30

I turned 30 over the weekend.  I have to say it was one of the most fun birthdays I have had.  Friday night my sister and I went out to dinner with some friends from high school and then went into the Old Port to have a couple of drinks.  We had so much fun just laughing and talking.  Saturday we dropped off the boys with my in laws and relaxed until we left to go to the drive in.  The drive in in Saco was playing Epic and Iron Man 3, both of which we had seen with the boys, but hadn't been able to truly see while trying to keep 2 4 year olds focused on the movie.  We picked up dinner and got popcorn and candy and stayed for both movies!  Usually when we go we only make it through one movie, but Josh took a little snooze during Epic and I dozed a bit at the end of Iron Man so we made it through!  On Sunday (my birthday) Josh had a camp training so I took the boys to the Old Port Fest for a bit with a friend, we met up with some friends there, had a cupcake, played some games and then headed home.  The boys and I hung out the rest of the afternoon and I watched a movie and ate some frozen custard that my in laws brought over for me.  It was a great birthday!

Now I am in full on move mode at home and at school.  We have been in a temporary space for this entire school year and we have to be out of it by the last day of school.  I have started packing at home, but just can't get myself motivated plus a lot of what needs to be packed can't be packed until the last minute.  We leave on Saturday and thankfully a wonderful friend is coming over this afternoon to help entertain the boys while I do some more packing and I am taking Friday off to go to the boys' end of the school year party and finish packing.  At this point I can't wait to be at camp.  I have missed all of our camp family and I am so ready to be relaxing on West Beach with my boys.

Saturday Night Musings

Life is starting to get a little crazy around here in anticipation of camp season.  I am doing a lot of hanging out with the boys while Josh is at different events for camp.  Its a stressful time of year getting ready for camp but also a great time of the year.  The weather is getting better and we can get out with the boys a lot more.  I love spring!
We went out tonight with the inlaws for dinner to celebrate Mother's Day.  I ate WAY too much!  But there is no choice but to eat a ton when we go to the Steakhouse. :)  Josh and the boys got me a patch for camp.  It says "Scout Mom."

I like it.  

It is also now less than a month until my birthday.  Not much to say about that now.  

I think thats all for now... I am watching the Hunger Games and I really love this movie! 

North Carolina (or North Carowina as the boys say)

We have been back for a little over a week and I am already trying to think of ways to get back soon or heck just move down there!  We had the best time in the world!! The weather was great, we ate yummy food, the house we stayed in was perfect for us, and we got to see some really cool stuff.  Plus we got to see some great people we don't get to see very often.

 

Enjoying one of many birthday celebrations

This time we drove, we will not drive again!  It was OK but I think that drive pushed my limits for hours in the car.  The boys were great and even the big boys were pretty good, but thats just a long time in a car!  We left Nashua, NH after picking up the rental van and getting dinner around 7PM and got into our house in North Topsail Beach around mid morning.  

 After all the grown ups showered and got dressed and the boys got dressed we took care of some house keeping stuff like unpacking and buying groceries for the week.  Jack was super tired and cranky so he and I stayed in the house and took a nap while Josh and Adrian took Keaghan to the beach for a bit.  

K fell in the waves, he wasn't very impressed.

 The next day we drove down to Myrtle Beach to spend the day.  The boys had a blast walking the boardwalk and playing in the sand.

They are in a phase where they don't want their picture taken. Haha!

We went on the Sky Wheel, which is definitely the biggest ferris wheel I have ever been on!  The boys loved it and the view of the beach was amazing.  It was a little foggy when we were there but I bet on a nice day you can see forever.

After walking around on the beach, we headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe which was in a separate mall area that I wish we had had more time at, but it was getting late and Myrtle Beach was about 2 hours away from where we were staying so we wanted to get back.  We had a great meal and the boys were given another birthday dessert that was the same size as a grown up dessert! 

When we got back to our house, our good friend and camp family member Sam was there for a visit.  Sam lives in South Carolina and drove a LONG way to come and visit with us. We were so happy to see him and meet his girlfriend.  They crashed on the couch and went to Wilmington with us the next day.

