The Mooney Clan

My reality

2012-01-19T14:13:00.001-06:00

I followed this link from facebook (thank you Aisling) and it made this mom of little kids feel a connection with the writer and a little relieved of the guilt (for a few minutes anyway) and wanted to post it because it spoke to me and maybe other moms will appreciate it too.

Christmastime

2011-12-20T08:15:00.003-06:00

All we need is snow and things would be just right for Christmas! Justin has more time off this year than he has in ages and the kids are all old enough to really get into all the fun stuff of the holiday season. I've been putting off blogging until I put the latest pictures up but that might have to wait until later. We have decorated the tree and made gingerbread houses and watched many a Christmas special. We've even opened a few gifts here ahead of time before we go away for a few days. We've done some baking and just enjoyed being at home with the Christmas tree lights on, hanging out. Caden had a small winter celebration just in the kindergarten classroom. It was cute to see him singing his songs and watching the dynamics with the kids in his class. I really like going to see him at school, where he spends so much of his time. So far, I look forward to parent teacher meeting and school concerts. I know that may change, but then again, it may not! I'm all for the cheesy stuff and seeing my kids all excited about their stuff is fun. So - I have pictures of all of these goings on but I don't know when I'll get those posted. Either way - Happy Holidays to everybody. Hope people are looking forward to a nice family holiday!

Life these days

2011-12-15T16:28:00.002-06:00

Our boys have been 3 for over a month now and I am just amazed at how much my life has changed. Having triplet babies (and a 2 year old) is really really hard. Having triplet one year olds is also hard. Having triplet 2 year olds is simply a test in survival. That was definitely the toughest stage on both Justin and me. Some people have said that age 3 is as difficult (and you all know we all love our kids but admit it, little kids are a lot of work) as age 2. Well, that wasn't the news I wanted a year ago. So far though - that hasn't been the case for us. We are having SO MUCH FUN. It's nuts and chaotic. I'm not really expecting that to change. There are definitely challenges. I'm not expecting that to change either. What has changed is my attitude and my general feelings, day to day. I don't feel like I'm going to collapse at any minute and I feel like I have time to think or even bake if I'm really inspired. I'm super busy but I don't feel like I'm buried beneath the responsibilities of our home and family. I feel like I am having trouble explaining. All I can really say is that I don't feel like I'm walking in a fog anymore. I feel like I can start looking out again. I am able to start thinking about how I can get involved with church and community again. I wasn't able to do much of anything for the past 3 years. There was nothing left of me to give. I often woke up feeling the burden of the day ahead quite heavy to my mind. That has gone away. There are still struggles for sure. I'm just really glad that I feel somewhat normal again. I was starting to wonder if I ever would!

Young Canadians

2011-12-01T09:45:00.004-06:00

The kids were outside the other day and I saw Liam get stuck in the snow in his little car. I waited to see if he was going to get out before I went and helped and then the highlight of my day occurred. Enjoy...

Liam is stuck and a friendly Canadian (aka his brother Caden)
happens by and immediately offers to help.

And he naturally has a shovel with him :)

He shovels and pushes...

Shovels some more..

Trying pushing again

This is not working.

Oh, what luck, another friendly Canadian (Michael McMillan) spots the trouble and lends a hand (they probably didn't even talk first)

Now some discussion

Shoveling...

Pushing (putting their weight into it)

And he's out! Success...

Thanks, have a good day and have a Tim's on me :)

This was just the best. This will make me smile for days yet!

And the best husband award goes to... (or - How I stay married to a stamps fan)

2011-11-28T08:20:00.002-06:00

I am feeling like the luckiest person in the world these days. I have a fantastic husband, wonderful kids, great extended families and fabulous girlfriends. I have had these things for a long time but I am finally awake enough after a few blurry years to really feel it. Today though I am full of appreciation especially for Justin and I just want to brag on him a bit. yes - he is a stampeders fan, but that aside, he is constantly amazing me. Do you know that last night he treated me and three of my friends to a beautiful supper in. Here at the house we had candles, xmas tree lit, xmas music playing and we sat at a table and had appetizers (spinach rolls and mushroom stuffed pastries) and then bread with oil and balsamic vinegar dip, then cranberry spinach salad. The meal was almond encrusted chicken with a honey mustard sauce, garlic bacon mashed potatoes and asparagus. Fantastic. THEN he went downstairs and got the kids ready for and put them to bed. So - thank you Justin - for everything. You spoil us.

Dylan, Evan and Liam's birthday party

2011-11-22T09:39:00.009-06:00

Here are a few pictures from the triplet's birthday party on Nov.5th. We took them to 'Dinobouncers' and invited a few friends and had lots of fun. They had never been there before so there was the novelty of it too.

Dylan went straight for the tall slide

Caden was right there with him.

Evan never did go down the slide. This bouncy town was a little more his speed.

Here's Lena, one of our little friends that came to celebrate with us.

Our youngest guest was Ella McMillan

Here's a bigger view of the space. There are more bouncy castles behind that yellow wall.

Another girl (notice how we are keeping lots of girls around ;) ). This is our friend Luca.

Michael and Elijah celebrated with us too.

Tara and Ella goin' for it!

By the end of the time Liam decided to brave the slide and went quite a few times after braving the first time. Clearly there was no water involved in this activity.

We all had a little lunch..

Kelli and Luca

Then it was cake time

We sang Happy Birthday for each birthday boy separately and they blew out their candles. I thought it was interesting that they all blew them out in their own unique way...

Dylan was straightforward and simple - get the job done...

Evan was a little more theatrical, with a big breath in first, lean back and go for it.

They were all so so happy with this part. It was wonderful to see those big smiles.

And then Liam - he stood up and blew from above.

We opened gifts

I think they all had a really fun time and felt special. Thanks to our friends who shared the celebration with us!

inspiration

2011-11-05T08:33:00.004-06:00

I'm a sucker for quotes and I get 'inspirational quotes a day' or something like that. This one came today and I really liked it for myself, as a mother who is often forgetting the blessings in the mundane and who struggles quite regularly with deciding to be happy anyway!

It is easy enough to be pleasant
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is the one who will smile
When everything goes dead wrong.
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Love it!

Dylan, Evan and Liam are 3!

2011-11-04T12:35:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday Boys! The triplets turned 3 on thursday. Their party is tomorrow so for fun on their actual day Justin brought them slurpees at lunch and we let them open a few presents. They got light sabres and chaos ensued. They were pretty excited. And then after supper we put candles on cupcakes and sang to each one of them individually, of course! That way they could make the most out of getting to blow out some candles. Here are a few pictures. We are potty training so please excuse the pantlessness of the boys. What better way for boys to celebrate their birthday !

Evan and Liam

2011-11-03T11:21:00.003-06:00

Here are Liam and Evan's pictures finally. Dylan and Caden's were up a couple of posts ago.

Halloween

2011-11-01T11:30:00.004-06:00

We had another fun halloween. The kids loved it of course. Caden picked his own costume this year and surprise, surprise, it was a star wars costume! This is my handsome Darth Vader.

Here's our happy elephant.

Cutest giraffe ever! But he wasn't into it at first. Kept taking it off. But once we got outside and he realized he got candy - he was on fire. Just cruisin' from house to house!

And last but not least, our puppy. He was happy too but had trouble with the puppy head. It kept falling over his eyes and he couldn't see.

All four, ready to go get candy!!

Once Evan knows what he is supposed to do or where he is supposed to go, he gets on a mission. He'd get his candy and off he'd go, way out ahead of the rest of us. And he HAD to walk on the sidewalks. No walking on lawns, and at one point, when he did get behind, Justin carried him to catch up with the rest and he got mad, went back to where he had been and walked where he wanted to walk to get to the house.

Here's Evan way out ahead of us.

Dylan powered out first and was dragging his bag along behind him.

Candy, candy, candy

home with our stash

Lots and lots of fun!! We only had a handful of kids at our place so between what we had left and what the kids brought home, we have WAY TOO MANY treats. Yikes.

Justin got scared on halloween...

2011-10-31T12:29:00.003-06:00

Yes - my stampeder fan had a real fright when he got in to work today :). This is what happens to a Stamps fan in Regina. Could be worse right?

inspired by Pinterest

2011-10-16T09:55:00.002-06:00

Sara was here last weekend and gave me the gift of Pinterest. You should check it out. Anyway - it has inpired me. The past couple of days I have made faces with the kids food for fun presentation :). Last night I made a halloween decoration with scrapbook paper, canvases and mod podge. Then we got all set up for a movie night/sleepover in the living room and ate froot loop treats (like rice krispie squares with froot loops instead and on a stick) that I saw on there. It was fun until ten thirty when Caden was the only one sleeping. We finally had to send the 3 little boys to their beds so that we could go to sleep :). I think they still had fun and we still have a memory! I should note that I was also inspired to do things like that by our "Once Upon A Time" ladies seminar a few weeks ago. Janelle talked about 'creating moments' and making memories. I am not a creative person first. I am logical and sensible. it is not logical or sensible to lug mattresses to the living room and use up a tonne of clean blankets and eat sticky treats on the couch. But it is fun and we loved it! I hope my brain will stay open to the ideas and possibilities of doing things differently!

I was also inspired to make these pictures of the kids. I have only done Dylan and Caden so far but I thought I'd share them. I hope to do the other two this week.

Leaves

2011-10-13T17:38:00.006-06:00

Hello out there! I am here. The last month has flown by. Caden still likes school. He likes to tell us the new french words he learned each day and he has 3 girlfriends. I wonder if the girls know? He still loves his video games and hanging out with his brothers and his friends. He's taking piano lessons and seems to be catching on to that very well. The little guys aren't so little any more. I think Dylan grew a couple or 3 inches in the last 6 wks. Pants that fit them at the beginning of september, when I checked to see what they had for fall, don't fit anymore. It's crazy. They'll be three in a few weeks and they are full of life. They are always running, jumping, yelling, climbing, racing and just being boys. They are pretty into lego and lego star wars these days. They sit and watch movies now so we enjoy doing that as a family. There isn't quite as much running, jumping and yelling then :). If you thought their personalities were completely different before you should see them now. It's so much fun to watch them become their own little people. I'll do more about each of the little boys as their birthday approaches. I want it as a bit of a keepsake anyway - so stay tuned. If you haven't seen them for awhile, here are a few pictures from a couple of weeks ago. It was leaf pile day!

Off he goes...

2011-09-16T11:31:00.003-06:00

A ritual has been started now that Caden is going to school every morning. This was a really warm day so everyone waited outside for Caden's bus to come, they all waved to him as he left and wished him a good day. Now - on normal days the kids say goodbye to him and we all watch from the living room window and wave like crazy as he drives away. It's pretty cute.

A new adventure has begun

2011-08-30T10:53:00.003-06:00

There he is - our little kindergarten student. Caden was very excited to start school today. I had been weepy thinking about it for the last few days but today was just exciting and fun for all of us. He is so social and happy to be going to school. When we got there this morning he ran off and played in the playground. He knows no one but he didn't let that bother him. He had no problem letting me leave (if he even noticed) and was actually upset this morning when we didn't let him ride the bus to school. I thought that was pretty funny. I just feel so pleased for him and love the idea of getting him off to school in the mornings and that he will be learning so much and just thriving in that environment. It's a new phase of life and I think it is just wonderful! As I write this Caden is learning all about his new classroom and meeting his teacher and his classmates. He gets to ride the bus home so I'll see him in a bit. Can't wait to hear about his first day!

sleep and my beautiful boys

2011-08-18T08:29:00.005-06:00

Sleep is still such a treasured thing. I was naive enough to believe that by the time the kids were almost 3 they'd be sleeping well. It's not bad. Not like babies, obviously, but there's still something with at least one of them every night. If not that - it's that they are still up really early all the time. They don't even nap that often anymore and that doesn't really give us any longer at night. It's really on my mind today because Liam was up repeatedly last night between 1:15 and 3:00. After that I couldn't sleep - expecting to hear from him again. I have tried over and over to accept my fate with this deprived sleep thing. I try to go to bed early and be glad to be up early since I can get so much done. Blah, Blah, Blah. I fantasize about sleeping. Isn't that ridiculous? Oh well. I was so tired last night I fell asleep at 845. I know it is probably normal for some but will it always be this way? Have I sacrificed sleep to have children? Does it have to be one or the other? And if they aren't going to sleep at night - could they keep the yelling and fighting down during the day? you'd think.... :)

So - that is the frustrating part of life at our house. And they are all 4, picky eaters. How does that happen?

The thing about all of that is that I still wouldn't change anything. they are the greatest kids. Caden is about to go into kindergarten and is really turning into a big kid. He teaches his brothers things. He is willing to try new things, even if he doesn't really want to. He's less worried about how school will be than I am. He asks so many questions - he's really curious about everything.

Dylan wants to be just like his big brother. This means he tries to be really independant but it also means I have to watch that he doesn't try something that he isn't going to be able to do. Like swimming. He'll just head for the deep end without a care in the world. Or he'll climb on a play structure meant for school kids. He's a great climber. He talks and communicates really well. He loves to play star wars with Caden.

Evan still enjoys his alone time but he's also right in there with the boys playing star wars or kung fu panda. He loves to clean up and is such a great helper that way. Sometimes he even gets mad if his brothers try to help him. It's funny. He likes things to be a certain way and will get frustrated if they aren't.

Liam is stubborn as all get out and a real comedian. He loves to make people laugh, once he's in the mood. He avoids us when we start clean up. He's clever that way. Just sneaks off while we all do it. He talks in sentences and is really easy to understand. It's nice that they can tell me what they are thinking or feeling to some degree. Or at least what they want. The stage we are at now is the "use your words instead of screaming or crying" stage. I'm pretty tired of listening to 3 two year olds scream and cry all the time.

Life is still really busy and, like everyone else, I struggle to keep up with my housework and to do enough new things with the kids. I always wish I could be a better wife, mom, friend, daughter. All that stuff. It'll really be interesting to have Caden in school every morning. Gone for 4 hours. I'm going to really miss the little guy. I have a lump in my throat just typing that. Oh boy - am I ever going to be 'one of those moms'. I'm excited for him though. He'll love it. He needs the challenges that school will help me give him.

Ok - I have lots to share but this post is long enough. More another time.

Percentiles

2011-08-09T08:15:00.006-06:00

Just for fun I weighed and measured the little kids today. Liam is under the third percentile for height (33.5in) and weight(24.5lbs). Evan is 50-75th for weight(28.2lbs) and 25-50th for height (37in). Dylan is in the same percentile as Evan for both. His weight is 30lbs and height is 37in. I just never do that anymore now that they are older and I was curious. I wish Liam would get a bit bigger but he seems healthy enough!

July

2011-07-19T17:32:00.013-06:00

Here are a bunch of pictures of all the fun we've been having this July. I love this age (the boys are 2 1/2 and Caden is 5) and summer is the best - we've been loving it.

Canada Day at Wascana Park:

Evan

Evan on the bouncy slide

I had to go up and get these two down. They weren't scared just didn't want to be done.

Goofy Liam

A weekend in Estevan (Justin was at home installing our kitchen floor). We played at this park with Adam and Trinda, their kids and grandma and grandpa Jocelyn. It was a gorgeous day. After this park we decided to head over to the spray park they have there.

Zack

Jaiden helping Dylan aim the water gun

Adam and Trinda

Gabby and Grandpa

We've also had a lot of fun at home in our own backyard. In the pool, with the sprinklers and with the slip and slide. And what you don't see here are all the yummy freezies and ice cream treats and slurpees that we've been enjoying!

we've had lots of friends over too.

Crystal and Luca are in this pic.

Elijah

Ella

Caden and Michael

And getting dirty! Gotta love it.
We have spent a lot of days over at our closest spray park and have gone to the bubble man and a magician at the library. Keeping busy and having lots of fun!

a day away

2011-06-27T16:42:00.006-06:00

This past weekend I was able to get out of town for a day. Justin arranged for me to have a night away. Heather and I just went to Moose Jaw and had leisurely meals, sat in the hot tub, read magazines, shopped the little shops (there is a lot of stuff to try not to buy there) - it was lovely. I didn't go home til the kids were in bed. That means I had two nights and a whole day off. My husband is fantastic and my friends are equally so. My kids missed me which was nice. They were so excited when they woke up the next day and I was home. Evan actually saw me the night I got home. Justin and I were chatting about our weekends. It was about 930 or 10 maybe and Evan walked out of his room (our kids never do that), came to see me and then went back to bed. It was very sweet.

The kids and I are really enjoying the summer weather. This year I am finding it easier to take them out in the van or to the spray park. I still won't do that by myself unless it's just to Walmart or something because I can put them all in a cart but it's much freer than last summer was.

The little boys are all talking so much more. We are still working on potty training but I'm not very dedicated to it with the renovations we had going on and now all the summer fun. But they'll get there. I'm not worried at all.

I think I'm giving up on sleeping past 630. I just can't get the 4 kids to all sleep past that time. 95% of the time it is Liam. And that is even when I take his naps away. He just gets up early. SO - I have to change my attitude. I signed up for daily quotes and this one came up on a particularly early (and therefore grouchy) morning and I can't stop thinking about it.

Resistance creates suffering.
Stress happens when your mind resists what is.
The only problem in your life is your minds resistance to life as it unfolds.
- Dan Millman

I know I can't paste that over everything but it rang true for me in this instance. I was waking up just furious sometimes. So for the past couple of days (after going to bed nice and early) I try to get up and think of it as a blessing. I can get a tonne of stuff done and still have the whole summer day ahead of me! Who doesn't love the summer sun coming up outside their kitchen window? Not to mention - when I was able to sleep in at the hotel on saturday I still woke up at 7. Chances are I wouldn't sleep much longer even if the kids weren't up first. On friday - by 930 - I had cleaned both bathrooms, did 3 loads of laundry, vacuumed the carpets, swept and mopped all the floors, fed, changed and dressed the boys, cleaned up their breakfast stuff and had the dishwasher running. I think I even got a shower in there. It was great! Today I had the lawns cut, dishes done, laundry going, kids all fed and dressed and outside playing by 9. So - there is definately and upside to getting up early. I'm not sure it'll be so great in the winter but I'm not thinking about winter yet. Not in any way whatsoever. Maybe it won't come this year :)

It's Justin's Birthday!!

2011-06-17T08:35:00.003-06:00

It's Justin's birthday today. He is such a great guy - great husband - great father. Here's your chance to send him a little note on his birthday (even if he is wearing his Stampeders jersey today). Just put something in the comments and I'll make sure he gets it. Love you Justin! Have a great day!

Preschool Graduation

2011-06-16T15:38:00.003-06:00

Our fabulous first born boy graduated from preschool today. They had a really nice afternoon for them. After singing a few songs for the parents they were given their certificates and the teachers appreciated each child individually.

Caden's was "Caden!.... What a lot of energy and excitement you bring to the classroom! We always had an awesome time when you were here - your stories, acting, show and tell and construction projects all tell about the great ideas you have. And your imagination is so neat - whether you were being a super hero, a dragon, or another type of animal. Thank you for being a good listener and a good example to the boys and girls around you. You are a kind friend and include others. "

Then the kids told what they wanted to be when they grew up. While his classmates listed being moms, a dad, a teacher and a swimming teacher, Caden said he wanted to be a firefighter spaceman' - LOVE it!

He appeared to have endeared himself to alot of the girls in his class as well!

We were treated with a slide show of the years activities set to the usual sappy song. This year the first was "let them be little". Why do they do this to parents? It was a wonderful sappy time for this mom and most importantly a proud and happy moment for Caden as he heads to the first of his many school days.

I'm proud of our little guy and overjoyed to be living this life with my big beautiful family!

Update

2011-06-10T17:39:00.002-06:00

We have been incredibly busy since my last post. In that month and half we have gone to Calgary to see Thomas the Train and have a fun weekend with the Mooney side of our family. I will still try to post a few pictures when I get a little more time. Once we got home we jumped into a kitchen renovation and have been doing that for the past 3 weeks. My dad and Justin's brother Josh came out and gave up their free time to help us. My brother Chris helped us out with some demo when we needed it most. We are so appreciative and have to admit that we would have been out of luck without their help. We can tell that we are going to enjoy this kitchen so much with many memories to made in the heart of the home. We can't wait to have people over and just have fun with it. It's exciting.

We are tired and I have to admit, it's a bit of a feat to live in the mess and chaos with four little boys and still feed them and the adults. I couldn't keep up with everything but I think I finally have the laundry caught up and now we have things in our cupboards, I finally mowed today and will soon get some groceries. For the first time in weeks, we ate a normal meal at our table that we actually cooked in the oven. It was lovely. So - normalcy is creeping back in. I'm looking forward to relaxing some time in the future!

So - that's where we have been. I'll try to post pics soon and fill in a bit about the boys. they are changing so much! Caden went to his Kindergarten orientation day last week. Time is flying by!

Caden's Fifth Birthday Party

2011-05-09T09:34:00.008-06:00

Caden turned 5 last tuesday and we had a star wars themed party. He just beamed all day. He took cupcakes to preschool and he told me that 'they sang to him and cheered '. That night we had some of his friends over for a little party.

The happy birthday boy

pizza and 'jango fett juice'

After sustenance we headed outside to the Jedi training field. First they had to clean up the field. R2D2 pooped all over it :)

Now the training begins. This is the aim and shoot training center with sith's for targets.

Next was some teamwork and problem solving. They had to use things they could find around the yard to make a bridge so they could get across the field of lava (grass) and get their reward from Yoda's Hut

"Happy birthday to you Caden!"

Thanks to all his friends for the thoughtful gifts!

Now the Jedi's are lined up to get their light sabre's...

And Happy Chaos ensues!

A good time was had by all!!

Easter

2011-05-02T09:49:00.010-06:00

The triplets had the flu or something last week and through the weekend so it has been a slow moving week. Everyone seems to be healthy and happy now so I'm cleaning and getting caught up on things this week. I was really wanting to get these pictures up from Easter because tomorrow is Caden's 5th birthday. We are getting ready for a bit of a party and Caden is SO EXCITED. It's fun. The boys are exactly 6 months apart so that makes the triplets 2 and a half years old tomorrow too. I love celebrating my boys so I'm pretty excited too! Anyway - here are the Easter pictures. We were out at my parents' place and there was lots to do.

Trinda brought stuff to decorate eggs.

Caden had fun driving the gator around the yard.

Caden was able to open a couple of early birthday gifts and we sang happy birthday to him.
He just eats it all up.

Cousins Zack and Jaiden put all the eggs out all over the yard for the kids to have an easter egg hunt. The kids had a lot of fun with that as you can imagine.

Time to eat candy!

My fantastic husband.

The kids loved spending time out in the yard.
The kids chased gophers, birds, bunnies and snakes!

uh oh - heading towards the water....

and...

in! Oh boy. But - why not! It's spring.

Everybody is in. Even Liam - my water phobic boy.

What's the worst case scenerio? That Liam falls in the freezing water and is traumatized and is even less likely to want to go swimming than ever. And what happens?.....

You got it

He was completely soaked but we got the kids all cleaned up and warm again. After that though, every time he saw a pond of water he'd point and say "fall down!"

We had a really great time. The kids loved hanging out with grandma and grandpa and Adam and Trinda and the kids. Good times!

update

2011-04-29T15:50:00.003-06:00

Hello out there. I've been trying to get to this for a while now. We had a wonderful easter and I have pictures and everything. I hope to post those soon. Everything has been put on the back burner as we tend to sick kids. We got back with one sick boy and now have 3. It's been a long week with the little boys throwing up and they still aren't themselves. Poor little guys. That's a quick update. Check back for pictures!

What did I say?

2011-04-06T19:36:00.005-06:00

As a mother I say some things that I never imagined I'd say. Here are a couple from today that gave me a chuckle and that I'm not ashamed to post ;)

"Stop licking the window!!" then later "are you still licking the window! I said stop that!"

and

"did you just puke in the dishwasher?"

Ah, motherhood sure has it's precious memories!! Made me smile!

Spring Craft

2011-03-21T10:05:00.002-06:00

It doesn't look like spring outside but I am going to push ahead as if it really is what the calendar tells us, the first week of spring. I pulled out my spring craft stuff today and planned a few activities. When I worked with daycare kids (at a center and at home) I did crafts with the kids almost every single day. I absolutely have not done that with my kids. But I want to. I like to do it and its fun for the kids. It gives us all something else to do instead of fight and scream at each other (that goes for them and me!). I have planned it out a bit and I am going to go and buy a few supplies this week and we'll get our stuff up and make it look like spring inside, even if it doesn't look it outside. I'll have to give Caden a few harder projects when we do stuff during naptime. It'll be fun.

The kids didn't have a great attention span. Partly because they are boys and partly because they aren't used to sitting and doing activities. Evan stayed at it the longest. I think he really likes stuff like this. Anyway, here's a couple of pictures (Dylan was done and gone before I pulled the camera out) of our little spring ducks.

St. Patrick's Day Party

2011-03-18T10:46:00.006-06:00

Last night was tonnes of fun. We had a bunch of people over for a potluck/st.patrick's Day Party. It was great!

Caden

Liam

Deanna reading to Dylan. She just got in the door and Dylan cornered her.
They know a lover of reading when they see one!

Lorraine and Jonas

Karyss and Crystal

The Reids

Harmony

Heather (we are so glad she is back living in Regina!)

Craig

Alicia Sass

Caden

Aaron

Andrea and Ceara

Evan

Libby

Dylan

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T16:53:00.006-06:00

It is St. Patrick's Day and once again we tried to catch a leprechaun. Caden suggested we put out some money and some lucky charms. It worked!! We caught a leprechaun! But unfortunately he escaped before we got a chance to see him. He even took all the money we left him!! He did at least leave all the kids some treats. Caden had his buddies, Michael and Elijah for a sleepover last night so they helped us out too. We all enjoyed the treats (green push pops being one of them) and had lucky charms for breakfast (ok - not ALL of us - the kids can keep the lucky charms - yuck!) and green mac and cheese for lunch (after a little hesitation).

One on One time

2011-03-10T16:50:00.000-06:00

One of the things I wanted to be intentional about now that the boys are older - was one on one time with the boys. So - I have a day once a week where I take one of the boys out - just the two of us and Justin does it another night. After four weeks we will each have had time with each boy. Make sense? Anyway - we are really enjoying it. I was just thinking about it because Justin just left with Dylan. They are going sledding on this warm day. How fun! I'm happy for both of them. The kids get so excited. Cute.

finally - some pictures

2011-03-10T12:59:00.004-06:00

I finally took some pictures this week. Just a reminder of what the kids look like - I know it's been awhile since I posted any. I thought I'd bookend this blog the same way my days start and end. With wrestling....

