Christmas from Italy

I forgot I wanted to send out a thank-you to Laura and Marco for the Christmas package from Italy. We all enjoyed the gifts and had a great time with the Egyptian singing fish. Thank your parents for the t-shirts and fish from Egypt.

New Year's Resolution!!

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to share one of my New Year's resolutions. I am reading "A Mom After God's Own Heart." In the first four chapters Elizabeth George talks about the main priority of a mom is to teach your kids about God; everyday all day. Of course in order to do that mom (me) has to know about God to teach and model who He is for my kids. (no pressure...your kids see you as God). Anyway I decided to read my Bible through for the first time in my 31 years. Now I know it is only the 8th day of the year and I am only in Genesis chapter 22 but I have learned things already. I am so surprised! I don't know why I have never read the Bible through but I think I just thought I knew most of the stuff in it. Anyway, I would like to encourage everyone to read your Bible through this year. I am trying to get Kirk to commit to it with me so we can talk about all the new things we learn. Also, something really neat is the "Bible for Little Girls" we are reading with the girls at night is following the same stories I am reading . So I can embellish for the girls. We have also started doing memory verses with the girls and all three are having fun with that. I am usually not one to talk much about my walk with Christ but I just felt lead to share this with yo guys. The book"A Mom After God's Own Heart" is great and very encouraging, too.

In other news, we are all well and enjoyed a relaxing weekend. We watched the playoffs and returned to church today after being out a few weeks. I feel like I am learning so much this year already. I guess that's all for now.

One more thing...for all you grammer freaks out there reading this I apologize for now and forever. I am not great with commas and I imagine some of you read this and just cringe. Sorry:)

Not Much...

I just wanted to share a few monumental occurances in our family this week. The first was Tuesday night. All four of our kids were up in the night. Karissa had a bad dream and came into our room 4 times before finally sleeping on a pallet beside our bed. In between Karissa, Cara came in and tried to sneak in our bed. Then she decided it was time to be up. At 3am I heard Cara and Kylie's bedroom door close and I go to check on them. I find Cara and Kylie sitting on the floor playing with the lights on. Cara woke Kylie up to play. Of course, Caleb was up to eat several times as well. Needless to say, Kirk and I were tired Wednesday.

The second occurance was Cara writing her name for the first time. She made a picture of our family with people that actually looked like people and had clothes on. It had OM and CAAr written on it...with no help. I asked her what it said and she said Mom and Cara. Then she made Kirk a picture and I told her in her name the r is between the a's and she wrote CArA. We are so proud.

In mommy of four like fashion, I have forgotten the other occurance I wanted to blog about.

Pictures

This group shot is all of the girls cousins on Kirk's moms side of the family. They are at that age where it is hard to get them all to sit and look at the camera. Also here are there names...Christian, Kyler, Kason, Karissa, Cara, Kylie, Kaylie, Lauren, and Caleb.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all!! We had a good weekend. We went to our friends house for New Years eve, there were 9 kids and 6 adults. We played battle of the sexes while our kids had free reign of the house. All four of our kids were awake to see 2006 in. Caleb wasn't too sure about the horns and yelling and Kylie stayed real close to mom, too. We got home around 2 am and all the kids were up by 7am. Go figure!! Everyone seems a little stuffed up and coughy. I think the weather changing, the dryness, and the fires have us all messed up. I almost forgot.

Two great mommy moments...Karissa was asked for her phone number to set up a playdate by a 12 year old boy at the new years party AND she gave it to him. Cara holds out her arm and says "Dad look at my strong"(she means muscle but how cute is that). Caleb is starting to move his hands towards objects and holds his head up when he is sitting in the swing or bouncy seat and tries to pull himself up to sit. Kylie is still wheezy and stuffy. Hopefully she will be better soon. Last night , my wonderful husband, shampooed the living room carpet. We got a carpet shampooer for Christmas. I hurt my back moving the furniture off the carpet so Kirk jumped in and did the job for me. I think since the Cowboys were knocked out of the playoffs earlier in the day he didn't mind missing the game. We are a little sad the Cowboys didn't make it to the playoffs and excited GreenBay won. Today, Green Bays coach was fired so we are afraid Brett Favre will definately retire. Also if there are any more head coaches named Mike they better watch out!!

By the way, we saw Memoirs of a Geisha. I thoght it was good though a little confusing. I am excited to read the book.

