Is it just me . . . ?

Getting to GTMO

2011-10-06T11:24:00.002-04:00

Well we made it! Finally arrived in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on Tuesday afternoon. Had to be at the airport at about 3:00 am that morning for our flight because of the dog, supposedly you need to be there 6 hours early if you are shipping a pet. We obviously did not heed that and a good thing because as it was it took about 10 minutes to check us all in and then we sat around waiting for 4 hours. Met a charming old man at the airport who was flying out to Italy to see his grandkids. He told jokes to the kids and shared some of his adventures, boy could that guy talk! The flights themselves were pretty uneventful. I was a little worried about my Bueller and how he would handle the flight but he didn't seem too traumatized.

When we arrived at GTMO Joey's boss was waiting with about 5 or 6 other guys and gals to meet us and help get all our luggage home. Everyone was very excited to see us and very friendly and helpful. They drove us and all our baggage to our house, which already was set up with loaner furniture. I imagined us on air beds or something with no where to sit or anything but we all have real beds and dressers, a dining room table and chairs, and a couch and chair with a few end tables for the living room. They also had a dish pack with basic dishes so we can cook. We were lucky enough to get a 4 bedroom, so that will be nice. Joey's boss also let us use his vehicle to go to the exchange/commisary and get a few items we needed and food of course. We definitely had a full day.

Wednesday Joey had to report for work. He met more of his co-workers and got to start settling into his office. I pretty much worked on laundry and getting the girls organized in their rooms. After work his boss offered to take us on a tour of the base and we got to see his office too, a real office, not like his cracker box office on the ship. LOL We saw pretty much everything the base has to offer. The girls favorites were Glass Beach, where they have already found a few pieces of sea glass for their collection, and the Pool of course. Once again this guy could talk and he was a fount of information. I had no idea there was so much history here! Joey also met our next door neighbor and arranged for us to share their internet until ours is in, which they say could take a month or two!

This morning I took the girls to school and got them registered and in class. There are a total of 13 girls and 3 boys in the class with my girls. They have been eagerly awaiting the girls arrival. They have a nice big classroom and their teacher seems nice from what I saw today. We will see what they have to say when they get home.

That is it for now. I will post more as we have more adventures.

Made By Sydney

2011-03-27T20:29:00.002-04:00

This actually happened a few months ago, however, it has taken me this long to get over the horror and embarrassment and be able to laugh about it. Here goes. The other night I went into the "family" restroom, which is mostly used by the girls. When I get to the toilet there is a humongous pile of crap in it. Seriously, it looked like it should have come out of a horse and not one of our little girls! And of course I am about to go into their room and read them the riot act about flushing the toilet when I see this little hand written sign on the back of the toilet that says "Made by Sydney". . . there are no words that can sufficiently convey how dumbstruck I was by this.

Savannah's Big Imagination

2010-10-24T08:51:00.002-04:00

I've been helping out in the girls classroom this past week so that the teacher can do some testing. It is actually pretty fun to meet the kids and work with them and my girls get a kick out of seeing me there. Their teacher has been doing some reading tests. she pulled me aside after Savannah's to tell me how she did. Basically part of what they do is they have the kids read the first few pages and then stop and ask them to predict what they think will happen int he story. Savannah's story started out about a bunny rabbit who finds a giant head of cabbage. When the teacher asks most kids to predict what will happen they say "the rabbit will eat the cabbage and be happy" which is pretty much what they are looking for just to see that they understand what they are reading. Well Savannah took it to a whole other level. She said "A bad rabbit is going to steal the cabbage and the bunny will be upset and cry. Then he will go to the mall and win $7,000 so that he can buy cabbage lunch for all the woodland animals. Then they will all cheer for him and have a parade in his honor." The teachers eyes were wide and she told me she had never had a child tell her a story with that much detail and imagination. When Savannah read what actually happened in the book she came back to the teacher and told her "That story didn't go anything like I thought it would!" We both had a good chuckle at that one.

Sydney the Activist

2010-10-24T08:34:00.002-04:00

School pictures were this week. They sent home the info. and I was a bit annoyed with the way they are doing them this year. In the past they sent home the largest package of pictures so you could see what they looked like then you kept what you wanted and sent the rest back with payment. I'm sure this went well (sarcasm)! This year they want you to pay in advance of them even taking the picture and the package prices went up again and you have to pay for any background except gray (the gray is ugly, and isn't blue the accepted "standard" background anyway?!). They aren't even sending a proof home to see? Ridiculous! So I decided I wasn't even going to mess with school pictures this year and would just go up to Walmart and get them done. When I explained to the girls why they wouldn't be getting all dolled up for picture day Sydney told me that I should write a letter to the school to complain. Frankly, it's not that important to me so I hemmed and hawwed and basically blew her off about the letter.

Well, after her homework was done that day she sat down with pencil and paper and started writing a letter of her own. It started out "Dear Skool" and said that it wasn't right that we couldn't see the pictures before buying them and what if we didn't like them, etc. Very cute, but I figured she'd forget about it by bedtime.

The next day when I showed up to sign in at the office in order to help in the classroom the office staff informed me that she had delivered that letter this morning. They all loved it and thought she was the most adorable thing ever. The teacher even kept the letter to use in her writing grade!

Letters to Santa

2009-11-29T09:50:00.004-05:00

Sydney, mailing her letter to Santa

Savannah, mailing her letter to Santa

We took a little family excursion to the mall today. The girls wrote their letters to Santa last week and have been very anxious to mail them to Santa. So we went over to one of the malls to look around and to mail their letters to Santa. The mall Santa area did not have a mailbox though! Oh no! So hubby asked if they would like to give their letters directly to Santa since he was there talking to kids and getting pictures taken with them. This was met with much resistance, which he could not understand. Finally they explained it to us. According to them they saw in a movie that the mall Santa's are not real. They went on to explain that Santa would be much to busy in the North Pole getting ready for Christmas to be at our mall taking pictures. So they had to take their letters to the special Santa Mailbox to get it directly to him. So hubby asked the mall Santa "elves" if there was a mailbox anywhere and they told him that when they get letters to Santa they take them to the box at Macy's. So we had to traipse to the other side of the mall and all over Macy's to find the special mailbox. We finally found it, in men's fragrances (how is men's fragrances the sensible place to put the Santa mailbox?). Later, over lunch, Sydney told me that she was so glad not to have to worry about the letter anymore, she was so relieved that now she can relax. Evidently they were pretty stressed about this!

Surprise Package

2009-07-28T23:56:00.003-04:00

A package arrived today and the girls brought it in to the kitchen all excited. They were wondering if it was for them and I heard hubby telling them that it must be for mommy. Well, I knew I hadn't ordered anything so I asked hubby if he had ordered something and he got the gleam in his eye that told me he was up to something. I knew then he must have ordered something FOR me. He whipped out his knife lickety split and went about opening the package like a kid at Christmas and lo and behold what should it be, but a GPS for the van!

You see, he has been wanting to get one, but I've been putting him off because we don't really need it and I know once we do get one we will be completely addicted. Plus I am one of those people who get "lost" and that is how I really learn my way around somewhere and as much as we move I am lost a lot! He suggested it again when I started planning a trip half way across the country and back this summer, but I put him off again . . . or so I thought.

I have been waffling though, and considering that I might actually like to have a GPS for this trip, of course I would not admit this to hubby.

Off now to figure out the GPS.

Good thing my hubby knows me better than I do.

Locks of Love Haircut

2009-07-27T22:37:00.011-04:00

Savannah and Sydney sportin' new do's!

Sydney, the bravest

Savannah, the 2nd bravest

Well they finally did it! I've been trying to talk my girls into donating to Locks of Love for about a year and a half now and today was finally the day. Several friends daughters and one good friend herself has done this and I have been wanting the girls to do it for a while now. The reason is twofold.

1. While I love my babies and think they are beautiful they have, unfortunately, inherited my hair. This means that it is super thin, super fine, and has a tendency to look stringy. It also tangles very easily, especially Sydney's for some reason, even though she and Savannah have pretty much the same hair. Also, since we are going to be in the pool everyday while we visit Nana for the next 3 weeks, it would be easier.

2. Locks of Love is a great cause, nuff said.

So, I've been suggesting they cut their hair for a while, but their response is always "NEVER"! They are pretty girly and believe that true girls (not like mom) must have long hair. Well about 4 or so months ago their little friend Purple Savannah, (they call her that to differentiate from "regular" (our) Savannah, cut her hair. She is 5 and got the scissors out one day and cut her hair. She actually did a pretty good job and they just had to even it out a little in the back. At this point I had a serious talk with my girls about proper scissor use and they assured me that they would never cut their hair.

Well the other day we had Purple Savannah and her family over for a BBQ. Hubby, knowing that I had been talking up getting their hair cut and not liking to mess with their hair anyway started talking up how cute Purple Savannah's hair was. At first the girls were still not having it and said that, while her hair was cute, they wouldn't cut theirs. After a few hours of Hubby badgering them about it Sydney finally says "I want to cut my hair." WHA ????? At this point hubby is running for the scissors and ready to chop it off then and there but I told him that we needed to be sure she wanted to do this and wasn't just saying that in front of people and that we would take her to a salon and get it done. Savannah still was not on board with this.

So when Sydney woke up this morning I asked her if she still wanted to cut her hair and she said "Yes, let's go." Meanwhile, Savannah woke up complaining that her ear was hurting, which is usually a sign of an ear infection and with all the time we have spent at the pool at the Y between swim lessons and just playing in the swimming pool I thought we should hit the doctor before we went on this trip halfway across the country we are leaving on in 3 days. So I called the doctor and they could get her in this afternoon, so we set out to get Sydney's hair cut and then take Savannah to the doctor.

When we get to the hair cut place Sydney is still excited and Savannah is very nervous for her. Being the good mom I am I ask her several more times if she is sure she wants to do this because nobody will make her . . . and she can still change her mind . . . and she doesn't just want to do it because daddy and I say it will be cute . . . etc. She is still hyped so in we go. Sydney is a trooper. Doesn't get phased when they cut the pony tail off, doesn't get upset when she holds it up for a picture or anything. While the lady is evening it out and cutting the bangs Savannah is watching and crying! So sweet, but so sad. When I ask her what is wrong she says that she didn't want Sydney to cut her hair because now they won't look alike. My heart, my heart is just squeezing so tight then. Up to this point I had been fine but now I tear up a little because it is a big step. These two little girls have done EVERYTHING together for the last 6 1/2 years and for one to go and do something so major without the other just makes it come slamming home - they are going to grow up! I try to tell Savannah that she should be happy because this is what Sydney wanted to do and so she should be happy for her and she tries but I can tell she is still upset. But now we have to rush out to get to Savannah's doctor's appointment, so off we go.

The whole time we are at the doctor's Sydney is flipping her hair around and saying how much she loves it. Plus there is a mirror in the waiting room so they are both checking out Sydney's hair and Savannah starts thinking she may want to cut hers. The good news is that she does not have an ear infection and they even check for strep and nothing. So, no idea why the ear was hurting but she's not sick so . . . great. After the doctor's office we ran by the game store to pick up the new Wii Resort hubby had pre-ordered, and Savannah is saying she thinks she wants to cut her hair but she is still a little shaky, and then we are back at the hair cut place.

Savannah still seems a little shaky. So, I do the whole spiel about how she doesn't have to cut it . . . nobody will make her . . . she should do it because she wants to . . . not to do it for daddy or mommy or Sydney (because I'm pretty sure that this is her major motivation: to look like Sydney). She still says she wants to do it though, so back in we go. When we walk in the door the ladies at the hair cut store laugh and say that they knew we would be back. Savannah does really well through the hair cut and seems happy afterwards. Meanwhile Sydney sweet talks one of the ladies into giving her a pretty pink comb and then also convinces her to give her one for Savannah too. Then when we went to the vet to pick up food for Josie the cat they told them they had given their hair to Locks of Love and scored balloons. Then I took them to the dollar store to get a new hair item and got ice cream at Dairy Queen so they had quite a day.

Right after bedtime Sydney brought out a broken headband (one of her new ones) and what she was doing with it in her bed when she took it off and put it away before bed I don't know. Then when Savannah came out to potty she was commenting that there were not as many hairstyles to do with short hair.

So . . . wish me luck!

To TV or not to TV

2009-06-25T21:10:00.002-04:00

Sadly, one of the things I miss most about my husband when he is gone is his ability to control the television. I realize that it is a silly thing to miss but there you have it. Not that there aren't about a million other things I miss but this is the one I'm thinking of tonight when he is gone, yet again (just for the night though). Part of it surely relates to my inability to make a decision when faced with a million worthless choices, another part of it is probably just the joy of not having to make a decision after a long day filled with a million descisions to be made for myself and two six year old girls. However, another part of it is just one more way that he shows me he loves me. On the surface it sounds like we are the same old stereotypical couple where the man rules the remote and poor wifey doesn't get to watch her "women's shows". That could not be further from the truth though. First off, for the most part, I hate "women's shows" and secondly I would rarely turn on the television myself anyway as I would rather read a book. In fact, if it weren't for hubby surfing through all the garbage and managing to find something we both can enjoy together I would probably be a complete recluse and live inside my own head 95% of the time. Luckily he loves me enough to avoid this or we would surely be divorced or insane by now. So while it may seem trivial on the surface there are plenty of reasons to love my man who rules the remote.

Bednight Games

2009-06-07T23:25:00.002-04:00

All parents know about the bedtime "games", those excuses kids come up with to get out of bed and pester you with when they should be sleeping. Tonight I had some good ones.

1. Savannah came out (FYI, it is almost always Savannah who comes out because she has the bottom bunk of the bunk beds, so Sydney is to lazy and sends Savannah on her errands. Of course, Savannah does them so . . .), anyway she says "Sydney dropped the journal she likes to read in bed behind the bed". I told her that Sydney should not be reading her journal when she should be sleeping anyway so to tell her tough luck. Savannah replies with "But it is her favorite one. If SOMEONE is to lazy to get it . . ."

WHAT?!

At this point I give her the benefit of the doubt that she is talking about her sister being lazy and not calling her mom lazy, even though I truly think this is what she meant! I calmly tell her to get back in bed.

2. Savannah comes out and says "I'm rolling out the scroll of Sydney complaints" and pretends she is unfurling a scroll with a little flourish, too cute. "First, she thinks she is sick and says her forehead is hot, so I think she really is. That is all. Oh, and if someone could come feel her forehead she would like it." I told her I would be there in a minute and I did go check even though I knew this to be a ploy.

3. Savannah comes out and says "Sydney wants me to be up on her bed with her", to which I immediately reply "No" and explain that they wouldn't be able to sleep because they both move around too much and someone might push the other off the bed in their sleep. Savannah goes back to the room and I hear her tell Sydney "She said no like this NO! (as she mimics my mean voice)."

4. There were several other escape attempts but I can't remember them all right now.

Sometimes I feel like the meanest mom in the world because I get so tired of this shit. Other times I feel like I must be the biggest push-over in the world because I find it so amusing. I'm sure it is a little bit of both and depends on what mood I'm in.

I also find it so funny to see how these bedtime games have changed over the years. Birth to one year was pretty much just crying. 1 to 2 years was yelling "mommy". 2 to 3 years was just coming out of the room, no real excuses. 3 to 4 years was wanting a drink or hungry. 4 to 5 years was asking for more hugs or scared. 5 to 6 was mostly wanting drinks or having to potty. For the 6 year old the excuse most used seems to be some ailment. Either their tummy hurts or their ear hurts or they have a headache or they feel pukey. I love watching this evolve as they grow older. Glad I still have my sense of humor about it.

Less cartoons, more real shows, equals girls growing up

2009-06-07T13:22:00.002-04:00

One more sign my babies are growing up: Just in the last month or two they have started watching more "real" shows (you know with real people) and not as many cartoons. First it was "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" and then "The Suite Life on Deck", but I thought that might just be because they are twins and those shows have twin boys in them. Now they have started wanting to watch "Hannah Montana", which they previously couldn't stand. They have also started wanting to watch "Jonas". When I asked them why they liked "Jonas" they said because there are three cute boys who sing and dance and play music and they do funny things. This is almost the same reason they gave for liking Zack and Cody, minus the music stuff, and evidently there is a boy on "Hannah Montana" who does funny stuff too. Seems they already have their momma's love of men/boys who make you laugh.

