The Mott Multiples -Triplets, Twins and A Single

This One...... Not That One!

2012-01-26T11:45:00.002-05:00

Why is it that when kids reach a certain age they have to be so picky about everything. The triplets are currently in the phase of, this one...not that one.

I will hand them a spoon and they want a different one, they want a different sip cup, a different kind of underwear and oh don't pick out the wrong shirt for Finn or you will hear it. It seems like everything takes us a long time because of the "I do it myself" or "I want this one". Getting out of the car can kill 10 minutes if you have the time because if I attempt to help them out they just go back in another 3 feet and start over. This is great if you have no where to be, but good lord if I am in a hurry, I can feel the blood rushing through my veins and making my hair stand on end. Don't shut the door for them because then we all have to stand there and open and shut it 3 times so everyone can say they had a turn shutting the door. I have them bring in the garbage cans with me and since we have 4 cans I have to remember to bring one in myself so there is not one left over. Things have to be very fair and even at this point in my house. I guess some of that never changes though.

The thing that makes me the most crazy right now is when you get them all ready for bed in their zip up pajamas, you wipe the sweat off your brow, stand up and it isn't 2 minutes that go by when they come to you and say, "got to go potty". You can't say "no" cause you are in the midst of training them. (well actually yes you can say no. You can look right at them and say whatever you want but trust me, it won't matter what you say to them because they will repeat and repeat...I got to go potty...I got to go potty, until you allow them to undress and start over) I call this round 2 of pajama time and when one needs to try to go potty one last time the other two feel the need to do the same. The frenzy starts all over again, as if I hadn't just completed this task just a few short moments ago. Here we are at 8pm and I am sitting on the floor next to the potties, patience for the day had expired 20 minutes ago and we are still sitting on our potties looking down at our handsome penis (commenting on how big they are) trying to squeeze out that last drop. Doing things over and having to repeat the bedtime routine more than 7 times in 1 week is very tough to get used to.

Food On The Go For Triplets

2012-01-25T15:23:00.002-05:00

We are in the car so much and rather than stopping at a drive thru I have tried to master lunch and dinner on the go. I began with baggies of food that I would pass out but I found that the food got mushy and the trips couldn't find all of the surprises in the bags. I have since improved my madness. I use my tupperware and I create 3 little dishes of glory. I have fun going thru my cupboards trying to come up with something that will spark their interest and excite them. I cut things up and take wrappers off and throw in a toothpick or two to make for a more interesting twist.

I pick up the triplets from a mom's morning out program at noon on Wednesday's and they are usually starving. If you are anything like me it is nice when your kitchen stays halfway decent for more than a couple hours so lunch on the go also solves this little issue. I would much rather prepare this portable lunch so that they can eat in the car and I can run a couple of in car errands (gas, car wash, bank drive thru). We turn on their movie and off we go. It is also a great way to get 3 tired kids motivated to walk nicely with mom to the car. I often play it up that I have treats in the car so we have to go.

Once we arrive home the food is usually gone and we get out and they help me bring in the garbage cans from the road and they help get the mail. We take off the shoes and coats and they go directly upstairs for naps. It also keeps them from coming in the house and destroying it before they go down for a nap. 1pm clean kitchen and clean family room. Who doesn't love that.

The Things Triplets Say............

2012-01-24T14:55:00.000-05:00

The latest and greatest is that my triplets are now calling me Mrs Mott. Our neighbor came over the other day and she called me Mrs. Mott. The trips looked up at me and said, "Mrs. Mott"? I find it hilarious when I hear them calling out for me, "Mrs. Mott, Mrs. Mott". They hear me call their dad, David so I will also hear, David, David, David. No matter how many times you go thru this age you never seem to remember all of the funnies that they come up with.

Finn constantly talks about his penis. He asks me everyday if I have one and that he has a big one. It becomes a bit embarrassing when people come over and they are questioned as to if they have one. Declan thought he lost his today. He was wearing his underwear and came up to Marcia insisting that it was gone.

We are potty training so there is alot of naked baby around here. I am thrilled to say that potty training has been very very easy and pleasant. I was dreading it but it seems to be going well. A mini candy bar for a poop is the way to go. The straining that goes on....just to get a candy bar is really quite amazing. Declan is still a bit gun shy with the poops but he loves chocolate so it is coming along.

This winter has really been a bust for making snowmen, ice skating and spending the weekends outside. I am thankful that we kept the bikes in the garage for the winter so we can ride bikes in our snow suits. Sledding is never an issue for small children even if there is a tiny layer of snow covering the grass. My grass will be torn up by spring but it is all about an activity. Speaking of activities...we started swim lessons 3 weeks ago and the trips love it. We go at 11:30 and there is open swim from noon to 1. I jump in with them after their class is over and we are able to play for another hour. They are jumping into the water, kicking and splashing and often needing me to pull them back to the surface. There is no fear at this point and hopefully by summer they will be little fish.

Hockey is still keeping us busy and we are entering the finals. Baseball registration has already been turned in and Mairin has started tennis. I am in the process of making all of the spring appointments out of the way (doctors etc). I go to the store every other day it seems like and the grocery bills keep growing. Life is busy but good.

