March for Babies

April 20, 2015April 27, 2015Amber 2 Comments

This year as we prepared for our third March for Babies, I felt compelled to do a little more research about the background. I always knew it was an organization we supported due to our personal experience with premature birth and stint in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, but didn’t know (or perhaps had forgotten) the full history.

The March of Dimes was originally founded by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 as National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP) due to his personal experience with paralysis from polio. Through research grants, the polio vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk, MD and Albert Sabin, MD. Once the original mission as accomplished, the organization later changed its mission to the prevention of birth defects and infant mortality. Since that time, March of Dimes has supported research into the cellular and molecular basis of genetic diseases, developmental processes and abnormalities, and the epidemiology of premature birth to improve medical diagnosis and develop treatments for a wide range of birth defects and developmental disorders.

The March of Dimes is credited with leading the way to discover genetic causes of birth defects, to promote newborn screening, and to educate medical professionals and the public about best practices for healthy pregnancy. They were instrumental in the research for surfactant therapy to treat respiratory distress and helped initiate the system of regional neonatal intensive care for premature and sick babies. These two initiatives were critical to our family since all four babies were born in respiratory distress and immediately admitted to the NICU. Finally, the March of Dimes Folic Acid Campaign achieved a dramatic reduction in the incidence of neural tube defects, birth defects of the brain and spine. Due to my diagnosis of MTHFR, early folic acid supplements helped me carry the quadruplets as long as I did.

Today, the March of Dimes official mission is,

“To improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, infant mortality, and premature birth.”

In case you wonder exactly where donations are used, The March of Dimes spends 76¢ of every dollar raised in March for Babies to support research and programs that help babies begin healthy lives.

This year marked our third year to walk as a family team. Our first walk was a bit impromptu, but we found the walk to be an empowering experience. Last year was the first year we rallied a team to join us and purchased team t-shirts, which gave us a sense of cohesion. This year, I was hesitant to walk knowing George couldn’t join us due to work, but our family and friends promised to help me and rally around our family team. With that spirit, I ordered custom-made t-shirts from Custom Ink that would help identify our team members during the walk. Seeing our small sea of sapphire blue in the crowd warmed my heart and reminded me why we walk each year.

Friends from all aspects of our lives joined us for the walk, and we appreciated their support immensely.

Twins, triplets & quads, oh my!

Unfortunately, Custom Ink didn’t have infant t-shirts available. My artistic friend, Jen, hand painted a custom tank dress for this beauty.

Nisey and Poppa were a huge help to me. Without George by my side, they helped me get everyone ready and off to the walk.

Along with my parents, my sister, sister’s fiance, aunt, and two younger cousins joined us for the walk.

The front of our shirts read, “March for Babies. Saving lives one step at a time.” The back read, “Shawver Quads Family & Friends. March of Dimes 2015.”

I would like to extend a special thanks to our friends and family who supported our March for Babies this year by making a donation to our team, purchasing a team t-shirt, and/ or walking with us. In no particular order: Steve, Denise, Courtney, Matt, Tiffany, Landry, Luke, Haylie, Ryleigh, Jason, Matt, Natalie, Molly, Sadie, Brandi, Garrett, Seth, Terri, A’ Lysia, Emmerson, Mina, Laayla, Jen, Priscilla, Marco, Sydney, Kristen, Alan, Devon, Marianne, George Jr., Carol, Lindsay, Sara, Billie, Guadalupe, and Karen.

hugs,

Amber

Psst…..If you would like to make a donation to our team, it’s not too late! Please visit our team page to make a donation here.

Sources:

History of the March of Dimes

The Origin of the March of Dimes

March of Dimes FAQ’s

March of Dimes Research Breakthroughs

On the Hunt

March 30, 2015March 30, 2015Amber 3 Comments

Since the kids were about 16 months old, I’ve been a member of our local mothers of multiples club. I’ve enjoyed getting to know some of the families with multiples that live within our community via an online group, play dates, and events. The family events are a really nice way to enjoy toddler friendly entertainment nearby while also mingling with the group. This weekend with the help of my friend, Jen, we went to the group’s annual Easter egg hunt.

