Twins

The girls are starting to become more and more aware of what it means to be a twin. I've always tried very hard to keep from treating them as one unit. I very rarely, if ever, refer to them as 'the twins' or dress them identically (especially now that they pick their own clothes most days). I have been stressing to them the benefits of being a twin - like always having a friend around. They have also been taught that they are expected to stick up for one another if there is any bullying or other unfun stuff like that. But, all of that stuff is basically the same as with any sibling - so not really twin specific except that so far they have been in the same class and go to the same activities.

This Thanksgiving they got a taste of some of the less fun stuff about being a twin. B. didn't really seem to notice/mind. But A. actually came up to me at one point and told me she didn't like being a twin. The main thing that bothered her, I think, was everyones insistence that she and her sister look so alike that it's impossible to tell them apart or at least to remember which one is which. There was a constant stream of 'ok, can you tell us which is which?' or 'oh man you changed clothes now I can't tell again' or just general discussion about different ways to tell them apart. Now, all these comments are pretty normal and the girls are used to it and tend to just grin and ignore it. But this time it seemed constant because of the many visits to different family members. And because they don't see this part of the family very often they were feeling a bit shy and overwhelmed by all the attention. Being the center of attention and being scrutinized closely by a bunch of almost-strangers has got to be scary! I have to admit that I did contribute a bit. I shouldn't have given in to the fun of confusing in-laws. But I did. I dressed the girls the same. Twice. Not a good parenting choice. In my defense, I didn't realize it would bother A. like it did. Both girls spent a lot of the week looking with wide-eyed semi-terror at random relations who were discussing loudly the girls' various ear lumps and face freckles and shapes.

A. has also, recently, been concerned that her teacher sometimes mixes up her name with her sister's. We agreed, though, that it's much better to be confused with a sister who looks a lot like you than with another kid who gets in trouble a lot! (She told me her teacher at school mixes up two boys' names who are constantly needing to be reprimanded :)

Also, even though A. has her moments of wishing away her twin-ness, she did get very upset when I told her that when Lil Jo goes to school she won't be in the same class with A and B. Sometimes she just needs to be reminded of the benefits :) I tell her almost everyone I know has wished they were a twin!

Here's a sample of our home-taken Christmas pictures - in case you're not on the Christmas Card mailing list.

See...it's not because they're twins that they look the same...it's that ALL my children look the same :) We've had people ask us if they are triplets. What would you respond? (There is a 3 and almost a half year difference between them!)

Halloween

Seems I haven't posted in a while. So, here's our Halloween post.
The girls had three (!) opportunities to wear their costumes this year: Wednesday night Small Group at church, Story-book Character Parade at school, and then actual Halloween. For Halloween we, as usual, went to our church for the 'Great Pumpkin Party' (The girls felt very cool being able tell everyone that it was their daddy driving the tractor for the hayride). This year I even caved and took the girls (by myself!) to a few neighbors for trick-or-treating afterward. Talk about an activity that goes against pretty much everything I like/am comfortable with (knocking on people's doors, asking for things, talking to strangers, being in any way scared or surprised, walking around outside after dark etc) - but it was worth it to hear lil Jo saying 'tick-r-teat!' And the girls said trick-or-treating was their favorite part of the evening. Guess we'll have to do it next year too....

Here's the before pic:

And Lil Jo after (:


We even managed to make it to school on time today! :)

1st Week

It's day three and so far things are going pretty well. There have been emotions flying around here as we all learn to deal with our new schedule. The girls are enjoying school - but come home exhausted - mostly just from being around so many more people for some much longer than they are used to. I think the hardest part of their days so far seem to be the drop off time when they have to sit with a billion kids in the cafeteria waiting to go to class. I'm working on getting the drop off timed right so they can go straight to their class (there is a 10 minute window between dismissal from the cafeteria and the tardy bell in which to navigate the car-pool line...so we'll see).

They both came home with smiley faces on their daily report, though, so no major issues!

Here are a few pic's of the first day!

Tomorrow

Kindergarten starts tomorrow. The girls are ready. I am trying to be! Here's a few pictures of their progress! :

Teeny Tiny! (Started at 5lbs 6 oz and 4lbs 12 oz)

Around a year old.

This and That.

It's been awhile since a quotes post, so here are a few:

**As we are peering through the blinds at the across-the-street neighbor who is turning on sprinklers (yes, I'm training my kids to be like that noisy neighbor on 'Bewitched'), A. says, "I guess he wants to have clean grass."

**Lil Jo's new favorite phrase, used a lot after she has made a big mess, 'Dat's not mah pahblem.'

She also is absorbing a bit of her sisters' dramatic nature, whenever something hurts it doesn't just hurt it hurts real bad!

