All three kids are still sleeping. Ella had a really rough night. She seemed to develop a fever at some point and was so restless. She spent most of the night nursing. When I got out of bed this morning, though, she didn't feel overly warm.

I had a haircut last night and had my shoulder length hair cut to chin length and layered a little. It's a cute, summer haircut. I made it back in time for all of us to go to Accalia's last swimming lesson, which really is just a fun day in the water. Accalia did not pass Level 3 (has to work on treading water and her butterfly stroke) but didn't seem to be upset about it.

Right now I'm reading Middlesex. Yes, it's Oprah's current book club selection, but I can be an Oprah geek like that. It's an amazing book so far and one I could sit reading late into the night. I tried to do that last night, but Ella had other plans.

Today I really have to balance the checkbook. Blah!

So I'm in the mood for doing a meme today, one that I found at this blog. It's all about high school.

1. Who was your best friend?
Heather and I met the summer before our sophomore year (I think?) when she moved to Minnesota from Idaho. We had such fun together and with our mutual group of friends. We even worked together at the same restaurant - Bridgeman's. Then we were roommates during our freshman year of college. We're still friends today, and she and her son are coming to visit next month!

2. What sports did you play?
Ha ha ha ha ha! Please, give me a minute to catch my breath! I did not participate in any sports during high school, although I think I may have been able to participate in track or cross country without injuring myself too horribly. I think my athletic prowess can be summed up by an experience Heather and I had in gym class when the two of us were partners during the tennis section. Once the class was at the point where pairs were having matches, our gym teacher told us we should probably just keep practicing rather than trying to play with another pair. Sigh.

3. What kind of car did you drive?
After I got my license at age 16 and a few months, I would borrow this huge 70s car of my parents' that my friends and I dubbed the green something or other. My memory escapes me at this moment. I rode the bus to and from school for all four years of high school other than when I'd occasionally get a ride home from a friend or my mom would pick me up if I stayed late for an activity. I didn't have my own car until I was a sophomore in college.

4. It’s Friday night, where were you?
During my frieshman year, I was probably at home or hanging out with family. My junior and senior years, I may have been working. If not that, then I'd be hanging out with friends or at home. Ah, those crazy weekends. It's all a blur now...

5. Were you a party animal?
Uh, no. Unless you count that time at home where I got into a stash of Jolt and found myself sitting in front of our refrigerator eating shredded cheese and laughing hysterically.

6. Were you considered a flirt?
I think I can safely say no. I didn't really date in high school.

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
No, I did take piano lessons until I was out of school, though - 12 years in all. I had lots of friends in those activities, though.

8. Were you a nerd?
Well, I certainly wasn't in the cool group with the jocks and cheerleaders. I honestly don't know if others thought of me as a nerd, though.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled?
Nope, never in danger of that. I was a very obedient, don't-rock-the-boat type in high school.

10. Can you sing the fight song?
I'm assuming we had one, so that pretty much gives you your answer.

11. Who was your favorite teacher?
I had a few. I really got along well with Mrs. Bush, who started out as my ninth grade English teacher and then my journalism adviser for the other three years. I probably spent the most time with her out of any teacher since I was on the newspaper staff my sophomore through senior years and editor my senior year. I still remember her being in the hospital and our newspaper staff skipping that hour to visit her. She loved that.

I also liked Mrs. Schostag, who was my English teacher in eleventh grade. She didn't have the best of reputations with some students, but we always got along well. She wrote me a recommendation for something once, too.

Mr. Flynn was my history teacher in ninth grade and government teacher in twelfth grade. He was funny and easy going.

Mr. Wilker was my Brit Lit teacher one of those last two years. I think he was reenacting Chaucer one period and broke the podium when he jumped on it as if it were a horse.

Mr. Wiltgen was my humanities teacher in senior year and probably was my absolute favorite. I almost went to school to become a teacher because of him. He committed suicide a couple months before we graduated. That was the lowest point of an already traumatic year for me.

12. School mascot?
A Scarlet. WTF?

13. Did you go to Prom?
I went to prom my senior year, and I went with my friend Quinn. We had a blast and hung out with friends watching movies after the dance. We went with a couple other sets of friends (both actual couples), and the guys made us a meal before the grand march and dance.

14. If you could go back and do it over, would you?
No. Why waste four years of my life (or, for that matter, 12) when there's so much more to life than what's inside those four walls of a classroom?

15. What do you remember most about graduation?
I remember how emotional it was since our senior year had included a meningitis outbreak that killed an underclassman, Mr. Wiltgen's death, and a classmate's death not long before graduation.

16. Where were you on senior skip day?
Did we have a senior skip day? I have no idea if we did or not.

17. Did you have a job your senior year?
I was a waitress at Bridgeman's, a restaurant just a block or so away from my parents' house.

18. Where did you go most often for lunch?
I sat with my friends in the lunch room. I usually brought a lunch, although I did buy some lunches at school and even went out a few times.

19. Have you gained weight since then?
Sure, about 50 with Ella's pregnancy! But I've lost most of that. I think I probably weigh about 10 pounds more than I did in high school.

