Gingerbread Shacks

We did a SMALL gingerbread house project yesterday to get in the holiday spirit. I helped the kids put their "shacks" together using gingerbread flavored graham crackers, and then they decorated them. I ended up hot-glueing Maggie's house together, finding that MUCH easier than using the frosting. I figured they weren't going to eat them anyway.

I figured wrong. Ben ate every piece of candy from his the moment he finished his house. This is truly unlike Ben as he's the kid who tries to save his Halloween and Christmas stocking candy, doling it out piece by piece. Maggie usually dives right in. You can see by Ben's house that he didn't leave a piece of candy uneaten! Maybe Maggie just ate so much as she was pulling it from the bags that she was able to restrain herself when it came to pulling it from her creation. Ben's poor house looks like it was hit by a tornado!

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Ben and Maggie both had Thanksgiving celebrations at school today. Ben came home dressed like a little Native American. He decorated the shirt, filled with symbols, himself. He and his classmates ate lunch in the hallway at school (really gourmet, huh?), feasting on chicken legs, carrots and celery, applesauce, and corn muffins (all the standards eaten by the pilgrims and natives). Maggie had a Grandparents Day feast at preschool. Since none of her grandparents could be there, Daddy was her "special friend" who came for lunch. They served pizza and a communal fruit salad. She and Daddy made this cute turkey together.

Who can resist a sleeing baby?

I wish these pictures weren't so dark, but I didn't want to wake the babies using the flash. I couldn't resist taking their pictures this morning before I left for work. Bree (in the dots) almost always sleeps with her little hands behind her head. So funny! Betsy (in the stripes) likes to have something next to her face for cuddling, even if it's her own sleeve.

Grumpy Gorilla

Ben has this giant gorilla. All the kids love it. Great place for taking twin-pictures!
(Betsy on the left, Bree on the right)

Heavy Cheeks

Betsy was having a ball jumping in the "Jumparoo" yesterday afternoon. We looked away from her for a minute, and when we came back to her, she was sound asleep, snoring and everything. I think she got too tired of holding up those cheeks!

Does she really look 30?

Maggie's teachers tell me that she dresses like a 30-year-old woman. I suppose I dress her like I dress myself. I just love the look of a polished little three year old. Grandma Karen is to blame for this sweater. I wish it came in my size!

Ben, my BIG Diddle!

Ben's school picture finally came in. It seems to me that most kindergarteners smile without showing their teeth. Not my kid! He smiled just like I coached him to do! Now that I can compare Ben and Maggie's school pictures, I think Ben looks even more like me than Maggie does. Ben, my "Diddle-Bug" looks bigger and more mature than ever before!

They Bleed Black & Gold

Even though Mommy is a Butler grad (and Butler pharmacists were taught a healthy distaste for Purdue pharmacists), I must admit that Purdue is a great school. I'll be thrilled if any of our children decide to follow in their daddy's footsteps and head off to Purdue. We're fairly certain already that Ben is engineering-bound. He has the same personality as his dad, his Uncle Scott, and his Grandpa Mike.

It's difficult to see, but all four kids are wearing their Purdue shirts.

Thank you, Aunt Janet, for the shirts for the twins.

(trying on the new snow hats, just for fun!)

Why can't I do hair like that?!

Sarah has always had this amazing talent for braiding hair. She's completely self-taught. For the life of me, I just can't figure out how she does it, especially with hair as fine and silky as Maggie's. I tried re-doing Maggie's hair this morning, and it looked awful! I think it only took Sarah about 5 minutes to finish this style yesterday. I had to promise to take Maggie out to lunch to get her to sit still long enough. She looked so pretty, so I took her to Daddy's office, and the three of us had a special lunch-date together while Sarah stayed at home with the twins. (We made Maggie promise not to tell Ben that she got to go on a date with Mommy & Daddy while he was at school!) It was so nice to have some special one-on-one time with Maggie. I think she thoroughly enjoyed it too.

First Cereal x2

We couldn't believe it when the pediatrician told us to start practicing with cereal when we went for Bree and Betsy's 4-month check-up. She said she wanted them to be well-practiced so they would be fully ready to eat by the time they turn 6 months old. I thought, "There's no way these girls are going to take anything from a spoon yet!" Nonetheless, I bought some new spoons and a box of rice cereal, and we decided to attempt it last night.

Bree took to it like a fish to water. Ate a decent amount of cereal and even tried doing it herself.

Betsy wasn't so sure. It was difficult to get her even to open her mouth. We'll give it a week or so before we try again.

Maggie, my BIG girl!

I'm sure this counts as some kind of copyright infringement, but I just have to add these photos to my blog so they're permanently recorded in our family history. This is Maggie's pre-school picture, taken at the beginning of October. I think Maggie looks so much more mature here than she ever has before. What happened to our little girl?! Thank goodness that we have two more to follow her! Just for the sake of comparison, I added my kindergarten picture. It's the only picture I have of myself that's close in age to this one of Maggie. We certainly have the same hair, nose, and mouth, but I think she has her daddy's eyes.

