Strangers Have The Best Candy

What started as a pre-planned (as in babies fed/diaper bag fully stocked/boys' bladders empty/checkbook ready) trip to Costco turned out to be a lesson in wisdom. Just as all 6 of us were rounding the last section, ready to tackle the snack aisle before heading for the checkout, we were stopped by a nice old man's declaration: "I'm a twin, too!" He came up to me and stated "I believe there's a special place in heaven for mothers of twins." I liked him already. As Justin approached, he yelled "There's the FOT (father of twins)!" and gave him a big hug. He offered Jonah and James some gum, adding the disclaimer "I assure you this gum is fresh from the grocery store. I don't deal drugs." His name is Don, he told us his twin brother's name is Ron (which affirmed my decision to alliterate all our kids' names rather than rhyme them), and he was so full of energy. In a matter of 1 minute he gave us advice on keeping memories of the twins as they grow, emphasized the importance of piano (he plays at the local senior center, where he could very possibly reside himself), and gave Justin more hugs than I have in the past 10 years. After a short "Goodbye" and "Have a nice day", he danced away (at least I think we said goodbye - he was still talking as he left). Really, a breath of fresh air. Maybe someday Jack or Jed will be that old man twin that you run into at Costco, dancing in the aisles, talking about the sweet things that can be found in a piece of gum and in life.

Resident Evil

Merriam-Webster defines "evil" as morally reprehensible, sinful, or wicked. I define "evil" as Trader Joe's All Natural Dark Chocolate-Covered Joe-Joe's with Vanilla Bean Cream. And when they're frozen (thanks for the extra evilness, Tracy), they are even more devilishly delectable. So, since misery (of the marvelous kind) loves company, go out to your local Trader Joe's and sample one - if you can stop at just one. If evil was round, these Joe-Joe's would be Satan himself.

Father's Love

So I 'm a little late in wishing all you dads out there a Happy Father's Day! We celebrated with my brother and his family and my dad with a very informal barbeque, watching all our kids play in the pool. Justin had last Saturday "off" to do what he wanted to do , which was sleep until 10am and watch movies on his laptop - in peace. Later that day he took Jonah and James to see Kung Fu Panda. For one of his presents, I made him a slideshow, and due to technical difficulties, I am unable to post it, but here's the song I used: "Father's Love" by Bob Carlisle.

So thank you, Justin, for being a faithful and loving father to our Fantastic Four.

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!" 1John 3:1

$150 Ahead

Yay, yay, yay! We just started saving about $150/month in a matter of minutes. Jed and Jack just finished their LAST can of formula! Many of you know the story - I nursed both of them as soon as they were born but 1)this Bessie just didn't produce enough milk for the calves and 2) since the babies were preemies the doctor instructed us to put them on high calorie formula to supplement the breast milk. Well, they had reflux and despite emptying out their stomachs on our favorite t-shirts time and time again, they still managed to grow. I think I was about to throw myself off Suicide Bridge in Pasadena, up to my ears in baby vomit, when the GI specialist finally recommended this formula, and they finally stopped all the throw up (HELLO, could Dr. Tran have mentioned this MONTHS before every piece of clothing I owned had inadvertently been acid-washed??!!). So, the twins had been on this formula and, mind you, feeding two babies ain't cheap, even when you get this stuff at Costco! Anyway, they're on whole milk now. Since we prefer organic and there's still two of them to feed, I hear my bubble bursting as I write - that $150 in formula just might turn into $ for organic milk, with any change to spare going toward gas. Well, so much for new clothes - let's just hope that 80's acid- wash look comes back real soon.

Happy Birthday, James!

Another milestone in our family - James turned 4 years old yesterday! His birthday party last Saturday was a long time coming. We didn't celebrate his birthday last year because the twins had just been born and life was SO crazy (not that it isn't now) since we were adjusting so many new things. No, we didn't actually forget the day last year, but he didn't get a chance to celebrate it. So this year his request for a "Speed Racer" party was fulfilled, complete with a custom car craft and race car races. Here he is holding his very own Mach 5. He also got a tower of racer-decorated cupcakes, way too many Speed Racer Hot Wheels, and a little bit of a tan from playing outside. I think he's forgiven us for not celebrating last year, but, knowing this little guy, he'll bring it up when we least expect it as leverage for something he REALLY wants. Happy Birthday, Minis!

Livin' Inside Out

On May 16th and 17th, Sonrise ISP (our homeschooling group) presented the musical "Livin' Inside Out". They do musicals every year, and it's a great experience for all the kids that participate. This was Jonah's second year in the choir - see him singing his heart out? But what this picture DOESN'T show is what he was doing most of the time he was up there. I suppose all that singing was boring him - he kept looking down picking his nails! And he was in the front row! HELLO! I dont' know - maybe he felt that two years of this was two years too many, or his concern for good hygiene took over. But considering he could have been picking some other part of his body, I guess it could have been worse. I just hope next year he doesn't pull out a crossword puzzle to work on during the performance.