Ear cleaning anyone?

The little ones had their 4th swimming lesson tonight. The good news is that Matthew and John know now that they can touch the bottom of the pool and walk around (and have the confidence to do so). Brooke clung to Shell and then me the whole time. She was being a little difficult. But then at the end of our swimming time she actually got in and stood and held on to the pool.

John needs his ears cleaned out because he doesn't listen well. I think I saw him fall two or three times as he was running around the pool. Poor Luann. Even though John talks about "Guann" all the time, he still was running away from her doing his own thing.


The other good news is that after their 3rd birthday they get to go into the pool by themselves in the Shrimp class. I talked to Miss Julie (not my sister) about it and she said that as long as they can touch the bottom of the pool and listen, they can go into shrimp. Hmm... listen. Well, that's what the instructors get paid for, right?

I took the little boys down the slide at the Y. Brooke did not want to go down the slide and cried. I do not think the boys really liked it, but they sat on my lap and I made sure that they did not get dunked as we went down.

Jacob is still sick and was not able to go to swimming lessons. He's got some energy at times and so I'd like him to go back to school, but not until he stops having bathroom issues.

But its been nice playing outside with all the kids, even if it is muddy and icky and we take baths right after we get in. I wish this 50 and 60 degree sunny weather would stay.

Swimming lessons

We had a couple of first last night. The babies started swimming lessons last night. Julie, Luann and I took the kids.

There were, probably, 8 other kids and parents in this class. So it was a little chaotic. The kids wanted to do their own thing - especially Johnny. But all of them blew bubbles and put their heads in the water.
When it came time to jumping off the side of the pool into the pool, John was more than ready. He was doing cannonballs. I am not at all stretching the truth on this one. He loved jumping in the water, but would forget to put his feet down to stand on the bottom. So he'd jump in and then float around under the water. I'd scoop him up and make him think it was the greatest thing ever. Matthew and Brooke were more conservative. They wanted to hold your hands as they jumped off the side.

I think the adults got more of a workout than the kids.

February blues

I cannot believe I've neglected this blog for sooooo long. Well, I can believe it, my life has been busy.

Lets see - Scott is working a bunch due to some criminals (they are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law) who like to rob people of their prescription drugs and take all their valuables and then mess them up a bit. Thank you to those punks who give my husband job security.

John. I could write a novel about John. John doesn't want to take a nap. John has learned to crawl out of his crib. John will not stay in a time out area (without being restrained). John will throw anything in his area if hes not happy. John will spit at you. John will hit and kick (but not bite yet). John is having a sensory overload month.
Dear John, get enough sleep and you'll feel better and your attitude will be much sunnier.

The kids (Matthew instigates this) will dump all the lego pieces all over and throw them. Again, we have probably 7,000 or so pieces so this is really a lot of fun.

I have worked the past four Fridays and Saturdays at the YMCA. Now, I don't mind working some weekends, but not every Saturday. It doesn't give Scott or I a break. (Well, it gives me a break, but the kids really, really miss me and I miss them.)

Matthew and John had evaluations from Early Childhood Intervention through our school district and Matthew passed or failed the test (depends on how you look at it) and will qualify for some help. John refused to take any test and therefore failed in a lot of areas, but I'm not sure he failed enough to pass to get more help. They really can speak more than what they did that day. Matthew was not interested in talking, just playing. And John, he was kind of ornery. He was going to play what he wanted and no one better touch his things.

I brought up Jacob's predicament in Kindergarten. I blogged about this previously that Jacob's teacher mentioned that it might be a good idea to have Jacob repeat K. He is academically doing well, but his mind wanders in class. Also, socially he is more shy in school and introverted.

Having told the EC teachers this, we talked about Jacob for a 1/2 hour. They mentioned that since Jacob is doing well academically but emotionally a little immature and socially different. But only in the school situation, not on play dates, swim lessons with cousins. They all agreed that Jacob should not be held back. Another way of looking at it is that parochial schools tend to set the bar higher than public schools. So, I don't know... a lot of mulling this decision over and then realizing that its 6 months away and we've got a lot of time to see if Jacob makes any improvements.

