Owen's Letter to Santa

Owen dictated his Santa letter to me this year. I typed it up, read it back, and Owen made a few changes. Then, we took the letter to see Santa in the mall. Santa read the whole thing and talked to Owen for a little while about it.

Dear Santa,

This is Owen Wade Metzger. I was so good that maybe you could get me the presents I want. This year, I was good of sharing my pancakes with Sadie. Also last time I was helpful of putting the Christmas decorations on the Christmas tree. I know how to put dishes in the dishwasher and put stuff that's not posed to be out in the trash. I take turns with my friends really good. I try to do a good job listening at home and at swim lessons and sometimes Taekwondo. I can say the Pledge of Allegiance. And I already got a suprise from Grandma Liles, the Santa Buddies movie.

And Santa, can you bring me some Bakugans when you're on the way to give people some presents? Please do you know what presents I want? Do you know what Christmas is all about? It's about giving presents to somebody. And Santa, can you give me an outside pretend boat? It's a pirate boat, and you can sit in it. I saw it on a magazine.

Santa, I love you. I like how you say Ho Ho Ho. How do you get down the chimney? And guess what. I know some jokes. What did the ghosts give the monkeys to eat?...BOOnanas! Hahaha!

I want a couple of stuff. Maybe you don't know. There's a kind of one square Bakugan that I want. And a new book about Christmas. Maybe it would cost a lot of money. Maybe something like a checkers game that Daddy can know how they move.

Santa, could you bring me something that I really like that I don't have on my list, and can you try to know what they are? I think there is some presents I really like...and will be kind of fun to play with.

My brother Blake wants a stuffed dog and a blue bouncy ball. He likes your suit a lot. My sister Sadie wants a pink bunny and a bouncy ball and a girl toolbox set because Blake already has one.

Whenever it's Christmas, check my list twice. I'm gonna leave you some cookies, stocking ones. Have a safe trip. Buckle your seatbelt.

Love, Owen

Thanksgiving

This year, for Thanksgiving we went to Ohio and had dinner in Cincinnati on Thanksgiving Day. We've gone to Ohio to visit my family for Thanksgiving every year since we've been married, and I thank Tim for conceding this holiday to me. Thanksgiving with my side. Easter with his side. Here are some other things I am thankful for this year in no particular order (except for the first one):

1. Of course, my children. They are incredible kids, and my world would be a shade of dim without them.

2. We have enough. We are not living high on the hill and money gets tight, but when it comes down to it, we have what we need. And in an economical year like this one, I appreciate that on a new level.

3. The play yard gate. This massive baby gate is our saving grace on most days. We have half of the basement baby proofed and stocked with toys. I still have to be on my toes, but it is a million times easier with that gate.

4. My parents who have been so supportive in many ways this year.

5. Facebook. I know it seems silly, but for me staying home would have been very isolating without a way to interact with friends and family as the chaos allows.

6. Tim. He is a great friend, dad, and partner.

7. Digital camera. So glad that I can take 50 thousand pictures in order to get one keeper. It's nice to be able to document this time so easily.

Horrible Parenting Gone Wild

So a while back, I fell asleep watching The Daily Show. In the middle of the night, Owen got up to go to the bathroom and decided to check and see if I was home from teaching class. I had been through a long day and was completely exhausted, so I didn't even notice that he was laying over me.

Meanwhile, Tim had heard Owen get up, but never heard him go back to bed, so thankfully he got up to search the house for the little guy. I woke up to, "Jess! What are you doing!?" Dazed and confused, I found Owen, mouth agape, staring at a commercial for Girls Gone Wild. I was horrified! I don't even let him watch superhero cartoons, and here he was getting quite the eyeful of drunken idiots. I rummaged for the remote as fast as I could and turned the stupid thing off, but you just can't make a kid un-see things. Tim said Owen must have been downstairs for 5 minutes. We asked Owen what he saw, and he said that the people were acting bad. We agreed with him and asked him if he should have watched. He got embarrassed. He knew he shouldn't have, although I don't know of any kids who wouldn't watch at all. The new rule in our house for parents is set the sleep timer on the TV. For kids, if it's bad, turn it off.

Halloween

Cute little monsters aren't they?

This Halloween we went to the Yates house for dinner and trick or treating. They have become our friends over this last year. We met when Sam and Owen were in preschool together. Terri and I had the babies less than a month apart and took turns walking the big boys into school. The boys became great buds, we had some play dates, and now we've got real family friends of our very own.

Trick or treating with them was so much better than just going it on our own. I remember going as a group when I was little, all the neighborhood kids in a big bunch. It was a blast back then, and thanks to the Yates, this year was just like that. Terri invited a bunch of friends from preschool (even though Owen doesn't go there anymore, he still likes to see those guys), we had chili and hot dogs, acted silly and LOUD, and eventually made it out the door for some candy...except most of the houses were either not participating or had the bowl on the front step. The adults were all a little disappointed in this, but the kids could have cared less, and we had enough candy anyway. Blake fell asleep about 3 minutes in. Sadie stayed awake, but barely. Can't wait until next year!We tried to get everyone in a picture, but they were too excited to sit still. Here's my best shot out of like 20. Owen went as Spiderman this year, it's not my first pick because I feel like he's a little too young for all that kind of stuff, but I guess I'm wrong. He did look pretty cute in his little muscle man suit.

