summertime is the best time

Were you worried about us? So sorry. I'm taking this summer relaxation thing to a whole new level. A level where I don't check voicemails, facebook, pinterest, emails and instead sit, play, read and sit some more. But, now I'm back. :)

The best part about being a teacher is right when you've had all you can take from students, co-workers, paperwork deadlines, eating cold lunch in 5 minutes flat, using your brain to think of what you can possibly do to help Timmy, Tommy, Bobby or whoever learn something, a magical thing happens...and it's called summer vacation.  It's like a breath of fresh air (literally, you can actually, finally breathe) and it's wonderful.  Don't get me wrong I LOVE my job, and I get sick of summer vacation too, then it's the perfect time to head back to school. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Best of Both Worlds, people. 

Enough about that. I'll let you in on a little bit of what we've been doing this summer vacation. The boys started the summer by swimming in their super cool lion pool that we gave them at the end of last summer, then wrapped up again and gave to them for Christmas (don't judge, we have a lot going on that time of year and needed 1 extra gift 'cause twins need even numbers of stuff to open or all hell breaks loose. Even on Christmas). 

So back to the pool. Dad (the fun one, remember?) stuck a hose on their slide and put the pool at the bottom as a super-safe (yikes!) fun deal. 

Not only did they enjoy this picture of safety, but they like to watch themselves over and over again (courtesy of Adam's new AppleTV deal so he can put his stuff from his phone on the tv - he's obsessed. that's another story for another day).

The rugrats also started (and are now almost finished with) swimming lessons. The whole deal was a godsend - I'm telling you. There's this lady I work with whose family has a pool in their home (an indoor pool). Her daughters are high school and college aged and teach Red Cross certified classes in their home pool. This means that A) the boys got private lessons and  B) I did NOT have to get in the pool!! The other fantastic thing was that they were SO well behaved and listened SO well to their teachers. We only had 1 minor near-drowning where Luke (weird) jumped off the steps because he wanted to touch the bottom all by himself. He luckily held his breath the whole time and was rescued about 5 seconds after he went in solo and came up smiling and asking to do it again, so I'm pretty sure he's fine. :)

In honor of the boys' new swimming skills, we went shopping and they chose some new swimming trunks (well, honestly it's because I looked at the tags on their old trunks and they were size 18 months. (Again, no judging, we live in Minnesota...and I let them swim in their regular shorts most of the time anyway...)

So here's what they picked out: 

True to form, Luke picked something blue and Andrew picked something with stripes. Man, does that kid love his stripes. Andrew also picked out this striped shirt to wear with his new swimming trunks. He's a super-great matcher. Should we be worried?

things my kids shouldn't be doing

Dad is the most fun! I'm lame. He's cool. It's pretty much our thing. Sometimes it's hard for me to deal with, but it's the truth.

Here's why:

Yep, I would never have allowed something like that.

Nor would I think this is a good plan...

You MUST watch this until the end...you know it!

you know it from Kristine Lindgren on Vimeo.

playing in a winter wonderland

I am not a huge fan of cold weather. I remember playing outside a lot as a kid, but now that I'm an old lady, I'd rather be inside.

Unfortunately for me, the boys LOVE to play outside in the snow. They've been sledding since November. Yes, we just got snow that stuck around this week, meaning they went sledding on the muddy, grassy hill.

this picture was taken in November on the 1st day of snow

(which melted the next day)

I have become creative in playing outside though with them. I taught them how to shovel the driveway, so that's helpful. :)

For Christmas they got hockey sticks, pucks, and hockey skates from their fabulous aunts and uncles (both sides of our family love hockey - except for me that is...). They've been ice skating a few times and have practiced "playing puck" on the driveway.

Honestly, I was hoping they wouldn't like it as hockey has me seeing $$(dollar signs) in the future, but guess what? They do. And Adam said one day "I hate to tell you this, but they're actually pretty good. They can pass the puck to each other right on target." Bad news for this Mama.

So, that's what's new around here. I can't believe I have 3-year olds! How did that happen so fast? And what's worse is they're smarter than me.

WHAT?? A NEW POST??????

Yes, folks, it's no lie. I am actually putting a post on this thing.

