The GA Guinn Trips

Christmas was hard and amazing all wrapped up together...Is that fair to say?  One of the worst things about being divorced is having to share my kids...I never had to do that before and honestly, I hate it.  Christmas Eve the girls spent with Frank.   I spent the entire day waiting for them.  I did go to Christmas Eve Service with my mom, dad, Sandra, and Mr. Andrew, but it was so weird NOT having my girls with me.  It was a rough day for me all around.  I cried a lot, because my girls were having to do through this and not understanding why momma and daddy aren't together.  It sucked!  But my mom and sister did spend a TON of time trying to keep me cheered up...They even forced me to cook (and we all know how much I ENJOY cooking)...

But what seemed like an eternity, they arrived home, and we began our celebration. 

I decided to start some new traditions with the girls now that are special just to our family (me and the girls)...First we said goodbye to Red Sock Elf, he had to go back to live with Santa, but before he left us, he brought the girls and myself each a Lenox ornament...and this is a traditon that will continue for us...Makenna recieved a Christmas Treel; Alyssa recieved a star, and Issy recieved a shamrock. 

We also all had matching PJs, which the girls thought was SO FUNNY that mommy had the same pjs as them...

We got our first our family ornament, with a Polar Bear Mommy and her three baby bears. 

Then we set up our Santa Plate...We test tasted our cookies to make sure they were ready and made santa some chocolate milk...

The girls decided that the cookies were great and they could share with Santa!

So we put the cookies and milk our for Santa!

Then we got on the computer to check out where Santa was...he was in Canda, so we had to work quickly...we fed the reindeer and checked out the beginning of our FIRST WHITE CHIRSTMAS...

Poppa Wallace wanted to continue Ma Murray's tradition of getting up at 5am for Christmas, but I and my children like our sleep, so we told Mr. Andrew and Aunt Sandra 7am, which we could have done at 8 am or even 9....

And this was what we woke up too...Yep, that's my Audi, checking out the snow...Frank has decided to give up custody of them and let me have them forever, which is REALLY REALLY GOOD...They love being here and the girls love them...

It was the first white Christmas in Atlanta since 1882, so this was a special moment for our girls. 

Christmas morning...Just waking up!

When the girls came down the stairs, they were so excited because Santa had brought everything they had asked for and SO MUCH MORE!

Makenna's and Issy's stuff from Santa...

Then Alyssa's stuff and all the girls together presents...Alyssa was over the MOON about her Ice Skates...Too bad, she has yet to get on the ice with them and she won't this week either...

The adults and Fur Bunches stockings and the Air Hockey Table.

Opening Presents (Poppa was on Wrapping Paper Patrol)...He kept everyone in check!

More present opening...

One thing when you are the person behind the camera there aren't a ton of pics of me, so here's one of me drinking a diet coke and trying to stay awake...

Teaching the girls to play Air Hockey...

Poppa making sure the train works...

We opened all our presents and then Aunt Sandra and Mr. Andrew had to drive to Mr. Andrew's family for their christmas celebration...They came back around 5 for dinner with us (we did it earlier than planned, because we were worried about the amount of snow coming down...) Dinner was amazing and I was able to eat a bunch of stuff and still keep to my gluten free diet, which helped me feel better..although I really missed eating dressing. 

There was tons of laughter, especially when Makenna developed her own game called "pass the baby" which the adults quickly corrupted by passing the baby by coming up with new ways to get referred to CPS when caring for an infant...especially Mr. Andrew's "Hut, Hut!" Football toss and Aunt Sandra's Opps I Dropped/Slammed the Baby to the floor..

I can say that despite everything, it was an amazing christmas that I will never forget... We were have grown by one and lost one family member this year.  Mr. Andrew is amazing and we are so thankful that he is now apart of our family (Plus he will play balance beam with us and show all the girls up)...

So I can say that honestly I am THANKFUL and AMAZED for a family that supports me through the holidays, loves my girls to the Moon and Back, and makes me laugh.  You guys are the rock that I and my girls stand on and we are thankful for your part in our lives....

Day Three was really exciting for me, because I have never been to Animal Kingdom.  We began with safari breakfast!  One thing about a big party like ours is that we have to pay the 18% gratuity.  I honestly never mind paying for good service.  I am a great tipper, and if the service is great I will tip above the 18%. But I really have an issue with tipping 18% for crappy service, and our service was crappy!  But in the end it was completely worth it, because Alyssa got to see Goofy!  They were in the parade with Mickey and the girls did great! They took their little rattles and marched all around the dining room.    Daisy came by too!  It was a ton of fun! 

