The Car Wash...

The other night Jon and I were fortunate enough to get a night out with my family to go to dinner and the Theater. Our friend Sue Babysat for us so we were kid free. However, on the way to drop the kids off Jon decided that he wanted to wash the van so it would be clean for our night out.
At first, I was a little nervous how that would go with the kids in the car because when I was a little girl I was extremely afraid of the car wash. I mean I just hated it! When I mentioned this to Jon he insisted that we still go to the car wash and then told me it was all about the presentation. Jon then proceeded to dance around and told the kids we were headed to the car wash.
So we pulled into the car wash and Jon gave the kids the play by play of what was happening at the car wash. When the wash part started happening Ella was not sure if she should laugh or cry but she then giggled because both Jon and I were talking it up so much and giggling.
After the car wash the kids talked about it all the way to Sue's house. Aimee did not want to do it again unless she could sit next to Ella and hold her hand. Kendrick wanted to go back right away and do it again. In fact, he asked Sue if she would take him to the car wash.
Once again, it was another new thing to these kids. It is so much fun to see the world through their eyes.

Evasdropping...

A few weeks ago some friends of ours gave us some "hand me down" Halloween costumes. One of these happens to be a Spiderman. This morning, when they were playing dress up, Aimee put on the Spiderman costume. Kendrick then asked his daddy, "Why does Spiderman save people when they are in trouble?" In which Jon replied "Because he is a good superhero". Then Aimee piped up and said "I don't want to be good, I'm a naughty Spiderman" then as she ran off to play with her brother and sister she said "watch out guys here comes Naughty Spiderman"!

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The other night when we were tucking the kids in at Grandma's house, we were going through the usual lecture about going to bed nice and being good. Grandma then heard Kendrick whisper to Aimee "We have to be good or Santa won't come" Then Aimee replied "Well, I don't like Santa"!

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This morning when I was getting ready to head to a meeting for work Ella came into the bathroom all dressed up with her baby and cheer leading costume on and said "Look at me mommy"! I told her she looked like a "Cool Mommy" in which she replied, "Soon I am going to be a Pretty Mommy too"!

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Santa's Village

Yesterday afternoon, we headed over to Santa's Village. It was a farm that converts into a village for Santa. There was lots of stuff to do there and I think we enjoyed every bit of it. We visited with Santa's Reindeer, we dropped coins in the cho cho train as it went by, we went on a sleigh ride with horses, we visited with Santa, and we decorated cookies with Mrs. Santa. Whew... all of this in about 2 hours.
The best news of all was that Santa told the kids that they were on the "good" list. They were pretty excited about this.Aimee still did not want to sit on Santa's lap or even talk to him. She is so afraid. I am not going to push the issue with it though. I can't scar her for life. I will just write on the back of the pictures that she would not sit with Santa.
After Santa's Village we all headed back to Grandmas for our last dinner together. The kids were all tired out and they all decided to share the sofa to watch Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas. We are back home now and tonight when Jon was getting KJ dressed for bed, KJ asked Jon if Santa lives in our town? Jon told him that Santa lives at the North Pole but KJ insisted that Santa lives in our neighborhood!!!

Holiday Celebrating

We are having an awesome weekend with Jon's family. Yesterday was our Christmas celebration and everyone had such a fun time. The kids have really enjoyed playing with their cousins. Gift opening was a riot and the kids just LOVED everything they got. Kendrick kept asking if there were anymore gifts for him under the tree. Aimee was poker face the whole time as I think it was all very overwhelming for her. Ella would exclaim how much she just loved her gifts. At one point she told Grandma that it was "Just what I wanted"!We had our traditional meal of Prime Rib and even the kids enjoyed some of that. After dinner we sang Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus and then had some cake to celebrate. After our Birthday celebration we loaded all the kids up in our van (including the cousins Eric and Emily) and then headed out to see some Christmas lights. We all had a great time singing Christmas songs, looking at all the pretty lights, and then ended the light tour with making various farting noises and all of us laughing so hard.
When we got back I told the Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle that we get to take all the kids again next year because it was so much fun!!!
We went to church this morning and it was such a nice service. Lots of Christmas music to sing. Then the kids even got to go to "Sunday School" with Uncle Chris, Aunt Lori, and Cousin Eric. They really enjoyed that as well.
We are so blessed to have such awesome family. It is so much fun to watch the kids really enjoy their cousins. It will be hard to say goodbye tomorrow and head back home. This is another "Erickson Family Christmas" to remember.

