Falling behind on Thanks

Of course. Didn't I sort of think this would happen? I mean, I've tried many daily (or weekly) posts before and they've all fizzled. So, again, I play catchup.

12: Today I am thankful for our YMCA! It is so nice to know I can get a workout in and the kids are safe in the Kids Stuff having a fun time. Even if they cry a bit when I drop them off (a new thing in the past month), the staff calms them down and gets them engaged in activities!

Eating snack in the lobby. Their favorite part of the Y!

11: I am thankful that we have food on our table! I especially like this time of year where I do more baking and soup-making. Mmmm. Even on days or weeks or months like I've had lately where I worry about my weight and inevitablly eat too many cookies, I can look back and be thankful that we had enough to eat in the first place!

10: I am thankful for our church, Nativity Lutheran Church. Though there are many times we grumble about how far we have to drive to get there (up to NE Mpls, about 10-12 miles/20 minutes away), it is worth it. We love our pastors, love the message, and love the staff. We're lucky to have found a place where we fit in and feel good about attending. Just wish it was a bit closer!

9: I'm thankful for my Moms of Multiples group (MVMOM). There is absolutely no way I would have survived these 2 years without this group of supportive, wonderful ladies! (PS: Check out the web site above and see if you recognize anyone!)

8: I'm thankful for ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education), a program through school districts here in Minnesota that teaches kids AND families! I took a class last year which I loved! (And miss my friends from it!) And I'm in a different class for 12-24 month old kids now. It's great! I'm especially thankful that the school is only 2 blocks away, so all 3 of us can just walk right over!

30DOT catchup

I missed a few days - Election and Birthday will do that to you!

Day Seven: It's my birthday today, and I'm thankful for my Mom. I never understood that my birthday might be a special day for her, too, until my own kids were born. So today, we both celebrate and I am thankful for my mom!

Day Six: It was election day yesterday, and I'm thankful we live in a country where we can and do have a choice and voice in who are elected officials and laws are. Regardless of how you feel about the results, you, too, should be thankful we have this priveledge and right! (Also: can you imagine that only 92 years ago women weren't even given that right??)

Day Five: I am thankful for the opportunities are have at our fingertips here in the Twin Cities. Museums, the Zoo, libraries and bookstores, parks and trails. What a great place to raise a family!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday. I love my birthday, I always have. I sort of wish it were appropriate for adults to wear shirts that say "It's my Birthday!" so the people at storytime or Trader Joe's know and will say something nice to you. I guess that's the benefit of Facebook telling all your friends it's your birthday - it's like getting 60 birthday cards in the mail!

I initially found this photo of a b-day cake and thought "That's too many candles
for MY cake" - but then I counted them and discovered there are only
25 candles. I think I think I'm younger than I am...

Anyway, I got this idea from my friend Dara (who also has a birthday this week) and I knew I wanted to do it, too. (Though, admittedly, my New Year's Resolutions are not getting looking like they'll make it in the next 7 weeks...). She made a list of things she wants to do in the next year that equal the number of years in her age.

Since I'm 33 today, I am making a list of 33 things I want to do this year. Some are selfish, some are selfless, some are big, some are small. Some are meaningful like The Birthday Project. Some are all about me and no one else.

1. Volunteer at Feed My Starving Children - at least twice.
2. Host a Christmas Cookie exchange.
3. Run a 5K, a 7K, a 10K, and a "longer than 10K" race (maybe a 10 mile or 1/2 marathon?).
4. Read at least 6 books for fun.
5. Make a family cookbook.
6. Take the kids to Wisconsin.
7. Get a pedicure.
8. Swim in a lake (with the kids).
9. Take a family vacation - that doesn't involve going to or staying at a relative's home.
10. Crochet a blanket (you'll remember that was a New Year's Resolution from last year, whoops, didn't get there...).
11. Reconnect (ie: see in person) some old friends who I've not seen much since B&H were born
12. Paint my bedroom.
13. Take a sewing class.
14. Go to Lake Minnetonka.
15. Try Zumba at least once.
16. Pay off one of my student loans
17. Send real paper cards to my immediate family members for their birthdays.
18. Sleep in (past 8:00) just once.
19. Stay up late (past 11:00) just once.
20. Go to a movie in the theater.
21. Go to a concert.
22. Go to a play or musical.
23. Leave a treat and thank you note for the mailman.
24. Take the kids on an airplane (Yikes! This is crazy!)
25. Take the Jeopardy online quiz again.
26. Go sledding (with the kids).
27. Learn a bit of basic graphic design.
28. Shovel my neighbor's sidewalk for no reason.
29. Wear pajamas all day.
30. Spend an entire day sitting at a coffee shop reading (without kids).
31. Go on a Girl's Weekend with my friends.
32. Donate blood.
33. Pay for someone's coffee who is behind me in line.

Wow. I better get started!

***
What is on your list this year?

30 days to 2 years!

Today the kids (notice how I've stopped calling them "the babies"??) turn 23 months old. That means we have just 30 days left of them being one year old! Caaaaa-Razy!

So, to celebrate and look back at their year of being One, I made a list of 23 things I love about One-Year-Olds. What a great way to look back at the last year. And while this *is* similar to the 22 Things I love about being a mom from last month, it's more specific to what I love about them at this age and how we spent the last year. It was a fun one!

