Valentine's Day and Bows

Ever since I was a little girl, we are talking 5-6 years old I have loved Valentine's Day.  My mom would decorate the house with hearts and decorations every year.  The big deal was to pick out a special decoration from her box and put it on our bedroom door. Then we would take turns taping up decorations all over, but the best were the three large windows in our living room.  You wanted the decorations to match or be similar and be taped at the same height.

February is a very busy month for us. You have Valentine's Day on  the 14th, my Dad's birthday on the 15th, my birthday on the 23rd and Andy's brother Paul, his birthday is the 27th!

This year for Valentine's Day ( I can't call it VD, memories of 9th grade health class keep popping up) I left the kids in their pajamas, and we went to Krispy Kreme at 7 in the morning.  I got up early and showered, but they were too cute plus cleanup would be a breeze.

How adorable are they in those silly hats? People were staring at us the entire time. I mean, what mother takes her kids in their pajamas to Krispy Kreme at 7 in the morning for donuts and milk?? Apparently this mom! Notice I said milk and not Chocolate Milk? Give me some credit!

As usual I was scanning Pinterest for ideas to make a Valentine's Day dessert.  And in true Pinterest style I mucked it up. In my defense, I couldn't find a good frosting. Behold, my heart-shaped disasters. The kids didn't' mind though. 

Andy and I had a day date: to buy a van. I know.  But, I have been wanting a van since we knew were having twins.  We both made fun of them, even though our parent's had one when we were growing up. I have a friend, Eric, he purposely bought a red dodge caravan, early 90's when he was single. It was called the Shaggin' Wagon.  And we had FUN riding in it.  Granted we were all 22 at the time! So during our search Nana and  her sister, Aunt Terri were staying with us and baby sat thee kiddo's so we could find said van. Nana found the most adorable bows for Verona! I had been dragging my feet on getting stuff for her hair, frankly because she has a mullet. Nana was the perfect person to get V her first hair bows!

We only went to 2 places and found our van! It is a 2010 Chrysler Town and Country.  It's pretty nice and fun to use. What cracked us up was that it is the exact same van, down to the color that my parent's rented when we all went to Kauai when I was pregnant.  I kept checking it out, fiddling with the seats. And I drove it at night (sober driver) so I got to know the lights and controls.  This is our first time owning a non-Toyota.  We will see.  So far so good!

Road trip, sorta, kinda

The weekend after the Super Bowl (we won't talk about that here) I had a baby sprinkle( subdued shower for the 2nd baby) to go to in Sacramento. Rather then just me going by myself down there we made a family weekend out of it.  We  met Andy's mom, and switched cars and she and Andy took the kiddo's to Fairy Tale Town.  While they were out, I was able to spend a few hours with one of my favorites, my dear friend Melissa.  She just had her baby GIRL last week.  Melissa is a ray of sunshine during a big storm and has the heart and kindness that can out do many.  I had a great time seeing her and catching up with her BFF Jen who moved from Connecticut to Walnut Creek. I met Melissa in Germany back in 2001 and Jen came over to travel and meet up with Melissa.  It was great seeing Jen again.

Now back at Fairy Tale Town, fun was being had by all.  I unfortch do not have the pictures. Andy does. But I have seen them and the kids LOVED it! Nana was all smiles watching them and got into one of the toys with the twins, and some other little girls. It was very cute.  We met back up at Nana's place and got ready for dinner. But where to eat? Andy and I , without even speaking to each other, said the exact same restaurant at the same time.  The Old Spaghetti Factory!  Neither one of us could remember the last time we had been there, and Nana lives very close.  Our favorite OSF is the one in Tacoma, but I have a soft spot for the one in Seattle. 

It figures the only pictures I have of them is eating Spumoni. 

After we had spread spaghetti all over the floor we headed back to Nana's.  They got to have a bath some where new and spend the night in Nana's room.  They were so unsure they kept climbing out of their pack'n'play's to come visit us! We were spoiled with a yummy breakfast, and the best sourdough in a long time!  Thanks for letting us "discover" your place Nana!

