No Time to Play....

I was totally going to post about toilet training, but we got lazy over the weekend and the potty training went on hold.  Oh well, spring break is coming up soon so I figure that will be a good time to really get serious and hard core about the whole thing.

The weekend?  BORING!!!  We typically spend the weekend trying to keep the kids entertained, but this weekend we focused on business.  Jerry has been looking into some new business ventures which required us to do some driving and we had some work to do around the house.  The kids... not so happy...  During the car ride all I heard was, "I want to go somewhere fun..."  over and over and over.  I think the kids are spoiled in that they totally outnumber us and happy kids make happy parents so we work probably too hard at keeping them entertained.  We discussed the fact that the kids need to learn to entertain themselves with a bit less parental involvement.  Yeah, this will be fun....

Back to the repetitive, "I want to go somewhere fun"...  has anyone else noticed that children repeat themselves over and over and over until they are acknowledged???  "Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom...."  "Turn the movie on, turn the movie on, turn the movie on, turn the movie on..."  "I saw a tractor, I saw a tractor, I saw a tractor, I saw a tractor...I saw a tractor"...   What I love is when I get more than one doing this...  Cody saying, "Mom, mom, mom, mom,...." and Kaylee saying, "I dropped my doll, I dropped my doll, I dropped my doll, I dropped my doll..."  Not sure where kids learn this verbal technique... could it be from me????

             "No, no, no, no.... I said NO.... I SAID NO... DID YOU HEAR ME????  NOOOOO!!!!!"

Friday 52 - Week Nine "Express Yourself"

f/1.8, 1/640, ISO 200

This week Addison and I got away for some alone time... she is usually reluctant to have photos taken, but with barbie in hand she was willing to cooperate. Stay tuned for the next post... potty training Cody.... UGH!!!!

4 Year Olds in a Dressing Room... Really?

Shopping...

The girls have reached the age that I can no longer go to a store, pick out pretty dresses and bring them home and dress them.  When they were babies I had them in cute dresses all the time, but now they play and they need play clothes.  When they were babies I generally bought one size smaller and it fit ok...  things didn't have to fit perfect for sitting, crawling, and toddling...  now the clothes have to fit.

So, Sunday after Church my Mom and I took the girls clothes shopping.  We thought it would be fun girl time, but it was not so easy.  Once again, the adrenaline induced sillies took over the girls... WOW, no boys!!!  Wow, we get to walk freely!!!  Wow, look I'm touching clothes!!!  WOW, WOW, WOW...
I often see shy little kids who quietly hang on to their mother's afraid to leave their side (THAT WAS TOTALLY ME AS A CHILD) but no, not my kids... my kids are outgoing, unafraid, adventurous, and precocious.  I think they all got Jerry's personality (Jadon is most like me, but still pretty outgoing).  People love them cause they are so friendly and outgoing, but it makes them very active and busy when we are out and about.

I think we spent a solid 2 hours in the dressing room trying on clothes and swapping out sizes.  The girls are tall and skinny which makes them very hard to dress.  We ended up leaving with clothes ranging from 18 months (seriously) to 5T and every size in between.

The trip was a success and I think the girls had a good time overall...  but how many more years do I have to do this????  I'm not a clothing diva... I hate shopping for clothes... but I do want to girls to look adorable so I will have to endure for many years to come.  Hopefully, it will get easier... Addison might find she has a volume other than "loud" and "louder" and Kaylee won't have to compete to do everything 1st.  They might realize that the floor is dirty and not a place to lay down.  Perhaps they will learn that we need to purchase items before pulling off the tags....  Maybe?

I Heart Faces... No Face??

Wow, this was a really hard challenge for me because I am a face girl...  but really wanted to participate... so here is my attempt at "Anything But A Face."

A Change of Scenery... Wildlife

On Saturday, Jerry and I decided it was time for a change of scenery so we loaded up the crew and headed off to a Wildlife Reserve about an hour away. Upon arrival we were greeted by emu's, ostrich's, lamas and many other animals.

Prior to loading up onto our trailer for the tour we fed the friendly deer and checked out the petting zoo. It really was amazing to have deer eat from your hands and Addison was in LOVE with the deer. She really is very sweet with animals and LOVES them and the deer seemed to love her. They weren't so crazy about he rest of my gang. Kaylee, Jadon and Cody were just too silly and wound-up.   Jadon really does get overly excited and just gets into silly overload mode.  I'm trying to learn how to combat his outburst of silly.  He's not being bad, just crazy silly which just doesn't work on these kinds of outings.

