FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

We did it! And we survived! One day down- about 170 to go! :) The girls were so excited to get up this morning to get ready for school! I'm going to enjoy that while it lasts for sure! Here are pictures of my sleepy heads...
Ashley and Madeline always have allergies in the morning- poor things!
Breakfast time!
All dressed up and ready to go!

EMILY
ASHLEY
MADELINE Such big girls- where did the time go?

Daddy was able to come with us to see the girls to their room. Here we are in the office waiting to walk down the hall to their class.
We were the first ones there so we were able to orient the girls to the room- of course we had to check out the bathroom!
The girls got to meet their teacher and get their name tags And then they got to explore the room... Emily found the scissors first thing, we told Mrs. O that she would have to keep an eye on Emily- she's like having triplets all by herself! (When I picked the girls up later, Mrs. O told me we were right! LOL)
Then it was time for carpet time and morning routine. Rick and I kissed the girls and walked out! They didn't even notice! Picking the girls up- they did great but Maddie didn't want to leave.
Mommy took them to Claim Jumper for lunch to celebrate!
And then we went home to do... HOMEWORK!
Emily showing me her work from class. When Aunt Susie came by this afternoon and asked how school was, Emily's response was, "I learned I have to listen!" YES!!!!
Below she is doing her homework- tracing straight lines... Maddie with her classwork and doing her homework
Ashley with her classwork and doing her homework
So all in all it was a good day! The girls are excited about going back tomorrow! I took the day off of work today so tomorrow will be the true test of getting us all out the door and all on time to our respective classrooms. Rick and I had breakfast together this morning and kind of sat in disbelief of it all. Our babies are growing up!

Here is a quick video of Maddie reading the poem I was supposed to read to her for homework: Yep- our Maddie girl is reading!!!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

An evening at the Fair!

We went to our church fair Sunday night with Aunt Chelle and Uncle Mike (it was his first fair with us!) and of course we had a blast! We rode the carousel...Maddie with Uncle Mike and below is Ashley and Emily with Aunt ChelleDaddy with his cow girls, Emily and AshleyOh that Emily- she was quite the dare devil- can you just see it in her eyes?Ready for a boat ride...So if you steer with both steering wheels- which direction do you go?And since its a boat ride you can drive with your feet up right?Oh man are we in trouble when this girl can drive!Maddie and Mommy on the Bee ride- check out Emily in the Bee behind us leaning OUT! AHHH!Daddy hams it up with Ashley...Now it's Uncle Mike's turn in the spinning bears..he's looking a tad worried as all 3 girls start to spin the wheel!Love this picture of Maddie!Time for some cotton candy- a fair staple!Playing the dime toss... Emily and Maddie won cups and they gave us a 3rd :)Maddie was very enthusiastic with her throws, she hit the poor girl working behind the booth (in Maddie's defense the gal was walking in front of all the cups) and this toss ended up on the roof of the tent... yep- she has GUSTO!Doing a bean bag toss...All but one on the first throw!We also did 2 runs down the big slide- once with Uncle Mike...And once with Aunt Chelle.. Another successful fair, can't wait till next year and I'm still waiting for the call that tells me I won the raffle.... Hmmmmm....

The countdown is almost over! The girls start school the day after tomorrow!!!!

100th POST! Keep Mira Smiling!

I had no idea that I was nearing my 100th post until just recently. The timing couldn't be better however considering what I know is happening today for a very special little person! I'm dedicating this post to her, I'd like you to meet MIRA! Mira is a sweet, spunky little gal that happens to be a triplet. Her mom, Sheryl, is in one of my yahoo triplet groups and while I have never met them in person- I call them friends! Mira needs a kidney transplant. She is nearing the weight mark she must attain to become active on the list for transplant. But there is so much more needed for that to happen (including finding a match!). Mira's family is working with a group to fund raise money to help with the expenses that come with kidney transplants (they will need close to $100,000). Tonight (Friday) they are having a huge silent auction and dinner fundraiser for their cause, "Keep Mira Smiling". It's the end to their first round of fundraising and at the beginning Sheryl asked our group to help with a project- a triplet project if you will. She purchased a large canvas and art supplies and stuck it in the mail for each of us to have our triplets add their artwork to, making it a traveling triplet art canvas- to auction off at the dinner tonight.

