my fairy tale life

My very own Princess and Frog!!!

wordless Wednesday

OK, I lied. A few words... these are marigold descendants from my Mother's Day present of 2009! The twins planted marigolds for me at pre-school that May and then we saved all the seeds from the flowers that season. This spring, we planted some and got new beautiful plants! I am soooo not a gardener, so this was pretty special to me!

can't have too much of a good thing

Those "Hello I am" rompers they had on in July 2006 were among my favorite outfits! I mean I really liked them! They were purchased off ebay, of course. I never shopped in stores for the kids' clothes. It was a challenge finding boy/girl twin matching stuff on ebay. I often pieced together matching outfits in the same sizes from different auctions. Not everything came packaged as "twin set". Several things they had as babies, I repeated in toddler sizes. And, "Hello I Am" rompers were easy to find on ebay!!!

See?????

I know the pics are small and hard to read... we had:

• huggable (lt blue... in baby and toddler sizes)
• loveable (dark pink) I know this is spelled wrong, but that is what the shirt said.
• snuggable (aqua)
• kissable (pink)
• smoochable (purple)
• adorable (green)
• irresistible (darker blue)

favorite photo flashback

Huggable & Loveable!!! July 24th, 2006

probably not going into emergency services

Gretchen isn't really someone you would find comforting in an emergency.

Both kids were upstairs playing and I heard a bump. Next thing I hear is her screaming, "HE'S BLEEDING!" So, I ran up there and she met me before I could get to Carl. "His mouth is bleeding!"

I finally got to Carl, who was holding his foot up. "I hurt this toe. Will you kiss?" Crisis averted! All he did was stub his toe on a box of toys. Thanks for the heart attack, Gretchen! It isn't the first time she's called "blood" either. Classic "cried wolf" behavior. One of these times, I am not going to race to them - and she'll be right.

Happy Birthday, Steph!!

Another family birthday this week! mmm... more birthday cake!!! I hope you have something fun planned!!

How about a couple shots from the twins' first candy-making-slash-first-birthday-party at Lori's in Nov 2006...

And here's a kind of stretch... our kids with my mother...

December 2009

and finally... a picture of my best cousin 'beside' Rodney Scott! ♥

"I put it away"

The good news: I found this particular missing item! Carl took me to it!
The bad news: where I found it.

I have these teeny picture frames on the computer desk. They are small wooden ones and hold a little 1"x1.5" picture. There are 3. One has Joey when he was little, one has Carl & Gretchen in jammies last Christmas Eve hugging cheek-to-cheek and the third has Carl & me outside playing in the snow at Aunt Lila's on our trip to NY in December. 2 days ago, the blue one with Carl & me disappeared.

I searched the floor around the computer desk, moved stuff on the desk, and opened some nearby drawers hoping to find it. When I did not, I knew it was not simply misplaced... Carl took it. So, the next place I looked was on the piano. I have a ton of picture frames on the top of the baby grand (mostly to keep the cats from realizing they could jump up there) and Carl likes to take frames from other places in the house and add them to the piano display. Nope, no tiny blue frame.

I asked him several times, "Where is the blue frame?", "Did you move the picture of you and Mommy?", "Can you show me where the picture went?" but no luck. Two months ago, he stole a box of photos off the kitchen counter. Lew saw it in the morning and by lunch time, it was gone. I still have not found it. That reminds me, I reprinted the pictures for his therapists and I need to send them the cards with those pictures that were supposed to be for "end of the school year". May 22nd. Oops. A little late....

Well... on to the good news!!! This morning, I asked one more time, "Carl, where did you put the picture? There were 3 and now there are only 2. Where is the other one?" and he actually asked me, "You want the one with Carl and Mommy in snow?" He knew exactly what I was asking for!!! Obviously, he knew where it was if he knew which of the 3 was missing from across the room without looking at them. "Yes!!! Where is it?" and he said casually... "I put it away."

I jumped up and ran to follow him because I had to get to this special "put away" space before he did. Otherwise, he would have picked up the frame and brought it back and I wouldn't know this new place to add to my search sites.

I followed him into the dining room... and he opened the china cabinet and there was the little frame! Right next to another one I already had in there with my dad as the Easter Bunny. Carl must have seen that frame and thought the blue one wanted a pilgrimage home to the china cabinet to sit by it!

Just what I need.... Carl letting himself in and out of the china cabinet!!! Bad news!!

Happy 11th Birthday, Claire!!!

Happy Birthday to you! ♫ Happy Birthday to you! ♪ Happy Birthday to Cl-aire!! ♫ Happy birthday to you! ♪

We love you so much!!! Hope you day is super special!!!! Happy 11th birthday!!

____________________________________________

OK, I was going to find a few pics... well, that was impossible!! Here are a ton of pics!!!!

present time going backward...

skiing, February 2010

Claire and Gretchen, December 2009

cooking at Grammie's, November 2009

Grammie's birthday, June 15, 2009

piano recital, May 2009

cousins, late November 2008

Claire and chicken, November 2, 2008

beach vacation to our house in August 2007

skiing and snowman, February 2005

tire swing, June 2003

Claire and Grammie, September 2003

rock climbing wall, October 2003

Claire at camp, summer 2002

December 2001

Claire and Grampie, August 2001

July 2000... 1 year old!

Nanny with Claire, October 1999

and my all time favorite!!!! late 1999......

splash pad!

