A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words - I Love These Kiddo's!

A Surprise Ending! (don't peek)

Once upon a time, way out in the country lived a cute little set of triplets. They loved each other very much and they loved to play outside together. What one didn't think of ... the other two did. There's never a dull moment on this farm!
They climbed on their toys and smiled ever so cute for Mommy's camera. They posed and they pranced and they showed off their suckers.

They hammed it up and they hammed it down the slide. They giggled and wiggled and took turns going down.
They played peek-a-boo and they strutted their stuff.
They climbed higher and higher and and faster and faster! They enjoyed their playtime and their new found freedom.
Oh Boys .... I think Mommy left us alone for a minute. What shall we do? We'll take off our clothes and run through the yard! Our Mommy can't see us!
Surprise! It's a bare naked Sam!
and a bare naked Jay!

... and our Mommy still thinks she's Blessed!

Tan

A Field of Flowers ...

Jay, Sam and Meg found the "Ball Flowers" .... at least that's what they called them! These flower buds are round and green and they were pulling them off, and throwing them! Then as we walked out into the fields ... they found the most amazing flowers. "Fluffies" .... says Jay! "I blow Dem!"

Sam says, "It's all Don ..... it's Don!" "Day at?" "Day go?" "Day Don!"Meg says, "I blowed dit away!"

I love these little voices and I love walking through the fields with them and watching them finding new things that they've never seen before. It's amazing that a simple "Dandelion" is so wonderous to these little guys! It goes to show you that the little things in life is what matters!.... and what matters right now is that this photo shoot is over! Time to quit! No more flowers to blow ... no more fields to explore ... time to quit right now! Playtime is over! No more camera's! No more bribery ... and not even candy, Elmo, a tractor or Daddy can turn these frowns into smiles! They are finished with me! Zilch .... Done!

Be Blessed,

Tan

My Funny Girl!

Kelcie Jo .... funny funny girl! Kelcie loves to get her picture taken! She poses and makes funny faces and is a ham for the camera!

I bet I took a hundred pictures and in every one of them she made a different funny face!

She twirled and giggled and rolled her eyes and laughed out loud and blew me kisses!

She stuck out her tongue and batted her eyes and danced around!She's beautiful! She's my funny girl!
I love you Kelcie,

Grandma Tink

Very Serious Business!!!

This is very serious business! Just ask Sam! Don't get in his way because this is very serious business! All stacked up and rolling very smoothly across the table! Perfectly balanced! This is how Sam drives his John Deere!
Sam loves his tractors! ... and his combine and his wagon! In fact, Sam loves anything with wheels that roll.
He concentrates so hard as he rolls his farm equipment and turns it around without spilling a thing! Yes, it's very serious business to Sam when he's farming!

By the way, don't get in his way ..... or you just might get bit!

Be Blessed,
Tan

We're Stumped!

Last night we went for a walk .... although our first stop was to sit on a old tree stump. Everyone was excited about finding this stump ...... that was until I decided to take a picture of them sitting here .... and from that moment on ... it was chaos! You can't tell that they're yelling "NO" and trying to get off the stump. I just thought it would make a nice rustic looking picture. We rarely get a good picture of all three of them together. Not even bribery with candy works anymore. Nope, they just don't cooperate .... and that's because they're two years old and we have to do it their way! Next time I'm going to sit them up high on a bale of hay .... he he!

Be Blessed,
Tan

My Brother, My Friend ...

My Brother, My Friend! I love taking pictures of these two walking together down our road. They always hold hands. They have no fear! They never look back! It's as if they know this road is their very own. I take picture after picture until they top the hill and start downward, and then I go after them. I can only imagine if they're talking or what they're saying to each other in their two year old language. But as long as they always hold hands, they're talking more than they know!

Be Blessed,
Tan

It's Sam!

Meet Sam! ... and not Sam the kid! This is Sam the dog ... and she was here first! Life has changed considerably since Sam the kid came. Sam the dog is now a tad bit confused!

Did you say Sam ... or did you say Molly-2? Poor poor Sam ... she just don't get it! She was here first... had the name first and now this punk kid named Sam lives here and Sam got her name changed!What's a woman to do? What about my rights? Hey I had that name first! Who the heck is Molly-2? Just give me a bone ...........

Be Blessed,

Tan

The Trio & Me!

These days seem so long ago ... as I look back on this picture and think about when they were this age... I had my hands full! But if a stranger told me that... I think I got hostile! I can't believe that I could hold all three of them at the same time and rock them all .... they liked to dog pile on top of each other then. Now that they're two and so big, if one of them so much as looks at the other one crooked ... it's an all out war and major fight! Oh, how I miss having my hands full!

Be Blessed,
Tan

His Decendants ...

Yesterday when the kids were running all over the farm I was reminded of "Dad." I always have a quiet moment when I think of him and these kids. It's so funny how on the "time line of life" just a few years can make such a big difference. They quietly passed each other like ships in the night. They never got to meet. They will never have known this Grandfather. They will miss this vital part of their lives.
As I watched the kids run over the same place where this man pruned his roses for the last time ... I thought of him. I thought of him when my boys stood outside the barn and I pictured their Daddy with his twin brother standing there so many years ago. I pictured him when my boys were asking, "what's that Daddy?" I thought of him with his own boys when their Uncle Don walked them all over the yard and answered their questions.

