Picture time

Seriously - I'm sure you're tired of looking at pictures of my kids, but we actually got together for family photos so I had to post them! I feel repetitive - we went to the Botanical Gardens and took photos. I'm sure sometime we'll find another wonderful spot, but for now it has worked pretty well. I think we have some that turned out well enough so that was a plus! Thanks to Keishah who kindly took the photos and Andrew who watched the craziness - with 4 kids running all over! They were fun to hang out with too! Hopefully some of the photos we took of them turned out good too!
We had a nice time and the kids really enjoyed all the nature! It was a great evening appreciating everything that Heavenly Father has created in our world. I'm just glad no one ended up in the water - Mhari tried really hard though :).

Family pictures

We went to the Botanic Gardens to do our family photos.  Our friends the Tanner's came with us and took them :).  It was great to get new pictures!

 

Our family!

 

Kids smelling the flowers!

Daddy and Chica!

Jeff and Me :)

Grant

Sandra

Talmage

Saturday Adventure

It is freezing cold today! Weather in Texas is an adventure. You never know what you are going to get (seriously the weathermen never know - or are not accurate anyway).
Today Jeff is off studying and working on a paper for school so I get to enjoy my 4 kids alone. Normally not a big deal on Saturday, but I hadn't gotten around to grocery shopping and now had to haul the whole gang with me, bummer.

We bundled up this morning (since it was still in the 30's) and got everyone ready to head out ~

Aren't they cute. They each (accept Mhari) got their own list to help me be sure we got everything we needed. (That is how Mhari folds her arms... so cute!)

Overall the trip was good and not that crazy. Well, as not crazy as it can be with 4 kids 6 and under at the grocery store. The girls did good the boys helped out lots and we made it home in under an hour! I was pleased and now we have food. The outing was a success! Since everyone did well (and it was on sale and and I still had money left over) we bought ice cream for dessert tonight. We may not be eating it until tomorrow though, when it's almost 70 degrees again. Now I just need to enjoy the rest of the day inside with these little busy bodies!

Anybody have fun crazy Saturday Adventures to share?

Glasses and Stickers

Talmage's glasses have been a big deal since we shopped for them. Sandra loved trying the ones in the store on and now pretends to have glasses, like her brother. Hers are sunglasses, but if you ask her they are her "glasses" (not sunglasses). She tries to wear them all the time - even at night. It's really quite cute :). She goes through times of loosing them, but once she finds them they are back on her face. Maybe this is good preparation for when she actually will need glasses!


Here she is at lunch today modeling the glasses for me.

Another cute story is Sandra and her stickers. All the kids received books of stickers from their grandma recently. They have had a fabulous time putting them on the bunk bed, each other, their papers, and the floor - well they end up there anyway. Sandra really loves her sticker book. She will get them and go around giving them to everyone. She tells me I do a good job and that I need a sticker. Maybe the kids do recognize all the hard work mommy does after all :). Sunday after church she had given me several and then told me she was going to go give some to Daddy - who was asleep on the living room floor.

When I went out later Jeff was covered in stickers - his shirt and arms. Too funny. She would say "Daddy you get a sticker" and then he would mumble an "ok". She did this several times and then I guess she said she was going to put one on his eyelid. He objected enough that time I think she may have left him alone after that. Later when he was fully awake he saw the sticker count and realized he had ended up with more than the few he remembered. It was very cute. I wish I had taken a picture! He had a fireside that night to attend and he left them on... what a good daddy!

Sandra is a sweetie. She gets along pretty well with her brothers and calls them "my boys". She is learning to share with Mhari, enjoys teaching her new things, and helping feed her. She likes hugs and kisses, and at night she usually asks for butterfly kisses. We just love her! What a great little chica!

Spring break

I'm not sure if spring break is really a break and who it is for. I guess not the mom :). Oh well. It has been fun having more time with the kids and getting to "sleep in" until 7:15. Today we headed out to the Botanical Gardens with some friends. It was nice and warm and the kids had a great time. They were looking forward to the picnic the most! We found some little taken trails and ended up with some fun photos. I was really trying to get a good photo of Mhari since she is just now doing better for the camera.  She did great! I was very happy. The kids had a great time and I think we may make a trip back as a family and try to get some family shots too. Just one more day of the break before the weekend and back to school stuff again! I hope everyone else is having a wonderful "break" in whatever form it comes!

Spring fun!

Book Worms

My kids really enjoy "reading" books. Talmage reads really well, Grant is picking up the easy words and Sandra loves to pretend and learn from the pictures. If she knows the story well enough she will tell it to herself while she reads. They even take books to bed with them until they are ready to fall asleep. Mhari has even started taking books with her to bed!
We surprised Talmage and ordered (thanks grandma) some books from the school booklet last week. Talmage had asked for a science reader set and a few others. It was hard for me to not get him the books - wouldn't that be stifling his interests. I know we can go to the library more and such, but the investment could be worth it (library books are expensive to replace).

Talmage got them Friday, just in time for spring break. Here is a sample of the books he came home with.

That night he read them all! Everyone has been having a fabulous time reading. The house has been much quieter than usual :).


Aren't they so cute!

