Duck Dynasty, Mother Theresa and some pics of the kids......

This blog is wayward.......sometimes just a journal to remind myself and my children of our life experiences, sometimes a therapeutic break for this overwhelmed mama, sometimes a way to remind myself how to be the best example for my children.....

I avoid controversy-by nature. I'm not confrontational....and for that reason I avoid topics that might ignite confrontation. But today, I'm pushing myself out of my comfort zone....

Social media has been in a frenzy regarding the suspension of Phil Robertson from the A&E show Duck Dynasty for his anti-gay sentiments. If you're here, you've probably come from Facebook and I'm sure you've seen the uproar. My feed was bogged down and I was baited into reading a few posts and following comments........it made me feel sick to my stomach. That's what conflict does to me........now you know the real reason I avoid it.

What I saw, was so much hate and ugliness-from both sides. One poor lady said, "Praying for all involved" and someone responded, "Go ahead and PRAY you stupid sheep. That's the answer-you dumb-ass". Wow. For just a simple statement that she would pray? On the other side there was a guy posting, "$%* the gays, let 'em rot in hell". Again-wow. That's really your best contribution to the conversation?

From controversy like this I hope I can teach my children a better way.......

What I really thought regarding all of the posts and comments on the Phil Robertson/A&E issue was, "These people just need to shut up". But that's not really useful so I went out in search of better words to teach my children in these controversial topics-they should probably just be quiet. What I found in my search for words was a list by Mother Theresa on how to practice humility. Her list includes "To speak as little as possible of one's self.....to pass over the mistakes of others......not to want to manage other peoples affairs.....to accept being slighted, forgotten and disliked........to be kind and gentle even under provocation".  Those would certainly cure all the evils I saw in this controversy.

"To speak as little as possible of one's self"-As I read through the ugly comments I wondered, "Why do these people think their thoughts are so important? So relevant? Why would they think they could speak such words-to anyone, ever". I hope to teach my children that they are not so important that they need to speak, post, or comment on everything that happens around them.

James 1:20 tells us Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

Slow to speak....

"To pass over the mistakes of others"-Everybody makes them. My friend Kirtie and I just talked on this last week.....sometimes people say and do things that are hurtful-I still have enough faith in humanity to believe that nine times out of ten-they don't mean to be hurtful. A while ago I shared this post that included a story about a former student and a hurtful comment I made. He chose to look beyond my mistake and know that it was just that-a mistake, and I didn't mean to hurt him. When my children get hurt feelings-I want them to be able to move on from what happened and forgive.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

"Not want to manage other peoples affairs"-It's none of our business.....I think that's true regarding just about everything.

Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37 

"To accept being slighted, forgotten, and disliked"-This is a hard one for all of us.....but it happens and we need to get over it. It's my intention to teach my children that-sometimes your life decisions or just the cards you've been dealt will result in being rejected or discounted. Accept that.....because you are dearly loved by your Heavenly Father no matter what.

God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16

"To be kind and gentle even under provocation"-So important. I hope I can teach my children this self-control. You will be provoked.....do not respond with ugliness or hate.

James 1:19-20 tells us Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

It's my intention to be the best example I can, but I'm certainly not perfect. Today is Christmas Eve......regrettably, I was just "quick to anger" with Gage on this precious morning.  We can only do our best.

Here are some pictures of our precious babies......

It's been tough to keep them still enough for a pic.....

 This is pretty much where he is every time I'm trying to cook dinner.....

 Pics with Santa at Copper River.....Gracie would NOT sit with Santa and sadly, Gage missed out this year

 Anytime I sit down I've got these two all over me....

 Making homemade pizza.....it's hard to get any pics of Gage

 Love this girl.....

 And this sweet boy.....

 and this little baby girl....

 My friend Chrissy took this one.....

 and this one...

 and this....which pretty much sums these two up. Ashlyn is content with whatever....and Jay-is not.

This post took me a while to write because my life has been consumed with my children and getting ready for Christmas.....but I wanted to reflect and organize my thoughts before it got too far away.

Tonight we will put the kids to bed and we will await the wonder of Christmas morning. It's beautiful and I hope to capture the joy of Christmas with my family tonight and tomorrow.

Merry Christmas to all that read.....

Love.

