Tammie and the Hellions

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for this years Valentine's Day shoot was so much fun. I borrowed these really great buntings from Alyson at EisleyRae and staged everything around them. Abigail has been wanting to take pictures with her CareBear so I thought it'd be cute to do a little tea party for her. Turns out she had a great time.

She and CareBear just sitting and enjoying a little girl time. I absolutely love this picture. It captures everything that is Abigail. Sweet, girly and full of drama. During this whole shoot you'd have thought she was holding an audition for a commercial about tea. Acting the whole way through it.

A tea for two.

She even started doing voices for the two of them. Then cracked herself up.

See. Acting. You'd never know by this picture that she can roll her eyes like a champ, or do that teenage-esque tongue-sound that sounds like sarcasm and attitude all in one like she's been 15 all her life. Here she's 6. A beautiful, sweet, innocent 6 year old baby girl.

Then the boys jumped in. I'd love to tell you it was super easy, and my children are little rays of sunshine that love the camera and sit there super easily while I take picture upon picture of them. It's not true. They're just regular ol' 6 year olds, with crazy little personalities to go with it. The majority of my pictures looked like this. Charming.

I did get a few cute ones. And I do so very much love them.

Happy Valentine's Day.

With all our love.

Jack, Abigail and Henry.

Life in Snapshots

2012-01-25T21:22:00.000-08:00

I realize, that as a photographer, it's easier for me to snap a picture of specific moments in life, than it is to stop (who has the time to stop??) and write it down. But that doesn't mean that I mean to neglect my blog readers as much as I have been. I do apologize. I also apologize for not sharing the SUPER cute pictures I took for Valentine's Day just yet. For that you'll have to wait. ;) I know, that was mean. You'll have to settle for another blog post full of Instagram images.

I have big news this week. Super mega gigantic news. Jack read a book all by himself!!! This is so huge. Jack has had to work so hard to get to this point and I couldn't be prouder. He just picked up the book, told me was going to read it and then DID! *tears*

Winter boredom set in (yes, it's California and it only rained for half a day, but still) last week and Casey decided to show the kids how science can be fun. He made them slime.

And fun they had! Gross, gooey, mom-cringing fun.

Materials

Elmer's white glue or Elmer's school glue gel
Borax (find in the laundry detergent aisle of the store)
Water
Two bowls
Food coloring (optional)

What to do:

In one bowl mix 1/2 cup (4 oz) glue and 1/2 cup water. Add food coloring if you want colored slime.
In the other bowl, mix 1 teaspoon borax with 1 cup water until the borax is dissolved.
Add the glue mixture to the borax solution, stirring slowly.
The slime will begin to form immediately; stir as much as you can, then dig in and knead it with your hands until it gets less sticky. Don't worry about any leftover water in the bowl, just pour it out. {Mom advisory - It's messy and an icky texture. If you have kids who are not fans of strange textures or messiness do not attempt this.}

The kids seriously enjoyed themselves.

I've been trying to figure out new quick recipes to keep things interesting yet healthy, and if it has extra calories in it for my little Jackie then even better. I found this one and the boys LOOOOOVED it. Perfect after school snack, or even breakfast!

Arroz con Manzana

{for my friends who do not speak Spanish, or live with someone from Spain that's Rice with Apples}

1 cup cooked brown rice

1/2 whole milk (yes, that's what I used, only for the calorie content for my child who's underweight.)

2 apples chopped

1/2 - 1 tsp real vanilla extract

1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon

Mix together in a microwave safe bowl (no, not plastic) until warm and viola! Delish!

The other day I was trying to organize Abigail's crazy room and found a journal. It was filled with the most lovely, funny, sweet, touching, adorable little entries. I especially liked a page all about playing hide and "go-see" (it's her spelling) with her brothers. But this page - love.

"December 14, 2011

Weday,

My special place is chrche. Be cuse we lrn ubowt gob."

Translated to be -

December 14, 2011

Wednesday,

My special place is Church because we learn about God.

So there you have it. Little snapshots into our life. It's crazy, busy, stressful and totally hilarious. I couldn't be happier. I absolutely love this crazy life.

Merry Christmas {and a post Christmas recap}

2011-12-26T20:57:00.000-08:00

As I've been a slacker all year this year with the blog, I am only now posting our Christmas card picture, and a couple of ones that didn't make it for the card but that I still love.

The Christmas card picture.

My angels.

Nothing like looking at the tree and wondering what Santa might bring you.

Half the ornaments on our tree are homemade ones the kids have done over the years. That makes me love decorating it and remembering as I go.

Christmas for us was a busy time. We started on Christmas eve morning when Grandma, Papa, Uncle Andy and Aunt Jennifer came over to open presents with the kids. The kids got a ton of stuff, including Grandma made bath robes they've worn every waking minute since they got them. They also got super cool new bikes from their grandparents, this picture is their face when Papa and Grandma brought them in. I believe the picture says enough about their excitement, don't ya think?

In the evening we celebrated at 2 Christmas parties. The kids liked being dressed up, but still, clearly, hate taking pictures. They've been trying new camera faces up lately. I'm not a fan but when they're older I can tag them in these pictures on Facebook and they can hate me for years to come. I consider it perfect blackmail.

Here Henry looks like he's in agony, Abigail is doing her new "hrrrrr" face, Jack was attempting to hop up and down on my leg which was making him laugh, and I look like an old deer caught in the headlights of a long night of attaching stickers to Santa's toys and stuffing stockings.

The parties were great. We all had lots of fun. I'll spare you the pictures of flying wrapping paper, and close with this totally cute picture of Jack and Abigail's little veggie smiles. We hope you all had a lovely Christmas this year. We sure did!

Oopsie, has it been that long again??

2011-12-15T07:56:00.000-08:00

These days blogging has become something I find very difficult to fit into my already over packed schedule. Between work, the kids homework (which, BTW, why didn't you all warn me?!!) and daily life, I've found myself with very few minutes in the day for sleep let alone blogging. So, while I don't do it often any longer, I'll try to keep it up for those of you so far away.

Since I rarely have a second in the day for peeing, you guys are going to get another post with images taken with my cellphone and uploaded to Instagram. It's been the perfect way for me to keep a record of the daily happenings via my favorite medium - photography.

And for your viewing pleasure, here's a video of Abigail and Henry. These two are total opposites with Henry being more serious, and Abs being pretty silly, but together they're best friends. This video captures their little dynamic pretty accurately. (Please ignore the fact that they look kinda ragged. It was late and apparently they had been rolling around in a "tent" they had made out of their covers.

This year has given way to a lot of big kid behaviors, and some aren't so desired. Jack, my poor sweet Jackie, has decided he really likes lying. And not little lies either. Gigantic, outlandish, detailed lies. Here he's writing "I will not lie again, EVER." as punishment for a pretty significant whopper he told. He came home from school telling us that he had gone out to lunch with his Principal for good behavior. He said that he had gotten into her "purple" car (hers is gold, and I'm pretty sure Lexus doesn't often sell purple cars) and went to In-N-Out (he chose well, don't you think?) where he ate 2 cheeseburgers with no lettuce and a drank a water. They talked about his family, and his goals and what he liked best about his teacher. And then, when he got back to class he ate the lunch I packed for him so that he wouldn't "hurt my feelings by not eating it". Pretty elaborate don't you think, considering he didn't go to lunch with her at all.

3 hours of standards and he was pretty apologetic.

Christmas festivities have begun around here, and Nana helped the kids make a gingerbread house. Sure, it was a mess and fell apart, but it was great fun for the kids, especially Jack who ate more candy than he placed on the house.

The kids have been introduced to all sorts of Christmas movies lately during Family Movie Night. They're big fans of the Muppets and hot chocolate.

Here, Henry and Abigail are inspecting their loose teeth in the mirror before bed. These two, sharing a step stool, telling each other that their tooth will be the next to fall out...

Only to both loose a tooth a minute later. I guess when you're racing a sibling ripping a tooth out of your mouth to "win" really isn't such a big deal. Abs lost her second bottom tooth and Henry lost his second top tooth. Since then both Abigail's bottom teeth have come in almost all the way, but Henry's still toothless without one in sight.

That night the Tooth Fairy came and visited all three of my kids. While Jack hasn't lost any teeth yet, she did want to check on him to be sure his teeth were healthy. She must have sat for a while because she left quite a bit of fairy dust on his pillow, much to his delight.

And lastly, my favorite sleeping angel. I have tons of cellphone snaps of her sleeping. I think she's so beautiful I just can't help it. Here she sleeps with her favorite animal in the world; her Carebear. Love.

Tooth Fairy Visits Again.

2011-11-24T11:42:00.001-08:00

November has been a big month for the Tooth Fairy in our house. First it was Henry, and then the other night it was Abigail. After much anxiety she finally let me try and wiggle that little tooth. The thing was barely hanging on and after a quick little movement (and a bribe of painted nails and fudge) it was out. She and I cry-laughed and hugged. She's so cute with her little toothie missing.

My beautiful big girl. I can't believe how quickly they're growing.

The Tooth Fairy brought her a little money, and must have sat beside her on her pillow because there was a bunch of fairy dust (ie glitter) left on it. She was SO excited about this and then quickly tried putting it on Leia (our dog) to make her "fly".

One baby tooth down, and it seems like such a big step into big kiddome.

The Tooth Fairy Came to Visit

2011-11-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

I've planned and planned for the day when the Tooth Fairy would visit. I've had fairy dust {fine glitter} tucked away in a nice hiding spot waiting for the day when one of my babies would lose a tooth. Last night, after days of wiggling, Henry's first tooth fell out. He cried and laughed, I cried and laughed and Jack and Abigail looked on with a touch of jealousy and tons of pride for their brother. It's been quite a contest to see who'd lose the first tooth, and Jack's really not happy that Henry got to go first. Abigail is SO glad it wasn't her. She's not to keen on the idea of losing a tooth, and once she saw it involved blood she was done with the idea of it all together. Henry's pretty proud of his new smile. I can't believe how much older he looks. *tear* *sniff*

The new older looking Henry. It's weird to see him look so different just because one of those teeny teeth came out.

Those little teeth leave a big gap!

Last night while Henry slept, the Tooth Fairy came leaving little fairy dust foot prints, a fairy dust kiss upon his forehead, and a fairy dust covered $5 dollar bill. She's generous for the first lost tooth it seems. Henry was just excited he got to see fairy dust... and then Abigail wiped it off his dresser to wipe it on herself and fighting ensued.

I enjoyed my first time playing the Tooth Fairy. I can't wait to see who's next, though I secretly {or not so secretly} hope it's a while before I have to do it again. Can't I keep them babies?

A Zombie, a Ninja and Cleopatra.

2011-10-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen Cleopatra being saved from a Zombie by a Ninja? I have and it was really quite endearing. Well, that is if you really love the attacking Zombie.

And I love this little Swamp Zombie. I think he's pretty cute in an ugly Zombie kinda way. Little Jack really wanted to be a Zombie this year and so it is.

A face only a mother could love.

Cleopatra... or Abigail. She really wanted to be Corpse Bride, but lucky for me she chose this Cleopatra costume instead. Especially since the Corpse Bride costume is nearly impossible to find, and not nearly as cute.

She's walking like... OK, she's standing awkwardly, but it's cute.

Henry, the heroic Ninja. He was sad they didn't have either an all black ninja costume, or a purple ninja costume, so he settled on the blue costume. He's pretty happy about it since we also bought ninja swords to go along with it. Those things made his day.

Ninja Henry. Perfect for his willful little personality. Strong and sincere; though, not quiet.

At the end of the shoot the kids were playing with their costumes when Henry said, "Hey! Zombie, attack Cleopatra and I'll cut off your head!". Charming don't you think?

They're looking forward to Halloween and all the fun stuff that goes along with it. They know that once it's over they get to start looking forward to Christmas. And believe me, they're already getting a head start on their wish lists.

Margarine and Skittles - A crabby Tammie crash course in gross.

2011-10-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

With a title like that you must be wondering what I have been feeding my children lately. Well rest assured, the kids haven't eaten such atrocities here. Margarine is an atrocity? In a word - YES! You could eat a Barbie leg and it'd be healthier than Margarine. Seriously. Many of us remember making butter in elementary school. It has a fairly easy process and has been done for hundreds of years.

How to make butter -

Step 1

Put heavy cream into a jar with a lid and shake. You now have butter.

Now lets make Margarine. I'm sure that's a fairly simple process as well... right?

How to make Margarine -

Step 1

Margarine makers start with cheap, poor quality vegetable oils, such as corn, cottonseed, soybeans, safflower seeds and canola.

These oils have already turned rancid from being extracted from oil seeds using high temperature and high pressure. Rancid oils are loaded with free radicals that react easily with other molecules, causing cell damage, premature aging and a host of other problems. The last bit of oil is removed with hexane, a solvent known to cause cancer. Although this hexane subsequent removed, traces of it are inevitably left behind. Some of these oils are not suitable for human consumption to begin with. (Cottonseed, Canola and the like aren't. Trust me.)

The oils used for making margarine are also among the Big Four genetically modified crops – soy, corn, rapeseed/Canola and cotton.

Step 2

The raw oils for making margarine are steam cleaned. Something cool for carpets, not cool for your food. However, the residues of pesticides and solvents remain.

Step 3

The oils are mixed with finely ground nickel, a highly toxic substance that serves as a catalyst for the chemical reaction during the hydrogenation process. Other catalysts may be used, but these, too, are highly toxic.

Step 4

The oils are then put under high temperature and pressure in a reactor. Hydrogen gas is introduced. The high temperature and pressure, together with the presence of nickel catalyst, causes hydrogen atoms to be forced into the oil molecules.

Trans fats are formed during partial hydrogenation. These are fat molecules that have been twisted out of shape. In liquid oils, the molecules are bent, with the hydrogen atoms on opposite sides of each other. During partial hydrogenation, the molecules are somewhat straightened and now all the hydrogen molecules are on the same side. If the oil is fully hydrogenated, it turns into a hard solid that cannot be eaten. It no longer contains trans fats because the "out of shape” oil molecules have all been broken up to form straight chains. But this does not mean they have become healthy again because of all the unnatural steps above.

Step 5

What comes out of the partial hydrogenation process is a smelly, lumpy, grey grease. To remove the lumps, emulsifiers, which are like soaps, are mixed in. So tasty!

Step 6

The oil is steam cleaned (again!) to remove the odor of chemicals. This step is called deodorization and it again involves high temperature and high pressure. Deodorization. For your "food".

Step 7

The oil is then bleached to get rid of the grey color. If that's not appetizing I really don't know what is.

Step 8 (exhausted yet?)

Synthetic vitamins and artificial flavors are mixed in along with coloring.

