Mommy Times Four

I Miss My Blog :)

2011-06-18T01:33:00.002-05:00

Several friends lately have either started blogs or have been sharing theirs...and frankly, I've begun to miss mine! I started this blog a while back when I realized that I just couldn't keep up with journaling or scrapbooking to hold our family memories. I do still scrapbook four or five times a year, but I haven't journaled in ages. When Abby and Isabella were small, I'd pore over a journal and write them the sweetest love letters while they napped...seriously I did. When Ali Kate came along, she got a few letters...and I don't believe I ever even bought a journal for Grant. People have joked that by the 3rd child they're lucky if Mom even has newborn photos of them. There's some wisdom in that! Especially if you have all 3 kids in just 3 years.

Needless to say, time has flown by over the last 3 years...and we are now a very different household than we were when I started blogging and stopped journaling. We've truly moved into the next phase of family life, and I really want to journal about this transition. To be honest, I've gone kicking and screaming into this phase because I absolutely loved being at home all day with my four little, tiny babies with no other cares in the world. For five years, I stayed home and just took care of my babies. Obviously, we did much in our days....but I had no schedule to keep, carpool to run, lunches to pack, homework to do, tickets to buy, game schedules to remember, playdates to shuttle, swim lessons to attend... our days were spent at home, at the park, having picnics, reading books, coloring, playing ball. We still do alot of those things, but those sweet "slow down" moments as I like to call them are few and far between. I've been hanging onto those memories for a while now. But last week at church I read a verse (which of course I can't recall exactly this precise moment) that said that it is foolish to look upon what we had in the past. I'll have to find the exact verse. This past year I've been trying to hold onto the slow pace of the past five years only to realize that it's really time to embrace and move into the "school years" as I'm going to have 2 kids in school in just a few weeks. Wow!

That said, I'm so excited to open this blog back up and to share/record the transition that our family is making as we move into this new stage of life. I already have so much that I want to journal about this past year...so I know there's going to be alot of "rewind" time as I go back over this past year. Yay!

Where I Wish I Was Right Now...

2011-06-18T01:28:00.000-05:00

Taken on the beach in Destin in March...wishing I was there this very moment...I'll have to blog about this trip one day.

Making a Splash!

2011-06-18T01:22:00.000-05:00

Abby's 1st grade class' end of the year pool party... Did she really just finish first grade?!?

Isabella's 6th Birthday

2011-06-18T01:20:00.000-05:00

Isabella and her friends showing off their paintings! They painted owls that all matched her invitation. The girls all had lots of fun, and they all had great owl paintings to take home after the party!

Delight!

2011-06-18T01:07:00.000-05:00

Absolutely delighted as everyone sings Happy Birthday to our sweet Isabella at her 6th birthday party!

I Think I Can, I Think I Can...

2010-12-05T01:52:00.005-06:00

I think I can, I think I can....Jean Stockdale has taught us in MOMS for years that party of our job as moms is to slowly release our children into the adult world so that they're ready to be independent. I'm not good at that at all! If I could, I'd keep them all babies for a very, very long time and then ease them into toddlerhood. After that, to be quite honest, I'd fast forward from 2 until age 4....right now I have both a 2 and a 3 year old in the house as I've had for a few years now...and it's rough!

So what does this picture having to do with all of that?!? Today we threw out THE HIGHCHAIR! We purchased this when Abby was 4 months old and about to start rice cereal. I remember going with Matt to Babies R Us in Memphis and picking this one out because it was bright, had fun toys that could detach, and had 3 washable trays that snapped off. We had NO IDEA that we'd have this highchair for the next SEVEN years!!!! This high chair has sat all of our babies from their first bites of cereal to their last days when baby sister or brother needed to take over the throne. Well, Grant is 2 1/2 now, and there's no baby brother or sister waiting in line this time for the highchair. But it was time. It's been past time. He's needed to be in a big boy chair for a long, long time. But he's my last (unless God has a really great surprise in store for me one day)...and I've let him be a baby in every way much longer than I did with the girls. At his age, they were all in big kid seats, potty trained, way past the pacifier...but not Grant :) My little man isn't even thinking about a potty (except to flush Awana books and dolls in), nor is he even budging an inch on the pacifier issue. He's told me clearly before when we couldn't find a paci that I could go to Target and buy a new one. He's smart!

So today, while I didn't break down for Matt, I was silently grieving this visible reminder that our house is becoming one of big kids and not babies any longer. We once had two cribs, a pack n play, swings, bouncies, play yards, jumpers, changing tables, and even a highchair in our house. The other items have gone one by one to friends and to charity...but the highchair was one of the last remaining pieces of being a mom to a little bitty one.

So, I'm trying to tell myself that I can do this....I can start to teach them to grow up and to help them move from stage to stage....I just may have to rock babies at church more often now :)

Knocking Off A Little Dust

2010-12-05T01:46:00.002-06:00

Tonight, for whatever reason, I sat down and read a mommy blog...and then another...and then another. Before long, I looked up and it's past 1 a.m.! My crew has been asleep for hours, and I should be resting too. We've been fighting the stomach virus again for a while, and I think I'm just so glad to not be scrubbing something or holding someone's head while they throw up. I've actually been relaxed as I sit at the computer.

All that to say...I realized just how much I missed blogging. In particular, about our family. I used my blog for a while to keep an account of the day-to-day happenings of our family. We've moved into a new stage of life where the day-to-day happenings oftentimes drain me of any energy to recount the day that just ended. But Matt made me a bound book that contained my blog entries from the past, and it's truly a treasure. The scrapbooks I make are cute (and dusty now too) but not as full of detail. When Abby and Isabella were very little, I kept individual journals and wrote them letters very, very often. Life with two girls just 18 months apart gave me lots of free time to write, journal, reflect. Add two more kids in a row...and that time is gone!

With no promises of everyday blogging or anything else pressureful, I am re-entering the blogging world. My kids have just got too many cute memories that tell our story for me not to record...

Making the Rounds

2010-03-17T22:37:00.002-05:00

I'm about to make my way out of the "work zone" on the computer to make my final rounds around the house before bedtime. One would think that I'd be way past this by now. But I think I'll probably make "final rounds" at night even when the kids are 18. Even though I tucked them into bed 3 hours ago, I just can't help but sneak into their rooms to kiss them one more time and see their sweet faces once more. No matter what happened that day, all is forgotten as they sleep so peacefully. I love to watch a sleeping baby, a sleeping toddler, and even a sleeping 6 year old. Matt thinks I'm crazy for checking on them once more every night before I settle down for bed. I think it's being a mama. That's what we do.

So in a few minutes, I'll be off to retuck each child into bed, straighten their covers, adjust the thermostats, say little prayers, kiss them once more, and then tiptoe back downstairs to sleep...hopefully through the night. But if one of them does crawl into our bed, I think it'll be alright. These days are fleeing...and one day they'll be too big to want to crawl into our bed at night. And I'll be glad that we let them snuggle while they were little!

Loving these days

2010-03-17T21:31:00.002-05:00

My neighbor gave me a gift today, and she didn't even know it. Her boys have been outside playing from time to time with each other...never with Mom and Dad. They're a bit older than my kids, and they play outside in nice weather without their parents. This afternoon while I was having a blast with my kids in the backyard, I noticed my neighbor all alone checking out some work she'd had done on her house. Alone. While I was surrounded by lots of fun, giggly laughter...the kind that's absolutely infectious!

I just stopped right there during our playtime and thanked God for these days. My kids will one day too be big like hers, and these types of afternoons pushing them on the swings will be a distant memory. I know there will be new things to treasure when those days come. But today I stopped to draw in the laughter, the silliness, the fun that is my kids while they're little. Thank you, Lord, for these sweet and tender days with my kids. I've been regretting that they're not tiny anymore. My baby will be 2 in May. Those baby and toddler days flew by! Just like the gray haired ladies told me they would! But I don't have to let these preschooler days fly by. I'm going to soak them in...and spend lots more time giggling in the backyard. I'm so glad I caught a glimpse of my neighbor and that God allowed me to slow down enough to notice how full and blessed my hands were at that moment.

Snow Day!

2010-02-08T23:09:00.002-06:00

This morning Matt came in while I was showering to announce that there would be no school today. Seriously?!? We'd had no big warning from the weather announcers that we should expect snow. I'd seen it in the forecast several days before, but it wasn't showing on my Iphone anymore.

So after I got dressed, I went to peek out the window (I'm worse than the kids about snow days). And there were these big gigantic flakes coming down. We already had several inches, and it was still coming! I was delighted. Now...since there was no Mother's Day Out or big kid school for Abby...I thought it wise to get some work done early and let the kids sleep in. That plan lasted about 20 minutes until Isabella woke up and saw the snow. Within a couple of minutes, the whole house was awake and ready for snow day!!

For whatever reason, I've made sausage balls for breakfast every time we've had snow/ice this year. So off to the kitchen I trotted to make my friend Lindsay's sausage ball recipe (so much better than our old recipe). While they baked, I got everyone dressed for snow play. And they eagerly ran off to brush their own teeth to get a check on our new chore charts. Lovin' me some chore charts!!

Now taking Abby out in the snow posed some slight dilemma. So I decided to put her leg into a garbage bag. Then I put her pants on top of the garbage bag and stuffed it in there really well. Then when we went outside I loaded her into our Radio Flyer wagon and wrapped a towel around her leg for extra measure. Can you tell I don't want this cast to get wet? I did decide to not let her walk in the snow for fear of breaking her other leg or soaking her cast. But I pulled her around the yard in her wagon and let her build a snowgirl from inside her wagon. We even had snowball fights too!

Isabella and Ali Kate loved being in the snow. They had a blast. Isabella made "snow pies," and Ali Kate just kept scooping it up in her hands and licking it. We made two snowgirls complete with berries for eyes, twigs for arms, a hat, a scarf, and other nature items for accessories (we were out of carrots). Grant wasn't too fond of the snow, and I can't blame him. It was almost up to his knees. He really couldn't figure out why he had to wade through this stuff. So Mommy held him alot while I launched snowballs at the girls. Did I mention I grew up in South MS? It snowed maybe 4 or 5 times my whole childhood and NEVER like this. I don't think I've ever seen this much snow before except on a trip to Boston in high school.

We played outside for about an hour until everyone was good and frozen. Then I had the kids totally undress in the entryway and go fetch clean fleece pjs from the clean laundry basket (that saved me from folding and putting away 8 pieces of laundry!). Then they watched a movie while I cleaned up and did some laundry. I also spent some sweet, sweet time alone with Grant looking at picture books and building blocks. He won't let me stack more than 4 before he knocks them over and gut laughs!!

The day went on with indoor play and some great storytime tonight. If you haven't read the book Pinkalicious, you've got to check it out. Love it! The girls (definitely not Grant) love to sit forever and read story after story. Grant likes to hit us in the heads while we read all of those stories...so he had to hang with Dad during storytime. Boys are different!

Tomorrow we'll be getting ready for everyone's Valentine's parties at their schools. Yay!

We're Still Here!

2009-12-11T13:07:00.002-06:00

Well...it looks like I've fallen off the blogging bandwagon. I have. I've been so super busy with everything (I do have 4 kids) that I haven't blogged in a while. I've got plenty to blog about but just no time really. I should be scrubbing the kitchen floor and ironing right now, but I want to sit for a few minutes.

I just had to explain the new header. That picture was taken in an attempt by Matt's parents last Christmas to get a family picture of us in front of the tree. Every year we do this, and every year the picture looks something like this one. I actually did have one halfway good picture, but this one was just too fun to pass up! This is the Stines...what you see is what you get! We're loud, crazy, busy, chaotic...we weren't before we had so many kids. I actually remember having 2 sweet little girls and being a very normal, quiet family like everyone else. Then came #3 and #4. That changed everything!

We haven't taken a Christmas picture yet. Not because I'm a procrastinator (I'm not). I waited forever to get their matching outfits in. I seriously could not find 4 matching outfits for boys and girls sizes 2-6x in any of my favorite boutiques.,..seriously. And I started looking early (like early October). So I ordered on the Internet. I was about to order them when I got an email that they were going to go 50% off for Black Friday...so I did what any frugal stay-at-home mom who has to buy 4 matching outfits would do...I ordered them right after midnight on Black Friday. Then a week later I got an email saying that Ali Kate's dress wasn't in stock....really?!? Really. After all of the hunting, planning, searching I'd done...and it wasn't in stock. So what do I do? I scoured the internet to find it and called all kinds of places to be sure they had it before I clicked "order" on another site. I found it. Paid full price plus $6 shipping (ouch!). Then I had to wait almost another week to get it. In the meantime, Grant's longall had to be hemmed. A fabulous woman did hem it in 24 hours...we'll be repeat customers of hers!
And in the meantime, I did get the girls all new haircuts so they'd be cute for the pictures...and I cut Grant's hair myself (I'll so have to post about that later). Let's just say that my calling is not to be a stylist. Ever.

So after all of this, I've got 4 matching outfits (which are beautiful I might add) in hand...but 2 of my 4 have the most disgusting snotty noses (and Grant has a big goose egg on his head...which is normal for him...he's all boy and into EVERYTHING). So we've been waiting for a couple of more days for them to look cute again to try to snap that perfect photo and get these cards on their way.

And if we don't get the photo? No problem...we could always send this one!

Not Me Monday

2009-10-26T21:30:00.004-05:00

It's that time again. Not Me Monday. Time to join in with women around the world as we admit our imperfections to one another....yay!! Seriously. It's so nice to know that we're all doing the best we can, and we all don't meet the "mark" each and every day.

So what didn't happen to me this last week? Well, let me start with Sunday morning. I didn't wake up at 7:00 for church when I'm supposed to wake up at 6:00 to get this family moving. It takes the full 2 1/2 hours to get us all ready for our day at church. Then I didn't have this happen to me. I most certainly didn't have my next to oldest walk up to me and ask me to get the sticker out of her hair only to find that it wasn't a sticker...it was bubblegum. Her sweet dad definitely didn't let her have gum the day before without making sure that he got the gum back after her gum-chewing session. Seriously, I make it a habit to ask for gum back when I do let Abby and Isabella have this fun treat. That was I don't find it later in the van, on the floor, or in this case in my child's hair.

Well, I didn't proceed to try to wash it out of her hair and then remember that once my mom used peanut butter to get it out of my own hair when I too slept with bubblegum in my hair. I most certainly didn't holler to my husband to bring the jar of peanut butter to the shower to help (it wasn't coming out so well on its own). I then of course didn't smear loads of peanut butter in her hair and then slide the gum right on out. Aren't you glad you found this entry? You may seriously need to use this home-grown knowledge one day on your own kiddos!! And I did wash her hair 3times after that just to be sure that she didn't smell like a PBJ in Sunday School.

What else didn't happen to me this week? My same child, I think I see a pattern here, didn't steal a Green Apple Airhead at Shoe Carnival. Not my child. We ran in there because I couldn't find a size 13 pair of Keds to save my life for my oldest. Now all Southern girls have white Daphne t-strap Keds in the winter. It's like an unwritten rule. Well, when you get to a size 13, you have to get the laceup kind. Yuck. If you're a Keds representative reading this, please please consider making the Daphne in larger sizes (at least a 2 or 3 please). I digress.

While I was trying on shoes, two of the employees started talking to me...and yes, they were two of my former students from my middle school teacher days. And here they were seniors in high school now...and helping me with my shoe crisis! Well, the one teenager says to me, "That one eating the candy is so cute!" And I didn't reply, "What candy?!?" That's when we unfolded that Isabella had helped herself to an Airhead while I was catching up with my students. While she had stolen (and we had to have a long talk about this and of course actually pay for the already digested airhead), she had at least found a garbage can and thrown away the wrapper so as not to make a mess. I must have trained that backwards...clean up: important....stealing: not so much. I totally joke! Of course, it's the honesty that's most important, and she's young. I don't think she honestly realized that the candy wasn't there for her to just munch on while we shopped. So we had to have a very long explanation about that one!

This week Matt most certainly didn't accidentally put Grant in Ali Kate's white Rosalina shirt. You know, the Sir John ones are for boys and Rosalina for girls. Well, Matt didn't miss the scalloped collar and mistake it for Grant's shirt. Explanation? It was a 2T. Seriously? And he chides me for dressing Grant too "girly"...I may put him in smocked tractor jon jons, but at least I don't put his sister's clothes on him for church!! Honey...when you read this...I love you!!
It really could have happened to any of us!

