Moms Say the Darndest Things...

Every now and then, I say something to the twins that makes me pause and think, "I never in my life would have imagined THAT sentence would come out of my mouth!" Nothing bad. Not even the dreaded "I'm becoming my mother" phrases that everyone finds themselves saying (note: I confess I LOVE the phrases my parents use to say and am happy to use them again!). Just strange combinations of words...

We loaned our sled to a friend, but never fear, the twinners discovered they could sled without one!

Some of the phrases that stick out in my mind:

• "Don't touch your sister with the shovel."
• "If you didn't like the shovel touching you, why would your brother? Don't touch your brother with the shovel!"
• "Yes, the daddy makes a nice hat!"
• "You cannot take the penguin in the trampoline." (note: I have also had to tell them they cannot take the tiger, bus, chalk, and numerous books in the trampoline)
• "Why don't you fill the bus with the people first?" Note - they are filling the bus with people before sending it careening down the slide. Why did I encourage the carnage? I have no clue.
• And my personal favorite: "Stop fighting over the Bible! If you cannot share it nicely, I will take it away from both of you!"
  They would also run all the way around our sledding loop (you can kind of see it here - it goes around and behind the little tree) each time before going down the slope!

Now that the twins are getting older, my days are becoming more...entertaining. Often in ways I didn't expect.

For example, the older he gets, the more Ryan shows a love for cleaning! I am more than willing to encourage this in any way :) He will but all of the toys away in a bin (wen asked), put all of the books back on the shelf (doesn't need to be asked, but all the books usually have to be off the shelf for him to do it unprompted), and line up toys that are too big for a bin or shelf. My personal favorite is when he gets in the broom closet to get out the very prized broom. He will (for as long as I will let him) walk up and down each room pushing the broom! My little janitor.

Sometimes running down the slope seems like a better idea...

Each day I understand the things they say more clearly. I realized the other day that whenever she falls, Allie says "you okay?" Which is what I usually say to her. But that, of course morphed. Then she started lying on the ground repeating, "you okay?" until I ask her if she's okay. Then, the other evening, I heard her in the playroom saying something "okay." Pretty soon she came running out of the playroom, laid down on the floor in front of my chair, and loudly said, "you okay?" She had fallen in the other room, and really wanted me to make sure she was okay!

So much fun!

There are two things Ryan really loves: technology and food. Nothing motivates him more than the promise of a meal/snack or watching a movie. In fact, he's watched very carefully to learn how to do both on his own. He can turn on the DVD player, the TV, the cable box, change the volume and (on occasion) the channels. He also enjoys turning the TV off when I tell him it is enough (A trick that I love and use often!). The other day, I announced snack time and he went running out of the room. I walked slowly, not worried about what he could get into. When I got in the kitchen, my speedy man had already pulled a bowl out of the cabinet, somehow got a box of small crackers out of the pantry, and was shaking the box upside-down over the bowl! Thank goodness that little cardboard flap held the box shut, or I would have had a big mess on my hands!

I took them on an adventure, and hid behind bushes for them to find me :)

I noticed early on that my little girl was a fan of practical jokes. I shouldn't be surprised - not only was her dad a hug fan of practical jokes, but we met through one (that I played on him, for the record). I figured she would probably get me good in the future, but that I had some time before she got too sophisticated. Then, the other day she disappeared while I was changing Ryan's diaper. "Where's Allie?" I called (that usually brings them out of hiding). No answer. Ryan and I went into the bedroom (where we had last seen her heading). No one there. Ryan ran to the closet and started pointing inside. There was Allie lying face down. "Allie, we see you!" I called. No response. Slightly alarmed, I went over and touched her shoulder. "Allie, I got you!" Nothing. No movement. No noise. On the verge of panic, I picked her up. She was completely limp. Completely beside myself, I turned her over to see if she was breathing. There lay my little girl, looking up at me with sparkling eyes, and smiling. She began to giggle, obviously thrilled with the success of her joke. I tried not to cry as relief replaced my complete panic. "You can never do that again to mommy. It is too scary. Will you promise never to do that again?" My little joker turned very serious. "Okay, mommy." And all I could think was, "Sure. She won't do that. She'll probably think of something better!"

Thank God for my entertaining days. Life would be so boring without them!