Don't let mommy's ego get too big, please

2009-06-07T13:11:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, I'm in the bathroom letting the hair color set when Sydney comes in. She asks "Whatcha doing?" and I tell her I'm coloring my hair. "Does that mean dyeing?" she asks. "Ok, yes, I'm dyeing my hair." "Is this the color it is going to be?" she asks while making the yucky face. "Look on the front of the box, what color is that?" I ask her, to which she replies "Gross?!". Gee, thanks kid. The worst part is that it did turn out pretty gross, not that it looked gross on the box, but it said the color would be dark blond and it came out more like mud brown. Maybe I should start taking tips from the 6 year olds after all.

Blame it on Facebook

2009-06-07T12:48:00.002-04:00

Okay, I admit it, I have been the worst blogger ever the last few months. I blame Facebook. Oh, and my new Blackberry Curve. It is just so easy to put little snippets onto Facebook from my phone whenever I'm bored or to take pictures on my phone and post them straight to Facebook. However, I have discovered one drawback . . . I have a lot of trouble condensing my thoughts into the small format on Facebook. Seems that I am a long-winded writer. So I really need to keep up with my blog again. At least I'm going to try. Let's see how that works out for me huh?

Cat with Diabetes

2009-02-19T22:44:00.001-05:00

Yep, just heard from the vet last night that Josie the cat has diabetes. Because of this she will have to go on insulin and get shots 2 times a day probably for the rest of her life. Gee, do I really need this added responsibility when I already feel like most of the time I am barely handling what I need to? I already told hubby that I did not need anything else to take care of when he had the bright idea of getting a turtle for the girls right before he left for 7 months.

It all started a couple of months ago. I have one of those new type of cat boxes that have the pee pads in a drawer underneath and the larger clay litter. I used to change the pad about every 4 or 5 days but the last few months I change it every 2 days and it is FULL. This was my first clue. Also, Josie started just hanging out and taking naps in front of the water dish. I has also been a bad flea season and although she is an indoor cat the dog must have been bringing in fleas and passing them to her. So I took her into the vet to get some good flea meds and I knew something else was up too. I had a feeling it was probably either diabetes or some type of kidney problem. She is about 13 years old, not exactly a spring chicken. I have to say that I had no inkling what diabetes in a cat would mean. I certainly did not expect to have to put her on insulin just like a human and give shots 2 times a day.

The people at the vets office have been extremely helpful though. After I picked up the insulin from Walgreens they told me to come on by the office with Josie and they would show me how to give the shots. Fun! Luckily Josie is the best cat ever and so mellow she didn't even seem to notice the practice shot of Saline they had me give her. Then they tell me that there are a few signs of problems to look for such as being lethargic (how do they think she got so fat in the first place, she is lethargic daily) or having a seizure (that sounds fun, not). But they tell me if I notice her being too lethargic to just rub some Karo syrup on her gums. Rubbing it on the gums gets it to the blood stream fast, just like they show coke addicts do in the movies. Wow, this has been such a learning experience. We'll just have to see how it all turns out.

Mom = Foreign Language Expert

2009-02-19T22:42:00.004-05:00

Savannah's art

Savannah's note

Sydney's art (that red curly thing is the dog's tongue, he's

panting mom I was told)

Sydney's note

My latest mom job is a writing decipherer (yeah, that is probably not a word).

The girls have obviously been learning to write in Kindergarten this year. Suddenly they are on this total writing kick even at home. They want to write everything. Every picture they draw must have everyone in it labeled, they want to write notes to send daddy, they want to know how to spell practically every word they hear. The other night they were pretending to be babies so ,of course, they couldn't talk but for some reason they could write. Go figure. So they were trying to communicate all night by writing me little notes. I have to say it was cute and this is probably great practice for them. Great! What can get a little old is trying to decipher everything they write. Let's face it, they barely have the form of all the letters down so it can be a little hard to make out which letter they are writing in the first place. On top of that THEY CAN'T SPELL! They really try, bless their hearts. They know several words like their names and each others names and mom, and dad, and and, and the and my and me but most everything else is still foreign. They are sounding things out like they are supposed to and a lot of times once they tell me what it "says" I can kinda see where they were going with it but I can rarely get it on my own. Then I feel bad because I feel like I'm making them feel stupid because I don't understand their words. Ah, vicious circle!

I guess they aren't taking it too bad though because here come more notes, gotta go.

Funny things Savannah says

2009-02-19T18:18:00.003-05:00

Last night at bedtime Savannah told me that she didn't like school and didn't want to go. I tried asking her why she didn't like school all of the sudden, because usually she likes it okay, but she didn't really have an answer. Then I told her that it was the law and she had to go so she could learn. Then she said "But I don't want to be a teacher when I grow up!" I had to laugh at the logic but then I told her she wasn't going to school to learn to be a teacher but it was the law she had to go and didn't she want to learn to read and write. She then told me "but I'm not learning to read." I had to explain to her that all these little words they were learning and how they were learning to sound out words was just the first step to learning to read. She didn't really seem convinced, but at least it gave her something to think about.

While walking to school today we spotted several Robins flitting around the neighborhood. The girls were pretty excited about this since that is a sign that spring is near. I asked Syndey how she knew they were Robins and she said "Mr. L is teaching us all about Robins in class". Then I mentioned how they call them "red breasted" but they really looked orange to me. So Savannah says that Robin starts with RO, that must be R for red and O for orange. Okay, sure.

Tonight while watching TV I heard a definite fart (which we call a toot) from Savannah, boy she has been gassy lately. So I said, "I heard that, does someone need to go potty" and Savannah pipes in that "It was the dog." This would make her dad so proud! He is constantly blaming the dog, the cat, other people, the couch, etc. so to hear that his baby girl came up with this all on her own will, I'm sure, bring tears to his eyes.

Hubby's Synapsis of the movie "Marley and Me" (spoiler alert)

2009-02-13T22:11:00.004-05:00

The other day I receive this somewhat cryptic email from hubby.

"Never, under any circumstances, see the movie Marley and Me. Love you."

I have to say that it never crossed my mind and here is why. Whoever wrote the book (which I'm completely blanking on right now) is know to write tear-jerkers. I am not a fan of the tear-jerker. So, of course, I would expect the movie to be a tearjerker, which is to say that the dog must die (that is not a spoiler because I don't know that for a fact, I am just surmising so). I am a sucker for the dog dying bit and will bawl like a baby if any dog dies in any movie. I know this and thus avoid these movies. I have a friend who loves a good tear-jerker because she feels that it is a release of sorts and it makes her feel good to get it all out. Me, it just depresses me and I can't deal with that. I told hubby this.

Well today he called, about something unrelated, but later in the conversation he asked about Ferris (his dog) and then the conversation came around to this movie again. "Don't get me wrong," he said "it is a great movie but I cried almost the whole way through it." Now granted he has been away from home for 5 months and does tend to get a little emotional but this seems a little excessive. Then he tells me the reason that it hit so hard was because it paralleled our life with our dog so much and the wife reminds him so much of me the way she is always screaming at the dog and stuff (me being compared to Jennifer Aniston, nice suck up babe!).

His synopsis went something like: They are a young couple, they get a dog and he is a pain, but they love him. Then they have kids and the kids love him and he is still a pain but they love him. Then the dog gets sick and they are all upset, but he gets better but he is still a pain and they love him, then he dies. Hubby and I got Ferris about a year after we got married (14 years ago this June) and he was a major pain but luckily he was cute so we loved him. We had kids, he was still a pain but he'd been around long enough that we loved him. The kids love him as long as there is no food around that he is trying to steal from them. He grew these big cysts which worried us, but we had them taken off and he seems fine, he is still a pain but I guess we love him.

Gee honey we are right on track for the dying part, thanks for bringing that up.

No bad luck, but a strange day

2009-02-13T21:24:00.002-05:00

Today was the day for weird conversations.

So, the girls and I were walking home from school today and I asked Savannah "How was your party?" because today was their 100th day of school and they were having some sort of celebration. Her class did Valentine's Day yesterday just so it wouldn't interfere with the 100th Day Celebration. Here is the rest of the conversation:

S: We didn't have a party.
Me: You didn't?
S: No.
Me: That is bologna. Mr. L (Sydney's teacher, who I helped out with his party today) said he saw you guys having chips and juice boxes.
S: There was cake too, with pink frosting.
Me: So you had cake and chips and juice and watched a movie (which I know because her teacher popped in to tell Sydney's teacher the channel it was on) but that isn't a party?
S: No.
Me: Let's see, cake, chips, juice, and a movie. That sure sounds like a party to me.

I think she was just being ornery because she is a little jealous that I always go help in Sydney's class and never in hers. I've tried to explain to her that her teacher has another teacher in the room with her, so she doesn't need help, whereas, Sydney's teacher does not have another teacher but she isn't too impressed with that explanation. I've also tried to tell her that I'm sure that some year she will have a teacher that needs help and Sydney won't but that is just too far in the future for her to contemplate. So next I tell her "That's life kid, welcome to the real world, where you don't always like what you get. Better get used to it." No wonder they never want to grow up.

Much later, after they had eaten dinner and had dessert and were watching a little TV Sydney came in where I was on the computer and we had a strange conversation.

S: Mom, I want to have some Cheetos, but I don't want my teeth to fall out
Me: (??!!) Honey, what are you talking about?
S: Well, we watched this movie in P.E. and it scared me.
Me: Sweetie, that movie is probably talking mostly about sweets and anyway if you brush your teeth good after you eat your teeth will be fine.
S: I wish there weren't such things as bad things that got in your teeth and you had to brush them out.
Me: Well, that would be nice but that's not how it is so we just have to be sure and brush good.

Okay, a little explanation here. From what I can gather they have seen a movie in P.E. several times now about tooth decay. Evidently, this movie tells them that all snacks are the devil and if you eat snacks all your teeth will rot out and that will hurt. Okay, that might just be what they are getting out of it. I'm hopeful that it is really just a cartoon that is trying to teach them to limit snacking and brush and floss, but it seems that they are both (Sydney especially) feeling traumatized by this. I can really tell that she is traumatized because she won't eat Cheetos and most of the time she would live on Cheetos if possible. Later, she wanted me to come and watch her brush her teeth. I'm starting to sense a pattern here.

Me: Why can't you start brushing without me?
S: I want you with me
Me: Why?
S: Because of that movie, and remember we didn't floss last night because you said we were too late going to bed.
Me: Okay, but why is this movie freaking you out so much, what is so scary about it?
S: I don't know how to explain it but it just freaks me out. It just freaks me out all the way to my heart.

Suddenly I'm sure that I will have to go to the school and have a talk with them about this movie because all of the pieces are fitting together and I'm realizing that they are really freaked out about this. When your 6 year old is begging you to floss alarm bells start going off. I'm realizing that they have been completely anal about the tooth brushing and flossing all week, I'm remembering that Sydney has woken me up with nightmares two nights this week, I'm remembering our earlier conversation about the Cheetos, and now this little 6 year old voice is saying "It freaks me out, it freaks me out all the way down to my heart". Holy cow, what the heck are they showing these kids?

Who do I admire?

2009-02-05T10:04:00.003-05:00

I have been sick for the last two weeks and am finally, FINALLY starting to feel myself again, thank goodness. Not only have I been sick, but to make it even more fun the girls have been sick too. As if being sick feeling like your head is stuffed with cotton, coughing up a lung, and literally going through a bushel of Kleenex from Sam's Club wasn't enough Sydney had the same exact thing and Savannah had some sort of stomach flu. Truthfully Savannah only had one day of really being sick, but she stayed home from school most of last week with Sydney. Why? Mostly because I just couldn't get up and get her ready and off to school. Pathetic isn't it? This is when I start cursing my husband for being gone on a ship for 7 months. I have to say that I have been doing pretty well with him being gone but let me get sick and it just all falls apart.

This makes me think of how really amazing any single mom is. First of all, I think I have it so bad with my husband being gone for 7 months at a time, but try not having a husband around ever to help with anything. I mean, I like to think of myself as a pretty self sufficient person but just having someone around so you can take a bath in peace can make all the difference in your day. Then add in that I am a stay at home mom and cannot imagine how anyone manages to work outside the home all day then come home and make dinner, get the kids bathed and fed and then wake up at the crack of dawn to do it again. Yikes! I stay at home all day while the kids are in school and still feel like I don't get anything done. People like my sister-in-law amaze me. This woman has to work every day to pay the bills, then come home and take care of her daughter (my completely adorable niece) and she has no spouse to support her so she never really gets a break. To top this off she is a high school teacher (don't get me started on how insane she must be to do this, but she loves it).

One question I always get having twins is "How do you do it?" to which I always reply "You do what you have to do." So I guess it is like that, you do what you have to do. But I still admire those single moms out there, they are an inspiration.

The Dog and the Starfish

2009-01-23T23:35:00.002-05:00

No this is not a cutesy little story. Hubby's dog makes me crazy! Here is the latest activity he has come up with designed to make me completely lose it.

Let me start by reminding anyone who does not know it that this dog is the bane of my existance. I have readily admitted to Hubby that if he had gone to sea at any time in the first 2 years of this dogs life he would have returned home to no dog. I have also readily admitted to opening the front door and letting the dog out with the sincere hope that he does not come back (but he always does) on several occasions while hubby has been out to sea. In fact the only time I can really say I like this dog is when he looks at me like I'm crazy with his ears perked up all cute and in the middle of the night when hubby is gone when he snuggles up behind my legs and keeps me warm. The real reason he is still around is because hubby is so crazy about him. Period.

Now that I am sitting here remembering all the things Ferris has done in his lifetime to piss me off the latest insult is really pretty minor, however the shear randomness is what is so frustrating. You see I have done my bathroom in a shell/beach motif and purchased at Michaels or some such place a dried out starfish shell (or husk or whatever you would call it) as a decorative item which sits atop the little shelf next to the sink. Twice in the last week I have found the starfish on my bed with chew marks on the tips. What would possess this dog to suddenly decide that he needs to do this? It is just beyond inconceivable.

As a puppy he chewed everything! EVERYTHING! We are talking rugs, walls (WALLS people! that is usually left to huge dogs like Rottweilers, or Pit Bulls, not Beagles), jackets, books, VHS tapes, pillows, and tables just to highlight a few. Basically it was anything in reach and we had to kennel him anytime we left the house for years. In the last 3 or 4 years he has mellowed though and now we can leave him alone in the house provided he cannot get to the garbage can or cat box (ewww!).

But now the starfish. I just don't get it.

Happy 6th Birthday Sydney & Savannah

2009-01-21T22:27:00.002-05:00

Today is my girls 6th birthday! I have been a bundle of emotions all day and I am not even sure why. It's been one of those days where I can't quite catch my breath and it wasn't just because I had 10 million things that needed to be done and only time for about 7.

I've been thinking so much today about how fast time goes by. And I truly believe that for mothers of twins the time just goes by twice as fast. I mean I can remember back when they were babies and thinking "Jeez, are they ever going to walk?", but on the other hand I feel almost cheated because I feel like I never got to have those sentimental "mom" moments because there was just too much to do. You know the moments I mean, where you're supposed to gaze adoringly at your baby who is sleeping contentedly on your chest while you gently rock them in the nursery. Let me tell you, if I ever had a baby contentedly sleeping on my chest there was another one on the other side and that would mean I was sleeping too because I was EXHAUSTED! More often though it was more like me holding a baby in one arm and trying to get them to eat with the other hand, which left my foot free to be bouncing the other baby in the bouncy seat to keep them happy until it was their turn. And heaven help us if my foot got a cramp because then we'd all three be crying.

I know every mom says the time went so fast and maybe every mom feels like they never had time to truly enjoy those moments because they were too tired and too busy. It's hard to say if I just think it was harder or if it really was because I don't know any different so . . . c'est la vie.

So that is part of the emotional issues today. But why this birthday and not last year or the year before I have no idea. Maybe it is also a little guilt because I am starting to have my own life again. I can read a book! I don't feel like all I do anymore is make food and feed kids and clean up food all day! It's quite a change from the last 6 years of my life.

