I love my cat

Why don't children pick up on clues that you want to be left alone or need silence? Jacob just kept talking and talking tonight. The babies were very mischievous today and kept me on my toes. I was ready for bedtime. I'm changing diapers and battling a a child that doesn't want want to be changed. Another one is pulling on my pants whining. And he's chatting away in the next room, "Mom, mom, blah, blah blah." Its not anything important. He just wants my attention. He's making up stories. I keep telling him to come into the room I'm in and talk to me. He doesn't listen.

The fighting and whining in my immediate vicinity is still going on. I can't even hear the TV. So you know its loud.
Then I start doing dishes and Jacob just pushes my buttons. I give him a look. I tell him to shush. I open a wine cooler at 6 p.m. I tell him, "Mom's having a bad day. Please stop talking all the time." He keeps at it.
How come my cat picks up on my moods and comforts me when I need it. She gives me licks when I need it. But leaves me alone when I'm in a bad mood. I know why God put animals on this earth. They are truly man's best friend.

cheese fries

You want to know what one of my pet peeves is?

When someone just uses you for the position you are in or who you are. And then never gives you the time of day other when they really need something.

Scott was outside today and a neighbor came over. A neighbor in the 22 months we have lived here that has never made an effort to talk to us. We hardly get a wave out of him. He told Scott about an angry driver who has twice bothered him and his daughter as they ride their bikes. "What can he do about it? Who should he talk to? Can Scott do something about it?" Well, he had no pertinent info on the car, license plate or where this guy lives, so Scott can't really do anything about it. Scott told him if it happens again to get the license plate and he could call the guy.

Its the police's job to stop this angry driver from almost hitting cyclists and saying crude things out his window, but if you don't have any information about the guy... well, this isn't Medium.

It just bothers me that sometimes people won't give others the time of day until they need something. I try to take that into consideration with my friends and family and not just call when I need a babysitter, but that's usually my main need now. :)

On a happier note, Scott, Scott's parents, Jacob and I went to Outback steakhouse for my birthday dinner tonight. It stunk. First of all our waitress informed us that they were out of hamburgers. How, how!, can you be out of hamburgers! You're Outback Steakhouse! Then as Kathy was ordering her soup, the waitress said that they were out of the cream of potato. I think I or someone else asked how they could be out of the regular soup and she said it had to do with the floods around here and the prices of potato. Spin me another yarn girlie.
Needless to say, I will be sending Outback Steakhouse a letter about my unenjoyable experience.

Tonight we had friends over for a cookout. Of course it rained. But we still had a good time. I made a taco dip and put it in the middle of the table. The babies dipped their chips in the dip and then licked it off. And then redipped. At two they have not been told about the no double-dipping rule. Hard to explain to a 2 year old.
I should really say that John enjoyed the dip the most. Make a mess of it. Brooke liked to pick it up with her fingers and eat it.
I have really lowered my standards since having triplets. But all I care about is that they a) eat b) don't throw food.
Another realization is that we only really, really clean our house top to bottom when someone is coming over. So its a good thing someone comes over every once in awhile so we get our bathrooms clean and all the floors cleaned at once.

Another bad luck thing. I was cleaning the kitchen sink with Soft Scrub bleach and it must have splashed on my clothing and I got my newer shirt and shorts blotted with bleach. Why can I not keep my clothes unblemished? Yesterday, as I was eating my Subway sub in the car, it dripped the sauce and got on my t-shirt.

I'm worse than the kids.

June bugs

Its my birthday in five more nights. This is how Jacob would express it. So I have five more days of enjoying being 32. I already feel like I'm 33. Quite honestly, I think I feel older at times. My coordination is not what it used to be. Sure that could be because when I sprained/cracked my ankle four 1/2 years ago is not the same. It gets stiff really easily and makes me feel older.

I feel almost abandoned on my birthday. My parents will be gone for three weeks to a cabin. Scott and Jacob will be joining them next Wednesday night and staying for the weekend. My sister Julie is going up there also now. I'm stuck with my kids for about four whole days. Not so bad about being with them as it is trying to run errands and cut the lawn and stuff like that. Actually its just prety relaxing with the four of us. But its hard knowing that my primary care givers to my children are 185 miles away. But Mark and Luann still live around the corner and they are family in every other sense. And Jim and Amy are still home too. And Scotts parents are only a few minutes away.

