A party in the backseat

We were headed home last night when out of nowhere Connor started laughing. It was so funny I couldn't help myself I started laughing, too. It was contagious. The more I laughed the more Connor laughed. It went on for several minutes. Then at one point with all three of us laughing I told Connor "Good Job!" and he started clapping. Each time I said "Good job" he clapped again. After a few times I threw in a "Whooo!" and he threw his arms up in the air. So we repeated the "Good job" [clap, clap, clap], "Whooo!" [hands in the air] wave dance for a few minutes before we all dissolved in another round of giggles.

Connor is such an easy going happy little guy. He has a faint dimple on one cheek that comes out when he really gets to smiling that is just too precious. He's quick to laugh and super ticklish, too.

Drive by Snacking

When I arrived at daycare on Tuesday to pick the boys up it was snack time. All the kids except Ryan were sitting at the table and eating their snacks. Ryan on the other hand was standing up, chair no where in sight. As I watched he ate his last goldfish. He then looked over at his neighbors stash. His hand shot out so fast and he snagged the goldfish before I even realized what was going on. Having polished off the last of his immediate neighbors snacks he made his way down the table helping himself to some of the other kids snacks leaving havoc in his wake. It was just so funny, and just so Ryan.

What a crazy day

Between the storms, more trouble with the law, a visit to the dentist, a really awful day at work, and a cough that just won't go away it's been a really crazy 24 hours.

Yesterday afternoon's storm turned the sky pitch black and caused a down pour that made seeing the road a challenge at best. There were spectacular flashes of lightening and booming claps of thunder that you could feel down to your bones. The down pours of rain left all but the leftmost lanes practically impassable. Between the pouring rain, flash flooding streets, accidents and general traffic it was amazing that I made it to pick the boys up on time. I left a little late to start with and then had an unusual request in the parking lot to drive a coworker to their car on the roof because it was raining too hard to make a run for it that far away with a laptop without a case. Luckily we all made it home safely and even into the house during a rare lull in the storms.

By the time we went to bed the rain had diminished to on again, off again light showers. When I woke up this morning I had no idea that the rain had continued on dropping 14 inches of rain over us according to the accumulation map. I also wasn't aware of the massive flooding and school closings. I blithely headed in to my Dentist's appointment completely unaware.

When I arrived I was told by the doctor that receptionist and hygienists were running late due to the weather. I spent a moment contemplating what he meant by that after gazing outside to see overcast skies, but nothing more ominous. The receptionist came in about that time and regaled myself and another patient with a report on her trek to work - having to try route after route due to street flooding and closed roads. And how lucky she was that someone could keep her kids given that school was out. There were apparently quite a few school closings. Luckily our school wasn't among them as I was at the dentist and I can only imagine what Kevin would have done had he arrived at school to drop them off and found it closed.

My actual dentists appointment was slightly worse than I expected. The final verdict - a dead tooth requiring a root canal, a crown, two inlays, two fillings, and a wisdom took extraction. Though I suppose it sounds worse than it actually is. I knew I lost a filling and I suspected part of a tooth a month or so ago. I also knew from my last trip to the dentist far too long ago that I had at least 3 old silver fillings which I have probably had for about 20 years, 10 years longer than their life expectancy, that would need to be replaced. I could also feel the wisdom tooth coming in and remembered having only had 3 of the 4 pulled previously. In high school maybe? So really the only surprise was the dead tooth. That one came out of left field. I didn't even know that teeth were technically alive and could even die. Apparently they can. And when they do they leave a dark black shadow on the x-ray where they are infected and festering. They also turn a bit yellow. I had noticed the color change though I can't say for sure when it happened.

After the dentist's appointment after checking with Kevin to see if daycare was open or if I needed to take care of the kids I headed into work. I was shocked as I approached Faulkey Gully - a bridge just before the turn into work that is normally not much bigger than a trickle some 20 feet below the level of the bridge. Only this morning it was to within inches of the bridge. Flood stage. As I parked near the top of the parking garage I took a minute to survey the damage and even took a few pictures because it really was shocking to see just how high the water was compared to its normal level. Here are a few of the photos I took. In a week or so assuming the rains abate and things return to normal by then I will try take pictures from the same spot for comparison.

Faulkey Gully from the HP garage

Faulkey Gully bridge - water just below the bridge

The truck parking lot next to the garage

A 6ft fence halfway under water on the other side of the garage.

An afternoon at the Playground

We took the boys to the playground at the front our neighborhood just before dinner time.

Ryan wanted to check everything out. He climbed up the stairs, crawled through the tunnel, and after some prompting made it down the slide. He kept planting his shoes in the slide slowing himself down or causing him to stop all together. While Connor was sliding he was content to just run laps around the border of the play area.

