Sensory stuff

So I wanted to make a sensory blanket/luvie for a little girl I had mentioned in a previous post.

This was the first time I made a doll/person taggie blanket versus the old square blanket.

Scott thinks the head looks like Wilson.

Dent specialist?

I've been sick since Sunday. I feel like the insides of a toilet. But enough about me.

Brooke has been a champ with her medicine - nebulizer. She is almost at 100%. John has the same cold I do. Poor boy. Matthew seems to be immune to this one! Yipee! Jacob just has a cough. Scott said his throat is sore today, which is how mine started out.

A few days ago as I was walking past a TV, I caught part of a conversation and it really stuck with me.

Boston Legal (guy who looks like Captain James Kirk from StarTrek) "Life is not always a fair playing field."

I have said this over and over in my head and really thought about the meaning of this. It really sums up a lot of the feelings I have.

With regards to:

Women vs Men
Why we give birth and do all the hard work
Why some people are "different" than others
Why our children come home from school upset and crying over careless remarks.
Why others get things so easily and others struggle just to "get it".
Why its not worth harboring ill thoughts towards others and situations.
Why prayer is so important.
Why we really need to remember that when we think we are in a bad situation, that there are others who are in a worse situation.

And lastly, a joke from Jacob.

Jacob was talking about how Scott fell off the ladder and onto the truck on the way to school on Monday. (And Scott is o.k.)
Jacob: Daddy dented the truck.
Momma: Yes he did, but he didn't hurt himself.
Jacob: Do you think we should call a dentist?

Hehehehehehe!

Festival of Lights and the ER

I really want to blog more, but there just seems to be more stuff to do around the house. There is always laundry. If its not dirty, it needs to be put away. The floors always need to be cleaned (and luckily Scott and Jacob are good about helping with that), I am trying to get some stuff sold on eBay, sewing, making barrettes, Christmas cards, gifts, candy, etc...

I need to make a list and prioritize. Stuff just keeps getting in the way. Last night, Jacob and I went down to the "Festival of Lights" a.k.a. Celebration of lights in Oshkosh. We also bought more Christmas lights and stopped at the outlet mall. By the time we got home it was wayyyyy past his bedtime and too late to get anything done.

And tonight as I got the kids ready for bed, I noticed Brooke struggling to breathe, she was wheezing and her cough was tight. Soooo, I took her to the ER right away. We got in she got a breathing treatment and some steroids and we got to go home. I'm hoping she makes it through most of the night without any problems.

A Matrix re-take

I had a dream last night that was so weird and bizarre, that I can hardly believe its My dream.

It was like the movie Matrix where people live in one world and then enter another odd and bizarre world.

I was myself and others in the dream were people I used to work with when I was just out of college. We'd go to this "bar" and then walk through this door onto an elevator which took us to another dimension. And people were trying to kill me and the others and my mission was to save this little girl who was 2 or 3.

And to add to the bizarreness of this dream, I did not take anything to help me sleep or any muscle relaxers before bedtime. So I had this dream all by myself without the help of medication.

So anyway, I made the traditional Pumpkin pie and Sour Cream Apple pie tonight for tomorrows dinner. I love Thanksgiving for a couple of reasons. My moms crescent rolls, family, pies and whip cream, and ads for Black Friday. I don't even know why those excite me because I don't go shopping in the stores. I do all my shopping on-line which is already done. Gymboree started their 30% off and I got to use my 20% off coupon too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Challenges of being thankful

I haven't written about being thankful for anything lately. Not because I'm not thankful, just really tired and busy. Toddlers take a lot of work. Three toddlers is a little more work. But one 5 year old. Challenging, interesting, driving me crazy, funny, talkative, and not listening.

So, I'm thankful for....

• My hand surgery so I'm not in the least bit tempted to strangle, smack or hurt my child when sassiness just oozes out of him. (I hope my sarcasm drips through and I don't have child services at my house, again.)
• For TIVO
• For the forgiveness of God
• For the voices inside my head
• For the talents and skills God gave me
• For my husband for a lot of reasons

Elmo show

Alright, I know. EVERYONE is waiting to hear how Elmo went.

First of all it was a 2 p.m. show, which meant it was during their nap times.

Brooke slept for a little bit in the car while the boys stayed awake.

We got inside and saw our friends Grace and Makenna who are 1 year younger than Jacob. I gave them our meet and greet Elmo tickets since I was afraid that the babies would freak out.

