Georgia Aquarium...

Here are a few pic's from out recent road trip to GA. We were lucky enough to visit the Georgia Aquarium. If you have not been there yet you really should! It is one COOL aquarium with a TON of things to see. Happy Viewing!!

My niece Sarah & Miss Linz soaking up the snuggles! Awwwh...

Finally Mommy gets in a picture! I have Bren & Uncle Rick has Cam.


Avery LOVED being able to see all of the fishies up close & personal!


Katie showed Linz all of the fish! Just look at the size of them! WOW!



I hope Avery doesn't catch her Daddy holding Miss Linz!! uh oh! (=



We happened upon the otter exhibit just as they started to feed them. Look how close we all were to them! Just the glass between us! It was SO cool!



Camryn posing with her new fish friend "Mr Grouper". They told us how grouper is WAY over fished. SO eat less grouper people!! (=



The tribe could not get over seeing all of those fish! WOW! Now that is one AWESOME tank & check out our front row seats!! Loving it!


Camryn was checking out the Jelly Fish! SO beautiful but don't try touching it!


More pictures to come from our recent outing at the...

Georgia Aquarium...

Road Trip May '09...

We took the tribe on a "Road Trip" last week. We actually planned this for quite awhile. You see my niece Katie, the one I took everywhere as a baby, was graduating high school! We just had to be there. Michael worked EXTRA just to cover the expense of the trip. He is such a good doobie! We love him SO much!! Going to her graduation makes me think of mine, had to believe that it was almost 21 years ago that I had my own graduation. NO way!! I still feel like a "spring chicken"! LOL! For those of you that know me personally.. Katie is the niece that I babysat from birth until her 1st birthday and then they moved away to GA! She was my best bud & we have a special bond. She has such a beautiful heart & I love her so! Hard to believe she is all grown up and graduating high school! YIKES! This is going to be a LONG trip with 4 toddlers but we just have to be there when she gets that diploma! (= I packed up the 'burb & off we went, GA or bust! Even Grandma went with us on this adventure! We tried to keep them occupied as we drove. Sometimes it was easy other times it was HARD! They crave attention! There was only 1 of me to go around so I amused them however I could. There was even a time I sat in the BACK of the 'burb. This was quite the feat! People driving by probably wondered what some GROWN woman was doing climbing over seats & sitting in my kids laps. YES I was in their laps! hahah! ANYTHING to make my kids HAPPY! (= We even searched for FUN play areas for them to stretch their legs. This trip sparked an interest in me to write a book on cool kid places to visit! That's ANOTHER story! LOL! Overall the kiddos did great. Remember, I have high expectations. I wanted them to appreciate the view, sit in THEIR seats & never fuss. What was I thinking? They are 2 year olds!! One important detail you all need to know is that we took them on this adventure WITHOUT even a DVD player. What can I say, I am a product of my upbringing! We would just play games, read or play the I spy game. I can remember my dad giving the first kid to spot the Washington Monument a quarter! That was BIG money back then! hahah! I cannot wait till they are older so we can play the ABC game, check out license plates or even play car BINGO. {I found this game at Restoration Hardware} Another reason no DVD was that they are not really movie watchers anyway. I know, I know, a DVD player is a "Must have" when travelling with tot's. Not us! We were roughing it! I'm sure if you ask my hubby he will say NEVER again! LOL! There we were singing, "reading" books & eventually throwing balls around the 'burb. Brendan LOVED that! He had this nerf football & a tennis ball that he would throw up to the front of the 'burb. Then Daddy & Grandma would throw them back to him. He would laugh & laugh. Laughter is SO much better than crying anyday! We also had a few "new" car toys that we inherited from my cousin. One was this lacing toy. It was this THICK cardboard bunny that you lace w/ shoelaces. That lasted quite awhile & they each had unique ways to lace it that was until they ATE it! Yes, they ate the cardboard bunny! They will eat practically ANYTHING!! There are knawed on things all over this place! You'd think we were raising animals!! LOL! Our trip lasted about 11 hours if you included the few "pit" stops. Daddy made great time! Being that we arrived on Thursday night we took them to the Atlanta Aquarium on Friday. It is unlike most aquariums. One of the tanks sort of reminded me of the aquarium we visited BEFORE KIDS at Paradise Island in the Bahama's. They have all kinds of fish! We saw sawfish, whale sharks, Pompano of all things, sharks & even some otters. The tribe LOVED the otters! We happened upon their section just as they were being fed. So they came face