Well, it is my favorite time of day, rest time. Karissa and Cara play quietly and Kylie and Caleb sleep. Usually, I sleep too but today I wanted to blog. I am typing on the laptop and looking at the screen of our big computer. I am not sure why but that is how it is set up right now. Our old computer is officially dead like cheaper to replace then repair. Just what we want to find out right after Christmas.

On that note, we had agreat and relaxing Christmas. We had Christmas with my parents here on Thursday and on Saturday with my brother and dad and step-mom. Then Christmas day we opened Santa packages at home and then headed to W.F. Once we were there, we had lunch and packages with Kirk's grandma and then walked across the street and had the rest of the day with the Wimberley's. We came home Monday morning and enjoyed just being at home together. I spent the day trying to find a place for all the new stuff!!! We barely had room for all the kids old stuff.

Then in Kylie like tradition she got sick. It must be W.F. So I spent half of yesterday at the E.R. with Kylie and about 75 other sick kids. After waiting for two hours I asked them how many were ahead of us. It was ony 23!!! Then I asked them to check her breathing again because it was getting more labored. Apparently, it was bad enough that we got right into a room. For the next three hours, they gave her steroids and breathing treatments. The doctor said she is probably headed for a diagnosis of asthma. Yeah!! Anyway she is much better
today. We have to give her treatments every three hours but she is breathing much easier.

Tonight I get to go to the movies. I am so excited to go out alone. I would love for Kirk to come to but it just doesn't work out that way much. I was hoping to post some Christmas pictures but I will have to get Kirk to do it later.

Just a Quick note

Our computer is on the blink so I have to use Kirk's laptop. I don't know how to do pictures on it so hopefully our computer will get fixed soon. My parents were here the past two days. I got to help with Karissa's class party! It was fun to see her with her friends instead of just hearing about them. We baked 4 dozen sugar cookies, Wednesday. If I never see or smell another one I would be OK with that. Now we are just waiting for Christmas. Then we have TWO WEEKS of all four kids home all day. Whatever will I do? Today was horrific. My parents left after lunch and everything fell apart. Kylie wouldn't go to sleep. She never has that problem. Then Cara and Karissa kept getting up to tell oneach other. I won't continue in detail but we did not have a quiet rest time today. Instead we had a scream, throw a fit, wake the sleeping ones up time. Lucky for me Kirk will be home the next three days. Then they will have new toys. Surely that will last them a few days? (hours?).

Belly Laugh

Just a quick note, I have to share with you what Caleb did. Last night we were room swapping the girls. Kirk, my mom, Karissa, Caleb and I were working in Cara and Kylie's room. Out of the blue, Caleb lets out a loud belly laugh. He is only 12 weeks old. He didn't just giggle and he didn't just do it once. He did it over and over until we were all laughing. Of course, the camera needed a new tape so we didn't get the monumental moment on tape. I don't think any of us present will ever forget it though. He hasn't done it since, either. Maybe he is going to have Kirk's funny bone!

Shopping Nightmare

Yesterday, Kirk and I and the girls went Christmas shopping. When Kylie heard we were going shopping she had to get ready. She came in our room with her monsters inc. hat on, pink beads, a purse and white sandels with red socks on the wrong feet. After going to Target, we got the girls some lunch and dropped them off at Aunt Sharons( including Caleb).Kirk and I then headed to Olive Garden for a quiet lunch. Then we headed out to shop some more. We were definately little town people in the big city. We had to wait in line to get in the mall parking lot! They had policemen directing traffic in the mall parking lot. After driving around aimlessly, we finally followed someone from the store and took their parking space. We should have known if outside is bad inside will be even worse. One store I went in to had a line to the front of the store to check out. Next year I will shop early. Luckily, we did a lot of our shopping at Thanksgiving in W.F. We ended up buying a book and some boots. Then we headed back out into the mess. Traffic on 820 was yucky. We picked up the kids and headed home. Then we had baths and the kids watched Polar Express. They love that movie. At all times one of them is singing a song from the movie. Even Kylie knows most of the words. I went to bed early after all the shopping we did. Today we went to church and then started our day of football. Tonight we watched Survivor and now Kirk is watching the Green Bay game. I like football, too but needed a break from the T.V. I'm headed to bed now. Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the Christmas season.

Deep thoughts..

Today, I received one of Kirk's presents in the mail. I was so excited because he had no idea what it was and he usually knows everything he is getting. So ,he is checking on a picture order in my e-mail and sees the word gift order. He can't resist and he reads what his gift is. So now do I give it to him or not. It is a really cute mouse pad with Caleb's picture. I am tempted to keep it for myself. So much for surprises.