Alyssa seeing Goofy for the first time!

The look on Alyssa's face shows her love here (I can't believe she was this excited about Goofy, because last year she was scare to death of him!)

A hug from Daisy

Mickey and the girls!

Alyssa in the parade! 

Makenna with all three of the girls!

Afterwards we headed straight over for the safari ride.  It was a lot of fun (although not as much fun as a real safari!  I could so do another one with Poppa Wallace…(HINT! HINT! HINT! Just kidding, Poppa!).  The girls loved seeing the animals.  Although Poppa did get yelled at by the guide for letting Alyssa stand up, which would NEVER happen on a real safari!  LOL! 

Aunt Jean on the Safari!

After the safari ride, we headed over to the Festival of the Lion King.  The girls LOVED all of this except the Scar song and fire thrower which was a little scary!  What was really cool was the girls were chosen to be in the parade!  They went by themselves around the entire theatre with the characters shaking their rattles!  It was too cute, but I did not get any great pictures of it.  Hopefully, Nana and Aunt Jean did!

In the parade! 

 After the festival, the girls were SO tired they could barely keep their eyes open, so Poppa and I headed back to the room with them.  All three were sound asleep by the time we got to our drop off point. Luckily the bus driver was amazing and we laid two of the girls on the seats of the bus, got the stroller off, and then loaded them back into thestroller.  Poppa went and picked up lunch.  We got the girls changed and they ate a quick lunch and then we all took a long nap! After nap, we headed back to the park. 

We headed back to the African section and the girls spent 30 minutes playing drums.  When we left, they all informed Poppa that they wanted to BIG drum from Africa!  LOL! 

We had another great supper in the African area and then headed over to DINO-LAND.  The girls got to see Plutoand Goofy.  Pluto embarrassed momma by bowing down to her when he saw triplets. I got that a lot from the characters, and it made me blush EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!!!  We rode the dinosaur version of the dumbo (do you see a pattern here). Then we headed to run around the bone yard!  The girls LOVED this area.  But we were all pretty run down at this point, so we headed back to the room to pack and get ready for the last day.  

And then the biggest wildlife encounter of the trip occurred on the way to the treehouse.  Poppa was as usual walking about 10 feet ahead of Nana, Aunt Jean, and myself pushing the girls in the stroller.  All of the suddenhe jumped and ran the stroller off the path. Aunt Jean, Nana, and I started to hassle him about it.  When he announced that there was a snake in the path.  We honestly thought he was joking!  But sure enough as we got closer we saw the little snake moving off the path. Poppa had saw it as he approached, but thought it was one of the fake ones that were all over animal kingdom.  As he rolled the stroller pass, the snake struck at his leg, and the jump off the path was his reaction!  Luckily, he was not touched and the snake went on his way! 

As soon as we got to the treehouse, we bathed the girls,began packing, and told Aunt Jean goodbye, because she was heading out early the next morning!  We then collapsed into bed! 

This weekend the girls and I celebrated a up until this year, rarely known holiday in the world of education known as TEACHER FURLOW DAY!!!!  And since I was off (and not getting paid for being off), I decided to head out with the girls!  (Nana and Aunt Sandra headed the other direction to Birmingham for a race!) 

I thought our weekend might be in danger, when Friday we had the 3 inches of Snow, but Saturday morning by 10 am, it was clear enough for us to hit the road! 

And we did!  We arrived around 4pm and checked in.  We got dressed and headed down to the waterpark.  We stayed in the upper lodge, so we had to take the bus down to the waterpark area.  For the girls, the bus ride was the best thing ever!  They sang "The Wheels on the Bus" everytime we got on it! 

We arrived at the waterpark at around 5:30...We LEFT the waterpark at ALMOST 9 pm (and we did not eat dinner that entire time! )  The girls would not come out of the water!  I thought they would stay in the kiddie areas, but not my girls...We spent almost the entire time in the WAVE pool!  Yes!  I was in the WAVE pool with three little girls by myself for almost 3 hours! 

(And because I was the only one there, there are NO pictures to show you how much fun they had!  Next time, I'll have to bring a waterproof camera to snap some pics!

