Let’s Celebr-eight!

Better (reeaallly….) late than never, embarking on the next year of triplets, from age seven and into age eight!! I constantly seem to write that I can’t recall where the time went, and everyday the three of them grow up a little more, becoming a little more independent, and grow into little ladies. Just like the last seven birthdays…go big or go home. Here’s an overview of what my littles were up to over the past year of age seven…I should probably post it before they turn nine! 🙂

This year’s theme began with a Studio Gibly theme, but once that appeared a little more difficult to achieve than we expected, we transitioned into all things magical and fairy related. The love of the supernatural world, of magic, is something we work so hard to embrace and protect, since it won’t be long before the believe fades away. Even since I originally wrote this, they are asking more questions on the realness of things that “magic” controls now.

Fairy Harper
Fairy Emerie
Fairy Reagan

Birthday number eight landed on the same night as this year’s Daddy Daughter Dance, much to the girls’ delight. Because their school always has a fundraiser auction the same night, that also meant no school transitioned to a day of preparing for the fancy dance, but also do all the birthday things with family visiting in town. We opened some of the presents from Craig and myself, including new panda, turtle and seal dresses, new Lego sets, and some horse related toys. This way the girls played with their newfound treasures while we prepared for the birthday party the following day.

This year I went all out on dresses for the dance- with the girls in larger sizes this year, we can exaggerate a little more like a mini prom, and I found three unique dresses instead of matching in their colors like prior years. Harper’s flowy pink dress contained lots of layers and ruffles; Reagan had a darker blue with ruffles and mesh down to the floor; and Emerie’s first try of a purple galaxy dress was tight so we traded it in for a black and white one with a train. It turned out so beautiful with black heels! All three were personally tortured by their mother’s demand of tights…which were bejeweled and likely to never be worn again. But they survived.

After hair was curled (x3) and Daddy’s nail salon and face masks complete, Grandma Sue applied the makeup and everyone got dressed. Emerie was a huge fan of red lipstick this year…oh so much red lipstick. The real highlight of the night was the lovely pink suits that Craig and Cousin Tyler rocked at the event- surprisingly both look great in a light shade of pink! I can’t report that my trio fully behaved at the event, but they sure did have a lot of fun and instantly started talking about next year. Tyler humoring them was also really fun, as they have some pretty amazing cousins who will do the girly things with them, something they will always be able to treasure.

Age seven had some of the usual milestones, and I did a really terrible job writing things down and writing blogs to track all the things. Here are a few of the ones I do recall, that project us forward into age eight! A few other fun ones to mention as well, all three finally experienced the northern lights, getting to see not only the normal green, but also the less than common pink and purple, during one particularly amazing light show last fall. All three greatly advanced on reading and comprehension and are discovering a love of reading that we experienced at that age. They went to their first official school dance, learned to bike without training wheels, gained confidence driving their four wheelers and going up and down small hills, discovered new arts and crafts (soo much clay, gems and drawings!), and enjoyed another year exploring the Kenai Peninsula with their parents, Grandma Sue, and other visiting family.

The girls first Valentines Dance went off without any issues everyone enjoyed another reason to dress up and dance. Craig rocked his pink suit for the occasion and the girls wore lipstick! As a kid who didn’t get a chance to go to these events at my school growing up; I love seeing the opportunity to make memories and have some fun.

Learning to ride bikes this year and Harper and Reagan finding a true love for it, and doing almost nightly rides around the neighborhood. Emerie pushed back all last summer about removing training wheels, but eventually figured out her balance and gained more confidence. The girls also became much more comfortable on their four wheelers, which now need to trade to the next size. When they are running, we were out and about at the nearby park, driving around.

I hope the crafting age lasts forever, as they really fill the cold and dark winter months without sitting in front of the television or listening to everyone constantly fight. Favorites over the past year are paint by numbers for kids, using the iPad app to create clay animal models or step-by-step drawings (that continue to get more complicated and impressive for their age!), and painting fairy houses and other 3D contraptions. It is wonderful to be able to walk away for five minutes and my house isn’t covered in paint, and they really take the time to create unique things.

The girls learned SO much over the past six months in second grade. Their math skills with addition and subtraction and reading and writing dramatically improved, as well as their comprehension. Now we find hand written fashion show or tea party invites, customized recipes, intricate art to display on the wall, and even hand written and practiced songs. Their love notes are also wonderful to read, as are some of the “saucier” and less loving notes to each other sometimes (sshhh…). Third quarter was the first time separating them in after school activities and they all seemed to enjoy the reprieve and explore an hour with different friends.

Age seven boasted a year of big feelings, more fighting with each other, and more learning on how to express big emotions and frustrations without being mean. Constant and close proximity to each other drew out unkind words and arguing about meaningless things, and often pushes them to sensory overload that they are still grasping how to maneuver. While breaking this cycle is still an incomplete task, we did find mandating separate areas to play in or one doing a craft while the other two play helps. For the battle of who sits in the middle back seat in the car, we take turns and attempt to mitigate the throw downs every, single day…outside of all that, we certainly also see the other side, with nice playing, crafting together, and creativity on the daily.

The girls branched out a little on their friend groups, at least more than in years past. Reagan created a panda club with two other girls in her class, and I frequently saw handwritten notes in her backpack from it. Emerie appears to be more of the tomboy of the group and hangs with a number of the boys; that or she can just hold her own with them! Harper enjoys more girly girl things and has a couple girls from each class she spends her time with. All three also have a soft spot for some of the younger, pre-K girls at school.

I’ve heard the older kiddos get, the more activities seem to populate the calendar. We keep careful track of this, because free play and time at home are just as important to enhance and developing creative minds. Outside of that, the girls did four months of gymnastic and ballet, and one week session over Christmas of aerial gymnastics. This spring also included swimming lessons and ballet, in anticipation of the spring ballet show!

I wrote this one last year but it’s worth highlighting again. Going out and about solo for various errands, birthday parties, or even just fun activities is WAY easier now than even a year ago. Going overnight to Seward on a whim one day, without any preparation, is now doable and even enjoyable. We spent a lot of time in Kenai and Ninilchik last summer and plan to branch out to a few new places this year. The girls do great at the long car rides- always have- and find ways play and entertain each other, or listen to or read story books.

