The Carlson Blog

Happy 100th Birthday Arizona!

2012-02-14T07:12:00.004-07:00

**updated with a picture of Jared in his cowboy garb. Yee Haw! ;)
Today is our state's 100th birthday! Ah yes, we are the "Valentine State" ;)All of the kids at Jared's school get to dress up in western wear. Jared has few items to wear. He'll look cute! :)

In honor of my state, here's a quiz for you ;) Good luck!

What do you know about Arizona?
Test your knowledge of Arizona. Take this simple quiz and find out if you've got what it takes to stand up for the 48th state to be admitted to the union. Select an answer for each of the following ten questions and then click on the "How did I do?" button at the bottom of the page. All of the answers can be found here at NETSTATE Arizona.

Start now...
1) What is the capital city of Arizona?
a. Phoenix
b. Tucson
c. Prescott

2) What famous Mexican labor leader was born in Yuma, Arizona?
a. Berta Lujan
b. Mangas Colradas
c. Cesar Estrada Chavez

3) What is the figure depicted on the Great Seal of the State of Arizona?
a. A Native American
b. A miner
c. A pioneer

4) What is the highest point in Arizona?
a. Granite Peak (12,799 feet)
b. Gannett Peak (13,804 feet)
c. Humphreys Peak (12,633 feet)

5) Who was the designer of the Arizona State flag?
a. Charles W. Harris
b. Mrs. Julia McAlmont Noel
c. Mrs. Sanford Hutchison

6) Monument Valley, home to some of the most striking land formations in the southwest, lies in what Arizona land region?
a. The Basin and Ridge Region
b. The Colorado Plateau
c. The Transition Zone

7) What is the official state fish of Arizona?
a. Apache Trout (Salmo apache)
b. Greenback Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarki)
c. Lahontan Cutthroat Trout (Salmo clarki henshawi)

8) Which of these is a nickname for Arizona?
a. The Golden State
b. The Silver State
c. The Grand Canyon State

9) Which of these rivers does not flow through Arizona?
a. The Colorado River
b. The Gila River
c. The St. Johns River

10) What is the motto of Arizona?
a. God enriches
b. Labor conquers all things
c. Nothing without providence

Thank you Grandma Carlson!!!!

2012-02-12T12:39:00.003-07:00

We want to thank Grandma Carlson again for the clothes! We really appreciate (and wear) it much! We talk and talk and talk about our wardrobe a LOT! ;)Love, Anna, Bethany, Brielle and Suzan :D

Suzan decorating

2012-02-10T19:54:00.002-07:00

I found this silly and sweet girl doing this today. We were outside, just before this, and so she picked the flowers from our yard.

Suzan "decorating"The end result :)I went over to where she was doing this and she said to me "mama, what do you think? look at the decorations i put up!" I said "oh! that's pretty suzan!" to which she replied with "mama, don't touch it. and don't throw it away, mama." Ha! O-kay then ;)

She's cute! :D

Celebrating Our 100th Birthday!

2012-02-06T15:28:00.004-07:00

As an Arizona native, I'm pretty proud to see the kids and their school's celebrating our state's 100th birthday. Last week, the girls' class celebrated all week long, learning about cowboys, cowgirls and the "wild west," brought home cute little horse crafts, making cowboy hats, dressing up as cowboys/cowgirls and taking pictures with a stuffed horsey (I'll have to scan those in once the teacher hands them back - way cute!) and more. So today, I had to take pictures of the girls' "Arizona" crafts they made at school and brought home. It makes this native pretty proud of my little girly natives ;D

Bethany's and Anna's cacti they made. Cute idea using toothpicks for the cactus thorns!Brielle's and Suzan's cactiThen a coyote, cactus and beautiful sunset (we have LOTS of awesome sunsets here!) Bethany's and Anna's creations.And Brielle's and Suzan's. Yes, Suzan wrote her own name. How awesome is that?! What a smart little girly :)Technically Arizona doesn't turn 100 until the 14th (yes, we're the "valentine state" ;) ). The girls' school is having a little birthday party for Arizona this weekend too, with games, food, bouncies and more. We're planning on going to that with all 5 kids.

Yes, this native is proud of her state! Why not? It is an amazing state filled many beautiful creations from God (remember, we're also the Grand Canyon State!), has wonderful weather (hey, at least we have air conditioning in the summer months ;P ), great schools (I can't say enough about the girls' and Jared's schools!) and many job opportunities (did you know Intel is building a brand new Fab, or factory, here which President Obama toured a few weeks ago?). So, as you can see, Arizona is an awesome state and it's pretty awesome we get to celebrate its 100th birthday :D

Bethany and her "funky tooth"

2012-01-25T19:38:00.004-07:00

I am posting this as some friends of mine were curious about this phenomenon ;)

All the girls (and Jared too) have never had issues with their baby teeth. They all came in okay. All were accounted for and present. With Jared, he's had no issues losing his baby teeth and having the permanents come in. Well, out of the 5 of them we have an "anomaly," if you want to call it that. Bethany has always had, what I call, her "funky tooth." I, nor Paul, have never seen anything like this before. No mention of it in previous generations either.

So, I had to use my "Google foo" and search for this tooth. Here is what I came up with. Either she has a 1) fused tooth or a 2) geminated tooth. There's an interesting explanation on these two conditions here. In my uneducated-in-any-and-all-dental-medicine "expertise," I'd say hers is of the fusion kind. You can see from the pictures that it looks like her right central incisor fused with another tooth. She still has the normal and correct count for the lateral incisor just next to this fused tooth. I also think it's fused because an x-ray of it (she was complaining of tooth pain around this tooth at the last dental visit so the dentist performed an x-ray of it, just to be safe. the tooth was not the culprit of the pain, thank goodness) showed 1 huge root, almost like 2 roots in one. The dentist said her "funky tooth" is nothing to be concerned about but that we "might" have to pull or "help it along" when she starts losing her baby teeth and the permanents are to come down. Her tooth might be a stinker of a tooth and not want to pop out ;)

Bethany being patient with Mama taking her picture ;)
A close-upAnother interesting point, Bethany is an identical twin so Anna, her twin, shows no geminated or fused teeth whatsoever. That stumped the dentist a bit ;) I guess Bethany is the only lucky one (0.5% to 2.5% of Caucasian children have this) in the family with this. Thankfully, it does not cause her any discomfort or pain and won't affect her permanent teeth (the x-ray showed a "normal" central incisor). Plus, she doesn't even notice how different that one tooth is.

I will say that I will be sad when she loses this "funky tooth" and her smile totally changes. This smile with these teeth makes my Bethany my Bethany :D

With Dad :)

2012-01-07T20:00:00.003-07:00

Brielle, Anna and Bethany with Dad..."giddy up horsey!" Suz snoozed and missed out on the ride.Oh wait! Maybe not! ;) Okay, there's nothing like having 5 kids climb all over you ;OWe love our Daddy, yes we do!!!!! :)

Coca-Cola Freestyle

2012-01-05T20:10:00.004-07:00

Has anyone else seen one of these before? We just came across this newfangled machine last month, when a new restaurant opened by our home with this in it.Needless to say, we were a bit excited to try it ;)

It is call the Coca-Cola Freestyle. It's a touch-screen soda fountain that, get this, has 100+ drink choices. Ever want to try a raspberry Coca-Cola? It's got that. A strawberry Sprite? Yes, it has that too. How about one of my favorites, a Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry Vanilla? Yes, that too! Even flavored Dansani waters, like lime, peach and grape to name a few.

We don't drink a whole lot of soda in our house (well, except for PWC ;) ) so this machine was pretty cool to come across.

Want to see if there is one in your area? Go the Coca-Cola Freestyle website to check. Sorry 58701, 58503 and 55943. There are none in your areas. You might have to come here to check it out ;)

The Musical Instrument Museum

2012-01-05T15:04:00.003-07:00

I had not heard of this museum until my mom mentioned it to me and treated the kids and I to a visit to it today. I have to say, it is a pretty awesome museum! I was so surprised at their collection...mechanical instruments and their history, TONS of instruments from artists (like Eric Clapton's guitar, Elvis's bongo drums, a drum played in China for the 2008 Summer Olympics), instruments from around the world (from over 200 countries) and an interactive room where you are permitted to "gently play" some instruments. Oh, and they provide complementary headsets that automatically turn on and off at each specific instrument, e.g. listen to a Steinway piano play, listen to woman from Kazakhstan play the Kyl Kobyz (bowed lute). The kids enjoyed the headsets and listening to all of the different kinds of music. So did the Mama and Grammy ;)

These are just a "few" pictures I selected to post, out of the 241 pictures I took. Yes, I went overboard and snapped a pic, here and there ;) Enjoy!

Grammy and the kids (Suzan, Jared, Brielle, Bethany and Anna) ready for our museum tour :)First off, the section of mechanical instruments. Here, a mechanical mouth organ. Wow! I didn't know they made roller trumpets!A mini roller pianoSuzan listening to the music :)Bethany :)The kids and Grammy listeningThis is one huge mechanical dance organ! It comes from Belgium.A barrel organ from Ukraine. Despite its compact size, it is one of the loudest instruments in the museum.A barrel organ from Norway, dated 1893 and made by Christian Tharaldsen, Norway's most prolific barrel-organ builder in late-19th-century.Next, the section of artists' instruments. Here, Eric Clapton's guitarDrums from the Black Eyed PeasRemember that awesome opening ceremony display at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China? Here's 1 of the 2008 drums the drummers played!A 3-neck guitar made especially for Steve VaiOh, just a guitar that Elvis played ;)"Uhh hu!" A costume of Elvis'sElvis's Army fatigue shirt and bongos, given to him as a holiday present from Priscilla shortly after they metGuitar from the Jonas BrothersThird, viewing instruments from all over the world, 200+ countries to be specific. Here, the Kyl bobyz, or bowed lute, from KazakhstanHere's how you play it :)Dress from Mongolia, worn during a traditional music ceremonyA taiko, or double-headed barrel drum, from JapanPeruvians wear this during the Scissors Dance. And yes, those are scissors - cool!In the background is a cutaway of a Steinway & Sons grand piano. Here, we're watching/listening to how a Steinway piano is built. Very cool!Suzan in front of a 1/4-size violin. The violin was so tiny and cute! Can I have 4 of them, please? :DWow! Those Norwegians know how to gild a violin!Lastly, we head to the experience section of the museum where patrons can play instruments. After ~2hrs the kids needed some "play time"...JaredSuzan. I think she got the most "into it" with these instruments ;)BrielleAnnaAnna and the gong :) That gong was so cool to play!BethanyJared with the gong, nowWhew! That's a LOT of pictures! Both my mom and I said the same thing when we left..."there's a lot to see in there! and i don't think we saw it all!" Our 2.5hrs just touched the tip of the iceberg there ;)

Very cool and awesome! Thank you again Grammy! :)

Happy New Year! Ring in 2012!

2011-12-31T20:38:00.003-07:00

Here's how we spent our last evening of 2011!