We got to our seats, which were third row center, and settled in. Julie got sodas and popcorn for us all and we waited for the show. The first half of the show I had Matthew and Brooke on my lap and they were so involved in the show it was amazing. John sat on Aunt Julie's lap and ate her popcorn and watched. Jacob was so excited to see all the characters too.

Then came intermission when they try to sell cheap items at high prices. This is where the kids really lost interest, or got antsy.

The second half of the show still went well, but the kids were more restless moving around and not sitting as well.

Being up so close to the stage really helped the kids focus and keep their attention to the stage.

My tickets were $32.00 each(I won four of those). There souvenirs were outrageously expensive. There were Elmo dolls for $15.00 (the same that I got at Walmart for $5.00) and Elmo balloons for $8.00. I'm shocked at the amount of people who are willing to spend this for tickets and food and all the other stuff when the economy is the way it is.

Love of books

Alright, EVERYONE is talking about this movie, Twilight. I need to get with it and read the books. One weird Jean fact is that I love vampire movies and books. I fell in love with Lestat in Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice (also a movie :) ) and read her whole saga of vampire books. They were really thick and good for flattening objects. It was before I had the babies, when I had more time to read.

I cannot wait for more time to read again. I used to read all the time. Probably 2 or 3 books a week. I love Johanna Lindsey, Debra Webb, Catherine Coulter, Sandra Brown, Janet Evanovich and many other books. I think I've read most of John Grisham's books and most of Stephen Kings books. Another good set of books is the "Left Behind" series. I forget who they are by. But it makes you think about your faith.

Also like to read the classics. I took a lot of literature classes when I was in school, even though I majored in business. Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre are two of my favorites. The short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, is awesome. Wuthering Heights is a great book and the couple of movies that have been done are pretty good too. Another favorite book is "The Outsiders" and I could watch the movie over and over.

I'm looking forward to reading the Harry Potter Books and The Lion and the wardrobe series. Lord of the Rings. And now I have to add the Twilight series. Sigh. Its only two more years until the babies go to preschool.

I really think thats about the only thing that I really, really miss about my life now. I read books, but its stuff by Margaret Wise and other books on First Words or shapes. Not that those aren't interesting...

Today, Luann and I took the babies in for a checkup. Brooke has a double ear infection and an eye infection. John has an ear infection in one ear and the other ear is filled with wax so he couldn't see. His eyes are now starting to get pussy too. Matthew is just fine. I think he's fighting a little cold like the rest of them. John is the only one that has a fever. I'm just glad that they are sleeping fine. I hope I don't regret those words.

I find it funny that my children did not have ear infections until they were 2 years and 7 months and now we've been to the doctor twice this fall.

Jacob has been very, very sassy and not listening. So we're using the happy, sad jar again which works well for us. So he started the afternoon with three marbles, got another marble and immediately started dusting and emptying garbage cans to get a marble back. He dusted on top of the TV. Our TV holds a lot of stuff on it. He dusted each item individually. Even the flip cards he did individually. So tonight I'm gone to a FVMOM meeting and he still is cleaning up a storm. He scrubbed the kitchen floor, he dusted anything and everything in the living room, he was scrubbing some spots on the floor. But he would look occasionally at Scott to make sure he was seeing him do all this. Pretty funny. I guess he even wiped down all our matchbox cars.

Lucky 333

Interestingly enough, this is blog #333. There are a lot of 3s in my life.
Triplets
Born on the 3rd day of the month.
I have two nephews born on the 3rd day of the month.
I'm 33 1/2. :)
3 & 33 are lucky for me when I play roulette.

There is a website called Caringbridge. Its a way for parents and families to update their children's progress as they are in the hospital or recovering from surgery or illnesses.

On October 2nd I witnessed an accident. I found out later that a girl who is the same age as the triplets was critically injured in a freak accident. A PVC tube flew out of a truck and into a van
entering Payton's skull.

Payton and her family has been in my thoughts and prayers frequently. I check a couple of times a day to see if there are updates. Miraculously, Payton seems to be doing well. She needs to relearn to eat, swallow, speak, hold herself up. That doesn't mean that it won't be a long road ahead of them as they don't know what damage Payton has suffered.

Which brings me to the monthly theme of thankfulness.
*I am so thankful for the caring staff who take care of our children.
* I am thankful that when tragedy strikes, people come together to give support and help when they can.
* I am thankful for our Armed Forces who defend our country with their lives.
* I am thankful for my cat Cosmo.

