A few videos

Click on the sentences below to check out a few new videos. The one of Adelle laughing is a little dark, but so cute. :)

Adelle working on some motor skills.

Adelle cracking up at Daddy's game.

Alayna and feeding her baby.

People Food

For the month of May a friend and I are eating vegetarian, just for fun. Doesn't that sound like fun?! Ha. I'm not forcing this on my family but they're participating in a few meals. Adelle has officially graduated to people food. Last night she gobbled down some minestrone soup. The night before that she stuffed her face with broccoli, sweet potatoes, rice and quinoa.

No complaints here - this kid loves to eat EVERYTHING (including rocks in the driveway - watch out!)

A little veggie tales rest time in mom & dad's bed.

She'll be one in a week. Stay tuned for monkey cake pictures!!!

Kid quotes and crop tops

My favorite kid quotes of the weekend happen to come from my four-year-old, Pierce.

First he came to me sobbing. This kid can turn on the crocodile tears faster than anyone I've ever seen. I asked him what was wrong. He got control of himself a little bit and said. "I just hate Adam and Eve." First of all, we don't say hate. Second of all, Adam and Eve?? What? "They just sinned and ruined the whole world and now we can't even pet bears. I just wish we could pet bears." Oh boy. We had a great talk about the things sin ruins and the great things that will happen when Jesus returns. You just never know when a deep spiritual conversation will spark. :)

Saturday we took the kids to a near by town where daddy has a credit card customer who sells frozen custard - YUM! We told the kids we were going to a new town and Pierce asked, "Did God just make that town?" No, it's an old town, but you've never been there. :)

And, I have poison ivy. No surprise there. I thought I was well protected and could get away without getting any. I was wearing jeans, and gloves and a long-sleeved shirt, but my belly is covered with itchy, oozing poison ivy bumps. I went to the doctor to get some kind of high-powered something to make it stop. She asked me if I was wearing a crop top! Now there's a pretty picture for ya!

babies and books

Because every time I get the camera out she wants her picture taken and she's a cutie.

This one is getting so big! Almost 10 months old :(

Look at those long legs hanging out of that highchair! She and I were rocking at 2:30 this morning (she's been working on 5 teeth - makes for lovely late-night rocking sessions). She's fills up my arms and my lap now. I'm grateful for these days of more sleep, but I do treasure those middle-of-the-night feeding sessions when she would tuck her knees up under her chest and her little bootie fit right into the palm of my hand.

And how about a book review :)

This one will put you to sleep every night. Hudson loves it though!

There are several in this series. We checked out four and Hudson has been reading them to Pierce and Alayna in the mornings while I make breakfast.

At Adelle's 9 month appointment the doctor said, "You're reading to her aren't you?" Oh yeah! We should be doing that huh?! The happy baby books are my favorite and hers too. She can identify several objects already, like "cup" and "ball".

Cool Breezes ...or blowing snow

I love this blog. It's like I'm writing a letter to all my friends and family once a week. Is that cheesy? I used to be a big letter writer - until social networking took over the world. Anyway...What happened to Terrific Tuesday? I got busy, that's what. Actually, I watched Notorious (Ingrid Bergman Carry Grant - it's a good one) and took a little nap while the kids were out. Then I picked up the house and typed up the menu for my clients, then went to Lowes and bought THE PAINT.

When we moved into this house the kitchen/dining area was an minty/aqua blue, white cabinets, blue drawers with little white knobs decorated with a pink rose and age-old dark brown laminate floors. It wasn't horrid, but it definitely wasn't my style. I painted the cabinets chocolate brown and installed brushed silver knobs. The walls I painted a warm green - not too minty, not too olive. Perfect, in my opinion. ;) However, over the years with the addition of three more children and the wear and tear 6 people can put on a house, the kitchen started to look a bit dingy (that's din-jee as in grimy, soiled, dirty, not ding-ee as in ditsy, clueless, silly, mindless, etc!). After recovering my chairs I felt the need to redecorate my whole house. However, have I mentioned that I have four children, and we home school? Yeah, extra time is something I don't have too much of. So, we'll start with painting the kitchen.

