Add Some Fun to Dinner

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and I decided to give it a try. It's actually easy to make. One thing I learned: it's easier to put the spaghetti in turkey dogs than in beef franks. I usually only give my girls turkey dogs, but someone had given us kosher hot dogs, which is why I had both in the fridge. I didn't make a whole lot because I had no idea what the reaction would be. They all asked for seconds and my pickiest, who hates to try anything new even if it's made with food she knows she likes, declared the spaghetti dogs to be "Awesome!"
Don't forget to check out my Renuzit Fresh Accents giveaway.

Bumblebee Wings Aren't Easy to Find

Every year as we approach Halloween I wait to find out what my daughters want to be before I decide if I'll make the costumes or buy them. Two years ago they were all flowers. Easy. I made them. Last year I ended up buying their costumes because three of them received dress up costumes for their birthday and wanted to wear the outfits for Halloween (meaning I only had to buy one costume). This year I decided to tackle the costumes myself because they seemed easy enough: unicorn, ladybug, bumblebee and Smurfette.
First I headed to a local big box store and found legging with coordinating tops: two black outfits for the ladybug and bumblebee, a pink  outfit for the unicorn and (duh) blue for Smurfette. While looking for ladybug antennae I found a really inexpensive antennae and wing set. Ladybug done! At the same store I found a bumblebee antennae and stinger. I bought it thinking the wings would be easy. I'll get to that in a minute.
I had the unicorn costume all planned out: yarn would be easy to make into the mane and tail and then I could use black construction paper for the hooves. Then at my moms of multiples sale I spied a unicorn costume... it's a head and hooves. For what the seller was asking, I scooped it up, but will still have to make a tail. 
We ventured to the fabric store on Sunday (don't ever go to the fabric store on a weekend leading up to Halloween. We waited a good 15 minutes before our number was called at the cutting table). We bought felt for Smurfette's dress and hat, so now we (me?!) need to get cracking on actually making it.
Which brings me back to the bumblebee wings. Did you know you can buy wings in nearly every color EXCEPT for a color that would seem reasonable for a bumblebee? I looked for white, black and yellow. Everything I found was pink, green or purple. I looked through various websites for ideas, but everything seemed too complicated or too ridiculous. We finally found some adult sized yellow wings, but I wasn't convinced they would work. Next to the fabric store was a Halloween store. We ran in and could only find suitable wings that came with a costume. We don't need the whole costume, just the wings. While wandering around, we found white angel wings. They're going to have to suffice. They definitely work better than the adult wings. 
Now we just need to use the yellow duct tape we bought to put stripes on the black shirt (although I was informed the other day by the bumblebee that bees are yellow with black stripes, not black with yellow stripes. Yeah? Too bad) and make Smurfette's dress. You know... in all that free time I have!
Don't forget to enter my Renuzit Fresh Accents giveaway!

The Scent of the Holidays (Giveaway)

While I'm not a fan of the weather that comes with fall and winter, I do enjoy the smells associated with those seasons. Cinnamon is one of my favorite scents and it always reminds me of a cozy winter day. As a Purex Insider, I had the chance to try a new product to keep those scents around whenever I want!
It's called Renuzit Fresh Accents Holiday Air Freshener. I tried the Festive Snow and Winter Berry scents. I have to say, I didn't really like the Festive Snow scent. It was too strong. The Winter Berry scent is nice and light. Plus it has a warm feeling to it. The fresheners last for 30 days and don't require plugs, batteries or flames! No work... that's my kind of product! Plus it features a pretty snowflake design, which will help put you in the holiday mood.
Want to try the Renuzit Fresh Accents Holiday Air Freshener for yourself? Renuzit Brand will give three lucky Buried in Laundry readers a coupon for a free freshener. Here's how to enter the giveaway: (Leave a separate comment for each entry)

• Leave a comment telling me what scent you associate most with your favorite holiday. This step is mandatory. No other entries will be counted if you do not complete this step.
• Tweet about this giveaway and include @quadmamablog in your tweet.
• Blog about this giveaway and include a link back to this post.
• Follow Buried in Laundry or leave me a comment letting me know you're already a follower.

You must leave a valid email address with your comments or have an email address in your profile that's easy to find. The deadline to enter is 1pm MST Friday October 21, 2011. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Once the winners are selected they will have 48 hours to provide me with a valid mailing address or a new winner will be selected. I reserve the right to delete any comments/entries.
(Disclosure: As a Purex Insider, I was provided with two Renuzit Fresh Accents Holiday Air Fresheners. Renuzit Brand is supplying complimentary coupons for the three winners. No monetary compensation was given for this post. All opinions are mine).

Yep. It's One of Those Weeks

Tortilla spent all weekend dealing with a nasty stomach bug. I won't give you the details, but it was brutal. By Monday, though, she was chipper and ready for school. Unfortunately, Hubby and I were both down for the count. We both woke up at 3 am, feeling the effects of Tortilla's bug. For whatever reason, Hubby decided he could get the girls to school. I didn't argue because I was miserable and I figured a child-free house would help with our recuperation. Until the school called at noon saying Sue Sue had an upset stomach. At that point, neither Hubby nor I were in any condition to go get her. Fortunately, my mother in law was able to retrieve Sue Sue (who, by the way, came home and did not appear to be the least bit sick). This is the first time we have both been violently ill at the same time. It was miserable. We managed to get through it, but it was not easy.
By Tuesday everyone seemed OK, but not 100%. Hubby and I slugged it out at work, and fell into bed around 9 pm. Wednesday I was ready to get back on track. I took everyone to school, hit the grocery store, did laundry.... and then received a phone call saying Tortilla had to leave school because she had a fever. (sigh). It didn't help that Sue Sue had an appointment in the afternoon that she couldn't miss. So I picked everyone up from school (the others were going to be picked up in an hour and a half anyway), let Tortilla rest and then went to the appointment.
By the end of the night, we were all exhausted, so it didn't help when Cakes woke up at 2 am, apparently the next victim of the bug. Today is only a half day of school, so I kept everyone home. There's no school tomorrow or Monday, so I'm really hoping everyone is better by Tuesday! Did I mention tomorrow and Saturday mark the fall sale for my moms of multiples group and I'm on the "team" that is organizing the sale. Yeah, did not need this illness this week! Oh, and today is Hubby's birthday, so we've had to cancel our night out. Thankfully, I had ribs in the freezer, so I can make my mom's "secret" rib recipe, which is one of his favorites. Now if I can just get my house disinfected... again!

