New Talents

Can you believe the boys are 19 months old?!!! It both breaks my heart & brings me joy to watch them grow up. I often feel like time goes by way too fast and I'm afraid that I'll miss something. On the other hand, I LOVE to watch the boys grow and learn new things....they are getting so smart!!!

Arlo.... is such a happy little boy & seems to always be in a great mood. He can be whiny if he wants something, but at least he says "peese." He still LOVES his "keekee" (blanket) and reaches for it if he's at all sad or upset. His poor little thumb is getting pretty rough with all his thumb-sucking/biting. Arlo is very affectionate and gives hugs and kisses willingly; when giving kisses he says "muuah!" Jason and I laugh because when Arlo sees Jason's Coke Zero, Arlo calls it "daddy's bah-bah." Arlo is learning how to clean up his messes and while he does it, he sings "neen-nup, neen-nup!!!" (Clean-up) And no, Josiah doesn't really dig the idea of cleaning up his messes.

Josiah....is SO clever and is always looking for new things to explore. He will flip the laundry basket upside-down & stand on top, just so he can reach for something up high!! He is really into dancing and jumping and will actually sit down to the TV for about 20 minute increments. He has recently learned about trains and LOVES them; he says "CHOO CHOO" all the time. If Josiah sees any kind of drink, he automatically calls it "juice." As for lobster...Josiah is more attached than ever. He refuses to say the word lobster; instead he calls it "uh-oh."

A Tribute to all Mothers

A beautiful story that made me cry...

The Invisible Mother

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

Some days I'm a crystal ball: 'Where's my other sock? Where's my phone? What's for dinner?'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature--but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting
there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:
1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals--we have no record of their names.
2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does."

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a
turkey for three hours and presses a ll the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, "You're gonna love it there..."

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

Happy Birthday Dana Hall!!

Me with my Grandma Hall & Earl (she married Earl after both their spouses had passed away, he was so wonderful and like a grandpa to me)

Today is my Grandma Hall's birthday. If she were still living she would have turned 96 years old!!! Her name was Dana Hall and as you may have guessed, I am her namesake, and I am proud to be so. I have lots of memories of her because our family would drive the 250 mile trip to Christiansburg, Virginia to visit her EVERY single month. Those are definitely fond memories of my childhood, getting to know all my extended family. We spent almost every Christmas with her and it was always the same traditions every year.

Here's a few memories of my Grandma:

• Grandma was a short little lady - probably only 5' tall - I remember when I reached her height I said "Grandma, I am as tall as you!!" - she responded "Well, that's not very tall."
• She was a very laid-back person and didn't mind our wild family & dog staying with her for 3 days a month. She just rolled with the punches.
• Her famous quote: "Don't worry about that today." Her motto: "Don't do today what you can do tomorrow"
  
• It would take her ALL DAY long to cook a meal, but I claim that no one can replicate her meals - southern green beans, baked macaroni & cheese, etc, etc.
• Saturdays at her house included bacon & eggs for breakfast - no earlier than 10AM - my whole family now calls this "the Grandma Hall breakfast"
• I don't think she ever cleaned out her fridge because we would find old moldy foods with expiration dates past 1 year....is that an old person thing?
  
• She would relax by watching TV & I remember watching quite a few shows with her - Howdy Doody, Price is Right, Statler Brothers, The Grand Ole Opry and of course she would get her lotto tickets out and watch for the Powerball numbers to be announce.

I wanted to honor her today by having a "grandma hall breakfast" but we had playgroup, so we will have bacon & eggs for breakfast TOMORROW!!!
I love you Grandma


Grandma is on the far right (pictured with her sisters)

TWINNERS!!

I LOVE my boys & I especially LOVE that they are the same age. They seem to be best friends & I hope they always will be best buds. I think my favorite noise is to hear the two of them belly laughing together for 20-30 minutes straight while in their cribs after waking up. I usually sit in my room next door & just listen for a while – it makes my day.

I’m finding that LOTS of people have twins & I probably see a set of twins in my store every day. (I work at Bed Bath & Beyond) Regardless of all the twins in the world, it is IMPOSSIBLE to go in public without getting stopped & receiving comments on my twins. Honestly though, I love it. I love to show off my cute boys because they are my pride and joy.

