Ode to Summer 2010

Good bye my dear summer of 2010,

I wish we could start all over again.

The visits and parties, and the trips in the car,

With friends, with family who are unfortunately a bit too far.

We had our lessons, oh yes it's true,

Tutoring and karate, piano and guitar too.

These things we enjoyed every week,

To learn new passions of which we seek.

The one thing we enjoyed above all the rest,

Was the one thing we love the best.

The splashing good times at the pool,

Was sometimes the only thing to keep us cool.

And so I bid you a fond departing wave,

This glorious summer I wish to save.

School is starting for another year,

It's sad I know, I may shed a tear.

My children are moving ahead each year,

The memories of this summer I hold so dear.

For soon they will be all grown,

And be out living on their own.

So goodbye dear old 2010,

And although we will never see you again.

We look forward to 2011 summer,

Which may just be even funner!

Summertime Boredom

There are some games which are made to be played by yourself.  Of course there's Solitaire, but if you get some creativity juices going you could play Memory,  Uno, or even Dominoes solo.  And when you're five years-old and you're really bored with no one to play with, despite the plethora of children in our house, your creative juices start flowing!  So you pick up a game and start to play by your self.

Battleship.

He doesn't pick up the electronic bastardization of the original game, where programming the game is about as frustrating as finding that last two-hit ship.  Oh no!  My creative five year-old picks up the the game in which you try to find your opponent's ships by guessing until you score.  Except, it's not guessing when you play by yourself.

Player 1: B - 5

Player 2: Hit!

Player 2: C - 8

Player 1: Hit!

You get the drift.  No challenge, no strategy, just a preoccupation of one's time.

I guess we both win.

Desperate Times Take Desperate Measures

After church today I made a bet with Steve.  The bet was that if the babies took a nap until 4:00 (three hours), I would have every Sunday afternoon off for the rest of eternity.  This was a long shot, I know, but worth trying!  This was after a desperate attempt to flee my chaotic house turned into another day on the job.

So we get home.  We feed the babies and change their diapers, there was nothing standing in the way of a fabulous nap.  They had gotten up early, played in the nursery at church, and were quite tired.  The big boys were occupied with other things (ahem) and were sure to be quiet.  If any day was the day for along nap, today was it!

They slept for about an hour before I heard one screaming baby and then another.  Desperate to save my endless supply of solo Sunday afternoons, I ran up to console everyone.

Now let me tell you about the hardest part about having twins.  It's the inability for me to give all my love, all my attention, all my hugs and kisses to my crying baby when they are both upset.  A crying baby deserves compassion, not a mom trying to juggle another crying baby with a good chance of being dropped on their head.  I do the best I can when this happens, usually reserving my hugs for the baby who is crying the hardest while rubbing the other's hair.  I hate it, and thankfully for us all it happens infrequently.

But I digress....the babies are both crying and I am desperate to get them both to sleep!

I whisk them both out of their beds and do my best to settle them down.  Thankfully I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve.  Kate is a big fan of having the back of her head rubbed, and Luke enjoys a rhythmic tap on the rear or having his back scratched.  Miraculously it works, the babies are asleep!  Unfortunately, they are on top of me and I can't move.  I begin to contemplate the different maneuvers I can do in order to move but I can't think of anything which won't wake up both babies.  And that is not an option.

So I sit there...and wait.

The babies snore and wiggle while I sweat from all the body heat.  I'm not comfortable so there is no sleeping on my part.  I think to myself, "I can do this for two more hours!"

It didn't happen.  An hour later, Steve found me and the babies woke up.

Maybe next week I'll get lucky.  It only takes one Sunday afternoon!

PS Did you notice how many times I wrote the word "desperate"?  Can you tell it's the middle of summer?