Crazy is Our Middle Name...

Yesterday I gave my lesson in Relief Society so now I feel like I can finally sit down at the computer and think about something else. Uploaded all my pictures, organized and trimmed my videos, and now here I am ready to write!

The trio are at such a funny stage. They make up the weirdest stuff and laugh at each other. The thing lately is to make up names such as Deedee, Gaka, Booka, Deega, Moomi, Gigwag, etc... Then one of them will say, for instance, that Caleb's name is Gigwag, and Caleb (or whoever else is being targeted) gets super mad and insists his name is Cabee Baby. If Zachary is the victim, he gets even more mad and screams that his name is not Moomi it's Brian Zachy Back! Leah doesn't get mad rather super emotional and through her tears says her name is not Booka it's Eah Ree (Leah Marie). Anyway, it's a really funny game at first because of all the random names they come up with but eventually everyone is screaming, laughing, yelling, and crying all at the same time. My poor kids never know what to expect from me either because sometimes I laugh and try to tease the situation away.  Other times I'm annoyed at all the noise and I react harshly. I'm working on consistency, believe me.

Holy cow though, they fight about EVERYTHING. Who gets dressed first, who has a dirty diaper, who ate the best, who shuts the door, who gets the dump truck, who gets out of the tub first, who empties the dryer, who vacuums, who counts the fastest, who says the alphabet the loudest, who gets to sing Twinkle Twinkle, who gets to choose a book first, etc... Because they are all at the same developmental stage, no solution is acceptable to all three.   I can't reason with an older child to wait their turn or sing more quietly. They are all emotional and illogical. Further, they all constantly want our approval and attention and don't really care if they hurt the others' feelings in the process. For example, they are always more than happy to share with me or Clark but share with each other? NO WAY. Not happening. They'd rather spend the day in timeout than do that. We checked out seven toddler discipline/behavior books at the library and are doing our best to minimize the damage during this stage but it's not pretty. I've pretty much stopped doing playdates (with a couple exceptions) because playing in our own home and doing the best we can to stay out of each others' way is challenging enough. Add two to three more toddlers who have the same attitudes and toddlerisms and I'm just exhausted and frustrated after it's over. However, along with the bad comes some good.  They talk and sing and run and dance and live life to the fullest. That's a great thing about toddlers. They live to have fun.

I had a little fun for myself at the end of last month. I boarded a plane and headed west to meet up with all my sisters and mom for a weekend away. I always feel strange by myself and keep looking around because someone just HAS to be looking at me. Nope. No one takes a second look when I'm not pulling a choo choo wagon and a shopping cart. I'm just another person minding my business and reading a book. I lose my identity a bit but it's kind of refreshing. The first thing I did when I landed was get picked up by my sister Emily and head to Cafe Rio. Oh yum yum yum. I ate there again at the airport when a flew out three days later. Had to get my fill!!

We stayed in SLC that night, ran on the treadmills the next morning (much to Emily's dismay, she'd rather run outside), and waited for everyone else to arrive around 11am. If there is one thing my sisters like to do, it's shop. We shopped all afternoon Friday and most of the day Saturday. HOWEVER, I actually bought a few things! This is a monumental event in my life. All my family pressures me to shop and purchase and I never do. At one point I think my mom threatened me if I didn't buy something. ;) Let me tell you, shop and purchase I did! We stopped at DSW and everyone came out with one or two bags. I bought some Croc flip flops which are incredibly comfortable. So there you go. Later in the day I bought some new blouses for church. My body just isn't the same after triplets so my wardrobe is in desperate need of a make over. So this is my start I guess.

Everyone wanted to eat at Cheesecake Factory since there isn't one in Idaho.  After a full day of shopping I was happy to sit and enjoy some Thai Lettuce Wraps.  My oldest sister brought her oldest daughter who is actually only 8 1/2 years younger than me.  Closer in age than I am to her mom.  Funny how those things happen.  She fit right in though! 

