independence...the good and bad

As the superheroes and the princess grow up I realize that some things you wish that they could do in the past, may not be that great once they can do them.  Or maybe it's just me and my desire to be in control :).  Whatever it is, your kids gaining independence can be rough...on the mom!

Here's my example...so what mom doesn't want their kids to be able to get themselves completely ready on their own!?  I know I have been striving for this!  Then your kids walks out with mismatched clothes or is wearing the same shirt for the twentieth time that week.  What do you do as a mom?  Change them into something that at least matches or applaud them for their effort?  Well I have decided to just go with it, which means Evan is wearing mismatched socks with probably his Cars shirt and comfy pants that probably don't match, daily.  I have to be okay with the fact that all the cute outfits he owns will probably never make it out of his drawer...  At least we can get out of the house quicker now right?!  

{A good example of an "Evan outfit" which usually does include pjs that do not match}

Then there is Avery who has decided that he can now brush his own hair and he doesn't need any hep from anyone.  His brushing technique requires A LOT of water so his shirt usually ends up very wet too.  He likes to sweep it to the side.  If you try to help him "fix" it then he just re-combs it himself after you are done.  

 {Yes, Avery still looks very cute in these pictures, but his looks can be very interesting on different days, especially when the back of his hair is standing straight up!}

Also, before motherhood I would see these kids with really messed up hair and food all over their faces.  I always wondered why the parents would let them out of the house looking this way.  Oh man, now I know the truth!  Sometimes it takes all of your energy just to move the little bodies out of the door, you don't have time to worry about what they actually look like.  Your just happy that you have made it to the store before 10 am and have less than an hour before the kiddos start falling apart again because you are getting close to lunch and nap time already.  So if your kid looks like this oh well ;)...

So do you just go with the flow and let your kids be independent and actually accomplish things on their own...or do you lay out comfy outfits that at least match, maybe give your boy a shorter haircut that doesn't require brushing, and pack wipes in the car to wipe them down quickly before the public actually sees them?

sleep...who needs that?

Over the past 5 1/2 {almost six years now} I don't think I have had, but a handful, of complete nights sleep with no other kiddos in MY bed at some point during the night!  Now I know there are perfect sleeping kiddos out there that have been sleeping through the night since they were 4 weeks old...but my kiddos apparently miss me too much through the night to do this ;).  I also know that I had my kids fairly close together {21 and 22 months apart} so just as one kid was beginning to sleep through the night a new baby was born and we began again.  However, you would think that all my kids would be sleeping nicely through the night in each of their own beds now that they are 5 1/2, 4, and 2...haha right!  

{right Ellie?}

 {Ellie looking a little angry after waking up in her own bed...I know who would do such a thing to her??}

Now I do FINALLY have one exception...Avery!  He has finally learned to go to bed and stay in his bed all night by himself... hallelujah!  The other two have not.  Evan at 4 years old {as he likes to tell everyone now} still comes back into our room 

E - V - E - R - Y - S - I - N - G- L - E  

night!  It may be in the wee hours of the morning or it may be at 11 pm, but he makes it there no matter what!  We even tried putting him up in Avery's top bunk with Avery to see if it was him just needing someone to cuddle with...nope I guess Avery is not a good cuddler.  Evan is a pro at climbing down the bunk bed ladder half asleep.  So Evan has always had this problem even as a baby, but then we get to Ellie who used to sleep in her bed all night long...I don't know if Evan told her the joys of sleeping in our bed or what, but Ellie now seems to join us every night too.  Talk about a crowded bed with an additional 4 and 2 year old added to it!!!  Not to mention Evan's snoring, yes he is just 4 and he does snore!  Listen for yourself...

One of these days they will sleep in their own beds again right??  Then I can look back at these sleep deprived days and laugh :).  Until then coffee and Diet Coke are my two very best friends!!!

valentine's day has arrived here

Yesterday we had to take Evan to his 4 year old checkup, which he has a tendency to get worried about getting shots at the doctors {it probably doesn't help that big brother constantly is talking about shots on the way there}...so what does any good mom do to make sure your child behaves at the doctors...that's right you bribe them :).  I told them I  that we would go to the dollar store after the doctor if they were good.  That's all it takes...they were good and luckily we didn't need any shots either.  At our trip to the dollar store they saw all the Valentine decorations out and asked if we could get ours out. Since we just came out of the big Christmas extravaganza my kids were expecting something BIG.  I didn't really have any decorations and I am not going to go out and spend lots of money either.  I decided to go with what the dollar store offered and create a little mantle display for very little money.  I included some Pinterest inspired ideas and some of my kids own crafts.  It's nothing special, but my kids love it and that's all that matters right!?

{the kids liked the added lights touch the best...the heart felt garland was from the dollar store and so cute and cheap!} 

{from dollar store = red heart vase, glass heart votive, red and white votive candles, heart sticks}

{from dollar store = glass candle holder, red potpourri, red candle, ribbon...I had leftover white lights from my wedding and added the ribbon to it randomly}

{the heart boxes my boys made me last year at a free Home Depot kids clinic}

 {these mason jars with doilies are all over Pinterest...instead of just wrapping them on there with the string I used mod podge to seal it to the glass...then I put some heart shaped "picks" from the dollar store in them}

{the red felt heart is from the dollar store and the heart pendant was just scrapbook paper I cut out with my cricut}

{then this is the dining room table...a heart candle I was given years ago, with the potpourri and a dollar store plate with a dollar store candle stick I turned into a cake stand...if you haven't tried this idea from Pinterest it is so easy and so much cheaper then buying a cake stand!}

That's it...nothing fancy, but it works and for CHEAP!  I spent a total of $13 + a few items I already had around the house!

our "proms"

While the 2 superheroes & the princess were doing this...

