Yes, I Do Have My Hands Full

A Moving History

2010-11-24T12:18:00.002-05:00

We are no longer home owners...at least for a few months. The relocation company officially bought our home yesterday. The house is almost packed, except for the kitchen. Since I can't do any of my work until the packers leave I might as well update the blog.

This has been a strange move. No one has ever packed for me before and I have moved a lot. They aren't that detailed in describing what they put in the boxes so it is going to be a treasure hunt to find anything. Oh, well. At least I don't have to pack. I've certainly had plenty of experience packing. In the 20 years since college I have not lived in the same place more than 3 years. In fact, I've lived in 10 different places. I've moved within the same building twice and had the place I was living sold 3 times. This was supposed to be the house we stayed in forever. Guess it didn't work that way.

The first 4 places I lived after moving our of my parents' house were in the Elmira, NY area. This would be the poor, crappy housing years. I was just out of college and was making less than nothing in small market TV. My first place was a house I shared with the morning reporter. I worked evenings so we rarely saw each other during the week. That worked well until Saturday. Her boyfriend would come to town and they wanted me to get lost so they could play house. That got old in a hurry. I would go to my parents' house to do laundry and get a free meal. Then I would end up hanging out at work on my day off until 11:30 waiting for my friends to get off work so we could go out. When the owners sold the house I wasn't too sad to part with my roommate.

The 2nd place in Elmira was the fake roommate situation. Two of my friends at WETM were dating. The woman rented an apartment in a house. She had a roommate who was rarely home. Her boyfriend wanted to move in but they didn't want their parents to know. I moved in to a downstairs apartment by myself but the boyfriend used that as his address, kept a few things there and paid part of the rent. That lasted a few months until the 2 female roommates had a fight and my fake roommate had to start paying rent upstairs.

Apartment #3 in Elmira was an efficiency with no shower. It was in a building above a business. There was a main room just big enough for a double bed, love seat and TV stand. There was a small kitchen and a built in cabinet in the hall where I stored my clothes. The bathroom had no shower, just a handheld shower thing attached above the faucet. I literally sat in the tub to take a shower. After about a year the apartment next door came open. That was the first time I moved within the same building.

Apartment #4 had a separate bedroom and a shared kitchen/living room area for the same price as the last place. The strange part about this apartment was that the bathroom was down the hall. Not within the apartment, but the shared hall that went to all 3 apartments on that floor. I literally had to leave the apartment and go down the hall to use the bathroom or shower. At least it had a real shower! After a few months of that I got a job in Fort Myers, FL and we entered the next phase of apartment living.

My first place in Fort Myers (#5) was the standard 1 bedroom Florida apartment with a pool. It was in a very large apartment complex. For the first time I had a modern apartment with a dishwasher and washer/dryer. After Elmira apartments it was heaven!

After 2 years they were raising the rent and I wanted a little more space. Apartment #6 was another standard 1 bedroom apartment with a little more square footage and in a smaller complex. I stayed there 3 years. By that point I was almost 30 and kind of tired of living in apartment complexes. I wanted more space and someplace a little nicer.

Place #7 was a 2 bedroom condo. It was in a 5 story condo building that had a center court with a pool. This was Florida so most of the residents were elderly. No problem. They were good neighbors and I had more space and covered parking. If you've ever lived in a hot climate you know what a bonus covered parking is. I lived on the 4th floor and really liked it. However, after 3 years the condo was sold and I had to move once again. Luckily the nice elderly condo president hooked me up. He found me another condo in the building that was for rent. This was the 2nd time I moved within the same building.

Place #8 was a ground floor condo. It wasn't quite as nice as the last place but was still fine. They sold that place on me too. Luckily this time the new owner also bought it as a rental so I did not have to move. After a couple of years I left Fort Myers and moved to Pennsylvania to get married.

