Note to Self: I Have TWO Kids, Not Just One...

I’ve done this twice now, in as many months.

Every second of every day, I am concentrated on TWO…but somehow…when it has come to school functions…I’ve almost forgotten half of my brood.

I guess it stems from having so many “twin” friends.  Up until the girls started preschool, our social interaction was with other sets of twins.  It was perfectly acceptable…particularly with such young kiddos…to address an invitation to “Thing 1 and Thing 2” – together – or to buy a larger gift that could be enjoyed by both siblings.

As the girls are a little older now, I’ve become more conscious of setting them apart from each other, trying to treat them as much like individuals as possible.  At least on school days, I rarely dress them alike, and they each choose their own hairstyle.

Why, then, did I ALMOST slip up and make only one set of Valentine’s Day cards for the girls’ classmates???

I would not have appreciated them having to share Valentine’s Day cards, but it occurred to me – relatively late in the game – that they each needed a set to hand out.

Thank goodness I realized this on time…and you would have thought I learned my lesson.

Fast forward a few weeks to Easter, and the preschool has asked the parents to send 12 filled eggs for the class Easter egg hunt.

I went to the store…bought 12 eggs…and decided on the filling.

I was musing to myself, thinking how that seemed like a lot…each kid coming home with 12 EGGS!

Hmmm…but…for that math to work out…I’d need to send 12 eggs for EACH CHILD.

I made a return trip to the store, bought more eggs and more goodies…crisis averted…again.

Maybe one day I’ll internalize the whole TWO KIDS “thing” for good.

Super Stuff on a Monday

Very thankful for another super-filled week!

1)      The girls have been pretty proficient at writing their uppercase letters for a long time now.  This week, they’ve been very intent on practicing their lowercase letters.  They’re doing really well, and I never get enough of seeing their concentration.

2)      As a break from writing, I was working with the girls on some simple drawings.  I would draw something, like a bird, or a turtle, explaining as I went.  It was so fun to erase what I’d done and then see their attempts.  Most were really recognizable!

3)      We used to do this frequently, but we’d gotten out of the habit.  One day, as we were running errands, I re-introduced the idea of “counting syllables” to the girls.  Whereas we used to count words, they’ve been fixated on counting full sentences for the past few days.  They can’t seem to get enough!  It’s a great math exercise, too.

4)      On Thursday I had to meet with the builder at the new house for a few minutes.  I set the girls up in the car (in the driveway) with drawing pads and some magazines.  I was so incredibly proud how patiently they played…and I had to cackle when I opened the door to find all sorts of coupons from the magazines thrown over the front seats.  “Mommy, we found coupons for you!”

5)      I bought the girls some Crayola colored pencils this week, and they are IN LOVE.  They now have the precision of their skinny markers…in a non-messy form…and I think I am IN LOVE, too.  They’ve drawn some really intricate things, and they love to practice writing.

6)      The girls didn’t have school on Thursday, and I told them we’d have a special day.  They wanted to go to lunch at Cambridge Market, my favorite little bakery…and that was fine by me!  It makes me smile at what a grown-up lunch they ordered…a chicken salad sandwich on toasted swirl rye, a bowl of white bean chowder, and a cup of fresh fruit.  And they ate every morsel!

7)      I was completely astonished on Saturday morning…Daddy had run an errand and called on his way home.  We were talking about what we should do, and I said to him, “What do you think about K-I-T-E?” since it was a windy day.  Baby B thought for a moment, and then exclaimed, “K-I-T-E spells ‘kite’!  Mommy, let’s go to the park with our kites!”  Seriously.  I could not believe it!!!  The word ‘kite’ is part of one of their word puzzle sets, but it’s not anything we’ve ever focused on.  These little sponges amaze me!

 8)      On Saturday, blessed with more warm weather, we opted for a family hike at the local state park.  We hadn’t been since the fall, and it was so nice to hit all the trails.

9)      On Sunday, we had such a fun time celebrated St. Patrick’s Day.  The highlight for the girls was helping me make pretzel-M&M shamrocks…and they looked so stinkin’ cute in their aprons!

10)   B was on the verge of making a poor decision, and I gave her a very stern "mama look". I almost could not contain myself when she stared right back with the same expression...yikes!

