Naked Jeeping

So the summer fun continues, this time in the form of some naked jeeping. Why wear clothes when you have the privacy of your own personal backyard oasis? Well, most of us are at least semi-clothed, but Walnut prefers to go....well, without.

Aren't my boys beautiful? They may have three very different color heads of hair, but those eyes are all mine, and all BLUE!
The boys prefer the "naked jeeping", but Sweetie and I would rather swing in the shade any day. Occasionally I can even get them all to sit still for a quick group picture...didn't last long, Little Red took a nose dive about 3 seconds after this picture was taken. In case your wondering TOWW is out here too, he's just covered in mud, busy working on one of his ongoing summer projects.

Fun in the Sun

Summer is here. No doubt about it...it's hot. My usual summer routine is to close all the blinds, crank up the A/C and hide inside all day in my underwear, but for some reason my kids don't enjoy the self imposed lock down as much as I do; so for their sakes I occasionally partake of those hot, sweltering, summer rituals. Yesterday I took everybody swimming. I don't know how I thought I was going to get much swimming in while holding four kids who can't swim and are, for the most part, terrified of the water. I guess the thought of diving into that cool blue water had me mesmerized. After slathering every square inch of baby skin with 50 SPF sunscreen...quite the task in and of its self, "we" moved towards the water. "We" is actually me holding two babies, dragging a terrified 2 year old, trying to restrain an overly eager 4 year old with nothing better than .99 cent water wings to protect his precious little life, while praying my swimsuit doesn't ride up any more, because I don't have a free hand to retrieve it. They cried for the first half hour, by the second half hour we made it off the steps and into the water. I felt bad for little Walnut, I think he would have benefited if his mother could have played with him a little in the water, but as it was my arms were full, so mostly he just played on the stairs too scared to trust in the life jacket he had on. Peanut had a wonderful time, he was in heaven splashing, jumping, swimming. I did my best to watch him, but he very quickly put all his faith into those cheap floaties, needless to say, we now owe his life to a pair of .99 cent water wings. I did manage to take a couple of quick dips myself, so refreshing, but after a few hours we were officially water logged.

I dragged all the kids out, and proceed to change three baby bums from their swimmer diapers back to regular diapers, no one wants a mess in a swimmer diaper, they hold NOTHING! By the time I got everybody strapped into their car seats, they were hungry and tired. I stopped at McDonald's and got chicken nuggets and fries for the crew. Ten minutes later they were all asleep, with chicken nuggets LITERALLY hanging out of their mouths. I drove home and proceeded to make four trips from the hot car upstairs carrying sleeping kids. I was exhausted and sweating profusely. I laid down on the floor by the A/C vent and fell asleep ignoring completely that swimsuit wedgie, praying tomorrow I can just stay home instead.

Backyard Oasis

It was ALL TOWW's idea. I would have been happy with a simple tree and a couple of plants, but on this one, he definitely got his way....and I couldn't be happier with the result.
It all started about three years ago, with a simple landscaping plan that he assured me would not last more than a couple of weekends and cost only a few hundred dollars.
THREE years and a LOT more than a few hundred dollars, we have the most beautiful backyard on the block! It sounds beautiful, it looks beautiful, it is beautiful, most days I just kick back on my comfy lounge chair and take it all in.
The boys love it, their own personal waterfall and river in their very own backyard. We spend a lot of time outside. It's strange to finally just sit and enjoy it instead of working on it as we have the past few years.

I think we finally have the yard exactly where we want it...I guess that means it's time to move. No, we're not moving (calm down Reta)...yet, first we need to enjoy this beautiful backyard oasis that's all ours.

Daddy's Day

Daddy's are the best. Daddy's are stronger than Mommy's, Daddy's can carry four kids up the stairs at the same time and still have the energy to laugh and splash while washing them up in the tub. Daddy's wrestle and tickle until you nearly pee your pants. Daddy's are more fun too, because they don't even mind that you peed on the carpet, that's what Mommy's are there for. Daddy's are nicer too, by the time they get home from work, Mommy's can be really tired, Daddy's swoop in and save the day, Mommy stops yelling and can finally concentrate on dinner.
Daddy's are more creative, they can think of funner things to do, like Popsicle stick boat races down the stream out back, and mud monsters in the driveway. Mommy's just want to clean. Only Daddy's are willing to drive a 12 foot ladder half a mile down the road just to retrieve your $1.99 kite tangled high in a tree. Daddy's don't care if you make your bed or not, in fact Daddy's like it unmade, just in case he decides to take a nap with his boys in the middle of the afternoon. Only Daddy's can pee the right way (this is still under debate) and only Daddy's are willing to share their deodorant.
Daddy's never want to rush the bedtime ritual, instead patiently reading "Sponge Bob goes to the Dentist" for the TWELFTH night in a row! Only Daddy's are willing to let toddlers help in every aspect of a building project, holding tools, running errands, measuring wood scraps, digging in the mud, Daddy's don't care if you get dirty, in fact I think Daddy's find shared dirtiness a form of bonding. Daddy's can make smiles out of the most stubborn two year old scowl, and Daddy's can hug harder than Mommy any day. Daddy's are the best....our Daddy is the best!

