Photo Editing Frenzy

A while back I was taking on freelance photo editing jobs and had an ongoing editing job with GagaGaga Baby, but soon learned taking care of 4 little bodies allows little time for such a commitment, so I put it on the back burner.

Well, this week a super nice guy invited me to bid on a job correcting his wedding images.  They were grainy, less than sharp and in need of color correcting.  He wanted them retouched as an anniversary gift for his wife.  HOW sweet...  I wanted to help and as it turns out I was awarded the project...  so, I am currently buried in wedding photos, but don't want to ignore the blog... so here are some pics of the kids.

At home:
The pool is going in and I've been taking pictures to document the process.  I hope to post about this soon.

Best kid quote of the week:
Kaylee: "Addison, don't be ridiculous"

Boys will be boys...

What do you get when you cross a ballerina, a fairy, and a pirate?

Cody with a tu-tu, wings, and an eye patch...

Conversation with Jadon today after going potty...  (WARNING:  Maybe a little TMI for some readers, but I'll enjoy reading it when they are twenty)

Jadon: "My poopie looks like a fish.  No, it doesn't have a tail.  Maybe an alligator... no alligators are green.  It's not green.  Maybe it looks like a shark, but no sharks are blue...  hhhhmmm, try again...."

Me:  "Pull up your pants and don't forget to flush.  Love you."

Easter Parties

Well, Easter has come and gone for another year and it was a busy week. The kids started out with an Easter egg hunt and party at school. I was able to get a shot of the entire class before they went crazy chasing eggs (I took a LOT editing liberties with the colors just to play). I'm always in sheer amazement at how these little bodies can manage to find 144 eggs... I mean REALLY? I think the entire hunt was complete in 2 minutes flat.

On Saturday, our neighborhood had an egg hunt. We ran into a little girl from the kids class at school (beautiful little red head). My husband is red... how did I not get a little red head??? Oh well, she is just adorable. We also ran into our new and WONDERFUL neighbors from across the street. They have two HANDSOME little boys and sadly enough, me a mom of multiples, cannot tell them apart and NO... they are not twins (photo below is a tight crop from a group shot and a little grainy but soooo cute). We managed to line them all up for a group photo under a tree with some hard light coming through the trees (not ideal, but we still got a pretty cute shot). Kaylee looks a little sad. She was crying cause she had a piece of candy in her mouth, looked down while talking and it fell out.

We had a pool party at my parents house on Saturday and Sunday after Church. Let me tell ya', we sure do clean up nicely for Church. The kids looked ADORABLE. I didn't get a picture, but my Dad took one. I'll post it soon I'm sure. The pool parties were SOOOO FUN and the food FANTASTIC (THANKS MOM)!!! We also celebrated my Mom's birthday a few days early.

Addison is the only child able to swim without floaties right now and she was all over the pool. Her quote of the day, "I'M BURNIN' BABY, I'M BURNIN'." She picked it up from Ice Age:Dawn of the Dinosaur when the deer which out runs Diego says, "I'm Burnin' Baby, my hoofs are burning."

I Heart Pets in Easter Baskets

Happy Easter to You and Your Families

Photo of the Day

I just finished editing this picture of Jadon and fell in love with the sweet innocence of this little man. The best word to describe Jadon is sweet (to the core) and I thought this photo captured him so well. His latest obsession is an egg carton which holds 18 eggs. He has it filled with plastic Easter eggs and he carries it around everywhere. He studies the eggs and will take them out, hide them, find them and put them back in the egg carton. SWEET!! SWEET!! SWEET!!

TGIF....

What??? It's not Friday???  Well, it is for me since Hubby will be home tomorrow for the Easter Weekend!!!!  YAY!!!!

Ok, potty training update.  It's not going well.  I'm a terrible mother.  One day I'm all over it and the next day there are just too many distractions for me to care.  I was so focused with the triplets and just can't get focused with Cody.  In the beginning he thought it was fun and now he just doesn't want to go anymore so it takes a lot of coaxing him onto the pot.  I have until September when school starts up again to get him trained but ugh, I'm just ready to be done with this.

How did I manage to train triplets with little problem and can't get this singleton trained????

Speaking of singleton... here are a couple shots of the little guy.

