Vacation with the Wilcoxson's Part 1

Noel's office is closed this week and so we are spending some time with the kids and playing pretty hard. I thought that I would share some videos that we have gotten so far to explain how are week is going.

The first video is a follow-up to the sleeping video that we shared last week. Now our triplets are trying to sleep in the same crib. In the video you see that they all decided to sleep with Jacob. What I find funny is that Jacob is sleeping on one side of the bed and the other two are on the the other side and there is a pillow in between Jacob and Joshua and Esther. Jacob and Esther are fine with sleeping by themselves but the last 4 or 5 nights Joshua is either sleeping with Esther or with Jacob. I find it very sweet and very comforting that Jacob and Esther are okay with their brother climbing into to bed with them. Just anther day in our zoo.




The next video is Elijah having fun with Nana Gail. Every time that Bobby and Gail come over one of them hides and waits for Elijah to come around the corner. I have finally caught this on tape and think it is hilarious. Sometimes he gets so scared that there is a delayed reaction from the time that one of them pops out in the open and when Elijah's body catches up with his emotions.



We have started to let Hannah interact with the other "animals" since she is crawling backwards and moving all over the place. Joshua is her favorite friend because he is so mellow and likes to just laugh and make noises with her. Hannah laughs. Jacob wants to shake Hannah and wrestle with her so we have to make sure that he is not too rough with her. Esther just likes to rub her head every once in a while and Elijah just wants everyone else to know that Hannah is "mine."



The last video is funny to Noel and I. We do not know if everyone will think it is funny but we enjoyed it. Hannah loves her jumper and is very active in it. So on Monday she was jumping in her jumper and she fell asleep. I realized that she was not making any noise so I went and checked on her and found her asleep and her giving us a great gesture. Colton does the same think and Doug says it is because he has LSU blood in him. Well Hannah does not have LSU blood in her but she does have Aggie blood with a lot of attitude to go with it.



Well that has been our week so far. Noel has been busy with projects this week. I will let him blog about the specifics. Our close friends bought a new dishwasher and Noel went over there to install it for them. Well when he pulled the old dishwasher out there was MOLD and WATER behind the dishwasher. So he is installing half a kitchen of new cabinets, new sink, new garbage disposal, new faucet and the new dishwasher. Also he had to go to the Social Security Office yesterday because the hospital sent the paperwork to the Social Security Office for Hannah's number but we never received it. So we had to get her birth certificate and then he had to go to the office. He got there and pulled a number. The number he pulled was like 195 and they were on 91. So he ran errands, ate lunch, came back to the house and returned to the office to wait until his number was called. The the associate stated that he could not issue us a card because the birth certificate was not proof that Hannah was alive. We have to have a medical record. The birth certificate only proves that she was born but the medical record proves that she is alive. So they gave us the number to file for taxes but we have to go back to have them issue us a Social Security Card. YEAH!!!

From our family to you, we hope that you have a wonderful New Year's Eve and to stay safe.

Christmas and Traditions

Christmas was different this year than the other 28 years that I have been alive. My family has always had certain traditions that we practice on Christmas. Everyone gets to open one gift on Christmas Eve, Candle Light Service, Homemade cinnamon rolls, reading of the birth of Jesus before the opening of gifts, the organization of opening gifts, oldest to youngest.

Well this year the grandparents came over on Christmas Eve. Mike, Noel's dad, came with his presents. My parents came over. Noel's mother, Gail and her husband Bobby, where the other grandparents but they were not there for Christmas Eve. So Michael, "pops", gave the kids a bounce house with a ball pit, swing set, and the educational toys that I picked out. My parents helped with getting the children the "your baby can read" program and some other educational toys. Now the kids thought that everything was wonderful and still really do not grasp what Christmas is, but I think that next year will be a blast. Also the children opened all the gifts at the same time, hectic joy.

So the next year Noel and I will have to decide what traditions that we like from our childhood and see what we are going to do with our children. Like we are going to a Jesse Tree next year, but the other things will have to be discussed. Childhood traditions are different when you realize that everyone has different ones. There is a blending that occurs and how much of your traditions go into your own family.

