She Thinks Kroger Trumped The Pump.

Oh we had a relaxing weekend. You know, as relaxing as it gets around here :).

I love when Eric can be home. His job can get kind of demanding (as are the needs for our growing family), so he is gone a lot at work. But he was able to be home all weekend, which was so nice!

I had such a great time with my Ella Girl on Saturday morning. My, how she is growing. More on that later. But real quick. We were going through some stuff in the garage (we're still unpacking some things), when Ella spotted my Breast Pump...

Ella - Look, mommy! Remember when you had to use this to get milk for the babies??

Me - Oh yes, Ella - Mommy remembers.

Ella - You used this before you found out they sold the milk at Kroger - that is SO much easier than this thing!

Me - (hahaha) Well, it's not exactly the same, remember?

Ella - (blank stare)

Me - (oh we'll talk about the importance again later...at some point.)

I love the the way they see things - such innocence!

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I tried to get some new pics of the girls this weekend, but plan on taking them to my new favorite photo spot next week - can't wait!

Char was the only one who would sit still for me anyway this weekend. She is SUCH a sweet (but sassy) little lady.

Here is my 4 going on 14...

Cute, but oh SO dramatic!

So how was your weekend??

I'll Admit It...

I have a problem. I will add one thing right after another to my plate. I will over commit, and try to do 100 things at once.

And I'm going to admit it tonight - I'm tired.

Anyone else?

So this weekend I'm going to relax. I have finished all my picture editing that's been piling up, the laundry is done, and I even have dinner planned for tomorrow night.

I want to sit out back with my family and listen to the sweet sound of the swing set...

swinging from Kate on Vimeo.

Am I the only one who finds that relaxing?

I sure do :).

I'm even going to have a little girls morning out with my sweet Ella - this mom is SO excited for that!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

A Little Decor Goes A Long Way...

I love decorating the house - little by little - as we continue to settle in. I also LOVE finding amazing deals on cool home stuff - and that's exactly what I've been doing lately.

I just bought these pillows, and I just adore them, they are sooo soft...


I just want to curl up and take a nap right there...

Yea, like that's gonna happen.

I've also been framing pictures of the girls and I've been trying to take more pictures of our whole family together - we just don't have as many as I'd like.

I stare at this sweet picture from when the babies were 7 months old. And right after that I almost tear up at the fact that they will be 2 in November!! How does that happen - didn't I just have them!??


And my mom bought us this mirror that I adore - Target never fails in the home decor department, do they?? :)

So that's what I've been doing around here - I should actually be doing laundry...

But it is just NO fun! Someone tell me to get on the (laundry) ball - cause it's a rollin', and I'm just ignoring it.

I'm not sure that made any sense.

Anyway.

Today we are off to some serious Garage Sales with Grandma - the little women are so excited. Maybe it's odd, but they LOVE garage sales. They must get that from their mama :).

Here's hoping that we find some good deals!

We Like Things Wrapped

I do want to cook from scratch, really, I do.

But just for the record - I also cook, you know, ordinary meals. I'm not on an "organic, natural, homemade only" high horse all the time. Cause that's not us.

I want my girlie's to eat all natural and organic food - but I also want to pay our house payment.

You know what I'm sayin'?? :) I shop at Trader Joe's a lot because their prices are reeaally reasonable, and their food is just plain yummy.

But sometimes all organic isn't an option. So I do my best. I buy the best food, with the best ingredients, for my best little ladies. I stay clear of High Fructose Corn Syrup as much as possible, and I rarely buy pre-packaged food or meals. It's a challenge to feed your family home cooked meals every night, but I think I'm up for it...

that might mean I'm cooking, freezing, and defrosting them, but that's ok.

And maybe cooking with 5 kids might be crazy. But I kinda like the crazy.

So tonight I made, and froze, some pizza wraps.

I put some (homemade) Tomato sauce on the tortillas...

Sprinkled some cheese...

And added Trader Joe's Pepperoni and/or Chicken...


Then I wrapped them up...


Oh wait, here's a shot of the chicken...

I placed them on a baking sheet and cooked them at 375 degrees for about 10-15min...

And got this...

My Savvies were very pleased. And they can be hard to please at the table - I'm really working on that with them. You eat what I make, or you don't eat!

