early mornings

I remember the times when one of my kids would wake up in the middle of the night just needing to be comforted. Last night it seemed that all 4 woke up at the same time. First Brian came into my room saying he needed to use the bathroom. Ok I told him and walked him to the bathroom only to realize he was still asleep and peed in his bed. Oops accidents happen I tell him. About an hour later Dylan comes in to tell me that Ashley is crying and that makes him not able to sleep so can he watch cartoons? I tell him that there are no cartoons on at 2am. I go to check on Ashley who is sound asleep. At 3am I hear Nick knocking on the door because he needs a refill on his milk. As Im walking dreamily back to my bed I hear Ashley call out. It is 330am and Im wondering what plan is going on between these two babies. Do they have twin osmosis? They are talking and laughing even though they are in separate rooms. I decide that the best thing is to bring them into my room before they wake up the boys and my parents. I try to sing them to sleep, but apparently Im not the next american idol. Ashley puts her little hand over my mouth and Nick yells NO! I cant help but to laugh which of course gets them laughing. Now falling back to sleep is pretty much out of the question. At 430am I turn on cartoons. I fall asleep while Nick talks to the tv and Ashley plays with my hair. Finally at 630am I look to see that both of them have fallen asleep. I close my eyes and in what seemed like only a moment I hear the older boys fighting over who's turn it is in the bathroom. I look at the clock and its 745am. I get up to settle the fight and make breakfast and some very strong coffee. At 820am I send the boys out to the bus stop. I sit on my bed looking at my sweet sleeping babies and ponder do I lay back down, or do I wake them up so I can take a nap in the afternoon when they do. I decide to wake them up, because I know that as soon as I fall asleep they will wake up and never want to take that nap. I take the kids outside to play and drink my strong coffee. Now it is nap time and I cant sleep.
There is nothing more in the world that I enjoy more than being a mother.

Dave has moved on yet again. His visit with was us was short, but well worth it. Not only because we took a much needed family vacation, but because we got a little bit of the feeling back of what our lives are when we are together. The boys didn't get yelled at for every little thing. The babies got to know their dad outside of the computer and I got to sleep in and not worry over every little thing. The best part for me was seeing the boys actually happy and enjoyed every bit of the attention their dad gave them. I'm not sure what my problem is, but here at my parents house I am not the same mom. I find myself more moody and irritated. I think its a little bit because I'm such a laid back parent and my parents are a little strict, so I fill pulled to be both. I'm also under the same roof that I grew up under and find myself being talked to like I was 17, and I don't like it. One thing is for sure we need a BIG house. The bigger the better. Having 4 adults and 4 kids running around this house has made me a little feel a little cramped. Then we had a dinner party and had 12 adults and 10 kids running around and I couldn't even think straight. I now know what my brother feels like when he comes over for a visit. All this aside I still love the fact that I always have a home to come back too.

Disney Trip

We made it back! Taking 4 kids to Disney is not cheap, but it sure is fun. We spent 6 nights at the Nickelodeon Hotel and spent 1 day just at the hotel playing in the pool, going down water slides, playing basketball and miniature golf. The rest of the time was spent at the Disney parks. Animal Kingdom by far is our favorite. The kids love the animals and the rides are perfect for Their young ages. Magic Kingdom was mostly for the rides which Dave and I took turns taking the boys on the big rides. The highlight of that day was seeing Jack Sparrow ( the Pirate) Dylan signed up to be a pirate with Cpt Jack Sparrow, but it wasn't until later that he understood what he did and started crying that he didn't want to be a pirate when he grew up. Ashley was so happy to see a store full of Mickey Mouse stuffed animals I thought she would pass out from excitement. Seeing the "real" Mickey Mouse was not as exciting and she couldn't get away from him fast enough. Nick was a handful to try to keep in the stroller. Now I know why some people have leashes for their kids. Brian was the photographer for the trip so we have pictures of everything from a bird in a tree to family pictures all missing Brian. It was great to reconnect as a family and for the babies to see dad outside of the computer. The plane rides weren't as bad as I thought they would be. The babies slept for a while and the boys talked our ears off. Time to do all the laundry...enjoy the pictures

Add to the list

So now that we've decided to hold off on buying a house until we actually get there we have added more things to the wish list. If you read a few months ago that I've gone organic then my latest idea will make perfect sense. I was thinking how great it would be to have a fruit orchard and a vegetable garden. I would like at least 1 apple, peach and pear trees. A full garden with tomatoes, carrots and peppers, herbs etc. Then I thought how much better to have 2 chickens for eggs. I would get 2 chickens because I don't want just the 1 to get lonely. I would get them as chicks that way they aren't scared of us. I think I could turn a dog house into a nice chicken Coop. I ran this wild idea passed Dave and to my total amazement he agreed, and is totally on bored. So now our house is not only a 5 bedroom 3 1/2 bath it is now on a 1 acre lot that is out in the country, but still close to the city. It is a ranch/farm land but in a family oriented neighborhood. As out there as this list seems I am confident that we will find it.

picture update

house

The excitement of buying our first house has been put on hold. After hours of discussion we decided that the smartest thing for us to do is to rent a house and get to know the area first. So we are taking the kids to Disney World Fl instead. As much as I was really hoping to buy a house the thought of buying a great house on the wrong side of town changed my mind. Its not like we could return it. The idea of going to Disney came because we ( the kids and I ) need to get out of here. At least for a little while anyway. We are all getting on each others nerves, my parents need a break from the craziness. Disney and Sea world are offering a great military special so we took them up on it. The boys are already trying to pack and Dylan made me promise not to forget his swim trunks.