Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent with the Nelson side of the family. We had tons of fun!!! All the kids loved playing together and the adults enjoyed brief moments of conversation between all the crazy activity.
Travis got laser tag from my parents. The boys gave him a set as well so all 4 of us could play in the backyard. :)

Sophia and Olivia posing before the kids got to tear into all of their presents. We have discovered Liv is quite the little ham. I can dedicate an entire post just to her and all of her little poses when she sees a camera.

My boys always get matching shirts for holidays (Christmas and Easter), yep, I am that mom... Sheila and I usually end up in matching outfist for the holidays too. Keep in mind, we don't shop together and live in different states. This year, we had different outfits on, but we ended up buys the same shirts for our boys. Gotta love the twin connection.

The kids posing with the milk and cookies for santa.

Favorite Christmas Presents

Cooper and Nelson posing on their skateboards.
Maddox and Travis showing off the train table we gave Maddox (Travis put legs on Maddox's old bed) to go with the train set Santa gave him.

Olivia pushing around her new baby in her new stroller.

Maddox met my best friend, the funnel cake.

the other shoe just fell...

We've gotten pretty settled into the new house. I was completely caught up on laundry, had a cleaning schedule down, and was planning to go through a few random boxes in the basement and organize all the Christmas decorations and already purchased gifts. I went down to the basement to get a chicken out of the freezer, and found the boys' toys floating and bouncing against the walls. Maddox thought we had a big pool down there, not so much.
I called Travis in a complete panic, couldn't get in touch with him, ran to the neighbor's house to see if they had a shop vac, which they didn not have, but found out he is a plumber! SWEET!!!! He came back to the house with me, found the source of the water, dead sump pump, and told me it was an easy fix. All that was great, what made it better, is Travis got my frantic messages and was able to take an extended lunch and come home. I love living 10 minutes from his office!!!! We went to Home Depot and were back home in time for him to go to work and the 2 little kids to go down for naps. The neighbor came back and had the new pump installed and working before the older 2 got home from school. All in all, the crisis was averted! Now I just have to keep using the squeegy to get the water out of the boys' toy area, the freezer area, and the storage area.... Such is the life of a home owner.

The cardboard boxes hold Travis's Cisco books, I think he cried a little bringing those soggy, heavy books upstairs.

Serving and protecting!

I have the best little heroes to protect me while Travis is at work and the older boys are at school. Now, if only I can get these heroes to pick up their toys, play nicely, and take good naps my life would be perfect.

Family room finished!!!!

We have blinds and drapes hung! I have an empty fire place hearth! I'm so excited. Now, we just need fireplace doors, tools, and wood.

Sunday picnic

House (48 photos), by Sheri Ferris

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Holloween Fun

I woke up Saturday morning and couldn't find any of my kids. I did find Bumble Bee, Optimus Prime, Buzz Lightyear, and a Love Bug.

Kids, adorable kids.

The boys cuddling on the couch watching a movie to celebrate no school on Thursday and Friday.
Olivia being her cute self! (runny nose and all)

brace yourself!!!!

This afternoon there are going to be TONS of words and pictures!
House
Trick 0r Treating
Cute kids

All of it!!!

new hairstyle

Olivia is moving up in the hair accessories world. Now, in addition, to the barettes she's had since birth she also has hair ties. I think she makes a very cute "pebbles". Maddox likes having something to pull on when they are on the floor together. Travis likes seeing her hair long and up on a pony-tail.

house progress

We moved everything that wasn't a bed, dresser, or desk this past weekend. Thanks to my laptop and memory, I was able to move all of my cookbooks. Mom, this one's for you! Instead of a bookcase overflowing with cookbooks, I now have a cabinet. It's not even full!!! I guess that means I can get more cookbooks to pour over and find fabulous recipes :)

No fridge is complete without Diet Coke (the coke is in there becasue a dear friend of ours made an emegency trip out to the house Saturday night to repair a pipe and install our dishwasher.) He's a coke purest, so I wanted to make sure he had the right kind of "motivation" to get my water turned back on.

The kids enjoying snacks in the new kitchen while Travis and I got things packed up (AKA organized the many piles and chaos that flowed through-out the house).