And this week I didn't take my kids to the bakery for a special "treat" because I wanted one myself. And my linebacker of a 17 month old son most certainly didn't holler "COOKIE!" at the bakery lady until she selected one for him and fed it to him herself....seriously! And the next morning, Grant most certainly didn't say cookie as soon as he got downstairs for breakfast. Not a kid after my own heart. I'd never eat a cookie for breakfast! Not me!

Works For Me Wednesday...Toddlers and Preschool Prep

2009-10-20T23:19:00.006-05:00

Join us on the Works for Me Wednesday Blog Carnival hosted by "We Are That Family."

This year we took a big leap when we had to get 3 of our 4 little, tiny kids ready for preschool and Bible study 3 mornings a week. So what works for us? Prep, prep, prep. Now...let me confess that I'm not always as prepared as I am tonight. Yay for me tonight though. Now I can sleep till 6:30 tomorrow morning unless our little guy decides to wake up before the sun does. Seriously. He will.

We're the king and queen of assembly lines here at our house! Matt and I are both of the thought that if we can streamline as much as possible, then life will be easier. And with four kids ages 1, 2, 4, and 5, we're right on this one thing for sure!

Here are the girls' clothes and shoes all laid out already for tomorrow...did I cheat a little this time? Yeah. I went shopping today and got them all matching outfits that they're going to wear tomorrow. So I didn't have to do any real work to pull this together. We've got panties, socks, shoes, outfits, and matching bows ready to go! I really do try to get these things laid out in the kitchen at night so that in the mornings they can get dressed right before breakfast in peace. My morning goal? To enjoy them before I take them to preschool. I want them to be happy and ready for fun!

While this looks like a huge mess, it's actually most of the bags we'll need for tomorrow. We've got 3 lunches, 3 backpacks, 1 diabetes care bag, and 2 nap mats. Nap mats aren't even shown here (they're on the floor). I've already packed their lunches...and take a guess...they're all the same food. Sometimes I'll sneak a small sweet into Isabella or Ali Kate's but otherwise all 3 are the same for my sanity and simplicity. PBJ, PBJ, PBJ. Banana, banana, banana. Cheetos, cheetos, cheetos. There's something nice about doing things exactly the same. Of course I vary it from time to time to make them feel special or give them their individual favorite treats but usually it's the same as their sisters.

And while I didn't do it tonight, last night I actually fixed everyone's breakfast and poured their sippy cups (leaving them in the fridge of course) so that this morning would go smoothly. It's very hard getting all of them out of the house fed, cleaned, and looking cute...and most importantly keeping my testimony intact as I love on them before they start their days...without getting everything done the night before. Pack lunches, fix breakfast, lay out clothes.

Oh, and one more thing....I lay out clothes and shoes from youngest to oldest, left to right to keep things straight. Especially since my 3 girls are almost the same sizes. I do the same when folding their laundry. Left to right...works like a charm!

Not Me! Monday

2009-10-19T21:48:00.004-05:00

I've participated once before in this blog carnival, and I thought it'd be fun to do again today while I'm supposed to be printing orders. I'm tired and need a break for a few minutes. Here's are some things that I definitely have NOT done this last week (the theme of this carnival is of course to admit some things that show we're really not perfect...seriously, a mom, not perfect? Don't let the kids know!)...

Right now underneath my stove there is most certainly not a GoGurt tube from a couple of days ago. My husband would NEVER have forgotten to finish this important task of retrieving the gogurt that my little sweet Ali Kate most certainly didn't throw underneath our stove in a fit of rage because it wasn't the right flavor. And of course I most certainly didn't nag him at least 10 times to retrieve the gogurt!!

This morning I most definitely didn't do this: Same kid...she's 2...so let's keep that in mind. She did not have a small accident at her big sister's school because she didn't scoot back far enough on the toilet...I most certainly didn't leave my 3 kids in the restroom with strict instructions to not touch anything in site while I definitely DIDN'T run back into big sister's kindergarten class to grab her extra panties in her extra clothes bag that the teacher keeps on hand. The teacher then didn't have a look of horror on her face when I said we had an accident because she of course DID NOT think that it was our 5 year old (rather than the 1, 2, or 4 year olds). Then after cleaning everything and changing into big sister's spare panties...I most certainly didn't let my child wear her dress/leggings set sans leggings the rest of the day (after confirming with her preschool teacher that they weren't going outside today). Not me...never!!

And I did not throw 2 fun size kit kat bars into my purse this morning for breakfast...never would I eat chocolate candy bars for breakfast.

And to top it all off today, I most certainly didn't wait in line forever to buy the cutest Little English overstock smocked dresses for my girls and some other clothes for my handsome little guy. I most certainly don't have a horrible weak spot for smocked clothes at discounted prices, no not me. And I of course have no weakness for chocolate. Or boutiques...not me! And if you're one of my friends reading this and you happen to go to the sale later this week when they've marked things down more, call me while you're there...I'd like a few more pants for Grant...seriously....

As for more things I haven't done this week. I definitely did not have my sweet husband install and then teach me how to use my new diecut machine to make girly die cut letters and invitations. I most certainly didn't have him making swirly vinyl letters...and I'm not now sharing that with the entire Internet. Honey, you are the best!!

For whatever reason...this is fun to admit my shortcomings...I've got my fair share...because too often we take ourselves so seriously and think that everyone else has it all together. Just read some of the other people's entries...none of us is perfect...and it's quite a chuckle to share what we've NOT done lately!!

Oh, to catch up!

2009-10-10T22:42:00.002-05:00

To begin to catch up blogging would be overwhelming to say the least. The last entry on here was right before Abby started kindergarten....so I thought it appropriate to add some first day of school pictures at the top. Of course, to blog about everyone's first day will take a while...and one day I should sit down and do it. But not right now.

Since my last entry, we've been swamped!! I've sent Abby off to kindergarten, Isabella off to 4k, and Ali Kate off to preschool. And Grant...well, he's stuck at home with me and loving it! We've not made it but to 2 days of preschool though. Strep, fevers, and stomach viruses ravaged our household for the better part of 5 weeks. I'm not kidding. We'd get sick, get well, get sick, get well. Never the same kid twice in a row. We went through cycle after cycle of getting sick, waiting to be not contagious to go somewhere, then watch someone else get sick. Repeat cycle. And did I mention it rained for weeks on end I think. Seriously. So most of September was spent indoors with sick kids on rainy days. My TV worked overtime! I'm not an advocate of TV viewing for more than maybe 2 hours a week....oh, but we logged at least an hour each day during sick fest 09. I'm ashamed, but it's true. We hit survival mode a few points, and I had to let Olivia or Franklin babysit one kid while I took care of a feverish baby or a throwing up toddler. We even had to say goodbye to a car seat that couldn't be used again after a throwing up incident.

During September, I think we successfully cancelled every bunco, church meeting, girls' night, playdate, you name it. We were just quarantined by choice.

Then as that all finally let up I began to face some serious medical issues which I'll not go into right now....I'm still waiting to get some answers but am very thankful for modern medicine. Without modern medicine I wouldn't be able to sit here and type. My sudden onset of arthritic issues rendered me unable to care for my own children for almost 2 weeks. Matt has been home way too much, and my dad has had to come in and save us. He even took the dynamic duo back with him for a week to relieve me. I'm doing fine now thanks to the meds. If I miss them though, I can't move. Seriously. It's that bad.

Now that we're all finally well...and I'm on the right medications...we're going to have a fabulous October. We've already decorated, and we've been fall clothes shopping lately. We've been doing some crafts too. I'll have to post pictures! And of course playing outside in this nice,cool weather. I absolutely love fall...and the baking that goes with it!

I've got some great stories and more to write soon....just when I'm not so sleepy!

I Think I Can, I Think I Can, I Think I Can

2009-08-10T20:34:00.002-05:00

I think I can do it. I really do. I really think that I can put on my big, brave mommy face tomorrow and do it. Or can I?

Just last week I was at Methodist Germantown on Thanksgiving Day delivering the smallest of all my babies. Just last week I cried my eyes out as my oldest daughter announced her arrival into the world with big, loud cries. Just last week I was putting her in her preemie clothes and those newborn Pampers Swaddler diapers. Just last week I was rocking her to sleep every night. Wasn't that just last week?

Somewhere in the midst of me having one baby after another for four solid years, that little baby grew up. And tomorrow, bright and early, that little baby is going off to school. Real school. Big kid school. Not the Mother's Day Out that all of us mommies call "school" for our 3 year olds. No, the big one. With kids that even drive themselves to school. Where those 5 years went, I'll never know. Well...I do know. Most of them went to being pregnant, having a baby, caring for that little baby, being pregnant again, having a baby...there's a pattern there. And during all those cycles, my oldest was growing up. And growing up way too fast! I've known for a while that it's been happening. She can ride a real bike, read an entire book that she's never seen before, brush her own teeth, lay out her own clothes, fix her own meal (if she had too), check her own blood sugar, fold her own laundry, clean up her own room, converse on an almost adult level.

Oh, my mama's heart is breaking tonight. Tomorrow my life will forever be different. Four years ago I finally got the privilege of staying home (when Isabella was born). I have spent all day every day with my children. Now the oldest two did go to preschool two mornings a week this past year...but really that was no preparation for what this year will hold. Tomorrow I join "the club." Those moms that live in their SUVs and minivans. Those moms who somehow remember the names of dozens of kids, moms, siblings, teachers, and others from school, soccer, dance, church, gymnastics, Bible study, the grocery store...you name it. Tomorrow I can't stay in my pajamas if I want or go to the Children's Museum all day or swim with the kids for hours on end.

This afternoon I got a glimpse of "the club." At gymnastics, so many sweet mamas were sharing their stories about their first day. Long carpool lines, crying kids, kids that didn't want them to drive them, mean teachers, sweet teachers....tomorrow I will have my story to share. I will be a school-aged mom. Really? Me? A school-aged mom? My head spins just thinking about it. I have grown so very comfy in my role as a stay-at-home and play mom.

Jean Stockdale has taught us time and time again to begin slowly to release our kids. Our job is to prepare them to leave one day. To prepare them to live as adults. To teach them about the Lord and point them to Him through instruction and example. And this aim will never change. Whether Abby is at home or at school. And so in the morning I'm going to begin to release her. And I am so thankful that the Lord has provided us with the ability to send her to an excellent school with such a fabulous teacher! Her teacher is a fun, spunky lady who genuinely loves the kids and what she does. She loves animal print fabrics, wears the cutest dresses, has her hair in the most stylish cut, and always has her makeup just perfect...so you know she's got an A+ in my book! And after meeting with her for Abby's diabetes care...I know that Abby is in great hands. Most importantly she's in the Lord's hands.

So it is with a huge mess of emotions that I send my baby (yes, she will always be my baby) off to kindergarten tomorrow. To make new friends and learn new things. And I am so excited for her because this year holds so much promise! She's going to fall in love with school just like I did. And I can't wait to join her in her new stage of life....let's just hope I adjust to my new stage of life quick!

And if you've actually read this far...I ask that you add Abby and her teachers and staff at her school to your prayer list this entire year as they have the very serious and challenging responsibility of managing and controlling her diabetes all day every day. Please also continue to pray that our insurance will cover her continuous blood glucose monitor...it's being reviewed soon. The Lord knows the need, and I know His hand is on this.

5 Things Friday

2009-08-07T01:01:00.001-05:00

Jean Stockdale, one of my all-time favorite teachers of the Word of God, is hosting 5Things Friday over at her blog (you really should go check it out). Today she's asked us to chime in with 5 things we love to do with our kids in the summer. Here's the Stine's five:

1. Eat popsicles in our pajamas, diapers, whatever out on the deck too many times a day (thank goodness for those yummy Crystal Light ones that Abby can devour)

2. Swim, swim, swim whenever we can have an entire morning or afternoon

3. Eat picnic dinners outside on our gigantic picnic blanket (this may have been the best $9.99 I've ever spent)

4. Have impromptu movie night where we take baths in the mid-afternoon, put on our pjs, pop popcorn, and lay with our pillows and blankets in the living room to watch a good movie together

5. Water play...wading pools, the actual sprinkler, slip n slide, you name it...we're there!

A Thousand Words Thursday

2009-08-06T15:09:00.000-05:00

Country life is for kids. My girls love the open fields, real hanging-from-an-actual-tree tire swings, golf cart rides through blueberry bushes, swimming with their cousins, running barefoot through the dirt, eating dessert twice a day....all the things that we just don't get living in the suburbs of Memphis. This is summer at its best.

Oh, that Grant man

2009-07-29T23:24:00.002-05:00

First of all...I just saw Grant today and realized that he's not all that little anymore. Do you ever look at your "baby" and realize that they're not really a "baby" anymore? Well, he is only 14 months old...but it seems like he's been here forever...and he's a big one. I mean big! Like wearing size 5 diapers and 2T clothes kind of big! But something about his facial expressions and contour is changing from baby to toddler...and Mama's not ready for that!!!! This is our last one (like 99.9% probably our last one)....and I want to keep him a baby forever. And ever. And ever. Only for a little while longer will those fat chunky legs be adorable!

Grant is into everything these days...keeping us on our toes. Today he played in the dishwasher while I cooked dinner. I was trying to keep him occupied so that I could put together a nice meal for everyone before I had to dash into the rain for a church meeting (which I was late for despite leaving with plenty of time to spare). When it rains in Memphis, people forget how to drive, so you need to add like an hour to your drive time. The interstate was a nightmare!

I digress. He entertained himself by putting a Little People girl into the dishwasher several times and then rescuing her. Put her in danger. Rescue her. Put her in danger. Rescue her. This was working very well for him for a while until he decided that he needed to climb up my leg while I was working at the stove. Not the best idea. So brilliant mom that I am...I put him in a walker so that he can roam the house without destroying everything in sight. Wrong!

Grant literally made his way from our living room back to the stove in less than a minute with his walker flying skills. It was insane! The girls never flew around the house in that thing. I don't even use it often...just in times like these when I need a few minutes. How he's gotten this good so fast I don't know. Boys are just different. Very different. I'm in for some surprises I think in the upcoming years for sure!

Maybe tomorrow I'll carve out 10 minutes to upload a picture of my handsome man to go with this post. He is one very handsome little guy for sure! Those blonde curls make your heart melt!

Sometimes You Just Give Up

2009-07-20T20:18:00.002-05:00

Don't know why...but today was one of those days. The kids were irritable ALL DAY LONG. I should have been a smarter mom and cancelled our afternoon playdate based on the morning's behavior. But I thought a nap would cure everything. I found us this afternoon ruining what could have been such a fun playdate. We invited some friends from church over....friends that Abby and Bella usually love to play with. But my girls were so whiny, irritable, cranky, etc....that they just wouldn't brush it off and play. We wanted to go to the Redbirds game with some friends, but we just had to give them a light dinner and send them off to bed (early, like 7:00 early). Their bedtime is around 8:30....but they just couldn't function any longer.

And I'm really praying that a good night's sleep cures it all! I want this to be a fun week!

On a much better note, we began the process today gathering information on getting Abby a continuous blood glucose monitor. Pray along with us that everything will line up so that we can get her on one of these. I just wanted to do cartwheels when I read about how this technology works. It would be a huge blessing for her to be able to be on one! I'm excited about the possibility of having this extra safeguard in place for her (especially with her going off to school).

Oh, and I also have to praise my dear Matt. This weekend he went crazy and literally kept the washer and dryer going non-stop both Saturday and after church Sunday. Let me say that Matt may in a normal month do 2 loads of laundry if that. So I thought he was losing it! But he really worked hard to help me get ahead at home, and I appreciated it so much!! Much praise to him for doing those 5,092 pieces of laundry (my guess but probably close!!).

Real life pictures

2009-07-17T23:22:00.004-05:00

So sometimes I know it's hard to see an image on the screen and translate that to reality. I am horrible at visualizing pieces of furniture or decor in my home until I actually bring it in the house! Pitiful I know. But true!

