Springs Preserve

This past Halloween, Don and I bought a year pass to the Springs Preserve. We have only been back a few times because of weather or it being a bit too far away, but today we decided it would be a good day to go.

The boys love the play area there. Originally Don didn't like that there was no traditional "playground", but now he has grown to like how the play area is a bit more original. They have a huge sand and water area as well as a train the kids love to jump on and yell, "ALL ABOARD!". Turtle shells that spin seemed to be what Lucas loved and a huge snake made for a fun balance beam.

Since we got there only an hour before closing time, we rushed the kids out of the play area and headed to the Origen Experience where they have a live animal exhibit. Rabbits, a fox, ants, scorpions, and many more desert animals were outside. The boys ran from one exhibit to the next looking and trying to find what was behind the glass.


Another area had a few small water falls (desert style) and a huge granite circle that was turning naturally from the water it was on top of. The boys jumped on the granite merry go round and Wyatt tried to stand up surfer style. With only a few minutes to spare before closing, we headed out of the preserve with promises to the boys to come back again soon. Who knew free could be so much fun!

Hey Brother

All the stars aligned just right and for the first time in about 6 years - both my brothers, my sister and I were under one roof last week! It was so great to have everyone here and see all the kids playing together! Unfortunately Cathryn and Matthew were not here and missed terribly, hopefully it won't be too long before we can see them as well.

Most of the evening was spent at Nana's house where she and pops had heated up their pool. The boys loved playing in the water with their cousins. Jaxon would run out of the pool with his little squirt gun holding it close to his target and think he was spraying, laughing hysterically. Lucas wanted so badly to fearlessly jump into the pool, but would reconsider and insist he and Don were touching before he would make the jump. Wyatt participated as much as he could, laughing at the antics everyone else was doing.

I love that the kids remember people and fun memories now. This will be a great memory for them as well.

Monkey Boy

The other day I unloaded the boys from the car and this is what I saw as I turned the corner to the house. Half of me is amused that Wyatt is being imaginative and acting as a monkey. The other half is not thrilled about his "monkeying around" since we just had to replace the door handle a couple months ago.

Ahh, who am I kidding? Either way I was amused :)

Freedom

Over a year ago the engine light started coming on in my car. Don knew the issue was the oxygen sensor, so we were in no rush to fix it -but I didn't feel comfortable driving the kids around in a car we knew wasn't 100%.

Don fixed the sensor a couple weeks ago and we switched cars back. So now the boys have a new toy in the window button. I could lock it -and do when I need to- but I love watching the boys enjoy the freedom of an open window.

Leigha's Celebration

Leigha's boyfriend Ed had a big night planned for Leigha's 29th birthday. He had orchestrated about 10 of her friends to have a girls night out at a new casino.

We started the night in the beautiful suite he had reserved Leigha for the night, primping and getting ready in the gorgeous bathroom. Once everyone arrived, we headed down to the wine cellar where we had been given wine cards. You just put your wine card in a slot, press a button and your choice of wine comes out in small amounts. I am not much of a wine drinker, but only because I haven't found the right one. This was an fantastic set up allowing me to try as many as I wanted.

After we had our fill of wines, we headed to the restaurant where Ed had made dinner reservations for the group. The table wasn't ready yet, so we sat out on the terrance chatting where we froze our rears off, but had a gorgeous view to see while we were being wind blown.

Dinner was amazing! The food was delicious and there was so much of it! Sushi, crab cakes, pasta, steak, and even mac and cheese made it's way around the table. We all chatted and finally got out of the restaurant at almost midnight. At that point I was ready to go home. I had such a good time out with the "girls" and was so glad to finally meet so many of Leigha's friends that I had heard about over the years.

Our Giant Garden

After gardening in our yard last week, we decided we weren't done yet. My parents have an area in their yard that is not being used so the four of us decided to garden there as well.

We rototilled until it felt like our arms would pop out of the sockets and made about 50 holes in the dirt for our new plants. Later Don and my dad dug trenches for the main sprinkler lines to be laid in. At one point the boys cried big tears because my dad sprinkled them with the hose, but all tears turned into big belly laughs as he let them get him back in retaliation.

I wish I would have taken a before picture, but the before doesn't really matter here :) We have planted tomatoes, potatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers, habaneros, yellow and green bell peppers, beans, garlic, onions, strawberries, corn, and jalapenos.

The boys had a blast playing in the dirt all weekend (it literally took all weekend from Friday to Monday) and needed a serious bath each night. My dad has taken it a step further and decided to put in a little pond in his backyard as well.



It has been lots of work, but it was nice to be able to spend the entire weekend with my family and a project in hand.

Our Little Garden

It seems like I go from having nothing to blog (am tired of blogging about sad and sick kiddos) to having so much to blog, I have no time to do it.


