I Really Must be Crazy!

Yes, I'm officially an over-achiever! Guess what I did today? MADE BABY FOOD! That's right. Never felt the need to make it for Zoe. Never felt the need to make it for Ty. Now, I have 3 nine-month olds (days away from being ten-month olds), so I made baby food. Okay, so really GOD made it, I just mashed it up.

A few of the "Super Mom's" (like Helen) that I'm in a Yahoo group with (we all have triplets born within 6 months of each other) have me convinced that it's not really that much work. So I decided to give it a go.

I started with the basics: Pears, Avocado, Bananas, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Peas & Green Beans. Not a big investment. All things, should I wimp out of making baby food, that could be eaten by adults.

Today, a few of the bananas started looking like they were about to mash themselves, so I grabbed my bowl and garbage bin, and started peeling. 30 minutes later, all the pears, avocados & bananas were in my freezer. Seriously, it was THAT easy! I ran out of ice cube trays, so had to wait to start on the veggies. (Wait, are Avocados veggies?)

So the Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Peas & Green Beans were JUST as easy as the fruits. I'm not sure I'll do another round of this, but it's nice to know I can...if I need to.

As a side note: I was a bit worried about the kids reaction to Avocado, but I've read how good it is for them (and I love it) so I really wanted to try. THEY LOVED IT! Okay, maybe "loved" is a little strong, but they didn't NOT like it!

No pictures, sorry. I promise my next post will have great pix of the Trips! A teaser to keep you all coming back...ha ha ha (read in a Count Dracula voice)...

I Finished!

Yesterday was the big day! The Ridgewood Memorial Day 5k. I drove down to my friend Salliann's house and rode with her and her family to the race. I was nervous. Yes. Nervous. Why? It's just a run. It's not like I was really racing. My goal was to finish! Well, I did.

(Can I just point out that I look close to death & Salliann looks like she hasn't even run yet?)

I finished in 32:58 (10.37/mile pace). Not the greatest stats. And honestly, I am a little disappointed. But I'll do better next time. Yes, next time. I'm going to shoot for another 5k in September. Hopefully, by then, I will be able to have a full night's sleep the night before the race (Teething Ava!)

Shane and the gang came, but got there a little too late to see me run. They still enjoyed seeing all the "goings on", though. Unfortunately, there aren't any pictures of me actually RUNNING. But the sore muscles today, they testify to the fact that I did!

Not surprisingly, the triplets drew a bit of attention.

Stay tuned to see if there's any impovement in September!

The Chapman Family

Our hearts are broken for Steven, Mary Beth & the entire Chapman family. We don't know them personally, but he's spoken countless words of encouragement into my life through his music. So although he doesn't know me from the guy pumping his gas, he has a special place in my heart.

Please take a moment and pray for his family. Right now.

I pray, Lord Jesus, that you will bring comfort and peace into their lives, this very moment. That they will find strength and courage to face each morning through you. That you will protect their son from any harmful thoughts. That Satan will not gain a foothold in this family through this. In Jesus name, Amen.

Told you I was obsessed...

...I had to take this picture!

In her defense, she was/is:

a) overtired

b) teething

c) learning to "self feed"

So...

What do you get when you combine all those ingredients?

A HUGE MESS!

M.I.A.

You may have noticed that my posts have dwindled recently. Don't fret, it's not because there's nothing to write about! And it's only partially because I’m beat at the end of the day. With three 9-month olds on the move now, by day’s end, my energy reserve has definitely diminished. But honestly, that’s not the reason. I've been unfaithful to my Blog! I'll admit it: I have a new obsession. A new toy. A new time sucker-upper. A new camera!

Shane brought me home a new digital SLR camera from his annual business meeting. This is the one business trip each year that I know the odds of my "souvenir" not being horrendous are pretty good. *** Sidenote: Shane took slight offense to that statement, but I have documented proof of how bad his gift giving can be: an oven mit, for one! Sidenote over. *** One year I got a Sony Network Walkman (their version of the iPod). One year it was their digital book, the Sony Reader. This year, (the best ever) he came home with the Sony Alpha DSLR-A300K. Ever since, I've been playing like a little kid on Christmas morning.

