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

Crabby Pants

Yesterday, I had a case of the crabbies! I think it had to do with our house being such a disaster! I mean there was stuff everywhere. I know that had to do with the fact that I worked everyday last week and life was just really busy around here.


We are also trying to get things organized around our house. We just built a large shed in our yard to help with the storage of some things. We also have decided to take our living room back and move the toy room downstairs. We just have a lot of stuff that needs to be given away or put away. So as you can imagine, I got a little crabby until.....


My husband came upstairs looking like this:

Jon had been cleaning out his old sports equipment and decided to try a few things on. I laughed so hard that I think I even surprised Jon. What a goof ball. A few things to note about this picture are, one, the weight belt hardly fit...it was from high school but I still had to tease him. Two, he found and put on the cowboy boots he was wearing the night I met him. The night I met him, I told him that I don't date men that wear cowboy boots! (What a snob I must have been :) ) Boy, do I not only date them but I married one too!

Anyway, it felt good to have a good laugh. It always amazes me how Jon knows just how to make me laugh. I really love that about him. Thanks Babe!

Nose Necklaces?

I had such a fun day today with the kids. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that we really did not have a set schedule so it was very relaxing. The only thing we had scheduled was to go to swimming lessons. We even stayed after the lessons and swam for an extra 45 minutes and everyone had a great time.
After they woke up from their naps we got all bundled up and we walked up to the school so I could vote. We were surprised at how many people were there to vote. We actually had to wait in line for about 20 minutes so I could place my vote. The kids behaved so well. The man standing behind me in line asked me if they were always so well behaved. I told him that I thought he had just jinxed me but overall they are good kids. Once I placed my vote I gave everyone a "I Voted" sticker for their jackets and we started to head out. Aimee started to cry because she wanted to vote. It was cute and then I had to explain to her that she was not old enough to vote but that she helped me vote today. She seemed to be fine with that answer.
After voting we played at the new park (I just realized it was there this afternoon when we walked up to the school). The kids had a blast but it is very cold here today so we could not stay long as we were all cold.
We walked back home and we had dinner together. It was very nice. After dinner I let all of the kids pick out a piece of candy from their Trick and Treat baskets. Ella selected a candy necklace. I then started to clean up the dishes from the table as I left the kid to eat their candy. A few minutes later I heard Aimee say "Ella why did you put that in there"? Then Ella replied "Cause I wanted to Aimee" . Then they really caught my attention when Aimee said "Ella why did you stick that up your nose"? I immediately ran into the dining room and asked Ella if she stuck something up her nose. She did not really reply to me so I told her to tip her head back so I could take a look. I did not see anything in her nose so I thought it must have fallen out or she really did not stick anything up her nose. I kept asking her what happened and then she started to get upset. Aimee kept saying that Ella stuck candy up her nose. I then told Ella that if she stuck something up her nose we were going to need to go to the ER to have them get it out. At this point she started crying her eyes out and then she told me that her nose hurt really bad. I looked again at her nose and did not see anything in there. Then I told her to blow out of her nose really hard. She did this a few times and then on the third time the candy came flying out of her nose! THANK GOD!
I was panicked that we were going to have to go to the ER to have her nose taken care of. I then warned all of them that we NEVER stick anything up our noses or in our ears. I have no idea what they would have done if the candy would not have come out but it really spooked me and even more it scared the wits right out of Ella.
I would have never thought that my kids could get something stuck up their noses. So please take this as a warning if you have small kids, tell them not to stick anything up their noses or ears!!!

GOD Shakes Hands

I had a wonderful weekend. It started on Friday night when Jon and I went to a Wine Tasting Charity event for my work. We had a lot of fun tasting different wines and getting to know some of my co-workers. The kids slept over at Grandma's house so it was nice to get a good solid 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Saturday, our friend Sue asked if she could have the kids all day so I spent the day doing some Christmas shopping (a little shopping for me too!) and then I actually got to watch a movie. It was really cute too. The title of the movie was "Because I Said So" and it was showed a mom with her grown daughters. It was a good glimpse into my future with my own girls. I have to say that watching that mom shop with her adult daughters made me smile and it was nice for once to look into the future and see what potential I have with my own girls.

