Monday, May 24, 2010

Who ordered the HEAT WAVE????






Who ordered the HEAT WAVE????

Well all I can say is "Welcome to another Western New York Summer!". Within 48 hours it went from 35 degrees to a balmy 87 degrees. You know what this means...Open the doors I'm letting the monsters FREE!

Well, what have the kids been up to? HMMMMM, besides growing like weeds and eating me out of house and home? They have been up to no good of course! Actually, they have finally learned to play together. I don't know the exact moment they became friends but it seemed like all of a sudden. They now run around and play like real kids. Last year I had a panic attack every time I saw them climb the ladder to the swing set. Now, they fly up and down like pros. We put up two new sheds, one for the pool and garden area and one strictly for toys. I know, my children are spoiled but they deserve it. They recently got an airplane. Yes, you read right. -It is actually a teeter tauter that seats 7! I've learned my lesson though, while putting this enormous toy together my children discovered the large box was more exciting then the plane itself.

Austin is almost done with school and is looking forward to spending time in the pool, vacation bible school and Science Museum activities. I am looking forward to some private time with him. I miss my shopping and lunch buddy on our "Nanny Days". I think we both need the bonding too.

Griffin is starting to talk and is becoming a real kid. He says the inevitable "what's that?" "Mamamamammamamama" and "Dadadadadada". He loves to watch Sesame Street(0f course) and seems to have a fascination with books. We have these large books that have big colorful pictures in them and he stares at them for hours. He is not a lover of the outside so I keep his outings to a minimum. I don't think he'll be a big beach baby. The light blue eyes and pasty white skin pretty much prevent that. That's OK, we've created a kids wonderland right here in our yard.

David and I have been working on the garden. He did all the cultivating and I did all the planting. I did a third of what I did last year, only a few of every veggie. I planted herbs this year and I am so excited about that. I can't wait to pull a fresh tomato salad out of my garden with all fresh herbs. Let's pray for a nicer summer than last year!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

La La La La, Elmo's World!









La La La La, Elmo's World!

Trying to find activities that will appeal to a 7 year old, 3 two year olds and a 16 month old isn't always easy. In fact, it's quite difficult. I was very excited to learn that Elmo, The Body was coming to The Buffalo Science Museum in March. I figured the triplets would get a kick out of seeing the simulated Sesame Street and Austin would get a kick out of going to The Science Museum. I didn't think Griffin would care much about going but whatever, he could tag along.

David decided to get out of work early on Friday and even pick up Austin from school an hour before his normal time so we could venture over to the museum. All would have been fine, except the triplets decided to not go down for their regular nap and fell asleep 30 minutes before we where supposed to leave. I let them sleep as long as I could but they still got less then an hour. Much to my surprise they where in great moods.

When we arrived at the museum, I have to admit, I was feeling a little stressed. It was probably the unknowing of what was going to happen. If the exhibit was busy, how would we handle ALL 5 kids with a million people????? Well, when we walked in there where less than 20 people walking around. WHEW, what a relief. The boys immediately looked around and all seemed in shock. We set them free and watched as they looked at each station in complete amazement. They looked as if they where actually on Sesame Street. Alex kept saying "Mom, look...come here". Emerson kept saying "OH NO!", which is his shocked statement when he doesn't know what else to say. Maxim ran right up to the steps of the Sesame Street brownstone and rang all the doorbells. I'm not sure but I think he was waiting for someone to answer. Griffin had the best reaction I have ever seen. He stood at the opening of what was Elmo's world. It was a very large reproduction of the TV show, his favorite TV show. He looked like he was . He he was going to cry but in a good way. He stood there for what seemed like forever. Finally he ran in and touched EVERYTHING. Than he sat in a very large bean bag chair and watched Elmo's world. He was happy and so where we.

We spent an hour with the boys learning about the body and all it's functions. We learned about chewing, digestion and even pooping. Yes, EVERYONE poops! The boys got lessons on how to wash their hands and Emerson was fascinated with a display about the circulatory system and how your blood flows. Austin and Alex spent forever in Hooper's store making sandwich's and I think Maxim got in a war with another kid, using the scanners as guns! DAMN boys, will use anything as guns! They just kept running from one display to another. They had a great time and fun was had by the whole Stinner clan. It was the least stressful outing in months!