Liam

Dylan

Evan

Caden

this correctly portrays how the fighting or any other activity usually ends...

with crying.

Well, what do you know....

2011-03-08T08:58:00.003-06:00

At the beginning of the year I was feeling fairly depressed and definitely tired all the time. I was frustrated by all my stay at home mom responsibilities. I yelled at the kids and was just super negative. I decided to start doing what I could to try and change that. I started small. I started taking vitamin D. Then I started changing my diet so that I was eating more healthy foods and less sugar. I needed to get off of that sugar high and crash that I had every day. A few weeks later I started exercising. I wanted to take care of my health and most of all - I was really hoping the endorphins would help my mood and my energy levels. For the first little while it didn't seem to be helping. I was just falling asleep on the couch even earlier than before. I was still grouchy all the time and had that deflated feeling. I certainly attribute some of that to winter; the season that I have a lot of difficulty likely at all.

Then I went away for four days. I was at the end of my rope - feeling a bit of a breakdown coming on. And now on top of the regular stuff I was frustrated that what I had done so far didn't seem to be getting me where I wanted to be (I'm not a very patient person - in case you don't know me AT ALL :) ).

I went to ladies retreat at Kenosee Inn and I went a couple of days early. It was fantastic. I was able to spend time with good friends and be around super people. Probably what I needed the most though was time. Quiet time. Uninterrupted me time. I worked out without interruption. I was able to have a shower without someone needing me. I stayed sitting down through entire meals. It was heavenly. Once I got it out of my system that I needed to rush through everything - I started feeling relaxed and refreshed.

I am reading a book (again - had time to do that there!) that I believe was an answer to my prayers about wanting to be more positive and to find God's joy in my life. It was one of those things were it came to me at just the exact right time. I started a prayer journal and a thankfulness journal. I thought about what I wanted my life to look like when I got back and started organizing how that would work. I know that 'organizing' isn't on everyone's list of how to get relaxed but it is for me. So very!!

And after being home for a week I still feel fantastic. I've yelled at my kids but not as much! It's getting better. I'm practicing changing my thoughts. I know that 'attitude is everything' and 'your life is what you believe it is'. What I tell myself about my day is what will come true.

So - all I needed to do was exercise, eat right, make time for myself, be disciplined about prayer time and journaling and go to bed at a decent time. Not much at all :) And what do you know it's working!

Now the real question is... can I really make this how I live my life and keep it from being a nice idea that fizzled out and just became a 'phase'. I hope not.

about the blood

2011-03-02T15:30:00.002-06:00

In case some of you were concerned after I posted about the blood yesterday - here is the update. Dylan got carried away and slammed a door on Liam's finger. He has a little cut that bled a lot of blood. Dylan also managed to push Evan over and hit Caden on the head all in that one little moment of time. Oh brother! He did end up saying sorry to all and giving them hugs. If you weren't concerned - I hope you didn't bother to read this.

2011-03-01T09:29:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I don't blog because I have nothing much to say. Today I have too much going on in my mind to get it down properly. My lack of blogs though - makes me feel a responsibility to say hello to everyone that checks in on us. I am getting more organized these days and am hoping to be getting on here a little more. I am writing now, while the kids are awake, and am realizing my mistake already. There have been potty breaks and fights and a few warnings against bad behaviour already and I've just begun. So I am not at all focused and so this will likely make no sense and be a total waste of your time. So - if nothing else, let this be a little note to say I am still out here and I do still intend to blog. I need to get some pictures up and fill you in on how the kids are doing this first day of March. I guess that means that in two days they will be 30 months old. Caden is 2 months from his 5th birthday and we actually have his kindergarten info meeting on thursday night already. WOW.

I was at Ladies Retreat this past weekend and have been recharged. It was the break that I needed to stay sane. Can I go again in a couple of weeks? :)

Life is good. I have dared myself to seek out the positives even in this deep freeze and in the midst of what can be called 'stay at home drudgery'. I've been encourage by the book 'one thousand gifts' and I think it would be valuable for anyone reading this.

Ok - there is crying that might be signaling injury so I need to end this for now - oh - now 2 are crying that pain filled cry. Gotta go! Oh dear - there is blood....

A New Approach

2011-02-09T11:09:00.004-06:00

I bet most of you are thinking this post will be about our kids. Maybe some kind of revelation we had to help make the days better, to spark the creativity and enhance the personality we know each one of our precious darlings possess. But instead, this post is about hockey which, to most Canadians, is almost as important as the children thing.

This past Saturday, I got to play in my first Church League hockey game and first actual game of hockey in almost 20 years. It was so fun. I have been sort of trying to get some equipment the past few years but was too cheap to buy any and for some reason, not telling anyone I wanted equipment didn't get me any. But as luck would have it, I did end up getting nearly an entire set of equipment for free. All I need is shoulder pads and maybe a sweater and I am set. On top of that, my good friend Craig has been hounding me to play all year. I kept saying, "Well, if I can get any equipment, then I will." Well when the equipment showed up, I was running out of excuses. I still have the shoulder pads excuse that was letting me hold off for a bit. But last Saturday, Craig asked me if I want to play and because he is heading out of town, I could use his shoulder pads. Great!! Now, devoid of any remaining excuses, I decide it is time to step back on the ice and showcase my skills.

Now, I should briefly explain my hockey career thus far. I started playing hockey young. I don't have any actual memories of playing hockey, but I do have some pictures so I guess I did. I do remember that in grade 4, I switched to goalie because, let's be honest, I wasn't good enough to really be out there skating around on my own. I liked playing goalie in street hockey with my older brother, but my love for the position quickly waned on the ice. First off, it's cold sitting there doing nothing. Sure you can make snow castles but that entertainment can only take you so far. Secondly, the puck actually hurts when you get hit with it, mostly because I was using a baseball backcatchers chest protector and it's not really meant to be hit with hard frozen rubber. And thirdly, I was really tired of missing smurfs on Saturday morning. Sad but true. So, at the end of my grade 4 year, I hung up my skates and devoted my life to Saturday morning cartoons which has served me well thus far.

We now fast forward to my grade 11 year in high school when I decided, "Let's give hockey another try." So, I got some equipment from somewhere and joined our high school team. But hockey was a bit different. This hockey was full contact and it became quickly apparent to all the opposing teams that I was easy game. I was my own highlight reel every game. Not the good highlight reel. The rock-em-sock-em one where I am always the one getting socked. But as I played I got better and better and by the end of the year, I was hitting more than getting hit. At least that is what I am told as I don't really remember playing hockey that year. But I have some pictures so I guess I did.

After my grade 11 year, I hung up the skates again... until last Saturday that is. Sure I had played in a couple of shinny games and some noon hockey games about 15 years ago but for the most part, no hockey for 20 years. And the first game I decide to play in, we had a grand total (including our goalie) of 8 players. That is enough for one line with 2 subs.

Now, I don't recommend taking a 20 year hiatus and then playing in a game when you are on the ice for 45 minutes, but amazingly enough, I feel I did pretty good. I blocked a shot, made some passes, and get this, I even scored a goal. We managed to pull out a 2-2 tie and I scored the tying goal. I was a hero. The team lifted me up on their shoulders (at least metaphorically because I think I was passed out on the ice) and we celebrated getting out of that game with a tie. It was a victory for us. And, to top it all off, I had just scored as many goals in that one game as I did my entire grade 11 year.

So it seems, at least for me, the more time I take off of hockey, the better I get. By not playing, I am actually increasing my skill. I wonder how good I will be in 10 years from now if I don't play again. I may become unstoppable. So that is my new approach. Stop playing something so you can get better. Everyone should try it.

Thanks Craig for pushing me to play and thanks Tim P. for the equipment. I had a lot of fun and look forward to playing again... if I ever get any shoulder pads that is. :)

Justin

swimming lessons

2011-02-07T10:25:00.004-06:00

I took Caden and Evan to swimming lessons last night. That was fun. It was nice to get out of the house and I got to spend one on one time with Evan (we go to a class together while Caden goes on his own). I love spending that time with one of the boys at a time. It's such a special thing - and it is so rare. I want to try and take the kids out separately more often.

I feel like we've had a lot going on lately. Mostly good things. And yet I'm pretty tired and low on steam. Not sure why. Just seems like there is so much more to do in a day than what I have time for. I guess we all feel that way hey?

So - we plug along and dream about spring.

Day five

2011-01-31T11:16:00.003-06:00

Well, 5 days of the intense potty training with Evan and it appears that we have gotten no where. Who knows - maybe he is just one hour away from getting it? How can I know? I have decided to let it go for now and give him some more time. He's just so laid back and really doesn't care. He's peed all over the house for 5 days. I am done with that. Thankfully Dylan is still doing well so I don't feel like a total failure. Liam asks to pee all the time so I will likely try the 3 day thing with him this weekend. I'm going to give myself a couple of days off though. This has been draining and frustrating.