In the week leading up to the event, we talked about the egg hunt each day. In fact, we got our Easter baskets out of the attic and did a little egg hunting practice at home. We also had fun creating Easter themed crafts (please visit my post on Twiniversity for our craft tutorials). All of this pre-hunt chatter had the kids stoked for the big day. The weather was stunning with sunshine and moderate temperatures.

The event coordinators did a great job organizing everything. They cordoned off parts of the lawn by age group and spread out over 600 eggs! Instead of filling these all the eggs, they set up a prize station where the kids could exchange the eggs for prizes. As we waited for the egg hunt to begin, the kids were entertained with a craft station where they decorated bunnies and eggs.

It was rather impressive how so many little ones stood behind the line awaiting the countdown for the egg hunt to begin. Countdowns can be confusing…Sydney with her newly acquired counting skills counted up from one to ten.

Yes, your eyes are correct, Sydney has a huge bruise on her cheek and a Cinderella tat on her bicep….She looks like a scrapper, I know. Honestly, I don’t know where the bruise came from and the tattoo was a reward for using the potty.

After counting down from ten, it was a mad dash to collect the eggs. The only problem is that my children seemed to think they should only grab their assigned colors, and therefore were off to a slow start. They eventually got into the groove and found plenty.

After the hunt, Harper wasn’t too happy as his allergies flared up from all that time on the lawn.

Of course, snack time brightened everyone’s day. The crew enjoyed packages of Annie’s bunny crackers and applesauce pouches poolside.

If I were left to my own devices, there would have been no pictures of this day. Thankfully, several of the moms at the event and Jen snapped these.

With all of this practice, the quads will be professional egg hunters by Easter Sunday at Nisey’s house.

hugs!

Amber

Class Party

March 15, 2015September 23, 2015Amber 1 Comment

The last time we enjoyed a play date with the Bell Quads, I mentioned feeling a bit sad that my kids don’t have the opportunity for class holiday parties. I don’t know why, that just seems to be something fun for little kids to do. Noting the fact that between us we have a full capacity Mother’s Day Out class, Amber suggested we have a little class party of our own for Saint Patrick’s Day. Brilliant!

Originally, Amber intended to hostess this shindig. However, her crew became extremely ill last month and was under quarantine orders for four weeks! I started feeling a bit loony after our week-long escapade with a stomach bug so I can only imagine what she experienced. I invited the Bells to our house in hopes of providing fresh scenery.

Keeping up with the party theme, I dressed everyone in assorted Saint Patrick’s Day attire. Oddly enough, several of them came from hand me down bins. Amber and her crew also dressed the part in shades of green.

Amber brought themed plates and party decor while I served a green meal. For the main course, I wanted to serve a new family favorite (it is a super easy recipe that also happens to be green in color #WINNER). The recipe originally came from Picky Palate, but my family wasn’t fond of it as is. After making several tweaks to the recipe, I came up with one my family demolishes. Seriously, my kids eat 3-4 servings each when I make this meal so I knew Amber’s kids would approve as well. To make the green menu complete, I served steamed broccoli, a tossed green salad, and key lime yogurt bites.

While I was tossing ingredients together for our class party, I prepped two more batches for freezer meals. We have several friends with new babies, and I know freezer meals are among the most appreciated gifts for new moms. In case you want to give this recipe a spin…

While I plated dinner, Amber introduced paint with water books she scored at Target’s One Spot. It was shockingly quiet as these little artists went to work. It really resembled a little preschool class.

When dinner was ready, both Amber and I marveled at how big our kids have gotten. I couldn’t help but reminisce about our first play date that involved doling out several rounds of bottles, assembling four pack ‘n’ plays, and alternating kids through the quad table. It was A LOT of work in those days. Now the eight of them can gather around a dinner and feed themselves using utensils.

Amber’s party plates were really cute, but I really loved them when it was time to clean up after dinner. I simply tossed eight plates into the garbage instead of washing them. After dinner, the kids spent time in the playroom before we changed all eight into pajamas. And, just like “school” all eight gathered on the playroom rug for story time. It was absolutely precious watching all eight sprawled out or crouched around to listen.

When the bedtime hour approached, the quads bid their buddies farewell with hugs (ADORABLE!). George and I tucked our four in, and then I helped Amber load her crew into the Suburban. I’d say it was a ~~“class party”~~ quad play date success!

Do you celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day?

Hugs!

