Oh What a Night....

What a fun night we had! While Jack & Sean were at first a little stand offish with the characters, they did not head for the hills as I expected. They came around rather quickly and would seek out the characters for pictures. Quite surprising since the 2 of them do NOT like having their picture taken.

I enjoyed my time talking with other parents who have "walked in my shoes", while the kids played without me having to worry if they were escaping. Once I knew they were ok with the characters they weren't going anywhere...LOL!

3 years ago if you would have told me that one day I'd be sitting at Sesame Place watching my boys run, laugh and play with their favorite Sesame Characters I would have thought you cruel, lacking compassion and down right oblivious to my reality! Those weeks in the NICU it was hard to imagine them coming home let alone progressing and coming as far as they have. I couldn't be any prouder and it is these moments that help me realize how important it is to continue to volunteer and raise money for the March of Dimes. I want other parents to have these moments...I want other parents to NOT have to endure our pain.

I'm so proud of my preemies, and my older children, we've all come a long way, learned a lot of life lessons and are all a better family for it!

Thank you March of Dimes for giving us Jack & Sean!

"Jack & Sean's Gang"
"Jack & Sean's Story"

Tonight is Special....

Today we are going to take the twins for a haircut! They have a special playdate tonight with the Characters at Sesame Place! They've been looking forward to this all week and I know that once they see "Elmo" or "Big Bird" my 2 little guys will run like hell...and then they will eventually come around.

Every year we go to Sesame Place with the March of Dimes for the March for Babies Family Teams Kick off. As a team captain of a team, the Family Teams representative for my county and a member of the Family Teams Board for South Eastern Pennsylvaina this event is truly my favorite. You get to see these children whose lives started in a far less than perfect way having the time of their lives. It is a moment for parents like myself we couldn't even force ourselves to dream of when our babies were in NICU's struggling for their lives. A moment that stands still in time!

So I will ready with my camera, as I am every year, to capture the moment they come around. The priceless memory, even though we do this every year, always makes me cry.

Now I don't know who is more excited...me or them!

www.marchforbabies.org/jackandsean
www.youtube.com/7gallens

My Morning...

This was my day....
(This was about 2 weeks ago...but it's all the same)

I Wake Up,
Go wake Delaney up for school, say Bye to Kayli, Thank God she's a morning person and gets herself ready and out the door!
Put the house on lock down to prevent twins from escaping
2nd attempt to wake Delaney and get her in the shower
Put twins on potty, put on their undies, give them juice and get them changed
Tell Delaney to get out of the shower
After looking for my shoes, tell Delaney AGAIN to get out of the shower.
Go outside to warm up the car, it's cold, it's snowing and I'm now thinking over the reasons why we didn't move to FLORIDA! And yes, I warm up the car about a 1/2 hr before I go anywhere because I HATE being cold!
Come back inside, gather up 2 pairs of socks and 2 pairs of shoes to get the twins ready to drive Delaney to school...oh and Delaney, STILL in the shower!
Back to the bathroom..."GET OUT OF THE SHOWER!"
Left shoe, Right shoe, Left shoe, Right shoe all lined up ready to go.
Chase down one twin, Delaney needs to go upstairs gotta go take the gate down.
Chase down one twin...AGAIN. Grab a pair of shoes & socks that were previously lined up. Don't know what happened but somehow he ended up with 2 left feet. (note: first sign of a bad day when a couple of 3 year olds outsmart you.) Fix the shoes, grab the other twin and...one sock! "COME ON" I kid you not this is a typical day. Delaney is not ready, and we have 10 mins. to get to school. Good thing it's less than a 1/4 mile away.
Locate other sock, which apparently Jack (twin) thinks will make a good mitten. Chase him down wrestle away mitten, I mean sock, chase down other one and get his socks and shoes on. As he runs off I notice...Shoes on wrong feet! UGH...Oh well we're just going to go with it!
(Now here's the part that you know I've definitely LOST it)
Rush around grab last minute things, that I tell Delaney EVERY night to get ready...lunch money and snack. Get boys ready at the door...Oops, need my keys (at this time you may want to go up a little and re-read) look in my pockets, no keys...?????...Look in the drawer, on the table, on the chairs...LOOK, LOOK, LOOK...Now I'm frustrated and yelling "We have to go I need my keys and the car is running...." I swear the sun came out for a second as the light bulb FINALLY went on in my head! Car running....Keys in car! UUUHHHH! Let's go!
Driving to school with less than 5 mins to go! Turning into school Delaney announces..."I forgot my flute!" OMG....AAAAAAHHHHHH!

