All about the kids!

Some sunshine on a cloudy Day!

2007-02-23T19:42:00.000-08:00

I'm not feeling very well. I've got a headache that won't go away with medicine, and 3 sick or hurt kids.

Last Friday- I took the kids to doctor. Mason had a bad ear infection, Ashley had a small one and a yeast infection.

I'm trying to make this quick, because I'm tired.

Last night, Mason fell on the corner of the banister and cried and cried. He is much more sensitive when he is sick. Over the last 2 days he spiked a fever. He was telling me his mouth hurt and his head hurt. I kept him home from MDO on Thursday. Ashley doesn't understand that when one of the others is sick they need to get extra attention. So she was very jealous and needy. Also, last night while I was trying to fix the plastic gate in our family room, Austin decided to "tight rope" walk it. He fell right down on his groan and cried for at least 2 hours straight. His upper thigh was pinched and his testicle was scraped. I fell apart at that point and cried too.

I slept with Austin to make sure he was ok. Greg slept with Mason to make sure he was ok. Mason had a hard time sleeping. He was short of breath, heart racing, burping a lot and had a fever.

So off to the doctor again today. I thought maybe Mason's ear wasn't getting better, I just didn't know. Well he has the flu! Apparantly, since he had the flu shot it is not as bad as it could be. I found out something I never knew today. His burping throughout the night, was his body's way of kind of throwing up. I had never heard that before.

Anyway, Mason, Ashley, Austin and I are all on Tamiflu. It should help Mason get better and prevent us from getting it.

Now for the sunshine! I got 2 packages in the mail today. One from Stephanie, it was the Blackberry Jam that I won from the Make-It-From-Scratch contest. I look forward to having some of it tomorrow with breakfast. And the other package was from my Secret Sister, she sent me 3 packages of letter stickers for Scrapbooking and 3 cute bookmarks. Thank you friends!!! I really needed that smile today!

blog address changed

2006-09-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-18T20:51:00.000-07:00

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?

2006-08-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-08-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-14T07:50:00.000-07:00

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

You can click the link above to get directions.

Daddy, you forgot!

2006-08-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

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'

2006-08-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-08-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2006-07-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-07-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

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?

2006-07-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

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?

Sunday happenings

2006-07-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

My friend Doris is very wise! She suggested that I just get them sheets right now; and I can wait until I find something I really like for the quilt or comforter. It's summer and they really don't need it right now anyways. So I have time. Wow Doris! It's hard to give someone "time" but you actually managed to do it. :)

Of course I still spent all my 'free' time looking up children's bedding on the internet today.

I think I will let them pick out their own sheets. I know Austin wants Thomas the Tank engine. I have no idea what Mason will pick. He is a follower, so I bet he will get the same as Austin OR he will be persuaded by his sister somehow on what to get.

Well I really need to get my act together this week. I've got a lot to get done before their birthday. (Including cleaning the house) Why is cleaning such a chore? Anyway, my inlaws and neice are coming for the kids' birthday. I don't know what day they will be here. If they are here on Thursday, maybe they can help me set up the boys beds. (***hint hint hint*** if you are reading this.)

Oh something cute happened today at Pizza Hutt. We sat next to table who had at least one deaf person sitting at the table. Austin was quite fascinated with them doing sign language. He turned to us and said, "look they are doing sign language". Then he said, "sign language is MY exercise" Then he just starts moving his hands like he was talking. It was so cute. Then he showed Greg 2 signs that he made up. The first one meant 'it's slippery' and the second one meant, 'don't fall in the hole' . I got a picture of that one.

WooooHooooooo!

2006-07-22T19:24:00.000-07:00

God is Good!

I got wonderful twin beds that can be made into bunk beds for $100.00. I am jumping up and down. Here is a picture of one of the beds at the house I bought it. I will have pictures of both rooms on Thursday when I have them all set up for their birthday. I felt doubly good, when I went to see the beds and told them how excited I was. The guy said, "Well God just orchestrated this very well." It is a young couple getting married next month and they just bought a queen size bed. And they needed the bunk beds out so they had a place for their new bed. I'm just so tickled!

I went to Scrap It today. I only got one 2 page layout done. Most of the day was spent talking and calling Target stores to find the bedding I want to get the boys. Unfortunately, all of the Targets don't carry it anymore and they didn't have anything left. I looked it up on Ebay and found them there for double the price they were sold at Target. So does anyone know of where I can find some cute boy bedding? I really don't want to buy Thomas the Tank Engine comforters if I can help it.

And while I was at Scrap It, my friend Jill told me about a great sale Publix was having on cereal. So I went and stocked up. It was buy one get one free and then there was a coupon for 75c off 2. And then they had those little bags of teddy grahams on sale for buy one get one free and a coupon with that for $2.00 when you purchase 4. I racked up on some great deals.

Well thanks for your prayers, I can't wait to get everything set up for them. Anyone want to come over and help me decorate?

Things they have said

2006-07-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

Mason was typing on the computer and I asked him what he was doing. He said, "Oh I'm just doing busy work." When he got done he said, "Wow, that was HARD work." Where in the world did he get I'm just doing busy work? I thought that was cute.

At dinner time I was asking the kids who will pray. Usually Mason points to me and says, "you do it." This time I said, "Austin we never get to hear you pray, will you please pray?" He said, "OK but I'm not going to say it the old way.....Dear God in Heaven is the old way....I'm going to sing." I said ok. I was expecting him to sing a little song that maybe he heard at school. So out of his mouth for a prayer he sings, "I want them to go away....." I'm rolling my eyes. I just stopped him and said, "I'll pray". How can I teach him?

So last night, I told Ashley I was not able to find the horse that she wanted for her birthday. She said, "Welllllllll, you can just go to another store and find it." Then I said, if I can not get it, what else would she like to have. I told her to think about it. So she thought about it a little bit and she said, "I want a snowman and snow." LOL! I don't think I can get that either!

I plan on scrapbooking at Scrap It tomorrow- any of you locals want to join me?

beds-say a little prayer

2006-07-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

Ok prayer warriors...please say a little prayer for us to get twin beds or bunk beds. I just saw where someone is giving away 2 twin beds. I have emailed them and have not heard a reply yet. OH PLEASE! OH PLEASE! This would be perfect for their birthday. I also saw someone selling wood bunk beds for $100. This doesn't include the mattresses. So this could get very pricey.

With Ashley getting her own room, I'm afraid the boys are going to be jealous. It would just be so nice to do something different with their room. So if I am not able to get the beds, do any of you have any suggestions of what I can do for the boys?

What do you think about me putting the train table in their room? Do you think this would cause too much trouble at bedtime? Right now we don't have any toys in their room, except for the ones they dragged up there from downstairs.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Wahoooo! I'm finished

2006-07-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

Ok so I have finished the quilt. It's cute, but it definitely looks like a 'first' quilt. I'm still proud of it. The hardest part was the last part, putting on the backing and quilting and binding the edges. WOW! I probably will not make a quilt again. If I do, it will be significantly smaller. I will take a picture of the whole room when I'm finished.

Today, I made Ashley's Birthday dress. It doesn't look as nicely made as the last dress I made, but I still like it. I put the bow in the middle again, because it just needed something there. Now I need to make the same dress for the doll she is getting. I won't be doing that tonight though.

I'm looking for twin beds or bunk beds for the boys for CHEAP. I would love to do there room too. But I am running out of time.

Oh by the way....

2006-07-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy trying to get this quilt done that I haven't been reading anyone else's blog. So eventually I'll get caught up and read yours if you have one.

The BIG HUGE Quilt

2006-07-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

OH mY! This quilt is HUGE!

Ok so I got all the peices together. It's not perfect but it is still cute. Now when I buy a bed spread/ comforter for a double bed, I like to get a queen size. So I decided to make a queen size quilt. Well I put it on my queen size bed to see it. It is just HUGE! I think it could possibly be a King size quilt.

Anyway, now I have to bind it. I found some instructions on the internet, but I get lost in the quilting language. Ahhhhh....a friend of mine is IMing me right now....maybe she can help. I'll be back.

Ahhhhhh! Thanks to PJ!!! I got some great directions from her. She cleared up a lot of confusion for me.

I really want to work on it some more, but I'm exhausted. It will have to wait for another day.

Here are a couple pictures of it so far... (Don't mind the mess. I guess I should have cleaned up before taking the pictures.) It will look much better in the room it is intended to go in. But it is so big, I'm afraid the pattern is going to be lost on the sides.

