Living in Maryland

Winner!

2011-02-13T20:58:00.002-05:00

Congrats to Domestic Diva on winning the $45 gift card! She wants to buy this blanket. Hope you stay warm and cozy in that! Email me at safirecat@gmail.com in 48 hours or I will pick a new winner.

Safire

$45 CSN Store Giveaway

2011-02-04T23:45:00.002-05:00

Everyone,

Who wants $45 to buy WHATEVER you want? I know I do! But I thought you probably would buy something more fun than me (we're out of diapers, again...sigh) so here is $45 to spend on something fun from CSN Stores!

What are CSN Stores? It's only the place where you can buy everything under the sun. From adjustable bar stools, to filing cabinets (which we got over the Christmas break) to even flea and tick medication for your dog. Seriously, they have everything! Shipping is fast and check out is easy. Although picking something to get is not!

Giveaway Rules:

This is an easy one. Just follow this blog. (You'll see the little widget on the side...click to join those lovely people and enter this giveaway.)

Then come on back and comment to tell me you entered. You can even tell me what you want to buy with the $45 gift card*. Easy as pie.

Giveaway will end one week from today, on Friday Feb 11, 2011 at 10pm EST. (Sorry west-coasters...this girl has got to sleep and I think I've given you plenty of time to enter!)

Good luck and I can't wait to see what you get!

Safire

*Giveaway doesn't include shipping costs.

Cyber Monday

2010-11-29T23:17:00.001-05:00

Everyone,
I hate going out shopping at the store during the holiday season. It seems that everyone is in a hurry and is not very friendly. I love to spend my time shopping online instead.

And what am I shopping for? Well, I won't tell you what I got the kids since they might read this (hahahaha!) but I will tell you what Juice's Christmas is going to be like. Because frankly, he knows what he's getting. In fact, he is using one of his presents right now. What is it you ask?

He wants nice luggage sets for all of his travels.

And what does Juice want in his luggage? It has to be a carry on size. It has to have wheels. And the pull handle has to be tall enough that he can take a full stride without clipping his heel. It has to have a pocket on the outside to hold his paperwork, and a quick access to his liquids. He wanted it big enough to fit a week's worth of clothes, and be able to bring home his paraphernalia from conferences.

Not a big request, right? Right! And since we got it in September, he's been making good use of his new suitcase.

If you've got someone who is hard to buy for this holiday season, I suggest some luggage! Always useful. Just keep in mind Juice's requirements and you too can have a good holiday present.

Safire

$45 Giveaway

2010-10-25T22:07:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

We got our extra set of kitchen chairs from CSN stores this summer. They are great.

What would you be looking for? I am still browsing those dining sets and dreaming of the day when we can get a great one.

Want 45 dollars to buy something fun at CSN stores? Here's your chance! Leave me a comment telling me what you would buy with the 45 dollars if you win.

Giveaway runs until 10pm EST on Halloween! Comment as many times as you would like.
Happy Commenting!
Safire

PS- Also posted on my main blog...Waterfalling Up.

It's My Party

2010-09-16T07:54:00.002-04:00

Everyone,
Today we went here:

(Baltimore for those who don't know.)

And rode this:

And we saw this:

All because of my birthday!
Presents are a part of a birthday celebration so I thought I'd invite all of you to join the party! You have a chance to win a $45 gift card from CSN Stores. They have EVERYTHING. You can get modern bedding, kitchen chairs (like we did a few weeks ago) or even luggage. You would have a whole $45 to spend on whatever!
Just leave a comment on here telling me what you would like to get. (It might also be polite to wish me a happy birthday, seeing as how it IS my birthday today.)
As a bonus entry, you can go vote for my picture at Parenting By Dummies. I'm a finalist! Just come back after you vote and comment to let me know how much you love my picture. Oh, be sure to say that you voted too!
Contest ends one week from today, September 20th. I will announce the winner on the 21st. And you can come back and comment (and vote!) once a day until next Monday.
Happy Commenting!
Safire
PS- You might come back tomorrow for ANOTHER present. And the next day for another. Because I want to give away 3 presents for each decade. :)

Breakfast Nooks

2010-08-11T14:10:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

We have a weirdly shaped kitchen. When you walk into the kitchen from our dining room, it's almost like you're walking through a small hallway and then, bam! The kitchen opens up to the left of you. On the right, it's filled with things like a refrigerator, a stove and cabinets. To the front, more cabinets and a sink. Plus a nice window. And beyond that, our washer and dryer. But to your left? Nothing. Just a wall. And a corner. And a non working phone jack that we hide with the calendars my mom makes us every year. (LOVE those things.)

Currently in that space is our garbage cans. But I've often thought of doing something different with that space. Either putting more cabinets in there or one of these:

Doesn't it look so cute? Now all I need is a really nice sunny window there in my own house (har har har) and it will look stunning. And when I put that in there, I'm going to take apart my dining room and make it into a play room. And while I'm at it, let's put in a new beautiful floor. One that doesn't have nails sticking up. And maybe paint the house fun colors. Sigh...there just seems to be not enough space in this house, or money in my pockets all of a sudden!

Safire

PS- Also posted on my new site: Waterfalling Up.

Dining Room Woes

2010-06-24T21:49:00.000-04:00

Everyone,
We bought our current dining room table at a garage sale in Utah. Actually, I think my grandma bought it for us as a wedding present. It was $80 and we had to bargain for the fourth chair. When we were first married, it was a lot of table! We used it partly as a shelf and partly as a dining area.

It did not survive the move across the country well. But Juice had a bunch of free time on his hands. So with a little wood glue and some clamps and screws, it was a good table again. Butterfly joined us at the table when she was around 2 years old and didn't want to sit in her high chair any more. She's painted, colored, craft-ed, on that table. So have I!

People would come to visit us and we would always have to pull out our camp chairs to fit everyone around the table. No big deal since then the visitors would leave and we would put away the chairs.

Now that Flower is here for the summer, our table chair situation has become dire. We have 4 chairs.

And four big people that need to use the chairs. And 2 two year olds that WANT to use the chairs.

Even without Flower this would be a problem.

So we need new chairs! Juice even agreed we need more chairs! I'd like them to match (close approximation) to the ones we have. Honestly what I'd really love is a new dining room set. I have been saving money for one that I intend to buy at the Amish Market before we leave the area for good (no, we are NOT moving right now). I'd like something like this or like this.

But wait! I just found this one which would be ideal. Why? Because the chairs I have already match this one and then I would have extra chairs!

What's one thing that these dining room sets all have in common? They all have benches. Juice's parents have a big table with benches on either side and I love it. You can cram a bunch of people on the benches and not have to worry about getting extra chairs.

But until I have the money for that, I'll make do with 2 new chairs.

Safire

PS- Also posted at my new site: www.waterfalling-up.com

Dreaming

2010-05-20T14:21:00.001-04:00

Everyone,

This morning I was sitting on the edge of the bath tub brushing my teeth and my mind wandered over to our bathroom vanity. I had 2 minutes to kill so I started dreaming about actually re-doing the bathroom and getting rid of the crappy vanity.

Our house was built in 1974. How do I know this? Because there is a very old piece of paper from the original inspector shellacked to the inside of that vanity. So if the vanity was new in 1974, you can only imagine what it looks like. It’s dark brown. The cupboard door does not stay shut by itself. It’s held shut by a baby lock. (Double duty! Keeps kids out and stuff in!) The counter top (the tiny amount we have) is creamy tan with flecks of shiny stuff generously sprinkled through out. The sink is starting to rust (slightly) and we’ve already replaced the faucet and hardware because it was squirting straight up.

After I was done with my teeth, I thought I’d search different bathroom vanities and see what I came up with. Just dreaming, since we’re done improving this house. But I can dream at least! Here’s what I found:

I really like this one. I love the old fashion pump look and the raised bowl. Although it would take some getting used to to have the water coming out of the side than the front!

I like this one too. I may have a thing for raised bowls in the bathroom. Juice thinks I’m crazy, but I just love the look! Sadly, I see a few things wrong with this one for us again. It would be too hard to child lock and under those legs would be a trap for toys and hair and whatnot.

This is the one I would buy if we were swimming in money. It would probably fit into the alcove that the sink sits in our bathroom now. It’s all the way to the floor and looks like it has a generous cupboard under the sink. Plus, the sink sticks out a little and I like that! There is even a good amount of counter space which is what Juice wants in the bathroom.

Of course, if I was swimming in money, we’d have a whole new house with a proper yard and a basement and a large playroom and my own horses and barn near the well stocked pond. Good dreams…

What are you dreaming about?

Safire

PS- Reposted from my new site: www.waterfalling-up.com

Moving Day!

2010-05-09T09:19:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

I am pleased to announce the Grand (re) Opening of my blog! You can check out our new permanent home on the we:

Waterfalling Up

Please please please stop on by. This week will be a week full of giveaways and fun stuff for you. It's also kind of a learning curve week for me as I fix the bugs that are there and get it running smoothly.

I will no longer be updating this blog as of today. So please, change your book marks, change your feeds, and join me on the other side!

Safire

PS- This site will still be up for awhile, but eventually will fade away. You'll want to join me on the new blog if not for the giveaways, but for Butterfly's 5th birthday tomorrow!

Baby Reunion

2010-05-08T20:12:00.004-04:00

Everyone,

I don't talk a lot about our infertility struggles (hardly at all) because I choose not to talk about them here. Needless to say, we've had struggles, and we've had successes. Three of them!

My infertility clinic has a huge party every Saturday before Mother's Day to celebrate these successes. We always love to go see our friends and show off the kids.
Today had all the regular fare (love Marriott ham and muffin sandwiches!) and all the regular fun for the kids. This was the first year that Pirate and Professor participated in the face painting. They got balloons on their arms. Butterfly had 2 butterflies painted...one on her hand which got washed off during a potty trip, and one on her arm.

We left with very tired kids and 3 teddy bears to add to our collection.

We had a great time at this year's reunion!

Safire

Blueberry Bushes, a Stitch, Throw Up, Oh My!

2010-05-07T20:05:00.005-04:00

Everyone,

Where to begin? Well, let's start with Lolli's picture meme. No, let's start with an announcement! My new blog is almost almost finished. Sunday is the day I will unveil it in a grand (re) opening. And what is a grand (re) opening without prizes?! I have a whole week's worth lined up for you guys. Be excited. I have some AWESOME things to win too.

Now, on to Lolli's picture meme:

See what we bought today? I am SO excited to try and grow blueberries. We've got the pots and now we have the plants. Hopefully we'll have blueberries through the summer. I'm a little nervous because I haven't had a great track record growing things. Hopefully these will thrive and we'll be enjoying a few freshly grown berries from our own back yard.

Earlier in the day, I decided to cut up some avocado. While I was cutting, with my new awesome knives, Professor came running into the kitchen and slammed into my legs. Which made me loose my grip on the avocado. So instead of cutting the avocado, I cut my finger. Deeply.

Juice was on his way home (I love early Fridays) and my neighbor Lala came over to watch the kids while they napped. Juice drove me (bleeding) to the urgent clinic. The doctor was very nice, cleaned me up, and looked at the finger. Because of the pressure I had been putting on it, the wound was very neat looking. He cleaned it up, wrapped it up, and sent us on our way.

We bought the bushes, went to the store, and got some more gauze for my finger. In the course of these errands, my finger bled off and on. So much so that I soaked through the gauze (hence the new gauze at the store).

Once we pulled off the soaked gauze, the wound looked terrible. It had opened and was all jagged. It also moved funny when I moved my finger. Rats. I went back to the doctor. He took one look at it, poked it more, and declared it needed a stitch. Cleaned, numbed (by a cream), and sewn together once. He then put some wound closure tape on it and told me to come back if it bleeds a lot.

That adventure over, I came home and helped put the kids to bed. About half an hour later, we hear, "Mommy Daddy! Pirate threw up!"

Uh-oh. Wow I didn't know how much stuff his stomach could hold. One clean bed, one clean boy and one long snuggle later, and one sleeping boy. Poor kid.

I am beat. My finger hurts. And hopefully those blueberry bushes will be still green tomorrow!

Safire

Gift Giving From Twins

2010-05-06T15:12:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

The boys were invited to a birthday party. It's their first birthday party for a "friend" (they are newly 2, how friendly can they be?) We ran to the store to get presents and suddenly I was confronted with a huge dilemma. One gift or two?! So I left the store without getting anything and asked the lovely people of twitter what they thought I should do. I had 6 people respond...3 for one present from both boys and 3 for 2 presents from each boy.

So what's the right thing to do?

There are a few things you should consider when giving gifts from twins:

The age of birthday child.
Your budget.
The nature of the invitation.

Now both boys and Butterfly were invited to this party. It's a joint birthday for a friend of Butterfly's and the friend's baby brother. Who happens to be a week younger than my boys. We are going to a bounce house play place and they are giving us dinner.

In the end, I decided to get the birthday boy 2 presents, one from each of my boys. What brought me to this decision? Really it came down to this:

If I want people to view my twins as two separate people (and I do), I also need to treat them as two separate people.

I thought about it from a singleton mom's point of view inviting twins to a party. If I needed to have a head count of the party goers, I would count the twins as 2 separate people. Not one. I would have a gift bag and treats for 2 people, not just one. The only thing I would probably do for them singularly would be to send the invitation.

So we'll be headed off to the party this afternoon with 2 gifts for the birthday boy.

What would you do?

Safire

Thankfulness

2010-05-05T07:22:00.001-04:00

Everyone,

At the park yesterday there was a pair of toddlers wearing matching shirts. I went hunting down their mom because here was another twin mommy! I first approached her friend (who was watching a toddler of her own on the slide) who pointed me in the direction of their mom. Their mom was sitting on the side with her iphone out. The friend informed me that the twins and her boy were 21 months old. Twin Mommy had brought their nanny along to the park. When I saw Twin Mommy again (kids pulled me away), she was on the playground talking. After saying hello and pointing out my boys, I made some kind of light hearted joke about how fun it was to be at the park with twins. (Being slightly sarcastic, of course. Being at the park with twins is tough work.)

She looked at me over her sunglasses and made this noise in her throat. Then she said, "Well I have help." She walked away from me pulling out her phone. My mouth hanging open.

I'm not sure why I was shocked. I mean, I had seen them there with their nanny. She probably had a job and was taking time out of working to spend time at the park with her sons. I just don't know why she didn't spend that time WITH her sons and let the nanny do all the work.

Yes having twins is hard work. Yes going to the park with them at this age gives me a huge headache. Yes I've watched them climb up ladders and get stuck. I've had to climb into small slides to rescue them. I'm frequently running across the park to save someone from certain death. I think I end up being more tired than they are after a park trip.

But I don't get it when people aren't mentally checked in to their kids. Is it too hard to put the phone away for an hour and be with them? She missed her boys waving at my boys and a super cute twin moment. I hope she doesn't miss other things.

I am grateful to her, however. This reminded me to be more checked in with my own kids. I watched Pirate sit quietly and watch the older boys playing with their back hoe toys and nicely ask to play. I watched them welcome him in and his face light up. I watched Professor climb all the way to the top of the play structure and look back at me and say, "Hi Mommy! Look me!" I watched Butterfly learning to make new friends by telling them, "Hi, I'm 4! I'm Butterfly! Want to play?" and how much fun she had ordering these kids around (the little empress). I listened as she proudly said that she had 2 brothers the exact same age and the happy glow she got when the kids were suitably awed. I watched Professor wave good bye to everything...tree, slide, tunnel, flowers, grass, port-a-potty, etc. I watched Pirate's little legs pumping as fast as they would let him go to try and catch up to the big kids.

They sure are amazing. I am so lucky.

Safire

Today Was an Outside Day

2010-05-04T21:59:00.005-04:00

Everyone,

This morning was horrible. The kids were NOT listening, not being good, and trying to break things again. The boys had 4 or 5 time outs before 9am. I wanted to put them back into their beds and just call it a day after they put all their cereal in the dog water and then smeared it all over the walls.

There was no mommy time this morning. Meaning I didn't get my exercise in for the day. I barely got into the shower when I heard screaming from the other side of the door. I actually like the screaming because then I know where they are. They are standing right outside the door, unhappy, but not getting into mischief.

Trouble makers.

When I had a moment to look at my email, I saw my friends from church were meeting at a park to play. I wrestled all three kids into clothes (Butterfly didn't want to go. She was having "too much fun at hooommme!") and shoved them in the car with water and snacks.

We stayed at the park for almost 3 hours. Butterfly cried when we got in the car to leave. She really wanted to go back to that park and play with her new friends. We had chicken nuggets for lunch with a friend. Butterfly spent most of the boys' nap time outside running in the front yard with Soot. Then dinner. After, we spent another hour outside.

They stopped ruining the house. They stopped driving me crazy. They picked me wild flowers and discovered ants. Butterfly tried to climb trees and ran back and forth with Soot. It's so much less stressful outside.

It would be good to remember sunscreen for me though. My nose is burned.

Safire

Screaming and an Ouch

2010-05-03T10:07:00.004-04:00

Everyone,

This morning we had to take the boys to the blood draw lab. I set up appointments for them online (love that I can do that at 10pm on a Saturday night) around the time I thought we could make it and Juice could still make his 10am meeting this morning. Because there is no way I'm taking all 3 kids to the lab by myself.

It was raining. The kids slept in because it was dark. I ended up having to WAKE them up and throw them in the car to make it on time. Luckily, because they were sleeping, I was able to make up our super healthy "chocolate" shake (with no chocolate in it) for them to drink in the car.

We had the whole waiting room to ourselves when we got there. Pirate needed 2 tests, and Professor needed 6. They told me they may not be able to draw all the blood they need because he's so tiny. So we decided to start with him. I brought in a few cars for him to play with. He was very happy to drive them over the arm rest bar while the tech prepped for his test. He was great with the arm band restriction. And then she stuck him. He started screaming. The tech had to almost lay on his arm while I held him down so she could get 3 tubes from him. Hopefully that will be enough blood. I heard Pirate in the waiting room saying "Uh oh! Uh oh!" while Professor was screaming. He stop screaming the moment she offered him a sticker. He was very happy to leave the room and go sit in the waiting room with Daddy and sister, cradling his "owchie!"

Pirate also drove his cars across the arm rest and helped the tech poke his arm to find a vein in his arm. She stuck him and all he said was, "ow." No screaming, no trying to pull away. Just "ow." He was also pleased with his sticker.

Juice said that Butterfly told the waiting room that she wanted to have her blood drawn too and it was not fair that the boys got their arms poked and she didn't.

But what was fair was the trip to Krispy Kreme right after. Both boys would not straighten their arms and only wanted to scrape the chocolate glaze off their doughnuts. But I thought it was a great treat after being poked.

Once we got home, I asked them to show their owies to the camera and this is what we got:
I don't think Professor has a very high pain tolerance. Poor guy. But aren't their pjs so cute?!

Safire

Question of the Week: Splurge!

2010-05-02T09:44:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

This week's question of the week at Moms of Multiples site is about splurging.

What item do you splurge on? Why this item?

I've been sitting on the couch pondering this question while the kids spin each other on the computer chair. So what exactly is "splurge?" The dictionary says that it means to "to indulge oneself in some luxury or pleasure, esp. a costly one" or "to spend (money) lavishly or ostentatiously." Honestly, I rarely indulge in something for myself. I will buy expensive stuff when it comes to my kids.

And the one place that I really spend money on? Travel. We travel 2000 miles every year to see our family that lives in Utah. That's a lot of miles to go with very small kids! So I make sure that I have all the right equipment to make the travel go as smooth as possible. Head rests for the kids in the car? Yep. A special cool travel tray for Butterfly to be able to draw in the car? Yep. Toys and books and games to keep them occupied? Oh yeah.

Right now the thing I've been thinking of splurging on are these ride on suitcases. There are 2 things stopping me from splurging. 1- My kids will fight over them for sure and I don't think I want to buy 3 of them, let alone handling 3 through the airport! 2- Butterfly is very tall and I don't think she would be able to use it. Then she would cry. But it's an interesting idea. I'll have to think about it some more.

After distance traveling, we love to do day trips. Washington DC is an amazing place for day trips. There is so much to see and do here! And I try to make sure that we are able to do all those amazing things. We joined the aquarium so we can go whenever we want. That was a big splurge for us. Most things in DC are free. And in order to make those awesome day trips, I splurged on our amazing stroller. This is the best stroller I could have ever imagined for our family. It's so easy to push, so easy to pile things on, and so easy for Butterfly and friends to hop on and off the front. A great splurge for us!

I like splurging on this kind of stuff because it allows me to travel comfortably. And I love to travel!

Safire

Busy HOT Day

2010-05-01T20:15:00.004-04:00

Everyone,

I don't know what happened to the weather but it got HOT all of a sudden. The morning was beautiful, but the rest of the day kept getting hotter and hotter. By tonight, we're all roasting and enjoying our first taste of mugginess. Which makes Juice rather cranky. Okay, everyone is rather cranky.

Butterfly has had one busy day. First off, she went to the Home Depot with Daddy and built a planter box. (They do free clinics the first Saturday of every month.) She was beyond thrilled that I actually had seeds and potting soil to put into her new platter. I even had enough for the boys to make their own little pots of growing stuff (although no cool planter). They were happy.

Then, Butterfly and I went off to a birthday party. This is one of many this month, as Butterfly has many many friends born in May! We went to a paint your own pottery place which was lots of fun. Butterfly and her friends made some pretty cute stuff. She painted a turtle brown and green and black.

