More fun in the pool

We spent most of the time in the pool while my sister and nephews were here.

I don't think I have laughed that much in ages. My sides still hurt!!!! We just acted silly and laughed for hours. I really can't remember having that much fun just hanging out.

They left this morning to drive home again. I am going to miss them so much!!!!! I can't wait for them to come again....hint hint hint.

Here are some pictures of us horsing around in the water.

They are really bad influences though!!!! When we went home to Canada to visit a couple of years ago they had the Nintendo Wii and got me hooked on it. We just had to have one and ended up getting one for Christmas for the family.

It is just the coolest game. Now I can't stop wanting more and more games for it. I went out and got the Mario Kart for it while they were here and we love it. They boys had to go and get the same game for themselves to take home. Is there a Wii anonymous group out there??

While they were here this summer they got the Nintendo DS and the brain age game. Well now I HAVE to get one.

I used to play videos ALL the time when I was a teenager and thought I had outgrown all of that. I am afraid of what they will come up with next that I can't live without. Try as I might they just would not leave the DS with us.

I am going to need to start selling organs to support my video game habit soon.

First day of grade 1

Spencer started grade one today. I just can't believe how fast time is going. He wanted to take the bus, but I insisted on driving him so I could walk him in the first day.

He is just so independant!! I guess it would be worse if he was crying and hanging on my leg and not wanting me to go. He was not nervous at all until we went in to the school and he got confused trying to find his classroom. We came in a side door when we met the teacher so he wasn't sure which way to go from the office. Once we found it he told me that I could stay and take pictures all day if I wanted to. I knew he was nervous then, as he didn't want me to take any pictures earlier because it would embarrass him. I stayed for a few minutes and he sat down and started on some work she had at his desk and he was fine and told me I could go.

It was not as hard to leave him this year. Last year was hard trying to let go and leave the school. Who was going to look after him and make sure he was ok all day?????? He is just a baby!!!!!!!

Well I need to face it, my baby is growing up and I am so proud of him.

He drew a picture of his teacher for her on his first day. What a suck up huh? lol

After school we all left and went to Incredible Pizza, one of the kids favorite places. They really wanted to show it off to our visiting family.

They thought it was fun and the food was great. My sister watched the littles ones while the rest of us played a game of lazer tag. It was so much fun, I haven't played it since before we got married.

Water balloons

We spent most of the day filling water balloons for the kids. It was hilarious because if the balloon would break while filling it the hose was almost always pointed at someone dry. We must have filled 400 water balloons too.

We let the kids throw them at us, not sure what we were thinking. Of course if you were able to catch the balloon it was yours to throw at whoever you wanted.

It took all of about 10 minutes to use them all up after HOURS to fill them all.

We had another great day out by the pool, I wish we had company ALL the time.

Meet the teacher

Spencer's new first grade teacher let us come in and meet her and see his new classroom today. The regular meet the teacher night was Thursday and we were having too much fun out of town.

It was nice to have her all to ourselves and not have a room full of other parents.

She seems really nice and Spencer liked his new room. He is now excited to go to school. Before he met her and saw his new cool room he didn't want to go back.

His teacher is Mrs. Jackie Suggs and she has been teaching first grade for 12 years.

Tubing down the Guadelupe river

We went tubing down the Guadelupe river today and had blast. My sister was not really excited about this part of our trip. She was convinced that poisonous spiders and snakes were going to bite her and turtles and alligators were going to try to eat her. My nephew Shawn on the other hand was quite rational and told her not to be afraid of those things and that the really terrifying animals were the "eyeless ducks" that were in the water.
I wasn't quite sure how the kids would do, but they did great. Caden immediately started enjoying himself and was splashing ice cold water at Daddy. The other three were whining....."i'm done, the water is cold, its going to rain so we need to get out of the water, its too sunny, the water is dirty, an alligator is gong to eat us." The list could go on and on too. After about 30 minutes of complete bliss and serentiy on our fun adventure we all decided to stay really close together and form a circle around the cooler tube and break out the snacks and drinks. Its amazing what some doritos, chocolate chip cookies and water will do to kids temperaments. They all immediately started to have fun and we didn't hear another whine all day. Except the ones from Shawn because our snacks attracted the killer eyeless ducks.
Once we got to the tube chutes (an area with rougher and faster moving water) we all got out and walked to the top of them and did them again and again and again. It was hard work as we were all carrying two tubes each as the kids were too little to carry theirs. They really need a moving sidewalk to get back to the beginning.
We stopped and caught a bunch of tadpoles along the way and took them for a ride down the chutes in a water bottle. Sydney insisted that we let them go again when we walked back up.
We spent about 6 hours on the river and then went to Olive Garden for our long awaited dinner before heading home.
Unfortunately a disposable underwater camera does not take great pictures.
It was a great couple of days though!!!!

