It's been a while

I keep meaning to do short blogs more frequently, but can't seem to find the time....so, I procrastinate and they end of being huge-sorry:)

I will try to give a quick re-cap of some of the highlights of the last few weeks. A few weeks ago Pam and I woke up at 5:30 to hit the annual Woodlands garage sale. I managed to find a few steals, and came home with some pretty cool stuff--all for under 30 bucks. Their favorite item by far was the $2 shopping cart, Hannah kept trying to climb into it like she does at the grocery store. Here are some pics of the new toys:

Last week Hannah and Hunter finally got their 18 month shots. It was our 3rd attempt-Hannah had a ear infection, then Hunter was sick......so they were well enough to be rewarded with 3 shots in the legs. They do pretty well in general with their shots, but I can tell it is definitely getting harder as they get older. Hannah is becoming quite the chatter box now, her new favorite words are "up" and "baby". Hunter used to be the more vocal one, so it's funny to see how they change back and forth. I still don't feel like they are talking enough, but their pediatrician doesn't seem concerned. They told us that twins have their own way of communicating and that they usually take a bit longer, so that makes sense to me. They have become huge fans of Sesame Street (I think it even trumps Baby Einsteins). Hannah pointed at the tv and said "emoo, emoo, emoo" before I figured out she wanted her elmo dvd. I must say that Sesame Street has not changed too much from when I was little, I swear they still have some of the same videos from my childhood!! It is still pretty old school, which I guess is why we all like it so much.

This past Sunday we took pictures in the bluebonnetts near our house. Katy, Jason, and Adalee joined us and we came back to the house for dinner afterwards. Hannah and Hunter had a great time tromping through all the flowers, and I'm pretty sure they ate a few too. Overall, we got some really cute pics--it's just so hard to get a picture with both of them looking at the same time!! Here are a couple bluebonett pics..I have posted them all on our shutterfly site if you would like to see more: http://www.kevinandmanyplus2.shutterfly.com/

"CIRCLES"

Here is a video of Hannah and Hunter doing what we have dubbed as "circles". I'm not really sure where they learned this from, but being naked seems to always bring it out! It is one of there favorite things to do right now, and Kevin and I have a hard time stopping it because it is just too plain funny. Hannah gets dizzy pretty fast, but Hunter can go for a while...he sometimes crosses his eyes afterwards.....that's ok right??...

PS: MAKE SURE TO KEEP READING BELOW, I AM MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME TONIGHT!

"BAG TAG"

Katy and Adalee came over tonight for dinner, and she brought me a "tag" for my diaper bag that she made for me. We had recently talked about how easy it is for the people at the nursery at church to mix up the bags, because we didn't have their names on it, so Katy being her crafty self, came up with her own! I was so busy talking that I forgot to take a picture of Adalee while they were here, who was adorable as usual. But, I did get a shot of my new bag decor after they left, I decided that this was too cute not to show off! I told Katy she should go into business, what a good idea!!

New pictures, new camera, used playhouse!!

Well..I finally caved in and got a new camera!!! I guess Kevin finally got tired of hearing me say how much I hated our old one, so he forced me to do it. Needless to say, I am VERY happy!! I have gotten a little picture crazy though, which has forced me to try and organize them. I just created a shutterfly account and a website that everyone can see all our pics. It's too hard to capture everthing in a blog, so I thought this would make some people happier (Pam, Dad, Kim, etc.)

And...I finally found a used playhouse on Craigs List! It's not too fancy, but they could care less. The weather has been yucky for the whole week, so they haven't really gotten to break it in yet. Kevin's Dad was kind enough to help me pick it up last Monday, and with the help of his trailer it made it back all in one piece...Thanks again Dickey!

Here are a few pics from the last few weeks, but for those that are interested in more our shutterfly website is: www.kevinandmandyplus2.shutterfly.com

Flying Tunnels

As some of you know, I have been looking for more and more things to entertain Hannah and Hunter with. They love to play outside, but we don't really have that much for them to "do". I have been to numerous garage sales and been scanning craigs list for a playhouse or swingset but haven't had any luck so far. The darn things are expensive, so I'm hoping to find a good deal soon--you know me! Anyway, we had a gift certificate to Toys R Us that we had not used, so I decided to make a trip last Friday to see if there was anything they would like. I came across this cool pop-up tent/tunnel thing, and decided that it would be a perfect alternative until we can find something more substantial. Needless to say, I was really excited to get them home for their nap so I could get it set up and ready.

By the time they got up, I had it all put together in the front yard, with the camera and camcorder ready to get their big reactions. When they stepped outside they were pretty puzzled, and reluctantly made their way to check it out. As I'm sitting on the porch steps happily snapping pictures, an old man is walking past and I wave at him momentarily distracted--at the same time, the WHOLE thing literally lifts up the air about five feet and starts flying away. I let out a scream and start charging after it-every time I would get close another big gust of wind would blow it farther away from me. It ended up on the other side of my neighbor's yard. By the time I got it I was cracking up laughing and wondering how many of our neighbors were watching me make a fool of myself, who really cares at this point?? By the way, thanks a lot to the perfectly healthy "old" man who was SPEEDWALKING past, for not helping us out! He gave us a look of dismay, and kept right on walking!!! By the time I had gotten it properly weighted down with phone books, Kevin arrived home, and any interest the kids had in the thing was quickly forgotten. Kevin helped me pack it up and bring it inside, where we had a little bit more fun with it without any strong wind gusts. Needless to say, it wasn't what I imagined it would be and was a little dissapointed.

