Go West, Young Man (Part I)

When I originally pictured how I would blog about our trip to Colorado last summer, I envisioned capturing the play by play action and  every detail in a multi-part post (especially for the kids’ sake). Well, 7 months after we have arrived home, I have finally conceded that’s not going to happen! It's been an overwhelming task to do justice to such an eventful week, and I just don’t have the time to write about it the way I would like to. So I’ll just have to settle for the highlights.

A little background, first. We headed out west to visit Dave's brother, Mike, his wife Laurie, and their kids Will and Paige. (They are otherwise known as Uncle Mike, Aunt Laurie, Cousin Will and Cousin Paige.) Grandma and Papo drove out there as well, and we met them about 5 hours into our trip. They were great to caravan with and helped us out in so many ways. We also stayed together in a hotel one night each way to break up the drive (and the kids loved the pool).

The kids were so excited and couldn’t wait to see all their family. In fact, when we dropped the van off for a tune up before our trip, Jack cried on the way home, because he thought that we were leaving then and there.

Round trip, we drove over 2500 miles in one week. To be honest, the kids did much better than we expected. Sure, they had their squirmy moments and near fights with kids at  a McDonald’s Playland, but really they did well considering all that we threw at them.

When we arrived, it was so great for all of us to be together and the drive out was immediately worth it. We hate that we live so far away and don’t get to spend more time together. I think the best part for me was getting to do those little every day things together. The kids were so cute eating together (the youngest 4 at a picnic table and Alyssa and Will in the big kid stools at the bar). It was fun to watch the girls play dress up and the boys wrestle. Alyssa and Will danced and held hands. Paige gave Papo a Curious George band aid for his boo boo. We got to see where Will goes to school and his favorite restaurant. And I got to hold my adorable niece, which she may be too big for the next time I see her!

Of course, we went to Rocky Mountain National Park, and it was so fun to see the wide eyes on our kids as they saw mountains for the first time (too bad they fell asleep for the most beautiful part). We saw elk, prairie dogs and played in the snow in June. We enjoyed Pearl Street and the toy store in Boulder. The guys golfed and the wives & kids went to Bounce Town. We got to see Laurie’s parents and introduce our 3 little guys to them. We played outside a lot and rode bikes, met the neighbors and even went to a cookout with them. To top it all off, we had perfect, gorgeous weather.

When it was time to go, the kids gave each other the most adorable hugs. We missed them so much, we seriously talked about driving out again at Christmas Break (didn’t work out, though). We really had a great time, and I made a slideshow a while back that I would like to share with you. Enjoy.

(Click here if you can’t see the video.)

Stay tuned for Part II, including our favorite quotes, what we learned, and some movie clips!

God bless,

Amanda

Girls’ Room, Part II

So much to blog about. So little time! With a new year comes new resolution to get caught up on some blogging. Hopefully my intentions will come to fruition. It’s actually a good thing that I am so behind, because I have been enjoying life so much that I haven’t had time!

I decided to start with the girls’ room, because we are just about ready to start on the boys’ room! So it’s definitely time! To read Part I about the girls’ room, click here.

We did finally get the girls moved into their new room, back in July. They absolutely love it! Sometimes they don’t even let their brothers in. Believe it not, we still have some things to finish up, like flower boxes on their playhouse, and my Dad has offered to build them a little shelf for their books. But here it is during move in time.

We weren’t able to get the beds to fit the way that we originally planned. (I know you are shocked to hear that our plans didn’t turn out again!) Those of you who are really observant may notice that we have a different ladder, too. My Dad kindly made a new one for us as the original one went into the doorway. My Mom got the princess canopy and flower lamp for the girls. I think they just make the room! And the dresser used to be Dave’s when he was a kid. It fits perfectly, don’t you think! Papo and Grandma are so proud to see their granddaughters getting good use out of it!

Lauren couldn’t have been happier about finally being in a big girl bed like her sister. She originally refused to have a bed rail put on her bed. That very night I tried to put it up, she fell out of bed and ending up sleeping in the playhouse. But now she has outgrown it and sleeps like a big girl without it (or any diapers, too!) I also love that I can come in and kiss her cheek at night, too.

Alyssa is thrilled with her bed and all the high storage she has for her treasures. At first, the ladder was too steep for her siblings to climb up, but all good things must come to an end. There have been a couple incidents where little brothers have sneaked up there while she was at kindergarten. Anger ensued. But she has found ways to make lemons out of lemonade and now puts stickers over the marks the vandals have put on the ceiling above her bed.

There are other times, though, when the girls are feeling really generous. They let the boys come in, crank up the Doodlebops, and share their bed for a little party! I love watching them all have a good time and enjoying their new space.

It was a lot of hard work, but so worth it now!

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

Reminiscing Summer

It looks like last night will be the last time, for a while, that the kids can play in the backyard without jackets. I've been doing some reminiscing lately and thinking about how fast this summer went.