I've been doing a lot of sewing and I'll have to post pictures of what I've made. I was able to help out Jacob's school with their Library. I can take books home and label them and then tape them and get them ready for the kids to check out. Its nice to be able to help in some way.

I signed Jacob up for swimming lessons again. He just love swimming and has really excelled this last session. The babies will have their first swimming lessons also. My sister Julie and Luann will be helping me out in the pool. I think the kids will just love their lessons.

I'm not a big fan of this almost three year old age. Its really wearing on me. I can't leave them along without having the pantry, kitchen and any other secure area raided. I think it will be much better when we can get outside and expend some energy that way.

Also, I took Jacob to the ER last night. He has croup. Its kind of rare that a 5 year old has croup, but he is a rare child. He doesn't like to take medicine and had a hard time getting his first dose down at the hospital. He threw it up on the cabinets and floors. And let me tell you, vomit does splatter. So I used my Crisis Response training that I received at the YMCA and secured the area and cleaned up the mess. Then we had to wait to get a shot instead. He is already feeling better today.

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.

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?

Another first!

This was my day.

I got up and went to First-Aid training at the YMCA. Then I went to Sam's and got diapers and milk. Then I got home and put the kids to bed in which John still took off his duct-taped diaper and peed all over the crib. And Brooke woke up after a 1/2 hour screaming and not at all happy.

After naptime was over, Jacob, the babies, Luann and I went back to the YMCA for open swim. This was the first time for the babies to be in a pool of this size.

A summary of the events.

Jacob was jumping into the pool, diving under the water, finding the diving sticks, practicing his glide and paddle. I was so proud of him.

Brooke seemed most comfortable in the water and even tried blowing bubbles. She practiced kicking and paddling. John immediately did the doggy paddle when I put him on his front. Just proves that he is related to animals. Matthew was more content to play with the ball and other toys.

Matthew did step off the side into the pool and well, sunk like a lead balloon. But I was right there and just pulled him up. The water was 2' 10". Then he just played by the side and didn't want to come in until the end.

John, on the other hand, was reaching for something in the water and fell in. He looked like a seal entering the water and both Luann and I grabbed him and then made it seem like a fun thing he did. He loved to splash and tool around on the floaty things.

Then after this little girl vomited in the water and the pool was suddenly closed, we decided to get showered and dressed and head on home.

The four kids ate a 12 inch sub and each at a bowl of ice cream. Swimming must make everyone hungry!

And now I have to use my Dyson in the living room where the kids (Matthew) threw crackers.

Book of Life

The kids and I went outside early this morning and played, then ate messy foods right before bathtime. Birth to three came over and John really interacted well and was talking up a storm. I don't think Matthew said two words during the whole thing.

I decided to go to Sam's Club after lunch due to the fact we were out of Margarita mix, diapers, milk - all the essentials. I actually sat the kids at the bench and had them eat a snack and that worked out pretty well. I didn't lose anyone and no one fell off the bench. Well, at least not backwards.

As we were going to check out Brooke reached out to touch the lady ahead of us. I told her not to touch the lady in front of us. The lady turned around and we started talking. She told me she had a friend who had tried for years to have kids and now just had twins who were in the NICU. I told her about FVMOM and gave her one of my ribbonandglue cards so that the twin mom could contact me if she wanted too.

As we checked out she mentioned she had a son pass away last year. I gave her my condolences and she went on to say she had him for 23 years and she was thankful to God for that. She had mentioned he just had graduated and went out to California for a job and passed away there. Something clicked in my head. I asked her if he attended Fox Valley Lutheran (my alumni). She said that he had and his name was Ian. Small world that it is, Mark and Luann, who come over... their son was good friends with Ian. We talked some more about how life is so precious. Ian's name was written in the Book Of Life it little earlier than most people.

