Give Me Something Good to Eat

On Sunday night, as you would guess, there were lots of costumes being donned at our house. I started gathering up all the supplies, checking the stash in the attic and doing some borrowing way back in August, so we have been looking forward to this day for quite a while.

Gearing up for it the day before, Dave planned some fun pumpkin carving activities for the kids. Not only did the traditional carving of the jack-o-lantern take place, but they made some extra special spider pumpkins, too. Lucky for us, Dave’s science class had lots of leftovers from the previous days’ pumpkin drop that we could use. It’s amazing what you can do with some hollow pumpkins, a drill, glue, googly eyes, a black marker, pipe cleaners, and some cute ghost candles (thanks Grammy). I know I’m prejudiced, but I think they turned out pretty well.

Here are the models demonstrating their creations for you:

 

 

Then before we knew it, the time had come to light our pumpkins on the porch and go get some candy. The girls decided that as part of their costumes this year, they wanted to change their hair color. That added quite a bit to the adventure to the day (especially before bedtime) and was yet another learning experience for us. But, they seemed pretty happy with the results.

So this year, we had ended up with Buzz Lightyear (complete with laser shooting noises)……

Belle from Beauty and the Beast (pretend for me that her mom was able to find the brown hair coloring instead of black)…..

Redheaded Supergirl (and Superdog, whom we borrowed)….

and a dinosaur with a big ole tail and a mean growl.

And here’s what 4 kids look like that just want to get some treats instead of sitting and having their picture taken:

Every year, it seems like we walk a little farther in the neighborhood (which means collecting a little more candy, too). This year, one of the local police officers also gave out sweets (and apparently enjoyed a good sucker himself). Our kids were so excited to get their candy from him that they jumped into a picture that someone else was having taken with Mr. Officer. Here’s the evidence of our kids stealing from the police and getting their own picture taken with him as well.

Evidently, it’s harder work than I remember, walking around and carrying all that candy and all. Our crew tuckered out after a while, one by one. But lucky for Lauren, she has a Daddy that doesn’t mind carrying her home, where she could chow on her good eats.

Hope your tummy was filled with lots of yummies, too.

God bless,

Amanda

Happy Birthday, America!

Did you get to see great things this 4th of July?

We had a great time! We started with a cookout at my Dad’s, complete with popsicles and dressing up.

Then we watched fireworks with some friends from church. This was the triplets’ first time to see fireworks.

Lauren kept pointing out every single one that was purple (my favorite color). Drew said things like “This is the best thing I ever saw!” and “It’s magical.” Alyssa, the veteran, even exclaimed “This is better than I thought it would be.” Later, she grabbed Drew and hugged him and said, “This is the best night ever!” Meanwhile, Jack calmly sat in his chair, watching his siblings jump around all excited. When I asked him if he liked the fireworks, he calmly nodded yes and took it all in.

The next day, we continued our tradition of going to a local parade with some more great friends from church. There were lots of loud noises….

lots of candy…

and lots of love  - for our family, friends and fantastic nation.

We also stood and applauded for all the veterans in the parade – as appreciation for them making it possible for us to enjoy all this.

(We also had lots of laughs together; Dave especially enjoyed heckling his former students that were in the parade.)

How did we end our holiday weekend? Back at our church, actually, where more friends from church showed up unexpectedly. We stretched out and watched the local show there, since the night before was such a big hit.

Unfortunately, that’s where the fairytale ends, as we got the kids to bed 2 hours late again. We are paying now for all the lost sleep, but it was worth it. After all, how often do you get to see sights like these?

Hope you had a great 4th of July. We sure did and the kids are already asking when they get to go to the parade again and see fireworks.

God bless the greatest country on earth!

God bless,

Amanda

Happy Easter

Happy Easter, everyone! I hope you had a great holiday. We did here. It gets more fun every year as the kids get into the holidays and enjoy our traditions more and more.

This year we started out the season with decorating the house. The kids loved getting out their baskets that Grammy got for them and have been playing with them ever since (it’s going to be tough to put them away). Grandma and Papo came for a visit, and continued their tradition of dying eggs and buying new outfits for Easter day.