Age seven certainly brought about the concept of “boys.” All three goof off and pick on each other (already!) about boyfriends and crushes. Emerie has moved on from boyfriend territory and now claims one of the adorable boys in the other class is her husband, NOT boyfriend any longer. It’s pretty funny since he is well aware of her crush (as is the entire elementary school). Reagan is adamant about no boyfriends and only friends that are boys, and Harper has her eye on one in her class, although I believe they are genuinely friends! It’ll be interesting to compare this on their birthday next year.

I will wrap up this section with one of my favorite things about age seven; the girls still believe in magic- in Santa, in fairies, tooth or otherwise! They still love to create beautiful things, such as a fairy house in the middle of the woods in Palmer, delicious cookies on a plate for Santa, having a birthday theme that creates a magical craft, or to set a trap to catch that pesky tooth fairy on an overnight visit. I see many other kids their age or even younger that lost this belief, and I hope we can hold on to it at least another year and see what joy it brings.

This year’s birthday party was intentionally and significantly smaller than last year’s extravaganza, since 30+ kids running around was A LOT. With that in mind, Craig reserved a craft space and we kept the guest list as short as possible. The fairy theme was selected after much discussion about doing something Studio Gibli related (like Ponyo), or K-Pop Demon Hunters, and we decided fairies had the most flexibility. Over the prior month much supplies was ordered, including a lot of fairies, sequins and glitter, and about anything to contribute to creative houses.

I have to say, the group of about 15 kids did FANTASTIC. It wasn’t chaos and they all spent time perfecting their visions; in fact all the different ideas were very creative. Needless to say, I was pretty impressed at the outcome. The girls floated around to their friends and worked on their houses, one parent manned the hot glue gun and helped each kiddo glue things down, and the creative juices flowed. Cupcakes this year consisted of both vanilla and chocolate depending on triplet preference, and all three helped me decorate them and then drown them in edible glitter. Can’t have fairy themes without edible glitter!!

All About the Girls – Age Seven

Funny enough, a lot of these are very similar to what I wrote when they were five and six.

Harper Anne

Loves ballet, dressing up, & sleeping in.

  • Obsessed with seals
  • Team Aurora
  • Most chill/laid back
Harper Larper

Emerie Faye

Loves reading, collecting tiny things & puzzles

  • Turtles are life, just not live ones 😀
  • Team Elsa (still)
  • Creative name calling
Emmy

Reagan Jean

Loves to draw/color, write stories & sing.

  • Panda obsessed
  • Team Snow White
  • Most opinionated
Ray Ray

Harper Anne

This past year Harper maintains her girly girl status, and is consistently found dressed to the hills in elaborate dresses, shoes and accessories. She is our headband girl (just like I was) and wears them more frequently than either sister. This girl can rock oversized, four inch adult heels like she is walking barefoot and it’s impressive. Harper also enjoys drawing tutorials and her art continues to advance, and creates clay creatures all by herself!

Height/Weight: 78 pounds/ 53″ tall

Favorite Activities: How-to painting and drawing tutorials, dressing up and wearing high heels, dance class and playing with her doll (Babela), and riding her bike as much as possible.

Favorite Movie/Music/Show: Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella are still favorites, but any princess movies is enjoyed. For shows, the Croods, Sofia the First, and Bluey. Her favorite song is Golden from K-Pop Demon Hunters, the Wellerman song by Kids Bop that she refers to as the watermelon song, and of course the one played on repeat, Bad Boy by Cascada.

Favorite Books: Barbie books, Glitter and Glow (Genies), and anything Sleeping Beauty.

Favorite Princess/Character: By far her favorite remains Sleeping Beauty (Aurora). She likes all things Barbies, or seals of any kind and her collection continues to grow. Can’t forget her doll Babela and K-Pop Demon Hunters Mira, who just happens to have long, pink hair!

Favorite Color: pink

Favorite Food: French fries remain a main choice, including McDonalds and Sonic. She always wants to eat at Benihanna for their fried rice (with egg- she claims that’s important) and fancy ice cream. Harper continues to sneak candy and definitely has the biggest sweet tooth of the three. Other favorites include bowls of watermelon, juicy apples at night, and dip ‘n dots. A recent dinner favorite is carnitas and potatoes with BBQ sauce.

Favorite Animal: Stuffed seals are still the winner for her, although many other animals make the cut for bedtime snuggles. She has seals of every color and loves visiting them Seward each year. She also loves koala bears.

When Harper grows up, she wants to be: a Mom and a ballerina. If she had to pick between the two, Mom wins out because she doesn’t want to work all the time.” Ha!

Unique Personality Trait: Harper likes to watch and observe and then jump into the action, but also displays daring moments and climbs a forty foot tree by herself because she wanted to. She is definitely an instigator, but not always with the follow through. She also prefers to let others figure something out or get something for her, so there might be some leadership qualities in there to watch out for as she grows older.

Major Dislikes: Doing chores and cleaning up is always a challenge and a fight, as well as convincing her to brush her teeth so no cavities appear. It is an everyday battle! She also seems to be trending toward more motion sickness than her sisters and gets overheated in the car, requesting fresh or cooler air on drives.

Of the Three, She is the Most: Girly! Dressing up in fancy clothes and shoes, makeup, and accessorizing occurs daily. She isn’t afraid to get down and dirty outside, but she doesn’t mind doing that in a stylish outfit either. On the flip side, of the three she goes to the doctor the least, and now notices this. She often asks when she can go and a little sister competition arises.

Something she says she is really good at: painting and Legos and cursive writing. Her princess drawings are really great and she spends a lot of time on them. She’s also great at bowling! Reagan says Harper is good at finding high heels and dressing up. She is also good at listening. Craig would say she is the best at foot rubs; much to her dismay.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? She answered where Grandma Anne lives and the water park, or going to build snow forts outside.

What is your favorite subject at school?: gym class and playing games. And least favorite?: writing because it tires out her hands.

Who are your best friends?: Sage, Harper M, Emerie, and Reagan. Also Miss Tawni.

