It Takes a Village

We so frequently visit family, but I don't post enough pictures. We had an eventful week visiting both sides of the family. Jackson accompanied his uncle and cousin to the lake on Saturday. Jesse and I took the trio to Jesse's parents to meet up with Jackson later that evening. 

James and Amelia are unimpressed by the chickens.

Jack and his MiMi share a snack.

James, Amelia, and Maddie took turns swinging.

Most PaPa's have a spare organ in their shed, right?

Maddie gets to "ride" the lawn mower.

On Sunday we attended church and a potluck lunch afterwards. All four kids have been in the nursery since they were a month old. The church nursery volunteer staff increased to accommodate our increasing family. While Jesse and I frequently disagree over church, I take great comfort and confidence in knowing that my children will be held, read to, and loved by so many members of our congregation.

After lunch we drove just over an hour to my brother's house for a birthday party. It was apparently a swim party, though I didn't get the memo. Thankfully, my sister brought a spare suit and towel for Jack. The kids wore themselves out in the pool before pigging out on hamburgers and hotdogs.

Hesitant to go swimming??

James is ready to dive in.

Jack spent most of his pool time in his Uncle John's arms.

Michael and James

Sisters holding sisters

❤

This blanket comes in so handy! It's big, but still not big enough for all the cousins.

Bubble fun

Ethan and Amelia

My two favorite 5th graders (for a few more days, at least)

Between friends, family, and church family, we are very blessed to have a large village to help raise our kids.

Easter Commentary and Collages

Easter 2014 was a marathon of egg hunts, driving, and overeating. What should have been a joyous holiday celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord turned into a chain of stressful to do lists. Nothing was necessarily bad, I just didn't have my usual feelings that my heart would burst with enthusiasm and love for Christ.

Here's why Holy Week was a bit off this year:
Thursday-Maundy Thursday is my absolute favorite church service of the year. Every year I find myself in tears during the stripping of the alter.  Departing in silence provokes such powerful emotions and helps prepare my mind for the awe of Easter weekend. (If I can find a service that incorporates washing of the feet, it's even better!) Instead of attending the beloved service this year, I celebrated my niece turning eleven with a family birthday party. Again, this was a fun occasion that I would always choose over church, but it still left me missing Maundy Thursday.

Friday-I woke up in the wee hours of Good Friday to Maddie vomiting in her sleep, then Jackson throwing up later that evening. I'm not entirely sure either were virus related as they were completely isolated, one-time occurrences. Even still, their vomiting sent me into a state of total paranoia, which caused Jesse to get frustrated and angry at me. I was happy to escape to the Good Friday service, though the stations of the cross/drama was changed because of pouring rain.

Saturday-Despite a good morning, the day ended poorly.

• Our huge egg hunt with my extended family was cancelled due to heavy rain. I'm not sure if the kids or adults were more disappointed.
• Even though the year anniversary has already passed, it was a few days shy of Easter last year when my sister-in-law died. Apparently Easter is now a reminder of her absence. A literal and figurative cloud hung over us all day.
• I spent most of Lent in prayer and reflection trying to admit my shortcomings and accept others offers for help.  Ironically, I found myself stubbornly alone and completely stressed out while Jesse and his mother went to dinner and a concert. The event had been planned for quite some time and they both deserved a chance to enjoy such a fun evening. Still, I turned into quite the curmudgeon as one thing after another went wrong throughout the day.  I still had the sole responsibility of baking cakes, stuffing eggs, assembling Easter baskets, cleaning the house, washing clothes, etc.  I ended the season of Lent the exact same way I began...completely overwhelmed and ungrateful. So much for personal transformation.

Sunday-Easter itself was as busy and fun as always, but I can no longer pretend like it doesn't bother me that Jesse and I have different beliefs. Once again, I attended church sans Jesse.  I fear religion will divide our family, when it was once an issue that united us.

...............

