Happy Halloween!

My pictures are playing games with me tonight! Will post more soon! Hope everyone had a very safe and HAPPY Halloween!

Can You Guess?

Can you guess what Lilly is going to be for Halloween? Stay tuned! This Halloween, we have decided to get a bit more creative. No bought costumes this year!

Pumpkin Guts and Stuff

I don't remember having so much fun ever carving pumpkins as we did tonight! Everyone was really into it -- especially Tessa! She was hilarious pulling out all the pumpkin guts and then putting them back into her pumpkin. It was a total hoot watching her. And Lilly designed her own pumpkin this year (I carved it for her of course), but it was so neat to have her actually draw her own face this time to be cut out. I am VERY proud of her. Abby had a hoot too and so you know she had some help with her face, but she is getting awesome at drawing people now and she drew a mean Porter family portrait the other night that I will share with you all really soon! Nella watched and was quite content. Poor Tessa was SO excited to get her picture taken with her pumpkin and then Lilly closed the door on her fingers. She would not calm down for the picture and it was far to close to her bed time to postpone it. Maybe we will try a retake tomorrow :)

Best of all though was the pumpkin seed treat we all shared afterwards. I pan fried them this time instead of baking them and they turned out really nice. Pan fried sounds oily and gross but in fact I barely used any oil at all and they were completely dry once done. They were delish! I am thankful there were left overs, but I am certain they will all be gone by tomorrow!

A post is scheduled for tomorrow for you to guess at Lilly's costume. Did I tell you the costumes are all homemade this year? Stay tuned to see how we got creative! The girls are excited about it too and that makes me smile!

Hope everyone has a very safe and Happy Halloween! More pictures soon. I promise!

It's Only a Matter of Time

It is only a matter of time until my oldest little girl will tell me I am crazy when I suggest she let me stuff a tiny or kinda biggish, felt pumpkin and glue it to her hairband for her to wear on Orange and Black Day at school! {tear}

Well, until then, I am going to take advantage of these opportunities. What a cutie pie!

Potty Time?

We are trying to get Tessa use to the potty and so she is sitting on it often. It turns out to be more of a potty party! As you can see she has no support at all from her big sisters!

{The serious look is not for any results she had. She still has not done anything while sitting there... yet! I think it was more of a "Mom! I have no pants on!" look :) "Please get that camera out of my face!}

Not SO Sure

Not so sure if she likes those sweet potatoes or not. She totally likes the idea of food though and kept opening for more, so we will see how tomorrow goes. She wants to like it. I know that much :)

i heart faces -- Pink

For those of you who don't know, October is breast cancer awareness month. So, this week at i heart faces they are having a pink week in that honor. I thought this picture was perfect for this weeks theme. Not only is there pink in my photo but the photo contains three beautiful, happy and healthy little girls all of whom I love dearly. I will make them aware of breast cancer, but pray that by the time they are grown and have children of their own, breast cancer will be something that was and is never again. Praying for a cure.

Check out the other pink entries HERE. Or by clicking on the i heart faces logo above.

Only a Few Beautiful Reasons We Heart Fall

Cannot wait to get back to Lemoine Point again so we can feed those birdies!

Who's in a Blog Rut?

I often find myself lately starting to prepare a post and then quickly hitting save and returning to something else never to actually hit the post button. It is not a surprise to anyone I am sure, that being home with four kids almost every day makes for a busy day. And sometimes, I don't even think adult.

I have a mumble of thoughts in my head pertaining to feeding, changing, bathing, cooking, cleaning and dog poop picking up'ing' daily. It is life, our life.

Blogging sometimes falls behind that dusty cabinet, but I try and pick back up so that there is a record for my kiddos. I want them to know I love them and that we are keeping active with them. Doing fun things with them but, that sometimes Mommy struggles with this thing called life. Sometimes I clean too much or too little. Sometimes I am mean and yell and say "pick up your mess!" too often instead of saying lets make one! Sometimes I am doing laundry and making you play quietly so I can have some quiet time myself instead of saying run around the house screaming and yelling because that is what is fun! Maybe we need to sing and dance a little more and forget about the laundry, but then I think school teachers might start noticing if I start sending Lilly to school in dirty clothes. Sometimes it is hard to find that balance. Some times it is hard to find the right words to blog. But, then I remember it really isn't about finding the right words. It really isn't about anyone else out there who is following. It is about my kids, my beautiful kids and my imperfections as a Momma, as a blogger don't matter. It is the moments we share that I capture and journal here for my kids that matters. And if only they get something from this thing I call a blog rut, well then I guess it's point is successful.

