The Countdown Begins!

Today starts our countdown to Valentine's Day.  It's not much...a little treat for each of seven days, including V-Day.  Today's confection is two dark chocolate-covered almonds, something small that will fit in the countdown pill box.

The girls haven't said anything about it this year, so I imagine they'll be super surprised to see what's waiting on them at the breakfast table.  And of course I can't wait to see their faces and hear their glee!

And of course the anticipation of the holiday makes me think back to some of our fun holidays past.  The girls were two in this first real Valentine's Day celebration.  Look at those adorable faces and their "Peace & Love" onesies!!!

Baby B

Baby A

And beyond the special Valentine's Day breakfast, we celebrated further with dinner downtown, the girls decked out in some of my favorite dresses ever.

Nose kiss for Sissy!

Three ladies on a mission!

I love any opportunity to celebrate with my loves...and any opportunity to take a trip down Memory Lane!

Thank you, as always, to the marvelous Cheryl at Twinfatuation for the Way-Back-Whenesday inspiration!!!

Way Back When-esday: The Girls' First Snow Day

It's been a while since I gave a nod to the original blog throw-back (at least in my book)...sweet Cheryl's "Way Back When-esday" on Twinfatuation...

...but looking back to the girls' first time to play in the snow, contrasted to this week's jaunt, was the perfect prompt.

Oh, my...I almost can't even.  

My BABIES were just over two, which means this was FIVE YEARS AGO.

Gulp.

Seeing them with those little sand buckets and ears on their hoods...just divine.

I'd wager that we had even more fun these past few days, romping through the powder together, sledding super-fast, and wiping out in a big heap at the bottom of the hill...

...but these sweet pictures will always hold an incredibly sweet place in my heart!!!

Ardent (if Off-Key) Patriotism

In the morning meeting at the girls’ school, they sing a patriotic song each day.  They’ll stick with one song for a while before rotating on to another one.  The girls started singing bits and pieces of songs last year sometime, and it made me think we hadn’t sung any of those at home.

The girls know scores of kiddie songs from the CDs we’ve been listening to since they were tiny, but I have to credit their school for their knowledge of some [arguably more important] tunes.

The girls know all the words to the Star Spangled Banner, and they love it.  Yankee Doodle, God Bless America, and America, the Beautiful are also among their favorites.

I just have to chuckle sometimes at how much the girls love to sing these songs.  It’s not unusual over the past few months for us to be driving down the road, belting out our national anthem (in terrible harmony, I might add…but that’s part of the chuckle, I guess).  If someone is having a challenging moment, I’ve even used one of these songs to refocus their attention.  In no time, they’re lost in the lyrics, singing their little hearts out.

As I was planning to write this down, it occurred to me that I had similar swells of patriotism when I was a little girl.  I was probably a little older – as I remember I was already pretty good at whistling – but my one of my very favorite songs was Hail to the Chief.

(My mom drove my dad’s truck for a while, and I remember she’d laugh.  “What?  Do you think the president is sitting in the back of the truck?!”  HA!  That always made me chuckle, too.)

Maybe it’s a little kid thing…or maybe it’s just coincidence…but I am grateful to the girls’ school for instilling a love of patriotic songs.  And I’m thankful for recalling such a fun memory from my childhood.  May these be fun memories the girls will one day recall themselves.

The Day Before School Started, We...

…slept all the way until 7am (the girls, that is).  I went upstairs, truly incredulous that I hadn’t heard them.  They were still SNOOZING and their clock was green!

…had cinnamon bites with a candle to make a wish for a great school year...our tradition!

…colored some really cool bookmarks.  (We are all loving "coloring books for grown-ups"!)

…took our supplies to the girls’ schools and delivered our paperclip “happies” to the girls’ teachers.

…went to the bookstore and browsed around.  We read a book about the invention of the Ferris wheel, along with Dr. Seuss’s newest book, What Pet Should I Get?  We bought the next Mercy Watson book, Anne of Green Gables, and Barnyard Dance.  (The girls have been clamoring for that book for YEARS.  We had it when they were babies, but it got “eaten” and was thrown away.  They’re way too old for it, but I couldn’t resist any longer!)

