Too Much Fun

Poor Chase. He had too much fun yesterday! Between a morning at the zoo and skipping naps to go swimming at Aunt Laura's, he was wiped out. It should be noted that when my children fall asleep in the car they NEVER can just be transferred to a bed. Never. They always wake up. Yesterday, Chase didn't budge and let me put him in a bed.

Our Weekend in Pictures and Video

We had a fun filled 4th of July weekend and hope you did as well! Here's a run down of the fun we had, in pictures and one video!

Friday night we (wisely) decided to  go see some fireworks. We were thinking the boys might need most of the weekend to recover from being up so late (we were right) and it was looking like rain on the 4th, when all the other displays would be happening (again, right). The boys had a ball waiting outside as it got darker and darker and then they Oooohed and Ahhhhhed every time one went off!

I was wishing I had a tripod while there. It was insanely difficult to hold perfectly still long enough to not have blurry fireworks. Most came out like the first picture below, but I did catch one decent one...

Sunday was cloudy all day, but we didn't let that stop us from taking the boys to swim at Aunt Laura's pool! They've been dying to try out their new Puddle Jumpers since they arrived last week. I tell you what, that was the best money spent all summer! The boys LOVED swimming and kept exclaiming "we don't need Mommy or Daddy!".

When Jackson got out and put on his towel, he looked like a little football player. Cracked us up!

Yesterday we took the boys bowling for the first time! They had a ball and we'll definitely take them back again sometime this summer.

Chase won, but not by much!

Hope your family had as much fun as we did this weekend!

Sprayground Fun!

There's a popular thing here in Kansas City called the sprayground. They're awesome and they're free. Well, actually they're free (and numerous!) on the Missouri side of the state line. Kansas has a few, but the ones I know of are all within pool areas and you have to pay to get in. Score one for Missouri!

This past weekend we went to the grand opening of a new sprayground and the boys had a ball! We enjoyed some playtime, got soaked and then had a free lunch (hamburgers and hot dogs)! The boys are already asking when we can go back.

RIGHT after I snapped this shot, Tyler ran into all that water that was falling! 

And one last shot (of Chase) that was actually taken the day before at a different sprayground. It just cracks me up too much not to share!

 Kansas City readers! Don't forget to enter my giveaway just for you! Click HERE for that!

Your Questions Answered

Before we get to the questions and answers, I wanted to share with you all a little tidbit from my day yesterday. My friends on FB found it hilarious, and I'm pretty sure you'll think it's funny too.

Yesterday, while the boys were finishing lunch outside, the mailman went by and the boys stood up and started yelling "Bye, Daddy!" at the mailman. Talk about awkward! Thankfully I don't think the man could hear the boys. Oh, and to be clear the mailman looks nothing like Nick.

I'll scatter some random pictures from the park throughout this post today, because I've been lax in posting pics this week. (I've also been lax in keeping my 365 Blog caught up, so I'll be trying to do that later today too.)

What are some of the boys' favorite meals? This is a tough question to answer, because the boys will eat pretty much anything. I guess there are some foods they clear off their plates in record time though... For now I'll say favorite meals include the following: pancakes and fruit, eggs, pizza, macaroni and cheese, and last night's was a pretty big hit - grilled chicken, rice and cut up cucumbers and red pepper strips.

Do you have any tips for planning menus in advance? I'm probably not a good one to ask about this! Back before we had the boys I was great at planning out our meals every week. Now? Not so much. In fact, usually what happens is at about 4pm I think "hmmm... wonder what I should make for dinner". Here's the thing though, because I follow the stock-piling method of grocery shopping I almost always have a wide assortment of stuff in my house. I've become quite good at throwing meals together and kind of making it up as I go along (I think I must have inherited that from my mom). When I was meal planning (in the pre-kids days) I would go through the weekly sales fliers, look at what was already in my cupboard and plan based on those two things. My goal always was to buy as few "extras" (i.e. things not on sale) as I could each week.

Do you plan to have more children? This is a topic Nick and I have been debating for a while now. I'm firmly planted in the "yes, one more" camp and he is firmly planted in the "nope, we're done" camp. Only time will tell I guess!

Do you think you will ever go back to work? I think I probably will at some point. I miss working now! I miss the adult interaction and the gratification of finishing a task and being praised for it. (I don't get any work reviews on my cooking or care-taking skills!) What I'll go back to and when is the real question though. I'd love to go back to radio if I could but then I've also toyed with (ever since the boys were in the NICU) of going to nursing school and becoming a NICU nurse. We'll see I guess!

Do you plan to have the boys attend public school? If yes, what age? Kindergarten? Nick and I haven't spent a whole lot of time talking about this yet. We do know there are a ton of Christian school options around here. We also know it may not be something we can afford (unless I go back to work sooner), so when we bought our house we made sure it was in an adequate school district. It's not the best district in our area, but it's also not the worst. It would be nice if we could find something private we could afford, but we've still got 3 years to figure that out before the boys would go to Kindergarten (they miss the school cut off here so won't get to start until they're 6).