The kids were so done with taking pictures. Here's about half of the crew. Owen was so excited about his light up shoes because it was the first time he got to wear them at night, and it was the first pair I've ever let him get. I'm a basic style shoe kind of person, so Owen just got lucky that we only had 10 minutes until the store closed the last time we were at Stride Rite Outlet.

Good dads taking turns with the strollers. Two out of three were asleep. The boys were so excited they literally walked INTO a couple of houses when the people opened their doors. All of us parents were yelling from behind the strollers, "Get back! Take turns! Calm down!" which was kind of a lost cause. Speaking of which, the last house we went to was back to the Yates's, but a real live witch had snuck in to try to scare little boys. Didn't work, but it was fun.

Throughout October since Owen's not in school and we were in need of some quiet activities while the babies were sleeping, we made a haunted house. We worked on different parts each day like salt dough ghosts, pumpkin pie dough pumpkins, paper bag trees, and diaper box house. Nice to spend some time being creative with my little buddy.

Blake and Sadie's First Birthday

Okay, well, yes, their birthday was in September, but I got behind on the blog. Eh, whatcha gonna do? So, back in September, we had the twins' first birthday party which was a lot like Owen's first party. We had family over, and I cooked: ham, green beans, and mashed potatoes. Again, I probably went a little overboard, but honestly I really enjoy it. It was Yo Gabba Gabba themed because they dance around to the music on that show, and it worked out pretty well for a girl and a boy. I made t-shirts, decorations, and gabba-fied the presents. I think having decorations and little details makes the day feel out of the ordinary and special. I'm not Martha Stewart. I don't sacrifice enjoying myself in order to have everything perfect - just special. I'd probably even do it more often, but our house had a hard time accommodating even our little birthday crowd. It's not like the babies cared this year, but I love knowing that one day they'll have fun pictures to look back on. This first year with Blake and Sadie has been...a challenge...a test...a blessing. I love them so much. They've added so much to our family. One of the big presents from Mommy and Daddy was this teeter totter. I thought it was such a great idea for twins. It turned out I was right because they play on it everyday, but they also fall off of it everyday too. Maybe I should have waited a while on this one. We did cake outside to spread out the crowd, and hey, our house is carpeted. Owen was so excited to help. I think he really got into the idea of doing something special for someone else. He likes the role of big brother and felt just as special as he would have if it were his birthday.

Sadie didn't care much for the cake or ice cream (guess she's more of a chocolate girl like me). Blake, however, LOVED the ice cream. He didn't feel like waiting for Tim to give him a bite with the spoon. Just shove it all in, right?
Ha ha, glad Tim was the one holding Blake. I got the neat one this time.

Owenisms #4

While playing Bakugans, Tim said, "I'm pretending there are no bad guys." Owen looked at him, annoyed, "No Dad. You mean you're not pretending."

"I made up a joke. How do strawberries walk?...Somebody carries them."

Joke. "Why does the guy on a rope carry two things in each hand? Because that way he's balanced!" More of a fact than a joke really. Other fact "jokes". "Why are we sitting at the table? To eat!" "Why does a penguin walk funny? Because his legs are short."


I said the word butt. Owen shook his head at me. "Mom, you just said a bad word, and Santa probably heard you, so now you're not going to get anything for Christmas."

Owen LOVES to play Connect 4 - a lot! (Please Santa, bring him some new games already.) At Thanksgiving in Cincinnati, he was playing with my 21-year-old cousin, Ben, a really smart guy. Owen won two rounds and said, "Didn't cha ever play before?" He wasn't being snotty, just genuinely asking. Ben said that the last time he played was when he was little. Owen felt so sorry for him and goes, "Oh, but you never won?"

Speaking of Connect 4, Tim won a game against Owen and started doing a dance around the room. Owen was so disappointed in his Dad's behavior. He goes, "Dad, that's bragging. Bragging is when you cheer for yourself too much. It's not being a good sport." Good lesson Owen. But, by the way, Tim doesn't always win and we don't usually just let Owen win unless we're just trying to finish up so we can do something else with our lives. Owen has just gotten pretty good at the game and honestly wins just about as much as we do!

Yesterday he was pretending that our entire house was driving to the North Pole so that we could visit with Santa and the elves. He'd say, "Did you feel that bump?" According to him, the trip would take 25 hours and we would not be required to work in the workshop, just visit. I think he got this idea from a combo of Disney's Up and various Christmas movies.

Swim Lessons

I love having Owen in swim lessons. It's great exercise, it feels good, and he really excels at it! He's four. The other kids in his class are 6, 7, 8, and 10. He swims more than 10 laps at each lesson now. I don't want to push him to hard, but I get so excited to see him swimming so well. Around here, we have a really good youth team, and I would be so happy for him if it ended up working out to be something he liked and was good at. I really want him to find a sport or sports to play as he grows up. Athletics keep you busy, focused, and out of trouble in those teen years. Owen doesn't isn't a naturally fast runner or great at controlling a ball. (I get that he's really young and can learn these things.) But, Owen is naturally a good swimmer. I am so proud of him.

