Just the four....I mean seven of us!

Yes, you read that right.  And no, I didn't find out I'm having triplets instead of one baby.  Hehe.....
I have my two nieces and nephew for the weekend.  So, that makes 7 total of us.  5 kids, plus me & Dustin.  Yes, it's a busy weekend but so far, fun!  I actually wasn't thinking and made my 6 month dr. check-up for this afternoon, so I left Papa with all 5 kids for the afternoon.  He's a trooper, I gotta say.  He never turns down babysitting, even when it's all 5.  My main worry when I agreed to keep three extras for the weekend was, what am I going to feed everyone?  I always like to have these things figured out ahead of time and also-those kids can EAT!  Tonight I picked up pizzas on my way home from my appointment and when I walked in the house, I was attacked!  :-)  My kids wanted hugs, Carson said he wanted "supper".  He's never said that before, so I guess he got it from the bigger ones.  The bigger ones were grabbing at pizza, so I had to send everyone away for handwashing, etc. while I made plates and drinks.  You would think none of the five had eaten all day!  :-)  They all ate good and played good, then bedtime!  Day 1 was good.  We'll see how tomorrow goes.  I'm sure it will be just fine.  It's not bad with five kids....maybe we should keep going?????  I'm game but D's happy with 3. 
Speaking of little # 3, he was doing great today.  The dr. was laughing at how active he was.  He is a very active little boy.  He has to be, his brother and sister are always bumping into my stomach.  At least he's getting an idea of what he's in for.  I had to run a few errands while I was out, so I got his baby book and a "coming home" outfit.  I know we have plenty of clothes but I really wanted something just for him to come home in.  I also have got to work on his book, as well as the twins books!  I'm a slacker.  I did good for about the first 9 months, then slacked off as I got busier. 
I can't believe we are at 6 months already.  Amazing!  We are hoping to work on his room this week.  Dustin is off for vacation for 2 weeks, so my goal was to be finished with the room the first week he's off.  Don't know if it will happen, but we'll see. 
Well, I'm off to rest.  :-) 

Thing 1 & Thing 2

Here are the much awaited Halloween costumes......I keep meaning to post the pics but keep forgetting or getting busy.  It's been a very busy two weeks.....Hopefully things will slow down after Halloween, we are booked solid till then I think.......
Drumroll please......................

I know....I hyped you up for t-shirts....Yes I did!  I am proud of them because I made them myself.  The "2" is a touch crooked but I figure no one will notice one they are on.  Plus, it is hard to cut felt!  Actually, they took less than 2 hours to make and we will wear red jogging pants with them.  Hopefully red socks too, but I haven't found those yet.  I tried to be as frugal as possible because last year after Halloween I got 2 costumes at Target for around $1 each, they are pumpkins that slip on.  They are heavy duty and made really nice.  I will keep them for the new baby, or sell them at a yard sale or consignment shop.  I'm sure I can get $1 back out of them.   The children enjoy Cat In the Hat.  I used to read the book to them all the time.  It is the first book I remember as a child.  Then PBS (the only station they really watch right now) started showing the cartoon.  So, it was a no-brainer for their costumes.  Cousin Hunter is going to be the cat, so it should be cute.  I had a hard time letting go of the pumpkin idea because I hated to go spend more money when we had costumes that would work, but they are twins so how cute will this be?
Here's what they cost: 

2 red t-shirts:  $3.50 each so $7 total
4 pieces of felt:  40 cents each $1.60 total
1 container of hair gel for Thing 1 & 2 volume:  $1.97
2 cans of blue colored hair spray:  $2.17 each so $4.34 total

Grand total on just costume supplies:  $14.91 total or $7.46 each-not bad!

I also got glue which I can't remember what it cost.  I'm not counting it though because I will use it for other projects. 
The jogging pants were $3.50 each, but I really am not counting them either because they are plain red, unisex, so both kids will wear them all winter with Christmas & Valentine's shirts and then the baby can also wear each pair because they are different sizes.....so I think we'll get a lot of mileage out of those until someone ruins them with food or something.....
It should be fun on Monday!  Happy Treating! 