We kept chatting out in the parking lot, with both of us having tears in our eyes. But she told me to cherish every moment with my kids because it goes fast. She had such a uplifting attitude about Ian and that he was with God now. I think that conversation really strengthened my faith and reminded me that God has a plan for us all. We just have to trust Him.

Kids are pretty intuitive. I wonder why Brooke decided to try to reach out to her.

This ain't a picnic in the park

My brother in law picked this up for FREE for us and the kids have been fighting over it since. Jacob was really helpful in giving them rides. He also sets up an obstacle course at the end of the driveway so that people can't get in and the babies can't get out. Well, this lasted for the first time and now they just jump over the cones. Its the thought that counts though, right?

We spent most of the night outside playing, eating, messing stuff up and waiting for Scott to come home from work. But at last, we had to take the walk around the circle by ourselves. Jacob rode the tractor and then he got off of it and pulled it all the way home.


Its rare that I get all my kids sitting by each other and not crying or sitting on another, so enjoy this picture. They were patiently waiting for me to feed them crackers that Luann had brought over. They were really hungry and ate 1/2 the box. Jacob didn't finish his meal so I he couldn't have any until he went inside to finish his Chicken Pot Pie. My chicken pot pie is to die for and everyone else likes it, but he hems and haws and is such a sissy about eating it. Its butter, vegetables and pie crust. Who doesn't like stuff with butter?

Since we went to Oshkosh to look at the airplane show. The kids have really noticed the airplanes flying by. The picture below is of the kids yelling, no screaming, AIRPLANE! over and over again. Its actually kind of cute when I'm not standing right next to them.

Not sure how they could see the airplane from sitting inside the garage, but I know they heard it. Brooke actually had the sense to get off her duff and go outside and look for the thing.

Jacob wanted me to take pictures of him sitting on the boat. He posed for me, which of course were all silly. He, daddy and grandpa callaway are going fishing again tomorrow on Lake Michigan. May they catch 3 fish.


So, the kids were really digging the crackers and I was holding the box and they were only taking one or two at a time. Great.
I put the box down to put the stroller back together and below is a picture of what I found. They had emptied the box in the back of the van (where the stroller was) and were stomping/grinding it into a floor. Resale on mini-vans should be at an all-time low with how messy kids are. I'll alert everyone when I buy a new van so you don't buy my old one. I think I probably have 10 lbs of ground up food in crevices and nuks that I cannot get at.

This post took me over an hour to do because both computers were not working. The laptop I couldn't get a network connection no matter what I did. The main computer was as slow as snail. Its really frustrating when I want to get something done and nothing is working. So while I kept rebooting, I did do the dishes, or at least put them in the dishwasher. Less work for me to do in the morning then.

A birthday hangover

Lets see... whats new for today? Hmmm. Oh, pee and poop. Miss Houdini here likes to take off her diaper and clothing. (Clothing is usually first) I found her naked in her crib today and then when it was nap time, she had a messy diaper and took it off.

I wanted to take a nap today. The babies were giggling and having a good time. Then they started whining. I went to check on them and noticed John had a messy diaper. So I changed him and put him back to bed. I noticed Brooke was still up and her clothes were on. Then I had to go in a little while later to check on them and then Brooke had fallen asleep. So I go lay down in my comfy bed and I'm just about asleep when I hear Brooke screaming. I get up and see that she was naked, again, and she had a poopy diaper. But the diaper was not on her. It was on one side of the crib and she was on the other. Her skort was on the floor.

So I had to do another load of wash and clean her up. I was out of wipes on the upper level so I just used a wash cloth, but most have missed some because at the next diaper change she was really red and sore. (I'm sure most of you find this particular blog just dripping with excitement, but I'm going some where with this)

So, I put desitin on her right before bed. She wakes up at 9 p.m. and just was screaming. I try to rub her back, but that's not helping. So I took her and changed her diaper, added a layer of desitin and rocked her for awhile. I probably rocked her for 20 minutes with her screaming in my ear. Not exactly easy to hear the TV over her.
So I finally just put her to bed and she stopped crying.