Of course I should have been doing something productive around my house like getting the new toy room all set up or cleaning some stuff up but I NEVER get a few hours to myself now to watch a movie so I opted to spoil myself.

Today, my mom and I took the kids to church. At our church there is no nursery offered to us and the kids are still to young for the Sunday School so we take them with us to mass. They sit in the front pew. This started when they were babies and we just always sat in the front so now they know exactly what pew we sit in. They are also very well behaved in church. We are often told by the people sitting around us that they cannot believe how well behaved the kids are. As a mother I take pride in that but I have a feeling that I just jinxed myself. Anyway, when it was time to give peace, I was focusing on the kids and getting them settled down, I did not notice that the priest was approaching us to give us peace. He said to me "I would like to give some peace to the mother with the well behaved children" It was very sweet. As he walked away, KJ loudly said to me "Mommy, why did God shake your hand"? As you can imagine this made everyone around us laugh. It was pretty cute. Just before this happened, Ella leaned over and whispered "Mommy, where is God"? I whispered back that he was up in the sky. She then pointed to the choir loft and said "Does he live up there"?

After church, we went to the grocery store and then over to IKEA to buy a new rug for our dining room. The old rug had been destroyed by spilled milk and nasty food. Hopefully, this new rug will be easier to clean and see less action from these kids. Jon and I have been slowly working on taking our house back. We moved the furniture back into our living room and it is amazing to us how great that feels. Now we are going to paint and do some other improvements in our house. We are on the road to take back control of our home. It feels GREAT!

It was a wonderful weekend. Now if my Fantasy Football team could just pull out a win tomorrow night that would be AWESOME! We will have to see how the numbers fall.

Happy Halloween 2007!

We had so much fun this Halloween. It all started with our good friend Jane coming over with a pumpkin shaped pizza for dinner. After dinner we got the kids all ready to go in our "Barnyard" themed costumes. The kids loved being the animals and if you asked them to do a trick them would make the animal sounds. It was pretty cute.

We were lucky enough to have daddy home with us this year. Since our good friend Jane came over both Jon and I were able to go trick or treating with the kids. We left the house with out a plan and we ended up going all the way down the block and back up trick or treating. The kids loved it. We were out until 8:20 PM!!! Both Jon and I had no idea that it was so late.

Holidays with the kids are getting to be more fun every year. It was a blast to watch them get so excited and run from house to house. They also loved to hand out candy to the kids that came to our house.

Favorite memories...

Last night at dinner, the kids were talking about sharing their candy with each other. Then KJ pipes up from the end of the table and says:

"Aimee and Ella, You can't share your candy with me because I am a grumpy old troll"!

We all had a good laugh about that one.

There were a few houses that we went to and the person answering the door would say "oh you are the best costumes yet, I have to go get my husband/wife to have them see this"! This always makes a mother feel good!

Another house we went to the lady went crazy over the kids. It was a lot of fun!

The kids have been talking about the big blow up pumpkin and ghost that the neighbors have in their yard. They have been up for a few weeks now. Last night all three of them ran right up to them and gave the blow ups big hugs! KJ announced "These are our friends"

Now I just need to figure out what to do with all of the candy....

Fun in the Leaves!

Kendrick in a Kilt

Tonight the kids had fun dancing around. I was trying some clothes on the girls to see how they fit and the girls were having fun twirling in their skirts. KJ then asked me if he could wear a skirt. His dad protested but I put on on him too. KJ just loved it. He was twirling and laughing right along with the girls. We have some great pictures for when he is older so we can show him.

Fall is in the air...

Okay I just LOVE this time of year. It is always so beautiful and for some reason I just seem to be noticing all of the beautiful colors around her more than ever this year. The kids are really excited about Halloween and they ask me everyday when we get to go Trick or Treating. They are excited to dress up. It is so much fun to watch them get so excited. Every night after dinner we have been playing with our flashlights after dinner. We will turn all of the lights off and then they can flash different images on walls and ceilings. They love this and we can play this for 45 minutes straight with out losing interest in it. The kids have been into Apples a lot this fall too. We have a special slicer that Grandma Erickson gave us and they love to turn the crank and watch the apple slice. Today they were cutting up their own Apples at Grandma Mary's today too. These pictures are from Sue's house where they helped her make some Apple Pies.
We have a busy weekend with some trick or treating and a pumpkin carving party to go too. I am sure I will have a lot to blog about.

