Yum

What Jude enjoyed doing while we were enjoying our yogurt.Rinny enjoying her yogurt.


Creed couldn't even look at the camera because he was enjoying his so much.

This one really cracks us up. With a little help from her daddy, Rinny made her ice cream look like a Sanchez. We took this picture especially for her daga (uncle). 

Side story: When Daga recently had to get a new drivers license photo he chose to grow a Sanchez for his photo on his license. You just have to know daga to know really how hilarious this is. You also have to know my sister, Mika, to know how she did not find this idea funny. So, here is Rinny with her Sanchez in honor of her daga. 

This week we spent out of town while Micah was leading worship for an event. We were able to stay with his parents and had a great time. One fun thing we did was go to this frozen yogurt place that was similar to the pinkberry that my mom and I went to in NYC. Yum oh. 

Mud pies, donuts, and fruit loops

The finished product.....
The process....

The babies have planned to "trick" daddy into actually trying to eat the mud pie....This is what face each child is going to give dad right before he puts the pie in his mouth as they yell "Don't do it!!!!"

Umm....I thought Creed was my most mischeveous child....he has been knocked out of first place for that award...look at the face. I am in trouble-T-R-O-U-B-L-E
Jude's favorite part of making mud pies was eating the tin cake pan
Overall, I think I am a pretty "fun" mom, but it seems that sometimes I just lose my energy. Strangely,it seems that has been happening a little more frequently in the last two months (hmmm....wonder why?) So, I have been convicted about it lately. The quote my friend told me has been ringing in my head.

"Be the mom today that you want your children to remember tomorrow."

So, came to fruition in the following ways on the above day.

1. Fruit Loops (Yes, this is a HUGE, HUMONGOH deal for me). This is my first time to purchase fruit loops in my adult life. My kids LOVE them, and I knew it b/c my sister feeds them bowl after bowl when they go to her house and they think it is heaven. Granted: My kids eat cinnamon french toast sticks everyday and I have no idea why I think that is more healthy. All that is beside the point....I'm trying to be a fun mom and so I bought the kids Fruit Loops (Yes, they did notice that they are the reduced sugar kind :( )

2. Donuts....I let em' have them for breakfast....another big deal. I don't know what it is about my kids eating fruits and veggies, and trying to eat mostly healthy foods most of the time but I OBSESS about it. (Side note: I have been eating terribly lately and I think that makes me even obsess more about my kids eating healthy...go figure..you are finding all sorts of things out about me today aren't you?!)

3. Mud pies...They love to make them and I don't like cleaning up the mess. Case in point, they made these pies about a week ago (yes, I am just now blogging about it) and I have still yet to clean up all the kitchen utensils they used in the process (full disclosure, confession time, I guess)

All this to say the following: I remember watching a funny movie that most people might have not found as touching and life altering as I did. The movie was called "Jack" and it was starring Robin Williams playing the part of a little boy who was in the body of a man. It was the cutest thing but my take away was that I wanted to be a mom like Jack's mom was to him. The scene I still vividly remember was his mom having like a cape on, hiding under homemade tents and chasing Jack around with "guns" made out of her finger, like little boys love.

I think I was in high school about the time it came out and I still think about that movie. I still want to be a mom like Jack's mom even though I fall short many days.

What do you say we go have some fun with our kiddos today?

Wizard of Oz

Jude's first experience with live theatre....in the back of the auditorium with mommy....(yes, he is a bit young but we like to expose our kids early :) He fell asleep in Act 2 and so I got to go back and sit with the family.During the show, the scarecrow scene Creed recited the entire (word for word) scarecrow song...Hilarious. 
Remain calm....remain calm...remain calm...
Oh, I just can't do it...I can't handle it she says...and she gives in to the uncontrollable urge to hug the lion. Creed remains calm and collected. (Notice the hair color resemblance).

Rainbow cookies at intermission.The nice man who took this picture asked Creed and Rinn who their favorite character was, to which Rinn (suprisingly) responded "Glenda"....he said "Oh, that part was played by my daughter." Yes! Right answer. That'd a girl. 

Roosers is fun-nay

Umm...making chocolate covered strawberries for our buddies (Rinn was obviously wanting to make sure they were yummy enough for our friends to eat, busted)
A few pics of Rinny and her buddies.....

Norah bear
Kalen...
Clara.....
And Aunt Ang making no bake cookies
Pleasing her best buddy, her big brother on his half birthday (again, if you haven't noticed please take note of the outfit....this is important to remember as you will be seeing it often).
I really am trying to help Roosers know that we love her and that she deserves attention even though she may not demand it like her brothers do. 

So, I took her to the local library for a music class the other day. It's a fun class, the teacher is great, etc., but it's not like taking her to chuck e cheese or the salon.....Anyway, at the end of the 30 minute class as we are walking out Rinn grabs my leg and hugs it to her face tight. 

She says "Mommy, I am soooo happy." I said "Why are you so happy Rinny?" and she said "Because you are just so nice to me."

