Holiday Cheer

Thanksgiving was very nice, although it did come with a couple of small headaches...boys! Nothing we were not able to handle. Both of the boys were happy to help unload the buckets of Legos and to push a big black semi-truck all over grandma and grandpas house. They also loved the tinker toys, our guys renamed them trampolines! I guess in some sort of way they do resemble a trampoline. I am glad they didn't try and jump on them. When the boys played outside they both liked driving grandmas golf cart, not turned on of course, and grandpa was so helpful in showing them where the golf balls were kept! I was looking out the window watching our guys play with the golf balls, and I would see grandpa right there showing them how high they bounce on the concrete! Then there was Alexys who was not satisfied with bouncing one ball at time, so she bounced six or seven, making for an explosion of rock hard objects showering down on their heads. I kept seeing the little people practically running for their lives! Addysen was not feeling well, so she kinda kept to herself. She could be found climbing on the waterfall rocks, or just inside hanging out. No matter how bad she felt, she was still able to keep her sense of fashion alive. Addy graced us with her presence wearing a giant pink hat with pink fuzzy balls, a very mutli colored poncho that was way too big, and to top it all off, she has wearing stripped pants! "How do you like my outfit mommy?", nothing to do but tell her I loved it! Just a little white lie! Apes was busy helping build Lego cities and teaching the boys how to drive! I heard they left tire marks on the garage floor from turning the wheels over and over! It was nice to spend time with family we do not see often enough! Now, it's on to Christmas! Our house is decorated and our tree is up, we are officially ready for Santa!

To Grandmas House We Go

Today we leave town to visit Matt's grandparents and to subject them to our troops for three whole days! I should say his grandparents are the troopers for putting up with us!! Thankfully Grandpa Al has his hearing aid which he can control the volume on! I have always wanted to borrow it just to see if it would help me to tune out some of the noise! Maybe I will invest in some ear plugs! We are so spoiled with Grandma Phyl's home cooking. It is such a welcome break to having to cook each night. Just not having to think about what to make is a nice break. Our oldest girls have packed ingredients for three pies to bring with us, and that is what we get to contribute to Thanksgiving dinner. It is nice to make pies with grandma! Apryl asked, "should we bring the sugar and everything?" I said, "I'm pretty sure grandma will have the little ingredients, she has been making pies for quite a while." That is where Alexys chimed in with, "Yeah, like a hundred years or something." It is also nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and slow things down some. Buena Vista has beautiful mountain scenery and a lot of wildlife...in the front yard. City kiddos are overjoyed to see deer on the lawn in the morning rather than watching the garbage trucks drive up and down the street. Although, our boys do love garbage trucks! Every time we see grandpa he has a new nickname for everyone. Alexys has already been thinking of names for him too. She called him Grandpa Owl for years because she couldn't say Al. So, he has been calling her "noodle" ever since she was very little. I hope everyone has an enjoyable holiday with their loved ones like we will. We are going to miss all of the family we will not get to spend the day with, but we will be thinking about all of you!! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Love, the Morrison Family!

Big Talker

So, okay, yesterday I got my cast off, yay!! Not much celebrating is going on though. I was unaware of the stiffness and achy-ness that would accompany getting rid of my cast! It is hard to move my foot side to side, and walking is not super easy. All last week I talked myself up, telling my girls that I would be downstairs to check on their progress in the basement and playroom, now I can hardly make it down a step let alone 12! Let's not forget the unimaginable itchiness that comes with getting a cast off. It might be tolerable if it didn't hurt to scratch my leg and foot and ankle. I am happy to have the cast off in time for our travels this Thanksgiving week. Hey, that is something to be thankful for! Oh, I am also happy to have my leg looking less like Sasquatch once again. I hated not being able to shave, and my hubby could not for the life of him understand why that was so important to me. I guess he never will understand, seeing as how he has ultra hairy legs! It stinks feeling set back. I was so looking forward to my first shower without supervision in over six weeks, but I could hardly get in the shower without help. So, I was reduced to showering once again with my hubby holding on to me, and our boys opening and closing the bathroom door twenty times. They too want to see what mommy is up to. It was funny this morning when Apryl came in to check on me. She pulled my sock down just enough to see my incision and when she pulled the sock back on, a small cloud poofed from my sock. I can not keep enough lotion on my foot to keep it from shedding skin every where. These issues must only be a girl thing, because when my brother talked about getting his cast off, he thought these things were cool. I, on the other hand am counting the days until I can get a pedicure again!