Amber

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Toddler Beds, Take Two

March 14, 2015June 7, 2015Amber 6 Comments

At the start of the year, Sydney forced us to transition the girls from cribs to toddler beds. Being a daredevil, Sydney escaped from her crib, which meant keeping the girls in cribs was no longer safe. Since the boys are rather mischievous and had not attempted such an escape we kept their cribs intact. I was absolutely content with this arrangement.

Since moving the girls to toddler beds, they’ve done well, but naps are sporadic at best. They tend to gab to each other as if it’s a constant slumber party. Recently, Mason began trying to go to bed in the girls rooms and occasionally asked for a big boy bed. He really tugged at George’s heartstrings on this one. After some thought, George and I decided spring break week would be best for this change. It meant I’d be home all week as we eased into toddler beds.

The day prior to the big change, George inspected the boy’s room for final toddler proofing measures. All furniture was secured to the wall, latches were installed to the closet door and cabinets, electrical cords were secured, outlets covered, blind cords clipped, and the chair removed. George then removed the front panel on both cribs. We introduced the OK To Wake! Owl, and explained that the boys were to stay in bed until the owl illuminated green in the morning.

George read bedtime stories to the crew before tucking the boys into their new beds.

Following story time, both boys scrambled into their respective beds as if they’d done it a million times. It was so easy. Too easy.

Once prayers were said, I flipped off the lights and both boys snuggled under the covers. About 30 seconds after we left the boy’s room, they both came charging into the playroom. I’d forgotten to secure the door knob cover. Once I wrapped it in a few layers of packing tape, they were set for the night. George and I retreated to the den for some television watching and braced ourselves for protest. I checked the baby monitor multiple times, and instead of finding distraught boys, I found two sweetly sleeping boys. Much to my surprise, we didn’t hear a peep out of them until 7:30 am when Mason proclaimed, “It’s okay to wake! The owl is green!!!” I was even more surprised when I found their room totally undisturbed. Though the room was toddler proofed and immediate hazards were removed, I anticipated a few trouble spots. Fully expecting these things, I begged George to install latches on EVERY drawer. His reply, “Let’s see what happens. Give them the benefit of the doubt.” While I want them to learn independence, sometimes my sanity is worth taking extra precautions. I had a little side of crow for breakfast the first morning after toddler beds.

The first day they went down for nap without too much trouble, except they never actually fell asleep. Instead they had great fun swapping beds and playing all sorts of imaginative games. At the end of ~~nap~~ quiet playtime, everything in their rooms was in order.

When I went to get the boys up the second morning, I was greeted with a light citrus fragrance trailing from their room. Undeniably familiar…GermX hand sanitizer. Inside, I found Harper squirting the last few drops of a once full bottle of GermX all over the dresser. It was one germ-free dresser that’s for sure. Aside from the sanitizer, things looked good.

On the third morning, I discovered socks in the diaper champ and diapers/ swim suits strewn about the room. I was fed up with these shenanigans especially considering at least one was preventable with a strong latch. I shot off an angry text complete with pictures for George to see. His reply, “Mismanagement???” Oh no, mister! I was NOT pleased with this response. I wanted some serious latches.

The boys were different size diapers, which meant I had to sort through each one.

On day four, the morning went smoothly even though George hadn’t yet installed any new latches. I crossed my fingers for nap, but it did not go well. About an hour into nap, I heard something suspicious. Harper managed to dismantle the diaper champ and shredded the garbage bag inside. Thankfully I emptied it just prior to nap so there were no diapers inside. I suspected they may put things in the Diaper Champ, but never thought they could take it apart. I ended up locking the Diaper Champ in the closet, scolded the boys, and put them back to bed.

The rest of nap did not go any better, the boys finagled a cabinet door open where George had installed a latch. Once inside the cabinet, they had a hay day scattering undies, socks, and pajamas everywhere. Harper informed me he was making a train. To his credit, he lined the baskets up and it did resemble a train. The only good thing about this mess is that it forced me to do a little spring cleaning.

Despite the now daily shenanigans, George didn’t see a need for additional latches just yet. On the fifth morning of toddler beds, I woke up to find all of the dresser drawers pulled out with pants scattered about the room. The drawers aren’t terribly big, but for toddlers are slightly heavy so George finally agreed to latch them. AMEN!!!!