We took Caden and Evan to swimming lessons last night. Evan seemed to enjoy it. He pays no attention whatsoever to what the teacher is saying to do. He just has fun. He's so in his own world but he's pretty happy there so who says that has to be a bad thing? I'm just glad that they got to get out of the house and do something!

Speaking of getting out of the house - I finally got out a few times on saturday and it's a good thing because I was about to lose my mind. I'm already starting to feel cabin fever again. Oh summer , SUMMER! I miss you so so much. And I am determined to be grateful instead of complaining. For example, I'm grateful that January - my least favorite month - is over now!

One mom in this house is not enough

2011-01-28T12:34:00.001-06:00

It has been a long day and it's only 1230 in the afternoon! I could definitely use an assistant these days. I'm trying to do this 3 day potty training thing with Evan. It's something that works only if you are with the child constantly. Well, I have Dylan who was pretty reliable but today he decides to regress some. Lovely. So I'm in the bathroom with one boy getting him cleaned up and the other one is in the living room, peeing on the floor. I get over there finally to clean him up and clean the floor and the other one is asking to go again. And over and over it goes. The 2 boys have gone through 30 pairs of underwear in 5 hours. WHAT! In there I am supposed to answer the phone and make lunch? Oh brother. What a joke my life feels like right now. I feel like I'm swimming in pee and poop. I hate to be frustrated so early on in the process. But I can't give up now and I know it's only a phase. Doesn't make me any less tired right now though. And I'm hoping to work out while they nap (yesterday their nap was 45 min. shorter than usual - ick) and then it's back at it again til bedtime. That's 8:00 for them but I'm usually asleep on the couch by 830 or 9 this week.

Good times!

Potty Training

2011-01-27T11:20:00.002-06:00

Well, Dylan appears to be potty trained with still the occasional accident. We even take him out of the house now!! And it has been 2 weeks today. So - time to start on the next one. I've started with Evan today and am hoping that things will go as well with him. That means I can't be on the computer because I'm supposed to be paying attention to him at all times - that's according to the '3 day potty training method'. The plan worked with Dylan so I'm sticking to it. So - short blog! Be back later!

Our boys 2011

2011-01-18T07:15:00.002-06:00

We are having a very low key January. The boys and I have stuck pretty close to home, not doing much. Just spending time together, playing, coloring, singing, dancing, and doing whatever else I can think of to pass some of this winter away and still keep it from making us crazy. They are fighting constantly and therefore there is a lot of screaming, crying and fit throwing. It's pretty draining sometimes and it makes it really difficult to do things like wash my hair and cook meals. I feel like, as soon as I turn around to do something, a fight breaks out or a toy gets stolen so I don't get much done until naptime. Thank goodness for naptime!! Anyway, here's a recent shot of each of the boys.

Caden

Evan

Liam

Dylan

Day 5 & the things they don't do anymore

2011-01-17T09:12:00.003-06:00

For those of you on the edge of your seats about the potty training (what do you mean you have more interesting things to think about?)....

Dylan did a really great job. It's been 4 days and he tells us when he has to go, wakes up dry after nap but doesn't make it through the night yet. He's pretty proud of himself too! I'll give him another week or so before I start on triplet number 2.

It's exciting to see all the new things the kids learn and how big they are getting. It's also nice to see all the things they have stopped doing. We have seen big changes over the past couple of months. They don't sleep in cribs anymore. They don't wake up constantly through the night every night anymore. They've stopped crawling on the table all the time. Finally. I love that they don't touch every single thing that is within reach as much. I even have a bit of a centerpiece on my table. Amazing! And last saturday morning they didn't need to be in their stroller when we went to the museum. Wow. They did a really good job of listening and staying close to us. It wasn't very busy in there either though and that is why we were able to try it. A crowded situation would be a different story. I love the 2 and 3 and 4 year old stage. We are having a lot of fun and I am really looking forward to the weather warming up (I know - that's looking pretty far into the future) so we can start DOING SOMETHING besides spending all day every day in the house. Soon, they will be big enough that I can take them places on my own. What freedom that will be!

And some good news for us; we are really close to the school that I want the kids to go to. Caden starts kindergarten next year and I was really concerned about how I was going to get him there and back every day for a year. Was I going to lug my three 2 year olds? All through the winter? Really? Ugh. So I called about it. I had a little speech prepared all about my 'special circumstances' and why I should be able to have my son bussed to school even though we are pretty close. First though she types in our address and the school and wouldn't you know it. We are just far enough that they will bus him. Hallelujah! I am so relieved! He's close enough though that he will have to walk when he is in grade 2 but that'll be fine by then. The little boys will be in kindergarten by then. It may not seem like much to some of you but it's a pretty big deal for us. I love it when things work out!

Potty Training !!???

2011-01-15T09:21:00.004-06:00

Well, since I don't go anywhere or do anything in January, it seemed like a good time to start potty training the kids. I read up on the '3 day potty training method' and am giving that a go. It is impossible to do that with 3 at once and so I decided to start with Dylan. Liam is too headstrong and Evan doesn't care enough. I mean we'll see.... but I felt like Dylan would be the most responsive to praise and he likes to be like the big boys. So - anyway. We are doing not too bad. Today is the beginning of day 2 and we're at about 50% successes. He even woke up dry from his nap yesterday and went on the potty. It's a tonne of work. A TONNE. I'm exhausted by the end of the day. It'll be worth it though. I just can't think about how, once Dylan is doing fairly well and I feel he's really gotten it, I'll only be 1/3 done. I'll have to start from the beginning two more times....

2011-01-12T09:54:00.007-06:00

Ok - I'm back onto blogging. I've been having way too much fun and doing way too much 'getting back into the groove' to be on the computer much. I have a few things I want to blog but I'll spread it out a bit. So - we'll start with about 3 weeks ago. You remember - Christmas time. We spent a few days in Calgary for Christmas this year. It was so nice to have everyone together and to see the cousins spending time with each other. Caden and Maggie really enjoyed playing and being silly together. We packed a lot into a few days. We had the kids 'christmas eve' stuff and then we put them to bed and the adults had a gift exchange game time and tonnes of yummy snacks. Judy is a hard working lady and we appreciate all that she does to make our times together so enjoyable and extra special. Thanks! The next day was Christmas with the stockings and gifts and food. Lovely! Our little boys were more into it now that they are older and had fun with it. Oh - and by the way - they travelled both ways perfectly. They slept some, had snacks, watched a few shows, got out once to stretch our legs and we made great time.

Caden and Maggie

Liam, Evan, Dylan opening their christmas pj's

Grandpa "santa" Mooney with all the grandkids. Some happy, some not so much!

The brothers (that's the grown up brothers I'm talking about) had a nerf war going on here and there. It's too bad I don't have a picture of Josh because he and Justin spent quite a bit of time 'playing' one night. I guess boys never grow up. Someday I'll have my boys home for the holidays and they'll still be playing with nerf guns!!

James

All my guys

Maggie

Caden taking a pic of me taking a pic of him

Auntie Jacquie with cousin Max (James and Nic's baby boy)

Uncle James and Evan

Caden was so pleased with everything. Our kids are very spoiled.
It sure is fun to see those young eyes light up though isn't it?

Cousin Lyla and Evan

Dylan

Uncle Josh and Max (the nerf gun is probably nearby)

Our boys and their toys

princess Maggie

On Christmas afternoon we opened up a couple of the kids' games.

Caden and Maggie had fun playing together.

And that was Christmas 2010. Kids make it so much more Christmassy. It's great to have all these wonderful little people around now to make it so magical. Lucky lucky us!

Pre-Christmas Christmas

2010-12-21T08:44:00.004-06:00

This year my siblings and I are all in different places for Christmas so we decided to get together this past weekend to exchange gifts and spend some time together at mom and dad's. It was a lot of fun. It's really nice now that my little boys don't need as much constant attention. Life is getting a little simpler - thank goodness. Here are a few pictures from our weekend:

Caden and cousin Keiran (they are 3 weeks apart)

Lana and Gabby

Uncle Chris, cousin Jeremy and cousin Beth

Liam

Dylan

Evan and Jaiden

Evan

Liam with grandma and grandpa Jocelyn

Caden

Grandpa and Liam

Evan

Dylan

Merry Christmas Everybody!

gingerbread house day

2010-12-17T08:02:00.001-06:00

It was gingerbread house day at Caden's Preschool and they invited parents to stay and help. Justin worked from home (the kids nap during preschool time) so that I could go. It was a nice afternoon with Caden and I had a chance (finally) to meet some of the kids he talks about all the time. I had a really nice visit with a couple of the moms too. Apparantly Caden is some kind of ladies man because both of their daughters come home talking about him everyday. The one little girl keeps asking if he can come over for a sleepover :) Pretty cute.

2010-12-16T17:48:00.001-06:00

Check out this restaurant. Guess we have to go to New York City.....

