rid the neighborhood of their candy addictions...

We decided this year we would dress the tribe up as our own "medical team". Brendan was a Doctor {We told him he could be a neonatologist since he is a NICU brat!}, Camryn was a surgeon {scrubs & all} & the "twins" were patients. St Mary's was kind enough to lend us some hospital gowns so we had the full effect. They looked ADORABLE! We made it to THREE Halloween parties in these costumes & each time they looked even cuter! I must say after the first party they did not need a tutorial on what to do come Halloween night! Candy has become their new favorite five letter word. They talk about it ALL the time! With all this talk you would think that we give them candy all the time. Well that is partly true, it's not us, but their GRANDMA! Yes I have one of those mothers that keeps candy dishes ALL over her house! I think the tribe stumbled upon her stash one day & the rest was history!She has jelly beans, butterscotch & most of all various forms of C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E everywhere! Their sweet tooth has to come from their Dad because my only vice is DARK chocolate & he loves ALL sweets! Give me DARK chocolate & I'm happy! (= Now that the tribe has found out Grandma keeps a HUGE stash they ask her for it ALL the time! We constantly hear "Candy?", "Candy?". Remember they like repeating things! arghh! Sad thing is that she gives it to them! And before anyone says a word, Yes we brush their teeth, floss too! This is one of those instances where Grandma's can get away with about anything! She says she cannot deny them a piece when she herself is having one. What a line! Oh am I in trouble! (= Tonight of all nights, Halloween, candy played a HUGE role with us. The tribe now knows ALL about "trick or treating"!They know if they carry their pumpkins around & say those three words they will get the motherload! Little do they know they will NOT be eating it anytime soon! {Daddy & Grandma will! LOL!} In order to get the kids dressed & out the door all we had to do was ask them if they wanted to get "CANDY". There they were lined up at the door with their shoes on waiting for us! CRAZY! Then when we were sitting down for dinner & they about refused to eat another bite so all we had to say was if they wanted to get more candy they needed to eat their food & their mouths opened & food was consumed. It truly was amazing! It was the BEST bribe! There we were "Trick or Treating" at my cousin Lori's house. It has become sort of a tradition that we hope to continue. She lives in a safe neighborhood where we do not have to worry about people or cars. I have to add that the tribe did NOT get a nap today.They were champs! Remember they had "CANDY" in their minds so as long as they kept their eyes on the prize {candy} they were good! haha! It truly was the BEST time had by all! This was the first year that we actually went to a ton of houses! It was a LOT of walking but the tribe persevered! One funny moment was when Brendan plopped himself down in the middle of the sidewalk to consume some of his treasures! TOO funny! Candy, it does a body good! haha! I must say hearing "Trick or Treat" out of their mouths made me almost want to cry! I cannot believe how grown up they are getting! Time sure does fly by! Everyone loved their costumes & I felt like we did our part in trying to...

rid the neighborhood of their candy addictions...

What exactly is a STAY AT HOME Mommy?...

As many of you know I work part time to keep my sanity in this CRAZY life I lead. Not only just it help my sanity but it helps create funds to pay for the expense of having soon to be three year old quadruplets as well as a soon to be fourteen old son. They could eat us out of house & home if we let them! LOL! Michael working FULL time & me working FULL time at home PLUS working PART time outside the home does not give us much "couple" time but we persevere! I try to stay active & get the tribe involved in MANY activities. Sometimes it is overwhelming but that's when I take a step back & choose my next activity wisely. I never thought about my "outside" career until the other day. Let's fast forward to a quick conversation I had with another mommy recently. She was telling me upcoming events for Halloween & then told me about a play group she attends with her child. Don't know why that came up but it did. I mentioned how I would LOVE to get the info so when I am in town I could maybe meet up with them. That is when those words I never thought I would hear came out of her mouth. "It's for stay at home moms". What exactly is a "Stay at home Mom" these days? In today's society & certainly with the economic struggles we all are having I cannot see how anyone makes it on just one income alone. I was rather hurt that she said that to me because I interpreted it as mom's that work outside the home are less important to those women. I feel that I can contribute just as much to conversation as those that stay home ALL the time. The fact that I work PART TIME excludes me from that group?!?. It's like segregation is back! Hello people it's almost 2010! We all need to help one another out & accept EVERYONE! Needless to say If asked I would not join that group if my life depended on it. Sad that one comment can dissuade me SO much. I just do not think if I ran a play group I would exclude people just because they chose to help out their family by working OUTSIDE the home. So I ask you...

