Poland :)

Big NEWS!

Our family of 5 is going to serve the people of Poland for the month of December on a mission trip! Stay tuned for details!!!

I don't feel good enough very often. Honestly. Constantly there is a little voice in my mind telling me I'm not pretty enough, skinny enough, patient enough, funny enough, clean enough, fun enough, rich enough, healthy enough, I could go on all day. Today I stood crying over the kitchen sink after having a super rough day, going through the list of how not enough I am when I heard a gentle whisper in my ear.

YOU are good enough.

Just as you are.

Instantly I thought, No, I'm not. Maybe if I were nicer, or skinnier or more fun or better at cleaning. Maybe if I decorated better or ate healthier or didn't yell sometimes. And that voice whispered again,

No, you are good enough right now. Right now. This very minute.

Immediately all of the negative thoughts were gone and I was shaken to my core with the knowledge that I am ENOUGH right now. We all are. 


So where ever you are, what ever your not enough's are, God loves you and says you are enough right now. It's time we start listening to His voice and not our own.

Today

I've had something on my mind lately and need to let it all out.

My kids are loud.

We call it "Birthday Party Syndrome".  You know, you get a group of kids together and they are so excited to be there and having fun and they get louder and louder as they get more and more excited.

That is what having triplets is like. Everything you do is just as exciting as a birthday party. You always have a group of friends the same age to discover the world with.

And that is a very, very special thing.

But this is the thing that a lot of people don't get.

My kids are loud, because my kids have joy.

Every day at least one of them shrieks, "THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!!!"

EVERY DAY!

Even on the days that aren't very exciting to anyone else. Running errands, cleaning house, whatever, it's still the best day EVER.

Wow.

When was your best day ever?

Now this is where I'm having trouble.

I'm not having best days ever as much because I'm always worried about what every one else is thinking. I didn't used to. Now there are so many people constantly judging and talking about you behind your back about how you should be raising your kids, that I'm not taking the joy in raising them that I always have.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kids more than life. I LOVE seeing them love and appreciate every little part of their life.

But I'm so worried about what I'm doing wrong, that I'm not enjoying what I'm doing right.

I had a realization the other day.

God gave Dove and I these boys for a reason. I believe that with all of my heart.

What I realized is that we are raising our kids the way God wants us to. Every decision that we have made, we have felt led by Him. He always provides for us, guides us and loves us. Even when no one else does.

I'm tired of worrying about what everyone else thinks. I want my best days ever back.

We all make mistakes, we all raise our kids differently. We all have different ideas of how to raise our children and that is how it should be. We are all different and that is good.

This world would be a pretty weird place if we were all exactly the same. Now that doesn't mean that we shouldn't help each other out or that I can't learn anything from anyone else. I'm far from perfect and can learn a ton from others.

What I mean with all of this is that instead of tearing each other down, we should be lifting each other up. We should be holding each others hands, not aiming knives at each others backs. I'm just as guilty of this as anyone, but not anymore. I choose joy.

I have never been a quiet person, and neither has Dove. And I would much rather have three loud, loving, joy filled children than three quiet, miserable kids.

I LOVE seeing their faces light up over the smallest thing. How much better off would we be if we found that kind of joy in one little part of our day?

So today I am raising my kids for God, not for man, because TODAY is the best day ever.

He trusts me with them and that is all I need.

Time

Tomorrow I will take three four year olds to Church for the last time.

Next week I will take three five year olds to Church for the first time.

How is that even possible???

My chest is tight and it's hard to breathe. How can my 3 pound babies already be 41 pound little boys??? All of my childhood I spent wishing time would speed up, I couldn't wait to be grown up. Now that I am, I find myself wishing it would slow down. I don't want my babies to grow up. I want them to hug me and kiss me and think I am the most wonderful person in the world forever. I want to be the only one who makes them feel better and who holds their hand to cross the street. I want to act silly and hear them laugh hysterically. I want to check on them in the middle of the night every night and give them one more kiss on the top of their heads while they sleep and whisper I love you my sweet boy to each of them. I want to look in my Husband's eyes as they giggle and play and know how much we both love them and how they are the biggest gift we could ever have been given.

I just want my babies to stay my babies.

But they won't.