 We went to the Fort Fisher Aquarium outside of Wilmington and the boys had so much fun showing us all the fish and dragging Sam and Sydney around to all the exhibits.

This is the albino alligator that lives at the aquarium. 

This little boy was checking out everything in the tank with the boys, he came running up and wrapped his arms around my legs, looked up and looked absolutely stricken when he realized I was not his mother.  His mom and I got a pretty good laugh out of that one! 

Touching a shark 

Touching a shark 

This is  the last picture we took before we found out about the marathon bombs.

 As we were leaving the aquarium, someone, probably Josh, said "there were bombs exploding at the Boston Marathon.  At first I thought there was no way, that's not possible, how can someone bomb the Boston Marathon?  Then I instantly pulled out my phone to find out what I could and check on friends and family I knew were in Boston and running in the marathon.  I am so happy to say that all of my people were safe at the time, but my heart is still heavy for all the pain and suffering of the victims and their families.  It definitely changed the atmosphere of our vacation with the grown ups constantly checking for updates.

The next day we headed back into Wilmington for lunch and a visit to the USS North Carolina. We had lunch at the Cotton Exchange.  The Cotton Exchange used to be the building where cotton was bought and traded off the plantations to be taken back up north and turned into cloth.  Now they have turned the building into an outdoor mall with restaurants and shops.  It was cool to see, especially considering its a lot like the building I work in.  Its possible that cotton came from the Cotton Exchange in Wilmington up to the textile mill that houses my school once upon a time.  We ate lunch at a hot dog place called Scoops.  Josh and Adrian had hot dogs wrapped in bacon!  Then we all had an ice cream before heading to the battleship.

Sailor Jack, he was cruising all around the battleship!

SO excited to be on the ship 

That night I made ice cream cone cupcakes for their birthday and tucked two three year olds into bed for the last time.

 

The next morning we headed out to Fayetteville to visit with a former student and friend, Andrea. We were hoping to go to the Special Ops museum, but because of the sequester it was closed.  So we opted for a second choice and headed to the Cape Fear Botanical Garden.  It was a super nice day out and the boys had a great time hanging out in the gardens.  There was a lot to see and explore. 

After that little adventure we headed back to Andrea's house, which is in Autryville.   Autryville is a town about the size of a neighborhood up here.  There is a siren for the volunteer fire department that can be heard through the whole town (speaking from experience,  the alarm went off while we were there).  We had a cook out with Andrea and her grand parents and then the ice cream truck made a special visit just for the boys. 

 On our last day, Jack and I finally made it down to the beach.  The rest of the boys came with us and we had so much fun.  I got to stick my toes in the water and part of me almost wanted to head back to the house to get bathing suits.  It was about as warm as the ocean gets up here in the middle of the summer.

Jack had his turn falling in the waves.  He was running away from the waves and ended up falling face first in the waves. 

Last stop on the way out of town! 

We had a great time hanging out with each other, taking turns preparing meals and cleaning up, sitting on the porch listening to the helicopters flying overhead (Camp Lejeune is super close and they do trainings over the beach).
I was sad to head home, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel.  Josh and I had the immense pleasure of attending the wedding of two friends that Friday night.  We were exhausted but so glad to have been invited and able to go!

Next time, we fly!

I suck

I am really terrible at this whole blogging thing.  I think about doing it all the time but its usually when I am working, or out with the boys or any number of things that mean I can't blog right that second.  Right now the boys are in their room "sleeping" and Josh is making phone calls for camp and I have a little bit of time so I wanted to do an update.
I am about 2 months out from my 30th birthday and while I have big plans for many of the things still on my list, some of them will not be accomplished.  There are many reasons why and I am looking at it more like a "30 before I finish 30" list at this point.  One of the main reasons some of these aren't being accomplished is because of number twenty "being financially responsible."  We have made a lot of really good choices lately, but had one major setback that influenced the list.  Josh totalled his car at the beginning of March (he is/was OK... thank you seat belts) so we had to unexpectedly go out and buy him a new car and while we were planning on doing this, we weren't planning on doing so until August so that was a setback and pushed back a few things we were planning until next fall and spring.
So here is the update on what has been accomplished:

#2: Make our own bread - CHECK!  I have not bought a loaf of bread since September (except for once when we lost power in a storm and Josh ran out and bought a bunch of stuff to make PB&Js.... and he said he didn't like store bought bread since having my bread.)

