Starting Summer with a Bang!

Well we are a little over a week into summer break. I'm having a blast with the crew....they've been keeping me on my toes. Within the first ten minutes of summer break we had a boo-boo. :( Yes....Drew unbuckled his seatbelt to retrieve a toy he tossed behind his seat. As I came to the realization he was moving about the car I turned my head to yell at him and almost ran a red light. He sat and had one arm under his belt by the time I hit the breaks to avoid running that red light. He flew into the front seat and ended up with a seatbelt burn across his neck and whiplash. As the week continued we had a smashed finger, two cut toes, a dresser on top of the three little boys, my debit card number stolen and my account overdrawn. Needless to say SUMMER WILL GET BETTER! We have some positives to the above named negatives...the quads are potty trained during the day!! Emma, Parker, and Maddox have been day trained for a while now but Jack was a bit stubborn. Maddox told Jack a few weeks ago that he wasn't a big boy because he was in a diaper and Jack got mad. I asked Jack if he was ready and he said no, but it didn't stop me. I woke up the next day and told him he was going to be a big boy. The first few days were murder, but now he's doing great. We've been able to spend lots of time outside, which is great for wearing ourselves out. The boys make sure they "water" the trees every chance they get. :) We've made some big changes in the house this past week too. Drew used to have a room to himself. He and Maddox are now roommates in the bonus room and Parker and Jack now share Drew's old room. Emma still has her own room. Maddox, Jack and Parker managed to pull an antique dresser over on top of themselves last week. Talk about a heart attack! Brian and I immediately thought about splitting the three of them up. It has made bed time a little easier and more peaceful. Brian is considering improvements to the backyard. Expanding the jungle gym and adding some fun things like a tire swing and another slide. The kids love playing on it, so it would be a great investment. We aren't planning on any family trips this year, but most definitely looking forward to fun here at home. We'll keep you up to date on our backyard adventures!! XOXO

A Rough Day Looks Like THIS...

