Ugh....

back to school tomorrow....enough said.

I think a bomb went off in my room

NO I’m not going on vacation!  I have 90% of Julia’s kids clothes that her kids have outgrown for the upcoming EMOMS Toys & Togs Sale.  Why, you ask do I have all of her stuff?  Well after the holidays, then my back to back vacations, and now Julia’s whole family is really sick there’s not a lot of time left to tag.  I offered to take the clothes home with me that still needed to be done and help her out. 

Tonight Brandi & I tagged, we got through about 4.5 garbage bags full of clothes and have a 5 to still do…but that’s just what is in my room.  The trunk of my car is fill with about this many bags still!  We’re going to be busy the next week!  On top of helping Julia out, Brandi & I are helping Charity & Jaime prepare for the sale.  By the time the sale comes and goes, I’ll be VERY done with tagging!

If you are wondering what the Emoms (Eastside Moms of Multiples) Toys & Togs Sale is here is the blurb on their website www.emoms.org.

EMOMs' Toys & Togs Sale is held twice each year, once in the spring and once in the fall. The sale, which is open to the public, provides an amazing opportunity for you to pick up gently used (and sometimes brand new) items, just about anything on your shopping list for baby or child - including:

• maternity clothing
• nursery finishing's/decor
• high chairs & boosters
• strollers, infant carriers, and backpacks
• >100 racks of infant and children’s clothing
• infant gear
• Toys & games
• Books & CD’s
• Car seats

Approximately 150 EMOMs members sell items at each sale, keeping a portion of the proceeds from the sale of their own items. The remainder of the proceeds covers the cost of the sale and helps EMOMs fund club programs for families with multiples.

What can you expect as a shopper?
This is not your usual garage sale! If you haven't shopped at an EMOMs Toys & Togs Sale before, get ready for some serious shopping. The venue is set up like a baby/children's department store, with like items grouped together and clothing hanging on more than 120 clothing racks, organized by size, filling 2 basketball courts to the brim.

Be aware: because of the variety, price, and quality of items, this sale is well-known and very popular. As a result, the sale can be very busy for the first several hours.

For pictures of the Fall 2009 sale, please check out HERE!  I blogged after the event last year!  The amount of items for sale is absolutely mind boggling!  For more blog posts from the past couple years of Emoms Toys and Togs Sales, please click HERE.  Or you can always get more information from the Emoms public website at www.emoms.org.   

For those of you in the King County/Seattle area, with small children I HIGHLY recommend you attend this sale!  You won’t be disappointed!

Chem Tutor

For the first time in my life, I am a chemistry tutor!  I'm so proud of myself for being able to teach Alex!  She has been really struggling in chemistry after missing 11 days of school while we were on the cruise, so I have been helping her figure it out!  We started this morning and she quickly picked up what she was doing, boy is she a fast learner!  She actually said "this is kinda fun!".  I have to agree, the chemistry she is doing IS fun!  In about 3 hours she was able to finish (and understand) a packet of work (8 pages).  She has one more packet to go, and we're going to tackle that one tomorrow afternoon!  I'm so proud of myself and Alex!! 

On a sad note...I go back to school on Wednesday.  I'm re-taking a chemistry class (coincidental?) with hopes of pulling up my gpa!  Back to reality now....

Sunglass Baby!

How much do I love www.picnik.com it made this wonderful collage for me!  I just spent $4.95 for the one month subscription, but thinking I may purchase the year one!  LOVE THIS!  Any who on to the topic of my post!

This evening I went over to Grandma’s to visit Aunt Sue who is in town.  Emmalee (and the rest of her family) were also there, Brandi too!  Emma was having a lot of fun with her sunglasses!  She worked so hard to put them on both herself and other people!!  She doesn’t quite have the coordination to get them on her (or us), but it was entertaining to watch!  She kept getting so close! 

Of course I pulled my video camera out and got some video of it!  She is so stinkin’ adorable!!  Enjoy!!

Tagged all last night and most of today at Julia's!!  I am pooped!!  Playing catch-up on the DVR and relaxing tonight!  It feels wonderful!  Happy Saturday! 

Yogurt Ice Cream

I bribed the triplets with “yogurt ice cream” for a treat if they took a nap, they napped and I followed through on my promise!  Sophie got home right after I finished so she enjoyed some as well.

What’s yogurt ice cream??  All it is is a berry smoothie, but the babies called it yogurt ice cream the first time I made it and the name has stuck!  So yogurt ice cream it is!

Here is the recipe I follow…

Berry Smoothie
1/2 cup strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup raspberries
1 banana
1/2 cup yogurt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup ice cubes

I use frozen berries, and they come out delicious!  The kids love them and of course they’re good for you!   

