Life with twins + 4 more

Last week my sister fell down her stairs holding her baby and ended up breaking the bone in her back right above the tailbone. (And they say I am the weakling in the family! :)) Pretty hard to take care of your kids when you can't even stand up let alone roll over.

So she got to have a few days of R&R, my kids got to hang out with their cousins for a few days, and I got to experience life with twins plus four more. Yep, that's six kids all under the age of 7.

Bridger and Caymbree are only a few weeks apart in age. Considering they are right smack dab in the middle of the terrible two's they did awesome together.

The kids did great! It got a little crazy during meal times and bedtimes but other than that it wasn't too bad. Luckily the weather was FABULOUS so they spent a LOT of time outside AND....

I had a LOT of help. Hallee was a life saver and earned five bucks for all her help. Unfortunately, she got a taste of what life is like for a mom and I am not sure she was too impressed. When we first picked up my sisters kids we had an hour and half car ride back to our house. I put Hallee right in the middle so she could give the baby the binkie when needed, entertain Caymbree, and pass treats to all the kids. About 1/2 hour into the car ride we had the following conversation....

Hallee: "Wow. I think I now know why you are always in a hurry to put us to bed."

Me: "Oh ya? Why's that."

Hallee: "Cause this is crazy! All I can think is how I can't wait until everybody is in bed."

Me: "Yep. Taking care of kids is really hard work sometimes. That's why mom gets kind of ornery some nights."

Hallee: "Ya. Now I know."

This picture still cracks me up. When I went in to check on the girls one night this is how I found Adi and Hallee. Too funny. If it would have been Hope laying on Hallee she probably would've ended up with a broken nose.

Move over Christmas!!

Move over Christmas!!! Halloween has taken over! Seriously that's how it seems. October was crazy busy with all sorts of fun activities and while we had a blast I am kind of glad to see it end.

HALLOWEEN PARTIES

This year Troy and I had to dress up on three separate occasions for different parties. The first one included a yummy dinner, a lot of running around, and the Newlywed game. The second involved a little murder mystery and a variety of "test your fate" activities. The guy below had to let a live tarantula crawl on his chest for 1 min. Others had to eat things like a cow tongue, three king worms, nasty drink concoctions, and the kicker of the evening was when a poor girl had to eat three live goldfish!!! I was dying!!! Let's just say I did NOT test my fate that evening. Troy did and as luck would have it all he had to do is stand with his arms out straight for three minutes! BORING!!!

I didn't think we were going to be able to pull of the third party; the annual family Halloween party. We had so much going on and it just seemed simpler to stay at home. Anyone who knows me knows that I HATE to miss out on family functions so by Thursday night I caved in and we made it work. And I am SOOOO glad I did. It's not everyday that you get to see your family (especially this bunch) all decked out in sweet Halloween attire!

Grandpa and Grandma Smith with their great-grandchildren

My mom and dad

Hallee and cousin Olivia

Me and my gang

FALL LEAVES

Fall just wouldn't be complete without playing in the leaves. Thank goodness my parents back yard does more than the trick. My dad saved this pile of leaves just for the grandkids. Good thinking Pops!

CRAFTING

The girls and I managed to do a little crafting this month as well. We made these cute kabobs out of gummy/gooey treats to give to all the cousins. A little sticky but a fun project. I also realized a few days before Halloween that the girls did not have trick-or-treat bags. So, I came up with the perfect way to rid my pantry of all those empty food storage cans. :)

Note: It helped to microwave some of those tougher candy for a few seconds to make it easier to slide. We also put them in cellophane bags and tied black tulle around the bottom.

PUMPKINS AND THE PUMPKIN PATCH


The pumpkin patch is always a favorite! Full of photo ops, the quest to find the perfect pumpkins, and mini corn mazes.

All of which leads up to the MUCH anticipated pumpkin painting night.


Check out our masterpieces!

SUGAR COOKIES

We made sugar cookies one night for FHE. Looks like the cookies got the best of us!!

So there you have it. Add on a trip to Cornbelly's, the Scarecrow Festival, the witches at Gardner Village, class parties and the school carnival and you now know why I am saying that Christmas doesn't stand a chance.