to face with them! They even got a kiss from behind the glass! TOO cute! Needless to say they were conked out on the ride back to Uncle Rick's. We had Katies graduation on Saturday. Her school is one of the largest in Gwinnet County. They had 729 students graduating that day. Her principal gave a speech saying how incredible it was having so many students graduate & all the places they would be attending college. Practically all the Ivy league schools were covered. I wish I had a copy of that speech, it was AMAZING all the facts he recited! Graduating itself is such a HUGE accomplishment! HOPEFULLY, Katie will continue her education by attending some sort of college. She has mentioned that she wants to become an ultrasound tech. Wouldn't that be cool!? She could do ultrasounds on pregnant women maybe even some multiple mommies!! We hope that she applies soon so she can attend in the fall. There we were trying to spark interest in her, getting her to register. That is one thing that I regret, not finishing school. In fact most of the family did not finish college until MANY years later. Hopefully she will do better than all of us combined. (= On Sunday we went to Rick's church. I cannot tell you how long it had been since we'd been there. It was so nice to see all the people that prayed for us during our pregnancy & after their birth. We are part of their church family now. AMAZING! We were busy little beavers for the 5 days we were there. After the graduation we had a few BBQ's to celebrate her accomplishment. We even met up with some more "extended" family, Dorsey & Eleanor, in downtown Roswell for their Memorial Day festivities. It was SO nice to meet up with them. They kept us all entertained! Dorsey he is quite the character!! We are gonna need another vacation to help us recoup from this one! haha! I will say that the best part of our trip was that by the time we left Katie had enrolled in college. YAY! On our way home we even found an AWESOME playground at of all places a local Burger King in Dublin GA. It was HUGE! Like what you'd find at a local park. TOO TOO cool! I am SO stopping there again!! Since we left GA rather late our stop over in Savannah was not meant to be. Hubby SO wanted to go eat at Paula Deen's restaurant! He & Grandma watch her show EVERY weekend! No Paula Deen's for us! He was left with just a drive by!)= Maybe next time! When your one cranky child is FINALLY sleeping you DO NOT wake them! LOL! We kept on driving until we hit Amelia Island, FL. It's a very quaint seaside town! They even let you drive on the beach! TOO cool! Of course we let the tribe out of the 'burb to walk on the beach & put their toesies into the surf. They LOVED it until that first wave came. We had kiddo's running EVERYWHERE! haha! It was quite the sight! I took some pictures which I'll post when I get home! We stayed at the Days Inn there, you know the kind that has the swimming pool in the middle of the parking lot! LOL! It brought back SO many memories of my childhood. We used to stay at places like that ALL the time! Practically every trip we took was by car! My mom even commented on how she is reliving some of the moments she had with us but now as Grandma. They LOVE having her with us too! Now I am the Mommy & we're doing things with our kids that my parents did with us. TOO wild! Road trips can be so cool if you appreciate those moments. Other than Miss Avery catching croup this was one AMAZING...

Road Trip May '09...

Jon and Kate plus 8...

Ok, I know that I am not the only one out there that watched the 5th Season Premiere of Jon and Kate plus 8 last night. With all of the talk going on I am sure many tuned in to see what all the hoopla was about. I watch their show pretty regularly. I too tuned in to see how they are doing. I am not going to pass judgement on the choices they have made. I do not know what it's like being them but I do know what it's like raising the children we have. Having multiples is HARD work! Not only hard work but EXPENSIVE! I could not imagine how they would ever cover all their expenses if they did not have TLC asking them to do a TV show! WOW! They say that the struggle of trying to get pregnant and/or having multiples can make or break a relationship! It's tough & I totally feel for them! Yes it's a shame that the entire world is watching their struggle. But I look at it very differently. I see this as an opportunity for them to show us, me, how to work through the good, the bad & the UGLY! To be there with them as they deal with their issues and come out stronger. I have so many people that give me unsolicited advice like they know how it is to raise quadruplets. This is unlike anything we have ever been faced with. I learn tips from the "pro's", those parents that have come before me that did this job. So I ask everyone to hold off judgement of the Gosselin's and let them figure out what is best for them. I just hope that there are many more years of...

