Who Knew?

This is my new favorite picture. The three with backpacks on waving goodbye to Austin as he leaves for school!

Alex cleaning the floor

Awwww Austin and Griffin!

Emerson repairing his car!

Maxim vacuuming the hard wood floor!

Who Knew?

Who knew gardening was so much work? I thought it was supposed to be relaxing. Instead I seem to stress about watering, weeds and little creatures trying to dig their way under my fence. Aside from some mild frost bite to a couple of plants, all is great with the garden. I see the plants grow and thrive and I am almost in shock. I usually kill everything green. I have to say, I'm quite impressed with myself. That's not all, you should see my flowers, wow!

As a mother how do you know when your child is manipulating you? I've realized lately that my children are master manipulators. Case in point, I walked in the living room to find Emerson standing on the end table, dancing. I calmly walked over to him(I wanted to scream in terror), and just as I approached him he jumped to the couch. I said "Emerson, don't go up there you're gonna get hurt". I started to walk away. He went back to the top of the coffee table. UGH! As I turned to him he smiled largely. I got right in his face and said "Emerson, you're gonna get..." right then my child gave me the biggest kiss right on my lips. He jumped back onto the couch and started to laugh. I just walked away. I guess he got what he wanted, because when I turned around he was again on the table! Another situation, Alex was up last night (due to a cold)pretty late. I was cleaning up the kitchen from a dinner with friends and family. All the desserts where still on the table. Now, Alex should have been in bed, but somehow this child manipulated me into giving him a cookie, left over cherry crisp and some sweet bread. I don't know how he did it but he did. I realize they learn manipulation from us and they are very good students.

Most people know I have OCD when it comes to cleaning. I obsessively clean my home and my children. Not to the point I need medication or anything like that, but I enjoy cleaning. I have decided to divvy up responsibility to my children now. I mean, come on I have a whole cleaning crew just waiting to be trained. So, I have taught my children to clean. I bought them a broom, mop, duster and other cleaning accessories all their size and I let them just go with them in the downstairs. Much to my sup rise, Alex mopped, Max vacuumed and Emerson dusted. It was a beautiful sight. I'm so proud!

Wille, Barend and Aunt Kathy playing with boys on the swingset. It's much easier with so many adults helping!

On Sunday we had some visitors for dinner. Family friends Willie and Barend as well as Aunt Kathy. It's always a pleasure to see Aunt Kathy, she is such a huge help with the boys. At one point she was up in Austins Playhouse. This is no small feet, trust me! I'm not sure how she got down but I'm sure she was sore the next day. Wille and Barend where great. They love my boys and my boys love them. Willie is such a warm loving person. You can tell she really cares about the kids. They where playing with them on the swing sets and Barend even postponed dessert for some movie and snuggle time. They are like grandparents to our boys. Alex was so excited to see them, he immediately jumped in Barends arms. We love talking to them and spent a couple of hours after the boys went to sleep just talking about old times. Thanks guys for a lovely day! Aunt Kathy and Austin blowing bubbles in the tree house!

I can't wait for summer to get in full swing. We are almost done with the yard. We are just waiting on the recycled mulch for under the boys swing set. The pool is open and the garden is blooming. Bring on the BBQ's and day trips. We're ready!

Speaking of summer, we are getting ready for a garage sale. Have you ever gone through all your boxes and bags in your attic or basement? WOW! We have so much stuff. We are mostly getting rid of all the little baby stuff. Griffin is growing so fast that I almost can't keep up with him. We really don't need all the "things" we had for the triplets either. So, we've decided to purge our storage and make some space, you know...simplify. This is easier said than done! I just want to raise enough money to pay for the recycled mulch for under the swing set. That is a huge expense but well worth it for the safety of the kids. Hopefully, the garage sale will be this weekend or next. I need 2 or 3 more days of sorting, than we are good to go!

I would like to send out congratulations to my Nanny, Deb! On June 9th she became a grandma for the second time to a beautiful baby boy! Welcome to the world baby Grady and congratulations to Grandma Debbie, Grandpa Dan, Mollie and Jason!