New Year's Day

Clif is watching two football games at once on his laptop while the kids are playing Wii. Here's to a multi-tasking 2010! Just look at the smile on his face!

Girls, we have found the one thing men can multi-task.

And just 10 minutes later, the multi-tasking wears out his brain!

Why I am Not a Professional Photographer

Clif needed a head shot for one of his vendors. After 16 shots we might have one that will work. I guess you shouldn't expect good results for your own family.

Happy Blogiversary to Me- Some Days are Like This

It's been a whole year since I joined the blogging world. My first post on 2/1/07 referred to our "Groundhog Days".


If you ask my husband, that phrase still fits. The routines are different from 1 year ago, but they change slowly enough that it feels like we do the same thing every day. And sometimes in the monotony of our routine we forget to do things. Tonight it caused this picture.

We were trying to get a bunch of things done because we have an unbelievably busy weekend. I have meetings tomorrow and Saturday. Sunday is church, Austin's birthday party and a Superbowl party. That doesn't leave much time for household chores. And in a house full of 6 people getting behind is not an option.

As we were cleaning up after supper Clif said, "oh...no!" He had forgotten to mail our quarterly business taxes that had to be postmarked today. After a frantic search on USPS.com, we found 1 post office in Metro ATL that had their last pick up at 8pm. Off he went. In his rush he threw on warmer clothes and the shoes in the photo above. He didn't notice until he'd been home for about an hour that he had put on two different pair of tennis shoes.

Some days are like this.


What a difference a year makes though. In one year I've managed to post 305 times. That's unbelievable to me considering how busy our days get. Last year I was at home with the kids and had some help, this year they are at preschool, we have no help and I'm working 20 hours per week (from home). We've all grown!

Clif's Salmon Lasagna - have the electric knife handy

We're pretty gutsy around here when it comes to cooking/eating. I hardly ever follow a recipe exactly as it was written. This has apparently worn off on my husband. He has 1 dish that he can make....microwave chicken with cream of mushroom soup. He just doesn't really enjoy cooking.

Lunch was interesting today.

Clif has an office in the house. Most days he doesn't even get to go to his office because he's out making sales calls. In Atlanta traffic that can mean long days. On the days that he's at home I never know when he's coming up for lunch. Lunch time depends on how busy things are. This translates into him fixing his own lunch when he's here.

Today he came up to eat about the time I was feeding the kids so we got to witness him fixing lunch. (He's not gonna like this post. But it makes me laugh.)

Most days he fixes a salad and/or a sandwich. He's not a soup person, but he's a big pasta person. Today he had a craving for pasta. I didn't have any kind of pasta in the house except for lasagna noodles. These noodles were some that I picked up from the store that were specially produced for the easy lasagna recipes (no boiling ahead). He decided after reading the recipe that he could put this together and microwave it for 15 minutes.

Off he went. Here's some of our conversation:

Clif: "Do we have ricotta cheese?"
Me: "No, but we have cottage cheese."
Clif: "Do we have spaghetti sauce?"
Me: "No, but we have diced tomatoes and tomato paste." (I hardly ever buy canned sauce.)
Clif: "Hey, I could put in some leftover salmon from last night."
Me: "Uhh, ok."

...Clif reading the recipe to himself......(those who know him are starting to grin)
Clif: "How do you know how to lay out the noodles?"
Me: "There's a picture on the box." Luckily for me there is an illustration on this box.

He pulls out a square baking dish and in that dish mixes 2 eggs, a can of tomato paste, a can of diced tomatoes, and the cottage cheese.

Clif: "This isn't going to be enough to layer."
He pulls out a 9x13.
Me: "I think you need to re-read the recipe. You mix the cheese mixture with the eggs and the sauce separate and layer the sauce, noodles, cheese mixture, etc."
Clif: "This will work!"
Me: "Ok."

At some point and some place he adds the leftover broiled salmon.

I didn't take a shower before the kids woke up today, so I slipped out of the kitchen to take a shower while he was "cooking". When I returned from my shower he was trying to cut into his lasagna.

He was on his second helping already! And the kids were gathering around him asking for more.

The layering didn't work very well. He started out with 7/8 of his sauce on the bottom, added noodles, then shredded Parmesan and a shredded Mexican cheese mixture, then noodles and the 1/8 leftover sauce and more cheese. Let's just say that the top layer was overly al dente.

He was laughing and said, "It tastes really good if you can get through the first layer. Do we have a chainsaw?"

He was right. It tasted good. It was just really, really chewy on top. And he said, "I didn't know lasagna was that easy to make!"

Now I'm in trouble. He probably won't try anything new in the kitchen ever again because this is out there for the whole world to see.

