A Season of Discontent

We're 2 days into spring and Ty is really bummed. For the past 3 or 4 weeks he's been asking daily (sometimes 2 or 3 times daily) is it spring yet? No, Ty, in 17 days. Is it spring yet? No, 8 more days. Is it spring yet? You get the picture. So March 20th is finally here and the first thing he said is "one more day until spring!" Later that morning a friend of mine threw out some typically useless trivia, and told me that it would officially change over from winter to spring at 7:07 that evening. I hope our tax dollars don't go toward paying someone to calculate the exact second of a season change, but anyway I couldn't wait to tell Ty! So that night in his room when he was getting ready for bed it finally happened! I was a few minutes late, but don't tell him. I said "Guess what, Ty? It's finally spring!" He jumps out of bed screaming "yay, it's spring!" and he runs to his window, pulls up his blind, and his face just dropped. He said, totally confused, "where are all the flowers?"! The rug was pulled out from under his feet. Walking home from school today he was still looking for flowers. He thinks he doesn't have to wear long pants and jackets now that it's spring, nevermind that it's 30 degrees in the morning. This one has really thrown him for a loop.

But on a brighter note, there are signs that Scott and I are doing something right with our kids. On our way to gymnastics Tuesday there was a huge rally of about 4 people outside Fountain Park in Sheboygan, all carrying anti-Bush signs. I had Cam and two of his friends, Maddy and Kim in the car and Cam asked what they (the protesters) doing. I told them that there were some people who don't like our president, and these people decided they wanted to let us know this since they didn't have jobs or anywhere else to be at that time. Okay, I didn't really say the part about the jobs, but I was thinking it! :-) He didn't say anything else about it in the car (I think he was too busy wondering why these people don't have jobs since unemployment is so low) and it was left at that. I dropped the kids off at the YMCA for gymnastics and they go to my mom's office (she works there), and I guess it went something like this:

Cameron runs into the office, looking upset.

Cam: Nana, you're never going to believe it
Nana: What?
Cam: There are ACTUALLY people out there who don't like George Bush!
Kim: Ya, they don't like George Washington!
Nana: What are you talking about? (trying not to laugh and admit to him that she's "one of them")
Cam: There are people outside with signs and they're saying that they don't like George Bush!
Nana: (Trying not to admit that she's "one of them") Well, when you live in the United States you have the right to choose who you like and who you don't.
Cam: Well, I would NEVER say that!
Kim: Ya, I would never say that I don't like George Washington!
Maddy: (she says nothing, probably bored to tears by the conversation, just wanting to get to her class)

And my mom says the conversation ended something like that, with Cam still in disbelief that there are people who don't like GWB, but I don't believe her. If I know her she sat him down and told him terrible lies that he would never hear at home. And I know for a fact that she called my sister that night to let her know that she wanted to do an intervention with him. Their visits with my kids are now supervised. Scott has never been prouder!

Nothing new with the girls. I haven't spoken to them since the big poop debacle. I'm still scraping poop off their lampshade. The only explanation they're giving me is "Dayne poop! Dayne poop!" No, you don't say? They owe me big.

This is NOT fingerpaint!

This was not nearly as amusing as the flooded kitchen.

It Takes a ShopVac to Raise Triplets

When will I learn that old adages don't apply to triplets? There's a saying out there that if a baby is crying, put them in water and they'll stop. The idea being that they'll be having so much fun splashing in the water that they'll soon forget what they were so ticked off about. There's definitely something to this. It's worked for us in the past. But only with one baby at a time. Today the girls were getting stir crazy and fighting with each other while I was trying to get a few things done around the house. I decided that I'd fill up both sides of the kitchen sink, throw in a few cups, bottles, scoops, etc. and let them go to town. I knew there would be water to clean up and they they would be wet, but it would be worth it for the girls to be occupied for a while so I could get a few things done. They were having a great time for about 1/2 hour while I was in the kitchen with them. Measuring, scooping, transferring water, and just a little bit of splashing. I was pretty happy with myself for being so resourceful, then I left the room. That was my first mistake. My second mistake was assuming that their laughter and shrieks meant they were having fun doing the same thing they were doing while I was in the room. I definitely know better than that! Since, from upstairs, it sounded like they were having such a great time I just let them be while I was making beds and putting clothes away. After a while I went downstairs to check on them and literally had to splash my way over to them! They had been pouring cups of water on each other and emptied out the sinks onto the kitchen floor! I could only be mad at myself, of course, but by the looks on their faces when I came into the room they knew they had done something wrong. That, and Dayne said "oh crap" when she saw me! (We'll talk about good parenting vs. bad parenting another time). It took about a half hour to clean up the mess, but it was still worth it. I'm finding that the price is high for a few minutes of peace and quiet, and I've learned to appreciate the "down time" so much more than I used to. Maybe next time I need to fold laundry I'll just leave them alone with some jars of fingerpaint.

"The Chiclets"

My friend Amy's 3 year old daughter, Holly, calls the girls the "chiclets" instead of "triplets"! How perfect is that? It's official. They now have the name for their future girl band. Thanks Holly!

