Thanksgiving Eve with Friends, Christmas Lights, and Fireworks!

Some friends of ours have a tradition on Thanksgiving Eve where they throw a small pizza party and then head out to look at Christmas lights and fireworks. We were invited to join them this year!

Now, I probably don't have to explain how fun it is for our family to be invited over to someone else's house. Let's face it: two-year-old quadruplets are overwhelming in our own home. I don't expect anyone to voluntarily take that on at their house!

But Ron and Kristina have routinely reached out to our family, inviting me and the kids over for play dates, and even offering to host the kids for dinner and a movie so that Sean and I could go out for my birthday last month. So when they invited our family to join them for their pre-Thanksgiving tradition, we were thrilled to go.

In addition to our hosts and their four girls, there were two other families: Nick and Lauren with their three boys, and Michael and Stacey with their five girls. That means with our four kids, there were 16 kids!

Kristina had the whole place set up before we arrived. Big plastic tablecloths were spread over the floor so that the kids could eat their pizza and watch VeggieTales without making a big mess. She also had special thermal cups for the kids to fill with hot chocolate when we left to go see the lights, and bags for each family, filled with snacks, candy canes, and glow sticks for the road. I don't know how she makes it all look so effortless, but each thoughtful touch was sure appreciated it!

Even more amazing is that when the pizza place lost her order, she managed to pull together a meal for 24 people in five minutes flat by going through her pantry. It was really incredible!

Good company is not something we take for granted, and Sean and I both appreciated the adult conversation with other parents who have kids our age. As Sean would say, "They are good people!"

Ron, Nick, Lauren, Michael, Stacey, Sean, and Kristina

After dinner, each family loaded up in their respective cars, and we caravaned out to Christmas in the Park. Every year, one of the parks and rec departments in the metro area puts on a giant Christmas light display. People easily sit in line for over two hours during the Christmas season to get to drive through the free attraction. These photos don't even begin to show how fun it is! Just try to imagine a park that is filled with moving Christmas light displays....okay, you might just have to come visit and see it yourself.

We drove through that twice since there wasn't much of a line, and then parked to watch the Christmas in the Sky display. On Thanksgiving Eve, they do a big fireworks show to kick off the holiday season and the opening of Christmas in the Park. It was chilly, but seeing it with our friends was a lot of fun!

And then right before the fireworks started, I realized that we needed a family photo! As you can tell, the kids thought the glow sticks were awesome!

By the time the fireworks were over, we had some very, very tired kids, and Caleb was literally putting himself in his car seat. He doesn't talk much, but he can be pretty vocal with his actions. We headed home with a very enjoyable evening behind us!

By the way, guess what I learned??? If you put glow sticks in the freezer, it stops the chemical reaction and essentially saves the glowing. Then, the next time your kids take a bath, you can throw them in the tub and the warm water will immediately get them to start glowing again. Cool, right?! Bath time just went to a whole new level!

Some friends of ours have a tradition on Thanksgiving Eve where they throw a small pizza party and then head out to look at Christmas lights and fireworks. We were invited to join them this year!

Now, I probably don't have to explain how fun it is for our family to be invited over to someone else's house. Let's face it: two-year-old quadruplets are overwhelming in our own home. I don't expect anyone to voluntarily take that on at their house!

But Ron and Kristina have routinely reached out to our family, inviting me and the kids over for play dates, and even offering to host the kids for dinner and a movie so that Sean and I could go out for my birthday last month. So when they invited our family to join them for their pre-Thanksgiving tradition, we were thrilled to go.

In addition to our hosts and their four girls, there were two other families: Nick and Lauren with their three boys, and Michael and Stacey with their five girls. That means with our four kids, there were 16 kids!

Kristina had the whole place set up before we arrived. Big plastic tablecloths were spread over the floor so that the kids could eat their pizza and watch VeggieTales without making a big mess. She also had special thermal cups for the kids to fill with hot chocolate when we left to go see the lights, and bags for each family, filled with snacks, candy canes, and glow sticks for the road. I don't know how she makes it all look so effortless, but each thoughtful touch was sure appreciated it!

