Let today go down in history . . . .

AS THE FIRST SUNDAY WE MADE IT ALL THROUGH SACRAMENT WITHOUT HAVING TO TAKE SOMEONE OUT IN THE HALL!!!!

Really, I couldn't believe it. Usually we have to take someone out (mostly Meg since she doesn't understand the sit-in-one-spot concept yet.) But we made it.. . . now there were wiggles beyond mention, but we will take what we can get. :) Celebrate the baby steps! :)

All about Meg!

Meg is growing up. She recently turned 15 months old. In another couple of weeks she will be the same age that Z-man was when I had Meg. WOW!!! Meg LOVES stacking all my cans these days. I worry a bit about her dropping them on her toe (Z did that . . . OUCH!) But once she gets sat down with them, she has a blast.

Working hard!

Yeah, I did it!!!

CHEESE!!!

She is starting to say some words. Her first word (besides mamamam and dadadada) was hot. She said it in a bit of a whisper! very cute. She says, no no no while shaking her head. She says uh oh and mmm hmmm (like yes, mm hmm). She sais Cheese and will automatically look and say cheese (for about 2 seconds before being distracted). hmmm. I think there are few more, but I can't think of it right now. She loves to chase Z-man and then scream when they run into each other. She loves to carry around her baby doll and wear everyone's shoes. She likes to open the hall closet and pick her favorite pair of shoes to clomp around in for a while. She LOVES fruit and notices everything. She tries to be just like her brothers and sister and would rather be outside than inside. She doesn't require much sleep (sad for me, but probably good for her in life). And she is my little love bug always giving kisses. She just figured out how to give closed mouth kisses. She leans in and says, 'mmmmm' If I sit she is right ready to climb on me for a hug. :)

Sunday walks .....

Most Sundays (if it is decent weather), we try to take a little walk. Most of the time it is around our neighborhood. Last week, we took a walk to a near by pond. :) The kids like to go to this pond and it has a fountain in it that is fun to watch also. We made it to the fountain with little complaining and Lo asked if he could throw a few rocks in the pond. We allowed him to throw a few . . . he ran off but quickly found that the leave covered ground was really leave covered pond mud. . . . .. He sank and got stuck!!!! No worries, mom came to the rescue and pulled him out. We made it home and he 'got' to spray off his pants and shoes with the hose. :) pretty fun!

Don't worry, Lo. . . we still love you!!!

Today we asked the kids where they wanted to go for a walk and Lo promptly said, "not the pond!" We headed to a nearby park area and walked along a Frisbee golf course. The kids LOVE going over all the bridges and following the paths.

We love going to family walks on Sundays! Growing up, I use to go for walks with my mom and loved them. We use to go on coin walks --heads=right; tails=left. Sometimes we would get really far from home, but my mom always went along with our fun! It was always good to be with my mom and have time to talk and explore. Hopefully our kids will remember good things also. :) We've had many opportunities on our walks to discuss God's nature, people, places, etc. :) I love my kids!!! They truly amaze me with their talents and ability to love. :)

Pity Party

So this morning I spent giving myself a pity party. . . It was really fun, you should have come. I mostly let Z watch PBS and I layed on the couch!!! :) Nice, huh? I haven't been sleeping very well lately for some reason. I have a hard time falling asleep and usually end up waking up in the night totally awake not able to fall back asleep. I'm not getting really great sleep and that sort of makes me grumpy. . . So this morning, I decided to give up, not go to the gym, watch Arthur, word world, etc. with Z, try to make Meg take a nap (she's not a great napper, BTW), and throw a pity party.

Well, it lasted about 40 min. until Meg woke up. Have I mentioned, she's not a great napper. She reminds me SOOO much of Lo when he was her age. They just require a littler amount of sleep--so they are up early in the morning (6 a.m. regardless of when they go to bed. . . . . or this last week even earlier for Meg.) and take minimal naps. This is wearing, but I know it will get better. I felt the same 'tired' when Lo was little. Now he gets up on his own, fixes his own breakfast and starts getting ready for school all on his own. HOW LOVELY!!!!! So I know that eventually it won't matter that she likes to wake up before the sun does, but for now. . . I'M TIRED ALL THE TIME!!!!! oh well.

I finally pulled it together and during Z's and Meg's naps this afternoon got 1/3 of the piano room painted. We've been here 4 yrs. and I'm just now getting around to painting that room. It still had the flat carpenter paint and it was looking pretty bad. I also need to repaint all the white trim in our house, but with small children at my feet, 'project' time is a bit limited. :) I am however, happy with the chosen color so far and it made the day a bit better . . . despite my pitiful sleep last night.

if anyone has tips on why I'm not sleeping, they are welcome! Until then. . . . . I'll keep going and throw myself a pity party every now and again. :)

I may get very little sleep these days, but seriously worth it. Look at this cute little girl playing in the fall leaves!

Family Picture!

I think the last 'official' family picture was when Lo was a baby. . . . maybe! Maybe even when J was a baby. Soooooo, I thought MAYBE we could get one with everyone. Now this was interesting. . . ., but I think we at least got one that will be sufficient to hang on my wall. I wasn't expecting perfection, but I did want something with everyone in it. I added the slide of shots to show how amazing we are at holding still during our photo shoot! NOT!! LOL. When you have 4 kids, SOMEONE is out of place or moving in EVERY shot!! LOL. Oh well, at least we are together and we got a good laugh out of lots of these! :)

Customize a photo slideshow

Having fun in our everyday moments!!!!!

I wish I could somehow freeze some of the feelings of our 'every-day' moments that I think are regular now and someday I will crave to have back, I'm sure. Until I learn how to freeze feelings and time, here are a few pictures of our 'every-day' moments. . . . . . . .

Meg LOVES being outside. She darts for any door that is open and she is by far the happiest when she is outside.

I'm sad this pic is blurry, but this is how she looks when she gets excited to run to someone!!! ME this time... :)

Meg and Z-man LOVE jumping on the tramp together. Z bounces Meg and she laughs and laughs and laughs!!!

Big fisbee game after D got home from work.

Some little hands and feet getting into ALL the wipes!!!

This picture is for Grandma and Papa!!! Hello and we love you!

Lots of cartwheels and somersaults in the living room!

LOVE those eyes!

Meg playing on the floor. Scooting on her eating tray! YUM!

Time for homework!--an Everyday .. . occurance.

Z likes to do homework too. His is painting today! :)

poor Meg has a runny nose!! She has had it for so long....

Homework. . homework. . . homework!!!!

J and Lo are such great students and doing great in school!

Meg eating crayons under the table while everyone else does homework!!!

Hope you enjoyed our fun everyday moments!!!! :) :) :)