Thankfully, amidst my many less than wonderful feelings, there were plenty of smiles to be shared.  We enjoyed visiting family, overindulging in food, dressing the babies up, etc. I'm confident that the children felt happy and loved, which is my priority. The highlights included:

...an indoor Easter egg hunt, coloring, story time, and snacks at our brother and sister in-laws' church on Saturday. Jackson got to hang out with his cousin/best bud, Levi. The babies were loved on by their aunt and uncle. Everyone got to play with eggs and have fun.

...Easter morning egg hunt and opening of Easter gifts. The babies each received a new outfit, small bath toy, squeezable fruit pouch, bag of yogurt melts, and pacifier. Jackson received a chocolate bunny, slap bracelet, farm animal figurines, candy bracelets, and Candy Land game.  Even though Jackson just turned three, this is his fourth Easter. Jesse and I decided three is the perfect age for simple egg hunts.

...church egg hunt, story, crafts, and service. This was no different than the usual church sponsored egg hunt, but it was fun for the kids to be surrounded by their church family. I also appreciated the fact that the eggs were stuffed with bracelets, stickers, beads, and small crafts. The ground was very wet so Jackson wore his rainboots. He was very serious about hunting for eggs!



...Easter lunch with my side of the family. In lieu of the traditional meal, we had a cookout this year. The weather warmed up considerably which allowed us to have yet another egg hunt. Additional entertainment included a play performed by my adorably talented nieces. I say it all the time, but my kids are beyond blessed to have such incredible aunts, uncles, and cousins.

...Easter dinner with Jesse's side of the family. My phone died and I didn't think to bring a charger, so I don't have any pictures. We had a more traditional meal (pork, mac-n-cheese, potatoes, rolls, green beans). I provided some unattractive, but tasty desserts. All four kids received ample attention, in addition to a stuffed animal and sweets (courtesy of their MiMi).

After being on the road for ten hours, we were all ready to head home and go to bed.

Birthday Duck in Collages

Last Thursday we celebrated the fifth birthday of my favorite duck, aka niece, Lucy. Since ducks are her passion, it was to be expected that she requested a birthday cake with ducks in water. We picked out a design and flavors the week before. I baked the cake Thursday morning and let Lucy et al decorate the cake. I love watching my sous-chefs in action!

Lucy requested to continue her birthday celebrations on Sunday with a trip to our favorite kid's museum.  This was especially fun because it was the first time Jesse was able to join us. The trio were able to explore textured boards, drive tractors and cars, get shots from Dr. Jack, dress up, look in the mirror, and more.

James, Amelia, and Madeline entertained themselves at the water table while Jesse supervised Jackson and his cousins in the other areas. The girls were so much more interactive than they have been in the past.  It's been fascinating to watch their development over the past few months as their sense of surroundings has broadened.

I loved having two excuses to play with nieces and nephews and to celebrate birthdays!

Our Week in Collages

I try to keep blog posts topical in theme rather than random lists from our day.  By the end of this week I ended up with 100+ pictures of things I meant to share but never did because they didn't fit with the rest of my posts.  Each collage deserves its own post, but I don't have time for that.  It's been a busy week with lots of activities.  Here are some of the highlights of our adventures.

Field Trip to the Aquarium

An aquarium recently opened just a few minutes from our house.  I'd been wanting to take Jackson, but not for $21 per ticket! Jackson's preschool scheduled a field trip with discounted rates.  It ended up being $10 for the whole family, and we got to invite friends!  The aquarium was interesting and a nice change of scenery from our usual outings.  There was an impressive touch tank, variety of sea life, and intricate displays. With that said, I walked away feeling perfectly content to never go back again.  The crowds, narrow walkways, and lighting proved to be over stimulating for Jackson.  He sat in the stroller the latter half of the trip and even closed his eyes and covered his ears at the very end. The babies were bright eyed initially, but fell asleep after an hour.