So I thought I'd take this chance to show a few of my recent orders. I took this picture at night (and I'm not a professional photographer by any stretch of the imagination)...but you can get a great idea of my finished products by looking at these photos. Enjoy!

And be on the lookout for new fall and holiday designs as they are gradually added to our site!

Oh, how we spent the weekend of the 4th!

2009-07-17T22:16:00.008-05:00

Matt and I got a wild hair (well, really Matt did) that we'd shake things up a bit in the Stine house. Ali Kate and Isabella have always shared a room since AK was born. Always. But lately they've been having MAJOR problems sharing a room because (imagine this) they keep each other awake laughing, playing dolls, talking....I mean big, serious offenses here!! (oh, so kidding) Oh, my goodness to be a little girl again. Anyway, it began to take a toll on them as they went week after week with no nap (and a toll on Mommy too who counts on nap time to be her productive time). So Matt suggested we move Abby and Isabella together. And while our new home is much larger than our old one, the kids' bedroooms are still not large enough to spaciously accomodate two preschoolers and all their stuff!

So we made the decision to give up having a playroom. Now I can already hear mamas near and far lamenting this. Oh, no, not the playroom. But seriously...my kids had one of the best playrooms ever and didn't really actually go play in it all that often. I had visions of me having to scrape them off the playroom floor to come down to dinner once we moved in our house...didn't happen. I sometimes actually begged them to go play in the playroom while I cooked or cleaned. Didn't happen. Only when I was up there engaging them would they play there....so we figured that giving it up wasn't really much of a sacrifice.

So July 3rd and 4th...we painted. Well, first we moved all of their belongings up their the week before (and casually made several playroom toys disappear into toy oblivion). We had to thin out lots of room. So many of our large items found their way into our (gasp here) garage. That's another blog entry for another day.

Anyway, the playroom was still this dark brown (not my favorite but very low on our list of rooms to repaint when we bought the house). So of course we had to change that IMMEDIATELY. We don't keep a house this messy I promise. I took this after we had moved all their stuff into the middle of the room to prep for painting.

And I have always wanted to paint a huge chalkboard wall for them. So here was my chance. My kids are allowed and ENCOURAGED to draw all over the wall. Since they already have shown interest in decorating our walls (see my main entrance hall where Ali Kate used a black Sharpee to draw Mommy a mural. We still can't find the exact shade the previous owners had this house painted after many, many phone calls. Here's Abby testing it out while it was still a work in progress.

After lots of painting during bedtimes, naptimes, and independent playtimes...we got the job finished. It was alot to paint since it was a big room and of course being dark brown meant that the whole thing had to be primed first (that equals painting twice). But we painted it together and knocked it out pretty fast!

And here's what it looked like once we got it all put back together!

Big thanks to Brian and Amanda Williams for giving us the color from Ella's room. We've had a couple of flops with doing an apple green, and I've just given up on apple green. But when I was at their house last, I fell in love with Ella's bedroom color and knew I would use it whenever we redid the girls' rooms. So Ella...thanks! We are loving this color!

And now my next project is to get their room super organized with cute labels on everything and then to paint their monograms above their headboards. And of course figure out what to do with their walls. I'm not 100% decided yet how I'm going to decorate (we eventually need to buy new comforters that match...these are the same color scheme but different designs...so I may wait a bit to decorate it all!).

And what do the girls think? They love it! It totally revitalized that space! They play in it tons every day and even let the babies play there too. We set up a grocery store in one area, a dollhouse in another, school in one...they love it!!

Before and After

2009-07-14T17:14:00.002-05:00

So I would desperately love to show you a "before and after" of me losing 60 pounds! But that's still being worked on....only 10 lost so far. So instead I'll share these pictures that my 5 year old took before I finished mowing the yard and after I finished. Matt has been SO busy lately, so one day a couple of weeks ago I decided that the best way I could show love to him was to mow the yard for him. The kids stood in the shade on this VERY HOT day and ate popsicles while I mowed the front. What should have taken 25 minutes took over an hour since I had to stop and be the popsicle police several times. I also learned how to bag the grass, restart the engine, and add gas.... several phone calls to Matt later I did finish the job.

And afterward, I got out the hose and sprayed it straight upward so that I would be soaked. It was at leat 95 that day. I'm sure the neighbors and passersby thought I was insane, but that water was so so necessary!

Not So Healthy

2009-07-05T21:36:00.002-05:00

This morning we had to stay home from church because Grant had some horrible diapers yesterday. We'll leave it at that. We also wanted to avoid the hand-foot-mouth that seems to be plaguing his room at church.

So I had time to actually fix breakfast. Not just a cereal bar or Eggos or bowl of Cheerios....but actually flip some pancakes. (I do cook dinner but rarely cook breakfast!). Anyway, Isabella ate last because she slept in really late (like 8:30...that's what fireworks will do to you!). She ate her pancakes and then brought her cup of chocolate milk (2% mixed with sugar-free chocolate syrup) to me in the other room. She said, "I can't drink this because it's not healthy for me." I very seriously told her that she could put her cup in the sink then if she didn't want to drink that unhealthy stuff. But then I said, "What about the pancakes? They weren't healthy for you." She said, "But I love them. I can eat those!"

Gotta love it!! Four year olds rock!!

My Little Fish

2009-07-03T15:35:00.000-05:00

I just have to thank my friend Kim Ball for recommending Melissa Brown to me! We've been taking swim lessons every day this week, and she has taught Abby so much. Abby can seriously swim across the pool now. She could already swim so-so, but this week has sharpened her skills. She can even drop into the water and then swim to the other side. We had a "show" today where the parents could go back and see what all they've done. I was very impressed at how far Abby had come! Melissa makes the lessons tons of fun (they've done things called pencil drops, monkey climbs, turtle faces...). She's incorporated play, games, and fun activities into teaching them the fundamentals of swim. Abby is going to go back in a couple of weeks to start working on strokes! How awesome!

We'll post more pics soon...Isabella does her lessons in two weeks. She's never taken any lessons before, so I'm eager to see how she'll do!

Lunch Boxes!!! Just in time for school!!

2009-07-02T14:41:00.002-05:00

It's hot here, and that means school is around the corner! In only five weeks, my oldest will start school (can you believe that?!?). So we're in back to school mode at Duck Duck Goose Designs, and we've got these adorable metal lunch boxes to celebrate. Each old school metal lunch box is food-safe, lead-free, and ready for you to customize! You can pick any of our designs along with your favorite font to make it uniquely yours. I just opened a lunch box section on our site, and I'll be adding more designs daily (although you can always use any of our designs).
And in the month of July, buy a matching lunch box note with your lunch box for only $4 (usually $8). A great way to stay in touch during the school day with your child!
Hope you enjoy these and our lunch box notes that we'll be posting soon!

Cross My heart....pinkie promise

2009-06-30T00:34:00.002-05:00

I pinkie promise to rewind soon and journal about some of the latest Stine news. Since May, we've had 5 family birthdays, VBS, camp, swim lessons, a dance recital, Father's Day, Mother's Day....tons! I want to post a few pictures of our zany life! And it's true...when they get older you get busier and busier and busier. Oh, the season of minivan rubber meeting the road is coming in 5 more weeks. For the first time, back to school is going to mean something in this house!!!!

I'm planning now for special "back to school" activities. I have a few ideas...but would love to hear from friends what you do/have read/have dreamed of for making back to school memorable for your child. (So far...Matt is taking the day off so that I can take Abby all by myself to her class....and of course we're having a special outfit made just for her....and we're going to take "first day" pics...and probably have a crazy breakfast (on a special plate I'm thinking)...) But I need some "out of the box" ideas. Anyone game?

She's just plain crazy!

2009-06-30T00:27:00.003-05:00

Oh, I just have to stop and thank Isabella for being just plain crazy. The past few weeks she has really mellowed out on her temper tantrums and difficult behavior...and she has been a riot! I believe God put her in this family to keep us guessing and laughing and laid back. When things get too serious, add a little Isabella and all lightens up. More often than not she has us laughing ourselves silly at the dinner table with her silly antics. Tonight she asked for an Oreo for dessert after she heartily finished her meal. I said sure since she'd eaten all of her food. She looked at me so seriously and said, "I'm gonna sneak one." Then she brought the whole pack out to the table. Matt looked at her and said, "I hope you never get a job as an investigator!" Later she whispered to me "There are 2 more Oreos for you and me to sneak later." She was beaming from ear to ear as she whispered it in that no so quiet voice of hers!

Boys and Honey...

2009-06-25T22:11:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Abby and Isabella went for a few hours to Rock Star Camp at Stars in Motion (their dance studio). They had a wonderful time of course! They loved it!

In the meantime, I took Ali Kate and Grant to the gym so that I could get some exercise. I worked myself silly! As we were leaving, I was asking Ali how she enjoyed playing at the gym. She says to me very seriously, "I love playing my new friends, but boys are baaaadddd." (She has a very long Southern drawl on that bad.) It was hilarious!

Today I called her to come downstairs, and she said, "I'm coming, honey." When she reached the bottom, I gave her a kiss and hug and said, "Am I your honey? How sweet." She quickly said, "No, you're not my honey. You're my mommy. You're not a bee. A bee is honey." Pretty adept for a new 2 year old!

Oh, Ali Kate says so many hilarious things these days...and I've got to stop forgetting to start remembering to write these things down (ode to Silly Tilly there). (You have to have read the book.)

And Miss Abby herself is actually finally getting excited about kindergarten. She's not been excited about leaving home but is beginning to get cautiously excited about it. I think secretly she's super excited but is guarded about showing her enthusiasm. She told Matt yesterday that she is going to "graduate from naps on August 11th" (the first day of school). I did promise her that...and she won't let me forget it!

An exciting day in the blog world!

2009-06-24T13:36:00.004-05:00

Today's a big day for the Stine family in the blog world! My shop is featured and having a giveaway at Memories on Clover Lane (I love this blog!! She has 5 kids, so I can identify with her on so many levels. And she takes pictures I only wish I could take!!). Hop on over and check out her beautiful blog!

And....Isabella is the featured kiddo today on Totally Tots. They have kind of an "interview" about her. Isn't she adorable! And now those pretty blue eyes are famous! Well, in the mommy blog world at least! I love this site because it is chock full of millions of creative ideas for toddlers and preschoolers (and since we've had a house full of toddlers and preschoolers since before I can remember...it's a favorite source for creative Bible lessons, arts, crafts, etc.) Journey over there to see our adorable Bella (who is actually getting too old to be on this blog....yes, she just turned 4. I can hardly believe it!)

Happy Father's Day, Matt!

2009-06-21T00:52:00.005-05:00

I want to wish you a Happy Father's Day, honey! Not many dads deserve the thanks that you do. You put in a full schedule at work and then come home to 4 wild kids each and every day. (I think the fact that you come on home is impressive on its own!). You have learned to speak my love language (serve, serve, serve)...and you do so much to help! Not many dads work as hard and as long as you do. You are a wonderful husband and father. Thank you for loving these four kids so much and helping raise them every day. You have a special bond with each of them (still working on that one with Big Al a bit, don't you agree?)...and it's sweet to see your individual relationships with them. Grant is going to have lots of fun learning about "boy stuff" with you (cause his mama would probably keep him from all things dangerous like football till he's 45).

Thank you for helping clean up dinner, pick up toys, read books, sing songs, get ready for birthday parties, go get balloons, bandage boo boos, fix lunches, give me breaks, taxi kiddos to dance, put on leotards and tights, dance on stage with Isabella and Abby, check blood sugar, give way too many shots, take care of the yard, teach them Bible stories, pray over and with and for them, change diapers, take them to the potty, brush teeth, fix bows, roll ball, feed, fix dinner, feed, entertain, and did I mention feed?

It takes some serious stamina, love, patience, and caffeine (or chocolate in my case) to care for our crew! And you, Matt, have been there every step of the way. And every diaper of the way, every spilled juice along the way, every ER visit along the way, every nighttime feeding...you've done the dad thing for a long time now! Almost six years!

The girls all think you rock! And I'm pretty sure Grant does too with his "da da da" all the time! We love you and want you to have a wonderful, relaxing day. It's all yours, baby! Kick back, put your feet up (but not on the furniture of course...oh, so just kidding in this house...whose feet haven't been on the couch?!?) and just enjoy the kids that call you Dad on this Father's Day.

We love you!

Oh...and the above picture for anyone else reading this...that's Matt dancing on stage at the girls' dance recital in the "Daddy Dance"...in front of about 250 people...now that's a real man for you! Sweet, honey!

Look Who's Featured on Totally Tots!

2009-06-16T23:38:00.003-05:00

Hop on over to Totally Tots to see a sweet birthday picture of Isabella. She's the only one turning four in June! I also nominated her to be featured there...maybe she'll be picked soon. My friend Ashley told me about this site, and if you have little ones at home....you have to check it out! It's an awesome resource for all things related to little ones!

If only I'd had the camera...

2009-06-11T22:50:00.002-05:00

then you would have seen ME mowing the back yard today! Yes, that's right! I mowed about 1/3 of our very steep back yard. Matt was getting so tired and sweaty, and he looked like he needed a break. I was out there trimming bushes and cleaning out flowerbeds (I'll share a story about that soon!)...and I'd been dripping sweat (I'm sure you wanted to know that too!). But he looked worse than I did...so I offered to finish the yard. Well, he actually laughed at me when I said it. So of course then it was on! I was going to finish it if it killed me! I did mow all the time when I was a teenager (my mom made me), but I've never mowed once in our married life (sad, I know). I actually wanted to mow rather than be inside with the kids. Yes, today was that rough. 99.9% of the time I'll choose kids over almost anything (especially anything involving yardwork), but we had a very rough day and I needed to sweat my frustrations out! Let's just say that we had a botched attempt at potty training, Ali Kate decided she was really 2, Grant has been crawling and getting into everything and putting it all in his mouth, Abby is "the B word...bored for those of you who are new to my blog", we've had activities like every night, and well...I'm just tired! And why I am blogging at 11 p.m.? Because I'm working on Isabella's stickers for her party favors for Saturday...and I always multi task on the computer!

Need to wrap it up though!

Duck Duck Goose Giveaway

2009-06-10T14:30:00.002-05:00

If you're reading this, you need to take a minute and head over to my Duck Duck Goose blog to enter our first giveaway!! Details are on the blog! Good luck!

Needles upon Needles

2009-06-09T01:10:00.000-05:00

I was cleaning out underneath our kitchen sink the other day and took these pictures. Upon first glance, it looks like we're stockpiling formula for a major disaster. Grant would be full for days with this much formula on hand. However, open the lids and the picture changes quite a bit. These three Similac containers are full of used syringes. Each container has dozens of used syringes that I used to inject insulin into my child. Each needle there has actually pierced my baby's skin. I usually throw each container away once it's full. For some reason I didn't...and accumulated three of these. It almost took my breath away to see this harsh visual picture of what I do to keep my baby alive every day. Harsh reality.

While my other three kids have no medical issues at all, Abby takes several daily injections to stay alive. Those words are hard to type. Hard to read. Hard to swallow. Every once in a while it hits me hard. The day I cleaned out the cabinet was one of those. There were probably 200 needles under my kitchen sink that day. That's alot of shots. Alot of injections. Alot of pain.

I do pray that a cure will be found in Abby's lifetime. She deserves it.

Kid Talk

2009-06-08T23:46:00.002-05:00

So Anna Claire spent the night Saturday night (I gotta blog about Saturday sometime soon), and she and Abby had the funniest conversation on the way to church Sunday. It went something like this:

Abby: I can count backwards from 10.
Anna Claire: I can count backwards from 13. 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Abby: I know what 5 plus 5 plus 5 plus 5 is.
Anna Claire: How much?
Abby: 18
Anna Claire: How did you know how to do that?
Abby: Because I know how to do stuff like adults. That's how I know it's 18.

Matt and I were about to crack up laughing as they kept doing their version of adult math!

If you live near Memphis....