They will keep growing and will one day leave. As much as my heart will break that day, it will somehow also be full of pride and joy. I want to cook them a dozen eggs each every morning in their teenage years. I want to rush like a madwoman from game to practice to who knows what, supporting them. I want to see the men they will someday be. They will each be a great man, like their great father.

But not yet.

Tonight they will still be my little boys and I will still tuck them in again when they kick the covers off and give them each an extra kiss and tell them that I love them again.

Tomorrow I will take my four year olds to church and I will hug them extra tight.

Time goes by too fast to not appreciate every second.

Nighty-night.

Jesus Freaks! :)

Take a walk with me and the Justice League :)

Who says markers are for paper?

Friday, ABC and I "ran by" our favorite bouncy place, Bouncing Angels, to chat with our friend Stella for a minute. We ended up staying for 8 hours. :)

At some point during this marathon, the boys were drawing me pictures(that I was not allowed to see until they were finished) and realized that since they did not wear a super hero costumes, they should just draw their own on.

Meaning, they markered themselves silly.

Now what I was doing during this, you may be asking yourself. I was working on a VERY cool project that Stella and I are organizing together, details to be announced soon. :)

At one point, Stella told me, "You might want to see this."

So I went to take a peek. As I look over the counter, Collin was drawing circles around his face.

Time froze for a minute as I debated. What do I do, yell, cry, be angry?

Nope...I laughed.

And it was a good thing I did, or I never would have seen what followed.  They were SO full of pride in what they had created. For the rest of the day I heard all about "Seaman Waveman" and their superpowers.

If I had yelled would I have found out that Seaman Waveman can ride on waves to rescue children who need help?

Probably not.

Now don't think that we didn't talk about drawing on ourselves. They know this, but sometimes a four year old(or three) needs to express himself in a way that paper can't let him yet. And that's okay. It washes off eventually.(They weren't washable markers so it might take a bit longer.)

The thing is, the marker will fade from their bodies in days, but how long would it take for my anger to fade from their souls.

So I praise them for their creativity and gently talk to them about not writing on ourselves unless we ask Mommy first. I think that mark will stay on their soul longer and it's a mark that I'm proud of.

And it made for great conversation at the birthday party we attended the following day! :)

I know you want to see the finished product, it's coming, keep in mind that they are exhausted in these pics after a long day. Lex looks angry, but his eyes were closed the first time so I asked him to open them and got this, lol. I didn't have enough charge to take the pics when it happened, so this was right before the bath. Also, please forgive the messiness of my house, we are exploding toys right now...

And NOW...presenting "SEAMAN WAVEMAN(S)"...

"Who took my curly claw???"

So ABC and I were playing "Who took my curly claw". Basically I run around shouting that and they laugh hysterically while they run away and lock themselves in the bathroom to hide. I hide somewhere and wait until they come out and jump out and surprise them and repeat the whole process over and over.

The game was going really well, we'd been playing for about 45 minutes and the excitement was just building and building. Until it got quiet in the bathroom.

I waited right around the corner and nothing. Just as I was creeping towards the door about to have them open it I heard it slowly swing open.

I jump out surprising them and shouting, "YOU TOOK MY CURLY CLAW!!!", and while I'm speaking I catch a whiff of the intense aromas wafting from the bathroom. I then see Lex holding a roll-on soap/bubble bath body paint, painting his stomach. Then I notice the hair...it's looking a little wet and strange. So I nervously ask, "Ummm, boys, what were y'all doing?"

"Oh nothing Mommy, just shampooing our hair." *Big smile*

"Okaaaay, that doesn't smell like your shampoo, what did you use?'

Pointing to a now empty bottle, Lex says, "Oh just that one..." and nervously adds a "tee hee" *big nervous smile*

Hmmmm, "that one" that he was pointing to happens to be my "Sleep" Aromatherapy Bubble Bath with Lavender.

What to do???

I look at each of their proud, yet nervous smiling faces and I crack up laughing.

So what that I am now out of bubble bath?

So what that I now have three four year old boys that smell remarkably like a 90 year old woman.

So what that said four year olds now have a very interesting hairstyle, complete with a bubble or two.

So what that their tummy's are now canvases painted with soap body paint?

