I'm becoming more and more famous everyday

So famous that you'll probably see my photo posted as you walk into stores and restaurants........unfortunately it's not the good kind of famous. Right above my photo it will say "BANNED FROM ENTERING THE PREMISES."

Today some friends and I decided to meet at Chick-Fil-A. I don't get out much with the kids. There's three good reasons why...
1. Nate
2. Andrew
3. Madelyn
The kids haven't left the house in a while and I wanted to get out and socialize. I got to Chick-Fil-A first. I actually got all of them into the restaurant by myself thanks to the new leashes I just bought last night. We walk into the play area and played while waiting on my friends. Time goes by, no show and kids are smelling food. So they start screaming. Madelyn would have been okay but she does sympathy screams when the boys start. I then think to myself that I can get the kids in the rolling high chairs and get food by myself. WRONG!!! I barely made it to the highchairs before the three balls of fire explode into raging lunatics. Nate's shoe came off and he refused to walk and he cried and screamed at the top of his lungs. Andrew wanted to run free and yelled and Madelyn was mocking her brothers. I wanted to cry right there and just sit in the floor and cover myself up with the diaper bag so no one would see my face. I was embarrassed with everyone in the restuarant staring at me.

Not a sole offerred to help. I heard lots of comments though. One even made the comment that Andrew was strangled around his leash. He wasn't b/c I checked when I heard that. There were even about 10 firemen walk in to the restuarant to eat and not a single one of them offerred any assistance. Aren't they suppose to be Heros?

I managed to get all of them back into the play areas and called my friends on the cell and they were almost there. I did not move until I have another hand to help me. I just let them scream it out in the playarea. At least in Chick-Fil-A playareas it's a separate room and the noise is muted from the restaurant.

Something similar to this happened a few weeks back in Target. I can not take them anywhere in public places. They freak out! It doesn't matter if I have juice, milk, snacks, balloons, whatever, it happens. It just takes one to be unhappy and the other two think they have to do it too. Madelyn may not be blood related but she's definitely their triplet sister. She can be just like them sometimes, but she is easier to shop with out of all four of my kids.

Next week we take the long dreaded ride to Florida, 10 hours in the car with four kids. We need lots of prayers.

Happy Girl

 

Going for a ride with Big Brother

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

This is probably the best family shot we'll get for a while. I'm amazed it was this good. Four kids will not cooperate at all at the same time with cameras.

We're Moving AGAIN

Since we started this blog, we've moved twice. Once out of our old house and once into a temporary apartment waiting on this house and now we're going to move again. Are we insane? Move with three one-year olds? Tony was offerred another job back in the area we moved away from. We do not like living near the big city and traffic and are ready to go back. We miss our life back there so we're going to sell this house and pack up and move back. It's definitely not going to be easy to keep a clean house with these kids at all times for showings. I'm really dreading it. I'm working all through this week and weekend to get it more ready to put it on the market next week. Happy Thanksgiving to us!

Kindergarten Madness

Logan has had several days lately where he got frowns in school. Every day the kids are graded on three areas: follows directions, respects others, and listens and does work in timely manner. Last week out of four days of school (one day was a Holiday) he had three frowns.

Today I was packing up (explain later) my old baby book my mom kept for me. It automatically flipped to the Kindergarten page so I had to read it. It says Dec 1980 "Mrs. Biddix said Melissa was her best pupil and that she was more advanced than most of the others. She also said she would like to have a daughter like Melissa."

So, Logan must take after his dad on the misbehavior. I was obviously an Angel.

Saturday Morning Dress Up Time

 

 

 

 

I thought by now the PJ's bought in China would fit the boys by now. Logan's are okay. The pants are a little big. The twins probably need another year and the size 4 dress is too small for Madelyn in the neck now. I had to safety pin the top closed.

It still fits!!!

 

Gotta love the morning hair-do.

Tony picked out this outfit while we were in Chongqing. Our hotel was connected to a mall and we found this store inside that sold baby clothes. And of course we found the clearance racks while there and this was in it. I love to shop for bargains, even in another country.

