Little bit of Bling!

Remember when Kari got her ears pierced?  It feels like a long time ago, though it was actually only 6 months.  She has worn earrings every day for the last 6 months and has counted down the days until she can wear dangly ones.  The instructions said to wait about 6 months.  So, on her 6 month anniversary, she busted out these beauties.  Apparently, grandma gave them to her when she got her ears pierced, and Kari has been hanging onto them, waiting for the special moment.

Also, I love the curls in her hair.  It looks so much prettier than I feel like mine was at that age.

Fathers Day 2015 Craft

For Fathers Day, we got a little bit crafty/cheesy.  I saw some cute stuff on Pinterest I wanted to give a try.  So, we headed to the dollar store to pick our our supplies.  A cheap frame and some "rocks".  I also bought some posterboard and some big markers.

The kids and I glued the rocks around the frame.

Then we went outside to take some pictures.  It took me a while to find a good background and good lighting.  But once we did, we took some fun pictures.  

I printed them in a collage and Voila!

A cheesy/cute Fathers Day!

The Proper Way to Start the Weekend

With a dance party!

Because everyone needs to start their weekend with a smile!

Sometimes.... I don't always claim them

Would you?

If you Give a Kid a Camera

The kids are discovering that mommy's life isn't all the glitz and glamour they thought it was.  This summer there has been lots or errand running, and the kids are not always super enthused to tag along.  

 I don't have many games on my phone and I rarely let the kids play with it.  But, one day, in a fit of desperation, I clicked on the camera app, and passed the phone to Kelsey.  

 I may or may not have had to delete 27 pictures of her forehead.  

But at least we survived the trip, yes?

My Birthday

I am not usually a birthday princess.  I leave that title to my lovely sister, who celebrates for a week.  She doesn't ask for gifts, she just like the attention :)  This year, my birthday fell on a Tuesday.  We had gymnastics in the morning for Kelsey, and swimming lessons that night for everyone else.  There was no good time that the whole family would be together to celebrate.  So, we decided to ignore my birthday for that day, and postpone it until we could make me a big deal :)  Actually, it turned out Tuesday night would have been ok, because swimming lessons were cancelled for weather, but my cake wasn't ready and my gifts weren't here.  So....  I got to be a birthday princess and extend!

Saturday morning, for my birthday, I got to sleep in.  And then just hang out for a bit around the house.  Then I got in the shower and got ready for the babysitter.  For my birthday, I told hubby I wanted to go out on a date.  It is slightly unusual for us, since we had just gone out for our anniversary too  (we saw Avengers: Age of Ultron) .  2 movies in 1 calendar year?  *Gasp!*  For my birthday we went out to eat at Cheddar's, where I got their famous Monte Cristo (which is freakin' awesome) and then we fiddled around for a bit.  Our lunch took less time than we thought, so we walked around in furniture stores for a bit.  It is much more enjoyable when I am not herding 4 children.  There were two movies I wanted to see: Jurassic World or Pitch Perfect 2.  Eventually, I came to the conclusion that Jurassic World would benefit more from the big screen, so we thought we would hit the 4:15 show.  We got to the theater at 4, and the 4:15 and 5 showings were both sold out.  Opening weekend.  Duh.  There was a 3D version at 5:15, but those make me sick, so we went to Pitch Perfect instead.  I thought it was great!  Good music.  Funny dialogue.  Lots of fun!

On our way home, we picked up some pizza (HBD to me!  I didn't have to cook a single meal!) and then ate cake!  Kari made my cake for me this year.  She told me I wasn't allowed to touch it!  And she did a great job!  When I picked out my frosting at the store (the coconut, pecan kind) all of the kids said "Ewwwww!"  At first, since it was MY birthday, I thought about telling them to suck it up.  It was MY cake!  But, I don't need to eat an entire cake by myself, so I got some frosting they would eat too.  Kari, being the sweet girls she is, frosted the cake in half.  Which meant, instead of an entire cake to eat, I would only engorge myself on half a cake!  Sweet side note: Dylan (who doesn't really have a sweet tooth anyway) was lagging behind in finishing.  Once everyone was done, I asked him how much longer he thought he had.  He said "I don't really like it.  I told Kari it was good, but  I just wanted to be nice to her."  Score!!!!  Sometimes, they DO listen :)

