everything is in it's place...

Chaos is my worst enemy. I dislike it SO much! I thrive on having things organized & ever since we had these children my life has been SO unorganized. It seems that when there is no room in the house we put it in the garage. This was a bad idea from the get go but we did it & we are now paying the price. I would love to park a vehicle in the garage. Maybe one day... Slowly but surely I have made attempts to get our home/garage back to where it was. I must admit having a hubby that does not always put things back where they belong does not help! LOL! I have found a screw driver in the kitchen on MANY occasions. I do have an awesome tool box that my Dad bought MANY moons ago that would be a nice place for it! haha! Anyhow, you get my drift over what I mean by chaos.Last week I splurged & bought the coolest shelf system for our garage. It can hold 2000 lbs per shelf! Not that we have 2000 lbs but I like the fact that it can hold that much! It took 3 men to put it into the 'burb & little 'ol me to get it out. Hubby was at work & in order to get the kids into their car seats I had to remove the shelf on my own! There I was huffing & puffing trying to slide it out of the 'burb! I'm sure it was a sight seeing me pull the sucker out & then dropping it on the driveway. It was HEAVY! I was finally able to get my hubby to help me set the thing up on Sunday! I cannot tell you how happy I was to see the shelf up! I had visions of what I would put on it! CRAZY I know but like I said I thrive on organization! When I do not have a place to put something it just sits & therefore drives me crazy! It took me an entire nap time to get our garage halfway organized. But in the end I was SO happy to say that...

everything is in it's place...

our new chef...

We have received SO many cool hand me downs in the "make believe" toy dept. One of the best one's has been our play kitchen. {I SO wished I had one when I was little!} Not only did we get a Refrigerator & stove but it also came with a TON of kitchen supplies. Pots, pans, spatulas & all kinds of food! How cool is that!? In the beginning they did not "get" what a play kitchen was all about. The tribe loved to hide things inside the oven or better yet bang the pots & pans around! Oh how I LOVED that! LOL! The kitchen has sat at the end of the island in our kitchen for months. Once they realized they could use it for leverage they would use it to climb on more than anything! Yes, they would try to get whatever they could off the counter by climbing on their stove & then hoisting themselves up on the counter! It was CRAZY! It was not until recently that they actually got what the kitchen was for.Now when I am cooking dinner they want to "help". Especially Avery, she will sit on the counter next to me & help in any way she can! I usually give her the job of stirring one of our creations. However she likes licking the spoon the best! (= Just the other day Miss Avery got out some of their pots & pans & then told me that she was "cooking". TOO cute! Oh to know what she thought she was "cooking"! Ahh... Now those moments of banging pot's is few & far between! It is nice seeing them actually "use" them! YAY! I had to take a few pic's of her cooking me up something yummy! Here she is...

our new chef...

wordless wednesday...

wordless wednesday...

getting screwed...