And speaking of Cosmo Kitty, she gained weight this year at her annual. Her annual required a few shots, but it didn't require any internal checks. (Lucky kitty!)
The vet, who was new... told me that I needed to exercise Cosmo three times a week. Starting for one minute a time and then working up to 10 minutes.
Why this is ludicrous.
1) I don't have time to exercise and now I have to take the time to exercise a cat?
2) She's 8 1/2 and her idea of exercise is running to get her food.
3) I have four children.
4) They are lucky to get their teeth brushed and get socks put on each day.
5) Isn't there a magic kitty pill to slim her down?

Cosmo forgave me quickly and let me pet her. She now brings up her fuzzy ball on string to me so we can play for however long she wants to play.

A little bit closer

This is as close as I could get them on Halloween. Note the kitty is picking her nose.

Kids say the funniest things

Yesterday, Jacob wasn't feeling the best due the cold he was getting.

He was frustrated that the babies were in his space and playing with what he wanted to play with. So he says to me, "Mom, can we sell the babies at the rummage sale?"

I had to turn away so he could not see me smile. I told him that was not a nice thing to say, it was hurtful. (But it was funny)

Then tonight I was reading a potty book to the babies. John had me reading it over and over. Brooke comes along and started listening. I said to her, "Do you know potty?" And she says, "I don't know potty." (In the same tune as "I don't know Jack!")

And exciting news for Matthew. When he jumps his feet actually leave the ground. Also, he has said a few three word sentences. All impromptu. Today he said, "John is sleeping?" after I got Brooke out of her crib.

Perspective

I was reading a fellow triplet moms blog. Someone had anonymously wrote some nasty and vicious things.

I can only imagine how she felt. That person didn't have the courage to sign their name to the note, they felt comfortable doing it anonymously though.

She had such an insightful blog about how she felt about this comment, but one thing stuck out in my mind. She said that sometimes people have to step on others to raise themselves up.

Wow.

Haven't we all done that at times? And that's why I'm thankful about perspective. This is a good reminder to be the better person and not put others down.


I remember the first time this actually dawned on me. I was going to FVTC and there was a girl who didn't like me. She was calling me names, among those "fat".
It was actually quite funny because she was probably 50 lbs heavier than me. At that time, I was probably the skinniest I ever was in my life. So it hit me then that shes putting me down to bring herself up.

Interesting lessons we learn in life. I just hope I can practice them.

Elmo here we come!

So yesterday, Scott got the mail in and I didn't glance at it until the afternoon. I had a letter from my bank and instead of the typed label it was handwritten.

So I'm mentally going over in my head, did we overdraft? is there a problem with an automatic payment? did we overdraft one of our 7 accounts?

So thinking its an overdraft I open it and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was four tickets to Elmo's Green Thumb which is playing at Green Bay next Saturday. The tickets are third row and center. I don't think I'd want to get any closer than that.

So now I call TicketStar and ask if I need tickets for the babies. Yes, anyone age 1 and up she told me. Sigh. So what are the chances of me getting 2 more tickets nearby?

I figured I should buy two tickets, one for me and one for another chaperon. I wasn't going to try to buy just one and take all four kids by myself.

So after finding out that my sister Julie would LOVE to go to see Elmo, I call and get two more tickets about 10 rows behind our seats. I'm planning on just having the kids sit on our laps and sit in our original seats.

I'm hoping that the kids are not freaked out by the bigger than life creatures we get to "Meet and Greet" before the show. I think Big Bird will be the scariest because I'm secretly still scared of an 8 foot tall bird. So maybe Julie and Jacob will go to the meet and greet and I'll just take the kids with me to our seats.

Either they will be mesmerized by this performance or screaming to get away. I don't think its going to be anywhere in between. So I'm guessing that John and maybe Brooke and I will be spending a lot of time in the lobby. While Julie, Jacob and Matthew enjoy the show.

My pretty girl

I love to dress Brooke up. The next thing on my Thankful list is Gymboree. :)

Being Thankful

I have not posted what I'm thankful about lately. I've been thinking of them, but just not taken the time to do it.

