Sean was so upset when it was over! Kaelyn learned some new songs, specifically “Deep and Wide”, I’ll have to catch it on tape, it’s adorable! The week before we left, both the twins got sick too! Liam with a double ear infection, and Rylee with a sinus infection. Carrying antibiotics on a trip is so much fun! @@ I’m just glad it’s working fast and both are doing much better today, all things considering.

Well I’ll likely be bored and have time to write up how our trip is going the next couple of days! Hope the next three days go as smoothly as today has gone so far! <3

Hello blog-land!

2010-06-16T12:48:00.001-04:00

I’m thinking I could get used to this blogging without logging in! lol!

So it’s been awhile again, life sure is busy with 4 kids at home! Sean is 8, he’s going into 3rd grade this fall. He’s out for summer now, and is enjoying playing with the little kids, for the most part! He’s going into the “gifted and talented” program at school this fall, he’ll be taking extra classes one day a week! He’s pretty excited to get back to school, he misses his friends already!

Kaelyn is 3.5, going on 4. She’s loving having Sean at home to play with, and I love having someone to help occupy her and the twins! lol Her and Sean are both in VBS at First Baptist Church this week and they are having a blast, they don’t want tomorrow to be their last day!

The twins are 15 months old now! At their 15 month appt, Rylee was 23.4 lbs and 31 in long, and Liam was 21.4 lbs and 31 in long! Both doing fantastic! Starting to talk more, and get into more trouble too! Liam is running pretty good now, Rylee tries to run but has to keep her arms up for balance still! Their favorite game is patty cake, and dumping toys out of the toy bins so they can sit in them!

David’s busy working a ton of overtime, in preparation for our Canada trip! 2 wks and 2 days until we leave! I think we’ve got everything bought that we need, and now it’s crunch time to get everything packed and the house cleaned up so when we come home it’s not a disaster. The inlaws are making the trip with us in their motorhome….should be an interesting vacation!

And me, I’m busy trying to keep my household semi-clean and sane this summer! I’ve started a new cleaning regime that’s working pretty good, for the first time in years I’ve kept the dishes done and the dining room clean for 5 consecutive days! lol! Next step, the laundry folding backlog!

I’m going to do my ever loving best to blog more, I really need to document my kids lives more before they grow up and I run out of stuff to talk about it! I hope I can remember to take the time each day to jot down what new and amazing things they are doing! <3

Testing……

2010-06-13T12:55:00.001-04:00

One of the “new” and “cool” features to this new laptop is apparently a “Blogging Button”, where I don’t have to load my blog on Firefox to update it! I’m just setting it up and testing it out right now! Hopefully this will help me keep up with my blogging adventures!

The tv battle!

2010-05-05T17:26:00.002-04:00

So this week liam has learned how to turn the tv off! Forget the little plastic shield, he sticks his little fingers behind it and pushes the buttons! Not sure how to prevent that....mommy brain needs to do some major thinking!

Today I ran to walmart with the 3 little ones to pick out something for Sean's teachers! It's Teacher Appreciation Week this week! We've done flower pots with herbs for his teachers the last couple years and it seems to go over well! I found some yummy smelling oregano and parsley, both easy to care for but very versatile to use! I hope his teachers like it!

It's been around 85+ degrees outside lately, I'm not sure I was ready for summer yet! But regardless, it's here, and here for several more months!

To rain or not to rain....

2010-05-01T17:47:00.003-04:00

That seemed to be the question of the day today! When we first got up it was cloudy out, so I figured it would rain for sure! Later on, the sun came out, and I contemplated taking everyone outside by myself! Then after the babies nap, it was cloudy again! I really didn't feel like hauling everyone outside only to have to turn around and come back in if it started storming! So we spent a lazy day inside, playing, watching tv/movies, and snacking! :D

Just a quick note: Keebler Gripz Chips Deluxe these are the BEST snacks ever! The kids love them, they are small enough for the twins to eat, but they don't make a mushy mess like big cookies do! And they really are tasty! :D

Tomorrow is sunday, and I hate we have to miss church every second weekend! David's working hard this weekend, the start of the 7 day stretch always sucks!