The color is called Cool Breezes. It's a lovely white/blue and will really help brighten everything up. Painting, especially in main rooms, usually has to happen at night when the kiddos are asleep. Otherwise they want to "help." I'll post before and after pictures when I get this project done - my goal is by the end of next week.

In other news, I'm memorizing some verse with a friend of mine. Check out Beth Moore's blog . She issued a challenge at the beginning of the year to memorize the verses that she posts on the 1st and 15th of every month. In January of 2012 she's having a conference in Houston and everyone who keeps a journal of their memory verses can get in for free. It just so happens that my friend is moving to Houston this spring, so it's goal of ours to memorize and meditate on our verses for a year and then meet again in Houston for the conference. I'm so motivated and excited - and you should join us!

We've gotten A LOT of snow in the past couple of weeks. It's blowing more snow as I type. I actually love being snowed in. I love that my family is all together, my pantry is stocked, David picked up a bunch of movies and we still have electricity! Our local schools have been out for almost two weeks. My poor children don't get snow days. We've done school in the morning and played in the snow in the afternoon - perfect. My dad built a sledding mountain and dug a three way tunnel (is he incredible or what?!). Sunday, after sledding and playing in the snow with Papa, we headed to the grocery store to restock. David ran in while the kids and I stayed in the car. Alayna and Adelle were asleep and the boys stayed busy counting the security cameras mounted to the top of the store and making up some secret super-spy agenda about every person entering and leaving the store. I was thoroughly entertained.

Time to hit the books. Have a lovely day!

Love,

Alyson :)

Still Running

The kids got jolly ranchers from my boss at the Y. Thanks boss. So I explained that they should not chew them because it's bad for their teeth. They could suck on them but be very careful. Hudson asked, "Why do we have to be careful?" Because you could choke. "What would happen if we did choke." We we're driving right by the fire department so I said, "I would have to drive you to the fire department and they would give you the Heimlick (who knows how to spell that?!). "What's the Heimlick?" I answered, "Well, they would wrap their arms around your stomach and pump really hard until the jolly rancher flew out of your throat." Then I just decided to go for the big scare, "You would probably throw up and you might get some ribs broken." Oh my goodness, what a terrible thing to tell your children! Hudson answered, "I will never eat Jolly Ranchers for the rest of my life!" Pierce said, "Or you could just be careful." Ha!

A few days later Hudson got some Starbursts at church. Every one wants my children sugared up except me! After lunch, when I was unwrapping them, Hudson asked, "Are these kind dangerous?" Yes son, all candy is dangerous.

Well, we've been snowed in for a week. Maybe longer. I don't know. I've lost all track of time. Thankfully our school routine has kept us busy and the kids have been way into digging tunnels in the snow. It's like the Great Escape in my back yard - secret tunnels and bunkers everywhere. What else are supposed to do with four foot snow drifts?!

For some reason, our little town is incapable of clearing roads. We're supposed to get more snow tomorrow and even more on Tuesday or Wednesday. Could we please get some driveable surface before the whole of this lovely little town goes insane?!

In other news I went out to do some laundry a couple of days ago (after my husband informed me that he was on his last pair of undies - I don't usually wait that long but it's been freezing and my washer and drier are in the garage, poor me!). Low and behold the washer would not turn on. Lots of buzzing, no water, no good. All of my facebook friends gave some great tips, so David put a space heater by the washer and by that afternoon we had a lovely little creek bed running through the garage. I think it's safe to assume something is busted. Well, we had to have undies so I picked through the laundry and gathered all the socks and underwear and brought them inside to my sink. Let's just say I'm so glad I was born in this century and that I'm not Amish. Hanging towels on the line is one thing. Washing and wringing out socks and underwear for 5 people is not my idea of a productive morning. At least the drier is still running. And the children are still running, so I'm also thankful that my coffee pot is also still running.

We'll be finishing our February bulletin board today and playing in the snow and risking our lives as we venture out on our treacherous roads in an effort to save our sanity. I'm making pizza tonight and cinnamon rolls for tomorrow's breakfast. It's a busy day folks!

