The Dog and the Starfish

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

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?

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

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?

"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

Finally!

Cracked Nut

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)

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.