Favorite Quotes: Mom, guess what?! I love you the mostest. This is one of my very favorite quotes that I hear from her every few days, always with a big smile on her face. The other day she also noted that Grandma Sue is so bossy; she’s always bossing me around. I asked her if she liked all the things Sue does with her and she agreed to that, but still maintained the bossiness is there!! She also always answers ice cream anytime you ask her what she wants for dinner.

Emerie Faye

Age seven was a year of discovery for reading, something Emerie continues to enjoy and advance on. She is definitely the bookworm of the three, and often found curled up with a book in various locations around the house or yard. Emerie is great playing solo and enjoys her time by herself, and especially spending time at home. When on the four wheeler, she becomes quite the sassy speed demon, constantly sticking her tongue out at you as she whizzes by.

Height/Weight: 73 pounds/ 53″ tall – This is the first time she is solidly in the middle for weight and not the smallest of the three. She finally caught up!

Favorite Activities: Emerie enjoys spending time at home with family, sledding, making tea parties and fashion shows, and using all the scotch tape. She also likes helping parents cook or pack lunches, building Lego sets, reading books and sitting on the floor, figuring out a puzzle, or playing a board game. Her tiny things collection grows daily and you should see the things found in her coat pockets (or out of the dryer!). She enjoys doing everything in a fancy, dress up outfit, going swimming with Craig, and funny enough, she loves to brush her teeth and will randomly do it throughout the day.

Favorite Movie/Music/Show: Favorite songs include Let It Go, Troublemaker, I Don’t Wanna Wait by David Goetta. While Emerie still loves her Frozen movies and music, requests are much fewer than in the past. She continues to read all the Elsa related books, and hum the music when she plays. Other current favorites were the Swan Princess and various old Barbie movies from the 90s, and lastly, she loves the song Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne, and Fat by Weird Al, which is absolutely hilarious and amazing, and a result from when I went to his concert up here last year.

Favorite Books: anything Frozen related, and really just books in general. She loves to read, and you’ll find her curled up in a chair, reading through a book, pretty frequently and at bedtime.

Favorite Princess/Character: No change from the past three years- Elsa (Frozen) is still leading the charge in her heart. She also continues to have turtle stuffies everywhere, and lots of little fairies litter the floor, just waiting for more playtime. She also loves the K-Pop Demon Hunter Rumi…who of course is purple!

Favorite Color: No surprise here…it’s still PURPLE!!

Favorite Food: She claims chicken nuggets, taquitos, ice cream, and strawberries straight from the packaging. A recent dinner favorite is carnitas and potatoes with BBQ sauce.

Favorite Animal: She still loves turtles and has a bunch of them, and took an interest in platypuses from her recent school project.

When Emerie grows up, she wants to be: a gymnastics teacher because she likes doing it, but still needs more work on it to get the handstand right. Does she want to keep taking gymnastics so she gets better and can teach it? No….

Unique Personality Trait: She is stubborn to the core, and this can serve her well when she is on a mission for something, and sometimes be an obstacle. She is our snuggler and loves to sleep in her own bed with her stuffies. Emerie is also a homebody and completely self sufficient entertaining herself.

Major Dislikes: anything that eats turtles, and tomatoes…barf! She continues to tell people she is allergic to them, but really it’s just hatred. She dislikes when her sisters talk over her or disruptions while she’s reading or doing homework. She doesn’t appear to like group instruction classes (or maybe she just doesn’t like obeying in them…) or being outside if she doesn’t have to (although this dramatically improved by the end of the winter!). It is also a constant battle on wearing her glasses and keeping track of them, and patching her eye.

Of the Three, She is the Most: Outspoken and direct. She is always announcing we are triplets to random people in public places and making friends everywhere. She will also dig her heels in and stick to an opinion, and there’s no swaying her mind. She can also be very compassionate and considerate; always thinking of others and wanting to be helpful.

Something she says she is really good at: at gymnastics, painting, and cooking with parents. Harper says Emerie is good at burping and it makes them laugh. Reagan says Emerie is good at making tea parties and when you are upset she will bring you a stuffy.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Kenai to see the twins, the warm beach in Florida, or to see the water park in Cincinnati and wear swimsuits all day.

What is your favorite subject at school? singing in Music Class. And least favorite?: Going outside for recess and especially getting dressed for it, and “her husband” not being in her class.

Who are your best friends?: Luke, Brian and Abigail. Really everyone in her class.

Favorite Quotes: I did nothing! This is also one of my favorites, because any time it is uttered, I know with confidence it indeed means the opposite…

Favorite Thing About Turning Eight: having a birthday party that people can come to. Most importantly, that Luke is coming. (and he did!)

Reagan Jean

Reagan’s artistic skills continued to advance over the past year, as well as her creative play. She is constantly coming up with fun ideas for crafts or outfits, writing a story or composing a song and then practicing it before performing. She is the social butterfly of the three now, and enjoys talking to her friends on the phone. She is also a great helper at cleaning up or random requests from parents, and the first to learn how to put her hair in a ponytail and tie her shoes.

Height/Weight: 67 pounds/ 53″ tall

Favorite Activities: Reagan enjoys art, painting pictures and drawing videos, and sledding, climbing trees, riding her bike, and playing Moms and Dads or with the back neighbor kiddo. She discovered how to take pictures with my phone and requests to do that quite frequently. She also enjoys ice skating and continues to ask for lessons.

Favorite Movie/Music/Show: Lately it is Ponyo and Howell’s Moving Castle, and various Barbie movies. For favorite song is What It Sounds Like from K-Pop Demon Hunters, Never Let Me Go by Cascada and she’s recently discovered techno music.

Favorite Books: Pupunzel and other princess story books, anything talking about pandas, and her first small chapter books, the Dragon girl series.

Favorite Princess/Character: After seven years on Team Jasmine, her love is diminished and she now claims to love Snow White and that original movie, because she is kind and pretty. And the K-Pop Demon Hunters Zoey, who is teal.

Favorite Color: You guess it…TEAL. This should not be confused with blue or green; it is teal and she will remind you they are different.

