First day of school...

First Grade was a big step for me. This means my boy goes to school ALL.DAY instead of half day Kindergarten. I am going to miss having Jacob home with me. Not to mention that now I have done this before I know I can blink my eyes and he will be in fourth grade like Lindsey. That just breaks my heart! I am not ready for life to move so fast.

Jacob was happy and excited for this step. No fear. When he got home I was very interested in who he ate with, who he played with etc... but he had nothing to share. It's strangely hard not being a part of this part of his life. I asked him if he wanted hot or cold lunch the next day. He told me "no lunch". I reminded him that it was a long day and too long to go without lunch. He told me, "Don't worry Mom they have tons of lunches there for people". I laughed. Sweetie there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Jacob may your easy going and happy nature win you friends and serve you well as you go out into the big world of first grade. I have shed of few tears letting you go, but you are SO ready!

Love,
Mommy

Four...

The girls had a great Birthday Party!

Sydney

Hailey

Showing off that they are four...

Sydney is not taller she must have been stepping up. She is actually the shorter one by 1/2 ".

Then there was swimming (Lindsey and her cousin were racing)...

It was a great day. I have lot's to post. We are doing something fun for Labor Day weekend. See you when I get back!

I believe in miracles...

Dear Sydney and Hailey,
I believe in miracles because I begged God to allow you to live and come to our family safely and you did. It didn't seem possible or even likely.

As I watched you be born and heard your first weak cries. I knew I was experiencing a miracle, we all knew it. I watched the nurses and doctors attend to you carefully. I worried as a ventilator was needed to help you breath.
All I wanted was you to be born alive- to have you safe, yet my arms ached as stayed at the hospital small and weak for 29 days.

We celebrated as you came home pink and healthy to our home.
You have given me a gift. I will never be the same. I will never take any life for granted. Life is fragile. I love you so very much!
Happy Birthday my sweet little girls!

Sharing the love...

I like the number 100. I like it even better when its money. I don't win things often. I won't lie- I never win things. But it won't be for lack of trying. Tiffany is hosting a contest on her blog... and its big. $100 dollars big. SO head on over and enter. While you there enjoy all her posts. I have been reading them all day. SO even if I don't win I have found a new blog to stalk (thanks Angie)!
CLICK HERE

Back to school tradition...

When Lindsey started Kindergarten ourlife was in chaos. The twins had been born one week before school started and they were small and fragile in the NICU. My life was not really great. Lindsey's first day of Kindergarten got lost a bit in the shuffle, although I remember forcing myself to be the one to take her on her first day. I also remember the agony and pain I experienced having just had twins via c-section etc... It was a hard time. When Lindsey started first grade I started a tradition. I wanted to make going back to school something special. When I was young my mom was not really into back to school shopping. I think that there is something to be said about getting new stuff and getting prepared and excited for back to school. After all it can be a bit intimidating so I believe in doing all you can to make it a positive experience. So when Lindsey began first grade I began taking her shopping and to lunch. Just her and I. Just fun. Last year Jacob had a chance to do it too because he started kindergarten. This year I took Lindsey to dinner and shopping. Jacob went on his own too and picked Subway for his lunch. This doesn't have to be expensive either. Just pick a pair of shoes and spend some time together. Talk about school. Let them have a special moment. I highly recommend it.

School starts Monday. I cannot believe how fast the summer has gone. Some days I wish summer lasted forever and some days I am counting the minutes. It's been a lot more of the latter this week so I guess its good that Monday is the day!

*I have had a few people mention they missed my comments and were checking in on me. I assure you I am here and well. Just going a little nuts. No time. Life will improve greatly in the next weeks. I am glad I was missed, sorry!

This one has your name all over it...

When is happened there was no way to know who to blame. Well we could narrow it down to one of two people and I had my suspicions.

This one, however, was kind of obvious. The big "H" on the middle cabinet has Hailey written all over it.


Thank goodness for Mr. Clean magic eraser or my twins would be in even more trouble. Anyone else care to comment on when my near four year old twins will stop being so mischievous?

