Aug 08

Stars, Stripes and Shells

And just like that, the entire month of July is in the books! It went by so quickly and involved a lot of family fun, even meeting extended family on Craig’s side that I’ve never met before. Two weekend trips out of town, more lost teeth than I can count at this point, more outfit changes than ever before, and lot’s of hustle and bustle as we transition toward back to school.

Before the parade and on the way down to Sterling we stopped at our favorite ice cream spot and wandered next door to a random carousel, which the girls rode at least ten times in a row. The owner was a good sport and let them switch up to their hearts’ content and ride all the different Alaskan animals while the adults perused the beautiful wood carvings.

Another magical fourth of July weekend is in the books. Last year we explored the wonders of the holiday in Juneau, a first for me and the girls, and a double parade followed by hanging out on the beach on Douglas Island. This year we left town again and headed south in the car, to experience the City of Kenai parade. It was a beautifully sunny day and the girls rocked their stars and stripe dresses, star face glitter, and light up hats throughout the event. Oh and the adults also rocked the star glitter, and the kid-sized cow girl hat accidentally kept me from a decent sunburn on my face.

I should also mention my judgy children called me out for smashing a dragonfly (to death) when it landed on my leg and I smashed it with my foot, thinking it was a mosquito. For the following few days I was dubbed a “dragonfly killer”, and that was before I nailed a mongoose on the highway on the way home… The children determined my mild swerve at 70mph was to intentionally hit him instead of avoid, and did just that. Ah to be a parent.

We spent a few nights staying with Cousin Brian a little farther south, and even made a quick pit stop in Homer to hang out on the beach, say hi to friends and eat some bbq, and collect shells that would become painted jewelry in the following days. The girls favorite part of the first weekend in Ninilchik? Brian’s movie projector that played cartoons on the ceiling, and probably picking wildflowers. The projector was quite the hit with all three and something different than normal television.

Our second Ninilchik weekend and mini family reunion was another nice time away, this time the girls and I sleeping in Tyler’s RV while other family stayed in cabins. Craig opted to catch food poisoning (opted hehe) and stayed home at the last minute; but Sue and I weren’t going to miss out on the fun with Papa Lon up here!

One hilarious moment of the weekend was watching Cousin Brian show the girls where he collects fresh water from a spring across the highway and lugs it back home for use. The girls were rather enthralled with the concept water comes out of the ground (rather a pipe in the ground) and it was pretty funny to watch their reaction to something so Alaskan.

We had a lot of fun meeting more extended family and enjoying an evening barbecue in the hot summer sun, with a tote of new Barbie’s to entertain the girls while the adults caught up. The girls ran around the yard with their new toys, played Barbie dress up with just about every adult in the place, cooked smores on the grill with Lon, and overall enjoyed a fun visit and some fantastic weather.

We couldn’t end such a fun weekend without a quick stop at our favorite lake on the way back; all three girls finally walking out into the water and not complaining it was too cold. They made a few new friends, tried to capture (note I didn’t say catch!) tiny fish and happily enjoyed a quick jaunt around the lake in the boat. Unlike past years, this year had screams of faster! instead of carefully holding on.

The rest of Papa Lon and Grandma Sue’s visit was full of yummy dinners, fun crafts (like Lon drilling holes in ton of seashells so jewelry could be made!), celebrating Grandma Sue’s birthday with a homemade cake, customized birthday cards and a pie shaped, smelly candle- and helping her blow out all those candles- and of course I can’t forget to mention the girls watching hunting shows with Lon, filled with commentary and questions.

In other unrelated news, we have officially lost all the front baby teeth for all three, with Emerie finishing the milestone and convincing that last, lazy front tooth to depart for a future adventure with the tooth fairy. Her sisters accelerated this by knocking it before it was really ready, and then her absent minded wiggling, just like the other side. The prior day Harper evicted her top right (canine?), which frees up some of the space for those front two teeth to continue filling out. And Reagan, who was the first to lose a front tooth as a toddler and her other top front a little more naturally, excitedly pointed out that the hole she’s boasted in her mouth for years finally has a tooth poking through, after much speculation this year that it didn’t want to arrive. I also continue to find it amusing how all three closely mimic the same tooth order, with only a few outside that.

A great deal of discussion centered around the tooth fairy these few weeks, and all were in agreement she should be trapped and captured (like the movie), so many schemes were devised. Prior discussions last year centered around hiding lost teeth from her completely, which 180’d into using them as a trapping method to catch her. A decorative birdcage was purchased, recolored, and strategically placed in the bedroom. But that elusive tooth fairy managed to evade capture, and even leave little notes behind, scolding their attempts to get her. She always had a bit of a panic, spreading fairy dust all around the cage, but managing to escape, to the girls’ delight. I know we will miss these entertaining, magic related stories and creativity in the future; meaning Craig and I continue to embellish the fun while they still believe in it.

I’ve greatly slacked on writing things down this summer, due to the usual busy-ness and just not in the mood to do it. We wrapped up July with other miscellaneous stops like our favorite farm out in the valley and their summer festival, horse shows, birthday parties, and watching jets land at the airport. Reagan getting lost in the corn maze at the festival; Craig eventually tracked her down with some effort. While Sue picked her body weight in rhubarb, we ventured over to the strawberry fields where I supervised (and didn’t touch!) and the girls picked a container each. Emerie left that field with a face bull of strawberries, in addition to the box she carted around. The horse show captured everyone’s attention for a fun afternoon and good excuse to rock their cowgirl boots, and we enjoyed a day trip to Seward with Auntie Janelle and Paris, even in the constant rain. After the standard stop at a very tourist filled Sealife Center, we embraced the rain and let the girls run while along the beach. It might have taken as long to dry them off as they played, and was a great day.