The tour was awesome because the animals all came up to the trailer and you could touch and feed them... zebras, camels, and big animals with horns??.  VERY COOL!!  About 1:00 we piled back into the car and headed over to the boardwalk and ate seafood outside and watched the boats go in and out.  Overall, it was a fun day, but not without it's challenges and quite exhausting to say the least.  Here are a few pictures and more to come.

Friday 52 - Week Eight "The View From Here"

(f/2.2, 1/80, ISO200...  Noiseware, MCP Touch of Light, TRA Oh-Snap low opacity, and Florabella Retro Lolli-pop 15%)

Cody had just waken from his nap and I was sitting on the floor messing with my camera... so I guess this was my view sippy cup and all....

Are You Going to Cook?

Just about every day after naps Kaylee asks me, "Mom, are you going to cook or are we going to a restaurant?"  Then I get, "Awwwhhhh, we haven't been to a restaurant in a looonnnngggg time...."

Well, goes to show I'm cooking more, but my cooking is apparently subpar to restaurant meals...  I'm still working on it.  I have to say I made a pretty rockin' meatloaf last night if I do say so myself.

For all the Mom's out there with little ones that tip toe around when the baby is sleeping...  a day will come when you can shoot off fireworks and the kids still won't want to get up.  I don't know when that day came in our home, but it's been here for a while now.  I wake the kids every morning at 7:00 (because we still nap/have quiet time 2 hours in the afternoon) and it generally takes me 10 to 20 minutes to get everyone moving.  I sing, I rub, I tickle and I tease and even sometimes carry limp bodies down to the sofa before I'm able to get everyone alert.  I alway knew a time would come when I'd have kids complaining that they don't want to wake up and one day you will have it as well.  In the meantime tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe and know it will get easier.

Yesterday afternoon I found Addison in the playroom "pretending school" and trying to teach her dog to read...

Illness Strikes Again

Well, this time it is Kaylee. She woke up a few days ago and her eyes were puffy and swollen.  I kind of thought it might be allergies. But, as the days went on she started having some nasal congestion. Night before last, she woke up several times during the night crying. Fortunately, I don't have to stay up with her very long.  I get up, hush her, and make sure she isn't running a fever and then it's back to bed.  But a couple hours later,  the routine begins again.  Last night we went through the same routine and this morning she complained about her ear hurting so off we went to the clinic (you know the one's in the grocery stores... LOVE THEM.  My Mom also needed to be seen for eyes, so it worked out well).  It was confirmed that Kaylee had an ear infection and so once again we have started another round of the pink liquid.

Ok the clinic visit details....
You know, I really hate it when I feel like the mom who doesn't have it all together. That's how I felt this morning at the clinic. First, Kaylee woke me early crying again so I was without makeup and hair sloppily up in a clippy with four babies acting like they've just been let free from the asylum. I soon realized that I failed to give them "The Speech" before we went in.   "The Speech";  You will not run around like crazy children… You will not get loud… You will act like big boys and girls… Do you understand? As a result, I felt like the out-of-control mom.  For some reason going somewhere new shoots off the adrenaline which puts their minds and bodies into silly mode.  They have to act silly, touch everything and force me to sound like this..."Jadon, come here, NOW.  Stand up.  Cody come here... Kaylee not right now I'm trying to talk to the nurse... Addison quit yelling at Cody.... Cody stand up... go sit in a chair now and don't move...  NOW...  leave the pen alone... don't open that door... SIT DOWN... Cody, sit with Mommy no down.  I can go on, but you get the idea.  Fortunately my mom was with me, so I was able to remove Cody from the situation for some disciplinary action and we quickly reined the crew back in.  Needless to say, there was another mother sitting close by with one little girl sitting so very nicely.  In my defense, I guess she was probably six or seven years old (so older than mine), but still sitting nice. I wanted to tell her don't judge me until you've wrestled 4 kids four and under.  Instead, I just tried to get control of the situation as quickly as possible.  I have taken one to pediatrician before and it's a TOTALLY different experience than taking all four.  I was soooo busy with Cody (yes, the terrible twos strike again) that I couldn't begin to deal with the triplets and am soooo thankful my Mom quickly got them interested in the "I'm thinking of an animal" game.   Most of the time, our outings go without issue but I have learned when going somewhere new it's best to give "The Speech."