Most days are good. Every now and then there are "those" days when you just completely lose it. Today is one of those days. Many people I know who don't have as many children say I make it look easy. It is easy when I have them all under control. My kids behave well in public, they listen a majority of the time, and they are pretty friendly with others. Here's a look into a rough day in quad mama life. Midnight: I got up with Parker who I believe was having a bad dream. I laid with him for about 10 minutes and went back to bed. 1:30AM: Jack comes in and stands on my side of the bed. He finally lays on the floor beside me. 2:30AM: Emma wakes up and is standing in the hallway...not sure why. Tuck her back in. 3:45AM: Emma again wakes crying. 6:30AM: Parker wakes Maddox who thinks we should all get up and play. I go into the boys room and let them know it's not time to get up only to have Brian tell me 15 minutes later he needs Drew ready in 25 minutes because he has a meeting in Plainfield. OK! I'm up. 7AM: Breakfast and getting dressed. This went well today, all the kids were dressed and playing before Parker's bus came at 8:30 8:30: Parker is on the bus and Emma, Jack, and Maddox are inside playing together. Between 8:30 and 10:30 is the prime time for me to get things done around the house. Today I folded and put away all the laundry, did dishes, packed for our trip to Kentucky, cleaned the pool, and cleaned the mess from breakfast. At 10:30 we always pack up to go get Drew from school. 11:15AM: Time for me to make lunch. Emma requested "HOCKA DOGS" and Maddox requested mac n cheese. So we had both with a side of mustard per Drew's request. Here's where my day really plummets. :( During lunch the kids were absolutely crazy. It seriously looked like the circus was at my table. Once lunch was over, I sent everyone outside to run off some energy. I joined the kids and we played an hour. For some strange reason the tornado sirens sounded and we headed inside for nothing. We played in the playroom where Jack decided he needed to paint with fingernail polish all over himself. Thank goodness it was only on him but he was a mess. Parker smashed his finger, Maddox got nipped by the dog, Jack then cut his finger, Emma was just over tired and Drew was busy with attitude and Wii Fit. By this time it's already 3:45PM. Too late for any type of nap or rest time. So I thought I would send them to the basement while I made an early dinner and folded one last load of laundry. Of course the usual he hit, she threw a toy, I'm hungry game begins. While all this is going on the one spectacular thing of my week so far happens. Maddox had gone upstairs and pooped all by himself. (Yes, even on bad days good things do happen!). We had a little dance party and gave high fives and cheered and all that then went back to business. 5:15PM: Dinner is ready. We made sloppy joes, corn and applesauce. By now Emma is exhausted and refusing to eat. Jack is so cranky he left the table on his own and never did eat. Maddox and Drew ate pretty good. Parker picked a little but found a plate of hidden cookies and ate quite a few of those. When I say "quite a few" that means I have no idea how many, but it was at least two! 6:15PM: Dinner is cleaned up and I still haven't heard from Brian who I had been calling all afternoon. I decide to pack up five over tired kids and run to Walgreens. Somehow we managed to lose Drew's eye drops and needed them refilled. The tech must have been new cause she gave me the run around. I finally get the pharmacist who gets me taken care of. By now I'm just DONE!!! I decided to get Starbucks. 7:00PM: We get home from our errands and Jack refuses to come into the house. I leave him to have his fit on the garage steps for a few minutes. I go back and he is sitting in front of the door smiling at me. I ask him if he is ready to come in? He says yes and comes in. I begin to make chocolate milk for everyone. 7:30PM: Mama is PAST DONE. Kids are going to bed early. Maddox and Parker inform me they need new diapers.....GRRRR. I get them changed. Jack continues to throw a massive fit and hides downstairs. I find him and put him in bed. Maddox now refuses to lay down and Parker can't get enough kisses, hugs, fives, zaps, and booms. Emma, meanwhile is whining because she wants this doll, and can't find that doll. Drew is running up and down the hall yelling. After I get the quads settled I tucked Drew in bed with a movie. 8:00PM: Here I am, writing about my day drinking my Starbucks. Waiting for my husband to come home so we can sit and stare at each other because it's all we have the energy for. We are blessed to have five wonderful kids. We love them to pieces, I love being home with them all day, every day. I'm lucky to have the husband I do. It's not always easy and I know Brian and I feel neglected by each other quite often, but we know in our hearts this is what god wanted us to do and we will survive. Looking forward to tomorrow, family fun and a fresh start. :)

Spinging A Leak!

Hoping Spring is here to stay. I did look at the weekend forecast and it says to keep those warm clothes close by. Mother nature is sure making it tough on us this year. Although it does make for good s'mores and a campfire. Why am I wishing for warm weather?? With Drew and crew ready to play outside I would like to do it in style! Today the crew had a choice of going to the Zoo or playing in the backyard. They surprisingly chose the backyard. Drew has been itching to go swimming and keeps asking when we get a pool. I haven't had a chance to replace it yet, but Nana did buy the kids a shark slip and slide. Yes, you've guessed it. It was only 73* today and my kids requested the slip and slide. I'm sure if I were little again I wouldn't mind the cold water either. I agreed thinking they were nuts. The kids had an absolute blast and played a little over an hour on it. Drew is in full swing, as baseball season is underway. I missed his first game due to a ladies weekend away with some amazing quad mamas in Nashville, TN. Brian sent me a video of him during the game. He is in coach pitch this year; one of the younger kids on the team but is doing great. It will be interesting to see how he develops those ball playing skills over the next few years. I may be biased, but he's the cutest and best player on the team!!! Maddox, Parker, Emma and Jack love to cheer for him. They really have it down...."Go Drew, RUN!" "Fast Drew, like Mario." "Good job Drew!" Thinking about soccer for them in the fall. :) My weekend away with my mama's was fun. It was four days of sight seeing, music, food, more food, and laughs. We visited the pink bus "Nash Trash Tour" where we visited music row, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and saw some pretty landscapes. We spent one night doing massages and girl talk, and visited the Grand Ole Opry. Tons of fun! Did I mention shopping because man those girls know how to shop. My squad was so excited to see their very own cowboy hats. Do they look country!!! Get out those graham crackers and marshmallows!! XOXO