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music

2006-07-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

Well I think I've gotten in over my head, but I shall burst out into song anyway. I am attempting to make a quilt. Have I ever made a quilt?....NOPE! Have I been around anyone making a quilt?......NOPE! Do I have a book?....NOPE! Have I ever seen a quilt?....Yes! Ok so I'm qualified to make one right? LOL!

Anyway, part of the material I am using is from some curtains that I got Y E A R S ago. So I feel like Maria in the Sound of Music making something out of curtains. If I have enough left over I will attempt to make another dress for Ashley and one for a doll I will give her for her birthday. The doll was one of mine. Her name is My Friend Mandy. Did any of you have this doll?

So this is shaping out to be a great birthday for her IF I can get everything finished in time.
She still wants a horse that she can sit on. I don't have one of those and I don't intend to go out and buy one.

Now for the boys....hmmmmm....What will I do? I wanted to do up their room too. But I wasn't able to get any twin or bunk beds. Then I would have to get the sheets and stuff...which is getting expensive. I might have to look toward doing that for Christmas. When I had Greg get down all my stuffed animals and dolls, I saw some cute things in there I think the boys would like.

Great! Austin is up here and sees this picture and now HE wants this doll. Ay Caramba!

Ok back to singing... Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start...When you read you begin with ABC...When you sing you begin with Do Re Mi...

pink treat

2006-07-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Ashley: Mommy, may I have a cold treat?
Me: Yes, May I have a kiss?
Ashley: My face is sticky.
Me: Why is your face sticky? What did you eat?
Ashley: Um...it was a pink one..... Mason put it in my mouth.
Me: Oh, MASON put it in YOUR mouth huh?
Ashley: yes, he got it off the floor.
Me: Ewww...he got it off the floor?
Mason: It had paper on it.

Chic-Fil-A

2006-07-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

So who in there right mind would stay 5 hours in Chic Fil-a if they didn't have to? I'll give you a hint... It's the person who still has on the lovely nail polish from yesterday.

So after school today, I took the kids to Chic Fil-a to meet Dana and her kids. I let them play on the playground. Then when Dana left I wondered if we could make it another 1 1/2 hours until the dinner, so I got the kids ice cream to tide us over until dinner. Then I realized that we only had 45 more minutes until the 99c deal for dinner. So I took the kids to the potty and let them play another 25 minutes.

Then we all got are kids' meals and ate.

They had an entertainer there, named Dennis Scott. Aparantly he is a well known children's song writer. (He tooted his own horn a lot) Anyway, the kids had a BLAST. They got up and danced and played the games. Everything was geared right for their age. My kids were having so much fun, that I called Dana to come back. She didn't know if she was going to come or not. I was about to leave when she came walking through the door. So we stayed another hour. The kids got to see Mr. Cow too. I thought Mason wasn't going to let go of him. He just kept hugging him and making it impossible for him to walk.

My friends Sean and Shari Burch and their children showed up. Dennis the entertainer got them to get up and dance the "boopsey daisy" song. Oh boy do I wish I had my camera!

I had planned on writing more about my trip today, but I am just pooped. I think we may go see the free movie at Opry Mills tomorrow. It just depends if I can get myself up and going in the morning and everyone dressed and ready to go.

Good night---I can no longer think any more.

Ashley's new business

2006-07-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh...Isn't a pedicure supposed to be relaxing? Go when you want to go. Sit while someone rubs your feet and paints your tonails. Sounds so nice doesn't it. Well, I just had one today. My daughter begged me to paint my nails. So I let her. I only bargained for a pedicure but got a manicure as well. I have some errands to run do I clean up my nails or do I make my girl happy and keep them painted for a day?

Ashley is starting her new business. She will work for toys. She can make housecalls if you are local. If you need more than one bottle of paint, it will cost extra.

-------------------------------------------------
On a side note: Ashley took this picture of Mason and me. I think it is kind of cute.

back in town

2006-07-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

We are back from vacation. I have so much to talk about, when will I ever have the time to blog? In some ways I feel I should not go back and just pick up from today. But too many cute pictures and I really need to have this all written down for myself. So I suppose I will be writing several blogs over the next few days.

It took us 12 1/2 hours to get home. It was a long trip home. But we really had a great time in Ohio.

This morning Ashley came into our room and I said, "Isn't it good to be home". She said, "NO- I wanna go back to Gramma's. Can we go back again?"

She doesn't want to take the long drive again though.

Oh by the way... Greg got up early, he had to run to work before going to church. So we were going to meet him at church. I got all of us ready and I can't find my keys. I hope they are packed somewhere and I will find them soon. So Mom if you find my keys, send them to me right away please. Thanks!

Fabulous long Weekend!

2006-07-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody!

We have had such a great time the last few days. First let me share these pictures from a few days ago.

This is Dana hugging my Ashley. She was so happy because my kids rarely give hugs to other people other than Greg and me.

And this is the dress that I made for Ashley. She wore it Sunday to church. And this is Papaw escorting her to the car.

We went to McDonalds on Saturday. I did not pose them for this picture. They just got up there and did this themselves! I got a whole bunch of pictures of the kids crawling all over him. I want to put the pictures in some sort of video format, because it is JUST like what they do to me on a daily basis. I just kept thinking over and over I know how Ronald feels.

On Sunday afternoon we went out on the boat. The kids LOVED it! Grampa let each of them drive the boat. We were supposed to see fireworks tonight, but they were cancelled due to the big thunderstorms. So they rescheduled them for tonight.

Then on to Today...It was a great day. First the kids got into the paddle boat with Greg individually and had a super time with just Dad.

Then they got to ride on the tractor with Papaw (Which Gramma got pictures, but I didn't) Then We went to the Zoo and it was simply gorgeous!

They even got to try rock climbing.

And I want to share one more picture of the Zoo because I just think it is beautiful. This is the snow leopard.

And last but definitely not least, we went out on the boat and saw the fireworks. Ashley fell asleep and stayed asleep through the whole thing. And Mason fell asleep during. And Austin did NOT like the noise, but we had ear plugs in his ears, his hands over his ears and then my hands over his hands on his ears. But he did turn around and said to me he liked all the pretty colors. (I just realized I didn't upload those pictures to the computer yet...so that will have to be tomorrow!)

Tomorrow we get to have a cookout and I get to meet up with a friend I haven't seen in a couple years. She just found out she is having twins. I can't wait to see her.

So until next time.... Have a safe and fun Holiday.

Happy 4th of July!

Oooooh I guess I better get to bed. I told Greg an hour ago that I wouldn't be to long.

Now I'm having a problem. Blogger is putting my pictures all over the place. If I didn't fix it this time then I'm gonna have to fix it in the morning. Good night.

my 2c on Oprah today

2006-06-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

As I was folding laundry, I turned on Oprah today.

I WISH I WOULD HAVE TURNED IT OFF!!!!!

Curiosity just kept me watching. Kind of like a bad movie...I just have to see how it ends (thinking it just must get better).

Well I really feel sick. I feel woozy and sick to my stomach!

If you didn't see it then good. If you did--then this post is for you!

I'm against it! Don't ask!

triplets getting into things

2006-06-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRNC4oqmw9k&mode=related&search

Check this link out. It made me teary eyed.

I had a dream

2006-06-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

I had a dream last night. The only part of it I remember is the part I woke up during.

I dreamed I was chewing gum and trying to make huge bubbles. There was so much gum in my mouth, I had a hard time chewing it.

Then it popped all over my face. I was trying to get it off of my face with my mouth. That's when I woke up to find that my mask slipped down and I was chewing on my mask.

I investigated the mask. I do have one bite mark, but I don't think I ruined it. Strange huh?

HCA Picnic and other stuff

2006-06-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

I made a dress for Ashley. I'm so excited about it. I did it without a pattern. Wahoo. I just looked at another one of her dresses and based it off of that.

What I wanted to do is make a dress for Ashley and one for a doll and give them to her for her birthday at the end of the month.

But when I finished making this dress, I didn't have enough material to make one for a doll. So I guess I'll have to try again with more material.

I'm going to let Ashley where this dress on Sunday.

I'd love to show you a picture, but I can't get my pictures onto the computer. I have so many cute pictures from last weekend too, when we went to the HCA picnic. UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH!

The kids rode on ponies and they just had a blast. Austin didn't want to get off. But we insisted that other people needed to take turns too. Ashley tells me everyday that she wants to go back sometime.

The kids and I got temporary tattoos. Ashley and I got butterflies. Austin got musical notes. And Mason got an ice cream cone. His was the first tattoo to come off and he told us that it melted.

Then I got a 15 minute massage. That was really nice. His company party does it up right.

The kids threw eggs and thought that was the funniest thing.

