29 things that have taken me 29 years, (almost) 10 years of marriage,2 boys and triplet girls to learn....

It has taken me 3 days to write this, but without further adieu, here are 29 things I've learned....

1. I would do anything, ANYTHING for my kids, even to the point of walking around with a disfigured stomach and dealing with issues of self-consciousness because of it for the rest of my life.

2. God can use two of the same people to make all different sorts of kids.

3. People will ALWAYS assume that short hair on a baby (even one who is dressed head to toe in pink, exactly like her sisters) will always mean that it's a boy.

4. People lose all awareness of social etiquette when triplets come out in public. Especially if they are in a choo-choo wagon.

5. Cereal dust + wood floors + slippers is a bad combination.

6. There is always cereal dust on my floors.

7. No matter how many times you paint over it, it never stops the little graffiti artists from returning to the scene of the crime.

8. Little girls in swimsuits is just about the cutest thing ever.

9. Mr. Clean magic erasers are indeed magic.

10. Laundry is a never-ending, never win battle.

11. My worth does not come from what I wear [or how I look] but from the knowledge of Whose I am. (quote from Antique mommy of antiquemommy.com)

12. The sum of the messes made by triplets is not the same as the sum of messes made by individual toddlers.

13. My husband considers me to be the most beautiful woman he's ever laid eyes on...and that's the truth. (Clarifying note: I don't consider myself to be the most beautiful woman in the world..but I have finally realized and accepted that Josh thinks that I am)

14. If the kids are getting along and playing quietly in their rooms, it is NEVER a good thing. They’re up to something.

15. God speaks to all of us. We just need to learn how to hear Him.

16. God always pursues us. ALWAYS

17. I AM ADORED BY MY GOD. Not because of anything I've ever done, but because I am His daughter. Nothing I could ever do, say or think can ever change that. Sort of like how I feel about my own kids. Only on a much bigger scale.

18. I think the sound of door slamming might send me to the insane asylum.

19. Kids slam the door a LOT.

20. Coffee is a mom's best friend.

21. I like mornings...but not until at least 7am.


22. God indeed does work in mysterious ways. He uses very unlikely people and very unlikely methods to draw people to Him.

23. Kids do funny things with permanent markers.


24. Permanent marker comes off of skin fairly easily with rubbing alcohol when it's fresh. It also comes out of laminate wood floors with a Magic Eraser. However it does not come off walls, furniture, clothing or hair.

25. I'm really not an animal person.

26. Every kid likes to play the "I'm gonna get you" game.

27. Boys and girls are very different.

28. I really, truly enjoy cooking/baking.

29. My heart is very easily broken...in a good way.

I heart chore charts

Thank you ladies for all your support after my last post. I appreciate it very much! It's so nice to have friends!

Last week I started a new chore chart system for the boys. I know I blogged a couple months ago about a new parenting system that we were going to start...I never did keep up with that one mostly because it turned cumbersome...and not something that we were able to be consistent about. But last week in the midst of being frustrated at how our summer together was shaping up, I decided to take charge. I was tired of the tv being on too much, no responsibilities for the kids (or when they were asked to help with something, it was a lot of arguing), and a total lack of any sort of daily schedule.

I have also always had a hard time with the issue of allowance. What I mean by that is whether to do allowance based on chores done, or to expect chores to be done simply based on the fact that we're a family and that's what families do. I see pros to both sides. In the end though, I heard Dr. Laura talking about it last week and her opinion is that kids need to work for their money...that is the way real life works.

Anyway, so I decided to do a chore chart where the boys get paid 1x per week for each chore that they complete. In addition to the chores they also have a daily box for overall attitude during the day that they get an amount of money on a sliding scale.

There are a couple of strange phenomenon's in our house. The first phenomenon is that if I was to ask Bryce out of the blue to empty the dishwasher for example, he would act as if the world was coming to an end. However, if I put 'empty the dishwasher' on a chore chart, he is so excited to empty the dishwasher and will do it with great enthusiasm. Maybe he is like me..needs a list to check off in order to get motivated to get anything done. The other strange phenomenon is that although I know this about him, I'm not consistent in my chore chart making. Go figure.

By far the BEST thing I put on the chore charts for the boys is a box for school work. This is borderline genius for two reasons. 1. It keeps them quiet and entertained sitting still at the table for a generous amount of time in the mornings 2. The way I set it up is that Bryce has to help Jayden with his pages....therefore not only is Jayden learning, but Bryce is reinforcing his knowledge AND it is teaching them both to work together...this morning I heard Bryce say, "good job, Jayden" when he had done something right. Beautiful. Music to this mother's ears. Since I instated the chore chart last week, our house has been more peaceful, more scheduled and much, much more pleasant. I highly recommend chore charts.