Jake and the School

Tonight, instead of reading a bedtime story, Owen made one up. How fun! I typed while he dictated. Then I read it back to him, and he made a few revisions. Enjoy!

"Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Jake. He was ver good at school. And he listened every time. And of course, he always getted his chart filled up and gets in the treasure box of being a good boy. So one day, he saw something that he really wanted, and it was a Bakugon. And he had two friends, and their names were Owen and Sam. And they asked if they could play with the Bakugons, and Jake let them. And there were three of them (Bakugons). And that's the end of the story happily ever after. "

Teeball

This fall since we weren't in preschool, we found some other activities to keep us busy. Monday night is tee-ball, Tuesday is Taekwando, Wednesday is swimming.



We signed up for Teeball because we had friends from Castle Country Preschool that were going to play teeball too. Sam, Ben, Owen, Owen, and Drew were quite the crew. They were very squirmy and silly, but they're 4, and that's how 4-year-olds act when they're excited. We quickly realized that Owen needed a glove for a left-hander. The first night, he looked like such a spaz because he couldn't throw the ball with his right hand. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a teeball glove for a lefty? Impossible unless you are willing to spend $40 at the sporting goods store. I found one on ebay, but it was way too big. Didn't matter much anyway because Owen had no concept of what he was supposed to do with it anyway. This wasn't his fault; it was just the way it was set up. Preschool teeball was like herding cats.

Owen and Sam - Best buds!Really involved in the game. This reminds me so much of Devon when he was little. He and his friends used to do cartwheels and throw dirt the whole game much to the amusement of their older siblings. Owen would have fit right in with that team. Just to give you an idea, when he was playing first base and the first batter hit the ball, Owen dropped his glove and ran to second - um, wrong team buddy. When the second player hit the ball and the dad standing there told Owen to get the ball, he ran after it and kicked it like a soccer ball back to the base. He was moved to outfield shortly thereafter.
Being on the batting team was no better. He got first through third just fine, but everytime (and I mean EVERY time) he was supposed to run home, he ran to the dugout. Most of the time it was the OTHER TEAM'S dugout! The great thing about it was, it was just for fun. No one kept score or even got "out". Which is great for this age since they're too young to understand the game anyway. He is so proud of his "first gold medal!" He keeps it safe in his pajama drawer.Every week after tee-ball we went to Pizza Hut because there was hardly anyone was there. The boys were always so wound up and goofy by then, it was nice to have a place to ourselves where they could be squirmy and giggly. We had a great season!

Imagination

Today, Owen was playing downstairs and came up with a new game. He pushed the climber over so that there was an area of the corner you could only get to by going through the climber. Then, using his toy claw, he was picking up baby toys and handing them to the babies. When I asked what he was doing, he explained that the toys were floating down the river and he had to rescue them for Blake. See, the toys belonged to Blake's baby brother, and his baby was crying so much that it was hurting Blake's ears. Mirroring reality. (The hurt ears, not the toys in the river.)

The dresses

I have sewn quilts and other things, but I have never followed a pattern except when I was younger, making clothes with my Grandma Gard. Back then, I thought it was so complicated, although I loved spending the time with her. I avoided patterns when I started teaching myself to quilt, because I thought they would be too difficult. But now I decided to challenge myself, and bought a couple of little girl dress patterns on sale. I've been inspired to try it after looking at the clothes on Etsy.com which are adorable, but cost way to much. I made these dresses for about $15 a piece, and for being my first attempts, I'm pretty proud of them. Although, I have to say that I have no idea how to sew in a zipper nicely. They are functional and that's about it right now. If anyone can help me, I'd appreciate the lesson. Now, if only I can get my model to hold still while I take pictures.


My first and favorite of the two. It took me about 8 hours to figure out how to follow a pattern and make a few mistakes learning how to do things like ruffles and the gathering around the sleeves. I figure for a first try, 8 hours wasn't too bad, start to finish. I just did it while watching TV after the kids went to bed for a few nights. It ended up being too big, so I can't wait for her to wear it in the spring. My second one plus the sweater I found at Children's Place. This one took about a week of TV nights, but only about 6 hours of work. I'm getting faster. I think it just took so long, because I'm still learning the basic concepts of how to get everything to line up just right. The flowers in her hair and on her waist were from my friend Megan's blog tutorial. There is gathering at the top of the neck and above the waist band that is one of my favorite things about this pattern, but I think with the busy fabric it doesn't show up well enough. Also, my model was VERY SQUIRMY and running all over the place, so I never got a good shot of it anyway. By the time I got to this picture, she had pulled her bow halfway out and gotten quite the snotty nose, but I think she still looks precious. :)

In the Van

Funny thing happened yesterday in the van. The twins had bottles, but Sadie dropped hers. At a stop light, Owen starts laughing and telling me to look at Blake. Blake was holding his bottle out to Sadie, and when she'd reach for it, he'd put it back in his lap and laugh, laugh, laugh. Thankfully, she was giggling about it too. Let the sibling teasing begin!

