The Twins Turn 3

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Honey

The twins turn 3 today! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. I have been flooded by so many memories as I look for pictures of Zion and Hosanna on my computer.

Let me tell you a story.

I remember my first appointment with the midwife. I had this thought that it might be twins, but then, I had that thought with every other pregnancy. Imagine my surprise when we saw two little peanuts on the very first ultrasound. Our whole world changed forever. I can still remember the shock on my mama's face when we told her we were having twins. And the shock on my dad's face and on my sister's face.

Being pregnant with twins meant appointments with the midwife, the OB, and extra ultrasounds. Thankfully, this pregnancy was uneventful just like every other pregnancy.

Despite a week of bed rest in the hospital at 34 weeks and the twins delivery at 35 weeks, they were born in perfect health and at a decent size (6lb 14oz and 4lb 14oz). They had and continue to have no major health issues whatsoever (besides allergies).

The first siz months are a blur and I hardly remember them. The last 3 years have been filled with lots of snuggles, hugs, kisses, and more breastfeeding that the last three kids combined, but we have survived the baby years and the toddler years. When I write their birthday post next year, I hope it will include the fact that they are toilet trained because we haven't tackled that yet.

Daddy meeting the twins for the first time.

Daddy meeting the twins

Mommy meeting the twins for the first time.

Mommy Meeting The Twins

Going home from the hospital.

Going Home

Sharing a bassinet.

Sharing A Bed

Nap time on the living room floor.

Nap Time

Our garden that year.

garden

The rockers that saved our lives. When our arms were too tired to hold them anymore we rocked them to sleep.

The Rockers

All the kids together.

All the kids

Still small enough for the one arm hold.

One Arm Hold

Mr. Spaghetti Man.

Zion

Blowing raspberries with dinner.

Hosanna

Going for walks went from this...

Going For Walks

to this...

Orange Stroller

I thank God everyday for all 5 of the precious children He has given to us. I will have some more photo collections to share with you over the next few days as we party and celebrate making it three years with twins.

What is your favorite photo from this collection?

What is your favorite memory of your own children?

Homemade Fizzy Soda, Blanket Tents, and Loads of Giggles

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Honey

What a great day we had yesterday!

Homemade Fizzy Soda

After each of the boys completed their school work, we worked together (one-on-one) to make homemade fizzy soda. We had a great time making lemon soda. I found the original recipe on-line somewhere, but it was yucky (I tried the recipe first and down the sink it went). We came up with a recipe that worked well for us. It is still a bit different than what you might expect, but it worked for us.

1/4 lemon juice
1 cup cold water
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 cup sugar

Pour it all into a large container (it fizzes some) and stir gently. Then throw in an ice cube or two and sip it through a straw.

Blanket Tents

Malachi and the twins had an awesome time last night, right before bed, building a blanket tent using all the dining room chairs. They chased each other on all fours through the chairs and over daddy's legs. They had a grand time hiding and playing peek-a-boo with the blanket. This morning, another tent under the bunk bed turned into a fun reading nook (and a big book mess!).

Loads of Giggles

Giggles and grins from the kidlets are so much fun. Sometimes it is the simple things that make all the difference.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited the boys were when they heard that they were going to make homemade soda pop. They attended to their school work without too much whining (well, no more than usual). I was prompted to find the recipe after someone (who will remain nameless) was caught trying to create soda with strange ingredients the day before.

The tent in the living room / dining room was Malachi's idea and daddy helped, while sharing his childhood memories of tent making. I have some good memories of making blanket tents with my sister when we were growing up.

I need to remember that sometimes it is the simple things we do - like making fizzy soda or not freaking out over a tent town mess - that can make all the difference in our relationships with our children.

What simple things have you done with your children recently, that they really enjoyed?

What are some ways that you can connect with your children today?

Little Bitty Learners – Tot Basket

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Honey

I stumbled on this idea last week and wanted to save it for my post about my Little Bitty Learners. I have been trying to figure out a simple way to do more (planned) activities with the twins (almost 2). I am visual. If something is hidden away, I will forget about it. So, when I saw this idea, I thought it was amazing and just the solution that I needed. It would allow me to plan ahead, be organized, and have a visual reminder of activities that I wanted to do with the twins.

I want to introduce you to the idea of the Tot Basket. It is not my idea. It came from here - What's In The Basket? I am thinking that the basket could be changed out weekly or daily depending on how quickly the twins caught on to the activities (or bored of them).

Yesterday, I was doing some organizing (and it sure felt good)...

I found a nice wicker basket for the homeschool catalogs (it is the season for those), magazines (Writer's Digest and Acts and Facts, if you must know!), and books (those are a secret) that I will be writing reviews for soon. That certainly looks better than a messy pile. Trust me, it made grandma happy.

I also re-purposed another wicker basket and put it in the center of our new (to us) dining room table. I put it on a thick place mat so it does not scrap the surface of the table (just in case you were worried it would). In that basket, I put the newly created binders and all of our workbooks etc for the rest of the term. Everything fit perfectly. The basket looks great.

Okay, so all of that to tell you this... I have a cute (adorable is more like it) wicker basket with a handle that I found (another re-purpose job) and I am going to use it for the twins Tot Basket. I am going to fill it with activities just for them. It is sitting on a shelf (in plain site) right beside our telephone (I can't miss it). I will pull it down when I have a few minutes and we can do an activity together.

Have a look at my post that was filled with ideas of activities for toddlers.

What do you do for your younger children? How do you include them in your homeschooling?

Mark This Day In History!

Posted on April 15, 2010 by Honey

Zion slept through the night and Hosanna only woke up once! I don't think Zion has ever slept through the night and I know there are only a handful of times Hosanna has. The twins are almost 2, so this is a really big event that we have been waiting forever for. Just thought I would share...

Blessings

Honey