Brotherly Love

Brotherly Love.....what can I say - I love mine to death!!! He is the one who used to steal my things, break into my room, borrow money (I use the term borrow loosely!) and cause havoc...although he was usually the youngest of the group wherever we were he was always the toughest and would take on anyone who crossed him (or me!)

Then one day we grew up - I went to college, got married and started to have kids. He joined the Marine Corps., the police force and became a Dad! All the while Mom would ask us about the others business because she couldn't get a straight answer from the other one - until this day she still does it! Now we are not just brother and sister, we are friends who share stories about our kids, poopy diapers and the best way to be a good parent. We have come a long way in 28 ish years (he is 6 years younger than me).

Now brother love in our house is just beginning. Every morning when the Trips get up they march into Helena's room to wake her up! They climb into her bed and run all around. Some days she gets fussy about it, but I know deep down she loves every minute of it! Preston will holler "Leen" when he wants her attention- it is pretty funny. She will play with them, dress them up, build them a tent to play in and "narc" them out in a heartbeat! She will share a snack and they are beginning to do the same with her, only theirs is usually chewed on first! They take things from her and she gets mad only to take it back and then all 4 usually have a meltdown. The other 2 are just crying for sympathy....

Now the Trips among themselves have really taken on roles lately. Parker is the sweet faced bully who is "stealthy". He loves his trucks and the swiffer (help us all!). Preston is the ladies man, resident clown and my little love bug. He will give you a hug just to pass them out, no asking required. Peyton is the mechanic of the group who loves to press buttons. Any buttons will work and if they light up or make noise the better. He also forgets every once in a while that "they cut the cord" about 17 months ago, but he will use his "woobie" to snuggle with when I am not around!

They fight with each other all of the time, they will throw a ball at another, pull hair, pull on clothes to move another out of the way, dump water on anothers head in the tub, take a toy and steal a juice cup when theirs is out in a heartbeat!

But the other night I witnessed the inspiration for this post. It was after bath and Peyton was in his crib having a meltdown while I was putting Parker in his pj's. When Parker was finished he ran into the closet and brought Peyton another blanket, when he kept crying, Parker brought him a toy, when he kept crying, Parker brought him some shirts and pants from the laundry basket until he stopped. Parker never cried or looked at me while doing this, he just stayed on the task at hand and made Peyton feel better!

Don't get me wrong, we are not the Brady Bunch by far, we have our good days, bad days and great days - but in the end I know that Brotherly Love will prevail and in time they will be the best of friends!

Weekend FUN

This weekend proved to be a really nice one in the end!

Saturday - RAIN - so soccer was rescheduled, the hayride was cancelled and outside activity was NONE! But we did get to go and visit Grandmom Beverly and Pop George. During our visit me and J. snuck out to do some holiday shopping and browsing (to help Santa out!) We actually completed out mission successfully - and that is all I can say on that topic! After dinner we headed home with one little detour through Little Italy - via Vacarros!!! My favorite eatery in Little Italy, and yes I know they only sell desserts! So on the way home I couldn't wait - I ate my entire cannoli-mmmmmmmmmmmm good!!!! H. had a mini one and the Trips shared some butter cookies with Dad - I need to start them young, no?

Needless to say it was a beautiful end to a rainy day!

Sunday - Sunny and Chilly - Finally feels like fall - tonight we are even supposed to get a frost here on the shore - YEAH! Today Ms. Stevie came to take our picture, we felt like celebrities having a photographer follow us around the yard taking shots of everyone, even Brittany (the dog got in a few). She is great, so sweet and great with the kids. Helena was somewhat of a PILL, I know it is hard for some of you to believe - Ha Ha Ha - but overall things went well.

