Happy Birthday to Three!

With three little girls' birthdays in March, we're lucky they all seem agreeable to combining their celebrations.  Tessa and Annie don't have much of a choice, but someting tells me they'll survive sharing their birthday with each other.  I know someone who's a twin and she said it's not too terrible ;)  As for Megan, she's just pretty agreeable by nature, and was more than happy to share her day!

Even Bridget, the odd girl out, was all smiles :)

This picture sums up Tessa's obsession with everything Dora and Diego.  At two, one of her most common expressions is, "Oh, man!" complete with a dejected face and tone of voice.  She's pretty picked on, obviously. 

Annie was all smiles with "Clar-Clar."

And they both got the party started with some synchronized "upside downs" they'd been rehearsing for weeks.

We sang three different renditions of "Happy Birthday" so they each had their turn.  And, of course, Bridget was on stand-by should anyone need some help blowing out their candles.  Although we didn't have a kids party this year (and have assured Megan that those start in kindergarten in our family, despite her many detailed plans for her party this year), we had a lot of couisns there to celebrate. 

Come July, Bridget will have her own party.  But, she'll soon be sharing her month with Five, who will conveniently even out our family calendar!

Cuties

Now Hiring: Activity Director

With nearly five kids, I knew my quiet, organized days were numbered.  Soon enough we'd be trekking across town from one activity to another, figuring out which parent would be where for each child, our schedule brimming with everyone's individual activities.  Well, it's not exactly Grand Central around here (yet!), but we did just dip our toes in this new world of kid chaos.  After a lot of talk about what activity to get the girls started in, we finally signed both Megan and Bridget up for soccer!  This is the very first real activity (read: not free!) for either girl, so this was a milestone -- and one that they were very excited for!!  Best of all, their teams practice at the exact same time on the same field.  How's that for convenient?!

Something tells me we won't have any trouble spotting Megan running up and down the field!

. 

I wasn't expecting her to be the only girl on her team!!

And no, she's not a diaper-wearing five-year-old.  Those are scrunched up shorts under her pants, hastily covered up by some pants from my diaper bag when we realized how chilly it was.

Suddenly, we have new words in our vocabulary like "trapping" and "dribbling."  Megan caught on pretty quickly with all of the drills.  I think every boy on her team has played before, hence some serious shin guards and cleats!  I think she'll hold her own, and so far, is non-plussed with being the only one in pink!

Meanwhile, a few yards away, Bridget got acquainted with the soccer ball, too.  Her team is all 3 and 4 year old kids, and there are a few more girls.  They also don't play any games, which is the perfect speed for this little daisy-picker.  She spent a lot of time waving to Mommy and Daddy, and keeping her hands in her jacket pockets while she kicked the ball back and forth with her little partner. 

I'm so excited to expose the girls to a sport, and to see how they like it! 

And, Tessa and Annie were taking notes, too.  Although, Tessa took full advantage of Daddy's empty arms to get some snuggles.

There are crazier (and more expensive!) times to come when these two get in on the action!

Project Plump Up

I think I've mentioned (whined about) my inability to tackle much around here day to day besides the bare essentials.  The laundry is done, the dishes are done, and, oh yeah, the kids are taken care of.  Vaccuming and putting away laundry are major feats.  But, I never seem to have time to do little projects around the house.   And, tasks like organizing photos (or blogging!) fall to the wayside.  My normal break during the girls' naptime is usually 2 hours, but I'm lucky if I can sit down to pay bills/organize my thoughts/read my email after I get done picking up the tornado that has passed through our house in the first part of the day. 

So, I am more proud than I should be for a little project I did during naptime a few days ago!  Our living room couch (okay, our only couch if you want to be technical about it!) was beginning to show it's age, and

was looking pretty saggy and deflated, especially in some girls' favorite cartoon viewing spots!  It's been bugging me for a little while.

Here are some "before" shots:

So, while Megan was at school one day last week, I took the other three girls to our fabric store and snagged two big bags of polyester fill.  Besides my decision to go stroller-less in that store with those three monkeys, the first part of my mission was accomplished!

My next mistake was leaving four girls and two bags of "fur" unattended for two minutes while making lunch later that afternoon.  "Fur" was everywhere, and that briefly put a dent in my enthusiasm for this project!

But, as you can see, I did stuff the pillows by the time naptime was over (always too soon!).  Bridget was the first up, and when she sat in "her" spot, she leaned back, frowned, and declared it "too furry."  I consider that a compliment!