Bramell, Party of Five: August 2015

Friday, August 28, 2015

Conversation With My Kids

 
 
These two. I swear, it's a laugh a minute with them. It's even funnier that most of the time they don't even know they are being funny. It's funnier than that when they don't know we're listening to them.
 
The following conversation was overheard in the kitchen, when they looked out the window and saw our neighbors' dogs outside one night after dinner.
 
 
Her: Hey Brother! Come outside! Heidi and Zodie are outside and they're sniffing butts!
 
Him: That's just how they say hello.
 
 
 
* photo from a day trip to Eureka Springs 6/15. They were in awe of the "giant Jesus."


Friday, August 21, 2015

Mirror, Mirror

Lately it seems like we can't go anywhere without someone commenting on how much my girls look like me. It happens all the time. It's true, they do look like me; I can't deny it. But it does seem to really impact those people who've known me my whole life when they see Big Sis, particularly.
 
We are also seeing this a lot in my sister and her daughter, too. I suppose our genes are strong. (I'm just hoping they didn't inherit our slow metabolisms, too!) Grammy got to digging around in old photos and sent me a couple of myself at Big Sis's age. I know she looks like me now, but seeing photos of myself at her age was almost eerie. We both got a good giggle out of it.
 
 
Here are a couple of comparisons of us at the same age.
 
 
 

Anybody disagree?
 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Gone Fishin'

 
At the end of the twins' Grammy Camp, Big Sis and I headed east to pick them up. We had a nice, long-weekend visit and got to relax a bit, too.
 
The twins were super excited for me to go swimming with them once I arrived. Grammy had taken them swimming every day of their week at Grammy Camp, and they have both become quite the little fishes. We headed to the pool so they could show off without floaties on! Boy Twin is best at swimming under the water and Girl Twin is best at swimming on top of the water and floating. I couldn't believe their progress in just a week's time! I'm thinking by next summer, the floaties will be gone for good.
 
We got to spend some time at Pop's, too. The kids played with Allee and Kai, and we got to see the newest baby in the family.  But the highlight of the trip, without a doubt, was Boy Twin catching his first fish!
 
Uncle T and TP took Boy Twin down to Pop's pond, where they quickly caught a boat-load of fish....see what I did there? This is one happy and proud dude--and Boy Twin was pretty happy, too.
 
We were just sad that Lee wasn't with us, but he got to hear all about it at home. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 







Cousin P didn't want to be left out of the fishy fun! She cracked us up when she grabbed hold of the fish and took off. There may have been some tears when her daddy took it away from her.





Tuesday, August 11, 2015

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!
 
 
 
 

 
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