20. What did you do after graduation?
I continued to work at Bridgeman's that summer. I also worked as an assistant to the Newspaper in Education (NIE) director at our local paper.

21. When did you graduate?
I graduated in 1995. Twelve years ago!

22. Who was your Senior prom date?
My friend Quinn.

23. Are you going / did you go to your 10 year reunion?
Nope, no one organized one as far as I know. I wouldn't mind going to a 15 or 20 year reunion, though!

24. Who was your homeroom teacher?
I don't think we had a homeroom, did we?

25. Who will repost this after you?
Not a clue! It would be interesting to read no matter who does, though!

It's safe to say that both Cory and I have fairly sarcastic, dry senses of humor. Cory's sense of humor is one of the qualities that attracted me to him in the first place and is probably one of the biggest qualities I look for in both males and females. I really hope all of our children continue to have senses of humor, too. I find it hilarious to listen to Accalia attempt sarcasm because her sarcastic voice is so over the top.

Anyway, at supper Accalia, Cory and I were talking about her latest lost tooth and her plans for the tooth fairy (of whom she believes is real). Cory started into this elaborate description of his plan to capture the tooth fairy with fake teeth, and Accalia would slip in an I'm-going-to-humor-you "Daddy!" (emphasis on the first syllable) along with her knowledge of said tooth fairy: "She flies, Daddy, so she'll get away from you." or "You know that she can see what you're doing even when you're sleeping - just like Santa!" Then Accalia excused herself to the bathroom after Cory asked if she was going to tell the tooth fairy about his plans. When she came back, she told Cory that she had prayed to the tooth fairy about everything. Cory and I couldn't hold back the laughter of picturing Accalia sitting on the toilet and praying to the tooth fairy about her daddy's devious plans.

Since I've recently mentioned how difficult it is to go shopping with Ella lately, today ended up being a day where I went to a store not once but twice. The first was in the afternoon, and we went to the grocery store. I intended to pick up the office supplies that were the main point of the trip, but it completely slipped my mind. Otherwise the trip went smoothly because Ella sat in one of those carts with a truck attached to the front. After supper I headed out with just Ella to get those office supplies, and without the older kids along it was much easier to go at Ella's pace and walk hand in hand through the store. Ella loved that and probably loved all of the people smiling at her and saying hello to her as we walked along - something that doesn't happen as often when she's riding in a cart.

Last thing for tonight...Accalia and Cole have really been enjoying hearing tall tales lately. We were sitting on the couch tonight laughing about the images that sprung to mind after reading this book. The kids want me to look for more tall tale books tomorrow at the library. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

I woke up this morning feeling a cold coming on. Ella has still been cranky (hopefully this nap will refresh her), but perhaps she's also fighting off a cold.

Ella and Cole were in a silly mood with each other this morning. They wrestled around on the couch for a while.



They sat on the chair making silly faces at each other and at me.



Of course, Ella's always up for smiling at the camera.


Cole, however, prefers to rest up for Accalia waking up.


Accalia lost a tooth this morning - one on the bottom. I discovered last week that Cole's permanent tooth is now coming in where he lost the baby tooth on top. I didn't expect it to come already, but I guess he'll start getting that first adult tooth before five years of age!

I really need to run to the store to pick up folders and envelopes for my LLL work, so we may attempt that after Ella wakes up. Otherwise that's about it for the day. It's cooler and less humid than it has been for a bit, so I opened up windows last night.

Ella was so, so cranky yesterday. I had hoped that after 11 hours straight of sleep Sunday night that she'd wake up refreshed and delightful. Not so much. Right now she's busy writing all over a blank check and coming in to talk with me. She seems to be focused on our ceilings - I assume - since she keeps pointing to different spots on them and looking upwards as she does so.

Being nearly 20 months old is a difficult age in a lot of respects, mostly for my convenience in being able to go to stores. It's that age where she's content to sit in the cart or in my arms for about 2.5 seconds. Then she begins to screech (excellent screecher, my girl) and struggle to get down to run around and pull items off of shelves. I'm trying to remember the things I did with Accalia and Cole to make shopping a little less stressful, but my mind's a blank. I remember Accalia mostly wanting to be in my arms, and I remember actually being a bit frustrated that she didn't want to sit in the cart or walk around. I remember Cole being older - 3 maybe - and just taking off running in the store. Hmm. I'm sure something will come to mind. In the meantime, I'd love to live in a larger city where we had the option of ordering groceries and such online. That would be heavenly!

It's been pretty quiet so far this week. Accalia had dance last night, and we finally remembered to bring treats for a late birthday celebration. Accalia also had art this morning and made something for Ella - something that will unfortunately be destroyed in about 1.5 seconds once she has it in her hands. Accalia has her final week of swimming lessons and will take her swimming test for Level 3 tonight. She's quite excited.

Now I should find something to do since the mid-afternoon doldrums are starting to set in.

