Remember once upon a time, when the boys were itty bitty, and I was up to my eye-balls in diapers and formula? Seems like just yesterday sometimes! It also seems like just yesterday that I brought them for their first day of pre-school, and yet here I am with three little boys ready for kindergarten in August!

Last Friday was their last day of pre-k and they celebrated the day with a little graduation. The class processed in, sang some songs, made the moms in the room all cry (especially when the kids all found their moms, gave them a rose, and told us they loved us and thank you – sob!), and rocked out to “School’s Out For Summer” at the end.

What they want to be when they grow up:

Jackson: A basketball player, because then I can be on TV or something.

Ty: A dancer, because our Aunt Laura dance. (Totally made Aunt Laura tear up on that one!)

Chase: A science teacher and a dancer, because I want to teach kids science.

With their good buddy, Isabelle!

They had to go back up on stage, because they wanted to throw their hats in the air.

With their teachers, whom we all loved this year!

Oh, Jackson. You are your father’s son, that’s for sure.

This post is all about helping your child be more comfortable talking with adults. If you’ve been blessed with an outgoing child (like my Lily is), then this likely won’t be an idea you’ll need to file away for later. Also, if you’ve been subjected to any awkward and random conversations with my boys in the last few weeks, this will shed some light on that….

This past winter and early spring Nick and I had noticed something about the boys; not only were they not talking to other adults (or even teenagers), but they often weren’t even acknowledging said adults were talking to them! No bueno. I get shy kids, and I get that it’s hard to talk to people you don’t know, but I don’t get flat out ignoring someone who has said “hi” or is thanking you for coming over.

On Easter Sunday we spent some time at a friend’s house, with her family. As we were leaving, my friend’s mom tried to thank Chase for coming over and said it was nice to see him. Know what Chase did? Hung his head and didn’t say a word. Nick and I encouraged him to say a simple “thank you”, but he refused. Guess who was mortified? Yep, Nick and me.

Nick and I had a chat later that night about this new track the boys were on. We recounted all of the times one or more of them have done this – an adult we know (and often one they know too) will try to talk to them, and get flat out ignored. We agreed that we were not at all ok with this, and while our first instinct was to punish them, we thought better of it. Maybe there was a way to instead foster their ability to have simple conversations with adults….

Then we remembered a parent tip we’d read in Family Fun Magazine several months before, and after Nick located the tip (thanks to the handy iPad version of the magazine we get with our subscription) we knew we had a game plan. Behold  the Social Butterfly Passport!

Nick created the passports, so all art work is credited to him…. haha

The boys started out as caterpillars, and by the time they collect 10 stamps, they’ll be social butterflies! They collect a stamp by having a simple conversation with an adult.

When we handed these out, we told the boys the following ground rules:

• Conversations had to happen with Nick or me there to hear it (and, if necessary, approve of them talking to the person). 
• All three of them could not have a conversation simultaneously with the same person. The brothers could be standing there to listen, but only one of them could earn a stamp.
• Once they earned a stamp by conversing with someone, they could not earn another stamp with the same person.
• We told them they could start out easy, by talking to people they already know fairly well (but don’t usually talk to), like their Sunday School teacher, or a friend’s mom, or someone they see several times a week in Nick’s office. A conversation with their pre-k teachers, or Aunt Laura (for example) would not count.

We started this over a month ago, and you can see Jackson and Chase are closing in on their Social Butterfly status! This past weekend, Ty earned his 10th and final stamp!

The prize? We’ll take them all out for dinner, where they’ll tell the server what they want to eat and drink!

In addition to teaching the boys to be more friendly, this has been a natural and non-scary way to bring up “tricky people”. We’re choosing to warm them about “tricky people” rather than “strangers”. Not all strangers are bad, it’s the tricky people you have to watch out for! A great explanation has been floating around Pinterest, and is well worth the read (click that sentence for the link)!

I think Nick and I would declare this lesson a success! The boys, while still shy sometimes, are at least not ignoring people anymore. And I have to say, it has been awfully fun to watch them “chat” with people, as they call it. Their opening line is usually “How’s your day been so far?”, and watching the absolute joy and surprise on an adult’s face when asked this has been priceless! Their other go-to line is “What’s your job like?”. Nick and I didn’t factor in that our suggested conversation topics would be used on nearly everybody I’ve loved hearing moms answer that question!

So there you have it – a fun way to teach your kids to be more polite and outgoing with adults, and also a great chance to bring up tricky people and safety discussions without freaking them out! If you’ve been subjected to a conversation with the boys, thank you! You’ve been helping to teach them, without even realizing it!