What exactly is a STAY AT HOME Mommy?...

Grandma the snake slayer...

We had an "incident" the other day & it all started with our normal morning ritual. You see we are what you would call "newspaper people". We HAVE to read the paper each morning to feel that we know what is going on in the world. This practice has gone on for ages & I must say that my parents have rubbed off on me because I now read the same exact sections of the paper that they do or did. One of the first sections we read is the Local section to see what happened in and around our city & especially to see who died. Yep, we read the obituaries! Morbid I know but when you have lived in one place as long as my parents have you are bound to know someone. Never saw anyone my age UNTIL I saw the name of a former classmate listed. He was ONLY 22 years old! CRAZY! Anyhow this was a long standing ritual & there Grandma was beginning her day as she always did, getting the newspaper. There she was walking toward the yard when she kicked what she thought was one of the tribes toys. Don't know exactly what toy she "thought" would be laying like a rope in the middle of the walkway but this was HER story. She tells the tale that she kicked the "toy" & went on to pick up the paper. She NEVER looked at what she kicked because it was TOO dark. You know how Grandma's wake up BEFORE the crack of dawn! LOL! She walked back inside, continued her daily ritual, sipped on her cup of BLACK coffee & read the news of the day. It was not until I went out several hours later to get the mail did we realize what "toy" she kicked! There laying in the middle of my path to the mailbox was a VERY much DEAD snake apparently killed by major blunt force trauma! ha! Grandma has since said if she would have seen that it was a snake there would be no story to tell because instead of kicking it she would have ran FAR FAR away! She is completely afraid of all slithery creatures! Little does she know that after that one small feat she is now known as...

Grandma the snake slayer...

pee pee in your diaper...

I just HAD to share this since it was definitely a first & I am sure not be the last time this will happen! As many of you know I have been trying like the dickens to get these kids potty trained. There are days that they do REALLY REALLY good & then there are days where I feel like a complete failure! I know, they will eventually get the concept & I will look back at this stage like it was nothing! But each time I run out of diapers I secretly wish I will not have to buy any more. Oh the secret wishes we keep, LOL! Well the other day we; Grandma, the tribe & I, went shopping. We went to one of the COOL malls near Grandma's house. Ok the only thing cool about it is the types of stores we get to window shop at! There I was pushing their BIG, monstrosity of a stroller when Cam looks up at me & says "Pee pee on the potty". I can honestly tell you that in that moment I did NOT want to hear those words! She said this like she pee's on the potty ALL the time & that is NOT the case whatsoever! Like couldn't she tell me she had to pee when we were at home & not out in a public place! I was a BAD mommy & uttered the following, "No you don't" & then proceeded to say...

pee pee in your diaper...

quad talk...

"Hold you...", This has been a favorite saying of the tribe for quite some time. I remember how my now six year old niece would say the same exact thing when she was little. At first it was SO cute to hear them express how they wanted you to hold them. Awhhh! It is not "Hold ME" it is "Hold YOU", TOO cute! They say this day in & day out. Having four toddlers makes it even tougher. They usually all want Mommy to "Hold you...". VERY hard to hold four kids at one time! SO you can see how it gets old pretty quick! Then there's the words that don't make any sense! That's when I am at a total loss! Miss Linz is the best at this. She will go on jibber jabbering FOREVER! She tells stories in her own lingo expecting me to understand. I just say "Really?" and she will usually say "Yes". Ha Ha little does she know her momma just pulled one over on her! When they are trying to tell me something they will just repeat it over & over until I "get" what they said. It's like a record that skips OVER & OVER & OVER! You want to grab that needle & stop it from skipping! hahah! I love our children more than life itself but just do not appreciate them when they repeat stuff ALL the time. Like last week when Dustyn got his haircut. Mr B, our best speaker, went around saying, "Dustyn... haircut... Dustyn... haircut...". We were like we know that he got a haircut Mr B! But he kept saying it! (= Oh was I gonna pull what hair I have left OUT! I think Dustyn was going to also! LOL! {BTW, D needed that haircut BAD!} Another part of hearing their "cute" statements of love & affection is how my hubby never "gets" what they say! He will repeat back something other than what they just said until I yell from the other room what they have been trying to tell him! CRAZY! Is this because I am around them all the time that I know their lingo? hmm... Trust me there are quite a few occasions that I actually make them repeat themselves SEVERAL times just so I can "get" what they are saying! I must admit there are still times that I do not "get" it & I just let them rattle on. I nod my head in acceptance in the hope I did not just agree to give them candy or something else they should not have! I figure at least I tried! LOL! I think my hubby just chooses not to "understand"...