As we wrap up summer and get back to a more normalized school schedule, my goofy girls continue to switch with each other during the day, and who is who depends on the day! Harper and Reagan keep wearing each other’s colors, demanding adults refer to them by the other sister’s name, and in addition to how funny that is, it’s also hard to purposefully call them the wrong name! Harper also attempted to pull one over on Grandma Sue by rocking Emerie’s glasses and smiling without showing teeth. It always amazes me how swapping glasses between them really makes them look like Emerie!

Nightly neighborhood bike rides have also become the new normal. Emerie is incredibly close to removing training wheels and did great practicing and overcoming her fear of it at the park last weekend. Harper and Reagan did a great job cheering her on, with lots of words of encouragement. On pavement she is still sporting the training wheels, but that doesn’t hold her up on speeding around. She especially hates going uphill (or putting in the muscle to move uphill), and with that Craig has a newly discovered superpower, which is pushing a kid up a hill on a bike, while riding is own bike. All three think it’s hilarious when he chases them around the neighborhood on his in-line skates instead of the bike, and he’s convinced them to pull him. It’s pretty funny to watch.

I’ll save our four wheeler adventures for another day, since fall time is my favorite season to get out and about in them. The track by our house has one loop that isn’t too scary for the girls to navigate solo, and it’s been quite the excitement to get over there and speed around. Only minimal blood and crashes, and a lot of mini-speed demons emerging, not to mention the big smiles and giggles you can hear from so far away.

Anyway, getting this blog is getting posted since it’s way out of date, and we are jumping back into the back-to-school to-do list before next week. Happy August!

❤

Jul 03

Stilettos & Sidewalk CEOs

Summer is in full swing and that means finally a few days of sunlight! With the warmer temperatures appears our three fashion icons, who -unlike their mother- instantly boasted a tan and brightened blonde locks with their new fashionista attitudes. With Grandma Sue in town for the month as our built in daycare, that means days spent at home and fifty thousand outfit changes. Her visits always equal a lot of fun activities and goodies; new artwork decorates my walls, colorful bathwater now has to be saved for future use (don’t ask…) and crystals and gems are growing on the counter. At this point it’s hard to picture summer without her after several years of visits.

As shown in the photos, we’ve apparently entered the girls’ high fashion era—think stilettos, strappy sandals, and a rotating wardrobe of too-big junior and women’s dresses, now making daily appearances in our living room runway and around town. Each of the girls handpicked their own thrift store heel, scoring treasures like sparkly pink wrap-around stilettos, black chunky heels with sparkly butterflies fluttering up the leg straps, and silver flats that shimmer with every stomp.

Harper, in true firstborn form, struts around the house in 3” heels like she’s been doing it since birth; unlike me, who barely survives standing in heels, let alone walking in them. I tried on the size seven ones at their request; and nearly didn’t survive that five minutes. Harper’s skill is frankly rude it’s so natural. And Emerie and Reagan, well their confidence and thrill of style far outweighs their coordination, but don’t tell them that! They still charge into the backyard in their new shoes, attempting to climb playhouse, swing, and help with gardening with all the grace of baby giraffes on stilts (great visual right?!). But hey- as Grandma always says, beauty is pain….right?

Along with the heels came an influx of XS dresses from the women’s section and enough sweaters to dress all the Bluey grannies. The girls have a sixth sense at spotting their desires; it might just be in their DNA from my skill finding a good deal in clearance sales. One day it’s a pink off-the-shoulder sequin dress, the next it’s a glittery black gown that looks like it was made from recycled sandpaper. They also swap colors and parade around, announcing they look like their sister. And comfort is clearly not a requirement. The discovery of oversized cardigans too, that naturally go with evening wear or even pajamas pants, support this fashion-forward household. After several weeks of searching, Harper and Reagan excitedly found thrifted hooded bathrobes, one pink and one teal. Emerie initially claimed an adult-sized purple robe, rocking it like a tiny boss until I caved and ordered her a kid-sized version—at which point she graciously “allowed” Sue to wear her discarded one. Even on a few warm nights, these three goofballs still curl up in bed wrapped in them like cozy, baby burritos. I mean honestly, it looks kind of cozy…if it wasn’t the warmest time of year for us!

Papa Cliff stopped in a couple weeks ago and delivered roller blades, which caused quite the discussion on who received what color, and very interesting times watching them try to run across the front yard and not lose all their teeth or break any bones. They excitedly rocked their half pajamas, half winter wear with elbow and knee pads, another fashion forward style apparently. And no, they cannot skate like Craig- who is exceptionally good at it- but they sure wish they could!

Grandma Sue visits always equal your body weight in goodies; and no, we are not complaining! As the girls have grown, they are a little more manageable on the cooking output, not eating handfuls of flour, licking their fingers every five seconds, or sneaking chunks of butter (hey they are their grandma’s granddaughters haha). Fashion forward outfits contribute to this activity as well, with messy buns in the morning for scones and much more handwashing than in years past. The past few weeks they’ve tried their hand in peach pie and crust (Emerie), key lime cheesecake, multiple flavors of delicious scones, and you can’t forget the non-desserts, like homemade fried rice and favorite and local flour explosion, chicken fried steak.

The girls, Sue and I spent the first real sun of the summer out of town, and what better Father’s Day gift to a busy girl dad then giving him two days of kid-free silence while we harassed the Kenai Peninsula. The weekend was smooth overall, the girls bonded with their new identical twin cousins, barbecued with family and made smores, and discovered a few treasures at local garage sales. It is fun (for me!) to try to figure out which twin is which, something that is always fun when trying to distinguish who is who on identicals, and Reagan is getting really good at it. We rounded out the trip stopping for the waffles at the train restaurant, and were back home in no time.