I guess I'm not as alone as I thought.

And just for the record, Scott was going to leave the day after my birthday but I told him to leave that afternoon so he and Jacob could get up there and get some extra fishing done.

A day in the sun

I'm not sure if I just should keep quiet about this weather or complain about the humidity. If I were a Supreme being who controlled the weather, I'd make it about 75 and sunny with a slight breeze out of the the Southwest. No HUMIDITY!

The kids actually like to spend time outside and as long as I have my shade, I can manage. I really don't care to sit in the sun and feel miserable. Not sure if its age, allergies, asthma or what. But sitting in the sun just beats me down. Enough about me.

So, I haven't hit anything while driving in nearly a week, so I think I'm doing pretty good. I also have not fallen down the stairs in about 4 1/2 years so thats probably due again.

The kids are really growing mentally in leaps and bounds. Their coordination, their curiosities, their interests, their jargon. All very fun and exciting. I really think they understand a lot more than they let on, but like to play "baby" yet because I don't make them repeat after me or make them walk and not carry them.

Since John has started the Birth to Three program and has had some occupational therapy and speech therapy I think he has really been coping better. He hasn't bit me out of happiness in about a month. We've introduced him to different types of play that fulfill his needs for impact. We have a mini trampoline, we have a lot of ride-on toys, the sand box is good for him, rocking horses and plenty of jumping, jumping, jumping.

Matthew really has been repeating words after me. Its just kind of hard to understand him because he doesn't always say the last syllable in the word.

Johnny sitting on my mom's lap enjoying being cuddled.
Matthew, surprisingly, loves the water and goes down the slide all the time.
I think this is the theme of summer. Aquabazooka squirt wars. Notice the cool goggles.
Isn't it a little late to be modest Brooke? You're the one always taking your clothes off!
Fighting to see who is first up the slide. Three silly monkeys! Do you realize that I use about a 1/4 tube of sunscreen keeping these pale skinned kids pale?

Alright, posting is difficult for me, not only because I haven't done it for a few days and I have A LOT to say, its because my cat misses me so much that she is sitting between me and laptop (on my arms) and it has made it difficult to type.

Cosmo turned 8 on Monday and I completely forgot it was her birthday. I had remembered it the month and week before, but on that day it escaped me that it was my oldest babies birthday. I think she has missed me from when I was on vacation because she has been on my lap and has been licking me constantly. I don't think I'm dirty or have inadvertently rubbed myself with catnip, so I really think she likes me. I'm so glad she hasn't held me forgetting her birthday against me. She could wake me up at night by meowing or pawing me or walking all around the bed, but she hasn't. Or the usual hairball vomit. I guess she's getting mellow in her old age.

We've been outside a lot the past couple of days. Today for about four hours and Tuesday for about four hours in the morning. I'm not really a fan of this humid, hot weather, but at least the kids can run around and play in the wading pool. It gives them exercise and makes them sleep better, so I can't complain. The only thing is that its hard for me to get any work done in the house because I can't leave them alone outside when there is water in the wading pool.

Jacob has been very imaginative lately about having multiple brothers who do very creative things. Well, he's been telling a lot of yarns lately. Tuesday in the car he said to me, "Mom, I have a broken eyedrum." (I think it was an eyedrum, but i know it ended with drum.) I replied, "Jacob where is your eyedrum?" And he pointed to his ear. I guessed that he meant eardrum and just got the term mixed up. So I said, "You must mean eardrum, not eye drum. You don't have an eyedrum." And he yelled at me, "No Mom, its just lost! I just can't find it." I chuckle to myself, "No Jacob, I meant that an eyedrum isn't a real part of your body, not that you aren't holding onto it right at this moment." But he still stuck to his story, "Mom, I have one and its right here." And he pointed to his head.

I guess its all imaginary.

Jacob has been very argumentative lately and isn't usually as helpful as he normally is. So he's currently just got one marble in the sad jar. I'm hoping the sad jar's effects are not wearing off. Or I'll have to come up with something else.

