Eleanor's 1st birthday

WOW...I can't believe that I threw my last 1st birthday party back in May...more to come on that one. The time is flown and our baby girl is now the big 1!!!!! She is such a joy and I honestly can't imagine our family without her in it. On her actual birthday, we took the traditional cake pictures with "Aunt" Ashley. They turned out so cute...I was able to capture a few with my phone.

What....

I just realized I haven't blogged since May....what in the world??? May hit and I felt like we were going 90 to nothin....so busy! Why is it that the end of the school year gets so hectic? I feel like we've done a lot since May! I guess with school starting today that means I can get back to blogging...and more consistently. I think I need to start with the past few months and try and update this "bad boy"........................

Easter

"The Clinton Cousins"


Delaney and Isabelle after hunting eggs!


Isabelle looking for eggs!


Happy Easter from the Clinton Family!


Madeline


Sisters!


Eleanor

Counting down the days...

Until tax season is over for this year! I honestly haven't blogged at all lately due to the fact that it is tax season and I can honestly say it's been a tad rough this year with 4 kids. Some years are so easy on all of us and others are harder...this is one of the harder ones. Thinking back, the harder ones are usually the years that we have a new little one added into the mix. Don't get me wrong, the girls and I get into a routine here...home from school, snack and homework, a little playtime outside (or inside), I make dinner and feed Eleanor at the same time, big girls and I eat, bathtime, uniforms out for school the next day, get in bed...and then I usually clean up dinner dishes, and do any "chores" that haven't been finished earlier in the day, straighten up, make lunches and then finally sit down and catch up on all my shows that are DVR'ed that evening (or that I need to catch up on). Infact, as I write this I am watching "DWTS"...it's classical week.

Anyway, the girls and I are all so excited to have Sloan home in just 5, maybe 6 days (hoping no work on Saturday, but we will see). And I am so very thankful that Sloan has a job that he LOVES. As he says "if you are a tax accountant, you live for tax season". He truly does and does so well at his job and provides so well for our family. It truly is a blessing to him (and us) that he has such wonderful bosses and co-workers...thanks everyone at JPMS Cox.

Be looking for an "after tax season" post...the girls are planning something for him. Not sure what, but they keep telling me that we have to have a celebration when he gets home (as if he is not here and hasn't been here since the last week of January). Silly girls, but they are planning something "big"!

Valentine's Day recap...VERY late!

Someone discovered her sister's Ring Pop and before we knew it she had it in her mouth to give it a taste! She was so upset when Delaney and I took it away from her!!



This is my attempt at getting a cute Valentine's picture of the girls. Madeline turned on me and started pitching a fit, and Eleanor had had enough of wearing her hair bow and was trying to pull it off! I "heart" these girls!!!


Every year Sloan and I go out to dinner (or do something) with a group of friends for Valentine's Day(usually the day before
V-Day). This year was a tad different...it was just us and the Havens. The Carson's and Davis' didn't join us this year since Ashley C. was about to have their 3rd baby girl (Emily arrived on the 15th) and Haley D. was in Rwanda visiting her sister who is living there). Needless to say, Sloan and I, Wes & Jessamy had a nice dinner out at Capi's. The food was amazing!!

On Valentine's Day we have a tradition in our family of making "heart shaped pizzas" and having chocolate fondue with fruit and marshmallows for dessert. When I was a kid, my mom and dad had the tradition of making hear shaped pizzas with my brothers and I every year and let's just say it has stuck...I added the fondue part! The girls look forward to it every year and now that they are getting older they want to help more and more. It used to be just me making the pizzas, but this year everyone really got into making their own.

Madeline and I made homemade dough (I usually just buy the premade, Pillsbury, out of the can dough), so this was a real treat. I used the recipe for Pizza dough out of The Pioneer Women's cookbook (it's so yummy...will post the recipe in another blog post)! Maddie loved helping me measure out the ingredients, dump them in the mixer and then turn it on! She's a hoot and normally, I might not let her help me make this, but she had been into everything that day and this kept her out of trouble! Once the dough was mixed it was off to nap time and then we picked up the big girls at school...just like we do every day...naptime, then wake up to get Delaney and Isabelle.

When the girls and I got home we did homework and had a little snack, washed hands and then it was pizza making time!!! The girls LOVED making their own pizzas this year. Everyone took turns rolling out their own dough (I did have to help some which of course, did not go over well, to make sure it was rolled out enough to make a heart/cook properly). They all spread the sauce and helped pile on toppings. So we had 3 small hearts, one for each girl (minus Eleanor...you'll get some next year) and 1 big heart for Sloan and I to share. Everyone enjoyed their pizzas and even had left overs for the next day...yum!!







After cleaning up the kitchen (quickly) is was fondue time. Sloan, Delaney and I all loved it. Madeline sort of liked it. Isabelle...not so much! She kept telling me that the chocolate tasted yucky! She did eat the fruit and marshmallows...sans chocolate fondue. And honestly, it was my fault, I bought bittersweet chocolate instead of semi-sweet. I love bittersweet and actually had to dump the chocolate in the fondue pot to melt it before I ate the whole bag, but usually use semi-sweet for the girls sake (I think I should get some "mom points" for that one). It always fun to see what kind of combinations you can come up with of fruit/cookies/marshmallows to dip. YUMMY!!!!!!!!



Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day...uh, almost a month ago...I know, I know...I'm way behind! At least I got that cute Smilebox card posted on time!

"Shishy" aka...Fishy

I so wish I had a picture to go along with this post, but unfortunately, I do not! A few nights ago Madeline came out of the bathroom with a bag (actually a breastmilk storage bag...that I just happened to find a few extras of and passed on to a friend...and of course, before they got to that friend, they found their way to Madeline). Anyway, this bag was filled with water and there was something floating in it...a red something. We weren't quite sure of what it was and before Sloan and I could investigate to find out, she proudly holds up the bag and says, "Shishy"! We laughed so hard. I asked her where she got her "fish" and she said, "Belle, shishy"! Cue Isabelle walking into the living room...we asked her about it and she just laughed and finally admitted that she did put something in the bag and told Maddie it was a fish. Sloan and I still weren't sure what that something was and really wanted to get a good look at it, but Madeline would not let us...she just kept holding up the bag saying "shishy"...and then finally she breaks out with "Shishy, dead" (where on earth did she hear this???)...once again, Isabelle!!! Well, we finally got a good look at that "something" in the bag and Isabelle had wadded up a WikkiStick and stuck it in the bag with some water and handed it off to Madeline telling her it was a fish. Oh, brother!!!!!

Not too long after that the girls took showers/baths and Madeline about fell out when her "shishy" fell out of the bag in the tub and was about to go down the drain. Luckily, Mommy saved the "shishy" right before it was gone forever. After bath time we managed to convince Madeline it really was NOT a "shishy", or even a "dead shishy".

I guess if you have to have a fish, that was the "best case scenario". My silly girls...how Sloan and I love them so. There truly is never a dull moment around here...and if there is, something is wrong...and you better investigate quick cause someone is usually "up to no good".

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