Blowing Bubbles...... Well Almost

Shhhhh.....

Its bedtime and that means all it right with the world.
All the kids are soundly sleeping after a fun filled day at school.

See here is Jake sound asleep.

And Claire all cuddled up in her blanket, dreaming away.

And now here is Quinn
What!?!
There is something wrong with this picture.
Where in the world is Quinn?

Oh, there he is.
Sleeping in the chair.

Later this same night at about 3AM, Quinn woke up. He was crying so I got out of bed and went up to him (we had placed him back in his crib earlier). He had lost all of his pacifiers so I gave them back, rubbed his back and he settle back to sleep.

Then at about 5AM, I heard crying again from their room. This time it was Claire. I got up with her, gave her a drink and tucked her back into bed.

As I was walking out of the room, I glanced in Quinn's crib but it was empty. I quickly turned around to look at the chair but it was empty too. I then thought about the door, Hayden used to sleep behind the door when he was this age. But Quinn was not behind the door.

My heart was now starting to beat faster. My sleepy haze was thinning and I began to think. Was the door open when I got to the room? Yes I think it was. So I ran downstairs to look through the house.

I looked in the living room. No Quinn.
I looked in the den. No Quinn.
Perhaps he had crawled into our bed and I had not noticed him.
But he was not there either.

By now my heart was racing. I was on the verge of panic. Were the doors locked? Could he have gotten outside? Had someone broken in the house and taken him?

I was just about ready to wake Jeff up and call the police when I decided to look in his room one more time. As I ran up the stairs, I thought, closet! I had not looked in the closet.

I threw open the closet as quickly and as quietly as I could expecting him to be there but he was not.

Fear and panic were just about ready to take hold of my brain when as I turned around, I saw him. He was curled up under the crib. This little boy ball soundly sleeping under the crib.

I have never been so relieve in all my life. I pulled him out and placed him back in the crib.

And as I walked back downstairs to get a minute or two more of sleep before the whole house awoke, I thought...

Would it be a bad thing to tie him into the crib?



Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

What Makes Me Happy

Its time once again for Writer's Workshop. I am going to make a list about all the things that make me happy. But I am having a hard time being happy right now because one of my children is about ready to be disowned. Quinn has a stubborn streak a mile long and it is getting old, very old! But enough on that.

What Makes Me Happy.

Air Conditioning. I like it cold. I am actually kind of a wuss when it comes to hot. I get all whiny and crabby and it is just not a good time. I am the kind of person that turns the heat off and then put the air conditioning on.

Ibuprofen. I usually have at least one headache a day related to my life. There is nothing like popping some Ibuprofen with a little Diet Coke to make all the aching go away.

Water. Water just makes me happy. I love to drink it. I drink about 2 to 3 liters a day. I love to swim in it. There is just nothing like floating in the water. I love to listen to it. The waves crashing on the shore is kind of soothing to me. I love to watch it. There is just something about that blue color of the Big Lake.

My Children. Well, I should say my Family. There is just nothing like family. There is no one that can love you like family. Care for you like family. Support you like family. They may annoy me or make me angry but they will always be my family.

Photos. I like to take pictures. I like to look at other people's pictures. I like to play with and edit pictures. Right now I use Picasa. I have not gotten into Photoshop and to be honest, it kind of scares me. I am happy with Picasa and the editing I can do.

My Bed. I love my bed. It just makes me happy with its comfort and softness. There is just nothing like it. I like the fun stuff and goes on in there but more than that, I like the sleep that happens there.

Shopping. I really, really like to go shopping. There is just something about putting together that perfect outfit that makes me look smokin' hot. That makes me happy. Oh and don't even get me started on shoe shopping.

Food. Food just makes me happy. Whether its cooking it, reading about it, learning about it, or eating it. It just gives me so much joy. Being in the kitchen behind my island or stove is one of my happy places. When I am stressed or over-whelmed, I just need to cook. It makes me happy.

Las Vegas. This place is just happiness. Not only because my very best friend in the whole wide world lives there but because it is the location for Sitscation.
I am so there! Are you? Click the button for more information. The whole thing just makes me happy.