During nap on day five, Poppa stayed home with the boys so I could run errands. According to Poppa, the boys sounded rather rowdy. When he checked on them, both mattresses were off the beds and the boys were jumping wildly. After a stern talk from Poppa, both boys fell asleep. (I think I need a recording of Poppa telling the boys to go to bed.)

Today was the first morning when things were not in shambles. Instead of trouble, I found Mason holding the owl so it would cast light on the door as Harper created shadow puppets. That charade warmed my heart. The morning was smooth, nap not so much. This time time they removed the sheets from their beds and got into the diapers again.

Desperate for the boys to take a nap, I settled them onto pallets and rubbed their backs to settle them. It worked like a charm!

After a full week of toddler bed mayhem, I harassed George enough for him to install latches on the remaining accessible drawers. Of course, these guys are a clever pair so I’m sure they’ll discover more mischief. At least I can rest knowing we really exhausted all toddler proofing options available, and George can rest knowing I won’t pester him anymore.

Even though the boys have created far more messes than the girls could ever imagine, I have to give them kudos for going to bed easily and staying asleep through the night. The girls keep their room tidier, but getting them to bed is a bit more problematic.

hugs!

Amber

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Frugal for Four

March 9, 2015November 3, 2015Amber 15 Comments

Adding four people to your family at the same time can be quite taxing on finances. In our case, it meant income being reduced significantly with expenses steadily rising. We went on a mission to rethink our spending and find places to pinch pennies. It wasn’t terribly difficult since my own father is extremely thrifty. In an effort to save money, we’ve begun making many of our most used household commodities.

Before the quads were even born, we began using Dad’s recipe to make laundry detergent. We knew four babies would mean exponential growth in laundry and they would need a sensitive formula. We found it surprisingly simple to make and also effective in cleaning our clothes.

To make our detergent, we mix 2 c. Borax, 2 c. Super Washing Soda, 1 bar grated Fels Naptha laundry soap, and 1 bar grated Ivory bar soap. We use a cheese grater to grate the soap, and store in a lidded container. We found it’s easier to grate soap that’s been out of the wrapper and air drying a few weeks ahead of time. Use 2-3 teaspoons per load (tip: a medicine cup is the perfect scoop!) Instead of using fabric softener on the kids’ clothes, we add about 1/4 cup white vinegar to the rinse cycle. It helps remove odors and softens clothes too.

If you prefer a liquid detergent, check out Our Multiples Journey for a similar recipe that results in liquid form. Also, if you’d like step by step directions, please visit The Littlest Lesnaus since Krista uses a similar recipe to us.

Before the babies arrived, we received many packages of diapers and wipes as gifts. It was a huge blessing to us, but we eventually began to deplete our supply, and we also noticed problems with diaper rash. Because of additives and chemicals, our pediatrician recommended we use toilet paper instead of wipes, but I wasn’t a fan of that idea. Consequently, we began making our own baby wipes, which we now prefer to store-bought and we are saving quite a bit of money.

Once the babies began eating solid foods, I made baby food from fresh, frozen, canned, and dairy products. It was surprisingly simple to make, and the babies really enjoyed it. Consuming a lot of produce meant A LOT of washing. That’s when I started using a two ingredient produce wash. It’s simple: one part white vinegar and one part water mixed in a spray bottle.

In addition to using my produce wash for fruit and veggies, I use it to clean toys and sometimes even the counter tops since vinegar contains antibacterial properties and is safe around toddlers. Check out Texas Tales for a few other ways to use vinegar in your home. I started using Amber’s tip of using vinegar/ water for mopping except I add a few drops essential oil for fragrance. Vinegar is also an excellent substitute for dishwasher rinse aid!

It may not be a commodity in everyone’s house, but popcorn is a staple here. It’s a guilt free snack with its high fiber content and ability to fill grumbling tummies. Seriously, it is among my favorite snacks, and most of our friends have been served popcorn at our house one time or another. For me, popcorn is nostalgic. I recall family movie nights with my own parents and we always enjoyed freshly popped popcorn. When I went off to college I developed an addiction to microwave popcorn. I hadn’t mastered the skill of stove top cooking like my Dad, but still wanted to enjoy warm, fresh popcorn. Several months ago, I considered the many additives that likely lurk in microwave popcorn and knew there must be a better option. I still haven’t mastered the art of stove top popcorn popping, but I remembered a trick my sister used when we were kids: lunch sack popcorn. It’s brilliant, and now enjoyed at our house almost daily!

