They came home! For reals!

I have to admit that having my parents gone was MUCH HARDER than I thought it would be. Maybe it was because I had so many life changing events happen while they were gone but I really wasn't prepared for how hard it was going to be. Now I realize that they probably will go out again and I just hope that I don't have another baby while they are gone. They flew home on January 20th. All of my brothers and sisters were there. In fact the only person we were missing was a brother-in-law of mine who couldn't make it. My brother Rustin didn't tell us but he happened to catch the same flight from Georgia home. He sat between them! So he happened to get some great one on one time with them. As soon as we caught sight of them we all started hollering and cheering. I guess the Mangum family is always a spectacle when in public!

This is everyone that was there to greet them minus my cousin Mark and his wife Michelle who were taking the pictures for all of us.

Ok- so I was in a black and white mood when I was editing pictures today but don't you think we all look stunning in black and white? (Not to mention that the picture was a little grainy)

Here are my parents meeting the twins for the first time :)
It was so great being home with everyone. Of course we saw a lot of this... my parents were a little jet lagged. I hope they weren't too overwhelmed with everything because the weekend just got a lot crazier!

Curiosity almost killed my wheat grinder

I have very curious boys. It is something that I love... most of the time! On the other hand, sometimes it is very dangerous and sometimes it is just down right annoying. The worst is when the boys get curious when it comes to the younger siblings. I did a post about two years ago about how surprised I was that Turner hadn't killed Max and now I am surprised that the twins have still survived. Before you read the following story and judge my parenting skills, remember that Josh is only home while the kids are awake for about 45 minutes. That means I do it all myself. At times it gets pretty hard. A few weeks ago I was bathing the twins. I had finished giving Amelia her bath and had put her in her crib. I then proceeded to bathe Cooper. In the middle of his bath I heard Amelia scream! Now this girl has some lungs and uses them regularly but I had a feeling that something was wrong. As I listened and was hurrying as fast as I could with Cooper, I realized that Max was in her crib with her. I sent Turner in to see if he could figure out what was going on. He said that Max was just talking to her. I couldn't leave Cooper in the bath so I grabbed him and entered the twins room to see Max poking Amelia in the eye over and over and over again. Amelia has the biggest eyes and often get things in them... including her big brother's finger. I looked in her eye and thought I saw a HUGE scratch. I called Josh, he came home and we looked a little bit better and realized it was just a hair. Luckily she was fine as long as Max kept his finger out of it!

About a week later I was going to make some whole wheat pancakes and pulled out the wheat grinder to make the flour for them. As I started grinding I noticed that it was grinding very very slow. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I had put the extender ring on the wheat grinder and it was really full. Pretty soon I realized that it wasn't just slow, it wasn't working at all. It sounded like all the parts were working and I had no idea what was going on! I had to empty the wheat grinder and I knocked the extension ring and spilled wheat all over my kitchen! Finally I looked into the grinder and noticed something medal in there. I soon realized that one of my earrings had ended up in the grinder. Luckily it was just covering the hole and hadn't got down into the grinder! Hummmm...... somehow I don't remember putting my earring down there :)

We won't even go into the story about when Max wanted to play with the fish in the fish tank! There were about 6 fish that were on the table struggling to survive when Josh found him and a few that didn't make it. I hope he learned that fish can't be played with :)

New Years sickies

All around Christmas, except Christmas day we had sickness in our house! It was terrible. I was so sick of it! We didn't get to do a lot of Christmas activities but then again on the other hand we had a lot of time to spend together as a family without a lot of hussle and bussle. New years eve was really my favorite as we had a family slumber party! I really loved this and think that we need to do it more often :) Maybe the babies will even get to join us next time. Max threw up at 4 am in his sleeping bag but that was it! It was the last puke and hopefully we will have a much healthier new year!

Christmas past!

Well, I need to catch up on past events and there are a couple of moments from Christmas that I really want to remember. It was Cooper and Amelia's first Christmas. I know they don't really know what it going on but it is still special to celebrate the birth of the Savior when you have a new (or two) baby in your home. It was really fun as Turner and Max were really into Christmas this year and all of the holiday magic. When I asked Turner what he wanted to ask Santa for he thought for a moment and then asked "What is it that I don't have?" I really loved this because in all honesty by this country's standards we are poor... monetarily but I believe that we really are wealthy. Because we don't have a lot of material possessions but we have four beautiful children and a wonderful family. That is what it is really all about.

Another moment that was precious to me was when I was telling Turner and Max the story of Christ's birth. I love nativities, in fact I collect them. My home is filled with nativities little, big, ones they can play with and ones they are not allowed to touch. We have a faux "little people" nativity that the boys love to play with, along with a couple other kid friendly ones. They were played with everyday. One day as they were playing Max kept referring to the manger as "the baby's nest" I attempted to correct him and tell him it was a manger. Then it dawned on me- he had NO IDEA what a manger was. So I tried to explain to him that a manger was a place that animals ate. I then told them the story of Christ's birth. As I was telling them I tried to put myself in the shoes of Mary. I had just had a birth experience that if I would not have been in a hospital at least one or both of my babies would have died. Not to mention myself included. I realized that even when I had an all natural birth, I still enjoyed the clean environment of the hospital yet Mary delivered in a barn! As I was telling the big boys that baby Jesus was born in a barn, Turner was mortified! He couldn't believe that Jesus was placed where animals came to eat. It was sweet to see how much he cared about that little baby born 2,000 years ago.

Hours of fun

For about a dollar

Tiny toes

Guess who found his toes! He loves them! Built in toys whenever he wants. Cooper also rolled all the way over today. He has gotten close several times but today he made it. My clapping and excitement startled him and he rolled back and hasn't tried again! Oh well :)

My computer broke the week before Christmas so my blogging has been only these one picture email posts. We got it back right before we left to AZ so I need to play catch up. Maybe today... maybe.

There were 4 in the bed...

The kiddos were all early risers this morning! After being up every couple of hours with the babies, I wasn't up for early rising. I love how when the boys came in they each took a baby and started playing with them. They love to take ownership and then fight over who each baby belongs to. I will often hear in a little 2 year old voice "my Tooper!" Retorted by a "mature" 4 year old voice saying "my Melia!" I am so happy that these two boys are so in love with these babies. Really how did a mom get to be so lucky!?

McyD's math makes my mouth :)

Having fun with McDonalds math!

Wash the spider out!

Today we were singing the itsy bitsy spider and made a spout to climb up and get washed out of. I love how I have a simple idea and my kids take it and run with it making it so much better!
We also learned how to spell the word web. We practiced writing in cornstarch. Every time I use cornstarch I am reminded of what a gigantic mess it makes. But really it isn't hard to clean up. I am amazed at how well Turner can sound out words. He is a pretty smart kid... if I do say so myself ;)

New years goals

I don't know why I don't like the term "new years resolution." Maybe it is because a resolution doesn't leave room for human error. Maybe it just seems like once you break a resolution you have failed. Well, I like the term goal much better. We set a goal as a family to have more fun together. Here the boys are getting a jump start on that goal! Amelia was still asleep but I am sure she will like trains too someday! So do you have any goals this year?