Jon and Kate plus 8...

remember when...

Today is the day we remember those we lost, like Grandpa. What a SAD day! We are "sort of" on vacation in GA so while on vaca what do you do?!? You visit family & friends! We have been EVERYWHERE! Today we went to Roswell to see Dorsey & Eleanor who are practically family. So when in GA we have to stop & see them! They are HUGE Georgia Tech fans! They even transformed their RV into the "BUZZ Mobile"! TOO cute! Dorsey is quite the character & always keeps us entertained! We were in for a FUN time! We met them in downtown Roswell for their 12th Annual "Roswell Remembers" Memorial Day Celebration. The had an AWESOME band, MANY military vet's & even some POW's! There was not a dry eye in the place. They had all kinds of military vehicles, guns & even a fire truck! Brendan LOVED it! I think this will be the start of a new tradition for our family. I am just SO proud to be an American & live in a land that is FREE! GOD bless America!! There I was trying to take as many pictures & video of the tribe as possible. I just want them to be able to look back at all the pictures & video & say...

remember when...

wordless wednesday...

Tuesday's Tribute...

Ok I want EVERYONE to be in the know about my friend Jen. She does not have a blog but is just as busy. I met her just over a year ago when I joined our local MOM's club. She happens to live ALL the way out near me. If you knew where I lived you'd understand how exciting that was to me! I live in the middle of no where! I did not think anyone could live further west than me but she beats me by about 4 blocks! LOL! Jen is the mommy of 3 girls; ages 5, 3, 1 & a has baby BOY on the way! WOO HOO! BTW, they all have birthday's in August. COOL huh!? She is THEE most active mommy I know. She attends SO many events, activities, play dates, socials, MOPS programs, etc. She even host's! PLUS she keeps her house clean! I need to get some pointers on how she does it! She is my HERO! Once when we were over her house one of my children almost wiped off part of her dry erase board that she keeps every activity posted on her fridge. This "calendar" has EVERYTHING for each child written down in different colors. I FREAKED! She did not fret! She had the BEST attitude. I wish that she could rub off on me! No pun intended! She needs some major KUDO's for being such a GREAT mom & friend! She's my...

Tuesday's Tribute...

It takes a village...

