Teaching Triplets Tuesday: Halloween

  We were supposed to be doing lessons on Halloween up until this Wednesday, but with being sick, we only accomplished a couple of videos.  We didn't even really do our daily calendar time and weather and there were absolutely no activities.  So here are the couple of videos that we did watch a couple of times last week:

Bubble Guppies Haunted House Party

The Kingdom of Witches (I read the poem out loud while watching the video)

Also, I've added a couple of things that I left out on our My Family Monday post, so be sure to go back and check it out

My Family Monday: Everyday Life with Triplets

  It was one of the hardest weeks!  As I mentioned in my Thursday Threes post, the kids came down with a stomach bug.  We pretty much spent the entire week cuddling on the couch and watching cartoons.  Even without the stomach problems, it is clear that we are now headed full steam into the Terrible Twos.  Both Adrik and Tali especially are throwing huge tantrums!  It makes for long days.  When we did venture out of our house on Saturday, we had to return home early from the library, because of a tantrum.  Tali asked for a snack and so I got out a bag of Cheerios.  I wouldn't let her hold th bag since we were in the library (otherwise Cheerios would be all over the place) and she decided that was unacceptable.  Anyway, that's about all that happened this last week.

Two Things That I Forgot to Mention:
~On Tuesday, we had Lowe's install a backyard deck.  Jenya received some Lowe's giftcards from a sales contest that he did at Dell, and they covered the entire deck cost plus some left over...Pictures to come.
~At the last MOPs meeting, my name was drawn to have lunch with our MOPs mentor mom, Corinnne.  Immediately after my name was called another MOPs mom volunteered to watch the kids.  What a wonderful blessing this was.  Especially since everyone was sick previously in the week and I really needed a break.  Corinne and I dined at a new restaurant in Georgetown, El Monumento (the Mexican food restaurant owned by the same people as The Monument).  I had a wonderful time chatting with Corinne and the food was AMAZING.  I had heard mixed reviews, but I enjoyed my entire experience.  I ordered the Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Enchiladas and they were superb!  A special thanks to Kelly for watching the kids!   

Here are the pictures I couldn't get to post on my Thursday Threes Sections...Poor, sick Tali.  She definitely got it the worse of us all.

Sunday Saying: Our Mornings

“Morning is an important time of day, because how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have.” 
― Lemony Snicket, The Blank Book

Silly Saturday: One Person Food Fight

Early this week, we sat down to a dinner of homemade gourmet sandwiches.  For the kids, they get the same thing only deconstructed; they won't eat sandwiches when stacked.  After Charli Kate had apparently finished, she decided to start throwing the left overs on top of her head.  Although I didn't catch her in the act, here is the aftermath:

Thursday Threes: Caring for Triplets with a Stomach Bug

  A few weeks ago, I blogged about the cold and fever that we were going through.  Even worse yet, we are now battling a stomach virus.  It started with Charli Kate on Sunday morning.  She woke up at 5am in a pool of vomit.  We cleaned her off and she went back to bed in my arms.  She slept until about 6:40am, woke up, had a bottle, and then vomited again before breakfast.  After that she was fine except for loose stoles.
  The next evening Tali started vomiting and an hour later, so did Adrik.  In all, Tali was sick nine times in three and a half hours and Adrik was sick four times in two and a half hours.  All three are still having very soggy poopy diapers and Tali has a massive diaper rash.  So what advice can I give for triplet mothers facing the same problem...
1.   This is not something you can handle by yourself.  Jenya had to come home from school to help me.
2.   To handle the throw up, I would wrap the kids in the thick hooded towels with the hood underneath their face to catch the vomit.
3.   Be ready to change out bed clothes and line beds with blankets or anything easy to peel off quickly.
4.   Allow plenty of time to recuperate and offer as many chances to cuddle as you can.  We spent two entire days watching cartoons.
5.   Throw mos of the schedule out the window.  If they're tired, let them sleep.  One day Tali slept from 10am until 2:30pm.
6.  Be prepared to have a dirty house.  I did about three loads of laundry a day and I am still constantly cleaning little accidents.  All my other chores included folding the laundry have gone by the wayside.