What fun

We all headed to San Antonio this morning. We checked in to our hotel and then headed out to the Alamo. Our visit there reminded me of the scene from National Lampoon's "Vacation" where they finally get to the Grand Canyon and Chevy Chase bounces up and down a couple of times and then wants to go. Shawn and Kevin were ready to leave before we got there. I don't think I have ever seen the Alamo that fast in my life. They wanted to see the Riverwalk instead so we made our way over there. We walked around for a while and I chased them with my camera. Now they know how the stars feel when the paparazzi is chasing them around.
We left there to go to Austin to see the bats come out from under the Congress Street bridge. We were going to go to Olive Garden for supper, but they were packed. By the time we called around to a couple of them it was getting late and we needed to rush to get to Austin before dark. We stopped for a not so quick hamburger (could not believe how slow they were!!!) and headed to Austin.
We made it JUST in time and walked up as the bats were starting to fly out. The kids enjoyed it, but enjoyed playing with the boys better.
My sister thought it was awesome and the highlight of her day. Luckily she forgot her bright red straw "bat hat" to protect her from the killer vampire bats.

They're here

My sister and her two boys - Shawn and Kevin arrived here last night from Canada. We are absolutely thrilled to have them visit!!!! I should say her two men came with her as they are 21 and 18 yrs old. lol
We spent the whole day today relaxing by the pool. The kids are thrilled to have company and Caden was the only one who was a little shy and it didn't last very long.
We also opened all the goodies my Dad sent down. There were TONS of pool floaties for us. There are so many that there is no room in the pool for us to swim now. We are so excited to have them here for a visit too, its been 5 years since they have been here.
They are staying about two weeks.

Seaworld anyone?

We went back to Seaworld this week for a couple of days. We are certainly taking advantage of our season passes.

We always have a ball when we go. We spent the whole time in the "Lost Lagoon" water park again. Its too hot to do anything else anyway. I can't believe how brave the kids are, they go down all the water slides and love it. The girls don't like being in the deep end of the wave pool though. Peyton the little diva does not like water splashing in her face and Sydney wants me to lift her over the waves and my arms are not that strong.

Thursday we got Pizza Hut and went back to the hotel pool. I think that was the kids favorite part of the whole trip. Who needs expensive season passes to an amusement park, just swim in a hotel pool.

Peyton was too busy having a snack to pose with the other three in the first picture with the waterfall. :<)

I love my job...I love my job

I used to work in a veterinary clinic years ago before my Mother made me go to nursing school. Thats a whole other story though.
I got ALL the rotten jobs to do in the clinic. I cleaned, painted, mowed the lawn and my all time favorite - washing all the dirty syringes and needles so we could reuse them. I can't even count the needle sticks I recieved. Yet, miraculously I am still here to talk about it. lol
The best part of the job though by far was giving baths to cats that did NOT want baths. They were too ornery for their owners to do it so they brought them to the clinic and it became my job. To add insult to injury (really) I made $5.00/hr.
I came accross this video and just had to share, as this is exactly what I would have to bathe on a regular basis.
I need to remind myself of this when I am having a bad day at work......it could be (and has been) worse.

Take me out to the ball game

Thanks to the reading program at the library we took the kids to their first baseball game yesterday. The reading program is awesome and gives a bunch of coupons to the kids for reading. Included were free tickets to see the Astos. We were WAY UP at the top, but the seats were still good.
They were so excited and made little signs to hold up. They even made a big one for them all to hold too.
They really enjoyed it even though they thought it was LONG. Caden and Sydney asked a few times if it was time to go yet. The Astros played the Mets and won 4 - 0.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

After the game they got to run the bases. Bob and I were arguing about who was going to go with them and who was going to watch our stuff and take a picture. I was winning when we got to the front of the line and they said it was only for kids. Before I knew it my "babies" were gone and the guy says they will come out at isle 127. We were at isle 150 something. I never ran so fast in my life. lol
They did NOT stay together like I told them to either.....rotten kids. ;) They really enjoyed it and I was jealous that I could not do it too. Peyton was not as happy as the other three though as she got "pushed down by some little boy" and skinned her knee.

Croup

Poor little Peyton has croup. I thought they were too old for that, but apparently not. She almost went to the ER on Thurday night. Those of you who know me understand how bad she must have been. (I believe that you must be in need of life support to go to the hospital.) She was wheezing and had BAD stridor and could hardly breathe. Bob was having a heart attack and running around yelling which made her cry and did nothing for her already labored breathing. We boiled some vicks vapo rub in a big bowl of water and made her put her head over it for a little while. She improved and could breathe a little easier then. She still continued with some stridor overnight and I got NO sleep staying awake to watch her. Bob would fall asleep and then bolt upright grabbing the poor baby and yell that she was not breathing. Scared me and Peyton half to death every time he did it too. I made him leave and sleep on the couch after the 3 time. lol

I took her to the Dr. yesterday and she is now on steroids. Sydney started all of this a few days ago, but she is not having the difficulty breathing that Peyton has.

