A Must-Have Shirt

I need this shirt...

Unless you have twins you can't appreciate the meaning on this shirt.

These are questions that we are asked every time we have the babies out.  I could understand the "Are they identical?" question if we have two boys or two girls, but we have one of each.  Last time I checked identical meant same.  When I get asked that question now I am so tempted to say "why yes they are identical" and wait for the response "You know they don't look anything alike". Why of course they don't look alike, they are not identical.

And then I can find one for the older two kids that said
    1. Yes we are big helpers
    2. Yes we like having the twins around

    3. No we don't think they are annoying (at least not yet)

The best helpers

My two older kids are the best helpers in the world. I would be lost without them.

Of course they are like all kids and have their times where they don't want to help and I can understand that.  They love their little brother and sister to death.  When they get back from a weekend at their dad's, the babies get so excited to see them and the older two run over there to see them.  I am finding myself running second to the two little ones.

They help feed them at times and always like to run in the bathroom to "help" with bath time. Usually they are just playing with them and getting them to laugh.

I am such a proud momma.  I just don't know what I ever did before I had four kids.

Another Year Older

Today I start my last year being in my 30s.  Yes I am approaching 40.  I never would imagine that at 39 I would have two 7 month olds and a total of 4 kids, but God's plan is not always like ours.  Thank goodness He always knows what is best.

This year has already been challenging and today is no different.  Today I miss the one who always called me first thing in the morning even if he woke me up.  I miss my daddy today.  He always liked birthdays because he loved cake and ice cream.   But most of all he loved all of us getting together and having a great time which we always did.

I so wish he was with me this year, but I know he is rejoicing today with our Lord Jesus.  I was so blessed to have had a daddy who loved me like he did and always made time for each of us.

7 Months Old

This past 17th, the babies turned 7 months old. My how times flies.  They are growing so fast. Both are scooting across the floor - Camie goes backwards until she runs into something.  Camie has her first tooth and Jesse has 3. They are both sitting up good and play good together most of the time.  Poor Jesse gets picked on by his sister - she wants whatever toy he has and of all things his bib.  When she gets his bib off of him, she just smiles and gets all excited. I can already see who the boss of the two of them will be.

Learning the Preamble

This morning as we were getting ready for school, my daughter told me that she needed my help. She had to memorize the preamble before Thursday for school.  Remembering my school days from many moons ago, I told her to get the School House Rock DVD.

When I was a kid, we would watch School House Rock in between cartoons and thus I learned the preamble.  To this day, I still remember the preamble but the only thing is that I can only see it - can't say it.

JC told me that I was saying (singing) it wrong because I was leaving "of the United States" out.  I didn't remember that chorus to the song being "we the people of the United States" so I said he was wrong.  After looking it up in her history book, I was corrected and discovered that I learned it wrong but that was the only part left out of the song. I am still going to have her learn it by watching School House Rock and just remind her to add in "of the United States" at the beginning.

Here is a link to the video to bring back some memories. Enjoy!

Scrimmage Game

Tonight we had a scrimmage game.  Let me tell you right now, it was down right cold.  We were all wrapped in blankets while our boys were out there in the cold.  I think they were not as cold as we were. 

Start of the 3rd inning, my boy came out to pitch. 

He has been pitching pretty good but tonight he had an off night but I was still so proud of him.

It's the first time that I had seen him pitch.  He looked so big standing out there on that mound. 

It's hard to believe that he is this big.  Just seems like yesterday that he was getting ready to play his first t-ball game.  My how time flies.

Little things, big emotions

It's amazing how little things that come up in life bring up memories of my daddy and I miss him all over again. For years, my daddy worked in the elevator business in construction and as a service mechanic. He retired from Dover back in the late 90s.

Just a few minutes ago, there were a couple of service guys here working on the AC in our building. I heard them talking and all of a sudden I could hear my daddy and him working on things like he did. I could see him wearing work clothes - his navy blue pants and light blue shirt with the Dover patch on it. It was like he was right here. I am fighting back the tears. This little, passing thing brings to the surface what I am able at times to bury - the hole that has been left because he is no longer here. I miss his smile, laughter and most of all his hugs. People say that time heals, but right now I believe it may take a life time to heal.

This past weekend

Yes I realize that it's Thursday and I am just now getting around to writing about this past weekend, but yeah so is the life of a working mom of 4.

This past weekend was great. My oldest had her last gym meet of the year and she did great. She placed second in all events and second in the All Around for her age. After struggling for a while with her round-off-back-handspring, she finally has it.

My red head had the first baseball scrimmage of the season, which I missed since I was at the gym meet. JC, who is one of his coaches, called me to let me know how he did. He was the starting pitcher and pitched two scoreless innings. He didn't throw all that fast but threw strikes, which is what you need a pitcher to do. It was exactly what he needed to build his confidence. I was thrilled but also disappointed that I missed it and missed getting pictures of his pitching. Hopefully soon if he continues to pitch, I will post some pictures.

Sunday after we took the babies to the park and let me swing. They loved it. I was hoping to take all the kids to the park this weekend, but not sure if the weather will allow us to go, so we'll see.