If nothing else the money was well spent on some good quiet time! I guess investing in books has lots of rewards :).

Yeah for reading!

Knowledge is Power!

Over the holidays I inherited a old sewing machine. Let's just say mine wasn't the greatest quality and this one was available - after my hubby asked about it for me. My new friend, Bernina, came home with us. Well, let's just say that it's one thing to have one and another thing to know how to use one! I really didn't have a clue what to do with her at first.


I took a class on how to use this beast (and yes she is a sewing beast) and man it's amazing what a little knowledge can do!



Look at all the samples/swatches that I did and learned about! There are lots of little accessories that make this machine so cool! I had a great teacher who took the time to show me some neat tricks for girls clothes too (she sewed for her daughters when they were little too).

Now to the really fun stuff! Now that I was armed with all this new knowledge I was able to get a few projects done... quickly and relatively easily!


I had inherited this dress from a friend months ago. It was sewn mostly together, but missing some necessities to be wearable. I was able to do the buttons and button holes (well I hand sewed the buttons on), added a ruffle to be sure it's long enough and my little one doesn't out grow it too fast, and put together the bloomers! I used 4 of the things I learned in my class just finishing this outfit. I must say that I think it turned out cute too! Mhari enjoyed trying it on too - she'll be so cute for church!

My other project was for me. I know, something for me (other than a bag), when have I finished one of those projects. I guess I did make myself new pj pants for Christmas (along with the rest of the family), but seriously I never make me anything to wear... well, finish it anyway.

I have been walking most mornings with some friends who live in the neighborhood. We each have 2/3 kids with us so we are more like a stroller brigade. I'm sure it's pretty funny to watch :). Well, I don't have anything cute to "work out" in. I decided I would make me some walking shorts (capris). I had this knit material and now I knew how to use it!

I was so excited to wear them on Tuesday!

The pattern had pockets on the side and I originally wasn't going to make them - too much hassle, but then I figured that if I actually made them then they wouldn't look so "home made." They weren't really that bad to make and I think they did the trick! I got to use my stretch stitch (for materials that stretch, oh knit can be the worst!) and I even used my hidden seam stitch! It was so fun and easy make these! I think using what I learned made it even funner!

I'm glad I got to receive such an awesome machine and even learn how to make it work to my advantage! Older can be so much better!

*** On a side note - sorry to grandparents for not having kids in these photos. I will try to make up for it soon :).

*** Also, I'm not one to brag, but this is stuff I'm doing so I thought I'd share - this is not intended to be a brag fest, just something cool I learned.

*** Lastly - wow, I can't believe I just posted pictures of my hips! Sorry for the exposure! The pants just didn't look like pants when they weren't being worn or I would've taken photos of them like that. I'm glad I'm in a skinny (nonbaby) phase of life, but still not a shot I would usually ever share! I apologize for any offensive material in the above photographs (maybe this warning should've been at the beginning of this post) - :)

Death Trap?!

So I'm curious are merry-go-rounds still considered a death trap or at least a hazard for our children. I have been to two parks in the last month or so that still have merry-go-rounds. It was surprising the first time I saw one again. I guess they have not become extinct after all. I'm sure they are gone from all schools though.
After watching the kids try to spin it and get on and then dog pile when someone slipped I do think they are more of a death trap waiting to happen. It's a happy way to go right?!

Here they are spinning it - the girls (Sandra and her friend Sierra) getting a nice ride.

The big dog pile! I'm not sure who started it, but Grant is in the navy, Talmage in orange, and their friend Dallin in red.

Mhari is old enough to really love parks too. She can climb the stairs and go down the slides! This kept her busy for some time.

She's growing up so fast. She also really loved the baby swings. She didn't want to get out when I was done pushing her. I think she sat there for 10 minutes one time not swinging, but not wanting down. It's fun to see the little ones start to develop their own personality and stubbornness :).

Spring weather

Welcome to windy spring... Texas Style!
The wind is blowing and we are having nice warm days (mostly, then freezing then warm, I said Texas style) and the kids are enjoying the backyard!

Mhari has been so funny. She loves the slide. She loves the big swing, but doesn't hang on well yet and only swings slowly for now. She also loves the basketball hoop! No, she can't throw it in yet, but she loves to dunk! With a little help from Mommy of course. She says "mama" and so I had to get her to say "up". She says it now, but it just sounds more like a grunt than "up." We are progressing with her vocabulary anyway :).

Here she is ready to go up!


Sometimes with sisters they want the same ball. . . so then there are fits to be had...


By both girls... so sad.



Then we recover and it's time to play ball again! Sandra does well with it down low. Also a reason for the fit earlier. I'm working on teaching her to throw it in instead of just dunk it. She is learning well.

Here are some pictures of her shooting the ball :).

This was done while Talmage was still at school so we missed out on him this time around (he has had several posts recently just about him so I didn't feel too bad).

Grant is also quite talented, but it's hard to capture with the camera so there is a video to enjoy of him as well :). You can also hear the wonderful wind we enjoy most days around here. I've got to invest in a kite or something. It's the perfect weather for it! ~ oh and a video of Sandra too :)

Anyways, How is your spring weather coming along? Kids loving being out again? Mommies loving the kids being out? I have always loved spring!