blog address changed

Ok- So I've moved again. I just didn't feel safe on that other blog. I really didn't have a reason, just a feeling.

So here is my new address: http://tripletsrajoy.blogspot.com/

You can save this one. I'll be using it for awhile.

Changing blog location

I'm trying out a new blog. http://clearblogs.com/tripletsrajoy/

I don't know if it will suit my all of my needs, but for the time being I'll be posting from there. I don't like how public it is, so I might be back here when Blogger gets all the kinks out.

Chelle

Lowes at Chick-Fil-a

Yesterday we went to Chick-Fil-A Brentwood for our weekly family night out. Lowes was there and the kids made bird houses from scratch. It was so cool. Ashley and Mason needed a lot of help, but Austin just went to town. I had to help him get the nails started but he did so well hammering them in. They each got a Lowe's Apron, goggles, the birdhouse kit, a certificate and a patch to put on their aprons all for FREE!!!! Today, I'm hoping to get outside and let them paint their birdhouses.

blogging suggestions

Alrighty! So not only am I not able to post pictures. I am now not able to post comments on several of my friends blogs. They say they don't accept annonymous comments, when I've signed in. URG!

I think I'm going to have to explore other blogging options. Anyone have any suggestions?

consignment

I AM SO VERY TIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been working on consignment sale stuff all day. The kids drove me nuts. But I don't blame them, it was a very different day for them. They don't understand that Mommy is working.


Jill and others- I am taking Jill dinner on next Thursday the 31st. I am REALLY bad about forgetting. So if anyone remembers, please remind me on Wednesday the 30th and Thurday the 31st. (yes both days.) Thanks!

Got to shut down the house. I have a feeling I'll fall asleep on the couch, because I won't want to climb back up the steps. pitiful huh? NIght!

today stuff

Well I still don't know why I can't post a picture. But today we had such a great time!

I took the kids to Smyrna sprinkler park and they had a blast! Next time I'm wearing my bathing suit and getting in too!

Then we went to JAM night at the movies tonight. It was SO good! Austin ate 3 bags of popcorn and that was after eating dinner.

As you may have noticed, I upgraded my blog to beta (whatever that means). I was hoping it would help with my pictures, but apparantly not. I'll keep working on it!

I'm scrapbooking ALL day tomorrow and I can't wait!

Why can I NOT post a picture?

Does anyone have an idea why I can not post pictures?

This is driving me nuts! I pick the photos like normal, and it goes through the whole waiting stage, it says it is done. I push the done button. Then it says error on page. What's up with that? I've tried to look up in "help" but it is no help at all.

Hey Jann or Ann- Would you want me to email a picture to you of Jill and Mattie so you could put it on your blog?

Is anyone else who has Blogger going through this?

I love babies!

Hi friends! Guess who I got to hold today? Little Baby Mattie LaFaye. She is so pretty! I would have taken at least 20 pictures, but her daddy was VERY protective and was afraid it would hurt Mattie's eyes. So I got 3 to share. (UGH BLOGGER! I'll try in a little bit.)

Jill sounded much better when I was there tonight. This morning she was so tired. She actually doesn't remember who she talked to today. Poor thing.

Mattie Elizabeth was born around 10PM yesterday August 16. She weighed 7lbs. 11oz. And she was 21" long. Jill pushed for 6 hours and they ended up having to give her a c-section. Jill was a little disappointed in herself, but it was just physically impossible for the baby to come naturally.

But Mattie is just beautiful! Lots of black hair, just cute as can be. I wanted to take a picture of Jill and Mattie together and I told Jill that I wanted to. So she was holding Mattie and I was about to take a picture. And Jill pulls her feeding device out. (Oh my---look away---) I said, "Um, I'll just wait over here and take the picture later." LOL. Maybe she didn't know I wanted to take the picture right then. (Or maybe she did? LOL)

Anyway, the whole family was there, Rich, Trae and Isabelle. Isabelle was a hoot! She played doctor on me and amputated my arm and leg and told me all my fingers were broken too. She ran into some problems of running out of the "special water" to put my leg back on. She even went to the store to pick some up and they were out. So she got Fed Ex to send her some after I told her I would sue her if she didn't put my leg back on. AFter that fiasco- she wanted to operate on my fingers, but I told her I wanted a 2nd opinion. She's really cute!

Movie Poster

Friday night at Woodmont Hills. 7:00PM. Everyone is invited!

You can click the link above to get directions.

Daddy, you forgot!

Ashley was so upset this morning, Daddy forgot to take her cat picture to work today to show it off to his friends.

