Us - week 4

Week 4 has been a doozy. Ryan has been gone all week to France....right after he was gone half of last week to Charlotte.. so little recoup time for us. So this is short and sweet....the goal of this week was to survive and have some fun. Easton was not having fun in this first picture. We were watching Curious George, but apparently it was very scary. That is what he said when I asked him why he was hiding. 

The twins spent the night at my parents for two nights to give me a break while Ryan is in France. GLORY! And...let me preface my next statement by saying everyones perception is their reality and I get that. So let me tell you my perception of only having ONE kid...so easy! Me and E-Stud ran errands, window shopped in stores, ate popcorn lunches on the floor while watching a Thomas, you name it! I even popped in AS A WALK IN to a kids haircut place. They are totally overpriced, but I needed inspiration on how to cut this kids hair. The wavy, soccer/beach shag wasn't working on him like it does on Caden. Easton ate it UP. Sucker, animal crackers, a movie? He didn't want to leave. A completely different story from the torture chamber, screaming, red-faced Caden I tried to take when he was this age. Anyway, look at my big four year old....I mean, two year old. :) 

You know what's not cool? When your microwave dies two days before your husband leaves the country for a week. Not cool at ALL. So we scrambled and bought a microwave ridiculously quick thanks to the Lords kindness. (We found one that fit our space but the local store couldn't find the one they had in stock so they gave us the new, upgraded model for closeout price!) Anyway, a friend came to the absolute rescue and let us borrow her college counter top microwave until Ryan can get back in town and install our new one. Whew! 

The night before Ryan left, he made good on our new month-to-month plan of taking the twins out individually for mommy/daddy time. Ryan had January and needed a date with this little spunk. They went to Five Guys and shared a yummy yogurt mountain treat. I can't wait for my turn in February! I'm really looking forward to this time one-on-one with my kiddos. They need it and I do too!

Us - week 3

Almost fell off the wagon there! A few days late, but here is what our week 3 looked like! Our first picture is most everyday...Easton JAMMING his mouth full of food. 

We had some rainy days so it was time to start incorporating jump time to get the cabin fever wiggles out. Jenna loves jumping - land, trampoline, couch...you name it. 

Isn't it wonderful (and embarrassing) when you find something in a closet you bought a long time ago ? I think it got stashed away in the Birthday season / Thanksgiving clean up, but alas!...a new cute rug for the loveseat. 

Our original "Little" Christmas was postponed due to the flu outbreak in the family. Ryan's brother and family came up from SC so we were able to have our Christmas time together then. Caden and Easton loved wrestling with big cousin, Evan. 

Easton made his rounds to everyone. He quietly went upstairs and got cousin Lauryn to read him some books in bed. Adorable! 

Busted! Easton is not allowed to play with the twins' leapfrogs. He may have gotten away with a few extra things while Ryan was traveling for work. 

Ryan and I have adopted a tradition from some fellow twin parents we know. We are going to each take a month and intentionally plan a date day/night with Caden and Jenna individually. It is so good for them and wonderful for us to have time alone to see their little personalities and get them all to ourselves. Ryan took January and first up was Caden. Ryan took him to the train show which is Caden's love language right now. They had a blast and ended the outing with some KK doughnuts - that makes any outing complete! 

 Caden will ALWAYS choose a chocolate sprinkle doughnut. Always. 

Mommy had to do some damage control for this first round of "dates." Jenna was not happy she was not invited. Oh the indignity! ...as one of those Thomas trains say on the movie. So she got to finger paint by herself ... her love language. 

The twins have started sleeping together in their tiny toddler beds. It is adorable, yes. But one night while Ryan was traveling last week, I headed to Gigi and Papa T's for a little break. Out of an entire king sized mattress pad on the floor, this is how they slept all night....crunched in one top corner. 

My pantry redo is mostly done! Everything came out, I painted the front facing board with chalk paint and labeled where everything should go. Now anyone can put my groceries away! :) hint. hint. 

Us - week 2

Week 2!!! Quite a fun week minus our first picture. Easton went to get tested for allergies. As yuck as it looks, chill Easton just said "ouch!" once then just sat in my lap and looked at the pictures on my phone. Strangely we do not have sure answers. His nasal passages show strong signs of an allergy reaction, but all of the pricks on his back were negative. So, it does help to know each random runny nose he gets is probably a flare up and not a sickness, but to what?