Afterwards, we went to Boo at the Zoo. Everyone got in costume and H. got to go Trick-or-Treating. It was alot of fun and the weather was beautiful. I love to see the kids in costume, even some of the adults dressed the part. Afterwards we went to Grandmom Cindy's for dinner and to pick up some suitcases to take to Disney. We need to start packing some summer clothes now that fall is really here! Only 27 days until we leave to see The Mouse, Cinderella and H.'s favorite - Mulan! I think H. likes her because she is Sassy, who does that remind anyone of???

I got to chat with P. tonight and that was nice to catch up on her weekend. They went to some sacred caves and the pictures are beautiful. They had to climb over 200 steps to get to the top! Not only did they get a day trip, but a workout as well!! She sounds great and we determined tonight that our husbands can both be big marshmallows when it comes to their girls (not me or P. mind you!)!! But we really already knew that.....

Donuts With Dad

I have to say J. is getting pretty good at this "school" event participation thing. This morning at 8:00 am all of the DADs were invited to the Church Hill Vol. Fire House for Donuts and story time. About 200 families showed up for the event, the principal said it was the best turnout ever! H. got a free Elmo DVD and some games to help her learn her letter and sounds...not a bad way to start the day!

Today is also her Fall Party at school, so this afternoon I get to join in the fun!!! Well my few minutes to update you is up - the call of the wild has become a ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!

What a Circus...and not just mine...

This morning while making my bed, I heard the normal cry from the Trips that someone was in distress. As I turn the corner to look into the living room I see Parker and Preston standing in the toybox (looking totally innocent) and Peyton's skinny little legs kicking a mile a minute up in the air (apparently he went in Head First!). Although this was a perfect picture of the normal chaos, I did not have my camera handy! At least they made room for him - right???

I also got some good news today - a friend from the MOMS club gave birth to her second set of twins yesterday! From what I know everyone is doing well - Congratulations to M. and D. and big brother G. and big sister L.!!!

More good news - P. and her family are up and running with the internet in Malaysia, so communication has resumed. The phone line is not up yet, but soon! She and the family look great in all of the pics I have seen - can I tell you she saw a monkey sitting on the wall outside of her window the other night!!! Amazing.....

I have to go get my umbrella and wait for the bus - finally we have some rain!!!!! Yeah!!!

Houdini - Preston Houdini That Is...

Ok, I have now changed my question from WHY to HOW?

How does a 17 month old wearing a one piece outfit that snaps in the crotch take off his diaper and keep the snaps intact??? How I ask you, How? This is actually not the first time I have found him like this - amazing....the best part of all is searching for the rouge diaper and hoping that none of the others have already found it!!

How am I supposed to be in the spirit of fall - my favorite time of year no less - when it is over 75* outside??? Mother Nature is playing a cruel trick on me this year - if my bulbs (over 200 of them) start to bloom there will be he!! to pay!!! And to top it off there is a small field mouse living in my corn stalks, I feel like I should just put out a buffet sign! People, my green pepper plants are still producing peppers - it is the end of October, I can't bear to tear them out when they are still doing well, but I need them for the compost pile!!

OH MY, I think I am done venting for today.......

Halloween Party!

This weekend was jammed packed with events. First was the Halloween Party for the Annapolis Mothers of Multiples club, then Jason took the boys to dinner for GG's Birthday while H and I stayed to help clean up, then her and I had dinner at Hellas (mmmmmm crabcakes!) and finally we met up at Grandmom Cindy's for ice-cream cake. After cake, all of the kids drove home with Daddy and I went to the grocery store.

The Halloween Party was a huge success. I could not have done it without all of the help I received from MOMS and Dads who helped set-up, pick up food, bake cupcakes and cornbread, make homemade chili, work the trick-or treat line and put the hall back together.

We had about 80 adults and 80 kids ranging from 6 weeks to 8 years old. Everyone looked soooooo adorable dressed up. The triplets are Pooh, Eyore and Roo while H. is Tigger. We have a few other sets of triplets in the group - one set, all girls, wore different hoarse costumes and another boy/girl set was a monkey, elephant and tiger. One of my favorites was Molly's twin girls - both spiderman, although she had to talk one of them out of being Hugh from Ice Road Truckers (for those of you who watch Discovery)!!

