Happy Halloween Ya'll

Happy Halloween!!! What an awesome day we have had enjoying the beautiful fall colors, meeting lots of new friends in the new neighborhood, and watching the kids enjoy the day's festivities. Our neighborhood has a very active Halloween tradition of getting everyone together for pizza and festivities before the kids go trick or treating. It was so much fun seeing all the kids play together, and enjoying our new neighbors. The  big kids went tricker or treating with their daddy, while the babies and I stayed behind and handed out candy. 

This is a picture of my foyer window, and I have loved looking at this beautiful maple tree for the past couple of weeks.  The colors have been amazing.  You will have to ignore the ugly chandelier that is also included in the picture.  The town that we live in is very old, and the houses are old, and we have some updating projects to do, but that is a post all of its own!  Enjoy the colors of fall!!!

These are our little trick-or-treaters!  Albert Einstein, Minnie Mouse, and Spot the Dog!

Emma Grace cracked me up insisting that she wear this outfit.  Last year I had bought her a fairy costume, in about a size 12 so that she could wear it for the next 10 years because remember that I hate spending money on costumes.  But she did not want to be the fairy, she wanted to wear the size 2T dog costume (remember that she is 4).  You can see form the picture that the pants are about 6 inches to short, and she has the worst wedgie.  Not to mention she wants to wear the costume tomorrow to dress up day at school - Lord help me. 

Taylor really wanted to be a Star Wars something or another, but he also has a school project coming up that he has to dress up as Albert Einstein for, so again being cheep for Halloween I made him wear his A.E. costume!  Thank goodness Aunt Emily left her brand new size 4 suit jacket here in May, so Taylor could borrow it!  I tried to find him a jacket his size but I did not want to spend $85 on it because we are not really suit type people.  But I did buy him new slacks and a new button up white shirt - it will double as a Christmas outfit.  I have not figured out how I am going to get my money out of that wig yet. 

This has been a really busy day.  Preston started walking big time today!  He started taking lots of steps tonight.  Addison was too funny trying to imitate brother by getting on her knees and walking just on her knees.  It is funny how jealousy can be used as a motivator. 

These were the girls before school this morning!  I thought they looked so cute all dressed alike. 

Funny story.  My next door neighbor is a wonderful women, and a busy momma to 4 older children.  Her oldest is a senior in High School, and her youngest Gretion is 10 (picture posted above as Minnie Mouse). She is so very busy running the kids all over the place, her oldest sons are competitive swimmers, and she is just busy.  Well today I looked outside at about 4:30 and she was franticly working in her front yard blowing leaves out of the way, and carving a pumpkin for the front porch.  She had sent her husband to the basement to find some fall decorations for the front portch to decorate a little bit (keep in mind again it is 4:30 on Halloween night).  The next thing I know I look outside and he has strung up fire place mantle pumpkin garland from the rafters on the front porch.  It was the funniest thing I have ever seen!  I wish I had taken a picture.  Kathy said "I can't believe he has used my inside decorations on the outside."  The whole event cracked me up. 

Stayin' Warm

Have you ever seen anything so cute in all your life?????  Today we are all feeling a lot better and we are just trying to stay warm.  It has gotten very cold in Atlanta, and I am not sure that any of us like it.  What I do like are these coordinating cowgirl and cowboy outfits.  I love all things boy/girl twins.  It is getting harder and harder to find matching outfits for these little love bugs.  So if anyone out there knows where to find matching boy/girl clothing let me know, but know that I am cheep and I don’t like to spend a fortune on clothes. 