You Learn Something New Every Day

Today I learned that Clorox Wipes will get crayon off of the walls.  I am so glad we used a gloss type paint in our kitchen/living area.  I also learned my daughter's will is stronger than I thought.  She thought using crayons on the wall was a good idea, I disagreed.  I got not one, but TWO eye rolls after her third correction about this.  Oh boy, the teenage years are going to be fun!  She's not even two years old yet!  What a stinker!  She has lost all crayon privledges until further notice.  That's a shame because she truly will lay on her belly on the floor and color for a good while.  We'll see how long I hold out on it.  :-)  She was mad at me for taking them and kept saying "my crayons".  Oh the power struggles I see in my future. 
After nap they did get a nice surprise, their new playhouse arrived!  I found a great deal on a used Step 2 playhouse.  It retails for around $300 and we got it for $50!  It's never been outside either, so it's in great shape.  And it's in our living room.  The kids love it, I knew they would.  It's also huge....so I don't know exactly where to put it, I will rearrange in a few days I think.  I wanted to keep it indoors for now so they'll have something to do this winter indoors, especially with the baby on the way this winter. 
Well, enough for now.  We have a busy day tomorrow as I'm taking my Granny to the eye dr. and the kids are going to my sister-in-law's to play with their cousins.  They LOVE going to see "Shelby".  Carson mentions her ALL the time.  He actually calls both my neices and nephew Shelby.  It's one name for all 3, simple huh? 

Happy Fall Y'all!

This weekend we went and got pumpkins!  It was a lot of fun, we went to a small patch nearby.  It's very nice for small children with activities geared towards them.  We took a hayride, played in the corn pool (everyone's favorite this year), did the slingshot with apples/pumpkins, and picked out pumpkins to bring home.  Dustin had to have this giant white pumpkin.  It must weigh 60 pounds.  It cracked me up because he doesn't normally get involved in stuff like that, but he's excited to carve pumpkins with the kids, and carve the "enormous" pumpkin we got.  It was fun to support a small, local farm versus what I normally do to be frugal-get pumpkins at Wally World.  The prices weren't too bad, even for the "Great Pumpkin".  :-)  As I get older, I appreciate local things more.  I will save the seeds from these pumpkins and dry them for next year, so maybe we'll have our own patch!  Here are a couple of my favorite pics from the day........

Walking to the patch with Auntie Lyssa......

Leaving the patch.....goodbye till next year!  See the big pumpkin?  Isn't it cool?  I guess next year we'll have another little "pumpkin" in our wagon!  :-)  That's cousin Hunter with us on the left.  And yes, the boys need haircuts and are getting them tonight! 
Happy Fall!  Enjoy the most beautiful time of year! 

Milk & Bread Monday

Today we visited several farms-all to pick up our weekly supplies.  I really enjoy Mondays.  Today was a treat because I've never picked our bread up before, my sister-in-law always does it.  I went today and it was really neat to see where our "bread lady" lives, she has the sweetest little farm and home.  I loved it!  It was sooooo "me".  I've already got Dustin planning to build me a pulley system clothesline like she had.   She got the idea from the Amish-so no wonder I liked it!  Ha! And I just love clothes off the line-even the towels.  It's like they are starched by nature, haha!   I just love farms with chickens and animals running around and the simplicity of farm life.  It's nothing fancy, just hard work and getting back to nature.  The bread we get is delicious by the way!  She grinds the wheat berries for the flour and makes our bread each week-it is amazing!  I'm so thankful for Eileen!  :0)
We then met Amanda & JuJu for lunch, then we went by Walmart to get a few things for our Halloween costumes-more on those later.  I made them and I have a pic to share! :-) 
We then went by the other farm to get our milk & eggs.  The kids love seeing the animals every week.
I must admit-I do too!  :-) If you know me well, you know I'd love to live on a farm.  Maybe one day we'll have a few animals around our house.  Papa says the kids are getting calves this spring but they will be at his old house, which isn't like having them at home.  My kids are at a great age to start feeding them though.  I am trying my best to teach them responsibility and chores.  They started with chores a few months ago, when they wanted to help me sweep.  Now, they have their own dust pans and brushes to help.  I've added feeding the cat to Carson's "chore list".  He dumps the food on the porch, which the cat hates.  She gives me the dirtiest looks, as if to say, "I'm NOT believing this."  I promise her he WILL get better.  He's not even 2!  :-)  Poor "kiki" as the kids call her.  That's about all the chores they have.  I guess we'll add more as they become "age appropriate".  I'm thinking of getting them chore charts for the fridge.  They truly WANT to help and strive to please.  They love when I say they are a "good helper" and just beam.  Emilynn will say "I helper, I helper".  She helps me put their clothes away.  It's cute because she will put them where-ever.  It really is teaching me to be less particular as well, so it's good for all of us for them to do chores-LOL>  Carson also lets me know if the lock isn't on the dishwasher and tells me about it till I fix it, so I guess that's his job.  He knows the red light is supposed to be on.  These are mostly things they just want to do on their own, but I think it's good for them.  I also know they are going to be super help with the baby.  I have a sneaking suspicion they are going to help me a lot because they just LOVE babies. 
Anyway, enough about farms & chores.  I am off to bed.  I promise I will post the costume pics soon, I am so proud I made something myself since I'm not all that crafty!  :-) 