Whenever the kids see a picture of Emily, they always yell, "mama!!!"  We do look a little alike I suppose. 

Our first night all together we stayed in a two-bedroom suite, ate delicious sandwiches that my mom packed and prepared, engaged in crafting and painting a cute letter to go in our homes, and watched a movie to end the night.  It only took an hour and a half to get the movie to work but we did it!

We also went to see The Host and enjoyed that.  Some of my sisters had mixed feelings but since I had read the book, I knew what to expect and knew it was going to be slooooow moving.  I'd see it again though!  I had a great time and felt super refreshed coming home to the kids.  The kids and Clark came into the airport to surprise me when I came out of the gate but unfortunately I came out another door and didn't locate them for about five minutes.  Bummer.  The kids acted like I had just stepped around the corner for a minute and hadn't been gone for a few days.  They acted totally calm and normal.  Made me laugh.

Because I was so rejuvenated after returning from our trip, when Zachary asked me on Monday if he could wear his Buzz Lightyear underwear I said, "sure! why not?"  When usually I'd say, "when you learn to use the potty you can wear underwear."  After a few big accidents, luckily on the tile floor, he was pretty much potty trained!!!!  I can't believe all the drama I went through with Leah.  I may have to endure it again but holy cow, I think potty training should always be like this!  Although Zachary is stubborn and gives me grief most of the day, he took to this task like a champ.  It suited his personality, his perfectionism, and was a great experience for him because it was positive!  There was lots of praise and kisses and positivity and I realized that I don't give much of that to him because he pushes my buttons.  It showed me how a little positivity can go a long way.  The first week of potty training he was so well-behaved and happy.  He was totally ready and it was something good we needed to do together.  So I'm thrilled to be able to say ONE DOWN!  TWO TO GO!  Here he is after the first time he went #2 in the potty...

Sometimes I'll forget to ask if he needs to go or remind him to use the potty and soon enough he comes running around the corner with the bucket of pee saying he went!  Luckily he's pretty careful as he runs around the house with it.  He listens to his body and has no problems going in alone and getting things done.  Awesome.

Since he's potty trained, we've experienced the dreaded night time potty visits.  We always have to take his crying seriously now because (although he's wearing a Pull-up) he panics when he wakes up and has to pee.  So much so that he's starting crawling out of his crib.  Never been done before.  It's definitely a scary thing when doors start opening and shutting in the night and you believe all your kids are safely in their cribs.  Yikes!  Point is, it's time for some big beds.  We've taken a liking to an unfinished wood store near our home.  We've bought some other furniture pieces there and thought bunk beds would be great to get there as well.  So that's what we did!  The boys won't actually use the bunk beds right now but we've set up one bed for Zachary and he was thrilled!  Leah cried herself to sleep the first night he had his bed because she wanted to be in there with him.  This picture was right outside the Woodland store.  The kids sat on a rocker and ate some fruit snacks.  Doesn't get any better!

The kids are really into Toy Story and Finding Nemo right now.  They've entertained several other movies like Happy Feet, Monsters Inc, and Ratatouille but none have come close to the first two.  They've pretty much left Elmo in the dust and hardly remember who he is anymore.  The army men in Toy Story are a funny fascination for the trio, especially Zachary so we bought a dollar bag of army men and set up a battle zone.  We had a hospital, cafeteria, bunkers, catapults, and sleeping quarters.  They loved it.

More army men hanging with Leah.  Unfortunately for them I think they were all lining up to go to the grocery store.

They are also really into playing doctor which has helped to an extent when we've had to go to the real doctor.  They bring their tools and aren't quite so frightened to have their hearts and lungs listened to.

