Snow storm in Dallas!

This Winter has been very uncharacteristic for Dallas, Texas! We have had several days of snow, but nothing could top this most recent snow storm. Yes, a storm!
We had about 12 inches of snow fall!
Here is our side yard....this was the morning....it snowed all day and that night as well. Steve took off the morning we we dressed Brooks, Reese and Sloane and took them outside to play! Thank goodness we had rain boots for the Trio...

Lots of snow!

Steve grew up in the Chicago area, and is a "pro" snowman builder. The girls decided to help...

Reese looks so focused on placing the carrot nose.

Sloane was not too sure about the snow at first...she stood there for quite some time before she ventured out...

Reese was trying to through snowballs at me!

Our first snowman!

The same day as the snow, Steve arranged for roses to be delivered to the house for Valentine's Day. I thought it would be nice to take a photo of the roses with the snow...

That night after dinner, we took the Trio back out to play...this time it was snowing pretty hard...we taught them to throw snowballs and make "baby" snowmen.

Snowing in our backyard!

Our snowman now with "triplets"...

Our house the next morning. Unfortunately, the night before around 4:00 a.m. our power went out and never came back on...

Our neighbors to one side of our house and across the street had power! It was crazy! We had to leave for the entire day so we could feed the Trio and stay warm. We finally gave up around 8:30 that evening and decided to pull out a mattress and sleep in front of a fire. Here are the Trio getting ready for bed...

Two asleep and one awake!

Luckily, around 11:00 p.m. that night, our power was restored! We were so happy that we decided to stay home and "rough it". Many friends invited us over, but it is so much work packing for three children...and two dogs! Our power was out for almost 24 hours. Makes you appreciate things more when you are without them!

We captured some moments from the day...

2nd dance lesson

We had our 2nd dance lesson without our quad friends.
Sadly, they were all very ill with a rare virus. Reese and Sloane missed their friends, but had some one on one with their dance teachers.

Here are Sloane and Reese watching the dancers in the class before their class: We love dance!

My sweet girls...

Some video of the 2nd lesson...

Daddy Daughter Dance and a night out with Mommy & Brooks

This past Saturday night, Steve took Reese and Sloane to their first Daddy Daughter Dance. Steve came to the front door to pick up the girls for their "date"...so cute! They went to dinner first and then off to the dance!

Here are Sloane and Reese dancing on the floor!
The girls were able to get their nails painted at the dance...

Crafts table...

Steve and the girls leaving for the dance.

Waiting for Daddy at the front door. Brooks wanted to get in on the action too!

While the girls were out with Daddy, I took Brooks out for pizza and bowling. Here's Brooks at the bowling alley watching the other bowlers.

He loved this dance game at the bowling alley...

Pizza!

Here is a video before the dance...

Video of night out bowling...

First dance class

The girls began ballet and tap lessons this week!

After purchasing two sets of leotards, tights, skirts, ballet shoes and tap shoes, we were ready to go! Once we arrived to the dance studio, the girls could not wait to get inside and start lessons! Next week, I will not get there early! Ha ha ha ha....

Here are Sloane and Reese with their friends: Rayne, River, Skye and JuJu. Yes, one partial set of triplets and one set of quads make up the entire class!

Sloane waiting for ballet

Sloane and Reese....

At home getting ready for dance!

Reese striking a pose and while Sloane is distracted...

Sloane...

Reese...

Ballet lesson:

Future Ballerinas!

Trying out our new shoes and tutu's before our 1st dance class:

We love Yo Gabba Gabba!

Brooks, Reese and Sloane opening some of their birthday gifts!

3rd birthday party!

This year we celebrated Brooks, Reese and Sloane's 3rd birthday at The Gymnastics Place!

Luckily, the gym was able to accommodate all of our guests...45 children! That is what happens when you have triplets and they are friends with other twins, triplets and quads! Our friends with just one child were a little overwhelmed!

Here are Sloane and Reese at home after their party. L-R: Brooks, Sloane & Reese...

Reese finally decided to try a cupcake!

Brooks enjoyed his pizza!

Sloane LOVES cupcakes!

Yummy!

The party....45 children and their parents!

Loading up the car for the party. 60 cupcakes in the back!

Our "3 year old" birthday shirts! Thank you Miss Dedra for making them....we love them!

Brooks, Reese and Sloane had a wonderful birthday party! All of their friends had a blast!

Riding our bikes!

Brooks, Reese and Sloane...trying out their bikes...and new helmets!

3 year check-up!

Today, I took Brooks, Reese and Sloane in for their 3 year check-up. Steve is usually with me for these appointments, but he could not get away from work.

I have to say it was quite and adventure while we were in the waiting room! The Trio ran around laughing, Brooks open and closed the doors and Sloane knocked one of the animal heads off of the wall! There was a group of firemen who happened to be conducting a fire inspection of the building. One of them asked me "who is in charge here?"....I said "apparently not me"...he laughed.

