Wordless Wednesday: Fun at the Library

Teaching Triplets Tuesday: Goat

Last week, we continued our farm animals unit and learned about goats.  Here is the lesson plan for that week:

Prayer, Calendar Time, and Weather

Songs and Videos (I was having troubles finding anything about goats,so we only had our unit song):

Choo Choo Soul: Animal on a Farm (Unit Song)

Activities:

1) Goat Color Sheet: I printed off the goat color sheet pictured below and holding it up, I taught the kids the word goat and that a goat says meh.  Later they colored their goats.  I used these pictures throughout the week to reinforce the words goat and the sound meh.

2) Actual Animal Sounds:  I downloaded a goat from HERE and played the noise over and over while saying "goat".

3) For this activity, we are waiting for the end of the unit and we will visit the Austin zoo, where we will be able to see both goats and pigs.

Bible Lesson:

The Rizers: 1 John 4:7

⁵ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

My Family Monday: Everyday Life with Triplets

   I am so glad to have last week behind us.  The kids started to get sick with a really bad cold on Tuesday and they are just now starting to feel better.  In the midst of it (and being sick myself), I had oral surgery on Thursday.  The kids and I slowly started feeling better by Saturday and now we just seem to have some nasal problems remaining.
  The illness pretty much was the headliner of last week, but we did head over to the kids' paternal grandparents house for Dieda's (grandfather's) birthday.  We actually had a really good time and the kids were in good spirits for one of the few times last week.  Other than that we stayed home to heal, missing both church and MOPS.

Sunday Saying: Children's Laughter Part One

"When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be"

James Matthew Barri- The Creator of Peter Pan

Thursday Threes: Taking Care of Sick Triplets

  The kids have been sick this week; sore throat, runny noses, and fevers.  It has not been the funnest place at our house.  All of you singleton mothers out there, picture for a moment, your young (two and under) child sick; the constant crying, always wanting to be held, endless sleepless nights, the thirty minute naps, and  you dealing with all of this while being sick yourself.  Now add two more children, the same age and the same condition.  I love being a mother of triplets, but the only time I wish it were easier is when they are sick.
How do you deal?

1)   Separation is the key.
 If you have the ability to keep them in separate rooms for bed and nap do it!  The night before last, Tali had to sleep in our bed; there was no other way anybody would get any rest.  Last night it was Adrik that was in our room.  I'm dead set against having kids sleep in parents' beds, but there literally was no other way.  Crying it out didn't work and only woke up the other kids, even in separate rooms.

2)    Keep Zyrtec and Tylenol on hand.
Our doctor recommends Zyrtec over Benadryl.  Follow the instructions given by your doctor.

3)     Don't skip outdoor time.
Fresh air always helps my little ones and puts them in a better mood.

4)     Allow naps at irregular times.
Let them fall asleep in the car or stroller.  Their little bodies need time to heal.

5)     Do NOT allow your children to go to day care or a nurserey!!!
It may be a major inconvenience, but right now I'm pretty sure that my kids picked something up from the church nursery and I've got to admit, I'm pretty upset at the parents that allowed their kids to go to a nursery while they were sick.

6)     Group hug and a favorite movie works during the toughest times.
Right after their nap,  my kids are the crankiest and when they're sick, all three scream uncontrollably for the first 15 minutes or so after their nap.  I put on Shrek, sit on the floor with my back against the coach and place one baby on one leg, another baby on the other leg and the last  baby on my hip.  We watch the movie until each one gradually decides to get up and play.

7)     Have patience.
Try to be understanding and try to keep your stress and temper under control.  If need be, let the kids cry in a safe place and have five minutes to yourself to relax and get control of your feelings.
 

Wordless Wednesday: Feeding the Ducks

Teaching Triplets Tuesday: Duck and Cow

  A couple of weeks ago, we started a new unit on farm animals.  I was unable to post last Tuesday, so this week I will be posting the last two lessons, duck and cow.