#3: Grow a garden - kinda check.... the boys and I attempted last summer and here are the results: 

Our sad little garden

marigolds? don't know... they never flowered

These beans were doing really well... until I was put in charge of them... 

I think this summer I will try bigger containers and fewer plants and hopefully one day we will be in a house for the summer and I can grow one in the ground! 

#10: Read 10 books I always thought would be uninteresting. - CHECK, I joined a book club this winter and it has been awesome.  I love all the girls involved and they pick out amazing books that I would never have found and sometimes struggle through because they just aren't my style but they definitely helped me reach this goal! 

#11: NO SODA - CHECK!  I did not have one glass of soda for the entire year of 2012.  I lost about 10 pounds from January to June just by not drinking soda (which I promptly put back on over the summer) and even now don't drink nearly as much as I used to... but if I never have to drink another iced tea again I might die a happy woman.  I still love iced tea, but its pretty much the only non soda non water option at restaurants and I appreciate being able to choose something else now when we go out! 

#20: Be financially responsible. -  We have made some big strides towards some of our goals this year and I hope that it continues. 

#21: Finish the boys' quilts. - CHECK!!!!  This one was a race to the finish to have them done in time for Christmas and I was literally sewing while playing Santa Christmas Eve night but I finished them and I am so proud of myself for doing them.  I may never sew again but here's the final result: 

Keaghan's 

Jack's

#26: Get a job I love. - check.  I do love most of my new job, and I am sure that there are parts of everyone's job they don't enjoy so I am going to call this one complete because I like this job way better than my old job! 

There are some ongoing goals that I want to check in on or goals that are coming up in the future, so here that goes: 

#1: Harry Potter World at Universal Studios Orlando. - This one is hopefully happening for next February (going with my 30 before I finish 30 theme here).  We have decided to go to Disney World with the boys and my parents next February vacation and Josh and I are hoping to take an evening and head over to Universal to visit Harry and his friends.  

#4: Get myself a nice piece of jewelry for my birthday. - I have a few ideas for this one and I have 2 months to decide! 

#5: Visit the south. - We are leaving in under two weeks to spend a week in North Topsail Beach, North Carolina.  We are staying at a scouting friend's house and are planning a day trip to Myrtle Beach, visiting a former student in Fayetteville, and having another scouting friend who lives in SC come up and visit.  Josh's best friend is coming with us and I am so excited to hang on the beach and celebrate the boys' 4th birthday down there! 

#7: Reconnect with old friends. 

                    AND

#8: Try extra hard to keep connections with loved ones. - I am still working on this one, but I suck at phone calls just as much as I suck at blogging.  Facebook definitely makes its a bit easier, but I need to work harder on making more real time connections! 

#9: Cook an entire Thanksgiving meal, from scratch, no cheating! - maybe this year? 

#12: Get into the size of clothes I wore in college. - I started this one too late to make the goal by my birthday, but I am working at it.  I have lost about 15 pounds and have made some changes to eating and work out habits so here's hoping!  I have to make another change though because I started doing 30 day shred but it absolutely killed my knees so I have to find something that can give me the same results but not kill me! 

#13: Visit Bar Harbor. - I am hoping this one can happen in the fall or next spring. 

#14: Have family photos taken. - maybe over the summer? 

#15: Buy a house. - This one might be a year or two out but I am hoping it will be accomplished in my "30 before finishing 30" list 

#16: Bring the boys to the zoo in Boston. - I might be able to make it for this one, but this might happen over the summer. 

#17: Go to Vermont- eat - another fall or spring possibility. 

#18: Paint pottery. - hoping to get this one in after we get back from NC. 

#19: Get all my girlfriends together. - I was hoping that this could happen for my birthday but apparently there is something going on in Portland that weekend and all the hotels are booked, so I am thinking maybe sometime over the summer I can plan this one. 

#22. Go camping. - This is definitely happening this summer! 