This week has been full of all things gardening. Last Wednesday we took a trip to our local gardening store. After the boys had their fun pulling wagons full of plants around, we bought a handful of vegetables to plant in our little raised flower bed. In the years past we have planted flowers, but decided to try a little something different this year.

We also bought a little tub of lady bugs. The lady bugs eat the aphids (bugs that eat the plants). We could just get insect killer, but the lady bugs are more eco friendly and tons more fun for the boys to watch and play with. On Wednesday evening when we released the lady bugs, the boys were a bit wary of them, but Thursday when Nana and I started planting the vegetables, Jaxon got a bit braver and actually let a few crawl on his hands.

Now we have strawberries, tomatoes, bell papers, garlic, and herbs planted in our backyard. We were able to use some of the herbs in a potato recipe the other night,so now I am really excited about getting to eat veggies right out of our own backyard as well!

St Patrick's Day Parade

Saturday Las Vegas lucked out with a bright perfect sunny day for our St Patrick's Day parade.

The boys talked all week about the parade and their special green shirts. Friday morning Jaxon was whining because he wanted to go to the parade now.


Finally on Saturday morning, we raced out of the house wearing our leprechaun green clothes and the stroller hitched on the back of our Jeep in the first time in almost a year. To the parade we went. Half way through the parade, strolling down the middle of the street with the other Las Vegas Moms Of Multiples (LVMOM)group, Jaxon was trying to tell me something. I leaned over and he was repeating that he wanted to go to the parade now. Poor baby wanted to watch the parade, not be in it!

Luckily for him, Nana and Pops were at the end of the parade with great front spots and an extra blanket. When we were done, we joined them in their spot and watched the parade go by. Just as he wanted.

Letter to the Bird

Dear Mr Nightingale,
While I appreciate your beautiful singing, I am respectfully requesting that you can delay your 11 pm songs to a time more family friendly. This 11 pm to 2 am sing- songing is causing me stress and as of lately, leading me to Google ways to get you out of the tree only feet away from our window.

So unless you would like me to hang a poster of your predator in my window, get a scarecrow on my yard, or last result -spray you with a big water gun, I suggest you quiet down before Don rolls over off his good ear and is awakened by you as well. He packs heat and would be excited to have a new target to practice on.

Sincerely,
The woman who keeps opening her window to shush you



Want to hear what a nightingale sounds like at 11:45 pm?

Quotables

Yesterday Jaxon was bothering Lucas. Don and I were trying to discuss something and Lucas kept interrupting.

“Mo-om, Jak-in hitting me”.

Finally I told him, “Then Lucas, tell him not to.”

So Lucas turned to Jax and said, “Not to.”
“Not to, Jak-in! Mommy said”.


***

Today I was in the car with the boys on the way home from Costco. They are all sorts of into Thomas the Train right now and Jaxon was talking about how Bill and Ben are twins. I saw this as an opportunity to tell them about their own uniqueness, since they know they are triplets, but have no idea what a triplet is.

I told him that twins are two who have their birthday on the same day (I will save the babies in the bellies fact with them later in life, but for now, this will suffice).

"When there are three with the same birthday, they are triplets".

“Wyatt, Jaxon and Lucas have their birthday on the same day, so what does that make you?”

Jaxon answered slowly, “Very happy”.

First time Bowling

We took the boys bowling for the first time last weekend. Renting the lane for an hour seemed like a better idea than paying per game, so after we got our bright pink ball for the boys, and had the man lift the side bumpers, we were on our way.

We knew it will would take patience from us to teach the kids. We were prepared for that. What we were NOT prepared for was the endless wait of waiting, waiting,
waiting,

waiting

and waiting some more for the ball to go the length of the lane.

You may think I am exaggerating, but the ball went so slow that it would cross the line for the pin holder to come down before the ball actually touched any of the pins.

If you have an extra 10 minutes, you can watch here.



Taking them bowling was a good time and the boys loved it. They would pick up the ball and stagger under its weight as they walked to the lane to bowl. If one of us went to help, we would usually get the "I do it myself!" so we let them. Here you can see Luke drops the ball twice and as I help him pick it up he tells me "I got it!". I think he has the most original bowling style.



Even though we know all three enjoyed it, Jaxon really seemed to have a good time -feeding off our neighboring bowling lanes where there was cheering and hip bumps alike. It was funny to see him appropriately act that way, knowing he was just picking it up from the people next to us. He just loves to be excited, no matter the reason.


With our hour up, we had only finished 8 of our 10 rounds. Even though the scores were low, our spirits were high. Can't wait to go again!

Luke's Blood test

Lucas has not been himself for quite sometime. It started in October when all the kids were down and sick and he has just not fully recovered. He had an ear infection that took three sets of antibiotics and then was under the weather again while Wyatt got his tonsils out. And recently, he had strep throat and horrible reflux. The reflux is getting bad enough he wakes no less than three times a night in tears because he hurts so much. I am pretty sure the reflux is a side effect from all the antibiotics he has had to take, but with all this sickness attacking him the past 6 months, Don and I requested his blood get drawn, just to give us peace of mind that there is not underlying problems.