Some of you may already know that Cory and I are fond of doing the mixed cd thing and, for the past five years or so, have given out a holiday music cd around Christmas to many family and friends. Last year Accalia thought it would be neat to make up a cd of some of her favorite songs for her seventh birthday, so we did that. We also did it again for her eighth birthday, and here's the song list:

- Stand, R.E.M.
- Beat of My Heart, Hilary Duff
- Walk the Dinosaur, Was (Not Was)
- Happy Birthday, The Beatles
- Beautiful Flower, India.Arie
- Mahna, Mahna, Muppets
- Summertime, The Sundays
- Weasel Stomping Day, Weird Al Yankovic
- Love Lift Us Up, Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warren
- I'm Walking on Sunshine, Katrina & The Wave
- Rainbow Connection, Sarah McLachlan
- I'm A Believer, Donkey from Shrek
- All Together Now, The Beatles
- Don't Stop Believing, Journey

There are some songs that Accalia picked out from her own cds and others she's heard Cory or myself playing and still others she's heard from tv/movies or even online. I just wish the cd player in our van was working so we could listen to more music while driving. I think as an anniversary present to ourselves (10 years on Aug. 23), Cory and I are going to get a new stereo for the van.

Our weekend of camping with family and friends was successful! The weather cooperated so nicely - upper 80s but not terribly humid. I did mention a few times that a slight breeze would have been nice, but I think having no breeze was better than having it windy, which is much more common here in South Dakota.

On Friday afternoon, my parents, Myron and Bev, my two brothers and their families, our friends Karine and Laurent and their two girls, and one of Bev's son's and his wife and daughter all descended on Chief White Crane Campground in Yankton. Everything went smoothly for the most part, although both Brooklyn (Jeremy and Jess's youngest) and Dylan (their nephew who is currently living with them) were sick with some sort of virus that showed up as red spots and diarrhea. Cole ended up being a little sick on Saturday morning with a bit of diarrhea and throwing up, but that was all. We had fun playing games and sitting around the campfire (Cole and Elijah - Anthony and Kathy's oldest - had such a good time keeping the fire going), and we also ventured out to the lake. Unfortunately, Cory, myself and Ella all ended up quite sunburned. Cory and I were just stupid because we forgot to completely slather ourselves with sunscreen, but Ella was completely covered. She just has such fair, milky white skin.

So here, without further ado, are some pictures.

First, here is our camper:


We had a fairly large, empty area between our campsite and my parents', so we set up the games we collectively brought along: a beanbag toss, goofy golf, a washers game, etc.



Here's my older brother, Anthony. He works at the hospital in Mankato and is currently going to school to become an RN.


Here's Anthony and Kathy's youngest, Lizzie, who turned three last month:


And here is their oldest, Elijah, who is four months younger than Accalia:


Accalia spent much of the weekend running around with Karine and Laurent's two girls, Chloe (9) and Alexia (6). We won't see them until mid-August because they're heading out to Iceland and France for the next month or so to stay with family:


Here is Brooklyn, Jeremy and Jessica's youngest, who is four weeks older than Ella:


Here's a sweaty Cory with his dad:



We spent much of the time hanging around in this big circle of chairs:


Here is my younger brother, Jeremy, with his oldest, Cody, age 5, his nephew Dylan, age 3, and Jessica blocked from view:


Here's my dad with Brooklyn:


Here's Accalia blowing out the candles on her birthday cake bought for the occasion:



Here are our friends, Karine and Laurent, standing next to my mom:



Here's an exhausted Ella after having fallen asleep in the van on Saturday when Cory and I went back into town to pick up food for the big Saturday night meal:



And here's my sister-in-law Kathy (married to Anthony) explaining to the kids how to do the pinata they brought along:

That pinata was SO stubborn. All of the kids (save for Brooklyn and Ella) each had five or more turns without breaking open the thing. So they decided to have the adults take a turn. I was first and actually broke off the branch of the tree the pinata was hanging on when I hit the pinata. Then Cory knocked the pinata off, but I believe it was Anthony who actually broke it open.

All three of our kids were so exhausted by the time night rolled around. Accalia and Cole would both just finally collapse and ask to go to bed. So we'd get them settled in the camper, and I'd get Ella down. On Friday Ella was asleep before either of them, and on Saturday I nursed her to sleep around the campfire as everyone was starting to settle in for the night. Both nights Cory and I stayed up just talking and talking. Last night we were up for about two hours after everyone went to bed talking. It was wonderful and made us both realize how hard it is to do that with our current schedule of Cory going to bed earlier than myself and usually at least one of the kids.

It's nice to be home, though. We've spent most of the afternoon getting things put away and doing laundry. Accalia and Cole played with Mercedes for a while since she came over almost as soon as we were home. Ella fell asleep around 5:30, and I think she's down for the night.

Before I forget, here's a picture of the "fireworks" shirt that Accalia made using Sharpies and rubbing alcohol:


And, just because it's a cute picture, here's Ella:


We started off the day by dropping off our van at a shop so we could have a hitch installed. I can't remember if I've mentioned that Cory's dad is giving us his old pop up camper since he bought an used RV. Anyway, Accalia rode her bike and I pulled Accalia and Cole in the wagon the mile or so back to our house.