Swimming Lessons

At the end of the summer I suddenly realized that I had not signed up my kids for any activities. I spent an entire day looking into ECFE classes, Gymnastics, Dance, Sports, etc.. At that time I called the local YMCA to see what they could offer my kids at the age of 3. I was thrilled when I found out that we could start swimming lessons and Jon and I did not have to be in the water with them. We had not started swimming lessons before this time because we needed to have one on one in the water and we did not have that. Today we finished the first session of swimming lessons and it was picture day so I brought the camera. The kids did very well for their first session. We saw the biggest difference in Aimee as she was willing to take the noodle, kick across the pool and come back with out the teacher holding on to her. All three of them came a long way in the first session. They are all getting more comfortable with the water and although they have to repeat the same level I am confident they will be able to move up to the next level by the Holidays.
Their teacher was so sweet today when she came up to me and told me that the class she taught with our kids was her favorite of all her classes. She said she just loved teaching the kids and she really looks forward to seeing them every week. That makes Jon and I feel great.

We are so happy that we have found a great swimming program for our kids. They will be pros by next summer.

Earthworms and Birds Feet

A few weeks ago we headed out to the pumpkin patch with our dear friends the Swanson's. It was a great time had by all and the best news is that we selected our pumpkins for Halloween that we will have the utmost fun decorating next weekend. When we got home from the pumpkin patch we threw some pizzas in the oven and headed out to the patio to hang out. The kids were all playing with their trikes and stuff. All of a sudden Ella came up to me and said "Look what I found Mommy" and then she threw her fist right into my face. It was an earthworm. I was not expecting that so I screamed and jumped. Of course this was not the right reaction to have and everyone was laughing at me.

So the other night when I was checking my email, Ella walked in and said look what daddy just gave me as she shoved a Pheasants Foot into my face. Again, I screamed and jumped and I could hear Daddy laughing all the way from the kitchen. He had just returned from his annual hunting trip and he was cleaning up the birds. I could not believe that he let the kids have some of the feet. I was really grossed out but they LOVED it. Of course, I made them wash their hands a few times when they were done playing with the bird feet!

Now I just need to learn to be cautious when Ella walks in and says something like "Mommy look what I found".

Ella's Prayers

My sweet baby girl Ella said some amazing prayers the other night.

"Dear God, Please pray for the baby that is in my mommy's Tummy!"

You can imagine my surprise when I heard her say this and then I asked her "What did you just say?" She just smiled at me. As far as I know there is no "baby" in my tummy! Now if she knows something I don't that would be a different story.

She then said, "Please let my sister Aimee be good tonight, God, so we can fall asleep together"

Normally, if the girls are mis-behaving at bed time, one of them gets removed from the room so they will fall asleep. Apparently, Ella just assumes that it is Aimee fooling around...it couldn't be her!

Better Together

Gymnastics

We started Gymnastics last month and the kids LOVE it. They really like their Teacher, Ms. Ann, a lot and I think KJ has a crush on her. He likes to talk about Ms. Ann a lot.

We are in Gymnastics with the Boland triplets. It works out perfect because there are only 6 kids in the class so we fill the class up with our two sets of triplets. The kids have been the best of friends since they were 12 months old so they are really good about taking turns and being nice to each other.

Ms. Ann was surprised at how good the kids were to each other considering the sibling issues she was dealing with. The kids are really doing good with the gymnastics too. They have come a long way in just the 4 weeks we have been taking classes. I have decided today that we are going to sign up again for next session when this one ends.

Mommy Kate and I are surprised at how well Ms. Ann handles the kids. She manages to keep them all under control and focused which is amazing! We are so blessed to have found such an awesome teacher. She is really good with the kids and the kids like her. It is a win win situation.