Clean Up

Each day is another day to struggle with our kiddos to help around the house. For now, the boys think cleaning up is fun, somewhat. They will happily help out for about two minutes, then they are usually side-tracked by something shiny. Addysen, although still very young at the age of four, has already come to the conclusion that cleaning is just for mommies. As she put it, "I am not a mommy, so you (meaning me) have to pick up!". After all the arguments and "no's", I somehow manage to get the littlest in our family to pick up a few legos and maybe get lucky enough to have them put dirty laundry in the basket. My boys do enjoy helping with the laundry. Garhett likes to push the full basket of laundry down the stairs , and Brenden has started to enjoy sitting in the dryer. The task of doing laundry used to seem so daunting and monotonous, now, it is a new experience each day! Putting away groceries is another thing they are helpful with. Each boy has to thoroughly examine each item I purchased, and then beg to have one! "Please have grapes!", "please have cheese!" If I were to give them the food they wanted every time they asked, I might as well turn around and head back to the store. Then, they also love to test the durability of the chips as well as tomatoes and bread. When they hand me my loaf of bread that looked like a loaf of bread going in to the bag but now looks like a wadded up ball, I just try to smile and say thanks..not too sarcastically! Our oldest girls are another story entirely. They both understand that arguing will only result in MORE cleaning, so we are pretty good in that area. It's the act of actually cleaning that they kinda lack! They have been getting over on the basement and playroom lately since mom can not go down the stairs very easily. They are in for a big surprise come Monday, the cast is coming off!

Things They Like...

It still amazes me how much boys are born BOYS, and girls are born GIRLS. What I mean by that is the way that our boys take naturally to boyish things and same for our girls. Already our little guys have determined their favorite colors, which are green and blue. That is quite a change of pace from what their sisters loved...PINK! Except for Addy whose favorite color is purple. No one else can like purple just for the record, I think Addy owns it! She is very defensive when someone else declares they also like that color, "NO! Purple is MY favorite color!" she will shout. At the library on Saturday, Garhett was so set upon finding a race car book while Addysen was in desperate need of yet another princess book. Both of them were so cute when they went to the librarian to ask for help. "Garhett wants race car book.", he said to the librarian. Alexys came home with 'Little House on the Prairie', another girlie book. Brenden was happy with his tractor book and also his book from the movie 'Cars'. Neither of them bothered with books about fuzzy things or frilly things. Commercials also show how much different they are from their sisters. They only stop to watch the ones with race tracks or Lego's, deeming all others with ponies or dolls for Addy. Also, after dressing up as football players for Halloween, it took me three days to convince them they needed to take the eye black off! Now, don't get me wrong, our boys have been dressed up in one of their sisters dresses a time or two, and they like to occasionally play "house" with Addysen, but those time are getting further and further apart. They are no longer liking to be in their sisters clothing and would prefer to wear a football helmet or hiking boots all day, other articles of clothing optional. Our boys would rather throw the babies down the stairs over putting it down for a nap or having to feed it, and every time they want to play superheros, Addysen always calls herself the Fairy Super Hero! It is neat to see our kiddos natural progression into boyhood and or girlhood. Had we never had boys, I would have missed so much!

Numbers Ahoy...

