November housekeeping

 The month of November was busy trying to get us to simplify our life.We deep cleaned our 5th wheel trailer out inside and out. I worked hard on the inside while the babies (CJ and Levi) slept, Isaac in tow and helping me. Jared scrubbed it on the outside from roof to floor.We then made arrangements for our 2011 Highlander to sell (happened in December. For 28K with only 16K miles). Threw a baby shower for Brittany Cartrette with Christie Hinicker, went to Time Out for Women with some good friends (and met the band Jericho Road), caught Jared taking a cat nap, went to Austin's Fall Days at school and filled up our water barrels with Isaac. I had never filled them up before (in 5 years), but I did so the day AFTER the presidential election where Romney lost to Obama. Not sure where our country is leading, but I will be prepared with some more food storage and water! (even on a $450-$500 food budget, I will make it work!)

 

Sir Levi Rosser

 16 months old. Pretty Onery these days! Not walking yet, teeth haven't pushed through, you are clingy and needy. You can stand alone, but refuse to keep moving those legs to help carry you around. Instead...you...hang...onto...mom. On the flip side, you have delightful moments where you feel independent, happy and excited about life (or the fact that you can open up the refrigerator and get out yogurts and a spoon). Isaac is still your best friend as you chase him around with the "stroller" and he has the big red truck. You squeal in delight as he 'hides' from you and then when you 'find him.'

Isaac's Firefighter in Training

Ms Jillian Strong took her preschoolers on a fieldtrip to visit the local Suprirse firefighters. This was Isaac's first fieldtrip! I brought baby CJ and Levi in tow, and it was quite a handful, especially with Levi not walking yet and wanting to crawl everywhere! Isaac liked seeing the firefighters up close, but got a little nervous when they put on all of their gear. He stayed close by my side, his smile contagious. He really liked his souvenir hat (which broke within an hour).

Family Pics

 I was really excited to have our friend Posey Cowart take our pics this year. Orange, Turqoise, Dark Grey and Black were my colors of choice. With such adorable boys, it wasn't too hard to dress them up and to make them coordinate! Levi was uncomfortable and clingy during the pics, not sure if he even smiled once! The other three boys wrestled quite a bit, so that by the end they all kept going into time out. Isaac stole the show with his winning smile and sweet poses. Jared was a good sport and looked so handsome. I was concerned about keeping my hair styled and curled, while Wes and Austin kept rolling around in the grass! Family pics are always stressful, but at least ours are now over and I can look forward to seeing them up on our wall. I love my family!

Busy busy bee

Just want to jot down the kind of day I had last night:

4:30am woke up, too anxious to fall back asleep. Did pilates/yoga
6:30am ACA, teacher for Spanish II class
8:45am Baby CJ arrives
9:30am Fitkids
11:00 lunch, naps for kids
11-2pm Make 4 pot pies for dinner group
2-4pm: clean up, care for babies
4-5pm: Piano lessons/Spanish tutoring for Gavin
5:30pm Dinner and homework
7:00 (Jared finally gets home)
7:30 Jerry, Spanish class
9:00 vomiting from stomach flu

Nervous about how I am going to care for my neighbor's baby with all the other kids (nannying Mon to Thur 8 til 5pm). Lots of time taken away for all my piano students, and now I am doing Spanish tutoring too? Usually dinner group doesn't require 2.5 hours of on my feet cooking, or the early 5am wake up...but...it...still..was...busy.