Monday :-)

Henry is upset and wanting out of his seat.

Emrie enjoying some finger painting!

Outdoor fun!

Great start to the week! All the kids are napping, well at least 3 of them are. Lilly is having a hard time laying still and letting sleep overcome her. All is quiet and that is a good feeling to have all kiddos content, fed, and in their beds for afternoon naps. Tonight Chad and Kristy will be joining us for dinner and since my kids woke me up bright and early this morning the beef roast with potatoes and carrots has been slow cooking for hours already. My bread is baked, both white and banana. I am planning on fixing a yummy apple pie for dessert too, I can hardly wait!

Emrie so far today has done an excellent job of sharing and I couldn't be happier! I hope when naptime ends she'll wake up and be happy to share once again. She is a moody little girl, I don't want to walk around on pins and needles with her because that would do her a great disservice in the long run but her drama can be exhausting. Henry has been a wee bit out of sorts and I am hoping it is just some more teeth trying to make their way through. He is a happy little guy, he loves playing outside to bad he tries to eat every leaf, blade of grass, clump of dirt, or sand he can get his hands on:-)

Praise God for a hot but BEAUTIFUL day!

Wow! Time zips right on by.

I thought I was doing great keeping current on my blog. This week passed by at a rapid rate, I can't imagine time moving any faster. In the past I've been at school, work, Dr's office, or waiting on a baby to arrive etc. and a minute can seem like ten minutes. I guess there is truth to "Time flies when your having fun!"

It has been a mini adventure having 4 and sometimes 5 kids here during the week. Emrie is having the hardest time adjusting...Sharing is so dog-gone hard!! We'll continue to work on it and hope that improvement comes quickly because all the time-outs and little battles are exhausting for mommy.

We take a walk every morning around ten(boy I will be sad when the weather doesn't allow this!) Emrie was walking along beside of me when she said "Yum, I love toe nails!" Random, funny, gross, and cute all at the same time, he he! When Lilly is with us Henry and Lydia ride in the double jogger and Emrie and Lilly hold on to the sides. Each day on our little outing the girls find a stick to carry along and they call them their magic wands, their imaginations are great.

Henry is eating everything he finds on the floor. (I know Mom, I deserve this!) Friday apparently he ate a tiny bunny sticker and when it came time to eat lunch, it didn't go down so well. Food came up and out and well that is how I found out that he ate a little bunny sticker. So now the floor gets swept like crazy, it is overwhelming task to make sure that Emrie doesn't leave or drop anything on the floor that he might get into his little fingers and then straight into his mouth. I fear just about anything could be a choking hazard, Greg has somehow passed his unhealthy fear of choking onto me and now I feel panicked nearly 24/7. So many tiny lids-chapstick, hairspray, bugspray, toothpaste, pen caps. Then coins, someone drops one out of their pocket and it goes unnoticed or maybe someone leaves a purse in reach. Then there are candies, cough drops, gum, nuts, raisins and on and on and on. Yes, this is getting a little out of control, I know! .........Oh boy, I better move on.

We had a lovely evening last night with the Martins at Mama and Papa's. We had a fire, roasted hot dogs and enjoyed some yummy smores!

Today Emrie took a nap with Aunt Beth, Henry was napping so Mommy got a little nap too! Sunday naps are terrific!

I took the kids to the grocery with me this evening, they sat in the double-seater cart at Wal-Mart and it was so cute, Emrie had her arm around Henry's back all the while singing her little heart out. I love to watch her love on Henry Little Michael.

Greg is busy grading a mountain of papers and I am feeling less than motivated to do anything else this evening, so off to bed I go!

Praise God for contentment and fun times flying by!

Tuesday already!

Make a silly face!

Happy Henry!

Emrie Ann is sleeping with her big bouncy ball!

Praise God for a fun and busy weekend spent with visiting family!

Friday :-)

Just before nap time, look at those sleepy faces.

Henry Michael

Lydia Jane

Jeremiah

Praise God for a fun Friday!

Thursday, Day 4

Henry is 10 months old today! Look at him, he is growing WAY to FAST!

Emrie and Lilly enjoying Snack time!

How is it with 4 kids in the house? Not bad, it is 1:40 in the afternoon and each child is sound asleep! I could be snoozing right along with them and perhaps later this afternoon I will regret not doing just that, but for now laundry and blogging are my tasks of choice. What was so difficult about having one child to watch over? Now I am on day four with 4 kids from 7:45 -3:30, no big deal.

These are the words and phrases I have repeated over and over again.

Do not hit.

Be easy.

Be gentle.

Share.

Time out.

Say I am sorry.

Share.

No yelling.

Quiet the baby is sleeping.

Share.

Be easy.

Time out.

Share.

We have had lots and lots of little battles. Emrie Ann has had many, Many time outs. She gets so angry when Lilly wants to play with HER things. Lilly will say "Headher, Emmie won' share." or "Headher, Emmie is bossing." or "Headher, Emmie hit me." Boy, Lilly must think I am a terrible Mommy to raise such an awful little girl. That's okay, yesterday Lilly said "I'll beat you up Emmie." These 2 girls will have to learn to tolerate each other, I know it will be good for them(will it be good for me?)

