Advent

For the first time we are going through and Advent calendar. And easy way to get excited about celebrating the birth of our Saviour and looking forward to His coming again. The kids get to take turns taking a magnet down everyday and reveal what fun thing we get to do as a family. So far we've read the Story of Jesus' birth from the Jesus Storybook Bible, watched Rudolph, made marshmallows, got our tree, decorated and slept out in the living room. It already feels like we've been living in this season of expectancy instead of letting it sweep us away.

Thoroughly enjoying hot chocolate and homemade mallows. Who knew the floor could be so comfortable?

Sleepy boy!

Can't wait to continue the celebration!

The 2010 Tree Hunt

Well we had to find a new place to get a tree this year, it figures that Albany is too far to drive to get a tree when we now live in Portland. And sure enough there are tree farms galore in the area. So we chose a farm where we could cut our own tree and that wouldn't break the bank since Jer wanted to get a big tree for our big front room. Figures that the day the weather was dry and gorgeous was Civil War. So we went for it all ducked out and everything.

Payden is always caring for Taylor, and care she needed poor thing walked straight into a piney nobley branch. Everything is so much bigger when you're small.Hailey very uncharacteristically wanted to be carried and kept tripping and falling, okay the clumsiness is pretty spot on, but her neediness was very very strange. So she got comfy on daddy's shoulders till it was time for him to get to work.

We found the one!Oooooo, I love how Taylor is watching Jer in the first shot...And joining right in on the second. She just wants to be one of the big kids. My sweet baby girl growing up so fast!One happy momma, let me tell you.

Freezing little ducklings waiting for daddy to come back with the car. All in all it was a success. I think next year we may try and find a more familiar kind of farm that we're used to, one where we can maybe linger a little bit more, but for this year we got what we needed and had a fun little outing. Although Jer is already thinking ahead for next year...adding 4 more feet to the vision...hmmmm Griswolds anyone?

Groceries to your door?

All this without leaving the house for $8.24! I can't believe it!

Rite Aid savings 2

After rebates and coupons and everything this cost me $1.98!

Hairography

I decided one day that I was sick of pigtails and clippies as my only option for the girls hair so I watched some video's on youtube and this is what I came up with...

A basic easy braid to keep the bangs out of the face...for the girls obviously.

French braided bun...absolutely adorable crown of a braid.

Twist side ponytail with a homemade flower clippie.

And from the side. Always helpful to take a picture of a two year old while playing.

And the side twist ponytail on my big girl.

A sort of knot pigtail bun 'do....adorable basically!

Training On The Go

Potty training...not fun. But with Hailey we're on round number two. About six months ago we gave it a good run and she did well, not fantastic but well. Then we got super busy and then we moved and we were not stable enough to give the attention needed to make her successful. Granted she was doing well. Last week Our beautiful, spunky, hilarious, freakishly strong third born decided she wanted to go to the bathroom on the toilet, and so she did, number two and everything, just because she wanted to.

Well now for two days we've changed her into underwear once she wakes up in the morning and she stayed in the same pair all day. No timers, no giving her constant drinks, she's seamlessly incorporated potty training into everyday life. Even going to Costco. So much so that I forgot until we were there and I got her out of the car seat, that's when I remembered she was in underwear. And that's when I broke into a nervous sweat. I don't know what I expected, an accident in the middle of tasting samples, running to the bathroom with 4 kids in tow and getting kicked out of Costco for bringing unpaid merchandise into the bathroom, or utter complete success from my big girl, I'm still not sure. But we made it home, in fact she told me she had to go while we were in the car and I was ever so thankful that we were only 5 minutes from home instead of 45 like when we lived at camp. And she held it. She held it till we got home. Ah my big girl. Of course she wanted to wear just underwear to bed tonight but mommy is too nervous for that. Who wants to wash an extra pair of sheets when there are already 4 basket full of clothes waiting silent yet dauntingly to be folded...not me. I hate laundry, it's my least favorite chore.