So what???

Now we have a funny story that we will all laugh about 30 years from now. And laughter brings us together, laughter throws it's arms around us and makes us a family. Laughter makes our hearts lighter.

We laugh together and I gently tell them that we only wash our hair and stomachs, with water and soap, in the bathtub.

Bath time tonight will be a little quicker...
and a little bubblier...

Have a great day! :)

Wow...

So today my AMAZING Hubby started a blog. Here it is: http://imagetalker.blogspot.com/
Told you he's AMAZING! :)

Anyways, I hopped over here to look around and I was SHOCKED! I have not blogged since Thanksgiving! How can that be??? I am going to attempt to catch you up on the past few months...

Thanksgiving morning Daddy went to Tokyo again...we missed him TONS and had freakishly cold weather while he was gone. We kept busy and went to lots of festivals and fun stuffs while he was gone. We also joined the Y and began an exercise obsession. They have a zip line, rock climbing wall and playground inside, not to mention gymnastic stuffs and tons of toys...ABC loves it as much as I love sweating it up! :) Speaking of the boys, to this day ABC thinks the whole reason Daddy goes to Tokyo is to buy them stuff. And with as much stuff as he brought them(us) back, I am starting to believe it myself, ha ha! The day he came back he barely made it home. A blizzard hit Chicago, his layover and I believe his plane was one of very few that made it out! We finally reunited at the airport at 2am! That was the latest ABC has stayed up, but they did great! We are sooooo happy he's home!

We had an amazing Christmas!!! I think we all actually had bronchitis and Brody woke up at 5am with a fever. I thought he had gone back to sleep at 5:15 when I heard him yell, "GUYS! IT'S CHRISTMAS!!! SANTA CAME I SAW IT, LET'S GO OPEN OUR PRESENTS!!!" So, what do you do after that? They outnumber us, remember??? Despite the sickies and the super early morning, we had a BLAST! There is nothing like Christmas with three four year olds, it's a gift in itself!!!

New Year's Eve, we had a little party at home with just us. After we snacked and played, we shot off a few fireworks and then drove out to the beach to watch the big ones at Midnight over the Atlantic Ocean! It was surreal. As we were driving out there, visibility was awful, you could barely see the road, fog was just thickening with every second. We were sitting on the beach unable to see each other when the fog cleared. It seriously cleared just in time for the fireworks and then came back when they were over. God blessed us with a beautiful start to the New Year that we'll never forget!

I have to run, more updates in a bit!
Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year!
Nighty-Night! :)

What we are thankful for...

Since we will be missing our Daddy who will be traveling to Tokyo tomorrow, we celebrated Thanksgiving a day early this year. Before we ate we went around the table and shared what we are thankful for. Now I will share it with you.

Lex is thankful for Daddy, Mommy, Brody, Collin and Lex. :)

Brody is thankful for Mommy and Daddy and that's it! A few seconds later he was also thankful for Collin, Lex and himself. :)

Collin is thankful for rollercoasters that we can all ride together and big slides that we can slide on all together at SeaWorld.

Daddy is thankful for falling in love with Mommy and for the three most special presents ever...I know, it's tough one...Lex, Brody and Collin! :)

And now Mommy's turn.

Mommy is thankful for...

God, for His presence in our lives, for all of the blessings He has poured over us and all of the lessons He has/does teach us.

Dove. For all of his hard work to take care of us. For the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the home we live in. He works so hard to provide for us. He is an amazing Husband and Father. I am so thankful and blessed to still be in love with him over a decade later.

Lex, Brody and Collin, for all of the joy and laughter they have brought into our lives. For all of the hugs and kisses and I love you's and for all of the silly moments and for all of the tears. For every moment that you have existed, we love you so much! As I am saying this, Collin added, and for all the messes we make too. And yes for all of the messes you make too. I am thankful for every bit of it!

Indy, for being so patient when your spoiled world was thrown upside down with the addition of three curious little boys! And for accepting them and loving them as you do us!

For all of our family and friends. We are so, so blessed to be surrounded by so much love! We are so grateful for every person that has been a part of our lives somehow. We love you so much!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Gobble-Gobble and night-night!

The Ventacular Spider-Man!