Rough Start to Spring

What a rough start to Spring! We thought we were in the clear for the bugs going around. WRONG!! We started out on Easter with plans to go to Brian's mom's house. We pack up and get about 45 minutes from home to have ADT (our alarm company)call and tell us our home security alarm had been activated and the police had been dispatched. We turn around and come home to get it all taken care of. Jump back in the car to get an hour from home and have Emma puke in the car. We assumed it was Brian's driving and a case of car sickness. We stopped at a gas station in Terre Haute to clean the mess up. We continued the last 20 minutes in the car to Grandma's who let me wash her clothes and her carseat. We continued the afternoon with an exciting egg hunt and movies. The week continued with all five kiddos and Brian getting the stomach bug (Norovirus) that has been wreaking havoc on lots of people. I ended up in the ER three times with three different children. Parker and Emma only needed IV fluids to rehydrate, but Drew ended up being admitted for observation. Maddox and Jack didn't have as severe voiting, but certainly made up for it coming from the back end! So needless to say our spring break was quite exhausting and germ filled. This week was back to school for both boys. It's neen good getting back into the routine. I managed to do some home improvement. Our front door has been leaking water when it rains and the window above the door has been leaking as well. I took Maddox, Jack and Emma to Menards to order a new front door, but for some reason out door is an odd size and was going to be more expensive than we are looking to spend at this time. I was able to get a new storm door and tools to fix it until we are ready for a large messy project. We've been able to play outside for the last two days. IT'S AMAZING how fresh air and a change of activity fixes anything. We were all so tired last night. There is going to be rain moving in tonight so I'm hoping we can do ice cream outside after nap today. I know we are exciting peeps here in the Squad Headquarters, and this isn't as fun of an update; but we like you all to know we are A OK!! XOXO

Crazy Busy

What a day!! It's been busy, crazy, exhausting, and cozy. I know, how can it be all of these all jumbled into one?? Lets just say I have five cute kids and lots of hours in my day to fill with them. To start our day we woke up cuddled in my bed with cartoons. We thought we might take showers and get ready to go to the bank and to Saint Susanna to work on the Pre-K service project. We were slightly interrupted by our randomly sounding smoke alarms going off. Only this time they didn't stop. After counting four bodies (because Drew was at school) and checking the house for smoke I called our contractor for an electrician that was to be sent on Monday. My second call was to 911 to have the fire department come out and check the house and turn off the alarms. I know....I should've done it the opposite way, but when you're in the shower and they go off you need the extra few mintues to get dressed...at least when you're not in immediate danger and know it. After being evacuated to the neighbors and a very extensive serach with heat guns and all the firemen dug out some very disgusting furnace filters and checked the wiring from the alarms it was suggested things get replaced immediately. Luckily the electrician was able to come and get the wiring fixed, new smoke alarms put in, and put my nerves at ease. After the craziness settled I was able to play with the kids in the basement. Well, I should say I worked out while the kids jumped in the bounce house then I rocked with Maddox in the glider. He was so snuggly!! It was so nice because after we ate dinner the snuggles with Emma, Jack, and Parker continued. We played on the IPAD. I'm so loving this stay at home mom stuff. Even though some days are tough, I wouldn't trade it for anything. In other family news, Easter is coming and we were able to take the kids to see the Bunny. They loved him. We were able to color eggs as well. A little messy but a success none the less. We are excited to spend the weekend with family. I'm really hoping to get the kids outside to take some new pictures but it's not looking as promising as last years weather. I've been itching to update the pictures in the photo frames. I'd pay to have them done but the kids seem to shut down with new photographers and I've managed to do good on my own and Walmart's photo shop. Parker is potty trained!!! YEP, that's two down, two to go. Maddox could have it down if I could keep up with him. He's done great until today. We really just had some craziness and he was a little under the weather today. Back on the potty wagon tomorrow. Hoping everyone has a safe and happy Easter!!

