A Day in the Life!

Today was the first day of winter vacation and we had a very busy day. The kids and I went over to Nichole's to visit with her and the boys and help her with the "secret family cookies!" Boy what a project!! We had a lot of fun though. Noah got to play the guitar hero while the little ones helped us mommies with the baking. Once again, I must say that Nichole is a very brave woman! What a mess. At one point, Tanner pulled out a laundry basket and all three little kiddies had fun going for a ride. Later in the evening while Hannah and Daddy were at the YMCA, Noah decided to give Abby a much needed bath. (I helped a little).

Hey all!!

Don't forget to vote on the latest poll. Also, if you have other favorites that are not on the list, just send me a comment with your answer. I'm trying to keep this thing goin here girls!

Done Shopping!

I am proud to say that I am finally finished with my Christmas shopping. YEAH!! This has been a major contributing factor into why I have not posted in such a long time. It's so hard to find time to get out and about that I found myself using every spare hour or two. Now comes the "really fun" part of wrapping. UGH! I absolutely hate that part. I'm one of those who has no desire whatsoever to make the package look pretty when it's only going to be ripped open. Maybe I'll just have to order a pizza sometime in the next week and have a wrapping party. Any volunteers?

Belated Happy Birthday!

Okay, so I finally was able to get Faith to somewhat settle down enough to send out a message. She has quite some interesting things to say regarding her relationship with her cousin, Hunter. It's so cute. It reminds me of when I was younger, of course I was way older than Faith at the time but that's besides the point. Our aunt's husband had a son, our "cousin", who I had the biggest crush on. Even though we weren't blood I still think that is pretty weird when I look back on it! Anyway, here is a message from Faith to Hunter. I will try to get some pics of my Disneyland trip up very soon. Unfortunately, Brian and I completely spaced taking any pictures last night of the trick or treating fun. There was too much chaos going on, I guess. But we had a fabulous time going around our neighborhood. I never realized before how much fun it can also be just to stay home and hand out candy. I think that was probably Noah's favorite part of the entire night! Bye for now.

Bye, Bye, Bye

Sorry guys, off to California for the next 4 days. We'll catch up when I get back. Love you all!

VOTE

I posted a new poll. So everyone vote, vote, vote.

The Sibs!

This is for you Morgan. It's the most recent one I could find on the spur of the moment, but I know that there have been some taken since. I believe at Dad's wedding!!!! Can you believe how different we all look in just 2 years? You're looking a lot thinner these days. LOL!

Hangin with the Fam!

Here are some pics taken this past week. We had a very eventful week. After having Christy's three kiddos for the previous weekend, we ended up getting to see Tanner, Carter, Nichole, and Marshall for 3 days in a row. It was so great. I love all the kids sooooooooo much. And like I told Nichole, we are even tossing around the idea of another baby. How could we not think about it with all of these babies around all the time? Hopefully, I can come to my senses soon though. As of now I'm setting a no baby zone law in our house. Sorry guys!!!!!!!

I thought I would also put up this video of us at Joseph's birthday party at Roller Valley. It was so much fun. I think I was pretty much the last one to leave the rink. It was awesome to see how well the kids did considering they have not been skating in about a year.

Pumpkin Day

Just a handful of pics from our fun and eventful day at the pumpkin patch this past Sunday. Melanie, Grandma Cindy, and I took my kiddos and Christy's kids up to Seimer's on Greenbluff. The place was like a little fair. The kids were definitely excited. They got to go down a big bouncy slide, go through a corn maze that had a castle and a pirate ship, and, of course, they got to hand pick their own pumpkins to carve. Of course they got lots of treats and goodies too. You can bet that they all slept good after that.

A message for Hunter

Well this is the best I could do in getting Faith to do a video message. More to come for everyone. Love you all!!!

I also wanted to post these pics of Hannah and I. We were having some special mother/daughter time while I was working the other night. She just came in and started brushing my hair without making a sound. It was just one of those quiet, peaceful moments that you cherish. Most have said to me that we look very much alike, but I never truly noticed it until I saw these. I'm so lucky!!!!

Addendum

By the way everyone. I added a new thing to my blog where I have to come up with a question to poll everyone on and then you have to vote. So vote, please. It's been on there for 3 days now. I know the question this time is stupid, but I will get better, I promise!!

Harmony and Kickball

Unless you have the perfect family you all know about that wonderful thing called sibling rivalry. Well, I took this video the other day because I was in awe with the way all of the kids were getting along. In our house this is a rare thing. I could not believe that they found something to do together and kept at it for over an hour without anyone coming in crying or tattletaling. Sometimes miracles do happen. You will notice, however, that Faith is still puttin up the 'tude with the camera. Oh well, can't win 'em all!