We had to stop by a grocery store on the way home, and then had dinner. Everyone went to bed (the boys yelling "Buzz!" "Woody!" for their new cute pjs from Nana). Now I'm ready to spend my first night at home in about a week! Yay for movies!

Safire

Calphalon Review

2010-04-30T21:20:00.006-04:00

Everyone,

A few weeks ago, I got a big package in the mail. I wasn't really expecting anything (I was actually not ordering stuff from the Internet if I could help it!) so I opened the box in anticipation. Surprise packages are always the best.

This box was an amazing gift too! I had signed up to review some pans from Calphalon but I hadn't heard back from them about when to expect them. So I was super excited about my brand new 10 inch omelet pan. (I had a picture but for some reason it's not loading. I'll try again later.) Here's the review I posted on their site:

"This pan is heavier than it looks! I was surprised at the heft. But it wasn't too heavy, it was a pleasant weight in my hand. After seasoning it (very easily washed and wiped with a little bit of oil) I promptly broke two eggs into. Perfect. The pan was the exact size I needed it to be, and the eggs came out great. Then I cooked two more eggs back to back to see what would happen. My old pan would have bits of eggs left over in the bottom, which would then burn. And then the second round of eggs would have bits of burned eggs through them. This did not happen AT ALL. I was so pleased that ALL of the eggs came out the first time and no residual was left to ruin the second batch.

Since that first day and the fabulous eggs, this pan has surprised me with its durability. It makes great grilled cheese, chicken, eggs, pork chops, etc. I have even warmed up pizza in it. (Works great!)

I don't find that the pan has any "hot spots" in it where some food heats unevenly. This sides are a good height for keeping food and liquid in but not too high that it's hard to pour out of.

The only thing this is missing is a lid. Thanks for making such a great product Calphalon!"

Also included in the package was something totally unexpected. An 8 inch chef's knife and a vegetable knife set. The vegetable knife set included a 3.5 inch paring knife and a 6 inch utility knife. And since they asked me to put a review on their site, I thought I'd just put it on here for you guys to read as well.

"These knives are so easy to use. They fit right into the palm of my hand and have a very nice grip. I have long fingers and I don't seem to be over shooting anything and they don't feel too small in my hands. They cut beautifully. It's almost amazing how well I now cut because of these knives. You can't go wrong with the quality. I love that you can see that the blade and the handle are all one piece. No more handles breaking off for us!

We have used it on everything. Strawberries, apples, pears, oranges, even raw and cooked meats. The clean up is easy, just toss in the dishwasher and you're done, until next time!"

We had been without a chef's knife for awhile (because Juice keeps breaking them) so I was excited to finally have one again. Here's that review:

"I was so excited when I got this knife in the mail. See, we had broken the last of our old cheep knives. Once we got to this last one (number 4 to be snapped off at the handle), I said we were going with quality this time! And this one IS quality.

So why do we keep breaking the knives? Well, my husband likes to cut up ice cream in the container to make it easy to serve. So you can imagine the stress that puts on a knife! The last 2 knives that we had, we had only had for about 6 weeks before they cracked. This one we've had for about a month and it still looks brand new.

Beyond ice cream, we've done a lot of chopping vegetables, potatoes, meats, and fruit. The handle is very nice in my hand, having a very good grip and weight. I like that you can see that the blade and the handle are one piece. This knife is quality!"

I've really enjoyed trying out these products from Calphalon. My pans are starting to show their wear and tear. My old omelet pan spins in a circle when you put it on my glass top stove and all the heat is concentrated on that one spot. So I'm happy to have a new, working pan to use! But I'm not throwing the old one out just yet. Calphalon has a recycling program. They ask you to put your old pans into the box they send you new pans in and they will happily recycle them for you. Now I know what I'm going to be saving my money up for, and my old pans!

Safire

Here's the legal disclaimer that says I was sent these products for free to review on the Calphalon site. This blog post is just extra because I thought you guys would like to hear about them!

Swim Lessons

2010-04-29T21:34:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

Today at Butterfly's swim lessons, I sat in the lobby right next to the glass door and watched her swim. There is only one other boy in her swim class. I LOVE that ratio for swimming. We are taking them through the county. We lucked out on this class size though.

Because she has such a great class ratio, I've been watching her improve in every single lesson in huge leaps and bounds. This time I watched her propel herself across the pool (with the aid of a float held in front of her) and float on her back all by herself. She also was diving underneath the water to pick up rings on the pool floor.

She is LOVING swimming every week. I never have to force her to get ready like I used to with dance class. She walks to the pool happily (we live about half a mile from the pool) and walks home skipping and jumping. She did tell me today that dance class was fun at the end. And she always LOOKED like she was having a good time in class.

No matter. I'm liking the half hour or so to sit and read. I'm also liking the walk to and from the pool. We get to talk and she gets some serious one on one time with me. Of course, we have all of nap time without the boys too but that's my time to "work" and so she watches a movie.

She's changed her favorite color from orange back to purple. Random. That's what she woke me up at 6:15am to tell me this morning. I was NOT a happy camper. Because when she wakes up, so do the boys.

This color change is the reason I was dragging today and was not very productive at all. We at least survived the day and now, off to bed.

Safire

2 Year Old Check Up

2010-04-28T23:00:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

Today was the boys 2 year old check up. They were so cute in the exam room waiting for the doctor. They were having hoping races across the room. This is a favorite game of theirs that they figured out on their own together. It's cute.

Pirate's stats: 27.7 lbs (50th %), 36 3/4th inches tall (110%), and 19 1/2 inch head. He shot up big time from last visit. They measured him twice because he is just so big. Long and skinny that one! He's meeting all of his milestones great, except for his speech. What he says:
Mommy
Daddy
puppy
bubbles
mine
no
sisser (sister)
uh-oh
a-ha
Hi
cheese

He doesn't say any words together. He's not mimicking any noises that we make. He does a lot of pointing and grunting and a lot of sign language. So. They are sending me back to the county speech place to get re-evaluated. He is also borderline anemic so they need to test his blood at the lab and see if he needs some kind of medication. The doctor said that he probably just needs a daily vitamin with iron in it and he should be fine. His scar from his surgery is healing nicely, and he's one happy healthy little guy. He did not see the inside of that office from his 18 month check to his 2 year check. Awesome!

Professor's stats: 22.2 lbs (off the bottom of the charts), 34 3/4 inches (50%) tall, 19 1/2 inches head. (This is the last time they measure their heads!) Obviously his weight is an issue. He is tiny. It's hard because I give him and Pirate the same foods but Professor will. not. eat. And it's not like I can shove it down his throat (although I've wanted to several times). The doctor said it looks like he is not getting enough calories. So. That means I have to start giving him whole fat everything. Milk, cream, butter, oil, etc. I'm supposed to add MORE of everything whole fat to his regular diet. I mentally shook my head a little when she told me that because I can put food down in front of him. It doesn't mean that he will actually put any in his mouth. And then, it's a guess as to whether or not he will actually swallow. What a pain he is about food. Still, I guess I've got some research ahead of me to figure out some high calorie things for him to eat. And then there's the problem of keeping it away from the others!

He is anemic so we are off to the lab for some serious blood work. I think I have 5 tests they are going to run on him; thyroid, liver function, hemoglobin, and a few more I can't remember. They want to make sure that it really is just a caloric issue and not a body issue. Either way, it's stressing me out ever so slightly.

Everything else is spot on for him. He is our little parrot and says pretty much anything we say now. His cutest phrases are "Where Mommy go?" and "Mommy go away!" I wish I heard them more. He also yells "MINE!" with a vengeance and can be attached to my leg 80% of the day. Still, he's such a sunshine boy that I don't mind (a lot).

So other than the tests, more food, and more Early Intervention, the boys are good! We go back to see them in 6 months (a new change for us...I thought we were free for a year) and they should be great.

They are such cute boys and we all love them so!

Safire

Bad Things Happen In Threes

2010-04-27T19:42:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

Isn't it true that bad (and good) things generally happen in threes? I'll look for a bad day tomorrow because today totally sucked. Again. Let's start with the oldest and go from there.

Butterfly: she had 3 accidents today. And one that was not just pee. What's going on with this girl and her bladder?! The past 2 weeks or so she's had major bathroom issues. It's a bummer. We had to leave the park because she had an accident. That one was partly my fault because I saw the signs and didn't march her to the bathroom then. I was waiting for her to tell me she had to go. Obviously she was having too much fun to stop. Boy she is going to be interesting in school. I hope she gets an understanding kindergarten teacher.

She also lost her movie for the day (a HUGE upset) and she got put to bed when the boys went to bed. It was not a good day for her.

Pirate: he is growing so fast! He is tall enough to reach things on the counters. Things I've been putting up there to keep him away from. Things like bowls or hot pans. No he didn't get a hot pan but he did get a bowl. Butterfly was peeling hard boiled eggs to put in the bowl. He offered it to her. She huffed and turned away from him. (Girls!) Then he got angry and threw the bowl. The floor won. Now I am a bowl short and cross.

Professor: this is a pretty funny story and really, not something that was his fault. But still, it involves him so it goes under his label.

I was sitting with the boys on my lap, one on each leg. I was by the big window in our front room. Both the boys were facing the window looking out. Professor was in front, and Pirate was behind him, with his belly pressed up against Professor's back. Professor was grunting and complaining that Pirate kept leaning on him and pushing him out of the way to get a better look at the truck out the window. I finally got them apart and noticed that there was a big green streak on Pirate's arm. I was on the phone with my dad at the time and had to hang up quickly ("Ew! Green sludge!"). I then dump Professor on the floor and gingerly carry Pirate over to the changing pad to detoxify him.

I got his clothes off and open his diaper to...nothing. There was no poop anywhere on his body except his belly. That's when I gasped and left poor Pirate buck nekkid on the pad. Professor was playing quietly on the other side of the room. When I got closer to him, I noticed that the back of his hair was kind of dark.

I gingerly pick up Professor and shoo Pirate off the changing pad to detoxify Professor. I should have been wearing some kind of hazmet suit because this was bad. Up the back, up the front, bright green and slimy. Oddly enough, there was a spot on his diaper that didn't have anything on it. It was right where he was sitting on my leg so maybe it squeezed out either side?

Note to self: beans for dinner and a strawberry/spinach smoothie do not mix.

Safire

Pirate Good Idea, Bad Idea

2010-04-26T20:18:00.005-04:00

Everyone,

Good idea: Pump out hand soap onto hands. Make bubbles.

Bad idea: Put hand soap into toilet. Flush. Make more bubbles. Think portable night light would like a bubble bath. Add to toilet. Flush again.

Good idea: Eat lunch.

Bad idea: Throw all food on floor. Play the limp noodle. Scream, cry, pitch a royal fit. Make mommy exasperated and upset.

Good idea: Play with Daddy.

Bad idea: try to throw Daddy's glasses across the room. Ignore Mommy. Make a general nuisance, all while being cute and laughing with mouth wide open.

Arg! It's been a most frustrating day with Pirate. It's put me in a funky crabby mood. So before I say anything that I might regret, I'm stopping now.

Safire

Question of the Week: MoM Groups

2010-04-25T20:48:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

This week's question over at Multiples and More is about Moms of Multiples groups.

Are you involved in your local Mother's (Parent's) of Multiples club?

Yes! Our multiples club is enormous. I think they have close to 600 members. And if everyone only had twins, there would be 1200 kids between all of us! But there are several who have more than their multiples (like me) and several who have triplets. I couldn't remember if someone had quads or more.
The ages of the kids range from not born yet to born in the 80s. It's such a diverse group of people from all walks of life. And this diversity it what makes the group great. The more experienced moms can help the young moms with advice. The recent questions in our very active forum range from preschool questions, renting beach houses, recommending nannies or home improvement people, and a list of Buddhist Temples in the area. We also have a classifieds board where people can post things for sale and want to buy. It's like our own private Craig's list.

The club also has numerous activities through out the year. There's always a play date going on. They have expectant parent teas for all the new parents to pair them up with families that have been where they are going. They have a big annual picnic (which we've yet to go to...it's always on a Sunday and we do not do things like that on Sundays due to religious reasons) and always have a team for the March of Dimes.

The big kahuna of our club (I think anyway) is our semi-annual twin sale. See here for the latest ones I've been to. They sell close to $30,000 of stuff and it is enormous. This is where I buy most of the boys clothes. Before I had twins, I went to this sale and bought all of Butterfly's clothes. She is now mostly too big for the sizes they offer but sometimes I find a few cute things for her. This is where most of our toys come from too. Seriously, it's amazing.

Our club also participates in the Mid Atlantic Parents of Multiples Convention. My friend, who has 14 year old twin boys, tries to convince me to come every year. I imagine it's a lot of classes and fun celebrating the joys of having multiples. Could be fun!

They also put out a preschool booklet that describes all the preschools in the areas, their numbers, their philosophies, etc. They are a great resource for not only the multiple community, but the non-multiple community as well.

I love belonging to this group. I get so many great ideas from their message boards, so many good quality clothes from their consignment sales, and so many fun things to do as a group if I wanted to. I know that if there is a huge problem, I'll have this community to lean on.

Safire

Hello Saturday

2010-04-24T23:47:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

This morning we had big plans. We were going to an Earth Day celebration. Professor cried a lot last night, and he kept waking up moaning, "ouch!" Uh-oh. This morning Pirate was hot to the touch. And Butterfly kept complaining that she was cold. Everyone has fevers. Everyone spend the day on the couch watching movies.

Butterfly declared this her best day ever.

We've got a streaming disk from Netflix for our Wii. This has been AMAZING. I love that I can get all the disks I want and Butterfly can watch anything on the streaming disk. They have all the seasons of Voltron. Juice has been enjoying watching it with the kids. The boys call it "roar" and ask for it by name. They even cry when I don't let them watch it. It's SO cute.

Even though the kids are sick, Juice and I still went out on our planned date for tonight. We figured we were feeling fine and our babysitter doesn't really do much with the kids. Honestly, we have the easiest baby sitting job ever. We always put the boys down for bed before the baby sitter gets here. Butterfly has maybe half an hour with the sitter, and then she goes into bed too. So really, all I'm looking for is a living fire alarm.

Having secured our living fire alarm, we went out dancing. So much fun! Juice and I don't go dancing nearly enough. This was a much needed break for us.

Dating = good.

Safire

Give Me your Best Shot- Zoo

2010-04-23T20:40:00.006-04:00

Everyone,

This week for our little home preschool was Z week. And what better way to celebrate Zs than to go to the Zoo! This is one of the places in DC that is a must see. And it's FREE. How cool does that get?!

So Lolli and I, and the 4 kids, ride the train to the zoo (AJ kept saying, "Is this the Zoo Train?" and I kept thinking of the Disney Zoo Train Song.) and hike the half mile or so to the Zoo Entrance. Lolli and I had researched our trip a little today and printed off Zoo Bingo and an Animal Worksheet to help the kids keep on task. Really, didn't need to but it was fun. They got stickers at the end from the Zoo's information desk.

AJ really wanted to see the alligators so we went into the reptile house this time. We never go into the reptile house because there's always a huge line. But this time we walked right in. Boy it was hot in there! The kids were enchanted with all the snakes and alligators and lizards. I caught this awesome shot for Juice. This is his favorite color, after all!
Butterfly wanted to see the spider monkeys. I knew the Monkeys were not in the Great Ape house so I thought we'd try the Small Mammal House. In there we saw a ton of animals. The kids were entranced by the Golden Tamarins, and I have to say they are some of my favorite animals. Too fast for my distracted picture taking though.

Once we got out of there, we figured it was time to leave. There was an altercation involving some cotton candy and popcorn, but it was resolved fairly quickly. (Butterfly didn't want to share, I made her, the end.) The ride home on the Metro was quiet, due to the Zzzzs the kids were catching for their own use.

What a fun day!

Safire

2 Two Year Olds

2010-04-22T22:09:00.004-04:00

Everyone,

When Butterfly turned two, we gave her a cool little trike. So when the boys were nearing their 2 year mark, I knew I wanted to get them trikes too. I convinced Butterfly of giving one of the boys her old trike, and then I got another matching one at the twin sale. We had one in the house for awhile (they fought over it, pushed each other around, and Professor cried when he had to put it outside). Tonight we finally got both the boys out and on them at the same time!
Guess which bike was in my house?

Don't you love their helmets? They are a gift from their Nana. Pirate's has skull and cross bones on it (hello, Pirate theme!) and Professor's has fish on it. They look SO cute in them and wore them 80% of our walk.

So we took them to the baby park up by our house. We didn't go far because it's cold, windy, and looked like rain. About half way there, I was pushing Professor and he started going crazy, "Bike! Bike! Bikebikebikebike!" I kept saying, "Your riding your bike!" or "Yes, a bike!" I figured it out though, he was excited that there were 2 bikes. And it is really exciting. It means that I don't have to make them share the bike.

That doesn't mean I don't make them share other things though.

Safire

We Give Books

2010-04-21T23:20:00.006-04:00

Everyone,

Yesterday, thanks to several friends, I was able to go to the National Press Building in DC and attend my first press conference. The conference was introducing a new website called We Give Books.
So what is this website about? We Give Books is an initiative that enables anyone with access to the internet to put hard copy books into the hands of children who don't have them. How do you (who have internet access, obviously, otherwise you wouldn't read this) give away books? All you have to do is read a book online. Preferably to your children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren. Or your dog. Or your parrot. Or your self! Who wouldn't want to re-read "The Little Engine that Could" or other classic Penguin books? Give yourself a trip down memory land, make memories with your children, and give a book to someone who needs it.

We Give Books aims to give away 1 million books in their first year. So far they have almost 2000 books donated! If they keep this volume up, they could easily reach their goal and go beyond it. Butterfly and I have donated 9 books to the Books Across America campaign.

There are several different campaigns you can choose to give books to. So far, we're sticking with America (because that's what Butterfly wants to do) but if you're interested in donating books to Asia or Haiti, then they have those campaigns as well.

Penguin Book's motto is "Books Change Lives." I know books were always a huge part of my life growing up. I try to read books to the kids for at least half an hour a day. I'm loving this site because this way we can read a book AND give a book away at the same time. So far we have read "Ladybug Girl" about 4 times. Haven't read that one? Login and read it! It's very cute and right up Butterfly's alley. While you're there, join my reading group and we can donate books together.

In addition to hearing about this fabulous website, I was able to meet a few authors! Dave Barry is hilarious as his column, and Amy Tan, is very sweet. Dr. Marvin Berkowitz told us about his fascinating study of teens on being charitable. He wanted to find out how you can raise a charitable child. There are several more points he made in his discussion, but the 3 main points that giving teens said their parents did are:

Explained how I can help other people by my actions.
Encouraged me to speak up in family discussions.
Spoke to me about the volunteering and charity they do.

Now I am far from having teens (so, so far away...please don't burst my bubble) but I like that these three things I can do with my kids even now. I hope that all 3 of my children grow up to be kind and empathetic adults. And we're going to start with another reading of "Ladybug Girl."

Safire

PS- I wrote this review as part of a campaign by Mom Central on behalf of We Give Books and received breakfast, a gift bag, a chance to be away from my kids and be an adult for the morning, and a gift certificate. All views about the campaign are 100% mine! Now go read!

Bad Boys...Again!

2010-04-20T23:49:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

I can not take a shower. Those boys are going to be the death of me. Or at least the death of things in our house. Is that a boy thing?

This is the latest hit from our Wave of Destruction.
Thanks lamp, for being a good lamp.

This is why I hate not having ceiling lights. Sigh...old houses.

Safire

How To Scare Your 2 Year Old for Their Birthday

2010-04-19T21:18:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

Take your newly turned 2 year old to a restaurant to celebrate his birthday.

Tonight we decided that we would go out and celebrate the boys turning 2 (again...it's been a weekend of celebration) and go to dinner. Now dining out with 3 little kids is always an adventure. This one did not disappoint. We took the family to the same place we took Butterfly to celebrate her 2nd birthday. It's a fun little steak place called Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse. They have good food and are very kid friendly. They also have animatronic animals that talk and move there! Butterfly barely ate when she turned 2, and the boys were no exception.

Entrance them with animatronics of woodland creatures.

We sat right underneath the huge talking Bill the Buffalo. I had Professor next to me who did not move a muscle the whole time we were waiting for food. I could see him looking around suspiciously, without moving his head. First, a fish moved. All the kids jumped and stared at the thing flopping around on the wall. Then a raccoon jumped out of a barrel. Professor pointed it out (the other kids had their backs to it) and just sat there pointing. And then the buffalo started to talk.

Watch them jump as the buffalo head above them started to talk.

The first time he started to chat with us, both boys stiffened up and then bolted into our laps. Butterfly just laughed. We were trying to order food at that point and it was pretty comical to the waiter to see their reactions. They sat in our laps the whole rest of the time. Pirate would not let Juice take his arm from around him. The moose on the other side of the room was cause for concern as well, but mostly the talking buffalo.

Encourage talking to the moving woodland creatures to try and alleviate fear.

This meant that Juice and I were waving to the raccoon in the barrel and responding to the buffalo head. Butterfly got a kick out of it. The boys still looked at them suspiciously. Professor would stop whatever his was doing and watch the raccoon. He even paused with a spoonful of macaroni and cheese to his mouth to watch it look around.

Switch kids. Get poked in the eye. Have to take someone away from the table for time out.