Then we went to get into the pool and they heard thunder so we all had to get out. The kids were SO disappointed! But it was still a fun day.

Now I just have to get these pictures off and SAVED before Saturday. I just know I'll be taking lots of pictures next week. I just love The 4th of July and all the activites that go with it.

frustrated with computer

2006-06-28T21:04:00.000-07:00

Ugggggggggh! I'm so frustrated. I can't figure out why my computer will not download the pictures from my camera.

Matter of Fact

2006-06-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

Two cute stories:

Austin: Mom, when I grow up Im going to marry Caroline and fall in love with her. But not when she's a kid, when she's a mom.

(of course then we had to explain...that you get married BEFORE you become a mom.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Austin: Mommy, is it my turn? (he wanted to play with Ashley's doll)
Me: yes.
Ashley: Will I get it back?
Me: Yes Austin, Ashley will get it back in a little while.
Austin: How about after not? How about not?

_________________________________________________

I said I was going to put on pictures, but Greg needs to use the computer....so I'll have to do it tomorrow.

They go to VBS tomorrow...Hip hip hooray!

Spending money

2006-06-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a really great time at Greg's company picnic. It was a blast. I'll get on later with some pictures and tell more about it.

But today: We usually go out to eat on Sunday afternoons. And today we were coming home to eat because we didn't have the money to go out. So we were trying to explain this to the kids. And Austin said, "Well go home first, go up into my bedroom and get my piggy bank. You can have the money out of there so we can go out to eat."

What a precious little soul!

Greg told him he wanted him to save his money {all $3 of it}. And that we didn't have to go out every Sunday.

drinking wine from a 3 year old

2006-06-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

Greg just told me this and it just made me laugh!

It's funny the things they remember and how it comes out in a conversation like this:

Austin: Uncle Wes drinks wine?
Daddy: yes he does
Austin: But, he doesn't drink enough to do dumb things.
Daddy: yes he likes to drink wine, but he only drinks a little at a time, so that he doesn't do dumb things.
Austin: We don't drink wine because it's NASTY.
Daddy: That's right it's NASTY.

update

2006-06-21T16:44:00.000-07:00

Just wanted those of you who know Dana, she left an update on Braxton in the comments of Blogging for Dana and Me.

I took the kids to see the Wallace and Grommit movie today at OpryMills. Ashley and Mason really got into the whole thing. And Austin just wanted to leave and go somewhere else most of the movie. Ashley and Mason were talking about it on the way home.

My friend Doris called me yesterday and told me of another VBS next week. I'd like to take the kids because they really like VBS, but I have to run it past the boss first. It makes him very nervous. He is SUPER protective. (Greg if you are reading this....we know people who go to this church.)

SOCKs

2006-06-20T21:41:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes you lose or just can't find socks and you wonder where they went? Did the dryer eat them? I have been running out of socks and knowing I have more. I thought for sure I had done the laundry with socks in them, but laundry is a never ending cycle and I thought they just must be in the load I haven't done.

Well I found them!! My kids have taken their socks and my socks and Greg's socks and put them into Kroger grocery bags and they were stuffed away in their toys.

YEP!!! 68 pairs of socks and several single socks (not counted). That is over 136 socks that I matched and put away.

How could someone miss 68 pairs of socks? They've been gone for months. I don't know!
_________________________________________________

This morning Ashley wanted Poppyseed chicken for breakfast. Well I told her we didn't have any poppyseed chicken and she said, "Well put it on the list".
She knows I keep a grocery list running on the refrigerator. I thought that was cute.

Blogging for Dana & Me

2006-06-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

Well first of all we would like to say Happy Birthday to Jann! It's not late it's just spreading the joy out to another day. :)

Well Father's day started out pretty good for me. I went to church and both class and the sermon was really excellent. I typically have a really hard time paying attention to the preacher for any length of time (ADD). But He was on fire on Sunday and he kept my attention. Both class and the sermon was about connecting/community within the church. We took Greg out to Cozymel's for Father's Day. It was pretty yummy.

Then Dana called...
Braxton was having an episode (as she puts it). His heart rate was up to 290. They decided to take him to the hospital, because they couldn't get it down themselves. So I rushed to their house to take care of Dalton. They took Braxton to Summit Hospital. It was not set up for cardio pediactrics, but they were able to get him stable. His heart rate was still high but stable. It took 4 times to convert him to get him stable. The last time this happened this bad, was 3 years ago on Father's Day, so it hasn't been the best day for them.

Summit wanted to trasfer him to Vanderbilt Childrens, but Vandy was slammed packed. They didn't want to take him because he was stable and they just didn't have the room. And Summit didn't want to keep him because they didn't have a pediactric cardiologist. So this went on and on for hours. Finally Vanderbilt agreed to take him. So then the next hurdle...the summit ambulance didn't want to take him because they were not set up for pediactrics. They had to wait for a Nashville ambulance to come and transport him. No one wanted to take responsibility. Obviously this was quite frustrating for Dana.

All the while, Braxton is hooked up to several wires and is hurting and just wants to go home.

They finally got him to Vanderbilt approximately 2:00AM. They were able to get his heart rate lowered. Now I really don't understand what happens, but I believe Dana told me they have to stop his heart to make it slow down and start pumping normally. Dana and Mike held it together very well. On the way over to their house I prayed for all of them as well as for myself to not be a basketcase because I knew they didn't need that to deal with too.

Dalton was SO good. He asked, where is Braxton? or Where is Brax? or Where is my brother? several times. Dalton and I played with trains and drew trains. Then around 8:30PM I said it's time to wind down. So I put on Thomas DVDs. Dana told me he would fall asleep on the couch. But he must have been too wound up. So by 11:00PM, I was tired too and I just said, "OK Dalton, I love you it's time to get in your bed." I hugged him and said I am right here. I really didn't think he would stay there, but the phone rang. It was Dana giving me an update and she told me where the CD player was. So I went in to turn it on and Dalton was out...just like that. It made us laugh a little bit.

So Mike came home around 3:30AM to relieve me and I went home to get a little sleep. I got 3 hours of sleep, poor Dana got something like 35 minutes. I was still tired so I sent my kids to a friend's house and came back and slept 3.5 more hours.

On the way home Dana called me and talked to me so I wouldn't fall asleep. And she was telling me what she would like to do for Jann's birthday. So Jann we were going to send you some really fun email (and we still might). I can't believe how she was thinking of others at this time, but she was. She is such a wonderful friend.

Please continue to pray for Braxton, this looks like something he will need to deal with the rest of his life now. Also, pray that Dana and Mike make the right decision in what medicines to give him. Some that are prescribed are very dangerous...if given too much he could die. So please keep them in your prayers.

WOW! more on this later, but I just got a call from a friend who is really struggling with religion. I've been on and off the phone with her for over an hour. It's strange how we got 2 different things from the sermon on Sunday. I was so excited about it, I took it as how we should be and she was reminded of how we used to be. Even though this has been a difficult conversation, it is really helping me hone in on what I truly believe and why. So how about keeping me in your prayers about saying the right thing; and for her to not hurt and be able to find a place where she can talk about God freely.

Little Miss Manipulator

2006-06-15T17:47:00.000-07:00

What am I going to do with my daughter? She is only 3 and she is a master manipulator.

Last night, I watched Braxton and Dalton while their parents went out to eat. So that made 5 three year olds. It really wasn't bad, but by 9:30 I was tired. Anyway, here is what my daughter did.

1. She shared her pink blankie with Braxton. She doesn't let anyone else touch it. In her manipulating voice she said, "Braxton (pronouncing every syllable like in the south) come sit next to me. You can share my blanket." So he shared it with her for a while and then he got down and did other things.

2. Later, while Braxton was playing with trains, she started up again. "Braxton come sit next to me." No response....Braxton was busy. So she says it again, "Braxton come share my blankie with me." No response again. So she yells out, "DO IT." I then got on to her that she was being rude.

3. Ashley was getting very tired. She asked me if I could scratch her back. I told her I couldn't because I was doing something. So she went on and on "I want SOMEBODY to scratch my back. Braxton, will you scratch my back?" I said, "Ashley leave him alone he is eating." So she continued to complain, "I want SOMEBODY to scratchy scratchy my back." So I tuned her out. So in about 5 minutes I guess Braxton had had enough. So he said, "Ok I'll do it."
He went over to her scratched her back and she lifted her shirt up so he could scratch some more. He stopped and she said, Thank you and he said your welcome. Then guess what? "Dalton, will you scratch my back?" And Dalton was right there to scratch her back. What am I going to do with her?