January Catch Up

Besides the kids' 2nd Birthday, my parents came to visit as well.  Lots of coloring, trips to the park and commandeering Oma's iPad.

My mom had found this ridiculous shirt at Fred Meyer (Oh how I miss Freddy's!).  Trent has worn the shirt only a few times. Once this day, once another day, and on Valentine's Day.

Verona didn't want to feel left out of the posing.

They discovered making forts. I didn't show them. They spend more time pretending to sleep and snuggle which is pretty adorable. Verona likes to pretend sleep now. Snoring and all.

And in hair news: Verona's mullet is growing in nicely. Except the sides.  She looks like a toddler Skrillex.  She has FINALLY let me start playing with it. I can usually get a pony or piggies in and she is getting better about not pulling them out. I make them extra tight so it hurts to try and pull out. Is that mean?

January was a month of getting back into the swing of things after the holidays.  Back to the gym, back to not having cookies at 9 in the morning(them, not me) and back to being green.  Yup green. We got solar panels!

January-2nd Birthday!

The twins' birthday is exactly 14 days from Christmas. Although the goal was for them to be born at the end of January or beginning of February (my due date was 2/19), Trent had other plans. So, alas, they have a birthday right after Christmas.  So far, it has been awesome for them. Family, friends, and gifts right after Family, friends and gifts.  I sorta hope I can convince them to do a birthday party with friends during the summer.

This year, the theme was Sesame Street, with a heavy emphasis on Elmo and Cookie Monster.  I found this idea on Pinterest(you can shoot me later). However the lady was using all kinds of fancy tools. My mom had recently let me borrow(read: I am keeping them even if she said borrow) all of her scrap booking scissors. I found a pair that looked like "fur" when cut. I got some cardstock/scrapbooking paper on sale, plus a coupon at Michael's. I fold the paper "hamburger style" and used my 1 cup measuring cup to draw a circle on the paper. Cut around the lines, leaving the folded over part un cut at the top.  I looked for any small circle items around the house. I used a shot glass for the white parts of the eyes, and I bought, with a coupon, a large hold punch to make the black part of the eyes and Elmo's nose.  I then used a 1/2 cup measurer, to draw a cirlce, cut 1/4 of the circle off and I made the mouths! The paper, whole punch, and the one stinking stick of glue I bought cost me $8.59.  Woot!

Andy does a wicked version of Cookie Monster so I got him a t-shirt to wear.  The kid's had Elmo shirts, and I had ordered a shirt that didn't come on time. I was royally bummed. Instead I wore a black shirt and this headband that has sequins and a feather on it and called myself "Mommy Monster". 

The day before the party I was baking the cupcakes and Verona was being very quiet. Always cause for concern. I found her sneaking an unfrosted cupcake.

Their party was great fun. Family and Friends came and they were spoiled. Here is the spread.

Once again, Pinterest helped me out. The punch was called Rubber Ducky Punch. They love "Ewnie" so this was for him. The cupcakes was a trial and error. About 6 weeks before the party I started experimenting with flavors and different frosting tips. I sent out pics to family for advice for the best looking one.  The Elmo cupcakes are a strawberry cake, with a strawberry frosting. I got white melting discs for the white part of the eyes, I used chocolate chips for the dark part, I cut Oreo Cookies in half for Elmo's mouth, a Chip's A'hoy for Cookie's mouth, and Tangerine Jelly Bell for Elmo's nose.

Getting them to sit for a picture together is pretty much impossible.  This was the exact same scene last year. Trenton was crying. Ol well. 

They LOVE sweets.  So much so that Verona now states every day"I need a cookie". I feel the same way.

They loved their Elmo and Cookie Monster Backpacks. The funniest gift was the T-Pain microphone voice changer. Pretty sure the adults were having more fun the the kids.

They had a great time! I can't wait to see what they are into when they turn 3! They are growing up so fast...........thank goodness! Time for them to learn some chores and help out around the house! I kid, sorta   :  )