All this from 7:30 to 8:50.....

A frightening episode for Jack (one of the twins) last week finally prompted me to make that appointment to the allergist. Come to find out Jack is allergic to Ragweed and hamsters. He came up borderline to trees and cats and mildly allergic to peanuts, strawberries, milk and shellfish. We went for the RAST testing on Friday and since those results can take up to 2 weeks, this is sure to be a very interesting Thanksgiving.

Funny thing is Jack drinks milk all the time and has eaten peanut butter and other peanut containing foods on numerous occasions, without incident. But who knows what prompted that scary episode early last Sunday morning. Jack awoke gasping for air, coughing which sounded like a dog barking, wheezing. It was so scary! His allergy could just be developing so for now we are to avoid all the food allergen at all costs. I still give him milk, but I think I will cut that out now as I have noticed he does have diarheaa often. As for the strawberries, well, I knew that. Both of the twins broke out in hives, head to toe after eating 1 bite of a strawberry. YIKES!

Well, in 2 weeks we'll know our fate as far as food goes.

Pop-Corn

I hope everyone had a great Holiday and fantastic New Year!
I'm going to start the year off, with probably one of the most hilarious stories yet, right from the mouths of babes....



OK....This is a good one...you will be cracking up


Jack & Sean were asking for a snack. Having NOTHING to give them I opted for the pop-corn, never my first choice but out of desperation it had to suffice. I grabbed the OPEN bag of Herr's pop-corn out of the pantry, from the wrong end, of course. So, when I pulled it out, pop-corn went everywhere! "OH SH**!" I yelled. Sometimes, when you're having one of those days, it just comes out. The twins come running. Jack, the first one on the scene, "Oh Sh**, Mommy?" Oops, you know how it is. "Mommy shouldn't have said that, go watch SpongeBob." Jack, "Oh Sh**, Mommy? That Sh**, Mommy?" pointing to the pop-corn on the floor. I've been a Mom long enough to know that it's better to just ignore it at this point, so I grabbed my broom and dust pan. "Go watch TV boys, Mommy is going to clean it up", I tell them. Sean, "That Sh** Mommy?" Really trying to ignore them, I started sweeping the floor when Jake (dog) comes over and starts to eat the pop-corn off the floor. I praise the dog for saving me from sweeping, "Good Boy, Jakie, eat it up." Jack, never seems to miss a beat, "Eat Sh**, Jakie. Eat Sh**." Now you know that I am, at this point, probably turning blue trying my hardest to NOT react to all of this. My 2 year old just told my dog to "EAT SH**!" What would you do? I pick them up take them out of the kitchen and we sit down to watch SpongeBob. The whole time they're going over trying to pick up the pop-corn while Jake is eating it. I usher them away numerous times, until, finally, they give up. About 5 mins. After Jake has finished licking it all up Seanie walks out to the kitchen, looks at the floor, looks at me, puts his hands out to either side, palms up, and says...."Where Sh** go Mommy?" AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!! What have I done? LOL Still ignoring the whole thing, I pick him up and say, "Jakie ate all the pop-corn off the floor." Seemingly satisfied with that they continue watching TV, but suddenly remember they never got their snack. Jack jumps up and says, "Need 'nack Mommy". After all that, they never got a snack. Lucky for me there was still a small amount of pop-corn in the bag, enough for each of them to have a little snack bag full. I hand them their snack bags and as they watch TV, I called my Mom to tell her this story. I could no longer hold it in. We talked for about 5 mins. While on the phone Jack & Sean, along with Reilly have migrated to their room. I peek in they're having a "picnic" with their little bit of pop-corn. Seeing all is fine, I go and make my 2nd attempt at doing dishes. I hear Jack calling from his room, "Mommy, meer." As I begin walking towards the bedroom Jack comes running up with his empty snack bag, hands it to me and says...."More Sh** Mommy" LOL

And yes, that was it, I LOST it. Laughed my butt off for about 15 mins.