Wordless Wednesday: Monkey

Teaching Triplets Tuesday: Pig

We concluded our farm animal lessons with pig:

Prayer, Calendar Time, and Weather

Songs and Videos:

Choo Choo Soul: Animal on a Farm (Unit Song)
Ormie
The Big Pig Song

Activities:

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

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

3) Visit to the Austin Zoo:  we went to the Austin Zoo on Saturday to see both pigs and goat

Sunday Saying: The Bear

“Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That's the problem.” 
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Silly Saturday: If Your Happy and You Know It

I've decided to change my Saturday posts, yet again.  Although I love running and I've been continuing my marathon training, it just really isn't that interesting to blog about.  So I decided that the kids are starting to do those funny little things that kids do, I would now have a silly Saturday to share those moments.
The kids have been really into the song If Your Happy and You Know It, especially Adrik.  When I went to pick up the kids from MOPs this Friday, the nursery worker told me that the song came on right when she was changing his diaper and it became a whole new experience.  Of course, Adrik, pants down and all, was trying to all the motions while the poor lady was trying desperately to get him changed.  Below is a video of the kids dancing to If Your Happy and You Know It.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy

Teaching Triplets Tuesday: Cats

Last weeks lesson focused cats:

Prayer, Calendar Time, and Weather

Songs and Videos:

Choo Choo Soul: Animal on a Farm (Unit Song)
Barney: Here Kitty Kitty Cat
Seven Cats

Activities:

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

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

3) Visit to the Animal Shelter:  On Tuesday we visited the animal shelter.  Unfortunately, I didn't look to see their hours and so we went at 10am, they were closed until noon.  Fortunately, someone was bringing a couple of kitten by, so the kids were able to play with them.  We were also able to look into the windows for the dogs and we could see some of the cats inside the shelter.

My Family Monday: Everyday Life With Triplets

  What a great week!  On Friday we headed out of town to spend the weekend in Denton with my sister and her family.  Jenya headed to the horrible UT/OU game on Saturday while the rest of us watched a game with a much better outcome, the New York Yankees against the White Sox.  No not the professional teams....It was my nephew's little league baseball game.  Although I didn't get to see much since I was busy chasing the triplets, my nephew's team won!
  On Sunday we celebrated my youngest nephew, Mig's, second birthday. Since Mig is a Cowboys fanatic, appropriately we celebrated by having a football party during the game.  I guess Jenya brought home some bad luck from the UT game, since the Cowboys lost, or maybe a bit of good luck, since Jenya was cheerring for the Ravens, depending on how you look at it.  Worn out from such a bog weekend, the triplets spent most of the party taking a nap.  After the game, we headed back home, to Charli Kate's pleasure.  Sometimes there's just no place like home!

That's my nephew at bat

Thursday Threes: Schedule for 18 Month Old Triplets

So with our schedule change, this is how we spend our days:

5:40am      I wake up, fix milk, unload the dishwasher, get dressed for the day
6:30am      Kids wake up, morning bottle, diaper change, bed is made, and laundry is loaded into the washer
7:00am      Kids watch Mickey Mouse while I make breakfast
7:30am      Breakfast
8:00am      Lessons:  Calendar time, flash cards and words, topic videos
8:30am      Dress the kids, load the laundry into dryer
9:00am      Outing (play group, library, park, or lessons field trip
10:30am    Snack
11:00am    Kids watch Bubble Guppies while I fold the laundry, diaper change
11:30am    Kids watch Little Einsteins while I prepare lunch
12:00pm    Lunch
12:30pm    Lesson activity or bath (we switch every other day), diaper change
1:00pm      Nap
                 Dinner prep, clean the kitchen, living room, and bathroom
2:30pm      Kids wake up, afternoon bottle, diaper change
3:30pm      Grocery shopping
5:00pm      Play outside
5:30pm      Cook dinner
6:00pm      Dinner
6:30pm      Jog
7:30pm      Dress the kids for bed, diaper change, night time bottle with bedtime story
8:00pm      Clean kitchen and living room

Its a busy day, but it works for us.
           

