Suggestions?

We're trying to think of names for our baby girl who is soon to come... I've got nuthin'. Usually (well, you know, the past two times I've been pregnant), I have a "short list" of names well before now.

Yeah. No-thing.

PLEASE make suggestions. Someone? ANYone?

Celebration of TWINS!

Sometimes I feel bad for Benjamin that he doesn't have a twin. Then again, he's sort of a spotlight stealer. Therefore, I will put TWINS at the forefront today!

Wendi and Hailie have a friend their age to play with any time. They laugh and play together every day; they have this sort of understood give-and-take that no other sibling or friend relationship can ever compare to. For example, there is none of the big sister-little sister tension.

Hailie and Wendi are constantly re-equating as far as leading the way goes. One crawled first, the other walked first; one spoke first, the other fed herself first... I could go on forever.

Some days, they can't stand each other and others they can't be together enough. This is from one of their "need each other" days.


Often the question is posed to me, "Would you have twins again?" The undeniable answer is "YES!". I would have loved for Ben to be twins (although two Ben-similar boys running around may have done me in by now...) and I would love to be having twins right now. There is something special about two babies and their unspoken bond that I don't think I'll fully understand because I don't have a twin!

(We are grateful that a grandpa has an identical twin brother and so he understands pretty well. And, there are three aunts and an uncle that are twins -- doing the math, that's a set of girl twins and a girl-boy set of twins -- and our twins recognize and appreciate these family members quite a lot!)

I tend to discourage them being overly dependent on each other - for heaven's sakes, they are going to grow up and have friends that don't even know they have a twin! There has got to be some individual identity, right? (Both girls wholeheartedly embrace this idea, too.)

Sometimes, though, all you need is the person who understands you better than all others, and for these crazy girls, that person is never too far away.

Upcoming Event

No, no, not the birth of our new baby or the birthday party for the twins or the fancy dinner I get to go to tonight (which I don't have to pay for - score!).

I'm talking about The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network's Walk for Food Allergy: Moving Toward A Cure. It is a one and a half mile WALK at Veteran's Park in Boise... a fundraiser for the network.

I got such a huge reply back in the blog when I mentioned the twins' allergy to eggs that I thought you might be interested in this. You can find out if there are any events in your area. I'm pretty surprised how few there are and that there is a walk in Idaho but none in other places - maybe you and your friends could be the ones to get things going where you live.

To be completely honest, I'm not interested in forcing everyone to donate to our team (as our fundraising goal is $0 - we've reached our goal! Hooray! Thanks for all you who have participated!). I just think this is a really fun way to get kids moving and teach them about good causes. It's free to participate - for anyone. Any kid who participates gets a free t-shirt, too.


I know, I'm being much more informational than usual. Be amazed, but don't get used to it.

Note: I am large, pregnant, and uncomfortable right now. I will not be walking. Brent will be taking Hailie and Wendi. Granted, I COULD... but Brent volunteered to take them, what do YOU think my reply should be?

Just for Laughs

I know, I know... everyone has a funny video of their kid eating a pickle. But, they're still funny. I can't help but post this.

Background: Ben has had a pickle before (a year or two ago), but I enjoyed this one even more. Why a pickle? Why now? We let all the kids watch Little Rascals and they all asked for pickles for a snack. This is what happened when we gave one to Ben.



P.S. Wendi and Hailie really enjoyed their pickles - said it was a "good sour". :o)

Forgotten Posts of Summer

Have you ever done something fun and taken pictures (or not) and thought, 'I will blog about this. It was a great time.'?

Now you know how I spent my summer.

Here are a few of the things we did that were left unmentioned:

The Twin Falls Temple Open House:




With accompanying sightseeing:











Then, there was the Caldwell Night Rodeo (Tricia, you and your family HAVE to come for the CNR sometime - you know you want to!):


Hailie has deemed these the only "okay" princesses. All others are superfluous.

The Western Idaho Fair









The reason this picture is so much bigger is so you can read the sticker on Ben's shirt.

Finally, Wendi and Hailie camped out in the back yard all by themselves (we had our bedroom window open, the gate was locked, and my daughters were blessed with screams that could make the deaf hear and the hearing deaf).

SUCCESS!

I can make jam. Not only that, but I can also can it (I can can, can you can can?). A friend gave me a whole lot of peaches (leftovers from the bushel she bought) and I decided I might as well make jam.

And, I did.

And, it worked great and tastes great.

I actually ended up making three batches from peaches. Then, just to make sure I didn't make only ONE kind of jam in my first season, last night I made strawberry jam from the strawberries I bought at Costco. It was the perfect amount - and I got to eat two berries.

Brent's new challenge to me is to figure out how to make a "Pear Berry" jam. Hm. Maybe next year. I'm still basking in the glory of all my lids "popping" and nothing burning and no major spills.

*sigh*

Success.

Not just one, but TWO!

Hailie's bottom front teeth have been getting loose for quite a while. About a week ago, Brent convinced her to let him tie dental floss to one of them and have her yank it out. It was traumatic, but triumphant. The result can be seen at right.

Then, two days later, she was eating an English muffin for breakfast and her other loose tooth came out. A decent picture of both missing teeth is still pending.

Yes, we're doing the tooth fairy thing and, of course, they love it! Me, too. It makes it very exciting all around.