Bucket List

I guess I got bored tonight, or I was avoiding the work I need to do, so I made a Bucket List. Here it is...

Be in a flash mob

Stay in a hut over the ocean

See the Grand Canyon

Travel to Australia

Go to high tea

Hug George W Bush

Go to Israel

Go on a mission trip with my family

Learn to sew

Do a forward roll and come up shooting my gun

Safari in South Africa

Learn to fold a fitted sheet

Sit on the floor at a Mavs game

See my kids ask Jesus into their hearts

Be in a studio audience

Birthday Video

The two of us are two!

The twins turn two this week. This last year has gone by so quickly. We are so thankful for them and the joy they bring.

Charis is a ... well, I don't have words. She loves to dance and really likes it if you watch her. She loves her baby dolls. She has the heart of a teacher/ mother. She is a little me but, it isn't appropriate yet since she is two. When Drew gets hurt she walks over to him and looks at the part of the body he hurt and then says "nope" and walks away, like he is fine don't worry mom. She recently has figured out that Elmo is cool. She loves him, Abby, and Zoe. Really she just likes to look at pictures of them and talk about them because she is pretty disinterested in watching Sesame Street. Beneath her sass she really is a sweet girl. She loves her brother.

Drew is a sweet boy. He has the best laugh and snorts when he gets going. Drew loves anything that resembles an activity his Dad does. He has started to really enjoy books. Drew loves puppies and would play outside all day if he could. He is a good eater and that makes me so happy. Drew is a fun boy and makes us laugh.

For the twin's birthday this year we had a donuts and PJ party. I love their birthdays! It is so special to me to remember the gift God gave us when he blessed us with these 2 crazies. I also love our friends' kids and it makes me so happy to see them all together. I think back to when we all didn't have kids and would stay up late talking every weekend because we could, or when we prayed for their babies, or when we visited them when they were born and now they are all here and it is so amazing to me. We are so blessed to have these people in our life.

Donut cakes

My talented friend, Catherine, has a business and made the flags, invitations, stickers, and party favor sign. Check out her awesome blog here.

We had each kid put their handprint on a canvas

This is the birthday boy sporting his safety goggles, weed eater, and chef's hat.

My friend, Michelle, was nice enough the sew the two on the twin's PJ's. She is crafty and nice.

Charis is ready to bake

Lanterns for party favors

The next day we went to my Mom's and she had a family party there. It was decorated really cute! My Poppi was sick and we missed him and Mimi but it was a great afternoon. My aunt was there and it is always fun to see her.

The kids have partied hard and are so tired but not too tired to drive this...

My Dad got them a Jeep. They wake up saying "Jeep" and "ride". They don't even care if it goes, they just want to sit in it and play.

We are very blessed to have the family and friends that we do. We are so thankful for each of them. Happy Birthday, Drew and Charis! We love you so much and are thankful God let us be your parents.

what we've been doing...

We have been staying busy. Here is what we have been up to...

keeping the town safe, even when we're nekkid

singing a million renditions of The Wheels On the Bus before bed

riding horses

licking our spoons clean

teaching the kids to drive

swaddling "baby" Charis

tickling

teaching our baby dolls to use their EYES and not hands on the tree

riding reindeer

I am behind on the blogging...

Here is a pic of the twins and Stephen trick-or-treating. The kids were pretty confused by the whole thing but played along.

Ho, Ho, Ho

We have been playing inside this weekend because it is raining. The kids have done well being cooped up. We watched the rain for a while with the door open and apparently that was exciting. I love to see how happy they get over little things.

In a few weeks these two guys will be two! I can't wait to see all that they will learn and do this year. They still seems like babies to me but I know in a year they will be real kids that sleep in beds and don't wear diapers (Lord willing:)). So I guess it is time to adopt a baby... not really, unless you have one you want to give me ;).

FOR SALE

For Sale!

We are selling our dining room furniture for $1100 OBO. It is painted black and we painted the hardware to funky it up but, you can easily paint the hardware black. It comes with a table, 2 leaves, 6 chairs, 2 captain chairs, a lighted hutch, and custom table pads. It really needs to move. We are trying to make room for the kids' big boy/girl rooms. PLEASE pass this on to anyone who might be interested.

A few funnies...

A few funnies for the week were:

I was telling Charis that Jesus is always with her and then asked "Who is always with you?" and she answered "Drew". She is right. He is always with her, too.

My kids, scratch that, DREW, has been a sleep terrorist this week. He wakes up EARLY and I am dying. So tonight I said (more to myself) as we were driving into the driveway "Tonight we will sleep so good. We won't wake up until 7:30. Can I get an amen?" And from the back Drew piped up and said "amen". He isn't very verbal so it was even more funny.

The other morning Drew wore a hat and Charis kept saying "hat, hat". I was in a hurry and so when I finally looked at her she had her red panties on her head. She wore them that way all the way to Bible study because I enjoyed looking in the mirror and seeing that. In the parking lot I sounded ridiculous saying, " Charis you need to take your red panties off. You can't wear them on your head to Bible study". She complied very easily.