Funny story at Sam's Club. I took the kids to Sam's club a few days ago. The kids were whiny, so I gave two their NUKs and gave Matthew his raggie. Matthew usually puts the raggie to his face or just holds it, but today he put it on the top of his head and looked like a sheik of some type. So we are going down an aisle and a lady is coming at us, pushing a cart, and wearing a traditional headdress covering her hair.

It looks exactly like what Matthew has on his head and inside I just giggle and giggle because it would look to everyone else like Matthew would be mimicking or making fun of her except that he is two and was just being silly. This story doesn't seem as funny now that I've typed it out, but it was really funny when it happened.

Another funny moment. I came home at 10:15 p.m. tonight from an FVMOM meeting. As I was driving down my "aisle" as Jacob calls it, there was a U-Haul parked at one of the houses and it looked like they were moving things out.
Now, it looks kinda funny moving out in the middle of the night. Makes me think messy divorce or foreclosure. I guess it could be cooler moving at night too, but it just looks shady doing that stuff at night. That's how our house came to be. A foreclosure and I guess the old owners moved out in the middle of the night and never said a word to anyone.

I will be posting pictures soon of all our adventures from vacation to backyard fun.

Bondo

You know when you can't think of a word, you know its meaning, you've used it several times before in your life, but just can't get it out of your mouth?



Tonight I was at an uppercase living party. It was a lot of fun and a great way of decorating - tastefully. Oh, by the way.... I'm having a book party which closes July 18th. So if you're interested in getting something, I'll be putting pictures up of what I got in a couple of weeks.



So, anyway. Another girl from FVMOM and I were talking about my freak accident from vacation. And I was trying to think of the word that meant - putty for cars and trucks, to fix dents and rust areas. I KNEW it ended in an "O" and that's all I had. Michelle and I came up with many ways of using it in a sentence, without actually saying the name of it because both of us drew a blank. I'd say something like, "my husband used to have a car and its rear quarter panel was filled with ------? And then just as we had given up and said our goodbye's, Michelle remembered and yelled out "BONDO!" That would be a great name for a pet.



Speaking of pets. I'm driving over to the party tonight. And as I'm driving there I see many people walking their dogs. I see people playing with their dogs in their yards and I even see one person combing their dog. Now, just think, if we spent as much time with our kids as we do with our dogs, I think we'd fix most of the countries social issues. Kids would get exercise by walking with their parents. They'd get quality time during that walk talking with their parents. They'd get more exercise playing ball or Frisbee with their parents. And they'd get some cuddling time on their laps while they are being combed.



I think I just found the solution for world peace (sooooo close).

Huh? Cosmo laying eggs?

And here I thought I blogged about this already.

Jacob informed me the Thursday before we left that Cosmo laid some eggs around the house and she was going to have babies. Cosmo is our cat. A warm-blooded mammal. Mammals don't lay eggs, right? Thats what I told him. Nope, he was sticking to his story.

So to mess with him I put to chicken eggs on the floor in the kitchen. Jacob came in and I told him to get me a dish. He found the eggs and he was so excited that Cosmo had laid some eggs. First he wrapped them up to keep them warm. Then he put them on the cupboard. But he realized that Cosmo couldn't keep her eggs warm on the cupboard so he put them on the floor.

But I told him that the babies could get at the eggs so he put them in Cosmo's kitty bed near the computer room.

So he frequently checked on the eggs until we went on vacation. Right before we left, I swapped the eggs for two stuffed kitties.

And then if you read yesterdays post, you'll catch the ending.

No more NUKS?

Well, I told Brooke and John that tonight was the last night with the NUK and tomorrow they would go bye-bye. I suddenly have mixed feelings about this.

I don't believe that there is a certain age that anything should be done. It all depends on the child and their nature.

So, usually pediatricians recommend deep-sixing the NUK by age 2. My pediatrician isn't putting pressure on me because of the triplets. I think Brooke is ready to give it up. But John, my little Johnny, not so ready.

Some kids go with the flow of things and then there is Johnny. Johnny needs structure. He needs rules and he does not like change. His NUK is his thing. He has one in his mouth and usually one to three in his hands and he just holds them.

In the past few months I had been limiting them to just their cribs and then on vacation I gave them to them more because of the change in environment.