By the end of the meal, I had Pirate and Juice had Professor and Butterfly. They give out ice cream cups as part of their kids' meals so the kids were enjoying some ice cream. Pirate wanted to do it himself. Fine. But then the fish started to flop around again and he flung the spoon, full of ice cream, right at me. Luckily the ice cream did not come off the spoon. But I grabbed his hand just to be sure. Then he and I started struggling to gain control over the spoon. I see the ice cream start to slip off the side. I eat the ice cream. There was a huge scream and a flinging back with the hand I just let go of. The one with the spoon. Then the spoon hit me in the eye. Pirate started screaming louder. We left the table mid fit. The entire restaurant was watching us go. I heard, "That kid has some lungs!" and "Listen to that banshee wail!" as I was exiting.

Sit with child in time out in the waiting area. Have him jump back into your arms because of a moving owl. Decide it's time to go home.

I put him on a stool and told him to calm down. I sat down on the bench next to him and counted to ten. He and I looked at each other and smiled. Then the owl moved. I swear he launched himself into my arms so fast he broke the sound barrier. Time to go, I think.

Get in car. Look at husband. Laugh and shake your heads.

Seriously I don't know why we do these things to ourselves but we do. Butterfly declared it the best meal ev-ah and wants to go there for her birthday dinner. I think we can handle another round there! Maybe.

Safire

Happy Birthday Professor!

2010-04-18T21:32:00.005-04:00

Dearest Professor,

My sweet sunshine boy, you are a momma's boy. You've been a little needy lately, but it's understandable. Since you've fallen on your face (badly) this past week. This morning you and Pirate were running towards each other in the hall and met in the middle. With your heads. While your brother came out okay, you split your lip open (again) and have been rather cranky since then. Poor kid. And since your mouth hurts, you can't suck on your binkie as much as you'd like. So you wake up every few hours crying. And I wake up, almost crying. It reminds me of when you were a baby and you were so loud. You were always the more vocal.Your favorite things to say right now is anything and everything! You repeat almost everything we say. The most memorable things you say are: "Where Mommy go?" which I have yet to hear. (Obviously, you only say it when I'm gone.) You have also learned the joy of 'yeah'. You are so cute with those head bobs coupled with your 'yeah'. You are so close to saying everything. I love your little voice.
You make sure that I notice things on the road while we are driving. You LOVE big trucks. "Mommy! Tuck! Bi Tuck!" You are also learning your sense of humor. You will point out anything you think is funny and then do a little laugh after it. It's not your really happy laugh, it's just a laugh to show that you think something is funny. A fake (ish) laugh. It's really funny to us.

You still will still not eat a whole lot of healthy foods. You will, however, eat anything sweet. Candy, cookies, cupcakes. You also love Doritos and popcorn. Taking after your Mommy, that's for sure. Mommy is being sneaky though and making good tasting smoothies and putting in veggies for you to get them.
You love shoes. I don't know why, but you love to try on every one's shoes that come to visit us. You also really love to wear Butterfly's shoes. "Mommy, shoe!" you will tell me whenever you see a really nice one. You even love to wear your own shoes and know which ones are yours and which ones are your brother's. Even though they look exactly the same. (They are a half size difference.)

You are one sneaky little guy though. You are often caught doing something you shouldn't, mostly because you've seen brother do it. Those beautiful blue eyes sparkle when there's trouble around. You cry a lot louder than Pirate does. You also cry a lot more than he does. And sadly, disciplining you is something we're having a hard time doing. Time outs don't phase you. Taking away your favorite toy seems to get you upset enough to cry for at least a half hour after I've given it back to you. It's a work in progress.

Thanks for being in our family Sunshine boy!

Safire

Happy Birthday Pirate!

2010-04-18T20:11:00.006-04:00

Dear Sweet Pirate,

You are so sweet. And yet, you are so ruthless. My little imp in sheep's clothing. You who boldly take your brother's bike and make your brother cry. Then you stand up and pat the seat, inviting him to sit so you can push. Because it was only when Daddy suggested to Professor that he push, that you got up. And yes, you can push your brother around on your new bike (there are 2 but one was outside).Speaking of outside, guess where I found you yesterday? Outside. Out front. And the door was shut and locked! How did you get out front? Did I mention that I left our front window open? Yeah. The screen was pushed kind of neatly over in it's tracks. I can't believe you climbed out. I really shouldn't be surprised. You are the one who climbs out of the dog door. You are the one who climbs onto the kitchen counters. You are the one who makes the most trouble.
You are also the one who is so super sweet. You give out a tiny scream every time you hear a car when we are walking across the road. You have the sweetest little "Hi!" and I love how you find things and say, "A-ha!" You don't say many words. You do say car, boon (balloon), puppy, Nana, MINE, roora (brother), sissa, Mommy, Daddy, uh-oh, stuck, monkey, and a lot of grunting and pointing. You are so expressive though. I seem to understand you a lot more than I understand your brother. You also do a lot of sign language. It's hard to mistake what you want when you throw a covered bowl of macaroni and cheese at me and say, "uh! uh!"
Speaking of macaroni and cheese, you love it. You are one good eater. But you really don't like breakfast. You love any kind of noodle. You also love hot dogs, crackers, chicken, strawberries, actually any kind of fruit, and cheese. I think cheese is your favorite. You also love bread and fruit snacks. You go bananas over fruit snacks.

Your favorite game right now is to run away from me. You pound away on those long sturdy legs, laughing. Your big wide mouth open and your big hazel eyes sparkling back at me as I go chasing after you. Crazy kid. For as much as you love breaking the rules (see the window escape above) you love following the rules. Everything has a place and everything in it's place. You get upset when things are out of their place.

What a fun kid you are. I am so excited to see what next year will bring!

Safire

Birthday Eve!

2010-04-17T21:44:00.001-04:00

Everyone,

I can't believe tomorrow I will have 2 two year olds. Crazy! Tonight we had a little party with friends to celebrate their birthday eve. We had cupcakes, ice cream and opened a few presents.

2! They are going to be 2!

Safire

Give Me Your Best Shot- Old Time Pictures

2010-04-16T09:19:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

I've been enjoying looking through my shots of the kids' Easter clothes and playing around with editing them. I really enjoy this one I put an old timey look on. Such cute boys I have!

A cute story about Professor: The other day he was playing with an airplane toy that we have. He would fly it around (complete with sound effects) and then land it. One time, he landed it upside down and laughed over it. He flipped the airplane over to right side up, then flipped it over again slowly. He ran over to me, "Mommy! Hahaha!" It's so fun to see him develop his sense of humor.

Pirate this morning has been running races. He backs himself into a corner, says, "Uh, Uh, Go!" and runs away as fast as he can. It's so cute!

Safire

Grumpy Mc Grump Grump

2010-04-15T18:14:00.004-04:00

Everyone,

I typed in 4 different titles before that one and each one I had used before. Feeling Crabby, Crabby Here, etc. Did not improve my mood.

The kids are fine. Oh Professor is a little more clingy than normal due to his face thing. And Butterfly refuses to bend her knee (also due to the face thing). But she happily went to swimming lessons today and jumped right in the pool no problems. Crazy girl.

We stopped dance lessons because were going to be in Utah during the big spring showcase. This was the session where they were going to pick out costumes and learn a routine for it. I knew she couldn't handle doing all the prep work and NOT dancing in the showcase. So we switched to swim lessons again.

She is SO much happier in swim lessons. There is no hesitation, no crying, no forcing when we need to get ready. She does it happily and jumps right in the pool without even waving good bye. There is only one other boy in her class this time so she should get some good one on one instruction.

I, on the other hand, am crabby. I don't know why. Just one of those days. So what are things to help get you out of a crabby funk? These are what I normally do:

Exercise. It's amazing what getting your blood pumping can do for your mood after. Plus! You can loose some weight if you're doing it a lot. Negative- I always wonder what the kids are doing (when they are not exercising with me) and it's almost always then that they get in trouble.
Clean. In the movie, "The Emperor's New Groove", Pacha's wife gets mad over something Pacha says and snorts, "I've got to go clean something." I feel like that sometimes. A clean something means a task is done. And done tasks make me feel better. Negative- The kids ALWAYS want to help but it ends up making it worse and then I have to do it over. This does not make me happy.
Sit in the sun. It's so peaceful and nice to sit and have the sun shine on your face and head. I like the way my hair smells after I've been outside. Negative- The kids scream if I don't take them out with me and then things like the face incidents happen and then no one is happy.
Read a book. I've read a few books lately, but none that I'm really excited about. One is dry, long and somewhat boring. I don't like the writer's style. I'm more confused after reading the last chapter (I'm one of THOSE book readers) so I actually have to read the book. Anyone have anything good out there to read? Negative- the kids DO NOT like me reading my books. They bring me their books. And there is only so much "Water Water Everywhere" that I can take before I become the pacing cat at the zoo again.
Put on some fun music and dance. This is a good one. Everyone gets moving. Everyone gets happy. Maybe I'll go do this one now.

Safire

Face Incidents

2010-04-14T22:28:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

This spring has been a big one for face incidents. About 3 days ago, Butterfly was running down the sidewalk in front of our house. She was chasing the boys. She was going very fast. I saw her lean forward and then hit the sidewalk.

With her face.

Poor girl. She also scraped both knees, her elbow and the tip of her nose. She also scraped that skin between her nose and her lip really good. How did she get there?! There was a lot of blood. There was a lot of crying. Her wounds today look okay except her one knee. That one is looking rather oozy and gross. She said it looks like applesauce. I had to agree.

Last night I was at church for a meeting and Juice took the kids for a walk to the park. Everything was going fine. He was letting the kids take turns walking Soot the puppy. Well Soot decided to go one way and hit the end of the lead kind of hard. Professor was walking her at the time and just flew off his feet. Guess where he landed?

Yep, on his face.

Apparently there was A LOT of blood and Juice was wondering if he had to take him to the emergency room. He also had to get all 3 kids home in a rush to take care of Professor. He ran home and was helped out by one of our neighbors. Who carried a distraught Pirate. Butterfly now knows her address and she apparently told him it all the way to the house.

No serious injuries for Professor but he now has road rash across his face too. His forehead, his nose, his lips and chin are all scrapped up. He is NOT a happy camper. I don't blame him! If I had a horrible bloody nose and a traumatic face plant, I would not be happy either.

I don't know why but these kids always seem to face plant it in the spring. Why is that?

Safire

Easter 2010 Clothes

2010-04-13T21:53:00.007-04:00

Everyone,

Since Easter was Conference Sunday, we didn't get to wear our fun new Easter clothes to church. So this Sunday everyone looked shiny in their new outfits. We even got up early so I could take pictures of them before church. Thanks to my Mom for the clothes!

First off: Butterfly. She looks SO grown up in this dress. She picked out the bow herself. And look, I even put her hair in curlers the night before! She looks so cute! Those curls didn't last through church but she thought they were great.
Next up is Pirate. He is the king of soulful looks in our house. And yes, I did pick out their outfits to match their eyes! Thanks to the 5 or 6 people who asked me that at church. Makes me feel like our choice was a good one.

And last but not least, Professor. He was NOT happy about getting his picture taken after someone took a toy away from him. So I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked with him. The hats kill me!
Absolutely adorable!

Safire

SEED Power!

2010-04-12T20:02:00.004-04:00

Everyone,

Hey, remember when I started writing all these entries about a company called SEED? I was hoping to win a sponsorship for them for my trip to NYC in August.

Not only did I write the entries about SEED, I did a cool picture story with my Mom's help and fun old pictures of my family. (Hi Nana!)

And then I did that funny video (a vlog) with Lolli in her shower. We laughed SO hard during the making of it. Totally worth it just to get together with a friend and be silly.

Guess what?! It WON! Both Lolli and I each got a sponsorship which is totally amazing. This company is taking good care of us and I am really grateful.

Other winning entries:

Emily from Wish Wait Hope Pray for her Whrrl Story

Cathy from Let's Be Green Together for her Blog Entry

Honorable Mention: awarded to Andrea of LilKidThings for her Whrrl Stories

I am super excited to go to NYC in August and have a girls weekend with Lolli. This weekend is my 30th birthday present from Juice. He is (warily) taking care of the kids (with Flower's help, since she should be here!) and letting me go be a person for 4 whole days. I'll get to meet all these amazing bloggers and this amazing company.

I am SOO excited!

Safire

PS- Do you know what else I won?! A year's worth of web hosting from Twenty 70 Hosting. I must be lucky!

Question of the Week: Shopping!

2010-04-11T20:46:00.001-04:00

Everyone,

This week's question at Multiples and More is about shopping. Grocery shopping.

How do you save money at the grocery store? What are your best tips and tricks?

I love to shop. Even shopping at the grocery store was fun. I think that comes from when I was little my Mom went to the grocery store with a carnival inside it. Seriously, it had rides, games, cheesy popcorn, etc. I couldn't tell you why, but I can tell you that I went almost every week with my Mom. Most of my allowance went to the skee ball machines. I got really good. I was saving up my tickets to get a tv for my room but then we moved.

When we got married, the guy who married us gave us some advice. He told us to go grocery shopping together. And I think we always have. Except when I was on bed rest with the twins, then Juice went by himself. But now we take everyone and make it a fun family outing. Butterfly knows all about coupons, sales, and which stores have the best carts and free samples.

As for saving money, I go through cycles of coupons. Sometimes I LOVE them and I once got $200 of groceries for $68. I kid you not! But I get tired and frustrated with them all sometimes that I stop using them. I always go back to them eventually.

Currently I am in a no using phase. But here are a few tricks from when I was using. (Sounds like a drug, and sometimes it is!)

- Match up your weekly ad with your coupons. Sometimes stores have coupons inside their ads that you can stack with your manufacturing coupons. Watch for the stores that are doing double or triple coupons! GO THERE.
- Match your meals with what's on sale this week in the ad. If chicken is on sale, plan on eating it that week. If London Broil is at an amazing price, plan a few meals around that.
- Keep a "rock bottom price" list for things you always buy. Grocery stores cycle through sales as well. If you can stock up a little on sale price chicken, you won't have to buy it at full price later.
- Stretch those meals. If you bake a whole chicken (delicious with olive oil and rosemary!), save the left over meat for chili the next night. Toss the carcass in a big pot with leftover veggies and water and make your own chicken broth. There are so many different ways to use one thing for several meals. Be creative!
- Make your own. This is something I'm exploring right now. I can buy ingredients to make my own pancake mix that would cost much less than the ready made mix. I can make as much or as little of, say, salad dressing as I want. It tastes SO much better and is much healthier for you.

These are just a few tips that seem to have worked for my family. Here's a few websites for you to look over. I got most of my ideas from them!

Deal Wise Mommy

Freebies 4 Mom

Money Saving Mom

Beyond grocery shopping, the site I use the most is called Swagbucks. It is a free site to use. You just search the web through their portal (very similar to google) and they give you 'bucks' for searching. Add up those bucks and you can redeem them for free stuff from their website. It's kind of like when I was saving up those tickets from skee ball when I was young. Only instead of turning in the tickets for a tv, I'm turning in my bucks for amazon gift cards. So far this year I've earned over $100 for doing nothing that I don't normally do on the web. Seriously, it's amazing. Try it out! You have nothing to loose! (Neither do I, I get a bonus if you sign up.)

Safire

Never Miss a Moment of Your Child's Life

2010-04-10T21:48:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

Are you missing out on the cute things your children do? Do you feel like you're too busy running your household to be there for your baby's milestones?

I have a solution for you!

I invite you to try "Older Sibling version 4.5." You too can have complete audio play by play of your young child's life while you are in the other room.

Not sure how "Older Sibling version 4.5" would work? Here is a stunning example of the efficiency of the model.

Mother and Father, in the kitchen making dinner.

Children in the family room watching an educational show involving American Sign Language. "Older Sibling version 4.5" and "Younger Sibling version 2.0a" and "Younger Sibling version 2.0b" are enjoying the joys of tv in the afternoon.

"Younger Sibling version 2.0b just signed 'water'!" Older Sibling version 4.5 announces.

"Good job!" Mother calls from the other room.

"Younger Sibling version 2.0b just signed 'cat'!" OSv4.5 announces, just seconds later.

"Younger Sibling version 2.0b just signed 'dog'! He knows dog!" OSv4.5 announces, just a few more seconds later.

"YSv2.0b signed 'frog'!" Another announcement by OSv4.5.

These announcements come at regular intervals through out the next half hour.

Older Sibling version 4.5 comes loaded with a verbose vocabulary and a voice that will pierce any wall. It also does not miss a beat when it comes to your little one's milestones. It is also helpful in the event your younger children try to climb out of the window/pull the dog's tail/spill and spread milk over the kitchen table. Sadly, Older Sibling version 4.5 does have a few glitches. It ceases to work in the event of a movie or an engaging game.

I urge you to consider getting yourself an "Older Sibling version 4.5" for yourself. Act fast!

As an added bonus, version 4.5 will come with free upgrades! Just one month after your order, this version 4.5 will upgrade to version 5.0. This one of a kind announcer also comes with Sweet Hugs and Long Bathroom Trips plug-ins.

Contact us now and you too can enjoy "Older Sibling version 4.5" in your home. Quantities are very limited.

Safire

Give Me Your Best Shot- Park

2010-04-09T19:37:00.004-04:00

Everyone,
This has been an amazing week for weather. The beginning of the week it was close to 90 degrees. It was hot. It was sunny. It was beautiful. We spent all day every day outside as much as possible. Because normally, when it's 90, it's unbearable. But there was barely any humidity and we loved it.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Then last night a huge rainstorm blew in. It turned cold, fast. Today's high was only about 58. It was windy. But we went outside anyway! We met some friends at the park and had a wonderful time. This is my favorite picture of Professor (I took it yesterday) and it just shows his personality so much. What a fun picture and a fun boy!Cute Pirate on the swings. The swings were a big hit today. We swung and swung and laughed and swung some more. The swings were in the shade so we (my friends and I) became Popsicles but the kids seemed to enjoy it. Cold red noses and all. This little girl enjoyed it the most. It was the only thing she wanted to do the whole time at the park!

Butterfly made a friend of a little boy who wanted to be tree frogs and climb all over this rope thing. This was right up Butterfly's alley. She climbed higher than I've ever seen her climb and was a frog most of the rest of the day. When we got home, Juice came home and took Butterfly back outside for 2 and half more hours of play. What a lucky girl.

And they were all in bed by 7:09pm tonight. We are all exhausted. But it's such a great exhaustion.

Safire

Twins Plus Wii Equals Disaster

2010-04-08T21:45:00.004-04:00

Everyone,

About 2 weeks ago, I put up a plea on Facebook:

"I have a disk stuck in the Wii...any thoughts?"

No one had any thoughts though. So I googled the problem and came up with a whole lot of nothing.

See, when I pushed the eject button, it made a very sad grinding noise and then stopped. I tried holding down the eject button. I tried turning it off and turning it back on after 2 minutes. I unplugged it for half an hour and came back to it. I even held the eject button down and shook it in hopes that gravity would help me pull the disk out. No luck.

So I handed it over to Juice who then did the same things I did. But after shaking it, he broke out his trusty pocket knife and started poking around in there. I knew he was serious when he went to get his tools. He took his needle nosed pliers to the disk and pulled it out.

"Belly dancing for fitness," he announced. (Yes, I do them. Yes, I like it. Yes, it's a workout.)

What?! Boys!!
The BDF was followed shortly by a picture CD of the boys' first birthday.

That was followed by another picture CD of their 6 month old pictures.

Then came the Wii game which actually came out when you pushed the eject button.

In case you are wondering, you can get 4 disks into the Wii disk slot. The Wii won't work. But you can get them in! Also, pulling them out of there will severally damage the disks. As in, the BDF does not work anymore. The Wii still operates just fine though.

There were some severally punished boys in our house too.
Safire

Juice's Project

2010-04-07T21:47:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

Juice is an engineer. He loves to build things and fix things and play with power tools. His job currently does not allow him to do much of that (he does his fair share at home). So when his job was looking for mentors at the local high school, he signed up. He was happy to see that he was helping the students build bridges and test their designs out. He even got to build one himself!
All of his co-workers signed up to be in 3rd period when they were testing the bridges so that they could watch Juice's bridge be smashed. From what he described, you put in in a machine that slowly tightens a screw down. That screw is attached to a board at the top. So as the board comes down, it records how much pressure the bridge can take before it breaks.

It seemed like everyone had a great time on crushing day and Juice wrote me the following email:

"My bridge weighed 54 grams and held 745 lbs. I was not the lightest bridge, nor the strongest bridge, but I did have one of the highest efficiency ratios (6258:1)."

I think it's very cool that he can think up something like that bridge, build it, and then see it destroyed and be happy about the destruction.

I think he thinks it's pretty cool too.

His current project at home to keep his hands busy? Making chain mail gloves out of paper clips. Yes, you read that right. I'll post that one when it's done too!

Safire

Outside!

2010-04-06T20:55:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

The past few days have been absolutely beautiful outside. We've been spending as much of our days outside as we possibly can. I know the heat and humidity is going to show up. So we may as well play while we can!

The kids love it. They all have that sun kissed look and are sleeping like rocks through the night. We have been using those bubbles, the sidewalk chalk and exploring the beautiful spring items that come clutched in little kid paws. It's also opened up a huge rush of vocabulary for Professor.

Flower!
Bee!
Leaf!
Airplane!
Rock!
Throw!
Turn!
Water!
Bike!

The boys get into a lot less trouble outside. They throw rocks in the road. They follow each other around and say "Weee!" They bring me little treasures. They sit next to me on the step and do everything that I do. It's very cute.

Butterfly is wrapped up in her own little world and makes up elaborate games inside her head. Today she was Bolt and drug poor Soot around. She also made Soot sick, tried to give her medicine of grass and twigs, tried to do Soot's hair with flowers, had Soot stand in the 'snow' and pretended that Soot was cold. I love having a dog for her.