Kendrickisms

The other day Daddy was strapping Kendrick into his car seat and Kendrick wiped his forehead with his arm and said "whew, that was close daddy"

Jon overheard Kendrick talking to the girls and he was saying "Okay guys, here is what the game plan is"

Kendrick likes to run errands with his daddy so the other day he told the girls "Girls can't run errands with daddy's only boys can"

Kendrick came up to me the other day and said "Mommy, You being we-dic-u-lous"

Kendrick was dancing around the bed tonight after his bath. I was was trying to get him dressed so I was struggling a lot. He just kept on laughing about it. Then he said "Mommy, I am a really good dancer" Oh the confidence at this age...

The other day we decided to stop by our old "school" (daycare) for a visit. There is one little girl there who really like the trio. The trio really liked her as they talk about her all the time. So when we got to the school we walked out on the playground to say hi and this little girl came running over screaming Kendrick, Kendrick, Kendrick the whole time. Then she embraced him in a huge hug and would not let go... Hmmm it must have been his first love. To Cute!

Happy Anniversary Babe!

My sweet sweet husband and I celebrated 7 years of marriage this past Saturday. It was a perfect day and we were lucky enough to have an overnight babysitter so we could just hang out and spend some time with each other. It is always so nice to reconnect with Jon and we both pledged that we are going to do that more often. I just need to get the older kids in the neighborhood on board to babysit!
When we got married the priest made reference in him homily that when we had been married for 7 years we were going to write him a letter to tell him how a marriage works! We still have to sit down to watch our wedding video so we know exactly what our assignment is but I am excited to sit down and write the letter.

I remember at the time that 7 years seemed like such a long time. Now that it is here I am just amazed at how fast the time has gone. I am also amazed that the road we planned to go down was not the road we traveled at all....not even close. What a great lesson that was to both of us.

So in honor of 7 great years of marriage with my best friend and soul mate: To my babe, I love you for the husband you are to me. For loving me unconditionally, even when I was not all that love able. You have stood by my side and just like the song lyrics said "You were there"! I love you babe! Thank You for loving me back!

Multiples Day at the Baseball Game

We cheer for the MN Twins and so you can imagine when I learned of a "Twins, Triplets, Quads, and Quints" Day at the Twins game I was all over getting tickets. It was a lot of fun. We decided it would be fun to take the "Train" downtown again so we did that. Then we lined up as any multiples who attended the game that day got to walk around the field before the game for a parade. The kids loved this and we got a close up view of some of the baseball players. It was pretty cool.


The whole family went with Grandma and Grandpa, uncle Tony, and of course or friend "Auntie" Jane!



The kids discovered what Binoculars are and they loved looking through them.

It wasn't the best game and we left after the 7Th inning as to beat the crowds on the Train. We have decided that this will become and annual event for us as EVERYONE had such a great time.

Buddy and Buddettes

There has been a lot of debate and arguing lately around our house about who is a buddy and who is a budette. It all started when Daddy called KJ his buddy. Then the girls piped in and said they were his buddy too. KJ then replied that daddy only had one buddy and it was him. The girls were less than happy about that and wanted to be Daddy's buddies too. KJ then piped up and said that girls could not be Buddies. Then Daddy suggested that the girls be his Buddettes and KJ would be his buddy. Again, the girls were less than happy with that.

Since this arguing has been going on for a week we have come to the conclusion around here that KJ is Daddy's buddy, the girls are Grandma's buddies and there are no Budettes to be found.

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Then other night we were in the car and KJ was sitting in the middle care seat. He reached over and patted the girls on their legs and said "these are my sweeties"!

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This morning we went to open gym at the Gymnastics gym we attend. It was a lot of fun and we met our friends Mommy Tina and her trio, Lindsey, Dylon, and Taylor. We played and practiced our gymnasitcs for 1.5 hours and the kids LOVED it.

Then after we left, we were going to head out to a local restruant and have lunch together. As we were getting in the van, KJ kept talking about hurrying up and beating mommy Tina. I was so distracted that I was not paying much attention to what he was saying. Then Mommy Tina started to back out before us and he was all upset telling me to hurry up and beat her. Then we were behind her and they were all yelling for me to honk the horn and get ahead of her. I was kind of surprised by their competitinvess! Where did it come from and when did it arrive?

