How Fast They Grow

As you know, I'm a mommy of 5 including my now 1 year old twin boys. I'm pretty good about taking photos of all the kids, but organizing them into albums is a whole different story. I use to do some scrapbooking a few years ago and at one point I had almost fully caught up on getting the photos onto cute pages and placed into albums. I have to admit that it was very rewarding, because my kids loved to look at the albums over and over. In fact, they still love doing it and they love to point out that I am about 2 1/2 years behind.

I'm sure I do not need to point out to you, that it is the time factor and mess involved that stops me from even thinking about tackling all of those photos. My kids are not quite as understanding of the commitment involved though.

Luckily, I think I've found an option that may work better for me at this point in my life and I'm happy to report that this option is still compatible with my existing albums.

I recently created and ordered 12 x 12 scrapbook pages online in very little time with the help of a service called How Fast They Grow. You simply pick a template from their library, upload your photos, type a few captions or phrases, proof read your creation, and click to order.

This service works really well for families that have multiples, because you can choose to buy multiple copies of each page to create multiple books.

I'm by no means fully caught up yet, but I think this is ultimately the way to go. I just love that I can save my work at a moments notice without the need for cleaning supplies up. I also am very fond of their new facebook sharing application. It allows you to share a completed page with your online friends. Very Cool.

Back to School with PakNak

Back to School time means lots of errands and shopping to most parents. Each year the list of items seem to grow too. This year is no exception to this rule for me and among the many items I need to gather are something called the PakNak.

What's a PakNak? It's a rubbery decoration that can be applied to many of your kid's items to help personalize them. It's applied to things such as backpacks, pencil cases, headbands, notebooks, binders and jackets with the help of customized velcro making them removable and interchangable. The rubbery design means they are water resistant and extremely versatile.

I was sent 3 of these to review and they were an immediate hit with my children. The designs sent were of a soccer ball, a frog, and a cupcake. My daughter attached 1 velcro loop on a backpack and 1 on a headband. Each day, she swaps the 3 different designs on it as mood presents.

She loves them and her friends seem to admire them as well. She has even asked me to get her a few more to put on notebooks and other goods this year.

Since I'm traveling I can't show you photos of hers in action. However, you can visit the PakNak site to order these or view the many other design options.

Watch for our PakNak Giveaway coming soon! 

Follow Up to Previous Post: Tee Juice Fabric Markers

My mom recently had knee surgery and was stuck wearing those less than glamourous surgical stockings for a few weeks.  I'm sure most of you have seen those plain white drab things on someone at some point.  Let's face it, they are not cute.

After a few days of seeing grandma in her rather ugly socks, Cordelia was inspired.  She talked Grandma (or G.G. as we call her) into allowing a makeover on the stockings with the use of our Tee Juice Fabric Markers we reviewed a week or two ago.  

Grandma and Cordelia were quite pleased with the results and I have to admit, so was I.  If you have to wear those dumb things, I'm thinking the one of a kind design done by Cordelia is the way to go.  Additionally, G.G. reports that her flowery stockings are an apparent hit at the physical therapy clinic too.

We may have to patent this idea.  Here's the link to my original post on Tee Juice Fabric Markers in case you missed it.

This Week's Crayola Creativity Pack Giveaway

Enter: Simply leave a comment below to be entered to win this Creativity Pack from Crayola. Please make sure to include your email address in your comment or verify it is located in your blogger id.

Did you attend the GNO via twitter? Perhaps you can include something you learned at the Tuesday GNO Crayola Creativity Cast? If you missed the GNO this week don't worry, there are more to come. Click here for more information.

Optional Additional Entries:

• 1 extra entry if you follow this blog.
• 1 extra entry if you subscribe to this blog's feed.
• 1 extra entry if you blog about this contest and link back to it.
• 1 extra entry if you digg, kirtsy, or stumble a favorite post on our blog.

