Temple Trip, August 2014

Charles and I have gone to the temple each month this year! It was one of our New Year's Resolutions! We didn't even go twice last year! But since we've been going, it's made things much better in our home life! I love the temple and I love how it's changed us!

One of the tricky things this year has been the fact that up until six weeks ago, I was pregnant! It was much easier to travel 2+ hours to the temple with a baby in my belly. Now that she's out, it's been more difficult. Last month and this month, I decided to not go through the temple, but to have Charles go through alone. Adeline is just not ready to be away from me for more than 2 hours at a time since she's breastfeeding. And I don't like the thought of leaving all four of our girls with one person just yet!

All that being said, last month when Charles went, he got to go with some friends from our church. I stayed home with our girls. This month, Charles and I decided that we wanted to take all of our girls! Which sounded like a good idea at the time! Charles would go through the temple with his Dad and I would take our girls over to the visitor's center.

The morning started off fine, but we were running a little late. About half an hour into the drive, both Caitlin and Rosalie had to go to the bathroom. We stopped at a gas station and I took the girls inside. When we got back out to the van, I got into the diaper bag and realized that I only packed one diaper for Adeline. ONE diaper for the whole day! I had forgotten to pack more... That's when things kinda went downhill for me.

The drive there was fine. I rode in the back between Caity and Rosie. I was asked almost every three minutes, "Are we there yet?! How much longer?!". By the time we got to the temple, I was so ready to be out of that back seat! Charles and Dad went into the temple and I had to take the girls to the store down the street to get diapers for Addy. Going to the store with four kids is quite a feat for me. It's very stressful. But we made it quick! In and out within five minutes! Then I took the girls to the visitor's center!

I had to feed Adeline. I ended up feeding her in the bathroom, which made me feel even worse. The other girls ran around, flushed toilets, and played with the water faucets. I kept telling them to stop, but they didn't really listen. I was getting frustrated, so I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me!

I brought along our pink Evenflo Snugli for Adeline to ride in while we went through the visitor's center. She HATED it. She wouldn't ride in it. Our other girls loved the thing! So I'm not sure if she was just too full from nursing and she couldn't get comfortable?! So that was frustrating for me because I had to hold her the entire time. (I am going to be bringing a stroller with us from now on!) We left the bathroom and started our tour of the center.

The girls did good! They only got out of hand a few times. The Sister Missionary who gave us our tour was excellent with my girls! She totally understood how hard of a time I was having chasing three kids with an infant in my arms and a diaper bag on my back. I was flustered more than once, but I prayed for peace.

Here are some photos from the Visitor's Center!

Afterwards, I loaded the girls back up and went to the Temple's parking lot. I brought the girls into the waiting room and they met a group of kids in there! My girls got to play some letter and color games on someone's cell phone! It kept them preoccupied while I fed Adeline again!

Charles and Dad ended up walking over to the Visitor's Center to find us, then had to come back to the temple because they didn't think to check the waiting room! By that time, I was getting flustered again. My girls weren't listening very well and there was a huge wedding party that had just come in. I was trying to finish nursing Adeline and my other girls were running around. I was trying to whisper yell at them... but it clearly wasn't working. Then Charles FINALLY walked into the room. I was SO ready to leave... I tried my hardest not to cry, but some tears came anyway. And I let them fall.

We went over to my grandparent's house afterwards so that they could meet Adeline for the first time! We fed the girls their lunch and changed them into comfy clothes for the ride home!

Then we loaded the girls back up and started on our way home! We went the old route home so that we could go through Red Oak and see my cousin Chelsey and her family! She was going to have her baby shower that Sunday and we couldn't go, so I asked her if we could meet up and visit on the way home! We met at the park and let the kiddos run around! I gave her our gift and she got some baby snuggles from Adeline! I was hoping that by holding Adeline, Chelsey's baby girl would want to come out and see her cousin, but no luck! Our kiddos had a blast and they did NOT want to get back in the van to go home!

