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

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!

A Mild Summer Rant

A Mild Summer Rant

To say my life is busy is an understatement. Now that summer is here we are go go go. We have decided that we will no longer sit idle in our yard and let the world pass us by. We have had a wonderful HOT summer of Drive-in Movies, Swimming, Shopping, Play dates, Zoo trips and now starts the festival season going not to mention our very first trip to an amusement park is in our near future...FUN WOW!

We still get the normal comments like, "are they twins?", "are they triplets?", "are they QUADS?"...yes Griffin is that big! We still get those amazing statements I absolutely love like "You are so BLESSED", "They are so handsome." and "you must be so proud". Lot's of "God bless you" and "Boy, do you have your hands full". But recently on a walk in our very own neighborhood I got one that even I was taken back by. A woman emerged from her driveway as we passed and said "Oh you poor woman, my SYMPATHY'S"...WHAT?????? I quickly responded, "I don't need your sympathy."...I don't get it. Do people just have nothing nice to say? What happend to the days of the big family and big family values. Is having 5 children now like a death sentence? How flipping rude! I should have turned around and told her what an awful vile woman she was for implying my children where anything but a blessing.If she where to read this I would say "Oh nasty, hateful woman; how awful your life must be to not know the joys that come with having a large and loving family. Maybe your negativity stems from some awful tragedy or maybe you are just a disgusting negative woman who will live alone with no one to love. Either way, kiss my...".

Anyway on a somewhat lighter and funnier note, how does a mother, father and 5 kids get arrested while visiting Niagara Falls? WE KNOW! Well, we didn't actually get arrested but the implication was there. Over this past weekend we decided to enjoy this beautiful weather and take the kids to Niagara Falls. We weren't going for any particular reason but to get out of the house. We decided to take the double wide jogging strollers in case someone where to fall asleep. What we didn't realize is that the parking ramp near the falls had their elevators constructed LONG before these wide huge strollers where made. I tried to maneuver the stroller through the glass door to get to the elevator and couldn't get through no matter what I tried. We had no other choice but to walk down the exit ramp. We very cautiously strolled down the ramp only to come upon the glass booth and mechanical gate(a piece of wood)blocking the exit. David looked around and there was no other way for us to exit but to walk under the wooden arm gate to exit the ramp. He proceeded only to be met by a screaming booth attendant telling us we had to go back up the "out" ramp. By this time cars had appeared behind us, trying to exit. I said to the woman "we don't fit in the elevators and had no other choice." She said "I don't care, you can't exit this way". I said "Tough, try and stop me!". As I scrunched down under the gate she started screaming for the POLICE. A security guard started to approach us and I said "your really going to arrest us for walking under the gate?". He said "NO", waved us on and rolled his eyes as if to say the attendant took her job WAY to seriously. We looked back to see if the Niagara Falls police department was high tailing it down the street trying to find the rule breaking parents and 5 kids but nothing. We where safe and we got quite the chuckle out if it. Thinking only of the headlines in the Buffalo News..."Father, Mother and 5 kids arrested for walking under gate at Parking Ramp!". I know she was just doing her job but it was possibly one of the funniest situations we've gotten ourselves in yet! So is the plyte of large families I guess!

SUMMER!

SUMMER!

I have been neglecting my blogging duties terribly lately. Out of sheer exhaustion an peer pressure I sit here writing this now. We have had an eventful few weeks. Austin said goodbye to 1st grade and we all said HELLO to a viral infection! Some of the kids manifest into a terrible rash and others got ear infection. Now they have just settled into a wonderful summer cold. Not that that stopped the Stinner Clan! We stopped in at the Science Museum and said Goodbye to Elmo the Body only to return on Friday to see a sneak peek of the new Dinosaurs LIVE exhibit. The kids seemed fascinated by the movement and realistic sounds that surrounded them. Emerson was so fascinated. He tried several times to get a closer look by ducking under the ropes they had sectioning off the exhibits. Griffin was unfazed. He preferred the new toddler play area. Alex was freaked out by the dinosaurs and cried. "NO RAWWWWWWSSSSS MAMA!" Poor baby. Max was fine. He wanted to share his sippy cup. Apparently, they must have been thirsty. All was well until Maxim took off running through the 3rd floor of the museum and some how ended up running through to the school(Buffalo Science Magnet)that is attached.