11)   Baby A is still enjoying her little notebook, and her interest has really been piqued since getting her colored pencils.  This morning while I was making breakfast, she asked me how to write, “There was a very loud thunderstorm last night.”  It took some time…and three pages!...but she did it!

12)   And some of my favorite quotes from the week…

B: "Mommy, what protein are we having for breakfast?"

B: "Sissy, let's have a talk for a sec."

B: "Mommy, did God make Dr. Seuss thousands of years ago?" We have some work to do on the concept of time...and it's funny to see the girls try to synthesize the books we read, including some in Genesis, and a Dr. Seuss dinosaur book.

A: "Mommy, look! Eleven is ten fingers and one toe!"

Looking forward to another super week with my super little ladies!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

Happy St. Patty's Day, from our two little leprechauns!

Our beloved Miss Jenny is studying in England this semester, and here are the girls, holding a postcard she sent them from Ireland.

The girls have been wearing their headbands for a few days now, and we've been reading our lone St. Patrick's Day book for a couple of weeks.  We don't have any big plans for the day, but I'm looking to interject a few fun activities here and there.

For breakfast, I [laboriously] made French toast using my shamrock cookie cutter.  I sprinkled GREEN parsley on the girls' scrambled eggs, and they thought that was pretty special, too.

We made a special trip to the candy store yesterday to procure GREEN M&Ms.  I'm planning for the girls to help me make these pretzel trefoils later in the morning:


(These are the ones I made last year...before a generous blogger friend suggested that I might find green M&Ms at the candy store...which sure beats sorting through the TWO BAGS of regular M&Ms like I did last year.  And of course then somebody had to eat all the non-green ones...it was a real hardship!)

Last week the girls and I made some St. Patty's Day cards.  The girls used watercolors to paint some cardstock green.  They used my heart punch, and then we glued those in the shape of a shamrock.  I'm not going to show a picture, though, as we haven't quite made it to the mailbox.  ;)

For lunch, I'm planning GREEN...steamed zucchini, broccoli, cucumbers, avocados, green grapes, and these shamrock chips:

(I found these on Pinterest, and I have my spinach tortillas ready and waiting!)

And for supper, if I get my act in gear, we'll have GREEN split pea soup. 

It's nothing too elaborate, but I love any excuse for some holiday fun!

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hands.

Wishing you and your leprechauns a blessed day!!!

It Was Kinda Like a Vacation Day...with Friends!!!

Deanna and I had been talking about getting together for at least a year and a half.  We live less than 200 miles apart, and some of our “stomping grounds” overlap.

Yesterday was finally the day!  It was a gorgeous almost-spring day, and we met at the zoo.

Anxiously awaiting the arrival of A&M!

Our families seemed to fall right in with each other.  Deanna is so very kind and personable and down-to-earth.  Her girls are nothing short of precious, and so well behaved!  And her hubby is super nice and very hands-on.  They are such an awesome family.

Such a sweet family!

My favorite of A&M, "balancing" on the timbers lining the walkway.

We toured the zoo at a leisurely pace, stopping to take lots of pictures (of course!).  The animals were fantastic, as always…but I was considerably more taken at watching our four little beauties.  

Four little monkeys, climbing up to see the monkeys.  :)  :)

Running to see the elephants!

So sweet of B and A looking at the meerkats.  A and M were nearby...but I couldn't quite get everyone in the same photo frame.

Looking for the cassowary...I love the warm sun on their backs.

I am almost SICK this picture is out of focus!  I was on the opposite side of a little bridge, shooting through the railing.  I'm not sure what happened...but you can at least get an idea for how these four got along seamlessly.

We spent about three hours at the zoo, and then we agreed to meet at a nearby outlet mall for lunch.

Lunch may have been what impressed me most of all.  The seven of us piled into a six-person booth.  The girlies got busy coloring, and the adults had ample time to chat!  Once our food came, everyone ate really nicely, and we got to talk some more!

After lunch, we said our goodbyes.  I’m sure my hubby would have characterized them as “Southern goodbyes”…as they took quite a while!  Hugs were exchanged all around, and it was so precious to see the wee ones embrace.

