Pastel Puffballs

What a great spring weekend we had! I can't wait for everyday to be so nice! Saturday morning we took the boys to a Family Fun Expo and got some great information, samples, etc. Saturday afternoon daddy began not feeling so well, but the boys spent lots of quality time with their Papa who was in town for the weekend. Aunt Amy also came over for dinner and got lots of kisses from Ayden!

Sunday Daddy was feeling even worse and we decided it was a great day for a Pajama Day! As usual, when we stay home, we need extra activities! This time I was prepared with a spring/Easter theme activity! I bought some pastel colored puff balls from the dollar store and put them in our ever useful tub and had a great activity for Ashton and Ayden! I also included two measuring cups and 1 set of tongs.

They had a great time playing with the measuring cups....

and filling the measuring cups...

until this happened....and then this...


Ayden loves to dump!Ashton loved the tongs and opened and shut them over and over again for a LONG time!

Fine Jewelry Artisians...

Well, maybe not for a few more years yet! I feel really guilty that I have not done any sort of bead stringing activity with the boys yet. I had an idea and planned to get the necessary supplies at Joann's the other day. I was disappointed with their selection of the beads and dowel rods I had pictured in my head. So, I decided I would just wait (again putting off a skill I knew I needed to work with them on!) and pick the supplies up somewhere else. Instead I did buy some pipe cleaners and small beads. I intended on saving these until the boys had perfected their fine motor skills with the large wooden beads and dowel rod stringing activity I had originally planned. Well, yesterday the boys had a ton of energy to burn and I had neglected to make plans to leave the house or prepare for a planned activity. So, after building with Lego's, reading lots of books, coloring, and playing with play dough all before 11am, we needed yet another activity! I decided to go ahead and bring out the beads and see what would happen. I worried that Ayden would try to eat the beads and that both boys would lack the fine motor skills and coordination to hold the pipe cleaner and the bead and put the pipe cleaner through the small hole of the bead. As it turns out, they didn't do too bad! I had to help them a lot but, they definitely had the idea down. After a bit Ayden did attempt to put a bead in his mouth. I don't think he would ever actually try to eat/swallow one. He has been going through a phase the last week or two where he has begun putting things in this mouth that he never use to. I think he is just being silly and "pretending" that it is food.

Here are a few pictures of the boys (aka - artisans) making their fine jewelery!

Before:
AydenAshton

After:AydenAshton

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

Our social calendar is filling up quickly at our new home! I have been doing a lot of research to find activities, playgroups, events, story times, and toddler friendly locations in general. So far we are off to a great start! We have found several friends and lots of great free and indoor activities for the winter. We have also joined Parents as Teachers and we are getting ready to start services with MO First Steps and the Delta Gamma Center. These provide therapy for the boys vision condition. We have had several tests and assessments conducted recently as well. The DG Center sent out a speech and a vision therapist to assess the boys. They both said the boys were doing really well. Both boys' expressive language is a little low (Ashton has about 15-16 words and Ayden has about 17-18 words). They generally look for 20 words at 18 months and 50 words at 2 years - although this varies a lot. But, both boys receptive language skills (what they understand) was amazing! They were about the level of a 3-4 year old! She was pretty impressed! We don't know yet if we will get any speech therapy but, we should find out next week. During the vision assessment the boys had a great time playing with all the therapist's fun "toys". I think she was a little overwhelmed! Generally they are assessing younger kids but, since we just moved here we are getting in a little later than what we normally would have. She was not use to kids that were so interested in her toys. They boys knew where her bag was and kept going back to it to try to get out more fun stuff! She had also never assessed twins before so she was shuffling her paperwork back and forth (while the boys were trying to color on it none the less!). Oh, well! She thought she got enough information for the assessment in the end! She thought the boys were doing really well with their vision as well. Last week we also returned to St. Louis Children's Hospital for some more extensive vision testing for the boys. This will help determine exactly how severe their nystagmus is, confirm the OA diagnose, and help with the surgery plans. The testing could only be done one at a time and we were told it would last an hour and a half for each boy. We brought Nana with us to help entertain the boys. When we got there we found that we were in luck because there was a book fair going on at the hospital that day! The boys loved looking around and they each ended up only taking about an hour to complete the testing. They were very cooperative even though the technician was hooking electrodes up to their heads and putting patches over their eyes! We will hopefully be hearing the results for those tests any day now. All this excitement and adventure is helping the boys burn off their energy and they are now napping and sleeping great! I am sure once we move (wherever our house finally sells!!), we will have to deal with some set backs again but that is to be expected and we will start all over again. I will leave you with a few pictures from some of the fun stuff we have been up to!