Matt, me and quiet

Last weekend Matt and I went to Carmel. Just us, no kids. My mom kept Jay and Ashlyn while Gage and Gracie got to stay and play with cousins at Auntie Amy and Uncle Phil's.

Carmel is a special place for us because one of the first "dates" Matt took me on was to the Pro-Am at Pebble Beach. Last year we went around this same time but I was the size of a small Carmel cottage so it wasn't quite as enjoyable as this year. We made no plans outside of dinner reservations. This trip we went to Pacific's Edge restaurant for the first time and I would definitely recommend it. The clam chowder was fantastic and our dessert (chocolate croissant bread pudding with salted caramel ice cream) was to die for. It was better bread pudding than Cracked Pepper. Yes. I said it. Better than Cracked Pepper. It was too dark for us to enjoy the view but we could see the moonlight on the water and I can imagine it's spectacular when the daylight hours are longer.

My only regret about the trip was that I didn't get a few pics. I'm still working on the selfie.....I can take pics of myself with the kids but with the hubs......still warming up to that.

It was nice to have time as husband and wife.....without being mom and dad. We sat at dinner for a long time just enjoying the uninterrupted conversation.....knowing there was no rush to get in baths, brushing, and books before bed.

But these faces were waiting......

and we missed them.

We are busy enjoying the time counting down to Christmas. Builder has remembered to move every night and we've spent the evenings watching holiday movies. Yesterday Matt brought home the peppermint M&Ms and I cut Gage's sandwich with the Christmas tree cookie cutter. We probably won't make Christmas Tree Lane or frost cookies but we're doing pretty well considering.

More on the kids next post.

Love

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......

at the Creighton house. We kept the tree pretty simple this year, for us. I'm a little worried about how the tree with hold up with two crawlers pulling on all the bottom branches (you can see the ornaments get sparse toward the bottom). We put the twins to bed before trimming the tree......update to come on how they do....

 Gage and Gracie

I just love this picture of them......in my dreams they're both in their holiday pajamas but that's just not our real life.

The time is flying and there is so much I want to get done before Christmas. I want to sew stockings for the twins, make a few gifts, watch all the holiday movies, bake cookies, walk Christmas Tree Lane, make a gingerbread house, and I'm wondering if ANY of it will get done. I love the traditions of the holidays but with our life the way it is right now I've got to let some go-we can't do everything, we'll be lucky to do anything. The most interesting thing our elf will do this year is ride the camel in our nativity and that's good enough for me. I still don't get why some elves make messes and pull pranks. I have enough messes and misbehavior around here-WHY would I add to it?!

When Gage was four years old I thought, "This will be last year this kid believes in Santa" and I really thought it would be true. He asked question.....after question.....after question. How does he visit all those houses? How can he be at every mall? How come every Santa I see looks different? Why would he wear a fake beard? It just went on and on. But the next year, even when our elf (Builder) arrived with a TAG on his bottom, Gage still believed. Last year, since all the other kids in kindergarten believed-so did Gage. He did tell me that one kid (to remain anonymous) told him that there was no Santa. It was the kid that got sent to the principal at least once a week. Easy explanation-obviously he's just on the naughty list. Now Gage is seven, and as far as I know-we still have a believer on our hands.......

The year that I was seven is one I remember more clearly than others. I don't have a great memory of my childhood but the year I was seven stands out.

My parents divorced shortly before my seventh birthday. So the Christmas I was seven we were living (when we were with my mom) at my Grandma Jan's. Christmas morning came and everyone was opening gifts. I remember noticing that Amy and Josh both got something.....notable. Okay, I don't know about notable-let's say decent-and I did not. My stomach hurt.....tons of questions were swirling around in my head and I was OVERWHELMED with emotion. I cried. My mom (and later step-dad) saw that I was upset and brought out the BIG surprise from Santa-a new bike. I cried some more. My parents assured me that Santa brought me this wonderful bicycle and that I must have been a good girl, everything was okay........

But it wasn't. Because what I NEVER, in the 25 years that have passed, told my mother-is that I already knew there was no Santa. So when I thought I hadn't received a gift I wasn't wondering why Santa didn't deliver-I was asking myself......Is my mom mad at me? Did I do something wrong? Did I say something I shouldn't have? Was there not enough money? Will we ever have enough money? Will we be okay? Am I going to be okay? I was trying to keep it together.....I didn't want to seem greedy or unappreciative of what I did receive but my stomach hurt, I got a giant lump in my throat and the tears poured down........