I captured some moments from our appointment....
Here are the 3 year old stats:

Sloane:
height - 37 3/4 inches tall
weight - 33lbs 15 oz

Reese:
height - 38 inches tall
weight - 35 lbs 9 oz

Brooks:
height - 35 3/4 inches tall
weight - 26lbs 2 oz

A day of painting!

Well, after laying in bed all weekend recovering from Strep, I decided to take Brooks, Reese & Sloane out for a day of painting! I guess my brain was still in a fog from being sick, because I was not prepared for the adventure of this outing!
After packing on layer after layer of paint, the three decided to paint their hands, hair and even taste the paint!
As the meltdowns began to occur, I tried to rush the Trio along....not so lucky! Despite my efforts, we almost spilled our bowl of brush cleaning water and knocked over a sign before leaving the paint shop!
Our friend, Betsy, was there to capture some shots of the Trio in action:

Reese

http://www.betsymariephotography.com/


Brooks

http://betsymariephotography.com/

Sloane

http://betsymariephotography.com/

Here are some of the moments I captured...

Sloane

Brooks.....look at my hand!

Smearing the paint!

Reese...

The calm before "the storm"....

More of the action:

Strep Throat and a good lesson learned!

For some reason, both my mother and I came down with Strep Throat. Our symptoms began Thursday afternoon with just a headache...later the sore throat kicked in!
By Friday morning, I could not move!

I tried to take my temperature with that Temporal Scanner thermometer.....told me I had a 99 temp! Hmm....2 hours later at the doctor, it was almost 103! Not sure what is going on the Temporal Scanner!

So sadly, the Trio was home all weekend...with my amazing husband who gave them baths and fed them for 3 days straight! (and took them to the grocery store and church).

There was only one fiasco....Steve did not realize that Brooks, Reese & Sloane could climb onto things to grab items off of shelves...namely a Sharpee Permanent Marker!
Brooks came running to the gate where I was laying in bed and said "Mommy...I write my name". Well, let's just say it was more like decorate....his clothes and his sisters' clothes (all Gymboree clothing)...as well as the play kitchen, a few walls and all the cushions on the couch!!! He also wrote on his face and Sloane's face!

As bad as I felt, I got out of bed to work on the clothes while Steve worked on the couch and the walls. Unfortunately, some of the clothing could not be salvaged so Steve went out and bought replacements for the "decorated clothes". I did NOT take pictures of this moment, but now as I write this...I wish I had documented the event. So lesson learned....do not leave out markers! Check that off the list. :)

Last week before the Strep, I took the Trio to a local mall. Brooks decided he wanted to ride in the wagon and allow Reese & Sloane to pull him around. By the way, the pink leggings the girls are wearing were part of the damaged goods from the marker incident! Luckily, Steve found more! Here is the video:

Happy 3rd birthday!

Today was the Trio's 3rd birthday! As the day progressed, I became filled with bittersweet feelings...happy to have 3 healthy children...sad that they are growing up so fast!
We decided to have just a family dinner at our favorite Mexican food restaurant...Mi Cocina!
After dinner, we had cupcakes...of course!

Reese showing that she is "3 years old"... Sloane...

Brooks LOVES icing!

Reese decided she wanted to begin wearing panties just 2 days ago....not good timing but so far just a few accidents. She looks like a big girl in this picture...

Our family...

The Birthday Song at Mi Cocina!

On January 10, 2007....my water broke at 8:30 a.m. at home after 8 weeks of bed rest!

Steve was already at work when I called and had to rush back to meet me at the hospital. BY 11:45....all of my babies had arrived!

3 TCU cheerleaders...Go Frogs!

I was a cheerleader while I attended college....TCU!
Well, we had an amazing football season and TCU was asked to play in a BCS bowl!!
I was so excited. :)

Steve purchased cheerleader uniforms for the girls....we already had shirts for the Trio so Brooks got to wear his on game night!

L-R: Sloane, Brooks and Reese Brooks loved my old cell phones. He looks like a future Wall Street business man!

Sloane...

Watching the game!

Reese was playing football before the game

That afternoon, I decided to "skip" their nap in hopes of the Trio going to bed early so I could watch the game. Sadly, I came out to feed them dinner only to find Reese sound asleep in the couch...so cute. Here is the video:

January fun and the first birthday party of 2010

One of the trio's friends had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. I was curious to see how Brooks, Reese and Sloane would react to a large event with games, rides and singing mice.

Reese had a few meltdowns while Brooks and Sloane had a blast! L-R: Sloane, Brooks & Reese.

The girls received baby dolls for Christmas...complete with toys and cups and dishes. Here they are feeding their "babies"....notice Reese feeding her baby an eggplant and a banana split... Meanwhile, Brooks still loves to raid my closet and wear my shoes! These are my new boots...

The girls also love to read books...

Here is a video of the girls feeding their "babies":

The trio also enjoyed playing skee ball at Chuck E Cheese: