Compared to the previous week of chaos and craziness with the twins' Birthday and Baptism and the kids' piano recital as well as scouts plus a couple baseball games thrown in for good measure...the next week was relatively boring. I was too tired to do too much with my parents, and so we spent the majority of our time just staring at the kids...especially the smallest one.  (I got so relaxed that I only managed to take a few pictures so you get what you get...)

Dad really got Jason smiling.  (Jason was showing off with his newest talent...playing with his toes.)

 

Sweetie-pie.

We did manage to eat out with Robert one day by the river.  Check out how incredibly artsy I got with the ol' black and white button.  Whoa.  I'm ready for National Geographic.

Mom, Dad, Jason and I also managed to slip away for a day trip to Astoria and Seaside.  It was a beautiful drive and Jason was perfect the entire trip.  (Even when I misplaced his bottle in a store for a couple of hours...poor child)   Here Mom is posing in Astoria by the Oregon Film Museum/County Jail.  Because those two buildings just naturally go together. 

 

It turned out to be a blustery day.  Shocking, I know.  However, we somehow kept the rain away until our drive home.  Lucky us!

Cute and Cute.

Despite not having any walls to paint or any other major repair...we did manage to tire Dad out with our everyday crazy.  He did, however, happen to find the best sleeping buddy to take a nap with.  Don't they both look comfy? 

After the twins were baptized, we all went home and prepared the house for Austin and Alaina's Birthday Party.  (Because we didn't think their baptism kept us quite busy enough.)  I was finally smart this year and I paid a friend of mine to make the cakes so that I didn't have to worry about them.  What a great choice that was!

Check these beauties out!  The cakes aren't too bad either :)  That is Katie-the-cake-maker and her daughter Molly with the twins.

Alaina wanted dolphins...

And Austin wanted little Blue penguins.  

 Both cakes were not only super-fancy on the outside but delicious on the inside.  Alaina's was coconut cake with a pineapple filling and Austin's was chocolate with a fresh strawberry filling.  Ethan told everyone who wanted to know (as well as the rest of us) over and over that the cakes were "made-from-scratch!"  They really were the best part of the party.

Besides the fact that BOTH of my Moms were their to take over while I busied myself with sitting down and looking at Jason.   Mom Jones guided the kids through the field games.  (Robert was having too much fun to do a lot of directing.)

And Mom Scribner sent the kids on a treasure hunt around the house, ending up at the table to eat pizza and cake.  Oh yeah...I didn't even make any food.  I bought pizza.  I'm telling you...easiest party ever!

By the time the presents were opened and the cake was dished out, the parents were coming to pick up the kids.  It was a great day for us all.

 I also failed to mention that another activity that both sets of Grandparents were here for was the kids' piano recital.  It was their first real one and they all did awesome.  They were a little nervous but they remembered their songs and they got this smashing medal at the end of it all.  Well done kiddies!

Austin and Alaina's Baptism

Friday night Grandma and Grandpa Scribner came into town and so we were all able to be together for the twin's baptism.  The kids were so excited for the big day and they loved having both sets of grandparents there to help them celebrate.

The twins looked so grown up that morning.  We feel so lucky to have had these sweet little lives in our family.  If you would have shown me this picture 8 years ago as I stared at my two tiny, 4 pound babies, hooked up to giant machines in the NICU, I don't know what I would have thought.  They have both overcome so many different obstacles since the day they were born.  The most basic functions that we take for granted came with enormous determination and will for them both.  Breathing, eating, talking, moving, and walking took teams of doctors, the gift of modern technology along with several occupational and physical therapists.  And of course, lots and lots of time and patience.  No one can really prepare you for the struggles that your children will face in their lives.  And of course, my twinnies' little lives are still so close to the beginning.  For them to have come so far in just eight years makes me so very proud of them.   

Alaina's determined spirit has helped her forge through any barriers put in front of her.  I've always felt that she has an old soul packed into that tiny body of hers.  It must be so, because complete strangers have told me the same thing.  Her hairdresser, the class-mom at her school, her teachers and, well, just about anyone who has had the chance to meet her.  She has buoyed up both of her brothers with her constant encouragement and enthusiasm.  And now that little Jason has joined us, her mothering instinct makes her want to smother him with love.  (What child says, "Can you teach me to change his diapers so that I can change him whenever he is dirty?)  I have to shoo her away so that I don't start taking too much advantage of her willing spirit.  She may be an old soul, but she is still just a young girl.  There will be time for all that grown up stuff soon enough.

Austin has always been a thinker.   He definitely has to know all the facts before he jumps into anything new.  (That was quite literally them the case when he learned how to walk.  He refused to even try forever.  He just watched Alaina and Ethan run around him until he decided he was ready.  At that moment he stood up, walked down the hallway and back again...like he had been doing it for weeks.)  The wheels in his head are always spinning as he dreams his way from invention to invention.  He has a soft heart and loves others with abandon.  He's all hugs and kisses.  He looks up to Ethan and he dotes on Jason but he unabashedly adores Alaina.  It must be the twin thing.  It is impossible for me to imagine them apart. 

My little ying and yang.  I sure do love them.  Here they are before we headed out to their baptism.

Of course...we had fancy hair.

Grandma Jones kept the other two boys occupied while we took some pictures.  Look at those grins on them both!

Robert and the twins before their baptism.  

And here we are all together right afterwards.  What a good looking group. 

Ethan jumping into a picture.

The twins with their grandparents.  I really love this picture.   Have both Rob's parents and my parents there together really made a special day even better.  Thanks for coming!