Today I celebrate 32 years of life. Feels like just yesterday I was a pregnant, 25 year old… Ha!

I thought I would hit my pre-triplet weight before I turned 30, but that didn’t happen. Then I thought “surely by 31!”, and that didn’t happen. Then I thought “by 32, for sure!”. Nope, still not there. Granted, I’ve been hovering 8-10 pounds over that goal weight for about 18 months. Yep. So I suppose you can see why I thought I would surely hit that goal soon (and ultimately, I should lose another 5-10 after that goal in order to be at a healthy weight and BMI)!

I’ve been working out like a machine in the last month, and have had a good handle on my eating as well, so imagine my surprise when the scale still wouldn’t budge. Humph.

Two years ago, a really cute H&M shirt was given to me for my birthday. I was excited when I opened it up, but thought “this might be kinda tight…”. Turned out it was really tight. As in, not wearable in public tight, because I could barely get it on. Rather than return it, I kept it, figuring in no time at all I would be able to wear it.

Last summer I still couldn’t wear it. *sigh*

But this summer….

Hooray! It finally fits!

Slow & Steady wins the race, right? Plus all that working out last month, which really was the most consistent I’ve been with working out since about October.

My new goal? The Express Jeans we uncovered in the basement, that used to be my favorite jeans. I haven’t worn them since before my pregnancy with the boys, and they’re quite a bit smaller than most of my jeans right now, but I’m determined to get those things on!

This new goal is going to take a lot of working out I think, and continued diligence with healthy eating! You know what I like though? Is that this goal isn’t going to be scale driven. I could slim down several inches and still not see much scale movement, but those inches could mean I can get the jeans up around my hips at least (which is currently not do-able. How’s that for transparency?).

So here’s what I’m doing – I’m going to bump up the frequency of my workouts, especially strength training. When I’ve done 25 workouts, I’ll let myself go use the Macy’s gift card I’ve had for almost a year! After I’ve shopped, I’ll set another small goal.

Along with the workouts, I’ve started a DietBet with some friends. Many of you comment so frequently on here or on the Three Times the Giggles Facebook page, that I feel like we’re friends too, so I’m inviting you! The DietBet starts officially on Friday, but weigh-ins are being accepted now.

This isn’t like your standard diet competition, where only the top three losers win money – this is a competition with yourself to get your money back (in this case, $15)! You have 4 weeks to lose 4% of your body weight. Do that, and you split the pot with everyone else who loses 4% too. No “giving up” a week or two in when you see others losing crazy amounts of weight (and giving up is usually what I would do with these kinds of competitions), instead you focus on your goal! In case you’re interested in the friendly competition among friends, here’s the link! http://bit.ly/12JG5Gg

So what kind of bettering-yourself goal are you working on right now?

We’ve been having some fun this month, rain or shine! We’ve enjoyed Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s, where we actually managed to be first in line! Then I promptly dropped my sugared-up boys off at pre-K. {insert evil laughter here}

On some of the nicer days we’ve had (and this spring has been cold and miserable  for the most part), we’ve enjoyed parks! Lily is really loving swinging on her belly and slides. The boys enjoy trying to master monkey bars and big climbing structures! Lily would like to master those too, but her brain doesn’t seem to realize her legs (or arms) aren’t really quite long enough/strong enough for those yet.

All that park fun makes for a sleepy girl! Being worn out is great at bedtime, but not so great for 5:30pm naps. She was one grumpy girl when I woke her up from her living room floor nap!

This past Saturday, we braved the 45 degree temps and rain and headed to the zoo! All members were getting a sneak peek of the new penguin exhibit that’s being built and free pancakes! Who are we to turn down free pancakes? And bonus – we got to meet ICE3 (Get it? Ice Cubed!)! I promise it was fun, even thought Jackson looks a little skeptical of the whole situation. Lots of KC friends then reported seeing us on the evening news that night, but we missed it. Boo. ]]> http://www.threetimesthegiggles.com/ice-cream-parks-penguins/feed/ 0 http://www.threetimesthegiggles.com/youre-a-supermom/ http://www.threetimesthegiggles.com/youre-a-supermom/#comments Thu, 25 Apr 2013 01:07:16 +0000 Helen http://www.threetimesthegiggles.com/?p=4489 NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized or removed for copyright reasons. To see them in their unmodified state, please view the original post by clicking here.

I shared the following thoughts this morning, with a moms group I co-lead. They’ve been brewing in my head for about a week now, and I thought you might find encouragement in them too.

