Wordless Wednesday 17 - Little Red Wagon

Welcome baby Owen!

Rasa and Adia are the big cousins to baby Owen Wesley who was born today at 2:30pm tipping the scales at 8lbs 15oz and 22.5 inches long!

Welcome to the world Owen, we're SO glad you are here baby boy!

Wordless Wednesday 16 - Old & New

Happy Summer Solstice!!!

It's officially summer!! Yesterday was Summer Solstice. The girls and I had a fun day outside, in the garden and in the water. Last night we decided to go for a bike ride to the playground around 8 pm and after that we had an ice cream party. We were outside until after 9:30 pm and it was still light out!

Poem by Cym, Effortless Flow

Our glorious sun shines so bright,
on this longest day and shortest night.
Illuminating the world with its beacon of light,
dispelling all traces of darkness and fright.

Fire is the source that fuels and sustains our lives,
from the sun in the sky to the atomic nucleus inside.
Our body is of the earth and our spirit is of the sun,
for life to persist these forces must mix and become as one.

What fate would befall the human race,
if the sun suddenly disappeared without a trace?
A world engulfed in a perpetual night,
and freezing cold would be our plight.

What crops would grow without the sun,
when the winds cease to blow and the rains cease to run?
Our world as we know it could no longer exist,
only death and destruction would in time persist.

The surface of the earth would become devoid of all life,
save for the hardiest bacteria that can survive without water or light.
So let us honor the sun on this longest day of the year,
for without it we would lose everything we hold dear.

Summer, summer, summer time

Wow I don't remember when it arrived but we sure are having a lot of fun!! Summer is in full swing and the girls are playing outside all day, staying up late, enjoying the sun, the sand, the water and summer treats! This year is SO very different from last summer when the girls were still just babies and Rasa was still in the midst of colic. We didn't even have a nap routine at that time! This year we've got such a groove and it's so easy! It's much more tiring chasing the two of them out of trouble every second but it's still fun!

Gymnastics started a couple weeks ago and the girls really have fun. Rasa has surprised us with her coordination! Today she wanted Royce to lift her up to the rings and she hung on by herself and swung back and forth! Adia runs up the lifted balance beams and doesn't even look at her feet! Today was fun because Adia JUMPED, actually JUMPED on one of the trampolines. Royce and I get to play and chase the girls around so it's really a lot of fun for all of us. Pictures will come, I promise!

This week has been action packed! We had a Gordon Girls Beach day and everyone had so much fun. There were eight of us total. The weather was perfect and even though Miss Mariah, my 14 year old niece was missed, all of the little girls had a blast! We ended up staying the entire day!



This weekend Royce's family arrived from South Carolina! The girls LOVE Royce's Sister Cassie, she's 12, and she loved pushing them in the wagon, in the cozy coupes, picking them up and carrying them around and giving them tons of attention. Adia wouldn't let her put her down! Royce's Dad is such a proud Poppa and loves his babies. The girls were drawn to him like they already knew him well. Debi my Mother-In-Law is so sweet and loves the girls and Rasa especially was really taken by her. They haven't seen the girls since they were 3 weeks old because they usually come up once a year. We sure miss them and always really look forward to seeing them when they visit.



It's getting late and it's been a busy day so it's clean up and snack time. I'm feeling emotional today to have such a loving and beautiful family spread across the country. Royce's Dad celebrated his 60th birthday on Thursday and is in recovery from small cell lung cancer, which at one point spread to his brain. God is good and he sure has taken care of us. We are rich with blessings.

Wordless Wednesday 15 - Sugar & Spice

Playground Warriers

I was standing in the middle of yesterday's new playground adventure and as I looked around at the dozen or so other parents with their kids I realized I was no longer in babyville. Granted my two were by far the tiniest there but still, I had KIDS now and other kids saw that and made me talk to them and answer questions. Other adults saw that and wanted to compare notes and make small talk. It was kind of cool and icky all at the same time! I'm not sure I'm ready for this but it doesn't matter because Rasa and Adia are and they love nothing more than to play with the big kids (or at least watch them and try to imitate them) at playgrounds.

Royce and I, well more me, have been scouting out new playgrounds that aren't too far away from home, mostly biking distance. There's a checklist (in my head) of must haves. The parks with the little toddler areas are best, even better if they stand alone! The girls don't like the little toddler area if there is a big glorious monster of a big kid play area right next to it. The city over has a park which is good, there is enough separation between big and little kid things and you pretty much hit the mother-load of things to do there. Downside is there are a lot of kicking and screaming toddlers being carried out of that park. Too fun? Maybe. Never go there without a bribe to get them to the car.

