The Munchkins

January. Where did that month go? A few quick reminders for the book.  

Ellie giving attitude, normal now. 

Deciding whether to hit him or let him be?

She is talking a lot more now and surprises me everyday with something new. So cute when she waves and says hi to everyone and uses her thank you's and even throws in an excuse me here and there!

Rachel, Livy and Colt were following this guy with a metal detector around the park while Ellie walks Pebbles. Free babysitting. 

Playing in the rain. 

Boxing with dad :)

Danny's 20th birthday! Who can believe he's 20 already! Happy Birthday Dan, we love you!

Outside lunches in January, thanks Houston!

Ellie is the shadow/copycat/glue to Colt. She wants to be right near him, copies the things he says and does and keeps going back for more even when she gets hurt!

We were feeling brave this day. Giving them each a shopping cart is an easy way to turn a happy trip into a screaming and stressful one. 

Busy always on the move girl still keeps me going all day everyday. Cute and fun and exhausting and is now adding temper tantrums to her list of activities for the day. 

Loves the trampoline but can't get down, just sits and waits for someone to come get her. 

Colt had a friend over and there you go.

A zoo trip that wasn't half bad! Beautiful day and the kids listened pretty well. 

Bottom line: I love them. Some days I am totally sinking and other days are peachy. But in the end I am grateful for the ride.  The only thing I wish is that I had more of a clue at what I am doing as a mom!!

Christmas Break

Christmas break was pretty stinking fun! I was unsure how it would go with everyone home for so long because sometimes by the end of a simple weekend I am ready to lose it, but it actually went great. I know that Eric getting off of work most of the time and Hannah being here had a huge impact. It turned out fun and we are so happy Hannah got to stay with us! All the kids were really sad when Hannah had to go back to New York. 

One day trip to Sea World where we met up with Kevin, April and their kids. Little Karli was a champ! It was quite cold but it made for a fun day. 

Enjoying some hot chocolate!

Bike riding at their school! The girls thought it was pretty cool to be up at school when no one else was there over break.

Monsters Inc. in 3-D. The kids, especially Colt, love this movie so they had a great time. We went to movie tavern so they got to eat a meal while they watched, it doesn't get much better! Ellie didn't sit well but luckily it was pretty empty in the theater. 

Hannah and I did some cooking and whipped up some of Grandma's spaghetti sauce, yummm. Ellie enjoyed it too. 

New Year's Eve. Out to dinner for Chinese food. Do you see how I got stuck next to Colt and Ellie at dinner, totally not fair Eric!

Our little New Year's Eve party. We had some munchie food and Rachel said this was the best night ever because she could eat whatever she wanted without asking. Eric took them to get some balloons, party hats and noise makers and they thought it was the best party! So easy to please right now. 

The kids were so excited for fireworks. Colt just couldn't wait and kept saying he wanted to spend all his money on fireworks. He would run up and get his wallet and take his money and say he was ready to go get fire works. Another line was "I need have another Christmas so I get more money so I get more fireworks." He's got the bug already. 

It had been raining on and off all day and we didn't know if we would get to actually do the fire works but Eric had quite the dedication and he put on a show for them! And they all loved it, one of the best parts of the week!

The kids didn't get to stay up to see the ball drop but they didn't care, they had a great night! Happy New Year!

Eric got himself a little treat for the new year, a jeep! It is older and used but he has really liked getting to order stuff and fix it up. It looks pretty good now and they kids can't get enough of it, especially Rae!

Helping dad clean the jeep up.

Ellie enjoying the leftovers! Life as #4! Love you kid! Love all you kids, what a fun vacation! Now back to reality and going nuts again!