Mama Kat. (Yes, this is me being a total brown noser but she is just so pretty and funny how can you not be.) She along with my other bloggy buddies make me happy. The friendships that I have made are totally awesome. There are not words to describe them. I love you all and you all have a special place in my heart.

There that is what makes me happy. How about you? What makes you happy?

For The First Time

One of the magical things about having kids is experiencing the world through their eyes.

We went to the zoo the other day. This is not the first time that we have been to the zoo. It is not even the first time that the babies have been to the zoo.

But it was the first time that the babies have been as toddlers.
Toddlers who can verbalize their likes and dislikes.
Toddlers who can express their excitement.

It was so neat to watch the babies, especially Quinn and Jake, in the zoo.
Animals are a very big thing in our house.
I wish that I could have recorded Jake and Quinn's expression when they first saw the zoo and discovered what it was with those toddler eyes.

The wonder and amazement was truly priceless.
Each new habitat brought out pure joy.
Each new animal brought squeals of delight.
And the petting zoo.
Oh, the wonder of the petting zoo.

I was kind of nervous that the zoo would not go over well with the kids. I thought it was just one of those places that we had been to before.
Just another one of those ideas that you get as a Mom that don't go exactly as planned.
But boy, was I wrong.

The zoo was a huge hit.
But even though the kids had an awesome time, I think that I had an even better time.
Because I got to see the zoo for the first time too.
All through my three toddlers.

Please Let Me Take Your Picture

Nonna and Papa went to Disney for spring break. There were nice enough to bring back shirts for all the kids. To thank them, I thought a nice picture of all four kids wearing their shirts would be nice.

The Goal:

Get a nice picture of all 4 kids in their new Micky Mouse shirts.


The Results:

Mission sorta complete.


Why is it impossible to get a photo of all four kids? I have tried rewarding with chocolate or other special treats but they are on to me.
They see me come with the camera and they run.
Not good, not good at all.

Life is Full of Lessons

There is the pungent odor of bleach following through the house.

Why does the house smell like bleach?

Because bleach was used to clean up the bathtub after it was used as a toilet.

What would cause a nearly 5 year old boy, who has been potty trained for almost 3 years, to poop in the bathtub?

Perhaps it was the fact that his Mommy let him eat is body weight in watermelon for lunch.

Mommy has totally learned her lesson.

The Love for the Swings

"Mom, swinging just fills my pipes with so much energy!"

Big plans for the weekend?
We don't really have any plans except for Welcoming Summer.
Swings, BBQ, Swimming, the Zoo, Family, Friends,
Good Times.
Wishing everyone a Safe and Happy Holiday.

Just A Cool Photo

I want to keep her just this way. A little girl with pigtails who loves to go down the slide. She is mine and world you can't have her.

Mom, Is Off Duty!

After a long day at home with the kids, I am more than ready for Jeff to come home. Actually, besides nap time, it is my favorite time of day. I just love this man so much and I miss him while he is slaving away at the office.

Ok that was a bunch of bull, I do love him but I love it when he comes home because I am so ready for some help.

I am ready not to deal with the fighting, the tantrums and the crying. I don't want to stop anyone from playing in the trash or keep them off the table. I am sick of saying 'no' and 'don't touch that'. I am ready for a breather and some time for me.

But there is one problem with this plan. The kids don't get it. They are all thrilled that Daddy is home. They smile and giggle and want his attention but it all fades in a matter of moments.

And even though he is home and willing to take care of their every whim, they all still run to me. They have seen me all day but the babies still run to me with every tear and all clamor for my lap and attention. I give them a little slack b/c they are young yet.

But Hayden is the worst of them all. He is older. He should know better but no every single time he needs something he comes to me.

"Mom, can I have some chocolate milk"
"Mom, can you get me my blankie?"
"Mom, can I watch a movie?"
"Mom, I need a snack."
"Mom, I have a question."

MOM. MOM.MOM!

I am so sick of it, I just want to scream, "GO ASK YOUR DAD!"

I just don't get it. Jeff is in the same room as I am, he is just as capable as me to fulfill all their requests but they keep coming to me?

I think I may need to invest in an off duty sigh or something to get the message across. Maybe one with big flashing letters and a gate. Yeah, a gate that says, "Go Ask Your Dad. Mom Is Off Duty!"