Leah is really into pulling her pants high...no clue.

and lastly they are totally into playing in the sandbox.  They love going out there and filling and dumping their buckets.  I've loosened up about how often they play in there and would actually allow them to do it everyday if weather permitted.  The reason why is because I've figured out how to keep the sand out of the house.  When they are done playing, I strip them down and let them run circles in the backyard while I shake all the clothes out.  This way their feet are getting clean in the grass, sand is falling off them, and by the time we go inside (straight to the bath), there's hardly any sand in sight.  While I was shaking clothes off, I came around the corner to find them all trying to sit in one choo choo wagon...naked.  Clark thinks I should delete this picture but I promised him it was their own doing and they thought it was great.  I'll decide later if it will go into the permanent blog book.

Our World Aquarium season passes expired last month so I finally was able to try out another aquarium downtown.  It's significantly less expensive and significantly smaller.  Maybe 1/10 the size of the World Aquarium.  Other moms who have gone says it great though because no one is ever there and you could spend at least an hour just letting the kids run around and looking at the five exhibits.  Unfortunately when I pulled up, there were about 18 bus fulls of kids going into the aquarium for a field trip.  Ugh!  I had already driven 30 minutes so I wasn't turning back but I hate situations like that because I can't pull the wagon and it's more nerve-racking to keep track of the kids.  I decided to just do it since we were already there.  The aquarium had two memorable features that the kids are still talking about so I guess it was worth it:  a hands-on sting ray exhibit and a Finding Nemo exhibit.  It was pushing and shoving room only though to see those two things.  The picture below is the seahorse exhibit.  No pushing or shoving here. 

Last but not least, we took advantage of the summer-like weather this past weekend and went on a nature walk.  Not much nature to see around these parts but there is a small wildlife reserve a few miles away so we headed there.  Not before everyone was fully equipped with sunglasses and homemade binoculars (made from toilet paper rolls, paper, tape, and yarn.  I was one roll short so I had to unravel the whole thing to get it out.  All the while instructing the kids never to do what I was doing ;) Watch out for this bunch!  They are on a mission to spot some bugs and birds with their 'noculas.'

Like I've said before, Caleb is full to the brim of passion.  Doesn't matter what it is, he's passionately involved.  Searching for wildlife through binoculars was no exception.  The other two lost interest after a while but Caleb was going strong.  Even going as far as hiding in the tall grass to see what he could spy.

After our walk we stopped in for pizza and ate it right there in the car.  By the time we got home, dinner was done and everyone was exhausted.  Perfect recipe for a stress-free bedtime and good night sleep.  Zachary even slept the whole night without any potty calls.  Pretty miraculous.

I have no words or description for this last picture other than these three make us crazy...

but we sure are crazy about them.

Moments of March...

Many times I pull out the camera to 'quickly' take a picture of something the kids are doing. Then I realize they weren't all looking so I take another, then I realize the lighting was bad so I take another, then I realize my camera didn't flash so I take another, then I realize Caleb's eyes were closed so I take another...ahhhhh! By the end of all this, I've spent 15 minutes trying to get ONE picture and I'm usually annoyed, sweating, and yelling at the kids because they aren't cooperating.

So I challenged myself to really only take ONE picture.  If Clark was taking the picture he was happy to oblige to my challenge because his biggest pet peeve is taking pictures over and over and over again with me analyzing them between each attempt.  I had to make sure I was positioned properly, lights were on, flash was working, etc... Then I got one click (I mean, this is how it was with the old film cameras. You took a picture and crossed your fingers that it would turn out when you had the film developed.  It was the worst when you got pictures back and your finger was covering the lens). Of course after snapping a picture I immediately looked to see if it was a good one and found 20 things I didn't like about it. It was so tempting to delete it and try again but I really wanted to just capture the moments, as dirty or blurry or chaotic as they were, and not worry about the little details.

The pictures I'm posting don't seem too exciting but I love looking at them knowing exactly what was happening in that moment even if everyone wasn't looking. I also love knowing that after one click, I set the camera down and went back to playing with the kids...no yelling or sweating involved.