Ever since we purchased our used Suburban with all it's fancy dancy gadgets we've had issues! I would have to say the most common issue is the tires. The darn check tire pressure light has lit up on several occasions. I cannot tell you how many times we have had the 'burb in for service only to be told there was nothing wrong. We eventually sought out a second opinion, seeing that the tires on the vehicle were bad for having so little mileage on them they determined there was indeed a problem & put four brand new tires on! WOO HOO! We were happy about that! No more service calls! YAY! So when the check tire pressure light came on the other day I started thinking are we having trouble again?! I mean we now have good tires on the 'burb. So I made my hubby fill the tires up with air just to make sure.Everything was good to go that is until we were on our way to MOPS the next morning. That darn light lit up AGAIN! ugh! Now I was getting worried. I checked the tires & they did not seem low but what do I know!? I decided I better call my hubby to see what he wants me to do. He told me to take it to a tire place & have them check it out. Just what I wanted to do with four little one's! It had to be done so off we went. I was so worried I was going to have a blow out or better yet a flat! When I finally pulled into Firestone I found the root of the problem, a screw! Yes, I must have ran over a screw! I hoped & prayed that it could be fixed so I did not have to buy yet another tire! The nice man at Firestone said he could fix it! YAY! The bad part was that they were backed up & it would take him over an hour & a half just to get to me. It was now lunch time & I was not prepared for this! I had no choice & decided to make the most of it. I loaded the tribe up in their quad stroller & took them on a little "adventure". The closest restaurant, Wendy's, was about ten blocks away so there I was, out in the heat, pushing them. I made sure they each had their sunglasses on & slathered on plenty of sun block so we did not get fried. I searched in my stash of clothes for some hats but could only find one. SO Avery ended up wanting the hat! It was SO darn hot out I wish I had a hat too! LOL! By the time we got to Wendy's I was DRENCHED! I think I needed at least an hour just to cool off! LOL! I could not get in the door!I was trying & trying but their stroller was just not going to fit with just me clearing one door at a time. They had two sets of doors with a VERY small area in between. I have taken them MANY places & entered many building but this doorway was SO friggin small! Luckily another patron came to my rescue & held the doors open for me! I do not know how any handicapped person could ever get a wheelchair in their let alone another mom with a stroller! CRAZY! We never eat at Wendy's so I had to look over the menu & see what they would eat. Chicken nuggets & fries should do it & maybe four mini frosty's. It was hot out & they were actually being really good so this would be their treat AFTER lunch. Well they did not like the food so they ended up with just the frosty! The worst part was that I totally forgot how thick a Frosty is because it never thawed out enough for them to drink them. They had such a hard time sucking through the straws! {Bad idea mommy} I think in Avery's frustration she ended up squeezing the cup & spilled it everywhere! Her shirt was now brown from the chocolate! I was NOT a happy camper! (= Our afternoon lunch turned into a fiasco. They almost got heat exhaustion from the LONG walk in the heat! I just wanted our "burb back so we could go home to our air conditioned house! It was definitely turning into a LONG day! And to think this "adventure" stemmed from just...





getting screwed...

I'm just a Momma on a "mission"...

