The world has gone nuts...

So, how good do you feel that the people "with power" are going to protect us from anything? I have to admit that I'm not too concerned about the pig flu (yet) but watching all of the reports about it has been scary. Not scary like we are all going to die of the pig flu, but scary as in, the plan for protecting us stinks. I thought Joe Biden summed it up perfectly when he said that he advised *his* family to take more precautions like not travel by plane or subway, BUT! he also is arguing that there is "no practical benefit" to shutting down the border with Mexico. What's with that??? Hmmmm....do you think that maybe he would have felt different about that if *his* family happened to be shopping at that Houston mall the same time as that poor little boy that had just came from Mexico and ended up dying from the pig flu later that day? It's all about the votes, I guess.

Stay Healthy!!

Have you ever really thought about it???

Have you ever really thought about what *you* would do if you couldn't have kids? I mean, really thought about it??,

Of course, there are many worse things to have happen in life, but being told by a doctor that it is not possible to have children does pretty much suck. When the doctor gave us our "diagnosis", my mind kicked into gear. I'm a problem solver...what are we going to do and how are we going to get our family. Not having kids wasn't an option for us. We both had hoped for a large family and having kids was a top priority. I know that I am far from alone when I say that being a mom and wife was the only thing that I ever really wanted to be when I "grew up". I needed a plan!

If you look into your "options" for having kids when you can't have them the traiditional way, you will find that all of they are all complicated, scary, risky and expensive!! "It's not fair" doesn't even begin to describe it. We were very fortunate to have a relatively "easy" journey. Our diagnosis was straight forward, we decided to do IVF, we could afford it, it worked, we had an instant family with our 3 healthy boys. Obviously, other people are not as luckly. Most people have to do many other treatments before IVF, most people aren't as successful with IVF, most people aren't able to really "afford" the $15k-$18k to do IVF...especially if they have been paying a lot of money for other treatments leading up to this point. It's very sad and really not fair.

I heard a story last week that really struck me. It is a story of a couple that struggled with infertility for 3 years before they became pregnant. Sadly, the little boy had a birth defect that didn't allow life outside the womb. Last November, the sweet little boy was born at 21 weeks gestation and passed away.

I cannot imagine the heartbreak and devistation that this couple must be feeling. After their loss, they decided to resume treatments in the hope of having a healthy baby to bring home. A couple of weeks ago, they found out that their last treatment did not work. At this point, they cannot afford to continue treatments. Seriously, this is just not right!

I read about this family on another blog and it broke my heart. Here is a LINK to that post, if you are interested. I wanted to post this today because the mother is an illustrator for a children's book that was recently published.



I don't know these people, but I want them to be able to continue with their journey and be able to bring home a baby....plus, a childrens book always gets plenty of use in our house. I ordered a couple of the books and received them over the weekend. It is a very cute book and I think Charlie is really going to enjoy it...as well as whoever the next baby that I have to buy a gift for is. ;)

So, if you are in the market for a new children's book, please consider purchasing this one. The lady is selling them herself for $12+shipping costs. If you are interested in buying one directly from her, for the discounted price, you can email her at theabcsofit@live.com .

Thanks!

A Zinger....

Jack loves the Cubs...in case you didn't know. ;)

Jack also loves Cubs shirts. I have made a deal with him that I will split the cost of any Cubs shirt that he wants to buy. He is up to 3 shirts. He is quite proud of his shirts.

The other morning Jack was having a "conversation" with Ben (well, Jack was really doing almost all of the talking) while he was deciding which Cubs shirt he was going to wear for the day.

Jack: "Ben, you know that I have THREE Cubs shirts!"

Jack: "Ben, did you know that all 3 of my Cubs shirts are different colors?"

Jack: "Ben, did you know that my Cubs shirts are really cool!"

Jack: "Ben, did you know that one of my Cubs shirts even has numbers on the back."

Jack: "Ben, did you know that baseball shirts that have numbers on the back are the coolest kind of baseball shirts to have!"

Jack: "Ben, did you know that I have THREE! Cubs shirts even though you only have TWO! Phillies Shirts"

Jack: "...and Ben, don't forget about my really cool Cubs shirts has numbers on the back."

Ben (finally): "You know Jack, I have a cool shirt for my team that you don't!"

Jack: "huh?"

Ben: "yeah, I have a WORLD SERIES CHAMPION SHIRT!!!"

Well, ok then.

BTW, I have no idea why Ben was wearing his hat on an 80 degree day.

Flashback Friday

2nd Birthday...May 2004

Can you imagine when they can drive REAL cars...Yikes!!

Ben's sick...can you tell???

and, he's sick tomorrow too.

Ben got sent home from school today because he puked at lunch. Yuck! Gross!!

So, he came home from school and finished his lunch, did a word search of baseball players, sang the lead vocals for his band on Rockband 2 (he even let me play the drums!), then he walked with Charlie and I to get his brothers from school. When we got home, he played with Charlie, played Star Wars on the Wii, ate 3 pieces of pizza, went outside and played with the remote control cars, played basketball and hung from the tree upside down!! Then he did his normal night time stuff and went to bed without complaint.

