Fun times in Albuquerque

  Getting out the door to go to the park is quite the process with four little ones.  It's always worth it in the end though.  The girls always have fun riding their bikes up ahead of me and then waiting for me to catch up.  Gerald, of course, joins us now and loves tagging along next to big ol' Duke.

At this park a neighborhood dog decided to jump up onto his wall to say hi and keep a watchful eye on us.  I was very impressed with both his ability to hop up onto the fence but also having the discipline to not jump down and run over to us.

 Little dare devil Ellie climbing to the top of the ladder, something that took a lot of coaxing to get her older sisters to do. 

 Kate just "hanging" out.

 Duke and Gerald chased a gopher back into its hole.  Gerald had no idea what Duke was running for but wanted to be a part of the chase.  I think he might have smelt something because he was definitely interested in the hole, but then lost interest after a few seconds. 

 Duke, however, was determined to get that gopher.  I eventually called him off.

 Ellie loves chillin' with Baby Becca in the stroller.

 Here we are enjoying dinner at Blake's Lotaburger. Great food for a great price. 

 McDonalds on base is right next to a big outdoor park.  Often we would go play for a little while and then head over to McD's for some ice cream if the girls were well behaved.  

This day that we went Ellie was happy to sit in a highchair if it meant sitting next to Becca Boo.

 Becca loves chilling in our laps the most out of all our girls.  She especially loves chillin' with Daddy.

 One evening Kate asked to help prep dinner.  She was reading the directions out loud for frozen pizza but Andrew told her she needed to read with an Italian accent and hand motions.  I got a good kick out of it.  Kate did too, kinda.  She's good at masking her emotions. 

O Christmas Tree

  This year we went and got our Christmas tree at an outdoor tree lot. Our first ever live Christmas tree so we were all pretty excited to go pick it out. The gentleman that sold us our tree was very kind and friendly. The tree was only $20 too. Pretty good for a 7 foot tree.  

Once home Ellie stood by the door watching Dad prep the tree with Gerald by her side.  

 Good thing he's so little.  He can't quite reach the snacks in her hands.

 Gerald took a turn getting vacuumed. This little puppy is like a generic Swiffer duster.  He picks up dirt and dried leaves every time he goes outside.  As he bounds around inside all the dirt and debris fall off of him and then it is time to vacuum or sweep for the fifth time that day. 

 Becca still loves to be swaddled.

 And the tree is up!  Now for the decorations.

 And help from the children.  

 The star getting placed on top as we all looked on.  Well, most of us.

 Ellie is impressed.

 And now it's time for bed.  A jump into Daddy's arms and then off to get tucked in for the night.

Christmas Crafts

  One of the fun things about Christmas time is doing crafts.  Really, you can do crafts whenever, but Christmas time is the time to do Christmas crafts.  So maybe that deadline puts a little fire under me to get things done?  I don't know, but the girls loved all the painting we did this past Christmas. 

  I usually tried to do the paining during Ellie's nap time but I'm glad she was able to participate a few times.  Trying to figure out what to do with Becca took a little more effort.  We brought her walker to Albuquerque and she ended up taking a nap in it a couple times.  Both totally adorable and convenient. 

Fall is in the air

  My girls have never truly experienced fall; with the crisp air, the changing colors of leaves, the leaves falling, raking said leaves into piles, jumping into them, and then raking them back up again, and repeat!  So much fun that they have never experienced, until this past fall.  And they LOVED it!!  We did not have rakes, but the girls got creative and took the brooms outside to make leaf piles.

Post Thanksgiving

  I was able to get a lot of shopping done while Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales were going on.  Shopping on my phone is SO much easier, however, I don't know if it always saves me money.  Often I am willing to spend a little more just so that I don't have to take 45 minutes to load up the girls and go myself. 
  We did manage to get family pictures taken and for crazy cheap too!  $75!  The gal was super sweet and got our pictures edited and back to us in five days.  You can't get anything good for that cheap down in Florida.  After pictures were taken, we took the scenic way home and drove past the temple here in Albuquerque. 

 Becca looked so adorable in her outfit!  Not hardly any smiles from her during the family photo shoot but she wasn't crying.  Hallelujah.   

 She is starting solids now and isn't much of a fan of the rice cereal.  She does like applesauce.  Carrots are a little strong tasting for her.  She often gags.  

 One of the days we chose to stay inside and out of the cold I pulled out our ball pit balls.  The girls had a lot of fun throwing them around at each other.  

 Ellie adores Gerald and picks him up all the time.  I think he still likes her, for now, but she is about as gentle as a 2-year-old can get.  Which is not gentle at all.

 And here is my sweet Becca Boo.  She loves the sound of running water so 9 times out of 10 she will lay happily on the floor while I take a shower and get ready for the day.  Once the water is off, though, her water works start running.