quad talk...

rockin' the hawk...

We, actually I, recently decided Brendan needed a new 'do. If you are a friend of mine on Facebook you have seen the pic's of his new 'do. If not here are a few pic's of his NEW "Mo Hawk". I never really thought about giving him one until after his last cut when my good friend Des commented about how she gives her son Christoffer one over the summer. Her son & Brendan are a few months apart & are both complete "toe heads"! So I decided this last trip to the barber he would get one! Daddy actually took him to get it done. This was a FIRST because usually Uncle Bob or I take him. This is how it went down at the barber shop per Michael. When it was Mr B's turn in the chair the barber asked him how he would like his hair cut, you know, a "princeton" or 3 on top & a 2 on the sides, etc... When Michael told her a "Mo Hawk" I think she thought he was joking around because she said "No, Really how do you want it?". He says it again "A Mo Hawk". She looked at him and said "Are you sure?". As you should know by now he was sure! LOL! I was excited to see how cute he would look! Heck I would much rather see him in a mo hawk at 2 years old than 14! Apparently doing a Mo Hawk is harder than I thought. You have to be VERY precise & cut the line perfect. No wonder she wanted to make sure he was serious! LOL! Needless to say we have received mixed reviews over his new 'do. Most people LOVE it & a few just do not get it. It's just hair people! It will grow back I promise! (= What can I say we just love how cute he looks! He is...

rockin' the hawk...

canned pumpkin people!...

Last night we met up with quite a few friends from our multiples group at the Pumpkin Patch. I got the tribe all decked out in their Halloween garb. They looked SO darn cute! I just LOVE Halloween! The turn out from our multiples group was AWESOME! Wait till you see our group shot! There had to be over a dozen families of multiples there! Can you imagine how many kids that is!? AMAZING! A local church has this pumpkin patch every year & this was our first visit. Hard to believe but true! They had pumpkins of all sizes & colors. I was in AWE! I had never seen so many before in one place! This was such a great photo op that our good friend April, also a multiple mum, took photos of us all. She is such a talented photographer in fact she has her own business, CoConut CirCle Photography. They have photographed the tribe on a few occasions in fact she will be taking our Christmas pics this year! SO excited!
There we were surrounded in a sea of orange, with pumpkins EVERYWHERE! The tribe did not know which one to grab first! There were big ones & little ones, bumpy ones & smooth ones but the ones that drew most of my attention were the white ones! CRAZY! Who knew that there could be white pumpkins! WOW! This was an EXTRA special evening because not only were we going to the Pumpkin Patch with our friends but we were also celebrating Daddy's Birthday! Yes our Daddy turned another year older yesterday! He was such a good sport spending his evening trekking through pumpkins with all of us! You'd never know he was 43 years young! I made sure to get a picture of him with his tribe! They just LOVE their leader! (=We wanted to go to the pumpkin patch more to see our friends & be a part of this annual event then to pick pumpkins. Sounds strange I know to go to a pumpkin patch & not get any pumpkins. But remember we are native Floridians & I really think this activity is more of a northern thing. My parents never took us to a "Pumpkin Patch" when I was little. Did they even have one back then? LOL! I must say that I do love the look of pumpkins and a carved one at that but have no plans on carving one up myself! My kind of "carved" pumpkin is an artificial & reusable one! Ha! The thought of having to scoop out all of the pumpkins innards with your bare hands, YUCK! Just never wanted any part of that! LOL! I guess you can say we are the...

canned pumpkin people!

Ready... Set... JUMP!

