Ending

This weekend was such a blast.  We had many new adventures and tried many new fun things.  Memorial day is always a fun extra day we get with Daddy and usually has some sort of out door activities.  It was so hot this year and the girls thought a sprinkler would be just the trick.  So as our weekend ends the girls danced and ran through the sprinkler(well Madelyn mostly watched her sisters dance and run through the sprinkler).

(Violet of course was not part of the sprinkler fun. She is pretty cute though.)

We also ended our weekend with a fun filled dessert.  The girls love dirt pudding(thanks to my Mother-in-law) and we tried to make it even more fun by adding some "worms" to our "dirt."  The girls have been in dessert heaven this weekend.

We also are finding ourselves at the end of another month of Violet being here.  She is officially 4 months today!!!  She gets more fun and more beautiful everyday.  We love having her as a part of our family.  She wants to laugh so bad.  She starts and then stops because she can't believe that voice is coming out of her mouth.

Happy 4 month birthday to the sweetest flower in our bouquet. 

I wish every ending had a smile like that!

Enjoying other's gifts

So far we have had a great weekend and the best part is it's not even over! Yesterday we went with the famous Uncle Dave to go to our dear friend Reed's newly opened Rootbeer store. It was so cool. The rootbeer was flowing and our girls each got to experience their first rootbeer float. Even me who is not the biggest rootbeer float fan, thought they were pretty good. Rootbeer being Moroni's favorite drink of course was in paradise.  The girls however were in love! There were three different kinds to choose from and of course we had to taste each kind to see which one was the best. It was just so neat to see a friends dream really come to pass.

The girls loving their new found rootbeer store. 

Next came hats.  My vote was shoes, but cool hats won in the end(these were not found at the rootbeer store.  Just an FYI).

Sunday brought church and I finally got all the girls in matching dresses.  This might be the one and only time they will each be in the same dress.  My Mother-in-law truly has a gift for shopping.  She found the missed dress so that Violet could match her Sisters.  Thanks Mom!!

A family picture that is actually pretty good of each of us(thanks to our photographer friend Aric).  The even better part was this was the first one he took.  He's truly has a gift!

You might wonder why I choose this one.  The answer is right there in the picture...it's hilarious!  Violet is looking down, my eyes are closed and Ellie and Madelyn are trying to hold there eyes open with there hands.  Savannah and Moroni however look great.  Classic family photo.

Poor Violet reached her limit.  This was the best of the four.  They truly get smarter and more beautiful everyday.

So as I spent the last day or so enjoying my friends "gifts."  I'm reminded to be grateful for the ones I have been given too. Like the gift of gab.  My friend Kristen said it best when she spoke with her husband.  See he was teasing her about the amount of time she spent talking with friends on the phone.  This was her response "Listen, I have a word quota I have to hit everyday.  If you do not want to listen in order for me to make that quota, then I'm going to have to talk to my friends." 

I'm just grateful I have found friends with the same gifts... ;-)

"You're telling me I need my wallet?"

A few days ago I went grocery shopping.  This might seem like an ordinary activity so why blog about it?  Well, first of all I got to go ALONE.  All by myself.  No kids and no distractions.  I took my time, I looked over labels, shopped the sales and truly just enjoyed myself.  Something however interrupted my bliss.  As I was checking out and all my food was being tallied I went to get my wallet out of my purse and to my utter shock and horror my wallet was not there.  I had no money to pay for the 100's of dollars in food I was getting.  I looked up at the cashier and said "Oh my gosh, I don't have my wallet."  She looked at me and asked how far away I lived and then proceeded to tell me to just go get my wallet and they would hold my groceries for me.  I decided however that I needed to explain why I didn't have my wallet.  I started to talk about the fact that I took it out to buy something on-line and then my daughter needed my library card to reserve books and right in the middle the cashier stops me and says "Why don't you just go get your wallet."  I stopped...looked at her...realized that I was wasting precious frig time and bolted out of there for home.  I came back got my food, loaded my stuff up, and went to go get my Dad a simple lemon ice.  25 long minutes later I left with a lemon ice, a car full of melting groceries and of course my wallet.  Which if I just would of remembered in the first place I would of been home an hour earlier and already eating my treat.  So next time if you see me at the grocery store with a horrified look on my face, no I am not looking at the fat content to my favorite ice cream, it's just probably the fact that I forgot my wallet...again!  It makes me wonder what else am I forgetting these days?