{with Aunt Kelsey & Annie...thanks Kelsey for watching them!}

Ryan and I got a date night out at Garmin's winter event...also known as Garmin Prom.  Ryan has worked at Garmin for awhile now so we have attended several of these "proms"...with a souvenir classic prom picture to keep as our memento :).  So here's a look back at the past...and I really can't be this old can I!? 

We have to begin this all with THE PROM that really began it all...my high school prom...the year was 2000 {does this sound old??  at least I didn't graduate in the 90's like Ryan ;)}

{aren't we so cute?}

Then Garmin's Proms begin...

2002

{we like to call this the year Ryan looks handicapped...}

 2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

{I am pregnant with Avery here...if you missed the big belly}

2008

2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 = the missing years....now I wouldn't really call those missing years because we did have two more babies in those years, but Garmin stopped having their prom those years...however they brought it back this year and Ryan actually won his first door prize after all these years...so yeah for bringing it back!  By the way, we do really love Garmin and they are a great employer...so get out there and buy your nuvi, forerunner, fish finder, or your GPS system for your small airplane, in case you own a small airplane {because that is really what Ryan works on}.

And we can't forget 2013! 

{we did get another prom picture at the event, but I had crazy eyes in it so I am just including the one we took at home :)}

Here's to another decade of proms!!

last day of break...back to wearing clothes?!

Now we have been WEARING clothes, but those clothes have almost entirely consisted of pjs!  Avery has been off from kindergarten for 2 1/2 weeks now (I know I have never heard of kids being off for Christmas that long either).  We have loved the break and took full advantage of being lazy when we weren't busy with Christmas and spending time at Grandmommy and Granddaddy's house.  Even with Avery just in half day, afternoon kindergarten the days already seem crazy busy and we can't just have "home" days like we enjoyed before the BIG school.  {I am already dreading next year when Avery will be gone from us all day and Evan will be in preschool :(.}

 

So what HAVE we been doing??

 

 

{playing babies}

 

{cooking & eating}

 

{playing cars...notice whose wearing the pjs in the above picture and whose wearing them now...I rearranged the drawers because someone was growing out of it}

{playing in the snow...notice the pj bottoms still}

{playing together...they have actually been doing really well with this lately!}

 



 

{scrapbooking...this just melts my heart ;)...whoa my boys are dressed here!?}

{and making messes!...from one trip in the snow}

 

It has been a great winter break, but I am ready to get back in a routine!

 

trees, snow, desks, oh my!

Yesterday was time to say good-bye to our first real Christmas tree :(.  I am sure it will be the first of many real ones we will get!  And, if you saw my posts about my 6 Christmas trees this year...yes I have purchased another one to make 7 for next year!  I can't wait!  So we took our tree to the Christmas tree grave site...

And gave it a big chuck...

Then we went sledding on some hills.



Ellie preferred to stay off the sled!

The boys

 And the girls!

 Someone had a very dirty face when we were all done!

 

 

On another note, I am so excited about the purchase I made today!  Here was my problem, I have this "formal" living room that NEVER gets used except at Christmas time when our main Christmas tree gets placed in it, the rest of the year nothing!  I must say I hate formal living rooms!  Since we are quickly running out of space with three growing kids I hate having a whole room that goes unused (and you can't put toys or other junk in it since it is the room everyone "sees" when they come to our house)!  My other problem, I don't have any good places to put or work on my scrapbooking.  So my mom came up with the solution of putting a desk in that room to take care of the problem of scrapbooking and to actually USE the room...I don't know why we haven't thought of this years ago!  I stopped at Goodwill today and look what I found...a desk and a chair!  I love them!!! Yes, the desk has a lot of scratches on it and needs new drawer pulls, but nothing I can't fix.  The best part they were ONLY $33 together!!  Now, to get Ryan to make me some shelves to hide all my scrapbook stuff in...

 

 



2013 brings new year's resolutions

This is how we celebrate on New Year's Eve...

 

{a little sparkling juice and dinner on the floor in front of the fire}

 

Here are our New Year's resolutions for 2013:

 

Ellie - Use the potty :)!

 

Evan - No help from mommy using the potty (don't worry all the resolutions don't involve the restroom...), writing his name on his own, learn all his abc's, and ride a big boy bike

 

Avery - Become a better reader (this was his idea), ride his bike without training wheels, and learn to tie his shoes

 

Carrie - run a half marathon

 

Ryan - run a half marathon with Carrie (but I don't think this is really a challenge for him since he could wake up tomorrow and run one without any training...)

 

And here is how wild and crazy our night got:

{Avery decided to sleep in their new house}

 

Plans for today:

Make a little eggnog

Play a little Skylanders (I think Ryan loves it more then Avery)

Play out in the snow

Dump off our Christmas tree at the Christmas tree grave

Make some homemade pizza