Ohhh, tubbull!

Here is a little conversation that the boys had today, it was so funny to hear them actually go back and forth with an actual, understandable conversation! It is happening more often and even though other people can't always understand all their words, I can and they are hilarious!

It starts with a shove from Quent.

Jack: "ahhhhh - no pooshing Tentin!" (his version of Quentin)

Quent: "no pooshing Jack!"

Jack now shoves Quent then runs out of the room.

Quent runs after him.

Quent: "wait Jack, wait Jack, wait Jack" (Quent says this a lot now when he is chasing after Jack, which Jack seems to be running from him a lot lately, you'll read why next.)

Both have fallen to the floor by the time I follow after, Jack whines and Quent laughs. (I can only assume Quent has body slammed Jack to the floor, only because that happens a lot)

Quent sees a broken Buzz Lightyear toy on the floor and quickly picks it up.

Quent looks to me: "Bus-ight-ear! wha happeen!?" (Buzz Lightyear, what happened)

Momma: "his helmet is broken off."

Jack : "uh-oh, boken" (uh-oh broken, he kind of sings it)

Momma: "who broke that buzz lightyear?"

Jack: "I do, I do" (again a little sing-songy)

Quent is visibly upset for Buzz Lightyear and turns angrily to Jack.

Quent: "Jack Dabid boken! No no Jack Dabid!" (Jack David, he calls him that because I do, cute, huh?)

By now Jack has run away to play with something else and is no longer interested in this line of questioning from Quent. Quent then turns to me, shaking his little head, clearly disappointed.

Quent: "tubbulllll Jack, ohhhhh, tubbulllllll." (trouble Jack, oh trouble - Papa (my Dad) says "Ohhhhh, you're in troubllllle" when they are being little rule-breakers at Gramma and Papa's house, so they have both adopted that little phrase from him :)

Just a day in the life of brothers, always someone gettin' in tubbull!

I laughed so hard...

I could barely catch my breath and nearly peed my pants when I read this listed on Stuff White People Like.

It is #99 - Grammar

I mean some of the other ones on here are pretty funny too, even the comments that people left are funny, but this grammar one is hilarious!
Tom says that I think its funny cuz its an awful lot like me - maybe, but its still friggin' hilarious!

SWINGSET

There it is - the swingset!
It was actually completed last weekend during railroad days while everyone was here, but I had not put any pictures of it on here yet. As you can tell it is a big hit. They love swinging, climbing, and sliding. We have yet to find its permanent place in the yard, but for now it is getting lots of use right where it is.

WHEEEEE
Jack loves to swing and usually cries when we have to stop

Quent is posing on the clubhouse level
it is the perfect place to climb up and throw your ball at your brother

This was an early birthday present from Gramma and Papa,
and Aunt Julie, Uncle Mike, Sierra and Brendan. (and Momma and Daddy too)

THANK YOU - WE LOVE IT!

Friends from afar

Originally from afar, that is.
Tom's friend, Camilo visited us yesterday. He is from Brazil but is working at MSU's vet school and now that he is finished with his program, he will be leaving MSU for Mississippi to work for the university there. He is a Veterinary Clinical Pathologist (in layman terms - lot and lots of schooling even past vet school) Tom and Camilo have been friends for years now and he spent the Christmas holidays with us a few years back.
This time Camilo was over so we could make him a goodbye dinner. He will be leaving by mid-June. We are sad to see him go and Tom will miss him around MSU, but this is a good opportunity for him and we wish him all the best!

Tom and Camilo

Camilo and his girlfriend Tedau (please forgive me if this is spelled wrong)
She was very nice and the boys loved her! After they warmed up a little, they were crawling onto her lap, hugging her, and chasing her all around. They were sad to see HER go!

Good-bye and Good Luck Camilo!

Birthday Celebrations

Yes, it is official - I am now 34 years old! ugh (well as of the 21st actually)

Amy asked me if I felt older, and I do. ugh. I just seriously do not think of myself as in my mid-thirties, but I SO am. It's not like I want to be back in my 20's, I like more about where I am now. So, I guess I will just have to suck it up and enjoy the 30's before they are the 40's!

