Wade got the boys started with a bottle while I caught a few more Zzzzs. Then I mustered up the strength to get out of bed and fix Taylor's lunch, out the door they went. So I finished up the boys, burped and changed them and packed them into their car seats and headed for the park. I walked the Idle Hour track 2 times. I think that may be 2 miles... or close, I'm not sure... Anyone know? There's a group that meets there 3 days a week called Stroller Strides. They were starting to get there as I was packing the boys into the jogging stroller. I may start meeting with them just to have some accountability, not sure, I'm kinda a loner. After loading the boys back into their car seats and getting Big Blue packed back up I shot over to WalMart to pick up some mailing supplies for a few things I just sold on eBay. I really needed to get them today, and I didn't want to have to ask Wade for help, so I popped 2 boys in the Double Snap n Go and one in my hotsling and away we went. I grabbed up the supplies I had to get first, browsed for a minute, and at the first little whimper I bolted for the check out line! Another successful trip on my own...even without Taylor. Here it is 11:00 and I've fed the boys twice, walked 2 miles, went to WalMart, I'm on my 2nd load of laundry, and I almost have the eBay stuff packaged and ready for the post office. It's going to be a good day. My camera died, so I can't post the pictures from the park yet.

Speaking of no pictures, Jen came over with her triplets this weekend and neither of us got any pictures. SO sad. We'll just have to do it again soon I guess. =) We had to eat dinner in shifts to watch/feed babies, but all 7, no 8, were really sweet. (Taylor had a friend over!)

Okay, gotta keep my day on track and get busy! Blogging Break OVER!

Almost exactly 2 months ago I set three goals for myself for the following three months. I'm 2/3 of the way there and I'm happy to report good progress. I'm finding a good balance and spending lots of quality time with the boys. The triplets are all smiling and they have found their voices, not the voices I spoke of here, but sweet cooing voices of discovery. They are so sweet and just make my heart melt. Another goal was to go green. I'm getting greener and greener everyday. Plastic water bottles, gone! Aluminum and tin cans and plastic, recycled! Containers and other things I would have thrown away before, saved and reused! I'm even working on my own herb garden now and next year will be planting my own organic vegetable garden. Go me!

The beginning of my herb garden. Planted in jello cups with holes for water drainage and Dole fruit cups to catch the water.

I use Tupperware to package Taylor's lunch, versus multiple Ziploc bags as I would have done previously. I'm telling you, this green thing is easy and it feels good. It feels like the smart responsible thing to do. Now, for the hard one, losing 30lbs. I'm happy to report I weighed today for the first time in a couple weeks and I am down 22lbs. I was pleasantly surprised with today's weigh in, I only need to lose 5 more lbs to get to the weight I was when I got pregnant with the triplets. After that I'd like to get in better shape and lose about 10 more lbs to get my pre-Taylor weight. But my goal was 30 (to stick with the '3' theme) so to reach that goal, I've got 8 more to go this month. Oh, it's SO close. But the last little bit is always so hard, so I had to get some extra support. I get to read about what other moms (and some dads) are doing to lose weight, and here their dieting confessions so I don't feel as guilty about my diet indiscretions. It's really just another source to help hold me accountable. ..To give me the extra reason to get up and exercise even if I've only having 4 hours of sleep.

Okay, so all in all, doing good with the SMART goals. = )

Other news, Brayden is semi mobile (Gulp!). He's rolled over a few times, but seems to be having trouble doing it more now. The first time he did it, he was actually in the swing and when I looked up he was flopping like a fish on his belly in the swing. ..scared me to death. He gets really irritated now when it doesn't happen immediately, so he ends up on his back screaming and kicking.

I make sure to strap the little booger in now!

Check out the sockless foot - it's the key to the flip!

Things are getting a little easier. We're getting out more and I'm becoming more independent with the boys. The comments and attention are the worse part about going out. I hate to say that publicly, I don't want to come across as mean. But when my 5, um almost 6, year old is getting so far ahead that I can barely see him and people still won't move out of the front of my stroller, there's a problem. I'm not the only one who feels this way. This mom summed it all up here, and here. Jen touched on it here. [How cute is that choo choo wagon?! (hint hint)] There are even t-shirts addressing some of the comments and questions. Don't get me wrong, I know people are interested and I don't mind them looking at my adorable little miracles. What I do mind, is the personal questions and somewhat the idiotic comments from complete strangers especially when they drag on 5-10 minutes. Let me tell you, when you have 4 kids, 5-10 minutes a few times each outing is precious in the schedule you're trying to keep.

