October-part 3

Halloween is our most favorite holiday. When we were choosing a month to get married, October was a no brainer.

We record Halloween movies like crazy and own tons. "Hocus Pocus' is my favorite.  I am not a big fan of scary or horror movies so any Disney-fied Halloween themed movie will do. 

This includes the "Halloweentown" series. I have no shame. I love em.

Each year on Halloween we pick a different movie from our collection to watch. 

This year: Sleep Hollow, with Johnny Depp.

It's not overly scary, it has the right amount of 'cover your eyes" moments (for me) and has funny moments.

This year we were extra lucky.  My parents came down for a week and came during Halloween!  We were super stoked.  They could see the kids all dressed up and as as well.

That's right. We also love to get dressed up.  

This is the kids last year.

The most important twins in movie history. Luke and Leia. 

They are 9 months old here.  Trent can't even hold himself up yet. And Verona is a little chunk.

This year, I planned our FAMILY costumes.  I made Trent's and had every intention of making Verona's, but my mom made it. But, I did buy all the material and the pattern so I sort of did right?

We were characters from Peter Pan.  I was going to be Mr. Smee, but wasn't sure how to do it, so I was a pirate lady. Not wench.

So I can't find the picture of the 4 of us all together not bundled up. But Andy was Captain Hook. He looked great. Trent was Peter Pan, I made him a green smock/shirt out of felt, a belt and a sword out of felt as well. Verona was Tinker Bell. She loved her costume. Although the wings were giant on her.  Andy and I rented our costumes and it was fun to do that.  

Here are some pics from the visit with my parents. Apparently my mom has all the pictures.

I don't have any with my mom. Bummer. But she was there. Promise. ; )

October-part 2

I don't have any pictures from our 7th wedding anniversary. Mainly because I was home with the kids during the day and Andy was working. But, Andy's mom had the week off from school so she drove up for the night so we could go out to dinner.

Chico is a smallish city. But we have tons of restaurants, and not just crap places. We have some of the best restaurants in the North State. Andy and I went to 5th Street Steak House. I have been to this place, counting on one hand. It's very nice, and very good food and the drinks are some of the best in town. 

Andy really surprised me this year. Since I am no longer working retail, I would be having my first Holiday season free for the first time since 2002. Yeh. I spent 9 years being Bah Humbug about the Holiday Season.  But 2012 was my year. I was hinting that I REALLY REALLY wanted to go to my parents' house for Christmas. We hadn't been there since 2006 and this was the best opportunity to go. He gave me some lame excuses about not having enough vacation time and we couldn't go, yada yada.

But at dinner that night, he gave me a card that had a flight itinerary in it. I was confused. I didn't look at the dates, but where the flights were to. It said PDX. Hmm, I thought, a weekend away, but Portland? We lived outside of Portland for 18 months and it wasn't my first choice for a "getaway". Then I looked at the dates: Dec-21 thru Dec 31.  Ummm, that's Christmas. So I asked if were going to Yakima for Christmas, and he said yes. I lost it right there. I started crying and was so excited. He pulled the biggest surprise on me and gave me the best anniversary gift ever!

So I, of course, let him choose the movie that night. "Looper". I spent more time trying to figure out if I liked Joseph Gordon Leavitt with or without the prosthetics he wore.

At least I have 8 months to figure out how to top him for our 8th anniversary.

October-part 1

I am going to see if this works. A friend from Jr High and HS posted this as a way to "catch up" on all that has been happening in her life.  She inspires me so I am going to try and do the same.

October is always my favorite month. The leaves are turning, it get's colder, well colder for here is 70's.  Our wedding anniversary and Halloween round it all out.

The 2nd weekend we were lucky enough to have Andy's mom come up for the weekend and watch the twins for us so that we may have a trip to San Francisco(Albany) to visit one of Andy's dearest friends, Tim, and his wife Sarah. 

Tim and Sarah always show us "country folk" how it's done in the "big city".  Even though Tim and Andy went to HS and were roommates for several years in college, were each other's Best Man in their weddings, Tim is still the "big city" guy to me. 

