Come sit in the fort with me!

L & S are so blessed to have a daddy that doesn't hold back with the fort/tent building. Today was a great day for it, serious winds and not all that warm kept us inside! But not to despair ... Daddy built them a serious fort with all the blankets and moved all the couches (which Mommy got to put them all on my own - we need to work on that).

The girls had flashlights, stuffed animals, blankies (all of them), books and more! It was every child's dream world. And it entertained them for over an hour. Coming and going, talking and singing, pretending to play house and having parties...

It was a heavenly hour of listening to laughter, giggles, silly chatter and happy kids!

Do so LOVE my happy kids and the Daddy that inspires them to have fun!

What's for Dinner?

What's for dinner?

This is what the girls were up too while I was trying to decide on dinner yesterday!

Standing on their stools, decked out in aprons and finger to the chin

(the thinking cap of a toddler)...

all the while saying:

"Hum... let me think mommy!"

"I GOT IT! Let's make... hotdogs"

... or sandwiches, or cereal, or pancakes, or spaghetti, or green beans, or bananas... this went on for quite a while. Then a brilliant idea came to me - set them up making pudding and actually make dinner!

So the girls mixed up pudding and had a blast doing it!

But aren't they adorable? Who wouldn't want these 2 as their sou-chef?

35 days

35 days CHOCOLATE FREE!

Someone should give me an award for this achievement. Monumental if you ask me, the person who used to eat more chocolate servings in a day than fruit/veggie servings. I have overcome, or are starting to overcome my chocolate addiction. Yea, let's admit it - it's just the beginning. Early stages.

But today I do NOT crave chocolate! Which is huge. Serious.

Not only did I give up chocolate - which is all I set out to do- I've also begun eating healthier. Strive for Five (heard this from a speaker at MOPS), eating 3 veggie and 2 fruit servings a day. I'm doing portion control; a.k.a not eating more than a serving of any food, over eating my carbs no more. It's a little crazy. I don't snack anymore unless it fulfills my veggie/fruit servings. Or the occasional serving of popcorn OR a glass a wine after the kiddos are in bed!

So I am aiming to be a better food role model to my children. And am starting to feel like a much healthier version of me. It's really good. Plus the loss of over 1 pants size is pretty sweet too... though I didn't plan on it.

It's truly amazing how much better I feel!

It was tough to skip halloween candy (the first holiday I didn't eat snacks, chocolate or candy), but I've allowed myself 1 treat a week. I made it to Thanksgiving with hardly any qualms - and survived the meal! Enjoyed a delicious serving of carrot cake and 2 cookies the next day! And we're back to eating well after that splurge of a meal. Even then I managed to eat pretty well - emphasis on the veggies, lighter on the carbs.

No regrets over what I have eaten in the last 35 days!

So here's to making it until Christmas. I'll re-evalute the no chocolate thing at Christmas... and decide if I'm ready for the responsibilities of not over eating chocolate again. But no rush - I'm enjoying eating healthier, more responsibly.

Good luck to all of you this holiday season of over eating. I'll not be over indulging and plan to not need a New Year's Resolution of losing weight or getting in shape!

HAPPY MONDAY!

Pjs & Tutus are just the way to kick off the week!

Christmas Card OUT-TAKES

Every year we attempt a Christmas card. We enjoy sending and receiving cards, to/from our family and friends! It is a great way to pray for each person we receive cards from and a way to enjoy catching a glimpse at their growth from one year to the next. The twins had a blast today looking at the cards we have from last year's Christmas cards. So I thought I'd share two of the Christmas card out-takes from this years attempts...

One day I randomly had the girls in really good spirits and unprompted good pictures followed!

And then yesterday, the day after Thanksgiving we tried family pictures...

So enjoy, have a laugh and look forward to the one we'll send your way!

Please message me, email or facebook with your address if you'd like a card and aren't sure we have your correct/updated address!

Happy Thanksgiving

This is what it looks like when you have 6 adults and 6 kids for Thanksgiving!

