Celebrating Soccer

Yesterday was our last soccer game- and we couldn't have asked for better weather!! They made so many improvements over the season!! The team went from not knowing what they were doing to getting a little strategy down. It was awesome to watch them improve so much over the season!!

Both sets of grandparents were able to make it to the last game as well. I think the boys are really lucky- they had either one set or both sets of grandparents come to every game to cheer them on. How great is that?!?

I loved the team we were on. I can't say enough nice things about the coach. He was patient, kind, caring, and knew what he was doing. A great coach all around!! The parents were great as well. No one was overly involved and we all just cheered the kids on! It was awesome!!

After the game the team headed over to Burger King to celebrate the season. I think we took up half the place. :) The kids had a great time. They all sat at one table and the parents just gathered around. It was good fun! Lots of smiles and laughing!

After we were done eating. the coach handed out their medals- which was a HUGE hit with my boys. It was their first one and they showed it to EVERYBODY! :) We even facetimed Uncle Andy and Aunt Marcie to show them. The coach also gave them all a team picture. It was great!

I can't think of a better way to end a really fantastic season!

Pumpkin Carving Fun

Yesterday was a perfect day to carve pumpkins not to mention a great way to end our weekend! It was a semi-decent day to take the pumpkins outside. I was happy about that. Now I didn't need to mop the floor when we were finished!! YEA!!

So Matt and I got the boys all set up on the deck to start making our Jack-O-Lanterns. Matt cut the tops off of them and the boys started to clean them out.

Alex found this part very disgusting.

This is Alex yelling "EWWWWWWW!"

Josh thought it was cool and tried to gross everyone out with the pumpkin innards.

Look at his ornery face!

Zach worked diligently on his.

When the pumpkins were seed and goo free, we let the boys design what they wanted their pumpkin faces to look like. Honestly, Alex could really care less about it. By this time he had lost most interest in the whole pumpkin carving activity. Whatever Matt suggested he was all for it. But then again he is a really easy going kid. Zach cared a lot about what his Jack-O-Lantern was going to look like.

Zach, being the self proclaimed artist he is, drew quite a few different faces before deciding on one he liked....

And one that Matt could carve. There was much discussion on that.

Then it was Josh's turn. I have two very creative boys. But unfortunately, Matt and my carving skills are not up to their designs. But in the end, we got some pretty cool Jack-O-Lanterns I think.

Alex with his pumpkin.

Josh with his pumpkin.

And Zach with his pumpkin.

When it got dark, I interrupted the boys Star Wars game to get a picture with their glowing Jack-O-Lanterns!

A Fun Fall Day

Friday the boys didn't have school, I didn't have to work, and Matt took the day off. We decided to take advantage of that and do something fun as a family. It was a GORGEOUS day!! I know I have mentioned this before but this fall weather is AWESOME!! Last year we went from summer to winter so it's been really great to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine- without sweating or freezing!

We started out the day trying to find Zach a new pair of glasses. He has out grown his last pair and his prescription has changed. So off we went to find a new pair. Let me tell you- that isn't fun. Zach was set on getting a pair of red glasses. Matt and I were set on not letting him get a pair of red glasses. We didn't want him to look like Sally Jesse Raphael. And the red glasses we were finding were more of a pinkish red and a real red. The other problem was Zach is a true boy- he HATES shopping. He doesn't care what he looks like. So trying on clothes, glasses, shoes, etc. is absolute TORTURE for him. He takes after his father on that. We all became really stressed out but eventually we did find a pair. Whew!!

After that we went out to lunch and then off to do something fun. It was much needed after the whole glasses ordeal. Matt and I thought about taking them to a pumpkin patch- but thought against it. We figured that all of those places would be CROWDED. We don't like crowds. Plus the boys had already gone to Vala's on a school field trip- so it's not like they would miss out on something. Instead we decided to go play putt putt.

We took the boys once before- and it was a COMPLETE disaster. I thought that I had blogged about it before. But it turns out when we went it was pre-blogging days.

The Disastrous Day

All I remember from that day was the boys were doing full swings to hit the golf ball. Matt was loosing his mind because no one was following "golf etiquette." He quit after 3 holes. It was crowded. The boys were going in all directions. Zach got a bloody lip from running into something. And all three cried when their ball disappeared after the last whole. Both Matt and I vowed that we would NEVER do that again. But then a few months ago groupon had a good deal and I bought it on an impulse.

The Fantastic Day

And I am SO GLAD that I did. We had a great time. We were almost the only ones there. The weather was great!! And we laughed a lot!

We didn't keep score. I was going to, but then figured that I didn't want to keep track of it all so I didn't bother with it.

At first, the boys were trying to do full swings again, but after a quick lesson from Matt they were good to go. They got the hang of it pretty quickly. Zach got a hole in one!!

It was awesome. I may have hit my ball into the water once- but the boys all had fun trying to get my ball back.

My heroes!! In my defense- it was a bad bounce on the course.

We had such a great time!! I love doing things with my family!! They rock and make life so much fun!! I can't wait for more good times to come!!

So Proud!!