Life As I Know It Is Coming To An End

2012-01-11T14:45:00.000-05:00

They are going to make me crazy. I wont admit it to just anyone but I am scared. I woke up at 3am to commotion going on in the room down the hall. Light was peering from underneath the door and I was sound asleep. I start walking down the hall with an increased pace and as I open the door I see 3 little devils laughing and sitting up. Declan had gotten out of his crib, turned on the light and had jumped into Finn's crib. They were having a party at 3am. I grabbed Declan and scolded him as I dipped him back into his crib. They all accepted the fact that they were being naughty so thankfully it was silent after I turned the light off and shut the door.

It took me awhile to get back to sleep because I could not stop thinking about the fact that life as I know it is about to change. We are coming to the end of cribs and I don't think I am ready for it. I was trying to layout a plan as I was laying in bed. I could put 3 mattresses on the floor and leave the cribs up and threaten if they don't stay in their big boy beds that they will have to go back to their cribs. I could get rid of cribs all together. I really don't want to do either. Can't they just stay in cribs until they are five...LOL..Let me explain my issue with losing cribs. The older kids get on the bus at 8:05am so I get them up and out before I go up to get trips. I don't know if I could handle all 6 trying to make lunches, breakfast and everything else you do in the morning preparing for them to wake up. I also am dreading the freedom that they would have on Saturday and Sunday mornings when I am not ready to get up and I can hear them playing and chatting together in their room. Many mornings it buys me 30 minutes. They sounds so crazy to most but some of you out there will completely know what I am talking about. They are not quite old enough to play quietly or go downstairs and watch TV until mom gets up. (dreaming I know)

Previously that night I put the trips to bed at 8pm and at 9pm I went in to find the lights on and 2 of them out of their cribs. As I opened the door it was like ants scattering underground. They both ran to their cribs and simultaneously you saw 2 rear ends up in the air as they both dived into their cribs. I didn't have to say a word. I did use the, "oh noooooo ...oh nooooooo...mommy is very upset, getting out of our beds is danger" (I have been told to use the word danger instead of "no" all of the time so they will learn things are dangerous...not really sure if it works.) I zipped up the crib tents and left the room. They were crying because I wouldn't cover them back up but I wasn't going to tuck everyone back in and encourage this crazy adventure that they are into.

Yes I said crib tents. Yes there are crib tents on all 3 cribs but since I refuse to buy new ones... they are getting rough. There are holes in them and since they don't fit perfectly over sleigh beds there is a small gap in the front. Declan knows how to slip through it and he is the one who unzips and lets the other ones out. Teamwork right.

Christmas Happenings

2012-01-04T14:06:00.003-05:00

It was 8am on Christmas morning when I arose and went out to the living room to find Eamon, Liam and Mairin waiting patiently by the Christmas tree. My mom and dad were also up along with Heidi. I was shocked that I didn't hear a peep from the triplets so we proceeded. We spent the next hour opening up gifts in a very organized fashion (triplets were still sleeping). A couple of ipod shuffles, an ipad for Heidi and Mom and Dad and we were all having fun. The gift of the day was the green machine for Mairin. It was peaceful but as the time went on my anticipation for the triplets to wake up was increasing. It was 9:30 when we finally heard them waking up. It was great that we were all able to focus on them while they opened their gifts. Just a few moments into it and there were tears and fighting over who was opening what and of course everyone wanted the same gift. The big hit for the triplets were the Fisher Price iXLs. They all loved them and it kept them busy for a good part of the morning.

It is a tradition in our family to have Christmas with my parents and Heidi so we all go up there on the 23rd and take all the presents with us. We open in the morning and then we prepare the house and food for my mom's side of the family Christmas at 3:00pm. It is kind of like running in shifts. It is tough to get everything up north but once we are there it is cozy and comfortable. It takes several cars to bring everything back to our home but it is all worth it.

December 26th came and we started the dreaded packing up and we were able to get on the road by 2pm. I couldn't see out the back of the Expedition, Heidi had a full vehicle but everyone was happy. I know that my mom loves when we come but I also know that we wear her out and by the time we leave I think she probably takes the afternoon off. There is always a hot meal cooked for all of us and she is constantly answering questions and cooking.

The Mott Christmas happened on the 27th. It was at Davids sister house this year and we were all excited that our niece & nephew (Gina and Captain Kevin Mott) were going to be in town. We haven't seen Kevin since his graduation from West Point. We were all so proud and wanted to talk to him after his 2 trips to Afghanistan and has amazing recovery from his injuries. (I do like Lauren, his girlfriend. They seem very good for each other)

The Mott Christmas went well and the kids all disappeared when we arrived. They overloaded on pop and candy but no pukers. I tried to spend my time going around the room and making sure I got to catch up with everyone. It was a lot of fun and Santa was hilarious this year.

This is all of the gorgeous nieces(and my daughter who loves to be in the middle of everything). Still with a couple missing.

