8.7.14: Kindergarten

Today was the first day of Kindergarten.  We started our morning by parking in our neighborhood and approaching the school from the back to avoid some of the drop-off chaos we had been warned about.  The girls were very excited even though we still walked into a pretty chaotic situation.  I have to admit, it was much easier leaving the girls at school knowing they would be there together, looking out for each other and making sure they stuck together when necessary.  Upon completion of the first day of school, they were all a chatter about the new friends, teachers and school they were so very excited to be a part of.

Fiona, Daphne, Stella

They have English Kindergarten in the morning, Spanish Kindergarten in the afternoon and then Gardening and Crazy Math class during the after school program.  They have a three week rotation between 'specials' of Art, Music and PE.  Essentially, they have a fabulous mixture of play and learning.

8.1.14: Olaf......or Elsa

The flyer from the bookstore said Storytime with Olaf, so clearly we had to go.  Upon arrival and a crazy amount of people, Olaf was a cardboard cutout but thankfully Elsa did arrive.  After a few books (that no one could hear) and countless screaming/whining children (not ours), we managed to get a picture with Elsa (Stella, Fiona, Elsa, Daphne).

7.19.14: Breakfast request

Some mornings, Daphne has a hard time getting ready for school.  Lately, we have been making a list for her to checkoff the items she needs to do to get ready, this seems to motivate her - she loves checking off items on her list (she clearly knows how to make her mama proud).  Well today, she changed things up a bit and drew a picture of her breakfast request even providing instructions on how to make it.  

Bread + Toaster + Jelly.

7.12.14: Hiking

We were in need of a driving adventure to test out the new car, so we drove up to Mt. Lemmon to go hiking and play games for the afternoon.  It was a wonderful break from the heat.  (stella, fiona, daphne)

7.10.14: New car

Back in March 2008, we bought a Honda Civic Hybrid and about eight months later we learned we were pregnant with triplets. Many said we would have to upgrade to a bigger car, but we are proud of the fact that we did not.  We fit three bucket carriers, three rear facing convertible seats and still three forward facing seats in that Civic - much to many people's disbelief.  We survived in that one car until our relocation to Arizona at which point we had to have two cars.  

Having just bought a house and only one of us employed, we bought a less expensive second car that already had >100,000 miles on it.  We knew this car wouldn't last forever.  Days after Brant drove back from Santa Barbara, the car reached its end.  With Nana in town, Brant and I took advantage of the babysitting and went out car shopping.  After hours of negotiations we ended up with a new car.  We asked the girls what their favorite part about the new car was....the air in the back, the 'tv' (dashboard screen) in the front, and my personal favorite...the one that got the biggest oohs and aahs...the back windows go ALL THE WAY DOWN.  Yes, that's right, turns out this minor detail made our kids thrilled.  We were just excited for a new, safe, reliable car.

7.6.14: 6th Annual Family Day

Today was our sixth annual family day, the day everyone was finally home from the hospital back in 2009.  This is a very important day for us as it always brings back memories of those tough weeks while the girls were in the NICU.  This day always reminds us how lucky we are to have a happy and healthy family - none of which we take for granted.  We celebrated by spending the day together and, as is our tradition, getting pictures taken (left to right: Daphne, Stella, Fiona).  We love you girls!

7.4.14: Nana one-on-one

Not only did Daddy just return home, but Nana came to visit.  Since preschool was ongoing but Nana was in town, we came up with a compromise.  Everyone got a special day with Nana, just one-on-one.  Each girl independently got to skip school for the day and do whatever she and Nana wanted to do.  Then Nana picked up the remaining girls at school and they all got to spend the afternoon together.  We figured in less than a month, the girls would be attending 'real school' where skipping was less permissible so we needed to take advantage of this opportunity now.  Needless to say, they all very much enjoyed there one-on-one time.  I think Brant and I were even a little jealous that we can't do something similar  :)

7.3.14: Daddy is back!

We were more than thrilled when Brant arrived home safely tonight.  Santa Barbara was amazing, but having Brant gone for five weeks was tough (thankfully we were all together for two of them in California).  No picture capturing the moment, we were ALL too excited to be together.

7.2.14: Movie Week

Stella 

 Daphne

Fiona

During the month of July, preschool is only open until 2:30.  I'm sure this is manageable for most, but for two working parents, this provides an additional challenge.  With Brant still gone, the girls and I decided we would have 'Movie Week'.  This meant each day when I picked them up from school we would come home, have a snack, and watch a movie.  That allowed me the opportunity to finish working while the girls were thrilled to relax and watch a movie after a full day of playing in the hot sun at preschool.  Without having to commute home at night, we were able to squeeze in some extra game time each evening.

6.28.14: Adventure home

After a very straightforward flight home from Los Angeles, the girls and I (Brant was driving home later this week) entered to a small lake in the laundry room that expanded well into the hallway.  It seems the washing machine had a mind of its own while we were gone and although it was completely empty, open and had not been used several days before our departure, it filled itself up with water, overflowed and created a mess.  Putting aside the mysterious puddle for a while, I went to confirm the toilets were working and sure enough 2/3 were not.  My non eventful day was quickly changing.  While upstairs dealing with toilets, I told the girls to stay out of the puddle and play in the play room while I got the house back in order (or tried to).  Sure enough, I start to hear giggles - too many giggles.  I came downstairs to discover that the puddle had been splashed all over the walls and furniture by three little girls who decided together it was a good idea to jump in the (hopefully clean) water. I did not agree.