The temps started heating up again today - a tad bit humid, too - so the kids filled up the little kiddie pool once again. Ella took charge of the hose and delighted in spraying every one and thing she could:


She also had a lot more fun in the muddy water near the pool than in the actual pool:


We picked up the van around 7 p.m., and the kids were thrilled to see the hitch. They even kissed it goodnight.

Tomorrow will involved storytime at the library, swimming lessons, and more packing and cleaning. Yippee!

One last picture of the kids and Cory on Father's Day:

This is turning out to be one of those days that I'll be glad to see end. I just hate ending the day feeling like that, although the promise of a fresh start in the morning feels really good.

After Accalia was finished with dance tonight, she was so excited about playing with Mercedes. I was a bit more ambivalent since I'd personally gotten my fill of having her over for nearly two straight days over the weekend. The doorbell rang soon after we returned home, though, and Mercedes was over for about two hours. They weren't very pleasant, though, especially since Cole was in a particularly big "I want to play with you but don't know how to do that except to be the perfect pesty younger brother" sort of mood. It didn't seem to matter what I did either. Finally I just said, "You know, it's really hard to come over to play at our house and expect Cole not to be around. It's not fair to keep Cole restricted to one small part of the house either. If you guys want to be by yourselves, maybe you can go over to Mercedes's house." Mercedes went absolutely still when I said that, and I asked Accalia later if Mercedes ever said why they can never play at Mercedes's house. Accalia has no idea.

Tomorrow Accalia has a hair cut right away in the morning (just a trim so she can keep her hair longer for the bun she'll be wearing again for her Riverboat Days performance). Then there's art and swimming lessons. I need to make a trip to the store to pick up some supplies for our camping this weekend, too. I think we'll do that while Accalia's at art.

Last night Accalia was snuggled up in our bed watching toons. She asked me to get her ice cold water and something to eat. "Surprise me!" she said. This is one of my least favorite ways to provide sustenance to one of my children because I invaribly pick the wrong food item even if it's a perennial fave. So I returned a minute later with her water and a piece of the vanilla cheesecake she had picked for her birthday. Accalia took the water, looked at the plate and said, "Oh well." It was said with such a mixture of resignation and pity for me and my inability to read her mind - her food cravings - and pick the right thing.

Cory and I laughed so hard when I came back downstairs and told him. Strangely enough, Accalia didn't ask me to get her anything else to eat last night.

These past two days have been full of lots of fun events and new adventures. Our weekend excitement isn't even over yet either with Father's Day ahead of us tomorrow.

On Friday, we met up with friends at the park and spent a while trying to fit in adult conversation while walking up and down the many steps of the play structure with Ella. She could care less about going down the slides that the steps lead to, but give her a climbing opportunity and she is all there.

After lunch and quick naps by Ella and surprisingly Cole and a cool art project that Accalia and I did (try to post picture of it later), we headed to another park for a birthday party. On the way to the park, I had a sudden realization that I could be in for a cool welcome if anyone looked at my bumper stickers ("Will Work for Peace" and "Save a tree/Plant a bush back in Texas") since we were going to celebrate the birthday of a boy whose dad is active with the National Guard and heading back to Iraq later this year. Nothing came of that, though. The kids were all having fun until Accalia fell running down the sidewalk and skinned up the shoulder, hand and knee of one side of her body. Poor girl. It took a while for her to feel better and get back to playing. I did end up having a conversation about homebirth with one of the moms there, which I never expected would happen. Guess that goes to show it helps to throw expectations out the window every now and then, huh?

Last night Cory and I caught up on a couple episodes of Heroes and still have a couple left to watch before we finish watching this first season.

This morning we were all up fairly early to be at the airport by 9 a.m. The Young Eagles were hosting an event where children ages 8-17 could have a free flight. Accalia was able to go up in a RV4 experimental aircraft - just her and the pilot - and she absolutely loved it. If she were a few inches taller, she would have been able to see out of the plane just a bit better. Of course I forgot the camera, but we're hoping that when the airport has their annual fly in pancake breakfast in September that this pilot will be there with his RV4. Here's a picture of Accalia holding her certificate, though:


A little bit after that we went up to the hospital to visit a friend (she was my doula with Ella) who just had her third baby on Friday, a little girl named Eva Katherine.

After that, we headed to the mall because one of the local businesses was hosting a Meet Diego (of Nick Jr. fame) event where you could have your picture taken with Diego, get a rescue pack and free pizza and balloon animals. We got there just as it was starting, and the line was already from one end of the mall to the other. Cory took a picture of the line, which really doesn't do it justice:


We waited in line for nearly an hour and made it about 1/3 of the way to Diego. Employees were going down the line passing out the rescue packs, and a lot of people were leaving after receiving those. We decided to leave when the kids decided running around the McDonald's play area was a much more fun prospect. We walked up to the front of the line where you could have your picture taken so they could see what it looks like, so that was good enough for them. Neither Accalia or Cole care much about Diego, but they wanted those rescue packs. Mission accomplished!