Now put that on your toast. Yummmmy.

What's more, butter has wonderful health benefits! Butter is rich in the most easily absorbable form of Vitamin A necessary for thyroid and adrenal health. It has lauric acid, important in treating fungal infections and candida. Lecithin, essential for cholesterol metabolism. Contains anti-oxidants that protect against free radical damage. Has anti-oxidants that protect against weakening arteries. Is a great source of Vitamins E and K and Vitamin D which is essential in the absorption of calcium. Is a very rich source of the vital mineral selenium. Saturated fats in butter have strong anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties. Protects against tooth decay. Is your only source of an anti-stiffness factor, which protects against calcification of the joints. Anti-stiffness factor in butter also prevents hardening of the arteries, cataracts, and calcification of the pineal gland. Is a source of iodine in highly absorbable form. Cholesterol found in butterfat is essential to children's brain and nervous system development. Contains Arachidonic Acid (AA) which plays a role in brain function and is a vital component of cell membranes. AND it protects against gastrointestinal infections in the very young or the elderly. Why would you give all that up for something like Margarine?

What else can I make today? Let's try Skittles. They're delicious right? And really, what harm can be done from eating the rainbow?

Let's look at the ingredient list.

Sugar, corn syrup, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, apple juice from concentrate, less than 2% - citric acid, dextrin, modified corn starch, natural and artificial flavors, coloring (includes yellow 6 lake, red 40 lake, yellow 5 lake, blue 2 lake, yellow 5, red 40, yellow 6, blue 1 lake, blue 1), ascorbic acid (vitamin c)

Hmmm. That's not that bad right? Well, lets look.

Modified Corn Starch is a thickening agent. It's a starch that has been chemically altered for specific food applications. Chemicals used for modification include, but are not limited to:

propylene oxide - a petroleum derivative

hydrochloric acid - a corrosive used to remove rust

succinic anhydride - used in paper production to strengthen paper

potassium hydroxide - used to make alkaline batteries

sodium hydroxide - chemical base used to make detergents, paper, and drain cleaners

Artificial flavors: A synthetic mixture not found in nature, designed to mimic a natural flavor. May contain MSG.

{Over 1,700 artificial flavors are approved by the FDA. benzyl isobutyrate, ethyl acetate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate (petroleum derivative), methyl benzoate (petroleum derivative), hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone. An artificial flavor may be made up of any number of synthetic chemicals.}

Yellow 6 lake, Red 40 lake, Yellow 5 lake, and Blue 2 lake: Pigment manufactured to make insoluble color. Done by combining the color desired (a coal tar derivative) with a form of aluminum, calcium, barium potassium, strontium, or zirconium.

Yellow 5 , Red 40, Yellow 6 and Blue 1 : All are coal tar derived artificial food coloring.

Well, now that sounds like a tasty treat.

Investigate the foods you and your family eat. Educate yourself. These are things we're feeding our children. Well, at least they get a good lunch at school. Our schools wouldn't poison our children.

1st Graders!

2011-09-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe they started 1st grade. How have they gotten that old? They really had a great time. No one seemed to mind that they're all in their own separate classes now and Henry couldn't have been rid of me faster when I dropped them off this morning. Parents couldn't go in the classes or drop the kids off at the class door, they had to be dropped off on the playground by a cone with their teachers name on it. Because I have 3 kids in completely different classes I had to make a decision. Who to drop off first. Sure, not Sophie's Choice, but it was ripping my heart into pieces thinking of how to figure out who to spend less time with. However, Henry made the decision for me. We found his cone first and once he saw it he said, "Bye Mom!", and was pretty done with me. I of course went back a few {thousand} times for kisses and to reassure him {me} that I was still there even if I was over with his brother and sister. At one point he sighed and said, "I know, Mom. I'm fine. I love you, but bye.". {curling into fetal position and devising a plan to hide in the classroom all day}

Jack and Abigail's cones were right by each other so I stood with each bouncing from one to the other while taking quick seconds to meander {run like the wind} to Henry. Jack was nervous at first but once his friend showed up he was fine and talked to her the rest of the time completely ignoring me. Abigail held on tight until she found a couple girl friends and then I had to actually flick her arm a little to get a, "peace out, Mom. I love you.". A few moms laughed at her disinterest {or my horror} and one remarked at how quickly we moms are left in the dust. I managed to say something less witty, than wounded and sulked out as the kids all walked in a straight line with the rest of their kids behind women I couldn't see. I never saw their teachers.

They really had a great day though. I can tell because when I ask them they say, "Good." and "I don't know." which I'm going to take to mean that it was awesome and they're loving their teachers and can't wait to learn so much this year.

My three independent little 1st Graders.
Jack, Abigail and Henry

Henry. Smart, sensitive and growing up faster than I can handle into such a wonderful little man.

Sigh. He's gigantic.

Abigail. My stunning little beauty.

See her attitude? She's full of what we'll call "spunk".

Jack. My happy bright-eyed love.

Love. And can't believe I have to just wave and see them in 7 hours. It kills me.

See their backpacks on their little bodies? They're so BIG on the kids that it's like they're carrying turtle shells into class. {Don't you think I could curl up in one and sneak in?}

We've come a long way from the preschool drop offs that ended in massive tears from them each morning. I used to have to pry Jack's little arms off my legs each morning. Now they say "Peace out, Mom." and I'm left feeling like I want my arms around their legs. They're so big now. I gonna get there too, I just have a bit more to go before I can throw a peace sign and call it a morning.

'Twas the Night Before 1st Grade...

2011-09-06T20:06:00.000-07:00

'Twas the night before 1st grade and mom's full of anxiety. This is the first year each of them will have their own classroom. This is the first year they'll be in school full day instead of just 3 hours. This is the first year I can't even go in their classrooms to drop them off for the first day. This is a monumental year in all our lives. And they're fine. Completely fine.

Three little lunches packed. All fully organic and completely HFCS and Red Dye free of course.

30 fingernails, and 30 toenails clipped. 10 fingernails and 10 toenails painted in pink and multicolored glitter. Sure, no one will see her toes but the have to match ya know. It gives a girl confidence.

Three excited 1st graders all bathed and ready for a good nights sleep before their first day of school. All their new first day of school clothes are laid out, their new shoes placed with their new backpacks which are fully stocked full of new supplies.

We're all completely prepared for tomorrows step into big kid world. Well... they're ready.

Last Days of Summer

2011-08-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

Just 13 days until school starts. 13 looooong days. In order to entertain the masses for the last remaining days of summer we've tried to make sure all the activities that are distinctly summer activities are done while we still have time. Today's activity was water balloons with their cousins and Casey. I'm not really sure who had more fun today, Casey or the kids, but I stayed safely inside once I took a few pictures. These kids are brutal!

Bucket of arsenal.

In 109 degree heat, throwing water balloons is a great way to stay cool.

Jack, who's attention span was just long enough to take this picture. In fact, a little less, he was already looking away from me.

Abigail who's more than ready to drench some brother butt.

Kami who vowed to get her brother with every balloon. Her brother is a teen so we have no pictures of him. That would have been torture ya know.

Henry who's posing with his balloons and hating me the whole time.

Tomorrow's activity? S'Mores!

Rest peacefully baby girl.

2011-08-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

When the Earth loses an angel Heaven gains one.

Rest in peace sweet Ally. We love you and will always miss you.

The kids table at Christmas just last year. How her face will be missed so terribly from now on.

Ally was taken from her beautiful mom and loving brother in a horribly tragic way on Saturday. As no one expects to have to lay their sweet child to rest there are no funds for services and the family is asking for donations to be made to any Wells Fargo branch to the Ally Heydenburg Memorial Fund, account number 9876027815 under either her mom's name or Nicole Locher.

Queen Bees Have a Stinger in Their Butt.

2011-08-04T22:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight, while tucking my sweet baby Abigail in bed I decided to have a long talk with her. She's had a day full of talking back. She and Jack are famous for it. 'Go get your shoes on.' WHY is the reply. 'Go put your clothes in the dirty clothes.' WHY. Why why why. Even a few I don't want to's. Let me tell you, I'm not down with backtalk.

So I snuggle in on her bed with her and I softly, and lovingly start my lecture...

"Abigail, baby, you know I love you with every fiber of my being.
You know I love you so much my heart could burst.
I love all of you this way. And because I love you so much I love my job, my job as your mother. Do you know what that means? Do you know what being your mommy means for me as a job?

{shakes head looking intently at me}

It means that I have to keep you and your brothers safe. I have to make sure that every single second of the days you are safe from harm. Happy. Loved. And I have to know each time I tell you to do something how it's going to affect your life, our family, our lives, your feelings, my feelings, every one elses feelings, and how if you don't do what I'm going to tell you to do will also affect all of us. Every single second of the day, Abigail, I am thinking about a thousand things. I am thinking about you and your brothers and how things will affect us all.

So when I tell you to brush your teeth, I'm not telling you because you have a choice in the matter, I'm telling you because I've already thought out everything and you don't need to. I've thought out everything in your life, and will until you're at least 18, if not longer. From now on you may just go on with your life, carefree, and just do as your told, knowing that I've got this all under control.

When I tell you to brush your teeth you can just do so. When I tell you to put your clothes away, or pick up your shoes, or tell someone thank you *whiiiiich, you should know without me telling you*, it's because I've already thought out all other options and there are no longer any other options.

You can trust me, Abigail, to always keep you and your brothers in my thoughts before anything. And because of that you can trust the decisions I make for you. So saying, "why?" or "but I" are not needed. You're done saying "why?" and "but I" because you know that I've thought everything through and your only option is to do as I've said."

At this point I notice that she's got her little hand on my hand politely asking to interrupt me. She looks up at me with her big brown beautiful eyes and says, "Queen bees have a stinger in their butt.".

I really should have just stuck with, 'You'll do as I say.'.

Teensy Brag. :)

2011-08-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

Jumping! Jumping! Jumping! So excited! Today on LaunchHER an article published about meeee!! Me me meeeeeee!!! Ok, seriously, I'm so flattered and so happy to have been featured over there! So, if you'd like to see the article itself it's HERE or here's the copied and pasted version, even though you really should go see it in all it's glory. Their little site over there is pretty awesome ya know.

photograpHER :: Tammie Halcomb Photography

by LaunchHER on August 3, 2011

photograpHER :: Tammie Halcomb Photography

photograpHER :: Tammie Halcomb, Tammie Halcomb Pho tography

on location :: North Los Angeles

launchHER says :: Tammie is so versatile, and her lovely pictures speak volumes. It is amazing to see a photographer’s personality shine through her pictures.

HER snapshot :: As a mom to triplets I’ve learned that every moment is a moment to treasure. Everyone should be able to joyously look at quality

pictures of the simple things in life. A look. An embrace. A laugh. This is what makes my heart sing, and through my photography I hope to make yours as well.

photograpHER five ::

Love HER too.

tammie halcomb photography * facebook * twitter * blog

And there you have it. My lil' ol' LaunchHer article. I'll stop squealing with excitement now. Well... out loud at least.

In Prayer

2011-07-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

I am without words (well, many). This sweet child has a relationship with God all on her own. She often stops and prays and I find it beautiful.

Snapshots in Time.

2011-07-15T21:34:00.001-07:00

Life's busy. Kids are busy, days are busy, we're busy. It's all busy. And in that busy-ness it's hard to remember to stop, look around, and really enjoy what your life's all about. It's about those quick moments in time when you look up from what you're doing and think to yourself, 'that's beautiful', or 'man, I love that'. It's the times when for a quick second you were able to breathe and just reflect on whatever it was that was happening in that exact moment in time. I've come to believe that in moments like this, when I look up, or glance and notice a moment of pure beauty happening that I should wholly live these moments. To really savor the moments when you see a little clearer what life's all about.

As a photographer I can't help but feel the need to capture them. To forever record those moments to digital film and ensure that my memory keeps these moments preserved for all time. I can't always keep my big ol' camera with me at all times, but my phone I always have with me. I've mentioned before the love/hate relationship I have with my iPhone, but it's redeeming quality is it's camera. So here are my little moments in time from this week. Just a few moments when I thought, "This. This is my existence."

Henry getting all ready for bed. He's all big, brushing his own teeth after giving himself a shower (nearly on his own). He's like a tender mix of sweet clean baby and big independent kid. It tugs at my heart to see him so biglittle.

And when they sleep they're angels. I was once told by a friend that she loves to sneak in and look at her kids sleeping because you can always see the same face you once saw when they were babies while they sleep. I believe this to be true. Jack, my sweet baby, Jack.

Abigail is a spoiled little princess. I've created it I'll admit, but I love her girly ways so much. Here she shows off a quick little at home manicure she got. Her toes match too, of course.

Jack watches Casey working in the backyard like a puppy dying to get out. He always wants to see what we're up to during the day. He checks in with me in the kitchen, or Casey in his office. He's a curious kid, but when someone's outside it's the ultimate for him. He's been known to pull a chair up to the slider and watch whatever it is going on out there that he can't go out and take part in. I love this about him and think it's absolutely adorable.

The days may go by quickly, but thankfully with my camera (or stupid iPhone) in hand I can forever go back in time.

{On Instagram? Follow me tammiehalcomb to see more snapshots in time.}

Mother Hen - A post about my obsessive need to smother.

2011-07-08T22:31:00.000-07:00

I get teased a lot for the choices I make when it comes to my children. Taking them out of a pool when thunder starts because I fear lightening will strike causing all three of them to die of electrocution. Not letting them have Red Dye or High Fructose Corn Syrup. Ensuring that they, at minimum, have a piece of fruit a day, or putting them to bed at nearly the same time every night.

When my children go to sleep at night and I finally sit down for two seconds to relax I'll have both dogs on my lap. I give them each equal attention, and usually a treat or two to show them that I love them even though I've spent half the day trying not to trip over them.

If I hear of an animal (usually a dog or cat though it's not exclusive to household animals) that needs a home, it breaks my heart not to bring it home and nurse it back to health and happiness giving it the home it deserves.

Those children who's parents either are very late, or aren't showing up, after class gets out and their little hopeful faces keep watch out only to be disappointed. I wish I could take those children and show them comfort. Show them love. Show them that they're worth it.

I know this makes me annoying to some. I know that a lot don't get it, my obsessive need to mother everything to the point of smothering, even so much as to call it an undesirable trait. I do it to everything. People and animals alike. Those I know and those I don't. But I can't help but think; what harm could my desire to love hurt, or hinder something or someone?

What harm has come from being a mother hen? Why do we, as a society, feel the need to chastise those who want to let their children grow up slowly instead of being catapulted into adulthood? Why do we feel the need to rush children into thinking older, acting older and being older? What happened to childhood? A time when learning is important, being protected is important, and when being a KID was important.

