Getting our Saturdays back

(This first pic belongs later in the post, but silly me deleted and had to upload again, so here it is out of order. Just pretend like you don't see it...)
Soccer season has come and gone again. A good and bad thing- good because we can finally hopefully start accomplishing things again on Saturdays instead of running back and forth to the soccer field. Bad because we really do enjoy watching the girls play and they seem to really enjoy it. Up first, a little about the Fireballs...

Elle's team ended the season with an 8-1-1 record. This is the first year of non-co-ed and the first year that they actually keep score. It is amazing how much more competitive it felt this year. It was so fun and we met some really great people on the team. They won their last game for the year and Elle scored a goal. After the game, we met up at a BBQ place for lunch, trophies, and cupcakes.

Elle had fun with her friends Sydney and Brooklyn, and also made some new friends this season. Jada continues with her creative picture poses...

My friend Nicole took some awesome pictures of the girls, and another mom used those pics as well as some others to put together a slide show and a memory book for the coach. It turned out so great!

Elle's coach was a nice guy who is passionate in a very loud way about the game. He really had a lot of energy and did a good job directing the girls who are still learning about the game.

Now for the Tigers...

After Elle's party it was back to the soccer field to catch the rest of Mya's game (after a stop to pick up some flowers for the coach- Jake took Mya over ealier). They still don't keep score in Mya's division and the feeling is a lot less intense. Mya was the only girl on her team this year (and there really were hardly any girls on the teams that we played- where were all the girls this year???) and really started to put some effort into playing during the second half of the season. The first half of the season Jake and I questioned whether or not she ever would really pick up on the game, seeing as how she would sort of just run around, not really do much with the ball, preferring doing handstands to actually paying attention to what was going on. We had to say things like "let's see how many times you can touch the ball" or "stop doing handstands- you're going to kick someone in the face!" But something clicked towards the second half of the season and she really started to play. She ended the season scoring 5 goals in her last game!

I took on the unofficial team mom job towards the end of the season to pull off trophies and coach's gift. I seem to take that role on just about every year.

Mya's party was a little less organized, consisting of cupcakes, balloons, trophies, and juice. Below is Mya with her buddy Spencer...

And now onto someone we affectionately call "Cole-Cole"...

The little bald scraggly hair man continues to take a lot of my free time, but makes me happy in the process. He is getting well acquainted with his arranged best friend Trent, and they will be spending their first Thanksgivings together this year.

I have perfected the "power snuggle" with the little guy. He loves to be swaddled when he sleeps. During the day, if he gets tired and cranky, I wrap him tight in the "power snuggle" (I love the knit blankets), put him on my shoulder, and he usually knocks out shortly thereafter.

He also has taken a liking to sucking on his hands, often preferring his left one although he doesn't discriminate. He's got a nice dry patch in between his middle fingers on one hand and was sporting quite the damp sleeve the other day.

The residing 2-year old in the house continues to leave her mark...

We went to "Muffins with Mom" before school one morning and feasted on a very tiny muffin (actually I brought Pop-tarts for Mya and Jada and gave Elle my muffin- no way she would have been full after her tiny bite!) Luckily they let us come a day late because we were still in recovery mode from our fun bout with the barfs on our day to come.

There have also been some fun bedroom campouts going on. Even Jada is old enough now to participate and would probably sleep in the tent every night if we let her.

The girls also have found a new way to entertain themselves- by using the garage as an "exercise room" as they call it. Funny how things like this can entertain for hours. We came home last Saturday and had to move the van out of the garage to fix the light. The girls started to play and literally played in there for hours. I went to the temple for a bit, came back and they were still playing. We even let them eat a garage picnic dinner in there one night. They did a remake of the "exercise room" after school one day this week also. I had to capture Mya's awesome outfit she wore- yes that is a pink thermal under her red uniform and polka-dot PJ pants under her soccer uniform shorts, along with yellow socks I believe. A definite fashion statement. (This is where you refer yourselves back to the top pic and then continue on...)