On my birthday Tom made a yummy cake and my parents brought over a Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream cake - double yum! I got some nice gifts and they all sung Happy Birthday to me. It was sweet. I got lots of calls and cards throughout the day which was super nice. After the boys were in bed, Tom and I had some dinner from Nick's here in town. I got my favorite - the southwest burger (or as I like to refer to it, the giant cholesterol burger, but it is Oh So Good!)

Yesterday (friday) I got to have a whole day celebration! My Mom, my Aunt Jean and I kind of have this tradition of spending a day together for my birthday having lunch and shopping for flowers and plants. And we also do all sorts of other shopping too.
Our day started out having Jack and Quent's 2 year old pictures taken at JC Penneys. (yep, the 2nd birthday is only 2 weeks away!) My Mom and Aunt met us at the mall and after the pics Tom took the boys home while we went shopping. Bath and Body works is having a great sale this weekend, so we all took advantage of that. (Nope I am not getting paid for this advertisement) And the Disney store in the mall is closing so we got some great deals there on stuff for the boys.

We went to Olive Garden for lunch. One of my favorites. It was slow and leisurely and very good. Just Perfect. (and anyone who knows what its like to try to eat while feeding kids, let alone twins, knows that there is nothing leisurely about the pace,so I enjoy actually getting to taste my food when I get the chance :) We were also able to shop for the boys' birthday party supplies before we went to the flower nursery. Its a Cars birthday this year, since there was NO Handy Manny supplies to be found anywhere :(

We went to Piechniks Greenhouse in Clio to look for plants and flowers. We always go there and we always find really nice stuff for a great price. It is customarily my birthday gifts from my Mom and my Aunt Jean that I pick out the flowers that I want for my house and this year I got a pretty bird feeder as well! I think the boys we will really love watching the birds, I am going to put it outside the window by our kitchen table so we can all watch the birds. I found some really beautiful flowers to go in my planters in the front. I am so excited to get everything all spruced up! Mom and Aunt Jean found some good stuff for themselves too, so much that we barely fit all of our shopping loot from the day in my Mom's SUV!

Thanks Mom and Aunt Jean for the fun, great day with me and my beautiful outdoor gifts!

So, all in all, a really happy birthday was had. Even though I feel icky about getting older - I mean can't I just be 28 forever?! - I do appreciate what my years have brought me, and this is where i want to be.

Another cute video

...and this one has sound!
Had to wait until naptime to work on it, but here is a video of the boys singing (mostly Quent singing with Momma). This is a prime example of their personalities right now. Jack has things to do and does not want to just stand there and talk to Momma, but Quent will stand and talk as long as you like almost, as evidenced by how Jack comes and goes throughout this couple of minutes and Quent hangs right there.
It actually amazes me now that I watch that video from 2 weeks ago, that Quent is singing the ABCs so much clearer now than he did then, whew they change so fast!

** Gramma - the "diapa, diapa, diapa" song is just for you!




(This one is from the video camera, so it has the sound. Tom says that our regular camera does not record videos with sound, duh. So, maybe that why I got no sound on the other one :P
Sorry its so dark, I will have to remember to not to shoot toward the window light.)

Here's a video

So, I am trying this for the first time, let me know if you can view it.
I took this video of the boys the other night while we were getting ready for bed, as you can see they can get pretty silly when they get running around with each other. We do calm things down when we get our jammies on and read our stories, but I thought this was cute. I love the "ah ah ah ah" run that Quent does toward the end, funny!



I taped it in our digital camera, not the video camera, so the quality may not be as good as it could be. If this works out like I want it to, then I will try some from the video camera.

Fun at Railroad Days

This weekend was the railroad days festival in our town. The big parade is on saturday and so we had lunch at our house with everyone, then walked across the street to watch the parade!
Gramma, Papa, Len, Kyle, Rob, Abby, Avery, Tessa, Barb and Brad were there with us. The kids had fun watching all the loud and silly stuff go by and the grown-ups had fun watching the kids!

Gramma and Papa with Avery and Quent

Avery looks excited!

Rob holding little Tessa, she slept through most of the parade

Jack sitting with Aunt Barb

Alex walked in the parade with Aunt Margaret

Quent and Momma waving at Alex

Avery and Abby enjoying the parade too!