It was another late night for everyone. The Mott's tend to gather and gather.....and stay and stay longer. Great fun

The Celebrations In Life..Triplets Turn 3

2011-12-17T13:45:00.001-05:00

Today my little triplets turn 3 years old. It was 3 years ago today that they all came out healthy and happy. They spent several hours in the nursery and they were handed over. They weighed in at 5lbs 8oz, 5lb 12oz and 5lb 13oz. Life has been crazy ever since but it has been a true blessing.

We celebrated last night with a family favorite "ice cream cake" and presents. I picked up some balloons and they were a total hit. It was a very fun evening. I am very excited about the bikes I got them. They are bikes with no pedals. It teaches them to ride and glide and get used to balancing. They ride them all over the house. Happy Birthday my sweet little men.

Anticipating Triplets...3 years Ago Today

2011-12-16T15:44:00.000-05:00

It was just 3 years ago today that I was enjoying my last day of being pregnant with triplets. The pond in our backyard was frozen over and David spent some time shoveling it while Eamon, Liam and Mairin raced around on their skates. I waddled out there with extreme caution not to fall but I couldn't resist the snowflakes. I remember thinking how it would be the last event or happening with only 3 kids. In a matter of hours our family was going to go from 5 to 8 people. I couldn't resist a last minute picture and it was the last picture taken with 3 little beings inside me.

We were scheduled to walk into the hospital the next morning for a c-section. I was 1 day short of 37 weeks and the doctors said that they wanted the babies out. David and the kids grew tired of the cold and came inside so we could go out to dinner.....the 5 of us. We enjoyed a casual dinner at the Village Place and back home to bed to make it an early night. That was alot of activity for me.

We had no idea what to anticipate on the following day. Sure we have been thru a c-section before but never with 3 babies. What would the delivery room look like? How many people would have to be there to make it all happen?

3 years ago today

December...Will I Make It......

2011-12-15T15:21:00.002-05:00

So many happenings in December. I find that each year I forget how busy it gets so I am never prepared for everything that is being planned. This year I vowed to wrap each present on the day it enters my home. It has been the best rule ever.

We started the month being all about me. My birthday. I have to say that it is a treat celebrating my birthday with 6 little ones who all want to help with the blowing out of the candles. You can see the anticipation of the lighting of the candles.

We had our Hockstra Christmas several weekends ago and we all enjoyed. It is always good to see the relatives that you don't get a chance to keep up with. Brandon was a huge hit with the kids and was really able to connect to the inner child in him.

I hosted an Advent by Candlelight at our church with my dear friend Susie. We invited several ladies, decorated our table and enjoyed appetizers, wine and liquor (probably way too much) and a speaker. The theme this year was candlelight so the lights were turned off and it was just a beautiful setting.

We have a busy weekend planned since I have 3 little ones turning 3 on Saturday. A small birthday hooray on Friday, A concert on Saturday night and another Christmas celebration on Sunday. Today is my mom's birthday. We called first thing this morning to wish her the best best day ever.

Pray for me to hang on for the rest of December. I will be busy making birthday treats for the trips to take to their school, remembering what I have and what I have forgotten for Christmas, trying to get something special for everyone in my life and of course gearing up for 2 weeks of no school. God Bless.

Trimming The Tree

2011-12-09T15:47:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday evening I decided to start a tradition and get everyone to decorate the Christmas tree. I put the tree up during the day and had everything ready for the kids to put the ornaments on. I told David to be home on time (pick up a couple items to make a cocktail) and I was going to have a great dinner ready.

The kids were starving so they were snacking. David got home the older ones were ready to pass out, the triplets had pushed every button I had and didn't want to eat, I was trying to keep my smile going so we could complete this new tradition that only really exists on TV.

I had great expectations for this evening. The TV always portrays an evening of trimming the tree as peaceful and relaxing. They always have the music on in the background and everyone is dressed perfect. The husband and wife are often looking on smiling and cooing as their perfect family is together for the holidays. Well.....that is not reality at all. In fact it is nearly the opposite. It is more like the mom is sweating trying to get the ornaments out fast enough, the dad is grabbing kids off chairs in hopes that they don't jump into the tree and topple it over while trying to hang that one ornament, the kids are all messy because they just ate pasta and the sauce is spilled down the front of them and clearly we did not have time to wipe their mouths off because we had a timeline to follow. Mom is also trying to break up arguments expecting the kids to be greatful for the experience. It was fun though...really it was.

Dinner was great and the older 3 were very excited to decorate. I turned on the Christmas music really loud, poured myself a drink and off to the living room we went. The bins of ornaments were open and the kids all dived in. I had to stop them because they were breaking them as they dropped them back into the bin. David sat and got each ornament ready and as he handed them to each kid he made them answer the question "what do you wish for"? It was kind of neat to hear the responses the kids. "I wish for a healthy family", "I wish for ice on the pond", "I wish that we win our next hockey game". The triplets couldn't figure out how to hang the ornaments at first so I had 3 of them saying, "can't do it". They finally got it and it was kind of fun to watch them hang the ornaments and laugh.