4. At VBS the teacher told me today that Braxton and Ashley hold hands everywhere they go.

So I was telling Greg about this and he is quite concerned about her. He said, "where did she learn this? It's not like you are a vixen or anything." Oh thanks Greg!

This is a picture of them yesterday at VBS. I told them to act silly. It was the best picture I got of them.

So I think I need some parenting advice. What do I say or do with Ashley?

freestyle challenge

2006-06-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

Ok this is very different for me. I decided to take the challenge on http://www.autumnleaves.com/freestyle/ for this week. And here is my entry:

It is of the kids' 3rd birthday party. I did a lot of stitching. I also wrote directly on the pictures. It's definitely not my normal style, but I like it.

half asleep

2006-06-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

My my my my my....I'm tired and tomorrow I might tell you why.

I always feel like I need to write something, even when I'm half asleep and can't really function well enough to tell a story.

So goodnight. I'll try to update tomorrow.

VBS and stuff

2006-06-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh! The second week of VBS. I purposely didn't tell Greg I was taking them to another VBS until after they went the first day. He is a big time worrier! And I wanted to be prepared to answer his questions. So I checked it out thouroughly. I LOVE THIS VBS! They are so organized and keep the kids going to different activities. The kids just loved it and came home talking all about it. The theme is around the world. And yesterday, they learned about Honduras and they made these cute hats and some maracas.

We met Greg for lunch and I told him and he growled at me. ***So Greg have you figured out yet that I'm looking for VBS's all over town to keep them busy all summer?*** How can you say no to children learning about God everyday?

Today I went for my annual. Got undressed and on the table when the nurse came in and said my doctor had to perform a c-section. So I could wait around for at least an hour waiting for her to come back or reschedule. So I rescheduled. UGH! Ok so I just wrote that and now I'm nervous about who might be reading this. Someone just linked me to their blog because I have triplets. So who is out there lurking?

Anyway, you can see that I cared enough to go back and erase it (ha!).

So this morning Mason came up to me like this:

After he showed me, he said, "ok ok I'll put them on the right way." He's so cute!

After school today we went to Dana's house for the kids to swim in the little pool. My battery was dead on my camera. UGH! Doris and Gabriel came too. The kids had fun splashing each other. Well except for Mason who does NOT like to get his face wet at all. Braxton and Ashley went off together to water plants.

When I was undressing Ashley to put her regular clothes on, the boys noticed her. One of the boys said, "you don't have a penis" and Ashley insisted that she did and tried to show them. Oh GEEESH! I told Ashley she did not have a penis. I refrained from using the "v" word this time, because I didn't know if the other mom's were ready to get into that conversation. I guess I'm going to have to be a little more discrete while dressing her now.

Have a good day! I'll try to check in tomorrow.

happy spiders!

2006-06-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

My kids are ALL ABOUT Happy Spiders. They learned about them from the Barney Halloween Video. So Saturday we made these happy spiders.

This one is Ashley's. It has 2 eyes, 2 cheeks, mouth, nose, one eye brow, 2 ears, one elbow and 2 feet.

This one is Austin's spider. He came downstairs a little later than the other 2. So he has 2 green eyes, 2 cheeks, nose, a mouth and 2 elbows.

This is Mason's spider. He kept asking for more and more things to put on his. He has 2 eyes, 2 cheeks, a nose, 2 ears, 2 eyebrows, 2 feet with toes and 1 elbow.

SO....when I was getting ready to go to Scrap It, Mason said he wanted more parts to put on his spider. He said, he wanted legs, arms and hands and breasts. I laughed. I told him Daddy would have to help him because I had to leave. So I was retelling Daddy what he had said to me. And when I got to the breasts. Daddy said Noooooooo, we're not going to make breast. And Mason just very sweetly said, "but I wanted to make a girl spider."

Happy Birthday Dad

2006-06-09T23:39:00.000-07:00

Today, June 9th is my Dad's birthday! Happy Birthday to you Dad! I hope you had a good one!

I got to go scrapbooking tonight. I had such a fun time! I got almost 3 layouts completed. I'm still trying to figure out how to finish my 3rd layout. And I'm excited I get to go back tomorrow and scrapbook some more. My honey is so good to me.

Where is the 3rd? & Happy Birthday Mom

2006-06-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

I realized yesterday that there is something really great about multiples. I think every Mom gets worried when they first send their children to school or to camp or VBS. But what is so great about multiples is that everyone is fascinated with them. I get a lot of cutesy remarks regarding the triplets. And yes the first 2 times you hear them it's cute. But the 10,352nd time gets to be annoying. I try not to show that it's annoying because it's mostly well meaning people who just want to say something. Ok so back to my point, I realized that when people see my kids they are always looking to make sure they are all there. I felt validated this morning as I took the kids into VBS today. As a Mom I would worry, if one went out the door would anyone notice. But I walked in the door the boys ahead of me and I was holding Ashley. From the office I heard a lady say, "that looks like the triplets....Where is the 3rd one?" Yes it is something I often hear, but it validated that they are looked out for. So if they are not looking out for each other...it's a good thing people are fascinated with them.

AND.....TODAY is my Mom's Birthday! Happy Birthday Mom! The kids called her today and sang happy birthday to her.

little camera

2006-06-07T20:37:00.000-07:00

I love my little camera. It's not the best of the best. But it does me just fine. It's a Nikon Coolpix 5200. It's small and I carry it in my pocket just about every where I go. Digital cameras are just so wonderful! (Especially with multiples!) You can snap 100 pictures without fear that you are wasting film. And maybe out of 100 pictures you might actually get a good one.

The kids went to VBS again today. THEY LOVE IT! Austin was saying he wants to go back. I wonder what they do that really gets them excited about it. I've asked them, but with what they say, nothing stands out different than a church day. Now I know they get together with all the ages and sing. I think that is cool...but they never mention that. They just mention what they learned and the toys in the room next to their class. So I just wonder what it is that makes them want to go back. Hmmmmmmmm.....!
So...Since my kids love VBS so much, does anyone know of any local daytime VBS's coming up in the next few weeks or months?

P.s. The kids had some fun moments today...but I'm letting Dana blog first about them. Plus she got better pictures than I did. (yes- that's a hint Dana)

ahhhh....peace at last

2006-06-06T19:05:00.000-07:00

What a day!

This week is VBS at my kid's MDO church. We invited Dalton and Braxton to come too. They are thrilled to be there. This is a picture of them the first day. They did this on their own. We didn't ask them to hold hands. I thought that was so sweet. I think Ashley and Braxton have a thing going on. :) He held her hand at the butterfly place to protect her from the butterflies. And when they walk out the door to go to the car they hold hands. It's so cute. I know Dalton made his move first, but Ashley set him straight right away. Both of them like to be in control---that would never work.

So while the kids played so did their moms! Dana came over and we played around with tiles. I made a few wedding presents.

So when I picked up my kids today, that is when things started going downhill. This was their 2nd day with their new teacher. Last year they did NOT like their teacher at all and it was so hard to get them into the car to get to school. Today, when I went to pick them up Mason had a fit because we were leaving. He wanted me to get his drink out of the car and come back in. So as I was fighting with Mason. I was also telling the others to get in the car. This is where I may have made my fatal mistake. I may have said to Ashley get in the back. OH CRUD! It's Austin's Day today and he gets to sit in the back. So now Austin is yelling at Ashley and Ashley said, Mommy said I could sit here. So then they are yelling at me. I told Ashley I'm sorry but it is Austin's day. I physically have to move her. And this is where she goes BALISTIC! I have never ever seen her this bad before. So she is squirming out of her car seat trying to get her cup on the floor. I reach over and get the cup for her and fought with her to get back into her seat. She throws the cup on the floor, because she wanted to get it herself. This went on for quite awhile. I told her if she didn't get in her seat I would have to spank her. And I had to. So then the story continues....
She finally reaches the cup on her own and then cries for me to open her drink holder tray. I reach back while I'm driving and open it. When I do that I break my nail. It was really irritating so I tried to bite it off. This is where it gets comical. My nail gets stuck in my tooth and it is still atached to my finger. Ashley starts screaming even louder. I thought may be I caught her finger when I opened the tray. So I can't get my finger out of my mouth, driving down the road afraid that now my daughter is hurt and I start to panic. Austin's yelling up to the front..."Mommy don't cry". I can't talk to him because my stupid finger is still stuck in my mouth. Finally I'm able to get it loose. I'm not even sure what happened next. I just know that I've past at least 2 cops and I'm driving faster to get home. They must have known not to mess with a woman who has her finger stuck in her mouth.