Connor had a great time sliding down the slide. He crawled to the top of the slide, sat down, and worked on getting his feet in front of him. When he was ready he would wiggle and scooch down to get himself started. He smiled, he laughed, and then he wanted to do it all over again.

A little bit redneck?

Just another lazy Sunday afternoon around the house.

Connor discovers that he can make the tunnel roll.

Who says it's a one way?

Ryan watching a little Nascar at Taladega

And a little brotherly love?

I think it looks more like a little WWF smackdown.

Toddlers and Crawfish

We spent the afternoon at a birthday party/crawfish boil for another set of twins. There were about a dozen babies ranging in age from 6 to 18 months including 3 sets of twins. It was fun watching the chaos of all the kids. They also hired some baby sitters to help watch the kids so Kevin and I had some time to catch up with friends, too. Though the boys would only play for 10-15 minutes or so in the play area before they wanted back out. It was still nice to be able to have a conversation and not have to run off chasing one or the other of the boys in the middle of it. There were lots of folks from work that Kevin and I both knew, along with almost all the moms from my mom's group, too. We left just a little before the boys bedtime and they were both so completely worn out that they were sound asleep before we even got to the end of the street.

Crayons go up one drawer higher

While we were getting ready for work this morning we left the boys alone for a few minutes. I heard some squealing and fighting, and even told Kevin we should probably check on them. When I was done getting ready a minute or two later I came out to find an empty kleenex box with remnants of the tissues thrown all over the floor. Thank goodness it was an almost empty box. They must have really had a good time pulling them all out, strewing them everywhere, and then tearing them to shreds as they fought over them. The little stinkers.

A trip to the sandbox

The boys ventured into their first public sandbox yesterday evening. We went to Willies for dinner and let the boys play in the sandbox while we were waiting on the food to arrive. It was quite an adventure. Ryan decided to eat a "hunk of sand." Let's just hope it was sand anyways because by the time we got there to fish it out all that was left was the muddy drool seeping out of the sides of his mouth. Yuck! Then between the boys trying to “help” other people with their sandbox building and the blatant thieving going on there was never a quiet moment. The boys wanted to play with a bucket one of the little girls had filled up with sand. To keep them away from it we finally had to fill their own bucket with the equivalent of a tea spoon. It was soon confiscated by another child who Ryan just followed to it’s new location which the thief did not appreciate. Lather, rinse, repeat. Connor destroyed the second thief’s castle without a seconds hesitation and had quite a good time doing it too his maniacal laughter was any clue or the heaps of flying sand as he tore into with gusto. Ryan stole a toy car and made a mad dash out of the sandbox in the hopes of keeping it. Connor wanted one of the hundred rakes a little girl was hoarding. She didn't particularly want to share. That didn't deter him one bit from crawling smack into the middle of them and taking up a perch on top of the pile.

By the time the food arrived we really appreciated the reprieve that having them contained in the highchairs at our table on the patio afforded. They ate really well, too. They polished off more than half of the biggest side of mashed potatoes I have ever seen in addition to their kids meal. Then they sat pateiently while Kevin and I finished off the last of the crawfish while they watched the action in the sandbox and the plethora of birds hopping here and there.

We let them play a little more before we left. They were covered head to toe in sand despite our best attempts to dust it all off. They really did have a good time though.

A visit with the boys

The boys ran us ragged while we were visiting. We really enjoyed getting to spend some time with my family.

Great Grannie and Granddaddy

My mom and I.

Grannie and Connor

Great Grannie with the boys

Great Granddaddy and Ryan

Still hunting Eggs

On Monday we stopped by my grandparents house. It was the first time they had seen the boys since Thanksgiving. The boys have changed so much since then. I can’t even imagine how different they must have looked to them and how much more grown up. That afternoon my mom and I hid more eggs for the boys to find in their backyard.

Roadtrip

Easter Day we got up bright and early (earlier even than our two alarm clocks normally wake us up) to get ready and finish up the packing so we could head out as soon as the kids ate breakfast. Murphy had other plans, but we managed to make it out the door shortly after 9am. Just as we passed Hempstead we drove into a line of thunderstorms leaving the road pitch black, and even with the wiper blades going full blast and the headlights on, the road pretty much invisible. It was a shame, because as we came out of the backside of the line of storms and the rain eased and visibility improved beyond the hood of the car the bluebonnets were absolutely spectacular. There were acres of fields that were totally covered.

Luckily by the time we turned off on Highway 21 and headed towards Austin the storms were behind us, the sun shining bright and the rest of the trip covered in only high and sparsely scattered wispy clouds.

The boys were amazingly content strapped into their carseats for the long road trip. They made the most of their reprieves from their confines and ran around amusing other patrons everywhere we stopped. In the car they alternately napped and played. At one point they were throwing balls around in the backseat. They each started with one, but periodically I would see one fly to middle or the other side and be swiped up by the other one. Before long one or both would return to the other side of the car amid much babble and laughter.