Kids grow up so quickly now. At 12 they're sexually active. At 16 they're dropouts. At 18 they're parents (and that's being generous). What happened to baseball games, bike rides and popcorn and movie nights?! What happened to the parents that watched, or mothered, their children and made sure they were safe, loved, and not out being older?

Can I protect my children from other children? No. And I don't want to. I just want to parent them in the only way I know how - with love. With my love comes rules. Rules like, getting out of the pool if a thunder storm is approaching. Or don't run and chew gum, and take a shower every day. Sure, I understand it's ridged to some, but that's their choice. My choice is to be a smothering mother hen that is killing her kids with love. Will that keep them celibate, in school and childless? Maybe not, but they won't be electrocuted in a pool, or choke on gum while running.

It's true. They're mothered to the point of smothering, and I'll love them until they pop for as long as I live.

Buggies.

2011-07-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

What a fun Holiday weekend we had! BBQ's, swimming, sun and... bugs. Sure, they normally go hand in hand but this year it seemed as though the kids liked the bugs, and even had fun finding snails.

Of course, I kept my camera at home so you're gonna have to make due with my iPhone pictures as proof of fun with bugs. As much as I loathe this phone, it's camera has come in handy more than a few times.

Top left - A little cricket that we saved from the pool. Yep, an iPhone took that picture. Pretty good, huh! (You can click the image to make it larger.)
Top right - Jack, Abigail, Henry and Kami on a snail hunt. You have no idea how much time they actually took hunting slimy snails.
Bottom left - Abigail, my squeamish little princess holding 2 snails and inspecting them thoroughly. An instant later dropping one on it's head because "it moved".
Bottom right - Jack holding his prized snail in his hands. He then asked if we could put it on the BBQ. I'm hopeful that it was for food not because he wanted to fry the sucker up for fun. Snail murderers I'm raising.

So there it is. Fun being had with bugs. I never would have thought my children could have so much fun with them, but sure enough, they did.

In a Blink...

2011-07-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

It happened in an instant.

I must have blinked for just a second, and when I opened my eyes again my little girl, my 6 year old little girl, was all... BIG!

Abigail got a Hello Kitty mp3 player for her birthday with an artists pad of paper, clipboard and colored pencils and it's kept her busy for days. She's been happy as a clam sitting on her bed listening to her music (if I hear Justin Bieber one more time my ears-will-bleed) and drawing her beautiful creations. Every time I pass her room in the hallway I can't help but feel that she's passed some invisible line from baby straight into big-kid land, and it all happened in a blink.

Happy Birthday Halcomb Triplets!

2011-06-29T20:34:00.001-07:00

Happy 6th Birthday my beautiful babies.

My How They've Grown - A Day Before Their Birthday Post

2011-06-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

Sigh. Every day I see these three little babies turning into three big kids right in front of my eyes. It kills me how quickly times goes by. Tomorrow it will have been 6 years since my sweet, tiny little preemies were born. 6 years. I don't even know were the time went.

Their first group picture. Jack, Abigail and Henry in the incubator all together directly after being born.

Baby Jack's first picture. This really doesn't correctly represent how small he really was.

Pretty Abigail. Her red little face and her sweet lips.

Henry who was so long for his weight that he looked even skinnier than Jack who weighed less.

Awe sweet baby Jack. That's my hand he's in. He's tiny but miraculously strong.

Poor sweet little flaming hot Cheeto colored Abigail. Jaundice hit her hard, but she still looked beautiful.

Renny and his sweet little grumpy face. I loved how grumpy he always looked. I still see his grump face often.

My little babies, who were just this size 6 years ago, have certainly grown. These strings represent the length they once were. Jack 15.5 inches. Abigail and Henry 17 inches.

August 1st 2005. The babies were a little over a month old. Those were preemie outfits that they were swimming in.

These are the same outfits. And yes, some days it's equally hard to take pictures of them.

My once very small babies are now big kids. They'd never stop and let me hold them for hours just looking at their teeny tiny faces. Now they're on the move, always going and doing. Now they're big.

Jack, born at 2lbs 15oz. Or, a little less than a wine bottle and a CapriSun. (100% natural juice of course.)

Henry, formerly 3lbs 9oz, or a wine bottle and a Diet Coke.

And Abigail. Who weighed less than a wine bottle and 2 Diet Cokes at 4lbs, 5oz.

Tomorrow these big kids turn 6. They no longer fit all on my lap. They no longer require 3 hour feedings, or diaper changes. They no longer just sit and stare at all the newness in their worlds. They're big. And they won't stop growing.

6th Birthday Party!

2011-06-25T21:47:00.001-07:00

Whew. What a party! I can't believe my babies just celebrated their 6th birthday. They had a ton of fun doing it too.

I've been planning this party for quite a while. I wanted a super fun Woodland Animal Picnic themed party. I, of course, wanted all the food and cakes to be red dye and High Fructose Corn Syrup free. And I wanted all of it to come from local shops. The clothes. The paper goods, the food, and the fun. First, I found the perfect paper supplier on Etsy. Invitations, a Happy Birthday banner, cupcake wrappers, cupcake toppers and thank you bag tags.

Then I got the kids clothes. I wanted hedgehogs on their clothes to go with the Woodland theme. I got their outfits from a local childrens clothing designer, Eisley Rae Clothing. Like, ridiculously cute outfits.

Once I had all that ordered I needed to take the kids pictures for the invitations. I honestly think that this was my most favorite shoots with the kids (literally took about 5 minutes) ever. I love all these pictures. How was I to choose?

One of my most favorite pictures of the kids ever.

Cute too!

I do love those faces!

I decided to go with the full length picture of them to showcase their adorable little hedgehog outfits. See those invitations? Adorable right!

Party favor bags with owl thank you tags. Because I'm a neurotic mom the favor bags had no candy in them. Only super fun toys. Red dye and High Fructose Corn Syrup free, and fun. Win. Win.

Have you ever tried to get three nearly 6 year old's to stop watching the bounce house filling up to take pictures of them standing in front of the party table? Yep. Not happening. This was the best I could do.

The banner and picnic table.

Here's where my perfect little party fell apart. Look at these adorable cupcake toppers! I mean, really. Hedgehogs, squirrels, deer and trees. I love them. And I had these beautiful little cupcake wrappers surrounding the cupcakes purchased (and when I say purchased I mean, we spent more on 4 dozen cupcakes than we did on ALL of the decorations INCLUDING the bounce house) from a well known cupcake company. I had such high hopes for these cupcakes. I fully intended to have them be the hit of the party. They greased all over my pretty cupcake wrappers. Through the cupcake wrapper they were baked in. So, sadly, this picture could have been really adorable, but it sucks because my cupcakes look greasy.

But my kids look adorable! Here they are outside waiting for their guests to arrive.

Jack

Henry

Abigail

And they came! All their friends showed up and after eating the most delicious Mexican food from Si Señor, they all jumped in the pool for some cooler fun.

We made the kids get out of the pool long enough to sing happy birthday. They were freezing! It's so funny for me to see these pictures because you can't see them shivering while holding their cupcakes.

Happy Birthday!

If you look close at gigantic Henry you can see that he's clenching his teeth because they're chattering. When you're almost 6 and you're holding a cupcake that's all yours, freezing does not matter.

These cupcakes, the ones I paid an arm and a leg for, the kids didn't even finish. No one did. Because they were awful. 4 dozen chocolate and vanilla cupcakes no one wanted to finish. I could not be more disappointed about them. I won't mention the company's name but lets just say these cupcakes were Disappointing Duds.

My sweet babies sure were spoiled though! You wouldn't believe the mound of presents they got. They even got money. That was so fun for the kids to open.

They got these adorable little animal hats which the kids love.

Abigail even wanted to wear hers tonight after her bath.

Kinect! Woo Hoo!

The kids had a great time. Really enjoyed their friends. I'm so glad we had our friends and family around us all celebrating a new year for the kids. Thank you to all that came!

It's another party down. 6 years. Sigh.

Just a Little Teaser

2011-06-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a quick little sneak peek at the post that's coming after the kids 6th Birthday Party this weekend. I promise more pictures once I dig my way out of all these party favors.

Jack, Abigail and Henry. All ridiculously beautiful and much too big.

{clothing provided by Eisley Rae Clothing}

Best Laid Plans of Parenting - A Story of Personal Evolution

2011-06-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened from the time my preemies were born to now, just before their 6th birthday. A lot of things have changed, some have stayed the same and others, well, they just took me by surprise.

When I started my journey to get pregnant I was a young twenty-something vegetarian with an office job and a cat. I was pretty crunchy-granola and loved very much the idea of having a perfectly natural pregnancy, with a natural birth and a picture perfect infancy where we're all gloriously in love while I'd breastfeed and stare at my beautiful child all hours of the days.

Infertility - First went my vegetarian lifestyle. I had been a vegetarian for 10 years, a vegan for one (which, I'd have continued if I wasn't such a cheese whore and didn't feel as though chocolate needs to be it's own necessary food group), but the doctors said eating meat would make me fertile. I'd have eaten bugs if I thought it would have worked. Then came the medication. Thankfully, I only needed one round of medication to finally see a positive pregnancy test.

Triplets - 6 weeks into my pregnancy we found out it was going to be triplets. Let me tell you there is nothing natural about being pregnant with triplets from fertility medications. I was on medications for the majority of my pregnancy. I had an IV while in the hospital for a month and had a big fat, not natural, C-Section when my babies had been in me for only 33 weeks. They were kept in, again, not natural or going according to my plan at all, plastic incubators until I was finally allowed to bring them home.

Bottle Feeding - I personally, could not have breastfed my babies. I do know that there are moms (I bow to you) out there that have, I'm not one. It was bottles. Lots of bottles. 3 every 3 hours, totaling 24 a day. 24 bottles of 4 ounces of formula. That's an entire can of formula (you know, the not natural stuff) a day for 3 babies, and up to 2 a day as they got bigger.

Postpartum Depression - All my dreams of being gloriously happy with the birth of my child had changed. Sure I was over the moon that I had 3 gorgeous, happy, healthy babies, but there were little pieces of my sanity falling each day. Each hour of each day began to feel harder. And then it hit. With all of it's weight on all of my soul, the life crushing pain of Postpartum Depression. This was not how things were supposed to be. Gone was my life as a happy little hippy, I was now a formula making, sleep deprived maniac that was not holding it all together. I ended up needing medication to make it out of that dark place. Again. Not natural.

Raising children - When I was in my very early 20's I took a few Early Childhood Education classes and read a ton of books on parenting and raising children. I had pretty firm ideas on how I was going to raise my children. Attachment parenting, co-bedding, the list goes on. All the things I simply did not, or could not do. {Again, there are those out there that are much more woman than I and have done it. This is just my story, my way isn't perfect, nor is it the same every day. If you've accomplished all my goals, I applaud you.}

My children slept in their crib all together and I slept in my bed. During naps I'd snuggle a single baby but not all three at the same time. After their dad and I divorced I did sleep with each of my children quite often. Naps and bedtimes were often shared, but that's mostly because they were now big enough for me to feel like they'd probably be able to breathe through the night.

Divorce - I never would have thought, when I started this journey into parenthood, that I'd be divorced. While I will not get into the details of my divorce, it was a time in which we all went through changes. For children it's difficult. For the single parent it's difficult.

Being a single parent was no picnic, but it was also, not terribly different than it was before. The biggest change in our lives was that now, every other weekend, my children would spend a night away from me. My babies, whom I prefer not to even have away from me during the night, were now out of my house two times a month. After nearly 3 years of this same custodial arrangement I can say that it still hasn't gotten easier for me to be away from my babies. Those nights I sleep horribly, I miss them terribly, and I worry ridiculously. However, I am very glad that they get to see their dad and spend time with him on those days. The kids relationship with their dad and his family is important, even if it must be done out of my arms.

And still - none of this was going according to my super laid out, all natural, hippy crunchy-granola plan.

Discipline - Saying no. I was sure when I first held each of my babies that I'd never tell them "No!". I'd redirect them. I'd tell them if something wasn't OK, or was off limits. But telling them "No" would break their spirit. No is probably my most used word now. And honestly, it keeps them safe. They wouldn't live if I wasn't using the word every day.

Saying "No" is just one of the things I changed as my children aged and as my plan for attack evolved. There have been many things that have had to evolve. I've had to find my place as a parent. As a disciplinarian. My road is less paved with rainbows and daisies as it is with realism and experience. More than you can get with a book and a few semesters worth of classes. Some of the changes have been slow, others instantaneous, but all of them make me the parent I am today. Not a perfect parent. Not one who knows everything, or how to handle it all, just one that loves her children intensely and will always ensure they're aware and feel that.

This journey has had every bump in the road I could have seen coming, and others I never would have seen. Through all of it I've loved with all of my heart and all of my being these three children. I've never known love like this. I've never imagined love like this. I never ever, in a million years, could have imagined my life would be as happy and fulfilled as it is today.

For all my growing pains, changes and floundering I've found my way. For now. Ask me again in 5 years. I'll probably have a ton more books and even more ideas on what will happen next. Parenting, for me, is something that's always evolving. Always changing. I can now admit that I don't know where it's going, but I know that where ever it goes, whatever bumps we hit in the road, my babies will always be just that. My babies. And I'll love them fiercely to the end of the Universe.

Just a mom of 3 incredible, loving, intelligent, perfect little people... and 2 dogs.

3 Kindergarten Graduates

2011-06-15T17:01:00.000-07:00

Sigh. How has this day gotten here? Didn't I just pee on a stick finding out that my first round of fertility medications had indeed worked? I swear I just blinked! While today my heart feels like it's being ripped a little further away from me, it was so adorable to see my babies beaming on stage receiving their Kindergarten diplomas. They were so proud! I was so proud. After roughly 180 days of Kindergarten. Hours of homework. Hours of tears over said homework. Countless pairs of jeans with holes in them, 6 new pairs of shoes... each child (that's 18 for those who'd like clarification), 9 jackets and reams and reams of paper for the teacher and we've done it. We've graduated Kindergarten.

And would you believe I forgot my camera? Yep. I'm awesome. So these two little shaky videos will have to suffice. I did take a couple iPhone snaps but they're mine. 'Cause I'm a non-sharing little picture hoarder.

The kids being called up to get their diplomas. One at at time, all in a row. I did cut off the part when they called Abigail, I was having difficulty seeing through my misty eyes and thought I was recording when I wasn't. Yes, Jack ran to the teacher.

