If Not For the Library, We Wouldn't Have Found the Phone

The purse that hides the best loot!

The twins have taken their penchant for pinching and squirreling away important items to a new level, one that has some benefits.

I should know better. They've removed cabinet locks to get to envelopes and stamps to create a collage with our collection of old and Forever stamps. It was beautiful, and a steal at exactly $2.42. They've moved on from hiding my wallet and, separately, all its contents, for more banal items such as borrowed books. At least that is only .25 cents a day in penalties rather than the $25 it costs to replace my license! I still can't find my Barnes & Noble member rewards card.

I have a basket next to the TV so we can easily keep track of all our library treasures, and not send mommy in a tizzy when it's the dreaded return day. It's so convenient! You just wade through the bits of crayons and broken toys to access the pretty little white-washed basket and voila! Your books and DVDs are neatly organized and ready to return to their rightful home far from the chaos of your house. But somehow the dear little ones have taken every item out of the pretty little basket 24 hours before story time at the library and I can't find one single DVD or preachy parenting book that I can't help but check out and is now creeping into the overdue category because some other mother needs to read this latest trendy parenting tome.

After hunting and gathering up every overdue item but one, and finding the cordless phone in the process (note, check Morgan's talking purse daily for expensive household items), we are only 10 minutes late for story time, and that will only bring a slightly disapproving glance from the rather uptight story lady.

Where is the strangest place you’ve found missing objects in your house that are invariably ferreted away and hidden by your stealthy little one?

A Glimpse of the World at Just Under 48"

Morgan is becoming quite the photographer. I started saving her photos because, well, they're kind of interesting! She is thoughtful with her subjects and doesn't snap haphazardly.

Isn't she though? Her fickle fancy went through a "Mouse and the Motorcycle" phase. I for one am glad we've moved on, albeit to "Strawberry Shortcake." Makes me want to bake cupcakes!

Post tornado or pre-clean up of the play room.

Mommy cooking.

This is Jack and Morgan enjoying candy, she says. It's "very pretty."

The butcher block where many a head has been bumped coming around the kitchen corner. Is this a warning shot, or is she paying homage to the goose egg on her forehead?

She is fascinated by this Halloween pair who sing "I've Got You Babe." Just don't turn it on if she's within a few feet of them!

It took us a while to figure this one out. It's a closeup of a tombstone from the 99 Cent store for the front yard.

Love the angle, love the composition, love the subject!

Her brudda, a favorite subject.

Baking Season is Open!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! When I can officially indulge my desire to try all sorts of new recipes. Haven't found the new official holiday cookie yet. Last year was caramel shortbreads. This year I'm feeling really adventurous. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Here's our first food foray into the holiday season, Halloween cupcakes! Got a great deal on these little knives I've been eyeing since last year. They are not terribly tasty, but not awful either. A bland, crisp little cookie. Made red cupcakes so tasters can really get the full experience. Next time I might try a deep red velvet cupcake with a touch of cinnamon to give it a little 'bite', or does that sound gross?

Did I Say It To The Dogs or The Twins?

The hubby found it funny that when he’s in another room, he can’t tell if I’m talking to the dogs or the twins. Here are a few highlights. Can you guess which messy being I’m attempting to corral?

1.) "You’ve had too much ham, go lay down."

2.) "Good boy!!! Belly rubs!"

3.) "Take it outside. Outside now!"

4.) "Get out of there, that’s yucky."

5.) "Get behind the gate and I’ll give you a treat."

Woof

Answers:

1.) Mommy to the dogs after a big ham was cooked and trimmed. Gassy puppies!

2.) Mommy to Jack giving up Tablet to go play outside with his sister.

3.) Mommy to Morgan walking in to the kitchen with a stick covered in ants. She was shaving the trees “jacket.”

4.) Mommy to the dogs rolling in the twins’ sheets after Daddy let them go to bed with BBQ potato chips.

5.) Mommy to the twins after almost making the same mistake Daddy did at a particularly difficult nap time.

Too Busy To Be Tied Up

Saw a great sign today at the pony farm as we were wrangling up some old-fashioned morning fun.

"I'm so busy I don't know if I found a rope or lost a horse."

Twins! 'Nough said.

Hot Update! Sriracha PB Cookies

After some contemplation in a PP, we have completed our first experimental cookie of the season!

We chose Persnickety Plates recipe for Sriracha Peanut Butter Cookies, and, with a few minor changes, it tastes great, with just a little heat on the back end.

The twins pitched in, and not entirely sure Morgan didn't double dip her tiny teaspoon into the baking soda jar while my back was turned. At that point, we’re so close to putting it all in the mixer, I figure a baby teaspoon half full of baking soda can’t really hurt.We take a few minutes to decide between stuffing them into mini muffin tins or rolling into cookie balls.

The M&M guy looks as worried as my testers!

