My toes had just touched down into the fibers of my bedroom carpet this morning and I had yet to change out of my blue and pink polka-dotted PJs, when I decided being home simply wouldn't do. I wanted to get out of the house and take my babies with me (not that leaving them was,
ahem, really an option). So I straightened up my bed, threw on some capris and a t-shirt and brought the kiddos downstairs.
As I was changing their diapers and trying to decide on the easiest thing for breakfast—completely ignoring what I'd pre-chosen on my
weekly menu planner—I figured why not change things up from
our usual routine and do breakfast on the go? So we all put on our shoes and filed out the garage door to the suburban and made our way to the local Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru! The sweet lady at the window obliged my request to separate my order of donut holes equally into four bags for the kids, and I indulged in a chocolate cake donut for myself. By the way, Kailey's squishy smile-for-the-camera face just kills me!
Next, we stopped at Target for some awesome deals (I'll be sharing a post this weekend on some of my recent clothing purchases) and also stocked up on some more Frozen goodies from the dollar bins. Seriously, there are days that I
live for Target's dollar section and all their brilliant trinkets that keep my kids occupied for hours! Or that feed their latest obsession, like Frozen. I thought the Frozen bags (below) were really cute, especially for a buck, and would make excellent Christmas gift bags. Naturally, I had to get four of each of the rest of the items to round things out, except for the plates. Harrison got a choice between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Planes, and since
he just saw Planes at the movie theater, he went with that option. As the only boy among three girls
and being a quadruplet, I'm always keen on giving Harrison a choice or selecting boyish items for him when the girls are given girly things. He has no problem watching Frozen almost daily and having tea parties with pink tea cups, but he sure does love his big toy trucks, footballs, baseballs, dinosaurs and Paw Patrol!
It was my first trip to Target with all four in tow by myself and I
completely spaced on taking a photo! Next, I grabbed a Sonic Coke to satisfy my carbonation craving and we headed over to a local park near our house for some outdoor play time. The kids really needed to run around and work off some energy and there was a decent breeze blowing from my shaded bench seat. Although I think most of my time was spent pushing swings, and I didn't mind for a second. It was a clear, sunny afternoon and we had the park all to ourselves—which made it easy for me to keep an eye on everyone.
Lunch was a quick meal of organic hot dogs, veggie chips and oranges, immediately followed by naps. Each of the kids picked out one of their new Frozen books we'd gotten at Target earlier and headed upstairs to their rooms. No one complained when I told them to have a good nap and shut the doors behind me! I spent the afternoon cleaning up, eating lunch, answering emails and working, running laundry and began setting out a few things for an upcoming trip. Before long, naps were over and our high school helper from church—she comes one or twice a week in the afternoon for two to three hours—arrived to assist me just in time for water coloring. The quads had done finger paints and brush paints before, but this was a slightly new concept and they loved it! I'm saving the papers and will laminate them once dry and create keepsake bookmarks for myself and some family members. It's often what my own mom did with some of our artwork, and I bet she even still has some in use all those years later.
The sky has been gathering piles of dark gray clouds all day but with no promise of rain, creating weather that's tamed the humidity just a bit and kept the heat hovering around 90 degrees. It takes forever for the Dallas-area to cool off and find it's way to true fall and winter temperatures. Despite the un-autumn like conditions, I've finished all our fall decor and hope to share that post soon. Whenever we venture outside, the kids have enjoyed playing with mini pumpkins I've kept stashed on the front porch.
For now, water coloring was a great activity for indoors. After their masterpieces were complete, the kiddos hung out in the play room while I prepped food. One dinner for all six of us, four baths and two showers later, we've reached the end of the day. No big surprise that it's taken me hours to compile this post!
My energy is now officially spent and that big ol' bed is calling my name as is the latest installment of The Tonight Show that's sitting in my DVR. (Have you seen Jimmy Fallon on there? He's rockin' it, so hilarious!) Time for my toes to retreat from the carpet back into the comfort of my bed and my favorite grey-blue sheets...