 

Sick Day Monday

I have not been feeling well the last couple days, and by last night I was determined that I had strep throat.  So I self diagnosed myself and started a round of antibiotics that my doctor had given me this time last year, that I did not use.  The pills were a little bit puffy, like moisture had gotten to them, but I thought it was better than nothing.  My sweet husband decided, without me asking or nagging this morning, that he was going to work from home and help with the little kids.  He gets awesome husband of the year award today!!!  I decided that since I had an extra set of hands, and that the puffy antibiotics I had started taking last night might not be such a great idea, that I would go to the walk in clinic this morning.  The verdict was not strep throat, but a sinus infection!  Got some update antibiotics, and something good to help me sleep tonight!  One of the perks of no longer nursing 14 month old twins is that I get to take advantage modern day medicine, and two I am not nursing toddlers!!! 

Anyway when I got home Ryan’s work had blown up and he asked if he could go into the office.  So the three little kids and I just took it easy.  I was hoping for a 4 hour nap (not sure why I would hope for this since they have never napped that long in their life), but we settled for no nap at all, and fun in the ball pit. 

We played in the moon sand.

 

We looked so cute in brother’s PJ’s, because I failed to mention that we stayed in our PJ’s all day long.

Then we made my Aunt Shirley’s Sausage Casserole.  It is so good, it reminds me of my childhood, and my momma cooking.  I posted the recipe below.

Then I decided that we have gotten our money out of these PJ’s….  Four kids are probably too many for the same pair of PJ’s!

Aunt Shirley’s Sausage Casserole:
1 box of Hot Roll Mix
2 pound of mild sausage
2 tablespoons of fresh parsley
8 oz of Swiss cheese
1 small onion
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon of water

Make Hot Roll Mix as directed, and set aside and let rise for about 30 minutes. 

Sautee onion and sausage (about 10 minutes), and then add two eggs and Swiss cheese, and parsley.

Take 2/3’s of the Hot Roll Mix and press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9”x13” dish.  Reserve the remaining for lattice work on top of the casserole.  Fill the pan with your meat mixture.  Cut the remaining Hot Roll Mix into about 12 pieces and roll them out into ropes.  Place them on top of the sausage casserole in a lattice pattern.

Mix the Egg Yolk and water, and spread on top of the lattice work with a pastry brush.

Cook on 375 for about 20-25 minutes.  Yum Yum

A Sunday of First

I love this picture.  Not only because I was able to capture 3 of my 4 children all in the same spot, but because of the outfit that Preston is wearing.  I have prayed and prayed that one of my boys would be able to wear this heirloom.  Ryan’s mom made this for Ryan when he was a baby 35 years ago!  My mother-in-love is the best seamstress, and I was so excited when she passed onto me all of Ryan’s hand smocked baby clothes.  Taylor never got to wear this outfit (due to his size and the season not matching up), and I am so proud that Preston got to wear it for the first time this season!

 

This morning was mine and Ryan’s first attempt at making breakfast for our new Sunday School class.  I think it was a hit!  I judge by leftovers, and there was very little left to clean up!  I made my favorite fall treat: Pumpkin Muffin’s, and my husband’s favorite: Grit’s Casserole.   I love both of these recipes – they were perfect for a cold autumn morning with new friends.  I have posted the recipes below. 

 

Pumpkin Muffins:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
¾ of a 29-ounce can of pumpkin
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pinch of ground nutmeg
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp molasses

cream cheese frosting:

8 oz cream cheese
1 stick butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease your cupcake tins.

In a bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground cloves, and nutmeg.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl, stir together the canola oil, egg, pumpkin, molasses, brown sugar and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time and stir to combine.

Spoon batter into prepared cupcake tin and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Let cool completely before icing.

To make frosting, beat cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla together until thick and smooth. Transfer icing into a pastry bag with a tip or a plastic bag with the tip cut off. Frost cupcakes and store in the refrigerator until serving.

Adapted fromEat, Live, Run.

Grits Casserole

6 cups water

2 cups grits

Salt to taste
1 pound sausage (I like maple flavored)
1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix
4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup of Milk
½ Stick of Butter
7 Eggs

Preheat oven to 400.