When we got to the restruant they asked mommy Tina why she was first! I better watch out. They will start competting with eachother now.

We're doing something right....

Tonight as I was tucking the kids into bed we said our prayers.

Ella said "Mommy, I weally, weally, wuv God"

She was so sweet when she said it and I could tell that she meant it with all of her heart!

To sweet.

Notes from Sue

The kids had a sleep over at Sue's this week. Here are notes from their stay:

Just a couple of cute things about yesterday.
Aimee and Ella like to help stock up my fridge down stairs. Last week they loaded it with water, Diet Pepsi, Mountain dew, and a couple of other kinds of pop. Now when I eat with them, they always ask what I am drinking (Ella assumed the first time they asked it was beer). I drink Diet Pepsi decaf in gold can. So, at lunch yesterday when my sister was here with Charlie, we sat down and I forgot to get my pop. I asked Aimee if she would run down and get me a diet Pepsi. She came up with the right can ( I snuck down and watched her do it). Then my sister couldn't’t believe it, because there are 10 different kinds of beverages in there, so we sent her again. Again she brought up the right thing. I sent her at supper time, and the same. She really knows which one is the one I drink!

When Becky was leaving with Charlie yesterday, Kendrick was sad and wanted him to stay. I told him that Charlie is not even two yet and has to take a nap before they do. So as they were driving away, Kendrick yells out “goodbye Charlie, have a nice nap!”

When we were at the park, Ella decided it would be fun to close her eyes on the little dizzy merry go round. Now how does she think up stuff like that?

Toot Toot Here, and a Toot Toot There......

So my kids have really gotten into farting and burping. They have been into both of these things for awhile now but the last few days it has been non stop. They laugh hysterically when someone farts. It is pretty funny to hear them laugh so hard but I always say "What do we say when we toot?" they say "Excuse me" and keep on laughing.
The other day they were really into farting in the car. Grandma Mary was driving them somewhere and she sang this song to them.

Old McDonald had a farm,
E-I-E-I-OH
On his farm he had Aimee, Ella, & Kendrick,
E-I-E-I-OH
With a toot toot here and a toot toot there,
Here a toot there a toot everywhere a toot toot,.
Old McDonald had a farm,
E-I-E-I-OH

Now as you can imagine every time they toot we have to break out in the Old McDonald Song!
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Last night while the girls were in the tub playing, they all of a sudden started drinking the water from bath (YUCK) and acting like they were throwing up! They would put there faces in the bowls and pitchers and then pretend they were getting sick. They were even holding each others bowls and cups. Oh there imaginations are wild!

I have been Tagged!

One of my blog friends, Triple the Blessings, has tagged me to come up with 8 random facts about me. You could be next so look for your name at the end of this post...


1. I am very particular about how my pillows and such need to be placed before I get in bed at night. I am not sure I am always been this anal but after having the kids and getting so used to so many pillows, it has gotten worse. I have always been high maintenance about bed time. Jon would agree with me on this one.


2. When I smile my right eye is much smaller than my left eye.


3. I hate flannel sheets. I cannot stand to sleep on them as I do not like the feel and I get way to hot.


4. My fingertips are very sensitive and I used to have a "sweatshirt" that I would rub the sleeve on every night before I fall asleep. No I never wore this sweatshirt, I just slept with it. I was told that once I got married it would have to go but it never did. I finally was talked into getting rid of it when I was on bed rest with the kids. It was a disaster. My loving husband knew how much it meant to me that when my mom finally threw it away one day he dug it out of the trash and gave it back to me...what a guy. It is now in sweatshirt heaven and I think it might be the best loved sweatshirt in history. Oh by the way, my little Aimee has the same sensitivity and she rubs a blanket every night. When she comes to snuggle in the morning she shares her blanket with me and we both rub the silky edges.


5. I hate riding on horses. I bet that back in high school that poor guy who tried to impress me on our first date with horseback riding would have loved to have known this!