By the time we were finished I was exhausted, had a messy kitchen to clean up...but I did have a cocktail. I realize that each year is going to be easier and easier so that makes me smile. We all did a cheer for the camera as I was so happy it was done..LOL

A Birthday For Me and A Good Lesson Learned

2011-12-02T15:10:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I celebrated yet another year of life. I am now 2 years away from the big "40". Every year since David and I have been married (well since the kids have been around) I have these crazy dreams that David will get up with the kids, pack the lunches and let me lay in bed and just have a relaxing morning. I have to tell you that each year there is a disappointment because I think he will just "know" to do that. I was proactive this year and the night before I told David, "Better go to bed because you have a big morning tomorrow". He looks at me and says "what do you mean". "Tomorrow is my birthday and you are getting up with the kids and doing the morning routine before you shower and go to work". The look of shock was on his face but bless his heart because he said, "Ok". I asked him if he knew what each kid liked for lunch and he didn't (thank goodness we talked about this). Eamon likes ham and cheese, Liam likes peanut butter and jelly and Mairin will go either way. You need to include a fruit, yogurt and a small treat such as pretzels or something. He looked a little nervous but he was ready. The morning came and he got up and headed downstairs. I inserted my earplugs so I wasn't listening or hearing what was happening downstairs. It was an hour later when a small knock was at my door and my 3 older darlings came in with a cup of coffee and 3 birthday cards. I read each one and they were all precious. My heart was full of joy and I was on cloud 9. I jumped in the shower and by the time I came downstairs the older 3 were gone on the bus and I looked at David and said, "thank you so much for doing this, you have already made my day". He looks at me and says, "no problem baby you just have to ask". I just have to ask....hummm I couldn't even respond to that. I had to really ponder that response for a moment and that was my ahhhh haaa moment. I spent the past 8 years wishing and finally I realized that we don't think alike...in fact we are different beings all together. His mind works very differently than mine and just because I have to ask him doesn't mean it means any less. This was the best birthday morning ever and from now on I will ask for the things that I think are important.

I of course wanted details of the morning so as he was wiping the counters down I asked, "so how did it go". He turned around and took a deep breath and said, "it went ok but I didn't know I had to wake them up so they kind of slept to long and we had to rush breakfast and then I had to sign stuff for their classroom and then Eamon couldn't find his homework and then Liam couldn't find his shoe and gee whiz we barely got out the door for the bus". I smiled and melted because without saying so, I think he got to see what the morning ritual is like. I asked him what he put in the lunches and he went down the line and when he got to Eamon he said, "I gave Eamon a ham and cheese sandwich with mustard" "Mustard..I don't remember telling you mustard"? Oh well I just put a little on there. (my head is saying...why would you put mustard on his sandwich? I didn't say mustard..you were not listening to me. I let it go and laughed because there is always 2 ways of doing things..my way and dad's way).

David finally got off to work and I headed out to run some errands and I received a wonderful birthday text from my hubby and it really did add just another skip to my step. I had a birthday cake with candles that we all blew out before I headed out to a ladies function that was planned (not birthday related). I arrived home at 10:30pm and there was a vase of flowers and a card from David with a couple of things I could do for my day. It was a beautiful ending to a great day and a great ah ha moment.

The Mott Thanksgiving Tradition

2011-11-28T22:12:00.001-05:00

The Thanksgiving tradition with the Mott family is quite the big event. David and I started hosting this event 6 years ago and it truly is one of those events that you have to see to really believe. Turkey Day 2011 was no exception and we hit a record attendance. I counted 51 this year and we all had a ball.

Nadine started a new tradition of having a drink of the day. She researched and decided on a cranberry martini. They were fantastic and thank goodness she brought her own "cocktail" size cups because filling up the cups that I had was not doing anyone any favors. Kevin and Kathy Mott joined us for the first time and I believe that they were pleasantly surprised. Tom carved turkeys (no pun intended) and Nadine was my right hand girl in the kitchen. Willie's lady, Maggie Jean was the inspiration behind the craft for the evening by directing me to the items needed to make Nordstrom knockoff bracelets.

The men of the house have always taken "the walk" after dinner and I feel like they initiated in several of the nephews.

I always try to capture the fun moments of the evening and every year there seems to be a funny story or two. I remember last year was Nadine insisting that we all sing Happy Birthday to her (Happy Birthday Nadine) and this year Billy was our entertainment (gosh I love those cranberry martinis). I also noticed that Tom had a hard time finding a place to nap without being bothered. He appeared to be looking for a place to crash throughout the evening.(clearly he was in food coma).

I think the best part of the evening is when I got to chat with the college nieces. We sat around and just talked about college life. How cool is that they want to talk to ME about their THEIR college experience. (gosh I feel so flattered)

I didn't see much of my kids that day. They were hanging downstairs and close to the candy jars. They recognized all of the cousins who babysat for them this past year and it was cute to see them take turns going from one to another.

The last of the Mott's left at 12:15am and by 12:30 I was out the door and on my way to Old Navy to stock up on jeans for my boys. I never thought I would get so excited for a jean sale. Watching how fast they ruin jeans makes you watch for a good deal and stock up. That was the extent of my Black Friday shopping.