And because two pictures on this post have featured my children with food hanging out of their mouths, I had to bring back a picture from about a year ago when Jake found it humorous to do the same...

Have a great Thanksgiving!!!

Just be grateful we didn't invite you!!!

So Mya and I were sick. Today is much better. We are recovering. Mya threw up about 7 times, me only 2 but I had some other ahem pleasant symptoms. We were a sad bunch yesterday sprawled out on the couch. I must be the most susceptible person to the barfs ever. Wasn't I just sick right before I had Cole? Honestly, it is ridiculous. Luckily it came and went quick and today we can just rest and take it easy. Luckily Jake was able to come home early yesterday. He went to the store to load us up on all kinds of goods for sick people (you know, Powerade, Pedialite, Pepto, etc.) and got home around 2 to man the house for me while I was down. So far, everyone else is okay. The funny, well not so funny, but interesting fact about this illness is that we were kind enough to share it. On Saturday night, we had four other families over for a BBQ and to watch the LSU game. Of the 5 families in attendance, at least one from each family has ended up sick! What a horrible BBQ- LSU lost (I think) and we all ended up sick. We host the best parties!

Silly Little Kids

I love my kids. They drive me crazy a lot of the times and make my head feel like it wants to explode, but they do so many great things too and bring so much happiness to my life. And when my priorities are in the right place, and I spend time with them and play with them and let them do fun kid things, we are all happier people. Take hide-and-go-seek for example. A simple game- doesn't take much time to play. And leads to your two year old hiding in awesome places like this (sorry for the bad phone pic)...
Since apparently Halloween now almost rivals Christmas when it comes to fancy lawn decor, my girls took great pleasure in seeing the various blow-up spooky characters around the neighborhood. Jada took a particular liking to this mummy and would ask to see it just about every time we drove in the car. "Can I see see if the mummy's up?" would be the question we would hear multiple times a day. Thank goodness he finally got put away until next year- I was getting a little tired of the extra trip to the cul-de-sac in search of the mummy!

Elle has been doing great in first grade this year. She is becoming so independent with her reading and homework- it is so fun to see. They had their first awards ceremony the other day for their report cards. Jada, Cole, and I were in attendance and got to see her win "Coyote Champion" for her class. I was so happy and excited for her, and we both were surprised (neither she nor I knew she was getting it). Times like that make me grateful to be an at-home mom so I can attend these little assemblies that are so important to the kids.

A couple of fun things heard from my children lately:

Mya- "Why do babies only drink milk?"

Elle- "Because we're mammals and mammals feed their babies milk." (I found that to be a very educated and surprising answer coming from Elle. Good to see school is paying off!)

Elle- "Ahhhhh. Mya said she's going to marry Spencer when she grows up!"

Spencer- "Yep. I think she is." (His matter-of-factness just struck me as so funny!)

And, after discussions about how it is night in China when it is day here (not sure if that is true, but that is what the girls were saying), they came out with: "If you're Chinese, you're nocturnal!"

And good to see that Mya captured a photo of Quackers spending some quality time in the Bumbo.

Kids and changing seasons equals mass clothing project. Besides sorting through and weeding out clothes, there also was a fair amount of clothing purchased. It always stinks to spend so much, but with four kids there is really no way around it. Elle wasn't going to make it through the winter with only one pair of pants (and they were sweatpants- no way. Not going to cut it.) I got some awesome deals at Old Navy, participating in their "stuff and save" and got 50% off my whole purchase. I love good deals. I got so much! So after lots of shopping (including a wonderful Friday night trip to the mall awhile back, almost by myself- I had Cole) we almost have enough to hold us over until Spring.

Little Boo is always a silly one. We just love her! She had a two-night sleepover with her sissies last weekend (which they were so excited about), and the first night she fell asleep just like this. With the tables and chairs set up and one in her hand.