Put 1/2 cup popcorn kernels in a paper lunch sack (large size works best) then roll the top. Microwave 2 minutes (time may vary based on your wattage, ect). Once popcorn is popped, melt about 2 tablespoons coconut oil then drizzle over popcorn and season lightly with sea salt or dry Ranch dressing mix.

With the quads, yogurt is a major commodity for our home. We go through an insane amount of it each day. As in, they ate a large tub just today. My friend, Becky, recently introduced me to Homemade Yogurt. It is simple to make and is definitely a money saver. The only problem is we devour yogurt so quickly I cannot make it fast enough to keep up the pace. Therefore, I only make yogurt when we are running low and won’t have a chance to replenish our stock. It’s nice to have the ability to make yogurt even if we don’t make it regularly, however.

What are your favorite money saving tips? Do you have any great do-it-yourself recipes?

hugs!

Amber

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Cupcake Day

February 3, 2015February 3, 2015Amber 6 Comments

I recently spied an adorable toddler craft that coordinated with one of my favorite childhood books, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Pop by Texas Tales to see the cookie craft that coordinates with the book.

We don’t have If You Give a Mouse a Cookie in our personal library, but we do have If You Give a Cat a Cupcake. And, since my kids absolutely adore cupcakes, they received several other cupcake themed books as gifts. I was delighted to find cupcake shaped foam cut outs and mini glitter shakers at Target’s One Spot last week. With our book collection and craft supplies, I decided we should devote an entire day to the quad’s beloved dessert.

One morning, I enthusiastically announced that it was “Cupcake Day” and told the quads of all our cupcake themed plans. Their eyes glistened in anticipation as their mouths watered at the mere thought of cupcakes. We started by getting dressed for the day. Naturally, the girls wore their cupcake t-shirts.

Once everyone was dressed, we read If You Give a Cat a Cupcake and talked about cupcake toppings before making a cupcake craft. When we do crafts at the kitchen table, I use a lunch tray to contain pieces for each child. It works really well by establishing a boundary for materials and clean up is a cinch.

I’m not ready to let the quads loose with glue so I dotted the glue myself and let them stick the sprinkles, wrappers, and cherries on their cupcakes. Since the glitter shakers were small, they were perfect for the kids to shake without making a huge mess. In fact, I may keep the containers to refill for later crafts.

Making a cupcake craft was fun, but you can’t celebrate Cupcake Day without eating cupcakes, which meant it was time to bake Funfetti cupcakes. I wanted to involve the quads, but knew they’d be impatient with baking. I pre measured everything and gave each one a turn pouring an ingredient into the mixing bowl. Once the batter was mixed, I moved our cupcake pan onto a stool and asked the quads to put liners in each hole.

During naptime, the cupcakes baked then cooled. George arrived home shortly after nap and insisted we make cream cheese frosting for our cupcakes. Even though I didn’t want to deal with frosting mess, he was right, cupcakes are never complete without frosting. It’s the BEST part!

As soon as each cupcake was delicately frosted and accessorized in rainbow sprinkles it was snack time. These cupcakes earned a round of applause. Seriously, the joy harnessed from cupcakes tempt me to celebrate Cupcake Day several times a year!

It’s no surprise, when we asked the quads what color frosting they wanted, the vote was split between blue and pink. Consequently, we frosted half blue and half pink.

What is your favorite dessert? I enjoy a cupcake, but honestly chocolate chip cookies are my weakness, especially when they are warm.

hugs!