Accalia and Cole have spent much of the afternoon and early evening playing with friends, and Cory has spent much of the day outside weeding. I managed to do some cleaning upstairs while Ella napped.

Now I think I have a diaper to change.

Eight years ago today (7 a.m. to be precise), Accalia's entrance into the world started my journey in motherhood. I'll be forever grateful to her for allowing me to be part of it all and to bless me with her patience, understanding, humor and love.

The past couple days have been a lot of fun. Cory couldn't come home early enough Wednesday afternoon, and we were able to take off to Mitchell by 4 p.m. We checked into the Holiday Inn and went next door to get supper from Dairy Queen. Then we went swimming for a bit, although it was pretty cold in the water. Cole preferred to spend most of the time in the hot tub, Accalia was busy chasing after Cory, and Ella had me going back and forth between the big pool and wading pool. Once we were dry and warm again, we drove around town a little bit to see some old haunts. Then we went over to Cory's brother's house and hung out for a while before the movie.

We all enjoyed Shrek the Third, but by the time it was over we had decided it would be smart to head back to the hotel rather than trying to make it through the second feature of Spiderman 3. So we got the kids settled in bed and asleep, and then Cory and I decorated the room with streamers. Accalia had requested that I pile her presents up on the bed so she'd wake up to see them right away in the morning, and I managed to do that just before she woke up.

Here's Accalia enjoying her present opening:


Before leaving Mitchell, Accalia and Cole really wanted to stop at the Corn Palace to see the inside. Since we had never actually done this while living in Mitchell (the inside is used for basketball games most of the time when there's not a tourist purpose), we decided it was probably about time. Here's what the Corn Palace looks like on the outside this year:


Here's our corn-y picture from the inside:


Accalia and Cole weren't quite sure about the photo op across the street from the Corn Palace:


While we were at the Corn Palace, Cory discovered that Weird Al Yankovic is performing at the Corn Palace Festival in August. There was no stopping the man from buying tickets, so guess what we'll be doing August 25?

After all of that excitement, we headed to Sioux Falls and lunch at Gigglebee's. I think we've decided we like Chuck E. Cheese better for several reasons, although there were some cool things such as Wilbur the Robot bringing us our meal. Cole loved the play area with the ball pit, and Accalia and I duked it out on the bumper cars. Ella was so disturbed by some of the parents there (my favorite was the mother calling her little girl a brat while we waited in line in the bathroom) that she was driven to drinking while flying in the helicopter ride:


Before we left Sioux Falls, I did get to make my stop at Barnes & Noble to pick up my stack of magazines. Hooray! Now I just need an extra couple hours in the day to read them all.

We made it home just in time to go to the chiropractor (sweet relief!) and for Cory to head to his one client of the evening. Then we had a birthday supper of sweet corn and hot dogs and cheesecake. Accalia had swimming lessons after that, and the rest of the evening has passed pretty quickly.

Tomorrow - depending on the weather - we're getting together with friends at the park in the morning and going to a birthday party at another park in the afternoon.

So here we are waiting for Cory to come home in hopefully less than two hours so we can head to Mitchell. Accalia is beyond excited about the trip, her birthday and everything going on today and tomorrow. We're bringing her presents along so that she can open them first thing in the morning. Tonight, after we're back in the hotel room from the drive in, Cory and I are decorating the room so that she can wake up to birthday pinkness everywhere.

It's a very rainy day, and the heaviest rains have been or are supposed to be just where we're going tonight. Perfect for the drive in, right? Hopefully it will be dry so that we can sit outside during the movie and not get soaked. We've survived before with being crowded in the van for an entire movie, although it's not the most pleasant experience.

I can't wait to see the chiropractor tomorrow afternoon. I'm so, so sore from having slept weird a few days ago. Accalia's complained about some spots in her back and neck, too, although stretching out with some of her fave yoga poses seemed to help that.

Now that Cole and Accalia are past the baby/toddler stage, they don't get many comments from passing strangers like Ella does. The comments that Ella receives are either regarding her curls or her size. With this humid weather, her curls are especially tight and crowded. I'd prefer the curl comments to the size comments because I certainly don't want her developing some sort of complex about her body if she continues to be the beautiful, solid girl that she is compared with the skinny minny that is Accalia.

I'm so glad I finally subscribed to Connections. I've thought about it on and off since it started up but just got around to it yesterday. Yay!

Accalia and Cole (and, it seems, Ella) all had a very good time at the customer appreciation shindig put on by the Yankton Chamber of Commerce. Accalia and Cole rode ponies, had balloon creations made for them, did crafts (Accalia), played games, ate food, and played on the playground (Cole and Ella). I, once again, was able to see a lot of acquaintances and chat for a bit.

It's interesting to raise children in a small town where the number of family friendly events are fairly small in number but are annual events that always attract large crowds usually composed of the same people. As with all smaller towns - Yankton hovers close to 14,000, which is quite respectable for South Dakota - one tends to see certain people over and over again. There's one woman and her family of four or five boys that we see at almost every event. I've nicknamed her the "yelling lady" because that's what she seems to be doing every time I see her. Seriously, though, if there's an event she'll be there. Open houses, Democratic Party events, community events, the park - it doesn't matter. She'll invariably be there yelling at her boys to do this or don't do that.

