Priceless

Art History degree = $60,000

Trip to Europe to see the Old Masters in person - $4,000

Art History books = $2,000

Using said books as makeshift balance beam to entertain Salad during blizzard = PRICELESS

Spur of the Moment

2 Mondays ago, R took off to get a second opinion regarding surgery vs. knee pain for the rest of his life. Looks like surgery took the lead today. But, I digress. He called me when he was about 10 minutes away and said "Let's go to the Academy of Natural Sciences today!" I panicked for a minute and then put everyone on the potties while I put their shoes on, jumped online to find out where the best parking was, threw 3 Uncrustables and bags of grapes into our cooler, dressed myself and off we went! I talked about some of the things we'd see, like GIANT dinosaur bones, so they'd be prepared. I learned that lesson the hard way, when an unexpected Chocolate Bar danced it's way up to S in Hershey Park over the holiday. She does not like surprises. Especially not of the "way bigger than she is" variety.
We got there and quickly became members. Not because we knew right away we'd love it, but because the Family Plus membership (which includes 2 guests every time we go - Get ready Gram and Poppy!) was a mere $12 more than the one day pass for my family of 5. On a side note, how do those "quiverfull" people afford anything?

We stomped around like dinosaurs. We studied African, Asian and North American wildlife. We spent a inordinately long time watching a girl clean the guinea pig cages. I think our favorite part, at least my favorite part, was the Butterfly Garden. 100 butterflies, fluttering by, eating bananas and drinking Hawaiian Punch, hanging off the walls and light fixtures, sitting on the ground, outgrowing their chrysalis and cocoons. Best of all was that we had the whole room to ourselves, along with the guide, at our beck and call. We learned that most butterflies use their colors to warn other insects that they mean business. We learned butterflies love the heat, so they keep the room at 80 degrees. We learned that once M gets sweaty, it's time to leave. It was about lunch, so we opted to keep the 3rd floor and half of the second floor for our next excursion. We got home just in time for long naps.

But our fun didn't stop there, after a quick trip to our local Target, we called Gram and Poppy and invited them to join us for dinner at Carrabbas. We had a great time, yummy food, blackberry Sangria and good company. My favorite part of the whole day was sitting next to A at dinner. I studied the way she wound her spaghetti around her fork with one hand, held it in front of her face and used her other hand to jam it into her mouth.

Damn, I love that girl who loves her food.

3 for 3

Happy Birthday, my sweet Fruit Salad! I've been trying to find the words that are in my heart. Words that would let you know that you made my world better the day you were born. Thank you for teaching me what it feels like to be a mother. Thank you for your unwavering forgiveness when I fail on this learning curve.

"I love you being nice,
and when you're cranky, too.
I love you without liking
the naughty things you do.

My 'love you' doesn't change
like the temper of the days.
It's a certain kind of thing
in many different ways . . .

I can't imagine life
before you came along . . .
me there singing senseless,
no meaning to my song.

Call it meant to be
or simply blessed fate,
you fill my heart with love . . .
and for that I celebrate."

Marianne Richmond, "I Love You So . . . "

Roarrrr!

This week we learned about the letter C. We used food dye to Color water. We poured it into trays and put them outside overnight to make ice Cubes. We learned they froze because it was Cold outside. We ate Chicken and Cheese and Carrots and Cashews for dinner. We learned about Cougars, that they live in the jungle. I said they looked a little like tigers, but were solid, not striped. I imagine that's why later in the week, I had this conversation after I got new prescription tortoise shell sunglasses.

Me: "M, do you like my new sunglasses?"

M: "Yes. You look like a cougar."

Me: "A cougar?" Geez, I thought, I'm not that old. Although, I'd be proud if I was and looked as good as Courtney Cox. Wait, how does he know about cougars?

M: "Yeah. Roarrr!"

Me: "Oh, a cougar!"

Because, because, because . . .

I don't want this to be a place where I always blow sunshine and roses up your . . . well you know whats. While we have many crazy beautiful days, we have bad days too. They usually start with A and M rising early and waking S. When S gets woken before she's ready, there is much thrashing about and gnashing of the teeth. She wakes up like her mommy does.

Anyway, it was one of those days yesterday. A and M woke early and were playing nicely, albeit, loudly in their room. They were pretending A's bed was an oven and they were baking chocolate cakes in it. I listened from bed for a while before sitting up with a start and bounding wildly into their room, hoping against hope, these "chocolate cakes" weren't poop. They weren't, but my crazed entrance into the room, startled S awake. She.Was.Not.Happy.