Emerging Language

This is a really fun time with the twins because they are beginning to do less (just a LITTLE less) screaming and trying to communicate in other ways. Their babbling across the tops of the cribs is starting to sound more and more like English word patterns, and I don't think there are many other sounds quite as sweet.

Signs: I've tried to work on signs. I don't know if I haven't been consistent enough or if I give in too early when they want "more" of something, handing it over before they actually complete the sign. I'm sure they're smart enough to learn them, but we haven't made too much progress. They sign for "all done." Occasionally I'll see someone sign "more." Of course they wave bye bye and blow kisses. That's about it though.

Songs: We've been singing and doing hand motions to lots of songs lately. They are most competent with "Twinkle Twinkle". Both of them do some of the motions even when I'm not right there doing it with them, like say I'm doing dishes while I sing with them in their highchairs. We've been working on "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes", "Wheels on the Bus", and "Happy and You Know It". They do some of the motions in each, which is great. Then, Sadie dug through quite a few bins and baskets Friday and came across Owen's old favorite, Laurie Berkner Band DVD. The twins have LOVED watching this in the van, and get their little grooves on in their car seats. The best part of kiddie music is watching them dance their little boppy baby dances. I have been trying and trying to get it on video, but getting out the camera always seems to ruin the moment. I'll keep trying and hopefully get it posted soon.

Books: I cannot sit down without a book being handed to me and a little bottom plopping into my lap. It's great! It's also a little tiring to read about the bunny's fluffy tail for the eighty-fourth time each day. But now they both know how to do an elephant sound, a duck sound (ack ack), and monkey (ooh ooh ah ah ah ah ah).

Sadie's words: Sadie says "nie nie" (night night), which means blankie. She calls herself "Didi." Of course there's "Mama" and "Dada", and a couple of times I've heard her say "Bake" clear as day. She also says a knowing or interested, "oooooooh," as in "ooooooh Dada." Hard to explain in text, but it's super cute in person.

Blake's words: Blake is very good at "hi," and says it to a lot of people when we're out and about. He's got "Mama" and "Dada" down. Other than that, there aren't many that he says consistently, but he can clumsily repeat just about any word you say to him. He is a very good copier.

I know this is just the beginning, and I am so excited for each new word to make it into their vocabulary. I remember this stage with Owen was such a blast, and the poor people at school had to be tired of hearing me come in every morning with a new language update. Now, all of you blog readers will be the ones I brag to. :)

Blake's New Skills

This is going back a month and a half, but the kids have been keeping me on my toes so much lately that by the end of the day, I'm ready to zone out for a while and go to sleep. I keep thinking, I'll write the blog tomorrow. But the next day I feel the same way, and so on. So what's been the big change? A lot of it is Blake. Here are the things he has learned to do recently:

-Escape from the baby gate that we have separating the baby-safe area from the rest of the house. He can escape by wriggling it out from behind the chair and wall, squeezing through between the couch and pillar, and has managed to army crawl underneath it.

-Climb onto (and over) the couch

-Take off his pants and diaper

-Become Poo-caso (several times)

-Stand up in the tub and pee on his sister while doing an evil villain laugh.

- Take outlet covers off (3 different brands)

-Climb onto the ottoman and the Little Tikes teeter totter that I used to keep up there when it wasn't in use

- Open doors

- Reach things like table runners and pull on them to get everything to crash.

- Use bath toys to dump water out of the tub

-Steal his sister paci because it makes her scream, and he thinks that's hilarious

There is no time to look away while Blake is awake right now. He has this sense about what could be dangerous or maddening and the impulse to do it. But, things have been getting better. He is learning what "no" means, and you can bet he gets lots of hugs and tickles whenever he turns away from whatever it is I caught him trying.

He has also learned to hug, which is SOOO sweet. The first time, I was changing Sadie's diaper, He came up behind me, laid his head on my back, and said "Ahhh" as he patted my shoulder. TOO sweet. He tries to hug Sadie but ususally knocks her over, so that hasn't worked as well. He certainly is a handful, but he has the biggest heart. :)

My Blankie Girl

Before I had kids, I melted at the sight of a sweet little toddler (Can you believe my babies are toddlers now?) dragging around a lovey blankie. It just made me want to scoop them up and kiss 'em.


When Owen was a toddler, I kept hoping in a little way that he'd become attached to blankie or stuffed animal. E.E., the monkey, is the closest thing to a lovey he has. Although, he could mostly do without it, and he doesn't care which E.E. (we have two) is with him for things like trips to grandma's house and to get shots.



Blake doesn't go for that sort of thing either. He's mostly drawn to things in the shape of sticks like plastic golf clubs and baseball bats, brooms, and the stick we use as a lock on the sliding glass door.