Favorite Food: She always requests macaroni and cheese and loves blackberries, apples, cantaloupe, and cucumbers, and of course ice cream. The love for cotton candy, and sometimes lemon, ice cream is real…

Favorite Animal: Pandas are still the front runner, but she also claims to like hedgehogs now. She doesn’t snuggle or cart her pandas around as much as past years and that shows how much she’s growing up (cry!), but her bed tells a different story; it is covered in all shapes and sizes of panda.

When Reagan grows up, she wants to be: An artist and a mom; she wants to do both!

Unique Personality Trait: She is our storyteller, just like her Grandma Sue. Listening to her explain the synopsis of a movie is simply amazing and detailed. She is also our helper and often requests to help make dinner, or put something away for us; it’s very sweet. She is very much the mom of the group and probably the most bossy.

Major Dislikes: Peanut butter, chicken nuggets and tomatoes. She’s a little quirky about her socks or shoes not fitting perfectly on her feet and the most aware of clothing that irritates her. She is not a fan of heights.

Of the Three, She is the Most: bossy like her Grandma Sue, especially during games and pretend play. She has great ideas, but her sisters don’t always agree with the direction and the fighting begins. She is also the most detail oriented of the three on anything she is doing, whether that is cleaning the living room, coloring a picture, or telling a story; she takes the time and is definitely our perfectionist.

Something she says she is really good at: at doing art and making things. She is also great at making ponytails in her hair, doing braids, and tying her shoes! Harper says Reagan is good at painting and drawings.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? She wants to know what Hawaii is like and see the beach, and go to the “red house” down in Soldotna and see Becky!

What is your favorite subject at school? She says math, because it’s fun, and the chance to study animals and learn about them. And least favorite?: She doesn’t like doing PE inside, but it’s okay outside.

Who are your best friends?: her panda club, with Abigail and Addison and the neighbor kiddo.

Favorite Quotes: Mom, I love you more than you know. She says this so frequently to both Craig and me.

Favorite Thing About Turning Eight: Making the fairy houses for their birthday was the best, and doing that with her friends.

Seven Year Old FAQs

What are the biggest differences between the three? What are their similarities this year? All three continue to enjoy much of the same things, like princesses, fancy outfits and striking poses, playing outside, swinging and playing pretend. Everyone still loves magic and fairies and the beautiful side of life is still believable! All three also insist on evening snuggles with Mom. It is harder than you’d think to navigate those demands, and we have to rotate between who sits with and snuggles. Emerie continues to enjoy her solo time and is often found reading in her room or listening to a Tonie. Harper found a new joy in art projects and perfecting her drawings and outlining them in permanent marker. Reagan’s creativity on creating games and playtime for her sisters continues to grow. You’ll find her creating a salon for her sisters (and parents), writing a play to act out, or posting signs all over the walls.

What is the biggest personality difference? As I wrote last year, all three are growing into strong, independent little girls. If I have to choose a difference, Emerie is the homebody and would rather be doing something at home than every going anywhere. Reagan has a little more diva in her attitude now than in the past. Harper remains the “chillest” of the three and the constant negotiator during sister arguments. She often walks away and plays by herself to avoid it.

What do they all constantly fight about? A year later and all three constantly fight over the contentious who-gets-to-be-in-the-middle for a picture. This usually results in three photos, so everyone can rotate and have a turn…and a better selection to choose from! They really don’t fight over toys very much anymore, and the fights relate more to interrupting ongoing play with a different sister, or when one jumps in and takes over and they can’t agree on direction. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the other things they argue about, such as who has to sit in the third row of the car, who gets to choose the movie or the song playing, and nighttime routine antics when one kid wants silence, one wants an audio book, and one wants music. Tough choices indeed.

Who is now the best sleeper? Who is the worst? I believe we have finally made it. It’s been more than a month since a kid slept in my bed, and it truly is bittersweet. As far as falling asleep at night, Harper remains the winner; she loves the comfort of her bed and always has. Emerie seems to enjoy reading books or listening to stories to fall asleep, or the exact opposite and total silence. Reagan struggles the most with falling asleep, and is up and coming to me three to five times every bedtime, for one reason or another or for a philosophical debate on random ideas. Once asleep, they all do pretty well staying in bed other than the occasional ear infection or bad dream; it only took us EIGHT years to get here.

Who is Team Mom and who is Team Dad? This remains consistent since the toddler years, Emerie remains fully committed to Team Dad, although I do get occasional love and requests for evening snuggles. On the other hand, Reagan still commits to Team Mom and is essentially my shadow. Harper continues to noncommittally decide each day, and enjoys spending time with both of us doing different things, and snuggling with Mom at night.

What was my favorite memory of age seven? This past year was harder on me mentally than some of the more exhausting younger years, but I managed to work through it myself and have hopefully made it to the other end. With that in mind, I think watching them grow up so quickly is taking an internal toll on me, and something most moms face through the years. I really enjoy the extensive craft time and just sitting in the living room through the winter, painting by numbers together, beaded crafts and perler beads, and relaxing together. The girls also enjoy board and card games now, and while every gets riled up, it’s fun to be able to do it.

Here’s to age eight! I’m just proud I finished writing this before they turned nine 🙂

For the Joy of Christmas

Now that we are a month and a half past the Christmas season, I am finally getting around to writing a blog about it off all my random notes over the past three months. As usual Christmas season went by in a typical blur, filled with overly cold temperatures and the normal Alaskan darkness, Christmas lights and decorations, lots of events and activities and goodies to shove into a short amount of time, and the usual terrible family chest cough.

If you overlook the fact that our household had a detrimental cough for probably six weeks, rotating through family members who also enjoyed ear infections…it was a pretty good holiday season. I tried to find a few random events to attend this year, something new for the girls to enjoy. With that in mind, I found an afternoon tea with Mrs. Clause event out in Wasilla; and we trekked out there during a super windstorm and subzero temperatures for it. You can’t really tell from the photos, but all three are sporting sweater dresses with arctic animals on them, including an arctic seal! To Harper’s delight, a “seal dress” really does exist! The whole thing was very cute, in a decorated greenhouse, and our host’s adorable daughters served the tea and treats and helped the girls try on all types of jewelry, hats and accessories. Craig and I attempted to convince them to eat the cucumber sandwiches but they only wanted the tea cakes and cookies…and not the mint tea either (which was delicious!). We made it through the entire event without cracking any fancy teacups; a win in itself!

