Our Weekend...

I do love a good weekend. Especially when it kicks off with wine and girlfriends! Which is exactly how mine started off Friday evening. The husband got home from work, took over quad duty and popped a pizza in the oven for dinner and I headed to a friend's house for some vino, food and relaxing with some of my BFF's. Known the girls in the photo below for more than 20 years!

Saturday morning began slow enough, with no further plans whatsoever for our weekend. The husband and I hadn't even gotten out of bed, when I told him that I'd really been wanting us to take the kids to the zoo together and perhaps we could go soon. He pulled up the website on his phone and noticed that kids two and under were free. Since the quad squad turns three next month—eek! and birthday plans are in the works!—we both threw off the covers and hit the ground running. Impromptu zoo day! I packed lunch for six and grabbed our souvenir zoo cups from our last trip we took two whole years ago, which turned out to still be good for $1 refills...score! Trystan had been the only kiddo awake that whole time so she palled around with us while we prepped, but we had to wake up the other three who were still sleeping at 10am! I seriously have sleepy head babies.

Highlights at the zoo included the moment we were at the gorilla exhibit and the big guy lumbered out right in front of the window we were all watching from, sat down to eat his celery stick and Harrison appeared completely unimpressed, shrugged and said, "I wanna see somethin' else." Kids!

They enjoyed petting the goats in the children's area until Trystan got head butted over by one, which the husband and I both found way more hilarious than she did! That night I asked Logan what her favorite part of the zoo was and she said, "The fa-mingos! And they were pink!" Girl has her priorities. ;)

We took pictures of the kids with the dinosaur sculpture before we made our exit at the end of the trip and Kailey ran right up to it's face and roared at it with all her might, then stuck her head in its mouth and requested a photo. Next she began singing a rocked-out version of Old MacDonald while she climbed onto the dino's tail before raising one arm up in the air and yelling "yee haw!" All of this was within a 10-second time span. She was tired but wired, to say the least!!

Fortunately, since everyone was so well rested they lasted the day very well. We stayed at the zoo for about four hours, I think, and the quads loved it all! Our pair of twin strollers made it easy to maneuver the place, even though they left both our calves and quads feeling like we'd hit the gym instead. Pushing 60+ pounds of kids in each stroller uphill and down bumpy paths is work! They walked some of the time and got in and out often, depending on what exhibit we were at and how crowded it was. We found the perfect shaded lunch spot and then reclined the seats on the strollers so the kids could lay down and rest for a few minutes while we scoured the map and made our way to the other size of the zoo for the last half of the afternoon.

Feeling empowered by a successful zoo trip, we opted to drive by my parents house and surprise them for a visit. Unbeknownst to them, we came with tentative plans to stay for dinner and be the guests that stick around for awhile. They didn't mind! The kids played and played outside between all the walkways in the backyard, the custom oversized sandbox that Louis Dean built and the gazebo where my parents sit nearly every morning and evening. The husband picked up a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner—something we hadn't eaten in years!—and we all ate on the back patio in the cool air. Then we gave the kids baths and dressed them in fresh clothes before making our way home. By then we were all exhausted, so we quickly got the quads in bed then took hot showers and watched an episode of CSI Cyber before drifting off to sleep.

By some miracle, we made it to church only 15 minutes late despite our tardy wake-up time—and mom and I nearly matched with our zebra stripes! The husband said we must've still had "zoo" on the brain. Church was a really empowering sermon that reminded us to set a good and positive example to all those around us as someone is always watching! My parents joined us at our house for lunch afterward (I love family lunches on Sundays) and I made steamed carrots, sweetened with brown sugar and a little butter, pasta with olive oil and seasonings, salad and pan-cooked chicken. I seasoned it with ginger, salt, pepper, orange peel, fresh orange juice and honey...turned out delish!

Naps followed so the husband and I could tackle a few to-do items on our lists while the kids slept, but unfortunately Kailey didn't comply and played for awhile then screamed and cried until I got her out of her room. I finished our meal plan and grocery list for the week then took Kailey and Trystan with me to Target, got a much needed coke and cruised the aisles. I had to keep things moving to prevent Kailey from having a meltdown but got it done!

Back at home, the kids all emptied my shopping bags for me and set all the groceries on the counters, which they absolutely love doing because it seems to make them feel very important! I managed to clean and disinfect every shelf in the fridge before putting all the fare away and we made quick work of dinner and bedtime. Whew!

Monday morning was a busy one and I've got some recipes, crafts and an exciting update to share this week—more soon!

Happy National Sibling Day & Quad Squad Update

While families can be a strange bunch, they'll always be just that—family. I'm so glad that my kiddos will have a strong sibling bond and we celebrate that just a tiny bit more on days like National Sibling Day.

The kids are growing up! They'll be three next month and I just can't believe it.