Four Little Miss Independents

I was fairly "strict" about what my daughters could wear to preschool. They could choose, but only from certain items. No dresses (too much running around and sitting on the floor), no short shorts, and nothing too nice. Too many outfits came home with paint or marker that wouldn't come off. I've definitely relaxed now that the girls are in kindergarten. There aren't as many marker and paint projects, so their clothes don't risk being ruined. If they want to wear dresses, they, at their request, wear leggings or shorts underneath. 
My daughters love picking out their clothes for school. We do it the night before, mainly to avoid meltdowns if a favorite outfit is unavailable. I'm pretty sure Tortilla has worn a dress or skirt to school all but two or three days. My biggest issue now is that I don't want the teachers to think we only have two or three outfits. You see, every time I do laundry, my daughters automatically pick their favorite outfits again... which means if I were to let them they could wear the same outfit to school two or three times in one week! We've had a big talk about how you have to have some variety in your wardrobe. I've tried putting the newly washed items at the bottom of the clean clothes pile, but that doesn't seem to stop them from digging through their drawers. 
It has actually been fun to see them express themselves through clothes. Some days I can tell what kind of mood their in by the clothes they pick. For instance, if Tortilla picks pants, I know she's grumpy.
I still have one rule: no dressy shoes for school. Between the two classes I can't keep track of who has gym class on which day (each class goes three times a week). Dresses? Yes.... as long as their worn with tennis shoes.

School and Appointments

Trying to schedule yearly checkups (medical, dental, vision) is a huge pain this year. No one seems to care that if my daughters aren't scheduled after school, then they're likely going to miss at least a half day of school. I find it extremely frustrating that very few of our provides have family friendly hours.
When I scheduled our annual appointments with our pediatrician, I was told the latest I could bring all four of them in was 2pm. My other option? Take each of them in on different days. I'm already in need of more hours in a day, scheduling four different days of appointments isn't going to work. I tried to schedule the appointments on days they don't have school. The doctor doesn't see patients on Fridays (must be nice) and is off the entire week of Thanksgiving (not that I expected her to be available, but I was really trying to find a non-school day). 
One of my daughters has a followup appointment with her physical therapist. Since we're no longer seeing the therapist on a weekly basis, we were basically stuck with whatever was left. (I get it. The weekly appointments should take priority). However, once again this particular provider doesn't see patients on Fridays. The latest appointment they could find for her was 2pm, so I have to pull all four girls out of school by 1pm to get to the appointment.
I actually stopped scheduling appointments with our opthalmologist (Blogger is telling me I spelled that word wrong, but I looked it up, so I don't know what gives) for this very reason. Once my daughters were no longer considered high risk from their premature births, we were relegated to seeing the doctor's assistant. Not a big deal.... but she only saw patients two days a week and only in the mornings. Considering preschool was only three hours a day, I didn't feel it was fair to ask me to have them miss a day of school for a routine checkup. I asked if we could see the opthalmologist, since her schedule was more flexible. I was told they would "prefer" to have the doctor only see the "priority" cases. Um, ok. So my daughters are healthy and suddenly not a priority? I switched to a different practice that gladly offers after school appointments and we are seen by the doctor.
I know when I was in school I had to leave early every now and then to go to the orthodontist, dentist, etc. Heck, by high school I was purposely making my appointments so I would miss a little school. But when you consider that many parents are also trying to juggle work schedules around these appointments, it sure would be nice to feel like an effort is being made to accommodate everyone. Yes, doctors and their staff have families, too. Would it be so hard, though, to have one night a week of extended hours or one Saturday a month where you'll see patients? 

And the Competition Begins....

Not to be outdone by Roo's three lost teeth, all accompanied by memorable stories, Tortilla decided it was her turn for the spotlight. On the first day of kindergarten, she came running out of the building to tell me she had a loose tooth. Apparently the carrot sticks I packed in her lunch helped jar the tooth loose. Then, a few weeks later, we noticed the tooth next to it was also loose. Last Thursday, Tortilla finally had her "loose tooth story."
Thursday night her two loose teeth were hanging by threads. I realized if they didn't come out that night, one or both might come out at school and truly become lost. I took her into the bathroom, shut the door to avoid curious sisters, handed her a tissue and told her to pull. Voila. One tooth out. She was so in awe of losing her first tooth that we needed Hubby to yank out the next one. (Trust me, it took just a small tug). And there you have it: Tortilla lost her first tooth and her second tooth within minutes of one another, definitely another fun "loose tooth story."
This all means, of course, that Cakes and Sue Sue are frantically wiggling their teeth to see if any of them are loose. So far, no. I'm afraid that by the time the fourth sister loses her first tooth her "story" will simply be "Remember how long it took for you to finally lose a tooth?!"