Multitasker

It's not just anyone


that can hold one baby
Feed another baby
watch tv
(Notice the remote tucked near Collin)
and play Plants vs. Zombies on his phone
all at the same time.

The man has skills I tell ya
Skills.

Does it make it more legit if I spell it with a Z?
Not sure
so here
Skillz
Cause he's got them.

Double Decker

One in the arms
One on the lap


Used to be two in the arms
or two in the lap
when I was trying to eat
or help the other kids

They are too big now
(they kick and whack each other in the face)
so we have to go
double decker style.

They are just starting to notice
when they get the second best spot
Trouble.

Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis, Meet Me at the Fair

Meet me in St. Louis, Louis


Scratch that
Meet me in Elkhart Indiana
meet me at the fair.


I don't think the lights are shining
any place but there.


We will dance the hoochy coochy


You will be my tootsie wootsie,
if you will
meet me here in Indiana,



meet me aaaaaaaatttttt the fair.

Just pretend
you hear the song playing in the background
or something
and if you don't know the song,

well

that is just sad
and you should go watch
Meet Me in St. Louis
immediately.
I mean it
Go.

For the rest of you
On with the post.



The twins were four months old
and already so big,
that it was not pleasant for them
to be doubled up in the single stroller



They were pretty vocal with their dislike

Note to mom:
we don't like
being smooshed together in tight places
been there
done that
for nine months
Don't want to go back there

notice the outfit change as well
no we weren't going for high fashion,
we had a double blow out not 20 minutes after arrival



while watching this


We ended up carrying them around like this
and they were much happier
even though I was much sweatier


My dad did twin patrol
while the rest of us went on the ferris wheel

He said twins are girl magnets.
Every woman that passed had a comment
or a coo
and told him how cute they were.

I would have to agree,
they are dang cute
and they do attract a lot of attention.



me and the handsome hubby


at the Lady Antibellum Concert
sans kids
(Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!)

A fun day was had by all,
and dang we slept well that night.

We love the Elkhart County 4-H Fair
And going to see Grandpa Rick and Grandma Becky.

See you next year at The Fair?

The View

The view from the
cheap seat


(my couch)


Never
get tired
of seeing it.



The Princess Movie
never gets old


when it
creates an hour of peace


where every one is quiet
and captivated
and safe
at home.

Shoot,
I would watch 50 princess movies
if it meant
one hour
of this.

Did I say
view from the cheap seat?
When these guys are the view
I'd call it
the best seat in the house.

We didn't go AWOL, We went AMISH

I love going home.


Not to my home,
but, you know,
home.


(No, this was not my house, but I think it is so cute, and familiar
and right around the corner from a good friends childhood home)


Driving familiar roads

Where you grew up,
where your memories of high school are
and most importantly,
where your parents are.

I wish you could add sound clips
because if I could
I would educate you
as I did my oldest son
on the glory of the Jackson 5
singing


I'm going back to Indiana
Indiana here I come, yeah yeah
I'm going back to Indiana
Cause that is where my baby's from.
I'm going back to Indiana
Indiana here I come!
Okay Tito, you got it...


I give full credit to knowing this song
to my best gal and fellow Hoosier
Kristy K
She introduced me to the greatness of it in college
and we now CANNOT
cross the Indiana state line without it blaring.

Well, I can't,
Ryan could probably do without,
but he's with me, so...
He must love it by association.

It works that way when you are married
and/or confined in a car with someone.



We headed out on a Friday morning
disappointed
because we were supposed to head out Thursday
but due to a series of unfortunate events
including a Uhaul and a hitch and a dvd screen
it was Friday.


We drove straight on through
24 hrs
which I thought was pretty dang impressive
with 5 small children.
(Check out the time on the Nav screen)

I say we
I mean Ryan,
he drove 22 of the 24 hrs,
But I was there,
and helping him to stay awake,


and dealing with wiggly babies


So it counts right?

and it was worth it to suprise the parents
by getting there in the morning instead of at night
and catching my dad
in the middle of the lawn mowing.

Mmmm...
Home.

This was just the first day,
We got more comin folks.
Stay tuned.

Bumbo-licious

We love Bumbos


Yes we do!


We love Bumbos


How about you?


Collin is trying to decide
if it matters if his is pink


But a $5 pink garage sale Bumbo
beats the heck out
of a $35 blue or green one
any day
(that's what we think anyway, especially since it came with a tray too!)


Talk about fraternal twins


They do not look even remotely the same

People still ask if they are identical though
and how we tell them apart,
I think my incredulous look
was starting to make people feel stupid

so I just laugh politely
and say I look at them
and do eeny meeny miney mo
and go with what ever name comes up.
Then they laugh politely
and try to decide if I am kidding.



P.S.- sorry for the poor picture quality.
my iPhone is not such a hot photog
Thinking about firing her,
but she is always close in a pinch or super cute moment
so we shall see.

Neighbor Kids

In the past
when a kid knocked on the door
asking to play


I would grumble under my breath
and start to dread the mess they would make
and the fighting amongst my kids
and the emptying of my snack cupboard.

Why is it that other little kids
are always STARVING at my house?

And most of the kids that would come to play were older,
not wanting to play with my kids so much,
as they wanted to play with their toys,
and break them, and in some cases, take them.


and my kids generally play well together,
and are good friends and confidants in secret adventures
its really cute to hear and see.


But when neighbor kids arrive,
they hate each other
and no one can play together
and toys CANNOT be shared with a sister.

However,
we had a mass exodus of families
out of our neighborhood last year
and this summer,
a whole bunch of new ones moved in.
and we have had some fun times.



I don't dread the knock so much.
and I find myself laughing really hard
at the wild adventures that my kids stumble in from.

It was 94 degrees and they had all of Caden's costumes out
I thought they were going to have heat stroke
( Caden is the little Ben 10 with the skunk head, yeah, don't know...)


And by golly
one of the neighbor kids
did the impossible.


He taught Caden how to ride his bike.


Ryan and I have been trying for a year,
and after a 10 second tutorial from Jackson,
Caden is now zipping around with the big kids.

Its been good times in the neighborhood
this summer,
despite the sunburns and mosquito bites
good times.

Ordinary Miracle

This picture
is mind blowing to me


this is how they were
in my belly

I go back and forth between thinking
that its kinda freaky looking
and that it is a really beautiful miracle
that they are here
and that it was possible.

I mostly swing towards the miraculous side.

I also think that Brittany
(the photographer)
is miraculous
for turning
my black
chub hiding sweater,
undone hair, and almost no makeup
Into this,
which I love


My mother in law asks me constantly
"Do you feel special yet?"
"Do you feel chosen?"


The answer is a resounding
Yes
Every day

I feel constantly that my life is a miracle
not of my own making
and
I am grateful
and humbled
and hopeful



P.S. Pictures were taken by the fabulous Brittany
of Brittany Davis Photography
and Love Stitched

Defying Orders

I went in to check on the troops
who had been ordered
to take their morning nap


Obviously someone was being defiant.


and seemed pretty happy
to be getting away with it.

Collin was oblivious to it all.

Until
I sat down to work on my goal
of getting back into the blogging mode.


Then he insisted
on being smack in the middle
of all the business
by arching and crying
if I tried to type,
and smiling and cooing
if I stopped and talked to him.

See people?
Its not my fault.
My babies are anti-blogging.


But for real,
I am going to be trying to catch up.
Be patient,
and keep coming back,
good things await you.