Mother's of Multiples Mondays

Ok, Its Monday again. Here is where mother's of multiples can share some good stories and ugly stories about their multiples! I am just not sure at this point if I can survive the two year old stage. They still don't talk, so it is constant whining. They follow me around everywhere holding on to my legs. I turn around fast and usually knock one of them over cause they are RIGHT there. But, we did invest in a HUGE baby gate. It is really big. So I have it so they can go back and forth on the deck and have some freedom, but still gated in. This helps somewhat, and they really like being outside! The pictures above are from us doing "fingerpainting" with pudding. It was fun...not so fun to clean up though!

TGIF!

Wow, where did the week go? I can't believe how fast time flies by! The kids only have 3 weeks left of school, then I am responsible for keeping 5 kids busy all summer long! Wow. And if I do homeschool, then I am looking at this being the last 3 weeks of quiet during the day! Does anyone have any plans for the summer? Any ideas or tricks to keep the kids busy? I am making up some organizational charts and some calanders to keep them on track, but I don't have any ideas of inexpensive things to actually do with the kids. I don't want to spend a lot of money going to the zoo all the time, usually we invite other neighbor kids over and have picnics and have campouts in the back yard, but I think the kids are getting bored with doing that. What activities do you plan with your kids? Thanks in advance for any ideas you guys have!

And the second part of today's post is Who Are You? I love meeting new people! I posted last week about "I don't know what my real hair color is" and described some of who I was. Describe to me who you are! Some other of my characteristics, I am a debater. I love discussing politics. I love learning new things and reading about new things. I read fiction, non fiction, magazines (yes, I do read People and other gossipy magazines!), I enjoy reading other peoples blogs and learning about their lives. I have found several times when I have read other peoples blogs and learned different ways or options of dealing with things, life events, and I have on more then one occassion used what I have found from other peoples life experiances to transform the way that I look at things. So, would love to hear who you are! Little quirks, anything!

Plastic Surgery

Ok, so I was reading this post, and I really started thinking. I lost a tremendous amount of weight...It's been a while now. But I was almost 500 pounds, got down to 160 pounds. I am up now, since having the twins, but I want to get back to where I was at 160 and then have plastic surgery. Everything sags. Not just from nursing 5 kids either! (Who said that you would looose a ton of weight nursing??? I was hungry all the time and didn't loose anything!) I digress, so is it bad to have plastic surgery? I probably have 15 to 20 pounds of excess skin. I want to look good after putting all this time and effort in to loosing the weight! But the expense of it! Wow, it's super expensive! Would you have plastic surgery? Is it just a vain thing to even consider? Am I letting down all the woman in my life by even considering this?

Thursday

We have had such a good week filled with visitors. My Aunt is coming today and I am really excited to see her. Isn't it great when you have love and support from other women in your life? I had two friends come and visit me this week, and now my Aunt. I have really enjoyed their support and advice. With finals coming up next week, and trying to launch my internet business with birthday party invites, it's been hectic. But I appreciate all the women in my life who have been supportive of me. Who is it in your life whom you have appreciated their love, support, and advice?

Isn't it nice when you get visitors to come and see you and say hi?!

Birthday Party Invites

Ok, so I just got done with my first internet sale of party invitations! It went well. I think I am going to have to rethink some things, and figure out packaging. That was really hard. Typically I have just sold at craft fairs, so there is no shipping involved usually. Sometimes I will ship invites if they want something personalized, but this go, whewie! Here is my first internet order! I will hopefully be getting my Etsy sight done this week, then people can go there!

It's Friday!

I love Friday's. It's exciting to think about what the possibilities of the weekend hold. Sometimes we have people coming to visit, sometimes it's just us. Lately though it seems like my kids are getting busier and busier and wanting to go off with friends and do their own thing. We've found ourselves on Friday nights now with the older kids off spending the night at friends houses, and it's just us and the twins. Sad sometimes. We used to spend Friday nights playing Monopoly, eating pizza, laughing together. I am starting to get a little ache in my stomach thinking about the song by Darius Rucker, "It Won't Be Like This For Long". Above is a picture of my son, it was his 12 year old, golden birthday. We took him to a Rascal Flatts concert for his birthday. The song I have always had for my kids and I is "My Wish"

Here's the verse: My wish for you, is that your life becomes all that you want it to.
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small
You never have to carry more then you can haul
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to
I hope you know somebody loves you and wants the same things to
Yeah this, is my wish

It's such a perfect song.
Maybe it's the rain today, maybe it's just all of the posts I have read this week, I guess I just woke up this morning and started looking at our weekend and thought, I never believed this would happen so quickly to us. It seemed like just yesterday our kids were here all the time, and my hubby and I just wanted a break!
We are starting to settle into a new routine. We have date nights now on the weekends, we watch movies and don't have to wait anymore till everyone goes to bed at 10pm, twins go to bed at 8pm. It's a new reality. With the approach of the summer, I know we'll be even more busy, and the kids will be off, even when we go camping, they want to go off and ride bikes and off to the playground, they don't want to hang out with us. But I am saving in my heart those little opportunities that we will have. Those times when we can savour the moment. When we will all be around together, laughing, and knowing that we are family, and we are what is most important in each others lives. We will be there for each other no matter what, and not forget that to maintain that, we need time together.
TGIF ladies! I hope you all have some great plans for the weekend! Let me know if you have some ideas that you and your family do together. I would love to hear what you do!