Awhile back, she started doing this thing she called "chong-chongs" and it looks something like this...

A couple other cute things that have come out of her mouth:

"See, see. That's scary, scary." (talking about Cole's dragon costume)

"Ugh. I'm mad at you mommy." (after I took away her giant stack of paper)

Me: "Good nite, little monkey."

Jada: "I'm not a little monkey. I'm Jada-Boo."

Me: "Oh. Good nite knucklehead."

Jada: "I'm not a knucklehead. I'm Jada-Boo, I said!"

As for the little man, playing with (more like staring at) his toy got a little boring so he just decided to fall asleep. And if you look closely below, I think he might be trying to watch TV. All those football games Jake has exposed him to have got him hooked on the TV already.

You know you're a chubby one if your mom unbuttoned your pants when you rode in your car seat today so your belly wouldn't get so squished! And if your mom has to make sure your airways aren't constricted when she buttons the top button on your shirt! Cute and chubby, that's how we make them around here!

I am feeling a little sad about the mohawk falling out. He's getting pretty bald up top nowadays, as well as sporting a nice smooth bald spot on the back of his head. I have discovered he's not a huge fan of hats, as can be seen below. He eventually gets used to it, but I guess that's what you get being born in the summer.

And a couple cute shots of him bundled up at the soccer games...

Taking a quick break from the kids- Jake did get to go to an LSU game a couple of weekends ago with some friends. He loved it, as always.

And back to the kids. My girls love to color. Unfortunately, with Jada around, things often end up all over the place. Drives me crazy! I love it when she flings them from the table!

And now I will indulge you in our own little mini-art show. What follows are some of the rare (okay not really, they can be found in abundance) masterpieces that are created by my girls, almost on a daily basis. Some are displayed here, making the fridge a cluttered mess!

While others are displayed on bedroom doors, as seen by the picture on Jada's door. Good to know Cole and Dad are still allowed.

I'm a little sad that some of these didn't upload in color, especially this first one. The colors were so pretty. Oh well. Up first, we have some beauties by Elle...

When I hurt my foot awhile back, the girls made me two cute books with pictures. Two are featured below.

I loved this one (the sun is yellow in a non-black and white world). "Your the sunieest." So cute.

I know this isn't art, but it was such a cute write up by Elle!

Even Jake gets a few love notes now and again.

Now onto our second little artist, Mya.

Mya favors me with all kinds of pics almost daily that say "I love you". It is so sweet and I will miss those nice pictures one day!

Good to know she still loves me, even if I get on her case all the time! I like this next one because you can see the writing from the back. She'll give me pictures and say I have to look on the back, where there often will be a nice message written for me.

I had to laugh at the one above. Mya wanted to make sure we could see that "famous carrot" as she called it. She is really proud of how good it is! And below it says "You are the best mom because you are silly".

And one more "I love you" for the road. Looks like she's yelling it!

And last up, Little Boo. I really admire her use of color in this first peice!

This next one got a little fancy with its squiggles.

And lastly one she made for me from nursery.

What fun, cute, silly little kids we have around here!

A whole lotta Halloween

Let's just start from the top. We definitely got our money's worth out of some of our costumes this year, finding several occasions to wear them. The only costume that was maybe not worth it was Cole the dragon. Large tail + car seat = a little tricky, plus the fact that he wasn't really a huge fan of the whole get up at first. Oh well- it made for cute pictures. I got to be first up sporting the costume out as a zebra to Bunko night. I just happened to have the shirt, bought the cute shoes which can definitely be worn again, add some ears and a tail and there you have it. I also got to wear this again at our ward party. See, totally worth it.
Last Monday night, we spent Family Home Evening at the Children's Museum for their Halloween party. The kids got to dress up and trick-or-treat and play at exhibits and have fun. (Side note- pay attention to Jada in several of these pics throughout the post. She has developed a need to be silly for pics, doing away with the old conventional cheese and smile bit.)

