Thursday, April 29, 2010

Tree Pic & De-Lurkin'!

It's that day!
Today is the day for Austin's and Logan's annual Tree Picture! 

And that can only mean ONE thing!!
It must be Happy Birthday Day!

Hard to imagine that 4 years ago, two little souls were brought into this world.
3.5 lbs (Logan) and 4.5 lbs. (Austin)
Such little babies.

April 29, 2007
After eleven long months of waiting, we planted a tree for the boys
when they weren't home yet for their first birthday.


April 29, 2008
Two years old

April 29, 2009
Three years old


April 29, 2010
FOUR years old!!

Awww...my babies are growing! 

Austin and Logan, we love you, dearly!
You make all our days bright, fun and completely exhausting!
Happy, Happy Birthday!

And......
It's the one time of the year, I beg my "lurkers" to de-lurk and wish the boys a Happy Birthday!
A lurker, by definition, is someone who visits the blog on a regular basis,
follows the story but never or rarely comments! 

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Birthday Season!

Does anyone else have a birthday season?  We do!

It starts in Febuary and runs through June!  Every weekend birthday, birthday, birthday - sometimes 2 a day!  lol

Here are some random pics from our Birthday Season par-tays!





Thursday, April 22, 2010

OHMYGOSH - A GiveAWAY!

Woo-woot!  

Awhile back I signed up for a free sample of lotion.  Free stuff is good stuff, but this stuff is AWESOME stuff!   The cream has worked brilliantly on Gary's cracked feet, the twins ashe-y skin and on my delicate, overworked hands!

Isn't it nice when you find something that WORKS? I don't know about you, but I'ld much rather spend money on products that work than products that just take up space on my shelf.

Lucky for YOU, you don't have to spend any money at all!  The nice, nice folks over at Formula II are giving away not ONE, but TWO jars of their 8 OZ cream  That's a whole lotta cream folks! 



How Can You WIN this  $24.95 value cream?
1) First, visit their website, and then come back and tell me something you like/learned about their cream
2) For a second chance, become a Fan on Facebook (and leave me a comment telling me you did!)

Contest runs through midnight Saturday.  Winners will be chosen by random.org and announced on Sunday!

Good luck - May the best (TWO) win!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

This and That!

The boys have gotten a little more freedom in the neighborhood so we have been drilling street rules into their awesome little brains!

I caught Austin FLYING down the driveway on a scooter and NOT checking for cars.  I caught up to him and was reminding him of his error when he made his way back up the driveway and repeated - right in front of me as I was yelling at, um, correcting him!

Fast forward 15 minutes, he's sitting on the stairs in timeout and is getting released.  "Austin, what is the rule again for outside play?"  He replies, "Look this way, look that way and yell 'NO CARS'."  "Okay, well, you didn't do that.  And then right in front of Mommy when I was reminding you of the rules, you did it again.  WHY would you do that, Austin!?"

Without fearing my tone what-so-ever, his face lit up and he said, "BECAUSE Mommy, it was so  AWESOME!" 

*******
We always tell each other I love you this much - and show an inch with our fingers.  NO - I love you this much - and move our hands a part.  NO - I love you this much - and pull our arms apart.  And then we compete to see which one of us can make the biggest space!

After another 'round on the trampoline where we started jumping in the air making star shapes (hands and feet out as wide as they could go), we started telling each other "I love you STAR much." 

******
After watching a particularly funny "old" Micky Mouse skit on TV, Austin said "back'fartd."

You farted?  "No, back'fartd" Your back farted? "NO!"  Um, Logan farted?  Micky Mouse farted?

"No, Mommy!  Back'farted it!"

Aww - my little sourthern dude - you want Mommy to back. forward. it?    As in, rewind? 

******
Awhile back, Aunt Patsy was modeling new clothes for a convention.  She came out in a bright colored jacket.  She was pointing out the colors to Austin. 

