8 yrs 5 mo!

CET are 101 months old!

Mama Sue, Papa Ed, cousin K, and our friend G got to see the boys play basketball : )

Snuggled up with the family : )

Caleb is currently obsessed with otters, ha!
They are all named Wilburt, in honor of his first stuffed otter that he had but lost. At the end of every night we ask the boys who they want to pray for and Caleb, shortly after he lost the original Wilburt said, "I want to pray for Wilburt, where ever he may be."

Mama Sue, papa Ed and cousin K came for a visit last week. We had a good time with them despite the somewhat bad weather. They got to see the boys in action playing on their basketball team, had a fun day exploring the science museum OMSI, and eating yummy foods including the famous cook to order Pips donuts! After dropping them off at the airport Eli said "I wish they never had to leave." The boys absolutely adore visitors and always get sad when the visit has to end. 

The boys have had a really good basketball season. They play on a team that is for kindergarten through 2nd grade so it's their last year playing in this league. They get a lot of action since they are among the "big" kids and they are really quite good. Last night all the boys together scored 19 shots (or 38 points) which was probably 80% of the teams points (10 players and all get equal playing time). Caleb is really good at defending and getting rebounds. Out of all the boys Caleb has made the most improvement this year but is still a ways away from being as good as the dream team (aka Eli & Thomas). Thomas is great at layups and Eli is a great shooter. All three boys are as quick as cheetahs which gives them a competitive edge over the other kids their age even though they are a good 2-3 inches shorter. They get so many breakaways that they get lots of open shots while their opponents are running up behind them. They have one more game and I'm working on compiling a highlights movie to post here so hopefully you can see them in action.

We'd been having such a warm winter up until February showed up then it got COLD! After so many threats of snow and no shows we are ready for spring like weather. This last stretch of winter is always the hardest to get through. I'm getting antsy as we have some really fun and awesome things planned for next summer, can't wait!

Here is a little buzzer beater by Eli last night!

DNA Ancestry Results (8yr 4mo!)

CET 100 months old! (well in two more days, heehee)

As I write this post I can't help but sing "Its a small world after all" from the infamous Disney ride. Turns out, our family heritage covers 4 out of the 7 continents! I've been very curious about those DNA testing companies that calculate your heritage ever since they've become commercially available. My hunch at the beginning though, like with all new technology, was that I will wait. I will wait because it will get better. This seems to be Phil and I's modo, for example we waited until the iPhone 3 to get a smart phone and a flat screen T.V. until years later when you could get a pretty big one for under $350. Mostly we're just cheap, ha!

I finally decided it was time, all the companies were offering great black Friday sales and I did my research. I decided to go with AncestryDNA because they have the biggest sample size to compare to and they concentrate more on ancestry analysis instead of health analysis (were they tell you things like, you should have an aversion to cilantro based on your results). It was such a great deal I bought 4 kits! One for me, one for Phil, one for the boys to share since they have identical DNA and one for my mom because she was visiting at the time and thought 'heck why not!' Funny enough Phil gave me the same story I've heard from so many otherwise Caucasian looking folks "I'm part native american." "Its folklore, everyone thinks they are part Native American" I told him. "No really I am" is the response everyone gives, ha! As I rub my hands together I tell myself  "well its time to find out!"

Phil
68% England, Whales & Northwestern Europe
30% Ireland & Scotland
2% Germanic Europe
Phil's always thought they were German and French but never really certain just 'I think that's what we are.' Well results show probably neither but maybe. And not a trace of Native American, of course. As caucasian as caucasian can be. Whats most interesting to me is that Phil looks like he should be a red head but with out the red hair and come to find out he's a great deal of Irish/Scottish!

Your lovely Narrator: Me 

46% Native American 

30% Spain

13% France

6% Portugal

2% Northern African

1% Basque

1% European Jewish

1% Iran/Persia

Both my parents are from Mexico but as you all may or may not know people from Mexico can vary a lot, from blue eyes/blonde hair to those who are truly indigenous to the Americas with black hair/brown eyes. So looking somewhere in the middle I figured I was some part Spanish and some part Native. I was certainly surprised by all the rest! I've been watching lots of food documentaries about the culinary history of Mexico and have learned that all sorts of people immigrated to Mexico. I've come to appreciate how delicious, diverse and unique the food from Mexico really is! I really was spoiled growing up eating that stuff, ha! Anyways knowing what I know now about the food history the results don't surprise me too much. 

The Boys

48% England, Whales & Northwestern Europe

24% Native American

13% Spain

6% Ireland & Scotland

6% France

3% Portugal

Wait a minute 54% dad and only 46% mom. Hey that's not fair! Well lets just chalk it up to the fact that it's not a perfect science, ha! For the boys' sample I had them all spit into the same collection tube, I wish I had recorded it because it was so funny how grossed out they were by it. They would wipe off the top before they spit and then would run away yelling after spitting. They share water bottles, lollipops, toothbrushes, shoes, sleep in the same bed but they are grossed out by each others spit, hahaha! 