It’s not all fun and games when the parents are off at work- there’s still a busy household to run. Thankfully, Grandma Sue runs a tight ship and keeps the girls busy with chores. And by chores, we mean supervised chaos with good intentions and efficiency. For example, the reseeding of spots in the yard. In order to avoid stomping the spots, the girls “helped” throw grass seed, with a level of distribution far exceeding the adults and their enthusiasm. So far all are abiding by the rule well, and excitedly notice as grass starts to fill in since they helped with the process. Around the house, they’re also tackling the essentials: loading the dishwasher, making beds, putting away clean laundry, and attempting to clean up the daily toy explosion. It’s a group effort -with some fighting and arguing in between- and the job jar is never empty!

In addition to having little fashionistas, we once again have tiny entrepreneurs with a homemade lemonade stand, all inclusive with colorful Rice Krispy treats (extra marshmallows) and M&M cookie bars. Picture three sets of energetic hands helping Grandma Sue stir the cereal; it was a chaotic and hilarious scene to watch. Yes, hands were washed, and yes, we limited the direct cereal-to-mouth ratio…at least until the end. The giggling lasted about as long as the stirring. Sign making didn’t receive the same level of enthusiasm as last year’s marathon art session, but the results were still pretty customized and cute. Everyone rocked lemon-themed outfits and, for the most part, stuck to the front yard, where they joyfully harassed any passerby and our good sported neighbors. All agreed to spend their revenue on fancy nail polish at the nail salon, and hopefully we are working toward a good understanding that hard work equals reward, even at this age.

Each morning, just like during the school year, Emerie continues to patch her eye and still questions why she has to do it when the other two don’t. In the past month she’s become more aware that her weaker eye doesn’t always appear straight, especially at night, and was really stuck on the thought for a few days. We’re not sure if a friend pointed it out but it’s the first time she’s ever noticed, and it doesn’t seem like it came from her sisters since patching is a normal occurrence throughout the years.

Needless to say, we’re working hard to reassure her that patching strengthens her eye, and that it won’t be forever. We also remind her that her sisters will likely end up in glasses eventually, given the genetic odds stacked against them with both parents and grandparents in the bad eyesight club. Our hope is to ease her worries now, before they snowball into something bigger… especially in a house that’s destined to have three teenage girls under one roof. We know she will appreciate all these efforts as an adult, because glasses or not, she will have sight in both eyes!

Other summertime adventures include a stop at the local reconnaissance fair, a first for the girls and during an excessive downpour afternoon. Excluding the cold hands, wet raincoats and attire covered in clay from learning pottery, it was quite a fun afternoon. And not so cold as to avoid an ice cream treat (according to the girls…because I was cold!). Our annual visit to the Scottish Highland Games was also a success again this year. The Douglas kilts aren’t nearly as oversized with growing kids, and we managed to snap a family photo with the Douglas scarves from Grandma Anne in Scotland last month. With only a few rain sprinkles here and there and mostly sun, the girls rocked their kilts, drank a gallon of fresh lemonade, gleefully found the dip and dots booth, sported cute face paint and begged to do the harnessed trampoline jumps. They nibbled on lunch during the Harp Twins concert and handed their coloring to the twins before getting our annual, three-sets-of-identicals photo. Everyone enjoyed watching the dance clubs highlight their dances. Another highlight was all three volunteering to go on stage with other kids and learn one of the dances, and they did pretty well. Stage fright is not a concern in this house (other than Reagan occasionally) and they listened, followed along, and gave it their best. All three get their rhythm from their dad 🙂

I can’t believe July is already here. We continue to get out and about and enjoy this great state, visit parks and ride bikes through the neighborhood, and get out of town when possible. For now, we will continue crafting, baking, picking all the wildflowers, and enjoying our time together.

❤

Mar 30

3x the Cake, Chaos & Celebration

What a week! The beginning of March, for the past six years, has been all about birthday festivities: planning our biggest party of the year, coming up with spring break activities, creating customized cakes in triplicate plus school cupcakes, and squeezing in the much-anticipated daddy-daughter dance. And just to keep things interesting, this year we also added a surgery, a few dental fillings and tooth extraction, a weekend trip, and you know, that four letter word called work- right in the thick of legislative session. I think it’s safe to say the parents (and probably Grandma Sue too!) have officially earned their own spring break; when exactly does that happen and who wants to watch the kids?!

Much discussion occurred in January and February about this year’s birthday theme—because obviously, picking the right one is serious business. I figured My Little Pony would be the winner this year but the girls had other plans. In a unanimous vote (rare!), they landed on a zoo theme featuring three completely unrelated animals: Harper chose a arctic seal, Emerie a turtle, and Reagan her beloved panda. Naturally, the party colors remained the standard pink, purple, and teal theme of our lives, because I didn’t actually give them an option otherwise (Reagan asked for red pandas and that was vetoed- I don’t have red stuff!).

After tossing around ideas with Sue (aka my creative partner-in-cake…so funny!), we came up with a plan for each kiddo’s cake. Then came the chocolate molds—50+ of them over the course of a few evenings. They are time intensive but actually pretty fun to change up each year, and the girls love seeing the results. The arctic seals nearly did me in- I kept accidentally decapitating them with the one 3D mold ordered from Etsy. But after a few trial runs; I think they turned out passable. The turtles were a breeze and popped right out with cute shell patterns, and the mini pandas were fun to crank out in teal. I even brought my “a” game and managed to make a few in black and white, making Reagan so excited and adding more flare.

