Uncle Matt and Aunt Jenny visit

About a month ago Andy's brother and his wife, Matt and Jenny, came to visit us all and spend some time with the girls. They haven't seen them since they were a couple of months old and they were blown away by how big the girls are now! Matt is a doctor in the Air Force and Jenny is an auditor like Andy. They are stationed in Mississippi now, but will most likely be moving again in the next couple of years.

Andy's parents came over and we all had a great couple of days together. Maddie started playing with them right away - and although it took Katie a little longer to warm up, once she did they all had a great time!

Aunt Jenny had done her research and wanted to take the girls to the NJ Children's Museum in Paramus. We went right as they opened on a Sunday morning and it was wonderful. It's a big hands-on museum with themed rooms - castle, music, medicine, kitchen, fire engine, science, crafts, space, sand, computers, house, etc. They had a great time (Maddie had trouble moving from one room to the next - but she was fine once she started playing in the new room).

Here is a little slide show of their visit ... and we really hope to see them again soon!

Hope Christmas Never Ends!

A few weeks ago my dad and my Aunt Beverly and my Aunt Susan came to visit the girls (they would say they wanted to see us, too - but I think the girls outrank us!).

The girls love when people PLAY with them - and this day was no exception. There was lots of hide-and-seek and chasing and Blue's Clues and reading. You can totally tell by the expression on their faces that everyone had a great time.

I made a pasta with meatballs - and everyone brought yummy desserts that were delish. I attempted to feed the girls real food while the rest of us ate dessert and Andy just looked at me like, "You're kidding right?" The second the girls saw all the goodies that was the end of that. They had cake for dinner (I think Katie did eat a little pasta first).

Everyone had a great day - and took a ton of pictures. There were four cameras going!

Here is a slideshow of the day - enjoy!

(*The slideshow is in a different post - so if you clicked here through the title of this post you just need to click my header above and you will see the slideshow below this!* whew!)

We missed you!

My first year of teaching was in 2002. I started mid-year in January and I took over for one of my favorite teachers. Yep - I had gone back to teach in my old high school.

My first week was horrible. My favorite teacher was also their favorite teacher and those little 9th graders wanted nothing to do with me. I was walking a fine line between being super-strict to announce my authority (!) and being kind to let them know I was rational. I cried every night and I was exhausted. I was in bed by 7pm sometimes. The week I started was also the first week I started dating Andy - so there was lots going on.

By my second year I had it all together. Yes - there were days that still drove me nuts - but I also learned to relax and enjoy myself. I learned to look past the kids' behavior while they were learning (which was where most of the acting-up occured) and started to see how they acted before the bell rang. They cracked me up - they were so smart and talented and funny and real. I learned a lot that year. During that second year I had two students, Katie and Kristen, who were just great. They were fraternal twin girls (talk about foreshadowing), different as night and day (more foreshadowing). When they graduated 4 years later they ended up attending a college about 15 minutes from where I live now. They would come over every Tuesday night for dinner and to hang out with the little girls. I became friends with their mom, too - they are such a nice family.

This is their sophomore year in college now and things got busy for them, as it should, so our weekly dinners had to be put on the back burner for a while. But they got to visit a few weeks ago with their mom. Here are some pictures from that day ...

Katie readind to Maddie - a "Max and Ruby" book of course!


The whole gang hanging out! Mrs. Mullen loves to read this blog - and she tells me it brings back so many memories of her girls when they were this age. She gives me tons of advice - especially for meals! (Yuck to meals is what I say.)

Kristen is in the background there - my Katie gravitates to her and likes to climb and bounce and rough around.

This is the adorable fleece jacket and hat they gave my girls for Christmas. Katie wouldn't take it off!

We ended up coloring at the kitchen table - and they ALL colored. (My Katie, still wearing her jacket. The hat is hanging on the phone - look upper right.)

I was cooking dinner throughout this - and Mrs. Mullen was giving me tips like to save the Happy Meal bags from McDonald's and put their food in that. She did that for her girls years ago - and she said with a wink that sometimes McDonald's served broccoli!

I am so glad that they were able to visit me - and I hope to see them all again soon!