This is a little video the classes put on for us. It's absolutely adorable. It's a smidge lengthy, so if you'd like to just skip to the parts where you'll see my kids you can start at about the 1:10 mark where Abigail is talking with my best friend's daughter Sarah. She's talking about how she liked her friends in Kindergarten. Her best friend is Sarah. Jack's at 2:55 saying that his favorite thing about Kindergarten was homework. I'm not gonna say my child is the biggest liar in the world, but jeeze. For reals. Jeeze. Henry's at the 3:33 mark. He said how he liked being the helper, the field trips and the classroom. Those are their starring moments, they are throughout the entire video either with their friends or in the background. Plus the whole thing, while a little difficult to hear is really sweet.

They still have 2 more days left of school before the summer but they're really ready to transform into fish for a few months and not have to wake up early. When the summer's over these three will go to school the full day instead of 3 hours like they have been. I have no idea what I'll do when they're gone that long every single day. They tell me I can't wait in the parking lot crying.

Favorites

2011-05-31T21:05:00.000-07:00

Over a year ago I asked my babies a few questions. Questions about their favorite things. I was astounded a year ago at how my three little preemies had morphed into big kids. Sigh. They've done it again. Every time I turn around they're BIGGER!

So tonight, when I was tucking my babies, I mean big kids, in bed I decided to ask them a few of the same questions I asked them over a year ago. It's funny to me how things have changed, yet stayed the same. They're pretty sure of themselves, and have landed squarely into their own unique personalities.

What is your favorite color?
Pink. Wait, I mean purple. No, I want green. Green, mom, like you. - Henry.
Red. - Jack. (I repeated the question 3 times after and he said blue and black after giving the question deep thought each time I asked it. Sooo, take that for what it is.)
Pink and purple - Abigail

What is your favorite thing to do?
Snuggling with you. - Henry. ("You" is me in these answers in case that needed clarification.)
Spiderman - Jack.
Spend time with you at Starbucks. - Abigail

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A police army man. - Henry
A worker guy. - Jack
An artist. Oh, no I want to me a pet doctor. - Abigail

What's your favorite animal?
Bat - Henry
Dog. Wait, kitties. The kind that wont make Henry not be able to breef. - Jack (breef = breathe)
Giraffe - Abigail

What's your favorite song?
Born This Way by Lady Gaga - Henry
Born This Way by Lady Gaga - Jack
Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga - Abigail

Clearly, my three have an affinity for Lady Gaga. I have 2 kids who know exactly what to say to make my heart melt. And my kids have clearly grown way too much since the last time. Make.it.stop.

Just some fun pictures.

2011-05-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

What a fun little afternoon shoot the babies and I had. I've been wanting to take pictures of just the 4 of us for a while, and today was a great day for it. The kids didn't hate me too badly today for making them take pictures with me.

Jack doesn't love the camera but he does love his Mommy, so he humored me. My sweet baby Jack. God, do I love this child.

I asked him to try and be serious, and he got super goofy and just couldn't do it. It totally makes me laugh how both my boys instantly curl their lips in when they're in front of the camera.

These mustaches were SO much fun! Jack was so funny with them too. He was talking in a strange voice and saying, "I have a beard. I like my beard.".

Henry. Love love love this little man so much! Such a sweet kid, really just wanted to squeeze me to death when he was in front of the camera. I only milked the extra squeezes for a couple snaps, or 12.

This picture is blurry, and I'd NEVER in a MILLION years give it to a client of mine, but for me, when Henry's already so uncomfortable in front of the camera, I just love it. His happy little face as I torture him, making him stand there with me as he's trying to run away.

Abigail was a different story today. She really didn't want to be without her glasses or without her mustache. She felt naked, I could tell. Even when we both stood there with out our glasses or mustaches she was weird and uncomfortable. She hid her face in my hair until I got the biggest kissy from her. I'm so glad my camera caught her little burst of love.

But bring on our glasses and our mustaches and she was all for it. She just needed a disguise.

Don't you love these mustaches?! They're so fun!
(I got them here! http://www.etsy.com/listing/73528608/6-piece-mustache-on-a-stick-photo)

No mustache and she's back to a little uncomfy but she loves me and she said she loves her new glasses because they match mine. I love it too. She's my most favorite girl in the whole wide world and I'm so glad she wants to match with me for a bit.

So there it is. It'll probably be another few years before I get more of these, and by then they'll be so big they'll be miserable when I make them stand by me. All this growing up, it's hard on a Mom.

Earplugs

2011-05-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

Normally when I think earplugs I think, 'aaaah quiet'. I also think I really could use a pair every.single.time the kids start arguing. These earplugs however, are not for blocking out sound. They're for blocking out water.

Back in December of 2009, Jack and Abigail got tubes placed in their ears for reoccurring ear infections and subsequent hearing loss. Since then any time they get their ears wet an infection occurs. It's actually become MORE of a problem having these tubes (well, if you don't count their hearing coming back... kind of a big thing not to count) than it has a help. They still get ear infections. Abigail's on prophylactic antibiotics in an effort to prevent the infections from occurring because they happen so often. It's been a nightmare. Especially in the summer when all my little water babies want to do is SWIM!

Casey is a sculptor, mold maker and special effect artist. Because of this he works with many different materials and after the last year of infections and tears over having to plug their ears even in the shower he decided to mold their ears and make them their own custom fit earplugs.

This may just look like jars filled with fun colors to you, but to me it's giving my children freedom to play this summer in water. A simple silicone putty and some dye.

The material is similar to silly putty and hardens in less than 10 minutes. He simply shaped it into their ears and we waited until it was hard to remove it. The kids did really well and sat and watched TV for the few minutes it took for the material to harden.

Jack getting his plug shaped in his ear.

Viola! 2 custom made earplugs!

Abigail getting hers shaped to her ear.

Sure, she may not be able to hear but the hope of being able to go underwater with her brothers this summer made it all worth it.

One plug in, the other in her hand fully hardened. They feel hard like plastic now and just get placed inside their ears. They are a snug fit but completely comfortable and, while not yet tested, should be waterproof.

Finished products. Hard little globs of hope.

It's looking like a fun summer!

Wanna Vote For Me?

2011-05-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how but somehow I was nominated in Circle of Mom's 25 Top Parents With Multiples contest. So I'd love you forever if you voted for me by clicking this super cute little pink button (also found to the right side of my blog) so I can win and be the girl with the coolest blog.

Mother's Day Love

2011-05-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

This year is really the first year that Mother's Day has meant something to the kids. They have been so super cute about it too. All week long they've brought me cute little notes or drawings from school. They've all been extra loving too, giving me extra hugs and kisses. I don't know what their teacher threatened them with but it's worked. I'll take it while I can get it. They've been adorable.

Abigail's drawing. It says, "Mommies can spent time with you". It's a drawing of the two of us having coffee (me) and milk (her) with our scones at Starbucks spenting time together. I love it, and I'm so glad our quick morning visit to Starbucks meant so much to her.

This lovely masterpiece is Jack's. Jack rarely uses color and almost never illustrates his sentences so having a drawing from him means he really had to sit for a minute and want to do it. His says, "Mommies can vacqm.", and then it says "Vic". I think he was gonna give spelling vacuum another try and started with "Vic", that or he has changed his name and is starting a new life as Vic. I think vacqm is just fine, and clearly I need to do less of it if it's made this much of an impression on him.

Henry. While drawing isn't his favorite thing to do once Henry starts a project he'll do it until he feels he's done the very best job he could have on it. He's the ultimate perfectionist. His teacher said he skipped recess to finish this. It says, "On mothers day I wil giv mom a flawr." and he drew the two of us and a flower. I hope I get a rainbow colored flawr because it's super cute.

On Friday I got to go have muffins and what I'm told was coffee with my babies at their school. They were so excited to bring me to their cafeteria and eat with me. Then they made sure I was on time (I've never been late to a thing in my life. Never.) to get them to their classroom so they could finish their Mother's Day presents. It was really important to them that they had time for that. I love that.

They had to work on their lovely pumpkin seed plants! Abigail and Jack's are both sprouting, Henry's hasn't yet. It's taking it's time like he would.

They made little signs for them to let me know what they planted and then Abigail and Henry wrote their names on the back, Abigail's with a heart next to it. Surprisingly, Abigail's is the one all the way to the right not colored in or resembling a pumpkin. Jack's is the one to the left, and of course Henry's is the biggest in the middle.

And I LOVE these. Little gold frames made from tongue depressors and macaroni with pictures the teacher took in them. My Mom has one of these I made her in Kindergarten and now my Kindergartners made me one. Love love love.

Jack and his classic forced smile for the camera face.

Henry and his very typical 'some thing's not perfect and it's pissing me off' face. He'd also like me to point out that there is a pattern to his macaroni.

And Abigail and her super sweet forced face with a bow in the center of each side of the frame.

These are the best presents I ever could have gotten. Seriously. Hugs. Pumpkins. Pictures and letters. Love it. I'm the luckiest mom in the entire world.

Henry Has Conquered the Big Boy Bike!

2011-05-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

Today, when we packed up the bikes to head over to Grandma and Papa's, Henry had no intention of taking the training wheels off his bike. He's always been very nervous about even riding the bike let alone without training wheels, and he always leaned to the left heavily on that poor left training wheel.

So today when Grandma said, "Come on Henry, let's help you ride that thing straight up!", I wasn't surprised to see him stress and beg her to let go of the back of his bike. It took him a bit to warm up to that and after a few times seemed to master the art of not leaning on either of the training wheels.

For a few minutes he practiced without her while my Mom and I talked about how he seemed to really take to riding straight up. We had just mentioned that he'd soon be ready for those training wheels to come off, if not by the next week when we go to their house again, when he came over and said, "Ok, I don't want training wheels anymore. I'm done with them.".

We were both stunned. We suggested he ride Jack's bike (Which hasn't had training wheels since last year and that was only because he couldn't reach before that. He's been riding training wheel free since the beginning of preschool.) for a bit to see if he was sure.

Henry grabbed Jack's bike, threw his leg over and sorta got a feel for it without going for a second, and then set off. He had it. Within a half an hour Henry had figured out how to go from a heavy leaner on training wheels to a full blown big boy bike riding kid. It happened that fast.

He then turned around and waived, "Bye Mom, I'm off to college!". Oh wait. No. It just felt like that. He had grown up in an instant. Sigh.

Papa took Henry's training wheels off and he rode the rest of the evening on his own, training wheel free, bike. He was so happy Grandma showed him how to ride.

Just ignore the part where I apparently get a sex change and my voice gets incredibly deep.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

I love the magic of the Easter Bunny. It's so sweet to me to see the kids so excited when they realize that he's come and left them little treats and toys.

Last night the Easter Bunny sat up filling baskets full of Red Dye and High Fructose Corn Syrup free candy, pencils (he feels education is important as well) and toys. He laid out a trail of baby carrots to lead the kids to their baskets and back out to the family room where he hid little plastic eggs full of change. The dogs then took, one by one, half the trail of baby carrots and ate them.

Basket full of candy!

This morning, with the kids being another year older, was really fun. They were so excited! Casey went in to get them from their rooms and they ran out as excited as can be.

You know Henry's excited when his hands are stiff.

They followed the dog treat path to their baskets grabbing eggs full of change along the way. All laughing and talking at once.

The Easter Bunny got Jack and Henry Halo toys and Abigail got two new Monster High dolls.

That's her new excited face.

They were so excited they had momentarily forgotten about the hidden eggs they spotted along the way to their baskets.

Jack grabbing his basket to gather eggs.

And they're off! It was a mad dash to get as many eggs as possible.

Jack collecting eggs. He was very calm about it while Henry and Abigail were two whirlwinds.

Jack, a kid after his momma's heart, chose to eat chocolate rather than count his coins or play with his toys.

Henry, (also known as Mega Mind) immediately sat on the floor and sorted his money.

Abigail's Easter basket.

They have had a great morning playing with their toys and talking about the Easter Bunny. I'm so glad the magic of the Easter Bunny is still there for them this year. I don't know how long that will last but I love it while we have it.

Scwodr.

2011-04-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

My kids are growing up way too quickly. They started out this year barely able to spell their own last name, and today they started writing sentences on their own. It's a bittersweet moment for a momma who wants to hold on to her little babies as long as possible. Can't I just keep them little forever?!

Abigail and Jack have the attention span of fleas so their sentences looked like this:

"I like to..." - Abigail

"I..." - Jack.

But Henry's my little man of great attention (Really! His report card said, "Pays great attention to detail.") completed 2 sentences and pictures to go along with them.

The top picture goes with the first sentence which reads, "I like to play halow." Translation - I like to play Halo. (Halo is a video game for those of you wondering.)

The bottom picture is for the sentence that reads, "I like to rid my scwodr."
Translation - I like to ride my scooter.

Scwodr.

It's come to my attention that Henry's way of spelling shows either gaping holes in my speech or his hearing.

Bovees. What is a bovees? Well he wrote this sentence to go with it...
"I want to be a bovees when I gro up." Bovees is Police.

I have to say though, at least he has a period ending his sentence. He's way ahead of many adults at this rate!

Yep. They still hate my camera... and bugs, and dirt.

2011-04-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

Remember waaaaaaay back in February when I said that I was gonna give the kids a break from being my little models since they had grown to HATE my camera? Yep. They still hate it. Badly. And to top it all off I made them go outside, where there are bugs and, gasp!, dirt. I had such a beautiful location and such angry little models.

First lesson - never say, "Hey! Was that a lizard you guys?", as your already concerned kids step out into a field of flowers. It will not bring squeals of delight from them. They'll freak. It's embarrassing.

Henry, barely over the lizard scare, now painfully aware that there are little black gnats flying all around. He's sure they're in his shirt and he's super unhappy about it. Abigail, is still freaking over the whole lizard thing and Jack is sure if he keeps stomping the gnats will leave Henry alone. Lovely image don't you think?

I tried to recompose the group but Henry was mad. Super mad. This was the best I could get from him. It's better than the others where you can actually hear him thinking 'I hate you' through the lens.

I had a great idea! I was gonna lay them on their bellies in the field of flowers and it was going to be like a water color image from the heavens. Yeah. Sure. I shot this right after Abigail hugged Henry and said, "Come on brother, we're almost done.", and grabbed his hand to comfort him.

Why I thought laying them down on their bellies in the flowers that they weren't even happy to stand in would be a good idea, I have no idea but it wasn't. It was bad. Very bad. Henry was SURE the lizard was gonna magically appear, that or the gnats were going to, I don't know, gnat him to death, so he was only on his stomach for this shot.

I took so long trying to make sure Henry was pretending he was smiling when he's really just gritting his teeth and trying not to cry, I forgot to look at Jack who's long since lost interest and is apparently fascinated with the sky. This shoot is going well don't you think?