Question of the day...

Why would you rather go potty in this....

(A nasty diaper that touches your skin)

Rather than this...

(A nice clean toilet that all the gross stuff gets flushed down)

Well if you're her...

Then you would rather go in the nasty diaper or your underwear and then tell me after the fact "Mommy, I need to go potty."

I can't believe I have to potty train one more kid after her.  Someone pass me the wipes...

Blue really is a pretty color

I was giving Violet (our youngest and fourth daughter) a bath and something made me laugh.  If you have ever been to our home you see A LOT of pink.  There is lots of princesses, Barbies, fairies and other girlie toys.  What you would probably be shocked to see is something that I have used for all four of our daughters.  It's a blue towel.  That's right...BLUE.  I got this towel at Ellie's baby shower and at the time thought it was odd, but thinking eventually we would have a boy didn't think too much of it.  Well, four girls and no boys later we are still using this blue towel.  As I looked at it and smiled I realized that my life has turned out so different then I thought 7 years ago.  I also realized as I looked at our relatively healthy family how blessed we are.  I feel lately like I complain a lot about my situation or the stress in my life.  When I settle down and reflect on this blue towel I realize that life is not what I expected...

It's way better!  Here's to more blue towels and less blue clouds!

Gym night

So what were you doing last Thursday night?  I was rocking it out while watching our oldest at her annual Gym Night at school.  This year they learned 5 different dances and than each grade performed them on the big field next to their school.  Some of the songs included, The Packer Shuffle(which I had a little issue with, since I'm a Bear fan), Thriller(by Michael Jackson), and I like to Move it.  Ellie is such a natural dancer and is also a perfectionist.  It was so fun to watch.  On a side note, I also got my first mosquito bite that night.  Welcome Summer...

Ellie and her very sweet friend Claire.

Madelyn and her buddy Drew.

PS I also want to send a HUGE THANKS to my dear friend Keri.  I totally forgot my camera that night and she totally saved me by taking pictures and getting them to me that same night.  Love you my friend!

So why is that my fault?

As Moroni is enjoying his new job in a new city, I get to enjoy all the moments with our children...ALONE!  I do mean ALL moments.  Tonight as I sent our third daughter to her room for not listening for the 100th time I got to over hear this conversation...
(Madelyn crying)
Ellie: "Madelyn what's wrong?"
Madelyn: "Mommy put me in my room and took away 'de de'"(more tears)
Savannah: "Did she take away 'big de de' or 'little de de'?"
Madelyn:(big breath) "BIG DE DE!"
Ellie: "Savannah we should find 'little de de.' Where is 'little de de'?"
Savannah: "Mommy didn't say anything about 'little de de'."(hehehe)
You then hear running from the bedroom to the living room and back again
Savannah:  "I found it!!"
Madelyn:(big jump) "Thank you Sa Sa!!!"
Savannah and Ellie: "Sorry Madelyn, Mommy shouldn't take away 'de de'"

Wait a darn minute!!  Why is that my fault?  Why is it my fault that they make bad choices and I have to be the "heavy" and punish them.  Why is it my fault that I asked you to do the same thing 100 times and you decided not to listen 100 times?  All these questions kept going round and round in my head.  Until finally I started cracking up and could not stop.  I laughed so I didn't cry.  Then from the other room I hear Madelyn say "Mommy can I come out now?"  Here we go again...

Tradition

The girls started a tradition from the time that Ellie was little.  Daddy is their "horsey."  He is the fun "toy" and Mom is their "cuddle bug."  This past weekend Moroni took his funness to a whole new level.  He actually decided to be a full on coach ride.

I still can't believe that he went around the whole living room with all three on his back.  He is such a fun Dad.  He didn't like it however when I made him hold them even longer so I could take a picture.

The other tradition is this purple dress that each of our girls have worn.  When we thought we were done haveing kids after Madelyn I gave all of our girl clothes away.  I did however keep this purple dress and I am so grateful I did.

I'm so grateful for the traditions in our family.

