Chicken dance

Well even my kids wanted to get in on the giveaways this week. They willingly learned and performed the chicken dance for a chance to win some aprons from the Apron Queen's Reviews. I'm hoping my little bakers win because they've already picked out their favorites - and WOW there is a lot of cute ones to pick from!

Another pumpkin patch fieldtrip . . .

Today was Chantel's turn for the pumpkin patch field trip. We saw apples, pumpkins, barn animals, tried some fresh apple juice, and had fun with all the preschoolers and their parents.

A kitten . . .

We've gone back and forth on this for a long time, and finally decided to get the girls a kitten. We are not big on indoor pets but don't want our oldest to be terrified of animals for life either. So far, so good. Both of the older girls love her and have been entertained by her all day so far. We're hoping to keep her downstairs in the laundry room and playroom for the most part but we'll see how that goes as she gets bigger.

Our toddler . . .

Today I found 13 pictures on my camera that must've been taken by Elayna of Alyssa. It seems that my 5 year old wants to be a photographer when she grows up . . . she's even mastered the ability to make a toddler sit still (something she won't do for me).

Alyssa has been walking for the past month or two now so she's a late walker (just like her big sisters) and suddenly she seems waaaay older and not a baby anymore. She's been picking up lots of words such as juice, baby, sock, shoe, Chantel, bye, night, Amen, and so on. She is SPOILED - but that's because she has two big sisters doting on her (and me too of course). She still tries to demand a bottle in the middle of the night but goes back to sleep if I tell her no and it's night-night time. She loves to get a laugh and can give a LOT of attitude at times. She's definitely a "little person" now, with a personality to go with it.

a Fall dress . . .

I bought this pattern a little while ago and decided to try it out this weekend. Since it's Fall, I paired it up with a pair of thrifted "skinny" jeans and added a matching cuff.

A charm skirt . . .

A couple of weeks ago I won a charm pack of 1974 Moda fabric from one of my favorite blogs and online quilt stores, Quilt Taffy. They have the best customer service, good prices, and quick shipping.

So I decided to turn the squares into a skirt for Elayna. I used this tutorial which was super easy and written by a very talented sewer. I picked up a blouse to go with it and it reminds me a bit of this outfit in her Etsy shop (only hers has an amazing embroidery job).

Chantel is 4!

Our Princess Ariel (as she'd like to be called) turned four yesterday. We had a house full of kids and Moms and she of course was spoiled. We've noticed some changes in our middle "baby" lately - she has become one of our better eaters (that is, if she stops talking long enough to eat) and has started caring for her toys and cleaning up after herself better. She's also quick to say "sorry" (and even sound like she means it), is competitive (turning things into a race or game is a great motivator for her), and is slowing learning patience (definitely her weakness). She's also turning into more of a cuddler lately and last night when she crawled into bed with us I realized that she doesn't squirm and kick like she used to - she just cuddled right into me and we slept till morning.

Pumpkin patch field trip . . .

Yesterday was Elayna (and my) first field trip. She got to pick out a pumpkin, meet some animals, go for a hay ride, and learn about apple orchards.

parenting . . .

So most of my time is spent parenting my three little ones (even though I choose not to share all the boring details here) and since school has started, I've been feeling more like a parent than ever. I guess that's because I now have to take part in the school stuff and the baby stuff all at the same time. School has been great for the older girls. Elayna is learning so much and loving every minute. And Chantel has no problem with me leaving the classroom (something we really struggled with in storyhour last year), she's practically shoving me out the door. And Alyssa still gets enough attention from her big sisters, and even has a cousin join us two days a week so there's no lack of attention there.

The only "problem" I guess you could call it, is that since Alyssa is the youngest, the older girls think they can still pick her up and often get a bit rough with her (she is only 10 pounds lighter than them so she's not the easiest to get what you want her to to do). Yesterday Chantel & Alyssa were "playing" on the couch when somehow Alyssa came tumbling off and her mouth hit the coffee table. A lot of blood, a call to the Nurseline, and a doctor's visit later it was determined that it's a small cut (that piece of skin that holds your upper lip to your gum is partially split) but it will heal on its own. If it had kept bleeding, she would have had to go for a couple stitches but that would have involved anesthesia and the whole works so it was recommended that we just leave it as is. So she had a bit of a rough day and woke up a few extra times last night. Here's a pic of her getting a cuddle from daddy when she woke up late last night.