Blog Silence

If you receive my newsletter you will have heard a bit about this there…

I think I’ve stopped and started, deleted and rewrote this post at least a half-dozen times, trying to figure out how best to convey what I’ve been thinking, feeling, and not saying…I still haven’t got too far with that, but here’s my best shot.

A few months ago I kissed social media goodbye, when I pretty much had it with Facebook and trying to do all those things that blogger should. I committed myself to no longer being a slave to the should dos, and focused on the things I enjoyed {namely pinterest and instagram}; which I enjoyed. There was no pressure to be on everything.

Somehow that started to include my blog, and it’s not because I took a intentional break or I had nothing to say. It had more to do with me and where I was in my head. We’ve been through a lot in the past few months, not all bad, but just a lot. We were living in a house of chaos while we prepped to do renovations; we moved in with the in-laws while said renovations were happening; my sister was {and still is} very sick; and after 70 days we’re still living with my in-laws. For me, it has just been a lot of intense things, that I’ve just…not been overwhelmed by, but processing.

The processing and dealing with all of it has been a lot, and I haven’t had much time and energy for anything, beyond taking care of the kids {which has presented it’s own struggles}. It doesn’t help that I’ve felt like I’m in a bit of a dead-zone, when it comes to time. I walk outside and I’m surprised to see green trees, blue skies, and sun; I’m still thinking that it’s March. Time, for me, has very much stood still. Heck, it only hit me the other day that the fair is 2 months away!

While I’ve been silent, I’m certainly not going anywhere as a blogger. I love blogging, I love sharing {or as the case is most of the time…over-sharing}, and I love talking and emailing and keeping in touch with all of you! I’m hoping that once we’re home, and I’m back in my own space that the blog will pick up again. I have several posts noted on my calendar for the summer already, but I have to actually find the time to sit down and write them.

In the meantime, I’m trying to be more active on Instagram, so you can definitely find me there.
Catch me up on how you are all doing: Any exciting news or fun summer plans? Or boring news and no plans?

And I wanted to share this picture with you all…it’s from the top of one of the local roads on the way to my in-laws.

*I’ve now joined the world of the iPhone; and I love it!

The Lie

Has Satan ever told you a lie? Did you accept it as truth? Not doing what you felt you should be doing? Continuing on in fear because you were believing what he was saying? I have.

Most of my life I have not lived brave in God’s truth…I’ve cowered in fear, accepting Satan’s word as truth. Honestly, I think the first time I chose not to listen to Satan’s lies, to accept the truth that I am marked as Christ’s own, that He has a plan and a purpose for my life, was in pursuing fertility treatment to have children.

And it’s in that same area that Satan is trying to cow me once again.

But this time I can see it for what it is; this time, I didn’t back down. I saw it for what it was and prayed.

With everything that has been going on with my sister’s health, Satan has been whispering in my ear that I’m crazy for even thinking about welcoming a 5th child into this family, that there is no way in hell that I could handle it, that I’m not mom-enough to do the work, that we really only are surviving 4 kids because we got 3 of them out of the way at once {please don’t tell me I’m an incredible mom because of triplets…I’m not, I’m just a mom}. All of those things are lies.

I was in tears at the very thought of adding to our family. I was seriously questioning my sanity and my motivations for wanting another child. I had all but convinced myself that there was no way that we’d be having another child, because this is hard. And Matt just listened to all of it…knowing better than I.

Then His truth whispered like the gentle spring breeze into my heart…. “but it won’t be like this”.

And I cried some more, because it won’t be like this. It won’t be while living in my in laws basement {however nice it may be}, it won’t be my sister’s baby {while we we’re seriously worried about losing her}, it won’t be in the middle of a huge home renovation. It won’t be like this. It won’t be now. And in that I can take comfort. And even if it were, God would there.

Satan’s lies are one of the single most damaging things anyone faces. Even our children, no matter how small they are, Satan is already attacking them: Telling them they can’t do something, that mommy and daddy don’t love them when they’ve been disciplined, that there are monsters under the bed and things in the dark.

We need to see these lies for what they are: The wedge that Satan is trying to create between God and us. We are not called to live in fear; we are not meant to live a life filled with worry. Our God will only ever speak truth to us, and sometimes that truth will hurt, but it will never cause us to be fearful.

What is a lie that you’ve caught Satan telling you? What did you do about it?

