Mark My Words

UPDATE: It's at the end of this post.



ORIGINAL POST:

Here's the scoop!

It appears that many of you have questions swirling around in your head for the cast of 4under3. My poor inbox overfloweth! And gosh, I'm feeling quite famous! But, since it's been hard to answer them all personally I thought I'd post a coffee shop'ish type read today. To set all your minds at ease.

Brittany tagged me over at 4littlemen & twins to do a No Rules Meme. So I thought: The children are napping, and it's not laundry day, so why not share some random details with you all?


Here we go:

If there was such a thing as a Potty Training Nanny--specifically for almost 3 year old boys--I'd hire her in a second. No price would be too high.

I am energized by the smell and tastes of grapefruit and chamomile. (Teas, handwash, foot scrubs, lotion, wedges with sugar sprinkled on.) Call it a sensory carnival for me!

It's really hard for me to talk on the phone during the day. If I know I can't give my 100% full attention to the caller, I'll pass it through. But, if it's an important call that I've been expecting, I'll duck into the nearest room and lock myself in.

Even though I LOVE winter, the snowier the better, I have not been enjoying our subzero spell thus far. (We've had like 2.3 days so far to actually play in the snow, which is where all the fun is at.) However, there have been two things that have helped keep my spirits high in our snowy season: my moss LaFonda jacket and my furry boots. I've totally been crushin' on them ever since Mr. Marvelous gifted them to me for Christmas.

I don't care to watch TV--there's maybe an occasional viewing of The Unit with Mr. Marvelous--until The Bachelor and American Idol come around. And, mark my words, the American Idol contestant Kacey, from Minneapolis, will make it as one of the top 12 finalists.

When I look at/think about/touch/hear the voice of Mr. Marvelous, I'm nearly sent to the moon with passion. Even during one of our few-and-far-between spats, I wonder how he can still intoxicate me with his darn sweetness.

And now, if you are still interested, here is the recipe for the Beer Bread & the Loaded Baked Potato Soup. Remember, an overdose of bacon, cheddar, and chives.

Don't. Forget!

UPDATE: Now, to those I tag. Would the following please come on down! You're the next contestants on this No Rules Meme.

Karyn
Michelle
Aimee
Amanda
The Henrys

Wild Q & A [Chapter 5] Series 1 Finale

For you, the final chapter of the first Wild Things series. (Written practically from memory the second time because Blogger--teamed up with my internet connection--forgot it was my Birthday tomorrow and ate my entire first copy the moment I hit the publish button.)

Do you all feel as though you could move in next door, join me with a glass of Simply Orange on my deck each morning, but have nothing more to talk about? Or much more to talk about? Either way, the view is great out there, the morning doves would be sure to serenade us, and we'd be able to chat--or sit in silence--as God flings himself across the sky creating that particular morning's radiant sunrise. Speaking of God and his magnificence, I come to you responding to the last question from your list.

Q: How are you so encouraged and positive about life?

A: If I may, I'll explain it like this.



We cannot see the wind, but we can feel the effects of the wind.

I love that illustration! John 3:8 addresses this simple principle as Jesus attempts to clarify for Nicodemus the necessity of restoration. And while I sit here counting God's many effects on my life, I'm brought to my knees with a heart full of gratitude. Although I've never actually seen God, I feel Him in the husband He's given me, children He's loan me, family He's put me in, friends He's sent me, neighbors He's placed me next to, direction He's ushered me in, and the list goes on. For sure, all these things have not happened by just a crazy twist of fate. And, I know that I am certainly not worthy of these overflowing gifts my gracious God has given me. I was also born a sinner and fall each and every day. And yet, realizing exactly that is the simple reason why I know that I need Him--need to feel Him--more than anything.

Being a child who was raised in a christian family, I was taught of God's unfailing love. As a 4 year old, I said my version of the Salvation speech, with my mom kneeled next to me, while sitting on the potty. I went to church on Sundays and Wednesdays, prayed before meals and bedtime, and tried to obey because I knew what was best. And, while 29 years ago tomorrow was the beginning of my life; it wasn't until college that I surrendered my all, admitted my weakness without Him, and was born again, that I actually started to live. That is when I began to live anew, leaving behind my old life that had little purpose and beginning a renewed life of relationship and reliance in Jesus.

Fancied Clipboards, fun summer skirts, and my latest crafted item stand no chance in gaining more excitement than a conversation with my God. And, as I've continued to grow my relationship with God, I've learned how much He adores me. (Have you read this? It's my very favorite chapter in all of the Bible--specifically verses 15&16) He always leaves me in awe of His splendor. By continuing to know God more, my love for Him and this wonderful life He's given me continues to amplify also.