Superheroes are a BIG deal in our house right now, and they have been for awhile. I guess technically they have always been a big deal in our house, considering one of the first presents I gave Dove was a real Batarang. There is also fact that he is not only a comic book artist, but a Professor of Sequential Art, aka a teacher of comics. :)

Now that Daddy has three little minds to warp, they are an even bigger deal. I mean, the man not only bought a bullwhip 2 months early for his Indiana Jones costume for Halloween, but he watched YouTube videos and taught himself how to crack the thing in as many ways as humanly possible.

And I am not hating on him or his bullwhip. I secretly love it. You see, he has such passion for everything he does. From music(if you haven't heard him play guitar, you are seriously missing out) to comics, to whip-cracking, to whatever he takes a fancy to, he throws himself into it 2000%. And it shows.

I already see that being instilled into my boys. They don't halfway do anything.

Including superheroes.

Collin has been trying desperately to get bitten by a spider for several months. Any little injury immediately becomes a possible spider bite to change him into Spiderman. He had a temporary tattoo on his hand that after a couple of days had a place worn off in the middle. He informed me that it was a spider bite and pretty soon webs would start coming out of it.

Any sticky hand in our house gives said owner of hand superpowers to climb walls, cars, curtains, basically anything that is vertical. Also thanks to Spiderman.

At least 20% of every day is spent in some type of superhero costume.

Yesterday we visited Target dressed as Superman, Batman and the Flash. They walked through with their heads held high, repeatedly telling us how everyone was so happy that the Justice League was there to protect them. They all posed together for a few photos and left the store knowing they had done their duty well. The citizens of Target were kept safe.

As we are heading home they break out in song. "The ventacular, ventacular, ventacular Spiderman!" It's so hard to hold the giggles inside, even though I have heard this same rendition a million times. It should be, Spectacular, spectacular, spectacular Spiderman!

But you know what?

I like ventacular better. And I will bite my cheeks raw if I have to, to hold the giggles at bay. This is such a special thing for all of my boys to share. To watch my Husband, their Daddy share his love and passion for this with his sons.

Watching The Justice League(ABC) take on Brainiac(Dove) 20 times a day is one of the coolest things ever.

I'm a lucky lady.

I have four superheroes watching out for me.

Night-night.

Halloween

There is so much excitement in our house!

I mean really, is there anything better to a four year old, than dressing up as your favorite thing in the world and running around with your friends while being given more candy than you knew existed? (I hope that made sense, it does in my head, but I'm also exhausted.)

But seriously, no not really. Especially when you add in weeks of festivals and cookie making, pumpkin painting and whatever else you can come up with!

Our house may spontaneously combust at any moment!

And I LOVE IT!

And I love that it actually DOES get better! Because this is just the kick-off to the Holiday Season!

This is just the preamble to Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.

We are a Holiday family. We put up our Halloween decorations the first week of September. Our Christmas decorations will most likely be put up the first week of November.

And why not?

Who cares what anyone else thinks? The only thing I care about is the pure joy that I see spread across my children's faces every morning and the feeling in my heart that that joy brings.

If you see a rainstorm of yellow, orange and red sprinkles, pumpkins, mountains of holiday crafts and ridiculous amounts of candy, you will know that our house actually did explode. :)

Nighty-night!

As the clock strikes...

closer and closer to the close of my 32nd Birthday, I can't quiet the urge to write this.

I am sitting on our bed listening to the slow and steady rhythms of you, my beloved Husband sleeping peacefully. And I am in awe.

I met you when I was a child. A little more grown up than most, but still a child. I was 16. You threw open a door and walked out and I knew in that moment my life would never be the same. I fell in love with you that night, a friendly love that was to grow into so much more. I knew after spending a few hours with you that I would marry you one day, even if our lives led in separate directions for awhile. And now 16 years later, I can truly say that I have never loved another person as much as I love you, Dove McHargue.

You have seen me at my lowest and you have seen me at my best and at both of those places you have loved me. You see me for me. When I am broken, you put me back together. When I am reaching for the stars, you lift me up so I can reach further. You are my best friend, my lover, my shoulder to cry on. You echo my joy and you are patient, kind, loving, really just plain amazing!