The Icing on the Cake

Love that little ruffle-bottom ;)

Adelle - 8 months

I poured myself yet another cup of coffee. Add a little cream. Stir it around. Walk back to the school table. "Spell 'sentence'." Hudson continued his spelling test. "Pierce, build an A-B pattern. Alayna, color all the triangles purple. Spell 'cent'." And so the morning continues while Adelle finishes off the cornbread crumbs under the table then heads back into Alayna's little playroom (also the treadmill room). In the picture above she was on top of the box clapping her hands when I walked in (I picked her up, ran to grab the camera and put her back). She's a climber. I have to keep the bathroom doors closed now because she likes to climb in the bathtub. She's only done it once and I was right there watching her, but now I know she can. I'm amazed at her dexterity and skill. None of the other three were as quick to learn to do these things as she has been. I'm thinking about tying some jingle bells on her ankles just so I can keep track of her. She's also a big fan of toilet paper. Aren't we all though?!

It's been a little crazy trying to keep up with everything around here. I started Pierce on reading lessons every day. He loves anything one-on-one and is doing great. He's doing a lot more math stuff this semester too - very hands on stuff like building color patterns with legos, building pictures with different shapes and working story problems with counting bears. Hudson is new territory for me, but Pierce is round 2 and I'm enjoying it even more!

Hudson is working through a lot of 1st and 2nd grade level stuff. I'm so glad to be homeschooling for that very reason. There are some things he excels in and is ready for more of a challenge. And there are other subjects he needs to spend a little more time on. It's great to be able to be flexible.

Alayna does a little preschool workbook every day that she loves. She thinks she's bigger than she is. Today she was running "the circle" around the house and as she came through the kitchen she said, "This is how fast I ran when I was a teenager." Mmmhmm.

It's January so, of course, the personal training has picked up quite a bit. I'm working a couple of hours every day training and at the Y. Between that and school and keeping up with my house and feeding everyone over here, I have very little extra time. I'm enjoying every minute though! For now, I'm going to take advantage of a quiet afternoon and rest with Alayna. Nothing sweeter than nap time on a busy day at the end of a busy week.

We Wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Where has the time gone. Well, let me show you :)

We did lots of baking and pretzel making. Funny story, Alayna wanted her "makron." I couldn't figure out what she was talking about. Finally, in tears, she explained, "I'm a maker and I need to wear my makron." Translation: she's a baker and she needs to wear her apron. If only I spoke her two-year-old princess language.

Granddad came for Christmas!

We were so excited about opening presents!

We ate and ate and ate!

When it was all said and done we were exhausted and are now recovering. :)

We conquered de-Christmasing the house with a vengeance.

and this cutie tagged along for the ride.

I might give a better update later, but that will have to suffice for now. Here's a couple of hilarious videos of the big kids. They're short - enjoy :)

Video #1 - Alayna singing some Backyardigans karaoke.

Video #2 - the boys dancing and singing karaoke.

Happy Times

Pierce and Alayna are working on spelling their names. This homemade "puzzle" is the best tool that I've seen. Even little ones who are just developing letter recognition can do this one.

Hudson turned six last weekend and Aunt Angela got him some motorcycles to paint. Young children with paint stresses me out a little, but we were well armed with aprons, a table cloth, paper towels a stern lecture to not paint themselves or anything but the motorcycles. It made for some great Sunday afternoon fun. Thanks Aunt Angela!

Matching sweatshirts. I should have gotten a picture of them right after this because they got all dressed up in their "spy gear." Knee and elbow pads, gloves, sunglasses, walkie-talkies, backpacks, and sword stuck down their pants. They are anything but sneaky, but they are awful cute.

A perfect home for light sabers.

I'm having a hard time keep track of this kid. She's getting fast and she's doesn't take "no" for an answer. Now that every outlet and Christmas ornament is within reach I'm in full-time training mode (as if home schooling and personal training and housework and meal prep didn't keep me busy enough!) . She is the smiliest, happiest baby of the four and I'm loving every second with her. Hard to believe she'll be 7 months old this weekend!

Teeth, coming and going

Hudson lost his first tooth Monday night. He was SO excited. David negotiated me pulling it vs. him just waiting for it to fall out by upping the tooth fairy fee. He decided to share the money with Pierce so they could choose a toy together. Pierce didn't lose any teeth, but I love that he's opening his mouth so wide in this picture!

Fall pictures - I need some picture taking tips for these kiddos. They never all look at the camera and smile at the same time. I think I need an assistant or a professional :)

Sweet girls - I love this one.