So we pile back in the car. I do some bribing and begging and we find a white fence. I looooove fences. I was SURE this was gonna be the shot I wanted. I was SURE my kids were gonna finally cooperate.

Yep. No.

Abigail actually said, "my skin is melting off mommy!" because it was 80 degrees. Jack couldn't stand still and kept saying there was a lizard in his shirt. Henry was still incredibly angry with me and wanted absolutely nothing to do with this fence or my camera. Then they all decided that now, all of a sudden, it was too bright to open their eyes and they needed sunglasses. Once that was said no one was willing to open their eyes. So now I had 3 kids with closed eyes making strange faces at me. Abigail actually made a growl noise saying she felt like I needed to take picture of her as a tiger. A tiger.

And just as I gave up and my three squinting, irritated, gnat covered children stepped away from that fence I watched my beautiful daughter pick up a flower (one we're not supposed to pick as they're protected) and look like an angel. After trying so hard for the "perfect shot" of all three of them there was my daughter glowing in the sunlight. This shot makes the whole day worth while. I love this image so much. I'm a lucky mommy.

Sweet Slumber

2011-04-15T22:25:00.000-07:00

My sweet babies. It's nights like tonight, when my little loves aren't feeling well, that my heart just warms a little more looking at them sleep. Two with double ear infections and upper respiratory infections. One on asthma watch just waiting to use his nebulizer for the first time since allergy season. And a mommy who wishes little ones never got sick. It's not easy having sick kiddos, but when they're asleep it sure does make your heart swell with love.

Baby princess and her bear.
Love.

My asthmatic little Henry, who has a touch of his mommy's need for things to be neat. Yes, he folded his blanket himself. Yes, he sleeps on it still folded so it doesn't get messed up.
Love.

Baby Jacky who's poor ears are hurting him pretty badly today. I'm just glad to see he's able to sleep with his mouth closed. One out of three isn't too bad right?
Love.

Me! Me! Me!

2011-04-11T21:48:00.001-07:00

Why is it so hard for us mom's to talk about ourselves? I see blog after blog about our children, our businesses, even our marriages but I very rarely see a blog post about ourselves. About YOU. Today I'm taking the challenge and I'm going to talk about me. Probably one of the hardest things for me to do...

Who I am...

My children always have, and always will, come before everything for me. Including myself. They are my world and I'd do anything for them.
My favorite color is green. Like the perfect kelly green of a shamrock.
I'm afraid of the dark.
I'm ridiculously sarcastic.
I'm also ridiculously sensitive.
I love love love to sing at the top of my lungs in the car with the radio turned up LOUD to some soul filled chick music... or Metallica, or Kanye... pretty much any music except for country. That makes my ears bleed.
I'm a smidge (shut up, it's just a little) OCD and keep things orderly and neat.
I can wiggle my ears, same as my dad can.
I have to swish my feet from side to side to fall asleep.
I was a vegetarian for 10 years and a vegan for 1.
I'm a total documentary dork.
I can't be late. It pisses me off. I am always early for anything.
Classy people that say the "F-Word" make me smile.
I don't feel whole if my toenails aren't painted.
I knew I wanted to name my son Henry since I was 5. Every stuffed animal I had was named Henry. (And Moon, but Abigail got lucky.)
I didn't like to play with dolls as much as I liked to sit and daydream as a child.
I still sit and daydream.
I rarely watch a whole movie.
I get horrible ear infections, have since I was a kid.
I have a psycho strong sense of smell. My kids aren't gonna get away with much in their teen years.
I smoked for many years before I had children. I am thankful every single day that I haven't smoked since. It's been 7 years.
I passionately believe in equal rights for all. I hope my children grow to adults in a tolerant world where all are equally able to marry.
I prefer to be at home than anywhere else.
Cake is my favorite food.

Last but certainly not least fact about me...

I'm hopelessly addicted to Facebook... and Twitter.

So there you have it. Me. Now it's your turn Moms! Talk about YOU!

Tea Party!

2011-04-04T21:24:00.001-07:00

Seriously, what's cuter than watching 3 best friends laugh and giggle together while telling stories? Watching them giggle over tea and cupcakes!

This Friday Abigail and I went to Blinda's (my best friend's mom) for a tea party. Really so cute. Blinda always goes all out for her parties and this one wasn't much different. The girls had such a great time. I love seeing them grow up together. Denise, her sister Aubri and I were friends literally from birth and these 3 hopefully will carry on the same way and grow up to be the best of friends.

Lovely tea party cup cakes. Yummy!

Sarah listening to Abigail's stories.

The best story teller of the bunch, Leah.

"And then..."

Leah, deep in thought.

Abigail, Leah and Sarah. A baby version of me, Aubri and Denise. Lord help us.

Spring Has Sprung!

2011-03-08T21:22:00.000-08:00

It's so close. Warm days, sunshine and pretty flowers. Perfect combination if you ask me.

Education

2011-02-20T21:57:00.000-08:00

Did you know that out of 30 countries the United States ranked 25th in math? How about that of those same 30 countries the United States is 21st in science? But surely the majority of our kids are graduating from High School right? Nope. We're 20th of those 30 countries there. Germany, Japan, Korea and the U.K. all do better with graduation rates of 90% or more. In the Unites States, it's just 75% and that's overall, in areas of lower income the percent is much lower.

Did you know that our kids spend 40 days a year less in class than kids in South Korea do? 40 days where our kids are forgetting what they learned the year prior making it necessary for our teachers to re-teach our kids a full 6 weeks to just get them back to the point they were at prior to summer vacation. 6 weeks = 42 days add in the already lost 40 days and you have a total of 82 days our children are sitting stagnant in our schools.

Did you know that of those who go to college only 27% will obtain a college degree, 7% will get their Masters degree and a measly 2.94% will get a PhD.

Why? Are our kids simply getting... dumber? And what can we do about it? If we throw more money at the system will our kids get better classrooms, better teachers and then better educations?

Why do we have wait lists miles long for schools we all want our kids in? There are parents going to jail for using a false address just to get their child in the good school. There are parents working 2 jobs and living in low rent areas to send their kids to private schools hoping they receive a better education that the one our public schools provide.

When did a good education become a privilege and not a right?

In the 50's our schools may have been better (I'm using 'may' to soften the blow, but what I really mean is WTF is WRONG with our schools?!!), but so was our country, and our families. Parents weren't over scheduling their children with playdates and soccer practice. Parents were putting an emphasis on school work and studies. Kids didn't spend afternoons after school playing video games and watching witty TV shows. (I'm not saying my kids haven't done both those things.) Parents in the 50's were a different breed than parents today. Does that have something to do with our students performance in our schools, and consequentially our statistics as a nation? Absolutely.

As parents with no choice but to send our kids to public school (and those who can send their children to private school) how do we help our children achieve a good education? How do we make up for our schools shortcomings and ensure they go to college and become part of that 27% with a degree?

I think we all, as a nation, need to stop pointing fingers. (And for this super stubborn, massively opinionated mom that's gonna be hard because believe me I could go on and on about how terrible our education system is.) We need to take action in our own homes to help our children become the awesome, intelligent, successful human beings they are. We need to turn the TV's off. We need to put the emphasis back on education. How can our schools bring up the education standards if we're not in our homes? They can't. Your kids teacher can not teach your child everything they need to know in the amount of time they have them. It's our responsibility as parents to continue the learning at home.

I'm just a mom. I'm just a woman with high aspirations for my three kids and a stubborn streak a mile long. How can I help my kids? While I don't have the answers, and I'm sure I'll make mistakes along the way I can say I'm never going to give up on my kids or be satisfied with mediocrity. My children are amazing, and intelligent, I expect them to be amazing and intelligent their entire lives.

My Poor Photographer's Kids

2011-02-18T22:25:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when I ask the kids to let me photograph them they are all for it. Abigail usually is my camera ham. I've snapped numerous shots of her being a more than willing model for me in the last few years.

Today, that was so not the case. When I picked the kids up from school I took them to get much needed hair cuts. When we got in the car I said, "Now that you guys have your super cute new hair cuts you'll let me take a few pictures of you to try out my new background right?", in unison, "no" rang out. "What if I make your favorite lunch?" "No thanks mom." Great. Now I'm gonna have to dig deep. "I'll make cookies???" "Nah, that's OK mom." What?! Noooo.... I have 72 hours to try this backdrop and send it back if I hate it. I need my built in models! I pulled out my last bribe, "How about after your favorite lunch, I make cookies and while they're baking we take a couple quick shots and then go to Natalie's to play?" Finally I had them. They all, while reluctant, agreed to let me take pictures.

I should have known with all the bribing I had to do that these were not going to be fantastic pictures. I did not ask them to look pouty and uninterested. That is what they are. Poor little photographers kids.

I tried here to get them to look interested. I asked them to pretend to be happy to take pictures. Clearly, they're happy, can't you tell?

So this one wasn't so great, but at least now I know I do not like that backdrop and will be sending it back. I also know I called in my last favor from the kids for a long time. I need to find more willing models.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-13T17:57:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love,

Jack, Abigail and Henry

My Beautiful Babies.

2011-02-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned how IN LOVE with my kids I am? I have I told you how GORGEOUS I think they are? Well I am, and I do.

Jack - his favorite color is red (today) and he loves animals. When he grows up he wants to be a fireman and work with a fire dog. He'll live with Henry and bring me flowers every day.

And my God, isn't he handsome?!

Henry - Henry loves the color purple and bats. Lots of bats. Anything pertaining to bats is cool with him. He wants to be a police man and a superhero when he grows up. When he's a super hero his name will be Henry-Bat the Super.

He's so grown up looking! When did they get this BIG?!

Abigail - Pink and Yellow are her favorite colors today. She's very into everything girl. Nail polish, hair spray, perfume and lip gloss. She's growing up faster than I like these days, and when she's all grown up she wants to be an artist. She's got the talent to do so too.

What a lucky mom I am. I mean, LOOK at these faces!

I love this picture so much!

Close up of handsome Henry.

Jacky and his sweet little face.

Triplet love.

Shake the sillies out!

These seriously make me laugh.

I love that they're best friends.

Loooove.

Look at those kids!

Of all the kids in the world I'm lucky to have the most gorgeous kids in the world. ;)

My Funny Valentine

2011-02-04T22:35:00.000-08:00

Abigail and I were having a little girl time, nail painting, hair curling (she has a shirt on her head if you're wondering) boy talking - Justin Bieber of course. She asked me to get my camera as her nails were drying, and when the girl says that I listen! You can thank her for 2 picture posts in as many days.

The many faces of my favorite girl in the whole wide world.

I hope she and I can always be friends. She's kinda my favorite friend ever.

With All My Heart and Soul

2011-02-03T21:22:00.000-08:00

I am one of the luckiest people in the world. I mean, I seriously have the most amazing gifts. My beautiful babies. I am so incredibly thankful for my sweet loves.

Henry, how I adore you.

My sweet sweet Abigail.

Jack, my sweet little bull in a china shop.

I can't forget about my furry loves either.

Leia, oh how I adore your underbite.

Vespa. Your silliness completes our family perfectly.

My heart is full.

Random

2011-01-25T14:44:00.000-08:00

Oopsie, it's been a bit since I updated the blog again. Sorry! There really isn't much to blog about now that the kids are older, and I keep going back and forth in my head as to whether or not to just simply call this the end of the blog or to continue with my random postings. However, because many of my family members are scattered across the country, and now the world I'm going to keep it going... for now.

Not much happens these days; kids to school, kids home from school, nap, homework (I loathe homework, someone always ends up crying, it's usually one of them.) play time, and then dinner, bath and bed. Exciting isn't it. The kids do come up with funnies here and there. The best one of late is from Abigail (of course, she's nearly always unintentionally hilarious). Casey and I went in to tuck her into bed and kiss her good night when she said while looking down her panties, "Mommy, can you show me where my balls are?". Kids do not appreciate being hugged and laughed at simultaneously.

Jack was awarded "Citizen of the Month" 3 days after bring home 4 red slips. (Where's the consistency there?) I was informed of that by Henry running out to greet me saying, "Jack's the prisoner of the month mom!" I thought for a moment the teacher had ingeniously figured out how to tame Jack by caging him, until she corrected Henry and handed me Jack's new award pencil stating Citizen of the Month.

I yelled at the boys for sitting on each other the other day and after repeating myself several times Jack sat on Henry. So angrily I asked Jack what I had JUST gotten through telling him when he replied, "don't shit on my brother". Clearly, he hadn't been listening, while shitting on your brother isn't something I'd condone, I wasn't yelling at him not to do it.

There haven't been many moments with the kids to capture with my camera lately. Something tells me snotty noses and dirty looks (mostly from Abigail) don't appeal that much to my readers. I have however, been taking pictures of other things.

My best friend whom I've known since she was born to my mom's best friend turned 30 last week. On Saturday we got to celebrate her oldness. I love her and I'm so glad that I can put this picture next to the one of us together on a teeter totter from when she was 3.

A group of girls all grown up. Denise with the brown hair third to the right and me on the right next to her.

Casey's an Uncle again when his niece was born on January 18th. Baby Meghan came into the world at 9lbs 14oz. Mommy is superwoman who did that all natural. I'm completely in love and can't even begin to express how lovely it is to hold ONE baby in my arms. SO easy! Who knew?!

So there's your update. Random I know, but it's all I've got. Next month I promise to post the kids Valentines day picture to make up for my lack of quality posts. Until then, please remember not to shit on your brother, or anyone else for that matter, it's unkind.

Snow Day!

2011-01-03T20:13:00.000-08:00

What a way to spend the first day of school for the new year; off on a snow day! While our area rarely gets snow the kids have seen it snow a good amount twice and each time have loved it. Last time there was inches more but that doesn't mean the kids didn't have a blast today anyway.

Henry about to get nailed with a snow ball from Casey.

Jack cracking up because he hit Casey with a snow ball as Henry was being hit.

Even my little dogs had fun running around chasing snow balls and then trying to dig them up in the snow. Sure, they're dumb, but they're cute.

Run Vespa, run!

Leia, the worrier, making sure the kids are all right and not getting hurt by the snow balls. I don't know who worries more, me or her, but between the two of us one day the kids will be bubble wrapped and placed in a protective ball.

Dogs and kids. Kids in jammies (we went out first thing), dogs in jackets.

"Hey mom, wanna piece of this?" - Jack

Henry who stopped launching snowballs for the 0.3 seconds it took for me to take this picture. He was a man on a mission, that or he has aggression issues, either one.

Jack my sidekick.

My beautiful snow princess.

This stunning little stinker really thought I'd let her throw a snowball at me while I held my camera. Ha! No.