But, he did puke so, 24 hours of no school. And, you can't exactly fudge the 24 hours when he pukes AT SCHOOL!...not that I'd do that....I'm just sayin'.

The fact of the matter is that he does have a sore throat. He's had it the last few days, but no fever, no cough, no snot so, I sent him to school. His sore throat is what actually caused him to gag on his lunch and puke at school.

So, Ben, Charlie and I can enjoy the first 80 degree day of the year together. I wonder what we'll do. :)

Do you Fung Shuaaay???

So, my friend Natasha is really into Fung Shuaaay. And yes, I know that I spelled it wrong and I was going to look up the correct spelling, but decided it would be more fun if I spelled it *my* way. You see, I've been teasing Natasha about her fung shuaaay-ish-ness for quite a few years basically because, well, because it is fun to tease Natasha, and I thought she'd chuckle at my semi-intentional mis-spelling. :)


I've only learned a couple of things about fung shuaaay over the years from Natasha. Number 1, you are not supposed to store stuff under your bed. That is probably a good idea...less stresses while sleeping...I get that. Number 2, she recently told me that you are not supposed to sleep under a ceiling fan. I'm seriously considering a putting a ceiling fan in my new, blue bedroom in spite of fung shuaaay and the Trading Spaces people. Hopefully, my cute, future ceiling fan will not throw our world out of alignment.


A couple of weeks ago, I got this email from my favorite fung shuaaay buddy. I'll admit that it sat, unopened, in my inbox for quite a few days and came very close to falling deep into the black hole that is everything not on page 1 of my inbox....very un-fung shuaaay I know. Luckily, I decided to clean out my email box a few days ago and actually opened the email. It was great!! I loved it...there were so many good points to it. So, of course, I decided to share it with you all.

Now, we can all get fung shuaaay together and live a happy, peaceful life where ying and yang are happy and all that. Thanks Tasha!! ;)

Here goes...


ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want. Like that one a lot!!

FOUR. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.

FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much. But, is it ok to laugh at someone's fung shuaaay dreams?

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN.Don't judge people by their relatives. That's just funny.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly. Bummer...I'm a fast talker and a slow thinkier

THIRTEEN .. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?' Great answer for that "did you do fertility" question!

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN.. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice

TWENTY- ONE... Spend some time alone. Ummmm....OK!!! Sign me up!

Bits of Charlie...

Charlie at "Charlie School"...a mommy & me park district class.

World's most brutal back seat driver...

"I wanna go dat way!! I wanna go dat way!!! I WANNA GO DAT WAY!!!"

Which of course is NEVER the way that we need to go.

It is going to be a really, really long trip to NJ this summer if this phase doesn't end QUICK!

Time out...Charlie style...

Charlie is loving his trains!!! The boys used to play with Thomas & Friends occasionally...Charlie wants to play with them all. of. the. time!!

"we go downstairs and pway wit trains now?!?!" (repeated over, and over, and over again really, really LOUD!!)

Charlie in his big boy pajamas after just waking up his brothers by saying...

"wake up brudders...how's my boy?" while rubbing their head. Very cute!!!

Happy Charlie!!

Check me out....

I've got 3 columns!! Woo hoo!! Did you notice??? I spent all last night trying to figure out how to do it...and now I've got it!! Now I have more room for more stuff! Yay me!!

I also started a blog roll for Chicagoland triplet moms because I like reading about Chi-town triplets. I even made a cool button...AND figured out how to post the code so that you can copy my cool button for your blog. So far, my blog list is, ummmm.....embarassingly short. :( I'd love it to be longer, but I don't feel right adding people that didn't ask to be added...well, except for my sister. You don't mind, right Jen??? Anyway, join my blog list....if you qualify. :) Here is the link...

War...

So, a couple of weeks ago, at about 10:00 at night, Jack got out of bed and started yelling down the stairs to us. He was very upset. In between his sobs and trying to breathe, I was finally able to decifer that he was upset because he wanted to know if "war was going to happen again".

Hmmm....lovely.....two hours after bedtime is not exactly the perfect timing for a conversation about WAR with a six year old. But, that is how it works with Jack. He will learn something and this new piece of knowledge will float around in his brain for a day, or a few weeks, or a few months until one day, usually in the middle of the night, he really begins to process it and it upsets him.

It would have been so much easier if when he learned about the Civil War (in February!) he came home from school and talked about it. On that day, when I said "Hey Jack, what did you do in school today?", he could have said "Oh Mom, we learned about the Civil War, and it was a bad war and it is scary, and could it happen again?, blah, blah, blah", rather than "ummm....we had p.e. today."

