Summer 2016

Here's a brief recap of our summer.  I was in school and on call all summer so there were no fun vacations or trips but we have still had fun hanging around close to home.

These guys have lost some teeth, made some new friends, and spent days riding bikes around our new neighborhood before it became unbearably hot.

These girls have spent countless hours creating and being imaginative.  They've made new friends with our new neighbors and played a lot of four square.

Emmett has been with us for almost 1.5 years now.  He's been such a welcome addition to our family.  The 4th of July marked 2 years since Delmar died and it's still hard to believe he's gone.  Emmett has fit right in and has a similarly sweet demeanor.  He loves to play, go camping, and ride in the van.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Violet is a handful.  She's got the same spunk and stubborn streak as Amelia.  Plus, she's the baby of the family so she uses that to her advantage too.  She is still my squishy baby, just less squishy and more squirmy now.

We had another awesome week at VBS this year.  We will really miss our church when we move again.  This year Matthew and Josh were both VBS volunteers.  Matthew dressed up as a taco for Taco Tuesday and was the center of attention. On the last day of VBS, Matthew's adult teachers were both absent so Matthew and the other youth volunteer led their VBS class of fifteen 3rd graders by themselves.  He has moments of incredible maturity. Rare, fleeting moments...

I think I have written before about how both sets of twins become "twinny" sometimes.  That's what we call it when they get silly and only interact with each other, ignoring everyone else.  It is impossible to communicate with them during this time and they get really loud and crazy.  They do it in the van a lot and at bedtime.  This picture shows what it looks like when they're being "twinny."

Two sets of twins in one towel.  

The kids love our neighborhood pool.  If it wasn't so exhausting for me to take all of them there by myself, we'd be in that pool every single day.

Jason and I celebrated our anniversary in June and had a rare night out together.  We went to an amazing local restaurant and enjoyed a delicious dinner.  We also went to the military ball this summer.  Actually, that has been one wonderful thing about living here and having a teenager.  We have been able to go out on several dates since being back in Georgia.  We've been on more dates in the last year than in the previous 13 years combined.  We are also able to run to the gym together.  It's great!

This is what happens when I take Leila and Sarah to Costco.  Every single time we walk through those doors, they stop to stare at the jewelry.  Heaven help the men that marry these girls.  They have expensive taste already and they're only ten.

Here are some pictures of everyday life right now...

Catch up

I'm playing blogger catch up!  I have so many (dozens) of posts pending that I just haven't had a chance to sit down and publish.  I'll just start here...

We enjoyed the (slightly) cooler Georgia fall days with a trip to the zoo a few months ago.  It will likely be our last trip after a not-so-great experience.  We really miss the zoo in Tucson!  

And here we have The Twin Sandwich.  They posed like this on their own.  I'm sure they were completely unaware that everyone around us thought they were quads!

Seven was rocking her "still nursin'" shirt and a big, cheesy grin.

November brought a trip to Albany, NY to have four tongue ties revised with Dr. Kotlow.  Yes, I promise I'll post my tongue tie info soon.  (Really!  I promise!)

While in New York we had to stop in Cooperstown and visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.  The museum was basically empty so my kids made themselves at home.

The twins posed next to the Minnesota Twins locker.

Seven really thought she owned the place.  She had a blast.  This was also her first experience using a public restroom.  She wasn't even 2 years old yet!  She's so much fun.

Violet enjoyed her first big road trip.  A few thousand miles and 14 states later, she's feeling pretty good about traveling.  I think she'll fit in just fine around here.

And here is what happens when you try to get eight kids and a husband to smile for one decent group photo.  Hilarity ensues...

What not to do...

When moving, it's probably best not to go on vacation the week before your movers come...

When on a road trip with small children, you might regret letting them have a snowball fight and traipse through the mud before piling back into the van...

When hiking with a herd of children, it is probably not a good idea to hike into the bottom of a canyon on a narrow, steep trail with no railings...

When driving through a narrow, winding, long tunnel in a somewhat over-sized vehicle, you might not want to let your husband drive while seven children excitedly scream in the back seat...

When staying in a hotel, it certainly isn't wise to let four twins share a bed- even if they beg to do it and promise to go right to sleep...





Well, we all know I like to do things I probably shouldn't because those things are usually the most fun.  Right???


Photos coming soon because we just had the most awesome road trip adventure and we lived to tell about it!

November already?!

I've been hearing people talk about fall and time changes and cool weather... and the holidays.  Here in the land of perpetual summer, I've been in denial.  It's hard to get in the spirit of fall when there's no time change and the warm weather doesn't exactly make you want to sip a hot beverage or enjoy comfort foods.

It suddenly hit me this weekend.  The movers will be here in 3 weeks!  And in 4 short weeks, Seven will be one.  Major denial here!

Seven went trunk-or-treating dressed in the same lion costume that three of her brother have worn.  It was Matthew's costume on his first Halloween in 2003, Joshua wore it for his first in 2004, and Nathan wore it on his second for our family Wizard of Oz getup in 2009.  I don't think I'll ever be able to part with it.

Jason had a class function to attend on trunk-or-treat night at our church so I met a friend there and the two of us herded our ten combined children around the church parking lot.  My four boys dressed as (somewhat haphazard) Ninja Turtles.  Leila and Sarah dressed as Lalaloopsies.  Their wigs weren't ready (long story but I procrastinated and under estimated time commitment on those) but they were still cute.

As the youngest sibling of two sets of identical twins, you wouldn't think that Seven would attract much attention.  Yet somehow she stole the show!  There was something pretty cute about seeing a tiny little girl toddling around so quickly as she tried to keep up with her brothers and sisters.

What's this?  A picture of me?  I have been avoiding the camera since I'm so out of shape right now but Seven is positively adorable in this picture so it must be shared.

We made a last-minute trip to a local pumpkin patch just before Halloween.  It was a great reminder of how different life is in the desert.  (And why I'm not cut out for desert living!)  The patch was a dry, dusty square of dirt.  Combined with the hot sun and the high winds that we get here, it was a different experience than most of our pumpkin patch trips.  Still a lot of fun though, especially with the company of two friends and their children.

We met this mama goat who was heavily pregnant.  The farm owners believe she is carrying twins.  I could immediately relate as I watched her looking somewhat miserable in the heat and dust.  Poor girl.  She was also surround by dozens of chickens and hoards of children.  When she looked at me I could read it in her eyes... "save me!"

Seven was clearly not a fan of the hay bales.  Wagon rides, yes... hay bales, no.

Sarah is destined to be a farm girl... one day.

On Halloween night, I finally finished the girls' Lalaloopsy wigs.  After hours of hot gluing strands of yarn, I completely forgot to take a picture until it was dark outside.  The picture may not be great, but we had great fun.

And now, we are beginning the countdown.  We move out of our house here on Seven's first birthday, November 30th.  I know I always say it but I'm never going to be ready!

If you haven't already, check out my cloth diaper review and giveaway here.