Remember picture day? Today I got to see all the pictures that Mrs. Stacie took for us. They're all SO good! My favorites are those with all 4 of my boys. I can't believe Taylor is holding one of his little brothers, he's such a big boy! Here are some of the pictures:

We had some yummy and easy stuffed bell peppers tonight. My mom used to make these and they were sooo good. Mine are a little different, I use Ragu and I think she used tomato sauce and spices and stuff to make it taste like Ragu. = )

This recipe meets all the requirements: Yummy, family friendly (I'll explain how), budget friendly, quick and easy, oh yeah and healthy.

I didn't take the time to measure. But really, you just cook as much as your family needs. I cook 3 peppers and 1 1/2 cups of rice for my family of 3 eaters. with a side of Similac for other 3

Stuffed Green Bell peppers

Medium/Large Size Bell peppers
Hamburger meat or ground turkey (I use 1lb)
Ragu (about 1/2 the jar)
Minute Rice (1 1/2 cup fills 3 med bell peppers with a little left over)
Minced Garlic
1/4 of a large onion diced
Mozzarella Cheese and/or cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Wash and cut the top off of the bell peppers, clean the inside. Boil water and add rice, cover. Let sit for 5 minutes. Cook meat, onion, and garlic. Drain. Add rice to meat and pour in Ragu until it's all covered but not drowning in the sauce. Stuff in bell pepper, top with a little extra sauce, pop in the oven for 20 minutes. Add mozzarella/cheddar cheese, cook another 5 minutes or until melted.

Serve with salad (or whatever). I use the extra pepper from the top portion that you discard to add flavor to the salad.

Taylor doesn't like the bell pepper. So I take the extra rice mixture with a little mozzarella cheese for him. He says it taste just like 'mis-ghetti.' He even got me to add some 'papa-john' cheese to it. You may call it Parmesan cheese, but in Taylor's vocab, it's papa-john cheese.

Wade requested both mozeralla and cheddar tonight... Yum!

This is Taylor's without the pepper

It's official, I've lost my mind. I made the decision that I could go to the grocery store with the kids - alone. I'm an independent, self sustaining, mother of four. Not a slave to the house and kids, with only a planned, and short escape when relieved from child duty once every 7 days or so for a brief run through the grocery store. I guess those thought are what led me to make this unplanned escape - all FOUR kids in tow. But let me tell you, it was a piece of cake! I was sane enough, however, to choose my store carefully. I'm not ready for the Wal-Mart traffic yet; I'm not sure Taylor could navigate that mess. (see the photo) So I chose Publix. I LOVE Publix. My wallet HATES Publix. Publix is a special place that I only occasionally get to go for a few specialty items I can't find anywhere else. Or, in this case, it was for their delicious rotisserie chicken.

Here was my shopping list:

Chicken
Butter
Potatoes

I'm not going to list everything I got, but my grand total was $51.39.

The marketing people at Publix are GOOD is all I have to say. I will also say that everything I got was a pretty good deal. It was on sale and somewhat 'needed.'

I left the store feeling proud and good. I DID IT! I DID IT! I had to stop myself from screaming out those words in the Publix parking lot after I had all groceries and babies loaded. It sure felt good. It's taken me 14 weeks to build up the courage and confidence to go off by myself and I did it!

Let me also say that I could not have 'done it' without Taylor. The only way I could think to make it work was for him to push the Double Snap n Go, that I absolutely LOVE, and I would push the buggy with one hooked in there. It looked something like this:

Don't get offended and let me explain.

Today as I sat in the 7/10 of a mile long line of cars to pick my son up from school, I had lots of time to think. (Yes, I used my trip odometer to measure!) After getting to the school on time the first day, 10 minutes late the 2nd, I arrived 15 minutes after school dismissed the third day to allow time for other, more eager, parents to get their children first. Good plan, right? Well, not really. I still had to wait .7 miles. There were close to 100 or more cars in front of me, probably that many or more behind me, and that many or more that had already picked up their children ahead of me. (I'm guessing...) I waited patiently, really - I did, I was enjoying the peace and quiet in the van; the peace that can only mean 3 babies are sleeping soundly in the seats behind me. I observed four school buses pulling out of the school. FOUR buses! Keep in mind, this school is only K-5 and 1/2 the parents are in line with me. After the first bus passed, almost empty, I thought to myself of the gas that bus must consume each day to take only a handful of children home. To my shock another and another and another bus came down the hill and around the bend, each the same as the one before him, carrying only a few. Imagine the money the schools (our tax dollars) are spending on gas, diesel at almost $5 a gallon, to carry so few home. Why aren't children riding the bus? How are all these parents able to pick up their child each day? Think of the sacrifices parents, are making on a daily basis to keep their kids from riding the school bus. Take me for example; I'm loading up 3 babies each day, waiting in this river of cars, and unnecessarily consuming gas. Here I am, 'going green' in full force; conserving, saving, re-using, and planting everything I can. ..and using gas to do something the school would do for me; except I opt not, along with hundreds of other parents. But why?

