handsful

That title might be misleading.

We’re not celebrating 45 of anything…just 3 kids turning 15 :)

Warning:  I’m gonna sound like a mom here.

I can’t believe they’re 15?  I look back at pictures of them when they were babies (and Randy and I were bleery-eyed parents, who slightly acknowledged each other as we passed in the hall…), and wonder where the time went.  In some ways, those baby days were eons ago.  But, at the same time, it’s flown by…

With 5 birthdays so close together, we decided to do a combo-dinner for all of them.  But, how would we EVER get them to agree on ONE place?  Once we thought of a day trip to Boone (Randy’s idea, actually), having dinner at the Dan’l Boone Inn was easily agreed upon.  Nothing like having bowls and plates of delicious (healthy?  eh…) southern food placed in front of you, with promises of more if we just ask.  It’s hard to leave there hungry.  Impossible, really.

So, we left that morning for Boone, and our first stop was the Mast General Store.  Love that place, and they have barrels and barrels of old fashioned candy.  Given I have a sweet tooth (or two), I have to restrain myself.  But, I did come away with a bag of jaw breakers and a couple of sugar daddys.  Yum.  The other kids chose a few favorites, and they we decided to attempt a trip to Linville Falls.

I say attempt, because it’s done nothing but rain lately and the skies looked a little angry.

We started down the trail, and noticed that everyone else seemed to be going the other direction.  Hmmm.

Payton had the camera, and was snapping pictures of everything.

This lone yellow leaf really spoke to him…

Dark clouds turned into thunder, and then some sprinkles.

Back to the van for us.  Just in time, too, it started raining hard.  We decided to bag the idea of sight seeing and head to the restaurant.

We had to wait outside, in line (typical for this place) and ended up meeting a family with 5 adopted children from China.  As we talked, we both realized that we follow each other’s blog.  Actually, hers was one of the first ones I ever followed, even before we were matched with Lainey.  Meeting them was one of those sweet God surprises.

No pictures of us eating.  I mean, who has time to take pictures when you’re eating salisbury steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, fried chicken, biscuits, baked apples, ham biscuits, corn, slaw, and a choice between three desserts?  Not us, that’s who.

After dinner, we walked…with difficulty…outside for some picture taking.

All the birthday kids.  Posing with a bear.  Of course.

They have a party with their friends planned in a couple of weeks.  They have no idea what they’re doing, but they keep telling me they’re working on it.  We’ll see.

Happy Birthday, Marley, Payton, and Ethan!  We love you!

To be exact, just two girls.

Me and Marley.  I surprised her with the notion of a mom/daughter night, her choice of where to go and what to do.

Her original plan was dinner and a movie.  But, dinner took more than 2 hours and we weren’t gonna make it.  So, we substituted shopping for the movie.  I would have saved money with the former idea.

Pics before we left…

She’s even taller than she appears here, I have on heels.  And, could someone tell me…when did she grow up?

Closer…

Wow, does she look pretty here or what?  And, where did all those laugh and smile lines come from on ME?  I swear, life sure does go by quickly.

Go to a nice restaurant, and they expect you to cook your own food?!?

They made up for that by providing a very tasty Sangria.  Poor Marley only had water…

Cheese fondue, yummy salads, amazing entree’s, and then THIS.  Milk chocolate, toasted marshmallow, and sandwich cookie crumbles on top.  A plate of sweets to dip in, including cubes of this amazing red velvet cake.  I’d like to say I only had a few pieces, didn’t over do it, didn’t over-indulge one bit.  I’d LIKE to say that.

Even though we were just a tad bit full, we managed to hobble over to a shop and Marley scored 4 pairs of jeans and a cute top from the clearance racks.  A nice topper to our fun, giggly night.  Yes, we laughed a lot.

It was a really great night…love ya, Marley :)

Today, I added “hair colorist” to the many hats I wear around here…

Blonde…

Brunette.  With a touch of auburn for good measure.

Mom did good.  And, she luvs it…

I know, I know…I’m almost 3 weeks behind in getting Marley, Payton, and Ethan’s birthday blog up. But, despite my continued camera / memory card / photo issues, I’m gonna get it up here. We’ve got plans to possibly trade in our cameras for a newer, better, and easier to use camera soon. And, we need new memory cards badly…as evidenced by the complete LOSS of photos that I took today while on the boat. Trying to let that one go…

I know, I know…I’m almost 3 weeks behind in getting Marley, Payton, and Ethan’s birthday blog up. But, despite my continued camera / memory card / photo issues, I’m gonna get it up here. We’ve got plans to possibly trade in our cameras for a newer, better, and easier to use camera soon. And, we need new memory cards badly…as evidenced by the complete LOSS of photos that I took today while on the boat. Trying to let that one go…

Taken today, with my Iphone. The triplet pics I took ON their birthday were “eaten” by my memory card.

They’ve aged SO much in this last year. They’re all (yes, all…) taller than I am now. Payton is quite a bit taller than the other two.

Are they even the same kids?!? Especially Payton!! Time is flying…

But, they’re still goofy. Always will be, I hope.

For their party, they chose roller skating and then a movie/sleepover at the house afterwards.

Marley, far left. Payton on right. These were taken with…yes, my Iphone. I’ll stop complaining eventually.

Can’t remember how many friends that attended, but we needed our big van, our friend’s mini van, and Randy’s landcruiser to get them all back to the house :)

Marley will just love this shot…

I think that girl in the back is wanted by the authorities. Heh.

Ethan looks miserable, surrounded by three girls huh?