It was fun for the kids to do some of the things that are normally so crowded and crazy on regular days. I did decide that I will never be able to take all four kids alone to this place. I would most definitely lose one of them.

Cole was a skeleton for this particular bash- a much more functional costume.

Jada and I rode around on a fun pull scooter thing. Mya made herself at home in a cop car (let's hope she doesn't make a habit of that...)

All the excitement was too much for the little skeleton. I was happy we could do something fun and festive since we didn't make it to the Oil Ranch or pumpkin patch this year. Sad to miss out on those places. Oh well- maybe next year!

Elle had Red Ribbon week last week and got to wear different colors/things on different days. This was sunglasses day because apparently her school "shades" out drugs or something like that.

The pirate and the doctor off to trick-or-treat at preschool. Mya made those cute little decorations below at preschool one day.

To change things up from the whole pirate/butterfly gig, we decided to wear different things to our ward Halloween playgroup. Good thing too because it was mighty hot in the church and Jada would have had a heat stroke had she worn the fuzzy butterfly.

Thursday was also dress-up day for Mya's gymnastics class. She stayed with the ballerina motif.

We had a fun playgroup at our house a little while back and made these Halloween pictures. The girls loved gluing some of the pictures on. Funny how something a simple as glue, cut-outs, and stickers can entertain.

We made some mini-cupcakes for our ward Trunk-or-Treat party. Mya loved helping with the candy corn.

Friday night we dressed up again as zebra, Tinker Bell, pirate girl, butterfly, and half a dragon (Cole never actually wore the top half of his costume that night.) Jake wore a candy corn sticker on his ear as an earring. That's the spirit, Jake.

Elle flying and Mya swinging from her ropes. It was okay that she was the only kid without wings because she could swing from ropes.

Jada's awesome face...

Pink fangs won at the fishing booth at the party...

Jake's parents came in town Friday night to spend the weekend with us. We love having them close enough that they can come over for the weekend. Pops and Jada reading...

We headed off to soccer where we had to split time between both 10:30 games. Sadly the Fireballs undefeated season came to an end with a 3-5 loss, but both girls scored goals in their games so that was some good news.

Lunch at Red Robin...

We finally got around to carving our pumpkins that we bought at Wal-Mart (sad, I know) as a family one night during the week. And contrary to how it appears, Jake's dad is still alive. He just wanted a better angle at carving.

The weather was awesome this weekend so we got to carve outside. I love cooler weather!

Now for Halloween night. The dragon...

Jake's parents were troopers and walked a long way in their king and queen costumes as we trick-or-treated with friends. Once again, nice pose Jada.

Some kids ready to get some candy! We met up with a few other families and had a great time, walking a lot to work off all the candy we would eat!

The night was a success. Mya's feet were hurting by the end (not the greatest shoes- and I think she was tired). We got tons of candy (unfortunatly- I hate having it around. I want to throw it all away. Aren't I a scrooge???) The only down parts of the night were Elle having a major meltdown when we got home because no one really took the candy we left out. I didn't leave the porch light on so tons remained in the bowl. She was very upset thinking that people would think that we didn't like Halloween. Also, Jada had a bit of a fright when she was walking back from a door after getting candy and a kid in a scary costume was approaching the door. She was screaming in pure terror, poor baby, and was backing up against the car. It was so sad! Luckily she recovered and enjoyed the rest of the night.

We ended the night with our traditional caramel apples at our friends' house. Overall, tons of fun. A busy week plus full of Halloween goodness, tons of candy, and lots of dressing up. Life doesn't get much better.

Mya's Best Day!

Today was a great day for Mya- preschool began! Hooray! The best day! She was really excited to go and to wear her first day of school outfit. It took some shopping to find something that was just right because she was adamant about having some kind of dress and leggings, just like Elle. Luckily it wasn't too hot today!