The snow all melted by the end of the day and school will be back in session tomorrow for a new first day back to school of the new year. We're all excited. Ok, well, they were more excited about today than tomorrow, but I'm really excited about tomorrow. Maybe we'll get snow again before the winters over. Or, maybe it will be another few years before it happens again. Who knows. But I know that these kids sure did have fun today, and I had fun watching them.

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T17:56:00.000-08:00

On this last day of 2010 I am incredibly grateful. I have three very beautiful, happy, healthy children. I have an man who loves me with every fiber of his being, and I with mine. This year has been absolutely fantastic for us. We've had good heath, good business, good luck and the good fortune to find true love. I am incredibly grateful for how my life is.

I hope this year left you all happy and healthy as well. For those of you who felt sadness, or heartbreak I wish nothing but the happiest 2011 for you. For all of you. I hope this coming year brings nothing but the best for everyone. For myself and my children I wish for more of the same.

Cheers!

*~* clink *~*

An Engagement, Christmas Eve and Christmas!

2010-12-26T21:19:00.000-08:00

What a busy time in our lives. Christmas is always a busy time but throw in Casey's family from Spain, Christmas Eve, Christmas and wow is it busy!

Last week we were all at Casey's sister Natalie's house visiting his family when I got the surprise of a lifetime. I was talking with his mom in the kitchen when Jack came in with a shirt saying "Will" on it. Confused I asked him who will was and why he was wearing his shirt. Just as I was about to start asking more questions Henry came in wearing a shirt that said "You" on it. I started thinking a million things at once in my head when Abigail came in with the biggest smile on her face and a shirt that said "Marry" on it. Casey came in right behind her wearing a shirt that said "Me?". He then got on one knee and asked me to marry him. I of course said yes. We're very lucky to have Casey. He takes good care of us.

My proposal crew!

On Christmas Eve we celebrated with his family. In Spain Christmas is normally celebrated on Christmas Eve with singing, and dancing and food. This year we had a great time celebrating. The kids all played and had a fun time. Time was cut a little short when Natalie began contracting every 2 minutes. We thought we were going to have a Christmas baby on our hands so we all quickly opened gifts so she could get to the hospital. We all really enjoyed ourselves. Poor Natalie however, didn't get back home until late and we had already left. There's always next year!

Abigail and Kami

Matti, Kami, Jack and Henry

On Christmas morning my babies got more gifts and opened a ton of gifts. Watching their little faces is so incredible. Such magic in their eyes.

Abigail, Jack and Henry

Jack loving his gift.

They all loved their gifts, but this reaction was priceless. Abigail with her Barbie car.

Jack opening his guitar and amp set... it takes headphones, I'm not crazy.

After playing for a while with their new toys we headed over to my parents house for more gift giving, food and visiting with family.

My pretty girl opening her new books.

The kids table. It's so cute to see the kids of the kids that used to sit at the kids table. I'm sure in 20 years those will be the grandkids of the kids that used to sit at the kids table.

While Christmas and the festivities are exhausting, we're so lucky to have so much family and to be able to surround the kids with such love. And now on to a new year. I hope it brings more of the same!

Happy New Year!!!

Kids 1st Christmas Program.

2010-12-16T19:57:00.000-08:00

So so so adorable. That's the best way I can describe watching my babies stand on stage with the rest of the Kindergartners at their school and sing Christmas songs.

I was so excited when the kids came home with invitations for parents to attend the kids Christmas Program. The kids would come home every day and sing for me the songs they were learning in class. They'd sit at the dinner table all singing the same song, at different points in the song, with gleeful little looks on their faces.

The program was cuter than I could have imagined. I was so proud of my sweet babies sitting there in the front singing their hearts out. Casey took video if you're interest in seeing a group of 5 year olds sing Christmas songs. My kids are towards the left sitting down in white.

Abigail walking up to the stage as she noticed us.

Jack, my little ball of nerves.

Henry and his friend.

Jack and his crooked antlers.

Abigail got a little nervous as they were about to start too.

They sang, but because we had to sit so far back all I really got were pictures of kids with their mouths open looking very small. So the video of that will have to do.

Here's Henry after. Kid never worried about the program or singing. He had a great time and new every word.

Abigail.

Still nervous and not enjoying all the attention directed at him with all the parents he didn't know, Jack wasn't the most comfortable kid up there on the stage.

My 4 favorite reindeer. Abigail, Jack, Henry and Sarah.

My big kids and their teacher.

Tomorrow is their last day of school before winter break. They're as excited as they could be about Christmas. I hear Santa has a long list of 'I want's', I sure hope he can pull through!

Grandpa Walt

2010-12-05T17:13:00.000-08:00

I'm republishing this to pay tribute to Grandpa Walt. May he rest in peace.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A long time ago, when I was dating the kids father I got to meet his Grandpa. Grandpa Walt. This man was one of the most genuinely kind human beings I had ever met. He was full of life and humor and kindness. We also happened to have the same birthday, March 15th.

Since meeting Grandpa Walt all those years ago he's remained one of the best guys I can recall meeting. So while I may no longer be a part of that family, when I heard that his health was failing him a couple month ago it saddened me deeply. It's a weird part of divorce, losing people you loved and wished you could keep close to you. Grandpa Walt was for sure one of those people for me.

Today his health isn't the best. He is in heart failure and is very weak. Luckily, his wife, Grandma Jean, who has been in a rehabilitation facility for a while now, just got a new roomie - Grandpa Walt. I love that the partners who were such an amazing couple all through their lives, will now be able to be there for each other for as long as they both shall live, how ever much longer that is.

I wish I could personally say one last goodbye to Grandpa Walt. He forever captured my heart and I will always think of him on my birthday. I will always remember his gentle way, and kind smile. He is, was and always will be an amazing human being.

Grandpa Walt entertaining the great-grandkids, Abigail and Jack.

Jack and Grandpa Walt discussing bubbles.

Grandpa Walt and Grandma Jean together in their room at the rehabilitation facility. More than 60 years of happiness.

Becoming a Human Slingshot

2010-11-29T22:12:00.000-08:00

Last week Jack became the shot in a slingshot and found out rather quickly that wasn't the most well thought out idea.

I promised in my post about Henry becoming Student of the Month that I'd share the story of Jack's experience as a human slingshot. It's always surprising to me the ideas kids come up with as "play". Clogging the sink. Picking the drywall off their wall. Throwing stuffed animals at each others heads only thinking it's a bad idea when you get knocked in the face with a plastic eye. I'm sure there's a trial and error learning process there somewhere, right?

Casey's niece and nephew were over and the kids were all playing really well. Casey's niece who's 6 was playing with the kids, and his nephew playing video games in the living room. It was a nice enough day to play outside so the kids were out doors playing jump rope and hula hoop. It was going so smoothly I actually sat down on the couch. I never sit when the kids are awake. Never. It wasn't long before I heard Jack's screams, then Abigail's and eventually Casey's niece saying, "blood, blood, blood" as fast as possible in a panic.

I ran to the back door to see Jack with blood gushing out of both his nostrils, his glasses broken, and Abigail freaking out along with Casey's niece. Full chaos. Even Jack's little teeth had shoved up a bit and looked weird. I took him to the bathroom to stop the bleeding and try and figure out what happened. Casey stayed in the kitchen interrogating the kids to see how Jack's face had gotten so beat up.

He was a slingshot. You see, it seemed like it'd be fun to surround him with a jump rope and then fling him (he's a small kid mind you) full running force forward hoping for a fun effect. However, the only effect that has is a quick face plant into concrete.

Jack went to school the next day with a bruised, swollen nose and no glasses. He had 2 pairs but I couldn't even put his glasses on his face that day because the swelling was pretty uncomfortable looking. His nose stopped oozing blood after 2 or so days.

Another pair of glasses down. Even the nose piece that used to be blue was all scratched up. Poor kid.

This is 3 days later. The bruising isn't super obvious but those little spots on his nose are mostly from where his glasses hit his face after they hit the concrete.

A smidge swollen and his nose is super sore to blow or wipe on day three, but thankfully he's not scarred. I'm sure we'll have time for all that later. So far the only stick we've had was when Abigail threw the rock at his head. I hope to keep it that way for a while.

Kids. They will be kids. I suppose sometimes that means playing in dryers, or making yourself a slingshot.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-27T20:08:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving has to be one of my favorite holidays. All the families get together, everyone eats, drinks and is in great moods. We were lucky and got to have 2 Thanksgiving's this year. The first was at Casey's sisters. Everyone gathered, 3 families all together and had a great time. Kids played, we all relaxed and enjoyed our selves. That evening we all discussed which Black Friday deals to tackle. Another one of my favorite things, Black Friday!

Today we all went to my Moms for her turkey dinner. My brother and Jennifer were there and the kids kept us all entertained. Have I mentioned how awesome Henry is? He is. Dinner was fantastic as always as were the heavenly pies we all forced in way too full bellies.

While I'd love to say I have a ton of pictures, I don't. I suck. I actually brought the camera to my Moms but forgot until after desert to even take a couple pictures. So pretend I just shared lovely pictures of people laughing, delicious food, and adorable kids. And now here are the pictures I have.

Henry's serious face.

Pretty Abigail.

Happy little Jack.

My brother decided to use Abigail's Rudolph hair bow to torture Henry. He and Jennifer pinned him down and put it in his hair. I tried as hard as I could to get a picture but it wasn't easy. Apparently Henry isn't a fan of having girls hair accessories in his hair. I don't understand why.

It was a great holiday. I'm now slowly preparing for Christmas. I can't believe the Christmas season is already here. Where did 2010 go???

Student of the Month - Henry

2010-11-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week Henry came home with a letter from the principal at his school that he'd been given the Student of the Month award for his class this month. I couldn't have been prouder. Today the principal came in their class to give him his award. It was the worlds quickest ceremony (3 minutes tops) but it meant a lot to both me and Henry. I'm so proud of my little man. He works so hard on his homework every day (9-11 pages a WEEK in Kindergarten.) making sure it's perfect, and he tries to do exactly as he's told almost every day. Such a good kid. I'm glad he was recognized for his work.

First they told the class why he was selected as this month's responsibility themed Student of the Month award. Her teacher said that first she picked who came to school every day on time, with all their homework finished, their read at home books read (they each get a book a day to read and return the next day), their lunch and jackets in hand all prepared for the day. She said that narrowed it down to Henry and his brother and sister. (Another proud moment for mom. It sounds like I need the student of the month award now. LOL) So then she looked at the behavior in class. Who listened to all the directions. Who obeyed the rules and was helpful in class. She said that lead her to making Henry the Student of the Month as he is the most responsible kid in her class.

The principal congratulating him on his job well done while stressing the importance of responsibility.

They all clapped for him. (I didn't cry!)

He was awarded with a certificate, and coupons for free meals at local restaurants.

His proud little face. I just love this little man.

The principal and Henry. The principal, who knows every kid by name, is amazing with these kids and incredibly involved.

His photographer mom had to make him stand there with his certificate of course. At 5 he's OK with that still. This will probably not last as long as I'm going to want it too. I have a feeling I'm on the verge of becoming embarrassing mom very soon.

The award. I'm going to refrain from framing it and putting it on his headboard.

It was so nice to see my kids in their class. They we're doing really well sitting and watching Henry get his award. All three looked so proud like it was a collective award. I have good kids. (Well, until the next blog when I tell you all how Jack was sling shot into the concrete face first breaking his glasses and nearly his nose.)

Photo Tips - Just in time for the holidays.

2010-11-04T08:05:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I was honored to be a guest blogger for the Multiples and More blog. I was asked to do a little blog post giving tips for great holiday pictures, just in time for those ever important holiday cards. As a photographer I of course think everyone should have professional portraits done. Nothing compares to the quality of a professionally done photo. However, with economic times as they are it's more than understandable when people opt to do their own photos. Who am I to hold that against them? So instead of feel jilted out of the work, I'll give tips for those who have decided to try and get their pictures themselves. Here's the article I wrote for them. It can be found HERE on the awesome Multiples and More blog.

Quick and Easy Tips to Get Great Holiday Shots.

With the holidays just around the corner parents everywhere are looking for that perfect picture. The picture that works for the Christmas cards. The picture that can be a Hanukkah present for Bubbe and Zaydee. The picture that portrays your babies as you see them; amazing. While professional photos are always timeless and make lovely gifts, parents with their own cameras can capture pictures that show their child as they see them. The looks that are reserved only for mom and dad. Getting a great picture of your favorite mini people doesn't always have to be done by a professional. You too can get Christmas card worthy shots on your own.

First put down your iPhone. Yes, it has a wonderful camera. No you shouldn't use it for your family portrait or even pictures you'd like hung on a wall. Those cameras are better left for sharing fun moments via text, Twitter or Facebook. Holiday pictures, or ones you'd like to keep longer than the life of your phone should be taken with a camera.

With your camera in hand make sure to lock focus on your lovely subjects. To do so you'll ensure a nice clear image that features your children as it was intended to. Many cameras now come with a light that indicates locked focus, or little boxes that show up once the cameras focused on an object.

Frame your subjects. Keep in mind heads. If your youngest child is a foot shorter than your oldest and you have them all standing, making sure you're far enough back will help ensure everyone's heads get into the picture.

The closer the better. I love close up pictures. Ones that show your child as if they were right in front of you. Get close. Fill the frame up with your babies face. Capture those eyes.

Keep it fun. So you're so over the stiff posed pictures of Christmases past? Great. Get your kids together and make them laugh. Some of the best pictures are those of children with their heads thrown back in a fit of laughter. Grandma and Grandpa are going to love hanging those lovely smiles in their homes.

Now you've got the perfect picture. It's in focus, everyone's eyes are open and smiles are gleaming. You just know it's going to be the Christmas card that stays up on the fridge until Easter. But what do you do now? How can you make it better? Regardless of the photo editing software you're using you can make a few quick edits that will ensure your images are in tip top shape.

First make sure it's straight. Does your Christmas tree look like the Tower of Pisa? Crop it and turn your image so that things are all straight.

Is little Johnny's face a little dark? Lighten it up. Make sure you're whole image is bright without taking anything so bright it looks funny.

Contrast. Play with that contrast until you get a look you're happy with.

Have a sharpen option? Use it. When you print your images they tend to look "softer" or less sharp as they did on your computer screen. So sharpen them a bit so that your little ones lovely eyelashes stay as perfect in print as they look to you on your computer.

With these tips and your camera you're sure to get some wonderful pictures this holiday season. Remember, it doesn't have to be shot by a professional to be loved.

A Happy Hellion Halloween!

