Quick update

I'm very proud to say Addison is almost completely potty trained. She has not worn a diaper in two days. She had two accident the night before and none last night. I put a potty in her room with a night light beside it and she seems to be using it.

Brock and Tyler are still having some accidents here and there if I do not remind them to go. I'm still putting them in diapers at nap and bedtime.

Addison told me the other day that her pee fell off. She said it all day long in a sad little voice "my pee pee fell off". I guess she feels she should have what her brothers have.

Tyler keeps telling us "I'm serious". I wonder how serious a 2 year old can be?

Brock gets mad at me when I laugh at him. Even if he is being silly if I start to laugh his eyes tear up and he tells me "NOT FUNNY!". :) oh the emotions of a 2 year old they change in seconds.

We made these hand puppets a few days ago. They were fairly easy and only cost us $1. Can't beat that. The kids love them! In fact they love them so much I am constantly having to glue eyes back on. :)

Tyler settled down for a nap reading a book. 10 minutes later this is how I found him. Yes he's asleep under that book and no I did not remove it. No way was I going to risk waking him!

Snapping out of auto pilot

There is no doubt that raising 4 kids is tough. Most days I honestly feel I am running on auto pilot going through all the motions. I get caught up in things like cleaning up messes while potty training, trying to get my oldest to realize homework is important, trying to get the kids to eat, just fighting the same battles day after day. Then you have a moment that just snaps you out of the everyday and puts a smile on your face as well as your kids. This is what makes all the struggles of raising kids worth it. Watching my kids paint these little guys and their excitement after seeing the final product just lit up my day today. We really enjoy our craft times. :)

Just some pics of the trio

Our latest craft. I stuck a sticky magnet on these and put them on the fridge.

Thank you Brea for the new outfits!

Brock doing his norm of sucking his thumb and twirling the hair.

Addie's close up

Aww my boys are so sweet....when they want to be.

Gem mining without the kids

Adam and I took off for a few days for some R&R. Little did we know gem mining is a lot of work. I mean hauling 5 gallon buckets full of dirt back and forth up a hill 50 times a day. We were so wore out we were asleep not long after sunset every night.

These are saphires. I know they look like rocks. I did not know there are 57 different types of saphires. This once cut is a smoky purplish color. I have some getting cut and will share them in a few weeks once I get them back.

These are Rubies. The one of the right side of the quarter was my big find. It is 170 CT. These rubies are a smoky pink color. Getting one cut and again will show later.

I know it looks as though I am nude here but I promise I was wearing a swim suit! This was our view of the sunset from the hot tub.

Milton water park

First time at the movies

I know these pictures are very dark. They were taken with Adam's phone. We took the kids to watch Toy Story 3. It was the first time to ever take the little ones to the movies and we were unsure what to expect. It was a little stressful at first since it was so dark (scary) in the theatre before the previews started. I also had forgotten to put diapers on Ty and Addie and ended up just finding some little swimmers in the van. The kids had a good time and loved the movie. Even Oaklen who said it was a baby movie and did not want to go. So glad they liked it because it cost us 75 dollars for our tickets, 3 small drinks and 1 small popcorn. I thought I was being smart taking them to the matinee only to find it was a 3d movie and not did not have matinee prices it was an extra 3 dollars per ticket!

While daddy is away the kids and I play

Addison loves having her hair done so she had no problem letting me put her hair in curlers. :)

Adam left for a weekend fishing trip so the kids and I have been trying to stay busy. I did not get a chance to take pictures of all of our activities but I did snap some at the park.

Last night we baked cookies. I just got the easy you kind you peel off cardboard then stick on the pan, but it made the kids day to be able do that. We made cute sugar cookies with flags on them. Then we ate them up while they were still warm.

This morning bright and early we headed to the park. For some reason (maybe we were too early) they still had the gate shut so we had a long walk to make it to the playground and poor miss Addison, mommy put her in the wrong shoes and she got blisters. :( They still had a great time. By the time we got back home I could tell they were tired but it was only 10am so I really had to work to keep them up a bit longer for lunch.

This afternoon aunt Donna stopped by to see them and they played out back in the pool. I was hoping this would also wear them out and they would go to bed early. No such luck...I can hear the little monkeys jumping on their beds as I type.

Oaklen is still in Florida and is having a nice time. Today he left Orlando to head to the beach and should be returning home by Monday.

The flu

uggg, yes the flu is making it's rounds. Addie started Saturday with a 103.8 fever and continued through the weekend. Monday I took her to the clinic only to come home and find Tyler running a fever. They both seemed to get over it within 2-3 days when I woke up with it. I slept all day yesterday and called in Toni and Mike to help with the kids. When Adam woke up for work...he had it. Oh what fun this week has been! On a good note the kids are all feeling fine. Oaklen is in Florida with my parents missing all this action and the kids are at daycare today. I hope to get some new posts up soon as we have been busy and I have been snapping away with some cute pictures.