birthday

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 🙂

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.

❤

3x the Cake, Chaos & Celebration

7th Birthday in animal themed outfits

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.

Taking a break with Tyler
Big smiles with Grandma Sue
Time consuming creations!
Enjoying their cupcake treat after singing happy birthday
The big 7.0 at home!

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!

❤

Another Six(cess)ful Year Around the Sun

It’s that time again this year -well, it was a month ago when I actually started writing this- for the annual contrasting and comparison between our rapidly growing girls and what they were up to throughout age five, as we somehow transition to a house of six-year-olds! The past year was once again very busy, and included many more adventures and activities, as flexible schedules and unplanned events are easier to handle and jump into. As usual, narrowing down my favorite “triple photos” proved difficult from the massive amount taken over the past 365 days. I eventually settled on this collage after unsuccessfully narrowing the count; it highlights the girls’ adventures since their last birthday. Personalities continue to grow and change and while the girls still have matching faces, they continue to emerge as separate individuals with many different likes and dislikes, and reactions.

Favorite activities for all three include playing with anything water related, bringing umbrellas outside to protect them from falling snowflakes, being “swim girls” and wearing swimsuits when it’s zero degrees outside, coloring at the table in the living room and asking for a million prints from the printer to color, doing their reading practice on the iPad, cooking anything with Grandma Sue, FaceTiming with family, riding the four-wheelers, picking flowers and making “soup,” building blanket forts, girls nights with Mom, sledding with cousins, trick or treating with Tyler, riding their balance bikes (which are way too small for them now!), going to Becky’s house and playing on the dock, snuggling with Mom on the couch before bedtime and watching a show, doing “beautiful nail salon” with Dad in the evenings, Daddy daughter dances, and so much more!!

The girls grew SO quickly this year; check out how much their faces matured- it’s pretty crazy! Their platinum blonde hair continues to grow darker and I assume they will end up as darker, dirty blondes in the future. No more baby faces in this household; just little ladies! Here is my annual overview of the past year, noting milestones and major changes as we shifted from preschool to elementary school.

Kindergarten: We can’t leave out this major milestone, transitioning from preschool into kindergarten with their beloved Miss Tawni! The girls remain at the same school since age three and the comfort and knowing the day to day really supports their schedule and happiness there. Their writing and comprehension skills have also increased dramatically and reading comprehension is right around the corner!

School Besties: Having a small kindergarten class of 15 kids, three of those being the girls, meant development of close, new friendships. The girls are especially fond of Coco, who maintains the BFF status for all three outside of our household, and randomly claim to have boyfriends as well, although that’s a bit harder to determine who goes to who ❤

In-State Traveling: Leaving town and road tripping to other locations in Alaska became a normal occurrence over the past year. Even more so than during age four, we can now explore and execute travel plans a little more by ear, without the essential planning every detail ahead to ensure a smooth ride. This year we went to Kenai, Soldotna, and Homer multiple times and enjoyed all those locations have to offer! The girls can handle a long roadtrip without any screen time too, which is exciting!

Three Peas in a Pod Style: All three still accommodate my desires to dress them in matching or coordinated clothing and take cute photos, or out to family pictures sessions a few times a year. Luckily we are still in the stage of smiles and requests for pictures, something I hope continues for a few more years!

The Incident We Blocked Out: This is simply one example of the more recent childhood shenanigans that we seemingly skipped over in previous ages, likely because most of the house used to be blocked off from kid access. In addition to the mortar incident, Reagan gave herself unapproved bangs recently and spectacular messes now occur more than when they were younger and other parts of the house weren’t freely accessible yet.

Home Depot and Lowes Build Days: This started with Craig taking the girls and morphed into weekend requests to do the activity, even on weekends it isn’t offered. The girls sure can swing a hammer and love adding the stickers and paint to each creation, continuing to be less messy and better builders after each time.

Toothlessness: the loss of SO many teeth started toward the end of age five. In fact, over a two week period in March, another tooth for Harper and for Reagan bit (haha) the dust. The girls’ bottom adult teeth are promptly pushing through their gums and arrive as soon as the baby ones make an exit, and all are excited for the tooth fairy visits. We are still working on the tooth brushing.

A Whole New World (Aladdin pun intended): Our first downtown Nutcracker show this year was a success and the girls did great; I am very glad we waited until age five to attend! They also sang songs for the school Christmas play and attended several school field trips to see other plays at various places across the city. They seem to both love and hate sitting at them and have conflicting responses!

