An interesting Christmas giving concept

On one of the forums I participate in, a poster gave her friend's idea for giving gifts. I thought it was a very practical and meaningful way of remembering the gifts that the Baby Jesus was given.

"My good friend... told me how she and her husband give their children gifts every Christmas in a way that reminds them of Jesus. They each get 4 gifts symbolizing gold, frankincense, myrrh and swaddling clothes.
Gold -- whatever they really, really want. A toy, video game, etc. Whatever is in your budget but it is only one thing.
Frankincense -- a scent... perfume, cologne, bubble bath, toiletry set even
Myrrh -- myrrh is a symbol of suffering and used for embalming. As a gift to the Christ child, it was a practical gift since He was to suffer and die. So this gift is something practical that they will need in the upcoming year. New clothes, shoes, backpack, school supplies, a book, etc.
Swaddling clothes -- pajamas, slippers, or a robeI thought some people here would be interested in a more Christ-centered gift giving plan. "

We've done some of those things. I've already gotten the kids new Christmas PJs, socks for the girls, and peppermint smelling shampoo and body wash, but I think I might try to follow this next year. Hopefully Kevin will be able to understand the meaning and it will help restrain the urge to over-indulge.

'Tis the season!

Nope, not Christmas. It's wrestling season! My nephew, Trevor, is a senior this year and Trev
s brother, Brett, will be starting wrestling once basketball is over. Trev had a double dual tonight and won in OT in his first match, then got a pin in the second. The first match was big because he beat a kid who had beaten him before and he'll have to wrestle again down the road. The kid he pinned was a JV filling in for a highly ranked (top-ranked?) teammate who was injured so what could have been a huge challenge for Trev turned out to be an easier match, but he wrestled well. It's great fun seeing how Trev has improved since he started wrestling as a freshman. Kevin will probably start wrestling a lot earlier than his freshman year of high school, but I hope he's as good of sport as Trevor is.

Kevin had a funny tonight. Bob asked him where his liver was and Kevin started off that it was on his toe and he gets them from stepping in the sharp grass. He thought Bob was asking him about a "sliver" instead of "liver"!

Oh, where to start?

Las Vegas was great. Lots of food, amazing shows, a nice hike in Red Rock canyon, some time with Bob, what's not to love:) We stayed at Mandalay Bay and saw KA at MGM and La Reve at the Wynn. Both were terrific. KA freaked Bob out a little. We were in the front row so the platform and heights got him a little nervous. La Reve is diving/water type stuff and quite beautiful. The theater is round so there's not a bad seat.

We ate at Strip Steak at Mandalay on Friday. Yum. Anyplace that can make french fries that make you want to lick the plate and even better steak is worth the $$. Saturday night we ate ate Diego at MGM. It was good, like a B, but compared to Strip Steak and then Aureole on Sunday night, it placed 3rd. Aureole was delish. We did the 7 course tasting menu and the only course that wasn't wonderful was the cheese course, but that's mostly because I don't care for strong cheeses. The tuna tartare was really excellent.

Speaking of food, the girls decided that weaning wasn't on the menu yet so we're still at it.

Thanksgiving was nice even though Bob was on call. He wasn't too busy and was around all Thursday while everyone was here. We had, as usual, plenty of food and lots of visiting. We're going to do Christmas at Beth's the Friday after Christmas so it looks like our Christmas Day is free since Becky is having Bob's family's Christmas the Saturday after Christmas.

Our bathroom still isn't even started, maybe the beginning of the year...I hope. We have everything except the labor.

Christmas shopping is basically done. A few toys and books for the kids, practical stuff for mom, the bathrooom and an Iowa t-shirt for Bob. I gave it to him early in case he wanted to wear it to the UI-ISU wrestling meet- won by Iowa:) - but he declined. Gift cards for the boys. Pretty basic.

Kevin has his pre-school program Thursday. They're singing "Away in the Manger", "Jingle Bells", "Mary Had a Baby Boy" and "Happy Birthday". I hope he behaves:) We made Christmas cookies with icing today. He's been hot to do that for a few days now and even though it's a great big mess, it's kind of fun and he loved it. He said that toys used to be his favorite, but now it's food (meaning candy!) and he really wants a lollipop for Christmas. There's a picture of a big, multicolored lollipop in one of his books that really caught his fancy. I found a green and white one at Target for his stocking, but I'm going to keep looking to see if I can find one that will fit his image.

