Twins' Preschool Graduation

We are closing another chapter that has gone far too quickly... the twinnies have finished their first year of preschool. We have been incredibly happy with their wonderful teacher and the kids at the school. They had an adorable graduation program/picnic, and Miss Liz gave an award to every single individual student. She really went out of her way to acknowledge why each of them are special and what she loves about them. You know you have a great teacher when they love so many of the same things about your children that you do, and they see them so clearly for who they are and how they are growing and changing.

Sammy got the "Daddy" award. It's no secret he is absolutely in love with his daddy. I don't think I've ever seen another child so enamored with their father. He asks us on a very regular basis "Can I be a dad when I grow up?" "How do I get to be a daddy when I grow up?" "Why can't I grow a baby?" He loves baby dolls, and his current favorite is a stuffed blue giraffe which he calls "Baby Ice Cream". We don't go anywhere without Baby Ice Cream. He is so tender and caring - always wrapping up his babies for naps and bedtime, rocking them, singing to them. If you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, it is almost always a dad. So, Miss Liz shared this with everyone at the picnic, and gave him a necktie as his gift. It was so tender. One of the other moms (and of course Matt and I) actually got teary eyed because she thought it was so sweet. Miss Liz told her favorite story about Sam from the year. When he first started the school year, he couldn't reach the sink to wash his hands. He is the smallest kid in his class - and has always been shorter than August. One time she was lifting him up to help him reach, and he said to her in his sweet, high little cherubic voice, "I'm just a tiny little boy." She loved it and it was endearing to her - she always retells that moment with fondness.

August got the "Teacher" award. Every morning the kids take their name that's written on a little wooden stick with a doll shape on top, and put it in a spot to show that they are there. August actually created a new "helper" position in the class, where someone does the name bucket and puts all the kids in the proper place if they are in attendance that day at school. They go through all the names every day so all the kids read all the other kids' names. So, Miss Liz gave August the a.m. preschool name helper cup with blank sticks in it that she can decorate and write names on. She talked about August how she is very social, and cute, and loves kitties. August loves to help Liz be the teacher!

What I loved so much about this little graduation was watching Claire as she watched her little twinnies... she always has love in her eyes, and is protective of them, supportive, and so proud. I always think I can't be more grateful for this little family... then my love and gratitude keep growing.

 Here are some photos from their portfolios showing their adventures, their work and the progress they have made. August really loves to do art, and is obsessed with cats. Sammy adores the color blue, and loves all musical instruments and singing. August remains very fearless and very physical.. my bet is that she will be a little gymnast or something, and Sammy will be a soulful musician. 

Thanksgiving in Colorado

Of course Claire is growling like a ferocious creature.

This Thanksgiving we loaded up the car and took a road trip to stay with our dear friends, the Fishers. After some long and harrowing car rides, Matt and I finally invested in DVD players for the kids, and let's just say they are worth every penny and MORE. The kids were angels and did awesome on the long ride.

We got great quality time with everyone and got to meet the newest Fisher - baby Phoebe. Claire was reunited with her oldest friend, Penny (they were born about a week apart.) Sam and August got to play with Jack and Phoebe and everyone got along great.

Little Phoebe peeking around the corner. She is a real live doll.

Thanksgiving was wild and crazy - we cooked a 24 pound turkey and had about 20 people for dinner including nine kids. It was loud and out of control and wonderful :) We ate until we exploded and stayed up late playing games. There was lots of music and laughter. It was perfection.

Mel and I doing what we love!!!

Mel teaching the girls how to make homemade pumpkin pie.

The BIRD! Three sticks of butter, fresh herbs, apples, onions, carrots and celery = YUM!

One of the kids was a cousin that was visiting, and she was very shy and disappointed that she didn't get to have Penny all to herself. Claire handled the situation with so much maturity. She could have chosen to be really offended, left out or pout about it, but she tried to include the girl while she warmed up to the situation. Her step-mom came up to me and said "I just have to tell you what an incredibly special girl Claire is. Most 7 year olds would have cried or wouldn't have tried to include someone who was not being the easiest to get along with, and I am so touched and impressed at how she handled the situation." She had an opportunity to tell Claire later, and thank her for what she did. Claire's response was "That's just what we do. My mom teaches us that." Rebecca said, "Well, there aren't a lot of people who would have done what you did." Claire said, "Sure there are. There are lots of good people." Rebecca told me that Claire said she learned it from her mom and, needless to say, I got misty and it was absolutely hands down my favorite part of the trip. I am so proud of Claire's ability to read difficult social situations and always help the underdog. My mom instilled that in me, and I'm thrilled to see that Matt and I are successfully instilling it in our children, too.

We spent a day wandering Pearl Street, watching street musicians, getting ice cream cones, tea, and doing a little shopping. It reminded me a little of spending time on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica when we lived there.

