Jul 01
Everyone,
We went blueberry picking the other day and it was awesome. I guess because of all the rain, our blueberries were huge, and easy to pick! We were there for about an hour picking and we got 12 pounds of blueberries. 12 pounds!
We would have had more but someone would pick some, and then find a shady spot to eat, then pick some, then eat. Okay, more than one someone would do that.
But between me and Flower, and some friends, we got PLENTY!
Butterfly told us all how blueberries grow (we’ve been talking about it) and told me that they make a “kaplink, kaplank, kaplunk” sound when you pick them. Guess what book we’ve been reading!
Once we were done eating picking, we went down to the huge slides they have for the kids. Butterfly and her friends went down every slide. It looked thrilling.
Blueberry muffins anyone? We’ve got plenty!
Safire
Safireberry picking, Flower blueberry picking, Flower
Jun 13
Everyone,
After a very long (and very chatty) drive to the airport, I got Flower! (With the help of a few of Flower’s friends.) We passed 3 accidents requiring emergency personnel. Bad driving day.
She is so nice, he said I could keep her…for a few months anyway.
Yay for Flower!
Safire
SafireFlower Flower
Aug 04
Everyone,
Today was our last adventure with Flower. And boy was it a hot one! It seems like we kept putting off all the stuff outside, and then never actually got to do any of it. Except for this one. And this one showed that that was the right decision.
Besides the humidity and the heat, Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia is an amazing place to go! We love to come here and come often. (Often being about 3 to 4 times a year.) Why do we keep coming back? It’s not the really good ice cream they have. It’s not the beautiful rose garden restaurant we like to eat in. It’s the history. And for me, it’s the fact that the Appalacian Trail runs right through town. It’s always been kind of a dream of mine to hike the whole thing. Right now, I’ll settle for walking part of the trail in town.
Flower had never been there. And it’s beautiful. See?
Lolli’s oldest daughter, KitKat, came along too. Flower and KitKat have been come good friends this time around (and actually KitKat spent the night last night so we could get an early start. Haha…the girls stayed up late and we got started the same time we always do. (10:30-ish)
This trip was not one of the best trips we’ve done. It was hot. And pushing and carrying our monster stroller around was brutal. I was dripping sweat from my elbows about half way through. We said next time we come in summer, we are going to bring swimming suits and swim in the Shenandoah river. About half the people we saw there today were in the river cooling off. And the current in the river was very mild. There were even several places where the rocks made small pools with no current at all!
Even though it was hot, and even though we didn’t see all I wished we would have seen for Flower, it is still an amazing town.
Safire
SafireFlower, Harper's Ferry, hiking, KitKat Harper's Ferry, hiking, hot, West Virginia
Jul 24
Everyone,
We’ve had a busy week here at the Cooper household. Which doesn’t leave much time for movie watching with Flower. Especially since she went and had some teenage girl time in the form of a sleep over. But here’s what we watched this week:
Runaway Bride: When we were at the beach, we drove through the town that this movie was filmed in. And Flower had never seen it! I have the soundtrack to this movie and it’s one of my favorites. Although, I’m not sure why I don’t own it. It just reinforced the time period in which I grew up because I thought all the clothes in it were really cute. I wonder if I will continue to think that late ’90s clothes are cute.
Ballet Shoes: Emma Watson is in this one. It’s about 3 girls who were found as babies and raised as sisters. When their guardian disappears, they had to be trained in acting, dance, etc. in order to pay for their way. This was an odd little show but really good! Worth a watch.
The Count of Monte Cristo: Flower said that she really liked this one. She also said that it makes more sense when you see all of it and not just a random bit for school. I’d agree with that one. Juice likes it because there is sword fighting in it. I like it for the funny little bits in it. And we’re naming our next boy “The Maggot”.
That’s it for movies we watched together this week! Flower watched The Spiderwick Chronicles and West Side Story with friends. I watched Sneakers with Juice.
Sad to say, that this is one of the last Saturdays we have with Flower! I can’t believe the summer is almost over and she has to go back home. I’m sure her family will be thrilled to see her, but I’m super sad she’s going. Maybe she can come next year?!
Safire
SafireFlower Flower, Movies
Jul 10
Everyone,
Here’s another list of the movies we’ve watched with Flower this week. It hasn’t been a lot (busy week!) but we’ve watched a few.
Little Shop of Horrors: “Little shop, little shop of horrors! Bop she bop!” I can’t say the title of this movie without singing the title song. Great cast, creepy plant, annoying girl. Flower looked stunned through out most of the movie and was excited that the plant was going to sing too. It’s the little things.
Little Women: I think this book was one of the main reasons I wanted to be a writer. I always thought Jo was a stupid name for a girl, though. But I do like it for a boy. Anyway, Flower has read the book but never seen the movie. This was also the movie (for me) that gave me a small crush on Christian Bale. He was cute in it but I am always disappointed he ends up with Amy. Flower enjoyed it and wants to read the book again when she goes home.
You’ve Got Mail: We only watched part of this movie because it’s been a crazy busy week. I like that this is a remake of an older movie, The Shop Around the Corner. Her book store’s name in the current movie is a nod to that one. A super sweet love story. Although I always feel like the end is a little flat. Not sure why. Flower has yet to see the end so her views on it are still forming.