***BRAG ALERT***

Yesterday was kind of cool. Not only did I give parent teacher conferences but I received them as well. That is right- yesterday morning I held my first parent teacher conferences in the past 6 years. I have to admit I was a tad nervous- which was just plan stupid- I have a GREAT group of students and didn't need to give "bad" news to parents. But still after being out of the game for 6 years I felt a little rusty. We did phone conferences and after 3 calls my head was five times bigger than normal. I got so many compliments to my teaching that I was all "I'M THE MAN!!!" :) And it continued through all the conferences. It was a great way to start my day!! The rest of the day I was busy chatting, preparing for next week, planning, chatting, cutting, copying, etc. In the midst of it all Matt brought my kids to see where I worked!! It was great. I got to give them the tour- which was a kids dream- room after room of toys and then a whole TOY ROOM where teachers can check out toys. Yeah, my kids think I work in heaven and I don't disagree. I LOVE MY JOB!!! I stayed an hour longer than I wanted to, but I felt good about leaving.

I got home in time to take Josh and Zach back to the eye doctor. Zach got the thumbs up. His eyes improved so we are going to get him new glasses. Josh's eyes are keeping our doctor on his toes. Still patching- but not both eyes anymore just the left one now. And we go back in 4 weeks to check again. Still unsure if we need to do yet another surgery.

After that it was dinner and then Matt and I were off to the boys parent teacher conferences. It is just so weird to be on the other side of the table. :) I am SO PROUD of each of my boys. They got so many compliments from behavior to academics. It was awesome!! In fact they are so awesome that they each got a reward for a free kids meal at Mimi's cafe!!

Zach was described as a THE star student and his teacher wishes that all kids were like him. He works hard and never complains. He also got Outstanding in art- which his teacher said she had never seen a kid get before!

Alex was described as a wonderful kid who is so kind and caring -a people pleaser. He is making wonderful strides in reading, writing and math. It's awesome. Alex has a rough class. There seem to be some behavior problem kidS -yes more than one. My impression (from Alex not the teacher) is that it is a rough year for the teacher. At the end of a particularly rough day, Alex asked his teacher what they were going to do the next day. She told us she was grumpy and didn't really know or feel like thinking much about it and she just told him lots of stuff. She said Alex looked at her with a big smile and said AWESOME!! and gave her a hug. Yep- that's my Alex!!

Josh was described as a great kid who follows directions and works hard. She said that he doesn't raise his hand a lot or participate in group discussions- he is more of a listener. He was also described as a perfectionist. He wants to spell words correctly and not sound them out. He gets along well with everyone. Just a nice kid to have in class.

None of these comments were really news to Matt or I- but they are still wonderful to hear. I am really proud of all three of my kids and I think that they have great teachers at a wonderful school. So far Kindergarten rocks!!

Hip Hip Hooray!!

My kids started writing today!!!!

Well, technically they have been writing for awhile now but they started to write SENTENCES today!! And by kids I mean Josh and Zach. Alex was busy playing with the neighbor kids across the street.

But my heart is happy and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the beginning stages of writing. It is so impressive and amazing to me. When kids start to get it and it just clicks with them. Ahhh, it does my teacher heart good. I actually teach kid writing in my preschool class. It's amazing to see the growth. Anyway....today is another gorgeous day so Zach, Josh, Alex and I were out front and Zach decided to do sidewalk chalk. Instead of his super creative drawing pictures he usually creates he decided to write sentences.

Can you read these???!?!?! Huh? Can you?!?! Can you?!?! Totally impressed right!?!

A Lion- of course.

An octopus-as if you needed me to tell you that one! :) The whole sentence reads I see a lion. I see a octopus. He also wrote I see a woman. I see a tree. I see a bumblebee. He was a writing fool I tell you.

When Josh saw how excited I was getting (high fiveing and whooping it up and grabbing my camera) he started writing too.

Josh wrote a I see a boy. I was impressed.

This still isn't Alex's thing. He isn't a pencil to paper type of kid. And that is ok. He is still making huge strides. He is starting to read certain words and when he is in the right mood he will draw awesome pictures or practicing writing words. But that is the thing- he has to be in the right mood.

On another note-this morning we also had a playdate with a friend from Josh's class. He is a cute kid. Josh is always talking about Aidan and how they are best friends. So after much begging :) we finally had him over. It was fun. They played star wars wii a little bit and then we made pizzas.

I have to give the credit to Matt for that awesome idea! Much more fun than the sandwich idea I was going to make. :) And fun it was, although no one but Matt and I actually ate the pizzas. The boys had fun making them but they were eating the toppings while making them so by the time the pizzas were done they were no longer hungry. Plus they wanted to play more than eat.

After lunch they played star wars (not the wii game- role played) and other made up games. I can see why those two are good friends. Boys sure seem to make weird noises at each other when they play. Lots of grunting and stuff. Girls don't play that way. But who am I to judge? It was humorous. I was just happy that things were going so well. Last year when we had kids over for a playdate there were jealousy issues amongst my boys. None of that today though! YEA!

