Snowmageddon 2015

We are smack in the middle of a massive snowstorm. School is cancelled for the third day in a row tomorrow. It's 1 degree out and with the wind chill, it's much colder than that.




I get really sick of winter, especially by March. However, there's something about a snow storm that I've always loved. We've been cooped up together for three full days now, not able to go anywhere and it's actually been really nice. Yesterday and today, Colin and Chris were the only ones to get dressed all day. The rest of us stayed in our pj's. I see no reason to get dressed if we're just going to play and snuggle on the couch.

I realized something today too. Something huge and hopeful, about this whole, parenting triplets plus two thing. It might be getting easier.  

I know that we're still in the early stages of parenting triplets (plus two... hate leaving them out) and that new challenges (and joys!) will come with each stage. But in many practical ways, life with our boys seems to be entering a new, dare I say, easier, phase. Each new season brings a little more independence, which makes every day life more manageable.

At one point today, I noticed that Colin and Carter were upstairs playing school, Everett was painting at the kitchen table while talking to me about this and that. Meanwhile, I was feeding Owen a snack and Finn was getting his own snack from the fridge. OMG!!! It seems like just yesterday we still had four or five kids in diapers, needing, what felt like, everything from us.

Don't get me wrong, there are still days I want to run out the front door pulling my hair out! But not today. Today I sunk into the joy of watching the boys grow a smidgen more independent and enjoyed it.

I feel I should also mark this week as the week we've officially entered what I'm dubbing "the potty mouth phase." Do girls go through this phase too?? See, as a boy mom, I don't know these things. All I know is that I've heard "poopy butt" and similar catch phrases about 10,000 times so far this week.

I try hard not to laugh.

Maybe this winter won't last forever after all

This morning started out a bit chaotic. I felt "behind" from the get go which is really silly because the only "race" to be "behind" at was the one I'd created in my head. You see, I had a mental to-do list of things I wanted to get done this morning, including write a grocery list, start laundry, do a little tidying up and return a few e-mails. But one or more of the boys needed my attention constantly through the morning and Owen didn't nap more than a few minutes before a sibling shrieking with excitement over play-doh woke him up (or maybe he would have awakened anyway... hard to tell these days). But before I knew it I was being impatient and rushing the boys out the door to pick up Colin at preschool. Then I brought an apple for an after school snack in the car and that was apparently wrong. He had hoped for a granola bar.

This morning was a fail. It always is when I loose sight of what my focus should be.

But then the sun came out, shining brighter than I'd seen it in weeks. The snow started melting, almost right before our eyes and I looked at my phone to see that it was 45 degrees out. FORTY FIVE, people! That is insane! That's about 40 degrees above our usual temperature. So after nap, Jordyn watched Owen and I took the older four boys outside. It was so good to be out breathing fresh air and feeling the sunshine! I mean seriously, I can count on probably one hand, the number of times we've been able to actually play outside this winter. Between the freezing temperatures and the amount of snow, it has been a very discouraging winter.

But today I felt hope that spring may be ever so slowly arriving. We took our first walk of the season and we played for almost two hours in the driveway. It felt so exciting and energizing! It felt hopeful. We even saw a neighborhood kid in shorts. I can't say it was shorts weather but I can certainly understand his excitement.

Ignore the fact that there are still mountains of snow and trust me when I say that today felt like a taste of a spring! We needed this!