The girl lives with four brothers...she deserves a party.

Cierra puts up with a lot. I mean with four brothers, who wouldn't? The poor sweet girl even has a list of rules on her bedroom door.

They read:

No burping

No farting

No picking your nose.

Said boys do not obey these rules within the walls of her room. She puts up with it because she wants company....not happy about the lack of obedience though!

So, we planned a fairy party for her. No boys allowed...although they did make an entrance on the stairs halfway through...dressed up as Spiderman and Darth Vader no less.

The decor. Very pink. Very girly.

The wands. Each girl got one. My friend helped me make them. It was very tedious but they turned out really cute.

Cierra ready for the party.

The girls getting faces and nails painted.

Painting toes.

Pretty fairies!

Zoe Hunt, Isabel McNeil, Alyssa Seymour, Kailey Seymour, Cierra and Karli Reyes

Watching Tinkerbell...love all the fairy wings!

Two doctors, a Transformer, a GI Joe and an angel.

This year our Halloween was pretty mild compared to last year's. Recap on last year here.

We missed our Ward's Trunk or Treat because we were trying to exchange Dylan's costume at the last minute. The same costume that I had exchanged THREE different times. The kid is in between sizes for sure. So after spending an hour plus there we were too late for the Trunk or Treat.

We had a fun Halloween night though. We went with some friends to the Fall Festival on base and then trick or treating on base. The kids didn't get very much candy this year, which I was annoyed about at first, then thankful for because I stay home all day with that candy.

They had a great time and that's all it's about!

The pictures are out of order!

Jonah, er I mean MegaTron balancing a pumpkin on a spoon.

Tyler aka Dr. Love

Landon aka Dr. Death:)

A Seek and Find at the festival. I think he found a MOUSE!!!

The kids at Seaworld with our friends Karli and Kaden.

These two are the bestest buds. I love it so much.

Cierra was an angel...is an angel:)

The clan!
Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween!!

I've got a feeling...

...that this weekend is going to be a good weekend....

Cierra had a sleepover with her friend and they went to Chickfila for a "Super Hero's" breakfast...turns out it was the wrong Saturday, but they still had fun. She also got to go see "Where the Wild Things Are."

She looks so cute as an Incredible:)

Dylan was finally able to have his sleepover for his birthday. Here he is with his friend Sheldon and Jonus.

At Skateland...I love that skating is still "in".

Motherhood: A reflection

October is a busy month for us. We celebrated Dylan's 9th birthday and Tyler and Landon's 3rd birthday.

It's a bit strange to have a 9 year old. I of course feel like it was just yesterday that Dylan entered this world after 3 1/2 hours of pushing ( had to throw that in ). He has brought nothing but joy and he began my journey of motherhood. Being a new mom I was armed with tons of "I will nevers". Such as: I will never feed my child formula (Dylan had formula starting at 6 weeks because breastfeeding proved to really hard.) I will never say "no" to my child. (Yeah right.) I remember napping with him on the couch..him snuggled under my arm perfectly. It was pure bliss to me. I knew him so well. The first time he got hurt I cried more than he did. He was the smartest baby EVER... his dad and I were convinced that at 3 months he was saying "I love you". I miss those days. The simple state of feeling capable. I felt so capable of being a mother to this one little boy. I was good at doting on him, smothering him with love and spoiling him with kisses.

As life goes on and more children have joined our family I have been amazed at the capacity of love you are given as a mother. There is always more room in your heart for the next child...To love them just as you do the ones before. Feelings of inadequacy come when I feel that I can't possibly give each child the individual attention they need and deserve. I don't think there is a night that I don't lie in bed and do a "time inventory" in my head. Did I spend enough time with each child? Did I make them feel like an important individual? With a lot of kids in our family it can be easy to group them...meaning I focus on the group of them and not on them individually. But then I see them interact with each other and how they cheer each other on, defend each other, love each other, and then I think I may be doing something right.

Tyler and Landon...what can I say....it has been really....interesting.....and wonderful! The early days were a bit hairy. I look back now and wonder how I survived. Two colicky babies, no sleep, crying ALLLL day long. It is no wonder I have a few gray hairs and some fine lines. (Absolutely has nothing to do with the fact that I am in my 30's now;))

I can not picture my life without them. They are a blessing in ways they will never know. They are so loved by us all. They bring laughter and happiness to our home. They are our little entertainers. Landon is my cleaner...always cleaning something up. And Tyler is my little love. He loves to cuddle and give hugs.

I think of the future and how wonderful it will be. All of these kids, all of these personalities, interests and dreams and goals.

My house is loud....and I LOVE it!!

It's official...

I have lost my mind!

We stopped to get ice cream for the kids on our way home last night. I thought I grabbed the ice cream bag.....

but nope, I grabbed my new boots from Ross instead and stuck them in the freezer.

The saddest part is that today (yes they were in there overnight) when I went to get something out of the freezer I saw the Ross bag and I thought to myself, "Why is there a Ross bag in my freezer? Is this a surprise from Ron?"
Hahahahaha!
Nothing yells "Woman in need of a looong break" more than a pair of frozen knee-high boots!

Man, I LOVE these kids!

The kids got a hold of the camera. Dylan must have been doing a photo shoot.

Little Miss Princess with her "Do not disturb" mask, which comes in handy when the tooth fairy is sneaking in:)

Don't even ask...they are insane:)

Passed out on the couch after church.

Tyler is such a good sport. Cierra and Jonah dressed him all up. He loved every minute of it.

Nice hair and muff!

Cierra...the camera loves her.

Heading out the door to school! Happy Friday everyone!

Brothers who pee together.....

I really hope no one reports me for putting this picture up

So the dreaded potty training began about a week ago. I put it off and put if off knowing it would be quite the undertaking..and well, I was right. The only thing that has been consistant is that they keep having accidents. Ok, Tyler did really well yesterday and I don't think he had an accident, but it could be a fluke. Landon is taking his sweet time catching on. He will go potty when I remind him but won't go on his own. If I wait 11 minutes instead of ten minutes to remind him, it is too late...he has already taken care of it in his pull-up. That boy pees A LOT!

We spend a good part of the day in the bathroom and running around without any pull-ups on. It is quite crazy. It's also been kind of crazy because I have been sick all week, so to be on potty patrol on top of feeling like crud is not real fun.

So far I would say that Tyler is about 80% potty trained and Landon about 48.5%. They have graduated to standing up when going #1..on their tiptoes mind you. Sooo cute. It is kind of sad to think that this marks another milestone and says that they aren't babies anymore. *Sniff Sniff*