Here she is wearing the outfit in China. She's changed a lot almost 9 months.

Thanks Bugaboo Bottoms

One of my readers posted this link to shopping carts with videos. How awesome is that? Too bad they haven't made their way to NC yet.

There's gotta be an easier way to shop with three one-year olds...

Most would probably stay home. I wanted to brave it out again today and went to Target. There are only a few stores I can go to that have larger carts or I have to take in my triple strollers which do not have the room to carry my items I want to buy.

Our trip was horrible. I even went prepared with drinks, goldfish in three individual snack bags and three boxes of raisins. Each had their own and they wouldn't have to share. Madelyn was great. She ate her snacks, no screaming, no yelling, nothing. The only thing she did was give someone I knew that came up to talk to me an evil look like "don't you look at me woman". Other than that, I wouldn't even have known she was in the cart.

The other two, TERRIBLE!!!! They fought over each other's snacks, poured out goldfish all over the floor and shopping carts, cried, yelled, screamed, you name it. Nate went into his terrible two tantrum at one point but he couldn't run off b/c I had him fastened into the cart. Andrew knows how to say "BALL" and he knows what it is. However, he also things all round objects are balls. While in the Christmas section he went nuts over the ornament's shaped like a ball and was yelling and wanting to hold everyone of them. Then we passed a kid holding a ball. I think that mother would have given up her kids ball if it would have shut my kids up. And then we passed a row that had balls on sale. Needless to say I came home with some but they've forgotten about them now. They just might end up under our Christmas tree (that is if we get one put up this year - not sure it will survive three one-year olds).

Andrew's buckle also broke and he slid out of the cart. So then I had to push the cart while holding his hand. He jerked and tried to run off. Nate was jealous b/c his brother was out of the cart and he wasn't so more screaming again.

I've come up with a new idea for shopping carts. They can put DVD players in cars and they can make portable DVD players...why not one on shopping carts? I could pop in a Baby Einstein movie and Andrew would be glued to it. I wouldn't even mind wearing one strapped to my chest if it kept him shut up for me to shop. I'm sure I'd look like an idiot but that's what everyone already thinks of a person going shopping with three one-year olds anyway. Madelyn is not much of a tv watcher but she does like the Wiggles and I'd buy more DVD's if the carts had a player.

Or shopping centers should open up a supervised play area while the parents shop. I'd pay for that. I know there are some centers now that do this on an hourly basis now but it would be more convenient for me if Wal-Mart or Target did their own.

I now this phase will pass and I will miss the sweetness of 19-20 month olds but I am looking forward to the day they can communicate with words instead of screams and I can reason with them.

Madelyn's Santa Impersonation

 

Someone has a birthday today....

Happy Birthday Tony

For Tony's birthday I made a keepsake book of his kids to take to work with him. I had a coupon for a free photo book at Shutterfly. All I had to pay was shipping. These books are really nice and make great gifts.

He also got a new Wii game, one the entire family can play. We'll try it out tonight when he gets home from work.

Logan made him a card, and Tony and I got to go out to eat kid free last night (this is rare). We even went to the grocery store together without kids. That never happens.

Happy Birthday and many more to a great husband and daddy.

Whoa...what's up with this hair?

 

Nate and Andrew snuck a sucker each out of the candy bags and started eating them. I was okay with that but I didn't want Madelyn to get one. I knew she would have it all over her. After the boys were done with their suckers, Logan and I noticed Madelyn's bangs sticking out like she had rubbed candy in it and it froze. The suckers were completely gone and I saw no trace of food on Madelyn's hands of candy but her hair was disgusting. When I described it to Tony he said it was like the famous "hair gel" scene from the movie There's Something About Mary. Eww!!

Cute Pony Tails

 

I didn't realize I had fixed Madelyn's ponytails to stand straight up until we got into the car. They were so cute I had to lean over and take a photo.

Four Monkeys sitting on some rocks

 

"Hey Logan, let me tell you a secret"