This post was inspired by the prompts from Writer's Workshop.
Go check out more posts here.

That Special Comfort Feeling

Jake has his Blankie.

Claire has her Blankie and her Lovie

and apparently some hair issues.

And Quinn,

well....


He has Jake's Overalls.

Sometimes, I just don't get that kid.

When A Bear Attacks

We were once again headed out as a family to one place or another. Now when in the car, Jeff and I can usually have a conversation for at least in the first 3 minutes of driving, sometimes more if we are lucky. These are not heavy conversations but just a time that I can tell him a few things.

This time I used it to tell him about how Jake took a little tricycle to the top of our very long, very steep (I am talking like a 30 degree angle steep) driveway, sat it down and lifted his feet in preparation for the ride of his life.

I saw this happen out of the corner of my eye and was not prepared for this and all I could see was him running into one of the rocks or trees along the driveway or worse yet getting all the way down it into the road. I totally scared me.

Thankfully, the tricycle turned and he just ended up stopping in the grass. But it was one of those, 'man I think that I need new underwear' moments.

Hayden over heard me tell Jeff this story and couldn't understand why I was so upset by this. "Mom," he asked, "Why were you so scared?"

Jeff answered the question, "Mom was just scared that Jacob would go all the way down the driveway and hit a tree on the other side of the road. She just didn't want him to get hurt. Thats all."

Hayden replied, "Yeah, if he goes to the other side of the road he might get attacked by bears."

I started to tell Hayden that that was just not true but Jeff took the conversation and just milked it. "Really Hayden, bears would attack Jacob across the road? Would the aliens attack him too? What is Jacob suppose to do?"

I gave Jeff that look, you know,'the really you are going to go there with our child who already has an over active imagination!?!' To which Jeff replied with the 'oh yeah I totally went there' look.

Then Hayden interrupted our telepathic conversation with, "Well, he would just have to pray."

Jeff and I just looked at each other.

"What? What is praying going to do?" Jeff asks just to see where Hayden is going with this.

"Jacob just has to pray to God and then God with train the bear to sit down and be nice and then He will send the alien back to Mars. God is big and he can do that." Hayden confidently told us.

I just smiled. The faith of a child is such a beautiful thing.

I Love My Nonna and My Nonna Loves Me

Random Thoughts and Blog Farts: Photo Edition

Blog Farts – noun. Def: Crappy ideas that are too short to make a real blog post, but when combined, join forces to make one unified, albeit half assed, post. Definition coined by Jaci.

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Lately, Hayden loves this saying "You are totally FREAKING me out!" He says it all the time. He sometimes uses it correctly and sometimes not so much.

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Speaking of Hayden, he and I had this conversation in the van the other day where he made this statement, "Mom its fine with me if Quinn sleeps in the car 'cause then there is no screaming."
Well its not fine with me if he sleeps, dear Hayden because if he sleeps in the car then he won't sleep during nap time and mommy needs nap time.

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I got a pedicure today. I love pedicures. They are just so fun and relaxing and make my toes look so pretty and I am not the only one that thinks so.

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For the past couple of weeks, I have been so tired. I think it all stems back to my girls night that I had almost 3 weeks ago now. I know, I know, pitiful really but I just can't drink and stay up late like I used to. Any way, I had had enough with being tired. So instead of going out when my babysitter came over on Monday, I took a three hour nap. Thats right I paid someone to watch my kids so that I could sleep and it was beautiful.

******

Having a fever, totally sucks. Having a kid with a fever totally sucks more.
Poor Quinn.
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For a while now, Hayden has not been taking naps. Which is fine because he still spends time in his room resting quietly. Well, when he is at school aka day care, he usually takes a nap. I don't blame his teachers for wanting a break and school morning are really early but you know what, I don't want Hayden to take a nap (I never thought I would say that). When he naps he is up until 9 or 9:30pm. And I am sorry but if you are under the age of 30, I don't want to see you anymore after 8pm. Love you but Good Night!