Personalities have matured exponentially, grown wings and taken flight. Trystan is still a sweet little redhead with a twang to her words; Kailey is head strong, independent and literally never quits (and is the reason I'm so tired much of the time!); Harrison is a loving, sweet, laid back and very intelligent boy; and Logan is a caretaker, cleaner upper and thoughtful. All take initiative to do things on their own, whether it's work out a new toy or clean up a mess in the house. Harrison grabbed the broom and dust pan the other day and actually managed to sweep up some goldfish he'd spilled! They know where some of their snacks are and retrieve them on their own for a post-nap nosh. They pick out their clothes to wear for the day about 80 percent of the time. They sit in grown-up chairs around our grown-up kitchen table and the mess has definitely improved. They get out and put away their own coloring papers and crayons and are much more interactive about what they want to do and play with. Other chores they do around the house: set the table with napkins, utensils and milk cups, clear their dishes from the table and empty them into the sink and put their milk cups on the counter, help empty the dishwasher, take out the trash and put in new trash can bags, pick up clutter from the floor and put into toy bins, pull the sheets and pillow cases of their beds to prep for new ones, fold towels from the laundry, spray and wipe down the table and clean windows. Their language has also improved drastically over the past several months and we carry on conversations all the time!

More importantly, they are potty trained! We chose to approach it very casually and gradually, introducing the toddler potties, then the act of going, followed by underwear and actually wearing it for small increments of time. We use Target-brand training pants for nap time and some outings, though they're continuing to improve so we opt for under wear for car rides and outings much more. And we still use Huggies overnight diapers for sleeping because there's no way I can expect them to stay dry at the moment with as much as they pee while they sleep (which averages 10-12 hours). At first we were asking them every flippin' two minutes if they needed to pee. Now it's every 20-30 minutes or so and they initiate it most of the time, thankfully. Accidents still happen (probably 1-3 times a day among all four) and we just try to take it in stride. Extra pants stay in my bag and a potty stays in the back of the suburban as well, so we're never stuck somewhere without options! Hello peeing in the parking lot.

Naps are, sadly, not what they used to be. Originally, I'd get an incredibly awesome three-hour break in my day because they'd easily spend that amount of time playing and sleeping in their rooms. Now it tops out at about an hour and a half, since they typically play for a few minutes then snooze for an hour then scream through the crack at the bottom of the door. Since both the kids and our daily schedule stays much busier than before, this isn't the biggest issue but it is when they fight it and refuse to nap (Kailey). She becomes downright difficult if she doesn't get at least an hour. I shudder at the thought!

Outings are soooo much more frequent than ever before. I take all four places by myself all the time—usually Target, Costco, the grocery store, play dates, the library, our local park. I'm still hypersensitive when I'm alone with the quads since I'm vastly outnumbered and they're quick as hell sometimes! We tend to go in the mornings when everyone's happiest, though afternoon outings are fine too as long as everyone's napped and we have snacks in tow.

Right now, our daily schedule looks something like this:

8:30am - wake up, potty and underwear on...unless we're going somewhere, the kids sleep till they wake up. occasionally this is as late as 9:30 or 10am!

9-10am - breakfast....I'm always cooking—check out some of our go-to meals!—so we take our time. If we have somewhere to be, we'll opt for Nutrigrain bars or something quick they can scarf down or even eat in the car

10am-12pm - free play time (coloring, blocks, legos, baby dolls, backyard playground, chalk, dress up, lacing shapes, crafts, puzzles, flash cards, etc.) or we go on an errand or to the gym and they play at the kid's club. Occasionally we'll change things up and head to the mall for play time at the kid's area and grab lunch at the food court in between a quick stop at a store or two.

12-1pm - lunch

1pm - naps (it could take an extra 30 minutes to get everyone situated due to continuous trips to the potty or if we're late getting home from somewhere)

3:30pm - get up from naps, change back into undies and go outside to play or do a group craft. I also allow a TV show or two in the afternoon if we're just hanging out. (Our favorites include Paw Patrol, Bubble Guppies, Mickey Mouse, Tumble Leaf, Shaun the Sheep, Daniel Tiger and a new addition, Super Why.) The kids also hang out with me in the kitchen and help empty the dishwasher and watch me prep dinner or help throw clothes into the dryer and such.

7pm - dinner. Always a family event! Family dinners are very important both to myself and the husband and the kidsddddfcfghy261seem to treasure the experience, as well. Every time we sit down, Logan will smile and say, "We're all eating together as a family!" And of course, dinner always gets dessert.

7:30-8:30pm - play time, baths, change into pajamas and hang out with daddy. Since the husband usually doesn't get home until right at dinner time (or even later if he's working late), this is a special time for us all to be together and hang out. We read books, talk about our day's events and start the bedtime process.

8:30-9pm - bedtime. This has started to take awhile between lingering over books, brushing everyone's teeth and, again, repeated trips to the toilet. Ay yi yi! It's enough to make me want to pull my hair out some days but we try to grit our teeth and plow through.

So that's the typical schedule we follow, with exceptions for activities we choose to do. Monday's the kids go to Mother's Day Out (sort of like an introduction to pre-school) and on Wednesday they spend the day at my mom's house. Those days are both awesome because I get invaluable time to myself to run errands solo, knock out cleaning and work in peace on my computer at home! (I still write articles for magazines and books on a freelance basis.)