Rules:
An email address is required to enter. Please leave it in your comment, or make sure one is visible for me to find in your blogger profile. If you qualify for additional entries please comment separately telling us which options you have used. A winner will be chosen via random.org. The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to reply before a new winner is chosen. U.S. Entrants only.

Ends on 8/4/09 @ 11:59PM CST.

Thanks for Entering and Good luck to everyone!

Also, thanks to MyBlogSpark.com for providing us with this giveaway item.

A Water Bottle by Pacific Cornetta

Water is a staple in my diaper bag. I use it to mix with powdered formula for the twins on-the-go and for me to drink.

Since disposable plastic water bottles are an environmental "no no". My recent favorite method of water transportation is via one of these stainless steel, BPA free water bottles I was sent by Pacific Cornetta.

I love that it looks cute, however what I really adore about this model the most is that it features a loop cap making it super easy to attach it to the stroller, my bag's strap, or virtually anything else. As a mommy of 5, hands free options are much appreciated!

Another plus is that it's ergonomic design makes it super easy to grip.

You might also be interested in hearing that Pacific Cornetta is coming out with a 12 oz. Jr. version of this bottle in September, making it a back to school must.

You can purchase these items online at active-gear.com.

Urban Bratz: I Rock & I Roll T-shirts

How cute are these "perfect for twins" I Rock & I Roll t-shirts by the apparel company, Urban Bratz?  And if you don't have twins consider a Daddy & Son version.  

We've been sporting these shirts all over the place this summer with compliments abundant and I finally was able to get my twin pair to sit still in them long enough for a photo or two.  

These shirts have been washed at least a dozen times and get better looking with each usage.  You'll ntice that they feel thin & soft to the touch yet hold up wonderfully well.  I just adore the fraying at the collar and sleeves as well as the handsome shade of gray used.

Since my little men are moving about, you may not get the full effect of the adorable graphic designs.  The "I Rock" shirt is done in an electric blue graphic and depicts a guitar while the "I Roll" shirt has a red graphic showing an impressive set of drums.

Check out their new line of designs at Urban-Bratz.com.

Random Photos of the Twins

The twins are getting so big.  They are 13 months and a few days now.  Vacation has provided me with a few moments to pull out my "fancy" camera and I thought I'd share a couple of the pictures with all of you.  Enjoy!

Tuesday brings Crayola CreativityCast on Twitter

Summer vacation is winding down for us and soon, we will be returning home to get ready for a new school year.  While the twins aren't old enough to head off to school, their older siblings are.  Our oldest will begin his Freshman year in High School, our 2nd oldest if beginning 5th grade, and our middle child and only daughter will be a 3rd grader this year.

In order to make the "back to school" season more fun and less stressful, Crayola will be a offering Creativity Cast beginning this Tuesday, July 28th and each Tuesday night through the month of August.   Crayola has teamed up with MomItForward.com, the creator of "Girls Night Out" (GNO), to bring you this "CreativityCast".  The weekly series of GNO discussions will feature a new topic each week like "Affordable Fun 101" and "Back to school Survival Guide".

Our readers are invited to come "tweet" the night away with other moms, Crayola experts, and Mommy Bloggers.  We hope you'll get some great ideas to help you prepare for the best back to school ever for your little ones.

Here's how it works:

• Every Sunday through Tuesday, you can RSVP for the party by clicking on the RSVP post on MomItForward.com
• There, you can include your Twitter URL in the link list and see the list of other GNO gals
• Visit http://momitforward.com/gno each Monday for more information and a custom Tweet Grid for that week´s event
• On Tuesday nights, tweet using the hashtag #gno and chat away.  In the event that Mr. Linky is not showing up in the RSVP post on http://momitforward.com/category/gno, please leave your Twitter URLs in the comments, which offers #GNO gals the opportunity to follow and be followed all in one place.
• GNO participants will also have the chance to win great prizes.