Our toothless Harper smiling with her “harper seals” in pink and white, sun bathing on a bed of sparkling water (because edible glitter is awesome), surrounded by rocks, green brush, and snow covered ground. In food terms, it’s like melted blue Jolly Ranchers turned into a sticky candy, water body, topped with a mix of white and rock-looking sprinkles, and some plastic bushes to boost up the three dimensional look. I think it came out pretty well!

Emerie’s face in that picture says it all. She wanted her cake a bit busier, more like an undersea party than a quiet reef. So, along with the handmade chocolate turtles were sprinkles of mermaid treasure to share the glory. In addition to colorful shells, more turtle friends, and an abundance of foliage, her cake included a mermaid backdrop to set the scene, complete with light green icing for the ocean floor and dreamy lakes in blended shades of blue and green.

Reagan’s panda habitat ended up looking the most like a real zoo out of the three cakes. It featured a chocolate bamboo enclosure, framed with plastic bamboo leaves, and a whole bunch of rambunctious pandas- some edible, some just along for the ride- all relaxing on a mountain of light green icing, with little leaves popping up from the “ground.” And don’t forget, lots of edible glitter to make the whole thing sparkle.

Aside from the cakes was a lot of other cooking and crafting creativity for the actual party that weekend. The good ‘ole internet allowed me to find really cute seal balloons, and the pandas/turtles were easier to find after that. Same for the party bags, which were fun to figure out distributing equal goodies for each kiddo, and having a harder time finding seal themed anything. ChatGPT and I also got in some quality bonding time, helping me design custom stickers in each girl’s favorite color and animal, and photoshopping seven candles because the program would NOT do it. That turned into a surprisingly fun exercise in trial-and-error (loooooots of it!) until I finally landed on just the right look. It was totally worth the effort. I think they turned out super cute and the girls were so excited for extras, and to help decorate the party plates with them.

As far as the party goes, we invited a lot of people to celebrate, but weren’t sure who would show up, and ended up with WAY more than expected. The party was in a big, indoor space, which was filled with about 40 kids in total. If you didn’t know, that is a lot of kids…

Each animal was well represented at the party, and Sue and I spent plenty of time crafting customized creations—like kiwi and grape turtles (complete with tiny eyeballs!) and Rice Krispy shaped of all three, each with little noses and smiles. As usual, Sue’s veggie pizza was a hit, as were Craig’s fancy cupcakes, all frosted with a triple swirl of pink, purple and teal and topped with matching chocolate animals. It really is a team effort to put these events on, and breaks my heart to think we only have a few more until the girls will be grown and probably less excited for all the extravagance.

The party itself was packed with animal-themed activities. We had props for silly iPad photos (and yes, there were many to go through after), temporary tattoos (seal tattoos are surprisingly hard to find, by the way, but do exist!), scratch art animal face masks, and even a zoo-themed game inspired by Craig. But the real hit? The open space and soft mats for climbing, where the kids ran wild and just had a blast being kids.

But you know what I found most impressive about the afternoon? The pro level of effort put into the gifts. Not only did almost everything have custom, hand drawn cards for each kid individually (handwritten kid cards are simply the greatest at this age, giving and receiving!), they were also incredibly thoughtful and catered to the likes of each kiddo. Wrapping paper and gift bags were a total explosion of pink, purple, and teal, so on-brand for our continued life trend. It was such a joy to watch the girls’ excitement. This was also the first year everything didn’t come in threes, which feels like a big milestone to me and a sign they’re growing up and moving out of the little kid phase (sob!!). We also have a very generous group of friends!

Favorite gifts for this year? I always like to write this down because I instantly can’t remember for all three. The girls unanimously loved the glittery gold H, E, and R letters, the star dresses in their colors from Aunt Jenny, and surprise dolls. One friend grabbed everyone another stuffy in their animal of choice; i.e. a stuffed grey seal that was open with squeals by Harper, another small panda who now has Reagan insisting she is a mother of a set of quadruplets (I love that she even knows what that means), and tiny turtles that now snuggle in bed with Emerie. This is also the last year for some of the dress up dresses, which they will size out of after size 8 (sob!!) so we splurged and bought them one last fancy outfit from the local toy store. We also upgraded their bedroom comforters and replaced the matching princess ones originally purchased when we installed the triplet bunk bed, which feels like ages ago. The theme for those? Well you guessed it, pink and white seals for Harper, I couldn’t find any purple turtle comforters so a purple Elsa set for Emerie, and a teal panda family for Reagan. I love the new look in their room!

Amidst all the excitement of the week was also the very anticipated Daddy-Daughter Dance, now a staple tradition in our household. The girls ask about it all year long. We went all out: nails done, hair curled with the curling iron for the first time, and eye shadow and liner picked by each of them. Then came the strappy, white heels, tights, and lacy dresses in their colors. The event anticipation was full of excitement, and while Craig reported they were a bit chaotic and wild at the actual event (less magical for him, maybe), they absolutely loved their special night with Dad. It’s one of those sweet memories they can look back on as they get older—and the photos are just plain adorable and no snow and sunshine was a nice, unusual touch for this time of year. Sue and I also snuck away from all the party planning for a kid-free sushi date, which was pretty fantastic, too.

Surviving a week(s) as a party planner for the triplets feels like juggling three dozen cupcakes while riding on a roller coaster coated in a thick layer of glitter, with miscellaneous events in between the stops for preparations, real work hours, and everyday chores. By the end, one needs a serious break from the never ending glitter and abundant child inspired noise, and need some very strong caffeine or a long nap… but hey, the stress is worth the effort to deliver a fun month that the girls will remember happily as they get older. But thank heavens it’s done for another year and my tiny babies are now seven!