Holiday Traveling

It always amazes me how much work it is to get us all packed up and ready to head out of town! I often tell people that if I could just put my house on wheels it would be a lot easier. I can't complain though because it is easier now than it used to be. When the kids were babies we always had to bring a ton of stuff. I am not sure how we ever got it all in the van. Pack N Plays, Stroller, clothes, bottles, blankets, etc..
We are in pack mode right now with the preparation to celebrate the Holidays early with Jon's family. We are all excited for the change of pace for a few days. It sounds like Grandma and Aunt Lori have tons of stuff planned. It is also nice to catch up with some of Jon's friends that we do not get to see very often.
The blog might be quiet for a few days but I am sure I will have lots of stories to tell when I do return.

Holiday Gymnastics Show

The kids participated in a Holiday Gymnastics Show today. They had a big audience with Grandma & Grandpa, Uncle T, Jane, Mom & Dad there! It was really cute to watch them do all of their gymnastics moves and how thrilled they were with their audience.When the show was all done Santa came out and handed out metals and goody bags for all of the participants.
The kids were thrilled!Also, they had a drawing for door prizes and we did not win just one prize but TWO. There was probably about 10 prizes they gave away and about 100 kids....not bad odds. I told Jon to head to the casino...Just kidding!

Oh Christmas Tree Part 2

We finally got our Christmas tree decorated. The kids had an absolute blast. It went too fast though as I realize that we do not have as many ornaments as I thought we did. I might have to head out for after the season sales this year and pick up a few ornaments.

Tomorrow we have Breakfast with Santa! It should be fun!

Lots of stuff to blog about right now and not a lot of time to do it.

Stay Tuned...

Snowy Days

We have had a ton of snow so far this year. Today was another snowy day around here. After the kids woke up from their naps, I decided it was time to get dressed up and head outside in the snow. We were out for over an hour and we had such a blast. We spent a lot of time sledding down our hill, playing on our play set, making angels, and sledding down our driveway! The girls even got themselves dressed! That was awesome. We had so much fun! I can already tell that Jon and I are going to have so much fun this winter with all the fun activities we can try. I think Ice Skating might be first on the list!!!! I have been having a hard time getting into the "Holiday" Season. I am not sure if it is because it feels like it got here so early or what but I just have not really been feeling it. However, today after we put the Christmas lights on the tree, I listened to some Christmas music as I made some cookies, and then I spent an hour outside in the snow with the kids, I now feel the season. I am so excited for Christmas this year. These kids talk about Santa everyday and they tell me that they want "EVERYTHING" from him! It is so much fun to see the Season through their eyes. They are growing up so fast right before our eyes. For now I am just trying to soak everything in because I know I will look back on these years and really relish in their memory. Today as I sat at the top of the hill and the snow fell all around us, I watch all three of my little people play in the yard. It was one of those moments that I will remember forever. I am so proud of them and how big they are getting. I look back on the past 3.5 years and remember all of the "firsts" we have had along with some of the struggles. It feels great to be exactly where we are at right now. I now can see with clarity that every age and stage brings its ups and downs. I am so excited for all the memories we still have to make together and I am so grateful for all that I have. Life is good...really, really good!

Oh Christmas Tree....

....oh Christmas Tree, how lovely are thy branches!

It is official, we have our tree for 2007!  We took the kids this afternoon to pick out our tree for this year.  We had great intentions of taking them to a nearby farm to cut down our own tree but since it has been cold and it snowed all day on Saturday, we decided this year we were going to a tree lot to get our tree.  

We picked out the tree in no time.  The kids had fun and we even asked the nice guy to take a family picture for us.  

It was so much fun.  Once the tree was selected and in the van, I loaded up the kids up while Jon went to pay for the tree.  The guy that was helping us told Jon that we had a very charming family!  That was nice to hear.  

We have the tree in the stand and ready to be decorated.  Tomorrow we will hopefully accomplish this task.  

Mac vs. PC

Since my Computer is RIP, it was time to get a new one.  Jon really wanted to get a Mac.  At first, I was like NO WAY!  I am not getting a Mac because I am not used to Macs and I am not clear on how to use them.  The more I started to think about it I started to cave on the idea. 

 Jon saw this and encouraged us to go to the Apple Store.  So off to the Apple Store we went I am sure the sales guy at the Apple Store was real impressed with me when I smiled at him and asked him why I should buy a Mac as opposed to a PC.  He smiled at me and then proceeded to talk about the Mac Books (Lap Top) for about 45 minutes straight.  He showed me all the cool and wonderful things this computer would do. He was very convincing.  I knew Jon really wanted a Mac so we made an agreement that we would buy the Mac Book Laptop for me (I am sure I will share it with Jon right now).  If in a few months I just really miss my PC then Jon will take this computer and we will get me a PC Laptop.  

