Mouse in the House- among other things

So this month has pretty much flown by. Riley turned 5, his current favorite number, August 6th. We celebrated at Goat Hill Junction in Costa Mesa a few weeks before the "real birthday". His "fake" birthday was scheduled in advance to spare any conflict with the wedding plans taking place the following week. The party was all about trains, of course. Riley wanted a "Thomas the Tank" party but Mommy convinced him to have a Geotrax Train theme instead. I don't know- something about we had a Thomas party for year two and again for year three, and four . . . It was a blast. We had only a handful of kiddos (most of which belonged to me . . . ) and enough adults to keep things under control. All in all it was quite fabulous and Riley too seemed pleased. He was in all honesty worried that his "fake" birthday wouldn't have all the fun of a "real" birthday. His words by the way :)!
Then came and went the wedding. Out of now where August 13th appeared and my youngest brother Neil was happily married to "Aunt" Miri. Of course my children were the chosen ones and were honored to be the ring bearers and flower girl. The PRACTICE session was spot on . . . the wedding, well its safe to say, all hell broke loose. Nanny Tricia was out sick. Erin and Great Uncle George filled in. Mommy was already at the alter with all of the other bridesmaids when it was the childrens' turn to process down the aisle. So . . .  down RUNS Mitch (without her flowers), followed by Riley (who is so far cooperating- bribed with a train he was), Caden holding onto Uncle Georgie's hand for dear life and the hand of the wedding coordinator, and Austin throwing himself backwards on the floor demanding that Erin "hold ya". Thus, Mitch decides the need to intervene, grabs Mommy's flowers, RUNS back down the aisle, throws the flowers aside and attempts to figure out what the hell is wrong with Austin. At this point, Riley gets down on all fours and attempts to crawl the last two pews. Good Lord! This all took place in the span of 40 secs. I have it on tape. It would be absolutely hilarious if they weren't mine! After the aisle "walk", the children are taken to the cry room to have snack time, play on the i-pad, etc. Would have been nice to know that the cry room is not exactly sound proof. Caden banging on the windows, Riley shunting freight cars, Austin demanding more snacks, & Mitch stripping down to her pull-up (pretty good considering her pension for running around completely naked). When I mentioned this to the priest all he could say is "Yeah. I noticed. It doesn't exactly keep out the sound of children pounding on the windows!" Yeah, well now we know why priests don't have kids either so there! (Actually, the priest was very nice about it and had a few laughs at our expense. He was the same priest that baptizeded the babies at day 2 of life when we weren't certain if they were all going to make it out of the NICU alive.)
That was the wedding. The reception, well we are out a nanny and we are not about to take all 4 children on a yacht regardless of whether it is staying in the harbor or not. The back up plan was to have Casey stay home with the triplets and Riley and I to go to the reception. This plan did not suit the groom and thus began the phone tree (the morning of the wedding). Jacqueline (one of our CHOC docs) and her daughter Megan, bailed us out. They watched the younger boys and Casey and I took Riley and Mitch. It was a lot of fun, but there was no way we would have been able to keep all 4 safe on that boat. Jacqueline and Megan were absolute lifesavers! Not to mention Erin and Great Uncle George!
And now at the end of this craziness enters the mouse. No, it is not a pet. It is wild (fits in with the children, I know), but I would like it out. I realize that we have enough crumbs to go around and that they multiply many times over throughout the day but still. Gross. At this point, this little guy is the icing on the cake.

Kiddo Update:

Riley: Now 5! Returns to school (oh, yea) next week. He will be in preschool with Miss. Jenny one more year before transitioning into general education Kindergarten (at least this is our hope). He still loves trains and will talk your ear off about "Thomas this and Thomas that". Papa is his best friend. And Ryan. And Rex. And Justin. He is a love. He is also full of it.

Austin: Lover of food and snacking. He has an uncanny resemblance to Neil Michael, blond hair, curls, personality, and all. He loves carrying his purse and pushing the doll stroller around the house. His favorite toy is still the whoopee cushion. If he isn't eating or sleeping, he likes to snuggle. He has a major crush on Tricia.

