Thanks to mom and dad's hard work!

I recently stood in the middle of a madhouse. Kids in electric-orange socks, like a too-bright dystopian fantasy, sprinted past me in every direction. Adults in coordinating electric-orange T-shirts stood guard. All that was missing was the heavy arm of an unseen totalitarian regime. Only, it wasn't exactly missing.

I will be here for you, always. Getting here in a foot or two of snow is only a tiny part of keeping that promise. Here's the rest of it.

Forget those run-of-the-mill, standard party ideas. I did some serious digging to arm you with new, interesting and tons-of-fun themes that will stand out.

The triplets had a great day -- a day punctuated by some classic kid quotes that make me want to bottle them up and keep them small forever. Here are a few of my faves from the past few days.