Ok, I'm off to bed. I'm sure I'll be awaken extra early tomorrow morning with a Birthday Breakfast platter laid atop my lap. I bet it has a pile of Coconut pancakes or maybe Strawberry Crepes stacked next to some crispy bacon strips, along with a heapy spoonful of blueberries and raspberries, not to mention a large glass of OPH's pulpy orange juice. Oh yum! And, I'm thinking my husband must have hid all those necessary ingredients away somewhere to really surprise me. ;)

Wild Q & A [Chapter 4]

(Mom and Dad trying to get a picture with the birthday girls--Take 1)

Q: How do you look [the way you look] after having so many little ones?

A: Gosh. Alicia. I don't really know how to answer this fabulously complimentary question. That's probably why I've been putting it off towards the end. *wink* I guess there are possibly two contributing factors to the way I "look."

The first one being straight genetics. Good ol' mom and dad passed the "hungry all the time" gene right along with the "fast metabolism" gene down to this first born daughter. (And their first and second born sons too. My brothers are 6 feet 4 inch rails.)

The second factor also has a lot to do with my parents. About as far back as I can remember, we've been members of the YMCA. I remember going to open swim as a family on Saturday mornings, walking the track with my mom while she worked out, and begging for my 15th birthday to come early so that I was old enough to train in on the machines in the cardio room. ( I can still see the blue and white sign on the door that read, "Children 15 and older allowed.") Throughout high school I was a 3 season athlete and ran cross country in college. If I wasn't working up a sweat at practice, I was working up a sweat at the Y--roughly 6 days a week. Psycho, I know. So, to make a long story a little shorter. We are no longer Y members and my daily workout routine includes carrying two little girls around the house, running up and down our 2 flights of stairs many times a day, and going on walks often.


Q: So...any thoughts on if you really will have SEVEN kids names to spell out on your Christmas cards in the future?

A: If you asked us a year and 7 months ago when we found out we were having twins, we'd say "YES. WE'RE DONE!!" As of now, we haven't played our "Permanently done with expanding our family" card. But, if it were up to Mr. Marvelous and I, we'd probably be done.


Q: What is your discipline modality of choice?

A: Redirect, redirect, and redirect. And, create the broken record effect throughout the day when explaining to your children your specific expectations. And, administer time-outs when needed. However, if there is a situation that includes deliberate disobeying, and when I say deliberate I mean the look-you-in-the-eye-and-do-the-exact-opposite-of-what-you-expect type of deliberate, (now, please close your eyes, put your fingers in your ears, and sing "La la la" with me if you strictly use extinction approaches when disciplining your children and wish that we did too) we explain what is going to happen, swiftly spank, kiss, hug, and tell them that we love them and want them to obey. Alrightythen. On to the next.


Q: Have you thought about school for your little ones? Public/private/homeschool?

A: With Mr. Marvelous and myself both having Elementary Ed degrees as well as LOVING our public school experience, we were initially 100% Public School Advocates. Then we had children. It's a little scary to think of what's in our schools now--20 years later. While we're both looking more into our options for homeschooling, we're still undecided.


Q: You seem in a lot of ways to be like me, as far as parenting and the flow of the day: one part spontaneous and laid back and the other part structured and more rigid. My question is, to which way do you lean more?

A: Without really thinking about it, my first response would be to stand with my right hand forward citing:

"My name is Tiffany and I am an Inflexible Prearranged Dogmaticholic."

But after reflecting on my journey as a mother I must explain this.
I have found that my babies--babies as in, we'll say, Newborn through 13-15 month olds--work best with a strict nap/eat/play schedule. After they drop their morning nap somewhere after their first birthday and are able to function happily on one nap a day, we're in the clear. I can probably count on one hand the number of naps all of our children have missed together as "babies." So there explains why I would never load everyone up for an unplanned trip to whoknowswhere if the little girls' naps were going to be compromised. But. If, say, Daddy decided he wanted to take Norah and Hazel on a 5 day camping trip by himself (ha, that would be funny) I could and would drop any or all structure to our day for the right price. Right now, I lean towards the rigid sidelines. In 6 months, I'll be joining the other team.

Wild Q & A [Chapter 3]

(A wonderfully fun way to facilitate a Musical Chair Cupcake Walk. Have your grandmother-in-law bake the cupcakes, have your MIL bring the frostings and toppings so that the children may decorate their own cupcake when they win. I loved that idea! Here's Owen adorning his sweet treat, and Luke taking notes.)


Q: Did you ever teach elementary school? Do you think you will work when your kids get older?

A: I taught first grade right out of college. The school I was at was smack dab in a low income, inner city neighborhood. When I became pregnant with our first, I finished the year up, delivered Julia the following October, and subbed every Monday after she turned 6 months old until the summer. Then Luke came along, and then--well--the girls came along so I haven't taught since.

I do think I will find something to do outside of being a mom when my children are older. I'm not sure what that is right now, since I don't plan on returning to the teaching field. As much as I love the art of teaching, I've fulfilled my urgency to teach other people's children, and much rather prefer teaching my own--now that I have them.