I have 3 cups the same cups just different colors Green, Pink, and Blue. One cup for Emrie, Lilly, and Henry. It never fails that whatever cup I hand to the girls they want the other. "I want Blue!" "I want Pink!" "I want Green!" Simple I say, "We don't always get what we want." A life lesson they'll have to learn eventually, why not now?

Aside form the many little battles there are some super sweet moments. The girls playing dress up and telling each other how beautiful they look. They prance around like little princesses, or march around with a baton in hand. They sit in the Dora house and all I can make out is giggles.

Henry and Lydia, they just roll with it!

Praise God for today!

Back to School!

Daddy got this Dora, Diego and Boots cake for Emrie. Henry got Emrie a Dora soccer ball, which she has slept with the past two nights. Mommy and Daddy got Emrie a cute soft cuddly pink pig travel pillow and a pink bean bag chair.

Emrie loving on Little Lydia.

Daddy, Emrie and Henry playing Horses!

Greg's first day back to school was Monday boo hoo! Tomorrow is the first day with LHMS kids, he is working on putting his syllabi together right now! I hope he is pleasantly surprised with the kids and coworkers there and that transition goes perfect for him.

I am adjusting quite nicely to having 4 kids at the same time. I figure as long as we all eat, potty and nap the day is a huge success!

Emrie had her 3 year well child check today. She weighed 31lbs and is around 50th %, sounds good to me! Dr. Gibson found her to be in good health and no shots were needed-a big Hooray for that! Henry stayed home with Mama Jane and she said he was busy playing with toys and tinkering, just like any little boy does.

I am off to bed, I am allowing myself 15 minutes to enjoy some reading material before I drift off to dream land. Of course last night when I finally fell off to sleep Emrie awoke all upset and complaining of her toe huuurrtiinng! "It's Bleeeeding!" she said. It wasn't and it looked fine from the outside but she was in hysterics, so I ended up snuggling with her in her twin bed all night long. I am not complaining, every now and then I need a good dose of Emrie snuggles and last night was a perfect way to end a birthday day!

So Everyday Food by Rachel Ray, Here I come! Maybe she will inspire me to fix Greg and big special dinner after his long hard day of work....hmmm, I wouldn't count on it!

Praise God for a beautiful Tuesday!

Happy Birthday Emrie!

I am finding it hard to believe that Emrie Ann is 3 years old. In many ways it seems like it was just yesterday when we went to the hospital to bring home a new little baby girl. She has rocked my world since the moment we met and I am ever so thankful for the gift from God.

Papa Emery and Mama Jane gave us a pink cross that day which now hangs in Emrie's room,it reads:

Just Think

Your DAUGHTER is here not by chance,

but by God's choosing.

His hand formed her

and made her the person she is.

He compares her to no one else-

she is one of a kind.

She will lack nothing

that His grace can't give her.

He has allowed her to be here

at this time in history

to fulfill His special purpose

for this generation.

-Roy Lessin

My crumby house!

Emrie Ann so close to being a 3 year old!

Henry Michael, notice his head is a little out of focus that is because he is rocking the chair!

My blog title for today is due to the amount of crumbs these two kids produce, it is extraordinary! I thought Henry was doing a fantastic job getting each morsel of his lunch into his mouth, I was wrong. Yesterday Emrie carried around a package of Town House crackers and she left quite a trail, I could trace her every step. It drives me semi-crazy to have crumbs stick to my feet when walking through the house. There was no chance yesterday of running the vacuum since the electricity was out for nearly 9 hours. I thought about doing it several times yesterday and then...oh yeah, No Power! What other things did I think I would accomplish yesterday? Getting into my car...Nope couldn't get into the garage, No Power. I know I could work on the laundry that is piled so high....Nope, No Power. Paint, now there is something you could do with no power....Nope that is out too because of all the dog-gone rain!! In spite of all the inconveniences of having no power, we had a pretty swell day. I packed up the ingredients for a spaghetti supper and went down to the Martins house to cook it on their gas range. We hung out there while daddy had soccer practice then enjoyed some slightly melted Ice Cream on their porch with Mama and Papa.

Today I am playing catch up on all housework and trying to tidy up a little more than usual for Emries birthday party this Saturday. So if you are reading this and will be attending the party please note that I gave it my best shot for a nice neat house and Please look past any crumbs you may come across!

Praise God for my 2 Crumb Creators!

Saturday!

Emrie created this indoor slip'n slide, inventive but not nearly at slippery as the real deal!

I love this look "Mom really, what kind of mushed up food are you going to feed me now?"