Last weekend, we went to an Easter egg hunt at a local park. It was crazy! There were at least 500 people there. They split up the kids by age and put half on each side. They threw a bunch of eggs all over an open field and set the kids all off to meet in the middle. It was a 2 minute hunt, but afterwards the kids got to have their pictures taken with the Easter bunny. Alyssa also ended up having her picture in the newspaper, too! Here’s a quick glimpse of the madness. (I found out today our camera has a wind filter, so next time it will be better, I promise!)

(If you can’t see the video, click here.)

To get ready for the big day this weekend, the kids picked daffodils and placed them in a vase for a centerpiece. I had planned to make cupcakes with the kids on Saturday. But alas, there had to be a complication, right? Alyssa was sick and had to be checked out. She has strep throat again.

Sunday morning, Dave made some cinnamon rolls for breakfast, we read about the true meaning of Easter, and then the kids found their Easter baskets, which were hidden in the basement. They were also excited to wear their new outfits for church. That made it picture taking time and we let Alyssa dress up, too, so she wouldn’t feel left out. Once everyone else left for church, she helped me make the cupcakes and frosting. She was quite the little helper in the kitchen. The math she is learning in kindergarten came in handy, too!

When the rest of our crew returned home from church, something was amiss. It turns out Lauren thought it would be a good idea to write all over her hands and through the hole over the knee in her new tights. She got a new flower pen in her Easter basket, so why not, right? And guess where some of the ink ended up? Yep, on her brand new dress. Lucky for me, my mom is the Stainmaster of laundry. I put in an SOS call, Mom did some research, and blotting with rubbing alcohol did the trick and saved the day. She was quite remorseful when she was caught, though.

This was one of many glitches and distractions that happened throughout out the day that lead to some last minute changes to simplify the menu. It also cut into the cute bunny cupcake project (adapted from this idea from All You Magazine) I thought I was going to do with the kids. I ended up doing most of it, due to time constraints, but each kid seemed happy with decorating the face of their own bunny (and later eating it after dinner).

In the afternoon, the kids also got to play some baseball, and we had a much longer Easter egg hunt in our backyard. See if you can figure out from the video why the girls ended up with twice as many eggs as the boys).

(If you can’t see the video, click here.)

Then we enjoyed a simple, yet traditional ham dinner. I think that everyone came had a really good time and we did, too! We were blessed to share the day with my parents and some friends from church.

But more than having a good time, I want to celebrate what this holiday means. We truly believe that if Jesus hadn’t defeated death, to pay for our mistakes, there is no way we could go to Heaven. Isn’t that amazing? Please know, that it is my prayer for each and every one of you to see Easter as the celebration of our ticket to eternal life in Heaven. I feel with all my heart, there is no greater decision for you to make than what you believe about Jesus. If you want to talk to me or ask questions, please know that I am here for you. I want you all to be with me in Heaven someday, and I’ll do whatever I can to bring you with me!

I’ll close with another little slideshow of our Easter festivities highlights. I hope you enjoy it. I am so grateful that we are so truly blessed.

(If you can’t see the video, click here.)

God bless,

Amanda

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Greetings Family and Friends,       

How are you? How has your year been? Thanks to those of you who have blessed us with your own Christmas updates. We love hearing from you, and we hope to hear from the rest of you soon!

As for us, if we had to describe our year, it felt like a return to normal for us. OK-- normal for having a 6-year old and 3-year-old triplets! For example, instead of having swings, exersaucers or a changing table, our dining room now has a table and chairs in it. How normal is that? Some nights after putting the kids to bed, we just talk and watch TV. We went a long stretch without doing that! We have no booster seats at the kitchen table anymore, and our Christmas tree has no gate around it. Best of all, we were blessed to be able to finish our basement this summer, so most of the toys now reside there. So, the transition from a daycare center to home is going very well! On top of that, no one had surgery or went to the ER this year, either! That hasn't happened since 2004 for us! (Urgent care center visits for sprained knees or extracting broken Qtips from ears or don't count, do they?)

So, since we spent a lot less time at doctor offices, we were able to do some fun things this year. We attended 2 family reunions. We boldly drove the clan to Colorado (only 2500 miles in the van) to see Dave's family. We also took a trip to Canton, OH to see family on Amanda's side. After the kids proved to be so adventurous, we tried some other "firsts" with them, like a bonfire, the zoo without a stroller, a family hike, and movies. We are really enjoying this age with kids and the whole new world that has just opened up to us as a family.

