Flower Child

I finally had a chance to take some quick pictures of Charly in her cute little flower headband. It was nice to have a LONG weekend to catch up on some fun stuff I've been wanting to work on.
Hope everyone else is having a relaxing weekend too!

Happy Thanksgiving

From Katryna and Charlotte!

Hope you all had a great day! I'm still STUFFED!

Happy Birthday

Sofia is 8 today! Wow!
We decorated her door this morning and we're going to have a little party tonight with my parents to celebrate. Katryna and Sofia always like it when they are only a year apart again, so now I have an 8 and 9 year old. Yikes. :)

Happy Birthday Sofia!!!

She won't take a bottle...

...but she sure wanted to try my Cherry Coke! :)

Second Graders = EXHAUSTION

Wow! Second graders are EXHAUSTING! Who knew little girls could be THAT loud and THAT active! Holy Smokes!

Anyways, the party was a success. Sofia had a great time, so that's what matters. Even if we are completely exhausted. ;)

Here's the short version of the festivities...

Made cute fall crafts~ Made Caramel Apples~ Ran Around Screaming~ Made Bird Feeders~ Ran Around Screaming~ Ate Lunch~ Had Cupcakes~ Ran Around Screaming~ Jumped On The Trampoline~ Ran Around Screaming~ Finally Calmed Down~ Made Thanksgiving Sticker Pictures~ Got Goodie Bags~ Went Home

Here are some of the 10,000 pictures I took (cuz I know my family is waiting.... :) )

Kris helping get the caramel apples ready before the party.

Yummy! We did the caramel part ahead of time and then the girls got to dip their caramel apples in white chocolate and cover them with little chocolate chips and toffee.

Sofia waiting anxiously for her friends to arrive.

Girls taking turns dipping their caramel apples in the chocolate.
We had PLENTY of sweets for them to eat, so they brought their apples home with them as part of their party favors.

Sofia opening presents with her friends.

She got 2 new webkinz (a seal and a porcupine) and the girls wanted to put them on the computer IMMEDIATELY. We needed a little time-filler...so that actually worked out pretty good.

Charlotte loved watching everyone running around.

Sofia and her BFF, Linnell.
These 2 were best friends in Kindergarten and they still are.

A quick group picture.

Doing what they do best....being SILLY!

Singing Happy Birthday to Sofia.

Bazzy making his bagel bird feeder once all the girls had moved on to something else.
Poor Bazzy. That was a LOT of girls!

The finished caramel apples before we wrapped them up to go home.

Man I love cupcakes!

This was the quietest moment of the entire party, so I had to take a picture just to document it. I think they had finally worn themselves out and they sat still and made sticker pictures for about 15 minutes before their parents came. Kris and I were just happy it was almost over! ;)

Bazzy.... ready for all these girls to head HOME!

Lulu didn't sleep the whole time the party was going on.
Too much action! :)

We finally hung pictures in our Dining Room!
Oh, and notice the partially finished Toucan!

Sebastian started to decorate the guests towards the end.

This was Sofia's friend, Linnell's, picture that she made.
Very creative. She turned one of the pilgrim women into an angel and switched heads and pumpkins. Very interesting. :)

It was fun...
and now Kris and I are ready for a drink!!!

Still Available

The adorable Snowman Door Charm is still available for purchase. Please consider this for yourself or for a Christmas present and know that you will be helping the children in Haiti at the same time.
I will post when it is no longer available.

Email me if you are interested. :)

Tiny Taekwondo Masters

Our older girls have started Taekwondo two days a week. So far it has been a very positive experience. The girls are learning to be good listeners, respectful to authority, and how to defend themselves...so as a Mommy I must say I'm a fan. Plus they can all go at once, and that's a definite plus as a Mommy too! ;)

Mia LOVE it! Lots of action and drama. Her favorite thing to do are the poses. She practices them over and over. Her instructor spends a lot of time teaching them to be STILL and to not "fidget". For Mia this is HUGE. She is wiggly person and it's good to have her be conscious of NOT wiggling! It's definitely not easy for her, but she's trying.

Mia bowing.
She's very "official" in everything she shows us.

It's hard for Sofia to look very scary. She's just too darn sweet.
BUT...she is a very disciplined person in general, so this has been a great thing for her too.
She knows all the poses and all the phrases they need to know in Korean.
The first day of class she was named the Master Student, because she did the best that day.
Very Sofia! :) Such an over-achiever!