Saturday

Today was a nice day-great weather, nothing much to do.....my kind of day!  We overslept for the
soccer game.  :-(  It was so windy and a great day to sleep in.  I did feel bad though, I wanted to support Hunter.  I think our whole family either slept in or forgot about his game, poor guy.  I'll definitely be there next week. 
We got some things done around the house, had supper, then went to visit Meme & Poppy before they board their ship tomorrow.   We even did a little work on the baby's room and have a plan to finish the rest in the next 3 weeks. 
Now, I hope we don't oversleep church tomorrow! 

Catching up.....

Well, the gender party was awesome!  I've been meaning to post all week about how it went, but just haven't gotten on the computer very much.   It was SO nice and so much fun!  My Dad brought the big grill and he & Dustin manned that, while my sister & Meme handled the kitchen tasks, and all I had to do was enjoy my company and kids!  We ate a ton, then had lots of fun shower games that no one had ever played before.  Amanda, my sister, always has to play games.  Little Hunter even insists on party games and birthdays, he's definitely her child!  We also had a pinata for the kids which they loved.  Carson & Emmy even got in on the action.  My dad had to hold it, isn't he brave?   :-)  Anyway, when the big moment arrived, Amanda had the room separate into "boy" and "girl" sides with a poster that said boy or girl.....so everyone had to pick what they thought the baby was.  As you know, the boy's side won!  Cutting into the cake was really neat.  After the first cut, you couldn't really tell anything, so we had to cut a wedge out of it.  I had decided ahead of time the baby was a boy.....but I was still surprised!  I can't believe God is sending us another little boy!  What a surprise having a boy has been, and now two!   I think Emmy can hold her own with two brothers, she's rough and tough and VERY independent.  She's more like me than I care to admit sometimes with her independence and strong willed personality.  I still can't believe I know what we're having......it's kind of weird.  Now I need to start pulling out clothes and make sure we have plenty of everything.  I'm sure we do, but we also stain things a lot.....so I need to make sure we don't need to fill in any gaps.  I am still working slowly on the baby's room.  Dustin is going to help me soon by moving boxes I can't lift.  I will feel so much better when it's done.  I was the same way with the twins' when I was trying to do their room (and move a whole house while 6 months pregnant)....it worries me until it's done. 
I had thought we'd tell everyone the baby's name, since the boy name hasn't changed once we finally agreed on one.....but Dustin wants to keep it a surprise.  Something needs to be a surprise!!!  It's no fun when you know the gender AND the name (in my opinion!). 
We have had a slow week this week.  We met Amanda and JuJu for lunch on Monday and got our milk & eggs for the week.  Wednesday I kept my nieces and nephew all day.  Thursday we had dance, and I have to say, it was the best week.  Emmy went right in her room, she was the first one in there, AND she did her bow this week!  Yay!  She's been stubborn the past few weeks and won't do it, so she doesn't get her hand stamped after class.  I really didn't think it mattered to her either way, but this week she got her stamp and she was beaming when she came out.  She was proud as a peacock!  I was proud of her because I KNEW she could do it.....She really loves dance.  I think it's going to be even more important now so we can counteract the rough-housing her daddy and brothers do with her. 
We visited with Dustin's grandma after dance, which was nice but crazy.  The kids love to get into everything when we visit great-grandparents.  It wears Daddy & me out running after them. 
Today I met Dustin at work for a meeting, then we left at 4:30 and went to get our monthly groceries.  It went really quickly because I had a chauffeur to drop me at the doors and such, so we were home by 9:30 which wasn't too bad.  I had to go to Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, & Kroger.  It is tiring but then it's done for a month unless I need to get something random between now and then, like bananas for the kids.  It saves a lot of time and money, and truly it's hard to get a sitter so it's really the only way I can do it.  If you consider it takes us 45 min. each way driving, Sam's Club was crazy and had 3 registers open, I spent a good bit of time talking with the Target pharmacist, ran into one person I knew and talked a minute, let 1 lady in front of me at Sam's who only had bread, and spent forever trying to find caramels at Walmart.....it wasn't so bad on time.   Now it's all put away and done and I'm so glad! 
I have to say, this morning I had to get up, get ready, get the kids ready, pack them up, get them to the car in the pouring down rain, drop them with the babysitter, meet Dustin for a meeting, leave meeting and pick kids back up, take them home, strip them down on the porch because they found the only mud puddle in our yard and got covered, change diapers and re-dress them, feed them lunch, put them down for a nap.  Then I was able to take a bathroom break (my only one since morning and I AM pregnant) and eat lunch myself, at 1:30 pm.  I thought to myself, that must be what working moms go through every day, and I COULD NOT do it.  I couldn't hang....I just couldn't.  It was too much running around and chaos.  I just don't think it would be worth it, at least not for me.  We are so used to our relaxed schedule.  I am SO thankful I don't have to do that every day.  I was exhausted and just wanted a nap when I got home but I had too much to do.  My hat's off to the work outside the home mom!!! 
Our weekend should be slow....Little Hunter has soccer tomorrow, we may make it.  I want to take just Carson for some alone time, because Emilynn and I get special time for dance each week.  Now with Baby C coming, I want to especially make sure I have time separate for each child.  We also will be telling Meme and Poppy good-bye as they leave for a weeklong cruise this weekend.  That and church is all we have planned.....so nice!  Lots of family time for the next few weekends....my favorite way to spend them!