Today I brought Luke in to get his blood work done. It was a first in our experience taking a kid to get this done and I wasn't quite sure how he would do. Luke is not a fan of even going to the Dr, so I knew out of the three, he would be the hardest to sell it to. The nurse asked him if he was going to sit still for her and he quickly responded with a simple "no". She went to go get a second person to help her and it was done quickly with a big screech at the initial poke, but the rest was over in a mater of 30 seconds.

After Luke's ordeal, I needed to run to the store to get some fresh fruit and hair rubber bands. To make Lucas feel better, I promised him special band aids and he could choose a special snack. Walking out of Walmart with his Diego band aids and ice cream sandwiches for everyone waiting at home, all was right in his world again.

The big crack

We rough house with the boys at least once a day on our bed. It is easiest there since the boys can fall without hitting the floor and so they are at a more equal height as Don and I.

Unfortunately, the boys are getting bigger and the bed is not. During a particularly fun wrestle mania the other day, Lucas and Wyatt bumped heads. I heard a big crack. While Lucas didn't seem that affected, Wyatt was obviously hurt -crying, big tears and I tried to make him feel better by using humor. I told him that I had heard the big crack sound and asked him if he too heard it.

Looking at me with water filled eyes, he was distracted for a minute and nodded yes. I told him that sometimes when your get a bump so big you hear a crack, it means your body cracked somewhere. And low and behold, we found the crack in his toosh.

Bump on head suddenly forgotten, the boys started running around, showing their cracks to each other. Poor Don had no idea what to think when he came home only minutes later, all three running around with sagging pants.

Could it be Spring?

I wished it this morning as I looked longingly at my summer shirts, wondering if I could actually get away with a sleeveless shirt today. Then I had a moment of euphoria as I watched the weather channel and saw it is going to be in the mid 70's this weekend.

But the real spring is here moments came as we played in the backyard all morning long. First giving the walls a new coat of chalk scribbles and then playing catch and dodge ball with the balls we have stashed all over the backyard. I got some yard work done, trimming a few bushes with the trimmers that haven't seen light in almost a year and then laid on the lounger, reading my magazine, while the boys played in the sandbox.

The boys ate their lunch outside -which the dog loves all the food dropped!- and now they are all worn out and arguing enough to make up for the peaceful morning we had and then some.

But hey, at least the sun is shining and spring is in the air!

Climbing on the Walls

Just a matter of speech or not?


Things are back to normal-ish around here. The boys are all back to acting like themselves once again -lots of playing with trains and lots of playing outside. Also lots of arguing over trains and sand box toys. I think they all got babied in their own way while they were sick, and they don't understand why they can't just have what it is they want anymore.

It is nice to have the laughter (and even arguing) back in our house. It is crazy and loud -the noise once again makes it impossible to get through a magazine- it is good to have them back.

Family through the generations

My family has no limits. My closet cousins are not the ones who are my mom and dads nieces and nephews. They are the cousins who in this day and age, I am blessed to even know they are related.

When I was in third grade, we moved from where all my family was (Western New York) and down to Florida. A few years after Florida, we moved and a few years after that, we moved again, this time landing in Nevada. Being isolated from the big family really made me forget about so many family things. The family drama for one, I have no tolerance for, but that is because I don't have to deal with it, being so far away. You can just choose not to pick up the phone if someone is disagreeable.

But the flip side of that is that you lose the connections and etiquette of family dynamics as well. You forget that it IS important that someone felt snubbed, or that someones birthday has passed. In all the years that have passed and my independence grew, I have adapted an attitude of sorts that the family we make is the family we have.

When the boys were born, my Grandma Bette offered to stay with us for six weeks when Don had to go back to work. She came out and stayed up with me until 2am, helping with late night feedings and came up with ways to ease Jaxon's colic. I don't know what I would have done without her help in those weeks. I had finally found my groove right before she left, and I am positive I would have been a crazy woman had it not been for her help.

In the past couple months, I have had my cousins come out to visit. First was my cousin Annie and just a couple weeks ago, my cousin Jennifer came out with her daughter, Gracie. Along with Jennifer was her mom Jean who stayed with my mom since they grew up together as well.

In the past few months Don has flown to see his brother and his family in Virgina as well as his extended family out in Houston. He stayed with his cousin and kept telling me how awesome it felt. Like finding home again. I could totally relate, seeing I feel the same way when I see my cousins as well.

There is no other way to describe it than to say it feels like coming home. It is so odd that months (or years) can pass by without as much a birthday card, yet you are placed in the same room together, and it is like you had just seen each other last week. No awkwardness, no pretending, just instant acceptance and good feelings.

