getting on track

We have decided to develop and finally WRITE DOWN a family schedule/routine.  Today was day one of implementing our routines and it went fairly well; the snooze was only hit once I am happy to say.  Breakfast went picture perfect, lunch went well and everything was down hill after that!  BUT today was Cael's birthday so I knew our evening would be spent partying not sticking to a schedule. 
My reason for putting us on a schedule, even a loose one, is to take the guess work out of the day.  Hopefully, this will instill in the boys (and mom) some great LASTING habits and maybe even cut down on the arguing, whining and complaining that I do. :-D
One thing I am learning is that I prefer routines.  A schedule, for us with so many little ones, is so easily blown.  Although, I do like have a written schedule so I know how to get our day back on track if things start getting too off track, but mostly I just want to know what comes next.  So... I am scheduling our routines, (sounds crazy I know) but only as a guide!  Here we go!

Cullen Home Daily Schedule/Routines

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 6:30am    good morning mom & dad- begin early morning routine

 7:00am    boys up & breakfast

 7:25am    Sean leaves for work

 8:00am    MWF- walk with the boys

 9:00am    twins nap/school time

11:30am   lunch

 1:00pm    Kipp-nap/Cael-free "reading," nap, or school if we didn't get to it in the am

 2:00pm    twins nap

 3:30pm    begin the dinner process... ugh..

 4:30pm    big boys & mom pick up house (before daddy comes home)

 5:00pm    DADDY is home!!

 5:30pm    dinner

 6:30pm    begin bedtime routine

 7:00pm    memory work & structured reading with daddy

 8:00pm    BEDTIME for the boys!

**This is merely our guideline, except for early morning and bedtime routines I am really trying to stick to those exact times.  Having this written down gives us something to aim for, a goal.  Without a written schedule I feel like we are driving cross country without a map; it is just way too easy to get lost in our day and wind up accomplishing ZILCH!

turning five

Cael is FIVE today.  He is such a joy.

Happy Birthday Cael!

We love you.

a little walk down memory lane

Our Cael

five

SUCCESS....?

How can a day fall apart SO quickly?

Our week went so well.  Sean was TDY this week, so it has just been me and the boys for the first time since the twins were born.  I was a bit leery of how the week would go, but had high hopes that all would go well and it did, until today.

This morning the house was clean, now it is DESTROYED.

This morning daddy was coming home early afternoon, now it will be after bedtime.

This morning the mood was cheery, now I am hanging on by a thread... oh, wait, no I think it snapped.

It got so crazy I finally just loaded the boys in the van and drove around, gotta love car seats!  The only time it is legal to STRAP THEM DOWN!!  I tried to ease the pain of the bad day with a latte from Starbuck's, but I had to order a soy latte (I am going dairy-free since Remington is having problems spitting-up) not so yummy or soothing.

Anyway, maybe if I just talk about how great the week was the bad day will disappear?  I will give it a try...

Auntie Lauren was here for the first couple of days, which was WONDERFUL!  The boys stayed at the hotel with her for 2 of the nights that Sean was gone.  It was such a blessing to have some free time!  I did important things while the boys were out, such as surf the web and stare off into space-

BECAUSE I COULD!

One thing I learned is the babies MISSED their big brothers crazy antics!  They were so bored.  They fussed and fussed without all the wild, non-stop commotion.  Here I am always trying to get the big boys to settle down and stop bothering the babies!  Who would have thought they ENJOY being bothered?!

PAUSE...

Sean just sent a text... "I am flying over soon take the boys out"  How fun!  We just watched his plane go over the house!  Don't worry he was a passenger on a commercial airline, he wasn't illegally flying and texting!

Anyway, back to the week.  We were all sad when Auntie left; she is just so fun!  So, we went to the park, visited friends and for the very first time since the twins came along...

I went to the store with ALL FOUR boys by MYSELF!

Thankfully, we had a great time.  We must have all just been happy to get out of the house.  The babies didn't fuss, the big boys behaved and I shopped! Cael and I would swap pushing the stroller and cart with Kippy directing from the cart.  Will I ever be so lucky for things to go so well again?  I don't know, but at least our first time out was not a disaster!  The test run was a success.   It is good to know we can survive a week without dad.  Who knows when the next deployment will come along!

Well, I hear the sprinklers going outside so I know the boys are into more mischief!  I think it is time for a movie!  Thanks for listening... I am feeling better already!  (How does sharing- even if it is with nobody on a blog- help?  hmmm....  I am not sure, but it does!)

a great start

A few weeks ago I made a new friend and she invited my family over for a play date this morning.  We have a lot in common the most obvious commonality being four children ages 4 and under.  It was a fun morning and I enjoyed the visit immensely.  My boys also had a blast playing, dumping toys, spitting-up on her rug and peeing on the carpet (couldn't find the bathroom)!  Did I mention they are in the process of moving into their beautiful new home?!
Good times!

playing

Me, I am playing.  And, I am having a blast.  I am in the process of learning how to take pictures, edit and make collages!  hee hee  Yes, I have stayed up too late playing, but sometimes it has to be done.  Please be forgiving of these photos; I have no idea what I am doing, but I am having fun doing it!

 

The other day the boys were having so much fun playing I had to grab the camera and take a "FEW" pictures of them!
Last week my sweet boys turned 6 months.  sigh...

silence is GOLDEN!

Auntie Lauren, a photo by Muddy Clarity on Flickr.