Duck:

Prayer, Calendar Time, and Weather

Songs and Videos:

Choo Choo Soul: Animal on a Farm (Unit Song)

Elmo's Ducks
Elmo and Zoe Pretend

Activities:

1) Duck Color Sheet: I printed off THIS color sheet and holding it up, I taught the kids the word duck and that a duck says quack (both of which they already knew).  Later they colored their ducks.  I used these pictures throughout the week to reinforce the words duck and quack.

2) Actual Animal Sounds:  I downloaded a duck quacking from HERE and played the noise over and over while saying "duck".

3) We went to San Gabriel Park in Georgetown and actually fed the ducks 

Bible Lesson:

The Rizers: Proverbs 3:5-6

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

Cow

Prayer, Calendar Time, and Weather

Songs and Videos:

Choo Choo Soul: Animal on a Farm (Unit Song)

Barney's Old McDonald had a Farm

Activities:

1) Cow Color Sheet: I printed off the cow color sheet pictured below and holding it up, I taught the kids the word cow and that a cow says moo.  Later they colored their cows.  I used these pictures throughout the week to reinforce the words cow and moo.

2) Actual Animal Sounds:  I downloaded a cow mooing from HERE and played the noise over and over while saying "cow".

3) We were suppose to go visit some cows at a farm, but the weather didn't cooperate

Bible Lesson:

The Rizers: 2 Corinthians 5:17

^5 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here!

My Family Monday: Everyday Life with Triplets

  Wow!  For once there's not much going on here.  Looking back on the week, I can hardly remember anything too significant happening.  Adrik did get his cast off on Friday, which was so great!  They took another x-ray and there had been quite a lot of healing.  I was so proud of all three of my little ones, especially Adrik.  They were so good during the appointment.  When they cut off Adrik's cast, they were not scared at all and Adrik didn't even flinch.  In six months, Adrik will get both of his legs re-xrayed to make sure the growth plates weren't damaged, but other than a slight limp, he's doing great!
  Before we went to our appointment, the kids and I visited Jenya at work for one last time.  We didn't bring the stroller in and their personalities really shined.  Charli Kate had a blast!  She wasn't too interested in Jenya's co-workers, but she loved the air vents and she loved running down the halls while I chased her.  Of course, Tali was a social little butterfly, visiting all the people and smiling and laughing.  Adrik was the mama's boy (as always)...okay as long as I was holding his hand and screaming as soon as I was out of sight, chasing down Charli Kate.  Its been nice to have a relatively quiet week, but it sure makes this post rather short!
 

Sunday Saying: Rain

Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams. 
Ashley Smith 

Saturday Sprints: Sand Crab 10K Revisited

Sand Crab 10K:
  I know that I've already posted once about this race, but since then the results have been made available online.  You can check out THIS site for the results yourself, but to sum it up, my chip time was 54:05.2, I placed 44th out of 291 overall, for females I placed 5th out of 152, and I place 2nd out of 61 in my age division.

This Weeks Training:
Monday:           3 Miles
Tuesday:           5 Miles
Wednesday:      Active Recovery
Thursday:          3 Miles
Friday:              Recovery
Saturday:          8 Miles
Sunday:            Recovery

Thursday Threes: What to Expect When Raising Triplets- Bedtime

 

