Tree vs. Twins

The twins, looking for the tastiest ornaments.

After doing a bit of research on toddlers and Christmas trees, we put up our tree this weekend and left the bottom foot and a half free of ornaments.  Little did I know that the boys would reach up and help themselves anyway.  Hopefully we make it through this holiday season without any tree pull-overs or ornament breakage.  We can block off this room if we need to, but hopefully the boys and the tree will learn to live together.   Peacefully.

I  plan on filling a basket with silk (safe) ornaments for them to play with. 

Somebody tell him these aren't real marshmallows.

Confirmation that I didn't hang the ornaments high enough.

The finished tree

Our stockings, ready to be filled with goodies ;)

Happy Thanksgiving!

My brother Joey (yes, you were still called 'Joey' back then!) and I on Thanksgiving, 1980.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Everyone!

{Photos} Christmas Card Photos

I got a bit lazy and only did one outdoor photo sesh of the boys for our Christmas cards this year.

(Speaking of lazy, post much, Marge?)

I promise I'll put forth more effort for next year's card.

Really.

And maybe they'll both actually look at the camera...

at the same time...

standing next to each other.

Nah, who am I kidding?

For now, I'm using one shot of each of them.

Looking super cute and crisp and cool.

Here are the winning photos:

Mr. Dubs, looking quite dapper.

Mr. Drewbug,  as charming as always.



{Holiday Photo Time} Shutterfly.com

Remember this card (and post) from last year??

Alright, I don't ever get  brand specific on this blog, but I wanted to share a great offer with all of my blogger friends, as well as my other dedicated visitors.  Shutterfly, which is a great photo company you have probably already heard of, is offering bloggers 50 free photocards just for doing a little bragging on their behalf... which isn't hard to do.  They really don't have to twist my arm.  Really.  I have used Shutterfly for several years now and am always pleased with the final results.  Whether it was for Christmas photo cards, regular old prints, photobooks or photo calendars (which, by the way, the grandparents LOVED last year!!), their products are of the highest quality and do not dissappoint.  Shutterfly also makes it super easy to upload your favorite photos and play around with them until you get the perfect look for your cards.

I think I'm in love with their new flat stationery cards, and I'm pretty sure I'll be ordering a bundle of these once I'm able to capture my two little buggers in just the right crisp, cheery holiday expression!  That's an experience for another post. 

So here's the deal, my dear Blogger friends.   If you have a blog and would like 50 free holiday cards, all you need to do is go HERE, fill out the form, (read the fine print so there will be no surprises), mention them in a blog post and they'll send you a promo code for some of their fabulous cards.

Simple enough, huh?

I thought so.

Take advantage of this!

Do it.

Who doesn't like free stuff, especially when its really nice free stuff?

Oh yeah, good luck trying to decide on your favorite Shutterfly card style.

I've narrowed it down to a at least dozen!

Child Labor

Now if only I could get them to sort, wash and fold, we'd be in business.  Why can't I ever have this much fun with the laundry basket?

The Impossible Photo

Could it be that the twins are FINALLY starting to understand cameras?  In the past 2 days, I've managed to get several pictures of them, both looking in the same direction!

Okay, so they aren't looking right at the camera.  They are looking at a goofy stuffed animal strategically placed on my head, but I'll take it!

By the way, this is where we spend most of our time now; sitting in a crate full of books.

{Makes My Monday} Great Grandma's 90th Birthday

The twins' Great Grandma turns 90 this week!

You read right.

Nine. Zero.

I can't even imagine all the things she has seen in her lifetime...

We had a small celebration for her yesterday at a relative's house.  There to celebrate with her were her children, her children's children, and her children's children's children.

(Umm, that's her kids, grandkids and great grandkids!)

Of course, I got to bring the cupcakes!

I managed to snap a few shots with my dinky camera... my good Nikon is still in the shop (Grrrr.)

LOVE LOVE LOVE Gram's face in this one!  She looks super excited for her party!

Grandma Julia with some of her super adorable Great Grandchildren. 

Only five candles.  Didn't want to have to call the fire department! 

The twins would not sit still, so this is the best we could do for a pic with Great Grandma.

We even squeezed in (literally) a family photo.  Only missing a few of the entire gang.

Celebrating such a family milestone makes my Monday!

Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma Julie!

(Play along weekly w/Cheryl at Twinfatuation, and share what makes YOUR Monday!)

Surgery Day

Yesterday was Andrew's surgery.  We waited for several hours before he was taken in.  With no nap, no food in his belly and knowing what lay ahead, this was quite a long day.

While we waited, we explored the halls of the hospital.  This kid put on some serious miles!

There is Andrew on the far left with one of the resident doctors, off to the OR...  If you zoom in, he is screaming his face off.  They assured us he would be asleep within a few minutes.

We waited about three hours to see our little guy.  When we finally got to his room, all he wanted to do was to be held.

So Daddy held him...

...and Mommy held him.

And Nana held him, too.

Andrew hasn't sat this still in a looong time!  It was nice to cuddle with him again!

By bedtime he was quite comfortable, a little loopy from the meds, and ready to play.

We got home this morning after a long night of interrupted hospital sleep. 

Wesley has spent the past few days playing musical cribs at Nana and Papa's and Grandma and Grandpa's houses.  We are looking forward to the twins reuniting again this evening.  We can all tell that they miss one another.