FYI:  The kids are pointing to Tennessee on the map because Clark was there on a business trip.  So they learned all about that state.  :)

 

The Dreaded Potty...

Potty training attempt number one has come and gone. 

I'm the type of person that when I get an idea in my head, I can't sit on it. I have to carry it through right away. Even if it's returning something to the store, which I know can be done at anytime, I still feel urgency and get in the car as soon as possible.  We were planning on working with Leah in a few weeks but a friend emailed the 'Lora Jensen 3 Day Method' for potty training and I was totally convinced to do it right away. So I went out the next day and got all the stuff and started.

The whole premise of the method is that if your child is over 22 months old, they are trainable and will be fully trained in three days if you follow the method EXACTLY. You throw all your diapers away and never turn back.  Not even for naps or bedtime.  Another important premise of the method is no sitting on the potty for long periods of time to 'try' and not asking them if they need to go.  Therefore handing over control to them.  The author said that kids want to be in control of these situations. I mean, this method has been featured on Good Morning America and has rave reviews.  I was totally on board. You basically keep your child right by your side for three days and rush them to the bathroom every time they are in the middle of an accident. I knew this method was right up my alley since I'm pretty obsessive compulsive and don't do anything casually. I was geared up and ready to follow Leah around(much to her annoyance). What I didn't realize, however, is that each time I was rushing Leah to the bathroom it was like a panic/startling experience for her which is definitely not up her alley. I tried to remain calm and positive even though it was a messy ordeal but even with some reassurance, it was still startling.  She likes plans, schedules, preparation, advance warning etc...

The first day she tolerated these panic attacks and the second day she was totally resistant.  She did not want to leave her toys (for good reason...being a multiple means hold on to your stuff or lose it) or what she was playing with just to go pee.  The second morning she held her pee for almost four hours!!  I kept talking to her and following my guidelines...letting her run the show and taking control.   But let's be honest, when have my kids EVER had control in their short little lives.  All the sudden Leah gets a little power and let me tell you, she ran with it.  Not only was she resisting the training, she was refusing to take naps or go to sleep, she was being defiant and disobedient, and was SOOOOOO emotional, especially before bedtime.  Clark said he didn't realize how emotional potty training was going to be!  Neither did I. The book said you should not discipline or scold your child during potty training.  It should be a happy experience.  However, I think that's why she starting acting out!  She had control and no consequences.

We were kind of excited to train one kid at a time because that hasn't really been a luxury for us.  Do something with the first kid, learn from it, and change/adapt for the next.  We have one chance to do everything because all the kids are in the same stage at the same time.  So with potty training, we always thought we'd do them all together but like the idea of having a second chance if something didn't work.  Boy it did not work.  I think a lot of it was I had NO idea what to expect.  I was not prepared emotionally or physically for how challenging this process is.  Of course I romanticized it a little and said our kids will be potty trained in three days, no problem! By day five at 3pm, Leah had one success out of eight.  I think percentages should be a bit higher at that point especially after using the Lora Jensen method.  So I gave her a bath, put the potty away, and put her back in diapers.  I have never been so relieved to see a diaper on her again!  Yeah maybe five days was too early to quit but again, I could not have imagined doing another day of all the drama and clean up.  Leah never even asked about her underwear, stickers, treats (she was bribed with freeze-dried strawberries since she refuses to eat any candy), or the potty.  It was like it never happened.  So weird.

Another big thing we learned about Leah is that although she loves to be a leader, show everyone how to do things, and be involved in everything, she does not like to be a pioneer.  She doesn't like to be the first to try something or do it alone.  She is a social creature as most girls are but I saw how it affected her potty training.  It would have been so much more exciting for her if one of her brothers was doing it with her, running to the bathroom, celebrating, etc...  That's how her whole life has been.  Doing everything with her brothers.  I think she felt isolated and pressured which may have been the reason for all the emotions.