Roses will get you everywhere with me

Every year for Mothers Day my sweet hubby gets me roses.  He usually has the girls make me cards and then they all present their "gifts" to me.  It was such a great day and this year Moroni did something a little different with the roses.  He got me two pink ones, two violet and two orange.  They are beautiful and smell A-MAZING!!  I'm so lucky.

So, having 6 roses in the house is a pretty nice treat for me.  I came to find out today that more roses in the house is even better.  I was gone all morning at a friends house(where BTW we had a great time)and as we arrived home it was pouring rain outside and there was something wrapped in plastic on my back door step.  I un-loaded the girls in the house and then saw that it was a beautiful bouquet of roses.  I was so surprised and I had no idea who they were from.  As I read the card I was even more surprised to see that they were from the new company that Moroni just started at today.  What a good sign it was to me that they would take the time to send us something like that.

I'm so grateful my hubby is in such good hands. 

What I love best about being a Mom to Ellie, Savannah, Madelyn and Violet and also being Moroni's wife!

Our family pretty much rocks.  I mean it.  Ours kids are active, healthy, happy and beautiful from the inside out and Moroni and I are even happier together now than the day we got married.  This has been such a wonderful Mother's Day weekend.  Yesterday was the second annual(for us) Roxbury Rural Run.  It was so much fun.  Moroni of course ran his 10K and did so amazing.  He beat his time last year by almost 6 minutes.  His miles were each a little over eight minutes.  I continue to be more proud of Moroni everyday that we are together.  He has taught me to truly set goals in life and then accomplish them.  The best part of Moroni's running fever has been the fact that it has worn off on the girls.  They each want to be runners just like their Dad.  So why not let them experience their first race.  Ellie did the kids country mile and ran the entire time.  Moroni ran with her and taught her all about pacing herself.  She discovered that people who ran really fast at the beginning couldn't keep up with that same momentum the whole run and she ended up passing them.  It was such a strong lesson for her to learn about life.  Savannah ran the Roxbury Half-Pint, Half mile.  Again Moroni ran with her and she was so proud of herself.  She crossed that finish line with a huge smile on her face.  I was so proud to be a part of our family yesterday.

Today is Mothers Day.  I love my Mom so much.  I also love the Mom I got when I married my sweet hubby.  Both are amazing women and loving Mothers who I hope I can be more like.  I remember when I was little and how excited I would get to sing to my Mom on Mothers Day during church.  Now that I am a Mom I get to experience this same feeling but now I get to be the one that is sung too.  My girls are so sweet and as they sang today I had tears in my eyes at the knowledge that these sweet spirits picked me as their Mom.  I don't know why they thought I would be worthy of their love, but I am so grateful and I love being their Mom!  Last night I was also spoiled by Moroni with a surprise date to Red Lobster(my favorite restaurant).  The shrimp was amazing and the company even better. 

So these are the reasons why I love being Ellie, Savannah, Madelyn and Violet's Mom and Moroni's wife.  I really am blessed!

PS Right now the girls and Moroni are making me homemade Lasagna...YUM! 

I just blinked...

Three months...that is how old our sweet little Violet is now.  I can't believe where the time has gone.  She has become the sweetest, best baby.  I am so grateful for her.  For the last week or so she has been going to bed around 7:30ish and then not waking up until 6:45.  It's been so nice and I know it's a little miracle to me, so that I can start getting enough rest to deal with all that life is putting in front of me.  Violet is smiling all the time now and is even trying to laugh.  I love it.  She is so sweet and thinks her Sisters are something pretty special.  It's fun to watch the girls "fight" over her smiles and attention.  This dynamic is going to get pretty interesting over the years. 

Ellie and Savannah also have been very busy.  Next month is the biggest event of the year...DANCE RECITAL time!  So about a month before the recital we have the dance pictures.  This is a very big deal.  You have to be on-time and all ready to go.  They do not wait for people and if you are late you miss out.  It's very intence.  The sad part is, this will be there last recital at this dance studio.  I'm so sad because we love their teacher so much.  She and all the parents there have been wonderful.  Just another amazing blessing we got as we lived here.

I truly feel like "I just blinked..." and Ellie was three months.  Where does the time go?