Jack seems a little unsure about all these noisy things


Quent was pretty happy about the orange paper someone handed him
(thanks Daddy for taking good pictures of us all)

Here's Avery, Quent, and Jack riding on the Super Trucks ride. Avery was having a blast, smiling and laughing. Jack just looked a little bewildered the whole time, but cried when he had to get off. Quent started out great, but then began to cry toward the end. Maybe we are just not ready for that yet.

We went to a 50th anniversary party for Uncle Jim and Aunt Sharon on Sunday (Big congratulations to them!) and the kids got a chance to play again while we were there. There was lots of room to run around, be silly, and visit with more family!

It was a really fun weekend being able to play with Avery and Tessa we can't wait to see them again soon!

it's been a while

Well, it has been a bit of time since i have posted. A lot has happened this last week (which is why I have not had time to just sit and write). But here I will try to catch up on all the happenings at our house:

My throat. Actually feeling like it is on the mend, but the soreness and swelling is not completely gone. I have had some definite improvement though, so that's something seeing that this all started on April 20th! I have been through a course of antibiotics, gargled, rested and still it continues to cycle back everyday. Ibuprofen does help, but I really don't want to live in that, so if I can bear it then I just tough it out. My primary Dr. sent me to an Ear,Nose,Throat Dr. and I went on Monday. Wow. The place was terrible and the Dr. and his staff were worse. His fast and hasty opinion was that I have reflux and I was given a Rx for prilosec. I could go on into every detail of why the experience there was completely horrendous, but that would take a while. I do not believe that I have reflux and before I will treat it that way I will get a 2nd opinion. But as it improves without the acid reducer, I seriously doubt the quack.

Okay, so onto better things. We did some super fun stuff this week too!

The boys "helped" Momma make cookies for the weekend. And by helped I mean that they were very well behaved, played nicely in the kitchen, and begged for yummy chocolate chips!
But I got the dough all mixed and ready to bake at naptime, so that was a huge help!

How can 1 chocolate chip make such a mess!!

Look Momma, I can keep all the chocolaty goodness in my mouth!!

Thursday, I had my Mothers of Multiples dinner at Mongolian BBQ, which hadn't really been one of my favorite places, but it was pretty good this trip. I enjoyed hangin' with the other moms.
We talked a lot about how we all used to love New Kids on the Block and that they were getting back together. Oh that was too funny, I was so into them as a teenager, they were the 1st concert I had ever gone to (and they were just the warm-up act for Tiffany !!)
Then a bunch of us went to Target and shut the place down. I love Target!

Friday, my Mom came over and she and I took the boys to the park to meet up with our friends for their 1st birthday!! Our twin friends, Caleb and Wyatt turned 1 year old on Friday and Charlotte (their Mom) invited us to play at the park and have cupcakes for their birthday. It was beautiful weather and I think all the boys (and moms and grammas!) had a great time!

Happy 1st Birthday Caleb and Wyatt!!

Jack and Quent just loved swinging and climbing up and going down the slide, especially since they can do that on their own now. They are getting so big :)

** Happy Birthday to my best gal pal, Amy!
It was her birthday on Friday, too.

Celebrating Mother's Day

My Mother's Day celebrations actually began on Saturday, yep 2 whole days of celebrating me and moms like me - WooHoo!

On Saturday morning, I attended a Mother's Day brunch at my neighbor Charlotte's house. I got to take my time to get ready to go and do a little pampering for myself. Loved it.
(Tom had the boys out and about shopping for Momma's Mother's Day gift)
The brunch was a good time drinking mimosas, eating yummy brunch goodies, and chatting it up with Charlotte and some of the Moms in her family. It was really nice. It was a great opportunity for me to brag about Jack and Quent, what Mom doesn't love doing that! And since I was just next door, it was the perfect amount of travel time :)

Later, after the boys got up from nap we loaded up and went delivering our Mother's Day gifts to my Aunt Jean (my Godmother) and GG (my Grandma).

The boys had a blast running around Aunt Jean and Uncle Jack's huge backyard and seeing the pond full big "fishies". Both Jack and Quent got crazy dirty, but they loved it. It was a nice visit. The truck they are each pulling for ended up coming home with us, Aunt Jean spoils us again!

Me and the boys with Aunt Jean

Next we went to GG's house for a visit to deliver her gifts. The boys love to go to GG's, there is always fun stuff to play with and get into! Again, the boys ended up coming home with some Mickey Mouse toys from GG, I teased that we were supposed to be giving gifts not coming home with gifts! But we had to drag them away, literally, after our visit so that we could get them some dinner! Next time we will have to plan a longer visit to GG's.