But with Sadie, well, I got what I wished for. (Just like when I was younger and thought it'd be so much fun to have twins. HA!) She currently has two pink blankets that she totes around constantly. Um..maybe wears like a cape is a better description. She holds one corner in each hand, drapes it over her shoulders, and walks around like that for an hour. She pulls it over her head to hide from her brothers. She rides on it down the Little Tikes slide in the basement. She rubs the silky part when she's nervous or sleepy. It comes in handy for things like going to the doctor, being dropped off in the child watch area at the Y, and making a barrier between Sadie and Blake in the Sam's Club shopping carts. Luckily at this point either blankie will do, and you can bet that I'm putting extra blankies at the top of her Santa list.
As much as I always thought it would be so cute to have a blankie-toting baby around, I didn't realize how, in reality, it's kind of a pain. It's annoying remembering to grab it before I head up the stairs for naptime. Or worse, having to go back down stairs and up again because I forgot. It's not fun to listen to her scream all the way home because I won't hand it back to her in the van after she dropped it in a puddle and it got ran over by the stroller. If Blake ever takes the blanket, she attacks him full force, so beware. She cries when I take it away so she can eat. She screams if it's not in her crib. Without it in the morning, there is whining, whining, whining. They need to be washed constantly because they get covered in snot and milk and germs from shopping carts. (I'm being careful this flu season!)



But for as much of a hastle as the blankies are, it's the kind of hastle that makes me feel a little bit lucky for getting the chance to deal with it. In the same way it's a hastle to wash sticky finger prints off the walls or pick up countless toys every night before I go to bed, I'm secretly glad that I get to do it. Doing those kinds of things that makes me feel like a mom. And I get to be Mom to some awesome E.E. snugglin', stick wavin', blankie draggin' kids.

Owenisms #3

"Did you know that a long time ago there were some people who lived in China, and they could blow more bubbles in their water than monkeys. They have longer breaths than monkeys!"

"Mom, wouldn't you buy this?" (a snow globe)

I said, "No, I'm not ready to buy Christmas decorations yet."

He said, "Um, I think you are, babe." He definitely picks up on the way I talk.

Instead of will you, he keeps saying wouldn't you. It makes him so much harder to resist. "Wouldn't you get me some cheese and crackers?" "Wouldn't you let me sleep with you?" "Wouldn't you miss me while I'm in Taekwando?"

Exaggerating before bath: "You would not believe how stinky I am right now." Sniffs his armpit. "I don't want to tell you this, but I just have to. I smell like rotten corn." Sniffs again. "Seriously, if you come over here, you'll get this stink on you, and you DON'T want that to happen." Waves his hand in front of his nose.

Adding a lot of "Of course". "When I grow up I'm gonna be a doctor, a racecar driver, and ...of COURSE, an astronaut." "Terri makes her chili with little chocolates, marshmellows, and..of COURSE chocolate syrup." "Of course you need to take me to CMOE today." "Of course you can help me clean up my toys."

A new phrase that's cracking me up: "How'd ya like them apples."

Embarassing!

Today I took my three to the Y to go swimming since they just reopened the pool. We were having a fine time. Owen was swimming around throwing his Spiderman diving sticks. Blake and Sadie found out quickly that the newly painted pool was too slippery to walk on, so Mommy did a lot (I mean a whole lot!) of scooping up babies and moving them to a shallower area. It's funny that it's easier to walk around the deep end holding both of them than it is to try to let them play in the shallow end.

All was fine for 45 minutes, although I know at times I looked like I had too many kids to juggle. I really was fine. Sadie started to throw a fit because she wanted to get out at the side and crawl away, which I wouldn't let her do. It had been a long enough swim, so I told Owen it was time to get out. He was in deeper water and started to whine about leaving. I tried to tell him to swim to me so I could talk to him, but he didn't want to leave his dive stick out there in the middle.

So...He starts to have a temper tantrum while swimming in water above his head. I call out to him to swim to the side first, and when the lifeguard hears me, he jumps into action. I know Owen and his swimming abilities. He can swim a lap independently. He had been getting his dive sticks off of the bottom of 4 1/2 feet of water. He can dolphin kick across the pool. He was not a swimmer in distress. As soon as his face went under, he would have just swam the 3 feet to the side and continued crying about the dive stick. BUT, the lifeguard wasn't listening to me when I said that he wasn't drowning. He jumped in. Almost on top of a little boy with significant disabilities and his adults.

Having been a lifeguard for 10 years, it is embarassing to me that someone jumped in to rescue my son. It's embarassing that the lifeguard must have been looking at me like some mother who didn't know enough about water safety to keep her kids out of danger. As soon as he got to the side (all of 3 seconds later), he cried to the lifeguard that he didn't want to leave his dive stick where someone else would take it. By this time, I had been able to pick it up with my toes and went over to apologize to the guy who no longer had a nice dry shirt to sit in for the rest of his rotation. I also made Owen thank him and apologize for throwing a fit that made the lifeguard think he needed saving. I wonder what will go through that guy's head when we show up again later this week.

