Vacation Bible School-Great Start to Summer
6/16/2012 04:10:00 PM Posted by mommy2twincesses
I have such fond memories of Vacation Bible School (VBS) growing up! It was one thing that I looked forward to each and every summer and was considered a rite of passage because only the “big kids” got to stay. I can’t believe that just a week ago my precious 3 year old identical twin girls got to go to their first VBS! *tear*
The local Baptist church came around a couple of weeks ago passing out flyers for their upcoming VBS but the allowed grades read Pre-K through 6th grade. I totally dismissed it because they aren’t even close to Pre-K yet, but because we’re such a small community a member of the church told me specifically that the girls were more than welcome to come.
I thought about it and talked about it with the girls and they were super excited and could hardly wait to go!
When the first night rolled around I got them dressed and out we went. They met their teacher and stood in line with their class, but were super shy and didn’t want me to leave right away. I agreed to go in with them and by the time the music started and they warmed up to their new friends they didn’t even notice me sneak out.
The rest of the week was as smooth as butter! I am still in absolute amazement at how well they did, all by themselves! *gasp and gulp* My babies are growing up way too fast!
The highlights of their time in VBS was K finding the “Golden Pinecone” and therefore getting to wear a Ranger hat around all night and be called “Ranger K”, both of them getting suckers for knowing their memory verse (this was only a few children from each class per night), and M winning an overall prize for “Best Behaved”!
The theme song of the week says it all, “It’s gonna be a cool, cool summer!” and what a better way to start it than “learning to trust in Jesus”?!
Do your children attend VBS? If not, I really encourage you to give it a try! It’s fun, it’s free, and most importantly of all, it introduces them to Christ!
Mommy Time Out in Nashville Tennessee
6/14/2012 11:15:00 AM Posted by mommy2twincesses
Monday morning bright and early one of my mommy friends and I headed out towards the Home of Country Music. After a four hour drive we finally arrived at Gaylord Opryland Hotel and quickly and smoothly got checked into our balcony room in the Cascades section.
We immediately threw open the French doors leading to the balcony and took in the relaxing sounds of the indoor waterfalls. Ah, relaxation at last!
Because we had made no plans prior to our arrival (who needs a schedule when you’re on vacation right?!) we lounged around for a few minutes, made phone calls letting our loved ones know we made it safe and sound, and then went for a stroll around the hotel.
Actually, a “stroll” around the hotel is more like a long distance hike since it is the largest hotel without a casino in the world! We had worked up an appetite and chose to enjoy a late lunch in the Fuse Sports Bar.
I consider myself to be somewhat of a burger connoisseur and my discriminative palate gives the Fuse burgers a big “two thumbs up”. The “winkle fries” were actually really good too, even though I’m not a “fry girl”. But, I cannot tell a lie, the Lemon Drop beverage was my favorite part of the meal! LOL, it was 5 o’clock somewhere ;)
After our pig out session we thought it only appropriate to let our food settle and what better place can do that besides the pool?! Yes, we changed into our swim suits and headed to bask in the sun.
After we’d soaked up enough rays to thoroughly consider ourselves well-done, we headed back to the room to shower and figure out plans for the night.
We were all revved up and ready to go paint the town in our killer outfits, but the torrential rain changed our minds. Instead we had a quiet dinner at the Jack Daniels restaurant, changed into our jammies once back in our room, and watched television until we both conked out.
We spent the better part of the next day being pampered like princesses in the Relache’ Spa. I treated myself to a Swedish massage and a vitamin C facial. It was heavenly! Seriously, almost better than chocolate ;) And my girlfriend had a gel mani/pedi and an eyebrow wax-which she loved as well.
We then took our rested, relaxed, and newly pampered selves over to the Opry Mills Mall. We checked out the entire 2 miles of the mall, did a little shopping, and had another late lunch in The Aquarium. That place was way too cool for school! It was like dining under water!
