Keona's 8th birthday!

For some reason, 8 sounds so much older to me! I can't believe my "baby" is EIGHT!???



So, last Saturday Keona had a friends over for a little party. It was supposed to be a 'picnic in the park' theme, but it ended up pouring all day long... so we had a picnic in our living room! :)


It was nice to have a party with just a few friends, instead of the 20 kids we've done in past years! :S They played for a while, had some food and cake, and then we did some games before everyone went home. To finish off the night, all the kids watched Star Wars with Dad... lol



Yesterday was her real birthday. She picked french toast, bacon and eggs for her breakfast- peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch- chicken fingers, rice, corn and peas for dinner- and coconut cream pie for dessert!

(Jeddy blew out most of the candles before we finished singing happy birthday...)




Scott was pleased with that!



Then she got her presents from Mom and Dad. Her very own flat iron (which she has wanted for a while now...and she has already burnt her sister's ear with!)





... and a purse. She looked like such a little lady to me carrying her purse around last night...complete with a wallet and change purse, brush, Kleenex, lip gloss, sunglasses, notebook and pens, cream, mints, and an umbrella! Which should come in handy since it has been raining EVERY day!



It's hard to believe it has been 8 years since that very looong night in the hospital...I couldn't ask for a better 'oldest sister' and helper. I'm extremely proud of her.


So a happy 8th birthday to my little lady!

Swimming Lessons

This has been a BUSY week! I knew it was going to be when I signed 5 kids up for swimming lessons everyday of the week at 10am! :) Today was the last day and they all did wonderfully! Keona passed Red Cross Swim Kids 2! She really enjoys it, and she had the same teacher as in swim kids 1... She adored him, and he is great with the kids. I think she may have found her sport! It seems to come naturally to her...she is actually swimming! :D

She was actually happy at swimming...she just wasn't expecting this picture....

Funny how when I was pregnant with the triplets I thought about how neat it would be to have identicals, and how fun it would be to dress them alike....yet I never thought about how much attention it would bring! Every single Mom at the swimming pool commented on them. I heard, "You sure have your hands full!" More times than I could count, and the ones who didn't comment... I saw point or heard whisper, ".....triplets....." lol. There aren't any paparazzi or anything but I feel like I'm out with celebrities! lol

Now, none of this would have been possible without my new best friend! :) On Monday I pumped and left Ella with Scott...but it was a hassle and I didn't really feel up to doing it again.... so we brought her. Which would have been difficult in a stroller or car seat, but not in my brand new sling that Scott bought me! It just looks like a bag from the outside...

...but on the inside! :)

She LOVES it! Which is extremely helpful considering she hates her carseat and the stroller! Not to mention, my hands are free! So while she sleeps in her "womb like" setting I can help the kids get changed after swimming and carry bags etc...

How did I ever live without it!?!?

Flashback Friday: Our Wedding

Hard to believe it has been over 8 years...

Look at little Robbie! :)

Boys will be boys...

I had forgotten what it was like to have a 2 year old boy around the house...until this week! Jeddy has been into EVERYTHING! We had installed a gate by the stairs for Nicole, but it worked out to be kind of nice for Jed too. He couldn't get out unless one of his sisters opened it! Well, that didn't last too long...

Jed and Elijah have actually begun to fight as well... I watched them push and then continue on to hit and kick each other the other day... all the while yelling, "Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" "No!" Just like some sort of cartoon....honestly.

Elijah has broken out of his "quiet boy" shell and become quite mischievous lately. I think 'almost 2 year old Jed' may be rubbing off on him!

Elijah was building a tower out of lego...

...and not 3 seconds after I took this picture, Jeddy kicked it over and lego went flying everywhere.

If I had a penny for every time I heard one of the kids yell, "JEEEEDDY!!!!!!!!!"

I'd be rich...

It has been a looooong week....

Flashback Friday: Typical picture...

This is pretty much how every picture I tried to take when the kids were all younger turned out.... I love looking back at them, and seeing how their personalities haven't changed.

Keona being crazy at the last moment... Eve sitting and smiling nicely for me...Charity just not really into it, but doing it for my sake...Prayer being a "laughable" as her sisters call her...and Elijah trying to get away...

So....typical.

Wii!

