Until Next Year

Yes, we spent New Year's Eve in the backyard swimming and grilling hamburgers.... it's hard to believe it was in the mid-70's today and gorgeous!!!  It's only 8:00 here right now and I can pretty much bet I won't see midnight.... so goodnight until next year.

Back to the North Pole

I can't believe Christmas is over for another year...  the gifts are unwrapped and have found homes within our home and now we work to get back to the daily grind.

My Mom always works to make sure Christmas is magical and she does it with such style.  Her home looks like a magazine and the food is always divine.  Our family (and my brother's) always Christmas at my parents house.  I'm not sure it would really feel like Christmas anywhere else.

The kids are so fun and it really made me sad to put up "tattle" (our elf on the shelf) because I don't know how much longer they will wake up excited to see his new landing spot or caper.  This year he stole candy canes, played in the hair bows, and stole Jadon's chocolate milk.  I don't know how much longer they will believe Santa is the one eating the milk and cookies or they will watch out the window trying to spot Santa flying through the air.

As they say, enjoy and savor the moment because they go by sooooo quickly.

We tried to extend Christmas a bit by driving up to Christmas Wonderland near College station last night (yes, after the holiday to avoid the mad crowds) and had a blast.  We thanked Santa for our gifts given this is where he relaxes before heading back to the North Pole to start making toys again.  We played in the snow (fake)... and took a hayride through the lighted wonderland.  FUN FUN....

We got home about 10 p.m. and found Cody was running 104.5 fever....  needless to say we were up throughout the night combating his fever.  I took him to the ped this morning and it's a virus which has to run it's course.  He does seem better today, so fingers are crossed.

I didn't take a TON of pictures because it's really hard to play photographer and still be a real part of the mix and I'd rather be part of things than photographing them...  but here are some quick snaps....


My nephew Lane who is the sweetest little doll ever!!



Yes....  We are very into Star Wars....  the light sabers where a TOTAL HIT!!!


The girls with their Paw Paw who made them doll cradles... someday these will go to my girls daughters.... so special!!



The tether ball is going to take a little practice. Kaylee's 1st instinct was to try and sit on the ball.

Another item requiring some practice....



About half way into opening gifts Addison got very quiet... she had asked Santa for a doll house and was beginning to worry it was one of the items he had left off the list. My parents got her the house and she showed her thanks with the biggest heart felt hug...

So, as you can see the blessings overflowed and I look forward to another year with my children and wonderful husband and I thank you... Mom, Dad, GG, David, Kerri, and Lane for another wonderful family Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to All...

I love the Christmas season... I mean really love... but with it comes chaos and a lot of work.  The Christmas cards are out and the gifts are bought (most are now wrapped) so I thought I'd take a quick breather and wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas.  Be safe!!!

Blessings to all!!!
Tracy

They Could Have Danced All Night

Saturday, the girls had their 3rd dance recital and their last dance as part of the princess series. They now graduate to the 5/6 Combo Dance Class which may I add is more expensive. We now have to purchase costumes etc.... Oh well... seeing them dance just makes it all worth while. The girls did an outstanding job and I was there as usual trying to document it all toting video and digital camera...

I am sooooo very proud of you girls!!!!

Roughing It

Ok, I'm always busy around the holiday's... but holy cow.  If Santa really did it all.... wouldn't that be nice.


Just a few things....  Thanksgiving was super fun but I think the highlight (thanks to my husband) was the camping trip.  Where did we camp you might ask...  Well, we camped out under the cover of our outdoor kitchen in the backyard.  We watched a movie on the TV, got drinks out of the fridge, and had shelter from the rain which came during the night.  Roughing it for sure....  This was my kind of camping.


We had the kids cots and a king size trundle mattress for us all in the monster sized tent.  I really didn't think I'd make it through the night and fully expected to go in the house at some point, but I slept great.  We told scary stories and then watched Shrek on TV (told you it was rough - ha).  I thought Jerry was CRAZY when he said he wanted to camp out in the back yard... but a good time was had by all.  Thanks honey... you were right.

No Description Needed

This is without question one of my favorite posts ever!!

Ho Ho Ho....Let it Snow!!

