Playdates

A while back we had our friend Bryson over to play.  Of course, the boys all headed outside and made a beeline for the bubbles.   I grabbed my camera because a) the boys are cute and b) we had some great lighting.

Bryson and Carter

Brady

Carter

Don't eat the bubbles, Bryson!

We just love playdates.

Life is busy

There has been something else that has kept us more busy than usual.

We are moving in less than 2 weeks.

I think that a move just around the corner is as overwhelming as a move across state lines.

Tyler's first grade program

Proud mommy moment here.

Last week was the first grade music program at Tyler's school.  It was an animal theme, with one class dressed up as lady bugs, one as penguins, and so on. 

See, here is our friend K as a bunny:

Tyler's class=frogs.

But the proud mommy part: Tyler got to sing a solo in the closing number.  Now, this is my first attempt at uploading a video, so bear with me.  Sorry it is so small--I should have turned my phone the other way.  He sings first, so you don't have to listen to it all.

Let's play catch up

What have we been doing the last few weeks?

Lots of playing outside, including trying to ride trikes and scooters.  I think the twins are going to get new trikes for their birthday.

 Easter, with cousins in town.  Not a lot of photos, but a lot of fun--egg hunt, dyeing eggs, frosting cookies, Easter baskets, and of course a yummy ham and potato dinner.

Did I mention we've been outside a lot?  Here, the babies are playing with their new bubbles from their Easter baskets.

Messes

Within ten minutes of cleaning up this mess:

The twins managed to dump a box of plastic spoons on the floor, take out all the trash bags from their box in the pantry, and remove 2/3 of the silverware from the silverware drawer.

(I started this post 3 weeks ago, and finally uploaded the picture.  Yeah, it's been a busy few weeks.)

Hello Terrible Twos

Today was one of those days. 

Everyone has them.  You know, the kind where you feel like crying?  Where you wonder, "now why exactly did I wait and pray for 5 years to get these babies?"  Can I handle this for how many more years?  Am I the world's worst mother?

At least I hope I'm not the only one with days like this.

It started off fine, in our routine, naps a little short, but with several hours to kill before it was time to pick up Tyler.  I decided to do a return at a store about 40 minutes away.  We got there, waited in line for the return, and all is well.  People are chatting with me--telling me what cute, well-behaved children I have.  I even foolishly think Brady has magically decided that the stroller is fine.  (I was able to get the straps even tighter, which I thought had solved my problem.)

So after my return, and since the boys were acting so well, I decided to look around.  I was really hoping to buy some flower stems.  Well by the time I made it to the stems, Brady had gotten his arms out, and was flailing back and forth all while screaming.  I spent maybe five minutes trying to get him to calm down, but once I realized it wasn't going to work, I left.

I got out to the car and didn't know if I should
a. laugh (because I've been told that I was the master tantrum thower at Brady's age--up to 10 a day according to my mom.  Mom--I love you!)
b. scream (I was so mad at him) or
c.  cry (I realize it is only the beginning of temper tantrums, and I pray we all live to see him turn 3).

So as I am mad and on the verge of tears, and just in a foul mood the rest of the day.  And then, I get a surprise.  My dear friend Kelsey, aka photographer extraordinaire, gives me our disk from last week's photo session.  And these are some of the images she captured:

I love these boys.  As I looked through the images, everything felt okay again.  Yes, it can be hard.  But this too will pass.  They won't be throwing temper tantrums in the store when they are 15.  Well, they'd better not be.  It is so worth it, and I feel privileged to be their mom.

The Very Hungry Baby

My twins love to eat, especially Carter.  If they see you eating, they want a piece of it.  Some mornings when I am trying to eat my bowl of cereal, I sneak off into another room so they won't whine for food.  Sometimes I give them a little bowl of dry cereal to eat along with me.  One weekend, I thought they were playing with Dad, so I just sat at the kitchen table.  Big mistake.  Here's what happened.

Boys, I love you, but get your own.