Lizzie is 6!

I can't believe that this tiny little person is now 6! (As of June 22...did I mention I am a bit behind...again).

This year Lizzie chose a Mexican-Luau-wedding party theme. AKA dollar store meets Auntie Nono and Uncle Dan's wedding leftovers (inlcuding wedding cupcakes, yum) and of course a pinata.

Great fun for all and the birthday girl in all her birthday excitement:

WAY behind!

I got a new camera recently, ok, so it was Mother's Day. And well, I have been too intimidated by technology to try to figure out how to upload or download or just plain load them onto the computer. I know... I know... I am married to a tech genius and yet can't put pictures on my own computer. Well a couple weeks ago the computer genius showed me how to do it, but refused to do it for me (something about learning to do it myself since it was my camera). And even after I batted my eye lashes and smiled just so, I was still left with the task of doing this tech job by my lonesome. So today I finally sat down and did it. And guess what, it only took a few minutes! So without further adieu, the last few months :-)

Boys

Yesterday as we were driving to visit some friends we overheard this conversation (Note: the names have been "changed" to protect the unsuspecting "boys"):

Ellie: Lizzie do you like boys?
Lizzie: I don't know...what do you mean?
Ellie: I mean do you like any boys?
Lizzie: I know some boys.
Ellie: I don't like boys...except "boy A" and "boy B" and I know "boy C" so him too I guess.
Lizzie: yeah, they are ok since we know them, so they can be our friends, but no other boys.
Ellie: Yeah.

Happy Father's Day!

Thank you Allen for being such an amazing daddy to our girls.

We love you and are so glad you put up with all the drama and pinkness that goes on in a house FULL of girls :-)

Time Goes By So Much Faster with Four

I am starting to think I need to redo-rename-and renew my blog.

With Four Little ones running around (ok only 3 running, but the 4th is busy with her own needs, so that counts as 4 running...right?)...

Where was I going with this, Oh, yeah, running around.

Yeah I find myself often running around like a crazy person trying to remember why I left the kitchen in a panic headed for a bedroom, but unable to remember what was so urgent because before I reach the room that "needs" me I have been asked 1,000 questions;


none of which did I actually hear because after the words "Mommy I..." I began to pass another room that had the all too busy 2 year old who has apparently been left alone far longer than should be, because she is sitting in the middle of a room covered in shredded wet wipes. She immediately looks up in a moment of guilt, or manipulation (not sure yet) and says, "Sorry, Mama." and then hangs her head just enough to indicate shame, but not so much that she can't also glance up to see my reaction.


Where was I going? Just as I am about to lose my mind, I remember where I was going because the crying that started me in motion has begun again. I quickly silence the questioning, command the 2 yr old to put the wipes away and enter the bedroom of the littlest only to be greeted with a smell that makes me wish I could sit in a room alone quietly shredding wet wipes into microscopic bits trying to see just how small I can make them before they disappear into nothing.

All that to say, sorry for the neglect of this little blog. It has been a bit crazy :-)

UPS modes of Transportation

I have been needing new kitchen knives for sometime. With our recent tax return, we decided that now was the time to replace the ones I have been using and abusing for the past 10 years (yes, I DID put them in the dishwasher over and over again...now I understand why I shouldn't have). Anyway, I researched and finally ordered a complete set of knives in a wood block that both fit our budget and my kitchen needs. I have been anxiously watching the UPS tracking in anticipation of their arrival. But when the big day came and I checked our front porch again and again, only to find snow flakes and silence, my first thought was, "it must be the snow keeping them away. It will be here tomorrow." But the next day, the same thing, an empty and cold front porch. I finally went back to my original form of keeping up on my package and found this:

Shipment Progress

Location	Date	Local Time	ActivityWhat's This?
Portland, OR, United States	02/25/2011	1:16 A.M.	Train derailment.
Hodgkins, IL, United States	02/22/2011	10:24 A.M.	Departure Scan
	02/22/2011	2:54 A.M.	Arrival Scan
Palatine, IL, United States	02/22/2011	2:09 A.M.	Departure Scan
Palatine, IL, United States	02/21/2011	6:34 P.M.	Origin Scan
United States	02/21/2011	6:03 P.M.	Order Processed: Ready for UPS