The girls are getting new clothes. They are getting into a lot of 18 month stuff already. It seems like they should still be my little babies instead of my little climbing monkeys! Nothing is safe in the house, but they're sure fun to watch!

ETA: Delaney's in the red, Claire's in the black:)

Daylight savings time, holidays, and the Halloweenies

I used to love "falling back" to CST. Unless I had to work that night, it meant one more hour of sleep. Then I had babies and the extra hour was lost in the turmoil. Last night we put the kids to bed a little later than usual and they slept to about their normal time, which was fine until they all decided that they wanted lunch at 10:15am! Oh, well. They were satisfied with toaster strudels and a side of their favorite green beans. I, on the other hand, have been out of sorts since this morning has seemed extraordinarily long. I've watched Claire learn that throwing herself off the couch onto the blanket is great fun, Kevin cry really loudly when he got his finger pinched in a book, Delaney discover "hair" equals the stuff on our heads, and the Backyardigans discover that you can shake chocolate milk in the absence of a stirrer.



Even though November is still, technically, autumn, once Halloween is over, it just feels like winter. I'm thinking about roasting turkeys, prelit fake vs. real Christmas trees, and how amazon.com is trying to screw me over on their 4 for 3 promo. (Pssst, Amazon....splitting my order into 2 so it doesn't meet the eligibility criteria should get you a lump of coal in your stocking.



The kids did a good job trick or treating. Bob was on call so I loaded the girls in the wagon and Kevin walked until he could hitch a ride in Katherine and Samantha's wagon. We just went around the cul de sac and then up to visit Bob, which was just about right. Kevin was a lion, Delaney was a polar bear, and Claire was an elephant (all costumes Tom Arma- love them!)

The ending of an era

That's Claire in the white and Delaney (with her very best oversmile) in the brown.

How do you turn down these smiley faces?? I'm feeling a little verklempt tonight. My babies went to bed without their nightly snack from Mommy because I've decided to try to wean Claire and Delaney before we go to Las Vegas in 3 weeks. It's partly because I don't want to wean by abandonment, although they do fine with whole milk and regular food, and partly because my supply is going down and their more voracious nursing sessions cause some pretty bad vasospasms that I could sure do without. It'd also be nice not to have to haul the pump to Las Vegas.

Bob and I took Kevin to Trev's last football game on Friday night and had Assembly last night so they hadn't nursed for the last two nights, but this is the first time I've been around at bedtime and not nursed. It was odd to be just cleaning up the kitchen and not snuggling them to bed. I think I'll try the "don't offer, don't refuse" plan that I used with Kevin. It'll probably be more challenging for me than for them.

We made it 15 months and I always had it in my head that once we got past a year, it'd be a mutual decision to keep going. If we aren't completely done by the time we leave and they want to pick it up when I get back, it's no big deal, but their sessions have really tapered off in number and duration so I think they're ready too.

In other news, I'm typing this from the kitchen table. That's right- I've gone wireless. I found a relatively inexpensive laptop (allegedly a "family Christmas present" and for Kevin to use instead of my desktop;) ) and, with the invaluable help of my friend Nancy, I got a router set up. It's pretty neat and even Bob thinks it's handy to have a computer in the kitchen!

St. Louis

St. Louis was a good trip. The weather ended up being in the low 80's- good thing I brought some warm weather stuff for the kids. It's got a ton of things to do with kids, but it's pretty easy to get around and would be good without kids too. We went to the zoo, Grant's Farm, the Arch, and Bob and Mom went through the courthouse. We stayed at the Hilton at the Ballpark. Terribly slow restaurant, mediocre room service, but decent rooms.

I'm always surprised at how much longer it takes to get places with kids, especially twins. People seem fascinated with them. We got so many looks and comments that after a while I just quit counting. I need some flip cards that say: Yes, they're twins. 14 months. Both girls. Yes, they keep me very busy.

Kevin had a bit of a rough trip. He came down with hand, foot, and mouth disease on Friday/Saturday. He'd complained that his tongue hurt when he ate, but we thought he had just bitten it because Bob didn't see anything on the middle of his tongue where Kevin complained of pain. Sunday morning he was super cranky and I finally convinced him to let me look. The whole edge and underside of his tongue was covered with sores. Poor guy! We were going to stay in Iowa City Sunday night, but decided to push through, which turned out for the best. Kevin was completely wiped out, but slept better in his own bed. In St. Louis, he'd insisted on sleeping in the regular bed instead of the crib. He had a little bit of a time getting to sleep and staying in the bed. He also fell out the first two nights, but I think our crib days are numbered!