Yesterday Aunt Beth and Jeremiah watched the kids so mommy and daddy could paint some more on the house. We did make some progress, and the new color is looking good! Aunt Ea and Uncle Aaron came over for a late dinner(yummy kabobs!) Emrie was suppose to be sleeping but somehow sensed that Aunt Ea was near, so I allowed her to come play for 30 minutes and then back off to bed she went.

Today we went to Annie's 1st Birthday party. Emrie had a good time and fell fast asleep on the way home. Henry enjoyed himself too but mostly because daddy fed him some cupcake, yum! Papa Mike worked more on the house and has nearly finished the back side of the house!! YAY!

This morning Emrie was watching Sid the Science Kid, the episode was about making pancakes, a little while later I was in the dining room feeding Henry and Emrie was in the kitchen and she said "Mommy, come look at my pancakes!" I went in and she had three little kitchen plates with some sort of powder-like substance piled high on them....then I smelled it! She had used nearly a whole spice bottle of Garlic Salt! She was so proud of herself.

Henry has turned out to be a very good climber, he climbs into Emrie's little rocking chair, stands on it and rocks it-very dangerous, but great fun! He climbs onto the top their little picnic table, because climbing onto the seat just isn't challenging enough. He is perpetual motion much like his big sister!

Praise God for a beautiful Saturday afternoon!

Prime Time

Emrie Ann enjoying Asher's Thomas the Train Birthday cake, Yum!

The Birthday Boy!

We are in Prime Time, which is going a lot faster than the scraping did! I hope to see some of the new color on the house in the next day or two. Painting with 2 little ones is no easy task, I do what I can when they are napping and when I take Emrie out to play while I work, she tries her hardest to keep my full attention on her. "Mommy look at this!" "Mommy a bug!" "Mommy, I'm hungry!" "Mommy, I'm thirsty!" "Mommy I have to peeeee!" "Mommy, I am hot!" So...Daddy and Papa Mike have been doing the majority of the work.

Saturday was Asher's birthday party. Emrie had lots of fun playing with Asher and another boy Michael. We took out the bouncer and once the rain passed the kids were able to be outside and bounce and bounce. Emrie was exhausted when we left and you would have thought she would have willing went right to bed when we got home......NOPE! Oh, she pulled out all the stops. She of course did the usual I need this and I need that, a tissue, some books, "I am not sleepy" "I want mommy!" "I want daddy!" on and on. When none of that worked she decided to pee in her bed-not an accident because she took of her pants and panties and went potty right on her bed. Grrrrr! When daddy discovered this, he asked her why she would do such a thing, her reply "to get mommy to come". Oh it worked, mommy came and delivered a spanking to her little bottom. Then mommy striped the bed and remade the bed and not long after she finally drifted to dreamland.

Sunday Mrs. Dodie took Emrie's Sunday School class out to the new church playground and Emrie not wanting to miss a moment of fun went under the slide and went potty. I understand 100% that she doesn't want to miss a second of playground time, what 2 going on 3 year old would? Henry enjoyed himself in the nursery Aunt Beth had duty and said he was a very busy boy. Emrie and Henry spent the afternoon at Mama and Papa's with Aunt Beth Uncle Jim and Jeremiah while mommy, daddy and Papa Mike worked on priming the house. Mama napped with Emrie and Aunt Beth napped with Henry.

Monday we went to say goodbye to the Ogles. Emrie and Asher got one last chance to play together for the summer. They are so very cute together, I love how they can pick up and play like they are best friends who get together often. Mrs. Judy had a big pile of dirt that the enjoyed playing in and once again Emrie didn't want to miss out and went potty outside.

Henry and Anna we had to watch ever so closely, they both were detirmed to eat some tasty dirt or some yummy sand.

Tuesday We finally have some of our Keystone Grey paint on our house! I was able to paint for about an hour and made some progress but not nearly enough. We spent the evening with Grandma Linda and Aunt Ea shopping. Emrie Ann enjoys shopping so much especially with Grandma Linda because she got her some Dora light-up sandals and dressy sandals, which Emrie wears proudly.

Wednesday Lilly and Lydia spent the day with us. It was a trail run for the upcoming school year. I will be busy and Greg thinks I am in over my head. Nah, I will survive! Emrie and Lilly play well together only a couple mishaps over sharing. They are opposites in many ways so I think that works in their favor when playing together. Henry seemed a bit upset when mommy held baby Lydia, but then he would go off and find something to play with. He is still a easy going guy and I love his laid back personality.

Thursday, where is the week going? I am finally going to get this post up today. I feel like I am spinning in many different directions not really accomplishing much of anything. The rain has stalled Greg from painting on the house today, so that stinks. To be honest I am starting to get a little frustrated at the appearance of our house. I know it takes time but I feel like it is not going as quickly as I had hoped it would since all the scraping is finished. I am really wanting to walk out my front door and see that it is beautiful, clean, fresh and DONE! I know it will get done, Greg and Papa Mike have been working lots of hours together on the house. They both are pretty particular about how things are done so I know that in the long run that will make this house look 100% better!

Praise God for his protection from unknown dangers.