I got time with Mel and we went and had pedicures and had a great lunch. She is such a special person who I respect so much and I have no doubt our family friendship will last a lifetime. 

Pedicures with the girls!

My sweet Mel.

Happy little friends :)

The boys got their time, too, and went to the Utes Buffs game (unfortunately, the Utes didn't get a W.....but it was still fun for the guys.)

Most handsome UTES fan on the planet!

The twins cots. August is the one we trust to sleep on top, she's less likely to fall out and get hurt, haha.

Fish Daddy playing with Auggie

This year, I am so grateful for family. I'm grateful for friendships we have invested in and nurtured for years. I'm grateful for a wonderful marriage and I don't take it for granted. I'm grateful for happy, healthy, thriving children. I'm just so grateful for this life and I am in awe of it, daily.

Twins' First Parent Teacher Conference, a Trip to the ER, and Other Shenanigans

I came upon the kids sitting around, looking at their artwork and Claire was reading to them. I love when I catch them all quietly playing together, following Claire's lead.

The twins had their first parent teacher conference today at preschool. It was a simple assessment but fabulous to learn what the kids are like at school and what they are learning. I also like hearing what they are like when they are away from me, and how they are similar and different since they are twins. Always fascinating.

So, let's get into the details! August is developing a bit more in her fine motor skills and recognition of letters than Sam is at this stage, which is very normal for boys. They are both very polite to the teacher and to friends and August loves art. Sam loves to play with the trucks and the other boys. I think it's a welcome opportunity for him to hang out with some testosterone while he is away from home. They got tiny little assessment sheets :) So cute.

Sam was helping pack for Colorado and made sure he had enough hats. I think he is wearing at least four in this pic\.

In other news, Sam remains HILARIOUS.

Sam soaked his head in the sink to look like Claire's friend from school, Easton.

Sam (after finishing a time-out for being disobedient and sassy), was encouraged to apologize to me. Lauren: "What do you say, Sam?"
Sam: "I'm............"
Lauren: "I'm..... what?"
Sam: "I'm ........happy?"
Lauren: "No. I'm SSSSSSSSSSS............."
Sam: No response.
Lauren: "No. I'm S-o- (sounding it out)"
Sam: "I'm .... soft?"
Lauren: "I'M SORRY!!!!"

He finally got it and apologized. But it was a wonderful road to get there.

Sam is feeling increasingly outnumbered by the women in this house. He LOVES it when a boy or man comes to visit, and he calls them The Mens. He recently spent the day at our cousin Tammy's house and they have 2 boys and the dad, so Sam felt like his man squad was highly reinforced. He's fascinated by them. I think this explains his exceptional obsession with his daddy. It's very sweet.

On Monday (November 7), Sammy tripped and fell into the corner of our coffee table and the coffee table won. He split his head pretty badly, and we are so grateful he didn't damage his actual eye. We took him to Primary Children's because it was a cut on his face and we wanted to minimize scarring. We were there for almost 5-6 hours, and were exhausted, hungry, and tired of waiting. But I just kept feeling so thankful that we weren't all of the life-flights and ambulances that were delaying the doctors taking care of Sammy. Sam did pretty darn well getting his three stitches. They were able to do it with just Versed up his nose, and no sedation.

In the midst of telling us how the stick is the most delicious part of a popcisle.

Matty entertaining Sammy with bubbles while we waited for doc.

Matt held him the entire time, and I helped keep his arms down so they could work on his wound. He got to play with trucks, bubbles and play dough while we were waiting and that was pretty cool. After the procedure he was loopy and absolutely hilarious.  The funniest thing was how much he loved his popsicle and how he thought the stick was the most delicious part, and repeatedly tried to eat the wooden stick. He was so loopy Matt had to carry him out of the hospital - his little body couldn't walk. The stitches look great, but he's been especially sensitive and emotional since the incident.

They love forts - they call them forks. Claire helps them build amazing ones.

Sam calls white string cheese "hair cheese" -  I think because of the way you peel off thin little strips.

We spent Thanksgiving in Colorado this year (more to come in a separate post), visiting our dear friends, the Fishers. The twins had to sleep in our room in their awesome cot bunk-beds. One night August woke up at 3am and yelled out "Damnit! My lips are cracking. I need chapstick!" It was no time to correct her because we were tired, and it was so hilarious we just let it go. 

August's "outdoors" outfit: a nightgown with a puffy vest for warmth, a hat, no socks and glittery shoes on wrong feet.

Claire has been trying to teach the twins jokes, starting with the most simple form, knock-knock jokes. I overheard them practicing. Claire was starting the joke, encouraging August to answer. Claire: "Knock, knock!"

August: "Come in."
She doesn't quite get it.

August and I all ready for a baby shower.

Sammy got to go on a fishing trip with Daddy while I took the girls to a baby shower.

Matt continues to travel for work quite a bit, and on his last trip, Sam decided to help him pack. He pulled Matt's absolute nicest shirt out of the closet and brought it to him. Matt explained that it was too fancy and he couldn't take it on his trip. 