GG will turn 76 this week, and what a surprise she had on Saturday. Her brother Wayne flew up from Fl. and her other siblings Kathy, Kenny and Carol - along with my Mom and Dad met them at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. She was quite surprised when she got there!!! So she had a party for 18! She got some really nice presents and some spending money for Disney in November.

Sunday was a day of productive rest! J. cut the grass, the trips played outside, H and I went shopping in the afternoon. In between we had home-made chicken pot pie for dinner and J. watched part of the Ravens game, the boys napped and H. played outside.

Today we begin a new adventure in our house - who knows what this week will bring, but rest assured I will keep you posted!

Just When You Thought It Was Safe....

(YEAH RIGHT!) Not in my house, especially when green beans are involved. Jason worked late the other night and before I could cover the plate with foil this is what occurred....the suspect was caught "green beans in hand"!!!! Peyton what are we going to do with you little man. It amazes me everyday how my 3 little "macgyvers" and their "ringleader" (H) can formulate a plan and carry it out with more precision than most adults. Hopefully they won't find the dental floss for a few more years, who knows what they would do with that!!!

Again, Could Someone Tell Me WHY!!!

This is really a 2 part request...

Part 1 - H. really wants to know why and as stated before I am beginning to wonder myself, so if you have any real answer to the question - Please let me know!!!!! Being 4 is tough when you are trying to figure out the mystery of the universe!! She makes me laugh when I give her the answer and she disagrees and proceeds to tell me what the correct answer is, only to make my head spin while trying to rationalize where her answer came from!!! Don't get me wrong, I truly do love our debates over why spiders make webs and why the trash man comes on Tuesday morning. My favorite debate of all is when I tell her she is my "Best Girl" and she tells me I am her "Best Mommy"! Who wants to argue with that????

Part 2 - Why do the Trips pull each other down and lay on top of the other, only to snag a piece of cracker when more is in the bowl? Why do the Trips like to climb on my chair to see out the window, but feel that is not close enough to nature that they must try to stand on the windowsill? Why do the Trips like to scream like little girls when they want something, only to have J. get the look of "This cannot be my future line of the football team!"? Why do the Trips like to take off all of their clothes after nap, but before they call for me to get them? Why do the Trips like to crawl in bed with H. in the morning to wake her up and give her kisses, only to leave her as quickly as they swarmed in? (She loves this by the way!!!) Why do the Trips like to give big, wet kisses and run by you hugs, only to leave you wondering - How did I get so lucky!!!!!

I guess I answered my own question!

**When the Trips were put down for nap, they were all fully clothed in jeans and long sleeve shirts! Parker is totally naked, that is why you only see his face in these pics!!

To What Do My Wondering Eyes Did Appear...

But my 3 little men standing around my toilet dunking in their pj's!!!!! This past weekend we outfitted all of the bathrooms with toilet and door locks so even if they did get in they could not open the lid. However, this morning someone left both locks undone and while writing H.'s note for being absent from school yesterday (cough and runny nose) I hear laughing and sloshing....I thought "This cannot be good!". And it wasn't - my little men were having a ball covered in water and when they got caught, every one of them looked up at me with sad eyes that said "He made me do it! I was not the one who opened the lid!" Needless to say everyone got a bath and took a morning nap so Mommy could have a time out and recover from this mornings events!!!

Field Trip Day with Daddy - Part 2

Everyone had a really great time at the Pumpkin Farm.

Daddy only had 1 other little girl in his group - her name is Charlene. H.,C. and Daddy each got to pick 6 ears of corn for popping, 1 pumpkin and 1 gourd. Then after the hayride, everyone had lunch and could play at the playground. The farm is actually a Christmas Tree farm, so we may be visiting them again.

