Happy Birthday Xiaxia!!

Today is my Xiaxia's (that's grandma in Greek) birthday! She is one of the spunkiest, most energetic ladies in the world! She is also one of the kindest most thoughtful people ever and you've never seen someone that cares for her loved one with such patience and love! She is amazing and I only hope to be like her when I grow up. It has been a rough year this past year, but I know it has been wonderful in some ways too. I think we all learned to appreciate life and family, to have fun, and we learned to work hard!

I know this next year will be great! Enjoy it! We want to wish you a very, very happy birthday!!

Thank you for teaching me to be the person I am and for being an example of the person I am trying to become!

Solace wants me to say that her great Xiaxia is the best! Ender wants me to say that he loves you so much! (Army is asleep, and Kindle doesn't speak yet, but I know they love you too!)

Happy Birthday Xiaxia!!

From the Mouths of Babes-all about Sol!

Last night I wrote in my journal notes and drawings about what I wanted to say on the blog. Here are some pictures of my journal:

This is what the pictures and notes mean to me. This is what I wanted to say. I want to tell you a little about me.

1-I smile all the time.

2-I love flowers more than anyone.

3-I love princesses more than anyone. I am a princess.

4-I love my whole family more than anyone else, ANYONE! More than all the people.

5-I will always love tomato soup, even when you're not alive.

6-I am really smart! I even know how to spell! I can sing my ABC's. (mom's note-she is singing them now)

I hope you liked my blog, and if you have any stuff you want to tell us just comment on this blog!

Love,

Sol

Kids Take over!! Getting to know the younger generation...

Solace has asked me if I will put up a new blog thing where the kids can tell me what to type and I will. She also wants to be able to have you, the blog readers, ask the kids questions and they will answer them. For example I will ask them all right now what their favorite food is and report it to you:

Solace: "Tomato soup, eggs, and even fruit and vegetables."
Ender: "Um...macaroni. Macaroni and cheese, and even tomato soup too. And don't forget a grilled cheese sandwich with the soup!"
Armour: "Um...what's for dinna?!"
Kindle: Although she does not respond verbally when asked, I can see in her eyes that her answer is breastmilk.

So, in a moment, Solace will tell me what to type for her first blog. If you have a question for the kids, please leave it as a comment here, and I will ask them and post it. I hope you all enjoy this new blog section...

Bunk Bed!

So, we were going to buy a bunk bed when we arrived here, but as it turned out had enough expenses that we were unable to (plus bunk beds are WAY more expensive than I thought once you get the mattresses and everything especially...) So, Anyway, we put it off for a while, but that means Armour has not really had a bed, he has been the floating boy, sometimes he would sleep in Sol's bed while she slept in the guest bed, or he would sleep in the crib while Kindle used the playpen, or for a while he just slept in the play pen (until he announced one morning that he wanted a bed again!). So, anyway, all this bed swapping has made our bed routine totally screwed up. SO , it was getting to the point for me with Sol starting school soon (like 11 days!) and everything that I wanted the bed routine back set in stone and solid! So, it was getting very important to solve the bed crisis of '08, but we cannot afford the $450+ that bunk beds cost. I had an inspired thought, I thought "Hey lots of my friends have raved about Craigs list-maybe I should look there." I did, and by that night I had committed to buying a bed. As I said, we had not enough money, they are $450 plus once you get the bung frame thing and the mattresses and everything. So, This one was listed at $200 obo with both mattresses (the bottom is actually a full size futon). I told them I only had $150 and wondered if they would take that, and they did! Yeah!!! So, we took all the car seats out and the next night Wes went alone in the van to pick up said bed. This is what is is supposed to look like assembled: This is what it looked like in our house all day yesterday until Wes got home and we could put it together (not something I could have done alone-especially with 4 kids in tow!)

(Yes-that is K in the Boppy in the background...)

All put together...(Sorry no putting it together pics-Sol was not there with the camera-she was banished to the basement with her brothers to watch Enchanted so we could work!) Note the looks on Wes's face in these next 2 pics at the kids arrived upstairs to look at their new bed and to "help."
"I LOVE my bed-it is so efficient!!"

