The GA Guinn Trips

We played with goats!

Met some lively folks!

Took our annual three girls in a wheel barrow picture (although next year getting these three in the wheel barrow may NOT happen! They are SO TALL!)

Waved at our adording public and had a fabulous time!

Okay, so I am playing catchup since the beginning of this summer so just scroll down....I'll try to keep them in order and hope they make some sense for all those out there who might still pop in every now and again!

I guess I need to address the state of Frank's and my relationship, so that all of the updates make sense.  We are continuing to work on our relationship.  We are going to counseling and working to heal the hurt between us.  God has given us a great counselor by the name of Kevin Daly, and he has walked us through this process with kindness, love, and at times a firm hand.  He is definitely called by God to work miracles on this earth, and I can NEVER EVER repay him for all he has done for not only our relationship, but for my understanding of who I am and how God sees me as his creation. 

If you are ever in a place in your marriage where it seems like its gonna fail, please take the time to visit Kevin at Broken Chains International!  He has a heart for service and for healing those who are in pain through God's love and power...I have my entire life often struggled with my faith and the role I allow God to play in my life.  Through this experience, I have learned that I must not lean on my own understanding, but allow God to lead my life.

And why do I go into all this detail...well outside of the fact that this is my girls baby book and I want to them know what their parents did to heal their family, so they can see how hard we worked to repair our pain.  It also wouldn't make a ton of sense if all of the sudden the divorced parents are vacationing together, going to events together, etc....

So I guess this blog is no longer a Single Mom's perspective on raising triplets, but a look into our roller coaster of a life...It's NEVER NORMAL, but it is our life and I am thankful everyday to be apart of it!

I told you it was never ending! For their birthday, the girls only wanted TWO things...a gryo bowl and an American Girl Doll. Nana found the gryo-bowls, and the Sunday after their big Birthday Tea Party, we headed down to the American Girl Doll Store!

We went through the ENTIRE STORE over and over as the girls attempted to find the perfect doll for them!

Makenna shocked us by choosing a non story doll with short brown hair!

Alyssa chose mommy's favorite!  Molly

And Issy went with Rebecca!

They are so happy with their dolls! 

These littles are crazy spoiled when it comes to birthdays (and pretty much anything else, if we are honest)...but birthdays are crazy!  This year they had no less than FIVE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS! 

It began on their birthday.  Their Granny Guinn wanted to come to visit for their birthday so badly, but ended up in the hospital with pneumonia the week before, so she couldn't come.  But she would not let that stop her from spoiling the girls like crazy! 

The morning of their birthday...they woke to a special birthday breakfast courtesy of Granny Guinn, Paw Poley, Aunt Ginger, Uncle Greg, Sam, Judd, and Doc.

Balloons, roses, and edible arrangements!  They were so excited about the chocolate covered strawberries!  They devoured the fruit!  There was hardly any left for more than one day.

Messy faced little one!

Alyssa and her pineapple heart!

Makenna just couldn't decide!

That morning at pre-k

They had a Cupcake celebration!

And they got to play on the school computer with their friends!

Unfortunately, the girl's birthday fell right in the middle of my Drama department's Fall Production, so I couldn't get home before they went to bed.  So Nana and Poppa brought them to the school for a party with all my students!  This was a BLAST!

(How many kids gets Thing 1 and Thing 2 to sing happy birthday to them?)

Issy was so embarrassed, but Makenna was in love!  She wants to be on stage/direct!  She was so cute!

Then we opened all our presents for our birthday from Nana and the Guinns.

After the birthday and feeding the cast, they opened their presents!

It was too funny!

And that was the ACTUAL BIRTHDAY!

We had their birthday party the following Saturday!

This year we went with a Tea Party theme at Miss Mamie's Cake Shop!

Everyone was expected to dress their best!

The girls and all their friends got to decorate their own cupcakes!

Hats, Boas, necklaces, and gloves were the theme of the morning!

We got to see some of our friends that we haven't seen in FOREVER!  We miss Miss Caroline so much!

Now there was a HUGE issue, because I ONLY planned to do cupcakes for the girls b-day, but when they found out, it was munity on the bounty! They needed REALLY CAKES!  So real cakes they got!

It was a blast!

This year the girls began a new year at a new preschool!  In our state, there is a lovely lottery funded pre-k program. So this year, we left our friends at Hope and moved on to this program.  I will be honestly that I was VERY SCARED by this move!  I have heard both sides with the Lottery Funded Pre-k.  Some people are very happy with the time their kids spent in the program.  Some however are not and they are very vocal with their complaints. 

So I began the process of finding a pre-k that met our requirements.  Close to Nana's, a strong program, and will accept all three girls together.  The program we found was great!  It was all the things we wanted and more!  I was a little shocked when we attended the parent program, with the BINDER of rules and regulations, but happy with things like NO juice, no junk food in lunch boxes, etc. 

The girls were very sad when we told them they were not going back, but at the meet and greet they were very excited. 

They continue to love pre-k and all that they are learning! 