Q: Has [your hair] always been cut in a cute (thanks!), short 'do, or have you had it longer?

A: I had long/color virgin hair (no bangs and a few inches past my shoulders) until my freshman year in college. That's when I started trimming it shorter, and shorter. And, that's when my friend, Moe, colored it a fabulous shade of bright gold in our dorm bathroom. Wow, we almost needed sunglasses to look at it for the first couple of weeks. Then, during my sophomore year, I had it chopped from a fun stacked bob to a short, funky spike. Since then I've toyed with growing it out and I've gone through some terrible inbetween stages, but now I am really happy with my soon to be inverted bob. And again, thanks for that, Love Mama.


Q: What do you think your children will be when they grow up?

A: Julia-Teacher, President of a company, Very good Mommy, Veterinarian

Luke-Pilot, Motorcyclist, American Idol winner of 2025, Architect

Norah-Massage Therapist, Opera Singer, Chef

Hazel-Comedian, Olympic sprinter, Proper Table Etiquette Instructor


Q: What will you be doing in the upcoming days to celebrate your birthday?

A: It all starts today. Julia's been at her grandmother's house since Saturday to attend VBS with her 4 year old cousin. Tonight we are going to their grand finale event. Tomorrow I leave with some friends from MOPS to our end of the year get-together held at the Lake. It's going to be a great overnight getaway that includes: fake eyelashes, a street dance, relaxing by the pool, and a breakfast buffet down river. As for my actual birthday...I'm not sure. I'll bet Mr. Marvelous has something up his sleeve. Maybe a surprise babysitter and an afternoon spent canoeing into the sunset.


Q: Robeez wannabe...pillowcase dress...[will you teach us how to sew]?

A: Yes, all you sewing machine stimulants!!! I think I'll start putting together a series entitled, "Sew you think you can stitch?" More to come on that.



Just 3 more posts about me and my wild self. I think that'll about wrap up the questions. Phew!! What did I get myself into?

Wild Q & A [Chapter 2]

Since I had a few questions about sewing, I thought now would be the perfect opportunity to unveil my latest pieces of eye candy. Here are the girls in their birthday dresses that I made them for their big day.

These are pillowcase dresses. This style just might be the easiest style to make--ever. And if it's easy, I'll make it over and over. Just like the Robeez look-alike shoes that my friend Becky taught me to sew. I could sew 43 pair of them in a day. And they are so cute. However, Julia's Apple and Pear dress was not so easy. That might be the only one I ever make. Zippers, piping, pleats--they're time consuming, and since I'm a finished-product-encouraged-sewer, lots of time spent on one item doesn't constitute as fun in my sewing manual. After I think about it, I too, dislike following patterns. But, I do have a couple that I need to follow. However, these patterns are always SIMPLE. If it takes too much time to figure out, I'd probably skip on to something easier.

I started sewing just before Julia was born. My first project was the curtain in her nursery. Then my mom helped me with a crib sized quilt for Luke and a matching crib bumper, and now I'm enjoying clothing and accessories. Once again, I usually am found sewing during 1:30-3:30, while everyone is napping.

Q: How do you relax after spending time with crabby little ones?

A: Part of my strategy while I'm with my children is to keep them on their schedule and b.u.s.y. If they've had the right amount of sleep, their tummies are full, and they are busy (playing at the park, splashing in the sprinkler, riding in the stroller, etc.) they are generally in good spirits. If the 5-7 o'clock stretch ends up being a little hairy, I look forward to having my unwind time after the kids get put to bed. Some things you might find me doing are: blogging, reading*, scrapbooking, sewing, or watching HGTV or playing Ladderball with my husband.

Q: What is a typical day like for you?

A:

• Set my alarm for 6:45 or allow myself to sleep until Julia comes down around 7:00
• Get everyone up to the table for breakfast by 7:15
• Go for a walk around 8. (I LOVE early morning walks.)
• Put the little girls down for nap around 9:15
• Clean, play outside with J & L, pack lunch for park
• Load J&L in car, get little girls up at 10:45'ish, load them in car, drive to a park for a picnic and play OR feed children in house, run errands, and go to park to play.
• Home and children down for naps between 1:00. NO LATER THAN 1:30.
• Unwind, relax, chill
• Naps over around 4'ish, snack, play outside or in loft
• Daddy home around 4:30. Play outside again.
• Supper at 5:15'ish
• Baths, play, kids to bed around 7:15'ish.
• Relax, relax, bed around 10:45'ish.

Q: How do you include a link in your blog?

A: Highlight whatever word(s) you want to use as your clickpoint. Click on the "link" icon (the one that looks like a green globe holding a staple). Type in the link's address, and hit "Ok."