Pirate is my instigator and loves to go out into the road, try to throw rocks at my car, and wants to jump off the steps. He also wants to pick all my flowers and do whatever Butterfly is doing. Busy boy!

Sometimes I take my computer out with me. Sometimes I just sit and watch them play and be amazed by them. Sometimes I carry them inside kicking and screaming because it's nap time.

Today, we went out right after breakfast, came inside for a drink, went back out, had lunch outside, came in screaming for naps, and went back out after dinner for a walk with Daddy. I'd say that's 80% of the day outside. I hope to continue to do that with them all week long.

Safire

PS- I won a year's worth of web hosting from Twenty70Hosting! I spent several hours and emails back and forth to the owner about getting my brand new blog up and running. Seriously, if you're looking for web hosting, go with these gals. They have been great. New blog reveal is getting closer!

Easter 2010

2010-04-05T21:39:00.007-04:00

Everyone,

This year's Easter was very low key. We spent the day in our pjs listening to General Conference and eating candy. The big fun in the morning was the Easter baskets though!
When Butterfly was the boys' age, I think I gave her a handful of jelly beans and a few toys/books. The boys got significantly more candy that she did. Juice was not happy with the slobbering sticky chocolaty mess. But I figured it was a win because they almost didn't fight over the candy. Each kid got 2 toys and I ended up using 2 bags of candy between the 3 of them. I think that was enough.
Butterfly got sidewalk chalk (something I know we will need for the summer and hopefully use up before the summer is over) and a bunny Mr. Potato head. This is our family's first Mr. Potato Head. I bought another generic Mr. Potato Head in advance to ward of fighting. A good call. Besides the jelly beans and the robin's eggs (which no one in our family likes...who knew?) she got some pink Peeps and a chocolate bunny.Pirate got bubble solution (also something we will use up before the summer is over) and a pair of sunglasses. They are green. They are funky. They were a dollar. He also got jelly beans, robin's eggs (which he ate for about 2 minutes and then started to spit out, much to Juice's dismay), purple peeps and a chocolate bunny. The bunny's ears were eaten and then he carried it around like a doll for about an hour. By the time Juice wrestled it away from him, it was hairy, melted and dirty. Pirate screamed, Juice huffed about it and I just smiled. Crazy kid!
Professor also got bubble solution (we go through a lot of bubbles here...it's one of the words that they both will say) and another pair of those sunglasses. The sunglasses are a bit big for him. But he loves them. He calls them 'eyes'. He also got jelly beans, robin's eggs (ate one, wouldn't touch the rest), yellow peeps and a chocolate bunny. He ate his bunny as best he could, starting with the face. Once it fell apart on him (the horror!), we took the rest of the pieces away and he cried.

Bubbles and sidewalk chalk outside in our pjs fixed every one's mood.

Also Conference fixed every one's mood. And looking for my brother, Uncle MusicMan who sings in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It's pretty cool to hear all three kids cheer and clap when I point out their Uncle. Here, you can cheer and clap too.

Watch about 4:16 on the video and he's in the back in the middle.
One great Easter here!

Safire

Question of the Week: Dinner

2010-04-04T14:53:00.002-04:00

Everyone,

This week's question of the week is about dinner.

What are your Go-To meals? Please include recipes/links if possible.

My go to meal is Macaroni and Cheese. The Kraft kind. Or Annie's (the one with the bunny) if I get it on sale. We probably eat that 3 times a week for lunches. The kids love it. Pirate is not a fan of cold cereal in the morning and sometimes he eats that for breakfast. Or if they won't eat the dinner I cook, they have mac and cheese. Very healthy, I know.

If I'm strapped for time, we often have pancakes or eggs for dinner. Sometimes we have spaghetti and meatballs. The one meal that I know I can count on everyone eating is pasta with goat cheese. It come from my favorite cookbook, "The One Armed Cook". I seriously use this book at least 2 times a week for super fast, easy, and tasty meals.

Pasta with Goat Cheese Sauce (or pink pasta as Butterfly calls it)

1 jar (2 cups) of spaghetti sauce
4 oz goat cheese
noodles

Cook the noodles according to the package directions. In a medium pan, heat up the spaghetti sauce. Cut the goat cheese into chunks and add it too the sauce, stirring the whole time until cheese is melted. Serve over noodles.

See? Super easy. We have it with bow tie pasta noodles because that's what Butterfly wanted one day. Now we can't have this meal with out it. The boys LOVE it and inhale as much as their little tummies will hold. It is really tasty. I like to sprinkle some parsley over the top of mine and add a little garlic. With bread and a salad on the side, it makes an amazing meal in about 10 minutes.

One of the sub-questions of this week's question is:

Do you have picky eaters? How do you handle it?

Yes, I have ONE picky eater. Professor loves anything with sauce, but will only eat the sauce. He will eat noodles on occasion. He likes hot dogs, butter, chips, and crackers. Oh, and ANYTHING sweet. Cakes, cookies, ice cream, yogurts, whipped cream, etc. Anything else is flat out refused.

I try very hard not to stress over his eating. He'll eat when he eats. It's not like I can cram food into his mouth and make him eat it! Then he won't eat anything (yes, I have actually tried) and cries for a long time after that. So I offer him what the rest of us are eating, and take it away when he tries to throw it on the floor.

This could be the reason why he is several pounds lighter than his brother, and also several inches shorter. I do worry about him and not eating enough through out the day. But seriously, I can't force him to eat things so I really just don't make a big deal out of it.

This summer, my goal is to make smoothies a lot at home (he will drink those) and add things like spinach and avocado to them to get him more veggies. To get them ALL more veggies.

When I have time (and Juice to help me out) I love to make a big meal. Today for Easter we are having ham cooked in the crock pot, home made rolls, steamed green beans, roasted asparagus, salad with home made ranch dressing, parsley potatoes, and fresh strawberries for desert. Yummy!

Safire

We're Crabby Here

2010-04-03T22:23:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

And no, this is not a Maryland crab joke. I tried one of those on Juice this afternoon and he kind of looked at me funny.

The day started out okay. Juice got up early to go to some sort of skeet shooting thing with the church. He should have checked his email before he left because it got cancelled. He came home crabby because no one was at the church. From there, he hustled us out the door, which made ME crabby. I had big plans this morning. Like resting my aching legs and desperately trying to find some time to do something on line that I want to do.

No go with him. Out the door to the grocery store and to get the boys' hair cut. This is their second professional cut of their lives. The first one was around their first birthday. And this one only because I've trimmed it badly several times in a row and it looked all lopsided.

Half an hour later and three suckers (Butterfly was lucky enough to get one even though she did not get her hair cut) and we were done. They look so old! There was no screaming this time. What a difference a year makes.

Then from there we rushed home for lunch and naps before our church's big general meeting. We have them 2 times a year (always the first weekend in April and October). This year Easter and Conference landed together. We're able to watch Conference through the Internet. Sadly, I slept through most of the morning session.

In between sessions (5 sessions total, 3 on Saturday, 2 on Sunday, each 2 hours long) we ran to REI to pick out a big girl bike for Butterfly for her birthday. I am a member and I get cash back for everything I purchase there. And last year I bought A LOT of stuff from them. So I got a lot of cash back. We did not come home with a bike today. But we did come home with a size for her bike. She looks enormous on a 16 inch bike but okay on a 20 inch bike. Seriously, she is amazingly tall! Sadly, this also means we're going to have to buy special training wheels for her that will fit her bike. And they didn't have the color she wanted in stock so back home to order it online.

The whole time we're out everyone is cranky. Professor REFUSES to be put down by me or touched by Daddy lately. He spent the day strapped to my back. Butterfly is whining that she doesn't WANT a bike (but perked up when I told her she could have a bell on it) and Pirate desperately wanted to be where Professor was.

Several times today I had to count to 10 to keep my temper. Everyone needs to just do as their told! And if I tell you to stop whining, DO IT.

I didn't buy a one of a kind necklace that I wanted to. I saw it about a week ago and thought I would wait a week to see if I REALLY wanted it before I bought it. That whole, trying to keep impulse buying down to a minimum. I REALLY did want it but as of a few days ago, it was sold. I am super sad about it and am now researching how I can make one of my own.

Juice (happily...too happily in my opinion) went off to the meeting for the men tonight and left me to get everyone in bed. Which happened soon after we had a snack. And during the snack, both boys started signing every sign I know. More, milk, hurt, various animals, sorry, sad, happy, thank you, cracker, cereal, etc. They were having a ball and asking each other for more milk and then passing cups around. Butterfly caught on to what they were signing before I did.

After they were in bed, I spent the evening eating Easter candy, putting some in their baskets, and watching a very girly movie. It wasn't great but my popcorn was good.

Now if I can get to bed and get some sleep, maybe we'll all be in better moods tomorrow.

Safire

Fun Times in the Sunshine!

2010-04-02T22:54:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

Today's adventure took us to the "airplane park." It's official name is Gravelly Point and it's right next to Regan National Airport. It used to be an old land fill before they made it into a pretty fun open grassy area. It's tradition to come to this park (for my church) every spring break. I haven't been since Butterfly was the boys' age.

So we packed a lunch, found all the summer hats and the sun screen, and off we went! Lala and Vinny came along too which was so much fun. We really enjoyed being with them and having an enormous grassy area to run around in.

The first thing that Butterfly and Vinny did when they got to the park was take off their shoes and socks. Then the boys wanted their shoes and socks off. Okay. They spent the day running in the grass barefooted and having a great time.

The boys were pretty scared of the planes at first. I mean, this park is right next to the run way and the planes get pretty close.

Pretty soon Professor lost his fear of the planes and waved to every one as they went pass. Pirate, till the very end, dove for my lap every time. He had to have his hat on (to protect him?) and once the planes were gone, he'd take it off. So funny! Pretty soon he was leaving the hat on all the time which was much better. Putting that hat on ever 4-8 minutes was obnoxious.

We went down to the waterfront and threw mulch into the river. I took a picture of the cherry blossoms. Looks like that's as close as I'm going to get this year. Sad.

The kids came home tired and dirty and very happy. I came home tired, dirty, and with a bright red nose. Guess who forgot to put sunscreen on the tip of her nose? Now I look like Rudolf with a burn over one eyebrow. (Missed that spot too. Oops.) The kids just have that healthy sun-kissed glow and Professor's hair has shined back up to new penny status.

What a fun day at the airplane park!

Safire

An Adventure Week

2010-04-01T23:04:00.004-04:00

Everyone,

We've been busy busy busy here running from place to place. It's spring break in our school system and we've been enjoying having all of our friends around to do fun things with. Joining Lolli this week with a few good pictures of what we've been doing!
A fun day in Harper's Ferry...complete with several disasters, several saves, and several rules broken!

Juice turned 31! Happy Birthday Juice! (Notice Butterfly blowing out his candle for him.)

This one is for you Dad. :) Remind you of something?

We spent today at the National Aquarium (a bigger post coming) and I am totally foot sore. A day pushing the kids around in Harper's Ferry, WV, a day at the aquarium, and tomorrow we're going to another park.

Did I mention how much I'm enjoying getting out with friends? LOVE IT.

Safire

Seeds of Laughter

2010-03-31T07:00:00.001-04:00

Everyone,

The much awaited video of me and Lolli. Enjoy!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Can you guys tell that I really want to win this sponsorship? I have now entered in EVERY way possible. So Makeover Momma and SEED, pick us! I want to celebrate my birthday with you in New York.

Safire

Interrupted

2010-03-30T20:44:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

So. No HILARIOUS video of me and Lolli today. Sorry. Just didn't get it done with all the other stuff I did today.

Want to know what I did?

3 loads of laundry (washed, folded, put away...my mom would be so proud)
2 huge pizzas for dinner...all topping prepped and crusts made by hand
homemade ranch dressing, also for dinner (and super yummy!)
cleaned the living room
vacuumed
swept
(no mop because mine is out on loan)
cleaned the paper table up, opened bills, shredded stuff, threw away a lot
made my bed
worked at least 4 hours today for my brother
2 big bowls of popcorn made

Want to know HOW I accomplished such an amazing list?!

Lolli loaned me her 10 year old.

It was awesome. I need to get myself one of these. Necco helped Butterfly pick up the toys, played with the boys, made everyone lunch, enjoyed crazy kid movies with Butterfly and fed Soot buttered popcorn. I had an amazing day with a little bit of help. Thanks Necco and Lolli!

This also brings to mind the last 2 summers when we've had Flower, my niece, stay with us. (We've had numerous people stay with us...Flower has been visiting us the most.) I miss those days of not changing every single diaper and going back to bed in the morning if I want to because I know Flower is there with the kids.

Flower will be with us again this summer! Except this time, instead of staying 4-6 weeks, she is staying the ENTIRE summer. I am so excited I can't contain myself. I think she is as equally excited. It will be so nice to be able to run to the store during nap time or have an extra set of hands when someone *coughProfessorcough* is feeling extra needy.

It's so nice to have friends and family who care about your sanity enough to risk their own.

Safire

Earth Hour 2010- From SEED to sapling

2010-03-29T17:46:00.005-04:00

Everyone,

This past Saturday at 8:30pm found Juice and I (and the kids who were asleep) sitting in the dark. While it's not unusual for us to turn off the lights on a Saturday to watch a movie or something, this Saturday was different. We turned off the lights as part of the World Wildlife Fund's global Earth Hour.

What is Earth Hour? According to their website, it is an hour when millions of people, governments, etc, around the world come together to make a statement about the climate by turning off their lights for one hour.

Not just people are doing this. Governments are turning off spotlights on their buildings. The Las Vegas strip turned off their lights for an hour. See this cool video slide show from last year.

At the last minute, Juice and I decided to participate. It was kind of cool to feel like we were part of the millions of people also sitting in the dark. I saw a lot of people with candles (you can send in pictures of what you did that hour) and those cool glow in the dark necklaces that Butterfly loves so much. We joined over 4,000 cities in 125 countries that sat in the dark for an hour.

Yes, I realize that an hour is probably not going to do much to globally impact the world. It really didn't do much for us but made us cheer when we turned the lights back on. It also made us realize that we should really find all of our flashlights. It was a preparedness reminder. Next year I'm going to make it fun for us and have a candle light dinner. And flashlights. With working batteries!

This is the 3rd year that they have been doing this Earth Hour and it's grown very rapidly. From this, Mt. Rushmore has decided to turn off it's lights starting at 9 pm, instead of 11 pm every day. They are making a progressive change in their business style. So it got me thinking about what kind of change I could make in my own life for the environment.

As I got to thinking about it, I've already made my own change. I've been using the SEED shampoo bar for over a week now and I seriously love it. But what does this have to do with the environment? Well, the bar has a smaller ecological footprint than the big liquid bottles. They don't have plastic packaging, use less water to make and cost less to ship. They are made right in the USA. Their packaging is 100% biodegradable. Plus it makes my hair more fluffy and shiny. That's my favorite part.

It may be a small change. A tiny change, in fact. Just like us turning our lights off in the house for an hour was tiny. But every drop in the bucket counts. And sooner or later, that bucket is going to fill.

So I'm glad to be doing my part by putting my tiny drops in the bucket one at a time. And I look good doing it too.

Safire

PS- TOTALLY check my blog tomorrow afternoon for a HILARIOUS video staring myself and Lolli. Seriously, it's worth watching!

PPS- Written in hopes that SEED and Jen from Hip As I Wanna Be will pick me for a sponsorship to BlogHer 2010. Pick Me SEED! I really want to go and celebrate my 30th birthday with you.

Question of the Week: Twin Advice

2010-03-28T00:14:00.007-04:00

Everyone,

This week's question of the week at the Multiples and More site is about advice.

What is the best and worst advice you have ever received on raising your multiples?
I have honestly gotten a lot of good advice from pregnancy and beyond. I am lucky to have a hugely active local multiples club. If I ever have any kind of question, I only need to ask those parents over there and I'm sure I'll get a few awesome answers. Between this club and my own mom, I think I get a lot of great advice.
The greatest advice I ever got with the twins was on the day that we found out we were having twins. The doctor supervising the ultrasound was one I knew really well. I knew he had twins of his own. He was explaining what we were looking at and measuring those 2 heartbeats. They were amazing to see on the screen. After he was done with the ultrasound, he looked at me and said, "You know I have twin sons who are 11, right? Those first weeks are really hard. Get help."

Juice was in the ultrasound with me and we spent the 45 minute drive home talking about what he said. It seemed like a good idea so we began to plan how we could have help. And who we could ask to help out.
My parents were planning on coming for the birth this time, and staying 2 weeks to help those first crazy days. Plus, we needed someone to stay with Butterfly. Sadly, they missed the boys birth by 1 day. But they were able to stay 2 whole weeks drinking in the brand new baby stuff.Then my in laws came to stay with us for one whole month. It was amazing to have another set of hands around. They bailed me out of a dead car, celebrated Butterfly's 3rd birthday with us, and had a fun time with the babies. They were a big help!My parents came back for the boys church blessing, and brought my niece Flower along with them. She was 14 at the time and had come to spend a month with us. We had SO much fun with her. We went all over and she was a gem. She changed diapers, cleaned up, took Butterfly to the park, watched movies over and over and over with her, and then watched movies at night with me holding babies.
Once she left, we had 3 weeks without any help. Holy cow. I thought I was going to die a few times. If it wasn't for my friends here, I don't think I would have kept my sanity.

After those 3 weeks, my cousin Bee came to stay with us for 3 weeks. She was a lot of fun too! She was 15 and had never really even held a baby before. But boy she did a great job. Butterfly especially loved her fun spirit and cool games she cooked up.
Bee's family came to pick her up and have a mini vacation with us for a week. Honestly, by this point the boys were 4 months old and had been hauled over the greater Washington DC area. They were great travelers and we had fun being tourists together. We also got photographed by Japanese tourists several times and I can just imagine what they tell their friends when they show them the pictures.
I flew to Utah with my kids and Bee's family. Juice had work to do so he couldn't come along. Then we spent almost 6 weeks at my mom's house. This was heaven. I loved having my parents around to help out and to see all of my friends in Utah.

Once I flew home (with Juice), the boys were almost 6 months old. They were a lot easier. They were over that scary newborn phase and were sleeping 16 + hours a day.
I think I took my doctor's advice seriously, and I really do believe that it was my key to having sanity while they were so tiny.

The worst piece of advice I think I've gotten from strangers. Mostly it's little stuff. But things they say in passing without even knowing who I am or what I do. If I dress them the same, they say "You should never dress twins alike!" Never mind that my boys are completely different physically. If I don't dress them the same, "You should always dress twins alike! How fun is that??" "You should have those kids in bed." "You shouldn't feed them that!" "You are shining the sun in their faces! Get a hat on those kids!" "You're making your kids too hot! Take those hats off!"

Seriously, strangers should keep their mouths shut. But there's something about twins that makes people just want to talk to you.

My best piece of advice for moms of any kind is to take things in stride. This is advice I try to give myself every day too! I see other moms with older kids and see how different their lives are than mine. Each stage has it's challenges and joys. And I intend to enjoy them all!

Safire

Feeling Much Better

2010-03-27T19:45:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

After a rough night for me, I am feeling much better. Juice promised me I'd be able to sleep in today too. Yay! I love sleeping in. It rarely happens.

Today just didn't seem to be one of those days that it would happen either. Juice woke up feeling all icky and awful too. Rats. Add an upset stomach to allergies, and he is one happy camper, let me tell you.
So even though I still felt like I had a slight fever and the chills, and even though I was all achy in my joints (hips especially), and even though Butterfly had already gotten in trouble 3 times this morning before 8am, I got up. I got them dressed. I got them breakfast. I took them to their Easter Egg party at church. I took all 3 kids to the store. I got them lunch on the road. All so that he could sleep and maybe be a person when we got back.

My martyrdom is amazing.

No seriously, he really was feeling ill. And I was feeling maybe 60%. You can totally function on 60%. And as the day progressed, I felt much better. Even better after a hot dog at the 100 dollar store. I figured if I puked in there, they had huge flats of paper towels and could totally pick it up.
Besides, if we hadn't gotten up, I would have missed this face.
And I wouldn't want to miss that!

Safire

Is it Really Friday?

2010-03-26T21:43:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

Today was a strange schedule day. Juice went to bed really early last night (allergies, poor guy) and then left super early for work this morning. He was also home by 10:30am too. I love it when he has short days.

I took the kids over to Lolli's house to play. We brought them lunch and played through nap time. We had so much fun!

When we got the kids home and everyone to bed, I started to feel ill. My belly has been aching a little the past few days. Today it just took over. I thought maybe I needed a nap myself so I took a short on on the couch.

Then I woke up with a fever and all achy. Ugh. The kids got to watch another movie (a big treat for them!) and I laid on the couch moaning. Juice went off with the missionaries tonight. It took me almost an hour to get the boys dressed and ready for bed. There was lots of resting on my part.

I hate being the mom when I'm sick. All I want to do is lay there and sleep. Sadly, it doesn't work that way when you're the mom.

I hope I'm better tomorrow. We have a fun day planned and I'd hate to miss it!

Safire

Give Me Your Best Shot- Hospital take 2

2010-03-25T23:51:00.004-04:00

Everyone,

This week for my friend Lolli's Give Me Your Best Shot meme, I thought I'd do the best shot that I took on my little camera. In total, I think I have 3 cameras. My nice big one, my old point and shoot (which groans sadly whenever you turn it on) and my little underwater camera. I just keep the little underwater camera in my coat pocket and take pictures when I can. It's also the main camera I use in the summer near water and in the winter near snow. I like it. It's also the camera I take all the videos on until I save up for a flip camera (I've gotten almost 100 dollars at Amazon. For free! Earned by doing normal internet searches from Swagbucks. Sign up and you and I will both benefit!)