(When asked by mom what efficient meant, he told me it means "comfortable")
We put the sheet on the beds, and A wanted his another way-he is quite picky-this is him trying to put them how he wanted them (which I am still not clear on what his vision was-in the end we took the top sheet off and just let him sleep on the bottom sheet with his favorite blankie...)
Still lovin' my "efficient" bed...
Just checking in... Still working on the sheets...
STILL working...
Yeah-we are cute!
A was told he couldn't climb up-we knew this wouldn't last long, but thought maybe at least like a second or two...we were wrong...here he is at the top milliseconds after we explained that he can't go to the top...

Just Chillin...

Thought I would share a few cute pics of us just hanging out...

King of accessories?! Yes, I think so...

In this old post, I showed how Army's outfit that day consisted of a belt and a diaper. In a comment, my sister-in-law noted that he can accessorize...boy was she right! He dressed himself again yesterday, and check him out:
Note the little lunch box thing and the hat. Also note the socks and shoes he picked and put on himself. The next picture is to make sure you notice the shirt is actually inside out which when I tried to fix it, he told me it was just like he likes it!!

Shopping Cart toy...Thanks Aunt Kris!!

So, as previously mentioned in the fashionista strikes again blog we went to Toys R Us to pick up A's present. This is the shopping cart Kris wanted/picked out: Sadly, it was out, but luckily, there was another one on sale in a different brand, so that's what we bought. This is what it is supposed to look like assembled:
Now, I mentioned in the other blog about the fact that I could not get the dang thing together and we were going to have to wait for Wes to get home to do it. This is not what happened. This is Armour trying to do it himself:

He is relentless and has a very solid one track mind, so nobody in the house could get anything else done until this was done. So, I sat down and finally figured it out. It literally took me like 2 hours (I was trying to deal with other things during that time as well). Solace, being the great, obsessed photographer that she is made sure to document the work and the progress throughout. Here are just a few of the 50 or so pictures:
(Note A in this one impatiently awaiting another time to use the hammer. Don't worry, he was not actually allowed to use the hammer, just to hold it until mom needed it.)


AH...finished!!! You challenged me toy, but in the end victory is mine!!
Armour LOVES it and has been playing with it nonstop!
(Well, not non-stop-he has taken a couple breaks to play on the bunk bed and to dance to the birthday card his grandparents sent him.) "Look mom, food for the cart!"
And the attempts to ride begin already...

Thank you aunt Kris-we love this toy and are having a blast with it!!

FYI-Blog issue

Though I gave myself some time to blog last night, I was unable to as my blog would not work due to Internet Explorer being unable to open it. I spend literally hours being ticked off and trying to figure out what to do. Looked at other site and found that it seemed some blogs were fine and some were not. Finally this morning I was able to determine the problem. So, just FYI, if your blog is one that Internet Explorer will not open, it is because sitemeter is on your blog, and it is causing a problem. You have to remove it from your blog. I know this is not ideal as many of us use this to monitor our blogs, but it is the only fix. If you try to go on sitemeter's site, it will not open either. I am hoping it will be fixed shortly and we can put it back up. If not, there are other sites to monitor blogs with, and we can find a new one! Just an FYI!

The world according to Ender...

So, yesterday I tried to keep track of all the words misused by Ender. He likes to take existing words and use and define them in his own way. Whenever he uses a word I have heard but he uses it in his own way, I ask him to define the word. These are a couple words I learned from E yesterday...

"Fashion" means beautiful and is used in the following context: "Kindle and Solace are fashion."

"Inspirational" means comfortable and yesterday was used in this context: "Mom, I love the new booster seat it is very inspirational!"

The Fashionista Strikes Again...

That darn Kindle is such a fashionista, and a bit of a compulsive shopper! And that darn mommy cannot help but go along when the fashion is such a cute thing and a deal...



That being said, I will say that my Aunt gave us some money to go pick up a certain shopping basket toy for Armour for his birthday. We finally got the chance to go get it today now that sickness has passed by our home and moved on to some other unsuspecting suburban family! (Pictures of the toy are forthcoming as we need to assemble it and I am evidently incapable of doing so. Wes will have to figure it out when he gets home...)



Back to my story though...So, today has been a weird day. We tried to go to the cheap kids movie only to be told it was sold out (come on-we were 25 minutes early-that is ridiculous!!) So we decided to run over to the bank where I was getting cash out for a bunk bed that I am buying today. Why do I need cash you ask? Because I got it off Craigs list and got a GREAT deal!! More on that later-after we go pick it up tonight! (As a side note, I have never before used Craigs list, but heard great things and now I think I am a fan and a believer!!!)