My mom and Jean worked to keep in touch the years where you had to pay long distance charges or sit down to write a letter if you wanted to hear form one another. No emails or cell phone calls on the run for them. Thankfully they made the effort, and we had three generations of families in my house a couple weeks ago. Beth and Jean, Jennifer, Leigha and myself, as well as Gracie and my kids were all just family hanging out and having a good time.

A couple days later, my moms Aunt and Uncle were in town. They were family I haven't seen in probably 20 years except once for a couple hours at Jenn's wedding years ago. Conversations were easily begun, pictures of new family was shown and we all had a nice time.

It is such a beautiful thing that family can be so easy. With just a little love from both sides, we all make each other comfortable and at ease.

I know I have been all over the place in this post, but I just am always surprised at how much love our families have. It is easy to forget how much you mean to someone after not seeing them for so many years. I am surprised to even find that they remember us since we have been gone so long, let alone hold a special place in their heart for us.

So thank you, both Annies :), Jean, and Jennifer for always being a constant presence and giving us the feeling that no matter where we are, if we are with family, we are home. It has been a beautiful lesson relearned in the past couple months.

Jaxon-isms

The every day things he says
"Hey, you guys..."
"Hey, I got idea!"
"Som-fing wrong"
"shhh, I hear som-fing"


When his knee is dry and in need of lotion, he tells me, "my knee is broken"


When he knows his brothers are not being fair or truthful, he tells them, "I not playing your game"


Yesterday at church we didn't want to leave him at the church nursery because he was sick. He sat with us through the service and behaved really well. As he was getting in the car, he told me, "I really proud of you guys".


When there is too much going on and I am feeling unsettled, I need to decompress some how. Jaxon is the same way. He loves his arms to be squeezed -hard. Really hard -starting at the top of his arms and down to his fingers. He also likes his hair roughed up. He just smiles a big drunk smile and says "I love this!"


Even though I am sure there are plenty more, the last thing that comes to mind is Jaxon's constant celebration of tasks completed. His main mantra around the house is, "I did it, I did it! Yeah, yeah yeah! I did it, I did it, yeah yeah yeah!"

What's up Doc?

Well after almost $200 last week in Dr co-pays and prescribed medicines, things seem to be looking up for Lucas and Wyatt. Although it took Lucas four full days to get better after he got the antibiotic shot, he and Wyatt are running around, almost as good as new -attacking Don on the couch and laughing at silly things.

Jaxon on the other hand, is coming down with the something quickly. He tells everyone who will listen that "I don't feel well" and wants me by his side constantly. Tonight we went out for a quick bite to eat and he laid in the booth the whole time, only eating one single bite of a roll.

I am thinking we should be back to normal by Monday, the kids have been asking about going to school and I am dying for a morning to breathe. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

How Jax stays busy

I walked into the bathroom to see Jaxon brushing his wet hair -with a can of Glade in front of him. Trying not to jump to conclusions, I glanced in both sinks to find them bone dry. Then picking up the can of Glade room freshener, and feeling the ice cold metal chill an aerosol can gets when it is used until the last drop -my nose suddenly filled with the "Fresh Linen" scent that the spray promises.

It was so hard not to laugh out loud when he conflicted between being proud of himself for brushing his hair, or worried about being in trouble for using what he must have thought was hairspray.

There's no fun like Strep

Earlier this week, we brought Luke in to see the Dr after it became obvious his reflux was not getting better. The reflux is directly caused from the three rounds of antibiotics he went on beginning October because of an ear infection that just did not want to go away. I gave him probotics for a few weeks, but when he began waking at night because his "mouth" hurt and he cried saying "it tastes yucky", Don and I knew he should go see his Doctor.

The Doctor heard me out, looked at the funky lump on the side of his neck and checked him out. Then she did a strep test on him that -surprise! came up positive. I was amazed because other than this night time issue, we have had no other reason to worry about him. So after a big fat shot in his leg we were out the door with a prescription for prevacid.

Knowing that strep is highly contagious, early the next morning I brought Wyatt and Jaxon in to the Drs office. As I was asking if it is possible the boys could pass strep back and forth, I saw her cringe as they passed a bottle of water around after they had each taken a sip. Yeah, probably not the smartest thing for me to allow them do.

Luckily both boys tests came back negative. Wyatt is having respiratory issues and needed steroids as well as a new nebulizer medicine. Jaxon is perfect, not an issue to be spoken of. He is being a champ around the house as well. Both Luke and Wyatt have been needy in the saddest way, but Jax is being quiet and keeping himself busy.

It is so sad to see Lucas an Wyatt this sick. Neither wants to eat(Luke will if spoon fed) , but they are drinking when reminded to. They are just lying around where ever we put them, silently staying put until they cry to be held.

Hopefully we see them getting better in the next day or two.