• I'm thankful for family
• I'm thankful for the gifts God has given me
• I'm thankful for television (yes, I do watch a lot of television)
• More importantly, I thankful for the distraction of television for the kids
• I'm thankful my garbage disposal
• I'm thankful my kitty is still healthy
• I'm thankful that Scott has a secure job and good insurance

My big helper

Jacob has been so sweet the past couple of days. He spilled orange juice all over the kitchen table and the floor. I was pretty upset with him at first and he kept stepping in it, so I yelled at him. He went upstairs and was crying.
I called him down and told him I was sorry for yelling at him. I was mad because orange juice is sticky and will take a long time to clean up. He said he was sorry.

Then later as I was still cleaning he came back in again and said he was sorry. I really appreciated this because this "I'm sorry" came without me prompting him to say it and I could tell it came from the heart.

So he asked if he could vacuum the living room. For about 20 minutes he vacuumed, using the extension and the vacuum to get all floor and hard-to-reach areas.

Then yesterday he vacuumed the whole upstairs and today he wants to do the lower level and wash the wood floors on the main level.

He really will make someone a good wife some day.

Huh?

Long time no talk. Its kind of been like, I'm going to the store. I need some Excel Razors and in my head I repeat to myself, "Excel Razors, Excel Razors, Excel Razors..." I stop in front of something pretty and shiny and that thought goes out my head.

I know why people make lists now.

Busy beaver

Alrighty. I'm a little tardy in posting. The last couple of days I've been a busy beaver working at the YMCA and getting ready for FVMOMs Vendor Fair. Which is a combination of home-based businesses and a craft fair and a bake sale. It was a lot of fun, but very tiring.

Of course Jacob was soooo excited to have a "jewelry party" and he helped set it all up. He also liked running around the gymnasium.

Brooke has been scaring me. I hear things come out of her mouth in the exact tone that I say them. Things like, "I said sit down NOWWW!" "NOOOO, John." "No hitting!" "I said no touching!" Very unladylike to yell. I'm sure that I don't yell like that, right?

Thankfulness

I am so thankful for family and friends, especially the kind that help out when they don't have to.
I am so thankful that God gave me a chance to be a mother to four beautiful normal wacky children.
And just so we all do get teary eyed over this post...
I am so thankful for Clonazapam and Hydocodone that make me feel realllly good. And help me sleep like the babies in the next room.

Steam mop

I am thankful for my Shark steam mop. I am even more thankful when Scott uses it! :)

Kinda like it always tastes better when someone else cooks?

Democracy

On track of being thankful, its the choices we get in this country. What a blessing it is that we can go out and vote for who we think is the best candidate. We get an opinion and we can express it without censor.

Although my candidate didn't win, I'm glad to see our country making news by electing our first black president.

A cute moment with Brooke. She loves to take her shoes on and off. She was struggling to get her shoes on. I told her to keep the tongue up. So she did. She opened her mouth and kept her tongue up. It was hilarious. I forget sometimes how literal kids can be.

Thankful

November's a month to take time to reflect and be thankful. So I decided that I'd try and come up with something to be thankful each day of this month.

Since I didn't post something on the 1st or 2nd of the month, I'll post three today.

• God's care and love in my life and my families lives.
• Hydrocodone/Vicadin
• The suspects in the homicide that my husband is working on has been caught by the police in good ol' Illinois. And the second part of this is that teamwork and dedication by all the law enforcement departments involved to their jobs can be shown by the relentless search for these guys.
  

Halloween fun

Guess what? I'm typing with two hands. Although its a little sore to do so.

Halloween was fun, but short-lived. We only stopped at three places before the meltdown happened.

Then we went back to the house and Jacob handed out candy and some of his pictures he drew to trick-or-treaters. At 6 p.m. he was tired of handing out candy so we turned off our light.

Shortly after, the door bell rang. He opened the door and told the kids, "Sorry, we're closed." I giggled and went and got some candy for the kids.

Helpless - not the Metallica song

I'm typing with my left hand only. My surgery went well. I'm doped up on meds. Luckily I have babysitters to watch me AND the kids. I can't change diapers or dress the kids.
Happy Halloween!

Santa, a Kitty, Blue and a Monkey

Sometimes its hard to tell who is who or what they are. John was really good about keeping his monkey costume on. I think he felt comfortable in his own skin. :)

Brooke was a white kitty with a tail (which is really cute). I think she should have had little horns on her instead of ears.

Matthew is Blue from Blues Clues. He is so adorable, just like Blue.

Jacob wanted to be Santa Claus. Maybe he'll turn out to be a very generous and giving child.