It has been a few days now with this new Mac.  I have learned a few really cool things and I am amazed at how easy this computer is to use.  I still have my frustrations because I am not clear where to find things or how to do certain things on this computer.  It is almost like stepping into a foreign country and not knowing a word of the language.  The first night I had buyers remorse but that has passed.  I view a computer as a necessity.  It is amazing how lost I felt when I did not have my computer.  

Yesterday, I was playing around with some of the features on the computer.  I discovered the built in Camera and what it could do.  The kids had a blast with the different options the camera offered.  Check out these pics:  

Flu Shots

Today we headed over to the doctors office to get our flu shots.  Daddy was not able to make it so our friend Jane came with us.  We talked a little beforehand about getting the shots and they all told me they would be brave.  

When we got to the clinic, we got called back right away.  Kendrick volunteered to go first.  Everything was fine until he got the shot.  He then started to cry and had the saddest look on his face.  I told him that he was such a brave boy and that Daddy was going to be so proud.  He quickly got over it and went back to playing with the Etch a sketch.  

The nurse then asked who would be next, and Aimee shouted out that Ella was next.  However, since Ella is Star of the day, I told Aimee that she was going to go next.  She was a little scared but she was brave and I held her hands while the nurse gave her the shot.  Aimee immediately cried and could not stop for a good 15 minutes.  After Aimee was done then it was Ella's turn.  She started throwing a fit the minute Aimee started crying from her shot.   

Ella FREAKED out on me and I was a little nervous.  She started running around the room screaming "no, no, no" over and over again.  The poor thing was scared to death.  It really broke my heart to watch her but I knew if I showed any signs of emotion that it would be all over with so I just picked her up and set her on the table.  It was a struggle but I finally just laid on top of her and told her that I loved her very much and it was for her own good.  The nurse gave the shot and it was done.  We had two little girls that had very hurt feelings and could not stop crying but the shots were done.  THANK GOD!  

I just kept telling them how brave they were and how Daddy was going to be so proud of them.  What an experience.  Shots are no fun but we all survived and now we are done with that.  Hopefully next year they can have the nose spray.  

Mourning the Loss.....

...of my computer.

Obituary to read:

Dell D600 Laptop
2003-2007

To be remembered as a great companion and a wonderful connection to the outside world for its owner, the mother to 3.5 year old triplets.

After my husband has tried to revive my computer for almost 5 days now, we have both given up hope. I am grateful that I have been backing up my pictures and other files onto a hard drive so the loss should be minimal. Now I just have to figure out what I am going to get for a new computer. So for now the blog may be a little quiet until I can get set up with a new tech best friend...I might name the next one.

Aimee's Debut

Here is Aimee's Q & A session.



The Best Friend made my heart flutter.



Also, Jon and I are not sure what the deal is with cars, all we can figure is that they must have been playing with them before the video shoot.

Ella's Debut

Computer Flu

I think my computer is trying to tell me something...it is sick with a virus! I still have not gone to get my flu shot...maybe this would be a good time to do that. It is funny what can remind you of what you need to get done. I might take my computer with me too as it needs a flu shot too!

Anyway, this is my 200th post and I am sending it from Jon's computer because mine is sick right now! BUMMER. My IT expert is working on it to make it feel better but I am not sure how long it will be out of commission.

Here is a cute Video our friend Sue made the other night with the kids. This one is KJ's debut. I also have one for Aimee and one for Ella. I will post their videos later!

Enjoy!

Thankfulness

For me it is hard to believe that we are already at Thanksgiving. This year has flown by and I just told Jon the other night "this has been the fasted one yet"!

I have so much to be thankful for:

My husband that loves me through all my imperfections and craziness. He listens and understands and appropriately disagrees when it is time to bring me back to earth. He balances me out in so many wonderful ways. He is an incredible father and the kids adore him. I am blessed to have him by my side as my partner through life. I am so THANKFUL for him.

My three beautiful children...I was out last night with some friends and I met someone new. He was an older man who has children of his own that are in their late thirties. Someone mentioned to him that I have triplets so he asked me to see some pictures...his reaction was so spectacular to the pictures. All he kept saying was "AWESOME" over and over again. Then he said "wow, triplets, that is a pretty bid deal". What an incredible reminder to me that God has blessed my life with so much and I really do have so much to be THANKFUL for.