The girls all had time to chat with Mrs. Clause, opting to go up there without mom or dad and have a nice conversation. I managed to overhear the request they wanted delivered to Santa, for fancy fans in their colors. Luckily this was early enough to order before Christmas, and they definitely noticed their request was accepted on Christmas morning.

Other December highlights include their winter gymnastic show, evening dance show, and school Christmas concert. Craig and I misunderstood our participation in the gymnastic show and received some angry looks from our tiny humans when we showed up late, but luckily their teachers ran through their routines afterwards so we could see their new skills. All three continue to improve, but I am still pretty sure they do cartwheels just as well as I do (and that’s not really a compliment!). The winter dance show is just an evening in the studio, watching all the classes do their routines. All three (and me as well) dry coughed throughout the entire thing and both their routines, but we made it through (I ate half a bag of cough drops, but we made it!).

Winter Ballet Show
School Christmas Concert

Their Christmas concert was fantastic, and I enjoyed another bag of cough drops to sit through it- well worth it! Everyone wore matching dresses again this year, dresses not purchased at Costco like in years past for half the school. All three participated great, and finished up the show with the usual silly faces and Emerie’s kissy lips and tongue sticking out. This is one of my favorite events of the year, and all three did great! By the end of the evening everyone was happy but maybe a little overstimulated, and our smiling family photo was more realistically a half smiling Emerie, ready to go home and put pajamas on in peace!

Speaking of that and not to be overlooked, this winter a refocus on kindness and being kind to each other is a daily conversation. Age seven crossed into a new development stage with three growing girls that can be the kindest, sweetest human beings on the planet when they want to be…and then flip a switch and be an angry, sassy, foot stomping and irrational rage machine. The three can be the best of friends, and then turn on one another in an instant. I’m sure that isn’t news to anyone who is raising children, but it certainly dominates the mood in the house upon occasion, and Craig and I are trying to re-enforce that being kind and speaking kindly is important, and any other way is not acceptable. It seems like a never ending rotation these days, but I hope there might be an end in sight before the pre-teen years are upon us. I guess we shall see, one way or the other.

We are also beginning to see when other kiddos want to play with a certain sister, and then start to exclude. This isn’t all the time, but definitely more noticeable now than a year ago, and it directly correlates to hurt feelings and those unkind words I just wrote about! Over Christmas break the girls spent a lot of time together, more than normal without school days, family visiting, and the cold outbreak, and some hours each kiddo is exiled to a completely separate floor of the house to reset and get a break from sisters. They are also starting to ask us to make iPad phone calls to a small group of friends, and it is so fun to quietly listen in the background to their conversations. Reagan is the most excited by this, and will do crafts “on the phone” with one of her friends, talking up until dinner time. Harper and Emerie are most inclined to call grandparents, but friends are likely right around the corner.

This year the girls worked hard on their Santa requests and we encouraged them to write everything down multiple times. When we visited Santa at Cabelas, they handed them over nicely and then tried to explain them. Santa might have handed those back to me when we were done, inconspicuously of course. We are in a really fun age where they can articulate what they want, and typically written in their own creative spelling. I might like that part the very most! Many evening discussions centered around how to spell something, or what the word they want to write was. For example, Harper badly wanted a Sophia the First amulet, but struggled to figure out that word and it took a bit for us to figure out what she was trying to say. Variations of amulet were on all lists, and she was thrilled when that showed up Christmas morning, and in pink instead of purple! Other requests were harder to obtain, and of course Santa doesn’t buy everything on a list, only one or two things that he think are okay, and the girls accepted this theory. Almost nothing this year was in triplicate, other than buying something similar but in their separate colors, or for the stocking stuffers.

Christmas morning itself was the usual loud, exciting chaos. Preparations the night before were smoother than in past years, as I wrapped the majority of presents throughout the month of December and before Christmas break began. The girls notice more details now in years past, so to ensure the magic of Christmas fun lasted another year, I made sure to only wrap Santa’s presents in specific wrapping paper, and ones from mom and dad or grandparents in something else. The bigger parental conundrum was finding places to hide the wrappings; places tiny hands and eye wouldn’t find them, in a house that needs more closets!!! In years past the master closet behind clothes worked wonders, but more recently everyone likes to randomly destroy my organized closet and emerge from the bedroom fully decked out and looking just like mom!

Yes, we all wore matching pajamas this year, and no, I’m not remotely ashamed about it. In fact, I believe half of Anchorage wore the exact same set, after looking at Facebook that morning. It is also semi breaking my sanity that the 10/12 snug fit cuts aren’t even big on them anymore. WHY!?!

Christmas morning is mostly a blur, with excited kiddos destroying the perfectly clean and organized living room as soon as their eyes opened. I only wrote a few notes, but worth observing the girliness of the Christmas requests this year is not unnoticed by me. It’s wonderful they are still in the magical, girly phase of childhood and I hope it lasts a little longer; especially since we are starting to outgrow all the cute little girls dresses and magical dress up montages. Everyone did ask Santa for fancy fans, K-Pop Demon Hunter dresses, and Sofia the First pendants, and Santa delivered! A few toys and Lego sets, like a panda enclosure, were opened and built by the middle of the day, Craig flew the light up drone in the living room (to the chagrin of the poor cats and delight to the children) and we rounded out the evening opening gifts with cousin and enjoying a fancy….Chinese dinner. Aunt Jenny’s long, pink, purple, and teal dresses are still a favorite in the dead of winter, and are worn on repeat during playtime.

The last Santa related gift of the day was a rhyming note hidden in the Christmas tree, which I forgot about until closer to lunch time, when Reagan discovered it and ran upstairs (per its instructions) to discover the three princess dresses hanging in the hall closet. She excitedly brought her sisters into it and then all were dressed as Princess Aurora (one in pink and one in her blue butterfly dress from Maleficent), and another version of Elsa for Emerie.