Happy Birthday, Maddox Carl!

Three years ago you came into our family and have made us laugh ever since! Thank for being a great little brother to Cooper and Nelson, a fantastic big brother to Olivia, and mind and Daddy's baby man! We love you!!!!!

My new house!!!!!!

The front door (now just imagine it red).

Doesn't it look like the cars just "fit" ? :)

The huge backyard.

This is going to be my favorite part of the house! My own bathroom, no more tripping over toys to get in and out of the shower.

My boys

Cooper and Nelson love to walk home from the grocery store. We can see the back of the building from our front door. The other day, they wanted to walk home, and I said yes because Travis had just pulled into the driveway (no I don't have X-ray vision to see through the neighbors' houses. He was on the phone with me while I was packing the groceries into the van). Maddox wanted to be a "big boy" and go with. I told Cooper he had to hold his hand the entire time, not to let go for anything. Can you believe it!?!?! He did. All. the. way. home.

I broke the baby.

Thankfully it's hard to see, but there is a raspberry on the side of Liv's eye. While transporting boxes to the basement, she decided to follow. Head first. Down every step. Talk about my stomach sinking. I felt awful! This was somewhat expected with the first child, but by number four you would think I would have the whole close the door behind you thing mastered. I thought the door was closed. It was, just not latched all the way. She was able to open it and go headfirst down the steps. :(

Chaos for the next month or so...

We are renters for the first time in over 9 yrs. The good news is, we won't have to be renters after Oct 31!!!! We close on our new house Sept 30, and then take the next month to move out of this house and into our new, wonderful house. So far, we have 2 closets full of bins and boxes that have been packed, and so much more to go!!!! Olivia is loving the empty cabinets, they are new toys to her, I love having empty walls and somewhat empty closets. I'm aslo finding some great "treasures" that I didn't know I had.

Catching up!

The boys have been in school for one week and they love it!
Maddox is slowly adjusting to being the only boy around the house during the day. He's stopped asked every 3 minutes when his "brodders" are going to be home. It's now every 7-8 minutes.
Olivia has embraced 1 with fervor! Temper tantrums are a regular thing around here. Thankfully they are short lived and she moves on rather quickly.
Travis and I celebrated our 10 wedding anniversary last Friday. It was great to go out to an adult dinner (The Melting Pot) and just enjoy each other's company without being interrupted by the kids.
We close on this house this week. We are still looking for our next one, we have seen several, love lots of things about lots of them, but haven't settled on the "perfect" one yet... God knows what we want, He knows what we need, He will show us the perfect house for us, we are confident.
Pictures are coming soon, I promise! I have lots from the first day of school, fun times with Grandma Nelson, and more from Olivia's birthday party.

Happy Birthday, Baby Doll!!!!

Today our baby doll is 1!!! We can't believe how fast this year has flown by. Happy Birthday, Olivia Lynn.

First day of school

The boys had their first day of school. They loved it!!! Cooper loves being in 2nd grade. Nelson loved 1st grade as well. I hope the excitement doesn't wear off too fast.

The crazy week has begun!

1. I survived, without tears, Olivia's birthday party. I can't wait to post the pictures. SHE WAS ADORABLE! Now, I just have to survive Wednesday, the actual birthday.
2. Tomorrow is a HUGE day in this house. By 8AM I will be with 1/2 the children I gave birth to for almost 8 hrs every day. Yep, school starts. Cooper has his "nicest" shorts and polo shirt all laid out, with his backpack and shoes ready to go. Nelson... I had to convince him that shorts with lots of wear holes are not the best choice and will not make the best first impression on the 1st grade class.

Lots of pictures coming tomorrow, lots of pictures. 1st day of school and birthday party fun.

Ferris Family happenings...

