Fab 5 Friday...and ME!!!

It’s been a pretty cool week…making it woefully hard to narrow down the top five reasons it was so fabulous…but I’ll try…

1) I had such fun crafting in the kitchen with the girls on Sunday…and they had such fun eating the S’mores of their labor. And they now have a real-life reference for the Curious George Goes Camping story they love, in which he gets to roast marshmallows with his friend.

2) On Monday night, at random, I thought to pull up a youtube video of one of the most well-known Russian folk songs, “Kalinka”. I found a version featuring a performance with traditional Russian dance. The girls were mesmerized! There was a whole lotta wiggling going on in the den that night as they tried to kick up their heels…and they’ve asked every day since for “Kawinka”.

3) We celebrated the girls’ ½ birthday on Tuesday. We enjoyed a fantastic lunch (Mexican…their favorite!) with Aunt Karen, and the girls were in little two-and-a-half-year-old heaven eating a strawberry cupcake for dessert.

4) I’m learning that the girls can’t keep a secret for anything…in anticipation of celebrating our cat’s birthday on Friday (along with Daddy's), I took the girls to Target on Wednesday to buy her a new toy. They were giddy at the opportunity. Later that day, I was walking upstairs with B, and Sasha was sitting on the steps. B said to her, in a very deliberate cadence, “We bought you a very special present!”

5) I don’t want the girls to think that eating Mommy’s cooking is the way to my heart, but it sure is hard to disguise sometimes. As part of dinner on Thursday, we had one of our favorite salads. I described it to the girls as I set their plates in front of them, “…fresh cucumbers and tomatoes and onion from the farmer’s market.” Baby B was so quick to point out, “And dill, Mommy!” A few minutes later, I thought Baby A was finished with her salad, as all she had left were pieces of diced onion. I went to move her plate, and she said, “No! I’m still eating!” And she ate every last morsel of that raw onion…HA!

And what did I do for ME this week???

A full year ago, a friend of mine recommended the book “The Help”, by Kathryn Stockett. I waited and waited for the book to come out in paperback, and I treated myself to it as soon as I saw it in the bookstore a few weeks ago. However, I told myself I couldn’t start it until I finished the parenting book I was reading. Well…I wasn’t quite finished with the parenting book…but I couldn’t stand it any longer. And wow…halfway through, it has been so worth the wait! It’s a fantastic read, and I’m enjoying every.single.page. There’s nothing like an engaging book…yum!!!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered my giveaway for the gorgeous handmade earrings in celebration of the 52 Weeks of ME! Halfway There Event! And…without further ado…the winner [selected via random.org] is…Marcia of 123 Blog! Congrats, Marcia!

And Marcia’s favorite way to pamper herself??? To lie in bed and read. (I agree…heaven!)

Parenting Books

I don’t consider myself a big connoisseur of parenting books. If these kiddos came with a manual, I’d be all about it…but the vast array of books available is pretty overwhelming. Everyone has an opinion. And at the end of the day, I think a parent’s instinct is a pretty good gauge.

Nonetheless, I’ve read three great books over the past year or so. I’m not sure if they would fall into the “parenting book” camp, or if they’d be better classified as human psychology, but they’ve been really insightful as I think about my growing girlies.

“One and the Same” by Abigail Pogrebin. I would recommend this book to any parent of multiples. The book presents a lot of really interesting research on twin relationships. The author offers great perspective as an identical twin herself. And her interviews with numerous sets of twins in various stages of life are really poignant.

My biggest takeaway from this book is not to over-romanticize our girls’ twinship. Certainly it’s magical to think about the twin bond, but I don’t want to set my girls up with unrealistic expectations…that if one doesn’t feel a stabbing pain when the other has a hangnail, they’ve somehow failed each other as sisters.

“Cinderella Ate My Daughter” by Peggy Orenstein. Having spent my career to date in the field of marketing, and now as the mother of young girls, this was such an interesting read. It talks about our culture with respect to a lot of toys and television programming, and even clothing design. I just want my little girls to be little girls as long as they can be…and to know that they can be anything they want to be as they grow up.

This book made me think about how marketing campaigns are targeted to children, and I hope I can eventually help my girls recognize the motivations and sort through what they truly want and need themselves.

