Happy Halloween From Our 4 “Punkins”!

 

3 Little Clues…

These 3 items are clues for our Halloween Family Costume: 

  

I can’t wait to hear your guesses and see if you can put the pieces together! 

I also look forward to hearing what YOUR family is going to be for Halloween.  Hopefully, we got your creative juices flowing from our previous Halloween Costumes Post.  Feel free to send us your pictures to quatro_mama AT yahoo DOT com and we’ll highlight our favorites, and let you vote for your personal favorite in a special giveaway. 

Thanks for being a daily “TREAT” to our family! 

Boys Meet Jack O’Lantern Murray

This year is the first year we’ve carved a pumpkin Make that Brad has carved a pumpkin with the boys.  I’m not really into pumpkin guts, but I’m an expert pumpkin face consultant and decent sideline photographer.  The highlight of the night was watching the boys get ridiculously excited over carving a face into the side of a vegetable. In fact, they held on to their pieces of pumpkin face like a piece of treasure. I sure do love the wonder and enthusiasm of two year old boys!

Henry was not afraid of getting his hands full of pumpkin guts, Not one tiny bit!

Posing By Jolly Ole Jack O’Lantern Murray

 

Could the look on these boys’ faces (Daddy included) be more telling of the fun had by all?   (Birth Order: Henry, Brooks, Clark, and Isaac)

Thanks for stopping by to meet Mr.Jack O’Lantern Murray. Hope you are having a festive and fun filled week! 

Festive Fall Snack Mix Recipe

This recipe originated from one of the ladies from my church growing up, Becky.  She helped throw a “Cooking Show Themed” wedding shower for me way back when…This recipe has become a fall tradition ever since.  Only now I DOUBLE the recipe for our “crowd”.

If you are a fan of the sweet and salty combination, then this will become an instant winner! 

Ingredients:

~ 1 Box of Ritz Mini Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers

~ 1 Small Box of Sunmaid Raisins

~ 1 Bag of Candy Corn

~ 1 Bag of Plain M&M’s

~ 1 Jar of Lightly Salted Dry Roasted Peanuts

Mix together in a large bowl.  (The small ingredients tend to sink to the bottom, so give them a little boost to the top.) CHOW DOWN!  Nom! Nom! Nom!

I like it because it’s not a complete sugar-loaded-wasted-calorie-snack.  You get a little sweet, but some protein and fiber while you’re at it! 

It looks even more festive if you have a fall container like this apple one to keep it fresh in:

Speaking of a TREAT….Congratulations to Emily, She’s the winner of the Faith Baby Onesie or Tee of Her Choice.  Emily has a little “pumpkin” in the oven, so what a perfect prize! 

Your Turn to Share: What’s Your Favorite Fall Time Snack? 

There are No Tricks, Only Treats!

No TRICKS! Here’s what’s happening this week on 4tunate:

~ We’ll announce the winner in the Faith Baby Giveaway

~ Our First Pumpkin Carving

~ Our Favorite Fall Snack Recipe

~ The BIG Reveal of Our Halloween Costumes (Any guesses?)

You’re in for several TREATS this week!  “Carve” out some time to stop in this week!

This Is What Precious Moments Are Made Of

One of THE MOST Precious Moments of My Life

Happened Just Like This…

And THAT, My Friends, Is What Precious Moments Are Made Of!

Wishing You MANY Precious Moments To Come!  

Faith Baby Giveaway

You observant readers have probably noticed that we added a Faith Baby Button to our blog a month  ago.  I love building relationships with companies that are a great “FIT” for this blog.  I love that they view children as a BLESSING and a true gift from God!  Faith Baby has a unique variety of onesies, tees, diaper covers, and other faith inspired apparel for kids.  You might recognize  their products from being featured on blogs such as Mckmama’s, Kelly’s Korner, or 5 Minutes for Mom.

I have the awesome opportunity of receiving a t-shirt for one of our munchkins and also one to giveaway to a reader!  How fun, right?  The toddler tee I chose says, “be patient, God is not finished with me yet!”  How appropriate for this stage of toddlerhood!  It’s made of heavy-weight cotton, and I love the bright color!

(Faith Baby, if you are looking for another clothing model, sign this handsome fellow (Brooks) up!)