Just one more thing. Owen, should he ever read this when he is older, will be mortified, but I was embarassed enough for us both today when it happened. I'm sharing. While changing out of our wet suits, I was in the shower stall area of the family locker room while Owen got dressed on the other side of the baby stroller. I hear, "Look Blake, I can just hang my goggles on my weiner!" And that is exactly what he was demonstrating for his brother. Strange, but not a huge deal. I gave him a "stop that" and a "hurry up" and eventually we made it out of the locker room. The kicker is while passing the front desk, Owen says quite loudly, "My weiner is itching! It's allergic to goggles. You should only hang goggles on your weiner when you're a grown up and not allergic." Yep, we got some looks.

Owenisms Part 2

While playing I Spy, Owen says, "I spy with my little eye, something that is blowy uppy....your booty!" He was not trying to be funny either. Well, there's some motivation to get to the Y.

"Will the babies talk in Spanish or English?"

While at Target: "Mom, how many times do I have to tell you? I told you 8 times I wanted to go to the toy area." He gives me the same look I give him.

"Owen, we are going to get the other things we need first. If you whine one more time, we won't go to the toy area at all." We continue shopping for 30 seconds.

"Okay, I'm not whining. Since I didn't whine, can we go to the toy area now?"

To anyone who will listen: "Space just keeps going and going." What a conversation starter. This fact absolutely amazes him. He can't get over it.

Anytime he wants to comfort a crying baby: "Awww. It's okay. You're not by yourself."

All day, he sings this song: "Blakey the cakey, cakey penguin!!" I have no idea. There are variations. "Sadie the Janie, lady penguin!!" "Mommy the lommy, lommy penguin!!"

Things I will never get tired of hearing him say even though he says them constantly:
"I just love you, Mom."
"I need a hug."
"I'm so cold." and "Will you warm me up?" both of which mean 'Give me a hug.'
"Can I have some chocolate-milk-so-I-can-drink-the-chocolate-milk-part?"

Sadie's Games

My baby sure knows how to keep herself entertained. Here are Sadie's top 11 games:
1. Sit on mom's lap. When someone else wants to, throw a fit. When mom has to do something, scream. Pretend like you are not paying attention, but if Mom plays with Blake or Owen, immediately regain your seat on her lap. If anyone tries to share her lap, push them off.
2. Whatever Blake is playing with, take it just to see what he does. When he plays with something else, take that.
3. When you're wet and slippery in the tub, flop on your belly and ride the back side of the tub like a water slide.
4. Squish every goldfish cracker with your thumb before you eat it.
5. Put things on Blake's tray. Take them off. Put things on Blake's tray. Take them off. Put things on Blake's tray. Take them off. Repeat.
6. Dump out your Cheerios. One by one put them back in the bowl. Dump again.
7. Gather shoes. Wear them on your hands and crawl. Set lots of them in your lap. When mom is not looking, chew on them.
8. What ever you're holding, hand it to someone else and say, "Da doo." Expect for it to be handed back and say, "Ada doe." Throw things on the floor and say, "Uh oh."
9. Cover your ears with your hands. Babble in a sing song voice. Uncover, cover, uncover, cover. (This one better not be an ear infection.)
10. Put your finger on people's noses and expect them to either say "Nose" or "Honk". Laugh, laugh, laugh.

11. Find 2-4 toys that make noise or play songs. Keep them all making noise at the same time for as long as you can.

My new path?

I started teaching Eng 101 at USI. It's just Wednesday nights. I figured it would be an excuse to get out of the house and talk to adults about something other than kids. It gave us a little extra money, and gives me a really nice resume booster. I've only taught two classes, but so far I really like it.

I've been thinking about adjusting the direction of my career basically since I started it. I like teaching, but I've always felt like it wasn't what I was going to do for 30 years. Eight years was enough I think. At least eight years of sixth-grade language arts is enough. I got my master's in educational leadership because I was really feeling a drive to move toward a curriculum advisor type of position. Then with the twins coming along when they did, I've been given the chance to really step back and think about what I want to do. I still haven't figured it out. I know that's crazy. I'm 30. I should have a plan set in stone by now, but I don't. This experiment with Eng 101 is a chance to dip my toes in the professor pool. Maybe?

It's kind of funny though because my old habits are kicking in. During my first class, I had such an urge to walk around the room and glance at my students' papers to make sure they were staying on task. I caught myself four times peeking out the door as if I was on hallway duty or had to check to make sure no foolishness was going on in the bathroom. It's an adjustment, but in a very welcomed way. I have 4 students who are older than me, and it's funny how even their age can make me feel like I'm under-qualified to be a professor. I'm slightly intimidated really, but I know I can do a good job. We'll see.

This and that about Blake

Blake will climb on anything. Toes peeking through the baby gate, on top of toys, his sister, caught him with his chest pulled on top of this crib railing today (it's already been lowered!).

Blake will eat anything. His favorites right now are blueberries by the ton and celery. He also enjoys baby wipes, cardboard, mulch, playground tire "mulch", cat fur, and things that fall out of the dustbuster when he shakes it.

I laugh at Blake every time he squishes up his face and sniffs in and out. He grins through his pucker. It is just about the cutest thing ever.

Blake has a sixth sense about what he should not touch, and he feels driven to touch it. Outlets, glasses of milk on the end table, and DVR buttons are in danger when he's around.

