It Gets Easier...Really?

i vividly remember people looking at me when addie was barely two and the twins were newborns and knowingly saying...

i promise it will get easier.

i have no idea what planet they were from, but they had clearly never had two two year olds at the same time! sure, i'm not waking up in the middle of the night to nurse twins. they can hold their heads up and sit up (and stand and walk and run and jump!). they can mostly communicate what they need/want...simultaneously.

but easier...?

no. it's just a different kind of challenge!

and while there's no way it's easier, it's absolutely just as crazy, fun, unpredictable, unexpected, never dull, always keep you on your toes...

...and an utter and complete blessing to be their mama.

but i'm not going to lie...it's not easy to be joyful always.

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one unusual afternoon when the little girls just wouldn't nap, i let them continue laughing and giggling and playing in their room. i figured they were in their beds jumping up and down and being silly...in their individual beds.

but i could have never imagined what i was about to walk into:

addie and i went in to find both girls behind the window shade playing..

i started to say, why does it smell like...

...diaper rash cream.

and i turned on the lights and screamed.

not a little girl squeal. an oh-my-word-what-on-the-earth-is-that-what-have-you-done-there-are-no-words scream!

they were covered in it.
and the bed had been painted in it!

and they knew they were in trouble...

but what i knew was that no punishment was needed.

because it would be spent in the bathtub for an hour trying to get it out of their hair...

it wouldn't come out. not with shampoo. not with dawn.

it took googling it. patting it with baking soda. letting it dry. rinsing it with coke. repeating. rewashing it with dawn. repeating it all. rinse. repeat. rinse. repeat.

you get my point? 

and anne perry still looked like she'd just stepped off the set of an 80's movie, shiny curls and all!

so before all of that washing took place, i told them they had to let me take pictures and they couldn't touch anything. then i drug them out to the front porch and texted a few pictures to daddy...and told him to come home asap!

easier?

no way; but it's never dull, always entertaining, mostly exhausting, never predictable, always unexpected.

and a constant, consistent blessing.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

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apparently a few of these pictures have been emailed, texted and shared with people we know and don't know...and they've served as a source of giggles, laughter, chuckles, and thank-goodness-that-didn't-happen-to-me!

now i can laugh about it. then. not so much.

happy friday, friends!

Visit to the Vet

a few weeks ago, we went on addie's first field trip of the year...to a local veterinary clinic! they learned all about what a vet does and how they take care of our animals. i'd say she was pretty enthralled.  then they took them in an ultrasound room and showed them a kidney or maybe it was a stomach? but they had no idea what was awaiting them! this sweet fawn was found on the side of the road earlier that day after his mama had been hit by a car. it was so sad to watch him bc all he wanted was his mama!

the kids were amazed!

after they calmed down a bit, the sweet baby drank from a bottle. a wildlife agency certified to care for wild animals was coming by later that morning to help rehabilitate and foster the baby dear, but the vet was so sweet to let the kids see him first! we headed out to watch the dogs play in the outdoor pool and play area, but this sweet girl held the door for everyone first!
we got a quick group picture and headed to cfa!
addie's teacher's husband owns the cfa near our house, and he treated us all to lunch! the kids had a blast, and we got to visit with other moms! excellent ending to a fun field trip!

Pumpkin Patch Day

it was the only saturday that we could go the pumpkin patch as a family, and it certainly didnt start off like a day i wanted to spend in the heat with three kiddos on a farm...

but it turned out to be perfect! Addie and I had just been to Dreamfield Farms with Addie's school (post to come of course!), and we knew we wanted to take the little girls!

after a soccer game, cfa, and a quick rest on the drive there, we made it to the farm. of course, the first place these girls wanted to go was to see the animals! addie fed the goats and sheep over and over and over (check out anne perry's face right behind her!). anne perry more like threw the corn at the goats...but it's a start. audrey kate was much more reticent and very observant, but just fine watching and not doing.
we then headed over to the cow train. what's the cow train you ask? just a bunch of white plastic barrels with painted black cow spots with a built in seat bolted to wheels lined up like a train being pulled by a tractor at a ridiculous speeds over bumpy terrain. sound fun?
addie had a blast; anne perry informed us that it was so much fun; and poor audrey kate would grab my arm the minute i attempted to hold on and wrap it back around her! paul and me? we paid for it the next day!

after a quick picture (where of course they all decided they wanted to hold a bumpy pumpkin)...
we headed down to the corn boxes. and these girls had a b.l.a.s.t!  audrey kate had that smile (on the left) on her sweet face every time she jumped in and rolled in the corn! it only took a gazillion pictures to capture it!and anne perry was just as grinny! addie got all serious on me at one point and then immediately turned goofy. love her eyes here! it wasn't long before addie was "cambell"-ing into the corn. apparently she'd heard someone say cannonball as they jumped in the other day.

...and then she tossed corn at me and found herself back on that bench behind her! it did make for a cool picture!

audrey kate's hair is by far the funnest when she jumps!  anne perry was the queen of jumping. hands out. legs up. that girl could get some air (so much so that i intentionally cut part of her head off)!and then they all piled (or rather i piled them) in the huge tire swing...this picture makes me smile. after we rolled everyone out of the corn boxes and dug the corn out of their pants/underwear/diapers/hair/etc, there were a few quick tractor rides before we got on the hayride.
to get our two little pumpkins and one big one!

while paul and the girls searched for the perfect pumpkins, i took a few pictures of a sweet family we ran into...and then she took some for us! (thank you rivers and hope!)
we were hot, tired and hungry (again), but the girls had a blast on the blow up slide... ...right before we ended our day with a little cotton candy & funnel cake to share!  even with that boost of sugar, all three girls were asleep before we'd made it very far down 82.

fun day making sweet memories with all our girls! ♥

Wamsted Crazy Beach Week: Our Girls

i was looking back through drafts and realized i never published this one...well, never even wrote it!
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it didn't start out well. i almost threw my hands up and quit. i waited until the last morning of the Crazy Wamsted Beach Week to try to grab some pictures of the girls. the lighting was gorgeous...but the girls were not keen on getting dressed and having their hair did at 6am! And the sun in the face sure wasn't going to cut it! so we moved and things got a little better...

and a little silly...

and i may or may not have done a head transplant to get this... but it was absolutely worth it! we got a few more and then added Kira in. love how anne perry has her arm around kira! i really wanted a stair step picture of girls: four, three, and two; but sitting down will work too!

it quickly turned to play...

and i just loved watching them all together.



especially these two first borns! and what's the beach without filling your dress full of sand and letting it go!  i can't believe this is my big girl. i simply can't. ♥