A few days ago, I read a blog friend’s post with great pictures of her triplets (May 15, "Laugh at the Days to Come). I was inspired. I could do that. Afterall, I have a new camera. I have Lindsay. I have cute kids. How hard could it be to get a cute shot of the gang? Ummmm...yeah. I'm not quitting my (non-paying) day job!

Creative Memories

So, as you can see on the side of my blog, I am a scrapbooker. Or, should I say...I THINK I'm a scrapbooker. I LOVE me my Creative Memories nights at Elly's house. But here's the thing. I have 5 kids. And I'm behind...by over a year! But I'm working on it. Elly has at least one "Crop Night" at her house a month, so I try to go. And today, I actually worked on it on my own...at my kitchen table...in the middle of the day! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...it was wonderful.

I won't stay on my soapbox long, but any of you that are THINKING of scrapbooking - DO IT! My sister-in-law was a crazy scrapbooker. I used to bust on her all the time because she'd have the page done a week after an event happened! On October 11, 2004, Stacey passed away in her sleep very unexpectedly. Her daughter has so many memories in those books as she grows up. So many memories - written in Stacey's handwriting. So as much as I made fun of her, it is such a blessing that she was up-to-date on those books.

Tonight, as I was going through the blogs that I read, one of them talked about a Creative Memories giveaway. It's a magazine that's doing it. A magazine for girls. It's all about becoming a woman of virtue. I love it! And the scrapbook giveaway is Creative Memories...my fav! So go check it out!

Babies Don't Keep

I had a wonderful Mother's Day! It started with breakfast in bed. Zoe & Ty helped Daddy make it special...down to the "fixed" menu. It wonderful. I got great home-made cards from the big kids along with various hand-made gifts from kindergarten, Sunday school, church club, etc. Shane gave me the gift I've been begging for: a night alone in a hotel room to do Creative Memories (not really alone...Shannon will be with me).

The best part of the day, though, was spending time with my kids. I am truly blessed with five WONDERFUL "little ones". Thank you, Lord.

My mom recently read me this poem that she's been wanting to show me. It's titled, "Song for a Fifth Child" by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton. I love it! I might just find a way to frame it and read it every morning before I start my day. Maybe by the coffee pot?

Even though it's written about "babies", it easily applies to "Preschoolers" & "Kindergartners", too.

Song for a Fifth Child
by: Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockabye, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockabye, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

So Much to Blog, So Little Time

I'm not really sure where to start!? This might be a slight roundabout post but it all revolves around the triplets turning 9-months-old! Where on earth did 9 months go?

First things first, guess what Ava & Eli decided to do this week? They FINALLY caught on to the fact that Cole holds his own bottle and, therefore, gets to eat a little faster than them. So...they held their bottles! Don't get too excited, the Diva has since decided that holding her own bottle is too much work.

Then, this morning, a certain...triplet...decided to STAND UP in their crib! I walked into the room, and Mr. Cole was just standing there...talking to Eli. What? Standing? Oh. No. Here we go. I can't take it.

Today, "the gang", as I like to call them, went to the doctor for their checkup. I sure hope you're sitting down because here come their stats:

Princess Ava: 15.6

Sir Eli: 18.5

Master Cole: 23.7

Yes, you read that correctly, there is an 8 lb. 1 oz. weight difference between Ava & Cole. That's the size of a newborn baby!

They all received WONDERFUL reports. They are going for head ultrasounds, but just as a precaution. The doctor was a little concerned with the growth rate of their noggins. Not overly, so, since I have big headed babies! The biggest concern is Ava: her head's in the 90th percentile, but her body's in the 10th. The ultrasounds are scheduled for Tuesday. Please keep us in your prayers.

Great Wolf Lodge

Soooooooooooo muuuuuuuuuuuuch fuuuuuuuuuuuuun!

Have any of you ever made the trip up to the Poconos to visit Great Wolf Lodge (or any of their other locations?) It's AMAZINGLY FUN!

The babies stayed home with Lindsay and we left after Zoe got home from school on Monday (half day kindergarten). That got us up to GWL with PLENTY of water park time!