Ever have one of those weeks? It seems that when it rains here it pours! This week started out pretty rough! The other morning we had a burglary, yes someone invaded MY privacy & rifled through the 'burb, aka the "quadmobile". They did this in front of our house, in our own driveway! Like there was much to be had anyways but what they took was stupid stuff! When it was all said & done they took the tribe's diaper & bib bag, my bag that I take to work & 2 wallets. The funny part, if you can find the humor, is that there really was NOTHING of value in the wallets for a thief to take!A $20 bill, could be considered life savings for this quadmomma, LOL, some family photos & a few OLD gift cards. And I mean OLD! They were from the time BEFORE children when I actually had time to shop! LOL! After scolding myself for letting this happen I then had a good scream on the inside. Just another event to cap off my already CRAZY life! Next I called the police to report it. Just in case other people in my area also had their vehicles broken into I wanted there to be a record of it! Needless to say my day started out BAD! ugh! This should set the stage for my "adventures" the rest of the day. First stop was to see my new GP, general practitioner in medical lingo. I FINALLY was going to see a Doctor other than my OB/GYN, YAY! Ever since I made my appointment my track record with their office has not been good. - Here's a brief re-cap of my first visit to their office - {I showed up 2 weeks earlier for what I thought was my appointment only to be told it was actually the day before! Get this they don't call to remind you! My life is a blur, I need reminding! Michael had taken off work & met me there. He was with them in their waiting room while I spoke to the receptionist. As I am standing there talking to her the tribe proceeds to stand up in their quad stroller & it tips over! Yep they all go flying to the floor! Do you think the receptionist got up out of her seat to see if my children were OK? Nope! After I make sure they did not suffer a concussion I then ask her if there is any paperwork I can fill out ahead of him, ie: insurance, etc. She then said no, you do it the day of the appt. I wanted to scream! Like I said it was a BAD week! I had to explain to her how it would just be me with them at my NEXT appt & would like to fill out the paperwork now so I did not have to concentrate on anything but them while I was waiting. After what I consider TOO much prodding she hands me one basic form. YAY! Any form is better than no form} So fast forward to the SAME day as the break in, I am at my SECOND visit for my FIRST appointment with my NEW Doctor. I told my hubby if things don't get better I may just seek out a different Doc. It's terrible but the office staff really can make or break my relationship with a Doctor. This time I gave her all of my insurance info & she tells me what my co pay is so I proceed to give her my credit card.Before I get my butt back to my seat she tells me quite loudly, "We don't take credit cards! We only take cash or checks and we do not bill!". HUH!? What kind of Doctor's office does not take a credit card, a debit card at that or bill their patients!? CRAZY! I felt like all the other patients were looking at me even more than they already do with my tribe! What makes matters even worse is that my own hubby has been to this office last week & even he did not tell me to bring cash! ugh! My day just seemed to get worse! I wanted to just pack the tribe up & leave! After shedding a few tears & having a chat with dear 'ol hubby they called me back to a room. It was not until I actually made it into the room did I break down & share with the nurse how bad I felt. There I was ALONE with 4 kiddos in a HUGE stroller that barely fit into the doorway & I had to tell her why my experiences there made me upset. Let's just see, I have 4 CRAZY children at home by myself! They constantly fight & better yet BITE one another! Avery bit Lindsey on the face while swimming in the pool! ugh! After much venting she turned to me & said if you need ANYTHING please skip the other lines & leave a message for me! I will help you! I cannot tell you how great that felt! Jokingly I told her that I hope the Doc makes up for the CRAZINESS of what I dealt with prior to her! My time with him was short but I felt better in the end. The VERY best part was that when I needed a RX for my eczema he got out this electronic contraption & sent the RX to the pharmacy of my choice! Yep, No paper RX that I had to take to the pharmacy & then wait to get filled. He sent it directly to the pharmacy of my choice electronically! WOO HOO! That made up for the other stuff I had to deal with in spades! Any little thing that can save me time is AWESOME! After leaving his office I decided to take the tribe on a few more "adventures". I know what was I thinking?! We stopped in to see their Perinatologist, the guy that I credit for getting them here healthy. He is AWESOME & I like to visit him so he can see how well they are doing. Their momma maybe not so good, LOL, but they are healthy, ACTIVE, two & a half year old children! After saying our "Hi's" & "Byes" we were off to Target, one of my favorite places, to get some storage stuff for our garage.Now most momma's know if you bring your kids inside Target or any store for that matter, you pretty much can NOT use your stroller & shop at the same time. The strollers are just NOT built to carry it all! I tried this ONCE & will never do it again! hahah! I was pushing their stroller & pulling a cart, ahh... Call me CRAZY! SO I now load all 4 into a cart & we shop! They were actually doing rather well that is until an employee comes up to me to say something about them in the cart. What can I say they do not have shopping carts big enough for my tribe! After this encounter I decided there really needs to be a voice for mommas like me. People need to know how hard it is to do this alone. Me & my missions! After loading up all of my purchases & getting the tribe into their car seats I decided to call Target to get their policy on helping momma's like me. For all you momma's out there, got your hands full? Target will let an employee walk around the store with you as you shop! Yep, they are moving up in the ranks like Publix has been doing already! I cannot tell you how happy I felt when that store manager told me their policy! Now if I can just get other businesses on board! I just want to make things easier on the momma's that come after me. And this is ANY momma with a butt load of kids no matter the age & no matter if they are multiples.

I'm just a Momma on a "mission"...

humility...

We were all in the pool like we are most week days. The tribe just LOVES to swim & I will do anything to tire them out! These days nothing seems to work! LOL! On this particular day we were all in the pool for our second swim, right after their nap, the girls all had their "swimmies" on & Brendan was hanging out on the ledge. This is his normal routine HOWEVER when he stands EXTRA still & has that look of concentration on his face I know he is ready for business! Luckily I brought one of their potties out with us just for one of these moments! We are in the thick of things re: potty training & I try to get them to use one whenever possible! I quickly helped Brendan out of his swim trunks & on to the potty. Right about then his sisters realized what exactly he was doing. They all gathered around like there was something AMAZING to see! Quite funny actually, all three of them looking down right past his "manhood" to see if he did the deed. It was in that moment I realized Brendan got a quick dose of...














humility...

masterpieces...

