I Have an Idea and Other Musings

The boys kill me with what they say most days, and my favorite thing out of their mouths lately has to be when they say “I have an idea.” (Actually it is usually “me have an idea,” or “here’s an idea,” since they still only use the pronoun ‘I’ sparingly).  They will say it in the correct context, too.  You never know what the idea will be.  It can be, an idea to have a “muff” cake, or build a fort, you name it.  It is adorable!!!!  Today they were playing outside, yes, we are thoroughly enjoying the seventies again, and Gus was on his “motorcycle” or big wheel, and Raleigh was sitting on the porch watching him. Rals asked if this was a parade, and then yelled “beads!!!”  Love it.  They are so Tampa! Gasparilla veterans since they were nine months old will do that, I suppose.  Speaking of Gasparilla, here are a few shots of the big Children’s Gasparilla Extravaganza from last weekend.  We did the preschooler’s stroll for the first time. It fell during nap time, but we survived.  They were extremely tired afterward, but still, we had a ball with our Mothers of Multiples friends who helped walk with us.

 

The boys giving their friends E & S a kiss during the parade, needless to say, the crowd loved them!!!

We had gotten into the spirit the night before by reading a new Mem Fox book sent to us courtesy of the boys’ great-Aunt Julianne, and great-Uncle Tony.  Boris the Pirate is a bit scary, but it certainly set the mood for us!

Here is a look back at the two previous Gasparillas.  Of course, you can click on the tag “Gasparilla” and see much more from year’s past.  Enjoy!!!

First Gasparilla 2009 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

Second Gasparilla 2010 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

The boys are still doing really well with their alphabet recognition.  Raleigh has caught up to Augustus and although, he doesn’t want to play with the magnet letters like Gus, he will point out letters when we are reading books. And they are still really into reading. Their favorite book right now is The Polar Express. Not sure if they are just missing Christmas, or just love the story.  If we read a a book right before bedtime, they wake up and immediately ask for the same book again.  Their memories still freak us out.  They seriously never forget.  However, if you ask them what they did today, sometimes they just start making up these elaborate stories…hmm, reminds me of a certain Uncle the boys have named Tommy!  If you ask them what they want to do today, Augustus will nine times out of 10 say he wants to go to Sea World.  I guess we need to start planning a return trip soon.  They have really enjoyed watching some football games with me this year.  The Packers are really the only team I will watch, being from Green Bay and all, so we don’t get all their games televised, but of course, with them going to the SUPER BOWL this year, we’ve watched the play-off games together, and the love it.  Yay!  Since Matty rarely watches it with me, it is nice to have some company.

 

In other news, the boys Nonnie turned 60 this last week. It killed us with the planning, but we were able to keep her party a secret!!! I really don’t think she had a clue.  We had a “Sweet 60” party complete with her favorite Hello Kitty decorations and all pink. Everyone wore pink to the party (well, two guys wore more maroon, but other than that, all pink).  My mom had to do a change into pink half way through the party, but we got everyone into pink.  The boys were so excited and never spilled the beans.  They did go to bed at 7 with some tears, but they did fall asleep soundly despite the ruckus downstairs! They were kind enough to let us sleep in until 7:30 as well.  After going to the Green Iguana after the party, I was grateful!  Happy Birthday to my amazing Mom!  60 is just a number because you surely don’t act your age, and I mean that in the best possible way!  Thank you for teaching me to stay young at heart and having so much fun with the boys all the time!!!!  Love you!!!

 

This is the CAKE!  Can you believe it???!!??  I did not get a great picture of it before we cut it…but believe me, it was amazing!  Thanks Eli for taking care of the cake, I could never have picked a better cake!!!

Lastly, Eli also had personalized M&Ms made for the event, they say “Sweet 60th” on them and have champagne glasses.  Cute.  It was sad that so many of my mom’s best friends and family live so far away and could not make it to the party, but it was great to see her so loved by all her friends in Florida.  She is truly a special woman!

