I thought about counting.

I really did. I thought about counting how many times I've begun posts with any sort of phrase in which I apologize for an overly long absence in the blogging world. And then I decided I didn't have that kind of time. :)

So though we all know it, this time, I just won't say it. We'll pretend it wasn't 21 days ago since I last wrote and we'll pretend that absolutely nothing of interest has happened here.

And because you diligently checked (and re-checked) on me to see if there was anything new, (and were perhaps disappointed when there was not) I just want to say, "thanks for coming back." Your reward?

A BLOG-A-DAY IN AUGUST!!

I've missed you all. I really have. I attempted to blog so many times, but was defeated every time by writer's block, fatigue, work, or wine. So I'm forcing myself to at least attempt a blog a day this month...But I'm back at work, full time now, so this will inevitably be the hardest of my blog-a-day goals to reach yet. And with that, I present to you...

THE TOP TEN REASONS I MAY FAIL THIS MONTH!

(Not that I'm setting myself up to fail, I'm just keepin' it real...)

10. Time. Usually, I blog at nap time. Now, I teach kindergarten at nap time and arrive home as nap time is ending. That presents a bit of a time challenge. I'll say I'll blog at night, but I might fall asleep on the couch...and will have typed something like this: zdafdajjjjjjkaaaaattaaeddd899999saaaaaal''''''''''''''''''''affffe.

9. Shark Week. Let's face it. I've said it before, I'm a shark week junkie. It's possible that I'll be on my eleventh straight hour of shark show watching and will suddenly realize I forgot to blog. I hope that I'll have remembered to feed the kids, but I might forget that too. I'm just sayin. More importantly, I'm teaching my kids to appreciate Shark Week too.

8. I'll be too busy doing yard work. Ba haa haaa! Who are we kidding? I'll be too busy watching Brian and Hunter do yard work. They're much better at it than I am. Look at the skill she possesses with that lawn mower. She makes her dad proud. (I think she's just trying to reinforce how much she appreciates that we actually HAVE grass to mow again.)

7. I'll accidentally forget my laptop at work, plugged into the projector, where I last played a video of the Chic.ka C.hicka Boo.m Boo.m Tree for 26 kindergarteners. Yes, this may have happened to me the other night. On the night I had a crap-load of work to do.

6. I'll be too busy giving piggy back rides. Somehow this has become the preferred mode of travel in this house. Everybody has to get a piggy back ride into his crib or there are sure to be BIG, CROCODILE TEARS. The other day, I found myself taking 3 kids downstairs from naps....holding Hunter on my right hip, Ethan hanging on my back, little hands wrapped tightly around my neck, holding Colton's hand with my left hand as he walked like a big boy. The only thing that could've made that moment better would've been someone else there taking a picture. It's such a big deal that THEY are now giving their Buzz and Woody dolls piggy back rides all around the house. Good times.

5. I'll be so busy watching my 'babies' play, I may forget to blog about it. Mostly because I might be crying or at least getting teary eyed, as I ponder the old cliche, "They grow up so fast", because THEY REALLY DO! And I'll suddenly be overwhelmed that the three teeny, tiny babies I hatched just 2 years and 4 months ago are suddenly such big kids who love each other and hate each other all in one fell swoop.

4. I'll STILL be sorting through my favorite San Diego pics I never got around to showing you...

3. I'll be enjoying the luxury of my new couch courtesy of my sister and brother-in-law and quite simply won't want to get up to get the computer.

2. I'll be cleaning out the car and might get swallowed whole. Yeah....somehow, it's that bad again.

And the number one reason I MIGHT fail at my blog-a-day marathon?

1. Blogger will inevitably fail me at one moment or another, most likely on day 29, just before I'm about to succeed. So I'll just expect it and accept it.

But cross your fingers...cuz I'm gonna give it my all! Nice to see you again my friends!

Day one....DONE!

Oh come ON!!!

You know, I had such high hopes...such good intentions for this blog tonight. And as it turns out, it's as scattered as the sea shells on that darn beach in the pictures below. Blogger, why do you do this to me? I wanted you to know that we're still here and I'm still blogging, but unfortunately, all that I was able to upload is a potpourri of San Diego photos. And nothing more.

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming"....Dorie is a wise little fish.

And that I'll do.

Did I tell you we started back to work already? Yeah. On July 8th. I know what you're thinking. We're a modified year round school district, so we start early and have lots of breaks throughout the year. So I DO in fact like the schedule. But yes, July 8 FEELS early.

