Monday, August 16, 2010

Happy 3rd Birthday Boys!



Happy 3rd Birthday Boys!

Well,here we are...THE 3 are 3. Well tomorrow they will be anyway. I think back on the last three years and I realize what an amazing life I have. I have 5 incredible little boys that call me, MOMMY! There was a point in my life when I thought that was one word I would never hear. Now my life is full of "Mommy!". "Mommy doin?", "Mommy, he bite me", "Mommy boo boo", "Mommy ca ca", "Mommy, luv u".It's a definite constant in my life and I love it. Every year I write or in this case blog my children a letter to let them know exactly how this moment is affecting all of us.

Dear Boys,

This year has been one filled with many ups and downs. We lost Granny and Grandpa Deitzman as well as Big Grampa(Abshagen). After they passed away I was at times very sad. You and your brothers where what brightened my days. Your smiles and silly words could make me crack up through the weakest tearful moments and I thank you for that.

Alexander, you where a talker from day 1. This year you started to talk and play like a real kid. You love playing with Austin. You can name every color and are quickly learning your ABC's. You have the best sense of humor. You make silly faces and weird voices. You command the attention from every single person in the room. Your songs are becoming legendary. You can take any tune and make up the most interesting lyrics. You always make sure to include mommy, daddy and all your brothers in the song too. You have an obsession with Airplanes. No matter where we are or what we are doing, if you hear an Airplane we have to stop and scream "AIRPLANE". You love to travel. Eating in restaurants is your favorite because you can flirt with ALL the girls. You've recently become infatuated with Spiderman. You run around saying "man peer" which is your translation. You can talk me under the table and you are the sweetest little man I know.

Emerson, my strong silent boy. You have very little to say at this point. We hear a lot of "Oh NO" and "Don't" for some reason you call me "Dora" instead of Mommy. I think it's just one of the many silly quirks that make you, you. We wait with bated breath every day to see what outfit you will come up with next. Everyday your ensable consists of a hat, shoes and sometimes gloves and maybe just maybe sunglasses, but only if your feeling sassy. You will mix it up with an array of hats and boots. All different sizes and colors. You love to build. You are so creative and intense when you are building with any blocks or Legos. You LOVE movies. You memorize lines to movies, all the hand gestures and you can squeal or scream at precisely the moment the character on the screen does. You swim like a fish. You love to be with your mommy. You somehow find your way in our bed every night. It's fine with me since you sleep nicely in the center or at the foot of our brand new King size bed. I know soon you will start gabbing away like your brothers, so for now...I am enjoying the silence.

Maxim, my angel baby. One moment you are the sweetest boy, helping me clean up, giving your brothers the toys they drop and playing so nice. The next moment you are trying to tackle the kid next to you and you are the biter king! You are a blankie baby. You need to have your blankie to be comfortable. You have to have your cars, buses or trains. Quite frankly any vehicle will do. Recently the fog has lifted and you have begun talking. You have the sweetest high pitched voice. You love to be in the kitchen with me. I think one day you may be a chef. You will try any food. If you don't like it, it comes right back out but hey at least you try it. You are the least shy of the bunch. You great everyone with the biggest smile. You sit and listen with so much intensity, you just can't wait to get involved in the conversation. You love to help in the garden. You giggle every time you pick a red tomato and proclaim "I DID IT!". You brighten my day with your smile.

Oh my little boys, the last year has come and gone so quickly. None of you are potty trained but you are trying. You still drink from bottles at nap time and I am in no hurry to get rid of them. I don't feel the need to send you to school yet. I just think I am not emotionally ready. You would all go in a heart beat. I have actually decided to home school you all for a year to prepare you for a year of Pre-K. Between that and speech therapy(for Max and Emerson)you should be well prepared in due time. What it all boils down to is we have decided to let you little boys for one more year before you grow wings and fly the nest. I love you all so much I can't put into words how happy you make me. Thank you for being the most entertaining and loving boys a mother could ask for.

I love you,
Mommy

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Vacation, Stinner STYLE!




























