It's only 11 AM and...

The toddler and baby have blown through five diapers and one outfit,
Annaka has brushed the dog with Mommy's brush,
four different princess dresses have been worn,
three pairs of winter boots were found and left strewn about the house,
one old (shiny) purse has done more mileage than the dog does chasing deer,
two cups of hot cocoa have been mostly consumed then spilled,
one baby doll died and has been resurrected by the powers of a prince running around in a cape,
Mommy has only had one cup of caffeinated tea. Time to move on to the hard stuff and brew some coffee! :)

Annaka's First Haircut

Annaka had her first haircut this week. It only took four years to grow enough to cut! She actually enjoyed the experience and did very well but had a hard time keeping her head totally straight.

Here's the "do." Annaka likes it... and Mommy likes how clean she looks! Plus her hair isn't hanging in her face all time. :)

One Month Old

Andrea is now one month old! Today's doctor appointment showed she is gaining well, 9lbs 7oz. She also has a great disposition and tolerates her older sisters pretty well. Even with all the poking and prodding she usually comes up smiling(sort of, she's almost getting those first smiles out). She does, however, appear to be looking for an escape route in the picture below.

The Hunter

We were having some visitors that were less than welcome. Caleb and his deft hunting skills caught not one but, two mice! He was laughing as he told me about the two mice he had caught while I was half asleep in bed. I didn't understand how cool it was until I saw the pictures. :)

They're almost kind of cute smooshed there together. Awwww...

Amerinasion America

A little nearly four-year-old came bouncing out of preschool today telling me about what they did in class. Since Veteran's Day is this Thursday they they were able to participate in the School District's Veteran's Day parade down main street. Every kiddo loves a parade! But, she was most excited to tell me the Pledge of Allegiance, which she had learned today. Instead of trying to explain the listening experience, I will just put the mp3 up for your listening pleasure.

I was incredibly impressed! A few hours in preschool and she was able to recite a pretty good amount of the Pledge of Allegiance. They do such a fantastic job at that preschool! I was just beaming while listening to her and, at the end, worked very hard to hold back my giggles and tears at the same time! I praised her for a fantastic job but, she'll never really know how much she impressed me today and how much joy she gave me with her little ditty. Watching children learn is an incredible experience. Not much else compares. This reminds me how much I need to closely pay attention to what my kids are doing and how they are learning or else I'm going to miss it while in this whirlwind of life, kids and work.

Know when to hold em.

Here are a few pictures of Andrea. Also a few of Andrea and her older sister Annaka. Annaka absolutely loves to hold her sister. Enjoy while we wait for Carrie to have her new one... Today! She was induced earlier this morning... now we wait and pray that all goes well.

Chaos and Candy

No big fancy Halloween party this year. Instead we enjoyed the community trick-or-treating at the school and then headed over to Elliott's house to try out some real trick-or-treating.

Let me tell you, it was quite the experience. I do not remember actually trick-or-treating door to door when I was younger. I do remember dressing up but usually only for school. Thus for me, the entire going from house to house was a bit uncomfortable. I did have a secret weapon or two. Not a light saber or numchucks but a Princess that kept stepping on her dress and a horribly content little ladybug. Luckily, for my self and some little teeth, my little girls were not going to be able to solicit the entire neighborhood. Instead they were joyfully treated along one street. The cold really set in as Ratnali and I along with Spider-Man, Cinderella, and a Ladybug headed back up the hill to the house. I do believe that with the cold or not Adelyn would have kept going until she dropped from the dead weight of her candy loot.

The rest of the night we enjoyed watching all the many many trick-or-treaters ring El and Whits door bell in full garb. Elliott kept us well entertained confusing the many older kids and treating the little ones.