Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Number 2

2 days until....
2 beautiful babies turn...
2 years old!!!
Incredibly hard 2 believe.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Lunch At "Bro-Bro's Kooool"

Today, I took Lilah and Jaxon out to lunch at Tyson's school. This was the first time the twins got to visit Tyson for lunch. I am REALLY sad that I haven't done it sooner. I just didn't know it would be allowed. After bible study, we headed to Fort Lewis Elementary. The entire way there I spoke to L&J about where we were going. I am not sure they fully understood, but once we arrived at the school, they were so excited and all smiles.
Jaxon and Lilah head into the school.
They both look like a bunch of big shots. Jax sporting his pink passie.
Lilah and Jax greet Tyson
So sweet...
Brotherly Love.
Kissies (a little too open mouth, lol!)
"Bro-Bro" bought Lilah and Jaxon an creamsicle with his own lunch money.
Mr. Cool!
"Mmmmm!"

"YUMMY!"
Some of their lunch was left over, but not a drop of the creamsicles were.
Tyson was kind enough to snap a photo to show that mommy was the chaperone.
Tyson had to go back to class. Jax and Lilah were not comprehending this part. They wanted him to come back. This is Jax spying in the window of the classroom to grab his attention.
"Bro-Bro! Where are you?"
"Shew, I'm outta here!"
"Where we off to now Jax?"
Look at that little girl. She looks like Jennifer Lopez from behind, sporting her boots, jean jacket, big hair and hip lunch box.
It's hard to believe these two will be off to kindergarten in just 3 short years.
"Wow! That was so much fun!"

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Getting Prepared...

Our family purchased a year membership to our local zoo, Mill Mountain Zoo. It will be nice to visit on days when we just don't feel like fighting the pool crowds. Lilah and Jaxon's 2nd birthday party will be at the zoo, so on Friday, we took a drive out there. I figured I would get Lilah and Jax accustomed to the atmosphere. I also wanted to scope out the party area to know what type of decorations I will need. Unfortunately, the zoo does NOT allow balloons or straws, so that eliminates a piece of decor that I LOVE to use to make a party look like a party :(

The zoo was a little disappointing. I left there wondering if I made a bad decision choosing the zoo as the party venue. It's just under some major additions/reconstruction and it's a huge mess. Ashely and I joked on the way out and said that we only saw 4 animals and a bunch of Christmas trees. And it's the truth. For some reason, every cage had about 5-10 Christmas trees in it. Hopefully by April 2nd, things will be back to normal. AAAAAAHHHHH!

These photos are a sneak peak into a few of the animals our guests will get to see. All 4 of them. LOL! Should we move the party to our backyard?

Jax was there, but for some reason he didn't get captured. :(

Problems with the name Jax

Lately, I've noticed, our ever so hip, son's name JAX, poses a few problems.

Mom: "Let's go to the car Jax!" aka carjack a vehicle

Mom: "Do you want an apple Jax?" aka Apple Jacks (the cereal)

Mom: "Hi Jax!" aka hijack an airplane

Mom: "Hey Jax!" aka Ajax the cleaning product

Mom: "Do you want a cracker Jax?" aka Cracker Jacks the caramel popcorn snack

Mom: "Do you wanna play Jax?" aka Jacks the game

Mom: "What color is this Jax?"
Jax: "Bue?"
Mom: "No. That's yellow Jax!" aka A yellow jack is a type of ocean fish

Mom: "That's mommy's phone Jax." aka Phone jack.

Just funny to think about and even funnier to hear when I say it. It catches me off guard.


Tuesday, March 15, 2011

I Wear My Sunglasses At Night!





Thanks Gram!

Gram, thank you so much for always sending thoughtful packages our way. We love to run to the mailbox to see if anything has traveled all the way to us from Florida. Can you fit in the mailbox? We'd rather receive you in the mail. LOL!

Today's package: 5 books.

Double Trouble!

I am not a lover of the phrase, "double trouble". I was, until I had twins of my own. I like to say, "twice as nice." BUT, this story warrants the phrase to be used.

Two weeks ago, Gretchen and I took a short road trip to Christiansburg. We wanted to visit the GAP Outlet and a few other stores in the area. As we arrived at the mall, we unloaded the car, put the twins in the stroller, and proceeded to head towards Dick's Sporting Goods. Gretchen was kind enough to show me what I will need for Tyson who is starting T-ball in April. Lilah and Jaxon were in their stroller, unbuckled, unbeknownst to me, and all of the sudden, stood up, turned around, and the stroller got top heavy and BAM!!!!! CRASH!!!!!!! TWO SCREAMING BABIES, BLOOD EVERYWHERE, and my Starbucks iced tea all over the place.

I ran to rescue them in desperation, as did Gretchen. "Who do I go to first?" "Who do I help?" They were BOTH crying, screaming more like it. They were BOTH bleeding. They were BOTH suffering. It was awful. Blood all over my clothes, their clothes, Gretchen's clothes and to think it was JUST the first store. What a terrible way to start our lil trip.

