Lightening strikes

Yes it does. And it did. My house. Fried my computer, phones and TVs. I'm using my brother's computer right now. So don't expect too many updates. I just had a job interview for a 2nd grade here in town at a Catholic school. Keep your fingers crossed! This sounds like a good opportunity. It's even on the way to the girls' school.

The girls are on their way to the dentist today. They are not too excited but they do love spending time at the Uncle's house. They got to swim and use the hot tub here. Too cute.

School starts on August 12 so we are frantically trying to get all the school supplies together. I showed my sister the list and her reply was"That's not so bad." Then I reminded her that the Kindergarten list has to be times 3. That it got overwhelming. lol

My foot is still in an air cast. At least I don't need the crutches so much anymore.

Megan went to a friend's b-day party on Sunday afternoon and the trio went to a triplet party at the same time. It figures. But they all had a great time.


Time to head out! Call me to visit as I have no internet service. I think that will kill me!!!

The book we are in has been published!

A few years ago a writer from the Washington Post got in touch with me through our local twins club. She was writing a book about ART procedures. ART stands for Assisted Reproductive Technology. Basically any procedure used to help fertility. She wanted to write about how ART is changing our world. She interviewed me several times about how all four girls came to be in this family. The book has been published and we are in it! She does use our names which I told her was ok. She did a marvelous job at keeping our story true. It's funny that she titled my section, "We're all on Zoloft." I mentioned this to her when I was talking about other triplet Moms that I know. The main part of our story is that we were not prepared for triplets. We were not expecting triplets. The fertility dr. did not discuss multiples with us AT ALL. It wasn't until I had been given two valium right before the embryo transfer that they wanted us to decide what to do with all 4 embryos. My ex only wanted to transfer 2. I wanted 4. The dr. convinced us that 4 would be a good choice. After we agreed he handed us a piece of paper that asked us to sign that we agreed to 4 embryos and the paper listed some of the really terrible things that could happen if higher order multiples were conceived. This was the ONLY info we received. I've always been a big believer that fertility clinics have a responsiblility to provide indepth information to couples before they even start the fertility process. While I love my trio with all my heart and can't imagine what life would be like without them, it has been a huge strain. Having triplets was a direct issue in the dissolving of my marriage. Finances have been a disaster. There is constant worry. I just received the girls' school supply list. 4 sets of school supplies this year. Yikes. And no I won't get any help from the girls' dad so don't even suggest it.

I have 2 copies of the book if anyone here in town wants to borrow a copy. The name of the book is: Everything Conceivable How Assisted Reproductive Technology is Changing Our World. The author is Liza Mundy.

Amazon.com has copies of the book with several reviews. The first review is from another Washington Post writer who says there are 2 stories that stick out in her mind. One of them is the story of Megan. I don't look at this negatively mainly because it is my life that I live. Others may read it and think otherwise. But I live this everyday and for me to think everything is awful would me that I am not greatful for my life. And that is not true. I love my life but more importantly I love my children. I have been so blessed that I would not take one single second away to live it again.

Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Conceivable-Assisted-Reproduction-Changing/dp/1400095379/ref=cm_taf_title_featured?ie=UTF8&tag=tellafriend-20

In the words of Fergie (Black Eyed Peas)-Check, Check, Check, Check it out!

Speed Art Museum

Caroline during her creative moments.

The girls finished their reading logs for the library. So I took them a few weeks ago to get their prizes. They got a lot of coupons to use at different museums and sporting events around Louisville. Last Tuesday (with a broken ankle no less) I took the girls to the Speed Art Museum. We walked around the museum looking at lots of different things. Megan enjoyed all the nude art. Being an almost 3rd grader gave her lots of reasons to giggle uncontrollably at any nude figure. Gee whiz. All four really liked the ancient art B.C. That's my favorite too. I was an art history major for about a year at U of L before I decided to switch to teaching. That was the area I was going to go into. So I gave the girls lots of background info about the ancient art. After we finished that we went to the basement to Art Sparks. This is an interactive playroom. The girls loved it!! They spent so much time in the creative art room.

Brigid and Abigail are at their creative best.

This is Megan working on her art piece. Abby is behind her and Caroline is painting her work. This is Megan with her finished piece.

