Thursday, December 29, 2016

6 Yrs 3 Mo!

CET are 6 years and 3 months old!
A couple weeks ago we got some snow, which was fun even though it always shuts down the city. Then a week later it snowed again and again it shut down the city (Portland is ill equiped for the snow since it happens so infrequently). Now every time I see snow in the forecast I'm like NOOOOO! They've since been no show's but guess what's in the forecast for two day's before school is supposed to start? SNOW!
Hanging around town!
TEC
Some Stormtrooper marshmallows I made for a Star Wars themed party our friend threw.
They took me forever but at least they looked cool!
The cookies however, not so cool.
The problem started with not spacing them far apart enough while baking, ha!
Just a sweet little love note from Mr. T
Although you can't tell from the pictures, we've been sick the entire winter vacation! I keep thinking tomorrow is our turn around day and then we relapse into continued sickness, ugh! We may just have to go to the doctor soon : (

Friday, December 23, 2016

Excellent Pupils!

We had a parent teacher conference back in early November and the boys teacher only had great things to say about them. All three are very responsible, hard working, and always very aware of whats going on (ie they pay attention well). Everyone can count to 100 in Spanish (Eli likes to brag that he can count to 120) and all have very good fine motor skills when it comes to writing, coloring and cutting. About half of the class is reading, my boys included (not sure if this is average or not but being that half the class knew zero Spanish to begin with I think that half the class reading is pretty good and it's not just the native speakers that are reading, haha!). The boys teacher said they weren't doing just well in class but doing excellent!

Caleb, he says he makes new friends so easy
and his favorite classes are science and music (just like his mami!). 
Eli, he is a pretty fast reader and loves to practice.
He says his favorite class is PE and he likes going to his school Library. 
Thomas, he said his favorite class is PE.
His teacher said he is so fast at doing his work.
 
Some examples of the books the boys are reading.
Examples of the complexity of the books.
The teachers' class goal is for everyone to be reading at least two syllable words by the end of the school year.
Looks like the boys are already there!
I got these emails notifying me that the boys library books were due (hadn't even realized they were even checking out books yet! I guess they can only keep them in class for now and after they learn the process a few times they can start bringing them home). I was smitten by their very first library check outs. Caleb's pick cracked me up, he is definitely Phil and I's child : )

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Depoe Bay, Oregon

A couple weekends ago we made a trip out to the coast to meet up with the boys' tia Janet and tio Chance. We picked up the boys from school a couple hours early and Eli was so excited that he kept telling anyone who would listen to him "we're going straight to the beach!"
The boys wasted no time warming up to tia Janet & tio Chance!
LOVE this mug!
Can you guess who he is?
(answer is in comments)
Watching the wild waves
TEC
After eating lunch at Rogue brewery, the boys got to keep their plate-Frisbees : )
Whats funny is that I was thinking we needed some frisbees!
These last 3 pics are courtesy of tia Janet
The boys are really into thumbs up all of a sudden, ha!
CTE

Thursday, December 1, 2016

It Means Fox

So it finally happened, they learned a bad word! Well technically it's a bad gesture. We were walking home from school and I see Thomas flashing a middle finger and normally I wouldn't say anything because before then they didn't know what it meant. Well he was doing for too long and cars were driving by and people walking by so I told him to not point with that finger because it means something bad. Then his brothers chime in saying it's to tell someone that they are stupid. I say "oh really?" Caleb says "yes mami it means 'fox'" (how he pronounced it, THANK GOODNESS! That will go uncorrected for as long as I can help it, ha!). I ask "so who taught you about the middle finger?" Caleb names a fellow student in his class. Gah! Darn that girl! (Insert crying noises) I guess it was bound to happen someday : (

CET before they knew a bad word!
(Insert more crying)
CTE on Pajama day!
90% of the boys at school had on Star Wars pjs,
4% super heros, 1% other, and the rest forgot it was
pajama day and wore regular clothes, haha!
My hooligans!
Eli at the meetings has been reading the bible and by reading I mean actually reading it : )
Albeit a few words per page, ha!

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Silly Saying & Stories

Last year in preschool the boys were asked 'if you were a butterfly where would you fly to?'
Sadly I do not remember who said what, but here are the boys responses:
1. I would fly to pizzaland
2. I would fly to California
3. I would fly to the beach....if I had to guess I bet Thomas said 1, Eli 2 and Caleb 3 because it just fits their personalities, ha!

The boys sometimes have a funny way of asking for things (it can be quite frustrating for the parents). For example, they'll tell me during dinner "how am I to wipe my mouth!" Instead of just asking me for a napkin. Or "how am I going to pick blueberries!?" Instead of just asking me for a cup or bucket.

Every night we ask the boys what they want to pray for and they'll usually say things like food, our friends, our hands, our home etc. Well a while back ago, sometime after the boys discovered and started asking question about homeless people. Caleb tells me that "homeless people pray for trash, no houses and for tents." His words exactly.

Caleb told me the other day "mami when I was in preschool I could not do criss cross apple sauce but in kindergarten I can do criss cross apple sauce." At first I was like what the heck is criss cross apple sauce? It was then explained to me that its the more politically correct way of saying 'sitting Indian style' which is what I was thought in elementary school. Then I was like, please say it some more because it sounds so cute coming from a 5 year old! "Criss cross apple sauce!"