Dance Dance Baby: Last May was Harper’s first Dance Recital, and we are already almost to the next one. The 2.5 hour performance for all dance classes was a bit long, but luckily the other two had a fun night with Uncle Will. Last fall we combined everyone back to one class and all three are very exciting for their upcoming performance, and to wear their fancy costumes.

Actual Sleeping at Night!

Actual Sleeping at Night: This is mostly a parent win and definitely worth a little bragging. It took us almost six years to get here-that’s more than 2,000 evening bedtimes if anyone is counting- but now for the most part they are decent at staying overnight in their beds and using the bathroom without running into our bed! Main night time snuggles now are inspired by bad dreams or when they aren’t feeling well.

Going to the Movies & FINALLY New Music to Listen To: After approximately one million plays of Let It Go, Cover Me in Sunshine, and Towards the Sun, we finally have new material to listen to. This year was a lot of Trolls music, My Little Pony, Rapunzel’s television show, and other girly things, mixed with a little Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. The Tonie box is also a fan favorite and our inventory of music continues to grow. Hallelujah!

Ease of Shopping Trips: This may sound small, but as a parent of multiples, it really is a biggie- less need for shopping carts! We now have the ability to step foot in a store without complete and utter parental failure and chaos. Do the kids still run amuck and get scolding in the store? Absolutely! Do they run straight into oncoming traffic? Not all the time. Do they find random things and throw them in the cart and we accidentally buy them? Yes… This improvement makes shopping more doable than in past years and it’s cause for celebration.

Birthday Parties Galor: School age brings a newfound plan several weekends a month…birthday parties. These are important life events that the kids demand to attend and who knew that we knew so many kids that have birthdays?? This photo is, of course, Craig supporting the craft time at a Taylor Swift themed party, with the girls bejeweling their custom microphones. Girl dad for the win.

Games: I am pretty excited for this one! Craig introduced board games to the girls, especially the favorite Squirrel Game, which his family played when he was young. On occasion they now play it without Craig and for the most part get along. It’s sweet to watch. They also love Alphabet Bingo, and we are starting to introduce card games. I often find one sitting on the floor playing a matching card game.

Family Dinners: We continue to love having cousins close by and especially when they drop in to say hello or celebrate a holiday. The volume increases ten fold when any boy cousin walks through the front door, which is a delight to the kids and more of a hindrance to the parents’ hearing, but we love it. It is wonderful to have family nearby and accessible!

All About the Girls

Harper Anne

Loves dancing, dressing up, and sleeping in.

  • Obsessed with seals
  • Team Sleeping Beauty
  • Most sassy
Harper Larper

Emerie Faye

Loves collecting tiny things, books, and puzzles

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

Reagan Jean

Loves to draw/color, write in notebooks and sing.

  • Needs panda everything
  • Team Jasmine
  • Most artistic
Ray Ray

All About the Girls – Harper Anne

Harper had quite a year. She continues her fashionista attitude from age four, and still has a love of black and pink, although the black is waning a bit. She is all about makeup and her doll Babela, and I’ll often find the makeup destruction in her room after a fashion event at the salon, her favorite toy set from Christmas. She is not a morning person, much to her dismay in a family of morning people, and is often the hardest to get up for school. That, or she just really likes being cozy in her bed, something she showed as a toddler as well. She has the eye roll and grumpy face down, something we are still trying to break (and not laugh at!), and the goofy faces at any event or show she participates in.

Height/Weight: 54 pounds/ 48.5″ tall – she gained 9 pounds and grew 3.5″ in a year!

Favorite Activities: dance class and playing with her doll (Babela); swimming

Favorite Movie/Music/Show: music this year transitioned to several new movies, one of which is Trolls Band Together. She now loves all the songs by Velvet and Veneer (the nemesis of the movie!), and occasionally still asks for her “shadow song” by Rihanna, but not nearly as frequently as she used to. And, of course, Bluey and My Little Pony the series.

Favorite Princess/Character: By far her favorite is now Sleeping Beauty (Aurora). Given it’s age, finding outfits and toys for this princess is harder, so when we do, she is very excited. She often sleeps in her Aurora nightgown from the Disney store or changes her doll into a matching costume.

Favorite Color: pink and black

Favorite Food: Sneaking candy! She is definitely our sweet tooth kid and would eat candy all day if she could. Also if Ketchup is a food, then that would be the winner. She also loves cucumbers and chicken nuggets and my homemade zucchini bread.

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 to see the live ones when we visit Seward each year. She also loves koala bears.

When Harper grows up, she wants to be: She reiterated last week that she still wants to be a ballerina AND a queen; both, not either/or 🙂

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: 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 get hot in the car, random I know, and always requests fresh or cooler air on drives, just like her Mom 🙂

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 you see a little sister competition come out of it.

