Month: February 2013

Phones

~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

While it’s nice that we have phones to take pictures of things quickly, sometimes, you also don’t realize just how many photos you’ve taken on there that never get sorted in with the rest.

So here is a small assortment of what you may have missed.

Whack a baby:

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It’s like Whack-a-mole, only a baby and a laundry basket instead. This was all purely voluntary, for the record, there were no babies harmed in this process and they chose to do it to themselves.

And here is one of our more recent visits to the park. Thank goodness for fenced in playgrounds with gates that shut. And for playsets that aren’t too high up when they decide to try and head dive off.

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Such big kids! Jaina enjoys going down the slide herself. Unfortunately, she’s so light she just flies off the end! Jacen enjoys the slide, but doesn’t like having to go around and climb back up each time. And Valerie likes laughing at them while they do it.

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Birthday Party!

~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

I’m still working on getting photos uploaded and edited, but let’s just say it was a complete success. We had a few of our closest friends at the party, and it couldn’t have been more perfect!

Big brother very much enjoyed having his best friend there, and keeping it small was perfect. I’m not sure what we were thinking last year inviting 20+ kids, with only about 10 this year (including all siblings) it was amazing. We were able to talk to everyone, enjoy the play area, and then sit around and eat cupcakes/open presents without the kids getting tired of watching someone else open them. I mean, really, what 5 year old wants to stare at another kid open 30 presents for forever?!

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Until I get the birthday photos loaded, I’ll leave you with one of the last pictures we have of him as a 4 year old. Can you believe my baby boy is 5?! Seems like just yesterday he looked like this…

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Taking a break…

~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

From the children.

We all need it, even those wonderful-amazing-homeschooling-attachment parenting-child loving-martyrs of moms need it.

Who doesn’t?!

I haven’t really talked about my training or running lately, and frankly I probably should more. Keeps me accountable, is fun to share something other than children/diapers/messes/war stories, and gives you a break (though, I know, you’d really just prefer to see their smiling faces. I might oblige at the end!)

Two and a half years ago I got together with a trainer in WA with a goal of improving fitness and speeding up my running. Back then, she gave me a spreadsheet with running paces on a treadmill (after having seen me run), and completely believed that I could do it. Um, yeah, she was a nut case. I couldn’t make it through one interval, much less the two additional repeats of it. Now, I say that in the nicest way, because I know she really just had more faith in me than I did myself (than I DO myself, most days).

A couple weeks into the program (which I was failing miserably at), I found out I was pregnant. No biggie, I’ll keep running and just slow it down. I remember trying a run in Coronado during our crazy cross-country drive, and thinking, “This is HARD.” Yeah. Found out a few weeks later it was triplets. There went the running!

Fast forward two years. I’ve gotten back into it, suffered through a half-marathon (wow, is it different after a triplet pregnancy, my hips are still not back in the right spot, I think!), and done a triathlon. But I want more. I want to get faster. And I (stupidly) signed up for an olympic triathlon in 3 short months which may just kill me.

So I tried that training plan once more. And didn’t die this time. Yeah, it still sucks. But not quite as much as it used to. And I did start to get faster. I finally could run faster than an 11 minute mile on a regular basis. And I can almost do the intervals without stopping for water. Insert a 5k this weekend, and I was shooting for my first sub-30 minute yet. Low and behold, I pulled off a 30:32! Not too shabby. I wouldn’t be as upset about it if I hadn’t walked a few times. Went out too fast, too much wine the night before (never thought I’d say that phrase!), and a stomach cramp or two later, I found a sweet old man, white beard and all, and followed him along the way to the finish line. We kept each other going, and it wasn’t as rough with him beside me (I mean, really, if he can do it, I have nothing to complain about!).

So the journey begins. Less than 12 weeks until I swim almost 1.5km (0.97mi), bike 40k (25 miles), and run 10k (6.2m). Lord help me…

At least these little munchkins will be at the finish line!

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Getting caught up

~ hunt2005 ~ 4 Comments

Have I told you lately how amazing almost-5-year-olds (don’t remind me… I have 2 more weeks to feign ignorance that his birthday is approaching) are?

No?

Well they can be hilarious. Seriously hilarious. First off, they are imaginative (sometimes to a fault). He can run around the house for hours playing “submersible” and fixing broken pipes and underwater walls, and driving around. With absolutely nothing in hand. No box, no tangible item at all. Well, except penguin and baby kitty cat that go everywhere.

Then, they are loving and emotional (often to a fault). But it means that kisses still heal boo-boos. Hugs fix hurt feelings. And no matter what happens, saying, “I’m so sorry” makes it all better.

And then you have the fun stuff. The smart stuff.

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Like when they are asked at school to draw a picture of a whale and then measure it with their feet, write how big it is, and their name. This is Aiden’s whale. His school is absolutely amazing. First off, they teach him the coolest things. And they’re kind, patient, and wonderful. But even more than that, they take pictures for us. Because if you ask a still-4-for-2-more-weeks year old what they did today? Nothing. or I played. or We went to the big playground. Nothing about whales and measuring and what the number of the day is.

You know what else is cool? When an I-swear-he’s-always-going-to-be-4 year old has three babies. Because then everyone in the world should have more than one baby at a time. When baby kitty cat had babies in her tummy yesterday, she had three of them. And when penguin laid eggs? Yup, three. And clearly anything less than that would be BOOOOOORRRRRING (according to him. That’s his favorite word.)

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With four kids in the house, it’s not always puppies and sunshine. Hardly ever do we get a picture of them all smiling and laughing. Not because it doesn’t happen, but because when they are all playing happily the last thing I want to do is make any noise or sound to distract from it, which includes going to get a camera.

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They’re learning. Most often from big brother. And most often it’s the annoying stuff (like shoving a stuffed penguin in your face and squealing). But they’re learning. And imitating. And growing older. Don’t remind me…

Toddlers versus Teens

~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

Whoever says that “It’ll get better” to a mom of a toddler (or multiple toddlers) must be delusional. Or lying (to themselves as well). Or possibly just forgetful. Okay, so they learn to talk and do things for themselves. But don’t they also learn to talk back? And be purposefully defiant?

So yeah, while I haven’t had the pleasure of being a mom to a teenager yet (Lord help me when I am), I have decided that I’m definitely not cut out to being a mom to a preschooler. Mainly for this reason: You can’t take things away from them. Or, more accurately, you’d have to stick them in a padded room with nothing in it for punishment, and even then they’d learn they could just run around and bounce off the wall and it’d be fun.

I mean, seriously. They aren’t listening, so you threaten them with timeout. Except for they have this AMAZING thing called an imagination now. So where time-out when they were three was a perfect consequence, now it’s filled with the really cool things that an almost-5-year-old can think of while sitting on a mat. And sending to their room? Forget it. The room has books. Toys. And should they actually listen to the rules and sit on their bed? Guess what? A bed bounces. And they can fall back onto it and that’s a LOT of fun. Oh, and don’t forget that should you take away the toy they just hit their brother over with, along with EVERY OTHER TOY THEY OWN, they will surely find a box. Or a shoe. Or a piece of paper. And all of a sudden they have a new amazing toy which is just as good as the ones that you actually spent money on (in their mind). It DOES. NO. GOOD.

At least you can take the keys to the surly teenager’s car, turn off their cell phone, and unplug the computer. You just then have to deal with the consequences…