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!...

You never know you might just win some moolah!...

All I can say is that if you have one of these...and your laundry pile looks something like this...Then you need to check THIS out!...

You never know you might just win some moolah!...

we bit the bullet?...

We finally bit the bullet and the tribe now has a new BIG kid bed at Grandma's house! It was such a BIG decision to make because what do you do when four kids share the same room? In an ideal situation we would have more bedroom space & split them up two & two but no we are not the fortunate! )= I mean four seperate beds can eat up a TON of space in a bedroom! Luckily we have some pretty awesome friends who always think of us & came to our rescue! Not only did we get everything we needed in a bed but it was FREE! When you are part of a party of seven anything FREE is MUCH appreciated! Their new bed is a twin over a full BUNK BED, yes I said BUNK BED! After tossing around many different bed ideas this just works for us! It kills SO many birds with one stone & the tribe absolutely LOVES it! I realize now that they needed this change more than I could ever imagine! [= I have to send out a HUGE Thank you to my good friend Renee who gave the bed to us! It's hard to believe that I used to lay down on this very same bunk bed when her girls were little! They are about to graduate high school! YIKES! I am SO aging myself there! ha! So Renee & family the tribe wants to say THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! & THANK YOU! You have helped our munchkins grow both physically & emotionally! [= It was SO cute watching them see the room being painted, the pieces being put together & then finally being able to check out their new bed! This process has taken us a LONG time to complete! I think I started this "project" about 3 months ago. I first painted the room this cool shade of green, then I deceided to paint chalkboard paint in there. I figured, let them be creative! That turned into a MESSY, MESSY idea! When you live in two homes it is hard to finish anything! Basically this bed was the last piece of the puzzle.Now to get them to NOT climb up to the top bunk! I know, I am CRAZY if I think they will not climb up to the TOP bunk! I mean the bed is practically calling out to them "Climb up here..." LOL! Let's just say any worries that I had about them having a bunk bed flew out the window when Daddy showed them how to climb up & down the bed. Yes, he actually showed them how to get to the TOP bunk! arghh! His theory being that you cannot expect them to stay away from it & they need to learn what to do! Hello!? They are three years old after all! The things you do when you are a parent of MANY! hahah! Anyhow, after about thirty minutes of exploring it they have become semi pros at it! I had forgotten that they have already had some BUNK BED experience from climbing up & down their friend Ashley's bunk bed.Even knowing that does not help this mama feel any better, I mean the thought of them falling off the top bunk FREAKS me out! Let's just say there will be MANY night time checks to make sure that NO ONE is caught up on that top bunk! After all is said & done should I be happy that...

we bit the bullet?...

I have another man in my bed...

Daddy is away & the mice will play! Isn't that the saying?! Nah.. It is just how I feel right about now! This tribe of ours has been behaving WILD lately! They seem to have even more energy than me! Scary! Yes they started preschool last week & Yes they love it! What I love even more is that I actually have time to pay closer attention to each of them. I boy have I noticed quite a few things about them now that they are not around me 24/7. Today is all about Brendan, funny how that is, he is my little man! I have noticed just how sensitive Brendan has become! Especially now that he is in school, on a different NEW schedule. His teacher even told me the other day that he was being "secretive"! How many secrets can a three year old have?! Hmm... Then she said he cried during lunch for his "momma", Oh Boy! Normal I know but this is at lunch not when I am dropping him off! I know he will be OK & just brush it off to he is going through one of his "things" & needs time to work it out. One of the biggest things he needs to work on is the whole going potty business. He has absolutely NO interest in it! I know boys are slower in this dept but he tends to get very anxious about it. They are working with him at school which I am SO happy about! But I wonder if there is more to this bathroom thing. I mean he has always been a constipated kid. We buy Miralax by the case! LOL! It was not until today that I ever really thought about prematurity & how being born at almost 33 weeks really affected them.You see Mr B has issues! He has the HARDEST time going #2. It's like he will hold it in. I know, TMI but I need to share this. Maybe there is someone out there that can relate. Here I am being ignorant thinking it was how he was made & he would eventually grow out of it. I mean there is only so much Miralax a kid can ingest before refusing to take no more! We are there! He refuses his sippy if we put some of it in there! So there I was making that dreaded call to his Pediatrician to get a name of a Pediatric Gastro Dr. To get my son some relief! It was when I made that call I realized there is more to this & we need some answers. He needs help & at just over three years old I am the only person he has to get it for him. Maybe after we see the specialist we will have more knowledge of what is going on down there. So as a treat I allowed him to sleep in Mommy's bed. Hoping that he would relax & feel better. It's a treat & hopefully not forming a bad habit. So now you know why...

I have another man in my bed...

the lone frosted flake in the sea of cheerios...

Each morning we have the dreaded discussion over what we are going to have for breakfast. I dread it SO much that sometimes I will even ask the night before just to prepare myself! Don't want them asking for something I do not have! It can be a catastrophe if that happens! (= On a "rushed" day it is most likely going to be cereal. Mainly because it is easy & they can eat it on the way. This makes Brendan VERY happy! He is our cereal eating machine. He LOVES LOVES LOVES his cereal! The girls like it too but when I say he likes it I mean he is obsessed with it! He could eat it every day if he could! He also knows his products. Don't try giving him frosted mini wheat's when he asked for Frosted Flakes. There will be hell to pay if you get those confused! LOL! God forbid we ran out of Frosted Flakes & we only have Cheerios! Oh Boy! I will then have to have this LONG discussion with him to prepare him for a "different" cereal. The even funnier thing is that he switches it up daily. It's like he has his own little routine that I am not privy to!He will ask for Cheerios for like 3 days straight & on the 4th day when I go to fill his cup up with Cheerios he wants Frosted Flakes! I must say that he keeps me on my toes! My hubby did not believe me in the beginning when I would tell him how he would ask me for cereal. He thought I was taking the easy way out, not making a HOT breakfast. If hubby had his way the tribe would get eggs every morning! I'm telling you like I told him he will actually use the words, "I want cereal Mommy", not I want Cheerios, but cereal! In my book if asking for cereal every morning gets him to eat a good breakfast I will oblige him! My little man knows what he wants & he is not afraid to be...

the lone frosted flake in a sea of cheerios...

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...

How would you decorate your kids room?...

Once the tribe turned three & started to climb out of their cribs we knew change was coming and it was coming fast! It would not be long till they'd need new beds & when you add new BIG KID beds you need a BIGGER room! Lucky for us we have enough space to do this at Grandma's house. We just pulled a switcheroo between the room the tribe currently has & the one we use. The transition period has been the worst because it has not come together yet! I dislike unfinished projects! sigh... But when it is all said & done their NEW room will be bigger & can hold more things! My goal is to move most of their stuff from around the house into their room. The transition has been quite the process especially when you are doing most of it yourself. I do most of the painting while they nap, some days are better than others! LOL! I thought I was pretty much done until I saw a can of chalkboard paint! It is this COOL paint that makes anything you paint into a chalkboard! You can even tint it! Oh the ideas I have come up with after making that purchase! The only catch is that I have to have a neutral "theme" since all four of them will be sharing the same room! SO I ask you...

How would you decorate your kids room?...