Twin Tuesday: A Tale of Two Breakfasts

 

 

 

Even though these two shared a tight living space for nearly nine months, that's where most of the similarity ends. From the beginning, they have had their own quirks and habits that make them special.

 

For example, Girl Twin has always been the boss--and that hasn't changed. She could tell her brother what to do (and he'd do it), even before she could talk! Boy Twin has always been the more expressive one--fussing, crying or needing attention--where she reeks of quiet mischief. Remember, she's the one who has always been a hoarder of food and hider of things in the house. To this day, if something is missing, we all ask sister where she put it.

 

There is something else about them that made me chuckle the other day--their breakfast habits! I know, such an odd thing to notice. Girl Twin likes her breakfast. When the kids wake up, I usually go through the list of breakfast options for them: cereal, waffles, toast, fruit or Pop Tarts. Girl Twin likes her breakfast so much that she can't choose just one! She will often ask for cereal AND toast, or cereal AND a waffle. This may be one reason why I can't keep her in clothes that fit!

 

Boy Twin, on the other hand, can take it or leave it when it comes to breakfast. Where the girls want to eat as soon as they wake up, he will often wait until the last minute before school. On the weekends, he sometimes won't eat breakfast at all. You know, those days when you wake up late and it's past breakfast time but not yet lunch time....those are the hardest for Boy Twin. This happened one recent Saturday, where he didn't want breakfast when he got up. However, when it was time for me to make lunch, he freaked out. "But I didn't have breakfast yet," he cried. I told him that it was OK to skip breakfast and just go straight to lunch food. NO! He wasn't having any of that! So, at 11:30am, he had to eat a bowl of cereal before he would eat the lunch I made. Isn't that quirky?  Truth be told, he gets that from his daddy. :)

 

 

Do you know anyone with breakfast quirks, or is it just a Bramell thing? You should know that as I write this, Lee is eating a bowl of cereal at 11:05am. See? I told you he gets it from his dad.

 

 

 

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.

Twin Tuesday Returns!

Twin Tuesday is here again! Isn't it great?

The kids turned six over the summer and are in the full-swing of first grade now. Which reminds me....I owe you a birthday post and a first day of school post. Since this is how my kids will have a record of their past, I don't want to forget these important ones. Did you know that I print out a book each year from the blog? It's my version of their memory books, that they will have to keep (or burn) when they are all grown up.  But I digress...

Boy Twin:

• He's playing soccer and coach pitch baseball this fall--and doing great at both! We are so proud of him and how hard he tries at both sports. He is not ready yet to choose one over the other, so we are hanging in there for both.

• He's doing great in school and seems to enjoy it a lot. Reading seems to be his strong area right now.

• He is never, ever still. This kid will run, run, run all the time. They both come home from school and immediately go outside to play and ride bikes.

Girl Twin:

• Oh, this girl is a hoot! Every day I find a selfie or a video on my phone that she's made. She is telling jokes or giggling all the time. It's funny that she's so happy because she was such a cranky toddler. (shhh!)

• This one totally goes to school for the social life. She doesn't tell us much about her day, usually. We have to find out from her teacher that she had to move seats for talking in class! She loves her friends so much, and wants to be friends with everyone.

• She is back in gymnastics and still loving it. Again, maybe for the social activity. But she is making great progress, too.

This is my favorite photo of them from our beach vacay this summer. Also, another post I need to do.

Twin Tuesday

It's Twin Tuesday! We've had a lot of stuff going on with end-of-school activities and sports. We are also getting ready for kindergarten graduation next week...I can't believe the school year is wrapping up! But I'm not sad about my babies growing up; we are having fun.

I had lunch at school with these two jokers yesterday. 

Here's a funny. We were getting ready for church on Sunday when the girls came into my bedroom in their pretty dresses. Girl Twin was up to something...

Her:  Mama, who looks prettier---me or Big Sis?

Me: Don't ask me that! You both look pretty.

Her: Well then, I'll just go ask Brother.