Just because...

Hailey (her smile is at an awkward stage)

Sydney

See how dirty she is...

Photo story Friday My engagement story...

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Because today is my anniversary. I thought it would be a good time to share my engagement story. Alan and I had known each other for a year and half and had been dating for about a year. Marriage has been discussed, rings had been looked at. I knew a proposal should be coming. I hate spoilers and I love surprises and even then Alan must have known that. Christmas came and went and nothing happened. He told me he was sorry but he was not going to propose till spring (he had good excuses) and I bought it. So its the day after Christmas and Alan and I had plans to go to San Francisco. I spent my day shopping and was running late when he came to pick me up. We drove up to San Francisco is the worst rain storm ever it was pouring rain and the wind was blowing, it was scary. Instead of going to the restaurant Alan said he wanted to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge( this did not seem strange to me at the time) and I still had no idea what was happening. We arrive at the parking area on the other side. It's near the water. Again the wind in blowing and the rain is heavy. The ocean looks fierce. He suggest we get out the car and look around. WHAT? So he gets out of the car and has an umbrella. I then knew something was up. He never carries an umbrella. So I get out and we go stand near the water. It's so windy and rainy and cold (remember its December 26th). He kneels down and proposes. He slips a beautiful diamond solitaire on my finger and I say, yes. He gave me a dozen long stemmed roses. We then went to dinner a the carnelian room a really amazing place. We had three waiters. Someone was singing in the bathroom and she dried my hands for me (my ring slipped off too because it was too big). It was the perfect night, despite the weather.
Last summer when we went away on our own we stopped by the spot...
We were married later that summer. 11 yrs later. 4 kids. Life is good.

Thursdays 13 The upside...

Before I begin. I must say this week has been tough. It all began Sunday night with Hailey coming down with a fever. Throw up and all nighters followed. Two days of clinging and screaming too. Wednesday morning I was needing to get out of the house and get some groceries. It was busy and I was getting everyone ready to go and then I noticed Sydney was missing. I got to get her dressed to and find her asleep on my bed burning up. Then follows two days of crying and whining and misery from her. My ebay closed and I had tons of stuff to ship. A Daddy daughter thing to plan and carry out tonight. Groceries needing to be bought and a house screaming for my attention. Speaking of screaming that is all I hear ALL.DAY.LONG. Every time I need to interact with my children I find myself having to take a deep breath and count so I don't just totally lose control. A few times more than I would like I have lost control but when someone is crying because their sister is looking at them it gets to be a little too much!

So Thursdays thirteen is dedicated to finding the upside... because if I don't I will just loose it.
1-Sydney always goes to the bathroom in the middle of my meal. Sometimes I get the joy of wiping while finishing to swallow my food. The other night she went (on her own) upon her return she had her hands cupping Alan's cheeks. I then asked, "Did you wash your hands"? Her response was a quick run back the bathroom. Lovely huh.
2-This week when one twin was out of commission the other twin was totally bored. On Tuesday when Hailey's motrin took affect she got off the couch and began to play. Sydney ran across the room and began dancing with her. "Your better, your better you can play again, I love you".
3- Lots of heartfelt love and sympathy has been had between the twins when the other is down. Drinks being delivered. Toys retrieved.
4-Every night when I am dog tired and should be sleeping I stay up crazy late watching the Olympics. I.LOVE.EVERY.MINUTE!
5-Today at Costco. The girls had to go even if they were not totally better. We have to have food. Hailey told me (I was moving on from a place we were stopped) that lady in the pink shirt wants to meet the twins. I was like what twins. She said us. She wants to meet us. I asked her how she knew that and she said that the lady pointed at her and said, "look twins". I guess Hailey is used to getting twin attention, huh? So nice she wants to accommodate her fans. Costco seriously loves the twins. All people love on them. Some twins mom's hate that stuff but not me. I am so grateful they are here healthy, happy.

It's getting hard to find 13 good things about this week I am wanting to add. Late work nights for Alan . NO girls night. Opps back to the upside...