So I'm contemplating just going back to just nap time. Because I don't want to harm John's fragile eco-system. (If you know John, you know what I mean).


Another funny story. When we were on vacation Amy, Katie, the babies and I went shopping for shirts. Seriously, every single person commented on the triplets in their triple stroller. We went into a couple of shops and got what we needed (or wanted). Then, there was no more milk in their sippy cup and there was a serious attempt at a coup. So I quickly went into this cafe and of the 10 or so tables of people every single one of them looked and commented. It was like they thought I couldn't hear them. Here are some of the comments I heard. "Good for you! Are those triplets? It must be a daycare. Wow! Look at that stroller!" I waited to get some milk and was probably in there for five minutes while I paid. And I swear they all just kept staring at the babies.

Then we went outside by the main road and waited for Amy and Katie and I'm surprised that there were no accidents. Wow, can people turn their heads at odd angles.

Also, and update on Cosmo Kitty's eggs. They miraculously hatched while we were gone and two little black and white stuffed kitties were left in the eggs place. Jacob checked on the eggs right away when he got home and I don't really think he bought into the stuffed animals. Too bad I couldn't put real kitties in the box.

The Vacation

I'M BAAACK! I'm so happy to be back home. In my own house, using my own bathroom, my kids in their own beds, sitting on my own couch and touching a computer for the first time in seven days.

Last Saturday, I left in the van with the babies and Scott with Jacob in the truck towing the boat. I was getting sick. I could barely keep my eyes open during the trip, I'm not sure if its a cold or allergies or a bit of both. Pretty scary driving with your precious cargo when you're not feeling well. But I had a lot of caffeine and had the window open. No accidents that day.
The next morning I took the kiddos to Walmart to get some infant Tylenol, a tarp and some milk. On the way back, I wasn't feeling well, hadn't gotten a lot of sleep, my head felt like, like, like a block of snot. I pulled into our resort, and was careful not to drive on the grass. But in the meanwhile, I sideswiped my sister-in-laws SUV. Yep. Ahhuh. Read it again. I hit a car.

So with that said, get all your snide remarks out of the way. Lucky for me the taillight was just cracked on her car, but I have a nice four foot mark on mine. Now, if I had been feeling 100%, the likeliness of this happening would have gone down dramatically. This is just a great life lesson of not driving while impaired (even it is sick in the head).

So, each day Scott, my brother Jim, my nephew Sam and Jacob went fishing each morning, most afternoons and every night. So their vacation was probably pretty good. Jim and Scott found a fishing spot on Blue Lake that there were tons of small mouth Bass and were really fun to catch. They caught a bunch of them and they were 18- 21 inches.

The babies learned a lot of new words and loved spending time with Daisy the dog. Johnny especially. He would get down to Daisy's level (well, he'd bend over a bit) and then pet her and look her in the eye. Maybe he'll be an animal tamer. The next dog whisperer. Brooke said her first 3 word sentence. "Where dog go?" "No, dog, no!" And Johnny's every other word was Daisy.

The babies loved to roam around the resort. There were really nice playsets and Matthew surprisingly was fearless and would climb up them to go down the slide. Johnny decided after landing on his butt that he didn't really like a bruised bum. I'll post pictures in the next few days of our adventures.

Also, our vacation was riddled with sickness. I was sick first, then Matthew came down with a fever and a cough, then Brooke, then John (and the world ends when he gets sick), then my nephew Sam and then today Jacob woke up with a fever in the middle of the night. And then he threw up at the cabin. Yep. Ahhuh. Lucky for me the Green Machine was there to clean it up.

Johnny knew something was up and cried and screamed all morning so we left at 9:30 a.m. to go back to Appleton. When we got home, Grandma Callaway came over so I could run to the laundromat to do six huge loads of laundry (it was all I could fit in my van). Then, when Scott got home tonight, he brought home the rest of the laundry and I think I've done four or five loads with another two to go.

The babies somewhat enjoyed the beach and water. Matthew and Brooke liked playing in the sand and Matthew loved to tromp through the freezing cold water. But John would rather sit on my lap and cling to me. I don't think he was comfortable around the water. Or maybe because of the new situation, he wanted to melt into me.