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We live in the woods. It is a really beautiful place to live. I like it, I really do expect for this time of year. Because this is when the misquotes come out. I am one of those lucky people that misquitos just love to bite. Its like I am misquito marijuana or something. Those little bugger just have to bite me. And I am super allergic to the bits. And I am an scratcher and I just have to scratch! It is not fun, people not fun. This time of year, I have to wear bug spray like body spray to keep my legs from becoming something from a slasher movie.

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I am leaving you with this. Just because I like it and think its pretty.

Don't Wait Until Tomorrow, Do Things Differently Now.

It has not been the best weather for playing outside. So in an effort to save my sanity, I packed up the kids and took them to the infamous mall play area.

This is what we did at least once a week, all winter. There are three malls in my area and we just rotate through them. Some are better than others but they all fulfill the purpose.

Now, most people have a love/hate relationship with the mall play area and I am no different. But I get over all the little things that drive me crazy because it is a free place to take my kids where they can run around and play. The babies just love the slides and usually Hayden will make a friend so I am left to sit in peace for a while.

This trip was going well expect for the fact that Hayden was the oldest kid there. There was no one for him to befriend. He was bored.

Which means he was trying my patience by climbing on the seating area, kicking me in the face, and teaching younger kids some not so good tricks.

I just kept telling him to go and play. I kept trying to think of things for him to do so that he would leave me alone. "Why don't you try and jump on all the gray rocks" Go and try and count all the little balls in the hour glass."

He finally left me and went over the corner to sit down and pick at his sock. I sighed with relief, looked around and did my head count, 1... 2... 3... and 4 Hayden still alone in the corner and I tried to sink back into my seat and enjoy my quiet time.

But I just couldn't get comfortable. There was something that was nagging at me. I looked around again at all the kids doing there own little thing. The babies were happy enough with the slide and Hayden had moved onto a puzzle on the wall but there was just something about his face.

His eyes did not smile like they normally do. He looked hurt.

I tried to forget it and get lost in my thoughts but I just couldn't. There was something nagging me. Then I had this thought, "Man, I wish that Kate (our babysitter) was here. Then she could play with Hayden."

Wait! Hold the Phone! Did I just wish for some one to come a play with my kid? What in the world is wrong with me? Am I that lazy and in need of that much mommy time that the two and half hours I just spent on the computer by myself was not enough? I still need more time? This is crazy? If I did not want to spend time with my kids then why in the world did I have them?

Enough!

Right then and there I decided that I was going to change things. There was no need for me to continue to be on the side lines like all the other mommies here at the play area. I was going to do something about it. I was going to do something that is not done in the mall play area. I was going to play with my kids.

I got up and said, "Hey Hayden!?! Want to play Hide and Seek Tag?"

He looked up at me and gave me a smile, the smile that had been missing. That smile that I love so much.

That made the fact that I got stuck in the tunnel and embarrassed myself all worth it. And you know what else, all the other kids wanted to join in our game and when we left, I saw another mommy get up and continue to play with her son.

Now that is what its all about.

This post was inspired by the prompts at Writer's Workshop.

We Heart Art

I don't really call myself a crafty person. I wouldn't really even call myself creative. But when I began to think about what being creative means, I guess I am. But not in the making crafts or scrap booking kind of way.

I am creative when it comes to cooking and writing. These two things are my 'art' and how I express myself.

My kids on the other hand are very much into arts and crafts. In fact they LOVE it, Hayden especially. Art has always been Hayden's favorite thing at school. He comes home from school with at least 5 different projects that he has worked on during the day. Lately, it is coloring.

Coloring is something that he must do every single day.

And I must say, that he has gotten very good at it.

The babies also love art and coloring to varying degrees. Quinn is really not into it. He is a collector and expresses himself through his collections, today its beads.

Jake and Claire on the other hand, LOVE to color. In fact the world, COLOR, was one of their very first words.

Another way, that I was creative in my youth was in the performance arts. I was very much into Drama and Singing. I am happy to report that this apple has not fallen to far from the tree. Hayden has been known on occasion to put on a show.

Now our little family works really well for this because the best part of being the oldest in a family with triplets is that you always have a captive audience.

There is an awesome blog carnival going on in which you can showcase you and your kids art. And not to mention some really cool prizes. Go check it out.

Three Bay B Chicks
Domestically Challenged
I'm Living Proof that God has a Sense of Humor

Claire's Creations

This is Claire.

