Letters to Santa 2012
11/11/2012 03:44:00 PM Posted by mommy2twincesses
I can’t believe it’s finally here! Time to write letters
to Santa! SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!!
Yes, those are MY thoughts, not those of my 3 year olds
:oP
We normally wouldn’t do them so early, but our local Post
Office is preparing their annual display and asked if we would participate, so
we did them. Tonight!
It actually works out perfectly because we’re going to
take pictures with Santa on Tuesday, so they’ll be able to take him a copy of
their letter! SQUEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I found several adorable Santa letter templates on
Pinterest, you can find them on my board HERE!
For those who may not know, we do Christmas a little
differently than most families. At our house, Santa only brings ONE gift for
each child. After all, he’s only got ONE sled and has to deliver gifts ALL over
the world to EVERY single boy and girl on the planet. That’s quite a tall order
and we’re not going to complicate things even more for him by asking for an
entire list of gifts. It defeats the whole purpose of Christmas, in my personal
opinion. (And keeps mom and dad out of the poor house, LOL)
Then, as parents, we give them 3 gifts each, from us. The
reasoning behind this being the Bible mentions that Jesus received 3 gifts
(gold, frankincense, and myrrh) the night of his birth, and if 3 gifts are
enough for the King of Kings, it’s enough for us! Again, this helps us keep our
focus on the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas-Christ’s birth-instead of
making it all about the presents.
We do the “12 Days of Christmas” with small, trinkets in
their stocking as a countdown to Christmas, and then on the morning of, we’ll
have a small birthday party for Jesus and enjoy opening gifts!
I wrote their letters, word for word, what they told me
they wanted them to say, and then they signed them all by themselves! *tear* I
bet by next year, they’ll be writing the whole thing, just needing help with
spelling.
M is asking Santa for “a baby doll with a spoon and
yogurt” and K wants “a Jasmine costume and shoes”. That’s easy enough! But what
they don’t know is what’s killing me! “Santa” will bring those things, but he’s
got an EXTRA SPECIAL gift for the entire family this year……….check
it out here!
Perspective-Gained the Hard Way
10/20/2012 06:16:00 PM Posted by mommy2twincesses
Wednesday morning was the worst I can recall in history,
since waking up at 14 years old to find that my father had passed away during
the night. Sounds dramatic right?! It was…….for a while, but thankfully, I’ve
gained a new perspective-a reality check of sorts.
Before I’d even had time to fix breakfast, K comes
rushing up to me with a handful of hair, eyes wide with fear and tears, and
voice shaky and on the verge of a major melt down. “M’s cut her hair off!” she
wailed, “Come see!”
I sprang up and followed her into the playroom where I
was utterly stunned by what filled my eyes. There were piles upon piles of hair………..this
was one of several.
My knees went weak and I think I may have blacked out,
because I don’t recall exactly what I said or did immediately.
By the time I had at least some of my wits about me, I
gathered a Ziplock baggie full of hair and realized that all 3 of us were
crying-hysterically. (Among many other irrational fears and aversions of mine,
bad haircuts rank REALLY close to number one-I blame it on scarring as a child!)
When I found the guilty party, she was hiding and bawling
her little eyes out. I don’t think I was much help as I nearly hyperventilated over
the sight of her self-inflicted mullet :o(
I called DH, but he couldn’t understand what was going on
between the sobs, so MIL was promptly called and came to the rescue.
She kept K, while I rushed M to the beauty shop!
As my friend tried the best she could to salvage what
hair was left, M sat, much calmer than before, but with her lip poked WAY out
in disgust. When questioned about her frustrations, she said, “Well, my hair
didn’t even turn pink! Or at LEAST blonde!”
I was puzzled, but too curious not to push further. I
tried explaining, “Well honey, our hair doesn’t change color just because we
cut it.”
“But Rapunzel’s does!” was her very serious reply.
*head slap* On the ride home we had a long discussion
about real and fantasy (which I honestly thought we had down by now), and with
a broken hearted mama and sissy, the world turned on.
M was quite proud of herself, while K and I were
pitifully stunned and not pleased. (Not one of my proudest parenting moments to
say the least.)
2 other major family dramas occurred over Wednesday and Thursday,
so by the time it was Friday, I could hardly wait to get out the door to attend
the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure!
Friday morning my “team mates” bailed on me. (Losers!
LOL, I kid) That was pretty much the straw that broke this camel’s back.