As for the kids, Alyssa is now in kindergarten and absolutely loves it. We are amazed at all the things she is learning, like reading some words already and writing sentences. Alyssa and Lauren took a ballet class this summer, and enjoyed every minute of it. They were also very excited to become roommates this summer, in a pink princess garden room. Lauren, in addition to ballet, has turned out to really enjoy sleeping in on weekends (one day until noon!), puzzles, coloring and music. She walks around often singing little songs she has made up. Lauren, Drew, and Jack are now in their first year of preschool. They are learning a lot about their letters and numbers and seem to enjoy school as well. They also have done a great job with potty training (not without incidents, though), just in time for those funds to go towards the grocery bill. Drew, especially, has grown to be a voracious eater. He works up an appetite running around the house doing sports drills he invented or asking lots of questions about the world around him. Jack and Drew also took a beginners sports class this summer. While Drew couldn't get enough of learning more things to with balls, Jack seemed more interested in calculating the circumference of the balls. His curiosity continues to grow as he tell us all the things around him that are "coo-ul," and he shows a deep love for animals by pretending to be one or cuddling up with 3 stuffed ones as he goes to sleep. He also claims to have seen a crocodile when we were in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Dave continues to run some races throughout the year (including a marathon relay), although he's been sidelined with some minor injuries. He also got to return to his homeland - a Notre Dame football game this year! He and Alyssa enjoyed a trip out the FL for his cousin’s wedding, too. Amanda's health is better than ever, and she's been doing some exercise of her own and is almost back to normal (just had to use that one more time). She has also been organizing some playdates using our church’s warehouse. But the best playdate of all, was getting to see her sister and hubby (who happen to live in Hawaii) ALONE thanks to the World's Greatest Husband manning the fort. It was a great time to visit, while enjoying some much needed relaxation, peace and quiet!

Well, that should do it for our family update. We'll leave you with some favorite 2009 quotes, as we wish you a very Merry Christmas and all the blessings from God in 2010!

God bless,     

Dave, Amanda, Alyssa, Lauren, Drew & Jackson

Alyssa: "Does God have a wife?”
Drew: (while watching a robin in a tree) "He is looking for his wallet."
Jack: "This needs new batteries" (referring to a pencil that needed sharpening) 
Lauren: (suddenly in the middle of lunch) "My armpit is cold."

PS We had rounds and rounds of fun this Christmas. How about you?

A Day to Remember

Yesterday was quite a day at our house. First, Alyssa started things off by being the special helper of the day at school. She was pretty pumped and couldn't wait to hop on the bus and go fulfill her duties.

Then, the other 4 of us were off to our last Bible study meeting of the year. Every year, they do a cute Christmas program with the kids on the last day. So, we practiced the songs on the drive there, and they seemed to be looking forward to the big show. The teachers dress all the kids up like angels, by giving them tinsel halos and putting on men's white dress shirts backwards. It looks so cute! They did pretty well and didn't seem to be nervous at all for their big stage debut.

They sang 4 songs. I hope you don't mind me sharing videos of all of them, but there is so much to watch in each one, I couldn't narrow it down!

First up is "Happy Christmas Time." I love watching Jack do his motions for the song in this one. The kids look confused halfway through, because the parents started clapping before the song was over. You can also hear all the cameras clicking around me.

Next up is: "Go Tell It On the Mountain". See if you can tell from this clip which of the triplets was the squirmiest in the womb. I love the look on Drew's face, too.

Then they sang "My God is So Great." I love to watch Lauren on this video. She is so emphatic with her pointing.

And they finished with the tradition of singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. My favorite part is watching them bow and clap at the end.

And as if that wasn't excitement enough for the day, Alyssa was finally ready to give her first tooth to the Tooth Fairy. So she wrote a note, got a note back, money changed hands, and everyone was happy. OK, I was pretty worn out by then, but all in a day's work, right?

God bless,

Amanda

Breakfast with Santa

Today was our church's annual Breakfast with Santa, and we had a great time! They made an awesome breakfast (donated by Steak & Shake, too!) and had lost of festive decorations everywhere. The kids did pretty well getting a picture taken with Santa (although the boys weren't too sure about him, so we jumped in, too). They loved the stocking full of goodies that they received afterwards and looking at all the gingerbread houses. I think their favorite thing was the balloon animals, though. Not only did they get dogs, but leashes to walk them on, too. When Lauren's balloon broke, she got a flower. And, it's surprising more didn't break after the leashes were transformed into swords. We were also blessed to catch up with some old friends, too.