Me and my Grandma

As you can see, the hunger is making us not so cooperative for pictures with GG

We then went to Bob Evans for dinner, not usually my first choice, but being a Saturday night we thought it would be a surer bet that we would get in without a wait and find some decently good kid-friendly items. The boys did great, even though Tom and I had to eat so fast that I barely tasted my blueberry cream pancakes. Form what I did taste, they were pretty good. Then it was off for home, bath, then bed for everyone.

My first Mother's Day gift came in that Jack and Quent slept in until 8:00am. Its only an hour later than they usually sleep, but it felt super good! Then we got up and ready for my Mom, Dad, Len and Kyle to come over for lunch. Tom, Jack and Quent gave me my gifts, sweet cards that the boys made (with a little Daddy help), a beautiful plant for the front porch, and a gift certificate for a mani and pedi! I am so excited - I have never had a pedicure before!

The guys worked on putting together the boys new swingset together (due to the torrential rains, its almost done) then we had a lunch of BBQ chicken, a family classic and corn on the cob and potato salad. It was yummy. For dessert, I had made Oreo Truffles (thanks for the idea Monica!) The boys enjoyed getting to play with everyone and being outside for a while before the rain started. And, I got a Mother's day/ early birthday gift from Len and Kyle too, a gift certificate for a facial! Wow, so nice. I will pretty much be getting the whole makeover!

Kyle tickling Jack

Quent and Len playing in the 'house'

Me, my Mom, Quent and Jack
Happy Mother's Day MOM!!

It was great Mother's Day and now I am beat and ready to have my PB and banana and off to bed. Hope everyone had a great day too!

What's more fun than a cardboard box?!

So, here's what we did with the box that the new fridge came in:

It's a super-fun playhouse!!

Grateful...

Just because I am feeling grateful right now...

I have really wonderful people in my life. People who love me and support me in ways that I am not sure they even realize. Lately, I have been so wrapped up in completing the tasks that I set out for myself, obsessing over one meaningless thing or another, or lamenting over what seems to be a never-ending run of illnesses that I have had, that I feel like I have not been really paying attention to a lot of the wonderful people in my life.

Most of all, my husband. This man whom I adore more than any other, the fabulous father of my children and the rock that I call home. He doesn't get nearly enough credit for the amazing man that he is. My list is long for all that I am grateful for in my Tom, but here's just a few of the big and little wonderful things about him: He is patient beyond belief. He is rational and clear-headed. He is what keeps me grounded most of the time. He is so silly, like crazy dorky silly, I love that. He has a great laugh and a gorgeous smile. He is passionate about me and his kids. He will do anything to make his boys laugh. He loves me unconditionally (and sometimes that is saying a lot! :)
As a wife, I am grateful.

Oh, there are others...

My parents, a never-ending source of support and love. I think they raised a good girl (if I do say so myself). I hope they are as proud of me as I am of them. They set a good example and what I have learned and still learn from them is immeasurable. It makes me the happiest to watch them with their grandbabies and to see how the kids light up when Gramma and Papa are around. A grandparent's love is limitless and that is never more evident than with my parents.
As a daughter, I am grateful.

My brothers and sisters (technically sister in laws, but ...), more than anything I want my kids to have a fantastic base of people who will always be there, who love them immensely, and who are willing to spoil them at a moments notice, that's what they are. They are good listeners and great advice givers to me and will be for my boys for years to come. I am so grateful that I have a family that is so close and truly enjoys being together.
As a sister, I am grateful.

Speaking of my large family...
Memories of being at my grandparents' house with my family and all my aunts, uncles, and cousins are some of my best memories. Spending Sundays hanging out and having pizza. The birthday parties and the holidays where there is so much laughter, and never a shortage of food! You know that saying "It takes a village..." This is true and exemplified by who I am today, a conglomeration of all those family members who helped make me who I am. My boys will also have memories of big family get-togethers. I love that.
As a granddaughter/niece/cousin, I am grateful.