Ideas for Indoor Fun!

Last week, I shared with you how I was starting to lose it, what with being sequestered indoors for weeks on end with 4 kids 4 and under. This past weekend, Matt and I decided to grab the bull, uhh to do list, by the horns. We’ve been wanting to make a tent/fort/teepee thing for months now, and it was just time.

Activity One – Teepee

We asked Ave if she’d rather have a “house” or a teepee and the teepee won out. We found this awesome tutorial, and Matt headed to the hardware store: For around $60 he got everything we needed. The instructions were pretty good, but the blogger wasn’t quite sure how the previous person managed to get all of the pieces out of a 9x12 tarp, so being the person I am, I spent about a half hour figuring out how to cut all the pieces out of one drop cloth.

The way I worked it out is this way…

I had all the panels cut out in about 20 minutes. The first one took the most work, with figuring out the measurements and such. We used a chalk line to mark it. Then used that piece as the template to cut out the other 4 panels. I did hem the bottom edges that were un-hemmed; I didn’t realize that drop cloths frayed the way they did.

The rest of the instructions on the blog were easy to follow. I did end up serging all of my inside seams, because of how much the fabric frayed and because it strengthened the seams too. We didn’t have ribbon on hand to finish the inside ties, but we did have some good rope that Matt pulled out {one of the perks of having a nautically-minded husband…you always have rope}.

I thought I had this great project for Matt to do, and it ended up making more work for me than him. Matt had all the PVC pieces together in about 15 minutes: I spent about 2 hours {with the ties being stitched in} sewing together the whole actual teepee {not quite what I had planned on doing during nap time}. The whole thing came together awesome!

We do think that there needs to be some adjustments on the teepee frame, because the legs on the front get spread too far back and then the teepee falls over. Have to figure that out still.

Activity Two – Doorway Bean Bag Toss

Before Christmas everyone was asking me for gift ideas for the kids, but we really didn’t WANT anything more. One thing we did find was a 3-in-1 monkey toss for a doorway, which looked pretty awesome. Then they were out of stock, so my mother in law, crafty lady that she is, made something similar.

It was pretty simple construction on this, and wouldn’t even need to be made as fancy. Depending on how much you spent on fabric, will determine just how much the project costs. If you could find $1/yd fabric, the whole thing could be made for less than $20, plus the rod for the doorway {Target has tension shower rods for $7.00}.

My mother in law asked how high and wide we wanted it to be {it did end up being a bit longer than we needed}. She took 2 pieces of fabric that were the same size {she was going for fish and picked these fabrics out}. On the front piece she cut out holes and then finished the holes with a bias tape {if we were to make this again, I think the holes would be smaller—they’re about the size of a small dinner plate, which means the kids fit through them}.

Then she stitched the two pieces of fabric together on the short ends. With it right side out, she stitched another row about 3” down from the top, to create a sleeve for the shower curtain rod. In the bottom you can put a a shallow tote or an old cookie sheet to spread it out and way down the bottom. I ended up going back through and stitching the sides together, because the kids kept climbing between the 2 layers of fabric and pulling the whole thing down on their heads.

My mother in law is a seamstress, so the kids got actual fish-shaped bean bags, complete with painted gills, spots, and faces. You could just as easily stitch together squares or circles. Our fish weigh around 4ounces, which is a good weight, and are filled with dried beans {but you could use rice to fill them, too}. This project could be as simple or as detailed as you want to be. Honestly, your kids aren’t going to mind too much either way.

That’s what we’ve been up to lately. Believe me, the TV is still on way more than I would like, but most of the time they’re not even paying attention to it…they’re too busy moving furniture and making mountains out of cushions…yes I am one of those moms. I figure furniture can, and will be, replaced eventually, but these days inside…they can’t.

Just a Touch of Cabin Crazy

Most nights, I lay awake in bed; assessing the day’s craziness. I often thinking about what I could do differently the next day, what I would do better, and all around thinking of all those “good intentions” that I have for my children {most of which do not come to fruition}.

