Day Four:

Today in the midst of errand running to prepare for our trip back home, we needed to stop by the mall.  The twins were treated to special chocolate covered pretzels from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.  They each had a small one and we figured there was no harm in letting them eat the pretzels on the ride home.

Lesson learned:  Chocolate covered pretzels are meant to be eaten ONLY at the kitchen table under proper supervision.

Otherwise, here is the fun result:

It’s alright though….with smiles like that, it was worth the clean up.

Day Three

On occasion, I can catch moments like this:

Day Two

I'm really trying people, really, I am.

Right now my computer is being reloaded by my dear husband. Which also means I can't get to my pics that I downloaded yesterday. Which means no Christmas picture for today.

Instead, I'll share a link of a Christmas video that I used to watch. I was almost positive that only me and one other person knew about this little movie, loved it, and laughed about it. When I got to YouTube I was proved wrong. There are apparently many people out there that remember this from their childhood as well.

To this one person, all I would have to say is, "The Christmas tree branch". No doubt this person would know what I am talking about.

Hope this brings a smile to all today. If you've never seen the full version, just give it a try. Yes, it was made in 1977 with muppets, but it still makes me laugh.





I'll be surely looking for a full version for the twins to try out.

Twenty-Five Days of Christmas: A song and a memory

So it begins, my twenty-five days of Christmas.  In years past, I have tried to capture a photo every day pertaining to Christmas.  This year, I will attempt the same...which will be interesting because I will be traveling back home and not have my handy computer.  I'm one of those weird people that actually prefers my desktop to my laptop.  But that’s a whole other topic.

I love Christmas and this time of year and not because of presents.  Yes, Santa will visit the twins and they will more than love everything they receive, I am sure.  But it's more about family and loved ones for me, remembering fond traditions and making new ones with our little family.

This weekend we put up our tree and decorations.  The twins both loved helping decorate, although Sabrina wanted to take part in every part of decorating--the lights, the beads, and everything in between.  I was finishing up some stuff yesterday and we had Christmas music playing in the background.  A song came on that instantly sent me back in time.

If there is anything that I have precious memories of when I was growing up, it was Christmas.  My family knew how to do right--and we also did it BIG.  You've seen the Christmas vacation movie, I'm sure?  Well, that was us.  Literally.  We didn't go into town and pick a tree from a lot.  Nope.  We trekked somewhere about an hour away from home and picked out a tree from a farm.  But it was never, ever small.  My parents had a large ceiling in the family room and a petite tree was never a possibility.

I remember always feeling excitement when we went to get the tree.  It was an adventure to me and loved being a part of it.  We would all bundle up in some warm clothing (it was Michigan of course, and sometimes unpredictable) and head off to the farm. 

It was always the same routine, though I wonder if my parents ever noticed that.  We would all spread out looking for that "perfect" tree, though it was usually my mom who had the final say so.  We would find one and walk all around it for inspection.  At one point my dad would tell my mother that this tree was way too big and it would never fit into our family room.  She would disagree and convince him to get the tree.  And so he did.

This one year in particular we had a whopper of a tree.  There were no words to describe it.  It wasn't just tall, it was WIDE.  We didn't realize how wide until we tried to bring it in the front door.
It didn't fit.  Literally, it was stuck within the door.  Now, you just need to get a visual here.  Imagine more than half of the tree hanging outside the front of the door.  And we couldn't really push it back out because some of the branches could fall off--plus there was just no where else to bring this tree in.  We certainly couldn’t return it either.

So, we brainstormed.  What my dad (and my brother, I think) came up with was pulling my dad's huge work truck around the house by the back door, putting a rope around the hitch of the truck and then attaching the other end of the rope to the tree.  Are you with me yet?

Then, driving the truck (slowly) a few feet to just get that darn tree in.  They did.

The rope broke.

Seriously.  Even now, when I think of this memory I laugh out loud.  How did we ever think we would get that tree in the front door?

More brainstorming.

A cable.  A cable can't break!  Wait…can it?  Now I’m not so sure…

So a cable was attached between the hitch and the tree....and slowly, very slowly, the truck was pulled forward and finally, the tree was in and the cable didn’t break!  I could hear the tree squeezing against the door and I swear the door was going to break from the pressure.

The rest of the night consisted of actually getting the tree up--which included wrapping a rope around the base and discreetly tying it around a beam so the tree wouldn't fall over.  And forget a regular tree stand.  Nope, we used a five gallon bucket to water that beauty.

And if memory serves, my mom never did admit that tree was too big.

The song I heard the other day that made me go back in time, was Charlie Pride's "Christmas in my Hometown".  We always had Charlie Pride on while we decorated the tree.  So I stood there and listened to the song and let my head take me back.  While the song was on I looked at my children, happily decorating, dancing, and smiling.  They were loving every second of it. 