As I have previously posted the tribe is now into coloring! They seem to want to color just as much as they want to swim! ALL the time! I know they are 2 1/2 & they should have colored a LONG time ago but that's another story! This is a new phase & I am embracing it! Trust me it was a BIG transition for us/me! To have them be content & especially quiet! WOO HOO! PLUS I am just happy that they do NOT eat them like in the past! YAY! This is progress people! With progress comes change so realizing they know what to do with crayons meant they needed something to color in. So Grandma bought each of them their own coloring book, now we just needed to get them some crayons.


Remember, Dustyn is thirteen & has not colored for quite some time so we needed to bring crayons back into the house! (= While I was shopping at Costco, my second home, I found the coolest Art table built for a tribe! My original plan was to get it as a Christmas gift but after much thought realized they needed this now. So instead of waiting for Christmas we decided to have Christmas in August! LOL! There I was trying to put it together during one of their short naps. Needless to say they ended up "helping" me put it together.
It was fun trying to "referee" who got the first stool, then try to explain that mommy had to put them together & then each one of them would have their "own". They did not get it & their were MANY fights until the last stool was put together! Once I had it all put together I found some art pencils of mine & gave each of them ONE to color with. Camryn had an orange one, Brendan had a green one, Avery had a red one & Lindsey had a purple one. This was a BIG mistake! I had to do a double take when Avery walked up to me looking like she was in a battle! Note to self: Red colored pencil to the face looks just like blood!I then realized we needed those crayons, ASAP! I asked Daddy to buy some crayons on his way home to go with their new table. He found the COOLEST ones! They are made by Crayola, are toddler size & triangle shaped so they do NOT roll off the table! PLUS they are washable! WOO HOO! Mommy likes that! Once they had those crayons in their hands they put them to paper & created some beautiful creations. I think they colored in those coloring books for about two days! Then they were on to bigger & better things! Things here in the Fulton house seemed great! They were happy so Mommy was happy that was until all hell broke loose! They started taking those amazing crayons & colored on EACH & EVERY thing they set their sights on! It was BAD! Those that know Daddy personally know how he felt seeing the mess they created. Remember Daddy's alter ego is "Hazel" the cleaning freak! LOL! As soon as the tribe went down for their nap Daddy sent me to the store to get one of those "magic erasers" to clean up the mess! But of course before I left I had to take pictures for posterity! LOL! Pretty soon they will be putting those creative juices to good work & create us some...

masterpieces...

field trips...

The tribe had been getting on my very last nerve so I decided we needed a "field trip" and it needed to be a cheap one! So I wracked my brain to think of something fun a two year old would enjoy and then it came to me, Animals! They LOVE animals especially the ones that they could touch & actually pet. So there I was searching the phone book for a nearby pet store. I know, a parent of a toddler should already know where one of these are located. But remember we do not have a dog or a cat so I really don't frequent them! We invited Grandma to go along with us. She loves animals just does NOT want one to take home! LOL! After getting everyone loaded up in the 'burb we headed off to our local pet store, Pet Supermarket. It is SO close to Grandma's house I could walk there. OK I may not want to walk there but I could! We decided to go inside stroller less. This was going to be an "adventure", one where they would probably be getting into MANY things! But why not? Let them enjoy themselves! As soon as we walked through the door we caught everyone's eye. I cannot tell you how helpful every employee was! They brought out each & every "friendly" animal for the tribe to get an up close & personal view of. They were feeling on bunnies, parakeets & even fed some fish! They were in heaven! (= To our dismay they do not have any puppies, don't even sell them! Darn! )= Linz LOVES puppies! Overall the tribe had a blast! Their eyes were BIG in amazement when they got to hold a bunny! I was just glad that they were too young & over the moon in excitement to ask to take one home! Michael & I keep saying that eventually we will get a dog but I am no where near able to care for a dog PLUS the tribe! Maybe in a few years, but for now we will just have our...


field trips...

Look Mom I can swim!...

