Recent Photos

This picture is a little graphic and does no service to Wilson, who is usually delightful and happy. This is how we ended our summer days, taking baths in the backyard to cool off and clean up from the sandbox.

With this photo, I pay tribute and bid farewell to Nathans favorite old beater of truck. And to tell you the truth, I thought it made a better dehydrator than a truck. We used to roll up the windows and make fruit leather during the summer heat. Cooked it to a crisp, but we had to convince N8 not to use his truck for a few days.

We also tried making fruit snacks with our zucchini surplus and koolaid this summer. Totally works. Google the recipe.

These babies can make a mess in no time flat. Wilson climbed out of his crib today, fell and bumped his lip, while we were comforting him, Quinn slipped her hand into a "locked" cupboard and pulled out 3 lbs of granola, hid in the living room, tore open the bag and started eating. James pulled out his favorite rice cooker, blender and Bosch mixer. We start and end the day with a tidy home, but it gets ugly somewhere during the middle.

They all look like this after cottage cheese and they refuse to be spoon fed! Tell me it gets easier!

Hazel, Mom and CC

We got a surprise gift of a box of tails. Best gift ever! These girls are pretending all day

Applesauce day. I had a chance to pick the apples on a tree in front of a nearby apartment. 25 quarts.
Girls helped, sort of. 

Going to school, these girls look forward to the bus ride everyday. Man, it's gonna stink next year when I have to actually take the girls to school on my own. I'm spoiled.

Thoughts on Homeschool

I had given a lot of thought to homeschooling my girls. Among many of my dear friends,  it seems like the REAL moms homeschool. I love my children. I want the best for them but I struggled with the decision to homeschool. During my confusion, I examined my reasons for wanting to homeschool.

Wanting to keep my children pure from the world and worrying they will learn bad habits at school is not a reason for me to homeschool. Bullies, trouble in school, feeling like I am losing them, falling behind and poor teaching ARE reasons for me to homeschool and that hasn't happened yet. I wouldn't be doing them any favors by keeping them home at this point. I do want to raise children that are pure, but I am also raising my children to fight evil. So I send them off to be battered by the wind and waves then come home to safety. This is my reasoning and every family must do as they feel inspired. 

Family News

What we are doing and what I wish we are doing are often different.

Jewel colored jars of bottled fruit and veggies lining our shelves, days spent in the sun picking fruit and soaking up the last of the warmth. That's all a dream for maybe 2 years away. Here's what we are really up to.

The outdoors have been calling to me, I haven't seen a fall so beautiful and brightly colored since I lived in Montreal. I really enjoy being outside and especially in nature. Last year, the babies were newborns and cramping my outdoor lovin' style.  This year, we have taken a few trips up the mountain to parks but it's just a sip and I want more. It really will have to wait until everyone can walk holding hands. They all seem to scatter as soon as we get out of the car. Don't climb over that ledge! Don't push your sister over that ledge! You're too close to that ledge! Is anyone listening to me?

I decided we were going to go do something fun and be gone all day, we had enough gas, diapers, snacks, sippies and money for more food. Our trip lasted 2 and a half hours. We visited Chalk the Block at the Riverwoods, enjoyed every second of it, even when Nate told me I should go buy something cute for myself, but I couldn't find anything I loved. Ate pizza at Malawis then played in the water fountain. OK, now onto nature, but apparently limos don't like climbing for hours up mountains, who knew? Isn't that where all limo driving mobsters dump the dead bodies? You would think they would give me a heads up. It started sounding rough so we backed out and got home in time for naps. Maybe I will try later in the week without Nate, one less persons weight...

I am singing a new tune. I mentioned in an earlier post, I wasn't going to send the girls to preschool.  The school district had an opening for a preschool that buses its students. I couldn't resist. Even if Hazel thinks it's just play time. They get stories and do crafts, play dress up and come home to me, proud and happy with pictures of painted cats and superheros for my fridge art collection. In turn, I spend time teaching the babies and they get a good solid nap in the mornings. In the afternoon, I try to make up a homework page for the girls to work on. We all love our special time together. I never thought I would say this but I was born to be a school mom! The routine, the schedule, the planning. Get up early, help girls get ready, beds made, clothes on, hair brushed, breakfast, lil girls scripture reading/prayer, hugs and kisses and out the door! On to the babies, diapers, bottles, breakfast, dress, play, nap etc, now I get ready, make lunch and then the girls are home. I feel like our quality of life has improved and I am grateful for the kind blessing.

The babies are 18 months old and refuse to be spoonfed. To their joy and my horror they even refuse to let me feed them oatmeal, yogurt or cereal. We usually need to evacuate to a hotel for the day so I can clean up the kitchen mess from the food flinging feed each other and while you're at it, pull each others' hair events. 

