Playing tricks on Auntie

The twins (almost 5), under the influence of cousin Anna (age 10), thought it would be totally fun and sneaky to dress alike and switch their natural hairstyles to trick Auntie Leslie.

Anna helped curl the front of Squdge's hair and straighten out Tater's swirl.

We'll see how many times today Auntie Leslie mixes them up.   :P

Anna is having a good time dressing the little girls like real live dolls.  

I still think the twins are fraternal.  But most extended relatives think they're identical.  What thinketh you?

Just one of those things you say to 4 year old twin boys

I walked into my parents' dining room as my dad was about to take a picture of Tater and Squdge.

Dad, "Now buddies, sit nice and look at Papa.  Hey, and don't put your finger in your buddy's nose."

Grateful for my little balls of energy

I am grateful for these 2 little monkeys. 

 

Tater on left, Squdge on right

 

We just bought a twin/full bunkbed.  These little guys share the bottom bunk and Bun sleeps on top.  I have been having the hardest time keeping them off of the top bunk today. 

 

But this age is so quick to forgive, so full of energy, and so full of the funniest things to say.

 

About a week ago, I took this picture.  I had just sat down at my laptop to check upcoming cupcake and bread orders.  It was late-- like 9:45 p.m.

 

They came out of their room together and went straight into the kitchen.  I could hear them talking amongst themselves and trying to get something out of the sink.  I said to them,

 

"Come out of the kitchen and don't touch my ingredients.  It's time to go back to bed."

 

They responded in unison,

 

"But Mommy, we got ideas!!"

Naptime Tweezing

It's naptime and I decided to do something I could not do with Tater awake.  Can you guess?

When I went in with the tweezers, this is what I saw: 

How stinkin' cute is that?  They're holding hands in their sleep.  I was laying down between them to stop them from playing long enough to fall asleep.  Squdge (on the right with the pastel blanket) fell asleep first and then when Tater was almost asleep, I got a phone call from Danny.  I thought for sure that when I came back Tater would be up and playing.  nope.  He just fell asleep holding his buddy's hand. 

Please excuse the quality of pictures.  They were taken on my phone.  My used-to-be trusty camera was recently deployed.  It's okay-- it likes to put a dark spot in the corners of my photos anyway.  So you get now lower quality pics with no dark spot.  :)

When a tired, no-good-with-a-camera-Momma takes a picture

I tried REALLY hard to get a nice picture of all seven kids in their new pajamas Grandma W. sent. 

I'd get the oldest four to stand still and look at the camera, and the twins and Peach would run off.

Then I'd get Peach to come back, but she'd come right up to me instead of in front of the Christmas tree where I wanted her.

I convinced Pookie to hold her-- but then I had to rein in the twins. 

Hammy and Squdge wanted to be sure I caught their smiles on camera.  Yup, thanks!  I caught the runny nose too.

"Mommy, show Grandma W. my monkeys!"



So Grandma W., this is the best I got.  Please excuse the Sharpie on the walls.  I have budding artists.

(and I don't know what's going on with the shadow in the corner of the camera)

Crying over spilled milk

This little girl didn't do it.  She stood by and observed though as it happened. 

Yes, this little Squdge did it.  And while he dutifully cleaned up his mess, he didn't realize he was pouring milk out of his cup.  That's when these pictures stopped so I could help him.

Taking the pictures helped me not yell at him. 

Unfortunately, I didn't think about pictures fast enough this time before losing my temper and I reduced my Squdge to tears.  It was more than 1/2 a gallon of milk in this incidence.

Since then, I've stopped crying and yelling about spilled milk.  I just keep a handy stack of prefolds (cloth diapers) available for such an occasion.  We've had plenty of practice since then.  And the four big kids know exactly where to find them.

And I realize, half a gallon of milk is a little less than $2.

But a Squdge's heart is worth a lot more. 

We are encouraging Tater & Squdge to feed themselves.

It helps that they insist on doing it too.  Squdge LOVES spaghetti.

They're very enthusiastic about the process.

They encourage Peach too.

They're proud of their work.

Why haven't you updated your blog?

I have a curious Tater who keeps me on my toes sometimes more than his buddy Squdge.

Nikki:  Buddy, why are you shredding the garbage bag?

Tater:  I uh no. 

translation:  I don't know.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Tater is a "go get 'em" little guy.  Here he takes a break from harrassing the bookshelf to snack on the couch with lunchmeat.

We took a break from our regularly scheduled calm *snort* to go trick o' treating.

Left to right we have:  Two Daddies (these mini-flight suits are actually closer to the pilot's ones than missileers), Jack o' Lanterns wearing each other's costume - oops (Tater is bigger than Squdge), a fairy in the middle and Superman holding a butterfly who's escaping her costume.  Catch all that?

Other than Gabbers friend party, this brings you through October.  mostly.

How to procrastinate and vacation prep at the same time

 Are you waiting anxiously for the "Homemade Reusable Baby Wipes" tutorial?  Well, my serger is on the fritz AND I'm going on vacation next week.  So, it will be post-poned until after my vacation.  In the mean time, you can re-read these tips for vacation prep that we will be reviewing as well.

What did I learn from last year's family trip? 

• Take more water than we think we need. 
• Travel at night.
• Bring Playaways for the oldest four kids.

1.  The kids get SO thirsty during daytime travel.  They drink a lot.  We have to stop for many potty-breaks.  Sometimes places to potty are too gross for me to even think about hovering my four year old over.

