well, that went fast

I am sitting here at the kitchen table with the boys while they eat their breakfast and I decided to check on the blog, where I see that the last time I posted was during the first week of my summer break.  And now here I am, on my LAST Monday of summer break.  Where did the time go??

This summer was a lot of fun.  Last year, I struggled through many of the days at home with two babies, just trying to make it until the time when Mark got home from work and could help out again.  The days were L O N G.  This year was so much different.  Since Parker and Henry are older, we could do so much more.  Honestly, there were very few days that felt like last summer - survival.  This year was jam packed with activity and I love that we were able to leave the house and go somewhere almost every single day.  That kept all three of us from going stir crazy!

A week from today I start back at work for a new school year.  I am excited for a new year, but also completely avoiding getting ready for it.  My classroom is a mess and I do not feel prepared to get back in the groove yet.  So I think I will relish these last days of summer freedom and scramble to figure it all out next week.  That sounds doable, right?

Summer Sun

After an entire month of rain, we are welcoming the June sunshine with open arms.  And lots of bubbles.

We are also loving trips to see the grandparents and all the times they come to visit us.  We are lucky to have both sets of grandparents only about an hour's drive away, so we get to see them often.  Plus, grandpa always has popsicles in the freezer!

Our neighborhood pool opened a few weeks ago and we took the boys for the first time on Sunday.  It was finally warm and sunny and we were hoping they would like the water.  Lucky for us, they did!  I am seeing a summer with late evenings at the pool with these two little fish.

Parker cannot resist an opportunity to dance.  He heard to music at the pool and started to do his signature wiggle.

Henry was in a trance watching all the big kids play and slash around in the main pool.  He was looking about 4 years old and I know he was imaging joining them all one day.

So Long Sweet Summer

A great BIG thank you and WELCOME BACK to everyone who found me from my post on Twin Talk!  I hope some of you will stick with me, either here on my blog or on Instagram.  It was so much fun to "meet" so many of you from your own blogs and IG accounts.  I have so many new twin moms to follow, which has been tons of fun.

This week I started back at school, which has been going great.  I have the sweetest class this year and I'm excited to be back in the school groove.  I have been pretty wiped out though!  It usually takes a week or so to adjust to my schedule in the fall, but I am finding that starting the year with babies makes it that much harder!  Plus, the boys are in a new class at their school now, and they have a different nap schedule.  So we all needed a good week to adjust and get used to it.  But! They now nap for {almost} THREE HOURS IN THE AFTERNOON! Straight. In a row. I thought moving to one nap would be INSANE, but it has actually been pretty fantastic.  It is working out well for all of us, so we can't complain.

Thank goodness for the long weekend!  I am catching up on blogging {i also have a teaching blog!} and trying to also get some last details wrapped up in my classroom.  Knowing that we don't have work yet tomorrow is the best feeling.  We have had a pretty lazy weekend, just hanging around at home and watching lots of college football {yay!}

Henry and Parker were {of course} sporting their Texas gear {Mom's team}, but Henry also gave Dad a shout out with his OSU hat.  Luckily, his head is big enough to wear Mark's hat!

Right before school started, the boys and I went to the pool with one of my fellow teacher friends.  Her sister-in-law and niece were there too, and the littles enjoyed playing with some cups {that may or may not have been for the wine.}  One thing we did not do nearly enough this summer was hit up the pool.  But, we still have tomorrow.

Enjoy your long weekends. Soak up the sun!

August

I know it is not August yet, but it might as well be.  Where did the summer go?!  I can't believe school starts back up in a month.  Four weeks.  EEEK.  It feels like we only just started our lazy (ha) days at home, and now they are already running out.

The boys are napping right now.  Both of them.  Are asleep.  This feat was not achieved lightly.  It took almost 20 solid minutes of screams of rage.  Parker did not think he needed to take a nap, so he voiced his opinion quite loudly.  In fact, don't tell him that I was actually about to wave the white flag and go get him out of his bed, giving up on the afternoon nap.  But when I creaked the door open, he was sprawled out asleep.  Whew.

So now I sit with a dishwasher that needs unloading, laundry that has been in the dryer for days, and a list of things I need to start working on for school in the fall.  But instead, I'm watching a Nicholas Sparks movie I've been saving in the DVR {The Vow} and dusting off the ol' blog.

Our summer has been going really well.  I thought we would be going stir crazy and looking for things to occupy our days, but we are actually so busy that I don't even think we have had a full week at home with just me and the boys, all day everyday.  Family visiting and friends staying over and summer vacations and long weekends with the grandparents have stacked up and made the weeks fly by.  I think it is all winding down now though, which is great.  I look at the days left at home this summer and feel a pull on my heart for when Henry and Parker will go back to their school in August.  Even though the days are long and often hard and I am constantly saying prayers for patience under my breath, I really do treasure this time with my boys.