Mitch: Beyond crazy. She climbs everything. Swings on everything. She is bossy. Likes to be naked. Thinks she is potty trained. "Kayla do it", "Mommy, clothes off", "Bossy", "Riley's crabby", Caden's "silly", "Austy B did it. Mess." The other night at dinner she told me "No. Don't like it"!" I hadn't even served anything yet. That being said, I probably so had that one coming as a pay back for dinner time growing up. She is exhausting. She is "ADHD" (according to Daddy), she is "Action, . . . and she cracks me up" (according to Riley). "Mommy tired"- Mitch

Caden: What a love. He is still learning to walk in his AFO braces- little blue, baby Forrest Gump braces. He loves singing and dancing to "itsy bitsy spiddy", "twinkle twinkle", "I'm a gummy bear", "all you single ladies", and then some. He can sing the ABCS. He has an infectious laugh that echos throughout the house. He finds words to be so funny- taco, pizza, dirty, stinky poopy . . . giggles, gut busting, pee in your pants- giggles. What a miracle! They all are really . . . and even though this "Mommy tired", this Mommy also realizes how very blessed we are!
Pictures to follow . . .

The Triplets and Riley Take on Vegas

Oh, boy did we have fun! Vegas road trip with Grammie, Papa, Mommy, Ally, and kids. Daddy stayed home with the work excuse! The reason for the trip was to visit family friends- Grandma and Grandpa Seely. Grandpa has been sick and we wanted to have an opportunity for him to see Riley again and meet the triplets. VEGAS ROAD TRIP! Not over planned, not too over packed, but we had a blast! Rooms were booked at the Excalibur for 2 whole nights on the Vegas strip! Crazy? Oh, you bet!
Our last minute addition to the van was Ally. Our Tuesday night hospital volunteer was green to go when she found out our plans for the next morning- "You're taking the triplets and Riley to Vegas?  . . . I am so there!" Thus, the 8th van seat was added. The 8th, non-folding, climb over the seat- try not to bump your head/flash anyone in the front seat, seat.
We left early the next morning and stopped for breakfast at the Barstow Train McDonald's- Riley's little piece of heaven- McDonald's and trains all in one building/train car! It was probably the first time he relaxed after we told him about the trip. Our little guy was extremely concerned with the following- 1) "Will people snore in the hotel?" (Only papa.) 2) "Do they speak our language in Nevada or do they speak English?" (Well honey, WE speak English and so do the people in Las Vegas.) 3) "What will we do there?" (Pool. Food. Visit. Play. Oh, and shop for souvenirs!) By the time we finished breakfast, Riley was sold on vacation.
After checking into the hotel and going for a round of swimming, Riley was taught the fine art of winning tickets by Ally. Riley and Ally had quite the system going- approx. 30 minutes later and $20 lighter, Riley had won 3 small stuffed animals, 2 hot wheel cars, and a little red plastic car. Yep, he was a winner. What Riley really wanted to know though was when we could "gamble" for money to buy trains. "Well buddy we can't. Only adults can gamble." "Your an adult mommy. You could do it!" Fast forward 3 hours and Riley witnesses a gentleman in the mists of playing the slots- "Ha. Ha. Mom, I saw that guy. He just put in a coin, pulled the lever, and pushed the button. I could do that. Ha. I know how to gamble!" I never said there was a secret to gambling, I just simply said no. In the mean time, Caden is shouting "Gamble, Gamble." WT baby!
Our visit with Grandma Sylvia and Grandpa Warren brought back a lot of great memories for me. I don't feel so bad about letting the kids drink my sweet tea knowing that that is exactly what Grandma and Grandpa Seely raised us on. The kids were a little uncertain about waking up from their naps in a strange house- Mitch to Austin- "Austy, wake up. Wake up, Austin." Just slightly panicked, but no worse for the wear. We got to meet up later with Grandma and Grandpa's daughter Tina and granddaughter Katherine at M&M World! So fun and of course, delicious too!
The rest of the time we spent at the pool, McDonald's, and relaxing triplet style- running up and down the halls at full speed with a couple beach balls, etc. On the way home, we stopped off at the Barstow train museum (yawn). Two small rooms of all things train. Mitch kissed the mannequin, which I suppose was better than the Thunder Down Under Guys performing at the hotel! We made it home, virtually unscathed. Austin puked while we were on the El Cajon pass- no rest stops, no pull offs, no nada. Grammie stood him on the side of the road to clean him off, while I frantically cleaned out his carseat with baby wipes! Papa and Riley kept chanting to themselves that they would not barf, they would not, they would not! And, most thankfully- they did not!
What a great time! I will be sure to add pictures to the post when my new computer arrives as the old one has eaten pretty much everything and will not share :)!