10.01.2008

No More Monkeys Jumping on the BED!

They would NOT go to sleep today at naptime...this is what they were doing instead. Everytime I would say, "Lay Down" they would crack up and fall into a heap on the bed. These are the moments I'm glad I don't miss.

9.08.2008

The Listen-Close Lexicon: Part One

Your personal dictionary to understanding my kids...


Tum On- Come On; As in "Tadd, Tum on...Mama tumming."

Tumming
- Coming (see Tum On)

Lub- Love; "Mama, I lub you."

Yetters- Letters; "Yetter P...Yetter N...Yetter 5...Yetter 7" (We're working on it.)

Titers
- Stickers; "I got a titer at stool!"

Stool
- School (see Titers)

8.12.2008

Belly Laugh

This was our discussion over lunch at the park today...

Tradd: Mommy, noise?

Me: What noise, buddy?

Tradd: Oh....Me. Toots.

7.23.2008

Love Letter: Month Twenty-nine

Dear Tradd and Jackson,
It's 6:00 am and I'm sitting in the quiet waiting for you to wake up...I couldn't sleep anymore. I have always loved the mornings with you. When you were brand new, I'd sit on the couch in the den feeding you, believing that I was the only person in the world awake...I remember waiting for the news to come on...AT 5:00 AM. Nowadays you sleep all night and sometimes I have to wake you up! It must be the way your hair styles itself during the night or your eyes, sleepy swollen, greet me with, "Hey, Mama!" that I just can't resist. Your Daddy and I race to your room when we hear your stirring just to be the first to see you. Earlier this week, we converted your cribs to the "toddler beds". I'm not really sure how this is going to work out because you get in and out a hundred times before settling in...I have found you in the same bed five times already.

In the past few months, I have witnessed you slowly becoming little boys. You love all things living. Birds, caterpillars, ants...although we have had to show you how to hold caterpillars without squishing them. You have also really started to love Max and Molly, our dogs. I'm not sure how they feel about this new found affection because you often try to ride them like horses. I should add that "Max and Mony", as you call them, are also sleeping quite soundly at night. The main reason I couldn't sleep last night is because Max was lost. Your Daddy let him out last night and he never came back. He drove and drove and walked and walked, but no Max. Part of me thought that perhaps Max had had enough and was off to find a new family. Maybe just a nice older couple who would never recognize his uncanny resemblance to a strapping equine that you so clearly see. I laid awake most of the night drafting the flyers to be posted and the friends and family we would call to aide in the search. At 5:00 this morning, we found Max on the back porch. I guess he likes to see you first thing in the morning, too.

Your favorite toys right now are "tars and trucks". I watch you manuver these tiny toys over and around and under every surface of this house and wonder who taught you to make the sounds that cars make. It takes you a good ten minutes to move from one room to another because you can't figure out how to carry five cars at one time....two in each hand and one held to your chest by your forearm is what seems to be working. You will undoubtedly drop one or two of them along the way...and your response, "Oh, dosh" and then you try again.

One thing that I have found in this journey of motherhood is that I pray all day long. When you are trying out a new word, I thank God that I am here to hear it. When I'm fishing a matchbox car out of the toilet, I'm so thankful that it's me that gets to go elbow deep in the big potty. When you have dumped all of your goldfish snack in the floor and are running through them in your tennis shoes to see just how small you can crush them, I close my eyes and pray for patience as I put you in time-out and fetch the broom. And you may not believe me, but all of that happened just yesterday before lunch.

love,
mama

6.19.2008

Time-out Tuesday


When I started my last school year in August of 2005, I had only known that I was pregnant for about two weeks. I was beaming with excitment so you can imagine that it was one of the very first things I shared with my new crop of students. And of course, that meant that they all went right home to tell their parents that their teacher (of one day) was pregnant. One of my students told her family that I was pregnant that night after the first day of school. Hearing this, her dad simply said, "She's having twins." Now keep in mind that I didn't find out that I was having twins until the middle of September...this was the beginning of August.