Anyway, I'm probably reading way far into all this but for a two-year-old, this is a huge change.  So I had to swallow my pride and say it wasn't working.  I don't know if it was the method, personality, or social aspect for her, but I do know I'll be much more mentally prepared to follow through and stick it out next time.  And I will definitely NOT be doing away with discipline during the process.  That was a mistake.  Just have to find out what works for her.

What a little bugger.

Does anyone out there have a child like Leah and used a potty training method that worked?  

Hate To Say It But..Going Private!

This is all I've got....

I plugged in my camera and this is all I have to show for the last month and a half. Not my best documentation effort. However, I'm in survival mode and blogging is not a survival skill of mine. Getting in my pajamas, curling up on the couch, and watching my favorite movie is. This time of year is rough because Clark's schedule is at it's highest demand. I'm having to get babysitters to go grocery shopping which is the worst. Luckily we are close to the end of these horrible hours and life will be back to normal soon.

The triplets wear me out. Their favorite phrase nowadays is "I need...." Fulfilling their every need, every minute can sometimes be overwhelming and there's really no prioritizing because each of their needs are SUPER important to them at that moment. I've seen more temper tantrums these past couple months than ever before and I never quite know how to deal.  I've tried to keep them busy and be creative but each child is so different that some activities are fun for one and not for the other two. They haven't really hit their coloring groove yet so we don't do much of that, sticker books are too old and they get frustrated not being able to get the stickers up and there's no way I'm letting them paint or use glitter/glue so our crafting/indoor activities are limited. Obviously we made some glasses out of the pipe cleaners and we do enjoy foam stickers so we've done a few things in that arena. Regardless, we do manage to find something to do. Play doctor, go for nature walks, have indoor picnics, eat popcorn, go to the aquarium, attend storytime, etc...

I've been tackling some big projects on my nagging to-do list such as a family blog book and family DVD's. A ton of progress has been made so I feel good about that which is another reason my blogging has been pushed aside. I recently read a book "The Happiness Project" which had made me rethink what and how I want to do this blog. The author talks about doing things that you actually like as opposed to things that you want to like or things you do because of others' expectations. I don't want to feel guilty if I don't update, I don't want to feel overwhelmed if I get behind, and I don't want to be worried if I forgot my camera and can't document something. I just want it to be natural, simple, and something we'll want to look back on and remember.

So I'll be updating once a month.....might be long, might be short. I'll just do what feels good at the time and what my time allows. Maybe when the kids are off at school I'll revamp my plans again but for now.....I'm going private. Here's a few reasons:  I won't be updating as often; it will be purely for family journaling; I'm getting site hits from very strange searches...most of which have nothing to do with triplets (one person googled "April Fools Day Triplet Sonogram" and was led to my sonogram photo which they clicked on...they probably printed and used it which is totally weird); Clark's co-workers/managers have googled and read our blog which was a surprise to him and made for an awkward work situation.  I just don't want to worry about that stuff anymore. This used to be a great public forum that helped other multiples moms while I was a member of our local support group but I'm done with that now too so I don't see any reason to keep it public!

My blog will probably become the most boring ever so I will have no hard feelings if you're not interested in an invite but leave your email if you want to check in from time to time!

***I've moderated the comments and won't publish them so you can leave your email freely without others seeing it beside me.

Jump for Joy!

So I try to be on the cutting edge of new and exciting toddler activities in the area. Once a location or activity becomes popular and overrun, I lose interest.   Mainly because of the correlation between the amount of kids and the amount of germs.  Also because it's harder to keep track of three toddlers amidst chaos.  I just want to go somewhere awesome that all the other kids in the city don't know about.  Wishful thinking.  There are five public libraries around us and I'm currently on the search for the PERFECT undiscovered toddler story time.  You know, the one that has an awesome reader, is super engaging, and there are only a few kids there.  Haven't found it.  I'm still hopeful.