"My jacket has red.  And yellow.  And black."
Austin interupts her with a very studious, "We call those PRIMARY colors."  I'm quite impressed with my 3 year old.  He continues, "Yes, the little bunny hops in the blue paint.  The little bunny hops in the yellow paint and the little bunny makes GREEN paint!" 

Have I mentioned I LOVE our preschool?

******
Both guys see symbols everywhere.  "Daddy, my pizza is a triangle!"  "This bed is a rectangle."  Three sippy cups aligned on the table - "this is a traingle, Mom."

Last week, Logan says, "Mom, our dinner plate is an octogon..  See (Counts the sides to eight).  Just like a stop sign.

Smart boys!

******
Evan likes to play with the twins at night right before bed.  One night, the twins were really into a tv show when Evan crashed in the bed with them. 

Evan says as he was playing with Logan, he felt Austin just staring at him.  Evan turned around, met Austin's eye-piercing stare and raised eyebrows.  Austin finally said, "Evan.  Don't you have some homework to do?"

*****

Last night at bathtime, I was drying off Austin.  Logan was still sitting in the tub, "Mom, do I have bubbles on my "turtle?"

Yes. No.  What, Logan?

Do I have bubbles on my turtle, Mom? 

Um, no.  I don't think so, dear.

Mom, Look. 

I'm beginning the think something may have happened, rash? irritation? lint?

So, I peer over the tub and he had, well, apparently discovered his balls.

This is Logan.  My sports FINACTIC.

Balls? Can I bounce them, Mom?

****
It's no secret.  Austin and Logan are active, high energy little boys.  Before we go ANYWHERE, I run down ALL the rules! 

Do we run in the store?  Do we hold Mommy's hand?  Do we shout?  Do we knock things off the counter?  Do we...
"MOM," Austin shouts, "That's too many words!  Just say 'em one at at time.  All I hear is blah, blah, blah....."   

Have truer words EVER been spoken? 

****
Allergies have been kickin in and Gary has no voice.  He was working on the boys new bunk beds and Austin (surprise) wasn't listening.  Unfortunately, Gary got hurt.

I quickly ushered the boys out of their room, down the hall and into our room, all the while uttering my mommy rant - "You boys have got to start listening.  The first time Mommy and Daddy say something.  (blah, blah, blah)"  

Logan is leaning up against the door jam, foot crossed, casually sipping his capri sun.  "Me too, mommy," shakes his head - "I'm just sick and tired of it all."

Spontaneous BURST of laughter erupts from me.  "Really, Logan?"

Logan continues to shake his head, "Austin is AWAYS whining and I'm jut sick of it, Mommy!" 

****
Mornings.

They start out really well.  Quiet.  Snugg-a-ly.  Laughter and smiles.

I dole out my "dressing requiremnets" for the day.  I determine, long sleeves, short sleeves, pants to the ground (which we all start bopping our heads and singing ....pants to the ground, pants to the ground, looking like a fool with your pants to the ground).

I leave them to shoes and socks! They come up with darndest of combinations.  I check for underwear.  Logan's favorite method of travel is "commando." 

Somewhere in the hubbub, inevidently, the mornings go awry.  And I end up yelling.  Yelling.  and yelling.  To get everyone out the door and into the car.

Today, was no different.  Until...

From the side of my eye, I see Austin attempt to do the "Pre-school flip" with his backpack. The Pre-school flip is when you lay your jacket on the floor, away from you.  You slide your hands/arms in it and then flip the jacket over your head.  Voila!  Jacket is on.

This morning, I made the twins pack up toys for Nonnie's house.  Their choice?  The entire Geo Trax system.  Together we shoved it into a giant backpack.

When I was doling out commands in preparation for our exit, I guess I told one of them to grab the back pack. 

So, when I look up and see it go flying through the air, with Austin's arms attached to it as he performs "The PreSchool flip, " he takes two giant leaps backwards as the weight of the back pack propels his body out of my sight. 