We came back to the room, ordered pizza and crashed!

Us getting ready to crash and YES that's right!  I took them somewhere without a tent!  I let them sleep on a bed (well two beds pushed together!).  They did really well.  I did learn that Alyssa is gonna be an early bird and she may have to have her own room so that Makenna can get the sleep she needs!  LOL! 

The second day, we headed to the lift to go up to Ober Gatlinburg (the ski resort!)  On the ride up, they packed us into the tram like sardines, so the girls could not see anything.  Heck they were yelling at me to get closer and I had to inform them that there were three little girls in front of me, who needed some room to stand! 

Waiting in line!

Issy looking drunk while waiting in line. 

Alyssa would not get away from my leg, so she not pics of her!

At the top, we ate lunch and watched the ice skaters.

We did the animal encounters, which I have a video of and will post as soon as I get it downloaded.

Then we headed back down the mountain! 

As soon as we got back to the room, we went swimming again!  More riding on the bus and tons of fun in the wave pool (although it was SO cold!) 

Today we awoke to this, which made me decide to try and get out before the roads got bad!

Yep, it was crazy!  So I finished packing (including a quick room escape and elevator ride for a girls without momma!) Luckily she did not get far! 

We did a quick breathing treatments and hit the road!

I just noticed that I did not get a single pic of Alyssa on my digital....Hopefully, I got some on the video camera! 

It was a great time!  I can't wait to do it again!

So for the last few weeks, we've been having a little trouble getting my girls to pic up their lovely toys! It becomes a bit of a fight pretty much every day (especially with Poppa Wallace who is a stickler for toy pick up!). Alyssa is usually pretty good with picking up her toys!!!! Isabelle will pick up a few, but the SECOND you turn your back, she will begin the slow walk while playing with the toy to the toy box game! Makenna is definitely her momma's child and she HATES, HATES, HATES to pick up any toy!

We have tried making it into a game, giving money (their favorite thing right now), and even a few times of momma losing her temper and in a very STERN Voice (Read: Trying not to scream at the top of my lungs!) demanding they pick them up!

Well this morning, Nana opens the Texas Guinn Triplets's Blog to see a post about a rough patch that they were having regarding good behavior! This "rough patch" resulted in the Guinn's entire toy room being stripped of all toys! Lathan, Lauren, and Logan were told the toys were gone! (They are actually hiding in the garage and Stephanie is making them earn them back ONE at a time! This idea is GENIUS!!! ABSOLUTELY GENIUS!)

So Nana had her own moment of genius! She told the girls to come see the Guinn Trips! Now, my girls know the Guinn Trips! They love their blog! They will even ask to see it, Alyssa has a HUGE crush on little London! When we got their Christmas Card, the girls fought over who got to carry it around!

They were so excited to see a picture of the Guinn's playing in their room...Only to feel GREAT sadness when Nana then clicked to show them the "NEW" toy room. Nana told them that they hadn't been picking up their toys when they were asked and Mrs. Stephanie had sent the toys back to Santa Claus! Issy and Alyssa BURST into tears! Makenna replied..."How Sad!!!! I'll pick up their toys!"

A few minutes later Poppa came home and asked the girls to pick up some toys, so that they could play trains! Needless to say, Makenna was the first to pick up the toys, and surprise, surprise, they picked them all up!

When I called to check in at lunch, Makenna was STILL talking about how she had to pick up her jack in the box, so Santa did not come back and get it!!!!!

Big Thanks to Mrs. Stephanie for creating a learning moment for both sets of Guinn Triplet! And thanks to Nana for getting it done!

And three years ago today, after what has to be the hardest time of my life, Alyssa came home.  I still don't understand why, but the time that Alyssa was in the NICU alone was more difficult for me than even those first few days when everything was so touch and go.  But this day was the end of all that, It was the day our family was complete! 

What can I say about Alyssa.  She may be the middle child, but her role is definately the baby of the family.  She is still the littlest of the triplets and continually weighs a pound less than her sisters.  She is also shorter than her sisters by about an inch.  She was originally a daddy's girl, but now that Issy has taken over that role, she is firmly a nana's girl. 

Alyssa is our wild child.  She is always bumped or bruised in some place, because she is always doing something crazy!  You really have to watch her when you get her out of the truck, because she will lauch herself at you when she gets ready to get out!  Right now, she has a huge bruise on her cheek, but no one knows where she got it from. 

