in the summertime....

A month since my last post, and so much to write about! A HUGE birthday, 4th of July, Grampa and Popi's visit and our first time at camp...so many great photos and stories. Alas, they will have to wait as summer so far is hot and busy and tiring in the best possible way!

Instead, here's a list of my favorite things at the moment. Almost all simple, a few bittersweet:

1. relaxing, even in make-up and/or a tie.

2. outside stuff. working outside with Grampa and Popi, especially!

3. mini-golf

Ollie and Vi, July 4, 2011

does this look familiar? here's why:

Vi and Ollie, July 2008



the mini-city-hall thingy never gets old for me.

4. my new coffeemaker.

I don't want to love material things. But sometimes an appliance can make one's life so much easier one wants to kiss said appliance on it's chrome finish. I've had blatant love affairs with my dishwasher, Dyson, washing machine and now....

my Keurig. Love.

(as an aside: please note this is a STOCK photo- take every item in the photo other than the Keurig and imagine it's distinct opposite and you can envision my kitchen.)

5. friends

yep, here comes the bittersweet part.

These are some of our besties- Eli, Scott, Mollie and Ezra. We love them dearly, but even more than that, they have been a *huge* support for us throughout V's diagnosis, therapies and progress. It's seriously hard to put into words. Getting a diagnosis of autism can show you quickly who your real friends are; it takes a lot of patience to hang out with us, and to learn to communicate with Violet. As a parent, you hope for it with your family, but to have friends that feel like family in that way is a true blessing. I don't have too many places we can go where Violet can open the front door and run into the house...lie in the dog bed, jump in the kiddie pool fully clothed, dig in the garden, break the tile floor in the kitchen (eek!), take over Pop Pop's chair at dinner and meticulously spread out all 83 dvd's they own on the floor at every visit.

So, the bitter part is that the Boulwares moved to Texas last week. Heartbreaking for me, in a completely selfish way. But such a gift to know that people can love your child that much.

6.  this blog: http://plumlife.typepad.com/plum/

it kind of reminds me of the collages and things I used to collect in my more um, carefree years. I figured out she lives near me, so I will probably stalk her now...

7. Things my very-newly-four-year-old twins have said recently:

Ollie: "mommy, how old are you?" me: "39." Ollie: "WOW! That is really tall!". I like his thinking..

Violet (twirling in her new, pink dress):"who I look like?" me: "Um, Princess Pea? Alice (aka Cinderella, but the twins think she's Alice in wonderland, who is much more independent and interesting, so we're going with that)? Mommy?" Violet: "No! I like VIOLET!". Duh, mommy.

8. these shoes:

9. new friends- found in our backyard (and sitting on the hand of Thor)!

10. THE BEACH!!!

my little mermaid!

and my little beachcomber!

More soon...happy summer to you!

hanging on to summer as long as we can....

seeing the steam engine in New Hope! SO much fun!!

TOO much cuteness for words. One night, I had given each babe some milk, and Ben and I were talking in the kitchen, and I went to peek to make sure the twins were ok. This was the sight I saw. Not only had Oliver snuggled up on Violet, he had pulled the covers over them both and grabbed her hand over his shoulder!! ACK!!

fun at the beach! SO much bigger than last year. We have made a day trip to the Jersey Shore every summer since the babies were born (er, three summers).
In 2007, the babies were nearly three months old, and barely left the slings on Ben and I. We met our friends Leigh-Anne and Steve for lunch, and the babies slept the whole way up, the whole way back, and a good deal of the time we were there! We didn't make it to the sand or the water!
In 2008, the twins had just turned one year old, and were not walking yet, but crawling everywhere! We had sandy bottles of milk on the beach, and lots of sand in the mouth. Ben and I were thrilled when the babies fell asleep in their stroller and we could walk the boardwalk for an hour.
THIS year, we had two very busy toddlers, but also pretty intense sand castle builders/wave jumpers/seagull chasers/social butterflies! Ben and I actually could sit for a good fifteen or so minutes while the babies put their animals and trucks in the sand. Violet and I went into the water, and I could barely keep up with her! She practically RAN in, and, even after the waves would clock her over, she would laugh and laugh and go right back for them! Oliver was a little more timid, and was happiest sitting with me on the edge of the water and jumping up when the waves hit us ("big one!"). It was the best day of the whole summer!