A cute story...Issy was mixing paints and the teacher walked over and asks her what color she was making.  Issy told her in her matter of fact way! "It's Chartreuse!"  The teacher then joked that Issy would be teaching the class! 

Another funny story...when we found out we were accepted, I called poppa to tell him.  He proudly boasted that the girls were so smart.  They skipped elementary school, middle, and high school! Because their pre-k is on a college campus.  They use this pre-k to train para-pros and other school workers. 

These little girls are in love with dance and their teachers Ms. Lisa and Ms. Pat....They have probably given these ladies a run for their money in patience and attitude, but man do they love dance and its been such fun watching them learn how to be little ballerinas...

And so they began this week with the introduction to the dance world that is the insanity of recitals...I and my little sister were both in dance growing up (please note: that unlike Aunt Sandra, I can't dance to save my life...I know the positions and can do a few moves that I remember, but look insane doing it...however, maybe some of my sister's genes wore off on these girls, because they love it and I am so happy that they do.)

On Monday we were supposed to pick up their costumes, but I was a bad momma and forgot to check the Ipad calendar to remember, so Nana called on Tuesday and luckily was able to pick them up...

On Wednesday, Nana and Frank dressed and headed down into pink central for the ever fun...RECTIAL PICTURES...I am pretty sure Frank wanted a stiff drink after being surrounded by all those four year olds, their mommas, nanas, teachers, photographers, etc...Football Photos were never this stressful...(especially when nana, who is a seasoned pro decides that the girls hair doesn't look right with their bangs down and does a last minute hair change to slick back the bangs)...apparently Cyndi's School of Dance trained her well: Light makeup, slicked back hair that would not moved in a gale force wind, and enough bobby pins to hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa (but not a single one seen)...

You can check them out under the Dance Section...They are copyright protected, so I am putting them on the public side!

Next we had rehersal's...Most of the rehersal's Nana and I (and even Aunt Terri) stood in for Daddy and Uncle Andrew!

 After Rehersals, we were ready to go...nana was out of town for the actual recital, so Aunt Terri was there to be our dresser, photographer, and all around cheerleader! Huge THANKS for all you did for us Aunt Terri!

Makenna loved the stage (even though for the weeks leading up to it, she was telling us she wasn't gonna perform!)

Alyssa

This is completely and totally Alyssa!

Issy

Totally Issy!

Perfect Ballernia

Not sure if this is ALyssa or Issy...but someone was being shy!

Daddy and Daughter Dance

Mr. Andrew and the girls!

The boys and the girls!

Momma, Daddy, and the girls!

Attempt at a group shot! They were done by this point!  There are a TON more pics in the dance section, so check it out!

I am not one who likes to run...in fact, I consider it cruel and unusual punishment, but that being said, I want to one day wear clothing that requires me to run.  And I have learned that I must have a REASON to run!  I have to have something to plan for and that forces me to run, so I decided to sign up for the Warrior Dash...an obstacle course billed as THE CRAZIEST FRICKIN DAY OF YOUR LIFE!

So Me, Frank, Teri, and Jay drove up to Mountain City GA and I ran this thing

It is about 3.2 miles...You run for about 1.2 a mile then wade through the pond behind me...Then through the tires and over the cars! 

Then you jump over and crawl under four foot tall walls and then run up a hill

Then we hit the obstacle I was MOST AFRAID OF....THE WALL!

Me starting the climb!

At the top!

Up and over...After this point, there wasn't any picture taking points...there were rope courses, hills to run, and a LOVELY three foot tall black out tent that you had to crawl through...Although I was scared of the wall, tent was unexpected and I HATE enclosed spaces...I was following one girl in and about halfway through I was panicing...I couldn't breath and was trying not to freeze, when a guy behind me hit is head on the support pole, he let out a few choice words and said..."hey, there's a pole in here!"  I cracked up and it was enough to break the panic and allow me to finish...There was also a spider web, which thanks to all my years in AOII, I was more than ready for! 

After that, we came down the hill and hit the mud pit!

Crawling through the mud...my shoes were so slick, by the time I got to the end of this, I wouldn't get out...One guy reached out and gave me an hand up...It was the only help I needed!

After that, I took a dive over these barrels!

And then the fire jumps!

And at the end!

Although I look pretty clean here!  Its misleading! 

The after math...look how gross!

I had a blast and CAN'T wait until NEXT year...I love it so much that I would LOVE to try for the even HARDER RUN called TOUGH MUDDERS, but I would need 4 or so more crazy people like me to join!

But I will do the DASH again next year, but NEXT YEAR, I am gonna dress up! Any ideas?

But I'm gonna have to work REALLY hard to top these guys!  LOL!

This year the girls participated in the annual trike-a-thon...They did great and raised money for a great cause...Breast Cancer Research!

After a long ride around the parking lot, they finished the ride off with a popcicle!  Life is GOOD!

1. WEAR OLD CLOTHES!

2. Stay AWAY from all concrete or stone!

3. Skin is okay!

4.  Grass however is NOT!

5. Painted surfaces clean too!

6. Smurf transformations are to be expected!

 BUT IT SURE IS FUN!