Some days I wake up feeling that I may not get through the day. That the kids will not eat their breakfast or lunch & will be just plain CRANKY! Which ends up making my life even HARDER! This is not exactly the life I imagined when I asked God to allow me to be a mommy! They have turned into little busy bodies that seem to get into EVERYTHING! OR they like to antagonize their siblings & take toys from one another so I can become the "referee". I do not like that job in the least! The house is a wreck, there is SO much stuff to clean up, put away, etc. I feel like it will never get done! Do I care? Lately, NO. Then there is the days that we have activities to attend. I have to make a conscious effort to plan for those days. Because pretty much each activity we attend it's just me with them. Yes there are the few days that they throw me for a loop & do everything I need them to do. But most days it is just hard! That is the reason I do not plan that many activities during the week. It is usually just me & them so I keep my battles to a minimum! This past weekend we went to a family birthday party. Our cousin Denny was turning 5 & they had his party at a "water park". Just the thought of a water park scared me but I knew that I had to bring the quads. Monika & Don, my cousins, have helped us SO much! Almost all of our hand me downs come from them! So we were there! Now I just needed to rearrange my work schedule so I could get the day off, then find some helpers! Luckily I was able to swap my shift to get the day off. All the helpers I thought of were busy so I enlisted Grandma! (Daddy could not make it due to work) He would miss out on the FUN, can you tell the sarcasim!? hahah! I slathered them all up with sunblock, got their bathing suits on & then loaded them up. We had about an hour drive which they slept 30 minutes of. Once we arrived there I had to figure out how to get them to the "kiddie area" safely. There was a HUGE adult pool at one end & the kiddie area on the other. Usually I just ask them to hold hands & they will pair off in two's. Some days they do this willingly other days it is a challenge. Well, today was a good day! There I was leading our "tribe" past the pool into the play area as they followed gazingly behind. The water in the "kiddie area" was about knee deep so once they got used to it I knew they'd LOVE it. Maybe TOO much! LOL! The only BAD part was that Grandma did not bring her beathing suit & was NOT going in the water so that left just ME to corral them. UH OH! Well, this is what I thought was going to happen. I was pleasantly surprised when most of my relatives came to my rescue. They willingly helped me! I did not even have to ask, they are just there to help! I SO love that!WE WERE THE VILLAGE! I LOVE having a BIG family! There was SO many set's of eyes watching the "tribe" that I could actually relax a little. Well sort of. They LOVED the water a little too much & did not want to leave. Camryn even tried going back in AFTER getting her bathing suit off! There I was in my capri's & sandals running in after her! Luckily she did not get THAT soaked! Can't say the same about me! (= I just want to say a BIG "THANK YOU" to everyone for all of their help! Some days I can not say "Thank you" enough! Other days I am SO tired that I can barely get a "Thanks" out. Just know that I appreciate all the assistance I get! When I am having a "bad" day I just think about all the mommies out there that have it harder than me, whether with children that are sick or just having MORE kids to deal with. I take a DEEP breath and remember...

It takes a village...

sunny day...

Looks like today may actually be SUNNY! The weatherman had previously said there was a high chance of rain BUT by looking outside there is some MAJOR sun! I am SO psyched! Another reason for celebrating is that I have the day off for a change! WOO HOO! Nothing like having a day off & being cooped up inside due to the weather! Our cousin Denver, aka Denny, invited us to celebrate his 5th birthday at a local water park. This will be a FIRST for the "tribe". They have never been to a water park before & I know that they will LOVE it! I on the other hand am both looking forward to it & freaking out at the same time! LOL! From what I have been told that the water is only knee high. The "twins", aka Avery & Linz, are who I am mostly worried about. They LOVE anything to do with water! They also think they can swim. I know I know this is a BIG problem! But I have had a time trying to get them swimming lessons by myself. It's either TOO expensive or most places require EXTRA hands for each kid & we just do not have that! Anyhow I am looking forward to a great SUNNY day spent with family & friends! I'll try to post some pic's if I get any! (= Oh...

sunny day...

time...

These past few days have been quite the experience for all of us! It all started out on Saturday night with the littlest of the bunch heaving up her dinner. It did not get any better by Sunday night. It went from puking to pooping & trust me, I was not happy that they were being regular! LOL! All I can say is, YUK! I've changed more cribs, washed more clothes & gave MANY a bath in the past few days! It has not been much fun! I thought it was an isolated incident but then it moved from child to child. So far, knock on wood, Camryn has not caught the bug! We were awoken rather EARLY this morning by Linz having yet another poopy diaper which then gave her a raw butt! It is terrible! No ointment or cream seems to help her! However once she was changed she was raring to go. You would not have thought she was even sick. Mommy was TIRED & she was bright eyed & bushy tailed! She then wanted each of her siblings to be WIDE awake with her. Oh what FUN! The rest of them FINALLY woke up 2 hours later. Brendan was sitting at the end of his crib and at the other end was vomit! He also had a cough that I did not like the sound of. He was the next victim! DISGUSTING! Remember, I do not do vomit! I'm the poop girl! Where was Michael when I needed him the most!?! There I was trying to clean him up & get the sheets off his crib. Then Avery has a blow out & I had to take care of her. I had the washer going, the bath running & LUCKILY we were at Grandma's so she kept Linz entertained. Throughout all of this Camryn just sat in her crib watching me & continued to say "Mommy, Oh My!". Wonder where she gets that from! hahah! I decided I better take Brendan & Linz in to see the doctor. FYI, Being able to get 4 sick kid appt's all together is difficult so to get 2 seen was better than none. Grandma & I made the drive 45 minutes N to their doctor. We got there just when our appt. was to start. That never really matters because lately we always seem to have to wait, FOREVER! I SO dislike waiting in a doctor's office lobby with four toddlers. Today was extra bad since they all had poopies while we waited. This is my life! ugh! We finally get in to see Dr. Kraft. He really is a great doctor. Helps me not freak out over silly stuff. He told us he's not too worried about the weight they lost from throwing up. They will gain it back. That their ears, eyes & chest all sound good. Brendan is extra lean & that is why it I overreact when it comes to him. He is NOT dehydrated & he will be ok. To rinse Linz's bum instead of using wipes & to put 4 oz of white vinegar into the bath water. The vinegar will help dry her raw bum up! (interesting..) That we need not worry about getting them to eat but rather make sure they drink & have at least 2 pee pee diapers a day. If things change to let them know, it is hopefully just a bug & the best medicine is...