Place #9 was our 3 bedroom townhouse. We had two days to find a place when I came up for a visit when we got formally engaged. We wanted a place that included lawn maintenance since Mark traveled so much. We liked the space and layout of the townhouse. We clearly were not thinking ahead! Because we were the 2nd owner we did not research the builder which was a mistake. The place was built on the cheap. Our house inspector did not catch some major builder errors which ended up costing us money when we sold.

The layout that seemed so perfect was terrible once we had children. The master was on the first floor. Great when I was pregnant with triplets. Not so great once the kids were sleeping in their own room upstairs. We ended up sleeping in the guest room for about 4 months because it was across the hall from the kids. There was an open loft that overlooked the 2 story great room. It had toddler accident written all over it. Plus, of couse, there just wasn't enough space with 3 babies. We moved when they were 8 months old and just starting to crawl.

Place #10 is the house we are moving out of this week. We kind of planned to live here until we were too old to climb the stairs so leaving after 3.5 years wasn't really expected. However, Mark's new job was too good of an opportunity to pass up. We are leaving a 4 bedroom house built by a great builder in a nice community. I sure hope our next house and community ends up being all that we want.

Now we move in to limbo for about 2.5 months. The kids and I will be moving to my parents' house until after Christmas. Then we will be moving in to the furnished townhouse that Mark is renting in Fort Mill. Our house is just being started so we really hope it will be finished in early February. This hole in the ground will be Place #11. I would really like to live there more than 3 years!

Trick or Treat

2010-11-14T22:37:00.000-05:00

Trick or Treat was a big success this year. 2 years ago it was a warm day and they did great. Last year it was really chilly and they were cold and whiny. This year I had them dressed warm enough and they are old enough to walk the 2 streets we go on in a reasonable amount of time.

All of Mark's family was able to come this year which made it extra fun. Uncle Bill stayed home to pass out candy. Aunts Luciann, Vanessa and Michele went Trick or Treating with us along with Uncle Gio. Gio gets major points for coming at all. Katie was SO excited to Trick or Treat with Uncle Gio. He came and walked the whole way with Katie despite having a medical issue a day or 2 before. Abby and Ben took turns going around with the rest of us.

Ben wasn't too sure what to make of this guy but he wanted the Oreos.

These people had their garage decorated. Abby refused to go near it. One of the neighbor boys went and got her a piece of candy. How sweet!

It took us about an hour to do our neighborhood. The kids had over flowing baskets of candy and chips. We went home to take some after pictures. Then the kids got to eat one or two pieces of candy and the chocolate chip cookie cake that Aunt Michele and Uncle Gio brought them. Surprisingly they actually went to bed decently after all of that excitement and sugar. We are seriously going to miss going Trick or Treating with our relatives and in this neighborhood!

Preschool Halloween

2010-11-14T21:41:00.000-05:00

Two days before Halloween it was time for the kids' preschool party. They were allowed to wear their costumes to school. Thank goodness no one had a really difficult costume to put on because it was just me trying to get them dressed and ready for school on time.

They had fun at their party. After they had a Halloween Parade around the parking lot and then stood for the parents to take pictures. It was really cold. We were all freezing waiting for the kids to come out. I didn't get as good pictures as last year. They took them in to the field so it was easier to get a whole shot of the class last year. This year they didn't do that because of the cold. I had other parents standing in my way too. Oh well. The kids came home with a ton of candy and assorted junk so they were happy.

Minnie Mouse Katie

Princess Tiana (The Princess and the Frog) Abby

Astronaut Ben

Katie and her special friend Vinnie

Pumpkin Farm Time

2010-11-11T00:34:00.000-05:00

I am super behind on this blog and want to get caught up on a couple of posts before we move.

A week before Halloween we made our annual trip to Janoski's Pumpkinland. This is our 3rd visit. We always go with Mark's sisters Luciann and Vanessa. This year his sister Michele joined us too. The kids love going to the pumpkin farm. This year they were finally old enough to really do almost everything.

