They may have the same birthday...

But that's about all they have in common...

It has been a very interesting experience to raise twins

Especially some as different in every aspect as our boy and girl.

They have all of the classic differences:

one completely outgoing

one who I had to literally carry to the stage kicking and screaming for his first violin recital

...  one who loves reading

... and one who loves math

... one who picks up on things very quickly

... and one who needs plenty of repetition and practice to master some things

Yep, same birthday,

Different everything else.

This years Valentine's Day mailboxes are no exception to the rule:

Seth's box

(finished in about 10 min)

Sarah's box

(which took well into the night, 

and then some more 'touch ups' in the morning to complete)

Love my twins!!

The Law of Natural Consequences...

... are beautiful when it helps to teach the children a lesson...

... like this morning, for instance, when I sent the boys up to shower

     (after Seth whined about having to take once, since 'we took one yesterday!')

... and they asked if they could take a tubo tub

... and I relented (something I would live to regret)

... and as I sat emailing friends trying to work out a babysitting swap to volunteer in the kids classrooms

     (see?!  that's what I get for trying to volunteer!)

... Sarah brought down Elizabeth, who was sopping from head to toe in her pj's after just walking by the bathroom

... apparently from the 'tidal wave' that was coming from the bathtub of the boys...

... and I walked up to find not simply a turbo tub... but a whole bathroom sized swimming pool

   (are you feeling a little de ja vou-ish about now... wasn't my last post about something to do with waters and bathrooms??!!)

... instead of ranting and raving, this time I simply had the boys get towels and clean up their own mess, every nook and cranny of their mess

    (okay, so I still ranted and raved a smidge while they were cleaning up their own mess... )

... but that's not the law that really sunk in with Seth.

... nope, the beauty of it came back in the way that because of the extra clean up time, we were late getting to school    (okay, true confession, I took my time a wee bit getting the little ones ready to make sure that we would be a little late, just to drive home the lesson... hey, I never said the law of natural consequences couldn't use a little help every now and then!!)

... and this child HATES to be late, especially to school. 

... as in, he would rather stay in the car and hide all day then have to walk in late to school 

   (... those of you know know me, know for sure that this trait came straight from his dad!!!)

So as we pulled up late to school, I simply said, "well, the extra clean up time made us late for school... I guess you'll think twice about making such a big mess in the tub next time."

   

Judging from the look of horror on his face as he made the walk of shame to the school door, I think for once he maybe kinda sorta learned the lesson :).

Child mess: a little inconvenient  

Motherhood moment of triumph: priceless!

Happiness is...

... Having a little brother who LOVES to get hit with snowballs...

... yes it's true - as we woke up to our first 'snow storm' (very wet snow, although it snowed most of the day, there was actually very little to show for it, as evidenced by the picture!), the kids went outside, and I heard Josh laughing hysterically. When I peaked out to see what was so incredibly hilarious to him, I beheld Seth literally pelting him with snowball after snow ball. Josh's whole front was white from the 'battle wounds' but he was laughing harder and harder with each new hit.

... Sarah showing her magical 'sticky hands' holding the snowball upside down :)

Seth claiming victory... Seriously?? Can you really be all that excited

when you are 5 years older and about 2 feet taller than your opponent??!

Joshy just happy to be in on the action and LOVING the snow!

The Glass Half FULL...

Okay, okay, many of you are laughing at the title, because you know full well that I could probably find something to complain about in any situation, regardless of how perfect it is (winter: too cold, spring: too muddy, summer: too muggy, fall: too many leaves to rake... need I go on??!)...

... But there ARE, indeed, moments where I can also look on the 'fuller half' of life...

Exhibit #1

Notice Benjamin's nice facial 'burns'.  In person, they actually go all the way from his hairline to the lips.  Now, most people would see this as a negative.  He got these 'marks' when he was out making his spring debut on his scooter, got a little wobbly, and had a close encounter with the pavement.  Instead of thinking, "oh great, now we are into the scraped-skin season...," I actually got happy and thought, "Wow, the first skin burn of the spring - definitely a sign that the snow is on its way out for good!!"

Exhibit #2...

... so we were driving in the car a while back...

From the back, Seth says, "Mommy, yesterday I had to turn my card over" (the first step in their discipline action)

Me, "Did you hit anyone?"

Seth, "No!"

Me, "Did you bite anyone?"

Seth, "No!"

Me, "What did you do to turn your card over?"

Seth, "I was talking too much"

... now, if you know my sons in public situations, you know that they do the perfect mime interpretations.  Seth especially is extremely quite when he is around people he doesn't know very well, trying more to sink into the wall than engage in any of the activities.

... so the fact that he was not only talking in school, but talking too much in school brought so much happiness to my heart.  Ah yes, my son, the 'talk-too-mucher"... Love it!! 

What do you want to be when you grow up?

    This one was came via our sweet neighbor, who was having a conversation with Seth,

"So, Seth, are you going to go on a Mission when you grow up?"

"Yep!  And then, I'm going to be a Power Ranger!!"

That's my boy... Super Hero-Missionary :). 

The quote of the week...

... goes to our Sweet Seth...

Here is how the conversation went down:

Jerry:  "Seth, how was your first week of school?"

Seth:  "It was fun.  I have a girlfriend in my class!!"

Jerry (after he and I exchanged completely shocked looks):  "Oh, really?  What's her name?"

Seth:  "I don't know"

Jerry:  "Well, have you talked to her?"

Seth:  "Nope, she sits clear across the room from me.  But she is SO cool.  Like a Rock Star!!"

Yep, that's our little charmer.  Loving adoration from afar.  I tell you what, if this is the type of girlfriends we deal with (the kind that you don't know their name and with whom you never actually speak...), I'm okay with that!!

Freaks of Nature...

But Freaks in a GOOD way :)...

Some traits in my kids are just, well, not normal.  

Exhibit A)  Friday morning the kids are watching PBS while I am cleaning up the kitchen upstairs.  Sarah comes up the stares and says, "Mommy, I have watched too much movie.  Can I wash some windows?"  I get her the cleaning supplies, and she literally washes EVERY window on the top floor.  She even commandeered Benjamin to help out. (of course this can't have anything to do with the fact that she is trying to earn money to buy a scooter...)

Exhibit B)  I ask Seth to throw away a water bottle when we were finished drinking it.  He did, and then came back to me and asked, "But mom, shouldn't we recycle that bottle?"  To which I replied, "Yes, we probably should."  Seth, "Well, then why did you tell me to put it in the garbage?"  He ran and fetched it out of the garbage and then went out of his way to go out back and put it in the recycling bin.

Exhibit C)  I tell Sarah to put the clothes she took off in the dirty clothes hamper.  I come back a little later to take the said hamper downstairs, to see that sure enough, Sarah's dirty clothes are there, all neatly folded and placed gently in the hamper.

Seriously, where did these kids come from ?!