I got a lot done today because Mark and Luann came over this morning to watch the kids. I cut the lawn, ran a few errands, and tonight I made some mini scrapbook photo albums and now I plan on cleaning up Jacob's room of little beads and things that the babies can put in their mouth.

Jacob and Scott have been busy catching fish. They are on vacation with my mom and dad and Julie. They caught some pan fish earlier in the day and then caught a bunch of crappies tonight. Jacob just lives to fish. Its so nice to see him get into a hobby.

Happy Independence Day! I'm not overly patriotic when it comes to BBQ's and fireworks, but I appreciate the men and women who leave their family and homes to serve over seas.

Outback saga

I got a phone call from Outback Steakhouse. The manager called about my complaint that I e-mailed to headquarters.

In the end, I'm getting a "tuck-a-way" gift card to buy some hamburgers. Not sure how much it will be for but at least they responded.

Also, today Luann came over and brought me a couple of lottery tickets for my birthday. I scratched them and swore, SWORE!, I won twenty-five dollars. So, I took it to the store my niece works at and she scanned it and she said it wasn't a winner. My jaw dropped and I probably drooled a little. Huh. The lottery ticket said to scratch the four corners and if there were three alike amounts you'd win the prize. So I scratch the MAIN part of the lottery ticket and three out of four corners were the same. Well, I didn't realize that it meant, the very corners were there were $$$ signs. And even the codes in the main area were a T F V or something like that which made me think it stood for twenty-five.

That's just another moment in the life of Jean.

Also, its my birthday today! Thank you for all the nice cards, messages and phone calls. Makes me feel special. How did I celebrate my birthday? I had carpal tunnel therapy, I had blueberry pancakes, a girl scout mint cookie blizzard (small), tomato basil bisque soup and tonight I'm having stromboli with the kids. It may not be the best for my WW diet. But I turned 29 only five times in my life so far!

ER - the sequel

Its going to be a long one, so go grab something to drink, sit in a comfy chair and hold on.

Not in chronological order, but in order of importance.

I got a call at approximately 7:45 p.m. from Scott who was at his parents house. He said, "Could you come over and take Jacob to the hospital, he cut the tip of his finger off." So, luckily Luann and Mark had stopped by and I told them I had to take Jacob to the hospital and ran out the door. I sped all the way over to Grandpa and Grandma Callaways.

Jacob was crying and he had a rag on his finger. Scott showed it to me and maybe a 1/4 inch of his finger tip was cut off. It looked hamburger raw. Scott was moving the trailer which has a swing tongue and at the same time Jacob put his finger in the hole, which line up with the swing tongue to hold it in place when its straight. (Imagine a cigar cutter) Ouch.

So I sped all the way to the hospital - which I am very familiar with. I had been there once in February with Matthew, once for myself in March, we skipped April and now the third time in May. Jacob cried and shrieked all the way there.

So, knowing that waiting would make it worse, I wrote down on the 2 inch by 2 inch area to describe why we were there - cut the tip of his left finger tip off. I could have put, laceration to the finger, but I wanted to get in since Jacob was having a melt down in the ER.

We had such nice nurses. They were very caring and told him that they knew he was scared and it would hurt, but they had to look at it so they could make it better. The doctor was very nice too for the 30 seconds we saw him. We were in and out of the hospital in less than 40 minutes.

This will be described in unmedical terms. They put this piece of foam over the tip that was cut to help promote the growth of skin and stop the bleeding. Then they wrapped this gauze stuff over his finger and then put this metal thing that goes from the base of his finger to cover the tip so if he bumps his finger, he won't re injure it. Then they put this sticky gauze over that to keep it in place.

