Week in Review

Looking back over the past week, I just have to chuckle to myself. I wouldn’t have assumed that laying on my stomach coloring with Seth and Sam, or sitting with both of them on my lap would be the highlights—but they were. Sometimes it takes crazy to appreciate simple.

I knew this week would be really busy. Not only were we hosting Ben’s brother, Levi, all week while he attended a basketball camp, but I was also going to attempt Vacation Bible School at our church with the boys for the first time. While our usual “routine” includes slowly waking up, getting dressed and eating breakfast by 9:30ish, going to VBS every day meant that we had to be leaving the house by 8:45. Also, my afternoon would now include driving 30 minutes each way to pick up Levi from camp.

Monday morning we arrived at church at 9:02 (which I thought was quite “on-time” for our family). However, it seemed that all kids were already registered and sitting in on the opening presentation. I walked the boys to the front row with the other pre-schoolers, sat with them for a bit, and then quietly told them I was going to be walking around doing my volunteer job of taking pictures. Seth and Sam have always done great in our church nursery, and while I was anticipating shy, I wasn’t prepared for the WAILS that ensued when I walked away. One hour later, same story. Screams as I tried to leave them in the classroom, begging to come with mommy. The poor teachers tried everything, to no avail.

As we were driving home from a rocky first day of VBS, I asked the boys why they didn’t like it. Seth informed me that he didn’t like that everyone kept trying to talk to him. Sammy told me that he didn’t like that everyone was staring at him.

I was sure Day 2 of VBS would be better. The boys knew what to expect and I had given them a great pep talk. But, it was even worse. They wouldn’t even step foot in the classroom now; within about 15 minutes of effort, I aborted and took them with me as I snapped photos.

That evening as Ben asked them why they didn’t like VBS, Seth response was, “I don’t trust those people.” Are you kidding me? What three year old says stuff like this?

By the time Wednesday morning arrived, we were all exhausted. Beyond the trauma at VBS, we had also visited the doctor for an ear infection for Seth (which meant a horrible nights sleep as well). I was spending my afternoons picking Levi up from camp, and then in the evenings we were out and about doing fun stuff with Levi. Our house was cluttered with toys and teenage socks and clothes. Oh, and Sam had gotten a bad case of the runs and was spending a lot of time in the bathroom.

Day 3 of VBS I had given up, and was just going to have the kids play by me as I took pictures. We arrived late and I pulled out my camera to a dead battery. Of course, in all the chaos of our life, I had forgotten to charge the battery. My only volunteer job was to take pictures, and now I had NO CAMERA. A moment’s consideration told me: just cut your loses, and head home…it’s what we all need anyways.

And this is where coloring on my belly and reading to the boys is the highlight of my week. Here are some conclusions about the week:

• I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our slow pace of life at home. I’m so thoroughly thankful to be a homemaker. I’m so thankful for my peaceful home. I’m so thankful that I don’t ever have many activities on our schedule, or places to go.
• I’m so thankful that Seth and Sam don’t want to leave my side yet. Somebody at church jokingly commented to me that it was “time to put them in preschool” because they were having such a hard time being left in class. I thoroughly disagree. They have their whole life for school, I’m thankful that they aren’t ready for it yet.
• There is nothing developmentally wrong with Seth and Sam because they wouldn’t stay in class. They are just shy, and (apparently) don’t easily trust others. This is a true reflection of their personalities: they have always stood back and judged situation before jumping in. I believe this will serve them well in life.
• Sweet moments of doing simple things with just me and my boys are THE BEST. I wouldn’t trade this time of my life for anything.

So, while our week wasn’t exactly what I expected, we made it through. Seth and Sam had a blast with Uncle Levi here playing with them, and Ben I got to switch off doing fun stuff in the evenings (going to the NIKE store, going to a movie…oh, and I got a haircut while I dropped Levi off at arcades). And it had a perfect ending for me: Ben’s dad was in town to pick Levi up from the camp, so he spent all Friday morning here with Seth and Sam—which meant I got some rare independence!

Thank you God for busy weeks that allow me to really value the quiet times!

UNCLES ARE THE BEST!

