I have mentioned many times that regardless of how many children you have twins are a very unique experience.  Even if you’ve read all the books (there aren’t that many and they aren’t all very reliable), thought through all the potential situations and done everything else you possibly could to anticipate life with multiples, you will still not be entirely prepared for twins.

I remember waaaaay back when I had The Salesman and Tater 15 months apart.  I was a bit shocked that people were constantly approaching me and comparing them to twins.  My response was always - without fail - “No, I cannot imagine how difficult it is to raise twins, but I’m sure that it is NOT the same”.  For the sake of all my friends who had twins I HAD to answer this way, and I honestly couldn’t fully comprehend what it would be like to have twins.

I have always said that I was very fortunate that, for the most part, my kids were very self-entertaining, great sleepers (NOT Tater ) and fairly calm about everything as babies.  The twins were too, until they became mobile.  That’s when things got interesting.

So, here’s a discovery we made last spring about traveling with twins.  This may only apply to my pair, but here goes:

If you’re planning on leaving town, travel no more than one hour per year away.  In other words a two year old set of twins is not likely to put up with traveling longer than two hours to get to the final destination.  If you can break your trip up into 2 two hour driving segments with a good hour or two in between you could stretch that, but for us with so many other boys that is simply not going to happen.  Yes, naptime helps, and would probably stretch a trip even longer for some families, but the older boys started getting noisy a bit into their nap on the way home and it wasn’t pretty.

So, if you are planning on going further away than my suggestion, but want to stay longer, you may REALLY want to consider leaving at bedtime and driving through the night.  This way most of the children are likely to sleep for most of the trip.  Mom and Dad will be tired, but it just might work .

I thought that now would be a great time to mention this bit of information since most families are probably starting to plan for the Holidays and some families are even planning their trips for next spring.

This week marks an important event …. Tater’s 9th Birthday!  I’ll write more about it later, but in an effort to keep this WW post as wordless as possible I’ll leave it at that .

Tater is 9 - Yay!

Recently Lisa Friedman, co-founder of Someone Spoil Me contacted me and told me about her great site.  You all know that I love sharing great shopping tips and information, but my time is more limited than ever right now with all of the end of the school year events, so I was really struggling to come up with anything new and fresh.   So she sent me great information on how to access the best gifts for dad, most of this post is taken from that email from her (with her permission of course ).

While Father’s Day may not be as commercially popular as Mother’s Day it is still a very important holiday and therefore warrants a gift to be given. You wouldn’t want Dad to be left in the dust, would you?

So now the pressure begins… what to give?  Gift giving can be extremely stressful and exhausting, as you not only need to come up with an idea that your dad will love but also find a store that sells that particular product. It certainly takes a lot of time and energy. Well, that was BEFORE you heard of SomeoneSpoilMe.com! They make gift giving easy, fast and hassle free!

Lisa Friedman and Alexis Stein are the experts behind this fabulous gift guide. For years people were always asking them “What should I give Dad for father’s day?” Or, more simply, “What should I give Amy since she just had a baby?” They always knew the perfect gift to give and the best place to get it from.

From the coolest gadgets to the softest blankets, nothing was off limits. For so many, gifting seems to be such a challenge, so the two expert decided to take their skills and stylish taste to a broader level (hello dot com). With that being said, SomeoneSpoilMe.com has evolved into the best online source for giving and getting fabulous gifts!

They realize that they are many types of dads out there with many different personalities. This is why they have broken down their father’s day gift guide (http://www.someonespoilme.com/gifts/fathers-day-gifts-personalized-dad-cool-dad/) so you easily find a gift for Dad.

So hop on over and take a look.

Ok, I know I’m a little early, but I have a little gift to share with all of you.  It is a free Mother’s Day ebook with wonderful crafts, recipes and resources (that make great gifts too) for the Moms in your life!  Just click on the link below to grab the book and have a HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!!

Mother’s Day eBook

Oh, and I really hope that all of you have a very relaxing, fun and resful Mother’s day too!

I don’t remember ever being quite so focused or ready for Earth Day!  Usually it comes and goes with nary a head nod from me in it’s general direction.  Outside of the fact that my children usually plant trees and do other landscaping at their school that day I would never have noticed it existed.  Maybe it’s a book I am currently reading to review (the timing for it was really perfect), but regardless of the reason, here I am ready to make many changes.  

How do you feel about becoming more eco-conscious as a mom and as a family?  I’m very interested to hear!  I plan on offering some truly great resources and information this week and hope that you will see the positive and relatively easy changes you can make, even small ones that can have a huge impact on our humble little planet! 

I honestly cannot believe it myself!  I’ve been having many many computer problems this week and I’m on hubby’s computer to write this or I’d do the then and now pictures I love so much!!!  Ah Well! 

Having my little babies turn 2 brings about very mixed emotions for me still!  On the one hand here they are . . . my little preemie babies have become beautifully healthy, highly intelligent little boys!!!  But they are my babies, the last of my little tribe of boys and I don’t want to miss anything . . . not one kiss, not one “wuv ooo”, not one giggle should go unseen!

I know it’s because I realize not just how fast time flies thanks to their oldest brother (now 12)!  This realization is such a gift, but also makes every new stage so bittersweet!  So as I continue to daily attempt to stay out of survival mode I will try to enjoy every second and love on my little guys! 

We are very blessed and they are such great little boys!  I just wanted to share this special day with all of you!