But in a good way.

Yet it still makes me a little melancholy because that time as past and can never be gotten back.

See, I'm just a big ball of conflicting emotions. I'm sad about the past being the past but I don't want it back. I guess that is just all part of being a mom.

Whose child is this?

2009-01-16T14:43:00.002-05:00

The other night the girls and I were doing our regular late evening (7:00 pm) routine. This consists of me settling on the love seat with my laptop and them snacking on the couch watching Krypto the Superdog (their current favorite cartoon). Sydney said something to me which I did not hear and I asked her "What baby?" She said "That is the cool thing about being a girl", and I said "What is the cool thing about being a girl?" to which she replied "You know how to do all the cleaning."

!!!???? What ???!!!!!

There are so many things wrong with that statement that I hardly know where to begin. First, it sounds a tad male chauvinist to me, and since her daddy is away right now I can't imagine where she would be getting that from. Second, anyone who knows me knows that I am not much of a cleaner. I mean I'm not a pig, but I don't particularly like to clean and am certainly not one of those people that enjoys cleaning. Third, why is it so cool? That just boggles the mind. Last, if it is so cool, how come she never cleans?

Sweet Sisters

2009-01-15T14:06:00.004-05:00

I have to admit that homework has been a bit of a trial for us. There are several reasons for this.

First of all Sydney has more homework than Savannah. Now I know that the reason for this is that Savannah does a lot more in the classroom since her teacher has a helper and they tend to get more done because of this. Sydney's teacher does not have a helper and thus discipline issues must be dealt with at the expense of learning at times because he has to do it all himself.

Second, Sydney is just naturally more easily distracted than Savannah which means it takes her longer to do anything anyway because she gets sidetracked. This is evident in our daily lives too, so it isn't just a homework issue. Just this morning while getting ready for school she went in her room at least 3 times to get panties and socks and came out with neither. In general Savannah can finish two worksheets in the time it takes Sydney to do one and I really don't think it is because Savannah is so much smarter, it is just a matter of concentration.

Third, I will admit to a certain level of frustration myself. I readily admit that I have no patience! Now my mother might argue, because she thinks I have the patience of a saint since having twins. She may think this because it has been a long time since she was dealing with a 5 year old, and certainly not two. Also, I think she has probably blocked out all memories of my brother growing up to protect her sanity and she had to have as much if not more patience then. Plus I think everyone has a certain level of tolerance for different things and I have discovered that while I can tolerate a lot of noise and don't freak out whenever someone gets hurt I have no tolerance for people who can't read!

Anyway, back to the homework issue. So lately I have to make Savannah go into the other room when she finishes her homework so that she doesn't distract Sydney, who is still only half way through. The big problem with this is that Savannah does not like to be by herself. Sydney would be perfectly content to play on her own (which she demonstrated just the other day when she came home early from school with a sore throat and played quietly by herself on the floor in the living room the entire afternoon while mom and I read our latest books). Savannah, not so much. But last night she went into the living room sat down at their little princess table with a piece of paper and a pencil and I didn't hear a peep out of her.

When I went in to check on her she had made the cutest thing. On one side of the paper she had drawn a stamp and made 3 lines of squiggles like an address. On the other side she had written "I love (a crooked little heart) my Sydney. I am happy (a little smiley face) but sad (a little sad face, and this was because she misses daddy she said). Love (the heart again) Savannah."

Where's Pappa?

2009-01-10T22:41:00.004-05:00

"Where's Pappa?" the girls screamed from their seats in the van and promptly burst into tears.

See, Nana (aka my mom) had come to visit us a week ago and then flew down to Orlando to spend time with my dad, who was working, on their anniversary. Then they were both supposed to fly back here for a little less than a week to spend time with the girls. Since Nana had already been here they were really looking forward to seeing Pappa (aka my dad). So what happened you may ask?

Well, evidently the day before they were supposed to leave Orlando something happened at my dad's work and he decided to stay there and come a few days later. Well nobody bothered to inform me of this fact. Because if they had I could have at least warned the girls that he was coming later and maybe, just maybe they wouldn't have burst into tears when they realised he wasn't there and we could have avoided hurting my mom's feelings. Okay, in my mom's defense she had come down with a horrible cold the day before. Frankly I am seriously surprised that she made it off the plane, managed to pick up her luggage, and stumbled to the curb to meet us in her condition.

However, I still think this was a major thing to slip her mind.

Christmas Pics

2009-01-08T11:19:00.001-05:00

Finally!

Cracked Nut

2009-01-05T18:26:00.002-05:00

I have called my kids nuts since they were toddlers. Silly nuts, nut head, nutty, little nuts, etc. Today Savannah told me she was a cracked nut. Yes sweetheart, you certainly are.

Opera as defined by a 5 year old (and many others)

2009-01-04T18:32:00.002-05:00

I have no idea why this was even a conversation, so don't ask.

Savannah: "Opera is where you sing very, very loud and hurt peoples ears"

Then she proceeds to give a demonstration of said ear hurting and it wasn't half bad.

Can't wait for school to start again

2009-01-02T20:42:00.002-05:00

I am a terrible, terrible mother obviously because I cannot wait for school to start again. I do have to say that winter break has not been as bad as it could have been. I have just gotten so spoiled by having the girls in school all day that having them home can be extremely trying. My mom did end up coming to visit for about a week so that was something to break up the monotony and keep the girls entertained and with all the holiday hustle and bustle they did pretty well. But really, Monday cannot get here fast enough for me.

Halloween!

2008-11-03T17:28:00.003-05:00

Oh, it has been a busy couple days. Friday at the girls school they had a "Just Say No to Drugs" parade. What this has to do with wearing fairytale and nursery rhyme costumes I have no idea. I think whoever came up with this idea was on drugs themselves. Right after the parade Syndey's class was having their "Fall Celebration" (everything has to be so p.c. these days). So Sydney's teacher asked another mother and I to come and help the kids get into their costumes for the parade and then help set up the party. They had cupcakes, chips, and juice boxes, oh my. The teacher had even made little grab bags for them to take home at the end of the day (more candy, just what they need, but also a little straw and toy of some sort). I felt kind of bad because Savannah's class didn't have a party, but I guess they had a birthday, so she got a little grab bag too and they had cupcakes so it worked out okay.

On the way home we went by the house on the corner that the couple who have fallen in love with the girls lives and the man was outside carving their pumpkin. Of course the girls stopped to talk to him and he showed them the pumpkin guts. See they had been asking me what was inside the pumpkins earlier, but since we just had stick in pieces for our pumpkins and didn't carve ours they couldn't see, so I was glad this worked out so well. He told them to be sure and come to their house when we were trick-or-treating later and that was all they could talk about the rest of the way home.

Phone Chatter

2008-10-14T23:20:00.002-04:00

Once again we went up to the school one night this week for some little thing they had going on. They were selling pizza for a dollar a slice and then there was a PTA meeting and a 5th grade program. Now last time they did this they ran out of pizza really quickly so I was glad for hubby's obsessive timeliness. I figured that they might do the same thing this time, so I wanted to get there on time, however, there was to be an hour between when they started selling pizza and the meeting and I knew the girls would get bored. I am a big advocate of being prepared. It might just be the fact that I had twins, or it might just be my personality but whatever. There is rarely a time that we all leave the house without a drink, a snack, a toy, and usually a sweater or something for the girls.

On this night I had them put a few things in a little purse they could carry. They took a little notepad, some new mini pens their nana gave them and a play phone that beeps and rings. They drew pictures in their notepads after they ate and then on the walk home they pretended to talk on the phone with various people. It was hilarious to hear the phone conversations of two five year olds who sounded like they were about 13. Here are a few samples of conversations:

Savannah: "Hi Kerieana. Yes, I am going to see High School Musical 3. Well I am going with my sister. You too? Oh that is great! Did you see the 5th graders? That was cool huh?" ("mom, what is another word for bright? not shiny. Like the moon. Oh luminescent.) "Keriana, the moon is really lumnescent tonight."

Sydney: "Jimal? How are you? I am walking home now. You didn't get to go? Your sister is sick? Too bad, it was really cool. You should see the moon, it is really lumessy tonight."

This went on for the entire 4 or 5 block walk home. I'm very afraid for the teen years already.

Halloween Graveyard

2008-10-14T23:15:00.002-04:00

Since we recently tore out all the bushes in front of our house and have yet to replant I figured that the front flower bed would make a perfect graveyard for Halloween. I bought a few little "tombstones" at Wal-Mart, some spider web stuff and a bag of bones. Today the girls and I went out and made some mounds of dirt to look like fresh graves and stuck some of the bones out of them, then put the tombstones at the top. We spread the spiderweb stuff in the corner of the flowerbed where the steps up to the front door are. I then strung some orange rope lights around the flowerbed and we were done. The girls loved it. They had their shovels and hoe and rake out and they were telling anyone who walked by that they were making a graveyard.

Making other people want to have kids

2008-10-04T21:18:00.002-04:00

Walking home from school the other day the girls added yet another admirer to their ever growing list. There is a house we pass on our walk that has a white picket fence and rose bushes lining the fence. The girls often stop to admire the roses and even pick up petals that have fallen on the ground (they know better than to pick flowers from other peoples yard). This day there were two men working in the yard pulling out some bushes in front of the house. Of course my little flirts said "Hello" and they said "Hi" back. Then Savannah tells them that she loves their pretty roses so the one guy asks her if she would like one (duh!) and picks one right off and gives it to her. Then Sydney runs up to tell him how much she loves his pretty roses too so that he won't forget to give her one, and he does give her a rose. Then they said bye and thank you like 5,000 times and he ate it up. As we continued towards home Savannah says "I found a pretty red leaf and a pretty yellow leaf and a nice young man gave me a flower, it's a pretty good day."

Later we walked back by on our way to the school for the Spaghetti Dinner Night. Hey $8.00 for all of us to eat spaghetti, garlic bread, a brownie for dessert, and unlimited drinks. Plus I don't have to cook. Gotta love it! Anyway, as we are walking up to the house with the white picket fence the guy is still out working in the yard and sees the girls coming. He yells around the house "Hey come here, you have got to see these cute girls, cute little twin girls, come here" to someone. His wife comes over and they talk to the girls for a minute, asking their names and how old they are and stuff. Of course they tell me how adorable they are. But I know that. So we went off and had our spaghetti and they saw a few of their friends and thought it was so cool.

After dinner, we yet again walked by the same house. The woman was unloading groceries from the car this time and the girls talked to her about what she bought at the grocery store and we started to go on. She said "He's still out back doing the yard, make sure you stop and say hi" and the girls ran back to say hi. Then she says to me "I've been trying to talk him into a having a baby and since he thought your girls were so cute I'm hoping it will help my case." I had to laugh. Some days those girls practically drive me to drink, but they do have their moments. They do have their moments.

Pez Directions

2008-10-01T20:48:00.003-04:00

I picked up this little pez dispenser at wally world the other day as a cute little thing to send hubby on the ship. I also got one for each of the girls except theirs are a brown cat and a gray cat. They thought they were so cute! Tonight at dinner they asked if Daddy would know how to put the candy in. I tried to tell them that I was sure he could figure it out but they were unconvinced. The conversation turned into a "How To" on using a pez dispenser for daddy. Here it is:

Step 1 - Pull the head back

Step 2 - Pull the neck up

Step 3 - Put the candy in

Step 4 - Push the neck back down

Step 5 - Eat Candy

Step 6 - Call your girls to thank them for such a cool gift!

Dum, Da, Dum, Dum . . . Deployment

2008-09-15T22:35:00.013-04:00

Well, hubby is officially gone now and the countdown to his return begins. The girls and I took him to the ship the other day and said goodbye for about 8 months. Ugh! We hung out on the ship for a bit and took pictures for and then it was time for guests to leave the ship, but the ship wasn't actually leaving the pier for another hour. I decided it was better not to wait and see the ship leave just because an hour was too long to be sitting there looking at the ship and thinking about how much we will all miss each other.

As strange as it may seem, I think that it was hardest on hubby this time. Last time he went on deployment the girls were about 3 1/2. When hubby came back and saw how much he had missed it was hard and I think he was thinking about how much he was going to miss this time. He is basically missing their first whole year of school. I was very good and only cried a tiny bit, but then again I am still in a complete state of denial! If I can just stay in denial for about 7 more months I'll be great.

Daddy (aka Mommy) had gotten them singing Barbie dolls from the new Barbie movie The Diamond Castle. Well the dolls were a big hit. They played with them all the way home from the ship and Savannah took hers to school for show and tell. Yesterday they were "rehearsaling" the song and making a dance so that they could put a show on for daddy when he gets back. It was so adorable and they know the words so good already. Here are the lyrics . . . they are kinda perfect for now.

"I feel connected (connected), protected (protected), it's like you're standing right with me all the time. You hear me (you hear me), you're near me (you're near me), and everything else is gonna be alright. 'Cause nothing can break this, nothing can break this, nothing can break this tie. Connected... oooooh connected inside. "

In the movie it is about best friends, but since daddy gave them the dolls and the words are about being connected inside it is so perfect. I told them they can think of daddy every time they hear the song.

Goshin Angry

2008-09-05T20:11:00.003-04:00

Hubby was mailing a package to a friend, and in the course of the girls "helping" him Savannah dropped it. The rest of the conversation went like this:

Savannah: I hope it isn't broken.
Hubby: Me too.
Savannah: Because if it is broken then he will be . . . can I say frickin yet?
Hubby: No you cannot say frickin.
Savannah: Oh, . . . then he would be goshin angry.

The first day of school

2008-09-02T11:35:00.003-04:00

Today was the big day. The first day of school. The girls were so excited. Last night we packed up their backpacks with their school supplies, and made their lunches to take and they could barely settle down to sleep. I have to admit that I was excited for them too and had a little trouble going to sleep while trying to go over the list in my head to be sure I hadn't forgotten anything. This morning they were too excited to even eat anything but a couple bites of yogurt. Here they are in front of the house right before walking to school.

And here they are walking with daddy, who is carrying their backpacks because they were actually kind of heavy with all those school supplies in them.

Here is Savannah sitting at her table in her class just waiting to start learning.
And here is Sydney at her table (purple, of course. Thank you teacher for remembering). She already has a buddy and is busy "reading".
Walking down the hall to their classes I saw more than one mother red faced and crying as they obviously left their little ones. We saw one father standing outside a classroom holding his tearful little girl telling her he would see her after school. I just hoped mine didn't see that and start getting ideas but they sailed by on cloud nine without batting an eye. They went right in their classes and after locating where to stow their backpack and lunch box found their seats.

As hubby and I were walking out of the school I started to get a little misty myself. Me, who has been so excited for this day. I told myself I was not going to cry. I have been looking forward to this for years. Time. Time to clean the house up more, time to scrapbook, time to nap, time to myself. That is what school means for me I reminded myself. I managed to fend off the tears on the short walk home with hubby, however, when he went to get in his truck to return to work I found myself getting choked up.

As soon as he drove off I found myself doing something that I had sworn I wouldn't do. CRYING! Even now I am still tearing up and feeling like a ninny. It's not that I will miss them so much (hey there are still at least 6 more waking hours for them to annoy me) or that I'm worried about them (which I am of course. Will they like it, will they make friends, what if someone teases them, what if they hate their teacher? etc.) but it is more about this being such a big milestone.

Sydney said to me this morning "Why do you want us to look beautiful today?" as I was helping her put on her tights and shoes.

I replied "Because I am going to remember this day for the rest of your lives." And I will.

Open House Night

2008-08-30T00:16:00.004-04:00

Last night was open house night at the girls school. It was basically a time where parents and kids can visit the school, see the classrooms, and meet the children's teachers.

The girls will be in different classes. This is a huge hot button issue in the twin community. Most teachers and educators are pro separation while most twin mom's are against separation. We will have to see how it all pans out, but my thoughts are as follows. I think the separation will be good for them while avoiding some common twin problems.

1. Separating them will foster individuality. A lot of twins act like a unit and I have seen this with mine as well. Often times when someone asks one of them their name they say "We're Sydney and Savannah", as apposed to "I am Savannah" or "I am Sydney".

