My sweet little Floridians

While talking about what it will be like when I am old and am a Grandma, I asked the kids what the would call me then.
Mackenna: "mommy"
Micah: "old mommy"

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When leaving for preschool, we told the kids they needed to put on a jacket because it is chilly outside.
Mackenna: "but we have long sleeves on. A jacket and long sleeves? That's silly."

Another six months of changing from my biggest kids

Six months seems to be the magic number...I was just thinking I should update on things my older kids can do that they couldn't six months ago, and sure enough, I posted this the first time in March, just about six months ago.

Here are some new things they can do....

- Unload the dishwasher (Micah) and assist me in cleaning the bathrooms (Mackenna)
- Make their beds
- Go places at night without falling asleep in the car (well, mostly)
- Memorize references to go with Bible verses and quote the correct verse when prompted with a question
- Micah can sound out cvc words and definitely knows what letter almost any word starts with.
- Mackenna is awesome at rhyming words.
- Write their names easily
- Ride a bike with training wheels
- Get themselves dried off after a bath and put on their PJ's by themselves
- Mackenna now sleeps in underwear without a single accident.
- Micah loves adding on his fingers.
- Ride kiddie rollercoasters and like them (especially Mackenna).


I love them.

Before I finish, I wanted to record a little something about being the mom of twins. There have been times in the past four years where it really isn't like I have twins; it is just like I have two kids and the things I struggle with are the things that every mom of two kids struggles with. However, there have also been some unique twin mom times too. (Potty training two at once comes to mind.) I'm at another one of those unique times. Micah and Mackenna are two very unique lovable individuals - who just happened to be born on the same day. They are different players, imaginers, learners, etc. Micah shows a real aptitude right now for learning - he is ready to read and likes trying. She isn't quite there yet, which is totally fine since she is still a young four years old. She loves books, probably more so than him. So I am at this difficult place of figuring out how to encourage him and be excited for him without discouraging her or making her hate books. Also, the decision of when to start kindergarten is always a challenge for parents...but we are faced with making a decision that is best for each individual child but is also best for the pair of children. It isn't easy. Praying for a lot of mom wisdom.

Also, since I'm seeking to see my children as individuals, I recently made a change to our rest time routine to allow for more one on one time. Here is what we are doing now.
- Monday - family day so each week is different
- Tuesday - my "Monday" so the twins will do rest time together on my bed listening to audio books while I do laundry, clean, etc.
- Wednesday - Mackenna gets time with mom while Micah gets to pick all the audio books for his own rest time
- Thursday - we switch and Micah gets time with mom
- Friday - Movie day


So far so good....

Mom Week

Where is the time going? 

We had a wonderful mother's day weekend last weekend - at least I did. Jocelyn and I were able to go the beach alone on Saturday while the older kids did some mother's day stuff with dad. I stayed home with Jocelyn from church on Sunday because of a gunky nose, and that was nice in its own respect. Curt did a great job of making lunch and giving me as much down time as possible on Sunday and Monday. I have a sweet family.

They have also said some cute stuff this week too. I've been waiting until I felt in a more "eloquent" or "sappy" mood to write this stuff out. That's not going to happen, so here it goes...

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As we were getting ready for church - 
Mackenna, to Jocelyn: "She's so big."
Me: "I know, how did she get so big?"
Mackenna: "She growed."..... (sensing that I was not okay with this fact) "I don't want you to stop her."
Me: "But then she'll be as big as you."
Mackenna: "I know, she has to grow. That's what big kids do."

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When I tried to wake Micah when he fell asleep during listen books at "rest" time - 
Mackenna: "We should just leave him alone."

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Mackenna: "Can I have another one of your treats?"
Me: "No, they are mine."
Mackenna: "It's okay, I just want some of them."

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Micah, to me: "What are your favorite colors?"
(We go through a whole list, and he picks out those colors to use in his coloring picture.)
Micah: "I'm just going to try them and see if I like them."
(He tries them)
Micah: "Okay, I like them, so I can use them."

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Mackenna, praying: "Thank you for this wonderful day. Thank you for this wonderful world. Thank you for Mother's Day."

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Micah: "When will it be the next Mother's Day?"
Me: "Well, can't every day be Mother's Day?"
Micah: "No, then we won't have our next Christmas."

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Mackenna, to Daddy: "When I get bigger and Micah goes with you to work then I'll stay with mommy and we'll watch the babies."