Quinn is a great walker. She is super pleasant, happy just to pal around and rummage through Hazel and CCs stuff for purses, shiny shoes and necklaces. She brings them to me with her hand out. I put them on. She walks away and can be heard woo-wooing herself all the way down the hall. She is my most faithful mimic, a true little mother.

James, James there is no honor amoung theives. He is the toy stealer. If you are interested in what you have, so is James. Teaching 3 babies to share is not for the faint of heart. Favorite toys: my rice cooker, pots and pans and tupperware.

Wilson prefers crawling. Well, he can take up to 4 steps but he's happy to crawl.  It took CC 19 months before she walked, maybe they are cut from the same cloth. In other news, he can carry a tune and I can tell what song he is singing, like CC he memorizes songs easily and I hear him singing along with Disney music or the stop and go toy bus. Quite remarkable. Loves to play with balls and drive toy cars.

How am I doing? I have entered into a season of joy. I am tremendously blessed.  I have peace in my heart and I am a peace loving creature. My anxieties have been quiet for some time or I have learned better to deal with them. I have wonderful friends that give me opportunities to get out and play, my children have friends to play with, my husband is a kind and supportive companion. We feel connected and engaged in our life. Is this what life was like before the triplets and I am just waking up to it?

My sweet neighbor just gave birth to twin boys and it gives me no end of joy to sneak over during the day while babies nap or at night when everyone is down. I can't get enough of those little guys. And seeing her go through what I did just a year ago reminds me how quickly it all changes and how good it gets.

Speaking of how good it gets, I often wish I could go back home to my parent house for a day. Knowing what I do now. Three sisters all teenagers sharing the same bathroom, singing along with the radio, grabbing for the curling iron, and trading places to use the sink. I just wish I could relive it for a day. It all changed so fast and I never realize how much I enjoyed it.

Claire's Hair

I have been blessed with a little girl that has delightful corn silky hair with natural honey butter and caramel highlights (yum, Oo I just got hungry). It is lovely and curly. This picture doesn't do it justice. When her hair is in pigtails all I need to do is give them a twist and they form a perfect ringlet from top to bottom.  To achieve its grandeur all that is needed is to be wet and brushed... and therein lies the problem. Every morning, her fine little girl hair is a rats nest of impassive tangles. CC will you get the spray and the brush? I can hear the whininess creeping up her throat before she even opens her mouth. So I counter, it must be done or it will be worse tomorrow. I take the spray to her hair, no sooner do I spray, than her hair combines forces to form an impervious shield, the spray dribbles onto her neck and down her shirt. Mom, I'm so cold, (I begin to brush), Mom you're hurting me, you're brushing too fast! Ouww! (hold your head still, I almost done) It's the same old song and dance just about every day.

I'm still baffled. Can someone tell me, how did I got a daughter with hair this color?

A Better Bargain

The girls have been collecting points this summer. They used their points to buy things at the summer children's store. I set up the childrens store at our house and then Mr Mousache runs it for me. He is a guy in a silky open necked shirt, a green mustache with a purple hat and shades. Its weird because Mr Mustache looks and sounds a lot like mom but he has a deeper voice and a phony brooklyn accent.

Things to buy: A potato that you keep under your pillow for 3 days and it turns into a chocolate bar, some curious george figurines, coloring books, a lava lamp, (things I picked up from garage sales), a horse stable, bulk candy from Winco in little bags, oddities like straws that turn milk into chocolate milk or a popcorn seed that grows into a candybar if you plant it in the back yard. 

Horse and stable earned with points from the children's store. Thanks Mary Kate!

You can also buy an experience: Horseback riding with mom, a date with mom and dad (includes dinner, an activity like playing soccer and a dessert) Go on a walk with mom, make your favorite treat with mom and spend time reading with dad are examples.

How you earn your points: Lets say you are 4 years old and a total go getter, you would earn points for speaking kindly, doing unexpected thoughtful acts, apologizing freely, staying calm and making good food choices. 

Or lets say you are 4 years old and a tad on the reserved side. You could earn points for speaking up, doing unexpectedly kind deeds, not whining, being brave when you want to crumble, standing up for yourself and being actively helpful.

I don't remind the girls about the points, I don't draw it out or try to entice them to do things for me by the offer of points. I just tally at the end of day. I tell them when they have done something unexpected, thank you, I would like to give you a point for being so thoughtful. They look forward to the children's store with such anticipation  that I get a thrill being part of it!

At the children's store, Mr Mustache enjoys putting the girls in a bind to see if they can figure out their problems. When they figured out they needed to combine their points to have enough to buy the stable and horses, I felt a lift of triumph. Mr M. also tries to lure them into buying all candy instead of more memorable choices (Hazel bought the lava lamp, yah!) but they don't fall for it... most of the time. Through this experience, I wanted them to learn to be willing to wait for better, ask for what they want, count and pay for items and make decisions while Mr Mustache teases and terrifies them (only a little bit).