I can now say that the tribe LOVES to "swim"! No they do not swim on their own yet but they are pretty darn close! The girls have become pro's at jumping in the pool from the spa with their "swimmies" on. It seems the higher they are the better! LOL! In fact there have been a few occasions that they jumped in without them! SCARY but true! It was Brendan that was our hold out. He did NOT want any part of the pool. Just mentioning the pool or swimming would upset him so! He'd say "No swimmies" in between his sobs, yes he would cry at the thought of having to go swim! CRAZY huh? He really would fight us tooth & nail that is until Daddy "broke" him. {Those were his words!} One day Daddy just put his "swimmies" on him, made him go into the pool like his sisters have been doing for eons when low & behold he started swimming! Now you cannot get the darn kid out of the pool! He swims ALL over the place! He LOVES it! He will even go over to the ledge on the side of our pool, stand up and say...

Ready... Set... JUMP!

re thinking the "time out" chair...

I have been trying "new" ideas lately. OK they are not new exactly new ideas, just new to me. (= People always ask me how I get our children to "behave" and I really do not know how to answer them. I tend to give this answer much thought! What do I do that makes people want my opinion on handling childrens behavior?! The one thing I catch myself telling people is that I expect a LOT from these children of ours. I really have had HIGH expectations of them ever since they have been little. I think that since it has always been them & me during the day I tend to talk to them as I would talk to other adults. My hubby constantly tells me "They are just kids..." but I do not think they should get away with certain behaviors just because they are kids. Is this the right thing to do? I do not know. I tend to think it works for me. Now I am not saying they are angels because they are not! I am just VERY consistant & like I said expect a LOT from them! I say what I mean & mean what I say! In the end they do listen for the most part. I mean they are two and a half so being WILD is to be expected! LOL! Over the past few months I started reading a few parenting books to see if I could improve my parenting style. I mean you can never be too old to learn a few new tricks! LOL! Well one thing I learned in particular was the use of the "time out" chair. We invested in one of these! I found a VERY cute hand carved one at our local HomeGoods store. {LOVE that place!} I thought when all else fails we will use the "time out" chair. Everyone seems to use this method with their kids but does it really work? In one book, God forbid me I cannot remember the name, they say that "Time Out" should not be a form of punishment, it should be a place to reflect. Hmm... Don't penalize them give them their space to "re group". SO here I am having the tribe go to the "Time Out" chair & think about why they behaved the way they did. This is a VERY hard practice to do when you are programmed a different way! Each time they act out I tell them to go to their chair which I placed in the hallway away from everyone. It gives them some quiet time to think about what made them do something "ugly". I should say that the others tend to gather around the "bad one" in moral support to give them company! Very cute to watch! It took awhile to get them to actually learn the concept of leaving the child that was being "ugly" there ALONE. SO far so good. Now they actually tell each other when they should go take a seat! ha! I realize this is just the beginning but I'm really starting to enjoy this...

re-thinking the "time out" chair...

standing room only...

These children of ours LOVE watching me change their diapers! When anyone even mentions that they have a poopie they will all get up from whatever they are doing, run ahead of me & then gather in their room. The first one in is usually the one with the poopie. They climb up onto the changing table & get ready for me to change their dirty deed. The funny part is that they don't fight over being FIRST it is 2nd place that they all want! They want to be the one to stand on the diaper pail placed strategically at the end of the changing table that gives them their "perfect" view. Little did I know that where I placed their diaper pail would create such drama! The new configuration is due to them using their changing table as a means to get to the other side of the room during nap time. SO mommy put the darn thing in the middle of the room to curb that! It amazes me how amazed they are to check out their own poop! I cannot tell you how many times they say "See it", CRAZY! Nothing like checking out one of the grossest functions your body creates! When Dr Oz said you should check out your poop I do not think he meant this! hahah! Oh the things that amaze these children of ours! They can make even a normal activity exciting! And to think this all started by fighting over...

standing room only...

puddle jumpers...

Check out our newest purchase! I LOVE LOVE LOVE these rubber boots! TOO cute! Got them on sale which makes them even better! I almost wish I had a pair! Can't wait to see them jumping in EVERY puddle! Our next purchase will be their rain slickers! If you know of a GREAT deal please pass it along!

puddle jumpers....