Congratulations little twins.  Let's see where the next eight years take us.

The rest of our visit with Grandma and Grandpa Jones was busy, busy, busy. When we weren't running Ethan to baseball, the boys to scouts or spending the evening at Chuck-E Cheese, we were busy staring at a sweet little baby.

 Look Grandma--I can hold the bottle myself!  Well, for a second, at least.

I wasn't quick enough on the camera trigger to catch him, but Grandpa Jones spent the entire trip moving from one kid to another doing various activities.  He played baseball with Ethan, he did science experiments with Austin and he let Alaina read books to him. 

 Alaina got extra spoiled with Grandma painting her nails and giving her fancy hairdos everyday.  I'm pretty sure she didn't mind all of the attention.

We even had a couple days of not-so-terribly-dreary-weather and to celebrate, a sweet little bird came to nest in Ethan's bird-house.  

Jason did his best to monopolize the rest of our free time with his sweet little smile.  It worked.  Who wouldn't drop everything to spend a few minutes with this little love?

Happy Birthday Twinnies!

The twins turned 8!  I know I must say this every single year, but: I can't believe it!  They just keep on growing up and I'm starting to get a little upset at them.  How many times do I have to tell them to slow down with all the getting older stuff?!    And yet, here they are, once again, having another birthday.

Well, I guess I'll just have to accept the fact that my little babies are a couple of big kids.  It was fun to have Mom and Dad here for the big day because, not only did we get to celebrate the twins birthday, but we got to sing Mom a Happy Birthday song as well.  She turned 49, I believe.  :)

Alaina with all of her art loot.

This picture is funny because so Austin is so happy with his lego hat and Alaina is a little embarrassed about her packet of days-of-the-week undies.  Despite how it looks in the picture, those undies were actually a huge hit.  She raced upstairs to put on the correct pair right after they opened all the presents. 

Austin's really big present was a metal detector.  He's been asking for one for a full year.  He's been saving up his own money for at least half that long.  We thought he'd like it and, well, you can see from his reaction, he did.

Grandma and Grandpa gave the twins their first set of fancy scriptures which had their names on them.   The twins have loved them and treated them very well ever since they got them.  Thank you!

Happy Birthday Twinnies and Happy Birthday Grandma!

We were so fortunate to have Mom and Dad come for a visit.  There were so many different things going on with the kids during their visit, that I was happy that Robert could take a day off and show them Multnomah Falls.  It is such a beautiful place, definitely worth visiting if you get the chance.  Not only are the Falls gorgeous, but the drive up there is also so pretty.  It was also nice for Robert to spend a little extra time with Mom and Dad without having to worry about the kids running around.

I would have joined them on the trip but I had a little promise to keep with Alaina.  For her birthday, we let her get her very first, real hair cut.  She's had plenty of 10 dollar trims in her life, but going to a salon was a whole new experience for her. 

Here is her 'Before' picture.

Here she is, enjoying her second hot chocolate as her hair dried.  I think we may have created a little monster.  She reveled in the attention and she didn't need much prodding before she had shared her complete, nearly-8-year life story with the hairstylist. 

And her is her 'After' photo.  Talk about gorgeous views!

I took our just-walked-out-of-a-salon girl next door to a little bakery and we enjoyed a nice quiet lunch, just us girls, before I rushed home to get her back to school.  Spoiled?  Yes.  Worth it?  You bet. 

Memorial Day 2012 

I love Memorial Day.  I know it sounds silly, but it has always been one of my favorite holidays.  It's just a little day tucked into the month of May; not so revered as Easter in April and not so grand as the Fourth of July.  It is a easy holiday to associate with camping, trips and BBQs but not so much else.  In fact, it is usually a challenge for me to find any real activities that celebrate the day. 

But I still love it.  It gives me a moment to look to the past and give thanks for the sacrifices and lives given for our freedom.  I love this country.  I love the hopes and dreams that I can whisper in my children's ears at night and know that in the morning, there is a real chance that they'll be able to obtain it.  I love waking each morning to the sound of my family instead of the sound of bombshells.  America is a land for dreamers and idealists.  Nothing is promised but anything is possible.  And it is the need for that chance - that possibility - that drives Americans to fight for our freedom.  

I have never personally done anything to physically defend our freedom.  That makes me feel a little ashamed of myself.  I wish I could say that I have, but maybe it is a little like music.  I can't play an instrument but I love the sound of a symphony.  I'm a great appreciator.  It may not be as valiant, but it is what I have to give.  

I hold a deep gratitude for families who give (and have given in the past) their fathers, mothers, siblings and children to the care of our country and especially for those men and women dedicated enough to give a portion, if not the entirety, of their lives.  Our country has seen everything from glory days to days of shame but in the end of it all, I see her as a boxing champion.  Worn, bloodied but still standing.  Still vibrant and strong.

I was happy when I heard that the cub scouts were being gathered together to put flags on the graves of former service men and women at Willamette National Cemetery.  They were able to get through most of the service and placement of the flags before the rain came down.   Austin was especially excited because this was his first (unofficial since his birthday wasn't for a week) cub scout activity.

And once it started raining, those kids still finished the job.  Look how wet and happy they look.  Well, they don't all look too happy, but I was informed that they were.  :)

Then, on Memorial Day, we took Mom and Dad Jones with us to visit the cemetery.  It was such a nice sight to see all those flags flying.  Alaina became a little too sad until Dad informed her  that most of the service men and woman in the cemetery had not died from fighting a war, but instead had served in the military and then gone on to live long, full lives as veterans.

Happy Memorial Day!