So, that's what we had for dinner. And it proves that since we are a "wrap" kind of family, I need to get to making some homemade wraps of my own :). I've already found my recipe and will share it soon!

Happy Wednesday! Hope you all are having a great week!

We Like To Party - Ultimate Mom's 2010

I'm SO excited.

I love my girls, my life, my everyday tasks. Although I could do without scrubbing the toilets but let's not go there. I really do love my job. But you know what else I reeaally love??

A Mom's Night Out.

And I'm not talking about an evening trip to the grocery store with these ladies...

Even though they are fantastic company. Yum, love those girls.

I'm talking a relaxing night of pampering, conversation, and good food with some amazing women. Women who understand your life, your madness, and the reason you love this big blog world. Sounds fabulous, right??

So I have partnered with 2 of my favorite ladies, Tricia from Once A Month Mom, and Jenny from Mommin' It Up, and we are throwing a party. For mom's. Because we need it.

On July 29th at Forge Headquarters, we will launch the 1st Ultimate Mom's Night Out. It gives me goosebumps to say it. This is something I have wanted to do for SO long!

So if you're local (oh how I wish you were ALL local), you want to go here and grab a ticket! We are going to live it up, ladies. Chickfila will be feeding us, Old Navy will be giving gifts, and all kinds of swag will be stuffed inside bags from Carabella's Boutique. And there is SO much more.

I know. Go get your ticket! There are only 50 available, and even though I love ya'll like sisters, I can't guarantee anything. I took an oath.

Not really but I've always wanted to say that.

I have such a passion for mom's, and I am so looking forward to a night of relaxation (and I really mean that because there will be massages for everyone...I know) laughter, and catching up with some of my favorite ladies.

So here we go. Let's start the movement.

Ultimate Mom's, Together for the Ultimate Night Out!

Do You Make The Staples?

You know, the staple foods in your house - Do you make a lot from scratch?

Bread, tortillas, noodles, sauces, hummus, salsa, etc, etc?

I had plans to do some cooking and experimenting this weekend, but the savvies had other things on their list. Like playing out back...

Swinging on the swing set...

and seeing how many things they could put under their twin beds, or as they called them, their "new homes."

You'd be shocked at how many toys can fit under a single twin bed. Or maybe you already know.

But anyway, I was just wondering how many of you out there do a lot of baking from scratch, and if so, what staples do you make on a regular basis? Do you have favorite recipes? Does it save you money?

I'd love to hear!

Redoing Our Menu

Oh I am feeling better - this mama hates being sick!

I took the girls out for some errands today, which included a stock up session at Sam's, where a woman asked me "Why would you want more than 3 kids? What made you try again after you had the 1st set of twins?? Life is crazy enough, isn't it? And how old are you, anyway"

I told her I was 26.

Oh c'mon, she deserved a little white lie.

Ahem. I kid, I kid.

Anyway, I was stocking up on some staples - Sam's is where I buy our veggies and fruits in bulk, I freeze a lot of it. The girls go through a lot of fruit - those little bellies hold more blueberries than you could ever imagine...

And have I mentioned I'm on a cooking mission? I am. I'm determined to still cook natural/organic and healthy meals for less. I think it may involve a good amount of cooking in bulk and freezing, but that will be SO convenient in the long run.

I've got to figure it out - and I will. I'm determined, remember?

I will be sharing recipes along the way, so get ready :)!

I'm off to bed, the savvies will up and ready to go early in the AM!

Crazy Sick

Our week has been a little crazy - just plain busy!

And I've been, well, sick. With some flu-ish, cold sweats, nauseous, don't you dare cook something around me, no I will not butter your bagel, want to sleep till 2011 type thing.

That annoying bug is on it's way out, hopefully.

I think I was handed a little blogging break without asking for it this week - you ever have a week like that?? :)

The girls have been keeping themselves busy though while mom layed low. Not to mention they are FABULOUS entertainment...

ringaround from Kate on Vimeo.

And that isn't the only thing that's been keeping them busy...

They've also been putting Cheese-it's down the air vents...

and coloring on my freshly painted walls.

Ahem.

So anyway, we will be back to (our kind of) normal soon :)!

I am in desperate need to catch up on blogs - I need my fix :)!

Hope you are having a great week!

They've Got It Rough...

Can you tell? :)

The 4th Has Been SO Good...

Grilling out...

Hanging out with family...

