Adventures with Olive and Georgia

At school, my students researched Christmas traditions and beliefs in other cultures. In Switzerland, they have a parade to chase Santa to the Rhine and the children believe Baby Jesus brings their gifts. In Italy, they leave their shoes under the tree to be filled with treats. Learning about these customs makes me think about my own. What’s with putting a tree in the house? Why Santa? Why is Christmas such a big deal any way? It’s making me even think about my beliefs around the holiday all together.   I’ve been in church since my own December birth, so that makes 28 times I’ve heard the story, been to the service, seen (or been in) the programs, etc. But this year, I’m seeing it differently. In my Bible, the first chapter of John starts with bold lettering “ God becomes human ”.   Why a baby though? Couldn’t he have just shown up as a miracle working man? He may have actually gotten more appreciation that way. He wouldn’t have been seen as that poor kid from Nazareth trying to a

With most circumstances, I've learned to deal with life like any first time mom, not considering the doubling of the work. However, sometimes I think that this has to be way harder, more exhausting, frustrating, but also more rewarding, sweet and funny than having a singleton. Here are some wonderful and/or horrendous things I am learning about raising “Double Trouble”. Bathing. Sometimes when Tony works in the evenings, I have to give a bath on my own. No big deal, right? Well, it’s not a big deal until it’s time to get them out. Two opposite of potty-trained kids running around naked… Tonight, Olive squatted and pooped on Little Golden Book while I was dressing Georgia. She then pointed at it and laughed until I cleaned it up. Poop. I changed 8 poopie diapers today, not counting the book. I thought that number might decrease more by this time. Nope. They are still the poopingest kids around. Food. It is extremely difficult to grocery shop for a todd

   Adulthood is so far away for my 16 month old girls, but I pray for that distant future, and I wonder… What might they be? -------------------------------- Olive is so loving and affectionate. Maybe she will be a missionary (I’m hoping that she will so she can take me along J ), spreading God’s love that spills through her life.   She is also quite an adventurous dare-devil. Maybe she will be the youngest American Ninja Warrior. I joked the other day that she should have been born in the early 70s so she could have been on American Gladiators. Her Gladiator name (given by Tony) is Ice Chip. She is also incredibly strong, pushing around tables and carrying bags, pumpkins, anything that she can grip with her chubby little hands. Maybe she’ll be a fitness guru. She is now taking on clients as a Baby Cross Fit trainer. She is optimistic and peaceful…usually.   She brushes off just about everything and trucks on.   She will have joy in whatever she does in her l

This is my adaptation to the duck, fox, corn riddle. I feel like I’m trying to solve a similar version of it all day long. -You have a toddler who is walking but not in any directed manner. -You have a second toddler who is also walking but falling down quite a bit still. -You have a giant bag that includes all of your baby needs and maybe your wallet and sunglasses if you are lucky. -You have a destination (mini-van/stroller/store/house/anywhere you need to go). -You can only take one of your three things to this destination at a time, leaving two together.   -The problem is… *If left together, Baby A will bite Baby B and then run away. Baby B will cry and attempt to strangle Baby A. *If left with the bag, Baby B will dump it out and break your sunglasses. She will then drag the extra clothes across the room and lay them on the dog. *If left with the bag, Baby A will climb into it and poop.   She will then try to get out, but trip on the handl

I 'm really struggling with going back to work after spending such a great summer with my girls. So, I spiffed up my classroom decor (all for free of course) to make my new, VERY RED, classroom more homey. Check it out. I'm pretty excited to focus on reading this year! This was a free font I downloaded, typed, printed, and cut out. Viola! No silly packages of letter cut outs. It looks way bigger in panorama. It's actually about the size of a large shoe box. I leave lots of open wall space for anchor charts and pictures. This area will be for student and family photos.  New pencil sharpener! Always exciting for a teacher! One of the three benches Tony made for me- FREE. Non-fiction books organized by topics.  Fiction organized by author's last name. I have enough floor and bench seating for everyone, so no one has to stay at their desk to read! The only thing I purchased for my classroom this year was this outdoor bench cushion for $ 15. Chapter books organized by lexile

I read these great books while pregnant, and they really helped me prepare for sleep training twins, but of course there have been some surprises and lessons learned. Here is just a run down of the plan that worked for us. I am absolutely not saying that this works for everyone, but I am saying that it is probably worth trying if you need a plan and it worked for someone! the importance of quality sleep and synchronized schedules effective CIO and self soothing Swaddling- For the first few weeks, the girls were swaddled at all times, unless it was eating time or tummy time. Then, they stayed swaddled for naptime and bedtime until about 3 months. My girls did NOT love this (I doubt any babies love it), but it was the only way they slept. Otherwise, they woke themselves up with uncontrollable flailing arms. Always Swaddled Sleeping Together- They slept together in one bassinet for about a month, then they ran out of room and needed their own. The twin Pak n Play with