High on the Haiku

A Friday at work
Before a week's vacation
Will tend to run long

Friday night fish tank
Sarah sees Peaches' fin rot
Hoping for the best

A glass of red wine
Just what the doctor ordered
It's time to relax

The Daddy & Darren Comedy Hour

Daddy (who did stand-up in L.A.): "How do you make an egg laugh?"

Darren (playing along): "How?"

Daddy: "Tell it a yolk."

Darren: "I thought you'd say, 'Just crack it up.'"

Blackwellian Backhand

As I came down the stairs, wearing my super cute new OP $9 Walmart shirt (no compensation, just the truth...)

Sarah (incredulous): "Wow!"

Mommy (fishing for a compliment): "What, Honey?"

Sarah (still seemingly in shock): "That shirt looks really good on you. When you bought it, I thought for sure it would not look good at all. I just didn't say anything, because I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

From now on whenever I wear that top, the multiple layers of that conversation will always make me smile
.

Way Back When-esday: Having a Kick Ball

Dateline: August 2004
Twins' Age: Nearly 3

There's just something about splashing water; and twice the kicking equals twice the spray!

What memories make your mid-week wonderful? Dive into those digital photos or scan a scrapbook find and play along with Way Back When-esday. Be sure and link back to participate in the web-wide reverie...and be sure to leave a comment when you do!

I Am Strong. I Am Twinvincible.

A life-long weakling, one who struggled desperately to earn the ever-elusive elementary school brass ring---the Presidential Physical Fitness Award patch---I’m likely the last gal who’d ever describe herself as bodily “strong”. Well, until nearly eight years ago. Nothing quite like dual gestation, delivery---and now---day-to-day dealings with dynamic twins to spur a reassessment of my own personal “power," and ultimately that of Mom-kind.

Sure, hauling around the ascending pregnancy weight, that’s something; but squelching the rotational urges to vomit, nap on the job, and consume nothing but the nutritionally-bereft-yet-oh-so-satisfying Krispy Kreme chocolate-iced doughnuts with sprinkles, now that takes fortitude.

While large-with-children, most of my girlfriends were good-naturedly heckling me about aspects of my pre-Mama existence that might merit modification after the babies’ arrival: my proficient (and prolific) use of the spicy word or two, my passionate relationship with all things caffeinated, my intimacy with intoxicants, an unabashed affinity for sleeping----you get the picture.

Surprise, surprise. Little did they realize, unacquainted with maternity’s mandates, behavioral changes should not, would not, could not wait. Wee ones could hear in-utero, so we started reading some Seuss (as if that preceding sentence didn’t give it away). True confessions: we did watch The Sopranos with the volume turned down so they couldn’t hear. Java and vino were immediately forbidden, and oddly enough, inexplicably (or biologically) unappealing. As the weeks progressed, no matter how often I found myself (or forced myself) recumbent, I suffered from severe sleepus interruptus.

Of course once our duo arrived (and I’ll spare you the immodest self-congratulatory strength validation involved in that arrival process), there was little sleep to interrupt. Yet somehow, I felt stronger than ever. No, I couldn’t carry just one baby to the car in infant carriers; why not do double baby-bicep curls? Hauling the weighty Diaper Genie “link sausage” aftermath to the supercans with clockwork regularity/repetition? Child’s play! The contortions and stretches galore in the early days with twins rivaled any gymnastics workout of my youth.

Suddenly, with the unstructured exercise of motherhood---and the literal drain of breastfeeding two---I was ten pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight. No gloating here, however. The number on the scale might be pleasing, but the alteration of my shape disqualifies me from auditioning for the Victoria’s Secret catalog. My breasts and booty reside in a new latitude; but my perspective is spot-on. Free your mind, and your hips will follow….or at least your perception of them. Truth: As a mother, my body feels better, stronger, faster, more loving, more capable, more invigorated than ever before.

Strength. Restraint. Empowerment. Motherhood.

Hear me---hear us---roar.

*Adapted from a piece originally composed for, and published at, HotMomsClub.com.

Makes My Monday: Row Your Boat Ashore

A Sunday twilight on the James River with beloved friends Makes My Monday.

What warms your week's beginning? Post a picture and tell the tale!

Be sure to link back and share in the Monday fun. Don't forget to leave a comment for others...comments are always Monday makers!





PS - You know what else Makes My Monday? The opportunity to guest post at Who Says 8 is Enough? , the blog of Darling Debi. Go say "Hello!"

Saturday Snapshots

A Sacajawea dollar from the tooth fairy...

Tired, but not too tired to share a chair and watch a DVD together. (In the interest of twin parenting honesty, they've since degenerated into an overheated , fight-spurring, time-out resulting game of "Hot Potato.")

How's your Saturday looking thus far?
Post a picture...or two, or three...and share a glimpse into your weekend.

A Rose By Any Other Name

Sarah: "I'm going to change my name.'

Mommy: "Well, Honey, when you are 21, if you still want to, you can. Until then, you are legally Sarah. You could start going by Sarah Jane if you want."

Sarah: "No, that's already my name. I think I should be Katherine."

Mommy: "That's a lovely name. Of course I think Sarah is a lovely name, too."

Sarah: "Is Flo a real name?"

Mommy: "It is. It's usually short for Florence...or there used to be a show when I was a little girl and the mom was named Florida. Suppose Flo could be short for that, too."

Sarah: "I just like it as Flo---like the lady's name on TV."

