A little scare

Elli scared her mom and dad pretty bad yesterday. What started out as a simple rash in the morning, slowly spread to her whole body and took over her face.

It may seem like no big deal, but since I know what it's like to have an allergy and feel your throat closing up I was petrified. I didn't know I could get to the ER that fast from our house. 

God was really watching out for our baby and sent me a precious friend that suggested I check on elli, during her nap, just to be safe. I've never been so grateful for a piece of friendly advice before! This is what I saw when I went to check on her:I immediately woke her up and started packing to go. Thankfully the same friend was over and watched the kids so I could just take her and go. I'm so thankful we got to the doctor when we did. The whole way there she just listlessly laid in her car seat and scratched at her throat. when we saw the doc he said her breathing was fine, but she had hives on her tongue and throat, so the outcome could have been different. Praise God, that about 10 minutes after she was given medicine she was back to her spunky self and the swelling was starting to go down. By the time we picked up the prescriptions and got home her face was back to it's normal color and she was totally working the system for more Popsicles and a cookie. :) I was just happy to see her being spunky and looking less puffy, so she got Popsicles and a cookie! :) I have friends battling way bigger problems, with their kiddos and I know this is a simple and easy to fix problem, but Korey and I both went to bed thanking God that our baby was ok and praising Him for sending a friend our way that day. 

It does my heart good to see her looking cute and a lot less puffy this morning!

It was so precious to see the bond of my little twinnies yesterday- the first one elli asked for was Macy and leanne was amazed at how different Macy acted without elli and how she kept talking about her. There's just something sweet about their relationship. Makes me even more grateful that we don't have to raise one without the other- breaks my heart to think about it.

time marches on...

3 years ago our precious twins were a mere thought in our minds...something we stressed about, prayed about and begged God to take care of. And today- they are wild, crazy adventurous and totally not willing to take life sitting down! They may have taken their sweet time coming into the world, but they have been ready to play keep up since then. Yesterday, they hit a big milestone- they each got their own little bike! I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT!

honestly...make life stand still for just a minute or two, God. These girls are getting so big, so fast and I can hardly handle it! You should see Macy race around on her little bike. She acts like she's been riding her whole life- she's a complete natural. Elli struggles a bit more, but she's pretty good at it, too! Last summer I felt like I was marveling at how well Jack was riding his bike and the summer before Hailey was just learning how to peddle around...now Hailey is on two wheels, Jack is an old pro and my babies are keeping up!

two days ago both of the twins decided they wanted to ride bikes and fought over the one we had every waking moment...to the point that Macy fell and put her front teeth through the top of her lip, had blood pouring out of her mouth and still wanted to get back and ride!! Crazy kid! After that we went and searched on craigslist for the first available bike. thankfully it's pink and purple...unfortunately it has the loudest most annoying horn EVER known to man. It may go missing one of these days ;)

our little biker gang- getting ready to hit the open road...aka...the driveway ;)

More kitties?!

We brought home two adorable new kitties! Trucky and Minnie Mouse are their names :) both girls! 

Korey accuses me of being a sucker...and leaving out Macy, and I will say that I'm a huge sucker :) but, Macy had her heart set on getting a pink kitty and since they didn't have one I wasn't about to make her pick one if she didn't want to! :) and...honestly hailey and jack are most excited about the kitties- Macy and elli are still a bit apprehensive- after getting clawed a time or two!

I'm just praying my little heart out that they don't go missing on us...I'm not sure I can handle another round of little boy tears over his kitty!!

A great dad!

It's really no surprise that the man I married is a great Dad.

One of the reasons I married him was because he was so good with kids and wanted to have a big family.

What's surprising, though, is just how great of a Dad he's become! Before we had kids I may have had some ideas of what  great Dad is, but seeing a great Dad in action, every single day, has given me a bit of a better idea of all that goes into being a great Dad!

Great Dad's sacrifice for their kiddos...they stay up late, they work hard, they give and they give...even if it means only making a special little tire swing to surprise their kids with when they wake up in the morning!

Great Dad's don't just spend time with God, they teach their kids that time with God is important and invite them to join them in His search for Him.  

Great Dad's give great haircuts and then make funny faces about them!

Great Dad's take their sons to work with them and let them take risks...then, they bandage them up, hug and kiss their owies!

Great Dad's have a great sense of humor! They laugh ALOT and about ALOT of things...including father's day cards made out to "my bobby" :)

I was blessed to have a GREAT DAD growing up and now I'm incredibly blessed to watch a GREAT DAD in action! Thank you, Jesus!

"a picture"

We had such a funny experience today...one that makes me think about how pictures really don't do "life" justice! In an effort to make today special, since it was Hailey's last full day of school and Korey was working late, I took the kids for ice cream for supper. We did have a great time, just like the pictures show, but they don't tell the whole story! About the time we all sat down, after building our perfect strawberry and chocolate (for the girls) and only vanilla (for Jack) ice cream creations- complete with gummy butterflies (carefully choosing only the purple ones for Elli) and nerds candy, took the first few bites of ice cream Jack decided he had to go potty. So, we all packed up our ice cream and traipsed to the bathroom. The best part of this kind of place is that the bathroom is out a door and down a long hallway...the catch is that the door has a lock on it, which my children seemed to find incredibly appealing. After we all dragged our ice cream cups into the bathroom, everyone took a chance going potty, washed 5 sets of hands and finally set back out to the table...we realized that the same little ones who found that lock very intriguing, figured out how to lock it and we were locked out of the restaurant!! I ended up having to take my whole little crew, carrying four little bowls of melty, drippy ice cream- all the way through a nice (incredibly clean) little office building to  the sidewalk...and finally make our way back to our table. After that big trek to the bathroom (I never did have the guts to go back in and tell the people we accidentally locked the door- hopefully someone else will figure it out) most of our ice cream was melted and we had to fish our candy out of it. :) so...you, see, a picture really isn't worth a million words...and it can be pretty deceiving!