Toboganning

2010-12-15T20:13:00.004-06:00

We took the kids tobogganing tonight. We went as soon as Justin got home from work and caught the very end of daylight. It's not as dark out as it looks in the pictures. The little kids had never gone before. It was all pretty predictable. Liam screamed when he went and was the first one shivering. Evan liked it ok but then wandered over to the playground. Dylan and Caden were the ones that wanted to keep going. I missed it but I guess Caden and Dylan had a bit of a tumble near the end. But they both wanted to go a couple more times. Good for them!

Caden and Evan

Caden

Evan and Dylan

Evan and Dylan - weeeeee!

the end of that ride....

Liam getting back out - he had just gone down the hill and is freaking out. He's funny though. I still think he kind of liked it. It's almost like he cries because that is his thing no matter what new thing he is trying.

Evan and Liam were done first so I pulled them back to the van and
we warmed up while the other 3 went down a couple more times.

Then it was time to go home for hot chocolate with marshmallows.

December so far

2010-12-13T10:31:00.004-06:00

December has been pretty fun so far. Here are a few pictures.

Caden started off the month by having his best buddies, Elijah and Michael sleep over.

Fun with the Santa hats. They never want to wear them when I
ask them but then other times I notice them running around with them on.

I took a few pictures at moms and tots a week or so ago.
This is Evan and Dylan admiring the newest baby to our group - Ella

Dylan trying to relive the good ole days when he could fit into this chair.

Aubrey

Kelli and Luca

Jonas

Michael

I'll have to take more pictures so that I can have more of everyone.

I already posted the Santa pictures. This is our family out for supper at the food court afterwards. They did well but there is definately a very specific, and by that I mean short!, time period to get our food eaten before they are ready to run!

Last night was our Christmas Party for our moms and tots group. The dads came too and everybody brought lots of food and treats. Yum. It was really nice to spend some time together. Now this week I need to finish up all my shopping and I think we are going to do a gingerbread house one night this week. I really love this time of year! Soon we will be spending time with family. That's the very best part! Can't wait!

A family night out and a visit with Santa

2010-12-10T20:22:00.002-06:00

We took the kids to see Santa tonight. Caden had a chance to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas and to sit on his lap. He couldn't get away from the fake smile but that's ok. Dylan sat there but was pretty nervous. The other two boys wouldn't sit with Santa at all and Evan would barely sit still with me. But we got 4 decent enough pictures and had a nice night out together. We ate in the food court after. The boys sat up to the table and ate pretty nicely. They got a little squirrely at the end but I was pretty impressed. I think we all enjoyed just getting out together and having a change of scenery. Here are the pictures of the kids with Santa. The first one is of Caden in 2007 when he was one and a half - just for fun.

2010-12-07T09:21:00.003-06:00

Having three 2 year olds is crazy. Crazy busy, crazy cute and crazy fun. And it takes a hammer to blogging time. So forgive me for it being so long since writing!

It's been a great few weeks. I went to Manitoba with Sara and Vicki to stay with our friend Laura. What a wonderful time - to have a break from the kiddoes and to make new memories with 3 beautiful women. Thanks guys!

Last weekend was another fun girls get together. We went to the Rankin Sisters Christmas Concert at the Casino after meeting for supper at Viet Thai. Another really fun time with about 20 of us in total. WOW!

Then, there was a sister triangle meeting on saturday. I feel very lucky to have been invited to be a part of what they do. It's a blessing to me for sure. That makes me want to remind you ladies that Ladies Retreat at Kenosee Lake is February 25 - 27. It's such a nice weekend. I look forward to it every year. Think about coming !

I've really been feeling blessed. I guess it's because of the time of year and from spending time with so many of my special people lately. I'm in a pretty good place (I must be because as I write this 2 kids are fighting and crying and I'm still writing it. Huh!). Hope you are all enjoying some fun holiday stuff already!

A minor rant - likely due to too many days without sunlight or fresh air....

2010-11-19T11:03:00.003-06:00

The sun is actually shining in my windows today. Thank goodness. I was feeling pretty gloomy from all that cloud cover. And maybe it will motivate me to get out of my pajamas. I'm actually having a bit of an internal debate. I'm wondering why we bother? I mean the little kids never leave the house (unless we leave town and then they just stay in the house wherever we've travelled to). It makes me want to cry. But, back to my point. I get the kids up and changed and dressed for the day most days. Then at night we take off their clothes, throw them in the laundry and put their pajamas back on. So, each day I have that small chore AND we make all this laundry. Then I do a load or two of laundry per day. SO - If we just stayed in our pj's all day (no one really sees us anyway) we'd have half as much laundry. HMMM.

It really is tough though - that my kids have so little variety in their life. We can't go swimming or skating or sledding. We can try some of that occasionally but only in the evenings. We are totally trapped ALL DAY LONG - EVERY DAY. Now - don't get me wrong. I didn't have to scrape my windows this morning or get ready before the sky was getting light. I get to be with my kids all day long which I am very grateful for. It just breaks my heart that we can't do anything. I keep thinking back to when it was just Caden and I. Every week we would go to the library, go to storytime, go swimming, get all our errands run, walk around Wascana Park a few times. A few times a month we'd go to the museum and then the science center when he got older. Luckily he's old enough now that he can go to preschool and has a couple of activities to do and some friends that visit. It just makes me so SAD that we can't do more. He's 4 and a half. I'm holding him back. And the little kids. They aren't learning those skills. Like how to be out in public with us. And just the different stimuli that naturally happens for them. Even if you are just running to the store. It's incredibly frustrating to me. I keep telling myself that it will change as they get older. And of course it will. But it doesn't change how I feel about the last year and the next one to come.

The weekend (birthday party #2)

2010-11-10T10:46:00.006-06:00

We headed to Estevan to celebrate with our 'people' down there. It was lots of fun. We got to spend time with people, we had cake (store bought - no transporting home made cakes for us this time) and opened lots of gifts (thanks everyone!). Here are a few pictures.

Liam and Grandma

Gabby and Liam

Beth and Evan

Avis and Jilena

Store bought big cake

and the boys' little cakes

blowing out candles

spitting on cake and almost burning his eyebrows off!

Triplet stats

2010-11-08T19:14:00.003-06:00

I came across some interesting info about triplets today. Well, interesting to me but not necessarily to you. I won't put it all on here but I thought I'd throw a few up here.

The most sets of triplets born to one woman was 15 sets to an Italian lady in the 1800's (WHAT!!). Of modern times it's only 6 sets.

The most premature triplets (all 3 surviving) is 24 wks.

Lightest total birthweight was 3 lbs 3/4 oz.

Heaviest total birthweight was 24 lbs. Each baby was about 8 lbs. (ours totaled about 16 lbs. I cannot even imagine 24 lbs of baby in my belly. WOW!)

Longest gestation with triplets was 41 wks. (oh my!)

Oldest mother with triplets was a 66 yr old in India. Oh my goodness. Talk about being tired all the time!!

Since 1989 there have been an average of 1802 sets of triplets born each year in the US. 150 or less are identical.

That's all. I will put up pics from my triplets second birthday very soon!

Happy Birthday Boys

2010-11-05T12:04:00.005-06:00

Dylan, Evan and Liam turned 2 on wednesday!! We sang to them at moms and tots and then had them try to blow out their candles. Auntie Jacquie and Uncle Kenny were here from Calgary so we were able to celebrate with them in the evening and open some presents from the Mooney relatives. We are having their big party on saturday with cake and stuff (just store bought cake this year!). Here are some pictures from birthday party #1:

Dylan was doing a little dance to the music on one of their new toys. He was on fire!

So, the day has come and gone and the boys are 2. I can officially say that I have 3 two year olds. Good times!

Halloween weekend

2010-11-01T09:07:00.003-06:00

My friend Kim invited us to the Pats Game for Breast Cancer Awareness so Caden and I went. They played Spokane and they beat us quite spectacularly (11 to 1) but Caden had lots of fun and keeps asking to go again. I really didn't think he'd stay interested until the end but he did!

Then last night we dressed everybody up and went out for our first family trick or treating experience. It went better than I thought. Liam (as you can see in this first picture) wasn't too sure about it but in the end he enjoyed himself and cried when we went home! They pretty much followed each other to each house. Dylan figured out pretty quickly to hold out his bag and then he'd say BYE as we left each house. It was really fun to do this together. Again I had a flash of the days when I was sad about not having my own kids to dress up. And with that thought, as always - many times a day - I shake my head with the awesomeness of how wonderfully we have been Blessed!

Prehalloween fun and a brand new baby

2010-10-30T07:29:00.006-06:00

It's not halloween yet but we've been enjoying the prehalloween activities around here! On wednesday we dressed up our kiddoes at moms and tots. Liam is not pictured because he refused to wear a costume. Simply screamed and ran!!

Dylan, Luca, Lena and Evan

The big boys: Caden as a Knight, Michael (spiderman) and Elijah (batman)

THEN - the really great part. I got to meet Tim and Tara's new baby girl, Ella Irene

Then back to my house for some fun with friends and gross foods
(thanks to my creative and fun hubby)

Crystal and her favorite triplets

Caden and Justin's jack o lantern

Qtips with ear wax...