Mom 2 Mom Sale..Preparation

2011-11-09T14:16:00.002-05:00

Preparation for our Mom 2 Mom sale is coming to the final stages. I used to do lots of sales when the twins were growing out of stuff (I didn't need my twin stuff anymore...not like I was going to have multiples again...LOL) I grew tired of the sales so I haven't done one for 6 years. I have given away most of my girl stuff but I have been storing the older boys stuff for the triplets and storing the triplet stuff for a sale. I was utterly amazed at how many boxes I found of triplet clothes 0 to 24 months. I counted 15 boxes and that did not include toys.

I have been very blessed to have had a friend who has given me everything her son has grown out of and also all of her hand me downs. Miss Sally is a working mom of 2 kids and she hates doing laundry so she makes sure the kids have at least 2 weeks worth of stuff so she doesn't have to do laundry more than that. We are doing the sale together since all of my stuff and her stuff is mixed in with each other. This explains why we have 38 pairs of pants for 12 to 18 months. Pictures just cannot even do it justice for the daunting job we had ahead of ourselves when we tried to sort everything. We took over my dining room and after a couple Diet Pepsi's, good conversation, some sarcasm and laughing I think we are ready for the sale on Saturday. I can't wait to get it out and reclaim my dining room.

The sale is tomorrow and I just finished loading the car with tons of stuff. It is a girls night out for setup and a ladies day out tomorrow for hanging and making some money......

Triplet Adventure

2011-11-09T13:53:00.002-05:00

It is becoming slighly easier to take the triplets on more adventures. I took them to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum. It was fantastic. I took the neighbors nanny and the little girl she watches with me. I think it will definately be a great place to play this winter. They have a room that they do not allow any children over 4 in the room. There is lots of water tables and building blocks and all kinds of stuff to do. Loved it.

No Twins, No Triplets, No Single, No Hubby..Just mom and me.

2011-11-09T13:43:00.000-05:00

Vegas Baby!!!!!!!!!!! My mother and I took off this past Thursday for a 4 day trip to Sin City...just the 2 of us. We had a great time and it was a nice break away from the routine. I had several helpers that made it happen and thank you so much to Myrna, Marcia, Heidi and of course to my hubby for saying, "Just go, have fun and don't worry about a thing, we will be fine".

My mom asked me to go several months ago. She wanted to see Garth Brooks at the Wynn and invited me along (a bit of an early birthday treat). You must know that Garth was the first concert I ever went to back in 1993. I had 4 tickets to the Palace and it was my first experience. I took several girlfriends (Barb Train, Erin Lucas and Tena Olson) and we headed to the "D". I have seen my share of shows since then but this particular show was the best show I have ever seen.

The theater was small and intimate and perfect for a show like this. Garth came out with a baseball cap, button up shirt and a pair of jeans. He was all by himself and it almost felt like a jam session in his basement. He is quite the entertainer as he had us laughing and at the edge of our seats for 2.5 hours. The show centered around his family, growing up, his parents and who influenced his music career. He played many songs by many different artists and would drop some of his own in the mix. Tricia Yearwood came out for a couple of songs and all in all it was just one of those things that you do that you are so glad you did.

My mom and I love to gamble but we don't like to lose our money so it was funny to watch mom calculate how much she was down (I am down $22.00) . I finally told her to stop keeping track. I think most people would be thrilled to walk away from Vegas being down under $100.00. We were downtown at Binions and decided to try the penny slots. I grabbed a machine and so did she. We put our little $10.00 in and it wasn't more than a minute when mom hit. We couldn't figure out how much she won so we just sat and watched the pennies total on the machine. I got bored of watching so I went back to playing. It was 45 minutes later and she has 30,000 pennies and it keeps totaling. We order a cocktail and continue to wait. All the while it is totaling we are making jokes about how we could potentially be there for hours and what if she was alone and had to go to the bathroom. You can't just leave your machine. Well finally a lady walked by and said, "Did you know that if you push the spin button again it will total for you". We looked at each other and started laughing. We were at 30,000 pennies and it took an hour to get there and little did we know we had to go to 100,000 pennies. It totaled immediately and mom cashed our $1,000.00. We had a great laugh and it proves that we are not the most experienced gamblers around.

By Sunday night we were happy to land in Michigan and head back to reality. I arrived home to a stocked fridge, clean house, kids in bed and a happy husband. Heidi really outdid herself with all of the meals she cooked while she was there and the loads of laundry that she did to keep things running.

Til The End Of The Year

2011-11-02T14:00:00.001-04:00

No time to sit down and take a break from the crazy chaos of Halloween....it is on to the next event. Here we are less than a month from Thanksgiving and less than 2 months from the always greatly anticipated Christmas Holiday. I have to admit that even though the next couple of months are going to be busy I can't help but love putting on the heavy sweaters, tall warm boots, cooking chili and nestling in under a blanket on a cold day. I love the smells of fall, the way everyone starts decorating and how the malls make you feel around the holidays. It is a busy time but I am always ready for it to come and always ready for it to go once it is over.

