CHRISTmas 2011...

CHRISTmas 2011...

MIA in 2011...

SO much has happened in the Fulton house over the last 4 months or so. The biggest being that we have not had a computer! I know what is a momma to do without a computer right?! I think it bothered me more that everyone else since I had to use my phone to do pretty much everything. sigh... I know that is not an excuse to not blog but it is what it is. So before Momma posted a 2011 CHRISTmas pic she thought she should at least explain where we've been. The tribe started PK4 in October at a new school & in a new town. Since Grandma fell & broke her leg on Father's Day we have basically uprooted our lives to take care of her. It's been an adjustment but we would not have it any other way! The tribe LOVES their new school. Just when we were sort of getting used to a schedule or what one would look like Momma's work changed. She had to go back FULL time a week after they started school. If we did not adjust before we did after that. Arranging people to take them to & from school was CrAzY! Let's just say it truly does take a village to raise a tribe!! We thank all that make that possible! In November we traveled back up to GA to attend their cousin Mikes wedding. Not only did we get to see Mike & April get married but the tribe participated in the wedding! VERY cool! For the first time in what I think was forever we had Thanksgiving away from home & stayed up in GA to celebrate with the GA Mechtly's. It was a real "adventure" not just for us but for them too! These are just a few of the reasons we were...

MIA in 2011...

a kiss on the head before bed...

I'm sure having three sisters can be quite challenging for anyone & probably even more so when you are the lone brother! Our boy Brendan sure does put up with a lot in that dept. but in the end he has such love for the little ladies, aka sisters, in his life. He has such a sweet side to him that I get to witness it almost every night. You see each night just before bed, before actually getting under the covers himself he walks around their bed & gives each one of his sisters a kiss. He does have "rules" because he makes sure they are in bed when he does it, maybe so they cannot swat the kiss away. LOL! On occasion I have seen him chase them down & make them lay down just so he can give them...

a kiss on the head before bed...

way down yonder on the Chattahoochee...

This was a SUPER fun time of our 10 day adventure. We took an hour or so ride from Atlanta N to the cool German town of Helen, GA. It is SO quaint & VERY German! One of the best attractions there tubing down the Chattahoochee River.

 
I definitely think tubing in July is WAY under rated! The river may have been a little low but it was SO much fun! There was a bunch of us so each child had a "chaperone" which they LOVED!  

 

Good think Uncle Jim brought along his river sticks aka old golf club poles, to help steer us through the low parts of the river. ** NOTE ** if they sell sticks where you go tubing BUY THEM! They truly come in handy! ** I think the entire ride took us about 2 1/2 hours give or take. We even enjoyed a rainstorm in the middle which really helped cool us off because it was HOT out!! Here's some of the photos I took that day!

They had theses decorated trees. One named the tree of "lost soles"! I'm sure it was given it's name for every lost shoe they found floating down the river! {There was a TON!} LOL! 

And they had a tree decorated with of all things GUM! It was disgusting yet interesting all the same! Being able to get yourself over to this tree just to stick your ABC gum has to be a feat within itself. Take a look at that creation! =] I wonder how old the oldest piece of gum there actually is. YUCK!

Somehow we all lost each other that day so once I got to the end, second behind the hubby, I took pic's of everyone as they had it to the "finish line"! It was funny to see my scrawny children standing up on their tubes! Good thing the tubes had bottoms in them! =]

 

 

I will definitely make another trip up to Helen to go tubing...



way down yonder on the Chattahoochee...

Lake Toxaway adventure 2011...

We are SO lucky to have such WONDERFUL relatives that allowed us to invade their home over the summer. Invading is just what a tribe like ours does! My cousin Lori has a second home in Lake Toxaway, a beautiful place in the NC mountains. It's on a lake, so beautiful & most of all PEACEFUL! That is when the tribe behaved & didn't argue! LOL! I'm SO very blessed to get to spend any time with Lori away from our "normal" lives. It just meant a lot to get to visit in the first place! It truly was just what the Doctor ordered, away from the "rat race" & some peace & quiet! With all the drama that we have been dealing with back in FL this was pure Heaven! She took us out tubing on the lake, hiking in the woods & even took in a little shopping in downtown Brevard. LOVE LOVE LOVE that town! The tribe thoroughly enjoyed themselves as did our "helper" Caitlynn. This was her first time in NC. Her first time tubing on a lake, first time hiking to see a waterfall, heck it was just a week full of "firsts" for her! SO happy to be able to be there for that!

 

and that was our...

Lake Toxaway adventure 2011...

in their Sunday best...

This trip we visited Uncle Jim & Aunt Haidee's church for Sunday services. It was different & the tribe, ok Lindsey, did not want me to leave her. SO sad!! But I knew no matter how much she cried she/they would be fine! The church reminded me a lot of something out of Disney World, so much wood molding & white banisters! Such a beautiful church! Sadly when we decided to take their picture it was AFTER giving them a lollipop! LOL! Here they are...

in their Sunday best...

