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?...

adventures in cardboard box land...

Don't you hate it when you go to your local wholesale club like Costco, buy a TON of stuff & cannot find a box to fit everything? This happens to me a lot! I find that I am always looking for that "perfect" box. Then you have to have the box fit in our vehicle! sigh... When you are feeding a tribe like ours you tend to shop BIG so Costco is our place! LOL! On our latest trip to Costco I got SO excited because the clerk gave us the BEST box ever! {LOVE it when that happens!} It was the perfect size to house ALL of our purchases. Not only was it the right size for the milk, eggs, cheese & various non perishables BUT it was the PERFECT size PLUS sturdy enough for the tribe to play in once it was empty! Yes to most a box is just a means to get items from one place to another. To me it becomes a new "toy" for the tribe! hahah! The minute that empty box hit the floor they all jumped in it! To watch them explore made me feel good!It amazes me how they have more fun with this plain ol' box than any toy in our house! I guess it is very true that give a kid a box & it will entertain them for hours! We've gotten more out of this box in the last 24 hours than I can say! I have caught myself sitting back trying to imagine what they think the box becomes each & every time they climb into it!I am sure it is something SPECTACULAR! (= I just wish I could tell by looking into those cute little faces of theirs what exactly it is at that precise moment! Does the box transform into a race car? Maybe a roller coaster? Could it be a train? Better yet a spaceship? Oh to be two years old, have an AWESOME imagination & be able to have...

adventures in cardboard box land...

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...

adventures in "barber land"...

My Brendan, aka Mr B, was in need of yet another hair cut. It seems like yesterday that Uncle Bob, Brendan's Godfather, took him to get it cut. He has taken him quite a few times. I've been told that Brendan can cause quite the scene! }= Besides getting freaked by the "buzzer" aka clippers, he also gets SO many compliments on his platinum white hair. He has quite the fan base! awhh... This boys hair grows SO fast! He gets a haircut & before the week is over it has grown back! During the "in between times" I have "tried" my best to trim it but he really needed a professional cut! That is why we decided to go for a drastic cut today. Less "in between times" for me to worry about! Lucky for us Grandma found a coupon for $4 off a boy's cut at Sports Clips in her recent Valuepak. YAY! Sports Clips is such a COOL place for men of all ages. It's all about sports right down to their "shower" room. They happen to have one in the shopping mall just down the road from Grandma's house, so today was the day! We took the entire tribe there & it was an experience! They did good for about the first 5 minutes. After that I was NOT responsible for theirs or my actions! They proceeded to take out EVERY magazine in a failed attempt to read them, ha!, hid behind the register & then played with the various sports flags, stickers & decals like they were wind chimes. If that display fell down I would have been mortified! I was chasing after them & even broke a sweat! ugh! This is the craziness that comes with multiples. It gets even better when one tries to push on the other, out do the other, out scream the other. Yes there was screaming! It was more like what they do in Grandma's shower, singing/screeching like they are in their own personal recording studio. I am sure the guy before us getting his hair cut did not appreciate my munchkins being all CRAZY! But I was a mommy on a mission, my son needed a hair cut & I had a coupon. Don't mess with me! LOL! I was making sure he got the BEST cut & that I saved money at the same time! WOO HOO! When it was finally Brendan's turn he knew his fate. He started to cry as we climbed into the seat. I told Agnes, the barber, that he was going to be upset either way so to use the buzzer & keep on cutting, QUICK! We chose a 3 on the top & 2 on the sides. My niece Katie said I should do that, so that's what we did. This was the FIRST time that I took him to get his hair cut by a barber. Grandma on the other hand had prior experience. She has accompanied him once before. She said he did MUCH better this time. YAY! Maybe it was because he had his Momma there to hold him.Well that's what I'm telling EVERYONE! LOL! (= Looking at his after shot you'd think we shaved his head! Trust me, there is hair! One day I hope to get a shaver/buzzer/clipper set of my own to cut his hair. Yep I'll be the "barber". I guess I am preparing him for his future fate, when Mommy will be creating her own...


adventures in "barber land"...

kicked OUT of the house!...