My presents were sweet and thought of in advance.  Kaitlyn gave me a necklace she had wrapped months ago.  Dylan and Kari gave me pictures they had drawn.  Hubby gave me a special present.  When we went to Biltmore forever ago, I picked up a tea cup.  I picked the pretty purple one because I thought it was very pretty, but I have since kicked myself since for not getting one in the "traditional" Vanderbuilt style.  Considering I already collect something that I will never use for its intended purpose, why not have two?  I was browsing on the internet the a few days before my birthday and hubby caught me eyeing this miniature tea set in the Vanderbuilt style and ordered it, secret like, for me.  For scale purposes, here is the entire set next to some of my others.  The original purple on the right, and a cup I found at a flea market on the left.

 Look how gorgeous it is!!!

This is the pattern from the website.  I love the stately navy and gold design with the pretty and whimsical flowers.

I mean, look at the creamer and the sugar!  The lines are so ornate and delicate!

 And I love the shape of the tea pot.  Something so graceful about it.

I know it is silly to collect them.  I don't drink tea or coffee.  But, golly, it's my birthday.  And I'll collect dust if I want to!

Happy Fathers Day

This is a pretty normal Saturday morning at our house.

 Wrastling and playing and such.

 But I was reminded that Father's Day was the next day, and I am fairly certain there would be no other place this father would rather be than smothered in his children.

 Boop!

 And these little humans, who made him a father?  Well....  They love him too!

Happy (1 day late) Father's Day to my own father (Grandpa), the father of my children's father (Pop), and my children's father.  Finer people you would be hard pressed to find :)

Fishtank

She is her father's daughter.  Kari got it in her head that she wanted to become a pet owner.  When I asked her what kind, she went about it the logical way, narrowing it down by cost, amount of care needed, and what mommy and daddy were willing to allow.  She ended up deciding that fish were the way to go and spent hours, and I do mean hours, doing research.  What size tank is best?  What kind of heater is good?  Which fish get along?  What kind of food is best?  We told her from the beginning that she would have to purchase everything with her own money, so she is very serious about it and has been thinking long and hard.

We aren't at the buying point of the discussion yet.  There are still lots of decisions to be made!  But I love how her mind works, and how dedicated she is to figuring out what is "best".  

Swimming Lessons

So we signed them up for a 2 week session of lessons at the Y,  It is Mon-Thurs, so a total of 8 lessons.  On the first day, they evaluated their skills and broke them into smaller groups so they could teach them more efficiently.

Kelsey is on one side of the pool with the other little skippers and doing a great job!  That child is not scare of nothin!

Dylan is making tons of progress.  He hasn't figured out exactly how to be buoyant on his own, but he is THIS close!

Kari had already graduated to swimming by herself in the deep end, but they worked on her endurance quite a bit and a little bit on technique.  She is also very pleased whenever she gets the change to go all the way down and touch the bottom of the deep end.

They put these little floaty belt thing-ys on the kids, and they seem to do the trick.

Kelsey made friends quickly with the lifeguard/instructors, and was always quick to give smiles and hugs.

Before the end of the lessons, Kaitlyn was also going in the deep end.  WITHOUT a floaty!!!

And, of course, they had tons of fun practicing their jumping skillsz!

The swimming lessons went so well, the kids had so much fun and progressed so well, that we actually signed them up for a second, 2 week/8 lesson session.  

On the last day of the first session, we decided to take advantage of the family swim time after the lesson, and hubby and I got into the pool as well.  I was pleased to see that while I don't have a pretty stroke, I could still get across the pool ok, and still make it to the bottom.  I was also pleased to see how Kelsey swims around like she has gills and had fun watching hubby teach the 2 older kiddos how to dive!  Dylan is my buddy and I am so happy that he is trying so hard and not getting discouraged.  Looks like I will need to find access to a pool in the future!