“Einstein Never Used Flashcards” by Roberta Golinkoff, et al. This book presents a lot of research about how children learn, from birth through preschool. The authors speak to many of the types of “educational aids” on the market today, some they say have merit, others they discredit. The authors maintain that a mix of structured and free play – along with lots of reading – is the best way to promote children’s healthy emotional and “academic” development.

This book helped me get a sense for how children build skill sets in terms of language acquisition, mathematics, and social skills. It offers some great suggestions for age-appropriate play, and in general makes me feel good about the 10,000 picnics we stage every day in the den.

***

None of these books would I consider “how-to” guides for anything…but I love reading about different perspectives to consider on this great journey through parenthood.

Have you read any “parenting” books you’d recommend?

My GIVEAWAY is open through midnight tonight (July 7)...click HERE if you haven't already entered!

1/2 is a Whole Lotta Fun!

Yesterday we celebrated the girls' 1/2 birthday. Yep...two and a half...officially halfway to THREE...but I'm not thinking about that just yet (breathe in, breathe out).

This is not a tradition I grew up with, but one I heard a colleague talk about years ago. I think it's such a neat idea...a way to stop and think about where we are in the context of a year. And particularly during these first few years, six months makes such a HUGE difference in almost every aspect of our world!

Our half birthday celebrations to date have been pretty low-key...usually involving pretty dresses and an excuse for Mommy to make a yummy dessert. (Homemade strawberry cake was the chosen dessert for this year!)

As the girls get a little older, I could foresee having some once-a-year fun...something crazy like eating dessert for supper...or maybe camping overnight in the living room.

There are no presents, just an opportunity to really focus on our little family.

And of course there are lots of pictures! (And of course you know I can't resist some comparison shots!)

Starting with 2009 [when Mommy and Daddy had to eat the girls' 1/2 cakes on their behalf]...

...2010, when the girls got in on the eating action...

Happy Birthday, America!

When the girls turned two in January, they could sing “Happy Birthday”, but I don’t think they really grasped the concept of a birthday party.

Since we attended our twin friends’ second birthday party in May, though, A and B have developed quite a fixation on birthday celebrations.

They’ve held so many birthday parties for their baby dolls over the past couple of months, those dolls must surely be of retirement age by now.

Sometimes the very first words I hear them utter over the monitor, their little voices still crackly with sleep, are, “It’s Abby’s birthday!” “It’s Lily’s birthday!”

We often start our mornings by singing “Happy Birthday” to both of the girls’ dolls. Then I usually hear, “I’m gonna go make her a special birthday breakfast!”

Throughout the day, I’ll hear various bits and pieces…”It’s Abby’s birthday! These are her presents!” The girls will have carefully chosen a couple of books or toys that they guard from being separated from their dolls.

Often when we do artwork, the girls will declare, “I’m making this for Lily! It’s her birthday!”

And of course, every day there are birthday cupcakes to bake and serve.

(Never mind that the girls have had cupcakes approximately twice in their lives…they associate them directly with birthdays, and apparently think no celebration is complete without a good cupcake!)

The girls are going to have a big week of birthday celebrations, and they’re so excited…

We’ll celebrate the girls’ “Half Birthday” on Tuesday. We don’t do presents, but we just make a special family day out of it…and I am making them strawberry cupcakes.

Then Daddy’s birthday is on Friday, and we celebrate our cat’s birthday on the same day [at Husband’s request].

The girls are super excited about everything going on over the next several days. They’ve already made Sasha numerous cards (and I’m sure they’ll turn their attention to Daddy’s birthday soon).

I may have thrown a bit of a kink in their little minds today, though...

...I tried explaining that we’re celebrating America’s birthday. I can only imagine the concept of our country is a very difficult one to grasp. Nonetheless, the girls have been saying, “Happy birthday, America!” most of the day.

I just know they’re wondering when I'm going to break out the cupcakes! I hope they won't be disappointed to discover we are having watermelon instead.

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If you haven't already done so, please click HERE (through July 7) to enter my giveaway for some beautiful handmade earrings!

An Edible All-American Craft

What's more American than baseball and apple pie???

How 'bout football and S'mores?!!!

