Lumbertactical

I'm sure you've seen the new "Lumbersexual" trend in fashion, which I think is quite funny.  The Officer and I have never been very trendy or stylish, but the Officer's love of plaid, guns, and the outdoors would mean that a lumbersexual trend would make him pretty close to stylish. Of course, the Officer always likes to wear O.D. green, so I've named his style "Lumbertactical", and I think everyone will be wearing it in a few years. Here is a picture of lumbertactical....

Of course this was after he spent the afternoon renovating the bathroom floors, so I'm not sure he'd wear this outfit out to dinner or anything. I do think it goes well with my "dressy sweats" style. The look is also much more attractive when the man is doing the dishes after cooking us dinner =) Sorry ladies, he is all mine! 

Board Games and Great Dads

1. Today was a long hard day... I was just a tired grouch after a long week, and I spent 5 hours this morning taking little baby girl to 2 back to back Dr. appointments, only to find out that I still must continue my diet of no good food, until forever. Dramatic, I know, but that's how I am when it comes to food. The Officer went to work as soon as I got home, so we're on day 3 of not seeing each other for more than 30 seconds. Being a Law Enforcement wife can be tough. Enough of the whining... now for my happy takes....

2. Being a L.E. wife can be really tough, but it also has it's perks. The Officer was supposed to work Thanksgiving this year, but he was able to get the day off, so next week he is going to have 6 days off in a row, which is going to be awesome! I can't wait for next week!

I should never complain about anything.... I'm so lucky! 

3. Thanksgiving is going to be great- we get to spend one day at his parents' and one day with my family. Both houses will be full of great food, lots of cousins playing, football games that I will ignore, tons of laughter, and hours of board games after the kids go to sleep. I'm just a little bit excited for Thanksgiving, even if I can't eat the mashed potatoes or desserts.

4. Speaking of board games- Our new favorite board game is 7 Wonders, and wow it is so fun. My bro-in-law always introduces us to the best nerdy board games- Dominion, 7 Wonders, Thurn and Taxis- don't consider how nerdy this makes me until you have tried these awesome games.

5. The Officer and I love playing board games with both our families, and we have recently started playing games with the girls. They ask to play games all day- their favorites are chutes and ladders, candyland, and memory. We played Uno once, and they did okay, but they are still young to understand skip and reverse and all that. So I've been trying to find a good board game to get them for Christmas, and my friend Lauren sent me some great ideas. Here are my top choices right now.... Let me know if you have ever played any of these games, or have any other game ideas for preschool-aged kiddos.

Sneaky Snacky Squirrel

Hoot Owl Hoot

Discovery Garden Game 

Bingo Pongo

6. The Officer has made slow but steady progress on our bathroom remodel. Remember when he did the powder room reno in a week, and then immediately started remodeling our master bathroom?! Well, then I went back to work, and he has had very little time to work on it, so it's been slow moving. As with all DIY projects, there is always more work to be done than you thought. He does work hard on it whenever we both have a day off, so he is making progress. At least he has some really cute girls cheering him on!

7. One more take about SuperDad, because he is just that awesome. There is seriously nothing that he doesn't do. He's a tough guy who renovates bathrooms, shoots guns, and arrests criminals, but he also dances with his daughters, changes diapers, and does their hair! The man does their "pretty hair" while I'm at work, which I think is pretty impressive, but a few weeks ago Belle requested a braid like Elsa, and he didn't know how to do one. That day when I got home from work he asked me to teach him how to braid. I taught him, and now he braids Belle's hair when I'm gone. He's such a good Daddy.

This is his first braid at the end of the day, and of course Mr. Perfectionist told me that he "needed to practice some more". 

Linking up with 7 Quick Takes at This Ain't The Lyceum this week

Connected at the Hip

Sisters. Life would be so boring without them. I am lucky to have so many sisters and sisters-in-law, and they are my best friends. It makes me so happy that my daughters have sisters. They already love each other so much, and I know they will always have each other. 