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Daddy, to Mackenna: "Look at my two pretty girls. Do you think Jocelyn is pretty?"
Mackenna: "Yes."
Daddy: "You know, when she grows up, she's going to look up to you, and you need to be a good example for her."
Mackenna: "When I grow up, I'm going to tell her what to do."

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(Although I couldn't catch the details, I did overhear a conversation between M&M tonight about how they were going to get married and they would kiss everytime Mackenna said so.)

Random Hearings in my House

Micah: "Can I have one of these?" (holds up a Reese's)
Me: "No, you picked a Snickers for your treat."
Micah: "But I didn't like it."
Me: "But you ate it all."
Micah: "I was just tasting it to see if I liked it. And I didn't."

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Micah: "I know why I can't pull the weed out. Because ants are in the ground pulling it down."

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Mackenna: "This strawberry is too small. I need to eat it."

(lots of other strawberry cuteness...like them eating the whole patch and her being my little helper through the whole job of cleaning them and making jam. She was a trooper - and actually helpful.)




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Mackenna: "Don't lay Jocelyn there. That is Raelyn's blanket."  (Raelyn is Mackenna's doll)
Me: "No, all of this stuff is Jocelyn's. It is okay if Raelyn uses it, but it is all Jocelyn's. Jocelyn is more important than Raelyn."
Mackenna: "No."
Me: "Your doll is more important than your sister?"
Mackenna: "No, they are both important."




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Mackenna, while picking up her room: "I don't want to do this anymore. I want to do something else.
Me: "Well, who made the mess."
Mackenna: "I did."
Me: "Well, who should clean it up then?"
Mackenna: "Daddy"


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Micah, after leaving a store where we bought nothing: "What did we buy in that store?"
Daddy: "Nothing."
Micah: "Well then, why did we go in there?"
Daddy: "Son, that is a question you will be asking women for the rest of your life."
Mommy silently shakes her head.

What a difference 6 months makes

Here is a quick list of some things that the older kids can now do that they definitely couldn't do 6 months ago..

• Buckle themselves in their carseats (I no longer have to climb into the back of the van to buckle them in. Glorious.)
• Play by themselves at church for hours (The 1 and 2 year old rooms are magical once they are no longer in there on Sundays. We discovered this during GO Conference week while I was doing work at the church. I seriously couldn't believe how well they played and pretended together, virtually unattended.)
• Tell me when they are sick (They both have self diagnosed themselves with ear infections. Micah saying that he couldn't eat dinner because his ear hurt too badly, and Mackenna telling us she couldn't hear. This allowed us to get treatment before they woke screaming in the middle of the night. This is wonderful blissfulness! - who would have thought that I would be using blissful and ear infection in the same sentence)
• Mostly take care of themselves in the bathroom (Maybe this is why my bathroom smells worse than ever!)
• Dress themselves - picking out clothes and putting them on, taking off their dirty clothes and putting them in the hamper (I'm learning to relax and only say 'no' to outfits when I really have to. This is a work in progress for me.)
• Count backwards from ten (with some help - sometimes their play cell phones will provide all the visual help they need, sometimes they want me to hold up my fingers and help them with some of the higher numbers)
• Sort rhyming word picture cards (with me reading the words)
• Kind of write their names (Micah got the good end of the stick here. Mackenna is really good at M, A, E, N - C and K are hard for her.)
• Do 24 piece puzzles - the kind in the box (They have their own ways of doing puzzles. Micah likes to obey 'my rules' and start with the edges and corners. Mackenna is really good at looking at the whole picture and just kind of knowing what pieces would make the picture come together. She is quiet and steady, slow at first, but sometimes getting done before him.)
• Lace beads on a string (Maybe they could do this before, but they seem to like it now.)
• Complete patterns, kind of
• Put away their toys, knowing exactly which bin each toy goes in (I think Micah actually enjoys cleaning up!)
• Ride their trikes
• Pump on the swings, kind of (Mackenna is better at this.)
• "Feed" their babies their "milk." (Yes, both of them do this sometimes, but Mackenna is the better mommy in this department. She also told him the other day that he didn't have the milk his baby needed. He disagreed.)

And a few things that they still do, that still melt my heart..

• Micah asks me to snuggle with him at naptime on a frequent basis
• They still snuggle with me in the morning in bed
• And Mackenna frequently tells me that I'm the best mama ever
• They play and pretend together like no one's business.

We're not even going to start thinking about all the ways that Jocelyn isn't different today than she was 6 months ago....That is for tomorrow.