Ah, my friends...
My girls, who have been there with me through some of the happiest and saddest times I have had. Your family loves you and that is great, but your friends picked you to love and that is special. My girls are the ones that I can laugh the hardest with, confess the best and worst of me, and cry the hardest with. They know my secrets and love me anyway :0 They know who they are, and I hope they know that I love them like sisters and will always be there for them like they have been for me.
As a friend, I am grateful.

And my Boys, my Jack and Quent. As their 2nd birthday approaches, I can't help but think how incredibly lucky I am to have these beautiful little guys in my life. Our journey to them was a hard one, but that journey is what led me to Jack and Quent. I love that I am their Momma. I love that it is me they cry for when they are hurt or sad, that Momma can make it all better. I love when they run to hug me, or give me sloppy kisses, or just want to be held. One day they will be 'too big' for some of those things, so I am soaking up as much as I can now! My babies are getting bigger and I get to be there for the ride.
As a mom, I am grateful.

I am grateful.

wait wait wait, the fridge!

Okay, yeah, the new fridge came last week! Yes it is a huge black appliance, but I love all the space that we have in there now. I love the bottom freezer, I love the top fridge, still trying to really love the color, but it is growing on me . I will have to take pictures of my new friend and post them so everyone can give me their suggestions as to how to acclimate the new fridge into our current color scheme.

Do you realize that you can comment?

You know, even if you are not signed up with blogger you can leave a comment to one of my posts just by clicking on the word COMMENTS at the bottom of the posts, then just choose the name/url option and fill your name in the box. After you have written in the comment box you can preview or publish your post. You could even be 'anonymous', if you wanted. I know there are some family and friends that look at this and I just wanted you to know that I would love to hear from you! Or new friends and readers as well. Give it a try!

Oh, the fun we've had...

So, it has been a while since I posted. I have been getting over a nasty sore throat/cough thing that has just wiped me out. But things are much better now and I am able to focus on more enjoyable things. (like catching up on all the laundry I let slide when I was feeling icky :)

Today we (Jack, Quent, and I) went to my Aunt Barb's neighborhood sales. Tom stayed home to get some yard work done before the rain came. The boys had a blast! They got to go for a ride in the stroller, run all around and get cookies from Aunt Barbie. Papa, GG, and Aunt Jean were there too along with Uncle Don, Bryan and Brad. (Gramma was excitedly at Rob and Abby's taking care of Avery and Tessa)
We found a few things along the way, a leap pad game for the boys and a shirt for Tom. I think the only other thing purchased was GG purchased a shirt for Alex. So, not a big buying day. But the weather was nice and whenever Quent and Jack can be outside and play, they are happy.
They saw a frog in Aunt Barbie's pond and a toad that they got to chase around in the grass. It was great fun that wore them out!

We came home for lunch and while Tom got the boys ready for nap, I left for my hair appointment. Nothing exciting or new done to my hair, just a trim and maybe a few new layers added. Then I did some shopping at Toys r us and Kroger. Big Fun. Actually it is nice to get out on my own once in a while, I like to browse and that is hard to do with 2 little guys with me.

On my shopping trip, I found something fun for the boys. Something that Jack would particularly love. Play cameras. Jack is always pretending with things that he is taking your picture. "Cheese Momma, cheese!" and he holds a toy up to his eyes and says "good job." It is super cute and so I thought he would really like to have a 'real' camera of his own. And I have learned that when you come home with cool new toys, you better come home with 2 because even if Quent is not specifically as interested in cameras as Jack - who doesn't love a new toy?!

Jack getting some picture taking pointers from Daddy

Quent taking aim at his subject

Jack sitting on the kitchen floor, trying to figure out how it works and if he can take any of the pieces apart. Because if it can come apart, he will figure it out!

It is just so cool to watch him sit, concentrate and think so hard about something. He is such an active, busy boy, but when he is focused on something he has great determination.
That's my smart Jack.


*same disclaimer as before - I love both my boys and think they are
equally brilliant in their own unique ways.

Take a walk down Memory Lane with me...

Do you remember this? I had this camera when I was little. When you pushed the button down, the little flash cube spun around and in 1 eyepiece you could see your Mom or Dad or whatever you were aiming at, but in the other eyepiece you could see a slide of an animal!
That's exactly what Jack and Quentie's new cameras do. They do not light up or play music, they just click and show you a picture slide. I love it.
Nostalgia - another reason why they had to have it.