It is wild to have a child losing teeth and getting teeth at the same time. And I'm 30. Really feeling older these days - like a full-fledged adult. Yeah, it's wild.

We're working on some major fall projects that I've stolen from other blogger mommies. We're having lots of fun. I'll take pictures as we go. We're having fun over here!

They were in trouble...

(Pierce and Hudson are both mid/pre-sneeze.)

We've been enjoying our lovely evening by the fire-pit lately. The kids KNOW they're not supposed to touch it. "But there was no fire in it," ... "We were just moving the lid a little bit," ..."We didn't touch the ashes." All legitimate answers/excuses, except for the part where I said, DO NOT TOUCH THE FIRE PIT! Anyway I took their picture and washed their hands and faces and that was that.

Sweet Adelle is 5 months old in a couple of days. She's every bit as sweet and delightful as these pictures portray. Happy, smiley, and super kissable cheeks. Precious!

It's Personal

Well, the journey has begun. I started doing some personal training. I've thought about it for a long time, but every time I was ready to get serious, I got pregnant. Since we're taking a long and (hopefully) permanent break from birthing children, I might as well get started.

I only have two clients and the rest are lining up. I can't take on too much at a time. I teach at the Y Monday and Wednesday nights, so I train Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday nights. I homeschool three children during the day and keep the youngest on a rigorous routine: eat, play, sleep, repeat. :) Once this sweet baby girl doesn't rely on me for food anymore, I can start stacking appointments and add more clients.

In other news, our yard is overrun with Giraffe Beetles (looks like a beetle bug with a long nose). My little insect-lovers are in heaven! Alayna is obsessed with her umbrella that she calls a sunbrella. I asked her what letter that started with and she made the lowercase A sound, "A-A-A, sunbrella." :)

Summer School

Hudson and Pierce "playing" with Adelle.

I got out of the van at Target yesterday and parked next to me was a big black SUV with a lovely blonde woman in the driver's seat on the phone. She got to watch the process that is getting the kids out of the van. I unbuckled Alayna, and pulled her out, then the boys hopped out, then we all walked around to Adelle's side. The kids put their backs on the door while I get the baby out and stick her in the sling. The blonde lady rolled down her window as I grabbed hands and arranged our train. "I don't know how you do it!" She yelled over my van. I yelled back, "One kid at a time!" As we walked into the store a couple of older ladies walked in behind us. I could hear them chattering together about my kids. As I put Alayna in the basket and instructed one boy to hang on to each side they came up on both sides of me and said, "You've got your hands full honey!" Yes, I do. That's the best answer I have for that one. Alayna likes to put her hands on the handle and help me push. :)

We traveled back to the toy department because I actually had an hour to kill before feeding the baby and heading to the Y for a step class(the bug guy was spraying our house - spiders! ack!). Nothing passes time better than looking at toys, right?! Another lady in the toy department looked up and counted my kids then said, "Wow, you are a brave woman!" To which I always answer, "Brave or crazy!" That always gets a good laugh. Who knew four little kids would be such a phenomenon!

We (I) decided to go ahead and start school. It's been so hot that we can't get outside too often and I can't take them to the pool unless I have some good help, so we might as well be doing some school. It's going great. The kids love their new school books and there are still a lot of things we can do all together. The read-alouds, history and Bible we do all together first. This morning we read the story about Adam and Eve - Alayna calls them Adam and Even. Pierce, who has had no letter recognition up to this point is really getting it. We're taking it nice and slow with lots of repetition. We played a bean bag gamethis morning - if they could tell me something from the history, read-aloud or say their Bible verse they got to throw the rolled up socks into the laundry basket. Who knew that would be the greatest game ever?!

Pierce and Alayna rolling cars on their letter "A".

Catching up

The baby's asleep for the moment and the kids are at a friend's house today. I'm trying to get caught up on a few things including sleep, but that'll come later. Life is going good. We're getting a little more sleep these days and adjusting to working around a feeding/nap schedule again. I'm so glad this little girl came in May so we can take a natural break from school and get ready for the new year. Can't believe she's already two weeks old. (I need to take some more pictures!).

Okay, she's awake. I knew that was coming. That'll be all for now and I'll get some pictures up soon!