2010-10-29T20:18:00.001-07:00

I love Halloween now as a mommy. Before I was a mom I never really thought it was much fun. All the hoopla, all the hype. But now through the eyes of my kids I just love it. My babies have so much fun with it all, like any other kid would, and it's so fun to watch them enjoy it.

This year costumes were both hand-me-downs, new, and hand made. Henry's vampire costume was my brothers when he was little. My mom made it when he was little and she's kept it for use by others over the years and now my son got to wear it. Abigail's is an adorable genie. And Jack's is a spider costume made especially for him by my best friend Denise. When the kids were all trying on their costumes Jack made it very clear that he wanted to be a spider with a red butt and red eyes. The red butt is what holds the poison you see. Thankfully Denise could do that for him, because I couldn't create a bib let alone a costume.

The kids all love their costumes. Jack's so happy he gets to be a spider with a red butt and red eyes. If he could just get over his fever I'm sure he'll have fun on Halloween going to families houses and handing out candy. Henry's pretty sure he's the most awesome vampire that ever un-lived. His make up was and will be done by Casey, who's a master with an air brush. He turned Henry into a vampire before my eyes for their pictures. And Abigail, my little ham. She of course loves her costume. She also loves that her belly shows. I, however, do not love that. So while she's bearing her belly for the pictures she'll be wearing a warmer, and more modest nude colored body suit for Halloween.

Jack, the biting, poison red butt, red eyed spider.

The eyes are the dots on the cap, I didn't notice until I was editing these that the cap wasn't centered. Oops.

You should see him crawl in it. It's creepy.

Henry the scary vampire. Look how red his hair is! I never noticed how red it was until it was up against white and black. It became pretty obvious as the make up was being applied that he got the red I try so hard to cover in my hair. Luckily he looks handsome with it.

Mwahahahaha ~ evil laughter.

Look at that make up. And he's so serious! My kid that never likes taking pictures became a vampire and loved it. He was great.

Henry not squinting to be scary, Abigail always posing and poor Jackie with his fever. Poor honey was such a good sport though.

Abigail the pretty genie.

If you ask her what she is she'll tell you she's a "genie with big legs". Now before you freak out (as I did) know she means her pant legs are big. They're baggy, just as a genie's pants would be, but she calls them big.

I don't ask her to pose. I don't ask her to pretend she's a model and work the camera. She just does. In fact, it's one of the fights we have. She's 5 she shouldn't model. But try telling my little ham that.

She just thinks and blinks.

I hope you all have a happy, safe, and fun Halloween. I know we will!

Kindergarten Woes.

2010-10-07T17:25:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, Kindergarten has brought new joys and new struggles. I knew that each of my children would have their challenges. Each of them are SO different and each of them bring to the table unique challenges. It's been quite a different thing however, to know there are going to be challenges and to actually LIVE the challenges.

Today's challenge? Bribery. I never thought that Kindergarten would bring such ingenuity, but today I was once again shown how little I know about what to expect. My dear sweet child bribed a girl in their class to do his W's for him for a Juicy Juice. Yes. He traded his juice box for school work. It's a fine moment in a mom's life when the teacher has to say, "Your child has found a way to make others do the work he doesn't want to do.".

His punishment? To do a full page, front and back of W's. Mine? Struggling through a full page, front and back of W's.

Ahhhh Kindergarten. It's glorious.

Kindergarten - The Untold Truth.

2010-10-04T20:10:00.000-07:00

When you're a new mom and you gaze lovingly into your newborns eyes the last thing you think about is school. It's light years away and you and your baby are blissfully happy. Then they turn 2. And then 3, 4 and 5. And suddenly you find yourself sitting on the floor rocking back and forth while holding a wine glass (or box of wine, whichever you prefer) dreaming of the days when you can take that sweet little baby of yours to school and regain some sanity. All you can think is of the glorious free time you'll have and of all the things you can accomplish while you're sweet little darling is off learning in the hands of the most capable teacher ever. You may even get to sit!

Then the first day of Kindergarten starts. You're inexplicably sad. You cry. And why? You're little one(s) have grown, your sweet baby whom you could never imagine even being apart from for even the tiniest of seconds has just walked away from you into a room where you won't be and will probably never ever hear about the things that actually go on. For a moment you have to hold yourself back from grabbing your child under your arm and booking it out the door in a mad dash to keep your "baby" a baby for ever.

You can't wait to hear everyday how your child's(ren) day was. You're sure it's great and slowly your genius is going to start reading. You're sure they're making tons of friends and having lots of fun in their new world. Because really, it's Kindergarten.

Then your child comes home with a red slip, or 7. They won't shut up in class long enough for the teacher to speak. Or has repeatedly corrected the teacher on her writing. Or maybe, just maybe your lovely sweet little baby who is clearly a genius sat in the corner and broke every single pencil your teacher had on her desk.

Then come the e-mails. Yes, welcome to 2010, your childs teacher now has a Facebook account and e-mails you instead of actually talking face to face. You can't actually see the Facebook account but you know that there are pictures of your childs nice Kindergarten teacher boozin' it up with her boobs out on there. Don't believe her conservative appearance at school, in real life she's a crazy woman that Kindergarten teacher. Those e-mails mention how your charming child still won't shut up. Still can't listen to directions and has only had 4 days in the ENTIRE school year where he/she behaved. Of those 4 days, all 4 were when he/she had the flu, and yes, thank you for sending that sweet darling to school so we could all catch the flu he/she didn't have any longer.

And the homework. Kindergarten. It's all color, cut and paste right? No. It's homework. Lots of homework. And that homework is the worst torture your child(ren) will ever have to endure. It will cause tears. Mostly theirs. More rocking while holding a glass of wine. And then eventually your sweet child whom won't shut up in class, can't sit still, and probably is the biggest know it all in the world, writes their first word. Sure, it's completely backwards (tac) but it's a word. Your child is once again a genius.

While my three (a know it all OCD perfectionist, a talker/destructive misbehave-er and a social butterfly with a lovely little sass mouth) have only been in school a month I can tell you it's nothing how I imagined from those days of rocking myself dreaming of the day's when I'd be getting mani-pedi's with the "girls" while my children gleefully learn at a rapid rate all the while being three of the teachers favorite children ever. Who knew it'd all be so different? You mothers that had gone before did. You all hid your tears so well and tried to smile and nod while we spoke our happy little delusions of what was to come when our sweet babies went to school.

And we, just like the mothers before us, will do the same.

What is it like now that your kids are in Kindergarten now? Why glorious, thanks for asking.

Every Photographers Dream?

2010-09-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

Some times, even when the light's gorgeous and the kids are near pictures still come out laughable. I swear most the time I get better pictures of other peoples kids than my own because of their indifference to the camera. Either Abigail wants to model her little self or they want to make dorky faces. It's rarely an in between. This Saturday was crazy. I got NO good pictures of the three of them together. So... I'll share with you my lovely nerds.

Yeah, believe I'm that hilarious?

Oh good Jack, yes, now's the perfect time to pick your nose.

Hey guys, you two on the end look at the camera as if it's doing something you've never seen before in your life while Abigail belts out Justin Bieber tunes and you harmonize.

On the count of three everyone flare your nostrils!

I'll try again one of these days. Maybe with their Halloween costumes? Anyone wanna guess what they'll be?

Back to School Snacks.

2010-09-09T17:06:00.001-07:00

Now that kids are all back in schools across the country (or will be going back very soon) I have been getting a lot of e-mails about school lunches and snacks. I personally only have to pack the kids a snack, they'll eat lunch at home this year, but that doesn't mean I didn't get a little worried when I thought about all the snacks I'd pack. While it's getting easier and easier to find foods without High Fructose Corn Syrup, Dyes and crazy ingredients it's still not the easiest of tasks. Making it harder is companies with pretty logos touting "natural", "pure" and "wholesome". I even saw Fruit Loops with the word "healthy" on it. I could not believe it. People. Just because they add fiber to sugar and dyes doesn't make it healthy, not in the least.

I have many snacks I purchase with confidence and give my children knowing they're getting nutritious snacks that taste great. Let me share with you some that I personally love.

Annie's Graham Bunnies. These are JUST LIKE 'Teddy Graham's' only actually going to nourish your child with whole foods. (Teddy Grahams do NOT have HFCS in them, and I am not saying they do.)

Want a granola bar even with a little chocolate in it? Here are Cascadian Farm's Chocolate Chip Granola Bars. (Quaker Granola Bars have very recently begun to omit HFCS from their recipes as well. Please be mindful when purchasing them as many stores don't yet carry the healthier option. Yay for companies seeing the error of their ways and correcting it for the health of their consumers.)

A tasty alternative to Gold Fish crackers are Annies Cheddar Bunnies. (Gold Fish brand crackers are not a bad option. Really, I just checked!)

Fruit snacks without dyes in them are nearly impossible to find. Every one on the market that I've found so far has dyes in them except for Annies Bunny Fruit Snacks offered in 2 different flavors my kids love.

Peanut Butter sandwich crackers. Many of the name brands have dyes, yes dyes for the cracker, and HFCS.

Want Shells and Cheese without dyes? Annies to the rescue again!

While peanut butter like Skippy and Jiff don't normally have HFCS or dyes in them they do have partially hydrogenated vegetable oils in them. Those are bad for your heart. Try the natural peanut butters, they are comparable in price and better for you.

Jelly is tricky. Here is where you'll find a LOT of dyes and HFCS. A lot. I've found a few good brands that omit it, Smuckers Organics...

... and Tropical organics.

However, even the most savvy shopper can be tricked. Here I bought "pure" black seedless raspberry preserves. Uh huh....

HFCS. WHY?! Sugar is sweet it's true but HFCS is cheaper. So companies save money by adding it in place of, or in addition to sugar. Shame on Dickinson's for pretending they're "pure".

Yogurt is another easy place for dyes to hide. I've only recently found Go-Gurt style yogurt packs without dyes. BTW Go-Gurt consumers, those things have MORE sugar in them that a whole Coke. BAD Yoplait.

YoKids is featured here I also love Stonyfield Organics.

Many of the tried and true brands are going back to their more simple roots. Pillsbury has a "simply..." line and all their stuff is without HFCS, artificial flavors, colors and preservatives. Kudos Pillsbury! BTW these are amazing, as are their cookies.

I don't recommend eating these as a breakfast, just because it's a healthier option to it's counter part doesn't mean it's healthy. These however make a great afternoon snack in a baggie for those sweet cravings.

Yep, no color here AND less fat than Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Juice. Normally a healthy option unless you're choosing one that has dye AND HFCS in it. Many out there do have both. It's not OK. Juice should ONLY be juice, nothing more. Here I have a fruit and vegetable blend by Apple & Eve.

These aren't some special whole foods store purchase. I got these at Walmart. You do not always have to go to a special place to buy healthier options. Walmart also carries Cascadian Farms and many other healthier options.

Check your apple sauce too. Motts is a good guy providing good food.

Like Spaghetti O's? Hmmm, yeah, those have HFCS. Yum. No. Try Annies alternative, P'sghetti Loops. They also have those available with "meat" balls, but those are soy. Jack loves them.

With all this talk of food now you are hungry for a good old crunchy snack? Sure! Frito-Lay has also listened to it's consumers and created a "Natural" line of old favorites. My personal fav are the Cheetos. MAN do I love Cheetos, so knowing I can have these in moderation without poisoning my body it makes me happy. Is it healthy? No. Is it delicious and not killing me? Yes!

As time goes on I see more and more companies listening to the consumers and going back to their roots. Offering foods without High Fructose Corn Syrup, dyes and artificial ingredients is a good practice. It's a humane practice. Just watch labels, keep an eye out for healthier options. Many times your old favorite has a healthier counterpart.

First Day of Kindergarten.

2010-09-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

The day I've waited all summer for is here. The first day of Kindergarten. It's funny how I could be looking so forward to a day for so long only to have it arrive and not want it as much. I started to get a little sad about it last week, but last night I was a mess. My babies. My only 3 babies grew up all at the same time and went to big kid school.

Last night I made three snacks in their new lunchboxes and laid out three sets of new school clothes with 3 pairs of new shoes. I read to them 'The Kissing Hand', a story about the first day of school, and as I got emotional the kids comforted me. Jack told me it'd be OK, and Abigail reminded me that they'd always come home.

A healthy snack with a 'The Kissing Hand' sticker I bought especially for today.

They woke up so excited even though they were confused as to why it was "still night time" outside. They ate breakfast and I got them all ready. They looked so big to me. When did all this happen?

Abigail would like everyone to know that's a Hannah Montana shirt.

"CAAAAAASEY, we're REAAAAAADY!!!!"

What will I do all day long without her attached to my hip?

Too cool for school Henry.

Wasn't she just 4lbs like yesterday?

And he 2lbs?! Where did these big kids standing on my lawn come from?!!

Mrs. Firth, I wish you all the luck in the world.

When we got there we got to let them play on the playground for a bit. The boys ran in a totally different direction and were so fast I didn't even get to get a shot of them playing. They never stopped moving. Abs liked the swing.

The aid whistled to all the kids to sit in a line and wait for their teacher to come hand out their name tags.

"Hi, I'm Abigail and this is my Hannah Montana shirt. Please don't put that sticker on her head."

Henry explained to the teacher how he thought they should have lined up, what his favorite thing about Batman was and that that boy in the red shirt is Jack, this is his sticker and his name is spelled J-A-C-K, all in a span of 12 seconds.

Jackie who is becoming more and more nervous as time goes on gets his sticker.

Then the teacher has them all stand up. Abigail looks at me, obviously knowing what was to happen before I did, and said, "You OK mom?". I was until she said that. Then the teacher said, "OK kids, wave to mom and tell her you love her.". I waved at my babies and squeaked I love yous.

There they go. My big kids. Off to a new school, a new teacher, new friends and new adventures.

They had a great day too. From what I can get from the three conversations at once, Jack got into trouble once (his preschool teacher would be jealous), Abigail had a great time with a girl who has no name, and Henry has schooled the entire class on his master plan to take over the world while helping Batman. It was a full day.

A Little Taste of Heaven - Pumpkin Cake

2010-08-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the weather was perfect. It was cool and breezy just how it is when the season starts to change into my most favorite season of them all, Fall. Oh how I love the Fall. The warm scents, the warm clothes, the cool air, and festive feeling in the air. I love it all and I long for it all summer long. The weather was so spectacular that I had to take advantage of it and bring a little Fall into my home. I decided to look for a recipe that used the rest of the pumpkin I had in the house from a failed attempt to make pumpkin waffles.

An old cell phone picture of the massive disaster that was to be pumpkin waffles.

I found a recipe that just happened to call for everything I already had in the house.