While he was off thursday and friday we played outside, went to 2 ball games, bought a few more flowers for my last pot, set up the small wading pool for the kids, David cut grass and burnt some burgers on the grill! All in all a productive yet fun couple of days off!

The countdown has begun for our Canada trip! Sean has 4 weeks left of school, it's 8 weeks until we leave for Canada, and when we get back it's only a couple weeks until Sean and Kaelyn both start school again! Sean will be in 3rd grade, and Kaelyn will start 3yr preschool 3 mornings a week! I think she's going to have so much fun! It'll also give me a chance to focus on the twins a bit, and give her the opportunity to do more "big girl things", stuff I can't see to get done with her with 2 little monkeys toddling around!

Question of the Week

2010-04-27T00:36:00.004-04:00

Are you involved in your local Mother's (Parent's) of Multiples Club?

In a word....Yes!

As of right now I wish I could be a lot more active in our MoM's club! But it's very difficult when you have an 8 yr old with school and extracurricular activities, a 3.5 yr old who just started t-ball this spring and will be starting preschool this fall, and twin 14 month olds who's attention span is about as long as their pinky finger! Add to that equation that I live an hour away from it, as well as from the majority of the activities, and that it's difficult to wrangler 4 kids by myself when my husband works weekends.....well we do miss out on a lot of fun opportunities!

But I do try to attend the meeting each month, I've had such fun making new friends and learning how to cope with twins! I feel like I may have even dished out some advice a time or two, since I have two older kids as well!

In the long run, I'm hoping to get more involved as my babies get older! I'll still have to work around the older kids schedules, and David's work schedule, but as the twins get older it'll get easier to manuever 4 kids by myself!

What a weekend!

2010-04-27T00:25:00.002-04:00

Well we had a busy busy weekend here at the Bell household! Saturday we woke up to a rainy/dreary day, so we headed to Home Depot for a few odds and ends! We swung by a mattress store afterwards and picked out a new boxspring for us, since ours is broken, and a new nicer mattress for Sean. He's been using a bunk bed mattress but it really isn't that comfy. I can't wait for him to try out his new mattress, after David goes to pick it up this week!

We ate supper at Cracker Barrel, which is always so yummy! Then we got to play with the kids before throwing them all into bed!

Sunday was a fantastic service at church. This is the second week we've put the twins and Kaelyn into the nursery. I feel bad doing it, but Kaelyn went to children's church partway through and said she had lots of fun! It also allowed David and I to actually focus on the sermon instead of having to wrangle twin toddler's. I think we'll do this more often!

After church and chinese food for lunch, we bought some flowers and came home to plant them. The babies enjoyed playing in their sand/water table, and making a general mess! The big kids helped us clean up the yard a bit, plant my flowers and we cleaned out the big sand box for them. We had a small forest of elm trees growing in it! After about 3 hrs outside everyone was exhausted, we had some steak and fries for supper, and then baths for all the dirty children, and then bedtime! David and I actually watched Avatar, and it's an awesome movie!!

I love busy, fun filled, family weekends!

My Montage 4/21/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-04-21T22:16:00.001-04:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Twins 1st Birthday Cake at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-04-21T20:22:00.001-04:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Leashes....YAY or NAY??

2010-04-18T17:03:00.003-04:00

So I stumbled on this question today on the "Multiples and More" blog. Leashes. Seems like a pretty simple thing, they're made mostly for dogs, and maybe the occasional strange cat, pig or ferret, but not for kids...or are they?!

Having two older children, I did buy a leash for my oldest when he was about 18 months old. We were flying for the first time with him, and I thought it would be nice to be able to "leash" him in the airport so he wouldn't get away! Needless to say, we didn't need it! 2 parents + 1 child = plenty of eyes to watch him!