Special Delivery

She's here! Adelle Sophia Frederick was born May 11 at 6 pm weighing in at 8 lb 11 oz and 21 inches long. She has pink chubby cheeks and her daddy's feet - check out those long fingers and toes! She's a great little eater and has a very pleasant disposition so far.

Labor and delivery went pretty smooth. I didn't really ever have regular contraction so we finally started pitosin at 2:30 pm and she arrived at 6 pm. My wonderful husband was in the room, but doesn't enjoy participating too much, so my sister, Angela held a leg and cut the cord. She took the day off work to help with the big kids in the morning and me in the afternoon. She's the hero of the day.

My doctor was absolutely fabulous. She's the main reason I have come to love natural deliveries. She still runs marathons and is the mother of six. I still feel like my insides might fall out if I do more than walk at this point. I'm excited to get back at it in a few weeks though and glad to see that after 6 children, she can keep up the exercise into her 60's.

Daddy is smitten and has been the biggest help to me. In the last week he has kept up the laundry and dishes, and vacuumed the whole house (even under the couches!). Once he saw the dust accumulation in the vacuum filter he decided to wash the curtains. He's been busy with work too - so, yeah, he's pretty awesome. :)

This is the perfect picture of how I feel. So happy and so tired! Realistically, we're only a week into this lovely new world of four children. I'm just living moment by moment and trying to soak it all in for the last time.

The kids have been great. They love their baby sister and they've adjusted so well to my new schedule that has to revolve around feeding the baby. Pierce is a little worried about Adelle's "pineapple bellybutton." He can't wait for it to fall off.

So, I am now a mother of four. That's so crazy to me. I'm 29, but feel like I should still be 23ish. I have four children under 5 - how does one manage that? Seriously, nursing and wiping bottoms and changing diapers and feeding my family and keeping my house clean ... I know she's only one week old and we'll eventually get into our routine, but, wow.

I need to figure out how to change my blog name or maybe I need to get a whole new one. I don't know. I do know there are SIX of us now! :)

Random Conglomeration of Life One Week Before Baby #4

Pains shooting down my legs immobilize me in public. "I'm okay, it happens all the time." But nothing I say alleviates the concerned, "your-crazy" stares.

One child has to go potty during our Chick-fil-a lunch, so do I take all three? Do I leave the boys at the table by themselves? At our CFA, yes, because our favorite "waitress" will keep an eye on them. :) I love my smallish town, and it pays to be a frequent visitor at CFA (caution - your waistline may also pay).

Alayna has two little plastic people she has named Jack and Jill. She calls them her jumping jacks. :)

Allergies are running high and I'm surviving on Benadryl and daily dose of caffeine.

The boys spent part of the morning in the dark bathroom with flashlights telling stories to each other (while I laid on the couch reading to Alayna who was sitting on her little potty chair trying to go #2).

I feel like I'm constantly cleaning, picking up, cooking, cleaning up, etc because what if my water breaks in 5 minutes and the house is messy?! Seriously (my water has never broken on it's own, and I've never gone into labor by myself, but it could happen).

I'm reading the Mission of Motherhood right now and loving it. Nothing like an awesome parenting book to motivate me in the midst of exhaustion and those shooting pains. Because they will only be little and squishy for so long. I was at the grocery store Saturday with Alayna. At the checkout line she chatted with the couple behind us while I loaded the groceries on the conveyer belt. With tears in their eyes they said to me, "Our baby girl is going to prom tonight." I can't hardly get my mind past this stage, but I know it's coming. Maybe I just don't WANT to think about it.

I'm teaching my last water aerobics class tonight, and so relieved.

I held my breath all weekend while my doctor was out of town running a marathon. I'm ready to go any time now. I have my next appointment Thursday afternoon. I'm hoping she'll send me on over to the hospital and break my water ... if I don't go before then. You never know :).

Dr Apt.

For those of you waiting on pins and needles for my doctor appointment news, the news is ... there is no news. NO PROGRESS. I did the 2 hour Zumbathon on Saturday, weeded and mulched my flower beds, and carried Alayna to the bathroom 400 times and I still have nothing to show for it. So, not only do I get pregnant just by thinking about it, I also hang on to my babies until three days after their due date.