Vacation, Stinner STYLE!

5 kids, 2 parents and a minivan packed with everything we would need for a week of R&R. OK, I know what your thinking..."How could we have a relaxing vacation with 5 kids under 7?". Well, it's quite simple. I prepared the plans ahead of time and we headed out with the intention of enjoying our children and making this vacation about them. If we would have gone with the motive of it being a grown up vacation it would have been a mess. So we headed outside of Philadelphia, PA to Sesame Place. This is an amusement park that is based on Sesame Street and is strictly for children 8 and under. In other words it was MADE for our family. No crazy teenagers running around, no one saying "your too small for this ride", No inappropriate events or music. We spent 3 nights and 2 days there. 2 days in the park itself where the boys had a blast riding the rides and climbing high above the crowds on nets. They especially loved the pools and water park areas where the Count dropped a million gallons of water over your head. We preplanned a breakfast where the boys got to see and hang out with several of the characters from Sesame Street. Griffin could care less but Maxim thought it was the coolest thing he had ever seen. Ernie walked up and Max and Alex let out a squeal that I've never heard before. It was very cool. Emerson kept trying to get to Elmo who was seated by the buffet table for pictures.I think he assumed Elmo would know him since he is at our house all the time, he is a part of our family after all! We got to see a "LIVE" taping of Elmo's World. It was the first time ALL 4 little boys where seated in a theatre setting. They where very calm and watched the show. They even interacted. It's amazing to see how far they've come in the last 3 months. They are all talking and communicating well. I think they really enjoyed their selves those 2 days but we where very happy to be done with the sweltering heat and humidity, those 3 days it was in the 90's with high humidity! I think Austin was ready for something a little more grown too!

The next part of our trip was completely UNPLANNED! That's right, I decided to let the wind blow us in the direction we should go next. I wanted the boys to be able to see the ocean but I thought it was just SO hot it would be a bad idea. But at the last minute we got online and planned a trip 1 hour East to the Jersey Shore. I personally had never been to the shore before. I had no idea what to expect. Our hotel room was great and the people seemed extremely friendly. It wasn't what I expected. Every restaurant we went to people where shocked at how well our children behaved. To tell you the truth, so was I. It was all very relaxed. Besides some intense traffic and backwards twists and turns it was enjoyable. The first day we where there we where exhausted so we decided to grab dinner and take the boys to see the water but not to go in, yeah right. After getting over the initial shock of the sand in their toes they ran for the huge waves that where crashing ashore. It was a beautiful sight. I actually welled up a little bit. The thought of them seeing this natural beauty was just so amazing.

The second day we where there it was a little drizzly so we decided to head back to Pennsylvania to Six Flags where there was an African Lion Safari. We unstrapped the boys and let them look out the windows. Thery called every bird a chicken and growled at everything else. They had a small park/visitors center where we took pictures and Alex and Max rode ponies. They had so much fun.

The rain finally cleared up the next day and we finally headed to the beach. We discovered it is almost impossible to get 5 kids, 4 bags of stuff, 2 chairs, 2umbrellas and 55 beach toys to the beach if you have to walk half a mile from the car to the beach. We took turns and got all the boys there without incident. The boys loved running around in the sand and the waves. They made holes in the sand and searched for sea shells. They tried to wander around a couple of times but basically where content to just enjoy the day. I could see people around us staring but few people said anything to us about the boys being multiples. That was until the mom next to us came over and said "are they triplets?" when I said yes, she said "so are mine". She had girl, girl, boy triplets that where the same age as our boys, literally 5 days apart. What are the chances?

We headed back home the next day and we realized some very important lessons.
#1 Our kids are old enough to handle a vacation and can destroy a hotel room in 5 minutes flat.
#2 They are better behaved in restaurants then I thought.
#3 Sesame Street ROCKS!
#4 Backpack Monkeys are the best inventions! (Kid leashes)
#5 Never drive home from New Jersey through the Pocono Mountains. The kids will all puke all over themselves and the car!
...and most of all, our kids are growing up so fast and we are enjoying EVERY moment!