Since we've been back in Yankton for nearly five years, we've reached that point of familiarity where we know what to expect for most things, and I appreciate that now more than I ever thought I would. There was a time when I thought it would be terribly boring to stay in one place for years and years and that moving every couple years (as we were) was a great way to live. Now, though, I find it comforting and I love to see how happy Accalia and Cole are to know that a certain event will be at a certain time and place and have this certain thing for them to do. I hear them saying, "We can do that next year when it's here!"

I think these feelings are probably an indication that Cory and I have accepted that Yankton will most likely be our home and that we aren't planning to move out of town. At one time our plan was to have Cory finish up his initial five-year contract with the State and then try to move closer to family in Minnesota. The five year mark came and went and we found that moving wasn't a possibility at the time and that we didn't have the urgency to make it a possibility. I don't think I'll ever feel that Yankton or South Dakota is as close to perfection as there is, but there's a draw to this area and so much more than meets the eye. I think it's easy with any place to see it through the eyes of someone with preconceived notions (hello stereotypes of living in a red, rural, Midwestern state), but it's so much more than that. However, that doesn't mean I'm okay with living in a town without an actual bookstore! It's so sad that I can't wait to be in Sioux Falls on Thursday and stop at Barnes & Noble to pick up a few magazines that don't seem to be available at any place here in Yankton. Oh wait, I didn't check the drug store! Hmm...

Anyway, enough on that. Accalia's swimming lessons were cut short tonight because a poor boy in Level One threw up in the pool. Tomorrow, after Cory completes his QMHP exam, we'll be taking off for Mitchell to celebrate Accalia's birthday. This time I'll try really hard to remember the camera!

This is a really neat slideshow chronicling the pregnancy, labor, homebirth and first six months of triplets. I have to say, though, that the idea of having multiples usually freaks me out because I just can't imagine how I would be able to care for two or more infants at the same time. Yowzers!

So far things are going well this week. We had to get new ballet slippers for Accalia yesterday because she tried on her old ones (bought last fall) and discovered her toes were attempting to burst through the tops. So we moved her up half a size, and that seems to be working well. Accalia and Cole also had fun at the library summer reading program kick off party, although at the end a most likely tired and overstimulated Cole broke down because he didn't get a bottle of bubbles when all of the kids were let loose on the lawn to search for prizes. He did make a new little friend who willingly blew bubbles for him and other children while they raced around the lawn. I was able to chat with some acquaintances, too, so all in all it was a nice evening.

We were back at the library this morning for storytime since we'll miss the storytime on Thursday. Accalia loved it all, of course, but Cole was ready to leave once the craft began. I also remembered why I was pretty happy once Accalia was too old for the regular storytime and Cole had no interest. By the time everything is winding down, my kids are usually hungry for lunch and tired of the structure and more prone to crankiness and tears. The upside of spending more time at the library is that one of the librarians who just loves my child rearing philosophies always shares different articles and poems that she finds and thinks I'd enjoy. Actually, it's a little like having a part of Mary back in my life and sharing those literary moments. I'll have to ask Bev what sorts of things she likes to read. I've never really seen her reading except for the paper or maybe flipping through a magazine.

While Accalia was at art, Cole, Ella and I ran to pick up a birthday present for a friend's son who is turning 3 the same day that Accalia turns 8. We're going to his birthday party on Friday. Now Ella is napping and we're all just chilling until Cory comes home and we head to the park for free food, fun and games.

We had a pretty nice weekend. I had my LLL meeting on Saturday morning, and both Cole and Ella came along. I bring Ella along each time because she wouldn't be too happy being left at home for those two hours, and it seems really strange to me to not bring along your baby or toddler to a LLL meeting of all places. Cole still gets very upset just thinking about me running to the store without him - something that started up a couple months ago - so he came along, too. There was one other mother and her baby there, so it wasn't too hard to have the meeting with my energetic kiddos in the room.

After the meeting, we took off to spend the night in Lake Wilson. Cory's dad really wanted to take the kids fishing - something they look forward to as well - so soon after we arrived and saw Myron's new (used) camper, we went to the lake.

Here are Accalia, Myron and Cole getting set up:


Myron uses bamboo poles for fishing, and whenever he takes the kids they catch bullhead after bullhead. They caught around 50 on Saturday. Here's Accalia trying to cast her line:


Cory's job was to retrieve the fish off of the line or the ground and put them in the bucket, so he was wearing his thick scuba gloves to avoid getting stung. Here are Cory and Bev watching the action:


I spent the time trying to keep Ella from walking into the lake, which was a pretty disgusting mixture of weeds and other lake life. Between the fishing and taking Ella to Accalia's swimming lessons (where Ella also tries to go into the pool), the poor girl has had too many occasions lately where she's being denied water access. We have to get back to the beach so she can roam to her heart's content.