As you have come to expect from me, here are some pictures of the action. (I hope to get more up on Facebook, soon.)

It gets us in the mood for Christmas every time.

Hope you are enjoying the festivities of the season, too!

God bless,

Amanda

Make the Call

We have some exciting news. Guess what happened at our house this week?

Yep, that's right. Alyssa lost her first tooth! Being 5 brings lots of milestones, doesn't it?

It's been loose for a while, and I thought for sure it would fall out on Thanksgiving. But a few days later, Dave helped the process along, as you can see. She was so excited to go to school and get a sticker and write down when she lost her tooth. It's a big deal, when you are a big, bad kindergartener, you know.

Alyssa told us she wants to wait a few days before the Tooth Fairy comes, because she wants to keep her tooth. We told her the Tooth Fairy would probably leave it, if Alyssa asked for it in a note.  She's worried that the note won't be found, though! So we are still waiting for Alyssa to tell us to "make the call."

So until then, here's where her treasured tooth resides. Aunt Jill got this for Alyssa years ago, and I was frightened at the prospect of finding it. Turns out, Alyssa knew exactly where it was and pulled it out seconds after her tooth was free!

As if seeing my eldest having a toothless grin isn't enough, there are all kinds of other changes going on here! We've been moving lots of furniture around (that which we didn't break, anyway), teaching kids how to sort laundry (they appear to be colorblind so far), and getting rid of all of the booster seats (guess how many times a meal I have to say, "sit down"?), and sometimes little people use the facilities without any help at all! Most importantly, I am proud to say that today is the first day that no one had an accident! No more diapers here during the day and we are making progress at night. (In case you are wondering, we are planning an exotic family cruise with all the diaper money we will soon be saving.) Just more evidence that they are growing up fast, huh?

We hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving (we did!) and that you are enjoying the fun happenings of the holiday season.

God bless,

Amanda

The Ole Switcheroo

As people often do during this time of year, we have been asked frequently what costumes the kids will wear for trick or treating. Our answer has been Belle (from Beauty and the Beast), a flower, a dalmatian (or "Firehouse Dog" as the kids have been calling it), and a chicken. We actually got in the attic a few weeks ago (major planning ahead for me!) and got the costumes and trick or treat buckets out. The kids had fun unpacking the boxes and getting all of our fall decorations out. I got the costumes washed this week. Therefore, I thought we were all ready to go for tonight. Wrong.

I should have known Thursday morning. That was my first warning. Lauren, Drew and Jack had Storybook Day at preschool. The kids are supposed to dress up like their favorite storybook character and bring in the corresponding book to share with their class. Well, let's face it, my kids dressed up like whatever costume we had on hand, and I found a book to go along with it. So Lauren, as the flower, took "Planting a Rainbow" by Lois Ehlert. Jack was a dalmatian, and he took a touch and feel book about puppies. Drew said he wanted to be the chicken, so I packed "Chicken Little" in his backpack for him the night before. Sounds like a smooth plan, right? Wrong again!

At exactly 8:53 am Thursday (7 minutes before preschool starts), Drew threw off the chicken costume and declared he was refusing to wear it. He had wavered between the chicken and elephant costumes we had, so I offered the elephant one last time. To my surprise, he accepted. The bad news is that I couldn't think of a single book that we had containing an elephant. We got a fun book called "Elmer" by David McKee at the library a while back. But as luck would have it, the library was closed for a big software transition anyway! So I raced through the house, praying to find something with an elephant in it somewhere. Good ole Richard Scary came through for me, with an ABC book with an elephant in it. A far cry from Drew's favorite character, but I got "my" homework done, nonetheless. This would be a great place to insert pictures of what the kids looked like at preschool, huh? Well, due to my great elephant expedition, there was no time to take pictures!

So, as I mentioned, that was a great warm up for today. At approximately 4pm (2 hours before trick or treating starts), Alyssa proclaimed that she didn't want to be Belle anymore. She wanted to be a ballerina. Since the weather was going to be in the 40's tonight, I was very skeptical about this costume. But, after she agreed to 3 layers on top (and we made sure her leotard still fit on her), we were set (again!).