Now, I maybe upload the pictures on there once a month unless there's a video I want to show off. This past download included a few pictures I took of Pirate in the hospital waiting room (before we went to the triage of eternal waiting) and a video of him playing. It also included this picture:

Here is my brave boy about half an hour after his surgery. He still looks a little drugged. But he was smiling just a little bit. Notice his beloved blanket (which had to be washed today, the horror!) and his cute green pjs for St. Patrick's day.

Any cool pictures you've done this week? Link up!

Safire

Butterfly's Dance Class

2010-03-24T20:50:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

Last week was Butterfly's last dance class for the season. I decided not to do it for the last session. Why? Because that is the session that they are preparing for their recital. They will pick out their little costumes and learn a little routine to do. It would have been so cute! Sadly, we are going to be in Utah during the recital. I didn't want her to go through picking out the costume, learning the steps, and getting all excited to tell her she can't do it. I don't think that would have gone over very well.
So. She's not taking dance class any more. But she will start swimming here in about 2 weeks. That should be fun!
The parents were asked to come in and watch this time and I took a bunch of videos. They practiced leaping over a bean bag and after every leap, she turned and mouthed to me, "Did you take a picture?!" So I have a ton of videos of her leaping.

Here she is talking to me instead of paying attention. I think her teacher had to tell her 4 times to pay attention. I am a big distraction, apparently.

She had a really good time with it. Even with her saying every single week that she didn't want to go. She always enjoyed seeing her little friend G. And hopefully, G will be joining us for swim lessons!
I think Butterfly would love to have a friend there with her. In fact, we missed them so much on Monday that we spent today day playing at their house. Can you believe these girls are only a week apart?

Safire

Toddler E Week Preschool

2010-03-23T22:52:00.006-04:00

Everyone,
It's E week here at our house. Today in our little school, we had a good time. I figured Butterfly needed some help with her scissor skills so we read Chick a Chick a Boom Boom and cut out coconut trees. My original plan for having them write their own E's up a coconut tree did not happen because of 2 very naughty boys who are almost 2.I also boiled about 20 eggs for them to dye. 2 of them cracked (hello lunch for the boys!) so Butterfly and her friend AJ had about 18 left to dye how they wanted. Boy was this exciting. More exciting to Pirate than anyone. He laughed and clapped so big whenever we pulled a colored egg out of a cup.

He sure looks like he had surgery less than a week ago, huh?

Professor was more interested in dismantling any egg he could get his hands on. The puppy got at least 2 eggs that way. Both Butterfly and AJ loved deciding which color to put the eggs in and got very creative with 2 colors.
In the end, we had quite the rainbow of colors. They were beautiful to look at. And pretty fun to eat too! We had eggs for lunch too. Yummy!

This blue made the most vibrant color!

Safire

Going Green with Seed

2010-03-22T07:44:00.002-04:00

Everyone,

With last week being St. Patrick's Day and all the spring green coming out in the plants, I've been thinking about what I'm doing to be green as well. I think being green is not just using less energy (although we've been trying to do that too...just got our power bill, yikes!) I think it means using a lot less chemicals in our lives.

One of the main ways I've tried to cut back on chemicals is how I wash my face. I'd say over a year ago, I had had enough of the endless stream of horrible break outs. My skin has been bad since I was a teenager. Honestly the only time I've ever felt like I had clear skin was when I was pregnant.

So I started to do a lot of research. I'd done the prescription med thing in the past. It worked, but I really didn't like it. I've tried over the counter stuff (almost all of it) plus mail order stuff. It worked for awhile. I hated how they made my skin feel though.

A blog I read talked about using oil to clean her face. What?! I spent about 3 months researching it out, and started doing it. I figured I had nothing to loose. And after about 2 months of the worst break outs I've ever had (called the detox period) I've had smooth soft skin ever since. What do I do? About once a week I take 20 minutes and give myself a facial with a mixture of oils: castor oil, grapeseed oil, and sunflower seed oil. I rub it in, steam my face, and wipe it off. I only use water to wash daily now, and I use sunflower seed oil to moisturize. It's been an amazing change in my skin!

One thing I wanted to try was doing something similar with my hair. I never could bring myself to do it though. It's one thing to mess with your skin, it's a whole other thing to mess with your hair. I could never go shampoo free but I'd like to.

Instead, I'm trying this: SEED Power. I like the fact that it has grapeseed oil in it, the same stuff I use for my face. I like that it isn't in a bottle. One less thing that I have to recycle. It lathers well. And although I've only been using it for a few days, my hair seems a tiny bit shinier.

I'm feeling greener already!

Safire

PS- This was written in hopes of getting a sponsorship to BlogHer '10 through Hip As I Wanna Be and SEED. They didn't give me anything to try...I gave it to myself.

Question of the Week: Intuition

2010-03-21T20:26:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

This week's question of the week at Multiples and More is about intuition.

Do you believe in Mother's/Father's intuition? Give some examples.

I think that what people call intuition is what I call promptings of the Spirit. I think that there is something inside us all that tell us things if we listen hard enough.

That being said, I don't think I listen as hard as I could. But sometimes I get the message. Like this past week with Pirate's surgery. Two weeks before, I had the thought that I really should write down when I saw his hydrocele and what it looked like. It was because of that piece of paper that his doctor went along with his surgery and found a hernia we didn't even know about.

I think sometimes intuition or the Spirit tells you things that you don't exactly want to hear either. When we moved here from Utah, it was a huge leap of faith for us. But it seemed like this was the right place for us to go. Things just fell into place for us to be here. And it fell into place for us to be in this house. But I told Juice that I only wanted this house to be temporary. My time line was to move someplace else when Butterfly turned 5. I didn't want her to go to the local school.

But we could never feel right about moving. I looked into some private schools. I looked into homeschooling. And then, school boundaries changed and we ended up in another school. I still only wanted this to be temporary. But for some reason we need to be here. I'm trying to trust that.

Safire

Things We Do for Fun on Saturday

2010-03-20T22:51:00.000-04:00

Everyone,

Today was a big day. We had lots going on. But isn't that always the case for a Saturday?

We started the day of splendidly by going to bed after midnight last night. Juice is building a bridge and I was doing that work for my brother. Yes, Juice is building a bridge. Technically it's a truss. He's explained it all out to me and I nodded in the appropriate places. :)

Also today I took another big step with my new blog. It should be coming up by mid-May (or sooner!) so be on the look out for updates with that. I am so excited to have a permanent place online. You guys will come and see me over there, right? Especially since once I do move, I'm not going to update this blog again.

We got all dressed up in our pjs and headed over to our favorite ice cream place for PJ day. We all got free ice cream (even the dog) and chatted with several of our friends that were there.

Juice had a meeting at church tonight and I fed the kids nachos and applesauce for dinner. Everyone also got a bath. Pirate no longer smells like the hospital. I'm sure he feels better too!

Once Juice got back, it was time for me to run to the store. We have had no breakfast stuff for about 3 days now. We ran out of cereal, oatmeal, eggs, everything. A quick trip and now we are set to eat breakfast again!

The rest of the night has been spent making a bridge (Juice) and working (me) and listening to Professor cry because he can't breath. Yes, we are all coming down with lovely colds and I'm so excited for the summer and no sicknesses!

Now it's late and I should sleep.

Safire

Give Me Your Best Shot- Hospital

2010-03-19T13:39:00.004-04:00

Everyone,

Today I have another picture from the hospital. Okay, I have 2 that are really good.

This week's challenge at Give Me your Best Shot is Straight Out of the Camera. These two pictures of Pirate at the hospital are a little dark, but they are straight out of the camera.

I wanted to put up a picture of his cute little gap in the back of his little gown but thought better of it. (Why is it cute on a 2 year old and horrible on adults?!)

He's doing okay today. His left side is a maze of big purple bruises. He keeps sitting down suddenly and grabbing his left knee/leg and crying at random moments. Sadly, that has not stopped him from climbing. Just this morning I found him in the bathroom sink. As in, his whole body is in the sink and he is incredibly pleased with himself. Yesterday he climbed up on top of the computer desk in my living room and broke one of my figurines that was on a shelf above the desk.

I am so happy that spring is almost here and summer is not far behind. These kids need to get out of the house and climb on something legal!

Safire

Poor Kid

2010-03-18T22:30:00.002-04:00

Everyone,

After unsuccessfully keeping him down yesterday and this morning, I think he woke up from his nap sore. He was cross. He only wanted Mommy. So we all sat and watched movies this afternoon and he peed all over me. (His diaper is worn looser because of where the incision is...and it's prone to leaking. He had to have 3 outfits today because of it!)

I've been very on top of the whole pain medication thing. I can tell when we're getting close to the next dose though. He starts to get really cranky, cries a lot, and big circles show up under his eyes. Poor baby! I hope that he starts to feel really better soon because I'm really hurting to see him hurting.

This morning I went to get them out of their cribs and he said, "Uh-oh!" So I went over expecting to see something (not sure what now) and he looks up at me and said, "ow!" and started to bawl. It was so heart wrenching. I swooped him up (soggy pjs and all) and just held him and rocked until he stopped crying.

This also put out Professor who is used to spending all morning in my arms and he was cross and cranky with me too. And Butterfly was so sweet this morning petting Pirate's head and getting him toys. But the sweetness wore off and by the evening she was a whining mess. I know she just wants attention. They all do. But sadly, Pirate needs me the most. Right now, the rest will have to deal.

I took Professor to the store with me this evening after Juice got home. What a good little boy he is! I guess I never realized how well behaved he is for me. He just stays really close, follows me where ever I go, and is happy not to touch things. It's so funny to me that I'm JUST noticing this with him. I guess when I go out I'm so worried about keeping everyone in line, I didn't realize that I didn't need to keep him in line. A fun discovery.

The last of our huge snow pile melted today. The crocuses are blooming and the grass is greening up. It won't be long till all the trees are in bloom and spring will be here. It's been over 70 degrees the last few days. So beautiful! I'm hoping that we'll make it to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom this year.

Safire

Pirate's Surgery

2010-03-17T19:41:00.005-04:00

Everyone,

Today is St. Patrick's day. And my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday Mom! And my aunt's birthday! Happy Birthday Aunt! (March is a big birthday month for us.)

Everyone is wearing green today except for Pirate. He may be feeling a little green, but he's dashing in his little blue gown.

Today is the day of his surgery. He has a hydrocele, which is basically fluid moving from his body to his testicle area. That's no good. So off we went to fix it.

Since it is a surgery, he wasn't able to eat or drink anything starting the night before. His surgery was scheduled at 9:30am so at 8:30am, we show up as requested.

Then we spent an HOUR in the waiting room. He was a jem. They had a few toys to play with. Those little wooden roller coaster things are a lot of fun if you have nothing else to do! He also got a hospital bracelet that he kept trying to pull off. Finally, close to the 50 minute mark, I pulled out my ipod and played some kid movie for him. Of course, I forgot my headphones in the car so it was a silent movie.

Around 9:30 am, they took us back into the triage area and asked me a ton of questions. They gave him that adorable gown and then we waited for the doctor. And waited. And waited. He was a doll again. I put Cars on the ipod for him and he carried it around or sat in my lap and snuggled. He wasn't interested in any books. His thumb was in his mouth constantly. Poor hungry kid hasn't eaten in over 12 hours at this point.

The nurse came back in and chatted with us for awhile. Apparently the surgery before us was more complicated than expected. They put the next surgery in the triage room next to us.

Around 10:45 am, we finally started seeing people. The anaesthesiologist talked to me about what they were going to do. He showed me the mask. He said they would put in some kind of block in his tail bone. It's like an epidural. He won't be able to feel his legs really well.

The doctor's associate came in to check him. Huh, no sign of that hydrocele or a bulging sack. He went back to confer with the doctor. They had me gown up and he walked right into the OR. As I put him on the table, he just hung onto my hand so tight. He was not scared. I was! The doctor talked to me about how often I notice the bulging (every day) and when it's the biggest. I was able to hand him my tracker sheet about when I noticed it and how often. Boy am I glad I wrote that down! He nodded, gave it to the nurses and said, "Prep him."

Pirate did not cry as they held the mask over his face. He just stared into my eyes and then drifted off. So peaceful. What a mellow boy we have. We walked into the OR around 11 am.

I'll admit, it was hard to leave the OR and his little limp body on the table. He looked SO tiny as they all started to work around him and they took me out of the room.

Now it's 11:45 and I am sitting in the waiting room listening to other kids run up and down the hall.

*********

I wrote the above at the hospital center. Now we are home. The surgery went well. There was a small hydrocele and they closed that off. There was also a small start of a hernia and they fixed that right up. They also cleaned out excess fluid and sewed him back up. Seriously, took maybe half an hour. They brought him out to recovery and he was already awake when I got there.

He was not happy with me though and didn't want to be touched or looked at. I went and made our follow up appointment and left him with his nurse. Everyone was super nice at the hospital and really helped out.

Once I got back to the recovery room, he was ready to see me and be picked up. They gave him some kind of spinal block similar to an epidural so he couldn't move his legs. He just lay limp in my arms and sucked his thumb and held onto his blanket. (They even made note of which thumb he sucks and didn't put any IVs on it.) About 10 minutes later, the nurse offered him some juice. He downed it. Then she gave him a Popsicle. That was gone in a matter of minutes. She gave me all of our discharge instructions and had me look at his incision. It's only about as long as my pinkie. They put stitches on the inside (?!) that will dissolve so no worries about him picking at them. They also put some sort of glue on the outside that will dissolve in about 2 days.

He got another Popsicle and a bunch of stickers and off we went. He was very content to have his Popsicle and get the other kids who were at Lolli's house for the morning. When they got into the car with him, Butterfly said, "I haven't seen you in a long time! I missed you!" and gave him a big hug. Aww! Professor also pointed, babbled a lot, patted his leg, and smiled. It could be because he still had a Popsicle but I'm choosing to believe that it was because he missed him too.

He took a great nap at home, and has been bouncing off the walls ever since. The doctor told me to restrict his activity for the next 2 days. In the 2 hours he was up, I was ready to tear my hair out and he was pretty frustrated too. Tomorrow and Friday are going to be fun, I can tell.

Safire

Bigger is Not Always Better

2010-03-16T23:31:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

Before we had kids and we had money to spend on frivolous things for each other, I bought Juice a mechanical dinosaur. A raptor. It's interactive. When you turn it on, it growls, sniffs around and can follow things. (No picture because it's way late (again!) and I don't want to find it/take a picture of it.)

Soot (our dog) thought it was a being of great evil descended on our household. She barked loudly at it but also ran from it a great deal. We named it Bunny.

It also came with a tiny version of itself that walked. It was Juice's toy for a long time, but then it somehow became the kids' toy. The dinosaur, which Butterfly named Bob, is very sought after in my house. Professor really loves it and calls it a "rarrr".

The other day, Juice decided to bring down Bunny to show the boys. They had never seen the big one before. Professor had been hauling around his "rarrr" for a few days at that point. When Juice showed him Bunny, he threw down Bob with a resounding thud.

You could just see him look at the one in his arms, and say, "Yours is bigger! I'll take it!"

Then Juice flipped the switch and Bunny roared. Poor Professor ran sobbing from the room and won't go near Bunny now. (He still loves the little dinosaur.) Bunny is on the top shelf in our closet and he will go over to the closet and point and talk about the big one. But don't take it down! He likes to look at it from a distance.

Pirate thinks Bunny is great. We had to tell him that Bunny was tired and needed sleep or he would play with him all day. Pirate has also made up his own sign for sleep because of this conversation that I have repeated at least 30 times. He lays his head over to the side and sighs really big. Yes, sleep!

Speaking of signs, Pirate says very few words still. He signs A LOT though. And most of them he's thought up himself. Other signs he knows the "proper" way of doing is eat, drink, cereal, more, all done, milk, car, mommy, daddy, baby. It's amazing what you can say in a day with those 10 signs.

Safire

Staying Up Too Late

2010-03-15T23:22:00.003-04:00

Everyone,

I have gotten into a very bad habit of staying up way too late at night. That makes me super crabby and uncooperative in the morning. Which makes the kids clingy and whiny. Which only compounds my mood. It's a nasty cycle. I really should go to bed earlier. But here I am, after 11:30pm, still up!

This past weekend, I was also up at this hour, but doing something much more fun than blogging and working. I was meeting a ton of new bloggers at Momz Share. What is Momz Share? Momz Share is a series of events, held quarterly and hosted by a different, D.C. Metro Region blogger. Lolli and I went armed with our treats to share and our cameras to take pictures. She took all the pictures, I didn't take any. I joked with people that I travel with my own photographer when Lolli and I hang out. And it seems we do everything together lately. :)

Jen (Hip as I Wanna Be) and Lara (Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom) are the founders of Momz Share and are so much fun! There was tons of food, tons of prizes from some awesome companies, and lots of really great conversation.

I was so excited to meet Jessica from A Parent in Silver Spring. I have been reading her for a long time and I knew we could be friends. And I think we kind of are now! As much as friends who read each other's blogs and have met once. I think I spent over an hour talking to her and Lolli. (See her blog for a picture of the 3 of us.)

I had so many interesting conversations with so many people. Sadly, I totally missed winning a prize by only a year each time. Rats! The winner was picked by who was blogging the longest. I said 6 years, the other gal had 7. But looking back on my archives, I have totally been blogging for 7! Plus, all those years (3) of having an "online diary" at iparenting BEFORE blogs became easy and popular. That makes 10 years of putting my story online.

Now I sound totally nerdy. But this nerd is having a great time meeting all these amazing bloggers!

Safire

QOTW: Daylight Savings

2010-03-14T15:31:00.005-04:00

Everyone,

Happy Sunday! Happy Pi Day! Happy Birthday to my nephew Captain! He's now 2 years old.

It's a happy day here at our house.

And to go along with that happy day, is a question!

What are you tips/tricks for handling daylight savings time?

Honestly I think daylight savings time is stupid. I guess it's supposed to save us some energy or something? Either way, it's annoying to remember to change the clocks. I hate fall more because it's hard to go through the entire clock to go one hour back.

We don't do anything here to adjust. The kids still nap at their normal Sunday time (which is after church around 3pm) and we still have dinner at our normal time. I don't feel like I'm missing out on any sleep (except I was out late last night!) so I see no need to change at all.

I don't think the kids are having much a problem adjusting this time around either.

Safire

edited to add: The boys and I took a 3 hour nap after I wrote that. They are going to bed almost 2 hours late. So much for not needing any adjusting!

Sucess at the Consignment Sale

2010-03-13T16:08:00.000-05:00

Everyone,

This weekend was that time of the year! Twice a year my twin moms group puts on a huge consignment sale. This morning was the spring sale. I didn't get my act together soon enough to sell anything, but I'm always ready to buy something! So here's the breakdown:

1 dress for Butterfly (which she stuck her tongue out over and refuses to look at)
6 boy shirts (really, I don't need more shirts but these are so cute! Baby Batman and Cookie Monster were involved)
8 boy shorts
3 pairs of boy shoes (yes, three. 2 pairs of water socks [Professor has worn them to nap he loves them so much] and a pair of sandals. I couldn't find another pair of the same sandals so I'll have to actually buy those first hand)
1 pair of Butterfly sandals. Too small. Sad.
6 books (I am such a sucker for books)
1 DVD
1 set of lacing cards for Butterfly's Sunday bag

All in all, I spent around $80. Awesome!

My friend Lala slept in the car while I shopped during the member time. Then we stood in line forever and chatted. We got her daughter some very cute clothes and a really sweet little white Easter hat.

I also saw a few people from my church so I walked around with them while Lala checked out. She is having her first baby and bought out the sale! :) A stroller, an exersaucer, a diaper bag, a boppy pillow, some clothes, a car seat, and a swing. I hope she's all set for her new baby in the summer. We had a great time chatting (Lala too) after.

Last night I spent most of my evening sorting out shoes and having a great time. I always love going to this sale because it makes me feel so happy after. Everyone is very helpful and friendly. And I always love meeting new moms. One twin mom and I sat and chatted last night for about 20 minutes. Her girls are only a few weeks younger than my boys so we're going to get together and have a play date.

For all you local moms, this is an awesome sale! It's the best way to get gently used baby stuff. Half of the clothes I saw today were new with tags on them. The average price for a shirt at this consignment sale is about $2. I have bought all my clothes at this sale since the time that Butterfly was a few months old. Sad you missed this one? Don't worry! There will be another one in September. I'll remind you.

Because seriously, this room is stuffed to the gills with kid stuff. Any kind of toy, clothe, shoe, stroller, gear, anything!

And it's super fun to shop at too!

Safire

I Married Superman

2010-03-12T22:38:00.000-05:00

Everyone,

Part of Juice's job is that he goes to the local high school and mentors high school students with their physics classes. I guess they are building bridges and are very excited to have an engineer to help them out with what they are working on. Plus, it looks awesome on his resume.

He's got a big list of equations to solve for his homework. He's also pretty excited to help. He just loves helping out people. It's a really great quality of his. I should know, he helps me out a ton!

A new class had just come in when it was time for him to go back to his actual job. One of the girls asks who he is and the teacher introduces him (and the other engineers that were with him). Juice starts to leave with everyone (they had a meeting) and the girl pipes up, "Come back! You look like Superman!"