We drove by my brother Bob's work. He wasn't there, which was a first, so I had his friend/coworker call him and tell him that I was stopping by to show him the new baby. Adeline is the first baby that I've had that Bob hadn't seen in the hospital! But I had her on a very busy holiday weekend, so it's understandable! I didn't get any photos since we kept all the girls buckled up in the van. But it was so cute to hear my girls' squeals of excitement to see "Uncle Bob-o"!

After that, we headed home! All of the girls fell asleep about 10 minutes into the drive! And all in all, while the day was very frustrating for me, I had a wonderful experience! I realized just how different my girls are and just how strong their spirits are! They are all one of a kind! I don't like the fact that I didn't have a very good time, especially when temple trips are usually very spiritually uplifting for me, but it's okay! I'm still trying to figure things out with four kids and I haven't quite gotten the grasp yet, but I'm figuring it out! One day at a time, with a LOT of help from the Lord!

And I figure that by the time I've figured it out, I'll be adding another little one into the mix!

Then it all starts over!

Kid Interviews 2014

Here are our annual kid interviews for 2014! I ask each of my girls the questions on the survey and type out their responses!

Caitlin Nadine, October 2013, Age: 4

1. Who is your mommy? *points at me
2. What does she do? Cleans the house all day
3. Who is your daddy? Charles
4. What does he do? Go to work
5. What is your favorite color? Purple
6. What do you want to do when you grow up? a Painter
7. What is your favorite breakfast? Pancakes with gravy
8. What is your favorite lunch? Goldfish, apples, and grapes
9. What is your favorite dinner? Smashed potatoes with gravy
10. What is your favorite snack? Ice Cream
11. What food do you not like? Pine cones
12. What is your favorite animal? Giraffe! He has a long neck!
13.Where do you want to live when you grow up? Stay here!
14. What do mom and dad do when you go to bed? Read princess stories, say prayer, and go to bed.
15. What does daddy say? I love you!
16. What does mommy say? I love you!
17. What is your favorite song? I like the Tinkerbell CD
18. What is your favorite movie? The Little Mermaid
19. What is your favorite ice cream? Vanilla
20. Where is your favorite place to eat? Dairy Queen
21. Who is your favorite person? Grandma and PawPaw
22. Who is your best friend? My sisters and my whole family
23. What is your favorite book? Princess Stories
24. Who are your brothers/sisters? Rosie, Viv, and baby
25. Where did they come from? Iowa
26. What is your favorite thing to do? Play with my sisters
27. What is your favorite toy? Princess stable with the horses that gallop!

Rosalie Cadence, October 2013, Age: 3

1. Who is your mommy? Carie
2. What does she do? She paints.
3. Who is your daddy? Charles
4. What does he do? Work
5. What is your favorite color? Yellow
6. What do you want to do when you grow up? Firefighter
7. What is your favorite breakfast? Pancakes
8. What is your favorite lunch? Chicken Nuggets
9. What is your favorite dinner? Pancakes
10. What is your favorite snack? Apples
11. What food do you not like? Cereal
12. What is your favorite animal? Rhino
13.Where do you want to live when you grow up? Iowa
14. What do mom and dad do when you go to bed? Say "goodnight, I love you"!
15. What does daddy say? I love you!
16. What does mommy say? I love you!
17. What is your favorite song? Roar (by Katy Perry)
18. What is your favorite movie? Frozen
19. What is your favorite ice cream? Strawberry
20. Where is your favorite place to eat? Inside
21. Who is your favorite person? Caity and Vivi
22. Who is your best friend? Caity Belle
23. What is your favorite book? Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar
24. Who are your brothers/sisters? Caity Belle and Viv
25. Where did they come from? Iowa
26. What is your favorite thing to do? Paint
27. What is your favorite toy? Play foods