A busy week

So, I have hand surgery in two days. Scott is no where to be found. He got called in to work at 4 a.m. on Sunday morning on a homicide and well, he won't be home until they catch the bad guys. So I'm looking at plan B for my surgery. Relying on family and friends to take care of me and the kids until he can come home.

Luckily my mom and mother-in-law can help out. And there are friends that come over regularly (Luann and Mark and Shell). It just seems like timing always stinks when it comes to homicides. Oh well, if they thought about their actions before they committed murder, it probably wouldn't happen.

Here's some more pics of the park.

Halloween pictures

Trying to get six, seven, eight or nine people to look at the camera, not cry, not make funny faces, blink or poke someone is like trying to catch water with your hands.

More pictures

I'm sure that a few of you have noticed how cute and photogenic my children are. They get that from me - being photogenic. The cute part is just pure luck or maybe Gods grace.

I get some of the kids clothes from my friend Angela. I'm sure she recognizes the boys shirts and Brooke's jumper.

And you can see the kids personalities.

Whatdoyathink?

We took the kids to the park today to get that good ol' Christmas card picture. So whatdoyathink? Which one would you "vote" for?

Wordless Wednesday - my version

My artist using different venues to show his artistic talents off.

Catching Matthew in a sad moment. (John kept tyring to take off his bib)

Johnny being spunky.

My little Brooke showing off her new outfit. (My favorite)

Smack!

So, I've been busy sewing lately. I like to sew. Its relaxing. In the early days of my sewing projects, I cursed and got frustrated very easily. Now, after tons of practice, its actually nice. And I'm glad I'm not jinxing a baby blanket anymore. I can probably be blamed for many a plenty fussy baby in the early 2000s. I've also been making baby burp cloths and barrettes. Although the barrettes are for FVMOM, but they are still relaxing to do. I rarely burn myself on the glue anymore. :)

Today was a busy day in our house. While Jacob was at school, I took the "toddlers" as Jacob calls them to a Birth to Three playgroup. It was a lot of fun. They even got to paint a pumpkin, something they'll never do at home. Paint , three inventive toddlers and only one mom? Nope, not on my watch. Luckily one of the teachers helped out watching over the kids. Another reason why we'll never do it is because its messy and it can go down hill quite quickly. Look what happened when I gave them pencils for the first time.

So then tonight, Shell Dinter came over and we took the kids to Wild Air. We had a blast. The "toddlers" weren't so thrilled about the slide. You could tell by the look on their face that they were surprised and a little scared. But we went into this circular inflatable, there was a middle pedestal that we could balance on and jump on and then there were a whole lot of soft balls to throw around or at someone. We all giggled and jumped and played. The kids did not want to leave.

As a matter of fact, they were all still running around when Shell and I were trying to get their shoes and coats on. And then Brooke ran right into a floor to ceiling glass window that she apparently didn't see. As Michelle and I rolled on the ground trying not to pee our pants, she looked at us with surprise in her eyes and she wasn't sure if she should laugh with us. It was such a classic Jean move. It could have been a Windex commercial that we see on television.

Nicknames

I feel so bad. I haven't posted in, like, weeks! Each day I'd think about it, but by the time I was done with all my stuff, I was beat and just went to bed. I think we've all been there.

So anyway, Jacob has nicknames for all the babies.

Matthew is raggiemilkcarman.

Brooke is dollymilkblankieman.

John is carmonsterman.

Oh rotorooter man!

So, today at 4 a.m. the cat is banging on the gate to get upstairs. I go to open the gate and then she comes to sleep with me. Or bother me. She walks all over me and wants to keep licking my face. I know that this usually means shes hungry or thirsty. But I don't budge.

Finally at 6 a.m. Brooke wakes up and so I get out of bed. I get her some milk and go downstairs to feed Cosmo. As I normally do, I pour her water out in the toilet and fill up the container in the bathroom. And I usually do not turn on the light in the bathroom because the light from the laundry room is enough. And I just got up. I need to wake up gradually.

Well, of course I was surprised when the toilet started overflowing. I flipped the light on and saw the toilet overflowing and well, the smell I thought came from Cosmos litter box is actually coming from the bathroom. So, to spare everyone the gory icky details, the plunger doesn't work. I go out to the garage to find that "rotorooter" thing that is steel and flexible to clear out the plug. I can't find it.

I wake up Scott at 6:20 a.m. I ask him where it is. He finds it in the garage and I go back to work amongst the flooded bathroom. It probably took me 10 minutes to clear the plugged toilet. And then I had to clean and sanitize and clean up the other mess.