It was just a bad year. My parents had been in turmoil over custody and money and all of the ugliness that comes with divorce. I had probably seen and heard more than I should have. That year was the beginning of something new and though it didn't start out great, every year things got better.

The good news is when I think about Christmas and my childhood-that year isn't even close to first thing that comes to mind. Riding on a trailer with hay bales singing Christmas carols with the Church of Christ, Uncle Wes dressed as Santa at my grandparents for Christmas Eve, Lip Smackers in my stocking, circling my wishes in the JCPenney catalog, my mother reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas, making cutout Christmas cookies, painting ornaments, picking out the perfect tree, trimming the tree, helping Steve get Griswold with the lights, that movie-Christmas Vacation, the noise, noise, noise of the Darnell Christmas Eve, those are the kinds of things I think about.

There's a famous quote by Maya Angelou, "People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel." That's how I want to approach Christmas.......the kids will (hopefully) forget what gifts they were given.....they will forget what they "wished for" from Santa......but they will never forget the way they felt.

I don't remember a single gift I got as a kid aside from that bike. Almost everything else.....everything GOOD I remember about the holidays-was something I did. I hope my children have that same experience. I hope they don't remember their gifts....and I try not to spend my energy on that......because that isn't what matters for our family. I hope they remember our efforts to find the perfect tree. I hope they never forget the feelings they experienced listening to the sounds of Christmas Eve at Uncle Jeff and Auntie Janet's, or the excitement and anticipation of opening gifts......as opposed to the gifts themselves. I hope they remember the time spent baking cookies with me, and the drama of making sure the lights on the tree were spaced out just right. I hope they remember sharing popcorn and laughing together as we watched Christmas Vacation. I hope they recall setting out the nativity and talking about the birth of Christ, our Savior. I hope they remember the feeling of choosing just the right gift-for someone else. I hope they remember the blessing of an abundant family to share holidays with. Because......

"Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see" -The Polar Express

The bell still rings for me and I hope it always does for them (and you) too......

Love.

Gage's surgery

Last week Gage had surgery to correct an inguinal hernia.  I won't go into detail but the experience couldn't have been any better. We are so lucky to be just a ten minute drive from Children's Hospital. Here are some images from our day......
Waiting......

6 a.m. is early.......

 "Stop with the pictures!!"

 He brought "Snakie" with him......

 Recovery......

 His favorite part of recovery was his glowing thumb......

We were in and out within five hours. He told me, "I don't want to have surgery again until I'm an adult. That going to sleep kinda creeped me out."

His recovery was fairly easy and he's feeling normal already, though he'll be on limitations until two weeks have passed.

Love.

Our November.......

Recently I wrote three posts in a row.....and I haven't been heard from since. Those were written while Matt was gone for ten days. He went on a hunting trip with his dad and brothers in Colorado. As it came up I would often get, "Ten days?", and variations of "Are you going to be okay with him gone?" In being completely honest.....it was actually a little easier. Don't get me wrong-I missed him, Gage kept fearing that he would be gone for his homecoming and Gracie kept saying, "I miss my daddy at home". But it was easier in other ways. I made spaghetti (because it's the kids fave and not Matt's) and it lasted us three dinners. That meant two nights with no dishes. It also allowed for an earlier dinner time and less stressful power hour (the window of time between dinner and bedtime that includes baths, teeth brushing, and books for everyone). It also left the evenings free to write a few posts. The time change was brutal. One day I found Gracie asleep in the middle of the living room floor. 

She was so pretty......

One evening, while Matt was away, Gage was gone and the babies were being particularly fussy. I decided to follow the lead of a friend and I put them in the car. I drove through Panda Express for an enormous iced tea and through Sonic for a treat to share with Gracie. On my way I turned the radio up and enjoyed some music therapy. I had an overwhelming craving for a cigarette.....I was awfully close to our friend's Courtney and Doogs. They smoke. They would give me a cigarette. Don't do it, I told myself, just go home and put the kids to bed. 

