Relaxing Sunday

Today was a pretty relaxing day. The whole family took a nap together after church. At least Jeff, Juliet and I took naps. I have a feeling that the boys were actually enjoying the freedom for awhile as we slept. But it was nice to close my eyes for a few minutes or an hour. I didn't however sleep in until 2:30p like some lazy individuals. Haha! You know who you are...
Church was okay. I was in the toddler room today. Okay there were five children and four of them were mine and I kept thinking, 'these children are horrible!' The fifth child (the one that was not mine) was an angel. He was so polite and kind to the boys. I felt so horrible for him. His name was Aiden. The boys have a friend named Hayden. Jonah said at least 500 times Hayden, Hayden, Hayden...Seriously over and over again. Aiden kept saying, "that is NOT my name!" Jonah was so incredibly annoying. I finally put him in time out facing the corner. There he yelled at the wall over and over again, 'Hayden, Hayden, Hayden!' It was a long hour. It didn't end there. After services we went back to the sanctuary for donuts and coffee, with Aiden. Jonah started all over again in front of everyone. Aiden's mom was very nice about it. I was really starting to get embarrassed. Jonah was obviously making fun of him or giving him a hard way to go or something. I did forget to mention Jackson at the beginning of services. The kids stay with the adults for worship time, then they go away to play. During worship between songs the worship leader was praying and it was quiet. Jackson starts yelling repeating, "I am starving, I am so hungry, Mom! I am sooo very very hungry!" Jonah kept running laps around the chairs. And Juliet was so cute. As soon as the music started she grabbed Jacob's hand and started dancing. As if to say, 'come on, dance partner.' It was an interesting day at church. Our church is extremely laid back so I didn't think too much about it. But regardless parents always want their kids to be perfect in public, especially at church.

Apology

Jeff made me feel guilty for being so descriptive about my grandma. He said I was a little harsh. I was really being sarcastic about holding her under the water. But seriously, I would never hurt someone. It just helps to talk about it. Anyhow, I am feeling much better today. I am sure today will be a great day. It has started off a little bumpy. Jeff went golfing this morning. I am really excited for him. However, I am not so excited about it that he needed to turn all the lights on and keep asking me questions at 6am. Every time I answered him he would say, "what?" That drives me crazy lately. Whether I am asleep or not every time I tell him something he says,"what?" I know he can hear me. I am constantly repeating myself. So, lately I just ignore him and I have stopped repeating myself. And you know what?? He totally heard me. Why is it a habit to come back with 'what?' after everything I say? It makes me want to tie him down with duct tape and pluck every single hair out of his eye brows with tweezers very slowly. Is that too descriptive? Maybe I will just start hiding all his cans of tobacco like I used to. That was kinda entertaining. Anyhow, I feel bad about talking about my grandma and I am sorry. And I guess I should say I am sorry for talking about my hubbie too. I would never hurt the hand feeds me and my kids. Plus, he is actually a pretty awesome husband but don't tell him. He probably wouldn't even hear you anyways.

Crap, crap and more crap

Today I did indeed take the kiddos swimming. I didn't even bother taking my camera along. Since I still don't have my camera cord I knew it would just lead to more frustration. Today was horrible. Yesterday I was frustrated today I was just blah, melancholy and depressed. Today was terrible. I asked Jeff if I could blame it on the devil. Swimming was fine. The kids were fantastic. It didn't start out so well. It was me, not them. I called the dealership that our van is working on while walking out to the pool. Then I had a complete breakdown. So, my mom and April watched the boys while I tried to gather myself back together. Do you ever have one of those times when one thing goes wrong but while you are upset about that everything else in life comes to the surface. Okay, that happened to me. My poor dad, I really unloaded on him. Well, and my grandma I kinda unleashed myself on her too. Her advice was I needed to let Jeff handle the car situation that men handle things like that better. WRONG! Wow! I did really refrain because all instinct in me wanted to hold her under the water until she started thinking right. However, given she is like 90 she probably wouldn't change her way of thinking that easy. But I did manage to yell out at her, "that is complete bull shit!" on the top of my lungs. Then I stormed inside and started crying again for yelling at my like 90 year old grandma. Well, and for cussing. I have really been trying to not cuss at all anymore. I told my dad, "she made me cuss! She drove me to cuss out loud in front of everyone!" Dad said he wanted to cuss her out the other day too. My grandma has crafted the skill of getting under ones skin extremely quickly. That was definitely a hot button she pushed. I pretty much decided I think at the age of 4 that there was nothing in this world a woman couldn't do. Calling a mechanic to argue why my van isn't done after four days is NOT something a man needs to handle. Now, maybe poop scooping the yard or taking out the dead mouse in the house those may classify as 'man' jobs. However, if I had to I would do those things too. So anyhow, today has been one of the lousiest days I have had probably in the last 12 months. I am down in the dumps. It is not just the van. Sometimes I wonder if my brain was wired wrong. I just think so differently than most of my family. I raise my kids differently. We manage our marriage differently. Absolutely we manage money very differently. I find more often than not lately thinking, "I don't know if I agree with that." Is that true in most families? In a family everyone is raised pretty much the same. So, is it usual for everyone to think the same?