My precious BABIES!!!

…got our bookmarks laminated at Staples and found the missing school supply item we’d been searching for (a particular type of journal).

…went to lunch at Yuki.  Baby B chose a Bento box, and Baby A went with her favorite standby, teriyaki shrimp.  They shared some of my soup and salad, and A kept checking out the sushi chefs right beside us.  She can sometimes be kind of shy, but she was very intent on watching them today.

Love these BABIES and their adventurous palates!

…went to Target and picked out a new bookcase.  The girls were very helpful in getting it in the cart, which they thought was really great.  They also got to push the cart into the corral…big fun!

…came home for Quiet Time and read our new Mercy Watson book in Mommy’s bed…just like old times.

…made strawberry-banana smoothies for snack, “with special straws”.

"What do you think, Sis?"

…went outside to play.  The girls rode their bikes up and down the big hill in front of the house.  Baby B made it a few times, and Baby A wanted to keep going.  I told her that was enough of bikes, since I didn’t want them to get too hot and sweaty.  Baby A first asked if we could take a walk.  I told her we could walk to the top of the hill and back.  And then we skipped up and back.  Then Baby A asked if she could run instead.  She ran at least twice…my little nut!  I finally got everyone corralled on the driveway to play some catch.  And then Daddy SURPRISED us by coming home early!!!  We all got to play together a little bit.  It was such a treat!

Love the joy in this one!

"High five, Sissy!"

…came in and got a well-deserved shower, getting squeaky clean to start school. 

…built our bookcase!  The girls were THRILLED to help me.  They got to hand me pieces, turn the screwdriver, AND pound a [tack] nail.  Such big kids!!! 

…enjoyed our famous baked shrimp scampi supper, and then we had just enough time before bed to get our bookcase in the office.  Success!  We’d said we wanted to get the office organized before school started, and we JUST made it!

...made Mommy's heart melt.  When I told the girls I was taking the day off on Monday, and it would be just the three of us (since Hubby had to be at school all day), they were so excited.  “We haven’t had a day together since preschool!”  And at the end of the day, “Mommy, this was the best day ever!”

***

Makes me miss being home with my babies, for sure.  

So thankful we at least got to end the summer in *our* style.

So Thankful for This Grainy Photo

I don't take many pictures on my iPhone, and I was way behind on looking through the few that I did take.  I made a point this weekend to download the keepers...and I'm so glad I did.

I love every.single.thing about this picture...the goofy look on my face...the girls piled on my lap...the big, genuine snaggle-tooth smiles on their faces...and the memory of this fun occasion.

Hubby had to stay after school unexpectedly, so I left work to pick up the girls.  My boss was kind enough to tell me to take the rest of the afternoon off, and boy, did I enjoy it.

I surprised the girls by picking them up, and we voted to go to Spencer's coffee shop downtown -- what once was a regular stop for us, now turned a very rare treat.  The girls shared a smoothie, and I got a coffee.

We were giddy in love with ourselves...an unexpected gift of togetherness...bliss!!!

A selfie queen, I am not.  (I think my arms must be too short or something...HA!)  And the latest and greatest cell phone, I do not have.  I will treasure this grainy photo, though...a reminder of a crystal clear memory with my baby girls.

I Didn't Have My Camera...

We had such great fun in the snow this afternoon, but alas, I didn’t have my camera.  I missed so much!

…the way the late afternoon sun glistened off the immense blanket of snow…

…the way Baby A looked, running toward me, kicking up snow as she went…

…the look in A’s eyes as we found an excellent spot for sledding…

…the signature raspy laugh of Baby A as she SAILED down the big hill…

…the wipeout A took at the bottom of the hill…and then hopped up for more…

…the surfer-girl, “That was AWESOME!!!” commentary from A after her first big run…

(And once Daddy and B joined us…)

…the way B dressed herself, tying her scarf just perfectly…

…how B trudged through the snow – an uncharted path – with such determination…

…how B wanted SO badly to sled by herself, but she tried to start long before she got to the top of the hill…

…the way Daddy said, “I’ll make a new path!” and scooted himself along on one of the sleds…

…the way he lay on his back on the sled and eventually gathered some speed, much to the girls’ delight…

…the way Daddy was impressed that A was like a slalom sledder, going down the hill…

…the way we all trudged back to the house…cold, tired, and elated.