It's a wonderful crazy time - we had a blast. Ate TONS of food and enjoyed our time as family. The cousins all had fun and played well together. The day started with swimming at a hotel pool where family stayed over! While they swam I cooked! Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, glazed carrots, corn&broccoli casserole, fruit salad, (forgot to put out the cranberry sauce,oops!) ... there was a holiday drink of champagne & apple cider with cranberries... wine, wine and more whine! I mean wine. :)

The kids had play time at the park with the Daddy, Uncle Andy and Grandpa... while us moms relaxed at home with the baby sleeping. Pure bliss!

After the kids all returned it was snack time (Veggie tray & cheese/meat/cracker tray)... while watching Beauty & the Beast! The grandkids and grandparents enjoyed the movie - while us 'adults' sat around the table together!

We finished up the evening with a delicious carrot cake made by Grandma Warren and sugar cookies the girls decorated the day before.

We already miss having our cousins over and look forward to more time with our family!

A million pictures...

If only the cameras the girls used today were REAL we'd have a million pictures of what 'Beauty Shop' looks like when 2 very sweet girls are giving Mommy a makeover. And seriously - they use the word makeover. Do I look tired? To them I just look like the perfect-willing patron.

So I sat on a chair, received a wonderfully relaxing hair do (surprisingly L&S were so gentle while brushing I didn't loose many hairs), a gentle facial including fake make-up, a headband and lots of jewelry later (anything and everything that fit)... it was show time!

L & S 'took' pictures while telling me to stand up and dance for the show.

Not to worry, we took turns and they each got a chance to be pampered. L & S were much more into performing/posing for their pictures than I was - but I did my best!

I love these girls - they are hilarious and they have HUGE imaginations that just keep the laughs rolling. Can't wait 'til they have real cameras and we see the world through their view!

Today we made PLAYDOUGH from scratch

for a fun stuck-inside-too-cold-to-play-outside kind of activity...

Both girls had a blast adding and mixing ingredients... then we split the dough in half, put it in baggies and mashed/mixed the food coloring into the dough (*without staining our pretty little hands) ...

Linnea chose BLUE food dye...

By the way have you ever thought about trying to explain things like 'dye' or 'consistency' to a 3.5 yr old? Not so easy.

Signe chose GREEN food dye...

And then it was off to the races to roll and smush(sp?) the dough... create, cut, shape, and cut out animals. It was glorious 30min activity. Rinse and repeat twice throughout the day.

It is fun creating with these two!

Fashion by L & S

Do you wear your jewelry like this? As modeled by Signe, the layering approach...

Or do you prefer the adorn others with your jewelry approach as shown by Linnea? She preferred to decorate her stuffed friends with jewels and set them spinning!

**You'll note that these sweeties just refused to look at the camera - so why bother fighting and not just enjoy the moment of quiet entertainment.

Doubly Blessed

There are some very sweet, tender moments between twins... and today everything cooperated and I was able to catch these girls in a precious moment!

Makes my heart squeeze - I just love them so much!

Pesky Toddlers

Mommy Moments: brought to you, by ME!

Last evening our girls were with their sitter, they consider it a special treat! They LOVE being with her - she is a sweet 16.5 yr old girl that is wonderful with our kids. We're blessed to have one that lives just down the street and enjoy her whole family!

When I arrived home my sitter said "they were great no problems, went to bed and were asleep by 8pm, oh yea, and when I was cleaning up dinner Signe drew on the flat screen TV screen with a crayon!" She went on to apologize and I was calm, knowing hubby would be WAY more upset. And just said thanks and don't worry I'll figure it out.

Like a good mom, I went to GOOGLE. The late night solution when you can't call around to all your girlfriends that are also moms of toddlers... and found that many other pesky toddlers have done the same thing. Much to my delight a little light MAGIC ERASER action gets rid of the crayon without damaging the screen at all. When I told Dan (before cleaning it off, which now I know clean it off first so he doesn't freak out) - he freaked!

MOMMY TO THE RESCUE - thanks to google!

Anyone have any other sweet rescue tips to clean up the things PESKY TODDLERS do?

WE LOVE TO JUMP!

JUMPZONE is the place for kids & dads... Our girls had a special day with their cousins - play at the park, pizza at home and then JUMPZONE! We love that the girls have a total blast playing with their cousins and are so excited for what Thanksgiving will be like with all the cousins together again!

Isn't this picture hilarious? Love all the grinning faces - the girls and their cousin that is the same age by one day!

Look the static hair - LOVE IT! L in pink, S in purple!