Hello Dolly

I turned on Hello Dolly since it was playing on the tube. This is what happened to the boys as soon as it came on...

Grant's response to Boo on Monster's Inc...

Every time Boo comes on screen for the first time while we are watching Monster's Inc, Grant does this...

On a laughter note...

No, I didn't say that wrong. You will be laughing by the end of these videos! I can almost guarantee it!

Fun times on New Years Eve!!

See, I do dress my kids every once in a while!! :) (James wanted me to put that on here cause we have quite a few pictures of the boys in just their diapers!)












We are playing peek-a-boo!!


Look, Ethan can walk, just with a toy!! He is getting there. He needs to learn how to turn his feet in the correct way and bend his knees when he walks.


Grant was playing in the curtain! He was having so much fun. Ethan played some too.

Growing up Christmas style...

James and I got to go on a date tonight! It was WONDERFUL!! but we had and interesting discussion. I posed these questions to James. I'll tell you my answers...

1) Did you ever "see" Santa??

2) When did you figure out who "Santa" really is?
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1) I remember one night when I was smaller, probably about 6 years old, and I woke up in the middle of the night Christmas eve. I all of the sudden heard a key in our front door. I peeked out of my room and saw this small roundish figure walk into our door with a bag. They took some presents out of the bag and put them under the tree then left.

I about fell over. I SAW SANTA!!

A few days later I heard my grandmother talking about how she came over that night and dropped off some presents she had stayed up late to wrap.

Oh, but I could have sworn for a few days that I had seen Santa. I just knew I had. I didn't want to tell anyone either cause I knew they wouldn't believe me. Oh well.


2) I remember when I was probably 8-10 years old I was standing in our backyard and had what James called an "epiphany". I realized who Santa really is and how it all works. I remember that it was a really nice summer day. Don't remember anything else. But it was interesting.


Just thought I would let you guys get a bit of a laugh too!

Videos of the boys playing with eachother (REALLY cute)

Sneaky Jet

So, you must watch the video in the post below. At the start of the video watch the patio door in the background. Jet has learned to open the sliding screen. He does it twice during the video!!

Now, we just need to teach him how to close it too and we are home free!!!

What is the craziest thing someone has ever said to you about your multiples and how did you respond?

James and I don't shy away from taking the boys out in public. It is quite fun to hear the comments we get. Here are a few of them and my/our responses.

"You have your hands full!"
- my responses very from "Yep" to "Only when I am holding all three at the same time!"

"Triplets!!" or "Are they triplets?"
- I know I was a curious onlooker for a better part of my life, but still... It is just how it is. They are not a circus act. I just smile and nod, and usually keep on walking.

"Do triplets run in your family?"
- I have now started saying that my sister has triplets too, so yes. It causes me to have to answer the next question then too...

"Family gatherings must be fun..." (as in "I wouldn't want to attempt that!!")
- I tell them that it is quite fun and that you should have seen Christmas. It was organized chaos!

"Instant family. You are done now?"
- Um, well, maybe not. "We haven't decided." (that's when I get the look of absolute insanity) But what makes you think that 3 is enough for me and my family. Granted, James only wanted 2, but I am not saying we are completely done until I am no longer completely stressed with 3 infants underfoot!

Then there are the picture happy people. Some people ask "Can I take a picture?", but some just take out their camera and point. At which point we say "no pictures!!" They are not a circus act!!

James' biggest peeve is when people notice the boys and will start talking ABOUT them to someone else, asking them questions, instead of just asking us the questions. I guess it is people just being polite, instead of nosey. But seriously, if you are going to talk ABOUT us, wait till you are out of earshot!

I get this one lots!! "How are you feeling?" - Well, I am a multitude of things... tired, exhausted, achy, stinky, unkempt, frazzled, sick of spit, sick of crying, sick and tired of being sick and tired, tired of pretending not to be tired... um... tired... "Oh, I'm doing FINE!"