Make grits according to package directions, and set aside.
Cook sausage in skillet until golden brown.
Combine Cornbread, milk, eggs, melted butter, and 3 cups of cheese in a large bowl.
Add sausage and grits to the mix.
Place in a large baking dish.
Bake until the middle is no longer wiggly.
Top with remaining cheese, and let melt.
Enjoy!!!!

Twin Octopus Halloween

I just could not resist!  These little love bugs (or love octopi) are just too cute to let this time pass without linking up to Kellie’s Korner! 

I love the twins in everything Pink and Blue, so these costumes were a must have!  Emma Grace wore the pink octopus when she was 1 and probably again when she was 2.  So it is only fitting that Addison get a wear out of it this year.  I am super cheep when it comes to costumes, and play things.  I lucked out and found the same one in blue for Preston on Ebay!!!!  These costumes were from Baby Style when it existed (I don’t even think they are still around, which is such a shame because they always had the cutest things for little ones).

 

 

Preston is always so happy in pictures and Addison is always throwing the biggest fit!  Oh the drama of little girls.

 

This picture cracks me up. 

Preston is so macho with his zippers pried open, and his chest hair exposed!  He is going to be quite the ladies man when he is 45!

Can't Believe....

this little guy is looking so very big!!!

 

Art Time in the Bath Tub

I love to do art with my children, and it is so much fun now that the babies are getting to a fun age to participate.  Here are some pictures of an activity that we did this week at bath time.  These are edible paints, and it was so much fun that even Taylor wanted to jump in and do them (but he did not want to get in the tub with this three little siblings.)  I had some cool whip in the freezer that I did not have plans for, so I pulled it out and let it thaw, and then I filled up my silicone muffin pans with cool whip and a little drop of food coloring.  I put the little kids in the tub and let them go to town.  Everything was going really well until Addison figured out that she could eat the paint!  Her dominant side came out when she would not let anyone else have the paints out of the muffin tins!  She was very cute holding onto her prized possession.  Everyone had great fun and then we just filled the tub up with water and had our bath.  No mess activity!!!!

 

East Cobb Fun on a Saturday

Saturday we had a whole day full of friends and fun!  Taylor had his new buddy Hayden over to play part of the day, and then we all packed up and headed over to the East Cobb Park for Emma Grace’s new friend Claire’s birthday party.  It was such a gorgeous afternoon and a perfect time for the kids to play. 

After the party we had dinner with our new friends the Vanloh’s at Mellow Mushroom.  The kids had so much fun playing together at dinner.  I will say this again – I am so thankful for Cara and her family.  All of our kids are the same age and they get along so very well.  The girls giggled at dinner, and the boys played their I-phones and electronics! 

 

This is Emma Grace and Claire getting their face painted. 

I will miss the day that they both fit in a swing together. 

My sweet little Taylor

Emma Grace and Chole

This is Abby and Chole.  We got to see a lot of these two this weekend!  They both came over this weekend for dinner on Friday, and the we saw them Saturday at the party. 

Friday Night Party!!!

This weekend was our social weekend of all time in the ATL.  We have been so blessed to find some great friends in the big city, and Friday night we hosted dinner at our house for some of our new friends.  I did not do a great job capturing this event in film, but we did have a blast none the less!  We had three couples over for dinner, and between all of us there were a total of 11 children.  We had so much fun hanging out on the deck, watching the kids play, and fellowshipping.   

I love this group of women.  It was Cara, Zaquis, and Amanda.  Amanda is in my bible study class on Wednesday’s and she and her family just moved here from Dallas.  Cara, Zaquis, and I have been hanging out for a couple months now and I just adore these women. And I appreciate them because they are so real, and when I need a reality check they are ready and willing to give it to me!!  They both really called me out on Friday.  They reminded me that I am terrible at remembering people, and that I had forgotten both of them and it was really AWKWARD the next time we saw each other!  Zaquis even went so far as to remind me that she is the only black girl at Johnson Ferry Baptist and it was just unreal that I could not remember her.  WOW – only real friends will hold you accountable, and I was held accountable and I appreciate the feedback.  I feel like I have been drinking through a fire hydrant when it comes to meeting new people at church and in the community.  And in my defense I usually have at least 3 kids with me all throwing a fit or needing something while I am trying to meet people, so I am obviously in many different places at once!  Oh yea – there are 7,700 member at our church, so I am trying my best.  None the less I am going to work on this. 