Sam: "Why, Daddy? You get dirty on your fieldtrip?"
Matt: "Yes, I get dirty on my fieldtrip."
As Matt hugs him goodbye, Sam says, "Have fun in Dirty California!"
It will now forever be referred to Dirty California in our house.

Claire adores her 2nd grade teacher, Miss Crocker. She loves to draw her pictures and take presents to her. We had some fresh jalapenos that we pulled out of our garden, and Claire insisted on taking one to her teacher. A modern take on the "apple for teacher" concept. It was the sweetest yet funniest thing she has done in so long. She wasn't doing it to be funny, she genuinely thought it was a really generous gift. I LOVE having kids. It just keeps getting better and better.

Sweet little girl gets right into her homework with minimal encouragement. We are so proud of her attitude about school.

I took the kids to Sandy City Hall to get a passport for myself, and there was a beautiful sculpture that paid tribute to fallen soldiers. The kids were fascinated by it and wanted to touch it. They were so quiet, they could tell it was something really special, and they had an innate reverence about it.

Miss Claire got a new haircut! A short little sleek bob. She looks adorable.

Claire's first time roller skating at Asia's birthday party. We had every pad and a walker to minimize injury as we were in no

Halloween: 2016

Left to right: Claire's lab (drawn by mom, carved by Mom/Dad), August's Kitty (drawn by mom, carved by mom/dad), Matt's Utes pumpkin, Sammy's 'Monster Truck' pumpkin (drawn by mom, carved by dad), and Mom's Frankenstein pumpkin (drawn and carved by me and Claire added real screws to his neck.) We grew our own pumpkins this year for the first time ever, and one of them came out green, so naturally that turned into my green Frankenstein pumpkin.

The days are gone (for now) in which I can coax my family into a themed family costume. I shed several tears, but I'm over it and work hard on every child's individual costume. 

Sam the Firefighter, Claire the Wolf, Auggie the Fox.

Such a precious moment watching her tiny little hands applying black lipstick with the dexterity and confidence of a 16 year old. It was a very sweet thing to watch.

Claire is rad... bottom line she is not your typical girly girl and I LOVE that about her. She has plenty of sugar in there, but the spice is ALIVE and well. She is every bit the costume-monger and makeup aficionado that I am.  This year she wanted to be a fierce (but fabulous) grey wolf. She even talked me (wasn't hard) into custom molded dental fangs for her canine teeth. They don't even make them for children so we had to do multiple rounds of molding to make it fit her tiny baby teeth, but it worked and it looked amazing. She wore a grey fur capelet, fur leg covers, a sparkly black jagged tulle skirt, a shirt with a white wolf face on it, and fabulous furry grey ears and a matching tail. We did very elaborate makeup (duh) and it turned out awesome.

Sammy was a "fighter fighter" (fire fighter). Sam's costume was a size 1-2T and it still just drowned him. I love how tiny he is and it makes everything he does and wears even cuter.  Although, I think maybe we need to start working on how we verbalize that at home, because he refers to himself as a tiny little boy with increasing regularity (such as the preschool incident when he looked up at the teacher with his massive eyes and said, in a cherubic voice meant for an audience of woodland creatures: "I'm just a tiny little boy.") Back to Halloween. Sammy wore a darling outfit - his turnouts and a red captain's hat from Unified Fire (where Fireman Uncle Zach works)! He did NOT like having me smudge his face with makeup to simulate ash, but he looked even cuter dirty. (This boy does NOT do dirty.)

Fighting to get makeup on.

 

Auggie was a precious little fox. Not a huge shock since she spends most of her days acting as a dog or cat. She is an animal lover just like her big sister, Claire.

Last night when he was trick-or-treating, Matt tried to remind him what to say when the person opens the door and you want to get your candy.
Matt: "Sammy... what do you say?"
Sam: (something inaudible)
Matt: "What do you say? Remember?"
Sam: (inaudible again)
Matt: (continued coaxing)
Sam: "Have a good weekend!"

Prepping the Fox.

Well, at least these people can look forward to their weekend (mind you - Halloween was on a MONDAY this year... ha ha ha ha.) At least it was a nice sentiment. Not quite "trick or treat" or "thank you" or "Happy Halloween" but it'll do just fine.

Matt didn't dress up this year - he says he went as a "dad." I recycled an old costume on 20 minutes notice because my kids wanted me to dress up, so I was a gold-digger again. 

Our homegrown pumpkins!

Hard at work...

Halloween party at preschool with Miss Liz!

Halloween party at Claire's school!

I volunteered and played Halloween piano songs for a special music activity at school.

Every year we celebrate Halloween at Wheeler Farm with Grandpa Judd. Here we are on a wagon ride.

Babies in the haystacks with grandpa.

Fierce wolf taking a bite out of Grandma Tam, the hotdog.