I made it home safe. I tried to put Ashley to bed, but she just freaked out. So I sat down to watch Sleeping Beauty with them. Ashley in my right arm leaning on me. Mason on my left arm. And Austin at one point is sitting on my shoulders. Mason fell asleep. But Ash and Aus did not.

Oh but that's not all...(Are you still with me?)

Ashley wanted to paint. She wanted to paint something other than paper, but I didn't have anything else. So she settled for a big piece of paper. I put it on the floor and give her some paints. Well she uses all that paint and then goes and gets the jars of thank goodness Crayola Washable Paint. Austin joins in. (This usually means trouble). I said "DO NOT dump the paint." Austin said, "See, I have a hard time with that" I said, "just use your paint brush and don't dump the paint." Austin, "Well Mom, I just have a hard time with that." So I turn around to see paint dumped on his paper. Big HUGE piles of paint. So what happens next...I'll just let the pictures describe the rest of the story...

Oh I forgot to mention that Ashley finished painting on one side and turned it over to paint on the other side.

And thanks to Dana who is bringing her carpet steam cleaner over tomorrow so I can get the footprints of paint off the steps leading up to the shower.

I had to wake up Mason- and when I do that he is grumpy. So the last 3 hours were just screaming, crying and whining from all three. I fianlly got them all in bed and at 9:00 I had some peace.

Greg had to go to church camp to give a talk...so he didn't get home until just a few minutes ago (10:15PM) He did well until the very end when it turned into a dissaster. Now he's afraid parents are going to be calling the church and he is going to have to defend what he said. Long story but for another day. Poor Greg!

Elsie- Who is she?

2006-06-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Will my scrapbooking friends please enlighten me on who Elsie is?

thanks!

Address to Butterfly house

2006-06-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

Before I forget...

Many of you have asked where the butterfly house is.

The name of the place is Bloom's nursery and landscaping (AKA Green Thumb Nursery and Garden). It is at 610 Thompson Lane.

It's $4 for adults and $3 for children.

B is for Butterflies

2006-06-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the kids learned about butterflies. Ms. Dana was their teacher. She specifically asked me not to take any pictures of her. And usually I respect that, but this picture is so good of her. Besides, you should see the picture she has of me on her blog: http://www.beckmantwins.blogspot.com/

She did ask me "after the fact" if it was ok. So I guess I'll just ask her "after the fact".

The kids colored butterflies and their pupas. Yes that was a new word for me too.

Then after our lesson we went to the butterfly house to see REAL butterflies.

Braxton said he wanted to touch a butterfly. He patiently put his arm out very still everytime one came near to him. And one actually got on him. He was SO PROUD. After that Mason tried to hold his arm out for one to fly on him. But it was more like he would put him arm on them and scare them away. And Austin- OH AUSTIN. I think he was pretending to be a SPASTIC butterfly. He was so excited he just ran around flapping his arms. And Ashley, well she said she was going to be brave this time. But it didn't happen. I had to carry her most of the time. Dana relieved me for a few minutes, just as the butterfly got on Braxtons arm. I hope she got a good picture, despite holding Ashley. And while we were there we even got to see the pupas. It was very facinating and beautiful and educational.

Outside fun

2006-05-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

We had fun outside yesterday. I stayed in the shade as much as I could and then I moved inside and stayed by the Kitchen window where I could see everything they were doing. This is the first time I let them play outside by themselves. Granted we have a fenced in backyard and I still watched them like a hawk. So to you experienced moms...When did you let your children play outside by themselves?

Austin just loves the water. He would jump in it and get his hair wet and just had a great time.

Mason did not like getting wet. He did
everything he could to walk around the water. He was so upset that his pants (swim trunks) got wet. He liked playing with the water just not in it. In this picture he is happy because he is not getting wet but spraying it at Ashley.

Ashley had a fun time too. But she mainly liked to pick it up and spray everyone else including me. I put on a cute "Memorial Day" looking bathing suit on her, but she would have nothing to do with it. She had to have this one on.

Today we are back to our normal routine. I just got them dressed for the day (2:00PM) and I'm still in my nightshirt. I've tried to start several things, laundry, dishes, picking up toys and I keep getting distracted. I'm surprised they haven't come up here while I was working on this blog. Oh here they come!

So now I need to go get dressed and try to get something done before we go pick up Daddy at work and go to 99 cent Chic-Fil-a. Talk to y'all soon.

Happy Birthday Nana!

2006-05-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

Today is Nana's birthday! Happy Birthday Gayle. We made you a cake and sang Happy Birthday to you. I've got it on a little video, I hope it won't be too large to send via email.

I didn't have a cake mix, so I looked up a yellow cake recipe in the cookbook. I was surprised at just how easy it is and tastes better. Why would I want to buy another box again?

Ashley wanted pink icing and Austin wanted purple. And Mason just wanted to dump sprinkles on it. I hope you had a nice birthday! We love you!

Permanant marker

2006-05-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

Even though I told most of you this story, I've got to get it in writing.

Yesterday, Austin and Ashley found a permanent marker and wrote on a Kitchen chair and up under the Kitchen table. I was able to get off the marker on the chair, but I didn't try too hard to get the marker off the bottom of the table.

They KNOW better than this! I really got onto them and told them, "I'm sorry but I have to give you a spanking". And Austin said, "We were just trying to make it pretty." And I explained, that I'm glad that it's pretty, but it doesn't matter if it is pretty or ugly we are NOT allowed to draw on anything but paper. So after I spanked him about 10-15 minutes later he came up to me and said, "I forgive you Mommy".

Oh THIS child! I couldn't help but laugh!

Oh the wonderful things....

2006-05-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

...my kids can get into. Yes isn't this cute? I guess they got hungry. So they decided to get the Whole Bowl out of the refrigerator. And if you look to the right of the Mason's knee you will see they put parmesan cheese on it too. Isn't is lovely?

And then later in the day they found a rubber band ball. Let's look to see what they did with it...

Oh the wonderful things they get into!

Then Wednesday Dana and I started homeschooling our kids together. As we were discussing what we were going to do first, the kids got on her exercise machine. Check them out...

They had a blast.

So for our homeschooling check this out: Dana's kids are 8 months younger than my kids, so we started with the short sound A for them and we did the "ai" sound for my kids.

The theme for the week is trains. So we have learned about the different cars on a train.
Then after we went over most of the posters, we read some books, played some games and then had our art project. They p"ai"nted and glued on "a"pples. I think it went very well.

busy

2006-05-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

I've been really busy. I'll update soon though.

I can't wait to go to the crop tomorrow. I need a night off.

One of THOSE days

2006-05-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well we were having ONE OF THOSE DAYS today. Is it a full moon? We went to Pizza Hutt and the kids were all over the place. Climbing over the booths, getting under the tables, running to and from the bathroom. I was so embarrassed. I know if this was someone else and I was witnessing this, I would have thought, "Gee get your children under control". Believe me I tried. There wasn't much I could do. I tried putting Mason in my lap for time out but he just screamed. I was ready to spank, but you can't do that in public anymore.

Anyway, one guy came up to me as I was looking so flustered and talked about how when his child was that age he wished that age away. And now he regrets wishing it away. His son came around the corner and he was about 14. Then he said as he was leaving, "You know what they say, God doesn't give you more than you can handle." And I said, "Yes, but also in the
Bible the people begged and prayed for a King and God said ok and gave it to them." He got a chuckle out of that.

So do you want to see a scary picture? I know I would be embarrassed to wear this in front of any of my friends, so I thought I would just get it over with and show the whole world...

pretty huh?

But I am sleeping very well because of it!

Last night I went to Dana's and scrapbooked. I got 2 layouts done, and I organized some. I also got 3 easy layouts done before I got to her house. I'll have to take pictures and put them on later (probably tomorrow).

Tonight Greg and I are going to see Annie the musical. We haven't gone on a date in a very long time. It will be nice to get out.

CPAP night and Alias

2006-05-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

So you want to know how it went?

Surprisingly I feel better rested today. You are saying surprisingly?

Yep, I was up a lot last night. It doesn't help to drink 8 8oz glasses of water the second half of the day. And I really need to get use to this machine. I woke up in a panic that I was getting carbon monoxide poisoning, and I was having a hard time waking up. I forced myself up and went downstairs to read more about the machine. I felt a lot of air coming out the back of the mask and I thought that wasn't right. So I called the 24 hour support line at 3 in the morning, to find out that is what it is supposed to do.

I slept the rest of the night on the couch. Mason came downstairs and said, "Mommy? Mommy? Did you get a good night's sleep?"

You should see me...this machine makes me look like a monster. I guess I won't be waking up with perfect hair anymore. :(

It kind of scares Greg to see me hooked up. It makes him think that I'm in a hospital or something fighting for my life.