I think we are almost done shopping. We are hoping to go tomorrow without the kids and then we can get finished. Mommy moments: Cara looks at Kylie who is screaming at the table because we turned off the tv for supper. Cara says "I think she'e having a meltdown." Then Cara says "Mommy do you want to throw Daddy in the trash?" I absently say "sometimes" as I am fixing supper. A few minutes later Kirk gets on to Cara for making Kylie scream and Cara says (with a straight face) "Mommy wants you in the trash, Daddy." We all busted out laughing. Cara is so funny sometimes. She is great comic relief.

Tonight, Kirk's cousin, Paige dropped by. She taught Kirk how to make "real" popcorn on the stove top. They had a lot of fun with that. Then they had a popcorn catching contest and even recorded some of it. I wish that I could let go and have fun so easily. I guess it's just not me. They were fun to watch, though.

I just want to brag on my kids for a minute. I really dreaded yesterday since there was no school. I thought I would have to referee and entertain all day. Instead, yesterday,they played wonderful. Karissa and Cara played all morning without hardly fighting at all. Then Karissa and Kylie played in the afternoon. It is fun to watch how they switch out who plays with who. Very rarely do they all three play together. The one who plays alone never seems to feel left out, though. I think it works out well so they can all have alone time and sister time.

Let it Snow!

Today, we woke up to freezing rain and sleet. I took Karissa to school and then built a big fire and sat down with a book. Of course, the sitting down part lasted about 3 minutes with three small children. As the morning went on, I watched it get colder and wetter and even some snow fell. By noon, I decided to pick Karissa up from school so I wouldn't have to load everyone up if the roads were worse later. She was so excited to come home. She told me she was the 6th kid to get to go home early. She also told me I could pick her up early all the time so she could miss P.E. All afternoon the girls wanted to go outside and play. I finally let them around 4pm. After spending 30 minutes getting them dresses they spent 10 minutes outside and then were ready to come home. Kirk got to leave early today, too. Now, we are all snug as bugs in rugs and plan to stay that way, at least until morning. Tonight at supper, Cara told Kirk if she didn't have to eat her chicken and dumplings she would give him a surprise but if she had to eat it she wouldn't give him a surprise. Kirk had to work at a straight face and then tell her we don't make deals about supper. Then he corrected himself and said he could make deals but not her. Caleb is sleeping a 6 hour stretch at night. Isn't God great.

Pictures

The puppy isn't ours. The neighbors just got him. He is a 6 wk old boxer. Kirk and the girls loved him.

Let the Season begin...

We planned to buy our Christmas tree Friday night. We went to Walmart and they had like twelve live trees to choose from. Then, we decided to drive somewhere else and Caleb started screaming. The only time we have any trouble with him is at night in the car. Anyway, I decided it wasn't worth it so we went back home. The girls were disappointed.

Saturday, I got up and went to a women's Christmas brunch. It was really nice. Over 60 women decorated tables and over 500 women attended the brunch. The speaker combined David Letterman's top ten list with The Grich Who Stole Christmas and the Birth of Christ and came up with The 10 Grinches that can steal your Christmas joy. Unfortunately, I couldn't take notes but it was awesome. Some of the 10 things were money, travel, family problems, crowds, fears, being caught up in the decorations etc. and missing the real meaning. Anyway, it was relaxing and fun. I sat at our moms group leaders table. She lived in Wichita Falls in the 70's. Then, I came home and Kirk and Karissa and Cara went out to buy our tree. When they got back we decided it was such a nice day that we should hang outside lights. Kirk got all the gutter lights up while the girls played across the street and I chatted with my neighbor. Then the wind got cold and it started getting dark. I got up on the roof to do the eaves but we ran out of light clippies. We had pizza for supper and told the girls we would decorate the tree this morning and go to church tonight. Once again they were disappointed but understood. I left with Caleb after the kids went to bed to find clips for the lights. We have been to 8 places and no one has them!!! When I got back Kirk and I put the tree in the house, trimmed the branches and put the lights on.

