This has been a very frustrating & difficult chore as I am sure it is for every mom out there with several kids in several sizes. I seem to draw 8 very eager hands every time I get the clothes out and did you know the bestest thing in the world is to pull all the clothes out and decorate a floor?!? To compound the matter, I had the clothes in a dresser in their room but I obviously couldn't organize it during nap time so it was a slow-going task. Jenna helped me with her clothes, and that was fun! I pulled out cute clothes of mine I have not worn for 3 years (pre-q), and that was rewarding! But the quaddlers clothes? ugggggg. I can't even count the amount of times I started to organize clothes, only to find them unorganized for various reasons over & over & over again!!! ***sigh***
Even so, we still enjoyed the summery weather & outdoor fun this month!
Outdoor Play:
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| The troops running outside- FREEDOM! |
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| Tanner in front of the house probably chasing the cat |
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| Tyler running down our driveway. THIS is why I love living in the country! Lots of yard to play with :) |
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| The best way to swing when you have lots of little people in line! |
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| Walking back home after a wonderful Sunday dinner at the Schmidt's house |
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| Hannah pointing an airplane out to Tanner. She gets so excited every time she sees one! |
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| Tyler very curious about this Barbie Jeep |
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| Little Lady Lauren |
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| Happy Hannah! |
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| The boys loving the water table |
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| I just love the special friendship these two already have! |
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| I was trying to teach Tanner how to press on the pedal to make the jeep go, but he wasn't getting it... |
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| ...so Hannah decided to take matters into her own hands and push the jeep across the driveway!!! |
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| Phew mom, we're pooped! Time for a video while you make dinner! (note: they were not sunburned, just overheated. A little water & rest and they were a normal color later on!) |
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| Mother's Day dinner with my mom & sister Cindy |
My mom & I decided to take the kids to Boulder Ridge, a local petting zoo on Mother's Day this year since Andy was working and Grandpa was away. The kids LOVED it and we had fun, too!
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| My busy silly boys! |
Our Growing Jenna
Jenna trying her daddy's shoes on for size
Jenna is (sob sob!) almost a first grader. I couldn't be more proud of the little woman she is and is becoming. She had a Spring Sing at school that Andy, Papa & I went to this month. It was cute!
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| Where's Jenna? Clue: she is looking at me and wearing a yellow dog on her head. |
Our Growing & Hungry Toddlers
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| Lunch is served! All my waitressing years have come in handy as I stack them all on my left arm & serve them with my right. |
I am not sure if I have blogged this yet, but we are officially high-chair FREE! The kids now eat at the table with all of us and just sit in booster seats. It actually is a much better set-up for us all, and they are getting very good with table manners (i.e. not tossing food, not flipping plates over when full or dislike the meal, and using utensils properly). I still have everyone use a community cup only because they all end up sharing/stealing anyways, and that is A LOT of cups to disassemble,wash & reassemble if everyone got their own! I mean, we already run the dishwasher every 1-2 days as is!
Spaghetti Night=Bath Night
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| Tanner has become our human food compactor. He usually eats everyone's leftovers- but he still stays so skinny!!! To Lauren: "You're not gonna eat that, are you???" |
Only one thing, children: you take bites out of food. NOT arms.
Yup, this was Tanner's arm and Hannah was mad at him (as in, she was mad because he had the audacity to be in her way by the slider door. Hannah has a dominant personality, can you tell?).
I watched her grab, bite, and pull back out of anger in the flash of a second.
The good news was that because I was right there, I could attend to Tanner and discipline Hannah immediately.
The bad news is that with FOUR almost-two-year-olds, D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E is going to be our life the next 2 years! With the Good Lord's help, experience, help from others, trial & error, and the occasional glass of wine or two, I am ready to tackle this stage with firm resolve, graceful love, and lots of giggles. Plus, I deeply love this age because of all the J-O-Y-S you see as children grow in personality, spirit & autonomy!
Well, that was our May. Hope you have a great start to summer!
Hugs!
Becky
Ahh so much cool stuff in May! I just love all the outdoor play and baby crocs.
ReplyDeleteYou are so creative with meals...I just love passing your ideas along to my daughter for her 18 month old son. Which brings me to my next question....if you don't mind me asking, how do you discipline biting issues. Landry, my grandson, has been bitten repeatedly at his daycare by his best friend. Well, their parents are best friends anyway and I know the stipulations at daycare limit them with disciple and you are so good with your children, I was just wondering how you handle the biting situation. Thank you! you can email me at pajohnston@uss.com
ReplyDeleteLOVE these pictures! The one of Happy Hannah, she looks sooooo much like you! And I loved her pushing the Barbie jeep too. So awesome they are eating at the table with y'all and that table manners have improved. We pull our chairs up to the quad table for family dinners, I am hanging on to that thing as long as possible!
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing! Miss you!
Pam, thank you for the kind words! To answer your question, discipline is so tailored to the individual personalities! Hannah is assertive and bully-ish, but very sensitive in spirit. For her, all I had to do was look her in the eyes, say "No Bite, That Hurts!" with passion, and then tap her mouth with my index finger and she burst into tears. It has not been an issue since then! Hope Landry is not bitten again- ouch!!!
ReplyDelete