No idea where that came from. I've never been a smoker. I can only guess that it was some subconscious need for stress relief. It didn't seem any more challenging in his absence......but maybe there was some part that was...... 

Several months ago, when the twins were about two months old, Matt went on a two-night away trip for work. I laid down in bed for the evening and a horrible thought crossed my mind. What if my house was on fire? How would I get the kids out by myself? Would I grab the babies and just plop them on the front lawn while I ran back for Gage and Gracie? Would I grab the twins then try to wake Gage while holding them by shaking him with my foot-then have him help me get Gracie? Which one is best? How would I do it? Could I get my children out in time? 

I felt weak....my stomach hurt......it was weird. I mean, first of all I'm not usually a worrier. Second, the feelings of helplessness and incompetence were so real even though the circumstances were not. There was no fire....and nothing had happened that day to make me feel overwhelmed. I guess that's just how mom's are sometimes.  I talked myself down.....this house isn't going to catch fire and if it did-you would figure it out......if it means plopping your babies down on the front lawn while you go back for the others, so be it. I think some mamas struggle with this all the time; I'm glad I don't. Worries take precious time.

Last night was a long one. The first long night (at home) that we've had in a while. Jay had a high fever that, at it's worst, reached 104.2. Poor pumpkin. He wasn't himself and Matt and I were up a good portion of the night putting cloths on him trying to cool down his little diaperless bum. Even though it was scary it was also precious and......joyous in some strange way. Something I needed. He would shiver with this exhausted look while nuzzling into our shoulders. As I held him I looked at his tiny and perfect toes. I rubbed his soft skin and admired his fuzzy hair. As the Tylenol kicked in his eyes would come back to life. He would start to smile......and babble......and laugh. Jay has this hilarious laugh he shares when you catch his eye. I've yet to catch it on camera but I will. It was intimate time with him that in the hustle and bustle can often be missed. 

Perfect little Jay toes......

That little laugh I just love......

His teeth crack me up.....Jay-7, Ashlyn-0

Our nights are so hectic I don't really sit and spend time with the twins the way I did Gage and Gracie. I don't rock them to sleep or read them a bedtime story (YET). So even though it kept us up and had us worried-I enjoyed the time just admiring his perfect little self. 

Enjoy a few more pics...... 

 Avocados and Raspberries......

Love

 Hate

Until next time..... 

Love. 

  

Llama Llama Careless Mama.....

These little people......

I love them so much......too much. 

We have a regular sitter, Alyssa. She's here every Wednesday while I take Gage to the library and every at least one other day while I work in his classroom. She watches the kids for all kinds of other appointments and errands. We are so fortunate to have her. Alyssa does a lot of fabulous things-she cleans out the dishwasher and takes out the garbage. She helps with the laundry and keeps the house tidy when she's here. She also takes the kids to the park and brings bubbles for the backyard. But my favorite thing about Alyssa is that she gives a loving greeting to each of my children when she arrives and every time she leaves. She always tells Gage something like, "Good luck at your soccer game" or "You were really helpful today" She always asks Gracie to give her a love before she goes. She goes to each of the babies and brushes their cheek or rubs their back to say goodbye. I love that.....more on that in another post. 

Anyway-I don't worry about the kids with her. I don't really worry about my kids at all. I'm not a worrier by nature. My friend Chrissy, over at Life with Greyson and Parker wrote this post comparing herself to Wilma Jean the Worry Machine. I laughed. And realized my book would be something more like Llama Llama Careless Mama (not a real book, but maybe it should be). It's rare for me to worry......it recently kinda bit me in the behind......

I got a notice in Gage's communication folder from school that we needed to show proof of a recent physical by November. He was current on all his vaccines and I thought he'd had a physical within the 18-month time requirement so I called his doctor. They let me know that Gage hadn't been seen in two years. Oops. He's always been healthy and I didn't realize that much time had passed. I let them know that Gage needed to get in soon and was informed that the earliest opening was December. I would need to take him somewhere else or wait for a cancellation. An hour later she called me because they had a cancellation. I had one day's notice and it was at the exact same time we had our appointment for the walk-through of the rental house. So I called Alyssa. I decided that she would take Gage for his well-child visit for me......because he's healthy-nothing to worry about. 

