Not so Lazy Days at home

I remember when I used to think it was nice to just have a lazy Saturday with nothing planned to do.  Well, that wasn't the plan for this past Saturday but when babies are sick with yucky coughs and snotty noses, plans change.  We called it a stay at home day.  While we were at home with nothing planned, it was anything but lazy.  In fact, I felt like it was actually a lot of work.  Everybody needed something. 

Read me a book.  Play a game with me.  Can I have a snack?  I'm thirsty.  Who stinks?  I'm ready to do something different.  I don't want to watch football.  Can I? Can I? Can I?  I want. I want. I want.

It was wet and cold so I couldn't just boot them out the back door to play.  It was impossible to keep cleaning up after them.  It was impossible to get anything on my to do list done.

 yand go for a LONG drive with them all tied down in one spot just to keep from losing my sanity.  Confession. I have done that before.  Probably more than once. Then I realized that the chaos was mostly my fault in the first place.  I already know that my 5 year old, 3 year old and 15 month olds are needy individuals.  This should not have caught me off guard.  I know that they are so much less trouble when they've been given a project to do.  Especially Kade and Ryne.  Projects for Tesa and Tyce usually just include keeping them busy with errands to run. You know, go get that book.  Good, now can you go put that car in the bucket?  Great job.  Go check on Daddy and make sure he's good.  The keep em going in different directions kind of errands.

Anyway, instead of falling back on the long drive option I just wised up and busted out a craft for the big boys to do.  I had found this little project on pinterest a few weeks ago and this seemed to be the perfect time to make it happen.

Paper lunch bag.  Fall colored crayons. White paper to color. Scissors.

Viola!....

 A couple of lovely fall trees.

  A nice addition to the fall decor on the mantle.

 It was fun.  And the boys were nice and occupied.  Kyle could watch that football game as long as he kept Tesa and Tyce running those errands.

So I learned my lesson.  Don't count on a lazy day at home with these four kiddos anytime soon. 

So thankful they are mine, I wouldn't give them back for anything...not even a lazy day at home.  Now, shipping them off to stay with some grandparents would certainly be an option if they didn't all live thousands of miles away.  I could see myself doing that occasionally in order to get one of those lazy days worked into the schedule.  Oh well, a girl can dream, right?

Under the Weather

Not a super fun week at our house this week.  Kade got a cold several days ago and has now shared it with me, Tyce and as of today Tesa.  Pretty sure I heard a cough or two out of Ryne before he headed off to school this morning, too.  Ugh!  Being sick is no fun.  Having sick kiddos is even worse than no fun.

But thankfully before we had the yuckiness we did get to have some fun.

Sunday the kiddos were invited to their buddy Samuel's birthday party.

Since it was Sunday and Kyle is a bit busy on Sunday's I was flying solo.

First stop....store to get a gift.

 Being in a bit of a hurry I didn't want to take the time to get the stroller out so this was my solution.  

We did it! Left there with one toy to give away and all four children still happy.

Samuel's party was at a gymnastics place. So much fun!

I have to say that I think Tesa and Tyce had the most fun.

 This was the first party that they've ever actually participated in.

 I wish I had video of them checking everything out. 

 Tesa was testing out the trampoline.  Apparently she was oblivious to the arrows and could have cared less that everyone was bouncing towards her.

 Then again maybe she got her directional skills from her brother Ryne???

 She was prancing around all over the place.  Tesa just might turn out to be our little gymnast.

 Kade was giving the rope swing a try.

 Ryne seemed to prefer the trampoline.  Maybe because when you actually followed the arrows and bounced to the end you got to jump off in this....

 Awesome Foam Pit!!!

 Look who else wanted to try out the foam pit.

Hey, Tyce, come on in!  I think you'll like it.

 You think so?  I'm still not to sure about these bouncy floors they have here.

 She was right, he liked it!

 And once he realized he could actually crawl through it...

 That shiny blue ball across the way became his target.

 Had to laugh at Tesa going head first trying to follow Tyce.

 Probably took at least five minutes but he finally made it to that ball.

 Look at Ryne buried in the foam behind Kade.

 Kade being Tarzan again.

 Look, Mom, I found more fun stuff!

And then we had to move on to other fun stuff....

 Pizza, cupcakes, and presents!

 Samuel is one of Ryne's favorite buddies.  He hardly ever left his side.

So much fun to celebrate Samuel's birthday with him.

I was exhausted after chasing the twins around all afternoon.  I just knew as soon as I loaded them up in the van they would crash and get a nice afternoon nap before church.  Nope!  I was wrong.  I even kept driving around in hopes that they would eventually go to sleep.  Nope!  Took them to church minus the nap on time change day.  YIKES!  That night they were begging to go to bed! 

I am glad that I did at least try driving around because look what I came across in our beautiful city...

 The most amazing spot with several big ginkgo trees in all their splendid yellow glory.

Looked like it had snowed yellow below them.  

We had been trying to get a photo shoot scheduled with one of our amazing photographer friends and when she saw this pic and the weather said it wouldn't be raining the next day we quickly made plans to meet there when Kade got out of school on Monday afternoon.  

We got there and I about cried.  Apparently it was leaf blowing day for the city workers.  The beautiful yellow leaves had been all cleaned up.  But Dawn went to work with my crazy family anyway and she just shared a sneak peek of what she captured that day.

Made me smile this morning.  Thanks Dawn for working with my crazy bunch!

My favorite part of this pic....Tyce only has on one shoe.  That is so us!  We NEVER have it all together.  But I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Be sure and check out Dawn at http://www.dawnkitley.com/

Now, off to see about changing out some laundry and find another cough drop.

Hope you all have a super fabulous cough-free kind of day!

Trick Or Treat Fun!

We had a blast yesterday!  I've said before that we aren't big Halloween fans but we do enjoy dressing up and having a reason to party.  Just so happens that Halloween gives us that excuse.  We don't do spooky stuff or evil stuff. Just fun family stuff.  And fun is certainly what we had yesterday.

Dressing up as a family has become lots of fun for us.  Kade decided many weeks ago that he wanted us to all go as Star Wars characters.  He and Ryne picked out all of our costumes and we went with it.

I thought it turned out great.

We met up with our Life Group to trick-or-treat the businesses down town.  DuPont has such a fun family oriented Halloween time that is great for small children.  After that trick-or-treating extravaganza everyone met back up at our house for our Life Group party.  Got is started with more trick or treating then eating and playing.  We had so much fun.

Take a look....

Tesa was done!

And so was Tyce.

Princess Leia hair and Yoda head tucked away in the cup holder.  Proof that the little ones were all done.

Serious Star Wars action time.

Time to hit up the neighborhood.

Here is proof that Kyle really was the man behind the mask.

Look who showed up!  Jacob and Jordan!

Back from Alaska!  So so so good to have them come hang out with us.  They have been missed like crazy around here the past few months.

After trick or treating meal.

Gotta love that the kiddos outnumber the grown ups in our Life Group!  They are so much fun!

Jacob requested a beard like Ryne's. 

Ryne hooked him up!

Finished product!

Ryne got a facial hair upgrade, too.  But he obviously didn't want me taking his picture.

Will finish this post up with the sweetest moment of the night.  Tesa giving Ryne a great big good night hug.
Already wondering what Kade and Ryne will request our family be for Halloween next year.
Just hope we have as much fun as we did this year.
And now we have NOVEMBER!  Wow! The holidays are here and I love this time of year.  Stay tuned to see what kind of fun holiday adventures we can find to get into.