It's been 2 long weeks of preparation but I finally organised a weekend long garage sale for this past weekend. We really needed to clean out our house and make room. We where claustrophobic in here. Despite the Saturday rain, we made a killing. We where able to turn junk that was stored in our attic, basement and garage into some mad money! With it we took the kids on their VERY FIRST outing to the DRIVE-IN movie. We wanted to take them to see Toy Story 3 and realized a movie theatre would be impossible unless we rented out the whole thing(which was something I was considering). The Drive-In seemed the most cost effective and what could be the harm? The worst case scenario we would leave. Well we dressed the boys in their Toy Story jammies and headed to the Transit Drive-In with snacks and drinks for everyone. We also took the octagon baby gate in case they wanted to escape. Well they where fine for a while but eventually got restless and the gate came in handy. The only problem was now they where like puppies in a cage. People walked by and stared at the 4 little boys in matching jammies looking cute and cuddly. I was actually OK with it. I figured as long as no one "petted" them, I wouldn't freak out. When the movie started it took the boys a couple of moments to realize what was going on. Then they got so excited about the movie they where giggling and pointing. This lasted about an hour before the "fussies" kicked in. They lost interest a couple of times and then would rediscover the movie. They all made it until the end and packed up and left. It was a great experience and I can't wait to do it again...after I recover from this one!

My children have taught me...

Since starting this blog 3 years ago I have learned a lot about being a mother. My children have taught me the ins and outs of parenting and the do’s and don’ts. They have taught me about food, clothing, speaking, sneezing, helping, hurting, all the above and many more. Here are some of the things my amazing children have taught me.

-Bananas are the worlds most perfect food. However, if they are not at the exact ripeness for a toddlers liking, they become a sufficient wall paper paste.

-Dirt IS a food. It doesn’t matter where it came from or how they found it, it is edible.

-Light colored clothing IS NOT AN OPTION.

-Shoes are optional, even in a Buffalo winter.

-Teeth are a weapon, no explanation needed.

-Hugs and kisses make every boo boo better.

-Toddlers drink anything that looks like juice.

-Ants are not a deterrence from eating candy off the ground.

-Chairs WILL be used to reach permanent markers hidden on a high shelf.

-Cars are just large mobile trash receptacles

-A queen size bed is not appropriate for 2 adults, 4 toddlers a growing 7 year old, a cat and a blanket stealing 55lb dog.

-When your 2 year old insists on calling his brother “ASS” it’s because M’s are difficult for him to pronounce. However, “Mom, Ma, Mommy & MOOOOOOOOOOOOM!” come out just fine!

-Favorite toys and blankets MUST be brought with us NO matter what. Nothing like a melt down in the middle of a super market to draw even more attention to us!

-Sippy cups ferment in the heat!

-Wearing mommies shoes make them feel “creative”.

-If drawing on themselves with marker is any indication of how many tattoos they would like when they are older, we are going to have some crazy tatted up boys!

-Yes the dog has teeth and no you can’t pull them out.

-Eating cookies out of the bag or box is fun but eating them off the freshly washed floor makes them taste awesome!

-If an item says “Keep out of reach of children” they seem to want it more.

-Diapers are completely optional when mommy is out of the room.

- (in keeping with the above theme)They can write their names in the snow or on the carpet.

-Peanut butter is a cure all! It also makes lovely wall designs.

-If an adult comes in this house dressed up they will inevitably leave with some sort of goop on them.

-Anything and everything can and will be used as a sword or gun.

-Even if their favorite food is on the table, they want what I am eating.

MOST OF ALL........

My children have taught me to have a sense of humor about most things. If not I would go insane…and take ALL OF YOU WITH ME!

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!

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!