To others this is the first picture she drew other than a person that is recongnizable. We are very excited!


Oh and Greg, don't forget to send me the movie poster. I want to put it on my blog.

attn: scrapbookers

Hi scrapbooking friends-

I need your help. I have a theme that I want to scrapbook and I have several pictures to go with it. But I just don't know how to do it.

When we were on vacation we went to a McDonald's that had a bench with Ronald McDonald sitting on it. My kids loved this. I took lots and lots of pictures, because as I saw Austin crawling all over Ronald, it reminded me of what he does to me every single day. I have pictures of him on his shoulders, climbing on his head, in his lap...etc. The problem is the pictures are so similar. Normally, I would take 2 or 3 of the best and scrap them. But I need to use several to get that crawling all over feeling.

So how can I emphasize the meaning that I want to get across?






Ok I just went back and looked at the pictures. I didn't get as many as I thought and it is of ALL of them crawling on Ronald.

I thought of the title If Ronald could only talk....I could empathize!

Do you have any thoughts?

JAM night at the Movies

Last night we went to the pre-showing of Kingdom Come. This is the movie Greg wrote and helped direct at church with our 4th thru 6th graders (aka JAM). It was fabulous! It is definitely the best movie they have done. Many of us were in tears. IT's THAT GOOD!

Anyway, I want to invite all of you to come see the premier on Friday, August 18th at my church...The Family of God at Woodmont Hills (Church of Christ). It is at 7:00PM. I am bringing my kids. We are trying to get 900 people there this year. I would love to see some of you Scrap It friends there...I know you would like it.

What to expect... They will introduce the movie and show it. Then they will collect a love offering. As my guests do not feel you need to put anything in. It is a free movie! Then they will have an intermission and then they will do the Woody Awards (Woodmont Hill's "Oscar" awards). I will probably take my kids home after the movie and before the awards. The JAM staff will be in tuxes and evening gowns, but everyone else will be in shorts or jeans. I'm telling you this movie is amazing. I really hope you will consider coming. I need a picture...I'm going to go look for one.

Austin's layout

I thought I would share the layouts I did for Austin before I reluctantly hand them over to him. I had a hard time knowing what to do, since I'm not sure of his intentions. I didn't want to put too much work into it, incase he carries them around and bends and tears them. But on the otherhand, if he wants to hang them up, I don't want them to "not" look nice. So I didn't spend too much time on it. I used all old products/papers that I had laying around and came up with this:

The stuff we did and said today

Today, I took the kids to see a puppet show at our church. It was put on by the Public Library traveling truck. It was so good! The kids enjoyed it, but they were hungry and couldn't sit still for very long. They kept getting up and running to me. (eyeroll) So I got down on the floor near the front row and sat with them. You could tell the people who put this on really worked hard on it. I was really impressed.

So since it was only 2 hours until church time, I decided to hang out in the area. I haven't taken the kids to Wednesday night class in a long time...because they kept falling asleep before we got there. So I went to the chiropractor and the kids did great and then we went to Wendy's for dinner. After dinner we went to church to find out there were NO CLASSES tonight. UGH! So we hung out too long in the JAM area. We had our friend "uncle" Mark take our picture. I thought we might get a cute one with all of us wearing different colored shirts. (It would be nice to change the background)

Anyway, Mason did it again! His wording is just too cute! Today he made a sound out of his mouth and I asked him, "What was that?" His reply (in the sweetest voice), " my mouth was making music like a tractor." Yes I'll have to scrap that one.

While we were at dinner tonight, we met up with some church friends. They sat with us and ask the kids questions. One of the questions was, "what are you afraid of?".

Mason said, "monsters."

Austin said, "Joshua and Daniel" (These are JAM movies) They asked, why are you afraid of them? He said, Joshua because of the earthquake and Daniel because of the lions.

So then on to Ashley. Ashley what are you afraid of? Her eyes got big with a look like we are all crazy and she said in a slightly offended way, "Nothing! I'm not afraid of anything" We all got a laugh out of this. Especially that look she gave. But you know, it's true. She's not afraid of anything. (Oh I take that back...she's afraid of losing control...animals bring out the worse in her. She likes animals from a distance, but when they get too close she is terrified.)

Here she is pretending to blow a bubble. It's really a small pink balloon. Yes it terrified me that is might pop, so I made her take it out of her mouth after I got the picture. I won't even let her chew gum yet.

Then earlier today, Austin came into the computer room when I was printing off some pictures I wanted to use for my next scrapbook page. And he came and took them away and insisted they were his because they were of him playing with trains;and he said he wanted them for HIS scrapbook. So he was adamant about me making 2 scrapbook pages for him right NOW! He even helped me clear off the table to put my scrapbook supplies out. He says trains are his favorite and he loves trains ALL THE TIME.

