Highs & Lows

I think I forgot to do this last week. Whoops. It just goes to show how busy we have been these past few weeks.
We are getting ready to head out for another mini vacation so as I am sure you can imagine it is a lot of packing packing and more packing. I tell people that if I could just put my house on wheels life would be great!

Highs:
Having Cameron here this week has been a high. She is so delightful to be around and the kids really enjoy her. She is going back home tomorrow and we will be so sad to see her go.

I have really been enjoying the kids lately. I miss them tons when I am at work and I can't wait to get home and spend some time with them. They are such neat little people now.

Singing with the kids. They always ask for me to sing to them now and I love to sing so it is fun. They sing along with me and we all seem to enjoy it.

Swimming the other day was just a blast. My friend Kristin called me last night and told me that she really enjoyed herself. It was just one of those days where the kids were being good and we were just so relaxed. This was a high.

Seeing GG Del on Sunday and Monday and getting to spend some extra time with my mom was a high too. These times seem to be few and far between these days.

Lows:
I did not get much sleep last night. It was just one of those nights so I am really tired today. I have a ton to do tonight so it is hard.

Our little kitty Dexter is having some problems with his ears. I feel so bad for him. He has a double ear infection, yeast infection, and he is on three different medications for it. Poor kitty.

Hearing of a death of an 8 year old girl. This always hits home with me these days as I cannot even imagine what that would be like. Say a few prayers for her family.

That's all folks. I am not sure what my internet connection will be like for a few days so I this blog is quiet that is because I am off enjoying my family and relaxing.

Happy Friday!

Fun at the Pool

Today we all headed over to our friends Sue & Denny's house to swim in their pool. They were not at home but my BF Kristin was and she hung out with us all day long. It was a beautiful day here so it was an awesome time at the pool. My skin is a little red tonight as the sun screen must not have held up for me. Oh well a little color won't kill me.
Cameron really had fun swimming with the kids and hanging out at the pool. I think she swam all day. Once the kids went down for a nap I jumped in the pool and swam like a fish. I have not done that in years and it was so much fun to be a "kid" again. At one point I had even forgot that the kids were in the house taking a nap. It was a great day!

We have HELP!!!

I have been absent from the blog world for a few days as my mom and I took the kids up north for a little visit. We went to a wedding while Grandma and Grandpa E has the kids overnight and then we went to GG Del's house for a few days. Once again when we got to GG Del's it was so amazing to watch the kids take off running for their GG Del. Aimee shouted "hey guys it's GG Del" and they all sprinted to her. My mom and I just watched in amazement.
While we were visiting GG Del, my cousins little girl (okay not so little as she is 11) asked if she could come home with us for a few days and help with the kids. I was thrilled as it is so nice to have an extra set of hands around to help with the kids. They love C too so it is really sweet to watch them follow her around. Jon and I are thrilled to have her here helping us out. It is a big win win for everyone.

Perfect End to the Day!

Tonight I got home just in time to put the kids to bed. After we got all the teeth brushed, I took time to lay with each of them on their beds. We started to sing songs. Their current favorite is Jesus Loves Me.
You can imagine my surprise when they each wanted to take their turn singing the song to me. KJ went first and it was so sweet to listen to his little voice sing about Jesus and How he loves him.
It was also sweet to watch how they each took a turn singing the song and they would actually listen to each other sing too.
Mommy sang a few of her favorite songs to them too. It was such a fun snuggle time. I really enjoyed ending my day like this. What a blessing.

Preschool Pictures

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Daddy Jon! We are so blessed to have you in our lives. Thank you for working so hard for all of us. You are so generous, dedicated, handsome, fun loving, hard working and helpful. You are an incredible father, husband, son, and friend. We could not ask for more.
We love you!

Highs and Lows

So I have been pondering an idea that I thought would be fun to try. I am going to blog weekly highs and lows (mostly Highs). When I was in high school, I belonged to a youth group we used to share weekly highs and lows.

Here is goes:

Weekly High
Jon, the kids, and myself all went over to some "new" friends of ours for dinner the other night. They live on a lake so we got to spend time hanging out of the beach and playing in the sand and water. Then they took us on a boat ride. It was quite the site with 7 kids and 4 adults on one boat. We all had a great time and the kids LOVED it.

Another high this week is that Aimee is starting to "try" and poop on the potty. There is light at the end of the tunnel! Once she catches on to this then we will be 100% trained in this house during the day!


Weekly Low
I have developed a rash all over my legs. I am not sure if it is from sunscreen, chlorine, sun or what but it looks bad and feels bad! I hope this clears up quick!

