Getting older

Len's been in Lake Powell with his work having a L O N G meeting! Ha! His boss takes all the managers on a retreat every year & this year it happened to land on his birthday. We wanted to celebrate with him when he got home too, so we decorated, cooked & waited all day yesterday for him to come home. The kids were elated to see him :)

I made our new favorite meal: honey-lime chicken enchiladas, cilantro rice, cafe rio dressing & carrots to dip! Can you say YUM?!

Daddy brought t-shirts for the boys & they looked so cute walking out the door this morning all in their bright green. Bella got a Halloween shirt, since she's our Halloween girl :)

Happy Birthday Lenny! We love you & Sam said it best, "it doesn't matter if you're old."

Someone else is getting older too...Bella blue! We love our little lady & are getting ready to teach her a big girl trick. Wednesday is our official "potty party," where I will teach her how to use the potty. I am gearing up by loading up on her favorite dry & salty snacks, lots of juice, a dolly she can teach, party favors to make it fun & cute girly panties! :) Maybe the kids will stop calling her "stinkerbell" soon!

She's already showing lots of interest :) Out of 4 kids, she's the first that loves Sesame Street. So, we picked Zoe to train on Wednesday & got lots of Elmo & Abby cadabby snacks & treats :)

We can't wait for our big party!

I'm HOPING that she gets it as fast as her brothers did. She likes to say "no" & is a bit more sassy than they were at this age! Keep your fingers crossed :)

Miracles never cease

Ok, maybe it's not REALLY a miracle, but it felt like a miracle when I realized this morning that I slept through the night. Then, I went running, came home at 7:20 & the house was still quiet. At first I was afraid a mass murderer had crawled through the window I reluctantly left open last night. I peeked in Bella's room & found her silently, peacefully, adorably sleeping with her many stuffed animal "babies". I didn't know what to do exaclty.

So, I ate cereal by myself.

A few minutes later, this cutie woke up with bed head & an armful of "babies".

We finished my cereal together. Me in my sweaty running clothes & Bella in her pj's & a sunhat. Whatever. I'm just happy I got sleep. Ahhh!

I have nothing interesting to say...

...only cute pictures to share! Bella enjoying a cupcake, while Daddy enjoys a cuddle.

My Mom & I took the kids to Oktoberfest at Snowbied last weekend.

We had tons of fun, but this was the start of my body & brain pooping out! I seriously am updating our blog out of guilt for not keeping it up for the kids to look back on someday. I don't want them to say I never took pictures of them or wrote down any of their cute sayings. I wish I were happily keeping it up with lots of creative & interesting things to say, but really...It just want to go crawl in bed & read! Sam is sick, Bella's been waking up lately, we've been going 100 mph, the kids started soccer & Len started school. It all adds up to a dead tired Momma! Don't get me wrong, they are all so cute I want to pinch their chubby little cheeks all day. I just need to s l o w down!

We couldn't resist playing in the beautiful mountains though!

Mack crawled up this rock wall before the lady working there could get Sam snapped in his gear. She was very surprised, but I told her he was climbing out of his crib at 9 months practicing for this very moment!

1 little gingerbread girl didn't find this as interesting as the polka band!

Guten tag!