{Sidenote: I have already rewinded The Vow three times because I am not even paying attention to it.  Gah! Must use this quiet time to watch depressing chick-flicks where either Rachel McAdams or Channing Tatum is GUARANTEED to die.  Thanks a lot, Nick.}

For a few weeks, Parker's hair made the best ever faux hawk. 

Henry and Grandma

These photos are getting tougher and tougher to take, since Parker is MOBILE now!

Hankie!

Henry and Dad on the ferry to Galveston

Seeing the ocean {okay it's really the gulf} for the first time!

At our beach house, "Purple Haze"

Hey Blog! We are BACK!

OMG.  I haven't blogged over here since March.  Whoops!  

I think about this little space often and always want to get back to it, but the time always slips away every day and then bam. Two and a half months pass.  I'm three months behind in monthly photos (and to be honest I haven't even taken our 7 months ones yet, and the boys hit that mark weeks ago).  I'll try and play catch up, but I might just skip ahead and start fresh.  That seems a little less overwhelming!

Life is busy, guys.  Having two little kiddos keeps you really occupied!  Since I've been gone (shout out Kelly Clarkson):

* Parker had surgery {nothing too scary, we've known about it since birth, and it went very well}

^ Just before going back

^ One week post-op

* Henry got a Doc Band {helmet} for his little head.  We are about 2 months into wearing it, with about one more month to go.  I don't think he even knows he is wearing it, so it's been a breeze.

^ Swimming?

* My school year ended!  

Today was actually my first day of SUMMER VACATION and my first day as a SAHM.

^ Summer means the pool opened! 

Our first timing swimming was way more successful than I thought it would be!

*We've been spending time almost every evening outside on the patio, sweating a bit in the time just before baths

^ BBQ with friends!

^ Super Hero Shirts

And in general, we've just been doing a lot of growing!  With work over, I hope to be able to come back and blog a little more regularly.  My Summer Bucket List is long, so let's hope our little family can stay busy and find time to have lots of fun!

Travels

Today is my last Monday of summer break.  Oh my.  I have mixed emotions about going back to work.  I am excited to see all my work friends on the regular again, and super pumped to see my kiddos from last year, who I really have missed!  I have even been dreaming about seeing them again, which is kind of odd. I am also anxious to meet this year's new class of kids, but I kind of feel like I won't like them as much as I liked last year's class.  I know I'm going to see all the second graders and be like, "No!  Come back to first grade!  I neeeeeeed youuuuu!"

Now don't get me wrong.  I am also super bummed that summer is over.  Like everything fun and carefree, it flew by.  We have been out of town SO MUCH over the past three weeks.  It was fun to travel and get away from the Texas heat, but I am also kind of bummed that I spent so many of my last lazy days packing, unpacking, packing again, driving, flying, and just generally not at home.  It's always fun to get away, but being back at home is pretty awesome too.  My plan for this last week of break: NOTHING.  Just me, sleeping in, floating at the pool and generally not doing anything.

Here's a quick rewind of where we have been over the past several weeks.  Just looking back through it all wears me out!

At the end of July, we jetted up to Pittsburg for Mark's college roommate's wedding.  It was fun and the weather was awesome, and got to see several of Mark's OSU friends, which is always a good time.  It was the babies' first official wedding and they seemed to enjoy the festivities.  I know I enjoyed the half glass of champagne I allowed myself for the toasts.

After Pittsburg, we came home and repacked our bags for a getaway to Colorado Springs.  We met my sister and brother-in-law up in CO and spent five days in the mountains, where it rained every afternoon and the highs were in the 80's.  It was heavenly.

Here we are at the top of Pike's Peak, 14,000+ feet up in the air.  We drove up the mountain in our little rental car, which was fun and also incredibly freaky.  I felt like we were going to fall of the edge of the road several times!

We took some pit stops on the way up the mountain and walked around.  I was super out of breath and had to take breaks as we climbed up some rocks on one of the stops, but the views up top were worth the panting and chilly temps.

Bros up top.  They dressed opposite that day, can you tell?

Here's my sister and I one evening after we walked around the lake at the Broadmoor, where we stayed.  Holy cow, I cannot recommend this place enough.  It was beautiful and the staff were so friendly and nice.  Behind us is the building we stayed in.

Here's the view we woke up to each morning at the Broadmoor.  I miss those mountains and that crystal blue lake.  Sigh.

We also ate awesome the entire time we were in Colorado Springs, and even hit up one breakfast diner twice while we were there, we loved it so much.  One day we hit up the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, which is a zoo on the mountain.  I don't know why my pictures didn't upload on my computer, but we got the FEED and PET giraffes!!!  It was the neatest thing ever, and I would totally recommend this zoo to everyone who travels to CO Springs.  We'll have to come back in a few (several) years with the kiddos.

Three days after getting back home from Colorado, we hit the road again, this time road-tripping it to Small Town, Kansas for a Mark's cousin's wedding.  The 17 hours in the car, there and back, were brutal on six-month pregnant me, but let it be known there were plenty of bathroom breaks and stops to get out and stretch.  The wedding was charming and sweet, the perfect little farm town shindig.  I haven't uploaded any pictures of the weekend yet, since we just got back last night, but picture sitting on hay bales while the bride and groom said their vows under a huge oak tree, and plenty of country music and cowboy boots at the reception.  I think it's safe to say that was our last big weekend out of town before the babies arrive, which is okay by me!