 I was so proud because given the noise level the twins actually went to bed on time at 6:30 and did not get up the rest of the night.  I love to entertain and this evening just helps solidify that I can still do it even with my plethora of children!!!!

 

Favorites

I have favorite foods, favorite shoes, favorite stores, and very strong opinions on my favorite car.  However, I can assure everyone in this world that I do not have favorite children, like I have been accused of lately.  I have been taking a lot of pictures of Preston and posting them on Facebook and my Blog because he loves to have his picture taken, and he does not nap anymore.  So when sister is sleeping we get our one on one picture time.  Plus I think Addison is going to be a little camera shy because she hates having her picture taken, as soon as I get the camera out she throws her head on the ground and will not look up until I leave the area.  Therefore, lately you have seen a lot of pictures of Preston.  Please don’t judge me, and Addison please always know that I love you and you are my favorite youngest daughter….

Girl's Craft Night

Last night I had the opportunity to do Girl’s Craft Night with a group woman from my Sunday School Class.  I feel so blessed that we have found a group of people that we fit in with so well and make us feel so comfortable and welcomed!  We are loving our new church, and are so excited to start taking some of the initial steps into joining the church.  This Sunday we take a three hour class about the church, so we can start this process.  I have said this before but I will say it again.  I never thought that we would join a Baptist Church.  I never thought that we were Baptist people – ha!!  Whatever that means!  We are Christian’s at the end of the day, and we were in search of a welcoming church with an awesome Children’s program, and this is what we found! 

This is my friend Cara (you have heard me talk about her before), the only reason that I mention that is because I have a funny story to share.  We went to the Craft Night together.  Cara text me and said “I will pick you up.”  And I text back and said “no let me pick you up because everyone always bends over backwards for me because I have four kids, and I want to do something nice for someone else.”  And plus I figured that the house that we were going to would be out of the way for Cara to pick me up.  My perception is that most people live back towards the church, and Cara and I live on the far end from the church.  So I got to Cara’s house – she lives about 6 miles from me.  When she got in the car we plugged in the address to the GPS, and turns out the house we were going to was back right around the corner from my house.  Ha!  I drove 30 miles round trips last night because we failed to know where in the world we were going.  We laughed all the way home last night, and it was extra time for girl talk. 

Aren’t these the cutest little blocks!  We painted them and mod-podged them with fun letters.  It was a great time.  Plus I really needed some color for my fireplace mantel so these worked out great!  Not sure what I am going to do when thanksgiving is over.  I forgot how much I loved to craft.  I just don’t really have time for anything like this right now in this season of my life!  One day I might find the time again. 

Fun times had by all!!!

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.8

Little Man

This silly little guy will place himself anywhere these days! I never know where I am going to find him.  He is my little adventure, and he just adores having his picture taken. I will say “smile” and he turns to me every time and gives me the biggest toothiest smile. Addison on the other hand does not like to have her picture taken.


I have heard of children who don’t nap and don’t need to nap. Well I think Preston is one of those children. The child does not nap, and no matter what time I put him to bed (early or late) he is always up at 6:45. I think I am about to lose my mind. I am looking on suggestions for getting him to sleep longer.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.8

End of an Era

I have pulled out all of my baby stuff and listed it on my mother’s of multiples web site, and on craigslist.  I still can’t believe one that we had so much baby stuff, and two that we have come to the end of this era in life.  I can’t believe that will never have another baby, and I will never use need this stuff again.  I waited so long (my whole life) to have children, I could not wait to have babies, and now it is all over.  It all happened so very fast!