I don't know what my real hair color is!

I love dying my hair. I do it so much, I am not sure what the real color is. So while I think about who I am, and try to write a description of myself, if I look exteriorly, I am not going to do very well cause I gain weight, loose weight, change my hair color, I am always changing on the outside. But on the inside, though I grow and mature and learn, I am a simple person.
I am NOT a morning person. I hate waking up. But I am a night person! When I finally drag my butt out of bed, I love coffee and bagels and cream cheese in the morning. That is my favorite, though I don't get the bagels very often. I think I am a carb addict. That brings me to my next thing. Weight. Oh, what a fun topic! I used to weigh close to 500 pounds. Yes, I used to. I got down to 160 pounds. Then I got pregnant with the twins. Twins are now 19 months and I weigh more now then I did the day I went in to the hospital to deliver them! Ugh. I struggle so much with weight. It makes me so angry.But I know, staying at home is not easy for me to loose weight. I am held more accountable and busier when I work. Ok, so I could write a whole blog about weight struggles.
Next thing about who I am, I am a scrapbook fiend. If there is an addiction to scrapbooking, I have it! I am though expanding my business to sell birthday party invitations and favors and decorations.
Oh, which leads me to another "who am i" moment, I love activities with kids! I love doing tea parties with my daughter and her friends, I love birthday parties with the kids, I have thought of expanding and being a party planner and actually doing that as a business. I really truly love doing that kind of thing.
I am a student at a University here. I have a marketing and sales management degree, but I am now looking to get a math major and secondary education degree. I love math. It's weird but I feel calm about math. I don't know how to explain, but its something that I don't have stress over. Anyways, so there that.
I am not a good cook, but I can bake pretty good and love baking! I hate milk and don't drink it. I love Taco Bell and Chipotle. I love dipping my french fries in vanilla milk shakes. I love listening to the rain and I love snuggling with my husband. I love being outside in the sun, I have freckles on my face which I have always hated!
I am a believer in God. I believe in Jesus. I believe in His salvation. I don't believe that any one particular religion is right or wrong as long as they believe in Jesus and that He died for us. I, myself, do not believe or want to participate in religious rituals or believe there are rules to get in to heaven. I think it's pretty simple, if you believe in God, you confess, and you recieve God's gift of his salvation, you go to heaven. Beyond that, you strive to live according to His plan, but it doesn't send you to heaven, and it doesn't ban you from heaven.
I love beaches! I love the water, especially the ocean. Love going to Mexico. Love margarita's and beer...and really love margarita beers! (hmm, if you have never had one...try one! I can tell you how to make one!)
I was fired from my last job and faced some pretty ugly pubic humiliation. My boss stole from the company, and I reported to a board, who after me working my butt off by myself trying to put everything back in order, decided to fire everyone and start over. But it ended up being good. My job was a high profile public job. It was stressful. And being fired, I have had the opportunity to stay at home. It's been good! (Although, see above about the weight gain!)
I love camping.
I love my husband. I love our life together, the life that we have worked hard for. We have struggled, we have fought, we have had some really ugly times. But we have made it through this far, I can't imagine ever giving up now!
I love my kids. They are truly the biggest blessings in my life. I didn't know if I ever wanted kids, after I had one, I didn't think I wanted anymore. 5 kids later, can't imagine my life without them.
Whew, so that is partially who I am. Who are you?! Would love to meet you!

My Gift

I try and appreciate all the gifts and blessings in my life. Sometimes I don't, some I let pass by me. But today I am once again reminded of my blessings. It's been about a week ago since I blogged about it having been 2 years since we found out we were pregnant with twins. We didn't know it was going to be such a hard road. I never had any major pregnancy issues. Within a couple of weeks, we found out that one of the twins (Twin A) wasn't growing. Oh, it was hard. But I am so thankful that my husband right away stood up for his little life. With all the pressures and worrying about Twin B, I don't know what decision I would have made honestly. They told me it was risky because if Twin A died, and I went in to labor, I might loose them both. My husband was adamant that we were continuing on. Throughout the pregnancy I spent countless hours in and out of the hospital and doctors appointments. But the second thing I am greatful for is for the birth of my twins! What a miracle, what a gift. They have been a blessing to our family, they have brought us closer together. I think that my husband and I would be divorced right now if we hadn't come together for them. I have fallen in love all over again with my husband! He has fallen in love all over again with me. Our marriage has been better then it ever has been these last two years. He's a better dad then he's ever been, it's a miracle. God knows what he's doing, and though sometimes sickness tears people apart, it did the opposite for us. It brought us closer. What a blessing the gift of life is! And the picture above is of Baby A after he was about 3 and a half weeks old. We couldn't hold him for a couple of weeks, and this was the first time we could dress him and take him out of his incubator for a little while. One of the best days of my life. You don't know the agony and pain of standing next to your little babies, laying there in incubators, not being able to touch them because they were so sensative to touch and pain. I just cried. But finally, we got to touch them and kiss them and hold them!