Sweet. Apparently she doesn't realize how much she gets lost in the shuffle :) Or maybe she just doesn't mind it at all. Thank you, Lord, for designing our children just perfectly for our family. 

Conviction....

Funny faces....always
First game of the season...

Happy Half birthday, Big guy

Celebrated with a little cinnamon crunch bagle and candle..yummoh
So Creed is now 6.5 (see above) and he really is becoming a big boy. 

On Wednesday night Creed came home from church talking about how they had discussed a missionary who is going to share the gospel and teach kids to play soccer in Uganda. I was impressed with the amount of detail he remembered about the missionary.

Fast forward about 15 minutes to dinner. Creed wasn't eating and I told him to get busy eating his dinner that we needed to head to bed. He still didn't eat. I asked him what the deal was and he responded by saying "I know why I can't eat but I just don't want to talk about it." 

(Side note: Over the last several months Creed has been BEGGING for a wii. Everyone he knows has one, he promises he will only play for a few minutes a day...you know the drill. He has really, really, really wanted a wii. So, we told him he should start saving money for the wii. He has been doing chores and then also special things around the house for his "wii bucket". So far, he has raised about $12 or so.)

Back to the missionary story. So, finally I just went in the living room to fold laundry figuring he would eat if he was hungry. I looked over at him and he looked at me and started running toward me BALLING his eyes out. He sat in my lap and said "Mommy, the reason I can't eat is because I know I am supposed to give all my wii money to Rafael (the missionary) and I really, really want to but I also really, really want a wii."

It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen. Conviction is hard. Really hard. We discussed it. We talked about the sheer pleasure of obeying God's calling in our lives and by the end he was determined that all his "wii money" was going to Rafael. A conclusion I know that he would have come to totally on his own, but it sure was hard. 

Isn't it amazing to see that the Lord calls even the smallest to make huge sacrifices (in their eyes) and also equally amazing is to see MY baby feel a prompting from the Holy Spirit? 

Amazing. God is good. 

Happy 11 month big boy!

If you think I am super cute, raise your hand.Jude had his blood work a few weeks back. So bad I don't even want to talk about it....good news is he is free of any communicable or dangerous diseases. At the time of this photo he had no idea what was about to hit him.
Random happiness.
This is what it looks like when I try to take a shower when Jude decides not to take a nap. Normally (and I mean, 60% or more of the time) I would simply choose not to take a shower. This was going on like day 4 or something so I figured I should probably work on at least taking a quick shower (not asking to shave my legs or anything nuts like that). Welp, this is the pitiful look I got as I was getting out of the shower 1.2 minutes after the shower began. Poor baby, no body ever pays him any attention. Pitiful life. (Yes, his high chair is in the bathroom, yes I did give him a million snacks, and yes the shower still only lasted 1.2 minutes due to the uncontrollable crying).
First steps. This boy would have been walking about a month ago had I not kept pushing him back down on his tush and reminding him that he is a baby....my baby.
The wink. This is what he does when he is flirting with his momma. 
Learning to use a fork, instructed by his big brother. He is rejecting baby food in major ways. Rejecting any food that he can't feed himself, really. This boy is wanting to be independent. Again, I do keep reminding him of his baby status in the family.
The look I get when he is doing something naughty. (No, I cannot say "no" to this face, of course not.....and no, I don't feel bad about it one bit, thank you very much.)

My babies....

Got my black backdrop out for some headshots for a friend and thought what better time to take a few pics of the babes. 

Sorry I am a bad blogger lately.....little busy around here :) Nutso busy actually. Still figuring it all out. The three babies are happy (the proof is above).

Jude enjoyed his homemade chicken noodle soup tonight. He is getting to where he is not enjoying the pureed baby food so much. Urgh. I just like the ease of it, and so healthy. Still loves diced veggies though so that is good. Sleep is just off and on. Fighting the naps is a problem and nighttimes are usually pretty okay, waking one or two times....always happy and usually goes right back to sleep after a bottle. Moves around alot in his sleep. Busy boy, very content, very busy. Still loves his momma and has started saying "momma" a lot. Still not sure if it is referring to me or just talking. I'll claim that he totally knows what he is saying, though:)

Rinn just got her ballet costume for her recital today. She is totally NOT allowed to wear it until her receital, but seriously...how could I resist? She has been going through an emotional phase the last few days, poor sugar. She turns on a dime...one minute laughing and having a great time, the next minute crying big crocodile tears. On the above photos I did not give her any direction and it was HILARIOUS. She just went at it with the poses...one right after the next, it really looked like America's Next Top Model or something. 

Creed is just as happy as can be, always the one to be jovial and performing. He is currently obsessing with soccer as the season has just started. He is also obsessed about creating slideshows in imovie. Funny. He tends to obsess about things in his life.....want to work on that ONE thing constantly...never stopping until it is perfect. Hmm...no idea where he got that from. In addition, he is doing SOOOO well in reading and spelling words (I am so incredibly proud of him), it truly is amazing how time (and a little work) has done wonders. Of course, I consider him a genius.

 More specifics about other fun things later for now, I have to get some sleep.