Katryna also loves the action and drama involved.
Her favorite part is the "fighting", when they get to compete against each other.
She has great balance and so far can challenge and win against her classmates quite easily.
She actually looks slightly scary when she's in full Taekwondo Mode!

It's nice to have something that 3 very different children can enjoy so much. They've been in it long enough now that we invested in their Doboks (uniforms).
It should be fun to see them progress and maybe they'll come in handy with all the crazy purse-snatchers in our area lately. Can you imagine a pack of tiny blondes taking out a purse-snatcher!? LOL! I'm TOTALLY kidding...but it's a funny thought! ;)

Artists For Hope Featured

I just got an email that Artists For Hope is featured on the blog in Haiti~ with Alexis's AMAZING portrait of Deny! SO cool!
We've gone international! :)

I love to see God work! This idea seemed truly far-fetched at first. I know I had mentioned before that it would creep into my mind over and over. I tried to get rid of it at times because I feel busy enough...but God wouldn't allow that. Then He provided amazing people to create things and donate things and kind-hearted people to spread the word. God has let things begin to fall into place and I hope and pray that we can somehow make a difference in the lives of the sweet kids at the Rescue Center.
Thank you everyone!!! Ya'll Rock!

Our Cello Player

Katryna had her first Orchestra Concert last night. I was so tired, but I made it and it was really fun to watch. I honestly thought that a large group of 4th graders who have only been playing strings for a couple months was going to sound kinda like a large pack of frightened screeching cats....but it was surprisingly pretty.

Katryna was so proud and Kris commented that this was
probably the first of many to come. Very true.

I'm FINALLY feeling human again. I decided to stay in and rest this morning, but it's so beautiful outside right now I think I may venture out somewhere this afternoon. I have to get ready for Sofia's birthday party this weekend. 9 little 2nd graders at our house. Fun! :)

Charlotte's Oww's

Lulu had her 6 month check up today.
(sorry about the fuzzy pictures.
My phone camera is obviously a bit dusty.)

She is doing great and growing like a weed.

She's becoming more and more fun ~ and her sisters and brother are very happy about this. She's MUCH more fun than several months ago when she just laid there looking cute. ;)

Baz was very sympathetic at her appointment when it was time for the "Owws". (notice the bright yellow band aid?)
I think he was more concerned about it than she was. She had 3 shots. She cried HARD for about 5 seconds, until she was saved by her Mommy and taken away from the mean nurse with the pointy things.
She's been all smiles ever since. :)

I'm sure the pain from the shots will kick in at some point here...but for now she's a happy Beans.

Thanks for the well wishes from being sick. I'm still not feeling great. This was a BUMMER of a flu bug. I've been sick since Monday and it just got worse and worse all week. I was pretty ready to throw in the towel a few times around Thursday/Friday. NOT fun!!! Hopefully it will be uphill from here.

If you haven't gotten a Flu Shot...GO GET ONE!!!! I wish I had! :(

SO sick

Just wanted to say sorry it has been so quiet. I ended up with the flu Thursday night and I'm still exhausted. Feeling much better~ but exhausted.
Hopefully with one more day of rest, all will be better.
Later....

Top Chef

It's been a LONG day and I just realized that tonight is finally the premiere of the new season of Top Chef on Bravo. I admit. I'm a Bravo addict. Nothing makes me happier than getting to the end of a long day and settling in to watch DVR'd mindless TV, and most of that mindless TV seems to come from Bravo.

One of the best things about Top Chef is Kris loves it as much as I do and he always gets inspired to try cooking new things. So I also get good food out of the deal....so YAY for Top Chef.

If you haven't watched it, give it a try. I think you might like it! ;)

Poker and the Potty

This is the beginning of what was to become my hubby's new Poker Table. He decided he was going to make his own Poker Table "topper", and for those of you who know Kris well, he was busy building it within hours of deciding he was going to make one. Very typical! When he decides he's going to do something~he does it~
no messing around. ;)

This part is the vinyl that went around the edge of the table. He actually had to cut out the center and wrap it around so it created a padded ring around the outside to lean on while playing.

I was fairly stressed out by all the precise cutting and everything that needed to be done. Kris thinks very technically. I think very artistically. I think it's good he was doing this project, cuz I saw several short-cuts I thought might work...but he calculated everything out and it turned out beautifully!
Mine would have probably turned out very "artsy".

Isn't that cool? He ordered the special fabric from a distributor and they had their first big Poker Game at a nieghbors last week to break it in. I'm very impressed!