Way Back When-esday: Two at Three and Five

Darren and Sarah "get" that I blog about them. Sometimes, they get a kick out of the tale told or the scene shared. Other times, when I reach for the camera at a particularly picture-worthy moment a "You'd better not put that on the blog," is sounded (usually by Sarah).

This week, they asked for some input into Way Back When-esday (their favorite feature). When asked how old they should be in the images, Darren wanted age five, Sarah three. As they wish.

Dateline: August 2006
Darren's Age: 5

Dateline: August 2005
Sarah's Age: 3

Scenes of summers gone by warm my heart this Way Back When-esday!

What memories make your mid-week wonderful? Dive into those digital photos or scan a scrapbook find and play along with Way Back When-esday. Be sure and link back to participate in the web-wide reverie...and leave a comment when you do!

My Territorial Twin

Amidst all the Apollo 11 anniversary excitement---we were all over We Choose the Moon -- this, from our littlest astronaut...

Sarah: "So why did they put an American flag on the moon?"

Mommy: "Can you imagine how hard it was to figure out how to get a rocket to the moon? Or how incredibly brave the men had to be to be willing to try and be the first ones to walk on it? It was such an accomplishment, Sarah...and I don't think I really understood it when it happened (I was only 4). Now I'm amazed by it. It was kind of a contest to see what country could get there first, and America was the first."

Sarah: "Mom, they were first, so they put the flag there because the moon is OURS."

Mommy: "Everyone on the earth enjoys the moon. It doesn't really belong to anyone."

Sarah (muttered under her breath as she walked away): "If you get there first, it's yours...."

Makes My Monday: Or is that Mon-Neigh?

Knew Darren would keep himself occupied during Sarah's horseback riding classes, but had no idea just how happy he'd be to go along. My little animal lovers Make My Monday

What warms your week's beginning? Post a picture and tell the tale! Be sure to link back and share in the Monday fun. Don't forget to leave a comment for others...comments are always Monday makers!





PS - What else Makes My Monday? A WONDERFUL new review of Twinspiration on MamaLit! Thank you so much to the MamaLit's Heather Laird...that makes a LOT of Mondays!

Saturday Snapshots

Darren's loves the box-back literature much the way I did as a child...

Christmas Cookie crunches her pellets for her final Saturday breakfast with us. (Her family returns tomorrow. She'll be sorely missed)

Sarah sneaks in a little extra Spongebob in Dad & Mom's bed while Daddy bakes muffins downstairs.

How's your Saturday so far?
Post a picture...or two, or three...and share a glimpse into your weekend.

One last picture! Congrats to Devri of The Naulu Tribe who's won a copy of The Moms' Book: For the Mom Who's Best at Everything! Thanks to all who played along.

Fast Food Friday

Keeping with my sharing of sub-admirable parenting practices, last summer, every Friday was celebrated as Fast Food Friday. We'd turn a blind eye to trans fats, and simply enjoy the family fellowship and tasty goodness of the mid-day meal, guilt-free.

Now that I am working out of the home, our weekly grease-laden lunches are largely a thing of the past. Yet we still occasionally manage to drop by a drive-thru...and we try to make healthier choices. [Think I feel a Friday Frosty coming on....]

Feel the need to make a parenting purge? Go ahead and share a formerly slipped under the carpet "sin" via a comment below and be entered to ironically win a copy of the hysterically tongue-in-cheek The Moms' Book: For the Mom Who's Best at Everything

Revealing the Reality

Seems I’m deceptive---or at the very least, not entirely forthcoming.

Yesterday, a lovely commenter mentioned how very happy our two always seem to be. Feedback such as that warms my heart. Occasionally, it tweaks my conscience. Our twins are happy children. Our twins are extraordinarily bright children. Our twins are caring children. Our twins love each other very much.

As it is with twins—and life in general—there’s a yin to the yang. Our twins argue. Our twins tattle. Our twins cry. Our twins have even been known to inflict physical harm upon each other.
[clarification: the cast above was not a byproduct of excessive sibling rivalry. The tears, maybe.]

As a result, I react. I lose my temper. I compare. I yell. Regularly. Loudly.

In the interest of transparency, consider me confessed.

Entirely eliminating life’s negatives may be a parenting impossibility; but when it comes to blogging life with our two, I choose to accentuate the positive.

[Chokehold or hug? Your thoughts?]

Way Back When-esday: Do a Little Dance

Dateline: July 14th, 2008
Twins' Age: Six and a half

Not sure what the song was (rest assured, it was blasting out of the toy box topping karaoke machine), or what role the rubber duckies were playing, but it certainly was fun worthy of a photograph! Interesting side note: Darren wore the exact same shirt, July 14th, 2009. Go figure.

What memories make your mid-week wonderful? Dive into those digital photos or scan a scrapbook find and play along with Way Back When-esday. Be sure and link back to participate in the web-wide reverie...and leave a comment when you do!

Two for TWOS-day: Monday's Sundae

My two, after a Friendly's dinner and ice cream, with "Papa"---their great-grandfather, my grandfather--age 92. Think they make each other happy much?

For other fun two-fers this Tuesday, pop on over to darling Debi's at Who Says 8 is Enough!

Makes My Monday: Top of the World

On top of Skeeter:
On top of spaghetti:

[Apparently, we'd never sung "On Top of Spaghetti" before in our house. After Scott made some amazing spaghetti and meatballs for Sunday night supper, we broke into song. The humor was not lost on Darren.]
What warms your week's beginning? Post a picture and tell the tale! Be sure to link back and share in the Monday fun. Don't forget to leave a comment for others...comments are always Monday makers!