Anna, Suzan, Bethany and Brielle enjoying their party hats and noise makers (those ones that make that whirly, high-pitched noise? yeah, Paul really loved those ;) )I thought this one was cute, of Bethany at least. I forget why she is laughing :)Jared, Anna, Suzan, Bethany and Brielle - last group picture this year! ;)After a dinner out of yummy Mexican food (Someburros!), we came back home and opened some bubbly...sparkling cider bubbly :)Bethany smelling it - "mmm! I think this was a good year mama!"Nothing like Martinelli's and M&Ms for a New Years Eve treat :DThen, after the girlies rang in the New Year and went to bed, Paul and I took Jared outside to light up some sparklersA blurry pic but a good one of Jared and his sparklerAnother one of JaredSee all of you next year! Ha! ;)

Lego Pick-a-Brick Wall

2011-12-28T20:13:00.003-07:00

Have you seen this before?Well, for Christmas Jared got 2 packages/gift certificates to go to the Pick-a-Brick wall at our local Lego Store. He was super excited when he opened this Christmas gift. So, this afternoon Jared and I went to the store and filled up his 2 boxes. You fill up the box with whatever/however many bricks you can for FREE! Sweet!He and I then had a blast coming up with our own Lego projects :) First, he made what he calls his "go cart" :)Then, a "Jeep"He also made a hammer, treasure chest, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and a flower box (for the girls - he put it in the center of our dining table for some dinner "ambiance" this evening ;) )

Me? I just made this...The house comes with a side yard of flowers...A vegetable garden on the side...We added a bit of green grass on the back, with a water fountain, some green plants on top and a dog house :)The front of the "mansion" ;) A fancy walkway to the front door. Entry lights on the sides ;)Did Mama enjoy her son's Christmas gift too? Why yes. Yes, she did. I'm thankful he was kind enough to share with me too :)

Sometimes, the best Lego projects are the ones you create all on your own! Especially with your 7-year-old son! :D

Storytime with Dad

2011-12-28T20:09:00.003-07:00

Cute! Need I say more? :)

Chapstick :)

2011-12-28T20:07:00.002-07:00

Brielle put on some Christmas chapstick all on her own. What a cutie pie! :)

Our Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T20:55:00.003-07:00

This Christmas we stayed in town. Now being older, especially the girls, the kids were SO excited for Christmas! It was super cute hearing them talk all about Christmas :) Also this year, I took video instead of still pictures. That way you get the "whole effect" of our kids and their excitement ;) Enjoy!

Video from our Christmas morning. **DISCLAIMER! Sorry, it's long (19 minutes)**

Christmas 2011 from Pelikan on Vimeo

Then, we had Grammy, Paul's cousins and aunt and our good friends and their kids over for Christmas dinner. We had a good time with everyone and stuffed ourselves with yummy food!

Ah, Cousin Jayson! He came dressed as Buddy from the movie "Elf." Good one Jayson ;)Jared with Buddy ;)All of the kids with Buddy (although Anna, on the far right end, was NOT up for being with Buddy! ;P )Suz doesn't mind Buddy - Ha! :)Our friends' youngest child with BuddyUs with Buddy too?! Okay ;) Grammy, Buddy, Me, Paul and Anna (still not wanting to leave our side while Buddy was around - can't blame her ;) )That was our Christmas! I can't believe it came and went that fast! Like a blink of an eye, I tell you! Now, we await 2012! Maybe I can get on the ball and get some sparkling cider and fun little cups for the kids to enjoy and cheer in the New Year? And some noise makers, hats or confetti poppers for them too? Lots of cute New Years craft ideas out there!

Hope your Christmas was a very blessed one!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T09:53:00.003-07:00

Merry Christmas to our friends and family! May you experience God's love and glory today!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this." - Isaiah 9:6-7

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night! :)

2011-12-24T23:33:00.002-07:00

Tonight when we came back from our church's Christmas Eve service, we let the kids open one gift. You can see the gift they are wearing in the video below (ahem, Christmas PJs ;) ). After they put on their jammies they said "can we read a story, mama?" I said "sure! how about "'Twas the Night Before Christmas?" "Yes!" they exclaimed. So Jared started running off to his room. I said "wait bud! we have the book here (in a stack of Christmas books I put out every Christmas)." He said "no! the story from Grandma Carlson!" You see, last year Grandpa and Grandma Carlson sent the kids a voice-recorded storybook of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." The kids love it! So, of course, tonight they had to sit down and listen/read Grandma C's book :D So cute and sweet! (**this year she sent us the "Frosty the Snowman" recorded storybook - thank you again!!)

Here in the video, the kids sit on our sofa, in their Christmas jammies, listening to Grandma Carlson read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" to them. What a special Christmas Eve for them! Enjoy! (especially G&G C :D )

'Twas the Night Before Christmas 122411 from Pelikan on Vimeo

Merry Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T20:17:00.001-07:00

Christmas Google Doodle 122411 from Pelikan on Vimeo

Carol of the Bells Dancing

2011-12-22T13:19:00.007-07:00

As you could probably guess, the kids are really enjoying the festivities of Christmas...lights, decorations, yummy treats, the tree (and consistently asking us to open the gifts underneath ;) ). One of the Christmas favorites that the girls keep asking for is to listen to Christmas music. I truly enjoy this, as I have a musical history/background (played the violin for 13 years growing up...played in the school and college symphonies growing up and so played Handel's "Messiah," the song "Sleigh Ride" and much, much more! Oh, and I played the hand bells in church too :) ).

The girls enjoy laying on the sofa listening to the music or, and more often than not, put on a little dance to it. Well, they did this the other day and I caught it on tape :) All of them enjoy dancing but I will say that one of them (ahem, Suzan ;) ) "super duper" enjoys it. Sometimes she even dances without music. She just tip toes and twirls around saying "mama, watch my dance!" Cute! :)

Enjoy the video of our ballerinas! ;)

Carol of the Bells Dancing 121311 from Pelikan on Vimeo

Virtual Christmas Card

2011-12-17T19:13:00.002-07:00

Here's our Christmas card for 2011. I "super duper" like how it turned out! We got our pictures taken somewhere, then, as in previous years, I made the double-sided card in Photoshop and had White House print them. Very cool! White House has the best products and they always turn out beautiful.

Anyways...for those that didn't receive one of these in person, "Merry Christmas" via our virtual Christmas card ;)

FrontBack

Raindrops

2011-12-13T19:25:00.002-07:00

It's been unusually cold and wet here. We're getting a lot of that weather from California (thank you! ;) ). It's been fun! Lots of rain and frigid temps. It also means snow up north (which I'd like to see ASAP before it all melts away ;) )! Like 2.5 feet of snow forecast just for today! That doesn't include the snow they've received these last few days, e.g. at least 8 to 14 inches. Yay! Maybe, just maybe, we can get up there. The kids keep asking "can we go see the snow? PLEASE!" We'll see ;)

In any case, the kids enjoyed catching rain drops when we came home from school today. Too cute! Remember, we don't get much rain here. Our annual rainfall average is ~7 inches and, to date, we've only received ~4 inches. Yup, we're that dry ;) So when we get rain, we REALLY like it! :)

Enjoy the video!

Raindrops 121311 from Pelikan on Vimeo

Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me! I'm the Gingerbread Man!

2011-12-07T17:38:00.002-07:00

The girls made another cute school project this/last week. It's like the Turkey Feathers, if you recall.

Their teacher had each child take home and decorate a gingerbread man (or, in our case, gingerbread girl(s)). Then, she's pinning them onto their classroom board. Cute! The girls had fun decorating the gingerbread girls (with a little help from Mama ;) ). As you can see from the video, the gingerbread girls are decorated in certain colors. The girls did that. They wanted their gingerbread girl to be decorated in "their color" - Ha! ;) After 3.75 years you'd think they'd give up their specific color. Nope!

Enjoy the video!

Girls' Preschool Gingerbread Men 120611 from Pelikan on Vimeo

Thanksgiving 2011 In-a-Snapshot

2011-11-27T21:17:00.003-07:00

Here's a quick snapshot of our Thanksgiving. Yes, we traveled again for the Turkey Holiday. We had a great time! We went to Disneyland the day before Thanksgiving (MUCH better than the day after!), saw lots of family, played, strolled around on Corona del Mar beach and had some yummy food out at Wahoos. Fun, fun!

How many 3.67-year-olds can you fit into a queen bed? Ha! ;) We're always surprised at how well the girls do rooming together and that they get ANY sleep whatsoever!The kids waiting for the shuttle to the opening gates of Disneyland! Yay!You always have to take the picture at the front of Disneyland ;)Oooo! Cinderella's Castle!The girls got to hear a story told by Snow White herself! Cool!Awe! My 4 pretty princesses with Princess Cinderella :)Jared, ready to drive at Autopia! He loves this ride! He drove while I rode :)Jared on the Mark Twain steamboat. He thought the boat was so cool!Disneyland fireworksThe kids having some craft time on Thanksgiving DayMe with my cousin, Audrey (and Nee Nee beside me :) )Some beach time!Jared, walking down the long steep walkway to the beach"mama! look at my seashells, mama!!!!"Ah, the Rents ;)Okay, when you walk by a lifeguard post with the number 4 on it, you HAVE TO take a picture of it! Especially when you have quadruplets! Seriously!! :)A pretty succulent on the walk back to the vanPraying your Thanksgiving was a blessed one! I feel very blessed, not just on Thanksgiving Day but EVERY DAY! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T09:52:00.003-07:00

We wish everyone a very blessed Thanksgiving today! We are praising God for his never ending love and mercy! We thank Him for all of the friends and family he has blessed us with! We thank Christ for all that He has done for us, saving and redeeming us!

Girls' CC Program

2011-11-22T20:26:00.002-07:00

The girls have been going with me to my weekly Bible study this semester (and for the last year or two, too). They get to participate in a kids study while I get to attend my own Bible study. Well, our study's semester just ended last week. As a fun thing for the kids (and to show the moms what they learned and have been doing), all of the 3-, 4- and any 5- (or pre-Kinder) year-olds put on a little program. It was super cute! Thankfully, I came prepared with a video camcorder ;)

The kids sang three songs. You'll see the girls in the front. For some strange reason, Brielle slid behind Suzan. Poor girly :( So, I only got to capture her sweet little face for a little bit.

Enjoy the video! :D

Girls' CC Program 111711 from Pelikan on Vimeo

Crafts and Activities for Thanksgiving

2011-11-20T20:46:00.002-07:00

I don't know about your kids but mine can get a little antsy at times...even at someone else's home where they don't have their toys, play areas and familiarity. So, I thought I would be a bit proactive this year and get some crafts and activities lined up for Jared and the girls to do on Thanksgiving. Most of these I found off the Internet. Some were pre-made/bought and some I made into kits for them myself. I wanted something that both Jared and the girls would enjoy...and also something that is fairly mess free, e.g. NO finger paint or liquid glue (or even hot glue!). Here's what I came up with.

1) Thanksgiving/fall beaded bracelets
Most of this stuff I already had, like the pony beads and elastic. I just pulled out the "fall" colored beads and cut the elastic to 7" in length. Now, I did make the polymer clay beads, the pumpkins, leaves, acorns and apples. You can do it too! It's super cheap (~$2 for a chunk of one color of clay that with definitely last you a while!) and easy to make (just go with it and sculpt it like Play-Doh then bake in the oven). This necklace from Oriental Trading Company was my inspiration. However, if you have the time for the shipping, you could order these from OTC!

2) Felt Turkey Hand Puppets
I got these from Hobby Lobby (who doesn't jump up and down with joy in HL? ;) ) last month. Now, don't even try to go find these! Even though Thanksgiving isn't here yet, all of their fall/Thanksgiving inventory is gone! Boo! :P Anyways, I am sure you could make your own kit of these with pages of felt and googly eyes.

3) Foam Turkey Headbands
Again, another early Hobby Lobby purchase but you could easy make with pages of colored foam (which Hobby Lobby always carries in stock).

4) Activity Pages for Jared (or an older child)
I found a couple of older-child activity pages that I thought Jared might enjoy. I found them at Reading-with-Kids and Blessed Mom.

5) Activity Place mat
I Google'd for a "Thanksgiving place mat" and found this cute one from Family Fun. In fact, they have lots of cute printables available!