Moral of the story, if you're going to invite us over, please don't put out pop-corn!

And to think a couple months ago we worried about their delayed speech! LOL

Enjoy the song..."You'll Be in My Heart" from Disney's Tarzan performed by Phil Collins. I dedicate this to my boys..."For one so small you seem so strong" They are the epitomy of strength!

Happy Holidays!!!

I wish everyone the most Joyous of Holidays! Enjoy my most favorite song at Christmas Time! "Believe" by Josh Groban from the movie "Polar Express".

See you in the New Year!

"You have everything you need, if you just Believe."

HOLY HANNAH!!!!!

4 Tickets to the Hannah Montana Concert with the Jonas Brothers: $292.00

2 T-Shirts & 2 Glo-Sticks: $80.00

Food: $40.00

The Look on These Faces:

To See This:

(Hannah Montana front & Jonas Bros. back)

PRICELESS!!!!

Worth every minute and every penny!

When You Tickle a Twin is taking a break for the Holidays! We'll see you in the New Year!

Enjoy your Holidays!

Oh God Send Me Snow!

Reilly (my 4 year old) has been praying for snow everynight. He asked me the other night, "Mommy, I know how to pray to keep me safe and healthy, but how do you pray for snow?" I cracked up. One thing about Reilly is that he is never at a loss for words. I told him to just pray like we normally do and just add at the end that you would like for some snow if God thinks it is a good idea.
"Well, Mom he already sent a little bit, so he'll think a lot is a great idea!" Again, trying to hold back laughter, I don't want him to think I'm laughing at him. So, he went ahead and said his prayers like normal. Then, at the end he sat up nice and straight, had his hands perfectly folded and whispered very clearly to his finger tips ( he believes angels sit on his finger tips when he prays and they take his prayers to God) "Oh God Send Me Snow! Good Night, Amen."

Needless to say we didn't get snow, however, Reilly was quite content with the fact that the snow that had fallen previously was still there. "God didn't let it melt this time. That's ok too!"
I know I was relieved to hear he was satisfied because I was in no mood to field a thousand questions of why God didn't answer his prayers.
Tomorrow should be interesting as the weather is supposed to warm up. Maybe by then I'll be able to direct his interests else where. I'll be praying for that...LOL!