 

So big

Hailey's last day of school was last week and I seriously can NOT believe how much she grew this last year. It brings me to tears when I think how proud I am of her! I can NOT believe how much different the first day of school was versus her last day of school. I almost had to pull her out of the school and away from her friends to go on a trip with Nani and Papa. She's been so happy and so loved at school. It's been a blessing to watch her little personality shine through and the "real" Hailey feel comfortable enough to shine out! Her report card from the fall said, "Hailey is such a sweet, quiet child, who listens well to instructions" for the spring it said, "Hailey is friendly, outgoing, helpful and gets along very well with the girls and the boys" (and boys was underlined twice) :) whew- that's more like the little girl I know and love!! I had no idea who that shy, quiet little girl was! Her report card also showed that she had grown in every single area of academics. She has flourished and I'm so proud of her- especially because I know it had nothing to do with me- it was the first thing that she did all on her own. It does a mommy's heart good to see her baby girl spreading her wings and doing it well.  I'm not sure I would be so excited with how the school year ended up, had we not had such a rough start to the year- had I not had to pry her off my leg and walk away from her tears and quivery lip- for a good 3 weeks!

here's my little girl...last day and then first day of 4K

on the first day of 4K, Hailey ran out of school and hugged her brother like she would never let him go- the last day she could barely stop hugging her little friends to take a picture and he kept trying to catch a bumble bee...

to celebrate our big girls "graduation" we walked up Rib Mtn and took in the view and then went out for pizza! I think she had a great day!

we all had a good day...and were glad that we could celebrate such a big milestone! 

 

To be honest I am proud of all of us...getting up, getting all packed into the car and getting Hailey to school on time and picked up on time...is a pretty big accomplishment! It was rough and some of the hardest times of my day were those times. But it was a growing time- not always fun, but always good and mostly pretty humbling! (I really never thought I'd ever drop my kid off in my pj's- let alone just being glad I actually had time to put my hair in a ponytail, forgetting makeup and any semblance of normal "going out" clothing)

change in the air

A few months ago Korey and I made a pretty hard decision that resulted in a big change for our family...we switched churches. We both have a love for our little town and wanted to be able to reach out more and be involved more, closer to home. We wanted our kids to go to school with kids they go to church with. Still it was hard to leave.

The church we had been going to "grew us up", they prayed for us, they discipled us, they befriended us, they encouraged us, they brought us meals, they taught us how to be a godly married couple, they taught us how to be parents. We learned so much there, grew so much there. All my dearest friends are still there. All the girls that shared my pregnancies- planned my baby showers, held my babies, visited me in the hospital. All my closest confidants go to that church- they are the women I love most in the world, outside my family. I can't even think about all we've gone through with the girls at this church- all the tears shed, all the hugs shared- without crying. I feel like they are sisters- we didn't have a perfect relationship or perfect bonds- we even had or little squabbles, but at the end of the day, when the chips were down I knew there was a group of girls that had my back and they knew I had theirs. I know that won't change. I know if our family were to experience a crisis tomorrow they'd still be there- I know that if they experience a crisis tomorrow I'll be there, but it's in the weekly routines of Sunday that I'll miss them.

 

It's hard to go to church on a Sunday morning and not feel "at home" or like you belong. It's lonely to walk in and walk out without seeing a familiar face or sharing a hug. Our new church is friendly and loving- they're a great fit for us, but we haven't been there long enough to feel at home or like I belong there. We're starting to see some familiar faces and our kids have no problems running around like they own the place, but I feel myself kind of holding back. I think I'm scared and I'm nervous. It was really hardest for me to leave, because I felt like I was known at our church. The people there knew me before I was whatever I am now...

a frazzled mom,

a girl who barely gets clean clothes on, let alone showers before church,

"old",

wore out,

twin mommy,

"country girl",

minivan driver,

mom of four crazy wild children, 

girl who worries about a babysitter ever wanting to come back,

unorganized and 

a messy house keeper...

all these things seem to define my life,  now, but I feel a huge pull to explain that I was at one time somebody else- to tell them that I wasn't always falling apart. But I think that's part of God's gracious plan for my life- He likes to keep me humbly dependent on Him and it's easier to be humble and dependent when I'm struggling with the desire to be perceived a certain way. Because, the reality is- I was always falling apart, I never had a good handle on my life- it just looked better on the outside, before. God knows that my heart and my relationship with Him has only changed for the better, since my outward life fell apart.

 

I will always love and appreciate our old church. It makes me sad to think of loosing touch with my friends and I'm sure I will look for excuses to do bible studies and hang out there. I know that transitions are hard and change isn't one of my favorite things, in fact, I don't always handle it too well- believe it or not. :) But, I'm excited for God's plan to play out for our little family.