Swimmy Soup

Round there here parts, if one of the children says something cute, we don't correct them.  We just hope they say the cute/incorrect thing forever.  Hence the title.  Kelsey calls her swimming suit a swimmy soup, and we just go with the flow.  We decided to take the older girls out of gymnastics for the summer, so we could give all the kids a chance at swimming lessons.  First, in order to do that, we had to get them the proper equipment.  Such as, new swimmy soups for everyone (except Dylan, because his still fit from last year).

I guess I asked them to make silly faces?  Or this could be her regular face....  either way, she is adorable in her soup.

My "little" Kari is growing up. Her feet are almost the same size as mine, and she wanted to pick out her own suit.

Kaitlyn is all girly girl.  Pink and frilly :)

We went with tankinis all around for ease of putting on as well as going to the bathroom.

I do love them so :)

It's in the Eyes

I "accidentally" took a close up of Dylan.  Like, so close up, all you could see what his eyes.  And then, because Kelsey was standing right there, I had to take one of her too.  In my normal fashion, I then went back and looked at both pictures, and notices how similar they were.  So, of course, I had to take one of each of the girls.  Can you guess who is who?

Child A

Child B

Child C

Child D

Answers Below :)

A) Dylan, B) Kelsey, C) Kaitlyn, D) Kari

Kelsey's Future Job

To begin the week, here is Kelsey.  I suspect this is what she thinks mommy looks like when she types (cuz daddy is a single finger kinda guy) and I think it is pretty adorable.

This is the future my friends.  Welcome.

My Latest Find

 Occasionally, I find something that is so convenient, I have to give it a shout out, and this is one of those times.  I have a few shirts that have a low dip or cut.  I have been on the hunt for a tank top or cami to wear underneath for years.  I have found a few, but that always means one extra layer.  And sometimes it just makes me hot.  I recently invested in the CamiSecret.  I bought them at Amazon for a whopping $7.

They clip on onto your bra and voila!  Cleavagelessness!

It provides plenty of coverage.  In fact, it may be almost too much for me.  I don't know if it is my bra straps or what but they come up fairly high on me.  And I wish they didn't all have lace.  But they are plenty wide for all of my shirts, and provide great coverage for me.

 So, if you, like me, have been looking for something like this, I would say give it a try.  The price is right.  Now I just want to find some without lace and maybe in different colors.  Navy blue or red.  I HAVE found a few on Amazon or Ebay, but I am NOT spending $20 for an individual one...  So, there you have it.  

Do I sounds like an infomercial or what?

Happy Weekending!

Conversations with Kelsey

Firstly, I must acknowledge that this video was taken without her consent.  She has no idea I took this video.  But I wanted to show off her conversation skillz.  This girl can talk.  Like, hold a full on conversation now.  Sometimes... sometimes I can't get her to shuddup!  But most of the time it is pretty cute.  And while this is no where near the full extent of what she can do, it is still pretty sweet :)  

She talks a little bit about Dylan and wanting to put the package up on the counter so he can't reach it.  She also may be a tad bit controlling :)

Summer Haircuts

The boys get their hairs cut often.  Every other month or so.  Us girls?  We are animals.  We only go about once a year.  Maybe even longer.  As summer approached, Kaitlyn kept asking if she could get her hair cut again.  I am fairly certain Heavenly Father is trying to continually reinforce the "pick your battles" theme in my life, and after getting the cut approved by hubby, we headed to our local hair cuttery.  Kaitlyn was first.  She wanted to go pretty short.  

Kari was second.  But she only wanted a trim.

Here is the final look, complete with Sunday dresses.

You can see the difference in the final length easier from the back.

Kari's hair reminds me a lot of mine.  Curly/wavy/  Somewhat hard to control.  But so long as you do something with it, it looks ok.  Sorry the lighting is bad :p

Kaitlyn likes to have her hair "done" so we straight ironed it for her debut.  She has also decided to grow out her bangs.

Its about time for me to go in for a trim as well....  I haven't decided if I want to do something crazy yet...