6) Cornucopia Craft
This next one I just happen to come across. I thought it was a super cute idea! Plus, my girls love coloring, cutting and pasting (with a glue stick - Yay for those! ;) ) anything ;) I found it at the All Kids Network website. They, too, have lots of fun stuff for kids!

7) The Mayflower craft
This is way too cute! However, I had to modify it, as I didn't want to have my kids running around with painted hands! Instead, I used cotton balls for the clouds, cut up some different shades of blue tissue paper to glue for the water and then traced and cut out my kids' hand prints for the the boats. Yay! You can find this idea (and much more!) at the Fryman Four blog.

8) Thankful Turkeys
I was thinking of this turkey in my head. I had him all planned out. Then, I came across the Enchanted Learning site and found my turkey but in a thankful form. Awesome! I really like the idea of having the kids write what they are thankful for on the feathers. I also thought of this idea for a tree and leaves but just went with the 1 thankful craft project, my turkey :)

9) Thanksgiving Bingo
Who doesn't like Bingo?! While I was perusing Family Fun I saw their Thanksgiving Bingo printables. Very cool! So I printed them out. Wait! My girls don't read yet! Ha! Okay, recycle and scratch that idea. Then, I thought "maybe there's a Thanksgiving bingo with pictures?" Oh yes there is! And I found it! With super cute graphics too ;) It's at Making Friends. I was just going to print it out when I thought (again ;) ) "wouldn't this be cool in color?" Mind you, we don't have a color printer. B&W only. Go fig. So I uploaded it to my local Staples Copy & Print and had them print it out for me. Oh, did I mention that I got them laminated too? That way, we can reuse these year after year. Fun! I also got a bag of licorice to give a piece each to the bingo winners ;)

10) Thanksgiving Coloring Pages
Lastly, you can't go wrong with coloring pages. I found these at Calvary Kids Pages (I really like the Psalm 136 one!), Family Fun and ThoraThinks.

I know, I have probably way too many crafts/activities listed here for my kids to do while waiting for Thanksgiving dinner. They might not get to all of them either. However, I'd rather be safe (with more) than sorry ;)

Hope you enjoyed my ideas here. Try some of them! I know I can't wait to play Thanksgiving Bingo with my kids :D

This is the house that Suzan built...and that Anna built...and that Bethany built...oh, and that Brielle built

2011-11-20T20:41:00.002-07:00

Before I forget, some pictures of a cute project the girls' preschool teacher did. The kids worked together and "built" some houses. I believe this was during their "construction" week. Fun!

Suzan and Anna built this houseBrielle built this oneAnd Bethany's house

Girls' Preschool Turkey

2011-11-16T07:47:00.002-07:00

The girls' preschool teacher had all the kids in class take home a "feather" to decorate. Then, she puts the feathers onto their class turkey for all to see. What a super cute and creative idea! The girls had fun decorating their "feathers" :)

Enjoy the video!

Girls' Preschool Turkey 111511 from Pelikan on Vimeo

What to do with our pumpkins?

2011-11-01T14:00:00.002-07:00

Well, I decided to cut up our pumpkins we had...1 large one and then 4 minis that were the girlies'. I'm in the process of cooking them all up. Now, what to do with the cooked pumpkins, other than entertaining my girls with my butchery of squash ;) ?I was thinking of pureeing it either my food processor or blender and then freezing it in several baggies. I believe I can use it just like canned pureed pumpkin (NOT the canned pumpkin pie filling - I never cook with that). Paul said his mom did this with their Halloween pumpkins growing up. Martha, what did you do with the cooked pumpkins? Pumpkin pies (Paul suggested that)? More iced pumpkin cookies (Mmm! those are SOOOO good!)? A family friend mentioned her MIL making pumpkin empanadas. I've never made them before but I'd be up for the challenge ;)

Anyone else have suggestions for this orange squash?

Our Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T09:00:00.003-07:00

The kids had way too much fun with Halloween this year! The girls were talking about it DAYS before, of course. They enjoyed trick-or-treating with Grammy and Mama. So much so that Bethany cried and cried wanting to "go more trick-or-treating" - Ha! :) Now, we are in sugar and candy overload here! LOTS of candy...5 buckets full!

Enjoy the pics!

Princess BriellePrincess AnnaPrincess BethanyPrincess SuzanNinja JaredThe kids with GrammyOur pumpkin for the evening, an owl on a tree branchHope you all had a safe and fun Halloween! Now we welcome November! Wow, this year is going by fast! ;)

Ninja

2011-10-28T14:40:00.003-07:00

For the second year in a row, I made Jared's Halloween costume. He chose to be a ninja this year. Not to brag, but I think this turned out SUPER AWESOME! Jared loves it! Yay!

And to think it was ~$6 to make his costume. Sweet! :D

The girls will be the same as they were last year. I won't say so you'll have to remember what they were to know ;) They are excited to don their costumes too!

Neighborhood Pumpkin Carving Party

2011-10-28T14:34:00.002-07:00

Our neighbors hosted a pumpkin carving party/potluck for us other neighbors. We had fun! Lots of yummy food that everyone brought, playing for the kids and Jared had fun carving his pumpkin. We'll carve another one to put out for Halloween evening.

Can you tell what he carved? It's a skeleton!Then, back home, the girls wanted to have their "own" pumpkin decorating party ;)BrielleAnnaBethanySuzan? I guess I didn't take her picture with her pumpkin. Whoops! :P

The girls outside with all 5 decorated pumpkins!The kids are getting excited for some trick-or-treating come Monday! :D

Grandpa

2011-10-28T14:05:00.002-07:00

Over the kids' fall break from school we were able to go see my dad, Grandpa. His health hasn't been great since last year and it also last year that we saw him. So, it was time! It was a quick day-trip for us. Grammy went all too.

It was good for my dad to see us all and for us, especially the kids, to see him.

Me and my dadMe, Grammy and the kids with my dadThe 7 of us with GrandpaWe're praying for him and his health! Praying for wisdom from the doctors, for any procedures he will have to endure and for care for him!

Funnies

2011-10-27T21:20:00.004-07:00

The girls are making me laugh these days. The conversations and interactions they have are so cute! Here are a few...

Suzan - "when i turn five, i go to Jared's school and have my birthday!"

**a conversation that just happened at church this morning**
The girls' church classroom teacher asks who would like to pick the song to sing today.
Brielle - "me!"
Teacher - "what song would you like to sing Brielle"
Brielle - "the noise song"
Anna (looking at Brielle) - "did you pick the noise song?"
Brielle - "yes, the noise song?"
Anna (pauses. then, looking at Brielle) - "good job!" (and includes her "thumbs up" thumb)

Me (after a mealtime) - "Bethany, go wash your hands and face in the bathroom."
Bethany - "okay"(starts to go down the hall, then stops) "mama! come with me!"
Me - "no. you go."
Bethany - "mama, i'm scary!"
Anna (jumps into the conversation) - "i'll go with you Bethany!"
Bethany - "thanks Anna! mama, Anna is coming with me."
Me - "oh. okay."

Anna (whenever someone sneezes) - "bless you [insert name]!"

All girls (whenever they see a bird) - "ckkkk!" (like a cat hiss. they also hold up their hands like a cat's paw ready to claw at it - where they learned this, I don't know! Ha! ;) )

Bethany (standing at my legs, looking up at me with arms wide open) - "hold you me, mama!"

Suzan (at the breakfast table) - "mama, can i have squirrel chow?" (**okay, maybe Dad said this phrase first, in reference to the Honey Bunches of Oats cereal I got for us a few times. And if you know Paul, you know he'd say/start something like this. Needless to say, the girls caught onto the phrase and it stuck. Ha!)

I'm sure I've missed a few other funnies from our girls. They are too cute and bring laughter to our home! :)

Boo! At our Zoo!

2011-10-22T16:16:00.002-07:00

We took our 5 kids to our zoo's Boo event again this year. I think they enjoyed it. They got to play some games, win prizes, eat a few candies being handed out and check out the zoo's animals. There were lots of kids there, some even dressed up in their Halloween costume. That was cool to see! Oh, and Anna hugged a pig. You'll have to ask her about that the next time you see/talk with her ;)

Just a few pics of our outing today. Enjoy!

The kids at Boo @ the Zoo...Suzan, Brielle, Jared, Bethany and AnnaThe girls participating in a game. It was a "hot potato"-like game but the person holding the stuffed animal gets a prize.Suzan got a prize first!Then BrielleAnd then Anna got the "grand prize" ;) Bethany got a prize too, just like Suzan's and Brielle'sHey look! A cow! ;)Next up? Well, I purchased a Groupon deal for addmission to another local farm's fall festival. So...we'll be doing that in the near future ;) I also hear fun things about this next farm - Yay! :D

The Great Pumpkin Festival

2011-10-22T15:50:00.003-07:00

We (Grammy and I) did this with the girls last year. It was fun then. So, I decided to take the girls again (sorry Jared, you're in school Bud :( ) yesterday. And Grammy was willing to join us again too - Yay!

They have lots for the kids. We had a hay ride, hay maze, picked pumpkins from the patch, saw (and pet) some farm animals, had homemade kettle corn as a snack (SUPER easy and yummy recipe folks!), listened to music from Pick and Holler and then played some games and coloring. Fun for the girlies, for sure! :)

Enjoy the pics!

Suzan, Brielle, Anna and Bethany amongst some pumpkinsMama and Grammy with the girlies...Brielle, Anna, Grammy, Bethany, Mama and SuzanTaking a hayride out to the pumpkins. Brielle and GrammyMama and Suzan, Bethany and AnnaHey! A haymaze! Grammy, Suzan, Anna, Bethany, Brielle and MamaThe girlies walking through itThey added some cool obstacles into the maze this year. A tireYes Grammy, I took your picture too ;)And a fun tunnelThe petting zoo. Only Brielle, Anna and Bethany wanted to go in. Suz wanted to stay out of there! She loves animals but loves to keep her distance from them too - Ha! ;)Petting the piggy. Brielle petting the animals!Chickens tooSheepAnd goats tooThe girlies loved posing on the tractor ;) ...BethanyAnnaSuzanBrielleThe girls playing one of the festival games...Find the Bug!They also had crafts for the kids to make. Anna here decorating a pumpkinSuzan. She loves all things coloring/crayons/markers and crafts. Guess she's like her Mama, in that regard ;)Next up? Paul and I take all 5 kids to our Boo @ the Zoo. Fun!

**And yes, I did make the girls' shirts. I just have too much fun doing that for them. They get SO excited about them too - Ha! :) Suzan has the acorn, Anna the red apples in the bushel basket, Bethany the Indian corn and Brielle the wheat.

The girls playing "drums"

2011-10-15T12:15:00.004-07:00

I had to take video of the girlies playing "drums" this morning. It was too funny! It's amazing what items kids turn into in order to play/pretend ;)

Some funny notes on this video...Suzan has a spider ring in her mouth. That's always her M.O. She loves to chew on things. Yes, even at 3 years old. Which is why I got a chew bracelet for her :) She can wear it (obviously, in her favorite yellow color ;) ) and chew to her heart's content. That's the purpose of the bracelet.

Another funny thing in the video is I ask Bethany if she is the conductor, as she had the music book, with drum sound, in her lap. She kept saying "no." Later, in watching the video playback Bethany tells me "mama, i'm not a doctor." Ha! Conductor? Doctor? I guess they do sound the same ;)

Enjoy the clip!

Drumline 101511 from Pelikan on Vimeo

The Kids Scootering

2011-10-08T08:48:00.003-07:00

The girlies got their own scooters yesterday. I guess you could call them early Christmas presents. They LOVE them! Best presents for them! Now, they can scooter around with Brother! :) They just need to get fitted for helmets now.

Enjoy the video!

