More Camera Fun

These pics were all taken in the past few days. We have been spending much of the days outside as the weather is absolutely beautiful. Not too hot or sticky yet. Once that hits, we will have limited time outside, like only first thing in the morning! The kids love it out there & so do I.

Honestly, I'm amazed at how well they do out there. This time last year, I wouldn't have dreamed of going outside w/ the kids, let alone by myself! They are getting so manageable & that gives me confidence. For example, we took our 1st sidewalk walk yesterday. No harnesses, no strollers. Just the 3 kids, myself & Miss Jane (thank God we have such wonderful neighbors). It was unintentional as they had an opportunity to get out of the gate (another neighbor bringing a garden snake for us to check out) & I went w/ it. Miss Jane saw us out & came to help. They did wonderfully! There was only 1 incident of trying to go to the street. I guess all those walks taught the kids that they sidewalk is where they are 'suppose' to walk, huh?

**Notice the kids on the 'big kid' swings?!? Awesome!**

Miss Sofia & all her glory. She is quite the athletic, agile one. I'm thinking cheerleader & volleyball. Just a prediction.




Miss Gabriella, trying her hardest to be a bit more athletic. She is still our chub-chubs but has started becoming more active. She loves hanging out w/ Kay-Kay. Seriously, she is her 'bes-fren, bes-fren'. Translation, best friend.




Mr. Ian Giovanni, always the charmer. Always. He loves to swing on the 'big kid' swing & has really taken interest in learning how to hang on those rings.




Life is good. I can't complain, at all. Did I mention that I heart our backyard? Well, I do.

Anonymous strikes again!

"I see Ian is the only one that does not use those stupid pacis. I guess he will not be laughed at in school." SIGNED...Anonymous (aka ~ Don't have anything better to do than pick on the cutest almost 2 year olds in the world b/c we have no life & still live at home in Ohio)

Yeah, b/c I'd let my kids go to school w/ a paci. Right? HA!

For your viewing pleasure, many pics of our pacis. We love our pacis!

Tender Moments

It is finally happening. The kids are being SUPER affectionate towards one another. It is beautiful. Brings tears to my eyes. Makes my heart flutter w/ joy. Because, I know it won't be this way forever.

Hugs are the "in" thing at the moment & I love trying to capture it.

The girls giving each other hugs. They do it all the time.



When Sofi got in trouble today & was pouting after a time out, Ian went to comfort her.


Then Gabi had to get in on the action.


I have to say that I get a kick out of every time they hug each other, or kiss each other. So cute! And, I know it won't last forever so I'm soaking in every moment I can.

Spring has sprung!

Over here in these parts, spring has officially arrived. The trees are blooming & growing new leaves. The pollen is in the air giving everything a nice, yellow coating (ok, it really isn't nice). The weather is beautiful & perfect for spending time outside.

And that is exactly what we have been doing. I take the kids out once or twice a day for about 1-2 hours. We are working on our supply of outdoor toys & are looking forward to some of their b-day presents as we know they will provide hours upon hours of fun. A mommy can hope for this, right?

Grandma Donna got a really good deal on this glider at Christmas time & I think the kids will enjoy sitting in it & making tents. Great place to cool off!


And then we have the really cool picnic table by Step 2 that Abu bought for the kids. Since Gabi LOVES to color while she is outside, this is going to be the perfect addition to the backyard. I also plan on picnic lunches as well as some fun, messy crafts.


We do need some recommendations though. I would love a glider for the swing set as well as a slide for it. We have an oldy but goody. It came w/ the house & as we were struggling to get pregnant, all we dreamed about was having kids climb all over that darn thing! The problem is we don't know where to get a slide for it. Anyone out there know where to get one, reasonably priced?


We are also looking for some water toys. Not sure we want a baby pool as it has to withstand 3 toddlers. Maybe some cool sprinkler or something. Not sure yet.

Here are some of the pretty blooms on a couple of our trees in front of the house. I love being able to play w/ my camera!




And the pretty walking irises.

Sewing Projects

That's what I've been up to. Lots & lots of sewing! It all started last year. The plan, that is. I bought the kids Easter baskets from Pottery Barn (on sale & not full price). Glad I did b/c they are sold out again this year. The liners I wanted were out of stock as well so I figured I would wait until this year to get them. Turns out that I HATE the liners they have this time around. Last year's liners were bright. I love me some bright colors!

Here are the liners from last year. I can't find 1 of the boys. I wanted to get the girls the pink polka dot liner & the green polka dot one. I didn't really like any of the boys so I went w/ a blue polka dot.


I also have to admit that I wanted their names embroidered on their lining. As you know, having triplets gets expensive very fast. I couldn't have afforded to purchase them anyway. So, what did this crafty momma do? I made my own. From scratch. Yep, that means making my very own pattern.