Where is Spring??

Happy first day of Spring!! We are still waiting for the Spring like weather to arrive though. Today's weather a sunny 31 degrees. I know it's a heatwave out there. :) We are also waiting for the Easter Bunny to arrive with new fun things. Brian and I are planning on taking the squad to see the E.B some time this week. Brian has a bunch of days off to spend with us and working on a "honey do list". First up the kitchen entry door. Brian ended up kicking in the door this past weekend when he locked himself out in the garage on accident while making his dinner. No kids involved here....we were all in Wisconsin visiting my family when this all happened. Second on the list is my new microwave. The old one had begun to rust from the fire. This alone has been an adventure too. The first one came damaged so we had to return it and then Brian has worked long days at work. Needless to say I have been without one for a week now and geesh how I miss it! Third shopping and replacing our front door and fixing the patio door. Both doors are leaking....ugh! The patio we can salvage but the front door I think has served it's time. While we are out looking for those items we are most likely looking at replacing our lawn mowers and other outdoor items. Parker and Drew are doing good in school. Drew says he's ready for Kindergarten. Parker is slowly learning his letters. Emma and Jack know at least half of their letters and love to color. Maddox is just a stinker. He won't work on school work for me but I'm hoping he will work for his teacher next year. I have a feeling his teacher and the Principal at St. Susanna next year are gonna have a busy year with him. Praying that he proves me wrong. Potty training is going ok. Three of four of the quads have it or are darn close to having it down. Jack just isn't ready and I'm not going to stress myself out over it. I'm still loving being a stay at home mommy. The extra kisses I get throughout the day are so worth it!! Not much else happening here at the Squad Headquarters. Just waiting for warm weather! XOXOXO

Mommy....Mommy...MOMMY!

Yes, that's me....every ten seconds I hear that word. I've been contemplating getting one of those clicker counters just to see how many times a day I hear it. :) I'm not complaining, I love being a stay at home mom. I don't have to get out of jammies if I don't want to, I don't have to shower everyday and best of all I get to see my sweet squad for at least 70% of everyday. I was thinking this morning about the old me (Working Mom) vs. the new me (SAHM). I'm a completely different person. For the first time in a long time I feel like I am having fun with my kids. Sure I used to do cute projects and go a few places when I had time. But now, I get to play Playstation, Wii, trains, go the the museum, color, and more. I think a lot of this has come to my attention since the house fire. My boss was not supportive, my kids were sick, I just didn't feel like it was my life anymore. I realized I had better opportunities in life and with a very supportive husband I took a leap of faith. Totally worth it!! Although,I will let you all in on a secret...being a SAHM is so exhausting it leaves little time for Brian and me. I love him to pieces, but some nights I don't even have the energy to open my mouth to ask him how work was. I'm sure it will get better as spring comes around because I can let the kids outside to play more vs always entertaining them. Although, I might just decide I need to play outside too and catch some rays!! The squad is doing great by the way. They love being home with me everyday. I've taken on some school projects at Saint Susanna so they get to visit there quite often. They know where Drew's classroom is and where all the good toys are. The quads have met their teachers for next year. I'm sure they will keep them both on their toes. Parker will stay in Avon Schools until KDG. He is doing well in the Developmental Preschool 5 days a week. Emma is doing well with her letters. Jack likes to color the letters and Maddox....well he's a work in progress. ATTITUDE!!! Parker is also starting to recognize some letters. He know's "p"!! Drew is doing great in school. His last report card came home and the teacher had written Excellent! on it. I'm one proud Mama. That's all for now, just having some real mind blowing revelations lately. Having the time of my life though. XOXO Sara