New pictures that were requested

Here are the new pictures. Notice the size difference between Marie and Peter.

I like Peter!

Ok, I also adore Richard, Audrey, and Marie! I love them all. You know you love your kids differently, because they're all different. However, I honestly feel I love them all with the same intensity.
On the other hand, Marie gets a LOT of love at our house. Richard and Audrey FIGHT over who gets to "see" Marie. I hear "Mommy, Audrey won't let me see Marie! It's my turn!" I say, "Richard, why don't you come look at Peter." "Because I want to see Marie! She's so cute!"
At church I had a woman say, "He's cute and all, but I just love Marie! She's so little!" Another man said, "I know you're not supposed to have favorites, but I've picked mine! She's just adorable!"
Ok, I won't dispute that she's adorable. I don't want her to be ignore either. However, Peter is adorable as well! He's going to grow up with a complex because his own siblings don't want to interact with him. I feel like I need to pay special attention to him since Marie gets so much attention from everyone else. He's so quicky to smile at anyone paying attention to him. He loves to be played with. I'm not sure why my kids are so much more drawn to Marie.

a yard

We are finally getting a fence! I'm so excited! Richard is so excited! We're both excited that when he says, "Mommy, I want to go outside and play" that I can say, "OK!"
They'll start next week.
I've started talking to people who do other landscaping stuff and we'll see how far our budget lets us go. We really need to redo the sprinklers or grass will die because of where the fence is put. However, it would be fun to be able to do more.
Yea!

He comes home today

Scott comes home today! Well, by the time he actually gets home, it will be tomorrow. However, I don't care! I've had so much help today from people at church, that I survived. I never could have had all four kids under control by myself. Thanks to all those wonderful people who step up and volunteer to help me. I'm excited to not have to put all four kids to bed by myself every night. I'm excited to not be all alone at night. I don't know how single mothers do it day after day.

Fruits and Vegetables

I have quite the appetite lately. I've decided that I can't just eat grains, sweets, etc. to fill myself up. I need to just expand the food pyramid. Which means, I need to also eat more fruits and vegetables. I am very blessed to have a store close by that has AMAZING produce for really cheap. I've been able to get a huge variety. The latest amazing deal has been asparagus. That's pretty good stuff! I also have enjoyed making smoothies out of the blueberries and blackberries I've found. I have even discovered that red, orange, and yellow peppers can be pretty good in recipes! I have still yet to aquire a great liking for the green variety, but I've actually stocked up and am freezing the other three colors so I'll have them on hand!

the war on socks

Peter has figured out how to take the socks off his hands, and he does it all the time! So, he now has fresh scratches all over his head and face from last night when I would take more than 10 seconds to come in and get him when he woke.

I'm all alone

there is no one beside me (think donkey from Shrek).

Scott left on a business trip today to Houston. He'll be gone until Sunday night. I'm so glad my sister came over today and that one of my best friends called me today and that I went visiting teaching today! At least I had a pretty good amount of adult interaction today.
Tomorrow may be a different story. We'll survive, though. We always do!

75 in 10,000

babies are smaller than Marie! The babies just had their four month check-up. Marie was 9 pounds 15 ounces, which is in the 0.75%-tile. Yes, she's little. Peter seems so "large"compared to her! He weighed in at a whopping 12 pounds 2 ounces! Brace yourselves for his hugenss! He's in the 4.34%-tile.
So, I like little babies. They wear size 1 diapers for a long time and they are the cheapest. They aren't too heavy to carry. People are amazed to see that someone so little can do so much.
They are healthy, happy and cute!

How do you say thank you?