THAT was not easy.

As a matter of fact, it was frustrating at times. I'm not a seamstress by any stretch of the imagination & I hate patterns so this proved to be a tough project. I had no idea how to sew the bottom of a basket liner that was in the shape of a circle, to start off. As a matter of fact, I had never sewn a liner for A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G so I really didn't know where to start.

Ian's was first. I picked his b/c the dark blue is forgiving. Glad I did. It didn't turn out badly at all though. I at least had have the mind to 'look' at a liner in an Easter basket at Joann's last weekend otherwise I would have never figured out how to do the sides.



I embroidered Ian's name after I put it together, another mistake. Much easier to embroider BEFORE you sew the pieces together. Duh.

Then it was time to hone my skills w/ the girls' liners. I cut out all the pieces, embroidered their names on the appropriate piece & sewed my little heart out. The 2nd liner actually came out worse than Ian's but at least it was only on the bottom & will be covered. I once again figured out some 'tricks' of the trade as I went along.

By the time I got to the 3rd liner, I was a PRO. Not really but I felt like it.



All in all, I'm happy w/ the finished products & I think these liners are classy & will grow w/ the kids for the years to come. Trust me, I don't plan on sewing another round basket liner for quite some time!


Cost of a Pottery Barn liner w/ embroidery...
$34 for the large basket x 3 = $102
$18 for the large liner x 3 = $54
$9 for the embroidery x 3 = $27

The grand total had I bought it all, $183.

Cost of Mommy's version...
$18 for the large basket (on sale after Easter last year) x 3 = $54
$3.99/yd of fabric x 3 = $11.97
$0 for embroider (I already had all the thread & machine) x 3 = $0

The grand total for MY version, $65.97. HELLS YEAH. That is a savings of $117.03. That's what I'm talkin' about! And, they get something made from Mommy w/ love. Can't beat that!

Happy Saint Paddy's Day!

Some time this year, I found out that my great grandmother was Irish, 100%. How I didn't know about this earlier is devastating b/c I could have been really celebrating the day of the Irish all along. Legitimately. Eh, oh well. No skin of my back. I'll start celebrating today. Sans beer. Ok, maybe just 1 beer & I have food coloring so you better believe it will be green beer! No worries, this will happen after the kids go to bed.

Since the kids are like 1/32 Irish, I got them shirts. I normally wouldn't have but how can I deny them their heritage? Right? We even have a green tricycle to boot!





Precious, if I do say so myself. Oh, & Sofi won't go anywhere w/o those heels. HILARIOUS! I'll upload the video of them walking in heels. It is fantastic & loud!

To everyone, may you find the pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow!

Happy birthday to me!

Today I am 35. Yep, I'm sayin' it out loud & proud! Not only that, but I spent my 1st night away from the kids. That would be 2 years here at home w/ them & only missing a couple of night of putting them to bed until Saturday when I was not here to put them to bed or to wake up them up. Luckily, we all survived although Ian seems extremely clingy today, esp if I leave the room or walk outside for a split second.

Us hittin' the road!



We left Saturday around 1pm, checked in to our B&B room just to find out they don't serve breakfast. What is a B&B w/o breakfast? Silly, don't you think? The cool thing was we were in the middle of all the action, & only 1/2 a block away from good eats & a couple of bars, which is where we headed after we put our things in the room, to a bar.

Funny thing is we walked right in on some biker gang meeting. We almost walked back out but one of the guys told us to come in & that they were finishing up. Unfortunately, Todd had to walk across the whole gang to the ATM machine. I held my breath (ok, kidding, not really holding my breath). We hung out on the patio & soaked up some sun and just relaxed.


Jeff thought it would be fun to buy me a tank top from the bar so I changed in to it.


It was really a beautiful day so we hung out there until about 5:45 when I needed to get back to our room to get my hair lookin' all 80's. Then I had a mini-photo session. Todd was getting ready so our friend Jeff took these.




We got to the boat w/ some time to spare so we waited & watched for other
80 goers. There were only a handful. One was this chick & her hubby. He dressed like Don Johnson in his Miami Vice days. HILARIOUS!



The dinner cruise was a blast! I loved dancing to all the 80's music. Seems as though I knew every word to every song. The food was decent, nothing I would write home about but it put something in our tummies. A BIG thank you to Donna for setting up the cruise & the birthday package! We had a blast.

So, for our first overnight trip, things couldn't have gone better. Grandma Donna & Papap took great care of the kids & even did our laundry! Another thank you for that! I can see us sneaking away a couple of times a year for some alone time.

Oh, the best part, I woke up this morning & in place of my old, rickety laptop was a pretty, wide screen, HD, w/ a web cam spankin' new laptop! Did I say how much I love my hubby?!? Thank you honey! I heart my new laptop & you for a wonderful weekend!