This winter has been a bit of a challenge. It’s really our first winter with mobile triplets, plus a 4 year old. It’s the first winter in which our house has felt too small {the kids pretty much spend their time in our living room}. It’s the first winter when we really could have gone outside, but didn’t because it’s been consistently too cold {YAY! For a REAL winter!}

Yesterday I kind of lost it, I may have gone off the deep end, I may just have thrown all sensibility out the window. I searched pinterest for some fun inside activities, and realized that most of them required forethought and planning. Then I figured what the hell and threw my arms in the air. I pulled out the blocks; I pulled out the play dough; I pulled out every single one of those things that make way too much of a mess.

And, I let this happen….

And this…..

And yes, even this…..{I will forewarn you to  turn off the sound, so you don’t have to hear my blaring voice}.

And you know what...it drove me a bit batty: Wait, I’m not going to lie, it actually drove me more than a bit. All of those things on the table and floor, the play dough that was ground into the cracks in the wood floor and the rug, all of it everywhere, made me want to pull my hair out. Because I know there is no point in cleaning it with little ones still up and about, and that as soon as they wake up from their naps, it’s going to happen all over again; which means mommy and daddy get to clean it up on their time.

You see this is one of those things of mommy-hood that I really don’t like: The mess. You know what I did like though…watching their creativity, watching the fun they had being in an off-limits room, watching how they actually behaved pretty well, despite my sewing machine and china cabinet being mere inches away.

But it is also one of the things that we need to do, allow the mess and the creativity. Allow them the opportunity to discover and learn who they are. Even if it does mean an hour spent with a steak knife cleaning play dough off the floor {and I truly say that with a smile on my face}.

Tales from Behind the Stroller

As you can imagine we get our “fair” share of looks and comments when we’re out and about with the quad stroller. Some are heartening and positive ones, the genuine smiles accompanied by “God bless you.” Some are a bit odd and creepy. And some are downright nasty and negative.

With fair week safely behind us, you can imagine we heard them all, and a few new ones. Which got me thinking about the various comments. Namely, why people say or act as they do. For all the comments, my question is the same: How were they raised? Were they raised to believe that children were a blessing or a burden? Were they raised to know that if you can’t say something nice you shouldn’t say anything?

The newest one I got was, “Is that legal?!” Huh? I didn’t know if they meant the stroller or the kids, either way, it was dumb. Then we had several women who would freak out every time they saw us and have some odd exclamations or have all of their kids run up and say “hi”. And there was always my favorite, those who commented negatively and seemed to think that you were somehow deaf to what they were saying.

But all of it, fades away when Avie reaches over and gives her little sister a hug: Both girls head to head, giggling. Or when one of the boys gets upset and the other reaches over to him, pulling his brother’s head to his shoulder. Those moments are beyond worth all of the hurtful comments that people make.

Flat Tires and God

This past weekend the kids and I decided to go out for the day. We got the car loaded with all that we would need and off we went. Matt’s been busy with fair related things, whether for us or helping out his dad, and there is only so much that mama can handle before it becomes necessary to get out and do something different.

The car was stocked with snacks and water, as well as our jerry-rigged ipad for viewing pleasure, and we were off! The trip to and fro was uneventful. We had our share of melt downs, lack of sleep, and food and sippy cups thrown around the inside of the car {WHY IS THAT?!} . We pulled into the driveway just in time for bed. All in all a successful day that everyone enjoyed!



Fast forward to Sunday morning.

Matt was out of the house early and doing, you guessed it, more fair stuff. He walked in the back door around 10:30. “Did you know you have a flat tire?”

“Umm….no.”

“Well, you do. Completely flat.”

Lovely. We walked outside together and sure enough, not just flat…riding on the rim, flat. Matt got the tire off and there was a small puncture. I had heard something at one point on the way home, a little while later the pressure light came on, I stopped and checked, but didn’t see anything. We had managed to get home long before it went flat.

I can’t even tell you how HUGE a blessing it was and how IMMENSE God’s care for us was. I know how to change a tire, but changing a tire on the side of a busy highway, with 4 little ones in the car, was NOT something I wanted to do. And I didn’t have to. God completely kept us in his care, carefully bringing us home.

Prayer. Plain and simple. All of it, was an answer to prayer.

Mamas, it’s ok…

You can find this post on my new site, JessicaMWhite.com, click HERE.

Hi, my name is Jessica…..Nice to meet you.

It’s been crazy around here….and I’m not even sure why. I know I had a few guest posts that went up last week, but they only happened, because they were written weeks ago. If you missed them, here they are: Meal Planning at the PurposefulWife.blogspot.com and Infertility Changed Me at NatashaMetzler.com .