First we went to the animal petting area. They were really in to the animals this year. Abby started "feeding" them. That consisted of taking some hay and tossing it in their general direction. The other kids started doing it too. There is a no feeding the animals rule but since they weren't actually feeding I just let them do it. They petted several animals too.

After the petting zoo they got in line to ride the ponies. Last year Katie was too scared to ride. She had a panic attack when we tried to get her to do it. Then, later in the day she wanted to ride but the line was too long. She spent the next few months accusing me of not "letting" her ride the ponies. This year there was no drama. All 3 of them happily got on their pony. Ben looked especially thrilled about his ride.

Next it was time to get on the hayride to pick the pumpkins. Katie and Abby decided on their pumpkin relatively easily. Ben took longer. He kept picking up pumpkin after pumpkin. Then he was causing pumpkins to roll down the hill on to another row of pumpkins. We had to stop that behavior quickly. Finally we managed to convince him to pick a pumpkin and took a few pictures of the kids before getting on the hayride again.

We ate lunch at the concessions. Abby ate her weight in funnel cake, I think! Then the girls had their faces painted for the first time. They played on the swings and were able to ride the tricycles with a little assistance. There was a place where they could jump in the hay and play with dried corn. What a big mess! They were covered in hay but enjoyed every minute of it. I think this is the only year I managed to get all 3 of them to stand in front of the "how tall are you this year" sign.

We then made our way out of Pumpkinland and in to the greenhouse area. The kids helped Luciann pick out a big pumpkin to carve. They also helped me pick out mini pumpkins and corn to use as decorations. Ben once again got in trouble for tipping pumpkins. Not a good thing when the pumpkins for sale are rolling across the parking lot because of my kid!

Stop tipping the pumpkins over!

Then it was MY time. We went to the market and I got to shop. Yummy baked goods, fresh local produce and pickles and jelly made without crappy ingrediants. I am going to miss going to this pumpkin farm.

After we left we went back to the aunts' house for pumpkin carving and a pizza party. All in all it was a great day!

Katie's 'pecial Helper Day

2010-10-18T15:45:00.000-04:00

Yes, it is really Special Helper Day, but not when Katie says it. Katie is mostly missing the S sound at the start of her words. It is only in the last month that she is getting the S sound but it hasn't made yet made it to the word special. I have to admit it sounds kind of cute the way she says it. I'm going to be a little bit sad when she finds that darn S full time but it will be a lot easier for others to understand her.

Katie was beyond excited to be the Special Helper. Heck, she was excited when her brother and sister were the helpers. On Katie's morning I went in to wake up the kids and said "good morning Special Helper Katie." She immediately jumped out of bed with happy energy and started bouncing around the room. Her brother and sister did not share her enthusiasm about getting out of their nice, warm beds but we made it to school anyway. Katie really wanted to get to school and do her job!

Katie was the helper on a Wednesday. They call it Wacky Wednesday at school. We found the Dr. Seuss book "Wacky Wednesday" at the library for her show and tell item. It was a big hit with all the kids. On Wacky Wednesday they do things backwards. They start with Z, Y, X when doing the alphabet and count down from 30 while doing numbers. When she wrote her nametag she ran out of room and had to put some letters on the bottom so even her nametag was wacky.

She enjoyed passing out the namecards and snacks. Katie's snack was graham cracker Scooby Snacks and juice. Scooby Snacks always go over well with the class. She also liked being first in line to go to the art room.

Abby, on the other hand, was jealous. When I was taking pictures of Katie doing her Special Helper duties I could see Abby in the back of the room looking annoyed. I wasn't sure if she had some kind of problem so I asked her before leaving. She said everything was too "Katieish." Silly, jealous girl! I had to remind her that the previous days had been "Abbyish" and "Benish" and it was just Katie's turn. I had to take Abby's picture just to make her happy.

Katie was very happy. In fact, I think Katie would be very happy to be the Special Helper every day!

