Field Trip Friday--H

I have to admit I have always had a soft spot in my Heart for HEB since we filmed a commercial for them and were on the front cover of their magazine. So when I thought about field trips for letter H, HEB was the first thing that came to mind. After a little bit of calling around, I found that taking a field trip to HEB is really quite easy (if any of you Texans want to do one, just go to www.fieldtripfactory.com to sign up).

The HEB tour was a Humongous success! We Had a Huge group of friends join us for the Happy occasion. The gal from HEB took everyone around the store, stopping in each section to talk about Healthy eating Habits and letting the kids sample Healthy Hors d'oeuvres from the basic food groups.

Happy quints Huddle outside before the HEB tour

The Handsome group of kids before Heading to the tour (I think it is kind of interesting that with the exception of a couple kids in the picture, everyone in this group is within 6 months age of my kiddos---there is such a range of Heights)

First stop--Produce! The kids learn "5-a day--the color way"

Follow the Leader

The Highlight of the tour was the meat department, where the kids got to Handle a live lobster!

Kaydence Hung back a bit, but Kyndall and Kassidy were in a Hurry to get their Hands on it!

Next Stop: Dairy where everyone got a "squish" yogurt (as my kids call them)

The Handout of bread samples from the bakery was also a Heavy favorite

The Hilarious Huddle of moms following the kiddos around. Our group got a lot of attention from other shoppers, However, my kids blended right in and the attention wasn't focused on me or my kids, which was a nice change!

The kids were sad to see the field trip come to a Halt, but were Happy about the bags of goodies they received at the end!

Thanks HEB, we had a Humongously fantastic time!


PS--Let me just state for the record that finding good descriptive words that start with H was much Harder than I anticipated---though I am sure it won't hold a candle to letter X!

Field Trip Friday--H

My HEB Texas Life Cover

This month our family is on the cover of HEB's store magazine! It just came out today. If you are in Texas, you can pick up a copy at your local HEB store (they are free). In addition to the cover, there is another picture and short article on page 5. I scanned it in and posted it below, but if you want to see a better copy, you can check it out on HEB's website HERE. (click on the May issue)

My HEB Texas Life Cover

HEB Commercial---Now Available Online!

We just discovered that our HEB commercial is available online! It isn't on HEB.com, but apparently it is on another video site. Enjoy! (Vimeo works a little differently than YouTube, so if you have trouble viewing it below, click HERE to go directly to the video on Vimeo.com)

:30 Wilkinson Testimonial from heb.com on Vimeo.

PS---I noticed that on this version I say "With HEB's new lower prices on diapers, HEB really is the best place to stock up!" but on the version playing on the TV, I say "With HEB's new lower prices on diapers, I don't have to drive all the way to Costco to get a great deal on the diapers we use most!"

HEB Commercial---Now Available Online!

An Unexpected Blessing...

A few weeks ago the Jones Quintuplets were born here in Austin. HEB, a Texas based grocery store, hosted a diaper drive for the Jones family and matched the donations given by the community. The Jones family received over 8000 diapers from the community and an equivalent amount from HEB (in the form of gift cards)! Wow! We were so happy for the Jones family---what a great blessing for them! We know, more than most people, how helpful that will be for them!

But that is not where the story ends...The week of the diaper drive, HEB contacted us, to tell us that in the process of helping the Jones', they heard about our family and wanted to help us as well! A few days later, the unit manager from our Cedar Park HEB came over to deliver a very generous donation of gift cards. By our calculations, the gift cards are equivalent to about a year's worth of diapers!! What an amazing and unexpected blessing for our family! Especially in these tough economic times, we are so grateful for the incredible generosity of HEB!

Rustin, Kassidy, Riley, Ryder, Kaiya, Kyndall and Kaydence pose with the HEB Unit Manager. THANK YOU HEB!!!

An Unexpected Blessing...

Some "Firsts" before the Big First Birthday

I have to start by appologizing because this post is chronologically out of order. I had intended to post these pictures a few weeks ago, but got busy with birthday pary plans and out-of-town visitors and it never happened. So, just imagine you are reading this BEFORE the babies birthday and it will all make more sense!

The weeks before the babies birthday were filled with several new experiences. Here are a few of the things they experienced for the first time:


First trip to Costco! My friend, Liz and sister Tiare came to help. Ryder, Kassidy and Rustin sat in the triple stroller and Kyndall and Kaydence got to ride in the cart. Because they were seperated this way, we had a few people that came up to the stroller and said, "Oh my goodness---I have never seen triplets before!!" (I bet they had never seen quints before either)



First trip to HEB (local grocery store)! Tiare and I did this one on our own with all seven kids. HEB has these great race-car carts that have a couple of seat belts in them, so we could fit all the girls in one and the two boys in the other. The girls were a little squishy, but they all had fun. We looked (and felt) a little bit like a parade as we went through the store. Tiare has been getting really good at her parade wave since she has been here. (elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, wrist)

First Steps! Rustin was the first one to take some walking steps! He has always been my most determined one, and he just kept trying and trying until he figured it out. I love the early walking stage---the babies are just so proud of themselves when they take some steps and they have these huge smiles on their faces. It is totally adorable!

First Independent Stander! About the time that Rustin was figuring out walking, Kyndall figured out how to stand herself up in the middle of the room. Her balance was great when she was standing still---she could stand there forever, but as soon as she would take a step, she would fall over. She always tried to prepare herself for the walking attempt by laughing and putting her hands in the "Frankenstein" position. It wasn't until her birthday that she figured out how to take more than one step without falling. Now she is hilarious to watch because she has these cute spindly legs and she toddles unsteadily for 5-6 steps, falls down, stands back up, takes 5-6 more steps, falls down, stands back up, etc. until she reaches her goal. The whole time she is smiling and laughing.

First Birthday Present! Kyndall, Kassidy, Ryder and Rustin attack an early birthday present brought over by some friends that were going to be out of town on the babies actual birthday. I think they had almost as much fun with the tissue paper as they did with the actual present.

First Mac and Cheese! I am almost embarassed to admit that the babies were nearly one year old before they had Mac and Cheese for the first time. Giving one baby a bowl of pasta and letting them go at it creates quite a mess, and the thought of cleaning up FIVE TIMES that mess was a little daunting. But my guilt at depriving my kids of one of the rites of toddlerhood finally overtook my desire for cleanliness and I decided to go for it. The babies loved it, of course. They also made a huge mess, as expected, but nothing that a little soap and water couldn't fix!

Kassidy (I don't know if you can see very well in the picture, but several noodles made their way to her hair)

Kaydence

Rustin

Kyndall

Ryder

Some "Firsts" before the Big First Birthday