There was a new indoor trampoline park that opened up near us a few months ago.  It came on my radar through another multiple mom and I immediately knew I wanted the kids to try it out.  It was New Years Eve Day so Clark was home from work which was perfect.  We took the kids and they loooooooooooooooooooooved it.  Caleb could've stayed another hour.  He loved being in his imaginary world, running around, no limitations.  There were three long, connected trampolines and three HUGE bounce houses.  I mean, this place was our dream come true.  Three toddlers running wild and free, burning tons of energy, and we're just watching.  :)

There was a moment when all three kids were bouncing on the tramps and laughing so hard.  I couldn't help but smile the whole time while watching and I'll admit I got a little teary-eyed because they were so happy.  They were experiencing pure joy with something so simple and didn't have a care in the world.  Just total joy.  Of course Clark and I were super jealous because we wanted to jump so badly.  The adult trampolines looked awesome but we hadn't paid to jump on them and had to stay with the kids anyway.  We talked about how crazy we both used to be on the tramp and how it'd be fun to do some of our old tricks again.  So that following weekend, I got a babysitter and told Clark we were going jumping!

We paid for an hour of jumping and tried to hurry so as not to waste any time!  That was all in vain though because after 15 minutes, we needed a serious break.  We were totally out of energy.  Ha!  We were laughing at how pathetic we were and how old we felt.  It was very apparent that we were not limber teenagers anymore and those tricks that seemed so simple before were almost scary now!  It felt so great though to get out of our element and at least try to pretend we're still young.  I'm pretty sure we were the oldest people there.  I wore my Justin Bieber shirt just so the other high schoolers would know we were hip and legit.  :)  The next day we dealt with major soreness and a minor shoulder injury but all in all, it was a good time.  And also a good measure of our current abilities and inabilities.  We promised to go when we were 40 to assess our pathetic-ness once again.

A White Texas Christmas...

Christmas in our house started all the way back in November. The first weekend to be exact. We do this every year and every year Clark questions whether it's too early. However, once we get everything up, get the Christmas music going, and watch a Christmas movie, he always starts to feel the excitement again. Our 2012 Christmas season was so enjoyable and lots of fun to spend with three two-year-olds. Unfortunately, our three two-year-olds ruined/broke/jumped on two ornaments and a small standing snowman. I resorted to telling myself that 'one day we will have nice decorations.' That seemed to help me cope with our losses.

I guess I'll start with some unfortunate Christmas events to go along with our decoration losses. Because we start Christmas celebrations so early, we have ample time to watch as many Christmas movies as possible. Last year we watched 15.  We wanted to step it up this year and add some new movies to our repertoire but after all was said and done, we randomly ended up watching 15 again! We would've surpassed our previous number but Polar Express was in our lineup and the kids were TOTALLY freaked out when we started watching it so halfway through we turned it off. It's a pretty dark movie for a two-year-old apparently.  Definitely not Thomas the Train. Ever since then the kids keep talking about how 'scary' trains are. So sad. We took them to a train exhibit downtown a couple days ago which was happy and bright so hopefully their minds are changed now.  Point is, we missed setting a new record. There's always next year!

Our second unfortunate event of the season was that the kids HATED Santa Claus. Let's just say it was the biggest failure ever. We had talked about Santa only a little prior to going and meeting him at a church function assuming the kids would be apprehensive but excited. Um no. We did not plan, prepare, or expect their reactions. Total triple meltdown. I can count on one hand the times we've had those. Caleb was screaming so frantically that his eyes had glossed over, lips were blue, and no one could bring him back from his deep place of fear. Mrs. Claus was even there but that didn't help at all. Unfortunately in all the commotion we didn't get a picture of everyone crying. We finally got them calmed down after what seemed like 20 minutes but was only a couple, and they sat with us for a picture. I was in a full out sweat by that point but we came away with a decent picture.