Train ride and Jammin'

Thomas the tank engine is coming to town in September. It is pretty expensive to take a family of 5, so I thought I would feel it out first. So I was talking to Austin and said would you like to ride on Thomas? And he said, "Mommy, Thomas is just pretend". I said, "Oh yes, but if he were real, would you like to ride on him." He said, "No, I would like to ride on Edward or James or Gordon." I said, "OK".

Needless to say, we won't be spending the money on Thomas this time around.






Today, I TRIED to snap a picture of the kids in action. I did not succeed very well. They got laundry baskets and were making it their stage. I so wish I could have gotten all of them looking at me. At times 2 of them had a guitar. Most of the pictures I got was of Ashley putting her head down because she didn't want her picture taken or of the boys fighting over the microphone. Unfortunately, this is the best shot I got. Very blurry, but it has all three and you can get the idea.

Appreciation

Everyday and every night at bed time, Ashley tells me she loves her new bed and room. Today, she said, "Mommy, can you make every room beautiful like my room?" You know I am smiling from ear to ear.

I am really surprised at how much she appreciates the things I have made for her.

I want to make 3 layouts for her room using some of the material I used in her quilt. However, I just don't know how I'm going to do it. I had something in mind, but the more I think about it, I'm not crazy about it. I'm not even sure what pictures I would or should use.

Scrap It, Phone & Crayola

Last night I went to Scrap It and had an awesome time! I completed 4 layouts from when we went to the zoo in Ohio. I still need to journal on one of them. I had a lot of fun catching up with my friends. It has been too long between crops for those of us who are addicted. I will try to take pictures and put them on my blog tomorrow.

Today I went to trade in my phone for a better one. Well after waiting for my name to be called, I found that I could not get a full rebate until the end of October.

Oh well, those who call me on my cell phone will have to put up with not hearing me too well. And those around me when I'm on the phone is going to have to deal with me talking loud. But it's only for 3 months and then I can get a new phone. I'm just glad it's still working after being washed in the washing machine.


So anyone reading my blog interested in having a home based business? My friend Dana is recruiting this month to reach a fantastic goal. She is giving away some fabulous things to anyone who hosts a party or signs up under her. She works for Crayola- Big Yellow Box. It has cute crafts already in kits. Some are for kids and some are for adults. It's perfect for gifts too! You can check it out by clicking on the Crayola link above. It's all fun. Anyway, I'm trying to find a date this month to host a party. If anyone is interested in coming (or ordering) please let me know.

What a GREAT day!

I.........AM............SOOOOOOOOOO............TIRED! So why am I blogging? I really don't know, maybe because I promised pictures? Maybe because we had such a great day I just have to share it? Maybe I'm just a gluten for punishment? Who knows!

Anyway- We really had a great day today! A very very busy day!

This morning we went to the Blueberry patch and picked blueberries. On the way there I told the kids what we needed to look for in a blueberry. I told them we should only pick the blue/gray ones. The red ones are not ripe yet. So they went out and they were diligent in their picking. I would put some in each of their baskets and they would say, Mommy you put in a red one. And they would get it out and throw it down.

Ashley was my best picker. She really got into it and didn't want to leave.

Mason did a good job too. He didn't want me to put any into his basket. He only wanted to put them in. This picture is of him giving me the look, that says I'll do it myself. But Mason is really excited about cooking with the blueberries. I told him he could help me make blueberry muffins.

And my Austin, he had a good time for about 1/2 hour and then he was done! He just got too hot and said he didn't like the sticks on the bushes. He wanted to go home. He said he was thirsty and I got him some water, but he said, No that he only wanted water from home.







Then after the blueberry patch, we went to Target. Guess What????? My bedding is back in the stores! I'm partly wondering if it is because Tammy and I called all the Targets and made them go look for it. Also, all the hits on their site- where I was showing everyone what I wanted. So lookie here. And the boys love it. Thank goodness! The thing that Mason likes best is the lamp or 'lightstand' as he calls it. They all call it monkey George. Yes, you and I know it is not THE curious George, but they don't and that is just what they call it. I am so happy I got it. I just love it! And it looks so cute in their room. Ashley wants a monkey George lamp too. I'm not sure how I will handle that one.