Meanwhile, Morgan's cheeks are bulging with the M&M's she thinks she’s stealing. The recipe calls for 1 cup of chocolate chips. We put in the whole bag of Pumpkin Spice M&Ms. I think we should have bought another bag and added more.

So does Morgan, because now we are out of the M&M's. She wasn't thrilled when I poured the entire bag into the brown blob in the bowl.

"You put them in there? Why?"

"Because it's thier chocolate destiny," I retort.

This gets her thinking.

"Oooh, it’s pretty," Morgan said. "You put my candies in the cookies! You’re the best, mommy."

Jack agreed, mainly because I snuck him a few candies before all the little M&M's were sacrificed.

Then we had clean up. And they both took off. I dragged them back to the kitchen.

“Mommy, look at the mess you made! Clean it up!”

Great.

The result? More peanut butter than Sriracha or chocolate, but a fun Halloween cookie. Hubby's co-workers were spooked by the ingredients, but they were fearless. They ate every last one and requested the recipe.

Put a Lid On It - Scrapbooking in Two Easy Steps

A few years ago, as the babies were really starting to test their mobility and my patience, and the daily pictures and videos dwindled from hundreds to two, I decided to start scrapbooking.

After I realized that would never happen, I began a memory jar. I bought months-of-the-year tablets in a cutesy package complete with tiny themed Post Its, on clearance of course, and regularly jotted down the things they did and said in the amount of time it took to change a diaper. Awesome. Pop it in a jar and tighten the lid and the good-mommy points just pile up! Plus it's nearly water proof when the kids take it for a bath.

Now I’m working on our third jar, and the memories have yet to make it into a glossy scrap book with themed pages, but at least I don’t feel guilty about not recording every moment. And I know it’s going to make a great New Year’s Eve tradition when they are old enough to open the jars and unfold the little pieces of paper and learn all about themselves, from first step to first public curse word.

Pumpkin Season Begins with Dissapoinment & Surprise Find

Those ads for pumpkin spice M&Ms are taunting me. Must have. Must possibly pair with sriracha and peanut butter for a spicy, fall cookie packed with punch. The ingredients sound slightly scary, so maybe a good Halloween cookie?

Found a great recipe at Persnickety Plates that I can't wait to try.

Searched through bags of all the different 'flavors' of M&Ms  at CVS, Walmart and Walgreens. Can not find. The hubby, understanding there will not be rest until the desired item is found, pointed out the Target ad, which mentioned they are an exclusive Target item.

Cool. Off we go, coupons in hand to make the bags less than $2 each. Get the kids in the car, twins want to hold the coupons, split coupons into two piles, hope coupons survive the 5-minute drive. Make it there with nary a tear or tears. Find clearance section, glad I brought the big coupon organizer. Send hubby and kids to toy section for a huge clearance haul that takes 20 minutes matching coupons to canned foods and bags of coffee marked down to nothing.

Gather up the fam and head to the Halloween candy section. We have a tactical plan to get in and out before the kids get high on the scent of sugar wafting from the shiny mounds of candy bags. Hubby points out the M&M's candy corn flavor. What the hell, get those, too. But candy corn? Really? At some point just call them something else because they can barely be called M&M's anymore.

We get home and unload the bags of clearance items (we’ll be eating a lot of free soup this winter). The last bag doesn't have time to hit the kitchen table before somebody rips open a bag, then both flavors. Glad we got a half dozen.

I can barely taste the pumpkin or the spice. Meh. Hubby thinks they are more cinnamon chocolate than anything else. Huffington Post thought they were a dud as well, so we're in good pumpkin critiquing company. Open the candy corn M&M's, expect to be disappointed. Do not buy these. They are too good to keep in the house.

So, I’m off to make some cookies out of these new additions to my overflowing pantry. Must make so I have room for the bags of pumpkin Hershey’s kisses, which I haven’t been able to find, which is fine because I don't have a coupon, yet.

When I do, I plan to make Pass the Sushi's Chai Spice Cookies, which I've had pinned for a year:

And then if our palates aren't pumpkin-saturated, Pescetarian and the Pig have a pumpkin butter stuffed cookie that looks really interesting. Maybe I'll use the candy corn M&M's? Thoughts readers?

A Few of My New Favorite Things

Each month I hear about cool new products, teaching tools, expert-approved little tips that I like to remember, so I thought I’d share a few of them here around the beginning of each month and maybe have a slim chance of remembering them because I can’t keep a dern thing bouncing around my brain once I walk 5-feet in any direction from the point of input.

• I love, love, love to coupon! I've been couponing since I was in grade school and mom let me keep the rebate checks if I collected all the box tops and receipts. One of my fave new sites is www.grocerysmarts.com. Click on your state and it will run down the best coupons by store, where to print them or what flyer they arrived in at your mailbox. It's a super simple way to save cash without the tedious coupon hunting. I spent $7 on 10 items at a recent quick stop at Walgreens (didn't have the twins, so it was a luxury) and got L'Oreal shampoo and conditioner free!!! (I know, I really have to work on my photo skills.)
  