I asked the Dr. to look in her ear as its been bothering her and I have been irrigating it with water mixed with peroxide. Well its seems that having an ICU nurse for a Mom is not a good thing - she has a raging infection in her outer ear and is on antibiotic drops now too. I feel so bad!!!!!

Speaking of hating me for this blog later...

Spencer got beat up by a two year old at the YMCA child watch....he really did. Actually the kid attacked him with a block and I am very proud of Spencer for not hitting back. He just took it until the teachers came over to save him. Evidently this is not the first incident with the child so I don't think he will be allowed back.

I am very proud of him for being grown up enough to know not to hit the little one back (even though he deserved it!!!)

He has a little cut under his right eye and scratches on his forehead.

Ultimate fighting championship match

Not sure who won the match, but Peyton sure took a beating. I heard the bang from the other room. Her and Spencer were wrestling and "practising tae kwon do" and she got shoved in to the back of the couch against the wood frame. It immediately got a huge white lump and I figured it would give her a shiner.

Its not showing up in pictures to be as dark as it really is.

She'll hate me for this picture later, but I thought it was perfect for the post. Makes her look like she really did just fight a round in the UFC. She actually just woke up.

Happy birthday to me

We celebrated my birthday today. It was actually on Wednesday, but I was working.

The kids think its fun when its someone's birthday. I decided on Los Cucos which we brought home and ate.

Spencer was so sweet and gave me ALL the money from his piggy bank so I could buy a game for the wii. He couldn't find the one I wanted in the store. He is just so sweet. He had $36.05 and I told him that was the perfect amount for the game. I will take the money and put it in his bank account now. I don't want to put it back in his piggy bank because he will notice and it will hurt his feeling. They are all giving me a group hug here.

Library card

Spencer got his first library card today and signed out his very own book. He was so proud and thrilled to have his OWN card. I can't believe my kids are growing up so fast, soon it will be his drivers licence.

He signed out a chapter book and can even read most of it by himself. I am so proud of my little man!!

We were at the library this morning for a marionette show. They have had some good programs this summer.

Swim class

The kids started swim classes today. The little ones did great. They all did what the teacher asked them, including Sydney who put her face in the water to swim. She REFUSES to do that for me. She even went down and got some rings off the bottom with the teacher's help.

Spencer's class was too basic and the teacher recommended pulling him out and putting him in another one. The only time they offer the other one is the same time as the little ones' class and its at a different Y. Since I can't clone myself he gets to just go and play in the water park, its very cool too.

We stayed to play after the triplets finished their class. They all went down the water slides about a million times.

We LOVE the Y and can't say enough good things about them.

I am so happy about how well they can all swim. Its funny though, Caden swims with both arms at the same time like he is doing the butterfly - only its a dog paddle stroke. Sydney won't put her face in the water for me and swims exactly like a frog.

Peyton is the one that is doing really well with her strokes, but still needs some work. I figured it was time for someone else to tell them how to swim and maybe they would do it for them better. When we swim then just want to play and announce to me that "swim class is over."

YUK

We went to the library yesterday to see some bugs. Xploration Station from the museum was there and brought some of their little critters for the kids to see. It was actually kind of cool. They even got to hold a tarantula. Sydney and Spencer did anyway, Caden and Peyton are like their Mama and think that spiders should be squished.

Caden and Spencer came home and decided they were not feeling well. A couple of hours later Caden runs in the kitchen yelling "there is a bug in my mouth" and them promptly thows up ALL OVER my kitchen floor. (Not a bug from the library.)

I rush him to the bathroom and the girls are running around saying "Caden puked" and making barfing sounds. Gotta just love kids.

I have to explain the whole bug in my mouth thing.

It was a couple years back and the kids were sick and wanted to know why. Well the nurse in me tried to explain bacteria and viruses to them. They had no idea so I brought it down a notch and told them that they were bad bugs that make you sick. They still think that real bug makes them sick and are inside them. Even when they have a headache or something they tell me there is a bug in their head.

Spencer seems to be fine today. Caden has continued with diarrhea and being sick to his stomach. He feels awful and is just laying around. Hopefully the girls willl not get this too.

I feel bad and hope no one at the library gets this. I would not have taken them if I knew this was going to happen.

Just me and my Mommy

I got cancelled at work AGAIN today. I decided that it was time for the triplets to have one on one time with me. Spencer has had me all to himself several times, including one day last week when I was cancelled.

I chose Peyton to stay home with me today because she got up and immediately was whining about not wanting to go to school. She never does that, so I figured she could stay home with me. All day she kept asking if it was time to go and pick up Sydney and Caden? She obviosly missed them and is not used to being without them. She didn't get the part that it was HER day to have me all to herself. Or maybe I am boring. I thought it was too cute.

