A Wonderful Visit

This past week, Jimmy's childhood pastor/family friend and his wife came to visit us. Donny and Diane recently retired, bought a beautiful trailer, truck and motorcycle and have been touring the US for the past 7 months...it's a pretty sweet setup! They parked their trailer in a nearby RV park and enjoyed riding their motorcycle hundreds of miles throughout the Ozark Mountains. They came to our house for dinner 2 nights and then Donny and Diane took me and the boys out to dinner one night since Jimmy was out of town. We had a wonderful time visiting and catching up with them and of course, it was extra special being able to introduce them to Bryce and Drew! The boys enjoyed the attention and love they were shown! They seem to feel right at home with other grandparents!

Donny and Diane are very special to us. Fifteen years ago (this Aug) Donny married us. We also did pre-marital counseling with them both. Jimmy and I still remember a lot of the advice they shared with us and have had many opportunities in the past 15 years to put it into action!

Donny and Diane,

Thank you for driving to see our family and for spending time with us. We thoroughly enjoyed it! You are both generous, loving and servant-minded individuals. We love you and appreciate you and look forward to seeing you on your next road trip!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble and Family Food Faves

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We were blessed this year to have our friends Brent and Renee here from Iowa. They arrived on Monday and left this morning. The boys had lots of fun having house guests to play with! Brent and Renee taught them lots of silly faces!

One day Renee, me and the boys had a fun day of Christmas shopping while Jimmy and Brent went golfing. The guys got their annual hike in together while I prepared our Thanksgiving meal. Thankfully Renee was here to help keep the boys entertained for me!

Bryce and Drew have never really eaten a Thanksgiving meal before. Bryce loved turkey dipped in gravy and a mediterrannean cheese dip. When he wanted more turkey, he said "More gobble, gobble please!" Drew loved the cheese dip and cranberries!

Stuffing is one of my very favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. I grew up eating Stove Top stuffing and still enjoy it, but I prefer something a little more hearty and fresh! This is my favorite "homemade" stuffing.

Sourdough Bread Stuffing

1-pound loaf sourdough bread
8 tablespoons butter
10 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/2-inch thick in both directions
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 to 4 stalks celery with leaves, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
About 10 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped from the stems
10 to 12 fresh sage leaves, chopped
3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley leaves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2-quart baking dish and set aside.
Cut or tear the bread into 1-inch cubes and spread it evenly on 2 baking sheets. Toast the bread in the oven until completely dry and beginning to crisp and brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and a few pinches of salt and saute, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add celery, onion, 2 tablespoons butter, and thyme. Once the butter has melted, cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. Add sage and remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Add chicken broth to skillet and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Transfer toasted bread cubes to a large bowl. Pour the chicken broth mixture over the bread cubes and toss to combine until the bread cubes absorb the liquid. Pour the mixture into the greased baking dish, and sprinkle with parsley. Bake in the center of the oven until heated through and the top is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Remove the stuffing from the oven and allow to cool about 15 minutes before serving.

TAG! I'M IT!

I've been tagged. Leslie at Twice Blessed tagged me for this meme. To play, you have to go to your 6th photo folder and select the 6th photo from that folder to share.

Bryce and Drew are about 2 weeks old here. It was pretty typical in the first few months to see Drew crying. He was kind of a fussy baby. He had a condition called Laryngomalacia - a common condition in infants where the soft, immature cartilage of the upper larynx collapses inward during inhalation, causing airway obstruction. It causes stridor or noisy breathing - like he had the croop! Poor baby! Thankfully, our Pediatrician was correct when he said that most children will outgrown this condition by the time they are one.

Now it's my turn to tag 5 friends to play along!



Rebekah at The Irizarry Family
Leilanni at Seeking the Morning
Katie at Harris Boys
Sarah at Emma and Luke
Ginger at Reagan Mackenzie

Have fun girls and don't forget to TAG 5 others!

Randomness!

I LOVE FALL!

Yesterday we had another play date with our triplet boy friends. We went to a beautiful, National River nearby. It was a perfect Fall day - 75 degrees, orange and red leaves falling all around and crystal clear water.

The 5 boys enjoyed throwing rocks in the river for a long while. Then they got brave and dipped their toes in the water. Before we knew it, all of them had stripped naked and started swimming and splashing in the cold water. It didn't take 5 "just beginning the idea of potty training" boys to figure out how fun it is to pee in the river. One boy would pee and the other 4 would clap and yell "good job!" while the next one would start. All 5 boys were peeing all day long! It was great practice and a huge encouragement for each of them to have their buddies cheering them on! I have some really funny pictures of them but I don't think they would appreciate their naked bums all over the Internet! We finished our day with a fun picnic lunch by the water.