Earlier I took the tribe for their ritual morning swim. Boy do they LOVE the pool! They will gaze out of our sliding glass door & say that's MY pool. TOO cute! We have only had the pool about 3 years so our pool toys are not immense. One BIG expense was this HUGE umbrella that we keep near the shallow end of the pool to give us a break from the Florida heat. It was super expensive with the special umbrella holder but well worth it! Gives us just the right amount of shade & being that we live in Florida we need shade! (= I usually leave it open when we are home but Daddy closes it up after each swim. Needless to say it was closed today. There I was opening the sucker up when I found not one, not two, but THREE sticky frogs inside the umbrella. You know the kind that stick to you if you touched them! YUK YUK YUK! I can handle almost any type of amphibian but the one I REALLY REALLY loathe is the sticky frog! The fact that they are sticky does not help! DISGUSTING!Where we live there are PLENTY of them so it's a constant battle. Anyhow I put on a brave face while I shooed the frogs away & raised the umbrella. No sooner do I have the umbrella up when I realize there is a frog on top of my head! YES on top of my head! I was no longer brave, I proceeded to do the freaked out dance. YUK! I wanted it off my head & did not want to touch it to get it to move! After what seemed like an eternity it finally leaped off into the grass. I turned to Camryn & said "Did you see that frog on my head?!". She said "Yes". I then said "Next time you see that there is a frog on mommy's head please tell her!". LOL! You think the frog freaked them out? NO... They spent the next 10 minutes looking for more frogs! I bet not even seeing a snake would scare them! They love the outdoors & all the creatures that inhabit it! They are definitely their father's children! LOL! Once they finally gave up on that mission they set their sights on the pool & their new found talent... swimming!It was CRAZY! They were leaping off the ledge into the pool like they have been doing it forever! {It has only been 2 days! LOL!} They were kicking their feet & even floating on their backs! I was VERY proud of my three little swimmers! Brendan on the other hand still does not want that freedom. He was much happier if I held him or just standing on the steps. We still did our Mommy "swim" lessons so he can keep up the practice. I think he likes it when he is held because floating sort of freaks him out. I am OK with that. One day he will be a WILD man & we won't be able to control him! (= I did not want them to be out in the sun too long so I made them get out. They did NOT want to leave. After about 4 times of me telling them they had to get out they finally listened. Then it was all about the towels. You see they each have their "favorite" or the one they think they should be using & will cause a scene if someone else uses it! I tell you I have created little monsters! hehee! It's just that they have a routine & do not want to veer far from it. I just tell myself that they like "structure". LOL! Well, Today I only brought out two BIG towels for the five of us. Needless to say that did not go over well. They kept telling me that they needed their towel. How exactly do you explain to a two year old that you are going to share? hmm...I ended up distracting them by letting them play on our back porch. It is covered, has a slide/climber & many other toys on it. It may be hot but at least we'd be under cover! It was a win win situation. At least that is what I thought. Before I knew it they got into some mischief with a potted plant & had dirt EVERYWHERE! I now had to clean them up & sweep the porch! The work never ends! LOL! I decided a hose would be the quickest way. After hosing them down I thought why not let them go back in the pool for a quick dip. No sooner did I open up the pool fence & tell them they could go "swimming" did Lindsey taking a running leap into the shallow end of our pool. This jump was MINUS her "swimmies" and she CANNOT swim! There I was jumping in after her. However just as I got to Linz Aave also jumped in. CRAZY children! I pulled the both of them right up & luckily neither one of them sucked in any water. Can they possibly be holding their mouth when they go under water now? It's scary moments like this that keep me on my toes. Their "swimmies" are now going to be on before the pool fence is even opened! It was just like what Grandma said would happen, she was telling me...

Look Mom I can swim!...

four little swimmers...

I broke down & bought the tribe some "swimmies", aka "floaties". I just could not take one more day of them wanting to swim & not being able to do it. Plus it is rough when they each want mommy to take them out into the pool at the SAME time! LOL! I was told there were some cute ones at of all places our local Dollar Tree. In fact they had a TON of pool stuff! Who would have known?! We are now the proud owners of a pair of "swimmies" in the "Finding Nemo", "Cars" & two with the "Little Mermaid" theme. They were SO happy that they each were going to have their own pair!Once we got home I proceeded to get each of them suited up, slathered on the sun block & put their NEW "swimmies" on. They were READY! At least I thought they were! Avery, our best "swimmer" wanted NO part of them! Camryn & Linz were the only ones willing to wear them! It was quite the experience the very first time they had them on those little arms of theirs. They walked around like it was a piece of jewelry or "bling". TOO funny! Apparently they had NO idea what they were for because the excitement was short lived. Once I showed them how they work they screamed bloody murder like someone was about to kill them! This was NOT the reaction I was looking for! LOL! They had more fun checking out the frog that came to visit! See it!?