My mother has always had dinner at her house and she is use to that tradition. Well for Thanksgiving we had dinner at my house because my house has the room for everyone. I think that my mother felt that she was being ousted because we did not have dinner at her house. So for Christmas we had dinner at her house. So imagine 8 adults, 10 grandchildren (8 under the age of 3) in a less than 2000 square foot house. My mother at the end of Christmas dinner I think realized that we are not trying to take her tradition but want to keep our sanity through Christmas dinner. So mom we love you and your cooking but just not at your house. LOL

This year was wonderful and I would like to thank everyone for the wonderful gifts of love that you gave my children. Michael, thank you for giving the children something to play with outside since I cannot take them to the park as much as I would like. Also thank you for the educational toys the children will learn and enjoy doing it. We love you very much. Pat and John, thank you for the educational toys for the same reason I gave Michael and for the reading program Elijah and the triplets are really enjoying it. Bobby and Gail thank you for the clothes for the kids, they will always need clothes and it is blessing to know that we have clothes for the next couple years.

A special blessing that I did NOT receive this Christmas was having to make another announcement that I was having another child. Thank you Noel for having surgery. "God bless us everyone."

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Catch-Up Post

We have been extremely busy the last week. Nothing that was noticeable until the end of the week and we did not get a lot of things that we normally get done. For me that was making sure that my blogging was done. So this post is to catch everyone up with our lives.

The triplets went and got their 18 month check-up. Everything was fine. The good thing is that we only had to get ONE shot at this check-up.

Jacob: 24 lbs
Joshua: 25 lbs
Esther: 21 lbs (YEAH!!!)

We are so glad that Esther has broke the 20 pound mark. She was born weighing 4 lbs 3 oz. and so she has really grown since then and we are totally excited. She still looks tiny and when you pick her up she seems to weigh nothing.

I got my hair cut off. I decided that I was tired of trying to grow my hair out. So I cut it all off. Noel is not excited about it but I love it and that is all that matters.

Elijah has started potty training. Noel is off the week after Christmas and so we are hoping that we can get him a good start. Pray that he picks it up quickly and that the others start to get interested.

Well we hope that your week was good and that everyone enjoyed their families.

One Foot, Two Feet

Hannah every day is growing up and it is sad because she is the last child. But in a way it is exciting because she is adjusting to all the "animals" in our "zoo." Well tonight she was sitting in her chair getting ready to eat her night bottle when Noel started to play with her feet. She laughed and then started to chew on her tongue.

Not even five minutes later she started to sit up and touch her feet. My mother is visiting and we all had a good laugh. You know me I had to record it because I am that person. I hope that you enjoy a moment in our lives. We try to share as many as possible because we think they are all great.

Esther saying a few words

Lately Esther has been trying to use words. Everyday her words get better. Noel and I thought that we would get her saying a few of the words that she likes to use on a daily basis. Also the grandparents love this when we did it with Elijah.

They are growing up so fast and everyday they are learning more and more. I look at Hannah and try to remember when the triplets and Elijah was that age and it is all a blur. Hannah is growing up so fast as well, she is starting to move with her arms and soon she will be crawling.

We hope you enjoy one of our moments together with Esther. We will try to share more of our experiences but it is hard to take a picture/video when you are trying to get 4 toddlers down the stairs after nap time and every other moment in our house.

A Night at the Wilcoxson's

Recently in our house the triplets have figured out how to get out of their beds. So the front railing have been moved all the way down so that the triplets do not get hurt. In doing this we have released the "animals" in our "zoo."

Elijah has taken a different approach to sleeping. Our son refuses to sleep with clothes on and if given the chance without his diaper. So as you know we have started to Duct tape his diaper on, but the clothes still come off. Also he does not sleep in his bed. Now Noel and I could try to make him sleep in his bed, but that is a battle that does not need to be conquered by us. He sleeps fine and his attitude is fine so we leave him alone.

Now the triplets have started to explore their freedom with each other. Noel and I took the closet doors off to make sure that they could not hurt themselves and the dresser is not able to be opened as well. Their personalities have shown through. Jacob likes to JUMP out of his bed because he likes the sound it makes when he lands on the floor. Joshua stays in his bed because he likes to sleep. Esther has found out that she does NOT have to sleep alone anymore; so she climbs into bed with Joshua.