We live in the house he was born in ... I sometimes think about when he was a little boy and lived here. I think of him often. Even though my children will never get to meet their Father's Father ... he will always be present in their life through the stories and through their Father's eyes. They will know, that as a child he too lived in this house, he too explored this farm, and he too held their Father's hand, when he was a little boy, and ask, "what's that Daddy?"

Here's thinking of you Dad ... your poppies are budding and "three little roses" that you never got to meet are blooming, and I miss you! Tan

McFarmers!

We went to see Daddy,Uncle Don and the Cows this evening. It was so much fun! We visited Cows, a new baby kitty and a new baby calf. They watched their Daddy and followed their Uncle Don all over the place. Uncle Don on the left and Daddy on the right are identical twins.... kind of funny to see them with the triplets. They were all talking about the cows!
Jay is ready to move on to see something else interesting!
Megan looks like she's listening to what her Daddy is saying.. but really she was yelling for Jay!

Be Blessed,

Tan

Joey and Mariah - 1 John 3:11

This picture speaks for itself. Joey will marry Mariah someday. This I am sure of. I am very happy about that. Mariah is just as beautiful inside, as she is on the outside. I don't think I have ever seen her not smiling. Mariah is from our home town and she and Joey both go to the same college. They're both christians and both dedicated to God. I know when the day comes, I will welcome her into my family as another daughter. I see her standing proud as a Minister's wife and I see her being the root to Joey's happiness.

I'm blessed,
Tan

Born Together ... Friends Forever!

The little critters were watching Elmo tonight before they went to bed. They were sitting there so good and all three of them were holding hands. Meg leaned over and put her head on Jay's shoulder and he looked at me and grinned. They truly love each other so much. They have such a bond with one another. I hope they're always this close!
They stayed up a little later than usual tonight because I got called out to start an IV. M.M and the kiddo's went with me and they wanted the light on in the van so they could see. They were talking to each other, and to us. It made me so aware of how smart they are and how they now are little people with minds of their own. They can carry on conversations with each other now and we can understand them. Meg kept saying, "what you doing Daddy?" It's like music to my ears to hear them and to see them love each other so much. I've decided that three is the perfect number ... and no, my hands aren't too full!

Be Blessed,
Tan

All about Marlboro Man!

Six years ago tomorrow, I met this man at a gas station and followed him home! Well, I didn't actually follow him home that day... just two days later! We both were pumping gas at the same pump and he was behind me. We both were thirty miles from home and neither one of us regularly went to this particular gas station. We both stared at each other ... he spoke first. His eyes attracted me, and they still do! His smile is genuine. He is genuine. He is humble. He is the man I love. He is the man I am married to. He is now a Father. My children's Father.

I'm a city girl and now I live out here deep in the country on a Dairy farm with Marlboro Man and our two and a half year old triplets, in a house that his Great-Grandfather built. His Grandfather and Father was born in our house. Marlboro Man's roots are here. Our children's roots are here. I am growing roots here .... sometimes it's hard to re root, especially when you're so very different and come from different walks in life and have different thoughts and lifestyles. What is it that draws two people together that are so different?
It's in the eyes .... it's the way they connect to yours and it's the unspoken words. It's the trust that you'll always be there. Marlboro Man is a quiet reserved man. He's a hard worker. He works this farm from sunup til sundown, just like his Father did. He took time to plant me here and he'll always take time to keep me here. He will always take time for our children and will continue to plant them in his ways.

It's in his eyes ... when he looks at me and our eyes meet, I know I'm loved, and as difficult at times as re rooting is ... he is always here to help me dig these roots in a little bit deeper. His eyes tell me so... and his smile!

I am so blessed,

Tan

Prevention of a Poop Party!

Do you like Jay's pretty red jammies? Notice that he's an "All-Star?" It's plastered right there on his chest! Zipped right up the front and perfectly snapped into place. Because Jay is such a good boy.... he gets to wear his pajama's the right way! Jay is an "All-Star!"

Sam on the other hand has his "All-Star" plastered right in the middle of his back! Zipped up and snapped backwards. It's not that Sammy is made funny or his feet are turned around backwards to accommodate the pajama's or anything .... it's to keep this little "trickster" from getting out of them!
Sam is a "stripper!" He strips every time we put him in his crib. He takes off his socks, shirt, his pants and his onesie and takes off his diaper! He politely throws everything out onto the floor right into a neat little pile. He would take off these nice little jammies too if we put them on him frontwards. Trust me! I know! I've been there ... and there have been times that it hasn't been a pretty site!I often wonder if wearing his pajama's this way chokes him. It sure looks like it at times, but he doesn't complain or pull at his neck! When your kid strips and throws his little "turds" out onto the neat little pile of clothes that he's already shucked .... choking him a little just doesn't seem like a big, deal does it? (just kidding)

Meg is Sam's favorite cheerleader! ... and all good cheerleaders like to be a good audience. ... and what's a better way than to follow suite . . . Meg is a stripper too and she wears her jammies backwards as well! As you can see, Meg is wearing boys jammies in this picture ... but at least the boys aren't wearing pink and we definately have prevented another "poop party!"

Be Blessed,

Tan