Sharing the joy

So, recently, I've been wishing that my life was equipt with Tivo, (not the daily hygiene or when I first wake-up but just the good parts). So many funny things happen with the kids each day, I wish I could back-up and replay it for all to enjoy. The world would be a happier place if they could see the excitement in Vanessa's face as she returns from the neighbors Birthday party with a whole bag of candy to share. But at last, I rarely have my camera rolling during these priceless moments. Today was no exception. I was folding laundry and I must have looked tired or bored or something so Ethan decided to brighten my day. It was so funny that I made him re-enact his routine for the camera. Which of course turned into a full fledged video shoot with the kids.

Happy Face, Sad Face

Ethan is such a crack-up!!!

What happens if you try to up-stage Ethan

This probably wouldn't be so funny if it weren't for the fact that Ethan is usually happy to stand in Caden's shadow. He idolizes his big brother. This was not staged!!!

What's so Funny?

A little bit of a Diva

I don't need to worry about low self-esteem for Vanessa. Strike a pose, Vogue

Manoucheca in the spotlight

Do I even need to tell you how cute she is???????

Happy Birthday Dear Grandpa

Can you believe after 72 birthdays, my dad had never had a Scooby Doo Birthday party? I know, how in the world did that happen? Don't worry, the kids took care of that quickly. Caden (who's really good at math despite the fact that he doesn't like it) calculated that we didn't have enough boxes of candles but he put as many on as he could. We were one candle short of a burn permit. Justin disabled the smoke detectors for the occasion. It's a good thing Grandpa is such a good sport. I bet he can wait until his Power Ranger Birthday next year.

Happy Birthday Dad

Caden loves me

Normally, "I love you mom" is the greatest sentence in the world. So, how would you take it if your child said, "I love you more than the dentist", then preceded to flip flop back and forth, "NO, maybe I love going to the dentist more" and so on. Granted, Caden did state that he likes the dentist more than chocolate chip cookies and he stands by that statement. What can I say, the kid also begs me to make spinach and brussel sprouts. He's a health nut.

Ethan has an announcement

Ethan would like to let the entire world know that he is offically registared for Kindergarden. He has been tracking down every school age child in the neighborhood to tell them he is finally part of the "big kid club". When he pretend plays now it always involves a statement such as "Pretend I'm Batman and I'm in 1st grade...." He's sooooooo adorable (but don't tell Ethan I said that because boys are COOL, not cute or adorable).

Stranger Danger

So, my girls bring a whole new meaning to "Stanger Danger". Tonight Justin and I went to a meeting and Erika watched the kids for us. Shortly after we left, a salesman came to the door. As usual, Caden answered the door (it's always for him so everyone else stopped getting up to let in yet another friend) followed by the other kids. A few moments later, Caden said "Erika, he wants to talk you" and as she walks to the door, she hears my sweet angels (Vanessa and Manoucheca) yelling at the salesman to "Get out of here, You leave right now". Erika was so embarrassed and yet the girl just kept going after this poor guy. When he finally discovered that Erika wasn't the Lady of the House, his face just dropped and he said, "I guess that means I have to come back tomorrow" He's desperate for a sale if he shows up here again. Stranger Danger at my house means the Stranger is the one in Danger. On the bright side, if their attitudes continue, Justin will be a lot more at ease when they enter dating age.
My biggest concern now is that even if the salesman is brave enough to return, Erika might not be as brave. In addition to the embarrassment she suffered...they stole her shoelaces, hide her left shoe, and Ethan did an entire photoshoot of himself on her camera phone. Luckily they are cute enough to make Erika forgive them pretty quickly.

Showing off the kids

It's been a long time since I promised to get video clips of each of the kids on here so you could see exactly how cute they are. I finally got it done. I just asked each kid to do something for the camera and they all chose to sing...maybe we should start putting together a band??? It was really hard for the other three to sit quietly while their sibling had their moment. They all love the spotlight. That's why the camera is so shaky...kids climbing on my lap trying to see. When Caden got home and I told him I wanted him to be recorded, the first thing out of his mouth was, "I'm not going to dance...I'm too cool for that!"

Ethan

Of course my Superhero would choose to sing Spiderman.

Vanessa

You can see why Justin's wrapped around her little finger

Alliya

Word's to Manoucheca's original song "I am noucheca, I am noucheca, daddy says I'm Bubba"

Caden

I'm just so happy Caden isn't too cool to sing. He had a hard time choosing between "We will rock you" or "I am Ironman". Ozzy and Queen??? What happened to Elmo and Dora???

Feb 5, 2009...one of the greatest days of my life!!!!