Since there's really not a lot to do in Lake Wilson, the other highlight for the trip was making a couple trips to the park so the kids could play. Myron also showed us how to set up and take down his old pop up camper, which he is giving to us. We're all very excited about that!

Let's see. We made it home in the later afternoon on Sunday and just spent the rest of the day around the house. I stayed up too late once again, which I seem to be doing too much of lately.

This morning the kids and I did a little shopping, including picking up a couple more chairs for camping. Now we'll all have a chair. Accalia's starts up her summer dance session tonight, which I had forgotten about until I looked at the calendar this morning. After that, there's a kick off party at the library for the summer reading program. Poor Cory has clients until 9 p.m. tonight, so we won't see much of him at all.

Tomorrow will be another busy day with storytime in the morning, art in the afternoon, and swimming lessons in the evening. The Chamber of Commerce is also having their annual customer appreciation day at a local park, so we'll go to that for the games, pony rides, free food, etc. This year Cory made sure to not have any clients so he could come along. I told him there's no way I can go by myself with all three kids and keep them all happy since they all want to run to different things and Accalia wants to spend a lot of time at the craft area while Cole and Ella don't so much.

On Wednesday, we're going up to Mitchell in the late afternoon/evening to being Accalia's birthday festivities (she turns 8 on Thursday). We're going to the drive in to see the Shrek the Third/Spiderman 3 double feature and then spend the night at a hotel. In the morning, we're driving to Sioux Falls to take Accalia to Gigglebee's (sort of like Chuck E. Cheese). Not sure what else we'll do there. We have to get back by 4 p.m. for the chiropractor and swimming lessons for Accalia.

Friday is open, and we might be meeting up with friends at the park.

I really need to get off of the computer and tackle the disaster that is our house while Ella naps. Oh, Cory just called and has a cancellation at 5 p.m., so we'll see him for a few minutes before taking Accalia to dance.

This afternoon Accalia put on a piano recital for Cole and myself where she performed music she had composed. She wanted to dress up for it, too, so she put on a dress, had me put her hair back and wore a tiara. Here's what she looked like:


Here's a glimpse at what her work looks like, too. You can see that she's illustrated each page, written the name of the piece or important information and so forth. Accalia hasn't had an interest in learning to read notes yet; she still prefers to go by the name of the note with her own code for noting when a note is in a higher octave or lower.


Later on in the day we went to something at our local library put on by South Dakota Public Television. The kids listened to three stories, had the chance to meet the mascot, Buddy, and were given a packet of things including a book. Since there were three kiddos in our family, we were able to get all three of the books they were giving away. It's so interesting to watch the differences between Accalia and Cole now that Cole is older and is able and willing to participate in something like this. Accalia is quiet and hardly speaks up unless directly asked a question, while Cole is the sort who will overtake and dominate the conversation and throw out little tidbits or facts that have absolutely nothing to do with the conversation. I wonder what Ella will be like...

Cory ended up having a no show and a cancellation tonight, so he was home around 5:30. Accalia wanted all of us to watch her at swimming lessons, so we went and got to see her practice diving in the deep end of the pool. Hopefully Cory will be able to take Accalia to lessons from now on because Ella really isn't content to stay away from the pool, and that can be rather difficult to convince her to be interested in something else for 35 minutes.

Tomorrow I have to prepare for LLL on Saturday and pack for our overnight trip to Lake Wilson, also on Saturday.

Can I just say once again how much I love Maggie Gyllenhaal and how she continues to nurse in public and portray it as the most natural thing in the world? I'm about ready to send her a fan letter!

Tonight Accalia started watching a Pippi Longstocking video we picked up at the library this morning, and pretty soon Ella and Cole wandered into the living room and watched for a little bit, too. This is how Cole and Ella sat for most of the time, perfectly happy and content to be close to each other.


When Ella wants to give a really big smile, she scrunches up her face so much she usually ends up closing at least one eye just like in this picture. Her shirt says, "I love being a girl."


So, other than going to the library this morning, Accalia also went to art after lunch and had a very good time. She was excited to report that there are twin girls in her class, but they don't look alike. Mercedes was over as soon as we got home and stayed over for the next three hours. Mercedes had asked if they could use Accalia's sewing machine (given to her last Christmas by Aunt Jessica and Uncle Jeremy), so they were at the table doing that. Accalia actually wasn't interested in using it, so she was sitting next to her painting the paper maché vase she made the other day. All of a sudden I hear, "Mom, come here quick!" and I look to see the cord from the machine to the foot pedal in two pieces. Mercedes had such a guilty look on her face, and what I pieced together later on (Accalia says she wasn't watching) is that Mercedes must have cut the cord in two. Who knows if it was an accident while she was cutting up some fabric or not, but it just annoyed me. This is about the third thing that Mercedes or one of her friends has broken since they started coming over to play. Things break, of course, but the things that have broken have done so because they're being really rough with the toys - pulling things apart, etc. Maybe that's how they are with their own toys (and Cole has broken plenty of action figures), but it's just annoying when it's our stuff, you know?

