Nature's Beauty

Does it get any better than that? John took this picture yesterday when we went walking after dinner. We have seen tons of deer every day, but this was the best one yet!

Sudoku Master

As you can see, we kept busy during the rain today. Last night, all the boys woke up from the storms, while I was sleeping peacefully in the car!

p.s. John is still trying to locate the cisco. Apparently, they are late this year!

We're Here!

We made it Drummond Island after 5 hrs in the car. Everyone was happy to get out & walk around. Grandma & Grandpa took the kids to the lake to tire them out. I don’t know who was more tired! The kids had an early bedtime at 6 o’clock. Wyatt, slept in the big boy bed & fell asleep on the floor with his hand sticking out under the door. (Picture to follow).

Halfway There

We are halfway to Drummond Island for our vacation. We stopped at my parents house for a good night sleep before we drive for 5 more hours tomorrow. The kids were a little confused to be at Grandma and Grandpa's house without them home, but they were too tired to worry! Wyatt did insist on feeding the ducks when we got here, so we played in the park for a while before bed. The internet situation UP North is a little questionable, so I may not be able to post for a while. We have a computer with a wireless card so we are hoping that we can get a connection, but we are not sure. By the time we get back, Jonah and Sammy will be 18 months old!!!!!! I am hoping to get some good 18 month pictures to share, so stay tuned!!!

Daddy's Home

John is back and we are thrilled!

Internet Issues

I am having internet issues right now. I couldn't get online last night. My cable company is coming today between 12-4.

The Harder They Fall

Wyatt got sick tonight too! He had a raging fever that could only be brought down with a cool bath..he was not in good shape. It may be another long night! Lucky for me, Sammy got up around 10pm to play with his trains...cuz that's what you do when you're sick!

A Diagnosis

I finally figured out what Jonah and Sammy have...
Hand Foot and Mouth disease. Jonah has the mouth lesions and the ones on his buttocks. Sammy is drooling like Cameron so I am assuming that he has sores in his mouth too and is keeping his mouth open because it feels better. It makes sense too since Wyatt and I are not getting sick. We must already be immune! Here is more info on it:

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is a common childhood illness. It causes sores in the mouth and on the hands, feet, and sometimes the buttocks and legs. Mouth sores can be painful and may make it hard for your child to eat. The disease is not serious, and it usually goes away in a week or so.

It can occur at any time of year, but hand-foot-and-mouth disease is most common in the summer and fall.

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is caused by a virus called an enterovirus.

The virus spreads easily through coughing and sneezing. You can also get it by coming in contact with infected stool, such as when you change a diaper. Often the disease breaks out within a community. Children are most likely to spread the disease during the first week of the illness. But the virus stays in the stool and can sometimes spread to others for several months after the blisters and sores have healed.

It usually takes 3 to 6 days for a person to get symptoms of hand-foot-and-mouth disease after being exposed to the virus.

At first your child may feel tired, get a sore throat, or have a fever of around 101F to 103F. Then in a day or two, your child may get sores or blisters on the hands, feet, mouth, and sometimes the buttocks. In some cases a child will get a skin rash before the blisters appear. The blisters may break open and crust over. The sores and blisters usually go away in a week or so.

A doctor can tell if your child has hand-foot-and-mouth disease by the symptoms you describe and by looking at the sores and blisters.

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease does not usually need treatment. Most cases go away in 7 to 10 days. You can use home care to help relieve your child’s symptoms.

• Offer your child plenty of cool fluids. Your child may also have Popsicles and ice cream.
• Do not give your child acidic or spicy foods and drinks, such as salsa or orange juice. These foods can make mouth sores more painful.
• For pain and fever, give your child acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) or ibuprofen (such as Advil).
  

Probability and Statistics

Wouldn't it figure that John went out of town this morning and Sammy woke up in the middle of poop fest! He finger painted poop everywhere that he could reach...including one side of his brother's crib. Then both Sammy and Jonah came down with fevers in the afternoon and were sick the rest of the day! Wyatt and Jonah have already both been up and it's only midnight! It may be a long one....