Our greatest achievement is that, together we have created a family. As a Husband, you are AWESOME and as a Father, you are even...I can't even put it into words. So many men would freak at the idea of triplets, but not you. You took care of me through a high-risk pregnancy with many ups and downs and jumped right in when our beautiful boys were born.

I wish I could put everything I'm feeling into words, but it's impossible. My love for you is beyond words, but I hope you know how deep it goes. I could not imagine a second of my life without you.

So let me close with this, barely making a dent in what I want to say.

Thank you.

Thank you for loving me and our children. Thank you for loving God. Thank you for loving life and living it with joy. Thank you for providing for us, for the food we eat, the house we live in and the clothes we wear. Thank you.

You always ask what I want for my birthday and it always has been and always will be you. You and our boys just having fun together. Making memories. That is all I want. I love each of you so very, very much.

God has blessed us so, so much, the greatest blessing I ever got was you...opening that door.

I love you Husband.

Thank you for giving me the best birthday ever!(again, you do every year!)

Nightie-Night

Meat, action and so much more!

For months, every toy we've seen has elicited the same response, "I want this for my Birthday"!

Now that said birthday is only a few days away, I gots nuthin.

There have been so many exciting things that they want so badly. And then they are out of sight, out of mind. Until now.

Today marked them actually telling us things, they REALLY want. They even told a friend something that they actually do want and have wanted for awhile.

This is the list I have compiled as of today:

Lex:
Toy Story 3 Lego Train
Lego Mack
Whoo Hoo and Opie(GeoTrax)
Cracked Bridge
Trampoline
(I just re-asked him and he replied, the cracked bridge, that's it.)

Brody:
Real Falcon that eats meat(been on the top of the list for awhile now)
Phineas and Ferb Guitar
Trampoline
Batman Castle

Collin:
Video Game
Kratt Brothers that can go in the pool and have a tent.
Guitar with great action(my personal fave from his list, Daddy beamed with pride and let out a holla upon hearing this...)
Lizard that can go in the pool

So wish me luck, this is a pretty interesting list. Hopefully they won't be disappointed with the lack of real animals they receive.

Nightie-night! :)

Broken

After two weeks of fever, coughing, Dr's visits and being stuck inside during July, Croup has left our house! :)

Last week we had something happen that I have been meaning to share, but alas, I could not find the time. So here it is now.

I have been awoken several times a night for the last couple of weeks, and most nights slept in ABC's room. One of the few nights I spent in my bed, I was awoken at 5am to Brody shouting, "Mommy, Mommy HELP!".

I rush in to their room, waking up as I go.

"Baby, Mommy's here, what's wrong?"

"Mommy, my legs don't work right anymore! They are in BIG trouble!!!"

Concerned, I say, "What happened, do they hurt?"

Brody, completely disgusted with his legs, "They keep taking their blanket OFF, they won't leave it ON! They don't LIKE THEIR BLANKET!!! UUUGGGHHH!!!"(He really made that noise.)

Trying not burst into hysterics, I reassured him that his legs were just fine, covered them back up and told "them" to stay under their blanket so Brody could sleep.

Not a bad way to start the day, with a smile that is! :)

Please feel free to leave a comment, I'd love to know who's out there! :)

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all you Daddies out there!

In honor of Father's Day, I decided to make a list for my AMAZING Husband, listing the reasons why he is not only the best Daddy, but also the best Husband! Here goes!

1. He was puked on for the first time by our boys on his first Father's Day. He smiled at the "gift".

2. He has worn many spit up stained, booger stained, bloody-stained shirts, and worn them with pride.

3. On his wrist for the past week has been a hair tie, just in case I needed one.

4. Laying on the floor playing "Daddy playground" relaxes him.

5. Hanging in his closet are several shirts painted by ABC for him. To most people they might look like a bad abstract painting, to him they are masterpieces!

6. Every single night he tells each of his three boys how proud of them he is...and he means it.

7. He is never to busy to stop what he is doing to see something that anyone of us has done.

8. He has changed more diapers than the bottles of beer that are drank on Super Bowl Sunday, without complaining.

9. For his Father's Day Gift, he tried to make me go get a pedicure.(One might think I have some really funky toes, but that's not it, he's just an amazingly giving person.)

