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.