Last night was absolutely wonderful! Sean's, Auntie Lauren is visiting us and staying in a nearby hotel and our big boys got to spend the night with her.
That was the first time (that I remember) we have ever had anyone take our boys for a night (you know how it is in the military... family is always on the OTHER side of the country!).  We have left for a couple of days twice, but have never been able to enjoy the SILENCE in our own home! I was loving the silence.  Now, I know I am contradicting myself from an earlier post where I said "A clean silent house without children would be just plain sad,"  BUT since it was just for the moment, it truly was wonderful!  Yes, we kept the twins with us, but it still felt like we had no children in our home!  Life with only the twins seemed a breeze.  They just can't compare with the big boys' non-stop energy; they can't go anywhere yet!  Give them a month and they will be into everything too, but as of right now they are relatively harmless.
I cannot say enough times what a wonderful evening we had.  Life seemed so still and peaceful!  Seriously, I have not been happier to just be.  There is always so much to be done, but last night everything stopped and we were able to savor every minute.  What a rare, precious opportunity to just sit and visit with my husband and enjoy his company with no (big) interruptions (only little ones). Thank you so much Auntie for giving us a break.
I love and enjoy my children more than I can say; they have made me recognize the beauty of silence!
I am beyond happy!  Thank you Auntie.

Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins

Last week my mom and I made GF muffins and they were amazing!  I was in heaven.  They were not the grainy, dry GF baked goods you get from the stores, ICK.  These muffins were moist, soft, held together nicely and, dare I say, healthy!  I used a wonderful mixture of whole grains and starches.

This recipe is from the Gluten-Free Girl, LOVE her!  When I first read her recipes I was very intimidated.  In this recipe alone I used NINE different flours/starches! And, no, I did not use measuring cups for my flours I weighed them like a good "gluten-free girl."  It may sound INSANE, but it is worth all the hard work.  The GF all-purpose mix you buy from the store just doesn't cut it.  Now that I am feeling a little more comfortable with my flours I am going to start buying in bulk and cooking up some gluten free goodies. YUM!
Next week I am making dinner rolls.  I cannot wait!

Gluten-Free Whole-Grain Muffin Recipe

350 grams whole-grain flour mix
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
180 grams deark brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 eggs
300 grams buttermilk
100 grams grapeseed oil (I used 100 grams of melted butter)
handful dried figs (I did not have figs or walnuts on hand and so I used 1 cup of blueberries)
handful walnuts
Preheat the oven to 350*. Grease a large muffin tin thoroughly.
Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk them together to combine and aerate.
Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and grapeseed oil (butter) until they are combined well. Add them to the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula until the batter is almost fully combined. Throw in the figs and walnuts and continue stirring until all trace of flour is gone.
Fill the muffin tins 3/4 full. Slide the muffins into the oven. Bake until the muffins are browned with a bit of a crunch, the top springs back to the touch, and a knife goes through cleanly, about 25 minutes to 35 minutes.

My all purpose whole-grain mix:
Almond          45 grams (I would like to have used more Almond flour, but that is all I had on hand)
Buckwheat     55 g
Quinoa           200 g

Oat                 200 g

Pure rice        100 g

Millet             25 g

Potato starch  150 g

Cornstarch     125 g

**The other morning I used 1 part of my AP mix to 1 part cornmeal for yummy gluten-free banana pancakes.  I add the cornmeal for a little crunch.  Really, does anyone eat WHITE--read rubbery, disgusting--FLOUR in their pancakes these days?!

first year memory loss

I have decided to recount my pregnancy with the twins and detail their first year on my blog so I wont forget the details.  So many times EVERY time I have spoken to a mom of multiples and asked questions about her first year with her babies she responds, "To be honest I don't remember.  That first year is all a blur!"  This has probably happened a dozen times, really.  My memory was bad enough pre-twins.  Knowing that I probably won't be able to recall the basics let alone all the fun, crazy details of their first year I am going to write them down.  This way when I want to remember how many times a got up to nurse my 5 month old twins I will know (4-6 times EVERY night, just in case YOU were wondering!).  More to come on twins...

What a wonderful Fourth!

We had the most enjoyable weekend!  It was such a contrast to last year's Fourth.  Last year was a bit lonely with daddy deployed, of course I was pregnant with the twins and taking care of the "big" boys.  This year Sean is home, my mom was here visiting, we went to a parade, enjoyed fireworks TOGETHER, attended two VERY fun BBQs and have TWO MORE sweet boys to love and kiss!!  Last year made me enjoy EVERY moment of this year so much more.  I am so thankful for our fun weekend!

BBQ

NOTE: Finn was not deliberately left out of all pics.  He slept through all the excitement and somehow our pictures of him SLEEPING are way blurry! 

Random 4th Photos

 

July

July is going to be a very busy month for us! 

• My mom & Sean's Aunt will be coming to visit.  First my mom and then Sean's Aunt will be here.  I love company; company makes life fun.

• The babies will be SIX months!  I already feel like they are growing out of the baby stage!  They are BIG BOYS.  If only I could slow life down.

• And Cael, my biggest boy will be turning FIVE at the end of the month.  Can this really be?  I better enjoy my FOUR, 4 & under, because it won't be long and I will have FOUR, 5 & under.  Sad.  I love my boys and I want them to grow up and have great lives, but I don't want them to grow up.  Make sense? BUT, it will be so fun to see what kind of men they become!

I am so looking forward to the month!  Hopefully, in here somewhere we can throw in swim lessons for the boys.   And of course we will be doing school on the weeks between company.
What a happy month!