November...hello and goodbye

i wrote "december 3rd" on the board at school this morning and it nearly took my breath away.

yikes!  did November actually happen??

i guess so....the proof is in the pictures

here goes:

we started it off with Tulip's first visit to the dentist.

she rocked it. the hygenist was impressed with her lovely set of chompers.  we'll just keep it our little secret that a few weeks later, while decorating the christmas tree, she grabbed a glass icicle off the tree and bit it in half.  

"mmmm, crunchy, momma!"

picking small shards of glass from a 3 year old's tongue and lips is really fun.  if you've never done it, you should try.

let's just hope her teeth look as good at our next visit. ;)

and wouldn't you know...she picked these sweet shades as her prize for being brave.

J and I scored a fun date night packing Thanksgiving bags at the Union Gospel Mission in St. Paul

we seriously love this place.  

if you want to do something beautiful...go here.

you won't be disappointed.

some friends from church gifted us with a tub full of barbies and horses, which has kept these little hands, busy, busy, busy on some cold, cold days.

there's been creating, of course.

and letters.

words.

spelling.

sister sunshine got a rainbow loom for her birthday and everyone in the neighborhood has received a bracelet to prove it.

Sparkle is starting to read books instead of ripping them....bless.

only one morning this month did the hubster get their jackets mixed up. ;)

but i cannot tell you how grateful i am to have someone i can trust to get three littles ready and out the door safely each and every morning.

it is a JOB.

and he does it well.

obviously, well enough to keep his wits about him and even remember to take a picture of the memory.

sadly, we ended the month with sick kids over the holidays.

(for the love!  kudos AGAIN to the man that sat with this one in a steamy bathroom at 2 am to help with her barky cough, writing words on the wet mirror and singing silly songs.)

but everyone is on the mend now and it's back to school we go!

the tree is up and we sing Christmas music while eating breakfast so all is well again in the world.

more on Peach's birthday love coming soon!

Hello Little Man

as most of you already know...we're not typically finder-outers.

we enjoy the suspense.

but, we're also prone to getting wild and crazy and doing things differently when the mood strikes us.

so when J and I had gone back and forth about whether or not to learn the gender at the 20 week ultrasound, we decided to let Peach make the call.

she was like....is that actually a question?

duh!

let's find out!

she came with me to the appointment and some of the first words out of the ultrasound technician's mouth were..."Norah, how do you feel about a little brother?"

Her first reaction was to scrunch up her little nose at it.

But when she saw the little guy waving at her, I could see her heart melt.

She's been proud as punch to tell everyone she meets about her baby brother and I'm glad we went this route for our final bambino.

This will be something that she remembers.

And while the suspense and the wondering was indescribably beautiful the first three trips around the block, this time the knowing is its own special gift.

I'll admit that I got a little teary going through the girl clothes...deciding which special pieces to keep forever and which to give away.

I've never had that "no one will ever wear this in my house again" moment.

But there's an excitement about planning for something new, too.

Here's to switching it up and impulsive decisions that bring us to new places.

What happened to October?

ahem......where has October gone?

it doesn't seem quite right that November is all up in my face, reminding me that my firstborn is about to turn six.

that's right.

have i actually been a mom for that long?

wowza....well, for today she's still five and i need to get caught up on all the festivities of October

we filled up some goodie bags and boo-ed our favorite friends

i will never, ever tire of watching them tip toe up to doors and run like wild chickens, tongues hanging out and arms flapping in the most ungraceful way, screaming and slobbering and thinking that this is all secretive and no one will notice....geesh!

and, of course, the biggest kid in our house got in on the action

after the excitement of boo-ing and being boo-ed, we had some days to enjoy the cool breezes and sunshine after school before daylight savings robbed us of our backyard play times

who doesn't love a good game of hopscotch while wearing a sequin party skirt?

pony beads are at the top of our fun list lately....these girls can't make enough bracelets.

lucky me...i get to wear one to work almost every day and pretend like the wire poking me is really enjoyable. ;)

no worries...sparkle has only spilled the bead bucket three four five times now.

there are a few crumbs and broken noodles in the bucket, but no one seems to mind.

i finally had the hubster drag his old desk up from the basement so that this little chickadee had some space to get her school groove on.

it is all i can do to keep up with the reams of paper this child is going through to practice letters and words.  wouldn't surprise me one bit if she writes a book someday.

october presented some fun play dates with old pals

finally, the crescendo of the month led us to halloween.

cold, windy, dark

but fun nonetheless for little red riding hood and her crew.

is this not the most adorable little hunter you would ever care to meet?

grrrrr....she practiced her growl for a month...no joke

our church does this fabulous trunk or treat thing where all the fam decorates their trunks and parks in the church lot for kiddos to pop in, play games and get some candy.

it is such a blessing for families like ours as we don't have to deal with the buckling/unbuckling, in and out of carseats, etc.

we can get the vast majority of the trick or treating experience done in one stop and i'm down with that

after trunks and tricks and treats and chilly toes, we stopped at a grand total of one house before skeedaddling back to our home for hot chocolate and a movie with friends

grandma....what big chest hair you have!!!

which brings me to November....why, hello there, i wasn't expecting you so soon, but come on in and let me put a pot of coffee on!

we kicked it off right with a trip to the children's museum to see clifford

this is really one of our most favorite places

when the kids ask beg to go, J and i are both looking at each other like....really?