But, honey, you have to because your kids love your cooking?

I'm going to a spa party at my friend Julie's tonight. I can hardly wait to find out what's for supper? Daddy's in charge.

Happy Birthday Clif

Today is my sweetheart's birthday. He's a wonderful husband, father, friend and brother.

He never wants a big celebration, but we usually end up doing something fun. We met a couple of weeks after he turned 36. Since then we've celebrated everywhere from a football tailgate to a golf trip to Monterey, CA. The California trip was for his 40th and it will take a pretty big celebration some day to top that one! (Hopefully the kids will enjoy golf as much as Daddy and we can go again as a family for his 50th or 60th.)


Recently birthdays have been spent closer to home but still as fun and crazy. He is now serenaded by 4 young kids who call him daddy. For this year's birthday we'll take the kids to Stone Mountain to ride the train and see the pumpkin patch.

I don't know how we have stayed so close during these last few years. We've had lots of distractions (mostly of the baby kind). Becoming parents of multiples challenges the best of relationships. Somehow we keep things together with a good sense of humor and humility.

We are both very blessed and I'm especially blessed to have him. I hope you have a wonderful day. I love you!

The *Man*icures

My friends Frances and Julie took me to dinner last month for my birthday. It's not often that I get a few hours minus children and hubby so we cram in lots of stuff in a short amount of time. We had lots of girl talk which led to our idea to have a little fun at our husband's expense.

We thought that it would be fun to trick them into a manicure and/or pedicure. After very little planning (except trying to find a date that all of us could be in the same place at the same time), we set up reservations for all three boys to get the treatment. None would have ever done it by themselves. Let me tell you...they'll be back. They had fun. Here are some shots and a video.

The look on their faces when they found out.

Steve is on the left, Ed in the blue shirt and Clif in the yellow.

The Clif look.

All smiles. They actually admitted to enjoying it.

Viva Las Vegas

The end of this week I'm joining my husband for a trip away. He's got business in Las Vegas and I get a little trip away from home. I'm not excited or anything. I'm not counting the days. I'm counting the hours!

If I counted the number of days in the last two years that I was away without any kids, I would only need one hand. Actually, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even utilize my thumb. Since the triplets have been home I have only spent a few nights away with all 4 kids or with 1 child in the hospital (Tyler's hernia and Austin's hospital stay last spring).

So if you see me in Vegas, please don't ask me to cut up any food, change a diaper, pour you some milk, wipe your nose, or clean up the table. We have tickets to see Danny Gans, a comedic impressionist (I think) and the rest of the time will be people watching and eating out.

My friend Fabthemayor and her family have graciously volunteered to keep the kids. Is she crazy or what? I'll owe them for life. Can you imagine coming in and watching 4 kids under age 4 for 2 1/2 days when that's not your normal routine? I think she has everyone in our Sunday School class on alert.

Happy Father's Day

It was a great Father's Day weekend. I think Clif is finally settling into being a Dad of 4. He is so proud of his little foursome and they are crazy about their daddy. We never expected to have such full hands, such a full house, and such full hearts.

Yesterday we went to support our friends Kimberly and Will at Will's all-star game. They are the wife and son of our friend Brian who was lost in a drowning accident Memorial Day weekend. It makes us appreciate our blessings so much more this year.

Today, Austin helped me make (ok, so he stirred one thing) breakfast and all 4 kids climbed into bed with Daddy for breakfast in bed. I think Clif enjoyed his surprise. I hope you had a wonderful day. We love you!

The Nova Runs...Sort Of

Ever since I have known Clif, he has wanted to purchase a Chevy Nova to restore. His first car was a 1975 Nova. I think it was brown or orange. It was his baby. He put in a new engine and it got him through college.

For years he has talked about finding another Nova. He went so far as to get out of the car one day to look at one for sale on the side of the road and declare that is smelled like his old Nova. Huh? "It's a guy thing", he said.

He finally found his Nova parked at a shop where he gets his car serviced. It belonged to Charles who rents part of the shop for detail work. After a couple of years lusting over this hunk of metal cool muscle car, Charles called and made him an offer he couldn't refuse. During a moment of pregnancy weakness, I caved and said, "If it's really what you want...."

Since that day it has been sitting at a shop about 10 miles away. His cousin Tom, who works at a Chevy dealer, is going to restore it for him. Tom's former boss let us park the car at his shop. Tom is ready to start working on the car and got it running last weekend. He asked that Clif transport it up to his house (25 miles away).

Clif decided that it was best to bring it home today and then take it up to his cousin's this weekend. Tom said that he needed to meet us there to show Clif how to start it without flooding it (he he). Oh, and "make sure you don't turn it off before you get home....'cause when the engine gets hot it won't start." Did I mention the phrase money pit?