TIMBER!!!!!!!

Yesterday, the tree in the middle of the yard (which had some health issues) came down in preparation for the swimming pool.  I was hoping it would come down while the kids were home and give them some entertainment in watching the process (I'm always in need of fun for the kids), but alas they were at school. In fact, it was their school Easter party and the day before I had stuffed and taped close 46 eggs (12 each for the triplets class and 10 for Cody's class).  I'll post pictures of the party soon, but for now here is our newly stained fence and our new stump.

Addison adorns our new stump beautifully

Yes, believe it or not... a photo of Jadon actually looking into the camera (without tears)!!!!  SHOCKER!!!

Need your fence stained?

... don't call us....

Friday evening Jerry and I decided to take on a 'do it yourself' project, staining our fence. We had been wanting to do it for a while, the weather was gorgeous and if we waited much longer it was gonna get brutally hot.

Day One, Power Wash the fence. I took on the job of power washer and loved it!!! I felt powerful, useful, and productive. I loved watching the dirt blow right off the fence. Jerry followed behind with bleach (a job I didn't want). All in all, it wasn't bad. We then moved to the front yard and planted some flowers and played with the neighbors. The evening finished up with Mexican food, a Margarita, and a trip to Lowes Home Improvement.  We didn't get home until after 8:00 and we were tired.

Day Two,  After Church and lunch we put the kids down ready to tackle the staining.  We soon discovered we did not have the right tools for the job.  Jerry thought he could use a bug repellent sprayer, yea ummm NOT!!  The spray just wasn't right.  We tried a roller...  worked ok if we didn't mind the project taking a month to complete.  Jerry ran back to our favorite Lowes and bought a paint sprayer....  after several hours... the job was complete.  We were both covered in oil based stain when done and literally took a bath in mineral spirits and today my muscles are still sore.

I don't mind a little do it yourself... but this is a job worth paying someone else to do.

I Heart Wind

Super busy this afternoon... so I'll leave this as just a photo post.  I thought this photo captured wind perfectly.  Although it's not a perfect picture,  It did allow me to have some processing fun and I just can't stand not to try and participate.

Goodbye Oven... Hello...

CROCK POT!!!!

Yes, I recently discovered that the dust covered wedding gift from 6 years ago is probably one of the best undiscovered secrets hiding within the back recesses of my kitchen cabinets.

Thus far I have made:
Easy Crock Pot Lasagna
Italian Chicken
Meatloaf
Sausage Stew
and tonight a Roast...

Yes!!!  Me!!!  I made a Roast Dinner with carrots, potatoes and onions!!  Yes, very Martha Stewart of me I must admit and I have even managed to shock myself.  My husband said I have finally after 6 years fulfilled one of my wifely obligations.  I have in fact handled and cooked a big honkin' slab of raw meat and managed to turn it into a feast for even the pickiest of pallets.

Well,  maybe not the pickiest since I got a "yucky" from Cody.  "I'm never going to eat this," from Kaylee.  Blank stares from Jadon without one bite taken and "I don't like this foooooddddd (whining)" from Addison.  Although Addison did eat some of the meat.

But despite all the rave reviews from spouse and hard core critique from the kids.  I'm chalking this up to a huge success!!!

I must admit I'm feeling sorry for the oven.  It just hasn't gotten much use lately, but if I have the choice of making dinner in the morning when I'm fresh and rested or at night exhausted after "chasing" kids all day.  I choose morning!!!

Hats Off to You - A Photo Post

Decided to take a break from the routine and play a little... here are the results of my play...

I just love this picture of Jadon and his teary eyes...

The Annual Picnic

Sunday was Jerry's annual company picnic which we've attended ever since the trips were one and I was pregnant.  I have to say, it's gotten easier.  The 1st year Jadon had a fit the entire time because he wanted to swim in the lake.  We had to pull them around in their Choo Choo Wagon cause it was the only way to keep them corralled (sp?).  It really is like herding ants sometimes.

This year the venue was different and it was hot, but there was a lot to do and a good time was had by all.  The BBQ was delicious, but of course the kids wouldn't eat it so I'm sorry to say they had a cookie lunch.  I forced nutrition into them at dinner, promise!!