And I'm fully aware that now we're going to digress just because I've bragged about how great she has done. But for now, that's where we're at.

Extreme Couponing

I've decided to get into couponing. Not just clip them out and use them here and there; but clipping them, stacking them, doubling them, twice the valuing them, printing them, strategizing with them. Now I have only been at this a handful of times and the result is huge savings and an adrenaline rush I never knew I could get from shopping. I'm not a shopper, in fact I'm an anti shopper, nothing about it excites me...until now. My hands were trembling and my breaths were short during checkout, inevitably I dropped one transactions worth of coupons, and I felt like I was doing something wrong even though everything about saving money while using coupons is legal. When I got home I laid out my bounty and began to play the guessing game with Jer. 'Guess how much all of this cost us'? And my voice was shaking as I got to keep saying 'less', 'less', 'less'.

The problem I find now is that I don't want to go shopping for things we need unless I can get them for super cheap. So now the dilemma I'm facing now is, we are on our last package of wipes and I don't have cheap wipe options with coupons so I may just end up at Costco until a good deal presents itself. All in all, I'm loving it, couponing has become a hobby now and I'm enjoying saving our family money!

Sponge Curlers

When my sisters and I were little we were victims of sponge curler sleeping. I liked it, I'll be honest, curly hair that actually held the curl. It was fun.


Well Payden is obsessed with having curly hair and she is one of the unlucky ones who's hair does not hold style very well. So I broke down and got some sponge curlers for her, and she is obsessed. Want's it done every night, and she bounces even more during the day because of it.

Before (yes she needs her glasses all the time, it was just time for bed)

And After. You are looking at one happy girl.

Rite Aid Savings

All this...diapers and everything after coupons and rebates...$6.11! I am loving this couponing thing!

Rainy Errands

So while it's been over a year since I said I would keep a blog, I only have that first entry. I should have known. Even from when I logged in and typed these first two sentences, I've already had to get up twice and wipe two rear ends calling for me from the toilet. Sigh.

I think I might have to be slightly insane to do the things I do sometimes. Yesterday, in the midst of pouring down rain, I decide it is completely necessary to go run errands. Costco, Target and Safeway. With all 4 kids. What possesses me to do these things...I have no idea. As we pull in the parking lot of Costco I start talking up our adventure and how we have to be a team to make this work. How much is it to ask for a dry cart, and for a child to not freak out when their jeans get wet? It's amazing how on board they all were. I have some troopers for sure, because I for one was not thrilled that my pants got wet up to my calf just walking in to Costco.

Costco, Rock stars! They did awesome. Of course right when we started shopping Payden informs me she has to go potty. I book it through the store, grabbing all the stuff we need since we already had unpurchesed merchandise in the cart and I wasn't about to take 4 kids to the bathroom with no cart! We buy our things and start heading to the door when Lincoln goes 'mom you forgot to take us to the bathroom' Thank you Lincoln you may have just saved our shopping day! I can't tell you how much easier it is having children that can go to the bathroom without needing help for every single step. They still need minor assistance with wiping and such, but it's good.

Target, success! Payden is always the helper so when I knocked a shirt off of the rack we were walking by and didn't plan on picking it up she ran back and goes 'MOM YOU KNOCKED THIS DOWN'. Thanks Payden, Thanks. She loves to help and I love that about her, even when I'm not feeling super helpful myself.

Safeway, helpful kids. Keeping with the helpful, go team plan we set in place at the beginning of the errands Lincoln was the one this time that wanted to unload groceries and put them on the conveyor belt and then put the bags in the cart, and then in the car.

By the time we got home every ones pants were rolled up average of 3 times, and we looked quite stylish in our high waters, but we wore it appropriately because there was indeed high water.

My insanity paid off on this trip. Happy helpful children doing things that take 4 times longer than if I was able to do them on my own. I wouldn't trade it. Living life with these beautiful little people is so fun. Crazy? yes, Maddening sometimes? yes, Embarrassing at times? yep, but so worth it.