I couldn't bring myself to ask Gretchen if we could leave. I knew she had an agenda and I didn't want to ruin that for her. I had to purchase a new outfit to wear, Jax fell asleep after 30 FULL BLOWN minutes of crying. I know he cries A LOT, but this was different. This was a "I'm in pain" cry. Jax got it the worst. So bad, that that night, we went to a party, Darren was holding Jax and a friend, Jonathan Murphy, said, "Hey Darren!" Darren replied, "Hey Jonathan!" Jonathan asked, "Who is this you're holding?" Jax was definitely disheveled. Gretchen and I both agreed he looked like a rhinoceros. Poor thing. Lilah's nose appeared to have gotten the WORST damage. Her forehead, chin, and mouth were sparred.

The photos you see were taken about 24 hours after the incident. It's amazing how resilient children really are. Bruising around their nose is still a little present. Just in time for Lilah to fall again today and bust her lip and her nose (again... blood everywhere).

When it happens to one, it usually happens to BOTH. So I anticipate a fall sometime today from Jax.





Jax drooled for 3 straight days. I guess he couldn't swallow properly. He had NO PROBLEM taking his passie however. AND certainly wasn't fearful to try to get hurt again. These photos were taken while he was jumping off of the couch onto the couch cushions. AHHHH! These kids are going to give me a heart attack.

Take A Guess Tuesday!



Can anyone guess what this is a picture of? If you guess correctly, the winner will receive a batch of my famous, french vanilla, filled cupcakes! The guess must be placed in the comment box below. I will not accept email guesses. This will help OTHERS to NOT make a duplicated guess. At first, I will ONLY receive one guess per viewer, but if it is NOT guessed correctly after a day or so, I will let you make multiple guesses.

GEEZ, how many times can I use the word "guess" in ONE post.

PS. This is NOT a staged photo.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Beginning Stages of Lilah and Jaxon's 2nd Birthday Party Planning!

Lilah and Jaxon will be 2 in 11 days. It's so crazy how fast time has flown with them. I knew what the theme of their 2nd birthday party was going to be since their 1st birthday party! The theme is Noah's Ark. Perfect, right?

My 3 biggest focuses when planning a party are invitations, cake, and party favors. The invitation sets the tone and excitement for the party. Every kid looks forward to the CAKE. My favorite, are the party favors. I put an insane amount of thought and effort into what I will send my guests home with. After all, this provides each guest with the wonderful memories the party.

First up, the invites.
(The above picture is of the outside of the invite)

The invite's wording is as follows;

"Just like the animals on the ark,
2x2 they came, different, yet the same.
Lilah and Jaxon are turning 2
Please join us for their birthday party
At the local zoo.
We're flooded with joy to see you!"
Obviously, the thought behind this theme is to relate God's commands, to Noah, to bring two of each kind of animal on the ark to the fact that Lilah and Jaxon are turning two and their twins.
I also love the fact that it's a biblical party theme. I'm having a hard time finding Noah's Ark themed items, go figure, but I have a ton of amazing things already designed and planned out, mostly for the cake and favor bags.

Each guest received the invite, along with a pair of animals wrapped with rainbow color ribbon around their necks. The rainbow relates to this theme as well. Recall, the rainbow is God's reminder that he will never flood the earth again.
Giraffes.
Elephants.
Lions.
Hippos.
Tigers.
Zebras.


This is how the invitation was delivered to each guest, unless of course they lived out of state.

Stay tuned for more all the other details after their party on April 2nd. You know me, NO SECRETS will be revealed until then. I LOVE SURPRISES!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

"There are starving people in this world..."

Tonight, I made a homemade marinara sauce, meatballs, and whole wheat rigatoni for dinner. Tyson is anything but Italian (unless it comes to pizza). What the heck? Who in the world doesn't like Italian food? He's not right.

At dinner tonight, I served the meal to the kids first. As I turned around to begin making Darren and I's plate, I hear,

Tyson: "Ewe!"
Daddy: "What's ewe?"
Ty: "What is this on my plate?"
Mommy: "I don't ever want to hear ewe at the dinner table again. There are starving people in this world who would love to eat what's been served to you."

O how I cringed every time my mother would say that to me and now I say it too!

Tyson: "Well, then they can have my food."

Darren and I about died. We had to contain ourselves from busting out laughing. It was certainly a very intelligent reply if I must say so, not to mention fairly hilarious as well as SERIOUS. He was all ready to pass off his "ewe" food to the starving people in this world.

Oh kids! They sure do say the darndest things.

Have you ever heard that response before from your child?

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Perfect Scores!

We have a praise to report about our big boy Tyson. He has now been in Kindergarten for well over 100 days. Since school has started, Tyson has taken 6 math tests. We are proud to report that he received a perfect score on every single one. Math is, for sure, his BEST subject. Ty, we are so proud of you. You love everything about math. One of your favorite past times is when mommy and daddy make up problem stories, involving math, and you have to solve the problem. WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!

14/14, 24/24, 13/13, 15/15, 12/12, and 8/8


Happy Valentine's Day To My "Sensational 6"

Rose Soap In The Shape Of A Heart (Dollar Tree) = $1.00
A Simple Black Frame From Wal-mart = $3.00
Scrapbook Paper = $1.00
Made With Love = FUN
Hand Delivered = FREE
Appreciation From My "Sensational 6" = PRICELESS