There was a clown which Cody loved, but the triplets literally stared at her with blank faces like she was from Mars.  Despite all her effort she failed to get any smiles.  They were a tough crowd.  She later performed a magic show which elicited smiles and she finished with balloon animals... by that point she was everyone's best friend.

Cody was asleep in the car within minutes of leaving with Jadon following shortly behind.  The girls managed to stay awake, but crashed at bedtime.  It's a good day when you wear them out and put them to bed early.

Here are some pics (of course).  I have a few more to follow.

No, It Wasn't Pretty

We had a super busy weekend which I've been wanting to blog about (including as I mentioned earlier our wedding anniversary), but I need to do some photo editing to include in the post... so instead how about we talk 'puke'...'throw up'...'vomit'...'projectile redecorating'... whatever you want to call it.... last night we lived it.

Don't know what was up... all was fine... the day was over and we were all in bed.  Then, about 10:30 (I was about to insert much needed earplugs.  Yes, husband of SIX years snores) I heard it.  I knew the sound, but thought I was crazy.  The sound was follow-up by crying.  I headed upstairs and found Cody looking confused and barely whimpering in a pool of... ok, I won't say it again, but you get the idea.  I yelled down to Jerry.  He continued to snore.  I yelled again... no response.  I think I may need to rethink this earplug idea because despite all my yelling for help... he continued to sleep.  I went downstairs and woke him and he leaped into action.

He stripped Cody down and put him in a bath while I cleaned up the bedding.  Before long, Cody was back in clean PJs and tucked back in bed.  I have to say he was soooo adorable.  He didn't feel good so he was soooo still and cuddly.  I hated to leave him.  I stroked his hair until he could barely keep his eyes open then left him to sleep.

He was up sick again at 2:30, but it was far less dramatic and Jerry let me sleep through it.

Today????  He's fine!!  Totally fine!!  Happy, Eating, Smiling....  Fine???

Kaylee crying after her balloon popped (from the weekend)

I Heart Shadows

Whew, I really cringed when I saw this weeks theme... "Shadows."  I couldn't draw upon my reserve of photos, but had to make a real effort to take a new photo for this weeks theme.  I racked my brain on what to do and had an idea, but my WONDERFUL HUSBAND (btw, we celebrated our 6th anniversary on Saturday) was the brains and momentum behind this shot.  He is easily annoyed by my camera, but this time was super sweet in helping me because he knows just how much I LOVE participating in I HEART FACES!!!    We had 4 very cranking kids after a busy day with no naps, but we did it... A shadow photo!!!!  

To my husband, I LOVE YOU more than words can convey and you are a wonderful loving father!!!

Come Out of Your Shell

This morning my Mom came over with a small turtle she saved from the road. Oh my goodness, the excitement in the house!!! We explained to the kids that he was saved from the middle of the road and after we got cleaned up we would return him to his home. He was quickly named "Shelly" by Addison because he has a shell. I'm not sure that turtle knew what happened to him and I'm not sure he will ever fully recover from the 30 minutes he spent in our home. He clawed to excape the clothes basket prison we held him in while 8 little hands desperately tried to sneak in a touch despite our strict instructions not to touch. The squeals and noise I'm sure had him shaking in his shell. I pulled out my camera to capture the moment which set Cody off... he wanted to take a picture too. I went up and got a couple viewfinders which Cody and Kaylee used as cameras (perhaps they will be wildlife photographers). We loaded Shelly up in the car and drove to where he was found and set him free... I then listened to Kaylee cry for 10 minutes so sad and pitiful... she missed Shelly.  Jadon proclaimed that he loves all the turtles and loves Shelly.

Back at the house, the kids played outside and were having so much fun that I let them eat outside.  According to Jadon I'm the best Mommy on the whole earth face.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Oh... Also, thanks to everyone who follows our blog.  I know our life isn't the most exciting (but I want to document it for my children), but thought it was pretty cool to actually have 50 followers! 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Oh Yeah, BEST MOMMY ON THE WHOLE EARTH FACE
(To my husband, yes... I know... I need to get in front of the camera more often)

ONE OF THE SWEETEST BOYS ON THE WHOLE EARTH FACE