This morning Kirk made breakfast (yeah!) and let me sleep in a little. Thanks honey!! Then we decorated the tree. Karissa and Cara had fun. Kylie got bored pretty quick. I started a tradition of putting a ornament on the tree each year with the girls picture in it. It is always fun to look back at the old ones. Cara asked, about two hours after we decorated the tree, if we could take everything off and do it all over again. We had a wonderful roaring fire and had agreat family time. Then the Cowboys played. Then I crawled back up on the roof in very cold and windy conditions and finished the lights on the eaves. At the very last clip on the 6th strand all the lights went off. I was not happy. Finally, I found a fuse had blown. So I replaced it and they worked again. As we were leaving for church ,Kirk says we blew another fuse. All that work and we still don't have outside lights. Who knew you couldn't hook six strands up together on one outlet!! I guess tomorrow I will climb back up in even colder temps and put another extension cord up. ON a more positive note, this year we decided to work through The ADVENTures of Christmas by Lisa Welchel as a family. So far it has been great. Everynight we read about a different tradition and how we can find the true meaning of Christmas in them. I like this book because it doesn't try to take away what Christmas has become it just puts Jesus into it all. We are all learning something. Tonight we went to church. Once again the nursery workers didn't want to give Caleb back. They said he is so sweet and he is!! He watched football for a long time this afternoon. Kirk is so proud. I guess that is all for now.

I tried to post some pictures but they wouldn't go through. I will try again later.

Cara's Debut & The Circus

Busy, busy, busy

I can't believe it has been 12 days since I last posted. Time just seems to fly by.

Thursdaythe 17th, my women's bible study had our Thanksgiving luncheon. It was a great time of fellowship and Caleb got to go to the nursery for the first time. He did great and the workers didn't want to give him back. That always makes you feel good. Cara had her musical debut when the 3yr old class performed for their moms. She was hilarious. She is a born performer. She was loud and knew the motions and sang all the words even if she was behind or ahead of everyone else. She was so CUTE!!

Friday the 18th, we went to the Shrine's circus. Kirk's parents came up and went with us. It was a lot of fun. Cara loved the lion and tigers. Her mouth literally fell open when they came out. Then when the dancers and trepezers came out she said "I want to learn to do that." Kylie, Caleb, Debbie and I left at the intermission. I didn't realize the circus was so long. Karissa and Cara rode ponies at the intermission and stayed til 10pm when the circus ended.


Saturday, we went to Grapevine Mills. Just a quick mommy moment...Kirk made a comment I didn't like and I discretely flipped him off so he says "hey mom and dad Jen just shot me the bird." We laugh and keep walking into the mall. On the way ,we notice Cara looking all around and ask her what she is looking at. She says I am looking for the "bird that was shot." We ate at Rain Forest Cafe, shopped a little and the girls got to see Santa. Kylie saw Santa but had no desire to get near him. Karissa went back with Kirk's parents since she is out of school all week.

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Caleb had his two month check-up. He is 13 lbs. 4 oz. and 23 1\4 inches. He had to get his shots but he did great. He barely even cried. Kimberly watched the girls so I could take him to the doctor. When we got back the girls still wanted to play so we had lunch and hung out for a bit. Then I went to the doctor thinking I had a sinus infection. No such luck! I was just really dried out and there was no quick fix for it. From the doctor I came home and packed and headed for Wichita Falls. Kirk was coming on Wednesday after work.

Wednesday night, Cara was very fussy and complaining of a sore throat. I get a flashlight out and convince her to let me look. Ahhh it looks like cottage cheese. So we head to now care and get a prescription for strep. She runs fever all night and vomits. What a Thanksgiving. Luckily, Kirk's mom watched her through lunch and Thursday night so we wouldn't expose even more people. ( By Friday night the antibiotics had kicked in and she was feeling great).

Thursday, we had a wonderful lunch with my parents and brothers and sisters. After lunch all the guys (young and old) played street football. It was a blast to watch. Kirk is still sore today. Then we went to Kirk's parents after and watched part of the game and visited. Thanksgiving night we watched Polar Express with my parents and brother and his family.

Friday, my mom and my sister in law and I shopped a little. We didn't get up and dawn and we only shopped to get out of the house for awhile. Then we met my dad and step mom for a late lunch. We ended up at my aunts and had a great visit with some of my dads family that we don't see very often. W went back to my moms and put all the kids to bed at their regular bedtime(finally). Then Kirk went to the movies with his dad and brother and I was just going to read and go to bed early, to get ready for picture day. Instead ,my dad and I sat up and talked about everything under the moon. I don't think I have ever talked to my dad for so long about so much. At one point we saw headlights in the window and it was Kirk coming home from the movies. So he joined in. About midnight, I crashed and dad and Kirk kept on talking for awhile. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this holiday and visit home.

