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

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

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...

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.