The Golden Compass Debate

OK. So I feel compelled to write on this subject because it is just irritating me to no end. First, let me state clearly for all... I am Catholic, believe whole heartily in God, and raise my children in our faith. I live with 2 miracles (my twins) who if not for the grace of God would not be here with us today. With that being said, I will now vent MY opinion.
I am not one to allow someone to dictate to me what I should do, not without question anyway. So when our church sent home letters to boycott "The Golden Compass" naturally I had to find out more. I read an awful lot about "in an interview Philip Pullman stated he based this novel on his atheist views" but never was the interview named. Not to mention a lot of what I read was basically 3rd party interpretation of interviews. Any mildly intelligent person, I would hope, not take those words to be fact. In fact, I got so frustrated of reading interviews of interviews I went directly to Philip Pullman's website. I read for myself his interviews. Are his views atheistic? I don't believe so. Agnostic? Definitely. In the interview on his website when asked if he believed in God he states: "I don't know whether there is a God or not..." Ending with: "...there may well be a God, somewhere hiding away". Those are not the views of a devout atheist! An atheist would have said "NO". Flat out, no explanation.
Further more, he states that his book is a fantasy. I read nothing that stated a secret plot to change all the children of the world into Atheists.
I do plan to read "His Dark Materials" Trilogy and decided for myself if my children will be allowed to see the movie. I am raising intelligent children and we are all strong enough in our faith to not let a FANTASY elude us to believe that God does not exist.
If you do not plan on reading the book(s) or seeing the movie is it because you believe that he is trying to convert your children to Atheism? Well he's not, he's not even an Atheist, not in my opinion anyway. Do yourself a favor and look up Atheist. Now this is a BIG question...Are you boycotting his book/movie because you think he's an Atheist or Agnostic? Well, that's just down right wrong if you are! Are you saying that his views are wrong and yours are right? That is like saying you wouldn't view/read because he was Jewish or some other religion. That is what is so great about our country (and yes I know Philip Pullman lives in Wales) we are allowed to have different beliefs and not be persecuted for them. So what makes you superior to judge him?
What bothers me most is how people just accept what they hear from others as fact. When we start allowing others to dictate our views we loose a piece of ourselves. Intellect is what sets someone apart from the crowd. Do you go along with the crowd or do you stand out? I prefer to have my voice heard and make my decisions on my thoughts and feelings, not of those around me.
I don't want you to think that this blog is a rant for my views, because it's not. However, for my children's sake, I cannot allow them to grow up making unintelligent decisions. They are my greatest gift from God and I thank him (God) everyday for giving me these 5 precious lives. "God never gives us more than we can handle." ~Mother Theresa
I live by that quote. Do you think a mere book or movie could lead me away from that?

The Grades are in!

Inspiring and beautiful she is! My oldest daughter received her first report card for 6th grade on Wednesday. 3 A's & 4 B's!!! Now in our house we reward for TRYING to succeed as much as we do for success, but with grades like that I just wanted to give her the moon. She use to struggle terribly with reading in elementary school, which is when we began this whole reward for trying thing. After all, how can you scold a child for not doing well after you have seen them sit there for hours studying and helped them over and over and they still failed a test. So our rule is, if you do your best and try you will not be punished for your grades. So far this strategy has worked well for us. My children know that as long as they can show us they put forth the effort they will not get in trouble for their grades, which in turn gives them some incentive to study. Now, I'm not a push over, I do quiz them myself to be sure they are actually studying and not just staring at the book, they've yet to pull a fast one on me or even try to for that fact.

My youngest daughter (I only have 2...LOL) she did just as well on her first report card for 3rd grade. 1 A & 4 B's! She just happens to be one of those kids who can do anything. She is an extraordinary child. On the student council (yes, they have a student council for 3rd graders in her school, which she was elected for), a cheerleader, has tons of friends, and a Teacher's Pet. Every year, every teacher has the same comment. "Most Popular and can't find one thing wrong with anything she does." I beg them not to share that with her, her head wouldn't fit through the front door if she knew that. LOL

I'm a very lucky Mom to have such great kids with good heads on their shoulders. It just makes me that much more scared to send them off to High School someday. For now they are on the right track, just hope I can keep them on it!

What's with the Title?

In creating this Blog I was trying to think of an original, catchy phrase that represented what I wanted to achieve with this blog. My intention is to have a blog that is both funny & inspiring. Well, all my children are funny & inspiring, but my there is just something about my twins laughter. It makes everyone in my house laugh. Maybe it's because they're the youngest, maybe because everyone in this house knows how lucky we are to have them here with us (they were preemies). Their laughter is indeed contagious and their lives are indeed inspiring.

The other day as we were playing, I began to tickle one, the other one fell on the floor laughing with us, then my 4 year old joined in (my older daughters were in school still), before I knew it the 4 of us were laughing so hard I think I pulled a few AB muscles. Which is ok, I'm sure they need to be pulled in some way. When I sat down that night to work on my "Mom's Top 10" Blog, the name came to me!

I'm excited to bring to you: "When You Tickle a Twin" hope you find my stories here both funny & inspiring. While this blog is called "When you Tickle a Twin" it is indeed a blog about ALL my children. Each one of them an inspiration.



"The world seen through the eyes of a child is beautiful place. We should all look at it this way."