They also gave him Motrin with Codeine (bless them) to help with the pain.

Now for the normal Callaway stuff. Jacob set up a boat show today at the house. He made a sign and had Scott write on the sign, "Boat Show, please put money in bucket" or something like that. He put the minnow bucket and sign on the mailbox so people could pay and then come see the boat. Very entrepreneurial.

Brooke keeps taking her pants off. I have to be creative when I dress her because if her pants are elastic, she takes them off and tries to run around naked. We went outside today after dinner and they played on the swings and went down the slide and take everything out of the toy box for me to put back in later.

Then Aunt Julie and Uncle Kelly came over to drop off some stuff for the rummage sale and they played with the babies in the front yard. Pictures will be posted tomorrow.

Because of this emotional roller coaster and lack of self-regulation, we stopped at Dairy Queen on the way home from the hospital. Jacob had an ice cream cone and I had a small (small is somewhat a self-regulating move) doublestuff Blizzard with Reese's Peanut Butter cups and fudge covered cookie dough. It filled my emotional needs, but I may still have a drink too.

The Hangover

After the big day, I'd say we all had a sugar hangover. The babies were super whiny today when I was around. But when I was gone, they were fine. Its nice to know I'm needed. But I wish they'd learn to verbalize their feelings more.

Matthew is learning his numbers. Well, they all are, but he counts the most. He's so darn cute when he does it too. He looks at his fingers and counts twoooo, foooor, fieee, ninnnneee. Luann and Mark have been teaching them to count. He or John will count their cars too. Its just another sign that they are growing up. The really funny thing is that at that age Jacob was much more interested in counting than the alphabet. Looks like Matthew will be the same way.

I'll be calling the doctor tomorrow to get in for Jacob's thumb. When I looked at it tonight, it may be infected where the nail came off. Its so hard for him to keep it out of water and probably keep it clean. Its wrapped up good, but I could tell it had gotten wet and was all wrinkly and gross. I'm not going to even tell him until we get to the dr's office. He will freak out. He does not want to look at his thumb, much less have it touched.

Sam was helping Matthew find Easter eggs.

Two of the sweetest children on earth. Matthew and my niece Katie.

Look at our vacuum cleaner. It looks like we never empty it, but it gets empty almost every time I use it. Notice I say, "I" not we. Lots of dust and cat hair. And cheerios. And raisins. And cracker crumbs.

On the go!

Jacob and I stayed up until 11 p.m. last night. I think he could have lasted longer, but I told him that we both were going to bed.

Luann and I took the kids to a basketball game today. They were good the first half, but the second half was a little crazy. Matthew wanted to get down and didn't want to be held. Brooke wanted to get down too. John still wanted to be held, but was content to read a book on my lap. Jacob was running a car up and down my body, hair and face, which annoyed me a lot.

I know that the people behind us probably felt extremely sorry for us juggling four kids. Or they were just glad they weren't us.

The St. Peter girls won and Jacob and I will go back to watch an afternoon game and Luann is coming over so the babies can nap.

Scott and his dad will be boat shopping. :)

We have my nephew Jordan's 5th birthday party tonight. Hopefully it will be fun and the kids will be on their best behavior!

NICU evaluation update

A catch up on the Callaway Family.

Scott is still working a lot. He's getting a cold. I'm looking at him as I type this and he has no clue that I'm blogging about him. (hehehe)

I am in the middle of making two baby blankets for a baby born last week and one due in one month. I'm not having luck in finding time to make them. I probably have about three hours of work left to do.
I am also trying to organize some rooms and get stuff cleaned up but its hard with the babies running around getting into stuff.