Back to my original post.  I have listed all my baby stuff for sale, and I have sold a large percent of the big things!  I have already made $700!  Which I have already spent!  I hired out all of our yard work last week, and I will use this to pay for part of that.  I am so excited about my yard!  I will have to post pictures soon.  We used to have half of our back yard covered in English Ivy and Bamboo – which was all just a breeding ground for snakes and mesquites.  It was too much work for me and Ryan to try to tackle with our many children, so we let someone else come and do it! 

Again I digress – the point of this post is I am selling baby stuff.  I told my neighbor this weekend that “I promise I am not selling drugs, given all the traffic I have coming through the neighborhood!  Just posting stuff on Craigslist.”  I am sad to be done with this stage of life, but excited to be moving on to different things. 

The other day when we were in the mountains trying to pack up our stuff to come home Ryan and I started talking about all of the stuff that we would miss and not miss from having babies.  I have posted part of our list below, because it was such a heartfelt conversation. 

Not Miss:

All the gear: stroller’s, pack and play’s, car seats

Bottles

Weaning of Pacifiers

Diapers

Up in the middle of the night

Miss:

Addison’s backwards hand wave and high pitch squeal when she says “HI”

Watching babies learn new things

Tickling bellies, and getting hysterical laughs

Nursing a baby (this was on my list, not Ryan’s)

13 Month Baby A and B Pictures

Yes I am way behind posting these pictures given that the twins are almost 14 months old, but I figure it is better late than never.  I love that I have taken a picture of Addison and Preston every month in these shirts.   One day I am going to solicit my BFF Jennifer’s help and compile them and have them printed on canvass so I can hang them up.  Right now I am just going to pretend that the only reason I have not already done it is because I am waiting to get 24 months worth – the real reason = I have 4 children and I am getting lazy with things like that. 

In case you have not heard me say before – the reason I love these shirts so much is because when the twins were in utero my doctor, nurses, ultrasound tech, and specialist always referred to them as Baby A and Baby B.  Ryan and I called them that for a long time, and then my mother-in-love, and my friend Jennifer have monogrammed a bazillion of these shirts for me.  Now I just need to find someone who has infant boy/girl twins (girl=baby a, and boy=baby b), and pass them down.

Fall Festival Fun

Yesterday morning the Twin’s, Taylor and I all walked up to Taylor’s school to his Fall Festival of Fun!  Emma Grace and Daddy met up with us after Gymnastics for a snow cone (cute picture below).  Taylor had a blast!  He really did not enjoy the rock climbing, but he loved the quad jumping, and the bounce house jousting.  He is all boy!  I loved watching the day unfold – we arrived around 10:00 (when things were just getting started) and when we left at 1:00 the place was full, and was going all day long.  People don’t really seem to get in a hurry around here, and they all showed up and stayed all day at a school carnival – showing their support for their children’s education.  I loved this simplified life and great community we have fallen into!  Sorry I know that my few blog readers are tired of hearing that!

It was the babies nap time, but they did really good just hanging out. Aren't they the cutest!!!

 

There was a petting zoo with the cutest miniature animals. 

 

This school does not mess around when it comes to fun.  They had about 10 huge inflatable’s set up for the kids. 

Please ignore that I don’t have on much makeup, but I am determined to take more pictures with my children no matter how I look!  And please don’t judge me because the makeup that I do have on is way too dark!  It is a sample, because I am out of my good stuff.  If I knew where or how to get to a Lancôme I would fix that, let me rephrase that – if I had time to drive into the city to the mall I would get some matching make up – let me try one more time, if I had the energy to pack up all my kids and drive into the city to the mall to go to the Lancôme counter I would get some matching make up.  Now that I am typing this I am starting to think that I could probably order some make up off the internet, and have it delivered.  Genius!!!!  Thanks for letting me talk that out.