After we parted, my girls and I went to do a little bit of shopping.  They were such good helpers!  I got them each a shopping bag, and they were content (at least for the 15 minutes we spent in the store) to collect things as selected them.

When we got back to the car, I couldn’t believe what time it was!  By the time we drove home (about 75 miles), we’d been gone a full eight hours!  That’s by far the longest time I’ve ever been gone from home – by myself – with the girls.

I was pretty tired, no doubt, but I am still marveling at what a fun…almost vacation-like…day it was!  The girls were well-behaved, and that makes the world revolve smoothly, for sure…but it was also so nice to be hanging out – leisurely!!! – with friends.

Looking forward to next time, Deanna!!!

The Doctor is In!

The girls have been very focused on playing "vet" for the past two days, and it is very serious business!

Baby A has taken off her scrubs and white coat only to eat and sleep.  Baby B is typically the nurse, and the girls like me to play the role of the animals' mommy.

The set-up is quite involved, far beyond using the stethoscope, otoscope, blood pressure cuff, and giving shots. 

There must be books and toys in the waiting room to keep the patients occupied, all carefully selected and arranged.

There are medicine cups and water bowls and special "vet bottles" from the play kitchen.

There are toys to be given after each appointment. 

There is a cash register to collect fees. 

And this morning, there was an elaborate walkway constructed [using virtually every puzzle, card game, and plastic stacking toy that we own] to lead patients to and from the examination area.

I love seeing the girls pretending...and it's so much fun to see the seriousness with which they play at times.

Our kitty Sasha has kept her distance, though...and I can't say I blame her.  The rate with which these two give shots and prescribe medicine is a bit alarming.  :)

Turn Around, Bright Eyes

It’s been almost a month since we made the switch, and I’m just now writing about it.  Honestly, it was a very bittersweet transition, one I had a really hard time embracing.  Hubby was adamant that it was time, though, and I’ve finally become a little more comfortable with it.

At four years and a little over a month old, we turned the girls’ carseats to face forward.

When the girls were born, the guidelines were consistent for forward-facing…one year old AND twenty pounds.  Our girls didn’t hit the 20 pound mark for quite some time after their first birthday…and by then there was talk about rear-facing until age two.

Before their second birthday, though, I began to read research, much of it cited from other countries, about the benefits of extended rear-facing.  I couldn’t get some particularly graphic images out of my mind, and I vowed to keep the girls rear-facing “as long as possible”.

I didn’t have a specific “goal” in mind, but I knew I’d make the switch before they started kindergarten.

The challenge for our family was that the rear-facing seats didn’t allow the front seats to be adjusted very far back from the dashboard.  That made it extremely uncomfortable – and dangerous – for my husband to drive, and maybe even to ride so close to the airbag.

Our girls are now four.  They’re bigger, and taller, and stronger.  On the growth chart, they are close-to-average, or above, in some cases.  I didn’t give my husband my blessing when he turned their seats around…but I didn’t outright refuse him.

There.  I said it.  And it’s OK.  I know we’ve waited a long time to make this transition, and I’m pretty comfortable with it.

And now I have to share some of the “funny” that’s come with this switch.  The girls were seeing the front of the car for the first time ever…at four years old…and their questions and observations were downright hilarious.

They were fixated on all the buttons, and they had to ask what each of them did.  And then, “Why do you have the keys there?”  They were asking about the ignition!

For a long time, they were focused on the direction indicator on the rear-view mirror.  “Mommy, we’re going north!”  “Mommy, ‘S’ is for south!”  “Mommy, what is ‘NE’?”  “Mommy, why did it change?”

They’ve been very interested in the mirrors, too, wanting to understand why we have mirrors in the car.

And the funniest was when it was raining a couple of weeks ago when we were coming home from school.  I was really alarmed to hear the screech from the back seat: “Mommy!  It’s going FAST!!!!!  Mommy, they’re going to hit each other!!!!!”

My heart dropped as I scanned frantically for an impending accident.

It took me a couple of seconds to realize the girls were just commenting on the windshield wipers.  The rain had hastened, and they sped up to keep pace.

Whew.  Deep breaths…and some laughs…as we embrace this new direction.