OOOOOO... the last thing that drives me bonkers is the questions and comments about Nadya Suleman (the Octomom).
"Have you heard about the Octomom?" - um... hasn't everyone.
"At least you didn't have 8!" - nope, just 3!
"You don't have 11 more at home do you?" - um... do I look old enough to have 14 kids? Wait! Don't answer that!!!

Darn Mouse!!! YUCK!!!

We have a problem. A mouse problem. Not a MICE problem, but A single MOUSE problem. This mouse has successfully avoided 12... count em'... 12 mouse traps since Thursday night last week.

So the episode of our comedy of life went like this tonight. We got the boys down to bed, after much fuss from Ethan. For some reason he did not want to sleep tonight. James and I ate dinner. Then sat to watch our recorded episode of Chuck.

Chuck finished and we started watching the news. About that time we hear a noise coming from Jet's dog food dish. James gets up and grabs the nearest thing to catch the mouse with... the small trash can by the changing table. As soon as he gets up though, we hear a splash (into Jet's water dish) and then James sees the mouse run into the laundry closet.

We try to come up with some ideas of how to catch the mouse, so we put down a couple of strips of duct tape on the floor (to stop the mouse, or at least slow it down.) YEAH.... that doesn't work!!

James pounds on the dryer and the mouse moves to under the washer. I grab the mop AND the broom as James is moving the washer to get the mouse. It comes running out at him and he jumps and falls over as he is trying to get the trash can (he should have had in his hand but didn't).

Meanwhile I am trying to find where the mouse is, as it comes running toward Jet and I. Jet, meanwhile is staring at James wondering what all the commotion is about and why James is on the floor. As that happens, the mouse runs directly under the dog and beside the dishwasher, where we can't get it!! I swear it did the whole cartoon slide thing when it was trying to get to the hole. I could even hear the screeching of the claws (not really but in my imagination...) as it tried to turn the corner into the hole!!

I know that if it was not for the fact that I HATE mice in my house, I would have been dying laughing watching that scene unfold!!! Lets just say, we now have that hole blocked with 4 traps and that is the ONLY way out from behind the dishwasher. Therefor, if the mouse avoids those traps, we will name him Houdini and call the exterminator!!!

The week in Pictures! (and a few videos)

It was a wonderful week last week. My dad came down to help out with the boys since James' parents went on vacation. We had a great time. Here are a few pictures we took from this past week.

Day 2 of Avacado

Day 2 of avacado was a bit more successful, but as you will see, my teaching the boys to blow raspberries has come back to bite us!


Today, day 3 of avacado, did not go very well. Ethan didn't want to eat very much, Grant completely refused to keep any in his mouth and needed a good amount of formula to get the taste out of his mouth. Alex took quite a bit though. Don't know. Our boys are very picky eaters!! We are going to move to green beans or peas tomorrow. It depends on what I have in the freezer to make!!

Avacado (first "real" food)

We introduced the boys to their first "real" food, other than rice cereal today. It was quite the ordeal.


The only one that seemed to love the avacado was Ethan. He started out gagging, but he just had to get used to the texture.
Alex couldn't handle the texture of the avacado. He ate some, the threw everything up. It was not good. I tried again with him, but just giving it to him off my finger so he didn't have to worry about the spoon. That seemed to help some, but it still wasn't the correct texture for him. He still gagged some. But we will work on it. Grant would eat it, but he didn't like it! He spit the majority of it back out, but he did take some. We'll try again tomorrow.

Who knew a pregnant lady on bedrest could be so busy!!

I can't believe how busy they keep me in this place. Seriously, I hardly have time for naps during the day (but of course I am still getting into the routine of things, and naps will come as they are needed.)Here is a typical day (weekday) for me.

Wake around 7. Order breakfast. Check emails and internet while waiting for food to arrive. Eat breakfast around 8. Around 8:30 nurse and NP come in to check on me and hook me to the monitor to monitor the babies for an hour. (The process of finding all three usually takes around 1/2 hr to 45 mins!) Go "swimming" at 10. (Its really just a warm therapy pool, but we can float and have some social time with the other preggy ladies.)