6. I love to sing! I sing all the time and my kids are always asking me to sing for them. I sang at my cousins wedding and my Grandmothers funeral. That is about it for solos. I am very shy about it. My plans are to join the church choir as soon as our lives slow down enough for me to be able to get to practice for it.

7. I am a mommy's girl. I still love to hang out with my mom and she has been a tremendous help with my kids. She is one of my very best friends and in my opinion one of the best moms in the world. Of course don't we all feel that way about our mothers!?!

8. My favorite time of the year is fall. I love when the colors change and the crisp and cool air. Football games and Halloween. This is truly the best time of the year. Naturally I also got married in the fall too!

Okay, now that I am done, Tag your are it... Lots of Scotts, Amazing Trips, and House of Leos.

The Erickson Funny Farm!

The Fall Festival was a hit! We won a prize for being the best Group Idea for the parade. We were the Erickson Funny Farm. KJ was a Chicken, Ella was a sheep, and Aimee was a cow. It was really cute.

Daddy made the fence and then our good friend Denny helped me attach it to the wagon the morning of the parade. Grandma bought a bunch of candy to throw out to all the people watching and it all went. We had a lot of competition this year but we still won a prize. It was once again a lot of fun. I twas amazing to me how many people look forward to our parade appearance every year. They always want to see "those triplets"!

Aren't they cute!
After the parade was over we then spent the rest of the day enjoying the festival. They had a funky hair booth this year so all of the kids wanted to get their hair colored. It was a lot of fun!


There was also a Ferris Wheel and the tallest slide in MN was there too. The kids loved the slide and KJ would have spent the day going down the slide over and over again. However, it was not cheap to ride so we had to limit him. There was also a race track and a train at the festival and the kids just loved it. There was also a petting zoo and tons of kids games to play.

At the end of the day we spend the last hour dancing to the music. KJ would go drag everyone he knew out on the dance flooer with him. He had Grandma, Mommy, Sue, Uncle T, Kristin, and the list could go on. It was fun to see how much the kids really enjoyed dancing. They were pretty good little dancers too.

Overall, the festival was a hit. The kids had a hard time going to sleep that night because they kept talking about all they saw and did that day at the festival. They are already looking forward to next year. Now I just need to get my thinking cap on to figure out what we will be in the parade for next year.

Tail Shakin

Tomorrow we have our big day. It is the annual Church festival. Every year we dress up as something and partake in the parade. Tonight we had a dress rehearsal with our good friend Kristin (creative mind behind every years parade theme). I caught Ella and Aimee Shakin their tails and KJ was tail-less but he still gave it his best effort. You just have to love their belly laughs. Enjoy!

Fire Trucks For Real

First I would like to say that it has been a week since I have posted to this blog. It bugs me but I have been out of town. Yes, that is right, I was able to leave town with some friends for the entire Labor Day weekend! Boy did it feel good to get out of town. We went camping up north and it was beautiful weather and so relaxing. I really needed that.
So anyway, back to my fire truck post. The past few days, Jon and I have noticed that our electricity was doing some strange things. We both just chalked it up to the power company must have been doing some testing or something. Anyway, last night when Jon got home with the kids, the lights in the house were very dim and would not get any brighter. Jon called our Electrician friend and he told Jon to flip the switch on the circuit breaker so Jon tried that and it worked. Later on in the evening, I was downstairs and when I started the dryer, the lights got very dim and then they came back up. I thought it was weird but was so tired I decided to go to bed. In the middle of the night I woke up and there was no electricity in our room. Something felt weird to me so I woke Jon up and told him the power was out again. He then said, not in the kids rooms because I can hear the fan. He then decided he better head downstairs to take a look and check things out. Jon then came back up stairs and asked me if I would go down with him. Once, I got down there he asked if anything seemed weird to me. It did...it smelled like burned rubber. We both then proceeded to feel the walls and the ceiling to see if anything felt hot. Nothing did.
At this point I looked at Jon and said, do I need to wake the kids and bring them to my moms (it was like 2 AM), do we need to call someone to come out and take a look, or should we stay up all night in case of a fire? We were not really sure what to do but we decided it would best to call the dispatcher for the fire department to see what they thought would be best to do. They suggested either an electrician (didn't want to pay for one in the middle of the night) or the fire department. We opted for the fire department. Before we knew it, we had two fire trucks with lights ablazing sitting in front of our house. We have 5 firemen in our house. They were walking around checking the walls and the ceiling for haze and heat. Then three of the men got called out to a more critical call. The fireman came down to the conclusion that the house seemed fine but advised us to leave the circuit off for the night and if the smell got worse to call them back.
This morning, Jon called our Electrician friend and explained the situation. He said he would stop by on his way to another call. After he inspected our electrical panel, he said that God must have been looking out for us. The main line into the house was shorting out and the insulation was melting. He said that if we would not have turned the circuit off that the sparks would most likely have caused a fireball and then our house would have started on fire! I am numb to this news. My stomach hurts just thinking about it. I just THANK GOD that Jon was home with me and the house did not catch on fire. WOW!
I told the fireman last night right before he left that my biggest fear is having a fire and trying to get all three kids out. He was right when he told me we needed to start having fire drills with the kids. I intend to buy a ladder for our 2nd story and to start talking to the kids about what we should do if the house starts on fire. God sure watched out for us last night. Now we just need to get the electrical panel back in tip top shape!

