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?

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

1st Day of Preschool

Today Lauren, Drew and Jack officially got to act like big kids and went to their first day of preschool ever! We have been talking about it for a while. Last week we went to their open house and met their teacher (they are all in the same class - the Giraffes). And today it finally happened! After watching big sister go off to preschool without them their whole lives, now they were finally big bad preschoolers.

Jack and Lauren both told me they were excited. Drew didn't say much. But I expected that as he is the shy one of the group. At breakfast we talked about what their day would be like and how they would have so much fun. Lauren told me she would miss me, and I told everyone whenever they missed Mommy or Daddy they could give each other a hug (that's an advantage to being a triplet). Then it was time to put on shoes, jackets and backpacks. When I tried to take their picture on the front porch, at first I didn't get much cooperation.

But, they eventually conceded to some group shots and some individual ones.

Then we took the long 3 minute drive to school. They really didn't want to take any more pictures by then, but that's how it goes when you are my kid! We made our way inside and found the hooks with their names by them and hung up jackets and backpacks.

Drew really surprised me, then. I thought he would cling to me the most, but it was Jack who hung back. Drew was the first one to march into his classroom and find his bus on the door. Then he hung it on the wall with the help of his teacher. Lauren jumped right in, too, and after a little convincing, Jack took his turn.

After that, they were off to the new toys. No screaming. No tears. Not even from me!

As for me, I have to say it was a very weird feeling once the kids were officially dropped off! I felt like I was forgetting something. But I was armed with some gift cards and coupons,so off to shop I gleefully went. It almost felt like I was getting away with something - to shop in the middle of the morning like that! I had a good time and got some awesome bargains on summer clothes, too! And on my way home, I saw this strange sight, which is rare in my neck of the woods. Do you think they were following me, wondering why I was shopping alone?

Alyssa got home about 2 1/2 hours later, and I think it was strange for both of us that it was just the two of us. Alyssa's class had gone to the library that day, and she had checked out a new book (yep a card with privileges at the ripe old age of 5). It turned out to be a neat opportunity for some special one-on-one time as we sat and read her new book together.

Then it was off to get the little guys. Alyssa asked to go say hi to her teachers from last year, so I poked my head into their classroom alone. The trio looked up and acknowledged me, but then went right back to finishing the pictures they were coloring. I looked at their teacher and said, "That must be a good sign." She said that they did great! No tears. No accidents. Everyone used the facilities. Everything went really well. Much better than I had expected.

And so has begun the education of the youngest members of our crew.

God bless,

Amanda

Pick up the Poopy! (Part I)

Hi everyone, Dave here.

I know what you're thinking. The man is writing about poop. Can't we have Amanda back as the main author of this blog? Too bad, I'm on this one. Actually, it's not too incredibly gross either.

Amanda and I are going through the trials and tribulations of potty training triplet 2 year olds, and some days are good and some... well, STINK!!! Literally and figuratively! Lauren had been doing really well with her potty training, and she was wearing her big girl panties the entire day with the exception of naptime and night time.  However, I guess she thought she was being too easy on us, so about 3 weeks ago she suddenly decided to have accidents all over the place. (At least we're keeping Resolve in business.) I kept telling her to quit having accidents (I still firmly believe that I can reason with a 2 year old), and she'd just look up, smile, and say "nooooooooo".

Drew has been doing pretty well also. He isn't at the Batman Underoos stage yet like Lauren is (uh...was), but he's been very willing to try the potty. He's gotten really good at going #1 and #2, but one thing this boy doesn't have is patience. When he's done, he's done! So, when he gets done pooping, he just gets off the potty and goes about his business. Amanda warned me about this and told me to stay with him. So, of course, the one day I leave him to attend another kid issue (I think Lauren was going potty in our bathroom, which is just down the hall from where Drew was), I suffer the consequences of leaving Drew. Now, both of these bathrooms are upstairs, and I was only stinkin' gone for like 20-30 seconds, too! I left our bathroom to go back to Drew, and as I walk out of our bedroom, Drew is WALKING UP THE STAIRS!!! Notice I said the word "UP"! How that kid got off the potty, went downstairs, and came back upstairs in such a small amount of time is beside me. All I could think of was ..."Oh, crap!" (Yes, another pun) "DREW, get upstairs and get on the potty!" I wiped him down, and wiped the kid potty that was smeared with his "stuff".

I can't remember what Amanda was doing at the time, but I'm glad she wasn't around to see what else happened. She specifically told me to stay with Drew, and I didn't. (This must have been how Maverick felt in Top Gun when his commanders told him, "You never, ever leave your wingman!") So, I get Lauren and Drew all cleaned up and we head for the stairs when I see it- a nice big doody stain on the stairs. Now, Drew usually goes "superfast" down the stairs on his tummy, or he'll just walk down the stairs. Apparently, this was the one stinkin' time (in supersonic speed of course!) that Drew decides to go down rump first!

So, of course, I get out the paper towels, warm water, and Resolve to clean up the mess, and later on in the day, Amanda asks what happened on the steps, and all I could say is... "Don't ask." As for Drew, I promise to try to never leave my little 2 year old wingman again. Who knows what else that little dude will leave behind.

Take care,

Dave

http://four-and-no-more.blogspot.com/