It's the little things

Sometimes when I am in the midst of piles of laundry or toys strewn all over the house or up to my ears in diapers, I feel like I don't have any "quality time" to spend with my kids. It seems I am always telling them I'm too busy to play or read or whatever. They are great at playing independently and with each other which I think is important, but I love the little moments we have as a family, doing things that aren't super exciting but are just as fun.

After school on Friday we headed out to the Outlet Mall. It was slightly drizzling and I really didn't want to go out in the rain with all the kids but Colby insisted we just do it. All four kids got such a kick out of dashing in between the canvas coverings to escape the rain drops.


After our shopping we sat down (in the FREEZING cold!) and ate a caramel apple and some pretzel bites. Landon started throwing pieces of his pretzel to the birds and loved it! Then as we headed out we let Owen & Jacob down and let them run wild which they thought was the GREATEST. THING. EVER! They splashed in puddles and took off in opposite directions and enjoyed their freedom. They were being so goofy and so cute and Cailyn & Landon loved chasing them around.

Like I said, it wasn't anything super special or super exciting, but it was fun afternoon and made me realize how much I love being with my family and how important these small moments are.

A Little Treat

We got these cute mini, slow melt popsicles at the store the other day. They seemed like the perfect size for little hands so I decided to see how the boys would handle them. As expected, they LOVED them! I mean, what child doesn't love popsicles after all? Jacob was all serious about his. I kept trying to get him to smile for the camera but he would NOT take that thing out of his mouth. Maybe he was afraid I would take it away. :P He just sucked and sucked the life outta that thing until it was gone.Owen, of course, was a little more adventurous with his. He'd suck it, bite it, and shudder as the cold gripped his teeth. But he enjoyed every minute of it!

Luck

Today I had the following conversation with Cailyn on the ride home from school:

Cailyn: Mom, do I take a shower tomorrow?
Me: Yep.
Cailyn: Good! Because if I have a good day tomorrow it's because of the water!
Me: Whaaaat?
Cailyn: That's what my fortune cookie said.
Me: Your fortune said that water will make you happy? [thinking to myself, that's weirdest fortune I've ever heard]
Cailyn: Yeah. It says, "Tomorrow you will be showered with luck."
Me: [grinning] Ooooh.

I didn't bother to correct her. I'll let her think that her shower is going to give her good luck. :)

Make Up

For Valentine's Day I got Cailyn a small little thing of make up that she could play with. She was so excited! But I told her it was for dress up only and she couldn't wear it anywhere. So the other day I told her to go get dressed cuz we were gonna go to Target. When I walked in her room to see if she was ready I was greeted by this:
It made me laugh out loud! The crazy wild hair, purple sparkly eyeshadow and hot pink lipstick. She looked like a drag queen! The picture seriously doesn't do it justice. Oh, how I love that little girl. :)

Our Valentine's Day

We had a very busy and very fun Valentine's Day this year. We started off the morning with pink cinnamon rolls and strawberry milk, specifically requested by Cailyn.Then we made some Valentine cards ...
and some cookies that we later delivered to Grandma.

Then it was time for lunch.

We took some pictures for Daddy's gift.
And set the table for our yummy fondue dinner.
I was pretty tired by the end of the day, but I think the kids had lots of fun and that's what matters! Unfortunately Colby had a toothache and ended up getting a tooth pulled so he wasn't able to join us in the fun. :(

She thinks it's fun!

A couple months ago I decided Cailyn was old enough to learn how to scrub her own toilet. After I taught her how she thought it was so much fun and continued to scrub all the toilets each week! I figure I better take advantage of it while I can. :)

Such a good big brother

Landon got lots of goodies at his school Valentine's party and decided to share a sucker with his brothers. They were in high heaven!
And apparently he wasn't giving it to them fast enough! :P

Outdoor Fun

The weather has been beautiful lately and we've been enjoying the sunshine. Jacob especially gets so excited when he hears the back door open. He drops whatever he is playing with and runs to the door with a huge grin on his face!

Hmmm, I think we may need to get a second car. :)

Valentine's Countdown

I just love Valentine's Day. Something about pink and red and heart-shaped everything just makes me happy. :) This year I pulled out all our little mailboxes and cut out some hearts so we could leave each other love notes during the month. And each day til Valentine's the kids get a little something special in their mailbox -- trinkets, candy, crafts, etc. We especially like baking up yummy goodies!

Why???

Why is it that boys have to climb on top of EVERYTHING? :P

Despicable Me

Our family is currently OBSESSED with this movie!!! If you come to our house you will find that we are constantly quoting all the funny lines (and there are MANY!). I think it's been played roughly 852 times in our house and doesn't look like it'll fade any time soon. In fact, even Owen & Jacob will pretty much sit through the entire movie, which is no easy feat these days. :)

OJ

Here are some of my favorite recent pics of Owen & Jacob.

Jacob ALWAYS has that dumb tongue sticking out these days. :POwen sure does love bathtime. :)
I love the way they're looking at each other here!

This is not good.

Just when I think these boys can't possible get into more trouble they never fail to surprise me. Owen has learned to crawl up onto the office chair, and even worse, has learned to crawl all the way on top of the desk! Not good considering the ledge leads straight down to the hardwood floor a story below!

Lost Tooth

Cailyn lost another tooth! I LOVE listening to her as she reads her bedtime books at night. We always giggle every time she comes to a word with the letter "s". :)