Mummy dogs

eyeballs

worms (some of the kids would NOT eat these - funny)

and yes, a salsa vomiting pumpkin.

What more can I say? HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Big Kid Beds

2010-10-25T11:20:00.002-06:00

Nine days ago we had two bunk beds delivered. It has been a mostly fun transitional time for everybody. Caden was able to sleep on the top bunk the very first night and decided right off that it is great. He loves it. Dylan slept in Caden's room (now Dylan and Caden's room) on the bottom bunk a day or so after that. He was great. Liked it. Climbs in right away when told to. Even at naptime! WOW. I was pretty happy. A few nights after that we had Liam and Evan try their beds. That first night went really well. The next days nap was like an episode from Super Nanny - put kid back in bed every time they get out for an hour and a half (without exploding). This not for tv version had a couple of spankings in it though. What can I say... an hour and half of that is a REALLY long time. Plus... it worked. Evan stayed put after that and then that helped Liam settle down some. It was just hard for them because they kept egging each other on. Plus they were excited to be doing something new. They did eventually fall asleep that day but it wasn't long after that that Dylan woke up from his nap. So - a short quiet time for me. I was a little nervous about how long this was going to last. That evening (friday night) went well. I think they are tired enough at night to crash pretty easily. Saturday, as naptime approached, I started to dread another routine like the day before. But would you believe they didn't get out of bed even ONCE. WHAT? But Golden Boy (their dad) was home so naturally everything seems a breeze when he's watching! Anyway - I was very grateful for that. Almost giddy with the unexpected easiness of it! Yesterday (sunday) was almost as good. Evan got out about 7 times (turns the light on, plays with toys) but then settled down. We took all the cribs down and it looks like a real little boys room. Although we had to take pretty much everything off of the walls because they get up on the beds and try to pull the pictures down. They are pretty funny. It's great seeing them in their big beds. They are so adorable. Liam especially looks so small in there! I'm happy to have transitioned through this fairly well so far. I'm hoping for a good naptime... but Justin is at work today. Did he take our good luck with him? I guess we'll soon see!

The past couple of weeks

2010-10-18T08:55:00.008-06:00

We've had a really good last couple of weeks. We had a bit of a frustration because Evan was starting to wake up more and more in the night. At one point he was up every two hours. Not ok with me! We had been wondering if he was running into the sides of the crib and sure enough that was what was happening (we heard a big thunk one night and then the screaming began). He has now been in a play pen for a week and is sleeping through the night. Beautiful! Anyway - here are a few shots of life over the past little while.

Pudding painting

- eating it is the best part

regular painting. They liked this even though they didn't get to eat it. And I think they preferred not getting their hands in it!

- just hanging out

Thanksgiving Weekend is also Western's lectureship and we were happy to have the Pippus Crew spend the weekend with us. We went to Wascana Park and Candy Cane Park - the weather was fantastic.

Megan and Liam

Katie and Megan

Pippus Family

The boys

The kids had a lot more story times with 4 more people to read to them! not to mention play with them and just enjoy them. It was very sweet to see. They are lucky boys.

So cute...

and the more telling picture - chaos!!

A little football at the park

Katie and Dylan

This past friday we had movie night. Our first official one. I loved seeing the boys all in a row with their snack watching a cartoon movie. Nothing reminds you of the blessing they are like seeing them all lined up like this.

It's all so good!

Pumpkin Hollow

2010-10-04T12:39:00.005-06:00

We took a few pictures this past weekend. We went out to Pumpkin Hollow and had a really fun day. Here's some of those pics.

We started at the Pumpkin Patch.

Next stop was the Cowtrain.

Caden went twice. The first time, Liam sat with him. I took Dylan and Justin rode with Evan. We took up half the train! The kids liked it ok but Liam cried for most of it. It was a short ride though. He was fine. The second time around was a little later and it happened to be at a lull in the line so Caden was able to get a ride just for him. He was pretty pleased about that. He was also able to ring the bell this time.

Next we went through the Corn Maze.

We eventually made it out of the maze. Caden was pretty proud when he found the exit. Go on to the next entry for the last few pictures from our day at Pumpkin Hollow.

Pumpkin Hollow - Part Two - Playing in the Hay Bales

2010-10-04T12:19:00.008-06:00

They had a hale bale sitting out for the kids to play on and so they climbed and jumped and rolled around. All the kids had lots of fun on it.

Potty Training?

2010-09-29T08:42:00.004-06:00

So - I have potty trained or helped to potty train what seems like a zillion kids. I start at 18 months and within a few months they are trained. Caden was a little longer since we moved and had three babies in that period for him. Not to mention it is tougher with your own than with someone elses, BUT, even with daycare - I have never potty trained 3 at once. I am mentally working up to this next project but it seems a little daunting, not to mention time consuming and patience challenging. One day at a time right? Wish me luck!

He's here!

2010-09-25T08:52:00.002-06:00

We have a new nephew! He was born last night and James and Nic are sharing their news and some pictures on their blog if want to take a gander at the cute little guy. Congratulations to you guys!

this past week

2010-09-24T08:46:00.003-06:00

What a week! Starting last friday - we had a chili supper party for the Riders/Stampeders game. Justin and Caden wore their red but as it turns out, Justin appears to be our good luck charm. He says he's never gone to a rider game or watched one with other people where they didn't win. It was an 'almost' loss but luckily we had people over so Justin's curse held true and the Riders won!

I got to go out saturday afternoon and have lunch and do a little shopping with a girlfriend - had a kid break. It was nice.

Since my days sort of run together I'll just say that we had my parents down for a night and got to go out for supper with them (thanks to Andrea for watching all 4 boys and at the last minute too!). We had a good showing out at Mom's and Tots this week. We had a soup potluck - YUMMY - and lots of fun to see everyone.

I had a coffee night out with some girlfriends - good conversation (oh - how I crave good conversation these days - and no, "will you wipe my bum" doesn't count). I got a million groceries last night - we were out of everything.

I had some frustrating moments - feeling trapped at home. It's hard not being able to just go out and run an errand right when I want to!

Evan has completed a 15 day stretch of only waking up on every second night (my nights of course). Justin hasn't had to get out of bed with him for ages and I am up at least once, sometimes twice. It's tough to not get that good sleep but, more than that, it worries me that at 22 months he still gets woken up. I wish I knew why. And I wish he would stop soon because he will be moved to a bed in a month or two. I would like him to be sleeping well by then. The other two never wake up in the night so that's good.

Caden started t-ball and had a super good time. Chattered about it all night after he got home. Last night he got to go bowling. He and Justin went with Tim McMillan and his boys , Elijah and Michael. They all had lots of fun. Check out Tim's blog for a picture.

It's funny - Caden keeps randomly listing off things he wants to do. One this summer was "I want to go canoing". That was doable so they went. He had mentioned bowling a few times. But this week, he comes out of his room in the middle of getting dressed and says "mom. I want to explore a cave". Ah, ok. So we add it to his list. He also wants to fly in an airplane and he wants to see the grand canyon. Funny kid!

Most exciting of all - we are getting a nephew (on the Mooney side) today!! Can't wait. What a full and great week!

Coloring

2010-09-19T20:39:00.002-06:00

I'd like to treat the kids the same as I would if there was only one almost 2 year old, instead of three. In the world of crafts (especially painting ) I haven't done that. I'm kinda scared to bring out all that crazy mess making stuff with them but we did it at daycare! So - I am trying to do it more. Coloring with crayons is nice and safe and we decided to do that on one of our many rainy days last week.

Dylan was pretty into it and I ended up with a few pictures to put up on the fridge.

Evan had more fun playing with and sorting the pencil crayons.

Caden has started showing more interest in crafts lately. I'm glad. He was never really into it before but now he wants to make stuff and try things.

Liam just played with the crayons for a while and then started chucking them around.

If only it would have lasted for more than 10 minutes!

My big boys

2010-09-15T07:55:00.004-06:00

The little kids are so adorable at this age (22 months). Oh my goodness. I can't stop hugging them and I just want to squish them, they are so sweet. Liam dances around all the time. He works out with me in the mornings and does the moves pretty well actually! Evan is so observant. When we sweep he waits and then runs to open the garbage can for us to dump the dust pan. He also gets upset when things aren't the way they should be. He'll stand and point until we respond by putting something where it was supposed to go or other things like that. Dylan seems to be getting bigger faster these days. He's up to Caden's chin already. He's very logical and I can already sort of explain things to him and he seems to get it or to listen. He's also very stubborn and hard headed so there are times when he doesn't want to listen and fights me on something. They love to run and watch their dad come home at the end of the day. He gets quite a greeting from his 4 boys. It's pretty sweet. Dylan cries when I leave the house and Evan and Liam cry when Justin leaves. Liam can actually say "I love you" now and is probably getting tired of us making him do it. But, oh my goodness, it's so cute.