On the way back to the hotel we swung by the Grand Ole Opry just to say that we did. There were tons of people walking toward it, so we parked and figured we’d go check out whatever was going on too. It was a concert! We had no clue that they had concerts on Tuesday nights and figured they’d already sold out since it was clearly about to start, but they had not. We got tickets to the show!
We rushed back to the room to change into something suitable for such an outrageous event and hurried back for the second half of the show-which is the part we actually wanted to see anyway.
It was totally surreal sitting in the church like pews in the Grand Ole Opry and being able to be close enough to Dierks Bentley and Luke Bryan to actually see their faces! We danced and yelled like crazy people, earning us countless stank-eyes from those sitting around us, but hey, we paid our money for a good time just like they did! And, the coolest part of all, the show was filmed and will appear on television soon, and we were THERE! Squee!
After the show we were way too hyped up to sleep, so we strolled through the atriums and enjoyed funky flavored gelato. P-E-R-F-E-C-T!
Coming home was bitter sweet. I could really get used to the level of relaxed we both felt through the whole trip, but we missed our rowdy crews like crazy!
It’s hard to believe that we were able to pull into the Opryland complex on Monday and not leave it again until it was time to come home, yet be able to do so much! There are tons of other things to do in Nashville, but they’ll just have to wait until next time-of which I’m sure there will be!
Summer Family Fun Plan-Mostly Free
6/08/2012 11:33:00 AM Posted by mommy2twincesses
I keep seeing all these amazingly adorable summer family fun plans floating around online but I hadn’t found a single one that I thought we could actually complete so I figured I’d just make my own! Unfortunately mine isn’t “101 Summer Fun Ideas”, I didn’t come up with a cool number at all-92. Yeah, I’m making 92 the new 101. Just go with it! Or better yet, make your own summer family fun plan!
We live in the middle of nowhere but our boondocks just so happen to lay smack between two pretty big cities, so we get the best of 3 worlds-the backwoods, the “Home of the Blues”, and the home of the “Red Wolves”. So, you’ll notice that my list includes things to do at home as well as things to go out and about and do.
The first section of my list is the freebies! These are all things we can do for “free” either at home with things we already have or at places we have memberships to so we don’t have to pay admission.
At Home Fun Freebies:
1. Play Frisbee
2. Catch lightening bugs
3. Make and eat homemade popsicles
4. Camp out (or at least set up a tent and pretend) in the backyard
5. Make s’mores
6. Have a movie and popcorn night (or rainy day)
7. Family game night (or again, rainy day)
8. Host a sleepover
9. Play with water balloons
10. Eat huge slices of watermelon -don’t worry about the juice dripping from your chin and elbows
11. Sit on the lawn and watch a firework display
12. Slip-n-slide
13. Take a nature walk nearby and collect interesting things you find
14. Make up and go on a scavenger hunt
15. Fly a kite
16. Play in the rain and/or splash in puddles
17. Make and blow your own giant bubbles
18. Have a pillow fight
19. Karaoke
20. Dig in the dirt-look for worms, rocks, marbles, whatever you can find
21. Plant something and watch it grow
22. Hand wash vehicles and/or bikes
23. Let the kids pick the menu of the day and YOU help THEM prepare it
24. Make puppets and put on a show
25. Go for a family bike ride
26. Take a walk
27. Melt and create with crayons
28. Spread out a blanket and look for shapes in the clouds
29. Star gaze and if you have older children look for constellations (print out a map online)
30. Transform old tees (try cutting, tie dying, and even bleaching!)
32. Make and deliver surprises for loved ones
33. Start a collection
34. Make your own pizza (and a dessert one too!)
35. Make ice cream sundaes
36. Play hopscotch
37. Color/paint a picture
38. Get creative with glow sticks
39. Freeze small toys in ice and let the kids stay busy-and cool-by chipping them out
40. Make instruments and start a band
41. Try baking soda dropper art
42. Have fun with shaving cream paint
43. Make a fairy door/house/garden
44. Make marshmallow poppers and declare war
45. Paint toast
46. Make an alphabet book
47. Have a spa day (paint nails, give facials, do hair and makeup, ect.)
48. Make and fly paper and/or straw airplanes
49. Jump rope
50. Hula hoop
51. Have a water gun fight
52. Microwave ivory soap
53. Make rock candy
54. Make and enjoy snow cones
55. Make frozen fruit and/or yogurt treats
56. Make lava lamps
57. Host (or attend) a family BBQ (keep costs down by doing it “pot luck” style)
58. Schedule a mid-year check-in with your Elf on the Shelf
59. Write messages with “invisible ink”
60. Mesmerize the littles with a jelly fish in a bottle
61. Grill banana s’mores
62. Make” hot dogs with hair” for lunch
63. Finger paint with pudding
64. Mail something fun to family/friends
65. Play flashlight tag in the dark
66. Make mud pies
67. Celebrate a crazy holiday (or make up your own)
68. Clean out closets and/or toy box and donate to charity
69. Bake something sweet
70. Try a new food and/or recipe
Out and About Fun Freebies:
71. Vacation Bible School at a local church
72. Library summer program(s)
73. Go swimming
74. Go to the zoo
75. Go fishing
76. Visit the Farmer’s Market
77. Have a picnic at the park
78. Stay cool at a splash pad
79. Go bowling
80. Enjoy watching or participate in an Independence Day parade
81. Visit a museum (many offer free days and some even free summer passes)
82. Feed the ducks at a pond/park
83. Go on a park hop
84. Visit the Children’s Museum
85. Spend a day at Shelby Farms
86. Go to the movies (look for summer freebies in your area)
87. Build sand castles (you could do this at home or at a park or beach with sand)
88. Go for a boat ride
Other Fun, But Not Necessarily Entirely Free Things:
89. Enjoy an afternoon at the Botanic Garden’s Big Backyard
90. Organize or participate in a town clean up day
91. Volunteer for ANYTHING worthwhile
92. Make a water bag to play on
That’s my list! What do you think? I have to figure out some cute way to display it so we can check things off as we go. I don’t have fancy printing software, so I may just write it on scrapbook paper, frame it, and use a dry erase marker to make the check marks.
Oh, and one more thing-check out my “Fun Stuff for the Girls” board on Pinterest to find instructions for these and other awesome ideas! When we complete an activity I’ll post about it and then add links as I have a habit of tweaking ideas I find online.
Do you have any plans this summer? How are you keeping your little ones busy?
Sick Mom Mystery Solved-Sort Of
6/05/2012 10:56:00 AM Posted by mommy2twincesses
I’m sure we can all agree that being a sick mom is no fun! We spend all of our time doling out love and care for all of our family members-and sometimes for those just passing through-but who comes to our rescue when we’re down and out?
I hope you’re answer isn’t the same as mine, because I basically get no sympathy from my immediate household whatsoever. I seriously don’t know what I’d do without my mom, MIL, and aunt who all live close by and are always more than happy to help with the girls when I’m feeling less than alive-which has been the entire month of May!
I started feeling crappy the very first week of May but you know how this goes, I’m mom, I’m not allowed to get sick, so I tried with every fiber of being to ignore my craptastic feelings and will illness away. My Super Girl cape must have been twisted that day because it didn’t work. I didn’t get better and it sucked.
I went to the doctor 3 times in the month of May and was told each time that I had a sinus infection and a double ear infection. Fantastic! *insert eye roll* In total I got 2 antibiotic shots, 1 sinus cocktail shot, 4 rounds of different antibiotics (I had an allergic reaction to the first round so they had to switch it), 3 different kinds of ear drops, allergy medicine, and also Mucinex-D. That should be enough to kill a small animal. By Friday June 1st, I was still miserable and decided that I wouldn’t survive the weekend at the rate I was going, so I called the ENT who performed my tonsillectomy several years ago. Thankfully Dr. Lewis’ office was able to squeeze me in that same day so I wouldn’t have to suffer through the weekend!