So guess who got the canvas FIRST- yep- us! The canvas arrived the last week of June and it was huge and blank and oh my goodness- the pressure! After many behind the scenes emails, we came up with an idea as a group and i went with it.The canvas has since traveled through 3 more families in CA, as well as families in Nevada, Indiana, Wisconsin, Idaho, Michigan (where 4 families had a gathering and worked on it at once!), and Pennsylvania. We also have a member that lives in South Africa and her family was able to contribute to the canvas as well thanks to technology! Gotta love it.
Sheryl was left in the dark for the greater part of this project and I think the poor woman felt we weren't holding up to the deal. It came close- but the canvas was delivered to her Thursday and she got to see the finished project! It will be auctioned off Friday night at the fundraiser as planned! PHEW! Below are Sheryl and Mira (with one of her triplet brothers) when they received the canvas...
I'm dedicating this 100th post to Mira in hopes of spreading some education about kidney donations/transplants. You can click on the pictures of Mira to be lead to her website with more information or you can simply click HERE. And if you are so inclined and are able to, those will link you to the page to make a donation for Mira. Right now they are just over 50% of their fundraising goal!

If you are interested in signing up to be a potential donor, you can click HERE.

Here is a link to an article that was written about Mira: http://www.wauwatosanow.com/story/index.aspx?id=790574

And here are some pictures of the canvas on its rode to Sheryl and Mira:

California (above and below)

Idaho

Indiana

The great triplet gathering in Michigan

Sheryl and Mira- we are thinking of you tonight and wishing we could be there in person! HUGS!

Early FFF- Oh Baby Baby Baby!

I'm posting my Favorite Foto Friday early this week because Friday is a very special day~ it's going to be my 100th post! I can't believe that I've already hit that milestone in just seven months! So check back on Friday for a very special post!

Update: You can CLICK HERE to view my 100th post!

Sarah chose "Oh Baby" for this week's FFF- and challenged us to post the earliest baby picture of our "babies". I'm posting the first picture more for the time stamp- this is me on the way to deliver- yep they made me walk! LOL That's all baby out front x3! Yes I was that large! The time stamp is an hour off- it was really 6 pm when i went in- but its the minutes to pay attention to...

Here are Emily, Ashley and Madeline minutes after they were born. (they were here in 3 minutes total- each with their own minute 6:19, 6:20 and 6:21p.m.- that was FAST from when i walked in!). I was almost 36 weeks along in the pregnancy when they were born, but we were still so worried about them considering the circumstances (and we had a scare earlier in the day with Baby B- who ended up being Ashley). It wasn't until this moment captured below that I KNEW they were going to be OK.

The fact that all 3 girls (we didn't know what we were having so 3 girls was a total surprise!) were healthy, breathing on their own and the nurses and doctors were so relaxed about it all was a huge relief to me. After this picture the nurses (we had 19 people in the delivery room with us) put all 3 in the same bassinet and then let Rick go and get our family (and we had the waiting room full) to meet the girls for the first time! No one was expecting that, a true blessing to be able to see them on their way to the NICU.

Check out the time stamp- only 42 minutes after I walked in to deliver the girls were wheeled into the hallway to meet the family!

Emily (A) with her eyes open checking out the family, Ashley (B) still squished in the middle and Madeline (C) smallest at birth (by 2 oz.) and biggest today. (And yes- that is masking tape!)

And below is a week later- our next family shot in the NICU, I had been on prednisone for a rash so I hate these pictures of me because I'm so swollen, but I love them just the same because they are of my babies! Rick is holding Emily and Ashley, I have Maddie (with her little toe peeking out).What a wild ride this is turning out to be!

If you would like to see more "Oh Baby" pictures make sure to visit Sarah's blog!