I smiled at them.

I smiled at my memories. 

I thought about my mom.  She surely wouldn’t think this tree was big enough, I thought as I laughed to myself. 

But that’s okay.  It’s the memories that count, right?

To make you smile

Just in case I made you cry yesterday… ;)

Last week I took the twins to a Wilderness Safari drive-thru with the mom’s group that I belong to.  You drive through the park and get to see most of the animals up close and personal.  There was also a petting zoo and other animals that the twins enjoyed seeing.

If you’ve never been to one of these you should try!  It was really fun to have animals come right up to your car and the twins LOVED it!

 

I have sooooo many more pictures to go through (and yes, I still need to put up some Halloween ones).  But this is a start…and it was really hard to get a picture of Sabrina (as you can tell).  She liked the animals, but not as much as Sammy!

Somewhere….over the rainbow

Fair warning:  This may make you cry if you are one of my long-lost relatives or friends in Michigan.  Apparently, I have the ability to make people drop some tears (even when I don’t mean to).  So, my apologies to all beforehand…

I love the Wizard of Oz.  Yep, I do.  I realize that not everyone feels the same way, and I could see someone getting freaked out or scared by some of the characters.  I get it.  But I still love it.

One of my most favorites parts is when Judy Garland sings Over the Rainbow.  I just love the song and her voice…just do.

I have a point, so bear with me.

This song has special meaning to my heart because not only do I love it, but it is a song that I just randomly started singing to my niece when she was little.

Then my nephew.

Then my babies.

In fact, when the twins were still small infants I was singing this song to Sabrina one time and Lexi looked kind of sad.  I remember even blogging about this back then….I realized that it was a special song to her and asked her if I could sing it to her.  She told me yes, she didn’t mind sharing her rainbow song with Sabrina.  Even now, the memory of that display of affection brings tears to my eyes.

So tonight was my night with Sammy.  Jason and I take turns after story time tucking each twin in and then switch back to hug and kiss the other goodnight.  Sammy still enjoys “rocking a minute” before bedtime, and to be quite honest, mama does too.  Usually, we just rock for a few minutes before he is ready to lay in bed.  I cherish those moments because I know they won’t last for long.

Tonight I sang the rainbow song to him and he peacefully drifted off to sleep within about ten minutes.  I was holding him there while he slept, still singing the rainbow song when I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

I didn’t really know at first why I was crying.  I do get emotional over the babies getting bigger…and I cherish small moments like that.  But while I was rocking Sammy I was overwhelmed with a flood of memories from back home…mostly centered around my niece and nephew and I realized that’s why I started to cry.

I miss them.

It’s a no brainer that I miss everyone but that life must go on as always.  And we are really doing okay…getting to know people, getting the house settled…everything.

But even the most optimistic person has a moment every now and then.

Today was mine.

Lexi and Lenny, I know you might not be able to read this, but I know your mama will.  So I know mama will give you both a big ole’ hug from Chochi, Uncle Jay and the twins.  We love you so very much.

The Transition

Every big "transition" the twins have gone through has made my heart ache. 

Every single one. 

From bottles to sippy cups, baby carriers to big car seats, binky to none, heck even when I was potty training Sabrina it was still a little sad for me.

That's how I knew I wasn't going to much enjoy the transition from cribs to big beds.  Before this happened, I swore up and down that they would be in their cribs until they were crawling out.  And with one exception of Sammy doing that at one point, they never dared.  Climbing out just wasn't on their list of priorities.

I wanted to wait until we were here and settled for some time before embarking on another big change.  You know us moms; "Don't want to do too much at once!  I don't want to overwhelm them with changes!"  Or maybe it's just me.

But Jason had pointed out that poor Sammy rolled around a lot and kept knocking into the rails on the crib....he just didn't seem comfortable in there anymore.  Sabrina might have stayed....but we couldn't just move one.  It would have to be both.

I contemplated.  I worried.  I cried.  And then, I relented.  We still had the cribs, we could still go back if we needed to.  We still had options.

So, off to the furniture store we went.  We picked out their bedroom sets and within a week we were ready. 

I contemplated.  I worried.  I cried--though not in front of them. 

I put on my brave mommy face and did our nighttime ritual as always.  Brushing teeth, reading books, family kisses, and tucking in. 

And I waited.  Or I should say, we waited.

Nothing happened.  Nothing bad any ways.  They went to sleep, peacefully, just had they always done.  They jabbered for a little while, reading their own books in their own beds, listening to their own music.

And I cried some more.