I would say Merry Christmas…but since it’s February…we will just say the holiday spirit lasts all winter, and gets us through to spring!

❤

Triple-Threat Party Planning

With Thanksgiving right around the corner means it meant time for Craig’s annual birthday festivities. This year it wasn’t just any birthday, but the big 4-0! The girls and I had fun creating a plan for this milestone, and at this age they are game for anything, throwing out such big ideas. This was the first time I let them advise a separate gift from each kiddo, catered to theirs desires of what he might enjoy. After going through oh so many suggestions, we landed on a few well thought out and realistic innovations, and the crafts and shopping began.

Harper spent some time working on a beautiful heart box at Color Me Mine, painting it several layers of blue because that’s what dad likes. She also decorated her presents after they were wrapped, and added a secondary box full of treasures for him to open. The present stuffing took an entire evening to decide upon, with much thought and conversation!

Emerie shoved miscellaneous candy into her box, specific candy that she knew Craig eats. That in itself is sweetly thought out, literally. She also perfected a porcelain picture frame at Color Me Mine last month, with “princess” written across the front, and we printed a picture of her and Craig to slide inside it, much to her excitement! She insisted he would like the princess wording, and was adamant no other painting option was going to beat it.

Reagan declined a painting project, and after some Amazon browsing based on her search suggestions, an elephant mug that holds your tea bag was chosen, and an elephant yarn measuring thing. She also manufactured a custom cardboard elephant zoo enclosure (wow that’s a mouthful) and over the several days she created it, were yelling commands at Craig to don’t look at it!!!

In particular genius, I gifted Craig a quiet night at a hotel, a night to relax as he welcome the next decade of life. He also spent two nights in Juneau on a work trip, giving me more time to complete all the prep work. What that really meant was three full nights to prepare the surprise birthday party and presents, without the required sneakiness, and it worked like a charm. Everyone helped gift wrap and a lifetime amount of tape was used. They filled out questionnaires all about the birthday boy. It was particularly fun to ask them some random questions, and see their real opinions of Dad, which were all different! We hand drew posters for his party, filled with elephants, yarn balls, kid handwriting and colorful, sparkling glue. I’m pretty sure everything was sticky by the time they were done, and the elephants really cute! The party decorations were also underway, with a lot of paper strips littering my house, becoming long daisy chains. The balloon bouquet was designed at the party store, which was a HUGE deal for them to explore apparently, and we left with a few more goodies and whines that the balloons weren’t ready for a few more days.

The big day featured three wildly excited girls racing to finish decorations, tape up adorable childhood photos, and guard the surprise party secret like tiny double agents. Meanwhile I almost blew the whole thing at least five times; I don’t realize how many random thoughts I share with that boy, until I have to actively NOT share them (haha!). With a Charlie’s cake and all the party food stashed away, we whipped together the homemade elephant cake I’d started the night before, and the girls assembled a very serious breakfast-in-bed tray, complete with strict instructions that presents must be opened from a reclined position.

Eat your breakfast in bed NOW.
Elephant cake!
Cake prep

I think the cake turned out pretty well- what do you think?? Reagan perfected the sprinkle distribution on the face and helped with the eyes, while Emerie and Harper ran in and out and randomly sprinkled as I iced it. And it even survived the car ride there!

In the end, I got Craig all the way to the venue—and about ten feet from a room packed with people and treats—before he finally caught on, thanks to the giant “Halfway to 80” sign on the door. The “my car won’t turn over” excuse and a perfectly timed truck-shopping trip with Keegan kept the whole ruse intact. The night was a win all around: happy surprise, great food, and kids running wild for two straight hours while we enjoyed cake and company

We opted not to attend the Eugene Ballet Nutcracker over Thanksgiving this year. The girls were in grumpy, fighting moods for a good part of the holiday weekend, and we decided not to reward the arguing and will find another show in December to enjoy together. Instead we built my decade old Lego set together, the girls made a gazillion crafts out of all the cardboard and paper we own, we did how-to-draw YouTube videos (which are a new hit in this house and turn out really cute!), and watched a few new movies in between hours of playtime.

For some reason everyone just discovered the recycle bin, that lives in the hall closet and is emptied consistently the past seven years. Now all the contents are utter treasures; treasures that litter my house and can NOT be thrown away, no matter how creative. For example, Emerie created a phone between her bunk and Reagan’s, citing it’s too hard to talk to each other (as if!), and it made it a week taped up there. Many fairy play houses, mini forts, and other paper creations are now bonded together with miles of tape and everywhere; and when returned to the recycle bin? Out they appear again, with three disgruntled girls who demand to create more projects.

Not too much more to update. Harper and Reagan tested out their gymnastics teacher one night with a full switch, and got away with it! They dressed as each other and claimed to be each other, and when tried for a second time during dance later that week, those more seasoned teachers didn’t fall for it. Pretty funny to see this, and at some point we have to get more glasses so everyone can be Emerie, who didn’t want to participate on this round.

I wrap up this lovely life post with a funny story, and the second time, the school notified me that one of my tiny humans licked a frozen pole at recess. If you guess Emerie (both times), then you would be correct. When asked how it happened, she legitimately told me she tripped and caught her tongue on the frozen pole, and she stuck to that story. So funny. A few days later Harper took a cousin toy to the face and was sporting a nice goose egg….needless to say it’s been exciting!

As we ease into the 100+ Christmas activities planned for the next two weeks, I will leave you with these amazing Christmas card photos, soon to be mailed out to everyone to enjoy.

❤

Forever Fall(ing)

It’s no secret that fall is my favorite time of year. It’s also no secret that fall can either be really nice or really crummy in Alaska, and goes by really fast. In fact, now that snow is on the ground, I feel a little bad I haven’t finished writing our fall update, and that it’s been so long since I posted something…I will try to highlight in order of events.

It’s always a weird time when fall evenings turn dark and cold, but the barren ground isn’t yet reflecting that cold, white stuff to lighten things up. We managed to get in one evening fire pit, with smores and sparklers, before winter joined us. Bonus points for the neighbors and their dry kindling for the fire! The girls ran around the yard with sparklers, devoured marshmallows, and then insisted it was too cold outside to continue to participate.

