Smiles Edition:

I love when I get photos of real smiles vs. the cheesy ones. These are the photos I used for my new Summer 09′ header that I {finally} updated.

This was a bad gym month. I won’t name names (Jeff) but somebody got all crazy with the swine flu scare and didn’t want the babies in the playroom at the gym so I wasn’t able to keep my normal schedule and go in the mornings. He who won’t be named was kind enough to let me go every single night of the week in exchange. Sounds good in theory, but by the time night rolls around the very last thing I want to do is go to the gym and workout. I am tired, the gym is packed at night, and did I say I am tired? Add to that a gazillion photo sessions every weekend and wham! I maybe went once a week. Bad bad bad. I shouldn’t complain though, I finally lost some weight (3 pounds to be exact) so maybe skipping the gym is a good thing? The three 12 year old boys at the park last week seem to appreciate my going to the gym if them yelling to me that they like me and think I’m a MILF is any indication.

We started back up today and let me say I was having anxiety AGAIN over leaving the babies. Every time I asked if they wanted to go to the gym they yelled NOOOOOOOOOOO so I was rather worried how they would react. Ha. We walked in, they got their name stickers, blew me kisses goodbye and went to play. When I got back to pick them up they were in the maze for the very first time! The maze is a huge play climbing thingy with tubes to crawl through, obstacle courses to go over, and slides to get off. It is awesome. This opens up a whole new level of gym play. They also have a huge bounce house the babies haven’t been in yet - hopefully they’ll get brave enough for that and soon they’ll be begging me to go to the gym. =)

Yes, my daughter still loves her hats!!

I love long weekends! Everything is so much more fun with Jeff around (not to mention easier!). We had a fabulous weekend and I’m so very sad it is over.

Jeff took Friday off to make the long weekend even longer! Yippee!! We took the babies to a new place in town called Child’s Play. It is an indoor playground for kids and the photos looked awesome. While it was fun and a way to get out of the heat it was much smaller than I thought it would be. They had two slide play structured things, a really little area for the little kids (that my big kids wanted to play in) and a lounge area where parents could get coffee and sit and read all the while NOT watching their children. You can buy a monthly membership for $30 which is affordable so we may end up doing that for the hottest part of the summer when outdoor play isn’t an option.

Friday night we had movie night and watched Bolt. How are all children’s animated movies so good!?! We all loved the movie - popcorn - and candy. The babies made it through 45 minutes which is quite impressive considering their attention spans aren’t all that long yet.

Saturday morning we ventured to the other side of town and took the babies to the Lied Discover Children’s Museum. I will write another post about it with lots of photos. We LOVED it and bought a yearly membership!!

Saturday night I had a maternity photo session that was awesome and a nice little break away. Sunday morning Jeff took the babies grocery shopping while I stayed home and cleaned. Our house was in sad shape and in need of a much needed *baby free* cleaning! Sunday night Auntie Krista came over to watch the kiddos while Jeff and I went on a date! Who0t!! We went to see Star Trek which was really REALLY good. I think I may have a new movie boyfriend. =) We got takeout PF Changs - came home in time to put the babies to bed and watched Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back while stuffing our faces. YUM!

Monday we took the babies to the water park and spent the morning getting soaked with FREEZING COLD WATER. Kids don’t seem to mind the cold, but all the parents where shivering (me included!).

We ended the weekend with a nice long bath with our new Curious George bubbles and a trip to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s to visit Cousin Haylee.

Ahhhhh long weekends are wonderful. Ending them sucks!

The Sticker Game Edition:

I’m not sure what the rules are but they involve putting stickers on one another and then taking them off and laughing.

When the babies were little I would hear all the time how lucky I was that at least they had each other to play with. My response - nope, not yet. They didn’t play together as newborns, they didn’t play together as babies, and they CERTAINLY didn’t play together as one year olds. They fought, hit, bit, scratched, pushed, yelled, cried, and hurt one another, but play, not so much.

Ahhhhh. These days they do still fight, but the play….oh my, how I love the play. Each day they do more and more together. They interact more, share more, play more, and really seem to care if the other gets hurt. The other night Heaten banged his foot into the wall really hard and was crying. Shenzie ran over to him, kissed his ouchie, and told him sorry (in sign). My heart melted. And then they proceeded to play the day away. Ahhhhh….how I love twin play.

I’ve had my personal photo account through Smugmug for like 4 or 5 years now. I love them. They are affordable, easy to use, and have unlimited storage. Recently (well, not too recent, but recent to me using it I should say) they added video. Now I don’t have to wait in line for Vimeo or have to mess with Google Uploader. I can upload them straight to my Smugmug and share as much or as little as I want. It isn’t free like Flikr or some of the other storage places out there, but I LOVE it and would recommend it to anyone looking for online sharing and storage.