10. Every Sunday he plays in the Worship Band at Church. Collin told me that we are the best family in the world because we love God. Daddy is teaching them that.

I won the lottery when I married you Sweetheart, and again when we had our amazing Boys. Thank you for leading our family. I pray that our Boys grow up to be half the man you are. I love you with all of my heart and soul. Happy Father's Day!

The Roles of Mommy and Daddy

A few days ago I was doing a little cleaning when Lex came running into the kitchen followed closely behind by Brody and Collin.

"MOMMY! So and So(can't remember who, but they were a mommy on a show), let the Daddy COOK!"

Me, trying not to giggle, "Are Daddies supposed to cook?"

Lex, "NO!"

Me, "Sweetheart, it's okay for Daddies to cook, you're Daddy just doesn't know how. What are Daddies supposed to do?"

All three in unison, "WORK!"

"And what do Mommies do?"

"COOK!"

"What else do Mommies do?", I asked, very curious at where this is going.

Collin, "And Mommy LOVES ME!"

Ahhhhhh....I am fine with that...Have a wonderful day everyone!

Apparently I was unaware of powers that are transferred onto a little boy when they wear Super Hero underwear.

This morning I was loading the dishwasher while the Boys played in the living room. I look over to check on them and Collin is scaling the blinds wearing nothing but his Spiderman underwear. Luckily Spiderman and the blinds survived by the magic of the underwear.

To give myself a minute to finish up and give them a minute to settle down, I put on "Go, Diego, Go!" for them. For those of you who are not familiar with Diego, he is an animal rescuer that talks to animals and swings on vines through the rain forest.(Really cool job for a 5 year old!) Anyway, they are all sitting singing and playing along with the show. Just happen to glance over and Lex(Diego) is swinging from the curtain(vine) over the pass through(rain forest tree). Once again the magic saved Diego and his vine.

*sigh*

I must be the worst Mom ever, because I secretly love it. I love watching them play and being a part of their play. I love pretending that I'm Wonder Woman or the Mommy Orca in the Orca Show!

I do explain to them why it is NOT okay to climb random objects in our house. But I also make them a safe place to play their games. We went to Lowe's and built them vines to swing from(rope) and I'm in the process of building them a new playground complete with two Spiderman webs. I don't want to punish them for their creativity, but give them a safe place to explore it!

However, I am saying a lot of prayers that my superheroes and our house survive in one piece, I am positive we have many exploits to come. :)

I am a slacker, I know...(How many times have I written this?) But I have been "encouraged"(not to be confused with "ordered") by my good friend Andrea Goto to put my blogging fingers back on. Thanks Andrea! :) By the way, you should really check out her blog and her "Culinary Coward" articles on PaulaDeen.com, she is as funny in person as she is at the keyboard! ;)

Any who, back to me and my wonderful family! :)

Let's see....what has been happening lately???

I KNOW!

Lex, Brody and Collin are ALL OFFICIALLY POTTY-TRAINED!!!

WOO-HOOOOOOOO!!!

It was AMAZINGLY easy. I did get some flack off and on from various passersby about the boys still being in diapers, but the joke is on them. I waited until they were old enough and boom! They pretty much did it on their own!

I think Target is a little sad about this though, they have taken a huge hit in their diaper sales. I think we've made up for it though by increasing their toy sales. We have bought a LOT of "potty toys"(rewards). It is bizarre to not run up there two or three times a week for a case of diapers...*sigh*....good times! :)

This is kind of a random post, I am being asked about 384 questions while trying to type this, so I will leave you with a conversation the boys and I had the other day. We have completely entered the superhero phase(Daddy is soooo proud)! Here goes:

A, B or C: Mommy can Wonder Woman fly?

Mommy: Yes, she sure can.

A, B or C: But HOW can she fly? She doesn't have wings or a cape...

Mommy: Hmmmm...Gooooood point...I think that's a question for Daddy as soon as he gets home...

Nightie-night all!

March For Babies

It's almost here!!! Saturday is the big 6 mile walk and we are soooo excited!

If you can and would like to sponsor us for this great event, we would be sooo grateful! It's super easy!

http://www.marchforbabies.org/tripletboys

Thank you so, so much!