Strawberry Sweet

I took the boys strawberry picking today. The kids ate a lot more than they picked, but I ended up with some to bring home (barely)! Jonah was obsessed with the strawberries and even ate some of them with the leaves and stems on before I caught him! I planned ahead though and dressed the boys and me all in red shirts so that we didn't ruin any clothes in the process...boy am I glad too! John was so excited to eat fresh strawberries tonight. He kept talking about it during dinner. Finally when he went to make dessert he looked at the berries that we picked and said "How come you didn't pick more?" and "Why are there so many green ones in here?" Maybe I'll send him strawberry picking alone with all three boys next week and see how it goes! The last picture is out the front door yesterday after dinner!

My Little Reader

I packed up a couple of boxes of books from the playroom that the kids either don't read or try to destroy to store upstairs. Wyatt got into them today and sat are read books to himself for almost an hour. It's true.. you never know what you have until it's gone (almost).

Splashes of Brilliance

My most brilliant moments happen in the shower! I come up with fantastic new ideas and inventions, better ways of doing something, and tons of things that I should work on all while I am showering. My theory is this...During the day most of my thoughts are consumed by the kids and what they are doing or eating, do they need to be changed, did they wake up, and other fun stimulating exchanges with myself. If, by a miracle, I get a moment of silence during the day to entertain a thought of my own, then I am usually thinking "why is it so quiet in here?, where are the kids? what are they up to now?"! But, when I am in the shower, my thoughts just flow seamlessly from one complete thought to the next without any interruptions! I am currently trying to figure out how I can capture my thoughts while showering without having John sit in the bathroom like a court reporter and write it all down! I will figure it out sooner or later...in the shower!
p.s. Don't you love how I dressed my kids so that they each represent one of the first three colors in the rainbow...red, orange, yellow? Tomorrow they will be in green, blue, and purple!

Zoned Out

The kids have been so tired lately. Maybe it is all of the fresh air that they are getting now, but they are all ready for naps by 9:30 am! Here is the glazed over look from Wyatt that I see a lot lately!

Farming 101

The boys are learning the basics of farming right from the front porch!

Happy Fathers Day!

We had a great Fathers Day! We spent the morning at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, came home for lunch, napped, and went to a friends house for dinner. Everyone's exhausted, even Mom and Dad!

Sun Kissed

Sammy's hair has become so light this summer. I love it!

The Perfect Pie

I accomplished perfection tonight. Yes, I made the perfect pie! It was a strawberry-rhubarb pie made from rhubarb from our back yard. When I cut the first piece I knew that it was going to be legendary. The presentation was perfect...see how nothing seeps from the sides?!? It tasted even better than it looks! We are going to enjoy this pie because it is the last one that I am ever going to make....I'll never top that!

Jonah and the Whale

I couldn't resist taking some pictures of Jonah wearing this outfit!

If the Shoe Fits

The other night I went out to dinner with my Mothers of Multiples Club. We went to a semi-fancy restaurant and I got a little dressed up (as much as you can when you only have 10 minutes to get ready). My friend Kelly came and picked me up and everything seemed fine. It wasn't until I was walking into the restaurant that I felt like I was walking funny. I looked down....and I was wearing two totally different shoes! They were both black slip on shoes, but one shoe had a significantly higher heel than the other shoe! How I made it down the driveway without noticing a limp, I will never know?!? I must have been really excited to get out! Of course my fellow twin and triplet Moms were very understanding, but I guess that I still don't have it all quite together yet!
When I tuck Wyatt into bed every night I usually go over our itinerary for the next day. I will say "when you wake up tomorrow we are going to to to the library and then eat lunch with Daddy" or "Margo will be here when you wake up tomorrow" so that Wyatt has an idea what we are going to do each day.Tonight Wyatt said "when Wyatt wakes up we will go swimming at Aunt Mari's house"! That might be a little tricky! Too funny!
Here's pictures of the boys at bedtime tonight.

Monkey #2

Even though Sammy is barely walking he is quite the accomplished climber. He can climb onto any of our furniture and even climbed up into the chair with Daddy tonight. Poor Jonah is too short to climb up on the furniture yet so Sammy torments him by stealing his blanket then climbing up on the couch or chair and waving Jonah's blanket around. He is such a bully. I am surprised that the boys already know how to torment each other, but it is a daily occurrence at our house. Jonah rarely bugs anybody, but Sammy and Wyatt are professional aggravators!

