Happy Halloween!

At Trunk or Treat inside my friend's church tonight.  A perfect alternative to Trick or Treating in the rain!

At my sister's Halloween party last weekend (don't they have awesome decorations?!?).  At the last minute Jenna & I decided to be "country girls"- fast, easy, and perfect for a barn party!

Our little ones were:

 Pooh (Lauren), Tigger (Tanner), Rabbit (Tyler) & Piglet (Hannah) 

            

  

Big sister Jenna is always the BEST helper around!

For Halloween, Jenna was a Princess 

(Thank you, Destiny, for lending us your costume!) 

 Jenna's school had a Halloween Parade and then a fun party afterwards.  I was so glad I could be there for it!

 

          Our most wonderful Tigger!

"Happy Halloween!"

And now please excuse me, I have some candy to eat.

~Becky

Our Lil' Pumpkins

Happy Halloween from our crew!  Our little pumpkins have been getting the most out of this season! 

Lauren, Tyler, Tanner & Hannah 

 Our Beautiful Jenna Joy

Speaking of Jenna, she really loves Kindergarten now!  She amazes us daily at all she is learning.  Jenna has been starting to pick up early reader books and reading them/sounding them out on her own, and she has been writing words & sentences completely on her own too.  The other day I went to tidy her room up & found this on her work table in her room.  She had made it that morning when she woke up, "just because."  Oh, my heart!

It says (phonetically), "I miss my dogs!  Jenna, (age) 5."  That is her walking Scout & Oxford, our old dogs.

And with the winter months looming ahead and cold & flu season upon us, I know we will be hunkering down for the majority of the winter.  I decided to break out the ball pit (an inflatable pool) but was stymied on how to best set up a pit in the neatest way possible, when it hit me:  us a pack-n-play!  Voila!  The kids think it is a hit.

Peek-a-boo!  Since the first dip in the ball pit, mommy made a rule: no more than 2 kids in it at a time and everyone must throw the balls back in once the ball time is over.  They love it, though!

And to end, I wanted to see where the lil' pumpkins were at last year & compare- oh, how they have grown!

Lauren, Hannah, Tyler & Tanner October 2012

October 2013:  Our little Diva Our sweet Hannah was not sure she liked being in a pumpkin

Hope you are finding ways to get the most our of the season!

Hugs!
Becky

{family}

This past weekend I met up with my Thorson side of the family due to the unexpected death of my Uncle John.  My heart aches for the family and for my dad, who lost his brother and only sibling.  While I have not seen Uncle John for many years, I have fond memories of him and know he will be missed.  While in Plano, we drove by where our grandparents lived and saw their gravesite.  It was nice to reminisce and see the familiar town & memorable landmarks with big kid eyes!

Dad the day of the funeral.  Plano, Illinois was not only where the family lived but also where the Superman movie was filmed, thus the "Smallville" sign on this building.

My sister, mom, babies & I went to Illinois for the funeral and shared a hotel room.  Don't you know I forgot to take a single picture the day of the funeral, but I did snap some hotel room photos.  It was great seeing that side of the family and meeting family members I either didn't remember well or had never met.  Unfortunately, I wish our reunion had been under better circumstances.

Free Rides!

Our room was huge, it fit 4 Pack n Play's perfectly!

 My dad & wife Nancy drove in from Arizona for the funeral & then spent a few days here in Michigan.  It was wonderful visiting with them & having them spend time with the grandkids.  They had not met our quads prior to this, so I am glad they got to officially meet each other!

 {cousins}

 

It shouldn't take the death of a family member to remind me that life is so delicate and there is something so precious and... familiar... with family.  I have had some friends for a very long time, but with family you are a part of everyone else's story too, and your story started even before you were born.  Whether from up close or afar, family witnesses the intimate struggles, circumstances, joys, disappointments, faults, accomplishments, failures, strengths & weaknesses of each other decade to decade.  Individual family members can vary widely in looks, personality and lifestyle, yet strip away a lot of who we have become and you are likely to find some of the same familial strengths & struggles. 

I love my family.  Perfect we are not.  But then again, what family is?  Life is too short and fragile to have regrets.  If at all possible, love your family well.  Forgive them.  Give them grace.  Pray for patience (for you) as needed and often.  Enjoy them!   Be kind, even when you find it hard.  Treat them as you want to be treated.  Speak truth, but only in love.  Connect with them as often as you can.  These are things that can be hard to do with family, but life is never guaranteed.  We won't regret it....

Hugs~

Becky

FORMULA FREE!!!!!

The crowd watched as I mixed the VERY LAST CAN EVER EVER EVER of formula!  Hallelujah!!!

As you can tell by the title, I am a (((little))) excited by this change!  A year ago, when we first had all babies home, we dutifully fixed & consumed 32 bottles a day.  Back then, we mixed formula & milk and measured by the precise mL.  It seemed to take FOREVER for one child to successfully drink 1-2 ounces!  As the babies grew and consumed more & more, we went to all formula and were SO THANKFUL that the children qualified for WIC benefits,which included formula.

Never.  Again.

We washed and mixed and prepped bottles every day.  Bottles went from 4 oz to 8 oz capacity.  We washed and mixed & prepped bottles every day.  They drank & grew.  We gradually decreased bottles as they started eating more & more food, but the formula was still a daily necessity.  Once they turned a year, we could have transitioned to all cow milk, but the WIC benefits still covered the high-calorie formula until their "adjusted birthday" (see prior blog, ha!).  Trying to be frugal and grateful, we continued with formula but I literally counted down that last month's cans (which actually lasted two months because I started mixing it with cow's milk to transition their palate).

My notes in dry erase marker about formula conversions.  And an important daily reminder to myself!

And so as my dear quad-mom friends who have quadruplets the same age as ours joyfully blogged about how they are formula (and bottle!) free now, I still.  Dutifully.  Washed, Mixed & Prepped.  Twelve 8 oz. bottles every day.  After day.  After day.  I'm not gonna lie, these last few months formula felt like Manna probably did to the Israelites in the Old Testament.  Glad it's provided for nutrition, but not so excited about it either!  ("Manna" literally means, "What is it?!?"  It probably wasn't very tasty day after day after day...).

Our pitcher we used to mix formula in literally started cracking around July, so these last few months it has been barely usable.  I am proud to say we have thrown it away and the babies have transitioned to milk easily!  I still pour 8 bottles a day for a morning and night bottle, but it. is. so. much. EASIER!!! Now we just need to transition out of those 4-part Doctor Brown bottles- I am working on it...

But rejoicing in little accomplishments!!

Tanner Then.....   and NOW!

Tyler Busters with Grandpa on a horse-drawn carriage ride last weekend at Heidi's Farmstand

Daddy with the boys then & now!

 Me feeding Lauren then.... and me holding Hannah & Lauren NOW!

Jenna (and Grandma!) are also glad to be done with formula.  Now there is more time to play!!!!!

We are so very blessed.

Hugs!

Becky