Around the time I thought his appointment should be done I sent Alyssa a text to check on Gage. She replied that she would call me back......hmm, that's weird. Shortly after my text she called and filled me in on his appointment......where she and Gage learned that he has an inguinal hernia and would likely need surgery. What?!?! She gave me Dr. Martin's explanation of the surgery and what it entails. First of all-had I any knowledge they would be doing a groin check at his appointment I would have waited until I could go myself. Second-my son needs surgery!! What?!? 

Ugh....it was a real mom-of-the-year moment for me. Alyssa said that Gage told Dr. Martin, "Um.....I think we need to talk to my mom about this first!" and since he was obviously a little stressed out so she took him for an ice cream before returning to school. That's what I get for being so laissez faire.......guilt that I wasn't there with him in such a moment. The good news is that kids are resilient......Gage has already moved on. We've now been to Children's Hospital to confirm that he will need surgery......and in typical Gage fashion he is excited-it's taking everything he has not to tell EVERYONE about it.

The number one compliment I get as a mother (from other mothers) is that I'm so calm.......at least, I take it as a compliment. It has a down side......ONE-I don't worry-even when I probably should and TWO-I really only feel comfortable in calm. I don't get excited easily-good or bad. I thrive in peace and quiet....which can be challenging for a mother of four. Recently, another mom came by in the afternoon. While she was here I noticed she gave such an animated response to everything my kids said or did. I've seen her do it with her own children, often. Gage was giving her the raised eyebrows and almost shocked laughing smile. I was admiring that, because that's something I rarely give my kids. Even when my kids to something that warrants a really excited "Good Job!!" they don't usually get it. It just doesn't come to me naturally. That's okay......I recognize my own strengths and weaknesses.

Maybe I'll work on getting more excited......or maybe I'll just work on getting more peace and quiet.....depends on who I am that day.....

Love.

How I ruined our anniversary......and had a revelation

This year Matt and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary. Our marriage is busy and wonderful, easy and FULL. On the surface our marriage looks great-four beautiful children, a new home on the horizon, and I'm able to stay home with our children while Matt supports our family with a great job. Beneath all that is something even more beautiful. It is patience, forgiveness, gentleness, contentedness......

It's a busy time in our lives so there was no getting away. We went to dinner on our actual anniversary at Fleming's and exchanged gifts.

Before I go into how I ruined our anniversary let me give a background on how I've been feeling lately.......like crap. When I peer into my closet there is nothing new, nothing stylish, nothing that makes me feel great. I wear gym clothes every day. I actually decided to wear normal clothes to work in Gage's class a couple of weeks ago. I kid you not-he asked me, "What happened to your gym clothes?" Then, I've caught myself in pictures and realized that my life without makeup really ought to come to an end. I've lost my pregnancy weight and I feel like I look pretty good. But my diastisis recti has resulted in a little tummy pooch that may never go away and I still have a little muffin top in most of my jeans. I just haven't been feeling good.

So the evening of our anniversary I went to get dressed. I had something in mind to wear but when I put it on it looked terrible. It wasn't because I looked terrible but the dress was not flattering and the color washed me out. I needed makeup but since I don't wear any I didn't even HAVE any. So I tried, unsuccessfully, to put together another outfit. I was feeling awful. We decided to exchange gifts before dinner. I gave Matt a leather garment bag for when he travels. He gave me a gorgeous Chanel bag.

I cried. They weren't the tears of joy that some might expect. They were sad tears. I thought, "Where the heck am I ever going to carry this?.....I don't ever even get dressed.....he spent so much for something I'll never use....I couldn't even get dressed for dinner tonight...." Poor Matt. He jokingly said, "So I should have bought you the leather diaper bag instead?"

Don't worry-I've since made a turnaround. I realize that it's a gorgeous and timeless bag......something that I can pull out years from now and cherish as my third anniversary gift. If he had given something to carry everyday it would be trashed in a few months because my life doesn't allow for being any kind of careful right now.

It led me on a little journey......

The next morning I was still upset. Not about the bag but just the way I was feeling. I called Kirtie to come over and help me sort my life out. She assured me that for the most part I'm very happy and content but it would be weird if I didn't cry and have a little breakdown every once in a while. She reminded me that for the last three years my body has not been my own. I hadn't really thought about that but she was right. I've either been pregnant or nursing for three straight years. That's a long time. Thank you, friend, for helping me. I realized that it's okay to wear my gym clothes but I also need to get dressed up sometimes.....and that I need to start wearing makeup sometimes....and that I need to take time to make those things happen for myself.