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Food Exploration

• I tried three new recipes this week.  The Irish soda bread was really flavorful and moist but very crumbly and hard to slice. The Guinness stew had a thick broth and rich, hearty flavor.  I won't be repeating it often though since it takes so long to make and requires us to buy Guinness. The winning recipe of the week ended up being completely improvised. I have all my shredded chicken to use and wanted to try enchiladas for the first time.  I combined an 8 oz package of cream cheese, 3 cups of shredded chicken, and half a can of rotel mix for the filling.  I filled 10 tortillas, rolled them up, and placed them in a casserole dish.  Then I mixed the remainder of the rotel with an enchilada seasoning packet and smothered the tortillas with it.  I sprinkled cheddar cheese on top of the boys' enchiladas and baked on 350 for 20 minutes.  SO good!
• Jackson surprised me one morning this week by climbing the pantry and refrigerator and pouring his own cereal and milk for breakfast.  He didn't make the slightest mess.  However, Jesse asked me the next day what was in the milk carton.  Jackson said, "I drop my spoon in there.  It not come out." Ha!
• The babies have been devouring everything they can get their hands on.  This week they have eaten all the usual purees along with scrambled eggs, waffles, enchiladas, and strawberry yogurt.  Graham crackers still prove to be the biggest hit.
• A friend of a family member is an overproducer and donated over 300 oz of breastmilk for the triplets.  I'm happy to have been able to both donate and now receive milk.  It makes me feel connected as women/mothers in such a powerful way. 

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IKEA

Jackson and I used to go to IKEA every single Monday. We stopped going once they stopped offering free breakfast.  After the fiasco with the van on Wednesday, I was determined to go somewhere.  I found myself at IKEA, which was completely for me rather than the kids. I love walking through the showrooms and fantasizing about having a library one day, bunk beds for the boys, perfectly organized walk-in closets, and so on.  We browsed through the children's area, played in the tents, binged on 75¢ hot dogs, and purchased a play mat for Jackson's cars and trains. 

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"Castle Park"

When I was in labor with Jackson, I drove a half hour to visit my sisters.  I was having regular contractions and knew that walking was the best thing I could do, so I drove to our childhood park and walked.  I walked for miles.  Jackson was born twelve hours later.

Even though I visit my sisters weekly, I've only been back to that park once since Jackson was born.  I thought it would be fun and nostalgic to spend the afternoon there.  I brought the wagon, but the damn wheel fell off again as I was unloading it in the parking lot.  I was totally ill prepared to care for four children, but was determined to enjoy ourselves since we were already there.  I wore Maddie in the Ergo, put Amelia in a random umbrella stroller, carried James, and ran after Jackson.  My arms felt like butter.  Thankfully, my sister and niece came to the rescue to provide relief and entertainment.  Alas, we had a great afternoon after all.

Joy To the World: Christmas Collage



Christmas morning was everything it should be for a kid: sense of wonder, anticipation, and appreciation.  On December 23, Jesse assembled bicycles and the babies' toy while I wrapped all the gifts.  We knew Christmas Eve would be a busy evening spent with family and stuffing our faces.  We got home after 9 PM, put the kids to bed, then displayed all the presents.

Jesse used a free Kringl app that overlay Santa on a recording of our living room.  We showed it to Jackson as soon as he awoke on Christmas morning.  I would have LOVED this as a kid!

We chose to let the babies continue sleeping and give Jackson our undivided attention while he opened his presents.  Jackson didn't quite know what to do with himself once downstairs.  He immediately looked at the gifts, walked to the pantry, and requested something to eat.  After a few minutes he began digging into his gifts. 

He loved his new drill,

as well as his stocking stuffers.

The babies started fussing shortly after Jackson had finished opening his gifts.  They were much more interested in eating than opening their present.  (FYI, the ball toy was recommended by fellow triplet moms because it has enough space for each baby and accommodates babies that can sit, crawl, pull up, and walk.  The best part was that we purchased it for 66% off.)

