Molly Piper

At this point in the summer, I have a 7-year-old, a 3-year-old, and two 1-year-olds. Here’s the swimming skills breakdown:

7-year-old: Can dog paddle and keep head above water for short distances. Improving his skills, but not independent.
3-year-old: No swimming skills (but he keeps close to the shore anyway).
1-year-old boy: No swimming skills (and also prefers sand and shore in his nautical pursuits).
1-year-old girl: Thinks she has mad swimming skills, but in reality has none.

I’ve taken them swimming by myself a couple times now, and here are my observations:

Splash Pads

-Easy in and out.
-Don’t have to worry about anyone’s head going under.
-Might have to worry about running and therefore subsequent stitches (thankfully that hasn’t been our story this summer).
-No sand. (NO SAND!!!!)

Pools

-I can really only do them by myself if they’re those 0-depth-entry ones. I don’t have enough arms for 3-year-old and two 1-year-olds in a typical “shallow end.”
-Life jackets, life jackets, life jackets. Life jackets are awesome. Morrow still fits in the infant one (cuz he’s only 32 pounds) with the head pillow thing, and he LOOOVES to lay on his back and just kick around. That’s his version of “swimming.”
*Side note about life jackets: I’ve found great ones at thrift stores. Keep your eyes out for those!
-NO SAND!!!

And in Minnesota, of course (the land of 10,000 lakes)…

Lakes

-God’s version of 0-depth-entry, so I must give credit where credit is due.
-The downside, of course, is SAND!! Two diaper-wearers in sand is just the worst, especially if you have a dirty diaper situation.
-More options for keeping busy (trying to catch fish, digging in the sand, etc.)

General Observations

-Put sunscreen on everyone before you leave the house. (Mom included, because once I get to the water, taking care of myself no longer exists as a possibility.)
-Mom, don’t expect to relax. This will not be relaxing. I remind myself that while I’m exhausting myself at the beach or pool or splash pad, they’re not at home trashing the house!
-I prefer a smaller, less populated beach for lake swimming. Simpler for head-counting, and less surface area if I have to run after one (or two!)
-I’ve been bringing after-clothes for my 3 youngest (any who can’t dress completely independently when you get back home) and getting them all dressed before we leave for home. It’s a little chaotic in the van, but at least the van is a confined space. Waaaayy preferable to them running every which-way in their swimming stuff when we get in the house.
-Don’t bring a lot of crap. A couple buckets and shovels or cups or balls, but the less you bring, the less you have to remember to bring home!

That’s what I’ve learned so far.

Any other awesome swimming tips?

The other day, I made my kids chocolate pudding. (I promise I wasn’t just trying to use up nearly-expired products from my baking cabinet. Promise.)

But I thought it would be funny to let the babies have a go at it after dinner. I got them started and they were doing really well! Whit especially is very good with a spoon. My girl…she struggles. But whatevs. They were doing pretty well with the pudding and I handed the rest of the time off to Abraham so I could go upstairs for a few minutes.

He yells a few minutes later, “You owe me big time for this one!”
“What do you mean?” I holler back.
“This clean-up! They have pudding everywhere!”

And he wasn’t kidding. It was on the walls. It was on the backs of their necks. It was in their ears. Honestly, it’s been a few days and I’m still finding dried flecks of pudding.

But instead of stopping the insanity, what does Dad do? He takes pictures.

The twins also love to “tell” knock-knock jokes.They hear the big boys telling them all the time, so naturally they try it too!

(P.S. I have no time to video edit, so you get what you get.)

Last night we started talking about how many years we’d been together. Eight. Then one of us asked, “How many days have we been married?”

Our cursory calculations (I didn’t go strictly, like September is 30 days, October is 31, etc.) showed that we’ve been married for 3,064 days.

When we put it that way, all of a sudden it was…different. Thinking about the fact that I have spent over 3,000 nights sleeping beside him… over 3,000 days waking up to his face. They weren’t all happy nights. And there were mornings when it didn’t feel like the “joy came in the morning…”

It’s a silly exercise, but quantify your marriage. How many days have you been married?

