We're Five!

I have been planning the kids' 5th birthday present since before Christmas--to move their bedroom upstairs and make it like a treehouse theme. It has been all hands on deck and a race to the finish to get it done.

Shannon and my mom painted the walls and the ceiling sky blue. One of my friends from the twins group painted a tree and wild flowers on the walls.

Grandpa George spent hours building the lofts with lots of love, through cold winter days and struggling with pain from gout in his hands. Shannon drove to Iowa to pick up the beds and was up late with Grandpa and Grandma staining.

My mom had to stain extra boards to be used for trim. Shannon installed some trim by himself, I installed some by myself, and Shannon worked on it all day with his dad the day before their birthday while Grandma Sue stole the kids away for some fun time.

My mom sewed the curtain for the closet. She also helped me move the beds in place and get the mattresses on, as well as watch the kids a few extra days so I could work on the room. I strung the rope to make a safety rail and did all the decorating.

The kids had no idea all of this was going on upstairs right under their noses!


At 7am I couldn't contain my excitement and let them see their present. For months there was a child safety lock on the door knob. Now it was wrapping paper.

Adam found his bed right away and said "It's like a treehouse!"

Sara was confused and said "You should have built a bed down low for me." We told her she had a bed and she needed to turn around. "Where?"

It was so much fun to see their excitement as they discovered more and more things.

And my cousin Emily was ready to sell her blue chairs just in time!

They kept sneaking away to their new room throughout the day--reading books in bed, carrying more things up there to decorate their shelves, and snuggling in bed with some stuffed animals. When my mom came later with her presents, they took her up there and ran ahead to shut the door before she could see. Then Adam opened it and yelled "Surprise!" They did the same thing to our favorite neighbor when she stopped by with gifts.

After breakfast we got dressed nice to open gifts from the grandparents. We kept it very low key today because of all the energy that went into doing their rooms. We just wanted to enjoy some family time.

They were very excited about all the gifts they got! Clothes and books and Legos and rain boots and Barbies and hula hoops, oh my!

Then we enjoyed some mini cupcakes.

After dinner we had our traditional birthday excursion to the NICU to deliver treats for the staff as our thank you for all they did while Sara and Adam spent 44 and 61 days in the NICU. There was a handful of staff at the window and the kids walked right up, set down their note, and said "We're five!" The nurses laughed and one replied "I remember when you were born!" I love that the kids know their history.

They couldn't wait to go to bed. I was prepared for it to be a challenging night. We got pajamas on and turned out the lights for them to see how dark it would be to get down their bed steps and make it to their new bathroom. And we tucked them in bed.

5 minutes later Adam got up to go potty.

2 minutes later Sara called for me. I stood next to her bed and she said "Mom, I just wanted to tell you something. Today was the greatest day ever!"

2 minutes later Sara got up to go potty.

5 minutes later they were whispering.

10 minutes later they were roaring with laughter and we had to go up there. They had snuck lanterns into their beds.

After an hour and a few more trips into their rooms, I had to threaten if they didn't go to sleep they could sleep in their old bed. Finally, it was quiet.

It certainly is strange to have the door to their room downstairs open and they aren't in there. The start of a whole new season of life. I remember when we were married and there was no sound of feet running in the house or belly laughs. How different life was then. Being a mom to Adam and Sara has been the absolute hardest and most satisfyingly joyous journey of my life.

Happy 5th birthday, my loves!

Indoor S'Mores

Tonight was alot of fun with the kids. Some days can be trying lately as they are learning their independence and how to push boundaries of listening. But tonight was very unexpected. I had been at work all day and Shannon left for a week-long business trip. Usually by the time I get home from work, the kids are tired and a little out of control. I got home early and my mom helped me give them baths before dinner. Then I made hamburgers, sweet potato fries, and raspberries for dinner. Clean plates all around, which is quite unusual for Sara lately. I had started a fire after their baths and they were both asking if we could make s'mores in the fireplace. It takes work for me sometimes to be spontaneous and fun. S'mores definitely sounded good to me! They were so excited!

Sara is the slowest s'more eater I have ever seen...between savoring the bites and trying to keep herself clean by wiping her mouth and fingers with a washcloth after every bite! I finally just held it for her so she could eat it and not get messy. Although she still had to wipe her mouth after every bite. She kept saying "these are my favorite!" Then there is Adam. He was done and licking crumbs off my plate before I had finished half of mine.

We ended the evening snuggling by the fire and reading books together. Teeth brushed, prayers said, kisses and hugs, and lights out to a great day. What a nice little gift!

Ninja in training

Since starting preschool, Adam has developed an interest in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A few of his classmates talk about them, wear their clothing, and bring them for show 'n share on any week possible!

Over the past week, Adam has become extremely passionate about them. He made a mask out of colored paper. That night he and Shannon researched what one of their swords looked like and made it out of very thick cardboard. That allowed him to really start practicing his ninja moves! We watched a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode together on the internet and started at the beginning with Season 1, Episode 1. I woke up the next morning with an idea of how to make him a turtle shell out of the same cardboard and attach it with a belt so he could get it on and off.