Stone Mountain....

One of our first stops on this "adventure" of ours was in Atlanta, GA. We have family there so visiting some of the attractions there made perfect sense! Lucky for us my brother, their Uncle Jim, took off from work on what I think was one of thee HOTTEST days of July to hit the trails of Stone Mountain. If you have never heard of or been there you really need to go. It is said that it's the largest piece of exposed granite in the world. The most interesting part is that we only get to see 1/3 of the "mountain" because the other 2/3 of it is underground! They say it continues almost 10 miles below! AMAZING!!

They have a little theme park going on there, most of which were for children older than the tribe however I would definitely go back one day for them to enjoy. Besides the theme park there are camp sites, a train, a sky ride to to the" top of the rock", a night time laser show that makes the carving come to life & much much more. This is one of my most favorite photos from our trip! & I have to say that I still think Uncle Jim sort of looks like a park ranger! Must be the hat! hahah!

** One unadvertised tidbit of info for those wishing to lug their family there you do NOT have to buy admission to the theme park if you just want to see "Stone Mountain" **. Yep the "mountain" is FREE, you do however have to pay for parking but that is a HUGE savings when all you want to do is see God's creation! You can hike to the top for FREE or pay to ride the sky way. Pretty much everything extra costs $ so if you live in the Atlanta area it just might pay to get a seasonal pass. That way you can visit & do whatever you want whenever you want!

So this mama of quads highly recommends that while in Atlanta you make sure you stop and visit...

Stone Mountain...

our special guest...

When it came time for us to go on "Road Trip 2011" I was trying to figure out if I should bring along a "special guest" or do it all by my lonesome. After mentioning this to a friend at work she mentioned that her ten year old daughter would love to come along. I really don't think she knew what she was truly in for, being in a car for over 9 hours with 4 four year old's and all. Anyhow before we could blink Miss Caitlynn joined us on our "adventure". She was a great help in trying to break up verbal disagreements amongst the tribe. They LOVE to argue! I will say that Miss Caitlynn was NOT a morning person so we did not see her till way after 10 am most mornings. Just having another body there was nice. Even though I've known her for years I really found out a lot about her on this trip, like how she has never driven out of the state of Florida before. She flew to NJ, PA & TX by plane but never left FL by car. Hmm... Isn't it usually the other way around?! We celebrated a lot of "firsts" with her on our "Road Trip". She even lost a tooth! I must say that we had fun & were glad that Miss Caitlynn was there to experience it with us! She was truly...

our special guest...

Just where in the world are the FOUR little FULTON's?!...

It's adventure time! In just under an hour myself, the tribe & our special guest will be taking off on an adventure. Nothing like hitting the pavement in double digit weather. Now just what will we do? Where will we go? Who will we see? That is the 1000 dollar question. I am going to attempt to take the 6 of us on this adventure for 1,000 dollars or less. If you want to follow our journey just check in here to see exactly how I manage it. Trust me I think this is going to be more of an "adventure" for me than them! So...


Just where in the world are the FOUR little FULTON's?!...

Daddy Pete with his gloves on...

I just had to share a "funny" that Avery told me the other day. With all the drama that has been going on around here it was nice to have something funny to smile about.

First off I need to share who Daddy Pete is, he's the father of two of our good friends who we now get to call "friend" & the tribe call "Daddy Pete". We have socialized with their family & the tribe LOVE him. He works for the Fire Dept. where we live & coincidentally has been on duty both times I have called 911 from home. Working for a police/fire dept. I rarely call 911 unless it is an emergency & recently we have had a few of those.

We called a few months back when Lindsey took a face plant into the coffee table & needed stitches & then for the most recent "event". You see my 81 year old mother with 2 artificial knees slipped on the wet patio & broke her leg. Yes you read this correctly, she broke her leg! Her femur to be exact! Our patio is a sore subject for me, it has tile floor & when wet it becomes a hazardous area! Needless to say Mom slipped on the wet part & down she went. We knew something major happened to her leg but did not know exactly until we had X-Rays in the ER. Both times Daddy Pete was on duty & the paramedic that came when we called. All of the kids were very attentive to what all was happening to Grandma but Avery took it especially hard. She had the look of concern on her face, wanted to make sure she was OK & was even weary about seeing her in the hospital with an IV & oxygen. She kept saying Grandma is your leg better?

So all of that brings me to her conversation with me the other day. As we were leaving the hospital Avery tells me I don't want Daddy Pete to come over anymore wearing gloves. At first I was confused, she LOVES Daddy Pete! Why would she not want him to come over? Then it dawned one me. She did not want him to come over on duty!! The gloves she mentioned are the latex ones that he wears when checking out a patient. That girl is SO smart! She does not want any more accidents to occur & especially does not want to see...