Then baby #2 comes along! Now they have cute little backpack leashes for kids! We bought a little puppy backpack, thinking what a great way to give her some freedom when we are shopping or something! And yet, once again, 2 parents + 1 older brother + 1 toddler = plenty of eyes to watch her!

AND then the twins come along! They have just recently started walking everywhere, and while they are fairly content in their stroller when we are moving along shopping, they are much less content sitting in their stroller for the 90 min long baseball game their big brother plays twice a week! Added to my grocery list one week was a second leash! See, the simple one we had for Sean has disappeared over the years, and we only had one puppy dog one for kaelyn. Until I realized how LARGE and bulky those backpack leashes are! I have plenty of other necessities in my diaper bag, 2 big bulky leashes are not acceptable! So we bought a couple simple nylon strap leashes and stuffed them in my already overloaded diaper bag, to be brought out at the next ball game. At this point, the equation looks more like 2 tired stressed out parents(and sometimes it's just 1 tired stressed out parent when my husband works) + 1 child playing baseball + 1 child running around playing + 2 toddlers = far less eyes than are necessary!

And the leashes worked GREAT! I was able to let them roam around in about a 6 foot area around me, still keeping a small eye on them, but still able to watch my oldest son hit his first homerun, watch my older daughter to be sure she doesn't play in the creek....or worse run into the parking lot traffic, and not have to worry about the babies disappearing on me! I even had another parent say she used one with her second child, she can't imagine NOT using one when you have more than one toddler at a time!

So, all in all, I'm in favor of leashes being used appropriately. This is to say if I ever saw someone tie their child in one, or leave them attached to a building post or bicycle rack like I've seen people do with dogs, I would be calling the authorities ASAP. But as far as using them at baseball games....they get a big old from me!

What a great day!

2010-04-10T23:30:00.003-04:00

Well it's been a couple of weeks since my last update, so I guess I'd better start with that!

We FINALLY managed to have the twins birthday party, only about 3 weeks late! But better late than never! They were so good, no fussiness or grouchies at all! Pictures will have to be added later, since we have a new laptop and I don't have any pictures on here yet! lol!

We had a pretty good turn out: Grandmother and Granddaddy, Uncle Al and Aunt Linda, Uncle Barry and Aunt Cathy, Cousins Karen, Kim, Carleton, Carson and Preston, Friends Micheal, Karen and Henry Jacques, Jennifer, Austin, Landon and Kyleigh Adams, Mrs. Bailey and then later that evening we had Philip and Karen Teague and their three kids, Philip, Jackie and Mark over for supper! It was a great weekend!!

Since then, both Sean and Kaelyn have started baseball! It's Kaelyn's first year and she was very excited to play!! Between the two of them we are gone 3 nights a week for ball! It makes for some busy evenings, but they kids are having a blast!

We are busy saving up money for our upcoming CANADA trip!! Yep, we're going again! :D I think it's about 83 days or so until we leave! The kids are getting very excited! Especially Sean. He's going to be going to church camp, and this will be the first time he's gone to sleep away camp! He's going with Brandon, so they are sure to have a blast!

Today we went to the zoo and met a fellow twin mommy from a msg board I used to go to quite often! She lives just an hour away, right near the zoo, so we met up with our entourages! She has b/g twins as well. They were born at 29 wks so even though they are about 3 months older than our babies, they are soooo itty bitty and sweet!! It was lots of fun! I hope to get together with her again soon!

Not much else to tell right now! Poor Liam is still cutting some molars, his top ones came in a few weeks ago but his bottom ones are struggling to push through! Rylee got all 4 of hers a few weeks ago so she's done until her eye teeth try to come in! I hope this is nearing the end of the horrible teething phase!!

Well I suppose it could be worse...

2010-03-11T18:26:00.012-05:00

I could forget to post for a year, instead of a month at a time!! HA!