But all in all... with the little amount of sleep I did get, I think I feel better. I'm a bit groggy, but I have more energy than usual.

Now....Ughh! with everything going on yesterday I forgot to tape Alias. Urrrr...Anyone out there taped it and can let me see it? I'm embarrassed to ask Tracie again. :) (but Tracie if you are reading this, I would be so obliged if I could borrow it). Is obliged the right word?

CPAP Machine

2006-05-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

I GOT it today!! Wahoooo! I got my CPAP machine. I know it will take time to get use to. I'm a little nervous. I'm afraid my ears will pop. They said if you are congested to call your doctor and ask if you should use the machine, because there is a possibility of your ear drums bursting. That really freaks me out. I'm not overly congested. Just my normal allergies. But when I was trying it out earlier, my ears were trying to pop (like if you were going through the mountains). They said that might happen, but it still freaks me out.

Anyway, I'll let you know if I got a good nights sleep tomorrow.

Electric Toothbrush

2006-05-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

So if you found your electric toothbrush on and wet would you:

A) Rinse it off real well and put it back in the drawer.

B) Try to sterolize it thinking it might have been in your child's mouth.

C) Throw it away and buy a new one, because who knows where it has been. It may have fallen in the toilet, been in the dog's mouth or used to clean the grime off the floor.

Yes, that happened and I didn't take any chances with three 3 year olds. Luckly I went to the store and was able to pick one up before I needed to use it again.

Mother's Day

2006-05-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was a very nice day.
Greg made pancakes for me in the morning.
Ashley actually sang a "mommy song" instead of a "daddy song"
The kids cuddled with me this morning and told me happy mother's day.
It was very sweet.

I teach the 2 and 3 year olds on Sunday morning and we made a really cute craft for Mother's Day. We asked each of them to answer questions about their moms and we wrote them down on paper flowers. Some of the answers were hysterical. I asked one kid how old his mom was and he said, "um...like 10". And another...Why do you love your mommy?...because I like it when she buys me gifts. I love this answer from Austin...What is your Mommy's favorite thing to do?....Eat and wash dishes. LOL! They were a hoot!

Doris and Gabriel joined us for lunch today at Outback. Unfortunately Outback took a tremendously long time to get seated and a tremendously long time to get our food out to us. The kids were tired and by the time we got our food they were ready to go home. Outback is my favorite resteraunt, so I know what the food usually tastes like. And I was extremely disappointed with the food today. I sent my steak back because I asked for medium and I got WELL DONE and tough. Then when my steak finally got to me the second time it was RARE and so much seasoning on it that it tasted bad. I don't mind medium rare, but rare is nasty. I brought it home. I figure if I cook it some more Greg will like it. But it was still nice to be out and not have to think of something to cook.

My Mom and Mother-in-law got their gifts yesterday in the mail. I think they really like them. Here's a picture of my Mom with her gift. (Hint hint Gayle) I made those altered clipboards for them. You can see Mom's in the picture. And Gayle's is like mine, made with pinks and blues. I took Ashley's dress and scanned it in to use as paper on ours.

Well I hope your day was a pleasant one and that tomorrow is even better.

I need suggestions please!

2006-05-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

Well my kids' birthday is coming up in 2 months. My friend, Stephanie who's twins were born 4 days after mine, has her kids birthday already planned. AND she has a baby on the way. I on the other hand am still trying to figure out if I'm going to have a big party or small party or what. So I need your help.

My kids will be 4 on July 27th. I don't want to spend lots of money. Do I "try" to let them pick out their own theme? I don't see how they will all agree on the same thing. Do I "try" to make a party with 3 different themes? Should I just pick a theme and not even ask them?

I have 2 boys and 1 girl. I'm not willing to have 3 parties. I'm sure that will come later on.

What things should we do at the party? Play games? We attempted musical chairs last year and pin the tail on the donkey...they were all too young for it. I was a basketcase last year...I think I want things toned down or just be very well prepared. Do you have any suggestions?

ALSO, I want to make the guest bedroom into Ashley's room for her birthday. But Ashley doesn't want her own room and Austin does. So what do I do now?

updates

2006-05-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

Here's an update:

I had my sleep study last night and I did very well with the CPAP machine. I should receive a call from them tomorrow asking when they can come by and set it up. YAY! I went into my REM sleep 6 times last night. I woke up several times thinking that surely the night was over. I wasn't use to getting that kind of sleep. The sleep tech said it will take time for my body to get use to it. But I still feel better than usual.

I need to get to the post office. My Mother's Day gifts will probably arrive late. But what else is new? (Sorry) Have I ever been organized? Ok maybe when I was on Ritilin. :)

I want to scrapbook. There is NO crop this weekend. You would have thought I had enough last weekend, but nope. Now I'm in withdraw. I started a layout that I haven't finished and I want to work on it. The next crop is not for another 2 weeks. (oh my I'm getting dizzy) I'm gonna have to figure out how to crop at home.

This is the last day of school for the kids. I've signed them up for the Summer and they go back in June. But that is 2 weeks without a break, no scrapbooking, even my friend Dana is in Chicago. It's so nice to have playdates at her house. The kids play together and we are able to usually do something crafty while they play. What will I do? You say, Clean my house? Oh man that doesn't sound like much fun.

The layouts I did over the weekend

2006-05-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

Well here they are. I will write out the journaling underneath the photo if there is any.

-----Journaling---------
Ashley: Mommy, I want my Coke.
Me: Ok
Ashley (starts to giggle): I mean my Dr. Pepper, did you hear me? I said coke.
Me: You know what Ashley? In the south people call Dr. Pepper Coke.

You are my delight in little chipboard letters and tag.

----Journaling----

Every night at bed time we liten to Twila Paris' lullabys. I like to sing this song to you because all of you are my delight. You are my treasures! Mommy

In letter brads around the layout it says: What I want to be when I grow up. I put journaling on the back: Ashley age 3 (October 2005)

I asked the kids what they want to be when they grow up. Mason says a fire fighter. Austin says an engineer (train) and Ashley says she wants to be a princess.

---journaling reads---

Ashley on the left ~ age 3 and that's me on the right ~ age 3 1/2.

---journaling reads---

Mas was trying to give me a raspberry, but he wasn't doing such a great job. So I said, "Mason, you're spitting on me." and he said, "Mommy, I'm not spitting on you, it's just raindrops from my mouth."

---journaling reads---

Since Ashley has gotten her haircut, she always says she has Mommy hair. She does look just like me. The other day she said she wanted to be like Daddy. So she messed up her hair and said now I look like my Daddy.

No journaling except I put Easter 2006 on the back.

I actually made this tag as a make and take at the CK convention. I rarely use my make and takes, but this went well.

---Hidden journaling reads----

Today I was teaching my kids' Bible class and I slightly unprepared. So when we were playing with Play doh I tried to relate it to God. So I said, "God made our hands. Do you know why God made our hands?" I was expecting to hear "to feel" or "to touch". But Mason chimed in, "to keep them to ourselves." That's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. He must have learned that from school.

---just a little journaling on the back---

I just love it when Ashley wheres piggy tails. She doesn't let me put them in here hair very often.

Ashley December 2005

Our Couch

2006-05-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

We got our new couch yesterday. I love it. They gave me a 4 hour window of when it would be delivered. The window was from 10-2. I dropped off the kids at MDO came home sat down for a minute and called Greg. Then the doorbell rang. They were actually 1/2 hour early. I was glad because I had several things I wanted to do today. But, they had to give me a chance to vacuum. It was hard for them to get it in the door, but it's in here and I'm happy. The kids like it too. Who knows what Greg thinks. I think he is just happy if I'm happy.

Now I can make the guest room into Ashley's bedroom, because this one has a hideaway bed.

Just us girls

2006-05-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

Yet again I find myself without any time to write in my Blog. But I wanted to leave you with this cute picture. That's me and my daughter Ashley!

This week

2006-05-07T17:03:00.000-07:00

I went to a scrapbooking retreat this weekend. I am so excited I feel like I was so successful! Usually I do 1 or 2 really great layouts and the rest are kind of mediocre. But I got 9 layouts done and I am proud of everyone of them. I suppose I need to scan them in and put them on my blog.

I'm so tired and drained I might just go on to bed. The kids are actually asleep.

Tomorrow the kids have their second interview/comprehension IQ. I need to be prepared and take some toys to play with and a magazine for me.

And on Tuesday....Yahooooooo! We get our new couch.

And Wednesday night I have my sleep study. Whooooopeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I'll post more later when I'm not so out of it.

I hope you have a great week!

Catching Up!