Lauren, upon hearing this, decided that she wanted to be a ballerina, too. After all, she does everything else her big sister does. So, we found a ballet outfit in our dress up box that would fit over her clothes, and she seemed content. While we were finding Lauren's costume, we also got Jack a fireman's hat. He had wanted to modify his costume to make it a dog from a fire station. That left Drew, who had already changed his mind on Thursday, so I thought I was done. Wrong AGAIN!

I took the girls upstairs to do their hair. Well, as careful as I was, Alyssa's ear took a hit off the curling iron (I think she flinched is all I can figure). So Lauren told me that she didn't want me to curl her hair, because she "didn't want to have to burn her ears". We did get her hair in pigtails for the first time, though! Guess who else chose pigtails earlier? Then, we scarfed down some awesome chili Dave made and came back upstairs to do the girls' makeup. Alyssa said the mascara "made her make tears", so she kept smearing it all over. I didn't think she wanted to be a racoon ballerina, so I had to keep wiping that up, which made our make up session take much longer than planned.

Meanwhile, it was about 10 minutes until 6pm, and Dave couldn't find Jack's costume or Drew's pants. I found Drew's pants, but the dalmatian was no where to be found. Dave made an executive decision that Jack would now be the chicken (the same thing he was last year), and surprisingly, Jack didn't throw a fit! Our friend Sue had shown up with her cousins by that point, but she's used to the insanity at our house by now (aren't they brave to want to go trick or treating with us?). After some digging, we finally found the missing pumpkin buckets, threw some shoes on and we were off.

Then we attempted the truly impossible: to get 6 kids to look at the camera at once!

We almost captured our 4 all looking at the camera and smiling!

Even just 3 people at a time proved too challenging.

  

I tried really hard to get some individual pictures, and here's the best the I could do. I should have captured them before we bundled up!

But the funnest part of all was to watch from behind. The waddle and the swaying tail were priceless.

Drew took a tumble and met the sidewalk with his forehead, but other than that the night went pretty smoothly. It was so fun to watch the kids react to how our neighbors celebrated the holiday. I think their favorite was the guy whose teeth lit up! The smoking graveyard was a close second.

Lots of candy. Lots of fun with friends. I think we'll do it again next year. Hopefully, this time without all the drama.

Also, thanks to Grammy for manning the fort for us while we were loading up on candy!

God bless,

Amanda

The Best Daddy in the Whole World

Two weeks into our dating relationship, Dave and I found ourselves traveling to different countries.  First, we landed in Switzerland and had lunch, then we were off to Albania. God had put it on our hearts separately to go on a mission trip there over Spring Break. We started the administrative and financial balls rolling months before, then somewhere in the middle of it all, we admitted we liked each other. I should have known after that first month that dating this guy would lead to extraordinary adventures.

Finding yourself in a foreign country during a new relationship is stressful, and I don't actually recommend it. But it did allow us to observe how the other one reacted in situations that you wouldn't otherwise find yourself in, and introducing your new boyfriend to your parents long before you normally would.

One thing I will never forget about that trip to Albania was our walks from the Pollotties (apartments) where we stayed to our daily meeting place. On the way there, we would always see kids along the way. Dave would just light up when he saw them. He would do a little dance with them and learned the phrase Chi Kae Mae (which meant what's happening!?), so he could speak to them. One girl in particular formed a special relationship with him, and I think he gave her more candy than any of the other kids. We always knew where he had been as he left a trail of Milk Duds, which some of the kids had never seen before and inspected before they ate.

One of the things I was looking for in a man that I might marry, was someone who was good with kids. After watching him in Albania, Dave passed that test with flying colors. Since then, he has actually turned out to be far more wonderful father I had imagined he would be. I don't think I could have picked a better Daddy for my kids.

Those of you who know us or have been following our blog know that the last few years have been rough for us. But what I don't think most people stop to realize is that most of the burden to get through those rough times fell on Dave. Not that he wants your pity or even needs a pat on the back. But I think he deserves to get credit for all of the hard work that he has done.