In addition, the day after each Crayola GNO (every Wednesday) I will be offering a giveaway for a Crayola Creativity Pack.  This prize pack includes: 24-ct. Crayola Crayons, 10-ct. Crayola Markers, 12-ct. Crayola Colored Pencils, Crayola Pip-Squeaks Colored Pencils and Glitter Glue, Crayola Window Crayons, Tadoodles Washable Crayon Buddies, Crayola Color Explosion Black Extreme Surprises, & Crayola Color Switchers.  There will be 4 winners total, 1 each week.

Also, watch for my review of one of these Crayola Packs coming soon.  I wish to thank MyBlogSpark.com for providing us with this information on the GNO and with the Crayola Products for our upcoming review & giveaways.

A Twin Observation

It has been my experience that some habits and traits are formed even prior to birth.  It's funny, one of my twins, Cormac, just adores dark cramped spaces.  He was Twin A when he was born, meaning he was on the bottom and thus was the first twin to leave the womb.

He was the tinier of the two twins and I can't help but think that he was the smaller one partially because his brother was squishing him all the time.  I also think his fondness for confined spaces stems back to his cramped quarters in my womb prior to his birth.  The crazy thing is, he also seems to enjoy the feeling of being "stuck" some place.  While he eventually starts making noise to indicate he wants help getting out, he revels in being jammed in a spot for a few moments.  It is just like old times I guess.

As an example of his little quirk, I just had to share this photo I took with my phone yesterday of Cormac backing himself into a dark tiny corner of a massive bookshelf.  He stayed there forever as his twin kept coming over and to "tell" him to get out of there.

It endears me to think that a full year after their birth, some of Cormac & Declan's mannerisms are still very much a creation of their environment back when they were still inside of me together.

Wonder Pets! Ollie's Slumber Party

A new DVD arrived for us to bring out as a pre-naptime, road trip entertainment, or rainy summer day treat.  

Released June 9th, this new Wonder Pets DVD is a perfect find for the under 6 crowd.  This DVD features episodes about saving a hound dog, a dalmatian, and a turtle.  The Hound Dog episode includes some 50's style Wonder Pets music certain to get your little one in a toe tapping mood.

Snacking on Chex Mix Turtle bars {Review + Giveaway}

My Blog Spark recently sent me a couple boxes of the new Chex Mix Turtle Bars to try.  They arrived shortly before our trip, so I just threw them in our bag of other travel munchies.  

Big Mistake!  These were a big hit with the big kids and my husband, in fact I nearly missed being able to try them at all.  In my opinion they are the perfect combination of sweet, salty, and satisfying and at 130 calories, they leave you feeling fairly guilt free as well.

Chex Mix Turtle Bars are now available for purchase at stores nationwide. 
Or, you can enter to win some!  Three readers will each receive 2 boxes of these bars.

Enter:  You can enter to win by simply leaving a comment below including your favorite healthy snack.

Optional Additional Entries:

• 1 extra entry if you follow this blog.
• 1 extra entry if you subscribe to this blog's feed.
• 1 extra entry if you tweet about this contest.
• 1 extra entry if you blog about this contest and link back to it.
• 1 extra entry if you digg, kirtsy, or stumble this post.

Rules:
An email address is required to enter. Please leave it in your comment, or make sure one is visible for me to find in your blogger profile. If you qualify for additional entries please comment separately telling us which options you have used. A winner will be chosen via random.org. The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to reply before a new winner is chosen.  This contest is open to USA only.

Ends on 8/12/09 @ 11:59PM CST.

Thanks for Entering and Good luck to everyone!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Craft Time with Tee Juice Fabric Markers

My 8 year old daughter was a huge help to me this week while we were both on vacation in Colorado alone with the twins.  She adores her baby brothers and rarely complains about assisting in transporting them around or watching them while I cook dinner.  I'm very lucky to have her.

In return for all her aid, I tried to set aside plenty of "girl time" with her during the babies naps.  We spent one of those occasions making this custom tshirt with a set of Tee Juice fabric markers. 

 She really loved doing it and I was impressed at how easy they were to use.  The Tee Juice Markers work much like normal markers only you iron the design when done to "set" the colors.