My train conductor and bumblebee

We are so funny...
Lift on three...
Cheese!
walking together
hold my hand...

This morning I got a few pictures of our train conductor and bumblebee. These kids are so fun. It was hard to get Drew to stand still for a single shot so we will try tomorrow.

Boring mom stuff

We are taking a fabulous Bible study called Growing Kids God's Way. We had to miss last week because we had a puker but, they talked about structure in the home. I know some people thrive on it and some don't. The teacher in me loves structure and my little Type A child, Charis, loves it as well. Drew, bless him, just lives in the moment and for caca(outside) and Dada. I don't think he even knows we went to Colorado for 3 days. I want to remember what we do when I look back one day so I am putting it below. I know some people start all this in the first year of their child's life but, I was still surviving so this schedule has only been introduced in the last 6 months.

Since I came home from the hospital with two little mouths to feed, bottoms to wipe, and babies to get to sleep we had to have a routine. It worked so well for us. They have always done very well eating at the same time and we have only had minor hiccups in getting them to nap at the same time. As they get older our routine has changed.

My kids have an "independent" playtime in the morning. I use quotes because at this time it is independent of me but they are twins and play in the same room. My goal is to add an afternoon time that is truly independent with them in separate rooms. Being a twin is strange to me. I guess because I am only child but the fact they have NEVER been alone is weird to me. I know they are fine either way but, I want them to have truly independent play time because I want them to learn how to be alone and not depend on the other without even knowing they are. We do blanket time after nap and they enjoy it. Charis loves it because she is type A and feels very good about herself after she accomplishes her blanket time. We do some structured play stuff too. Drew is fine but, his language is a tad behind. He is more physical than verbal. So we have started working on some things together. I am not worried about him but, I am home so I thought we might as well work on it.

I would love to know what activities, games, etc other moms do. We do the typical dry pasta, playdough, water stuff but, I have heard of some pretty creative moms. If you have a fun tip please pass it on. I am just doing some verses with them that I did with my kindergarteners but I would love any recommendations on Bible memory products or cards. I heard there is an ABC verse kit. Does anyone know about that? Okay, that is all the riveting stuff I had to talk about. I am such a party animal, huh?!

Now hiring

Today I am tired and so I decided I need someone to follow me around and be my backbone. They can remind me that it is okay if my children cry. It is not my job to keep/ make them happy. They need to say "you are the parent". It sounds so simple. I think I will refresh during nap time and then with a prayer I can remember these things.

Our week- 22 months

The kids are about 22 months old. They are growing so much and learning something new all the time. While we were in Colorado Honey pointed out the airplanes to the kids and told them that Mama and Dada were flying on a plane. So now Charis is really into airplanes. She calls them "airs" and always signs and tells me "more airs". I love that she thinks I have such power in this world that I can command the planes to fly over on her beckon call. I wish I could do that because I have never seen such joy as when she sees a plane.

Drew is really into unscrewing things. Stephen told me Drew unscrewed something on a Mercedes hubcap the other day. He unscrewed our faucets, too. One day I put pasta into different containers that screwed closed and he spent a glorious 30 minutes unscrewing each, pouring the pasta and starting over.

One day I told Charis I loved her and asked "do you know how much I love you?" and she very confidently answered "lots". I was shocked because I first of all didn't know she understood all I was saying and second, didn't know she would answer me. So now she answers who loves her and how much. She says Jesus loves her lots.

Granddaddy came over and read to the kids this week. They love when he comes by. They put on quite a show and think his beard is neat.

I love all these kids. This is Charis with her BFF, Katie, and Drew. Katie is such a cutie. She is a happy girl. They are only 6 months apart so they will be in school together.

I took Drew to the allergist this week and in 14 days we should have more answers about his allergies, especially his peanut allergy. I loved the allergist and she said that in a few years they should be able to start desensitizing kids to peanuts, so maybe Drew could get over this one day! I pray so because he needs to know the joy of a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. He didn't cry at all when took 3 vials of blood. I chickened out and had Stephen take him because I was scared he would freak.

Books

I have heard about the Hunger Games trilogy for a while but I finally just read the first book. It was great! I thought they were Christian fiction but they aren't. They are great though. The books are set in the future which normally would turn me off but, it was very engaging and the world isn't depicted all robotish and stuff. So I recommend the Hunger Games.

My next pick is a little treasure that I picked up at Half Price Books when I was looking for a potty training book to help teach the kids. The book is called The Gas We Pass. It is both entertaining and informative. It is not kid appropriate because it is very crass but I, apparently, have the humor of a seventh grader. I included a few pictures of the pages below...

People fart too. Bubbles rise... plip, plip, plip

The illustrations are so bizarre.

When you begin to fart after an operation, it means your intestines have started working again.

That is true. I love the man celebrating with his arms up.

Colorado

Stephen and I tool our first trip from the kids. We went to Colorado. Stephen had a conference there and so we went early and made a vacation out of it. It was so great to be able to spend time together with no schedule. Colorado is really beautiful and hippie. We spent al lot of time in Boulder which is probably the "Austin" of Colorado. It is small but a college town and very "granola" with a side of left wing politics. They are known as a foodie town and we ate some great food.