Missing in action

Okay, I have tons of cute pics of the kiddos to add to the blog. However, my camera cord is missing...again. How could this be?? We have added a lock to the office door so no one under 4 feet tall could possibly be capable of entering. Please don't let my friend Tiffany know that I have lost something in the office. She invested her time into organizing it oh so nicely for me. I would hate to disappoint. In the meantime I will begin the search for the cord. I should probably start in the toy boxes.

Someone has a case of the grumpies

Today I am feeling a little on the frustrated side. Okay, I am pretty frustrated. Well, this great van we bought is very much frustrating me. I don't know if the van itself is frustrating me or the mechanics who are working on it. The cab of the van continuously fills with gasoline vapors while we are driving. It is strong and I worry about the kids. Jeff said the other day while driving it to the shop he got a headache after riding it. Everyone agrees that the van definitely smells of strong gas. However, no one knows why. We dropped the van off on Monday evening. It is now Thursday evening and they have no idea what the source of the smell is. Ugh! Frustration! This is one decision/purchase that I had no regrets about (that is a very big thing considering anyone who knows me knows I doubt about every single decision I make). I felt so confident that this was the van we were meant to own.

I am definitely grouchy and grumpy today. I am definitely a little low on patience for the kids today. It is so hot outside. I don't want to go outside. Every time I take the kids outside Juliet turns bright red and I think she is going to have a baby heat stroke. I am very Greatimes/Bouncertown burned out. What did parents do before places like this existed? Tomorrow I have plans to take the kiddos swimming at my moms. We all know how I feel about this. But it is summer, and I should be more adventurous. It definitely sounds better than the alternatives. This is the first time I am taking the kids swimming without Jeff. However, my mom, aunt and sister will be there. Lots of backup is essential.

When I decided to start this blog I really wanted to document what it is like to raise triplets. I wanted to vividly describe the day to day stuff that occurs. I don't feel like I am meeting that personal objective. It is very hard and it is very rewarding. The kids say and do the most amazing things. But they also make me want to put on my tennis shoes and run away from the house as fast I possibly can. Everyday is insanely the same but so very different than the day before. The routine is monotonous but the challenges get trickier everyday. Right now I am supposed to be doing the budget. Instead I am hiding out in my hotter than heck office to escape for a few minutes. Jackson just found me. He just came behind me and patted me on the back and smiled so sweetly I could die. And now just two seconds later I can hear Jeff yelling at them. Someone has turned off the upstairs air conditioning unit and shoved a bunch of stuff down into it. Like any family our days are exhausting and long. I feel like no matter how hard I try or invest time the house is always a disaster. I love it and I hate it at the same time. I love the chaos of a bigger than average family but I pray for quiet. Last night Jacob woke up at 1:40a and climbed into our bed. I tossed and turned until 2:30. That is when I gave up and Jacob and I went into the kitchen, got a glass of water, prayed together, and retreated to the couch for some Phineas and Ferb. We stayed up and watched cartoons until 5a. That is when Jeff got up for work. I loved that time of sitting together. I definitely regretted it this morning. April, Savanah, Braxton and Mom came over today. The house was louder than usual. The kids were crazier than usual. They removed the mattresses off all the boys beds and made slides out of them, someone destroyed Jeff's puzzle and I am sure I will find something else later has been broken/destroyed/or mutilated. Just a typical day in our house.