The big ONE

How do I sum up the last year? Wonderful, exciting, crazy, messy, chaotic, noisy, fun, happy.....love. Yep, I've loved these last 12 months. Having twins is all those things and so much more. Exactly one year ago today I was being wheeled into an operating room to give birth to two premature babies. It was exciting and scary. The delivery was fast and pain free, but I was left with fear and loneliness as the twins struggled with complications of their prematurity over the following days. Fast forward to today, also exciting and scary. I'm excited my babies are turning one and scared at how fast the last year has passed. It has been a whorl wind. Little Red still so true to his name has a full head of red, curly hair and is weighing in at 23lbs and is a whole 2 1/2 inches taller than his sister, he's walking that wobbly, stiff legged baby walk and loves blueberries. He's terrified of the stairs and loves to kiss with his slobbery mouth wide open. His favorite game is peek-a-boo and when he's really tired he sings himself to sleep. Sweetie weighs 22lbs and despite being significantly shorter than her brother is just about average in height. She's frightened of strangers but has the cutest little vampire tooth on one side of her mouth when she smiles. She reluctantly wears her bracelets but pulls every barrette from her hair within minutes of being placed. She never stuffs her mouth with food, instead eating each tiny bite thoroughly. She's my angel and I'm so lucky to have her. Their doctor officially confirmed today that they are finally on track with their age group. So on the agenda for today, birthday pictures and a little party. The pictures turned out great, they smiled like the little angels that they are, and the party was a huge success. Little Red loved all his gifts, especially the pink tissue paper his sister's presents were wrapped in!


So after one year what have I learned? First, twins are great, they are not twice the work, they are twice the fun. Second, having a daughter is everything and more than I hoped for. Third, naps and showers may be few and far in between but enjoyed so much more when I finally get one or the other. And last, I am sure of few thing in this world, but one thing I am sure of is how much I love this little double duo of mine. Happy Birthday babies!

Return of the latches

Would you believe I put the cupboard latches away just last weekend? I don't know why, I've been living with them for years. I think I was reaching for a pan and thought "wow, Walnut is finally old enough to stay out of my cupboards". Obviously I didn’t think it through....

This is what I found after leaving the babies unattended in the kitchen for a mere five minutes this afternoon. Needless to say we are now all latched back up. See the gleam in his eye? Little Red's the obvious ring leader!

Off and Away

The day has come, sooner than I had hoped. Peanut and Walnut just left for their Aunt J and Uncle R's house. They are so excited....and SO AM I! OK, so I'll miss them a bit for the THREE whole days they'll be gone. Can you imagine, I'm only gonna have two babies, that's it! Wow, who knew the day would come when having only two babies would seem like partial retirement? Anyway, here they are, my beautiful boys, both with their packs, off, off and away!

Packed and Ready

OK, so I mentioned casually in passing yesterday at a family party that Peanut could spend a night or two at his Aunt J and Uncle R's house sometime this summer. I guess he heard me, when I checked on him last night after he had fallen asleep, I found his backpack all packed, hanging at the foot of his bed. First thing this morning he told me he was all packed and ready to go.....we'll just see about that, I peeked and he did pretty well. He's got his sleeping bag all stuffed in here, which is why both zippers are broken and barely holding together. He's remembered his favorite blanket, this is the yellow thing hanging out the bottom.
He remembered a book, rarely a night goes by without a bedtime story. And this is Moosey, his FAVORITE toy in the whole world, he'd never leave town without his buddy, which by the way happens to be a bat not a moose. Apparently he's planning on wearing the same clothes every day and every night, he's not packed a stitch of clothing other than one pair of underwear......whew, at least he'll have clean underwear! So apparently he's all ready and waiting to come for his sleep over Aunt J, let me know what works for you.