Sunshine-y Day

It was a beautiful day today... I believe it got up to 27 here! And hardly any wind which is always a treat around here.

We were piddling around the backyard and all of a sudden Griffin comes running towards me exclaiming, "mommy, I found our very first dandelion!!".  I will never get tired of receiving weeds as flowers from my kids... hehehe... warms my heart.  Here are some pics of Griff and his find:

 hahaha... say wha?

And obviously my photography skills could use some improvement... one kid has a bucket on his head and none of the other ones are looking my way.  But atleast I remembered to get the camera out and snap a picture of this fun-in-the-sun day!

And this is Fletcher after his nap today.  He was the first one up.  I wish I could've captured all of his stinky-lil-boy essence in this shot.  His shirt is stained with watermelon, his pants are missing, his red hair is all crumpled up on one side, there is sand stuck in the folds of his neck, dirt around his mouth, he's all sweaty, and he's showing off his big buddha belly.  And I could just eat him up... hehehe... what a stinky little ball of love.

Happy Easter... Belated Easter...

I'm really disappointed in the number of posts I've done these days.  And I'm sure you are too... so I'm going to make it my goal to post atleast once a week from now on!  The good news is I have a lineup of photos just waiting to be blogged about so I should be able to come up with several in the next little while.  First though, I thought I should get some Easter shots up since it's already kinda old news.  The Easter bunny hid quite a few little candy-filled eggs for the kids (mostly Griffin).  He had a great time hunting around the house.  And since my parents just returned from Mexico late Saturday night before Easter, my sisters and I took on the task of preparing turkey dinner that Sunday.  Lets just say we have a whole new appreciation for our mom and we have promised her that although we would prefer not to do the whole dinner again ourselves (haha) we will definitely help her out a lot more in the future!

Griffin and Teddy with the Easter loot...

Gibby chewing on a "peep"

Sunny's sticky "peep" face

Fletcher showing off his multi-tasking abilities

We've moved!

The move is complete!  Well, there are still several areas in the new house that are not unpacked/organized to my liking… but hey, all our stuff is here and life is continuing on at our new address.  Moving is as hard as everyone says… and for me, change is always hard emotionally too.  I love our new house, but I also love feeling comfortable and familiar… we were in our previous house for 7 years.  Brought 4 babies home there.  So ya, I’ve shed some tears (and sweat too!) but we’re all here now and it’s starting to feel like home. 

The first weekend we got possession, I was determined to refinish the kids’ bedrooms.  They were the only rooms in the house that were not updated with new trim and I knew it’d be hard to do them once we were moved in since I can only work on things when the kids are sleeping and they’d be sleeping in those rooms.  Troy knows that my ideas are always BIG and not necessarily practical (I’m not sure why he bothers protesting anymore… once I have an idea, it is GOING TO HAPPEN!).  And thanks to my parents, my sisters, and my fellow triplet mom Mallory, it did all happen.  It kinda sucked that after all the work we did in their rooms, we still had to move… but the past is behind us now, right?  Here are some before and after photos!  I LOVE how they turned out.

Girls room before....

And after!

I still love the panelling I did in the babies room (originally done for Griff) at our old house so I wanted to do something similar again... I think it makes the walls so much more interesting!  And a chandelier is a must for a girly room!

Boys room before (well, eventually Fletcher will be in here... he still has some "sleeping difficulties" at the moment and so is on his own on the main level)

After! I saw a photo once of a room with reclaimed barn wood on one wall and I really wanted to recreate it... I used laminate flooring!  And we didn't have to patch up all the screw holes in the wall left behind by those terrible mirrors!  I had my eye on this star light for the past couple years and I finally convinced Troy to let me buy it.  It looks great in there... and I'm glad we waited until this house to get it!

View into both rooms...

We hired a painter to repaint these terribly dark walls in the front living room.  Here's the before:

And after (it's a pale blue now).  Its not a great aftershot since its kind of a mess down there, but it is much brighter... we spend a lot of time in our house so it needs to be cheerful!

I tried to get a shot of all the kids... these are the best I got.

Now we need to relax and try not to be too tempted to renovate the original bathrooms in this place... because besides all the work a move brings, it also brings A LOT of extra expenses!  We'll be laying low for a while now ;)

I want to end this post with some big thank you's!