We were heading to Burgerville and the boys were all excited about eating hamburgers and fries. In the car Eli tells me he wants to eat hamburgers and fries and I reassure him that that's what we'll get for him. When we enter the restaurant he tells me again that he wants to eat hamburgers and fries. After we order the food we sit down at a table and Eli again tells me he wants to eat hamburgers and fries. Keep in mind that since he's been alive we have only ever gotten hamburgers and fries at Burgerville. At this point I turn to him and tell him "I'm getting you asparagus and only that!" He then looks at me realizing I'm only joking, tilts his head to side and says "then I will eat nuh-sing!"

On our walk home from school Eli tells me "mami George does not celebrate Christmas like us." I say, "oh really, he must be Jewish." Eli says, "no mami his name is George." Haha!

Caleb has a history of telling us when he gets mad at us that he wants to leave this house and never come back. The first few times he said it it was heartbreaking and I'd tell him that that could not happen because I loved him too much and I would miss him terribly. Well after hearing one too many times I started just saying "ok then, see you later!" Well recently one morning Caleb wakes up and tells me he wants to snuggle because he had a bad dream. As we snuggle he tells me that in his dream he had gotten a new mom and dad and he tells me that he never wants that to happen. He has since to threaten me with leaving this house forever, ha!

The other day Caleb tells me that he doesn't want to be a grown up because he doesn't want fake teeth. I pause to explain to Phil that I had mentioned to them that a lot of people as they get old will sometimes loose their teeth. I try to reassure Caleb that it doesn't happen to everyone. I ask him if he remembers that little old lady we visited that morning, she doesn't have any teeth but that I thought papa Ed still has all his teeth. Then Caleb says, "I don't ever want to be an old lady!" I reassure him, "Caleb I promise that you will NEVER be an old lady!"

Phil was sanding some wood and wearing those work earmuffs to protect his hearing. The boys were nearby playing. Well when he was done Thomas comes over and asks if he can use the "ear muffins."

Words that were said that neither Phil nor I thought we would ever utter:

"Stop licking your brothers feet!"

"First let me sweep up the all salt from under the bed."

"There's literally mango chunks in the electrical outlet."

"Why is there underwear on the counter-top?"
"He's trapped in the chair!"
"My kid makes for a good foot rest."
"Eli sneezed with a mouthful of chocolate."
"There's a cat in my boot!"
"My kids have shark teeth!"

Friday, November 11, 2016

Fall!

Long story short, a couple weekends ago we were going to meet a friend at a pumpkin patch. On the way there after much much traffic we had to turn around half way there because a bridge was closed down from an accident. Eventually we ended up at this park in Portland that we'd never been to before. Our intention that day was to take family pictures but the boys were so fed up from being in the car so long that they cooperated for roughly 8 minutes and so we didn't get to the family pics : ( 
CET


We also only got around to taking solo pics of Caleb,
but they couldn't have come out any cuter!


Gah! This park was soooo awesome!

As of the last few weeks the boys have become totally obsessed with sports (this is coming from little to zero interest in them). They are especially fond of basketball : )
It's quite perplexing but at least they'll always have someone to play with!

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Triplet Triple Bunk Beds!

Phil's latest wooden master piece!
Designed and built by papi : )
Rendering of the design.
 The boys room is so small I can't get a good over all picture of it so this will have to do!
Eli quickly filled in his little IKEA pocket caddy : )
what you see when you enter their bedroom
We now have plenty of space here on the floor to play with the basket full of Legos. Our new rule is that the Legos must stay in their room but Lego creations can come out if they wish. I can't tell you how much cleaner the house stays because of this! (BTW this IKEA dresser is great and would recommend it to any family with triplets. Big spacious drawers and very sturdy. All wood, even the hardware. The boys broke their last dresser because it had cheap metal hardware.)
The door is to the right.
Had to rearrange a lot of their wall decor. 
view from the bottom bunk
view from the top bunk!
Just hanging out!
Our 'get ready for school' station
Each weekend we pick out our clothes for the whole school week. Makes for a quick morning! Top Drawer is Monday, next is Tuesday, etc...last drawer is shoes! We can easily store both sets of shoes that each boy has. Filing cabinets are from IKEA : )
Tried to get a picture before crazy hair day...
...you can kinda see their hair better here
Phil took some time off of work and was able to design and build the boys triple bunk beds! They save us so much more space then their last set up. The boys have been spending a lot more time in their rooms which is nice and it keeps the whole house so much cleaner. We talked to the boys before hand about who would get which bunk and after some discussion we settled on taking turns. However I had already bought the boys color specific sheets (yellow for T, blue for E and green for C) but I figured they probably wouldn't care. Well when we set up their beds I didn't think about it and just put the yellow sheets up top, blue in the middle and green at the bottom. The boys didn't even question it and went to their respective colors, ha! They are all happy were they are at but sometimes they'll spend the night in each others bunks, the last few nights Caleb has been sleeping with Thomas on the top bunk (he told me he had a bad dream). As far as I can tell this will be their beds, mattresses and sheets till they move out, money well spent! The beds should last no problem, the mattresses are under a 25 yr warranty from IKEA, and I bought quality high thread count sheets (consulted with someone about getting good sheets that will last till they are at least 18, ha!..FYI stay away from IKEA sheets they are the worst!).

In case you are wondering, we gave away their cool toddler beds to another set of BBB triplets that just turned two (to see them click here: Big Boy Beds!). So glad they will stay in the triplet circle : )