Not sure where to start, and what to share. I don't want to share something and then have to come retract it...
1. School starts 2 wks from today!!!! (I can share this, it's an absolute that won't change.) Cooper and Nelson are both really excited. We got school supplies last week. 1st and 2nd graders require a lot of "stuff". Nelson is very excited about going to school all day long. Cooper is excited that he's in 2nd grade, apparently that means he's going to be in a different part of the building, away from Nelson. (K and 1st share a wing)
2. Olivia turns 1 2 weeks from tomorrow. (I can share this one too, time doesn't stand still as much as I've tried to get it to.) It's crazy. We are in the midst of planning our last "1st Birthday Party", very bittersweet.
3. This one has me leery, but I'm going to throw it out there. We are scheduled to close on the house we are living in Aug. 27. We will be renting it back from the new owners while looking for something else (read: BIGGER). All the inspections have come in and are clear. Now we sit and wait until the day we sign papers.

Don't need us anymore...

I love when my kids gain confidence and Independence. I don't love it when they all do it at the same time!!!

The older 2 boys insist on swimming alone, no need to have Mom and Dad with. Who cares that they can stand on each other's shoulders and still not be above water... (insert eye rolls)

Maddox has decided that he can shop alone. He looks at me and says, "where is my number(read: size)? "

Miss Liv has decided, she doesn't need Mommy or Daddy to feed her, spoons and purees are over rated. Just cut everything up (that the rest of us are eating) and toss it on the tray, she can take it from there. The spaghetti was a huge hit! The tub was a huge clog after the bath. I never knew a child could hide so many noodles in so many places during one meal.

New shoes!!!

Olivia was given these shoes within days of being born. Now, at 11 months old she can wear 3-6month shoes. we are so excited. Thanks "Aunt" Betsy!!!

Funniest. Face. Ever.

Liv manages to purse her lips and do a funky snort out her nose! It's hilarious. We catch ourselves trying to get her to do this face all the time. Seriously, it's all the rage.

Let the summer begin!

Cooper finished summer school today! We are all really excited. Travis and I decided earlier this week we would celebrate the beginning of the Ferris summer with a fun family activity. The bag and cooler are common sights around our house. They are usually packed for a long weekend. But not tonight! That bag was stuffed to the point of not being able to close with towels, shirts, toys, and a blanket. (that bag holds 3 outfits, 2 pairs of shoes, and all my cosmetics, with room to spare when I go away. We require way too much stuff for mere hours away.) We headed to the park mere seconds from our house for some water fun and a picnic dinner.



All of the kids loved the different fountains. Maddox took a little while to warm up to the idea of water splashing him everywhere.

The easiest and fastest way to dry off before the picnic was to swing and let the wind do the job!

Nothing says, "I love you" like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips, and juice boxes!

(don't worry or send hate mail! Liv had a jelly sandwich, no peanut butter for her yet.)

More Family Fun!

We went to Chicagoland for the 4th of July. The highlight of the long weekend was July3. That Friday the weather was perfect!!!! We were all in our suits and in the pool by 10AM and stayed there all day long. I loved it. As the day went on, the boys got braver and braver with the pool. The older 2 went off the diving board and Maddox went down the slide once (in my arms). I was able to float and visit with Tracy (no worries, I saved you all from that picture).


Cooper jumping off the diving board. This was HUGE!!! he was sitting on the edge of it in a huge tube and just dropping himself into the water. I finally told him to "Man Up" and jump for a picture. We managed to get him to jump for 5 or so "pictures" :)

Nelson had little fear, he got to the end of the board and just lept off. We were really proud of him.

Maddox only went off the slide this one time, after that everytime someone went near the slide he ran to the other end of the deck. He didn't like that water splashed up into his face. He never went under the water, but the splash was just too much for him to handle.

Olivia just loved being outside and the center of attention. When she wasn't jumping around in the exercauser she was enjoying being held and played with by her cousins.

Saturday was a dreary day and we were trying to figure out what to do with all the kids until nap time and time for us adults to get ready for the wedding. Karl came up with the idea of going to McDonald's to play and eat. We all loved the idea of getting out of the house, not having to clean up the mess of toys or lunch and drove over to McD's. Olivia, who started crawling the beginning of the month (3 days earlier to this picture) was more than ready to try out her new skill in the playland. Thanfully Travis drew the short straw and got to climb with her and follow her all over the place.

All the cousins posing for a picture right before lunch came. This picture is the only documentation of Layna playing. She wasn't a huge fan of the playland. She was much happier just watching her cousins play.

Lunch is served! Olivia ate her first chicken nugget and loved every bite of it!!!!