Bazzy also earned his final sticker on his sticker chart last week for going on the Potty. He is doing SO good! I can't say he's TOTALLY potty trained...cuz he definitely forgets at times, but most of the time he is doing a great job. He got to pick out a toy when he finished with his chart (he needed a bit of motivation, cuz he was just fine with Mommy changing him for the rest of his life) and surprise SURPRISE~ he picked Cars. Shocking. I know.

Happy Veterans Day

My Dad is a Veteran and I just wanted to post something to say thank you to him and to all the men and women who have served and protected our country and our freedom.

THANK YOU!!!

Etsy Troubles

I need some advice. We can't use Etsy to sell donated items for Artists For Hope because their policy is it has to be made by the seller. You can have a Collective Shop, but it can't be multiple artists...only a couple people and they have to have information about all the artists. :( I'm very bummed, cuz this would have been a great way to sell everything. I emailed the Etsy people, but they are not willing to budge. Blah.

So....what do you think would be the best thing to do. An Ebay store? I don't want to do auctions. I would just have the "Buy It Now" option. Or do I sell things directly from the blog with Paypal? I also don't want people to not know if they actually purchased the item. I've looked at sites where they take the first email recieved and that person gets the item...but I don't think people will be as willing to purchase things if they're not sure it's actually going to be theres'. I'm hoping maybe somebody has some knowledge or a good idea about this. Do people still shop on Ebay? I think that would probably be the easiest, but the fees and all that are kind of a bummer.

Please leave a comment or email me and let me know what you think. I had an adorable door hanger donated and I really want to list it cuz I know someone will love it for Christmas...but after the Etsy fallout I'm not sure what to do.
Thanks guys!

First Real Food

Charlotte had her first taste of baby food last night. Her Doctor recommended we start with orange veggies, so we mixed sweet potatoes with her rice cereal. As you can see from the giant messy smile~ it was a HIT! She loved every bite and now we have a new way to sustain those cheeks. ;)

Close Ups

I took pictures of the kids this weekend, in hopes that we could use some for Christmas Cards. I know life is only going to get busier as the weeks go on and it gets closer to the Holidays...
so I figured I better get going.

I took a few closeups of the kids, just for fun, and I'm in awe of how these little beings continue to grow up more and more right in front of my eyes!

Katryna is the most dramatic difference. In appearance and in personality.
Dramatic actually works both ways with this one...cuz she truly is a VERY dramatic person . I wish I could say that comes from Kris, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case. ;)
She is becoming SO grown up and I realize that I now have an older child. I've always been the Mom of little kids. Not anymore. Katryna is no longer little and it's a strange transition for me to experience this. Fun, but strange.

Sofia is also changing in so many ways. The kid is ridiculously smart and I fear she is going to be the one that knows WAY more than her Mommy. In math anyways! I wish I had an intellectual mind like hers...but I'm definitely more of an ADHD artist than an intellectual.
That definitely IS from her Daddy.

Mia says it ALL in this picture. Of course we couldn't take a NORMAL closeup picture. That would be CRAZY! Mia is just Mia and we've all come to accept that. LOL!
This little munchkin is starting to really grow up too though. She's learning so much in school and she's starting to mellow out a lot...mostly thanks to her very experienced Kindergarten teacher who won't allow TOO much silliness in class. Thank you Miss Mosby!!!

Sebastian is such a mixture of seriousness and goofiness these days. He's somber one moment (like this picture) and the next minute he's doing somersaults and giggling. Maybe that a boy thing? Maybe that's a Sebastian thing???
I still think of him as my baby, even though he's growing up too. He's been into giving Charlotte all his BABY things. It's SO sweet, but it makes me sad at the same time because he's not my baby anymore. What in the WORLD am I going to do when Charlotte doesn't need her baby things anymore? I'm totally going to need a puppy!

And then there's miss smiley-beans, Charlotte. Such a sweet and happy baby. I had to pack away some of her 0-3 month clothes today and WOW was that hard. :( She's so much more fun these days, but I have such a hard time letting go of that squishy baby phase.
She is loving the idea of being mobile. She's not crawling yet, just rolling with reckless abandon, but I fear it won't be long cuz she gets that glimmer in her eye when she see something across the room that she really wants. I'm not sure I'm totally ready for a mobile baby yet.

5 amazing and rapidly growing kiddos
that I'm lucky enough to call my own. :)