My Reality Check Today

Every now and then we all need a reality check - that one thing that makes you wake up and see things for they truly are. Today I saw a tweet by a friend "strange how moved you can be by someone you've never met. sweet @LaylaGrace went to be with her saviour today. please pray for her family." I was wondering who @LaylaGrace was and it was then I received my reality check. She is a 2 year girl who was battling cancer that lost her battle early this morning. As I read her mom's blog (http://www.laylagrace.org), tears flowed down my cheeks. I can't imagine the pain that comes from watching your child suffer and die from cancer.

As I read her latest blog post, I began to think of my own complaints and problems. Compared to what these parents are going through, I have no room for complaint. My issues are little - things that can be repaired with a little work, but these parents will have a scar and heart break that will last a lifetime. I pray for this family even though I don't know them. I will relish my time with my four kids and my family. I will strive to complain less about the squealing, busy schedule, dirty diapers and everything that comes with having four kids. There will come a day when the house will be silent and I will wish that I had it all back.

My Girl

Today 11 years ago I feel in love with the sweetest baby. She was my first. Today she is 11. Where has the time gone?

She is energetic and loving - my little bookworm.

She is a great big sister - actually we call her "Little Mama". Her brother even tells her "Your not my mama" when she is trying to help him or tell him what he needs to do.

She's a girly girl that loves pink and purple. She thinks that it's terrible to chopped down trees and is big on recycling. It takes her forever to tell a story, but you will know every little detail when she is done. She loves her family and adores the babies. She is growing up way to fast and I want time to slow down. She's my girl and I love her.

When I look at her I see the one that captured my heart this day 11 years ago.

That's Life

Ever felt like sometimes that things doing always go your way.

That everything seems to go wrong at the same time.

That's the feeling that I have had the last few weeks. The big and little things that can go wrong seem to be happening all around me. I was feeling it really this morning when our nanny told me that her younger child was sick and won't be able to come in - I thought "man this is all I need." Then I realize that when it comes down to it I have nothing to complain about. Yes I have some bumps in my path right now- some big, some small - but when it comes down to it and I look around I should feel blessed.

All the bumps in the road we don't grow - thankful for the bumps

for without them we don't grow.

The house is cluttered and needs a big time cleaning - thankful I have

a roof over my head.

The kids are sick and needing to go here and there - thankful that I have

four beautiful healthy kids.

Things are work are crazy and there is so much to be done - thankful that I have

job and enjoy where I work.

My daddy passes away - thankful that I had a strong Christian daddy

who loved me and taught me so much about life

When we look at the things we have instead of the things we don't have

in life, things don't look all that bad.

Tubes are coming

We had to take Jesse to the doctor today and looks like my baby boy will be getting tubes. He has fluid that has been on his ears since late January. So they are calling and making us an appointment with the ENT doctor. I am hoping to have both of them done at the same time, but Cam is not having real issues with hers. I doubt they will let her get tubes. I just didn't want to do it two separate times; hopefully she will be like her older sister and not need any. Jesse's wheezing was gone therefore no more inhaler. But they did weigh my big boy and he now weighs 20 lbs 11 oz. My older two didn't weigh that much until they were around 11 months.

Snow 2010

I realize that the "big" snow event for this year was a few weeks ago, but I am just getting around to posting about it. We love the snow and I was excited to get home and play with the kids in it. We didn't build a snowman, but had a blast throwing snowballs. We got some video but will have to upload that later.

Every time it snows, it reminds me of the fun I had as a kid at home. My daddy worked construction and had some big pieces of plastic and carpet at our house. He would take a piece of the plastic sheet and some carpet and make a sled. We would all get on the carpet and he would run partly down the hill in front of our house and then sling us which would send us flying down the hill. Those were some of the best times. All the roads in the neighborhood would start clearing but the one in front of the house because we were sliding down it so much. As tired as my daddy was, he had a blast and kept slinging us down the hill until we were cold, wet and ready to go back inside. And he would get just as excited about snow as any kid would. Which is why this past snow we had while he was so sick brought tears of joy and sadness to me. Tears of joy because of all the great memories and tears of sadness because I knew that I would never share a snow fall with him again on this earth. I miss him. Here are some pictures from a snow when I was in high school.

Our snowman we built with the neighbors

My sister and I with our Diddy

A Future Chef?

Yesterday I had to stay at home with the babies since the nanny had to call in. When the older two got home, Maggie wanted to watch Food Network. She loves to watch the shows. So last night as she was watching it and we were discussing dinner, she asked if we could have noodles with sauce (translation: spaghetti). She wanted to use chicken in the sauce and add the spices herself. After the chicken was cooked, she went to work, adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I bet she went over there at least 20 times to stir the sauce. She added a little chili powder to it when she was over there one time. The sauce she made was pretty good and spicy. I enjoyed cooking with her and looking forward to what else we will make in the future. I brought some leftovers for lunch today and the sauce is better today than it was last night.

Fantastic News

Well we finally got the news at work - we kept our biggest client!!! It has been so stressful at work the past week or so while we were waiting word. It didn't take long for word to get out but I can tell you there was a lot of happy dancing going on. It will get busy but that's the way I like it.