Dragons

This morning I decided to get their pool out and blow it up since it was going to be so warm and sunny today. The kids were very excited about their pool and they could not wait to go swimming in it. The pool is very cool as it is shaped like a dragon and has a slide into the pool and a slide out of the pool.
We never did make it into that little pool today because we got a better offer. Our friend Sue called and invited us to go swimming in her big pool so we headed over there.
Jon came and joined us for dinner over at Sue's and then took the kids home because I had to go get my hair cut. He told me on the way home that they kept talking about the dragons and pointing them out. Jon started to play along with them and then Ella pipes up from the backseat....
"Daddy, we are just pretending there are no dragons over there!"
So tonight when I got home Jon was telling me this story and then he asks why they are all of a sudden so into dragons. I then told him to look in the backyard as we have a great big dragon sitting there ready to be swam in!

Our new Playset!

I thought I would blog about the new addition to our yard. We bought the kids a new play set for their 3rd birthday. It was not actually new as it was a used one that we bought from my boss but it is new to us.
My boss and his wife approached me last fall about their Rainbow Play set to see if we wanted to buy it from them. We knew nothing about play sets so we set out to do some research on them. We headed over to the Rainbow Play Systems warehouse in our area with the kids and Grandma and Grandpa in tow. They have 14 to 15 play sets all ready to go that he kids could climb on and have fun.
It was amazing and so much fun. However, the price of a new set was not so amazing it was horrifying. They are very expensive. The salesman that we were working on showed us the pros and cons of buying new verse old. We we would have loved to purchase the brand new play set but with Jon's job transitions we decided it was probably better to buy the used set.


We LOVE it and we are happy with our decision and it was 1/4 the price. The kids love it too and they do not know the difference. Kendrick is now always on the look out for play sets now and he will shout out "they have a play set like we do"
Their new favorite thing to do on the play set is to climb up the slide and pile on top of each other and slide down. They do this for 45 minutes sometimes. It is fun to watch.

As Jon says, all we need now is three automatic swingers and life will be good. The kids would swing for hours on end if we would let them.


I am sure we will get many years of use out of this awesome play system.

Love is in the air!

Here is a conversation I overheard this morning:

Aimee: "Lela, Lela Look at me, LELA I WANT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING!"

Ella: "What Aimee?"

Aimee: "I Love You Ella"

Ella: "Thank you Aimee, that was very nice. I love you too!"

Later as we were driving to our playgroup I turned the music down and I told the kids that I loved them so much. They all responded we love you too mommy and daddy too and Grandma and Grandpa and the other grandma and Grandpa and uncle Tony, and Cousin Emmy and Cousin Erik and Lori and Chris, and GG Del too!

They are so huggable and lovey these days. KJ came up to Aimee when she was upset about something and put his arm around her and told her that it was okay and that he loved her.

I just wanted to get these posted before I forgot about them today. These kids are AWESOME!!!

Pretend Play

I just read in a newsletter for parents that when children reach the age of 3 years they begin to use "pretend" play. I have been witness to this for some time now as the kids will always pretend to be going to the mall, school, the park, shopping, or anywhere else they can think of.

They also love to make meals at their little kitchen and they are at the point now where they will ask me what I want to eat and then when I tell them they will say "oh we are out of that" or "we don't have that". It is fun to watch their little minds work and come up with new and different adventures all the time.

Last night, I heard Aimee go into the bathroom (the one that Grandma & Grandpa use when they are visiting) and she was telling Grandma to hurry up because she wanted to go play. I heard her say "Grandma Carol you gotta get out here right now!" I just laughed. The next thing I know we could have lots of pretend friends around here. I will have three real kids and three pretend!

The other night I was cleaning out my closet of some clothes to give to charity and the kids were playing in our shower. They play let's take a shower a lot and I am fine with it as long as the shower is dry. This little game of let's take a shower had gone on for about 5 minutes when I walked into the bathroom to find that they had turned their pretend play into real play. KJ was covered Head to foot with his daddy's Head and Shoulders. This mommy was not very happy to say the least. I happened to have the camera near by so I took a quick picture of the event so we can remember it in years to come. I stripped him down and he took a real shower that night!
KJ is upset because he got in trouble with mommy! He is so sensitive. The girls had some in their hair too but not nearly as much as KJ.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Daddy's Birthday! Last night we celebrated with a big Birthday dinner, Grasshopper Pie (Daddy's Request), and presents! We all had a great time and the best part about it was at the end of the night there was a great big Rainbow in the sky!

Happy Birthday Daddy! Thanks for being a great dad to us. We really appreciate how hard you work to support all of us. You are the best dad in the world!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

So today is the big day! We have had the party we have celebrated already so you can understand why the kids were confused when they woke up this morning and I hugged them and said "Happy Birthday"!