It made me thankful for all 3,064 days. I can’t imagine loving another person the way I love Abraham. There just something about us….

And it made me realize that my love for him can’t be quantified. We know we love each other with a ferocity that astounds both of us–I didn’t know I could have that in this life. I certainly didn’t know that at Day 1.

It took me 3,064 days to get here, to love him the way I do. What’s it gonna be like after 3,064 more?

Saturday, January 25th…another proud library user was born!

He was so excited he called my parents to tell them about it.

I have to admit I got a little teary, watching his little hand grip the fine-tipped Sharpie and print his “signature” on the back. I can’t believe he’s old enough to do all that.

I will also admit that it wasn’t intended to be quite so meaningful. Our library system has recently instituted a 30-book limit per card. I had just been to the library for the kids, which meant I easily checked out 30. But then a few days later, Orison and I were running errands together when I remembered, “Dang! I have a book on reserve for my book club that I need to pick up!”

I tried to check it out on my card, but the computer promptly scolded me that I had already reached my limit! So, being the genius that I am (and not wanting to leave without my book), I turned in beautiful slow-motion and meaningfully placed my hands squarely on his shoulders and cooed to my precious firstborn…

No wait…this is me we’re talking about here.

TAKE TWO!

I quickly solved the problem, whirled over to my son and very practically said, “Hey you wanna get a library card and check my book out for me?”

So his first check-out will seem rather odd:

The Falcon’s Feathers by Ron Roy

and

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Is getting a library card a rite of passage in your family?

OR

What is the most library books you’ve ever checked out at one time?

So I’ve been using a new computer lately that my son Orison designed and made himself. Impressive, right?

Flip it open…

He’s even concerned for my safety while using this largely untested prototype:

I’ve been doing all my blogging on it lately…

I have horrible dry patches on my hands in the winter. There are a couple isolated spots that get really irritated and sore (probably eczema).

Of course it doesn’t help that I have to wash my hands every time I turn around, changing 2 sets of diapers and taking Morrow to the potty (and then there’s cooking, doing dishes, taking myself to the potty…). You get the picture. My hands are wet all the stinkin’ time.

I’m trying to use rubber gloves while doing dishes to see if that helps at all.

But I’m also considering trying those overnight moisture gloves. Have any of you tried them? Do they work? I think you put some lotion on and then put the gloves on?

I have to be very careful with what lotion I put on my hands, as well. It can’t have any fragrance or dyes. If I use regular lotion on my hands in the winter it burns like crazy!

A friend of mine suggested shea butter for lotion, but I don’t know if that has fragrance. If so, it’s a no-no. (ha! a rhyme!)

Anyone have a good fragrance-free, dye-free lotion for hands they’d recommend?

Also, don’t forget to weigh in on the gloves! Should I try them?

I broke one of my cardinal rules, friends. You know, the ones that you yell at all your other family members for breaking? And then, one day…you do it?

Okay, here it is:

I opened a 2nd gallon of milk when there was already another open.

[GASP!!!]

This is a serious infraction. Serious.

My OCD can hardly handle this.

What are your household cardinal rules? Ever broken one yourself?

I think it’s good to have rules. I also think it’s good for me to break my own rules sometimes, because then it destroys that I’m-so-awesome-at-following-rules pride thing that I can so easily go to (have you picked up that I’m a “good girl”?)

It seems like often when I’m about to RAGE with anger at someone in my family about SOMETHING they did that they SHOULDN’T do (leave a wet towel on the floor, open 2 milks, leave dirty clothes lying around) I’ll find a pair of my dirty underwear on the floor within minutes. Minutes.

Welp, that’s a pride-buster.

I’m not saying that happens every time and I’m always super patient and gentle with other people when they don’t follow my rules, I’m just thankful for the times I do have some victories from God to give grace to the people I love most.

ME!!!

Morrow had his first day of preschool today! Can you believe that?!?!