❤

Jan 05

A Little Christmas Joy

The past six weeks have been full of holiday activities, play dates with friends, and school activities. Staying busy pushes us through the dark, winter season, and helps burn the never ending amount of energy three six-year-olds brings to our household. As the sun sets before four in the afternoon, it seems like that darkness turns into kid energy and wildness, all while cooped up indoors in the evenings.

We kicked off the Christmas season with a Samaritans Purse evening, organizing and filling boxes that would arrive all over the world, to share a little Christmas joy with other kids less fortunate. The girls were great helpers, customizing their boxes for girls aged four to six, and begging to do more than one box. They colored pages and wrote notes to include in their boxes and stacked them up in the big pile. Bonus was the cookie decorating table, which included some eating and some donating plates to others- all in all, it was a productive and fun night with their classmates.

Thanksgiving was late in November this year and nicely didn’t coincide with Craig’s birthday. Aunt Jenny purchased blue plaid, kid onesies that were quite the hit at dinner, with the girls wearing them consistently at night and while playing at home the past month, as we continue through our cold season. After a nice dinner at cousins’ house in Eagle River, we headed to the “real” Nutcracker show in Anchorage later that weekend, hosted by the Eugene Ballet group. Last year the show we attended was performed by a local ballet school and a little more kid friendly for noise; this year we watched the fancier one, meeting up with their friend Ava and practically sitting in the auditorium rafters. I had fancy hairstyles planned to match the Christmas dresses, but canned the idea after realizing we had the day wrong and only an hour notice to get everyone ready and downtown.

There were fewer when is it over complaints from Emerie this year; she seemed happy to sit with Ava and watch the show. Reagan also had a nice conversation with Ava’s dad during the show and Harper insisted on sitting with Craig for the whole thing. After a quick cookie snack at intermission -because everyone was apparently starving after an hour- they enjoyed watching the dances and beautiful sets and costumes, but were ready to run by the ending.

The school Christmas show went off marvelously and all three were strategically placed near each other, but with a non sibling in between each. All three sang their hearts out and did the motions to their songs, all smiles. I always enjoy these events, as it makes me feel more like a parent than other days of the year, and gives me a surreal sense of happiness.

A few other noteworthy, funny moments over the past month:

Harper begged for Mrs. Claus dresses this year, which are harder to find than you might think! Grandma Sue ended up sending Santa and Elf themed sweater dresses from Fred Meyer and the girls continue to wear them at least a couple times a week. They are great for photo ops and warm for winter, not to mention cute!
Emerie continues her goofball comments, with so many silly commentaries about Grandma’s baby boy– meaning Craig- and it’s hilarious. She latches on to an idea and then rolls with it for quite a while, accentuating the baby booooooy when talking about him.
Reagan now creates word and spelling games for sisters. You’ll find two of them with heads together and thick as thieves, doing some kind of spelling categorization or asking how to spell a word. It’s very sweet to watch her guide and explain to her sisters; she is definitely our school kid of the three. Maybe there’s a future teacher in there!
On a sweet note, Harper still starts her conversations with can I tell you something?! I love you. and I hope that lasts forever. Normal conversations often start with that question, and then she waits until you agree before starting her tangent. On the other hand, Emerie goes the opposite direction in the morning and often hollers I told you to stop waking me up! I want to wake up myself; go away! when starting off the morning for school. If you walk away she will get herself up like it was her idea in the first place; funny kid.
Harper now requests music in a new way- the girls recently noticed the car screen shows album covers and it is often completely irrelevant to the playing music. I now receive requests such as can you play the song with the girl in the pink dress? and I’m supposed to know what that is. At least with the customized song names from the toddler days I could interpret it; I definitely don’t know album covers! All three also ask what song names are, as written on the screen, and are getting better at sounding them out.
Emerie now tallies our life scores, whether we agree to participate or not. If I can’t answer a question, then my lack of correct response means she gets a point. I am unsure what these points tally toward, but I sure don’t seem to get any on my side. She asked Grandma Sue the other day how was God born? And the lack of “correct” answer earned Emerie a self proclaimed point, because she didn’t know. This is starting to happen more frequently off all her random questions.

Our girls continue to grow like weeds and no longer boast those baby faces and toddler mannerisms. In addition to sailing through an entire clothing size this summer- our quickest yet- we also rearranged their bedroom this month and removed the sofa chair purchased during my pregnancy. This felt like a mental blow to my mom brain, reminding us how rapidly they grow up, and prepared for the oversized beanbag chair arriving from Santa. That chair holds so many memories; used multiple times a day, every single day, for years: triple bottle feedings every three hours around the clock, quick diaper changes, comforting a crying baby in the middle of the night, calming wild toddlers at bedtime, snuggling for naps after Emerie’s many eye surgeries, or reading a gazillion books. I often found Emerie sitting on it with a stuffy, listening to a Tonie story, or Reagan singing along to one under a blanket. I couldn’t bring myself to rehome it, so its new home is downstairs in the family room, ready for more memories and cuddles to come. To this day, I truly believe it was the best purchase we made in preparation for the girls, and the most used piece of furniture those first few years. In other big kid news, the girls slept in the living room by the Christmas tree a couple different nights, which is another age milestone and something I greatly enjoyed and remember doing as a 90s kid.

In addition to moving furniture to make way for new activities, so begins the arguments and deep discussions related to boy crushes. I thought we’d have more time since they are only six, but exactly that occurred at the end of a school day earlier this month. I arrived with Harper in tears and Emerie mad, and Reagan running up to explain they were fighting because Harper told Emerie her secret crush and Emerie didn’t keep the secret. Emerie told her teacher, who responded they are too young for crushes (which is true!) and Harper lost her mind. Ooof, that was such a fun ride home, believe you me! This is a terrifying preview of the teenage years…SO not ready yet. The girls now intermittently discuss their “crushes” and which boys in their class they will marry someday. Reagan still wants to have twin girls and has their names chosen already, Harper wants triplets (ha!) and Emerie is a no go to having any babies in her belly, at least right now.