I'm telling you that if any of our neighbors were home during this adventure I think they would have called the police thinking something awful had happened. But no it was just the tribe having a MAJOR freak out! It was not until the 2nd time of me wrestling them on them did Camryn realize she would be ok. Linz still wanted no part of being out in the pool on her own. Camryn on the other hand slowly stepped off the last step & floated off into the shallow end of our pool. What a moment to witness! It was AMAZING! I was SO excited for her! She loved it SO much that I actually had to bribe her to get her out! There I was saying I would paint her finger nails just so she would get out of the pool! FYI, Bribery works like a charm! LOL! We had one day with them in our pool then it was off to Grandma's! Hopefully they will like to use them there! Ever since summer arrived we try to take them for a "swim" at least TWICE a day. Even with SPF 70 sun block on they are getting quite the tan! (= Daddy & Grandma took them swimming the entire weekend! The best part was that Daddy was able to get "swimmies" on ALL of the girls. GO DADDY! After some coaxing he was able to get them used to them & from what I am told they now LOVE them! YAY! Our Avery thought she could swim BEFORE "swimmies" just imagine what she thinks now! Funny how a week makes all the difference! (=My how a week changes the whole dynamic! Lindsey ended up showing me a thing or two once we were back in our pool! There she was jumping off the rock into the pool. It was like a flying leap! CRAZY! She also looked adorable in her hand me down "Little Mermaid" swimsuit with her matching "swimmies". Besides NOT being afraid of jumping into the pool she can now swim all over the pool! My mom said we better watch out because now that she knows she can swim WITH the "swimmies" she will probably think she can swim without them! UH OH! Just ANOTHER thing I have to worry about! Avery now does practically everything Lindsey does. I think she saw how easy it was for Lindsey to get out there & use those "swimmies" that she relented and started using them too! Funny how that is with identical "twins". They are SO similar yet different in many ways! Once she realized she was safe she broke free & became a WILD woman! She leaps off the edge into the pool like she has been doing it her entire life! I am SO happy to see them really appreciating our pool! It was once suppose to be my sanctuary & now it is theirs! Before I know it she will be actually swimming! For now, just seeing her "swim" all over the pool, frontwards, backwards, jumping, floating is such a treat!Brendan still wants no part of "swimming". The "swimmies" are definitely NOT his friend! LOL! He is by far our most cautious child. Don't see me complaining since it's one less kid to worry about while we are in the pool. PLUS It gives me more time to snuggle on him when I take him around the pool! For now if he is not in my arms he is just a bystander that remains in the "safe zone" of the steps. One day he will see what all the fuss is about & start exploring the pool like his sisters. I must say that they have become mean little "swimmers" in just a few short days! Pretty soon the "swimmies" will come off & we will have not just have one swimmer but...

four little swimmers...

exactly what crayons are for....

We took the tribe out to The Olive Garden recently. It is our usual set up, The kids are spaced out with Mommy & Daddy seated between them. EACH & EVERY restaurant wants to give them crayons with the kid menu BUT they never seem to know "the rules". That is using them to make a creation on the paper & NOT eating them! They think crayons are an appetizer! LOL!Well I was just amazed at how different they behaved this time. There they were actually coloring! I had to capture the moment & snapped a few pic's! Made me SO proud! I made Michael take a gander at how well they were sitting there coloring away! We did have a few moments where Avery wanted to EAT her menu & tempted herself with one crayon but that was short lived! Overall it was a great evening.Maybe this is the start of something! Should I go out & buy them a ton of art stuff? Crayons? Markers? No, I think I will just wait & see. For now I will just settle for what we already have at home. Now if they could just learn their colors! WOO HOO I think I'd be shedding a tear! I guess I am just amazed that they now know...

exactly what crayons are for...