Belle and Bug are only 13 months apart and they are inseparable. They spend every second of the day together. Belle takes shorter naps than Bug, so when she wakes up and Bug is still sleeping she always asks me, "When is Bug going to wake up?" "Can we go wake her up now?". They do not like to be apart. If they are in different rooms for more than a minute, Bug starts wandering around saying, "Where'd my sister go???"

bicycle built for one

They fight over toys, and they argue about who gets the green plate at lunch (or blue, or purple...). Sometimes Belle hits her sister, and sometimes Bug bites her. Mostly though, they laugh together, they read to each other, they share toys, they help each other find things, they pretend together, they stay up late talking together, and always they want to spend time together. I know it will change. There will be times when they have big fights, and there will be times when they hate that they have to share a room. That will change too though, and when they grow up I hope they love each other as much as I love my sisters. I hope they love each other as much as they do now. Thank God for sisters. 

Here they have literally tied themselves together and then tried walking around the house like this. Must. always. be. together.

4 months

Last week my sweet little baby girl turned 4 months old! How did that happen? These 4 months have been perfect, and I can't believe we ever were a family without her. She is such an easy baby, and I'm already scared of ever having another baby, because no baby could ever possibly be as easy and happy as she is.  She barely ever cries, she sleeps for 11 hours straight a night, and during the day as long as she can see someone (anyone) she is happy as can be.

her cheeks are as kissable as they look

Of course the poor little girl has had one difficulty... I guess just to remind me that she is human after all. She was allergy tested, and unfortunately is allergic to dairy, soy, and peanuts. This has been difficult on her pathetic, food-loving, breastfeeding Mama, but I would do absolutely anything for her, so boring disgusting diet it is. I'm already daydreaming about the feast I will eat when she grows out of it or I stop nursing her. I do hope she grows out of it, because I don't want my little girl to have to worry about food allergies.

She looks a lot like Belle did as a baby. Bug looked different (she lacked the chubby cheeks)

Happy 4 months to my sweet little lady. You live in a house full of people who all adore you and love to hear you laugh. Thank you for bringing even more joy to our house!

Baby snuggles

Tonight after bedtime I sneaked back into my little baby's bedroom and picked her up for some late night snuggles. This is very unlike me. I'm strict about my babies' sleeping routines... I always put them to bed awake, and I certainly never mess with a sleeping baby. Then I had a third baby, and I learned that babies truly don't keep. They grow up so quickly. My little baby who was just born yesterday is 4 months old today. Don't even get me started on my older babies. Today my big sis and best friend had a baby, and I can't wait to meet that little baby, because baby snuggles are just the best thing ever. Today I had a long day of teaching and Mommyhood, and I needed some extra snuggles. So I sneaked in my baby girl's room and picked her up to tell her at least 10 times how much I love her. Then I walked back out thanking God for my little blessings, and thanking God for this time right now, when I get to hold them whenever I want.

She did show off her rolling skills for me all weekend... she's so kind =)

Missed Milestone

Today I finished my 2nd week back to work as a long-term substitute teacher. I talked here about my thoughts before going back to work, and so far it has all gone pretty much as I thought it would. It has been painfully difficult to be up at 6am and out the door at 6:45, and the girls agree completely. I feel like I'm packing my entire life the night before and still barely get to work on time. Then I get to work, and I love it. I teach the sweetest group of 4-year-olds, who give me about 37 hugs a day. They tell me that my tummy looks fat (yep seriously), they proudly show me their perfectly written letter "G", and they hold my hand as they walk in the hallway. Teaching is wonderful. Then I get home and feel guilty if my girls were sad or difficult. Being a Mom is pretty much just an exhausting roller coaster of emotions. All. the. time.

