Tuesday, April 23

Fun places + tireless Grandmas

Never fear....the super grandmas are here! Seriously, they were amazing. My grandma did dishes non-stop, they folded laundry, fed babies, chased kiddos at all sorts of activities, bought us groceries, dinner, lunches & entertainment, and played for hours. What a blessing it was to have them here, I know they left exhausted! But they claimed they loved it, so I will choose to believe them. :) So thankful we had a few days of warm weather.
Walking on the North Shore.
 I happen to be doing a promo for the Barry Manilow concert and had tickets for a night they were here. We had a fun girls night out! And super daddy managed to put all 5 down for bed, extra ice cream for him. :)
 I was also doing a promo for a local place, Jump!Zone, which has tons of amazing bounce things & slides. Let's just say Eden was doing the tall slides before Graham was. :)
 And then it was on to the Grandmas treat, a favorite (especially of my mom) - the Zoo! It was cheaper to buy a one year membership than to pay for a day's admission for all of us. Lucky day for us, and some future happy kiddos as well!

Anyone who knows Eden, knows getting one of these backpacks was inevitable. (i.e. losing her at church last Sunday with the back door open. We should really keep it on at all times. :) She was thankfully found in a bathroom, happily washing her hands. Crazy girl.) N wanted to keep track of her for a while. This was right before she fell and got a fat lip on a rock. She makes it her goal to bleed once a day, I think.
  My grandma spent hours pushing the stroller! And can I just say...our baby girl spent about 5 hours riding in the stroller without a single peep. She is seriously the best baby ever. The plan was for her to nap. Which she did not. But smile & coo & ride contentedly? I'll take it. :)
  Typical of Eden....walking up to something and immediately poking it in the eye. Glad he was made of metal. :) And the slides....she watches what kids twice her size are doing and then imitates. They had so much fun on these slides, went down on their bellies again & again!
Finishing the day with some dippin' dots. What a beautiful day we had!
Our last night we celebrated my mom's birthday coming up in a few days...which is not 38 (wink, wink.) My mom was worried about her hair for the pic, but I said I'm already in my pj's anyways! Grandma decided we were going for the "we just chased 5 kids around all day" look.
We packed a lot into a few days, but so thankful for the respite this was for me during a busy season.

Wednesday, April 3

Happy Easter & a visit

We had a great (if not slightly chaotic) Easter. These little ones have just gobbled up hearing the story of Good Friday & Easter. We have been reading from this book (if your Jesus Story Book Bible has been given a workout, I recommend this one!) Andrew's parents had already been planning to come for Easter, so we're thankful they still braved the crazyness. :) It was great to have some extra hands around!
K & E LOVED getting dressed up for Easter.  (little one was sleeping.)

Target Dollar Spot Rocks.
 K loved wearing the red one and now asks to wear it every day.
G wasn't quite as excited about it. :)
 I wish I could  capture the excitement of getting Easter baskets brought by Mama & Papa. It was also a huge blessing for our visiting little ones to have some things to call their "own".
Some Outlet finds by mommy made this little girl quite happy for new shades & jewelry!
On Monday, our extra littles had a court hearing and it was a nice little break & outing to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
 They love all the dinosaurs!
Saying goodbye to Mama & Papa on Wednesday
I know many of you are wondering about our little visitors and hopefully I will have some time to write about our little life change soon. They are 5, almost 3, and 8.5 months. It looks like they will be with us for about 30 days. It's definitely turned our house upside down! The demands from 5 under 5 can definitely feel overwhelming, especially at meal time! But how amazing to see simple changes take place so fast. They adapted so well & so quickly to our routine & schedule. Last night was the first night baby A slept 7-7! She also naps for about 2 hours both morning & afternoon. What a blessing to have a good sleeper, makes me wonder if she had been on a good routine or if she just was tired and adjusted quickly. We've had throw up, diarrhea, been up multiple times each night, untold laundry, learning to get along with extra siblings (at almost same ages), and introducing them to completely new foods. Baby carrots & fresh pineapple? Initial reaction: EWWWWW. After tasting: YUM! One of our biggest challenges has been with Eden pushing or hitting all.day.long. She's feeling more than a little territorial. But wow, what a whirlwind it's been and amazing experience. We are so grateful for having a small part in these little ones lives. People have been so kind in offering meals, assistance, items to borrow, and just love, care & notes of encouragement. We are so thankful.