The Elf..revealed

My Chloe has been freaked out by The Elf on the Shelf since last Christmas.

So, we definitely did not even try it again this year. In early December, we were at Kevin's sister's house for her newest daughter's baptism lunch, and her middle daughter was running around holding their Elf on the Shelf doll. Chloe kept telling me that the elf was not going to be able to go back to the North Pole because Mae was touching it (which, according to the book, is against the rules). I just kept changing the subject.

Then a couple of days later, we came home late and with it being dark in the house, Chloe asked me to turn on the light in the living/play room before she'd go in there. I told her that there was nothing to be afraid of and to just go on in and turn them on herself because I was trying to get Mary Britton settled. Well, she just wouldn't go in there. She finally told me, through tears, that Mia had told her that Cindy, the Elf on the Shelf, was in there waiting for her. (That stinker!)

So, she was officially freaked out...again.

I had to make an executive Mommy decision and tell her the truth about Cindy the Elf. I just couldn't let her be tormented by her anymore. So, as I am trying to explain to her that Cindy is not real (like Santa) but that she was a doll and it is all part of a game, she kept saying:

Chloe: "No! It's not true! Where did she go at night when we were sleeping?"

Me: "Nowhere. She stayed here in our house because she is a doll."

Chloe: "Well, how does she end up in a different spot each day?"

Me: "Moms and Dads move her."

Chloe: "Where did she go when you told her to leave last year?"

Me: "Wal-Mart."

She was so confused, but after we talked it out, she finally believed me.

I was nervous that it was a slippery slope of a topic, but I just couldn't watch her get so upset about a little bendable felt-covered, rubber-faced doll anymore.

A Gingerbread Village...really...

Kevin might be the most fun dad on the planet. He is always cooking up fun things to do with his gaggle of girlies.

(For instance, tonight he spent a half hour having a tea party with Quinnie and her new tea set from Santa.)

A few weeks ago, Kevin decided that he wanted to build not a gingerbread house, but a gingerbread village with our girls. I quickly told him that this was "his thing"...because if it was up to me, I'd go to Target and buy the boxed kit. He agreed and started making plans. He asked the girls to draw up some blueprints:

Then they began making the gingerbread pieces---walls, roofs, etc. Everyone was very "helpful" in this part of the process (smile):

we had to strip Quinn down to her diaper for this kind of job!

some of the walls

"Is it ready yet?"

look what we found in Day 4 of our Advent calendar box---a little gift from Quinnlan---gingerbread dough

A few days later, I got Quinnlan the Destroyer out of the house so Daddy, Mia and Chloe could start the assembling and decorating...wow...pictures can only describe the mess/chaos/fun that was had by all:

I am in love with this fabulous father, and they sure are too!

Forgiveness

My sweet Chloe came to me a couple of days ago with the look on her face that she normally reserves for when she is in a crowd of people that she doesn't know. It is her nervous face. So, I was a little confused in why she was making it around me in the kitchen while I was making dinner. So, I stopped and asked her why she was acting like that. She then proceeded to tell me some really random statements:

"I sometimes spit in the sink." (OK)

"At school our teacher gave us candy corn and I didn't like it so I went to the bathroom and spit it out." (Uh-huh)

So I asked her what was really going on. Why was she telling me all of this?

Then her bottom lip began to tremble and this is what she said:

"Mommy, remember the other night when we were reading at bedtime and you asked me if had just spit on my bed or if I had blown my nose?" (Vaguely. I know this sounds very weird, but I had seen her spit before on the floor INSIDE the house and after I flipped out about how gross that was, she told me she had had a bad taste in her mouth...)

"Well, I told you I was blowing my nose, but I actually had spit on my bed. I'm sorry!" And at this point she burst into tears. She told me she had been thinking about it for a month! Poor thing.

So, I scooped her into my arms and we sat on the kitchen floor and I told her how that nervous feeling she had came from Jesus guiding her to do the right thing. I also told her that I knew it took a lot of courage to come to me about this and how proud I was of her for being honest. I then told her that, of course, I forgave her and that if she wanted to pray right there and ask for forgiveness from our Heavenly Father we could and she prayed right there and I could visibly see the weight being lifted from her shoulders.

