Spontaneous

Friday night Dan surprised me with his spontaneity. He got home around 6:30, Quinn said that he was ready to leave for Arkansas (we were scheduled to leave Saturday evening around 9pm), Dan looked at me and said, "ok, let's go!"

And so we arrived Saturday morning about 6:30am. The weather is horrible and we are having no fun at all...Ok... the weather is PERFECT for December and we are having a blast!
If you're having fun in Arkansas put your hands up in the air!My children are delighted to be here with Nana and Papa, they are delighted to be outside running around. We love it here!I realize that I post a lot of pictures (more often than not), I just love my children's faces and my camera does a great job of capturing the pure joy that so often is on their little faces. The love is mutual. Nana and Papa adore my wee ones and my children do not let them sit down for one minute. "Nana can you play with me?" "Papa will you take me outside?" I just love these pictures. Papa always has a smile on when my kids are around.Each of my children have a very unique running style. Rex' unique running. What I really need to do is video them running. It is comical. They all have such different styles.
Papa even got in on the racing. Apparently Rex thought that when they got down to start the race that a "scorpion" was the best position to begin. All tuckered out.Every time we come to Arkansas we borrow my parents' neighbors tow truck. It was their son's when he was little and my big boys LOVE it! Nana and Myla were outside for quite a while earlier. Nana led my kids and I on a jungle walk (Dan and my Dad were golfing, tough life). They love exploring and Nana is amazing at engaging their imagination. We found dinosaur teeth, walked across a huge river, looked for deer poop, they love jungle walks with Nana.

Myla wanted to work on a grocery list with Nana.I woke up early this morning to sit with coffee and my bible next to their enormous tree decked out with 2500 lights... ummm amazing job putting them up Mom and Dad. The lights are woven deep into the tree. It is just beautiful. You can't be around it and not break out into Amy Grant "It's the most wonderful time of the year..."
My wee ones got to break into the first gift of Christmas (umm love that book, The Polar Express). A marble works set. I'm not sure who had more fun, Dan and Papa building it or my kids watching the marbles go down. They had the hardest time not grabbing the marbles as the spiraled down. And this is what happens at lunch in Arkansas after all the excitement! Precious. I think is goes without saying that after a day and a half here we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves. We are looking forward to the rest of the party arriving on Wednesday. We are blessed to enjoy so much family time. Loving it here!

Optimistic

I'm trying to stay optimistic about winter

10 things I like about Winter (not in any particular order)

1. My kids LOVE to be "Toasty" which means a lot of snuggling under blankets while reading books. Rex is our new book worm. He will sit and listen to books for as long as you will read them. IT IS SO SWEET!
2. Yankee Candles-we always have Yankee Candles but there is something extra sweet about my house smelling like "Fall Leaves" or "Christmas Nights"
   
3. Snuggling with Dan. He is my heater! In the summer we stay on our sides of the bed but in the winter I steal warmth from the love of my life!
4. The holidays. I love all the extra family time that happens in November and December. The only problem is that then we are left with January, February and March of cold.
5. My EMU boots. They are worn practically every day! In my opinion there is no better shoe for winter than a toasty warm boot to put on anytime you leave the house. Your pants don't get wet, your feet don't ever touch the snow. Perfect winter shoe.
   
6. The fact that our perception gets so skewed that we begin to think that 50s is beautiful. Come fall when it is 50 degrees out we are hunkered down inside but after a long winter we appreciate anything that's not freezing.
7. Getting to decorate for Christmas. Mostly because my kids love the Christmas tree. It definitely adds a little sparkle to a house. I love turning the tree on in the morning when it's still dark outside and reading with my coffee! There is something so wonderful about the holiday season.
8. My zip up sweatshirt. It has pockets. I can hold my phone, a pacifier, my memory verse for the week, chapstick, gum, kleenex, anything one would need on a moments notice is right there! It may look silly cause my pockets are bulging but I am a prepared for anything.
   
9. Christmas music, Amy Grant... enough said.
10. And even though I REALLY DO NOT LIKE SNOW, there is something so special about putting on your boots and gloves and building a snow man with your kids. The wonder on their faces with a new snowfall is so much fun to watch.

On the other hand, I could come up with about 100 reasons why I don't like winter and why SNOW with 4 children is the worst thing ever, but I'm trying to focus on the positives here and prepare myself for the next 4 months of freezing.

And since we are stuck inside I am forced to take tons of pictures of my newest wee one. I seriously can't help myself. HE IS SO CUTE!Dan is "gettin" him as my kids would say. I think he liked it!