Lithen to my Thong Mama!

So Faith has really been showing us her outgoing personality lately. I swear the child would be absolutely perfect for ballet or jazz class if we could just be certain that she would listen to the teacher even half of the time. First thing every morning she comes in to our room, turns on the light, and starts right in on some sort of show or another. As cute as the dancing is, my favorite thing that she's doing right now is the way she sings. She just makes up these silly little songs that come out of nowhere, at least I can't figure them out. But they way she does it it's like it's a song she's known forever. She wiggles her head back and forth and sometimes shuts her eyes while she's singing this jibberish. And the newest thing is that for some reason she has started singing almost every word with a lisp. She sticks her tongue out as much as she possibly can. I must admit, it's a little odd, but so darn cute!!!! I tried my best to capture a little on video. Enjoy!!

PS: The first video was an oops. And I'm so mad about it too cuz I was going to use it for my next blog. Wow, this pic and video thing is way too time consuming. Pics are coming once a week from me folks!!!

Worms

Well you know you're a true "mom" when you find yourself able to touch things like bugs and such. Yesterday, I was upstairs doing the dishes when I heard this blood-curdling scream. Now Hannah sometimes likes to overdamatize things, so I didn't immediately rush to her aid. I kind of waited, listening to see if the screaming would subside or escalate. It turned out to be the latter. So, as the caring, concerned mother that I am, I rushed down the stairs to the back door where I found Hannah bent over staring at something on the floor. It turned out to be six somethings. Six ewy, gewy, squiggly, wiggly worms. They were in this gewy goopy stuff trying very hard to nestle themselves into my carpet. I must admit that I was impressed with my ability to be calm, cool, and collected during this ordeal. While about six kiddos looked on, I proceeded to pick up each and every worm (with my bare hands) and deposit them nicely outside. Don't ask me how our house ended up "infested" with worms, I have no idea. Although Noah seems to think that they must be the worms that he caught a couple months ago with his friend and has not been able to find since , which is highly unlikely. One good thing to come out of this: I think my son was really proud to have a mom who wasn't afraid of a little worm. (Little did he know).

Lost

Okay, so I was sitting here reading my sisters' posts about their adorable babies and thinking about what I could possibly put in my blog today that is even remotely interesting. Here's what I got: So at about 8:00 p.m. this evening while I'm bathing my kiddos there was a knock at the door. The little guy from down the street wants to know if his sister is ready to come home. Huh? I proceed to tell him that his sister, who is 6 years old, went home over an hour ago. Now by this time, as I'm sure you all know, it is completely dark and I get really freaked out when the dad pulls up in his truck and can't believe it when I tell him that his daughter is really not in our house. Now, as scary as this all is, the thing that I got out of it was the reaction from my children. They were absolutely frantic, wanting immediately to go out on a search for their lost friend. I was very touched by their compassion and concern. You know, I wonder all the time if I am instilling any good values and attributes in my children. They never cease to disappoint. Oh, and if you're wondering, we did not send out a search party; however, we did walk down to find little Hayden safe and sound at home after wandering off to another friend's house. So ends another eventful day at our house!!

Learning Experience

Well, today was a glimpse into what my life would be like if I had another baby. I had the privelege of watching my best friend's 1-year-old daughter, McKinzie, while she was at work. The plan is for me to do this for the rest of the week as well. She is such a sweet baby and Faith was an excellent little helper, although I could definitely see some jealousy coming out with her overzealous singing and dancing and "mommy look at me's." We did spend a majority of the day in the car. First, driving to pick Faith up from school, next home for naps, then on to Noah and Hannah's school to pick them up, and finally off to an appointment before returning home to wait for Auntie Christy to come and claim her precious baby. It's weird, but I can't seem to remember how I did it with Noah and Hannah being 16 months apart. I can't remember ever having to ask my son to please hold his baby sister in the bathroom stall so that mom could use the restroom. Poor Faith!!! What a sight it was watching my 3-year-old struggle to hold up her baby "cousin." All of my kiddos were amazing helpers, and I am looking forward to the rest of the week.

The fam

Well, this is us, the Vavra family. Not the best picture in the world, but work with me here. Once I figure this thing out, I might even take some more recent pictures for your viewing pleasure. Hehe!

Hoppin on the train!!

Okay, well here I go. I am now officially aboard the blog train. I can't guarantee how dedicated I will be to this, but it definitely seems like a lot of fun so we'll give it a whirl. It's nice to have a place that us parents can dedicate just to bragging about our kiddos (or venting about their wrongdoings). Well, this is my first post. Short and sweet, as I had not intended on even doing this when I logged on to check it out. More to come soon. Maybe I will even figure out how to post pictures :)