Katie and Mrs. Millerschoen

Writing her nametag

Just follow the letters in a circle. Wacky!

Ringing the bell

Getting her attendance sticker

Stretch!

Jealous Abby

Line leader!

Thumb's Up

2010-10-11T22:55:00.000-04:00

This one's for you, Daddy!

Ben's Special Helper Day

2010-10-05T23:21:00.000-04:00

Monday it was Ben's turn to be the special helper at preschool. Mark is back in Charlotte working so unlike last week it was just me to take video and pictures. I was trying to hold the camcorder in one hand and the DSLR camera in the other. As anticipated, the results aren't quite as good. Some of the still photos are blurry. I'm sure in years to come when we want to look at the video, Ben is going to wonder if Mommy was drinking when she took the video. Oh well, I did my best.

Ben loved being the special helper. It is fire safety week at school so we checked out a book about firefighters from the library for his show-and-tell item. He also got to wear a firefighter's hat during play time. Ben isn't always willing to take the time to write his name (although he knows how) so I was very happy he wrote his own name on his name tag. It was also cooking day. They made sugar doughnuts for letter D week. He was extra happy to be the first one in line and the first one to get to eat!

Got to love the hats during Fire Safety Week.

The hat might be just SLIGHTLY too big for that baby.

Silly girl!

Ben writing his name tag. Car in one hand, pen in the other.

Getting his attendance sticker

Passing out name cards

Hi. I am 4 years old. If you want to take my picture, at least one of the shots is going to look like this!

Abby's Special Helper Day

2010-10-03T15:39:00.000-04:00

The kids' preschool has a special helper every day. They go in alphabetical order plus you get to be the helper around or on your birthday. Last year my kids were gypped. Our last name is at the end of the alphabet and they have a summer birthday. They were all the special helper once before Christmas. By the time their 2nd individual turn should have come around it was towards the end of school and the teachers were trying to get all the summer birthdays in. My kids had to be the shared helpers for their early birthday day. While everyone else in the class got to be the special helper 3 times, mine only got 2 and 1 of those times they had to share. Sometimes it really doesn't pay to be a triplet.

They LOVE being the special helper and ask almost daily if it is their turn yet. This year I know we will not be here the whole year. By the time their normal turn comes around we might not even be here. That is why I asked if they could be moved up. It is bad enough we are going to leave in the middle of school. I was determined the kids would not get gypped out of being the special helper this year.

Friday was Abby's turn. The special helper gets to ring the cleanup bell and pass out the name tags. They hold the flag for the Pledge of Allegiance and point to the letters, numbers, colors and days of the week. They put the date on the calendar and tell everyone what the weather is like that day. They get to be first in line all day. The special helper brings the snack and gets to pass it out at snack time. Who wouldn't want to be the special helper!

An extra added bonus was that Mark was home for a long weekend so we both got to watch Abby be the special helper.

"Carrying my baby all over town"

Getting her name tag

Ringing the clean up bell

The 1st one to put her sticker on

Passing out name tags

She is SO short!

Ben bumped his chin on the table

They usually sit at different tables, but Abby put their name tags all in a row.

1st Day of Preschool

2010-10-01T14:55:00.000-04:00

Yes, I am a slacker. The kids started preschool three and a half weeks ago and I haven't put up any pictures. They are having a good year overall. It is such a big change in maturity from last year in some ways. They all walk in, hang up their own things and happily go in to the classroom. Now...if we could just get Abby and Ben motivated to learn how to write their letters. They both need to work on fine motor skills. Ben especially needs to work on paying attention and following directions. That applies to both school and home! I really hope we can find a preschool after we move because I think it is really good for all 3 of my kids. For those who haven't already seen these on Facebook, here are the pictures.

Katie

Abby

Ben

For Mark

2010-09-28T17:35:00.001-04:00

This is what I (Lori) think of our house not selling!

Where were you (when the world stopped turning)?