My mom's results were the most convoluted of all. That woman represents almost the whole world, ha! 39% Spain, 33% Native American, 8% Portugal, 6% France, 3% Basque, 3% European Jewish, 3% Northern Africa, 1% Norway, 1% Andean Native American, 1% Ireland & Scotland, 1% Turkey & the Caucasus, 1% England, Wales & Northwestern Europe, 1% Sardinia

There was all sorts of other cool information provided with your results. Like a time line of all the migration patterns your ancestors were involved in. Family matches you may not have known about. And information about the regions you come from. I'd like to try it again in 10 years and see how the results vary because as they tell you 'your DNA never changes but the technology used to analyze it does!'

Winter Vacay! (8yr 3mo)

CET are 8yrs and 3mo!

Winter break has been a blast! The first week mama Elda rolled into town and she had fun all week long with the boys. She made lots of delicious foods as usual and I'm pretty sure the boys gained more than the ordinary amount of weight, ha! Next time I need to weigh the boys before and after my mom comes to visit to prove it, haha! The rest of winter break I took off from work. It was nice that the boys didn't have to go to a single day of day camp (and even better we didn't have to pay for it!). The boys and I had fun going to see movies, baking and decorating cookies, and playing board games. We stayed warm and cozy indoors and it was very relaxing. Phil had some extra days off so we took advantage and went sledding for the first time since they were 4 years old. If you remember the last time Thomas got a concussion from a bad sledding fall so we were all a little traumatized and hadn't wanted to go back. No injuries this time just lots of fun was had. Now I'm not ready to go back to work nor are the boys ready to go back to school but I guess we must!

At Bollywood Theater with mama Elda, its a super yummy Indian restaurant.

Having fun with out me!

They have a need for speed and I do not so I had fun being the photographer : )

Just a couple of kitty wearing fools : )

Little Achievements (8yr 2mo!)

CET are 8 years and 2 months old!

A while back Thomas and Eli told me that they had ran the mile at school. They boasted 6th place and 10th place then 1st place and 2nd place, blah blah blah. "Tall tales" I thought to myself as I feigned excitement. I knew they were fast runners but how fast could they be compared to other kids that tower over them. Well the other day as I walked through their school hall way I ran into a big collage made of pictures of kids running and huffing and puffing in the school field. In the middle of the collage was a list of the top 25 fastest kids in the school. Wait what?! Out of the whole school, they weren't lying! (See next pic below) And I should mention they are among the shortest kids in the second grade. Little but mighty they are!

The second little achievement award goes to Caleb! A couple of weeks ago I had a parent teacher conference to get an update on how the boys are doing in school. They are good students, obedient, could use a bit more work on their reading speed, yada yada yada. Then the teacher hands me a TAG nomination for Caleb. Wait, what? Caleb? He's the least I'd expect to get a nomination. I had to ask the teacher what they heck that even meant. Talented and gifted (TAG). You know I love my children and definitely think they are very smart but gifted? Nah! It took some convincing and explanation. I guess they test them in 3 different areas to see where they are "gifted or talented." Caleb did not score high enough to be nominated under reading or math (I would have guessed math but no). The area that he tested exceptionally well in was in intellectual reasoning. Again, I was like "what the heck does that mean?" Turns out intellectually gifted is defined as a student who exhibits the ability to reason and use information in unusual ways. And the way they test for this is with puzzles and images followed by questions about what they see. Hmmm, interesting...Caleb definitely does think out side of the box and he's always saying the most off the wall stuff! As they say, it's an honor just to be nominated but I really don't see him passing the final evaluation where he'd have to be in the top 97th percentile to get into the program. 

Mile run times, those are some fast little legs!

Papi, Eli & Thomas

Back in mid October, headed to the beach!

Great beach day!

Exploring a different beach the next day.

Taking a corn dog ride, ha!

Thomas looking so hipster : )

Happiness : )

Getting cozy with their fuzzy kitty bean bags.

Silly boys

Eli's rendition of our family.
Love the building and kitty he drew on our clothes, he knows what we like!

Thomas' rendition of our family.
Love that Phil is the lightest, I'm the darkest and he's mid way, haha!

Caleb's, the only one who drew us all, even the kitties!
Not sure what that says about Eli and Thomas, ha!

Personalities 8.0

Triplets 8.0

Today I blurted out, "hey boys we have to measure you, yesterday was your due date!" Funny enough but I've never told the boys what a due date is. I explained it and they were very puzzled but also fascinated by this new tid-bit of information. I'm pretty sure it blew their minds when I said, "you really should just NOW be turning 8 years old!" So we measured and sure enough just like every year of their lives, they grew! The boys always have a growth spurt right around their due date. 