Jesse's parents, aka the world's best MiMi and PaPa, came over with breakfast. Before we knew it, it was already time to load everyone up and head to my sister's house.  I am so proud of how mature my nieces and nephews are becoming.  This was the first year we drew names for the kids.  Even though my siblings and I agreed not to do it again, the kids had lots of fun.  My heart was nearly bursting witnessing some of their reactions.  There was such a genuine appreciation and contentment, which is something I rarely exhibited as a child. 

After lunch and presents with my side of the family, we drove an hour to spend Christmas evening with Jesse's family.  This was the first year (at least since I've been around) that Jesse's aunt and uncle also celebrated with us.  The more the merrier!   Our kids are so blessed to have so many people that love them.  There is never a dull moment with a big family.

"I Rejoiced the Day You Were Baptized"

This morning was the long awaited day of baptism for James, Amelia, and Madeline.  I had asked the pastor about baptizing the babies back in September, but he asked to wait until the season of Advent. 

It took a little bit of work to find three baptismal outfits, but the babies were beautifully dressed.  James wore the same outfit Jackson wore when he was baptized.  Amelia wore the family gown that each of my siblings and I wore, as well as my niece and nephew.  Maddie ended up borrowing a friend's dress that both she and her daughter wore.  I love that each outfit was passed down and shared among family and friends. 

Jesse and I had a busy Saturday evening and Sunday morning preparing for the baptism.  We were expecting about 20 family members for lunch at our house after the service.  My mother-in-law graciously provided most of the food, so we only needed to clean, set up tables, and finish last minute preparations. 

The babies were tired, but content.

Our family took up three full pews.  Even though the babies won't have any recollection of their baptism, it's so special to me that they were surrounded by so many loved ones that promise to nurture and guide them.

The actual baptism took place during the children's message.  I appreciated this because it allowed Jackson and his cousins and peers to participate and closely witness the sacrament. James babbled throughout most of the prayers, then cried as the water was sprinkled over his head.  Amelia fussed a bit while the pastor carried her down the aisle.  Maddie was rather indifferent throughout.  All three were fairly content, especially considering none of them had napped prior to the service.

This was the best of the blurry pictures :(

The pastor used a shell to dip the water from the baptismal font and sprinkle it upon their heads.  Each baby was given a rose and the shell as a symbol of their baptism.  I was able to request specific members of the congregation to read scripture and prayers, as well as request the song "I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry".

Immediately after the service, my siblings, in-laws, and nieces and nephews joined us at our home for sandwiches, chips, and cookies.  As always, we all ate too much, yet still had plenty of leftovers. 

I feel so blessed that my children have such strong support from their church family and extended family.  It fills me with joy to be able to celebrate James, Amelia, and Maddie joining the Church and being recognized as children of God.  It is such a privilege and great responsibility to be able to foster a strong faith within my children.

I'll close with the prayer we recited together as a body of Christ.

Beach: Day 3

We wanted to make the most of our morning since it was the last of our weekend getaway.  The plan was to walk on the beach briefly, then go to the pool at 8 a.m.  Apparently the pool didn't open 'til 9, so our brief walk turned into an hour long saga.  The goal was to make it to this pier (which we did). 

Ordinarily, walking along the ocean where the tide comes in is my favorite thing to do at the beach.  I just roll up my pants and let the cool waves crash against my bare feet.  I didn't have the same joy this year.  Let me just tell you what a pain in the ass it is to maneuver a stroller along the sand, especially in the gullies.  The only alternative would have been for Jesse and I to each carry two children.  Jesse kept getting the stroller stuck but I quickly learned the best approach was to turn the stroller around and pull rather than push the wheels further into the sand.  The trick was to go as fast as possible in the gullies so the wheels didn't have time to sink into the sand.

 

 Maddie and Amelia kept each other warm and ended up falling asleep in one another's arms.  LOVE!

