Girls' 1st Camping Trip

We took the girls on their first camping trip this past weekend. We couldn't have asked for better weather! Aaron's friend and colleague, Scott, and his daughter Kaitlin also went. The girls had fun climbing rocks, collecting bugs, and eating s'mores. They also enjoyed Aaron's fried donuts (a McGilvray tradition). I enjoyed a break from cooking as Scott and Aaron took care of the meals. Now that we have "tested the water" with the girls and the whole camping experience, we have decided that we will go for at least two days next time. Makenzie had such a great time that she didn't want to leave. We look forward to many more camping trips with the girls!

A Glimpse (Tiny) of Life with Triplets

I had the privilege of keeping two of my friends' sons this morning. Trent is two, Ashlyn will be two in a couple of weeks, and Ashton is 21months. That being said, I felt I had it pretty easy compared to moms of multiples who have to endure the newborn-first year stage. I am pretty sure my posting would be quite different if the kiddos fell somewhere in that age category! I had fun watching all three work on a puzzle together, color, play outside, eat lunch, play some more...
Ashton is still a little small to sit at our kitchen table and reach his food well, so I brought in another table in hopes that Ashlyn and Trent would sit alongside him. Those two had other plans as they stayed in their seats when I asked them if they would like to join Ashton at the kid table. At any rate, I don't thing Ashton gave it a second thought...he just grinned at me and ate his lunch. On a side note for the moms, it was a little chilly outside, so all I had were girl jackets to put on the boys. Maybe these picture will come in handy some day...

One of those days

Yesterday was one of those days as a mother where I reached lunchtime and was already looking forward to it being bedtime. The day was gorgeous so I thought I would start mid-morning working in the flower beds finishing some planting. Makenzie is really into helping me work in the beds, so I let her do as much as she can and wants to. I thought with two of us working on the job, things would run smoothly and quickly. However, add and second child into the mix who decides she would rather pick up handfuls of dirt, throw it, or eat it for that matter, and things quickly went downhill. I thought I would distract Ashlyn by having her help Makenzie water plants while I finished planting flowers. Being the big sister that she is, Makenzie takes charge and has to be the first to get her hands on the water hose. I see her hand grasp the nozzle, she points (wait, she's not aiming at the plants........you see where this is going...) and suddenly Ashlyn is drenched in a stream of water. The crying begins (it had just ended a few minutes early after I got onto Ashlyn for eating dirt) and all I can think of is how the days has really just started..........I wasn't laughing yesterday, but I did chuckle today as I heard Makenzie relate to a friend Zach how she watered her sister on accident.

Playing with Friends

My friend Stephanie and I took our kids to play at the grass maize in Allen last week. It was a great day to be outside and of course the kids had fun playing with each other. Our kids decided they were ready to eat lunch at 10:30 despite the fact that mine had just eaten breakfast an hour earlier......good thing we packed them food. It worked out well since we had an excuse to leave the play area and get yogurt at our normal lunch time.
Ashton was so cute in his glasses, which he has on almost every time we see him. Ashlyn is a big fan of his hair as you can see in the pictures. I am so glad the kids are close in age........it has been fun watching them play together and to seeing them change over the past year and a half.

Big Girl Haircut

I have been warning Aaron for months now of my plans to get Makenzie's haircut. Despite his wish to keep it long, I am the one who gets her wrath as she complains almost every morning how I am hurting her head trying to get the tangles out. I guess you can say I have gone in small stages, with 4 inches taken off about two months ago and another 4 inches taken off Monday. I would have gone a little shorter, but I figured daddy would not be happy if Makenzie came home with her hair chopped. Good thing I had the hair stylist stop where she did......Aaron's remark was something along the lines of, "we will not go any shorter." Hmm....I think someone is a little partial to long hair.....
Here is my baby girl who doesn't look so little any more....

Paint Fun

Makenzie and I will usually have some sort of craft time while Ashlyn is taking her nap in the afternoon. On this particular day, Makenzie wanted to try out her new paint spinner from her cousin Madelyn. It took us a few attempts to figure out what we were doing, but Makenzie eventually got the hang of it and didn't want to quit. Here is my little Rembrandt in the making...

Easter Weekend

We took the girls to Pawpaw and Granny's ranch over Easter weekend. It was strange not being in church to celebrate such a remarkable event in our history. I would have liked to have heard our Pastor's sermon, but it was also good to get away from the city and just enjoy country life for a couple of days. We took the girls fishing for the first time. I can't say Makenzie was too impressed, but she got a Barbie fishing pole from her daddy that worked pretty well. Ashlyn had her first experience horse back riding, and I think she liked it given the absence of tears. Pawpaw let Makenzie drive the gator and I have to say that she did really well since those things don't have power- steering. I wish I had my camera to catch Ashlyn stomp her foot right in the center of a huge cow patty. It happened so fast that I didn't have time to react. Her granny and I don't know what she was thinking, other than it was a little dry and perhaps she mistook it for a rock??? I guess it could have been worse....she could have rolled all around in it like our dogs did after taking a plunge in the pond......talk about gross!!! We were all gagging after watching that event unfold before our eyes!
We had a great weekend and the girls are already asking to go back.

Decorating Eggs

We decorated Easter eggs a few days earlier this year b/c we were out of town for the Easter weekend. It's amazing what a difference a year makes! Ashlyn just watched us from her booster chair last year, but this year, she was dying eggs and putting stickers on them with her daddy. I laugh at the picture of Ashlyn with her thumb in her mouth....if I could pick her brain, I would say she is thinking, "okay with the pictures already.........here's my egg, now can I just suck my thumb?"