It's a......................

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"The envelope please....."

The results are in!  I went yesterday for my 20 week ultrasound and after a little, then a lot of prodding and walking around....the baby finally cooperated and showed it's gender to the ultrasound tech.  Actually it wasn't cooperating for the heart measurements either, so that is why she was so persistent.   I am still amazed I am finding out what we are having.  It is SO not like me at all.  Maybe that's why I'm so nervous, afraid I'll regret finding out.  I mean, once you know, it's not like you can "not know."  I think it WILL make my life easier and I am looking forward to the gender reveal party Saturday.....so no turning back now.  I will just say...I could probably go the rest of the 20 weeks and not open the envelope.  The technician sealed it for me, then I sealed it in an envelope.  Once I got to the car, I sealed it in a third envelope!  I am not tempted at all....but I was worried about my husband, my sister, grandparents, etc. getting in that envelope!  I am delivering it to the cake lady either tomorrow or Thurs.  Anyway, the baby is doing great, heart rate was 152.  If I have to guess, I'm gonna guess boy right now.  I was thinking boy, then went to girl, now back to boy.  I have a 50/50 shot at being right!  :-)  I got a flu shot at the dr.'s office, but today we took Carson & Emilynn to get their flu shots.  Then we went to Target and got Dustin a flu shot.  The lady about took his arm off he said.  Weird, I didn't feel my shot.  Maybe we won't do the "drive thru flu clinic" next year!  LOL.  It was super-convenient though.  Although there was a 20 minute wait which involved my husband and children filling the cart up while we waited.  Sigh.  You CANNOT stay on budget when shopping with husband and children.  It's impossible.  I've tried, believe me!  I don't even sweat it anymore....I just go with it. 
It's been a very busy week so far with two appts. back to back this week.  Tomorrow we have nothing to do-yay!  I may try to catch Madison's volleyball game, but that will be it.  We have squeezed in time to play outside each day.  It has been nice weather for it and the kids have a fit to go out everyday.  They run to the door and say "side, side" which is twinspeak for-"outside" :-).  They have these little "four wheelers" if you can call them that.  They are by Power Wheels and run on 6V battery.  They LOVE them.  Well worth the money.  They go all over in them, and I swear Carson was born 110% boy.  He tries to go up dirt piles, rock piles, do wheelies, stand up driving.....it's crazy.  He gets stuck then Emmy runs to try to help him push it.   They DO have helmets, so that is good.  I can only imagine the motorized things we are going to have to buy that boy.  We also have the daily "bug hunt".  I don't think I've mentioned that Carson is bug-crazy.  He loves bugs.  He goes crazy when he sees a bug.  Every day, he goes to the edge of the woods, finds sticks, and pokes around to find bugs.  He usually just finds crickets and grand-daddy long legs.  Today, he dug up a worm!  You would have thought we had hit the lottery.  He was SO excited.  I held it on a stick for him.  That poor worm was probably thinking he was in the wrong place at the wrong time because three giants were staring at him for the longest time.  I didn't let Carson hold the worm because I had dug up a baby copperhead the same size as this worm at our old house, and I just didn't want him to be in the habit of picking up small worms or a snake by accident.  At any rate, he was just as excited as he could be.  He says "buh, buh" which is bug in Carson language.  Rhymes with "duh" in case you're wondering.  I have to say, when I was pregnant with the twins, I just knew it was two girls.  I had no idea what to do with boys because I had never been around boys growing up, I only had sisters and girl cousins.  I must say, what a pleasant surprise having a boy has been.  Call me a tomboy, but I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing Carson's delight in tractors, bugs, dirt, and anything "boy".  What a blessing God sent me!  Of course, I love playing with dolls and all the pretend things Emmy does that are so girly.  But having a boy is really fun and definitely a learning experience. 
The twins also call each other by name now, it is so precious.   Emmy calls Carson "Cawson" because she doesn't do "r's" too well now.  Carson calls her "Emmy" or "Emmy Jo".  If she's running from me in the yard, he will yell "Emmy Jo", I guess thinking he's scolding her by using her whole name, or maybe because he knows I'm gonna call her by her full name.  It's cute.  I love that they can communicate with us so well now. It really makes life easier.  If I'm not quick enough to respond, they also will use some of their sign language.  As if to say, "maybe she'll get this if I try another way."  It always cracks me up.  I had stopped teaching the sign language because they weren't really using it, but maybe they were soaking it up because they've just started using it more, especially Carson. 
The twins were rough housing last night and Em busted Carson's lip.  He had a fat lip today.  It bled a lot too, but certainly not our first incident involving blood.  Translation:  I didn't panic.  It was a lot of blood though.  Emilynn had the first blood related accident when she was less than 1 year.  I panicked a bit because I couldn't hold her still to see where she was bleeding from.  I had to call for help, but since then it doesn't phase me.  I've learned how tough they are and that they most likely aren't going to knock a tooth out. 
I think that's about all that's gone on this week, although it is only Tuesday....so I'm sure there's much more to come. 
Oh, the twins and I walked almost a mile today!   It was nice, except Carson had to be carried towards the end.  It wore them out for nap though and no one argued with me about going inside.  Normally it's a battle to get them back in the house for lunch and nap.  We may have to walk more often, I really, really want them to be active and see us being active.  I will have to get back in shape once this baby is born.  I'm trying to exercise every day as it is, just for my health in general and with the twins. 
Anyway, all for now.....will post more later.  And of course, I will post a cake picture on Saturday!!!!  :-) 

Will We Add A Pink or Blue Swing to Our Yard??????

Tomorrow is the big day!  Baby "C" as Dustin calls him/her will let us know if they are a boy or girl.  Of course, I won't be posting the results until next weekend after the big gender reveal party!!  I am so nervous about finding out, for some reason.  I have no feelings whatsoever about what gender the baby is, it is going to be a total surprise next Saturday.  I hope everything goes great tomorrow and I'm thrilled to finally see our little peanut again, it's been a long time! 

Rockin' the Ribbon-Concert for a Cure

Friday night was my b-day and what better way to spend it than at a Jason Aldean concert?  I was SO excited to be going and even more excited that all the proceeds from the concert were going to the Susan G. Komen foundation for breast cancer research.  I love helping raise money for a cure and I love country music, so it was a win-win situation.  Amanda, Wayne, Tori, & I left in the afternoon, all wearing our pink gear, and we had a great time.  It was a nice ride there, we had no trouble finding it.  We had dinner at Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar and that was good.  Well, Amanda didn't like hers but that's another story.  The concert was the best concert I had ever been to!  We had great seats and it was so much fun.  Jason Aldean sang for 2 hours straight and he had Thompson Square and Chris Young with him.  Wayne went and met Thompson Square, but didn't get an autograph for some reason.  We gave him a hard time about that.  He just said he said "hi".  Too funny.  Anyway, the best part was we raised $315,000.00 for the Komen foundation.  Yay!  I am amazed and so grateful that we were able to be a part of such a special night.  Jason Aldean totally "Rocked the Ribbon" for a cure!  I like him even more for his generosity and giving spirit.  A birthday I won't soon forget!  :-)