2. One thing that I would be concerned about with them being in the same class would be the teacher confusing them. They do look a lot alike. I could easily see a teacher becoming confused about who did well at what task and causing one twin not to get the extra help they need in a subject because of it. Already Sydney is very interested in writing and carries around a notepad and pen or pencil all the time, whereas Savannah, not so much.

3. Give them time apart. I have been extremely lucky with my girls. I hear from other twin mom's about the constant fighting among their twins all the time and my girls really hadn't been fighting that often. The last few weeks though have been awful. It has been bicker, bicker, fight, bicker, hit, fight some more. So at this point I am really hoping that being away from each other 6 hours a day will give them a break and make them appreciate each other and their special bond as twins more.

4. Allow them to hone their social skills individually. Just a few weeks ago when we went to this little neighborhood block party while in Texas I had a glance into the different social skills my daughters have. While their friend was off playing with someone else Sydney had continued to play with several boys that were on the water slide, while Savannah walked back over to the adults and was sitting on her blanket alone. My mother immediately went to check on her. I wanted to see what she would do. To my mother this was just another example of why they should be together in school, after all Savannah needed Sydney to help her make friends. I, on the other hand, saw this as something Savannah needs to learn on her own and while I feel for her (after all, in a similar situation I can see myself taking her actions) I think she needs to learn it on her own. After all, in the real world she is not going to have Sydney around to ease her social anxiety for the rest of her life.

So, since hubby was home we split up and each took one girl to her classroom. I got Savannah and he got Sydney . . . after a brutal round of Rock, Paper, Scissors, because they both wanted to go with daddy. As soon as Savannah and I introduced ourselves to her teacher she said "Oh, Savannah has a twin that is in the class next door right?" which made me feel a little better. At least they were aware and I was so glad that they would at least be next door to each other. Then she said "I'm so glad you are separating them." That seems to be the predominate feeling among teachers. Savannah's teacher admitted to being a little strict, but seems to really love the children and said she had some fun times too. She did talk a lot, so much so that even I was tired of it, so we hopped next door to check on hubby and Sydney.

Sydney's teacher admitted to being a lot more easy going than Savannah's teacher even though he said they were friends and she was a great teacher. He did not talk so much and hubby filled me in on his little talk he gave to the parents. He told everyone that he did not need any supplies because he had purchased them himself, that he was a single man and spent a lot of money on his classes. We found out that the girls would have lunch together, so that was one plus. I was a little worried about that since there are 6 Kindergarten classes at their school and I know they have to stagger them so the Cafeteria isn't overwhelmed. I have to say that at first glance it seems that they are in the right classes. Savannah can be a bit headstrong and I think will benefit from having a stricter teacher, while Sydney is pretty mellow and should do well in a little bit more laid back atmosphere.

They seemed to accept being in different classes okay. I have been talking up the fact that they will make twice as many friends this way all summer. We will have to see how it works out when they actually go to school Tuesday though.

Just trying to make it through a few more weeks

2008-08-27T23:34:00.004-04:00

I've been so bad about my blogging the last month, but really at this point I am just trying to get through the next couple weeks with my sanity.

Between getting the newsletter done for my Mothers of Multiples group, reading up on my new duties as Ombudsman for hubby's ship and getting the girls ready for school, and knowing that hubby is leaving on deployment in a few weeks I am definitely on the edge.

We got postcards in the mail today addressed to Sydney and Savannah from their Elementary school. They had the names of their Kindergarten teachers and room numbers. School starts next week, but there is an open house tomorrow night and they are so excited. I so hope they stay excited and like school. Mostly because I just need a break from their constant bickering of the last few weeks.

So nice to be home

2008-08-19T21:24:00.002-04:00

It is so nice to be home!

I have loved traveling around the country and seeing all my family the last 3 1/2 weeks, but it is so nice to be home. I slept in my own bed last night loved it. I'll probably do a recap of vacation later but for now I am just enjoying being in my own space, trying to get caught up on laundry and enjoying a nice big rum and coke.

Neighborhood Party

2008-08-04T11:35:00.002-04:00

Last night we went over to a friends house for their weekly neighborhood get together. It is one of those things where everyone brings something, they just pile it all on a table, someone bbq's some stuff and you just dig in. Everyone had a really nice time, even my parents. Our good friends with the daughter the same age as the girls had one of those big blow up things that is a huge slide with a pool at the bottom. Every kid in the neighborhood was on that thing! In fact, when too many kids got on the top of the slide it sort of started tilting and we had to yell at them for some to slide down before it dumped them off into the driveway!

They have been inviting us to these since they moved into that neighborhood about 5 years ago so by now we know all their neighbors too. It is kind of fun to go back and see all of them and how much all of the kids have grown since we have been gone for a year. It is so funny how time seems to go faster every year as you get older and the kids seem to grow up so fast. Even my girls have been sprouting up lately and have these long legs all of the sudden.

More swimming on the agenda for today, so better get suited up!

Fun, fun, fun!

2008-08-03T00:40:00.002-04:00

The girls and I have been having a great time at Nana & Papa's house. They swim at least twice a day and are usually in the pool by 10:00 am at the latest. This past week a friend of mine and her 3 daughters came for a visit and all the girls had so much fun together. We had a 10 year old, a 7 year old, my two 5 year olds and a 2 1/2 year old, yikes! Then today, we finally got together with some friends that live here and their 5 year old daughter and 2 1/2 year old boy, this girl is a friend the girls miss a lot and 2 hours just wasn't enough, they wanted her to stay. We will definitely get together again before we leave.

We have also been SCHOOL SHOPPING! The girls have been hounding me about going school shopping since about May, when we went to the Kindergarten Orientation. They love to shop, just like their momma and nana. It has been so fun seeing them trying on shoes and clothes and getting excited over backpacks and lunch boxes. They are soo big!

Rehearsaling

2008-07-25T23:03:00.002-04:00

The girls were in the pool today, of course. They told me that they were "rehearsaling" a play to put on for Daddy and I when he got here. That's right "rehearsaling". It's not a typo it is another word made up by Sydney and Savannah.

Playing Catch-Up

2008-07-24T23:42:00.002-04:00

It has been a busy week!

Last Saturday the girls and I embarked on our cross country jaunt, along with my dad, the dog, and the cat. Amazingly, the trip went really well. We were able to drive half way, stay the night in a hotel, and then drive the other half and arrive at my mom and dad's at a decent hour. They were 12 1/2 hours of driving each day, but having my dad to help with the driving made it not so bad. The girls were practically angels! Unbelievable, right? All I have to say is "How did people survive before portable DVD players?" and also "Why does driving make you so tired?" I really don't get how come I am exhausted at the end of a day spent driving. All you do is sit on your butt, move your feet a little bit (even less if you use the cruise control). I just don't get it.

Once we arrived at my parents we had two great days, during which the girls were in the pool no later than 9:00 am each morning. Then hurricane Dolly hit near us, so it has been raining and windy (but still sweltering hot and HUMID, yuck!) for the past 2 days. Luckily Dolly hit far enough south of us that we weren't really effected except for some rain, wind, and a few tornado watches that didn't turn into anything.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice, so I'm sure my little water bugs will be happy to once more be splish-splashing around. I better get my rest so I can keep up with them.

Kidsitter

2008-07-15T22:33:00.003-04:00

Hubby and I have been informed by the girls that they would prefer the term "kidsitter" instead of "babysitter". After hubby got off the phone with the babysitter the other night they informed us of this brainstorm. How old are these kids again? Because I can't imagine being 5 and having a preference on this terminology.

DVR Divas

2008-07-13T21:27:00.003-04:00

Watch out! The girls have learned how to operate the DVR.

I guess I should go into a little back story. A few weeks ago at bedtime I discovered that we had run out of pull-ups for Sydney. As you may recall, Savannah started wearing her panties to bed a few months ago and has been doing very well, however, Sydney hadn't even been really trying. So, when we ran out of pull-ups I told Sydney that we were just going to try sleeping in panties. She did okay the first 2 nights, but on the third she had an accident.

Now I think part of the reason that she doesn't go to the potty at night is that she is just too lazy and since she is on the top bunk I haven't pushed it. Then Hubby says that another possible reason is that she doesn't want to miss part of whatever movie they are watching so maybe we should show them how to pause the movie when they want to go to the potty. So I showed them which button was the pause and which was the play. Of course, that night they had to try it out so they each "had to potty" like 10 times in the first hour after they were in bed. She has still had a few accidents so now we have taken to waking her up to potty when we go to bed and that seems to be helping. I still think she is being lazy though.

They are smart little cookies though because the other day they realized that they now knew how to pause and play the TV in the living room (which is the only one with DVR). We were having a lazy day and they were watching Sprout (PBS). Well one had to potty and the other wanted a snack so they paused their show. About that time hubby came in and was putting his stuff away and saw them go back into the living room and start up their show again on their own. He comes into the kitchen amazed and says "They know how to work the DVR now?" "Evidently," I replied.

Now nothing can stop them. I am already dreading the day they learn to read the channel listings because right now I can lie to them and say a show isn't on but soon those days will be over. Then I'll just have to be a mean mom who says "Enough TV" instead of a nice mom who lies and says "There isn't anything you like on right now."

Bedtime torture

2008-07-10T21:27:00.002-04:00

What is it with husbands?

He walks in the door at 5 minutes until 8:00 pm, which is the girls bedtime. Now, I am not bitching about how late he was because I know that today was a good friends last day on the ship and they took him out to "play" after work, so fine. But, he comes in here right at bedtime and tells the girls he will play starry (that is what 5 year old girls named Sydney and Savannah call Mario Galaxy on the Wii in case you didn't know). They love to watch him play because they are not quite able to do this game on their own yet. He KNOWS that every time he plays this they turn into complete spazes!

So, he gets them totally hyped up right before bed.

Then to top it off he tells them that the ship picnic is tomorrow. Then they have 5 million questions ("Will there be food? Can we make daddy fall in the dunk tank? Will there be cotton candy? When will we go? Will be see purple Savannah? . . . and on and on and on) and they get all hyped up just thinking about it. We had told them about the picnic that was coming up a few weeks ago, but they had forgotten about it with the other stuff we have had going on, which rarely happens, and he had to go and remind them right before bed. I have to wonder some days if this man is insane!

Needless to say bedtime was complete torture. Thanks honey.

Mini Golf with T & the boy

2008-07-08T16:45:00.004-04:00

I'm feeling pretty good today, I beat a 10 year old boy at mini golf. Hey, you gotta pump up the old ego whenever you can.

Today the girls and I met an old friend of mine and her son for a round of mini golf and lunch. We knew each other way back when neither of us had kids, we could shop in the Junior section, and our marriages were brand new. Our hubby's actually went to high school together and they introduced T. and I. Now we are the best of friends and the hubby's rarely talk. I love seeing her. She is one of the sweetest, nicest people you could ever meet, yet she doesn't make me sick with her niceness, and she is a super mom.

We met up at the mini golf place because I figured that would be something her son could do without being too bored and my girls could try for the first time so they would be entertained and that would leave us time to chat without 5 million trillion interruptions. It would have been a better plan if it wasn't so freakin hot, but we made it work. Even so, by the time we finished our 18 holes I think we all would have loved to slide down the decorative water falls even if we did end up in the pond at the bottom with the freaky catfish thing that seemed to be following us around the course.

As soon as we made it down the street to the Cracker Barrel I high tailed it to the restroom to dry myself off. I did get a few startled looks as I mopped my brow and neck up with their paper towel (and thank goodness they had paper towel and not those horribly useless hand dryer things). I explained to the lady with her daughter, who were staring as they washed their hands, that we had been mini golfing and she seemed to understand and ceased giving me the crazy lady stare. T confessed to me that she was carrying deodorant/antiperspirant in her purse on this trip because the relatives they are staying with do not have central a/c. How do people live like that in this day and age?!

I was loving the Cracker Barrel restaurant today. First, it was blessedly cool after our mini golf expedition. Second, the kids love to sit in the rocking chairs out front while we wait to be seated. Third, they serve breakfast all day. Fourth, they have checkers and those little peg games at the tables for the kids. And fifth, after we eat they can look around the little store and pick out a small candy instead of me having to order some huge dessert.

All in all we had a pretty fun day and I think the girls have a little bit of a crush on T's son. Cute!

Don't say uhm

2008-07-07T21:30:00.003-04:00

My husband has made me aware of a strange quirk I have developed. It seems that I often ask him two questions back to back that should be yes or no answers but then they would have apposing answers.

Understand? No? Me either, at first.

Here is an example: I will say to him "Do you want another drink?" followed right away by "Are you done?" So any way he answers will be confusing. If he says "yes" I then have to qualify "Yes, you are done, or yes you want a drink." Or I'll ask "Are you coming to bed?" then "Are you staying up?"

Seems I do this a lot. Since he told me about it I have noticed how often I do this and I have tried to stop and I just can't. What is with that? It reminds me of when I had to do an oral report in school and right before starting someone says "Remember, try not to say uhm." Then of course the whole report is like "uhm, uhmidy, uhm". You try not to do something and just end up doing it more.

Mommy you snortled

2008-07-06T15:04:00.003-04:00

The other day in the van the girls were telling me a story or something. When I laughed at what they had been saying I sort of snorted (yes, it happens occasionally).

Savannah said "Mommy, you snortled!" My children tend to make up their own words.

This just made me laugh even harder. Now I've told several friends about it and we have all started using the word snortled ourselves. So here are a few other words my kids have made up:

yogrit = yogurt

skippy dipping = skinny dipping

bednight = bed time

pattren = pattern

snortle = snort

Captain Dave's Wild Ride

2008-07-05T13:53:00.004-04:00

Well, the 4th of July started out promising, but . . . here is a recap of what came to be known as "Captain Dave's Wild Ride"

Our friends Jeff and Angie came down from Pennsylvania for the weekend and as I mentioned in a previous post Hubby borrowed a boat from someone on his ship to use. So the plan was that we were going to take out the boat, meet our other friends with their boat and anchor in the harbor where we could watch the fireworks. Sounded good but right from the start things started going wrong. Before we even leave my mom has called and thinks she has a ghost, but that is another whole story.

When we got down to the pier our friends were taking their boat off the trailer. That went fine, but it seems that Captain Dave had backed the trailer a little too far into the water and the wheel had fallen off the concrete launch ramp so when he went to pull it out it was stuck. Four guys had to get in the water and basically lift the trailer up to get the wheel back on the ramp. Luckily they were able to do it. Hubby then launched our borrowed boat with no problems. Okay, ready to go right? Wrong!

We then realized that we had forgotten the girls life jackets. I though hubby had already put them on the boat and he thought I got them. At this point we didn't want to take the boat back out of the water, but no one else could drive it and we couldn't leave it docked at the launch pier because there were other people trying to put boats in. So our friends took Hubby over to the launch ramp so he could take the truck and go back to our house to get the girls life vests. Meanwhile we waited in the tied up boat at the boat rental dock. Then the friends were taking the girls and going to anchor right outside the jetty while we waited for Hubby to get back.

Well, while we are waiting this guy that works at the rental place comes out all frantic "You have to move, we have a sailboat coming in right now and they have to dock here." We told him we had no driver and he just says "Well, you have to figure something out because this sailboat is coming in now." I was going to call Captain Dave and see if he could walk me through starting the boat (I can drive a car, how hard can a boat be?) but I didn't have his cell number and when I tried his wife there is no answer. Then I decided to call Hubby and see if he could tell me what to do, but when I called his number I heard it ringing. He left his phone on the boat. Ugh! At least now I could call Captain Dave because hubby has his number in his phone. Captain Dave says they will come back but they don't show up and finally they call and say that their anchor is stuck on something and he is going to have to dive down and untangle it,! Luckily it is only 8 feet but jeesh what next! Right about this time this tiny little Styrofoam catamaran sailboat sails up and ties up right next to us. This is what the guy was freaking about?! We thought he meant a real sailboat not this toy.

Finally our friends called and said they were unstuck and on the way and they arrived right in time to pick up Hubby. Finally we are ready to go. Wrong again!

As soon as we start out Hubby says the engine on the borrowed boat doesn't feel right. When he has it on full throttle it is not even going that fast, so he decides that we better be safe and not mess with it so we have to go back to the pier again and put the boat back on the trailer and all pile in with our friends. So now their boat is filled almost to capacity. Surely nothing else can go wrong. Wrong again!