DH and MIL insisted I go anyway, just to unwind and try
to put myself back together. It was a heavenly appointment, of that I’m now
sure!
I cried most of the 2 ½ hour drive, over just everything
that was seemingly going wrong. Sometimes, a long cry is just soul cleansing
for me. *shrugs* I don’t cry often, so when I DO, I usually go overboard!
After my night alone in a posh hotel, complete with room
service, and a way too long steamy hot shower, I finally felt some peace.
Then, this morning, I woke up before my alarm and got
myself ready for the race.
Almost as suddenly as the cool morning air hit my face,
so did the conviction and the voice of the Lord reminding me to not sweat the
small stuff.
Everywhere I looked, for as far as I could
see-literally-were women gathering together, rallying around, in honor of, and
in memory of loved ones, friends, and family that were and/or are battling
breast cancer! There were women, of all ages, proudly displaying their BALD
heads, and I felt like pond scum.
Here I was, crying like a crazy person over an untimely
hair CUT, and they were fighting for their lives and not even phased by the
beautiful baldness! *hangs head*
Perspective. Loud and clear!
Jogging those 3 miles were better than good church to me!
I fought tears, and lost to a few, during my run, but my soul was revived. My
eyes were opened. And I am thankful!
Kids will be kids! Things will happen, and just because they
don’t “go our way” or “fit our schedule” doesn’t mean it’s the end of our
world. That’s the perfect time to look around and instead of focusing on what’s
going wrong-we should look around to see what’s going right!
My family is healthy and happy and I’m regretful for
spending so much time stressing about the “little stuff”! After all, is this
NOT precious?!
Although I’m honestly still mourning the hair cut deep
down, this has taught me a valuable lesson!
What
lesson(s) have your little ones taught you lately?
The Twin Quizzing Continues
9/25/2012 01:38:00 PM Posted by mommy2twincesses
At 3 years old we STILL get the typical “twin” questions when we’re out and about, but the girls pretty much handle this on their own now. Just a week or so ago we were shopping and a lady kept staring and one of them piped up and said, directly toward her, “YES, we’re twins!” I almost died of embarrassment, but she seemed completely relieved and then followed with the same song and dance everyone else does. It went something like this:
The lady: (laughs) “I sure thought so, but was afraid to ask. So how old are you?”
The girls: (holding up 3 fingers) “We’re 3 and our birthday is February 2nd.”
Lady: “REALLY?! Well who is the oldest?”
M: (raises her hand) “I am, by one minute.”
Lady: (looks at me like “what the what”) “They sure do look alike! Are they identical?”
K: “Yes, but I have a freckle on my nose, and my sister has one on her cheek.”
Me: (highly amused by the look of wonder on the lady’s face) “I guess you can tell that we get this all the time?”
The conversation is wrapped up with me trying to politely excuse us to finish our shopping.
This is so commonplace that we rarely even check up and I suppose the girls don’t really think anything about it because it happens so often. But every now and then something goes awry (or someone says something totally off color and asinine) and the latest went like this-I’m SO relieved not to have to handle idiots alone now, the girls get them before I have a chance! Here’s a great example:
Again, we’re shopping and a lady starts with all the usual questions. The girls spit the answers back to her just like before, but as she’s walking off she says, “I don’t know how you do it! If I’d have had twins I would’ve shot myself!”
I cringed inside and hoped with every fiber of my being my children wouldn’t hear this, but of course they did. Before I had a chance to explain that like the scarecrow on the Wizard of Oz says, “some people without brains do an awful lot of talking”, one of them quipped, “What?! What would you have shot yourself WITH?!”
My knees went weak but my subconscious was fist pumping! I struggled to keep a straight face as the woman turned to glance back at us in disbelief over her shoulder and I found great joy in watching the color drain from her face. She was flabbergasted! I don’t know if she was truly embarrassed by her own stupidity or by the fact that she was outwitted by a 3 year old, but whatever it was made me immensely happy!
Do you get “quizzed”?! How old are your twins? Does this EVER get better? How do you handle it? Tell me your stories!
A Snapshot of 3 ½- My Girls are Growing Up
9/20/2012 02:52:00 PM Posted by mommy2twincesses
I know as parents we all have these, “AWWWWWWW………I wish I could just freeze time” moments, and right now-at 3 ½, that’s exactly how I feel most days.
I never would’ve dreamed that in just 3 short years, my once tiny girls would be, well, so “grown up”!