It was only after I found out about the twins that they shared this story with me. We laugh and joke about it whenever we see each other now, but it's that just crazy? Well, the whole reason for me sharing that with you is because at the end of the year they gave me a little book called "Hugs for New Moms". I've kept it on my night stand and sometimes I'll pick it up and flip through...today I happened to flip through and this is what the page I landed on read.....

When motherhood is draining the best of you and you feel overwhelmed and ill-equipped for the responsibilties of caring for your family, look up and remember that I'm your ever-present helper!

Come to Me, and I'll refresh you and recharge your emotional, physical, and spiritual batteries. You'll find that with My help you can accomplish amazing things you could never do alone.

Energizing you,
Your All-Powerful God

-from Psalm 121:1-2; Matthew 11:28; Philippians 4:13

6.11.2008

Sweet Tooth

Lately I have an insatiable sweet tooth. I have always loved all things sweet, but folks this tooth has taken on a mind of it's own. I guess I had not allowed myself to go there for so long that when I did all hell broke loose.

One week I was hooked on McDonald's chocolate sundaes...I literally found myself volunteering to go to the pharmacy for that prescription that just had to be picked up. TONIGHT. I would then drive two miles out of the way to the McDonalds, have time to eat the sundae while in line at the pharmacy, and drive home happy. Lee never suspected a thing. And one night they ran out of little plastic cups (probably because they had never sold so many sundaes in one week before) and they had to serve me in a to-go coffee cup. Turns out Karma is real. And she works at McDonalds in Three Fountains.

One week it was Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. My mom never really bought sugary cereals growing up, so since discovering this one I've gone completely mad. This stuff is like a drug...I mean, I even thought about pouring the milk directly into the box to avoid messing up a cereal bowl which only holds four good bites anyway.

Perhaps the best thing that happened to me during this rampage was stumbling upon this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie. It's not something I would just make to have around the house, Oh no...that would be way too deliberate. I was actually inviting people over for dinner just so I could make this for dessert. It's sick...I know.


Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell*
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped pecans (I think this adds to much "healthy" so I just leave this out)
Serve with ice cream (optional)

Preheat oven 325 degrees F.
Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high until foamy.
Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter.
Stir in morsels and nuts and spoon into pie shell.
Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm.
Recipe from Nestle Classic Recipes, 2003
* If using frozen pie shell, use deep dish style and thaw completely. Bake on baking sheet and increase baking time slightly.





If I invite you over for dinner say in the next six months or so wear your fat pants.

6.10.2008

Time-Out Tuesday

Every Tuesday I'll be sharing all things FAVORITE! Mine, my boys, my friends...so many times I come across things that I'd love to share so here goes nothin'!


I bought this book, Llama Llama Red Pajama, for my boys about a year ago and it quickly became their absolute favorite! The pictures are fabulous and the rhyming words encourage my boys to "read with Mama". Although not as well know as other children's book authors, Anna Dewdney, is famous in our house! Her latest look, Llama LLama Mad at Mama, is just as wonderful as this one. If you have little ones, they will love it and if you don't, it makes a great gift to go along with a bedtime lovie. EnJoY!

6.03.2008

And so I'm back....


Why must I break from blogging? Every time I feel like I have to say "I'm sorry" and "I'll promise to do better", then I'm good for a little while and then BOOM! Life happens again and I'm out. So I'll say it again for the 10's of thousands, I mean 10 people who read this...sorry. it won't happen again. i'll promise to do better.

Our complete and undivided attention has been (for the last month) focused on getting our house ready to go on the market. We needed to do some updating (Read: ditching the brass knobs and hinges on every drawer/cabinet in this house) and touch-up painting (Read: actually just pretty much had to repaint the entire house because our boys have been working overtime the past two years to "leave their mark"). All of this and about 1,000 other things that needed to be done have left us tired and stressed, but as of last Thursday we are up FOR SALE! We don't have another house or even a plan, but we will have to sell before we can buy anything so here goes nothing. We'll be bunking at my mom and dads when/if we do sell...just in time for summer by the pool. Good timing.

The boys are great...better than great actually (what is that called?). It's 11:34 pm- I can't think of a better word.

I think about things to blog about all the time, but a lot of time these "things" have nothing to do with the boys. I guess I feel confined to write about them because of the name of this blog. Not anymore. Do you remember that song "I'm gonna sing when the spirit says sing"? I'm gonna do that- only with blogging.

