Our Own Natural Habitat

School has been out for a little over two weeks now, and I've wished for a swimming pool in our backyard each of the days in those weeks.

I've played it over in my head how wonderful it would be if we could convert our pond into a pool and our waterfall into a water slide. Seems easy enough to me. The hole has already been started and groundwork has already been laid. There must be a contractor willing to do the job.

Then, we have an evening like the one we had tonight, and I'm grateful for our pond. While sitting out on the patio eating dinner, Bella noticed a little visitor. Hopping from his home at the pond, a little frog made his presence known. While returning him to his waterfront home, we noticed a beautiful, red dragonfly fluttering around the water irises. The kids and I were mesmerized, and we marveled at his beauty. (And I realized it is equally difficult to get a decent picture of a dragonfly as it is to get a decent picture of my four kids together!)See what I mean!!!

Before heading back up to the house, we investigated the millions of bees that drink from pond.

And we tucked in Daddy and Mommy frog that live in an irrigation box near the back door.

I guess we'll continue to use the swimming pool at Grandma and Abuelito's house. We'd hate to dislodge so many fun creatures living in our very own natural habitat!

Recent Resignation

I should probably be embarrassed by the fact that the following three products have completely transformed my life, but actually, I feel liberated!

I have recently resigned from my position as Stain Police, and I no longer hover over my children when they are eating or playing with something possibly staining in nature. My kids are more than welcome to eat chocolate in their nice clothes and I even dressed them in my favorite dresses to eat pizza on Mother's Day! Did I mention that I even send nice clothes in their suitcase when they spend the night at their Ma's house?

Truly, I am a changed woman!

All because of a bottle of Spray-N-Wash with Resolve Power.

A box of Oxy Magic.

A simple plastic tub.

And any one of the seventy-five toothbrushes that we've accumulated in the past 4 1/2 years!

I can get almost any stain out....and I feel like a new woman!!!

School's Out For The Summer!

In an attempt to pass the two, loooooong summer months in which the kids do not have school, I have tried to pack in lots of activities. Now, I'm not quite sure that it truly passes time any quicker, but it does keep the mess from happening in the house! And you know how important that one fact is for a Type-A sickie such as myself!

This past weekend we had great fun spending time at a local KOA in a motor home with my mom and step-dad. Although sleeping space was a wee-bit tight, by the second night, Mark and I were perfectly content sleeping curled up like pretzels between two flailing churros.

There were many fun activities to participate in during the day. Besides a nice-sized swimming pool with plenty of shallow playing area, we...

Rode scooters.

Built with Legos.

Pedaled an 8-seater bike, and realized within seconds that 30 minutes was sufficient enough. One hour would have killed us!

Tie-died large t-shirts for sleeping in. (I was afraid that if I allowed them make them in their size, they would ask to wear them out one day. And I wouldn't know where to begin to match a hair bow with tie-die!)

Played an endless number of tic-tac-toe games.

Spent quality time with one another.

Took time out to pose for the camera.

Watched some fellow campers play a game of basketball.

Lent helping hands by pulling up the breeches of a sister in desperate need of a pair of suspenders!

And most painstakingly, got dirtier than we have in quite a long time without bathing soon afterwards!

Did I mention that the girls went a whole three days without a single bow in their hair?

It must be August already??!!?? Does school start tomorrow?

Bow Abundance

Whoever designed the standard bathroom door to measure 6 feet 7 inches by 2 feet 3 1/2 inches, most definitely did not have three daughters living in the house. At least not three daughters who have a matching bow for every outfit.

If they did, they certainly would have realized that there needed to be more surface area for neatly organizing hair bows.

The fact of the matter is, I have not enough room for my three girls' hair accessories.

Where shall I hang these?

Or these?

Or even these?

I either need to contact a contractor about increasing the size of my bathroom door, or research the possibility of a recovery program for hair bow addiction.

I'm thinking the latter is most logical!

Just A Blink

Did you know that the average human blinks once every 2 to 10 seconds?


And it only takes about 300-400 milliseconds to get from the beginning of the blink to the end.


Why then does it seem like days pass in the midst of each blink? It seems like the past 5 years have passed in just a handful of blinks.

It seems like just yesterday that I was flat on my back on bed rest, pregnant with triplets.

It seems like just yesterday I was frantically trying to figure out how on earth I was going to get out of the house with three babies in tow.It seems like just yesterday I was preparing formula by the pitcher's full and preparing bottles by the dozen.

It seems like just yesterday I was changing diapers in an assembly line fashion, emptying diaper pails hourly.

It seems like just yesterday that I tucked three, 10 month old babies into bed, before heading to Target to buy a pregnancy test that I was sure would show a plus sign, even though it had cost a fortune to conceive the first three.

It seems like just yesterday that I picked up the phone to my parents, and through streams of tears, asked them if they were sitting down.

It seems like just yesterday that I was firmly exclaiming, "No this is not funny! I'm just getting the hang of having three babies in this house. There is no way we can add another!"

It seems like just yesterday that I was waking up each morning, wishing it was bedtime, because there was no way I could take care of three toddlers when I needed to be hugging the toilet numerous times a day.

It seems like just yesterday, I walked tearfully through our front door with baby number four, wondering how on earth I was going to cope with four children under two-years-old. And then, I blinked a few times....and here I am.

Three of my babies are starting kindergarten in the fall, and the fourth will continue in preschool.
It never ceases to amaze me that even with weeks full of days that feel more than 24 hours in length, the years still pass in a blink.