9/7/08

Quoted!

The new "Twin Law" passed here in the great state of NJ the other day (thank you Governor Corzine!) and we twin moms (and moms with triplets, quads, etc.) now have the final say-so in whether or not our children are separated or kept together in school.

Right now I plan on keeping them together for pre-school and kindergarten and separate them for 1st grade and beyond. I like having the choice. There are plenty of moms of multiples out there who want their kids to stay together all the time, and that is their absolute right. Just as you shouldn't think of a set of twins as one person, you shouldn't think of twin moms as one standardized group of people either.

Our local paper, The Daily Record, covered this today. Yours truly was interviewed, and although I spoke with the reporter for about 15 minutes, I only got one line quoted! Bummer! :) And my last name is spelled wrong! Oh the shame! My fifteen minutes of fame whittled down to 30 seconds. I suppose I'll live!

Here is the link - don't sneeze as you're reading or you'll miss me!

9/6/08

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!

Labor Day Pictures

9/4/08

They are soooooo his children ...

'nuff said

Pink Toes

My toes are painted almost all the time. I like red the best - it makes your feet look all cute and pretty. Katie has been obsessed with "Mama's red toes" for a long time now. Whenever I walk around the house without socks on, or if we are out and I have my sandals on, she says over and over, "Mama has red toes" in her little squeaky voice.

For the past two months, whenever Katie admires my toes, I ask her if she wants red toes, too. She always looks at me aghast, "how could you suggest such a thing!" shakes her head and says in a low voice, "Nooooo." But it always seems to come back up. She even started saying to me, "Katie want red toes?" and then answers herself, "Nooooo." It's cute. Sometimes she says "YES!" and I say "Really?" and then she says, "Nooooo."

Last night I was painting my toes (at about 10:30pm, not taking into account that I had to let them dry before I fell asleep - smart, Rose ...) and I decided to use pink nailpolish instead of the red. WELL! This morning Katie was singing a completely different tune!

She looked at my toes, and looked at my fast, and said, "Mama has pink toes! Katie has pink toes!" and plopped herself on the couch with her legs out in front of her - her feet together and pointed up. I asked her if she really wanted pink toes, over and over, and she kept saying yes, so I went to get the bottle. I came back to the playroom and she was still sitting there. I held the bottle up in front of her and said, "Do you want pink toes?" and she nodded her head vigorously - so I went for it!

She held perfectly still, and I was able to do one perfectly pretty coat of the pink. I told her to sit still while they dried - and she did. Then Miss Maddie wanted pink toes - and she rarely showed interest at all,ever. So I painted her toes pink, also! She did not sit as still as Katie, so the polish ended up on her skin a little but it will rub off. Maddie also did not understand the concept of letting them dry, and tucked her feet up under her when she was done, so the polish got on the couch a little eensy bit (sorry Andy!).

They both walked around looking at their toes for a good 3 or 4 minutes - and I of course took pictures. (They are a little fuzzy because I tried to take close-ups - I can't figure out how to get close-up pictures clearer.)

The whole thing lasted about 7 minutes, but it was the best part of my week. It makes me look forward to doing more things like this as they grow up. I can't wait!

Katie - perfect


Maddie - notice the smudge on her left foot

All done! Katie sitting nice and still, waiting for them to dry - and Maddie tumbling around like a monkey!

9/3/08

Genetics

I often get stared at when I walk in a room with the girls and Andy's not with me. What brown eyed/dark brown haired girl ends up with two little ones with bright blue eyes ... one with red hair and one with hair that is a mix between blonde and honey? People look at me and them and sort of tilt their heads with this quizzical look on their faces - even in my twin club! Then Andy will walk in (carrying more stuff than is ever humanly possible, having to twist sideways to fit in the door) and they all go, "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

Today I took Maddie to the eye doctor for a routine exam. She has been squinting lately and I just wanted to make sure she was OK (which she is - the doctor says the squinting is probably just a habit). I got the usual looks - which always make me smile. Once, about a year ago, an older woman said to me about Maddie, "Is she yours?" I just looked at her and smiled and kept walking - but in my head I was like, "NO - I just picked her up at the bus stop."

I shouldn't be fazed by those types of looks. My mom had 3 kids who look nothing like each other at all. I am the olive-skinned Italian, my middle brother Jeffery was born with bright bright yellow hair (which is now very dirty blonde), and my younger brother Eric was born with orange, firey red hair (which is now all gone - sorry, Eric!). Once (when we were probably 9, 7, and 6-ish years old) we were at a gas station in my mom's blue station wagon (hugest car ever - the original SUV) - and the attendent mentioned to my mom that we all had different hair colors. Eric (still known for his quick one liners) popped his head out of the window and said, "Yeah! Different fathers!"

In case you are a stranger reading this - um, TOTALLY not true.


Katie

Maddie


9/1/08

Photoshop Elements

We were in Long Island this weekend visiting Andy's parents for Labor Day weekend and of course my camera's battery died after only a few pictures. Andy's dad, better known as Poppy to two crazy ... um, adorable little girls, saved the day and took a bunch for me. I just have to download them onto my computer and then I'll create a slideshow.

While we were there, right before bed each night I read "Photoshop Elements 6.0 for Dummies". "No, I'm not!" I want to say to that book - but apparently I am. Usually I am pretty good at figuring out a new program by just tinkering with it - but with Elements I am LOST! Worse than those poor people on TV. I bought the program a couple of weeks ago and all I have managed to do is create the banner for this blog, which did not come out at all like I pictured it in my head. I wanted the background to be a bit lighter and blurry while keeping the girls focused and bright and let the text really pop out. But - nope, couldn't do it.

Well ... now I believe I can ... dum dum duuuuummmmm ...

I started at Chapter One, and made it through to Chapter Six over the two nights we were there. I still have more to read, and I hope to be finished in the next few days, but I played around with the program a little bit when we got home today and I was able to do some pretty cool things. I am very excited and I am hoping to really make my pictures look amazing.

I'll post some of my works in progress soon ... but until then here are a few more "oldies but goodies." I am very nostalgic lately.