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!!

Emerie Faye

As we round out another year, Emerie still maintains her love of being at home and hanging out in her room, listening to stories on the Tonie box or sorting through picture books. She seems to run a bit colder than her sisters and often wears a hoodie or coat, similarly to her Grandma Anne! She continues to eye patch on weekday mornings and the school year is a bit more of a struggle, mostly because she sees other kids (and sisters) don’t do it and is more observant on that. Collecting tiny things continues to be one of her favorite hobbies and we find all kinds of random things around the house.

Height/Weight: 48 pounds/ 47.5″ tall – she gained 10 pounds and grew 4″ in a year!

Favorite Activities: Legos and puzzles are two new favorites this year, both things she can do without adult assistance! She also enjoys collecting tiny things, 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: While Emerie still loves her Frozen movies and music, requests are much fewer than in the past. She loves all the music by the boy band Brozone in the new Trolls movie, and asks for multiple plays anytime they come on. And, of course, Bluey and My Little Pony the series.

Favorite Princess/Character: No change from the past three years- Elsa (Frozen) is still leading the charge in her heart. After watching Trolls Band Together last fall, she also loves the boy band Brozone, specifically “the heart throb” (her words!).

Favorite Color: You guessed it….PURPLE!!

Favorite Food: She claims chicken nuggets, broccoli, and ice cream. One of my favorite memories of her last summer was sitting in the dirt at the you-pick farm in Palmer, eating broccoli straight from the plant and extensively enjoying herself. She continues to scarf down everything on her plate instantly, or just pick at her food, but not a lot in between.

Favorite Animal: She still loves turtles and has a bunch of them. Her experience with a live one at the fair, which she adamantly wouldn’t touch, has not diminished her requests to own a real one. She also recently adopted and named some ants in the driveway 🙂

When Emerie grows up, she wants to be: Another similar answer to last year, Emerie wants to be “Queen Elsa of Arandale” and continues to stick to this answer.

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: She hates being talked over by her sisters when trying to explain or ask something, or count! 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! It is also a constant battle on wearing her glasses and keeping track of where she puts them, when not on her face.

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 not swaying her mind.

Favorite Quotes: In the last month or two, she jumped on the ruuuuuude train and now says this multiple times a day when responding to things. It’s close to the duuuuude we also hear, but with different context!

Reagan Jean

Reagan continues to love all forms of art, especially coloring and drawing, and creates new artwork daily. Her drawing and writing skills dramatically improved over the second half of age five; she now draws family photos and so many beautiful pandas are taped up around the house. She enjoys crafts and anything artsy, and really excels at trying different related activities. She will sit much longer than her sisters to finish and perfect something, and I can’t wait to break out all my 90’s stamps soon and see how she loves them. Her storytelling is now more intricate and sometimes it’s hard for her sisters to get a word in edge wise, just like her Grandma Sue! Over the winter she began speech therapy for her lisp and loves going each week and is improving on her pronunciations.

Height/Weight: 52 pounds/ 48.5″ tall – she gained 10 pounds and grew 4.5″ in a year!

Favorite Activities: She recently discovered how to take pictures with my phone and requests to do that. As mentioned above, anything arts and craft related, and putting together big puzzles- she’s getting really good at them- and going swimming with Craig. She also enjoys ice skating and continues to ask for lessons.

Favorite Movie/Music/Show: Reagan likes a lot of different things, including the Lilo & Stitch and Rapunzel television shows, Bluey, My Little Pony the series, most princess movies, and of course Abominable. She likes similar music to her sisters, and also some of my music like Imagine Dragons or Lady Gaga. Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus is also becoming a favorite.

Favorite Princess/Character: Team Jasmine is going strong and she was excited to see the real Jasmine Broadway show this spring. She loves all the Aladdin costumes and swimsuits and often wears them around the house.

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 is definitely one to always request macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets and French toast bites; she also loves blackberries, cantaloupe, and cucumbers, and of course ice cream. The love for cotton candy 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 a shapes and sizes of panda. She now has 2 small pandas that spent half the year going to school with her; it used to be one, until that one was lost and we caved and purchased another, and then found said lost panda inside the couch after a week! Now one wears a tutu and is the girl, and one is a boy, both with equal love in her heart.

When Reagan grows up, she wants to be: An artist! She loves coloring and making creations. Her second consistent answer is a teacher like Miss Tawni.

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. Not sure if it’s a personality trait, but she is the only one of the three to pull out her own teeth and remove a sliver from her own hand without help!