If you could take the boys anywhere in the world for a vacation for free, where would you go and why? Oh this is a no-brainer for me! Disney World! I have such fun memories of Disney World as a kid and I know the boys would find it so magical right now!

How would you react to finding out you were having triplets again? Honestly? I don't think it would phase me that much with the exception of two things - our home and car wouldn't be big enough and we can't really afford bigger of either! Multiples don't scare me now because I've been there, done that. I know how to schedule, I know how to handle three screaming kids, I know how to change diapers at the speed of lightning, etc. If I was having triplets again I think a call to Extreme Makeover Home Edition would be in order, don't you?

How many children did you imagine having when you were younger? Two, I think... I always wanted twins! Ha! When Nick and I got married we agreed we both wanted one or two of our own and then adopt another (so 2 or 3 total). Turns out having 3 at once changed my perspective because now I want 4 and I'm still open to adoption down the road.

Do you cook every meal for the boys? (You guys don't eat out much, right?) Correct, we hardly eat out. I would say we eat out on our own (just our family) 4 or 5 times a year. When family is here visiting we usually eat out a couple of times too. Now as far as cooking goes, yes I cook most of the meals. Sometimes I get lazy and pop a frozen pizza in the oven or something convenient like that. That's really for my own sanity though! And I'm not sure you could call pouring cereal or making a PB&J "cooking", but yes I make all the meals.

How do you keep up on the housework with 3 boys? I struggle with just 1! Nick is a HUGE piece of that puzzle. Without him I suspect this house would go downhill in a hurry. Every night before bed we make the boys pick up their toys. We've done that since they were about 15 or 16 months (it's just throwing things in baskets really). There are nights I don't feel like picking up the rest of the stuff (stray toys, vacuuming, dishes, etc), but Nick will remind me it'll only take a few minutes (20 or so) and if we don't do it the house will get worse and worse. He's right. Sometimes he's nice and lets me just sit on the couch while he does all the picking up. Yup, I married a keeper :)

How do you manage your stress level? I don't really feel like I have much stress. I think part of it must be because I'm a glass half full kind of person. When I sit and think about the future, I'm thinking about all the good stuff that could happen not the bad. The boys don't really stress me out. They make me mad sometimes and when that happens it's usually either just before nap time or just before Nick gets home, so it works out for me to get some space. Honestly, I think a lot of our lack of stress comes from a solid marriage and a solid handle on our finances. When we lived in Michigan we were paycheck to paycheck and I can remember being constantly stressed about money. I broke down a cried one day in a parking lot when we found out we needed $700 work done on one of our cars. Nick says we live on a tight budget now so that those breakdowns don't have to happen. And you know what? Between November and April of this year we had $6,000 in medical and major car repairs and I didn't have one breakdown. Not one.

Do you have any parenting books you recommend? This question stemmed largely from my story about taking the boys to the Post Office and how well behaved they were (until Chase's tantrum when we left). As far as discipline goes, we use the methods from 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12
The book says you can start at the age of 2, but I'll confess we actually started with the basics at more like 20 months. I was tired of the biting going on then and needed something to help curb it.

That being said, I think a lot of the success we've had with the boys comes from consistency, following through on threats all the time, and giving the boys some freedom in areas of their life. My theory is kids just want to do things by themselves. They want that feeling of satisfaction for completing something themselves. I let the boys pick their own clothes (most of the time), I let them pick what they want for breakfast and lunch, we let them walk on the sidewalk without holding our hands (but the moment they bolt for the street they have to hold our hand for the remainder of the time which was not popular), etc. The boys know there are certain things they have to do in public and they know I have expectations for them and we started with all of that very early on.

Don't question yourself too much and just find something that works with your kids! Your mom instinct usually won't fail you.

Blueberry Picking

Friday morning, Nick and I decided to take the boys blueberry picking at a local berry farm. The boys had a ball! We gave each of them their own bucket to put their berries in and instructed them to only pick the blue ones, not the red or green berries. I have to say, when I was cleaning the berries and prepping them to go in the freezer, I really didn't find too many red or green berries. Well done boys!

Tyler

Chase (who turned out to love berry picking the most)

Jackson

After picking our berries we went into the little store there and bought some blueberry lemonade and a blueberry drop biscuit to share! Definitely a fun, family morning that we'll try to repeat again this summer!

Brave Monkeys

This past winter we took the boys to one of  the many McDonald's near our home. The PlayPlace was huge. Seriously, one of the biggest Nick and I had seen! At the time, it was covered in kids (mostly bigger) and the boys were a little intimidated by the height of some of the tubes and tunnels.

A couple of months later I took them back and Tyler got brave and followed some older kids to the top. He was having a ball until he got confused and couldn't figure out how to get down. I found a 7 or 8 year old girl and asked her if she'd go up and help Ty down, which she did.