*Luckily, he didn't answer it either!! :)

Twin Tuesday

As the twins are wrapping up kindergarten, I thought it was time to share a few things that have been going on.

The kids went to an "art party" birthday over the weekend--fun!

Girl Twin's sweet tooth has caught up with her; she had four cavities at her last check up. She was a rock star at her first two fillings, and we have to go back in a few weeks to finish.

I also love her confidence and her humor! The other night, we were flipping through the channels on TV when I stopped on a female MMA fight. We both watched in awe for a few minutes before she nonchalantly said, "I could do that." No doubt she probably could. Ha ha.

Boy Twin is showing off his skills this spring in soccer and tee ball. His games and practices are keeping us busy for sure. We are so proud of him for getting out there and trying his best! 

He made us laugh the other day when we were snacking on some gummy bears. Before he ate one he asked us, "Are these fat free?"  

We are coming up on kindergarten graduation soon and they are both so excited. Stay tuned to see what other things they can get into.

Twin Tuesday: Not Babies Anymore

It's another Twin Tuesday, and I'm feeling particularly anxious this week. Maybe it's because we bought their first round of school supplies and my babies are going to kindergarten open house tomorrow night.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not sad about them starting school--no way! Sometimes people expect me to be sad because my babies are not babies anymore. Heck, no! We've done our baby duty and are ready to move on. I'm ready for a regular schedule and ready for all three kids to be at the same place together all day long. And, above all, I'm ready to stop paying for daycare/babysitting/preschool! Yay for FREE public school!

  

I'm just feeling a little off kilter. Sometimes I look at the twins and literally cannot remember how they got to be five years old. The time between their birth and age 5 seems like a blur of feedings, diaper changes, crying, tantrums, butt wiping, messes and baths. And now, it's so different. They are riding bikes, writing their names, roller skating, hitting baseballs, playing video games and excelling at NEVER BEING QUIET. Mercy, the talking!

 

We have decided to split the twins up for kindergarten, which wasn't really a hard choice for us. My primary argument is that these kids have spent 24 hours a day together for nearly their whole lives. Don't we owe them each a little "me time?" I'm hopeful that spending the day apart will make their time at home together more peaceful and happy. In addition, because one of the twins is excessively dominant (not naming names), this will give Boy Twin (oops!) a chance to let his own light shine and speak for himself on occasion. Poor kid, it must stink having two mamas sometimes. 

 

I am a teeny bit worried about how they will handle the separation, but a level headed kindergarten teacher advised me this week not to sweat it--if the first few days are a disaster, we can always put them together. At our school, the kindergartners aren't assigned a teacher until the 5th day. They spend the first week just shifting kids around in different combinations, with different teachers, getting to know everyone. I didn't like this process for Big Sis, but I think it will be great for the twins to get used to being apart.

 

Here's to new beginnings, growing up and having a SUPER school year x TWO!

 

 

 

 

Twin Tuesday

So. It was bound to happen sooner or later, really. I'm not at all surprised by what I witnessed over the weekend.

 

The weather was very nice on Sunday; the kids were playing in the backyard and the windows were open. Girl Twin came inside to do something. Next thing I heard...

 

"Brother! Get your ass back in this house!"

 

Oh dear. She got reprimanded, of course...right after I stopped laughing.

*This is also our first day of Pre-K photo post. They are going to a M/W/F half-day program this fall. I hope she doesn't cuss at school.

Twin Tuesday, Birthday Edition

Happy 4th Birthday to two of the silliest, lovable kiddos that I know! What an adventure it is every day with these two.

 

We celebrated with lunch out at Chili's and opening gifts from mom & dad. We are going to play a lot of catch and Hungry Hungry Hippos this summer at our house!

 

 

Twin Tuesday

Another Twin Tuesday, already? Here are a couple of my favorite recent photos of the kids.  It's hard to believe they will be FOUR in just a few short weeks!

Twin Tuesday

This.  Moments like this make all the difficult days worth it. These kids can melt my heart in an instant. 