This weekend was jam packed as usual, Saturday we went to Thurmont to the Apple Butter Festival. I got some really good things for the house as well as some Christmas presents. All of the kids, including my 35 year old one, were well behaved with only 1 meltdown from Parker and 1 from Jason! Not bad for a 12 hour day.....

Field Trip Day with Daddy

Today is the day...J. is on the bus as I write with an unknown number of 4 year olds in his care for the day at the Pumpkin Farm. H. kept telling him he had 10 in his group, I am thinking more line 2-3, but we will see! I do not know who was more excited J. or H. - Ha Ha! More to come later today.....

Pumpkins, Pumpkins and more Pumpkins!!

This weekend was filled with fall festivities, planting mums and daffodil/tulip bulbs, making pumpkin bread, going to the pumpkin farm and festival.

Only on the Easter Shore do you see a freshly painted red tractor with a 16 x 16 barn-board on the back of it stating "April and Ryan Just got Hitched! 10-6-07!" on your way to the pumpkin farm. And only on the Easter Shore do you see the bride and groom at the pumpkin farm getting their pictures taken....guess what 2 farm families just became 1!!! J and I laughed the entire way home.....

At the pumpkin farm everyone had a really good time, even though it was 90 degrees.

The farm we went to had a lot of activities for the kids including a corn box (instead of sand), a hay maze, a corn maze, a John Deere Combine that has been outfitted with swings and a slide right through the middle and H.'s favorite - the goats. After everyone found their perfect pumpkin and Mommy got her gourds and indian corn, we got some fresh cider and headed home to display our newly found fall decorations.

***The best part of being 4 - you get to go to the pumpkin farm again on Friday with you Daddy and friends from school! J. signed up to be a chaperone - H. told him he has 10 kids in his group! More to come on this later in the week!!!

Just 5 Minutes

This is what happened in the 5 minutes it took me to collect the daily laundry and get H. clothes for the day.....Can you tell who the ringleader of this operation was!!! (I really need to fix the date on the camera!!)

Help! I need to know.....

Can anyone tell me why Sprite comes in a Sprite can? or Why do we need gas from the pump? or just Why in general???? I cannot seem to sufficiently answer the above questions when my 4 year old asks!!!! And now I am starting to wonder Why myself!!!!

Whirlwind Weekend!

This weekend could not have been more jam packed with events - MoM's Yard Sale, Soccer, Wedding, Baby Shower and Fall Festival.....luckily we all survived the events and enjoyed everyone of them.

Soccer - Round Top did not "win" this weekend - however - H. scored her FIRST GOAL!!!!! She reportedly ran off the field in true Mia Hamm style and celebrated. I did not get to see it as I was at the Yard Sale, but Daddy gave me a play by play of the event. Not to mention that she came back in the game and scored a goal for the other team as well - but hey - they are only 4.

Wedding - always a good time when Mommy and Daddy get a night out to celebrate with the family. Walt and Melissa looked great and everyone had a good time....it was a beautiful day for an outside wedding on the point of the Miles River.

Baby Shower - I love to celebrate babies and my friend and fellow MOM Marcy is expecting her second set of twins....this time 2 boys to add to her family. She was so stubborn about coming to our "Board Meeting" that we had to tell her it was actually her shower....Thanks again to Molly for hosting!

Fall Festival - while I was at the shower Jason took the kids to the fall festival at the 4-H Park in Centreville. Word is H. should be a little farm girl! She got to paint a pumpkin, touch a baby llama, sample some "beef", see cows being milked and ride a tractor. She was excited - it was a John Deere. Trust me, my girl knows her tractors. If it is not John Deere Green, it is not a tractor!!! Every weekend there is a little festival going on, it is great! Everyone is so friendly and most of the time it is "hands on" displays for the kids.

I think next weekend will be quiet! - YEAH RIGHT! - we only have Soccer and the Pumpkin Farm! Enjoy!