Of course, lest you think it was ALL easy and perfect. here's a list of the hard/funny/keeping-it-real stuff:

*Violet lost ONE Croc in the ocean, complete with Sesame Street Jibbits. Yes, there were third hand, but SO cute on her! Also- how do we go the rest of the day with one shoe?

*I forgot shorts for Ollie. I mean, he had swim trunks, but they just didn't get dry. So, I had to go to a little store and buy shorts for Ollie, and shoes (shoe?) for Peanut. All they had were a size 4 shorts (Ollie wears a 2 or 3). This was all fine until we get to Rainforest Cafe (the most awesome restaurant for kids EVER!) and Ollie was having a complete meltdown at the table, and when I went to pick him up, I realize his shorts are back in the waiting area of the restaurant. Sigh. In my defense, it's kind of dark restaurant- it's the rainforest, after all.










Video of the train, with a few disclaimers: 1. I'm trying to hold Violet at the same time as I'm filming; sorry for the unsteady hand. 2. Ben had a bee on him- when it looks like he's shooing me away (or worse), he's flipping away the bee and 3. If there was any doubt that I have the most annoying camera voice ever, it is confirmed here.Ugh.

the beach!

we got the chance to take the babies to the beach on Sunday- what a fun day we had! we, as knowing parents, had little expectations of the day. we mostly hoped for a chance to let the babies feel sand, see the ocean and maybe grab a corn dog for ourselves. everyone did beautifully! the babes LOVED the beach- loved the sand, playing with their toys on the blanket, digging in the wet sand, running in the water in mom and dad's arms. we had an umbrella and there was a nice breeze, so everyone was very comfortable. the water was ridiculously cold, so we didn't spend too much time actually in it. both babes got a few mouthfuls of sand, which is funny, considering no one is even into the texture of oatmeal yet...We only spent about an hour or so on the beach, and then grabbed the stroller for a walk on the boardwalk (in search of corn dogs). Within MOMENTS, Oliver's hat had fallen over his eyes, and when I went to lift it, I realized he was asleep! This hasn't happened in 10 months! Violet was in the front pack nodding off, too, so we stuck her in the stroller and she promptly fell asleep as well. Ben and I had a wonderful walk on the boardwalk, eating and talking, looking in the shops- what a great day!
a couple of other pieces of good news!
Ben passed his second exam! Wa-hoo- two down, one more to go (Saturday, so send him lucky vibes, please!). The best part of passing his exams will be that in his (very small amounts of) free time he will be able to be with us instead of studying. Hooray!
Secondly: we won a FREE double stroller! One of the twin blogs I visit was having a contest, where you enter your twins' birth date, and the one closest to the blogger's twins' birth date wins. Guess when said twins were born? JUNE 22!!!! Now, yes, we do have a double stroller, but it is SO difficult to get in and out of our little trunk- the photos of this one have the person carrying the folded up stroller like a briefcase! What a relief that will be for me! Here's a photo of our winnings:
Cool, huh? Also, the blogger has a terribly sad story- one of those stories that makes you want to run and hug and kiss your loved ones, and makes me remember that even my toughest day is a blessing. You should check her blog out : http://snickollet.blogspot.com/
Today we are off to try a *sample* Gymboree class. I'm excited- I think it will be a great opportunity to put the babies in a social but safe atmosphere and maybe fulfill Ollie's great need to climb, tumble and jump.
Lastly- can you believe I'm going to blog about the $%^#ing mice again? I AM! The other night one went through the kitchen as Ben was up studying. He grabbed a broom (although later professed to not really knowing what he was intending to do- sweep the mice out?) and chased it into the dining room. I, in the living room, jumped on the back of the couch as it ran in there. I figured it would be trapped, but it ran out and darted up the staircase!!!! Now, for those who haven't seen our house, we have a HUGE set of stairs, like 30 or 40. Who would've guessed a stupid mouse could climb stairs? And, in, like, a millisecond? Ben and I were dumbstruck. Was he in our bedroom? The nursery? Up on the 3rd floor? Again, another night with very little sleep. To make a long story endless...we called Terminex the next day for a FULL REFUND. We'll be starting from scratch again with someone new. Yuck.