We got out to where we were going to anchor with no problems and there where quite a few boats out there too. The kids wanted to swim, of course. But right after they got in Captain Dave saw several large jellyfish so they had to get back in the boat. We had some snacks and soda's and hung out waiting for the fireworks that are supposed to start at 9:30. At about 8:45 we started seeing some lightening in the distance and we could hear on the radio everyone was asking the Coast Guard if the fireworks were still on and they said they were so we waited. Then at the last moment the announcement came over the radio saying that they were calling off the fireworks because of weather and everyone should disperse. Ugh! We got out of there fairly quickly and started back to the pier where we launched the boats. We had barely gotten 1/4 of the way back and we start hitting some choppy water and then it started to rain. The rain felt like hail pelting us in the face.

Let's recap, we have 4 small children, a tween, a dog, and 6 adults on this open boat. We are now in pretty choppy water being pelted by hard, cold rain, we are all soaked to the bone and we aren't even close to where we left the vehicles. Hubby and Captain Dave are trying to navigate so the rest of us grab a kid and hang on for dear life. I had Sydney and I covered her face with a towel so the stinging rain wouldn't hurt her and I would have covered my own face but by this time the boat was bobbing up and down so vigorously that I wanted to be able to brace myself for impact every time we crashed through a swell. Finally Captain Dave had to stop the boat because the rain was so bad he couldn't see where we were and after a minute the guys realized that we were closer to the shore (and rocks) than they had realized and the storm is pushing us even closer. Yikes!

Finally the rain let up and they maneuvered us away from the shore and headed us the right way. It was a little hairy there for a while I have to say. Luckily we had no other issues getting the boat back on the trailer. After she was off the boat Savannah informs us that she was just pretending to be scared on the boat. Kids can be so resilient.

We figured we left the fireworks spot about 9:45 and got in the truck to leave at 11:00. So the return trip that should have taken about 30 minutes took an hour an a quarter. Angie said we should name that boat the SS Minnow. We all decided that maybe the problems early on should have been a clue that this was not meant to be but in the end we have quite an adventure tale to tell.

Inner Tube Pictures

2008-07-05T13:28:00.004-04:00

Savannah, Sydney, and Vee (friend)

2008-07-02T21:37:00.002-04:00

Hubby is on a mission. He wants a boat.

He's been talking about it for a while now but lately it is really coming to the forefront. Last month on our way home from the water park we stopped in at the Bass Pro Shop and ogled the boats. Then our friends went out and got a boat. He's really been pushing the "family time" angle. Like: "It's something we can all do together" and "Think of how much fun the girls will have". The thing that is really cracking me up right now though is that the wife of our friend that just bought a boat keeps telling me the same exact thing about why they bought one. I asked her if she and my hubby had been comparing notes.

We had pretty much decided that it would be nice but that we were going to wait until next summer for a few reasons. First, because we have already missed half the season and second, because he is deploying in a few months for 7 months.

Now though, somebody on his ship has a boat that they are selling that is very close to what we were looking at and it is a good price. This guy is even going to let us take out the boat for the weekend to test it out. Should be a fun weekend, and we'll see how the boat works out.

Yes, the 5 year old is mocking you

2008-07-01T13:19:00.005-04:00

We had great time Sunday. Friends of ours just bought a boat so they invited us out on Sunday. The girls had the best time, and not just because they got to see their friend "Purple Savannah", but because they love anything to do with water.

Okay, first I'll explain about "Purple Savannah". My twin girls are names Sydney and Savannah so when we met this couple with a little girl who is also named Savannah who is about a year younger than them it posed a bit of a problem. So the first time we got all the girls together this other Savannah was wearing purple and so hubby asked her if it was her favorite color and she said yes. Then he made a big deal about how our Savannah loves pink and their Savannah loves purple (and Princess Ariel, just like Sydney) and so my girls started calling her "Purple Savannah". Now I just call my daughter Savannah and the other girl Vanna since her parents sometimes call her that, but my girls still refer to her as "Purple Savannah".

Anyway we had a nice day on the boat. They even had gotten this inner tube thing that you pull behind the boat and all 3 girls got in it and they thought that was great fun. Then the husbands had to each try it too and see how fast they could make the other one flip off it so that was amusing also. Grown men acting like teenagers is always good for a few laughs.

When we got in the truck to head home the girls were both hungry, but there is usually a strict no eating policy in hubby's truck because the girls are such pigs and leave crumbs and make hubby crazy. So they were both begging and pleading for a snack and hubby finally gave in and said they could have some cheese crackers but they had to be careful. So I turned and said to them "You better be extra, extra careful because you know how daddy is about his truck." From the back seat I hear Sydney mimicking her dad saying "Oh no, my truck, oh no, a mess, oh no oh no" in this hilarious voice.

Hubby got that look on his face, the one where he is amazed and can't believe what comes out of our 5 year olds mouths, and said "Is she making fun of me, is she mocking me?" To which I had to reply "It certainly sounds that way." We all had a good laugh.

Hosed

2008-06-28T20:46:00.004-04:00

So I went out to water the grass today and a funny thing happened.

Had to actually water the grass for two reasons. First, when we pulled out all of the bushes in the front of the house a couple had bled over to the side and instead of planting there we really just want to have the grass continue on that part. This means the hubby has been doing his "man" thing and putting down seed, fertilizer, nutrients and what all and that means we have to water it 3 times a day to get it going. FUN! Second, it has been pretty hot here and it has been a while since the last good rain so the lawn was starting to look a little dry.

Of course the girls ran out with me and wanted to help. I let Sydney take the sprayer first since she got to me first. After a minute I told her it was Savannah's turn and to give her the sprayer. When she turned to hand Savannah the hose she turned the hose too and ended up spraying Savannah. I laughed but Savannah did not find this amusing and promptly started to cry and yell sister insults (I hate you, you are the worst sister in the world and the like). Then she gets mad at me because I'm laughing and yells at me that it is not funny. "It is definitely NOT funny mom" she says in her five year old voice with the 15 year old attitude. After I finally get my laughter under control I tell her how Sydney didn't mean to do it and she loves the water anyway and a little water isn't going to hurt her and cajole her into coming over and taking the hose to do her share of the watering. At this point she is still sort of sniffling and I laugh again and tell her to quit being such a baby. She then proceeds to turn and spray me with the hose in a little fit of temper.

I wish I had a picture of her face right then. She got that "oh shit, what have I done" deer caught in the headlights look. I ruined it by laughing. Again. Then I snatched that hose from her and soaked her good! I felt like maybe I should punish her because it was kind of a bratty thing to do and I don't think her intention was to joke around I think she was just being pissy and did it like I said in a fit of temper. Then again, sometimes you just gotta laugh it off. I did explain to her that this time it was funny but in general you don't spray mommy with the hose. After that I let them get their bathing suits on and play in the sprinkler for a bit. They had a blast, as usual when they do anything involving water. The mystery is how Savannah ended up with 7 mosquito bites, while Sydney only has 1.

Bumpy Chip Breath

2008-06-26T15:56:00.002-04:00

I had a late night snack attack last night and busted out some Ruffles and French onion dip to chomp on. When I went in the girls room to put in their second movie . . . yes, I put them to bed with the TV on. Bad mom! Never thought I'd do it but . . . for sanity's sake this is how it goes. They get in bed at 8:00 pm and they get to choose 2 DVDs from their vast collection to watch. They only get 2, and if they are too loud or come out of their bedroom for any unauthorized reason (potty and telling the movie is over are okay) then they get a "strike", 3 strikes and the TV goes off.

But anyway, I digress. When I went in to change to the second movie I gave them both a kiss and Sydney says "Mommy, why do you have bumpy chip breath?" They call Ruffles potato chips bumpy chips. I told her because I was eating bumpy chips. Seriously, I doubt I could tell someone had been eating Ruffles by their breath, especially since they weren't the flavored kind, but she could. No sour cream and onion, or sour cream and cheddar or BBQ, they were just the plain ones. Plus we rarely have potato chips in the house, it isn't like we eat these all the time. I am constantly amazed by the things they know. How did she know this?

She is a breath sniffing genius!

Baby Doll Names

2008-06-25T12:27:00.002-04:00

We bought that DVD "The Jungle Book 2". The girls have been watching it as often as I will let them. I have almost never seen them watch a cartoon this much that does not include some type of princess or fairy. I'm glad to see them broadening their horizons. They seem to go through these phases. Like they will watch one movie non-stop for a week, then not touch it for a month, then watch it non-stop for another week. They do this with their toys too. Two weeks ago they played with their Barbie's for 3 days straight practically non-stop. They haven't touched them since.

This week seems to be the baby dolls. They each have a Cabbage Patch doll and then they each have one of those little twin dolls that come in a set. Since they have so many they pretend they have an orphanage. All of the dolls and their assorted clothes are scattered around the house now. The two main doll characters are going by the names of Shanti and Mowgli in honor of the Jungle Book 2 movie this week and they tend to break out in songs from the movie from time to time. Gotta love it.

Pigs eat Push-up pops

2008-06-24T14:12:00.004-04:00

Today after lunch the girls wanted some push-up pops for dessert. Those are those ice creams you buy that are in cylinders and you push a stick up through the bottom to make the ice cream come up out of the cylinder on top. They love these, especially because right now Scooby-Doo is on the box.

So, they are eating their pops and Savannah says "Syd, guess if I'm a boy or a girl eating ice cream." She then sticks her tongue out very far and licks at the pop.

Sydney says "Girl."

Then Savannah says "Who am I now?" She then opens her mouth very wide and pretends to bite the pop.

Sydney says "Boy."

I busted up laughing and asked "So girls lick their ice cream and boys bite theirs, that is the rule?"

They both reply "Yes, it is in the rule book."

All righty then.

"The rule book we made in our room mom," Sydney says.

Ookayyyy.

Then Savannah makes a slurping noise while eating her pop and Sydney says "What are you now, a pig?"

Toenail Saga Take 2

2008-06-19T21:22:00.003-04:00

The last couple of days my recently doctored toe (see previous post) has been looking a little red and not right. Today I called my Primary Care Manager to get an appointment since I knew there was an ice cubes chance in hell of me getting an appointment with the Podiatrist within the next decade and my toe would fall off before I could see them so . . . the PCM got me in at 12:45. I hate calling the appointment line because every single time you have to give them soo much information and the worst part is you know it is on the computer right in front of them once you give your name but instead of just asking if your information has changed they make you recite it all back to them. I know all the questions they ask by heart and could just blurt it all out as soon as they answer, but that seems rude so I try to patiently go through it all even though I feel like I could choke them through the phone line! Here it is: Last Name (spell it because ours has a different spelling), First Name (spell it too because no one ever spells it right), Yes the appointment is for myself, Hubby's SSN last 4, Home address (including city and zip since they handle a large area of patients), and phone number then you tell them why you need the appointment.

So, they confirm the time and then add on that "no children are allowed." Seriously? Now you have to understand that I'm not going here for some gynecological exam or surgery. The doctor is going to come in the room, look at my toe for maybe 5 seconds tell me he will put in a prescription for some antibiotics, confirm that I have no known allergies and leave. Total time if he is not the chatty type is about 3 minutes. For this I should hunt up a babysitter to pay for 2 hours (adding in my drive and wait time), I think not. Also understand that this is a military facility. They know that most of us move every couple years, probably do not live near family, and our husbands are on ships and not able to just run home so we can hit the doctors office. Add to this that I am a stay at home mom with very few friends, no daycare, and my kids aren't in school yet. Gee, guess what? I'm totally blowing this rule off. And if anyone dares say a word to me about bringing my kids they are going to get an earful trust me on that! Luckily no one said anything, and in fact the doctor even commented on how well behaved my girls were (thank goodness).

BUT . . . just so my life isn't too easy the pharmacy at my regular clinic is closed so I have to go to another base I've never been to on the other side of the next town to fill my prescription. Oh the joy.

Local news watchers we aren't

2008-06-19T21:11:00.003-04:00

The other night when I was letting the dog out for his evening business I noticed that it looked foggy. Foggy, here, in June, hmmm? Then I realized it smelled smokey, like something was on fire. So, I told the hubby "something is on fire outside" and he went to check it out. After making a circuit of the house and garage to be sure it wasn't us somehow he looked up and down the street and reported back that he couldn't see anything and we went on with our evening.

The next day at a playdate a fellow mom brought up "Hey, did you see all that smoke last night?" I said we did and wondered what it was. According to her there were fires or a large fire 100 miles south of us and the way the wind was blowing we were getting smoke from that. Hubby confirmed it that evening. WEIRD! It has happened a few evenings since then so I assume the fire/fires are still burning. I have no real confirmation of this because lately hubby and I watch movies or he plays XBOX since there are no shows on we watch right now so we never see the loocal news. Yea, we are a couple of party animals right?

Missing Toddler Simplicity

2008-06-16T21:51:00.004-04:00

I was watching a TV program where the main mom character who has a teen and a tween made this comment: "I miss the simplicity of toddler hood". It got me thinking that I kind of missed it too. Most days now I feel like I am happy to be in this stage of Pre-school/soon to be starting Kindergarten. But I also see that I always tend to think things will be better when . . . fill in the blank.

Things will be better when: they start school, they are both potty trained through the night, my husband finishes this next deployment, my darn toe heals, etc., etc.

And it seems that this has been an ongoing thing. When they are born you think, things will be better when they sleep through the night, then when that happens you think, things will be better when they start eating real food. Then when that happens you think, things will be better when they can walk, then talk, then communicate better, then on and on until one day they are going to be moving out and I'll be remembering when. . . Remembering when they were so cute as little babies, when they couldn't run around making mess after mess, when they couldn't tell me NO. Even now I find myself already telling new twin mom's in my support group to enjoy this time while they are young because while certain things get easier certain other things get harder. Which means there is no "perfect" age.

I am not usually one to get caught up and sorrowful about how fast they are growing up because I am usually just trying to get through today but sometimes it is a good thing to sort of stop and smell the roses. Because I am already looking ahead and it is scary. Today we went shopping and my girls love to shop. Right now they are good about me saying "no we aren't going to buy that today" but I can see the future. Me with two teenagers, the pouting, the rolling eyes, the begging, the serious shopping.

Sigh.

Tougher times are coming, and I need to enjoy this time while I can.

I'm really gonna try.

Lazy mom, that's me

2008-06-12T21:36:00.002-04:00

Today was just one of those days where I felt like doing nothing at all. My toe is still throbbing a little if I stand too long so all I wanted to do all day was sit on the couch with it propped up and read a book. So I did.

The unfortunate part of this scenario is that I still have my 5 year old twins to keep up with. Luckily today they actually played on their own for more than 15 minutes. They decided first thing this morning that they wanted to get out their dress up stuff and play with it. Believe me when I tell you that they probably have more dress up stuff than any other kids on earth. They have a rack crammed with costumes in their closet, everything from Barbie Fairytopia to pretty much every Disney Princess to a real "wedding gown" that Grandma passed on from a flower girl who was in a wedding. They also have many, many, many assorted shoes, slippers, scarves, veils, hats, and jewelry that we keep in one of those large gray Rubbermaid container boxes you get at Wal-Mart.

So that was great and it kept them entertained pretty much all day. From my perch on the couch I could hear them deciding what to wear with what and they even put on several little mini plays for me. When my hubby came home this afternoon and went past their room to say hello I heard his exclamation about their room and he came right back out to tell me the good news. Their room was officially a disaster area. While I had pretty much assumed that it would be a big mess, even I was unprepared for the full scale riot that had taken place.

There was not a single square inch of floor to be seen! The gray box was completely empty, every dress from the closet was now on the floor, even the bottom bunk bed could hardly be seen. So then we had to have an hour long cleaning session. But the sad part is that I feel it was totally worth it because they were out of my hair and entertaining themselves (without the tv)pretty much all day.

The Toenail Saga

2008-06-09T20:56:00.003-04:00

Today finally marked the end of my toenail saga. I've had trouble with ingrown toenails for years. About 9 or 10 years ago I had to have one cut out and they put some acid on it so that the nail would not grow in again. Since then I have had an issue on and off with the other foot having the same problem but I have put off doing anything because it wasn't too bad. Well, about two months ago it finally got bad enough that I decided I had to do something.