Happy Halloween!!!

The big day has finally arrived. Now that is over, I am so happy.  Whew, this whirlwind weekend has been nuts.  We’ve been busy.  Even busier than usual. It did not help planning a Halloween party for about 35 families this weekend.  Then another birthday party today and squeezing in naps and trick-or-treating in, too.  We had a great afternoon grilling out with our neighbors/friends and their little boys.  Nonnie was here to help out and lead on the crew during the trick-or-treating.  The dads held down the fort at the houses while we searched for booty.  The boys were pirates for Halloween.  We really have been playing it by ear for the final day, depending mostly on weather. It was hot, so Spidey and Batman were out – the masks were too much – and the “po po” and fireman were worn the night before at the block party, so pirates seemed best.  Plus, our friends were all being pirates, so it worked out perfectly.  Four little scallywags running the ‘hood searching for loot…precious!

The block party the night before was cool for the boys.  They had a bouncy house to rock in (princess theme no less) and lots of older women to harass.  We were exhausted, so we were ready to have an early night. Rals, on the other hand, did not feel that same vibe.  He fell asleep around 9:30!  Tonight, they were out just after 8pm. Tomorrow is a low key, chill out day for sure!  Our birthday party for the princesses was great.  The boys were actually pretty low key themselves, so they were easy to watch and I was able to try to relax myself.  We got a really good compliment that the boys seemed much older because of their social skills and sharing abilities.  Yup, they are social – no doubt about it!  Friendly and always wanting attention from whoever throws it their way.  Rals and Gus tonight had no problem knocking on doors and asking for candy  At one point, I thought Raleigh was going to hug a lady as she opened the door.  He started singing “candy, candy, candy” in a real sing-song voice and was hilarious to watch and listen to.  He even started kissing his candy before he put it in his bucket.  What  a trip!

 

Here the boys are trying out their broomsticks.  The found a hat left over from the party.  I said I was a good witch while I tried it on, and Rals was quick to point out that I was a “sassy witch.”  Hmm…not sure what to think of that! 

Check out Rals’ expressions in the next two – SHEER JOY!!!

The night before pics!

Daddy actually smiling!  Wow!! We were on a hay ride…aka, hay thrown in a trailer attached to an SUV.  The boys had fun, the pre-teen girls on the ride were singing Taylor Swift, and it reminded me of my youth singing Debbie Gibson, then they started singing “California Girls” by Katy Perry, and Matt and I both looked at each other and thanked our lucky stars we had boys at that very moment!!!

this morning, Skyping with Nannie
& Poppy!

Dynamic Duo-isms

The things these boys say.  I know, I know, if you are reading this, you are probably sick of hearing about these things, but seriously, they are hilarious.  Frustrating at times, but still hilarious.  We’ve been MIA in blog world recently because the terrible twos are just tiresome on most days.  Naps and bedtime are just a tad more difficult, although, all in all, I cannot complain.  Sometimes I want to, but then they do something so sweet, or say the funniest thing and I have to remind myself that the testing phase will continue forever and it is not that bad…free will is a bitch, right?  Or is it karma…food for thought today!

Hammer time!

Monster trucking at the beach!

 

Mommy’s hatching – This is probably the funniest, and maybe the most embarrassing thing ever said about me.  Raleigh looks at my heel, mind you, I am in desperate need of a pedicure, and said, “mommy’s hatching.”  I first thought he said “scratching” but no, he said “hatching” as in an egg hatching.  Um, thanks, and ewww! 
Muff cakes anyone?  Never heard of a “muff cake?” Well, if you have, maybe you are thinking, does this belong in a blog post centered around kids?  To let you know, a muff cake is a cup cake.  I think it started out as a muffin and a cupcake, and now all cupcakes are “muff cakes” and muffins are just muffins.  I cannot correct them when they say it because again, I am wrong, and just have a good old laugh every time they say it!  Nothing like going to a kids birthday party and two little boys yelling with glee “MUFF CAKES!” 