The other little girl in the picture was sad she didn't get to go to school also. After dropping off Mya she asked me "I go to school?" I told her no, and she said "Why?" She then proceeded to be sad for awhile and say that she wanted to go to school. Hard to believe that next year it will be her I am dropping off. I am feeling like an old pro at this considering yesterday was my fourth time sitting through the parent meeting. I swear I could give that meeting. They should just mail me the paperwork. Mya had a great first day and is excited to go back.

Next we'll talk about the cute little man. He's been giving me some stress lately. I hate when something is wrong with your baby, but he obviously can't tell you what it is so you just have to guess and do your best. It's a lot of pressure on a mom to keep these little ones alive and well. He had a very upset stomach on Tuesday with lots loud burps and spitting up and spit bubbles and choking on all the stuff coming up. It was fun. I took him to the doctors to make sure everything was good (where he weighed in at over 13 pounds!!!) and she seemed to think it was some sort of reflux thing. Yesterday he was a little better, but was so fussy late afternoon and around dinnertime. I think he was really overtired. Luckily he slept really well last night and then has just had a stuffy sort of nose today. It's sad for him. I don't know if I ate something bad or if he just had some sort of issue with his stomach. I think we are doing a lot better and hopefully will be back to normal soon.

Besides all that, I've had fun dressing Cole up in some Halloween PJ's.

He doesn't look too convinced that wearing pumpkin PJ's are a good idea...

Well, maybe he's okay with it!

I am loving the skeleton look. So cute!

We also bought our own Bumbo this go around. He's still not quite sturdy enough for it yet, but Jada will make good use of it in the meantime...

With the onset of Fall, it was time to go through clothing which means lots of sorting and lots of laundry. My favorite.

Does anyone else have children who keep all kinds of junk in their panty/sock drawers? I guess I do the same thing, but it's amazing how much junk is stored in there. And I think I had even thrown some of it away already. Too much stuff.

Jake has been enjoying subjecting the children to football. Here's the girls with their dad, getting lessons on the game. I remember watching football with my dad and asking all kinds of questions about how the game works. Important knowledge to have it you ask me!

Apparently the Houston weather has been a little to dry for Jada. She's done this twice with Mya, but somehow she's the only one that ends up coated in the stuff.

And Sunday is the Primary Program. Can't wait to see Mya in her first Primary Program! They are having the parents of Sunbeams read the parts with the children to focus on families, so Jake and I will be joining her at the microphone. Her part is especially long, so we made a fun sheet so she can learn what to say. She is awesome at it and pretty much has it memorized! I'm sure Elle who also knows her part will do great too, although she did say she doesn't like how her voice sounds in the microphone. Should be fun on Sunday!

And lastly, a fun little picture to show what a stellar mom I am these days. Do you think we ought to start strapping the kid in???? Just wondering...

Spending some time with the potty

I was going to post a cute pic of little Boo with her pantie bum, but I thought it might not be the wisest move considering this is the internet and all. But, as you guessed, panties must mean that my favorite chore as a parent has arrived... potty training! Actually, it is one of my least favorite things to work on with a two year old, especially the stubborn ones. Trying to continually remember to coax a two year old to sit on the toilet and take care of business and clean up accidents when said two year old doesn't quite get it has never been a love of mine. So here we are again, with kid number three. I may be crazy considering the baby is still requiring a lot of attention, but I got motivated last week and decided to give it a go.

Step one was to get out the little potty and convince her to sit on it. She had a fear of sitting on potties and didn't want to give it a try. Luckily Mya used her powers of persuasion and somehow convinced her to sit on it. Once she thought it was okay to sit on, we moved forward. Incentives were purchased as well as cute panties and away we went.

