A Fence, Two Diapers, and a Happy Mom

YAY!!! The neighbors are putting their (our) fence up tomorrow. Now when I take the boys outside, I won't have to worry about the colorful wagon, tricycle, and sandbox (not to mention an assortment of other fun-looking toys) luring my sons over into the next yard.

Any time we are outside, be it playing in the yard or on a walk, the boys try to touch everything. I want to encourage that healthy curiosity with this new world they are learning about, while teaching them boundaries, and not permitting them to touch strangers' things. The item that attracts them the most is vehicles. They love cars, vans, especially big trucks. Every parked car they see, they rush over to touch, bang on, and scratch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today David and JD were helping me .... more than they ever have before. I needed a couple of diapers and sent David for them; he actually came back with two diapers and handed them to me!! There were several incidents like this today, and it was wonderful. WONDERFUL!! Proof that they do listen, they do hear me, and they do understand. Since they do their best to ignore every reprimand and continue whatever it is I've asked them to stop, I was beginning to wonder if they understand english and if they could actually hear me. Today was a great day marking a new step in our parent/child relationship. I am not invisible! Hurray!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Love/Hate Relationship

I love so many things about spring and summer. There are also things I cannot stand about these seasons, which is why fall is my very favorite time of year. My list is as follows, in no particular order.....

~I absolutely LOVE the smell of freshly cut grass, and I love the feel of it too, on my bare feet

~I do not like, indeed I hate grasshoppers and mosquitoes

~I love the smell of BBQ, especially if it is my BBQ creating that tantalizing smell

~I really enjoy warm summer rain...the kind where the clouds aren't entirely looming and suffocating, when you see a touch of sun rays and wonder how it can rain and be sunny at the same time....

~I do not like incredibly hot, sticky and slick, hard-to-breathe, pavement-hurts-my-feet-through-my-flipflops heatwaves.

~I love the smell of night air in the summer...you know the smell...

~I enjoy the warm spots in the lake (not to be confused with the warm spots in the pool - heehee), those spots that are such a nice break from the cold water everywhere else

~I love the flowers, and when the trees come alive with green buds in springtime

~I do not care for the end of a neighbors' party when, for some reason, their friends like to linger on the front lawn and by cars to hoot, holler, and yell for all to hear...I get very, very grumbly when this happens

~I love frosty's, slurpees, screamers, creamsicles, extreme creamsicles, and all other delicious cold ice-creamy treats

~I do not like bugs. Any bugs, any crawly things...don't like 'em.

~I like the smell of freshly-oiled dirt roads...I grew up on a dirt road and learned to love the smell

~I love that I can take my boys outside!!! It's nice to be out of the house after a long winter being cooped up.

There is my list...if I have forgotten any, and I very well could have, it's because I am in a rush. But basically, that is my love/hate list for summer.

I just realized this is my first post not about family, after I changed my blog to a family-oriented read. But I can switch it up now and then; unless the blogging police knock on my door....

Thick as Thieves

Oh, I love my sweet little boys. They are brothers thru and thru. JD is the younger twin, by 12 minutes, yet he clearly views himself as the protector for his older brother David. I have seen it time and time again. As the days pass and they get older, that protectiveness has only grown with them.

When it is time for a meal, JD gets into his high chair and then points enthusiastically to Davids chair, saying "Brada", which I can only think would mean "brother". As I slide his table-tray into place, he motions again to David, wanting to make sure I do not forget to do the same for his brother. He does the same when I put their plates/bowls down... I switch it up so JD isn't always first, but it doesn't matter. He always looks out for his brother.

I understand this, while cute and adorable now, may be a problem later when they reach school-age; teachers are on the lookout for twins to see if they blossom on their own or if one is always the more passive twin. I know I need to watch out for that, and I try real hard to treat them equal and have one-on-one time with each of them. But David is a strong boy. He lets JD take care of him, but also lets him know if he doesn't want the cushion. So I'm not too worried...I do have to watch them and coax their own seperate personalities forth. But I also need to let them be brothers and keep that closeness.

It sometimes brings a tear to my eye though, watching JD care for his brother. When they hug and play together nicely, my heart swells with joy. The doctors tried to tell my husband and I that fraternal twins are just like normal siblings, no closer than sibs born a year or two apart. "they are just regular babies who happen to be born minutes apart" they said. They warned us to not expect the closeness of identical twins. But I say the doctors were wrong. I see it on a daily basis, how close my boys are. They are tight buddies and share private jokes and tender moments. They talk even though I don't have a clue what they are saying, but they seem to know exactly what the other is communicating.