so photogenic

This week was especially exhausting. The Officer and I worked the same 4 days, so we never saw each other, and did some crazy juggling of children. During all that, I had to take the girls grocery shopping, voting, the Doctor's, and had to deal with the continued diaper issues of my sweet baby. We survived, and now it's my weekend!! Hopefully, this was the hardest week for juggling work schedules. I do enjoy teaching, but this is all confirming for me that I love being a SAHM, especially today. Today I got home from work and the Officer told me that my sweet little soon-to-be 4 month old baby had rolled over from her back to her tummy for the first time. While I was at work! Seriously kid, I'm home the first 3 months of your life nonstop, and now I work a mere 20 hours a week, and you decide to roll while I'm gone?! I wasn't actually sad about missing this little baby milestone, because she'll do it another thousand times for me, and I know my time at work is brief, and then I can be home for all of the rest of her milestones- she better not learn to walk while I'm in the shower or I'll stop speaking to her. I'm so glad that I can be a SAHM, even if it's a choice our President doesn't want me to make ;)
Now, I'm off to spend the entire weekend coaxing my baby into rolling again

She makes everything in the world all better

A Halloween worth melting for

We had such a fun Halloween this year... majorly improved from last year's Halloween when I failed in every way possible. Last year I planned our family's Pumpkin Day, and we drove 45 minutes to a fabulous pumpkin patch, only to find that it was closed for field trips during the week, and my two toddlers did not count as homeschooling.  Then on Halloween the Officer was working, so I took the girls trick-or-treating by myself. We walked out the front door, and I realized I had forgotten their candy baskets and (much more importantly) my keys to the house. I frantically called the Officer, who had to leave work and drive 30 minutes home to unlock the door for me. The girls were also wearing second-hand lame costumes that I chose for them. So last year Halloween was kinda not so great, but this year... this year was perfect.

this year the girls were old enough to help clean out their pumpkins

The Officer's awesome Papal flag pumpkin. Just in case anyone in the neighborhood was wondering how much we love being Catholic....

The week before Halloween we went to a really fun pumpkin patch 10 minutes from our house. We enjoyed the hayride, moon bounce, pumpkin launcher, straw maze, perfect weather, and found 5 good pumpkins. Then we easily drove 10 minutes home in time for lunch and naps. Pumpkin Day this year was a success! 

"Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs"

For the first time in years, the Officer was off for Halloween!! Weeks ago (right after we watched Frozen on Ice) the big girls asked if they could be Anna and Elsa for Halloween, and their Aunt Mantha delivered. Oh boy did she deliver. She sewed them beautiful dresses, and made a little Olaf hat for their little sister. She also made homemade costumes for all 4 of her boys. She is superwoman. I'm going to have to do an entire post just on the 7 costumes she made, because they were all awesome.

homemade Anna, Olaf, and Elsa costumes on some very excited little girls

We joined the Mikboys (Aunt Mantha's family), our friend Miesha, and a lot of other friends from our Church Mom's group at the Little Sister's of the Poor nursing home. I don't know who thought of this fantastic idea, but everyone with little kids needs to do it. We donate some candy a week early, and then we bring our children in their trick-or-treating at the nursing home (indoor, not dark, not cold, no streets, minimal walking...). The sweet elderly residents get hours of adorable little visitors, stopping by their rooms, saying "trick-or-treat", and showing off their costumes. It is perfect, and I hope we get to do it every year.

Then we went over to the Mikboy house for some dinner and some neighborhood trick-or-treating.... their neighborhood gives out the good candy. You know... king size bars, snickers, skittles.... only one pack of pretzels and no candy corn. I got to watch Belle run through the yards holding hands with her Godmama singing "Let it go". I got to watch Bug smiling from ear to ear in her pink cape that she waited and waited to wear. I got to push a chubby cheek Olaf in the stroller all night, and she never cried once, even though I didn't let her have a single piece of candy :). I got to watch so much joy from my girls, my nephews, our "frezins", and every little child I saw along the way. Oh I also saw an incredible Transformer costume on a friend (complete with sound effects as he "transformed")... it was worth remembering! Then we had a big sleepover and were ever so thankful that the Mikboys moved back from the West coast.

The girls are blessed with some incredible "Frezins"

This Halloween was a good one. Holidays can't always be magical, but this one was.