So I sucked it up and made an appointment with my PCM (Primary Care Provider) because I have to see him and get a referral before I can go to the actual Podiatrist, even though I already know what needs to be done due to my prior experience. This, in itself, is a problem because, as usual hubby is out of town and I have no one to watch my girls. Well, okay, I have a couple people I could ask but the real problem is me. I hate to ask anyone for anything! HATE IT! I have some inborn issue with asking for any kind of help I can't seem to help it. So in this instance since I knew the PCM would just look at me, possibly give me some meds to keep infection at bay and give me a referral I decided to just bring the girls with me. The nurses all fawned all over them and one even suggested I should start modeling them. It actually went pretty well except for the delay at the pharmacy because for some reason they have me entered in the computer system as my husbands child instead of his wife which causes confusion all around. Frankly, I was not impressed with my PCM (this was my first time seeing him). Is it just me or are there an inordinate amount of doctors from India all over lately? Anywho, I could just barely understand his accent but what really threw me off was that he saw me for like 2 minutes total and I am not even exaggerating. He came in, confirmed that it was my toe. Barely looked at the toe in question and in fact sort of looked afraid to get near it, which was fine with me but seemed a little weird for a doctor. He says he will write me a scrip for some antibiotics and put in the referral and was gone. Of course, when I got to the pharmacy the prescription wasn't entered so I had to go back and then when I called about the referral it was not entered so I had to call back and prod them about that. Finally the referral showed up and I called for an appointment and they had no openings for a month. Great!

The good part is that the Podiatry referral was to the Navy Hospital which has a child care drop off center you can use for appointments. Now one of my friends told me they never answer the phone and it was impossible to get your kids in, but I had no problems. The only problem I ran into with this was that I did not realize that they would need a shot record until Friday afternoon when the Pediatrician's office was already closed. I have one of those little record books that you are supposed to record all the kids shots in, but I have forgotten to bring it several times, so it is not complete and when I took them to get their most recent shots the pediatricians office just filled them in on the school physical form that I needed to enroll them in Kindergarten for the fall which I then took to the school and forgot to make a copy of. Dummy, dummy, dummy! So I spent most of last night tossing and turning hoping that I would have time to run into the Pediatricians office (which doesn't even open until 9 am) this morning before dropping the girls off at the child care place and still making my appointment (which was across town at 10 am) and hoping that they would not give me a hard time about needing a shot record ASAP on a Monday morning. So far I love the pediatricians office and today was no exception. They accommodated me without even a grumble.

Today was finally the day of my appointment. I left the house and headed toward the Pediatricians. Called them on the way and asked for a copy of the shot records. Stopped and picked the shot records up. Hightailed it across the bridge, through the tunnel, and over to the Hospital. Had to drive through the entire parking garage and ended up parking on the top level. Shuffled the girls down to the child care center, checked them in in record time and practically ran next door to the hospital. Made it to the podiatry clinic by 10:03. Whoo Hoo! Next I started worrying if my toe was infected because this is what happened last time I had to do this when we lived in Hawaii.

That time the antibiotics had worn off and the toe was infected and they said they couldn't cut the nail out with it infected which made me have to come back the day I was flying to California to get it done. Then they wrapped my toe so huge that I couldn't wear shoes and I ended up having to don one of those boots for when you have a broken foot and wear that on the plane. But that is a whole other saga.

Luckily, when I got in there everything was go for the procedure. The doctor was a super nice guy, and not from India. Now the most painful part of this whole procedure is the shot they give you to numb the toe so you won't feel them cutting out the nail. It seriously feels like the needle is going to go through your toe and come out the other side and when they release the numbing stuff it feels like there are 5 or 6 needles stuck in you. After that it is all easy. Well, except for having to listen to the doctor's bad foot puns, but hey it's worth it to get this done. Over. Yeah!

Hubby's week off

2008-06-06T11:02:00.005-04:00

Hubby surprised us by unexpectedly taking the week off. He just finished some really big inspection that they pretty much aced so he was able to get the time off. He even set up a friend to watch the kids so we could go out and catch a movie and dinner on our anniversary. June 3rd marked 13 years of wedded bliss for us. Wow!

Then Thursday we took the girls and headed out to Water Country USA. Water Country USA is a water park that is part of the Busch Gardens group of parks. Be thought about going to Busch Gardens first, but the girls are still a little too small to ride a bunch of the rides, which would probably bum them out since they are such little dare-devils. Plus they love, love, love the water. We figured this week would be the perfect time to go since the weather has been so nice and school's here aren't out yet so it wouldn't be too crowded. We almost didn't go because Savannah had a little bit of a runny nose and I thought she might be getting sick and poop out, but I am sooo glad that we decided to go. We all had a great time. Savannah said "This is the best day ever" like 5 times during the day. They could do all the rides except maybe 1 or 2 so we were busy. There weren't that many people and no lines at all, we might have waited like 5 minutes a few times and that was it. There were signs posted that said "Wait time 1 hour from this point" on several rides, so I know that in the summer they must be packed but we had no lines. In fact my knee started to feel a little wobbly from climbing so many stairs so fast and my legs have been sore for 2 days now from it! Ha, Ha, must be getting old!

Thursday super hubby decided to tackle a project we have been talking about but I have been dreading. He started to pull out all the bushes in front of our house. Ugghh! We have a row of hedges (about 6) right in front of our house under the living room windows that line the sidewalk going to the front door. They are nice and green, but very dense and have grown too high so they stick up in front of the windows. Then when you cut them back they look terrible and all stickish so we have been discussing taking them out for several months. Then on the other side of the front door are more bushes (7 or 8) that are just out of control and are just too big to prune down to manageable at this point. The older lady next door has lived here for about 35 years and said these bushes have been here that long so that is some history. I have to say this job was a b-i-t-c-h and I didn't even do any of the real work. He ended up having to partially dig them up and cut the main roots then attach a rope to the bush and his truck bumper and yank them out. It already looks so much better even though it is all dug up dirt. I am pretty excited to make an actual border/flower bed in these spots. Well, except for the actual work involved that will require me to sweat and toil in the summer sun. Sigh. Maybe I never should have mentioned this to hubby. Too late for that. I'll be off to the local garden center tomorrow to figure out what to plant since I have no gardening know how at all. Wish me luck.

Biker Babes

2008-06-04T13:23:00.002-04:00

As usual Savannah is in Pink and Sydney is in Purple as they show off their new bikes.

The tortoise and the hare

2008-06-02T21:50:00.002-04:00

We finally got the girls new bikes. Not just any old bikes but the Disney Princess bikes with the butterfly wheel inserts, pink and purple handlebar tassels, and a special bag attached to the handlebars for their snacks and water bottles. Then, of course, we had to also buy helmets, elbow pads, and knee pads. It still astonishes me the amount of protective gear kids are required to wear these days. Back in my day we didn't wear no stinkin helmets. My dad is fond of saying that this is how we weeded out the idiots. Because, lets face it, whoever was stupid enough to try something that would crack their head open was someone we probably didn't need in our society anyway. But anyhoo, buy them we did, because now most cities require them to be worn.

We also purchased a little playhouse for them because we have been promising them we would. They really wanted a Tree House, but we talked them into the plastic Little Tykes school/fire house that will stay firmly on the ground. It is pretty cute and on the back there is a little mini basketball hoop and soccer/hockey goal.

Then we decided that since we had gotten them new bikes, we should also get new bikes so that we can actually bike with them. Novel idea huh? We found some bikes they label "cruisers" for us. They have those old fashioned handlebars that go up high and a huge padded seat for our large asses, perfect.

Both of the girls took right to their bikes like they had been riding all winter. I thought they might take a bit to get the hang of it again (they are still on training wheels) but no. Biking is one of those activities where their differences really stand out. Savannah gets on her bike and rides hell bent for leather as fast as she can. Even when they were younger and were just learning to ride she HAD to be in front. One day when she was about 3 1/2 she fell off her bike on the sidewalk and instead of getting up she laid down across the sidewalk to block Sydney because she did not want her to pass her. Sydney, on the other hand, is what we would refer to as a "Sunday Driver". She just barely rolls along singin a song to herself and looking at the scenery.
Even I cannot ride behind her and I am not that great on a bike. I find myself riding in the street and circling back to check on her because I physically cannot ride that slow. It is like riding with the tortoise and the hare.

How fast they grow

2008-05-29T22:54:00.002-04:00

Hubby got home early from work on this gorgeous day. Always a nice surprise.

So, we were doing our usual. Both slouched on the couch with our respective lap tops. The girls decided they wanted to take "puppy" (toy stuffed dog) outside to read him a story. A little bit later they come in and say "Daddy, can we get in the back of your truck?" to which daddy says "Not right now girls", mostly because he is too lazy to get up and open the tailgate. On a side note I have to say that one of the pluses of having twins is that I don't have to always have my eye on them to know where they are because I can always hear them chattering, and these days they chatter a lot. So we can hear that they are right outside the house but can't hear their whole conversation or what exactly they are doing. A little bit later we look out the window and see that they have managed to open the tailgate to the truck and climb in all by themselves, the little devils. This is not a little Nissan or Toyota pick up, this is a full size Ford F150. They are now having a picnic with puppy in the back of daddy's truck. They played out there for a good hour and a half . . . by themselves . . . in the back of that truck . . . insane! I practically had to beg them to come in for dinner.

At dinner they proceed to tell us that they were outside rehearsing for a show that they will do for us tomorrow. They then launch into a very detailed rundown of this show, which seems to include part of every major fairly tale, Barbie movie, and cartoon that they have ever seen. It was hilarious. Then I asked them about two other girls I saw them talking to. They tell me that those girls were twins too, and they had phones, and they had come from the park, and they showed them their phones, and, and, and . . . Hubby just looks at me with this glazed look and says "Did they just age like 10 years in the past 2 days?"

Sleep Deprived

2008-05-28T12:57:00.003-04:00

You would think that now that my girls are not babies any more I should be getting a decent nights sleep these days. You would think. Sadly this is not necessarily the case. There are several reasons for this phenomenon that I shall outline below.

First I have to accept that in one more way I am turning into my mother. As long as I can remember she has been a raging insomniac. While I am not raging yet, I am starting on the path. I find myself up until 12 or 1 in the morning whereas I used to hit the pillow already asleep at 10. Before the girls were born it was a common occurrence for me to be in bed an hour or sometimes 2 before the hubby, now it has totally flipped. Sometimes I think it is because I just love the solitude that I get when everyone else is asleep, but other times I miss being able to sleep so easily because I really love to sleep!

I've found that there are actually a few good things about the hubby being gone. One of those things is that I get the whole king size bed to myself (sort of), which is heaven for several reasons. Frankly I cannot imagine how anyone can sleep on any bed smaller than a king, but that is because I have other issues too. You see the hubby is a cover hog. Yes, he is. He will deny this with his dying breath, but since I wake up several times a night I know the truth. But, on top of the fact that he is a cover hog he also has an accomplice. THE DOG! If I break down the bed into percentages here is how it works out: Hubby=55%, Dog=25%, Me, 20%. Add into this equation that once the dog lays down there is no moving him, which effectively traps the covers and you see that I definitely get the raw end of this deal. Heaven forbid I should want to change sleeping positions. It takes some major contortions to situate my legs around the dog, who is complete dead weight, and get the covers back over me.

Last night was especially fun. For once I was actually ready to go to bed at about 11. So we get in bed and right when I am falling asleep hubby starts tossing and turning and says "I can't sleep." Thanks for waking me up to tell me that!

A few hours later I had the added joy of being woken up by Savannah because she had wet the bed. Since she just started wearing panties to bed and this is the first accident I wasn't too upset, but it was just one more interruption.

Maybe tonight will be better. I can hope.

Beach Mermaids (and men)

2008-05-27T12:09:00.005-04:00

Congrats Savannah

2008-05-26T21:29:00.002-04:00

Woo-Hoo! Savannah is officially pull-up free. She has been wearing regular panties to bed and stayed dry this whole week. I am, of course, very excited. Both of the girls have been day trained for about a year and a half, but were still wearing pull ups to bed (maybe this had a lot to do with mommy being lazy and not wanting to wash and change sheets in the middle of the night). I pretty much figured it wouldn't bother me if they wore pull ups to bed forever, but last week Savannah woke up dry 5 days in a row so I told her she could wear her panties to bed and try it out and here we are. Now Sydney is going to take a little more work because she is on the top bunk and I think for her it is more about laziness than anything else. I don't even care, I am on the home stretch now, only one kid in pull ups at night will make me incredibly happy!

Questions, questions, everywhere

2008-05-24T22:30:00.002-04:00

Well Hubby is back after a month at sea so the girls are practically glued to his side. It is rather cute, but it can get annoying too. Not for me, mind you, but for Joey who can barely hit the bathroom without them in tow.

Today, they had to play in the living room right under his feet when he was trying to play video games. When they play there are lots of high pitched voices, songs, and various noises so he can barely hear his game to play. So he suggested we go to the Cinema Cafe and see a movie. Cinema Cafe is one of those movie theatres where you sit at tables sort of like a restaurant and you can order food and drinks during the movie. The food is not great and is a little expensive but the movie is cheap and the girls seem to enjoy it so it works out. Of course, the movie was just starting when he suggested it so we had to wait until the next showing to go which meant 2 hours of "is it time to go yet?" for us.

Finally we were on the way and the questions started. "What does this sticker say?, What does CPO mean?, What is that policeman doing?, How does the air get cold? (from the air conditioner), Then, how does the air get hot? (from the heater), Can we roll down our windows?, Are we there yet?, Can we have popcorn at the movie?, Is it still spring?, When will it be summer?, When will it be fall?, and on and on and on.

Stubby

2008-05-22T23:52:00.002-04:00

Yes, I know this picture is dark. All the better to see her stubby little inch long whiskers. This is what happens when 5 year olds have scissors. Thank goodness we don't have any fish, because I've heard a story about one of my husbands cousins cutting a pet fish in half when she was little. At least no animals were harmed at the hands of my girls.

Little Mommy's

2008-05-21T23:14:00.002-04:00

Here the mommy's are "reading" a story to their Shamu stuffed animal. No, they can't actually read yet, but they love to make up their own stories. And believe me their stories are highly entertaining.

Cleaning the bed, that's right, the BED

2008-05-21T21:43:00.004-04:00

In my ideal world I would clean my entire house once a year, however reality constantly interferes. Today the girls and I tackled Sydney's bed. Now I may have mentioned that my kids are pack rats. Sydney is the queen of the pack rats. She has at least 5 purses and 2 backpacks strung around the house full to bursting with a variety of items. But her bed on the top bunk is a veritable "nest". Since I can't see up there on a daily basis I have to supervise the cleaning of it at least once a month. Today the cleaning was prompted by a missing Angelina Ballerina doll (which, by the way, was found on this very bed).

Let me give you a small taste of what I found on this bed, and this is by no means a complete list. I found lip balms, bracelets, necklaces, belts, brushes, combs, used and unused tissues, various stuffed animals, nail polish, a trash can, a mini Barbie Mariposa doll, 5 pillows, 5 blankets, books, play hair styling items, an assortment of hair tiebacks, coins, a sweater, colored pencils, notepads, hats and mittens. I'm sure I've forgotten something, but that is a sample. Every time we do this little exercise in futility I give her a lecture about how I don't want all this junk on her bed. She says "Okay mommy" so sweetly and then the next time I find the same thing. These are the joys of motherhood.

School Registration Paperwork

2008-05-19T23:38:00.002-04:00

My babies are starting school in the fall. So, after the orientation the other night I have like 10 pages of forms to fill out . . . TIMES 2. I started filling it all out today. Yes, it is still 3 1/2 months till school starts but since they were "suggesting" so strongly that we get this done early I figured I better get on it. The real reason is that I know that if I put it off too long I will forget about it and procrastinate until I am having to deal with all the other psycho's who waited until the last minute. The worst part has to be that like 3 of the forms are duplications, so not only do I fill everything out times 2 (and it is 12 pages, I just counted), but some of them are like times 3. Then on the last page it asks about my husbands job and, of course, since I am the worst Navy wife ever I know two of the seven answers. Just hope I don't get carpel tunnel! Can't wait to see what I will have to do once school starts.