It's offical...as of Feb 5, our household is diaper free!!!! With the rare exception of a night away while Grandma watched the kids, I have changed the diapers of at least one kid (there where overlaps where I was changing 2 at a time) for the last 7 years 78 days. That is an estimated total of 16,320 diapers and 4.5 billion wet wipes. On Feb 5 (to be known from now on as the The Great Thursday), Manoucheca said bye bye biapers and I carried the diapers out to the trash. The first day was one wet accident and two of the dreaded accidents and no accidents to report from then on!!!! For all of you that have me up on a pedestal, as the greatest mom ever...you may want to quit reading now...for the rest of you...I will openly admit that I am the worst potty trainer in the history of indoor plumbing. This isn't the first attempt at deliverance from diapers. Manoucheca was very willing at first until I freaked out over the first runny mess. After that, she was content to just let me give-up and put her back in diapers. It wasn't until I got rid of my crutch and the diapers were gone that Manoucheca realized there was no going back and decided that she could do this. I don't even have to reminder her to try...she always comes to me when she needs to go. We are so proud of our big girl!!!

The things mommies will blog about! :)

A Tribute to Mother-In-Laws

So often, mother-in-laws get a bad rap so I thought I'd counter that with a tribute to the two wonderful mother-in-laws in our lives, my mother-in-law and Justin's mother-in-law (i.e. my mom). Justin also has a fabulous father-in-law but they don't get a whole lot of bad press. I have started working again and the first month of training I had to work 3pm-10pm which didn't work with Justin's schedule so thankfully Erika was there to fill in the gaps along with a group of wonderful friends. By week three, the kids and I were exausted from all the running around so my mom and dad came down and stayed a week. They both helped out so much and it was so nice to have them here. My dad now knows every children's book by heart I think he read to at least one kid from sunup to sundown. Mom cooked, cleaned, and made sure each kid got their fair share of hugs and kisses (with the exception of Caden who only received one kiss before Grandma was informed that he's getting too big for kisses...hugs only!!!) By the end of the week I'd forgotten how to do a batch of laundry and Ethan said he couldn't bare to be away from Grandma for one minute (did I mention that Grandma and Grandpa tend to spoil the kids and Justin and I too?). I think the kids would have packed their bags and followed them home if it weren't for the fact that Grandma Freeman came the next week. Not only did she keep up with my 4 kids from 3 to bedtime (Justin was out of town, so she didn't get a break when he got home) she also watched Justin's 2yr old niece as well. For those of you without a calculator handy...that's 5 kids under the age of 7 during the pleasant hours of dinnertime to bedtime when perfect angels can turn into little stinkers. And if that weren't enough, it was all done with a smile and not one complaint. If there was a Congretional Medal of Honor for Grandparenting, I know I'd have some nominations. I'm sure all parties involved had to sleep most of the next week to recover. Thanks Mom, Dad and Lanta. We all love you and appreciate everything you do for us.

Caden's Brush with the Law

Generally speaking, it's not a good thing when your son comes home from school and tells you that he had to go to the principal's office. What's worse is when he says he had to go there to meet with a police officer. This is exactly what happened several months ago (surprise...I'm just now posting). But before you all start coming up with bail money, Caden was selected to eat lunch with an officer because he is such a good citizen. Hopefully, this will be the only reason he need a police officer. He generally says the number you call in an emergency is 9-9-1.

Behind still yet improving...Christmas Updat

So it still takes me a little while to post but...I'm down to weeks instead of months. Christmas was so fun this year. All of the kids are at a magical Christmas age that makes it that much more enjoyable. The kids have decided that they like to decorate cookies which is great because it seemed like we baked a lot more than usual this year. A really kind neighbor brought a gingerbread tree for the kids to decorate (they loved making it) Aunt Jette and Jenny made Gingerbread boys and girls for all the cousins to decorate (lots of fun) and when I asked the kids what kind of cookies they wanted to make Santa, they all wanted to make Gingerbread (Santa was hoping for the easier and tastier chocolate chip break and bakes) We had a lot of fun making them. I had bought a jumbo size package of Christmas cookie cutters and of course, we HAD to try each shape. I tried my hand at making adorable snowflake ginger cookies just like the picture in the book. Since baking success doesn't come naturally for me, I'm going to take a minute and pat my own back....They turned out so cute (See the picture in the slide show below). "Is that silver sanding sugar sprinkled on top?" you say...Why, yes it is. Thanks for noticing. I didn't know such a thing existed until I took 3 out of 4 kids to the specialty kitchen store (an adventure to say the least but they did really well). Christmas day was so nice and we all just had fun being together. It was so nice for the rush to be over and to just enjoy the day. The lesson of this season learned from Caden and Ethan...Daddy can't be Santa Claus because he has been known to pass gas without saying "Excuse me" A little known fact outside the North Pole.

Christmas in Review