#23. Cook all of our meals at home for at least 30 days, no takeout, no fast food, all prepared by me! - Going for this one after we get back from NC.  I have not made it a full 30 days in a row because life gets in the way but I have certainly gotten better about preparing all of our meals and making things from scratch. 

#25: Take the boys fishing. - Looking up the requirements for my fishing license and if this one doesn't happen before my birthday, it definitely will over the summer. 

#27: Have a big family reunion, with both sides of my family, Mom's and Dad's. - maybe this summer?  maybe next summer? 

#28:  Take a dance class. - I am thinking I will be ready for this one in the fall. 

#29:  Keep up with our photos, make sure the ones from my mother in law get put on my computer and get them all organized. - This one probably could have gone up top in the CHECK section, but it is still ongoing and I need to get over there and get the newest batch so I will leave it here. 

#30: Have a baby? - This will not be happening before my 30th birthday... there are a few requirements and a few have been checked off the list but the big one for me is not having a newborn or being pregnant when we bring the boys to Disney World next year.  I want to be able to enjoy that time with my boys so it won't be happening until at least after next February.  

So there is the list.  Not bad for being two months out!  I wish I was checking all of them off, but I am pretty happy with the results.  I promise I will try to update more often and write about more than just the list.  

My new way to drive myself crazy

When the boys were born we had a great nursery for them with matching cribs, matching bedding, fun colorful furniture and awesome prints on the wall.  It was very neutral and not too babyish.  Now that they are toddlers and sleeping in real beds, I wanted to find them the best bedding to match what we already had for them.  Their curtains could transfer over, as well as most of the furniture and some of the decorations.  Plus we ordered these awesome prints from Etsy that have song lyrics and they look a little like this but different colors:

So I wanted to find the perfect bedding to go on their new twin beds that they would be moving into when we got home from camp (more on what happened to burst that bubble later).  I looked at Pottery Barn, I looked at Land of Nod, Target, Macy's, JC Penney... I looked everywhere, I even looked at Walmart... I hate Walmart. 

I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, in the right colors or size... so I decided I would do it myself.  Why not?  It can't be that difficult to make a blanket right?  I had done it once before, it hadn't been perfect, but it serves its purpose... I decided I was going to do a Turning Twenty pattern... how hard could it be, its just squares sewn together right? So I went to JoAnn's Fabrics and bought a bunch of fat quarters and half yards to get myself started... realized I needed a whole lot more and went to Marden's... and realized I needed still more and went back to Marden's... At this point I have all the squares cut, and have started sewing... so far I feel like it is going well, and I will show you when it is done, as long as it gets done!  

It will be interesting to see what happens once I get all the squares sewn and have to start sewing them together, because I honestly have a hard time sewing in a straight line, and I want these to come out really well so that the boys will be able to enjoy them for a long time.  

cloth diapering twins

When I found out I was pregnant  I was terrified... and excited!  I had all these plans and dreams, I wanted to cloth diaper like my mom had with me... I pretty much figured I was going to have to considering how sensitive my skin was and still is... I wanted to baby wear and make my own food, I was going to breastfeed until he/shere was at least 1 and keep going if I was able to...
Then we went for an ultrasound and I discovered that I was pregnant with twins... a lot of those plans changed from that moment, I was overwhelmed and couldn't think clearly about what it was going to be like to raise not just one baby, but TWO, at the same time!


I changed my mind on a lot of things that day, and cloth diapering was one of them... I just couldn't fathom how on earth I would be able to buy enough diapers to cloth diaper two babies, plus have the time to wash all those diapers, all their clothes, it was too much for me at the time.  And then we were given a very generous gift.  Most of the teachers at my husband's school made a calendar and picked weeks to buy diapers, two teachers per week bought us diapers starting in April and going all the way to August!  It was amazing, every day my husband went to school, it seemed he came home with another box of diapers... plus all the diapers I received at my shower and from the showers held for us at school.   Needless to say, while we were using disposable diapers, we almost never had to buy diapers, unless we ran out of a size before they were big enough for the next one!

