Cam got a new cap today....

We're getting the impression he really likes it. :)
The end.

when we pull out Mama's violin

It was "v" week in KG and so I thought I would offer a violin visit to Sam. He wasn't really interested in having me come visit his classroom with it but he did like the idea of getting his picture taken and showing that instead.

(I probably should be relieved, my violin skills aren't that hot and I really didn't need to be screeching through long lost songs - not even for KG kids :) )


He wasn't the only one that had a turn. It was dictated, of course, that Cara needed some help.
I think "blind leading the blind" is appropriate here. Love that older girl, maybe she'll be a teacher someday.
You can bet that bow isn't falling to the floor, it's just changed possesion for a little while!

But she's enjoying it all the same, big (somewhat bossy) siblings or not.

This darling loves music. I think she has it flowing through her veins. If you know our families at all you will know it's inherited honestly. Does anyone (besides my mother) :) think it's criminal she's doing vaulting instead of piano lessons right now?

sunny thoughts for a rainy day

I just finished reading a post in which the writer recounted her engagement. I thought I would share a few thoughts from our own. :)

Steve has always had a certain dislike for doing stuff the way everyone else does it. So, our engagement had an element of that "do it different" to it.

Do you know I got a crock pot from Steve when he asked me to marry him? Yup, that's right. He didn't pop the question and pull out a ring. He popped the question and gave me a box to unwrap. A crock pot. I still have it and to this day I'm very thankful for it's very practical self. He picked a good one. Although, I'm not sure that was my first thought when he handed me the box.

I should back up and state for the record that before he popped the question he read a poem he had written for me. But he was not super happy with the end writing result and destroyed the poem before I could read it again or store it away for future reference, reminder or renewal.

Not a huge problem but now that I'm thinking about it, maybe I should ask for a new poem. :)
Poem or no poem, crock pot or ring Steve did ask me to marry him and 9 years later I would say yes just as quickly as I did the first time. I would just nab the love poem the minute he was done reading. :)

And just in case you're worried for me, have no fear, there was a ring burried in the bottom of the crock pot. A ring that was 4.5 years in the cooking :)

Let's not forget the five year old.

He's awfully special too. He got to choose and help make 2 cookie recipes. Oatmeal raisin and "Rootbarb" or Rootbeer cookies were his choices. And obviously, the icing is the best and funnest part, besides the smoothing out the top of the cup of flour or sugar with a knife. :) Dumping ingredients in the bowl is better than the sandbox!

Sam is also the buddy in the family. Things generally go smoother when Sam's home from school. He'll invite both boys to come play lego with him and I won't hear any of them for a good long while. This has, of course, heightened Cody's fondness for his big brother. A couple of times now when we're finished eating Cody will go to Sam's chair, "Can I sit by you, Sam?" And there they sit, one big buddy and one little buddy while we read, pray and sing together.

Yup, that Sam he's fun too!

Now, to get to that list of things to do before I collapse in bed tonight....

made me smile

Some of the running conversation.

Cara to Cody, we're missing two pieces, "check under your bum, Cody"

Cody to Cara (after I asked the question for him but him realizing his chances were getting slim), "can I do a piece Cara?"

Cody to Cara and I, "we did the whole puzzles, Cara, we did the whole puzzles" minus the two missing pieces of course.

What a rascal Cara is for orchestrating the ending like she did.

It could come across as prideful but it really isn't my intention. I want to remember (and I think it will be special for them to see if for themselves)at about 16 or so, the advantage they both had in having such a special sibling. On their own they would have (and do) give up on a new puzzle and quickly come asking for help but together they managed to figure it out. It is one of their precious blessings being twins.

Plus, I can just hear Cody, "see you were already bossy back then!"

Three year olds are fun too!

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining and until lunch time it was warm enough to be outside in a t-shirt although the braver ones probably donned their sweaters much later than I. I had a mitt full of whiny kids who didn't want to play but only wanted to be entertained so partway through the morning I said, that's it, we're going outside. I hauled out a project that's been sitting in our living room waiting for paint and helped Cam get dressed in "painting clothes." And let him at it. "Is this enough paint?" (Where honey, on your paintbrush or on the driveway? I only thought it) All right, what part am I missing?

This spot looks like it needs a bit more!

