When I got the kids up this morning, I reminded Taylor that she had swimming lessons today, and therefore, all three kids would have a bath when we got home. Apparently, the boys took that as a challenge.  They colored with markers for a little while. I was proud of how calm they were, and they were proud of their beautiful drawings.

Thirty seconds. I stepped away for half of a minute to gather up the laundry that they unfolded moments earlier. I figured, they were content; I might as well get a few things done.  They were steps away from me. What could go wrong? The answer:

markers + momentarily unsupervised twin toddlers = mayhem 

They were very excited about their facial creations and were admiring the “boo boos” on each other’s face. At least they were washable markers!

Taylor has the day off from school due to an impending snow storm, so we were looking for new ways to break the day up and keep everyone happy. My brother had just given the kids a Mr. Potato Head super hero set, and it has been a huge hit!  They played with it for a full hour before asking for the tv to be turned on, which is a major accomplishment around here.

The prime lesson of the morning entailed explaining to the boys that even though they fit nicely, the Potato Head accessories do not go in the dog’s nose. Ever.

Ranger is the most tolerant dog of all time. He may give the kids the side-eye or the WTF look sometimes (or multiple times a day), but that is the extent of it. He’s a lover. We are so lucky to have him in our little family!

Taylor has been taking Spanish lessons, once a week at school. Today, we had this conversation:

T: Hey Mom. Do you know how to say ghost in Spanish?

M: No, sweetheart. I don’t know that one.

T: I know, Mom. It’s ‘Hola, ghost!’

She was very proud. I suppose it will take a while for her to be fluent. 🙂

Today was the first absolutely beautiful day we have had in a long time. Sure, it might have been late February, but we weren’t complaining. We went to our local nature center, where we had a great time walking around and looking at all of the animals. We spent the last half hour or so letting the kids just run around in a field.  They had a blast and their excitement sure showed on their three little faces. At one point, the boys simultaneously ran up to me and bombarded me with hugs and kisses!  Todd was nearby and managed to snap a few pictures before they ran away to find sticks.

Parents of twins often hear the saying “double trouble,” which more than occasionally describes my boys, but look at the love I get!  I get double the love with twins and I am one incredibly lucky Mama. Today was a simple day of family fun, but easily turned into one of my most favorite and cherished memories.

When I decided to go ahead and begin this blogging adventure, I was mildly concerned that it would be boring and I would not have enough material to post.  Now, I am sitting here wondering how and why my kids are giving me enough “material” to generate two posts in one day.

We were all hanging out downstairs tonight, relaxing after dinner.  Todd, Taylor, and I were in the family room and we noticed that not only were the boys missing, they were quiet too.  Just as we realized that things were eerily quiet (always a bad sign), we heard the belly laughs start and just knew they were up to no good. Sure enough, they had somehow commandeered their milk cups and brought them in the playroom with them.  They weren’t drinking, however. Instead, they had filled the play kitchen sink with milk and were dunking their heads in it. Why? I will never know, but they were damn proud of themselves.

Some mornings, we wake up and hit the ground running.  On these mornings, most kids cooperate, allow me to change diapers without military intervention, eat breakfast, etc.  Other mornings, I can barely find the words to explain what happens around here.  Today, we had a different kind of morning.

Joseph woke up screaming. This was not entirely surprising for me to hear, as the boys start fighting with each other, often times, as soon as they wake up. When the screaming didn’t stop, I stomped off to their room, prior to having my coffee. I found little hands sticking out from underneath the door.  Also, not new, and not surprising.  

What was surprising was the reason for the screaming.  Jackson was still in bed, minding his own business, so he was not at fault for whatever the disaster was.  Joseph, however, was trying to exit the room by sliding himself out between the bottom of the door and the floor.  Clearly, he thought it was just his size, but it didn’t quite work in his favor.  After watching him attempt to morph into baby-goo and make his great escape (because at this point I was in the room and had the door open…) he would not desist.  He was determined to get out of the door this way. Needless to say, he did not complete his mission, and I had to witness the face of failure and talk him down from an epic temper tantrum.

Happy Friday!

Most days, before school, the kids and I (and Ranger) drive down by the water.  They love looking at the birds, ducks, swans, and geese. I try to use this as a learning opportunity and talk about what each animal is, what they do, what they eat, etc.  Sometimes, we even feed them bread or cereal, which is always a big hit! Taylor knows that a “boy duck” has a green head and is called a mallard.  She knows that he and his “duck friends” eat fish from the water. She laughs hysterically as their heads dig beneath the surface.

Today, I was trying to reiterate what we had learned and I asked her what the duck with a green head was. Her response: “Oh, that’s a green-headed pickle duck! His head turned green from eating too many pickles!”

She might not be an ornithologist when she grows up, but she sure is funny!

Although my boys can clearly say the word “apple” when asking for a piece of fruit, they have been running around the house asking for “ass-sauce” while hanging on the refrigerator doors.

Not really a menu item, guys.

The kids had a particularly long day yesterday in the sense that they were up early and didn’t nap. At all. They were definitely showing signs of being overtired by dinner time.  I said to Taylor:

M: Wow, Taylor. You guys are all crabs. Early to bed tonight!

T: Mom, that’s not possible because I don’t even have pinchers! I’m more like a seashell.

She got me with that hilarious comment, and she was quite accurate. She may not have pinchers, but she has jokes!