Abby doing her America's Next Top Model pose. They had a 16th century Dutch ship and kitchen to play in at Art Sparks too. Abby, Brigie, and Megan.

Caroline inside the Native American dramatic play area. I like this one.

Brigid in the preschool room. Brigid loves working with her hands.

Who does that? Me.

So I've been walking around with a broken ankle for over a month. I knew I hurt it when I fell off my flip flop in the yard. But it kept hurting and swelling. I don't have health insurance yet so I just wrapped it and kept on going. Last Thursday the girls had stripped their beds to be washed. There were comforters on the floor in the hallway. I stepped on the comforter and twisted my ankle again. This time I had my sister take me to the ER. And lo and behold not only is my ankle broken but it is broken in TWO places. Jeez. What a klutz. I'm supposed to see an orthopedic dr. but don't have the money to see one. So I took the brace/cast off yesterday and have been walking around. I'm doing better than I was last week. But by yesterday afternoon I was using the crutches again. I'm 40, heavy, and out of shape. Do you know how hard crutches are to use? My arms and arm pits are sore.

Just another of my many talents!.

Even more pics

The trio is waiting for things to begin. It's odd that they always put themselves in ABC order.

This is one of my favorites. I only know the three girls in the center because they were in class together. They are Taylor, Amy, and Megan. Don't these ladies look lovely?

More Pics from Communion

Aunt Lisa waiting for things to start.

Doesn't she look beautiful!?!

My nephew, Evan, who turns 16 this month, short me, and Ana, who turns 12 in August. What has their parents been feeding them??

Megan 1st Communion

Anna, Megan, Erik, Evan, Brigie, Me, Caroline & Abigail

Megan had her first Communion on April 27th at St. Bernedette Catholic Church (the former MGC). She looked beautiful. She was excited and nervous at the same time. She love being able to taste the wine. But more than anything Megan was glad her Dad showed up. He brought his fiancee and Brigid's Godparents, Ken and Chris, along. This helped make Megan's day. Ali , Jack, and the triplets came to church. What a great friend she is. She is even Jewish but took the time time to come because she knew just how important it was to Megan. Mr. Ice, Megan's teacher, even showed up!! After the ceremony, our friends and family came back to my house to celebrate. We saw old friends and new friends. And the day was just so danged special for Megan. Enjoy the pics!!

Returning to Post

I am finally finding the time to sit down and get back to updating this post. Life has been good. Stressful as always. And I sure do wish I could win the lottery.

Lisa and I are continuing to fix up the house. The garage is now clear enough to pull my van into. I still have some organizational stuff to do in there. One of which is to get our draft corner more organized. That way Lisa and I both have a place to sit and craft without worrying about making too much mess. The backyard looks amazing. I've done lots of edging, weed-pulling, and mulching. Lisa continues to work on getting all the primer up on our shutters and front door. as soon as we are done I will post before and after pics. I still need to paint my room. I'm tired of looking at moose and canoes. lol And I need to paint the family room. Just takes time to do it all.

The girls just came back from spending a week with their Dad in St. Louis. The girls were excited to be with him for a week and it sounds like they really enjoyed being there. The went up in the Arch and everything. They stayed with their Dad's fiancee. The girls seem to be fond of her. I've not had much dealing with her so I have yet to form an opinion. Of course it is the girls' opinion that matters most to me. As long as she is kind to them and they love her then I am ok. The only problem I have is that their Dad took them to St. Louis and didn't notify me until they were all the way there. This is the third time he has done that. And he will not give me contact info while he is there. So basically last week I had no idea where my children were. I sent a letter to him via email and to his attorney but of course never heard back. And I really don't like the fact that when they came to pick up the girls Megan asked if they were going to Susan's house. She replied that they were not. So she lied to my face about were the girls were going. Pat even had his car already in St. Louis. So the plans were there along. I have nothing against this person but I have to admit it leaves me with a not so great opinion of her and her moral compass if she can lie to my face about my children.

But enough about that. We are busy getting things ready for Sat. We are celebrating the girls birthdays on Sat. They are so excited and have given me a looonnnggg list of what they want. They are most certainly not getting everything on the list though. lol

We turned in their reading lists to the library yesterday. For reading ten books each they got a guitar shaped backpack, coupons to the art museum, a Louisville Bats game, Squire Boone Cavern, a free Wendy's frosty, a tour of the Thomas Edison house, and tickets to six different UofL sporting events. I intend for us to use all the coupons. Abby, Brigie, and Caroline each got a free t-shirt too that says, "I'm going to Kindergarten!" They are so physched. Me too. I can't believe that we made it through the first five years. Of course I haven't raised teenage triplets but I truly believe birth to 5 years has to be the hardest. That first year was a killer!!