2009-05-30T09:25:00.002-05:00

then you have to order a cake from Too Much Designs! Shelly made both Grant's birthday cake and my birthday cake, and they were delicious. You'll notice next time you see me that I ate a bit too much of both! She did Isabella's cake last year, and it was both adorable and delicious. And did I mention very well-priced? My in-laws ate two slices each (a first for them at any of our parties). And I ate, well, a bunch! I can't say enough about how very cute her designs are and how very moist and perfect her cakes taste! And yes, she'll be doing one more in a couple of weeks for Isabella's birthday. Then I'll be hitting the gym hard to work off all those cakes! She has a website at www.toomuch designs.com that's worth checking out for sure!

Oh, and she was too sweet to make Grant an extra little cake for himself since she had enough batter left! Too sweet!

Slip N Slide Time

2009-05-28T23:17:00.000-05:00

Pawpaw and Granny came for Grant's birthday (which I'll have to blog about later). He was miserably sick from about 1:30on...not a very good first birthday. Anyway, they bought the girls a Slip N Slide (oh, I have a good story from my own childhood to share about my fear of these things). Well, it took quite a bit of work to get them to use it. Abby was scared of it. Ali Kate was too happy playing in their wading pool. Isabella didn't "get" how to get a running start to dive into it. So we pulled her along with those pool noodles. She loved it, and we got soaked! Well, Pawpaw and I did anyway. After lots of water play, we all cooled off with these frozen ice pops. Matt and Pawpaw got a little wet with all these slippery girls!

This is pitiful

2009-05-28T23:00:00.000-05:00

My family absolutely LOVES these all-natural Cheetos (which I inadvertently called organic for like 6 months before my dear husband finally graciously corrected me). Anyway, they haven't had them for like 3 weeks at Kroger much to our disappointment. So Monday when the grocery guy asked me if I was finding everything ok, I actually asked him to help me find them. They've always been on a certain endcap, and I grab a bag each week (despite their crazy price of $3.79...it's one of our few grocery splurges...and well worth it). They were replaced with Doritos (who really cares about Doritos when you could have these?!?). I had searched the chip aisle to no avail. But the guy found the Frito-Lay Rep who was stocking the shelves. He kindly told me that he had some on his truck and that he hadn't been putting them in Kroger because they didn't leave a space for them. I told him that we LOVED them...and so he said that he'd clear off some of those Doritos and make us a space for our white Cheetos. What a sweet man! Matt laughed at me when I told him what I'd done. Abby asked if the shelf would have our name on it. Not quite, I told her. But I will be glad to be able to keep buying them. For all you Desoto County Kroger shoppers, you're welcome! And if you've never tried these, buy a bag today! They're yummy!

How to Stave Off Summer Boredom!

2009-05-28T22:46:00.003-05:00

Step 1: Gather your cutting tools and scrapbook paper to cut two circles.
Be sure to choose cute colors!

Step 2: Adhere the two circles. Choose any letters to spell "idea jar."
Also go ahead and write all of your fun ideas on strips of paper to go into the jar. Ours included read a book, play Leapster, pretend to camp, swing, paint, dress-up, and more!

Step 3: Adhere the labels to the jar and adorn with a coordinating ribbon. (Abby chose everything for this project...papers, letters, and ribbon). I think she has a great eye for colors!

Abby and Isabella finished preschool for the year two weeks ago (May 13th). I am SO behind on blogging for sure! We had a week of stomach virus in our house, and then we had party week with Grant's birthday, Mother's Day, and my birthday....and we launched Duck Duck Goose Designs. We've been a little busy to say the least! So I have lots I gotta blog about.

Anyway, oh it took only about 2 days before Abby was wandering the house saying, "I'm bored." Now mind you she only went to preschool on Mondays and Wednesdays, so it's not like she's not used to being with us. But I do have to say in her defense that I too would probably be bored with a house full of babies and toddlers. As the mom, however, I can't hear this the next 3 months. So I made her promise that she wouldn't use the B word (bored) at all all summer. Well, it only took 48 hours before she started saying, "Mom, I'm that word I'm not supposed to say all summer." What a little genius! So the idea jar was born!

After rattling off a list of things she could do and have fun doing, I got the bright idea (pun totally intended) to make the idea jar. Off we dashed to my scrapbook closet to get some cute papers. First, we cut two circles with my cutting tool (I love this thing!). Then we adhered those together and chose some fun stickers from my leftover sticker letters (great way to use those up!). Abby listed off fun things to do (with my help), and I wrote them on slips of paper. She can pretty much read almost anything now, so I knew she could read these when she pulled them out of the jar. We then stuck this on a Mason jar that we'd gotten full of Krystal's yummy Christmas treats (of course it had been scrubbed of all sugary remnants). Then we added a sweet bow...and wow! An idea jar!

Yesterday she actually used this to my delight. She had that look on her face (and we'd already read books, eaten breakfast, done a memory verse, played school, learned how to count money, eaten snack, and played independently...and it was only 11 a.m...and she was already the B word). On her own, she goes, "Oh, I have to go check my idea jar." She read her slip "pretend to camp" and off the girls went to set up a pretend camp in Isabella and Ali Kate's room. That turned into a solid hour of imaginative play. Go, idea jar!

Oh, I'm getting old

2009-05-12T23:13:00.003-05:00

So it's beginning to settle in with me. I'm aging. I had a friend from college send me a friend request on Facebook (which I rarely even use), and I realized that it's been 12 years since we were roommates. 12 years! Back in 1997, and now we're in 2009! To top it off, let me list some other aging factors.

Last night we celebrated with Abby at her preschool graduation. She begins kindergarten this fall. Am I seriously old enough to have a kindergarten child? That's wild! Did I not just have her a little while ago? My days at home with her have been far too few. Oh, my heart already breaks for when she leaves. And it's only half day kindergarten. But I love being home with her!

Another aging tidbit...Grant turns one this week! Yes, one. Now I seriously did just deliver him. Was it already a year ago this week that I was on bedrest and could barely walk across the house without unbearable pain? Was it already a year ago that we brought that new little baby home to his 3 big sisters? Oh, it flew by!

And the big topper? I turn 30 two weeks from TODAY. 30! I used to babysit for people who were in their 30s (who are now in their late 40s). Can I now be one of them? Did I make that transition that fast? I will no longer even really qualify for the Young Married stuff at our church (which is fine since many are even up to 40)...but still...I'm an old married now!

Don't know why I'm having this moment, but I am. So indulge me a little as I soak up the fact that I'm aging....and quickly! Oh, I may gain 5 pounds this month from chocolate alone if I dwell too long on this one!

Camp Notes

2009-05-10T22:48:00.007-05:00

This was part of my art fun today while the kids were napping. I told you Matt did the laundry today...I love him for that! Usually I go grocery shopping on Sunday afternoons, but that didn't happen today. I got lost in art world...and had fun designing this!

The top one is a fill-in note for the little camper to send to friends and family while away. The bottom one actually comes blank so that Mom and Dad can write their little camper a note to open each night at camp. (I just filled in my own text for fun!). What a great way to stay in touch with campers while they are away from home!

The Perfect Mother's Day

2009-05-10T21:51:00.002-05:00

Today has been an absolutely wonderful day! I woke before the kids and grabbed a shower. While I was brushing my teeth, Abby ran into the bathroom shouting, "Happy Mother's Day," and she gave me a huge hug. She was so sweet. I said to her, "I can't believe you remembered." Then she said, "I remembered because I love you so much." Talk about making you melt.

Then when I went to get Ali Kate out of her crib, she too gave me a huge kiss and said, "Happy Mother's Day." I don't know how she remembered because Matt was at the grocery store (not home to prod her along). She was too sweet for words. Isabella didn't have a clue it was Mother's Day for at least another half hour...she had a time waking up today!

Matt arrived with donuts (a twice a year at best treat) for us. Luckily, Abby was 85when she woke up, so she was able to indulge in a sweet treat with a little extra insulin in her morning dose. Anyway, as soon as I threw on some comfy clothes, we all headed upstairs to open gifts. The girls couldn't wait a second longer to give me my gifts. Why upstairs? They were hidden in the attic...yes, Matt knows I'm a snoop at the holidays!

As I closed my eyes, the girls brought me their gifts one at a time. Matt had taken them to Mud Monkey Pottery to make individual pieces of pottery for me. Each made a plate...totally their own. Matt said he let them walk in the store, choose their pieces, their paints, their designs...everything. They did fabulous jobs. I'll take pictures this week and post them. Grant did his footprints on a piece.

And yay...I got my mommy bracelet replaced! The thieves stole all my jewelry in October, and I've missed wearing my mommy bracelet. You rarely saw me without it. Well, I got a new one (and with a fourth strand for Grant). This bracelet is now HUGE with four strands. If we ever had another child, we'd have to find a new mommy kind of jewelry. This bracelet would be too big to wear!

Anyway, we took our time just being together and eating our sweet breakfast...and we didn't rush to church. We hated to miss Bible Fellowship, but we treasured our sweet morning as a family. Then we had a wonderful morning at church, and we came home to a simple lunch. The girls napped while MATT DID HOUSEWORK for me (yes, he did like 4 loads of laundry...go Matt!). That was part of my Mother's Day gift...he did the housework, diapers, insulin, baths, etc. today. I crafted...I painted some pictures and made Abby's teacher the most adorable frame. Art relaxes me so much...and I really enjoyed my relaxed afternoon. We played with the kids all afternoon and night...just hanging out as a family. No big fancy meals or big plans...just hanging out and enjoying one another. It was fabulous! Matt really made this a wonderful Mother's Day!

Mommy Memo Pads

2009-05-02T01:16:00.000-05:00

While I'm on a roll posting my newest Duck Duck Goose products, I thought I'd post a picture of our new mommy pads. Recognize those kiddos? I had so much fun designing this and playing with my new memo pad maker. I was really excited about my new machinery. Abby helped me assemble this, and she was really into it too. She is so interested in all of this designing process.

Another Duck Duck Goose Tee

2009-05-02T00:59:00.000-05:00

This one is a birthday gift for Hannah who had to cancel her party because she's sick. What a yucky situation. I know that would be hard to deal with for sure. We'll get it to her when she's all well. This looks just like her...for anyone who knows her...don't you agree? These faces I orginially designed for memo pads and then thought they'd be perfect for these tees. So here they are on tees. I can do any bow color, hair color, hair length, skin color, etc. I think the girls are going to have to have one of these this summer!

Duck Duck Goose Tees!

2009-05-02T00:54:00.002-05:00

So Matt and I are still trying to get our website complete so that we can launch my line of stationery, invitations, and gifts...well....we're going to offer these adorable tees in our gift line. I am so excited about these. I made these for Abby and Grant and was so pleased that I have made tons of them this week! I have listed several in at Etsy shop. You can find me on Etsy at www.myduckduckgoose.etsy.com. I wanted to use duckduckgoosedesigns, but it was already taken. I think I've got 12 or 13 on there...with more designs to come. I love designing this stuff! Don't the kids look cute in theirs? This turned out to be the perfect solution for a top to match those super adorable capris that Abby's wearing. I bought those at the FBC sale last month and needed a top to match...so I made one! She loves it...and well, Grant, he couldn't care less of course. But he is handsome in it!

Jesus, dogs, and hearts

2009-05-01T13:35:00.001-05:00

So we had a long morning of running errands...which I usually try to avoid. But we just had to today. The kids thankfully were very well-behaved everywhere we went. Thanks, kids! As we were driving home, Isabella started asking me about dogs...here's how the conversation went:

Isabella: "Mom, do dogs have hearts?"
Me: "Yes, they do have hearts."
Isabella: "Do they have Jesus or Satan in their hearts?"
Me: "They don't have either in their hearts."
Isabella: "Do they have Jesus in their hearts?"
Me: "No, they only have blood in their hearts."
Isabella: "Blood in their hearts?"
Me: "Yes, we all have blood in our hearts."
Isabella: "I don't have blood in my heart."
Me: "Yes, you do."

And thus began a long conversation about anatomy, heart functioning, blood sugar checks, pancreases, etc. The kids were absolutely fascinated to know that dogs don't have Jesus in their hearts and that we all have blood in our bodies. The things you didn't realize that they didn't know. You never know when you pass a minivan on the road what might be being discussed in that vehicle. Especially if you happen to be passing ours!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

2009-04-21T15:53:00.002-05:00

So this tiny talk actually comes from my oldest. Abby was eating lunch today and said to me, "Mom, I was smaller in dance class today. Usually I'm much bigger."

So I asked, "How did you get smaller?"

She said, "I think it's those vegetables. That healthy stuff from yesterday did it."

I about laughed out loud. She was as "serious as a bee" (as she oftentimes says).

I Got Sticky!

2009-04-20T23:11:00.000-05:00

Today Ali Kate and I indulged in an Oreo dessert at lunch while the girls were away at preschool (we have a tendency to treat ourselves sometimes while they are away). Anyway, I let her have one oreo for dessert with her lunch, and this is what she looked like! She lifted her hands to me and said, "I got sticky." So I said, "I'll help you after I finish feeding Grant." She then screams, "You gotta clean it. I got sticky. It's yuck!" So we had to pause a minute and disinfect her, oops I mean wipe her down, before I finished feeding Grant. How one child can make this much mess with one cookie is totally beyond me. But leave it up to Ali Kate to make a gigantic mess out of nothing. She's the best at that!

Those Eyes!

2009-04-20T23:07:00.000-05:00

Have you seen a sweeter baby?

The Woes of Diabetes

2009-04-20T23:05:00.000-05:00

This was supposed to be a great picture of my little ones in their matching Easter outfits to send to my mom (who graciously bought these for the kids). We snapped a few photos on our way into church (lest we get paint or marker on our outfits during SS), but none were good. So after church we went back to the courtyard to try again. My rule? We only try for a few minutes....we get what we get. I never want my kids to feel like I'm being OCD or crazy about getting the perfect picture, so we are very laid back and only try for a few minutes. (That may be why I don't have any great photos of all 4 together....but getting four little kids to all look in your direction at once is asking ALOT!). Anyway, we went to take photos, and Abby just lost it. She started being rude to us and refusing to take any photos at all. Well, I was not pleased because these were to be a gift to my mom. So I told her to just smile for a minute and we'd be done. She instead stormed off and hid behind these bushes. She just started balling. A quick sugar check showed us that her being rude wasn't her...it was a dangerously low blood sugar that she hadn't detected. After some juice, she was a jovial, upbeat kid again (of course we were halfway home by that time). So we'll be wearing our Easter clothes another Sunday and attempting to get a good family picture. Poor Abs. She's a trooper for sure!

Grant's First Easter

2009-04-20T22:58:00.000-05:00

I can hardly believe that Grant's first Easter has come and gone so quickly. He will be a year old in less than a month. Where did this past year go? Time literally flies when you have little ones. I remember bedrest this time last year like it was yesterday. Last April I was holed up in my tiny old house in clothes that could fit a baby elephant stuck in bed and going to the OB about every 3 days for ultrasounds and fetal monitoring. Wow...a year ago!

Grant gave us some great photos like this one at Bellevue Sunday morning. Doesn't he look adorable in his bunny jon jon? Matt wasn't very keen on this outfit. I think it may actually be his least favorite of all of the clothes I've ever bought Grant. But you can only do this when they are little. He wasn't even one yet! I think he looks so innocent in this sweet outfit. The girls had the matching girl bunny dresses...too sweet. Grant enjoyed playing on the Bellevue lawn while Mommy snapped some quick photos. He's always up for a photo shoot.

Easter Egg Hunt @ Getwell Road

2009-04-20T22:52:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Abby and Isabella's preschool had a morning of Easter activities for the kids on Saturday. We headed over there and were overwhelmed by what a big deal it was! I think nearly everyone I know in Desoto County was there! They had face painting, tons of preschool games, the Easter Bunny, craft centers, bracelet making, a Bible story activity, and an Easter Egg Hunt. While we personally don't do the Easter bunny at our home (and thus didn't take pics with the bunny), we did have lots of fun making faith bracelets, playing in the wading pools, etc. The girls had a blast. Here's our whole crew after the hunt, all partaking of a little candy. That was Isabella's favorite part she said! They sat like this for about 10 minutes to rest after their crazy egg hunting (we just hoped no one ran off because they split up in 3 different directions!). We enjoyed the time together as a family. We then had to head down to Hernando to pick up Isabella's Easter dress which had FINALLY come in (I ordered it back in February!). A little drama keeps life interesting, right? We had a wonderful day as a family that day.

Another cute frame!