Amber

P.S. Did you know National Cupcake Day is December 15th? Either we celebrated very early, or very late…

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Ornaments Up, Ornaments Down

December 30, 2014December 30, 2014Amber 13 Comments

This year marked our first time hosting Christmas with my extended family. With four two-year olds in the house, we knew decorating for Christmas would pose a slight challenge, but we were up for it. Last year, we put our tree up on a sturdy table, and for the most part ornaments were out of reach. It worked beautifully. This year, everyone grew enough that they could reach ornaments even if the tree was raised, and I feared they would tip it over. I refused to put the tree in a room where it would be unseen or to put gates around it. We don’t have the right kind of gates and I was unwilling to make the investment for a short season. Also, I figured someone would tip the gate or scale it anyways. Instead, we decorated the tree with shatter proof ornaments and deco mesh. It really looked beautiful despite being a “kid tree”. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to teach self-restraint and respect. After the tree was up, we taught the quads how to carefully touch ornaments with one finger. They were pretty good about it and usually followed the rule. While the tree was up, the quads took turns snatching ornaments when no one was looking. In those instances, we instructed them to put the ornaments back on the tree. Getting them to replace pulled ornaments proved a lesson in patience and acceptance for me. Though we used shatterproof ornaments, a few perished and some needed hot glue. Aside from the tree, decorations in quad approved areas only included the mantle and nativity. That was all I could handle.

Teaching the quads to respect the tree was a monumental task so presents were stored in the study. We tucked gifts around the tree on Christmas Eve while visions of sugar plums danced in the quad’s heads. When Christmas arrived, our tree albeit rearranged many times over, was still intact and standing proudly. Whew!

Although our tree wasn’t glistening with our favorite blown glass ornaments, I found a place in the dining room for a few heirlooms I wanted to enjoy.

To accommodate a family of 16 adults and 7 children, we moved the high chairs out of the kitchen, and dined with the quads in the play room. This left better dining accommodations for our guests.

Although our living room is small, we managed to cram the entire crew in for gift exchanges. The panorama feature on my phone almost captured everyone. I simply couldn’t move fast enough while being steady to get all 23 of us.

Keeping tabs on everyone during gift opening commanded my full attention so there’s only one photo from the charades:

Minnie Mouse necklaces handmade by Etsy shop, Texas Take

The girls were ecstatic when they opened these Minnie Mouse necklaces handmade by my quad mama friend, Amber. She has an Etsy Shop at Texas Take where similar necklaces are sold.

We did, manage to snap one photo with my parents, sister, and her boyfriend (Matt).

We typically keep our Christmas tree and decorations up until New Year’s Day. It’s so much work putting them out, we like to enjoy them for the full month. This year, I had enough with teaching the quads respect of the Christmas tree and had everything packed up two days after Christmas. In fact, the quads were so talented at ornament removal, they were charged with the task of taking ornaments down for the year. They really enjoyed this “chore” above all others they’ve been given.

I hope your holiday season was a wonderful one and that 2015 brings you peace, hope, and joy!

hugs!

Amber

Annual Sit with Santa

December 7, 2014Amber 7 Comments

When the quads were infants, we were on lock down due to their premature immune systems. Although I wanted them to have keepsake pictures with Santa, it wasn’t worth the risk of taking them out in public. Even lock down couldn’t keep Santa away from the babies. He surprised us with a visit and we captured some adorable keepsake pictures.

Last year, we were still hesitant to take them to wait in long lines and still had lingering fears of germs. Santa was kind enough to drop by our house for a second visit.

I think we’ll always worry a little about germs (the mere thought of FOUR sick kids is horrible), but we are letting go of them to experience the world. This evening they had an opportunity to visit with Santa at our mothers of multiples Christmas party. I’ve seen the classic kids wailing on Santa’s lap pictures, and wondered what the quads would do this year. They didn’t grin for the camera, but not one tear was shed. They treated Santa just like everyone else we meet.

Santa wasn’t satisfied with just visiting the children, and insisted Mom and Dad have a chat too.

Hugs,

Amber

Gateway Church Southlake {A Spot to Visit with Tots}

December 5, 2014December 7, 2014Amber 2 Comments

I’ve found that everyone’s mood and behavior is always best when we play outdoors at least 30 minutes daily. However, sometimes winter weather puts a damper on outdoor play. I’ve been searching for indoor options to help keep everyone active. Thanks to our local mothers of multiples groups, we’ve discovered several fabulous indoor play areas. Many of our local churches maintain indoor play areas that are free and open to the public. This week, we joined our mothers of multiples group for a play date at the Children’s Indoor Play Area at Gateway Church Southlake. Someone counted 19 children and seven moms with our group. It was a nice turnout! The quads had a great time playing in this cheerful, bubble themed play area. I was grateful that my friend, Kristin, tagged along to help me watch all four.