Playing basketball

Building with Legos

Playing with playdoughMaking valentine craftsReading lots of booksColoringGoing on train ridesGetting into everything!Wresteling

Getting ready for spring!

(Don't ask about the hats! They have had a thing for them lately and want to wear them all the time!)

So...after going through all my pictures and posting them I realize that I haven't been taking pictures of our playdates and other out and about adventures! I guess I will have to do a better job of that now!

Split Pea What?!

So, I have been trying to be better about planning out an activity for the boys each day. I have a TON of ideas since I was a pre-K teacher before the boys were born. I sometimes forget that they are growing up and can actually participate and enjoy some of the activities I enjoy planning (and participating myself!).

Tuesday I got this out for them:

It was a bag of green split peas as well as a variety of kitchen tools.

They seemed to know I had something exciting instore for them!

I put a vinyl tablecloth on the floor and had them sit on it.

They enjoyed running the peas through their fingers, scooping, filling and investigating! This kept them very engrossed for a full 30 minutes!

MAMA?! MAMA?!

I have been hearing an awful lot of this lately! As well as "Dada?! Dada?!" and "Nana?! Nana?!". Ashton and Ayden apparently just discovered that they can get our attention by saying our names. They go back and forth between the two of them calling out our names! Then it turns into some sort of a game! It is the funniest thing to hear the two of them calling out our names over and over. We have now decided to turn it around and call their names back...I think this just adds to the game and they giggle and start all over! Such silly boys - I LOVE IT!!

Dr. Seuss for Breastfeeding Moms

Would you nurse her in the park?
Would you nurse him in the dark?
Would you nurse him with a Boppy?
And when your boobs are feeling floppy?

I would nurse him in the park,
I would nurse her in the dark.
I'd nurse with or without a Boppy.
Floppy boobs will never stop me.

Can you nurse with your seat belt on?
Can you nurse from dusk till dawn?
Though she may pinch me, bite me, pull,
I will nurse her `till she's full!

Can you nurse and make some soup?
Can you nurse and feed the group?
It makes her healthy strong and smart,
Mommy's milk is the best start!

Would you nurse him at the game?
Would you nurse her in the rain?
In front of those who dare complain?
I would nurse him at the game.
I would nurse her in the rain.

As for those who protest lactation,
I have the perfect explanation.
Mommy's milk is tailor made
It's the perfect food, you need no aid.

Some may scoff and some may wriggle,
Avert their eyes or even giggle.
To those who can be cruel and rude,
Remind them breast's the perfect food!

I would never scoff or giggle,
Roll my eyes or even wiggle!
I would not be so crass or crude,
I KNOW that this milk's the perfect food!

We make the amount we need
The perfect temp for every feed.
There's no compare to milk from breast-
The perfect food, above the rest.

Those sweet nursing smiles are oh so sweet,
Mommy's milk is such a treat.
Human milk just can't be beat.

I will nurse, in any case,
On the street or in your face.
I will not let my baby cry, I'll meet her needs, I'll always try.
It's not about what's good for you,
It's best for babies, through and through.

I will nurse her in my home,
I will nurse her when I roam.
Leave me be lads and ma'am.
I will nurse her, Mom I am.

Author unknown

I found this today and I loved it! If you know me then you know that I am a huge supporter of breastfeeding and breastfeeding moms! If I were ever to go back to school and start a new career path I think it would be as a lactation consultant. I would love to help other moms and babies experience the joy of breastfeeding.

The Coupon Game!