Ryan enjoying some carrot sticks for snacks and signing daddy "MORE!"

We made great time, and even managed to make it to West Texas in time for dinner with my family.

Another run in with the law...

Are you sensing a trend here? I am pretty sure I should never leave town again...

On the way back from Jasper coming down 59 a policeman and a trooper had a car pulled over on the side of the road. I was in the right hand lane as we approached. I looked to see if I could get over, but to no avail – the left hand lane was bumper to bumper so I slowed down a little but continued on. Just after I passed the police car pulled out behind us. A couple of miles down the road I saw my exit and as I was slowing down and turning my blinker on to exit on came the lights. He pulled me over to give me a warning that by law you should change lanes or slow down at least 20 MPH when passing a stopped vehicle. And did I know my taillight was out? After looking frantically I couldn’t find my drivers license, and it took us several minutes to locate the right insurance paper amid the piles of expired ones in the glove box recently disturbed in the search for a map.

Luckily I knew my drivers’ license number and vs. having me running around outside the car opening doors looking for the misplaced license amid all the potential hiding places (console, wallet, diaper bag, diaper changer, etc.) he took the number. He also noted that my inspection was expired, and my registration as well. The registration had actually been renewed – and on time even! – but wasn’t in the car.

When it was all said he done he wrote me a ticket for the inspection and just a verbal warning for the flurry of other issues (slowing down when passing, tail light out, missing drivers’ license, and missing registration). Thank you Mr. Nice Policeman.

Jeff Gordon and hotdogs?

Talk about short term memory. I had forgotten all about the Nascar race Kevin went to until I was downloading his pics and stumbled across them.

Here is what he had to say about the race:

April 5 was the big race at Texas Motor Speedway. We actually made it in time for a tailgate lunch of hotdogs and chips. Surprising given we were stuck at a gas station for an hour on the way to the race because Scott’s SUV decided to lock its doors on its own when we were getting gas. Unfortunately, Scott’s keys were in the vehicle when it decided to lock itself. Good thing Scott had AAA or I don’t know how we would have gotten back into the car on a Sunday morning. This turned out to be a great race. It was windy and a little cold, but the sun was shining. #24 Jeff Gordon, my favorite driver, won the race. Gordon has had a great season but hadn’t won a race in something like 47 races. This was also Gordon’s first win in Texas (surprising given he has won more races than any active driver and had won everywhere except Texas and one other track). Hopefully Gordon will still be in first place in points when NASCAR comes back to Texas Motor Speedway in the Fall.

Easter in Jasper

Every year Kevin's family and friends get together the Saturday before Easter. It's a great opportunity to see and catch up with people we don't get to see as often as we would like. There are typically about a dozen kids running around and having a good time. We were really looking forward to Ryan and Connor watching and playing with the big kids. Unfortunately some folks couldn't make this year and there weren't as many kids as usual. The boys still had a great time exploring and running around with their lions.

Grandpa and the easter baskets

Grandpa made the kids Easter baskets, and one for mom, too. Uncle Randy and Diana hid eggs for the kids to find. I think this is the first year that we have been that Kevin and his cousins haven't hidden the eggs, but Kevin was a bit preoccupied trying to help contain Ryan and Connor to do any hiding of his own. That's probably a good thing for the boys though as he has a habit of stashing eggs in hard to find or reach places. Uncle Randy and Diana were much kinder and left a field of eggs for the boys to discover.

Connor in the field of eggs

Ryan putting eggs in his basket

Connor putting eggs in his basket, too.

Thanks to that practice at school the boys knew just what to do. They were amazingly good at picking up eggs and putting them in the baskets. However, Ryan liked to carry at least one egg around with him while looking for others so he would typically only give you his if his hands were full, and then only just one to free up a hand to pick up more. He also really wanted to know what was in the eggs. He kept running around opening them up and pouring out the contents. Contents which he would then try and eat wrappers and all.

Ryan opening eggs

Ryan trying to figure out how to pick them both up with one hand because the other hand was already full, too.


Connor - working hard picking up eggs.


Ryan making a run for it eggs in hand.

Connor getting in on the "opening" part, too.

Ryan. When did he become such a big kid?
The boys had a great time. They were both filthy and exhausted by the time we headed home. We missed all the folks who couldn't make it. Hopefully we will see them before next year!

Bluebonnets

The bluebonnets have apparently been out in full force this year. We had planned to go several times to take pictures of the boys in the bluebonnets, but something kept coming up. We thought we had waited too long and missed the opportunity entirely. So imagine our surprise as we were driving down a country road just outside of Conroe and stumbled across a hillside still covered in blooms.

Since the boys have gotten mobile they haven't been the most cooperative subjects. Connor tried a couple of times to decapitate the stalks or crawl off. Ryan kept trying to stand up and on the uneven and somewhat steep hillside managed to do a head over heals somersault. Luckily no one was injured in the taking of these pictures other than Kevin who put his knee down on a particularly thorny weed.

