2012 Week in the Life-Sunday

Happy last day!  The week went really fast, and for the next week I am going to be so used to carrying around the camera and taking pictures that it will be difficult to not be thinking of taking a picture of everything I do.

The boys wanted to start their morning at 6, but because we are tired we let them hang out in their cribs til 7 when we can finally rouse ourselves.  Getting up and breakfast are typical, however while looking out the kitchen window I see two HUGE bunnies hopping around and I feel gratitude for our backyard.  I didn't want to miss them so I didn't catch a photo however, I  took this photo of a bird in the yard.  The window screen disguises it a bit but they are real close to the house, which we love.

This morning I took care of some financial business, transferring money into our online savings account.  I added money to the kid's savings as well as started 4 new sub-accounts: Texas trip, 10th Anniversary Mediterranean Cruise, Christmas and birthday accounts.

I start every morning with this drink, SPARK.  It's an energy drink and is delicious.  I can definitely tell the difference when I miss it.

How can I not  throw this sweet smile onto the blog??

 A Week in the Life is not complete without at least one picture of my LEAST favorite activity during meal times...washing faces and hands...ugh!
 

Today I tried to take more photos of "everyday" like this..carrying the kids around.  It just seems like when one finally gets enough one on one and mama cuddles then the next one is there to be picked up.  I hear UP a lot and have to do a lot of activities one handed.

Getting kids dressed.  The location of this can change everyday.  Sometimes I do it like this.  Occasionally in the living room.  Henry loves to run off so I've dressed him in the kitchen, and every where he will run and try to hide.  Most clothes changes are in their bedrooms.

Again...to adorable to leave out:)

Because we used the van for the conference, I had to throw Henry's and Ella's carseats back in to go to church.

We attended the 10:30a service at church.  I arrived EARLY {I'm shocked too} and brought all the kids in myself {Supermom!}.  Here was worship:

Evie at Kingdom Kids

Dropping the "babies" at nursery.

Shawn ushered this month.

Worship

Shawn ready to take tithes.

Taking sermon notes for a sermon titled: We Are Disciples: Following Jesus 101

After church I headed home with the "babies" while Shawn and Evie went to Hyvee to gather grilling supplies.  I stopped specifically to take this picture of a billboard I have the pleasure of viewing nearly everyday.  I HATE this billboard.  It's advertising for a local insurance office and sports the pictures of the 2 men agents.  Their slogan: Your hometown heros.  So just in case you were thinking that all of the men and women serving our country, or firefighters, or policemen were heros THINK AGAIN!  It's actually insurance salesmen.  Out there risking their lives for us!  Yeah right!  Arrogant fools!  Anyways back to our day:)

Shawn stopped and filled the red car and then off to the grocery store.  They purchased: brats (delicious), buns, watermelon, cantaloupe, blackberries, chips, and cauliflower.

After a lunch of leftovers {pizza and wild rice soup}, we enjoyed "free" time, which included:

Silly Henry entertainment.  He threw this on his head and then spun in circles.

Grant and I reading the Sunday paper.

This is what is in our freezer right now.

Playing on the computer.

Kids went down for naps at 1:50 again. It seems like the "magic" long nap time.  Shawn, Evie and I all headed upstairs to watch "Cars II" and play on our computers.  Grant-Man woke up too early: 2:45p and I laid on the couch with him.  This is what happened:

I managed to get an hour snooze with him {and I'm still tired} until Evie woke us up.  I must take after the kids because being woke up before I was ready made me cranky!!

We headed over to our friend's house for an impromptu BBQ and fun.  My sister and BIL and niece were there too.  BLAST!!!!

Evie and her bff, Abi.  Abi has an AWESOME dollhouse that through out the week Evie has told me that I can get for her "not Abi's but one just like it!"  She even thinks Abi will get one for her.

Malachi the flirt.  Hes my bff.  LOVE HIM!

The S's.  Rachel {dessert queen} made chocolate cookies.  I only ate 4.  I messed up my diet at yesterday's buffet so who cares right?

My sweet B!

Being silly for M!

Dinner: bacon cheddar brat and pineapple, which is like dessert as meat!  Also avai

lable: onion and jalapeno.

We left at approximately 8p after helping the S family clean up the disaster that is my children ensued.   MESSY!  When we arrived home, normal night routine took place. I took this picture to show the difference in the girls dressers/area.  Can you tell which one I clean???

Evie's

Ella's

Kids routine:

Babies diapers changed: Evie goes potty.
Everyone in PJ's.
Brush teeth.
Read to babies.
Tuck babies in bed with lovies and teddy's.  Give lots of kisses/hugs and bless them.
Evie has Mommy-Daddy-Evie time (unless she is disobediant throughout day or it's late and in her best interest to head to bed early.
Evie in bed.