4.02.2008

Just call me Martha, Please...

When I meet people for the first time, they sometimes ask "Is Misty your real name or is it short for something?" I always politely respond that yes, Misty is in fact my first name and then I ask them, "What name did you have in mind that it could possibly be short for?" The most common response.....Melissa. Huh?

Well, after you read this post, you will completely understand why my new answer will be, "My name is short for MARTHA."

I had this bright idea around Thanksgiving to make cookies for the boys class party. Of course, no ordinary cookie would do so I scoured the internet and found the cutest Turkey cookies. They aren't made of turkey or anything, they just look like little gobblers! The kids loved them and nobody choked on the candy corn.



So when Valentine's Day came around, I remembered the heart shaped cookie cutter that my cousin Nicole had given me for Christmas and my little baking heart was happy! Again, I hopped on the internet, but I didn't find anything super cute. However, all the really fancy looking cookies used Royal Icing. So off I went, recipe in hand...5 hours and only TEN cookies later...this is all I could do. And they didn't even taste good.



Ok- two cookie attempts, one good..one not so good. And now it was Easter. I ditched the whole cookie thing...I don't even like cookie that much. Unless they are Oreos or Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties. Oh, and I need milk. Anyway, I decide to bake and decorate cupcakes. So...you guessed it, I found a recipe and pictures online and VOILA! The Easter basket cupcake was a hit! I think I'm gonna stick to cupcakes.



Maybe this will help a few of you other Moms out there come next school year, if you ever need the recipes I'll help you find them again online....

Love,
Martha

3.31.2008

Love Letter - Month Twenty-fiveish

Dear Tradd and Jackson,
YOU ARE TWO!!! We made it...in some ways it literally seems like yesterday that I was snuggling two tiny babies and in some ways it seems like you've always been a part of "us". I've been working on a special gift for you over the past few weeks that required that I look back through all of the pictures that we have taken of you. In one picture from the day you were born I saw myself, a new mother bright-eyed and smiling, kissing one of you for the first time...if I close my eyes I am right back there. Surrounded by a dozen people buzzing about your weight, your length and how much you look like your Daddy...things were happening all around me, happy things, but my mind was silent. I remember closing my eyes and whispering "I love you" to that perfect child that I was holding..."instant love" is how it was described to me when I was pregnant. And it was.

But two years later when looking at that picture all that I could see was how I didn't even know you. I didn't know your voices, that are now so different to me that I know who is calling me without even looking. I didn't know your smells, fresh from a bath or having played outside in the dirt. I didn't know the way that Tradd would cut his eyes at me and grin, or the way Jackson would need me so desperately at bedtime. In that picture I see myself whispering "I love you", not knowing where or how to start, because loving someone is just that...something that you do. I look at that picture and realize how little I loved you. Since then this love between us has multiplied time and again...I can't wait to see how big this love will be.



You have become such little boys over the past few months. Making noises when you play with cars and going crazy in the car when we pass a "big truck". Playing outside in the dirt and picking up sticks to poke the ground...just what little boys do. You know all of your shapes and colors and letters (except V and X, but don't worry those two don't get used a lot anyhow. You will sit for hours if I just keep "weeding" stories. You have favorite books and favorite toys. Jackson, you will eat anything...Tradd, not so much. You have learned the word "mine" and we are trying to replace it with "ours". And that's another thing, you are not just "mine"...I share you with so many people that love you. Grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends...all loving you and helping to raise "our" boys. I guess it's true that you have always been a part of "us", even before you were here. We dreamed of you and prayed for you, and two years later we are loving you. How lucky.

Love,
Mama

1.22.2008

Clearly NOT What Happened to Us

I've read about this happening when we found out we were having twins...

We have a crazy next 2 weeks, but I've got a good blog brewing in my head so stay tuned...

1.18.2008

12 Simple Things

I just love the beginning of the year...so fresh and filled with possiblity. Everyone talking about diet and exercise, all the grocery stores pushing healthy food, every segment on the Today Show about "A Better You in 2008"...a time when everyone resolves to do better.

And I'm just gonna say it...