Catching Up…a Wonderfully Busy June

This is my favorite time of year—why does it seem to go by so quickly? Since the boys’ birthday at the end of May, we’ve been staying quite busy. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

• I celebrated my 29th birthday with a wonderful date night with just Ben and I. We had a slow dinner, went to watch The Avengers, and topped off the evening with Frozen Yogurt. I’m looking forward to a fantastic last year of my 20’s!
• Seth and Sam had their first dentist appointment. Our hygienist, Erin, encourages families to get their children in while they are still pretty young to get them comfortable for later appointments. The boys did surprisingly well, although were their normal shy selves at first. Eventually they let Erin brush their teeth and even let the dentist get a peak inside their mouths. Now they are very excited about their new dentist tooth brushes.
• Last weekend Ben and I went our separate ways: he went on a “man trip” to Diamond Lake with some childhood friends, and I braved the 6.5 hour car ride down to my parents in Lakeview BY MYSELF. It went about as to be expected—we were all ready to kill each other by the end, but made it.
• We celebrated 7 years of marriage on June 18. The boys’ and I drove back home from Lakeview that evening, so we met Ben at a restaurant for dinner and all celebrated together. Although it was far from a romantic date, it was really fun to all be together again as a family.

The next few weeks are going to fly by as well. Here’s what we’re looking forward to:

• The kids and I are going to Vacation Bible School at our church next week. I am taking pictures for the church, and the boys will be in their first little preschool class. Can they really be that old? I am looking forward to the week, but am interested to see how we’re all going to handle getting up and getting out of the house by 8:45 every morning (I know, pathetic, right?)
• We have Uncle Levi here all next week while he’s going to a basketball camp. We’re so excited to have him!

But the REAL thing that we’re looking forward to is…going to Hawaii in a couple of weeks! Woo hoo! Just Ben and I, no kids, for five nights, in Maui. Both sets of grandparents are graciously going to watch Seth and Sam for us. I think it’s going to be a wonderful adventure for all of us!

Here’s some pictures from our Lakeview trip:

Sam, Seth playing in Papa’s fishing boat

These train tracks are only a couple blocks from my parents house. There was some pretty awesome engines parked there! It was a boys’ dream:

This is exactly what I did as a child to smell flowers! Seth has so many of my little quirks!

Seth and Sam spent most afternoons out in my dad’s beautiful yard playing in the pool. Here Sam is trying to get Seth to play the “trumpet” with him. Seth joins in:

And check out this Woodpecker that flew right into the tree next to us. (How nice does my dad’s yard look?) I was so bummed that I didn’t have my zoom lens to take closer pictures of it.

The Social Life of My Twins

Twins are terribly intriguing. I’m fascinated by them daily; first, that they are mine. My children. I have twins. Second, because their relationship with one another is so special.

I have read about and seen identical twins that are very touchy with each other. My friend Melissa Marteney’s twins, Micah and Mason are the same age as the boys; she often posts pictures of them practically on top of each other watching a movie. Seth and Sam are not like that. They don’t touch often (unless it’s the usual play/wrestle touching). They are, however, always in the same room or interacting. If one is playing blocks, so is the other. If one is reading, so is the other.

But usually, their play together is something imaginative—and the “story” they are currently enacting builds on one another’s vision of what they are doing. For example: Sam decides they need to pack for a train trip. So Seth grabs the keys. Sam starts to pack his basketball clothes, Seth follows suit, but decides they need their shoes as well, which Sam goes and grabs. Seth wants to pack his animal friends, Sam grabs his as well. They get in the train together, wordlessly deciding who is the driver, and who is the passenger. Every day, all day, their games, their life, their imagination is intertwined.

I think every parent wonders and worries some about their children socially. Are they too shy? Or too abrasive? Seth and Sam, too, have their quirks in social situations. They most often stand back, watching, observing, staring—shoulder to shoulder. It is rare that they interact with another child—that is unless it is their twin brother, their comfort zone. But why would they need other friends? They have their built-in play mate 24/7. And truth be told, why would they need social practice? They practice every day, 24/7. Their life consists of sharing, fighting, working it out, tattling, practicing personal space, keeping their hands to themselves, etc. Every day is one big friend play day.

Another thing that is fascinating about Seth and Sam socially is that there isn’t one of them that is in the forefront. Often with twins there are very different personalities displayed—more often than not, one is the “show boat” and the other is quieter. Not with my boys. There is never one of them trying to grab attention from the other. If one is being silly, the other joins in the fun. They are a pair. It is so wonderful, so sweet.

After three years of being a twin mom, I’m still thankful every day God entrusted us to two at once. I have a feeling that each day, each year I will be intrigued by their relationship with one another. And I pray, with my whole heart and soul, that they will always be the best buds as they are today.

Sam, Seth

Oh the Things They Say…(And do…)

I’ve been trying to keep a running list of the funny things they say. These are the ones I wrote down in the last couple months (I wish I wrote/remembered more!)