Triplet update. John showed Brooke and Matthew how to push the kitchen chairs over to the counter to get stuff on the counters. (Knives have been moved back behind the faucets.)
The babies have been eating a lot lately. They eat their meal and then come and beg for more from me.
Brooke has been super cuddly lately and wants to be held and get hugs. She's more independent so this has been a nice change. John has been spunky John. Today I was trying to get him dressed and he ran away from me and tripped and his the side of his face on the endtable. Luckily we have rounded edges. I put a potato on it right away cause I heard that helps with the swelling and bruising. If for some reason it wasn't supposed to be a potato and it was supposed to be something else, I'm sure the starch was good for his complexion.
Matthew has been into playing with Matchbox cars. He loves to line them up and play with them.
If I didn't blog about it, Jacob has a really nice time with two boys at Sunday School. He was running around playing with them as I got there. It was nice to see him interacting.

Today, Luann and I took the babies to a NICU clinic at Children's Hospital Fox Valley. They offer a free clinic for NICU alumni at 6,9 and 18 months adjusted age. My kids missed the 18 month appointment and we were fortunate to get in this month.

On the way there, I had one of those moments that my heart jumped up in my throat and stayed there. I was driving on HWY 41 and just around a bend a car had spun out. There was a car behind it and one ahead of it. The car was near the median in a snowbank and some guy was trying to push the car out.
It was slippery because of the snow, I was going 70 mph and no one had their flashers on. Oh, and this was just around a corner!
I put on my brakes, felt them lock up, and had to move to the far right lane to avoid the cars. I knew that no one was right beside me and luckily there was a car in the far right lane, but we were going at different speeds so we weren't by each other.
Having the kids in the car makes me a more defensive driver, but now I'm a little gunshy of the highway.
If any of those people that were in their cars happens to read this blog, heres a few tips!
DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR CAR ON THE HIGHWAY! PUT YOUR *&%$ FLASHERS ON! CALL THE POLICE SO THAT YOU CAN SAFELY MOVE YOUR CAR.
And on to the appointment.
They all passed with flying colors. Matthew weighed just over 27 lbs, Brooke and John just over 24 lbs. They did weigh them with their diapers on though.
They tested their coordination, thinking, motor skills, verbal and they scored between 20-27 months on everything. Their verbals were 20.25 months which is their adjusted age so the speech therapist wasn't concerned. However she's calling in 4-6 weeks to see if they have progressed.
They gave each of the kids crayons to see their scribbling. The physical therapist asked me how often they color. My defense right away is, "they don't that often. They outnumber me! They put them in their mouth and throw them!" But surprisingly no one did that today in front of the therapist.
Then she asked about using spoons and forks. (Pull the string on the see and say toy) "They don't that often. They outnumber me! They put them in their mouths and then throw them!"
Fastforward a few minutes. When asked if they sort their colors or know their colors, I say, "they don't that often, they outnumber me! they put them in their mouths and throw things!"
They assured me I was a good mom and then we all went home.

Sharing... what was I saying?

You know how you walk out of the room to do something, but then you can't remember what you wanted? Or you have something very important to tell your spouse/mom/friend, but then when you see them later on, you totally forget? Or when you put something in the oven and you totally forget you had it on until you smell smoke and the fire alarm goes off? Or when you put your child in a time-out and and a 1/2 hour later they ask if they can come out of their room?

I think these things happen to all of us. I had several things to blog about tonight, witty, light, reflective of the events of the day. But I forgot.

Lets see...
The babies got to play with the basketball hoop and the balls that came with it. I've seen a lot of fighting and heard a lot of screaming over who retains possession of said balls. Surprisingly Brooke loves to carry a ball around, juggling, throwing, bouncing it. I'm hoping she's my basketball player.
Luann and Mark were over today and Luann stayed over this afternoon while I went to Dinner Helpers and saw my friend Michelle and my friend Shell Dinters niece, Jennice (it rhymes) who works there. Luann must of been folding some laundry today.
Later on I caught Brooke picking up laundry from the floor and giving it a good shake before giving it to me. I tried to get it on the recorder, but when she saw me with the camera, she stopped doing it.