Flight Plan

I’m writing this on our flight home.  We should be landing in about an hour.  I think we’re all ready to get off the plane, not to mention the other passengers!  The kids have done really well.  It helps we have 2 laptops and an I-Pod touch, plus we rented a DigEPlayer from Alaska Airlines for another set of entertainment! 

I rented the player on the trip down and started the movie The Blind Side but wasn’t able to finish it, so on the way back I rented it again and watched the second half.  This movie is EXCELLENT, I want to watch it again in its entirety,with minimal interruptions. 

We’ve played musical chairs this flight, and are pretty much just moving from seat to seat as the kids move.  Yes, I’m a nerd and kept track of our movement…it became comical watching the changes make place! 

Seating Arrangement #1

			Aisle	Poor Soul	Alec	Aiden
Poor Soul	Cori	Mackenzie	Aisle	Annika	Julia	Connor

Seating Arrangement #2

			Aisle	Poor Soul	Alec	Aiden
Poor Soul	Annika	Mackenzie	Aisle	Cori	Julia	Connor

Seating Arrangement #3
*this was the seating arrangement when I began this blog post at 3:30pmon the airplane. After this point my laptop died and I had to finish at home!*

			Aisle	Poor Soul	Alec	Mackenzie
Poor Soul	Cori	Connor	Aisle	Julia	Annika	Aiden

Seating Arrangement #4

			Aisle	Poor Soul	Connor	Alec
Poor Soul	Cori	Annika	Aisle	Julia	Mackenzie	Aiden

Seating Arrangement #5

			Aisle	Poor Soul	Connor	Mackenzie Alec
Poor Soul	Cori	(none)	Aisle	Julia	Annika	Aiden

Seating Arrangement #6

			Aisle	Poor Soul	Connor	Alec
Poor Soul	Cori	Mackenzie	Aisle	Annika	Julia	Aiden

Now that I’ve bored all you with our seating arrangements, how about some fun in-flight photos!  Here’s how we kept busy!

  MacKenzie enjoyed messing with the light button and air vents

Ate snacks and had drinks!


Connor tried to take a nap!


Aiden watched a DVD while Annika messed with the tray table!

Papa assisted MacKenzie in pushing buttons, while Annika sat quietly coloring.

 
Aiden played with Julia’s I-Touch and the girls tried to push the seats back!


Connor watching a TV show on the DigEPlayer

 
and I tried to just not go crazy!

Here are some shots we took right before leaving Jason & Kim’s house!  Auntie Kim was being a goofball getting the kids to laugh!!

Well, now I am home….finishing the blog post I started on the airplane several hours ago.  I had a wonderful time, this was a VERY memorable trip!!  Time for some sappy notes….

Kim, Jason. Paige & Quinten,  Thank you so very much for letting me stay at your home!  Paige, thanks especially for allowing me to take over your bedroom!  Baby Quinten, thanks for allowing us to use your bedroom as a dressing room for all of our stuff!!  Plus letting me hold you endlessly!  Kim & Jason, thank you so much for the wonderful hospitality, food and fun!!  It’s been so great getting to know you guys better.  I hope that you guys are able to come up to Seattle this winter!  I know I cannot wait to see you all again!!

Hugs & Kisses, Cori (aka: sorta cousin corny Cori)

Julia, Alec, Aiden, Connor, Annika & MacKenzie, Thank you all for allowing me to come along with you guys on your first real family vacation!  It really meant a lot to me to be included!  I hope I was to much of a nuisance (haha).  Aiden & Connor, I loved sharing a room with you guys, it was fun to have a slumber party each night!  I really enjoyed chasing each other around on the plasma cars!!  Annika & MacKenzie, Thanks for the non-stop giggles!!  You two are so cute, funny and silly!!  When you two get giggling it can change my mood in an instant!  Julia & Alec, What to say to you guys??!!  Love you both so very much and again thank-you for inviting me into your home as your ‘eldest daughter’.  I love every moment I spend with you guys!!  Can’t wait for our next adventure together…Disneyland???!!!!

Love Always, Cori

Kim, Jason, Julia & Alec, I’ve got it…forget Seattle this winter we can go visit your friends in California…you know your friends Mickey & Minnie Mouse at Disneyland???!!!  Think about it!! 

Okay time to wipe up the tears and get back to reality.  Work tomorrow and Friday, then hitting the ground running with Toys & Tags tagging all over!!  Sale is in 2 weeks.  Plus school starts next Wednesday too….YIKES it’s gonna be a crazy few weeks!!

Fort Worth Zoo

I finally got through all the photos and settled with like 51 I wanted to post!  Felt that might make for a VERY long blog post, so I made it into a collage using www.picnik.com.  Check it out, it’s a pretty cool online program!

