In honor of Thursday, it’s time to link up with A Beautiful Ruckus as we recall the little things that brightened our week.

1.  Three times is a charm for scheduling quad play dates.  Since our quad buddies, The Bell Quad Squad, settled into their new home, we’ve been trying to arrange a play date.  Thanks to toddler hood and increased outings, both sets of quads have gotten a few colds, causing us to postpone.  On Monday, it FINALLY happened!  I brought the babies for their first play date in the Bell Romper room (e.g. amazing, over sized quad-proof living room).   The babies and I always enjoy time outside of our home, exploring new places.  There’s no place better to visit than the home of other multiples.  The Bell home is equipped with everything we need from four pack ‘n’ plays to a quad table.  Plus, other parents of multiples are tolerant of multiples.  For example, Amber wasn’t ruffled when three of my four screamed bloody murder after being put down for nap.  Amber and I really enjoyed each other’s company and have exciting plans for another play date in the near future.  Stay tuned for that!

The Quad Squad has many familiar toys and some novel ones too. The babies enjoyed playing with this toy, which is identical to one we used to have (I got antsy and purged it a few months ago). They LOVED seeing it again.

Capturing four toddlers in a single picture proved impossible. This was my best attempt. I spy seven babies and it looks like total mayhem.

For lunch time, each set of quads took turns in the quad table. I thought it was cute how they peered at each other through the bars on the fence as if they were jailbirds.

2.  With the promise of fall weather coming, I brought the babies’ fall clothing boxes down, washed and sorted everything.  My friend, Jen, helped me work on the girls portion Tuesday and I was incredibly thankful for that!  I started going batty trying to match twin sets, coordinated outfits, and sort by size and gender.  With each seasonal change, I find the task of clothing transitions daunting.  At the same time, I am overjoyed with the generosity of our friends and family who clothe our babies with gifts and hand-me-downs.  We are abundantly blessed by others, and in turn we are able to share our things with many other families behind us.

As I sorted, babies had fun jumping onto the clothes pile and carrying items away. Harper was a willing model to try new sizes from our fall collection.

3.  We order many things for our home online these days so we are no stranger to UPS boxes.  This week, I was delighted to find an unexpected delivery all the way from Italy.  My mom’s cousin, Debbie, sent us these stunning blown glass turtle figurines.  She told us that she spotted them in a store front window and immediately recalled our sea turtle story.  There’s nothing that warms my heart more than when seeing sea turtles remind others of our story.

I found the perfect place for our new turtles in the entry way below our family portraits.

4. Since Mason’s plagiocephaly was corrected by his DOC band, he was given a formal assessment by Early Childhood Intervention this morning.  I was so proud of our little man.  He worked very hard to follow directions and scored within his age range or above in all areas.  Therefore, he’s graduated from Early Childhood Intervention services!  Hooray!!!

What brought you joy this week?

hugs,

Amber

P.S. I’d like to extend a thank you to the Itz, Reese, Clements, McKenzie, Lawson, and Parr families for sharing their clothes with us!  You should be seeing some of your clothes show up on our babies in the near future.