Got questions? Want to hear more about a particular topic? Dying to see posts on something special? Drop a line in the comments!

And don't forget to hug your siblings!

{Tyke Bites} Five Tot-Friendly School Lunches

Since the kids started Mother's Day Out and go one day a week, I've been prepping lunch for them to take to school. It took a little getting used to because I had to pack stuff that didn't need to be warmed up and that they can easily eat with little assistance since they aren't at home. Even with just one lunch (or four, depending on how you look at it) to pack per week right now, I'm always thinking of stuff that's a little outside the norm—since the latter tends to be a PB and honey sandwich or lunch meat and cheese. I'm no nutritionist and though we try to eat healthy around here, some meals contain extra carbs or typical kid fare. Regardless, here's five lunches that went over quite well with the kiddos and the lunch boxes came back empty!

peanut butter & honey sandwich squares, whole grain goldfish (with a gummy worm hidden in the mix!), all natural white cheddar cheetoh puffs, cherries, cheese stick and honest juice pouch 

Seasoned black beans, homemade guacamole, half banana and white corn chips

elephant-shaped grilled cheese, chex mix, greek goddess yogurt, rice krispie treat, veggie/fruit squeeze pouch and honest juice pouch

whole wheat toast pizzas (all natural pepperoni, pizza sauce and mozz cheese - was out of pitas and tortillas!), strawberries, raisin and nuts with a few m&ms

cheese quesadillas (brushed thin layer of coconut oil on outsides of tortilla, sandwiched shredded cheese in the middle and cooked on pan until brown), half a cliff zbar for kids (granola bar) and strawberries

And I'm always looking for new ideas, so please share some of your fave lunches (adult-friendly lunches too!) in the comments section...

Our Easter Weekend

The husband and I have decided that holidays are infinitely more exciting now that we have kiddos. It's true! Everything holds so much more magic and charm when you're simultaneously enjoying a family-laden holidays while watching your children discover new things, open packages and participate in new experiences with wide-eyed delight.

This Easter started off first thing Saturday morning as we whisked the kids downstairs for a quick breakfast and then off to our church for a tot-friendly egg hunt. They got to see the Easter bunny, sing fun songs in the sanctuary and even watch a brief performance by a bubble lady before we headed outside for the goodies. We had to remind them not to open the eggs as they went but rather toss them in their baskets and move on to the next one then look at their loot later!

We'd already done more in a morning then we typically do on a weekend so we opted to head for the park and enjoy the sunshine. I've got one handsome husband! He loved getting to see how great the kids had gotten at climbing, sliding and swinging.

Kailey tried giving momma a push on the swing and I think I only knocked her over five times. She's a feisty one!

We picked up fried chicken on the way home for an indulgent lunch, then put the kids down for naps while the husband and I tackled a few things around the house. He put down new grass in the whole front yard last week! It's looking awesome, and he put the leftover grass in the backyard while I baked a cake to take to my mom's house. The quads refused to nap and it was a rather painful afternoon, so we finally gave up, got everyone dressed and grabbed our 96 stuffed Easter eggs for an evening at my parent's house. They were thrilled to see their cousin Rayne and put their egg hunt skills to the test again!

It was a late night, but one well enjoyed, and the kiddos fell asleep super fast—thank God! There's nothing worse than a cranky, overtired toddler. Or momma, for that matter. I got some sleep then woke up early to put their Easter baskets together, bake another cake for our dinner later in the afternoon, pick up the house, run some laundry, clean the play room, stuff Easter eggs for one last hunt and so on. A mother's work is never done or so the saying goes right!?

The Easter baskets were an awesome gift from my sister-in-law and I filled them with lots of good finds from Target's dollar section as well as some homemade bunny crayons, a Paw Patrol toy for Harrison, cute little straw fedoras from Target and bandaids. Which were arguably the top gift in the lot. (We're crazy about bandaids in a major way over here.)

We made hash browns, scrambled eggs and turkey bacon for breakfast and let the kids go through their baskets as soon as they came downstairs. Pure excitement!

Despite running late, we made it to church in time for a wonderful worship service that literally brought me to tears. There was a song that told the story of Jesus' sacrifice and I became so overwhelmed by His love for us. I felt reminded that He sees each of us in our daily lives, with both our small struggles and our big ones. He is aware of everything and never leaves our side. God is truly good...

After church, we snacked for lunch and the kids went down for naps while I frosted a homemade Peeps and egg cake with shredded coconut, which the kids were pumped about having!

The husband's brother, Uncle Mark (below left), joined us and their parents for Easter Sunday dinner. The guys all hid eggs in the play room while the quads napped since it was rainy and muddy outside. Didn't seem to matter one bit, the hunt was a hit! They loved finding hidden goodies among all their toys.

The kids all got super cute Easter bags with more fun things from their grandmommy, including some adorable stuffed bunnies, books, coloring pages, a bunny movie and more. 

It was really a great Easter weekend and we continued to talk about the reason for the season with the quads on and off throughout. We want them to have fun and enjoy all the mainstream stuff, but to also understand who Jesus is, what He did for us and how much He loves us all.