I have tears of laughter running down my face as I turn the corner and see him spralwed on his back like a turtle! 

Nothing cracks my kids up more than knowing they sent Mom into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, so we all end up in one big pile of laughter on the floor!  Now THAT's a way to start the day!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

New frontier

Last Saturday, Nonnie, the twins and I headed off to my cousin's church for her sons' baptism.  As the proud soon-to-be Godmother, I had to get to church early.

We were hanging out in the large foyer and right around the time it was for me to walk into the seperate room with the my Godchild's parents for our pre-flight instructions,  Logan starts dancing in front of me, "Mom I gotta go PEE - NOW!"  Okay - rush, rush, rush - where's the bathroom?

We follow directions.  Down that hall.  Turn left.  Turn right.  Third door.  I open the door while the boys, as always, are drilling me with questions:  Is this the MEN'S room or the ladies?  I dunwanna go in the ladiees?  It's the family kind, I tell them as I open the door to the large handicap accessible restroom.   I load everyone in,  Logan arrives to the potty first.  Austin a very close second.  Almost immediately Austin turns to the side and starts spitting.

WAIT!  What are we doing?  There's no SPITTING on the church bathroom floor!?!

Aside:  One of the things we are working on right now is pulling our pants ALL the way to the ground. 

"Working on" is code for "One to two thousand times a day, Mommy and Daddy are going to repeat a certain phrase."

Using words like "we" and "our pants" is a stupid arse way for parents to join their children's team - in an attempt to all be a part of the same "problem" and with it, the same "solution."   I'm proud to report that I have no problem pulling down my pants.  Neither does Gary.
   
However, my constant on-the-go boys DO have this problem.  They do not like to take the TIME to pull their pants ALL the way down to their ankles.  Instead, they take advantage of the ease at which God created boy parts to spew their contents.  You see, Austin and Logan don't drop their pants AT ALL.  They hook their thumb in and pull down the front of their pants, just enough for the turtle to poke his head out.   And in this case, on my Godson's baptism day, gravity takes over and what should be pointing south, well....doesn't.

"MOM - LOGAN just PEED in MY MOUTH!!!"

Caught somewhere between a dog's confused head tilt and a deer in the headlights look, I panic!  This was not mentioned is any ONE of my pre-adoption classes.  NOONE in my twin support group has brought up this situation.  I even performed a quick mental file inventory of ALL the blogs I read.  NOPE.  nothing!  I was on a new frontier.

Thank GOD my Mommy instincts had already kicked in.  Cuz when my brain turns back to the dire situation in the room, the contents of my purse have been emptied on the bathroom floor and I am frantically diving into it looking for a breath mint, a piece of gum, hand sanitizer, Swiss Army knife!  ANYTHING to help with the situation.

All the while, Austin continues spitting, gagging and HITTING his brother.  His brother is still peeing, but in between hits, he looses control of the grip he has on his not-pulled-down-at-all pants thus trapping the turtle in his current upward state and pee continues to spray the bathroom.  For the LOVE of GOD,  WOULD somebody PUT A CAP ON THAT TURTLE!

When the waterworks have finally stopped, I, by the grace of God have escaped any damage.  The front of Logan's pants are wet (surprise), but nothing a pulled out polo shirt can't hide.  Bless his heart, Austin's shirt is quite pee spotted and streaked.  Parts of his pants are too....and...

....he is still spitting.

I wipe the floors.  The walls.  And contemplate standing on the toilet in heels to wipe the ceiling.

I sanitize everyone and everything.  I double check our appearances,.  We certainly look more dishelved coming out than going in, but we are ready for departure.   We make our way back to the church foyer.   At the end of the long hallway, I see Daddy.

"DADDY!" Austin cries out with renewed anger, "Logan just [insert hand clamp on the face]!"

Gary: "Okay boys, let Mommy go meet up with Sam's family.  And lets spit out the gum.  No chewing gum in church."

