4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July weekend - full of friends, family and fireworks.

We kicked off the weekend with a BBQ with some friends.

Elle was so excited to see "baby Taylor".

Gold cart rides were a favorite for the kids.

After the BBQ we headed to buy some fireworks!

And then shot some off when we got home.

Little dude was wiped out after his bath and ready for bed!

On Sunday we stayed home, played outside, took baths then made our fist batch of slime!

Ollie's showing off his muscles.

Slime time!

On the 3rd we headed to mom and dad's for a BBQ...

and some pool and bounce house fun!

It's funny watching the kids pair off now. Elle and Charlie play together so much better than they used to...their ages line up perfectly for imaginative play right now. 

And Henry and Oliver are obsessed with each other!

We stayed up late, shot off some fireworks and watched the fireworks display from mom and dad's house.

After our late night it was hard to drag ourselves out of bed early for the parade but we did it!

Breakfast while waiting for the parade to start!

He loved waving at the floats. :)

It was a HOT morning. My poor girl takes after me and doesn't handle the heat well.

One float was handing out popsicles and it was just what she needed.

After the parade he crashed hard!

We were all hot and exhausted.

After showers and naps we headed back to my parents house for night 2 of fireworks and we walked to the fair to let the kids ride some rides.

Hold on tight Doodle Man!!

After the fair we walked back, shot off more fireworks and had another late night.

One thing we did miss this year was Henry's annual glow-stick party! I can't believe we forgot!!

We will have to make up for it next year. :)

St. Patrick's Day!

This year for St. Patrick's day it was our first time we tried to catch a leprechaun.  It wasn't something we had originally planned to do (which is odd considering my love for holidays) but when I got to mom's house to pick up the kids the night before Henry and Charlie were talking about their leprechaun trap and I knew we would be doing one too. :) It was really fun and I will be MUCH more prepared for next year!

Here is Elle Belle with our leprechaun trap! By some random miracle I found the shamrock necklace that lights up, which we left on all night to entice the little Irish guy over to the cookie jar where we hoped the lid would fall on him and trap him. 

Elle made sure everything was set up perfectly before heading to bed.

Apparently the leprechaun also leaves treats (again, 2018 I'm going to be ready!) so some suckers were thankfully found and placed near the trap.

Elle woke up the next morning SO EXCITED to see if we caught a leprechaun. I was in the bathroom getting ready for work and she went to the kitchen to check.  She was gone so long...she told me she thought the green necklace we left out was him inside the jar. When she got the courage to walk over and check on him he wasn't there.  Although later that morning her story changed to she saw him in the kitchen and he ran away before I could see him. :)

I tried to get a picture of my babes in green but there was some sass happening.

By the time we got to my parents house they were happy and eating their suckers left behind by the leprechaun. 

That day I had made green yogurt with chocolate chips for their lunch at my mom's.  My mom sent me this picture to let me know they loved it!

Eric was working this night so we ended the day at home playing on the deck while I drank a glass of wine and made dinner.

Perfect day!

Merry Mulligan Christmas!

Due to the Hylton family and Will being out with the stomach bug over Christmas we postponed our normal Christmas night celebration to New Years Eve. We all went to Mom and Dad's house to celebrate, open presents and have dinner.

Eric worked the night before so I left a smidge earlier than him so he could get some more sleep and the kids and I ran to the grocery store before heading to my parents house. We were all at my parents house waiting for Eric to arrive and we kept the kids occupied from the mound of presents by trying to get a picture of the 4 of them. 

Look at Ollie hugging Henry! He loves him some Hensy!

Best we could get.  And even T-Babe, the oldest of all the babies managed to sneak into the picture. :) 

This boy kept going over to the stockings and stealing candy canes. I have no idea how much candy he consumed this night but it was a lot. 

This year we tried to somewhat take turns with the kids opening presents so we could all actually see what they were opening. 

By chance this was the first present Ollie opened and it consumed all of his attention for the rest of present opening.

Will is a magnet for these babes.  They all love playing with him!

Ollie wanted to help MawMaw open this present.

After presents it is stocking time!

Henry was nice enough to let Elle try on one of his superhero outfits. 

These two, the best of friends but can fight and bicker like crazy!

Little missy passed out after presents (hallelujah, a nap was much needed) and she actually slept through us eating dinner.  I didn't dare wake her, she needed her rest. :) 

So Ollie enjoyed having his highchair pushed up to the table at Sissy's dinner spot. 

After dinner we opened their tub of clothes for each kid, they played and tried on new clothes, opened toys, colored and we were home and in bed before 10pm. 

As we were laying in bed I got a text from Mary with pictures of the boys baby dolls I got them. They both had tucked them in for bed. :)