I get the privilege of hosting the Mott Thanksgiving again this year and although it is alot of work I love every minute of it. The family continues to grow it is exciting to see everyone all together every year. I have learned alot during my last 4 years of hosting. Keep the appetizers light, ask for help, no one really notices if everything isn't perfect and the most important...the more carbs the better.

I am starting to browse the toy sites online to see what the gifts are going to be this year. I am putting together a holiday card with the help of a very talented friend and trying to meet up with special friends for coffee or drinks.

Did I mention that I leave tomorrow for Las Vegas? My mom asked me to go with her to see the Garth Brooks concert. I am leaving all kids with their dear father and my dear husband. My sister is staying back to come over and help out with whatever is needed. I am also getting some help from dear Marcia and Aunt Myrna. They say it takes a village to raise a family so I am cashing in on my villagers. We will be returning Sunday night so I am very much looking forward to it.

Unfortunately I must go because it does take some organizing to be able to leave. I have a huge list still left to complete.

Pumpkin Time

2011-10-31T15:09:00.000-04:00

God Bless my sister Heidi who always insists on the traditions of carving pumpkins. She came over after work with all of her tools and stencils to carve. We had enough for everyone so I just started getting each pumpkin open to dig out and everyone took on their roles from there. Eamon, Liam and Mairin were able to do their own and it was so cool to have them be able to carve their own. Heidi and I helped everyone and each carved our own. The triplets as you can see just played with the hollowed out pumpkins, played with the seeds and carried the tools around claiming they were working. It was a beautiful evening to do it and doing it outside was an even better plus. I do love doing this stuff once I get started but I always seem to need the push to begin the chaos.

It was a little over an hour later and we were all done and we still had some daylight left. We kept the seeds for roasting and my dad requested some too so he could plant a field of pumpkins for next year. Oh dear....I can see it now. grandma and grandpa are going to bring a trailer load of pumpkins down next year...HELP..

Alvin and The Chipmunks

2011-10-27T15:32:00.000-04:00

Colin loves hats so he was deemed Alvin, Declan was being stubborn and didnt want to wear anything so he was deemed Theodore and my little Finn loved the glasses so there is my Simon. We had a Halloween party to attend on Sunday and it was the first time we put on our outfits. It is so hard to get a good photo so this is what we have for now. I wish I could take credit for the idea but a girlfriend of mine (Christy) did this with her 3 boys a couple of years ago and she offered to share her tails with me along with the red hat. She is my crafty friend and makes her costumes every year. I was able to complete the costumes with a trip to the local salvation army. You would be amazed by the amount of "bright" turtle necks were available in the ladies section. They wore the costumes all evening and the party was a success. We had to take the glasses off of Finn at dinner because it was like he forgot they were on. We have 3 more dress up events so these costumes are going to get a ton of use. We are missing the older kids because we all converged to the party location from hockey and playdates. Gosh what will I do for next year???

My Toothless Wonder Triplet

2011-10-26T21:12:00.003-04:00

It was only 9:30am on Saturday morning and I had just poured myself a cup of coffee, cleaned up the kitchen from pancakes and was ready to do the morning chill when it all happened. Declan came upstairs holding his mouth and he had a handful of blood and was screaming. I sat him at the kitchen sink and took a look. I cannot even describe what it looks like to see 2 front teeth just minutes ago and then all of sudden all I can see are nubs. It was almost like I was looking at something I couldn't figure out. I am serious when I say that all I could see of his 2 front teeth were tiny nubs up in the gums. It looked like when you lose a tooth and the next one is popping thru. I called for Eamon to come upstairs as he was playing with Declan. I asked Eamon what happened and he said that Declan was playing with a beach ball and it flew out of his hand and he fell and hit the chair.

I had Eamon watch Declan and I went downstairs to look for teeth, see if there was a blood trail and try to make sense of this little event. I saw a wet mouth mark on the chair (clearly the point of impact) and I felt around and there was no sign of teeth. I am still confused at this point. I am still thinking that they must have broken off. Eamon is crying at this point. He thinks that it is his fault and he feels terrible. I told Eamon, "sweetheart I am not mad at you at all, I just need to know what happened and I am a little panicked". I get Declan a wet rag and he seems to like it on his mouth. I have David take a look and I think David was more panicked that I was. He almost got sick to his stomach. "Call the doctor". I am so so blessed that we have a family friend who is a pediatric dentist so I just so happened to have their home number. Fran answers the phone and tells me that every pediatric dentist is in a conference today. (the story of my life). She offers to text her hubby, daughter and son-in-law (all ped dentists) and so I wait. I send a couple of pics and after a couple of back and forth the ruling is...

Do not go to the ER. We have seen this before. It looks much worse than it is. The front teeth did not break off but rather were jammed back up in his mouth. Come on in this week for an X-Ray and lets make sure there is no damage to the permanent teeth. It will take about 6 months for the teeth to come back down. (great I have a toothless 2 year old for the next 6 months..family pictures anyone)

We took X-Rays on Monday and yep they were right. Now we just need to watch and make sure there are no infections and see what happens. Can you believe that your teeth can go back up in the gums this far and then come back down again? Only a Mott can try this one out.