• My mom was trying to explain to the boys that she forgot to bring her “Grandma book” to read. She told them, “Sorry, I choked.” Sam looked at her alarmed and asked, “You choked it?”
• Seth and Sam saw a big motorcycle in Costco and told me that they were going to buy it. When I asked them how much they thought it cost, they said, “Five moneys.” I tried to example to them that it was thousand of dollars—tough concept for 3 year olds! Fast forward a couple days: Seth and Sam were given $10 by their Great Grandma Morris for a birthday gift. We told them that we would all go to Fred Meyer together so they could pick something out. Sam said very seriously, “I get a motorcycle with my $10.” After much laughter on my part, I tried explaining to him that a) he was too small to ride a motorcycle, and b) he didn’t have enough money for a real motorcycle. Sam’s reply to when he’d get a motorcycle, “Yah, when I have a big bottom.”
• Sammy: “Jig, jig, jig. I’m using my jigsaw.”
• Seth was trying to change into his basketball jersey from his superman shirt later in the day. I told him to go put his superman shirt back on, because it was not dirty, and it’s not fair for mama to have to do lots of laundry (I’m trying to work on cutting down on outfit changes during the day). His reply, “But I have a basketball game.” My reply, “You can play basketball in a shirt, you know. Put your superman shirt back on.” “But mama, I’m not superman right now.”
• Seth is petrified of automatic flushing toilets. He had a huge freak out in the hospital as we were visiting cousin Alicia and her new baby Titus. As I was explaining to Alicia his fear, I heard Seth saying, “Yah, and then I go down the hole…” So we have now made it clear that he would not fit down the toilet hole.
• Seth: “Jesus is always our Saviors.”
• Seth: “I’m going to sit down to do this…my knee is hurting me.” (my knee has been on the fritz recently). Sam asks, “How did you hurt it?” Seth’s reply, “Ah…it’s a little sore from playin’ soccer.”
• Sam: “Boys don’t wear capri’s, only mans do.” (sorry buddy, you won’t wear them as a man either!)
• Signature word: “Last day.” May refer to yesterday, a couple days ago, a couple months ago, or even last year. General “in the past.”

And the things they do:

Sam came out wearing his new “motorcycle helmet” the other day. Since then, it’s been their hat of choice. Man, I’m gonna have some good Senior slideshow blackmail pictures of them! (Sam’s in gray jersey).

 

Sam on left with “helmet”, Seth on right wearing my boots with cool spiked hair

Cousins

I have the BEST memories of growing up with our cousins, Kristi and Caitlin. In the summer we would spend every Monday at our Grandma Minnie’s house playing with one another. We had a club, the Bubblegum Club, where we were detectives solving the mystery of why our grandma was smuggling gold (petrified wood) into her crawl space. We all got perms on the same day, in preparation for Labor Day and the Lake County Fair. We created and documented our pretend families, each with 10+ kids (and several sets of twins or triplets—who would know I’d actually end up with twins). Without divulging too many other top secrets, we had a blast with one another. And unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of us with our huge perms and bangs and awkward glasses scanned in and ready to share.

I do, however, have pictures of Seth and Sam with their wonderful cousins. We have cousins around the same age on each side of the family, and we’re so thankful. I pray that Seth and Sam have as wonderful memories of their cousins and Katie and I did.

My sister’s kids: Miriam (5), Aidah (4), Clara (2), Seth, Sam (3)

Morris side: Sam, Judah (2), Seth, Harlee (2)…and Judah and Harlee’s moms just had new babies—so soon there will be 6 in this photo!

Here’s a few more photos from the fun day we had in Estacada with our Morris cousins. Each year we try to do a little birthday celebration for Seth, Sam, and Judah together, because Judah’s birthday is a year a day behind the boys’. Aunt Tani pointed out that on Judah’s bday, all 4 of these kids are the same age!

We decorated sugar cookies for our treat!

Aunt Tani brought all the kids gifts: big flashlights and squirt guns! It was so fun!

It was a while until they realized they could squirt people, not just cars and the ground.

  This is Sam squirting baby Titus (who was in Alicia’s tummy)

First Shave

Uncle Tom and Aunt Julie always get Seth and Sam the coolest presents. This year they received “jerseys” (actually tank tops, but I was quick enough to call them jerseys so that we can throw them into the rotation) and their own personal shaving kit. Seth and Sam were bouncing with excitement to take a bath that evening and shave their faces like daddy. Ben, always the wonderful dad, dutifully showed them how to lather up their cheeks, hold the mirror and carefully “shave.” It was very sweet. I was excited for the nice cleanse it gave their always filthy faces! Thanks Tom and Julie—we’re excited to see you in Lakeview in a couple of weeks!

 

Seth, Sam