They have an amazing apartment in Albany. No one has ever heard of Albany though. It is according to Tim, only 1.8 square miles. It is right next to Berkley. Their view is top notch.

They took us to an AMAZING breakfast place, Brenda's French Soul Food. The atmosphere was great, the service was awesome, and the food. Oh sweet lord the food.  We did a "flight" of their beignet's and they tasted like pillow's full of fluffy yummy's.  We had chocolate: filled with Ghiardelli of course, Granny Smith Apple: sweetened with cinnamon honey butter, and the beignet I found to be the most delicoius, Crawfish:cayenne, scallions, and cheddar. The Crawfish was spciy, gooey, and not overly seafood-y. 

The Blue Angels were in town so we went down to Fisherman's Wharf to watch.  Even though the Blue Angel's come to Seattle every summer, I have never seen them. This was awesome, as all the fancy shmancy folks associated with the Blue Angel's were also watching from the wharf so we had some very loud, and close fly by's.

Since we took BART ( Bay Area Rapid Transit) into the city, and the Blue Angel's were going on, it was very crowded.  Sarah wanted to take picture of us "country folk" on the BART. I think the lady in the background was uber-excited to be on with us.

We had a great trip down there and can't wait to bring the kiddo's to terrorize Tim,Sarah and their crazy cats!

Snuggle Bunny

Snuggle bunny is just one of the 1,752 nicknamed the kiddo's have.  Right now, my snuggle bunny is Verona.  She shows affection like a cat licks its' self.  Lately, she has been giving kisses and "hugs" her hugs consist of leaning over or into something and saying "awwwww".  For example: at the  daycare at the gym, on the floor is a mosaic done in tile of water and sea stars.  She likes to lean down, kiss the star fish, then hover over it and give it a hug (awwwww).  Yeh. it's cute

But she also likes to give kisses to many things. If not physically kissing such object, she will saw "mwah'. The car seat, my hand, her crib, the table, Trent's foot, Andy's head, her toys, and everything else get's a big MWAH!  Trent on the other hand, rations out his MWAH's for only special occasions. We have to force a kiss out of him at bed time.  The boy and girl differences are amazing sometimes.

Verona also likes to snuggle when she get's in trouble.  I.E. Me; Verona, quit jumping on the couch.  Verona; Oh mama, mwah! Me: I'm a sucker and you know it.Verona: Yeh, yeh.

Trent was a snuggle bunny the first year. Then all of a sudden he was too good for our hugs and kisses. I like to remind him and Andy this is why I needed to have twins, so I could get at least one snuggle bunny.  And Verona happily obliges 80% of the time into my snuggles, while Trent, it's like trying to put a button up shirt on a wet cat. No go.

I am going to be better about blogging.  I like the idea of doing it once a month. That I can do. And perhaps adding a post here or there. 

Hans' 2.0

Back in 2000 I had a BF, he broke up with me.  It was at the time devastating to me. My roommates were worried, my mom was worried so to get me out of my "funk" my mom got me a cross stitch sampler.  Yes, this is what every 20 year old girl needs after being broken up with.  I picked out one that had cherries. I was terrible at it.  So instead I joined a gym. 

In Ellensburg at this time there were only 2 gyms.  The college gym at the time, the "weight room" was a joke. 2 Treadmills for 8000 students. Yeh. That's right.  So I joined Hans'.  Yes that was the name. It was the stereotypical muscle head, protein shake, grunting gym you would never think of going to. It also cost $56 a quarter. That is CHEAP!  This is where I learned to "workout" and such.  I say and "such" because besides a weight class as a sophomore in high school I had NEVER lifted weights.  I didn't know any exercises to do with weights or anything. There was a poster on a wall that had pictures and diagrams on how to use weights for that certain part of your body you wanted to work on. I was feeling blue about this break up, but all of the exercise "highs" I got were amazing. I loved all the sweating, and feeling good after a workout. 

