Ultimate Blog Party 2010

Get your party dress (or comfy PJs) on! Grab a cupcake! Turn up the tunes!

This week (April 9th-16th) I’m participating in the “Ultimate Blog Party” over at 5minutesformom.com. You’ve heard me talk about my twin blogger friends before, and this week they are throwing a huge PARTY for bloggers and their readers.  It’s a great way to connect with other bloggers, build friendships, encourage one another through comments, and there’s crazy awesome giveaways too!  Join us!

It’s also another opportunity for me to thank YOU as readers!  You have faithfully supported and loved on our family through this journey. This blog would be an empty space without you.   Thank you for being our family behind the computer screen for over 3 years!

 

photo by: Megelaine Images 

If you are just joining us from the UBP, HUGE VIRTUAL HUGS from me, QuatroMama! I’m tickled that you’ve stopped by and would love to have you along for the ride! 4tunate is a blog about the adventures, joys, challenges, and bloopers in raising our quadruplet boys, Henry, Isaac, Brooks, and Clark.  Blogging began as a way to efficiently communicate our prayer requests and doctor appointment updates during our extremely uncertain high-risk pregnancy and has “multiplied” into something so much more!

Here’s a little video to give you a little more “up close” introduction to the family!

Be sure to introduce yourself and your blog (if you have one) in the comment section of this post.  I’d love to see what you’re up to!  And if you would like to follow our adventures feel free to subscribe to our feed and/or follow me on twitter. There’s even a 4tunate Facebook Fan Page, if you are so inclined. =)

I’m also fighting for this amazing cause right now that I’d love for you to check out!

And for an added GIVEAWAY Bonus:

To add to the party fun, I want to introduce you to some of my blogging friends! There are nine of us who each have a word hidden in their post. These nine words make up a sentence. We will each link you up to the lady who has the next word in the sentence—but keep in mind that I might not have the first word in the sentence! Once you have the sentence, e-mail it to sisterchickies@gmail.com with "UBP10" in the subject line. Each person with the correct sentence will be in a drawing to win a $40 Target gift card! Winner will be announced on all of our blogs April 19 and the winner will be e-mailed. The winner has 48 hours to respond or we'll pick someone else.

(Disclaimer: Some of us are slower than others, but we will all have our posts up by noon EDT on Friday, April 9.)

So for your next clue, visit Jill from The Diaper Diaries!

Happy Partyin’!

(As for prizes, my top pick would be the Toshiba, anything after that would be gravy!)

Harry + Hallmark + Me = Bliss

In all of the Disney Magic I’ve failed to share this with you…. 

It’s the gorgeous lovely ladies of Hallmark and moi with HARRY CONNICK JR.!!!! minutes after he serenaded the ladies of Blissdom with a private concert. 

And now you know why they call it “Blissdom” instead of “Misery”. 

Actually Harry (Yes, we are on a first name basis…bwahhhhh!) was just icing on the cake.  Connecting and deepening my relationship with friends was the CAKE of the conference.

More on the cake in a near future post!

We Went Forth And Multiplied…

Over the weekend we had the opportunity to gather together with over 25 couples with one common link.

MULTIPLES.

(All triplets, with the exception of our over-achiever comrades) 

Together we have populated the earth with nearly 100 beautiful children…

We all enjoyed a little “therapy”, laughs, and a night sans kids…

 

And we left reminded that there is strength in numbers.

And friendship too!

Quad Sightings

It’s not every day that you see a set of quadruplets…

But seeing 2 sets in one day, that’s probably once in a lifetime for most…

However, we hope it becomes a more frequent occurrence…

Because it turns out, some of our closest friends just happen to parent quadruplets too!

To our dear friends and partners in this Quadventure: The Burkett’s (pictured), The Steece’s, The McNulty’s, The Goerlich’s,The Thompson’s, The Benner’s, The Tubre’s, The Graf’s, The Harris’, The Scott’s, The Gerwer’s, The Cochran’s, The Walker’s, The other Walker’s, The Donovan’s, The Carlson’s, The Fulton’s, The Urech’s, The King’s, and so many more, I could keep going on and on and on….

We are THANKFUL for YOU during this Thanksgiving season and always!  We know that God had a purpose in putting us all together, and we are thankful for your friendship, love, prayers, and support on this journey! And Thank Goodness for the Interweb! =)

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!