Vivian Rane, October 2013, Age: 2

1. Who is your mom? *points at me
2. What does she do? FOOD!
3. Who is your daddy? *points upstairs
4. What does he do? Sleepin'
5. What is your favorite color? Red
6. What do you want to do when you grow up? *giggles
7. What is your favorite breakfast? Eggs
8. What is your favorite lunch? Apples
9. What is your favorite dinner? Tatoes
10. What is your favorite snack? Gummies
11. What food do you not like? Yuckies
12. What is your favorite animal? TIGER!
13. Where do you want to live when you grow up? *walks away
14. What do mom and dad do when you go to bed? Ni-night.
15. What does daddy say? La-you. (Love you)
16. What does mommy say? La-you. (Love you)
17. What is your favorite song? ROAR (by Katy Perry)
18. What is your favorite movie? Mermaid
19. What is your favorite ice cream? ICE CREAM!
20. Where is your favorite place to eat? *points into kitchen
21. Who is your favorite person? Mommy
22. Who is your best friend? Sisters
23. What is your favorite book? Caterpillar (Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar)
24. Who are your brothers/sisters? Caklin, Rosie
25. Where did they come from? *points to my belly
26. What is your favorite thing to do? PLAY!
27. What is your favorite toy? *brings me her Ariel doll

First Day of Preschool

We've been spending the last month getting Caitlin and Rosalie ready for preschool! This year is the first year that our girls will be in school! We decided to keep Caitlin home last year for the 3-year-old year, but decided later that it probably would've been good for her to have gone. So when preschool sign up came this year, we decided to put Caitlin into the 4-year-old class and Rosalie into the 3-year-old class!

After all of the paperwork, orientations, doctor appointments, dentist visits, and more, we took the girls to the Open House so that they could see their class rooms and find their seats and cubby holes!

Caity found her seat!

Rosalie found her cubby!

The girls felt more comfortable knowing where their seats and cubbys were! They didn't want to leave that night, but we told them they had less than a week before school started!

I had purchased the girls' backpacks when Walmart first put them out because I wanted to get the good ones before they were gone. The Walmart here sells out of stuff within days, so as soon as I saw the Disney backpacks, I purchased them immediately! I kept them in my bedroom because we wanted to surprise the girls with them! It was hard to wait so long, but it was worth it when we saw their faces! Charles brought them outside yesterday morning while the girls were on the porch playing! We got Caity a Tinkerbell backpack and Rosie got a Disney Princess backpack!

Looks of joy and happiness!

They spent the entire day putting things into their backpacks, taking those things out, wearing them all over the place, and more! They were SO happy! We gave each girl three pencils and a Disney Fairies notebook.

When it became time to take a bath and get ready for bed, I pulled out the note that Caity's teachers gave to her the night of the open house. It said, "DO NOT OPEN UNTIL MONDAY NIGHT!" It was hard not to open it, but I resisted! It was worth it, too! I gathered the girls around the table and opened the letter. Confetti fell all over the place! There was a poem inside the card that wished the girls sweet dreams! The confetti was to help them sleep better and have sweet dreams. It told them to sprinkle some under their pillows. I put it inside of some plastic baggies and let the girls put the baggies under their pillows! Then we set out the girls' clothes, shoes, and backpacks for the next morning!

This morning, the girls woke up without any problems! They got their clothes and shoes on immediately and let me do their hair without too much fussing! We went outside, I snapped some photos!

Afterwards, we loaded up the car and headed to school! Once at school, I got one more photo of the girls before we went inside! Charles wanted to take the girls into the school since his work starts at the same time school starts. So it was nice to have him there to help me corral the girls inside!

I dropped Caity off first! Her classroom is the closest to the doors we come in. She did very well with hanging her backpack and jacket up and going through the morning routine! She found her name tag, washed her hands, and then found her name on the floor by the big carpet!

Rosalie started getting fussy because she wanted to go to her class! So she cried a little, but once we got inside her class, she was fine! She hung her backpack and jacket up, put on her nametag, washed her hands, answered the question of the day, then sat in the morning circle! When I went to leave, she gave me a hug and never looked back!

