Family Pictures...

Sunday mornings are a joy at our house. No matter how prepared or unprepared I am- they are the same. I am never ready, 3 girls need their hair done, food is all over their clean dresses, someone forgets their church bag, I am always angry because I have to repeat myself a thousand times, we are rushing out the door, Grace has blue shoes instead of church shoes, someone has toothpaste smeared on their face, coats are flying, tears are falling and I'm panicked trying to get us out the door on time...
sound familuar???
On Sunday, I wanted to get a picture of everyone before church, so in between the chaous- this is what we got. Nothing super, but at least it's something, right?

Grace the thief...

A few days ago we were at the Dollar Store doing some amazing Christmas shopping with the girls. Later that day I saw Grace playing with an ugly green balloon that I knew I had not purchased. When I asked her about it,I found out that she had stolen it from the store...
So, we had the talk about stealing, she wrote an apology letter to the manager and we put the slobbery balloon in an envelope to return to the store later.
Today was the big day to return and confess with letter and balloon in hand.
The manager was very poilet and listened to Grace quietly admit her wrong doing while hanging her head and trying to hide behind my leg.
The lady told her how proud she was of Grace for doing the right thing. She told her she was very brave and she was very happy she returned the balloon. She also told her stealing wasn't right and she hoped she would never do it again. The manager was perfect! As I was watching it all happen, a lady in the check out line was watching as well and we made eye contact. She gave me that - "You are doing the right thing look" and that's when I started to tear up. We thanked the manager and walked away both glad it was all over.
As I was buckling Willow in the van, the woman from the checkout came over to me and said, " I just had to tell you that you almost made me cry back there. You did the right thing by having her do that. You have to teach them while they are young." I agreed and thanked the woman.
I smiled as we drove away but my heart hurt for Grace too. "Mom, I'm really nervous," she said before we went in. " I know," I told her, "but I'm right here with you."
We talked about how when we make a wrong choice we can make it right by apoligizing and praying for forgiveness. Heavenly Father loves each of us so much and is so forgiving, I'm glad that a ugly green balloon reminded me of that today.

Singing Happy Birthday to Grace...

Birthday madness...

Everytime we have a birthday party, I look around at all the kids and wonder- How in the world do we all fit in this tiny house??? Somehow it all works and they all have a blast. Grace picked a Hannah Montana party, so we had a few rock stars show up for the event. They looked so cute and grown up. I wish we could keep them small for awhile longer.
(Thanks Annikan & Angie for your help. Thanks for hanging out Jen, I'm so glad you stayed!)

Grace's 4th Birthday party...

Grace's birthday is actually on the 22nd, but with a lot of her friends out of town for Christmas, we decided to have it a week early! She waited and waited for months for her Hannah Montana party. She was tickled when she saw the decorations going up and even squealed once with delight. That was all I needed to make it all worth it. The count down began at least a week ago- that's all the girls talked about!
I think she and her 10 little friends had a great time. They played games, danced around the house, ate food, opened presents, colored and then went home on sugar highs dressed in crazy rock star clothes and blue wigs!It was so funny to see some of the outfits- you could tell the outfits the Mom's picked out from the ones the kids choose themselves.
Grace was spoiled with presents and had a great time. I am so glad. I just want my kids to have a special day that is all about them. I want balloons, decorations, food, tons of kids running around and treats. I want them smiling and laughing and having the time of their lives. I want my kids to get excited for thier special day and hopefully remember a tiny bit of it when they are older. I want them to know they are loved and if a bunch of clearanced Hannah Montana birthday stuff does the trick, I am one happy Mama. I love you with all my heart Gracie, Grace. Happy 4th Birthday!

Potty time...

With all my kids, 1 year marks the age that the potty seat comes out and the fun begins. I never expect them to be potty trained in a week, but we sit and make a huge fuss for months and months, so that by the time they are actually ready- they are used to the whole routine. My goal is to have them trained by at least 2 if not sooner, so I have 10 more months. I'm huge into rewarding super behavior, so every time she sits down she gets a chocolate chip! I know it was completely by chance, but she actually went potty while she was sitting there. After she realized there was a connection between sitting for a minute and getting a chocolate chip- she wanted to do it over and over (isn't that the whole point? Love it! Marshmallows work great too!) I say, whatever works!

Aunt Tawnya comes for a visit...

The last time my step sisiter came to visit was almost 8 years ago, so we were all excited when Aunt Tawnya came to Boise! We tried to let her relax a little too, but the girls insisted on seeing her almost every second she was here. Auntie came over for pizza and games, let the kids go swimming at her hotel, ate dinner together Saturday night, went shopping, out for ice cream and had lots of fun.It was really nice to have a little time with her and actually carry on a conversation for more than 10 minutes. I'm really happy she was able to come and relax for the weekend. We love you Aunt Tawnya!!!

Willow's first pig tails!

Even when Willow is dressed in hot pink covered in flowers- people still say, "Oh, he's so cute." Or "How old is he?" Now, I completely agree that she could go either way- but when I have her decked out in 8 shades of pink, I walk away really puzzled. I gave up on flowers in her hair because she just ripped them out, yes, even after gluing them to her head with Elmers. But Tuesday was a huge victory moment. I tried little piggies, and they worked! And she kept them in! (probably because I wrapped those rubberbands about a billion times, they weren't going anywhere!)
Anyway- we thought she looked pretty cute all grown up, so we did them yesterday too!

Annikan's "actual' birthday at Rosie's...

We got together at Rosie's house Tuesday for a Shelf Reliance Party (Which was AMAZING by the way. The food is INCREDIBLE!!!) and then we had a birthday lunch for Annikan- you know because food the night before just wasn't enough! Here are the girl's hanging out watching a movie.

Annikan's Birthday Party...

Monday night was Annikan's birthday party- I love this girl-and Olive Garden! We had a great time at dinner and then of course walked around Target afterwards. I love Annikan because she is always there for me. Love you Annikan!!