No.....not yet.

All these months, have you been sitting at home wondering

if Austin and Logan suddenly became better dressers?

Well, that would be a definite...nope!

Enjoy....

Austin modeling size 24 months shorts?  Striking grey socks paired with brown shoes.

Logan choosing a bright ensemble of orange and red, accented with Halloween socks.

Next up, Logan (on the left) appears fairly conservative,

but he did sneak in a pair of my footies that hang way over his shoes.

Austin chose a patriotic theme for the day.

I just don't have the words.  

I asked him a few times...

Why?  Why the socks, Austin? 

But I never got a response....

And, the piece de resistance?

......

Yep, this little outfit got us quite the attention/comments on an evening trip to Chick Filet!

Sadly, the boots accompany several outfits these days.

Are they super hero boots?  Nope.

Astro boy boots?  Nope.

Then, why? you ask?

Duh!  Because. 

They.

Are.

his "Comfy shoes!" 

Welcome Home, Nonnie!!

We went on our mini-vacay and then Nonnie went on a big trip up North. 

We haven't seen her in a LONG time!  

Gary wanted to surprise her with a little TLC to her flower beds.

(awww....such a sweet man, so glad I married him!)

So, he pulled a lot of weeds and mulched.

And we got the twins to make her two window boxes.

Logan showing the "before."

And Austin displaying the "after!"

We missed you, Nonnie! 

Welcome Home!

Time for the Big REVEAL!

Ta-dahhhhhhhhhhhh!

;-)

Isn't it lovely!?!

Yes, it did take quite a few weeks to finish!

But OH so worth it!

The kids "lockers"

Gary built fishing pole racks and hung additional shelving for the tackle boxes.

And organized a bazillion tools!

We now have a much needed "extra" pantry!

Does this wall even need an explanation? 

Okay, now for a little Q&A.

Funny nobody really asked much during the contest.

But we got lots of questions AFTER!  ;-)

How did it get like this?

Well, first off, we're not hoarders!

;-)

(Although, we've seen the show.

And it's scarey!)

I won't go into too much detail.

But, in short, Mason and Evan's entire life belongings had been in a storage unit that was not being paid on.

And it was all going to be thrown out.

Gary drove to Florida, tried to sort out as best as he could, but there were just too many boxes.

So, he rented a U-haul and brought everything up here...

...to our garage!

Over the years, we went through and found the boys belongings that they wanted to keep. 

Their baby albums, etc.

And unfortunately, we also needed to sort through and sell some items in an attempt to recover some of the huge debt incurred from paying off the storage unit and driving a U-haul a bazillion miles.

Just as we were windling down that pile.

..On the day Gary and I flew out of Guatemala with the twins.

My aunt passed away.

And she had graciously left us most of her stuff - to sell off to offset some of the adoption cost.

We were super grateful, but low on time.

So, once again....

U-haul + garage = storage unit!

We were very busy raising 4 boys.

And then, my dad passed away.

Then, my brother.

And more "Stuff" just kept getting shoved into the garage,

...in the hopes that we would eventually get to it.

Sort it out.

Sell what needed to be sold

and keep what needed to be kept.

Donate/trash the rest.

We were way overwhelmed!

And that's why we are SOOOOOO

Grateful to ALL of you who voted and solicited (shamelessly) for additional votes or us!

And SOOO grateful to Lite 98, Clutter Cleaner, and The Closet Factory!

Over the last few months, Gary and I have been going through room by room and keeping up with the decluttering!  Mason's room is now a nice little office/craft room.  Our closets are not overflowing anymore.

It feels good to be able to "breath" in our "space!"

So, in case, we haven't said it enough....

THANK YOU!!!

Impromptu Mini-Vay-Cay

Gary's car broke down. 

And he needed to hijack my car to get to the beach....to chaperone Evan's senior beach trip.

Rather than stay home alone with no car....we hopped in the car heading to the beach!

Evan was not thrilled.  ;-)

But, he recovered and actually came to the hotel we were staying at

for some swim time and got a good meal out of the deal, too!

Daddy and his boys at the beach!

Bee-YOU-Tee-FUl sunset!  I LOVE this time of the evening at the beach!

So do the boys, they wanted to go to sleep here!

"Here, Gary - lets take a self portrait!"

Logan at the pool!

Austin at the pool!

Riding their "bikes" in the pool! 

Austin surfin'

Logan just finished ridin' a wave!

(Both boys thought the salt water tasted GREAT! 

They "drank" it and licked their fingers ALL day long! ewwww!)

Logan jumping the waves with Daddy!

I call this one "Mommy, the human towel."

And here's me with the boys before an awesoem Putt-Putt adventure!!   

;-)

We had a great time!  Super relaxin'.  We don't get much down time or away time. 