And so it all began...

He spends alot of his spare time, from the moment he wakes up, practicing his ninja moves. Starting at 4pm one day he began asking "When is Master Splinter coming home?" Master Splinter is the large rat who teaches the turtles and apparently he has deemed Shannon as the older, wiser Master Splinter. Now they have their own language in how they talk to each other.

I am going with the flow and encouraging his current passion, allowing him to be all boy, even if it means I giggle every now and then. It is certainly a time that his imagination is exploding, whether that is expressed thru the creative Legos he is building or the ninja storyline he is acting out.

Ha...ooh...umh...ahh...huh...ahh hah!

Family Christmas photos

I wish we looked for opportunities more often to take family photos. It seems like photos are usually focused on the kids. Because my dad died when I was 4, I am more sensitive to cherishing those photos that include Shannon and I with the kids.

The photos we took this Christmas were especially fun for me. Not only did they turn out great, we have to take a lot fewer photos now that the kids are almost 5! I remember times when they were babies that I took 50 photos just to get 1 or 2 great ones! In this photo shoot, I took 10 and all of them could be keepers.

My little valentines

Thankfully a week ago my mom reminded me that Valentine's Day was coming up and we should go shopping for cards that Adam and Sara would pass out to their classmates. It wasn't even on my radar and probably would have ended up being a very last minute thing.

Then it went from a friendly reminder to me thinking that the kids absolutely love doing crafts lately so let's just make something fun that they can help with! I searched the internet and they each chose their favorite. Then we shopped for supplies and spent the next 6 days working on them gradually as they were interested. I think they turned out great and the kids had a lot of fun!

Sara's was a butterfly which she cut out herself and then glued hearts on it. She also wrote the letters over what I traced because I was worried she wouldn't be able to fit the words in the small space. And she attached the Tootsie Pops.

Adam chose a superhero theme. He glued the Superman logo onto the felt cape, wrote the note on the back, and helped attach all the pieces together.

They were so excited to show me their bag of goodies when they got home from school. Sara didn't even get her coat off before she wanted to open every one, have me read them, and selected which candy she might like best.

They couldn't wait to open their card from Grandma Sue and Grandpa, knowing that they had chosen something special. Sara screamed when some money fell out! My mom came for a nice dinner and to give the kids a new shirt, a sticker book, and a small Lego set for Adam that included a cat to be rescued out of a tree!

It has been a constant frenzy of making hearts and saying Happy Valentine's Day for the last week! Adam made me a heart and drew a picture of a house on it with a tree about a week ago. He has regifted it to me every day since!

The kids were open to taking some Valentine's photos. They wanted to choose their pose. They also chose their clothes for the day. Sara was all about hearts!

After a few kissing photos, Sara wanted to move on and said "Adam, do one smiling now!"

While the kids do argue like brother and sister, most of the time over totally insignificant things, it is neat to see the bond that they have and how much they really do love each other and watch out for each other.

Sometimes it's fun to reminisce down memory lane...

Our family Christmas

After how our Christmas last year went, I really just wanted a quiet time at home this year--just us as a family and no pressure to load the car and rush to a family gathering. That's not to say I haven't enjoyed other years. But this year especially I was feeling the emotions returning of memories from being in Boston for Sara's surgery and I wanted the comfort of home. It was so nice to wake up and have a slow morning in our jammies!

Part of me felt like we didn't get the kids enough presents. They are fortunate to be blessed with alot and I didn't want to buy things just to have a bigger pile. I was more intentional about getting things that really struck my eye and they were just fine with it.

They each got some new books and a baseball glove and ball.

They also each got a pair of shoes. It seems like Adam is always wanted to help Shannon with something out in the garage but he had outgrown his work boots. Sara finally had a huge growth spurt with her feet and grew 2 sizes. The cute dress boots she really liked were too small so I ordered a replacement. It seems like she is choosing to wear a dress nearly every day!

Once they were done opening, we told them there were more gifts but they had to find them. They looked all over the room and completely forgot about their stockings!

Pipe cleaners, glitter glue, glue sticks, ribbons for Sara's hair, chocolate pez for Adam, princess/cars cookie cutters, and really cool pencil bags that unzipped to look like they had teeth. The kids thought those were pretty cool!

Merry Christmas 2013!

Christmas with Grandma Marilynn

The day before Christmas my mom came over to celebrate with the kids. They were excited to finally be able to open some presents under our own tree!

They helped Grandma open her things, including the craft that we did for this year--reindeer footprints!

It was fun to watch them open presents and I think they were very happy with their assortment of gifts.

I know the robe seems huge but you should have seen their old ones! They had turned into 3/4 sleeve shirt robes. At least we can roll the sleeves up on these and they will close around their bellies for the next few years!

Oh wait, that was one of my presents!

After we opened presents, we all enjoyed the Christmas Production at church. This year was especially fun because it was the first time the kids got to sit in "Big Church" and take it all in!