Mother's Day

Here is my annual picture of me and the kids on Mother's Day.  Mother's Day is about the only time I INSIST on getting a picture with me and the boys.  I also decided this year to get a picture of me and each boy individually.  There are very, very few pictures of me with an individual child...I'm not even positive I can say there are ANY of me and each of the little boys individually.  L was being pretty ornery and was generally being a pill, so he was upset during the group picture and the individual picture of him that I have here is the best I could get!

We had a nice day.  We ate Penn Station and I was given a gift certificate for a massage that was a Groupon on Friday (good timing on their part...coincidence?  I doubt it!).  Can't wait to use it!

What a good day, and a good reminder of how blessed I am to be a Mama to these four boys!

Egg dying 2011

Egg dying 2011:  C- 

I'm not sure why I thought dying eggs with 3 two year olds was a good idea, other than the fact that we would have pictures and memories (which are good...but sometimes I push things too far for "memories").  And doing it immediately after they woke up from naps...really, Katie? 

More than one child did each of the following: 
Drink the dye
Drop an egg
Throw an egg
Try and eat an egg
Dump a cup of dye
Try to pick up the (glass) of dye
Scream and cry bloody murder
Suck on the qtip dye thing

All of that would have given the effort an F, but it was saved by this comment:  "Hey Mom, this was a good idea to dye eggs!" by Z.  Yes, see, that is why mom makes us do this crazy stuff. 

Little People Nativity Set

Mom got this Little People Nativity set for Z before she died.  She actually had bought all of Z's presents for Christmas before she died...and she died September 27.  Someone was excited about Christmas!  That was actually the hardest thing...the day after she died Jenny and I went to her house to get stuff or do something (which was really dumb, we should NOT have gone that day, we were a mess).  Anyway, there was this huge box from Amazon with all of his presents that had been delivered the day before.  She got him this Nativity set, and even got the extra stuff (the shepards and sheep and an extra angel).  I love to get it out every year, and all the boys love it, but it is still hard.  But it keeps her here with us, and I know she would get such joy out of seeing the boys play with it.  

Here is Z with it the first year we got it.

  

And now look at my big boy....

 The little boys are the same age Z was when he got it. 

We also have an Advent calendar.  Jenny and I had one identical to this one, and she and Mom made new ones a few years before Mom died, so now we each have one.  We split up the old ornaments so we each have some of our favorites.  Z really loves it for the first time this year.  It is fun to have him count each day and get the ornament.  I think that next year we will probably add some memory verses to it from the Christmas story in Luke...when the little boys can talk :)