Wordless Wednesday

Thanksgiving Weekend

Wow!

We had a beautiful weekend, packed full of family visits, wonderful food and so much fun!! So very thankful for everyone in our lives. We are very lucky to have so much love surrounding us.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday On Thursday, But With Words

He could have spit them from his mouth! See, we needed that fourth baby so he could get another one who looked like him. Balance is nice :)

The Caramel Apple Kit That was Missing the Apples

We actually were able to get around to using that kit. Liam and I did it with the big girls while the babies slept one afternoon over the weekend. The girls LOVED it! It was kinda fun. It was very sticky and messy though and the product didn't turn out quite as pretty as the picture on the box. Seriously, who makes those apples on the box? Even with Liam and I trying to make a pretty looking apple they just didn't compare! But pretty apples was not our goal, it was to have fun and we did. We have tasted our product and some were yummy while others not so much. The rest sit in the fridge patiently awaiting the day they will find their new home in the garbage sadly. The girls had more fun making them and less fun eating them. They are a chore to eat I tell ya!

How many of you have ever completely finished a candy apple? I know I personally, have not!

I would have to say that Abigail's sprinkle apple was indeed the prettiest of the bunch. My M&M apple was indeed the tastiest!

A Post for my Not so Baby Anymore Baby

Okay, okay! She is still a baby! And, lets face it, she will be my baby forever! All my girls are my babies. But, come on! She is growing WAY too fast. And today, today is her six month birthday! Today she is half a year old and that makes me cry. Happy tears and sad ones, because as much as I fight it, my babies, they keep growing up!

Nella,

at six months you can jump like no ones business! You LOVE your jumparoo and cry the second I place you in the exersaucer. You are getting much better at being on the floor alone {it is still not a common event - but I am working more on that for you. If you big sister didn't attack you it would help a little} and as soon as I set you down on your back you roll immediately from your back to tummy. At first you would cry when you got there because you couldn't get back to your back. You still have not mastered rolling that way yet, but you are content on your tummy now so this is good.

You rarely cry. When you do cry, you are tired. When you cry, I take you to your bed and lay you in your crib and you fall fast asleep within minutes. If you are tired and we don't have your crib I try and snuggle you, but you protest. I have been successful all of three times maybe, getting you to sleep in my arms as of lately. Mommy is very thankful for your crib, but I miss our snuggles a lot!

Your sisters love you and dote on you constantly and you eat it all up! You smile and coo and giggle at them. You know how much they love you and I know by how you smile the second any of them come near, that you are so in love with them too. You smile for EVERYONE! Anyone who will look at you and grin, you give it right back and I LOVE that about you! I hope it is a trait you keep with you forever. You have the ability to make anyone smile Nella and that is HUGE!

You can sit unassisted but still have not quite figured out that if someone walks by and you look or move your body that you are going to topple over. We have to work on this too but with you rarely on the floor this is difficult.

You started rice cereal last week and you like it, but with this cold seeming to come back again you haven't totally been into it so I stopped for the last two days. When your cough stops I will try it again for you.

You constantly have your hands in your mouth and when you don't your tongue is always sticking out. This makes everyone giggle and comment about it. When you were born you came out sticking your tongue out and it is a habit that you have not broken. But Nella, it is okay... right now it is still so cute and it doesn't matter! If perhaps you still have this habit when you are two, it may not be as cute.

You are growing like a weed and continue to be a beautiful and happy baby! We LOVE you Nella, so much and cannot imagine our world without you it. I wish you could stay my baby forever. Well, in my heart you always will be my baby girl.

XOXO

Love Mommy

Day 2

Day 2, and this girl is totally rockin' it!

Do you dig it?

A Little Rice Cereal

A little rice cereal for an almost six month old. Six months old in four days actually! Okay, that seems crazy!

So, Nella likes rice cereal so far and surprisingly swallowed some after only a few bites trying it.

She really seemed to have the knack of opening her mouth for the spoon and I have a strong suspicion she will be a pro in only a couple of days! I did take a short video of her trying it, but I will spare you that and my still very scratchy voice from this cold we all still seem to be fighting!

Pictures though, I will share. Look how proud she is in the last picture! She has been patiently waiting for something other than formula to touch those lips! LOVE her, seriously!