Saturday, we met Kay at Martins Circle to take family pictures. The pictures turned out great. Kylie didn't cooperate but we still got some good shots. Then Kay offered to take some of Caleb at her house so we played with him for awhile. Then Kirk and I did some shopping for the girls and we finally headed home around 4pm.

Today, we all woke up stuffy and coughy. There is something about the trip to WF that does us in. I am dried out again and Kylie even had to have a breathing treatment tonight. It doesn't help that there are 45mph winds outside and the temp is dropping from 70ish today to upper 30's tonight.

Hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Congrats to our friends, the Turners, on the arrival of Londyn, their beautiful baby girl!!

Update

I tried to post Saturday night but I lost it and didn't hae the energy to rewrite it. So here is the run down of my last 6 days.

Thursday: Karissa's friend Raven came to play and we watched Apprentice, Survivor, and ER. I think Thursday is my favorite night of television.

Friday: Both of our parents came to visit, Kirk's for the day and mine overnight. Kirk is so lucky...my mom was here to help him out while I had my girls night out. It was so wonderful. After getting completely lost and having Kirk guide me to where I was going via cell phone, I arrived 45 minutes late. We had a wonderful mexican dinner and then proceeded to talk for the next 5 hours. There were six of us there and we all shared our testomonies to include our life stories. Talk about immediate bonding!! I made it home just fine and Caleb did great taking a bottle.

Saturday: We went to the Botanical gardens with my parents. The girls had fun exploring and running around. The fall is probably not the best time to go but there were some beautiful colors . The girls loved the tree that they could fit inside. Cara was brave first and reluctantly Karissa followed her into the tree. My Dad said it was hollow all most all the way up. We took several "fall" pictures of Karissa hoping to get one to go with the other kids to go on my wall. Then Kylie wanted to pose and have her picture taken, too. Then we came home and napped. We spent the evening relaxing with Kirk's Aunt, Uncle and cousin.

Sunday: We actually made it to church. The youth staff were conducting the service. There are like 15 of them. I missed most of the service with Caleb. Next week he can go in the nursery...Yeah!! Sunday School was great. One of the men in our class is teaching Deut. It is very interseting. We miss Tom and Lance terrible. The style of our pastor is just different but we are adjusting. We watched football and slept on the couch all afternoon. Sunday night we had a celebration dinner with our small group. It was great fun and the food was delicious.

Monday: Catch up from the weekend day. My first MOMS group. I met 13 new woman(some I had met before). We are going through a book called Mom After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George. It looks really good. We spent most of our time sharing prayer requests and praying for each other. I had to share a birth experience since it was my first time. I am looking forward to the next one in December. They are also haveing a Gingerbread house making party. These girls know how to socialize and get time for themselves. I love it.

Tuesday: Today I met a friend at Ridgmar Mall and we had a picnic lunch and the kids played at the indoor playground. It was a lot of fun. Kylie and Ellie are only a month apart in age. Cara played with all the other kids threre and thought Brendan was there. She met a boy who looked like Brendan but he kept telling her that wasn't his name. Oh yeah, Santa Clause showed up as we were leaving and I didn't think I was going to get Cara to leave. I had to promise we would come back so she can talk to him.

I guess that is all thet is going on for now. I wish I could make it as interesting as Amy. I feel so blessed to have found Christ Chapel and to have fit in so easily. All the girls are so friendly. Kirk had lunch last week with one of the guys from small group and he is having lunch today with a different one. He is enjoying making new friends, too.

Land of the Living

I am so excited. I feel like we are part of the living now. For so long we have been waiting. Either on a job, house, church, baby etc. Now we are settled and plugged in. I have a girls night out Friday (and I don't have to take Caleb), then Sunday we have a small group fellowship and Tuesday we have a play date and I start a new moms group and Thursday we have bible study and Cara's class is going to sing. Friday we have box seats for the whole family to the circus. A really nice lady at Kirk's work gave the tickets to us. We will have an entire box to ourselves!! How cool is that?
Yesterday, Karissa's friend Ravin came to play after school. They have been wanting to play since school started but I didn't know how to set it up. We went to Ravin's after school and met her mom and Ravin was allowed to come home with us. They had a blast! I have a new parenting dilema, though. Ravin is very sweet but her home life is not. We do not want Karissa to play at her house. Any suggestions on how to diplomatically handle this??