2010-09-11T13:26:00.001-04:00

That song, by Alan Jackson, perfectly summed up the mood of the country immediately following September 11, 2001. Nine years ago. It doesn't seem that long. That day and the days that followed are etched in my mind like it was yesterday. I'm sure every American who was old enough to understand what was happening can say the same thing.

I was working as a director at WINK-TV in Fort Myers, Florida. My shift was 2:45-11:45. It suited me because I am not a morning person. My normal routine was to come home from work, stay up half the night and sleep until noon. It didn't quite work that way on September 11th. I was asleep when the planes hit the towers in New York City. Mark (at the time we were just friends) called me on the phone and woke me up to talk about what happened. I had no idea what he was talking about but turned on the TV and was quickly drawn in to the horror that was happening in New York. I watched the first tower fall. It didn't seem like this could really be happening but it was.

After the first tower fell I decided to try and get a little more sleep. After all, my night had been cut short and the rest of the day would likely be busy and difficult. In my mind I didn't really think the 2nd tower would fall because the plane had hit it at a different spot. Right before turning the TV off, they were talking about reports of smoke near the Pentagon and speculating a helicopter might have crashed. Of course, I didn't fall back to sleep. That was not mentally possibly no matter how tired I was. When I turned the TV back on the 2nd tower had already fallen and they knew a plane had crashed in to the Pentagon.

The Pentagon plane was the one that personally concerned me. My brother Rob works as a government consultant in Washington, D.C. and worked at the Naval Yard. I knew he occasionally went to the Pentagon for meetings. Thankfully that was not one of those days. When I talked to him several hours later he was safe at the Naval Yard on the highest level of military lockdown. He had driven past the Pentagon shortly before the plane hit but that was as close as he came.

The rest of the day at work was surreal. We sat and watched TV all day along with the rest of America. Occasionally we would do a little work. Most of our newscasts were cancelled. When I went home that night I watched more coverage. Then I tried to sleep. That didn't happen. My exhausted body was no match for the images that were going through my mind of the horror of that day. There is a line in the Alan Jackson song "Did you open your eyes and hope it never happened Close your eyes and not go to sleep." That was me. I didn't sleep until the following night and alternately cursed Mark for waking me up and being glad he did because it was important to know what happened.

Like all local stations, our news team immediately started looking for the local connection to the events in New York, Washington and Shanksville. They didn't have to look too far. President Bush was at an elementary school in Sarasota when the planes hit and he learned about it. One of our reporters was there covering the President.

One of the flight attendants on the Shanksville flight was from Fort Myers. Her name was CeeCee Lyles. Her husband Lorne was a local police officer. In the weeks that followed, we did a lot of satellite uplinks for national news shows. Mr Lyles came in several times. Watching the quiet grief and confusion of this man was heartbreaking. We all felt so bad for him and there was nothing we could do to make it better. CeeCee and Lorne Lyles had a blended family of 4 boys ranging from about 6-16. I'll never forget one night when he was on Larry King. The other guests had younger children who had a parent killed and Larry was asking how they were dealing with explaining what happened. After the show ended, Mr. Lyles told one of our camera people that he wished Larry had asked him that question. His children were older and could comprehend what happened. How was he supposed to help his kids? The confusion and sorrow in that grieving man will stay with me forever.

The other local connection was the owner of a SW Florida flying school. Two of the hijackers had learned to fly at his school. He came in often to go on the national news shows too. What an arrogant, rude man! He was full of himself and his 15 minutes of fame. I just wanted to smack him upside the head and tell him the story wasn't about him. It was about the victims who died and the ones left behind like the Lyles family.

In the midst of everything that week, a tropical storm hit SW Florida. Normally that would have been a bigger deal and we would have been doing a ton of weather coverage. That week it just seemed like an afterthought. The night after I finally slept I ended up staying at the station for most of the night to run weather crawls. That was the point I couldn't take the news coverage anymore. Alan Jackson wrote "Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watching and turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns." I spent the night scanning the cable channels for any old show that wasn't depressing.