Did I tell you I'm going back to work full time? Cuz I'm crazy. No, not crazy, just trying to help put food on the table! :) I would give absolutely anything to be able to stay home all the time with my kids. I really would. I'm designed that way. I could do it and be happy. But we can't. We have 3 kids who always need things at the same time in life and those 'things' cost money. So mama's teaching kindergarten full time again. Don't be mistaken, after I fight back tears on my drive to work thinking of how I won't get to see my kids at noon each day, I do actually enjoy being back to the grind. I do. My mom is watching my babies and that is about as good as it gets. (And everyone reminds me that really, the ONLY thing I'm missing with my new schedule is their nap.) This is true...But still, I fight back tears.

So we've been busy getting classrooms ready and keeping the house clean.

People. If you'd be so kind, step away from your keyboard, put your hands together and clap. For me. Cuz I've kept the house--the whole house--(minus my closet which is in the middle of spring cleaning)--CLEAN! That is a feat like no other. I've been very, very conscious of putting away toys little by little, keeping stuff off the counters, washing bowls as we use them, etc. It's a mindset I'm trying to make 'my normal.'

"It's easier to keep up than catch up." I tell myself this about 13 times a day.

And Brian's been busy too! Mowing the grass which is totally GREEN again! Yahooo!

Then he painted our living room wall a pale shade of greenish/blue. Yahoo!

He took our littlest dude, Ethan to the ER for some baby stitches in his little baby chin on the 4th of July and I took him to the doc today to get the stitches out. I totally drew the short straw on this one. Apparently getting stitches OUT is WAY worse than having stitches put IN.

So as you can see, we're busy, busy people. And I don't see us slowing down. So let's enjoy the serenity of these beach photos as if we were in fact standing in the cool, damp sand with the sound of the ocean all around....

"WHOOooooooOOOOoooshh...." (Did that sound like the ocean?)

Better luck next time. I'm trying, I really, really am. :)

Boardwalk Babies

No joke. I have tried at least 4 times to sit down and attempt an elegant, cohesive string of words about beaches, sand, sun, and sharks (human sharks, not shark-sharks, but we'll get to that in another post) add some pictures and voila! Publish!

The only problem is that despite my best efforts not to repeat last year's 1,456 photos, I was again faced with the daunting task of sifting through some 754 photos. You'd think it'd be easier, but it's still really far too many photos to make sense of. Add to that the fact that the photos are a compilation of 3 people's cameras and in most cases, 3 of us felt it necessary to take the exact same photos. You'd have thought my kids were mini celebrities and we were the paparazzi following their every move.

To further complicate things, when I uploaded them into iPhoto, it did not time sort them like it usually does. (Who knows how I screwed that up.) So now I have to scroll like a maniac, up and down, to find all the photos I want of a particular day. Uugh. I'll get there someday, I really will.

But I have been gently urged by several people to post SOMEthing. So that I shall do.

It's rare, really rare to get all three kids in the same spot long enough to take a photo. It's even more rare to be able to take 25 photos! But for some reason on this particular afternoon, they were totally cooperative. So click, click, click went the paparazzi.

Now, before you go scolding us for the quality of the pics, just know that we know. The camera was mistakenly on manual instead of auto and so....well, there you have it.

But darn it if I still don't think they're the cutest photos ever.

Funnier though is to look at them from start to finish and watch the various interactions. :)

And now I present to you...my Boardwalk Babies. (Toddlers. Whatever.)

(This is a loving gesture, despite how it may appear. Ethan's growly face. I love it. He's sensitive to the sun. What can I say?)

Not sure whether Ethan will participate at this point.

"I am the queen and these are my royal servants."

Seriously Ethan. Your little face is to die for. But you're all holding hands, so it's all good.

Holy crap. I MADE these people!

Not sure what Colton is looking at here...

But whatever it is, it sure is funny!

There's the Ethan I was expecting! And Colton, what DID you find?

"Hmm...sticky...is it a booger?"

"Who cares! I will poke your eyes out, sister!"

Hey! Look what's on the boardwalk!

Whatever it was...sure was interesting!

And that's all I can muster right now. I don't have the energy to make sense of more photos than this tonight. These kids ran me ragged today. Oh yeah. I am trying my absolute hardest not to let this house go to sh@#. I totally cleaned it before vacation and have kept it up quite nicely since we got home. But it is exhausting. That pile of dishes I'd much rather leave in the sink is getting washed. Those toys strewn all over are getting put away. That load of laundry in the dryer is getting folded. Cuz repeat after me people:

"It's easier to keep up than catch up."

This is never more true than when you have triplets.

Good night all!