30!

Well- turning 30 has not been nearly as painful as I thought.  I think I dreaded more that for 2 months it will appear that I am 2 years older than Luke instead of just 14 months. Funny how life makes us worry about nonsense.  Luke has done an extraordinary job celebrating my "birthday week" as he calls it.  I was good not even celebrating this year, but we have gone to an OU game with some of my family members, the zoo, and then the Thunder vs. Lakers game last night. I honestly feel like a queen!  SO...enough about little OLD me and on to the family news!!!!


Life is good.  Mollie is completely potty trained except for an occasional accident.  I am very proud of her.  Macie still shows absolutely no interest and has actually regressed into wanting her sisters to hold her sippy cup while she drinks and to feed her.  I think she just loves being the baby.  Right now I am watching Mollie "walk" her puppy named  Macie who is panting and crawling on all fours.  Life is fun around here :)

Also- the big girls are really thriving at homeschooling.  I am loving it and they are just little sponges that soak up all the information.  It is so fun to watch them learn and understand things.  Gracie is doing addition and subtraction and reading very well. Zoie is learning to read and actually really good in Math.  Sadie has learned all her sounds and loves to be part of the daily school life.  Homeschooling is more rewarding than I could have ever imagined.  In March Zoie, Gracie, and Sadie are all going to start group tennis lessons and then in April, Zoie and Gracie will start team tennis.  We are really excited about this upcoming adventure.

 Life here is very chaotic but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  Each night as I go and check on my sleeping children, I am reminded of God's love and how good and faithful He is to me.

Potty Training #1

Well- this week has been adventurous.  Mollie has decided she wants to be a big girl and wear panties.  Monday she showed minor interest in going to the potty.  Yesterday she wore panties all day except for nap and bed time and those are the only two times she had an accident.  Today she lasted all day in panties (even through a two hour nap today) and she has been to the potty at least 100 times...or so it feels.  I thought "wow, she is not going to have an accident", so of course at dinner she started yelling "potty" but we didn't move fast enough and she went some in her panties but held the rest till the potty (TMI, I'm sure).

My other children have done math and phonics in the bathroom floor waiting on her to go. It really does take a whole village to raise a child.  I am so proud of her and her 4 little cheerleaders screaming with delight each time she is successful.  She has done incredible!!!!  I just hope she keeps it up.  Tonight will be her first night in panties, and though my expectations are not really high, I am still secretly hoping for a miracle!

Funny part is:  Macie has absolutely no interest in going potty.  I tried to put panties on her today and she immediately hit the floor screaming and kicking trying to get them off.  I knew that these twins were going to be an adventure at this age, but I had no idea they were going to be totally opposite.  So, that is what we have been doing this week.  So far, so good.

The Light of my Life

Well- after writing a marathon about my children, I found it very ironic that I never even talked about Luke.  He is the reason I get to live out all my dreams and why I have the life I have.  Luke- so many words to describe him: incredible, hilarious, silly, compassionate, kind-hearted, caring, crazy, spiritual leader of our home, most amazing father and husband.  The list could go on and on.  He is the most amazing man I have ever met.  I am constantly reminded how lucky I am to be married to such a good man.  He loves his family whole-heartedly and he holds back nothing.  He wears his heart on his sleeve and seems to have no filter :).

Speaking of Luke- when he saw the family picture I posted, he said "Oh, you posted a picture of fat daddy, huh?" He is hilarious. I tried to convince him it was just the picture but he started P90X the next day. I love that crazy man and thank God for him daily.

Hello World

Well- I never thought I would be one to blog about my life, my family, or my daily activities, but here I am (in total disbelief of myself) writing away.  I thought writing might be therapeutic for me and entertaining to others.  My life in short is a circus.  I would not trade one minute of the chaos in my life for anything in the world.  I truly feel like the most blessed woman alive.  Now enough about why I am writing- on to the days events at my house.

It was nice and cold today, so we were inside all day.  You can imagine the chaos that comes from a 7, 5, 4, and twin 1 year olds when they are trapped inside all day.  We had several cat fights, and lots of entertainment from the babies.  Today was a total success in our house because only one chair was written on with marker (thank you Mollie) and only one couch was colored with glitter lip gloss (thank you Macie).  I feel they really might be artists because if they have any type of writing utensil, they draw.  It doesn't matter if it is in their hair, their arms, the couch, carpet, or table they will imprint their creativeness on anything that they think might have the tiniest bit of meaning to me.  I have learned to not be attached to any material thing in my home because it will be destroyed.  I love my sweet twins but if they are left alone for 2 seconds (literally just 2 seconds), they will destroy, climb, or mark on something.  They are incredible little monkeys often standing on top of the kitchen island or the dining room table trying to touch the lights.  I walk out of the room just long enough to hear my other 3 yelling at Mollie and Macie to get down or stop pulling hair. I know it sounds like I am a little hard on the twins, but hey they are in the stage of needing my constant attention :).

 Gracie, my oldest, is such a people-pleaser.  She loves God and her family.  She is one of the most joyful children I have ever met.  She finds happiness in the smallest things in life.  She is just one of the kids you want to be around because she puts life in perspective.  Her biggest trauma of the day came when her dad made a comment about her moving out when she goes to college.  She cried and cried because she felt like he was kicking her out.  Lesson learned with her: just let her think she is going to live with us forever.  I am sure her mind will change in ten years but for now we will cherish her soft and sweet heart.

Zoie- oh my mini me!! I now feel sorry for my parents for all the things I put them through.  Zoie is such a gentle, ornery soul.  I love her to pieces but she definitely gives me a run for my money.  She loves animals and loves to write.  Bless her heart because today Macie had a handful of her hair, and she could not get her to let go.  After lots of screaming and many tears, Macie finally relinquished her hair but not before taking a good chunk with her.  Zoie will not hurt a fly but she talks a good game.  I love my little ZuZu Petals.

Sadie- My brown-eyed beauty.  She has a heart of gold. At only 4 years old, she thinks she is as big as Gracie and as tough as Zoie, and funny enough: she is really in charge of all the kids.  She gets her way from her sisters 90% of the time because they can't stand to see her sad.  She knows how to work the system and get her way.  Sadie's biggest thing of the day was when she wanted ice cream.  She kept telling us to the put the babies down (to bed for the night) because she couldn't have ice cream until they were asleep.  Can you imagine listening to her asking over and over "can the babies to go down because I need ice cream now" for over an hour?  Yes it was a long night and yes she finally got her ice cream around 8:30.

Mollie- She is a talker.  Oh my goodness. She is only 22 months old, but it is like having a parrot in the house.  Everything we say, she repeats.  It is so cute.  Two weeks ago, she started saying "I love you" and at that exact moment my heart was opened to this outpouring of love that I didn't even know was in there.  She is my little mess.  She keeps me on my toes 24 hours a day but my life would not be complete without her.  My motto for my twins and all the chaos they bring me is "I'm living the dream!" because believe it or not 5 kids really has always been my biggest dream.

Macie- She is my little love bug.  She loves to give kisses to her mirror.  She is such a sweet gentle spirit but she is learning how to hold her own.  She used to let Mollie or one of the other girls take anything away from her and she would just redirect her attention to something else, but here recently she is learning to fight for things she wants (and unfortunately her biggest weapon is pulling hair).  Macie is trying to talk but mainly she is an observer. She is definitely a sweet heart.

Well that was a lot for tonight. I am tired but my 3 oldest are still not asleep.  I am hopeful they will go to sleep soon so I can go to bed.  Next post will be about my amazing husband. Good night.