I'm from the deep south, where football is King, and -- no offense to my grandmother's famous apple pie -- but I'm guessing that delicacy actually has roots on the European continent.

We don't have any big plans for the Independence Day holiday, so I wanted to do some "All-American" things with the girls, and I decided to introduce them to the fine art of S'mores.

I saw a post* a couple of weeks ago that inspired me to get the girls in the kitchen with me to construct S'mores on a Stick.

I used 14 large marshmallows, 14 pretzel sticks, 2 squares of chocolate bark, melted, and 2 full graham crackers, loosely crushed.

I divided the task into two phases. First, I had the girls put the pretzel sticks in the marshmallows:

Then, while the girls had a little snack with the hubs, I melted the chocolate and set up the second phase. I dipped each marshmallow, one at a time, in chocolate, and then let the girls help me roll it in the graham cracker crumbs.

I put our creations on wax paper to set (maybe 30 minutes or so).

And after supper, the girls got to enjoy a little taste of Americana!

[Note: I have heard horror stories of the choking hazards of marshmallows. I watched the girls VERY closely while they ate. They did a really great job, taking small bites and chewing really well.]

*If you don't know what goes on at Adventures-in-Mommy-Land, I'd encourage you to check out all the amazing crafts and cool recipes she makes with her kiddos. This super savvy mom of six -- including B/G twins -- does a lot of crafts that are book-inspired, too.

Super 6 Saturday

What made my week so super, you ask???

1) Last Friday we took the girls to the local orchard. We had the playground to ourselves, and they had a blast running around. I even convinced Hubby to let me take them down the huge half-pipe slide (one at a time, in my lap). They loved it, and have been talking about the “bumpy slide” ever since!

2) On Thursday afternoon, I just needed to get out of the house. I decided to try my hand at sharing a snack with the girls in a restaurant – by myself – without the use of high chairs. They did great!!! They devoured a plate of nachos like perfect little ladies. (Oxymoron, much?)

3) On Friday, we went out for dinner to one of my very favorite restaurants, a shabby-chic café that serves the best homemade pizzas and uses mostly organic ingredients. The girls dove into a hummus appetizer like nobody’s business, ate a really fair share of our pizza, and topped the evening off with a bowl of fresh blueberries while sitting on the patio. I just love seeing my girls enjoying good food.

4) We were walking along a sidewalk by several store fronts. We passed a salon / spa and Baby A called out, “Topiary!” I had pointed out topiaries to the girls several times before…but who knew they were paying attention?!

5) Baby A has been doing the funniest thing when she’s being scolded. She puts her hand over her eyes, I guess trying to “hide”. It’s so darn cute, albeit a little maddening…but I so far have refrained from laughing.

6) Baby B has been cracking me up lately, too. I might say, “Are you silly?” And she’s consistently been responding, almost tearfully at times, “No! I’m [Baby B]!”

It’s always a super week in some form or fashion with my super-sweet baby girls!

If you haven't already done so, please enter my giveaway (open through July 7)!

Do a Little Something for Yourself, Why Don't Ya?!

Amid the hustle and bustle of life as a mom, it's so easy for us moms to deprioritize ourselves. Since January of this year, The Great dollimama has encouraged us to devote at least a little bit of time and consideration to ourselves each week as part of her 52 Weeks of ME! Challenge.

Stepping back, I've done a lot for myself...

...from "big" things like pedicures and date nights...

...to "small" things like appreciating driving with the sunroof open, the wind through my hair, and the radio up [sans kiddos, of course].

None of these things was very monumental, nor did it break the bank. But it's been a great weekly challenge, one that I think has made me a better mom.

We're halfway through the year (how did that happen?!), and to celebrate, we're hosting an awesome giveaway link-up!

Wanna play? The more, the merrier!

Just grab the button, link up with me here, with dollimama, or with Andrea at The Mays Twins between now and July 7.

Your giveaway should be in the neighborhood of ~$10...and should be something that another mama could use to pamper herself a bit.

It could be anything...get creative! A gift card...a "pretty" for the house...or even photo editing or a bit of blog design. Check out the full details HERE.

What are you waiting for? Do something for yourself and enter!!! :) :)