This morning I had to drive the girls to school, usually Matt takes them. It has honestly been a while since I had to get everyone ready in the morning to get to school on time. We are fortunate that Apryl and Alexys are very good about getting ready. Lunches and clothes for school are ready the night before, and there is NO hassle getting them moving in the morning. Like I said, we are lucky. Anyway, the girls and I always liked listening to the 'Mind Bender' on the radio station, and we were able to get in on the guessing again this morning. It was actually a lot of fun. It amazes me how much of a conversation this contest can spark up in my SUV. The ride to school seems to fly by while the girls are trying to think of answers to the question, they come up with some rational thoughts, and then there are the completely out in left field ideas! Those are what usually start them laughing. What I was happiest about was not having to listen to something our little people want to hear or watch. It was such a change of pace, I think having a few moments of non-little people music or movie time in the car set a new tone for my entire morning. I know that may sound rather dramatic, but until you have listened to "Numbers Ahoy" for the 500th time, you can't possibly know what I am talking about. I am appreciative for the movie giving our littlest children a love for numbers and math, but a mother can only hear the same movie over and over so much. I have never SEEN the movie, but I know every word. With our car having a DVD player our kiddos can watch movies, but mom can only listen to the movies. There are times when Matt and I are in the car with the kiddos and the movie comes on and I start to sing along, and when I realize what I am doing I see Matt looking at me like I have lost my mind. If only he knew what it is like to be surrounded by pre-school entertainment all day! I just learned how to use Pandora, which is internet radio. Since I now have a phone that has internet I can listen to music I like while the kiddos watch their "movie", it is so nice. The apps I put on my phone are another story. Apryl keeps telling everyone I have "old lady" apps! Wow, she was also the one who told me people born in 70's are really old. If anyone wants to help me kick her butt give me a call!

Missing Someone!

Monday Matt and I dropped our oldest daughter off at school and helped her carry her luggage inside. It was such a weird feeling to leave her and know that I would not be picking her up later that day! I am so glad that Matt and I are close with our children, but man, it is hard to say goodbye! I know that she is going to have an amazing time while she away at Outdoor Lab, but I missed her before she even started packing! Every child that is lucky enough to have the experience of Outdoor Lab remembers it forever! Matt and I were brought back to our 6th grade trips and reminisced about our cabin mates, and camp leaders. During the summer while we were raising money to send Apryl, everyone who gave her a donation told a story of their own trip or their children's trips to Outdoor Lab. I understand how important this trip was to her and never would I take that away from her! I tried so hard not to let her see me cry, I did not want to send her away feeling sad. When I gave her a hug she was barely touching me. I could sense that a little affection was going to send her into a fit of tears, so I had to shove her away quickly and with my pretend smile, wave and watch her walk into the school! Two days later, I am feeling more calm and I know she is loving her time with her friends! I can remember Outdoor Lab like it was yesterday, it was super fun! My own memories of what I got to do while there is helping me immensely! All of our kiddos deserve to experience this wonderful program! Having said that, is it Friday yet??

Halloween Fun!

Halloween is fun for all ages! Matt and I had a lot of fun on Saturday night with our friends and family! Everyone took part and dressed up, and helped us drink our alcohol and eat our food. It honestly didn't take that much arm twisting! I was lucky to only have a slight headache the next day accompanied by a little fatigue. That was rectified with Tylenol and a nap! I did hear from others they were not as fortunate. Halloween of course continued through yesterday when it became time for the kiddos to celebrate! We were without one kiddo however. Apryl left yesterday morning for Outdoor Lab School and missed trick-or-treating, but with the haul the other four kiddos brought home, I'm certain there will still be plenty of candy when she gets home Friday! More about Outdoor Lab tomorrow! We were blessed again this year with weather that was very cooperative! 70 degrees during the day led to 50's for trick-or-treating. That is about the best weather we could ask for in Denver! All the kiddos get to wear their costumes without coats over the top, and they red have noses because of make-up, not cold air! Our littlest two were enamored at the idea of our neighbors willingly hading them candy! All four had so much fun and were very good while walking around our neighborhood and Grandmas. Addy and Alexys have huge bags full of candy, and the boys buckets ended up being too small so they started using their helmets for the over flow! When did hading out full sized candy bars become the trend? I missed that memo! Our boys have full sized Snickers, Milky Way, Skittles, Starburst, Butterfingers, and those are just what I can remember! People were very generous! We did have a few comments about Garhett wearing Dolphins gear, but our recent "victory" over the Fish helped a little! The worst thing about Halloween is having all that candy at your disposal. I had three peanut butter cups for breakfast!