My crazy day

Yesterday was a beautiful day! I just happened to be watching 4 extra kids! Now some might think that this would be pretty crazy. But we had an awesome day! Everybody was pretty content throughout the day. My kids are thrilled whenever they get to have their friends over to play anyways. Jackson (5) and Asher (2 1/2) came over around 9 or so. The kids played outside and inside really well. Then Frankie (3) and Ilana (1) arrived around 11:15. Ilana went right down for a nap. Elijah and Jackson were content to play some video games for as much time as I would allow them. Asher was happy just hanging out downstairs playing with toys. Micah, Nathan, Frankie and I went out to tackle the small mound of leaves in our backyard. It's amazing to me how they were entertained for at least an hour just jumping in and throwing the leaves around. Ilana got up and we had good old mac and cheese and oranges. After lunch Nathan, Micah, Frankie and Asher all went down for a nap. So I hung out with Elijah, Jackson, and Ilana. Gracie got home and was so excited to play with Ilana....she is such a little mommy. It really was a great day....maybe I should start a daycare....okay not really. I am just happy to be a blessing to my friends!

Trick or Treat!

7:00 am.....Mommy can we put our costumes on? 10:00am.....Not yet. 12:00pm it's still not time. 2:30pm shouts of glee from all the kids because mommy finally lets them put their costumes on. It didn't matter that we weren't going trick or treating till 6:00pm. Every year the kids can hardly wait to put on their costumes and hoard stockpiles of candy (which daddy secretly loves to get into). We had a great time with friends taking a little stroll around the neighborhood and then at the fall famtastic party at the fairgrounds. The kids looked pretty darn cute in their "Star Wars" costumes. We thought we would do a family theme this year. Loving it!

P.S. For some reason I am having a hard time uploading pictures.....so this one will have to do.

Toothless

What a brave little girl Gracie is! She loves loosing her teeth so much because it is confirmation that she is a big girl now! The moment she discovers she has a loose tooth she is on a mission to get the thing out ASAP! She lost the top front tooth last Tuesday...and then the other top one on Sunday. She thinks she is pretty darn special being able to sing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" song and really mean it. She is still as beautiful without her teeth.

Family Pics

So for weeks now we have been anticipating our pictures being taken by the extraordinary Ali Brown. She is a friend of ours from church who has recently started a business here in town. We were scheduled to take them a couple of weeks ago....but got snowed out. The only bummer about yesterday was that it was so windy my hair was sticking straight up in some of the shots....according to Ali she had a great laugh thanks to me. My kids enjoyed the relaxed hanging out approach....even though pictures are usually pretty painful for them (with the exception of Grace our model). Elijah especially loved the horse that was roaming around the barn we were by. I have to give it to Ali though.....it is not an easy task getting a good picture of the six of us. So....here is just the sneak peak.....more are to follow.

Little stinker!

Have I mentioned lately how I am pretty sure my children at age 15 months have been abducted by aliens and replaced with "other" children. Well, I thought that we might be in the clear for the baby of the bunch.....but I guess it was just wishful thinking. Call it a right of passage but Nathan has finally proven to be worthy of the Oettel name! Of course, he is a million times milder than the others that have gone before him....but yes he does know what he wants! And on this particular day he wanted the cupcakes that were sitting on the counter waiting for dinner time. While I was busy separating the laundry he managed to get a hold of the entire package of cupcakes. I was only notified by Gracie that he had the cupcakes after he had made a gigantic mess of himself and created a trail of cupcake frosting all the way downstairs on our new carpet.....of course. First reaction.....ummm....a little anger. I figured if I grabbed the camera I might think he was a little cuter. Thankfully, we recently purchased a steam cleaner.....worth every penny in our house! I am happy to report their are no stains! As for the little bandit I actually believe that he knew he had been a little stinker. And now I am laughing.

A few pics

I always hear how all my kids are like little carbon copies......and I guess they do look alot alike. I need to remember to get out my camera more. It is the reason David bought it for me....to capture my kids in the moment. I will try to do better!

6 turning 16!

So I am in the bathroom getting ready for church this morning and Gracie was in their with me. As usual I am brushing her hair getting all the knots out. And out of the blue she says to me "Mommy, I really don't like princesses anymore." And I say "What do you mean (knowing exactly what she means)". And she say back to me "you know belle, and cinderella....princesses like that". She continues to say that she is "too old" to like princesses anymore. So I tell her that I am really sorry to hear that because that means that we won't need to go to Disney World for vacation then. And she immediately recanted. I realize it is only a matter of time that she will inevitably grow up. But if I convinced her to remain a little girl for a little while I am happy. I told her she is never too old to love princesses!