**Walking through wal-mart parking lot, "Jeeps are a bad idea, jeeps don't have doors," says B. I didn't spot the doorless Jeep - but this is why I have to keep a constant hold of B. She's always paying more attention to her daydreams and the things around her than to the things in FRONT of her :) She's constantly bruised from walking into things!

**Neighbor boy says to a jealous Sister B. while discussing popsicles given to Sister A. when she came out of quarter removal surgery, "well you just need to swallow your own quarter [to get a popsicle]." I don't think so.

We recently moved Lil Jo into a big girl bed. Daddy made it just for her - it's awesome! But, she refuses to stay in it. I had forgotten the naptime battles then the girls were her age. It all came back the first day we laid her down at naptime and two seconds later we heard the doorknob start to rattle....So, now I have to lay in the hall and watch until she succumbs to sleep. She puts up a good fight and wins one or two days each week. Bedtime has been a different ordeal - same fight but with added fear of 'tunders.' For the first month she would sleep fine after the initial battle. This week, however, she's been waking in the middle of the night and so winds up in bed with us. I'm working on waking up enough to sooth her back to sleep in her own bed!

To wrap up this mostly pointless post - the girls experienced Silly Banz and seem to be over them, for now. Unfortunately, they have been sucked in by the Pillow Pets and Zoo Pals Plates commercials. (I just asked them the name of the plates and A. sang the jingle for me 'when you clean your plate, then you see their face....zoo pals make it fun!'). The people writing those commercials seem to be doing a VERY good job. But, I doubt we will be getting any 'pets' or 'pals' in the near future!

Fall Fashion

We just finished up (I hope!) school shopping for the girls. Not a lot, just a supplement of t-shirts (to replace the ones they've stained/outgrown), a few pairs of shorts, the hard-to-find and total downer tote bags that are required instead of backpacks (there are NO pretty Tinkerbell/Princess/etc totes), and the SHOES. The shoes were the highlight of our (my) preparations. I've been wanting to get the girls these since I first saw their sparkly prettiness. We finally went and picked them out last night and they are just as fun as I had hoped! (I'm still trying to convince myself that Lil Jo and I don't need a pair!). They cost way more than I am usually willing to spend on shoes for feet that are constantly growing, but for a huge milestone like starting school (!!), I thought a little splurge was in order :)

Aren't they pretty!!!

Twice last night I had to catch myself as I was trying to push my likes and dislikes onto the girls' choices. I'm used to shopping for them without their input. But last night they got to pick their shoes and their totes (we found some decently pretty ones at Claire's). I really didn't want B. to pick the 'Princess Monkey' tote or A. to pick the shoes with the ugly (imo) unicorn on them. But, when I saw B. settling for, no, resigning herself to, the tote I was encouraging - just to make me happy - I decided it wasn't worth fighting over. She's a bit of a princess monkey herself anyway! A.'s shoes were a different sort of battle - she said she wanted the unicorns because her friends would love them. She's already SO concerned with what her friends will think. I'm still not sure if she got them because of her friends or because she liked them.

Less than a month to go.....

A Tradition of Torture.

The girls are finally old enough for me to 'play' with their hair. I also have the excuse of needing to keep it tied back for swimming. My husband is shocked by the screams of pain that come from the living room as I plait and/or ponytail three little heads of hair. In my defense, I do try to be gentle, but part of having long hair is having a tough head, right? And they do get the option of having short or long hair. They've been told, though, that if they have long hair they have to let mom 'do' it so it doesn't get all nasty.

A. is getting better about tolerating it - she gets angry at the pain while B. just sobs because she's so mistreated.

Regular french braids on A.

The entire process is very reminiscent of the hairdo torment I received from my mother. The french braid that went around my head like a crown (SO. MUCH. PAIN.)...and the public (equally painful) demonstrations that happened whenever random strangers asked her 'how'd you DO that??' Sometimes I can calm the girls as I pull with these stories of my own experiences with mother-inflicted pain :)

This experiment turned out a bit goofy. (Can you tell she's been crying??)

Back view of 'goofy-do'. Later on the back fell out so I turned the side braid into a bun - super- silly :)

I'm just now starting inverted french braids (my mom called them 'fishtails'). I am really enjoying having so much hair to practice with!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Dear Daddy,

We love you so much!!! We are so grateful for a Daddy that loves us so much and teaches us so many things! Our favorite time of day is when you come home, or maybe when we get to wrastle with you before bed, or when we get to 'help' you work in the garage or....I guess we love ALL times we get to be around you!

It's so cool to have a Daddy that will work hard for LOTS of evenings and weekends and even ON Father's Day building amazing things for our children's church. We will always remember the cool stages and awesome decorations. We're so proud that OUR Daddy is the one that made all that!!!

We couldn't ask for a better Daddy than you! Happy Father's Day!! Love, A. B. and Lil Jo!