Last year, when we went, I was pregnant - I did a lot of picture taking and wading in the water. So this year, I couldn't wait to go down the slides. We decided to "warm up" with a few "baby slides" and then quickly moved on to the "bum slide" (no tube...you just shoot down on your bum...hence the nickname). Ty and I decided to "race" (there are 2 slides side-by-side). When I went down...let me tell you something...I squealed like a scared little kid! It was so fast. It was crazy! However, when I got to the bottom, I waited...and waited...and waited some more for Mr. Ty. Then, slowly...practically scooting his way down the slide, came Ty! HOW? How did he manage to slow down? I tried! I honestly TRIED to slow down and couldn't figure out how! Everytime he went down...we had to wait. Finally, I figured out it was because he was pushing against the sides. By day 2, we convinced Ty to cross his arms in front of him and sure enough...he started flying down that slide!

After holding the kids off as long as possible, we began the ascent to the "big slides". Man alive, I had NO CLUE what I was in for. They say the heavier the people in the tube, the faster you go. So Zoe got the ride of her life by sharing the tube with me. Not quite the same as going down with Daddy! Again, I squealed. What's wrong with me? Am I a wimp?

Zoe & I went down the "toilet bowl" ride together. Remember...I've never been down this before. I knew the idea of the ride: it shoots you into a big bowl and you go around and around and around until you finally get shot out the bottom. (See where they got the nickname for it?) Well...no one warned me about HOW you get the speed to be shot into that bowl: You go down this DARK tube...and all of a sudden...you drop about 15 feet! You'll never guess what I did! Screeched!

When we were sufficiently drenched, we headed to our room: The Wolf Den Suite. It was very cute. It had a little "cave" with bunk beds for the kids with their own TV and a little window. They loved it. We cleaned off, put on cozy PJ's and ate dinner in the room. Rather than go "out", we brought Easy Mac (Ty's all time favorite) & hot dogs.

Once the kids were down, Shane and I ate our dinners. While we were eating, Zoe started her usual "spelling" game. About 1000 times a day, I get asked how to spell something, or what something spells. Sure enough, "Mommy, what does N-E-D-F-L-O-W spell?" Shane and I just looked at each other a little confused. Shane asked her to spell it again: "N-E-D-F-L-O-W". Hmmmm, frustrated that we couldn't figure out what she was talking about, Shane just answered (a little annoyed), "Ned flow...now go to sleep!

About 5 minutes later, it hit him...


Wolf Den spelled backwards.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we headed back out to the water park. An hour or so later, Zoe asked to go to the hot tub. I was putting the camera away at the table, but watched her from about 10 feet away. I noticed a guy sitting in one of the corners with some kids and his wife. He looked kinda familiar. It couldn't be...


...but it was! Shane's college roommate and his family: The Moses'! We hadn't seen them in a few years. It was a great unexpected reunion. Not only was it a wonderful time of catching up, it meant Shane & I could go on the one ride that Zoe & Ty weren't tall enough for. It's basically a water-roller-coaster! More screaching!

At some point during the day, Zoe realized she was tall enough to go solo on the rides. Forget it, I was on my own! You should have seen the joy on the face of a 5 year-old who has just realized her new found freedom. I did my best to get pictures of her, but they all turned out a bit blurry...sorry.


By 2pm, the kids were beat. We cleaned up and headed home. Both kids fell asleep in the car, of course. But when we got home, we couldn't wake Ty. We carried him in to the couch and let him sleep for another hour or so. He still went to bed by 8:30p that night and the best part? He didn't wake up until almost 8:45a the next morning! I guess all the stairs got to him.


We only had one meltdown (Zoe wanted a souvenier from the gift shop). It was a great time with JUST the big kids. I highly recommend it!

Guess Who Won the Race?

Not that it was REALLY a race, but Eli won...for once! Poor kid, he can't push himself up to sit yet (Cole & Ava can...Ava won). He isn't as mobile as the others (Cole won with this Army Crawl). He can't (or won't) hold his bottle (Cole does). He WAS the first to roll over...but that was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back when.

He won this time, though!

One little tiny toofer is stickin' through his gums! Yeah Eli! Way to go!

I didn't take any pictures. There's a ton of drool still, you can't really see the tooth yet, and every time you attempt to open his mouth, he sticks out his tongue!

There seems to be more on the way, too. It looks like the 2nd tooth will arrive any day!