Stelie Designs

This fantastic girl of mine doesn't like American Girl, Barbie, or Princesses...she loves reptiles, dinosaurs and dragons! One day off school, the kids made stuffed animals with my mom (magnificent seamstress & grandma extraordinaire)  Avery wanted a dragon, a pattern my mom didn't have so Avery drew her own pattern, cut it out of fabric, sewed it and drew the details. (my mom only attached the wings because they ran out of time and had to come home) I am impressed with how well she did, hard to believe she's only 8.

      My little kids were bunnies by day and thrown together dress up clothes by night!  Hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween!

Now that we are entering the 4th week of school, I'm finally sharing our back to school dinner! [Paxton & Avery entering 3rd grade + Adler & Easton entering preschool] Every year we do a back to school dinner labor day night a.k.a. the night before the new school year starts.  We make crowns and have fondue, this year we also had pizza.  (2 kids wanted pizza & 2 kids wanted fondue) This is my hopes to get them excited for a new school year! Apparently, I missed a close up of Easton.  Oooops...that's what happens when you have 4 kids.

And just like that...school was here! I have 3rd graders!  Did you hear me? Third Graders!!! My first borns are excited for the new school year, they have a sweet teacher, friends in their class and so much to look forward too.  They went off without any hesitation. Full of smiles and tired of me taking pictures.  It seems rather quiet around here, can't wait to pick them up and hear all about their day!

There is something so refreshing about moving furniture around, gives a new perspective. See even my kids get silly about the change.   Have a fantastic weekend doing something fun with loved ones!  I know I am.

Wow!  Four years has flown by... We are celebrating these 2 munchkins turning 4 with a day at the Mall of America, rides, bowling, rides, and rides. You can read about 3 here , 2 here , 1 here and their birth here .

If you haven't already, you can read part 1 here  where I mentioned plans for Avery & Adler's shared room.  Now I think we have finally narrowed down the boys room. Here is an old pic of where we are starting for the boys room, soon to be formerly Easton & Adler's room.   Paxton's favorite color is orange or pink, Easton's favorite color is green and I wanted to incorporate that.  Paxton originally wanted this big wall of funky swirls but after seeing what it would actually look like, he wasn't a fan.  I showed him how it would look painted on a giant canvas with a solid wall behind.  Yep, that was the ticket.   Whew!! that saves me lots of time!     The plan is to start this weekend or first thing next week.  I'm going to do both rooms simultaneously so there will be a big slumber party in our room.

Paxton & Avery had a spring music concert at school.  They have been singing all the songs to me for weeks, while I loved my own mini concerts, it was fun to watch half of all second graders perform together.  I started to cry. Yep, tears were filling in my eyes. Tears of such pride in how amazing my kids are, how proud I am of who they are and tears of how fast they are growing up.  I had to pull myself together or I would've started bawling right in the front row and embarrassed my kids. My blessings.

This summer BIG changes are happening in the G-K home!  We are moving rooms. (well, my hubby & I are staying in the same spot, although, it would fit all 4 kids perfectly)  Upstairs we have Paxton & Avery's room, Easton & Adler's room, a playroom and our room.  Since my 8 year olds still do not want their own room, we are switching to a boy and a girl room.  Wish us luck, we've been talking this up for about a year.  P&A are so bonded (they've only spent two nights separate, when P was 20 months & in the hospital) that I'm slightly nervous and secretly a little sad about separating them. I'm in full planning mode for their rooms.  {Paxton & Avery's current room} First up is the girls room, currently Paxton & Avery's room.  Avery wanted a zebra stripe painted wall, I DO NOT want to paint that!  I think we've settled on a chevron of sorts.  I drew up a q...

 My big kids made these super mom's at school.  Aren't they so cute! My favorite is what they wrote inside.     Avery wrote (me translating) "My Mom is my hero because she protects me from a wasp tries to sting me. She is a nice mom every day!"   The weekend before, we had wasps and I killed them with my shoe. Paxton wrote "My mom is a hero!  Because she helps my family. By doing the dishes. Making us healthy and strong.  I love you so much" We had the best day although a bit chilly! Sculpture Gardens & Wild Rumpus Room Books.

Friday's are pizza night at our house, so last Friday as I was making 3 pizza's for my various food sensitive kids. Paxton is gluten/dairy/soy free, Easton is dairy/egg free, Adler is dairy/peanut free.  Avery isn't showing signs of intolerance yet.  Jer needs to be dairy free but not ready to give it up. Let me start by saying I HATE STRONGLY DISLIKE TO COOK!  I HATE STRONGLY DISLIKE TO BAKE!  I did get a B in home ec cooking in middle school.  Hard to believe I'm related to my mom & grandma who are wonderful cooks & bakers.  But there are 4 little people in my house who require being fed breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks 365! As I was stirring up the dough, rolling it out, grating goat cheeses, pureeing broccoli, then sneaking it into the pizza sauce, I was thinking gone are the days when I could rip open the plasic and shove a frozen pizza in the oven. Gone are the days of picking up the phone for pizza del...

Eight!  8!  Paxton & Avery are Eight!    Every year I want them to slow down from growing up so fast. Every year they refuse and keep growning. {this is what I got when I said I want to take your picture} I am blessed with two truly amazing 8 year olds!  They are sweet, smart, caring, compassionate, funny, goofy, silly, snuggable, lovable kids and I get to be their mommy! Paxton is into legos, nascar, monstor trucks, running, sports, shoes, art, wild kratts. His favorite color is hot pink but chooses orange or red if asked at school. Even though he is only 22 seconds older he has first born traits. Avery is into anything animal, art, legos (as long as they aren't the girl ones) pythons, nothing girly (except jewelry), wild kratts, chipmunk movies.  Her favorite color is golden or red. They remain as thick as thieves, still share a room, always think of the other, bicker, share secrets and prefer not to do something without the other if...

 Wishing you  a climbing good  weekend!

AHHH!!! {my fab 4 having fun at Target} Can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post.  Definitely not planned, but life happens right. [Especially with 4 little people around.] I'm still here designing new things, filling orders, going for walks, playing at the park, watching the kids look for grasshoppers, having play dates, laughing, visiting the rapture center, feeding ducks, fishing, swimming, smiling, riding bikes, swinging, dance parties, getting school supplies, answering emails, working on custom designs. Enjoying life. Being silly. School begins in 8 days.  [Which brings mixed emotions]  2 will be gone all day and will get back into a regular blogging schedule. Thanks for understanding.

Getting ready for a mag photo shoot which will be featuring Stelie Designs this fall.   The kids got dressed + stayed dressed without a hitch.  They were so awesome, followed directions, smiled and were on their best behavior.  I didn't even need to bribe them with a cookie. Can't wait to see the pics of me and my fab 4.  Unfortunately, Jer couldn't get out of work to join us.

3 years ago today, this happened!  I became the mommy to my second set of twins. Easton & Adler's birth completed our family of 6.   They are full of personality!  See for yourself... Since I couldn't get a photo of them both smiling, I resorted to bribery.  "If you smile for a photo you can open a present!" I am truly blessed!

Spending lots of times climbing, playing, running, swinging, crawling, sliding, being silly at parks. what is your child (pet or you if you don't have children) doing this week?

This sweet boy of mine created his work of art on the playroom wall! He was kind enough to find a pencil and get to work drawing then trying to erase while I was in the kitchen (next door) making school lunches and doing spelling words with my big kids. 

From my family  to you and yours!  Hope it was as hopping as ours!

A little worn off mustache madness of my little ones to brighten your Sunday!