We had enough diapers stock piled that we really didn't have to think about buying diapers until the boys first birthday... at that point I was thinking of the cost and it was blowing my mind how expensive diapers were!  After having bought formula for the past year after nursing didn't work out, the idea of adding diapers to the expense list was a little daunting!  At that exact time, a friend of mine had a few cloth diapers that she had tried, but they just weren't working out for her and her daughter.  I figured it would be a great way to ease into and see if cloth diapering worked for us.

We bought the Flip diaper system from her with I think 4 covers and 6-10 inserts?  Plus a whole bunch of the disposable inserts (which I hated, but I hear they have changed them since then).  Josh wasn't sure if he was going to be able to do it.. so we continued to use disposable wipes and kept some sposies on hand just in case.
They were awesome!  I knew this was going to work for me, so I convinced Josh that we should invest in a few more covers and inserts to cut down on the laundry.  We ended up having 12 covers and about 30 inserts at our highest stash count.  The great part about the Flip system is that you can reuse the cover until it gets dirty (pooped on... or I found 2 or 3 pees were about the limit before it started to smell... or overnight pee).  So we could have just a few covers and lots of inserts and still be good on diapers for a couple of days.  My mother in law didn't want to use them, so while the boys were with her they were still in disposables but when my mom had them or they were in day care (as briefly as that lasted... wish I was blogging back then) they would be in their Flips.  It was great.  I was even able to cloth diaper them while we were living at camp sharing a washing machine with the guys on staff.

And then I made the best discovery.... Rockin' Green
The best laundry detergent I have ever used!  I still use it on our towels and sheets because the stuff is awesome.  We had been having trouble with a funky smell in our diapers which not even the best natural , CD friendly detergents could get rid of... I soak our diapers in the Rockin Green and they were soft, clean and smell free!
And washing the diapers was so easy... every two or three days I would throw everything in the washing machine, including the pail liner, run them through a wash and a couple of rinses then I could throw the inserts in the dryer, and line dry the covers... not nearly as overwhelming as I had feared when I was nine weeks pregnant and freaking out about having twins

I loved the time we were cloth diapering, their fluffy bums filling out their shorts/pants, the ease of washing diapers, not having to worry about whether or not I had to run to the store to get more diapers, it was great!
We started potty training over the summer, and I would like to say we are using cloth training pants... but we are not.  The washing machine situation at camp changed over the summer, and we had a ton going on (the boys had a very busy social calendar this summer) so we are using Pull-Ups and Huggies Slip-Ons at night because it just wouldn't make sense to use two diapers a night and have to wait 4-5 days to have a load (plus that would be smelly... pew).
 I miss our cloth diapers and while we have sold/donated/paid forward most of the things we had for the boys when they were babies, the cloth diapers are something I plan on hanging on to... just in case.

Birthday Party for two two year olds

When we started to think about boys birthday party, we realized we would be leaving for DC the day after their birthday and that our friend, Heidi, would also be having a party for her daughter who shares a birthday with the boys, but is a year older.  We decided we would party down at Heidi's party, have a little celebration with family on the boys' birthday and wait to have their party after we got back from DC.  It was great.  Heidi is super thoughtful and made special cupcakes for the boys to have at Elliot's party.  We then went home and had a special dinner with Josh's parents and CAKE!

We left the next day for our trip and had a great time (which I posted about right before this!) and after we had come home and things had settled down, we had a little party for them.  Last year we had a gigantic party with over 30 people and it took us 3 hours just to open the gifts from everyone!  It had a sock monkey theme and was a whole lot of fun, but we just weren't up for that again this year.  So we invited just a few close friends and our families and had a much smaller party.  This year's theme was construction.  The boys love anything involving trucks of any kind and so I knew that construction was the way to go... I didn't want to go overboard, so there were a few decorations and balloons, and the best part were the construction orange cupcakes for guests and the John Deere green giant cupcakes with tractor candles for the boys. 

I think they liked them!

The boys had a great time and we had so much fun celebrating with the people closest to the boys!

OK here it is... the long awaited... DC post!

I have got to get this ball rolling on this blog, so I am going to update a bunch tonight and start them rolling out over the next week or so... first off... DC!!

