Dog Days Are Over :(

Crazy how fast this summer went by!  I can’t believe the kids will be starting their second year of school on Tuesday (okay, it’s really mother’s day out, but still).  This summer has been sprinkled with lots of changes for our household…

First, the kids learned how to swim!  They had 2 weeks of group lessons and 1 week of private lessons.  They are doing awesome!  I still put their puddle jumpers on them if I (or Nick) am not swimming with them.  So I guess I’m not quite 100% comfortable yet. 

And then, we conquered potty training!  And get this…it wasn’t HARD!?!  I guess that is what happens when you wait until they are almost 3.5 years old.  HA!  Hey, whatever works.  My sanity was worth more than the cost of diapers for a year

Lastly, as you may have seen in my last post, the kids transitioned to big kid beds.  They are doing wonderfully.  I have to say, I was a bit nervous.  But they go down amazing…just like they did in cribs!  But for about the first week, we did have some early morning creepers…mainly Sloan.  We just had a talk about staying in our beds and so far it has worked.  But I also think the newness has worn off a bit, and they are starting to sleep a little later again.  They take a 2-3 hour nap each day and then go to bed around 8:30 sleeping until 7 or 7:30.  You better believe I thank God very often for my precious little sleepers! 

I know I haven’t been the best blogger this summer (or ever really) but I thought I would share some pics from our summer. 

Kicked it off with a week of Vacation Bible School…

The first day of VBS (S,R,J,M)

Swim lessons…

Madden & Jagger with their instructor, Ms. Lara

We went to Chuck E. Cheese’s for the very first time!

On the way out…all those tokens and tickets and only a four baby boxes of nerds to show for it

And because that picture really doesn’t show their excitement of the place, here’s a short video…

We also had our own little photo shoot this summer.  I wanted to take pictures of Jagger with a skateboard for his big boy room, but when I got him dressed for his shots, the other three wanted to be a part as well.

Here are some of my favorites of Jagger…

SO Jagger!!!

Madden wanted pictures with a beach ball…

Love that smile!

Roc wanted a picture with my Brother’s dog, Hank…

In Rocco’s words, “Hank’s a sweet dog.”

Sloan wanted her rain boots and an umbrella (and she sort of dressed herself)…

Cute, but let me tell ya, girl turned on the sass for these shots…

uh huh.

Sassa-FRASS!

Oh…this is one of the cutest things they started this summer.  I ask, “how much do you love me?” and I always get…

Jagger – “thiiiiiiiss much.”

Madden – “thiiiiiiiiiss much.”

Rocco – “thiiiiiiss much.”

Except for Sloan – “this much.” (with a high pitch voice and her best attempt of an evil laugh…little turd!)

What next?  Ummm…just the Gerwer quads coming to stay the night!!  These Texas cuties (along with their fabulous mom and dad, Rob and Casey) were just driving home from Destin and stayed with us to break up the long drive. 

SO much fun!
(Trey, Brady, Reid, Rocco, Jagger, Sloan, Cameron, and Madden)

Two divas!
Sloan and Cameron shared that instant girlie connection – loved it!!!

And I even got some quad mom lovin’, because Jac and Sandra (and their hubbies) came to hang out with us too!

LOVE these girls!
(Jac, Casey, me and Sandra)

Next up…circus!  Nick and I took the kids to the circus when it came to town a few weeks ago. 

Family breakfast at IHOP…another first!

Me and my dogs

The elephant show – my favorite part!

Along with our Lambe family vacation and surprising the kids with new rooms, these were several of the highlights from our summer.  But our dog days…how did we spend those?  We did some…

early morning play-dohing…

fondue eating…

impromptu sack racing…

rock climbing…

swinging…

ship sailing…

babysitting…

a little relaxing…

coloring…

castle playing…

TV watching…

and some mess making!

As much fun as we had this summer, I’m ready for school!  The kids have so much fun and the structure is good for them too, especially after this crazy week with Hurricane Isaac. 

Our last hurricane was four years ago when the kids were just beans in my belly(actually we didn’t even know about two of them yet.)  Thank the Lord we faired very well…didn’t even lose power, but I know many others can’t say the same.  Our prayers are with those families. 

Isaac from our front porch

Good Riddance Isaac!

Hope y’all have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend!

New Rooms for Big Kids

A few months ago, I started talking to the kids about their “big kid” rooms.  When I asked them what they wanted in their new rooms, they each had an immediate and different answer.

Sloan – “a princess room.” (barf.)
Rocco – “animals.” (hmmm…)
Madden – “a computer room.”  (what?)
Jagger – “skateboards and basketballs.”  (interesting.)

I knew that two of the four I could work with.  So I quickly started showing Sloan pictures of bedrooms in some magazines and soon realized that a girlie girl (pink) room would be a hit with her no matter what.  I continued to think about what I could do for Madden and his “computer room” when my sister-in-law said she had my nephew’s surf/beach bedding that we could use.  Just a little convincing and promise of a real fish later and he was sold.  And so my mission began. 

When we moved in our new house (one year ago this weekend), I didn’t take the time to decorate their rooms.  I was in no rush to get them out of their cribs and frankly, didn’t want to spend the time, money or energy decorating 4 rooms that I knew would be changing in the near future.  Here’s what their rooms looked like yesterday morning.

Sloan’s room (with nice brown paper window treatments )

Rocco’s Room

 
Madden’s room

Jagger’s room

Once I had all I needed (or enough for four semi-complete rooms), I coordinated the day for the kids to be out of the house with Nanny Alicia so that we could decorate ALL four rooms at once.  It was a tall order, but I knew it would be SO much more exciting for them to get their new rooms together rather than one at a time.  Oh yeah, AND they didn’t even know we were doing it yesterday.  According to them, mommy and daddy were “doing puzzles” while they were gone for the whole day!

So we got started this morning around 8:30 and finished around 5 this evening only breaking for lunch.  It was a group effort.

 

Evan and Nate helping with one of Sloan’s accessories

Jude cleaning

Big Pop and G.G. working hard ALL day long!
(btw, thanks to G.G. for making Sloan’s new window treatments)

Daddy & Evan putting Rocco’s bed together

Drumroll please.  Sloan’s finished room….

 

Rocco’s…

 

 

  

Madden’s…

 

 

 

 

 

Jagger’s…

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, the kids got home around 6.  We ate dinner – they had no clue!  Then I brought them in the living room to tell them of their surprise. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids couldn’t wait to sleep in their new big boy/girl bed tonight.  Before tuck ins, I asked them each what was their favorite part about their new room. 

Sloan – “my bed.” (amen sister)
Rocco – “my lion.” (lol – thanks Nate for bringing it from home and throwing it on the bed as we were finishing up)
Madden – “my fish, Bodhi.” (as promised )
Jagger – “my basketball goal.” (shocker!)

All smiles at bedtime…

And as I am writing this at 3:34am, I haven’t heard any cries, pitter patter of little feet or any loud thuds…I’d say this is a good sign!

Of course, I couldn’t post this without thanking everyone who helped us pull this off…G.G., Big Pop, Grandmama, Grandaddy, Jason, Kemper, Evan, Jude, Nate and Alicia.  Special thanks to our friend Chad for taking these great shots of our special day!

Our first night in our new house
August 19, 2011

One year later
August 18, 2012

It’s days like yesterday that the reality of 4 times the work, 4 times the love and 4 times the fun really sinks in.  We are so blessed to be able to do this for our kids and I love that we get to celebrate their individuality.  Because they are each so incredibly special and different.   I just love that.