Then I started going over the guidelines on what they should know and what they were going to learn in Kindergarten. Remember, they already pretty much said that most of the kids were way behind for starting kindergarten. They make it seem way worse than it is. I mean I never went to Kindergarten and I was fine, in fact a I was a fairly good student. Another thing that made me feel better was that one of my friends said that her daughter started Kindergarten knowing only a few letters and she still did great and my girls know almost all their letters and I've been working with them on writing already so they should be fine. I am rather impressed that they should be writing full sentences by the end of the year (spelling doesn't count yet). We'll see about that.

This Dog Can Tell Time!

2008-05-18T19:42:00.002-04:00

He is staring at me like this right now because he knows it is almost 8 o'clock and that is when he gets fed his dinner. Some days, lets make that most days, he is the bane of my existence.

As soon as I set foot out of bed in the morning he wants to be fed. To ensure that I don't forget (as if I could) he follows me around at a prance making little clik-clak noises with his claws on our hardwood floors at no further a distance than 10 inches at all times until I do feed him.

While the girls eat breakfast he paces behind their chairs because he knows that sooner or later something will fall due to the fact that they are the messiest eaters in the world (see previous post). If anyone should make the mistake of leaving food unattended for more than 5 seconds anywhere that he can reach it that is too damn bad because it will be his.

At lunch it is the same scenario. I feed him a "snack" at about 3 o'clock because then he will eat that and go outside at my insistence for a little bit while the girls usually have a snack and this saves my floor from the pacing a little bit. He usually starts giving me "the look" (as seen above) and dogging my heels at about 2 o'clock.

Dinner is usually the same scenario, unless the hubby is home and then he will sit 3 feet from him and drool while watching us eat dinner. I started feeding him his dinner at 8 o'clock for purely selfish reasons. We used to feed him around our dinner time, but there is usually too much going on and having him right on my heels and tripping over him and two 5 year olds in the kitchen while trying to make dinner wasn't working for me. Gee, I wonder why? So I started off feeding him after I got the girls to bed when things were calm but once again couldn't stand him being my shadow while trying to get pj's, supervising tooth brushing, and making sure everyone has gone to the potty so it got changed again. It got moved to when I start to get the girls ready for bed because then he will go outside for a bit to do his business and not pester me to distraction.

Talk about training your humans, he is a master.

So what redeeming qualities does he have you may ask. He is just so darn cute. He is very mellow and allows the girls to do a myriad of things to him, including, but not limited to: tucking his ears in his collar, dressing him up with necklaces, veils, and sunglasses, pretend walking him on his leash in a circle around our house, teasing him with food, and using him as a foot rest. He is a good vacuum for the things dropped by my messy eaters. And mostly because he snuggles with me in bed when the hubby is gone.

Peas in a Pod

2008-05-18T19:39:00.002-04:00

I don't know what they were doing, but this was so cute of them crouched exactly the same way at the beach yesterday.

Beach Tranquility

2008-05-16T21:33:00.002-04:00

We've had a few nice days thrown in there lately between the tornado warnings and thunder storms. Every chance I get I have been getting over to the beach. Part of the reason I have been going so much is because I realize that later in the summer when it really gets hot I am not going to want to go because it will be too miserable. The other reason I have been going so often is that it is just so soothing to me.

We live just a few blocks from the bay and a fairly nice beach so we have been able to walk over. The girls always want to drive so they were asking me the other day "Why do we have to walk?" and I surprised myself by saying that I enjoyed the walk, and I actually meant it. It is short enough that I don't get crazed and annoyed with them for dawdling so, but long enough that we get to look at all the yards on the way and look at the flowers and birds and squirrels. Then when we get to the beach I can sit on my butt and read to my hearts content with the sound of gentle waves in the background while the girls amuse themselves with collecting shells, playing in the water or building sand castles. They are old enough now that I don't have to be constantly chasing them around and they can entertain themselves mostly.

The best part though is that I can tell it makes my whole day better. I find I have more patience and am a little easier going. The beach seems to give me some tranquility that I haven't felt for a long time, maybe since I had kids.

My Little Bakers

2008-05-15T11:44:00.002-04:00

This is a picture I snapped right before the "explosion" mentioned in the Kitchen Conversation post yesterday.

Kindergarten Orientation

2008-05-14T22:14:00.003-04:00

Tonight was the Kindergarten Orientation at the school the girls will be attending in the fall. It was just dumb luck that I even found out about it because I would never have thought they would do an orientation 3 1/2 months before school starts. I just happened to find out because I called to see if they required a lead test since the Doctor that gave the girls their shots said that some schools required it so I should ask. When I was asking about this (which they don't require and seemed to think I was crazy for even asking) the lady mentioned the orientation. Of course, hubby is out to sea so I asked if this was strictly a parent thing or if the kids would be allowed and she said that was for parents, but if I couldn't find a sitter the kids were welcome to attend. So I was a little nervous about being the only parent there with kids, but it turns out that no one got the memo about no kids because probably half the people there had their kids with them, along with both parents and several siblings.

To start with the first several speakers (the principal, school nurse, and office manager?) were so soft spoken I could barely hear them. Hellooooo, you work at an elementary school, I would think you would know how to address a crowd. The principal gave her little spiel about working together for the kids, then the office manager pretty much went over everything on the handouts we were given upon arrival. Then the nurse gave us all a refresher course on shot requirements which I feel like you would have to be a dummy not to know about and if you were said dummy you probably were not going to be at this orientation 3 1/2 months prior to school starting, but whatever.

Next up was one of the kindergarten teachers. She knew how speak up! Her whole presentation focused on scaring everyone because "Kindergarten is not what it used to be" she just came out and said that kindergarten is now like first grade was when we were in school. She kept pushing and pushing how it was sooo academic oriented now. She then went through a lot of stuff they would use and do in the classroom, which was kind of interesting.

After they finished up I went up to ask about their policy on twins. They said that they took the parents wishes into consideration and tried to honor them if they could, but that they would prefer them separated and they even separated any cousins and such that attended. For anyone that doesn't have multiples you need to know that this is a hotbed issue. I, myself, am of the opinion that twins should not get special treatment regarding classroom placement, but they shouldn't be discriminated against either. Basically I feel they should put their names in the computer with everyone else's and randomly place them, if they get together fine, if not fine. A lot of multiple moms think their multiples should be placed in the same classroom because they have such a bond and it is cruel to "tear them apart". Most teachers that I've heard of feel that multiples should be separated so that they can find their own "voice" and not always be seen as part of a set and always measured against their twin or in some cases be confused with their twin. Plus a lot of teachers have seen twins be disruptive to the classroom because they feel too comfortable with their twin present and don't take learning seriously when they have their built in playmate from birth there to engage. I have already been prepping the girls and telling them that they might be in separate classrooms when they start school and they seem fine with it, but we will see how it works out when the time comes.

They also told us that there would be an open house about a week before school starts so we could meet our kids teachers and the kids could meet them and see the classes. So as far as I can tell, besides scaring us about how behind our kids probably already are because kindergarten is so academic, and pushing early registration to avoid the crowds at the local doctors office, the point of this little meet and greet was to tell us what our kids "should" know so that we will work our asses off this summer to whip the 5 year olds into shape. Fun.

Kitchen Conversation

2008-05-14T12:27:00.003-04:00

This morning while I was making breakfast S & S were playing with their pretend kitchen in the next room. This is the conversation I overheard:

Syd: Oh no, when we add the lemons it will explode!
Sav: Run away! (they run)
Syd: 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1
Sav: Nothing happened.
Syd: Yes it did. (As she says this she runs over to the kitchen counter and sweeps off a bunch of plates and food with her arm.)
Syd: Kerpow!!!

Hope this isn't what they really think cooking is like. Although, they have seen me cursing because I wasn't paying attention and the milk boiled over for the noodles I was making more times than I care to count. So maybe they do think the kitchen is hazardous duty.

Now they are having a food fight with their pretend food. Yikes!

Notice to the Media

2008-05-13T21:29:00.002-04:00

Could someone please tell the media to quit using the following two phrases when discussing celebrity children:

1. genetic lottery winner

2. poopie-pantsed tykes

because really, besides the second being a little more graphic than anything I want to read in celebrity gossip they are both just demeaning and rude. Yes, their parents are beautiful and rich and seem to have the perfect lives, but these kids are people too and just hearing these degrading labels thrown about in every other article saddens me. I admit to reading the celebrity gossip and enjoy it to a certain extent, however, it feels like a line is being crossed when the paparazzi and celebrity writers start preying on innocent children. So could you just lay of the rude monikers already?

Messy Eaters

2008-05-12T21:38:00.002-04:00

I'm sincerely convinced that my children might be the messiest 5 year old eaters on earth.

Seriously.

Today at lunch alone we had 3 spilled drinks, much food was fed to the dog "by accident" and mommy had to scream many times. To make matters worse the 3 spilled drinks weren't even regular cups. They are too big for sippy cups but I got some of those tumblers from Tupperware with the lids that you can put straws into. They aren't leak proof, but in most cases if they get tipped over it is just a few drips versus a whole puddle with a regular cup, however, both of my little sweethearts managed to tip their cups over so forcefully that the lids popped off. Savannah even managed to do it twice.

Recently we purchased a new dining room table set and even though we got the fabric protection warranty I had my husband cover the chairs that the girls use with plastic because they are so horribly messy.

My sister-in-law came to visit me over spring break and brought my 2 1/2 year old niece and she is not as messy as my girls, in fact she is very well mannered and an extremely neat eater. I mean aren't kids supposed to be over the messy phase by now? I feel like a total failure on the whole manners and etiquette front. AGGHHH!

The Dedicated Veterinarian Assistant

2008-05-11T22:22:00.003-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to me. Since the hubby was out to sea I was lucky that he at least got to call me today, so that was a nice surprise. I also heard from my mother and we had a nice long chat about pretty much everything under the sun. We talked about my dads health (seems a little better), her plans for putting in a drip system to water the numerous plants surrounding her house, I told her a funny story about S & S, and she told me about her latest cat health issues.

Yes, you read it right, cat health issues. My mother has 3 extremely neurotic house cats, plus a stray tomcat she started leaving food outside for recently. She tried to tell me that the tomcat wasn't hers really but she was just feeding him once in a while so he wouldn't starve, but I had to call her on that little delusion because she had named him. I explained to her that you cannot name a cat and then try to say that it is not yours. As for the neurotic cats here is the breakdown: Sammy is possibly bulimic, Max has potty issues, and Chelsea has some sort of kidney or liver thing that makes her not want to eat.

Chelsea is the one that is seriously sick, although she is still pretty spry, and my mom is constantly trying to get her to eat. She eats a special high protein food that is kept refrigerated and is brought out at the slightest provocation to try and temp her to eat and when she is being really difficult my mom even drains juice from cans of tuna and "dopes" up the food with that. Anyway, mom said that lately she had been having an even harder time than usual getting Chelsea to eat and so she had asked the Vet. assistant when she went in to get some more food if she could think of any other tricks to get her to eat. Turns out that another brand had recently started making a high protein food and this woman suggested she try that. As they were talking the vet assistant said "we tasted them and this one tastes much better than the brand you use". To clarify, we are not talking about hard, dry, cat food, this is the canned, moist stuff. My mom said she didn't really hear the rest of the conversation she had with the woman because she was just flabbergasted by what she had said about tasting the cat food. EEEEEWWWWW!

That is one dedicated veterinarians assistant.

Are we there yet (kids version)

2008-05-10T20:57:00.000-04:00

I think every mom and dad in the history of the world dreads the question "Are we there yet?" being yelled from the backseat of their vehicle. Not because the question is so hard to answer, after all it is always "NO!" because by the time you actually get there they have finally given up asking "Are we there yet?" after having asked 5 trillion times, but you dread hearing it because you know it is just the beginning of the end. I have to say that so far my girls haven't been too bad about this even though we have driven half way across the country a few times and really I give most of the credit for surviving these trips to the DVD player we have in our van. Truly, I cannot imagine how parents ever survived without bouncy seats for babies and DVD players for the car for any age. But on to my story.

The other day we packed up to take a trip to Wal-Mart which is approximately 2 miles from our house. Regardless of the fact that it is so close, getting ready to go is a huge undertaking for my two little pack rats. They feel they must pack a drink, a snack, writing instruments, a note pad and at least one doll type toy before we can go. On this particular day Sydney had chosen a small baby doll to bring and Savannah had decided not to bring anything (wonder of wonders). So we get going and are on our way. Halfway there I hear Savannah using her dolly voice (those with girls know that dolls must speak in a high voice using the octave nearest that to breaking glass). She is having the dolly say "Are we there yet?", to which Sydney replies in her mommy voice "Not yet dear", after which she asks again "Are we there yet?" and Sydney again replies "Not yet dear". This continued the rest of the way to the store which was partially annoying and partially so funny I had to call my mom right then to tell her what they were doing and have a good laugh about it.

After the shopping

2008-05-08T22:39:00.000-04:00

These are my beauties trying on their new summer dresses. No I don't usually dress them exactly alike, however, they both wanted this dress.

Stereo Computers

2008-05-08T21:17:00.000-04:00

My kids are very strange. Being twins they obviously do a lot of stuff together. I try really hard to help them be their own person so they can have a sense of "self" and not just be "the twins" and blah, blah, blah, psychobabble blah. Of course, they have their differences like all children but they are twins and have that special thing/bond/connection that twins have so regardless of how I try to give them their own space they just end up right next to each other again. Take today for instance.

We have an old desktop computer that we set up for the girls to use. We have links set up on there for PBS Kids and Sprout and Nick Jr., Disney, etc. that they can use and they have all their little games in a basket on the desk. It cracks me up every time I see them playing games and changing discs and stuff because it is so normal for them and I can still remember having one of those old Commodore computers and there was no worldwide web when I was in high school! I know, I'm dating myself, but anyway back to my point. So Savannah decided she wanted to play on the computer with one of the discs and she wanted to do her game all on her own without Sydney's help. I felt sorry for Sydney so I set her up on my laptop computer at the dining room table on one of the websites with games since I had already wasted enough time on the Internet this morning. After a little while Savannah wants to go to the website too, okay fine.

A little bit later I'm in the living room folding laundry (that is already wrinkled like crazy because I forgot it in the dryer for like 2 days) and I hear them counting "1, 2, 3, go!" and then a minute later again "1, 2, 3, go!" So I start listening to what they were up to. Turns out they had gotten to the same web page (Disney's Higglytown Hero's for those of you who are interested) and were in this story type game where it tells a little bit of a story then they get to choose an item that goes in the next part, then it tells a little bit more story and they get to choose another item and so on. They were talking to each other and deciding which item to choose, then counting "1, 2, 3, go" and choosing that item at the same time so the story would go at the same time on both computers in stereo. They trip me out!

I mowed my very first lawn today

2008-05-07T23:43:00.000-04:00

Today I mowed my very own lawn for the first time. I know, it is pretty amazing that a 30 something wife and mother would either never have done this or admit to never have done this. Let me explain. As a teenager I never mowed the lawn because my family lived in a condo where we had people paid to do this little chore for us. After I married, my husband handled it or we lived in a place where this service was provided.

Last year we finally grew up and bought our own home. Since then my Navy husband has been able to handle the lawn between short deployments. That all ended today. He's been gone 2 1/2 weeks and it was starting to look pretty shabby. Add to this that there is a good chance of rain in our neck of the woods for about the next week and I finally had to break down and do it. He had made me practice starting the lawnmower several weeks ago in preperation for this so at least I wasn't totally clueless, however, when I went to do this on my own it wouldn't work. Finally, after like 15 tries yanking on that thing I realized that I had forgotten to hold onto the handle thingy (very technical talk here) which you have to hold down before it will start as a safety feature.

Once I got it started I have to admit it was sort of relaxing. Who knew? I sort of zoned out into a meditative state or something. It was something about the vibrations in the handle as you push it and the sound (vvvvrrrrmmmmm) that puts you into a trance. Anyway it was good practice for the big deployment coming up in September.