A while back we had decided to get the girls (all 4 of them) a Wii for their birthdays. Since we have all 4 in July it seemed to make sense. We hadn't realized how hard it was to find a Wii though... Scott managed to get a hold of one about a month ago and we've had it hidden in our closet since then. Resisting the urge to "try it out" before giving it to the kids! ;)

Then we decided we should get them the "Fit" system to go with it...well, we soon learned that it was 10x harder to find a Fit than it is to find the Wii! After calling every Walmart and Toys R' Us in Durham...we found a Future Shop that had just gotten a shipment that morning! The Supercentre had also gotten a shipment in, but sold out 15 minutes after opening!
Anyways, this past Saturday we had a family birthday BBQ for our girls and Sarah. They were extremely excited when they opened the Wii! Despite the fact that Scott had convinced them we bought them each their own cell phone... :? lol. (Keona was hoping hers was black!...)

Scott and I had set it all up on Friday night so they could play right away on Saturday. We were both still sore the next day from boxing! Man... it's tiring.

They boxed with eachother...

And Papa... who almost punched Keona in the back of the head for real! lol

Elijah did get hit in the face while walking behind Scott and Adam bowling...dangerous stuff....but so much fun to watch! :)

We all slept very well Saturday night.

I give Wii a definite 2 thumbs up... great exercise and entertainment, for kids and adults! :)

VBS

The kids just finished a fun filled week of Vacation Bible School! They rode the big red bus this year. They were so excited to get to go out to the street every morning and wait for the bus to pick them up!

Not to mention, they got to be as loud as they wanted and eat tons of snacks on there too!

It was Elijah's first time going this year. I was a little nervous about sending him because of how shy he can be, but I figured he'd be OK with his big sisters there. And he was...after the first day he came home and told me he was Miss. Rachel's boyfriend. And he continually chanted "Rachel is the be-est! Rachel rules, Dustin drools!" All night long...LOL

The girls had invited all their friends in our neighbourhood, and 2 of them ended up going with them. Our next door neighbour Nicole, went with Keona and got saved the last day on the bus! Keona was ecstatic that two of her friends she has been praying for are now saved. She once again used her money and bought Nicole her own Bible. She's following in Daddy's footsteps...I'm just waiting for her to come home one day and tell me she needs a new Bible because she gave hers to someone who didn't have one...

Flashback Friday: Sweep, sweep, sweep!

Scott and his Dad going to watch the Leafs sweep a playoff series. :)

Gummy Smiles

I really miss those "gummy" smiles when they start to get their teeth in...Those first few smiles that aren't just from gas! Ella has just started to respond to us. She is happiest first thing in the morning when she sees all of brohers and sisters. It's fun to watch her look at them, and get all worked up and smiley. The girls think it is the sweetest thing, and are constantly trying to get her to smile now! So I just thought I would share pictures of some of her first smiles!

Even Jed has started to take notice of her more now...

Trio's birthday party!

Last Saturday we had the birthday party for Charity, Eve and Prayer. We decided to make it an "outdoor" party to avoid all the cleaning that has to come before, and all the mess that is left after... it turned out to be a good idea. All the kids had a great time and it was a perfect day out. Not a cloud in the sky! They played games, chased Scott with water bombs, ate cake, and a ton of watermelon.

We had also decided to do face painting...which may have been a better idea on a cooler day. All of the paints melted in the sun! It was quite a mess by the time I finished the last face.... But the kids still thought it was great!


Jed was exhausted from running around in the heat and he actually fell asleep on our swing twice during the party!

Scott and Elijah were a little hyper by the end of the day... I got these pictures of them and just had to laugh... oh man. It's a little bit scary! LOL



I just have to add this because I think it's cute! Notice their milk...

Happy 6th Birthday!!!

Six years ago at this time I was recovering in my hospital bed, wanting nothing more than to go hold my precious little 4lb babies. I remember sitting in bed and looking at the Polaroids the nurses had taken for me....and sending Scott, over and over again, to the NICU to check on the babies and make sure everything was OK. I remember being positive that they had mixed the babies up and the one they were calling Charity was actually Eve...lol. What memories....

People ask me what it was like to have triplet babies, and honestly- I have a hard time remembering! Which makes me sad.... Things were definitely busy...not chaotic...just busy.