I work on Fridays so I am not able to spend all day with my kids. However, we bought 30 cupcakes to take to school with the kids today so they can celebrate with their teachers and friends. They were excited about that.

Tonight we are taking them out to dinner and possibly out for Ice Cream if there is time. They should enjoy all of that. KJ keeps asking everyone including the girl that cut his hair, his teachers, and the neighbors if they want to come to dinner with us. It is pretty cute.

These past three years have been incredible and I so look forward to the future and all it holds. Happy Birthday to my lovable, amazing, smart, witty, and fun loving kids, Aimee, Ella, and Kendrick. I Love You!

KJ How Old Are You?



KJ in his Birthday Crown!



Aimee in her Birthday Crown!


Ella in her Birthday Crown!


The Wiggles Cake!

Awaiting the Ice Cream and Cake!

Sisters, Brothers, and Friends

Having a brother who was a close friend of mine growing up, I had to blog about this story.

Last night as I was getting ready to go to my Mom's night out Kendrick and Aimee were sitting on my bed. KJ decided he wanted to tackle Aimee and they were both laughing. As he was laying on her. Then I heard Aimee say "You're my friend, KJ".

How sweet!
They are now starting to acknowledge each other as friends. I LOVE that!

Milestones!

A Few Days Old!!!

1st Birthday!


2nd Birthday!

3rd Birthday!

The Big 3rd Birthday Party!

We had the 3rd Birthday Party yesterday afternoon. It was such a perfect day. The weather was nice, everyone had a great time, the kids really got into their party, gifts, cake, and family and friends. I was pleasantly surprised at what a great time everyone had. Last year their birthday party was very stressful for me. This year I kind of expected the same thing but it was actually the opposite. Of course I have to say that I had a lot of help getting ready for the party. Both Grandmas and Auntie Jane made the food, Sue helped me plan the game, my friend Kate got a big blow up house for free and delivered it, Jon took care of the drinks, and I got the activity stuff ready.
So as I mentioned we had a great big bouncy house in our backyard. My friend and fellow triplet mom Kate had a connection to get the house for free. I was blown away at how big this blow up house was. It looked like a castle and it had princesses on the front of it. It was pretty girly for KJ but I don't even think he noticed. I invited two other triplet families and some close friends who had kids. We had 1-5 month old, 10-2-3 year olds, and 3 older kids. EVERYONE loved the bouncy house including the Mommies, Daddies, and the Grandmas too. It was a hit. The kids were having so much fun in the bouncy house that they kept asking if we could keep it. They would tell me over and over that they wanted to keep it for their Birthday Party. They did not quite get that we were at their Birthday party. It was really cute. This morning Aimee told me again that she wanted to keep the blow up house and I told her that it had to go to another Birthday Party so those kids could have fun. She then told me that Grandma told her she could keep it. She really wanted that house. I told her that I knew Grandma did not tell her that and that the blow up house was going to go to the other party. She seemed fine with it after that. All the kids got to make a foam key chain with stickers on it and take it home with them. This seemed to be a hit with everyone. Our new(used) Wood Play set was a hit with all the kids too.
Their actually Birthday is not until Friday. I might have to blog a little more about their coming up b-day this week so bear with me on that.

Inner Stirrings

I was not sure what to title this post but Inner Stirrings came to mind so I went with it. This week I have been extra sensitive to many things. I can't really pin point what it is but I suspect that it is due to the fact that my babies are going to be 3, Jon is in transition for his new job, I am working on a very important project at work, I have had long conversations with two very good friends that I have not talked to in YEARS this week, and we in general just have lots of change going on in our lives.

I was talking to one of my long lost friends and she asked me in general how life is for me. I described it as "The Days are long, but the Years are short". Since she does not have any kids yet, I am not sure she really grasped what I was saying. It is amazing to me that in less than one week my sweet little babies will be turning three. They are potty trained, they sleep in big beds, they talk in sentences, they no longer have pacifiers, they really don't need a stroller anymore and the bottom line is that they are NOT babies. I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around this. In some regards I can't remember my life before they were in it and then I think, how has three years already gone by. I fight with the thoughts of having no regrets. I want to make sure that I am soaking all of this in. I don't want to look back and think, gosh if I only took more time to do this or that with them! It is not a perfect world though so it is always very easy to look back as hindsight is always 20/20!

These children are amazing and it just keeps getting better. I enjoy them tremendously and I love having big people conversations with them. Ella is in the stage right now where she asks "why" about EVERYTHING! I love being their hero and that they want to help me with everything and generally just want me to be with them all the time. I will post about their big 3rd birthday party that is happening in the near future and I will also post some more about the last three years so stayed tuned!