It was such a special moment as well as a teachable moment...I was able to tell her that our God loves her so much that he sent Jesus to us at Christmas so many years ago so that we could have the opportunity to experience forgiveness.

Isn't forgiveness and amazing thing?

How I love that precious girl.

Oh, and by the way, the next day she comes home and guess who is December's Student of the Month?!?! CHLOE! My twins are back-to-back Students of the Month! I am ONE PROUD MOMMA!

My very 1st Student of the Month

Yesterday, as I went to open our front door to welcome Mia and Chloe home from school, I see Mia tearing across the yard with the biggest GRIN on her face and she was shouting, "Mommy! I'm Student of the Month!" I think I puffed up a bit right along with her at this pride-inducing news!

I have heard about this exciting honor since their classmate was chosen last month and had his picture on the bulletin board at the front of the school for ALL to see. Mia was practically bouncing hoping that she would one day be up on that board (she thrives on praise).

After I hugged her tight and told her how proud I am of her, I looked for Chloe to see how she was handling this first time of one sister being chosen and not the other. (I have spent their lives trying to make sure that everything is fair-and-square.) I was thrilled to see a grin just as big as Mia's on her sweet face! She was puffed up and so proud of Mia just like this Mama!

When she had put her school things away, she went and sat at the kitchen table and was just looking out the window with her hands cupping her chin and she said to no one in particular,

"I just feel so special!"

Well, honey, you ARE so special! Way to go!

Can I do this???

Not alone.

That is the answer that keeps coming to me as I pray each day for

energy

patience

stamina

grace

with my job as a stay-at-home-mom to these 4 precious girls that God has entrusted to our care.

Wow. What a HUGE responsibility that is!

I have been feeling overwhelmed lately with the thought of raising 4 girls. I guess it's not just the thought of raising 4 girls...pretty much anyone can do that. But I want to raise them WELL. (or at least raise them without them having to see a therapist as a grown-up)

Sometimes, I look around me and see 2 six year olds playing easily together either inside or outside...sometimes they are arguing or fighting and I have to step in, but overall they are pretty independent.

If you think they look cute above...here is what they look like many times a day (fighting over something silly)!

I tend to think...how great is that? They can go outside alone and play. I can shower or (if I've had a rough night with Mary Britton) take a nap and I can trust them to watch a movie and not get into any trouble. But then I begin to think...oh no...they are getting older and as they get older, there comes more pressures from outside the home. Pressure to be more like the kids they may be around at school that may have families that don't have the same values as our family. Then I begin to wish that they could just stay little and let us be their main influence...not their friends, not TV. But, then I just have to continue to pray for that hedge of protection from Jesus to surround them and shelter them.

Then I look and see a 2 year old that is the center of attention right now in our home. You can not miss her...she makes sure of that! We call it "The Quinnlan Show."

Her older sisters think she hung the moon (and she feels the same way). They play with her and they laugh at her and they also coax her into doing things she probably shouldn't do...just because it's funny that she is FEARLESS. She's the one that is exhausting me at this time in my life.

Then there's Miss Mary Britton.

The 12 week old baby girl that just goes with the flow. When I was pregnant with her, I prayed that God would give us a baby that was laid back and could just fit into our family seamlessly and that is exactly what He did. She naps a LOT in her carseat and I feel really guilty about that. But, I cannot just be homebound like I was with the twins. There is too much to get done in the day. She has begun to laugh and smile more which incredibly brightens my day, so I feel like she is actually thankful for all those sleepless nights I am enduring. (They are getting better, though they can be sporadic.)

My guilt lies in the things that I did with the twins that I have not done as much with Quinn (reading as many books, playing pretend as much, etc.) or Mary Britton (I think she'd be thrilled to just sleep in a crib every once in awhile!). I don't know if a mother's guilt ever goes away. Isn't the mother the one that people always talk to their therapists about???

Great...

I was talking to Kevin about all of this last night and he made a good point. I think I will not feel as on-edge and paper-thin when I begin to feel rested. I'm just waiting for that...what a dream...

On that note, I'd better go to bed...who knows what the night (and Mary Britton) will hold this night?

Why?

Sometimes, on "this side of the Kingdom" (as my sweet husband puts it), we have to ask that question...

Why, God, why?

