let's eat

caleb's newest obsession is eating. this morning i made him homemade bran muffins. (no worries, his sisters got chocolate chip muffins earlier in the week) he was like a cookie...er, muffin monster. he shoved a huge piece in his mouth and then used his hand to keep it there! gotta love that boy!

Smile!

so, it's that time of year again: christmas photo time. again, i have not lost all of the unwanted weight (i'll save that for a new year's resolution, i guess). our family has changed quite a bit since last year's picture: now there are four children! wow, what a crazy year! surprisingly (not really) it is quite difficult to get all four children smiling while looking at the camera. oh well, they are so cute, i don't really care.

The Ultimate Bathroom Remodel (on a budget)

Ok, so not everything is beautiful the first time you see it. I don't look quite as amazing when I wake up as I do after my morning routine. My little babies were, of course, adorable after they were cleaned of the birth goop (tmi?). Anyway, our house is no exception. This is our hall bath. It was in a word: hideous! Due to budget constraints, we did not expect to realize any of our great bathroom remodel wishes any time soon. However, when you have a constant drip out of the shower faucet, something must be done. And as anyone who has ever read If You Give A Mouse A Cookie knows, one thing always leads to another. Well this drip eventually led us to a complete bathroom remodel. (Thank you drip!!) Without further ado, here are a few pictures:

Wow! Can't help but love it. Big kuddos go out to my favorite handyman, Eric, and his fearless assistant, Jeff.

big news in the migray house

Sometimes you think you are in control of your life. You have successes and you take the credit. You have failures and you mope through the blame. But through it all you ultiamately feel in control. Then you get that one blip in your perfect control record and it feels as if your world has been rocked. We realized recently that when we congratulated ourselves on our successes we were just foolish. God has always been in control, we just like to take credit for his work. He has blessed our family beyond our expectations. Our seasons of difficulty seem somehow connected to times we tried to take too much control. About a month ago we again received another message from God that we are not in control and it definitely rocked our world. We found out that we are going to be welcoming another adorable migray baby into our family. We have been forced to reevaluate our priorities and our faith and trust. We are so grateful to be trusted with yet another gift from God. Join us in our journey!

Our New House!

We are nothing if not totally and completely devoted to our children. If one of our kids needs something, we will bend over backwards to fulfill their every wish. (yeah, right) Seriously though, we did need to move into a better high school district for Emilee's sake. After months of searching and three failed rental attempts, we found this little gem. It looked a bit rough inside and there was a pesky garage roof leak but we could see the potential.

Below is the before picture of the living room. It had bright green walls and ratty old trim. Plus it lacked the splendor of our taste. ;)

Below is a picture of what the living room looks like today. Notice the more neutral-colored walls and the sharp 4-inch baseboards. Wow! Now doesn't that look better? We are not totally done moving in but you already get a better feeling when you walk into the living room.

The next before and after is of the kitchen/eating/play area. The kitchen is a lost cause in it's present state. The appliances are absolutely ancient, and mismatched to boot! The blue cabinets, blue doors, bright pink walls, and yellow kitchen walls are out there, to say the least.

The area looks tons better with the cabinets and doors painted white and the walls painted the same neutral color from the living room. We are still working out some kinks as far as over table lighting goes.

And last but certainly not least is the pool. What can I say? I was totally excited to have a pool. This pool was a nasty green, mosquito-breeding ground when we first looked at it. And the overgrown wild shrubbery had to go. Finally, half a pool fence was, shall we say, less than adequate. And after: with all of the shrubs gone, the net in place, and the patio furniture ready for guests!

Chore Sticks

What a great time it is when your kids can finally help out with all of the chores. As Jeff so aptly noted, this looks like something a teacher would create. :) I was indeed in teacher-mode when I devised this devilish plan. I was absolutely worn out from either doing all of the chores or nagging the girls to do them.
Here's the system: the orange cup holds all of the chores that need to get done; not necessarily on a daily basis. Emilee has the green cup and sticks, Ainslee has the blue cup and sticks, and Mollee has the pink cup and purple sticks. They have three "must do" chores everyday on the sticks that correspond to their cup color. Before they can do anything, they must complete these three chores: 1. Make your bed. 2. Put away your shoes and backpack. 3. Put dirty clothes in the hamper (not on the floor!). After those three are completed they can play with toys or read books or whatever they choose. However, if they want to watch TV or play on the computer or DS, they have to do a chore. They can choose any chore stick. For every chore stick they complete (aside from the basic three) they earn 30 minutes of TV, computers, DS, or iTouch time.
The new system has had some interesting effects. Poor Emi was pouting the first Saturday after we began because she wanted to watch TV while eating breakfast but she had not completed any of her chores. Also, I don't think my house has been so dusted and vacuumed! Those seem to be their favorite chores and probably get done on a daily basis. And let's not forget the fighting over cleaning the toilet. Seriously?! I know!
I just cannot even express how pleased I am with the success of this system. We have been in full effect for about a week and I couldn't be happier. When I see them completing chores and putting sticks in their cups, it means there is one less chore for me to do. They are also becoming so responsible; they remind each other of unfinished chores (no more nagging from me). Here's hoping we continue this bliss!

Shell Beach

Our trip to San Diego was amazing! This picture was taken at Shell Beach. It is so pretty. The tide was coming in and you could see it wash over the rocks. We even went into a cave but went running out when the water joined us! This being our last day, the girls wanted to play chase with the waves one last time. I love that Mollee chose to let everyone see her panties rather than get her dress wet. Good times.