Pausing

If I was going to describe the twins, our days, life right now in 2 words it would be "crazy energy." They never stop moving, and I feel like, because of that, our days speed by at an incredible pace. I was thrilled with these pictures because I felt like the way they capture just a minute of energy really depicts the overall feeling of a day in our house! Every now and then I tell myself to pause, remember, and reflect. I don't want this time to whirl by too quickly. These are a few reflections/things I want to remember:

Ryan is orange, Allie is green. I love that every now and then you catch the blurry image of their faces because they kept their glow stick close by!

Funny things they say:

They call elevators "alligators," and ambulances "antipances." I love these little mistakes that make the world so much more cute. I know there are more things they call funny names, and I'm already sad that I can't remember them all.

Ryan frequently says, "That'd be good," or "I think so. Yes, I think so." I commented to a friend that I think those are such funny phrases, and she told me I say those things a lot.

Allie also loves to say things I say, and I often laugh as I hear myself coming through her: "Yes, Ryan! Yes! That is right!" or "No, Ryan. We cannot do that. We might get hurt," or "Yay! I got it! Yay, Allie!"

Now Ryan is Blue & Orange and Allie is Green & Purple. Ryan is making a "roller coaster" with his lights and Allie is shaking them close to her face.

Sweet things they say:

For a while, they have known (and said) that Daddy goes to work to tell people about Jesus. One morning I asked them if they could tell people about Jesus. They said no, but I told them that anyone could tell people about Jesus by showing them His love. This has become an almost daily conversation of ways we can show people (and each other) Jesus' love, things that do not show Jesus' love, and how and why Jesus loves us. Most of the time it was just me talking and them saying "Yes" or "No" to my questions, but lately they will say things like: "Ryan! Don't take my toy! That is not showing Allie Jesus' love!" or "Here is a diaper for Allie, mommy! I showed her Jesus' love!" My favorite has been how this has overflowed into their tv time. There is one episode of Little Einsteins that they love, and in this episode Big Jet steals the special things they took to school for show and tell. Every time they watch it, they yell at the tv, "Big Jet, don't take those! You are not showing Jesus' love!" At the end, they get the things back and Big Jet comes to show and tell with them and is their friend, and the twins talk about how all of the characters show Jesus' love. Melt my heart.

"Thank you" They have been in a very grateful state lately. They so appreciate every little thing - from pajamas sent in the mail, to blankets made special for them, to a small toy shared, to the meal I have just made. Often their gratitude is expressed like this: "Thank you! Thank you so, so much! Thank you! Thank you!" My favorite moments have been when they have asked to specifically call someone so they can say "Thank you." Is there any way they can still be this grateful into the teenage years?

I love how you can "see" Allie run across the picture :)

Favorite things to do:

Run. They love to run. Back and forth, around in circles. They just love to run.

Play "Mommy says." You've heard of "Simon Says." It's the same idea. Except mommy says. And no one ever gets out. They just have fun listening to mommy :) I'm pretty sure its the best game I've ever played with them.

The twins are big into imaginative play right now. Their favorite things to pretend?

"Alligator" - yes, my children can spend 20 minutes pretending that they are riding an elevator (usually my closet).

"Going to the store/church/doctor" - doctor was added recently when they were sick.

"3 piggies & the wolf" - they are constantly saying "No by my chinny, chin, chin!" and we have an actual faux fur piece that they call the wolf. A favorite game is "spank the wolf." Where did this game come from? After seeing the story of the 3 pigs & big bad wolf on both Little Einsteins and Wonder Pets in the same day (a huge fluke and unfortunate accident), Ryan became obsessed with the story. 3 days later he asked me if the wolf would blow our house down (something his face told me he had been worrying about). He clearly didn't buy my spiel about our house being made of stone which was the strongest of all. So I told him that if the wolf tried to blow our house down, I would spank his bottom and tell him to stop being mean. Thus began "spank the wolf."...

"Tea Party" - nothing is cuter than watching them pretend to drink tea. Allie does the funniest flourish with her hand every time she takes a sip. Adorable!

Have we mentioned we recently acquired a piano? Every day we have at least one concert. They sometimes as us to guess what song they are playing (we are getting better at actually guessing correctly!), they always clap for themselves, and I can't get enough of their music making (they daily play the drum & recorder).

I was trying out a new technique where I would flash a light, briefly, so I could show them playing with their glow sticks. This was the best one of the bunch...

Things I Cherish:

They are so cuddly. Allie especially. She often wants to be snuggled up as close to me as possible. I cherish every hug, kiss, cuddle.

Their enthusiasm. Everything is so exciting to them. I absolutely love the way they scream, jump, and get crazy excited over the most mundane of things - finding stickers, an unusual snack, a card in the mail, socks they like. I love hearing, "Yay! Yay! Oh, my GOODness! Yay!" It makes the mundane things in my day so much more exciting too!

3 words: "I lubs you." I love that they say "lubs" instead of love. I love it when they say it to me, or to each other, or to Daddy. Another phrase I love? "I miss you." My favorite is when one of them will leave the room and the other will say, "Where's Ryan/Allie? I miss him/her. Ryan/Allie, I miss you! Come back!" I love that they can miss each other so quickly.

I told them to "Go crazy!" See this energy? This is an average day!

I love this age. In the midst of all of the running and playing and crying and laughing and craziness of my day, I really try to make myself stop and soak in little moments. It won't be long before they say everything perfectly (and correct my diction/grammar mistakes), are too cool to play pretend, and refuse to be excited over a mostly used sheet of stickers. I want to cherish every moment.