2.  Traveling at night means using less air conditioning.  This means saving on gas.  Here in the Golden State gas is $4 a gallon.  Traveling at night in a 12-passenger van like Brutus (that's his name the kids gave him) over 800 miles, cutting back on the use of AC could save $100+. 

What will be different on this year's trip?

• We have another child, almost 7-month old Peach.
• The twins, who are almost 22 months, are not rear-facing anymore.  But maybe they should be for the trip so they can sleep better.
• No caffeine.  Remember, I gave up caffeine right before Christmas?

I took a look a last year's vacation prep list to start this year's list:

Water.

Playpens.  Just one playpen this year for Peach.


diapers. 

Music, not just this kind.


Games.

Magna Doodles and probably Magnetic Letters.

picture from this post.

Audio Books to listen to and real books to actually hold.

...and maybe chew on a little.

Pre-rationed snacks in ziploc bags. I'm thinking we'll probably use peanut butter containers this year since we have so many, and so the snacks don't get crushed.

So, that's what I've got.  Vacation prep.  I might just start with the Cheerio and Goldfish eviction from the van.  

Am I missing anything?

Guess who's 18 months??

Hey Buddies, did you hear who's 18 months now?

Do you know what is SO EXCITING about being 18 months?

More baths in the kitchen sink?

(Tater on left, Squdge on right)

Do YOU get excited about your babies turning 18 months?

Putting on the weight this holiday season

With great relief I bring you the Baby Girl update.  In three days, she has gained 7 oz.  Thank you all for your kind words, emails, and prayers.  

 And now for a totally unrelated picture for those in need of a Squdgy and Tater fix.  Sorry it's blurry.  If any of you know how I can convince them to sit still for a picture, especially one of them caught in the act, or that matter, sit still at all, please leave a comment.

In no time at all, Tater (on the left) and Squdge (on the right) have mastered scaling over the barriers and getting to the tree. 

One week ago these little critters turned one.

Ooh!  Rainbow party chip cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and Halloween sprinkles. 

Tater can't believe he's allowed to have such a treat.

Gotta stuff it in my mouth before it gets taken away!

Squdge seems satisfied with his birthday cupcake and is ready for more.

It amazes me that even though they are fraternal twins, how many similarities they share. 

Of the six kids, these are the youngest to start walking.  (The older four walked after 14 months old.)

They were both tongue-tied.  They both had a posterior tongue-tie, to be precise.

When they cried as newborns, they bleated like sheep.

They are both SO BALD. 

They cut most of their teeth on the same days.

I love these babies so much.  I am thankful to have survived the nightmarish c-section and the crazy first week.  And most of all to make it to the year.  Everyone always said, "The first year is the hardest."  It was my goal to ENJOY, not just survive, the first year.  I definitely did. 

One of the many reasons I love my laundry room.

This is the sink in the laundry room.  Squdge and Tater are demonstrating how roomy it is.  I love this sink.  It comes in really handy when twins have discovered how to take off their own diapers. 

Twins and Time-outs

The corner by our front door is for time-outs. Everyone knows you're not allowed to play with anything in time-out. You're not supposed to talk either. The only thing you're allowed is to read your scriptures. Recently, the twins have decided it's great fun to climb on and play with the time-out detainee.

 

Pookie and the time-out buddies

Squdge is asleep on left while Tater (on right) eats Squdge's food even though he too is falling asleep.  This is a common sight in our home.  The food is always better on the other tray.

Look what twins can do while you're potty-training!

This is the reality of potty-training your Gremlin when you have 10 1/2 month old twins.

reorganized pan cupboards,

rearranging dining chairs, library books,

decorating with Cheerios and eating the underside of Hammy's yogurt cup

(while he's on the potty),

a little break for scrapbooking,

back to work organizing the Tupperware cupboard,

finishing off with a good supply of Kleenex.

Rest assured both the dining room and the kitchen floors are clean.  All Cheerios partaken of mid-chaos are not tainted.  As I've said before, my favorite thing about potty-training is freshly mopped floors. 

Letters of gratitude

Dear AAFES cheap basket supplier,

Thank you for making such a cheap little basket.  It came in real handy last year when we were homeless and still needed to get our laundry sorted. 

I had no idea of your versatility until I saw my Squdge carefully insnared.  This aids in preventing him from smacking his head on the foot of the desk and chewing on cords.  Who needs to keep a watchful eye when you have a cheap plastic laundry basket?

Yours truly (until the next 27-fling boogie),

Dear Pampered Chef,

Thank you for making this very handy egg-slicer.  Who would've known that my little girl would try her hand at selling presliced Goldfish?

A grateful mother,

Dear Ginger Ale,

How I love thee.  I know we don't see each other much.  And then when we do, it's like "How could I ever live without you?"  Well, it's probably the whole teeth rotting out of my head reason that I don't see you so often.  But when I do see you, I am glad for your comfort.

Occasionally Yours,

Dear Mom,
I finally made bread with oat flour replacing one-third of the whole wheat flour.  It was beautiful.  It smelled wonderful baking.  But since the bread knife fell behind the counter I couldn't slice it for two days.  When I sliced it this morning, it was fresh and soft and the kids snorkulated it in 90 seconds.

I can't wait to make more.  I already prepped 21 bread kits with oat flour.

Love Always,