Having twins may be double the work; having more than one child is alot of work. But it is also double the joy and happiness.

A Few Minutes Grabbed

WOW, what is wrong with me??? I swear I just posted the other day, but I looked and it was a couple of weeks ago. I don't know where time goes! One day turns into another, and then another, and before I can blink my boys are another month older. It's creeping me out how fast the days fly!! We had an opthalmologist appointment for JD the other day (seriously the other day, it was Wednesday) and when asked how old he is, my reply was 18 months. Guess what ??? He isn't 18 months, the boys are 20 months!! Where is my head?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For those curious types, JD has astigmatism in both eyes and will most likely need glasses by preschool. We are to return to the eye doctor and have his eyes tested when he is 3. The reason we went ? His left eye tears for no reason quite often... sometimes every couple of days, but sometimes a couple of times a day. Anyway, the doctor said it wasn't a blocked duct, or we would see mucus too. Hmmmmmmm.


Other than that, the boys appear to be thriving. They are so energetic... JD loves to wrestle, even if David doesn't want to...he will just piledrive him and steamroller over him. When I lay on the couch, JD loves to jump on me. David likes to wrestle too, and has fun with his brother (most of the time). David loves to rake the grass...when we are outside he snags a rake or any tool he can find and gets right to work. It's so adorable. He is like that inside too...enjoys sweeping and wiping the floor with a towel. My sweet little guys.

The guys love to be outside, of course, and I am looking so forward to Grandpa Surry's birthday when we get to go to the lake again. The boys will LOVE it!!!! Last year they didn't know what to think of the lake but this year they will have a blast. I'm going to buy them waterwings.

My youngest brother is engaged now...I don't know any details (and because I'm a girl, it's killing me to not know how he did it, what the ring looks like, etc) but his fiance is a great girl and I am excited to have her in our family. I am so happy for them!! Yay James and Nola!!!!!

I think that's it for news for now...at least that's all I can think of. I have a floor upstairs that needs my fairly immediate attention, so I'm going to sign off now. One final thing to say : I MISS TAIYA'S THOUGHTS..... WHEN, OH WHEN CAN I READ MORE OF HER BLOG?????????? heeheehee.... said by the master procrastinator....

Grandpa's 70th Birthday!

My family...Mom, Dad, me & my four brothers


My Dad in the middle, his brother & sister

Dad blowing out seventy candles!!

My little family!

Dad and all his grandchildren :) Except for one...my 1yr old nephew. He wasn't feeling very well. My two boys, three of my brothers' four kids, and my brand new nephew...only a few weeks old!

Back again! I just can't seem to find time to post on my blog lately. Funny, I always grab a few moments to check FB... hmmm...

So we had a GREAT time at my Dad's suprise 70th birthday party! It was awesome. He thought it was a dinner with my brother and his family, but walked in the door to find his sister & brother-in-law, all of his grandkids, all of his kids and some friends. Later his brother & sister-in-law came, and my Mom's twin sister & her husband. It was so cool. That was what I was going for when planning this; I wanted him to just walk in to the room and see his entire family...which doesn't happen very often. Actually, I don't remember the last time my Dad had his entire family in one room. So it worked out great.

We kept it simple with pizza and cake, and had a great time visiting with everyone. I haven't seen my aunts and uncles for a very long, long time so it was wonderful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for new things with the boys.... JD can open doors now, which makes things very fun :) Both David and JD can open the fridge now too...and that makes things interesting. Yesterday I caught them in the fridge and shooed them out, only to find David had an apple. I tried to grab it but he took off running, and while he ran he snagged a bite of the apple. I usually peel and slice apples for them but decided to see how he would do eating a whole one. JD wanted an apple too, so I gave him one. They did very well.... although only ate half their apples. They did choke up alittle on the peel, so I will continue peeling their snack. *****************

They have continued repeating what we say, but now it is actually audible! So exciting!! I had them coloring the other day, and I would name the color of crayon they had. JD repeated me, saying "yellow" !!! He said the word perfectly!! If we try to get them to say words again, they won't do it. But so far the boys say a handful of words with near perfect pronounciation. It is amazing to hear!!