Brigid is already reading some and doing inventive spelling. She floors me with what she knows. She writes her first and last name and the first names of everyone here at home. She reads signs, coupons, TV info, etc. She is just like Megan. Brigie will be reading books well by Christmas.

Caroline has become a bit sassy. My once sweet, compliant little one has gotten quite a mouth on her. But it is still funny. She is obsessed as ever with care bears, Ella the cat, and dots. Anything with dots on it. She refers to Ella as "the golden dotted one." She loves to have words spelled out for her. And she can count to 100.

Abby has just become the sweetest little girl. She still has a temper like nobody's business. But it fires up quick and goes back down just as quickly. She is not as interested in writing as the other two are. But she is quite proud of herself because she can write I Love You by using the letter I, drawing a heart, and writing the letter U. She walks around all day giving everyone these little notes.

Megan is doing so much better after having had just a few visits with the therapist. The hitting has slowed down a great deal. the name calling and bullying is still there but to a lesser degree. And I am able to talk to her when she starts the bullying so that she can calm herself down and stop. She will be in third grade this year. Can you believe it? She wanted to have Mr. Ice again this year but he got a job promotion. So I have asked that Megan be placed in a 3/4 split so she can continue to work above grade level. She is just so damn smart that it is scary. And I am as always just so dang proud of her. :)

Lisa had to have a tooth pulled about two weeks ago. She and I were both worried that pain medicine was going to be involved. She was given just a few but really handled it beautifully. She seems to really have put most of her addiction into the past. Some days it is a struggle but she takes everything one day at a time. That's all any of us can do. She continues to work at Papa Murphy's.

Lisa and I were painting the shutters out front about 2 weeks ago. We were using a dark blue primer for them. I was holding the ladder for her but she kept dripping primer on me. As I was complaining rather loudly she picked up her brush and deliberately dribbled paint on my head. This of course meant war. I grabbed the paint sprayer, aimed at her head, and fired. She looked like a speckled mess. I can tell you that by the time she got down from the ladder paint was flying everywhere. By the time we stopped we had paint in our ears, mouth and teeth, through my shirt, in my belly button, and pretty much everywhere else. I looked like I was wearing blue evening gloves. When all the fun was stopped we realized that we had paint all over our sidewalk and grass. And the worst part: all over our neighbor's driveway. So there were two women in their 40s knocking on our neighbors door, covered, in paint, and apologizing for the mess. I felt like I was 10 years old. He laughed quite loudly and told us we were fine. But we did spend 2 HOURS scrubbing his driveway before we got all the paint up. What a mess. And what an embarrassment for the two grown women here. But I will tell you had a blast and that was truly one of the best ways I ever blown off steam.

We took the girls strawberry picking up at Huber's about 3 weeks ago. It was a beautiful day in the 70s. Caroline ate more than she picked but boy was that fun. We are now trying to find a place to pick blue and black berries.

Our next job is to try and join the YMCA. With the new water park they have just opened it would be the perfect place to take the girls. I'm going to try and go through the Spirit program again where they base it on income. Then hopefully I can go and work out there too.

On the relationship front. I've recently ended a friendship with someone that I was head over heels in love with. Most people who know me do not know about this friendship for various reasons. I finally ended it because it was unable to utter 3 small words. So I have moved on. But not without a lot of sad feelings and an incredible amount of hurt. Hopefully this person will be able to redefine his life and figure out what he wants in this word. If its me, great, if not then I wish him well.

I've recently met someone on a dating site called plenty of fish. It is a free local site and I really like it. I've meet some nice email pals there. I am communicating right now with a high school chemistry teacher. I am definitely smitten by the emails and I think we are going to take the next step and meet. Keep your fingers crossed, I am definitely intrigued by this one. :)

Megan has created and is in charge of her own blog. you have got to check it out. The address is meganhorses.blogspot.com

Too darn adorable!!!

Chat Later,

Love,

Kristina