She loves to play outside.

She loves to play with chalk and to add her
own special touches to things with that chalk.

But even more than that, she loves to create 'sand storms'.

Nice one, Claire!

Wordful Wednesday

A Few Words About Happy Meal Toys

Dear Golden Arches aka McDonald's,


I know that you don't know me very well, ok who am I kidding, you know me very well, maybe a little too well. But you are just so darn convenient and your food, well not very pleasing to my taste, happens to please my children to know end.

They just love your chicken nuggets, french fries and the apples. But with the apples come that caramel. Don't get me started on the caramel. If I would let them, they would try and swim in that little container and sometimes they do and in doing so before this icky sticky mess. But that is not the reason for this letter.

No, I am writing this letter to you to discuss the toy that is offered this month. I mean, really. What in the world were you thinking? I would like to talk to the person that thought that putting a CD in the Happy Meals would be a good idea.

You see those little toys that come in the Happy Meals are Hayden's favorite things in the world. They are his most prized possession. Sure, he usually freezes them but that is how he shows his love.

He looks forward to collecting all the toys and once he has them, he is just so happy. Now, I know that he will loose interest in them in a few day but the beauty of that is that now the babies have a new toy to fight over.

But this month, you had to go and make your toy a CD and not just any CD, a Kidz Bop CD. It is a CD of young people singing covers of pop songs. So not only is this 'toy' not fun to play with it is down right painful to listen too.

And you try and explain to a 4 year old, who has the attention span of a gnat, that there is no toy this month. Then also explain to him why because I am tried of trying and tried of listening to the whining and crying involved with this. It really is a tragedy in his little world and I have witnessed the melt downs to prove it.

So I am sorry that I have been giving the CD's back but you have left me with no choice. They are awful, really they are.

But because your Play Area gives me about an hour or more of peace and helps me run off my kids energy, I am totally going to forgive you. But lets try and make a better choice for next month, preferably, an actual toy. And even better yet, a girl princess toy because those are really Hayden's favorite.


Your, not really wanting to be but I am, loyal customer,
Jen

Before and After

With the weather getting warmer, I decided to make a water table for the kids.
The kids really liked this idea.

Even if it did leave then a little wet.

But it also produced infectious giggles.
(Go on watch it and I dare you not to laugh)

I got this idea from this blogger.

More Of Me

I have written a guest post for one of my favorite blogs, Little Bites of Heaven. Its all about how meeting a blogger is like a blind date, fears of being kidnapped and all. Go here and check it out.

Mother's Day Thanks

Jen has been requesting that I make a post on the blog for quite a while now, and finally asked specifically for a Mother's Day post. So I thought I'd make a post about why I'm thankful Jen is (among other things) the mother of my children. Hopefully I can avoid the saccharine tones that lace most greeting cards.

First and foremost, she is a good mother, and by that I mean she is good at all of the "motherly" things. We all know that parenthood is a daunting task, and she does much of it by herself when I'm at work. She manages to keep 4 kids from killing themselves and each other, destroying property, and causing noise complaints. On top of all that, she finds the time to cuddle, comfort, encourage, reward, laugh, play and be a friend in addition to a caretaker. We have 4 happy and healthy children, and I can't imagine our children looking back on memories of their childhood and mother with anything but fondness.

Jen is a Registered Nurse, an occupation that confers certain benefits. We always have medical staff in the house, which proves valuable on an almost daily basis. I'm thankful she has a job not only because it adds income and gives her a chance to get out of the house two days a week, but because on those two days I get to be more involved than I usually am on the other days. Most days I enter the house just as we're sitting down to eat, and then Jen starts baths while I clean up the kitchen. The system works well, but it means I don't have a lot of face time with our children (especially Quinn, Jake and Claire). On the days Jen works, I get a 30-minute trip to and from daycare with everyone, and that helps fill the gap of "quality time" between weekends.

Finally, I'm thankful Jen is the mother of my children because she's my wife. I asked her to marry me because she is kind, compassionate, beautiful, wonderful person and now our children get to love her and enjoy her too. Her bond to our children reinforces her bond to me, and for that I personally am truly thankful.