That's right, my package along with many others is on a train that is no longer on the tracks. Hopefully everyone is ok, and no one was injured, and hopefully my package along with many other peoples' packages will be on their way again soon. Amazing what you can learn from tracking a package :-)

Lizzie's New Look

So a couple of weeks ago we began noticing that Lizzie was struggling to read letters and write clearly. After some more observing and a visit to the eye doctor, we found that Lizzie has a pretty bad astigmatism. We ordered her glasses and they finally came in yesterday.


Doesn't she look adorable?







So far she is doing well with them, though I never realized how many rules there would be for a pair of glasses :

- don't touch the lenses
- don't take them off and leave them lying around
- take them off when playing tickling games (with 4 girls there isn't much "rough housing")
- put them in the case when you go to bed at night
- don't let your sisters wear them



And I am sure there are more. Can you think of any???

Amazon.com Girl

So Ellie is our tall, active girl who is probably the girliest of our 4 girls (so far). She loves everything pink, sparkly and will ALWAYS choose a dress or skirt over a pair of pants or shorts. Generally she can be seen walking on her tip-toes, because that is what princesses and ballerinas do.

Well today my girlie girl was in the bathroom and all of a sudden I hear her yelling for me in a panic. "Ahhh!!! Mommy come quick. There is a GIGANTIC spider!!!!"
I run to the bathroom, paper towel in hand to find her on the toilet pointing and shaking at a small dot on the bathroom rug. After I disposed of this vile creature, Ellie asked me, "Wasn't that a HUGE spider!"

"It wasn't really that big sweetheart."

"But it was the most GIGANTIC spider I have EVER seen!!! It was SO scary!!!"

So apparently our Ellie isn't planning on living in the Amazon Rain forest anytime soon.

She is more of an Amazon.com sort of girl :-)

Clean-Up, Clean-Up, Everybody Everywhere...

So I have taken to sweeping up toys as I clean the kitchen floor. Rather than bend over every 5 seconds to pick up a toy that I have asked a child (or children) to pick up at least a dozen times, I choose to act as though I am going to throw it away. In order to prove I mean business, there have been occasions that I have had to throw away a crayon or other such items. The older two girls have learned quickly to examine the pile I am sweeping into, in order to be sure their beloved items are not going to be disposed of soon.

I was at it again this afternoon. Lizzie quickly grabbed some crayons, a drawing and a marble machine piece. Gracie appeared to have found something in the pile as well, and followed her big sister's lead. When I looked to see what she had decided was valuable enough to pick through a pile of kitchen floor dirt, I saw that it was not a toy, or a crayon or even a scrap of paper that a child had made into a piece of artwork. Nope, it was...a goldfish cracker.

Of course it was in her mouth before I could stop her, and since I was cleaning, I chose to let her finish digesting those germs, without putting my unclean hands into her mouth in an attempt to remove the already mushed up, floor-fishy.

Who knew that goldfish crackers were such a valued treasure?

Running

Well Christmas has come and gone, and now to get this post-pregnancy-post-holidays-post-life body into a shape that doesn't resemble a Christmas ornament.

I have NEVER been a runner. In fact, even those that are closest to me have probably never seen me "run". I was just too self-conscious about "doing it wrong" or "looking silly" to even try. Despite my lack of running, I have been intrigued at the idea of marathons. A tangible goal that I could reach for, even if it seemed super far away. Recently I have become even more interested in the thing called "running".

I read about friends' experiences and can't help but wonder if I could... possibly... maybe... Try... running.

Yesterday I mentioned this interest on Facebook, and in a very short period of time had more people respond than I would have ever imagined. The funny thing is that most of the responses lead me to the same place...a program called C25K (Couch to 5k). After looking at it, I think I am going to give it a go.

So tomorrow will mark Week 1 Day 1 for me and hopefully in 9 weeks I will be able to say that I can not only run, but run a 5K.

Anyone want to join me?