The boys crack me up with the things they say. I just have to write them down so I don't ever forget!

Here's a few...

"Dats funny!"

"Good job buddy!"

"I'm SOOOOO happy!"

"Cool dude."

"Oh WOW!"

"Excuse me pweas."

"Mommy, zugit please...LOUDER!" zugit = music

"Eew....dat diaper gingky!" ginky = stinky

"Oh no, Bicie gunk!" gunk = stuck

Some funny conversations...

Bryce: "Mommy, I need diaper change. I go poo poo."
Drew: runs over to the couch to observe and says, "Bicie, ew no go poo poo. You have willy big pee pee diaper. Eeww...messy!"

When the boys get hurt they always run to ask us to kiss their "boo boo." They amazingly always feel better after the kiss!

Today, Bryce bumped his head pretty hard.

Bryce: "Mommy kiss it...I hurt my head."

Mommy: "I'm so sorry Bryce. Let me kiss it."

Drew: "No, Mommy, I kiss it. Oh Bicie, I'm sowy. I take you to da doctor!"

I don't know what it is about poop but the boys are very intrigued by it. Anytime I change one of the boys' poopy diapers the other one has to stand inches away to see it!

Today I was changing Drew's poopy. Bryce was leaning over him to see.

Bryce: "Dew, I see yo poopy."

Drew: "No Bicie, dats gwoss!"

Bryce: "Eew, Dew, dats ginky and messy!'

Drew: "Bicie, no yook. It's MY poopy!"

Are they gonna hate me someday for posting this?!

Rusty Wheels

We had a fun outing today with our friends Amanda, Grayson, Andrus, Liam and their grandparents. We went to a place called "Rusty Wheels." They had vintage farm engines and equipment. Lots of tractors, saws, trains... a total boys' playland!

The 5 boys stood in front of this huge electric train table for probably an hour. It sure beats their Thomas the Train Table!

Bryce had fun sitting on the big John Deer tractors.

The boys also enjoyed playing on some old toys, like this digger.

The favorite thing of the day was the Rusty Wheels train. They probably rode around the track 30 times!

We Made The Newspaper!

Last week Jimmy and his mom took Bryce and Drew to the city park so they could have lots of room to ride around in their trucks. The boys had a blast driving up and down the hills! Our friend Amanda and her triplet boys happened to be there as well and joined our boys for a totally unplanned play date. Each car has 2 seats so they all took turns rotating the 5th child. Jimmy noticed a man and woman observing and enjoying the boys from a distance {Twins and triplets in the same place attract a lot of attention!} Eventually the man walked over to the group and said that he was an editor for our local newspaper. He thought the boys were really cute and wanted to take their picture. Of course, nobody argued with him!

Well the boys made The Daily Times in color! Isn't it cute?


The title to the picture was "Multiple Drivers!"

The Smile Award

Katie, at A & E, awarded me "The Smile Award!" How cool! I have never received a blog award and I have never met Katie "in person" before! She came across my blog a few months ago and has been reading it ever since. I, of course, have now become a loyal follower of her blog. Katie is so sweet, encouraging and uplifting. We share a major common thread - she is a mommy to adorable twin boys named Andrew and Ethan - about 20 months old. It's really fun to see her little guys growing up and doing a lot of the crazy things that my boys had done just a few months ago! Thanks for the award Katie - you are very thoughtful!

This is what Katie said about me.... "Karen at Doubly Blessed has the cutest twin boys. I came across her blog and have been addicted ever sense. I love seeing where my boys will be in a few months. Karen has the best posts about her "family food faves" I'm a horrible cook and she gives me the inspiration to get in the kitchen. I can tell Karen really loves her life and family. I look forward to getting to know Karen more and watch her precious boys grow up."

These are the rules:

1. The recipient must link back to the awards creator the babblings of mere

2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.

3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself

4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.

5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.

6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.

7. You must thank your giver.

Characteristics for the Smile Award:

1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human)

2. Must love one another

3. Must make mistakes

4. Must learn from others

5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world

6. Must love life

7. Must love kids

Here are the 5 people I chose for "The Smile Award!"


1. My friend Leilanni has 2 blogs - Hemmed In (private) and Seeking the Morning (public.) She has been a special friend of mine for several years from our church in Ft. Worth. She started blogging a few years ago and inspired me to start as well. She has a precious 2 year old named Ellie who is just a few weeks older than my boys and is also 4 months pregnant! Leilanni is a very gifted writer. Her blogs are always very captivating and fun to read. She adores her husband, daughter and loves her family. She is strong in her faith and mature spiritually. She always inspires me to be a better person and to grow in my knowledge of the Bible.