We finally got her to eat more than a few things here or there!  It only took a large dose of steriods for her to realize that she actually likes to eat.  Her choices are still rather limited (not a bad as Makenna), but she will eat them in large amounts!  And she is a CANDY FEEN!  She would eat the sweet stuff everyday, all day long if we would let her (we DON'T!)  Halloween was as close to heaven on earth as this little one has ever experienced! 

Alyssa is still the child that can play alone and be okay.  She LOVES to cook in her play kitchen and her favorite present so far has been the cutting food that Aunt Sandra got her!  She will bring us cut parts of food at all time. 

She is a princess and loves all things castle and pirate themed.  She is in love with Spike the Dinosaur at Target (but momma can't bring herself to pay $139 for one toy! I was so upset when on Black Friday they did not mark it down.)  When we go to Target, we have to go see Spike and push his button a few times, while Makenna  and Issy cower in fear!

She is the cuddler of the group!  She loves to give BIG hugs and loves on us all the time.  She will come and lay down beside you if you are laying on the couch or floor.  She is the one triplet who will always give a kiss! 

And as you can see from the pictures, Alyssa is our binding triplet!  She is the one who can bring Issy and Makenna together.  She loves this role.  I foresee years from now that she will be triplet who will bring her sisters back together when they fight.  She will be the peace keeper when they argue, even if she started the fight.  LOL! 

She is our Lil Bit

She is our Lyssa

She is our Princess

She is our Pirate

She is Alyssa 

Well, we teamed up with Mrs. Jac again over at Jacland photography for the girls pictures.  We got up at 6:30 in the morning to drive across town to this REALLY amazing location that only Ms. Jac has photography rights too (although the crazy old people who live there don't seem to want to understand that!). 

She posted a sneak peak on her blog, so jump over and check them out!  I can't wait to see them all! 

http://jaclanda.blogspot.com/2009/11/three-year-old-triplets.html

And luckily Ms. Jac is great with photoshop and got Issy's injury out of the pic! 

Well, once again we embarked on the pumpkin carving festivities today!   And unlike last year, Isabelle and Makenna would touch the pumpkin guts!  However, Alyssa only touched the gutsonce on her own accord and when she did her reaction was too funny.  It was like a chill went up her entire body and she began wiping the pumpkin guts off her hand on her pants furiously.

This year, we have THREE of the craziest pumpkins ever this year, because Nana and I just free handed them!

Beginning the pumpkin process! 

Issy was all about getting the pumpkin guts out!

Makenna cleaning the top and Alyssa doing everything she can not to touch it!

The girls and their crazy pumpkins!

Sorry for the blury pic, but Issy's face is GREAT in this one. 

This is when the girls finished singing happy birthday to pumpkins, because apparently anything with a candle is not a birthday party and someone must be sung too!

Here is a video of me torturing Alyssa with the pumpkin guts!

At this time 12 years ago today, I was making my final preparation before my wedding. I was a bundle of nerves, but convinced that what I was marrying the man with who I was to spend my life. Even at 18, I knew this was exactly where I was supposed to be. Everyone (including my grandmother) figured I was pregnant when I announced I was getting married at 18. (I think I proved them wrong on that one!). I am pretty sure 95% of the people at my wedding did not give us 1 year before we divorced, but here we are 12 years later! It hasn’t been the easiest thing to stay married. We have had bad times! We have had good times! We have had AMAZING times! But here’s is what I’ve learned:

Staying married is work!

You have to be willing to give and take. The moment you quit giving and taking is the moment its over.

Get outside help when you can’t see your way out!

Say "I love you!" everyday

Laugh at yourself and each other on a regular basis

That's how we do it without killing each other (and the fact that I have a full day away from him every third day! LOL!)

I LOVE YOU FRANK!!!!  I can't wait to see what the next 12 years will bring us!  I am so proud to have made it this far on this crazy journey!

I decided to start the halloween stuff a bit early this year!  I try not begin the halloween before the Oct. 1st, but this was way too cute not to pass it off! 

http://www.monstermashup.com/14a6cb

Drumroll please................................................................................And the Winner is Erinn!!! 

Congrats and send me an email, so I can get you in touch with Suzy, so she can get started on your new creation! 

Thanks everyone for dropping by and playing along with our Summer Blog Party!