Kids Scootering 090711 from Pelikan on Vimeo

Quatruplets

2011-09-27T06:54:00.002-07:00

Here's a funny story :) ...

Yesterday, the girls and I were waiting in the hallway of their school classroom, waiting for their preschool class to start/open. A grammy and little boy come walking down the hallway to his class, the 4's class next the girls' class. The girls say "hi david!" Well, he's not in their class and I don't think they know him or his name but, as usual, my girls are friendly and say "hi!" to everyone :) He turns around and waves and his grammy turns and says "oh, his name is hayden." Then I tell the girls "his name's hayden" and they reply with "hi hayden!" Ha! Anyways, the grammy turns again, smiles at us and says "hi! oh, are you twins?" Brielle quickly retorts back with a "quatruplets!" Ha! Oh my! Needless to say, the grammy turns and says "triplets?" and Brielle says again "quatruplets!" She looks at me and I clarify "they're quadruplets," which then Brielle looks at me, then back at her and says "yeah, quatruplets."

I guess the girls do hear me say to folks "yes, they are quadruplets." I must say it a lot if the girls are saying it now ;)

I wonder at what point/age the girls are going to understand what quadruplets really means? Maybe Kindergarten? And then to realize that they are rare and have never met another set of quadruplets? Maybe 1st or 2nd grade? I remember Jared, in Kindergarten, telling folks when we'd be out "yeah, they're quadruplets." So funny!

Hope you enjoyed this giggle! :D

My colorers

2011-09-17T20:53:00.003-07:00

Okay, here's the reveal of my colorers with the girlies :D

Quadruplet Girl #1 --> BETHANY!Yes, sometimes Bethany still gravitates towards the green colors but then...sometimes not ;)

Quadruplet Girl #2 --> SUZAN!Suz has always been our very skilled fine-motor girl. Seriously. Since she was little. And she still is, with coloring (she LOVES to color..and don't you DARE throw away ANY coloring project of hers unless you want Suz Wrath!!! Trust me. I've been there ;P) and with any beading/craft projects.

Quadruplet Girl #3 --> BRIELLE!She has a tendency, for now, to use her left hand more than the right. Whether that's coloring or eating. It's funny. And it requires me to think a bit backwards in helping her with things, as I'm a righty ;)

Quadruplet Girl #4 --> ANNA!Yes, she chose the blue color! Although, while they were doing this "homework" she did cry out for her pink crayon, which she found and used (as seen above)...and then was willing to share with her sisters ;)

Hope you enjoyed the quiz! :D

Coloring Preschool Homework

2011-09-13T19:07:00.003-07:00

Okay, let me clarify by saying that the girlies don't really get "homework" from school. They are THREE! ;) Their teacher does send home some "extra" papers for them to do, if so desired. Oh, and the girlies only call it "homework" because they know that Big Brother comes home from school and does "homework" - Ha! ;) Gotta be like him!

Lately, their class is learning a letter for that week so their "homework" is all on that letter. This week's letter is the letter D. This morning I pulled out their "homework" and let the girls complete it. Then, they love bringing it back to school to get it graded (aka, a smiley face :) ) by Miss E. Not necessary or required; just something the girlies decided to do - Ha! Too cute! :D

Bethany, Suzan, Brielle and Anna doing their "homework" ;)Okay, can you guess who is coloring, just by their hands, their laterality and their fine-motor skills? No cheating! ;)

Quadruplet Girl #1Quadruplet Girl #2Quadruplet Girl #3Quadruplet Girl #4No, I did not switch their hands around, make them color with a certain color or with a particular hand. They did this all on their own. As you can see, they are all so different! And even maybe a lefty in the mix? We do have lefties in our family...Paul's mom and brother and my grandmother.

Next week is the letter E and probably some more coloring "homework" ;)

Big Bugs!

2011-09-10T21:07:00.003-07:00

We still have our membership to our Desert Botanical Gardens (Yay!) and they just opened a new exhibit. It's called "Big Bugs" by David Rogers. They had a special "members only preview" this evening so we went to it. Very cool! The Big Bugs are made out of fallen or found wood that Rogers then sculpts and shapes into various bugs. And the Bugs are HUGE! Like the Dragonfly that is 17 feet x 17 feet and weighs 175lbs. Wow! The kids enjoyed walking around the Gardens checking out the bugs and other interactive exhibits (like the Ground Beetles and Lady Bugs next to the Lady Bug exhibit). The weather was somewhat nice too...overcast and breezy. Enjoy the pics!

The Praying Mantis at the Gardens entranceAn Assassin BugSuzan, Bethany, Jared, Anna and Brielle by the Daddy LonglegsThis guy is alive and for real ;) ...a Road Runner. We also saw some Quail and lizards crossing the walkway and one of the volunteers said that Coyotes were wandering around too. Cool!A Tortoise moseying alongA Spider in the WebA Damsel FlyA Grasshopper. Did you know that a Grasshopper can hop a distance 20x it's length? Wow!Ants. These were cool, sitting on the hill. From this view they look little...But once you come up on them you realize nope, they are BIG!A DragonflyA Lady BugAnd another, night time pic, of the Praying MantisA very fun exhibit! We might just have to go see it again, especially when it gets much cooler around here. Oh, and what was so sweet was they gave, as "exiting gifts," lady bug cookies to the kids. Too cute! Our kids are already drooling and ready to eat them in the morning - Ha! ;) Paul had to joke with Jared and ask "okay, so are those called lady bug cookies because 1) they are shaped and decorated like lady bugs or 2) they are MADE out of lady bugs?" (**side note here, at one of the exhibits they had a can of bugs sitting on the display table and said that some bugs, like those, are EATEN in some countries - blech!! :P ) Thankfully, Jared went with #1 ;)

Excited for new jammies!

2011-08-24T19:32:00.003-07:00

Yes, the girlies are very excited to wear some new jammies I got from Target (clearance - score!!). They are getting into the "gown" kind of jammies too. They look like big girls wearing them! I think they would wear these jammies each and every night, without washing, for the next several months ;) Oh, and did I mention that they are princess jammies too? Even better!! ;D

Suzan, Brielle, Bethany and Anna, all ready for bedtime. Anna's jammies are princess. They have "once upon a time" in tiny writing and pink castles all over it. Cute! Thankfully, they can somewhat swap around the size 5/6 jammies so each girl gets a turn with each jammie. They are great at sharing that way!

Play-Doh Time!

2011-08-10T20:09:00.002-07:00

What to do when it's too hot to go play outside? And there's no storytime at our local library? And Mama's knees are too hurt to go walk around somewhere? Play with Play-Doh! Good thing we have a bit of it here, along with some fun manipulatives for it too ;) You can't go wrong with Play-Doh! And to think it started out as wallpaper cleaner in the 1930s!

Here, a video (albeit, maybe a bit "dry" and "boring") of the girlies playing this AM.
Play-Doh Time 081011 from Pelikan on Vimeo.

Freeze Dance

2011-07-30T16:56:00.002-07:00

The girls are too cute when they play like big kids!

Freeze Dance 072911 from Pelikan on Vimeo.

Back to school! Suzan's, Anna's, Bethany's and Brielle's 1st day of Preschool!

2011-07-25T16:04:00.002-07:00

The girlies were SO excited to go to their school and class today! It was cute! It sounds like they had a great time there! Actually, all 5 kids have good reports on their 1st days back to school - Yay!

The girlies, at home and ready to take off for school!The girls at school, waiting for their classroom to open. Can't wait!Suzan, all settled in and putting a puzzle togetherAnna having fun with a puzzle tooBethany putting her puzzle togetherAnd Brielle enjoying her puzzleThe girls all did great...no crying or clinging to Mama. You never know ;) It was funny to hear Bethany tell me yesterday and today "mama, i not cry at school. no, not cry." Ha! And she didn't - Yay!

Tonight at dinner, I'm sure our 5 kids will give me and Paul an earfull of school stories and how their 1st days went. So fun! Praise God for our wonderful teachers and schools!!

Back to school! Jared's 1st day of 2nd grade!

2011-07-25T09:00:00.002-07:00

Yes, it's back to school time for us! I can't believe it...how fast our summer break went! We had a good time and I will miss that time with the kids!

Jared is off to 2nd grade this morning! *Sigh* He's getting so big! He's excited about his class and his teacher, Mr. B. We are too! He and I talked this morning about being nervous yet excited about school. We prayed too, for him, his class and teacher and his school year. I can't wait to hear how his 1st day went!

Off to school!Playing on the playground before the bell ringsNow, it's the girls time for their class! Yes, they go back to school today too! They are excited, so much so they thought they were going when Jared was going this morning. Ha! ;)

Happy Birthday Honey!

2011-07-23T16:28:00.002-07:00

Paul with Suzan, Bethany, Jared, Brielle and AnnaHappy Birthday to my sweetheart husband! :D You are an awesome and faithful man and the kids and I love and appreciate you and all that you do for us! Hope you had a great birthday with us silly kids and Mama ;)

The birthday cake request was Angel Food cake with whipped topping and strawberries - Yum! Thanks to America's Test Kitchen for the cake and strawberry topping recipes. SO good and super easy!

The cake, all ready for the oven!All done baking (for 50 minutes) and cooling (yes, upside down - SOP for baking Angel Food cake)Mmmm! Looking good! Ha!, looks like Bethany is ready for cake ;)Yummy!And now what's left after our family of 7 eats some ;)The kids were super excited for Dad's birthday, especially the girlies...."daddy, it's your birthday! you get to eat CAKE! Mama made it!" and "daddy, open your present and cards, daddy! Your present, over HERE!" Ha! ;) The kids got to make a sweet card for Paul :) Nothing like celebrating your birthday with your cute and sweet kids! :D

Thanks to Sarah T (babysitter) so that Paul and I got out for a birthday dinner. Yay! :)

We love Paul/Dad and are blessed that God gave him to us! Praising God for the man we love and care for!

Cousin Love!

2011-07-19T14:29:00.002-07:00

We love our cousin Tyler! :D

Happy 14th to Tyler!

2011-07-18T20:18:00.002-07:00

Since my nephew (the kids' cousin) Tyler is in town we thought it would be fun to celebrate his birthday with him a bit early. He and Grammy came over for dinner and then we had cake with the birthday boy. I can't believe Tyler is turning 14 (in early August)! Ack! ;) He is such a great kid! And our kids LOVE cousin Tyler! We are blessed that we still get to see him (thanks to Grammy)!We've enjoyed having him here for his summer vacation. We got to swim with him several times, Jared has had sleep overs at Grammy's with him and Grammy and we went to the library with Tyler once. We'll miss him when he has to go back home but we look forward to seeing him again soon! We love you Tyler!!

Bountiful Basil!

2011-07-18T08:58:00.002-07:00

Basil coming out my ears from my garden! And I have at least 10x more of this still in the dirt! Yes, even in our hot AZ heat! Gotta find recipes/uses for it!

Lazy Saturday

2011-07-16T15:59:00.001-07:00

Want to know what we did today, Saturday? Not much - Ha! ;) Here's a video of what the kids did this morning.

Lazy Saturday 071611 from Pelikan on Vimeo.

A good summer break

2011-07-15T20:23:00.004-07:00

We've had a good summer break so far. And for us, it's almost over :( Yes, the kids go back to school in ~10 days. It's been fun doing some cool things with them, such as...

