is he playing us for fools?...

Ever since the tribe has started school we have sort of been out of the loop in the potty dept. When they were home with me I knew when they pooped & peed. I knew when they had issues, when they had that "accident", etc. Anyhow, now that they are in school we don't seem to know all of this info. It really doesn't matter that much with the girls as it does Brendan. He is by far our issue kid. All these months we have assumed that since it takes him FOREVER to poop that he has still been having issues. We have kept his appointments with the "poop doctor" because we felt he still needed it. Well let me tell you we learned a lot this past Friday. You both Daddy & I picked the tribe up from school to take them out for dinner, our routine "Family Night". This has not happened for awhile, both of us picking them up or better yet me beingthere. Ever since I've been working more during the week Daddy has been taking them to & from school. He is the one getting all of the updates from the teachers & apparently he has NOT asked the right questions. Because Brendan now pees AND poops on the potty at school. Yes you read this right! Miss Iris told me that he has been doing SO good! I was like what?! He is missing school on Monday because we have an appointment with the "Poop doctor"! Why oh why did we not know this?! I told her that we need to get "progress reports" on him so we know when & if his issues return. Let's pray that they don't! Then I thought to myself why doesn't he poop on the potty at home? Why did we still think he was having issues? I mean he ALWAYS poops in his Pull Up & it's usually ever 5 days or so at night. Maybe that's why we knew the last time he pooped in his pants that is! LOL! Did we get it wrong? Oh did I wonder a LOT as I drove to dinner that night. I wondered is he ok or...

is he playing us for fools?...

what would you do?...

When we, ok I, decided that the tribe needed to attend preschool I never thought twice about splitting the foursome up. I knew that in order for them to thrive they needed NEW experiences separate from one another. I then thought I would not stick it to the same teacher to by having both Avery & Lindsey in their class so I split them up. From the beginning it worked out really good. Which two would be in the same class was an easy decision since Linz takes care of Brendan so I put them in the same class. I would hear all kinds of stuff from each of them when I picked them up. Who they sat next to, who they played with, I even heard who Brendan thought was his "girlfriend". Yes at the ripe 'ol age of three he has a found himself a girlfriend! He talks about her, Olivia, a lot! I think she is the first girl outside of his sisters that he has really gotten to know. It just melts my heart that my little man has a girlfriend!! [=

Since the tribe has only attended school for just under two months I feel that I am still learning the ropes. There is just SO much to remember when there are FOUR kids to keep up with. FOUR lunches, FOUR back packs, FOUR crib sheets & FOUR blankets to put in those back packs. Then there's the Pull Ups, Pull Ups & even more Pull Ups. {still NOT potty trained} Oh and the FOUR folders to check with all of their "stuff" in it! I never really paid attention to how different the class crafts are until Mother's Day. You see Bren & Linz came home with presents for me, but Cam & Aave did not. Not that I needed any gifts but the thought was SUPER sweet! Can't help to notice the excitement in your childs eyes when they hand you something they made just for you! As I opened the presents Cam & Aave wanted to know where their gift for me was. I felt bad because that was when I realized what putting them in different classes would mean, different "stuff". I never even thought of that! I thought everything would be the same! I don't think the school ever thought about this either. I do love the arrangement we have now but I wonder if it was the right thing to do. Is there a life lesson in this? Should I leave things alone? or should I say something?...

What would you do?...

We want to go to school!...

OK, I have wished upon this day for what seems like a VERY long time! The tribe leaving the nest & going on to school. I know, I know, why have them grow up even sooner than they should?! But when you have four munchkins at your feet ALL day long you kind of wish for some ALONE time! I figured that when this day arrived they would miss me a bit more than they do! I really never thought that they would love it SO much! They actually look forward to going! The defining moment was when I asked them if they wanted to stay home with Mommy or go to school and they replied by saying...

We want to go to school!...

our daughter is a clepto...