Daddy Pete with his gloves on...

Aave & her PINK house!...

Ever since the tribe was born we have pretty much color coded EVERYTHING! It started with their bottles, we used the Playtex drop in's kind. They have colored rings around the nipples & the liners are about as sterile as you can get so that's what worked for us. Just about anything that made life easier we did. Camryn had yellow, Brendan had blue, Avery had pink & Lindsey had purple. I think that's when it all started. Bottles then turned into sippy cups and blankies turned into towels. The color coding cycle just continued & once they understood which color was theirs it all went downhill from there. They even want to wear clothes in the color we "assigned" them. It's weird how that decision we made has effected their entire life! Some days I wonder if their "favorite" color would be different if we never implemented our "system".


While riding with her Daddy she spotted a PINK camouflage truck. {Why someone would do that is beyond me!} She made him pull over & get a picture of it to send to me. It's an obsession I tell ya! Then just this past week while out & about we drove through this residential neighborhood. They are just like their mother & spot the unusual, this time it was a house. It was a rather cute house, on a corner lot & nicely manicured but the kicker was that it was painted PINK! Actually bubble gum pink would be more accurate. The minute Avery saw it she squealed with delight! Like I could miss this house as we drove by. Jokingly I said you want me to stop so you can get a picture next to it? Wrong thing to ask a girl OBSESSED with anything pink because she did not even hesitate & yelled out "YES!". Before I knew it we were out of the 'burb & in front of the house. The people who saw us must have wondered what in the heck are they doing! ha! The rest of the day she made sure to tell everyone about that house! TOO funny! 

Here is a picture from that day!

Aave & her PINK house!...

what we do for fun...

We have a few rituals here, some that sort of "appeared" due to our circumstances at the moment. One of those "circumstances" was finding things to do while Camryn attended speech. For 2 hours 2 times a week our foursome turns into a threesome. It's weird how in more ways than one that dynamic affects me. VERY VERY weird missing a child even if it's just for 2 hours twice a week! I almost have to re train my brain into believing they are triplets for the day. One of our new activities has been visiting our local zoo. Let me tell all those people out there that may think that they cannot afford it, buy a family pass! It is such a great deal for anyone, especially for families like ours PLUS it helps support the zoo! It's such a GREAT, GREAT deal! My how our tribe LOVE going to the Zoo!


Each child has their favorite animal that they have to visit while there. The child that is the most vocal about that would have to be Brendan. He has to see Mardi the White Alligator & the Malayan Tiger exhibit EVERY time we go there. In fact he makes a point of telling me that about 10 times each time we walk in their entrance. {Like he would even think I would not already know that! LOL!} One cool think about the Tiger exhibit is that for the 1st time in zoo history the mama tiger gave birth in captivity! Yes she recently became a mama to triplets! COOL huh?! Too bad she didn't have quads! =] They have a video monitor set up so we can see the cubs being cared for by their mama. Such a wonderful thing to witness!

Avery has taken to the Black Bear & Otter exhibit. On our most recent trip we happened upon the Black Bear talk at just the right time. The trainer told us how the bears are actually brothers, Lewis & Clark, whose Mama died when they were mere little cubs. That is why they can co exist here. I have to say that those Black Bears are pretty darn cute! I could not get over their massive size! One even stood up & scratched his back on the fence. It was funny to watch. Just down from the Black Bears is the River Otters & boy do they remind me of the tribe! They are cute, have a TON of energy & most of all are quite mischievous! Maybe that's why Avery LOVES them! hahah!

Then there's Lindsey, she LOVES the Koala Bears. The zoo has two koalas on exhibit who almost always are sleeping when we visit. It's weird how that happens! Each time I hope for them to be awake but nope they are fast asleep. One of these days I hope to see them awake! =] Either way she still loves them! Heck I love them too! In fact I wish they would let me snuggle one! They look SO cuddly & cute! Interestingly enough their "home" is on the way to where the Tigers live so we slip in for a visit each time we are there.

Want to know another one of the exhibits they absolutely LOVE?! The Python!! Yes they LOVE LOVE LOVE peeking in on the massive snake! It looks to be like 10 feet long! YIKES! While they check out the snake I check out the snakes living quarters. About 3 feet from this HUGE python are several turtles. I wonder if they could be his dinner at any point? If I were them I think I'd be scared! VERY SCARED! =] I really do not think there is an animal at the zoo that freaks them out! =] What can I say they are their father's children! LOL!

Besides all of these cool exhibits they also have a BIG fountain that the tribe can play in. Yes it's recycled water, yes they chlorinate it but most of all it is fun! Being that we live in S Florida that fountain sure does comes in handy on those extra HOT days! Some days we even make a return visit after picking up Camryn just so she can play too! This is just some of...

what we do for fun...