Even more amazing is that when the pizza place lost her order, she managed to pull together a meal for 24 people in five minutes flat by going through her pantry. It was really incredible!

Good company is not something we take for granted, and Sean and I both appreciated the adult conversation with other parents who have kids our age. As Sean would say, "They are good people!"

Ron, Nick, Lauren, Michael, Stacey, Sean, and Kristina

After dinner, each family loaded up in their respective cars, and we caravaned out to Christmas in the Park. Every year, one of the parks and rec departments in the metro area puts on a giant Christmas light display. People easily sit in line for over two hours during the Christmas season to get to drive through the free attraction. These photos don't even begin to show how fun it is! Just try to imagine a park that is filled with moving Christmas light displays....okay, you might just have to come visit and see it yourself.

We drove through that twice since there wasn't much of a line, and then parked to watch the Christmas in the Sky display. On Thanksgiving Eve, they do a big fireworks show to kick off the holiday season and the opening of Christmas in the Park. It was chilly, but seeing it with our friends was a lot of fun!

And then right before the fireworks started, I realized that we needed a family photo! As you can tell, the kids thought the glow sticks were awesome!

By the time the fireworks were over, we had some very, very tired kids, and Caleb was literally putting himself in his car seat. He doesn't talk much, but he can be pretty vocal with his actions. We headed home with a very enjoyable evening behind us!

By the way, guess what I learned??? If you put glow sticks in the freezer, it stops the chemical reaction and essentially saves the glowing. Then, the next time your kids take a bath, you can throw them in the tub and the warm water will immediately get them to start glowing again. Cool, right?! Bath time just went to a whole new level!

Thanksgiving Turkey Craft for Toddlers

I thought it would be fun to make some Thanksgiving Turkeys with the kiddos. I've seen all sorts of crafty and unique turkeys on Pinterest, but honestly, I just wanted something non-frustrating for me to do with the kids. Although our turkeys aren't too elaborate, it's all about the process with toddlers. They don't really care what the end product looks like as long as they get to participate in a craft!

First, I bought a bunch of cheap paper plates at the store. I figure paper plates are a staple in any little kid craft kit, so the extras will be tucked away for another time. The four plates we needed for this project were passed out, and the kids eagerly took to decorating them.

 They can never get enough coloring!

An accidental plus to the plates we used were the ridges along the edges. When I took a crayon and rubbed it along the ridges, it made a unique sound that the kids were fascinated by. Ellie kept handing me different crayons so that I could keep making the noise on her plate. Just a little extra sensory experience!

I decided to let the kids use the glue sticks for the first time. In the past, I've used the glue for them, but I thought I'd let them give it a whirl today. Each of them tried to figure out why it was sticky, and in an effort to fully appreciate her new craft item, Abby licked it. (Glue sticks are non-toxic, right???)

They caught on pretty quick, and I think they will probably insist on doing it themselves in the future.

If you'd like to make these with your toddlers, they are super simple! Let them color a plate, and then cut the plate in half. Use a glue stick to glue the two halves of the plate together so that it looks like layers of feathers. Then, glue a toilet paper roll to the front of the plates, use a sharpie to make eyes, and a diamond shape folded in half makes the perfect beak.

Tip: If you make sure the toilet paper roll is even with the bottom of the plate halves, then these will stand up on their own. It might be a fun way to decorate your Thanksgiving table!

Not too complicated and not too messy! That's pretty much the perfect toddler craft if you ask me!

I thought it would be fun to make some Thanksgiving Turkeys with the kiddos. I've seen all sorts of crafty and unique turkeys on Pinterest, but honestly, I just wanted something non-frustrating for me to do with the kids. Although our turkeys aren't too elaborate, it's all about the process with toddlers. They don't really care what the end product looks like as long as they get to participate in a craft!

First, I bought a bunch of cheap paper plates at the store. I figure paper plates are a staple in any little kid craft kit, so the extras will be tucked away for another time. The four plates we needed for this project were passed out, and the kids eagerly took to decorating them.