Good news- she has done awesome and has been the easiest of the three girls (we're still only a few days in, so maybe I'll soon be eating my words, but as of now she is blowing the other girls out of the water it's been that much easier). One of her big prizes was a puzzle. She is a puzzle queen and loves to put together those little 24-piece puzzles (and I love it too except when she gets out more than one at a time resulting in puzzle pieces all over my floor). So cross your fingers for me and wish us continual success. So far, so good which is all I could have hoped for.

Now let's talk about sleep a little. It's something everyone needs, yet not everyone gets in the quantities they desire (especially if your house is full of little ones). That may be one of the hardest things to get used to after having kids- sleep deprivation. It's still hard six and a half years later. Although I do count my blessings that the older ones have outgrown some of their sleep issues for the most part and can be counted on to sleep the whole night most of the time. I just wish they'd sleep in a little more sometimes! Little Boo's early morning wake up call that she yells under the door comes a little too early somedays!

Anyways, I think Cole wins the prize for being our best nighttime sleeper as a baby. He even slept the entire night on Friday. That is amazing for an almost two month old in our house. He really never went through a phase where he had days or nights mixed and will just wake up, eat, and go back to sleep. He loves to be snuggled up, and I am loving the swaddle blanket my friend Lisa gave me. He sleeps like a champ in it! Once again, I hope this good sleeping behavior on his part sticks. It is awesome and totally manageable to just be waking up once or twice a night.

My other children still prefer the unconventional ways of sleeping. Boo can be found any number of places during nap time, as seen in the pic below. And like I mentioned, she often ends up by the door, with her drink in the corner and her blankie. She likes to yell out under the door if she is not all that sleepy. It makes for fun bedtimes!

Mya still sleeps down at the end of her bed, on top of her comforter with her white blankie. One of these days she'll figure out that she really is getting too big for this, but we're not there yet.

Elle was a kid who struggled a lot with sleep issues as a little one. We're still not perfect but about five hundred million times better than we used to be. She likes to sleep on top of her comforter, also. My kids are smart and discovered it's much easier to make your bed when you don't actually sleep in it. Elle arranges her blankets and such just right and then goes to sleep with a sheet over her head, just like her mom (what can I say, it brings me comfort). Sleepy time is such a good time at our house when I can actually breathe for a minute. I look forward to it each day!

Here is the puzzle/game/junk/random closet that is a thorn in my side. It needs to be organized so bad, yet I lack the motivation (and time, and hands sometimes for that matter) to pull it off. Someday...

Priesthood session always reminds me it is time to pull out the Halloween stuff! We decorated while Jake was away. Our house isn't too festive, but I do own a couple of cute things. I also let the girls put up a few decorations in their room.

Done some shopping lately. Not that the weather has changed yet, but I'm banking on it happening soon (it will be November next month which means it's time for Texas to enter it's 6 months of nice weather period). I found some good cheap stuff and had to buy. I also am really not liking my clothes (darn postpartum) and got a few things for myself. It makes me so happy to buy really cute clothes!

And if it's not puzzle pieces, then it's Cheeze-it crumbs or water or crayons or melted ice or toys or clothes or something like seen below all over the floor. Kids are just messy. There is no way around it.

Lastly a cute video of the fun baby. He had his two month check-up on Tuesday which went great. 50% for height and head (shocking- my kids usually have giant heads) and 75% for weight. I was paranoid about catching the Swine just by being at the doc's but so far we are all (knock on wood) staying healthy. Thank goodness. He got his immunizations (always sad) and is looking great besides having really dry peeling skin. He loves to lay on the bed or couch and watch the fan or light. It's a favorite pastime of his. He's becoming a little more responsive and trying to coo and whatnot. It's still really cute and fun, even fourth time around!

Our Revolving Door

We have been spoiled with so many visitors since little Cole has joined our family! It has been such a blessing because if I'm being quite honest, four kids is kicking our little behinds at times! We are not turning down anyone that wants to come and stay (and maybe occasionally hold a baby or get a kid a snack). Our revolving door is welcoming all!
Kellie (my older sis) and her oldest boy Boston (who is Elle's age) came for a fun Thursday to Sunday visit. The girls absolutely loved playing with Bos. They seriously had the best time!