2. Ginger at Reagan-Mackenzie is another dear friend of mine from our church in Ft. Worth. I met Ginger and Leilanni while attending The Hannah Ministry, a ministry to encourage women struggling with infertility. Ginger's 2 year old daughter Reagan is about a month older than my boys and she is pregnant with boy-girl twins! Ginger always has a smile on her face and an encouraging word to share. She loves God, her family and being a mom. She also inspired me to start blogging when she started hers. I'm looking forward to connecting Ginger with some of the awesome mom's of twins that I've met through blogging.

3. Sara at Emma and Luke is a friend of the family. Her mom and my mom have been super close friends since kindergarten! Even though our families didn't spend much time together growing up, we have always heard about one another because of our mom's closeness. Now that we are both bloggers, we have been able to keep up with each other's lives. She has two adorable children, Emma - 4 1/2 and Luke - almost 2. Sara has a zest for life. She is very sweet-natured & caring and always has an encouraging/sweet word to share. She loves her family, and her kids.

4. I have never met Jennifer at Hughes Twins in person, but I have enjoyed reading her blog for the past few months. She has darling 2 year old twin boys names Austin and Aiden and is pregnant with her 3rd baby! I love being connected with other mom's of multiples. It's fun to bounce ideas off one another and to hear what other crazy twin boys are doing! Jennifer's boys remind me a lot of Bryce and Drew. I wish that we lived closer so we could have play dates...it would certainly be wild and crazy! Jennifer also takes amazing photos and is so good about posting frequently on her blog.

5. I have never met Leslie at Twice Blessed in person, but I have enjoyed reading her blog over the past few months. She has beautiful 3 year old identical twin girls named Grace and Catherine. She has a real gift for writing. Her blogs are always fun to read. She writes about real life with twins in a very entertaining way. She loves her girls but is never afraid to share the frustrations and reality of a stay at home mom with 3 year old twins!

OUR 3RD ONE...And LAST One!

We are SO excited! We have been planning this for a long time.

NO

WE

ARE

NOT

PREGNANT!

We are leaving today for our 3rd and longest summer road trip. My brother and sister-in-law are both in the Army based at Fort Knox Kentucky. Eric has been in Saudi Arabia for the past 6 months and is home on "leave." We're excited to see him, his wife Donna and my 2 nieces Logan and Jordyn. Jordyn is 2 days older than Bryce and Drew so it's always fun to see them all together...it's like triplets! Eric and Donna went on a little get away alone this week so my Mom is there babysitting the girls. We are so excited to spend time with her too, and see her enjoy all of her grandbabies! It will be about a 10 hour drive so we will stay in a hotel tonight to break up our days.

Here's a couple of cute pics from this week...

Bryce has found new things to explore this week...he is such an investigator!

My sweet and silly Drew!

2 year old twins + 3 year old triplets = crazy play dates! (I can't show any more pics - the boys were swimming naked and I don't think they would appreciate their naked buns all over the Internet!)
A common sight - Mommy on the computer with 2 little monkeys crawling all over me!

Our Newest Purchase

I knew I had to buy these when my friend Rebekah told me about them.

We are going on another road trip next week and I WILL NOT make the boys sleep in their pack n plays one more time. You know your babies have outgrown their pack n plays when they climb in and out with ease, when they scratch the mesh netting to a rhythmic beat and can touch the ends with their heads and feet!

The Camping EZ-Bed is a great option for traveling! It is an airbed that has a fitted slip cover and sleeping bag top that zip together. It also comes with an inflatable pillow and pillowcase (although not very comfortable!) It comes in the Disney "Cars" pattern and the Disney "Princess" pattern. I thought they were quite the bargain at Wal-Mart for $30! I sure wish I would have had one of these as a kid. It sure beats sleeping on the hard floor!

And the verdict?.........

THEY ARE A HUGE HIT!

DFW Road Trip: Part 3

We had such a great time in DFW and took so many pics, I had to break it into 3 parts. I promise, this is the last one!

Jimmy's youngest brother Jeff is a Firefighter/Paramedic for a fire department south of Dallas. He invited us to come tour the station and meet some of his work buddies. Every little boy I know loves fire trucks so our friends Trey and Alec came along with us.

My boys wore their Cedar Hill Fire Department shirts that their Uncle had given them as a gift and Alec received one as well. They also got little fire hats and stickers!

They got to...

Sit in the fire truck

Try on Jeff's heavy fire helmet
Sit in the ambulance

Touch the dummy
And the best part of all...

They got to play with the water hoses!

And run under it!

Thanks guys for spending so much time with us and for letting us play!

Uncle Jeff, thank you for being so loving and sweet with the boys. We love you and are so proud of you!