Fireworks...


Baking...

Eating...

And relaxing. That's what we've been up to! Today is our town parade/festival, and the little ladies are SO excited :).

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!!

Happy 4th!

Oh I love the 4th of July. Especially when it comes with a loonng weekend, when hubby can be home a bit more, and we can cook out together. Have I ever mentioned I LOVE cooking out?

(well, when he cooks out, I technically haven't mastered the grill yet.)

(it's on my to - do list.)

Anyway, the point is, I love it!

The girls are SO excited for the parade, it's by far their favorite part of the weekend. You might remember how excited they were last year...

What a sweet little thing.

We are going to work around the house, visit family, and make some festive treats. I will post pics of what we make a little later.

Anyone have big plans for the weekend? You taking the kiddos to fireworks??

Hope you have a great 4th of July!

Bedtime...

I have total control over bedtime...

my ladies are completely worn out by the end of the day...

bedtime from Kate on Vimeo.

well maybe they still have some (cute) energy left...

:)

Deep Breath In...

long exhale out...

This morning was better - I can actually feel your prayers. Your encouragement and perspective has truly blessed us.

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I'm packing up my savvies...

packing our snacks...

and heading for the pool. I know, big surprise :).

I'm going to try to figure out how to get Kinley and Raya to stop drinking the pool water. It builds immunities though, right??

Ahem.

Hope your week is going well!

The Bend Before The Break

I am trying, I promise, to move on from this miscarriage. I did something stupid today, I took another pregnancy test - just to see if all the hormones were out of my system. It would give me some closure to see a negative test, right?

Wrong.

It was actually still positive. 2 lines, but no healthy pregnancy growing inside.

I swear, I'm trying.

I don't like being sad, I don't like admitting that I'm frustrated, and I don't like acting out of it...

But it's hard. And please believe me, I know we have been immensly blessed - those 5 little loves are like oxygen. We are very blessed, I know.

I think the fact that 2 months ago I told anyone who would listen that we were done having kids, at least I was 90% sure, and that I had things I wanted to pursue - and I was ready to just be Kate for awhile - now all that non sense chatter just makes it worse. It's funny how I thought I knew what I wanted.

I had a plan, I had an agenda, I had things I wanted to do.

But that was the problem, see? I need to do what God's wants for our family - to be who He is calling us to be.

God has a plan, God has an agenda, and God has things He wants me to do. Not the other way around.

That is a hard, but freeing lesson. I was focused on me, I need to be focused on Him.

Does God have plans for us to be a bigger family than we are? I don't know. But I do know that I want to be the family God wants us to be, period.

(not long ago I read an amazing post by Annie about The Bend. She is truly brilliant, you should follow her blog. I am encouraged by you, girl. Thanks SO much for writing for Him!)

He's bending me. I know it. The bend is always a learning experience - not always bad, just hard. It's the highest point of tension in your current stage of life - the point where you feel something has to break...something has got to give...something is about to happen to make things clearer, easier, better.

I see the bend in so many friends. It's in our family, in people soaked in ministry, in couples in the midst of adoption, people looking for jobs, marriages seeking counseling, and mom's who just don't know how to parent that 1 child - the one who pushes you further than the rest. The bend is everywhere.

But the break is near. Relief of some sort is coming. Good or Bad. I know, because He takes care of His children. He knows what is best.

The bend may not always be pretty, but it's always real. I think the bend , even though tough right now, is a blessing.

I needed the bend, but I'm looking forward to the break.

I Could Have 100

The babes are on the same schedule, and they are currently dropping their morning naps...

But yesterday, Kinley just couldn't sleep. So after 45min of talking to her little monkey, I went up and got her out of bed...

(aren't they the SWEETEST after a nap?? I mean, seriously, the best...)

Raya was still snoozing though, so I decided to let her sleep...

I took Kinley downstairs to get her cup, but when I turned around to hand it to her, she was gone...

That sweet little thing had gone back up to her sisters crib...

and reached her hand in...

she just wants her "up" too...she just wants to be with her sister...

I took her back downstairs 3 times before I gave up. She just kept going back to Raya's crib...

Sigh...

Love these girls...and their connection...

I could have 100 of 'em...

(well, maybe not 100)

you know what I mean.

I just love how much they love each other - it's the best.

Hope you had great weekend!!