I'm asking myself this question and I can't come up with a "good" answer. It's hard to even verbalize why, so it comes out as I just don't want him to. He's so young, what if something happens? What if he gets confused and gets on the wrong bus or gets lost. [this could happen, and did happen to me back then, but now teachers walk their kids to the buses to ensure proper transportation] What if an older kid picks on him? What if a giant spaceship fell from the sky and landed in front of his bus? You get the idea. I guess he's not riding the bus because it's one worry that I can control and eliminate. But then I think of those 4 'empty' buses driving all around town. I could help do my part and fill another seat while conserving fuel. But that's when those worries creep back in.

I rode the bus. EVERYONE rode the bus when I was in elementary/middle school, and I lived in a much, much smaller town where it may have been more feasible for parents to pick up their kids. This leads me to my question, are we raising a bunch of weenies? I was 6 months younger than Taylor, had never even been to pre-k when I started kindergarten, and guess what, I rode the bus and survived. It was a little scary. I was a very timid and shy little girl, and I survived. Surely my out-going, pre-k scholar can do the same; but then those worries creep back in.

It seems like all things get better with each generation. I guess this is just the transition to the next step, whatever that is.. For example, our grandparents walked to school in the snow, up hill both ways. Our parents walked 10 miles to school and the lucky ones got to ride a bus. My generation (at least where I came from) all rode the bus, and the lucky ones that had a doctor's appointment or something got picked up by their parents. Now being a 'car-rider' is a given with a few that ride the bus. I almost said a few 'unfortunate' ones...but I don't know. Taylor, if given the option, would love to ride on the cool school bus. So, that begs the question, who's really scared of the bus, mom or Taylor?

Well, there's my thoughts on that. I told you the line was long.

For now, I'll continue to load up the van I've affectionately named Big Blue, and take/pick him up each day. A silver lining is that I get to spend 5-10 minutes with a captured audience. Taylor and Madilyn, whom I also pick up, both have no choice but to sit and tell me about their day. For Madi, that's no biggy. But for Taylor, it's huge. I can't make him be still and stay focused long enough at home to tell me anything, so that time he's buckled down is precious.

Today was Taylor's first day of kindergarten. He woke up bright and early this morning ready to go. I expected some resistance when the moment came for him to leave. ...a little "Mommy come with me" maybe; but, no. Nothing. Although I don't want my child to have separation anxiety or anything, I think somewhere deep down, I was hoping for just a little, just today. Perhaps I'm suffering from a tinge of separation anxiety. Why, I don't know. He's been in "school" his whole life. I'll just blame it on the mommy hormones. I'm sure I still have a healthy dose running through my system left over from the triplets. Still, sometimes I just look at him and think my baby is a big boy now. When did this happen? How did I miss it? He has his own thoughts and ideas; he knows so much, probably more than he should. He questions things, imagines things, and can draw his own conclusions about things. Some things I've never even thought of and know nothing about.

Today coming home from school we were of course talking about his day. As I try to ask questions about what he learned and what he thought about his friends and teacher, etc. The conversation started off something like this:

Me: "What did you think of your teacher?"

Taylor: "I know who Mrs. Culpepper is." (His teacher is Mrs. Walter's!)

Me: "You do? That's Madilyn's teacher, huh? What about Mrs. Walter's?"

Taylor: "Yep. She's prettier even than my girl."

Me: "Your girl?"

Taylor: "My teacher. She(Mrs. C) wore a pretty blue shirt today." Pause, he's really in deep thought now "My teacher is pretty too, but Mrs. C is prettier even than her."

SIDENOTE {Haley, Mrs. C may have replaced you... Taylor would rather spend the afternoon with Haley than go to Hollywood Connections and play putt-putt with Wade and I. When she came over to watch the boys with Jenny and Heather we practically had to punish him to make him go play putt-putt with us!}

Later, at the dinner table while eating a sloppy joe, Taylor looks at me as serious as a 5 year old can and asks, "What will happen if a camel eats a sloppy joe?" To which I quickly reply, "He may get a tummy ache." Taylor: "WHY?" Me: "He's not used to eating them, I doubt he's ever had a sloppy joe before." "Hmmm. We'll have to pay for that!" Taylor says. Puzzled, I look at him and ask, "What do you mean, pay?" "Well, I know he'll like them so much we'll have to keep buying them for him!"

That's right, I'll take that as a compliment. Wouldn't you?

Alright, I'm about to fall asleep at the keyboard here...