Sculptures

Wyatt made Lego sculptures of Grandpa and Grandma Davis tonight. Grandpa is the wide yellow one with the red head. Grandma is the green one with the blue head. The other red and yellow sculpture is Grandpa's neck! Pretty cool how he can take his neck off huh?

Green House

We had a little visitor on the back window over the deck tonight.... does this mean that our house is environmentally friendly?

The Fights

Ahh the fighting....my kids are always fighting. Even if we have three of something, the kids all want the exact one that someone else has. It doesn't matter what it is! They fight over a particular sippy cup, spoon, shoe, toy, or anything else that we have in the house. It is simply maddening!

Dundee Farms

Today we visited a sheep farm with my MOPS group. There was a farm tour, lamb petting and feeding, and a craft with wool. The boys were a little scared by all of the sheep. One sheep saying "baa" is kinda cute, but 50 sheep saying "BAAAAAAAA" is really loud! Wyatt also told me that "it's stinky in here" and he was correct (50 sheep + 95 degrees = stinky)! It was a really nice outing though and the kids had a lot of fun!

Sleepy Heads

The storms last night and today during nap time kept my kids up for almost 24 hours straight! More specifically, somebody has been up about every 1 1/2 hours in the last 24 hours needing something different! My mental status is questionable at this point....and I am drunk! Here are a few pictures from today.

Red Wings Rule

Wyatt is obsessed with tape. It must run in the family. Wyatt and Aunt Al could have some really interesting conversations about the millions of uses for tape, tape related stories, and how to get the most tape for the money! Maybe they will even write a book about tape someday called "How to break the tape habit for good" or "Tape Care of Yourself". Anyways, Wyatt keeps bringing me tape and asking me to tape his mouth! Although I love the quite time that it provides me from answering the "what's that noise?" question for the millionth time each day, it's a little weird...the tape thing. Maybe Aunt Al has some insight?!?!

Closet Walker

Tonight Sammy "pulled a Sammy", which means that he refused to go to bed quietly. Every once in a while he decides that he isn't ready for bed and howls up a storm until we come back and get him. He usually isn't hungry and doesn't need his diaper changed either. He just enjoys pretending like he is an only child every so often. Tonight he got back out of bed and played in the family room with John and I for about 45 minutes. The funny thing is that he walked the entire time...all 45 minutes!!! Normally he only walks a total of 5 minutes per day. Even though Sammy can walk, he is a much faster, more proficient crawler and we always assumed that he didn't like to walk because it was slower. Tonight John and I realized that Sammy must just be cautious around the other two tornadoes and is scared of being knocked over when they are around. We also realized that we could have another 10 kids if they were all as easy as Sammy. He plays so well by himself and rarely gets into any trouble. When Sammy "pulls a Sammy" it gives us a little more insight into his individual personality apart from his big brothers. He is a lot less technical than the other two boys, but a more accomplished talker and climber. He is starting to sing songs that are familiar to him when he hears them on the radio. In some ways he is more cautious than his brothers, but isn't scared to try new things. Sammy has the worst temper out of the boys and likes to tease his brothers when he is bored. He has a flair for the dramatic that is quite unique. Sammy is almost always happy and care-free and we just can't get enough of him!

Clothing Optional Lunch

The boys played in their baby pool this morning followed by a leisurely naked lunch. We finally finished the patio tonight. Now we just have to put dirt around it and plant grass.

Best Carts Ever

My new favorite grocery carts rock! Most of the stores in our area have these shopping carts available that comfortably seat three kids while still keeping the basket open for groceries. I don't know how I would live without them!

What A View

John and I almost finished the patio tonight. We have 1 row of pavers to put down, but they all needed to be cut, so we will finish it tomorrow and I will take some pictures of the completed project! Yipee! It was a little tricky working outside with all three kids today, but I got the baby pool out and the kids were easily entertained. I didn't bother to put swim suits on the boys though, and we ended up with some interesting photo ops!