Twin Tuesday

Here's a photo from our Easter egg hunt at church on Saturday. I will have more egg hunting pics later. I really wanted to share a video of the kids throwing a big tantrum that Lee took on Sunday, but I cannot figure out how to load the video from my phone. It's really hilarious in a sad way.

 

Happy Twin Tuesday!

Twin Tuesday

I found a cute little picture of the kids from our dentist trip a few weeks ago.  These two just have so much fun together! I hope they always love each other this much.

 

Boy Twin Funny:  He has started to refer to himself in the third person.  This is totally hilarious to me, as neither of the other children have done this before.  I probably enjoy having a conversation with him more than I should, especially when he's requesting a drink or volunteering information about his day at school. 

Twin Tuesday

We had a mini photo shoot before school pictures the other day.  My little hams sure do clean up good!  It's hard to believe that they will be moving to the 4-year-old class before we know it!

 

 

Twin Tuesday

Cheers to Twin Tuesday!

New Year's toast

Twin Tuesday (on Wednesday, of course!)

I tried to snap a quick pic of the kiddos this morning, but they weren't having it.  So this post will just not have any photos. However, I do want to share a couple of funnies from last week.

 

GIRL TWIN--

 

This happened as we were driving home from daycare one day last week.  We drove over the interstate and Girl Twin had a much better view than I did, as I was looking in front of me.  She excitedly yelled out, "Look! The popcorn truck!"  I clearly did not see a popcorn truck.  But, as I looked down at the cars passing below us, I did spot a semi truck with the Target bullseye on it!  Way to go, Tar-jay.  The kids know you and love you for your delicious bribery popcorn. 

 

BOY TWIN--

 

The kids are old enough now that they really pay attention to our surroundings when we are driving (see example above).  I've started giving them little "tests" to see if they know how to get from Point A to Point B.  Usually, it's "Which way do we turn now?" type of things.  So, as we were heading home from daycare again, we stopped at the stoplight near our house.  I asked the kids, "Which way is our house?"

 

Boy Twin knows the answer!  "Turn that way to go to our house," he said proudly, pointing in the correct direction.  Then, "Turn the other way to go to NOT our house."  HAHA.

 

These guys. At least they make me laugh sometimes.  It helps to balance out the crying (mine, not theirs).

Twin Tuesday

Here's the scene from last Saturday's soccer game.  They are not playing soccer, they are sliding down the hill.  I had so much hope for these two! Of course, Girl Twin was hurt for the beginning practices, so she had to watch. But brother jumped right out there and did so great at practices.  It took him getting knocked down one time during the first game, and he was done.  Finito.  When Girl Twin was healed and ready to play, she excitedly took the field.  Finally, what I was waiting for!  Oh, but no.  She decided, "I don't want the blue kids."  Translation: she didn't want another team out there.  I guess we forgot to explain how a soccer game works.

Oh well.  Lesson learned. They just aren't ready yet.  And we'll be saving that $60 bucks next spring.  As I always say, it's a good thing they are so darn cute.

Twin Tuesday

It's time for Twin Tuesday again!  Let's start this one off with an update on the twins from their 3-year well visit this morning with the pediatrician.

 

Both kids are hitting all their developmental milestones right as they should be.  Boy Twin is showing "average" on both the height and weight charts, but Girl Twin is "above average" on height. I'm A-OK with all of this.  They are healthy, growing and developmentally awesome.

 

Now, onto something fun for Boy Twin.  Soccer has started! Let the world rejoice!  Last week was our first practice, and the boy freaking loved it.  Poor sis will have to sit out while the collarbone heals, but hopefully she can get in there in a couple more weeks.

 

Let me tell you, this kid was in heaven!  And, I have to admit, it was so fun watching one of my kids (finally!) actually get out there and participate.  We've tried Big Sis in both soccer and t-ball, but had no real participation from her.  I didn't know what to think about the boy!  He's got some skills!  And every day for a week, he's asked to go back to soccer.  Thank goodness today's the day.