And very little "family" time (Gary's and my days off never coincide).

So, this spur of the moment trip was an incredible blessing! 

~~~
"Special" memories/notes of the trip...

On the way there (5.5 hour drive), we stopped for lunch and Austin and Logan who have been going through the "I'm over you" stage of their relationship had a lit "run-in" at the Mc D's.
While we were waiting for our food (to go), some sort of "issue" developed over a straw
(never mind that Mc D has 1,000's of straws - the each wanted this ONE straw.)
Anyway, Austin took off running and Logan pulled the old "flip the foot"
that sent Austin sprawlin' right in front of all of the other customers. 
Knowing the battle was lost, I was trying to get the keys from Gary
and Gary is trying to point out to me that the kids are going crazy.
In the meantime, Austin gets up and retaliates against Logan
with a full-force shove sending him flying the other way.
Keys, Gary.
Donna!  The kids are attacking each other.
(And I'm spilling both of their drinks STILL trying to pry the keys out of Gary's hands).
Suddenly, the look on Gary's face drastically changes to horror
about the same time I hear loud GASPS coming from behind me. 
I turn to see the horrid looks of customers and Austin sprawled out on the floor again. 
By this time, I've finally wrestled the keys away.
Kept composure and just started walking out of the door.
I do take the time to smile calmly at the woman who hasn't bothered to close her mouth yet.
My look simply said, "All in a days work for me."
Later, I asked Gary what I had missed behind me.  He said that Logan body tackled Austin. 
~~~
At the pool yesterday, Logan was snuggiling under a towel on my lap and suddenly held up his arm,
"Mom - am I brown?  Is I?"
~~~
During the trip, Austin and Logan resumed best friend status and for the first time EVER,
played by themselves ALL day long.
People always tell me how lucky I am to have twins "that play with each other."
They don't realize that Gary and I are still expected to play with BOTH of them ALL the time. 
So, it was really, really neat to sit back and watch them entertain themselves. 
We also got sunburned because of it. 
~~~
At the Mongolian restaurant, Austin loudly asked the waitress "Why are you so short?"
~~~
Both boys kepts repeatingly telling us how THANKFUL they were for their vacation!
;-)  Us too, boys!

Life getting in the way of blogging!

Doncha hate that!

This week, we had in-laws and family arriving in town for Evan's BIG graduation day!

We are SO proud of Evan and can't wait to see what the future holds for him!

This week, there were lots of parties and celebrating.  The boys were up WAY too late EVERY night!  And yet, STILL awake very early every morning.  This made for a week of glorious, outstanding behaviour from them.  Or NOT!

They spent a whole day with their grandparents.  And behaved remarkably well!  They went to "Old" McDonalds, the mall, Walmart, the hotel, and for icecream!

And they came home with their new Big Boy bikes!!!  

Yep - our boys are now upgraded to 16 inch bikes....and they are requesting ramps.  NOT gonna happen.  Not gonner happen!

They also finally had their FOUR year old check-up.  And for the first time in three years, I went in armed with questions! 
Me: How much sleep SHOULD they be getting? 
Doc: 10 hours. 
Me: NOOO!  Not fair!  Not Fair!  Not Fair!  Shouldn't they be sleeping like 15!?!

Me: The potty training or lack there of?
Doc:  It happens
Me:  NOOOOO!  NOt Fair!  Not Fair!  Not Fair!!  Can't we send them away to Potty Training Boot camp?

Me:  They eat NON-STOP, ALL the time.  Shouldn't I be limiting the amount of food?
Doc: No.  Not really.  They're healthy, not overweight and they're growing.  And it sounds like they are eating mostly fruits and wholegrains, so I'm not concerned.
Me:  NOOOOO!  NOt Fair!  Not Fair!  We're feeding and cleaning ALL day long!! 

All of these questions were taking place in her office and despite my BEGGING,  BRIBING
 and (slightly) threatening their lives, neither twin sat STILL or QUIETLY during the Q & A.

Me:  Okay, THIS, this CONSTANT MOTION and ACTION.  THis INABILITY to SIT. STILL., for more than 2 seconds.  That can't be normal.  I mean COME ON.  (read: HELP ME!)
Doc:  They are some of the BEST listeners I've ever met.  I examined both of them completely in under 10 minutes.  Most 4 year old do not listen NEARLY as well.  Do you get complaints from school?
Me: um, no.  But, I mean - COME ON.  Seriously, LOOK at them, they do NOT sit still.  EVER!  (Except at school, or to veg out at TV, but even then, they're jumping around on the couch.)
Doc:  They're excellent listeners.  They did everything I asked.  They are just active.  They're vocab is amazing.  They can concentrate.  Focus.  I have no concerns.

But as a mom to twins herself, she smiles and says, but then again, they're not my children!