time...

the JOYS of motherhood...

Today is our day! A day that we mom's are celebrated for all that we do! With as crazy as things have been over the past few months I sure needed this day! To be pampered & loved on was WONDERFUL! We started a little early by going over to my mom's neighbors house for an impromtu get together Saturday night. Two of their daughters had a joint birthday/slumber party & they invited us over to join in on the fun! Their house was full of a bunch of nine & eleven year old girls! OH MY! The things I can look forward to! We brought along my cousin Raine who was visiting us. Having some girls her own age to play with had to be more fun! It was SO nice hanging with adults & having margaritas! I LOVE a good margarita! (Thank you Vicky!) It was a BEAUTIFUL evening filled with great conversation. Too bad our evening was cut short due to one sick child. Miss Linz was SICK! She ended up waking the rest of the tribe up so we then had four crying babies to deal with! She had thrown up earlier in the evening but we thought it was due to her gulping down her food. She has a very bad habit of inhaling her food when shes hungry. Well, she threw up again in her crib. It was EVERYWHERE! YUK! I am SO glad I made that deal with Michael years ago, I do poop, he does vomit! He deserved a medal for what he cleaned up! LOL! We ended up setting up a pac n' play in our room as her bed for the night & put the rest of the tribe back to bed. They did not want to go to sleep without her, kept calling out her name. I felt SO bad but we did not want to have to deal with four sick babies. Linz on the other hand was feeling rather perky now that she was done feeling sick. In fact you would have never known she was even sick! She kept talking to us & even refused to go in the pac n' play. We tried putting her between us but I just cannot sleep with a child in our bed. Afraid we'll roll over on them or maybe it's because of all the stories I hear about how it's a BIG no no. How you should not let kids sleep with you because they will get too comfortable & never be able to sleep in their own bed again. I do TOO much thinking!! haha! So there I was climbing into the pac n' play at the foot of our bed just to get her to lay down in it. REMEMBER she still shares a crib with her twin. Weird how that was all it took. She needed to have someone next to her I guess. I was afraid I'd collapse the thing but it held us. She must have thought I was CRAZY for climbing into her "bed" but it did the trick! I layed there for almost 2 hours until she was tired enough to not care when I got up. In the end I lied to her as I got out saying "Mommy has to go pee pee and I'd be right back". She bought it & fell fast asleep! All I wanted was for her to be well & to get a good nights rest! I cannot tell you what time I finally fell asleep but I knew that I would remember this Mother's Day forever. Oh...

the JOYS of motherhood...

finger lickin' good...