When God allows a single 17 year old girl to become pregnant and then in her 8th month, bring that sweet baby boy back home to Him, we have to ask that question.

Loudly.

Tearfully.

No woman should ever have to experience childbirth without the ecstasy of holding that precious warm bundle at the end of her labor...much less a teenager. Does a grown woman have what it takes to deal with this kind of tragedy? If that is a valid question, then how does a virtual child?

I am heartbroken for my sister-in-law. Our nephew, Levi, has been back in Heaven worshipping our Heavenly Father for the past week and a half. He never knew this world except through the muffled sounds of being in utero.

When I saw this beautiful baby boy, he was tiny, but he was fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator.

I am given comfort as I picture Levi being greeted at Heaven's gates by our Saviour as well as our baby, his cousin, that has been there since 2007.

Please pray for Alex as she has to face the loss of a child at the tender age of 18.

Attack of Quinnzilla

Now that things have calmed down a bit, I can write about our first week home with our new baby. To say that Quinnlan had a hard time adjusting to no longer being the "baby" of the house is an understatement. She had spent the last 2 years being completely spoiled...her big sisters pretty much gave (and still do) her anything she wants and she loved that role. Then here comes this little bundle that requires a lot of attention (taking some away from her) and I guess she figured action needed to be taken to re-establish her place!

When we had been home just a couple of days, I had all 4 girls in bed with me in my new room as I was nursing Mary Britton. We were all cuddled up and watching some kid show on PBS and I was thinking, "This is so nice...I love my little family of girlies." When I finished feeding the baby, I remembered that I needed to call the company that made our video monitor because it was no longer working to see about getting a replacement still under warranty. So, when I called, they said they needed the number on the back of the monitor, which was downstairs. So, I took the baby with me downstairs for a maximum of 5-6 minutes as I got the number for the lady on the phone and as I went back upstairs, Quinn met me in the hallway upstairs with a Sharpie in her mouth saying, "Ta-Da!"

Oh. No.

I grabbed her arm and ran into my room (remember, my NEW room that Kevin had just redone for me???) and she had scribbled on:

-the hardwood floor

-the white bed skirt

-the wall

-the back of the bathroom door

-the white duvet cover

-the quilt at the end of the bed

-the pack-n-play

-the upholstered chaise lounge chair

-and all over herself

all in a matter of 5-6 minutes!

Where were Mia and Chloe, you may ask? Oh, they were still on the bed in a comatose state watching TV!!!

I completely LOST IT. I drug Quinnie to her room and shut the door for about 10 minutes so I wouldn't do something I might regret to her :)

I think Mia and Chloe were scared because I am not a "screamer", but I was that day! I could not believe that neither of them saw the toddler walking around drawing on everything with a PERMANENT MARKER!

I called Kevin hysterical and he thought I had dropped the baby on her head or something...I was bawling. As I tried to explain to Mia and Chloe, what if someone gave you a new present that you loved and then someone broke it a couple of days after you hadn't even had a chance to really enjoy it? Who knows if that went over their 6 year old heads...

Good news is that we were able to get it off the floor, the wall, and the bathroom door...we are still working on the cloth pieces...the chair is ruined. Ugh. Maybe a throw blanket can be placed at the end of it to cover it up?

I guess we learned our lesson of leaving Quinnzilla alone with two 6-year-old babysitters (with the TV on).

Or...maybe not.

A couple of days later, I had gotten all 3 girls ready for church and Kevin was about to get in the shower while I planned on napping with the baby with the house quiet while everyone was at church.

As I am almost asleep, I hear Kevin freaking out downstairs.

So much for my quiet naptime...

He brings Quinn upstairs and was putting her in the bathtub. He had gone down to the office in the basement for a minute and, like my mistake, had left all 3 girls watching TV. When he came up, Quinn had pooped in her diaper and had put her hand in it and wiped it all over the couch, the carpet,and had HER HAND IN HER MOUTH!!!

One word...Gross.

So, instead of heading off to church, Kevin headed to Home Depot for a steam cleaner.

Thankfully, she has been an angel since that 1st week. I think we all learned a lesson that week!

Here are some pics of our resident artist at work...the RIGHT way (sort-of):

Good thing she's a cutie...I guess we'll keep her :)