Swimsuit Dilemma

Now, I don't know that I know of any woman who hasn't had a swimsuit dilemma at least at some point in her life. I have had a swimsuit dilemma pretty much ever year of my entire life from about 5th grade on. But I digress. I have a dilemma currently and I would like some honest feedback from my readers. Hint, hint...=)



So here's the overview. I have been searching high and low, online and in-store for the past few months looking for a perfect swimsuit. So far I have bought and returned 9 swimsuits. Here are my issues: 1. I am short. Therefore I have a short torso. Which means that one piece swimsuits pretty much make me look dumpy and very mom-ish. I despise looking mom-ish. 2. I hate my stomach. And there's not really a whole lot that can be done. When you have triplets, a little something called "stretching" happens. Okay, a BIG something called stretching happens. Therefore I am left with a square shaped section on my stomach that is a little wrinklier and "popped out" than I would like and am not used to. 3. I want to show off my tattoo. Which as you know is on my lower back. Since generally this is a covered part of my body, I don't get many opportunities to show it off.

So here are my options with my pros and cons:

1. A whole one piece
Pros: Covers my stomach, both for my sake and others' sake.
Cons: Covers my tattoo, makes me look dumpy and mom-ish, and let's face it, very unsexy

2. A "newish" kind of suit called a monokini. Basically it looks like a one piece in the front and a bikini from the back. I thought this was going to be my "perfect" solution...
Pros: Covers my stomach (sort of..some of them are cut in so the front section is too narrow to get all the coverage I want), shows my tattoo (sort of..a lot of them that I've tried are not quite low enough in the back to show it all.
Cons: Well, they don't really flatter my shape, I still look kind of short and dumpy, although less mom-ish, and they seem to sort of make me look wider, they're hard to find and I've tried pretty much all the ones that I've found.

3. An open backed tankini
Pros: Comes in cute colors, styles, I think it would give me *most* of the coverage that I want, might be more flattering if I found the right one.
Cons: Difficult to find open backed tankini tops..probably have to buy online, will show a little bit of belly between where the top ends and the bottoms begin..this is where the "ickiest" part of my stomach lives, haven't found one yet that works

4. A bikini that I already own
Pros: I already own it, therefore do not have to spend any money, Matches my tattoo really well, shows off my tattoo, flatters my body shape, makes it seem like the "whole" body looks better than the sum of it's parts...what I mean by that is that when my whole stomach is showing, it almost doesn't seem as bad as when you see a little peek of it, whereas some of the other suits almost draw attention to it b/c of how little of there is showing. I have been working out and I am happy with every other part of my body..and this flatters every other part.
Cons: Shows my stomach to the public

I put on my bikini this morning actually and worked out in it...partially because I wanted to motivate myself to work hard. =) But also because I wanted to watch myself in the mirror and watch and see how my stomach looked throughout the workout. I kind of decided that although my stomach does not look like how I'm used to it looking, and I'm not very comfortable with that particular part of my body. I've certainly seen a LOT worse on the beach. So I am leaning toward the bikini option. So I guess my main question to you all out there as the "public" is, is this okay? Is it okay to put my wrinkled stomach out there for the world to see? Or is that something that I should keep under lock and key? In reality there probably is not going to be very much opportunity to be wearing a swimsuit in public anyway. But when I do....?

A game

My friend Katy just had this on her blog and I decided to copy since it's a quick and easy way to post a new blog. The rules are you can only answer with one word.

Where is your cell phone? upstairs
Your significant other? adorable
Your hair? colored
Your Mother? friend
Your Father? solid
Your favorite thing? laughter
Your dream last night? chicken
Your favorite drink? coffee
Your dream/goal? house
The room you're in? messy
Your hobby? reading
Your fear? loss
Where do you want to be in 6 years? school
Where were you last night? bed
What you're not? dramatic
One of your wish list items? adoption
Where you grew up? here
The last thing you did? shower
What are you wearing? dress
Your TV? over-used
Your pets? annoying
Your computer? slow
Your life? blessed
Your mood? expectant
Missing someone? husband
Your car? dented
Something you're not wearing? shoes
Favorite store? resale
Your summer? stunted
Like someone? lots!
Your favorite color? pink =)
When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
Last time you cried? 6/07/08
Who will relpy? unlikely

Girls' Weekend- among other things

So, I do realize that today is Thursday. And I am about to blog about last weekend. It's been 4 days since I've gotten home. However, it's been a very busy 4 days.