 

Twin Tuesday: Broken Bone Edition

Well, after six+ years of parenting, it has finally happened.  I have been expecting this; I have waited for this day.  We have our first broken bone, people....I just didn't expect it to belong to Girl Twin.

 

We were at the Naturals baseball game on Thursday night, sitting on the grassy hill behind the outfield fence.  The kids were rolling down the hill, running and generally acting like wild heathens.  They were having fun, but the worry wart that I am, I fussed at them to "Stop!" and "Slow Down!"   As the kids were running down the hill for the umpteenth time, I turned around to look back over my right shoulder. That's when Girl Twin was THERE.  Right on me, and crashed into me, shoulder to shoulder.  I immediately saw stars had watery eyes, so I knew she was hurt.  Not to mention, she hit the ground and thrashed around screaming.

 

After we got her calmed down, we could assess the situation. I figured her arm wasn't broken but she still wasn't moving it at all.  We went home, got a bath and got her Tylenoled up.  Then we debated on going to the ER or waiting for office hours on Friday.  Long story short, she rested well overnight so we headed to the pediatrician first thing in the morning.  After X-rays, he told us it was a clean break on the collarbone.  No activity for 3 weeks, then we have to repeat the X-rays.  Poor kid will miss the start of soccer, but she's doing OK otherwise.  There's no treatment other than ibuprofen and rest.  And lots of cuddling from mom and dad over the weekend.

 

Here's a picture from last week.  We got some lollipops in the mail and these kiddos were in Heaven!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twin Tuesday

This week's Twin Tuesday goodness is brought to you by Girl Twin.  Twice in one week, she's had us laughing our heads off.  This girl.  I tell ya, she's a mess.

 

The other morning I was getting the kids ready for daycare.  It's always a frantic time, and this was no different.  Boy Twin was eating a waffle and apparently laid it in the floor when he came into the bathroom to get his hair brushed.  When he went back to get it, it was gone and he was crying.

 

Me:  Fergie!  Did you eat that waffle???  This, as the dog is walking out of the room with her guilty face on and her head hanging low.

 

Girl:  Fergie can't talk.  Only kitty cats can talk. (well, duh)

 

Me:  What do cats say?

 

Girl:  Meow!

 

 

Over the July 4th weekend, Girl Twin ran through the yard barefoot and bloodied her pinkie toe.  After a band-aid and much fuss, we got it to quit bleeding.  Then we realized the toenail wasn't going to survive.  Now, a week later she lost it.

 

We were spending the weekend at Grammy's when it happened.  I took her into the bathroom for yet another band-aid.  As I'm getting it on, she very seriously asked me if the tooth fairy was going to come get her toenail.  I said no.  Then she dropped it on the carpet and we never found it.  Have fun with that, Grammy!

Twin Tuesday, the Wednesday Edition

This post didn't make it on Tuesday because I was out doing something fun with my twinners.  Dad took Big Sis on a mini road trip, so I was home with the littles for the night.  We spent our evening outside at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, enjoying a free family concert by the Arkansas Winds Community Band.

 

I am totally embarrassed to admit this, but here goes...last night was my very first trip out the the botanical garden.  I know! Why???  What a beautiful facility and grounds; a perfect setting to throw a blanket down and relax to some music.

 

After work, I headed home to make a picnic dinner for the kids and myself.  The whole time I'm thinking maybe taking them out by myself isn't a great idea. But you know what? They did great! And they LOVED the show and walking around the gardens.  They feasted on peanut butter sammies, apple slices and popcorn. They giggled, danced and twirled all through the show, determined to entertain everyone sitting around us.  Then, during intermission, we got to walk around the gardens and enjoy the flowers, ponds, statues and lily pads. 

 

 

 

We decided that we can't wait to go back and take Dad and Big Sis to check it out.  I decided that I need to make an effort to spend more time with the kids doing fun activities and not worry so much about being out on a "work night," or the crap needing to be done at home.  I loved spending time with them alone; watching them explore the grounds was so special.