This week isn’t shaping up to be much better. I feel like I go-go-go all day long, night comes and I look around and it seems like NOTHING was accomplished. Sunday, the kids stayed a few hours at my in-laws, which was great, for Matt. He managed to get a lot of outside work done: Apple trees trimmed, seeds planted in the garden, things done with the bees, and some other stuff. I’m not even sure what I accomplished, because there seemed to be just as much stuff before as after.

I have decided one thing though; the reason for my having to have projects, whether quilting or DIY, is because I need to have SOMETHING that has an absolute start and finish, otherwise I would go out of my mind. Laundry never gets “finished”, dishes never get “finished”, cleaning the house never gets “finished”: It’s entirely never ending. Sewing projects and other things at least give me a sense of accomplishment, once they’re done.

On top of the household to-dos, this weekend is Matt’s sister’s wedding, which means I’ve been doing whatever wedding stuff I can to help her out. Throw in a bit of kids not sleeping at night or during the day, and mommy is not having much time to blog, which stinks, because I so miss being here!

A brief run down of other things that I haven’t blogged about:

*Ellie is officially walking
*I started a Moms’ Night Out group, and we had our first get-together
*Went to (in)RL
*Started a project for the back yard
*Been busy planting veggies
*Finished a couple of books
*Got a haircut and color {realized how easy it is to straighten my hair with a curling iron}
*Bought some new fabric
*Finished a few more of my quilt blocks
*Have 50 chicks that we’re raising for meat, with another 50 coming today, and  more in the future {we’re doing 300 total}

I’m hoping that things slow down, at least a little bit, because we haven’t even gotten to the summer yet and I’m ready for Fall.

  If you’re missing me here, I am pretty active on instagram if you want to follow me there :-) or on Facebook

Don’t forget about the Ultimate Homemaking eBook Bundle sale going on right now!

Routines in the White House {Part 4}Transportation: Part 2

I posted before how we had our minivan setup with 4 car seats. Well, Ellie grew out of her infant car seat….it was a sad, SAD day. Fortunately, our tax return arrived just in time to purchase the new car seat.

So, I set about figuring how to have 3 car seats in the back row and 1 in the middle captain’s chair. And again, after much knuckle-ripping and head-bashing I had figured it out. Only to have it last about a week.

Yea.

See I had it all figured out, but then we discovered something: Avelyn get’s car sick any time we drive for more than 20-30 minutes, since she was in the back of the van. Since she’s the one who actually goes places with me, that are further than 30 minutes away, we had to reconfigure them again….fun right?



A few more choice words and bloodied knuckles and I had it figured out, again. I’m not keen on the boys being forward facing, despite their being well beyond the 20lbs and 30” recommendations, and a year old; however, it really was the only option given Avelyn’s propensity for vomiting in the car and that you could not fit any child over the backs of the wall of car seats in the back row. We felt ok with the decision to turn them, given that we never go anywhere…seriously…the only time the kids go more than 10 minutes in the car is for their well baby appointments. Elanor is still rear facing, due to her peanut stature and weight.

Soon after this set up was installed we discovered that now Henry, likes to vomit all over himself while in the car. Even while he is sound asleep. I really can sympathize with these kids, because frankly, being in the back seat of a van makes me want tear my hair out…l feel Iike I’m in a straight jacket and being held under water back there, just a slight panic attack, and I’m always the one driving because I get car sick.

We’ll probably stay in this configuration for a while, since I don’t see us turning Ellie before she’s 2 {the goal for every parent…I think a few states have actually mandated that now}. Of course, the boys just had another growth spurt and I will soon have to unstrap their seats in order to adjust their shoulder height. Please pray for me.

We figure we have about another 2 years in this vehicle and then we’ll be looking for another. There is seriously no room in it. Once we put the stroller in the trunk, you’re done. You can’t shove another thing back there. There is the roof, but you I’m paranoid of the clamshell flying off in the middle of the night while driving down the interstate {it’s really a good thing we don’t travel}. We know that once the kids are a bit older we will be travelling places more often, so we’ll definitely need the space.

We figure we could maybe get 1 more kid out of this car and then we’re looking at getting this bad boy….
Do these come in a color other than white? Beige or Silver or Tan perhaps?
By the way…did I mention, pray for me.