Anyway, today I was just having a hard time not being annoyed by the level of neediness that Mercedes and one of her friends, S., always seem to bring with them. They're always asking for things. S. came over for a little bit, and Accalia showed her the picture she made at art (bunny in a field of flowers sniffing a butterfly) and S.'s response was, "Can I have that?" I feel sad thinking about these little girls who might be so wanting of things at home that they're seeking it out here, but I just didn't feel up to the challenge today. I told Cory that there are only 78 days until school starts (Aug. 22). I know, that's just horrible, but I don't really feel too bad thinking about when the kids and I will have the days to ourselves again. Accalia wasn't feeling too great yet and seemed pretty relieved when I told them they could come inside for supper.

Enough of complaining about the neighbor kids. I sound like such a cranky mom when I talk about them, but I think I was just not having a big "mother hen to the neighborhood kids" sort of day. Ayone else ever feel that way?

Tomorrow nothing is on the schedule. I think the kids want to go to the park and feed the ducks.

Everyone except Cole and myself are asleep. Poor Accalia started feeling rather bad last night with an ear ache. By the time we got to her checkup, she had a fever and a worse ear ache. She also had a bunch of wax in both ears that the nurse flushed out. The nurse also told me where Accalia was at as far as the growth chart and percentages, and it's interesting since it's still matching up to what she was like as an infant and toddler. At 52 pounds, she's in the 25th percentile for weight, and at 49 1/2 inches tall, she's in the 50th percentile for height. Accalia was in bed around 9 p.m., so I can tell she's not feeling well at all.

Cory was home for supper before going off to two appointments. Earlier in the day the kids had wanted to go to the wading pool, and I told them sure, but could we do that after supper since there won't really be time in the afternoon with Ella napping and Accalia's appointment? No problem, Mom! So off we went after supper only to find that the wading pool is closed until further notice due to a broken pump. Grr... That was not a happy toddler I had to carry back to the van. Then I suggested the beach even though the lake water was probably going to be pretty cold. We headed out there and spent an hour or so splashing around in the chilly waves and playing in the sand. We were the only ones there other than a small group of college kids hanging out and drinking malt beverages.

Tomorrow Accalia starts her summer session at the art studio, and Cole, Ella and I will be taking Accalia to swimming lessons once again since Cory has clients. I promised Cory that I'd put away laundry, so I'd better be sure to do that!

Sitting on the couch and taking pictures of ourselves is about all of the energy I feel like mustering today. It was a fun and busy weekend, but I stayed up way too late Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights and I'm paying the price today. The kids and I even slept in until 9 a.m. today. I don't think I've slept in that late since right after one of the kids was born! Isn't that sad that 9 a.m. is sleeping in for me?

Chloe and Alexia were over for about four hours Friday evening while their parents took another foster parenting class. The kids all had fun and spent almost all of the time outside since Mercedes was able to play once again and had three cousins (ages 6, 10, 11) over for the night. Two of those cousins were boys, and Cole was in heaven with two boys who wanted to run around with him and play with all of his vehicles. Accalia will sometimes want to do that with him but not nearly enough. By the time Chloe and Alexia left, Cole was entering meltdown mode because of how tired he was, and none of the kids were up terribly late.

Saturday was a rainy day on and off, but Cole and Accalia still ran around outside for much of the day with Mercedes and her cousins. We ran a couple errands throughout the day, too, but overall it was a fairly lazy, sticking around at home sort of day. That night Cory and I stayed up too late for having young children who wake up fairly early. The reason for that is because we still hadn't watched the final three hours of Lost, and after we watched the first of those three hours we couldn't just go to bed and leave it be. Thankfully the other two hours lived up to our expectations. It's sometimes frustrating watching Lost because there some questions are answered, but new questions are always being raised.

So Sunday morning dawned much too quickly, but we took it easy. Cory did the grocery shopping in the morning, and in the afternoon we spent a couple hours at the rec center during open swim. That meant Ella's usual afternoon nap was pushed way back, and she was so exhausted by the time we got home around 3 p.m. Both she and Cole ended up napping for two plus hours. That meant the three of us had a very late night together before they were ready to sleep again.

We're all surviving, though, and having a fairly quiet day so far. Accalia has a checkup later this afternoon. She hasn't had one since she was five and hasn't even been to the pediatrician since then because there's been no need. When I took Ella in for her 18 month checkup, though, I asked how often they recommend older children having checkups. They said usually every couple years, so that's what we're doing.

After supper I think the kids and I are going to the wading pool in town because that's opening up today. So is the big pool, but since there's not a shallow area for Cole and Ella to play in there, we're sticking with the wading pool. Thankfully Accalia doesn't mind since she has plenty of other opportunities to swim in deeper water. We'll have to check out the lake soon, although I have a feeling that's going to be rahter cold yet!

The rest of the week is filling up quickly, so there should be all sorts of things to do.

Co-sleepers of the world unite! The Argus Leader has a poll up asking if it's okay for children to sleep in the parents' bed. More than 90% say no. If you're so inclined to vote, click here.