i was envisioning a quiet saturday at home not running anywhere

but then we come to our senses.

who are we kidding?

it doesn't matter if we stay home or go out, quiet is just really not part of our home life right now.

we either go to the trouble of packing snacks and lunches and diaper bags and hauling the kids up to st. paul or we stay home and clean up after them all day!

once we're there, it is fun, fun, fun and we never regret the trip.

and now i am officially caught up on life in the wacek household!

phew!

how did we fit all that goodness into a month that was here and gone faster than a hot knife through butter?

must be true what they say...times flies.

good thing we get to be the pilots ;)

Autumn awesome

well...it's no secret that this time of year is my fave.

maybe its because it goes by so quickly.

you have to really enjoy every drop....and i do.

we've had a mix of warm  and rain and sunshine and cool this fall, which has left me scrambling when it comes to dressing the wee ones.

but amidst my digging through bins for sweatshirts and rainboots and....where did i put the sandals? we have managed to enjoy the wild mood swings that make up a minnesota fall.

at the very top of my reasons that autumn has been awesome:

babycakes learned how to go down the big girl slide at the park all by her own self

it starts with a face-splitting grin at the top and crazy clapping at the bottom

she can't get enough of it and neither can i

watching daddy ref volleyball games is a highlight of fall for the kiddos.

for me?  not so much.

the nights when he's gone are long and if/when we get to go watch, it is a jumble of skittles and popcorn and chasing all over the gym.

reminder:  it won't last for long ;)

enjoy it.

bare legs in light up sneakers crunching fallen leaves?

i'm a fan.

cold winds that bite at the bus stop waiting for sister to come home?

they result in snuggles, so i'm for it.

scooping up piles of leaves with a rake twice your size while wearing a coat that makes you feel like a "yumbojack"??

do i even have to answer that?

yes, please....i'll take several helpings.

and, quite possibly, the cherry on top of fall:

pumpkin patches

painting pumpkins

roasting pumpkin seeds

and pretty much anything that is punkin-related.  :)

it started out fun with exploring and choosing

\

and ended sweetly in our warm house with painting and glitter, but sandwiched in between those two happy places were frozen tears and skee-daddling out of the blustery morn' in a big ol' rush.

you can never have too much of a good thing, right?

autumn awesome ;)

Lately...

oh my lanta....it has been a glorious fall

and we've just been hangin' around, soaking up the goodness of autumn in minnesota

we've had a few days chilly enough to bust out coats and hats

and some sunshine-y soccer games with a wind that bites

most of our time has been spent out on the driveway

noticing the turning leaves and snuggling into cozy sweatshirts

and then there's been this:

which quite explains why it's been almost a month since i've written anything on this blog

most nights the kids are in bed by 8 and i'm right behind them.

sharing the news of number four has been....interesting

the response has been one of shock

like, what in the wide world are you people thinking?

you are thinking, right?

or maybe having three children 5 and under has made you go totally bonkers

and oh, the sympathetic looks from everyone who is truly burdened for us that we just haven't been "lucky enough" to get a boy

whatever.  we're rocking the girl train.

and another sweet ray of sister sunshine would suit us just fine.

it seems like few people have been truly excited

(or maybe pregnancy hormones are making me overly sensitive)

but it seems like most people look at us like we're crazy.

and maybe we are....

but we figure that you can spend your life on a lot worse things than children :)

sometimes we get the sad smile that says 

"i'm so sorry that you'll be raising all these kids and just barely getting by."

we're not worried.

really....the more responsibility He gives us, the more i trust Him

i mean...the Lord fed 5 thousand hungry bellies with 2 loaves of bread, people

he can provide for 4 kids on one and a half teacher salaries.

i'm sure of it.

then there are the friends and family who would like to know if this means that they need to get us "another" baby gift

actually, just being happy for us would be the best thing you could do.

and that wouldn't cost you one penny ;)

and let's not forget all the people who want to know if it was an accident.

um....no

but then again i don't really believe in "accidental babies"

the truth is this:

we like kids...

and we're especially fond of our own

in fact, with each addition, our family has only gotten better

louder? yes

 but less selfish, too

and more of a team

we may not go on the most magnificent vacations

we may not have the best-dressed kids

we may have to be creative about how to get them all where they need to be on days

but we will have each other.

i'm not saying that giving our kids experiences isn't important.

it is.

i'm not saying that blessing their socks off at Christmas and birthdays and back to school doesn't have its merit.

it does.

but giving them siblings is an EQUALLY amazing gift.

when we are gone, they will still have each other.

and that will matter heaps and heaps.

i won't lie

while i'm mostly thrilled, there's a little part of me that feels like i'm at the top of a roller coaster

it's a little scary there

but no different from when the first one came

and the second

and the third.

this is going to change everything....and for that i'll admit that i'm a little nervous.

but thank the Good Lord that He has BIG, awesome plans for our lives that stretch us and challenge us and move us waaaaay out on the branch where our trust in Him goes deep.

our mess is about to get a little bigger

and our home is about to get a little smaller

and we're about to get a little more creative with our finances and our time and our space

but there's something beautiful about coming to place where the selfishness melts away and you learn to just give your life away to someone else.

there's something amazing about letting go of the worry and the what ifs and the checkbook balance and watching God do big things