I take a million outdoor adventure photos every year. It is getting easy to be out and about and not concerned with wildlife taking on a kid whose run off- the girls take great direction out in nature and are getting better at being aware. This is the first year we explored the lower side of Flat Top by myself, and we return unscathed! It probably also helps that we aren’t the quietest bunch…so those pesky moose and bears don’t want a triplet sandwich 🙂

As per the usual, we made multiple trips to the you-pick farm this year, and even made it to the fall festival. Did we eat our body weight in picked zucchini in October? You bet we did! The snow peas were less plentiful this year, but that didn’t stop Reagan from digging through piles of plants to find some, and then eating them for a few days. All three also “adopted” the large zucchini and gave them faces, named them, and they participated in family events and playtime for the next week.

The girls attended their first football game, to watch Juneau Douglas play West Anchorage. It was pouring down rain, and while that didn’t impress the girls (or the parents); they did make it through the whole thing and held up their custom made signs and screamed Go Chatum! They spent the entire night prior carefully making those signs and coming up with custom cheers. Go Chatum, he’s our man, if he can’t do it, no one can! It was also fun to listen to them ask Jaren football questions at the game, and insist they wanted to see Chatum score a goal, even after discussion about touchdowns.

Our annual photoshoot in the woods for mom went incredibly easy this year compared to years past. The girls humored me, climbed on trees and did ring around the rosie full of giggles, and then played in the stream for a while before we returned home. Boy, they are getting big!

Pumpkin carving was quite a process this year, mostly due to the number of purchased pumpkins sitting in our house. We had small ones, medium ones, and massive, very-hard-to-cut-threw extra large ones. One small set was decorated at the NICU reunion earlier in the month, and all the others were carved with the girls, who chose their own facial expressions and helped a little with the knives this year. Oh and that remind me… Grandma Sue also taught the girls to pronounce all works that start with “kn” like k-now, so the girls are continuing to point that out consistently!

Fall break from school prompted a short visit from Grandma Sue, and with that lots of baking and crafts. Doesn’t that potato dough look delicious? The girls excel at helping cook these days, and it isn’t all with licked fingers and utter flour explosions anymore! Not going to lie, I do somewhat miss those days now, but not the post activity clean up.

Trunk or Treat at the girls’ school was a must! It was cold and windy but not frosted as some years prior. A quick hello and trek around to some of their teachers and friends was done in record time. For this event, we had an Elsa and Ana from Frozen, and a “wedding girl” and oh, two cold parents!! Did I mention this was after TWO birthday parties earlier in the day? Yep.

Halloween was a hit this year. With numerous outfit changes, I can’t even recall what everyone was for each event but for the actual day Harper was a pink mermaid, Emerie Elsa in blue (no coat!), and Reagan was Chloe Charming from Rise of Red. While Reagan stayed the same for school that day, Harper was a bride with pink heels and Emerie was Glinda from Wicked, in purple! We finally had a year with temperatures in the 40s and no snow, which prompted strong rebukes to wearing coats, but acceptance of gloves. We made it farther than ever before in the neighborhood, and Emerie’s headache prompted Craig to get the four wheeler for a fun ride the rest of the way. Tyler and Papa Cliff joined us again this year -the girls even let Tyler be Tyler this year and not a full fledged princess- and we also did a few houses after meeting up with their teacher. Tons of candy and a fun night!

I’ll wrap this overdue life story with our official fall photos, which hit on a gorgeous fall day, and half the valley was in the same spot with the same idea. The girls did more than humor the photographer, they giggle, held hands and hugged without much instruction, and look so very grown up this year. I am certain they will have to do fall photos for me every year well into adulthood, because they turn out so great.

And now onto winter things…and Thanksgiving, and Christmas. So many things to do!

❤

Summer Wrap-Up & Second Grade

I continue to think back to the wonderful summer we had, where it was (relatively) warm, easy to transition from inside to out, and full of adventure and possibility.

We wrapped up the summer season with a couple annual family activities. One of my favorite weekends of the year consisted of both my favorite Alaskan summer activities: wilderness berry picking and the Alaska State Fair. While not a hot, sunny day, the afternoon berry picking in cloudy skies and minor drizzle was perfect in temperature.

This year the girls were far more helpful and did pick some, but also enjoyed the stained fingers and faces that came with sour, Alaskan blueberries. In truth, they picked berries a little ways into the woods, discovered a perfect fairy tree, and proceeded to decorate said tree while Craig and I worked around them, filling our bags with berries. They stained the tree blueberry blue, and added flowers, sticks and leaves to make a beautiful house. I love the age where they take the time to create and innovate, hoping fairies will enjoy it, and really hope we will have at least one more summer like this.

We accidentally chose the perfect day to go to the fair- a beautifully sunny day with 10+ hours of walking around and just having fun doing whatever we wanted to. We arrived at opening to avoid parking traffic and bee lined it straight to the face painting booth, where the girls and I requested flowers and Craig did a planet theme above that beard. Pony rides, lots of random food to try, dip and dots and snow cones (it was hot out!), and of course we joined a few friends for the carnival rides.

Last year Reagan didn’t enjoy the kid roller coasters but bravely rode them, and this year other than one or two moments of pure disdain for a ride she opted to go on, she did great. The girls road the spinning teacups with Paris and a couple of the kid roller coasters, but I believe the favorite ride was the spinning swing, which for the record, I feel were faster than last year! We luckily did most of the rides before it got really busy with long lines, and I am happy to report we had no major meltdowns the entire day out in the sun. That in itself is impressive when lugging out three overstimulated and excited seven-year-olds. And it was a very long day and active day!

I also must mention the girls’ excitement to see if Craig won any ribbons, for his first time entering the arts portion of the fair. He knitted two shawls and rainbow socks, and I am personally offended he didn’t instantly win first place on all three entries! The girls were happy to see his 3rd place ribbon; it was quite sweet. I enjoy having an artsy husband, who really does have quite the talent and inability to sit still without creating something.