"THE GUM..."  I stop myself, readjust and then start again slowly, this time a few decibels lower.

"...ahem, The Gum.  Gary.  STAYS."  I deliver the message with a stern "trust me on this one, I'll fill you in later on the details" look.



Dear Sam - I promise to always protect you and to make sure you know just how much God loves you.
I also promise to always take you to the bathroom by yourself!


Disclaimer: We do not really refer to any private part as "turtle," but that particular image fit the story and I wanted to ward off any nasty google searches from landing on my blog!  ;-) 

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Head Gear!

 Usually, both boys are very, very well-coordinated. 
However, the other day it seemed like every 5 minutes,
ONE of them was injuring their heads
...took a corner too fast and slid into a wall,
...didn't duck in time and clipped a chair,
....wrestling on the couch, fell off and BUMPED his head!


After about the 8th time (or so),
I had had ENOUGH! 
And declared "That's IT! I've HAD it!" 


This was my solution:


(Pretty as an Easter Bonnet, isn't it!)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Who loves giraffes?

That would be Austin and Logan! 
On a recent trip to our city's finest (zoo) with some other twin Mommies,
all I heard about were the GIRAFFES!  

The self dressing duo

"Look, a baby turtle!"
NO! Where are the GIRAFFES?
 That away, Mom! 
"Um, Hello, giant giraffe face"


Truly, the giraffe feeding IS a fun experience for the kids. 
I don't mind petting them and looking into their beautiful eyes, but their tongues are quite brillo-padish.
Yuck!

(and shhh, don't say anything, but ALL of the individual photos are of Logan. 
Good thing they're twins, I can just say I got them covered!)

Monday, April 12, 2010

My baller...

He's got mad skill!


Saturday, April 10, 2010

Dinner with Dad!

Most days the kids and I eat our dinners together. 
But when Daddy comes home, Austin and Logan are always ready for Round 2!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Boys!

Our neighborhood is inundated with BOYS! 

Count 'em  - TEN! 
And we're even missing a few more.
 
These are our next door neighbors and best friends!
Sean and Logan play basketball all day long. 
Austin and Ryan play with all the action figures and Geo Trax.

They get along so well!
I am still friends with the girls I grew up next door to.
We shared our whole lives together.
We "witnessed" each others youth.
It is such a treasure.

That's why the above picture brings tears to my eyes.
Sean and Ryan are moving. 
;-(
Just a few neighborhoods over.
We'll all still be friends.
But we won't be next door neighbors.
Barb and I are co-mommies! 
I'm gonna miss that.
Her boys have full access to my house.
And mine hers.
;-(

On the up side, anyone wanna be my new neighbor?

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

In-Home Movie Theatre

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Flyin'!

Warning - if you have a weak stomache (Bobbi!) do not look at this entire post! 

They were learning how to "back" dunk!
Taking their superhero roles seriously!
Even superheroes get tired!

Okay - STOP looking!  Serious fearlessness ahead...

Lord!  My heart drops everytime I see these pictures!
This did not look half as bad in person! 
In real life, Evan is bouncing back up with-in milliseconds and catching them. 
It seems I captured maximum height and separation.

Shwew!  Okay - you can look again...


Monday, April 5, 2010

Easter 2010

The Easter bunny delivers!

Austin was very worried about the Easter Bunny being in the house.
Was it going to be a person in the bunny costume or a real bunny?


(Logan on the left, Austin on the right)
But after seeing their batman underoos and sunglasses, the bunny got two thumbs up!

Loaded with sugar and wearing their underoos underneath, we headed to church.
Momma's boys clean-up good!
Nonnie and her boys

Brothers!
Austin and Evan
Looks like my dad was resurrected too and joined in the Easer egg hunt at Nonnies. 
NOT!  That's my husband!  How freaky!
More loot!


Friday, April 2, 2010

Family Photos