Fair and Friendships

I feel out of the loop with my blog lately. We have been doing lots of fun things this week so this is going to be a very random post.
Monday, our play date got cancelled so Jon and I decided to take the kids to the fair. It such a fun afternoon/evening with just the five of us. The kids really had a great time and KJ fell in love with Pronto Pups. He ate it in about 2 minutes and when he was finished he declared "I want more Mommy"!
We took our Cho Cho wagon with us to the fair and I was surprised at the comments and looks we got from people. I guess I should have been prepared for that but since the kids are older now we don't get as much attention. When we were in the barns looking at all the animals, I felt like we were on display. Jon and I just laugh about it. To us Triplets don't seem like that big of a deal but I can understand why other people might take notice.
So the day after the Fair the kids were talking to Grandma about what they saw. It was interesting to hear what they each "soaked" in at the fair. They were fascinated with the mommy pig that just gave birth to little piglets a few days prior. The farmer would hold the pigs up and they would cry. Aimee told Grandma that the pig cried because "he wanted to go eat his mother". I tried to explain to her that they were not eating their mother but I am not sure it clicked.
They also told Grandma that they ate cookies from the crayon bucket. We use the old cookie bucket for our crayons. I thought it was interesting that they noticed that.
Overall it was a fantastic day. I wish I had pictures to share with you but the camera died on my when I tried to take the first picture at the fair so we missed out. Boo hoo!
On Tuesday we were invited over to one of Grandma's Friends houses. Her friends Denny and Joan live on a lake so it was a lot of fun. The kids got to play in the sand and water and then we all went out on a boat ride. We did the same thing last year and Joan was sure surprised at how much these kids have grown up. We were invited back again next year! Yahooo.
The kids have really started to enjoy each other lately. They are so good to each other most of the time. It brings both Jon and I such joy to watch them play together and be best friends. They like to hug each other goodnight and they always look out for one another. I am envious of the bond that they will always share but so happy that they have each other. It is so precious to watch them hold hands not because we told them to but because they want too. They love to snuggle with each other and often times I can find all three of the sitting in one chair while they are reading or watching TV. They are so blessed.

This is a bible verse that I found at Lots of Scotts blog but I liked it so much I wanted to share with all of you.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down, his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm,
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands in not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NIV)

Mommy Love

Tonight as I laying with the girls at bedtime. Ella wrapped her arms around me gave me a big hug and kiss and said "Mommy, I missed you". Talk about melting your heart!

I was busy with a softball tournament this weekend so I did not get the see the kids much. It was nice to know I was missed.

Black Lipstick

I was not happy when I walked into the living room after cleaning up from dinner to find the girls looking like this! However, once I scolded them and told them no more markers, I turned around and said I have to get the camera. Then the girls laughed and so did I. What goof balls to put marker on as lipstick!
They even went as far as going upstairs to the bathroom to apply the "lipstick". Thank God for washable markers...