2006-05-02T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well I'm tired....but what else is new? Actually, I have my sleep study scheduled for next Wednesday, May 10th. I can't wait! I hope they call and have an opening this week, I sure would like to start getting some good quality sleep and be rested for the BIG SCRAPBOOKING RETREAT this weekend.

Alot has been going on since I last posted. My Mom came to visit onThursday. We went to the CK scrapbook convention on Friday. Here is a picture of us hanging out with Lisa B. We had a great time getting ideas and buying way too many things. On Saturday she wasn't feeling well so she left to go home early. Please pray for her, she is not sure why she has pain in her face. She thought it was an abcess tooth, but the dentist is saying that that is not the reason she is having the pain in her face. I'm sure it is part of it and I hope when it is fixed the pain will go away.

She had brought the kids birdhouses to paint while she was here. So before she left on Saturday, even before breakfast I got out the paint so they could paint their houses. We didn't get any pictures. HA! (More like we got 500.) With both of us being shutterbugs, it was ridiculous how many pictures we actually got.

Saturday, we went to a fabulous wedding! We are so excited to finally see our friends get married. He is 52 and this is his first marriage. The place was packed! He is a cinematographer, so when the preacher presented them as Mr. & Mrs. Mark Pleasant then we heard the beginning (oh shoot, I don't know what it is called). When you go to a movie and you hear the music go from one ear to the next. Well that's what they played. The kids fell asleep during the music and then we woke them up for cake. They were one of the highlights after the wedding was over. We sat there while everyone exited and commented on them. Well they do look awfully cute!

We had another big day on Sunday (as usual). At church they had the baby dedication day. I love this day now, 5 years ago it was too hard for me to watch. But I cried with joy as all those parents brought their children forward, especially for those who adopted or had a hard time conceiving.

Monday, we had a playdate with Braxton and Dalton. The kids painted and had a great time. I love that Ms. Dana is so crafty. She is a great Mom and friend.

That gets us caught up to today. Are you still reading? Thanks! Today, I took the kids for their interview with a counselor to try to get them into Encore. All 3 of them passed part 1. Now they need to go back on Monday to take a comprehension IQ test for part 2. I don't remember what they each need to get, but I thought it was kind of high. So now I'm nervous. I was VERY pleased to hear Ashley passed the pre-reading test. I wasn't sure if she would. The boys usually outshadow her. All of the kids are above average, which is nice to hear. And I was very pleased to know Austin is well beyond above average. It was hard waiting there while they tested. I was out in the hallway with the 2 that were not testing at the time. It was a long hallway with no pictures, drab walls with a dark reddish looking stripe and a table with 3 chairs at the end of the hallway. After Ashley tested I asked the lady for some paper so they could draw. That helped a bit with the waiting. But there were no toys, I was quite surprised. Next time I will be ready. All the kids were thirsty and hungry and I had nothing to give them. Needless to say I was drained by the time it was over. She explained some things, but most of it I didn't understand. I think I'll send Greg next time. LOL! Well that's it! Thanks for reading!

Saturday Pass

2006-04-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

Does anyone who is planning to go to CK convention tomorrow need a pass to get in? We have an extra one for the taking. Contact me on my email if you want it and we can try to arrange how to get it to you. I wish I would have thought of calling people earlier.

eskimokisses@bellsouth.net

Lets take a poll

2006-04-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

I'm wondering if I'm the only person who likes glossy photos.

I really like the photos that are in between glossy and matte. I don't know what that is called, but it's too expensive to get my photos developed on that consistantly. I think Eckerds has that nice photo paper.

But if it's between glossy and matte which do you prefer?

To post a comment...click on comments next to the time of post. Write your comment. If you are not a blogger, change the identity to anonymous and click login and publish. Make sure to type your name in the comment.

Hey I know some of you HCA people read this...I want to hear from you too.
Come out of hiding you lurkers...you know who you are.
Hey D'ann and Terry do you still read my blog?

tickled

2006-04-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

A little laugh! I hope this tickles you like it tickled me this morning.

Ashley: Mommy look

Me: Oh Ashley that is great! Can you tell me who they are?

Ashley: This is Mommy and this is Daddy.

Me: And who is this? (pointing to the small circle at the bottom, expecting her to say it was her.)

Ashley: That's a little kid with no mouth.

I've fallen and I just can't get pigs off the brain?

2006-04-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

What a day! What a day! Can you believe they are sick again? UGH! I took them to the doctor today. Ashley has a double ear infection. No wonder she has been acting terrible. I just wish I would have known earlier, but my kids have a high tollerance for pain. And all of them have goopy eyes. YUCK! So they are all on eye medicine and Ashley is on an antibiotic.

So is it a boy thing when they get sick they hang on Mommy and just look pitiful? And is it a girl thing that when they get sick they just get mean? It's been a trying day.

I went to the chiropractor today. I didn't post that I fell down on Friday. Yep! I fell over a box of toys. I couldn't catch myself and I landed on my chest and left side. I am surprised at how much pain I was/am in that I don't have a noticable bruises on my body! I bruise so easily. If a corner of a table is within 2 feet...somehow it jumps out and gives me a bruise. Am I spelling bruise right? It doesn't look right to me. Anyway, I really thought I had broken something on Friday! I heard my neck snap when I fell. And the fall took my breath away. I had a hard time swallowing the first night. I had to cancel scrapbooking on Saturday, which was a HUGE bummer! But I rested all day and I have progressively gotten better each day. My chest and my arms hurt today, but there is nothing the chiropractor can do with those.

Ok I know it's time to go to bed when visions of pigs start going through my head...Why am I thinking of pigs? And one is talking to me and she has a curley wig, her mouth is moving but I have no idea what she is saying. This is very odd..... I better go to bed. Goodnight!

A Fun day Out

2006-04-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

What a fun day yesterday. I got these matching outfits at the twins/triplets sale. It is very rare to find clothes that match for boys and girls. First we ate a Chic-Fil-A and let them play on the playground. Then we went to the mall.

We rode the carousel once.

And the kids rode the train 3 times. Austin was going nuts! We rode it once then went to a store. I told him we would ride it again, but he was so impatient. When I finally said we could go, he was going as fast as he could to get there. Atleast 30 steps ahead of us. And well one good thing is he knew exactly how to get there. They had a blast!

By the way, since I see Sam Goody in the background of this picture I think I'll bring this up. I have decided never to shop there. Not that I would anyway, but I was VERY offended by a big sign they had up in the front of their store. It said, "nuckinfutz". It just made me so angry.

Anyway, on to better news. Today, Gail (my MIL) and I went shopping for a sofa bed. We found one and I should have it delivered to me in 30 days. How cool! Since I am changing the guest room into Ashley's bedroom, they wanted to get us this couch so they would have a place to sleep when they came to visit. Thank you Steve and Gail! I'm very excited!

What will tomorrow hold? I have no plans but to get my hair trimmed.

Good news

2006-04-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

I'm really tired so I'll try to make this quick.

I'm EXCITED I just got diagnosed with sleep apnea today. I've known for some time, but I finally got the diagnosis today. I need to go back to the sleep clinic and sleep there with a CPAP machine on, and then I will be on my way to feeling tons better.

So when I saw the doctor today to interpret my sleep study he told me that:

1. I woke up every 3 minutes
2. That I stopped breathing 21 times every hour
3. That I went into each sleep cycle, and I had apnea in each cycle
4. And that I only went into REM sleep one time. He said I am very REM deprived.
5. He said the CPAP machine is the only thing that can help me. That surgery wouldn't even help.

I can't wait to get this machine and start being able to sleep. Speaking of I'm about to fall asleep right now.

But I have a few more things to say if I can stay awake.

Yesterday, we went to Braxton and Dalton's birthday party. They got a new swing set so the kids climbed and played on that. And they had a ton of fun with bubbles. (mainly dumping the bubbles and putting their hands in it.) The kids helped decorate the cakes and they got to paint frames. (How cool is that?) The kids had pizza and the adults had yummy Famous Daves barbecue.

Today Nana flew in from St. Augustine to visit. So I took advantage of having another adult here to teach the kids Candyland. It didn't go well at the beginning. They each wanted to pick their color. So they were upset if they didn't get the color they wanted. Here is a great picture of the "Candyland pout". After Greg had a talk to her, she came down and they played another game. They really did very well. We had to watch to make sure they went in the direction they were supposed to go though.

(shoot I had 4 more pictures to put on but Blogger is being Stubborn and won't let me... so off to bed I go) goodnight!

Easter Sunday

2006-04-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

I took lots and lots of pictures today. How will I ever pick the ones I will scrapbook. Here are a few.