We were still unsure of what the weather was going to be like, since it has snowed the day before…but like the weatherman had been saying, it indeed was 70+*!  The weather was beautiful, as was the zoo!  I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the Fort Worth area! 

We met up with Kendra and her kids Hailey (9), Madison (5) and Brayden (4) along with Cami, Carmen and their daughter Kyana (5).  So along with the Munro kids, we had a LOT of little ones.  Hailey, Kyana & Madison spent the whole time trying to cart Annika around, it was very sweet!  Aiden, Connor & Brayden had fun running around together!

One of the highlights of the day was in the bird exhibit.  We purchased bird food on a stick and then went into the exhibit.  Birds were flocking us, it was absolutely amazing….and entertaining!  I pulled the video camera out about halfway through the fun, but you can still see some of the excitement…plus the squeals of excitement, joy and fear from all of us!

 

Wow, lots of pictures, huh!!  Well here are a couple more, just incase you haven’t seen enough!

 Us

All of Teresa’s Grandkids….and Julia!

Most of the group!

Today, Kim, Julia & I hit the mall…and oh what fun we had!!  I’ll post the blog post tomorrow!!  We leave tomorrow…how sad!

Overwhelmed by Photos!!

We met Annika's family today, both of her birthmom's sisters were there, Kendra, Cami and families!  We had a blast, and shockingly it was 70*!!  We took over 250 photos today while at the zoo!  We were totally snap happy!  There are so many photos to weed through that I am still not done! 

So I will continue working on the post tomorrow!  But for now I am tired and looking forward to a nice hot shower!  I’ll leave you with one teaser photo….you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for the rest!

 

I Play, You Play, We all Play WII

OMG I just typed this whole post and was almost to the bottom when somehow I deleted the whole thing….why don’t I save as I go????!!!  So freaking annoying!  So I guess here I go again.

This morning we got up and went to Jason & Kim’s church.  When we dropped the girls off in their class, MacKenzie wasn’t so happy, so I volunteered to stay with her.  She warmed up after a little bit and I volunteered to help hold some of the crying 12month olds.  After a little while I moved to the younger class (12-24months) to help with some other criers. 

There church is very different from mine.  They played Dora & Thomas for the little kids during nursery.  Everyone was drinking coffee (obviously not the kids), they have a live rock band, disco ball and fog machine during their service (I missed the service, so that’s what I was told!).   

After church a lot of people napped (myself included) while everyone else watched a movie.  I was exhausted today (my own fault partially…).  I went to bed way to late to begin with at about 12:30 am.  Then around 3:30am, I was awoke by the smoke alarm in Paige’s (my) room starting chirping.  I tried to ignore it for awhile but never could fall back to sleep.  I finally woke Alec up in hopes he could fix it, he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) in the middle of the night so I finally moved downstairs to sleep.  Conveniently the batteries in teh alarm must have finally died because I probably heard it chirp 5 more times after I came downstairs.  Wasn’t about to jinx myself and move back up to bed, so I stayed downstairs.  I was then up at 8am when everyone else was awake.  However, when we did get up we had snow on the ground!  Not a lot but snow non-the-less!!

After naps, we had a family WII session.  Since none of the kids had played WII before we started with WII Bowling.  Sadly Connor & Aiden beat myself & Alec the first game.  Aiden & Jason beat me the second game, but I did beat Alec…so I wasn’t a total loser!

Connor took this lovely photo of me

  
Alec & Aiden


Connor & I

MacKenzie is a little mommy for Quinten.  She loves to help  change his diaper, hold and feed him!  Here is an adorable photo of her feeding the baby!

      

Tomorrow, we’re meeting up with Kendra & Cami, Annika’s birth-aunts.  I think the plan is to go to the zoo, but still waiting to hear for sure.  Regardless, after the snow yesterday and today it’s supposed to be nearly 70* tomorrow – is that really possible?  Seems doubtful to me, but everyone who lives here claim it’ll happen!

 

SNOW….in TEXAS!!???

It is snowing like crazy outside!  It’s insane because yesterday we were all running around in t-shirts, and now snow!!  It’s been snowing about an hour and doesn’t appear to really be sticking, but it’s still fun and crazy we’re seeing snow in Texas!

 

In case you didn’t notice I posted a new post below a couple hours ago, so make sure you check it out below :) The snow was so exciting, I couldn’t wait to post it!

 

Jump Zone

I chose to sleep in this morning, and got left behind…how rude, but they came back and got me.  So I was happy to join in the fun.

Jason & Kim took everyone to Jump Zone a local jumpy house.  The kids used up a lot of energy and bounced hard!

Love the look on Annika’s face and her hair all crazy! 

The twinkies playing nice together!

 

   
The jump place had a air hockey table and it was a big hit!!  Aiden kept telling me I was cheating because I was better at it then him!

Have a wonderful evening all!