Today, I am trying to replicate all those good workout feelings.  I was laid off from my job August 3rd.  When I found out my position was getting eliminated, I was devastated.  Or so I thought I was devastated. Turned out I was excited. After spending 8 1/2 years in retail it felt amazing to leave.  Weekends off, no more working late on a Tuesday night, getting yelled at by customers, dealing with immature employees, and best of all, no more working for a company that is on a down hill spiral.  I loved my job for so many reasons, and I loved a few of my co-workers as well.  But, it wasn't going to work so we had to break up.  But at least, my company paid me for breaking up with me.   Free at last, free to spend all day every day with the twins, doing crafts, making meals I always wanted to. But I also noticed that when at home, it is so much easier to snack. Yikes! A spoonful of Nutella, why not? Oh kids you didn't finish your lunch, mama will!  So naturally I have packed on  a few pounds.  I can still fit into my clothes, just with a few more lunges and stretches.

So today was the first day of working out. We joined a local gym that is referred to as a "Resort and Health Club".  It is pretty cool.  Trying to remember exercises from 12 years ago is impossible.  I walked on the treadmill and this old lady gets on with her OXYGEN tank and is doing the same speed and incline as me.  I can't be doing the same as this lady. So I increased my incline by half, and my speed by one third.  I felt better, but I was totally racing her.  The gym has a women's workout room in the locker room.  I did my "free weights" there.  I felt like an ass. I did sit ups and pushups and stretches like I was in Jr. High.  But here is the biggest difference between working out in 2000 and 2012..

1. I wear the same clothes. I have the SAME mesh shorts and shirts from Jr. High PE class. I wore them in 1994, 2000, and now 2012.  All the other ladies were tight black pants and teeny tank tops. 

2. Music.  Back in 2000 I was still using my Sony Walkman tape player at the gym.  I splurged and got a belt to home my CD player. Yes. That happened. Today, I have an iPhone, but I can't figure out how to music on it, so instead I was listening to podcasts of Car Talk from NPR. 

3. Dudes. The guys are all the same, only this gym doesn't have a chalk barrel for guys to put their grimy hands into so they are able to get a better grip on that massive weight we both know they won't be able to lift.

I am looking forward to going to the gym every morning.  You may be thinking, what about those darling twins of mine.  Their cool, I leave them at the FREE daycare at the gym. We all get a break for a few hours. 

Right back where we started from

I love that song.  I just love disco so much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckCwBAhz4oc&noredirect=1

Now that I am no longer working.( I was laid off, took a severance package, yada yada yada). I am home ALL.DAY.LONG with the twins.  Props to SAHM's (Stay At Home Mom's).  It is exhausting.  The great part about working is everyone get's a break. I was able to have adult conversations, use adults words(bathroom, hello, etc), and have some time away.  Now we are together all the time.  Let me take you through our schedule.

I sleep until I notice the baby monitor is red with screaming, so around 7:30-8 I get up. 
All three of us stay in our pj's until nap time at 10:30.  Whilst they play, I clean up breakfast.  This takes some time if I am dumb enough to give them yogurt with no spoon.  It's happened. It won't again.

Sometimes I throw on clothes and they stay in pj's and we run to the store for something important(read: I have a coupon for something important: shave gel, yarn, milk).  They nap, I take a quick shower and figure out what the hell we are having for lunch.

I eat lunch before they get up. If I don't, they eat my lunch. Seriously.  I eat breakfast after them, and they come up, all puppy dog eye'd, putting the stink eye on my bagel with cream cheese, next thing I know, they are eating my breakfast after just having an adult sized portion and then some of oatmeal, milk, bananas, eggs. Fatties I tell ya!! 

After lunch I always put on Sesame Street. They get all relaxed from all the food, and sit quietly so mama can check her celebrity gossip. Don't judge. 

We sing, read books, lots and lots and lots of books.  I chase around to tire them out, we change diapers all day long.  I counted.  From sun up to sun down, usually 10 diapers total. 

They are becoming such people now.  They both tell me No.  Verona's "No" is whiny.  Trent's "no" is fierce and with purpose.  They are still the kissiest and huggiest kids.  It's hard to do anything with out Verona trying to lay on me and hug me. I can still ask Verona to kiss anything and she will. I asked her to kiss my toes the other day and she did.  She kisses Trent on command, and most inanimate objects. "Verona, kiss the table, chair, lamp"  Trenton is not big on hugs, but when you get one, oh boy, watch out. He puts his arms so tight around your neck and holds on for dear life. His hugs are simply bear worthy.