I'm a bit concerned...

So this weekend I ran over Cam's bike with Scott's truck. In my defense, the bike was laying on the garage floor - and to get into the garage we have to go up a hill and around a corner. With Scott's truck having a much longer front-end than my van I didn't see it. Anyhow, as Cam and I are driving to the store to get him a new bike the other night he told me that he still wanted to keep his old bike. Our conversation went like this:

Cam: I still want to keep my old bike.
Me: Why? It's broken.
Cam: To remember.
Me: Remember what?
Cam: The old days.

You'd think you were talking to an old man lately, with his "younger years" and "old days" comments. Is it possible for a 6 year old to have a mid-life crisis? He is turning 7 soon....really gettin' up there. I'm going to hate to see the state of him when he's 50. How much crap will he have accumulated between now and then for sentimental reasons? Maybe I should introduce him to picture taking and scrapbooking. It'll take up much less space than all of his old bikes.

The Younger Years

Cam told me yesterday that a friend of his is still attached to his TeleTubbies stuffed animal. He just shrugged his shoulders and said "I guess he's still holding on to his younger years." His younger years??? I thought we were still right in the heart of their younger years! It made me laugh to myself thinking about how big my 6 year old thinks he is, then made me sad to realize how big he really is! It goes too fast.
Speaking of growing and maturing, some of you have already heard about the great strides Ty is making in school. More specifically, spelling and reading. He has a fantastic teacher and his class is learning much more than I would ever expect from 4 year olds. Each week they learn a new letter, the sounds it makes, and how to put it together with other letters to create a word. When it was Ty's turn to go to the front of the class he put together the letters T - I - T, and announced "this says tit!" I guess his teacher and other moms in the room had to control their laughter, and the reading teacher got a bit flustered and moved on quickly! For the record, I don't believe Ty knows that this is an actual word with a meaning, as it's not a word we use at home (and I hope he doesn't hear it on Sponge Bob Squarepants.) I like to think that he was just demonstrating to the class his knowledge of the sounds that letters make. Let's hope. You gotta love the innocence of the "younger years".

Aaahhhh.....I feel better already!

I just scheduled appointments for myself for a pedicure and massage at the Kohler Water Spa, where I'm going to enjoy a full day of pampering with some girls at the end of the month. I felt a load of tension lifted from my shoulders as soon as I hung up the phone! My girlfriend, Carol, has been nice enough to invite me on her annual get-together with her high school friends for the past few years. Carol and I met through our perinatologist while we were both pregnant with our triplet girls. We had the same due date, but she made it a few weeks further into her pregnancy then I did so my girls are just 3 weeks older than hers. She also has a little boy who is Ty's age so we have a lot in common. Anyhow, a big thanks to Dr. Carr, had it not been for her I wouldn't have a new friend in Carol and wouldn't be looking forward to a much needed "me" day in a couple weeks! Oh, and a BIG, BIG thanks to my wonderful husband who's footin' the bill!

Diaper Duty is Over!!!

Based on the title, most of you are cheering for me and waiting to congratulate me on getting all 3 of the girls potty trained. Not so much.... While I was busy putting together my introductory note (see below) Dayne and Tara were busy changing Dru's poopy diaper. I found this out when Dru came upstairs carrying her poop wrapped in a wet wipe! After having her deposit the package in the potty and scrub her hands (which were very clean, actually) I went downstairs to assess the damage. I'm pretty hardened to poop disasters, based on many recent "poop parties" aka "nap time", so I knew this mess wouldn't phase me. Just another day in the Uselding home. I was surprised to see that they actually did a pretty good job! They had taken the changing pad out from the cupboard and it was obvious that this is where they had changed her. They had thrown the dirty diaper in the garbage (good girls!) and used half a box of wipes for the job. Dru still needed me to clean her up a bit, but you could tell they had given a good go at it! So the girls are either a) ready to be potty trained b) type A neat freaks like their Papa, or c) terribly neglected by their mother and having to take care of their own business. I wonder what they're up to now while I'm posting this....

Shawna

Hi everyone! I decided to check out "blogging" to see what it's all about, and decided that it'd be a great way for me to keep everyone up to date with what's going on in our family. It's never dull, and there always seems to be at least one funny story a day of one or more of the kids. Funny to us, that is. You can be the judge. It's also a good way to easily post pictures of the kids for those of you who are always asking, but never receiving (sorry!), current pictures. We're really starting to realize how quickly they are changing and growing up as we watch the girls and see that they're not "babies" anymore, and Cam is acting more like a "kid" than a "little boy". And Ty, I think, will always have a bit of little boy in him, even when he's grown. I wonder if he'll still want to snuggle with his mom when he's 30, though?

My mom's husband, Kenny, has set up a websight that he's been putting short videos of the kids on. I've added the link for that site to this webpage. He always comes over armed with his camera, so when we're unable to, or forget to, grab a camera he's often around to capture the moment for us.

Thanks for checking this out!

Shawna