Last Tuesday, it seemed like a good time to load up the kids so they could take their Xmas lists to Santa and I could get a picture of them all.  I opted not to take my camera and just purchase the photos taken by the "pros"...  well, perhaps I should have taken my camera since the photos I purchased were very low resolution and the color balance was WAY off....  my kids were purple.  You can visit the Shabby Jack blog for the before shot.  This is after my "fixes" which are still weak given the poor quality I had to start off with.

Regardless of the photos, the experience was nothing but fabulous.  We've done this every year, but this year they changed this up a bit.  1st, they made it snow in the mall!!!  Before Santa's arrival the snow machines on the second floor started and down came soft real looking foam snow that gathered in our hair for a while before melting.  It was BEAUTIFUL and smelled lovely.

Then Santa showed up in his red pants, boots, undershirt, and suspenders.  He was a splendid Santa with personality to match!!  He started on the second floor with his arrival announced with sleigh bells before coming down the escalator to join the kids.  It was truly a magical moment which left us all smiling.

I helped the kids make lists the night before and they showed Santa what they wanted... no rush, no hurry... he was wonderful with them!!

THANKS, Santa!!!

Kee Yah!!

Jadon recently started Karate.  Only Jadon...  We had the option of signing up two kids and the other two get to go for free, but I really wanted Jadon to have something he didn't have to share with the girls.  I contemplated signing up Cody, but 4 kids doing activities gets very expensive and he is still so young.  I'm sure we will sign him up when he turns 4.

I can't put into words how much Jadon LOVES Karate.  I have to say the other kids can get a bit out of control, but Jadon is AWESOME.  He can generally get pretty silly, but in class he honestly doesn't let the other kids influence his behavior and takes pride in being good.  He also knows if he's good and sits up straight, he will get called on first for activities.

Being my loving soft spoken boy... I love the pride and confidence which is growing by leaps and bounds with this program.  "You Go Boy"!!!!!

A Couple of First

The kids had their 1st dental visit last week.  I had asked if it would be better to bring them all in at different times, but they said it wasn't necessary and I could bring them all at once.   Well, let me just say... they have a slick operation going....  great play areas while waiting, 4 cleaning chairs manned with super friendly ladies to clean the teeth, dental x-rays right there, and another play room...

We had one getting x-rays while the 3 were getting cleaned and it just rotated from there.  As they finished up, they moved on the play area until everyone was done!!!  Then it was a quick check by the dentist and we were out the door with prizes in hand...  WOW!!!

The facility was top notch and the kids did a PHENOMENAL job...  no fussing or fears... they hopped up and opened up.  They LOVED it!!!  They were given a clean bill of health and were sent home happy for another 6 months.

The other 1st????  I took pictures with my phone....  nope, never done that before....  can't say they turned out great... but I was able to capture our 1st trip to the dentist.

Halloween Recap....

Each year I am sooooo excited for Halloween and dressing up the kids and every year I am soooo happy to see it gone for another year.

On Wednesday, the kids had their Halloween parties at school which started with a costume parade in the morning and parties in the afternoon.  This was the 1st time they got to wear their costumes and we were all excited.  I found myself running between classrooms during the parties, but spent more time in Cody's class since I was in charge of games in his class.

Thursday night, the girls got to wear their costumes to dance class, so I once again suited them up and did the senorita and Belle hair do's.  Kaylee is just not happy unless she has a bun like Belle.

Then Saturday night, after celebrating my birthday (and Jerry getting up at 4:30 in the morning to sell our triplet strollers at the Mom's of Multiples garage sale), we once again put the kids in costumes for the neighborhood Halloween party.  I thought it was freezing, but Kaylee went the entire night w/o a jacket...

Finally, on Monday... we dressed for the last time and went trick or treating.  It was a bit warmer and no one wanted to wear a jacket.  The triplets were TOTALLY into the trick or treating and Cody was right there with them although he just kept falling....  On his 4th fall he cried out, "Oh no, not again..."  which is his latest thing he likes to say right now (too much time with Addison perhaps).

The costumes are now in the dress up basket and we are continuing to catch up on our rest... at least for the next few weeks until we start dragging out all of Christmas.

Here are our costumes...  Kaylee loves to pose and I get tons of great shots of her on a regular basis, but this wasn't our best...  Addison always makes funny faces while posing, but doesn't realize it.  Jadon just moves constantly and Cody does ok....  so out of a hand full of shots... these were the best of the lot.