Let's see, starting back on our trip to Canada....the kids did FANTASTIC on the plane ride!! We even had several people pass us by and say they didn't even realize we had twin babies on the plane! They had a couple fussy periods but nothing that a little snuggling, a bottle, and a nap didn't take care of!

It was SO much fun getting to see my entire family again! My brother was visiting from Alberta, my sisters from Regina and Moose Jaw, and we all crammed into mom and dad's house! It was a tight squeeze, but very cozy! The kids had a blast playing in the snow, they were outside the day after we got there!

I think they would have lived outside if we had let them!! Just a couple days later, we headed down to Fort Qu'Appelle to the dormitory for the BIG family christmas!! Such fun, meeting all the new little cousins, and reconnecting with all the big cousins and aunts and uncles!

Kaelyn's very first skiidoo ride!!

Sean about to sled down the snow pile, and going for a skiidoo ride! First time we didn't have to beg him to ride it, and he said he had lots of fun!!

This was the twins first time out in the cold and snow, riding in a sled! They were really impressed! Sean and Kaelyn got to help build a snowman, they were very excited about that!

In between it all, the "big boys" managed to build an IGLOO!! They fit 13 adults inside that thing! I'm sure it got toasty warm with all that body heat! And here's a picture of all the grandkids on my side of the family! 17 kids under the age of 9! Fantastic!

This is just a beautiful picture David took, the trees are standing at the edge of the land and the lake goes out from there, those are fishing shacks you see partway across!

And who can forget the absolutely LOVELY socks that cousin Sean won in the chinese gift exchange! He had to model them immediately for us! LOL!!

Pretty soon it was back to papa's farm for a few more days!

Sean and Kaelyn riding down the back stairs of papa's deck! It worked great! Then Kaelyn was riding in the back of papa's quad while the pulled Sean around on the sled!

And just a random pic of papa's snow/frost covered trees! Beautiful!

Unfortunately, the trip was all too short as it always is! We headed to a hotel in Regina a day early, a big snow storm was coming and we didn't want to get snowed in and miss our flight! Lucky for us, after sitting around the airport for several hours the next morning, our flight was cancelled anyways, ALL the flights were cancelled! So, back to the hotel for another night we went!

This is what happens when you have tired grouchy twins! LOL! He stole her paci, so she stole his socks, and then he pulled her arm out of her sleeve! But thankfully Auntie Lindsay came with some reinforcements for the big kids, and David and I were able to concentrate on the babies a bit more!

So, a day late and almost a dollar short, we finally headed home! It was a very early flight, so everyone was exhausted by the time we got home around 8:30! But it was a worthwhile trip for sure!!

So not long after that, it was Sean's birthday again!! 8 years old!! He had his first sleepover with a friend from school, we went bowling in the afternoon, and then out for pizza for supper! The boys had lots of fun I think!!

And just 4 short days later, the twins turned 1 yr old!! Time sure has flown by! Unfortunately, the week before their birthday party, everyone ended up with the stomach virus! So it had to be postponed, and we'll be hosting it this weekend!! YAY! I am very excited!

To illustrate how they've grown, here's a few more pics tonight:

Liam and Rylee, sharing a bouncer, just a few days old!!

And Rylee and Liam, guess they won't be sharing a bouncer anymore! Boy have they grown! Their 1 yr stats are:
Rylee ~ 22 lbs 7.5 oz, and 30 in long.
Liam ~ 19 lbs 15.5 oz, and 30 in long.

My babies are all grown up.... *sigh*

Until next time then! :)

2010-02-20T18:50:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all!! Check out http://thatsitmommy.com/2010/02/20/hopendew/#comment-1974 for an awesome giveway, adorable little "cupcakes"!! :D

Let the countdown BEGIN!

