The Mad Dash!

My mom got the boys their first bikes with training wheels for their birthday. Too cute! They have been on bikes in the past a few times but it never went so well because whenever they went to push the peddle forward the other foot would put weight backwards and it would brake. So, today I pulled out the bikes to give it a test run & kind of dreading it because previously they would each whine and have meltdowns because it wouldn't move forward. Today, Nicolas just said - "Let's do this.. all by myself mom"! When I put them on, gave them a push and OFF THEY WENT!! Solo! It was so exciting. I felt like I was at a Indy Nascar Race, the way they were each trying to pass each other and take the lead. A friendly competition is what I witnessed. They rode on the side walk, 1/2 around the block back/forth for about a hour. Me- I was chasing after them yelling "Brake...Brake..." every time they were nearing the street corner. My girlfriend down the street happened to see us and couldn't stop laughing at how cute they looked and joined in on the "Brake" scream with me. They can brake but it skids alittle and when they are hitting their high speed, doesn't stop so fast. I forgot how much goes into riding a bike and what a BIG MOMENT it is!! My video broke on my little camera and my internal flash on my nice camera broke so I have no photos of this great accomplishment. Maybe I will snap one tomorrow with the phone and pretend it was today. The funniest part to imagine is they were still riding the bike with their big silver/gold bows and ribbons, thinking it looked cool.

Double Time!

When you have twins, everything is about strategy. Including the Easter Egg Hunt. Everything also comes in double, including the Easter Egg Hunt. We went to a neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt in the morning, then in the afternoon spent some time with our friends and the boys girlfriend Addison! We topped it off with a nice relaxing dinner. Is it really possible with 3 kids at dinner, amazingly it was. SO....Ken had to prep the boys the night before the Egg Hunt and go over the strategy on how to get the most eggs. Grandpa also did the same, so the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Then my boys did it with Addison. Ken said " Go to the middle, don't stop for the first eggs, just go to the middle and grab them, don't open them, just grab them"! And..they did!

Here Christian is sizing up the field, getting ready and getting his game on.Grandpa reviewing the strategy with NicolasGo Time!Egg Hunt #2 at Jessica's Grandma which was GORGEOUS!! A true tropical paradise (which it is where we live and I often forget) other than the heat, it was so much fun with our friends!Christian going over the strategy with AddisonAddison going back for more! On a mission!Christian not so sure if he got enough!Nicolas..yep happy he got enough!Finishing the evening with a relaxing meal and quality bonding time - ummmm..are you happy Christian?

Easter Eggs

Part of our Easter tradition has been to make a Easter Egg Tree. My sister and I would go in the backyard and pick a huge branch with lots of twigs, then we would plant it in potting soil in a Easter Planter. Once the branch was sturdy we would hang our decorated eggs that we had just colored and eggs that we had decorated over the years! Each year my mom would give us each about 4-6 eggs to color. To make the eggs my mom would use vinegar, food color and crayons - this was before the Paas Easter decorating kits. We would draw on the eggs with our crayons then dip them into our favorite colors. My mom still has these eggs (except the broken ones) plus all the ones from my other siblings...we are talking about 35 years of decorated eggs between all of us! The big part of this tradition is not only the hunt for the best branch but blowing the yolk/egg out of the egg. This is the first year it TOTALLY grossed me out. First, I couldn't get a hole in each end of the egg without cracking the egg and I couldn't stop thinking about SALMENOLLA. I literally washed each egg, then before I blew the yoke out, I would give the egg a bath in Purell. After I blew it out, I would again give the egg a bath in Purell. Neurotic..yes of course! I wonder if my mom felt that way? I used an old Paas egg decorating kit from 2005 that I had in my Easter Box, some of the tablets crumbled before opening but most worked fine. The boys ended up with dark colors because they wanted to dip them in every color. You can also see we only have 4 eggs because I cracked so many and the holes on some of them are huge...not sure how to hang yet.

Starting out..

Ironically, Nicolas is wearing Santa PJ's while doing the Easter Eggs! Nicolas explaining to Ken exactly how he will proceed with his egg. Christian creating his masterpiece.

Nicolas making a face at how Christian's egg came out thinking it looks "whacky".

Christian hard at work.

Nicolas - Raccoon Egg, Christian - Bunny Egg

The giant hole I cracked to blow out the egg, haven't figured out how to hang yet. This was their very first eggs, I feel kind of bad that I made a deformed egg.

We opted out of finding a branch here in Florida (since you never know what could be on the trees down here in the South....neurotic...of course)! So we are using our nice, clean fake tree in the kitchen as our Easter Egg Tree! The new tradition.

The Tale of 2 Little Boys, A Binkie and A Badger

Where do I start?

The boys have graduated to big boy beds (well toddler beds until next week when they get their twin beds). Main point here is they are no longer sleeping in cribs! No more lifting them up/down out of the cribs. It went so smoothly, I thought - this is awesome, they actually did it! My sister warned me...just give it a few days, wait until they get out that first time. Nope..not my guys, they actually listened..well up until today.

Let me back up a bit........ We created this crazy story (well it isn't crazy for this household) that the "Binkie Badger" was going to come on their 3rd Bday and gather their binkies to give to all the new babies. We are going to make a house for the Binkie Badger,they are going to help me put all the binkies in the house, leave it out for him, leave him a tasty snack and the Badger will bring the boys a gift for being so kind in donating their binkies. The story has expanded to the Badger will give them to Santa who will give them to the babies. Now it is Santa will give them to our friend Jessica's baby Ava.

NATURALLY, I threatened them with "If you get out of this bed when Mommy and Daddy are not in here with you, The Binkie Badger will need to come immediately and take your binkies". It worked perfectly, so easy, I thought we lucked out! It must be because they are older now. Right?

Today at naptime, I heard the boys talking back and forth. As I am listening on the monitor all I could think of was Oh shit....This was their conversation:

Christian: I dropped my book Nicolas.

Nicolas : Are you going to get it? Do you want the Binkie Badger to come?

Christian: You get it Nicolas.

Nicolas: No- What about the Binkie Badger, mommys not here.

Christian: Mommy..mommy...mommy (no response from me - I thought that was going to be the end of it).

Christian: I will get it! I will get it Nicolas, let's see the Binkie Badger.

Nicolas: No...then the binkies will be gone. I don't want to see the Badger.

Christian: It's okay, I will get it..let's see the Badger!

Nicolas: Are you getting out?

Christian: Yes, I'm doing it.

Nicolas: Okay.

And he was out of his bed. I hauled ass upstairs and opened their door and said as stern as I can "GET BACK IN YOUR BED NOW!!!".

Christian just laughed and said "No- I want to see the Badger, where is he, I am out of bed, is he here, let's see him"? I didn't know what to say, it all backfired, a whole weeks worth of work and FEAR of taken their binkies away- gone..gone...gone.

Finally I just turned his toddler bed against the wall (back side of it is still high) so he couldn't get out!

Nicolas responded with "Christian ...you look like a caged animal"! I had to turn around because I couldn't stop laughing.

Christian just laughed and kept saying ...I am still standing mom..still standing. Whatever that means..like as if he was not going to back down! Finally he fell asleep. Thankfully, Ken gets to put them to bed tonight!! :)

Everyone asks me why a Binkie Badger? I have no idea, it was one of those weird things that frequently pop into my head and came out of my mouth before I thought about it. My sister keeps saying, why didnt you go with something cute and nice like the "Binkie Bunny - Badgers are so furousous with long dagger nails"....oh so true but I was thinking cute...little fluffly black and white animal.