Last weekend I got to go to the beach with 4 girlfriends. Heidi, Andrea, Leah, (who never blogs) and Amie, who doesn't have a blog. (Darn those non-blogging friends!) This trip was a brain-child of mine a few months ago when I was insanely overwhelmed with my house and my kids and everything about what was going on in my life. So Heidi did all the research and found the house and put everything together. (Thanks Heidi!) I'm not feeling nearly as overwhelmed any more thanks to some baby gates and other disciplinary tools, but it was still totally fun and I didn't realize until afterward, how badly I needed something like this...how lacking I am (was) in close, intimate relationships with other women.

We left on Friday evening and drove to an area just outside of Lincoln City. There we found a quirky little house with two bedrooms and one bathroom. The "themes" of the house were Narnia, Coke, Pirate with a hint of Country Cottage. And it wasn't as if each room was a separate theme..every room was each of these themes. I always wonder about the people who own and decorate beach houses. Pretty much every beach house I've ever been in is "quirky". Anyway, it was cheap! And close walking distance to the beach.

It's funny...we didn't really do anything that is very blog-worthy. Friday of course we talked the whole way there, and then talked well into the night (like 3am- which for me is nearly unheard of) then we woke up around 7am and had breakfast, and talked...then we went to the outlet mall and did some shopping, then we went to lunch at Mo's and talked. Then we ran a couple errands and went back to the house and talked and talked. Then we had dinner while talking still and talked well into the night again. I had to go to bed around 12am or so (I was driving and knew that if I didn't at least attempt to sleep, I wouldn't be a safe driver). Although I lay in bed for a LONG time just listening to them. I think the rest of them went to bed probably around 3 again. Then we got up in the morning around 7-8am or so. I took a shower and since the sun was finally showing it's face, I decided to walk down to the beach on my own. I walked a little ways and then sat in the sand for a while and had a personal worship session with God and tried to soak up as much of the sun as I could. Then I walked back and began breakfast. Of course we talked all through the morning and all the way home.

So as you can see, we mostly just hung out and talked. If I would have known beforehand that that's all we were going to do, I would not have been as excited about the trip as I was...but it was so nice to be able to sit and talk like that. Without children interrupting, or chores or things to get in the way. We were able to really connect with each other and talk about things I would have never thought I would be talking about with a group of women. It was awesome! The biggest thing that I learned over the weekend is that I am not alone in so many ways. The things that I deal with in my marriage, the things that I deal with in my life and the things that I deal with in my head. I have always felt isolated in many ways, not knowing who was "safe" to talk to about things. But I no longer feel like that. Amazing how much things can change in only a couple days. So it was a very, very good weekend.

Monday night we got together with my family for a last family gathering before my brother went back to work from his "leave". He is in the Marines and has to fly to Okinawa (again..he was there for 2 years already) and then he is stationed on a ship indefinitely. 20 more months until he is home for good.

Wednesday night we had some extended family over for dinner. An aunt of Josh's that I'm not sure he's ever even met, along with a second cousin and a great aunt. It was fun to meet them.

Today, I took Jayden into the hospital to get a VCUG test for him. It's basically a test where they put a catheter in and fill his bladder and then empty his bladder to test for any blockage. We're trying to figure out why he's still having urinary issues. There was no blockage..which is good I guess, but not helpful in determining why he's still having problems. *sigh*

Tomorrow is Josh's last day of work. Well, at his old job. Monday is his first day at the new job. It was a very difficult decision for him to leave the small company that he works for. But he's really excited and the pay raise is significant which we definitely need. We've been barely scraping by since we bought the new house. A family of 7 is expensive!

So there you go. An update on our week in a nutshell!

Treasure

On this day of Wednesday, June 4th, 2008, Bryce has exactly 1.5 days left of being a 2nd grader. Sigh. Why do they have to grow up?

This morning I walked Bryce out to the bus. When we heard the bus coming around the corner (before we could see it) Bryce walked over to me and gave me a hug and then his new favorite thing, a nose kiss. He does this every morning. And then as I watched my almost 3rd grader climb on the bus and find his seat he turned, looked out the window and waved to me and then gave the sign for "I love you". This isn't a new thing at all..he doesn't do this every day..but maybe 50% of the time. Usually I don't really give it a second thought because I'm tired or cold and want to go back in the house or something. But this morning it really struck me that I need to savor these moments. How much longer is my son going to want to give me a hug before he goes to school (albeit before the bus actually comes into view)? How much longer is he going to wave at me through the window and sign "I love you"? My guess is probably not much longer. Sigh. So to all you mom's out there, I challenge you to savor this moment with your children. Because good or bad, these moments are so fleeting and may not come back for a very long time...if at all.