After leaving Elmo The Body, we ventured around the museum. We checked out all the cool exhibits including the Mummy's, Animals and even the Dinosaurs. They where excited to see the cool bones, WOW, they are such boys. The boys where tired and hungry so we headed home but not before stopping for some crappy fast food and having a "car picnic". It was an amazing day and we ALL survived!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

It's a crazy life...



It's a crazy life...

I know, I know...these posts are becoming further apart. I apologize. The boys have kept us incredibly busy lately. Mostly because we are POTTY TRAINING! That's right people, potty training. Alex has been going on the potty inconsistently for about 3 months or so. I think it was more of a curiosity then anything but now, we are getting serious. I think it's a verbal thing. Now that Alex can say "I gocka go potty, mom!", and Max says "Me too",things are getting easier. I actually put them on "POTTY SCHEDULE" and that helps them remember. They know when they have to go for me and are now beginning to verbalize when they NEED to go.

I wish I could say "I'm SuperMOM and this is SO easy". It's not. Max will sit on the potty then stand up and pee on the floor. Emerson tooted and scared himself and is now refusing to go and Alex runs around the house screaming "I PEED", while still going! So let's just say, my house has a lot more air freshners strewn about lately and my carpet cleaner is working overtime.

Speaking of my carpet cleaner working OVERTIME...we had, well let's just say...A SITUATION! First some back story, the boys have finally out grown the sink for baths. This is devastating to me since we have given them a bath there everyday since they where born. We finally decided to start using the bath tub upstairs to bathe the 4 little ones every night. The boys LOVE it. They have lots of room and get to have bubbles and play with toys. They can splash and pour water on each other and have a grand ole time. This has worked out perfect so far. Even one person can do the job if you can take the boys out and let them run naked(hey, they are using the potty)until you can quick slap a diaper on. Well, last night we had Chinese food. It was everywhere. I stripped the boys down, except for diapers and let them run upstairs for baths. By the time I got upstairs, Emerson had run back downstairs. I placed Max and Alex in the tub and washed them up. I got them all diapered and changed and still no Emerson. When I finally returned downstairs I smelled the most foul smell, like the monkey house at the Zoo. Following my nose, I came to the living room where I found a bare assed Emerson covered in his own poop, finger painting the floor and the BABY!!!!! That's right, there was literally crap EVERYWHERE. All over Emerson, ALL over Griffin, ALL over my BROWN carpet, BROWN CURTAINS and tan furniture!!!!! I jumped the fence just in time since Griffin had a large chuck heading straight for his mouth! YUCK. I grabbed them both(with Davids help), ran them upstairs and threw them in the tub where they continued to finger paint! I spent the next 2 hours scrubbing my child's feces from every surface in my living room. The good news is Emerson is scared for life from my insane screaming "NOOOOOOOO, that's SH%t!!!!!!" and will probably never do it again. The bad news is I still smell a little hint of it, and I have NO idea where it is! THANK YOU MR. CARPET CLEANER!

So ends another episode of THE STINNER FAMILY CHRONICLES...Que the circus music!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Happy Birthday Daddy!





Happy Birthday Daddy!

My children love any excuse for a party! If it's a birthday, we are there. I like to sike the boys up for a party. So days before my husbands birthday we began to prepare. We bought gifts, signed cards and wrapped, wrapped then wrapped again since the boys kept unwrapping all the gifts. We even ran out of tape and had to use address labels. Hey, when your a mom...you improvise. Than came the best part. The making of the cake. Whenever we say "it's a birthday" Alex immediately says "CAKE". Then we say "Let's sing Happy Birthday" and Alex sings, loudly and proudly "CAKE, CAKE,CAKE" to the tune of happy birthday. It's hard to keep 50 fingers from destroying a cake while singing. Oh well, they like cake...what can I say! We made David a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberry filling with sliced strawberry filling, his favorite. The boys licked every surface the frosting touched. Let's just say everything was covered in frosting and baby spit. The boys couldn't wait for David to get home and decided by unanimous vote that if he wasn't home by 7:30pm they would eat the cake without him. Well, he walked in at 7:26pm and was able to eat with the rest of the family. Combine that with a gourmet breakfast of Daddy's favorites and a lunch out with mommy and it was a good day and Daddy enjoyed his birthday!