Bunnies make good photos.

Well, I'm down 2 followers since yesterday which is a pretty good indication that I've been a lazy blogger.   So I'll try and make this post extra cute and maybe reel 'em back in with cute photos of babies....and bunnies!

Anyhoo, you know that feeling you used to get in high school the minute your teacher announced a big test? That jolt of adrenaline and panic that instantly jumped into your chest? Well that's the way I feel anytime anyone mentions taking photos of my kids. It is an instant stressor because as their mother, I know it is a veritable certainty that several things WILL happen:

1. The three amigos will conspire to NEVER look in the same direction at the same time.

(case in point)

2. Ethan will choose EVERY moment that the camera clicks to exert his independence and uncooperativeness. Period. 

(see what I'm saying?)

So when my sister said, all chipper and upbeat, "So do you want to bring your kids out to take pictures with Paige's bunnies tonight?" I'm pretty sure I said, "You must be out of your damn mind."

Oh, but wait. I'm sorry, have you not met my alter ego? Her name is IMA SUCKER.

It's a good thing there were bunnies.

Surprisingly, it was a remarkably stress free photo op. (Unless you were a bunny. I'm pretty sure they were totally stressed out being chased by little people excitedly screaming, "I gotchoo bunny! Come mere bunny!" and tossing them into their baskets with a vengeance and death grip.)

So-bottom line? It wasn't all bad! The bunnies were hilarious; the kids even more so,  we've got a lot still to learn about our cameras (my sister and I) and babies don't like sitting in cold grass.  All in all, I'd say it was a success.

And now, some of the pictures.

COLTON

I swear this kid totally won for the cutest photos. He was really the only one would actually sit still with the bunnies.

 I heart this photo...

ETHAN

No surprise, most of Ethan's pictures were blurry because dude never stopped chasing bunnies. The death grip? Yeah, he's got it. Poor bunnies. 

 This next series of photos cracks me up. Watch the progression of bunny and Ethan. 
Here, I like to think he's saying, "Come mere, bunny...."

 "A little closer, bunny. I'm gonna gitchoo."

 "I gotchoo bunny!" 

 "Now get in my basket, bunny!" 

Another bunny....

 

 Another challenge...

Two words: Death. Grip. 

 

HUNTER

Okay, she's got some pretty cute photos too. She was so sweet not only with the bunnies but with her little cousin, Brinley. They are so lucky to have each other.

Did I mention babies don't like sitting in cold grass?

(Who cares! Look how stinking cute she is!)

 

 

Now, just in case you were afraid that bunnies weren't going to be enough for my kids to talk about for the next week, it didn't stop there. For the love of God, Paige also had turtles, fish, birds, dogs and CHICKENS!

 Remember the death grip??

And in case all those animals weren't enough, Jilly and Lacie (Paige's daughters) have triplet dolls and triplet strollers!! I could've left my kids there overnight and I'm pretty confident I would not have been missed. 

 Thank you Paige for an enlightening and entertaining outing! 

My apologies to your bunnies.  :)

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Paintin' with my peeps

I have 2 jobs, you know- I am a mom and I am a kindergarten teacher. 

Two jobs that  go together as nicely as whipped cream goes with my chai tea. There is more overlap in my jobs than I ever realized and as I sit here, I can't decide if being a kindergarten teacher for so many years has made me a better mother or if being a mother has made me a better kindergarten teacher. Hmmm...thoughts to ponder. 

When I'm at school, despite the time I actually spend teaching, I'm also putting bandaids on scraped knees, settling disputes, fixing barrettes in little girls' hair, finding spoons for pudding, soothing hurt feelings, finding dry socks to replace the ones that 'accidentally on purpose' found their way through the muddy water, hugging, cheering for, tying shoelaces, etc. I am a teacher, but I am also a surrogate 'mom' to all my little students for 2 hours and 50 minutes of their day. 

So it would make sense then, that when I'm home being a mom, I'm also being a teacher. I'm using fancy language, I'm modeling appropriate behavior, I'm teaching sight words, I'm reinforcing letters and sounds, I'm counting, writing, drawing, crafting and painting. 

Yep I'm a teacher-mom and I'm lovin' me some spring break. 

I am trying to keep my wee ones busy by allowing them the great pleasure of a craft a day. (We may substitute brownie making for a craft one of these days. But so far, we're 2 for 2. And man are we good painters!

Day 1: We took a little trip to Michael's and bought some 18x24 canvases. We also got  wood letters with each child's initial letter. 

Aaaannnndd, we painted. I did my very best to stay the heck out of their creations and not 'suggest' places for them to fill with more paint. (It's hard, but in the end, I'm of course glad I didn't intervene because their work is their work. And I love that their paintings are as different as the hands that made them. )

They painted their canvases, I painted their letters black. When they were dry, I hot glued the letters onto the canvases. Their little voices the next day? Priceless. "Yook Mommy! Dere's our painteens on da wall!" 

Day 2: Thank you very much Pinterest for the simple butterfly craft.