Major Dislikes: She’s a little quirky about her socks not fitting perfectly on her feet and hates when someone draws on her picture creations. Overall she is mostly chill on things and doesn’t complain about a lot of things.

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 that causes fighting. 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. Reagan also displays a gentle spirit for animals and both new kitties can tell and want to snuggle with her.

Favorite Quotes: No quotes popped into my brain for her this year, but her detailed storytelling really speaks for itself. Ask her sometime to tell you about a movie she’s seen and what the story is about, and you will see for yourself!

Five 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, as in years past, like princess everything, dressing up, riding bikes and swinging and playing pretend. Emerie continues to self entertain and I often find her in the bedroom playing with dolls, or sitting and listening to a Tonie story on the chair, or in the bathroom making a huge water mess but having the best time! Reagan will sit and color for long periods of time while Harper wanders off with Babela for “nap time.” Reagan learns new skills the quickest and with the least effort, this is especially true with her school work and letters and reading, while Harper becomes flustered before putting in too much effort. Emerie takes a bit longer to gain a new skill and you can see her kind methodically thinking out how it all works, just like she did when younger.

What is the biggest personality difference? All three are growing into strong, independent little girls. The main difference hasn’t changed from last year, Emerie continues to love time at home and playing herself, while the other two are much bigger fans of adventure. When it comes to discipline all three are also still different; timeout might actually kill Reagan (in her opinion) while Emerie could care less about that, but if you threaten a spanking, she’s off to the races. Harper is willing to throw down if she believes she is right, and we often have to track her down if she stomps off with an eye roll and “whoa is me” attitude. All three clearly get irritated at times about being with sisters constantly, but when you split them up, they always note they miss sisters and it’s very sweet.

What do they all constantly fight about? This one is a little silly and a new advancement this year- all three constantly bicker about who gets to stand or sit in the middle for a picture. We see this for our family photo events, and for everyday in-the-moment photos; apparently it’s life or death to be standing on a side…They also fight over toys and the usual things but are getting better at sharing is caring. We no longer buy three of everything (thank goodness!).

Who is now the best sleeper? Who is the worst? Emerie and Harper are both excelling over the past year on this, and Reagan made GREAT progress sleeping in her own bed.

Who is Team Mom and who is Team Dad? This remains consistent, Emerie is 100% Team Dad, although I do get a solid snuggle in every now and then. On the other hand, Reagan is 100% team mom and Harper trends toward me, but has her dad moments.

What was my favorite memory of age five? What about Craig’s and Sue’s? This is easy for me- it was the ability to travel around and have adventures with the girls. For example, right before they turned six, going to Seward and sitting at a dinner spot, with everyone coloring at the table and enjoying being together, or taking them to the beach last summer and exploring. Craig’s fitting answer is them sleeping in their beds…finally! Sue enjoyed watching them become little girls with their different personalities and desires to tell their own stories.

I am looking forward to what age six will bring us, and definitely have new adventures planned! Happy birthday Harper, Emerie and Reagan, Mom & Dad love you very much! ❤

Birthday Brilliance

The month of March always turns into quite the busy few weeks, with family visits, birthday preparations and activities, a number of friend birthdays, and then you know…work and the normal, every day things. We attempt to make each birthday special and somewhat extravagant, knowing the girls have to share it and this momma doesn’t have any other kid parties in our household to plan.

Newly styled dolls for the win!

I hatched a plan this spring to replace the girls’ 18″, very ragged dolls with new ones with bright pink, purple/teal, and teal hair, especially since the current Babela (Haper), Moriah (Reagan), and “she doesn’t have a name” (Emerie) have seen better days. Of the three, Harper loves and plays with her doll the most and my attempt to replace it with a new one that “went to the salon” is working so far! I told the girls during the school day the dolls attended a salon day. This fabricated story expanded to include facials, spray tans, and a solid bath to remove existing band-aid and makeup residue, and create new hair. Surprisingly everyone bought the story, especially after seeing the photos when Mom and Grandma Sue took them there (which we actually did- go big or go home! Thanks April!!). Harper scrutinized her doll more, insisting differences but with beautiful hair, and I reinforced she had new contacts (eye color changed) and a solid facial to get all that makeup off, plus the hair dye and styling. Reagan noted the skin is darker on hers, which I responded was her new spray tan. And the white lie continues to grow….

Here are a few other activities that occurred the past two weeks:

My annual goal continues to create an exciting, custom themed birthday cake the girls will enjoy, since we only go big once per year. Grandma Sue made the cake and icing and like last year, I created the accessories and decorated. Edible grass, Oreo dirt, and a LOT of custom colored chocolate mushrooms, grass, and multi colored flowers, and topped with a million Trolls Band Together characters, from opening 20+ mystery packs to find the right ones!