He's such cheerful company. Something precious changed since Leah & Sam went to visit Opa and Nana. It was probably a combination of having extra time for Cam, having privileges usually reserved for the oldest, and our late night date cleaning his room while he played with toys beside me that sparked a bit of extra love for his mom. I've written here before about his deep love for his daddy but somewhere in the last month and a half he's decided his Mom's special too. And I LOVE it.

Now, before you get all excited and think I'm a nice mom because I let my child help paint I will point out a few things to keep this realistic.

• he was only allowed to work on the first coat


• I went behind him trying to smooth out the drips even as he watched and probably thought, Mom aren't I doing a good enough job


• I made him go find something else to do while I did coats 2, 3 &4.


• I said no when he came back again and asked if he could help some more


• I got a little frustrated when he used paint that was pooled on the driveway to finger paint on top of my fourth coat.

But for the most part it was fun. I love this kid.

Ps. Leah and Sam borrowed a CD from the public library with a song with the chorus line, "I love my Mom" which he sang with the sweetest grin for me. I may be borrowing that CD every few weeks for the next couple of years.

Codster Bodster

Isn't he a friendly looking fellow? If Cody excels in anything, it's imagination. He has the most healthy, thriving imagination I've ever seen in a kid, not that I've seen all kids. So, when Mrs. DV gave him a dinasour when we visited a local thrift shope the other day, I expected he would have a lot of fun with it.

But what I didn't expect was that at the next thrift store he would roar and threaten the old man who challenged him by looking him in the eyes.

Cody: walking around meekly with the dinasour

Old Man: walking around generally minding his own business but stopped to smile at Cody.

Cody: assumes his most agressive, one leg back, dinasour thrust forward stance and growls, "be careful for my dinasour, rrraawwwwww!!"

Old Man: jumps back, puts up both hands, "whoa scary!"

Cody: thinks, hey someone willing to play, jumps forward, thrusts dinasour forward again, "RRRAAAAWWWWWWW!!"

Old Man: chuckles, makes a comment about boys and playing

Me: "Yes, but I think we need to work abit on respect!"

Twins are Not Fun! (see previous post :) )

So, while there are moments that are hugely fun let's keep it real. There are moments that are a little less charming.

• two little people going to bed at the same time makes for a bit more fool around time = noisey when peace and quiet is preferred


• two little people in a cupboard full of pullups still makes for the same kind of mess as months ago = annoying


• two little people wanting to cuddle in your lap at the same time and having a very hard time sharing because of tiredness = muscle building


• two little people getting toilet trained, even if one after the other, makes for long drawn out toilet training. Today Mom, while on baby #2, forgot son was in "yightning mkeen" (or Lightning McQueen) underwear and he peed a puddle on the carpet she spent hours steam cleaning yesterday. Seeing that it is completely accidental and unintended there's no point or call for letting off a bit of steam by giving a speech about the preciousness of mom's time and labor. Recommended tension release is getting a rag and scrubbing said puddle = frustrating and frazzling


• two little people trying to play with the same toys makes for some scrapping that has to be dealt with asap = sometimes tiring.

But really, that is a pretty small part.

Twins are Fun!

These two can be so much fun together. Here are some good ones.

• playing "mom" and "dad" and he's wearing the construction helmut and she's carrying the baby and purse and referring to eachother as "mom" and "dad" = precious


• can sit side by side for an hour reading books. This means my once neat book shelf is once again in constant disarray and most often the floor holds more books than the shelves but I'll deal with it = peacefulness

• they are not one bit like Steve in the sharing food and utensils regard. Anybody whose ever worked with Steve knows that he'll bypass extra food if someone else has already touched it or if it means he'll have to use an already used fork. Not so with these babies. Tonight we laughed so hard at supper time. Cody's favorite meal is supper and he eats it very well. Tonight he ate a slice of pizza and then asked for more. I gave him a small piece more and he wasn't too happy about it. He ate it and asked for more. So, Cara graciously handed him her leftovers, a crust with an inch of pizza left that had most of the topping already removed. "Here, Cody, you can have mine." "Hey," he replied, "I don't want Cara's pizza" and then promptly finished it off. We thought that was funny. But when Cara took a really big bite of popsicle, sucked on it a bit and then spit it on her plate because it was too cold Cody reached over to grab the quickly melting blob. "I will eat it for you, Cara." "Fank you, Cody, you can eat my popsicle." That's when we really laughed = hilarious

They're lots of fun!