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Dreams. Luci wanted to know why we don't have a fence like this at our house...She doesn't know that I secretly would love it as much as she would.  

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Curious. As the fourth child, Wes has no fear.  From the minute he could crawl, he followed his brother and sisters around and forced his way into their games.  I love that he instantly became part of their crew...no questions asked...as long as he can keep up...

 

Kari Lovequist Photography

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Them. I love this picture cuz it truely is how I view these three everyday. Even though they're not in a race, Penny is fighting her hardest to be the leader, Tripp is making shooting sounds at Penny cuz she's the bad guy, and Luci is oblivious to it all, just skipping along.

Kari Lovequist Photography

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Comedian.  This guy recently learned how to tell a knock-knock joke...And boy are they doozies.  He really cracks himself up and I love it.  I could sit and have this guy tell me jokes all day long.

 



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Trespassers.  The day before yesterday, I went location scouting and came across the most beautiful spot...one that I've been looking for for ages - it has everything that SFValley beautiful has to offer - oak trees, wild grass, wide open sun, trails.  And, you don't have to walk far to get to it.  Sound too good to be true?  Well it is - right before you enter utopia there is a huge NO TRESPASSING sign.  Being the good Catholic that I am, I look at that sign...then at the beautiful landscape...the sign...the landscape...the sign ultimately won.  Then that night, I went and talked to my non-Catholic friends and they called me a wuss and dared me to go.  I guess that's all it took...it was well worth it.  Guess I'm not as good a girl as I thought I was :)

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Stanger. This kid cracks me up.  The complete opposite of Luci who was born to be my little barbie doll.  My little Penny won't let me brush her hair, SHE chooses what she wears, she can live on 6 hours of sleep, and eats like horse.  But one of the things that I love about her most is her independence.  She'll quietly sneak off while no one is looking and I'll find her in my bedroom, staring out the window "looking for kitties".  This is how I found her today.

 

Kari Lovequist Photography

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 Wes has caught on to our evening dance parties...he especially feels the beat of "All the Single Ladies" or anything by the Black Eyed Peas...  As you can see below, we really go crazy!!!

Kari Lovequist Photography

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Early.  So, it's become apparent to me that we will be getting up at 6:00 AM on school days. I know this sounds pretty normal (for most folks), but up until recently, I've been blessed with late sleepers...we'd slowly roll out of bed around 7/7:30ish and be well rested and ready to take on the day.  These days, I wake to sounds of little feet running down the hall to our room screaming "show...show...show" or "milky...milky...milky".  Why not "good morning mom, here's your cup of coffee, let's sit down and watch the last 3 missed episodes of RHBH".  Maybe one day, in my dreams...

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Getting big.  We've been having a lot of tears lately...it seems as though being 5 is a lot harder than I remembered 31 years ago.  Trouble at school = trouble at home = lots of tears = headaches for both Lu and mommy.  Although there was no school today, there were tears...tears over her newly beloved pink nightgown that no longer fits (size 2/3).  I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow when she remembers that I accidently lit her lunchbox on fire...oops!

 

Kari Lovequist Photography

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I have no words...except that Penny is gorgeous!



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It seemed like a good idea at the time...win/win ya know?

Kari Lovequist Photography

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These two LOVE each other...can't get enough of each other...lock Penny out of the room so that they can play only with each other...

 

Kari Lovequist Photography

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I've seen this all over Pinterest and had to try it with Penny...I love how she is so defiantly un-lovey...even looking at the hearts like they are crazy for being up there hoping she'll cooperate.  Even as a baby, we said that penny was the epitome of Sugar and Spice, but definitely on the spicier side.  I LOVE HER SO MUCH, my little cranky pants!

BTW, this isn't from yesteday.  You'll start to notice that Penny lives in Lu's old tu-tu.  She wears it 98% of the time.

 Happy Valentines Day! (old pic above, but had to share)
 

Kari Lovequist Photography

 



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Waiting for the Grand Entrance.  At least once a day, I get a performance on a grand scale.  It's Penn's ballet recitals or Lu's Jazz/Hip Hop/Gymnastic routines or Tripp's karate dance or Wes spinning in circles... I sit in the audience and wait for the star to make his/her grand entrance.  This was Penny's turn and Tripp was waiting patiently for his turn next.


Kari Lovequist Photography

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Haircut. Mommy gave Tripp a hair cut yesterday.  This is daddy's job, but I couldn't wait any longer...so, I grabbed hold of the clippers and 5 minutes later this happened.  My goal was to do a slight trim around the ears with the beard trimmer...oops...  I suppose I could cut some cool lines on the side and make it look intentional Vanilla Ice style :)

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I wish I could say that I found her sitting here with the light hitting her face just so...but I made her sit there and she was not happy about it.  I'd like to title this Mysterious, but it's more like Annoyed.

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Maybe one day I'll understand boys and bugs...or boys and anything gross for that matter.  He's drawn to "boy things" like flies to trash...I should tell him about flies and trash, he'd probably love it!

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She's getting so big...it's funny to me that the mark of age is learning to do something so silly as Hula Hoop.  It was one of the most exciting things I've seen in a while...

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Today we had a playdate with my BFF Katy and her adorable little girls...It's as much a playdate for the mommies as it is for the little ones.  I swear, when Katy came over I had a headache and was mean-mommy.  10 minutes of eating peanut M&Ms and laughing my head-off and my headache was cured...friends are the best.

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I know the one above is not technically good, but it was hillarious to watch the twins fight at gymnastics class today.  Even though there are 6 other kids there, they act as though it's the Penn and T show.  I definitely got funny looks from the coach as I sat there snapping away as they fought to the death on the beam... 

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Time Out...Never fun, but always amusing...

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Tuesday's are nuts...it's the one day a week that I have a babysitter and you'd think that I'd have time to go relax, get a pedicure, work on the computer, do some stuff I'd been meaning to get around to doing.  Nope, Tuesdays are the days that I do all the errands that I've been dreading, like grocery shopping, laundry, Mommy & Me with the twins, and did I mention that all of that still includes a couple of kids?  I'm too guilty to leave the sitter with all three so I take one. 

Today that one was Tripp.

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I sometimes (most times) forget that Luci is still only 5.  I think that because she's in this "smartypants" age, and talks back to me like a teenager, I sometimes expect her to act like one.  Like how I expect her to responsibly watch her brothers and sister...I walked into the house for 5 seconds and came outside and found Wes in the trampoline being bounced around like a tennis ball.  Sure they all loved it...and, guess who's idea it was?  The teenager's great idea!

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In a family this big, everyone is put to work!

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Figures, when their grandparents send them a package in the mail with lots of fun goodies inside, they decide to play with the box instead...

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Pretty much every morning, we go on a walk.  Tripp always rides his scooter ahead of us with the double stroller.  Every once in a while, Penny feels compelled to race trip.  She runs, and runs, and runs till her "legs hurt"...and even though she's usually 50 feet behind him, she is always the winner.  This drives Tripp crazy.

 

Disclaimer; As much as my mom hates it, Luci isn't in alot of my 365 pictures cuz she's in school and when she gets home; 1) it's impossible to watch 4 kids and take a good picture, and 2) It's usually dark by the time I am able to get her to cooperate for a photo op.  The end.