Charity was always 'Daddy's girl'. She loved to be cuddled and was so content to sleep with Daddy. She is a definite 'people pleaser'.

Eve was our biggest, at 4lbs 1oz. That girl liked to eat! We use to joke that Eve never spit up because she didn't believe in wasting food! Eve is a sweetheart. An 'old soul'.

Prayer was always causing a stir. She refused to latch for a good while. She choked on her vitamins and had us in a panic...Now she is just crazy! Still, she is always up to something!

It has been amazing to watch them grow. To see the relationship they have with eachother and how inseparable they are. They can't sleep alone...they've never had to. I remember how they use to sleep side by side in the crib and they would suck on the back of eachother's heads when they woke up and were looking to nurse. lol. They still sleep side by side, or sometimes stacked three high! So many memories...way too many to list here!

I feel blessed to have been chosen to be their mother.

So Happy Birthday to my three beautiful 6 year olds!

Flashback Friday: "It's a bird! It's a plane!"....

No!

It's... super Jed!!

Here Comes Trouble....

Today....we had an adventure.

After lunch I got the kids ready and took them outside. Nicole was getting tired and a little cranky, so I brought her back in to put her down for a nap. Jeddy followed me in, and then came back out a minute or two after me. (he was drinking his water when I came down so I just went outside to watch the other kids)

About half an hour later, we cleaned up and I went to put the phone inside so I could help....the door was locked! Just last week we had a new door installed, and I forgot that this one has a lock on the knob that can be locked from inside so when you close the door you can't get back in! Jeddy must have locked the knob before coming back out! I immediately start to panic...(on the inside anyhow...I don't want the kids to see that I'm panicking!) I check all the windows and of course they're all locked...we have the AC on all day. So I call Scott, the only other person with the new key....and no answer! I don't know why... but I call my Mom... no...there is nothing she can do about it lol...I was just freaking out. We had ordered pizza and it was going to be there in a few minutes. So I think, "I'll just pay the pizza guy...and we can eat outside...WAIT...the money is inside too! What am I going to tell the pizza guy!???" "Well....we could just get in the van and drive somewhere...NOPE...my keys are INSIDE....duh!" "Oh my goodness... Nicole is inside!!!" Now I'm REALLY freaking out...and decide that I'm going to try and remove the glass pane that's beside the front door. I can't find anything to use outside and Robbie is asking me if I want him to break a window...LOL I go to ask the neighbour for a screwdriver and he says, "What kind?" I'm like...any kind! lol...I explained to him what happened and he said he'd come take a look.... He takes out his wallet and says, "Not that I've ever done this before..." 30 seconds later he pops the door open with his credit card... YES!!! We're inside! I'm ready to hurt Jeddy...but we're inside!

I thanked our neighbour ... and decided that I'm buying a chain lock for our door....What a day.

Happy Canada Day!

...and Happy 21st Birthday to my beautiful sister Sarah! Wow, it doesn't seem long ago when you were turning 10, and so excited to be in the 'double digits'! lol

I LOVE my kids. Not only do I love my kids... but I really LIKE my kids too! :) Scott and I had a great day with them today. We took the kids up to Port Perry for a Canada day celebration in Palmer's Park, which is right on Lake Scugog. Gorgeous park... anyhow, it actually wasn't as busy as we expected. They all lined up to get their faces painted, everyone wanted to except for Prayer... who ended up changing her mind last minute when she saw all of her sisters'. Elijah was super excited to look like spiderman! lol

We had a pizza picnic and then decided to head down to Grandma's for a bit before the fireworks.

We all went to the park together and told the kids that they would NOT be getting wet in the splash pad...

Yep... Scott started it.

But they had so much fun! And it was hilarious to watch. Jeddy ran back into the park after and had sand stuck all over his legs...and Elijah kept asking me, "Do I still look like spiderman!??" Not to mention he was very upset to see the red paint all over his "new favourite shirt"!

We dried clothes and had snacks at Grandma's and then headed back up to Port Perry. It was a lot busier now, but we found a nice spot. The kids were given Canadian flags and pins, and we waited for the fireworks to start... I haven't been since I was a really little kid, so I was excited too! :) It was a great show!

Poor Ella jumped with every blast that went off! lol

The kids were in awe, and couldn't wait to draw pictures of the fireworks! They were already planning Canada Day for next year on the way home! :)