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day weekend we went to visit Andy's parents in Long Island. Grammy puts EVERYTHING away and the girls pretty much have the run of the house, which they love. Their main source of fun are these plastic wine glasses with a bright fruit print all over them, that you would use with sangria and the like. The cups are pretty big and they have a big wide base, and each base is a different color. (I wish I had a picture of them, but I didn't think.) They look for them each trip - and they fight over them OF COURSE! The funny part is the cup and the base come apart all the time! Within the first day of our visit, the bottoms are strewn all over the floor and the girls just run around with the cup part, and wood spoons, and tupperware, and just pretend to stir. Then, when we leave - Lorraine and Ed gather the remains of the cups, crazy glue them back together, and get them ready for our next visit!

We had a great weekend - we went to a neighbor's BBQ, the girls went for a walk with Grammy & Poppy, we went to visit the girls' great-grandmother, Nana, - and of course they ran all around the backyard and played with Kasey the husky. Andy and I usually get to sneak out for a date-night - which we are so appreciative of! (Thank you, Mom & Dad!)

Below is a slideshow of our Long Island Adventures - my camera died so these pics are from Andy's dad. Enjoy!

Ladies of Leisure

A few months into my pregnancy with the twins, I looked at Andy and said "uncle." I was barely getting through the day with the headaches and pure and utter exhaustion and told him no matter how much we had to cut our budget I wanted to stay home. He said fine, and within three weeks I was done with work. My doctor actually credits my not working to the fact that the girls were born almost full term, I had no pregnancy complications, and they were such good weights. (Although he didn't endorse it - I have to be honest! He told me to keep going.)

My friend Carol went through the same thing. When she was pregnant they were also moving and completely remodeling their new home and she stopped working to become, as Andy loved to call her, "The Foreman." She was dealing with contractors and decisions all the time and she needed to be available during the day.

My mom nicknamed us "ladies of leisure" although we were anything but! Carol was going nuts with the new house and I was out for the count most of the day. I look back on it now and wonder why we didn't go out more - we were on the phone constantly anyway. We did manage a few outings around Christmas to do shopping, but it was ridiculous the way we would just waddle around the mall looking for the closest bathroom. If I wanted to stop and look at something she would keep going - mainly because it wouldn't take me long to catch up with her! (Here's a pic of us at her babyshower...)

Anyway - now we have our little girls and although we still may not get together as much as we'd like (life has a way of doing that) when we DO hang out the girls have a great time. Sydney watches in awe as Katie and Maddie beat the living life out of each other while Carol says a prayer of thanks that she doesn't have twins. But when they start to play - or hold hands - or walk together - it is precious.

Last week Carol and Sydney came over to go swimming in our kiddie pools. Now, my girls and I love the cold in every way, shape, and form. Carol and Sydney love the heat. (Carol and I classify the day as a "Carol Day" or a "Rosie Day" based on how cool it is out.) So ... I fill up our pools when we go out there -and they are cold! Carol fills her kiddie pool up a few hours before so that it is nice and warm. So when I filled up the pool, Sydney thought it was too cold while my girls were splashing away. I have two little plastic adirondack chairs, so I put them in the pool and the three of them of them thought that was just the greatest thing ever. Sydney went in and sat on a chair and was happy. Katie sat in a chair and was happy. Maddie had the rest of the pool to herself and was thrilled. Carol and I agreed they looked like little old ladies sitting there - and so THEY are the NEW "Ladies of Leisure."

A Visit from Aunt Kerry

We had such a fun afternoon last Friday when my Aunt Kerry came over to visit. (It's weird calling her "Aunt" since she is only 5 years older than, me - I usually just call her Kerry!) She has half-day Fridays during the summer so she came over after work to spend some time with the Katie & Maddie. The girls are usually very shy when someone comes over, so I told Kerry to just get down and start playing if you want them to be comfortable around you ... and she did!

They played "building" ...

And played "the game" (the term they use for this particular game only ... apparently to them it's the only game that exists in the universe) ...

And she just goofed around with them, which they love!

Thank you for coming over, Aunt Kerry! Come back to play with us again soon!