We are looking forward to Arkansas for Christmas to be able to play outside, go fishing, go for walks in the "jungle" as Quinn would say and get tons of attention for Nana, Papa and Aunts.

Trying to stay optimistic about the weather. At least I have amazing kids to be stuck indoors with. I am one blessed momma!

No Concept of Time

We have been anxiously awaiting Christmas for quite some time now. The last time that we saw Nana and Papa was in September and we miss them tremendously! The last time that we saw Aunt Kelly was the beginning of August and the last time we saw Aunt Dana and Uncle Ry was for a few hours on labor day. We all are so excited for Christmas in Arkansas.

The only problem with being so excited for Christmas in Arkansas is that we have been so excited for Christmas in Arkansas since the end of September when we last saw Nana and Papa and little kids have NO CONCEPT OF TIME.

For example, before going to bed we usually talk about what we are going to do the next day, things that we have to look forward to for tomorrow. Then when we wake up in the morning and I remind them of what we are doing, Quinn always says, "so this is tomorrow now..." and then explaining that what was tomorrow is now today results in a very interesting conversation.

So, due to the difficulty that little kids have with the concept of time I have to constantly be the bearer of bad news that today is not the day we are going to Arkansas. Yesterday morning I informed them that in ONE WEEK we would be eating breakfast with Nana and Papa. A few minutes later Quinn looked at me and asked, "has it been one week yet?" Later that day he asked me if "tonight is the night we are wearing our pajamas in the car to Nana and Papa's?"

Their struggle with time also works to my advantage. I often tell them, "two minutes" until we have to go, until they have to share a toy, until dinner time, until it's bed time, until Daddy gets home, until we can play a game. The reason it works to my advantage is that "two minutes" can be about any increment of time that I want it to be, two minutes, twenty minutes, right now they don't really know the difference. It is funny because they often say, "two more minutes" to me. They are becoming good negotiators and when asked to share a toy their response will be, "two more minutes, " when told it's time to put toys away their response will be, "two more minutes." I guess I will have to work on making two minutes actually two minutes for when they understand time better and can read a clock. For now I guess, "two minutes" just means sometime in the future you will need to do something or go somewhere.

These next few pictures are from my alone time with Titan this afternoon.
I adore him.
I'm slightly concerned that I'm losing my only blue eyed boy... what do you think?Myla loves to doodle.
We ended a fabulous day today with popsicles in the bathtub. When you can't eat them outside the best place to eat them is in the bath. No clean up, no one gets cold, and it's a fun reminder of why we LOVE summer so much!
So, a few more days and then I will get to excitedly tell them that,"Today is the day!" To which the response is sure to be shrieks of excitement, lots of giggles, probably some dancing and Myla saying her new favorite phrase, "I'M SO HAPPY!" So I think it goes without saying that we are so excited for Christmas at Nana and Papa's house!

Why???

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

This is Myla's new favorite question.

"Myla don't rub ketchup all over your hands." "Why?"
"Myla please don't play with mommy's phone." "Why?"
"Myla do not take that toy away from Rex." "Why?"
"Myla please don't put Titan's pacifier in his mouth right now." "Why?"
"Myla please don't step on your toys." "Why?"

This picture is from this morning as she was admiring the new snow. I'm pretty sure that hat is too small for her but if I told her to wear a different one I was sure to be met with the question, why? And to be honest I didn't have a good answer as to why she couldn't wear it.... and sooo....It can be somewhat comical how often she asks this question but it does make you think about "Why" or "Why Not" we do certain things. I don't feel like Quinton ever really asked "Why?" and Rex for sure doesn't ask, "Why?" Maybe it's just a girl thing.
So Myla keeps me on my toes these days. I've has some pretty crazy responses to her questions. She is such a delight, so funny and such a girl. It's fun to watch her and Dan interact when she's being sassy because he just kinda picks on her and she loves it. She is one loved little girl.

On a different note, the doctors confirmed what I already knew yesterday....
TITAN IS PERFECT!

Even our doctor said, "How is he 4 months already, I feel like he was just born." My thoughts exactly. He weighed in at a solid 16 lbs 4 oz (72% percentile) and has a head size only in the 88%. Small compared to his siblings! He took his shots like a champ! My friend Jill bravely accepted the task of watching my big kids so that I didn't have to take them all. Thank you Jill! I'm blessed by her all the time!

So from our newborn to 4 months in a blink of an eye. I can't help but wonder WHY does time have to go so fast? Why? Why? Why? Why?