Where Does Our Food Come From?{and other random things}

A farm.

Fortunately for us, we are friends with the farmer. Our Mom to Mom group had a play date last week and the kids had a blast! It was the first nice day in a.g.e.s. and it was great being out in the sun!
*Yes, that is me wearing both Ellie and James at the same time.
*Henry was not feeling well and fell asleep on the couch when we got home.

We were even blessed with a SECOND day of nice weather, on which we headed to the playground at the elementary school.
There was even a THIRD day of nice weather, on which we stayed home.  
There wasn’t a fourth day…it’s been kind of blah again. But it was fun while it lasted!

Thoughts on Creativity

You can find this post on my new blog JessicaMWhite.com by clicking HERE.

Easter 2013

We hope that you all had a wonderful day, rejoicing in the resurrection of our Lord!

I figured I’d share a few pictures from our day. More and more I’m realizing that a good family picture is not something that’s going to happen, particularly when I have no one to take the picture but me.

This was our very sad attempt at getting a picture of the kids :-)

Toilet Time!

Potty training was one of those things that I absolutely dreaded. I’m not even sure why; I think it was this idea of a battle of the wills over using the toilet, and somehow my kids being in their teens and still wearing diapers. I’m not sure what, but it was something I dreaded.

We tried with Ave on occasion, before she was 2, but she was not interested. Every once in a while we’d see if she was interested, but she wasn’t. During the summer we decided to go sans-diaper for swimming lessons, and had no incidents of pool sharks. Then she started refusing to wear a diaper when I put her down for a nap….with no incidents. Then she started refusing to put a diaper on after the nap….with no incidents. By August, she was flat out refusing to ever put a diaper on, except at night time. And was having absolutely no accidents…even on a long car drive.

Within 2 weeks of all this we decided that we could officially claim she was potty trained, besides that one incident of her pooping in the backyard while she was outside playing (haha…it just didn’t look like the dogs’).

We had one poop incident in the fall, that I think was brought on by her cousin having an accident {I think she wanted to see how I would react}. She freaked after she did it, because the poop was all over her backside. I just reiterated that that’s why we use the potty and not our undies…and then laughed at how upset and disgusted she was by having pooped in her undies {not in her presence of course}.

At Christmas she decided that she didn’t want to wear a diaper at bed time. So I woke up every few hours to make sure that she got out of bed and went potty. Then she got sick and I insisted that she wear a diaper at night, because she needed to sleep and I was getting a bit tired of getting up several times a night, even when the babies didn’t need me.

I can now tell you that Avelyn has been entirely diaper free for almost 3 weeks…there was 1 incident, but it was my fault {I usually wake her at 10:30 or so and kept reading until I heard her crying at 11:15, that she’d wet the bed}. There hasn’t been an incident since. We’ve even decreased the number of times we get her out of bed. We were doing it twice {10:30 and 3:30 or so} and now it’s only at 10:30 and she’s doing great.

So what’s the secret to potty training?

They’ll do it when their ready: No pressure. There is absolutely no point in forcing the kid to do it. It’s just going to be traumatic for them and you. And it’s all the more better if you can make it easier for them to do on their own. Summer works for us, because Ave is usually wearing a dress, which makes it very easy for her to go in the bathroom on her own and go. I honestly never even need to ask her anymore if she needs to go potty, she just does it when she needs to.

As for how to potty train triplets….that’s going to be another story, but we’ll probably take the same approach. But, for now, we only have 3 in diapers.

Thirteen Years

Thirteen years ago today, this guy and I went on our first date, my first-ever date, to see Mission to Mars. We even held hands…after half the movie spent with our arms awkwardly on the arm rests, just in case the other was willing to go first. Once safely deposited back in my parents driveway, we made it official….and were boyfriend and girlfriend.

I expected it to last a few weeks before this guy realized I was my own brand of Crazy and went running for the hills…..

Thirteen years later, I’m still waiting for that.

Thirteen years ago, if you had told me all that the past thirteen years would have entailed I know I wouldn’t have  believe you, but I’m not sure if I would have laughed, cried, denied it or went running, in the opposite direction.

As you can imagine 5 1/2 years of dating, while living 300 miles apart for 8 months out of the year, with 2 months out of the year being without communication with each other, isn’t for the faint of heart. Particularly after you throw in some good family/sibling dramas.