 They can never get enough coloring!

An accidental plus to the plates we used were the ridges along the edges. When I took a crayon and rubbed it along the ridges, it made a unique sound that the kids were fascinated by. Ellie kept handing me different crayons so that I could keep making the noise on her plate. Just a little extra sensory experience!

I decided to let the kids use the glue sticks for the first time. In the past, I've used the glue for them, but I thought I'd let them give it a whirl today. Each of them tried to figure out why it was sticky, and in an effort to fully appreciate her new craft item, Abby licked it. (Glue sticks are non-toxic, right???)

They caught on pretty quick, and I think they will probably insist on doing it themselves in the future.

If you'd like to make these with your toddlers, they are super simple! Let them color a plate, and then cut the plate in half. Use a glue stick to glue the two halves of the plate together so that it looks like layers of feathers. Then, glue a toilet paper roll to the front of the plates, use a sharpie to make eyes, and a diamond shape folded in half makes the perfect beak.

Tip: If you make sure the toilet paper roll is even with the bottom of the plate halves, then these will stand up on their own. It might be a fun way to decorate your Thanksgiving table!

Not too complicated and not too messy! That's pretty much the perfect toddler craft if you ask me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love the look on Sean’s face in this picture! He can’t take a picture with his eyes open to save his life. Just to give you an idea, we took this picture NINE times to catch him with his eyes open. Eventually, we made him close his eyes and open them on the count of 3. Hence, the slightly crazed look on his face. Of course, the babies did great right from the beginning. :-)

We spent the day with Sean’s family over here for dinner since we aren’t taking the babies out right now. Everyone brought a ton of food. In fact, I’m pretty sure there were twice as many dishes as there were people here! It was delicious and a wonderful way to spend the day! Other than tiring out, the kids did really well with the increased noise and number of people around. We considered it a success.

I want to keep this post brief, but wanted to throw out a quick update on the babies. They had their 9 month checkup this week. Everything is looking good and we now have the go ahead on baby food once the kids can sit up and seem to need the extra calories. The thing that blew us away though was how big they are getting! Look at their weights now!

Caleb:  15 lbs. 15 oz.

Abigail: 14 lbs. 3 oz.

Elijah: 16 lbs. 1 oz.

Elizabeth: 14 lbs. 1oz.

I think the boys in particular are glad that they were weighed. I couldn’t figure out why for the last week or so they have been waking up in the morning with leaky diapers. Turns out they were bigger than I thought! They’ve been sleeping more comfortably since we brought out the size 3’s. :-)

We are thankful for each of you and the way that you have loved on our family over the past year! We hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving as well!

I love the look on Sean’s face in this picture! He can’t take a picture with his eyes open to save his life. Just to give you an idea, we took this picture NINE times to catch him with his eyes open. Eventually, we made him close his eyes and open them on the count of 3. Hence, the slightly crazed look on his face. Of course, the babies did great right from the beginning. :-)

We spent the day with Sean’s family over here for dinner since we aren’t taking the babies out right now. Everyone brought a ton of food. In fact, I’m pretty sure there were twice as many dishes as there were people here! It was delicious and a wonderful way to spend the day! Other than tiring out, the kids did really well with the increased noise and number of people around. We considered it a success.

I want to keep this post brief, but wanted to throw out a quick update on the babies. They had their 9 month checkup this week. Everything is looking good and we now have the go ahead on baby food once the kids can sit up and seem to need the extra calories. The thing that blew us away though was how big they are getting! Look at their weights now!

Caleb:  15 lbs. 15 oz.

Abigail: 14 lbs. 3 oz.

Elijah: 16 lbs. 1 oz.

Elizabeth: 14 lbs. 1oz.

I think the boys in particular are glad that they were weighed. I couldn’t figure out why for the last week or so they have been waking up in the morning with leaky diapers. Turns out they were bigger than I thought! They’ve been sleeping more comfortably since we brought out the size 3’s. :-)

We are thankful for each of you and the way that you have loved on our family over the past year! We hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving as well!