Easter Egg Hunt

The school took a picture of the boys during the Easter Egg Hunt they had at school yesterday.

Happy Easter!

Continuing in the tradition of taking totally embarrassing pictures of the kids which they will so not appreciate when they get older, I got some super cute pics of the boys a couple of weeks ago sporting some great bunny ears. Made an Easter card, too. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Toddlers?

Apparently it's official. We now have toddlers. The boys moved up to the toddler class at school on Monday. They "visited" all day Friday. Ryan got a big fat split lip from "falling over." On their "first day" on Monday Ryan came home with a purple ear from being bitten by "one of his friends". Apparently being a toddler is tough, and it's a rough crowd.

Sunday afteroon drive

After a nice nap Sunday afternoon we were all feeling a little better. And it was just too pretty of day not to make it outside. I took to the boys for a short walk in their cars. When we got back they "drove" around the culdesac for a while.




Other than a few close calls they did surprisingly well not running into things or each other. Though Ryan kept aiming for the only car on the street. And Connor mainly went in circles. It was really cute and they had a blast.

Raincheck

It's official. It's cooties. We had planned to head out west this week and visit my family. However, late last week Ryan and Connor got a hacking cough and started producing more snot that it should be possible for any two babies to produce. And wouldn't you know it, a day or two later they decided to share it with us, too. Guess will have to get a rain check on the visit.

Rated: N for Nudity

The little houdini figured out how to get his pants off. And I really don't think that's a good thing...



The boys were running a little low on laundry so we put them in some PJ's that are a little too big. While crawling around one of Connor's pants legs kept slipping down swallowing up his foot. The next thing I knew he was running around pants in hand. I put them back on and rolled the pants legs up in the hope that if he wasn't stepping on them that they would stay put. That seemed to help for a little while, but once again I got busy doing something and turned around to find him running around sans pants again. I decided I better put him in something he couldn't get off like a onesie before I had him running around not only missing his pants, but missing his diaper, too.

And speaking of the little houdini, Connor has been pulling socks off, or more accurately just one sock off, almost every night for quite a while. And just about every morning despite that little bare foot the sock(s) is suspiciously absent from the crib. Today while I was changing the sheets and pulling the bumpers off to be washed I pulled the cribs away from the wall and found a whole pile of socks and a teether, too. Apparently he is stockpiling in case of emergency.



While I was changing the sheets the boys played with their blocks and ran around upstairs wreaking havoc. :)



They love to play with the blocks. Unfortunately as we discovered the first time we pulled the blocks out to play they require adult supervision. If left alone for a few seconds the little beavers attempt to turn the faux wood blocks into a combination of wood chips and sawdust. They are quite effective at it, too. Ryan especially.

The very bad no good day

I lost my keys today. For the first time in the entire 16 years that I have been driving. Unfortunately I realized this fact while running 20 minutes late to pick up the kids. I tried calling Kevin to get him to pick up the kids. And calling, and calling, and calling. For almost an entire hour. Before it was all said and done there must have been 50 people looking for him at work, and at the launch party. No one could find him.

I finally decided to catch a ride to daycare. At least the babies wouldn't be stranded there alone. We would all be stranded there, and somehow that would be better, right? :) I thought worst case we could walk to the restaurant just down the street and have dinner while I kept trying to find K to come pick us up. Just before we actually made it to daycare I got a call telling me my keys had been found in one of my coworkers cars. They were going to bring the keys to daycare. So that left me at daycare with 2 babies, and a set of keys, but no car. I ended up waiting for the keys and then catching a ride back to work to get my car. All the while still trying to get in touch with Kevin.

I did finally get in touch with him and we both arrived at daycare just a few minutes after they were scheduled to close. I have never been more relieved to see the boys. Needless to say it was a very stressful evening.

Sippy Design

I recently found some sippy cups that let you create your own design to put on them. I thought it might be fun to create something for the boys with their names on them so they don't get mixed up. While I was playing with the design in Photoshop I did a quick page layout just to see what it would look like. The pics are about a month old, but I thought they turned out kinda cute, so thought I would share.

Swimming Lessons

Will they sink, or swim? Or maybe just float? I think we are going to sign the boys up for swimming lessons this summer. They love splashing around in the water in the bathtub. Hopefully they will be as enamored with the pool. And maybe someday we will have a pool of our own for them to swim in. :)

I stopped by a local swim place today at lunch and picked up information on their infant swim class. It runs 11 weeks, meeting once a week on Saturday mornings. It really sounds like a lot of fun. Not surprisingly it requires 1 adult per child, so both Kevin and I will have to go. I think he's a little worried that he is going to be the only guy in the class. But it is all for a good cause right?