Top it off with a fun filled wedding, a dash of house renovations, a good dollop of major back issues {resulting in Matt not being able to work or move from our couch for over a year, and seeing a variety of doctors throughout the North East for two years, before we had a solution}, add in a hefty helping of infertility, resulting in 2 pregnancies and 4 children…and that’s been our life together for the past 13 years.

That said. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It has been an incredible ride and I honestly can’t wait to see what the next 13 years bring, because if nothing else God has shown up every single time, every single day.

What makes us work? {Besides God} We’re both stubborn and flat out REFUSE to quit. While other couples were constantly taking a break and getting back together, we both agreed if that was the case, we were done. If it wasn’t working, then it wasn’t ever going to work. But we do, work….it is a lot of work, our friendship, our marriage, our kids, our house, our life…it’s all work, but we work well together.

And, yea, I would NEVER have believed any of it, the crazy that is my-life-in-the-White-house, but it has been SO, SO worth it.

March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb

In my experience, it’s usually the reverse that’s true. March teases us, letting us think that maybe, just maybe spring is around the corner…and then lambasts us with snow and horrible weather as the month wears on.

Last week (March 10th) we were outside for most of the afternoon, inspecting the “grounds” to see how things were coming along and what needed to be done, now that the nicer weather was coming.

The bees were out, the dilly-daffols were beginning to poke up their heads, the sun was shining and the weather was beautiful.

A couple days later it was gray and rainy, everything turning to icky-sticky mud.

If my Oma were still alive, she would be freaking out over this child not only playing, but sitting in the mud :-)

And this is what it looks like outside, right now….

Yea….more snow. We’re supposed to be getting another 5-9”.

Christmas, Craziness, and Half-Birthdays

I’ve decided something… 3 birthdays, 3 days before Christmas is way too much!

We knew it would be crazy, we knew we would be running constantly between activities, we knew that it would be exhausting. What we didn’t know {or think about} was just HOW trashed our house was going to be.

We didn’t have the party in our house, because there was just too many family members visiting for Christmas to fit them all in. My mother-in-law was more than willing for us to have it at their house {which seems to be turning into party central….it’s really the perfect place for parties}.

The party went well. The kids were sick and miserable the entire time. Green frosting was probably not the best choice of color, given their snotty noses. And, of course, they got way too many presents. Way too many.

Then there was Christmas 3 days later. 3 days in which I did not have time to deal with the birthday presents and get them all washed and put away and sorted through. Again, the kids got way too many presents, plus Avie’s.

I sorted it all out as to what was for now, what needed to be exchanged and what could be returned for gift cards for later. I did, and I’m not exaggerating, 10 loads of laundry that was just new clothes for the kids.

Toys were another thing. We actually packed up all the toys we had, every single one, before pulling out the birthday/Christmas gifts….we still have double or more toys in our living room now.

We got 3 or 4 of some of the same toys. So we had a pile that we had to return and get gift cards for…I’ll use them in the summer to buy some outside toys.

All of this craziness led us to one thing: Half Birthdays!

We decided that we would be celebrating Henry, James, and Ellie’s birthdays on June 22, as opposed to December 22nd. Of course, we’ll still do cake and presents from Mommy and Daddy in December, but the party and festivities will be in June.

The kids got enough toys/clothes that we can hold off on even having another party until next year. So, here’s to a 2.5 year birthday party in 2014!

Why I think I have it easier than you….

At the beginning of the summer I met with some blogging friends for dinner, and one of them said they loved following my blog because of all the ways in which I do/can help her with her own 3 children, from my experiences. I responded, that no advice I give can help anyone who doesn’t have multiples; which came out sounding rather demeaning and not really very kind {which is not at all how I meant it to sound. Sorry Trina.}

What I meant is this….

Having multiples is entirely different from having singletons {obviously}. There is, of course, the advice that can help any mom, whether with 1 kid or 10, twins, triplets etc, but the rest of it, is so different.

Here’s my opinion…Raising and caring for singletons, no matter how many or few there are, is INFINITELY HARDER than multiples. All of you non-multiples Mamas, you seriously impress me. I honestly don’t know how YOU do what you do.

Yes, I have 4 kids, but 3 of them are at the same stage in life. What other moms deal with for 2-3 years for each child, I deal with for 2-3 years for all 3.