Light week on movies! And I don’t see it getting any better this next week either!
Safire
SafireFlower, movies movies with Flower
Jun 26
Everyone,
So beyond the “Go Diego Go” that Butterfly has been obsessed with, we have been watching a bunch of movies with Flower this week. Here’s a list of what we’ve been watching.
Murder By Death: I didn’t watch this one…I was working I think. Both Juice and Flower laughed out loud several times though and it has Maggie Smith in it, when she was really young. (Think Professor McGonagall.)
The Karate Kid: I love this movie! New kid moves in, gets beat up a lot, really likes a girl, gets beat up some more, gets taught karate by his maintenance man and wins karate tournament. Seriously, what’s not to love? Flower got bored during this movie I think. Personally I think the second one is the best one but she had to watch the first to get the back story.
Sylvester: A horse movie that I didn’t know existed! Cow girl trains a horse to jump and is able to take said horse to competition. (Basic horse movie plot.) It even had a bunch of actors and actresses that I know and like in it. And I got to see all the horse stuff I love. Flower missed most of it (due to her being in New York for Youth Conference) but sat through the ending because I wanted to see it. She is so nice!
According to Greta: I watched this while Flower was at Youth Conference. It was a coming of age drama that was kind of crazy. Girl says she wants to kill herself, gets sent to grandparents’ house for the summer, gets a job, Grandma has a heart attack, girl doesn’t want to leave, everything is fine. Not one I would watch ever again.
Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark: Action. Rolling boulders, snakes, Egyptian temples, Nazis. Flower has never seen any of the Indiana Jones movies so we’re broadening her movie horizons. Also, there is a lot of blood and killing in that movie! Never noticed that before. Flower was amazed and interested in watching the rest of the trilogy plus one. Me too.
So that’s what we’ve been watching. Tune in next week for another run down of our movie watching persuits!
Safire
SafireFlower, movies Flower, Movies
Jun 25
Everyone,
Joining my friend Lolli online (and not in person, we haven’t hung out for a month! Crazy for us!) for her best shot of the week.
Today we went to the local pick your own produce place and picked blueberries. Oh so many blueberries.
12 and a half pounds of blueberries.
I think we’ve already eaten 3 pounds of them at home. They are wonderful this year. Large and juicy and so easy to pick. The bushes were just heavy with them today. And since it was the coolest day of the week, everyone and their dog was out picking. (Literally, several people had dogs with them in purses and such.)
The kids had a great time picking. Butterfly’s BFF Vinny and Lala came along to keep us company. They picked about 4 lbs of blueberries and then helped us pick ours.
Butterfly mostly played with Vinny but they were very cute together trying to out pick each other. I think they were just happy to be out of the house and together. Outside. Where they could (and were) as loud as possible.
We were there for only about an hour because it was so hot. That and the boys were unhappy I wasn’t letting them eat the berries off the bushes. I told them they could eat the berries off the ground but not off the bushes.
Pirate went right to work picking the blueberries. He almost filled the bottom of his bucket. He then promptly turned the bucket over and dumped the blueberries on the ground. And then ate them.
Professor, on the other hand, just buried himself into the bush and ate as many berries as he could get his little hands on. His mouth and his fingers were purple. He had the cutest little imp smile on his face that I could barely tell him to stop eating them.
So sorry local pick your own produce place. I think my boys must have eaten at least a pound of berries in the hour we were there. But thanks for the awesome berries! They taste great.
Safire
Safire2 boys-double trouble, around our town, berry picking, Flower berry picking, blueberries, Flower
Mar 30
Everyone,
So. No HILARIOUS video of me and Lolli today. Sorry. Just didn’t get it done with all the other stuff I did today.
Want to know what I did?
3 loads of laundry (washed, folded, put away…my mom would be so proud)
2 huge pizzas for dinner…all topping prepped and crusts made by hand
homemade ranch dressing, also for dinner (and super yummy!)
cleaned the living room
vacuumed
swept
(no mop because mine is out on loan)
cleaned the paper table up, opened bills, shredded stuff, threw away a lot
made my bed
worked at least 4 hours today for my brother
2 big bowls of popcorn made
Want to know HOW I accomplished such an amazing list?!
Lolli loaned me her 10 year old.
It was awesome. I need to get myself one of these. Necco helped Butterfly pick up the toys, played with the boys, made everyone lunch, enjoyed crazy kid movies with Butterfly and fed Soot buttered popcorn. I had an amazing day with a little bit of help. Thanks Necco and Lolli!
This also brings to mind the last 2 summers when we’ve had Flower, my niece, stay with us. (We’ve had numerous people stay with us…Flower has been visiting us the most.) I miss those days of not changing every single diaper and going back to bed in the morning if I want to because I know Flower is there with the kids.
Flower will be with us again this summer! Except this time, instead of staying 4-6 weeks, she is staying the ENTIRE summer. I am so excited I can’t contain myself. I think she is as equally excited. It will be so nice to be able to run to the store during nap time or have an extra set of hands when someone *coughProfessorcough* is feeling extra needy.