Donald’s House – the boys call McDonald’s “Donald’s House.”  We have only been a few times, usually on special one-on-one occasions with the boys.  I just think it is funny that they call it Donald’s House.
No, not yet, five minutes, or one minute, two minute, etc.  They will ask for two more minutes of a toy, or one minute before we go, or two minutes before they have to switch toys with their brother.  They know two is more than one minute, and five is a big request, so they save it for the good stuff.  It has come in handy when we need them to take turns, we ask them to ask their brother or friend to switch or for a turn in two minutes.  It generally cuts down on their fights, whew!  It is hard to resist extra cuddles when they say, “no, not yet, Mommy, five minutes, cuddle me more mommy.” Awww!

Can we feed the ducks?  So we are at Busch Gardens with friends.  One of my friends is cool enough to have worked their pre-twinkies and still knows a lot of people at Busch.  One of our favorite areas is the new Walkabout area with Australian animals.  The boys are too young to feed the kangaroos and wallabies, but they can feed the ducks nearby.  Well, our good friend Miss K did not know the person at the food stand, so we did not get duck food this particular day…until Raleigh walked up and batted his eyes and said “feed ducks, please.”  Well, we all got cups for everyone and had fun feeding the ducks for free.  Thanks, Raleigh!  Here is the lady below, holding a little wallaby, named Stanley. 
 
Starbucks, that’s mommy’s coffee place. They can spot a Starbucks about as quickly and well as they can spot a police car.  For this, I am thankful! Don’t worry, in the shots below, they are drinking harmless chocolate milk – not coffee!
 
That’s a weed, and pull.  Augustus is mini-Matthew ALL THE WAY! I love his OCD, as I know it will make him a great man.  We were playing in the backyard, which is mostly paved, and he was mowing his mower – his fave – and saw a piece of grass sticking up through the pavers.  He immediately yelled “that’s a weed” and proceeded to pull it.  Such a good little-man!
 
New shoes! New shoes!  The boys are obsessed with new shoes.  Although, now they are not so new, but newer.  The boys have been in size 7 for FOREVER! Seriously, almost a year now.  We finally broke down and got some new size 7s and you would think Gus won the lottery.  He immediately wakes up and wants his new shoes on.  We have about 4 pairs that he considers new shoes.  That is the easiest thing to make him happy without even trying!

They still bring their penis up at random times in conversation and this is quite amusing.  Although, I have to try not to laugh.  Raleigh has also taken to pulling his pants down outside for a fire hose pee every so often…we are trying to house train him again!  However, it does come in handy when we are no where near a restroom out and about…does that officially make me a Redneck?  For example, our multiple birth mom’s club was at a preserve walking the boardwalk with our littlies, and all of us just let our kids pee into the woods off the side of the boardwalk…much easier than running back to the restrooms a mile and a half away.  I was pretty impressed with the little girls who could do as well as the boys;)

  

Augustus, enjoying his spaghetti thoroughly.  this boys loves to eat and it shows whenever he does!

Making cheetah masks.  Notice the clothespin holding the sponges to get the boys less dirty.  Notice, I did not say, keep them clean, just less messy!  More about this in a crafty blog post coming soon.

Daddy makes the best pancakes.

Fun food cutouts.  We’ll try anything to help mealtime go well.  Love the cookie cutter sandwiches, here we have a cow and a chicken with flowers.  Also, we are getting on the bento bandwagon and trying to eat lots of food on sticks. Fun times.  If you have not seen this web site, http://www.anotherlunch.com/ check it out! AWESOME!

 

More craftiness

Another air port run.  Both boys were highly jealous of Nonnie’s princess hat!  They really, really, wanted it! 

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Hope you enjoyed the Smilebox I made yesterday from Sweetfield Farms. 
Here is a look back at last year’s trip.

• Sweetfield Farm Trip 2009 

Oh, how they’ve grown!