Twin Tuesday: Feel The Love

These two. I swear, sometimes I want to strangle them. Other times I want to put them in my pocket and keep them there forever. Just like any siblings, they fight and bicker a lot. They also love as fiercely as they fight; I suppose that's a good thing. One day they will realize just how lucky they are.

The other night, Boy Twin must have been doing some deep thinking during bath time. He came out into the living room and this happened:

Him: Mom, can twins be married?

Me: (confused) Do you mean to each other?

Him: Yes. Can me and Girl Twin get married?

Me:  No, baby. You cannot marry each other; you will grow up and find different people to marry.

Him:  (Deflated) Awwww, man!


I love his innocence. I love his heart. And I love that I have to repeatedly tell him that he can't marry his sister.

Recap and Reset: Hello 2017!

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year! As usual, I get refreshed after the holiday rush and feel like blogging again. The cobwebs are gone and I'm ready to face 2017; I mean, it's got to be better than 2016, right?

 

Since October, I've been participating in a (mostly) daily exercise in practicing gratitude with one of my friends from Arkansas Women Bloggers. How does that work? We exchange a daily email with a list of three items that we are thankful for that day. I tell you, I think it's really helped me keep things in perspective. Where I used to get down and angry about things, I'm now trying to stay focused on even the small, happy moments in every day. They are there, I promise. Sometimes you just have to look deep for them. I highly recommend having a gratitude partner and giving this exercise a try.

 

In December, I set a physical challenge for myself. I set a goal to walk at least 25 miles for the month--and I DID IT--thanks to inspiration from my friend Alicia at Simple Words By A, who has been smashing her own mileage goals. Because of the mild weather, I was able to do a lot of outside walking. On the cold days, I walked inside to my Leslie Sansone DVD.

 

The kiddos enjoyed their long break from school, no doubt. We spent a lot of time cooking, watching Christmas movies and crafting. Lots and lots of crafting. It's funny, actually. Big Sis is at that age where she wants to try ALL THE CRAFTS. We dabbled in coloring, painting, making rubber band bracelets, bead bracelets, latch hook, finger knitting scarves and cross-stitching over the break. Add to that list some very basic acoustic guitar lessons from You Tube. Mercy, that girl keeps me busy!

 

I've also mentally prepared myself for broken bones in 2017 for a Bramell or two. Due to Christmas, my children are now the proud owners of a trampoline, three pair of Heelys (shoes with wheels), a pogo stick and a Ripstik. That is surely asking for trouble, and I'm not sure what Santa was thinking!

 

All this to say that we survived a pretty rocky 2016 here in the Bramell house and we're ready to move on. Let's do this.