Friday, November 5, 2010

They're Different

Yep, the title of this post definetly states the obvious, but it didn't become obvious to me until just "recently"....like in the last few months or so. Matthew and Lucas are becoming such their own little people. The other day I was discipling them for lying, and I was using the term "boys..." when I was addressing them. Matthew was distracted by this and said, "Why don't you call us by our names?" He was irritated about that. After this, I started to reflect on how much they really are different in a lot of areas-even simple and complicated differences.

Yogurt: Matthew likes Yoplait Orange Creme, Lucas prefers Go-gurt
Chili: Matthew will eat it, Lucas won't touch it
Cooked Carrot and Potatoes: Matthew LOVES cooked carrots and won't touch potatoes, but Lucas LOVES potatoes and won't touch cooked carrots.
Playtime: Lucas takes a break to suck his fingers and hang out with his jacket watching cartoons. Matthew, plays constantly and doesn't understand Lucas's preference to rest
Routine: Matthew gets out of whack when our routines are broken. Lucas is more flexible.
Helping: Lucas likes to help Derrick around the house. Matthew would rather play
Sports: Lucas is more athletic than Matthew (but not an Olympian by any means) and enjoyed going to the Blue Jackets game last week, Matthew prefers to do karate and not very partial to team sports or going to a sporting event.
School: Lucas's handwriting is great and he gets right to his homework and finishes it. Matthew's handwriting can use some work, and he dawdles through his homework and it takes him almost twice as long.

I"m sure I can go on and on and I'll probably add to this post sometime. But when I think about it, they aren't the "same" as people think they are. And I'm needing to be ok and adjust to that. It's hard being a twin mommy. Seeing them grow up, plus become different from each other at the same time is a double whammy.

Lucas's Thoughts

The other night, I was getting the boys ready for bed. Natalie was down, and Matthew was putting on pjs while Lucas was in the bathroom going potty and brushing teeth. He decides to strike up a conversation about frogs and their ears.

Lucas: Mommy, where are a frogs ears?

Me: (from the other room w an exasperated voice),"I don't know Lucas, why?"

Lucas: Why don't you know? You're a teacher.

Me: Yes, but not a science teacher. Maybe we can look it up online tomorow.

Lucas: Fine, I"ll just ask Mrs. Kinney. She'll know. She teaches us Science.

Seriously...how does brushing teeth and going to the bathroom make him think about where a frog's ears are....at 8:30 at night? I just wonder how their minds work sometimes....

Shimmy and Shake

Matthew and Lucas ready for the rockin' musical, "Showbiz".
Last night, the boys were shakin' what God gave 'em. They had their second grade musical, "A Little Bit of Showbiz". Super cute! Once again, Mrs. Galemmo delivered. They went through a "history" of music and showbiz, ranging from Broadway, to Detroit-the home of Motown, to Hollywood and singing about "Paparazzi" and posing for pictures.

Matthew in his rockstar pose. I think my favorite song was "I Got to Be Rich", and during the main music parts, they kids were to be freestyle dancing. Lucas and Matthew were up there doing robot moves during almost the whole song. All the kids looked great in their "bling",
and the boys fit right in with their rockin' guitar shirts, rock star hair (thanks to Daddy and a lot of hair fiber), and their sunglasses (a last minute add on as we were walking out the door).



I think the pictures speak for themselves :)

Lucas in his rockstar pose.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Chili and S'mores


Our church has been working hard to do more things together to build fellowship amongst the members and new members. Last weekend, on Natalie's real birthday, we went to the Daley's for a chili dinner and S'mores. They live outside of Marysville on a huge acreage of land. They had a nice bonfire and lots of room for the kids to run around. The weather was just right-sweatshirts and jeans...no bundling up in winter coats. One highlight of the evening was the S'mores. My kids LOVE these things...and it's just another way they differ. Lucas loves them full out with chocolate and marshmallows. Matthew likes them with chocolate only between the graham crackers. For some reason he calls them "dwarfs" I don't get it, but it's his imagination at work again I suppose. The night wasn't complete without some bobbing for apples, and yes, both my boys stuck their heads in the pool and pulled apples out with their teeth. Also, Justin had glow sticks for the kids-a huge hit with Natalie!

Another Crazy Busy Weekend

Halloween weekend was the second crazy busy weekend for us in a row. Last weekend was Natalie's birthday party, and we followed up with another round of entertaining this past weekend. The boys had their fall party at school, and after much deliberation decided to go as GI Joe. They had a costume parade to end Red Ribbon Week, and Lucas made a super cute banner to hang around his neck. They played Spooky BINGO and loaded up on sugar just to be sent home to their parents. Friday night we had plans to go to Boo at the Zoo, but they were thwarted by Natalie's super late afternoon nap. No big deal, we called in plan B: Pumpkin Carving and seed roasting. I get a small bit of joy as a mother over the strangest things-like when my kids beg for roasted pumpkin seeds this time or year, or when they come home from school and they've eaten all their carrots, but haven't touched their fruit snacks :). The most creative we get with pumpkins is a jack o lantern face, but this year we went one step further. I had a grand scheme to carve each kid's initials in the pumpkin, but that wasn't going to work out. Let's just say, the more square and straight the carving, the better off we all are. So, we decided to make their first letters as the eyes, and just put on a nose and a mouth. Done. I got the lovely job of pulling out the guts and separating the seeds for roasting, while Derrick did the carving. The boys weren't much help-they were engrossed in netflix, GI Joe, Rise of Cobra. Oh well. I tossed the seeds in some oil, sprinkled them with salt and put them in the oven for about 45 minutes. YUM! They crunched on them while watching Star Wars the Clone Wars-their Friday night ritual.

Saturday, I had a major errand running marathon. Derrick made us all pancakes, and I was out the door ASAP to hit the grocery and Sawmill Road. When I go to Dublin, I try to do as much as possible in one day. So, it was Target, Kohls, Meijer, JoAnns, Giant Eagle, and Kroger. Seriously...I didn't get home until about 1:30! I was beat! But, we won't have to go to the grocery for about three months! Since January, I've taken on a new attitude towards couponing, stockpiling, and trying to get the most out of our grocery budget. I try so hard to get the best deals, and return things if I have to when I find them at a lower price somewhere else.

Sunday was the big trick or treat day. Of course, as Lutherans, we also celebrated Reformation Day in church...but let's face it, trick or treat overshadows Martin Luther when you're seven. The day was full of being in the kitchen. I was a cooking fool-and exhausted that night to prove it. I made potato soup before church, two loaves of beer bread, oatmeal muffins, and chicken and noodles. I seriously didn't sit down until about 4 o'clock. Our families arrived around 5:30 to eat and help get the boys in their costumes. I must say, this year's costumes have been my favorite so far. They were Mario and Luigi. They had already decided that Matthew would be Mario and Lucas would be Luigi based on the first letters of their names. Ok...whatever. Well, I ordered the costumes a size too big for layering purposes, and because Luigi was online only at target.com, and that's the size they had. So, that meant the mustaches were too big, too. Thankfully they wore them for a few pictures, then I let them take them off. But they totally made the costumes. Not to be outdone, Natalie was adorable in her poodle costume. She was a trooper for about 45 minutes of trick or treating, then I think her hands were freezing, and she wasn't a fan of being cold. The boys RAN from house to house, as if they were in the video game. In fact, Matthew even said that when they go from street to street, it's like they're going into another world on Super Mario Brothers-that kid and his imagination! While we were out loading the bags with candy, my in laws were at our house helping Derrick pass out fresh hot popcorn and candy. It was a super fun weekend, and the boys were in bed asap-after a serious teeth scrubbing of course!