Some of the comments I hear from people while we run errands, etc...:

"Oh no! Twins!"
"Are they twins? Is a boy and a girl? Two boys? Two girls?"
"Are they identical?" (And then after we say they are NOT identical we often get “I don't know how you tell them apart. Must be because you're their parents. )

"Do twins run in your family?"
"Are they natural? or did you have fertility treatments?"
"Do they have different personalities? Is one the 'evil' twin?"
"I can't imagine having twins!"
"I had two kids really close in age. I felt like I had twins."
"Two for one, huh?"
"I've always wanted twins!!"

"I've always wanted to be a twin!"
"My ___(fill in relation)___ has twin ___(fill in genders)__"
"Two babies!"

"Do you always dress them the same?"

"Do they wake each other up?”
"You must not be getting any sleep! You must be exhausted."
"You have your hands full."
"I had only one baby at a time and that was hard enough!"
"Better you than me!"
"Just wait until they get older! It gets harder!"
"I bet they'll be the best of friends."
"Double Trouble!"

My Arlo



My Josiah

The Beach vs. The Mountains

On labor day weekend the family took a trip down to Niceville, Florida for a baby blessing. We had a great time with our friends: Bobby, Emily, Bobby jr Burnham & Brent Burnham. While we were there, we made 2 long visits to the beach on the Gulf of Mexico and our boys absolutely LOVED it!


The sand was too deep to walk on, so my little sea turtles crawled on the sand.


Josiah & the sand.


Arlo had a bucket full of water & sand.


Daddy & the boys


Fam.


My boys, 2pops, Bobby & Bobby jr.

A few weeks later (last weekend) our little family drove up to Lyman Lake at the Uintas and camped out at the annual Burnham family trip. The boys got VERY DIRTY, but had LOTS of fun outdoors. We spent one night in the camper & one night in the tent. We did lots of fishing, 4-wheeling, card playing & hot-dog roasting.


Lobster came camping and got dirty with Josiah


Josiah with his dirt mouth & sticks


Arlo all decked out in layers of clothes, after sleeping in the tent!!!


Arlo & daddy


Checking out daddy's fish


The family


KJ & I with our BIG FISH! This was my first fishing trip.


The boys & lobster took a LOOONNNGGG bath after the camping trip.

My latest crafts....

So, Jason has been in Texas for over a week & I am living the life of a single-working-mother until this upcoming weekend when Jason comes home. The boys and I have REALLY missed daddy, but have kept busy every day with my job & keeping up with the boys at home. I've been lonely when the boys go to bed, so I have kept myself busy with a few long overdue craft projects sitting around in my house. Tomorrow is my day off work and I have a few sewing projects planned. YAY!


Here's my magnetic board that I plan to put in the boys' room.


(Up-close of the frame - I bought a couple little wooden dogs from the craft store, cute huh?)



I actually painted 4 stools, but two of them are gifts for friends who have not received them yet....sooo....here are the 2 stools for my boys!

We Love Grandma!!

A week ago we had LOTS of family in town for my brother's graduation. He earned his Phd and I am SO proud of him! Everyone stayed at our house and we had SO much fun together!!



When the party was over, Jason went to Maine, so my mom stuck around to watch the boys while I went to work every day. I am so grateful to her for staying and we had lots of fun together. The boys have really gotten to know Grandma Hall and they LOVED having her around. It's amazing how much the boys have learned in just one week.

A few of the boys' new talents:
Grandma taught both boys how to confidently crawl DOWN the stairs. Goodbye baby gate!!!!!!!
Arlo can blow kisses....MUAH!
Josiah makes car noises when he pushes his trucks & cars....vrrroooommm...


Arlo & Grandma


Josiah & Grandma

My Cousin's Wedding

While we were in Virginia last month, our family drove down to North Carolina for my cousin's wedding. We filled up the minivan with women & children while the men stayed home and went golfing! The twins only slept 30 minutes on the drive down so we were working with a VERY short nap for the day. Judging by the photos, you can see we had a crazy day, but, they did well considering all. (Sorry, no pictures of the actual wedding, I had my hands pretty full.)




Minutes before the ceremony started with cousins Matt & Cline
(they were actually very quiet during the ceremony)


Josiah during the reception


Arlo during the reception (I think he was a little constipated here)


We discovered a nursery in the church & the boys were MUCH happier!!!


Josiah in the nursery