Pumpkin Cake

2	cups Original Bisquick mix
2	cups granulated sugar
1/2	cup vegetable oil (I always use olive oil, trust me, it's better for your body.)
2	teaspoons ground cinnamon
1	teaspoon baking soda
4	eggs, beaten
1	can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2	cup raisins or cranberries

Cream Cheese Frosting

1	package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened (If you don't have a 3 oz package 3 oz of cream cheese is equal to a slightly overflowing 1/3 cup.)
1/3	cup butter, softened
1	tablespoon milk
1	teaspoon vanilla (Use real vanilla. You have real people you're feeding.)
2	cups powdered sugar

Step 1 - Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and sides of 15x10x1-inch pan with Pam (I prefer the Olive Oil Pam.) .

Step 2 - In a large bowl, beat all the cake ingredients except raisins with an electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in raisins. Pour into pan. ***I am not going to lie, I don't and probably will never actually time my mixing. I usually just stir, unless it's specifically stated as it is for the Sweet Raspberry Biscuits, or beat while I sing until the dogs howling becomes unbearable. Then I know I've mixed well enough.***

It's important to remember to beat the eggs first.

Oh and it's sooooo delicious when it's all mixed together. Not that I stuck my finger in it or anything.

Step 3 - Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. ***Watch your cake carefully. At 25 minutes my cake was liquid still in the center, at 30 minutes it was perfectly cooked. I was so shocked I tested 3 different spots.***

Cool completely, about 2 hours.

Now for the frosting. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, milk and vanilla with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar on low speed until smooth. ***If you don't GRADUALLY add in that powdered sugar you're going to wear it. It's not a good look. Trust me.***

Spread the frosting carefully over the cake and then decorate as you wish. I HAD to decorate it. I just had to. I was feeling so festive and having so much fun cooking (shush Mom, you can say I told you so later) that I had an idea. I wanted Casey, who can actually make something resemble an object, make little stencils for me so I could make shapes out of sprinkled on cinnamon.

My pumpkin stencil.

A leaf stencil.

And for Henry, my little bat lover, a bat.

The trick to get your stencil to work for you and NOT have a gigantic mess of cinnamon is to have the stencil actually on the frosting itself. To make the stencil not stick spray it liberally with your Pam spray first.

A tasty little bat.

See, pretty, without dyes or High Fructose Corn Syrup and still very festive. No coloring needed.

To get darker edges simply smoosh in the cinnamon a bit.

Then we had to try it. I was nervous. I mean, it was simple. So simple even I could do it and not have a complete disaster. Casey took the first bite.

This cake is heavenly. It's incredibly moist, very flavorful and not as bad a choice when it comes to cake options. It's full of real pumpkin, a good choice for Vitamin A and Fiber, and the cinnamon has shown huge promise in the reduction of cholesterol as well as aiding in controlling blood sugar in diabetics, as well as many other health benefits.

Henry taking a bite out of his bat cake.

Cute little Jackie.

And Abigail, who pretended to like it for the camera but ate not another bite. She's not a sweets girl.

I hope posting the recipes that work for me and my family are a help to you and yours. I never enjoyed cooking, and certainly was never good at it. I hope you too find that your family can eat healthily while still enjoying delicious treats now and then.

Summer Recap.

2010-08-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

As we get closer to the end of summer (yahoo!) and the start of Kindergarten (hallelujah!!!) I couldn't help but think of how much has happened this summer. We had a lot of fun.

The kids graduated from Preschool.

Got up close and personal with many bugs. This cricket, a few praying mantises (That's correct, it's not praying manti, I Googled it. Dad Google's legit.) and a couple black widows. They quickly backed up thankfully from the black widows, but MAN do those things give me the creeps.

They grossed me out.

We got dogs. Set out for one, got twins, the universe thinks it's funny.

Turned 5!

They had a birthday party.

Played in the sun.

Ate delicious summer treats.

And cried.

We went to Sea World.

Played in the sand.

Got pampered the way princesses do.

And cried.

Some figured out how quickly material things can be destroyed...

...only to be reunited with his one true love.

They were loving and beautiful and absolutely the loves of my life.

While I am more than ready for the cooler weather and early morning routines, I am glad we enjoyed our summer. Do you think that it's too early to take them to school? Now?

The Self Esteem Project

2010-08-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

I've had some projects in mind now for quite some time. I've wanted to give back to the community but I wasn't sure how I could help. I mean, I am just a mom. Just a girl with 3 kids and a camera. Then the more I thought of it the more I decided I wanted to use my camera to give kids pictures showing them how beautiful they all are, differences and all.

I also wanted to take advantage of the weeds growing along our freeway. What the two have in common is coming I promise.

The sun and freeway just in front of us Abigail shines with all her beauty.

God I love this girl.

She thinks she's a model.

It was SUPER windy and the wind kept catching the umbrella making her look up at it and laugh.

Love love love.

There goes that wind again.

And then I realized what I had done. What I do every time I take the kids pictures. I had taken her glasses off. Why? She looks gorgeous with them on. She wears them all day long every day, why was I sending her the message that they aren't cute enough on her face for pictures but that she had to wear them every day? It was just then that my plan to give back to the community took seed.

The Self Esteem Project by Tammie Halcomb was born.

You can find more information about The Self Esteem Project on Facebook by following this link Tammie Halcomb Photography on Facebook.

The Self Esteem Project - Glasses

Self esteem is a hard thing for kids who have differences that set them apart. Whether those differences are glasses, wheelchairs, freckles, or simply the clothes they put on that morning, all children struggle with their self esteem. It is my goal to help children of all differences, and similarities see how beautiful they all are.

Starting in September I will be holding group sessions for any and all kids who fall into the theme. My first photo session will be GLASSES. I would love for any and all children who wear glasses to be a part of my photo session. On Saturday, September 18th at 5pm I'll be holding this photo shoot for those who wear glasses (18 and younger) at Apollo Park in Lancaster.

Each participant will be in a big group picture and have individual portraits taken. CD's will be offered for only $25 (normal price for a session is $150 and disks are $150) and prints will be discounted by 50%.

To participate in The Self Esteem Project by Tammie Halcomb please e-mail me at tammiehalcomb@gmail.com and give me your name, your child's name that will be in the photo shoot and your phone number.

Please spread the word, I'd love to have a huge group of smiling kids showing off their beauty.

I hope this project takes off and brings smiles to kids who might have not felt as beautiful as they are. If you're in the area and would like your child to participate please don't hesitate to e-mail me.

Batty Returns!!! (Yeah, I know that was a cheap reference to Batman Returns but it made me giggle.)

2010-08-20T17:36:00.001-07:00

Last week when Henry lost Batty I was so sad for him. He was devastated that the dogs had eaten her. I searched high and low on Ebay and everywhere else I could think of and everywhere I looked Batty was ridiculously expensive. It was bad enough that Casey had paid $30 for him at Christmas, to pay probably double that again was not something I was willing to do. But my son was sad. It was making me sad.

As a last ditch effort to get Henry back his beloved Batty I searched the Ebay listings for huge lots of Littlest Petshops. I found one and in it was Batty. I talked to Casey about asking the seller to separate Batty from the bunch and he said there was NO WAY the seller would do that. I had to. I had to ask for my poor Henry. I did. And you know what? The woman I asked did. She didn't even hesitate to send me Batty. She sent him lightning fast. We had him within a few days.

So it goes to show, always believe in the kindness of strangers. Funniest part of it all was that the woman I contacted was in a local area AND had twins. Fate. It was Batty's fate to be with Henry.

Batty in Henry's shriveled freezing hands.

This is love.

Why are his hands shriveled and freezing? Because they're swimming of course! My fishies are finally allowed to swim again after Jack's horrific ear infection.

And little Jack fish is as happy as can be.

Oh my. I don't even know what to say about just how cool she looks. Don't ya think?

A day in the pool for three fish and a bat. It's a good day as summer is coming to it's end. I can't wait for days of hot cocoa and fires in the fireplace. This momma's so over the summer heat and bored kids. It's time for school to begin, leaves to fall, and for silence. Glorious silence.

Bathing.... Beauties?

2010-08-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

There are a few things that, as a mom, I hold dear. Bath time and bed time. Bath time because the kids are just so stinkin' cute, and bed time because as they sleep I can see the sweet faces I used to kiss when they were babies. Today during bath time I tried to capture some of the cuteness I love when they're all in the bath together. It's probably not long before I'll have to start bathing them all separately and I'd like to remember this for always.

Ahhh, this sweetness.

Yeah, that lasted. Abigail is a goon, she's always trying to get the boys to laugh at her. She's pretty good at it too. This picture is hilarious to me.

Super close up on her face. Girlfriend has mastered the eye cross. Her hair... that's a whole other story.

They really think she's hilarious. I just think they're wonderful. I am such a lucky mom to have such great kids.

RIP Batty.

2010-08-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

Over a year ago Henry fell in love with all things bat. He loves Batman, bat teeth, vampires and most of all bats. About that time Abigail was getting into The Littlest Pet Shop's and Henry became enamored with the Bat in the collection. He named him Batty, same as his favorite character, Batty from Ferngully. However, Batty the Pet Shop was a limited edition and MAN was he ever hard to find. Casey ended up spending five times what he was originally worth on EBay just so Henry could get Batty for Christmas. Henry's face while opening Batty Christmas morning was priceless.

Since Christmas Batty has remained Henry's most beloved toy. He'd keep him in his bed. Play with him in the bath. He played with him while playing Batman, and even built a Lego castle for Batty. It always made me smile that Henry liked his Batty so much and that we had been able to get it for him for Christmas.

Today, after taking Batty out to play with him Henry left him on the floor for a second and Batty was eaten by the dogs. It was very very sad. Henry was devastated. I could feel his devastation and know how much he loved Batty. It was Batty.

Batty today, after the mauling.

No ear, no wing, missing body parts. It's sad.

Henry asked if he were to ever find a Batty again (meaning, 'Mom please get the $80 Batty off EBay) if he could have his picture taken and put on his wall in his room. Sadly, while we had Batty I didn't take any pictures of him other than the one of him being opened at Christmas. While I just can't justify spending that amount to get Batty off EBay, I do hope to one day find him a new Batty. A bat loving boy just isn't the same without his Batty.

But I forgot my camera.

2010-08-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

Every year our town puts on a festival like open air market they call "Thursday Nights on the Square". There are local vendors selling things, or providing information on their companies. There are games, and activities for the kids; all with a festival vibe in the heart of the city.

This Thursday was "Double Trouble Night" geared towards families with twins, triplets and more. There was a contest being held with all the multiples. Prizes were handed out (Gift certificates to a cupcake bakery in town. An all natural cupcake bakery actually.) to all the winners and my kids REALLY wanted to win. I signed them up and we got our number, 11 of 25. While we waited for the contest to start we walked around the square, and the kids took part in some of the activities they had. They colored on easels and made friendship bracelets, but because I forgot my camera I can't show you how cute they were doing it all.

Then the contest began. Each set of multiples (23 sets of twins and 2 sets of triplets including my own) went up one by one and talked a little bit about themselves. The kids were so cute up there with Jack in the middle hands on his hips talking about themselves. But I forgot my camera so you can't see that either.

When all the sets were done we paraded to a stage area and had to all sit there in a group while they announced the winners. My kids thoroughly bored now with all this madness were dying to get up and go play. I got them to hang out a bit more by explaining to them that any minute they'd announce all the winners and they'd hand out the certificates for the cupcakes and we could go eat our treats. As each set of multiples would win, the more the kids would ask, "when will we win?" and "is it our turn yet mommy?". 24 winners were announced. My kids sadly didn't win a thing. Abigail taking a minute to process this whole thing sat while the lady for the paper took a picture of the group and asked, "Mom? Did they do all the winners?". I'm sure she didn't notice that she was part of the only set of multiples that didn't win, but she was upset that they didn't win nonetheless. When the pictures were all done she began to cry. She was devastated that we didn't win. She cried that she wanted to win a cupcake and was very upset by the fact that we wouldn't be getting a certificate. I really would have taken a picture of it because it was pathetically humorous but.... I forgot my camera.

Luckily the cupcake company that gave out the certificates was at the festival and my mom suggested we go get them cupcakes ourselves because, to us, they are the best multiples ever.

Abigail enjoying her double chocolate cupcake. A snap from my cell. It's bad quality but since I forgot my camera, it's my only picture of the whole day.

While we will probably not go next year and cause my children to go into complete and total meltdown mode, but if we do, I can promise you I won't forget my camera.

Sweet Raspberry Bisquits

2010-08-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

These things should be named Glazed Heavenly Love they're so good. My mom used to make these when I was a kid, and they always left a huge impression on me. Anyone who knows my mom knows she's a ridiculously good baker. I've mentioned my envy of her baking and culinary skills before on this blog, but just to make sure you understand my ineptness here is a post when I made delish deflated cupcakes. Or maybe here when I made what were supposed to be peanut butter cookies. So the other day when my mom gave me the recipe for these delicious treats I was a smidge hesitant that I'd be able to make them even resemble the wonderful muffins I had remembered from my childhood.

The recipe only starts off with 5 ingredients.

2c Bisquick
2 Tbs sugar
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup Raspberry Preserves

Because I don't use anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup or dyes in it I had to really search while at Walmart for a good jam. At any other store it probably wouldn't have been such a mission to find a healthy option to use in the muffins, but here it proved particularly challenging. I settled on Smucker's Orchard's Finest, Northwest Triple Berry Preserves. It has 3 different berries in it and sugar. Those are it's only ingredients.

I also made an icing to go on top of the muffins while they're warm, just like my mom used to. A bit of powdered sugar, some real vanilla and milk is all it takes to make a super tasty glaze.

Step 1. Mix Bisquick, sugar and butter until crumbly. Add milk and mix until dough forms. (about 15 strokes)

Step 2. Place 1 Tbs dough in each cup, top with 1 Tbs of preserves, drop remaining dough onto preserves. And viola! You'll have a rather unattractive mess of a muffin just like I did.

Step 3. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and then top with your super tasty 3 ingredient glaze. (I will say that I think my oven is off because I had to bake them a bit longer, and the first batch I pulled out a bit too soon so they had to be eaten with a fork. The golden brownish color is the best indicator of it's doneness.)

Whether they're eaten with a fork or as a whole muffin they're absolutely delicious. Jack devoured his this morning barely taking a second to breathe in between bites.

Abigail who isn't a fan of sweet things (I know, weird.) liked these just fine and enjoyed them with milk.

Henry however threw a fit. These were 2 different colors and crumbly. It didn't make him happy. When he was done throwing a fit and he was finally invited back to the dinner table he exclaimed, "Hey! These ARE good even with the weird purple stuff!". So there ya have it. A hit with all of us. And the best part - they're so super easy I didn't even mess them up!