Although I had to drive an hour to get there, I didn’t have to wait long once I arrived. And that was a good thing since I probably would’ve went ballistic on the people letting their little maniac run wild in there!
Anyway, after just a very short exam and listening to me describe everything that was going on a smile spread over the doctor’s face. I wasn’t amused and couldn’t possibly fathom what he found humorous.
He began to explain that the reason that the meds weren’t working was because I didn’t have an ear or sinus infection, the source of my extreme discomfort was TMJ-also known as TMD.
I wanted to slap my forehead and shout “Are you kidding me?!” 3 different doctors and all that medicine for absolutely nothing?! Wow………..SMH.
He instructed me to get a night guard to help prevent Bruxism and prescribed a muscle relaxer and pain medication to take before bed and an anti-inflammatory for daytime use.
In just the 3 short days since I saw the ENT I have seen some slight improvement. I’ve actually slept through the night with the mouth piece in! Just getting a full night’s sleep does wonders! I’m still quite uncomfortable, but the stabbing and shooting pains have eased. My obvious new bestie, Mr. Headache, has still not left my side for a single second, but I have full confidence that we’re going to get a handle on this thing soon.
Do you or someone you know suffer from TMJ/TMD? If so, what brings you/them relief?
A Mommy Blogger’s New Beginnings
6/05/2012 10:19:00 AM Posted by mommy2twincesses
Well folks, looks like I’m here to stay. Just here I mean, on BlogSpot. The Featured Blogger program on the What to Expect site is no more, so now I’m all yours! Lucky you! LOL, in all seriousness, what I’m hoping it means is that I’ll actually be able to keep up to date and write about our lives, the fun things we do, the cool places we go, and just whatever in the heck I feel like-with no guidelines! Yippee! But no pay check-boo hoo :o(
They did start a new blogger program called Word of Mom and I have been accepted into there but I can already tell that is not where my heart is anymore. So again, lucky you! Bahahaha
My old blog, Twins! A Mother’s Joy and Insanity Doubled, will still technically be there, I just won’t be doing much with it anymore since they’ve moved to the new platform. I’m sure since I’ve poured the past couple of years into that blog I’ll be linking to it from time to time, but my chains have fallen away. I’m as free as a bird, and scared as a mouse. And here I am going for the "free" look:
I need to start off with an apology for not keeping up with my personal blog the way I should to develop a loyal base of readers. My priorities weren’t exactly where they should have been and my low numbers tell the tale best. Forgive me!
I starteth anew. Bear with me as I tread new waters, try new things, and just blog on the fly! If you read something you like, please, share it with a friend (or 500) *wink wink*
So what new things do you have going on?
Last Minute DIY Mother's Day Gift
5/12/2012 02:54:00 PM Posted by mommy2twincesses
Have you waited until the last minute to get a special mom on your list a gift for the big day tomorrow? If so, shame on you! But, never fear, I’ve got an awesome homemade gift to share with you that almost any mom is sure to love and you’ve probably got everything you need laying around the house.
So what is this wonderfully awesome, insanely inexpensive, simple to make gift? Behold, the earring holder!
Super cute right?! (And, yes, of course this came from Pinterest)
All you need is a frame and burlap! Actually, I’m pretty sure that lace would work nicely too and would even give it an extra girly touch ;)
I ran across this old frame while cleaning out drawers, popped the back off, took out the glass, and placed 2 pieces of burlap in there instead of a picture. Seriously, it couldn’t have been easier!
To make your earring holder a little sturdier, for moms who wear heavier jewelry, you could easily add a few dots of hot or super glue to hold the burlap or lace in place.
And if you’re feeling extra crafty you could personalize it by painting an initial, favorite verse, or saying on the burlap or lace!
If you make one share a picture with me! I can see these getting very creative and I’m always looking for new ideas :o)
Friday Freeze Frame-I'm One Lucky Duck
5/04/2012 11:20:00 AM Posted by mommy2twincesses
Today's photographs were our Easter pictures taken by Soul Reflections Photography. (I just picked them up yesterday!)