Last night we hit up a new park my friend Sarah told me about that had an awesome toddler playground. It was the sweetest one I've ever seen with tunnels, slides, bubble windows and mirrors. My kids didn't like it. They wanted to watch the big kids across the way. Maybe on a slow day we'll go back.

Today by mistake I found a tiny little park that had a little toddler crawling tunnel and slide (no worries of broken bones on this one), baby swings and then two big huge twisty slides. The huge slides were ok because the massive staircase had guardrails so kids can't fall off the high platforms and they were just slides so there were no tunnels or other things making it impossible for me to grab my kids quickly when they darted away from me. This one was a hit and Royce and I biked back tonight to play again. It's a long bike ride but the girls didn't mind at all and the exercise was good for us. Of course we ended up having to take them down the big slides a few times but no kicking and screaming when we left. I think this will be our new hangout, for now.

Never in my life did I think the art of playgrounds could be so complicated. Or maybe this is just the beauty of working it all out with one and a half year old twins.




Rasa holding her bribe. Leaving can be very hard

Wordless Wednesday 14 - Daddy loves you

Strawberry Fields Forever

One of the things I love love love about spring in MN is we finally get fresh local food again! Strawberries are in season right now and you can find them everywhere; farmers markets, co-ops and grocery stores stacked up ripe, bright red and super sweet! It's important to get them organic or without the use of pesticides. The beautiful fruit attracks a lot of bugs and worms so they tend to get sprayed heavily with pesticides. Both Adia and Rasa are obsessed with strawberries! I've been feeding them almost as many as they want but they can take down an entire container in twenty minutes (not exaggerating here)!! Thankfully neither girl is allergic or has any ill effects from eating so many.

I don't know what it is about feeding my little girls that gives me so much joy. I spend a lot of time thinking, planning and making sure they get a variety of foods that are healthy and balanced. Maybe that's why when I feed them fresh produce and they gobble it up I feel so good about it knowing the importance of nutrition on health and development. I think after many years of Royce and I finding great whole organic foods in co-ops and farmers markets and both of us seeing and experiencing how good you can feel just by eating right it makes me happy that I can pass that on to them. I love seeing Adia gobble tofu and grilled veggies and Rasa choose fruit over candy and ask for more and more rice milk.

I suppose it's just another one of those things when we try so hard to be good Mom's and we know we're doing what's right for our babes, and it works, it just feels good, plain and simple.

17 months!

Looky looky we've kept the girls alive and healthy for 17 months! Despite doubts I had that I could do it when I carried their tiny little bodies out of the hospital at 7 days old and just over 5 pounds!

We're creeping up on a year and a half and the biggest changes I see daily are in their vocabulary. They learn two - three new words a day and it's so strange when they point and ask what something is to tell them and then a few days later have them ask for it by name. It's also strange to see how big they are and watch them run, jump and tackle each other like little humans! When did that happen?

They've gotten good about eating again so that's a nice relief. Adia's current obsession is tofu - curried, with pesto, in asian dishes, whatever! She loves the stuff. Rasa loves noodles! Noonals as she calls them. "Mooooore noonals!" she says. They love citrus fruits like grapefruit, lemons and oranges and will eat one entire box of strawberries in about ten minutes! Watermelon is something new we had this week and they of course loved it, what kid doesn't?

Both girls love playing with other kids. They like strangers (is that a good thing or not?) and wave and say HI!. Adia likes a lot of attention and she'll make sure you notice her. Rasa is silly and playful and loves big kids the best. Their best friend is an almost two year old named Connor that they met in school. Connor's Mom, Sarah, and I have been getting together every week since school let out and we all have a really good time.

The girls love each other - I know I write that every month but each month they grow more affectionate. They do fight, don't get me wrong and when they do we all take a break, sit down (I check for owies) and then apologize which currently consists of hugs and kisses. It works! Both girls walk away very happy despite screaming in tears moments before.

Adia feeding Rasa strawberries:


Big hugs:

Animals are big for both girls now. "Da Burds! Da Burds" is what we hear every time we see a bird. Bunnies are huge now, but they're known as Bitties. The neighbors have puppies and the girls run to the door every time they hear them bark (our dogs are old news). They get to play with them a couple times a week and it makes their night.

Royce and I celebrated NINE years of marriage yesterday! As his cousin Amy pointed out, nine years of marriage (16.5 years together) and two beautiful girls all because two people fell in love. Nicely put!

“It is the nature of the child to be dependent, and it is the nature of dependence to be outgrown. Begrudging dependency because it is not independence is like begrudging winter because it is not yet spring. Dependency blossoms into independence in its own time.” - Peggy O’Mara