On the big day we joined the family and had a “fire dinner” at Benihanna. The girls especially love this place and eat their body weight in fried rice. This time around Emerie did so with shrimp and the cook thought it was funny and kept giving her extra! Watching cousin Elliot and Corbin’s faces during the fire tricks was also a highlight of the night. For the first time maybe ever, Craig and I actually sat by one another while Reagan wanted to sit by Tyler and Sue and the other two with Papa Cliff at the other side of the table- so weird. By dinner’s end we had full and tired, giggly girls who were excited to go home and have cake, you know, after they had ice cream with dinner.

Professional birthday photos are another one of my favorite things each year. We trekked out to our favorite newborn photographer in Palmer and the girls were on their best behavior yet! As always, I can’t wait to see how they turn out and everyone fully participated. This time around was less of the I have to be in the middle or else attitude, which is predominant in almost every group photo I take these days! Who know order was so important?!

One handmade gift that deserves mention was from Papa Lon, who created custom colored deer callers in the girls’ colors. While kazoos and whistles and other generally loud toys mysteriously go missing in this house…Craig and I will let these slide. They are beautiful and the girls looooove wearing them as necklaces and ensuring the house never stays quiet. Emerie is modeling her purple one in this photo.

Another annual favorite timed with birthday events, the Daddy/Daughter dance. Craig typically receives questions about two days after this occurs, wondering when the next one will be. The girls wore fancy dresses from Costco (which half the kids did apparently!), silver flats and custom makeup by Grandma Sue, and Emerie rocked her new turtle necklace from Seward. Their late arrival home may be record setting at 9:30, but all were very happy and excited to attend. Craig noted no one wanted to take the cute group photos, and the girls were overjoyed to see Nichole and Sierra attend with their dads. Sue and I enjoyed leisure time, which is very rare, and finished up birthday preparation.

We spanned gift opening throughout the past week, after a good amount of toy cleanup and donations to make space. If I had to choose some favorites, it would be Disney princess play dresses from Mom and Dad, new doll sets (a cabin and furniture), the stylish “new” dolls, and instantly opened Polly Pockets (how fun is it they are still as fun as the 90s!). Custom colored scarves from Jordan were oo’d over; our kitten Winston adopted Reagan’s and sleeps on it now, and Uncle Will helped open surprise barbies and new clothing sets. We are very blessed for such wonderful friends and the girls are still playing with all the new goodies.

Sue and I attended the field trip to the Seward Sealife Center, picking up an extra six year old for the drive. A fourth kid meant best behaviors from mine, and all shared toys and snacks with Nichole. It was a nice visit; everyone tested the touch pool, oo’ed over the seals/sea lions swimming around, and laughed at the one who flirted with the group. At the gift shop before heading home, Harper informed the cashier she renamed the seal to Harper, and indignantly said it is now a girl. She loves seeing her favorite animal in action- thank goodness we live in Alaska!

The actual birthday party occurred the weekend after their big day, which allowed Sue and I time to get everything prepped, ordered and finalized well in time for the trek over to the party place. In the midst of all this, Harper came down with a cough and confirmed ear infection, but she managed to muster up enough strength to enjoy her party.

Singing happy birthday
Before the party
Pass the Parcel

We were unsure how many kids would show up to the party, and it turned out to be almost thirty! It was great to see cousin Jamie, Steve and Hayden drive up from Kenai to join us, Cousin Tyler and Uncle Will, Keegan and Jenny and the boys, Papa Cliff and of course Grandma Sue. The sound volume (and heat) level increased dramatically and the girls’ flushed faces showed it. We recycled the Halloween candy in a rainbow pinata (sorry, not sorry parents!) and played a Bluey favorite, Pass the Parcel, which everyone participated in with minimal crying. We ended up giving out all 48 Trolls themed cupcakes, which I call a success in itself.

The whole day was a great success; Reagan told me it was the best day EVER. Somehow this year felt a bit easier than the fifth birthday, not sure if that was because we prepped less food (much to the dismay of all those vegetable pizza lovers out there….Grandma Sue…) or because we did the full Trolls themed cake at home on their actual birthday this year; or simply because they are a bit older this year and getting things done while they entertain themselves is more of a common occurrence. Whatever reason, it was a busy month and we made it to the other side unscathed! Our house looked like Christmas morning by the end of the day and the girls happily sucked down their pho for dinner so they could return to the floor to play with new toys. My brain still can’t comprehend I have three kiddos a third of the way through their childhood- if you think about it- and who knows what wonderful adventures we will experience this year.

❤