So I started with makeup. My mom never wore makeup until my adult life so it's not something I'm familiar with. I've always thought I'd look better with makeup but anytime I've had it done I felt like I looked like a clown. Even in small amounts I would look in the mirror and see someone else. And honestly-when I look in the mirror I feel like I look okay without it. The problem is when I see myself in pictures I realize that I don't look okay. I look like dark circles. Anyway, I knew I couldn't go it alone but I wanted to find someone to help me stay natural looking. One of the mom's in Gage's class is a makeup artist that works in television-she offered to help me! She took me to Sephora and gave me a little lesson in makeup. It was hilarious. I had all three little ones with me but at the same time I felt like I was twelve years old. I couldn't believe how sweet she was to offer me that help. It was the first time someone has done my makeup and I still felt I looked like myself!

Then I had an appointment with Carrie. I always love my hair but even that has been a mess lately with my post-childbirth hair regrowth. I have little baby hairs all around my hairline that make my hair look fuzzy. Of course Carrie saved the day and changed it up with some shorter bangs and highlights. She's the best.

I have yet to shop for clothes. All of the kids needed winter clothes so time and money went to them instead. Maybe Santa will bring me a mini wardrobe.

All of that was a start, but then.......I had a revelation. I realized we have not been to church regularly since the twins were born. That was over eight months ago. I realized that just that one thing-going to church-would help me. Not only would I have to get pretty to attend-when I arrived my soul would be filled. I KNOW that this alone will be a huge help. I can't wait to let you know how getting back to regular services helps me.

Luckily my husband is understanding. He makes sure I know that he finds me beautiful with disheveled hair and a baby on each hip. The thing is-I know he does. I always feel loved. But it's not just about him, it's about me. As a mom-I feel great. All things considered, I keep it together pretty well. But I'm more than just a mama and I need to feel good about myself away from the house and kids. So I'm on my journey to feeling better.......I'll keep you posted on how it goes.....

Love.

I've fallen so behind.....

I've committed to catching up on the blog this week......it's been more than a while......

Let me start with WHY it's been so long.

We moved. Into a rental. Four bedrooms. Aaaahhh. We bought a lot so we'll be building but we needed another bedroom in the meantime so we moved into a rental just 3 doors down from our house. We were able to stay in the neighborhood we love. But-due to the move we were two weeks with no cable/internet. Obviously we had our phones/iPads but I wasn't going blog without a traditional keyboard. We went without because we wanted to keep our U-Verse but there was an engineering problem in our area that postponed our service. I wish we didn't love their product because their customer service is terrible.

Then we got sick. Stomach flu....just the 24 bug but when 5 out of 6 suffered it turned into a 120 hour flu. It caused us to miss pumpkin-carving at my mom's which was the ONLY Halloween festivity I had planned.

So much to catch up on, I'll do the best I can.

The twins have been sleeping in their own room since the move and it's been great. They'd been in our room since birth. It was REALLY wearing on Matt and me the last couple of months. They weren't sleeping through the night and we were waking up with every little noise they made sometimes several times a night. Eight months of poor sleep was really starting to wear us down. On top of that I had to work everything in my bedroom (showers/getting dressed/putting away laundry/etc) around their naps. Brutal. For the most part, they're sleeping through now and Matt and I are getting much better rest.

Matt and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on October 16th. That's right. Just. Three. Years. Briefly-October was a busy month for us so we went to dinner on our actual anniversary which was a Wednesday. We follow the traditional gifts and year three is leather. More on that in another post that doesn't feel so full of catch-up.

I've been working in Gage's class once/week. I like it better than kindergarten because I don't always have to work a station. I can just correct papers while getting a sneak peek. First grade is so important and I'm pleased that Gage has a teacher that he and I both love. She's no-nonsense and really good for him. At home I consider Gage a high-maintenance kid. He just requires a lot of attention because is constantly asking questions and always wants to engage in conversation.....and I love peace and quiet.  Having been a teacher I knew this would translate into high-maintenance in the classroom. Many kids require frequent redirection-sometimes it's a bother, and sometimes they are favorites. So far Gage is doing very well this year and he is eager to learn. Mrs. Brown had nothing but nice things to say about him.