Oh there is more...I told you I had a busy day. So we ate at Target. we had pizza and popcorn. Then we went to the mall because I still had some carousel tickets

from the last time we went. We rode it twice and then played on the new indoor playground. Then I promised Austin we would ride the train. So we rode that once.
So they fell asleep on the way home about 3 minutes before we got home for a very short nap. During their nap I was able to get a shower and then 2 of them woke up before I even got dried off. So no rest for me.

Then I took them to VBS. I thought for sure they would conk out when they got home tonight. But no that little nap kept them going and going and going. I think Austin got re'Energized' on that bunny. There was/is a little more I wanted to say about their VBS. When I went to pick them up this guy was dooing a lesson about the ressurection. He did such a good job, with such little kids. I couldn't help but cry. It was so wonderful. And I just LOVE to see my kids doing the motions to the songs. It is so sweet.

I am now falling asleep at the computer! I must go to bed. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

phone works

My cell phone works! Thank Goodness!

I don't really have anything to say tonight.
But tomorrow I should have some fun pictures. I HOPE!

Help!!! Dilemma!!!

Dag-nab-it!!!!! I washed my cell phone in the clothes washer. I know someone who recently did this and her phone actually started working after a couple of days. I just can't remember who it was.

Oh I hope my phone will survive.


Dilemma:
Fact 1: I got the bedding for the boys bedroom today. It doesn't look as cute as in the picture.
Fact 2: My friend Doris found the bedding that I truly wanted with the monkeys on it.
Fact 3: One son likes what I got today and wants to keep it. But he does like the pillow.
Fact 4: The other son doesn't like either one, but likes the monkey's better
Fact 5: I would lose $17 plus whatever it takes to ship the bedding back
Fact 6: The monkey bedding is $70 more. ***Update: It's only $22.00 more without buying the monkey pillow and with the 10% coupon I found.***
Fact 7: The green in the bedding I got today doesn't match the room
Fact 8: I really LOVE the monkey bedding! and I think it would match better.
Fact 9: update: Greg- I REALLY WANT IT


HELP!!!!

They are so cute. Atleast I think so!

My Beautiful Children!

Even though they all had different places in mind to get their picture taken, we were able to actually get this picture taken today and they all looked at the camera.

Ashley has her dress on and she likes it. And she brought her baby "Mandy" with her (dressed). I was really pleased to see that the boys already had shirts to match their sister.

I have some friends who get absolutely tremendous pictures with lots of kids. I just don't know how they do it. Well I know having the nice Cannon SLR camera is a big plus. But just getting the kids to co-operate and look in the same direction is hard enough!

bowling

These are the outfits nana and papa got. They are so cute. But I really think Mason looks like a baseball player in his outfit.


I took the kids bowling for the first time today. I thought they would really like it. And they did for the first 5 frames and then it went downhill. And it went downhill really fast! Today has been a really exhausting day. The kids have been really naughty. I think they are just tired and overstimulated with all the birthday presents. I need to get rid of some things, but I'm not sure what to get rid of. EVERYTHING I take out of the house and put in the garage, Austin asks where it is by name.

So I wonder when things will get back to normal? We go to the Bounce factory tomorrow. Maybe someone will let me sleep in tomorrow.

By the way I will never go back to the Cumberland Bowling lanes again. The woman there was so rude. I have thought about writing a letter. Too many things to go into right now. She was just so "inconvenienced" by us.

Well---good night.

Birthday Bash

Wow what a day! It was fun but crazy!

This morning I put some of Aussie's favorite shoes on him. They were a little tight and he said, "Mom these are for 3 year olds." LOL!

Then I dropped them off and headed to Target. I got there at just the right time. They were marking LOTS and LOTS of toys down 75% off. It was amazing. So I got $40 worth of toys for their birthday today.
Let's see if I can remember everything:
3 sky dancers that blow bubbles at $3.74 each
Prince Stefan (Barbie/Ken doll) for $2.74
Acoustic guitar for $7.22
Barbie purse with keys, cell phone, compact for $4.98
Playdoh kit for $2.46
Big Pink Pony stuffed animal for $4.98
A Thomas Train set for $3.24
Hello Kitty doll for $1.74

Before you think how amazing my memory is...I went and got my receipt.

So then I came back home and my inlaws had just about got the beds put together. So we finished getting the rooms together, wrapped several presents and then it was time to pick them up.

