Unwanted Purchase

Sadly we are now a crib-free house. Last Thursday morning Drew woke up crying - it was the "I've lost my pacifier" cry. It was early so I went in, gave him back the binky, and left. He was irate. The next thing I know I hear the door open and he storms down the hall to my room to tell me that he did not appreciate my dismissal of his needs (I needed to sleep til 7 - what about my needs?). Dane promptly followed suit so now every morning between 5:30 and 6:15 they are up and ready for the day. We are trying the gate at the door and toys in the room. Still waiting for them to catch on to "please play quietly in your room until 7am" but we will keep trying. Today it took an hour to get them to nap for 50 lousy minutes. The cribs are gone and I suspect the naps are next. Just when we get in a great routine...

Quarterly Update??

Well I guess its come to life being so "busy" that I can only document our life every quarter.  The term "busy" I use loosely since I seem to find plenty of time to watch TV etc.  July was pretty rote - pool, gym, etc. (except for my patriotic July 4th kids)

but August was a whole different story!

Gulf Shores:  A nice long weekend right before school started.  I had envisioned these two awesome pictures of my four angellic children on the beach.  The first shot with them sitting facing me and the next shot of their backs.  My sister took 50 shots of some version of:

School Started for Caden AND Claire! So I'm the big dork mom who put Caden on the bus and then raced the bus to school so i could walk him to his classroom.  He was publicly mortified but secretly glad I was there (or that's my story...)

Amanda and Bill's weekend away with NO KIDS!  We didn't document us laying by a pool for 8+ hours that Saturday, but we do have photographic evidence of our kids with their awesome babysitters.  Thanks Aunt Lauren and Uncle Mike!

And finally, my cute babies who are just cute.



A new pattern

When the twins are put to bed:

When the twins wake up: 

 oy vey!

Evidence...

...for when they're teenagers. We will remind them what a good Daddy they have.

Spring 2011

Since the twins arrived life is a blur.  The last two months have been no exception!  Here's a recap:

 

• We bought and installed a gate for the back porch.  Since we have no deck furniture it has become a massive playpen.  I'm not complaining - we can get deck furniture any old time.  For now, a safe outdoor space for the twins is priceless.  I have even been able to mop the floor in the middle of the day instead of after bedtime...it's the little things...

• I love holidays like Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day.  The expectations are so low.  I got Caden all dressed up because he had school on March 17.  He wore the hat for photos but refused to wear it at school. 

     

• The twins have discovered the cabinets.

 

• We sort of went nuts for Spring Break.  A trip that had the potential to be 100% miserable for all involved actually turned out to be pretty great.  My aunt lives 15 minutes from the Tampa Bay Rays Spring Training Complex.  Guess who is a big Tampa Bay Fan??  Nick!!!  Spring Break this year happened to be in March (usually its in April) and the rest of the stars aligned for us to make the 13+ hour trip down there.  Nick and Bill attended 4 games and we were able to fill the days with beach outings. 

 

• The twins LOVED the beach which makes me so happy.  The beach is always our family's preferred choice of vacation and I was really worried that they would not like the sand and the water.  They couldn't have been happier with so much free space to roam.  They didn't love the water - probably because it was on the cool side, but they would go up to the edge and let the waves touch their toes.  They loved to eat sand - probably because of my "YUCK" reaction.  In case you're wondering I did not doctor the pictures of the water to cause jealousy.  The water was actually that color.  In about 20 years when Bill and I disappear you can find us in Boca Grande, Florida.  You can come visit, too!  It was a great trip.  We were glad to be able to do that for Nick before he goes off to college.

 

• Caden has started karate.  He LOVES it.  It really suits him and his teacher calls him a natural (I'm so glad that my son is a natural at hitting and kicking things - hmmm).  He's only been at it for 2 months but has already moved from his white belt to his gold (NOT yellow) belt. 
• The middle picture is him on the day of the kindergarten preview.  Thanks to a good friend I was able to leave the younger 3 at home and go with Caden to this special event.  We toured the school, got a snack in the cafeteria line and were taken on a bus ride.  Caden was on cloud 9 on that bus.  August will bring a flood of mixed emotions.  Caden (MOMMY) is ready for kindergarten. It has become very evident over the last couple of months that he is bored and ready for a new challenge. 
• Next up - Claire turns 3 and Nick turns 15!!

Snow, part 7

7 snowstorms so far this winter! With all 4 kids at home this was not the winter to be stuck indoors day after day. (Not that it would have mattered since we are at school snow day #9 or #10 - lost count). Fortunately SuperDAD came home yesterday before the snow melted to take the older two outside to play. Since we live in the south we do not own snow attire. Caden is wearing hand-me-down boots (thanks C) along with mismatched gloves, SHORTS over long pants, soccer socks pulled up to the thighs and a couple of t-shirts. Claire is sporting tights, leggings, pants, another pair of socks, short sleeve tee, long sleeve t, and sweater and yellow rain boots (not pictured). They say layers are the key to keeping warm, right? At least I had the sense to buy them each winter coats! Next week 50's and 60's. Can't wait.

SuperDAD and MediocreMOM

MediocreMOM

• Stays inside
• Stays in pajamas until 2pm
• Stays inside

 SuperDAD:

• Takes children outside in 30 degree snow
• Pulls said children in the sled
• Takes said children to not one, but two sledding locations
• Stays outside with said children for over an hour
• Does this in the morning and afternoon
• Has snowball fight with children
• Builds collegiate snowmen in his yard AND the neighbor's. Appropriate teams in both yards.
• Enjoys this enough that MediocreMOM worries Carribean retirement might be changed to Aspen.