A few weeks ago I started noticing the posture people have. Random, huh? I found myself thinking about how graceful and beautiful good posture made a woman look, and then I found myself jealous of it. I’ve never thought of myself as having good posture, and can still hear my mom telling me to roll my shoulders back and not hunch (hi, Mom!)! I found myself rather envious of the women I saw with good posture! (Again, random, I know.)

This winter, my family moved into the year 2008 and finally acquired a Wii Fit Plus board and game. I recently set myself up on the game, and what a treat that was! The thing groans when you step onto it (because it doubles as a scale, you know), the trainer knows when you’re slacking off and yells at you (“Hey! These muscles aren’t going to train themselves!”), and all kinds of other delightful things.

One thing I’ve really loved doing in the last 10 days or so is the yoga on the Wii Fit. The balance board measures your center of balance, weight distribution on legs/hands/etc, and helps correct you. Awesome for a yoga novice like myself! And do you know what I really love about it? The encouragement I’ve received from my “trainer” (aka, computer guy who also scolds me sometimes).

Remember that posture jealousy you read about a few paragraphs back? Well, midway through my first yoga routine, my trainer said “you’ve got great posture!”. Say what?! And then, a few poses later, he told me my balance was great, and followed that with another posture compliment! Fast forward a few yoga sessions later (mixed in with some more strenuous workouts), and I found myself standing a little taller and prouder.

So I started mulling over how odd it was that all I needed to stand a little straighter, was to have a computer character tell me how great my posture was, and a thought hit me…

People call me “supermom”, or some version of it, all the time. I don’t feel like a super mom, and sometimes I feel like a downright bad mom. I yell at my kids sometimes, my patience runs out at 10am some days, I’m the woman frantically cleaning up the kitchen at 5:15pm because Nick will be home soon and I need to make it look like I’ve done something useful, and on and on. Life is average here, nothing “super” about it.

But here’s the thing – hearing “You’re supermom!”, “I don’t know how you do it”, or “You amaze me!” is sometimes just the thing I need to hear, to give me the push to try something crazy with my kids (like loading the four of them up for a 12:30pm trip to Target, despite the fact that Lily should be going down for her nap any minute and none of them have had lunch yet)!

I’ve noticed that the more I hear about how great of a mom I am, the more I feel like a good mom! I tell myself “You’ve got this, Helen! You’re a supermom!” and feel ready to take on the mob.

We all struggle with the day to day of motherhood. It can be a brutal profession at times (especially if poo is involved), and sometimes we worry we’re really messing up our kids. Let me tell you something…. You are an amazing mom!

When is the last time you told another mom what an awesome job she was doing? When is the last time it was said to you? Truth be told, none of us hear it or say it often enough.

I have a challenge for you – sometime in the next week, tell a mom how amazing she is. If there’s a mom you’ve been admiring for a while, for her strength, grace, patience or even her sense of style, tell her! If you pass a mom with a wailing toddler on the floor of the grocery store, don’t just smile as you walk by because you’ve been there, done that. That mom doesn’t know that – she just thinks you’re getting a kick out of her unfortunate and embarrassing situation. Tell her she’s doing a good job, and she will get through this and see better days. Tell her she’s a supermom and that she can handle this! 

And in case someone doesn’t tell you in the next few days….

You are an amazing mom! Your kids are blessed to have you in their life. They’re blessed to have the example you give them, your never ending love, and your guidance in their life. You are doing a fabulous job, mom, and you can do anything (even take your kids to the Post Office, 5 days before Christmas when the line is out the door and people are cranky because of it)!

No words really needed here. Just Lily being flexible and beautiful, all at once. Man, I love her eyes!

{Nikon D600, 50mm lens, 3.5, 1/200, ISO800, RAW, boosted blacks/shadows a bit, sharpened for web}

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to chaperone one of the boys’ field trips! I’ve been waiting all year for my turn (Nick got to attend one last fall), and I’m glad I waited – our field trip was awesome! We all loaded onto a bus and headed downtown to visit the SeaLife Aquarium, and then lunch at Fritz’s. Our family hasn’t ventured to SeaLife yet (holy expensive, Batman!), so the boys and I were pretty pumped about this one!

Jackson and Chase making fish faces at the fish was cracking me up!

Ty, noticing the camera is out and flashing me a little smile. What a guy

{And pay no attention to the bizarre coloring – they had different colored lights at each exhibit – wait until you see the Jelly Fish shot!}

Probably my favorite series from the trip! Chase’s faces just crack me up! L-R: Jackson, Chase, Ty

We loved the smiling stingrays!