After leaving part of the tunnel in our living room for the weekend, and having to squeeze to get around the huge thing, I decided to pack it all back up and return it (which I rarely do). The lady at Toys R Us asked if there was something wrong with it and I told her that they used it for a total of 10 minutes, and we honestly just didn't like it. So....long story short, we got a little picnic table instead. They seemed to be thrilled to have their own place to sit and babble to each other, and I couldn't be happier! Here are some pics of this past weekend: the first picture was taken just a few seconds before the thing flew away!!!

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO.

I am really starting to hate the word "no". It seems like the past month that is ALL I say, ALL day long. An example of our average day is something like this:

"No Hunter, let Hannah play with that too please...No...No, give it back to her...Hunter, nooooo, do not pull on the dog's ear...No.No Hannah, do not smash the food in the dog food bowl with your feet...No, mama says nooooo.Hannah, no, you may not dip your broom in the dog's water bowl and mop the floor with it, nooooooooo."

Don't get me wrong, I really think that we have pretty well behaved kids...most of the time. They are just really starting to challenge me, and frankly the whole concept of disciplining really terrifies me. I miss the days when I could just utter the word no with a frown on my face and that itself would stop them in their tracks. Hannah is still pretty good about listening most of the time, but Hunter is a little more challenging. He really gets a kick out of testing me to see how much he can get away with. He has also recently started throwing little mini tantrums when things don't quite go his way. I read somewhere that you are not supposed to say "no" too much, or it won't be as effective--I guess that's what has happened. I have now resorted to making a loud yacking sound whenever he is doing something bad. Kevin is not too fond of my new "sound", it sounds something like a cough and a duck call. I did the "sound" the other day in the car when he was trying to steal Hannah's juice, and Kevin said it startled him so much that I should warn him before I do it. I feel really helpless and frustrated sometimes because I don't want to be a mean parent, but yet I want them to be disciplined and well behaved at the same time. I guess this is just part of them growing up, I just wish I could find a way to be more effective with them. Hopefully I am not the only one that has gone through this????? Even on the worst of days though, I realize that our good times outweigh the bad times, and that's what keeps me going. That, and the fact that they are so stinkin' cute. Here are some recent pics from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

spaghetti face

riding horsey with Gammy and Grandpa Hutchins

We just couldn't resist......

At Katy's after Adalee's dedication at church

another spaghetti face

Little stinker

Hannah w/ paw-paw

Hunter w/ Paw-paw (notice the coordinating shirts??)

Valentines weekend before dinner and a movie!

Sleeping beauty

A NICE WEEKEND, AND SILLY PONYTAILS

We had a really nice weekend that went by way too fast! It was one of those weekend's that we really didn't have an agenda, which doesn't happen too often, so it was nice to just relax. It was Kevin's Saturday to work so during the day we played outside a lot and made a trip to Walmart for various items. We can back with a carton of sidewalk chalk I thought may be fun for them. They liked the chalk for about 30 seconds and managed to draw a little bit, then decided it was more fun to try and eat it and make their tongues blue (good thing it is non-toxic). Saturday night we made a big trip to the grocery store, this is now the highlight of most of our weekends. On a side note and in reference to my previous post, I set a new coupon savings record of $73.73!!! Kevin seemed to show more interest in my savings this time! On the way home we stopped and got a movie and chinese food, then put the kids straight to bed and enjoyed a quiet night.

Sunday, we skipped church (Hannah and Hunter were just getting over colds, and I wasn't feeling great). We got up late and ate cinnamon rolls, which we discovered the kids LOVE, and then later in the day went to see the fish weighed in for the tournament at the marina right by our house. I usually stay home when Kevin goes, but it was a beautiful day and the kids seemed to really enjoy being outside and seeing the fish.

Later that day I decided to see if Hannah had grown enough hair for a ponytail (I have tried several times w/ no luck) and I finally got one! It stayed up for a good 3 hours and looked like a cross between Pebbles and a little indian girl, but it was still something. Something about that ponytail must have struck a silly nerve with her, because for the rest of the day she was quite the opposite of her normally shy and quite personality-very entertaining! Kevin and I had decided in advance to record the superbowl and start watching it after the kids went to bed w/ no interruptions. Our good friends Jaime and Larissa usually have a superbowl party at their house, but were out of town-so we were feeling a little down about that and were missing the tradition of doing the whole "superbowl squares" thing. So, being the huge DORKS that we are, decided to make our own version of the game. Kevin went all out w/ his sharpie and ruler to make a grid, and we drew numbers and everything. It made watching the game by ourselves a lot more fun, but the outcome was not good, for me at least. The picture below is too hard to read, but I only won the 1st quarter which was a free back scratch. Kevin won a massage for the 2nd, no diaper changes for a day for the 3rd quarter, and a 3hour break for "whatever" for the 4th quarter. I was really wanting them to go into overtime in those last seconds, because I really wanted the "no diaper changing" prize.

I know that these small details of our life are not as exciting to everyone as they our to us, but I feel good having them for my record at least to look back on someday. Below are some recent random pics (quite a few of Hannah's ponytail) and a few new videos, enjoy!

Kevin and Mandy own version of superbowl squares

Kevin hard at work, perfecting his grid

Tons of ponytail pics

Our belated Christmas at my Dad's w/ my brothers

Opening gifts from my neices Annie and Taylor-they are twins too!

Cute hat pics

Hannah being silly watching her video

Hunter and Hannah's first Happy Meal