It’s so nice to have friends and family who care about your sanity enough to risk their own.
Safire
SafireFlower, Lolli, Lolli's family
Mar 28
Everyone,
This week’s question of the week at the Multiples and More site is about advice.
What is the best and worst advice you have ever received on raising your multiples?
I have honestly gotten a lot of good advice from pregnancy and beyond. I am lucky to have a hugely active local multiples club. If I ever have any kind of question, I only need to ask those parents over there and I’m sure I’ll get a few awesome answers. Between this club and my own mom, I think I get a lot of great advice.
The greatest advice I ever got with the twins was on the day that we found out we were having twins. The doctor supervising the ultrasound was one I knew really well. I knew he had twins of his own. He was explaining what we were looking at and measuring those 2 heartbeats. They were amazing to see on the screen. After he was done with the ultrasound, he looked at me and said, “You know I have twin sons who are 11, right? Those first weeks are really hard. Get help.”
Juice was in the ultrasound with me and we spent the 45 minute drive home talking about what he said. It seemed like a good idea so we began to plan how we could have help. And who we could ask to help out.
My parents were planning on coming for the birth this time, and staying 2 weeks to help those first crazy days. Plus, we needed someone to stay with Butterfly. Sadly, they missed the boys birth by 1 day. But they were able to stay 2 whole weeks drinking in the brand new baby stuff.
Then my in laws came to stay with us for one whole month. It was amazing to have another set of hands around. They bailed me out of a dead car, celebrated Butterfly’s 3rd birthday with us, and had a fun time with the babies. They were a big help!
My parents came back for the boys church blessing, and brought my niece Flower along with them. She was 14 at the time and had come to spend a month with us. We had SO much fun with her. We went all over and she was a gem. She changed diapers, cleaned up, took Butterfly to the park, watched movies over and over and over with her, and then watched movies at night with me holding babies.
Once she left, we had 3 weeks without any help. Holy cow. I thought I was going to die a few times. If it wasn’t for my friends here, I don’t think I would have kept my sanity.
After those 3 weeks, my cousin Bee came to stay with us for 3 weeks. She was a lot of fun too! She was 15 and had never really even held a baby before. But boy she did a great job. Butterfly especially loved her fun spirit and cool games she cooked up.
Bee’s family came to pick her up and have a mini vacation with us for a week. Honestly, by this point the boys were 4 months old and had been hauled over the greater Washington DC area. They were great travelers and we had fun being tourists together. We also got photographed by Japanese tourists several times and I can just imagine what they tell their friends when they show them the pictures.
I flew to Utah with my kids and Bee’s family. Juice had work to do so he couldn’t come along. Then we spent almost 6 weeks at my mom’s house. This was heaven. I loved having my parents around to help out and to see all of my friends in Utah.
Once I flew home (with Juice), the boys were almost 6 months old. They were a lot easier. They were over that scary newborn phase and were sleeping 16 + hours a day.
I think I took my doctor’s advice seriously, and I really do believe that it was my key to having sanity while they were so tiny.
The worst piece of advice I think I’ve gotten from strangers. Mostly it’s little stuff. But things they say in passing without even knowing who I am or what I do. If I dress them the same, they say “You should never dress twins alike!” Never mind that my boys are completely different physically. If I don’t dress them the same, “You should always dress twins alike! How fun is that??” “You should have those kids in bed.” “You shouldn’t feed them that!” “You are shining the sun in their faces! Get a hat on those kids!” “You’re making your kids too hot! Take those hats off!”
Seriously, strangers should keep their mouths shut. But there’s something about twins that makes people just want to talk to you.
My best piece of advice for moms of any kind is to take things in stride. This is advice I try to give myself every day too! I see other moms with older kids and see how different their lives are than mine. Each stage has it’s challenges and joys. And I intend to enjoy them all!
Safire
Safireadvice, Bee, Flower, questions, visitors
Jan 08
Everyone,
I spent this morning with my parents. We tried to go out to breakfast at the cool outdoor store but they don’t open until 10am. My kids can’t wait that long for food! So we ended up at a burger place and enjoyed ourselves.
My BFF Mink and her two girls, Spider and Fair, came over and we had a fun afternoon playing with them. My nephew Cappy came to spend the afternoon too. So we had Butterfly, Spider, Cappy, Pirate, Professor, and Fair all running around. Fun! We had lunch together and then the boys went to down for their naps. Mink and her kids and Butterfly and my Mom all went to the furniture store and wandered around. We got the girls ice cream cones. I got Butterfly a night light for here since she says it’s too dark to go potty at night.
Speaking of night, Professor woke me up 3 times crying. He just wanted to be reassured where he was. The Butterfly woke me up snoring. She has a cold and I’m sad I couldn’t see my sister in law tonight!
We did see Juice’s family tonight and that was awesome. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. I talked to Flower and I miss having her at my house. She’ll have to come again soon!
I feel like I’ve been running hard all day long so I’m off to bed. More running tomorrow and hopefully some pictures!
Safire
SafireFlower, Juice's family, Mink and Spider and Fair, trips to Utah
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