I have heard of various examples of this summer store enacted by other mothers, this is the version I cooked up. I liked the results. I felt like the girls were innocent and uncalculating about earning points but I did see an uptick in kindness and temperament. Hazel made my bed all by herself as a surprise and CC has made her bed 11 days in a row (and counting) without being reminded, she also gets dressed on her own without being asked as soon as she gets up.

Hazel and CC both chose the date with mom and dad last month. It was quite an expensive week as we went to dinner twice and needed babysitters twice but we loved it! Being with one little girl- no competition from siblings was bliss for all of us. I felt like I could really focus on her development and getting to know her better, I wish we could do it more often. Mostly, they are just sweet little girls with heads full of fluff, but we chuckled as I am sure my parents laughed at my pee-brain as a child, when all I could talk about was froo-froo nonsense.

One of my favorite quotes came from CC while we were on our date. She turned to me smiling, holding out her hand and said, "A date with CC means we hold hands!" We held hands the rest of the night.

Choo-Choo on the Go

We are so excited about our choo-choo wagon. In order to agree to this purchase, Nathan who feels hampered by belongings and hates "stuff" and probably would like to sleep on a hard wooden board every night with no blankets at all, had me get rid of the same "bulk and amount" as the cost of the wagon. Give it away, sell it, he didn't care- his poor little ascetic heart just couldn't take on any more stuff. (Thanks to my friend Rachelle Olmos for snapping this shot!)

The babies are not the only ones getting good use out of the choo choo wagon. Our street is rife with wagon teamsters. Early in the morning- the day after I assembled it, sweet innocent smiling faces knocked on my door and asked to borrow the wagon. It rumbled up and down the street for a few days til I finally put a gentle stop to it. Sorry guys.

This girl is positively delightful and serene...

...until you take her out of the swing, sorry Quinny.

Hazel got a sweet little Sunday dress and some kind, loving gifts from her birth mother Momma Jessica. Thank you Jessica. I can't believe how blessed we are to have a life joined with you. We will alway be your cheerleaders. We love you.

Our family travelled to Boise last week for a surprise 80th birthday party for Grand-D. It was a wonderful party and so fun to see how all the families are growing. It was good to see people we love from far away (Aunt Jennifer) and meet new people, like great- great- uncle James who had an enormous long mustache that our James yanked, yipes! (Thanks for your patience.) So nice to finally meet Ruby and sorry we missed the other triplet mom Danni.

Hazel and CC swam from morning til night and could barely crawl up the stairs for bed. As for me, I had vowed to swim the entire time as well. I did my best but it wasn't the entire time.

The triplets and I found a secret garden on a walk one morning and were overjoyed in its exploration! At least I was! I brought Nathan and Annette (sister in law) back to the secret garden the next day to fully explore its winding paths and it ended in a maze! I really enjoyed that little surprise.

We watched our fair share of the Olympics every night til our eyes drooped and we each wandered off to bed wondering if we could have done that if we had gotten started young enough.

I cannot believe school is starting soon. Our neighborhood will be so empty. Everyday, we have children here helping and playing, Melissa, Lucy and Aaron, Marley, Hoggan, Beckett, Gibby, Isaiah, Elise and many others. We are really grateful for the wonderful friends and the parents that have raised such fine children!

N8 and I decided not to send the girls to preschool this year. I sure didn't want to pack up the babies in the car everyday and chase little girls with a hairbrush any sooner than I need too! This last year was umm, difficult. I am determined to make it better for me and for them.  I get another year to try again. I hope I can be more emotionally supportive of them and prepare them to be at school, learning from a teacher and gone from their momma.

I am glad I have one more year with them at home, hairbrush chasing can wait. I want my little girls for one more year.

Spilled Milk

The world I live in is muddled, although I love it, I am constantly juggling children and tasks and I can rarely break through the fog to finish whole tasks, is there a medicine for that?

If I want to play games with the girls, I have to go downstairs to get the games, going downstairs means I should put in a load of laundry, if I'm going to do the laundry, I need to collect it from each room. So I should separate the darks/lights too. While I'm downstairs, I'll just grab what we need from food storage for dinner and get the meat thawing. The babies will be up soon, so I should get their bottles ready. Okay, done, now I can play...oh sorry the babies are up, be back in a minute.

My day is constantly divided into 'how I can be more efficient' and 'how many things I can get done at once'. I am worried because there are so many interruptions in my thought processes during the day that I believe this is truly how alzheimer's really comes about.

Sometimes, I will be downstairs bringing up laundry and a fleeting thought will cross my mind that has been bothering me for days, something I am trying to catch, something I need to remember to do. I will drop everything to run to the whiteboard in the kitchen and trap it into words. Only to be interrupted by a request to fix a broken toy, read a book or play pbskids.org. And within that moment, the fleeting thought is lost and I feel like falling to the ground and crying over my spilled milk. Is this normal?