9 years ago. For all of us it is a day we can never forget, but isn't something we think of every day. The feelings are stirred up on the anniversary but it isn't a part of our every day lives. For the families of the victims the pain will never end. I know from media reports it took years for Lorne Lyles to put his life back together. It is for all the victims on the planes, in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon that we remember this day. It is for the families left behind that we still feel sympathy and give our support. We won't forget. We can't forget. Where were you?

Properly Attired

2010-09-04T18:17:00.000-04:00

Today is the first Penn State football game this season. We are a Penn State crazy family. Not only did Mark and I meet at Penn State, both of our brothers are also alumni. My parents had season tickets for many years and my brother still does. As soon as we knew we were having triplets, it became a priority to have them properly attired.

6 weeks old

Mark could not wait to buy Penn State baby clothes. He came home from working a basketball game while I was pregnant with 3 cute onesies and bibs. They were 0-3 month size. The first time the kids wore them they were about 6 weeks old and about 5-6 pounds. The clothes were too big for the kids but we dressed them up anyway and took pictures. That first game we were at my parents' house. Mark was out of town for work. We packed up and drove 6 hours because I was in a panic about being left alone for a week with 3 infants who needed to be fed 24/7. It was kind of cool the first week, so we took more pictures the following game.

Ben still looked jaundiced at 6 weeks.

7 weeks old

When they were one, Uncle Rob started making it a priority to make sure his nieces and nephew were properly attired. He came to our house after the first football game with tiny t-shirts and sweatshirts. It was much harder to get them to stay still long enough to take pictures that year!

Katie, one year old

Abby, one year old

Ben, one year old

The only way to get a 3 shot that day!

At age 2 Uncle Rob came through again. As 2 year olds, the kids were more willing to pose.

Touchdown! Age 2

At age 3, Daddy got back in the clothing game and picked up t-shirts for the crew. The kids, however, weren't so cooperative for pictures.

As good as it gets, age 3

Today, at age 4, it is Grandma and Grandpa who furnished the clothes. They were part of their birthday presents. Although still a challenge, it was easier to get them to pose this year.

Age 4

Always have to end with the silly shot when you are 4!

The day Mommy let us get muddy

2010-09-01T22:28:00.000-04:00

Yes, I am normally one of "those moms." The kind that doesn't really like their kids to get too dirty. I know I'm not the only one. Some moms I know have different levels of clothing they have their kids wear so they only get dirty in certain clothes. I don't do that, but AM guilty of often steering the kids away from activities that will get them messy.

Today I let them get muddy. It didn't start our that way. We had another 90 degree day and weren't going anywhere. Since it is September 1st in Pennsylvania, there probably won't be too many more of these days. It seemed like a good day to let the kids play in the sprinkler.

They all ran in and out of the sprinkler at first, but soon Abby and Ben lost interest and began to play on the deck. Katie kept playing in the sprinkler.

After about 40 minutes I warned the kids it was almost time to turn the sprinkler off. I would let them play outside for a little while longer but then it was bath time. They always have grass clippings stuck to them after sprinkler play so a bath is necessary. Before I could turn the water off, Katie realized all that water had made some mud puddles and she started playing in one. Usually I tell them to stop splashing, but not today. Once Abby and Ben realized what was happening they had to get in on the fun. It isn't every day Mommy lets them splash in the mud!

After I turned the sprinkler off it was time for damage control. Everyone got hosed down, stripped on the deck, toweled off and marched right up to the tub. They had a great time!

First Sleepover

2010-08-31T23:50:00.000-04:00

We spent most of the week after Mark went back to Charlotte getting over our colds. By the next weekend we had recovered and had things to do. Mark's sisters invited the kids to their first sleepover on Saturday night. This worked very well because we had an Open House scheduled on Sunday and I could finish cleaning in peace.