About a month ago Nick took the boys back to that same PlayPlace and they were having a great time. Towards the end though Chase and Jackson got separated at the top and it freaked Chase out. He started to cry and Nick had to send an older kid up after him. Every time we've passed a McDonald's since then Chase has announced whether or not that is the location that he got stuck and sad at.

Yesterday we returned to the scene of the crime and Chase was ready. They all were actually...

That's Chase and Jackson at the top of one of the tower climbing things. This winter and early spring the boys couldn't climb up it because they were too short. Now they scale it without any problems.

Tyler

Towards the end of our play time the boys got rather silly on the slide. The picture doesn't do it justice though...

So I took a terrible quality video with my cell phone! You can hear them screaming all the way down. It was cracking me up!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

This is my third summer attempting a small veggie garden here at home. I followed the instructions found in the Square Foot Gardening book when making my raised bed and was ready to enjoy the bounty that would surely follow.

Year 1 produced virtually nothing. I think I got a few handfuls of green beans and that was it. The enemies that year were rabbits (who mowed down all my lettuce just as it was ready) and a mystery weed that shot up through my weed block and choked out the roots of my other plants.

Year 2 (last year) I built a cage to go over the garden to keep the critters away from my food and I added a bottom to the garden so that the mystery weed couldn't get in. Still not much to write home about in the way of food. Hmmmmm...

This spring I stood at my back door and looked at my garden, wondering what kept going wrong. Then I noticed how sunny the other corner of the yard was. I continued to watch that part of the yard periodically and suddenly realized it gets sun virtually all day whereas the other side only got sun about 4 hours a day! How did I miss this in year one?! I'm going to blame it on my infant triplets...

So this spring I loaded all the dirt into buckets, had Nick help me carry the box across the yard and I refilled it. Know what? It looks better now than it EVER has in early June!

There are a couple of squares where the seedlings didn't make it after transplanting, but all in all I'm thrilled! I've already harvested some spinach and lettuce, and I've spotted some zucchini and cucumbers starting. I also noticed these - little green beans!

I also have two tomato plants growing in pots on my deck and I planted 6 strawberry plants along the side of my house. The boys love running over to those to see if any berries are ready for picking yet. Speaking of berries, ever seen a Mulberry Bush? You know, like all around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel. No? Well, behold our Mulberry tree (much too big to be called a bush)!

This bad boy is COVERED in berries! The birds and squirrels get the stuff on the top half and I try to pick as many from the bottom as I can. A good number end up on the ground though...

For those that haven't ever had a mulberry before, I'd say they look like a blackberry but taste more like a blueberry. I'm plotting all kinds of things I can make with them this summer - muffins, jam, ice cream topping, etc. 

Know what else is growing? My boys! I had fun taking pictures of them yesterday as they were goofing around. Here are my 3 favorite shots. (Jackson is in the backwards green shirt, Tyler is in yellow and Chase is in gray.)

Weekend of Surprises

This past weekend was a 4 day weekend for Nick, so we decided to take advantage and do some extra special stuff with the boys. We simply told the boys there would be a "surprise" (or two!) that day and watched their faces light up in anticipation.

Saturday night was the first surprise. After church let out we dashed to a part of town we don't often visit and found there were thousands of others heading the same direction. After making the bold decision to follow some cars that seemed to be taking a short cut (which they were), we ended up at the park just in time. In time for what, you ask? To see a bunch of hot air balloons lift off!

Chase

 Jackson

 Tyler

 Nick and Jackson (a new favorite picture for sure!)

The boys were in awe of the balloons. We were so close (as you can tell in a couple of those pictures), and they loved cheering as each balloon lifted off and waving to the lucky people riding in the basket! They're still talking about the big balloons 3 days later. 

After the balloons we went to surprise #2; ice cream at Chick Fil A! By the time we got to Chick Fil A we were already an hour past bed time and it was beginning to get dark so the boys knew this was extra special. They made huge messes with their cones (which is why there are no pictures), but they loved it. It should be noted that when Chase and Tyler walked out of Chick Fil A with Nick they remarked that it must be early in the morning because it was getting dark. That tells you how early they've been waking up lately! Ha!

Surprise #3 of the weekend came Sunday afternoon when we took the boys to a nearby sprayground (a playground that sprays water everywhere for my family bumpkins in Maine that don't have such things). They hadn't been to a sprayground before and were a little unsure. Well, to be fair, really only Tyler and Jackson were unsure for a while. Chase jumped right in and started having fun!

Surprise #4 was yesterday morning when we packed up and headed to Aunt Laura's to take advantage of the pools in her apartment complex. They had a ball (of course) and were super excited to see Aunt Laura's cat, Marbles. I don't think Marbles felt the same way towards the boys though, because she took off to hide under Laura's bed as soon as the boys ran into the apartment. 

All in all? A super fun weekend that the boys won't forget for a long time!