6-Daddy daughter (invitations pictured here- A tag attached to popcorn) over and done. Success.
7.Soccer season started first practice tonight. Jacob is beyond thrilled.
8. Tomorrow is our 11th anniversary.
9.I made TONS of money on ebay. I am enjoying shopping for my twins totally guilt free.
10.Breaking dawn is over. I loved it.
11.A vacation is coming very soon.
12.School starts in less than two weeks (sometimes I can't wait for this other times I want to cry at the thought).
13.Last but most important I made it through the week. Who will get the fever next... let's hope its not me.

Oh and sorry for my absence on your blog. I have not had any time.

Some of the photos before the hike...

A evening hike nightmare....

When Alan was out of town we decided to take the kids up to the mountains to get pictures. After spending afternoon coordinating clothing and doing hair we headed up around 5pm. Our plan was to take photos and go on a short one mile hike. I work out all the time so 1 mile was described by sister as a "a little walk up the road". We began taking pictures, which turned out great. After millions of pictures Jacob announced he needed to use the bathroom. So we all went down the trail to use the bathrooms. After taking them I told my sister how glad I was that we had done that, "wouldn't it be awful to be the top of the mountain with a kid needing to poop". Good point. So we began our little "walk down the road" as we got to the trailhead Sydney announced a need to use the bathroom again. We had just been there so I wasn't feeling the need could be too urgent. I sent my sister on her way with the other three and headed to the bathroom. For some reason I retrieved my car keys from her as well. As we were walking towards the bathroom Sydney begins to cry and tell me she is going to poop. True to her word she did. EVERYWHERE. Shoes,legs,everything. My hands were caked in the stuff. In the good old port a potty there is nothing. No water, no sink, no paper towels nothing. She is screaming. I head to my car with a kid covered in brown stuff and me looking bad too (thank goodness I had keys). I keep extra stuff in a bag with wipes, hang sanitizer, underwear all that good stuff you need with small children. I knew I was in trouble before even arriving to the car because all that stuff was in a swim bag I had thrown out of the car as we were rushing off. I was hoping to find something to save me. NOT SO. I found two dry wipes from wiping faces and a bottle of water. I did my best to clean her off. At this point I have no desire to go on my little walk up the mountain even if its short. I have no choice though as my sister has got my other three and has no idea where we are. SO we head off with Sydney and no underwear (poor dear she was NOT happy). As we begin walking I realize this is not short or easy. Time passes and its all uphill, over creeks, and its getting darker. I am carrying my then dirty girl on my back and I am wiped out. I see no sign of my sister either. That doesn't bode well for how long I have to go I decide. After what seemed like forever I hear some voices in the distance. I eventually see Jacob and Lindsey at the top of a high peak. I finally catch up and wonder if my sister considers this hike more than the walk up the road. I don't want to say anything. I don't have too she is as surprised as I am. We continue up to Secret Lake. It's then that Sydney has to go to the bathroom again. This time I take her seriously. She goes under a tree (remember we have no wipes). We keep on going and going. At the top she goes to the bathroom again. After a few more pictures we headed back down where Sydney went to the bathroom again. People were stopping us commenting on how lovely the kids were dressed for a hike. Yeah they were all wearing dresses and brown sandals that were very dirty now. We had no idea what we were getting into at all. No water and no food. When we got home it was 10pm! My kids were starving. When I told Alan the whole story he said something about why would I take a baby hiking with diarrhea. I wouldn't ever do that. Sometimes you don't know these things before hand. Sometimes knowing would be better. SO thats part 2. Lovely huh.

Thank goodness the pictures were so nice. The kids thought it was a wonderful thing. They loved every minute (except being with out underwear Sydney hated that part).

Girl scout camp...

On Wednesday I dropped Lindsey off at Girl Scout camp. It was a horse themed camp where for 3 days they got to learn about horses etc... She doesn't go with a troop you sign up individually. Lindsey was so excited to go. One of the things I love and admire about Lindsey is her outgoing nature. She isn't shy or afraid to try new things. She goes in with a good attitude. This quality is a great one to have.
Here she is when I was dropping her off...