Jared's baseball team won their division championship - Yay!
The kids did 4 weeks worth of swim lessons! This was our last and 4th week of them. Jared is now swimming in the deep/diving end and the girlies are going under and jumping into the water. Out of the girlies, Suzan is doing the best with swimming, doing all that the instructor wanted her to do like diving for rings, floating, "superman" glides and jumping into the pool. Very cool!
All kids completed the library's summer reading programs. They loved the prizes they got!
We've been to 11 events at the library...for storytimes, crafts, animal exhibits, puppet show, magic shows. They enjoyed them all!
We've played and swimmed with a few friends and family.
We enjoyed the 4th of July and fireworks at our church.
We've made a few crafts and enjoyed some yummy summer treats.
And Jared has enjoyed attending VBS this week.

Not much left for us to do this last week of break...maybe some more swimming with friends and family, playtime with friends or with each other, more crafts, getting our school supplies/clothes ready for school. Oh, and go to school for "meet the teacher" night. Yay!

I think I will miss the kids wondering what we have planned for the day. Every morning the girlies wake up and ask me "mama, what are we doing today? where are we going?" Ha! I guess I did keep them a bit busy this summer...busy enough for them to notice, at least ;)

Everyone enjoy the rest of your summer!

Wildman Phil

2011-07-15T19:49:00.004-07:00

Last week the kids and I met Grammy and cousin Tyler at our local library for a show by Wildman Phil. I didn't know what to expect, other than a gentleman coming in with some "animals" to show the kids and teaching the kids about the animals. Well, he brought in some interesting animals, for sure! Let's see...

2 scorpions (one local kind and a black Emperor scorpion from Africa, I believe?)
a tarantula (local)
several kinds of lizards, local and from around the world (I remember the Collared Lizard, a Chameleon and a black lizard that would puff up as a defense mechanism)
3.5 legged tortoise (it's 4th leg was gone so Wildman Phil gave him a small wheel for the leg ;) )
and a few snakes (the skin of a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (local here), a Corn Snake, some black snake that was super, super fast!, a King Snake and then a 13ft long female, I believe, Python).

Can I just say "Accckk!!!"? I said to my mom, Grammy, "hm, glad we are sitting in the back here!" We usually sit up front for these library events but I guess God knew I needed to be in the back row - Ha! ;)

After Wildman Phil's show he let the kids check out some of the animals. Jared pet the tortoise, held the Corn Snake (I still can't believe that!) and then was playing around with the Python. Oh my! I tried to get close to see the Python but every time she kept looking straight at me and started to make a beeline for my foot. Uh, no way! And then every time I side stepped she make a correction and kept going straight for me. I don't know what was so fascinating about me but I said "yeah, see ya snake!" ;)

Here's some pics (bad and a bit fuzzy since they came from my phone - sorry!) of Jared and cousin Tyler with the Python. Glad they had fun with the snake ;)

She first starts out in the tub but then quickly gets out. Eeeeek! Yes, that's Jared there :PNow she's all the way out and just "walking" around. Jared all comfortable with it :This is cousin Tyler. I think he was just petting her (chills/goosebumps just thinking about it!) It was fun and interesting, I will give it that! ;)

The Ferris Wheel

2011-07-15T14:16:00.002-07:00

Jared had a friend over yesterday and the two of them were trying to make this ferris wheel. Well, they didn't quite get it. So, Jared finished it up today. Pretty spiffy! :)Nothing like downtime in the summer with building things!

Crowns

2011-07-13T19:29:00.002-07:00

We had a babysitter over on Sunday and so she and the girlies made some crowns. The girls wear these ALL.THE.TIME now! Ha! ;) Here's a cute video of them wearing the crowns.

Crowns 071111 from Pelikan on Vimeo

Of course, all I think of when I see them wear the crowns or say "crown" is the hymn "Crown Him with Many Crowns." I don't know why but that's what I start singing in my head. Ha! :D That and I think of the Bible passage in Revelations when the elders lay their crowns at Jesus' feet and give Him praise and worship. Amen to those kind of crowns!

Catching Up!

2011-07-10T14:34:00.002-07:00

Okay, so I'm trying to get caught up in my picture backlog on my camera card. I think I am caught up - Whew! They are...

Easter pics - check out these posts for the pics - Easter Decor & Happy Easter!
Jared's baseball team wins! - check out this post for the pics - We are the champions!

I also added the kids' birthday pics to their birthday posts, Jared's and the girls'. They turned out really cute! I also got a pic of all of them together, as the 5 of them share the same birthday month - March! ;)

Suzan, Jared, Bethany, Anna and BrielleHere's to being caught up! ;)

We are the champions!

2011-07-10T14:16:00.003-07:00

Back in the end of May and into June, Jared's baseball team played for the championship in their division. No way did I think, back in March when the season started, that Jared and his team would go all the way to the end and become the champs. But they did! All of those long hours of practice (at least 4hrs a week) and games (at least 1 game a week) paid off! They are the champs for their division! Yay!

Here are some pics from last month of their tournament games and then the last and winning game. Enjoy! :)

Jared played catcher during game 1. What a cute little catcher! :DGame 2 of the tournament. Yes, he played the catcher position againHere he is up at bat this gameI didn't take any pics of game 3 but got these of game 4 (the last and winning game of the tournament series). "Go Iron Pigs!" (**Suzan was cute yelling this at the games - Ha! ;) )

Dog pile! The boys had just won the game, 11-4, I believe. (That's Jared running up to the pile on the left ;)#7, that's our boy!Ha! One of the assistant coaches running into the pile...and he DID!The line up...Jared is 3rd from the rightJared getting an introduction from coachKudos to all of the coaches!!...2 of the assistant coachesOne of the other assistant coachesThe team! Jared on the right end. Coach is the man 2nd from the leftSilly boys :PParty afterwards! Yay! MUCH deserved for all of their hard work!Jared with his championship shirt :)I think Jared wants to continue with baseball, probably to sign up for the fall season and then for spring. He does SO well hitting now! It's been fun to see his progress! Go Jared! :)

Fireworks! (**okay, big ones this time ;) )

2011-07-05T15:16:00.005-07:00

We took the kids to our church for fireworks last evening. They LOVED it (along with the cotton candy Mama brought along as a treat ;) )! And I have to say that our church did an AMAZING job putting on a display! A good ~30 minutes of fireworks! Plus, the city asked us to team up with them to put it on as a city-wide event. Wow! Now that says a lot! I'm not too sure of the exact count but I'm guessing there were about 8,000 to 10,000 folks there last evening! And it was very family friendly too, e.g. bring your footballs/beach balls to throw around a bit, picnic dinner in the grass area, tail gating before the display and lots more.

Suzan waiting patiently...JaredAnnaBrielleAnd Bethany (along with Dad :) )These are just a few of my favorites from the evening...This one is cool how the sky lights up redGreen, for Bethany ;)Red and green...Christmastime already? ;)I don't know what this one is called but it's cool looking! We saw a heart-shaped one too - neat!And ones that are big and bright are always neat to see!Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Firework Necklaces

2011-07-05T07:36:00.001-07:00

I got these 4th of July necklace kits for the kids this year. They enjoyed them!
Firework Necklaces 070411 from Pelikan on Vimeo.

Fireworks!

2011-07-04T18:01:00.002-07:00

Okay, I have to preface this by saying that fireworks are not legal in our state. Or I should say no "big" fireworks are legal for individuals to purchase and shoot off. Our state did just pass a law allowing ground fireworks but that's it. And even if ground fireworks are allowed at the state level, it's up to the cities to allow it or not. As it turns out, our city won't allow individuals to shoot off ground fireworks, e.g. fountains. Bummer! :P That leaves us with the "novelty" or "kiddie" fireworks like snaps and snakes. Wooo! : Have I mentioned the North Dakota fireworks before? We miss those! Maybe some day NoDaks...some day!

In the meantime, enjoy this video of the kids and snap fireworks. We lit some snakes just before this, hence the stained plywood in the middle of the street. As you can see the kids LOVED the snaps. Hopefully they will enjoy the fireworks that our church is shooting off this evening ;)

Fireworks 070311 from Pelikan on Vimeo.

Paparazzi

2011-07-04T15:34:00.003-07:00

I had to take this video of the girlies the other day. They have these play cell phones that have buttons to push and make sound. Well, I don't know how they figured this out (because I definitely don't take their picture with my cell phone) but they decided to take pictures of their princesses with their phones. Ha! Way too funny!
Paparazzi 070211 from Pelikan on Vimeo.

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T11:32:00.002-07:00

Jared, Bethany, Suzan, Anna and Brielle, after 1.5hrs of swimming in our pool this AM! Now that's the way to start the 4th! ;)Happy 4th of July! Hope everyone gets to celebrate our country today. God has blessed the USA much with freedoms and His truth!

Firecracker Cake

2011-07-03T20:02:00.002-07:00

I've seen this recipe before but this year I wanted to finally try it. It's Betty Crocker's Firecracker Red White and Blue Cake. Yum! It's super easy to make it too! Jared enjoyed helping me! Here are some pics of our fun cake creation!

My baking helper!Gotta let him have the mixer paddle to lick - Yum!Dyeing the cake batter red and blueReady to pour into the bundt panFirst red...Then white...And lastly blueBaked at 325* for ~38 minutes and..."ding!" All done baking!Next, it's frosting time. Just get a can of white frosting, divide it into 3rds, dye 1 bowl red and 1 bowl blue, nuke each bowl for ~15 seconds then drizzle over the top of the cake. Add red, white and blue sprinkles if you have them. I'm a sprinkle nut so I already had some on hand ;)Ooo! Doesn't it look so cool when cut! A small scoop of ice cream on the side.Yup, we couldn't wait for tomorrow, the 4th of July, to enjoy this yumminess! We had some for dessert after dinner this evening. This is what remains after the 7 of us had a little bit.You folks have got to try this! Super easy and cute! I've also seen some cakes made to look like rainbows, like for birthday parties and such. Way cute too! Betty Crocker had some other cute cake recipes, like this pink princess castle cake. I might just have to try that, for the girls' 4th birthday! ;)

Brielle's 1st Dentist Appointment!

2011-06-28T15:54:00.007-07:00

Brielle did about the same as Bethany. Although, she did wear the sunglasses but I think that's because Bethany didn't want to wear them so the hygienist let Brielle wear them while waiting. Ha! ;)

Pics of Brielle'y!

Say "cheese!" Brielle! Nope, no smiling whatsoever ;)Getting her teeth cleanedHer time with the dentist. Both she and Bethany got a clean bill of health! Yay!Whew! Got all 80 teeth of the girlies' cleaned this month! Now, we wait 6 months until I repeat it again ;)

Bethany's 1st Dentist Appointment!

2011-06-28T15:54:00.005-07:00

Today I took the last 2 girls to the dentist for their 1st intro and 3yo dental check-up. The "B" team was more timid with the hygienist and dentist than the other 2 girls. Go figure! ;)

Up first was Bethany. She did NOT want to sit in the chair (I had to sit her down in it myself), let alone recline back in it, wear the sunglasses, use "Mr. Thirsty" and "Mr. Water" and was in no mood for the "string," aka floss. But all in all she did okay. Good for an intro check-up!

Pics of my girly!

Can you tell that she is uncomfortable with the whole situation? Ha! ;)Getting her teeth cleanedLast, but not least, Brielle!

My Cleaning Partner in Crime

2011-06-22T21:24:00.003-07:00

For the longest time Jared's been wanting to mop my floors. I kept telling him "no." Well, until this evening. I had to get my floors clean asap (sweep and mop). They needed it! I would like to clean them more often..." *GASP* You mean you don't, Maria?!?!?!" ;) Of course Jared asked if he could help me. He said he could be the wringer of the mop. I said "sure." It seemed like something he could do. Then, when we got to the end of my mopping he asked "can I mop some mom?" I said "sure. you can mop the laundry room." And he did! He loved it - Ha! ;) He did a great job too! Maybe he CAN mop my floors...like every week! ;)

Here's a little clip of him mopping. Yes, he's in his jammies. Yes, he's wearing socks. And yes, that's my washer running in the background. Laundry is a constant in our home ;)
My Cleaning Partner in Crime 062211 from Pelikan on Vimeo.