I took him over at lunch time and followed him home. You should have seen him. He looked like a kid in his first car. He definitely re-lived the moment. The car ran like a champ all of the way home.

Fast forward a few hours....

Clif decided that he needed to wash it! Look at the picture again. Seriously? As he was washing it he noticed that we now have a huge oil spot in the driveway.

As we put Austin to bed, Clif told him to watch out the window because Daddy was going to test out the Nova in the neighborhood. We opened the window and watched and listened as the Nova wouldn't even start.

If you literally translate "no va" in Spanish, it means "no go". Hmm.

****************

No swimming update because the swim teacher had to go out of town due to a family illness. We won't go back until next Wednesday.

Early Mother's Day Gifts

This weekend I get to celebrate my 4th Mother's Day. They keep getting better and better. Four kids in 4 mother's days. Life has been busy. Austin is 3 and the triplets are 19 1/2 months old this year.

I never dreamed motherhood would be like this. I had an idea of what things would be like, but not many people ever dream about what happens when your family increases by 3 in one day. Life after triplets is nothing you can imagine until it happens. Every day is a blessing.

This year instead of my hubby calling 1-800-flowers or some such place to order overpriced flowers that cost an arm and a leg to ship, he decided to plant some things that would last. He visited the local garden center of Lowe's and purchased something from him and each of the kids. Austin followed Daddy out this afternoon and they shoveled out some Georgia clay , very dry clay I might add, to plant my flowers . They were both very proud.

This is also the year that Austin made me my first homemade Mother's Day present. I'm so glad that I took a picture when he brought it home because it already looks different. Those little foam stickers don't stay on long when the project creator decides they need to be adjusted a few more times.

Thank you Austin, John, Lauren, and Tyler for giving me the title of Mom. I am so thankful to mother four wonderful little souls. Each one of you is so full of life and unique. It is such a blessing to watch you as you grow and learn about life.

I wish all Moms a glorious Mother's Day weekend.

Daddy's Little Helpers

Clif had to fix the sink in one of the bathrooms tonight. It happens to be the bathroom that Austin (our 3 year old) uses during they day. Apparently, he does more than potty when he goes in there! Daddy had lots of help.

Rescuing Thomas the Train

"I hope these pictures don't end up on the BLOG!", bellowed my dh as he was swatting at a balloon with a ceiling fan cleaner taped to a flexible tape-measure. How on earth could I resist it now? Just look at these pictures! I replied with, "Oh, yeah...It's going on the BLOG."

This particular Thomas balloon has been at the top of our 2-story ceiling since Austin's birthday (2/3). I say "this particular" because we have had countless balloons on the ceiling. In fact, he understands the balloon concept so well, he holds onto them for dear life now as we leave the store. He also puts his hand on his head if he has a ball cap on in the slighted wind because he fears it will "go up in sky Mommy?" [Everything is a question these days and they usually start or end with 'Mommy' or 'Daddy'.]

Daddy [Clif] was too lazy tired bull-headed fatigued from his recent trade show to go to the basement to get the tall ladder. The pictures really tell the story. It must be added that Clif is not an engineer, or even an engineer wanna be :-) Sorry honey. You are an excellent salesman...I must say [flashback of Ed Grimley from SNL].

Honey, Where's the Remote?

All of you wives out there will get this. My husband is like a good majority of husband's out there. The remote controls in the house are usually attached to his hand. He doesn't believe that, but it has become obvious as the kids have started talking. They say "Da Da" when they see or grab the remote. Coincidence? I think NOT!

A couple of days ago the remote in our bedroom vanished. He spent 2 days asking me where the remote was. For two days it was lost. You would have thought one of the kids was missing. He turned the bedroom inside and out. He got all of the dust bunnies out from underneath the bed and found some stuff that had been missing for a while. We found a baby bottle, some magazines, slippers, etc. No remote control.

On the second night he brought the remote in from the living room. Heaven forbid we have to get up and change the channel from one sporting event to another. Although, he also watches ER, Desperate Housewives, 24, and Brother's and Sister's. Don't tell him that I told you about Desperate Housewives. And, honey, if you're reading this post, I guess you'll have to start your own to tell stories on your wife :-)

During the 48 hour "missing remote period" he even accused me of hiding it on purpose. I guess when I made fun of his anxiety at losing the remote, he got a little peeved. Any guesses where he finally found it? It ended up in the outside pocket of his portfolio-style briefcase! He has no recollection of putting it in there. I assume he fell asleep with it in his had and dropped it in as the briefcase was beside the bed. Hmmmm.

This is one of those things that we can now blame on being triplet parents. How long can we get away with that excuse?