All three babies helped me unpack groceries today. John took out each spear of Asparagus and put them on the table. He and Brooke did try a spear, but their faces showed their dislike of the tall, skinny green vegetable.

Scott and I got our taxes done today. It totally pays to have a bunch of kids because in the end, the government owes you a lot of money. I swear the government pays us to have children. Just not three at a time.

Then, the babies ate hotdogs and apple slices for dinner. Then 10 minutes later Scott and I had Cheesey Penne Pasta from Dinner Helpers.

You know how you're eating dinner and you feel your dog nudge your elbow or put their paws up on your legs because they are begging for food. If you ignore them, sometimes they go away but if you feed them, you'll never get rid of them.

Well, this is another instance that children (my children) are not all that much different from dogs. I feel a nudge on my arm and look down. There is Brooke, who grunts, "eehhhh". Nice. I say, "Use your words Brooke. Do you want to eat?" Magically as if they multiply, another one appears and climbs on the chair next to Brooke to get a better look at my plate. Now the big teddy bear one just smiles and doesn't say anything and its hard to resist such innocent eyes. THEN, my littlest animal had to come over to see what he was missing. He starts whining and pushing at Brooke. So I had to share my meal with them. I couldn't believe that they ate the hamburger/sausage stuff with no problem. They pretty much eat anything I put in front of them.

So that makes me wonder why they are different from Jacob. He would only eat about 10 things at that age. And I did try to feed him different things too. Matthew is more like Jacob and doesn't like certain textures. But still, Matthew eats a wider variety of things than Jacob did.
I wonder if they see us eating that they are interested or see one of the babies try it so then they are interested or if they don't get enough food and really are hungry.
Since our end of dinner signal is them throwing their food, I'm not so sure its the latter.

Oh, what I wouldn't give to be able to figure out whats in their little heads.

The Führer

Fishing report from Black Otter Lake. Winds from the ESE 5 to 10 mph. Clouds lifting in the early a.m. for variable sunlight throughout the day. Ice Conditions good. 8 to 10 inches thick and water clear and cold. Various fish can be scene on fish camera, however fish were not hungry today. Scott caught a couple bluegill and Jacob caught one bluegill. Was a lot of work with minimal success.

And while the big boys were fishing, my babies and I were at home. Johns fever was gone today, but I did go to Sam's Club to get some Tylenol just in case. Luann came over to watch the monkeys while I was gone. The babies each took turns putting this High School Musical purse over their heads and wearing Brooke's purple crocheted hat. John decided that Luann should put the purse over her head and I was surprised he didn't try to put the hat on her. But he did give her a kiss. He can be such a sweetheart for small moments of time. We have to cherish these times.

This afternoon I brought out a box of hats because the kids were fighting over Brooke's purple hat. They were so darn cute! There were sunhats, baseball caps, floppy hats, etc... and they were all tried on and analyzed. John and Matthew just laughed and giggled at each other putting on hats and playing their own version of peek-a-boo. John had his Steve Irwin hat on and he couldn't have been cuter. John went gangsta as he wore his hats backwards. Now, I would have loved to post pictures or have video of this event, however the camera and video camera were in possession of my husband, Scott. Since I didn't have either I called Mark and Luann to witness the cuteness.
Scott was over at his parents house taking pictures of our beloved boat to sell it. I love that boat, having ordered it from the factory, picking out options and color schemes. However, there are some downfalls to my beautiful boat. 1) Its a Ski boat and not a fishing boat 2) It weighs two tons and sucks the life out of the truck 3) It takes a lot of gas 4) Gas is very expensive and will only get worse this summer 5) When fishing from the boat, only a few people can fish comfortably due to the design 6) It barely fits in the garage

So Scott's looking for some aluminum thing that has aerated fishing things and storage space and stuff. It won't have a sunpad, or a swim platform or nice ladder off the back, it won't have a wake board tower to hang from... There are some fish and skis out there, but its like going from a nice sporty car to a minivan. Its deja vu!