Caden is so big and smart and energetic. He is asking how to tell time and what day it is, what month it is. He's figuring out what time of day it is. He's always asking, is it naptime? Is it bed time (he's getting confused on that because of it getting darker earlier. He asked that yesterday, while we were at the table eating supper :) ). He loves preschool. He told me yesterday that he was feeling shy to meet new people. But when we got there, after hesitating to go in for about 20 seconds, he went right in and started playing and I left. He's so social, he can't be shy for long.

So, the kids seem to be doing well. There are always the struggles but that's being a mom right? They still get up too early and fight A LOT. We still bicker about how much tv to watch and what we are eating. Even Liam points at the TV and says the word "tv". Oh brother!

I love them so much and can't believe that this is my family! How lucky am I!!

YUM

2010-09-13T16:39:00.003-06:00

Sweet Potato Soup is Delicious. I got around to making some today and all I can say is YUM!. I can't eat with the kids - it's still too crazy and so I usually eat after but this time I couldn't wait and just ate it early. I savoured every warm comforting bite while standing at the window watching the kids play in the backyard, dressed in their jeans and hoodies and having lots of fun. Fall has its perks. Caden and I also made Zucchini Cake and Zucchini bread today together while the little kids napped. It's been a really nice day. Oh - and it started pretty good too. Last night at 12:30 Caden came into our room and said "I love you guys!" and then just went back to bed. Huh.

A few pics

2010-09-11T15:26:00.003-06:00

Here's a couple pictures of the little boys from this week.

The kids watching daddy come into the house...

and then running to the door.

This isn't what these are for!

Evan has this happy look on his face most of the time (when he's not mad about something). People always comment on how happy he seems.

Preschool

2010-09-09T15:45:00.002-06:00

Caden sort of started preschool today. It was an orientation day. We went together and met the new teacher. She is fabulous!! I still love the stations and beginning of the new year in an early childhood setting; All the little tables and craft boards, waiting for paintings and stuff. She already had fun things set up to do and I really think Caden is absolutely going to love it. I'm quite excited for him! Not to mention myself. He is in the afternoon class which means that twice a week Caden will be at school at the same time that the little boys are napping. I'm giddy with glee about that one!

Fall

2010-09-09T09:41:00.005-06:00

I wasn't really ready for fall to come yet - summer seemed even shorter than usual. I'm settling into it though and trying to enjoy it. I do like this time of getting into routines and starting up new activities. Caden starts preschool today. I think he'll really enjoy that. We'll be registering him for skating lessons tonight. It's nice to have things going on, to some degree. At the same time - I don't want to overdo it. I was realizing that in a couple more years, I will likely have about 16 years of running kids to activities. So - no rush!!

The kids look cute in their sweats and warmer clothes. Went through everything last week and put away summer stuff, got rid of pants and shirts that had grown too small over the past couple of months. Pulled out the bigger stuff (Because of some of you wonderful people out there, I get to shop at home. We have been given so much - I can't say enough how much we appreciate it!) and found that we have boots that fit, lots of shoes to fit everyone, fall jackets and winter jackets for everyone. We are in pretty good shape without even having to shop.

I figured out halloween costumes for the kids last night. We have enough that fit, just here in our dressup box (thanks to you that passed those down as well!). I won't always be able to get away with dressing them up the way I want but for now - it'll be what we have.

I also dug out my old fall decorations. Can't put a whole lot out because of the kids still wanting to play with everything but I like to do a few things.

Another silver lining for the weather changing and the time of year - The kids slept until 7:35 this morning. That is pretty unheard of these days. The darker mornings will benefit us that way I expect.

I'm also really excited to make soup. I love soup on a cool day. If you have any great recipes for cozy fall soups - let me know!

2nd Annual Northwest Church of Christ Retreat

2010-09-07T11:55:00.006-06:00

For the second year in a row we headed out to Clearview Camp for our church retreat. This was just this past weekend and it was really fun. I never know how things are going to go with all these little kids and can't help but be a little nervous but at the same time, I'm determined to do as much with them as I can and to not limit their life experiences because it's harder with 3 the same age. So - we went out there and had a really good time. It's nice to get to spend bigger chunks of time with our church family and for the kids to get to know everyone better. It was so nice to see them hanging out with all of these people and having so much fun. Nights were a lot better than last year. They woke up early still but at least they slept through the night. Last year we were still giving them the occasional bottle at night and I had to bring all our formula and stuff. Yikes. This year they could run around so we brought our play yard but we didn't end up needing to use it. It was great. Meals were tough because my times to eat were either when they were eating, which is nearly impossible or when they were done which was impossible because once they were done, they were outta there. I never ate so fast in my life! :) It was wonderful though to have lots of people around to help out and to get a few breaks.

Another nice thing for us, was seeing our kids loving it at Clearview Christian Camp. We have so many memories there from when we were kids at camp, to when we were counsellors and then, as adults during our time on the board (ok - Justin's time on the board) when we spent weekend after weekend out there with good friends. We love it there and are excited to share it with our kids. They all loved it out there too. It was great. We did get some rain but not until later on. I didn't take very many pictures but here are a few.

Funny things I don't want to forget

2010-09-03T11:32:00.003-06:00

I'm quickly going to write down a couple of funny things that Caden has said the last couple of days.

1. Caden, after doing a #2 in the bathroom, "Hey mom, did you know that poop can be cool?"

2. Caden, after hearing about a couple of bikes being stolen out of our friends' garage "who would do that?, that's terrible" and then after thinking for a couple of minutes...

"maybe it was the guys that killed Jesus on the cross...."

oh -there was another one and I lost it already. If I think of it, I'll come back.

Lucky Lucky Me

2010-08-26T10:06:00.002-06:00

Caden and I are filling the pools today and I realized that lots of kids are starting school this week or next and that this is my last summer to not have to worry about that. Wow. So - while some kids are going to school, mine are in the backyard playing in the pool. How lucky are we? And how lucky am I that I get to play outside with my kids on a hot summer day and I don't have to be in an office. Sure, I am busy and there is lots to do but I don't have to answer to anyone. Someday, I'll be back at work wishing I could be home. That's a while away, likely. And maybe when I'm doing that we'll be able to travel and eat out and go to the fair :) but in the meantime I guess we sacrifice some stuff for 'the good stuff', like the song by Kenny Chesney talks about. THIS is the good stuff, family and friends and summertime. LOVE IT.

Most of you know that I worked in a couple of daycare centers before I had kids and we cooked meals, made snacks, washed floors, vacuumed, dusted. All of that stuff. I remember wishing I was at home with my own kids so that at the end of the day it was MY house that was washed, dusted and vacuumed. Well, here I am! And surrounded by the cutest and funniest kids ever. Lucky lucky me!

2010-08-23T11:21:00.002-06:00

I really don't have a whole lot to report these days. We are just hanging out, playing in the yard or doing a little work around the house when we get a chance.

I did move the three boys into their room together. We went to my parents' place a week or so ago and the three boys shared a room there. I'm not sure what the trick was but the room was darker and cooler than their room here and we used our sound machine while we were there. Evan slept wonderfully. Hardly stirred all night and slept til a decent time in the morning. I must remind you that my boys are 21 months old, almost 2 and we still haven't been getting to sleep through the night. I have felt very frustrated and discouraged about that. So, anyway, we came home and that night, Evan was up 3 times throughout the night. UGH.

So, while Justin was at work that day, I moved Evan's crib out of Caden's room and back over to the bedroom with Dylan and Liam. I duct taped the sides of the curtains (they are black out curtains but they stick out too far from the wall) to the window frames. That night I made sure it was cool and that the sound machine was on. Evan's sleeping has completely changed - for the better. Caden likes to have a night light so that might have been the issue. I don't know. But all three boys pretty much sleep 11 hours. This has been a week now. What a relief! I can't believe that it works, having all 3 of them together. They do wake each other up in the mornings but since that is usually between 7 and 730 - I don't mind at all.

This will probably all change again when we move them into big boy beds but I'm going to enjoy the sleep for a few months first!

A burst of energy

2010-08-10T20:31:00.004-06:00

I have been so very tired for so very long. I'm starting to take more vitamins and force myself to get more sleep. What this means is that I just don't get done as much as I could - if I was energized. But out of nowhere - today - I had an energy burst and got a whole bunch of random things off my list and outta my head. Feels good! I love a day like that.

It poured rain this morning and was really humid out this afternoon. We got out though - went for a walk and a slurpee. I feel summer slipping away. I wonder how many days of playing in the pool and wearing shorts are left? We're loving every minute of it while it lasts.

Fall is around the corner and with that comes potty training, moving the kids out of cribs and into beds and getting them off of their soothers. Don't those all sound like a tonne of fun? It'll be an adventure anyway. So many changes - they are getting so big. Wow.

Dress up

2010-08-09T14:56:00.002-06:00

Dylan and Liam got into the costumes the other day and just like the big kids, wanted to put them on. The kids are so active and so imaginative now. I love the way they want to try everything they can. Discovering their world.

The Sandbox

2010-08-05T09:54:00.001-06:00

We finally finished putting in a bit of a sandbox for the kids. We still need a little more sand but this is one of the things keeping the kids busy now this summer. Lots of fun.