He went to a little open house last week to get ready, and today the little church bus came and picked him up right outside the house!

He had a little difficulty separating at the open house last week when the parents went across the hall for a meeting and the kids stayed to play, so I was trying to be really, really upbeat this morning to keep him from getting nervous.

We’d talked and talked and talked about how fun school was going to be, so I thought it might be a little counterproductive to let him see me bawling (I saved that for when I got back in the house). And I wasn’t the only one with tears (a certain male in the 30-34 age bracket had some moisture in his eyes too)!

Here he is, all excited to get buckled in for the ride to school!

When I got off the bus and waved to him I could tell he was about to cry, but according to one of my spies, he’d recovered just fine by the time they got to school.

When he got home he told me, “I loved playing at the park! I held onto the rope!” (which is what they use for crossing the street to get to the park).

I can’t believe he’s this old, and I can’t believe how quickly time goes by, but I also feel lots of joy and hope for this new step.

YAY for Morrow!

We’ve been home from Pennsylvania for just over a week or so, and life has been insane.

Here’s a little info on my life:

• Trying to get Morrow (almost 3) potty-trained. Now some of you might think, “He’s a boy! Don’t even worry about it til after they’re 3.” I totally get that, but little man can go to preschool this fall if he’s potty-trained! Mama would LOVE 2 mornings a week with just the twins!
• Had our roof redone last week. We were very thankful for insurance paying for the roof that was damaged last fall in a wicked windstorm, but the subcontractors didn’t do a good job and now we’re trying to figure out how to get that fixed. Such a headache. So if they have to do it all over again, then we have week #2 of pounding and therefore, jacked-up naps for the little ones.
• Cadence had a bout of Roseola this past week. She was so sick, poor baby! She didn’t want to be held, she didn’t want to be put down, she just didn’t want anything, but yet she wanted everything at the same time. I’m exhausted.
• I have more paperwork than the president, I think. Back-to-school paperwork, insurance paperwork, other medical paperwork, car recalls… garrrr!!!

Okay, vent is over. Thanks for letting me do that. I feel better now.

In other news:

• We had car trouble when we were in Denver that resulted in a $280 repair bill. Welp, when I went to have the other recalled thingy done, they told me that the part we had repaired in Denver was recalled and so we could be refunded for that work! YAY!
• The weather in Minneapolis has been super dreamy–nothing higher than 85 since we’ve been back and then down into the 60s at night. GLORY HALLELUJAH!
• Morrow’s kinda getting the potty thing, by the way. Not 100%, but improving steadily.
• We have a wedding this weekend! Our dear friend Bethany is marrying her Jon, and we couldn’t be happier! So happy, in fact, that Morrow will bear the rings and I will sing! HOORAY!

Okay, gotta run. Naptime’s over!

I had all these grand delusions that I was going to write handwritten notes to all the people who’ve helped me survive this first year with twins. Guess what? When you have 4 children ages 6 & under, you don’t have lots of time for such things…

So I’ll say it here for any who want to read…

If you’ve helped me in any way this past year, you’ve made this possible. You’ve helped these babies go from the tiny little helpless babies up there to the bouncing, vibrant, living babies they are. You’ve helped me keep them alive. This is no small thing. I’m grateful for life.

I’m grateful for the partnership of countless others to fold laundry, iron clothes, wash dishes, babysit, bring us food, buy me groceries, make us peanut butter, change diapers, hold babies, care for them in the nursery, mix bottles, pick up car pool, make us laugh, feed babies… this list is endless, it seems.

The past few years have been needy years for us. First we buried a child. The couple years following that were a nightmare in so many ways. We needed so much support to get through. And then we go and have two babies at the same time. More needs.

It’s deeply humbling to be so needy, knowing you are so dependent on other people for so many things. It’s not always easy to ask for that help. Thankfully so many of you haven’t even made me ask, you just jumped in with both feet and slogged through it with us.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I don’t think they get it yet, but Whitsun & Cadence thank you too. I think they like life so far.