On another note, the other day my mom brought over some old scarves for the kids to play with and I took this picture of Kaylee while she was playing.  She bit her tongue the other day chewing on a piece of ice and it's been hurting her so you can see was kinda messing with it in this photo.

Ca' Ching

This morning I woke up and left the kids in the able hands of my parents so that I could be one of the 1st in line for school registration for next year. It's 1st come 1st serve, so while registration doesn't begin until 9:00, the line begins about 7:00. I was number 6 in line.

If you recall a post from a few weeks ago "Ever Feel Like Your Bleeding Money" well the bleeding continues.  The big 'ol honkin' check I handed over to the school Ca' Ching, the money we spent to fix Jerry's truck yesterday (wheel bearings or something) Ca' Ching, and the many other hits our account has taken lately... Ca' Ching....  We are fortunate that we can meet all the demands, but it slows us down when trying to meet our long term goals.

OK, WE HAD A THREE DAY WEEKEND AND I DIDN'T GET ANY PHOTOS!!!  It just didn't work out.  I got one of the kids in the tub with Cody pouring water on Addison which is below, but then I got to thinking....  This weeks theme at MCP 52 is the view from here and it got me thinking about the most beautiful view ever... the view of the triplets from my bed when they 1st came home.  It doesn't qualify for Project 52 given it wasn't taken this week, but I thought I'd journey back memory lane and share.  I laid in that bed for 3 months looking at empty bouncy seats waiting for them, so to finally see them born and in our home was amazing!!

WOW!!  They were such babies...  now they are little kids...  people tell you the time goes quickly, but you just can't comprehend how quickly until you look at baby pictures.

Friday 52 - Week Seven "Open Your Heart"

f/2.8, 1/320, ISO 200 (Saturated colors, increased contrast, added sun flare and used TRA Prettyizer at 20%)

The Good, The Bad, and The Stinky

Right now, I think the hardest part of raising four year old triplets is also having a two and a half year old. I wrote a post back when the triplets were two "Terrible Two's Not so Terrible" and I don't have horrible memories of two, but it just goes to show every child is different and Cody, while I love him more than the air I breath, is a difficult two year old.  He is old enough to understand what is expected, but he is just sooo strong willed.

I feel so sorry for him because he is either having a meltdown because he is in trouble or because the triplets don't want to play with him cause he's too young...  I can't tell you how it warms my heart when I see them all playing together.  However, one day they were playing with Cody and running away from him because he had "junk in his trunk."  They ran away yelling, "Oh NO, here comes Stinky Cody" and Cody thought it was a great game.  Unfortunately, the name and the game stuck... so when Cody chases them they all run screaming and laughing that Stinky Cody is after them.  We are trying to keep the game since they all love it, but trying to drop the name.  Cody is now a Monster that chases them.... "Oh NO, the monster is after us...."

Cody's favorite phrases:
No, I can't
No, I do it
No, I don't want to

If you ask him if he is a bad boy though he says, "No, I not a bad boy.  I's a good boy."  SOOOO CUTE!!!  I just hope I can survive this ADORABLE terrible two year old....

God makes them sooooo stinkin' cute so we don't kill 'em....

Go Red For Women

This weeks theme at I Heart Faces is RED in support of the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women.  Take a moment to stop by their site and learn more... and visit I Heart Faces to see some AMAZING red photos!!











Also linking up with:

Friday 52 - Week Six "Words"

f/2.5, 1/30, ISO 1100 (Very simple edit... Florabella Lux II Vanity at 80% and a vignette)
The foundation for family...

Kaylee, Beautiful Kaylee...

It was pretty cold taking these pictures earlier in the week, but MUCH COLDER today!!!

I think we're alone now

After Jerry got home last night, I grabbed Kaylee and the two of us had some time alone. We drove around and looked for photo taking spots and talked. She sat in Cody's carseat which is one row up from hers and talked and talked and talked the whole time we were in the car. She asked what all the things on the dash board did and she talked about traffic (we got stuck for a bit in some)... Man, that girl can talk!!! We had a lovely time for about 45 minutes until it just got too dark for pics. Here is one I managed to get edited last night. I'll share more in the coming days.

Just a couple girlie pics

Loved the park pic of Kaylee so I decided to do a close up and there is also a B&W of Addison... no time to talk it up today...