This is this the first year in I can't remember how long that not one of my resolutions is about weight loss and exercise.

One particular morning in the fall (read: my 30th Birthday), I woke up and weighed myself. I stepped off the scales, rubbed my eyes and "re"weighed myself. Surely these scales were not right...I mean I did buy them at Wal-Mart how accurate can they be? I stepped off a second time, this time positioning all four feet of the scale on tile because that had to be the reason for this inaccurate data. I stepped off defeated. I decided that day that I was going to do better...and it wasn't even January.

I have done better and for that reason I have been able to focus on other things about myself that I want to change this year...here they are in no particular order.

1) Wash my face before I go to bed every night...even if I've had a beer or two...

2) Use undereye creme to "diminish dark circles and lines"

3) Have the oil in my car changed more than twice

4) Remember people's birthdays...I suck at this. And I just remembered that Marissa's birthday was on the 11th...

5) Call Marissa and wish her a Happy Birthday albeit "belated"

6) Have a hard conversation with a friend that I should have had a long time ago

7) Order pictures from Shutterfly

8) Stay calm when that girl at the gym takes my spot in front of the fan

9) Pray more

10) Teach Tradd and Jackson to say "I love you"...and mean it

11) Tell Lee "Thank You" everyday for wanting me to be at home with our boys

12) Love a little deeper


Here is to hoping that all of your resolutions stick....and mine too. And this time, when you comment, can you please leave me your birthday and anyone else's that you think I might should know about. That would really help me out on #4. Love ya Bye.

1.08.2008

Waiting

Tonight we had friends over for dinner. It was nothing fancy...just chili with the toppings, but it was a special night. We needed to see these friends TONIGHT because they are having their second baby girl on Thursday. I don't know if they remember or not, but they did the same with us just before I had the boys. I can't remember what we ate or the specifics of what we talked about, but I remember that when we left their house that night I was thinking how lucky we were to have friends that love us. I hope they felt that tonight when they left my house.... because we do love those two.

This time for my friend has been very different than the first time, from beginning to end. Instead of her watering breaking in the middle of the night, she will go to the hospital bright and early Thursday morning to be induced. So talking to her brought back so many feelings for me. There is a certain level of anxiety the comes with knowing when you will be going to the hospital to deliver. Did I pack underwear with no holes? Did I forget anybody on the "call" list? Are my toenails painted? Did I remember to tell Lee to water the pansies before we leave so that they will look good for the coming home pictures? Will "Hawaiian Orchid" pink match my nursing gown? These are the questions that were running through my head when I was where she is right now. Forget preparing to leave my job or making sure the bills were paid. Are you kidding? My mind was consumed with preparing myself for the birth and consequent stay at the hospital. I actually worked the Monday and Tuesday before I had the boys on Thursday, so I only had one day off before the big day. Good thing. Can you imagine the post-it note lists that could have accumulated if given one more day?

The funny thing is that when you are about to have your first baby (or babies as it were), those are the only things that you know to prepare for.

Not one minute before 1:09 pm on Thursday, February 23rd could I have prepared myself for the look on Lee's face when he saw that first baby out of my belly. Or the way my heart leapt when he left my side to check on them and hear that first cry. I never thought ahead to the recovery room, but I could never have prepared my heart to feel the way it did when my two brothers were the first faces I saw and we had time to be together just the three of us. I never thought ahead to what I would eat while I was there, but my Daddy did. He and Mama and Aunt Judy and Bruce cooked a three course meal and brought it to the hospital in coolers. I was so completely blown away by the entire thing....and you just can't prepare yourself.

I don't even think I wore underwear until the day I came home, so I really only needed one good pair. The call list was a bust. Called one person and then they called 10 so my whole list was useless. My toes did look good though...they just stayed that color until July. And the nursing gown? I ditched the gown and just wore the robe. Easier access.

Of course, my sweet friend is not a first time mom so her primary concern is for her other child and making sure that she is taken care of and feels a part of this. And I'm sure if we ever have another baby Tradd and Jackson will be who we spend time preparing and loving right up to the last minute. Funny how our focus changes huh? although I do need to ask Steph about her toes......



I love you Steph...can't wait to meet your little one.