Yes, I missed capturing all these things.

But I was fully present, neither hand tethered to my camera, having the time of my life with my baby girls and their daddy.

Committing this to memory, I am.

(This picture was taken yesterday, when I did grab my camera a couple of times...this was after traipsing through the snow for a while...LOVE!!!)

SPLAT!

This weekend we finally packed away the Christmas books.  We love them so much, but I don't want to leave them out all year, as I don't want them to lose their "special" we so enjoy during December (and January).

For bedtime on Sunday night, I told the girls I had a surprise.  I brought out the first of their Valentine's books, and they were delighted!  What a treat it is to read that familiar text we hadn't seen since last year.

"Can we read Splat tomorrow night?" the girls both asked.  That story line is not the most sentimental...but Splat is a cat...and that makes him a favorite.  (We have acquired several Splat books over the last few years, although this was our first.)

I told them we could...but we had a change of plans the last couple of nights when I couldn't put my hands on that particular book.

I was tickled tonight to find it (precisely where I'd been looking!).  The girls were thankful to be reunited with an old friend.

It is so sweet to me how clearly they remember details from the story, not having seen it in almost a year.  Baby A pointed to a certain illustration and chuckled.  And that just made me smile.

This particular book holds a special place in my heart, too.  I remember so precisely when I bought it...exactly what happened that day...and it's hard to believe that was SIX years ago.

I was supposed to have a dentist appointment on January 7, 2009 (I think it was).  I wasn't quite able to make it, seeing as the girls were born on January 5.  I rescheduled my appointment for February 18 (I think).

It just so happened that my appointment fell during the girls' nap time.  (As they were still tiny, we were still having to wake them to feed, so I was "safe" to go out for 90 minutes or so.)  I put on my maternity jeans and a black sweater (the same as I wore when the girls came home from the hospital).  I specifically remember the receptionist saying, "You don't look like you just had twins!"  "Thanks, but I sure feel like it!" I remember joking.

My cleaning was a quick one, and I still had a few minutes to spare before the girls were due to wake up.  I decided to stop by the bookstore, which is close to the dentist's office.  I was feeling sorta-kinda guilty that I hadn't gotten the girls anything for their *first* Valentine's Day.  The bookstore had their V-Day books marked down to half price, so I decided to get them each a slightly-belated gift.

I was almost ready to pay, when my cell phone rang.  It was my husband, and seeing his call scared me.  I hadn't left the girls very often (if ever, by that point???), having just been cleared to drive about a week before.

Hubby told me not to be alarmed, but that Baby A had hit her head on the crib.  He had called the pediatrician's office, and they said he could bring her in for a quick checkup.

Although Hubby assured me everything was OK, my heart was beating so fast.  I hurried home.

Ultimately, everything was perfectly fine.  My A had somehow wiggled close to the crib rail and bumped against it.  She couldn't have hit it very hard...she was a 6-week old preemie!  Still, Hubby was being incredibly safe (and nervous), and he wanted to have her seen.

Of course she was fine.  (And I later remember somehow seeing the note "reassured father" in A's medical file.  HA!)

Thankfully, everything was just fine that day.  I got our Splat book and probably read it to the girls that night, them snuggled safely in our arms.

It's just funny to me how "real" this still seems in my mind.  I remember what I wore, what purse I carried, what outfit I dressed A in to go to the pediatrician.  I remember I was pretty scared that afternoon, probably at Hubby's nervousness, as much as anything...and while that "scary" isn't something I necessarily want to remember, I am thankful my mind has allowed me to travel back so clearly to when the girls were such tiny babes.

And, as when we broke out our Christmas books for the season, I'm thankful the girls' delight in such simple pleasures, like seeing Splat's furry face and wide-eyed grin.  They just don't know that this particular delight brings Mommy a multitude of memories.