In no particular order....
1. Toddler art projects
2. Running through the sprinklers













3. They learned body parts, starting with the basics like head and foot and now moving on to specifics like cheek and elbow and armpit!
4. They're beginning to know their extended family either from talking on the phone or seeing them at birthday parties or looking at photos
5. They make new friends
6. They love (LOVE!) certain characters from books (like, Maisy, Curious George, Knuffle Bunny and Elmo)
7. They talk! Sometimes too much, especially Ben. :)

8. They can remember the plots of stories and retell them to themselves or each other, particularly stories about the characters from #6
9. The many, many trips to the Zoo or Museum
10. How they run. So funny!
11. They can self-identify, even with their nicknames
12. First haircuts
13. They can start to sing songs, though the words are mixed up and hilarious
14. JUMPING!


15. They (mostly) survive a road trip

16. Oh my - the love between this Sissy and Brobbo!

17. Kisses, oh the many sloppy kisses!
18. Naptime. I love naptime, even in the many forms it's taken this past year
19. Going to the park
20. Silly things they say or know, like the Mendota Bridge is the "airplane" bridge because you can see airplanes there. Or that they know what the bracket is on the railing. Or when they put their loveys on their heads and say "Nummy hat!" Or the way Hannie draws "tiny circles."

21. Bath Time
22. Toddler laughing, especially when playing tickle monster
23. How just darn cute they are!

Sneak Peek of our Holiday Mini Session with Heather Hanson!

In general, I am much calmer, happier, excited about their 2nd birthday coming up than I was last year for their first birthday. Seriously. Last year I was a wreck and sad about all the things about B&H as babies that were gone and I'd never get to experience again. THIS year, though, I am excited about all the fun things to come. Not that it's ever EASY to be a mom, but it is easier now than it was when they were tiny babies. I'm eager to see the things that will come in the next year - more learning, more self-sufficiency, more challenges, more fun. Maybe we'll start thinking about preschool. Maybe they'll get potty-trained. Maybe we'll go on a family vacation. Maybe!

I love looking back at the last year, but this birthday, I'm not weepy and crying over what has past. I am so excited about what is to come!

PS: For fun, you should look back at all our One Month Older posts from the past year. You can see the babies grow and grow!

30DOT: Grandparents

Here we are at day four of 30 Days of Thanks!


Day Four:


I'm thankful for my grandparents. I blogged about this before and I was reminded again last night at the All Saint's service at church how much I loved and miss my grandparents who have passed away and how thankful I am for my Grandma Dorothy! I feel like many of my morals and ethics in my adult life can be traced back to my grandparents. Thank you, Grandpa, Grandma Vernie & Grandma Dorothy, for being such great influences on my life!

Grandpa Cal

Flashback! Grandma Dorothy with
B&H (when they were 4 months old)

Grandma Vernie & Me! About 1982 or83

Day Three:
I am thankful for our home, as small and messy as it may be. I am often frustrated at it's teeny tiny space, but you know what? It's a warm place for us to live. It's a place for us to play and grow. It's a place to call our own. And even if we live here for just the next 5 years or as many as the next 30, this will always be the first home Aaron and I bought, the first one we furnished and decorated, the place I had to lie down for 2 months, the house we brought our children home from the hosptial to, where our children took their first steps, said their first words, had their first bloody noses. It's where we cuddle in the basement and watch Curious George at night. It's where I make soup and bread and cupcakes for Sunday dinner. It is our home.

Teeny tiny and messy, but home!

Day Two:
I am thankful for my husband Aaron, for without him none of the wonderful things that have happened to me in the past 7 years ever would have happened!

5-Year Anniversary photo, (c) Heather Hanson Photography

Day One:
I'm thankful for these two cuties who changed my life forever.

30DOT Day 3

Hello day three of 30 Days of Thanks!
Day Three:
I am thankful for our home, as small and messy as it may be. I am often frustrated at it's teeny tiny space, but you know what? It's a warm place for us to live. It's a place for us to play and grow. It's a place to call our own. And even if we live here for just the next 5 years or as many as the next 30, this will always be the first home Aaron and I bought, the first one we furnished and decorated, the place I had to lie down for 2 months, the house we brought our children home from the hosptial to, where our children took their first steps, said their first words, had their first bloody noses. It's where we cuddle in the basement and watch Curious George at night. It's where I make soup and bread and cupcakes for Sunday dinner. It is our home.

Teeny tiny and messy, but home!

Day Two:
I am thankful for my husband Aaron, for without him none of the wonderful things that have happened to me in the past 7 years ever would have happened!

5-Year Anniversary photo, (c) Heather Hanson Photography

Day One:
I'm thankful for these two cuties who changed my life forever.

Day 2 of 30DOT

Here it is Day 2 of my 30 Days of Thanks blogging challenge. I'm on a roll. Haha.

Day Two:
I am thankful for my husband Aaron, for without him none of the wonderful things that have happened to me in the past 7 years ever would have happened!

5-Year Anniversary photo, (c) Heather Hanson Photography

Day One:
I'm thankful for these two cuties who changed my life forever.

30 Days of Thanks

Hello November!

Since this is Thanksgiving month, I am setting a pretty hefty goal for myself: post every day something that I'm thankful for. Now this isn't an original idea! There are several other blogs or websites about this concept, but here's my take at it!

Day One:
I'm thankful for these two cuties who changed my life forever.

If you're doing some version of 30 Days of Thanks - comment below. I'd love to read what you are thankful for, too!