I don’t have to figure out how to entertain a 6 year old, while dealing with a 4 year olds tantrum, while trying to get the 2 year old to sit still on the potty, and simultaneously change the poop-splosion of a infant. That my, friends, takes major talent.


All I have to do is give the 3 year old something to do, then go about changing a succession of diapers.

I don’t have to try and get the 6 year old and 4 year old to walk along with the stroller, without running away, while trying to get the 2 year to stop flipping themselves over the edge, and pray that the infant doesn’t wake up from the much needed nap.

All I have to do is strap 3 babies in a stroller and pay attention to the 3 year old.

I don’t have to try and do math with a 13 year old, while figuring out science for an 11 year old, spelling for a 9 year old and geography with a 7 year old.

All I have to do is have one curriculum for an older kid, while getting a few extra workbooks for the younger ones. And more than likely we’ll probably do them all together.

So, I say it again….SINGLETON PARENTS I COMMEND YOU! YOU ARE MY SUPER-HEROES! YOU ARE THE KINGS AND QUEENS OF MULTI-TASKING!

Someday this may change, my thoughts on having multiples being easier, but for my foreseeable future it looks pretty cushy. {Of course, now that I’ve posted this I’ve probably jinxed myself.}

Life is relative…everything we have or experience seems easier or harder, better or worse, in comparison to those around us, but it is our life that we have been given to live. Comparison will only rob of us, what we have.

What Shoes, Chocolate and “Georgies” Have in Common…

I’ve posted a few times over the year about our German tradition of St. Nicholas Day. This year we incorporated Avelyn giving up her “Georgie” {aka Pacifier}. It’s been 3 days now since she’s had a Georgie: It has not been fun but it hasn’t been as bad as a I thought.

Friday she decided not to nap, yesterday I got her to nap, but I had to sing her to sleep. Last night she was so excited and wound up after Matt’s surprise birthday party {at which she got to see her cousins} it, again, took a while to get to sleep. Tonight it took almost 2 hours to get her to sleep: Books are no longer enough, I have to sing, until she’s asleep, rubbing her head constantly. I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to increase my repertoire of songs.

Interestingly enough she hasn’t asked for her Georgie, she even thanked me on Friday for asking her to give up her Georgie, but I know the reason why she is not falling asleep per usual is not having it. It makes it really easy to give it back to her, but since St. Nicholas took them to the north pole, it’s kind of hard to just get them back.

On to St. Nicholas Day…

Ave was very excited to find a new book, a small bar of German Chocolate {in her shoes}, and everyone got matching pajamas!

What’s the fun of waiting until Christmas and only wearing them for a few days. I think they came out super-cute! Now I just have to finish Mommy and Daddy’s PJs for Christmas morning.

Routines in the White House {Part 4} Transportation

You can find this post on my new site, JessicaMWhite.com: Click HERE.

Of Broken Bones

No one in my family has ever had a cast: Not me or my brother or sister {don’t get me wrong we broke bones, just not ones that could be set}. I’ve had no experience with broken bones and casts. Alas, I can say that has ended.

A couple of weeks ago Henry was really fussy when you would touch his left leg. Nothing had happened to cause the pain that we could think of; we chalked it up to his having twisted something and gave it a few days, and it got better.

Then on Friday night Matt was walking down the stairs with Henry and fell. Henry started being especially careful with his leg, he didn’t like it when you changed his diaper or put socks on him, he wouldn’t put any weight on his leg. We decided that it was time to go to the doctor.

Sure enough, he has a hairline fracture of his left ankle. It’s such a miniscule hairline that the doctor had to enlarge the frame to fill the screen with a 1” section of his leg in order to see it. Our pediatrician sent us to the orthopedist to get another opinion, they decided that it should be casted. I think it was rather unnecessary, but at least we don’t have to be careful with his leg.

So my morning was spent with Henry getting his leg wrapped in blue plaster. Fun. He is now sporting a dark blue cast from his toes to his lower thigh {a bit excessive I thought}, but he seems to be managing it relatively ok. It’s only for 3 weeks and hopefully it doesn’t bother him too much. If it does the doctor said to come back and they’ll take it off.

He was a trooper though, and now I know what is involved with having a cast.

I guess God had His reasons as to why the kids’ Christmas outfits came out so big…it was to fit this lovely cast.