This is the fourth time THIS WEEK that he has been told by strangers that he looks like Superman. The ladies at the bank stopped him and told him that. A lady at the grocery store. Some of the girls at church. Seriously, he gets it all the time.

He is a pretty super guy. But I'm not sure I see the resemblance.

Safire

It's Never Too Early to Prep for the SATs

2010-03-11T20:29:00.000-05:00

Everyone,

A few days ago we (Butterfly, Juice and I) were having an in depth conversation about Winnie the Pooh. Because Winnie the Pooh deserves some deep thought. Think about it: is it a dream world or reality? Or is it real because kids live half in the dream world anyway? Does Christopher Robin have parents? What happens when he grows up? Does he ever grow up?

These are the types of things we talk about while getting ready for dinner.

Butterfly was asking what a Tigger was.

"T-I-double guh-rrr," I said.

"I know how to spell it! What is a Tigger?"

"A Tigger is a tiger, honey," Juice tells her.

"No, it's not!" (All of her sentences end in exclamation points when she's talking.)

"Yes it is. A Tigger is to a tiger what a heffalump is to an elephant," he said.

That brought stunned silence from Butterfly and me. "Oh, okay," she said as she wandered off.

"Way to prep her for her SATs Juice," I tell him.

"What? You don't think that way?"

"No!"

"Huh. No wonder I test well," he said smugly. "You can never start too early to think about college."

It's true, he does test well. Maybe Butterfly will get some of those good testing genes and get into that good college? Either that or he's going to train her brain to think like an engineer.

Sounds like I better put some more money into her college fund. Ivy League here we come.

Safire

Five Strands of Embroidery Floss Makes Girls Happy

2010-03-10T23:01:00.003-05:00

Everyone,

Tonight was the night I go to my church and help run the bi-monthly activities for the 8-11 year old girls. I've been doing a little over 2 years now, and it is so much fun! I've come to know all these girls and watch them mature into beautiful young women.

Our activity tonight was all about making friendship bracelets. We also talked about what makes a good friend. Here is the list they came up with.

A good friend is

Honest
Trustworthy
Fun
Helpful
Loving
someone who really cares about you and cares about you back
likes to play
likes to call you on the phone
picks up your homework when you're sick without asking
doesn't ignore you on the playground
picks you on their team when it's their turn to be captain

I think this is a great list. It's something you could apply to any of your relationships, not just your friends. Because I'm sure Juice would pick up my homework for me if I was sick. (I think he did that once in high school. I know he helped me with my homework several times. There's a reason I know the 16th president to this day.)

These girls were so excited to talk about the good things their friends had done or things that they had done to be good friends. Then we got down to the fun part. Braiding! Check out this video of someone else doing what we did tonight.

Did I ever mention that I was a camp councilor for a year? No? Well, it was one of the most fun jobs I've ever had. And these friendship bracelets were HOT. Everyone had them. I taught horseback riding lessons for the summer and we would always pull out the hair in the horses tails to make these bracelets. I still have that bracelet and it's one of my treasured souvenir of camp. I also made one out of the horse's tail that I owned at college. But at camp, these bracelets were our currency. I never did get very many, but I had enough that I was happy with them. This is the easiest way to make a fun and interesting braid. Everyone made at least one and everyone went home with someone else's.

I imagine we'll be seeing these around church for awhile. At least I hope we will! (Especially since this was supposed to be an hour long activity and after 2 hours, we had to kick everyone out. They had a ball!)

Safire

Pretend It's A Seed, Okay

2010-03-09T22:25:00.003-05:00

Everyone,

Big changes come in little steps. But sometimes they come in big leaps. Take the earthquake in Chile recently. My Dad was there a week before the huge one hit. He experienced a small pre-tremor that shook the walls but didn't do much else. Life went on as they knew it (and he tasted some awesome looking chili sauce.) But a week later, another earthquake hit that rocked the world. Literally. The country was devastated, but the world changed on it's axis. Our days are just that much shorter now. It's amazing what can happen under stress.

I think people can do amazing things under stress as well. It may start off with some small things, like that pre-tremor that my Dad experienced. It may explode in unexpected ways. It may rock our world and the way we think. Take Rebecca from Seed. She had something she wanted to do. Her desire to "detoxify" her life started off with some small pre-tremors. They inched her towards her own personal earthquake that changed her whole life. She and her husband now own their own line of natural health products.

For me, I feel like I've been having my own set of pre-tremors for my life to change. I may not start my own company, but I will be expanding my blog and therefore my writing. I always wanted to be a writer when I grew up and took several classes to that effect. I've been paid to write a few times in my life, but they've always been short gigs. My blog has been a long term gig (going on 6 years now!) and it's time for it to have it's own earthquake and rock my world.

So everyone hold on, brace yourselves, and get ready for some shaking!

Safire

Written in hopes of getting a sponsorship to BlogHer '10 from Jen from Hip As I Want To Be.

Too Many Things to Think About

2010-03-09T22:07:00.005-05:00

Everyone,

Last night I don't think I fell asleep until around 1 am. I just had too many things to think about. And my eyes were too tired to read. And I was too distracted to watch tv. I just wanted to sit and think. So I did. My new blog is done in my head. It is super cute. Now to only get someone to put my ideas onto the web. I can't wait to show you guys at the big unveiling, when I have some free time to put this together.

I took Butterfly to preschool at Lolli's house today. I stayed and played with the boys in the basement (new toys! balls! cars!) while she made kites with the kids. It's K week for preschool. The kites were really cute. But I sat and wrote everything down on a random pad of paper she had. I drew pictures (big for me), colored it and everything. I wish I had some website design skills because I would love to do it myself. I talked to a few guys today about designing it and they cost a whole lot more than I want to spend. So I'll take the few free moments I have in the day and keep searching. I'd love to have this up and running by May.

Other things occupying my brain space: things I need to do on the Internet. Because I've been doing some research for my brother, I have had zero free time on the Internet. But there is so much I want to search and do there. It's pathetic that I have an online agenda.

There also the every day stuff. You know, meal planning, schedule keeping, etc. I have a few big phone calls to make that are looming and I've been putting them off. My poor house has taken the brunt of the thinking and I haven't cleaned it in awhile. How long is awhile? Let's just say that Juice cleaned the toilets last night right before bed around 11pm. He couldn't take it anymore. We've all run out of clean clothes. Maybe I can at least catch up tomorrow morning.

Speaking of mornings, I woke up wide awake at 6am this morning. Just thinking. I will probably be doing a lot of that in the near future.

Safire

Baltimore Bloggy Boot Camp Recap

2010-03-08T19:16:00.004-05:00

Everyone,

This was a weekend of firsts for me! I was able to go to my very first conference ever. I honestly had no idea what to expect. I mostly went to go hang out with Lolli and to see what the fuss was about. It's not every day that you get to go to a conference so close to your home! I got wait listed but ended up getting a ticket very soon after. Lucky me!

After we got our name tags, we found out that we were sitting no where near each other. Drat! I ambled my way over to table 9 and did the small talk thing with Evolving Mommy and Sarah. And I took notes! In my brand new personalized notebook for blogging conferences. (Because I'm already signed up for 2 more!) Our first session was run by Scary Mommy, MamaKat from Mama’s Losin’ It! and our organizer, SITSgirl. They were so much fun to listen too! They talked a lot about building your blog and building your brand. This was the first thing to get my mind turning at the conference.

Sadly, I missed some of the talk because of a call from Juice. He took all 3 kids to the hardware store that morning to build rain gauges. They all helped hammer, got aprons, the whole bit. When he got back to the car, he realized that he had locked the keys in the car! Ack! A visit from a locksmith and much money dropped for 10 minutes of work, he was able to drive home. Poor guy. I felt really bad and wished I could go home to him and the kids.

A break for lunch in a beautiful room overlooking the harbor was just what I needed. I had a great time talking to all of my table mates and having some delicious cake.

Our next session involved a table change. Instead of being in the nose bleed section, I got to be front and center at table 4. I was soon joined by another Maryland Mom Blogger, Parenting By Dummies, and Diane from In My Own Style. I learned some things about the PR road map and realized a few more things about my blog. This is where I started jotting notes down in my handy dandy note book about my own blog and things I want to do.

And then, Tara talked about SEO and I decided. Things are going to change with the blog. I think I took the most notes here and got really excited about the change!

After a lovely Jello break and meeting Holly, we got to go back downstairs. This time we picked our own table because there were no more numbers on them. That was fun! I got to sit next to Stimey (who I actually read online) and Michelle who is a nanny to twins! She and I didn't get to talk long enough and I've enjoyed reading her blog. We have a lot in common!

We were given some guide lines from attorney Stacey Ferguson, found @justicefergie, on how to be responsible with product reviews and give aways. And then my brain filled up and exploded.

Seriously, what an amazing conference. I met so many other new friends and have some amazing things to read.

We were able to go out with everyone after. We went to a dueling piano bar (a first for me...never been in a bar before!) but we didn't stay more than 10 minutes or so. It was just too loud. We ended back up at the hotel restaurant for some good pizza and good talking.

The party didn't just stop there. We were able to use the hotel conference room and just sit around talking. So much fun. This was my favorite part of the whole conference. It was like a big old sleep over. But instead of talking about boys we thought were cute, we talked about husbands and kids who are cute.

The hotel kicked us out of the room at around 12 am though. Lolli and I walked back to my car (just a few blocks away) and marveled at how many people were out that late. We got home at 1am and I crashed in my bed.

So. An amazing conference. I totally would do it again and now I'm excited for the other 2 I'm signed up for!

But what does this mean for my blog? Honestly, a whole heap. This blog was only ever supposed to be temporary. Like the move to Maryland was supposed to be temporary. 6 years later, we and this blog are still here. Even though we are no where near being in a permanent home, I feel like the time is right for my blog to move to one. So in the next few months, there will be a big change. I will be moving to a different blog hosting site, a different url, and a whole new look. Wish me luck and I hope you'll follow me over there when I go!

Safire

QOTW: Divorce and Multiples

2010-03-07T20:07:00.003-05:00

Everyone,

The question this week is about divorce and multiples.

Do you think parents of multiples are more likely to become divorced? Why or why not?

Honestly, I DON'T think that parents of multiples are more likely to become divorced. Why? Because in any marriage, the key to success is to work towards a common good. And when you have multiples, you have a chance to work towards a common good. Like survival.

What aspect of parenting multiples have you found to be the most difficult as it pertains to maintaining a relationship?

For me, it has been a lot of loss of self. There has been a lot that I've given up on to have and raise the kids. I am waiting for that self to come back, eventually. Juice said that one of the difficult things for him was to realize that I was not mad at him. I was (am) tired a lot. I'm cranky because I've been running full tilt all day. But I'm not mad at him. It took him awhile to realize that.

How do you maintain a healthy marriage/relationship?

We go grocery shopping shopping together almost every week. This is advice was given to us on the day we got married by the man who married us. It also means that we take all the kids shopping with us. I think this once a week outing forces us to be together as a family. We also have a babysitting trade with one of our friends. I watch their kids once a month, and they watch ours once a month. That way we at least have some kind of kid free time once a month. It's great!

If you were to give one piece of advice to a couple who just found out they were pregnant with multiples on how to stay happy together, what would it be?

It's going to be stressful. It's going to be rough. Things are going to get ugly. If not with the kids, with each other some times. Forgive each other. Forgive each other often and freely.

Do you think the MOST study is accurate?

This study says that 95% of parents of multiples stay together. Honestly, I think this is true. Or maybe I want it to be true. I think that parents of multiples stay together because they have to work together.

Safire

Adventure Time

2010-03-06T09:30:00.002-05:00

Everyone,

This morning my good friend Lolli and I are off on an adventure to Baltimore and the SITS Girls Bloggy Boot camp. This will be my first conference ever and I'm just not sure what to expect.

One thing I do expect to happen is to get lost in Baltimore. I ALWAYS get lost there. Even with the GPS. I don't know why I keep insisting on going to this city but I do. It always has some interesting things to see.

Safire

The Bestest Day Ever

2010-03-05T20:37:00.003-05:00

Everyone,

Tonight Butterfly told me it was the bestest day she's ever had. So what made today so great? What is her formula for having a best day?

Morning: I had a bunch of errands to run this morning. I was going to a friend's garage sale and really didn't want the kids with me. So Juice, super nice guy that he is, stayed home with them and I ran my errands. He said what he did this morning was give her the cereal that she wanted and read books to them for almost 2 hours straight. These kids sure do love books.

By the time I got home, he was ready to go to work and not talk to anyone for awhile. I got Butterfly a new Sunday dress and a few new leggings to go under dresses. She has decided she will not wear jeans anymore. She only wants to wear dresses. Okay then.

We had her favorite food for lunch. Mac and Cheese! We also had some grapefruit juice, and some grapes. The boys went down for their naps right after lunch. She will not have quiet time in her room anymore. She and I watched a movie. (Well she watched, I worked.) I let her have girl scout cookies and conversation hearts while watching the movie.

She helped me make dinner. We had quiche tonight. She was so excited to see Daddy when he came home for dinner. She played nicely with the boys while dinner cooked. She ate 3 pieces of quiche and crowed about how good of a cook she is.

She played nicely with the boys after dinner too. She helped Daddy with the dishes while I put the boys to bed. She and I played games on the computer until it was bed time. We did fight a little over brushing her teeth. She thinks she can brush for a second, spit, brush, spit, brush, spit, etc. We had a good story time.

We even rocked in the rocking chair tonight. This is her favorite thing. She only wants to do it with me. When she was the boys age, this was the only thing we could do for her to get her ready for bed. And I think I rocked her every single night until I could barely move I was so pregnant with the boys. It's something that I can tell she misses. It's a special treat now.

It was while I was rocking her that she told me that this was her bestest day ever. I'm so glad Honey. So, so glad. :)

Safire

Thursdays Thawing

2010-03-04T22:37:00.000-05:00

Everyone,

Today the weather was beautiful. Sunny, warm (ish) and the roads were soaked. The snow is melting big time. There are big fields of grass and even the snow beneath the trees is melting. What is making the roads so wet is the huge 9+ feet of snow that have been piled up on the corners and in parking lots. That is still hanging around. Oh, and all the snow in our front yard. Since we have a northern exposure, that stuff will be there until the boys birthday. You watch.

Today we were able to go to the PRC for some play time. We met Lolli and AJ and another friend for some serious playing/mommy talking time. (Although I never get in enough Mommy Talking Time. It's just not a good idea with toddler twins.) The kids love the gravel table. I hate it because I have to sweep up the gravel that they spill. And you know they do. I also watched the boys pretend in the little kitchen they have there. They washed their hands, put things in pots, sat at the table, said a blessing on their food, and ate it with gusto. It was so cute. I imagine we'll be in for another round of colds because there was a fair amount of licking the food that I couldn't stop.

Butterfly was determined to paint today. She also got paint all over her pants. Thank goodness she has resource center clothes and I could care less if these pants get ruined. She has taken to drawing hearts for mouths and it's very cute.

I was very brave and let Pirate paint as well today. He takes his art so seriously! I'm not sure if he ran his fingers through his hair or if he leaned on his painting but his hair was green from forehead to mid head. I ran my fingers through it once and Lolli caught this great picture. I can't get enough of this boy lately. He is growing up so fast and acts like such a little boy.

Professor came over begging to paint once he saw his siblings doing it so we made room for him too. He also got paint in his hair but I didn't notice until I got home. He had the white paint today and I honestly don't think I would have noticed that in his hair unless it had been sunny. I'm excited to go back next week and pick up their first master pieces.

Sadly, no Easter Egg Roll for us this year. Did anyone else get tickets?

Safire

Big Plans

2010-03-03T22:27:00.003-05:00

Everyone,

If you ask Juice to describe me, he always says, "She's a planner." After I get over being called a book that's only good for a year, I realize that he is right. I'm a planner. And I always have been. I love to have things planned way in advance. The kids kind of let me be more of a "roll with the punches" kind of gal but I still love to plan. And want to plan. Juice is not that way. I suppose that's why we go together so well.

This summer is going to be big. I have so many fun plans swirling around in my head. I figured I needed to make a list so why not list it all for the joys of the Internet? :) Feel free to skip it unless you want to know what I've got planned through the rest of the year. (Yes, I'm that kind of planner.)

March- Pirate's surgery is this month. Also, Juice's 31st birthday on the 31st. How much do you want to bet we don't do anything this year.

April- The boys turn 2! We'll go out to dinner. Butterfly also starts swimming lessons again and says good bye to dance lessons.

May- Butterfly turns 5! She wants a swimming party. I told her no. Maybe we can have a sprinkler party. Do you think it would be too cold for that? Also, we are headed to Utah! We'll be there (probably) from the 21st-June 5th. I have many people to see and things to do. Hopefully we'll get to all of it.

June- We return to Maryland with Flower, our niece, in tow. (Hopefully!) Flower will have a part time job around here this time since I don't need AS much help with the kids. There will be berry picking. There will be an aquarium membership to make use of. There will be trips to the zoo, the parks, Mt. Vernon. This is a month I'm really looking forward to. Butterfly will also be starting violin lessons.

July- I think this month we are thinking of taking a weekend away with Flower. Maybe we'll go to the beach for a few days instead of a few hours. Maybe we'll go to Chincoteague and see the wild ponies again. There's also the 4th of July which I'm totally going to talk Juice into taking us down on the mall this year. We'll have Flower, we can manage! After the inauguration, this should be easy! :)

August- I am going on a girl's weekend away with my friend Lolli to NYC. This is my 30th birthday present to me. I'm excited but nervous. Also, we have to send Flower back to her house this month so we'll have to plan something really fun. I know! Let's go see a museum! ;)

September- Happy 30th Birthday to me! Butterfly starts SCHOOL! My parents are coming to visit for a week at my birthday and I am SO excited to have them come out again.

October- Off to the PA Renn Faire this year and a nice weekend away. Also, Halloween.

November- Thanksgiving.

December- Christmas.

Okay, now I'm starting to think I'm strange. A whole year planned out? Already? Well, it is just a rough outline. :) But still, I think time will fly and before you know it, I'll be back planning next year's summer!

Safire

Birthday Season

2010-03-02T22:06:00.006-05:00

Everyone,

Birthday season has hit our house. Last week it was my Dad's birthday. Today is my brother's birthday. In 2 weeks, it's my nephew Cappy's birthday. Then my Mom's birthday is a few days after that. Then 2 weeks after that is Juice's birthday. 3 weeks later, the boys' birthday. And 3 weeks after that, Butterfly's birthday. Whew! Talk about packing them in. I switched my calender over yesterday and almost every single day this month someone in our family is celebrating something. (Birthdays or anniversaries for my cousins, aunts, uncles, Juice's family, etc)

Since today is my brother's birthday (Happy Birthday Bro!) I thought I'd share a story about him, MusicMan. I've been trying to think of my earliest memories with him. I vividly remember running after his back at my first elementary school. So I must have been in 1st grade maybe. We were at the bus stop (which was a park) and we were running for the bus.

I remember playing Voltron in our basement. He always made me be the pink girl but I wanted to be the blue boy. My parents had a big folding extra bed that we used to climb into and that was Voltron's cave. It was a favorite hiding place. Also in the basement, I remember the storage room being locked near Christmas time. We tried to plan out ways to pick the lock or look through the wall some how because we were sure our presents were in there. (We were right, the year we got bikes we saw them. Sorry Mom.)

As we got older, I remember playing a lot of Nintendo with him. Well, I did a lot of watching. He was very good at Nintendo. Especially Final Fantasy. I can still vividly see him fighting those three sisters over and over. They were hard!(Us in 1989 with our dog.)

In 1990 in the Mountains in Colorado.

When I was about 10, on Easter Sunday, MusicMan and I were alone in the pew at church. Both of my parents were singing in the choir and were on the stand. So MusicMan and I were alone for that hour (or so) of service. He was about 12. About half way through, he and I were fighting over a hymn book. A full out fight (as much as you can in church) with lots of hip checking and trying to rip the book out of each others' hands. I looked up at my mom for some support and she gave me "the look of death". You know, the one you got when you were in trouble and your parent can't yell at you. Then I glanced at my Dad and I could see him glowering at us too. So I poked MusicMan and pointed up at our parents. We both stopped fighting and smiled angelically up at them. We weren't fighting! No! MusicMan even had the dramatic flair and put his arm around my shoulders to show that we were friends. That satisfied both my parents and they looked away.

That's when he swooped in with the attack. He swung his hand around my shoulders at my face and caught me right on the nose. Which then started to bleed. Badly. I was no stranger to nose bleeds as a kid but I didn't want to get blood on my dress. I remember getting up and trying to get out to the bathroom as fast as possible. MusicMan saw what I was doing and followed me out of the chapel with his arm around my shoulders again.

(Us again in 1991. These are all Christmas time pictures.)

My mom said she knew something was wrong when we walked out like that. And then the Relief Society president followed us out as well and followed me into the bathroom to make sure I was okay. I was fine a few minutes later and no blood on my dress.

I do remember getting into a lot of trouble for fighting in church that day. But probably not as much trouble as MusicMan got into for hitting me in church.

As teenagers, he was ALWAYS late. He was also my ride to school. His first period was drama. No one cared if he was late. By my first period was English. And I was late every day for almost a month. I got detention at least 4 times that year because of tardiness. Which was totally not my fault! I even resorted to pouring cold water on him in the mornings to wake him up. Seriously didn't phase him.

Even with all the trouble that we got into with each other, we've always been good friends. I never worried about being bored at family things because I knew that MusicMan would always be there to talk to or hide out with. Vacations were fun with him. I knew what he liked and he knew what I liked.