Of course at this point in the game I should KNOW when the babies are silent for too long to go investigate. Today’s incident involved Heaten (who can now open all the safety/child proof doors) and Shenzie sneaking into their bathroom after their bath and covering themselves from head to toe in bubbles. All over the floor, the rug, in their clean hair, you name it and it was covered in bubbles. Back into the bathtub they went to get the bubble mess washed away. They thought it was HILARIOUS and couldn’t stop laughing.

Last week Shenzie climbed on my desk and got the NON WASHABLE markers from my scrapbook bin. Yeah, as you can see she thought this was HILARIOUS as well!

The other day while I was in the shower (occasionally I play Russian Roulette and shower while the babies “play” in the playroom) Heaten comes running in, laughing of course, covered in Scotch Tape. It was in his hair, wrapped around his arm, and stuck all over his hands. Then he started to freak out because it was stuck and wouldn’t come off. Then he freaked out because I got him wet when I untangled him. I couldn’t get out of the shower quick enough to make sure Shenzie wasn’t up to no good as well. Ha, I was right to be worried. She got into my desk drawer where I keep my hidden stash of candy (not so hidden apparently) and was covered in chocolate and laughing up a storm as she shoveled more into her mouth. Then she ran away so I couldn’t clean her hands and got melted chocolate all over the door, wall, and rail.

Beware of the silence is my new house motto.

With temperatures already in the 100’s (UGH*ICK*GROSS*BLECH*THISISWHYIHATESUMMER) we are trying to find ways to stay cool. Last summer the babies were a little hesitant of the water at water parks. Heaten was just plain scared of water back then.

This summer I was pleasantly surprised when we took the babies to the water park they jumped right in and got soaked. Our new routine consists of getting lubed from head to toe in sunblock, getting out swim gear on and heading to the park to play in the water. Next time I’m there I’ll try to get some photos, they are SO cute running around getting sprayed. We get home and eat a little lunch then it is back outside for more water fun. We blew up our little inflatable pool this weekend and Shenzie just wants to live in there.

She “swims” around and has a hayday while Heaten plays in the sandbox. If the pool gets boring she makes a sand box moat and swims in that. I’m going to have to change her nickname from Bug to Fish!

We had a fun surprise yesterday at The Butterfly Water Park. We met up with some friends from my old playgroup and had a blast playing in the water. Behind the park is a Fire Station and my babies LOVE them some Fire Engines. We happened to see one pulling out so we walked to the top of the hill to get a better view. As the Firemen were gassing up the Engine one of them waved us over. Who0t! I got to see the Firemen….er, I mean fire truck up close and personal. =) They gave the babies little fire hats (that they haven’t taken off since) and let us peek inside the fire truck and play with the hose. I played with the Firemens hose…er, I mean the fire TRUCKS hose. Hahahah. Perv.

The babies LOVED it and haven’t stopped talking about the Fire Truck who was going to help somebody because they played in the street and broke their head and now they have to go to the hospital. Yes, I tell my babies if they play in the street that is what happens. My Mom just shakes her head at me, but hey, it works. They NEVER run into the street, they NEVER run from the side of the car, and they always tell me “no-no road, woo-woo (the Ambulance sound), broke head, ambulance, hospital”. Whatever works is my motto. =)

I love the fact that I have two little cuddle bugs. Heaten will sit on my lap and cuddle anytime, anywhere, anyhow. Shenzie loves to cuddle, but it has to be on her terms. First thing in the morning she sits on my lap while Heaten sits next to me with my arm around him and we all watch Curious George while they drink their milk and I drink my coffee. Heaten is usually the first to wake from his nap so I get him up and we have some quality cuddle time on the couch while he drinks his milk, once again watching Curious George - or Monkey as he calls it. Once Shenzie gets up she takes the lap and Heaten sits next to me. Throughout the day they will both sneak in cuddles, kisses, and hugs. I know one day I will be begging for hugs, kisses, and cuddles so for now I take it whenever, however I can.

Bribery Edition:

For 5 M&M’s each I got these gems. It went something like:

Shenzie and Heaten will you let Mama take your picture on the box.
Silence
If you come sit on the box I will give you candy.
They come running.
Works every time!

They don’t have to be happy about it though:

Shenzie and Heaten will you hold hands and give a little kiss.

Shenzie kisses her ouchie.

Shenzie and Heaten how about a little kiss.

Shenzie kisses Heatens shoulder.

Shenzie and Heaten how about a kiss on the lips.

MOM - YOU ARE BEING VERY ANNOYING! This is as good as it gets - take it or leave it!!!

I think I’ll take it. =)