  People have always been amazed about how I put my kids to sleep and all of the credit goes to a nice little invention called WOOMBIES.  Shortly after Charli Kate came home from the hospital, I ordered my first Woombie and we've owned many since.  For the first two months of their lives, my babies lived in an incubator and then they were swaddled in a small crib.  When I got them home, their cribs were so big and they would move around so much that they would come out of their swaddles.  When I didn't swaddle them, they would jerk themselves awake.  My solution was the Woombie and bedtime and naps have been fabulous ever since!  I simply tuck them into their little cocoons and either get on my computer or read until they fall asleep.  They hardly make a peep and it takes about 15 minutes for them to fall asleep for their nap and about 45 minutes for them to fall asleep for the night.
  I actually still put them in Woombies.  I've tried to leave them out, but they will just play in their cribs and play with each other.  If I try to leave the room so that they can play until they are tired, they start screaming.  I decided, why should I fix something that isn't broken?  Sure, the pediatricians recommend babies to only be swaddled by three or four months of age, and I understand that my trio may have been behind developmentally because of it, but sometimes I think that not all things apply to triplets.
  My theory was confirmed after a dentist appointment last week.  Everyday, the kids and I walk to the grocery store and to get to the store we pass by my dentist office.  On my recent visit, my dentist asked me how bedtime was at my house and I recited our Woombie routine.  She then described to me the routine she had for triplets that she would occasionally babysit.  To put them to bed, she would put them all in their cribs, pull down the side of the crib so that they could get out. She would then run out of the room, lock the door, and put a fan in front of the door to drown out the babies' screams.  Then for about an hour or so, they would scream at the door, jamming their little fingers under the door crack, until they finally fell asleep on top of each other.  She would then, quietly sneak into the room and carry them back to their cribs. How exhausting!!  And this was the pediatrician recommended bedtime routine.  After hearing this, I have no guilty feelings about putting them in their Woombies.  I've got to say, its way better than the alternative.  I would rather keep them in a sleeping bag until they are six then to have to go through what my dentist described.

 

Wordless Wednesday: Bygone

My family Monday: Everyday Life with Triplets

   Its been another busy week in the Stepanov household!  Jenya had both Monday and Tuesday off, so its been so nice to have the extra hands!  On Wednesday, Jenya put in his two weeks notice at Dell and will soon be starting over at a company called MELLANOX.  He will basiclly be doing the same thing, but Dell will be his account.  He's really looking forward to his new job and we're all really happy for him.
  On Thursday, I finally got a new phone!  A couple of months ago, Charli Kate had gotten a hold of my phone and completely broke it.  Since my contract would be up shortly, and I would qualify for a free phone with a new contract, we decided to just get the most basic Go Phone that we could find.  It was horrible!  I had no features or capabilities whatsoever and couldn't even get reception in my own house.  To talk on the phone I had to go outside!  I got a Pantech and I love it...It has been so great!  But with that said, I did lose all my contacts again, so everyone who is reading this, please give me a call or email me.  Otherwise, I will not have your number.  Also, please don't be offended if I don't recognize your number.
  Friday, we had our first MOPs meeting.  I posted about how that went earlier this week, so if you missed out click HERE. On Saturday, Jenya went to the UT game while the triplets and I enjoyed a visit with Babushka.  On Sunday, we skipped church for a six mile jog (I had a dentist appointment on Saturday morning) and in the afternoon we headed over to San Gabriel park to feed the ducks (more on that tomorrow).  All in all, a great week!

Sunday Saying: Reading

“A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.” 
― William Styron, Conversations with William Styron

Freeday Friday: Plunge

  

  Today the kids and I had our first day at MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers).  It is a group of mothers that meet every other Friday for fellowship while the kids (the Moppets) have their own little lessons away from the mothers.  This year's theme is Plunge-Love as your life depended on it and the focus is to be authentic and  go deeper in all of your relationships.  It got me to thinking about my life and how this could relate to me.  I have a really hard time getting close to people and if you really think about this, it seems like a lot of adults have this same issue.  But by watching my little ones discover life and seeing the way that they behave when it comes to relationships I learned that they don't have the same challenges as adults....They know nothing other than to be authentic.  Sometime between childhood and high school we learn to put on a mask when it comes to our true feelings and we lose our childhood curiosity.  I'm hoping that I can relinquish that part myself and hopefully this will help me to love all of the people in my life unconditionally.   
  The kids did very well in MOPs today!  I was a bit nervous, because even though they do go to the nursery at church, this is a bit longer.  The MOPs meetings last for 2 and a 1/2 hours and church is only for an hour and half on a long day.  Other than Adrik being bit by another little boy, there were no incidences.  I decided to get  involved in MOPs mainly for them.  I've already started looking into preschool and there is no way we can afford the costs for three kids at once....Its just completely outrageous!  So, my solution is to teach them the educational aspect of preschool at home and to have extracurricular type activities to get them out of the house and in a more formal classroom type setting with other children their age.  Church will be one of these setting, as well as MOPs, and when the kids get to be around three or four we will start the girls in either dance or tumbling and will take Karate.
  Well, I was very pleased with our first MOPs experience and I look forward to our next meeting in two weeks!