2009-04-20T22:45:00.000-05:00

So I have shared this with Angelina and with Laura H. Both adored it, so I thought I'd share it with everyone else! I had fun making this about a week and a half ago. I got so encouraged with the way this turned out that I went crazy buying more papers, ribbons, and gems to make even more! Yes, I think I'm on a kick! Matt says I'm dangerous with this crafty stuff....I think he's right. My dad was in town last week, and he bought me a jigsaw for my birthday. He taught me how to use it, and I'm so excited. Matt thinks I'm going to sever a finger, but I think I'll be ok. I have some crafty ideas in store that require a jigsaw, and Dad thought it was great that I was interested in woodwork...so I'll keep the blog posted when I dive into sawing projects! (probably in June after I launch my website and finish the party month of May...Grant's 1st birthday, Mother's Day, and my 30th birthday all wrapped into one little ole month!)

Spring Clothes Shopping....Multiple Kids Mondays

2009-04-20T08:29:00.006-05:00

So I oftentimes get asked by these sweet older ladies at church if I make the girls' matching dresses. The answer? No. I do sometimes make their hairbows, and I have handsmocked one dress for Ali Kate's birth...but that's it. I did buy a sewing machine a few months ago and have yet to learn how to follow a pattern and actually make something. But as I always tell these sweet ladies, " I don't know how to sew, but I do know how to shop!" So here are a few of my tips on affordably outfitting a small army! After all, I stay home and we have four children!

First of all, we always use hand-me-downs. Ali Kate's and Isabella's wardrobes this spring are probably 85% hand-me-downs from their big sister. They'll wear the better ones to church, playdates, etc...and keep the grimy ones for backyard play. Many are in excellent condition, so you probably can't tell these from the new clothes. As for Abby and Grant, they get new clothes (although I have for the first time ever bought some gently worn clothes off Ebay and been very satisfied with the exception of one Kelly's Kids dress....lesson learned....Don't buy Kelly's Kids second hand....their stuff fades and shows wear too badly).

As for new clothes, I am the queen of the Carters outlets. They run sales where the entire store is 40-50% off....that's when I go. I also go with a coupon in hand (usually another % off or a $10 off). I bought tons of clothes for like $300 a couple of months ago for all four kids. The cashier actually gave me another 20% off because I was buying so much! Carters makes the best playclothes (they hold up way better than the other playclothes like Target or Children's Place). The other bonus? They make their clothes coordinate (like Gymboree), so I can get my girls matching or at least coordinating outfits for the zoo, park, etc. (which I always try to do for safety reasons).

We also have a local favorite boutique called Itty Bitty and Co. They have some of the cutest smocked dresses, appliqued outfits, and other delightful finds....and they are always so willing to re-order to get my girls matching pieces. They've started carrying some more moderately priced dressy clothes, so we can buy them more since they cost less. The girls who own the store are fabulous, and they are great about letting me know what they've gotten in that they think I'll like. Great prices, wonderful service, cute clothes. You can't beat that!

Before Itty Bitty opened, I was the queen of Little Lambs and Ivy's clearance sales. I was the girl who got there at 10:00 the day that the clearance sales started so that I had lots to choose from. I always bought seasonal clearance for the year ahead, saving us tons of money on their nicest smocked and boutique outfits. Now that they are closed, I shop clearance on the websites of my favorite high-end brands. I got some incredible deals on some Remember Nguyen on their clearance section for this spring...very nice clothes for under $20 each!

I've also gotten into the new habit of stopping at consignment sales that have overstock of boutique clothes. These are new clothes that are priced WAY below retail. We've gotten some Anavini and other not-afforable brands for wonderful prices. That way I can dress my girls the way I love to dress little girls and still remain frugal!

Ebay has been a huge money-saver this spring. I have bought Grant so many smocked jon jons for under $15! All have been in like new condition, and have arrived looking wonderful. You probably can't tell his Ebay ones from his new boutique ones. While it takes some effort to buy on Ebay, it allows me to shop while they are sleeping (without having to make Saturday shopping trips that detract from family time) and at my convenience. I can't do whole wardrobes from there, but it does make a difference.

I also check many other online sites (many recommended by my friend Lauren Busbee who is a smart shopper!) for great deals on those nicer clothes that I love. I've found some unique items that way. In fact, I received the cutest personalized t-shirt I ordered for Grant off Etsy today in the mail...it's adorable.

Anyway, the lesson here is that I try to stretch our dollars as much as possible. I really have learned to shop smartly so that I can dress my kids adorably but without the ouch of the price tag! I oftentimes tell Matt how much I saved him...now he just expects that I found a bargain. Perhaps one day I'll be able to tell those sweet ladies that I did make their clothes...but time just does not permit right now!

If you want to post your clothes shopping tips or any other ideas about families with multiple kids, join our carnival. Link to your blog here....

Shopping with Four Kids! Multiple Kid Mondays

2009-04-13T06:05:00.005-05:00

Well, I am going to be brutally transparent and share what happened to the Stines Saturday night. Matt and I decided that it would be fun (and a little on the "wild side") to eat dinner out. We never eat out on Saturday night because that's the time to prepare for church/go to bed early/etc. Well, we had a free meal at Logan's near Wolfchase since we'd had an awful experience there a couple of months ago. Just let me note that our Saturday experience was wonderful! Much better. Anyway, so I have been in dire need of new clothes. Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that my children dress lovely and I dress horribly! I've been pregnant for the most part from 2003-2008...so I have loads of maternity clothes and very few real clothes. And have you been shopping recently? Clothes cost a fortune! I'm very frugal (cheap), and I can't bring myself to spend $49 on a shirt...and that's a bargain at many places! I went in a place in Saddle Creek and saw a cute dress with a price tag of $250 in that store next to Gap. Are they crazy? $250 for a dress...that will eventually get some type of kid stain on it? NEVER! I want at least 5 dresses for that!

Anyway, we left Logan's and went to the mall (I don't really do malls...I am a boutique and online shopping kind of gal). But I love Macy's (INC, Style & Co., etc.). So we had to go to the mall. Well...we took all the kids in so that Matt wouldn't have to wait in the car. I think we've only taken our kids into the mall 2 or 3 other times in their lives (and never four kids). I believe in setting them up for success, and this is NOT setting them up for success. Especially nearing bedtime! But I really wanted some clothes and we don't have any nice stores near my home. So it made sense logistically. Well, they did good for a while...holding hands, being quiet, dancing in the dressing room. After I tried on about a dozen things, we decided on 3 items and got in line to pay. That's when we lost control. Isabella took off to look at some clothes. When I called her name, she took off farther. I chased her in horror. This is how kids get lost, kidnapped, etc. Thankfully, she made a circle and came back to Matt. (He was staying in line with the other 3 so that we didn't lose them!). Anyway, then she proceeded to have a meltdown and Ali Kate joined in too. Not pretty. In fact, the cashier even mentioned how wonderful Abby was in comparison to her sisters. Yikes!

I quickly told the cashier that I never do this (I only take all four of them into Target for quick runs where they are in a buggy and into small boutiques where we know the owners...and places like the Post Office that take only a couple of minutes). She then asked me how I shopped. I told her that I really don't shop much. Her eyes about bugged out of her head. I then told her that I shop online a bit and run out for an hour here and an hour there while Matt has the kids. It blew her mind that I'm not in the mall alot. Am I weird? I just don't have the time or the money to shop alot. I could have spent $3000 in an hour in Macy's....so I rest my case....I need not go there but once or twice a year except when I dart in to pick up makeup!

The lesson here? Don't take your kids on your shopping expeditions unless absolutely necessary. At least not all of them. This would have been totally different if I'd just had two kids with me...but four? Crazy! Carve out time to do your shopping and always strategize. I go to an "area" (i.e. Germantown, Collierville, Hernando, etc.) at one time and shop all the places I love in that area. Then I don't go again for a few weekends, sometimes many weekends. But I don't go all over creation in one time period. Stock up when you do shop. Buy it if you'll need it in the near future to save shopping trips! Learn from my adventure in Macy's....let the kids stay home and play!

Got any tips on parenting your crew? Link here:

Oh, that Ali Kate

2009-04-10T13:08:00.003-05:00

Ali Kate is just a barrel of fun! That girl is absolutely crazy! I have the most fun with her.

Let me tell her ladybug story. Yesterday we were driving home from MOMS (so it's close to nap time and they are exhausted). Well, I was on the cell phone (yes, talking and driving...that's my best talk time unfortunately) with a mom from preschool. Ali Kate starts this hysterical screaming and crying. I just knew she had cut herself on something or was bleeding profusely. It was that kind of scream. I start peppering Abby with questions (you have to visualize this. I am driving on I240 at 65 mph. Ali Kate and Abby are in the 3rd row of the minivan, so I can't reach them.). Well, Abby tells me that she isn't hurt and that she doesn't know why she's crying. Then I hear "BUG!" Ali Kate apparently saw a ladybug crawling on her window and instead of wanting to play with it like I did as a kid, she was in complete hysterics. I had to quickly end my phone call and try to calm her down until we could reach an exit. We had to pull over in a very unsafe area off I240 to release this ladybug. She was screaming at the top of her lungs the entire time. What was probably 2 or 3 minutes felt like 100! By the time I pulled over, I didn't see a ladybug. So I told her that it was gone and eventually she calmed down.

That in and of itself is worth remembering. But it gets even funnier. We get home and have an Easter delivery from my mom. Bunnies, stickers, games, movies, books, etc. I let the kids stay up a while and enjoy their new gifts. Well, I neglected to mention that Ali Kate was wearing an adorable ladybug dress by Bailey Boys. In the middle of playing, she starts ripping at her dress and screaming, "Get that bug off. The bug has poop!" She was in hysterics again! Now let me point out that these are hot pink and lime green ladybugs (cute...not creepy and crawly). She starts trying to rip her dress apart as she screams about these pooping ladybugs. I was about to fall out laughing. I quickly removed her dress and let her play in her bloomers for a while. So then I began to wonder...was there ever a real bug in the minivan? Was it her dress all along? Am I going to have to retire this precious dress because it has ladybugs on it? Do I need to save up for psychiatric help for big Al? Just kidding on that last one! I may need to save up for me some help!

So there you have it. Ali at her finest. Yesterday was ladybug day for us. And even when she was asleep last night, she called out "bug" in her sleep. We had to calm her down and assure her that we'd taken care of all the bugs!

My newest project

2009-04-09T23:29:00.000-05:00

Okay...so this has Lindsay Jones written all over it...girly, cute, and girly! Yes, I know I said girly twice. Lindsay, if you're reading this before Easter, you are definitely too addicted! Just thought I'd say hi to you on my blog!

So I decided that I'm going to offer a few non-stationery items in Duck Duck Goose Designs. I plan on offering 95% stationery items but a few personalized gifts such as this (I can paint your name on these to make it truly yours!). Anyway, this was my first attempt at these frames, and I thought they turned out fabulous! I plan on attempting some new designs tomorrow if time permits (translated...about 2 weeks from now!). Angelina shared a bit about decoupage with me, so I'm going to venture into that for these frames. I also have a few rabbits up my sleeve involving monograms for these too. I'm so excited!! For now, this lovely frame is a love gift to my Isabella for use in her cotton candy pink room. She wanted cotton candy pink, so she's got cotton candy pink!

Anyway, it's very late. I have to clean up my art mess all over the kitchen and get some sleep. Our days start early with our little man. Then the girls all join us about 30 minutes later. I do have tons to blog about Ali Kate and Isabella in the next few days (hair cutting, ladybug story, ladybug dress...jotting down topics so that I won't forget them!).

Too da loo!

Isabella...wow!

2009-03-31T22:41:00.002-05:00

So Isabella is blowing my mind! That child can actually tell me the letters in almost any word I give her. While we were in the lobby during Abby's dance class today, I asked her to spell several words in a book we were reading. She spelled like 10 words right with only one mistake. I was astounded. Isabella oftentimes flies under the radar because she doesn't make a big deal out of what she knows. Big sister on the other hand always wants to show what she knows to everyone. She tells total strangers what she can spell and read. Not Isabella. She's just been quietly absorbing bits and pieces. I am so proud of her! Tonight we did a few more words. She got every letter right except M which she identified as N. Close enough.

Just had to brag on my Bella. She also knew her Bible verse today and told me that she obeyed in dance class. She also told me that she was going to choose to obey me this morning. I think her wheels are turning alot lately! Good job, Bella!

From flowers to dirt

2009-03-31T22:35:00.002-05:00

So last week we came home from preschool, and the girls immediately ran into the yard to play. Abby came scurrying back with a small flower (I think from a weed) and gave it to me as a gift. Well, always the imitator and never to be outdone, Isabella gives me a leaf and says, "Here's a leaf for you because I love you." Then Ali Kate of course has to join in. So she scoops up some mulch and says, " I have a gift for you. Here's some dirt." How precious to remember. They each gave me the best gifts they could find because they love their mama. So I put a purple flower, a leaf, and some mulch in my pocket to keep them safe and sound. Yes, I did clean out my pockets before laundering! Aren't my girls precious?

Multiple Kid Mondays... Record Your Memories

2009-03-30T12:09:00.004-05:00

So I thought I'd blog about birthday parties after last Thursday's MOMS lunch discussion, but I decided instead to blog about memory keeping. This is definitely inspired by Big Al. Yes, we do call our beautiful blonde daughter Big Al from time to time. Ali Kate is short enough, but Big Al is a term of affection. Anyway, she's a talker...and lately she's been trying to put abstract concepts together. She's known hundreds of words for several months now (she just turned 2 in January), but she's beginning to put together abstract concepts. Well, today I was teaching her about open and close in regards to the elevator at preschool when we were dropping of A and I. Since then, everything has been "closed" this morning. When I tried to tickle her tummy, I said, "Ali Kate, show me your tummy." She said, "No, it's closed." At lunch she didn't have her chair scooted out far enough to climb into it, and she said in total exasperation, "My chair is closed!" So I fixed it of course.

Things like these are what I want to remember. Like when I put her down for nap a few minutes ago, she said, "I don't want to take a nap." Then came my daily response to her daily comment, "We always take a nap after lunch." Then she so sweetly said, "But I sirus." (That's toddler speak for "I'm serious.") I had to keep from laughing at her while I put her in her bed.

When you have four tiny kids, your days fly by before you know it. Then when you look up, your oldest daughter is starting kindergarten (I can not believe this even as I type it). So I've really been trying to keep up with the things I don't want to forget. How?

Well, there are always the standard birthday videos, school pictures, etc. We of course do all of those things. But I also scrapbook (albeit only once every couple of months). I used to keep my kids their own journals where I wrote them love letters and talked about what they were doing, saying, etc. Now I blog and write tidbits here and there. My scrapbooking has gone from mostly birthday parties and celebrations to pages about each child at a particular age. I really try to record funny quotes (like today's little post), funny stories, mispronunciations, things they say about friends, how big they were, etc. Those are the things I love to remember.

My new idea is that I'm going to get each child a new journal with no promises about how often I'll write. (My perfectionist self always has a tendency to set unrealistic goals like "I'll write in them daily...) With four kids, really? Highly unlikely. Totally unlikely. And I'm not going to write letters. I'm going to just jot down quick quotes, anecdotes, stats (size shoes, weight, height), current friends, etc. I'll do this whenever the fancy strikes. I'm going to probably keep these with my cookbooks on my kitchen counter so that I can grab them and jot down things when I have a few seconds. Especially after listening to Jean on perfectionism last week, I won't be stressing out about entering things daily or even weekly...just whenever I have a chance. Got a doctor's appointment? Just grab a kids' journal or two and write while you're waiting. Waiting for dance class to end? Use a couple of minutes. With the old journals, I actually tried to journal daily...now talk about stress and unenjoyable (even for someone like me who likes to write). I can't fathom trying to keep four daily journals for all of my kids. So the relaxed, do-it-as-you-can approach is the way to go!

