My day with 4

Yesterday I watched a friend's children for her...plus my own. I have to say, the day went so much better than I expected! (not that I didn't expect the children to be good, because they are all naturally good kids, but because I wasn't sure how I'd handle it)

All 4 kids are under the age of 4...the funny thing is, my friend figured out I could have actually given birth to all 4, how their ages worked out. That would be a bit crazy, I have to say!

This picture doesn't quite describe what I walked in on since I caught it too late, but here is Easton leading the other 2 kids in worship songs. It was super sweet! You can see Zachary is clapping his hands & when I walked in, Easton was directing them all with his hands...funny! It's so neat to see kids praising the Lord when you're not looking.


Yes, I actually had a chance to take pictures of my day. That tells you how well it went! Here they are having fun coloring. (well, I think they're actually having a serious discussion about which colors to use...)



Sweet Makenlee

Z-man

Easton...he was coloring his picture for his mom!

Did I mention I went to bed at 9 pm? :)

The Birthday Boy

Zachary's good friend Michael came over for a birthday playdate. I just didn't have it in me to have a birthday party, plus we really just forgot to plan something in enough time. But a playdate still counts, right? They decorated these birthday cupcakes & had a great time. I think they ate more sprinkles than they put on the cupcakes!


Blowing out his birthday candle. Again, showing my lack of planning, he is blowing out his "1" candle. He didn't seem to notice that it was a 1 instead of a 3! This was the first year he's really gotten into his birthday...he told everyone that day it was his birthday, even the people at the post office that morning! He had a blast blowing out the candle and asked us if he could do it again!

Showing off his new Barney DVD, Let's Play School. A bargain we found for $2 at an antique store. Marc hates Barney but I don't mind it...good thing I'm the one who has to see it all day! He is obsessed with school lately so this was a good choice for him.

He said "Diapers!" when he opened this gift. Poor kid, thought he was getting diapers for his birthday (a bummer anyway, but especially when you're potty-trained!)....

Oh, here it is! A Little People ferris wheel, courtesy of Duck Duck Goose. He's played with this toy at his grandparent's house & just loved it. I was glad to find it on sale.

He got a few other small things. The cutest part of it all was when I brought his wrapped presents downstairs...there were only 4 of them. He started passing them out to me & Marc like it was Christmas time! So sweet! You should have seen his face light up when Marc told him that all those presents were just for him....precious.

What is this world coming to?

....never thought I'd see the day when you can use your credit card to get a can of Coke from the machine.


(This was at the zoo, by the way)

Happy 3rd Birthday, Zachary!

Birth-day, 2005!





1 yr old, 2006

2 yr old, 2007

3 yr old, 2008!

Hope you have a special day, little guy!

Musings on the day before his birthday

This time 3 years ago, I was in the hospital getting my labor induced with Zachary (due to suspected preeclampsia). We were a little frightened but mostly excited to GET THIS THING OUT OF ME--I mean, give birth to our precious baby boy. :) 8 weeks of bedrest will do crazy things to a person...

3 years ago today, I had no idea what being a mommy would look like or sound like or feel like. Now, I know. And it's been the best 3 years of my life so far. Well, I mean, starting tomorrow, it's been the best 3 years. Let's not count the actual labor & delivery if we don't have to. :)

In case I forget to post this tomorrow, Happy 3rd Birthday, Zachary! I love you.

A couple of cute pics of the kids...

My friend Melissa took this picture of Zachary at our house while she was watching the kids for me. It turned out so good!



Kenna enjoying her bumbo seat for the 1st time. Z thought it was really important that she wear his hat! I don't think she liked the hat so much--she was smiling in the seat before that!



Z on the way home from a playdate. We had so much fun & he was so tuckered out! He fell asleep with his hand in this bag of cheese cubes. My little man is getting so huge!

I am a nerd.

Only nerds take pictures of their groceries.

This was my Walgreens trip. Total cost after rebates: $2.69 for 2 packs of diapers, 1 mascara, & 4 bags M&Ms.

This was CVS. I paid nothing for this, plus earned $5 to use on my next trip. 2 pkg pull-ups, 1 wipes, 1 expensive saline solution.

Food City: $13.29 for 5# apples, 1 Jif PB, 7 bags frozen veggies

I also went to Kroger, Walmart, & Sam's Club but didn't take pictures of those trips. In all, I spent $115 for 2 weeks of groceries. Still over my $100 budget, but I stocked up on some good stuff.