Jesse and I literally raced back to the hotel to take family pictures before my brother and sister left.  Here are the cousins (minus two who didn't get to go this year).

After saying "goodbyes" to some of my siblings and their kids, our family headed back to the pool.  James was much more interested in sleeping,

but the girls and I were perfectly content floating around.

Of course, Jesse loved on the babies and Jack, too.

After showers, changing, and packing, it was time for us to say our own farewells. Jackson was so cute.  He kept waving at the workers who were mowing the lawn, then saying, "Bye beach".

We stopped halfway at a McDonald's.  We didn't need to eat; it was just an easy way for Jackson to get some of his energy out and let the babies stretch a bit while we fed and changed them.



We had to go by Jesse's school to pick up his car, then rush home to unpack and cook dinner for company that was coming over that night.  Taking three infants and a toddler to the beach was fun but challenging.  I'm so thankful we had Veteran's Day to recover!

Beach: Day 2

Everyone slept well and awoke in great moods.  Jackson was eager to start his day, so our morning began with an early morning walk along the beach.     

The view from our balcony

My brother and his three kids just so happened to be walking out of their hotel room at the same time, so we were all able to play together. I was relieved because it always helps when there is a 1:1 infant/adult ratio. The babies were indifferent to the ocean since they were getting hungry.  As it turns out, Jackson hates sand in his shoes and on his toes.  This was the last time he walked on the beach barefoot the rest of the trip.

We had planned to enjoy breakfast at our beloved K&W.  (Yes, we are really 80 year olds at heart.)  I was so disappointed to see that our annual tradition was not going to happen as the K&W no longer serves breakfast!  At least we had another 50 breakfast restaurants to select from.  We ended up at the House of Pancakes where all six of us enjoyed eating.  Our amazing waitress was always one step ahead of us and anticipated our needs and wants.

Jackson chowed down on a full size waffle.  He isn't always the best behaved in restaurants, particularly when he has to stay seated for extended periods of time.  Thankfully, he stayed occupied by figuring out how to work the syrup container.

After breakfast, we all got ready for the pool.  The girls' bathing suits were size 12 months, but they still worked. 

I brought the bumbos since they're so compact and lightweight.  I knew the pool could be challenging without help, considering we have four children that can't swim.  The babies were perfectly content waiting their turns before getting into the pool.

Jackson was his typical playful self in the pool.

Swimming wore the kids out.  Jesse and the kids napped while I pumped and uploaded pictures.  We ate sandwiches for lunch, then met up with my siblings at Broadway at the Beach.  Jackson's MiMi had given him $10, which he spent entirely on gummy bears.  Jackson was a "kid in a candy store" in every sense of the phrase, carefully reviewing each sugary option with pure elation.  He proudly handed the cashier his $10 bill and wanted me to take a picture of his candy to send to his MiMi. 

I am always more relaxed around my siblings.  I love the shared responsibility of watching one another's children.  Strangers would have no clue which child belonged to which adult since nieces and nephews flow among the adults within our close-knit family.

I also appreciate the eagerness and maturity of the older kids wanting to help feed the babies and push strollers.

Other highlights of our shopping excursions included time to climb and slide on a playground, watching workers make fudge, and feeding the fish and ducks.

Thankfully I had the foresight to bring my pump in the van because I needed some relief on the way back to the hotel.  Rather than going back up to our room, we headed straight to the beach.

A stranger captured a family photo for us,

then we watched the sunset.

We all piled in my sister's hotel suite for our annual spaghetti dinner.  Seven adults and fifteen children fill a space with constant commotion and endless entertainment.  It was at the same meal last year when Jesse and I announced we were expecting triplets.  What a difference a year makes!

Another annual beach tradition is to get a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts, but only when the "Hot Now" sign is lit.  We concluded our evening with hats, pajamas, TV, and doughnuts.  YUM!