Now you better believe that there will be some serious journaling and serious scrapbooking of Abby starting kindergarten! If you're reading this Jean, I need that releasing talk again! :)

Anyway, with four kids...I always have a new anecdote or crazy story. Our life borders on insane sometimes! And I want to remember these days. When my house is empty and has really clean carpets with Sharpee-free walls in the hallway and stain-free laundry to do in only two hampers...I want to sit down on my nicely upholstered sofa and flip through journals, scrapbooks, and videos. Until then, I'll be making memories with my kiddos in my new home with Ali's Sharpee artwork on the front hallway and a stack two feet high of stain-treat laundry on the dryer. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Want to post your ideas about memory-keeping or anything about your life with multiple kids? Join in. Just put your name below and link back to your blog entry. You are more than welcome to use my button if you'd like. I can't wait to read your entries!

Yay!

2009-03-30T00:18:00.003-05:00

I'm getting so excited. Matt and I are actually getting close to launching my stationery business, and I can't wait! We have printed several designs, and Matt's been working on my website. We just bought the domain name last week, and we're putting together the nuts and bolts. Papers, envelopes, stickers, and bag tags have arrived....ready to be printed with my own original designs. I still have some ordering to do (packaging supplies, ribbons, etc.)...this is so much fun! We've probably bitten off just a bit much, but we'll take it a little at at time. It's been a great opportunity to collaborate on a creative project together. This is the first undertaking like this we've done together, and it's been lots of fun. I've enjoyed tackling something other than dishes with Matt! I'll have to keep you posted as we get closer to the grand opening! YAY!

Gotta go to bed now...I've been up since 4:45 since we had the scary night with Abby. I thought I'd crash early tonight, but I've been wired. Hopefully I won't oversleep tomorrow and rush them kids off to preschool but rather have a slow, peaceful morning. We missed church today since we were up with Abby all night and since her body was so out of whack blood sugar wise (no way she would have been able to go to Sunday School or Children's Worship)...so today felt so long. We had a whole day with nowhere to be which is just odd for our weekends. We rested alot and just spent time as a family. We've got a bustling week ahead with doctor appointments, garage sale prep, errands to run, parties to attend, dance, preschool programs...a full week for sure. Gotta sleep and get geared up! LAter!

Parenting 24/7

2009-03-29T05:15:00.003-05:00

Oh, the joys of life with diabetes. Many thanks to Matt for staying up until 4:45 this morning to keep a watchful eye over Abby. We had a major blood sugar issue last night, and we knew we had to check her blood sugar at least once an hour all night long. We both heartily agreed that we needed to take shifts to make sure that she got checked because we knew that we'd miss a reading if we slept and just set alarms. Matt and I both volunteered to stay up for the first 4 hours (we were already up at midnight doing various projects). He said he really thought he could make it, so I took the next shift (4 a.m. until...). We work better that way. e can pull an all-nighter and crash. Just let me sleep for 4 hours, and I can get up for the day. Not that we usually live like this. But with four kids, you have these nights when they are sick, are injured, or have bad blood sugar scares. So Matt checked her once an hour (blood sugars all good actually), and he actually stayed up until 4:45 (thanks for the extra 45 minutes of sleep). Since I'd gotten 4.5 hours, I was good to go. So here's the early a.m. blog! I'm not a part of the early bloggers club.

I'm so thankful our prayers were answered with Abby's blood sugars. I prayed fervently over her last night, and God listened. She's been fine all night, and she's slept well...never knowing that her parents were up crazy hours tending to her. God does that for us. And I know from first hand experience that although it's hard...you do it when you love someone (and because you know they need it). Thank God that He does that for us!

Learning Their Love Languages

2009-03-22T21:52:00.005-05:00

So I've really been trying to focus on meeting my kids' needs through their "love languages" (see Gary Chapman's materials for more details). All of my kids need different things from me in different degrees. And of course at such young ages, what they need most now will most likely be very different in a few years or even just a few months.

I've learned that Isabella is my "words of affirmation" chick. She has to have LOTS of encouraging words. All kids need plenty of doses of affirmation. This chick needs about four times the normal dose. And a single harsh word is a major blow to her. In fact, she notices when I compliment one child and not her. For example, this morning Abby wore a beautiful new Strasburg dress to church (It was a $142 dress that I got for like $27 on the clearance rack!). When she got dressed, I told her how beautiful she was in her new dress. Isabella IMMEDIATELY said, "I don't look pretty in my dress." Well, of course Isabella looked pretty. She could model for any children's company easily...have you seen those blue eyes? And she does have her photo up in a local boutique...so yes, she's pretty! Anyway, I immediatelyl complimented how pretty she looked in her pink dress. While I know she needed that, she did still complain that she didn't have the same dress as Abby. Definitely a preschooler! No older child would be begging to match her sister! I remember begging my mom not to match my younger sister and I once we got older.

Abby is my quality time chick. She could spend HOURS with me shopping, Ebaying, folding clothes, creating stationery designs, cutting shrubs, you name it. She just wants to be with me. It doesn't matter what I'm doing. She wants me and just me. She loves to be affirmed, receive gifts, etc. but nothing speaks to her like quality time does. She gets that from her dad! He's the same way. So with Abby I have to be very intentional to carve out time for us to just hang out. Oftentimes that means involving her in the household affairs while the other 3 sleep. She loves it. We also go on "dates" once in a while just the two of us. And it's not just me...she loves to invest in time with Matt too. I love that. I found her tonight snuggled up on the couch with Matt just loving on him. Oh, I treasure these days!

Ali Kate's love language I'm still working on. She seems to need a little bit of everything. Physical touch may be hers. She is my snuggly bug. She always has a lovey, usually her dog Chuzzy or Ruf Ruf. She loves to nestle against my shoulder and suck her thumb. I can hold her in my arms and just sway her. The funny thing? As a baby, she was not a snuggly one at all. My how times have changed! She's the kid who always wants Mama to hold her and to sit with her. When I actually do sit during the day, you can usually find Ali Kate in my lap or on top of me!

And my Grant just loves attention....hugs, kisses, googoo eyes, coos, whatever he gets. He's in that goo goo eye phase where he coos at you, and I just love it! This is such a fun stage with him! I try to make sure that he gets some snuggle time every day when the others are off doing something else.

Ok, so I had no idea this post would be this long...but I'm a talker. And so are my girls...making for lots of words in this house each day. Poor Matt and Grant. Anyway, the point of it all...I try to make sure that I'm depositing daily into my kids what each kid most needs. Do I always make the mark? Absolutely not. But I keep trying. And I keep learning. And I also speak to their other needs...Isabella will enjoy that tomorrow when I send her some chocolate chip cookies as a suprise in her lunch box to school (the language of gifts).

Thanks for joining my 3rd Multiple Kids Mondays. I hope you're enjoying this! Please join in and post whatever you want about your life with multiple kids.

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Redneck Fun Matt Style

2009-03-22T21:47:00.002-05:00

Oh, I just have to blog this. I only wish I had video to go with it. So I've been doing lots of landscaping this week (i.e. cutting back lots of shrubs that were in dire need of attention), and today Matt helped cut the tops that I couldn't reach. Yes, they were that high! I'm ashamed even as I type this. I do have four kids though, so I cut myself some slack. Anyway, I did a little more pruning after he trimmed their tops this afternoon. So after we grabbed dinner, Matt got out the blower to blow the last tiny pieces off the driveway. Well, Isabella was riding her tricycle in circles around the bottom of the driveway. Matt decides for no apparent reason that it would be fun to blow her with the blower. She LOVED it! He just aimed that thing right at my baby, and she squealed with delight as her hair blew straight up! And to calm everyone's nerves (including my own), let me note that she was several feet away...no danger of getting blown away or having something blown into her eye. Well, he did this a couple of times (to her delight) before mean ole Wendy insisted that this just had to be dangerous (hey, there could be flying rocks or debris involved) and that the redneck fun had to cease. Just plain ole trike riding the rest of the day. While I'll probably never let them do that again, I just had to record for memory's sake my technological husband's bit of redneck fun!

St. Louis Zoo

2009-03-19T15:17:00.004-05:00

A very kind lady offered to take this photo of me and the kids at the St. Louis Zoo. We were stopped for a minute for one of the approximately 2,890 stops we made that day. You know the ones...stops to tie a shoe, give a pacifier, change a diaper, go potty, check blood sugar, fix a hairbow, eat a snack, eat lunch, change a diaper, give some juice, hold a crying baby, change a diaper. You get the picture. I took the kids solo to the zoo while Matt was in a No Fluff conference for work. We had a great time once we made our way into the zoo. That zoo is HUGE! We were there for 6 and a half hours, and we still didn't see everything. We made reservations for the Imagination Station (I don't know if that's the right name but that's what we called it) where they have a huge play center similar to a children's museum. It was awesome. That was everyone's favorite part. They did water play, sand play, arts and crafts, puppets, gardening, and more. Grant just looked at everyone and absorbed his surroundings! We did fine until we had to leave and Abby dropped to 35, Ali Kate was screaming, and I had to shuffle four tiny kids into a crowd so that we could leave (You have to leave at scheduled times). We had a really rough 15 minutes or so while I tried to stabilize Abby while somehow not lose the other three kids in the crowd. Somehow we managed to pull it all back together and have a WONDERFUL afternoon after that.

We got to see Sally, the camel, who did indeed have two humps.

We also got to see kangaroos for the first time in my 29 years on this earth. I think I was more excited than the kids. No pictures though because I was having to keep Ali Kate and Isabella from climbing into the kangaroo exhibit. Literally!

A sample of Abby's Poetry

2009-03-19T15:10:00.000-05:00

At the Magic House in St. Louis, they had a Poetry Tree where you could "tie" your poetry leaves to the branches. Here's the poem that Abby wrote. It touched my mama's heart. I let the other two "write" their poems (i.e. scribble pictures), and we tied their poems to the tree too. This was probably the most serious part of our Magic House adventure. I've got to blog about and post some pictures of this Children's Museum. It was awesome!

Future President?

2009-03-19T14:58:00.004-05:00

I think a Presidential Office may be in the future for Miss Abby Stine! Doesn't she look so at home behind the official seal?

This little lady is already on her way to such things. Let me just take a mama minute to brag on my baby girl! Abby not only can read just about anything that you put before her, but she is writing books now. For fun, she takes a notepad and her fancy plumed pen into the car when we're running errands or going somewhere long distance (which is over 5 miles for the kids). She will think up a story and ask me how to spell words she doesn't know. Together we've written 3 books I think now. She is totally into the way words come together. It's incredible watching her wheels turn when she's figuring something out. That kid is bright! I mean bright! Not only does she have a perfect memory but her ability to pick up material is staggering! She now reads signs, menus, books, whatever she sees. It's awesome!

Anyway, I just had to brag and record this for posterity. One day I'll want to read about my Pre-K novelist! And one day I may need written proof that I taught the President how to read and write!

Yard Work1

2009-03-19T14:48:00.002-05:00

The girls and I spent an hour and half in the front yard trimming hedges while Grant napped this morning. A good way to get the house quiet for his nap and to use our free day. Boy did we work! I didn't realize how HUGE some of our shrubs had gotten until my arms began to ache from so much trimming. The girls (one with a happy heart, two without) scooped up the trimmings and bagged them for me. I was glad to have some helping hands. Many hands make for lighter work...that's for sure. We managed to get all but the tops of two of our largest pieces. I was way too scared to climb any higher on the ladder without adult supervision :) And we need some loppers (I think that's the name of the clippers that cut really thick branches). I bought some new hedge clippers, but I couldn't bring myself to spend the money on the other ones too while I was at Lowe's yesterday. I'm wishing now I'd spent the money. Anyway, our yard looks a little more loved today. Now Matt gets to RoundUp the flower beds this weekend so that we can do some heavy weeding. Planting may come next week. I only wish I enjoyed this stuff. I like to plant pretty flowers, but I could care less about the hedges and whatnot. Honestly, I hope no one with any landscaping knowledge looks at my shrubs because I honestly didn't know how to shape each one. I know that different plants should be shaped differently, but I don't know if I did any of them right. Maybe my neighbors don't know either. Let's hope so!

Multiple Kid Monday...Heaping Mountains of Laundry!

2009-03-15T21:00:00.008-05:00

For Multiple Kid Monday, I'm going to share my laundry tips. A conversation with some friends at lunch at MOMS Thursday sparked this entry. Caitlyn (I hope I spelled her name right!) was asking me about how I do laundry, clothes shopping, etc. for a large family. So I thought that'd be good material for this week! Caitlyn, this is for you girl!

Here are some lessons I've learned and some things I do to make laundry easier for a family of six...cause you know we have lots of laundry!

1. First of all, we have SEVEN laundry hampers in our home. Each child has their own hamper. Then Matt and I have one for lights, darks, and towels. We used to combine the girls' clothes into one hamper, but this proved to be disastrous for us! I spent what seemed like forever sorting through socks and panties that all looked the same size. I also match my girls' clothes often, so I had to check the tags on everything to figure out which top belonged to which girl. So about a year ago I decided to give each child their own hamper. This has been fabulous. No more sorting through tiny socks and t-shirts. It also makes it easy to use Dreft just for Grant and no one else...saves money! Having clothes already sorted saves valuable time that I saw my own mom waste as she dumped loads and sorted them. Our kids know which hamper is theirs and they all (except Grant of course) dutifully put their clothes in their hampers on the way to the bath. Ali Kate has been doing this since at least 17 months old!

2. If a child stains an outfit (imagine that happening!), we take that outfit DIRECTLY to the laundry room rather than putting it in the hamper. We stack them on the dryer (not so pretty but very practical). Then I can quickly stain treat (We're addicted to Shout Gel and the Clorox pen) and sort clothes back to their owners. This ensures most of the time that clothes with stains don't get overlooked and that I save time by not having to thoroughly look over each item as I begin a wash load.

3. On the topic of stains, I always buy two bottles of Shout Gel and two Clorox pens when I begin to run low. You never know when you'll need more! Some of the girls at MOMS highly recommended Oxyclean Spray...so I'll be checking that out soon.

4. The girls help! My kids LOVE to help with housework with the exception of picking up their toys. Abby in particular will do laundry FOREVER. Even very young kids (age 2-3) can find all the socks, panties, t-shirts, bibs, etc. and put them in piles. Abby can fold towels and washcloths (a skill acquired at age 4). She enjoys this. While they don't help every day or every load, they usually do help put their clothes away. I let them put their stacks into their drawers and carry their hanging clothes to their beds. I then put them in the closet. Great training time for your kids.

5. Do it every day! I rarely miss a day of laundry, and I usually do at least 3 loads a day. Some days lighter, some heavier. I always made a new rule a while back that I will NOT run more loads until I've folded and put away the loads already clean. I don't always abide by this, but it reduces stress and folding pile-up. Nothing is more discouraging than a huge load of laundry waiting to be folded at bedtime.

6. Make it fun. For psychological encouragement, I alternate baby clothes loads and towel loads. Since it takes forever to fold baby clothes and no time to fold towels, I alternate these to keep me sane. If I have to do 3 kid loads in a row, I get so discouraged...my friend Jaki shares this reasoning. It works for us!

Thanks for joining my second hosted Multiple Kids Monday. I'm so excited about our new share day! For guidelines, click here. Have any tips or stories you'd like to share? Join in. I'll close the polls around 8 p.m. to prevent spamming. Thanks and enjoy!

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Uh Oh

2009-03-05T15:25:00.001-06:00

Uh oh! I went to close down the polls for Multiple Kid Mondays, and somehow I deleted the links to both Jean and Ashley's posts. Girls, I'm sorry. I'm figuring out how to moderate this, and I obviously don't know 100% what I'm doing yet. I may have to ask a major blogger rather than novice me! Anyway, for everyone else....I won't delete your links next Monday. I promise!

Works For Me Wednesday

2009-03-04T17:33:00.002-06:00

So I thought I'd share an idea we've used off and on over the years for Scripture memory for our family. When a verse hits me during a quiet time that I think our whole family should learn, I have made "place cards" for the dinner table. When Abby was tiny, I included pictures (if applicable) and shortened the verse to an age-appropriate level. We kept them at the kitchen table for several days and would recite them. This is great if you are working on teaching on a specific topic (love, kindness, etc.) and also during holidays to keep the focus on Christ. It's been a while since we've done this...I may just have to start again. You just need sturdy cardstock, pens (or print them), a verse, and place card holders. (You can just fold the cardstock in half so that it stands on its own).

Multiple Kids Mondays....Be flexible!