Gracie's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. She can be HILARIOUS. Her voice is really soft and sweet. One of our favorite things she says can be viewed in this video....

"I love you TOO much".......I can't get enough of it. I also love that she takes ownership of her siblings. Today we went to Gage's soccer game and as he ran over for water she said, "There he is! There's my Gage!"

The twins are growing like crazy. I can't believe they're almost 9 months old. This week I'm starting to transition to the bottle. I've made it this far so I was tempted to just go straight to the cup but I won't. Once I went to the cup with Gage and Gracie it was like pulling teeth to get them to drink enough milk. People are always surprised that I've nursed the twins for this long. I just never ran into any problems so I kept going. The only problem now is that I'm over it. It's too hard to hold them at the same time now. I used to grab Jay from his crib first, then get Ash. Now they're so eager to explore that they're jumping out of my arms.

Jay has four teeth in (2 bottom, 2 top) and two more top teeth are on their way. Today I noticed him move from one standing toy to another by holding on and taking a step. Yesterday he was pushing a toy while crawling when his hand slipped and he busted his lip. Minutes later he was trying to pull up using my bathroom drawer and he fell and bumped his head. He's eager to figure out the world, even if it hurts a little. He can be a little more needy than Ash.....he prefers to be held and given attention from me. We love his sweet and affectionate nature.

Ash still doesn't have any teeth and she's still our easiest baby. She has a very content nature. She's always willing to wait her turn and she'll just sit in the playpen and play quietly for as long as I need her to. She can pull herself to standing but when she gets tired she usually cries until I go over and help her sit back down. She's very friendly and it's easy to get a smile out of her.

Due to the move we didn't do much for Halloween early in the month. I just kept telling myself that we were going to my mom's for carving and that would be our big day. Since we had to miss we tried to make up for it by decorating cookies and carving a pumpkin here at home.

This year Gage was Iron Patriot.......

Gracie was Little Bo Peep......

and the twins her sheep......

Ashlyn......

 Jay...

I had tried to get Gage to be a zookeeper so the littles could all be zoo animals but he wasn't having it. I ordered costumes really early for all the kids. The only Bo Peep I liked arrived WAY too big for Gracie (even in the smallest size) so I decided to make her costume. This was my first zipper and I think it turned our pretty cute. I DID NOT make the sheep-those I ordered. Her costume was enough to take on, especially along with a move and our week of stomach flu.

Gracie was into the trick-or-treating; she liked it. Gage was really good with helping her walk to each door and keeping an eye on her. She had a brief breakdown when at one door the dog ran out. Gracie is petrified of dogs. You can see sheer terror in her face. It's innate, nothing bad has ever happened. It's embarrassing so I'm hoping she grows out of it-we're not getting a dog any time soon.

Yesterday we went to Gage's soccer game.....

 Gracie got a "pupcake" and just ate the frosting.....

Last night I took the big kids to the Fresno State tailgate for just a little while.

Then we came home to watch the game and Gage fell asleep by the end of the first quarter....

Matt's not home so I carried Gage to bed for the first time in while. He is so big I wasn't even sure I would be able to-but I did.

More pics from the last month......

 The reason you don't see many pics of Gage......

 Ash and her ears crack me up.....

 The result of making a bomber hat without a pattern-giant ear flaps

 Ashlyn....

 Tot time at the zoo, feeding elephants with my Gracie girl....

 Two standing-with-help babies.....

This is when I learned that taking four kids to Save Mart is easier than three. Gage kept an eye on Gracie and her cart for me......

 Sisters.....

 All the time.......

 Love this one.....

I love this picture because this is my everyday view......Gage doing homework, Gracie with her boots and grapes, and the twins naked and underfoot. Sums up our life.

 She still loves a sink bath.....

 All in the playpen......

 Ready for bed.....

 Big sister pushing the babies at the park....

 Love his face....

 and hers.....

 Working hard on our ponytail.....it's still a pigtail

 Spooky.....

 Ash's sweet little profile.....

 And her mean look.....

 Jay being big....

 All of them.....

 Until next time....which I hope is sooner than later....

Love.