Ever safety conscious

Because bathtubs must be scary places...

our kids have found a way to feel safe.

Milestone update

Since posting about those great milestones, we've had a few setbacks. Thanks to various germs McK stopped sleeping through the night and E took longer to accept the disappearance of her pacis...so we still have a baby in our room. In the midst of all this fun, J started having night terrors. Needless to say, sleep is a precious commodity in our home these days. I think we are getting back on track, but Clay's family comes in about 3 weeks so we think we wait to make that transition until they are gone. One positive aspect of illness: we have come a long way - a loooong way in the potty training department!!!! YAY!!! (Of course, now that I've said something we'll probably take 15 steps backward!)

Enjoy the following 2 posts with LOTS of pictures.

Enjoying our backyard

Finally, fall temperatures and sunny days!!! Big J battled a fever for like 5 days. We were all going a bit stir crazy. He finally felt well enough on a day it warmed up so we ventured out to our backyard to burn some energy. Since that day, we've spent at least an hour outside each day. I LOVE that the kids ask to go out each morning after breakfast. I'd much rather them stimulate them this way than in front of the tv; however, our home is definitely being neglected! Just yesterday we spent almost 2 hours outside before Big J went to school, went outside within 30 minutes after picking him up, left our backyard to meet some friends at the park, came home and headed straight back out again until it was dark! So far Miss McK seems to enjoy being outside as much as the big kids do. Here are some pictures of our fun the last couple of days...

A few notables:
**You'll see pictures of Big J practicing his letters. When I went to check out his work, I saw that he wrote his "I", "D", and "E" in an interesting order to spell die. What a great first word to write!
**You'll see how much the mosquitoes love my boy, and that he's almost to big to enjoy the pink slide anymore! He also doesn't look at the camera when he screams, "CHEESE!!!"
**One picture of how Miss McK likes to sleep - with an arm over her eyes...a lot like her siblings at her age and like my mother even today!

October 31st

October 31st - a day full of activity. We joined Candie, Elyjah, & Judah at a playground in their neighborhood. It was still a little chilly, and Miss E wasn't interested in playing (you'll see why below).

Even though we hadn't had rain in a day or so, the volleyball court remained a wading pool. Elyjah & Judah were all about playing in the water, but it took Big J some time to venture in...can't blame him, it was a little chilly!

After naps, we headed off to Elyjah's birthday party at another playground. All the kids dressed up (except ours who wanted to show off their new pumpkin shirts thanks to some friends) and had a grand time enjoying some beautiful weather.
Hulk and a Ladybug
(aka the birthday boy and his mama, Candie)
He wanted her to dress up, and she kindly obliged. What a great mom!
Big J showing off his jack-o-lantern shirt.
Pin the nose on the pumpkin.
We actually got Miss E to participate!
Proof of how literal kids at this age are: The game was wrap the mummy...when Candie said, "GO!" most of the kids took off racing toward the fence at the edge of the park! We all got a good laugh!
The birthday boy wanted donuts instead of cake so we got to enjoy Krispy Kreme's Halloween specials! It was a nice change.
Miss McK had a grand ol' time, can't you tell?
Miss E hung close to me & Clay during most of the party, but I did catch her smiling after the pinata busted and she got a lollipop!
After the party, we headed to a local church's fall festival for dinner and fun. Caught the kids walking together with matching braids! Kudos to Clay for doing Miss E's hair.
Our group enjoying a hot dog dinner. We were quite a sight!

Headed to the games.

Bean bag toss...LOVE his swinging hair!

Miss Priss wasn't into doing the games - she hung out by the wall.

Basketball toss!
It was a great day...so much so Big J kept asking to go to Halloween for days after it was all over!

Big milestones

It's been a busy week at our house as you can see by the following posts - surprise visitors last weekend, additional kids in our care this week, and family fun. It's also been a good week in small ways -

- Miss McK is sleeping through the night!!!

- The Paci Princess visited Miss E Friday night. E gathered all her pacis into a bag to leave for her to pick up and take to all the babies that need them. The next morning, E found a note and big girl present (a Skipper Barbie doll). While she's been sad, it hasn't been as tough of a transition as it could have been. She didn't even ask for them tonight (night #3 without them).

- The above two things had to happen before I could consider moving McK out of our room. I'm going to give it probably one more week to make sure this isn't just a fluke, but I'm thinking next weekend we might make the transition. Oh, to have a room to ourselves again!

I finally took time (LOTS of time) to update the blog tonight so enjoy multiple posts and more pictures than you can probably stand. Don't forget you can enlarge them by simply double-clicking on the picture.

Now I think sleep is calling my name...