We finally had our annual Christmas "brunch" with our special group of friends. THIRD time was the charm as we had to keep rescheduling due to sicknesses, fevers, flu, you name it. I even kept my Christmas decorations up so we could have our annual picture in front of the tree. The things you do for friends! :)

Princess attire was the big hit. These three are such special friends.

I do a hand print Christmas craft each year. I'm obsessed at seeing how much their little hands grow. And considering how tiny the twins' hands were that first Christmas, it makes it even more reminiscent to see. This year, we switched it up and did a footprint...three weeks after Christmas. oops. No one else needs to know. And how about you can't tell whose foot is who? Triplets I'm telling ya...

We busted out Caden's "big present" from Gigi and Papa T. This picture represents a four year old boys dream: jumping while watching a Thomas the Train movie. :)

We know Jenna can jump on "land". But Jenna on a trampoline? Danger. Girl is crazy while jumping.

It has been cold and wet this past week. So there has been a lot of coloring. I love it and I hate it. Soon many marker tops!!

I am beginning to see this scene a lot lately. The boys are starting to gravitate towards each other during play time. Caden got his leapfrog for Christmas and Easton just LOVES to sit next to him and watch (because he is not allowed to touch!). To me, it is a really sweet snapshot of their future growing up together as brothers.

Kids Say...

Jenna: Mom can I have some iPad?
Me: What? (I was getting ready in front of the mirror)
Jenna: Can I have some iPad right here? (points to her eyes)
Me: ohhh, do you mean eye shadow?


Jenna fell in the backyard and was having a particularly heavy "drama queen" day. After crying for some time and not moving on, she told Ryan "I think a snake bit my hand when I fell." Oh, Jenna....


Jenna: Dad, I have a secret. I can't tell you that Mommy got you a shirt for Christmas presents today.

Us

So I follow a blog of a mama of five (FIVE), including triplet boys. She recently posted an idea that is genius to me! The idea is to post a quick snapshot of your week...quick, no big write up, not that much brain power required. That is my cup of soup right now. Love it.  So here goes! Week 1 is all cell phone pics so not the best quality, but nonetheless....

The first week of 2015 was spent at the beach as we always do. I love getting away from hustle, bustle, traffic, "to-do's", all of it! And I just really love the beach. :) 

We found a few boxes of sparklers so we went out to celebrate the New Year. Mr. Safety (Caden) was sure to keep his arms perfectly perpendicular to his body, Easton wanted to hold it himself and Jenna was a dancing fairy with no reservations. :)

Aunt Rha Rha and Uncle Brad got the kids a stomp rocket for Christmas. It is super fun for children and adults! It took all the kids 2 minutes to figure out the running start / jump combo produced the biggest blast offs. As a result, there is a rocket, a broom handle and a little bouncy ball in the tree branches down at the beach house. oops. 

No beach trip is complete without a wagon ride around the block with Papa T. 

I made homemade salted caramel sauce for our neighbors for Christmas this year. SCORE! Amazing. Yum. I gave some to my mom and sister only after making them promise to bring it to the beach for our gluttonous snacking binge. I then made my friends' homemade pound cake recipe. I could lick the screen right now looking at the picture. SO GOOD. 

Papa T also always brings his PVC pipe (??) to the beach to draw objects, names, and a maze for the kids to follow. For some reason it is the best thing ever to the kids. They love it!

I love the beach and I love this boy. He said "we at the beach" 1,456 times.

And just because this picture is blog worthy any day of the week. Listen to the silence! 

My pantry is in need of help...serious help. I have so many bottles of ketchup because I can't find the one we have, think we are out and buy another one at the grocery store....over and over! So, it ALL came out. I have a plan to get it organized, but as with everything else it takes me 6 weeks to get any small task done. 

And to end the week on a bit of a sad note, my sweet Mama Peggy died after a long lung illness. She was my "adopted" grandmother who took care of me and my sister when we were little, kept my mom from dropping us off at a Fire Station for free and gave us wonderful childhood memories. More on Ms Peggy later, but tonight at the visitation it was obvious many, many people will miss her like I will.