I hope EVERYONE out there took Oprah up on her link & downloaded the FREE coupon from KFC before it sold out! It was a marketing bonanza to get us to try their NEW Grilled chicken! KFC with Oprah's help gave out FREE meal coupons! Anytime there is FREE anything I am on it! My Uncle Nelson actually gave us the heads up on this offer. He wanted to make sure that this family of 7 got our FREE meals! LOL! It just so happens that I tape Oprah every day but do not necessarily watch it until days later. That is one of the pleasures of having multiples, NO TIME! LOL!Anyhow, I printed off about 12 coupons before the ink ran out on our printer. We decided that we would take Grandma there tonight for dinner. It was Grandma, Dustyn, the tribe & me. Daddy was going to meet us there. Uncle Nelson made me promise that I would take pictures of our "outing". So here goes... as you can see it did not pan out as we had hoped! We got the same sign posted in the window that most of America did as we walked in. NO grilled chicken for us! (= The tribe tried to sit patiently at the table with their big bro Dustyn but in the end it was not meant to be. Since they only had 2 highchairs we decided to get our rainchecks & go. No use trying to corral them while we ate. After filling out the "rain check" paperwork we hit the road. Sorry, But I really cannot tell you if their grilled chicken is...

finger lickin' good...

MOPS...

Hopefully everyone out there has heard of MOPS, Mother's of Pre Schoolers. This is a WONDERFUL organization just for us mommies of little one's pre school age. I attend a local MOPS group at our home church, Christ Fellowship. It was a LONG road getting me there but well worth it! It has been such an important part of our lives this past year. Motherhood itself is challenging enough but when you add multiples to the mix it can get down right CRAZY! When the babies were little I did not think I could handle getting them up, dressed, fed & out the door by MYSELF so I did not join. Silly me! It was when they were really little that I needed the support the most. I ended up joining just after they turned one. It was the BEST decision I could have made. These bi-weekly get togethers help me keep my sanity! To meet other mommies out there who have it just as rough as me helps me more than you could ever know! Today our MOPS group had their last event of the session, a Mother's Day Tea. VERY fitting since we mom's will be celebrated this Sunday. When I think back to where I was a year ago it's scary! I was SO disorganized and unfocused. I was living day by day. Sometimes it is better to take one day after the next because life itself is HARD! Now I'm dealing with the "terrible two's", PRAY for me!! I cannot wait for the day when things will get a little easier but have been told it never will! (= When I decided to join MOPS the thought of having to wake up EXTRA early to get the four of mine ready did not sound appealing at all. Sleep was a hot commodity & I was not willing to give it up so easily. I was a good planner but not the night before. I now had to prepare food, clothes, etc so we could get out of the house by 845am. (Sorry but 845am is EARLY when they usually sleep till 830am!) I decided I was going to do it. 2X a month I would deal with the lack of sleep but I'd do it, I needed to do it! I'm telling you that getting up that extra 2 hours was HARD & I am SO happy that I did! I even joined the hospitality committee. I knew that I could not get there EARLY to set up but I could help clean up. So that is what I did. If I did not make the effort I would not have met the WONDERFUL women that I did. I just love the ladies in my group, our group leader Elrika & LOVE LOVE LOVE the various speakers & the fun events planned for us! I would not have had those "AHA" moments that helped me helped me cope in the CRAZY life I lead. Experiences are not what makes you who you are, it is how you handle them that does. I have really seen how MOPS has helped our children grow over this past year. They LOVE going to church and being around all of their little friends. I too have fun being there, meeting new people & learning new things. To have other mommies around to lend an ear & give support is WONDERFUL! I really do enjoy myself! Thursdays has now become our day! The best part is that I can also feel my relationship with God getting stronger. The Lord does AMAZING things! I wish I would have pushed myself sooner to join! For any mom out there with little one's you really should check around for a MOPS program near you. IT is AMAZING & will change your life! It is enriching for you & especially your children! I cannot wait till August so I can start back up with...

MOPS...

WANT AD...