Quad Couples Reunion '09: Chicago

Over the weekend,

Brad and I joined our best friends who live inside our computer,

Mari and Chris,

Gen and Conor,

 

and finally after an airport fiasco, Suz and Joe,

  

for some GREAT times in Chicago.

 

Wrigleyville to be exact.

The encore reunion was yet another confirmation of

treasured friendships

brought together by the commonality of quads, 

with a bond as deep as FAMILY.

Praying for Stellan Over Breakfast

Are YOU wearing your orange today?  Stellan is in heart surgery right now and we will be wearing our orange all day as a reminder to pray.  Please join us as we pray for the MckFamily and all the medical staff involved today and in the critical days to come.  We consider them our dear blogging buddies!

Last Chance! Guess Our Costumes Giveaway!

Times a wastin'...

Last chance to take your best stab at our costumes for tonight's neighborhood treatin'. Speaking of treats, did I mention that the randomly selected winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to Jackaroos Boutique?

Enter your guess HERE in the comment section, so I can keep track of your entries.

Don't let this moment "escape"!!!!!

 

PS Have you checked out the wizardry of those McNulty quads?  Apparently the West Coast must do some sort of "Halloween Eve Trick or Treating" so they can beat the rest of the nation in posting ridiculously adorable pictures of their children before the rest of us have barely had a chance to cut the tags off our costumes. Love ya, Gen!

Buddyin' Up

First off, thanks to my best buddy, Brad for his love letter post to me. Babes, you can take over the blog ANYTIME!  (It was yours to begin with, afterall!) I know you all must wonder if he's "for real", but he truly is genuine. He treats and loves me in a way that is truly honoring.  Sometimes I honestly wonder "why me?"...I am blessed beyond measure!

The last few weeks we've been able to experience our boys really becoming buddies.  I'm hoping this is the start of a beautiful friendship for life!  As their mama, it brings me such joy to watch them entertaining and loving one another. Sure there are countless incidents of fighting, intense squeals, begs for attention, stealing toys (you get the picture), but to witness the positive side of all this "togetherness" has been more than precious.

(Pictures used in this post were not "posed", but instead captured as the events transpired)

Here's a few recent buddyin' examples:

• Back Rubs When a Brother is Crying

• Spontaneous Kisses

• Sharing a Toy with a "Here y'go" (This is MAJOR!)

• Playing at the Table with their Farm Animals

• Pulling each other down the Slide 

• Singing

• Reading Books Together

 

Who can resist 4 brothers showin' some brotherly love? Philadelphia, you aint got nothin' on the Murray Boys!

 

Memories from the Midland....

Almost a week later, I'm finally getting around to posting the rest of our pictures and video clips from our trip to Midland, Michigan while viewing some late night Olympics - GO USA!  In case you were curious where Midland is the name is true to the location; Mid-Michigan, not far from Saginaw.  (Approximately a  6 hour drive from Indianapolis.)

Aside from the runny noses, we had such an enjoyable and relaxing getaway.  It was great break to have a 4 on 4 ratio. (4 Adults to 4 Toddlers) The boys warmed up to GP and Pop-Pop instantly and made themselves right at home!

Some of Our Favorite People on the Planet

Walking Across the Tridge Footpath

Riding in Comfort and Style

Pulling About 100 Pounds of Boy

Dancing in the Laundry Room

I wish I would have had these earmuffs on the ride up here

Huh?  What's that you say?  I can drive this home?

Thanks to GP and Pop-Pop's church for loaning us the highchairs for the weekend.  

Good thing GP covered the outlets before we invaded her house!

Here's some video clips from our visit....

A few things to watch for in the clips: Henry saying "Fall Down", Clark Walking (at the end), and Pam's Adorable Texas/Georgia accent!

 

Pick a Blueberry, Not Your Nose

Here's some of the "pickin's" from our Blueberry Morning with our dear friends, David and Pam (affectionately known as Grammie Pammie (GP) and Pop-Pop).

Brad, David and I picked blueberries while GP fed the boys blueberries fresh from the bush.  Henry and Brooks were picking their own by the end...I'm thinkin' they might have eaten a couple of  "greenberries" too. =)

And yes, we know ALL about blueberry diapers!

 

A great "field"trip experience for all! 

Oh and I almost forgot, thanks to many of you for sharing your great blueberry recipes!  I look forward to tasting them out! =) You can find them in the comment section of this post.

Another post from our Michigan getaway is in the works...hold tight!