Wordless Wednesday: The Box

Teaching Triplets Tuesday: Dog

Continuing our unit on farm animals, last week's lesson  was on dogs:

Prayer, Calendar Time, and Weather

Songs and Videos:

Choo Choo Soul: Animal on a Farm (Unit Song)
20 Dogs
Conan O'Brien Talks About Dogs

Activities:

1) Dog Color Sheet: I printed off the horse color sheet pictured below and holding it up, I taught the kids the word dog and that a dog says arf.  Later they colored their dogs.  I used these pictures throughout the week to reinforce the word dog and the sound arf.

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

3) Visit to the Animal Shelter:  This week we are learning about cats and so our third activity is to visit the animal shelter and see both dogs and cats.  We are actually planning on doing this today.

Bible Lesson:

We ran out of Rizer videos and the kids are not interested in any other videos that I've, so until I can find anything else, I'm putting a hold on this pat of the lesson.

My Family Monday: Everyday Life With Triplets

  The last two weeks have been full of transition! We've had a couple of major changes and so far, so good! The first one I talked about on Thursday...Since the kids are now 18 months, I decided that they are too old for me going in their nursery during the middle of the night, despite the fact that it is only to put their paceys in their mouths.  We've been sleep training and its been great!  This past week, I've only had to go into their room once and two days last week they didn't wake up at all.  They are also sleeping in later now.  They used to wake up around 6 to 6:15am.  Now they sleep between 6:30 and 6:45am.  I actually had to wake them up on Sunday, so that we wouldn't be late for church.
  The other change is that we are no longer go jogging at 9am; we are now jogging after dinner at 6:30pm.  There were a few different reasons for this change,the main one being that the kids kept snoozing during our jog and so they weren't tired for their afternoon nap.  Also, the weather is now really nice in the evening and since Jenya started his new job, it gives him a chance to spend time with us.  We all go out to the dam as a family.  It works out well for Jenya, too, because with his job change he is no longer able to play racket ball, which was his previous form of exercise.  It  took a few days for the kids to adjust, but now they do well with it and I think its a nice way for them to wind down for bed.  We usually get back from the dam at around 7:30pm, get the kids changed and dressed for bed and they are asleep around 8pm. This change has also freed up our mornings.  We've been going to the park, visiting the library and we've joined two play groups.
  The last change is that we've been going to a new church; Grace Bible Church.  Its the same church that our MOPS group meets at and its been a wonderful change for us.  It starts 15 minutes later than our other church and its closer to our house so there's less of a rush on Sunday mornings.  It is a very small church; there are only about 50 people in the early service.  The kids seem to like the nursery.  At the old church, Adrik would always cry as soon as we got inside.  With this church he seems excited to go.  Although, Tali did cry when I left her last Sunday, I think it was only because she was in a bad mood.  The first Sunday we attended, Tali was introducing Adrik and Charli Kate to the nursery workers when I left them.  It was so cute.  I've also enjoyed the change.  There are a few other MOPS moms and I've been lovingly accepted by all the members.  Most notably, the preacher is like one I've never experienced   He is more like a very interesting and passionate professor and the services are more like a college course that I can't wait to attend.  Although there are no tests study for, I found myself eager to learn more about my religion.  I've grown up a Christian, but I've never even read the Bible completely.  I've now been reading and studying it every night.  I've purchased The Daily Bible Devotional which includes explainative naration, so that the Bible reads more like a novel.
  So far all of these changes seem to be going well!

Sunday Saying

“We're so busy watching out for what's just ahead of us that we don't take time to enjoy where we are.” 
― Bill Watterson

