Mama Mama Quite Contrary

I had to laugh when I saw this crying baby photo link up party .  When Vivi was a baby, I don't think we got any pictures of her crying.  As our only child, her tears were a rare occurrence and I never thought to document the crying when it happened.  I was more concerned with putting an end to the tears. As if that would ever happen with twins!  Photos with one or more crying babies were an inevitability.  So here you have it, my contribution to the link up: Eliya giving those lungs a workout.  Jude trying to tune her out.  Week #1 Jude screaming and the poor big sister not sure what to make of it.  My personal favorite since this pretty much sums up Jude's first year of life. Unidentified screaming child in the background.  It's probably Jude. When the babies got going, so did Vivi.  Oh, and mommy.  Mommy always cried too. I'm also linking up to Simply Modern Mom's Glimpse into Motherhood .

Thanks bloggy friends for all your kind words about my parenting.  Maybe if I knew all of you in person, you might be not so quick with your comments.  I'm trying to look at the positive here.  At least I only yell at my own children. Anyway, I mentioned in my beleaguered post that I'm waging a one-woman battle against THE MARKERS .  (Yes, I've confiscated them on numerous occasions but Vivi is a self-proclaimed "artiste" and she always earns them back.) Seriously though, I hate them and this is why: Uh oh.  Mom's giving me the look . "Mama, I got pritty legs." Just when I was thinking, "Well, at least it was only one turtle."  Look who shows up: As if the outfit wasn't eye-catching enough... Linking up to Simply Modern Mom 's Glimpse Into Motherhood.

Even though Vivi's language has become a bit more complex and (ahem....) colorful, sometimes her simplest notes are the sweetest.  This is what she gave me a couple of weeks ago: My present was this picture: Vivi explained that she and I are walking on a path to China together in our high heels. Since she's really into writing and sounding out words, I asked her to write my grocery list.  I told her we needed: Chocolate Graham Crackers Veggie Burgers Watermelon And this is what she wrote: She may be sunshine and rainbows but she's part potty too. Linking up to Simply Modern Mom's Glimpse into Motherhood .

I'm not really an optimist.  In fact, according to my husband and other reliable sources, I can be a real complainer sometimes.  I like to think it's part of my charm but I know he usually just finds me annoying. This was particularly evidenced by my behavior yesterday morning when my husband made smoothies for the girls.  Smoothies are always a hit in this house but when I got downstairs and saw that the pitcher and the girls' cups were mostly full, I knew something had gone horribly wrong.  Still, I decided that the smoothie was worth a try but I was so overwhelmed by the sweetness that I didn't make it past one sip. As the ray of sunshine that I am, I asked him what the hell happened to the smoothie.  He said it was fine and I went on to complain that the girls would have finished their cups if it was fine. Then I made the discovery that all the blueberries and deviled eggs were gone.  The blueberries went into the smoothie and the deviled eggs.... wen...

One day, you'll flip the "review photos" setting on your camera and find things like this: And perhaps, if your daughter is anything like my daughter, you will find photos of ALL  her body parts. Even the parts that aren't suitable for internet publication. DELETE! Linking up to Simply Modern Mom's Glimpse Into Motherhood .

Hello Internet!  I am back from the abyss of home improvement, rainy days, my cleanse, various outings and disasters, as well as Vivi's last day of nursery school.  I survived it all and now we have this fancy thing on which I can relax: Of course, I am not the only one who uses our new deck.  How could you not spend a lot of time out there when you have a twin sister and conjoined adirondack chairs? And snacks.  Must not forget the snacks. It wasn't long after the deck was finished and the rain broke, that my husband decided we needed a little family outing.  So we drove to southern Rhode Island, slapped some numbers on our kids, enticed them with Pirate's Booty (or "Judy Moody" as Ellie calls it), and told them to run their little hearts out.   Which they did for a half mile.  Well, Jude and Vivi did.  Ellie stayed at the starting line with her snacks.  Are you sensing a theme here? "I'm taking you down, Mama."   Vivi did gr...

Ladies, I am doing something that I never ever thought I would do: a cleanse.  Yes, in a moment of bloated flabbiness, I signed up for this .  I am off dairy, gluten, all processed food including tofu, and sugar for ten days.  As a vegetarian, I'm also not eating meat so it's been a lot of almond butter, avocado, hummus, and kale around these parts. And, well, it hasn't been terrible.  The first couple days I felt more tired than I have felt in a very long time.  I think it was because I had to sever my relationship with sugar.  (I was sorry to have to break-up with my BFF but her time had come. She's been treating me badly for so long that I just couldn't keep pretending our problems didn't exist.) The most challenging part of this week is not the cleanse, however.  It is this: We hired someone to paint our foyer, stairwell, and upstairs hallway.  We are on day 5!   FIVE!  I have been out of the house from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. ...

The first warm sunny day around here is an important day.  That's when Daddy empties the compost bin and all his helpers get to work. At some point during this process, a certain someone felt the need to remove her pants. Don't worry Daddy, I'll take care of this.   Smoothie in the sunshine = Toddler Bliss! Linking up to Simply Modern Mom's Glimpse Into Mootherhood .

Linking up to Simply Modern Mom and her Glimpse of Motherhood Project.

In a couple of weeks, my husband will be heading down to New York City to attend his 25-year medical school reunion.  As part of the event materials, graduates had to send little biographies of themselves as well as photographs which would be included in an alumni directory.  Simple right? Well, we got the directory in the mail the other day.  Everyone sent in photos that looked like this: Source Everyone... except my husband.  This is his photo: He and I had a good laugh over this and hopefully the folks at Columbia will too.

What?  You mean you didn't potty train your child while she was fully-clothed and holding a pan intending to make "crazy-dillas?" Oh, I guess that just happens in our house.

Sometimes underpants are just that. Sometimes underpants are the BEST. PLAYTHINGS. EVER. See what I mean? Linking up to Simply Modern Mom this week.

It isn't everyday that I think about how lucky I am to live in the good ol' US of A.  Sure, I enjoy paying through the nose for our exceedingly crappy health insurance.  I swell with pride when I hear that my husband and I pay more taxes than General Electric.  I feel a sense of calm when I remember that Haliburton has an exemption to the Clean Water Act.  I mean if the government recognizes that it can't keep our water safe at least it has the good sense to pass off the responsibility to a multi-national company. Right?   Even with these comforting thoughts, I sometimes take my freedom for granted.  I mean how lucky am I to get to drive on the superbly maintained roads in my neighborhood?  Isn't it great that I get to go to bed every night and know that giving my daughters an exemplary education will only cost around $20,000?  Thank goodness I have my freedom-loving children to remind me of what it is like to live with liberty. If you didn't...