 I have a few health problems: anxiety, RA and a I've had 4 children including triplets bladder problem.  Therefore medication is a normal for me.  Usually I am also taking fish oils, a specific neutraceutical for my RA and vitamin D...but I ran out.  So this is how I finish he night before heading up to bed:

Gratitude:

Ella's enthusiastic: "Numa, numa, numa!" when I took out the raisins for breakfast.

That my children are so healthy.

Enjoyed a delightful and happy "conversation" between Henry and Ella of which I understood 0% of.  LOVED that they did though.

Overheard:

Evie: "Oh no never let go!  Through the wind and through the storm!"  A worship song she LOVES.

Shawn has lifting limitations and apparently he did not observe them as Evie's first words to me from running errands with daddy was: "Daddy lifted me up!"  To say that Shawn looked a bit sheepish is an understatement...a bit more then mortified.

Irritation: The kids LOVE to throw their empty cups/bowls/plates on the floor when ready to move to the next course or get down.  Even though they can say "All done!"

2012 Week in the Life-Saturday

Welcome to MN, where summer and winter are predicted in the same week.  We had a prediction for snow this morning, with highs in the 40's... which is completely and totally CRAZY when you look at Tuesdays pictures of my kids in their shorts at the park.  Only a few days ago I was worried about the kids getting a sunburn...now I had to worry because their winter jackets have been relegated to storage.  Luckily, snow was a no show, just a little/lot of rain.

I would say a good majority of the time we waste energy in our home, because we dry our clothes but do not have time to fold them.  Thus, like this morning, I had to set the drier on a 15 minute de-wrinkle so Shawn would have usable dress pants for the conference.

The kids morning options are fairly limited: cereal, cereal bars, oatmeal, and some type of fruit...all washed down with delicious goat's milk.  A favorite for me to get for them is their Kix in snack cups and milk just for quickness and mess control.

Breakfast was served at 6:45a this morning...we had early birds.

This is the kids snack/treat/canned fruit cupboard.  Everything in here is kid specific and not  for mom and dad...mostly because they are high in calories:)

The conference we attended was given by our management company and was very interesting.  Our focus was on finances and having a plan (GOALS) and working towards them.  Did you know that only 1% of the population has a written plan (goal) that they review every day?  Guess where 1% of the top  earners are??  Yep, goal makers are the ones making all the money. 

This is the CEO of the company and the lead speaker.  He's a very dynamic speaker and we always come away from the sessions with ideas and excitement for our office.

Our schedule:

The conference was held at a Casino and we enjoyed the buffet at lunch.  Chris, our CA, was the most excited about it and without a doubt it was delicious and yes we all left stuffed.  Dessert was a little disappointing, as I tried 5 different ones finally settling for same ole' ice cream and strawberry covered angel food cake.  It was delicious, but the main foods were the best.

The staff spent the afternoon discussing collections, while Shawn and I were is a session discussing overhead.  Despite my serious fatigue (I nodded off at least twice), it was  a great afternoon.

The ride (1.5 hrs) was uneventful, except for that indecisive quick stop I made in Jordan.  Just making sure everyone was still awake!!  The talks following our conferences are always interesting as we compare notes.

While we were gone the "babies" and Evie enjoyed special time not only with amma and ampa A but a favorite guest...AUNTIE LAURA!! 

The babies stayed home with ampa, while the "girls" (minus Ella) went clothes shopping.  Here are a few pictures from their fun:

Enjoying ice cream, which is always better when smeared all over your face!

They had a good laugh putting Auntie's boots on the kids...who would not/could not walk in them:)

Snuggling with ampa after nap.

They are getting so BIG!

We arrived home to ...pizza for supper.  Despite our giant lunch, Shawn and I still managed to consume a few pieces...happily.  Following we had great conversations and enjoyed the kids antics.

At the end of the night, I had one of my best moments of the week...a Skype session with my oldest sister Keesha.  I'm not sure if everyone else misses their family as much as I miss my sister but being so far away can sometimes be agony.  She and her family, including my newest niece Molly whom I've never "met", live in TX.  I am desperate to see them and the next best thing was this time o the computer.  The program or her computer had a slight glitch which curtailed the calls but it was still one of the best 22 minutes I've spent.  The kids enjoyed it too.  And I can not tell you that Molly has the most adorable thighs, and she loves it when Auntie blows raspberry noises.  Keesha was able to official "meet" B and watching that was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!  BEST NIGHT!!  I am excited to do it again especially next weekend when my parents are here.