We had a lot of fun today. Last night the kids helped clean the family room so that the Easter bunny would have a place to put their baskets. **Man I should have thought of that before. I can't believe how fast they cleaned up. Maybe the Easter bunny will visit weekly. HA!

Mason said, he wanted to stay up and see the Easter bunny. He thought she was beautiful and wanted to give her a hug. How cute.

They found their baskets right away. They each got flashlights and bubble guns. We took the bubble guns to church to play out in the courtyard after church.

This is Aussie.

This is Mason, he insisted on holding the flowers.

I thought that this picture of Ashley and Austin with their backs turned kind of looked like a Holly Hobby moment, or maybe a Norman Rockwell picture.

During the service today each member of every family brought flowers to put on the cross. I just love Easter Sunday!

Here Daddy is playing monster with the kids.

And then I thought this was a sweet picture of me and Mason at Logan's Steak house.

Easter Egg Hunt

2006-04-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

We went to an Easter Egg hunt today. They had a really great time. I was a "little" disappointed because everyone was supposed to bring 12 eggs for each kid. None of my kids got 12 back and some of them didn't even have anything in them. So that was a bummer. I just told my kids I would give them more at home and they were satisfied with that.

I took these 2 pictures when we got home. I really like the picture of Ashley walking away from the camera with the dandelions in a bucket.

misconceptions

2006-04-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this comment my friend Jann wrote on my last post. Do you think I should set her straight or just smile and go on? She may be right on one thing, I'll let you make the decision of which one you think it is.

Even if they aren't learning anything -- I am!
1. I have learned what a creative and proactive Mommy you are.
2. I have learned that you make considered decisions (you didn't just run out and get those crocs).
3. You are willing to have "messy fun."
4. You tackle more than one project at a time.
5. You have a clean house....I am impressed.

I knew I liked you! Have a Happy Easter

Prescription for Shoes

2006-04-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

Well it's confirmed, I have heel spurs on both feet. So I HAD to go buy some new shoes. :)
My doctor looked at my tennis shoes and said my feet were touching the ground in them.

So I bought the ever popular Crocs. They are not so bad. I got black because they would go with more things. Although, I think they are hot. I don't like hot feet. And I bought some very supportive sneakers.

We are still on the "NT" theme. So we did fingerprints. And when I get the family room clean then I will get out the paints. (I'm hoping that is today.)

Tomorrow we go on an Easter Egg Hu"nt".

Do you think they are actually learning anything?

Embarrassing moment

2006-04-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

On our way home from coloring Easter eggs today my daughter informed me she had to go to the bathroom. I said can you wait 'til we get home? NO!, she answered. I said OK, as I am going down a long stretch in the street where I just don't know where to stop. She says, "Pee pees are coming out." So I quickly called a friend that I haven't seen in months, since we were close to her house.

First of all I thought they had one of those answering machines that says Hello? Hello? Anyone there? because it sounded like an answering machine. But when I said this is Chelle, he repeated my name back to me. So I thought I better start talking. Anyway, I asked if my daughter could use their bathroom. They said sure come over, it will be nice to see you. So I get there in time thank goodness and they are having a party. HELLO? I was so embarrassed. I felt like I was crashing it. So I sheepishly said thank you. And she asked if we wanted to stay for dinner. Oh yes, like I'm going to come into their house use their restroom and eat with them on the spur of the moment.
I laughed and said no, but thanks for letting us stop by.

Then on the way out. Her twin boys were on the porch watching us leave. And they said, "Are you going?" I said, "Yes, we just stopped to use the bathroom". Then they said, "Oh OK well you can go in our grass." LOL!

Lovely potty training moment.

Quints?

2006-04-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

No just my triplets coloring easter eggs with their twin friends. They colored eggs today and had a blast. I'd like to say they pai"NT"ed their eggs to stay in my "NT" theme, but they really didn't. I suppose we will just have to paint on Friday. They couldn't get enough eggs. They were coloring them left and right.

This is Braxton. Such a sweet fellow! Very sensitive and just precious!

This is Dalton. This picture really captures his personality. I can't help but laugh at him.

This is MY Aussie. He is smiling because he really wanted to go home and I said if you smile, we will go.

This is my girl Ashley. She said, "Come on let's go so we can eat these eggs."

And this is MY Mason. He was SO proud of his eggs. He was carrying them everywhere!

Then here are the quints again showing off their colored eggs. Aren't they so cute?

Planting Seeds.

2006-04-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

Today started out to be a fairly good day, despite the tummy aches. We are learning about the "nt" blend. So I decided to have the kids pla"nt" some seeds today.

Who knows whether the seeds will come up or not. My children had a different idea about planting than I did. First they dug up dirt. And then they put the dirt in some area not around where we were planting the seeds.

Then I gave them the seeds. They did pretty well with this part. They seem to scatter them where they were supposed to go.

Then I tried to cover up the seeds with the extra dirt (hmmm where did it go?), but they just wanted to step in them. So who knows where these wild flowers will pop up if they got on their shoes.

Then came the watering. Yes, they all had turns watering. So now we have a very wet spot of dirt with seeds hopefully still in the ground.

I guess the main thing is they had fun. Fun...fun...fun until they came inside and fell apart.

I would like to apologize to anyone who called me today, because I don't think I finished one conversation. And that is including the doctor's office. I had to cut that short because Austin was about to break his leg.

Fun weekend

2006-04-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!

Well the weekend was great. Friday we had a playdate at the Beckman's house. They painted their playroom like a jungle. They call it the Diego room. Dana's husband, Mike, made a loft type of thing with a rope to swing on. The kids had a blast! They would jump from the top to a mattress on the floor.

Then the weather got bad. So Dana quickly moved things in her garage so I could pull my car in. Good thing too, because there was hail. We ended up staying at her house all day playing in the lower level. I hate storms and it was so nice to be in a safe area with a friend.

Then Greg picked up the kids after work and we got to go to Scrap It. We giggled all night long. I got 2 layouts completed (4 pages) and I redid one that was really bugging me. I usally don't do that, but it just needed to be done. I went back to Dana's house after the crop and we scrapbooked until 3:30 in the morning. I felt like a school girl again, spending the night and sleeping in. I came home giddy and was ready to face the day with my kids, while Greg took his turn out to go writing.

Sunday we went to church and played on the playground after church. (And when I can get blogger to upload some pictures I'll do that.)

So now it's Monday. I woke up with a little tummy ache and so did 2 of the kids. Oh please-NO more sickness! I had to cancel some plans, because I didn't want to risk getting my pregnant friend sick. But I still have some plans for today....I better get the kids dressed.

My Children...

2006-04-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

...ARE MONSTERS!

Can you hear that screaming at your house? I certainly wouldn't be surprised!

Third Round!

2006-04-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

This has been a yucky week.

Ashley got sick on Saturday night. So we were up all night long with her.
We missed church on Sunday.
Sunday night was terrible terrible weather. We prayed no one would get sick. I was afraid we were going to be stuck in the hallway in close quarters and have a sick child. But God spared us from the bad weather and a sick child!-But we were up all night with the weather.
Then early early this morning Mason comes to our bed and is sick. And then we were up the rest of the night with him.

In the morning I didn't think i could make it. Greg took Ashley and Austin to the doctor. (Ashley is hurting when she goes to the bathroom.) He had to get a urine sample from her. I'd like to say I'm glad it wasn't me, but I really feel for him. That must have been awful. And I stayed home with sick Mason. The good thing is that I got to sleep when he slept. It was a "relatively" peaceful day.

So about 6:00PM Mason is feeling well and at 8:00PM Round 3 begins. Austin is sick now. I'll be taking the first shift, by trying to sleep in the recliner in their room. Then Greg will take over around 2:00. I need sleep to function.

Greg has a very busy week at work and he needs sleep and prayers to get things accomplished.

Please pray Greg and I don't get this sickness and that it is over with in the morning. Each sickness has lasted about 15 hours. I better go get some rest before we are awakened again.

Today was not the day to...

2006-04-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

....fly a kite!

It was VERY cold today! I thought it was supposed to be a beautiful warm day. The kids had been pinned up in the house basically all weekend. So I planned an outing to Centennial Park to fly kites today. That was NOT a good idea.

The kites didn't get off the ground for more than a few seconds. Also, Austin freaked out. He told me to put his kite in the car, because he didn't want it to fly away. He didn't want anyones kite to fly away!

Anyway, I still got a few cute pictures to share.

Oh by the way, Ashley saved Mason's life yesterday. She looked around the corner and told him not to put the key in the electrical outlet. Thank God, Greg was right there to hear it and catch him before he did that!