2009-03-02T00:02:00.008-06:00

This picture just sums up what I wanted to share today....be flexible! While I was sending some email a few days ago, the girls were playing with Grant in his room (which is right next to the playroom where I was working). Anyway, they began to giggle wildly, and I got up to see what was so funny. This is what I saw. I almost began to lecture them, but then I had to remind myself how funny this was. He does have 3 older sisters after all (who are all ages 5 and under), so we kind of expect this type of thing from time to time. It's only natural. Anyway, I made a mad dash downstairs to grab the camera. After shooting a couple of pics, I de-feminized my little man. Back to the very male striped outfit that he began in!

With four children, I have learned how to truly be flexible. We oftentimes begin our days with Plan A and end up on Plan D by 9:30 in the morning. My days are constantly "thrown off" by potty accidents, spilled milks, hair pulling, toy dumping, blood sugar drops, and other craziness. And I just roll with the punches. You have to. I make the choice each day and several times throughout the day to be flexible. That means oftentimes being a few minutes late to preschool or church. It means sometimes reading a book while we really need to be getting dressed. If I were inflexible, I would miss so many meaningful moments. I would also stay stressed out and frazzled, neither of which really suit! So on this afternoon instead of lecturing them about how their brother was a boy and that boys don't dress up like girls do, I rolled with the punches...laughed with them...took some fun pictures...and then hid the evidence before Matt got home! :)

Thanks for joining my first hosted Multiple Kids Monday. I'm so excited about our new share day! For guidelines, click here. Have any tips or stories you'd like to share? Join in. I'll close the polls around 8 p.m. to prevent spamming. Thanks and enjoy!

SNOW!

2009-03-01T21:46:00.000-06:00

So this is what Isabella looked like only 4 days after the picture in the previous post. Yes, we have crazy weather. It was above 70 on Wednesday, and it snowed all afternoon Saturday and into the night. This picture was taken today in our backyard. With Grant inside napping, the rest of us headed outdoors to enjoy several inches of snow. Big deal here! We threw snowballs, built a snow girl, and attempted to sled down the hill on a used computer monitor box. That's what Isabella is doing here. We played outside for about an hour and had a blast! Finally I had to go indoors because Ali Kate had tired of the snow. She wanted to eat. Imagine that. We then all shed our wet clothes and wore PJs the rest of the day as we played and did household projects! Matt got tons done on my website for my stationery company, and I did tons of household laundry and organizing. The snow was beautiful and lots of fun. We needed a day like today!

My Darling Bella

2009-03-01T16:49:00.000-06:00

Would you ever have guessed that this sweet girl had just come home from preschool on a day when she'd been sent to the director TWICE in one day? I mean, look at that sweet face. Isabella had a very rough day at preschool. So rough in fact that when I picked her up, she immediately looked into my eyes and said, "I had a bad day at school." Oh, my heart broke. I thought it'd be years before I heard words like that! Poor thing just can't stop talking during learning time and nap time. I totally understand. Sometimes Matt tells me to be quiet when it's midnight and I won't stop talking. Her problem is genetic. I don't think she can help it! Oh, I have to find the humor in it or I'll just go crazy! Anyway, I had to have a good excuse to post this picture of Isabella. I bought this outfit last spring and was so excited to put her in it for school Wednesday. Now you'll have to see in the next post what she wore a few days later! Something a bit warmer.

Multiple Kid Monday Guidelines

2009-02-25T22:55:00.000-06:00

1.What is Multiple Kids Mondays?

Multiple Kids Mondays is a "blog carnival" of sorts. On Mondays, you can post any tips, fun stories, how-tos, lessons learned, etc. from being a mom of multiple children (not just those with twins and triplets but any of us with several children). I started this to answer the "How do you do it?" questions that I get almost daily when I wander from our home with our four tiny kids. Some of the best tips I've learned about how to handle four small kids is from other moms, so I thought we'd play nicely and share!

2. How do I participate?
You write your blog entry on your blog. Then you post a link back here to my MKM post, and you enter your link to your post on your blog in the "Mr. Linky" form at the bottom of my post.

3. Can anyone join?
Yes, just start blogging. I do ask that all entries be G-rated and constructive. Nothing offensive, foul, etc.

4. Can I use your banner?

Yes! I'd love for you to use this! I made this to represent my three girls and my little man...and I'd love for you to put it on your site when you participate in MKM.

5. Please link to MKM only if you've written a MKM post yourself. Mention MKM in your post, and link back to my master list here.

6. Make sure that you link to your MKM post and NOT to the front page of your blog so that others can quickly find your post.

7. Please DO NOT host your own Multiple Kids Mondays "Mr. Linky" at your site. My blog will be the only homepage for this carnival.

8. When you enter your link on Mr. Linky, you will most likely notice that it says "delete link" next to your name. If you click on that, it will let you delete what you just posted.

9. Enter a 3-4 word description of your post after you enter your name. Be specific and brief.

For example, where the box below says "Your Name", you might put:

Wendy (Lunch Prep)

-OR-

Laura (Bible Devotions)

Please keep your name and description to just a few words.

10. I'll put my Multiple Kids Mondays post up by 8 a.m. each Monday although I may sometimes start on Sunday night to make sure it gets there! I will close it at 8 p.m. to avoid spammers!

11. I reserve the right to delete any links that I deem inappropriate.

12. Also, just because someone participates in MKM does not mean that I endorse everything that she says. But I learn so much from various moms, and I'm glad we can teach one another. Thanks for always keeping this a positive, rewarding carnival!

Works-For-Me Wednesday

2009-02-25T00:10:00.000-06:00

I decided that I'd join in on this today for the first time. I was going to write about some systematic thing I do...but then I actually experienced something today that was perfect. I had a little MOMS homework to do, and I needed to do it while the kids were all awake. So I let them watch a pre-saved (TIVO or whatever you call it for Direct TV) Olivia show while I did my study. This worked for me on several levels. I was able to finish my study with few interruptions. They were able to enjoy a little TV (they don't get much). They experienced some non-Mommy-involved time which I think was good. Grant napped through it all, so he got a good nap...yay! And my girls got to see me study my Bible. It's so hard for me to follow through on this because I try to do my study while they are asleep (usually naptime). But I think it's important for them to see their mom study the Bible that she talks about....so I was really glad that I tried this different approach today. The other part of "works for me" is that we played outside for a good hour BEFORE the TV break. So everyone was worn out and ready to relax...and we'd gotten some good playtime in. I think we may have to try this strategy a little more often! It worked for me today!

Brave Like Abs

2009-02-24T23:16:00.000-06:00

Today I was checking Abby's blood sugar, and Isabella actually grimaced at the sight of the whole thing. My kids are so used to the sight of blood that they don't act the least bit bothered ever. So this was noteworthy. Jokingly I said to Isabella, "Do you want me to check your sugar?" I got an immediate "no." So I headed off downstairs to get Abby's shot ready.

Isabella comes to the top of the stairs and says, "Mom, tomorrow you can check my blood sugar." I asked, "Why?"

She said, "So that I can be brave like Abby. Then I can eat my bar."

"What bar?" I asked.

"The bar with protein and chocolate chips." (The granola bars Abby loves!)

Oh, how sweet of her to recognize how brave her big sis is. We continually praise Abs for her bravery, and I loved hearing Isabella proclaim it. I told Isabella that she's already a brave girl too and that we don't have to check her sugar to know that. Gotta love that sweetie!

Delight in Real Life!

2009-02-24T23:12:00.000-06:00

Yay! I'm so excited. I just stumbled across a website for the lady who taught Not So Desperate Housewives a few years back at Bellevue. This was a great class on how to be the Proverbs 31 woman that we are all as Christian mamas striving to be. These two women I believe have taught this class under a few different names. Now it seems they are speaking several places and expanding their mission. Way to go! I've been really trying to get more organized and more orderly at the Stine household....so I was pumped to find this site! Check it out on the right in my favorite online spots list. I need to dig out my Family Notebook that we made in the class. If I would start using that again, I'd be ahead of the game.

New! Multiple Kids Mondays

2009-02-23T17:26:00.001-06:00

So I'm going to start posting every Monday something about life with multiple kids (not necessarily multiples as in twins, triplets, or quads...I'll leave that up to my dear friend Lindsey) but about having several children. People are genuinely intrigued by moms who have multiple children. Just follow me for one day and see how many comments I get from random strangers. It's almost worse than when you are pregnant, and everyone comments on your impending due date and size! So for those of you interested in what life is like with four tiny kids...sit back and enjoy the ride!

Todays' Post: Getting out the door!

One of the hardest daily bits of being a mom of four kids ages 5 and under is physically getting out the door to go somewhere. I start 2 hours before we have to leave the house to get everyone dressed, fed, diapered, and ready to go. This morning...here goes. Abby and Isabella had a dentist appointment at 8:15. I woke up at 7:00 (note: I did get up with Abby at like 3:30...so I was tired!). I woke up in a panic when I saw that 7 on the front of the clock! YIKES! Thank goodness that Matt was staying home with Grant and Ali Kate. (We don't take all four to the dentist...recipe for disaster...another note about having several children!). So I rushed into the kitchen to prepare lunches and backpacks for preschool (which I normally do the night before but neglected because I was designing some incredibly cute stationery last night). I grabbed every easy-go food available...juice pouches, bananas, bag of chips, and PBJ. Then I rushed into the shower and showered at Tazmanian devil speed. Then I scrambled to get milks poured, teeth brushed, clothes out, and backpacks finished. While I finished getting myself ready, Matt jumped in to tie up loose ends. Our morning went something like this:

Matt: Who needs teeth?
Wendy: Abby and Bella now...Ali can wait.
Matt: Abby wet her bed.
Wendy: Bathe her.
Matt: Didn't she already have a bath?
Wendy: No, she was dressed up in a princess gown and missed bathtime last night. It's ok...it'll only take 2 minutes to whisk her through the bath.
Matt: Why didn't you bathe her? I thought you bathed her.
Wendy: No, I didn't. You could have already bathed her in the 2 minutes we've been talking (all said in a loving voice of course).
Matt: (Goes and bathes Abby who does NOT want a bath)

In the meantime, Grant's playing in the crib with his toes. Bella and Ali Kate are chasing one another around the house while I put on my makeup. Matt gets Abby bathed, and I come back for a status update. Status updates are KEY in the Stine household. You have to know who has done what and what hasn't been done!

Wendy: Abby needs her insulin at 7:30.
Matt: Ok
Wendy: Open a new N.
Matt: How much insulin does she get for 330? I can't find the sheet.
Wendy: We don't have protocol for a number that high. Give her x. That should do it. Well, I don't know since we have a new bottle.
Matt: Well, what do you think?
Wendy: Go with x. Get it in her now please.
Matt: I'm headed that direction.
Wendy: Don't let her eat for at least 25 minutes.
Matt: Did you pack their lunches?
Wendy: Yes..on the counter.

And so the morning goes with teeth brushing, kid dressing, bow matching, lunch packing, backpack packing, lovey gathering, dentist office preparing, feeding, and diapering activities until Wendy, Abby, and Isabella finally leave for the dentist at 8:05.

The dentist visit was wonderful. I dropped the girls off at preschool to find out that today was picture day. I thought it was Wednesday. Well, Matt dressed Bella in a not-picture-taking outfit. Abby's would have done except that it was a spring picture and she was in a floral corduroy. So I rushed home to grab the girls matching spring dresses and hairbows before making a mad dash back to preschool to hand off the garments (hoping they fit since they were new and we haven't tried them on)! Now...that was just a snippit of one morning when I only had to get 2 kids out the door. You can only imagine the other days when we go to dance, MOMS, and preschool when Matt is already gone to work! Maybe I'll relay one of those days one day.

And somewhere in the middle of all those status updates we did talk about Matt's work, my day, and my new website. And we did kiss each other goodbye...

Handsome Man

2009-02-16T21:54:00.001-06:00

So if you're reading my blog you just have to go to www.jennygilliamphotography.blogspot.com to check out my little man's latest professional pictures. My good friend Jenny came over a couple of weeks ago to snap some photos of Grant, and I think she did a fabulous job. She took several more but posted just a few on her blog. She's talented, and she had a great subject!

Oh, a typical day

2009-02-16T21:38:00.000-06:00

So I was just looking through our pictures...mostly tons of pictures of clothes we've been Ebaying...and I found this one I took a couple of weeks ago. This is TYPICAL Stine girl playtime. They love to dress up in these crazy ensembles and perform for us. This night they weren't being anyone in particular (usually they assume some type of character's identity), but they were just dancing around the living room dressed like this for about an hour. Never a dull moment in this house. No, not ever. Never! (And we wouldn't have it any other way!) Oh, be sure to check out Ali's poor tutu. She never could figure out how to get it all the way up to her waist. And she fussed when I tried to fix it...so she danced all night with it around her knees!

Valentine's Activities

2009-02-16T17:52:00.000-06:00

So the teacher in me decided that we'd do a learning Valentine's Day activity. Here's Isabella playing our Valentine's counting game. I made hearts with a number on the left and a corresponding number of pictures on the right. Then I cut them in half. The girls had to count the objects and find the matching half that had the right number. They enjoyed this.

After we played this, we drew hearts out of a bag. Each heart had a magazine picture pasted onto it. For Ali Kate and Isabella, I let them tell me about the picture (size, color, what the object is for, etc.). Abby had a harder job. I had her spell the object, find something that rhymes with it, tell me the first letter, etc. She loved it!

Finally, we had a scavenger hunt. The girls were given a clue written on a pink heart. That led them to the next clue and so on. I actually stumped Matt with one of them. They had to search in the yard for a clue...and after a good ten minutes of intently searching the back yard, Matt asks, "Is it even in the back yard?" No, it was in the front! I loved watching him work to find it too. Too cute. Once in the front, Isabella found it in no time. She also found the final clue quickly...but it took the girls a while to decipher the last clue which led them upstairs to the playroom to claim their Valentine's gifts (books, puppets, and flash cards.) This was the most fun of the day. Overall, a great Valentine's Day even though we were stuck at home with sick kids.

Valentine's Treats

2009-02-16T17:44:00.000-06:00

So I've not been blogging much. Grant is still sick and has been since Friday. It's been a LONG weekend. Poor guy doesn't feel well at all.

My mom sent the girls a care package last week for Valentine's. They each got a Valentine's book, sticker earrings, a candy bracelet, M & Ms, and Skittles. Mom left that battle (candy with Abs) for me. Oh, well. I suggested next time sending Goldfish or Teddy Grahams...they love them and low sugar content. I helped Abby eat some of her candy...the least I could do, right? Grant also got a book. The girls loved their package. They also got cards complete with stickers from Matt's parents. That entertained for a while. His parents were also gracious to give us a gift card to Target...which went toward our whopping $160 bill yesterday for a "supplies" visit (diapers, wipes, formula, pullups, baby food, and cleaning supplies). How that stuff adds up so fast I'll never know! We appreciated the gift card for sure. Totally unexpected and very welcome!

Grant's getting fussy...I'll post later about what we did to celebrate Valentine's during our sick quarantined weekend!

Joy in the Journey...and in the trenches

2009-02-13T22:56:00.000-06:00

So today was one of those days in the trenches. I woke up with Abby screaming and crying as she made her way into our room to announce that her ear was hurting terribly. Of course, that meant a first of the day appointment with Dr. Narayanan. Thankfully, Matt was already home because she was supposed to go for her annual diabetic eye exam...and Matt always keeps the other kids while Abby has her specialists' appointments. So we had to cancel that and reschedule with her pediatrician. The morning went fine...she did indeed have an ear infection and an eye infection. Three drugs...$68 by the time we paid for the doctor and the drugs. Way to start the day!

So we get home fine. Matt heads off to work. Grant was napping. So we decided to clean house. It needed it. The girls all pitched in and cleaned the windows, decluttered, and dusted. I love little hands that want to help! This is definitely not too typical around here. Not too long into our cleaning spree, we discover that Grant has horrible diarrhea. The gross, I'm-very-sick-smelling kind. I knew the day was going to get worse. So in between these diapers, I opened our mail...to reveal that Matt had clicked the wrong button by accident on the online site for our gas company and had paid for this month's bill with our OLD, CLOSED account. I was horrified. I am the kind of gal that pays things very early all the time....Miss Type A a little bit. It was an honest mistake...but one that caused heart palpitations and a few sweat droplets. We just don't do things like that. Well, the only reason we had an OLD account was due to the robbery in October. We had to close everything for security reasons to protect our assets and identity of course.
So that took a few phone calls. Unfortunately, I totally lost my joy that hour. Between two sick kids and two more screaming toddlers and the situation with the bill, I just lost it. I let go of all of my joy that I'm studying about in MOMS.