A Good One

2008-04-29T21:54:00.000-04:00

Another great Saturday! It didn't start out particularly great. I mean who wants to go to the doctors office on Saturday about an ingrown toenail with their 5 year old twins tagging along because daddy is away again? But the girls were in being little angels and charmed every nurse in the office. One of them even suggested that I should look into having them model. Ha, ha! She said they were so cute and so polite and so well behaved, I told her they have their moments.

Once we made it out of the doctors office the day was beautiful, which reminded me I have no shorts that fit me anymore and the girls have outgrown all theirs too so I decided to do a little shopping. Since I had to try on clothes the girls decided they wanted to try on their clothes too and this is now their new favorite thing to do. I'm sure we provided many, many laughs for the other dressing room patrons as they listened to the dressing room antics of my girls. Between jumping on the benches, singing and humming every song they know (which is a substantial amount) and commenting on how good they and I look I can barely keep a straight face myself.

So after the shopping we tried to stop by the library, but it was already closed. Since our library is right on the ocean we drove by the little beach park and it looked busy and I figured, hey, we just got new bathing suits and the girls are always up for anything to do with water so we detoured to the beach. We changed in the car "incognito" and luckily I keep one of those fold up picnic blankets in the van so we headed to the beach. I sat on my blanket, read my book, and watched the girls play for hours. It was soooo nice. They played in the water, made sand angels, collected shells, played with a little boy, then we walked the beach. Well we had no towels (I wasn't wet, but the girls were) so when we got to the car I dumped our purchases out and used the bags as seat protectors. I was so proud of myself. We were all so happy and I felt like supermom.

What a weekend!

2008-03-23T21:53:00.000-04:00

Let's see; gardening, shopping, playing at the park, and getting locked out of the house, yes it was quite a weekend.

GARDENING is a new thing for me. To say that I am not much of a gardener would be a severe understatement. Every time in my life that I have tried to take care of a plant it has ended badly for the plant. I either have no idea how much to water it and end up drowning or starving it to death (enter my new tool the handy dandy water meter) or I get busy with other projects and totally forget the plant exists until it is no longer a plant and just a bunch of dried up leaves. Now that we own a house (and my kids begged me to plant some flowers "like Nana") I have decided to try my hand at this. First stop the library to find out what types of plants do best in my area, followed by which need the least amount of upkeep, and since I plan to start in our back yard which is mostly shady I needed to find out which plants are best suited to shade or light sun. Then off to Wal-Mart and Lowe's we go to get some tools and plants (this is where the SHOPPING part of the weekend comes in). Get home Friday afternoon and start digging a hole to plant my new Dwarf Gardenia plant and fairly quickly I discover that where I want to plant is already home to several large tree roots from the large shade tree 6 feet away (who thought tree roots would be so close to the surface this far away from the tree, certainly not me) so after digging a 3 inch deep hole and being blocked by roots to large to pull out I decide this is not going to work. Then I get the brilliant idea to just pot the plants and set them in the spot I had chosen. Okay, tomorrow, more SHOPPING.

So Saturday morning we head back to Wal-Mart and get the pots. It is such a nice day we stop on our way home at the PARK and play for a bit. But, alas, the fun ends when the ice cream truck shows up and the girls start whining for ice cream and I have to explain to them that the ice cream man won't take debit cards and that is all I have on me. Then I remember that we have popsicles in the freezer at home and figure this will keep them busy while I start potting the plants so we head home. Two popsicles later I have only potted like half a plant and they are already begging to "help" so I let them "help" (and I use the word help very loosely) me plant the flowers we got and then they swing for a while. Now somewhere in here between them running in the house to wash their hands, let the dog in/out, changing into flip-flops, and going potty the door gets locked and closed but I'll get to that later. About halfway through the potting of the plants they start playing first with their watering cans full of water, then a bucket full of water, then the mud made from the bucket full of water and I realise that it is probably a little too cool for them to be playing in the water but I let them anyway because I figure all kids should get to play in the mud when they really shouldn't once in a while. Okay, who am I kidding, I let them play in the mud and water so they will leave me alone so I can finish this gosh darn potting before my back completely gives out! Finally I am finished. I still need to clean up the mess we have made but they are starting to complain they are cold now (I wonder why) so I hose off their feet and hands and we head in. Or not. We are LOCKED OUT!

At this point I curse a string of profanity that my sailor husband would be proud of, and no 5 year old should really hear and beat my head against the door hoping it will magically pop open. When it doesn't I try to "bump" it open like they showed the criminals do on the evening news the other night but no luck. Of course I haven't got a spare anywhere, my cell phone is in my purse (in the house) and my husband is out to sea for a month. It is truly one of those "Calgon, take me away" moments. So we head over to the neighbors to beg the use of a phone to call a locksmith, and she couldn't be nicer but I feel like such a loser. Luckily the locksmith says he can be over in a half hour so we head back and clean up our tools and sweep up the potting soil mess. Well I should say I clean up the mess while my darling daughters huddle up in the sleeping bags I drag out of the garage for them because they are "freezing". Some days it just doesn't pay to try and be productive.

Are you a boy or a girl?

2008-03-22T21:18:00.000-04:00

It is really a good thing I don't get embarrassed easily because lately the girls have been working overtime with the awkward questions (see previous blog entitled "Are you from France?"). Yesterday as we entered the library a pretty woman in a white dress was walking by who had a shaved head and Savannah just popped right out with the question "Are you a boy or a girl?". Luckily the girl was really nice about it she smiled and said nicely "Well I'm wearing a dress, so what do you think?" and they both said girl and we went on. I mouthed sorry to her but she shook her head and said it was okay. Later inside the library I saw her walking by with a friend and she was pointing at the girls obviously telling him what happened and I heard her say "at least they asked and didn't just stare at me like most kids do".

Are You From France?

2008-03-22T20:52:00.000-04:00

So we are at the grocery store and we get the usual question . . . "Are they twins?" from the guy bagging the groceries. He had a heavy accent so the girls didn't really understand him and I sort of "translated" the question to them. So they say yes they are twins and then one of them (I forgot who said it first, but it seemed almost like they did it together) says "Are you from France?". Well it was obvious to me he wasn't French, however, since he had a pretty heavy accent and they haven't been exposed to any accents very much I guess France was just the first place they came up with. They watch several shows in which the characters travel the globe such as Little Einsteins, Wonder Pets, and even Dora and Strawberry Shortcake had world traveling adventures so I can see that they are learning about different cultures sounding different. Now they will know a Filipino accent.

Why do I buy them toys?

2008-03-10T12:31:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I question why exactly I buy the girls toys. If I had a better imagination and didn't have toy addiction of my own I don't think I would have to buy them much because a lot of times they entertain themselves with the simplest things. Here are a few of their latest "toys".

"Blackie" - Blackie is the name they have given to my computer wrist rest. It is one of those long gel filled things you put in front of the keyboard to support your wrists when you are typing. They discovered it one day while playing on the computer. Next thing I knew "Blackie" was in the doll cradle being covered with a blanket like a baby. The thing is they have at least 10 baby dolls between them.

"Upside down tv" - This is their favorite lunch time game. In our house we have a breakfast bar between the kitchen and dining room. I have them eat lunch most days at the bar. Since I am always telling them they can't get up when they are eating (and they follow this rule pretty well actually) they have found many ways to amuse themselves (and drive me crazy) while supposedly eating their lunch. There are two versions of upside down tv. The first version is there they both lay on their chairs on their backs with their feet facing each other. They then proceed to basically tickle and kick each other with their feet. In the second version they lay on their backs on their chairs with their faces facing each other. They then tickle each other and grab each others faces. They think it is all very hilarious and it is pretty funny to watch. I still can't figure out why it is called upside down tv. The upside down part I get, but where does tv come into it? I have no idea.

Got the Wii

2008-03-03T22:56:00.000-05:00

We got a Wii game console. Figured it would be something fun to do as a family. So as Joey is setting it up it comes to this screen that asks you to give your Wii a nickname so Joey asks me and I say "whatever you want". He says "Wow" and I'm thinking that is the nickname like "Wow-Wii" and then he starts telling me about some cool thing it does. A few minutes later he asks me again what should the nickname be and I say "I thought you said Wow". He just gives me this dumb stare and so I clarify "wow-wii" and tell him I think it is cute. He burst out laughing because he was saying wow about whatever cool thing it does that he told me about not the nickname, but now he thinks it is cute too, so we use it. Later as Joey and I are testing out the games the girls come in and want to try it. At this point we are doing the boxing game. So we set them up and instruct them on how to play. They got so into it! Joey and I were laughing until we cried watching them box at each other and we had to keep grabbing them by the shirt and pulling them back because we were afraid they were going to punch the tv screen because they kept moving forward they were so excited. The kids are better entertainment than any video game!

That's Freaking Me Out

2008-03-03T22:51:00.000-05:00

The other night at dinner after asking the normal dinner time questions (how was your day? what did you do today?) the girls asked Daddy to do a magic trick. I really don't know where they came up with this because Daddy is not really a magic type guy and I can't recall him ever doing magic for them before, but anyhoo . . . Joey does the standard, taking his finger apart and putting it back together trick for them. They are both pretty impressed and ask to see it again. Savannah watches closely, takes a moment to absorb it then states "That is freaking me out."

Does a 5 year old say "suitable"?

2008-02-26T23:41:00.000-05:00

Today Sydney was chattering along, planning some sort of party called a spring festival. She is telling me who will be invited, what kind of food there will be, what kind of presents there will be, etc. Then she informs me that this will take place at Nana and Papa's house because it is more "suitable". So I ask her why their house is more suitable, wondering if she really knows what suitable means, and she says because it is bigger, and has more flowers so it really is more suitable for a spring festival. Okay.

The Sound of a Trumpet

2008-01-11T09:53:00.001-05:00

The other day the girls were playing in their room, I popped my head in to see how they were doing and heard a fart. I teasingly asked "What was that?" to which Syndey innocently replied "A trumpet." Where she heard this I have no idea!

Funny things 4 year olds say

2007-12-31T00:27:00.000-05:00

My girls are about to turn 5 in a month! Can't believe it! I've been pretty bad lately about the blog so this one is going to be a round up of some things I remember the girls saying this year.

1. "Mommy, when will I get a tattoo?" - Sydney, out of the blue, but since mommy, daddy, and both grandma's have them I guess it is understandable.

2. "That lady has pretty hair, but her eyes are scary" - Savannah about the flight attendant's eye makeup (thankfully whispered). My reply was "I hope you remember this when you are 13".

3. "What about the P Q R?" - Savannah after overhearing me telling another mom that I was going to take them to the Z O O (spelled so they wouldn't hear and start asking "when" every 5 minutes.)

4. "Are there witches in our world?" - Sydney They both ask this type of stuff all the time, which just shows how they are thinking all the time, but it is funny that they also refer to different states and towns as "worlds" since they don't really understand the concept of states, but they know we have moved and family lives in different places. They will say stuff like "that school was in our old world".

5. When they were fooling around tilting their chairs back at dinner one night I said that they should be careful or they would fall and crack open their heads and asked them if they knew what would happen then to which Savannah replied that "candy would come out", when I laughed and said no that candy wouldn't come out Sydney said maybe "rocks" to which I had to answer "maybe". lol

Fairly Odd Parents!?

2006-10-07T17:03:00.000-04:00

There is a cartoon on Nickelodeon called Fairly Odd Parents. The premise is that this 8 year old boy's life sucked so much that he gets two fairy god parents (husband and wife Cosmo and Wanda) who can fulfill his wishes as long as he doesn't tell anyone about them. The catch is that the wishes rarely turn out like he thinks and he usually ends up learning an important life lesson in the process. This show is actually for a little older audience than my 3 1/2 year olds, however, my husband and I enjoy it too so we watch it. Well whenever someone asks the boy (Timmy) where he gets all these things he wishes for he just answers "internet". So, to get to the story the other day my girls were going to a new gymnastics class and I reminded them to tell the teacher who they were if the teacher got them confused. So they started joking around asking each other who they were, then started answering "I'm Savannah, that's what it says on my underwear" and "I'm Sydney, that's what it says on my underwear" and laughing uproariously. I started laughing too, mostly because I know they had no idea what that even meant. So I asked them where they had heard that (although I had an idea) and they answered "internet"! Then I really laughed. When I finished laughing I asked them where they had really heard that and they said "Cosmo" from fairly odd parents. They sure don't miss a thing!

Funny Things 3 Year Olds Say

2006-04-16T17:19:00.000-04:00

When told that we were taking the nuggets and fries home to eat: but daddy, nuggets don't have a home

When told there was more than one hot dog store in our town: I don't know about that Pawpaw

When looking at the new carseats in Nana and Pawpaw's vehicle: Sweet deal

When about to get in trouble for making a mess out of a marker display at the store check out: Momma, don't get mad, I'm just organizing these pens

SWEEThearts

2005-11-04T21:38:00.000-05:00

Today when I picked up the girls from day care they wanted to "go to a store" like they always do. I needed a couple things so we went to Wal-Mart. They were actually pretty good and when we were in the check out line they saw the candy and started looking at it. I pointed out their favorite (mini M & M's in the little tube) and Sydney said "can I have one?" I said okay and she said "Nana too?" (she is always so good to look out for her sister) and I said yes. Then Savannah pipes up and says "you're the best mom". It was soo adorable and when Sydney said it too I got a little teary. They can be such sweethearts.

Rough Week

2005-09-17T22:56:00.000-04:00

It all started last Thursday when I picked up the girls from Mom's day out. Sydney woke up from her nap crying, which she never does, so I knew she wasn't feeling well. When we got home she had a fever and all she wanted to do was cuddle with me. Joey got completely freaked about the fever, so much so that he went out to buy a new thermometer so he could take a rectal temp. We had one of those digital ear thermometers that we bought before the girls were born and they suck, total crap, never buy one. You can take a temperature and usually you know it is way too low. Take it 2 seconds later and 10 degree difference, take it 2 seconds later and still a huge difference, so every time we have had to use it (which thankfully we have been lucky that the girls haven't been sick often so we haven't really had to use it much) but we say we are going to throw it out. I was worried about the fever too of course, but not freaked like him. Anyway, it was a little high but not freak out high. She had the fever about 24-36 hours and it was so pathetic to hear her say "I wanna go nite-nite" in that sick little voice. When the fever broke her nose started running like a faucet, seriously, I think all I did Saturday was wipe her nose. So much for any fun on the weekend. So then, as often happens with twins, Savannah started. Monday night she had a fever and even threw up, although I think she only threw up because I gave her medicine on an empty stomach, whoops! Normally they go to mom's day out on Tuesday's and Thursday's but not this week and of course I had plans both days. I was supposed to get together Tuesday with a friend to work on club business for my Mother's of Multiples group and Thursday I had a hair appointment, doctor's appointment and that night was my club mom's night out which I missed to because my husband got sent out of town for work Wednesday morning leaving me alone with two sick kids for who knows how long, great! Friday Sydney started feeling better and Savannah's fever finally broke right when I was truly starting to worry. She had practically slept for 3 days and whenever I asked if she wanted anything she just said "no thank you" in that sad little sick voice. Well now Savannah is in the "nose running like a faucet" phase. Of course it wasn't great timing that Friday we also ran out of milk, Kleenex, and diapers (well, 4 left), so today I had to go out to get essentials with Savannah still not feeling well. To top off my day, I had schedule the cable guy to come and finally install high speed internet because I thought my hubby would be home by then and so I had to wait on him before I could even go to the store. Then to really make me feel like shit I forgot to call one of my best friends and tell her I wasn't going to make it to her baby shower, so she called about 20 minutes after the shower was supposed to start saying they were waiting on me! Calgon take me away! Tonight I put the girls to bed at 8:00 pm (their normal time) but Sydney didn't want to go to bed. Well normally I would have let her stay up a little longer, but I was beat and just needed some down time (or is this venting time?) so I put her down anyway and she screamed "I don't wanna go nite-nite" for about 10 minutes. Now 10 minutes may not sound like much to some people but my girls are usually pretty good about going to bed (knock on wood) so it was strange. All I can say is thank god my mother is coming on Tuesday, I plan on really abusing her this visit!