4's a crowd

I had the pleasure of seeing what it would be like to have 4 children for the day. My friend Jenn's kids Abe and Jude spent the day with us. I was nervous about how I would entertain all of them all day.

They were dropped off by 9 am and were scheduled to be picked up at 4 pm. At 10:00 am Abe asked me to call his dad to see if he was on his way. I tried not to take it personally.

I decided the best thing to do would be to walk the kids over to the park and let them play until lunchtime. Naptime would follow and then more playtime and then pick up. I hope we are all not ready to kill each other by the time 4:00 gets here.

Abe

Aidan, Abe and Jude trying to get up the slide. I didn't have the heart to tell them that this wouldn't work and the mom in me just wanted to sit back and watch them wear themselves out.

Reese and Jude. This is a rare sight because these two are always at each others' throats!

Snack Time!

We walked to the park and one of the neighbors drove by us and was staring at us. She passed by us again on our way back home. This time she stopped to ask me if I needed help because she thought I was having car trouble. Nope. Just taking a walk with 4 kids in the suburbs.

Before lunch Abe and Aidan started to negotiate naptime. This is one thing that just really burns my toast. Toddlers, let me just tell you that you will be taking a nap EVERYDAY. It is not up for discussion. The word "nap" sends chills down my spine because it is supposed to be a treasured "mom-time" and it is instead a crap shoot. I informed Abe of something that Aidan already knows, but chooses to ignore...I have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy when it comes to napping. Don't ask me about naptime and I won't tell you that I don't care if you don't sleep, just please keep quiet for approximately 1.5 hours. THANK YOU.

Everyone napped except for Aidan. When the others woke up we went out front and painted and drew with chalk on the driveway. The kids all had a good time and until it rained, we had a masterpiece on the driveway and sidewalk.

Reese

Abraham

Jude

Aidan

Saks Fifth Epic Fail

My mom's group attempted to attend an event hosted by Saks Fifth Avenue and the Frontenac Police Department. It sounded like good times. We were supposed to go to Saks at Plaza Frontenac and the Police Department was going to take photos of the kids and fingerprints (hopefully their only mug shots and fingerprints) to keep on file in case they ever went missing. I was completely on board and I would gladly install Lo Jack on my kids too if it was available.

Mom tip: A few of my friends and I print labels with our phone number on it and stick them on the kids' backs when we go places like the zoo, mall, etc. I use AVERY Label 5160 and my label simply states: "IF FOUND CALL 201-XXX-XXXX" I hope to never have to receive a phone call, but if I do, I will be eternally grateful. We get stopped by other moms who compliment us on such a smart idea. I can't take credit for the idea, but I will continue to use it.

Now, back to our trip to Saks. We planned to meet there right when it started so that we could get our mug shots and then break free for lunch. I got to the mall early (so unlike me) and I walked around to a few stores. Saks is at the only mall in St. Louis that is not kid friendly, so this was the longest hour of my life! The kids wanted to get out of the stroller and they wanted snack (which I was withholding until we got to the event, I was anticipating a long line and snacks would help pass the time), I walked from one end of the mall to the other about 4 times and I popped into a few stores including Sur La Table - very dangerous! Such cute stuff. I picked up a few cookie cutters and I will be back!

When the rest of the crew arrived we made our way to Saks curious because we did not see any signs of our event. We hung out for a few minutes in the children's department while Jenn tried to find out where our event was taking place. I spotted a teeny tiny Burberry coat and for a split second I thought of having another baby just so he/she could wear it.

 Our stroller gang.

Aidan is showing his friend Abe his Leapster.
 

One of Reese's favorite books. We don't own it yet, but we've borrowed it from the library twice and she always grabs it when she sees it at the book store.

Noah taking his turn riding on the Scotty Dog.

Reese, Jude, Aidan, Abe and Noah patiently waiting to hear what our next adventure would be. When Jenn returned, the news was not good...The event was taking place tomorrow! OOOPS! No worries, Daryl and Matt (Noah's dad) would take the kids the following day while Evie and I hosted a mildly successful yard sale.

Upon hearing the news, we contacted our friends Shawn and Michelle who were also going to the event to tell them. In less than 2 minutes we decided to leave the mall and go have lunch.

On the way out of Saks, we took advantage of all that a higher end department store has to offer. I've been obsessed with department stores since my Grandma Minter took me to Bloomingdale's on Michigan Avenue. The first place I went to by myself in New York was Macy's Herald Square, I cried when they closed Carson Pirie Scott on State Street, we visit Santa at Macy's every year and I even took my pregnancy test (Aidan) at one of my favorite places, Bloomingdale's 59th Street. So with this trip to Saks, I decided to have a little fun...

Yes, this is the ladies room. I loved the doors and the knobs.

Reese needed to make a phone call.

Abe stepped out of the phone booth and I expected him to be wearing a Superman costume.

Always looking for a way to burn a few calories, Jenn and I thought it would be fun to carry her stroller up these stairs. For added fun Jude refused to get out of the stroller and kicked and screamed all the way up the stairs.