In His Words...

Evan was given an assignment at school. His teacher asked the class to write a paragraph about what they're thankful for. Here's exactly what he wrote on his paper-

I'm thankful for my 4 brothers. My Family. My parents. My friends. My free country. My school. My great teachers. My pets. My great stuff, and my army that keeps Colorado safe.

Evan Olivas

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

We're Thankful For Dee!

Dear Dee,

Thank you for taking all five of us to Build A Bear today. We had fun making our reindeer, penguin, polar bear & moose. Wes had fun watching us. He will make one next time. Daddy says we need more stuffed animals like the desert needs sand. We don't listen when he talks like that. We LOVE our new friends, and Mommy especially loves all of the noises they make. (She never lets us put sound in our bears) We appreciate you taking us on a day when everyone else in Colorado took their kids, too. We also want to thank you for standing in line with us for an hour.

You're the best, Dee! We are very thankful for you!

Love,

Evan, Luke, Jack, Logan & Wes

I'd Like To Know...

...What is YOUR routine?

I'm walking through my house today, wondering if I'm normal. Here's how our day works: We EAT, we PLAY, we CRAFT, we BAKE, etc., etc., etc.,.....we CREATE MESSES!!! Sometimes we clean up as we go, but most days, we're just having so much fun racing to the next item on our agenda, that we tend to SKIP the part where you're supposed to clean up. It all ties in with my post about my 'Not-So-Perfect' house. Before I know it, I will no longer have my precious boys to keep me company during the day, and I'm not about to waste my time with them doing something boring, such as cleaning. Where am I going with this? Oh yeah....if you ever come to our door between 4:00-5:00, I'm sure you will hear us inside, but please don't take offense if we don't answer. We're in here frantically picking up our messes. (Please stop by at another time.) You see, I'm pretty sure Derek doesn't realize how messy we get during the day, and I plan to keep it that way. I greet him at the door with 5 happy boys, dinner of some sort (most nights), and sparkling clean and organized home. He has no idea that things just got in order less than an hour ago.....and it was done in the most chaotic of fashions.

So PLEASE, tell me....Do you clean as you go, or do you do frantically tidy up one hour before the expected arrival of your husband? Hurry with your response, I've only got 1:55 minutes until I need to start cleaning....

Our Weekend Consisted Of...

A Sleepover...Evan's best friend, Anders, spent the night on Friday. They fell asleep at midnight, and were up at 5:45 AM. I'm still yawning...

A Photo Shoot...My good friend, Lucy, took an amazing picture of our family for this years Christmas card. Sorry, can't show you....it would spoil the fun when you open up your card! Lucy, you're the BEST!!

Decorating for CHRISTMAS!...Yes, we decorated our house for Christmas! I love it!

A Visit With Santa!!...Santa arrived at our mall on Saturday night, so we went to see him. The boys sat on his lap and told them how WONDERFUL they've been all year. I don't think he noticed their noses growing.

Fist Finding...Wes discovered his hands and stared at his fists all weekend long. Mobiles, and other baby toys are SO overrated!

A Play Date...Luke invited his BFF, Erin, over for a play date. They are SO adorable together. (note to Aunt Sheila-BFF stands for 'Best Friends Forever')

And An EVICTION...Poor Logan was evicted from his crib at the ripe old age of 17 months. The first night didn't go too well, but I think he's getting the hang of it.

And HERE are the pictures to prove it!

Three Years Ago...

I was looking at old pictures today, and came across some from three years ago.

THREE YEARS AGO...

...Luke was so tiny and cute....and he hadn't yet learned how to talk back. Oh, the joy...

...We were closing up Pa John's house for the winter.

...Evan was only in preschool. I'm happy to report that he is over his phase of wearing shorts with snow boots.

...Jack had just been born.

THREE YEARS AGO...

...I ONLY had 3 children. What in the world did I do with all of that extra FREE TIME?

...I had really long hair. I miss it. Maybe it will grow back.....it will take 3 years.

...I was only 30.

...The TOOTH FAIRY had never been to our house. Now she is a frequent visitor....and we are broke. Have you any idea what teeth go for these days?

...Three years ago, I never would have thought that one day we would have 5 boys. Now I can't imagine life without them. I thought my children, my life, and my marriage were all PERFECT. Little did I know, it only gets better with each passing year.

