O' Christmas Tree!

The kids have been asking for a Christmas tree for their bedrooms and when I found a fantastic deal on a 2" tree that I could stand on their nightstand I couldn't pass it up.  They were so excited when I pulled it out of the box and told them that they got to decorate it all by themselves.  We went to the store where they picked out some garland, ornaments, candy canes and a tree topper then came home and got to work!




First the lights then onto the garland!









Ornament time!









No tree is complete without candy canes!











TA DA!!!!





Now to find a big tree that is just as beautiful :)

Me and my babies!

They are hardly babies anymore but more often than not I am the one behind the camera snapping pictures like a crazy person so when Brady asked to take a picture with me I not only was more than happy to meet his request and then bribe the rest of the clan into posing for some pictures too.









The four most important people in my whole world!

In true Thanksgiving tradition...

The Hickey Quads made their world famous dirt cake for dessert.  They had to make some for both of their Grammies' houses and there was leftovers so they decided to make some for other random people because they think everyone must love it as much as they do.  I love that they make it themselves and are so proud of their accomplishments.  This year little Miss Aubrey was too busy watching Sofia the First movie to come help out...obviously Princess don't need to make dessert when their servant boys can do it for them! ;)

Happy Thanksgiving 2012

We have so much to be thankful for on a daily basis but sometimes I think we get wrapped up in the craziness of the world and our hectic lives that we forget how fortunate we truly are.  We are grateful for our healthy family, a warm roof over our heads and food to put on our table.  

Thanksgiving also marks the beginning of the holiday season!  The kids are very anxious to get a tree, decorate the house and of course to have Jingle B...our Elf on the Shelf...reappear.  Nothing like the magic of the holidays through children's eyes!

38 months

It still amazes me to see them together!  I can hardly believe I was lucky enough to get these four beautiful, healthy children who drive me so crazy sometimes...I still wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

Winter hats!

A friend of mine, Amanda, made the kids some really awesome hats for this winter.  They all loved the hats so much!  The boys were crawling around being dinosaurs and Aubrey was more than happy to strike a pose...or a dozen in her Minnie hat!  You can check out her line of hats at Crochet by Amanda to see her selection...prices are reasonable too!



Minnie Mouse...ummm...Aubrey!


Tiny Dinosaurs!


And how could I not post this cute picture of sibling love???

Prematurity Awareness Day

The campaign says "Purple for Prematurity Awareness" so we snapped a picture of the fab four wearing their  best purple to show our support and how healthy and happy our preemies are thanks to the dedicated Doctors and Nurses we had at the Brigham!  We are forever grateful for their dedication and for all the advances in technology that has allowed them to not only survive prematurity but THRIVE!

Letters to Santa

The kids and I worked on writing letters to Santa so that he (and their parents) would have some idea of what they would really like for Christmas.  They really surprised me at how realistic their lists were for the most part.  Aubrey did not surprise me by wanting almost all things Princess...she really is a girlie girl!









I have to say how proud I am of Brady for writing his own name!  He really works hard at it and I am sure soon enough it will even be in the right order!  Great job buddy!

Love and Logic

If you read the post about me going a little crazy with the threes then you will be happy to read the follow up that is helping me stay a little more sane.  Several of my moms of multiples friends suggested a book called "Love and Logic for Early Childhood" so I figured it was worth a shot!  Upon reading the book I thought there was no way that these simple ideas could make for a calmer, happier household for all six of us but we put them into use and they have helped so much.

The kids love being in control by making their own choices.  Some of the choices they make really crack me up like:
Kid: I don't want to eat supper!
Mom: Do you want to eat 5 bites or 6 bites?
Kid: SIX!
Mom: OK!  Let's keep count together.

Seriously...they almost always choose the higher number!  This works for so many things!  When they want to watch more TV and I say you can either watch another show when Daddy gets home or in the morning? They will choose one and go about their merry way 99% of the time.  The other 1% of the time we have to choose for them because they do not choose or choose a choice that was not available to them.

It definitely is not fool-proof but it is helping.  Cameron is the one not responding to it nearly all of the times that it is failing but I got another book recommendation from a fellow quad momma and I am reading that now too.  I think they will always be keeping us on our toes!

A humorous Love and Logic story came about last week when Aubrey came running into the kitchen crying because Brady had hit her with a bat.  I turned the corner to see Brady standing there, bat in hand, looking at me with a "WHAT?!?!" kind of look on his face.  So I asked him why he hit his sister and his response..."Well I asked her if she wanted me to hit her with my bat or with my hand.  She didn't choose so I choosed!"  I guess we need to work on the part where the choices need to be ACCEPTABLE choices!

Fall Leaves

What is the most fun thing to do in Autumn?  Why jump in the leaves of course!







Crazy kids!

Professor Matthew

Matthew loves to try on Bumpa's glasses everytime he comes over then walk around with them like he really needs them!  I am sure with family history at least one of them will need to wear them at one point in their lives...at least he is a cute little professor!

Trick or Treat!

This year was by far the BEST year of trick or treating yet.  The kids were able to walk the entire time, say "Trick or Treat!" and "Thank you!" for their treats.  They enjoyed seeing the other kids all dressed up and going house to house.  The weather being in the 60's definitely helped.  We didn't need to layer all the clothing or wear jackets even...just long sleeved shirts and their costumes were plenty.  The kids had enough about half way through our second block so Ben went back to grab the van while the kids, Kate and I finished up the block.  It started to sprinkle just in time to hop in the van to go visit some family then grab a quick dinner before heading to the high school for the Halloween Costume Contest...last year for us to participate as a theme but the kids are already picking out what they want to be next year!