Now I have 1 triplet with chipped front teeth...1 triplet with no front teeth and 1 triplet who is bound to do something to his front teeth. Arggggggg......

BTW...Thank you so much Fran, Elizabeth and Sam for hooking me up on a weekend and making me not sit in an ER for the afternoon. Thank goodness for Derby Lake friends....

The e

Twins and a Single and a Visit To The Bank

2011-10-07T15:58:00.000-04:00

The twins and little Mairin didn't have school today so we made use of our time together and made a trip to the bank. My mom was in town so she took them to breakfast while I took the triplets to their Friday mom's morning out program.

We got their banks out and we sat at the kitchen table and counted all of our money. We put the change into rolls and straightened each dollar and organized each pile. Eamon had a big pile of dollars but only a few rolls of coins. Liam had a bunch of rolls of coins and fewer dollars. Mairin had the least amount of money but that didn't bother her a bit. I had them write down their account numbers, total amount of money and put it in a baggie. We took everything to the bank and I let them do the rest. They filled out their own deposit slips and went up to the counter one at a time and made their deposits. Liam had added wrong so they asked him to fill out another slip to make the correction and he did. Eamon had a smirk on his face the entire time and Mairin...well Mairin was ready to ask for a job. It was kind of a fun morning. The kids asked me to go to Subway so we did.

My mom was here since Wednesday and we had a couple of nice evenings. I just love sitting in the family room at night and just chatting with my mom. We (just the 2 of us) are going to Las Vegas at the end of the month for 4 days to see Garth Brooks. Mom called me several weeks ago and asked if I wanted to go see Garth and I of course said yes. I asked her when and where and that is when she told me where it was. Heidi was there in the background sitting on hold with ticket master to book the tickets once she heard me say ok. It was such a nice surprise. My sister offered to help David with the kids and David kindly said, "sure go ahead". Garth is performing his last scheduled concert at the Wynn and we are going to be there. I don't think I have ever gone somewhere like this with just mom. It is going to be a great 4 days and I can't wait.

Someday

2011-10-05T15:41:00.000-04:00

Someday

I will learn how to knit
I will organize the junk drawers
I will take classes on how to do stained glass
I will begin working out daily
I will get more followers and work on getting my blog busy again
I will wake up at 10am and do nothing all day
I will get all of my photos in order and photoshop them to improve them
I will rekindle so many friendships that I have lost sight of in the past several years
I will take my pictures and videos and make movies out of them
I will sit down and watch "The Godfather" (silly but I have never seen it)
I will start a business
I will get around to cleaning out closets
I will get rid of every pile in my house

But for now I will

Give hugs and kisses everyday
Take the kids everywhere they need to go
Help out with homework
Pack lunches, fix breakfast and dinner for my crew
Make my kids laugh
Love on my husband
Wash all of their clothes
Continue to give time outs when needed
Repeat myself
Go to bed early to be ready for the next day
Worry about each of them
Make sure they have what they need to make it in life
Have date nights with just my hubby

Life does go fast and I guess I still have lots of time to do everything I think about doing..but I wonder if I will end up doing all of these things that I think I want to...when I finally have the time? I have heard that this time goes fast so sit back and enjoy them while they are small because someday they will grow up. That being said....Everything else can wait.

I have to go get the triplets up from a nap, get dinner started, take Mairin to swimming, help out with homework and make sure I get out to grab a gallon of milk.

The Triplets Are Almost 3...You Know What That Means

2011-10-01T11:59:00.000-04:00

December 17, 2011 and I will have 3 year old triplets. I know I know it is coming, the dreaded feat of potty training. I am the one who is dragging her feet. I decided to dance around the subject on Thursday of this week. I woke up very ambitious and decided no diapers for the morning. We had no plans so it was a stay at home type of day. I took off the diapers and left them with just t shirts, pulled out 3 potty chairs and put them in front of the TV and filled the sipper cups with juice. I also put the candy jar right in front of them with a lid that they could not unscrew. I also brought out all of the fun underwear and we all tried on the different pairs. They sat on their potties and watched Calliou...Elmo...Little Einsteins...and I have to say it went OK. Declan forgot to hold it down so I was sitting in front of him and I got a dousing and Colin stood up and peed on me. Minor malfunctions but until they can get their little things under control we all know it is going to happen.

The juice was all finished and then I got out orange juice and everyone was excited. I was sure there was potty to come shortly...surely their tummies were full full of liquid. Wouldn't you know it that suddenly Finn comes up to me and says, "it hurts..it hurts" as he is tugging on his little thing. I asked him if he wanted to sit with me and he chose to sit on his potty. In a minute there was about 3 inches deep of potty in the potty. No wonder it hurt. He was just like an adult...just as he started going a smile came on his face, a sigh of relief, a release of the pressure. Everyone was playing, peeing, playing, peeing and finally after 2 hours of this event I decided it was diaper time. It became a sort of game. They each would sit and do a little dribble and then we would do the potty dance. (I must have sung that song 40 times in a span of 2 hours... you get tired of being so happy for something that you would think would be so easy... Do you know the song? You hold hands and sing "pee pee on the potty..pee pee on the potty) I had 6 wet pairs of underwear, my wet pants, 3 potty soaked towels and 3 potty chairs to clean up. It was only 11am and I was tired.