Today I took the tribe on an afternoon adventure. It was really just running errands but I always bill it as something "SPECTACULAR" to them so they will get excited! We were sort of kicked out of the house due to Daddy being sick. He has the flu or something close to it, feels yucky & was in a foul mood! He could not take their abundant energy or whines any longer! When he is sick you better stay clear of him or else! hehee. I needed to get the tribe out of dodge before they really ticked their Daddy off! He ROARED & we fled! LOL! We needed to drop off his RX at the local pharmacy so that was stop #1. To go anywhere you have to drive like 20 miles so they spot cars as I drive. This has become one of their favorite activities! It seems that EVERYWHERE we go they are always on the hunt for certain cars. Like Grandma's car, Mommy's car, I never get that one because we are always IN it! LOL! Then there's Vinny's car (My mom's neighbors son) & Daddy's car, they both drive a truck. I guess it's better that they don't yell out their version of "truck" so we just say car. It is SO cute how they can spot their car's a mile away. They only do this with these four types of vehicles. Weird huh? We, I mean I, decided to do a little shopping. If we needed to waste some time why not at a store? LOL! We needed to waste some time & stay FAR away from home. SO there we were at Home Goods. This is one COOL store! First off I have to plead with the company to get some bigger shopping carts! Not accomodating for multiples in the least! I had all 4 of them crammed into the SMALLEST cart ever! I whipped out my stash of chocolate & they soon forgot how crammed they really were! hah! I do think seeing 4 kids in a tiny shopping cart was even more of a spectacle than our BIG blue quad stroller! We got a few stares & MANY comments! (= I really LOVE Home Goods! They have SO many neat home decorating things & best of all they are cheap! I even found us a 5th Anniversary gift, funny because we just celebrated our 6th Anniversary! LOL! We had wanted a BIG wooden bowl since wood is the gift for the fifth anniversary. I scored a HUGE one at a GREAT deal! Now on to Iron which is the gift for your sixth! hmm... At this particular store they are attached to a Marshall's. So I had housewares on one side & my next favorite thing, clothes & purses on the other! Needless to say I got some of my Christmas shopping taken care of today! We stayed later than expected & started to venture into the nap hour. These kids of ours need their nap! When they need sleep they get CRANKY! I think I pushed my shopping excursion to the limit & we needed to head home. The tribe has this new game they like to play regarding where they sit. The "twins" will rush the door & grab the two front seats, Camryn & Brendans normal seats, and then start buckling themselves in. YAY for helping mommy BUT this is when the fight begins about their seating assignments. Again I turn into a referee. Brendan starts whining about how he wants HIS seat and after TOO many bad experiences with one of the twins harassing or harming him I agree. No "twin" sits next to Mr B! SO to stop the crying & commotion I tell Cam that I need her to sit next to him because she will "love" on him. I could tell that she really wanted Avery's seat in the back but she obliged me. Everyone gets buckled into their proper seats & we're off! We get about a block down the road when what does Cam do but try to grab her brothers arm. She is SO smart. I think she figured if she also treats him bad she won't be made to sit next to him in the future. She has another thing coming because I am on to her! LOL! Despite Daddy being sick it was fun running errands with the tribe even if we were...

kicked OUT of the house!...

adventures from toddler HOOD...

Working for a police dept. you hear a lot about "hood's". You know, where you are from, your neighbor HOOD. Well my "hood" these days is Toddler HOOD and I am DEEP into it with NO chance of turning back! MANY people have scared me by saying 2's are nothing & I need to watch out for the 3's! YAY! Having that knowledge I wish we could just skip over the 3's entirely! Yes I love our children BUT remember we do have 4 of them! 4 whiny, CRAZY, neurotic and sometimes cannibalistic children! Who would have thought human flesh tasted so good!? LOL! Some days life here just really sucks! Sorry to use the "S" word but that is really how I have been feeling lately. I have never been one to hold back how I felt so why start now? This past week has been a real eye opener for me about my Mr B! He seems to have taken on a new role in our house, our CMM, better known as Chief Mischief Maker! I have found him on several occasions wreaking havoc in their bedroom. He has ALWAYS been the "good one" & now I am beginning to re think that title! He has singlehandedly given me SO much EXTRA work this past week! Diapers strewn all over the place, shampoo squirted all over the floor, pulled EVERY wipe out of the wipe container & today smeared zinc oxide all over himself & his sister! What am I gonna do with this boy? I am going to have to do some bedroom furniture re arranging ASAP! It may not look pretty but it will get the job done! (= What makes matters worse is that I am STILL recuperating from having my wisdom teeth extracted. I am the WORST patient when it comes to pain in my mouth! Not feeling all warm & fuzzy if you get my drift! These children have gotten on my very last nerve & it's only Tuesday! ugh!! I think my hubby wishes that I would lose his number so I would STOP calling him when they push my buttons. It's hard dealing with the 4 of them on a good day let alone a BAD one. Our life is just plain HARD! I just want some relief. Last night RELIEF came in the form of Daddy taking the tribe to the grocery store by himself & leaving me home, ALONE! I cannot tell you how much I needed that! I did not even have to ask him to do it! WOO HOO! Being that I was "off duty" & without kids I could then take a pain pill for my jaw. I try not to incapacitate myself when it's just them & me at home alone. That one pain pill did wonders! My head felt better, my jaw stopped throbbing & for once the house was QUIET! No one at my feet screaming my name or upset because one of their siblings ticked them off. I actually felt like myself again & not the lunatic that has been so upset lately. I actually cleaned up & organized a bit. I remembered how much I LOVE organization! (= I got to watch a TV show that I have had on the DVR for the past month. YAY! I love it when I can actually accomplish things! They were gone a little over 2 hours but it felt like FOREVER! I actually looked out the window wondering where they were! CRAZY but true! Oh to think of the MANY gray hairs I will get from these munchkins & it's just the beginning of...

adventures from toddler HOOD...