I made the mistake of describing it as a "water playground" and then had to spend the entire 30 minute drive into downtown undoing that. "No, there aren't going to be any swings or slides. Only sprinklers." Gretchen was convinced there would be princess sprinklers. I flat out told her there would not be, but she wasn't hearing me. (she isn't really spraying Carl, although it looks like it)

The splash pad is adjacent to one of the city pools. The pad is open 8-8, but the pool isn't open to the public until 1:00pm. They are open earlier for school/day care groups and summer camps. So, as we walked up, there were about 30 day care kids waiting to head into the pool area and boy, was Carl jealous! he asked me several times in the first 10 minutes, "Can we go to the pool?" "Can we slide in the water?" Luckily, after about 10 minutes, he decided the splashing was fun and he enjoyed running around the water pad.

Gretchen hesitated quite a bit in the beginning. Then, as she started to venture out to the middle, the water picked up and reaffirmed her decision to sit on the sidelines. A few times, she did wander back out, watching the pattern of the spray and timing her steps carefully. But, pretty much, she sat next to me on the towel on the edge. She claimed it was too cold. "I thought it would be exciting and warm." I'm going to drag her there a few more times and hopefully she'll decide it is fun.

And, for the record, on the drive there at 9:30 it was 86* and when we were driving home at 11:30, it was 94*. It wasn't cold. I don't think the water was icy, either. I got sprayed a couple times and it didn't seem outrageous.

A couple times, he stopped his water play to do some exercises. At one point, I looked out and he was laying on his back doing sit ups with his legs up in the air while getting splashed! Gotta be toned if you are going to wear a bathing suit, I guess!

I asked Carl later in the afternoon, "What was your favorite part?" and he replied, "The drinking!" I tried several times to get him to not drink the water, but if you have ever met a 4 year old... and this one is related to not only his father, but his grandfather as well.... so, you can imagine how well he listened to that request.

introductions

Seems I assumed you knew DeAnna and Angela. I did say that we met online years ago, but there are a couple other things you might like to know.

First, you can follow Angela and her beautiful, real life family on her blog, My Three Sons, which is also on the left hand side here as one of the blogs I follow.

DeAnna doesn't blog, as far as I know, but she is a fellow crafter. She has her own children's accessory business. You can find her handiwork on her etsy store, DemiDesigns. And how awesome is this? Her family does an annual Christmas craft contest amongst themselves!! I know her siblings are involved, I think her mother is too. One year I asked her if they would adopt me. I wonder if she remembers that? They make a craft for everyone as a gift and then vote on which is the most creative! Too cool!!

I met DeAnna back in 2005 when we were both pregnant and due in Nov/Dec. Her oldest is a month older than the twins. She also has 2 younger daughters. She takes a monthly picture of each child holding/sitting next to a sign that reads how many months old. I've been watching her kids grow for years!! We tried to meet a couple years ago, but about 20 minutes from home Gretchen puked all over the car and it was so bad we had to turn back. Eeeww!!!

I met Angela through the same set of message boards, but we aren't fully sure. I think it was a special needs board. Around the time of Carl's first assessment, Angela's middle son was born. One hour after his birth, they learned he has Down Syndrome. I think our mutual presence on that board is how we first met. Her tradition photo is each child monthly in the same rocking chair!

So, once again, it comes back to this message board website that pregnant women and parents read. I've been a member of that particular community since 2001 when I had my first miscarriage. We move so often, this was a way for me to have friends that I didn't have to leave when we moved. And, the type of people who post on message boards like that already have that one thing in common. Then, factor in the similar aged kids and you really find you have a lot in common with these ladies.


And that's how we became friends!

Happy Birthday, Lew & Lindy!!

Happy birth! July 1967!!
Fast forward 43 years..... Gretchen is helping Lew decorate his cake

We have 2 of these. Yes, we are geeky and have the matching plates for our set for 2 Guests of Honor at Birthdays. We have twins... we need 2 plates. And, it comes in handy for Lew & Lindy's birthday, too! The 20-years-apart-twins!

Lindy brought a special cake. This is a German cake that Lindy made. He did have a little trouble using the wrong temperature to cook it at first, but once he realized his mistake (convection vs conventional... the directions on the box were all in German... so, that was an easy mistake to make) he corrected it and cooked it properly. It was really good. Mom would like it a lot. It has less sugar than an American cake, so although it looks like a dark chocolate, it had a good, lighter flavor. Lindy had it because Gabi, who came to visit him earlier this year from Germany, brought him a couple mixes. We were honored to be able to sample one of the special German cakes. Wish Gabi could have been at our table to join the celebration.

You can see their smiles, but even those don't show you just how much they adore Lindy!! It's pretty mutual.

He has a tradition of giving them a book every time we get together. Today he brought and read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. You can see, Gretchen was a little worried. OK, scared.

Then it was time to cook dinner. It was very simple tonight - just steak and mashed potatoes. We all knew we were saving room for cake and ice cream!!!

The kids had some races before dinner!

Then they helped put candles on the cake!

Oh yes, both cakes passed Gretchen's taste test! The child has a sweet tooth! Carl was in heaven with vanilla ice cream, too! He had 2 small bowls, but was sure wrangling to get "more ice cream again, please?"

Here's a picture of the banner they made Lew to hang up at work. Lindy got one, too. As you can see, Lew is a 5 star daddy!!!

Happy Birthday to Lew & Lindy!!!!

I have a video of the singing. I'll try to figure out how to get in on here properly. Our computer is actually too old to play the video off our camera. So, I don't know if that affects uploading as well. My guess is, if you have a newer machine, you will be able to view it properly. I'll get it loaded maybe tomorrow.