Now on to the good stuff. My first good news is all the Christmas crafting I did. I craft in spurts and everything has to be bought immediately and put together in less than an hour. Anything more doesn't interest me. However, an advent Calendar I made with my mom back in September was a much bigger project and I only attempted it because my master seamstress mother was around. I'll be sure to take a picture next year (forgot to take one and it's packed away now) but I'm pretty proud of it. I also put together a couple wreaths and some foam-board, engineer prints of our family.

 

We did lots of crafting/cooking with the kids as well.  We made tree garland with yarn and cheerios (which was completely eaten by the next morning), made foam sticker ornaments, and of course cooked some yummy treats.  I'll have to give Clark all the credit for the treats though.  He made peanut butter balls AND rice krispie treats with the kids one day.  What a guy.  I made a pumpkin roll but didn't let the kids anywhere near it because my last one I made for Thanksgiving was a total failure.  I'm happy to say that my Christmas roll was near perfect! 

Clark and I ordered pizza on Christmas Eve which was delicious and perfect to go with our watching of Miracle on 34th Street (my first time seeing that movie).  The night was so relaxing and led right into an awesome Christmas morning.  We woke the kids up, put them in the car, and headed over to our good friends house.  It was pouring rain outside but we were greeted with a DELICIOUS pancake/eggs/waffle/bacon/fruit breakfast and a cozy fire.  The kids were SO well behaved and SO happy the whole morning.  Mostly due to the fact that our friends have a dog and the trio chased her around the whole time.  We exchanged gifts later in the morning, played with toys, and sadly had to go home so the kids could have a nap. Once we got home though, our own family presents under the tree were too tempting so we let the kids stay up and open the rest. 

We got the kids these cool pillow racers and were so excited to have them cruise around on those for the day.  However, their legs kept hitting the wheels and they couldn't go very fast or far.  It's almost as if the kids were just too big for the racers.  Sadly, we returned them the next day but purchased a doctor kit which has been a HUGE hit.  While we were trying out the racers on Christmas, Clark also held an impromptu jumping session with the kids.  He taught them the basics of the double-foot jump, showed them proper arm movements, and even did some demonstrations.  Pretty impressive!

To top off our awesome day, the rain turned to snow and just kept on falling!  Nothing like a little bit of white falling from the sky to make Christmas feel authentic and homey.  We received about five inches (at least in our backyard) and it stuck around for a couple days.  Of course as excited as we are to see it fall, we are equally excited to see it melt.

The kids all got new pajamas from our friends and gave me some good smiles before going to bed after a fun Christmas day. 

The kids loved all the lights this year and seeing Santa all around town on people's lawns (not up close of course).  Their most talked about Christmas decoration was a blow-up Santa taking off in a hot air balloon.  They just thought that was the best and we visited that house several times during December.  We also had a Secret Santa who dropped off a surprise for the first twelve nights of December.  It was pieces to a Little People nativity set so we talked each night about each figure and how it was involved in the birth of Jesus.  We also taught that we give gifts to the ones we love because the three wise-men brought special gifts to Jesus.  Hopefully they understood some of the real meaning although I'm not quite figured out how Santa fit in to all of it. 

A few of our favorite memories from this year included listening to Leah sing at the top of her lungs 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' and 'Jingle Bell Rock.' All the kids were totally obsessed with dancing and singing 'Jingle Bell Rock.' Another fun memory was using our popcorn machine for the first time. We set it on the floor so the kids could watch the magic happen and they TOTALLY freaked with excitement and elation. Then we stayed on the floor and shared a huge bowl of popcorn. Lastly, there were a few beautiful days leading up to Christmas and we went to a park that is tucked away in a little neighborhood. Clark and I sat on the bench soaking in the sun rays while the trio threw leaves in the air, gathered acorns, ran up and down, jumped, climbed, and slid. Those are the moments that we say maybe this triplet thing isn't so hard. :) 

Christmas 2012 was a good one. No doubt about it.