These guys are doing really well, growing and developing as they should. I'm so grateful we have no issues with them what so ever and I pray it stays that way. The other day I got an impersonal email from their teacher, urging parents to please talk to our children about their behavior at school because I guess that day the kids were very trying. Apparently many were talking loudly and not paying attention to instruction. It was bad enough that the teacher felt compelled to email all the parents. I talked to the boys and they all acted very innocent and blamed the other kids in their class. I was very suspicious because they pull this kind of stuff all the time at home (blaming their brothers when it was really them). Well the next day I asked the teacher if they had contributed to the problem. To my pleasant surprise she said they are great students who always follow the rules! They were not the problem in the least. I'm so proud of them for being such good boys even under bad influence.

Traits they share include their love of Beast Masters (similar to American Ninja Warriors or American Gladiators), Pokemon cards, and Legos. They are adventurous eaters which includes any ethnic variety, seafood, spicy foods and weird meats (for example, chicken gizzards). They are great swimmers and love the pool. They don't seek attention but they LOVE it when they get it and all three are super affectionate. 

Caleb 2nd grade

Caleb: Such a chill boy most of the time but he can loose his top on occasion. His brothers urge him to join them to play sports outside but about half the time he chooses to just relax inside. He always asks why we have to "always do stuff" (e.g. go to school, grocery shopping, etc). I think his perfect day would include intermittently playing outside, building with legos, watching tv and eating yummy foods all from the comfort of his own home. Even still he is pretty active and has recently gotten into soccer although he's not the best at it. At his request we may try to do a soccer team in the spring. Caleb speaks his mind and comes up with some pretty off the wall stuff (he keeps Phil and I laughing). He's got a good imagination!

Eli 2nd grade

Eli: Such a smart and quick witted little guy, always ahead of the game so to speak. He's very outspoken and can talk your head off. Eli is incredibly athletic, he's far ahead of his peers who easily tower over him by 2-4 inches. Particularly he's great at catching a football even while running. People who see him in action comment at how impressive he is. Phil and I like to call him a Velociraptor, not because of his speed but because he can freak out rather easily. We tend to tip toe around this guy so as not to awaken the Velociraptor within! I guess you can say he's pretty emotional. Eli is a very hard worker and is always the first to volunteer for a paid job.

Thomas 2nd grade

Thomas: This kid loves to draw and create, you can always find him crafting and building away. A master at freehand Lego building as well. He can be a bit of a brut, not knowing his own strength or being a bit impulsive at times. Even though, he's been pretty obedient lately, following though on requests with little talk-back (while his brothers on the other hand think of everything under the sun to try to convince me why they shouldn't have to do what I asked of them, ha!). Thomas is a very good fluid reader and sets goals for himself, like how many times he can read one book during a certain time frame. He just got a pretty thick Hombre Perro book and he intends on finishing it from front to back before reading anything else. He LOVES playing sports and is very athletic. 

8 Yr 1 Mo & a wedding!

CET are 8 years and 1 month old!

My handsome trio : )

Our Friends R&C got married last month and it was a beautiful wedding!

Thomas

Eli

Caleb

A rare family pic, only ever attempted for special occasions, ha!

Another of Caleb : )

Another of the three!

The weather here is finally changing! We were getting spoiled with summer like weather up until a week ago. When summer is over I usually feel like I need more summer but not this year. I'm ready for cozy fires and drinking warm beverages. We now live near a park with a great hill, so really hoping for a good snow day this winter. Life has a good routine these days, probably due to the fact that we don't have any on going home renovation projects. Its a nice break before we begin the next project, there are so many its hard to decide what to start next. Over the summer we had an egress window put in the basement so that will someday become a 4th bedroom but we will need to level the concrete floors and finish the space with walls, flooring and insulation. It's a tall order but it'll really add value to our house. The kitchen really bugs me but it's another very tall order. I'm planning to at least get the cabinets re-painted over Thanksgiving break. Yikes that's coming up fast!

EIGHT!!!

CET are EIGHT YEARS OLD!!!

The boys preemie clothes next to a new born sleeper.
I can't believe they were ever that small!

They will always be my babies!

Even 8 years later and I still feel like Thomas in this picture, haha!
Raising triplets is no walk in the park, ha!

We had picture day recently, lets hope this year went better than last year, haha!

Boy the years just keep flying by like an out of control train! My kids should not be this old, eight is crazy! Life with these bozos (a term of endearment we've recently adopted, ha!) is hectic, frantic, loud, busy and wild. They play constantly, they fight constantly, and complain constantly. So yeah life is pretty age appropriate right now. They can be pretty sweet and snugly too, even to each other! After a fun summer we are settling down to a new school year. 2nd grade is going well and we finally have homework this year. I'm not a fan of homework at their age but its been really bearable, only 20 minutes of reading everyday. I'm already seeing so much improvement and a love of reading is starting to develop. We don't allow screen time Monday through Thursday. I secretly regretted making this a rule during kindergarten and 1st grade but now I see them entertaining themselves so much better this year. I guess it was worth it after all. As terrible as I've made them sound they are actually pretty good little dudes, just age appropriate acting out, we have to keep readjusting them. I've heard 8 is another emotional age, oh boy, they are already so emotional! Here we go again with the terrible threes. At least this time I was warned unlike when I celebrated when two was over but the worst was yet to come!

This years' obligatory couch photo!