so many faves....i had to post them all :) thank you, maria!!!!

turkey day eve

We just got back from another photo shoot....Maria and I took the kids to Koreshan State Park today for a playdate behind the camera. I am so excited to see how the shots turned out!!! Maria is so talented and the kids were pretty cooperative today, so I think we were able to get some good ones. There is something so precious about frilly, girly outfits combined with rustic old buildings, dirty, rainy woods....and playful laughter. It was a great morning spent with great friends and I'll be happy to have the picutres to capture the day :)



We are loving having Nate and Alex in town for the holiday. Yesterday was Nate's birthday, so we went over to Ryan's parents' house to celebrate. The kids wiped Grandpa out....they had him in the pool all afternoon and night...thankfully, they wiped themselves out too. I got to grill Nate about his new girlfriend who seems absolutely adorable and who I can't wait to meet!!! The girls can't get enough of Alex..Emma got all dressed up for him yesterday...I don't think she gets the fact that he is her cousin and that he will never be her boyfriend ;) Now we are off to the circus with the whole gang.....life is good and I have so much to be thankful for! :)

taking it easy

Claire has strep throat and she's pretty miserable, so today we are staying home just taking it easy. Of course, I want her to feel better, but I am thankful for a day where I am forced to stay home and get things done. Claire is like a zombie in front of the TV, Mad is playing in her room, and I am savoring the peace and quiet....still in my pajamas....cleaning and catching up on laundry. It's funny and sad at the same time that cleaning is such a rare thing in my life that it's actually post-worthy :)

Did I mention that while we were home taking it easy, Madeline decided to cut herself some bangs? Apparently, her hair was in her eyes while she was coloring and she needed to get it out of the way...what better way than to cut it off?!?!!? Thankfully, clips and headbands do wonders :)

that's my girl

sooo...after much begging, i finally set emma up with her own blog. you'll be able to tell by the phonics that she's doing this all on her own (and that she's just a bit egotistical!). hopefully over time it will be a good way to see how much she's growing, learning and changing. enjoy ;)

emmasadventuresone.blogspot.com

family photo shoot

I thought of something that I forgot to add to my list of favorites....maria glassford photography (and maria, herself for that matter!). Today we had our second photo shoot with Maria....so much fun!! It is always hard to get everyone to do what they need to be doing at the same time, but Maria is always able to get some great shots in spite of us :) The girls were pretty good for the most part...we even got a few smiles out of Emma this time. Madeline, of course was hamming it up for the camera....posing a little TOO much. I think we spent half the time trying to get her to just smile normally and stay still. Claire was tired and miserable and pretty hard to manage, but surprisingly, some of my favorite pics are of her...even though she was a terror during the shoot! We jammed to "Party in the USA", explored downtown and got to spend the evening as a family....such a great night!

my faves

Since it's been so long since I've blogged, I wanted to do a post on my favorite things right now. Here they are in no particular order.....

1. Ryan. I know it sounds sooo cheesy and totally cliche, but I feel like I have been falling in love with him all over again. I LOVE being with him, and just can't get enough of him lately. I love that (except for the ocassional Eagles game!), he always puts our family first. I love eating three meals a day with him...and talking to him or texting him in between. I love that he is so quick to recognize my need for time away from the kids and is always willing to help out so I can get out. I love that he is totally capable of taking the three girls by himself anywhere and everywhere and that he is such a hands on dad. I love that he is a sports buff, a businessman, a handyman and a family man....at that he's good at all of those things. I love that he cares, thinks and prays deeply about what is best for our family and that I feel confident in following his lead.

2. My bible study on Ruth. I love that God is speaking so clearly to me through this study and that is pertains to exactly where I am in my life right now...and I'm just at the beginning.....I can't wait to see what else He has in store for me to learn.

3. Running...I love to run, especially running outside, whenever I get the chance. I also love that I can run a race with 500 women and beat almost all of them. It brings out the competitive side in me big time! I thrive on the nervous anxiety before a race :)

4. I love how the most exciting time of Claire's day is when she sees Ryan's car or hears his voice. She immediately gets a huge smile on her face and starts screaming, "Dada, Dada!" over and over again....and jumps out of my arms to crawl across the house to find him. Such a daddy's girl already!

5. I love that Madeline is a mini-me. Not only does she look the most like me of our kids, but she is sooo me as a little girl. She's a boy crazy, people pleasing, mommy's girl. Because of this, she is so easy to get along with and be around....she is so eager to please that most things I only have to ask of her once and her response is, "Ok, mom. I will do that." Gotta love it!

6. I love that Emma asks for a flashlight at bedtime so that she can read her bible in bed....even though at this point, that consists mostly of her underlining the word "God" and any sight words that she recognizes. Hopefully when she can really read, she will continue the habit that she is starting.

7. Target Cake. The "white" kind, made with almond extract and buttercream frosting. Mmmm....enough said!

8. Spray tanning. I am still addicted enough to believe that if it has been almost a week since my last tan, I am the ugliest person on this earth.

9. Christmastime!! Although it is hard to feel like it is really Christmas when it's 85 degrees outside, I am starting to get excited!! I love putting thought into gifts for the kids....and getting them things that they really want as well as some things that are super cute and sentimental.

10. crewcuts. I admit that I am addicted enough to go online every single morning when I wake up to see what their sale items of the day are. To my defense, the sales change daily, so how could I not check?! It's a good thing that shipping is free....I see the UPS man most days :) Unfortunately, I think that Ryan is on to me and this might be coming to and end soon :( (at least until next season!)