I forget people don't always know we have triplets. When Aidan's dad came to pick him up, Josh and Aidan were upstairs and Zach was at the door. He started talking to Zach like he was Josh. A moment later Zach zoomed off and Josh and Aidan came down. You could tell he was a tad confused. Then the next moment all three of my kids were in the same room as Aidan and it must have clicked. About 10-15 minutes later the mom called to get the scoop. It was funny. I guess how would they know? The boys aren't in the same class.

So far it's been an awesome day!! This weather needs to last!! I love the windows open with a breeze coming it!! And I know this day is only going to get better because tonight I/we get to babysit Sarah!! (Wade and Allison's little girl) It will be fun to have a baby around again and a baby GIRL none the less!! :) That is exactly what this house needs sometimes- another girl!

Loving this Weather!!

I am so loving this October weather!! It's been in the upper 80s for the past few days. Especially when one year ago today we already had 3 inches of snow!! This morning Josh, Alex and I took a walk/bike ride. (Alex and Josh rode their bikes I walked.) It was awesome. Then later, Josh, Zach and I took some more advantage of this awesome weather (Alex was playing with his friends across the street) and drew all over our driveway!

In case you were wondering, this would be a picture of Zach, me and Josh holding hands under a rainbow with a gigantic happy sun. Here is hoping the weather stays this way!

The artists (minus myself) Josh and Zach

Zach ROCKS!!

Today I had the absolute pleasure of going to Zach's school and watching his presentation on- well- himself. He is the star student of the week. I couldn't be more proud or happy. It was the perfect way to end a lousyish week. I have felt lousy all week- not bad enough to stay home but I don't feel good either. I hate that limbo stage! Either get sick or don't!! ICK! So it's been a put on your big girl panties on and deal with it week for me. I am feeling much better today- but also this week the boys all have little colds, too. And now Matt has the bad cold. Did I mention ICK?! Anyway, last night the cold hit Alex pretty bad. He kept coughing and coughing and coughing. Matt and I took turns laying in the bathroom with a steamy hot shower with him to help. And it didn't do much for him. Finally, at 3am we gave him cough medicine. We weren't positive that was the right thing to do but desperate times call for desperate measures. We figured his sleep was more important than what he was going through. He was so miserable. And before anyone jumps all over me- I called the pediatrician this morning and got the "Yes it's ok they have cough medicine now." Whew- now I can rest easy that I didn't permanently harm Alex.

Anyway I called in "sick" this morning and my job is so cool! I haven't mentioned that much because I signed a paper saying I wouldn't blog about it or Facebook about it but when I called in they said no problem and I didn't feel like I was letting the school down by taking care of my sick kid. That doesn't happen everywhere I have worked. In fact, this is the first time it has been ok. I LOVE MY JOB!! I could write a blog about how much I love it but I don't want to get fired.

Anywhoo...back to Zach. Matt took a later lunch so I could go see Zach. And it totally made this lousyish week better!!

So in his classroom there is this board that focuses on a star student. It has family, hobbies, favorite food, favorite sports, what they want to be when they grow up and favorite book. Earlier in the week Zach and I went through pictures and things to collect for this board for him to present to his friends.

He talked about his family and his brothers. I found it fascinating that when he asked what was special about his brothers -meaning they were triplets- he said Alex is taller and Josh and I look alike. Again his teacher hinted around, he said "Oh, we are all 6." Then she hinted around again and he caught on that he was a triplet. It was no big deal to him. Fascinating I tell you. In the family pictures he wanted to bring a picture of Andi, a really good friend of ours daughter. He said he "needed a picture of her because she is important to him." Such a great kid.

Zach said his favorite hobby was playing on his ipod. I thought HEY that seems to be mine TOO! :) He brought a picture of his ipod and himself.

Zach said his favorite food was macaroni and cheese. He drew a cute picture of a bowl of macaroni and cheese and a spoon next to it for the board.

For his favorite sports he said it was a tie between golf and tennis. We googled pictures of that and printed out some of his favorite ones.

Zach said he wanted to be an artist when he grew up. We again googled pictures of that and printed out some of his favorite ones.

He brought his favorite book of "Psssst! It's me! The boogeyman!" by Barbara Parks. It was surprising to me that it was his favorite book but it is a good one. I love the humor and voice in it. And I was lucky enough to read it to the class. One of my most favorite things to do is read to kids!! Totally in my element. It was like the cherry on top for me!

When he was done presenting, his teacher opened it up for discussion...aka kindergartners get to ask Zach questions about himself. It was a RIOT!! Love what this age is wondering about each other.

What I found hilarious was that his classmates would ask Zach something like "Do you have a favorite color?" And Zach would say yes and move on without saying what it was. Ahhh that's my Zach. Next question...Do you have a favorite animal? Yes. Next question. Do you have a favorite toy? Yes. Next question. Eventually he would answer it after his teacher would say "what is it?" (red for color, zebra for animal and star wars for toys) and then the class would chime in "Hey that is my favorite thing too!!!" Super cute! Like I said this totally made my week! I have got a really great kid if I do say so myself!!

Zach with his prizes for being a star student