At Fritz’s for lunch! What’s special about this place? A train brings you your food! Food quality leaves a little (or a lot) to be desired, so really you go for the train. The kids love it!

Yep, I’m a bit behind in my blogging! After all, Easter was a week and a half ago, and some of the Easter fun in this post happened even a week before that. Lots of pictures in this one, so let’s get to it!

First, I bring you a massive egg hunt. I have to brag on my husband here for a minute – this big hunt is one of his work babies, and I’m so proud of him (and his co-workers) for pulling a hunt of this scale off! Last year it was 80 and gorgeous, and chaotic! It was the first hunt our church had done since getting really big, and the beautiful weather just brought people out of the woodwork. This year? Cold, with snow predicted the next day. Crazy Kansas City weather!

So what do you when you have 12,000 eggs (no, that is not a typo), and freezing cold, gross weather forecasted? You move the hunt and activities inside! Around 1,200ish people still showed up for the fun, and fun was had by all!

Our first stop of the morning? Cookie decorating! As you can see, the boys went a little overboard in the frosting and sprinkles department….

We had to see the Easter Bunny of course, which Lily loved! She’s all about high-fiving giant characters, that most children her age are terrified of. Jackson was just bored, which makes me laugh!

And then it snowed, but we’re not going to talk about that….

Easter Sunday’s weather was far more enjoyable! Look at those kids in their springy clothes! We did an egg hunt at home, which the kids all love and have come to expect. Well, the boys expect it. Lily doesn’t expect much, except for their to bananas in the house for snacks. And now she expects all plastic eggs to have “treats” in them, and is sad when she opens one and finds it to be empty.

Later that afternoon, we spent some time hanging out with friends, at their home, before heading off to church as a family. It was a wonderful day!

A few weeks ago, during Spring Break, something fun happened in our home.

A video crew from our church took over our living room, kitchen, and dining room for a few hours! A new sermon series about Finding Joy In Real Life is starting this coming weekend, and our name had been tossed out as a fun little slice of life on how to do just that – be joyful in real life. Cause really, what’s more real life than a hoard of children?!

So equipment was set up and containers were all over my house. I thought that I really “exploded” into people’s homes when I drag all my stuff out for a newborn session, but that’s got nothing on this production!

Chase & Jackson enjoying a little Rock, Paper, Scissors while waiting for everything to be ready to go.

So the plan was that our chaotic little family would be featured in the promo video that would be shown during all of the Easter services (hello, 25,000+ people!) and that our faces would be on the bulletin insert. Whoa! We were all pretty excited about this, and managed to keep it a secret from all but Laura (she was at the house when the crew rolled up, so I kinda had to tell her what was going on).

Several days before Easter we found out that while the footage was awesome, a committee that had viewed it was concerned it would look too much like a parenting series. Yep, probably did, and unfortunately it’s not a parenting series. So we got axed. Boo!

Nick and I were mighty bummed, and were wondering how the boys would handle the news. I sat them all down and explained what happened, and you know what? I got a glimpse into a future with mature kids! There was no crying, or whining, or melting down (this time). There were just sad faces and “why’s?”. I was so proud of how they handled the news! The boys and I agreed, that now that people know how awesome they are, that perhaps they’ll think of us next time there IS a sermon series that we would make more sense for.

Regardless, this was a fun, family afternoon/evening, and we followed it with pizza, so all was good!

Lily’s got it made in this house. Baby of the family, doting older brothers, parents who have a hard time not laughing at her all. the. time., and a personality that just makes people love her instantly. While looking back over the pictures I took last month, I was surprised to see 70% of them were of Lily. At first I felt badly about that, but then I realized something – I took just as many (if not more) pictures of the boys when they were this age! She’s growing and changing at a much faster rate  than her brothers right now, so it’s appropriate that my camera would gravitate towards her more often these days. Besides, she likes seeing the camera, and doesn’t whine and roll her eyes like her brothers do

I give you a day in the life of Lily, or really, a month because these were all taken in the last month….

She was watching TV, from the little nook between the wall and the couch.

She’ll sit still long enough for Aunt Laura to put in a bun (her first!), but tries to escape if I try a simple pony tail.

While she still goes down for naps almost daily, she doesn’t always fall asleep right away. Sometimes she sits and tells herself knock, knock jokes, and other times (like above) she plays with her animals and dolls.

She does almost always succumb to sleep though! It’s hard work being Lily, and she knows she needs a re-charge in order to keep entertaining us the way she does.