Anyway, the kids and I go to the bank, do what we need to do there, and go over to the zoo since the movie did not work out. At the zoo I was only embarrassed a couple time by comments that Ender made that are not blog appropriate, but that he did not understand the um...innuendo associated with...(If you are dying of curiosity to know what he said, send me an email or call me and I will let you know, or if you don't have either my email or my phone number, leave me a comment and I will get back to you). Also at the zoo, my baby was fascinated by the shark tank. I did not have my camera though and took a pic on my cell instead. I am currently waiting for my phone to get service so I can get the pic off it...it will be up shortly no doubt...



So, that went fairly well, then I went to Toys R US. (Finally the point of the pictures comes out!) So I go into the danger zone fully prepared for the barrage of "mom please can I have (fill in blank with any toy in sight) it is only (fill in whatever clearance price it is)." I am ready to say no, not just to the audible pleas from my older children, but to the inner child that wants to buy all the great deal toys as well (man that inner child is LOUD at a Toy R Us clearance sale!!). I was doing well, really, really well, until I saw the infant shoes clearance rack, and they had a pair of baby camo soft shoes (so they aren't bad for growing baby feet that don't walk, and I would guess they are more comfy too).


Guys, she was wearing her exact matching pink camo onesie-it was a sign I tell you!! Needless to say, I gave into the longing I could see in my newborn fashionista's eyes, (and into the small child inside that wished she had that outfit with matching shoes as an infant,) and I bought the shoes (originally marked $18, but on sale for $6). Here she is wearing her perfectly matched outfit and shoes:


Don't let the inner Shatner that is trying to escape fool you-she loves these shoes! She was just very hungry in these pictures!
Note mom's knee in the corner-also wearing camo today...who do we think we are today? Eli?!
Note that the inner Shatner never quite makes it in pictures as she LOVES the camera and settles down the second she notices it-no joke! As soon as she saw the camera she started to calm down immediately...
Well, if you made it this far and actually read it all-thank you for being a friend (that was also my humble nod to our dearly departed Estelle Getty of Golden Girls-seriously how sad is a world without Sophia?)

Happy (belated) Birthday "Steffa"!!

If you were wondering what has happened to me, or why I was absent from blogging to the extent that I missed my sister-in-law's birthday, I will just say, the flu exists and it is a nasty son of a gun!

That being said, I apologize for getting this up 2 days late, and I just want to, unlike Stef on her blog, take the time to reflect and tell y'all some thing about one of our favorite people, "Aunt Steffa" (as named by Solace).

Solace wants me to say (and this is no joke) "Aunt Stef is a great person, and that's all the people need to know."

When asked what he wants me to write about Aunt Stef on my blog, Armour says, "Aunt Stef is at work!"

And Ender says what he loves about his aunt Stef is that she "plays with me, she's nice, and she ALWAYS sends me toys on my birthday."

So, there you have it folks! What do we now know about our wonderful Stefanie, we know she's a nice, great person, that works hard, plays with her nieces and nephews, and spoils them like crazy! I will also add that she is (almost) as hilarious as she think she is, she always keeps us entertained, she is truly an amazing, independent, loving person, and we love her!

Happy Birthday Stefanie!!

When I grow up...

Do you ever look at your kids and think, "Hmmm, what is he/she going to be like when he/she grows up?" I often think that about each and every one of my kids and wonder that.

But lately, I have been thinking about this kid in particular:
And when I start to wonder what he will be like, who I am raising, more and more the following faces come to mind:


I am pretty sure I am raising the future of comedy right here in my home!

I can only hope that he will be just as funny but not as crude...here's to hoping!!

Price Line Negotiator jr?!

How, oh how can such a beautiful, cute, wonderful, sweet little girl look like one of the most obnoxious (but also funniest) old male actors out there?! When she screams though, I am telling you, every time I think "Bill? Bill Shatner?!" (I call him Bill in my head because after seeing his roast on TV, I just feel that he and I are on nickname terms) This is not Kindle's best Bill face-she wasn't quite upset enough, but nonetheless, can you see what I am saying here?! Scary!!