Christmas break this year was significantly easier than years past, and not only because of the surprise arrival of Grandma Sue (surprise to me) and Auntie Amanda (to the girls). In addition to all the Christmas arts and crafts and goodie cooking, the girls will now wander off to read a book or write something out with a drawing, which they didn’t independently do last year. Lego building, dolls sets, and a variety of slime related activities help keep the sanity too, in addition to the afternoon parkour gymnastics down the street to burn energy and give me a small break. We watched several movies at the theater, including Moana 2 twice, and had several successful ice skating excursions at the mall. Everyone is excited for skating lessons starting in January, and three impatient girls wanting it to start already.

We visited Santa at Cabela’s, and he asked everyone how old they were. When all three answered six in a row, Santa still didn’t catch on. Instead, he asked them what it was like to be twins; they were not impressed and quickly corrected him. Santa should know better!! Christmas morning did bring one Santa present request; a panda, turtle, and seal onesie, specific to each kid’s favorite animal. Good thing Santa was listening…. 🙂

I took two weeks off work for school break, not knowing that Grandma Sue was coming up for some of the fun. I nearly spilled the beans about Amanda’s visit multiple times but managed to keep that one a surprise. Picking them both up at the airport resulted in three very happy girls, who had no idea why we were driving past Mom’s work to Mom’s airport! So many delicious, Christmas goodies were consumed the past few weeks, and the girls helped Grandma with so much baking. All three liked her fruit dip, or should I say vanilla pudding, and were unimpressed with added spices. They sure did eat all the apples and grapes intended for that dip, but without the dip! Everyone helped me make gingerbread cookies and did great this year cutting out the cookies, including three new custom shapes for our set: a turtle, panda and seal (see the theme here?!). In addition to decorating a couple dozen cookies, everyone was thrilled to display the customized gingerbread house on the table and admire it for a couple weeks over the holiday.

We painted and baked Christmas plates this year and watched a new holiday movie for the first time, Home Alone. The girls didn’t want to watch it at first, but once the story line picked up, they were hooked and giggling at all the torturous activities to keep out the house thieves. A few other new Disney movies prompted some distress and bad dreams, on random things they latched onto; an issue that resolved itself after a few nights and much discussion about life, death, and heaven.

After a quick hour of Christmas Eve prepping after bedtime, which included placing out the already wrapped presents from sneaky wrapping sessions over a few weeks, Craig and Amanda built the new vanity and mirror set and I stuffed stockings. I spaced out all the tasks to prep for the big day, making the night before go much quicker. All three left a cookie out for Santa, Emerie leaving hers on a tiny doll plate after adamantly demanding it had to be that way. Everyone slept well and went to bed discussing Santa’s impending visit.

Emerie and Reagan were up by 6:30, but I managed to contain them until about 7:00, when the excitement was just too much to bear. They dragged a sleepy Harper out of bed to demands of presents, and wandered downstairs to see the big, pink beanbag chair on the floor and presents scattered around the room. After a cup of coffee for the adults, presents were opened in sets of three, just like prior years. It is relatively organized and fast paced, with all three opening similar gifts simultaneously and sharing their excitement. They have different answers to their favorite gifts than I do. For example, I made a princess photo album for our Disney World trip that includes pictures of all the princesses with the girls, and of course the “magic” shots courtesy of the park cameras. I wanted the girls to be able to flip through an album and remember the trip whenever they want, like adults do on their phones. Finding three Precious Moments picture frames was a great find too, and filling them with a picture of each kiddo with their favorite princess; now I just need to find them a home to keep them from getting broken.

While Christmas isn’t all about presents, we still endeavor to make sure to have a fun and magical day. It was fun to share it with Sue and Amanda, and allow Craig to make his fancy beef wellington in peace while everyone checked out their new toys. Each kiddo received something to play with customized to their specific desires, since they aren’t all the same, a few clothing items to wear, and doll sets from both Grandma Sue and Grandma Anne. The girls ran around with their new doll pets and carriers from Grandma Anne and danced with light up animal ballerinas that play music from the Nutcracker from Grandma Sue and Papa Lon. Adults helped opened the toy contraptions and enjoyed laying on the floor playing together, mostly nicely!

Craig found dresses for all three in their favorite animals -not an easy feat- and a princess dress for each was also unwrapped. By mid-morning all three had changed outfits at least three times with no end in sight. Another outfit change was prompted later that evening after opening presents from cousins…wait for it…white wedding dresses and vails! This was met with great excitement, immediately running upstairs to change into “wedding girls.” Not going to lie…they look SUPER cute in those outfits, and had so much fun running around in them.

When asked what their favorite gift was, Emerie responded the turtle costume and really I just like everything. I like my Elsa photo. Harper responded she liked all her presents and opening them and can’t choose a favorite. Reagan’s response was her stuffed panda from Amanda and the pink mirror (vanity) where we can do our hair.

Only one real hiccup on the big day occurred and kept us on our toes for holiday events with family. I left carpet cleaner spray on the stairs, intending to better clean the carpet where the cat left us his own Christmas gift; Emerie picked it up at some point in the evening and chased everyone with it, ultimately spraying those chemicals into cousin Elliot’s hair and eyes and prompting an unplanned shower and face scrubbing and some red eyes. Can’t say we’ve had that happen before…nothing says holiday cheer like spraying dangerous chemicals at your cousins, right?

