Blowing bubbles

After much practice over the past three years the quads have finally figured out how to blow bubbles on their own!  The bubble blowing competition has now begun and they are all competing for world champion!

Mommy and Brady time!

 Brady decided that he didn't want to go to the race track with Daddy and the other kids so I got lucky and got some one on one time with one of my favorite boys!  He peddled his way down the streets of Lancaster while I tried my best to keep up to him...finally we can make a walk worth it instead of poking along!  The two of us stopped at the park to play in the sand box, ride on some swings, take a journey on the train and just have some fun.  It is so different having one instead of all four!  After the park we went to the ice cream place for some soft serve then home to do puzzles before snuggling in the chair watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".  I would love to have this special time with each of them more often.

Me and my Brady! 

The others came home from the races looking awfully cute!

Cameron aka Mufasa

Princess Aubrey!

Matthew with his race car! 

Brave little swimmers...

Cameron going off the diving board!


Aubrey is still a little skittish but she is coming along!


Brady jumping off the diving board!


A quick jump by Matthew!


Brady jumping in and swimming off!


Matthew trying to swim from one wall to the other!


Aubrey "going under"...I need to bring my camera again because now she can REALLY do it!


Cameron showing off for his "girlfriend"!

11 step program

I did not write this...merely saw it somewhere and thought it was hilarious because it so describes our life!

11 Step Program for those thinking of having kids

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

Last stop before home!

The final stop before we finally got home was the fish hatchery in Twin Mountain.  The kids loved seeing all the fish and feeding them.  Aubrey dropped one pellet at a time to get the fish to jump up and eat it before she would throw another.  It was pretty cool.  Definitely a weekend to remember!

One more stop on the journey home...

Ice Cream Shop with a play ground!  I think this may have been their favorite stop of all!  They had a blast playing on all the different pieces and thought I was crazy when I told them they could have ice cream for supper!  Aubrey saw the gigantic brownies and decided that is what she wanted...a girl after my own heart...CHOCOLATE!

Mini Golfing

Our next stop was mini golfing in North Conway!  Let me tell you...mini golfing with four 3 year olds can wear on your very last nerve.  They should hand you an adult beverage when handing out those "mini-pro" clubs!  Brady did manage to score two holes in one and Aubrey got one...how I have no idea because most holes took 847,038 swings in every direction!

Paying attention and focusing...not strong suits at age 3

Holy cow...it went in!!!

Hey!  Where did my ball go? Matthew was not impressed that the hole ate his ball at hole #18.

The scenery was nice and miraculously not a single ball ended up in the water! 

Go Carting!

Next up in our ride of surprises we stopped in Sebago to bring them go carting!  They all had a blast and were thrilled to go racing! 

Up first Daddy and Matthew!  Ready to race!

Cameron and Mommy were up next!

Aubrey's turn...this girl loves speed!

Finally Daddy and Brady

They had a blast and were trying to guess what the next surprise was going to be!

46 months!