The Beauty of Twins

Sometimes that fact that I have identical twins just amazes me. It seems like such a miracle that two little beings came from the same egg/sperm hookup. Yes, they are different in some ways. Claire smiles with her mouth, Delaney smiles with her eyes. Delaney has thicker hair, a little cafe au lait spot on her left forearm, a tiny notch in her ear cartilage, and will put her hand up to her mouth like "Oh! Oops!". Claire can scream like a horror movie star. Delaney is a little more laid back, Claire a bit more intense, but I couldn't say "Oh, that's Claire" or "Oh, that's Delaney" just based on behavior.

Sometimes, their sameness is almost comical. This morning, they fell asleep as we were out walking. They tend to fall asleep in exactly the same position- arms, legs, head, everything-and I was reminded of this picture from June when they fell asleep in their stroller as we walked around the loop.

Sometimes it's just the joy they seem to derive from having each other around. This afternoon, they were playing here in the office and pulled down their pajamas from the changing table shelf. They were just delighted with these new "toys" and put them over their heads and around their necks like the fanciest scarves, crawling around the house and giggling with each other. I grabbed a litle video and tried not to disturb the moment:)

Of course, 20 minutes after I took the video, they were tired and getting a little cranky. I had given Delaney the tiny piano toy and when Claire heard it, she high-tailed back over and tried to grab it away. Delaney put up a good fight, but Claire didn't earn the nickname "Pirate" without good reason. Delaney ended up in my lap getting a little snack. I'm not sure Claire was convinced she got the best deal when she saw that, but then they switched places and everyone seemed content in the end. I imagine it was a vision of the future.

A Kevin funny

This morning, we were driving out to my mom's house. She lives on a gravel road so there are just stop signs. Kevin just turned forward facing in his seat so he has a lot of questions like "Why isn't there a green light here?" so I've been telling him about red lights meaning stop, green mean go, and yellow mean watch out.
Since we were with my mom, I asked him to tell Grandma what red lights meant.
Kevin: "Stop!"
Me: "Green lights?"
Kevin:"Go!"
Me: "What about yellow lights?" thinking that he might not remember.
Kevin, without missing a beat: "GoGoGoGoGo!"

My mom about busted a gut laughing. I'm sure I've said "GoGoGoGoGo!" when I've come up to green lights turning yellow, but I had no idea he'd put two and two together!

Please remove all sharp objects from the area.

So I'm already slightly depressed by Iowa's loss to Iowa State on Saturday. Not that Iowa played so great that they deserved to win, but neither did Iowa State.

Anyway, what do I decide to do today? That's right, edit and burn DVDs. I hate doing this. No matter how carefully I think I'm doing it, something always goes wrong and it ends up taking about 50 hours longer than it's supposed to because every step takes forever and if (when) I screw up one little thing, I have to go back and start over. For example, I downloaded the footage, edited, put in titles, and saved it. Then I downloaded a trial for a burner because I still haven't found one I liked. Then I try to open my file. No go. Apparently I didn't say it as a wmv. file. Finally, I figure this out and spend an hour (yes, an 80 minute video takes 45 minutes to save) only to discover it's too long to fit on one DVD. So I try to edit it down. Apparently, that's impossible to do unless you have the tech skill of someone who has tech skills. I can look at each frame individually, but clipping them and moving them around takes a special gift. So I go back and do it on Windows and have to resave it- another 40 minutes. I put in the chapters and titles without much wailing and gnashing of teeth and now it's burning. 24 minutes in and it's 6% complete. I have another copy of this one to burn and two more discs to do. It's worse than baby books!
Edited to add: I did, however, discover that I have video of Claire and Delaney's first Easter. It may not be still pictures to put in their baby books, but at least I don't completely suck as a mom!