I wished we lived closer so that we could be closer but such is life. He is my only sibling and I know that we will always have a connection. I'm glad he's my brother!

Safire

One Day They Will Be

2010-03-01T23:12:00.004-05:00

Everyone,

I've been doing some Internet research for my brother. Mainly just looking up different companies and writing down what I find. He gets all the useful stuff. You get all the juicy stuff. This is all the stuff I am thinking when I find these companies.

People name their children HORRID things. Why, oh why, do they name their kid Lewis when their last name is Lewiston? Oh sure, it sounds good together. But it just goes to show you that the parents have no imgination. I am also enjoyed the funny last names like Halfacre, Carpe, and Schauhalter. Also, please stop naming your girl children Candie, Stormie, and Bambi. It makes them sound like strippers that are working for a serious company.

The financial world is run by middle aged men. With shiny foreheads and startled eyes. A note to website developers: if you are going to put pictures of your executives on the website, please get professional shots taken. Do not just bring a point and shoot into the office and get people's heads as they are working. It makes them look creepy.

I also realized that my boys are going to grow up to be middle aged men with shiny heads. My cherubs! They are so cute and snugly now...I better enjoy that while I can.

I expect big companies to have serious people in suits and ties. I also expect less out of companies that deal with food, coffee, exercise equipment, and plants.

Random, I know.

Safire

QOTW: Dear Pregnant Self

2010-02-28T17:56:00.001-05:00

Everyone,

This week's question on the Multiples and More blog is not a question but a writing prompt.

For this week's question of the week, write a letter to yourself- your newly expecting, have-no-clue-what-you-were-in-for self.

Dear Pregnant Self:

Look at you having two! And be relieved it's not three. (Haha...nice rhyming there.) First off, you will love having twins. Twins are amazing, wonderful, and your kids are even more so. Both of them are healthy, active, funny little boys. Yes, boys!

But right now, at 7 weeks pregnant, there are a few things to prepare for. Like, being sick and tired all day every day again. Don't worry, you won't be as sick as you were with Butterfly. You won't be throwing up 7 times a day every single day until 32 weeks. But you won't be able to eat at all. Which will cause your doctors to urge you to do something about it. Ha, as if.

I can tell you right now, stop reading the internet. Stop reading blogs about high risk pregnancies and twin pregnancies gone bad. While you were lucky and this didn't happen, you also didn't need to shed all those tears about it either. Seriously, ~~step~~ shuffle away from the computer and do something else while you can.

This is your 2nd pregnancy so you kind of understand what's going to happen. Be thankful that Butterfly came so fast and you weren't able to have an epidural with her. (Yes! Something to be thankful for!) Because this time, the epidural wore off and you had both your boys vaginally with all the pain of a miss medicated birth. You will feel every little thing. You survive, though. And not to worry...it's something to totally brag about now. :)

And that yoga that you vowed you'd do when you were pregnant with Butterfly and didn't? Vow to do it again. But this time, actually DO IT. Otherwise your hips will ache for years after. Believe me, they do. Also, stop complaining about your doctor's office. If you don't like them that much, switch! You can switch.

Enjoy this time you have with just Butterfly. Life because a flurry once the boys are born. She is one special little girl to be a big sister to these boys. She is always your Empress and will continue to be so.

These boys were meant to be in your family. You were given these children to be their mother and you will be a great one (most days). Have faith that it will all work out how it's supposed to and enjoy the ride!

Safire

PS- Update that blog more often! I don't care that you are sick and tired ever day. This will end up being the only record you have of this pregnancy and you will forget if you don't write it down.

Brain Fried

2010-02-27T12:01:00.001-05:00

Everyone,

This morning I got up super early to help bag and receive my share of food from Share DC. I always love going because the people are so nice. I always get a good feeling after going there. Today, another member of my church and I were in charge of the vegetables. He put in the potatoes, the onions, the carrots, the lettuce, and I put in 4 apples and 2 grapefruit. I also moved the full bags to the pass out tables. We seriously rocked the time. The vegetables got done before the meats did which I think is a record. The other workers even commented on it.

On my way out, I talked to the guy who was in charge of this share. We were joking around and I asked him if he ever thought of turning the order around. Basically I got tired of walking from one end of the room to the other with full bags of groceries. I thought if he started on the other side of the room, the bags would end up full right next to the pass out tables, instead of starting there.

A light came on in his face and he asked me really loudly, "Are you a brain surgeon?! Because you are smart enough to be one! Why didn't I think of this before!"

I can have some few good ideas in my life. I guess this was one of them. So by the time I got home this morning I was flying high on feeling good. We rushed off to the hardware store and the grocery store. They were having a grand re-opening with a bunch of samples at the grocery store. Turns out my kids love brie, steak, bread dipped in olive oil, soup, chocolate (we knew that) and the little toothpick flags they stuck in everything. I also got about $100 worth of groceries for $25 dollars. I love coupons sometimes! (Plus I won a $25 dollar gift card! It was a very cool shopping trip.)

The rest of the day I felt buried in my computer. But not just surfing the Internet like I normally do. I'm helping out my brother with some kind of research project and I have a bunch of companies to look up for him. Ouch this makes my head hurt! It's due soon so I'll be spending all my free time in that. It's not too bad, although I do start to have problems with the i's and the l's looking the same.

Off to bed for me!

Safire

More Fun With Syrup

2010-02-26T21:55:00.000-05:00

Everyone,

Joining Lolli for pictures this Friday!

Butterfly and Lolli's little boy, AJ, really enjoyed eating pancakes out for preschool. We have such a fun time with these kids and school. I can't believe that summer will be here in a few short weeks and then these kids will go to school. Not only will I loose Butterfly to school all day, I'll loose my excuse to hang out with Lolli every single week. Oh we'll still get together...never fear! Just we won't have school to do together. I've enjoyed it. I think Butterfly and AJ have too.

They are such fun kids!

Safire

Eating Out

2010-02-25T21:42:00.005-05:00

Everyone,

This week was free pancake day at IHOP. Yummy! We had juice and free pancakes. And all the syrup you can eat. Which, is apparently a lot for Pirate. Check it out:

Still it was an enjoyable morning out and free food!

That evening we also went out for dinner (a rarity for us but Juice was dead set on doing some fundraiser) at a diner. Between Butterfly crawling on the floor and getting in major trouble, the food taking forever, the check taking even longer, and Professor dumping his dinner in my lap not once, not twice, but three whole times, I made the declaration that we are never. eating. out. again. Ever.

Luckily I came to my senses and Butterfly apologized for her behavior. Besides, eating out is one of my favorite things. I'd hate to give it up forever.

But after Tuesday, I may not want to eat out for a long long long time. At least, until Juice's birthday next month.

Safire

PS- Easter Egg Roll tickets are open for all you locals! Lottery this year. Hope we all get some tickets. :)

What a Day!

2010-02-24T22:35:00.000-05:00

Everyone,

Professor woke up super early this morning. They are normally not up until 7:30am or even 8am. Today he was up at 6:30 ish. Ugh. Juice brought him to me in bed because he was headed off to work. Professor smiled behind his binkie and pulled it out to talk to me. He looked like he had been eating chocolate. Guess he had a bloody nose in the middle of the night and it got caught between his face and his binkie. Poor kid! He was not happy to be washed off. But I was not happy to be up so early!

Once everyone else was up, I changed every one's sheets. The kids thought it was so fun to be in their beds after they had been pulled apart. But changing 3 sets of sheets is exhausting. I think it's worse because I am getting a cold and I am tired.

I thought we could all use a day at home. I had a ton of laundry to do. I had a house to pick up. So I get going with all of that. Then I notice that I had not seen Pirate in awhile. Huh. I wonder where he is. I sent Butterfly upstairs to see if he was up there and he wasn't. So I went looking through the house. No luck. I start calling out his name. I check outside.

No luck! Now I start opening closets and checking under beds. No luck! I sent Butterfly outside to check and see if he got stuck out there. Nope. I am starting to panic! What if he went outside and somehow got out of our fence? What if he went outside and someone took him out of the back yard?! What if he's stuck some where, hurt, bleeding, and unable to come when I call him? As I'm standing by the back door looking around I heard a noise. In a tiny tiny corner. There he was! He found a coloring book of Butterfly's and was quietly playing there all by himself.

Talk about giving me a heart attack!

In other good news, today is my Dad's birthday. We got him a bendable tripod for his camera. We had a good time talking to him on the web cam too. I had to run off because of a church meeting, but it was good to see him. Happy Birthday Dad!

Now I'm going to take some decongestant and go to bed. Ugh...I hope this is not going to be a bad cold and I hope everyone doesn't get it!

Safire

Girly Music

2010-02-23T22:40:00.001-05:00

Everyone,

Saturday night I had the most amazing experience with my friend Lolli. She was given tickets to a concert in Baltimore. And since her in home babysitter was out at a party, she couldn't take her husband to the concert. So she invited me! I had no idea what kind of music we were going to listen to. But anyone who knows me well knows I'm up for an adventure. So off to Baltimore we go!

Lolli was able to pick up the tickets despite having lost her wallet (see her blog...she dropped it in the parking lot at my house and found it after...whew!) and we were usurer to our seats. In the Grand Suite. First row center of the balcony. I don't think I've ever sat in such good seats before. Oh, and because we were in the special box, we got to use the special lounge and bathroom. Talk about a fun and special girls night out.

Lolli and I talked a little about who we were seeing. I had never heard of them before. They are called Celtic Women. They are AMAZING. From the first song I was amazed at the quality of their voices. Each song made me like them more and more. By the end of the concert, I'm a huge fan. Let me show you why:

Now that video is just an overview of each of the women in the group. I was shocked at the violinist. How does she do that?! Turns out Mairead has been the solo violinist to several big singers like Sting. She also plays the violin in the Tinker Bell Movies which Butterfly LOVES. What a treat to see her live! (As an aside, there was a group of men in matching jackets at the concert. They lept up and gave her a standing ovation every single song she played. It was too funny at first. But then I thought it was sweet. She really does deserve a devoted fan club.)

There were 2 songs that stand out to me from Saturday night. Enya sings a song called "Orinoco Flow." I happened to be listening to that song when Juice asked me on our first date. Memories! They did a beautiful job of singing it on Saturday. I was taken back to being just barely 16 and going on my very first date. The other one that stuck out at me was called "Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears." I just kept thinking of my Mom and all the genealogy she does. How this puts history into real life! Here Mom, this one is for you! (Pooh...can't embed it in my blog. Have another really great one instead...but be sure to listen to that link!)

The women are amazing. But you know what else I found amazing? The musicians they play with. Each one of these people could play at least 4 instruments. I just sat and watched them amazed. I also loved the 2 big stands of percussion. One of the percussionist had a big bucket full of different drum sticks and he would fling them when he was done with them. So fun to watch!

Lolli loaned me her cd of them that night and I've been listening to it ever since. Butterfly keeps asking me why we're listening to the "girly music" and the "loud noises." I couldn't figure out what the loud noises were until she pointed out this in a song.

Ack, my daughter has Scottish blood and doesn't like the bagpipes?! Better fix that one! I loved hearing them. I took this video after the concert. He was playing everyone home. Loved it!

Is it sad that I liked them that much that I'm considering coming to Utah this summer a week early so I can catch their show there? Yes, they were THAT good!

Safire

PS- If you'd like to have a CD of your own, Lolli is giving away one on her blog! If you win, I expect to borrow it from you for awhile though!

Instead of...

2010-02-22T22:27:00.003-05:00

Everyone,

Instead of forcing the boys into clothes this morning, I let them run around the house with just their diapers on while I exercised. They brought me clothes because they were cold (the scrunch up their arms next to their bodies and rock back and forth...that means cold) and happily got into them.

Instead of saying no to a movie this morning for Butterfly, I said yes. I also explained to her that she did not get a nap time movie and she agreed. There was only a few minutes of pouting when I reminded her of that at nap and she willingly had quiet play time in my room.

Instead of trying to hustle everyone out to the car as fast as possible, I allowed them to make snow balls and throw them. I clapped over every one. I oohed and aaahed as they smashed the snow under their feet. I let Butterfly run through the snow in mary janes and no socks. She came back very quickly.

Instead of ending the fight at the grocery store as who got to sit where, I let them work it out. Butterfly is very smart and knows her brothers well.

I wish I could say that instead of hissing at Butterfly when she dropped our lunch on the ground because she was too impatient, I took it all in stride. But I didn't. She got in trouble. The food was saved (by still being wrapped up) but she moaned and whined while we ate. She told me "I am NOT going to EAT! I will STARVE FOREVER." And I answered her, "Fine." In my head, I thought "I'm not going to cry at your funeral. You did this too yourself." Then I felt guilty. Then I probably realized that I would cry at her funeral. And instead of stewing over it like she was, I gave her a big hug and kiss on the head and she started eating.

Instead of saying no to puddle jumping, I let everyone get their feet wet at the glasses repair place. (Juice's glasses broke and this place is amazing! He fixes your glasses for a very reasonable fee and you don't have to get new ones. Awesome!)

Instead of listening to the radio on the way to Butterfly's dance class, I listened to her. I answered her questions about the rain (yes! rain!) and her plans for the future. (She's going to marry Vinny and live in Utah next to Nana.)

Instead of dragging everyone out after dance class, Juice and I stayed home. We could have gotten a free scoop of ice cream at our favorite place because it was raining. But we figured it was cold and wet and we'd rather not.

Instead of blogging, I sat and watched Super Bowl commercials with Juice. We laughed some, but mostly shook our heads over them. I really liked the Clydesdale one. Very cute. We then spent 45 minutes talking about the kids and the cute things they've done lately. We wondered about Butterfly's future ourselves. We chatted about our future and upcoming birthdays. It was nice to reconnect with no other distractions.

So...tomorrow do something out of the ordinary and then come tell me about it! I hope it changes your day for the better like it did mine.

Safire

Question of the Week

2010-02-21T20:10:00.003-05:00

Everyone,

This week's question on the Multiples and More blog is all about travel.

What are your best tips for traveling with multiples?

Hm...a good question. And not one I'm sure I can answer easily. We did a cross country trip (from Maryland to Utah) in a car last summer. Butterfly was 4 and the boys were 15 months old. You can read a little part of that trip here. Basically we had the 3 kids, my dad, me, and the dog on the way out. It took us 3 days to get to Utah on the way out. There was screaming. There were messy diapers. There was a lot of Kung Fu Panda. On the way back to Maryland, we had my dad, the dog, the 3 kids, me, and my 15 year old niece Flower. It took us 4 days this time and it was a lot harder. I'm not sure why 3 days was better but it was.

We've flown a lot to Utah to visit our families who live there. We've gone on a few over night trips to Pennsylvania. Butterfly is such a great traveler because she's done it so much. She loves sleeping at hotels. I bribe her with tv and cartoons (which we don't have at our house) if she sleeps well. She will sometime ask when we are going to sleep in a hotel again. That girl is born to move!

We don't travel as much now because it's logistically harder. Plus, I really don't think (at this point) I can deal with all the boys and Butterfly by myself. Juice is not a big traveler.

Last month we flew to Utah for a funeral. Juice was able to come with me and that was a big help. Because of the shortness of our visit, I decided we were NOT going to check any bags. That was hard because we had to get all of our stuff, plus all of our trip stuff, into 3 small duffel bags. We made it. Juice really doesn't ever want to do it again though. But we will because we love and miss our family.

Did you find it helpful to travel at night?

No, I didn't think traveling at night was more helpful. Mostly because we got tired driving. There were a few times when the kids did not transfer to their beds after sleeping in the car. My good friend Lolli swears by driving 24 hours straight to get to Utah so I guess it works for some people.

Did you bring a pack'n'play for each child? What were the sleeping arrangements?

For our big road trip, we took one pack and play. The boys started out the night in them but ended up the night in bed with me. Then Butterfly too. It was cute but I got no sleep. At my mom's house, she has a pack and play of her own. Last summer I had my own. The summer before that I borrowed my best friend Mink's pack and play. In January, I borrowed it again. Butterfly sleeps in my old bed. They are growing out of their pack and plays, though so I'm not sure what to do for the future.

Did you try to preserve your kids' schedules as much as possible?

Yes and no. I loosen up quite a bit on vacation with bed times. But I still am pretty militant with their naps because it brings everyone some sanity. There are days when they don't get them on vacation and sleep on the fly. It works out.

Any tricks for getting your kids to sleep in a new environment?

If they have a lovie, bring it! My boys love their blankets made by their Auntie Lisa so we bring those every time. When Butterfly was little, she had a night light that she loved. My mom bought it for her house so we wouldn't have to lug it around.

Do you have any "special" toys that you brought with you to avoid a meltdown?

I would let Butterfly pick out her few toys and take the toys the boys are most interested in at the time. Sometimes I would get new toys from the store, but I find that a little unnecessary. They will play with what you have.

Are you more lenient with your kids on trips than you are at home?

No. They still get in trouble for the same things. Our rules follow our family no matter where we go. There is still no hitting, biting, whining, or running away from me.

What items do you find indispensable for travelling?

I love my wraps (see last post), a good bag, and a helper. Also, lots of diapers! A stroller is nice but we have worked around not having it...even in the airport. I have those baby leash backpacks and those are very handy to let them get some wiggles out while walking around. Also, my backpack that holds the diaper stuff, my computer, my camera, and tons of toys is a huge help.

What has also been super helpful is friends and family that are willing to loan us things while we are visiting them. We've borrowed car seats, strollers, pack and plays, etc. My mom has a lot of stuff for us now so when we go to see her, I know that I have things I need.

In the end, it can be done. Take your patience and your reserves. Don't be afraid to say no, ignore a screaming child, or ask for help. Hope everyone enjoys their travels!

Safire

Baby Wearing

2010-02-20T16:13:00.004-05:00

Everyone,

This morning I was able to take Pirate on an outing. Just me and him. I rarely get to spend time with each kid by themselves that it was a real treat to be with just him. And only have one baby to look after and hold on my lap. I love that.

Someone in my twin group set up a meeting to talk about baby wearing. What is baby wearing? According to wikipedia, baby wearing is "the practice of carrying a baby or a child in a sling or other carrier."

My friend Lolli showed me how to put Butterfly in a sling when she was very young. She discovered it with AJ (who is just 8 days younger than Butterfly) and passed on her knowledge. Butterfly spent probably 60% of her time strapped to me while we were out and about. We used to go on walks every night and she was always in her sling. It made it easy to travel with her. We used to go to Utah a lot more with her and it always made it easy to deal with our bags with my hands free. I think she probably used the sling for the last time when she was almost 3. Juice carried her somewhere...I think we were on a hike.

When I was told we were having twins, one of the things I was excited about was being able to wear one baby in the sling and hold the other. I never thought that I could wear both babies at the same time! I wish I had gotten a picture of me with both the boys in my sling in the front but I didn't.

Still, I was able to carry both babies (one on the front, one on the back) a lot once they got big enough. I don't even have a picture of that anymore because it's in the pictures I lost when my computer crashed.

This morning I went to the meeting to let the other mother's know that it can be done. I even made a friend who has boys just the same age as mine. We're going to have a play date soon. It was fun to see all the different wraps and carriers and slings, and see who prefers what. My favorite is a moby wrap that Lolli made for me special. Juice even has his own sling. We STILL wear the boys all over. Here's a list of all the places we've been with the kids in the wrap.

- blueberry picking
- aquarium
- countless museums downtown
- the beach
- the inauguration
- airplanes
- hiking
- the county fair
- sledding
- the Renaissance Fair
- Philadelphia
- all over really

I never leave home without at least one of the wraps in my bag. The boys are bigger that I don't have to wear them in the wrap a lot but if someone is unhappy, it's easy to put them in the wrap and continue on with our day.

The benefits of baby wearing are many.

Mothers' progesterone (mothering hormone) is increased through physical contact with the infant, leading to a more intimate maternal bond and easier breastfeeding and better care, thus lowering the incidence of post partum depression.
Infants who are carried are calmer because all of their primal/survival needs are met. The caregiver can be seen, heard, smelled, touched, tasted, provide feeding and the motion necessary.
Infants are more organized. Parental rhythms (walking, heartbeat, etc.) have balancing and soothing effects on infants.
Infants develop socially. Babies are closer to people and can study faces, learn languages faster and be familiar with body language.
Independence is established earlier.
Attachment between child and caregiver is more secure.
Decreases risk of positional "flat head syndrome" caused by extended time spent in a car seat and by sleeping on the back. Sleeping on the back is recommended to decrease the risk of SIDS. Cranial distortion resulting from non-vehicular time in car seats has shown to be more severe than in children who develop plagiocephaly from back-lying on a mattress.

It was fun to talk about all these things with the other twin mommas this morning.

One other things that was really fun this morning was to be alone with Pirate. He is SUCH a boy. He loves cars and the big machines they have out to clear away all the snow. He loves to be near me and pays attention to everything.

We stopped for milkshakes and he loved it. He even made sure I had a taste of his and was so pleased with himself. What a cutie.

Safire

Give Me Your Best Shot-Rock Star!

2010-02-19T22:12:00.002-05:00

Everyone,

Pirate found our Wii guitars today. He pulled it out of it's hiding place behind the couch. There was a lot of effort being put into it and I was enjoying his concentration. Once he got it out of the couch, he put the strap around his neck. By this time, Professor had seen it and wanted his own. He is not as strong and patient and determined as Pirate so I had to help. I missed Pirate walking over to the tv, turning it on, and walking back to the couch. Once Professor was situated, Pirate was in the corner pretending to play. It was really adorable for them both to be trying to rock out on fake guitars. I got a few pictures of my rock stars!