When I first went on bed rest while I was pregnant with the triplets, Dave was actually visiting his parents with Alyssa and van shopping. When they got home, instead of enjoying his Spring Break, he scrambled to find help for watching Alyssa. His work had approved for him to take the last month of school off, but that still left a few weeks to fill. Friends were so gracious to help us out, and Dave packed up Alyssa and carted her around every day for those couple of weeks. Every time I went into the hospital for contractions or the delivery, he found help to watch Alyssa so that he could be with me as well.

When I was drinking over 200 ounces of water a day, Dave was the one who ran up and down the stairs to fill my jug. It was Dave who went downstairs at 10pm to fix me country fried steak and mashed potatoes when my appetite came back after I had pneumonia. And it was Dave who would get up at 3am and get all the supplies to refill my terbutaline pump or move the catheter to another place in my leg, so I wouldn't have more contractions. Taking care of the 5 of us was an exhausting, never-ending ordeal. But he gladly did it, because he loved us so much.

After we brought Lauren, Drew and Jack home, it was a blur of chaos and exhaustion. Before he went back to work, he fed more bottles and changed more diapers than I did. He was also the first to engineer our system of 1 person feeding 3 babies bottles at once. When there was work to be done, he stepped up to the plate and got it done. I can't imagine going through that time without him. There wasn't any job he wasn't willing to do.

 

Fast forward onto SuperBowl Sunday 2007. I was in the ER with chest pains, and two of my blood tests came back indicating I might have a pulmonary embolism (PE). While I had my CT scan done, Dave again rounded up help, so he could come and be with me at the hospital. That isn't easy to do on the spur of the moment when you have 7 month old triplets and a 4 year old, but what more can I say about the phenomenal support we have from family and friends. I was so glad to have him there when I found out I didn't have a PE and I could go home and watch the SuperBowl. But then the doctor told me that they'd found a tumor on my thyroid.................

I honestly think that going through my cancer treatment was the toughest burden that Dave had to bear. Telling him my awful news after the biopsy was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I couldn't even open the door to come into the house, because I knew what a horrible impact this would have on him as well. The night I spent at the hospital after my thyroid was removed turned out to be a horrible experience, but Dave was there again so I didn't have to go through it alone. On Dave's last day of school, instead of celebrating, he started a week of being a single parent to our kids. I stayed with my Dad as the radioactive iodine part of my treatment made me unsafe around the kids. (But contrary to popular belief, I did not glow in the dark!)

I wasn't much of a parent that summer. While they tried to find the right medication to make up for my lack of a thyroid, I was a zombie. I remember taking 4 hour naps to get through the  day, and then going to bed when the kids did. Dave picked up the slack and   never made me feel guilty that I couldn't do more. I was like a car without gas; no matter how hard you push the gas pedal it isn't going anywhere.

 

In God's perfect timing, I was starting to feel better by the time Dave started school in the fall. He turned down coaching that year (which I know he truly loves), so that he could help me out more. He was and always has been so good about giving me breaks from my job. I think going through all of this has made him so compassionate and empathetic about how tough being a parent full-time is.

November came, and I was rear ended in a car accident and injured my back. What were the doctor's orders? Try to get as much help as you can and rest. Dave to the rescue once again! Not only that, but he freed me up for many hours of doctor appointments, Xrays, MRIs and physical therapy sessions as well.

As if that weren't enough, in March the next year, we found out that I had to have surgery again! Not only that, but my recovery would take 6 weeks of not lifting anything over 5 pounds (I couldn't even lift a gallon of milk). So again, Dave shouldered the many responsibilities that come with running our family. I think it was especially tough for him, because he didn't get as many breaks as he was so diligent at giving me. When December rolled around, we found out I had to have yet another surgery to repair some permanent stitches that came out. Dave took it all in stride and didn't even flinch when I was operated on a few days later.

OK, enough of the heavy stuff, but you can see now why I feel justified calling Dave "The Best Daddy in the Whole World".

We are blessed beyond belief to have you in our lives. Happy Father's Day!

In honor of your special day, here's some pictures of the kids sporting your favorite team (including the first baby outfit you bought when I was pregnant with Alyssa).

 

 

 

I love you so much!

Amanda

PS I want to give a shout out to Grandpa and Papo. I haven't forgotten you, and you are fantastic fathers and grandfathers, too! Happy Father's Day!

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