11 out of pool. 11:15 order lunch. Maybe get a nap in before lunch gets to my room around 12. Eat lunch. Check emails and play on computer for a little while, try to work some. About 1:30 nurse comes in to hook up monitor for hour again. Go to pool at 3. Get done at 4, shower and figure out if dinner is being brought in for me from James or if I need to order dinner. Dinner at 5 or 6ish. Then I have about 2 hours to socialize with visitors, James or to just be here and do what I want.

About 8:30 nurse comes in again to check on me and hook up to the monitors for the 3rd and final time for the day (again for an hour once they find all three babies.) Then when monitoring is done, medications, and its usually time for me to sleep!!


I seriously did not think things would be this busy. I am either in bed or in the pool. But even in bed, I have a lot going on around and to me.

And things are looking good so far. Baby C is holding his own right now (pray that he still does and grows for the next at minimum 4 weeks!!) The other two are doing well also, still kicking and squirming. I am doing fine now that I have a new bed and a bar over it to help me get up and down (they call it a trapeze.) I'll have James take some pictures some time soon so you all can get the idea of the contraption that is over my bed! :)

Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers. You are all wonderful! God can do great things if we just lean on Him for support!

This idea just might work!! **Warning-politics**

I think this is so funny, and it could just work. I got this over the email.

Bush should resign now.

Then Dick Cheney becomes President (that would really PO the liberals)!!!

Then he appoints Condoleeza Rice as VP.

Then Cheney resigns two weeks later and Condoleeza Rice, A Republican,
becomes the first BLACK President and the first WOMAN President !!!

Halloween!!!

So, I learned something new on this Halloween. James has never, ever, in his life, dressed up for Halloween and gone door-to-door trick-o'-treating!!! I was just flabergasted when I learned that.

So, Jet and I dressed up to show James how much fun it would be!!!

I decided this year that I didn't want to torture Jet with an actual costume, so I painted a stripe down his back. Here is our little skunk!!!!

And here is me in my home-made costume!! I thought it was fun. This first picture I had the mask on.... I realized after I took the picture that the mask didn't quite work. So, I changed, check out the picture after this one.

fun... and funny!!!

RULES:
1. Put Your itunes, windows media player, MP3player, etc on Shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.


Are you male or female? Happy Face - Destiny's Child


Describe yourself! All You Can Eat Buffet - Trenchcoats

What do people feel when they're around you? Hey Mama - Black Eyed Peas


Describe your current relationship. This Kiss - Faith Hill


Where would you like to be now? That Ol' Wind - Garth Brooks


How do you feel about love? What a Way to Wanna Be - Shania Twain


What's your life like? Gaston - from Beauty and the Beast

What would you ask for if you had only one wish? Live for Today - Natalie Grant

Say something wise. I Ain't Goin' Down - Shania Twain

If someone says "is this okay?" you say...? Please Remember - LeAnn Rimes

Our Wedding

What were your wedding colors?--Periwinkle and yellow

What was your wedding dress like?--strapless, beaded with Swarovski crystals, had a boned corrset in it and it laced up the back. It had a sweatheart neckline and a chapel train.

Can you name your bridesmaids?--Jami, Elizabeth, Amy, Kristen, and Mary

What about your groomsmen?--Chris (James is in his wedding in a week!), Austin, Joe, Dave, Doug, and Jackson (our nephew as the ringbear)

Do you still talk to your wedding party?--Of course... ALL OF THEM!! I am related to two of them, Jami and I still talk about 4 times a week (some more, some less), I don't get to talk to Amy, Kristen and Mary as much as I would like, but when we do talk it is like we haven't been apart much. As for the groomsmen, as you can see James is in Chris' wedding, he was an usher in Austin's wedding and we talk to them a lot. Joe calls and talks when he is not engulfed with his girl (happy for you Joe!!), and we got to see Dave (and Austin) when we were up in Fargo a month or so ago. James is going to see his sisters and Jackson and Caroline (our neice who was only 1 year old the year of our wedding) the same weekend of Chris' wedding.