To my big sis Mila for driving up on her day off to help paint and keep me calm.  Turns out she's a darn good painter!  And always a ray of sunshine :)

To my mother-in-law Deb for taking the kids for a full day... they left to Vegas and Hawaii the day after we got possession so I was grateful to have her help for one day atleast!  Bad planning on our part!

To my little sis Nat for learning how to use the nail gun and chop saw and helping me finish the boys wall a lot more quickly!  And for stopping in to help move whenever she had time.

To my dear friends Tara and Zeke for having all 4 kids (plus their own 18 month old) for a sleepover.  I know it was a lot to ask, but if anyone can do it these two can!  I never for a second worried about them with you guys... I knew they'd be loved and very well fed! haha!  I'm sure Fletcher would love to move in! I can't thank you enough!

To my good friend Mallory for leaving her own three babies at home to come help me paint/build.  You are so selfless and kind.  I'm so glad to have gotten to know you!  No one understands what life is really like like you do!

To Troy's coworker Scott for helping him move a bunch of stuff while I unpacked!

To my dad for being so handy! And having all the tools I could ever need!  And loving this house as much as I do... your enthusiasm and level-headedness means the world to me.  And you always make me laugh... and you just seem to know everything. Thanks for all your hard work and support!

Oh boy, lump in my throat... to my mom.  For taking all my kids and handling them all better than I can.  For hugging me when I get overwhelmed.  For helping me make decisions when my mind is numb.  For always and forever making me feel better about every single thing in my life since I was a little girl.  I can only hope I can be that person for my kids. 

Girls

And now for the girlies!

Miss Sunny

Miss Gibby

These two don't always get along so well... Sunny likes to goof around and tease Gibsyn and Gibby doesn't always share the same sense of humour (if you know my younger sister Natalie and I, you may remember a very similar relationship!).  Today though, they were so sweet together.... picture perfect sisters!

I love this one cause it looks like Sunny is taking the shot of them herself... just like a couple of best buds ;)

And a couple more of them being silly... well, mostly Sunny was being silly.  Gibby sat in the same spot the entire time I took the photos!

Boys

One day they'll be big tough guys and the only time they'll get this close to eachother again is when they're wrestling.  I'll be holding this picture close to my heart for a very long time!

My Handsome Little Red-Haired Boy

This actually happened a few weeks ago, but I wanted to make sure I got a post up for it.  This is Fletcher's first hair cut... done by his Auntie Krista.  I finally caved (to Troy) and let Krista cut off the long wisps growing behind his ears and all the long random strands on top. 

When I was little, my mom used to call me her "pretty little red-haired girl".  It always made me feel so special and I hoped I'd have a pretty little red-haired girl of my own one day!  Well, Sunny has a mess of blonde hair and Gibby is still pretty bald (although it looks like it may come in red!)... for now, I have a very handsome little red-haired BOY :)

His hair cut happened right at bed time, so he was a bit tired and confused...

My Baby Turns FOUR

It was Griffin's 4th birthday this week. 
Oh boy.... I keep writing and erasing what I've written because I just can't seem to put into words my love for this kid.  If you know him well, you are well aware of that special little something that he has... he's always had this deep understanding for the people around him.  He knows how to make your heart melt and has this knack for getting people to do things without directly asking them to do it.  That might not make sense... hmmm...

he is "important and special, believe me its true - no one in the world is exactly like you." thank you, cat in the hat.  

He is definitely growing up - every once in a while I can tell I'm annoying him... that seems to be a very good indicator of a child no longer being a baby/toddler!  I can hardly swallow the lump in my throat when I imagine him not wanting bedtime cuddles or good morning hugs anymore... or not lighting up when he sees me all the time.  Its hard for me not to feel a bit shafted when I think of all the times I haven't been able to thoroughly enjoy his company because of how busy I am with his brother and sisters. 

Ok, ok, pull it together!  Yes, it is hard to watch them grow up.... but I am also filled with pride at what an amazing young man we seem to have raised so far.  And I will take this opportunity to remind myself how important it is to enjoy these little moments with him even when everything around me is crazy.   I love you my little four year old! 

and now some pictures....

Here he is with his treasure chest cake:

Griff and Beau at his bowling party!

daddy trying to show the kids how it's done

pirates!