Lainey and Dylan’s first time skating…they were out there nearly the whole time and did great!

Quite a crew

After making the trek back to our house, the kids all crashed in the living room to watch present-opening.

His favorite junk food…someone knows him well.

Yes, we had three cakes. Marley chose marble cake with butter cream frosting…Ethan wanted a cookies and cream ice cream cake…Payton wanted my apple dumplings!

Yes, we sang the song THREE times.

Randy, as usual, took the night shift with the kids and they all spread out to watch a movie until late! Sleepover (not much sleep was had!) and then the party was over as parents poured in the next morning.

Happy 14th birthday, Marley, Payton, and Ethan!

They look ready for this, right?

Maybe not.

Too bad, kids, the time has come to help our orthodontist put his own kids through college.

Braces for all 3 – at one time. Honestly, we’re getting a great deal. Having triplets has had it’s perks. Free diapers when they were little…discounts on braces now. Plus, they were having a February promotion of a big chunk of money off EACH set of braces. EACH! So, we jumped in.

We invaded the place bright and early. Since it was going to take HOURS of waiting in a boring waiting room, my friend Kelley graciously agreed to take Lainey and Dylan to the mall across the street.

I was equipped with my iphone, bible app, and journal. And, my kindle. Ocassionally, I glanced up at an incredibly old re-run of Rosanne. Did we ever really think that was funny?

The first patient finally showed up…

And, the second…

Finally, Ethan…

Total time at the orthodontist? 3+ hours. Total time they’ll be in braces? 22-26 months. Each.

Today is Day 2, and they’re definitely feeling better than they did Day 1. Ibuprofen is still their friend, and the food is still soft. (though, they did wrestle with pizza today at co-op, since the teacher surprised them with it!) The first week is the hardest.

A friend reminded me of something the other day…when Marley, Payton, and Ethan were little, I decided I’d get myself braces. I knew, down the road, that we’d be faced with putting braces on their sweet, tiny faces, so I figured I’d go ahead and take care of myself. Looks like “down the road” has arrived!

Homeschooling has a lot of pros and one of them came in handy today.

Flexibility.

Marley and I…along with my friend Kelley, her daughter Kylie, and two of the girls friends Brielle and Kayla…snuck away for a day.

Never heard of it? Half lodge, half crazy water park. We purchased discounted day tickets for homeschoolers and spent the day doing what we both love.

Marley kept herself busy with water slides, swimming, and more water slides.

I sat in a chair and read a book. For longer than 12 minutes uninterrupted. And, had a conversation with another adult. For longer than 12 minutes uninterrupted. We also walked around and took pictures and browsed the gift shop. It was a slice of heaven. Oh, and I never even got wet….Marley thinks I wasted the entire day!

Sorry, no pictures of us boring adults. If you saw my FB status, you know that I wasn’t very picture worthy today.

Silly girls.

Really silly.

I finally dragged her away, only barely convincing her that 7 hours at the water park was plenty. She responded by falling asleep on the chair soon after we arrived home.

It was a great day.

Before, they were just kids.

Now, they’re teenagers. Unfortunately, that word “teenager” can be viewed negatively these days. We prefer to think of Marley, Payton, and Ethan as entering young adulthood. Which, I honestly can’t get my head around.

Has it really been that long since they looked like this?

Care to guess who is who??

Can you stand the cuteness?!

And, today…

Marley becomes more like me everyday. People even say she looks like me. Lover of all animals, rider of horses. Requests regular late night talks with mom. Sweet and quiet, but can be grouchy. (you know it’s true, Marley!)

Giving their best teenager glare

Payton? He’s my height. Already has his own cartoon character (you’ll be seeing Harry the Stick Dude in print one of these days), is learning to play the drums, and has a heart for others.

Ethan desperately wants a growth spurt. He has a style all his own – shaggy hair, shaken just right. Skinny black (never blue) jeans, loafers, and plaid fedora hat. Musician is written all over him. And, he’s good.

All those years ago…coming home from the ultrasound that showed we were expecting three babies. We were so blessed. Given the privilege of carrying those three babies was awesome. I remember Sundays at church, when we would sing “I sing for joy at the work of your hands”…those words made me smile and cry, all at the same time.

How could we have imagined what they’d be like today? 13 and they are such wonderful kids. Such different personalities, and different likes/dislikes. We thought we were blessed back then? We had no idea.

Their day was fairly normal at first, since it was a work day for Randy. I did make them cinnamon rolls for breakfast, of course. When present time rolled around, Marley went first.

Abbey gave her a birds coloring book (the kind for big kids), and we gave her a tee shirt and Toms. Which means I got a new pair, since we wear the same size. Yippee.

Abbey gave the boys coon skin hats (they loved), and we gave them a dad/son day at the shooting range. They’re at the age where anything involving fire or shooting things is cause for excitement.

As a gift to all, they got a new pair of skis and a new knee board. Marley has really been wanting to learn to ski, and we only had adult size. These are junior size. And, our kids are all doing so well on our current knee board, this one will allow them to do more tricks. Everyone was excited over these!

After much discussion, we decided to head to Outb*ck for dinner. Given it was a Thursday night, it wasn’t busy and we got right in.

Big dishes of ice cream with cookies, and the standard quick clapping birthday song.

We were the last to leave. lol…

Another triplet pose…gosh, I like this one.

Heading home for cupcakes…

Directing our rendition of happy birthday…

Make a wish!

And now, it’s true. We really have the Bigs and Littles. I can now say they are the Teens and the Kids.