11. my girlfriends. I love that we can always make up an excuse to just get together and spend time with each other...even if it means going to target or costco for the tenth time that week :)

12. My iPhone. I don't know how I survived before it and I never want to live without it!!

13. The name Lola. When I was pregnant with Madeline, her name was supposed to be Lola. When she was born, I looked at her and thought she looked nothing like a Lola to me and backed out of the name....she is TOTALLY a Lola and it bugs me every day that I didn't name her it!!! I love the name enough to almost want another girl just so I get to use it....too bad Ryan would NEVER go for it. Another baby, that is. :)

girl talk

some of my favorite quotes of the day from the girls.....

This is the conversation I overheard with Emma and her friend Kyla in the car today:
Kyla: Why do you like being pretty?
Emma: Because I am. I am pretty. (duh!)
Kyla: Are you rich?
Emma: No, I'm not rich.
(At least she has SOME humility!)

On the way to my friend Jay's house for lunch, Madeline asked me if Miss Jay lives "in that big pile of our house" and I said, "you mean our neighborhood?"...."yes, our neighborhood...the big pile of houses next to ours". Yup, in fact, Miss Jay does live in that big pile:)

finally, a post!!

Wow, I can't believe that it has been three months since my last post. I feel like for me, facebook has been the new blog, but it just doens't capture as much as what is going on in our lives, so hopefully I can keep this up!

Emma 5 1/2
I can't believe that soon, Emma's Kindergarten year will be halfway over. Like most things in her life, she has a love/hate relationship with school. She loves her teacher, loves learning new things, loves homework, loves "guidance" (her favorite special), loves earning "gator bites" and buying things at the school store, loves seeing Miss Diana at school throughout the day and giving her hugs. She hates PE (way too much physical activity for this girl!), she dislikes most of the boys in her class (sadly, it won't stay this way forever!), and she hates that Madeline and Claire are at home all day with Mommy and she is not.
The hardest part of the schoolyear so far has been her giving up her naps. She is EXHAUSTED when she gets home and she looks forward all week to her naps on the weekend. One day, she told me that I ruined her life for making her "be in this grade where she goes to school all day and doesn't get to nap". Most of the time that she is not in school, she just wants to be at home. If we try to go out in the afternoons or on weekends, she usually begs to just stay home and have some "peace and quiet". I think that for this quiet, reserved little girl, a nonstop week at school is about all she can handle.
I am amazed at how quickly she has learned to read! She wants to practice her "sight words" all day long, and she tries to teach her little sisters and gets frustrated when they don't want to learn. She's at the point now, where she can pick up a little book or random things aroung the house and read to me whaever it says...CRAZY!!! I am so proud of her :)


Madeline/Maddy/Mad/lulu/baby Kate 3
Oh, Madeline! Where do I start? Mad continues to be our source of entertainment around here. She just cracks us up all day long...mostly because of her "accent" and the hilarious way she pronounces words. She is our entertainer that will dance or put on a show for anyone at anytime.
For about a month now, Mad has decided that she is "baby kate". For the most part, she is never out of character...NEVER. When she remembers to, she crawls instead of walking (even at 3am if she wakes up and wanders into our room), she asks before she eats anything if baby kate can eat that or will she choke?, when she goes to the bathroom, she tells me that she's "potty training", when she puts her undies on, she reminds me that they are not undies, they're diapers, she can be screaming and throwing a fit about something and I'll say, "Madeline" and she'll calmly stop, look at me and say "I'm not Madeline, I'm baby Kate" and then proceed with her fit. I can use this obsession to get her to do almost anything....the other day we were at the mall and she wanted pizza for lunch, but Maria and I wanted to go to Panera....so, as Mad starts crying and begging for pizza, I tell her that Panera has soup and baby kate loves soup and immediately, she stops crying and smiles and says, "Ok, let's go!". The worst thing that someone can do is tell her that she is not really baby kate and she's just pretending (and by someone, I mean Emma!) and she can't handle it...she gets sooo upset until we agree that yes, she is in fact baby kate. She's such the middle child having an identity crisis!! I would be concerned, but when I was her age, I was "baby India", so who am I to speak?!


Claire 17 months
.....and still crawling! She has been creeping around the furniture a lot more lately, and is starting to try to stand on her own, so maybe there is hope for her future :) She has been talking a lot lately...I LOVE that stage...there is always something so precious about when babies start to speak and interact with you in that way. The other night at the dinner table, she imitated her sisters and said, "big fat booty"...nice. What baby can say big fat booty before she can walk?!?! She is hooked on her pacifier that she calls "nuny". She loves to yell at me to stop or go whenever I am changing her diaper, dressing her, or doing something she doesn't want me to do. I think she's gonna be my feisty one....when she gets mad, she gets mad....and bites, pushes or grabs to get her way...nice. And all this time, I've been deceived by her sweetness! But when she's sweet, man is she sweet. She loves to cuddle and snuggle and I can't get enough of it :)


We have settled into a new routine with this schoolyear and it couldn't be better. Emma's school doesn't start until 9:15 and the girls wake up at the crack of dawn, so it gives us hours and hours in the morning to be lazy around the house, play a little, clean a little, enjoy some coffee...it's been great not having to rush out the door!! She gets out at 3:30, so I put the little girls down for their naps right after lunch and they sleep right up until we need to leave to get Em....giving me a few hours of peace and quiet in the afternoons. By the time we are home from school and get Emma's homework finished, it's almost time for daddy to come home (the best part of my day!). I feel so blessed with the family that God has given me...my life is often tiring, often frustrating, and ALWAYS messy!!! But I wouldn't trade it for anything :)