I'm not bitter. That actually takes away any anxiety I had lingering in my head over doing too much. So, I will be at the Y this week and I will behave like a normal human being and not like this baby is about to fall out. There's no good excuse to take it easy yet. Oh well.

Ants in your pants

Ants have invaded my bathroom like they do every year around this time. I put out the little poison squares so they'll take the poison back to they're homes and destroy themselves. Alayna's been scared to death of the "little bugs." She screams, "Little bugs get you!!!" Hopefully she won't be traumatized. I reassure her, "They're ants. They wont get you." And we watch them walk back and forth in their little line. Just fascinating. They're mostly gone now. But I did see one this morning. Alayna was with me (like she ALWAYS is) and I said, "Look, Alayna, it's a little bug." She took my face in both her hands and said, "It's a ant." Love it when the baby girl sets me straight. :)

It's starting to get nice out, and when it's nice out it's so much harder to sit down INSIDE and do school. So we set up a motivational chart for both boys. Hudson has to read 20 minutes a day and finish his other school work (handwriting/spelling and math). Pierce has to go over his flash cards (numbers and letters) and a couple of pages from his preschool workbook. If both boys get their work done without complaining for 15 days we get to go to McDonalds for a happy meal. They are so pumped! I have to remember how much easier things go around here when there is tangible motivation. I always tell the boys, if you obey your parents things will go well with you and if you don't, they wont. In this case if you obey (obedience at our house is doing what you're told, when you're told with a good attitude) you get to go to the best restaurant in the whole world (if you like feathers in your nuggets and climbing around a germ infested playground!).

I'm set on a middle name for #4 but I wont publish it until I can get the husband set on it too. He's named the boys and I've named the girls so far. No matter what she officially turns out to be, I think she'll be stuck with Ellie Peaches for a good long while.

Well, we're off to start school as I down a cup of coffee with Italian Sweet Creme coffee creamer. How can heartburn be SO bad and I still crave coffee? I think it's just survival mode at this point. Those last wonderful 6 weeks when my sleep is diminished and my trips to bathroom quadruple and people start making comments like, "Are you sure there's just one baby in there?" or my favorite, "I can always tell when mom's get close to the end because their faces get real full." Seriously?! It's no longer the "pregnancy glow." It's not the shiny hair or long strong nails or the clear beautiful skin. It's the growing belly that peeks out under the maternity shirts and the growing of yet another chin and the stretch marks that reach up to your neck. Lovely. Okay, coffee!

Weekendish getaway, big girl bed and happy hour

I never intended to be a once a week blogger, but here I am. Ah, well.

The end of February will be our 6 year anniversary, but this year we celebrated a little early. The kids stayed at my parent's house and David and I had a weekend away. Not too far away, and it was actually Monday, but hey. We started with my 28 week appointment. Yes, that means I only have 12 weeks to go ... 11 now. Then we split a cashew chicken salad and some hummus and pita bread and The Cheesecake Factory; we caught a matinee showing of the Young Queen Victoria - a clean, period peace (hubby gets big points for that!); then we got a room at a local hotel - it was actually a HUGE suite - sweet! After resting my huge pregnant body (I'll post another picture soon), we went to dinner at Red Rock Canyon and picked up cheesecake for dessert back at the CCF. No children woke me up the next morning. I had almost forgotten what that felt like.

Tuesday we were back to the real world. The giant baby has been in a big-girl bed for naps for a few days, but in the crib for night time. When I told her to get her blanket for bedtime that night she climbed right into the big-girl bed. I wasn't planning on making the transition so early, but so far she's done great. She walks into the living room around 7:30 the next morning all happy and loaded down with her cup, blanket and baby. It's super cute.

I don't drink pop - really. But today, I did enjoy a little Sonic happy hour, and it did make me happy. Diet Coke with Cranberry, easy ice.

We've also finished most of Hudson's Kindergarten curriculum so I think we're going to get a head start on next year. I'll post what great things I order once I order them. Ordering things is always exciting, even if it's home school curriculum. I've started setting aside portions of my Y checks for specific purchases instead of blowing them on Chick-fil-a lunches. It's pretty exciting to exercise a little discipline.

And now I'm off to the Y to teach one of my last two Cardio Blast classes. I'll still work out, I just can't talk and work out anymore :)