To put in perspective of what I mean by “grown up” picture 42 inches and 36 pounds of pure sassiness! Yes, my 3 year olds are wearing size 5 in clothing and a 10 in shoes! According to some information I found on Babycenter.com, the average height for a 3 ½ year old girl is only about 38 inches. I’m guessing they’ll be tall like their daddy (who is 6’2”)-which is a fantastic thing in my book!
Anyway, seeing the “average” size makes a lot of sense to me since I hear almost daily that people can’t believe the girls are only 3 ½. For example, we went to the fair last night and I had several people astounded by the fact that they’re only 3 years old because they are so tall, well spoken, and independent. One couple actually said they would’ve guessed they were at least 5.
Some of their favorite phrases of the moment are: “I need my privacy”, “so and so isn’t paying attention”, “if you’d just realize/recognize”, “I don’t really care for _____”, “________is really freaking me out/cracking me up”…………the list could go on, but my point is that they speak like little adults and it’s pretty hilarious!
They rode tons of rides at the fair and only allowed me to help them get into and buckle up on the first one. They noticed that the older kids were doing it themselves, so when I tried to come in the gate behind them the second time I was met with a “no mom, we’re big, we can do this ourselves!” As proud as it makes me on one hand, the other is almost soul crushing! My babies are supposed to still need me right?!
I mean, they dress themselves, they can climb into their car seats and buckle themselves, they wash themselves in the shower (and dry off and get dressed), they’re writing letters and drawing real pictures………IDK, I just didn’t think this would all happen so quickly!
3 ½ is fabulous and full of attitude, but wonderful! I’m elated and saddened all at the same time at the rapid pace I’m losing my babies :/
Preschool Fine Motor Practice Pays Off
7/29/2012 03:15:00 PM Posted by mommy2twincesses
I've never been pushy with teaching them things, but with elementary education in my background, I've found that they learn so much through playing, so pretty much any time we're "playing", we're "learning" too. To get to this point we've done lots of coloring, drawing, letter name/recognition games, using the letters of their names in little made up songs and cheers, and of course tons of repetition and encouragement.
M isn't quite as good as K yet, but she's getting there! There is enough sibling rivalry between the two that neither one is going to be "out done" for long ;)
What kinds of things do you do with your little ones to jump start the reading/writing train?
Time Flies When You're Having Fun
7/29/2012 03:01:00 PM Posted by mommy2twincesses
I've been so caught up in staying cool and staying sane while it's too hot to be outside that I'm so far behind I feel like I'll never catch up.
Okay, to make a long story short, this summer we've been running like crazy! From trips to the lake, weekends with grandparents, learning to swim (without formal lessons), to just having fun here at home, we have been some crazy busy girls!
We recently saw The Wizard of Oz live! K loved meeting Dorothy and I loved that the production was by a local theatre group and we snagged tickets to a matinee viewing for only $5 per person!
We've been spending lots of time swimming and the girls are little fish! They are both swimming without floaties and M is especially good at retrieving dive rings from the bottom of the pool! Here she is showing a little sass and pride in her skills ;)
I'm in awe every single day at how big they are, how much they've grown, and what pure joy they've brought to our lives! I'm sure that this wild ride we're on is just starting to pick up steam too <3
Shaving Cream Paint-Crazy Fun!
6/18/2012 09:00:00 AM Posted by mommy2twincesses
While trying to come up with ways to keep my littles entertained this summer I came across this amazingly easy and cool idea on Pinterest. Shaving cream paint!
Paint of any kind is normally messy and makes me cringe just a little, but right now it’s hot outside, the kiddy pool is full, and messes are on the daily menu-as long as they are OUTSIDE.
I grabbed a few items that we already had on hand and quickly mixed up an hour’s worth of fun!
What You’ll Need:
Shaving cream
Muffin Tin
Food Coloring
Spoon
Paint brushes
What You Do:
Fill each section of the muffin tin with shaving cream.
Add a few drops of food coloring to each pile.
Mix it well.
Give the “paint” and brushes to the kids.
Get done whatever you need to do while they’re painting themselves silly!
Here is what my finished product looked like:
Here is what my painted child looks like:
Can you tell they had a ball?! LOL The great thing was that all they had to do was dive into pool and they were as clean as when they started! This was fabulously easy and fantastically fun……we will DEFINITELY be doing this again-possibly even in the bathtub :o)
Do you have any fun/creative activities that never fail to keep your kiddos busy?
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!