The poor kids were only allowed to see there room and not open any presents until Daddy got home. What am I saying poor KIDS. POOR ME!! I had to deal with kids not getting there presents right away. So we gave in a little bit, first they got a present from their cousin. Cute Cute chairs with cup holders. This held them over for a good 30 minutes. Then they were allowed to open Nana's presents. They got some CUTE clothes. I'll have to let them wear them tomorrow and take pictures. Then they kept begging to open more. Finally I let them open one present...then of couse they wanted more. Well, I stopped there and said we have to wait until Daddy gets home. Then the begging and the nagging really stepped up. When will Daddy be home? How many minutes? I almost put Austin to bed without opening ANY presents. So Greg calls and says he will be leaving on time. Hip hip hooray! He got home 15 minutes later than usual. So then the kids had to wait until Daddy got home and then ate his dinner. But when they finally got to open their presents they went crazy.

I was going to have their birthday cake on Saturday, but we ended up having ice cream cake tonight. Yum Yum Yum!!!!! Here are a few pictures of them enjoying their new toys. I hope you enjoy.




P.S. I'm so glad 3 is over! I'm looking forward to a wonderful year of them being 4.

Also, Greg asked Ashley if she wanted him to put up rails so she wouldn't fall out of bed. She apparantly gave him "the LOOK". So here she is tucked in with no rails.

Bedrooms

They LOVE their new rooms!




I'll have to blog again later. This is the only thing we allowed them to see until Daddy gets home. They want to open up their presents so bad!

Twas the night before their birthday

I'm tired. I don't really have much to report today.

My inlaws made it here safely. The kids really enjoyed playing chase with Nana.

Tomorrow is the day. For some reason I'm getting worried about how they will like their new rooms. I've got a lot of work to do to get things ready for them. I wanted to do some tonight, but I'm just falling asleep.

I went to Wal-Mart tonight and got the last of the birthday presents. Holy cow, everything is so expensive. I just felt sick when I spent another $150 on birthday stuff. That is probably why I'm so nervous about what they will think.

Christmas in July

Sunday, Ashley wore the first dress I made for her. And I got lots of compliments on it. I was feeling pretty good about myself making 2 dresses without a pattern and they turned out pretty nice. So today, I attempted to make the doll a dress that matched. It sure humbled me! Oh my! I made it 3 times and it still is not great. I got so frustrated, it about drove me to drink. (but instead of driving to Sonic and getting my favorite rootBEER- I chose to stick it out at home and finish it up.) It will have to do, I just have to move on.


We went to Chick-Fil-A tonight. The theme tonight was Christmas in July. Santa Claus was there and we got this cute picture taken. They gave this picture to us for free. I just love Tuesday night Chick-Fil-A! The whole family eats for $6.

I sure was not as productive today as I was yesterday. So it's 10:46PM and I'm tired and I just have to get several things done before tomorrow.

So good night for now.

productive day

Well I did it. I went with the quilt set below. I really like it and it will grow with them. And really it's all about me right? Just kidding. So I will get the character sheets that they want and we will all be happy.

Now for the room. All I have to do is put a little navy and red somewhere else in the room to create a visual triangle, right?

Wow today has been a very productive day. I got a lot of cleaning done!!! I was in the mood to clean. I don't know the last time I have ever been in the mood to clean. I'm not sure that I ever have been in the mood before. Anyway, I made a sizeable difference today. Mason looked at the kitchen and said, "Daddy will be so happy." awwwww! And even though they didn't help clean up the kitchen they all ran to Daddy and said, "WE cleaned up the kitchen." They did help pick up their toys in the toy room though. I really need to have another productive day tomorrow too.

Today I had some special time with just Ashley. They all LOVE to play and write words on the computer. Most of the time she will type jibberish. But today, she typed words. I would say the sound and she would find the letter and type it. Here was her list of words: ASHLEY DADDY MOMMY UNCLE WES BLANKIE CAMERA LIST TORNADO. I was so proud of her. She rarely shows me how "smart" she is. She tends to take the back seat around the boys. But this time it was just her and me.





Then I had some special time with just Austin. He is SO interested in tornadoes. So last night I showed Mason and Austin some video clips on the internet of tornadoes. And today Austin just wanted to know more. So we looked up some more things about tornadoes. We learned several things. And he said to me, "Mommy, are you learning me about tornadoes?" I said, "I am teaching you about tornadoes." But he now knows that a tornado occurs when the hot air meets the cold air. And he knows (and I know) what a vortex is. I showed him how there is a vortex when you flush the toilet. I also found a craft where we can make a tornado with 2 2liter bottles. So I guess I'll have to buy a couple so I can make it for them. He is so inquisitive. He just blows me away!






So I cleaned and I taught. What an excellent day. (Mason took this picture.)

Should I go for it or keep on looking?

I like this one. And it is an excellent price too. It doesn't match their room...but I really like it.
So what do you think? Should I keep on looking or go for it?