Only 5 more days of this. Man! What will I have left to say then?

*Books I'm reading now are:

Raising Sons and Loving it, Raising Children to Adore God, and Dancing Naked in Front of the Frig

Wild Q & A [Chapter 1]

It appears I have some curious minds walking with me today. Well, saddle up partners, because I have the keys to your curiosity ready-and-waiting. And, my-oh-my people, when I said your questions "must come out from hiding," I assumed your identity would come with it. Regardless, I'll let it be, anonymous or not, I'm glad your here. On to Q & A with Steven A. (Sorry, a bad ESPN joke that only a few of you will get.)

Here we go.

Q: Do twins run in your genes or did you pray specifically for them?

A: What a sweet way of putting it Carrie. Yes, we do have "fraternal" twins on both sides of our family. "Fraternal" meaning that 2 eggs dropped and were fertilized into 2 little honeybunches. My husband has b/g cousins and b/g half siblings. My paternal grandmother had 2 sets of twin siblings and my maternal grandmother had b/b uncles. However, multiples that are considered "fraternal" are the type that are hereditary. Our girls are "identical" meaning that one egg dropped and then--wallakazamm--decided to split right in half then become fertilized into 2 genetically indistinguishable honeybunches. This is considered a random phenomenon, [from a humorous God] and not determined by a familial tendency.

And besides the fact that we found out we were having twins at an emergency ultrasound that I was sure was going to show a miscarriage, it was a surprise that everything was alright, but not a surprise that it was us having twins. You see, the story is told that when I was 8 my mom was walking with me in the mall and I said, "Mom, God just said I'm going to have twins." Now I don't remember the incident, but my mom took it for what it was worth and has prayed for those "twins" ever since. (sigh*smile*)

Q: How did you choose the names for your children?

A: You have to understand, when I was old enough to know what a baby was and how to spell, I was laying out my family's names on paper. I loved signing my name with all SEVEN of my children after something like, "May you be blessed this Christmas season," or something of the sort. Then a friend from the town over had a friend whose name was Julia. Oh!!! How classic! How stunning! How lovely and exquisite! I knew right then. And my husband grew to love it just as much as I. Then while student teaching in a preschool classroom in college, I had the pleasure in working with a little dude named Luke. I was dating my husband at that time. I tell ya, this little guy looked just like what I imagined my husband looking like as a spunky little 3-year-old spitfire. And while it took some convincing, that Luke was as handsome of a name as Jackson, again daddy agreed it was perfect for our little guy. Then the girls came along and we knew we wanted to stick with the classical/timeless names to match their big sister. Norah and Hazel were 2 of our favorite 3 in the end.

Q: When do you blog and when do you sleep?

A: Oh, it's simple. I blog during one or both of these two time slots: 1:30-3:30(when all 4 children are napping and I've already finished picking up, I've possibly finished folding a few loads of laundry if it's Mon or Tues, and I've nothing to do) or after 7:15 when all the children are in bed and my husband and I haven't started a movie/project outside/bonfire.

And as far as sleep goes. I am the type that NEEDS my 7 hours--8 preferrably. I don't take naps anymore. I did religiously when I was pregnant with each of our children and until they were sleeping a good 8 hours through the night. So, it's usually 10:45-6:45 for me and my zzz's.

Speaking of pinking shears*, I'm off to plan for supper, and for the next chapter of Wild Things. Stay tuned!

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*This chapter had nothing to do with pinking shears. I just love the sound of those two words.

Let the Wild Questions Begin.

With Julia due on her daddy's birthday, but induced 14 days later, and the little girls due 2 weeks after my birthday but born 5 days before, it creates for a busy time in our family when it comes to birthday celebrations. However, it's nothing like my friend Marisa's family. All 6 of them turn a year older within a two week span.

And I laugh when I think about my postpartum mind last year during this busy time. The day we returned home from the hospital with the girls, I grabbed the mail and found an envelope addressed to me. On the front it said, "Happy Birthday!" "What? It's not even my birth---Oh yes. It is my birthday." My friend, Stacey, who will NEVER forget your birthday, anniversary, and I'm sure your dentist appointment, sent me my favorite card to.this.day. On the front it was a picture from the book, "Where the Wild Things Are," one of my very favorite children's books as well as my husband's. And that's when I had to laugh.

How perfectly put. We are the "Wild Things." And I'm perfectly fine with that. In fact, I love that.

So, now here's the deal. Since I'll not be throwing a huge Carnival Bash for myself this year, I'll have a little extra time on my hands around my birthday to do other things. Then, I got this grand idea from my friend Ehlan to blog all about "me" leading up to my big day. It's the last day of this month. So, let's give me something to talk about. All the questions you have about me and my wild things must come out from hiding.

That's right. Let the questions begin. Past, present, future...anything you're wondering about, I'll see if I can set your mind at ease.