I stopped back in Caity's room to tell her goodbye, she hugged me, then never looked back! Vivian and I left the school alone! It was weird only loading up one kid in the car! Vivian and I have spent the morning eating breakfast, playing, and running around the yard! I am very excited to spend some one-on-one time with her! Oh, and here's a picture of her this morning at the school!

I am excited to pick the girls up and hear about their day!

Happy 3rd Birthday Rosalie

I did the same thing I did last year. I put out some photos of all the things my girls love. Dora, the Little Mermaid, Tinkerbell, Belle, Rapunzel, etc. I told Rosalie to pick what she wanted to use for her party theme. She picked Rapunzel!

I started party planning and doing some major research into Rapunzel! I looked on other blogs for ideas and even searched for the patterns on Rapunzel's dress, lanterns, flags, and more! Then I set out to make Rosalie's birthday invite!

I spent two weeks making the decorations! I found a cute idea on Pinterest and decided to tackle it on my own! (Idea here!) I don't have a special cutting machine, so I had to cut out each of the sun stars BY HAND, with a Xacto knife! I cut out 80 stars! Then glued them one-by-one onto purple paper! Hung them from fishing wire, then hung them in the living room about a week before her party!

The flags were very heavy and the decorations kept falling down. I ended up needing to tape them between every third flag! I don't have a picture of the finished look, but you'll be able to see them in the birthday photos below!

Everything else after that was a breeze! I found a few more ideas and decided on a cake design for Rapunzel's dress cake! I followed the general idea from Corner House and came up with this finished look for the cake:

I still hadn't put her hair down, but I wanted a picture before the centerpiece was finished!

I used marshmallow fondant for the dress and decorated on it with edible food markers! I looked up the dress design online and did the best I could to copy it! There were some flaws, but Rosalie didn't care! She was IN LOVE with her cake!

As soon as the cake was finished, I started in making the Magic Golden Flower cupcakes! I used the same Wilton mold that I used for Caitlin's Tinker Bell cake, only I used the flower molds! 

I used the orange food writer to mark the inner design from the mold!

While I was working, Rosalie put on her Rapunzel dress and started watching Tangled! She was very comfortable doing so!

Caitlin and Vivian were watching, too!

After I finished the cupcakes, I put them in the cupcake tower and got the dessert table ready! I put Rapunzel's hair down and placed the cake in a frying pan! This is how it looked!

Everyone LOVED it, too! I got a lot of compliments and laughs about it! Here are some up-close photos of the finished cake and cupcakes!

I set out the rest of the table decorations and food for the party!

I cut the flags on the banner a little differently from the ones in our living room!
Rosalie is on the right showing her cousin the food!

We served grilled hot dogs, chips, a veggie platter (celery, carrots, and ranch dip), a fruit platter (strawberries, cantaloupe, and pineapple), Cherry Limeade kool-aid, and birthday cake!

Silk flower basket I bought at a fundraiser! Fischer Price's Rapunzel toy with the brush that came with the Rapunzel doll used in the cake! All set on top of a sheet of gold scrapbooking paper!

I even made a Flynn Rider WANTED poster pinata! (Pinterest idea here!) I used a cereal box, printed the wanted poster from Google, and glued the frills on myself! I filled it with candy and hung it above the dessert table for decoration!

I snapped a quick photo of the birthday girl with her birthday cake!

We had a wonderful turnout for the party! The food was GONE by the end and we weren't able to smash the pinata with a frying pan, but I let the girls have the candy from the inside! I saved the pinata because I'm sure I'll be throwing another Rapunzel party someday! Here are some more photos from Rosalie's big day!

Rosalie digging into the fruit platter!

Singing "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to Rosalie!

Princess lunchbox filled with goodies!

Princess velvet coloring board!

Rosalie's BIG GIRL panties! Princess panties for potty training!