  
• I'm always looking for new ways to keep the kids occupied/obeying the dictator that is mommy. This came from a parenting magazine: Wake the kids with a riddle! You just give them one line after each a.m. accomplishment; i.e. making beds (who does that unless MIL is coming?), brushing teeth, peeing in that terrifying monster in the tiled room…Then give them the answer when they sit down to breakfast, or, after they have eaten half of breakfast, or just one bite of each offering, OK, just one bite of protein. Here's a quick few to help get you and your little ones out the door: Where do fish keep their cash? In a Riverbank! What walks all day on its head? A nail in a horseshoe!
• I've always known there was a good reason to hoard those free pizza magnets. Stick one on the car door as a reminder for that field-trip waiver or to load up the diaper bag before the 2-hour car trip to grandma's. When you go to open the car door, the placement of the tiny magnet can save loads of time in the morning running back and forth for paperwork, change of clothes, the kids. And if you’re really crafty, you can coat the magnet in chalk paint and write those really important but easily forgettable things on the tiny magnet, which I think is better. Looking at that magnet with keys in hand tempts me to swing by said pizza place. Here's a recipe for DIY chalk paint from www.inmyownstyle.com.
• I want to make this using felt! A customized clock with tiny pics of toothbrush, pants, breakfast, school house to get the kids motivated about what's happening that day. Every morning I get grilled on what the plans are for the day, and when. Put each on a velcro backing, just rip pics out of old mags, so you can switch it out as they graduate from library time to karate or ballet class, and then tiny lips with an X over it for quiet time (next to a glass of wine if it's after 8 p.m.!).

Share your tips with us! The twins and I would love to hear how you get through your day with love, laughter, lack of whining and a semblance of sanity!

Ground Control is Major Fun

I’m trying to get my son off electronics. His twin sister can play Barbies, tea party and sleepy babies in the grocery store/mad-dash-home (where ever did she ever get that from?) with nary a need for pulsing, noisy gadgets.

However, my boy goes into total melt down if Tablet is deemed unnecessary for even a minute of playtime, or to sit on the charger and take a nap its own self. I've gone so far as to tell him Tablet is in the hospital and we need to make cupcakes to make Tablet better! No. Nothing can get him off Beloved. He sits and waits for the little beep that says it's charged and claps his hands before gently, gently removing it from its charger.

So, off to the playground we go! At least there he forgets, for a few moments, his Beloved. Kites from the dollar store worked great, for about a week. Then he realized the ploy his parents had orchestrated to disconnect him from Tablet. But then, I found stomp rockets, and they…are…awesome! Not only do they launch really high, they go a good 50 yards, true to the advertising on the ‘70s-inspired packaging complete with children turning their awed faces to the sky, but it's great toddler cardio! The twins have to run after their rocket ship, bring it back and stomp on the dern thing over and over.

It’s my new favorite nap-inducing thing!

We 'Get Lucky' on the way to grandma's house

So we’re driving to my mom’s to go swimming. It’s the waning days of summer with lots of whining from the twins. I’m thinking about how to get them undressed and into their swimsuits, then dry and dressed and hopefully squeeze some shopping in before they go down for a nap (oh, please, go down for a nap!).

I’ve been trying to slow down. Just stop, smell the roses, or the sleepy twins as they get up and wind up for another big day of just being alive.

But there is so much to do! I’m thinking about what we need to get done, how to get it done, when to get it done and in what order while we’re in the middle of doing what we’re doing. It’s exhausting! And I don’t feel I’ve accomplished anything no matter how many items I get to check off my list. And I am a dedicated list checker!

So, slow down. The kids are asking for the “Get Lucky” song, for the umpteenth time. Grrrr. I press repeat on the car’s CD player just to get two minutes of quiet. But it’s not quiet. My 3-year-old twins are singing, trying desperately to get each word before the chorus that they know oh too well.

“Come on, Mommy, sing with us!”

I take a breath. We sing together. They are thrilled.

“We’re up all night to get lucky.” Jack’s shoulders are moving and he’s tapping his chubby little boy hands on his pudgy knees with the concentration of a serious musician, trying to catch the beat. He gets it and starts to nod his head, a mini Will Ferrell in “Night at the Roxbury.”

Morgan is bouncing around, big smile, hands in the air, eyes closed, pure bliss to this funky summer tune. Five minutes and eight seconds in to track 8 of Daft Punk’s latest CD gets squeals of “Again, again!” from the back seat.

And we do it again, and it’s freakin’ awesome. I’ve been sleep walking through this gorgeous day. I’m grumpy because we have to go swimming? 

I take a breath, don't fret when they are too excited to get a foot in a swimsuit much less their whole wiggly bodies. I enjoy the first splash into the pool, the shivers of excitement as they dunk their heads, Marco polo, instead of looking at the clock and wondering when we can get going because things need to get done!

We won’t always have summer mornings to go over to Grandma’s and go swimming, just because.

I get it. We're lucky.