Stars & Stripes

2011-06-20T13:40:00.002-07:00

This is my latest craft/decor project. It was fun and super easy to make! I think I have fallen in love with decorating our fireplace with bunting - Ha! ;)

Here is where I found the tut to make it. Again, SUPER easy!

Our 5 Little Guppies

2011-06-11T11:02:00.002-07:00

This has been the 1st week of the kids taking swim lessons. So far they have enjoyed them. Well, except for Bethany and then Brielle gets sad because Bethany is sad :( Overall, though, it's been good. We have 1 more week of lessons and then I'm going to sign up the kids for another 2 weeks worth of lessons in July.

Here's a video of them swimming. Enjoy! :)

Kids' Swim Lessons Summer 2011 from Pelikan on Vimeo.

Anna's 1st Dentist Appointment!

2011-06-10T20:33:00.002-07:00

Anna got to watch Suzan get her teeth cleaned and checked so she was ready and able when it was her turn to sit in the chair. She did awesome too! No fussing or crying. Not even a whimper. Wow! She, too, was excited to get her toy and sticker afterwards. And yes, she carried around her new toothbrush, toothpaste and floss here at home, still in the paper bag that the dentist sent them home in. Ha! These girlies make me smile and laugh :D

Anna's ready too!Anna getting her teeth cleanedAnd her with the dentist checking those pearly whites ;)Okay, now 2 down, 2 to go ;)

Suzan's 1st Dentist Appointment!

2011-06-10T20:11:00.002-07:00

It's been a while since we had one of our children go to the dentist for the very first time. Well, the girlies start seeing the dentist now at age 3. Today, I took 2 of the 4.

Suzan did SO well! No fussing or crying. Not even a "mama?!?!" accompanied by a concerned look or arms wrapped around my legs. She jumped right into the dentist's chair and enjoyed watching Mickey's Clubhouse while her chompers got a check-up. She knew she would get a toy and sticker afterwards and was excited for that. Plus, this evening she's been carrying around her new toothbrush, toothpaste and floss like it were her princess - Ha! ;) Guess she really liked the dentist, huh? :)

Suzan all ready!Suz getting her teeth cleanedThen getting her teeth checked by Dr. Grace1 down, 1 to go ;)

Twirl!

2011-06-05T23:27:00.003-07:00

For those women out there, remember twirling around in your dress when you were a little girl? Trying to get the skirt big and puffed out? Well, my girlies became dress twirlers today. It was very cute to see them twirl around and around, watching their dresses puff out :) I have it on video and will post later.

Suzan definitely loved twirling in her Sunday dress today :) Too cute! She asked and asked me, over and over, "mama, take my picture. take my picture mama. mama, take my picture. take my picture mama." (she remembered me taking video of her and her sisters twirling earlier and so wanted me to do it again). I told her "okay" and we went outside for a twirl picture :DAh, my girlies ;) They are so sweet and cute!

A kiss by a baseball

2011-06-05T23:21:00.003-07:00

Yeah, Jared's forehead got a little "stitching kiss" from a baseball this afternoon while doing to batting practice with Dad. And yes, he was even wearing his batting helmet so go fig.Wow, never seen that before!He's good, don't worry. He just thinks it's cool to have a baseball stitching mark on his noggin ;)

We're still in baseball tournament mode here! We'll see if Jared's team can't beat 2 more teams to become the champs of their division! :)

Silly Kids

2011-06-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

Never a dull moment in our household! Ha! ;)

Silly Kids 060311 from Pelikan on Vimeo.

Last day of school for SABB

2011-05-31T17:35:00.004-07:00

Today was the girls last day of preschool for this school year. Of course I had to take pics of them with their sweet teachers :)

Suzan and Anna with Miss EAnd Bethany and Brielle with Mrs. MThey loved their teachers, friends and school. They can't wait to go back come end of July!

Missing Teeth

2011-05-30T14:06:00.006-07:00

Jared's been losing teeth these days. First, his teeth on the bottom got booted out of place by his adult teeth coming in. Then, his baseball coach pulled one of Jared's very loose top teeth - Ha! And now he lost his 2nd top tooth just yesterday (Sunday). It was hanging on by a thread and I knew was about to come out. Jared looks like a cute little boy with his teeth all missing :)Guess the Tooth Fairy has been busy at our home these last few weeks ;)

P.S. Jared has a funny story about how he lost this 2nd top tooth. You'll have to ask him about it the next time you see him ;)

Catcher Jared

2011-05-30T10:13:00.006-07:00

Jared's baseball league is in tournament time. Jared had his first single-elimination game this AM...and his team won! Go boys! It was a fun game. Jared played catcher. What a cute little catcher here! ;) He also scored 1 for his team - yay!Now his team moves on to the next game elimination. They have a pretty good chance of winning the tournament, as they are 11W-1L for the season. Go boys go! :)

1st grade is coming to an end!

2011-05-28T20:46:00.006-07:00

Jared is almost done with 1st grade. Wow! Yes, I know. Some of you are thinking "huh? you guys are getting out of school now?" Yup. That's how our school district goes. It's called "modified year round." We get 8 weeks off in the summer (our kids will go back in late July), then 2 weeks off in the fall, 2 weeks at Christmastime and then 2 again for spring break (along with onesie and twosie days off throughout the year here and there). It works and we love it.

In any case ;) , Jared is almost a 2nd grader! I can't believe that! He's had a great year in 1st grade...lots of friends made, LOTS of learning (anyone multiply numbers in 1st grade? like 2x7, 7x5, 2x3? I really don't think I did that in 1st grade!) and lots of fun with his teacher. We love her!

She gave out class awards this past week. Jared got the "always being polite" award! That's our Jared! :) Oh, and us parents could tell that the kids were ready for summer...lots of fidgeting and silliness going on - Ha! ;)

Jared receiving his award from his teacher (Mrs. P).The kids giving Mrs. P a "gift card tree," her favorite plant (hibiscus) and lots of gift cards to her favorites places! Notice a pic of Jared on the screen in the slideshow - Ha! ;)Jared with Mrs. P. She is such a sweet, caring and gifted teacher! I can only pray that all of Jared’s future teachers are as awesome as she is! And that some of our girls can have her as their teacher in the future too ;)The girlies get out of school the same time as Jared. I'll have to take a picture of them with their teachers :) They've really enjoyed their pre-school. Praise God we are SO fortunate to have such a great school system here in town!

Summer is just around the corner! Well, I guess weather-wise it's already here for us, what with our 100* temps - Ha! :P

Swimming for the first time!

2011-05-15T19:52:00.003-07:00

Tonight, we went swimming! Yes! Even though it was 82* in our pool it felt cold to me ;) But not for our 5 kids. They jumped right in. Okay, maybe Jared was the only one jumping but the girls did get their feet in it. Then, Suzan (of course her! ;) ) started splashing...first with her wild arms/hands and then laying on her belly kicking. Ha! Some of the other girls were splashing a bit too but then I think it got a bit chilly for them so they got out, got towels and then we all watched Jared cannonball into the pool, swim from one end to the other and do some back and front glides.

Jared, Suzan, Anna, Bethany and Brielle enjoying a swim! The girlies look so much older to me, wearing big girl swim suits now!I got the 5 kids signed up for swim lessons this summer through our parks & rec program. It's reasonably priced, good teaching (Jared's taken them every summer since he was ~2yo!) and close by to us. It will be fun to see the girlies (2 in 1 class and 2 in another) in the lessons! They will be taking the same class Jared took when he was 3! How funny! The girls are excited for swimming and getting to wear their new swim suits - Ha!

Looking forward to summer break! Yay! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T07:43:00.011-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there! Praying you get to enjoy today!

Maria with Suzan, Anna, Bethany, Jared and Brielle. 5 cute kiddos which Mama loves!!!!! :)

Student of the Month

2011-04-25T14:12:00.002-07:00

Yes, our smartie-pants 1st grader received another award from school! Go Jared!! We are SO proud of you!

Pics of the assembly from this morning.

Jared on the end, waiting to be recognizedJared going up front, getting his award from the principalThe Kindergartners and 1st graders that were recognized for all of their hard work!Jared with his Student of the Month award. Yay Jared!Jared with the principal, Mrs. S :)Praise God for how well Jared is doing at school...that he loves it there, has a sweet and great teacher (just like last year's teacher), learns lots and is having fun! We love you Jared! :D

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T07:56:00.004-07:00

**updated with more pictures!

Happy Easter to you! Praise the Lord! He has Risen!

Anna, Suzan, Jared, Bethany and Brielle ready to go to Easter service last eveningWishing you a very blessed Easter! May you know the love that Jesus poured out for us!!

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." - Isaiah 53:5

We took the kids in to our local photo studio for some professional pics. They turned out AWESOME! The Easter kids...Bethany, Suzan, Jared, Brielle and AnnaJared...how handsome!! :)Suzan...mischievous :)Anna...sweet :)Bethany...silly :)Brielle...smiley :)Pictures of our Easter morning. Bethany, on the hunt for eggs!Don't miss that yellow one Suz!Jared, running for one he foundBrielle found one!Still looking...Suzan and AnnaBethany - "EGG!"Time for a chocolate break from their Easter baskets!Jared, dyeing eggs with MamaOooo! This kit even came with glitter for the eggs (like the ones on the far left)Easter dinner and another hunt with our good friends! Bethany, Anna and Suzan hunting.Candy again!Ah, Anna figured out the eggs were filled with candy ;)Sneaky pants!Jared's already chewing on some egg candy - Ha!Anna gives it a "thumbs up" ;)Baby Russell M :)Ryan M, on the lookout for more eggs - Ha!10 silly and crazy kids! Anna, Jared, Brielle, Russell M, Grace M, Ryan M, Owen H, Suzan, Seth H and BethanyThe 7 of us :) Notice the kids' mouths all full of candy - Ha! Bethany, Anna, Suzan, Maria, Jared, Paul and BrielleOooo! My good friend, Karen, does it again with some cute and festive Easter cupcakes for the kids!Awe! Bethany giving Russell a kiss!

City's Easter Celebration

2011-04-23T13:07:00.002-07:00

We took all 5 kids to our city's Easter Celebration this year. It was a BIG turn out! The kids had fun...listening to an Easter choir, walking around looking at all of the vendor booths and then having fun at the egg hunt and eating the candy afterwards! :D

Brielle with Dad, watching and listening to a choirAnnaSuzan, giving me a silly "cheese" face ;)Bethany with DadJared
The kids (Suzan, Jared, Anna, Brielle and Bethany) ready for the egg huntA view of some of the eggsGo! Suzan is the 1st one off!Here go the rest of the kids!Anna found an egg and has already opened it - CANDY!Suzan's loot!Bethany - "EGG!" ;)Jared's loot tooBrielle's ready for some candy!Anna too!Bethany, of course ;)Suzan - "hm, so there's candy in these eggs, huh?"Jared, ready for a candy break tooOkay, let's have a candy break then...SuzanAnna...Bethany...Brielle...And Jared...

Easter Decor

2011-04-23T13:06:00.003-07:00

During the Easter/Lent season, I came across this tut for making an Easter Peeps bunting. It looked SO cute and cool that I had to make it! :) I have to say it is pretty easy and cheap to make - sweet!

The Peeps bunting, across our fireplace. The crosses were made by the girls one day.Way too cute! :)Some other pics of my Easter decorations. Yes, we have fun decorating for the holidays :)This, I purchased the cage for cheap at a second hand store, got some wooden eggs to paint as Robin's eggs, then added a nest and faux Robin in there to finish it off. A matching Robins-blue ribbon on top.This idea came from here. It turned out cute, I think.Jared had fun making an Easter craftIt turned out pretty cute!