The Tale of Sadie and the $46 Shoes.

After a chilly, baby-shoeless August (?????) morning at Scales Lake for an outing with the Moms of Multiples group, I decided that my next mission was to buy some shoes for my babies' tootsies. They had outgrown their crib shoes that they hardly wore, and since they are walking now, it was time to buy some comfy shoes they could wear outside and around town.



I went to Stride Rite because I cannot figure out what size shoes to put on babies and wanted to know for sure. There were only two people in the store: a cross looking lady and a kind older man who waved at the babies when we first walked in. Can you guess who I asked to help? Sadie was the first out of the stroller, sized, and put back. She threw such a fuss about being back in her seat that the man told me it was fine to let her cruise around the little store while we took care of Blake. She did, and she knocked quite a few pairs of shoes off the shelves. When he had our measurements and knew what style to look for, he went to the back for quite some time then came back with 10 pairs or so.

This time when he sat down, Sadie went right over to him and put her hands up as if she was asking to be picked up. He was delighted and plopped her on his lap as he put 5 different pairs on her feet, acting all great-grandpa-ish. I didn't really think it was necessary to try on so many shoes because, honestly, I was not planning on actually buying ANY there. Those shoes are not in our budget. The last time I spent that much money on a pair of shoes for myself was a couple of years ago when I bought my tennis shoes I still wear. Babies grow out of shoes too quickly to invest that much in them. I knew I could find some online later; I just needed to know what size. But, she was having such a nice time with all the shoes (they're her thing), and the salesman was enjoying her company, so que sera sera.

A little later, Sadie was still on his lap as we figured out what shoes worked best for Blake. I knew how much the shoes were, but I needed a way out of the situation, so I asked. The man said, "These here are $42, but they're half off." Hmmm. Well, I wasn't going to buy $42 shoes, but for a first pair of good walking shoes, I could rationalize $21. I told him we'd take them.

Right then, Owen announces that he has to poop. Right then. Hurry. It's starting to come out. I'm mortified. We've been working on making these announcements in more subtle ways, but apparently he forgot. We're led to the back room, and when we return the man already has up rung up. The total is nearly $80, and I know that this won't fly with my pocketbook or with Tim. I only wanted to buy Blake's shoes, but how could I say that to the sweet man who spent so much time with us and took such a liking to Sadie? How could I let her be Shoeless Jane leaving that store? So before I paid, I asked if it would be possible to return the shoes if my husband had a problem with how much I spent. He said I could, so I paid for them intending to return them in a couple of days. No harm done.

A couple of days later, I try to return them, and an elderly woman is the only salesperson in the store. She tells me that I can't. I tell her that I can. She tells me that I will only get $21 for them. No, they were the $46 pair. She says, "Yes, but our policy is that when you are returning them, you only get half the price back."

Now, I am not in the habit of fighting old ladies, but I was pretty annoyed. Then the cross woman from before walks in from her lunch break. "She's the manager. She's who you need to talk to." Well, turns out it was a buy one, get one 1/2 off sale. I did not know that. If I did know that, I wouldn't have bought any shoes. I'm certainly not going to return them for half price. There you have it, Sadie finagled $46 shoes. And she LOVES them!


They are pretty cute though!

These are Blake's 1/2 price pair. Oh! Forgot to say, when I got home after the first trip, I got online and bought Sadie 3 pairs on ebay, brand new for a total of $31. All Stride Rite: brown, black, and tennies. So, she actually has 4 pairs that she will outgrow in no time.

My Grandma Liles must be laughing.

My Grandma Liles, who passed away three years ago, had three children spaced just like mine: a boy who was 3 when boy/girl twins came along. I think about her often while managing day to day life now, and wish for her advice or at least her accounts of what it was like for her. (I know I have the advantage of an easily foldable double stroller and double-seated carts at Sam's Club.)



In my eyes, she was pretty easy going and loved a good joke. Boy did she pull one on me last night. Here and there throughout my life, I have heard the recounting of my Uncle Mike's frozen pea incident. When he was young (I don't remember how young) he shoved quite a few frozen peas up his nose. They couldn't get them out at home, and had to throw the three kids in the car and head for the emergency room. Well, last night, the kids and I were having a casual dinner when I looked over at Blake, Uncle Mike's counterpart, who had a little green ball shoved half way up his left nostril, a hazard of his sniffing habit from my earlier post I guess. My immediate thought? Grandma put him up to this.

I flicked that little booger out pretty easily and considered the crisis averted. I chuckled to myself and went back to dining. But, Blake kept rubbing his nose. He kept squinting his eyes and half gagging. I got a little worried and probably jumped to conclusions based on Mike's story.

Picture me with a flashlight trying to see up Blake's nose in search of lost peas. I'd like to point out that as a rule, I try to stay out of reach of the grubby self-feeding hands of twins because I don't particularly like having squished bits of vegetable soup and scrambled eggs in my hair. Thankfully, there were no more peas. Blake was just shaking it off I guess, like after a good sneeze. I'm sure Grandma had a good laugh just like she probably did when Mike's peas thawed and fell out on their own.