Every day is God's day

I am starting to seriously feel led to homeschool. After reading the posts online, from teachers, and having a tough year with my kids school, I think it is what is best. But I am also worried about us financially. To be committing to this, and me really not having an option to go to work. I suppose I could work on the weekends...I would be spending all week with the kids.
But this is my plan. I am dedicating the next month to:

1) Organize and come up with a lesson plan.

2) I am going to work at creating schedules to organize the kids time, a to do list and a goal list for each of the kids.

3) I am also going to dedicate this month to getting my at home business going. (I make birthday party invitations, cupcake toppers and party favors, plus I have started making room decor items) and selling those.

4) And then this summer, we are going to try it out. Try homeschooling, try following a routine, and see how it goes.

I also feel strongly that because I have been lax in doing my devotions, I am not able to hear exactly what God has planned for me and make sure I am on the right path with homeschooling. So, I am going to get my devotional life back on track. Do you guys ever fall short in that area? When do you find is the best time to do your devotions?

Mother's of Multiples

Wow, its a crazy ride isn't it?! Being the mother of multiples adds a whole new dimension to the mix of parenting. Right now, my twins are 19 months old, and they have started biting and pushing each other. It makes me sad cause I thought they would be best buddies! What are some of the things you ladies are experiencing? What are some of the ways that any of you have overcome these problems? I would like to be able to hear some ideas from other mothers of multiples, or to share my idea's that I have found that works! Mondays on my blog are going to be dedicated to Mother's of Multiples Mondays. Wow, what a mouthful!

TGIF

Wow, I am glad it's Friday. The twins are really crabby today. Not sure why. They love their daddy and do so much better when he's around. I have to clean the house today and make cookies for this weekend. I am thinking about starting a traditional Friday night thing. Not sure what it is going to be. We do usually have pizza and watch movies or play a game. But I am trying to think of something creative to do. Does anyone out there have a creative tradition that they do in their families? I would love to hear it!

Crazy days

Ok, so today has been really crazy. I am trying to juggle the twins, decorating my house and finish up all those projects that we have put off for 4 years, sign my kids up for all their sports for the summer, and on and on. (Did I mention I am a full time student? Math major). So in between all that, I am doing homework. I was thinking, maybe I should start a 5 0'clock somewhere post on Fridays. I am really looking forward to TGIF, and I think if the weather holds up, I might enjoy a beer. My week has been long. I am looking forward to a weekend!

Story behind the picture

Twins are talking!

Today I have just been reminiscing about the twins, listening to them babble away. Just two years ago today, we began a crazy ride! We found out we were pregnant! A surprise to say the least. We thought we were done, 3 kids was enough we thought. But after getting over the surprise of being pregnant, we were in for an even bigger shock, we were having twins! We didn't have much time to let that information sink in though. We found out that Baby A was not growing. They said he wouldn't make it. I went in every week for an ultra sound, just bracing myself for the day that they would tell me he had passed away. But a miracle happened to our family. He started growing again. He was always several weeks behind Baby B, and up until my C section they told me to prepare myself that he would be born stillborn. Born on Sept. 15, 2008 weighing just 3 pounds, 3 ounces, we seen our lovely baby come in to this world. Here we are, 2 years later, all of us here and healthy! Including my trooper Baby A...or as we lovingly call him, shoeshine.

About our fam

My studly husband of 10 years and myself have five wonderful, perfect, angelic kids. Well, maybe not angelic! We have a 12 year old son, TT, a 9 year old son, Boo man, a 7 year old daughter, Missy, and surprise, a set of 19 month old twin boys, Shoe Shine and Conman. And yes, these are the real nicknames that we use for the kids. Our life is crazy, busy, but we make the most of life. We deal with teenage hormones, and the terrible two temper tantrums. Some days I am up all night with a teething baby, some days I am fighting all day with a preteen daughter.

But then, it happens. That window in time when you experience the perfect moment in time. This last Saturday night, we had our first bonfire of the season. We were roasting hot-dogs in our backyard. Getting ketchup and mustard and marshmallows all over, and my kids are laughing. They are discussing the intricacies of toasting a marshmallow and finding just the right coals. I just think to myself, I am so lucky, so blessed to have this life. That we can share this simple time together as a family. That my husband had emailed me from work and said how excited he was for the bonfire that night. Later I crawled in to bed with my husband and we were watching a movie. He leans over and takes my hand, and we laid there, holding hands, watching a movie. Sometime half way through the movie, I fell asleep, and I woke up in the morning and think, this is life! It couldn't have been a more perfect night! Nothing big, just one perfect night.

Our Lives

God has been so good to my family. Though life brings us many ups and downs, I just want to live my life, and love every minute of it! The good, the bad, the ugly.