Because of the early wake up call, I wasn't able to shower before our day got started. I had grand plans of painting, stamping, coloring and stickering a 7 foot Happy Birthday banner for my dad's 60th birthday. We made funfetti cupcakes with pink, green and blue icing. We picked up R's shirts at the dry cleaners, bought balloons at the Party Store and had a picnic lunch all before 12:30.

Let me say that some days are bad because the Salad dumps yogurt on each others heads or fights over who gets to wear the Cinderella underwear. But some days are bad because I am wiped out. Yesterday, my energy level could not keep up with my gaggle of soon-to-be 3 year olds. Plus, I was cranky because I hadn't showered. I usually sit for a bit while they nap and watch mindless TV (ie Project Runway, Ugly Betty) and get ready for the second wave. But yesterday, I cleaned up after our morning projects and got ready to drive to my parents and break into their house to decorate for a birthday surprise. I did wash, I figured out dinner, I got their jammies ready for bed, I swept the kitchen, I refilled sippy cups, I cleared the floor in the playroom so we could do gymnastics, you get the idea. Instead, I should have showered.

By the time R got home, I was done. I had given them bathes and am a tad ashamed to admit, I felt resentful that they were clean and I wasn't. I finally took a shower and rehashed how grumpy I had been. I realized it was smart I had waited to shower until they had a chaperon. I think it was one of those days where they would have formulated a plan to cut my toes with butter knives, ambush me & nibble at my knee caps or poke my eyes with pipe cleaners & crayons. Because I had been cranky. Because I hadn't showered. Because they woke up early.

Happy Birthday, Poppy! Thanks for loving us like you do!

We had Ourselves a Merry Little Christmas

Lest you think, due to lack of posting, that we didn't celebrate Christmas, rest assured we did. The best Christmas in 4 years in fact. Of course, last year my dad was in the hospital, and the year before that the Salad screamed every time wrapping paper got torn from a present and the year before that I was in the hospital with preterm labor, so yeah, best Christmas in 4 years. And we were blessed to have R home with us for 12 WHOLE DAYS!

We jammed a ton of fun into those 12 days.

We braved freezing temperatures at Hershey Park.

We braved the crowds at Aquarium.

We braved new heights at the Please Touch Museum on 12/31.
But the most important memories are the little ones, dressing up like princesses, the Salad's first experience eating duck, S asking Santa for "the game where balls go in the dinosaurs mouths" (or Hungry, Hungry Hippo, as you may know it), receiving The Gruffalo which has quickly become our go-to book.

I keep remembering this conversation with A while we were sitting in the car in Trader Joe's parking lot. It was a perfectly clear, very cold, slightly windy winter morning. I wanted to stay in the car until Jingle Bell Rock had finished playing on the radio. M was content to look out for the trolley which frequents State Street, S was rocking out to the music with me and A discovered we had parked in front of a bush that was still in bloom with some pretty pink flowers. They caught her eye because they were moving in the wind.

A: "Mommy, see those pink flowers, Mommy?"

Me: "I do see them, babydoll."

A: "Pink is my favorite color."

Me: "I know it is. You love pink."

A: "Mommy, see those pink flowers dancing, Mommy?"

Me: "I do see them dancing, A."

A: "Mommy, are those pink flowers dancing to Jingle Bell Rock?"

Me: "They just might be, sweetie, they just might be."

July 30th, 2009

I wrote this post in the summer and for some reason never posted it. I probably was looking for a picture to post along side. The post still needs a picture, but we got a new computer and I haven't spent the time figuring out how to do so. Rereading it made me realize the amazing thing about blogging. Writing helps you remember very specific moments of life. Not necessarily the big ones, like getting engaged or finding out you have 3 babies in there, but the little ones.

Great things about today:
1. R went into work late, meaning I got to leave the house for a Starbuck's Grande Iced Mocha. Yes. Of course, it was non-fat. And no whip.
2. R got home from work early.
3. R brought me home gravy fries for lunch. I had already had a salad. The lettuce kind of salad. Not the children kind of Salad. I ate the fries anyway.
4. I got to see the Salad ride tricycles for the first time. R found an awesome deal on Kettler trikes on Craig's List. We picked them up from another triplet mom today.
5. When we left the park after "teaching" the Salad to ride said tricycles, A told me she "had a great time."
6. As I was brushing S's teeth before bed, A told me she "luffed my hair in a pony."

Not so great things about today;
1. I accidentally ripped the beautiful old knob from our beautiful old front door. And had to have a lock smith come and replace it with a less nice, brand spanking new knob. Boo on new.
2. It was very hot outside.