2010-01-11T10:48:00.002-05:00

Mondays. Mondays usually are pretty sucky, at least in my book they are! But this monday is different. Why, you might ask?! Well, it's because on wednesday (which never suck...), we are leaving for CANADA!!

I haven't been up to see my family since the summer of 2008! Sure, some of my immediate family came down last year after the twins were born, but it's always great to see my extended family!

So, in a flurry of cleaning, organizing, and packing this weekend..I think i am almost ready to walk out the door, wednesday morning at 6:30am!! All the clothes are washed and packed, the house is in a semi-organized state (minus my living room, which the twins are roaming around and destroying as I type), and all that's left is to do the final dishes, turn down the heat, toss the garbage into the outside can and GO!

Our flight leaves Charlotte, NC at 11:15am on wed! But, thanks to some dumb %*(& on Christmas, they are now recommending you get there 3 hrs before international flights! Add to that the restrictions on carry on luggage, the added security and possible delayed flights because of additional security checks....it could be an incredibly long day with the 4 munchkins! My hope is the twins will nap some on the planes....but who knows?!

While we are there we will be having "Christmas" with my dad's side of the family over the weekend!! They rent a dormitory at a church camp to fit everyone into for the weekend! I believe it's 17 kids under the age of 9?! Yes, we're mildly insane! :P But I've heard it's a blast, and I can't wait to get there!! Let's just hope it's nice enough outside to kick the big kids (and small adults) out!!

So, since both the twins are trying desperately to clean off my laptop desk for me, I guess I'll sign off for now, and entertain them for a few more minutes until it's nap time! We won't be back until jan 24th.....wish us luck!! :D

Happy late new year!!

2010-01-06T10:32:00.005-05:00

Well it's now January 6th, so I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and New Year!! Christmas with 4 kids was fantastic! Sean and Kaelyn got up around 9am, and had a chance to play with their santa gifts, dump their stockings and open their gifts from us before the babies got up! Here's some pics of my big kids:

Sean loves his lego bionicle's! He's all into lego's since we bought lego star wars for the Wii!
The newest Fairy Princess! Looking good Tinkerbell Kaelyn!

Once the babies woke up around 10, and after their morning bottle, they got into the christmas spirit with their santa gifts:

Liam loves spinning the wheels on trucks!
Rylee was enjoying her new school bus!
Both my cuties at the same time! I adore these babies!!
And after Christmas supper at Grandmother's house, we just looked so cute in our matching overalls that mommy had to snap a pic!

Shortly after the Christmas insanity settled down, New Year's Eve was upon us! We spent the evening at David's aunt's house, came home just in time to watch the ball drop at midnight on tv! Sean was extremely disappointed, he thought we meant the ball would actually "drop", causing it to smash on the ground!! haha! All the kids had a very busy day and a late night, so they thankfully slept in later the next morning!!

Sean went back to school on january 5th, and now it's crunch time for me! We leave on jan 13th (next wednesday!!!) to fly to Canada to spend some time with my family!! Can't wait!! Hopefully all this increased airport security doesn't wreak havoc with us trying to fly with 4 children! It's a daunting (and scary) proposition, but I think David and I are ready for the next challenge of having 4 kids!! :D

Ju-Ju-Be free bag giveaway!!

2009-12-18T00:30:00.000-05:00

Enter to win a Ju-Ju-Be Perky BeSpicy bag here! http://ju-ju-be.com/ju-ju-blog/?p=569

Wow...wow...wow...

2009-12-18T00:13:00.003-05:00

Time FLIES!!

As you can see, I haven't had a chance to add to my blog since Feb!! And a LOT has happened since then!!

Long story short, just days after my last update, the babies decided to make their appearance!!!

Friday Feb 20th, around 11pm, I felt my water break! It wasn't a gush, like with my older two kids, but more of a popping sensation! I spent the next 30-45 mins walking around, packing our bags, trying to decide whether to go to the ER or not. Finally, we decided to go ahead and get checked, even if it meant they sent me back home (which I was hoping wouldn't happen!!) I was 36wks 1 day, going on 2 days. Surely they wouldn't send me home...