As we loom on the ledge that will drop us into 2008 I can’t help but look back over this past year.  The first big event of each year is the birthday of our precious twosome on February 1st.  It’s funny that I remember their party so clearly because the first half of last year was still a bit of a blur . . . a clearer blur, but still a hazy blur.  So in addition to the first birthday of Baby Bug and Little Monkey, we had our typical 4th of July bash, several more birthdays and parties and here we are. 

There was much sickness in our home this time last year.  We actually had a total of only about 3 healthy weeks between last Thanksgiving and April!  That statement is absolutely amazing to me now as we have been abundantly blessed with good health ever since then!  As I write this hubby is fighting off a cold and The Salesman (9yr) has been having a bit of a battle with some sinus crud.  Honestly though, that is so minor compared with the issues we have encountered in the past.  Bouts with croup, nebulizer treatments, antibiotics, etc.  have all been a common occurence through some of our childrens’ lives. 

All of that to simply say it has and could be much much worse!  The fact remains that the dynamic duo technically is still at an elevated risk for an RSV simply becuase they were preemies and are under the age of 2.  But instead they are blessed with magnificent health at the moment and I can only pray for more!  Trust me sickness times 2 or more is no walk in the park!

I think that I can really sum up this year in one word . . . Blessed!  Sure, there are obstacles, some large that we have had to and still are trying to either go over or forge a path through, but overall we have been terribly blessed. 

What would I like to have done better in 2007?  Get away with our kids more!  The thought of going away with 1 year old twins can be overwhelming.  Pair that with the fact that there aren’t many options for lodging for a family our size and suddenly you have a bit of a conundrum.  Insurmountable?  No, but definitely one of those things we are trying to go over . . . the search for the perfect (affordable) travel trailer for our family continues and we are praying that the Lord sees fit to send the perfect one our way!

What do I look forward to in 2008?  Simple, more time with my kids!  Time away, unplugged, enjoying the gifts in life and the magnificent beauty all around us!  Spending more time outside with them this summer.  For as small and decrepid our house is our property happens to more than make up for it.  Between the creek and the “forest” our boys have it made! 

They absolutely love it here, especially in the summer.  Not one of them would say that they like the house in any way shape or form . . . poor things!  But the land?  That’s an entirely different matter.  Suddenly the house may not be worth giving up if it means they have to move from their precious forest where so many battles have taken place.  Away from their creek where they love to dip their toes, toss in a few rocks and pretend they are fishing. 

It is a very difficult thing for our boys to even consider moving away from their land, but they would all love to move away from the house . . . ugh!  This would be change number 2 I would like to make for this year.  To be able to build a house here that would actually suit our family would be a miracle and dream!  My sons would be in heaven and if I were to take my guard down long enough to admit that this house really is difficult to live in I would have to say that it would be a dream come true for me as well!

So there you have it a look back at the year 2007 and a brief look ahead to the things I’d love to see in the year 2008.  If you have posted on your blog about this please feel free to leave a comment so that I can come visit you too!

Wishing you a VERY happy New Year and the best, most blessed year in 2008!

I just wanted to take a moment out of these supremely busy days to make sure to extend all of you a very merry Christmas!  I truly and wholeheartedly pray that you all have a beautiful, safe, loving, peaceful and blessed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 

Remembering Christ’s birth and the gift we were all given through Him is such an amazing thing!  I pray that my own family finds valuable and frequent opportunities to incorporate this into EVERY part of our celebration! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

With the approach of Christmas and 6 boys all cooped up in the house we have some very interesting dynamics.  I am forever trying to come up with ideas and project to keep them busy and entertained and for this simple mom that is a feat that is sometimes completely beyond me!  I find myself refereeing far more than directing!!!

One idea I have and would like to do (hopefully tomorrow or Saturday) is Flour Clay Ornaments.  I don’t know why, but this one sounds very fun to me this year (maybe I am crazy after all?).  Want to give them a try?  Believe it or not it is quite probable that you already have everything you need for this project! 

You’ll need 4 cups of flour, 2 cups of salt, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 and 1/2 cups water, poster paints (don’t have them? - just be creative ), clear shellac (optional and you can always have hubby pick some up on his way home), decorating items (glitter, sequins, small beads, etc), food coloring (again, optional), Christmas shaped cookie cutters, fine sandpaper (again, something hubby may have laying around or he could pick it up), a plastic straw (I personally think this is optional as you can use a knife to cut the hole for the ribbon).

How to make them: Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and water together by hand (if it seems to try add a little water).  If you want colored “clay” now is the time to add the food coloring.  Once this is mixed roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1/8 inch thick.  Cut out the shapes with cookie cutters.  If they are to be ornaments make sure you put a hole in each one (using the straw or????) for hanging prior to cooking.

Cook in a 250 degree oven on an ungreased baking sheet for about 30 minutes.  Remove them and turn them over, then bake them for about another hour (or until they are hard). Remove them from the baking sheet and let them cool.  Once they are cool smooth each one with fine sandpaper.

Now they are ready to be decorated.  You can begin by drawing designs on them with a pencil and then paint them using the poster paints.  Once the paint dries you can shellac them to protect the paint and you can even add other decorations like sequins, glitter, ric rac, tiny beads, etc.  String a ribbon or cord through the hole and how fun is that you have your own ornament!

What kind of holiday activities do you and your children enjoy doing this time of year? 

I think this is simply too funny!  There’s a website where you can type in your real name and voila . . . you are given your elf name! Here’s mine (I’m a little shocked by it and think it’s awful, but keep going to sis the one my sis got, I love that one):

Get your Christmas Elf Name

Get your Christmas Elf Name