While I was at work the other day I mentioned to my friend Jackie how we are desperate to find some outside entertainment for the munchkins. They are driving me crazy & desperately need a controlled enviornment that they can enjoy but not be on top of one another. When you have multiples you tend to need a bigger space for them to play with many of the same things so they do not fight. Who am I kidding!? They would still fight but it is a good theory! LOL! I decided that a swingset would fit the bill & it needs to be BIG! Something to accomodate all of them for our back yard. She then asked if I ever checked Craigslist, Freecycle or Ebay. I tried once & got so lost that I gave up! I am SO computer illiterate! Jackie told me how she was asking her son to try & sell some of her Holiday Villages on Craigslist & Ebay. I thought maybe while he was selling her stuff he could check to see if anyone had a swingset up for grabs! Then she gave me the BEST idea ever! She said why not post it on our work website. They have a classified section like the newspapers have except it is just for employees to list things they are selling, want or need. I had never even thought about doing that. After giving me the idea, I decided why not!? MAYBE someone knew of someone that could help us. SO there I was posting my "want ad". This is how my ad read...

** WANTED ** LARGE swingset in good condition able to accomodate my 4 toddlers. Preferably has 3 swings. Will disassemble if needed. I left my name, district where I work, contact number & that was that.

I had to make sure I put in LARGE since our tribe will be abusing whatever we get. LOL! Never in my WILDEST dreams did I think I would actually find someone out there in BSO land that had what I was looking for. I literally put this ad on the website at 6am and by lunch time someone had already called me. He said he saw my ad & that he has a swingset in a box, brand new, never opened that he would not be needing & would give it to me for free if I was interested. INTERESTED!? Who was he kidding? I was like when can I pick it up! SO SO psyched! This was an answer to our prayers! I cannot wait till we have our "new" swingset set up in the back yard! And to think this all came from one..

WANT AD...

trenches...

I am DEEP into the trenches of the "terrible twos" and I do not know how to get out of them. The last week has been a rough one! I have cried practically every day. God love my hubby for taking those tear filled calls. What I have been experiencing my girlfriend Desiree says best, "Tantrum Rodeos". LOL! Some days thats exactly how I feel, like I fought a bull & the bull won! I'm SO EXHAUSTED! I feel like I cannot listen to another hysterical cry or anymore stomping feet! This one took this one's toy or that one has this one's cup. They sure know what buttons to push! They make my nights LONG and my days even LONGER! Each day I wake up telling myself that this day will be better than the last & I am ALWAYS wrong! I have all of these ideas on how to make our home MUCH more liveable. Like first off since we cannot have a basement( SO want a basement!) to corral them into then I want a "kid" room. A place for them to have completely. A place they can do whatever in. We do not have a home big enough for us all so we need to do something QUICK! It is terrible how they wreck the place. They think they have free reign over everything & just when I clean up one mess there goes another one. Other than putting EVERY item from inside our home out in our garage out of their reach, I do not know what I should do! The only time they listen is if I tell them I have a bug. Yes our kids LOVE bugs. I cannot tell you how many times I have lied about catching a bug for them to come to me. CRAZY huh!? They bang things on the windows, they try to unlock doors, pull things off the counters, grab things off the side of the fridge or better yet wave the broom towards the walls trying to knock down the pictures. They are WILD! I take them outside & they try to push out the screens or make holes in them. Then when they have something they should not have they will run faster as I chase them through the house like it is one BIG joke. I know I'll laugh about it when they are older but right now all I want to do is cry. I get SO upset & I feel that they are putting me to an early grave. My wish to become a mommy was not granted for me to get this upset. There are few people that I can call that can relate to my struggles. We had it SO easy when they were babies. They ate when they were suppose to, slept through the night since 4 months, rarely cried & most of all loved being in their stroller! Now the hell begins! Most people including my hubby say they are just kids. Yes I realize this BUT no woman should ever have to go through what I go through. My quad PLUS momma friend Joellen will call me from time to time because she has been there, done that. She senses my frustration and trys to make me see that this too will pass. I really do think that I have aged quite a bit these past few months. Some days I have no energy to red up anything. I hope when they grow up they will appreciate the sacrifices I have made. I hope they will remember the happy times instead of these CRAZY times! Does it ever get better? PLEASE help me get through this! If there is anyone out there that knows how I feel or experienced the same PLEASE give me pointers on what to do! With a LOT of prayer I hope to get out of these...

trenches...