We went shopping for things for her soon to be redecorated bedroom. Then I let her choose where were were going to have lunch. Of all the places I offered, including Chuck E Cheeses and Incredible Pizza she chose Los Cucos.........what a sweet girl. She asked if we were going to pick the other two up for lunch so they could come too. She didn't care if poor Spencer came though. lol

The others were just fine with her staying home and them having to go to school. That surprised me, I figured they were just saying they were fine and then cry when it was time to leave them behind. They tell me they can hardly wait for their turn, lets see if they find me to be just as boring and want me to get the others.

Seaworld AGAIN

We took the kids to Seaworld again this week for a couple of days. We just love the season passes.
We spent most of the time in their water park called "Lost Lagoon". They opened a new water slide with a double tube so the little ones could go down with us. They just loved that.
Spencer wanted to go alone on his and fell off the tube on the way down. Poor little guy was scared. I just wish Sydney would grow an inch - its getting harder and harder to sneak her past the ride attendants ;) You need to be 42 inches to ride most of the stuff and she is only 41. We even put cut up wash cloths in her shoes to make her taller. lol She just LOVES all the rides. Most of the time we can get her on too.
They also have big water slides that you need to be 48 inches to get on. They actually scared me the first time I went on them. So I did what any good mother would do....I took the triplets on them. The guys that were working at the top did not care how big the kids were. My friend Beth thought I was mean and didn't think they would go down the slide. I knew they would go down - at least ONCE. I figured if they were crying at the bottom then they would not go again (of course then I would feel awful for making them go down) . On the chance that they may like it though I wanted them to try it. I showed them the slide and they even had the chance to change their minds at the top. They came down with huge smiles and asked it they could go again. Whew!!!
The pictures are of them standing at the bottom of the water roller coaster getting wet. They just love that. Caden wanted to go on the roller coaster too which surprised me as he is scared of all of that. So I took him on and he cried when we went down the LITTLE hill. I then could hardly wait for the big hill. He was not as bad with that one as we got wet at the bottom. Of course every muscle in his little body was tensed up so tight on the way down. As soon as we stopped he asked to go again?? Who am I to say no, I love that ride. Well, he cried again and when it stopped he said he didn't want to go again this time. lol

Their first workshop

It was Home Depots children's workshop day today. Bob was working overtime and Spencer really wanted to go. I figured I would just take everyone and let the little ones watch Spencer do his birdhouse. They are good natured and would not have been jealous. ( I don't know how I got that lucky) I explained that they were not old enough as you have to be 5 years old. When we got there LITTLE kids were doing the project - no more than three years old.
The kids ran up to the table where the kits were and the man said it was no problem and that they could do one too. They were thrilled and immediately grabbed their kits.

Of course that meant I had to aspire to be Bob Villa and try to help all four build a birdhouse at the same time and I had no idea how to do it myself.

They waited patiently and took turns while I helped each one ( after reading the instructions carefully.) Well, when I say patiently, there was no complaining..................they just nailed their birdhouse parts to the table a few times. The home depot guy asked if he could assist them and did a couple of times which helped tremendously or we would still be there trying to figure out how to put the roof on.

The little ones got their aprons and first pins. We came home and they had to call Daddy and tell him all about it. Then they wanted to put their newly constructed bird houses outside and wondered why the birds were not IMMEDIATELY making homes in them. (remember what I said about them being patient)

And yes, they are wearing the same shirts as yesterday. They really wanted to and I figured they didn't put them on until after suppertime yesterday so why not.

Happy 4th of July

We had a great day today despite the fact that Bob worked. We swam all morning and then I tried to get everyone to have a nap as I knew we would be up late. No luck there though.

We had the traditional hotdogs and hangaburs (as Spencer calls them) for supper. We were going to have Mexican food (which I thought would have been hilarious), but decided we wanted more time to do crafts and play and not go get food.

We made tye die t-shirts to wear today.

The kids thought it really looked like fireworks too. Last night I wrapped the shirts with rubber bands and let them squirt the dye on them, not sure who had more fun with that, Bob or the kids?

I don't think the dye will ever come off my hands or from under my fingernails.

Then today I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and then washed them to get the extra dye out.

They turned out pretty good I think. Then all 6 of us wore them to see the fireworks.

The kids were asking all day if it was time to go yet.

We sat in the back of the truck and watched the display all cozy on pillows and blankets. Then spent an HOUR trying to drive the 10 minutes back home in the traffic.

Once we got home we went out to the driveway to set off a few fireworks that Bob had bought. They had sparklers and silly string too and I am sure my neighbors were thrilled with the noise they made.

They JUST went to bed and instantly fell asleep.

Wouldn't it be nice if they stayed there until noon tomorrow :)