Invited you are, by this special invitation...

Invited you are, by this special invitation,

To join us for a HALF birthday celebration.

I know some new tricks and some games we can play,

Come help us celebrate, Heath and Hunter's HALF birthday.

It's a costume party, Dr. Suess style that is

Dress as a character from a book that is his.

You could be a Sneech or a Horton, Fish Red or Fish Blue,

Fox in Socks or a Lorax or Thing One or Thing Two.

Think left & Think right & Think Low & Think high,

Oh! The costumes you can Think of, if only you'll try!

June is the month and the ___ is the day,

____, there will be plenty of time to play.

You would not, could not, should not miss,

A HALF birthday party quite like this!

Bring On Summertime!!!

Today is the last day of school. 

I probably shouldn't be as happy as I am right now. 

I probably shouldn't be skipping down the hallways.

I probably shouldn't have had that celebratory piece (or two) of cake.

I probably shouldn't be counting the hours.


I can't wait to spend my entire summer with my babies.  I'm thrilled!

I should probably put on my sad face and shed a tear or two as I hug my students goodbye, but I'm not that good of an actor.  No Golden Globes here. I need a break. 

Thank you God for Summer Vacation.

Pictures From My iPhone

Our dear friends passed down cowboy hats for the boys.  They love them.  Especially Heath.  They wear them all the time. Usually sideways.

 Baking cookies.

 Cousin Zeke's Birthday Party at Mr. Gatti's.  I love that they both have the same expression on their faces in these two pictures.

I also have some adorable pictures of the boys playing in the rain, but because of some minor nudity, I don't think I can put them on the blog.  Maybe their Senior year book, but not the blog. Ha Ha

How to Potty Train Twins

The boys are really starting to get the hang of this potty training thing.  Even Heath is starting to come around to the idea.  I thought I'd give you a glimpse into the routine.

Hunter says he needs to poopoo (which translates into peepee, except on the rare occasion).  I nod and head towards the bathroom, stumbling over the shoes, shorts, and diaper that Hunter has magically discarded in the half a second trip to the bathroom.

I get Hunter situated on the potty seat that is on the big toilet, because he and Heath, both, REFUSE to use the little potty training potties.

Heath comes in the bathroom and announces that he needs to go also. (This happens every.single.time. we are in the bathroom with Hunter)

Hunter dribbles a tiny amount into the potty and gets really excited and stops, hops off the potty, and proceeds to climb onto the stool to wash his hands.

Heath gets on the potty.

Hunter has now finished washing his hands and we are attempting to find the pull-up and shorts that are strung down the hallway and get them back on his bottom.

Heath is leaning back, "camping out" on the potty.  He finally goes, shooting a stream on the wall, down my pants leg, on my shoe, on the rug, and all over the toilet.

I'll clean that up later.  I'm still trying to get Hunter's pull-up on so he doesn't water the other half of the bathroom.

I finally get his shorts back on, and he looks at me and says he needs to go again.  Ughh! Of course you do!

I undress him again, and turn to take Heath off the toilet, but he refuses to move.  He likes the seat.  It's comfy. 

Hunter starts the potty dance and I eventually have to jerk Heath, kicking and screaming, off the toilet, so that Hunter can get on (again).  I distract Heath by turning on the water so he can wash his hands.  Hunter goes (again), he hops down, and we have to wash his hands (again). 

Heath looks longingly at the potty wanting his second turn.  I.don't.think.so.  I'm not going there again.  I throw their pull-ups and shorts on and attempt to get the boys out of the bathroom.  At this time it has already been a 30 minute ordeal.

They get distracted by the bathtub toys on the way out and I eventually have to drag both boys out of the bathroom screaming and slam the door behind me.

Hunter reminds me that he gets an M&M for going potty, and we sing the "TeeTee in the Potty Song" all the way to the kitchen.  (You know the one...from Look Who's Talking).  Hunter asks for a green one.  There are no green ones left, so I give hm an orange one.  He knows the difference, but eats it anyway while rolling his eyes.  I give Heath a blue one.  He gives it to Hunter.  Heath doesn't like M&Ms.  Crazy kid.

I finally collapse into a chair exhausted from the episode, when Hunter comes to me and tells me he has to poopoo.  Ughh!

It's so much work, and I really try to focus on the end result.  When it gets too tough for me to manage, I just remember that Mom does this everyday with THREE 2year olds!

2011 Youth Group Camp Out

We had a youth group campout at the Devil's River with some friends of ours from chruch.  I'm pretty sure we all had a great time.  It was the twins first time to sleep in a tent.  That part was not so fun.  However, they had a blast fishing and kayaking with Daddy.  They especially loved throwing rocks and sticks into the water.

 Fish + Swimming Pool = Hours of entertainment!

 It's a tight fit in the Kayak.

Evening enteratainment.

Our First Turkey Hunt

Back during spring turkey season, the boys along with their good friend Kayin, and Daddies went turkey hunting.  They got up at the crack of dawn, sat in a stand ,and then went riding around in the truck.  Suprisingly, they got one!  Yeah!

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all mamas feel this way. A very short time ago I wondered when or if we would have a child. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine we would have TWO beautiful babies. They have made my life so full and I wonder what I ever did without them...
When God made the decision to bless me with these two babies he also whispered something to me...

"Mama, he said.....you now have the divine privilege and responsibility to guide these precious souls throughout their lives".

It was such a clear, yet gentle message.

And -- it's one I cling to every.single.day.
And when my babies were born and I saw them each for the first time I whispered something to them.

I softly said...

"I promise I will always be here for you, protect you and love you. And, my beautiful boys, you will NEVER be alone".

You see ... that is what I learned from my mama and it happens to be the most amazing gift of all.

It's called unconditional LOVE.
And, when you feel unconditional love, you never feel alone.

I have the greatest, most giving mother.  She is always there for me and will do anything I ask her.  I'm so blessed and thankful to have her.  She has taught me so much.  I have always felt her unconditional love.

I want to wish ALL mother's reading this a happy Mama's day. You are appreciated, loved, and blessed.

My Excuses...

I was desperate.

Chris wasn't home to go grab me another diaper.

I'm cheap.

Night time diapers are considerably more expensive than our generic Sam's brand regular diapers.

I'm lazy.

I was tired.

I was doing about a billion other things at the moment.

Those are all the reasons that I used duct take to fix the broken tab on Hunter's diaper instead of just getting a new diaper.  Pink duct tape at that.  It worked.  It did the job.  I didn't waste $.20.

I think he will recover from the emotional scaring.

I ran out of wrapping paper...

...so I wrapped Daddy's birthday presents in backwards Christmas paper and let the boys have a ball coloring on it.

Here is a video.  Notice how they try to color on every side...It might be a good idea to make sure the present is not breakable!