Well, we went on at lunch time to drop off a dessert we made for someone who just lost a family member. Seeing her actually pulled me out of my slump. I think I just needed to see and talk to an adult after all the diarrhea, screaming, fighting, and whatnot of the morning. I needed regular life for just a few minutes. Then we went and picked up our mini-pharamacy and headed for FAST FOOD. You know I've come to a low point if I feed my kids fast food by choice and not out of necessity. I really try to make lunch a fruit/cracker/cheese/sandwich rather than grease/fat/grease meal. They were thrilled. And my stress enjoyed some french fries!

Well, let's just say that I was so, so, so excited for naptime. I needed a break today. Of course, I continued to take care of my poor little man who had now become the primary patient (Abby was now acting better). After nap, we did have some good, fun playtime...and my joy did get restored.

In Philippians, one verse (which I do not have the reference to right now) said that Paul thanked God EVERY TIME he thought of that church. Well, I've been struggling with staying frustrated at Isabella. So tonight I literally practiced what Paul said he did. I literally thanked God every time I thought of her. Funny because I had a HUGE headache from all of her screaming this afternoon (much of it fun but still VERY loud) and I was praying these prayers while she was marching around me at bedtime banging a triangle with a drumstick. She was making lots of noise...so I thanked God that she was not deaf, that she loved music, that she enjoyed sounds, that she could make a joyful noise. I love how God gave me that prayer specifically since her noise all day had made me a bit edgy....I love that he took that in particular and made it the very thing for which I thanked Him. I determined that no amount of illness, stinky diapers, screaming kids, financial oopsy daisies, or anything else was going to steal my joy. It did for a couple of hours, but I reclaimed it. Thanks to Jean Stockdale for leading us through Philippians (her study is Joy in the Journey...hence the reference to her study in this blog post title)this semester so that I can assimilate this truth into my everyday life...days like today...in the trenches!

In Mom's closet

2009-02-11T12:22:00.000-06:00

Last night the girls got out everything they own, I'm pretty sure. It was Abby's idea to use their sleeping bags, pillows, etc. and pretend that they were on vacation. We'll they literally covered most of the kitchen with their stuff (look behind them in the background). When they bored of vacation, they raided my closet. Here Abby is sporting one of my t-shirts, and Isabella has on one of my long sleeved shirts. All 3 girls have on some of my shoes. I thought Matt was back there with them (I was cooking dinner)...but he wasn't! He was upstairs, and they were having a field day in my closet. They had fun...and we had a very long cleanup time last night! Just had to share these pictures!

Valentine's Day at School

2009-02-11T12:19:00.000-06:00

Here are the Valentine's Day goodies that we prepared for the girls' friends at school. Isabella was thrilled to give these (they had M&Ms) to her friends while Abby wasn't. I'm still not sure why Abby didn't want to pass these out, but I'll figure it out later. Isabella was bouncing into the classroom ready to give these away. We also made those Pillsbury Heart cookies for her class, and she was very enthused about those too. That girl hasn't met a sugary treat that she doesn't love! Neither has little sis Ali Kate. Anyway, I was very happy with the way these turned out. I made them with my new Bamboo pen which I'm so excited about. It's been fun playing with my new gadget!

Dentists!

2009-02-10T20:38:00.000-06:00

Ok. So my mom is dreadfully scared of going to the dentist. She's the reason they invented sedation dentistry. Actually, I don't think she's ever been sedated, but she does hate the dentist. Despite her fear, she has been going very regularly the past few years. Yay, Geez! Well, last week she was going for an appointment and called us to cheer her on. Yes, she was that afraid! Abby told her that the dentist is good and that she'll get a treat out of the treasure chest if she's good. Isabella told her that she could get a heart necklace.

After I hung up the phone, Abby and I were talking about Geez's fear of the dentist. Abby says to me, "Mom, think about it. What will Geez do when she sings praises to the Lord? He doesn't want to see her orange teeth!" I about fell out right there. I laughed so hard and had to call my mom right back to tell her about her orange teeth. For the record, while her teeth aren't in tip top shape, they aren't orange yet. Not even close. You gotta love kids!

Booful!

2009-02-10T20:35:00.001-06:00

Today we had a stay-at-home day...yay! I miss these since we are on the go more with dance, preschool, MOMS, etc. Anyway, at one point Ali Kate walks up to me with one of my hairclips and says, "Here you go Mama." I said, "What do I need to do with this?" Ali Kate replies, "Put it in your hair, Mama." So I complied with my 2 year old's request. Who wouldn't? As soon as I put it in my hair, she says with utter delight, "You so booful, Mama." Thanks, Ali Kate. I felt "booful" for that moment!

My OCD Daughter...Abby

2009-02-10T20:29:00.000-06:00

Ok...so I just have to jot this down lest I forget it over the next 20 years. Last night the girls' room (Ali Kate and Isabella's shared room) was a complete disaster. They had played hard all afternoon and totally wrecked their room. Well, while I was busy doing something, Abby went to Matt and told him that he needed to send the girls to watch TV so that she could clean up their room. She said it was too hard for them to do, so she would do it. Well, did she ever clean up! It was fabulous. She even took every item out of their drawers to straighten and categorize. I walked in when she was using a crayon to draw diagrams inside the drawers of where the socks, shorts, etc. went. I panicked inside a little because she had already drawn a bit in the drawer. Quick Mommy solution? I grabbed some index cards and handed them to her so that she could draw her diagrams on these and place these in the drawers. She wrote their names on them and drew detailed pictures of where every item belongs. Boy was I impressed. She actually had fun doing this! I wish I could say the same when I undertake projects like these! For her hard work, we gave her $5. She fed her piggy immediately! I love that kid and her OCD personality (just like her mama!).

Ice Cream Addict!

2009-02-02T21:55:00.000-06:00

Today we ran some errands while the big girls were at preschool, and we were at the bank next to Chick-fil-A for our last errand. Well, Ali Kate so seriously chimed in from the backseat, "Get me some icecream for myself, Mama." She knew that Mommy would indulge this treat since her sisters weren't around (we're sometimes a little bad with our diet when it's just the two of us). We went there, but the line was wrapped around the entire building. So I said, "Let's go home and eat ice cream." I knew we had a small amount left in a small container we'd bought a while back.

When we got home, she ran to her highchair and said, "Get my ice cream for myself, Mama." She was ready. I told her to grab a spoon, and she quickly obeyed. Lightning speed there. Anyway, she kind of cheated and had ice cream for lunch. No, I'm not a bad mom. This was totally a very special splurge. Not our normal midday fare! She was tickled that I'd indulged her cravings like this. Now we will not repeat this tomorrow for sure. And let me note that I did NOT eat ice cream...I've lost 8 pounds, and I'm working on those next two!

Beginning Blends

2009-02-02T21:49:00.000-06:00

I just had to take a minute and share this. Abby and I were working on her beginning blends like br, dr, bl, etc. Anyway, we were talking about things that begin with br, and she says, "I know one....Barack Obama." Well, while it technically doesn't begin with br, I thought that was too funny.

She is also beginning to write sentences which totally amazes me. Today she wrote, "No more crying Grant for nine days." (He had been crying for quite some time with no signs of letting up despite all of my best efforts at comforting him.) She also wrote me a love note on the way to church yesterday that said, "I love mom most." Of course, I kept that and will forever. Those are just too precious.

Anyway, our little brainiac is just constantly amazing us every day. How she picks up on this stuff with no formal education yet is beyond me!

Da Da Da

2009-01-20T22:09:00.000-06:00

Little Man has actually spoken his first word: Da da. He did this two weeks ago tomorrow, but I'm just now blogging about it. Yes, I am the stay-at-home parent, but he didn't say ma ma first. He added ba ba this weekend to his new vocabulary. We're so excited for our little buy. He chants da da da all the time now. I'm just glad he can get a word in edgewise around here.

What God said

2009-01-20T22:04:00.000-06:00

A few nights ago I had given Isabella a bath all by herself (we usually bathe the girls all together), and she had the best time. We just played with her bath toys and had fun chatting as girls do. Well, the fun finally had to come to an end...and I asked her to get out of the bath. She looked at me with that determined face of hers, and I knew she wasn't budging. I asked her again. No response. So I gently pulled her out of the bath, wrapped her in her towel, and asked her, "Isabella, what does God say about ...?" That was as far as I got. She immediately responded, "God says 'Get out of the bath.'" I was going for "Children, obey your parents in the Lord." But I think I got the point across anyway.

Woo Hoo!

2009-01-15T21:53:00.000-06:00

I weighed TWICE at the gym tonight to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me, and I've lost FIVE pounds since my initial weigh-in on Monday morning. I have been so diligent with my eating and my exercise. Now, I know it's only been four days....but it's been so long since I've really tried my hardest. I was thrilled to see some results, and I can't wait for the team weigh-in next Monday. I'm shooting for 7 or 8 pounds of weight loss in week 1. That would be so awesome. I feel really good about this because this is my one area that I can't seem to have success in...I pretty much can do a good job in most things I put my hand to, but I just struggle so much with my eating. So I'm pumped that I've been able to do it so far, and I've actually felt good. It's getting easier each day.

I'm Jumping In!

2009-01-10T22:10:00.000-06:00

I've decided that since I can't go away for several months to get skinny like they do on The Biggest Loser, I'm going to join the Biggest Loser competition at my gym. They've done it the past two Januarys to capitalize on all those New Years Resolutions, but I have been pregnant both times. Now that I'm not pregnant this January, I'm jumping on board. I have been saying for a while now that it's okay to have a little extra weight since I just had four kids in four years...but now that Grant is 7 months old....that excuse is getting old! It's time to get serious. So I think that having the team accountability and having to weigh in and measure for a trainer will help motivate me to shed some pounds. My goal? To lose 30 by the time I turn 30 in May! Now I'm putting it in writing to remind me and to "make it real." Oatmeal Creme Pies, goodbye!

Happy Birthday, Ali Kate!

2009-01-10T21:54:00.000-06:00

Only six days ago we wished our baby girl a Happy 2nd Birthday. I still can't believe almost a week later that Ali Kate is actually two years old. Didn't I have her yesterday? Matt and I were reflecting on her birthday, and we remember every detail of that day. She was delivered by a scheduled C-section, and that was the first time that any of our children had a scheduled birthday. His parents came to keep the girls while we went to the hospital. I remember fixing breakfast for the girls, not being able to eat or drink anything since I was having a baby that afternoon. All day I was so nervous knowing that I was having surgery in a few hours. I can remember the red sweater that I wore, and taking our last picture as a family of four before we headed for the hospital. We ran two errands on the way to the hospital, and I was nervous we'd be late for her birth....crazy, isn't it? As it turned out, Dr.Lynn got detained in another surgery and was 2 1/2 hours late...so we had plenty of time to wait. I remember being so hungry by 3:30 that afternoon (I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since 10:30 the night before) that I told Matt that I was leaving the hospital if they didn't take the baby in the next few minutes. I never do the prep room well. They put you in a room to wait before they whisk you off to the operating room, and that room always unnerves me...every time.

Anyway, we've had a great two years with Ali Kate. She has grown so much in those 2 years...and she is the brightest girl I've ever seen. She has been talking in complete sentences since 18 months, and she can count to 20. She converses like a 3 year old (and better than some). She is extremely obedient, and she even sits in time out until she is dismissed. I wish I could teach her sisters that! Ali Kate is a mommy's girl to a fault. She wants me to hold her and take care of her constantly. She is a cuddle bug for sure. Ali Kate adores her big sisters, and she always wants to keep up with them. She's a fast learner and an enthusiastic kiddo. She has defied the odds in terms of her physical development. I'll never forget that neurologist telling me that she may never walk...but let me tell you...she can walk, run, jump, climb, hop, race....she's our miracle kid. We were given a very bad diagnosis with her hypotonia, but she has responded incredibly to her weekly physical therapy. In fact, she is about to be discharged, and I'm so proud of her. She's an awesome girl, and we are glad we've gotten two great years with her.

As for her birthday, we celebrated with just our family last Sunday. We let her have a cupcake for breakfast. She looked at it and at me several times to see if I was really going to let her have it. What a treat! Then we went to church. When we came home, she tore into her gifts with great enthusiasm and lots of help from you know who (Isabella). She got a new dollhouse that's got fewer piece and chubbier people than our other one. She also got a new tricycle and a My Little Pony that has a "get well" kit. She's obsessed with My Little Pony although she's never seen the show or movie. She loved her gifts, and the girls honestly played with the new toys for hours that afternoon. We had lots of time as a whole family, and it was so nice. Ali Kate will have her birthday party this coming Saturday, so she'll get one more chance to celebrate and eat cupcakes! After all, according to her, she "needs a cupcake, Mama." Happy Birthday, Al!

Pen and paper

2009-01-10T21:37:00.000-06:00

I just have to brag on Isabella. The other day she made a map all by herself. She used circles, squiggles, swirls, and other types of lines to make her map. She drew alot of circles to make the beach. I was so impressed. All of a sudden in the last two weeks, she's figured out how to draw different types of curves and circles. So to extrapolate that and make a map to Crystal Beach (where we vacationed a few months ago) is incredible to me. Way to go, Bella!

On the pen and paper topic, Abby was copying something the other day (I don't remember what since she copies words and sentences almost daily for fun...yes, she is very much like her mommmy...a nerd at heart) when she kept writing her capital G backwards. When we were looking over the paper, I showed her how to correct her G. Well, she informed me that she wouldn't be changing her G because my G wasn't cute. And of course, you can't write ugly letters!

Oh, we're in over our heads!

2009-01-10T21:22:00.001-06:00

Here's what we've been doing....getting clothes ready to sell...and Ebaying!

Today we spent what could have been a very lazy Saturday sifting through and sorting through boxes upon boxes of clothes. Let me just say that our children have owned way too many clothes! We had 13 boxes from preemie to 4T absolutely packed to the brim! Why did we do this? Well, we've decided that our family is full and that it's time to sell all these adorable clothes. I actually spent time Friday reading the ins and outs on Ebay of how to become a seller. And my non-tech-savvy self is actually an Ebay seller....can you believe it? I need to pinch myself. This is not my realm at all. I have never purchased anything on Ebay, and I am not familiar at all with the system....yes, I'm behind about 15 years. That's why being married to Matt balances me since he is Mr. Tech. So we'll see how all the selling goes. I think I'm going to have an "Open House" for friends and acquaintances to shop the best pieces before offering them in a garage sale in March. So if you've ever admired any of the Stine girls' clothes, feel free to ask me to see pictures of what we're selling or to come over to see them. We're selling preemie through 2T in girls and newborn through 9 months in boys. We hope all this work will help us clear out our packed garage so that we can park in it again!

Surprise!

2009-01-01T15:54:00.000-06:00

December 20th found us throwing a surprise party for Matt's 30th birthday. I can hardly believe today that he's already 30. We first met and began dating when we were 18 years old, so 12 years have flown by! Matt's parents worked with me to create a Shutterfly memory book that went from Matt's birth until just a few weeks ago. The book captures his whole life in a few snapshots. We also planned a day of fun for Matt. They came at 1:00 to babysit which was a total surprise to Matt. We made a big deal out of their babysitting so that he thought that the date was his big surprise. We went to Logans to have appetizers and then to a movie. Boy was that fun! We rarely get to go on dates, so this was a huge treat for us. We then scrambled home to get the house ready for the party. Matt and his dad went to Target to "shop for Christmas" (at least that's what Matt thought they were doing). We then sent them to pick up pasta from Pizza Hut (a good excuse to get them back home and a good way to round out the food I'd prepared). This is Matt when he walked through the front door and saw everyone yelling "surprise." I love this picture! We had a wonderful night of visiting with friends and playing a Matt trivia game (30 questions about Matt's 30 years).