Hannah is sleeping great these days and has learned to roll over in the last 5 weeks. She sleeps on her stomach with her legs as close to her torso as possible and her body as close to the bumper pad as possible.

Well Noel and I videoed our "zoo" and how they sleep. We hope you enjoy it. Have a wonderful week.

A Game of Tag

It seems that we are playing a game of tag. Now my life is not very interesting and I am suppose to give you 7 unique facts about myself that you might not know about me. So here they are.

1.) I grew up in a military family and when my dad retired he was called into the ministry. So I went from a MB (military brat) to a PK (preacher's kid). Both are bad, but I never lived up to the rebellion of being a PK.

2.) When I was in the marching band I was one of the leaders for the Flute section. Well I had a few freshman that did not understand how to be quiet, so I made them run for 30 minutes straight. So one of the girls went home and told her father that I cursed at her and made her do horrible things. The next day this father came to practice in his military uniform and decided that he was going to YELL at me. Thinking that this was not going to do anything to him (in the military you cannot assert your authority onto a civilian, especially a minor); he was not allowed to get out of his car when picking up his daughter.


3.) I dated a guy in college that was from Pakistan descent. We went on a trip to Florida on Spring Break. Another friend that was from Indian descent went with us. We flew and at every airport we went to we got searched, our person, bags, everything. On our way home the guards wanted to do a cavity search to make sure we were not smuggling bombs onto the plane. The supervisor stopped this from happening. So much for "random" searches.

4.) When we lived in the Netherlands, there was a potato farm behind our house. So after the farmer had harvested his potatoes we would play baseball in his field. Well one day he decided that he did not like that and he shot at us with a pellet gun.

5.)When I worked overnight, I had an employee that thought taking instruction from a female was under him. So I told him that I wanted to see him in my office. As I turned to leave one of my employees yelled my name and I knew in that split second I was in trouble. The man decided that he was going to come at me with his box cutter. So as I was turning I punched him in the face, broke his nose and he fell to the ground. For the next month everyone in the store saw the video and it was made into an learning video for managers in this company.

6.) When I worked in the grocery business, I had a problem with people stealing beer in my store. The beer case was right next to the exit door in the back of the store. So I was loosing about 400-700 dollars a week. I told my store manager that I would solve this problem but that it was not going to be legal with the Fire Marshall. She told me to stop the "bleeding." You see the scam was that there was a car waiting for the thief when he/she came running out of the back of the store. So on Friday night I put about 20 wooden pallets against the fire exit in the back of the store. Not 20 minutes later the first person came running through the store. He grabbed the beer and ran full force towards the door. That was all the he remembers because when he went to open the door there was no give. He knocked himself out. When he woke up the police had arrived and he was arrested. I told him to tell all his friends that the pallets would be done on a random basis, so they never would know when they would get away with it and not. The police officers watched the video 43 times and laughed more at each time.

7.) When I was working overnight, I was dating a guy that lived in the same house as me. Well he loved to play poker online for real money. He was a good poker player but did not know when to stop. So he would win big and loose it because he could not stop. So I learned to play poker online as well, because when I was off work I did not have any friends because they all had day jobs and I had a night job. I would play poker to pay the bills because my boyfriend at the time would loose his paycheck in less than 8 hours.

There you go. Seven unique things about me, that most of you do not know. I am not tagging anyone because everyone that I know has been tagged already. Have a good laugh and a good day.

Requested Recipes

I had some people e-mail me and tell me that I had to put some other recipes on the blog. So here they are. I hope that you enjoy making treats for your family. My mother always made tons of stuff for us as we were growing up. I remember the house smelling like sugar for weeks. It takes time but the joy you receive back from the smiling faces it is worth it. A family tradition at our house was on Christmas morning we would read the Christmas story out of the bible and then we would eat homemade cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate and then open gifts. Merry Christmas and may you start traditions with your families.


Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter (2 sticks) softened
1 1/2 cup powder sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cram of tarter
1/4 tsp salt

Cram butter and powdered sugar, add egg, vanilla, and almond. Beat well, add all dry ingredients. Refrigerate 45 minutes to 1 hour

Roll out dough making sure that your surface has powder sugar so that the dough will not stick. Pick your cookie cutter. Make dough no more than 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. The cookies should be brown along the edges. Put on cooling rack of paper towels and let cool. Frost with icing/decorative sugar or leave them plain.