The week between Christmas and New Years is a type of no-mans land, where you don’t know what day it is and time is spent doing whatever you want to make it through Christmas break with the kids. The gymnastics afternoons greatly assisted giving Amanda and I short kid breaks, and we filled the mornings with other fun activities like cleaning and organizing the house, painting creations at Color Me Mine, playing outside and with the neighbor kid, building Lego sets and watching Star Wars with Amanda, creating slime and play dough creations, and hitting up jump parks and playgrounds. I was hoping for a few sledding adventures while Amanda was here, but the cold temperatures and lack of snow conditions were less than desirable. Build days at Lowe’s and Home Depot were also a hit, as was Zoo Lights one night.

Having family visit during the break was such a much needed treat. I love being in a central location (by Alaska standards) and getting unplanned (and planned!) drop-ins, something I did t have as a kid with no nearby family. Grandma Sue and Auntie Amanda staying with us not only gave Craig and me a chance to recharge (I even got to sit down and read a book one afternoon!) but also created so many fun memories for the girls. Cousin Jaren flew in for a couple hours one afternoon before returning home; Uncle Will stopped over a few times to enjoy dinner and make glittered slime with the girls. Papa Cliff stopped by with a few presents. Cousin Tyler brought Chatum, Dorian, and Beckham over, and the kids had a blast riding the four wheelers in the freezing dark. It’s amazing how much longer they can endure the cold when they’re having fun! The boys were such good sports about it. At one point, Chatum and Harper came speeding down the street, with Harper at the wheel, laughing and shouting, we won! as they zoomed toward the house. Emerie and Dorian’s four wheeler died at one point in the neighborhood and they required rescue, but no upset kiddos from being out that long in the cold.

The cherry on top of all the visits was getting to meet the newest additions to the family- (second) cousin Amber’s identical twin girls, who made the trek all the way from Kenai just to see us. I believe this was the first time the girls have held babies this small and everyone was eager to participate, Reagan really taking her momming skills up to the next level. In fact, baby Kylan took a nap on her and it was so very sweet to watch her tuck her into her blanket and whisper. Elsie took a nice nap on the new beanbag chair and looked so cozy and happy, and they slept through the noise of our house! Spending a few hours with three month olds is a good reminder at how far we’ve come, and how much easier the day to day is now that the girls are more self sufficient and are out of naps and diapers. I am SO excited for next summer when they are mobile and we can get out and about.

It was a wonderful holiday season, and I tried to treasure every moment, knowing how fleeting they are. We only have a few more years to enjoy the magic of childhood at Christmas and I can’t even believe how fast it’s gone. A meme I saw earlier this month summed it up accurately: remember this is the youngest they’ll ever be at Christmas again. Pretty solid thought! Merry Christmas and happy new year…here we go 2025!

❤

Jan 01

Wonders of Christmas

This is a little late, but better than never. I’m happy to report our December went off without a hitch heath wise! The girls counted down to the big day, asking how many sleeps remain each afternoon and over and over when Christmas will arrive. That, and when summer will get here, which is a bit farther away considering we just had winter solstice.

The preschool class had a Christmas party the Friday before the big day and cookie decorating was quite the hit, according to the teacher. Emerie decorated her one, completely covered cookie while Harper and Reagan had platefuls of beauties to bring home and display. After a two weeks, they are still sitting on the counter in all their glory, as we attempt to keep sugar to a minimum (since we have sooo many cookies!).

Much of the month, with the crazy shift in weather, was spent staying busy doing all kinds of activities inside. By crazy weather, I mean the close to 70 mile per hour winds in town, to crazy snow drifts blasting off the massive snow piles, and then a dip into negative temperatures; all this equals the girls not wanting to play outside (and who can blame them?!). Since sledding was off the table until conditions improved, we continued to hit up the jump park, visited the play coffeehouse and created coloring masterpieces and art projects at home, almost daily. A number of ornaments were painted, hung on the tree by yours truly, then removed from the tree to become play toys. We attempted Color Me Mine for the first time since last winter and it was a completely different experience than going when they were all three years old. Everyone picked out the same llama planter to decorate and instructed Craig on their color choices. Everyone wanted at least one stamp to spruce up their look. Overall it went quite well; even Emerie took her time and had fun! They finished off the activity with candy cane ornaments- Harper’s became a mesh of green and red, Emerie created a design and Reagan attempt red, white and green stripes. I can’t wait to remake them next year and see what they look like! And, for the next few days, everyone asked me several times a day if their creations were ready for pick up. Silly kids.

Auntie Megan brought over a “pie in the face” whip cream game that was quite the hit with all five kiddos one afternoon. By the end everyone wanted to lose and put far less effort into the battle, knowing the result produced delicious whip cream to sample and spread everywhere. We will definitely have to get another game and continue the kid torture in the future. I’m certain everyone will want to push some whip cream into the faces of several grandparents and uncles!

We spent much of December dressing up, with all three strongly demanding that shirts and pants are unacceptable forms of clothing. At this point in their lives, I’m not exactly sure why I even have a drawer full of shirts, as it becomes a huge task to even suggest they wear anything other than a dress. Luckily it worked out with my overspending on the Christmas outfits, so they had tutu dresses, their fancy “concert dresses” (as they say), princess themed ones and all the normal twirlies to choose from, as well as the festive boots and red ballet slipper flats. Their teachers were told we have HUNDREDS of Christmas jammies to wear, at least according to Harper, after their pajama party at school. It’s not really hundreds, but more than I should probably admit….

The girls visited Santa at Cabela’s and he took time to individually talk to each kiddo, answering questions and smiling for photos. I may have mentioned they needed instruction to sleep overnight in their beds, which he helped me out with! The girls questioned why presents were under the tree mid month- yes, because I’m THAT mom that wants things prepped ahead of time, especially knowing sickness hits our house so quickly- so they learned that only some presents come from Santa on Christmas Eve and others come from mom, dad and grandparents. My theory panned out last year when we wouldn’t have opened any presents otherwise, due to the pneumonia that ran through the adults in the house. Next year I plan to take each kid shopping individually to choose a gift for each sibling. I didn’t try this year, assuming they would pick something they wanted and then lose their minds when it went to someone else.

