It has been a LONG time

Let's face it.  Life happens.  The blog went to the wayside.
I just gave up writing.
But going back through my blog and reading the posts has inspired me to write again.
I need to keep a chrono of my kids life and our experiences.

Today is the day I start over.
I am so excited to get the blog back up and running.
Share our lives with you.
What my little family does.

And I hope you come along for the ride!
I have lots on my mind and it seems that writing always helps me out.
But before I get into all that has happened, I have to share some updated pics.

They aren't the most recent but they will do for now.

We have our next set of family pics coming up on Friday.
I can't wait to see how much the kids have changed since last year!
And I feel great to be back!

3 Kids and a Wedding Dress

I'm not sure where I got the idea.

Maybe I saw it somewhere?
Pinterest?

Who knows.

What I do know is it had to be done.

I had to get my wedding dress out and get photos of the kids with it.

You know, the ultimate dress up session.

Mommy's wedding dress + triplets + Candace + sunset = PERFECTION.

Isn't this the most gorgeous shot?

I am completely in love with these 3 children.

Gabi is our China doll...such a perfect little face!

Sofi is so vogue...couture for sure.

She LOVES to model.

This little boy is the sweetest...he has stolen my heart!

Ya know I had to get in the shot somehow.

Why not with Daddy's tie around my head!

We had so much fun.

This was by far the best photo shoot we have ever had.

The kids were completely in to it.

Here is the lowdown on the goodies for the shoot...

~ Eye Candy by Candace "Orange Crush" Mini Session ~

{Orange Crush is the beautiful couch}

~ Girl's bloomer design by Sheelin's Closet, sewn by me ~

~ Boy's white shorts by SIGnature Creations ~

~ Chunky Pearl Necklaces and Headpiece by Stinkin Cute Dollhouse ~

~ Wedding dress, 7 years old ~

~ Daddy's sports coat and tie ~

~ White tank tops from Target ~

~ No shoes or fancy hairdos ~

~ The perfect sunset ~

And that's it folks.

I had to share with you all the wonderful talents that came together

to make this one very special photo shoot.

These photos were used to make a collage that I gave to my hubs

for our SEVENTH wedding anniversary.

He loves it and so do I.

Now, are you going to schedule a photo session

with your kids and your wedding dress?

Hopefully it inspires you!

Hope your Thursday is fabulous!

The Cabin

Ever since I can remember, we have gone to Colorado for summer fun.

When I was about 11 or 12, the first cabin started going up.

The logs came from the mountain.

Put together by all of us.

One log at a time.

And the "Aloha Cabin" was born.

But that became too small for everyone.

And it is really was my sister-in-law's father's cabin.

Now it isn't.

He has a new cabin.

Of course my daddy had to get in on the action.

We all pitched in.

As a matter of fact, I am a master chinker.

And you are probably asking what the heck is chinking?
In log cabin terminology, it is the stuff you put between the logs.

We used nails as rebar and cement to seal the deal.

There is still plenty of chinking to do on the outside but the inside is beautiful!

 I did much of the chinking and loved it!
Looking at it now, I'm amazed at the architecture of this cabin.

I'm so happy that this place will be in our family for years to come.

I see many, many summers being spent up in the mountains.

Enjoying the cool air.

The beautiful landscape.

The amazing amount of stars at night.

The cooling rain.

But mostly, I look forward to the memories.

I hope everyone had a beautiful weekend!

Back from Vacation

It is official.

We survived our first family vacation.

So you understand, the thought of taking our triplets on a

16 hour road trip was less than appealing until this summer.

Why 16 hours?

Because that is how far my parents are away.

In Colorado.

Up in the mountains.

Way, way up.

This is the year we decided to tackle the challenge.

And the kids did beautifully.

Except for the occasional temper tantrum

but that could have happened here at home as well.

I'll be sharing some pics over the next few days.

These are some of my favorite moments.

Daddy and son...together.

My boy trying to be patient and learn how to play Old Maid.

This dog, Happy, was my son's best friend.

Miss Sofi discovering the water.

Actually they call it a "crick".

Ah, horseback riding!
One of my loves.

And my kids were finally introduced.

Gabi was by far our best and most natural rider.

Sofi caught a ride bareback.

{as did Gabi in the photo above this one}

My girls loved riding together!

The photo above truly captures my girls' spirits!

We spent 5 glorious days up in the mountains.

The weather was much cooler than here.

The sleeping was amazing.

The activities throughout the day were fun.

Best of all, no electricity.

No electronic games.

No tv.

No cell phone service.

No iPad.

Nuthin' but sweet nature!

More photos to come over the weekend.

Happy Friday Peeps!

Fridge Magnet Cups to the Rescue

Someone must have heard my desperate pleas.

My trio has been driving.me.crazy. for the past couple

of months with all the water and milk requests.

We tried setting cups out for them but they would

get misplaced or taken around the house.

Not so go.

We tried filling up their milk cups and setting them

in the fridge for easy access but eventually those cups are emptied.

When you are dealing with 4 year olds trying to exert independence

but still needing Mommy what seems like every other second,

it can drive a parent crazy...TIMES THREE.

So here I was getting super frustrated with all the refreshment requests.

Up to *here*...totally done.

Not knowing what to do to relieve the constant requests.

And then I stumbled across THIS post by Dana.

HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH!

Someone heard my desperate pleas!
Prayers were answered!

Cups with magnets.

It's that simple.

Just stick those babies on the fridge!

I was so stinkin' excited.

So much so, that the very next day, I made it an event with the kids.

We went to Hobby Lobby and got our magnets.

Then to Target where I let them pick out the cup they wanted.

{yep, bought extra magnets and glad I did...
Ian loves playing with them}

It's that ownership thing, right?

If they think it is theirs, they will use it.

Or so I hope!

The process was easy.
Just make sure you have a high temp hot glue gun.
And when you glue the magnets on the cup,
you may want to score where the magnet
will go or after the initial placement,
go back and put another round of
glue all the way around the magnet.
I think a combination of the 2 would be best
otherwise the glue will eventually come right off.

As suggested by Dana, I put 2 magnets per cup.

Isn't that the coolest thing ever?

The kids absolutely LOVE their magnet cups.
Dana & her friend, THANK YOU for saving my sanity.
This is such a great idea!

And my kids are doing wonderfully using them.
They drink their water and put their cups right back
on the fridge where they belong, I don't even have to ask!

Happy Friday Peeps!