Regardless, it was a MUCH better vacation than last year. I even got to read two whole books at night. I LOVE Janet Evanovich. She's hilarious. She's got a line of books - the Stephanie Plum series - that are just a hoot. Jacob asked me what the book was about. For those of you who know Stephanie Plum, its hard to describe to a five year old without being PG-13. So I told him I was reading a book about a girl who gets bad guys and puts them in jail who have been bonded out for their crimes.

the cottage

My poor attempt at Haiku Friday...

Vacation - up North
with Jacob and the triplets
Oh please do not rain

Fishing and swimming
Ten people in one cabin
Oh please do not rain

Johnny do not cry
Or I will have to take you home
with Matthew and Brooke

At Blue Lake Resort
we play on Rainbow swingsets
Oh please do not rain

Up in God's Country
So beautiful and serene
Deer, loons, ducks and bats

A night at the beach

Bay beach that is. Bay beach is an amusement park in Green Bay WI that has been there FOREVER. And the rides haven't changed. And frankly, neither have the prices. The rides are either 25 cents or 50 cents. So I can take my family of six and probably not spend $20.00.

Of course as we got there, it started to sprinkle. But that meant that short, short lines. Or even no one in lines.

Telemarketer calls

Happy 200th post.

Today, I got that phone call that makes me wish I had signed up for the do-no-call list.

Discover card calls and gives me their five minute talk about identity theft, protection, etc... Did YOU know that they will check my credit report every day to make sure someone hasn't assumed my identity? And ONLY for the great price of $12.95 per month.

This lady went on and on. I told her I wasn't interested. She said, "How can you NOT be interested in someone stealing your identity? On average it cost $537.10 to repair your credit history."

I said, "I don't feel I should have to pay $12.95 a month for someone to check my credit reports. Thanks you , but I'm not interested." I was not going to just hang up on her, I was going to wait until she conceded.

But this girl was not done. "Whens the last time you checked your credit report?" I said, "Last fall." And she said, "Well, that's too long, you should check it more frequently! You could be losing out on someone taking your identity and costing you money." I said, "I think VISA does this free. If someone charges on my card, I'm protected." And she just kept on coming back. The conversation escalated where you could tell we were both pretty upset. Finally I said to her, "What don't you understand about the word No? I'm not interested." And she started her end spiel about Discover card and then I just had to hang up on her.

She was really close to being called a word I don't keep in my vocabulary.

Six Word Memoir Meme

The Meme originated over an idea that was prompted by the book written by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser, Not Quite What I was Planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. It's a compilation based on the story that Hemingway once bet ten dollars that he could sum up his life in six words. His words were- For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.

Here are the rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4 .Tag five more blogs with links.
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

So here's my six word memoir. Its hard to only write one... Because there is one I could say about parenting, one I could say that encompasses me and the other parts of my life.

Living example. Golden rule. Planned worrier.

Over the years I have tried to be a living example of what I believe in. The love that God has given me and forgiven my sins. I know I have fallen short, but each day my children are a reminder that I can stumble and fall through this course of life, but try and try again.
I don't want to be one of those parents who says, "Do as I say, not as I do." This has been a huge adjustment for me with my language, my choices in music and in some cases my choices in who surrounds my family.
Golden rule: Treat others as you would be treated. (Or something like that). I think this was especially important when I worked as a trader. I wasn't out to cheat anyone. I wanted the trade to make me and the broker I used look good. I wasn't out to screw anyone. Its a tough business to live by that rule though when others are pushing you to do whatever you can to get something done. On the family note, I try to tell Jacob now that if he wants John to share with him, he should share with John. I think that I've done a really good job of raising Jacob to be thoughtful of others (for a 5 year old).
I think I came out of my mom with a wrinkled forehead because I was worried. Anxiety kills me. I'm always thinking about the future and sometimes I need to live for the now. With the birth of the triplets I really have learned to take one day at a time. I don't worry as much because there are a lot of things out of my control. But its been a hard lesson to learn. I think God has taken a lot of that burden from me when I needed Him the most. And out of the worry comes planning. I have a planner, I have lists. Every night when I lay down I think of what I need to do the next day. And I figure out how I can do two or three things at once. Disorganization is a hideous and dark thought. Sure, maybe I have a room or two that isn't clean, but you can bet its on my list to be done by the end of the week.