She could not call home or anything during her time away so I was dying to know how it went. I just talked to her on the phone. She was going straight to another camp out with Alan so I did not get to pick her up. She was so thrilled with every thing she did and had a great time. I love that she is so brave and happy. She said she made tons of friends. I don't doubt it. Lindsey has never met a person she thought was a stranger.

Adventures in baby-sitting...

The other day I was chatting with a mom of older teen girls I was asking her about baby sitting etc... She suggested I start having Lindsey "baby sit" for me while I was at home and needed to get things done. This way I would be there to help in an emergency (and it would be legal ha ha). Obviously I would not leave a 9 yrd old babysitting alone. I had never thought about having her be in charge while I was home and it occurred to me that not only would she like it but she could use that experience. So being a busy week and me having a messy house I hired her for a morning. First I took her to get craft supplies etc... She began watching the kids outside. She helped them make visors, let them run through the sprinklers etc... After 1.5 hrs I had not been bothered at all. At that point she came upstairs and told me Sydney was crying to come inside and that I needed to help. I reminded her that she was in charge and that she should change activities and bring her inside (no brainer huh). So she brought them all inside, turned on a video and popped popcorn. Later she made them pb&j for lunch too. After I put them down for their naps I noticed a terrible mess in the kitchen. I had to remind her that part of baby sitting was cleaning it up. So she cleaned too. I got my entire house clean for $5. L I will absolutely try this again. Jacob helped too and earned $2.50. Lindsey was not in charge of Jacob (that would NEVER work).

All we need is one bathroom...

Last week I stayed up almost every night till 2am. Alan was gone and I guess I just got doing stuff. It was the only alone time I was getting so I guess I felt I would make it last. One night I went to bed I accidentally let my door swing almost shut. This is a very bad thing. My twins room is next to mine and incidentally they have to pass my room to get to the rest of the house. Every morning I watch to catch them, but this morning since my door was slightly shut and I was so tired they slipped right on by. I am later awakened by screaming. I get up and find that the twins had destroyed Lindsey's clean room and dumped an entire bottle of Swim Ear all over it and ruined her new Hannah Montana doll. After cleaning up that disaster I came down stairs and began making breakfast. Hailey announced she needed to go the bathroom. She always tells me she has to go and I say, "just go". She headed out of the room. Next thing I know she is back in the kitchen covered in poop. She says she pooped on my stairs. I go to survey the damage. IT.IS.NOT.GOOD. Apparently she went upstairs to use the bathroom in the middle of doing her poop she decided that she would prefer the downstairs bathroom (seriously). So... she gets up mid poop and strolls down stairs. Problem is NO ONE can do that. So she proceeded to poop on the stairs, step in it and track it down the halls. So nice. So Thursday at 10am I was not in a good mood.

Later I noticed Lindsey posted this on her blog.

Made with love and lots and lots of glue... ( Rachel she must see your blog open from time to time)

I have had so much craziness is my life!!!My room is such a mess with my twins,jacob loves to BMX only when I am there,my Dad is on a work trip,and my Mom is stressed out!!!She need LOTS of help and I am trying to help! My family is so crazy when it comes to perfection , but I love all of them!(even if Sydney uses markers to draw on the walls.)it is a happy life!

It really had me laughing. Oh and to set the record straight she considers me a perfectionist because I require her to have her hair done every day, clean clothing, and rooms clean. I know totally nuts. Oh and she was totally right.... I had a very stressful day.

Part 2 of my poop week will follow later this week. What one twin does the other will follow- just in a different worse way.

Ice Cream for dinner...

After surviving a long 9 days without Alan I told the kids we could have ice cream for dinner (I cheated and fed them toast first). If you have ever had the Chili's Molton cake you know that there is nothing out there like it. If I am going to indulge this is where I am going... My 9 days alone went well except the last few- which were so bad I was counting the hours for Alan to arrive home. We missed him.

My sister came along. Thank goodness for that.

Look at those dirty faces.