Frosting
1/3 cup softened butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond
3-4 tbsp milk


Breakfast Casserole

1 lbs sausage
2 cups milk
6 slices of bread
6 eggs
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt

Brown sausage, drain well. Cut bread into cubes ( i used my food processor and make bread crumbs) In a separate bowl beat eggs and stir in mild and salt. Cover the bottom of a well-greased oblong 2 qt casserole dish with bread crumbs, pour egg mixture over crumbs and layer with crumbled sausage and then with grated cheese. Cover and refrigerate OVERNIGHT!
Bake the next morning at 325 for 1 hour uncovered.

Cheese Ball

1 (8oz) container of cream cheese, softened
1 (8oz) block of sharp cheddar, grated
1 (5 oz) container of blue cheese
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
dash of salt
1 tsp Tabasco sauce (optional)
1/2 cup minced onion (optional)
crushed pecans/walnuts

blend all ingredients together. Roll in nuts. Wrap in plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Serve with crackers.

Holiday Recipes

I thought that I would share some of my easy recipes for the holidays. I know that I have a limited time to do the holiday baking. Each year I bake for Noel's work to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. It usually takes me about a half day to make what I want to make. I hope that you try these recipes they are easy and Really good. Please share a holiday recipe with me in your comments. I am always looking for new things to try.


Sausage Balls

2 1/2 cups Bisquick
1 lbs sausage
1 lbs cheddar cheese, grated

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix until completely blended together. Roll into balls the size of a large marbles. Place on cookie sheets and bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Drain on paper towel and enjoy. You can also freeze them.


Fantasy Fudge (Microwave)

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
5 1/3 oz evaporated milk (2/3 cup)
1 pkg (12 oz) chocolate chips
1 jar (7 oz) Marshmallow creme
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts

Combine sugar, butter, and evaporated milk in a microwave safe dish for 5 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips until smooth and incorporated. Add marshmallow creme vanilla and nuts. Pour into a greased 12x8 baking dish. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Cut into squares.


Peanut Brittle (Microwave)

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cup RAW peanuts
dash of salt (1/4 tsp)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix first 5 ingredients in a microwave safe bowl (One with handles works better so that you do not burn yourself). Stir and place in microwave for 4 minutes. Take out and stir microwave for an additional 4 minutes. Take out and stir, add butter then stir again add baking soda and stir quickly pour immediately onto a buttered/greased cookie sheet. Spread out so it is thin. Let sit until cool, break into pieces and enjoy.


Cranberry-Orange Bread

3/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp orange peel
1 egg
2 tbsp oil
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans


In a mixing bowl combine the orange juice, peel , egg and oil. In another mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda. Add orange juice mixture to dry ingredients. Fold in chopped cranberries ( I use my food processor to chop them) and nuts. Turn batter into one lightly greased 8x4x2 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Let cool ten minutes in pan and then turn out on a cooling rack.

Cream-butter

1 stick softened butter
1 (8oz) softened cream cheese


Blend the butter and cream cheese together and spread on the bread.


Wassail

1 jug (128 oz) apple cider
2 cups orange juice
2 cups pineapple juice
1/4 cup honey
3 sticks of cinnamon
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 orange

In a large pan/crock pot combine all the ingredients. Peel and slice the orange. Put slices in mixture. Let mixture get warm. Taste. (Now some people like some spices more than others. So you put what you want in the pan to make it your own) Enjoy

The Mighty Calm Joshua

This week has been a long and stressful week. All of our children are sick with a cold and congestion. Then Colton is sick as well and on breathing treatments. That means that everyone wants mommy and at the same time. I only have one lap but am expected to be able to hold everyone in that lap. Well on Thursday I was preparing dinner and hoping that the four oldest could play together for a little while. All I heard was the boom and the blood.

I looked up and saw my son Joshua will blood coming out of his nose and his mouth. I hurdled the gate and grabbed my son to try to figure out what happened and if he was going to be okay. Joshua had fallen on the top of his mouth and in doing so he bit his lip all the way through. I got Joshua to eat ice and that made the bleeding stop.