Location:

700 Blessed Way

Southlake, Texas 76092

Hours:

8 am – 8 pm weekdays

Cost:

FREE!!!

Favorite Features:

Did I mention it’s FREE???

Since the play area is indoors, it’s climate controlled and clean.

The play area includes several ride on toys (e.g. train, ark) that do not require coins to operate. There are small climb on toys for young toddlers and a large climber and slide for older children.

Tips:

The entrance to the children’s play area is on the north side of the church. Look for the signs and you can park close to the entry.

Shoes cannot be worn in the play area, so be sure your kids are wearing socks.

Sydney and Mason were the only ones brave enough to climb to the top of the play area. Sydney had so much fun, I had to go up and get her down myself.

The boys got plenty of practice taking turns driving the coveted fire engine.

Rylin did not care for the larger climbing area and instead took refuge on this pack of gum.

If you aren’t in the Dallas Fort Worth area, chances are local churches in your area have similar play areas. Ask around! There are several other indoor play areas we plan to try this season.

hugs!

Amber

Dear Thanksgiving, You Aren’t Forgotten

November 26, 2014November 26, 2014Amber 2 Comments

The week following Halloween, George and I took the crew to Half Price Books in search of Thanksgiving books. Behind an elaborate Christmas book display, we found a meager shelf labeled, “holiday”. This shelf contained a conglomeration of holidays ranging from Valentine’s Day to Easter with a smattering of Thanksgiving books. Sadly, the majority of the Thanksgiving books were geared to older children. We snagged two age appropriate books worth purchasing so we’ve read these two at least once daily all month.

The Best Thanksgiving Ever is a charming story about a family of turkeys that gather to celebrate their many blessings. Naturally, their feast consists of corn.
Let it Fall describes the change in seasons and family activities during autumn. The illustrations are beautiful and capture the beauty of family time.

After our trip to the bookstore, my Facebook news feed began overflowing with pictures of children clad in Christmas attire as they visited Santa, evidence of wrapped packages, and fully decorated Christmas trees. Seriously, this began around November 3rd. Anytime I entered a retail establishment, holiday music lingered and Christmas products were in the fore front. It started feeling as if it were December already, and there was an urgency to prepare for Christmas. Then, our neighbors began adorning their homes in twinkling lights. It became such a trend that our home owner’s association left notes at homes where decorations were out 30 days prior to the holiday. Consequently, the HOA president has been dubbed “Scrooge of the Neighborhood” by some overzealous residents. Holiday light citations may not have been necessary, but I tend to agree with the notion it’s too early to commence Christmas activity the first week of November.

Instead of following the masses, I dug my heels in this year and refused to begin decorating for Christmas when the turkey hasn’t been carved. This year, the quads are learning about the seasons and holiday traditions, and I want to teach them about Thanksgiving as much as any other holiday.

To give a little attention to Thanksgiving, we spent time decorating die cut leaves and then writing what we are thankful for this season. (In case you were wondering, the quads dictated, and I transcribed.) Since the quads have been working on prayers expressing gratitude, this task was an easy one for them.

For a little festive fun, we also made turkeys from paper plates and toilet paper rolls.

Once we finished our Thanksgiving crafts, I nestled the turkeys into our mantle decor and taped the die cut leaves among the autumn garland. The leaves are nice reminders of the little things we appreciate in our lives.

Despite my reluctance to start celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving, I did purchase the quads Christmas pajamas. In my defense, I was burned the first two Christmases with the quads. I waited until after Thanksgiving and found barren shelves! Harper was forced to wear pajamas about a size too small two years in a row. I wasn’t making him do it again. They’ll get to wear their new pajamas the night our Christmas tree goes up.

When do you begin decorating for Christmas? Perhaps you’re an eager beaver. Maybe you wait until Christmas Eve. Maybe you’re like me and want the turkey gobbling to cease first. Or maybe you celebrate a different holiday altogether.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Amber

Four to Adore

a slice of life with quadruplets

High Order Multiples

March for Babies

On the Hunt

Class Party

Toddler Beds, Take Two

Frugal for Four

Cupcake Day

Ornaments Up, Ornaments Down

Annual Sit with Santa

Gateway Church Southlake {A Spot to Visit with Tots}

Dear Thanksgiving, You Aren’t Forgotten

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