So off we went! The test strip to check my water was inconclusive, but they decided to call my ob anyways. By the time he arrived, I had started contracting every 2-7 mins. Some were very painful, and some I didn't feel. He didn't even check me, he looked at my contractions and the babies heartrates and said "How about we have some babies?" YEAH BABY!!

At 5:32am, Liam Carl was born. 6 lbs 4 oz, and 19 in long! He was a bit of a lazy bum, didn't cry much and consequently, didn't breath very well. He was sent over to the NICU to help him transition and stabilize.

At 5:33am, Rylee Ann was born. 7 lbs 2 oz, and 20 in long! She transitioned beautifully! She didn't cry too much but she was breathing great, able to hold her temperature and even tried nursing while i was in recovery! She was able to come straight to our room with us!

Thankfully, Liam straightened himself out very quickly, and followed us to the room just 6 hrs later! Both the babies passed all testing with flying colors, and we were able to come home just 2 days after birth! They had their jaundice levels checked at the hospital once afterwards, but it was coming down nicely by 1 week old!

Both babies settled into life at home very easily! We had some trouble nursing, mostly I wasn't producing enough milk for the both of them, so by 6 wks old we had transitioned over to full formula feeding. I was sad, but it was a necessity for all of us!

Sean and Kaelyn did fantastically!! Sean was a huge help with feeding and comforting! Kaelyn struggled a little with adjusting, not really jealous just very confused. But she soon settled into our new routine!!

Mom and dad were able to come down for about 10-11 days or so when the babies were just 2 weeks old! It was so nice having the extra help, and they were careful not to spoil the babies too much for us!

Sean finished 1st grade in june. He had a great year, but was very excited for summer vacation! In July, my sister Michelle and her 2 boys came down for a couple of weeks! It was great!! We took them to the beach for 4 days and every loved it! Even if Brandon, Michelle and Kaelyn all got stung by jellyfish! :O

My other sister Lindsay was able to come down for a week in August! Even though we didn't get to vacation anywhere, it was wonderful to have her help with the little ones!!

Sean started second grade this fall, and is doing wonderfully! He loves his teacher, although it makes him a little nervous that his dad and his teacher went to school together, and that both his parents are facebook friends with his teacher! He knows he can't get away with just anything! *lol* But he's made a few new friends and is having fun!!

Sean and Kaelyn both played soccer this fall! Sean has played for a few years, so he's starting to get the hang of this soccer thing! Kaelyn, however, was a little scared after the first practice, and would only go out on the field if mom or dad was out there with her! But she says she had fun, and hopefully she'll be a little braver next year!

And now, here we are, nearly Christmas time! Sean is nearly 8 yrs old, Kaelyn is nearly 3.5, and the twins are nearly 10 months old! Both are doing amazing! I love watching their little personalities just blossom! Rylee is our little "chubba wubba", she now weighs 21 lbs and is about 29 in long. She's just now army crawling good, and trying to pull herself up to her knees! She's got a beautiful little smile, but she's shy and doesn't show it as often to strangers. Liam is our "little man". He weighs 18.6 lbs and is about the same length as Rylee, around 29 in long. He just flies around the house now, army crawling sometimes, but finally starting to crawl on his knees! He's small and very aerodynamic! *lol* He's got a huge smile that he loves to shoot off often, and he loves to giggle when you toss him around like a sack of potatoes! He's been pulling up to standing for months, and we just know he's going to take his first steps any day now!!

And here we are, I believe I've caught up on the last 10 months or so! I do plan to update this more often, now that I have the time, so if you are trying to follow, I'll try to do better! *lol*

Merry Christmas, and many Blessings to you! <3

My big boy is 7!!!!

2009-02-18T22:16:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was Sean's 7th birthday already!! :O Hard to believe, 7 yrs ago we were bringing this tiny little life into the world, and now he's a bundle of 7 yr old male energy!!