The babies have regressed in their sleeping abilities lately. Richard and Audrey did the same thing, so it's not totally unexpected. It's just harder to get up every 2-3 hours through the night when there are two babies instead of one. So, I'm tired. Very tired.
My mom and my sister are my life-lines. I count down the minutes to when they'll arrive. I know that once they come, I don't have to bounce two babies on my own while trying to get a two-year-old to the potty. I might actually get a nap so I don't have that fuzzy zombie feeling all day every day. I know my family will be fed a meal that consists of more than just sandwiches or processed foods. I know that someone will play patty-cake with Marie and Peter and that someone will read books to Audrey. Someone will watch Richard play Mario Kart and cheer him on. Someone will listen to me talk and I don't have to just have conversations about why we need to share, be nice, clean up our messes, and be respectful. I know someone will bounce babies so I can play games with Richard, read books with Audrey, and, heaven forbid, do something for myself like exercise. I know I'll be able to exercise continuously rather than stopping every 5 minutes to help someone. I know my kitchen floor that wasn't mopped in two months will finally get cleaned. I know I can go to the grocery store or some other store without four children.
So, how do I say thank you for all their hours of service? How do I truely express my gratitude to those who selflessly give of their time week after week? I would survive in the basest sense of the word without them, but they allow me to actually live. How do you pay back their kindness? I feel like just saying, "Thank you" is not enough, but since I haven't vacuumed my house in over three weeks, I don't have a lot time to create something. I'm not even sure what I could create that could do my feelings of gratitude justice.
I also need to recognize a member of my ward that takes all four of my children once a week for a couple of hours so I can run errands that are more lengthy. She doesn't even have a vested interest in me and yet she serves me weekly. She told me she was watching my kids and didn't wait for me to ask for help.
So, while I sit here typing, bouncing one baby on each leg and talking to Audrey about macaroni and cheese and watching "It's a Small World," I want to publicly thank my Mom and my sister. They are angels. They don't have to do what they do and yet they feel I'm important enough to make sure I have sanity. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I know my other sisters would do more if they could. I recognize that. However, I have been so overwhelmed lately that I just need to let the readers of my blog know who really keeps me sane. I wish everyone had as much charity and love as these women in my life.

Do Americans Cherish Freedom Anymore?

Chuck Baldwin is is a has just put a posted a great article on his site. An excerpt is below.

I am often guilty of using the term "freedom-loving Americans." But I think the question now needs to be asked, Do Americans really cherish freedom anymore? I believe an argument could be made that not many do. In fact, I doubt that most Americans today remotely understand what freedom--as envisioned by our Founding Fathers--even is.

I would argue that most of us don't know what true freedom is and are oblivious to the fact that America is no longer "free" in the sense the Founders had originally envisioned.

What's under the house?

The other day, Richard asked me, "Mommy, what's under the house and the pipes and the streets? What is under all the dirt?"

Well, I have this book about the earth I got from my sister when she had too many points from selling books through book orders at school. So, I've been doing my best to go through this book and teach Richard about the earth's core, volcanoes, plate tectonics, weather patterns, ecosystems, the food chain, etc. 

Every night now it's, "Mommy, can we look at the book about what's under the world?" I'm amazed that he even thought to ask that question! Now I just hope I'm doing a decent job explaining geology and such to a four-year-old.

Audrey's solution

We went to get Richard today from preschool. Audrey wanted to go in and get Richard. I told her she'd be staying in the car, because I would be fast and just pick him up. I said, "I'll go get Richard and be super fast. You'll just stay in the car." She thought for a second and said, "Audee (yes, that's how she says her name) get Richard. Mommy stay in car." Always the problem solver!

Crib

Marie and Peter have finally transitioned to the crib! It's been nice to have our room back. They stopped sleeping as well in their bouncy chairs and so I knew it was time to try. They share a crib right now as they don't move anywhere. One will sometimes have a hard time going to sleep, and so that one will end up on our bed to cry it out. Then, we'll move that one back to the crib for the rest of the night. 

They take much better naps now, and so I've been able to start getting them on a good napping schedule. It's a little trickier getting them to sleep at the same time, but I'm hoping they'll eventually sleep about the same time.

New pictures

I'm just posting updated pictures of Marie and Peter for your viewing pleasure.

Dessert

My kids get dessert at the end of the day if Scott and I feel they deserve it. Various things can cause them to lose that privilege.

#1--Not finishing dinner. Richard doesn't finish or even try his dinner about 50% of the time.

#2--Not keeping underwear clean and dry. Sigh. Yes, Audrey is still having troubles.

#3--Just being so annoying that this is the only thing left I can take away in hopes of changing behavior.

Guess who likes ice cream sandwiches? Guess who didn't finish dinner again?