We will continue to try it over and over again until we are trained but gosh I really do like diapers.

My Hubby Started A New Job

2011-09-28T13:37:00.000-04:00

David has a new job and it only happens once a week on Sunday mornings. He works for 9, 9 year old children and the topic of his new job is all about God. This job does not pay any monetary amount but I think it will pay back in many different ways. David has taken on the 4th grade Sunday school class. This past Sunday was has first class and I think he really enjoyed it. This class will probably not do much in the way of crafts and art but they will learn more than they are expecting to. The first homework assignment for these young people was to go home and think........"what do you want to get out of this class"? I will be anxiously awaiting the responses that come in from this assignment.

I am so proud of my husband for his drive to be active in his community, provide for his family and keep faith at the forefront of his endeavors. He is an excellent role model and teacher to his 6 children and he is very good to me.

On Sundays we all sit together for mass and depending on the topic he will nudge or whisper to the boys or Mairin and point out something of importance that they might have missed. He refuses to let any excuse take the place of attending mass. He often asks the kids to repeat the order of importance and it makes me smile every time. God..Family..Country. Nighttime is where they all learned their prayers in both English and Spanish. He is truly raising another generation of faith.

Labor Day Success-Things I forgot

2011-09-28T12:00:00.001-04:00

I forgot to talk about the success we all had in Stanton on Labor Day Weekend in waterskiing and kneeboarding. We asked Eamon and Liam if they were interested in learning how to kneeboard and they both jumped at the idea. We got out the ropes, Heidi drove the boat and I did the in water teaching. It took about 3 tries each and they were off and running. They loved it and wanted to keep going around and around the lake.

On the last day of the weekend our neighbor had some extra gas he wanted to use up and said he was willing to get them up on waterskies. He had the child size skies and the boys were interested. My dad and I were the in water teachers and after some shallow starts they each figured it out and off they went. They each went around the lake twice and the longer they went the more comfortable they grew on the skies.

Miss Mairin watched all of this activity and decided she was going to kneeboard. Please note that Mairin will NOT go tubing so I was shocked and excited that she wanted to try. She rode around the lake on the kneeboard and did great. I think it wiped her out as she said her hands were sore for the next day.

I was also able to get Aunt Dorie give the trips haircuts while we were there. How nice to cut hair outside and save us a trip to the barber shop. These weekends up north can be so productive.

The weekend would not be complete without a trip out to the pond for some serious fishing. David, grandpa and the boys headed out and said it was a great success and came home with enough for several dinners. We took a bunch back with us to have later on this winter. The boys were baiting their own hooks and taking the fish off too. I can't figure out who enjoys it more...the boys, David or Grandpa.

Not Very Original...The Cider Mill..lol

2011-09-27T13:28:00.000-04:00

Can you guess where we are? Doesn't every mom with kids hit a cider mill enough to never want to go to another one again by the time the kids are 5 years old? I grabbed Aunt Myrna and told her we were trying a new one out. We headed out to 3 Cedars Cider Mill in Northville (it is far far away and I still dont believe that it is really in Northville). The best best part of this entire place is that it has a screened in porch to eat your cider and donuts...NO BEES. It really is a cute place and the kids got a hay ride, played in the corn box, rode little tractors and got a treat from Aunt Myrna. The best for me was the wonderful adult company in having Myrna with us.

We don't get many pictures with Aunt Myrna but this one was a keeper. She is truly an amazing person and so generous to me and my kids......She leaves me speechless. Glad you could go with us Aunt Myrna.

The Mott's Like Bikes

2011-09-24T21:30:00.000-04:00

Today was the Tour De Troit. How fun. We went downtown and spent all morning riding around downtown Detroit on bikes. The kids stayed home with cousin Maddie but David and I had a ball. It was a 22.5 mile jaunt and the cops had most streets blocked off so we didn't have to stop. We started in front of the old train station at Roosevelt Park and went all over. It was cool to look at everything while we tooled along. For all of my friends who are afraid of Detroit, this is a great ride with lots of people and we all felt very safe and secure during the entire ride.

David thought this event was a race so the entire ride he was shifting thru the maze of bikes attempting to improve his place. I rode with him for awhile and it was nice having him as a tour guide pointing out what the buildings were and what they were back in the day. My favorite question was.."Are we in a rough area right now?" We really got the blood pumping when we spread out around Belle Isle. After the ride they had all kinds of vendors serving good beers and good food from local restaurants. It was a little overwhelming to see over 4,000 bikers needing to eat at the same time but eventually we made it thru the lines. It was a little after 2 when we were all tired, full and ready to head out. In the picture is my niece Coco and her fiance Chris my brother in law and sister in law..Billy and Nadine (did I ever tell everyone how cool and charismatic Billy is? He is just great.) and my sister in law..Kathleen.

The best is when you come home and you see your kids trying to be just like you. They all had their bikes out ready to ride the driveway. Too cute.