We had a small party, just us and David's parents! I just knew I wouldn't have the energy for anything big this year! But we went out for pizza, and then came home for cake and ice cream, and he seemed to enjoy himself!

Where has the time gone?!?!

And now, we're going to be adding 2 MORE to the bunch soon!!

We are nearly 36 wks now (35 wks 6 days today), and babies are continueing to grow amazing!!

Had our last ultrasound today, sooo bittersweet!! I know the next time I see these precious angels it'll be in my arms at last!!

As of today, Mr. Liam is estimated at 6 lbs 6 oz! And Miss Rylee is a whopping 7 lb'er!! They are definetly a great size and I have no worries about any health issues anymore!!

Mommy's ready for them to come, anytime now!! I really can't do much more than sit around, and pee! HAHA! 13 days until our scheduled c/section, but they are welcome to make their appearance sooner if they so choose to!! :D

Still hanging in there!

2009-02-09T23:16:00.003-05:00

Well we are now at 34 wks 4 days, and still going strong! Other than rib cage pain, and braxton hicks contractions, this pregnancy has been smooth sailing! The babies are getting bigger and bigger, as am I!! haha 3 weeks tomorrow and we'll be meeting face to sweet little snuggly face!!

We got both the carseats installed this weekend, course now David decided we need to switch them around with kaelyn! *gaah* But at least we have them, they are in and can be used if needed!

Pretty sure I've been nesting too, moving furniture around, cleaning bathrooms, cleaning out the truck.....I'm ready for these babies to COME ON!!

Sean's counting down the days to his birthday, one week until my little man turns 7! *cry* He's growing up way too fast!! He's such a great big brother though, and he can't wait until he's a big bro to two more!!

Kaelyn's sick again, my poor little wild child! Just a little sinus drainage, hopefully she'll be better in a few days! Not that it slows her down at all!!

David's new shift is going GREAT! Granted, we still haven't quite figured out the nighttime routine, but it sure is nice having some help with the kids in the evening now!

David's new work shift!

2009-02-03T12:14:00.001-05:00

Well yesterday was the first day of David's new shift! Instead of the usual 4pm to midnight schedule that he's been working for years and years, he now works a bit of a crazy shift! M,T,W is 12 noon -6pm. Then TH,F is 6am-6pm one week, and off S,S and then it's switched the following week, off TH, F and on S, S 6am-6pm.

The GOOD thing is he is home by 7 pm gaurantee'd EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!!

Although it did completely throw our "night time routine" right out the window last night! :P But give it time, we'll get a new routine going....just in time for the babies to get here!!!!

Yep yep, 28 days, 4 wks from today, we'll be meeting our little munchkin's! Can't wait!!

33 wks 4 days!

2009-02-02T12:08:00.005-05:00

Wow I can't believe it's been so long since I updated! What a busy time of year it's been!!

Christmas was great! The kids had a blast opening all their gifts and enjoyed daddy having the whole week of christmas off of work! First time that's happened in years! Here is them in their new christmas jammies on christmas eve:And here's some from Christmas day:

And in other news, I am now 33 wks 4 days pregnant! Yikes! And we have a DATE!

March 3rd, 2009, sounds like a good birthday, wouldn't you say?? :D If the babies don't come early that is, that is their official "eviction date"!! I can't wait!

At my last ultrasound, at 31 wks 4 days, Liam measured at 4 lbs 4 oz, and Rylee at 4 lbs 11 oz! BIG babies!! I can tell too! I've pretty much slowed right down, only doing what's necessary for me and the kids! Thankfully I have a wonderful hubby who is trying desperately to keep up with the rest of the household! ;) He's failing, but he's trying!

4 wks 1 day.....grow babies GROW!!

We've hit 27 wks!!

