The Threes are OVER

Praise the Lord, the kids are 4!!  Can I just tell you how glad I am that the threes are over!  Reese and Tucker have become increasingly more compliant and less temperamental to closer they've gotten to four so I'm counting on the fours to be a breeze compared to the last 12 months. 
We celebrated with our 4th annual Splish Splash Birthday Bash.  It was their first "friend" party and they had an absolute blast!

Happy Birthday Reese & Tucker!

Rub a Dub - 3 in a Tub

Bath time has become quite the circus in the Tims' house!  Now that Rylan can sit up and crawl around, she often joins Reese and Tucker in the tub.  I'm usually soakin' wet when I'm done (Chris too when it's his turn) but we've got bath time down to a science.  Besides the scrubbin' we have a little fun too...

 Rylan usually has to come out first and throws a rip-roaring fit.  She's a fish just like the bigs!  She also enjoys brushing her teeth in the sink. 

Oh how I'm dreading the day that all the kids can't take a bath together... I'm all about efficiency!

Losin' My Marbles

Liars!  All the people that said the two's were terrible.  The two's have nothin' on the three's!!  Let's just say it's a good thing Reese and Tucker are so stinkin' cute.  I'm counting down the days for them to turn 4 in the hopes that they will be magically fixed; instantly compliant.  A girl can dream, right?! 

We've had some rough days in the Tims' house within this last year... tears, fits, timeouts, spankings, sticker charts, iPad charts... you name it, we've tried it.  Our latest incentive system is one I stole from Andrea.  Marble Jars... love these!  The kids get to put a marble in their jars when they do something good, but have to take one out when they do something bad.  When they fill their jar, they get to go pick out a prize at the store. 

Love these cute little jars...

Tucker filled his jar first and got to pick out a prize last week.  This was very motivating for Reese!  Hers is now almost full!

The marble jars are keeping me from losing my marbles.  Well, that and reading Raising the Strong willed Child.  Reese is definitely our strong willed one.  

Besties

It's happening already.  Tucker will ask Reese to play with him and she'll say, "No, I'm playing with Rylan."  While I hate that Tucker is being left out, I have to admit that I love to see Reese playing with Rylan.  I'm praying that they become not just sisters but lifelong best friends.

My older sister and I are 3 years apart just like Reese and Rylan and I don't remember us ever really fighting.  We shared a room for years, spent summer after summer serving snow cones together, and even shared some friends during the college years.  She made me lick the deodorant once, but other than that, she was a great big sister.  When I was 9 years old, my baby sister was born. She's wearing a diaper in most of my childhood memories.  But as an adult, she's a bestie for sure! 

I'm so blessed to have two incredible sisters... that both live right up the street!  I pray that Reese and Rylan become besties early in life and develop a bond that keeps them close forever!

They're off to a great start...

I totally don't deserve to be so blessed!

Beauty & The Beast

Like most little girls, Reese wants to be a princess.  You can imagine her excitement when Grandma invited her to see Beauty & The Beast (in 3D I might add).  I wasn't sure how her first movie theatre experience was going to be so I was relieved when the movie started and we were the only people in the entire theatre. 

She was on the edge of her seat when the previews started and was literally laughing out loud at every little silly thing that happened. 

 Wow... this picture makes me laugh out loud. 

You watch movies through a whole different lens once you have kids.  I didn't remember Beauty and the Beast being so scary.  I was really surprised that Reese didn't get scared.  I guess she was just mesmerized with Belle and her 3D glasses. 

She ate way too much popcorn and candy and had a complete blast at her first movie.

Everyday a Sunday

Can we please just play outside all the time!?  Wouldn't it be nice if life was just a continuous cycle of Sunday afternoons?  Where we could just relax and enjoy playing together?  No stress, no responsibilities... just moments of pure joy, love and laughter. 

I pray that we'll always find the time (and energy) to play together, to explore together, to just plain love life together!

Moments like these bring me pure joy and remind me to count my many blessings. 

See what God has done!

Freeze Bumps & Fruit Loops

Have I mentioned how much I love it when the kids say something wrong and it sticks?  The teacher in me doesn't even try to come out to correct them.  We just change the name of whatever it is they're talking about...

Freeze Bumps = goose bumps
Stunk = skunk
Chicken Lake = Chick fil a
Candy Smarts = Smarties
Smellows = marshmallows
Fruit Loops = belt loops

My babies will officially not be babies anymore when they stop telling me they have freeze bumps when it's chilly in the morning.

Some days I can't wait for them to grow up so they can get dressed and make their own beds.  But some days I want them to stay little forever!

Roaring 20's

I'm ridiculously behind on posts, but have to jump ahead and post Halloween pictures... CUTENESS!!

Rylan made the cutest sack of money you've ever seen.  And I have to say that her costume is totally appropriate... diapers, day care, medical bills... the money sign is right on target!

Chris was sure to note that this would be the only time in Tucker's life when he could wear liquid eyeliner. Daddy did a great job on his facial hair.

 

I'm pretty sure the kids had no idea what they were.  When people asked them what they were going to be for Halloween, Reese said "A Princess Flapper" and Tucker said a "Monster" instead of a "Mobster." 

Reese wouldn't wear her feather boa (imagine that... Reese being difficult). But she made a mean swing dance partner though. 

I'm pretty sure this is the last year they're going to let me coordinate their costumes... so I had to go all out.  They were adorable and had tons of fun Trick-or-Treating and playing at the Church Fall Festival. More pictures to come.