My Little Swimmers

The boys have had a lot of swim time this summer. We have wonderful neighbors who let us borrow their pool, plus we swim at the river, and at Mimi and Papa's house and Lolly and Pop's house. There has been tons of swimming this summer. Their Daddy is determined to teach them to swim without a life jacket before next summer rolls around. Usually we just use the boys life jackets when just one of us takes the boys swimming, because they have these neat little handles on the back and I can keep one hand on each of the handles (as seen in the Devil's River photos). However, when Daddy gets to go with us, we have these really cool little suits that keep us afloat. They do pretty good for 19 month olds.

When bath time rolls around, they practice kicking their feet, which makes for a lot of water on the floor and a big mess for Momma, but the boys LOVE it.

Please excuse the terrible videoing of these two videos.

Devil's River 2010

We just returned from our annual trip to the Devil's river. Click to see the 2008 trip and the 2009 trip, if you want to compare. We had a blast! While it is not as relaxing as it was before we had the twins, it is still fun. I really enjoy watching the boys react to all of the new things that are going on. They have definitely discovered the word, "pish (fish)."

Below are a TON of pictures from the trip in a completely random order. Enjoy!

First things first, we must all take a moment and look at this crazy grandma!!! She was ready to go snorkeling! Hehe.

Here is an interesting story for you. While checking some of the lines with the guys, they pulled one of them up and found this pole snagged and accidentally attached to the end. After careful inspection, Dad realized that this was HIS fishing pole that he lost about 5 or 10 years ago. It was absolutely covered in moss, but Dad thinks after he gets it cleaned up, it should work. Pretty cool, huh.

Here we are attempting to see how many people can fit into the paddle boat.

Why do we buy toys for our children? The boys spent tons of time splashing in the water that was in these buckets. We would just haul them back to the river and refill them and let them splash it all out again. The perfect toy. If you are wondering what to get your kids/grand kids/neighbor for Christmas next year, I highly suggest a five gallon bucket and a dixie cup.

Once again, like last year, Chris went night fishing and caught a monster. It was even (still, like last year) bigger that the boys. They weren't as excited about standing by it as they were last year.

The best part of the trip this year was the Mokai. It is a motorized kayak that we had the opportunity to test out and take with us. It was perfect for Chris to drive up and down the river with the boys. He even managed to catch some bass and some perch. The boys LOVED it.

Momma loved it, too. The only time I got to sit down and read a book was when he had the boys in the the Mokai.

Of course, it wouldn't be camping if you didn't take time to laze around in the hammock.

The boys even took time out to eat an apple, probably the only healthy food they ate the entire trip.

They even got a chance to ride in the "vroom vroom."

Heath posing with his mighty Small Mouth bass. By the end of the week, they boys even knew what to do when Daddy told them to "reel" the pole. Pretty Cute!

Hunter, practicing sword fighting with Daddy.

Daddy, the chef. I guess everyone in camp knows that he is a great cook, so he was usually nominated to do the cooking. Mmmm! Was it good!

At one point, Momma found Heath had climbed up in a tree.

Thankfully, it wasn't very far from the ground.

Heath posing with more of Daddy's catch.

Heath, playing with his fishing pole that Aunt Kay bought him. Thanks Aunt Kay.

Hunter with his fishing pole.

We are glad to be home and even more excited to sleep in our own beds now. We will miss the peacefulness of God's perfection.

Opposite Directions

Perhaps if you do not have children, are out of this toddler phase, or just have one toddler, you may not think of the stress on this mother. If these kids are going in the same direction it is because they want the same toy, all to themselves. Which will lead to crying and fit throwing. Otherwise, they will be seen as a quick flash heading in two different directions. One is a climber, one is a button pusher. One is into trucks, the other into putting everything into his little slobbery mouth.

My hat goes off those with other children on top of twins. I could see myself going mental.

All that to say, anyone who knows me knows I LOVE having them and cannot imagine having just one. But sometimes the following reminder needs to be thrown out there. My eyes and legs can only move in one direction. Those little monkeys could be on Star Trek they disappear so quickly when I turn my head.

I need more eyes in my head, two is just not enough!

18 Month Pictures

Have I ever mentioned on my blog how much I LOVE my photographer? Keva Dawn Photography is the greatest! She is so creative and comes up with the best ideas.

Heath= Future President of the United States

Hunter = Future Pediatrician

These next pictures were so much fun to watch Keva shoot. First, we couldn't keep the oranges and limes in the pictures because my little pitchers kept tossing them at Keva. Then, we decided to open the Crush and see what would happen. I love the picture of both of them because if you look closely at Heath, he has orange Crush all over him.

Click Here and Here to see more pictures and Keva's version of the shoot.

Happy Sunday

Face Lift

When Chris and I got married, we received this bathroom set as a wedding present. I love this shower curtain. A close friend of mine drove all the way to Lubbock from Alpine to find it because they had discontinued it and didn't have it many places any more. I still love this shower curtain.

However, this is no longer "my" bathroom. It is the boys bathroom. Chris and I have another bathroom off of our bedroom and the theme of that bathroom matches our bedroom. I wanted to change this bathroom to look like a little boys bathroom, but I love the blue color on the walls and didn't want to have to repaint.


The hunt has been on for some time now, to give my very adult looking bathroom a "childish" face lift.

These two little monkeys (and Target) inspired me.

So, here you have it.

...and just look at how well that shower curtain matches the blue walls. Awesomeness!

4th of July!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. The boys and I spent a night out at Mom and Dad's house because (as always) Chris had to work on the lake for the 4th. We haven't seen the sun around here in over a week, and it has been raining off and on for days now. I know we are not supposed to complain about it here in West Texas when we get rain, but it kind of put a damper (literally) on our 4th of July.

The boys found a rather LARGE mud puddle with the help of our friend, Pete, thanks a lot! (insert sarcastic eye roll here) and proceeded to get completely filthy playing in it. They found large rocks to throw down and make large splashes. They had a blast!