Hope you can play along with my good friend Lolli and share your great pictures this week!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Butterfly (as always) refuses to sit in front of the camera for a picture. Stinker.

Safire

PS- I also had a question answered by Swistle today! I just love her!

From Butterfly's View

2010-02-18T12:51:00.000-05:00

Everyone,

Last year for Christmas Butterfly got a kid camera. It eats through batteries like you would not believe. Sometimes she takes a lot of pictures, and sometimes it sits in the bottom of a drawer for months. The past few days she's taken a lot of pictures. I finally downloaded over 200 of her pictures today. They span from Christmas till this afternoon. She was THRILLED to see what she took. And she kept telling me how much she likes that picture. Even if it's just a black picture. Or if her finger is in the way. She thinks it's a work of art. These are some of the more interesting pictures I think she took.

Look at those cute cute feet! We had a lot of feet pictures but I like this one the best.

There's a whole series of pictures where she is making different faces to see what she looks like. This is the only one that is clear (ish).

I find it interesting to see how she views her brothers. And also how they view her!

Cooking day! We made bread together and she took pictures of every step. Very Pioneer Woman of her. :)

Safire

A Day Like Any Other

2010-02-17T22:49:00.003-05:00

Everyone,

The day progressed like any normal Wednesday would go. I was doing my half of the babysitting trade today so I got up a little earlier than normal so I would be ready when Mimi came over. I got up and started doing my exercising (pilates this morning...ouch my poor stretched out belly) and Butterfly got up. For some reason she MUST pee in my bathroom in the morning. So she busts out of her room, busts into mine, and stomps into my bathroom, grumbling the whole time. (She is not happy in the morning unless you let her have some space.) So there I am, doing these weird poses. Her door is wide open. So is mine. Our rooms are down the hall from each other. Professors crib (still in her room) is right up next to the door. So Professor can hang his head over the side and see down the hall. I had about 7 minutes left on the dvd so I figured I would go get the boys when I was done. Well, I kept coming in and out of Professor's sight because he kept screaming "Mammy! Mammy!" around his binkie. It was too funny.

And why is it that my children can't call me just Mommy or Mama? Seriously.

Pirate only went out the dog door twice today. Both times with me in the room. He just slides out so fast. They also have rediscovered the dog's food and water. But this time, with tools! They love my kitchen spoons and measuring cups so they were trying those out on the dogs stuff today.

Our parking lot is a mess. Everyone has dug out just enough spaces for themselves. So if there is someone visiting, it throws the whole balance off. We do not have assigned parking in our court. I normally love this. But since the snow, people have been saving spaces with cones, chairs, kid's toys, even a tall lamp. While I normally don't agree with saving spaces (either everyone has saved spaces or no one does), I get this saving after you've shoveled.

There's a sign on one of the spaces at the far end of my court that says, "Did you spend 4 hours shoveling this space out? No? Then get your a** outta here!" I think it's a little extreme but funny.

We have been saving our spots with a garbage can. Well today, someone MOVED the garbage can and parked where Juice was parking. Now, when there is no snow and people are saving spaces, I will move their cones and park there. No one has the right to save it since NO ONE has assigned parking. But today...I was highly annoyed. Did they not know that we have spent at least 6 hours keeping these spaces clear of snow the past 2 weeks? Of course they did, because these are our neighbors that we're on fairly good terms with. I think they took our spot because they knew we are nice and wouldn't put up a stink.

If we were different people, we probably would have knocked on their door and asked them to move their car so we could park there. But since NO ONE has assigned parking, that wouldn't be very neighborly.

Instead, Juice parked the car in a different space and took his snow shovel to a non shoveled space. It took him probably an hour to clear that space with the help of the guy whose space he parked in. He then moved his car to the newly cleared space so the other guy could have his space back.

At least now there is a space for visitors. Juice wants to take this weekend and shovel out several more spaces so there will be enough for people to actually have visitors. Any chance he gets to shovel, he takes!

Safire

Just for Fun

2010-02-16T18:48:00.004-05:00

Everyone,

Sunday was Chinese New Year. I looked up every one's Chinese zodiac animal and had a great time reading them out loud to Juice and Butterfly. Butterfly agreed with everything they said, but Juice and I laughed over a few bits. I thought you'd enjoy a laugh as well.

Me: Monkey!

Monkeys are intelligent, witty and possess an overall magnetic personality. They are sociable and easy to communicate with -- Monkeys love to talk. Fast learners and quick on the draw, they can be crafty opportunists, and can adapt to many situations. Some people love the eccentricity of the Monkey personality; others mistrust their restless, sly, inquisitive behaviour. Monkeys indulge in deceit -- just for the stir it causes -- and shrug it off as a joke. Despite an exceptional brightness, they cannot imagine themselves in other people's shoes, rendering them unsympathetic and unintuitive. Possessing a wide range of interests, Monkeys can perform well in many jobs, but are to restless to work from 9 - 5. A bit of a tease, Monkeys need partners that can keep them stimulated.

Persuasive, Resourceful, Good-Humoured, Ingenious, Versatile, Imaginative
-----------------
Superficial, Restless, Impudent, Sly, Mischievousness, Untruthful

The following occupations best suit the Monkey personality.: SCIENTIST ¤ JOURNALIST ¤ EDITOR ¤ FILM DIRECTOR ¤ JEWELLER ¤ ACTOR ¤ WRITER ¤ AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER ¤ ENGINEER ¤ MARKET TRADER

Some notable Monkeys in these fields include James Stewart, Joan Crawford, Bob Marley, Leonardo Da Vinci, Julius Caesar and Elizabeth Taylor.

We thought the whole deceit thing was pretty funny. If anyone knows me really well, they know that I just don't get into that.

Juice: Sheep!

Except for a knack of always getting off on the wrong foot, Sheep can be charming company. Sheep sometimes hold back their emotions, and are not fully appreciated for their true nature. Still, they are first to complain about discomfort. Naturally pessimistic, mild mannered and even shy, the Sheep person is a sympathetic voice. Lovers of art and nature, they tend to spoil themselves. Still, they are creative, cultured and well-mannered -- A civilizing influence on others. Some Sheep are timid and easily upset, while others can be adaptable and sure-footed when the need arises. Either way, Sheep prefer to live and work with other people, and find emotional satisfaction with partners that provide them security in life.

Intelligent, Artistic, Gentle, Kind, Cultured, Sensitive
-----------------
Fussy, Insecure, Ingratiating, Self-Indulgent, Dependent

The following occupations best suit the Sheep personality.: ARCHITECT ¤ CARTOGRAPHER ¤ TOWN PLANNER ¤ ART HISTORIAN ¤ ILLUSTRATOR ¤ ACTOR ¤ MUSICIAN ¤ DAYCARE WORKER ¤ FLORIST ¤ PEDIATRICIAN

Some notable Sheep in these fields include Michelangelo, Buster Keaton, Laurence Olivier, Jane Austen and Mark Twain.

Does Juice always get off on the wrong foot? Probably. We thought he's obviously mismatched with his occupation though. He should give up his good engineering job and become an art historian. Because we all know how much he love art AND history. Perfect job for him.

Butterfly: Rooster!

Roosters are hard workers; shrewd and definite in their decision making, often speaking their minds. Because of this, Roosters seem to boast. They like to put all their cards on the table and respect those who do the same. Roosters love to mix socially -- They are dreamers, flashy dressers and extravagant. They love to attract attention and admiration, and and get angry when someone steals the spotlight. Despite being melodramatic, they are exceptionally practical, logical, and have excellent powers of discrimination. This leaves them with high standards of excellence which at times frustrates others. Although they attract many suitors, they are loyal, level-
headed partners make a commitment.

Passionate, Resilient, Patriotic, Industrious, Courageous, Protective
-----------------
Conceited, Blunt, Rude, Bossy, Aggressive, Impatient

The following occupations best suit the Rooster personality.: ACTOR ¤ DENTIST ¤ DANCER ¤ INSURANCE AGENT ¤ OPERA SINGER ¤ ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL ¤ FINANCIAL ADVISOR ¤ MUSICIAN

Some notable Roosters in these fields include Eric Clapton, Dolly Parton, Rudyard Kipling, and Katharine Hepburn.

We laughed over the bossy, aggressive and impatient. All things that Butterfly is! But she is also loyal, level headed, and a hard worker.

Pirate and Professor: Rats!

Rats are imaginative, charming, and truly generous to the ones they love. However, Rats have a tendency to be quick-
tempered and overly critical. At ease with company and groups of people, their intelligence and observation allows them to quickly grasp a situation from multiple perspectives. Rats know how to spot opportunities and seize them, but their opportunism, ambition and restlessness can lead to too many commitments. Don't be fooled -- although shrewd in business at times, Rats are passionate lovers, with a depth of feeling that is seldom recognized by others.

Charismatic, Sociable, Intelligent, Affable, Quick-Witted, Popular
-----------------
Exploitative, Calculative, Secretive, Greedy, Acquisitive, Devious

The following occupations best suit the Rat personality.: WRITER ¤ BROADCASTER ¤ ACTOR ¤ LAWYER ¤ POLITICIAN ¤ RACE CAR DRIVER ¤ ENGINEER ¤ RESEARCHER ¤ MANAGER ¤ ENTREPRENEUR

Some notable Rats in these fields include William Shakespeare, Amadeus Mozart, Gene Kelly, Winston Churchill and George Washington.

Boy are we going to have our work cut out for us. ;)

We got our information from the website HERE. Find out what you are and leave me a comment. I'd love to see what everyone is!

Safire

Snow and Chocolates

2010-02-15T21:24:00.005-05:00

Everyone,

Hey! Look what it did today!

SNOW. Again! Seriously, we've had a run with the snow this season. This has been the most snow Maryland has seen since 1899. And you can bet no one had plows back then. Or central heating. And probably rode around in sleds with tons of robes on their laps. The sleigh ride sounds fun, but not the other things.

Despite the snow, Butterfly had dance class today. We also met some friends at Tarjay for shopping and lunch. Yay, I feel like we're slowly getting back into normal life. At the store, I bought some Valentine's day candy and light bulbs. I was excited to have a big heart shaped box of chocolates all to myself during nap time.

I think I had 2 or 3 pieces (out of 12) and shut the box so I could enjoy a few more each day. Then the phone rang and I talked to my best friend Mink in Utah until I had to get Butterfly ready for dance class. Then we rushed out the door and got there on time.

About 6pm I get a call from Juice. He asks if I bought a heart shaped box of chocolates at the store. Why yes I did! Did he want some? Uh, no. Apparently, I left it on the couch in my rush to get Butterfly out the door. Juice brought the boys down from their nap and started to play on the computer. They were playing so nicely and quietly! But when he turned around...Professor was covered from eyebrows to chin in slimy black goo.

Guess who found my chocolate?! And ate it ALL? And guess who decided to drive their cars through what they smeared on the couch? Sigh...

Now I have to figure out how to get it out of my couch. And I have no chocolate to console myself with.

It's a sad, sad day.

Safire

PS- Also, I can't even go to the bathroom without Pirate climbing over the child gate and slipping outside via the dog door. I just keep putting him in time out in hopes that he'll get it and knock it off!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T20:33:00.004-05:00

Everyone,

Tonight I am playing along with the Multiples and More question of the week. This week's question is:

Who are your Valentines and why?

As much as I'd like to say my beautiful kiddos are my Valentines, they are not. They are sweet. They are beautiful. They light up my life and I would do anything for them.

But they will grow up and move on. They will (hopefully) fall in love themselves and have families of their own. Where will that leave me?

With Juice. I am so lucky to be able to say that I get to spend the rest of my life with Juice. He is so kind, so considerate, so compassionate. To know that I get to grow old with him makes me so happy. So here's a list of 14 things I love about my love on Valentine's Day.

1. He always smiles when he sees me. Even if I haven't showered in days, the house is a mess, children are hanging off of me and snotty, he always smiles.

2. He fixes things. Sometimes I feel a little sad that I can't go out and buy a new appliance or something because he always fixes it. Sometimes I am thrilled that he fixed it because then I don't have to get a new one. But I love that he CAN fix anything and does if I ask him to.

3. He cares about others. Who else would have spent 3 hours in a snow storm pushing cars up hills and digging people out? Who else would see our neighbor cleaning off his car with a shovel no bigger than his fore arm and rush out with our shovel to loan to him? He enjoys serving others and inspires me to do the same.

4. He takes our faith seriously. I have recently seen how important this is to our happiness together. I am so glad he is strong in his faith.

5. He loves those kids. He is SUCH a good Daddy. He is always on the floor playing with them or reading to them or teaching them. At the end of the day, I can barely pull them away from him to each dinner or get ready for bed. I love that he's such a hands on Daddy.

6. His hair. It's a silly thing, I know. But he has the most awesome thick straight hair I've ever seen. It has a natural part and is rarely out of place. He has so many little natural highlights in his hair too. I hope one of our kids got this hair.

7. He works hard. His job is important to him, but not as important as our family. I like it this way. Yes, I know he will never be the boss or high up in the company with that attitude, but I don't want him to be. I want him to spend time with us. I love that he knows that is more important.

8. He loves to read. Granted he doesn't read that much, but he understands my obsession with books because he also loves to read. Plus, we like to read the same stuff.

9. He is focused. Sometimes this gets him in trouble (like when he gets focused on a computer game) but I like that he is not pulled in tons of directions all the time.

10. He loves his family. He is the baby brother to some pretty awesome siblings. He may not talk to them much, but I know he really loves to when he does. His parents are always included in his daily prayers. And his 14 nieces and nephews have a mutual admiration society together. He says it's sad that he will only ever have 14 since everyone is done having kids. He would love as many as he could get.

11. He is patient. This is a good trait for him. He is so patient with the kids. When he does loose his patience, I know it's my turn to step up and get some of my own patience. He's teaching me a lot about it.

12. He loves to vacuum. He also picks up all the toys to do the vacuuming. I rarely have to do it. Awesome! He also does the dishes every night, helps me fold laundry, cleans bathrooms and sweeps. He is also really great at shoveling snow.

13. He makes amazing waffles. It may be my recipe, but I can never make them as fluffy and wonderful as he does. He made some for us this morning. Butterfly had 2, Professor had 2 and Pirate had 1 1/2. I also love that he tried to get up early enough to bring some up to bed for breakfast for me this morning. Sadly, kids got up before he could make them. Still, I love that he thought of it!

14. He is all mine. I don't know why this gives me so much pleasure, but it does.

He is a GREAT Valentine.

Safire

Pictures, Pictures

2010-02-13T21:38:00.003-05:00

Everyone,

I think it's been awhile since I've posted a bunch of pictures of the kids. Here you go!

Safire

Thawing and Playing

2010-02-12T19:56:00.004-05:00

Everyone,

We've had a pretty fun day over here at the Living In Maryland household. Well, it didn't start out fun FOR ME but the kids seemed to have a good day. Well, Pirate did. He is fast with that dog door! I normally don't really pay attention to it when it swings and clicks once because I figure that means the dog is outside. But today, that was Pirate going out. At least 3 times, probably 4. I've tried locking it with our door shutter thing. He pulls that up and goes out. I've tried blocking him out of the kitchen. He climbs over the gates now and goes out. I finally gave up and embraced the fact that he will go out and that there is no where for him to go from there.

I kind of forgot about the dog poop. Oops. He didn't. In fact, he thought it would be fun to smear it all over my sliding glass door. With Professor on the other side laughing hysterically at it.

ARG!

So I had to clean him up and the door and the rest of the poop for when he goes back out there. I was NOT HAPPY.

So not happy, in fact, that I called Juice and asked him to come home from work so I could have some sanity time away from my lovely children. He only had an hour left and they were going to have a nap so he could easily finish that hour at home. Yay for flexible jobs and for loving husbands who want happy wives.

I went to pick Lala up and we took off. First stop was the fabric store for her and then to the grocery store for popcorn. I'll get the rest of my groceries tomorrow. (The fabric store happens to be right next to a grocery store. Handy!)

Then we ran to the thrift store and I bought snow pants for Butterfly for 2 dollars. I love that thrift store. I also love these pants because we had to go try them out!

We all went out to play and stayed out until the sun went down. We had so much fun throwing snow balls and sledding. The boys were really great outside today and only cried a little bit. They even willingly went on a sled which is huge for them.

Everyone is in bed early from playing really hard. I love it when that happens.

Playing along with my friend Lolli today as well!

She's surviving the aftermath of the storm as well as we are...except her car is still stuck! Go check out every one's pictures and say hello.

Butterfly loves these icicles. It's a lot of fun to watch Juice knock them off the houses with snowballs.

Safire

The Aftermath

2010-02-11T19:45:00.003-05:00

Everyone,

Today's weather: sunny and warm enough to start the icicles dripping. No flying snow in sight, unless you count all my neighbors digging out their cars and their sidewalks. We even did that a little bit today too. Although there was very little to shovel since we'd been doing it through the storm.

Juice worked from home today. I wish when he worked from home that he could play with us but sadly, that's not the case. He did take the kids for a walk around the neighborhood while I was getting dinner ready. They came in about 2 minutes later saying there wasn't much to see. More and more mounds of snow. Plus, I just threw whatever on them so they were not dressed to go trudging through the winter wonderland.

I cleaned my entire cupboard again today and found more weevils. Stupid annoying little pests. This time they were in my whole wheat flour. (Admittedly, the wheat and the flour are old but I was hoping to use them somehow!) Very sad about the flour because now I can't make waffles in the morning like I had planned. And we are out of cereal. And hot chocolate. To add to the white flour, popcorn and sugar I was out of.

I did find about 10 lbs of beans and 7 cans of crushed pineapple so we're good to go another week if need be. Hahaha!

They do say there's going to be another storm on Monday though. Sigh...there go any plans I had for the weekend!

Safire

Still Going

2010-02-10T16:28:00.000-05:00

Everyone,

I can't tell if it's still snowing outside or if the wind is just blowing the snow around. It's around 4pm in the afternoon again, and the snow has definitely let up. This morning it was blowing so hard that I could not see the street in front of my house. I could barely make out the steps that lead up to our house. Talk about a blizzard!

Juice went to work this morning because they were saying we would get 6-10 inches more. Phsss...that's nothing for us. So off to work he goes. He said there were about 12 cars in the parking lot. There was NO ONE there. I called him around 9am to make sure he got there okay. I didn't want him driving home when it got cold so he said he'd be home around 2 or 3pm.

About an hour later, he called to tell me he was coming home. He had nothing left at work that he couldn't do at home so home he came. I got the kids started with a movie and went to go shovel our walk before he came in.

Only a few minutes later he was home and I sent him inside to check on the kids. Guess who was OUTSIDE?! Pirate. Dear, sweet, full of adventure Pirate. Professor met Juice at the door and pulled him over to the back door. Juice said he was not cold, but having the time of his life running around in knee high snow. I'm glad he seems to enjoy the snow and the out of doors so much. I just wish he would enjoy it with MY permission! In other words, STAY AWAY FROM THE DOG DOOR!

The rest of the day has been playing and attitude from Little Miss Butterfly. I think she is a little bored and taking it out on everyone. I'm a little bored. There is only so many movies I can watch in a day, and so much spilled cereal I can clean up in a day.

I guess the storm is supposed to stop sometime tonight. Everything has been canceled for the rest of the week, including church on Sunday. We've gotten at least another 12 inches on top of what we already had. That makes for a grand total of 40 inches in just a week. Gotta love that! Juice is excited to go out and use the snow forts we built on the weekend.

But until then, I've got to entertain 3 small children in a confined space. I am glad we have so many toys. An unexpected bonus for being shut away from the world: we are not sick. First time in about 6 weeks we have not had runny noses. I bet that ends the day after they get out of nursery next week.

Safire

Here We Go Again

2010-02-09T16:23:00.004-05:00

Everyone,

Today started out being a very lazy day. I had several phone calls to make and laundry to do. Wow do I ever have so much laundry today. Probably because we've been wearing 3 or more layers every day to go play outside. Butterfly has no more clean socks. The laundry has been running constantly all day.

We also ran to the post office. I was going slightly crazy in the house. To the post office was enough, though. The roads are piled high with snow. It covers half way up the street signs. I also felt like I was driving through a big white tunnel. Very hard to see anything beyond what is in front of you. The roads are mostly dry and passable. Good thing too because it just started snowing again (around 4pm).

It seems so weird to have this much snow here and more coming down. I feel like I am living in a mountain town where everyone goes skiing every day. The snow is beautiful, though. I'm not sure I can ever have enough of it.

After the post office I let the kids play outside for a few minutes. I figured why not since I took the time to shove them into their coats. They love that slide they made. Butterfly went down it once and then dashed back inside. I told her she'd be cold wearing a dress and tights but she has to figure things out for herself. The boys went down it several times each. The path to the slide is right next to the house next to us. And that house is growing some pretty impressive icicles. (As I was driving to the post office, I saw a house with an icicle from roof to front step. It was awesome looking and I wished I brought my camera!) As I was eying the icicles above my young children's heads, I failed to notice that the snow path is now an ice rink. I only noticed it when Pirate fell and bashed his face on the ice. There was blood and everything. He is going to have one impressive bruise for awhile on his cheek.

That ended the fun really quick and we all went back inside.

According to Weather.com, we should get another 6-12 inches through Thursday morning. That is a lot for this area. Combine that with 9 foot piles of snow on the roads and we're going to be totally buried. Love it. I don't have to go ANYWHERE all week long.

Safire