Caleb is smiling more and more. We had his pictures made yesterday. He would not smile for anything. I think we got a smirk. Then we got in the car and I was buckling him in and he burst into a huge grin. That figures!!

The pictures are just a hodge podge. I have always loved the baby body part pictures. I think his foot turned out really cute. Thanks to Kelly and Alicia for the stripped blanket he is wrapped in. ( I can't remember if I thanked you guys for the gowns and blanket. If I didn't mark it up to lost memory due to child birth and please accept my thanks now). Caleb is quickly catching Kylie in size. He already seems to weigh more since he is so compact.

Rainbow Cookies

Thanks, Grandma Helen for the rainbow cookie dough. The girls had fun making them this afternoon. They had fun eating them, too. Then we discovered they turn your mouth the color that they are. Karissa's tongue is still blue, Cara's isn't bad since her dough was yellow and Kylie's pink just blends in.
We had a boring day otherwise. I spent the whole morning cleaning out the girls room. I am trying to prepare for Christmas. The girls have birthdays and Christmas all within three months!! Then Cara decided at rest time to sneak into Kylie's room and try to play with her. I cannot keep her in her room. I try to rest while they rest but she sneaks into my room or Kylie's room. Cara doesn't need to nap but Kylie NEEDS to nap. Kylie is in the full blown terrible two's and she whines ALL THE TIME. Yeah...I think she may be the worst one yet. She is definately strong willed. I guess God thoght I needed two of them!

Race Weekend

We had a very busy weekend. Friday, Kirk got off work early to go to the races with his uncle. He got home around 11:30. While he was gone Kylie got sick. She was running fever and very whinny. My very favorite thing to do is be a nurse. Just kidding. I am awful at the nursing aspect of being a mom. Anyway, this is the first time I have been alone with a sick child and a baby. Kylie just wanted me to hold her and Caleb just wanted to eat. I felt torn in two and in the end didn't seem to make either of them happy. Karissa and Cara were good and we had a movie night. Karissa and I watched Cheaper by the Dozen and Cara watched a princess movie in a tent in her room.
Luckily, Kirk stayed home Saturday from the races. It was a long day and night. I was ready to get out of the house today. After throwing up at 4am, Kylie seems to be much better. She ate a huge breakfast and slept 3 hours. She hasn't had fever in 24 hours. I hated missing church again! Kirk had to leave for the big race at 10 this morning so we couldn't make it home from church before he needed to leave. He had a great time. His guy Carl Edwards won !!! He came home tired and sun burned ready to watch the Green Bay Pittsburg game. Unfortunately, Green Bay lost again.
The girls and I had a good day, too. We had lunch with Aunt Linda and Paige at McDonalds. Yeah! I got to leave the house for the first time since Friday. Then, Aunt Linda took Karissa and Cara to see Chicken Little. They liked it except for one scary part. Kylie, Caleb and I had a much needed nap. Then we ate pizza with Linda and came home. We don't have anything going on this week so we should be able to recover.
Caleb is growing everyday. I need to get his pictures made before he looks like a one year old. I am sad that he is going to have to move into his own room. The crib is getting too small for him to be comfotable. I like him being in our room. I don't think any of the girls stayed in our room this long. I don't want to get up three times a night and walk to his room to feed him and I don't want him to wake up the girls. I told Kirk we could just put Caleb's crib in our room and he said NO WAY.

Halloween

I wish I was like Amy and could find the time to post everyday!! We took the kids trick or treating last night. They had a good time but it sure was cold. The girls were excited about how much candy they had after the first two houses. Karissa went as Kim Possible. I made her a mask and she didn't want to wear it so she said I'm just a spy. By the end of the night she was a ninja with her turtle neck pulled up over her chin!! Cara went as Belle with a red robe. Kylie was a cute pixie Tinker Bell. She looked so much like Cara when she was Tinker Bell. Caleb was our fourth "sweet pea." All our costumes have gotten lots of use.

On another exciting note...we went down the street and played with our neighbors today. The kids did great and I met another stay at home mom. We had a great time talking. We also had a playdate last week with Kimberley. She looks great. They only live about 15 minutes from us. I am finally starting to feel settled in.

Health Update: Kylie's face rash (??) is spreading to her neck but she is keeping band aids on better. Cara is still taking her antibiotic but feeling great.

Mommy moments: Caleb laughed out loud when I put him in his tub tonight. He also went to sleep by himself in his cradle.