I'm supposed to tag 5 people.
Feel free to copy and paste this on your blog and play along.

Ice cream

A faithful reader has accused me of being (searching for a better word) grumpy in my last post. While I may have been to the point, that was my point. If anyone comes up to me and tells me their job is harder than mine, they can handle my pointedness. Of course, I'm not rude to their face, just blowing off steam on my blog. Which is what my blog is for.

I'd like to think I have cute children. Most of you

know I have really cute children. But gosh, capturing their silly expressions on camera is so worth taking 11,000 pictures in 2 years.

My children have discovered the joy of eating ice cream from a cone. This is very exciting for me because now I have an excuse to buy ice cream cones and eat ice cream a couple of times a week. Of course its take months if not years of licking practice to have your ice cream not to drip. So I'm happily teaching them the correct techniques of licking/eating ice cream and cones.

The preface to the picture of John is Cosmo happily

sitting under the table, waiting patiently for me to give her treats. John decides to share his Rold Gold cheddar pretzels and Cosmo politely declines and turns her back on him. She also swishes her tail (like most cats do) and John giggles himself silly because Cosmo is moving the pretzels.

More pictures on flickr too.

Triplets versus three singletons

Its really funny meeting someone for the first time that has never met anyone with triplets. Since its such a normal part of my life now, I think to myself, "Really? You NEVER met anyone with triplets? None of your friends, neighbors, customers, etc? A random family on the street? Ever?" And then people go on to tell me about Jon & Kate plus 8. Every single one of them.

Also mentioned a lot is how calm I look. Here's the secret. If you show your fear, they'll eat you alive. You just take a few breathes, take a drink of your margarita and pop a few pills.

I've also had people tell me that they had three children right in a row and THAT is just like triplets. I usually just nod my head because I don't want to outright insult them and make them feel their job is any less stressful.

So here's my disclaimer before I tell you what I really feel.
Every child is different and can be as much work as 10 children or as easy as pie.

Having been pregnant with triplets is almost a 90% or more of having pre-term babies where as a single pregnancy is not. Being pregnant and being knowing you'll have to deliver preemies is completely different. The stress is completely different. You also get much, much bigger than a singleton pregnancy. Which means a lot less movement and grace flies out the window.

If you're going to complain about your tough life of having three children right in a row, why'd you plan them that way? I have never started a conversation with anyone complaining how tough my life was. I chose to take Clomid, I chose to have extra curriculars with my husband. I knew what the mixture of Clomid and extra curriculars meant. Sure I was surprised I got triplets out of the bunch, but I'm not going to complain about it or compare myself to others.

I have a niece and nephew who are 4 & 2 years older than Jacob. I have watched them on several occasions for all day and even some all-nighters when they were really little and its nothing compared to triplets. I even nursed Jacob while watching these kids, so it was a time commitment for me.

Why do I think triplets can be harder than three singletons of a different age? Its a herding mentality. One does something and the other two follow. There is a reason why they have shirts that say "double trouble". While watching my niece and nephew, if Jacob threw food, they never started throwing food just because he threw food.
Also, you try grabbing all three of your children at once and carrying them. Chances are if your kids are staggered, even by a year a piece, you'll be able to let the oldest one walk and maybe even the middle one while you carry your third baby.
Having singletons, you can pass clothing and toys down to the next child. Kinda hard with triplets.
And the best answer as to why triplets are harder than three singletons?
Potty training.

I think why I sometimes get these comments from other mothers that they sure have a tough life is that until I came along with my well-behaved triplets who are sitting patiently in their stroller/cart, everyone else in the room felt sorry for them that they had three little kids running around.

Yesterday, Jacob put scotch tape on his penis. Katie came down from the bathroom to get me and I went up and his cousin Sam was pouring water over Jacobs penis trying to loosen the tape. Jacob was crying and holding himself. My first question was, "Jacob, why did you put tape on your penis?" And the answer? Really stellar, "I don't know! Mom! Get if off!" So I tried to be gentle but its like a band-aid... so I just ripped it off. The site of the tape had no redness or anything so he's still all in one piece.