I have always bought the Sunday paper and clipped the coupons for whatever items we used or what I thought might make for a good deal. I only shopped at Wal Mart and Sam's Club. I bought the store brand on most items that had one available. Doing all of this I thought I was being very frugal with my grocery shopping! HAHAHAHAH! That is what I have to say about that now!
I started learning more about this not so secret world of couponing in October and November. This is the same time we were moving and staying with my parents. So, I decided that I would just look around a little and learn until I was back to full time grocery shopping. We settled into our new temporary home at Jeff's parents' at the end of the year. I started getting more into the coupon world, as well as getting freebies, the beginning of January. In the last 6 weeks I have learned so much and received so many free or nearly free items.
Most of the free samples take anywhere from 4-8 weeks to arrive. About 4 weeks after I started all this I began getting something free in the mail nearly everyday! Sometimes multiple items/coupons! A few of the items I have received are pens, prunes, trash bag, insulated freezer bag, coupon books, recipe books, and coupons for various free items.
I have got some of my best deals at Walgreens and CVS. I have made several trips to Walgreens and bought $50-$70 worth of personal care items/cleaners/groceries and only spent $3-$5! This is easy from Walgreens and CVS because they have good sales, store coupons, manufacturer coupons and register rewards/catalina coupons. These all combined make for opportunities for lots of free items! CVS just opened here so I have not had as many opportunities to shop there. But, they have many of the same great deals.
I am also finding some great grocery store buys. There are so many different grocery stores here that I have had to do some research for best buys. Since I moved here I have not even been to my store of choice, Wal-Mart! My grocery trips started with a savings of about 35%, but I have done as well as about 75% savings recently!
I can't say exactly what we are saving right now. Our grocery bills are still kind of random because sometimes Jeff's mom will pick up a few things at the store or she will give me some cash to chip in for groceries. Also, I am cooking for one additional person and we are shopping in a new town and state with a higher cost of living and different taxes. But, I can say that we have already reduced our budgeted amount for groceries by about $50 every two weeks and have been able to stick to that fine, even though we are buying groceries for one more person than we use to. I still feel like I am learning and our housing situation right now is just temporary. So, I will continue to learn and practice and we will sit down with a smaller budget and I will work even harder once we sell our house and buy one here.
I have been looking at this as a part time job. It has been paying me like a part time job and it takes time like a part time job. The benefit is that I don't have to pay for child care and I still get to be with my boy's all day. I do my "work" while they are napping and after they go to bed at night. The biggest complication with this new theory behind grocery shopping is that I make more trips to the store(s) so I end up taking the boys to the store more than I use to. I use to go to Wal Mart once every two weeks after the boys went to bed. Now I go a couple times a week to various stores. I may still go out after they go to bed one night a week though. Have I ever mentioned how much my boys HATE shopping?! Oh, well, maybe if they go enough one day they will learn to love it as much as their mama!

Some pictures of some of my recent steals and deals!

This was a combo purchase from CVS and Walgreens. It totaled FREE! I made $2 at Wags and spent $2 at CVS!

I saved about 70% on this grocery store trip.

This was our first attempt at "playing" Walgreens (affectionately called Wags). Jeff went with me and we made multiple transactions and bought about $60 worth of items for $5!

At Wags, this was also about $50 for about $5.

Wags again, this was $13 worth and I paid $3.

Wags, $70 for $4!

This was another combo trip from CVS and Wags, I think this was about $25 worth of items and we paid about $3.

I have had several other really good trips, but I don't take pictures of them all! ;)

Workin' the runway!!

That's right! My handsome little men got their first opportunity to strut their stuff on the runway and the red carpet this weekend during their first fashion show! A local cloth diapering store called Cotton Babies hosted a birthday party with the fashion show, a hair and nail salon, a radio station dj, great free giveaways, a story time, paparazzi, red carpet and, of course, cake and punch! The birthday party was for the owners daughter who was having her first birthday! I was lucky enough to be in the first 10 callers after receiving the email newsletter they sent out a couple weeks ago. It was a neat idea and we had a great time!

The boys wore Kimono style one piece outfits that were so soft and silky! They were made from soy fiber! We did not get to keep the outfits, but we did get a $25 gift certificate for each boy to spend in the store anytime in the next year. That will buy several diapers! ;)

Story Time

Daddy and Ayden

Daddy and his boys

Workin' the catwalk!

The "red carpet"

Ashton found a cute girl to flirt with!

Sitting on the red carpet before getting started

Ayden checking out Daddy's camera.

Ashton's not so sure about Daddy!

Mommy is trying to keep the boys entertained!

As you can see they walked the red carpet fine. The step to get onto the stage was really big so that was a little tricky. Ashton was enjoying being center stage and was not ready to give up his place! Hope you enjoy our first video to be posted on this blog. Hopefully we will have many more to come!