Spring Break Trip

2011-04-18T19:32:00.005-07:00

Yes, I also forgot to blog about our spring break trip back in early March. Ooops! ;) Hey, better late than never, right?

We took another trip up north with our family + Grammy. It was fun to get away. We did get to see some snow, albeit little 3ft patches of it here and there. But hey, the kids were happy with it, what with making (and throwing) snowballs and miniature snowmen :) We always love where we stay, just for the fact that it can sleep 8, has awesome views, an outdoor patio/stairs and a fireplace (gotta make S'mores while on vaca in the pines!) We took a few drives out and about, one to walk around Sunset Crater and the other to a nearby park. Jared and Paul also got in some Wii or Playstation video game action at the activity center ;) No, the swimming pools weren't open yet. Too cold, I guess :P

Enjoy the pics!

The girlies, all snug in their bed. Sleep? Yeah right! Ha! ;) And how much longer do you think we can squeeze all 4 of them into 1 bed? Hm...Mountain views...ahhhhh!Anna, Bethany and Suzan looking outsideOur little patch of snow behind our back patioWe took a drive to Sunset Crater. On the way, lots of views of snow top mountainsWalking around Sunset Crater. There is a very easy, short and paved walking path around the volcano. Yes, I said volcanoBethany and GrammyLava flowAnna and DadSuz found a treasure ;)Our 5 kids...Jared, Brielle, Bethany, Suzan and AnnaGrammy disobeyed the signs and went off the path, just to grab snow for the grand kids - Ha! ;)Brielle and her snowball. This is the first time any of our kids have seen, touched or played in snow. Wow!Jared and his snowAnnaBethanyThrowing snowballs from our patch behind the patio back at our unit. The kids, and Dad, had fun! :)Jared's miniature snowman. That's about as big as he could make him :)And yet more snow fun at another snow patch. They had fun!

More pics of Jared's 7th birthday party

2011-04-17T13:45:00.003-07:00

I forgot that I didn't post pics of Jared's birthday party with his friends!

A few weeks after his actual birthday we had a small party for him with a few of his friends at Peter Piper Pizza (his choice for this year). He had fun celebrating with them!

Here, Brielle on the merry-go-round. Couldn't get her off that thing! Ryan. The Murphys are our great friends!!RussellSuzan and Bethany playing in the wiggly ice cream truck.GraceSuz playing wack-a-mole ;)Jared with some of his school friendsMore friends of Jared'sDad showing our girls how to play wack-a-moleThe birthday boy with his personalized and hand-made pizzaSome of the kids eatingThe "Carlson girl" table - Ha! ;)Cake time! He requested Wall-E for his cake this year (with Lightening McQueen a very close 2nd ;) )Getting those candles!A thumbs up on his PPP party :)Oh, and the girlies had to show off their "loot" from the game tickets - Ha! Rings and bracelets (and lollipops!)We had fun celebrating (and spoiling!) our BIG 7-year-old boy/son/brother!! :)

1st Loose Tooth!

2011-04-16T08:04:00.005-07:00

Yes, Jared, at 7-years-old, lost his first tooth! Yay! :) For the last few months he's had 4 teeth wiggling loose, 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom. Just yesterday morning before school he ran up stairs saying "my tooth! it's out!" How cool Bud! Of course I had to take a few pics of him and his 1st loose tooth :D The itty-bitty baby tooth. I told him "that tooth is about 6.5yo! it's been in your mouth that long!" He was surprised by that.You can see where it came out. His permanent teeth are already popping up. Guess they can't wait for those babies to move on out ;)He was excited to put his 1st loose tooth in his tooth fairy pillow (that his 1st grade teacher made and gave to all of her kids at Christmas) at bedtime last evening. The tooth fairy was nice giving him a generous $1 for his very first tooth. Funny thing, Jared went to bed and put a note on his tooth pillow with "$13" written on it. I guess he was telling the tooth fairy what the going rate is for teeth these days - Ha! Um, maybe that's what dentists charge per tooth these days but about $12 too much for "our" tooth fairy ;)

P.S. Now the girlies think they have loose teeth too. It was funny at dinnertime last evening, each girl, after every bite, would say "owe! i got a loose toof mama! a loose toof!" It's a bit difficult convincing them that "no, you don't have loose teeth. only Jared." Ha!

Awe! A son taking care of his poor, sick Mama :)

2011-04-14T20:21:00.006-07:00

Starting last week and into the beginning of this week I was sick. Like SO sick...103/104* temp, chills/sweats, sore throat on one side of my mouth, huge swollen and white-covered tonsil, couldn't eat or drink for 5 days, horrible ear and head aches. Despite going to the urgent care and getting on antibiotics it has taken me about 1 week to start feeling back to normal again and I've been told it will take me 2 weeks of antibiotics to clear up whatever I had (nope, strep came back neg so it wasn't that; was told tonsillitis and also that I had the onset of an abscess behind my tonsil - YUCK!).

Anyways! My son did the sweetest thing for me last week when he saw his mom truly sick, crying and horrible! All on his own doing, he made me something...A get well card :) He knows I am a girl so I might like the color pink :) What he drew was a bed with me, the sick Mommy, laying down in it and I have a huge red thermometer sticking out from my mouth/head. I don't know if you can see what he wrote or not. It's in white crayon...It says "i hope you get well." Awe! I thought he was up to something before school last Thursday, when I got so sick, but I didn't know what he was doing for sure. I saw what it was when I came back to bed later that morning and it sat on my nightstand. It gave me a HUGE smile on my face. That's love! :) I have a very sweet and caring boy there!! :D

Honor Roll X2

2011-04-03T16:12:00.004-07:00

Our smarty pants boy got onto the school Honor Roll again! Way to go Jared!I forgot to blog about his first time on the Honor Roll, back in January. Ooops! Well, better late than never, right? ;) So he was on the Roll in 1/2011 and then again in 3/2011. Yup, he's doing a great job at school! He loves math (doing division, multiplication and adding and subtracting two or more 2-digit numbers, e.g. 17+4+59+26, 72-39). He is also great at reading and reading comprehension, getting 100%s on his AR tests and reading at a 2nd/3rd grade level (remember, he's only in 1st grade!). Oh, and did I mention science and social studies? He likes that too! Go Jared! :)

Praise God for how well Jared is doing at school, that he loves it there and loves learning and that he can attend a wonderful academic school!

Hopperena

2011-04-02T13:57:00.014-07:00

Okay, this is too cute! I have the brand-new Veggie Tales Easter DVD checked out from our library. The kids have watched it a few times already. It's a cute story about the real meaning of Easter. I wish we owned this video; it's cute! Anyways, if you know the Veggie Tales DVDs they always have a silly song halfway through the story. The silly song on this DVD is actually a dance, called the Hopperena. It's cute. Well, the girls found my bunny slippers (yes, I actually DO have some, thanks to my hubby ;) ) and were wearing them this morning. They were hopping around and saying "hopperena! do the hopperena!" It was so funny! Then, one of them said "mama, i need ears. i need ears mama." Surprisingly, we don't own any bunny ears (crazy, huh? ;) ). With my crafty skills and some headbands I made bunny ears for them. They were THRILLED! Now, their Hopperena outfits were complete, just like on the video - Ha! Seriously? They paid attention to that DVD and knew that they needed bunny slippers and ears for the dance? I guess so.

Suzan, Anna and Bethany ready for some Hopperena dancing. Brielle didn't get to participate since she isn't feeling well and was sleeping :( Notice I have one pair of slippers. The girlies had to share. So one slipper per girl ;) Oh, and Suz improvised and used my bright pink flip flops for her "bunny slippers" - Ha! These girlies make me laugh! :)

April Fools!

2011-04-01T20:55:00.003-07:00

I subscribe to the Family Fun magazine. I LOVE it! Super cute ideas in there for kids (and for crafty mamas like myself ;) ). Anyways, I got my April subscription and they had a cute April Fools idea in there. Doughnut Seeds! I love it! So I went onto their website, found the printable for this joke and put it together. You use Frosted Cheerios for the "seeds." Here's how it played out...

at the table eating breakfast

Me- Hey Jared, I forgot to tell you I went by Lowe's the other day and found these seeds. So I picked them up for us to try. (hand them the Doughnut Seeds packet)

Jared - (looking at them and realizes they are seeds for doughnuts. his eyes get HUGE!)

Me - So, what do you think? Should we plant them?

Jared - YES!

Paul - (piping in) Um Jared, do you know what folks do on April...

Me - Paul! (Ha!) Jared, let's read the packet.

Jared - (reading it) It says to plant them on April 1st.

Me - When is April 1st?

Jared - I don't know.

Me - Let's look at our calendar.

Jared - (looking at the calendar and realizes today is April 1st. he gets big eyes again and a huge grin). That's today!

Me - cool! Hey, I'm curious what these seeds look like. Aren't you? Let's open up the packet.

Jared - (excited to open it, rips it open. gets a confused look on his face). That's weird, they look like Cheerios.

Me - really?

Jared - yeah.

Me - Hm, that is weird. (pause) Jared?

Jared - yeah mom?

Me - April Fools!

Jared - (laughing!)

He had fun with it. I gave a packet to each of the girlies too, just for grins. What's more is I made up a packet for him to give to his teacher - Ha! He really liked that idea, playing a joke on his teacher. He was a good sport. Even a better sport when he saw that I had a full box of Frosted Cheerios for him to enjoy for breakfast :)

Family Fun is awesome! They had some cool and creative ideas in there. I also especially liked the April Fools "meals" they had, like the fish sticks or the bacon & eggs. Lots of fun things to try in the future!

First day of preschool!

2011-03-29T14:01:00.006-07:00

Yes, today was Suzan's, Anna's, Bethany's and Brielle's first day of preschool. Yay! They were excited. Thanks to Aunt Mary for the most awesome backpacks!!!! The girlies REALLY liked them and were beyond thrilled when they could finally don them on - Ha! ;) They look so cute, yet so tiny, looking all ready for school! In birth order (didn't plan it that way for the op ;) )...Suzan, Anna, Bethany and Brielle all ready for preschool!Close-up of SuzanAnnaBethanyBrielleThe girlies in front of their school and after a full afternoon of play and learning there!We are fortunate that the school is close to us and have enough classes to accomodate quads. 2 girls are in one class and 2 are in another. Fortunately, the classrooms share a common bathroom/walk-through area and the classes have recess at the same time, so the girls will see each other all together once or twice while there.

Praise God for this awesome school and program! We are very fortunate that the girls can attend preschool!

Step up to the plate

2011-03-26T15:50:00.002-07:00

Yes, it's that time again. Spring! Spring training! Baseball! Jared signed up for baseball again this year. This time, though, he moved up from Rookies to the Minor League A Division. Now, no more hitting off the T. It's coach pitch only. They start counting outs and hits now too. A bit of a change for the boy but he'll manage. Just means lots of practice to do! ;)

Here are pics of his first game!

Jared's first game on 3/26/11. He's the guy on 3rd base there (glove to his face).Yes, the girlies came to cheer on Jared too! Just need to get them some real (and bigger-sized!) baseball caps :DJared at bat. Go Jared!After the game, loaded with snacks ;) His team won too! Woo hoo! :)

Happy 7th Birthday My Sweet Son!

2011-03-22T19:54:00.003-07:00

Yes, Jared is SEVEN now! Whoa! ;) I can't believe he's 7. He still feels like a little guy to me :) He's a very sweet, generous, loving and smart 7-year-old boy. He is a big blessing to us!