All I can say that it's been slightly more successful than trying to hide veggies in macaroni and cheese. Delaney can chew up the pasta around the veggies and then carefully spit them out once she's swallowed the pasta. Now that? That is talent. With genius like that, I'm going to be able to turn over video editing to her! Here's some more of Delaney's talent:

Gymnastics

Kevin had his first gymnastics class tonight. It's for 3-5 year olds so he's probably the youngest one in the group. I'm pretty sure he's the smallest too...like a head shorter than the next kid. He was very excited and had a bit of a time sticking with the group, preferring to go off and bounce around on his own instead of following in line, although he could do a mean somersault when he wanted. The teacher and her assistants had to go round him up a few times and he tried to come out into the lobby area a couple times, but when class was over, he came out and said, "Mom, that was fun! I had so much fun!" I guess we're going back next week:)

My little fashion victim

Kevin is walking around wearing a Diego t-shirt, navy shorts (his size 9 months ones), and, to complete the look, his new Columbia snow boots. He's taken quite a shine to them and has worn them for at least an hour a day since they arrived on Wednesday. Any guesses to how much he'll fuss when he actually has to put them on to wear out in the snow?

Baby books

Kevin's baby book is pretty complete. Claire and Delaney's (yes, they each have one) are somewhat less so. I've been writing in stuff as we go, but I need to copy a lot of stuff into both books, put pictures in, et cetera et cetera.... Why I didn't do this when I was in the hospital waiting for them, I don't know. Oh wait, it was because I couldn't lean over a desk or table because my belly full of babies was in the way!

Anyway, if any of my children complain because they feel their book is inadequate in any way, they're out of the will. Delaney and Claire may not have any pictures from their first Easter, but it's just because they insisted on being held the whole time and I couldn't get my camera out. So there!

Is 3 the new 2?

Before I had kids, all I heard about were the "terrible twos". "Just wait until he turns 2" or "Oh, my kid's got the terrible twos and he's only 18 months" or whatever. Kevin's 3rd year of life wasn't so bad, or maybe I was just too sleep deprived to notice, but either way, his "twos" were nothing compared to the first few weeks of his "threes"!

It's a lot of crying. About everything. "You cut my toast in half. I wanted it whoooooollllllleeeee! WAAAAAH!" "I wanted to push the buttons! WAAAAAAAAAAH" "I want my running shoes, not the sandals! I didn't want my running shoes! WAAAAAAAAH".

I initially chalked it up to starting pre-school which, I thought, might have been a stressor. Maybe it is, but Kevin seemed to like pre-school once he released my leg from the death grip. Today he had no problems releasing my leg and running, yelling at the top of his lungs, through Wal-Mart. Fortunately, the greeter stopped him and, despite a lot of "WAAAAAAAAAAAH! I want to walk, I'll be a good walker!" wailing, I was able to strap him in and continue on our unmerry way. He got some sympathy chat from the grandmas in the store, but I think they were still on my side when he told them his mommy was making him sit in the cart because he ran off when he wasn't supposed to.

Anyway, it's a good thing he's cute or I'd be selling him on Ebay.

Stumper

Kevin started swimming lessons on Monday. He wanted me to swim with him, but I explained that the lifeguards, like cousin Trevor, would be teaching him and they would make sure he was safe in the water.
The question of the day:

"Mommy, a lifeguard guards life. What is life?"

Church and kids

After a foot of snow and blizzard winds, we're finally digging out. Bob's on call so I'm not sure we'll make it to church tomorrow, but I hope we can give it a try. I've been Catholic my whole life, although there was a period in my mid-twenties where my attendance was a bit, ahem, lax. Bob is also Catholic and we've always gone to church together.

Before I had my own children, I liked seeing other people bring their kids to church. I looked forward to the day that I would sit in the pew with my adorable little bunch and they would sit quietly with their books or colors, or maybe even fall asleep in my arms.

I'm still dreaming. Kevin would start screaming as soon as we had to sit for more than 10 seconds. I didn't make it through a whole service sitting in the pew until he was 8 or 9 months old, except for the service when the elderly gentleman next to us said to Kevin, "I'll give you a dollar if you stay this quiet the whole time." Kevin earned his first dollar that day! He's gotten much better although his little voice carries with pronoucements of, "It's Father Yinn!" or "Holy Spirit!" I suppose I should be glad that it's "Holy Spirit" and not "holy something else". He loves to take his money up to put it in the collection basket and usually comes back without intervention. Kevin calls church "Amen", as in "We're going to Amen today." It's sweet and he's charmed just about everyone who sits near us.

The girls are starting out better, but there's two of them to make noise, which they do very well. They seem to take turns squawking, but I'm sure that to others it just seems like somebody's always crying! It's nice when we go out to church with my mom because, having grown up in that church, people know me and I'm never lacking for people to hold a baby in a pinch. A few have even said that they're happy to see young children there:)