It doesn’t seem like many kid Christmas shows and movies are a hit in our household, with the exception of the Muppet Christmas, Polar Express and one random Netflix hit that hey, has three tiny kittens in it. We did a week of watching one of the three each night; and the girls were seriously annoyed that the kids in Polar Express don’t actually have names. It’s funny how much this irritates them.

We swapped presents with Auntie Megan and crew on Christmas Eve and as usual, Megan outdid herself for each kiddo. The hit of the afternoon was certainly the color changing barbies, that dunk into water and turn from solid teal to a typical barbie, with skin tones and hair colors. They were thoroughly excited to check them out; Reagan so much she peeled much of the paint off with her nails while sitting at the table.

The girls were wired on Christmas Eve night, especially after opening stockings (stuffed to the brim with randoms I collected over the past few months) and one present. It took a bit to coax them into sleeping, especially so Craig and I could finish the final touches of Santa’s visit and put out a few more of the big presents. Craig spent the afternoon locked in the garage, building the Barbie dream house (Costco!) that had sooo many pieces and I had the presents hidden and waiting for their morning debut. We then filled the dreamhouse with princesses and accessories from when I was a kid (barbie sets from the 90s are way better than now!) and enjoyed a quiet house for a little while, basking in the Christmas ambiance that I truly enjoy every winter.

The girls woke up at a decent hour on Christmas and we somehow convinced the early risers to wait until everyone was up to start. They were thrilled to see bites out of the three cookies, courtesy of Santa. This year presents were far more fun to watch, as less intervention was needed to help open presents. Except when taking apart doll packaging, which takes an army of scissors and patience to pry everything open while excited preschoolers oversee in excitement and demand you to go faster. The girls did quite well playing most of the day, with new toys and with each other, and didn’t even notice the dollhouse downstairs until after lunch. This year’s theme was very girly (shocking), and included mermaids, (pretend) makeup, dance lessons and leotards and new 18″ dolls, with a few other goodies in between. Each kiddo received their own custom music box: Harper a pink ballerina one, Emerie a purple unicorn one, and Reagan a pink and teal mermaid one. This gift might have backfired a bit, as the three separate tunes played allllll afternoon on repeat, and they even managed to remove the windup pins in record time. The boxes now reside in their bedrooms and are not yet filled with treasures, because the music was by the far the most exciting attribute to watch. As soon as presents were opened for the morning, the questions on when is it going to be our birthday and when will summer be here started again, since they know both things occur post Christmas time. I will also say, the kitten (Molly) very much enjoyed the girls opening presents and jumping through all the paper.

This year we ate Christmas dinner instead of throwing it into the freezer for when everyone was healthy again; and Craig’s beef wellington was delicious as usual! Jenny, Keegan and the boy cousins as well as Uncle William brought other goodies and it was a really nice day. The cousins exchanged presents and ran around wild, enjoying the day. The pink, purple and blue sequined stockings were put to work as mermaid tails and are still randomly around the house. It’s wonderful to have cousins close in age that now live close by!

At bedtime that night I asked everyone to share their favorite thing(s) about the day and their most beloved gift. I will point out by this time everyone was way overstimulated and tired, and definitely a bit on the grumpier side of the happy scale.

Reagan (who is definitely long winded like her Grandmother and had all kinds of thoughts about the day- so this is paraphrased…): My favorite thing was opening presents and doing Mom and Dad’s hair and makeup. My favorite present was my mermaid music box, makeup, the dollhouse and new dress shoes from Grandma Sue.

PS. If you allow your “hair and makeup” to be done by your local preschool professional, you can sometimes receive a head massage and nice hair brushing. Not too tough on the sanity and they demand you sit still and not get off the couch. Well played…right?

Emerie (who was extremely ready to go to sleep, covered in her stuff animals and wanting to listen to Elsa on my phone): My favorite thing was opening presents and listening to my music box. AND wearing Pan’s hair headband (a long, flowered braid headband). AND playing with my mom and dad and sisters. My favorite present was the big turtle from Papa Cliff and the big, barbie dollhouse.

Harper (who was past any form of cooperation and crazy raged over still being awake): My favorite thing is nothing! (after further mother harassment she answered better). My favorite thing was playing with the flowers from Aunt Jenny, playing with my new music box and just opening presents. My favorite present was the high heels from Grandma Sue and wearing the black dance leotard.

If I had to choose their favorite items over the past week, the flower set from Aunt Jenny is definitely the winner. They all continue to build custom gardens (and fight over them) and make flower food, flower decor, and anything else they can dream up. The dollhouse has a few visits a day and everyone continues to stomp around the house in their new dress heels (you can guess how thrilled Craig is about that!) while rocking their princess braided headbands. Everyone has already worn the new sparkle pants from Grandma Anne in the next size (sob!). Harper adores her new doll, named Babela (like her last one) and insists on carting her around everywhere and sleeping with her at night. Emerie is now a flower garden queen and always toting a few around. Reagan often wanders downstairs for an hour and pretend plays with the barbie set up.

However busy and dark the dead of winter is, I enjoyed the Christmas season this year. While I am excited for the light on the horizon (for a few more seconds each day!), I find a special place in my heart and mind for the cold, snowy season full of Christmas lights, goodies, friends and family. Maybe that’s the Alaskan in my blood, but who knows. Cheers to a new year!

❤

The Douglets

Triplets in Alaska

arts and crafts