 I have started trying to work out at home. Yes you may laugh. I do.  I tried to do 10 crunches.  Verona came over and sat on my stomach.  Trent sat on my face.  Then he passed gas on my face.  Thus is why I don't have a flat stomach.  I do pushups and put one the kids below me and kiss them as I go down. Today, I had Trent below me, he kicked me in the stomach.  I may have to turn him around next time.

Verona is the more agile one. She get's her self into spaces and climbs like a monkey.  She climbs into her booster seat for meals, and also when she isn't supposed to.  She was pushing her chair towards the light switch and playing with that.  I figured out how to make that stop.  Trent is all brute force. He has such great upper body strength. While Verona climbs, he pulls and pushes.  Instead of climbing onto a chair, he leans forward on his tiptoes, grasps the other side, and pulls himself, using his biceps and chest, to the top of the chair.  And there he lays, until he can get the bottom half to swing around to sit.

They are both awesome eaters.  I made carrots today. Well, I peeled, sliced, and steamed them. They looked done to me.  But the kids didn't like them. Whatevs.  I told Andy, and he asked me if I tasted them first. Um no.  These are carrots. I dislike vegetables, of course I didn't try them before giving them to the kids.  They weren't cooked all the way and still a bit crunchy.  Oops. 

We don't hold back on flavor around here either.  Spicy and sour is how we do it. They eat what we eat.  Empanada's, sure they loved em.  Chicken with dill sauce.  Not so much.  They LOVED the Chinese beef with orange sauce I made.  Rice is hit or miss.  Same with noodles.  I made home made mac and cheese and it was a miss.  It their defense, it wasn't very flavorful. 

Overall, they are doing great and feeling great.  Looking forward to cooler weather, (you know, 85 and below) so we can go outside and play more with out me sweating a ton. 

Silly Kids

The kids have been doing some crazy silly things lately. I have to write them down so I don't forget.

Let's start with the oldest, Trenton.

• Puts tupperware on his head. ALL THE TIME.  There is a red one that fits perfectly that he loves to have on
• Finger wagging.  He has become serious when he talks, and if you aren't listening to him, he wags his finger at you sometimes.
• Reading. The boy loves to read. He happily takes a book from the shelf, sits down at reads it. Flips the pages, stares at it.  We have an ABC book by Eric Carle. We tell him, "Go get your ABC book" and he knows exactly where it is and brings it.  The pages are ripped off, it has been puked on, sneezed on, chewed up, but he loves that book.
• Shapes.  Likes to see how things fit into their holes. I find toys stuffed into holes that I have no idea how I am going to get them out.

Verona. 

• Walking backwards. She is so funny.  She likes to walk backwards around the house.  It just makes her so happy to do it.
• Babies. She likes to "give love, give kisses" to her brother, mom, dad, babies, stuffed animals, my iPhone, the floor, trucks, etc.  She always make the "Mwah" sound when she kisses too.
• Saliva.  Yeh, that's right saliva. She takes her saliva out of her mouth, plays with it and tries to "give" it to you.  A gentle No thanks, usually works, but I have been slimed by her.
• No no.  She likes to get into things she is not supposed to. She now mocks us by wagging her finger back and forth and saying No No at the same time. If we well her "V, please do not touch the lamp" she looks at us *finger wagging" NO NO NO NO NO.  

Trent is a heffalump.  That boy is so heavy. By our standards.  He is so big.  I have to remind myself that there are 8 months old that probably way the same!  Verona is getting some chunk finally. Her double chin is noticeable when she is lying down.  They have their 18 mo appt in a few weeks. Will find out for sure just how big. My guess is Trent is 26lbs and Verona is 24.  

They both hate watermelon. We were in shock. I thought for sure they would love it.  Nope, kept spitting it out and making faces. I think it was a texture thing.

Oh and one last little thing. I was giving Trent a bath last week and he had a spot on his butt. I kept scrubbing but it wouldn't' go away.   It turns out he has a little mole on his butt.  Adorable!!