My family...(related and not related) the ones that support "The Erickson Five" in all we do. I am so THANKFUL for all of our family. They are so supportive and helpful to us. The kids adore all of you and Jon and I are so grateful for all you do for us.

My girlfriends from all aspects of life, childhood, college, Sorority, work, Triplets, gym...I am so thankful for this network of women who are so supportive, fun, and understanding. Who most of the time know just what advice I need or just what to say to me. I have been struggling with some stuff lately and here is what one of my awesome friends said to me..."You're so special and it's a gift to be your friend. I can't think of many people who put an smile on my face the moment I see them!" This is an awesome reminder to me why I need to be THANKFUL for all my wonderful girlfriends.

My health, I have been thinking a lot lately about my health. I am so blessed to battle a disease like MS and come out on top.

I am so THANKFUL for all the simple (and not so simple) things in my life. My home, car, job, cats, neighbors, health, and most of all my GOD.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Pilgrims

The kids go to school one day a week. Jon and I both really like this school because it is Christian based and they learn all about God there. They make really fun crafts every week and overall the kids just love to go.

This week at school they had a "feast". Each child brought one cup of a snack type food. We brought Cheerios, Pretzels, and Teddy Grahams. Then they combined with another class and had a Thanksgiving feast. I would have loved to been a mouse in the corner for that.

They also made these cute hats and these centerpiece plates (watch out Grandma Mary because we have three) for the table on Thanksgiving. Last week they made paper turkeys and each of the feathers were what they were thankful for.

Aimee is Thankful for:

Brother Kendrick

Grandma and Grandpa

Mommy and Daddy

Sister Ella

kitty

Ella is Thankful for:

Mommy and Daddy

Cousins

Grandma and Grandpa Erickson

Brother and Sister

Mrs. Lisa and Mrs. Kim (Teachers)

Kendrick is Thankful for:

Grandma and Grandpa

GG Del

When he is taking a nap

Merry Go Rounds

His Play Room

What a cool project. It cracks me up that KJ said he is thankful for his nap because he has been fighting his nap for a few months now! However, I would most likely add his naps to my thankful list!

The Devil has left the building!

I am happy to report that my sweet children have returned and we have order in the house again. It might have something to do with Grandma and Grandpa Erickson arriving on Tuesday. It might have something to do with this mama being at work for the past 2 days and not dealing with the kids very much. It also might have something to do with the fact that this mama has been happy to have some relief with Grandma and Grandpa Erickson around to play with the kids, make dinners, and just help us keep order in the house too! I have a feeling that the Devil has left because once again we have lots of love and laughter that has been restored to the house!

Grandma Mary has been gone on business for almost two weeks now. Since we see Grandma Mary practically EVERYDAY this has been an adjustment for us. Her absence sure makes us realize how much she does for all of us. Grandma Mary will be returning on Saturday and we are all very excited for her return.

We are so thankful for all of the people in our lives that love and appreciate us as much as they do. You know who you are and we love you all!

The Devils Inside...

...our children. WOW. These kids have been a challenge these last few days. It is like a light switch went off inside of them and they are now possessed by the Devil himself. Yikes.

Kendrick has started to say "NO" to us when we ask him to do something. As I am sure you can imagine that this does not go over well with Jon or me. Then when we discipline him he then grunts at us. We knew the day would come when our sweet babies would become small children, however, I have to admit that at this point in time, I miss my sweet babies.

Our friend Jane bought these shirts for the kids!

These shirts say "I still live with my Parents". These shirts crack me up but I have to admit that after the past few days, I long for a peaceful home again!

The Christian Fair

This weekend we went to something called The Christian Fair. It was a religious Fair that had a ton of activities for kids and there was also music and live entertainment. We really had a fun time.

There was a petting zoo there and the kids got to feed the goats. Santa and Mrs. Claus was there too. There was no line and they were taking pictures for the fee of $4 but our kids were too afraid to sit on his lap.

However, Ella decided she wanted to go and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. She said she wanted a car to go with her doll house. Then Kendrick walked up and he was so nervous he told Santa "I want what Ella said". We all laughed at that one.

Poor Aimee was so shy that she could not even look at Santa or Mrs. Claus. She just clung to her daddy's neck the whole time.
They really enjoyed the bouncy house and the bouncy house slide. We met our good friends the Clarks there. They have triplets that are exactly 6 months younger than our kids. Everyone had a great time.

After we all went out for dinner and if you can believe all 6 kids were angels. It was such a fun night. We will definitely be heading back there next year