What was the biggest "disaster" of the wedding?--hmmmmm.... I guess the only thing I could possibly consider a disaster would be that I could hardly stand up straight during our pictures. So my chiropractor friend came in and gave me an adjustment before the wedding started. You can see the video here. It was all better during the wedding, but if he hadn't helped, I wouldn't have made it through the weddding!

Who were your ushers? Can you remember?--Dave Winegar and Dan Nebelsick (I think there was only two!) or was Henry (my cousin) one too.... hmmm... I am going to have to go look at pictures... how frustrating!

Who was the music at your wedding?--Let's see.... James' cousin Susan played the piano, Diane played the organ, Douglas, Brian, and Alex sang a trio, Marie sang, Douglas and Elizabeth sang a duet, and my bridesmaids sang. I then had the bells toll us out of the sanctuary! (did I miss anyone?)

What was the reception like?--It was at Twin Spruce Junior High in their "new" lobby area. We had food, and punch (except the punch ran out before we got there!) and an cake with a fountain in it! We danced, mingled, and then went on our way!

Was rice thrown?No, we filled the fabric "roses" with birdseed. The church wouldn't let us use rice. (I was still finding birdseed in places in my car and suitcase 2 years later)

Who traveled farthest to get to your wedding?--Probably James' family from Louisiana

Did you have a recieving line?-- Yep, the parents and us only.

Transportation?My aunt and uncle took us in a white Mustang convertable around town before we got to the reception, and then to our hotel.

Your favorite memory of the wedding?--how much fun the whole weekend was. We did so much. It truly was a whole wedding weekend!

How many weddings have you been a part of?--hmmmm.... the first wedding I was a part of was my sister's, i was Maid of Honor. Then I was a bridesmaid in Kristen's; singer in Mary's; and Matron of Honor at Jami's. I am waiting for my bro to get married so I can have another one on my list (no pressure Doug!!! :-)

If you have a blog, you should copy and paste this and fill in your own answers. This was fun Kristen!!

Robes or No Robes... What do you think?

When you walk into a church, do you pay attention to what the pastor and/or choir is wearing? Do you care if they are wearing robes or not? Is it important for you to have a church that has leaders wearing robes, or is that too much "pomp" for you?

We are having this debate in my church right now, and it is part of this "dreadful change" that is inevitable in every church... or is it?

Please let me know what your thoughts on robes in a church are. I want to hear from as many people as possible (especially on choirs wearing robes.)

I won't tell you my opinion yet... I want to hear what you have to say about it.

Thought From Across the Pond

An email from Ireland to their brethren in the States...a point to ponder despite your political affiliation:

'We, in Ireland, can't figure out why people are even bothering to hold an election in the United States .

On one side, you have a pants wearing lawyer, married to a lawyer who cant keep his pants on, who just lost a long and heated primary against a lawyer who goes to the wrong church who is married to yet another lawyer who doesn't even like the country her husband wants to run.

Now...On the other side, you have a nice old war hero whose name starts with the appropriate Mc terminology married to a good looking younger woman who owns a beer distributorship.

What in Lords name are you lads thinking over there in the colonies??

Why I am a Republican... Discuss politics...

So, I had a little bit of time on my hands the other day, and I was thinking as to why I am what I am when I identify myself in politics. So, I thought I would write down everything that I believe in with politics. (For some reason I am really into politics this election season!)

Please, let me know if you agree with me or disagree with me, or if you have anything to add. I would love to have a big long discussion on here about politics.

Here is what I believe...

I believe... that individuals, and not government, are the United States of America. Those individuals should have a voice in matters of government and that every person—every sex, race, disability, or creed—has the unalienable rights to LIFE, LIBERTY, and the PERSUIT OF HAPPINESS.

I believe... in government, but not big government. The government should let people be and do and not try to regulate every aspect of life. I don’t like the fact that sometimes even republicans can go overboard in regulating. I believe that if there are regulations they should be able to be agreed upon by everyone.