The kids had been excited about the sleepover but as the time got closer Katie got nervous because she thought she was going to miss me. However, after Aunt Vanessa called and told her she was going to sleep in a new sleeping bag she was fine. Apparently a sleeping bag wins over mommy!

They had a great time! McDonald's for supper, pancakes and bacon for breakfast. They took 2 walks, watered the plants, played games, blew bubbles and had a "picnic" of fruit and chips on the driveway right before I picked them up.

In the meantime, I cleaned. Putting 2 coats of polish on the hardwood floors was SO exciting! They do look better, though. I let the kids have one last ride on their ride on toys before they left. I think the train we got from my parents' house after our other ride on broke is what was scratching the floors so bad. Besides, they are 4 years old and getting big for them. It was kind of bitter sweet for me. They have had so much fun with those ride ons the last 3 years. I think I was sadder than the kids, but they do miss them.

Ben on the train

Katie on the car

Abby on the rocket

While waiting for the first coat of floor polish to dry, I did manage to sneak in some fun. I went shopping by myself. OK, it was all stuff for the kids, but alone time hasn't happened much the last month. I also picked up some take out from Quaker Steak n Lube. No cooking and being able to eat without waiting on kids is a treat by itself.

Sunday morning I did the last minute cleaning and picking up for the Open House and picked up the kids. They were very excited to tell me all about everything they did at the sleepover and show me the gifts Aunt Luciann bought them. As with most sleepovers, there wasn't much sleep. I had 3 cranky, tired kids. Since we had to kill several hours, the first thing I did was drive around so they would nap. Then we had a late lunch at Burger King where I let them play on the play area and a trip to Home Depot to kill time.

The Open House wasn't very successful. We had some people come through but none of them were serious buyers. I love spending hours cleaning for nothing. At this rate we may be living apart from Mark forever.

All Hail Disney!

2010-08-21T17:13:00.001-04:00

That is our new motto around here. All Hail Disney! Mark is now employed by ESPN Regional which is owned by Disney. That makes him a brand new Disney employee with all the benefits that come with that. The biggest benefit is health insurance, of course. Mark has been self-employed for the 20 years since he graduated from college. The only time he had health benefits that he didn't pay 100% was the almost 3 years of our marriage before children when I worked and carried the benefits. Health insurance is expensive! For our family of 5 it would have cost us about $11,000-$12,000 this year. We will still pay for family benefits through Disney but it is a substantial savings.

The fun benefit will be free admission to Disney parks except for blackout dates. We will live about 8 hours from the closest park so that isn't something that we will be using often. It sure will be great when we get to use it!

The benefit we have actually used is the one that is a big deal to a bunch of 4 year olds and their parents. We get a discount at The Disney Store! Last Saturday Mark took his brand new discount card out for a test drive to get each of the kids a gift. He picked clothes out for them at The Disney Store in Charlotte and I called up the pictures on their website to get kid approval. Frankly, it was a bit of a toss up as to which they were more excited about all week. Daddy visiting or the Cinderella, Belle and Lightning McQueen clothes! OK, Daddy won that contest but the clothes were a big hit!

Introducing the Super Hero

2010-08-19T00:16:00.001-04:00

Introducing Super Hero Abby (wearing Ben's dress up clothes), her self proclaimed Trusty Sidekick Katie, and The Bad Guy (Ben).

Super Hero Abby

The Bad Guy, The Super Hero and The Trusty Sidekick

The toys have taken over!

2010-08-18T01:02:00.001-04:00

Our kids have a lot of toys. They are the only grandchildren on either side of the family. I enjoy buying them things for special occasions. One could say they are a bit spoiled in the toy department! I have packed away some of their things but since then they had a birthday and got more stuff. They really, really like to play with EVERYTHING, often at the same time.

The princesses, Little People, dollhouse and Barbies come out almost every day.