The culprit was the 5 year old in our house. He likes to use those wet wipes that are supposed to be degradable. But I guess when you use the whole package, it does tend to clog up things.

Much needed sleep

First, the important stuff. There was a news story today that really touched me. It was about a girl that was elected homecoming queen at her school. The special thing about this story is how her school embraces her - she has down syndrome. It brang tears to my eyes because kids can be cruel. When someone is different, whether it is because the color of your hair, your skin, your looks, etc.. kids pick up on that and well, you know... they can be mean.

Now, Matthew slept 5 hours at a time for the first time in five days. So I got five hours of sleep! Yipee! And Luann was nice enough to come over and let me sleep this morning and then Kathy picked Jacob up from school for me and then my mom came over and let me sleep this afternoon. I so needed that. I wasn't functioning very well. Brings me back to the first week or two of the triplets being at home.

Jacob made a book today for his teacher. It says "I love you" and has some other random words he knows how to spell. Then he made more pages to go in the book with hearts on them. How sweet is that?

prognosis

Scott and I took the triplets to the doctors today. Matthew has a double ear infection and John has one in his left ear. Explains why they don't want to lay down. I'm hoping the medicine helps tomorrow and they can sleep better.

House of gunk

The last few days have been very hectic here. The babies are sick. They are taking turns though as to who has fevers and who needs mom the most. But I have only been getting 2 or 3 hours of sleep at night. And not all at once either.

I've had to hold them a lot - either one or two of them and even sometimes just so that they sleep during the day. So I'm not getting a lot done.

This is the time where I feel guilty about not having enough of me to go around that I can cuddle and be with them when they are sick. I know it can happen with someone who has 3 or 4 children too. But a 5 year olds needs when they are sick are different than three, THREE, two year olds.

Our growing family

This is an older picture of Jacob coloring. He now tells everyone he's going to be an artist when he grows up.
Jacob loves Halloween. He and Scott have carved two pumpkins.
The pumpkins have multiplied. Jacob carved the little pumpkin all by himself. He wants to get a bunch more pumpkins to carve and light up. Also, Scott got him some orange lights to put on our dinky little plants in the front yard.
Our biker gang.
Matthew was coloring himself with markers today. I'm hoping it comes out in his clothing.

Brooke's first haircut

Jacob's first day of school

You can tell Jacobs allergies are bothering him in these pictures. For about two weeks the allergies were really bad.

His desk is the front with the yellow folder and blue box. He thought that meant he and his teacher were in charge of the rest of the class.

Johnny

Johnny is unique. Johnny is special. You can tell by these pictures what I deal with every day.

Closed for repairs

So today I get the kids ready to go to the Birth to Three playgroup and we get there and walk in the classroom and start playing and the room is different and there are different teachers there.

No, I didn't walk into the wrong classroom. But thats really likely.

They are having evals this week and have no playgroups or classes.

So, I packed up the kids and we went over to my mom and dads.

The kids destroyed the house. I went to get McDonalds and pick up Jacob from school.

We went to Grandmas and ate. We came home.

John cried and cried. Matthew cried because John was crying. Brooke cried herself to sleep. And so it was a miserable naptime.

And then Shell Dinter came over and we went to the mall to play in the mall play area. We ate (or I should say the adults did) and then we went to the play area, which is closed. For repairs.

So I'm 0-2.

Motherly instincts

Brooke and her dolly. She's got really great instincts when she's "playing".

Headlock? Not really hard to interpret this hold of love.

So, she hurts her dolly and then gives it kisses? A little sadistic?
At first glance it looks like she's nursing, but looking at the above pictures I'd have to say shes trying to smother the dolly.

Its a good thing she has "practice" time with her dolly before she gets the real thing in 20+ years.

Driving for mommies

O.k. I went to bed at 10:20 p.m. last night instead of blogging. I think it was the responsible thing to do since I had to work at 8 a.m. this morning.

Good thing I did since Brooke had me up at midnightish and then again at 4 a.m. I had her in bed with me for awhile and since she was moving around so much, I put her back in her bed.

So I'm living on about 6 cups of soda. Or something like that. I'd like to say I'll go to bed early tonight, but I"m just not sure. All depends on what "mom" stuff I have to do.

One thing I wish was out there and should just write myself is a book entitled, "Driving safety"

It would go something like this.