I think this is just a sign that we are getting older or that we have become boringly practical.

Today, Brooke was pretty funny herself. She likes to climb on top of the speaker next to the TV and try to grab stuff on top of the TV. Then she likes to dangle a leg off or just stand on one leg likes she's going to walk off the speaker. Problem is that its 16 inches or so off the ground and that a huge step for someone under a yard. She does the same thing on the couch and chair too. I don't want her to fall and hit her head on something.
Brooke has a lot of characteristics of someone who is infamous. She swings one arm when she walks, she stands very stiffly and will point with her arm, she can stare you down very easily. Another similarity between this person and Brooke is that they share the same ancestry - they are German. She's blond and blue-eyed and he liked blonds with blue eyes. She can be mean as they come and so could he. However that's about where the similarities end. She was not out to conquer the world or torture and kill millions of people, just her brothers. I saw her today take Matthew down by his hair. I didn't even realize that he had long enough hair that she could pull him down by it. Poor kid, hes so passive, he just laid there and screamed as she tried to pull him around. I did intervene and held Matthew and gave him kisses and hugs. He's probably 4 to 5 pounds heavier than her, he really should use that to his advantage.

Its funny how my eye twitching stops when the monkeys go to bed.

Beautysleep

The last couple of nights have been horrible for sleeping. I don't know what is with the babies and why they want to be with me 24 hours a day, but its unhealthy, its not normal and it ain't happening.

By now, I'm really comfortable admitting that I don't want to be with my kids, or anyone else for that matter, 24 hours a day - 7 days a week. It is good to have alone time to just meditate, relax, get something done, or sleep. Especially sleep. Lately if someone gets up at night and won't go back to sleep, I just take them in bed with me and lay them on my chest and they relax and go to sleep. Sometimes I can go back to sleep, but normally someones hair is tickling me or they do that jerking thing in their sleep which wakes me up. The last couple of nights my baby boys have been waking up at night, without fevers, with their NUKs and or/ diaper rags, and still have been crying. I'll rock them or change their diapers or give them something to drink, but they just want to be with me.

So last night after rocking both boys at the same time until 11 p.m., I had reached THAT point. They were going to cry until they fell asleep. (Now, I normally do let them fall asleep on their own and cry until they go to sleep, but not for hours on end) I went to bed and covered my head with the covers. It got kind of hot, but then the cries were muffled, so I made room by my nose so I got some fresh air and slept. I had to get up a few times during the night when I thought Brooke was crying. I heard both John and Matthew (mostly John) crying a lot last night.

So much to my surprise this morning when I got up... I looked at the clock it was 9:17 a.m. and my kids were in the living room with Mark and Luann who was nice enough to start getting them ready for the day. Scott usually leaves for work around 8 a.m. on Fridays and Mark and Luann come over usually around 8:30.

What I realized was that I had slept so soundly that anyone could have come in and taken the babies and I wouldn't have known. Cosmo, the watch cat, was probably sunning herself in the lower level and didn't come to greet them. I was feeling pretty bad about thinking that I may have just ignored their cries this morning until I talked to Scott. Scott got up this morning to Brooke SCREAMING. She had gotten herself sideways in the crib, both hands and feet caught in the slats of the crib. He "uncaught" her and gave her a NUK and she went back to sleep. He left at 8 a.m. and had heard nothing from any of the babies. Luann came shortly later, heard the silence in our house and figured we were sleeping. She and Mark came back later and then got the kids up and let me sleep. I SO appreciate that. I needed the sleep.

Mark and Luann come over Friday mornings. Mark is the only man besides daddy and the Grandpas that Brooke will sit by. She screams when other men get near her. Uncle Jim likes to tease her and pick her up or touch her just so she cries. He thinks when he teases his nieces and nephews, he's assuring future visitors to his nursing home when hes old. I'm sure that my kids will come and take away his cane and hide the remote... just for old times.