2008-12-22T23:04:00.004-05:00

YAY! What a wonderful milestone the 27/28 wk mark is! 27 wks 4 days to be exact! We have an ultrasound today, the babies are growing GREAT! Little Liam is 2 lbs 11 oz, and Rylee is 2 lbs 10 oz. Neck and neck still! They are measuring 5 days ahead, and a little above average weight! I'm so excited! I'm hoping only about 9-10 more wks maximum for these monkey's, they are already getting heavy for me to carry!!

We didn't get any good pictures of Liam, he had his hand in front of his face, but we did get a cute one of Rylee:

She has her big sister's full lips, little nose and chubby cheeks already! I am so in love!!

Lucky me gets to go do a 3 hr GTT tomorrow, hopefully I pass, it would really suck not to be able to eat like a pig this christmas!! lol!

What a weekend!

2008-12-16T20:01:00.002-05:00

At some point in the last few weeks we got a virus on our laptop! Have you ever had a virus on your computer?? Getting rid of it is like trying to dig out kudzu (for those in the south), or trying to get rid of portulaca (for those in the north). For those in between, it's damn near IMPOSSIBLE!

We finally ordered disks from Dell and had to wipe the laptop clean this weekend! Then spend 3 hrs reinstalling and updating all the drivers, because our laptop is beyond ancient and Dell doesn't even sell them anymore, let alone have updated drivers!

Fun fun fun!!

On a better note, I am now 26 wks 5 days pregnant with these little twinnies!! I had an ob appt on monday, all is GREAT! I start going every 2 weeks now, and we're into the home stretch! Babies have an 80-90% survival rate now, I'm feeling SO good about these munchkins! I go next monday for another ultrasound to see their beautiful little faces! Sean's very excited, he gets to come with us this time since he's off of school!

I'm not sure where this christmas season has gone, truly, it's disappeared this year! I have yet to print my christmas letters, I haven't taken the kids christmas pics, and I surely don't have any gifts wrapped yet! Not to mention my birthday is coming up....31 already! :O What the heck, didn't I just turn 27?? I think someone miscalculated somewhere....

2008-12-16T19:48:00.003-05:00

Alright here is finally a few of the disney pics, wow it's been busy around here!

Dad and the kids, totally engrossed in the show!

Mmmmm, preshow popcorn. Yumm!!
I took a ton of pics but the ones of the kids are the cutest!

Disney On Ice ROCKS!!

2008-11-29T23:47:00.003-05:00

Oh about 4 months or so ago, I happened across this email, with an offer for tickets to Disney On Ice: Mickey and Minnie's Magical Journey! I thought, wow, perfect! The kids would LOVE to go see this, especially kaelyn, our little mickey fanatic!!

So I ordered tickets, not even thinking "Um I'm going to be about 5.5-6 months pregnant with TWINS by then!!" Whoops!!

Fortunately, we got there early, parked really close, and had AWESOME seats!! We all had a blast!! Kaelyn was so excited to see "Kickey and Ninnie" on the ice, along with "Donald, Dai-y (that's daisy in kaelyn speak), and Goony (goofy)". Sean loved watching the skaters leave skate marks on the ice, how the lights moved and flashed, and how tall the ceiling of the Bi-Lo Center was! :D But all in all in was a ton of fun!!

Since we were already in Greenville we hung around, did some shopping, and hit the Roper Mountain Christmas Lights after supper!! All we heard, all the way around the mountain, was "Wook Daddy...wook daddy....oh WOOK daddy" from the backseat! The kids loved the magical candyland candy cane lane, the waving snowman, the rocking horse, the dancing bears...all the beautiful lights blinking around us!

What a LONG, but wonderful day....I'll try to post some pics from the Disney thing tomorrow, when I have more energy! ;)

In the beginning...

2008-11-13T20:06:00.001-05:00

there was a blank page! HA!

I'm just starting this whole "blogging" business, so bear with me as I learn the "in's and out's" of blogging your life away.....