Good times!

I just realized it has been awhile since I lasted posted, and I thought I would update my 7 followers on how things are going. I love saying that. Anyhow, things are great! The boys are starting preschool in 8 days (who is counting down?). I am eager for them to get a little time out the house, but I am very nervous too. The school has this intense drop off/pick up set of rules. When you drop your kids off DO NOT GET OUT OF THE CAR! But when you pick up please get your butt out the car and come get them. When you drop off only form one line of cars, but when you pick up please form two lines, but NEVER THREE! I am just nervous about driving there. I kinda want to park down the street and just walk there. If I was April I would probably just walk. But the preschool is a 15 minute drive from our house. Maybe I could park at April's house and walk the kids to school. Surely, they would take naps then.
Yesterday we took the kids swimming at my parents house. I think this is the fourth time this summer the kids have went swimming. I really hate to go swimming. I really absolutely love swimming without kids. I know that sounds horrible. Four kids under four plus lots of water and I am one stressed out momma! However, yesterday was just pure fun and enjoyment. I had so much fun. I think it was one of our best family fun days in a long time. The funny thing was I felt like such a kid swimming with my kids. We all jumped in like a hundred times. We all went down the slide like a hundred times. Jeff, April and I had head stand contests. I think mine was the best, but it was hard to judge being under water. Jeff put me on his shoulders then I put Jeff on my shoulders. Seriously I did. I felt like Hercules. Good times.
Tonight Jeff is taking our 'new' van to the shop. The cab of the mini van keeps filling with gas vapors while we are driving. Good thing we don't smoke. I have been bummed since we have only owned the vehicle a couple of weeks. But Jeff and April keep reminding me that we just need to work out the issues. We did only spend $2700 on it. Oh, I don't know if I posted this or not, but we did sell our old mini van. After less than a week we sold it. So, besides our mortgage we are debt free! However, I am not really feeling very excited about it until the 'new' van is functioning. But I just feel like Jeff and I are the absolute best husband/wife team I have ever seen. Not to offend anyone else and their marriages, but we are so good together. We are NOT perfect and we definitely argue! However, we are so good together. We are a family of six. We live on one average income. We are debt free. And we totally kick butt raising these kids together. I could not have all these kids with anyone else.
Everyday God just amazes me more and more. This is kinda funny. Last week I was telling Jeff that he really needs to get out the house more. He never does anything besides work and take care of all of us. We were brainstorming ideas. I told him he should call his brother and ask him to go golfing. Jeff said that sounded fun but he didn't have any clubs. Yesterday his brother called him and asked him to go golfing next Saturday! I do NOT believe in coincidences. I just think that is kinda awesome that we were just talking about that. I am excited for Jeff to get out the house next weekend. I hope they have a good time.
Yesterday we went to church and the message was awesome. We just love our new church. Pastor Mike was discussing at the end of his message some ideas to reach out to others. He went on to explain to us that next time we eat out to try something. He said after your meal when are all finished and the waitress comes to your table one last time to say, "Hey, I am Christian and later today I am going to be praying is there anything I can pray for you?" He said 99% of the time the waiter/waitress will say yes. He said in his experience so many people just completely unload on them. He said he has even had times when the waitress will take a break to talk. If the person says no you can just say, "that is okay, I will just pray for a blessing for you." This would really be stepping out of my comfort zone. I am not sure if I would feel comfortable saying that to a stranger. If someone asked me I would be so happy. I would think how awesome is that. If you are reading this I would LOVE to hear what you think. Could you do that? Or if someone approached you what would you think?

And the Blessings just keep on comin'

I am so excited to post this. We just sold our mini van! Very exciting news. I am not going to scream, "debt free!" just yet. The money transaction has not happened yet. So, it is not completely a done deal. But we have a buyer and we have an agreed upon price. But since today is Sunday and the banks are closed we could not seal the deal.
This morning was our first official service in an actual building. The church has been meeting at the Pastor's home until today. I am so thrilled about the new location. It is such an amazing feeling to know that you are right where God wants you. So, here I am God, please continue to use me!