I called my mother and asked her what I was suppose to do. She looked on Web MD and that did not tell us anything, so I told her that I was going to call Noel and see what he thought. It also did not help that it was after 5pm and my pediatrician's office is closed. As soon as I got off the phone I realized that we have two pediatricians in our Sunday school class and that one of them could tell me what I needed to do. I called Andy first and got his voicemail so I called his wife who called him. ARC (Austin Regional Clinic) has two after hours offices that takes appointments after 5pm so that you do not have to wait in the Emergency Room for minor things. So we made an appointment.

The doctor told me that Joshua was going to be sore for a couple of days/weeks and that we just had to watch him and what he ate. He cleaned his lip to make sure there was nothing in his lip/gums. Mind you Joshua sat in my lap and let this doctor clean out his wound and did not cry or flinch. My other children would have had to be restrained. Joshua is my calm giant. He was outstanding and very well behaved. He sat in the waiting room in a chair and played with some blocks and did not move until we were called.

So my week was just great. God does not give us more than we can handle but I am praying that next week He thinks that I can handle my children and Colton without any drama, sickness, or injury. I took some pictures of Joshua's lip but it does not give you the real picture. Please pray that everyone gets well and that Joshua recovers to survive another day in the zoo.

The Rest of the Story

If you have ever listened to Paul Harvey he likes to tell "the rest of the story." Well E*Harmony does the same thing after you have matched up. They like you to login and tell them how your meeting went and what happened afterwards. If you got married they want you to send them a wedding photo.

So I sent them my story and a wedding picture. Of course I let them know that we had five children under the age of 2.5 yrs old. I got an e-mail the next day wanting me to send them a picture of my entire family. Well that is easy when you are typing an e-mail but I do not think that she thought about what she was asking. So I called my friend Marti and asked if she would mind taking our family portrait. She told me no problem and so we set it up. Marti came and took about 400-500 pictures of our family and then photos of the children.

She photo shopped the best of several and this is the picture that we got. Now I would like to say that we appreciate Marti for what she did and let her know that hundreds of people will see her picture and all our family and friends because we used the same picture for our Christmas card.

Well here is the beginning and the "rest of our story", please click here. I am thankful every day for my mother telling me that I should try E*Harmony and I am thankful for the wonderful husband and father that I was given by God. I love you sweetie.

A Stressful Day at the Zoo

Well it is that season again. Where the weather changes and the "animals" get restless and sick. It started with Esther and her congestion and now all the children have runny noses and coughs. Now Colton has double ear infection and has to have breathing treatments. You have to love the season of Christmas trees and Kleenex.

I was watching a show and a man told a SAHM (stay at home mother) with sick kids that he knew how she felt. The mother replied, "No you do not you get to go to work!" The man went on to say, "remind me to send my wife flowers." That is so true. At the end of the day when I think that I cannot handle another cry, whine, scream, cough, sneeze, question, or tug on my pants my children do something that makes me smile and forget for a moment what a horrible day that I think that I had.

It is funny how I start to think about how it would be nice to work with people that can carry conversations with me and that actually do what I tell them to do 100% of the time, and then one of my children does something to remind me that I am where I need to be and that I do not want to miss all the neat little things that they do on a daily basis. Like today I actually saw Elijah share with his brothers and Esther. I saw Elijah have compassion on Esther when Jacob decided that Esther needed to be without the toy that she had picked out of the pile. Those are the things that I love seeing for myself; events that warm my soul.

Do not get me wrong my house is crazy most of the day and my children do know how to stand on the last nerve and bounce up and down just enough to stretch it but now break it. God and I have numerous conversations throughout the day where He laughs and has compassion and I get to vent but at the end of the day God tells me "I told you so" and reminds me that He gave me these children/zoo animals for a reason. That He hand-picked me to have five children and be able to stay home and raise them.

So as I wipe another nose, snuggle and kiss another "boo boo", sing one more "head, shoulders, knees and toes", and change five more diapers before the end of the day, I smile to know that tomorrow there will be other moments in my day where my children warm my soul and I get to be there.