Stay away, August!

I am in some serious denial that August is two days away.  WHAT?!  No, August.  Stay away. We are so not ready for you.

In just 3-ish weeks, I go back to work.  Oy.  I am not ready for that, mainly because I had big dreams of getting all this stuff ready for the babies "over the summer" so that when I went back to work, we would just be relaxing and waiting for them to make their appearance.  Well that has SO NOT HAPPENED YET.  I know I will be kicking myself when school starts back up and then I am trying to scramble and get things put together after work every day.  I will say, "Self, why did you not do this when you had those THREE MONTHS OF NO WORK??"

Well, in my defense, we didn't really want to do anything until we knew if we were having boys, girls or a combo deal.  Now that we know it is a boy and a girl, we can really hit the ground running.  Sort of.  Turns out, finding any kid of nursery bedding and decor that tastefully blends boy and girl is...... pretty much impossible.  After weeks of looking, my options were basically as follows:

- Beach theme with plaid in pink for her, blue for him (Eh. I don't want a "theme-y" room that has surfboards and palm trees and ocean waves.  Too much.  Stay away from themes.)

- Solid white bedding with subtle hints of blue for him, pink for her (Eh. I don't even want to mess with solid white crib bedding and blankets.  I spill enough as it is, without adding two babies into the mix, also making their share of messes.)

Annnnnd that was pretty much it.  My Plan B option was to just pick a boy bedding set and mix it with a girl set.  But here's what I'm finding - boy things come in two categories: animals and sports.  With the occasional "western" theme sprinkled in.  So I could do monkeys, giraffes, elephants, birds, fish, zoo animals, circus animals, moose, etc.  Or I could do football, baseball, soccer, basketball....  Again with the themes.  Not working for me.

So Plan C is the always-trendy "gender neutral" nursery, which means tan, gray and/or yellow.  Or even all white (No. See above)  Ducks.  Bees.  Birds.  Things like that. But I knew I wanted more color and something fun.  So after being throughly overwhelmed by all the lackluster options I was finding, I decided I would just have to put together my own design, picking and choosing from all over.  And as I have started to make decisions and even purchase things, I am really getting worried that this room is just going to be an explosion of patterns and colors.  But hey.  These kiddos won't complain, right?

Here's where my basic vision is going, with an update of where we are on the whole Let's-get-the-entire-nursey-set-up-this-summer plan:

- All white furniture.  We have this all picked out, but have only purchased one crib so far (side note: please send any and all Bed, Bath and Beyond/Buy Buy Baby coupons your have our way)

- Mint green/pale aqua walls, with one or two walls accented with white stripes.  This is halfway done. The mint color is on the walls, stripes coming... soonish.

- Navy blue (for him) and coral (for her) throughout.  This was tougher than I thought it would be, and my mom and I ended up buying some cute fabric to make our own crib bedding (which means my mom and mother-in-law will be sewing this... not me!)  Here's what we got:

- I am also wanting to get some of those very Anthropologie-ish ruffled curtains for the window.  So we're talking stripes on the walls, ruffles on the curtains, patterns on the bedding, and then, you know, throw a rug and some art work in there somewhere too.  Oh and we ordered a chair with a geometric print on it.  Uhh.. too much?  Only time will tell.

I'll wrap this up because I know it's more than you probably ever wanted to know about my unborn children's bedroom, but before I do, here are some quick "before" shots of the room that is going to be the nursery:

Cleaning out this room was actually a big part of our June and July.  I lost count of Goodwill trips after our fourth one.  We had to do some serious purging and organizing, so that whatever was going to stay would have a new place in the house.  Like that dresser has moved to the guest room, where it looks so much better than, you know, right in the doorway of the room when you walk in!

This room has always been the place we stashed the things we just didn't know what to do with, or even never really unpacked when we moved almost a year and a half ago.  Some things have found new homes, thanks to our friend Craig ('s List).

This closet was my "dress closet," housing all my dresses.  I am proud to say the closet is now EMPTY for our two little foxes to fill, but that meant giving away a lot of clothes on my part, and then squeezing the remaining stuff into my actual closet (well, the Bridesmaid Dress Hall of Fame was relocated to a guest room...)

That little TV there, I bought with a year's worth of babysitting money when I was in the fourth grade.  I paid for it, in cash, at Best Buy years ago, and even remember handing over baggies of coins to the cashier.  I've never wanted to give it away, but it did finally make it's way to Goodwill.  Not before I gave it a hug though.

And now (finally!), here's where the room is now:

Empty (other than a kitty who still thinks it's his room) and in it's current, mid-paint stage.

Whew!  If you made it this long, congratulations.  I'll save the rest of my rambling for another day.