Strange Eaters

Blake and Sadie are trying new foods all the time now, and there are some interesting quirks that have developed.

I would say Sadie is a pretty smart baby. She catches on to a lot of things with no problem. She does have one hang up that she just can't figure out. If you ever try to feed her anything while she still has a pacifier in her mouth, she doesn't know what to do. She brings her hand up to her mouth and hits the pacifier a few times. It really confuses her, but Owen and I think it's funny.

Blake has to smell everything before he puts it in his mouth. It's cute, but weird. Each bite gets a good sniff inspection. They make every messy meal pretty entertaining.

Look Mom, No hands!

Blake started a funny new habit today. He has decided to fore go the pincer grasp, the full hand grab, and the spoon. No hands is his new way of eating. At breakfast, he licked his peaches off of his tray. This afternoon when he dropped a Cheerio, instead of picking it up, he got down on his belly and did a face plant as he gobbled it up. Same thing at lunch and dinner. Take your mouth to the food instead of lifting the food to your mouth. Weird.


Other new things for Blake? Well, this week I could take it no longer and decided to cut his hair for the first time. He squirmed quite a bit, but eventually we made it through and I think it looks pretty cute. It is at least an improvement from the big swoosh that was going on before. Bless his heart, Blake has some swirly hair growing patterns. The hair in the back is sideways!

Before: Sitting on a stool, crazy hair combed out and ready for a new style.

During: Squirmy, not on the stool, hair all over the bathroom. Photography by big brother.

After: Looking older. He was smiling, just not in any pictures.

See down by his neck? That hair is sideways, and hard to cut!

Finally, tonight we moved his crib down a level after I found him with two feet on the bar for the drop gate, staring over at the floor after nap. He also climbed the baby gate downstairs. He had his little toes wedged in the holes about four inches off the ground. It looked painful, but he was so proud of himself. And, he can almost climb onto the couch when he stands on top of another toy. He's becoming a little daredevil, and I've got the feeling he'll be yelling, "Look Mom, no hands!" quite a bit.

Here he is with the crib in the lowered setting. Don't learn how to climb out of that anytime soon, Buddy!

Owen's 4th Birthday Party

For Owen's 4th birthday, we went a little overboard as I tend to do anytime there is any special occasion to celebrate with my kids. But you know, Owen really deserved a big party this year. He's had a lot of adjustments (two in particular) this year and handled it all so well. I could not be any more proud! Plus this year we had FRIENDS to invite!

The theme was easy - SPACE! He is nearly obsessed with spaceships, astronauts, and planets. It took us a while to decide on a place since our house is just too small for that kind of a gathering. CMOE (Children's Museum of Evansville) ended up being a great choice. The kids all seemed to have a good time. Owen was on cloud nine. I loved that I got the chance to make him feel so special.

For this party, I searched online for good space ideas. I tried to make a moon cake like the one I found on FamilyFun.com, but it didn't turn out like the picture they showed. When Owen saw it, it was like he was trying to protect my feelings by not saying that it was ugly. He goes, "Is that how it's supposed to look?" I had to laugh. We used it as our "practice" cake and ate it ourselves.

Another idea I got online was to create a space station using odds and ends and some foil covered insulation board. I never would have been able to take on this project if it weren't for my parents coming to stay for the weekend. Mom watched the kids while I duct taped and duct taped and duct taped. It took quite a while to put together, but we had a lot of fun with it for the $11 that it cost us.

Tim had not been hands on for much of the party planning, but when he saw the space station, he got inspired and created this circuit board with a working switch that blinked Owen's birth date. It was pretty cool. (By the way, he didn't plan much of the party because he was busy getting our driveway redone with new concrete! When Owen's friend Sam came over a couple of days later he was so shocked that Owen's dad got him a new "parking lot" for his birthday.)

Here's a picture of Owen with "Tiny", the last Planet Hero that we had to collect. We now have a complete set, which is pretty cool.

In the favor bags was a box of crayons, a mini "Owen's Birthday Bash" coloring book, and a Milky Way. We decorated the Donut Bank cupcakes with toy aliens (not a bad back up plan - thank goodness you only have to order from Donut Bank a day in advance). We had our special order astronaut plates, Alien Goop hand sanitizer, and "Tang".

We had a toy table filled with some of Owen's rocket themed toys. It was such a huge hit, we probably could have done just that and the kids would have been happy.

The party host from CMOE was fabulous. We made a special request that the craft that she provided (as a part of their birthday package) be space themed. She came up with creating rockets out of foil and cardboard tubes. Each kids made one and got to take it home. My dad (in the doorway in the picture above) made a game out of Owen's stomp rocket. A few of the boys hung out with him for most of the party blasting off. After ALL of this, we still got to visit the museum and played until it closed. We had such a great time, and it made it all the better since Owen is the kind of kid that really appreciates it. Can't believe you're 4 little guy because it doesn't seem like that long ago when you were just a baby. On the other hand, I can't believe you're only 4 because you are smart, talented, and perceptive beyond your years. Love you Space Man!