(Happy Friday night party night, everyone!!)

Timeout For Logan...

Logan has finally been introduced to the consequence of timeout. Keeping him there is how I spend the greater part of my day. Yes, he really IS that naughty. Cute as a bug, but NAUGHTY.

Here is a short picture sequence to show you what timeout means to Logan.

Mommy's coming, better get back up......

Three Months Already?

Looks who's three months old!!!

Signs to your peeps...

HAPPY

THREE

MONTHS,

LITTLE

MAN!!

It's Here!!!

We awoke to a blanket of long-overdue (but very welcome), SNOW!!!!! It was a mad dash to the coat closet, in order to find boots, gloves, hats, mittens, scarves, & snowsuits for four very anxious little boys. So what if it was only 7:00 AM and the neighbors were, quite possibly, still sleeping? MY CHILDREN were ready. I hadn't had an ounce of coffee yet, and was just as eager to send them out for some 23 degree fresh air. It took much longer than anticipated to get them dressed. WHY? NOTHING from last year fits. The clothes that could be handed down from brother to smaller brother, have seen their limit. For the life of me, I can't imagine why I saved them one more year. Tonight we'll be at Target, along with everyone else in our neighborhood, replenishing our winter wear. Until then, and for the rest of today, they'll wear whatever I can pull together. Mommy's little orphan's.....

Magically Good Behavior!!

Thanks to Dee, our boys have been perfect little angels for three straight days!! OK, so maybe they haven't been perfect, but they're closer to that title than they've ever been!

Dee bought us the Elf On The Shelf gift set. It came with one of those vintage elves (you may remember from your childhood) and a storybook to introduce you kids to the new tradition in the house. Here's how it works:

On the first night, you read the book to the kiddos. After reading it, you think of a name for your Elf. (This was the hardest part for us. No one wanted to agree on a name.) Then you put the Elf to bed (we've been taking turns and letting a different boy choose where to put the Elf at bedtime). Once the boys are asleep, he flies to the North Pole and reports to Santa. This is quite terrifying to my boys, and I love it. In the morning, he's in a different place, where he stays the entire day in order to keep a close eye on the family he's been assigned to. During the day, you can't touch him, or his magic may disappear! I want to kiss the mother who invented this idea, and decided to share it with the world. Where has this been the last 7 years? My recommendation to you? BUY ONE TODAY!!! (Dee found ours at the hallmark store.)

Here's just one of the many spying perches Elf has been seen the last few days. Allow me to introduce to you, Bernard, the Olivas' Elf.....

THANK YOU, DEE!!!

What Daddy Doesn't Know...

Dear Logan,

Thank you very much for playing dress-up with Mommy. You were such a good sport and looked so cute as a ladybug! As long as you don't tell daddy our little secret, we can play dress-up whenever you like!

We'll play again today once we get your big brothers off to school. We have to be careful, or they may rat us out!

I love you so much,

Mommy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACKERS!!!

Jack


Madden


Olivas



A.K.A :
Jack Jack
Jack-A-Lack
Jackers
Jack Attack



Happy 3rd Birthday, Buddy!

It was a WONDERFUL DAY!!!

Don't Ask Me Why...

I came around the corner and this is what I found......

Maybe french toast just tastes better when you're naked.

W. W. Y. D. ???

So....What Would YOU Do?

Allow me to explain-

I spent HOURS making a huge clock on the wall in the boys' room. After a fresh coat of lime green paint was applied (their choice of color), I wallpapered nice red numbers for the clock, making sure they were perfectly spaced and placed. The humongous clock was my attempt at an in-your-face approach to teach them how to tell time. Any kid who has to stare at an enormous clock every night while drifting to sleep will most certainly tell time before his classmates, right? Wrong. Here were my mistakes. I forgot to draw the little minute marks in between each number. I also forgot to draw a circle around it's entirety. Oh, and the most important thing I neglected - a sign at the top of the clock that would depict it as a 'High School Musical' clock! SILLY ME! Good thing Evan has my back.

So....back to my question. What would YOU do? Sell him to the gypsies? Ground him for all eternity? Enroll him in tutoring for spelling clock wrong? Yes, he did it with a sharpie. No, it won't wash off. I tried and it took the paint with it. I'm waiting for your advice. Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.....

Get Out And....

V O T E !!!