McKenzie is 4

On December 13th this adorable girl turned 4
To celebrate she had a small party with just a couple friends. She is old enough now all her friends got dropped off so we had a house full of excited girls ready to party.

The kids loved all the games and all the food. No one had to eat vegetables or even finish anything they were given. They enjoyed Pizza & soda for dinner.

Followed by Cake Pops & Ice Cream for desert.

McKenzie is a joy to have in our lives.

Her favorite toys are: Hello Kitty, Babies with bottles & binkies, and her my little pony that can talk, walk and has a bottle & binkie.

She loves to eat: ding-dongs, pizza, chocolate covered raisins, (pretty much if it is chocolate she loves it), she also loves to chew gum

Her favorite show is iCarly.

She loves reading books, playing games (old maid, go fish, uno moo), and swinging on our swing set.

She is almost always the first one to be done with her chores, and is the most willing to listen. She is usually already dressed, and has made her bed before she comes to ask for breakfast.

She is so sweet. If she and Parker are fighting over something and I have to intervene and decide who gets the toy, after all the fighting and deciding if McKenzie ends up getting the toy she immediately will hand it over to Parker because she wants him to be happy.(So sweet, yet frustrating, why doesn't she do that before I have to intervene and become the judge).

A little Glimpse into our lives as parents

Tonight Anthony gave the kids marshmallows. McKenzie & Kaitlynn's preferred method of eating marshmallows is to stick them up their nose first, then pop them in their mouth.

Every day the kids earn tickets, at the end of the week they use the tickets to buy snacks for their movie night. Tonight Kaitlynn got 3 tickets for her hard work. She looked at Anthony and said "ooh dad, I wanted 2 tickets." We hope one day soon she will understand this reward system.

Santa

We ate breakfast with Santa at Parker's school. Here is Parker reading Santa his list:

This is the first year Kenzie wasn't scared of Santa:

Kaitlynn still isn't sure what to think, but at least she dared sit on his lap:

I think Santa was scared of Mason. I find it funny so many people are scared to hold newborns. If you hold a newborn right they hug you so tight you will never want to put them down. I thought about telling Santa not to be scared, but figured he is old enough to know what is comfortable with:

Yikes, when did we become parents of 4? I still like to think Anthony and I are young, but obviously these kids are aging us.

Kaitlynn

Kaitlynn has become a little song bird, she is always singing. She sings when she plays, while she colors, while sitting on the toilet, and pretty much any time in between. Car rides are so much more exciting now that I get to listen to her sing along to the songs on the radio. The other day she grabbed a toy that sings the alphabet song, pushed the button then came to find me. When she found me she started yelling "sing with me mommy." until I started singing with her. I think we sang the alphabet song at least 20 times.

Tooth Fairy

At the age of 5 Parker got his first visit from the Tooth Fairy:

My Cup Runneth Over

I am so blessed to have such amazing friends. My good friends Heather and Tracy threw me a diaper/freezer meal shower(despite my many protests that I do not need anything).

The friends I have made here in Florida are so wonderful. Living so far from family is hard, but all these wonderful ladies have made me and my family feel so welcome and loved:Heather and Tracy are the most amazing and stubborn people I know. I only wanted a picture of them, and just like the shower request they refused to listen and made me stand in with them. Who makes a women get in a picture when she is 38 weeks pregnant?

The perfect visitors

Since Mason was born during the week of Thanksgiving my Dad and Mom came out to help with the older kids while I had my baby:

Parker, Kenzie & Kaitlynn were in heaven being spoiled by my parents, I don't think they even missed me or Anthony while we stayed in the hospital 2 nights. One day my parents brought the kids to come visit their new brother. When it was time to leave my mom promised a prize when they got in the car. Both Parker & Kenzie got up, said good-bye, and walked out of the room. I could tell they knew grandma's prizes were way better then sitting in my hospital room.

Not only did they entertain the kids. My dad fixed all the things on Anthony's project list. While he fixed things, my mom made all the meals and wouldn't even let me wash my own dishes. I bet they went home exhausted. Thanks for everything. We loved having you here and miss you so much.