I know, I know, it's been a LONG time, but stuff gets busy around here. If you wanna hear about it, I'll tell you: I got a new job, the kids are almost 3, we've had a lot of things going on - weddings, hunting, activities, etc. and so there are all the reasons why.

And honestly, I'd rather spend my "free time" playing with my kids. Tonight for example, when we got home from work, I made yummy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cupcakes with the boys. (From the cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World - One of my FAVORITE cookbooks, and I love cookbooks). Well, the cupcakes were vegan until Andrew smelled his spoon and it is possible that some of his snot could have gotten in them. Gross. Don't eat them (I will. Hey! They're good and the odds of boogs actually getting in the cupcakes are slim, right?)

So, other than that, work is good. Life is great. And here are some updated photos of us. :)

Yes, that is 2 sets of twins in 1 vehicle.

Travis and Adam were driving, while Leah and I were shopping!!

The ring bearers at Auntie Amy's weddin'.

They ran like this ALL DAY.

And then fell asleep.

Luke slept during dinner. Andrew slept during the actual wedding.

And then Andrew woke up, just in time to eat the bride's cake.

:)

Day at the Farm

It was such a beautiful morning, that Adam said "we should go somewhere today. I'm thinking this farm or the horse races". I chose the farm thinking the boys would probably like that a little better, and there would be more to do and see than watching horses run (which Adam would have preferred, no doubt).

So here are some pictures of our trip to this farm near our house that farms as though it's 1860. Pretty neat. I, of course, wanted to spend time in the museum reading about life in the 1800s. The boys did not.

Here's Andrew looking in the chicken coop.

Brave guys until the rooster started chasing them...

We saw some sheep. They "baaa"d. It was a riot. :)

This is Holly. She's a baby cow. They liked her, she was both tied up and beneath them.

Here the boys are looking in the cow pen. I had just explained what all that mud was inside the pen.

Luke didn't like it.

More cows...

Pointing at stuff.

After we looked at some of the animals, Andrew turned to me and said "Mom, now I wanna go see the zebra". Hmmm. Am I doing my kids a disservice by not having them near a farm?? When I was a kid, my grandpa still had a farm with pigs, cows, and chickens. We used to run around there like we were nuts, with directions not to jump off the haybales in the shed, don't touch the cats (they were pretty gross), and don't touch the electric fence - although we used to "warm up" rhubarb on it while getting a little shock. :) I never realized how different it would be for my kids who don't go to the farm every weekend.

Side note: the grossest parts about the farm were A) chicken butchering day - I still can smell it in my memory (gag) and B) When I realized that Spike 1, Spike 2, and Spike 3, the adorable calves my brother Aaron named had grown up and we couldn't find them anymore...(hint, they were in our freezer).

But the smell of the hay still reminds me of my grandparents house, which isn't so gross :)

bros

Looking through pictures of what we did this summer and I came across some from my cousin's wedding in July. It was a heck of a hot day, but was a beautiful wedding. The boys hung out with their other grandparents, and my whole fam went to the wedding. We had a blast!

Here's some rather adorable pics of me and my brothers (we only have 3 pictures together as adults - no kidding):

Here we are, looking' so spiffed up.

This is actually more like it, but YIKES! That's not my brother, that's Adam, I married him. And we unintentionally forgot Morgan, my brother's wife, who was taking the picture. Why didn't we have someone else take the picture so she could be in it? Hmmmm, it was probably the 5 glasses of wine I had and Adam's constant mission to drain the keg that must have done it...

Oh look, there we are!

(NOT my brother)

new friend

The boys have been enjoying the outdoors so much this summer. They really want to be outside and do boy stuff; dig around in the dirt, run like they're nuts, jump off of stuff, push each other down hills, you know, the usual. One afternoon the boys hollered "Mom, look at this!" and this is what I saw:

(insert video of a frog getting a ride in the boys' truck. I tried to upload it here, but after 2 days and about 3 hours it still wasn't working, so imagine it and if you ever come to visit, I'll show you :) )

If you can hear in the background (which you can't), Luke is laughing like a maniac. That's because he's terrified of creepy crawly things. Andrew's the brave one when it comes to that kind of stuff, so Luke is always saying "Andrew, you do it"! Mr. Boss.