 

Faith Baby offers lots of affordable choices and would make delightful gifts!  How cute are these Ruffled Diaper Covers?  Good thing I don’t have girls around here – I wouldn’t know where to stop! 

So here’s how you can win your very own onesie or tee: 

1. Go to Faith Baby (www.faithbaby.com) and take a look at their stylish and trendy selections.

2. Leave me a comment telling me which adorable tee or onesie YOU would pick if you were chosen for this giveaway. 

For additional entries: (Leave a comment for each additional entry, pretty please.)

* Become a follower of the Faith Baby Blog (www.faithbabyblog.com)

* Follow me on Twitter (@quatro_mama) and tweet this message, “I just entered to win a Faith Baby Onesie from @quatro_mama – http://tinyurl.com/yzdgnkt”

Hurry!  This giveaway ends Monday, October 26th!  

NICU Survival Kits: What’s Next? (Update)

Update: Isella went to be with Jesus this afternoon.  Although her 3 days on this earth were short, her impact on this world will be long lasting.  Please keep her parents Myka and Ben in your prayers as they face the difficult days ahead.

My heart is heavy for several babies currently struggling in the NICU.  My friend from high school FCA, Myka, gave birth to a sweet daughter named Isella.  There were complications during delivery and things are very bleak right now.  We are praying for a miracle and trusting God’s sovereignty in her sweet little life! Another family friend’s niece delivered a baby boy named Broyan today at 24 weeks. He’s 1 pound 12 ounces and so far is fighting and stable, but the days and even weeks ahead will be very critical.  Another little guy Noah was born recently, even though his due date wasn’t until December.  Would you join me in praying for these sweet precious gifts from God, Isella, Broyan, and Noah, the medical staff, and their families?

Since our last media post on the NICU Survival Kits, I’ve received several emails of referrals, prayer requests, suggestions, and offers to help make preemie blankets and hats for the kits.  This is super exciting to us, because we really want this project to be a blog community effort.  Many of you are contributing just by visiting our blog, because a portion of the modest revenues we receive from advertising on this blog are used to fund the NICU Kits, which cost about $40 a piece to assemble.  THANK YOU!  We are truly blessed to have you as faithful readers and supporters of our family! 

For those of you who are interested in becoming more involved in this project here are some suggestions for things we need.  We would appreciate your ideas, feedback, and any resource suggestions as we continue with this effort!

~ We are in need of a good container/bag/box to put all the goodies in.  Currently I’ve been dressing up a regular large gift bag, which does the trick, but I have visions of a custom box or reusable bag with a nice label on it.  Ideas?  Suggestions? 

~ We are in need of crotcheters and knitters for preemie blankets.  Think “doll blanket” size.  Most of the blankets that I’ve received have been in the 20x20 range...a little longer is fine.  I have a stock pile of about 20 blankets, but we are assembling quite a few lately and they are going quickly. 

~ We would love to find a discount to buy the book, On the Night You Were Born, (affiliate link), in bulk.  We have checked with the publisher (Feiwel & Friends), but were not able to get a bulk rate.  If we order through Amazon we have to pay shipping per book.

~ Ongoing Items in Need:  Gum, Snacks, Hand Lotion, Journals, Disposable Cameras, Chapstick.  Keep your eyes peeled for discounts and sales and tell us about them!

Again, we are not asking for your $ or even donations, just your dag-gone amazing resourcefulness! 

Feel free to leave me a comment here or we’ve set up an email account specifically for our NICU Survival Kit Project at

Thank you for helping our efforts in a project that is sooooo dear to our hearts!  Thanks again for your prayers for Isella, Broyan, and Noah.

Boys and Their Dinosaurs

I think it happens to every boy at some point in their lives.  They fall madly in love with dinosaurs.  It happened to our boys following their Dino Encounter at The Children’s Museum. 

They’ve been smitten ever since. 

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? is one of their favorite reads. In fact, they've memorized nearly every word on every page.

(Disclosure: I may make pennies off of this affiliate link.Thank you, FTC.)

Of course, it helps that their Daddy likes to play “Dinosaur” too!  Check it out!