Mommy buckles up all her children in the car in their carseats. As she pulls onto the freeway/highway, her oldest child starts yelling, "Mommy look at me! Look what I'm doing!" And mommy, not taking her eyes off of the road, "Not now son, I'm trying to drive." And it gets louder, "MOM!!! Look! What is that?" And on and on... thats how my car drive goes and I'm surprised I don't get into an accident.

Hell froze over

Today we had our FVMOM fall rummage sale. Jacob helped me last night set up everything and today he woke up early, at 6 a.m., because he was so excited to go to the rummage sale.

When he got there, he colored, he played with a toy castle I bought for Jordan, he snacked, he drank and he ran around. I think his favorite thing is just running through the aisles. Now normally I wouldn't let him run around in a crowded place, but he just loves to do it and is pretty good about watching for people.

Then when we got home I gave him some cough medicine for his nasty cough. It helped a lot. Scott took him to the hunting land and they set up a blind so they could prepare to shoot turkeys. They actually did see a few and even a stray cat.

I spent the time home with the babies. I could tell they missed me because I had one or two on my lap most of the time.

I asked my parents to come over and we ate pizza and watched the Brewer game. Hell froze over and I watched the entire Brewer game from beginning to end. Actually hell would freeze over IF Scott watched the entire Brewer game from beginning to end. I like baseball/softball and even played for about 15 years of my life. But its not interesting until the 8th inning. I think I gave the Brewers some good luck by watching the game because they did win.

On a side note, I cut up the babies pizza to eat. John grabbed a big (pie shaped) piece of pizza and started gobbling it down. He didn't eat it from the tip or anything like that. He just put the pizza up to his face and attacked the cheese. Kind of like the way Animal from the Muppets would eat his food. Brooke was more dignified in eating her slice.

Fire safety week

So, yesterday I told Jacob not to interrupt me unless he was on fire. So as I'm watching "The Doctors" show portion of how to potty train your children, I saw him rolling on the ground.

Then he says to me, "See mom? I stopped, dropped and rolled."

I guess its fire safety week at school and I guess he took me literally.

Looking back

Yep. We have a Christmas tree up. In October. My son Jacob really likes to celebrate holidays which I think he gets from Grandma Callaway. He always comes home from her house and then will ask me if we have Halloween lights or Easter bunny and egg decorations.

I decorate for one holiday - Christmas. And I barely do that with three active little ones around.

Tomorrow the triplets will be 2 1/2 years old. Really, the time went by so fast. Its sometimes hard to think of my babies being toddlers and seeing them grow so fast. I must admit that there are times when I think the clock actually went backward, but that's due to lack of sleep or crying.

I was reading someonelses blog about how they now get comments about their triplets and I totally hear where they are coming from. I think there are times when we are so proud to show our children off and have them admired, but there are times when we just want to be ourselves and try to live a private life.

I think as the kids get older, we'll get less comments about them being twins/triplets. Matthew is already taller and about 5 lbs heavier than Johnny. I'm sure as they enter school people will think I was just crazy and had one on top of the other. (Well, I actually did)

I think one of the interesting things is how the kids develop. They hear and see the same thing, are in the exact same environment, but react to things differently. Its a very cool thing to see.

I think parenting is tough - period. Leading by example, being consistent, keeping them safe, etc... its multitasking to the next level.

National Down Syndrome Awareness month

October is a pretty special month. It will be 14 years ago on October 4th that I met Scott... and as they say, the rest is history.

Also, Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on a church door in the 1600s creating the beginning of Lutheranism. Same time as we pagans celebrate Halloween.

Also, this month is Down Syndrome awareness month. I'd like to say something everyday that's creative and introspective about people who have DS. But I don't think I can do them or their uniqueness justice.

However, I work at the YMCA (You can always stay at the the Y M C A... doesn't that song play in your head too?) and there is a girl named Carol that has been a volunteer for 10 years and is so nice. She helps out with housekeeping and laundry. And there is a lot of laundry at the Y. People - you don't need to use four towels at a time - com' on! She always got a smile on her face and saying hello to everyone. I asked her one day how old she was and she said 37. She doesn't look a day over 25 and I told her that. But maybe when you like what you do and who you work with, it doesn't age you... :)

Its approximately 2 1/2 months until Christmas. And we have a Christmas tree up and decorated in our house already. Scott bought Jacob a 4 1/2 foot tree and he put on lights and the decorations all by himself. Its going to be a very interesting Christmas if he's ALREADY excited about it. (Picture me holding my head in my hands)