Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Today, Hannah wanted to wear the shamrock I made for her 1st St Patrick's Day. Once we found it, I felt guitly that the other kids didn't have one. So inbetween feedings and diaper changes, I finally got them all finished!!  The kids looked so cute in them...I'm glad I made some time to make them!!  Oh, and I also made the flower clips for the twinkies!!

It was a good day!!  :)

Emmalie giving her chubby little smile...too cute!!

Who says us women aren't born multi-taskers? 
Little Ellie shows right here that she can teeth and smile for the camera at the same time!!

Hannah wearing the shamrock pin I made her for her 1st St Patty's Day!!

My handsome little man, Gabers!!  He wasn't about wearing the shamrock but I forced him to for the picture!!
He's such a boy!!



All four miracles!!!   Hmmmmm...not sure what Gabe's doing. I guess he was done with all the picture taking!!

<3

Got Milk?

Turns out my body is deciding that it wants me to switch to formula!!  I'm so so so so bummed!!! This may be the only experience I have with this type of stuff and I really wanted it to last at least until the year mark.

Sure, pumping several times a day isn't what I would consider fun, but I do it for my little ones. I love the fact that I can feed them. It's just so amazing to me!!  Plus, its so wonderful to be able to breastfeed them when they're upset or really tired to help calm them down.

Until a little over a month ago, I could've opened my own dairy farm and now, it's all but gone.  It makes me so sad.

But I guess sometimes nature makes our decisions for us, no matter if we want it to or not. So, I'll hang on just a bit longer while I try to get up enough courage to let that season of my life go...even though I may never experience it again  :'(


<3

Vacation Time?

I need a vacation!!  That's what I've decided. I need to just get away and not have to deal with the day-to-day stuff around the house.

In April, we're off to DisneyLand...not my favorite place BUT Gabe hasn't been in a couple of years and is just dying to go!  It should be a new experience with the twinners but I'm hopeful it will go well. I know we're staying on site so if I need to take the twinkies back, it won't be a huge ordeal.

In July, we are heading back to Utah to spend some time with family and friends. We will probably be staying up in ParkCity for both weeks but aren't 100% sure yet. We do know we'll be in PC for at least one week, over the 4th of July.

I think the reason I'm NEEDING a vacation this year, instead of just wanting one, is due to the fact that I'm always in the house. It's such a big ordeal to leave with all four kids that I usually chose not to. And I think the total lack of sun during the winter up here, has definitely taken a toll on me, which I'm surprised by. I didn't think it would bother me.

I'm hopeful a nice get-away will be rejuvenating so that when I get back, I'll be ready to get back into the groove!

Wish me luck!!

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One Day Like This

Got to bed last night BEFORE 11pm....YIPPEE for me!!  Little Emmalie decided to go to sleep abt 10:30pm so I took full advantage of the situation. 

I woke up about 6:45 to feed the little ones and did so in complete solitude!  My other two kiddos didn't wake up until about 9am!!! YIPPEE for me AGAIN!! I was able to feed the twinkies, relax in bed for a few minutes (enjoying the SILENCE), do a load of laundry, and a load of dishes, before the "day with 4 kids" began. 

I was completely beside myself!!  It was so relaxingly wonderful... but now, I'm gonna want it to be like that every morning!!  Though I know that isn't about to happen, I do know how grateful I am that I got at least one day like this!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........

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ThredUp Posts

Incase any of you were interested, I moved my "ThredUp" posts (the clothes I'm posting) onto a new blog. That way I can keep my normal blog, just that...normal!  :)

Here's the link to the other blog...

http://www.frugal-n-fun.blogspot.com/

ThredUp.com

I've been looking into a site called ThredUp.com

Since I'm such a frugal person, the site has really got me interested. The idea is to swap boxes of your kids old clothes, with other people.