Freeday Friday: Breast Cancer Awareness

  I actually prepared an entirely different post for today, but after another inspiring MOPS meeting, I decided to change it and post about the incredibly strong women that spoke to our group of moms (since I did not ask for permission to post her story we'll call her Jane).  This month is breast cancer awareness and Jane is a survivor.  At 28 Jane was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She was perfectly healthy in all other aspects, she never found a lump, and there was never any family history.  One day she just found an area on her skin that felt calloused.  The doctors were very positive about Jane's condition; it seems they found it early and they could just easily perform a lumpectomy and remove the problem spot.  Jane decided she would really pray about this and to her horror, she felt like God was telling her to not have the lumpectomy, but to have a double mastectomy.  Everyone tried to convince her otherwise, even up until the surgery, but Jane was determined.  Unbelievably, when the doctors opened her up, not only did they find the small little calloused lump, but they found that the cancer had spread from her breast, all the way down her right side, to where her right hip met her right leg.  An astonishing twenty lymph nodes had to be removed!  If she had only had the lumpectomy she would not have survived.  Not only did Jane survivor cancer, but despite the fact that her treatment was suppose to render her completely infertile, she is now the mother to a beautiful two-month-old daughter.
  I think that we've all been effect by some type of cancer.  I wouldn't doubt it if everyone has a cancer story about someone they know, a family member, a friend, or even a personal experience.  I've lost two of my grandmothers from cancer, one had breast cancer.  I didn't know my Mama Dale as well as I wish I did, but I know that she was an amazing person who fought against cancer with dignity, grace, and strength.  I wish that I could be writing an inspiring survival story about her, but I can tell you that she left this world for a better place and she knew and accepted exactly where she was going.  Just like Jane, my Mama Dale listened to God and trusted that He would take care of her.  Its not always easy to hear what God has to say, but if we learn to trust in Him even the most devastating diagnoses can become positive.

Thursday Threes: Sleep Training Triplets

  We never really sleep trained the triplets; we just used the babywise schedule method and the kids would drift to sleep for their naps and bedtime while I worked on my computer or read in their room.  During the night, every once and awhile, one of the babies would wake up, I would go in and give them a pacey and they would go back to sleep.  When the kids started getting older, I started to become more and more aware of how many times I had to go in and comfort them and this started to feel wrong considering that they just turned 18 months.  Adrik was the biggest problem and on a good night I would rush to the room as soon as he made one little sound (in fear that the other two would wake up) to comfort him three or four times a night.  Some nights, I would lose count on how many times I went in.  After the kids were sick, it got worse.  I slowly begin to realize that something had to be done.  On one particular night, the kids started waking up at 11:30pm.  In two and a half hours, Adrik had waken up twice, Tali had waken up three times, and Charli Kate only woke up once, but she refused to go back to sleep and was now sleeping in bed with me.  With only three and a half more hour to sleep and maybe one hour of rest under my belt, I finally just turned off the monitor to let them work it out.  The next day I was so tired, I couldn't function and I felt ill.  I realized that I if I was feeling this way, they had to be feeling terrible, too.  So for the next two nights, we slept without the monitor.  After the second night I couldn't stand hearing my kids crying and not taking care of them, so I decided to Ferberize them.  Here was the plan:

Step One: Put the kids to bed, turn off the light and leave them by themselves (this was the key for us...They had to learn to go to sleep without me in the room)

Step Two: Let them cry for three minutes and then go in and comfort them

Step Three: When they wake up again, let them cry for five minutes and then comfort them

Step Four: Next time they wake up, wait 10 minutes to check on them.  Ten minutes was our max

There are other steps, but my kids adjusted very well so we haven't needed to use them.  They were completely fine with me leaving the room after I told them good night (I can't believe the hours I wasted).  We've been doing this now for three nights and I've only had to go in the room once.  All other times, the kids fell back to sleep by the end of the three minutes.  In fact, last night, Tali was the only one to wake up and she only woke up once.  So far, its been a success!

Wordless Wednesday: The Backyard

Teaching Triplets Tuesday: Horse

 So sorry about the break in posts....We've been changing up the schedule and that has cut down on my computer, so now I have to figure out a new time to write my blogs.  I'll give more details throughout the week, but today my post is about our horses lesson:

Prayer, Calendar Time, and Weather

Songs and Videos:

Choo Choo Soul: Animal on a Farm (Unit Song)
Bucky
If Elmo Were a Horse

Activities:

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

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

3) Pony Rides:  We went to Kiddie Acres were the kids actually rode on a Pony named Bella!  Tali was just a little scared at the beginning, but she was a trouper and rode the pony like a champ.  Adrik couldn't wait his turn.  As soon as Charli Kate got close to the pony she started meowing (she's a bit confused when it comes to animal sounds).  As soon as Bella started trotting, she was all smiles and giggles.  By the end of the ride, she naying.

Bible Lesson:

The Rizers: John 3:16

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.