French Fry shirt from Mommy and Daddy!

Princess Plate Set from Mommy and Daddy!

Princess toys from Grandma and Grandpa!

Rapunzel place mat!

I still can't believe that my girl is THREE! Where has the time gone? I am so thankful for each and everyday I get with my sweet Rosalie! She's still a Ninja! She has changed so much in the last year! I am overwhelmed with emotion when I think about it! I am so excited to see how she changes and grows this next year! 

I love you, Rosalie Cadence!

8 months pregnant with Rosalie!

Welcome to the world, Rosalie!
Don't mind my face! Natural birth hurts A LOT!

Rosalie on her FIRST birthday!

Rosalie on her SECOND birthday!

Rosalie on her THIRD birthday!

I am interested to see what party she'll want for her fourth birthday next year! Whatever it is, I'm going to go all out! Every birthday is worth a HUGE celebration in my book!

Thanksgiving/Christmas Catch-Up

How is it possible that I just now realized that I haven't done a family update in a while?! Since Halloween... Sheesh... I'm on the ball! AND I haven't posted about Thanksgiving OR Christmas yet! Yep! I'm a slacker! I've posted small updates, but nothing big. SOOOOOO, family update time!

We spent the first half of November soaking up what was left of the fall weather before it started getting colder. There were so many gorgeous days! The girls and I were invited to the park by their friend Claire. It was just warm enough for jackets for the older girls and a sleeper and hat for Vivian!

The same day, later on in the evening, Vivian started walking for the first time! We had been trying and trying to get her to walk on her own, but she just wouldn't budge! She'd push around toys and hold our hands, but she would never just do it. That day, she decided it was time! And the best part, Charles was home for it!

A few days later, after Vivian's weight was finally enough, she moved up from her backwards-facing car seat to a toddler seat! I don't know who was more excited about it! All three girls giggled like crazy when we were driving around!

This brings us into early December! The church hosted a Primary Activity and Caitlin was invited to attend! They had all the kids make a gingerbread man or woman ornament, sing Christmas carols, and then finished with a HUGE Gingerbread house kit! It was so hard for Caitlin to be patient enough for the frosting to set up, but she did so fantastic! She was super meticulous about the decorations! She pointed to where she wanted me to put the frosting, and she applied the candy! Caitlin got mad if I tried to help! When I brought the gingerbread house home, Charles asked me if she decorated it on her own because it looked like something that I would do! I took it as a compliment!

The cookies in the above photo are some of the cookies that the girls and I made during a snow day! Rosalie and Caitlin had SO much fun using the cookie cutters, watching me put them in the oven and taking them out, and then decorating them! It was a fun mess! And the girls got sprinkle happy!

For Christmas Eve, I wanted to start a tradition of watching Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows, followed by opening one present early! Of all the movies we own, the girls decided on watching Mickey's Christmas! I prepared their hot warm chocolate with marshmallows, but gave Vivian a cup full of M&M's mixed with marshmallows!

Charles and I enjoyed our HUGE mugs of hot chocolate on the couch! Half-way through the movie, the girls came over and cuddled with us on the couch! All five of us were snuggled together in a Christmas-Eve cocoon! The girls opened one present afterwards, which was a baby doll for each girl! They took their babies to bed, and soon after, Santa set out all the presents and the girls' stockings!

Each girl technically didn't get a stocking, but I want to make them ones for next year! Santa decided to set out some goodies for the girls on the coffee table! Caitlin got a Barbie cup, a horse shirt, a Strawberry Shortcake figurine, a package of four Ring Pops, and a snowman baggie full of Hershey's kisses! Rosalie got a Cars cup, a striped dress, a My Little Pony figurine, a package of four Ring Pops, and a Santa bag full of Hershey's kisses! Vivian got a Beauty and the Beast cup, a flower shirt, a My Little Pony figurine, four dum-dum suckers, and a snowman baggie full of Hershey's kisses!