Seriously, gave them a paper plate to plaint, then I did the rest -cut out a body and head, made some antennae, and then let them choose their eyeballs and draw their mouths. (My favorite part, by the way.). Once again, the presentation won them over. I hung three butterflies in the kitchen and absolutely melt every time one of them says, "I made that!"  Yes, you did little ones!

All done! Love how different their mouths are!

Hunter's 

 Ethan's

 Colton's

So proud! (Minus Colton, who would not pose with his butterfly.) 

  

And on to our hanging spots in the kitchen...

 All done! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings! 

And what else are we doing over Spring Break? 

Playing the heck out of our new 'clubhouse' that my mom and Al have been building for my babes. From scratch, mind you. They're pretty awesome. There's some love in that clubhouse, I tell you! 

It's not done yet, but it's gettin' closer!

It's got a big kid swing...

A steering wheel,,,

 A baby cousin sized swing...

 A rope and pulley bucket for sending toys up and down...

And plenty of space to sprawl out and pose.  

 

 My sweet niece. 

More pics to come as it nears completion... :) 

Flat Bunches

You know, it was just the other day I was saying, "Gosh, wouldn't it be neat if I had a life size cardboard cut out of my family..." 

And then-I got this photo in my email! 

(First of all, you know I didn't really say that, right?)

But that sure doesn't lessen the excitement I had when I saw it! I mean come on! How fun is this?? 

Remember a year or so ago when Hanger Orthotics flew our family to Kansas City for that photo shoot? Well that adorable girl on the left is Krisita. She's the PR guru, and we pretty much adore her for her patience with our family and her commitment to making everything as wonderful as possible when flying 3 toddlers across the country to pose for photos. 

And that family on the right? Yup! That's MINE! You may recall that Hanger Orthotics is sort of revamping its image and thought enough of us and our 3 helmet clad babies to include us in a book about their company's history. We were both honored and excited for the opportunity. 

So when Krisita emailed me this photo the other day, I was pretty stoked. One, to see a photo in which all 5 people actually look really HAPPY and two, it was just a fun reminder of that trip, which was at times, extremely stressful when Ethan 1/3 of the Bunchkins would.not.cooperate.at.all. because despite all that, it was a fabulous trip-one we will cherish forever. 

So anyhoo, they 'brought us along' to an education fair in Las Vegas, to use as part of the 'unveiling' of their new branding campaign! So how bout that? Now I can say I've been to Vegas twice in my lifetime!  :)

Thanks so much Krisita for sending this to me! It totally put a smile on my face! And thanks once again to Hanger Orthotics for thinking enough of my babies to include them in this project. 

 Good night friends! I promise another blog real soon...

Perspective

Seems lately I have many moments, during which I realize I am deep in conversation with, or being observed by someone whose perspective is laughably different than mine.

This frequently happens on my solo trips to Target. It begins in the parking lot. I can tell you honestly, from the depths of my soul that I get this giddy feeling the minute I throw the car in 'park'. As I grab my purse and head to the side of the car to unload my troop, I am already thinking, "I'm so excited. They'll be so excited. We ALL love Target." At this point in our journey, Hunter has typically already asked me, "we gonna get our drinks, Mommy?" at least 3 times.  (Man, she's a fast learner-starbucks for me, icees for them.)

 I unload the first child and lead him to the sidewalk or other safe place near the car and say, "Stay here. Don't move." Then heading back for #2, I think about how much I enjoy shopping with my 3 kids. Yes, I said it. I really do enjoy it. Number two is instructed to stay with number 1 while I go back for number 3. (And they DO stay put.)

Once we're all out of the car, we arrange ourselves so that I can hold two of their hands while the third child holds one of his siblings' ("so doze cars don't hit me,"Hunter will tell me) and in a long line, we walk across the parking lot, heading for the store. And all the while, I'm beaming inside. No joke. I'm literally spilling over with thoughts of how proud I am of us (all of us) and how cute my little shoppers are. I honestly couldn't be happier.

And all the while, I can see people staring. Some are smiling friendly smiles, some are smiling that awkward confused smile, and some just look, bewildered, even annoyed that I'm about to bring 3 toddlers into THEIR store. {Ha! Let's compare the numbers and we'll decide WHOSE store it is!}All the while, I just keep skipping along thinking about how lucky I am that I can shop with my triplets. People must be so jealous that I have triplets....

{INSERT A SWIFT SMACK ON THE HEAD HERE.}

Did I just say that? Jealous? Oh, the hell they are. No, they're not envious in the slightest. They're laughing at me. They pity me. They want to watch just so they can see the part where all hell breaks loose (and oh, it does from time to time.).

Some appear all incognito-y, holding their one child's hand, acting all carefree and relaxed and I'm sure they're thinking, "My God, she's got her hands full. I can't even IMAGINE having triplets. That poor mother."

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, I watched those onlookers myself, the whole time thinking, "Wow, they look so... lonely. How boring their lives must be. I can't even IMAGINE having just one child. Those poor people."

And there you have it.

Perspective.

Just a funny thought I've had a lot lately.