Oh SO much has happened over the past week, so much so that the tribe is now attending preschool! Yes, we bit the bullet & enrolled them in school. A HUGE expense but one we have to find the funds to cover! They really, really needed this! I think they needed this about as much as I needed it! LOL!As many of you know that when you enroll anyone into school there comes a HUGE list of stuff they need before they actually attend their first day. There is the normal expenses like bedding for the mat they will take their nap on, EXTRA sets of clean clothes, panties/diapers in case of accidents (Remember we are NOT fully potty trained yet!) But one expense I did not even think of was SHOES! They needed new shoes, sneakers to be exact. Being that the school playground has wood chips they have to have closed in shoes to keep those feet protected! So while Dustyn, the tribe & I were at the mall last week we happened upon the Stride Rite store. It just happens to be across from the play area so there we were! This is what happens when you have time to kill before Daddy gets off from work! haha! Going into the Stride Rite store is NOT a normal event for this family especially since almost every piece of clothing & shoe we have for them is a hand me down.Most of all we can not afford Stride Rite shoes! I do not know what I was thinking walking into that store but since we were there we decided to check their shoe sizes. It really does pay to get a toddlers foot sized by a professional! After about 30 minutes I found out that the shoes on their feet were the WRONG size! Uh Oh! Before I knew it I was buying four new pairs of sneakers! The only good thing was that they were on sale! Let's just hope these shoes last a few months! PLEASE?! Trying to contain four toddlers while you are checking out shoes is a feat within itself! They were all over the place! The clerk helped us out tremendously & gave us some coupons. I do not know if Daddy will let us buy NEW shoes again after seeing that bill! LOL! We decided we better cut our losses & left to go meet Daddy for dinner. There we were unloading the tribe from their HUGE blue stroller into the 'burb when I find a BRIGHT yellow sandal in the bottom of the stroller.This is NOT a match to any shoe we currently own & after closer inspection I notice it has a price tag attached to the bottom of the sole! "Someone" stole it! I could not believe it!! Of course I took a picture! hehee! After process of elimination we determined that Camryn was the culprit! I kind of thought it would be her since the sandal was yellow. They tend to gravitate towards their colors. SO I asked her if she took it & she finally fessed up! You can tell by her BIG grin that she knew she had been had! (= So I left D with the tribe as I trekked myself back into the mall to return the sandal. As I walked into the store I start to tell the clerk about finding the lone sandal in our stroller & how Camryn took it! I wonder how often this occurs? Hmm.. Funny thing is that she did not even notice it missing!Too bad one shoe would not help us out! hahah! It was quite funny! Made me realize how many more funny stories we will get to share about them as they get older! As soon as I returned the "stolen shoe" I immediately started dialing her Daddy's cell phone to tell him about the lastest fulton "funny"! There I was saying "Guess what?!"...



Our daughter is a clepto...

hog tying them or paying for preschool X4?

Everyone warned me that the three's are the new "terribe two's". I did not believe it, I filed the info away & really thought OUR kids would be different. I thought they would just skate through toddlerhood & it would all be a blur like their infancy was. Boy was I wrong! The tribe will be three in Jan & have become WILD children! They have been little busy bodies these past few weeks, getting into stuff they never would have gotten into. They climb out of their cribs & just plain make my "job" even harder!My mom jokingly tells me I need to tie them up when they are bad! Now that's an idea! LOL! Then my brother says they need to make Velcro pajamas so they'll stay in bed! Oh the things we all could come up with to deal with WILD children! (= I just continue to talk to them like they are little adults. Asking them why they want to make mommy's life harder than it already is. I really thought I was getting through to them! ha! I know, they are TWO year olds, but this is how I cope! LOL! It seems that I am SO overwhelmed lately! Things I used to be able to get away with I can no longer do. Just today I took them shopping WITHOUT their stroller & all in ONE shopping cart. What was I thinking? They were completely awful! I know what it is to have soon to be three year old's with me on a shopping trip but those poor customers at Home Goods had NO idea what they were in for. They either ALL Wanted to sit in the only seat up front, wanted me to "Hold you", wanted to walk or better yet cried. Yes they have turned into cry baby's. sigh... I finally relented & rotated who got to sit up front & who walked beside the cart. Remember EVERYTHING in this household is about taking turns! A simple shopping excursion turned into a truly a memorable experience, one that I will not forget for a LONG LONG time! LOL! People always ask me how I do it, or better yet say that I am one brave woman to bring them out by my lonesome. What people do not understand is that I would forever be locked up inside these walls of our home if I waited to have someone go with us. There are VERY few people that know what it is like to raise these munchkins of ours & VERY few people that offer to help. Those people who do help are AMAZING, they know who they are & we love them to death. We would not be able to function with out them! I just cannot wait till they are old enough for school. Sad but true. I love them immensely however they are just TOO busy for even me, the queen of multi tasking! I dread the cost of enrolling all four into some sort of preschool but I get excited over the thought of having "me" time. I need this VERY badly! I just need a break from this full time "job" of mine. At this point I wonder which would make my life easier...

hog tying them or just paying for preschool X4?

CRAZY!

I FINALLY had some free time to call Dustyn's school to check on prices for the quads to attend preschool there in the fall. Dustyn has attended there since he was their age, PLUS it is a Christian school which is VERY important to us. When she went over the fees with me & rounded everything off I just about died! She could tell by my silence that I was not expecting that! LOL! The fee for all four to attend is just over what we spent to conceive them! YIKES! Let's just say it is over $35,000. CRAZY! We are going to have to get VERY creative to find the money to cover this expense. NO, I am not about to hand out that kind of money for preschool. I just needed numbers so I know where to begin. Now I just have to work out the details, but know this, preschool is a necessity! They need the structure of a classroom, to be around other children besides a play date setting & most importantly I need the break! LOL! We were VERY fortunate to have been given a scholarship for each of them when they were born. This will help us out tremendously! The Lord definitely looked out for us. We have happy, healthy children, what more can we ask for!? My hubby would say "Winning the Lotto!" haha! As they reach each new milestone we realize exactly how expensive it is to raise them. I could never imagine having more than these 4! In this life we lead I would not change a thing, I just need to get more creative! After scholarships, the multiple child discount (For the first time a discount that has nothing to do with having multiples! ha!), etc, it is still quite EXPENSIVE! I knew that sending four children to preschool would be steep but I just had no idea exactly how steep it would be! Somehow, some way we will find the money to pay for this. For now just pondering it all makes me...

CRAZY!