My babies are only 2 1/2 years old....and I knew that this day would come.  This is a good thing, I guess.  But I think it does sadden me that they are "growing up"....even if they are far from that.  Kids seem in such a rush these days to grow up (or maybe it was always this way?) but I don't want them to ever rush.  I want them to take their time and enjoy life as it comes....and these changes are a part of life.

It's been well over a week and everything has still gone smoothly.  They love their beds and they love their rooms. 

And apparently, they know much better than their mama did that they would be alright.

I love you, my babies.

Be patient with me as I take a walk down memory lane.  As I usually do when these things happen...

We've gone from this:

To this:

To this:

To this:

And now this:

Sigh.

Too long.....

Yes, I know....it's been too long since I have last posted.  Too be fair, we have been super busy...and finding time to blog is only after the twins have went to bed for the night...or when they are napping during the day.

I had a nasty bout of something, but I am feeling somewhat better...better enough anyways to sit instead of lay down and go through the 300 plus photo's I took this week when Jason's mom was here.

It was SO great having someone here from home!  We absolutely loved it and can't wait until Grandma comes back again!  We kept her pretty busy here--last Friday we went to a little town called Eureka Springs.  It is on a mountain and there are lots of shops to look at and browse.  The twins did GREAT, even considering it was much more cold here then it usually is.

Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch in Missouri and the twins loved that as well.  They had lots of things for kids to do other than just a wagon ride....hay jumping, slides, and a place for them to shoot some hoops, and even more for the little ones to do.  They also have a HUGE corn maze there, but we really didn't have time to do that.

So, here are just a few pics of our time together here:

At the park with Grandma:

Eureka Springs:

Pumpkin Patch:

Just Because...

They are too darn cute.  And they darn well know it!

Autumn

This is one of my favorite times of the year.  I love the crisp chill in the air, the smell of fresh cider made from apples, and the warmth of a favorite sweatshirt.

I've heard from many that the Arkansas fall season is beautiful and so it is on our agenda to do some scenic driving to catch some good pictures.  As well as the pumpkin patch, corn maze, and Halloween parade.

In between all of those festivities, we like to do crafts at home as well, no matter the season.  Fall just makes it more fun!

Today we made leaves:

 

The best part of the day wasn't when Sammy told me, "Good job mama!" or when Sabrina did good outline of her very own leaf.  Those were mere highlights.

The best part?

When daddy came home and they rushed to the door....and then rushed him to the window to show him their proud work.

"Look at my green leaf, dada!"

"I made one too dada!"

I've missed this...

They've missed this...

But not anymore...

After...

After a day of unpacking...

After a day of toddlers times two...

Tantrums times two...well, everything times two...

And craziness in general

I am reminded

That I have this times two every night

And that makes it all more than worth it

Our new home...

Well, we are moved into our new home...for the most part.  Everything is here, it's just a matter of finding and unpacking.  Which, I won't lie, is a little daunting.  But while we have been unpacking we have also been throwing stuff away that we realized we no longer need (or maybe ever needed ;) ).  It is amazing to me how much *stuff* we accumulated over only nine years of being married.  And how much more we accumulated in the past two years after the twins being born.  So it is a good thing that we can now basically go through it all.

Anyways, we are still in major unpacking mode.  But I decided to at least post some pics of the house while it was still empty, before we moved in.

View of the front door

View to the right, where the three extra bedrooms are.  Also an extra bathroom.

View of first bedroom that was supposed to be Sammy's, but we decided to make this the guest room. 

What will be Sabrina's room.  She loves the color and paint, so we got lucky there!

This will be Sammy's room.  (Which we will repaint....eventually!)

View into the extra bathroom.  Nice good space in there!

View from hallway into the foyer and dining room

View from dining room (that door in the back is to our bedroom)

View into kitchen and nook area.  The kitchen is really nice and spacious with lots of counter room and cabinets...

(Excuse the little mess!)

Fireplace in family room

Looking over to dining room....the family is actually a really good size

View into our bedroom

Another view from our bedroom

Master bathroom

Garage

Extra storage space in garage

So I think this will do us just fine.  It's a really nice house and we didn't even lose any square footage....we just went from a colonial to a ranch.  The storage will be really nice in the garage...we had a two car garage in Michigan so the extra space is really nice!

I forgot to take pictures of the deck off the back and plus the backyard is actually really big for this area.  So the kids will have fun running around out there!

And for fun.....

The twins having some fun on moving day!

Family Fun Day

This past Sunday we took the twins to the park to play and feed the ducks.  One of their favorite things to do in Michigan was to visit their Papa and feed the ducks....so it was only natural when we told them what they were doing they asked to go to Papa's.

It was very sweet.  We weren't able to make the fourteen hour long drive home to Michigan, but we fed the ducks nonetheless. 

Thanks Papa, for teaching them not to be afraid of ducks.  :)

Well, there were ducks AND geese!  ;)