What’s your kid(s) current obsession?  Dinosaurs? Disney Princesses? Blues Clues? Pokémon?  Tell us about it…

(UPDATED) H1N1 – Swine Flu Shots…

UPDATE: There are diverse opinions being shared in the comment section of this post.  Thanks to many of you who are weighing in on this one.  We’ve decided to form a poll to track your decisions regarding the vaccination.  You can continue to share your personal thoughts in the comment forum, and cast your ballot in the poll located on the right sidebar. Unfortunately, there was a homicide that takes precedence over our story running this evening.  We’ll update you when we have a new air time. 

____________________________________________

So Jen and I are in a little dilemma here.  What do we do about this nasty little flu bug known as the Swine Flu?  We were right in the middle of a discussion about this very topic this week when out of the blue, the Fox affiliate here in town contacted us to get our opinion about this very topic.  There are apparently some folks outside the US preying on people who are scared of this illness, selling fake Tamiflu and other flu fighting drugs online.  Fox is doing a story about this problem and what parents are doing about the H1N1 virus.  Jen was out of the house when they called, but I agreed to do an interview and give our perspective on this difficult situation.

On one hand it is scary to think about our boys contracting a virus that has so little history in human beings.  But on the other, the vaccine that has been created to fight this pandemic has had very little testing, and we are a little unsure about letting it enter the family bloodstream.  Then there are the risks associated with the nasal mist vaccine, which we have heard is one of the only options available right now.  There are apparently risks with the mist on people groups who are susceptible to respiratory infections, which our boys would fit into.

This is something we plan to call our doctor to discuss this week.  We really need to cut through the hype and figure out what is best for Isaac, Brooks, Clark, and Henry.  And, for that matter, we also need to figure out what Jen and I will do. 

Please leave Jen and I a comment and let us know what you plan to do. 

Do we get the vaccine at all? 

Are the risks involved with vaccines in general greater than the risk that H1N1 poses?

Do we get the regular flu vaccine AND the H1N1 vaccine at the same time?  Spread them out?

Do we get one and not the other?

Lot’s of scary decisions, please let us know what you think!  Stay tuned, we will let you know what we decided.

~ Quatro Papa

Now vs. Then vs. Then vs. Then

NOW…

VS. THEN…

VS. THEN…

VS. THEN

You’ve come a LONG way, Pumpkins!

Meeting a Few Faces That Live Inside My Laptop…

Every time I’ve met a face behind our blog it’s been such a positive experience.  It’s happened to me a handful of times now, through meeting my dear fellow quad couples, to BlogHer, to speaking at the Blog Indiana Conference, to stuffing myself with cupcakes; The relationships I’ve met online have become even stronger by squeezing them in person. 

The past two weekends, I had an opportunity to meet two dear blogging friends.  The first was a fellow quad mama, Jenny Burkett and her sister. She came to the city as a part of the March of Dimes Mom of the Year Festivities (she’s a TOP TEN STATE FINALIST!!!).  We were able to hang out, grab some lunch at PF Changs, and wonder aimlessly around the shopping mall together.  Brad even brought the boys down to meet her.  It was a great afternoon spent with a wonderful friend!

 

Last weekend, I had the privilege of meeting Kate.  I’ve wanted to meet Kate since she first emailed me shortly after the boys were born.  She’s one beautiful mama inside and out.  The love of Christ just radiates through her!  We were able to meet her adorable family for lunch at the famous Thurman Cafe.  Her boys, Mylo and Phin, (and Jon too) are sooooooo lovable!  I can hardly wait until she makes the drive to come visit us! 

A HUGE Shout-out THANK YOU goes to the beautiful “Miss Emily” (the boys call her Enemy)for watching our boys, so that Brad and I could have a break away.  You amaze us, Emily!  We’re so grateful for your faithful friendship in our lives! And our boys just happen to adore you too!

Perhaps the next time I blog about meeting faces that live inside my laptop I’ll be writing about YOU!

Autumn Quadyssey: The Pumpkin Patch

 

Just because summer is over, doesn’t mean the Quadysseys must come to an end.  In fact, I think the Quadysseys are here to stay!  The pumpkin patch and apple orchard has become an annual tradition that we hope to continue with the boys for years to come.  This year’s pumpkin patch trip proved to be even more fun than the previous years.  Watching four little boys take in the surroundings and adventures of fall brings our hearts so much joy.  I hope by sharing some of our captured memories it will bring you joy as well! 

 

 

 

 

And a few video highlights:

Have I mentioned how much I love this time of year?