But, that is not the way Jack does things so, this left us talking about war at 10:00 at night with an over-tired 6 year old. We talked about why our country fought the Civil War and the Revolutionary War. We talked about how nobody wants there to be any wars, but sometimes they are needed. We talked about how it is very, very unlikely that there will ever be another war like the Civil War, in our country, and we talked about how we are lucky to live in the most powerful country in the world.

Ok, done, he slept the rest of the night. Whew!

So, after taking this whole war thing so seriously, you can imaine our suprise when, while out to lunch this past Sunday, Jack asked "Was anyone rooting for England when America PLAYED them at war?" And, then he followed that question up with "Didn't England PLAY agains France at war before they PLAYED against us?"

Hmmmm....now war doesn't seem quite so scary when you phrase it that way, does it Jack?!?!

I thought *my* kids were funny...

but, I read a story on another triplet mom's blog today that I just found hilarious. Since my kids have only been moderately funny lately, I thought I'd direct you to her funny experience. I don't know this woman, but I have to say that her blog is probably my favorite of the blogs that I follow. She finds something to post every single day...and not cheater "Flashback Friday" or other picture only posts. She has an excellent writer and always has an interesting perspective. I definitely don't agree with everything that she says, but it is always interesting. Anyway, here is the link.

Enjoy.

Flashback Friday...

Fun with the screen door...

Drew, June 2003

Help!!!

I realize that I have once again neglected my blog, and have no right to ask for anything...but, I could really use *YOUR* opinion...

What do you think of this lamp??? And, is the lamp shade the right size for the lamp?

Thank you!!!

In over their heads....at SIX years old???

The boys all decided to play soccer this season. Ben played last fall. Apparently, Jack and Drew thought it would be more fun to *play* than to *watch* this season. Now, they all played soccer in the park district classes a few times, but other than that, and Ben's season last year, the are beginners.

So, Spencer takes the boys to the first soccer practice a couple of weeks ago. The boys looked very happy when they got home, but Spencer looked a little concerned. Apparently, the team is very, very good...and very, very competitive. Spencer said that one little boy come up to the boys when they first got there and said "I hope you guys are good because we only lost one game last year". Can you believe that?!?!?! YIKES, they are only SIX!! How can they be in over their heads at SIX YEARS OLD?!?!

The team has since had a few more practices and the first game. Fortunately, it does seem like a very nice team. The coaches are very good and seem great about meeting the boys at their ability and helping them improve. I really think the boys are going to get a lot out of the season this year...now Spencer and I just have to survive it. :)

Here are some shots of Ben and Jack from the first game. Drew was taking his turn on the bench when I had my camera out. I'll be sure to get him next week.

Unfortunately, their team did lose their first game by 1 goal to an excellent team. Luckily, the entire team handled the loss very well....even the kid that totally scared us seemed ok with the loss. Whew.

Not Me! Monday

I did NOT start my *own* rock band on the Wii because none of my children...or husband! would let me be the drummer in *their* band. I also did NOT name my own rock band "Swedish Fish". :)

I did NOT gain weight during Lent. That would have been ridiculous...I mean who switches from pop to water for 40 days and gains weight?!?! I am NOT soooo. ticked. off!!!

In picking out the family Easter picture to post on my blog, I did NOT eliminate a bunch of other really nice choices because the wind was blowing *my* hair the wrong way. I am NOT shallow that way...but, if I had, it is *MY* blog.

I did NOT write "Rock Band 2" on the boys' reading logs for yesterday (Easter). But, if I had, karaoke is reading...and, there are plenty of "interesting words" to choose from.

What didn't you do last week???

Easter 2009

Easter 2009

Cousins

Charlie, Drew, Ben, Jack

Liam, Aidan & Connor

My family and my sister's family.

Happy Easter!!

Our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt today

And, we colored Easter eggs last night...

Charlie...very excited to see his egg come out of the dye.

Drew...very excited about his...ummmm...plain white egg??

We all really had a good time and everyone was really into it. It was definitely the smoothest egg coloring that we have done. None of the dye cups spilled and there was only minimal dying of fingers/hands/arms/faces/shirts/pants/walls/sinks/floor/table....etc. I also thought the eggs turned out really nice!. They are definitely the prettiest eggs that we have done...not a brown one in the bunch. :)

There was quite a bit of debate over the "prettiest egg in the house".

Ben thought it would be either his really colorful egg, or his Spiderman egg.

Charlie thought it would be one of the eggs that he worked so hard coloring with Daddy.

Jack thought it was either his dinosaur egg or his "playroom wall color" (??? our playroom is tan ???) egg.

Drew thought it was surely his multi-colored egg, or his "Wipeout" egg.

Daddy couldn't decide if it was his "Puttegg" (another Wipeout reference),

or his...we'll just call it, his Chicago Bear's egg. :)

I thought this simple, bright yellow egg was pretty cute.

In the end, we couldn't reach a concensus on the prettiest egg...all of them were so pretty.

One final picure of the boys, their eggs, and their best egg coloring apparel.

Have a blessed holiday.