Back when it was warmer, our neighbors blessed us bring over their professional cameras for a couple of days and capturing some awesome pictures of the kids enjoying themselves in the backyard. In particular, they had some good times enjoying our second Slip 'n Slide of the summer with our neighbors, Anna and Joe. (Believe it or not, it was someone over 12 who broke the first one, and they mean it when they put a weight limit on those things!) So come and reminisce with me, too, about the fun lazy days of summer.

"God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December." 
-   J. M. Barrie

Thanks, Anna and Linda, for capturing the most beautiful roses kind of roses, so that I could have them in December (or October for that matter, too).

God bless,

Amanda

PS I am still working on one more big summer flashback that I have been wanting to share with you for a while - our trip out west! Stay tuned for more! Updates on the girls' room and basement coming, too!

Our 3 are 3

Yep, sign me up for blogger of the year. This happened 2 months ago. It has been insanely busy here and the blogging has just had to wait. But even two months later, it's hard to believe my babies are 3!

We didn't plan it this way, but Lauren, Drew and Jack got to celebrate their birthday 4 different times. We were in the 'Ville on their actual birthday, and a good friend of the family, Peggy, was sweet enough to get cupcakes (or a cup full of fruit snacks in Jack's case) to celebrate. We ended up having to move the date of the birthday party at our house (due to Alyssa having a classmate's birthday party on the same day). So, Grandma and Papo couldn't make it then, so they got to celebrate while I was in Hawaii. Grandpa also decided to hold back his presents, to spread out the fun. So Labor Day weekend, they got to open more presents. So in a way, I guess their birthday kind of did last a couple of months.

For the party at our house, we went with a "3" theme, since our 3 are 3 after all. I decorated in 3's, such as a sign that said "Happy Birthday" 3 times, and put balloons up in groups of 3.

The table centerpiece had 3 favorite things from Lauren, 3 from Drew and 3 from Jack.

 

For our menu, we had an appetizer of 3 cheese artichoke dip with 3 sided triscuits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 sided hamburgers (or 3 dimensional, if you prefer). with 3 sided cheese. (Yeah, I know, it didn't turn out so well.)

We had 3 sided watermelon

and salad with 3 cheese dressing. 

We were going to make 3 sided potato wedges, but we had ABC fries instead (get it? 3 letters. It's a stretch - I know). But the guests of honor do prefer fries much more, and that's what's important, right?

I also attempted to make a 3 sided cake (yea, put my cake maker award next to my blogger award). Because I have to make it without eggs, it's more crumbly and it almost didn't hold the three "3" candles. 

After dinner, we opened presents. Guess how many presents we got each of them? Yep, 3. Then we had cake, and finished up with 3 person races (they were supposed to be 3-legged, but you have to be flexible!). I just viewed the video footage as I was working on this blog entry. Judges, I have to ask, did the gentlemen win this race according to the rules?

Yes, things can get pretty competitive in this house. I may not be the best blogger, cake maker or 3 person racer, but I think my family is the best! Enjoy some more pictures from the day.

Happy Birthday, Lauren! Happy Birthday, Drew! Happy Birthday, Jack! We love you so much, and our lives would never be the same without you. Congrats on surviving 3 years in this crazy family.

God bless,

Amanda

The Basement

Over the past couple of years, many people have said to us, "I don't know how you do it." Well, one of our big dark secrets is that our basement has turned into a Sanford & Son dream come true. For those of you who watch Friends, did you ever see the episode where Monica's secret closet was uncovered? Well, that's what our basement has become. Whenever something came our way, and we didn't have time to deal with it, we just threw it in the basement to deal with "someday." Well, guess what, someday has finally come.

The sad thing is that before I got pregnant with the triplets, I spent a lot of time working on the basement and had it almost cleaned out. Then I got pregnant and the exersaucers, high chairs, clothes and cribs came pouring in. It worked out pretty well that we had a place to put all of it, huh?

So here, at the risk of you losing all respect for us, is what our basement looked like when we first attacked it in March. That was when our loan went through, after starting the refinancing process back in December. We started lining up estimates from contractors, and there were no more excuses left to start cleaning out the basement. Up until then, I think it raised Dave's blood pressure every time he thought about all the clutter down there.

So we started with this.............

A month later, after putting all the Christmas stuff in the attic, giving away the rest of the baby stuff, several trips to Goodwill, and putting the rest in our garage, it looked like this...............

Then, after recycling the rest of the boxes, giving a few things to their rightful owners, and shoving the ping pong table in the corner, we were ready for our contractor. The framing and insulating began, and we even got the ductwork insulated before the drywall went up. The closets took shape, the lights went up, and our vision for this space started to come together.............

Now, with a lot of screws, several coats of mud, and lots of sandpaper later, we up to painting. We are doing this part of the project ourselves - thereby delaying the progress a bit. We did get in touch with  our inner Aunt Jemima and primed and painted the ceilings. We have also wiped down the walls and done some touch up sanding. Now just a few more holes to patch up, and we are ready to prime the walls. Anyone out there like to paint?

We'll keep you posted on the progress.

God bless,

Amanda