Now, some of you are probably thinking to themselves, "Why would Jean even mention that in her blog? Its kind of personal. It will embarrass Jacob in the future."
Why? Why? Because it was one of the stupidest things I've ever seen him do and I can't believe he did it. And believe me, its going in his baby book and he's lucky I didn't take a picture of the dumb act before I took the tape off.

Also, yesterday I took the four kids to the NICU alumni reunion that is every first Thursday at Children's Hospital in Neenah. Its from 5-7 p.m. and they feed you domino's pizza and drinks. So, I get there and there is a play area and then a oval of chairs. Probably 25 chairs in total. I take out one of the chairs and park the kids, I get them and Jacob food and start feeding them. Meanwhile, there were two couples there and during the kids being fed another 6 or 7 couples and kids came. I was sitting at the top of the oval. There were three empty chairs next to me. Nobody sat next to me. A few people even people up extra chairs behind the oval (not next to me) and sat there. Finally a couple with a 15 month old sat down next to me. There were no extra seats.
After some small talk I said to them, "I don't know why, but no one wants to sit next to me and the babies." And they didn't know what to say.

I came to a couple of conclusions.
1) People thought that two year olds carried an infectious disease and I would thoughtlessly bring them to a NICU alumni meeting sick and therefore didn't want to sit next to me to expose their infant/toddler to any sickness.
2) I think they were afraid of them.

And to that I would tell you to read the first part of this blog, because you should never let them see your fear.

Against the grain

I'm doing wordless wednesdays on Haiku fridays.

Tartar sauce anyone?

My kids were introduced to tartar sauce by my parents last Sunday at a fish'n chips fry. John sat on my moms lap and Brooke on my dads and just licked the Tartar sauce off of the french fries. Then, THEN, they found the ketchup on the plate and went to town on that. Now if they see the ketchup bottle, they want some on their plate.

I've also been sneaking the kids part of my subs from subway. That means they get lettuce, tomato, pickles, black olives and a little bit of Southwest sauce. Its soooo good! And John loves the pickles. Brooke will pick up the sandwich and eat it like she's been tossing these back for years. Matthew will eat the bread but when he finds out there is something in the middle, it goes on the floor.

So. Last night Shell Dinter and I take the kiddos to Sam's Club. Fast-forward to the end. Jacob has to go to the bathroom, he goes to the bathroom and on the way out of Sam's club mentions that there was an "accident". Long story short, I take him into the bathroom and we come out sans underwear which I have stashed in my wipes container. So as we are walking out, he pulls up the back of his shirt and his pants are hanging low so you can see his crack. AND, I put some toilet paper in between the skin and his pants because they were wet in places and he didn't like the feeling. So everyone behind us got a view of my babies butt with toilet paper sticking out the back. Shell and I had a good laugh over this.

And before that, Shell found Brooke in her crib sleeping. She woke her up because we were going to Sam's Club. She pulled the blanket off of her and she she only had her shirt on. He little cute butt was sticking up.

She keeps taking her pants and diaper off. I need to go get some duct tape.

David Jackson Photos

We had a photo shoot a few weeks back and here are some of my favorites from the photo shoot.

Check out Dave Jackson's website. http://www.davidejackson.com/ He is our friend, but boy does he have tremendous talent. He's accredited by some fancy-dancy photography association in the U.S.A. and its a hard club to get into.

The picture of John and me. Dave captured our relationship in one picture. This picture tells the story. It brings tears to my eyes.

I love this picture of Brooke. You can see the lightness of her eyes. And the barrette I made for her hair.

Jacob, keeper of the babies.

checkers anyone?

I just caught my children playing checkers with their NUKs. Does that mean that they are old enough to take them away? I will after our June vacation to Minocqua Wisconsin.

My children have found something new that they like. Condiments. Last week the Grandpas and Grandmas were over and John and Brooke crawled into their laps and began to dip their french fries in Tarter sauce. Then they tried ketchup. Today, we had ham sandwiches for lunch (and dinner). So, I like a little ketchup with my ham sandwich. They see this and start madly pointing to their plates. So I put some ketchup on their plates and they dip their grapes in it and their cheese. Hmmm....