It was the first thing the girls noticed on Christmas morning!

Vivian was the last one to wake up, so as soon as she rummaged through her goodies, we sat the girls down to take a picture and let them rip into their presents!

It was hard to keep up with each girl opening presents! Caitlin and Rosalie went SO fast while Vivian took her time! There were squeals of excitement and shouts for joy as the girls opened their presents!

After all the craziness was over, we picked up all the wrapping paper and assembled the bigger toys! Then our house was silent for a few hours while the girls played with their new toys!

I want to take a moment to thank the generous family that adopted our family and gave our girls a Christmas this year! We were nominated and chosen. It was wonderful news for Charles and I. We don't like talking about our financial issues publicly, but there were some people who knew that our entire Christmas fund was spent fixing our family car after Thanksgiving. It had died on me twice while driving, and then stopped working all together. We spent every single penny of our Christmas fund and then some. It had both Charles and I in a non-Christmas mood. We had no idea what we were going to do... we know that Christmas isn't about the presents, but we didn't even have enough to buy the girls any presents. It was hard on us.

I ended up crying about it in Walmart. I sucked up my feelings and continued my grocery shopping when I ran into a friend while shopping. She asked me what was wrong, and I passed on telling her exactly what was up. But she knew I wasn't being 100% honest. I finally broke down to her... later that night, she surprised me with gifts for the girls. I was overwhelmed by her kindness!

And then when the gifts from the adopt a family were dropped off, it was unexpected and completely overwhelming, once again. Our prayers were answered! I cried a lot. And when I told Charles, he cried, too. It was a wonderful Christmas blessing. We will pay it forward one day to another family in need!

We went to Charles' parent's house Christmas afternoon to open more presents and eat Christmas lunch! I forgot my camera (Yep... I'm awesome!) so I don't have any photos of the girls opening those presents, but they got lots of new toys and clothes!

This brings us to New Year's! *Happy New Years!* We stayed home that night and invited a friend over to toast some sparkling grape juice to the new year! I ended up falling asleep a few different times before midnight, but Charles made sure to wake me up for my toast!

I took some photos of the girls to celebrate the New Year!

Charles turned 29 on the 8th! We had made a Darth Vader rice-krispie cake for the family birthday party, but on the day of his birthday, I had the girls help me make a cake for their Daddy! They did so good helping me mix everything together and then decorate the baked cake! They even did a fantastic job of devouring the cake!

The girls are now playing more together now that Vivian is a little older! This is a wonderful thing, until they all start crying and fighting! But for those moments when they all play together nicely, I am such a proud Mama! I always end up crying... in a good way!

We had a great visit from our new Parent Educator in January. I was hoping the girls would do well with the new woman. She brought A LOT of play food with a chef set and a shopping cart. She had the girls won over in a matter of seconds! The girls played for the entire hour and shared the chef's clothes!

One of the gifts that Charles got for Christmas from our friends Mike and Karmen is a Darth Vader throw blanket. I cannot even tell you how many blankets are in my house! But the one that the girls want to play with and cover up with, is the Darth Vader blanket! (Caitlin calls it the "Darth Mater" blanket! Love her!) I noticed that they started playing with it immediately, but I thought it would get old fast... I was wrong! They have used it as a magic carpet, a fort, a superhero cape, and more! I have had to wash it numerous times already because the girls spill their snacks and juice on it almost daily! They are their Father's daughters!

This brings us to Valentine's Day and now! The girls enjoyed their 14 days of healthy Valentines! Very much, even! They keep asking for the same snacks each day now! Which makes me SO happy!

The rest of this month is going to be spent planning Caitlin's fourth birthday party! She has decided on a Tinkerbell party! Or rather, a Disney Fairies party! It is her latest obsession! She's liked the movies for a while, but as of lately, I have to wash her Tinkerbell jammies daily so that she can wear them to bed each night! She cracks me up!

I love my life!