So the site sends you the boxes (just USPS Priority Flatrate boxes) and you're suppose to stuff them full. Then you go online and list your box. Then someone who wants your box, purchases it for $5 plus shipping, which in a flatrate box is like $10.95.  I then go online, print off the prepaid mailing lable (the buyer paid the site and the site purchased the shipping) and then I leave the box on my porch for the mail carrier to pick up (the site sets all that up as well). And when it's my turn to want a box, it's the same process.  Along the way they offer credits and discounts, along with PRO (VIP) memberships.

The biggest issue I have is that there arent any pictures of the items listed so you have to go purely off of what someone else has written about their items. Some, though, have been putting links to other places to view the clothing, which is what I would be doing.

I went on today and ordered my first box. It's clothing for the little twinkies. It should be here in about a week so I'll keep you posted on how it all turns out. I think this is a great idea and I'm hoping it works out ok. I decided to bring you along for my trial run. If you decide to join in on the fun, then make sure to sign up under me cuz you'll get a $5 credit toward your first box! 

Here's the link...

http://www.thredup.com/175375

If you check it out, make sure to leave your comments about it here so we can all decide if it's as good as it appears!!

I'm hoping to put my first box on the site sometime tomorrow. I will make sure to put a pic on here first, incase someone out there is interested in it. Then you'll have a headstart once I post it to the site. And when I get my first box, I'll make sure to post a pic of the items I received on here as well.

Being frugal is so fun!!!  :)

A Clarification

So, I've had a few people ask me about my last post. They wondered if I was only talking about "blogs" or if there were other items on my mind.

The truth is, I was speaking about many areas of my life. Of course, blogging, was one of them (I'd love to have a nifty fun blog that others flock to but this is not my season) but there are other areas such as, "work". I'd love to be doing photography but it's not the right time. Sure, I could force my desire into our lives but it wouldn't be what's best for my family. I believe that when the Prophet continues to ask us to not work outside the home (he knows we DEFINITELY "work" in our homes with our kids and spouses, etc) that they mean NOT to work outside the home (if at all possible). I don't want to be a "cafeteria" member of the church...just to take what I want and leave what I don't.

Another area is "doing stuff for me". There are SO SO SO many things that I would LOVE to be doing right now. SO many interests and activities that I'd LOVE to be participating in. I would probably faint if I found myself with an afternoon to do whatever I WANTED to do. You know, Greg just handing me the keys and saying "wake me when you get home" kinda thing....BUT again, it's not my season. And also again, I could "force" those type of situations but I'm choosing not to.

Sometimes, I look at others Facebook statuses and find myself daydreaming of that being my status. How silly is that?!?  I know it's totally ungrateful and completely unacceptable...but I do. It only takes a couple seconds before I slap myself in the face (not literally) and take a step back so I can look at the MAJOR blessings in my life!!!!  I'm sure there are people out there who look at my life and find themselves daydreaming about being me....WELL....except double-duty on diaper blow-outs!!  ;)  But you know what I mean. As a wonderful Stake President of mine once said..."If the grass is greener on the other side....then start watering your own grass!!!!"   Such a wise man...I miss you Pres. Draper!!!

Then there's the one that bothers me the most....getting the things I want done around the house, done. I look at other moms, with more kids than me, and they seem to be organizing and reorganizing, decorating and redecorating, crafting, sewing, cooking, baking, etc., etc.  I just don't know how they do it!! I have a list a mile long of things I want done, within my own home, and when I actually mark one of those items off....it's like I won the lottery or something!  I get so excited and I feel so good BUT it's rare...very rare!!

So, to all these items and to those I didn't even list, I say the same things...."it's not my season" and "I could do it but at what cost to my family?"  I'm not playing the "poor me" victim. I know I could do all these things...I may not be sane by the end of each week, but I could do them. My family may be in shambles, but I could do them. It may not be the Lord's season for it...but I could do them. I have my agency...we all do!!  I'm just choosing to wait for the correct season in my life (time in my life...however you want to say it) to do those things. I believe that since I'm waiting, I'm learning a lot about sacrafice, service, and patience.

When we do things the Lord's way, we always come out with greener grass than we started out with!!