Wordless Wednesday: Baby, You can Drive my Car

Teaching Triplets Tuesday: Squares

Last week was our final week for shapes and honestly, out of all the lessons that I've done, this series they really didn't get.  So, we will probably reintroduce shapes when the kids are a little older.  But for now, our final week was squares:

Prayer, Calendar Time, and Weather

Songs and Videos:

Journey to Ernie: Shapes (Unit video)

The Magic Finger Square

Its Hip to be a Square

Activities:

1) Our first activity was flash cards.  I drew a square on a piece of paper.  I taught the kids the word (always in English and Russian).  Later I allowed the kids to color on their squares.  I then paired the square flash card with the triangle and the circle flash cards from the last few weeks and had the kids pick out the square, circle and triangle by name.

2) For this activity, we used a cut-out shape toy like THIS.  For this week we focused on the square.  I showed the kids both the square cut-out on the ball (ours is a ball) and the square block.  I again reiterated square and showed them how to put the block in the cut-out.  We added the triangle and the circle from the last few weeks, but without so much attention.

3) Using the same shape blocks from the second activity above, I would put all of the shapes in front of the kids and ask them, "Which one is the square?"

Bible Lesson:

Video: The Rizers-Psalms 136 2-4

² Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.

⁴ to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.

My Family: Monday: Everyday Life with Triplets

  This week was challenging, to say the least.  On Thursday, we had our doctors appointment.  Adrik weighs 23 pounds, Tali 20 pounds, and Charli Kate weighs 18.8 pounds. Everything went well, all three are perfectly healthy, except Adrik had a broken right leg now.  We were sent to yet another specialist and this time I liked them so much better!  For starters, they wanted to see us immediately when I called to make an appointment.  The other doctor had us wait four days.  Although, we had to wait forever at the doctor's office (and with all three kids; since it was last minute we didn't have anybody to watch the girls) we did get some answers.  Thankfully, at this point, they don't think there is problem with his bone or metabolism.  Now, if we do start seeing more broken bones then we'll look into that.  We also have a pretty good idea of what happened in both incidences.  For the left leg (the first one he broke), we think it got stuck in our baby gate.  The doctor told us that there are two ways that this type of injury can happen an the first way is by pulling and twisting.  The second way is by impact, like something falling on top of the leg, and for the left leg, we think Tali fell on top of him.  They did go ahead and put a cast on his right leg and they let us know that the left leg is pretty much already healed.  He gets to keep the cast on for two weeks and he's actually doing really well with it.  Now that he's adjusted to walking with it, he seems to be getting around a lot better and he's not crying every time he falls with added support.  That's about all that happened this week, but it sure did leave us exhausted.

Sunday Saying: Persistence

Continuous, unflagging effort, persistence and determination will win. Let not the man be discouraged who has these.
James Whitcomb Riley

Saturday Sprints: The Slow Road to a Marathon

Month 2 Training Schedule:
Week 1: Jog 5 minutes, speed walk 5 minutes and repeat twice, three days of the week
Week 2: Jog 10 minutes, speed walk 5 minutes and repeat once, three days of the week
Week 3: Jog 15 minutes, speed walk 5 minutes and repeat once, four days of the week
Week 4: Jog20 minutes, speed walk 5 minutes and repeat once, four days of the week

My Training Schedule for This Week:
Monday:          3 miles
Tuesday:          4 miles
Wednesday:     Active recovery
Thursday:         Recovery
Friday:             3 miles
Saturday:         7 miles
Sunday:           Recovery