Craig took the girls to see all the animals before loading everyone to go home, while Janelle and I stayed for a kid free, Weird Al Yankovic concert. Not that you asked…but it was amaaaazing!!! I’d also like to point out that Emerie constantly begs me to play Amish Paradise -which is really a nostalgic song from my childhood that brings me back to cd players in the car- and all three kids singing the lyrics in the car…that’s right up there in my parenting accomplishments with their joyous singing of Papa Roach. I just love it!!

In between all the fun weekends are nightly bike rides. To burn energy of course, but it’s also just a nice outdoor activity that we can finally do in this age. And we are finally a training wheels free house. Harper and Reagan mastered their balance last fall, picking it up rather fast once they mentally accepted they could do it. Harper thrives on speed, just like she did as a toddler. Reagan is more timid but now very confident and zooms around, even standing up. Emerie was another story, adamantly insisting she would never go without, and refusing to try without major pushing. It took most of the summer to convince her to try, and one day we biked to the park and she practiced in the grassy area. After a few flops she put a little more muscle behind it, giving enough to stay balanced, and she was so excited! It was sweet to see both of her sisters cheering her on; encouraging her to keep going and not berating her when she threw a fit about it.

The wheels went back on for neighborhood bike rides as her fears returned, until eventually her confidence increased enough to do it. It might have also helped we collected three 20” bikes off the free page or marketplace, ones too big for training wheels, and that worked! I’d given the chance, she would have them reinstalled, but she’s doing great. Now we just have the uphill battle to convince her that biking is fun!! Harper and Reagan love our evening rides and want to go farther and faster; Emerie does not so it’s constantly a divide and conquer between the parents. But hopefully we will get there!

All three also convinced Craig to buy and install their own kickstands like grownups have, as well as pink, purple and teal wire baskets on the front to house stuffies, snacks and coats.

In addition to physical labor activities, we are making a point to take the four wheelers out more often this year and get the girls better at steering and zooming around. And when those damn machines actually run, and stay running, it is quite fun! Reagan is the most timid on them but definitely more confident than in last years to zoom by us. Emerie would drive forty miles an hour if she could, sticking her tongue out as she speeds by, whooping in laughter and threats that no one can catch her. Harper is also quite a pedal to the metal kiddo and you can hear her giggle over the roar of the engine!

Before school started I took the girls to 5000 different appointments to prepare for the school year, which included physicals for all three, that I did back to back in super mom style, with our babysitter in the car to swap each kiddo out for their turn. The most hilarious part about that ninety minutes of my life? Watching the doctor ask all three girls the exact same questions, but without the others present, and watching them all answer almost exactly the same. I mean it was freaky how similar answers were, and even their questions and interactions with the doctor. For example, all three separately wanted to play with the stethoscope and asked her how it worked and if they could listen to their own heartbeat. Biggest difference was Emerie’s claim to be allergic to tomatoes…which isn’t true, she just thinks if you hate them enough, then you are allergic.

For the first time in seven years, Emerie has caught up in height and weight to her sister, specifically Reagan, who came in at the same weight as her, and Harper leading by a couple pounds. All three are now the same height; Emerie has officially caught up!

We also rocked our biannual dentist appointment and it’s getting easier to do them all at once. They love the attention and getting clean teeth, and I love that no cavities were reported this time. It is still a battle to convince Harper she needs to love her adult teeth, since she only likes it when they brush her teeth at the doctor. Don’t think the teeth will survive only two brushes a year, and the breath!

We also shoved in an ENT visit for Harper to check her ear tubes, and Emerie had eye checkup with a lighter bifocal, and will continue to do her eye patch.

We are now a month into second grade, with all three in the same classroom again this year. I must start documenting the cute things brought home at the end of the week. In their writing booklets they all answer slightly differently and it’s fun to compare them, some answers are more true than others when you really know them. For example, Emerie wrote her favorite weekend activity is going hiking, which couldn’t be more from the truth if she tried! Hiking might cause her physical and psychological pain…according to her when we do it. Another answer, all three’s favorite day of the week…is Thursday. Very random but likely relates to either the day they were asked that question…or the fact that gymnastics is that night after dinner! Here are few other answers for your enjoyment, to see how they are different and yet still so similar:

What is your favorite person?

  • Harper: my favorite person is Mom and Dad. I love them because they are nice. Together we hug.
  • Emerie: mom and dad. I love them because they are kind and sweet, I love Chris!
  • Reagan: my favorite person is my “perins.” I love them because they love me and I love them. Together we go swimming. (And her “i’s” are dotted hearts- sob!)

What is your favorite season?

  • Harper: my favorite season is winter. I like winter because it is fun in winter. The weather is cold.
  • Emerie: my favorite season is spring. I like it because it is warm in spring and it gets warmer. In spring the weather is getting warmer and the snow is melting.
  • Reagan: my favorite season is winter. I like winter because we have snow ice cream in winter and the weather is snowy.

Favorite subject in school

  • Harper: art. I like it because it is fun.
  • Emerie: PE. I like it because it is fun and my favorite game is tag.
  • Reagan: science. I like it because we do fun things.

Favorite weekend activity

  • Harper: my favorite thing to do over a long BFF weekend is look at the stars. Spend the weekend with my family.
  • Emerie: my favorite thing to do over a long weekend is hiking and spend time with Mom and Dad.
  • Reagan: spend time with my family. I like to spend time to be alone.

And my personal favorite, which is better shown for you to enjoy reading yourself. Because of course, my kids have a favorite vegetable!

The girls also did a partner project at school, where they each chose a specific government service that contributes to society, to research and create a 3D masterpiece of. Reagan chose an airport, continuing her “team mom” status, Emerie did the police and/or state troopers like Dad, and Harper opted for firefighters. There was much discussion after schools on their creations, what to include and what it looked like, and they turned out pretty cute!

I look forward to continued growth in writing and spelling, and future articulations. For now we will continue to shove in evening bike rides, outdoor playtime as sunsets continue arriving earlier, twenty minutes of reading per kid per night, and lots of spelling word practice. The evenings go by so quickly and winter is right around the corner, so enjoying the joys of fall as much as we can.

❤