I believe... that the US government should encourage the people of this nation to prosper and work toward a better life (if they so choose). The government should help people if they are in a time of need, but help them only to get their feet under them, so they can stand on their own. Every person has that ability, and if they do not know how, the government should direct them to help and education that is out of the government’s hands.

I believe... that with the prosperity that the government encourages of its people the economy can grow. Let me explain my reasoning in some steps.

1. People start businesses
2. Government encourages prosperity.
3. Businesses create profit---- businesses spend more money (see step #6)
4. Profit creates more jobs
5. Jobs give more people more money
6. Money is spent on goods
7. Goods have taxes placed on them
8. Taxes go to government
9. Government can spend the money to improve all aspects of that which they have control.
   

I believe... that people must have individual rights. (This is where I differ from some in the Republican party, but bear with me) Here are a couple of basic rights that I strongly believe in.

• Right to Free speech-- George J. Esseff, Sr said it better than I can. “The right of free speech and dissent is shared equally by those offended… as well as those who offend” http://www.whatiam.net/
• Right to choose government—I believe that every legal citizen should have the right to vote on who represents them in government.
• Right to choose your own Religion or lack of (whatever it may be)— I believe in God, but I believe that every person may have their choice of religion or lack of religion if they want. I also believe that government cannot tell you what religion you have to be. I do believe that the United States was founded on Christian principles and a few of those principles are visible in government affairs. This, to me, is part of tradition. “In God We Trust” is a part of tradition. So is “under God.” I don’t believe that these phrases are an endorsement or forcing of the government for people to become God believing people. It is a tradition of the US and should be continued as such.
• Right to protection—I believe that every person in America should be protect from theft. That includes theft of property and of life. This means that the government should provide protection for individuals and the country as a whole. I respect and support our “protectors” (i.e. troops, police, firefighters, civil patrol, etc.) even if I don’t believe in the actions of some in the government that direct our “protectors.” I feel honored that they are giving their lives to protect mine.
• Right to justice—I believe that every person (of any race, creed, sex, etc) should be able to be judged by a jury of their peers (meaning any other person no matter race, sex, creed, etc). I believe that if a person has broken the law, ANY LAW, they should have some consequence, and that consequence should be dealt with all fairness and respect for all parties involved. If any person believes that a law is wrong, they should go through the correct channels of the government to correct that law, not just break it. I don’t believe in the death penalty ("If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone.”-John 8:7), except for in extremely atrocious cases. What those extremely atrocious cases are, I cannot tell you because I believe that each person must be judged individually.
  

I believe... that every person and the government should strive to do what is right, not just what is convenient.

I believe... that everyone in this world should take care of the environment, but that global warming is a hoax. It is not a proven fact, it is just a theory. I do believe in recycling and re-using. I also believe that if regulations are going to be put on one nation’s industries and people, that all nations of the world must also have those regulations, otherwise no change will happen. Plus, how do humans know that humans are causing warming? Where is the proof that a warmer (or colder) temperature is not the “ideal” temperature for earth? How can humans say that life will cease to exist if the world gets any warmer? We do not know the answers to any of these questions, only God does, and God asks us to be good stewards of the earth, and to take care of it and the animals.

I believe... that the USA should be energy independent, and in doing so we should utilize all resources that are available to us to use. That includes wind, solar, water, renewable resources (i.e. corn, wood, etc), coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, and future resources that have yet to be created. I believe that we should drill for oil responsibly, store nuclear waste responsibly, and be responsible for our citizens by using our resources, and not sending our “resources” or money overseas to countries and people who do not care for the US and want to hurt us.

I believe... that health care should not be paid for by the government, but should be affordable to all people. I believe that any and every insurance company should be available to any person in any state of the USA. That would make insurance premiums more competitive and affordable. If health care was to be paid for by the government, every person would be paying more taxes and would not be ensured the best care that they could find.

I believe... that a healthy, calm, discussion about politics is always fun. Please don't be mean, because I won't post comments that are mean or disrespectful!!!