We had a little something for him at home with family...some Spiderman cupcakes and ice cream with Mom, Dad, sisters and Grammy. He's going to have a pizza party with his friends later, which he is excited about :D

Jared, the big 7-year-old!Singing to the boyGet those candles Bud!Our sweet 7-year-old :D
Mmmm! Cupcakes!
Yup, there was lots of red and blue on the kids after eating these - Ha! ;)

Our 5 leprechauns ;)

2011-03-17T18:59:00.004-07:00

I have to preface this by saying we are FAR from being Irish. We don't really celebrate St. Patty's Day. I was just given some hand-me-down green shirts for the girlies and so went with it ;) They do look like 5 little mischievous leprechauns, don't they ;)

Nothing like Lucky Charms for breakfast on St. Patty's Day ;)Jared made this craft at the library"Pot of Gold" and a little leprechaun :)Jared went back to the library for another project. It was called "Storybook Kitchen" in which they read a book about a leprechaun ("The Night Before St. Patrick's Day") and then afterwards made "Leprechaun Pudding." He brought the recipe home so we made it for dessert - VERY yummy! Paul kept joking with the kids that the pudding was made out of leprechauns...ewe! ;)Suzan eating hersBrielle mid-bite ;)AnnaBethanyAnd Jared giving it a "thumbs up" - Ha! ;)Our 5 leprechauns...Jared, Suzan, Anna, Brielle and BethanyI did make some little green and gold hair bows for the girlies (which they LOVE to wear!)Suzan playing outside, checking out the citrus blossoms on our grapefruit treeAnna showing me a flower ;)Bethany saying "see ya later!"Brielle being silly :PA sweet pic of Jared :D

3rd Birthday Party Pics

2011-03-07T19:50:00.004-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the girls' 3rd birthday party. We BARELY had it, as most, if not all, of the girls were sick before the party, with Suzan and Bethany being sick the day before. Fortunately, Suzan, Anna and Brielle were feeling much better. It was just Bethany that was not up to par. Poor girly! Sick on your birthday! :( They did get to have some fun with us, brother, close friends of ours, Grammy and Miss Mary and her grandson, Austin. The weather was perfect for an outdoor birthday - Yay!

Suzan, Bethany, Anna and BrielleSuzan looking up at her Elmo balloonAnna :)Brielle...I forget what she was saying to me at this time - Ha!The Elmo balloons. Can't beat filled balloons for a buck at the $1 Store!Yes, Mama made Elmo hair bows for the girlies :) Their Elmo shirts too :)Anna reading some Elmo books that we got from G&G CarlsonThe Mama (yes, I'm eating pizza - Papa John's! YUM!)
Our good friends, the Murphys, came over for the party. Here, Ryan looking a bit serious ;)The Elmo cake. No, I did NOT make the cake. I wish! Albertsons made the cake ;)"Happy 3rd Birthday Suzan - Anna - Bethany and Brielle"Cake time! Suz...Anna...you can tell she's singing along with us - too cute!Bethany...she, too, sang along :)And BriellePics of them opening presents. AnnaAnna, Bethany and SuzanBrielleBrielle and AnnaWhat's funny is after guests left the party the girlies wanted to wear these new shirts from G&G Carlson IMMEDIATELY! Like "i'm-gonna-cry-my-heart-out-if-i-don't-wear-my-new-shirt-NOW!!!!" Ha! Needless to say, after their PM nap they took off Elmo and put on their new shirts ;) Oh, and wore them the next day too. Thanks G&G!These girlies are too cute, silly and sweet for us!!!! :D Happy 3rd Birthday Sweethearts :D

Happy 3rd Birthday Suzan, Anna, Bethany and Brielle!!!!

2011-03-04T14:46:00.007-07:00

Yes, I still can't believe that it's been 3 years since these sweet girlies of ours were born! It feels like yesterday that I gained 84lbs, had my water break at 1AM and contractions soon later, and then was sliced open to birth out four wiggly baby girls. Yes, I laugh at some of that (uff, 84lbs and slicing and dicing my big belly?!?!?!) but in all seriousness, it does feel like yesterday that they were itty bitty babies. We still call them "babes," especially Jared and I. And they are my babes! They have grown and developed into four sweet, caring, loving, generous, funny, giggly and adorable 3-year-old girls! Praise God for these four blessings He has given to us!!!!

We have play time, pizza, cake & ice cream planned for tomorrow with a few close friends and family. The girlies (especially Bethany ;) ) are already asking for cake - Ha! They are so sweet and fun!!!!Thanks for the birthday wishes! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T08:12:00.004-07:00

Suzan, Anna, Jared, Brielle and BethanyEveryone have a fun Valentine's Day! Us 2 lovebirds will be celebrating tonight with our 5 sweethearts ;)

**updated with more pics ;)

Jared :)The girlies...Bethany, Brielle, Suzan and AnnaBethanyBrielleSuzanAnnaI didn't make the girls' Vday shirts this year but DID make their hair bows...felt hearts :)

The girlies making Valentine's Day necklaces

2011-02-12T07:34:00.002-07:00

I think this might be the first "real" craft project for the girlies. I think. I found some super cute and easy beaded Valentine's Day necklace kits at Joanns for a $1. I thought it would be a fun project for them and something they could wear and enjoy. They had fun and were super proud of their necklaces! So proud that they had to go run downstairs and show Dad them ;)

Here are some pics of our girly craftiness! Now I'm on the hunt for some fun Easter crafts for the girls :DAll ready for some crafting with Mama!Pics of the necklaces in progressSuzan, all done with hers!Bethany showing off hersAnna, not feeling well, unfortunately, but still happy with her necklaceAnd Brielle, showing Mama her necklace

I {heart} Heart Day :)

2011-01-29T13:17:00.002-07:00

Actually, I {heart} most holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter being my top favorites. I do, though, enjoy Valentine's Day too. It's just a fun day, with hearts, flowers and colors of pink and red :) I also {heart} decorating for these holidays. I only have a few Valentine's Day decorations...until this year. Somehow, and for some reason, I read a few crafty blogs and came across some fun Valentine's Day decor projects. So, with my love for all things crafty, I decided to try and make these projects.

First I made a crocheted heart garland to go across our fireplace. I know how to crochet but haven't in a LONG time! In any case, I searched online and on You Tube and found an excellent video tutorial to make the hearts. Then, I crocheted them together to make one long heart garland. I think it turned out pretty cute! It wasn't super difficult (usually took me ~15min per heart to crochet) or expensive ($2 for my J hook and $3 for the red yarn) to make either.

Close-upSecond, my next project was to make these cute Valentine topiaries I found here. Again, super easy and not too expensive to make. I like that! :) I got the pails from the $1 section of Target (woo hoo for Target!), the stick from Joanns for about $0.50, some $0.59 paint at Joanns to paint the sticks, a $1 or 2 for fabric and the red filler and roses at the $1 store. And I always save ribbon from wherever I get it, e.g. packaging, gifts, $1 stores. Here's how they turned out.

The 1st one, sitting in one of our nichesThe 2nd topiary, sitting on our sideboard near our basement stairs. I had the 2 metal signs already but the pink heart lights I picked up at Target too ($2.50 in the $1 section).Lastly, and I REALLY love this one!, I made a felt framed heart that I saw here. I didn't have a black frame so I purchased one at a second hand store for ~$2 and then painted it black ($0.59 paint from Joanns). It was a nice, beefy 8x10 frame - Sweet! Then, I got some burlap ($4/yd at Joanns) to cover cardboard and red and fuchsia felt ($3/yd at Joanns) to make the roses. It is easy to make the roses using this tut. Then, hot glue the roses to the burlap and Tada!...Oooo, I had way too much fun making these super cute Heart Day decorations! :D

Some of you might think "how and where in the world does she find time to do all this?" Really, it's not that difficult. Anyone can do this. It doesn't take a lot of time either. I think the crocheted hearts took me the longest time but only because I had to make 12 hearts altogether. So I did it over a couple of days, making 3 or 4 hearts a day. I usually did these projects during the girls' afternoon nap and then in the evening, when the kids are in bed.

It's fun, though! I {heart} Heart Day and I also {heart} anything crafty ;)

Christmas 2010 - Christmas Day/Morning

2011-01-14T19:40:00.004-07:00

We had a very blessed Christmas Day! We leisurely woke up. Well, we heard the kids wake up, not too early thank goodness!, and got up with them. The girlies were very excited to see their new baby strollers with their Sing-a-ma-jigs in them :) We let the kids open the rest of their presents, check out their stuffed stockings, ate a yummy French Toast Casserole breakfast (YUM!) and then got ready for the day. We took a nice neighborhood walk before lunch and then had Christmas dinner with Grammy in the evening and opened presents from Grammy. Again, a nice, fun and relaxing Christmas :)

Here are some pics!

Jared got a very cool and big Lego City set from Mom, Dad and G&G Carlson"thank you!"Stocking time!Yes, Santa hats and mini wooden yellow school buses for everyone :)New mittens for the girliesBooks and sweets too!And new Christmas socks for the girlies (which they are still wearing into the New Year ;) )5 cute kids Christmas morning! Jared, Brielle, Bethany, Anna and SuzanMore presents, from Grammy...watches for the kidsBethanyAnnaBrielleSuzanKid videos from GrammyA game for the girliesYahtzee Jr TS3 for Jared from GrammyJared also got an Ipod for Christmas (from Mom and Dad). Jared rocking out on some kids Christian music and building away on his Lego set. Also, in the background are the girlies with their new baby strollers and "babies" ;) They LOVE those things, both the strollers and babies!!!!Now, it's 2011. WOW! Lots happening for us these next few months...Paul and I celebrate 11 years of marriage. 11, that just sounds crazy because it only feels like a few years :) The girlies will turn 3 and Jared will turn 7 in March. Yikes! We also have another family vacation planned for us in the spring. Jared signed up for baseball again. He's not in the t-ball group anymore. Now, it's coach pitch! He also wants to take his ROCK Bible discipleship group again here in the spring (Woo hoo Jared!) so he's signed up for that too. And as soon as you know it, summer will be here ;)

Hope you are enjoying your 2011 already!

Christmas 2010 - Christmas Eve

2011-01-12T20:01:00.002-07:00

Only 1 more day until Christmas! The kids were excited! Jared especially, since we said they could open 1 or 2 presents Christmas Eve ;)

Here are some pics of our Christmas Eve!

Our very good friends, the Murphys, came over to visit with us Christmas Eve. Our kids love to play together with each other. We are SO blessed by having such good friends!! :)Before heading to church for Christmas Eve service, we let our kids open a few presents. The kids (especially the girlies) were so patient, taking turns and watching each other open the present. It was so sweet seeing them be excited for each other :)

New Christmas jammies (a tradition in our family ;) )...BethanyAnna showing me her new jammies. The kids were so sweet, holding up their present to show me what they got :)Jared got new jammies too!Yes, and socks ;)Brielle showing Daddy her new Christmas jammiesSuz wants to wear a bow on her head too - Ha! ;)Suzan - "oooo! new Christmas jammies!" :)Jared being silly :PWe let them open one more present, something fun for them to play with for the evening :) Sing-a-ma-jigs! This one for Suz in her "color." If you have not heard about these toys then you are missing out man!Bethany and hersEven one for Jared (he knew the girlies were getting them and wanted one too ;) )Brielle, SO excited about hers!Anna with her bright pink one ;)Anna watching the mouth open and sing on her Sing-a-ma-jigBrielle watching hersNee Nee watching hers too. They are pretty cool Bethany!The kids, ready to go to our church's Christmas Eve service. Cute kids! :)Next post? Christmas Day/morning! FINALLY! :)