My husband Josh and I decided around Christmas time last year that we were feeling adventurous and that it was time for a family vacation.  The boys were walking, they were sleeping well, eating well, and for the most part are pretty well behaved two year olds.  We racked our brains on where would be the best place to go.  We knew we wanted to go during April school vacation, being that we are both teachers and it would really be too cold to go anywhere in February.  We also knew we were not ready to fly with two newly two year olds (the boys birthday is in April right around school vacation time).  We just weren't ready for that challenge.  So that left us with the area surrounding our home state of Maine.  So we thought maybe Boston...  nah can do that in little day trips, which we have done numerous times with them... New York, lots of things to do... but not very kid friendly in our opinion... Washington D.C.... a bit of a stretch as far as the drive, but the museums we wanted to see were free, the weather would be warm and there were lots of things for the kids if they got burnt out on museuming!  Perfect!  I, being the planner in the family, immediately started to think of what we were going to need.  Diapers, lots of diapers, wipes, two single strollers, pack and plays, snacks, sippy cups.... whew!  My head was spinning... I made a list and started packing (yep in December folks!)

I started that early because I knew there were some things we were going to bring with us that just wouldn't really be used until the trip... and lets put packing in quotes, because really it was just gathering supplies and making lists.
Here is what we brought for our weeklong trip with two two year olds:
two single strollers
two pack and plays
1 box of wipes from BJs
1 box of diapers from BJs (yes we were a cloth diapering family... but I wasn't going to do that 11 hours from home!)
7 pairs of shorts/pants each (we were there for 5 days)
24 pairs of jammies
7 shirts each
2 pairs of shoes each
24 pairs of socks
2 hats
4 sweatshirts
3 boxes of grammy sammys
15 squeezable yogurt smoothies
4 sippy cups
2 bags of goldfish
3 bags of animal crackers
magna doodles, crayons, paper, 3 new toys each and stickers!
all of mine and my husbands clothes and shoes
a GIGANTIC bag of gummy bears and also one of pretzel M&Ms

and I am super happy to say that everything fit into the back of my Saturn VUE and I could see out the back window!!

Our best idea was that we leave at 11 at night and drive through the night so that the boys would be sleeping and we would arrive in DC around breakfast time the next day, hit the ground running and be ready to go!  Well, the boys slept for most of the night, but I was not able to sleep during my sleeping shift so I was a little tired, managed to make it through the day and crashed at 6PM with the boys!

Our trip was phenomenal!  The boys behaved fantastically, we got to see everything we wanted, and we had the chance to spend an entire week, just the 4 of us.  I honestly have no complaints from the trip... the hotel was fantastic, we walked every where but the zoo... and we ate at some amazing restaurants!

We have already started to talk about where we are going to go this April break... some ideas we are throwing around:
South Carolina
Boston... yeah again
Quebec
any ideas anyone?

Hi!

I have been thinking about blogging for a long time. I think it is a great way to share all the fun and exciting things that we do as a family. I guess I will start with an introduction the key players. (so people who know me, know they found me, and for those who don't to get a chance!)

I am Kristin and I am the mom of the family. I work in high school special education. I like to read, spend time with family and friends, shop and the color green!

My husband is Josh, he is the dad. He is a high school history teacher and the director of a summer camp. He likes ska music, the New England Patriots and the Boston Red Sox.

I have twin sons. Jack is almost 2 and loves to play with trucks, try on Mommy and Daddy's shoes and bite his brother.
Keaghan is also almost 2, and loves blocks, puzzles and coloring, as well as trucks and helping Mommy cook. Jack and Keaghan get to spend 3 days with their Nana and 2 days with their Grammy and Grampy while Mommy and Daddy work.

We also have two cats, Hermione and Chloe the Wonder Kitty (yes, that is her real name...just ask her vet :) ) who love to chase each other and sleep on the couch.

I created this blog to share funny stories, adventures and misadventures, cloth diapering, going green, living thrifty and healthy, photos of Jack and Keaghan (probably lots of those!)and as a way to let friends and family who are not living close right now, still have a light into the life of 2 Js and 2 Ks!

Bear with me as I try to get myself organized and figure out this blogging thing... it could get really cool!