Once our design was complete, we headed off to the park with the babies to show it off.  The park had one of those water features and I was a bit nervous it might be too soon to get the shirt wet.  However, the shirt design was unscathed despite getting fairly soaked.

Beware of Twins: Biting!

As many of you know, my twin boys turned 1 on June 20th.  They are now walking, smiling, laughing, crying, climbing, tugging, pulling, wrestling, dancing, and biting.  

Yes, that's right ... my twins bite.  They bite a lot lately, especially my darling Declan.  They bite furniture, they bite me, they bite each other, they'd probably bite the dog if she'd stay still long enough for them to try.  Run Lulu!  Actually, one of the twins currently has bite marks on both of his forearms right now.  No skin broken, but red marks that show the upper and lower jaw outline. 

I'm a bit stumped on how I can stop this behavior.  Obviously, when I catch them biting.  I tell them "no biting" and stop the behavior on the spot.  However, with two of them it just isn't that easy to "catch it" each time.

Why they are biting to begin is something I've tried to consider as well.  In their case it appears to be out of frustration most of time.  They have their teeth, so its unlikely it's a teething related response.  Plus, most of the time I do "catch it", it seems to be an attack or a call for my attention.  Sadly, this cry for attention works because I can't just stand by idly as he bites me or his brother.  I have to stop him which as a result, means he at least partially gets what he wants.  Ugh!

I googled the subject and found about what I thought I might find, varying advice from biting the baby back to ignoring it all together.  Clearly both of these options are silly, they have been bitten back by each other and they are still biting.  Been there, done that, it doesn't work.  

Same thing with ignoring the behavior, sometimes I miss the bite and thus my response is nothing.  Guess what?  They still continue to bite again.  Plus, obviously one of them is going to scream when the other twin bites them.  Non response is not an option for a 1 year old baby being bitten by his twin brother.

Anyone out there have any advice on 12 month old twins that are biting?  Perhaps someone has recently invented the Baby Muzzle?  Maybe hypnotism?  You do not want to bite your twin brother, you do not want to bite your mother, you do want to bite green beans ...

Squishy Bowls by Guyot Design

Whether you are heading out to travel the U.S.A. this summer or just in a kitchen that is a tad cramped for space, you are going to want to pick up a couple sets of these bowls.  Made from food grade silicon these Squishy Bowls by Guyot Design are a favorite of mine.  

They can be mashed and squished yet pop back into shape, making them perfect for families with multiples that need twice as much gear.  Plus, they can handle both hot and cold foods and look great doing it.  Available in blue, red, green, black, and orange; you can designate each child their own color or coordinate with virtually every decor.

Squishy Bowls are available at various sporting and camping gear stores such as REI and Dick's Sporting Goods.  They can also be purchased directly from Guyot Design's online store.

Follow Up to Previous Post: Is Kate Gosselin right?

I wanted to follow up real quick on my previous post on Kate Gosselin's quote about the divorce rate for parents of multiples.  

I thought it might interest many of you to know that I was clearly not the only parent of multiples deeply bothered by Kate Gosselin's statements.  My post on that subject has received thousands of "hits" from people searching for factual information on the divorce rate of parents who have multiples.

A writer named Maura from USWeekly even called me a week or two ago to compare notes after she too was unable to find any actual studies that back up Kate's now famous quote claiming the divorce rate for parent's with multiples is 3 times that of singleton parents.

Based on the responses I have received.  I can clearly see Kate's comments sparked concern with the majority of parents who have or are having multiples much the way they did with me.  Let's face it, no one wants to hear that the deck is stacked so severely against them.  With the exception of course, to the person who needs that statistic to make them feel better for failing at something.

So, before you start sadly envisioning your "Jon" off in Paris with a kidless replacement, I'm going to go out on a limb and state, Kate's wrong.  No, I can't find a study to back her up and no, you probably won't find one to back me up either.  However, my glass is half full and hers is half empty.  I'm going with a bit of optimism here since I can't find the exact facts many of us seek.

