Insta-Friday Ohio/Orlando Trip Recap

 Last week Cambria and I hitched a ride with Mike to Orlando for his Maximized Living seminar.

We stopped in Ohio to visit some friends on the way.

I used the Iphone alone to capture the memories.

Here's the recap!

Very early.

At the airport ready to take baby in the sky for the first time!

Our little traveler did amazing!

Mike's sisters covered the bases back at home while I was blissfully soaking up the peaceful, quietness of only one child.

I was so thankful for the opportunity to breathe..I was needing it!

I love my kiddos and love doing school at home and having them with me

EVERY

HOUR

OF

EVERY 

DAY

but even the Mother with the best of intentions needs a little break every once in a while:)

Cambri mastered the wave on the trip and perfected her first word..."Hiii"

My Mom pointed out to me that this was also my first word so she's off to a great start I suppose;)

In Orlando we found an awesome leather guy selling the most amazing leather engraved bracelets.

We got one for each of the three big girls.

The hotel in Orlando was gorgeous.

Super swanky.

So very nice.

These guys are two of the USA's top wrestlers. 

We are talking Olympic hopefuls.

They are also two of the nicest people I have ever met.

Mike introduced JD (left) to chiropractic.

JD and Tervel came to the Maximized Living conference to speak about how it has impacted their lives.

I appreciated seeing what Mike is passionate about in a new light.

This place kills me.

I love Hobby Lobby.

Like almost as much as I love Target.

It is not right that I live multiple plane rides away from this store.

Cambria and I enjoyed hours strolling the isles.

It was a dream.

Orlando's warmth was so good.

Cheesecake Factory, Whole Foods and boot shopping in one day.

We ate at Maggianos.

Delish!

We had such an amazing week together.

It was so great.

We should probably do this more often;)

I loved having my little baby girl all to myself.

She is such a joy!

I soaked her up.

Every precious minute of her rapidly evaporating babyhood.

She is, really, so so sweet!

I loved having this guy all to myself too!

We even navigated the streets of two unfamiliar big cities without any communication breakdowns.

We may be Amazing Race material after all!

I am pretty sure Cambria likes being in Target as much as I do!!

Regrettably I left this outfit behind.

Now that I see the picture, I really wished I'd just grabbed it.

Baby was cranky and I just couldn't commit in that moment.

"Houston, we have a problem" 

The perfect title for this picture.

This is exactly what we have here.

We nearly missed our flight because the baby was not showing up in the computer.

These ladies worked tirelessly to make it happen.

Check out the double phone hold.

Even Mike got in on the action!

Cambria loved watching Dora on the plane!

It was soo sweet to be reunited with our awesome kids.

I will miss Target, Hobby Lobby and "the quiet" but I would never trade those things for this amazing, crazy, loud life!

What It Looks Like When 3 kids Change Rooms

Two weekends ago Mike and Caleb got to fly down to California and take in a college football game.

Stanford Vs. USC.

The girls and I took the guy-free weekend and went to town on our house.

We cleared out the craft room, moved Mikayla into her own room, Maddie into Mikayla's spot, and Caitlyn in with Caleb.

Here are the results...

Caleb's room "BEFORE"

(I put it in quotes because this is actually after hours of de-cluttering and two garbage bags)

Maddie, Caitlyn and Cambria's room BEFORE

Caleb and Caity's room AFTER

{we modified this arrangement because Cait woke up stuck under Caleb's bed.  She's quite the mover!  Bunk beds is the eventual goal.}

For the first time, the boy toys and girl toys are all in one room!!

I have two amazing quilt tops that are family heirlooms.  They have similar fabrics but different patterns. If you have any tips on how to finish them, I am interested!

{I'm talking someone else finish them...not me!}

Cait's babies.

Just documenting the shared closet at the clean state.  It may never look like this again!

These two were so excited at this point but by bedtime things weren't so happy.  Cait was crying "I want my old bed" and Caleb was crying "get her out of my room!"

I think it will be fun for them to share.

I want Caleb to get to experience sharing a room.

Cambria's room AFTER.

A baby room!  Yay!

She can cry her little heart out and she won't disturb a soul.  This is a good thing.  Babies need to sleep and this baby is going to be so happy with her new routine.

This is every size she will wear until she's 2.  I'm just moving Cait's clothes in once they don't fit her.

I have no BEFORE pic for the basement.  It was just a dropping zone.  For those who have been to our house, here are pics of the happy clean and functional basement!

A play corner with a kitchen and dollhouse. 

A table for coloring.

At one time this closet was filled to the brim with chiropractic goods.

Then it had miscellaneous hockey equipment and broken furniture.

{This is not an exaggeration.  I pulled out two broken lamps, one broken fan and a bed with more missing pieces than present ones}

The girls and I made some "hard" decisions to get rid of the "hoarder-ish"items and then created a  functional storage closet.

One the right is the "craft shelf".

On the left are the clothing {in other sizes} bins and dress up bins are at the top for easy access.

The Barbies got a more prominent place.

Mailee took the time to dress them all and select each one's position.

{ie. the ones she likes best are way at the top where little hands can not reach}

Maddie Faith in her new grown up room downstairs!

Maddie's babies.

She even has a special place to hang her quilt that GG made!

I have photos of the big girls and their room transformations too but they have their own blogs so you'll get to hear all about those changes in their own words!

The Dress Up Line Up This Year

Here are the kids and their cousins on Halloween this year:)

Mailee is Marie Antoinette, Caleb is a robot (he forgot his head at home) and Mads is the Queen of Hearts:)

Lucy from The Chronicles of Narnia

Kitty.

Lady Bug 

(take two... Maddie wore this costume)

Halloween Decor

Here's a quick lesson on how to glitter up your pumpkins.

(I guess it's too late for this year but file this one away for next, it's so easy and soo pretty!)

Caleb helped me.

He squeezed on a whole bunch of Elmer's glue...

then he brushed it on smoothly with a foam brush...

{We used white pumpkins which worked out great because I didn't cover the entire surface with glitter but at first glance they still looked completely glittery.  I think with orange underneath it would have been more noticeable if they were not fully glittered.}

Then he dumped this glitter all over the pumpkin.

(we put newspaper underneath to catch the glitter and pour it back into the jar)

It was really that simple.

It was messy.

We still have glitter everywhere.

I say the mess was well worth the effect!

We have recycled Mailee's party decorations twice already.

First they sat on our front porch...

{I brought the candles in at night for all you safety inspectors out there:}

We had a pretty porch for a few days but we decided to share the love so we took the pumpkins to Mike's office.

Pretty!

I also made a little poster to encourage our friends at Rhino to get creative and avoid ALL that candy!

I got this idea for the Sugar Fairy from a friend.  She gives her girls the option to relinquish their treats received from birthday parties, Easter, Halloween and Christmas.

Have a fantastic Halloween.

Tomorrow is also Cambria's 7 month birthday!!

She will be dressing up as a pink kitty.

Her Grandma sent her a to-die-for flower costume but she is misery on wheels when I put it on so we had to go to plan B.

I am sure the pink kitty will not be lacking in the cuteness department and miss baby will be much more pleasant to be around!

The flower costume is sz 18-24 so there is hope for a walking flower for next year:)