I also mentioned that Jon is in transition for work. I am so excited for him and he back to his passion that he had to leave for almost 6 years. It is amazing how the person you marry can mentally leave and then just reappear again one day! What I mean is that Jon was not himself for a long time and I really struggled with that. However, now that he is back doing what he loves he is back being the guy that I married almost 7 years ago. I thank God for this DAILY. It is so nice to have him back and I hope he never leaves again.

For my job, I am helping to build a hospital in a community that really needs it. We had our ground breaking ceremony this week and it was amazing. The minister got up at the end to say a prayer and it really moved me. He prayed to God to guide all of us that have a hand in building this incredible new hospital. He asked God to bless the site where many people would start their life and where many people would end their life. He asked God for a lot more than that but I want to say that my point is it feels Awesome to be involved in a project that is going to help so many people in future years. It could help my children, my grandchildren, my great grandchildren, etc.. Like I said, I am blessed to be involved in such a tremendous project.

Overall, I am just a little extra emotional right now. I feel that God has blessed my life beyond measure and I want to hold on to the things I love as tight as I can. Being involved with this hospital project amongst other stories I have heard, I know how fragile life can be. I know that at any time or place myself or one of the people in my life that means so much, can fall ill or in danger. Tragedy happens everyday and instead of worrying about what can happen I just pray to God that he protects us and gives us strength to "get through this thing called life"!

Alleluia for all he has done for me and my family. This post is different than most of my posts but I am not going to apologize for it I am just going to put it out there because I have these "inner stirrings"! Now I am going to get on with the big Birthday Weekend! God Bless!

Dinner Time Fun

Dinner time is a lot of fun at our house. It is the time for us to sit down as a family and spend time together. It is always amazing what these kids will talk about. Jon and I are usually having a good laugh with the kids. Dinner starts off with a prayer where we all hold hands and then at the end we hold our hands up in the air and shout "YEAH GOD"! The kids really get into that part.
Ella loves to eat off of her mommy or daddy's plate. Even if she has the same thing she is always scoping out what we have. She is the most willing to try new things as well. I give her credit as the other two will NOT try something new no matter what.
I know that life gets busy and I am sure it will get even busier now with the kids getting older and activities will be right around the corner. However, I think the tradition of families sitting down to have dinner together is important and one that I remember doing as a child myself. I hope that this tradition can carry on well into the future for us.
Half the battle most of the time is finding the time to make dinner. I am not the world's greatest cook. My mother is a fantastic cook but I have never taken the time to learn how to cook. I can hold my own in the kitchen but I do get intimated easily. I am usually calling my mom to ask her certain questions about how to cook, cut, prepare, bake, etc.. My goal is to have enough time to really get into cooking. However, with three "almost" three year olds, it is not always easy to find the time.
I really struggle with dinner the days that I work. Unless I plan ahead, we are usually always scrapping something together. Last night, after working all week Jon and I decided to get Chinese take out. The kids like the rice but we made some Chicken Nuggets for them too as they are not really into Chinese food. We got three fortune cookies with our meal so each kid got one. There fortunes fit them so well last night. Here is what they said:

Ella's fortune said "You spark people's enthusiasm with your personality"

KJ's fortune said "People think more of you than you think they do"

Aimee's fortune said "A big change is coming your way soon" (Since she pooped her pants twice at dinner last night and she continues to poop in her pants on a daily basis, Jon and I looked at each other after we read her fortune and said "THANK GOD")

Chugging Beer

This morning as I was running around the house getting everything packed for the kids and getting my self ready for work, I quickly ran outside to put something in the trash. When I came back in the house I heard E singing this song:

"Drink a beer, chugga chugga, drink a beer, chugga chugga" When I came around the corner to see what she was doing I saw her sitting at the dining room table pretending she was drinking.

Now I am really worried, a little girl who loves Black and sings songs about drinking beer? :O)

When I asked her where she heard that song she told me she just made it up and then she said something about school! Hmmmm!?!

Proof

The bottom bird is E's Bird!
Everyday, Jon and I witness more and more that these kids are growing up faster than we can blink our eyes. Tonight at dinner E wanted to give Daddy the bird picture that she made for him at School today. She went and got on of the birds and gave to him. The bird she picked out was A's as it had her name on the back. Jon and I noticed this right away and we just smiled at each other. E then went and got the other bird and she said"
Wait a minute Daddy, I gave you Meme's bird because I used all darker colors on mine. She then proceeded to tell Jon all of the colors on her bird.
We were both so surprised that she knew they were all Darker colors and then that she knew exactly what colors they were.

One side note, I asked her which color was her favorite and she told me "Black"! She is funny that little girl!