All Hallows' Eve, 2010

Umteen yards of fleece in various colors: $100

50 feet of lawn irrigation tubing to make the hoops: $20

Hours in front of the sewing machine instead of doing a million other
chores that should have been attended to: Too Many To Count!

Time spent trick-or-treating as a family in the costumes: THIRTY MINUTES!!!

Family Photo: PRICELESS

After a brief trial run around the neighborhood, we had to come home and put second layers on everyone. The babies just cried and cried, not liking the wind in their faces. In this picture above, Bree (in blue) is asleep. Betsy's eyes are just closed mid-scream. We probably made it to five houses with the babies before I had to turn around and take them home.

This is how they looked when I got them home and took their costumes off. I think it looks like Betsy is saying, "FINALLY. Thanks for getting me out of that stuff!"

Ben, Maggie, Brian, & Java returned about 30 minutes after we got home. They were too cold too. I was glad to see them so soon. It meant a LOT less candy to deal with and much less exhaustion on Monday morning. Ben and Maggs each chose 6 pieces of candy to leave on the kitchen table for the Halloween Witch. She came in the night and took the candy, leaving two DVDs in its place. I think Ben and Maggie felt it was a fair exchange.

Four Months Old

The babies turned four months old yesterday.

They are now semi-consistantly sleeping through the night, which is SUCH a blessing! Ben and Maggs never slept through the night this early. Sometimes, they go to bed as early as 7 p.m. (but not usually). This frees Mommy up to spend some quality time with their siblings. I really miss evenings with Ben and Maggs. They are smiling all the time, and laughing a bit too. I think they each added a couple of rolls to their thighs and wrists. Big accomplishment for this month: they can now hold onto toys. Everything goes straight to their mouths!

Thank you, Bickels for the cute tushy-ruffles.

Maggie wanted the girls to cozy in her bed after the photo shoot.

I'm SHOCKED that Maggs didn't insist on taking her clothes off too.

(I just realized that I honestly don't know which girl is which in this picture above.)

Fall Break in Batesville

Ben was so excited about our visit to Batesville for Fall Break that I don't think he truly slept for an entire week! The day before we left, he wanted to pack his suitcase in the morning before school. He settled for doing it immediately after school. Packing up our family for two nights at my parents' is a CHORE. Nonetheless, we made it out the door by 10 a.m. on Thursday morning. The minute my dad walked in the door after our arrival, Ben said, "Grandpa, I'm ready to go fishing!" (Didn't even give my poor dad a chance to change out of his business clothes before he attacked him.) Dad was Grandpa-on-the-Go all weekend. He took the kids fishing twice, on a long wagon ride to the post office, out to some soccer fields and a park, and to the farm to "hunt" for hickory nuts. When they came home from the nut-hunt, Maggie was so proud to show us the full ear of feed-corn she found in the field (which she put out for the squirrels), and Ben had a ball smashing the nuts with a hammer.

Daddy, Grandpa, & Ben fishing on Crosstie Lane

Java managed to take a swim too. She was SO excited about the fish! She has never done this before, despite all the coaxing from us. Wouldn't you know it, she chose the weekend at my parents' to dive into the mud and water. Brian had to bathe her before she could set foot (paw) back in their house. She smelled like my mom's shampoo for the rest of the weekend, which wasn't a bad thing!

Ben told me that Grandpa used "plizers" to remove the hook from the fish.

Ben's expression here is too good to pass by. I wish I had gotten more pictures of Maggie.

After their second fishing excursion, Ben came home w/ a bluegill in a bucket. He wanted to keep it as a pet. He named it "Blue" (creative, huh?). Grandpa allowed him to keep the fish for the remainder of the day. Java did not leave her post next to the bucket the entire time. She kept a good eye on that fish. At one point, Ben went outside to check on Blue, and he found the fish had flopped out of the bucket and into a pile of dry leaves. Grandpa put the poor, still-gasping thing back in the bucket, and it seemed to spring back to life. My dad said the fish swam away happily as soon as they returned it to the pond and its freedom. I heard Grandpa teaching Ben a lesson about how all life is precious.

What a great Sunday afternoon!

When we got home from church yesterday, everyone was in a silly mood.
(Maggie is wearing my boots, if you can't tell.)

We went to the little park in our neighborhood (Ben's request), and we put the babies in the bucket swings for the first time. They really seemed to enjoy it. Unfortunately for Bree, Maggie wanted her "Baby Bear" to have a turn in the swing, so Bree had to sit on Mommy's lap on the big-kid swing.

Notice the crystal-clear sky... Ahhh, fall!

He wears his game face!

Ben's game face has to be the funniest expression I have ever seen him make! He doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body, but this face would lead you to believe otherwise.

(below:) Just had to post a couple of pics of his awesome kicks.

Thank you, Uncle Scott for the photos!