We did all kinds of fun things like gymnastics, having pizza, pulling Elle early from school, playing at the wet park in the sprinkling rain, seeing a movie (the older kids and Kel), soccer practice and games, painting pumpkins, and so on. Kellie and I even got to sneak away one night for a little shopping and a movie. It was so fun and such a great help to have them here!

(I had to show Cole supporting the Cougs. He's true blue, through and through, although his face shows how he feels about that FSU game! Not good.)

See how great it is to have people help and hold the baby?!

I had to get a pic of the "Tigers" (Mya's team) out on the field...

Let's pause for a bit from our discussion on all my visitors and talk a little about a fun book I read...

That's right, you guessed it- the Hunger Games sequel. I love having a book to read that you have been anticipating, but it is so sad to finish and to know you have to wait a whole year for the next one. I'm a nerd, I know, but good books make me happy. I didn't like this one as much as the first (but I still really enjoyed it). I didn't like Katniss and felt like she didn't really know who she was in this book. I love Peeta as always and am a Peeta fan all the way. Gale is out, Peeta is in. I decided that I hate love triangles because if I pick the wrong one then I end up sad (Just like with the whole Bella-Jacob thing. Still sad.) I think that if the author wants us to like Gale, she needs to give us a whole lot more of him in book three. Anyways, enough about that. If you haven't read the books, you should (as long as you can get over the whole killing bit). They really are entertaining. Moving on...

As hinted at in the previous post, I had a little run-in with our kitchen table on Tuesday that resulted in a very painful toe. You know when you kick something and it hurts so bad for a bit and then goes away? Well this hurt did not go away. I knew it was bad when I looked down and my baby toe was sticking out and looking kind of strange. It swelled and bruised pretty good and I gimped around the house causing my kids to take pity on me. Mya helped with a few things and the girls made me all kinds of nice pictures as I iced the foot. It still hurt pretty bad and looked awful the next day so I had it x-rayed just to make sure it wasn't anything more serious. Turns out to be just a broken toe down near the base of it. A little buddy tape and we are set. It's actually getting a lot better, but I still can't run and have to keep it taped up for awhile longer. Oh well- who really wants to exercise anyways! I like the baby weight.

And back to the visitors...

My little sis Kirstie came for a Tuesday to Saturday fun stay where she got to play nanny and basically do all kinds of fun "mom stuff" with me. Part of me feels bad that she just got to hang out and run the kids around with me everywhere, but we tried to make it fun. We had ice cream every night (including a pizookie night), shopped a little, went to the library, out to lunch, had playgroup at my house, gymnastics, two soccer practices, two parks, a visit to Elle's school for lunch, Los Cucos, and a soccer game. A lot of "mom stuff" with some fun stuff thrown in. She was a trooper and an awesome help and even babysat a few times. She definitely got some good bonding time with the babe and the girls loved her fantastic stories she told. We will miss you Kirs!

Above is a pic at Mya's soccer practice where it was shockingly kind of cold. We had a couple of lucky cool days while Kirs was here. Maybe the sticky heat will leave us for good soon. I can't wait!

Just little Boo, asleep in Cole's crib. With all the guests, Cole's room has become her home away from home. And her sleep spots continue to keep us entertained. Bedtime she usually always ends up by the door with her blankie in tow and her drink placed in the corner, but during naptime any place is fair game. The crib, the floor, or occasionally the bed. At least she's sleeping!

While Kirs was here, Jake's parents also came for a short visit to see the girlies play soccer. We love having them, as always, and the girls love all the attention they get. Soccer, Panera, Blue Bell, Uno, lots of puzzles- fun had by all!

So now we are back to just "us". We'll see how life really is without all the extra help. I hope I can survive!