On Sunday we took a hike. The hike was labelled strenuous but we made it. It was beautiful and the people in the trail were very friendly. Stephen and I took our time going up because the altitude made it hard and it was great to stop and see the gorgeous mountains. The way down was fast.

On Monday Stephen had to work and so I just shopped a bit and read. Monday night we had a client dinner.

Saturday and Sunday I was with Stephen and busy so I was fine being away from the kids but by Monday I was ready to hug them. The feeling wasn't mutual. We got the cold shoulder when we got home. Oh well. They had a great time with grandparents. We are thankful for the babysitting so we could go. We are blessed with great families. Drew and Charis had a blast.

Miracles happen even in Walmart...

Charis is "advanced". She is only 21 months and already going through the "terrible two's". She has started throwing some pretty spectacular tantrums. They are impressive in their length and endurance. She threw one on Tuesday that left her with hair wet from sweat and me praying on the floor and Drew riding me like a pony.

Yesterday we went to Walmart. I had made it 1/3 of the way down my list when a tantrum set in. So I hurried to check out line and cringed as I pulled up knowing that I was "that mom". I was ready for the looks. But a miracle happened... God put me in the perfect line. The lady in front of me loved kids and wasn't fazed by Charis. She talked to the kids and didn't act like anything was wrong with my child or me. The sweet cashier told me I was a "special mom" and when I apologized for Charis she called her a blessing! It was so nice of them to treat me with such grace. People love sweet, happy kids but, it was so nice for someone else to see the value of my kid even as she was not at her most loveable.

I know a lot of kids throw tantrums and we will get through this phase. She has a lot of sweet traits and I pray God uses her "spunk" for His glory as she gets older.

Stephen's Saga

Stephen has been working hard the last 3 days. He had some money from selling his Bronco and so he decided to make a man cave of sorts. We had a unused portion of our backyard that he wanted to make a patio and use for his grill and smoker. Hold a minute. The smoker is being made by Marcus Watson, one of his best good friends. It will be shaped and painted like a golf ball. It is a guy thing, I guess.

Stephen read online how to make a flagstone patio and got to work. It looks great! Tonight he got a chimnea. We call it Grumpy because it looked especially grouchy compared to all the others. Here are his before and after pictures.

Random

I lots of randomness to share. So here it goes...

Pops and Honey came to town. They have a new camper that they parked at Lake Grapevine and we went out to visit. The kids LOVED the ducks. We started feeding them and then from the farthest reaches of the lake more ducks and GEESE came. Geese are feisty. One in particular bit me 3 times. We all rode the golf cart around and Drew liked it but, was scared to "drive".

My Mimi, Mom, Aunt, and I went to lunch to celebrate my Aunt's 25 th birthday! We love this little tea room and go there for lunch occasionally. It was fun to visit with my girls. The kids hung on until lunch was over and then I had to scoot to put them down for a nap. This is Charis with her reading glasses at lunch.

My Mimi gave the kids two old cell phones to play with. They love it! This is them in the car. I kept hearing them say "herro", "bye" over and over.

The twins are 21 months old. That is almost 2! My Drewby was sick again today with a fever. As I was rocking him this afternoon I thought about how fast a year has gone. A year ago they had bottles at 7am, 11, 3pm, and 7pm, they ate baby food and some solids. They crawled everywhere. We had a dog. We won't talk about that. They took 2 naps a day and had no hair. Wow, now my babies drink from sippy cups, eat people food, take one nap, run everywhere, talk, and have cell phones.

Side note: if you are taking prayer requests here's one for ya. I KNOW that I am sooo super BLESSED to have healthy children. But, they had a hard winter/ spring last year with being sick and now we have been sick all month. They had a stomach bug, fever, stomach bug, fever. So I know it is all little stuff but, it is hard when they are sick and then Stephen and I get it too. So please pray that they have good immune systems and can stay relatively healthy this fall, winter, spring.

Dina, her sister, and I went to Canton at the beginning of September. Dina showed me this giant doll and said it reminded her of Charis and it did me too. Maybe it was the belly and "ta da" attitude...

Jesus Loves Me

My kids are not morning people. I tried to sing "Jesus Loves Me" to them while they ate breakfast and this is the response I got. Stinkers. Maybe I will sing it to them when they are in jr high and have friends over. I bet they will like it then.

Mother's Day Out

These little toddlers started MDO today! I was so excited for them because I knew they would have fun and I could catch up on lots of stuff. The kids and I say thanks to Granddaddy!

When I took them to their class it was so fun. They have sweet teachers and knew all the kids. There were NO TEARS! I didn't expect to be a little sad. They are getting so big. When I picked them up Drew was still asleep on the floor. The teacher said that Charis fussed at nap time and they they held hands for awhile and she fell asleep. Sometimes they surprise me, they really do love each other despite all the fighting. I am thankful they have each other and I always pray they keep a close bond.

I found lunch boxes on Etsy and my mom bought them the matching backpacks to start "school". They were so cute and Charis like to wear her's even though it is bigger than my baby.