Friday, September 20, 2013

It's All Relative

The other morning Isaac told me I was way older than him. Then he told me I was way fatter than him.  

As these comments came from a 37-pound not-quite-five-year-old, I decided it's all relative.

And I headed to work feeling young and skinny.
 
© Trippin' Mama 2013

Thursday, September 19, 2013

No Secrets

A couple weeks ago we picked the boys up from the nursery after church, and one of the ladies staffing the nursery couldn't quit laughing. 

She told us that Alex talked to them the entire hour. (He loves to talk. Ahem. That apple may not have fallen far from the tree.)

We already know that with Alex around we have no secrets.

Apparently he told them about all kinds of things, including how he was getting really big.

As she recounted, Alex said: "I'm getting so big! Even my butt is getting big! I got new underwear. They are size 6 and they aren't even too big for me!"

All of which is true, even if the world -- or at least the church nursery -- didn't need to know.

I can see we're going to have to work on developing a filter.    

© Trippin' Mama 2013

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

She Is Seven


Amelia turned seven on May 22. She requested a butterfly cake, and I agreed to try my hand at some cake decorating, without getting too crazy! I bought the butterfly-shaped pan and the icing bag and decorating tips.

The first time around I chose to cover the sides with Spree candies, mostly because I got bored making little frosting stars. The boys LOVED that I made a "test cake." Amelia was pretty happy with it, too!




For her party, I sprinkled the edges with silver edible glitter, and did a more professional job on the frosting. I think they both turned out great, and the birthday girl was very happy with each one.


Now the boys have asked for an Angry Birds cake for their quickly-approaching fifth birthday. I'm thinking I can pull off Angry Birds cupcakes... I hope!
 
Amelia had a great birthday, and I was very proud of her for choosing to have everyone bring a donation for our church food bank instead of a gift for her. She still got plenty, and she got to help a lot of other people, too.

Who can believe they are seven and five? Yikes! They are getting so big so fast!

© Trippin' Mama 2013

Monday, September 16, 2013

Mrs. Who?

Now that Amelia is in second grade, she's preparing for her first Communion. One of the things she has to learn is the Act of Contrition. So, I dutifully started teaching her from memory. Then I started to wonder if the church had updated it, perhaps getting rid of the "thees" and "thous."

Fortunately, Amelia has a great Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Ashburne, and she sent a copy of the prayer home.

 Shoot! They updated the whole thing! And while the meaning is the same, it's not even close to what I was teaching her.

Then Amelia told me that her teacher, "Mrs. Hashbrown," would help them practice in class, too. I could not stop laughing.

"It's Mrs. Ashburne, honey," I said.

Maybe we should have these important conversation AFTER we eat.

© Trippin' Mama 2013

Monday, September 9, 2013

It's a Mutual Attraction

Tonight when I got home the boys all came running. They climbed into my lap, squeezed into my arms, kissed my cheeks, patted my hair and generally loved all over me. 

Then Isaac said, "Mom, whenever you come home we attract you!"

Attract, attack. As long as it means I'm smothered in loving little boys, I'm happy. 

© Trippin' Mama 2013

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Pancakes and Yoga Pants

I woke up this morning to my phone pinging with a text message. It was our nanny. Poor girl finally succumbed to the fever that's made its way through all three boys.

With Jeff in D.C. and a million things to do at work, my first response was, "Crap."

This whole week seems designed to remind me that things don't always go according to plan. Or at least not according to MY plan. You'd think the triplets would serve as a constant reminder, but apparently this week I needed a refresher course.

Then I realized I had a choice. I could stew about missing work and scramble to find help, or I could embrace this unexpected gift of a day off with my kiddos.

So I put on my yoga pants and made pancakes for breakfast. (Every time I wear my yoga pants I think, "These babies are black. Surely I could accessorize them into work-appropriate clothing. Right?")

With Amelia on the bus for school and three rambunctious boys on my hands, I got everyone ready and we headed out. We were off to the children's museum where we played (them constantly, and me in between a little work on the old iPhone) and had lunch together. Then we went to the grocery store before meeting Amelia's bus. We played in the yard and harvested another dozen tomatoes after Amelia got home.

It was a bonus day, and we made the most of it.

About suppertime the boys got a little wild, and I got frustrated with crazy loud kids and homework to be done. No one's perfect, after all. By the time supper was over we were all good again.

All in all, it was a good day. And those pancakes were delicious. 

© Trippin' Mama 2013