Here's my take, parents of Multiples are probably 3 times more likely to have to work hard for what they want.  They typically have more financial strains, get less sleep, have less personal time, have less alone time with their spouse, and have more household tasks to perform.  Parenting multiples is really hard, but it is not typically without numerous rewards and successes.  In the end, parents of multiples may very well appreciate the little blessings life brings three times more.  

Kate, I'm genuinely sorry things didn't work out for you and Jon.  However, I'm going to hope your in the minority when all the polls and studies are done.  Can you blame me?

Divide & Conquer Style Family Vacations

With our children's ages being such a wide range 14, 10, 8, & twin 1 year olds, we've adopted a divide and conquer approach to enjoying our summer vacation this year.  Luckily this has been fairly easy to do with the help of the grandparents, uncles and such.  

Last week we all spent some time at my parents vacation home in Colorado.  Instead of dragging everyone to every activity, we split up a lot.  One day the older 3 kids would head off frisbee golf or swim with their Uncle and his girlfriend while my husband and I took the twins to the park.  The next day, Daddy takes our daughter horseback riding while the big boys hike and the little boys go for a stroller walk with mommy.  My daughter also enjoyed a nice girly spa day with grandma which included manicures, pedicures, and lunch by the pool.  My husband and I even were able to escape for a nice Sushi Dinner while the family watched the kids. 

This week, I've stayed in Colorado with the twins and my 8 year old daughter.  Meanwhile, my husband headed back to work in Illinois and my oldest two sons went on a road trip adventure with Grandpa that included sights in New Mexico and Arizona.  Grandma headed to Arizona as well to meet them via plane.

This weekend everyone will head back to Colorado for another week or so together.  While this may not be the traditional style family vacation where everyone is together all the time, this method has worked really well for all of us.

Winner of Bug & Pickle Gift Certificate

Congrats!

#4 Courtney is the winner.  Please email andtwinsmake5@gmail.com.  

Relish Winner!

Congrats!  #32 LittleEagle is the winner!  

Please Email andtwinsmake5@gmail.com.

The Twins 1st Birthday Party - Part 4

Party Entertainment:

Inspired by the Eebee DVDs the twins enjoy watching, we utilized some items we already own in a different way to entertain the twins at their 1st birthday party.  I'm including pictures of a couple of these ideas below.  

One form of reinvented fun was turning the twins water table into a Cheerio table.  By using Cheerios instead of water, we kept the twins dry for their party and provided them with a snack.  Both of them seemed to enjoy novelty of having Cheerios in the table and we simply fed them to the wildlife when play was done.

Another form of fun at our party, was by finding a 5th use for the Room to Grow 4-in-1 play yard we own.  We added a bag of 250 ball pit balls to turn it into a fantastic ball pit for the twins.  As you can likely see from the photo, the boys both seemed to enjoy this a lot.

For additional entertaining ideas, check out the parent info section of the Eebee website.  The have a great list of suggestions.

---

UPDATE: Below are the links to all 4 parts of this popular series of posts.

Twins 1st Birthday Party:  Part 1
Twins 1st Birthday Party:  Part 2
Twins 1st Birthday Party:  Part 3
Twins 1st Birthday Party:  Part 4

Remodeling Our Screened in Porch

This summer my husband and I finally decided to get around to a remodel project involving our screened in porch.  The bugs are terrible this year due to all the rain, so we were extra motivated to find an outdoor space we could enjoy while escaping them.  

This Home Decor project included hiring someone to repair all the screens, updating the space by painting the room's ceiling and beams white, installing suspension cables for drapes designed to reduce dust and debris, having the electrical wiring updated to allow for a hot tub in the room, purchasing outdoor furniture for the space, and of the purchase of accents intended to give the room a polished and complete look.

I'm awaiting arrival of these home decor accents now from Accent Furniture Direct and I will be featuring a review of the items once we've had a chance to utilize them in our new space.  In the meantime, here's some photos of the room mid repair.