HARTLAND — Life with triplets has always been busy for Jennie and Bruce Nielsen of Hartland.

But now that their triplet daughters are getting older, it’s a different kind of busy.

“It’s a funner busy,” said Jennie. “We’re always running around, but now they’re old enough to entertain themselves and play together.”

The Nielsen’s triplet daughters, Hope, Preslie and Faith, turned 5 years old in November. The girls attend preschool and just went through kindergarten orientation at New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Elementary School in Ellendale, where they will begin this fall.

“The time has flown by so fast, but that’s OK,” said Jennie. “School will be a good thing.”

Although the elementary school in Ellendale has three kindergarten classes, for now Jennie and Bruce plan to keep the girls in the same class. Jennie said that was mostly to keep things easier on her so she can participate in just one set of classroom visits, school parties and field trips rather than three of each.

Jennie’s confident the teacher will make sure the girls interact with other kids in the class. Down the road, they will probably split the girls up into different classes.

As the triplets have gotten older, their individual personalities have really started to shine through.

“They don’t look alike and they don’t act alike, which is nice so they can be their own person,” Jennie said.

Hope and Faith enjoy dance class, while Preslie likes to play basketball and catch. They all three enjoy watching “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “iCarly” on Nickelodeon.

While Jennie enjoyed dressing the girls alike when they were little, the girls will have none of that now. She did, however, dress them all in matching outfits on a recent trip to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America.

“It just made it easier for me to keep an eye on them,” Jennie said.

Since the girls were born, Jennie has stayed home with them. While the girls kept her and Bruce busy, they also have two sons, Jaxson, 10, and Noah, 11, who have also kept things lively.

“My house is usually filled with kids,” Jennie smiled.

Now that all of their children will be in school this fall, Jennie plans to begin working outside of the home again, joining Bruce in the family business. They own the Gopher Stop stores in Ellendale and Clarks Grove and the Cenex station in Hartland.