We haven't been going out much in the last couple of weeks. Mark has already moved to Charlotte to start his new job. We have no more activities. I didn't sign them up for anything the last half of the summer because we hoped we would be moving. Our library storytime is on hiatus for a few weeks. School doesn't start until after Labor Day. Plus, mommy is a bit depressed some of the time and is just happy if the kids are entertaining themselves with minimal fighting. That is, I'm happy they are entertaining themselves until it is time to pick up the toys.

The toys have taken over! I AM making them pick up a lot of their toys now, especially on a day this bad. The thing is right now I need things picked up better than 4 year olds are capable of doing. If someone calls for a house showing the next day I need the toys to start at a manageable level. This means I am picking up toys forever!

The playroom

Living room

The kids do get points for creativity. Nothing wrong with their sorting skills either. They like to make piles or areas for certain things. This day they were playing zoo.

Dolls on the couch

The elephant area.

My personal favorite. Polar bears by the sink.

Saturday Pictures

2010-08-15T15:06:00.000-04:00

The kids like to pretend to be the Fresh Beat Band right now. The Fresh Beats were at our house on Saturday.

Kiki and Marina are dancing

Twist was unhappy because he didn't know where his toy guitar was.

It was very hot so we didn't go out and play during the day. After a supper at McDonald's because Mommy didn't want to cook, we went out on the back deck to play.

Why we're moving

2010-08-14T12:38:00.000-04:00

Mark has worked as a freelancer in television production for sports his entire adult life. He used to do camera but for many years now he has done graphics. What that means is, if you are watching sports on TV, most of the words on the screen would come from him. Either running the machine or coordinating what does go on the screen with the operator. Since he was a freelancer that meant no benefits of any kind.
This job involves a lot of travel. He did Pirates baseball for 19 years. During baseball season he was gone almost 50% of the time. He wasn't gone as much at other times of the year, but a lot. When we were first married that wasn't a big deal. After all, I had lived by myself for years prior to getting married. That all changed when I got pregnant with triplets. As the pregnancy progressed, my ability to take care of my own needs decreased. Then the babies were born. Being home alone for as long as 7-10 days at a time with infant and toddler triplets was loads of fun for me. Missing his family was hard for Mark. He also had to work more days since I no longer work and we had 3 extra mouths to feed. I estimate he has been gone about 40% of the time for the first 4 years of their life. We were both tired of that situation.

In March he was told about a new job that was being created at ESPN Regional in Charlotte. He called me on the phone and excitedly told me about the job. It would be full time with benefits and not a lot of travel. However, we would have to move to Charlotte. Throughout the whole conversation I kept agreeing it sounded like a great opportunity but kept saying "I don't want to move to Charlotte." Fast forward almost 5 months later. We are moving to Charlotte. With more time to think about things and a visit to check the area out I agreed to the move.

Mark started his job 2 weeks ago. I am still here, taking care of the kids by myself. We are waiting for the house to sell. The real estate market stinks. I am not in a great mood these days. Mark has always been gone a lot, but at least I knew when he was coming home. I don't know when we are going to live together again and it is making me crazy. Or maybe taking care of 3, 4 year olds by myself is making me crazy. Either way, I'm ready to start the next chapter in our lives.

Our Friends Birthday Party

2010-08-12T17:06:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we went to the 4th birthday party for our friends Lydia, Jennifer and Taryn. We had a great time. Mark has been bugging me to see some pictures, so here they are.

2 sets of 4 year old triplets

Ben loves icing.

Katie enjoying her cupcake.

Abby looked so cute in that hat.

Starting this blog

2010-08-12T14:04:00.001-04:00

I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while. This seems like a good time. We will be moving (hopefully soon) and this could be a good way for friends and family to keep up with our family. I'm sure they will want to see pictures of the kids primarily. I don't intend it to be just a family blog, though. It is my blog and I want to be able to express myself however I want. It might be good for me to have an outlet to express myself. Whether anyone will want to read it for anything more than kid pictures is questionable. No matter. I hope to have fun writing and maybe someone will read.