Finding the Funny
Monday, July 28, 2008, by Sherra
Roger Leroy and Wizzy were at work and helping another family respectively when I called home to check on The Grunter and Scary Baby.
They are not a good combo alone together. Mostly because he is usually asleep when she is awake. I was worried when Scary Baby didn’t answer the house phone.
When he answered his cell phone using his barely-awake voice, I was concerned. I asked him to give his phone to Scary Baby so I could get the real scoop on who was doing what.
She has affectionately inherited his old moniker, “Officer Humphreys” as he could always be counted on to report any violations or crimes committed by his siblings. She has really stepped up and takes her job very seriously.
Side note: Some people call it tattling, we call it reporting and we always thank Officer Humphreys for the report.
The Grunter barely talked to me as he went downstairs with his phone, other than to ask me, “Where are the girls?” Not a good sign that he didn’t know they weren’t home but I was in Phoenix and did know.
The favorite line overheard by my friends on this magical call to my almost 19 year-old pumpkin grunter was when he uttered these words:
“There is a slight chance she may not be here.”
It was funny to everyone in the car except me. Three phone calls later, she was located…
…in our basement washing the dogs.
Which PhilBillPaul thought was a fine thing for her to be doing because he thought I said she was WATCHING the dogs.
I had to use the Hoosier Grandma pronunciation because he was in a noisy environment.
“I said she is WARSHING the dogs.”
Let’s not even discuss a 9 year-old giving two wild wiener dogs a bath without supervision.
Re-entry after being gone from home for two weeks can be rough.
While I was away, they were all very busy. They had a garage sale, two break-ups and very sadly, a teenager who just graduated from high school and worked with my older daughters, committed suicide.
To say that we had some catching up to do is an understatement.
This weekend was spent with PhilBillPaul and the kids. Family time and individual time.
Scary Baby got some uninterrupted “mom time” on Friday and Saturday with some hair braiding and a little back-to-school shopping to try to get her excited for 4th grade. She has said every day since I’ve been back,
“I want you to homeschool me this year.” No comment at this time.
I took the *big* girls to their first funeral on Saturday. Followed by lunch and some deep discussion on what to do if life ever gets so bad you don’t think you want to go on.
Sunday church with The Grunter and his girlfriend was a rare treat as he’s been going to her church for months.
A parenting challenge I believe we all struggle with (especially if you have more than one child) is spending time with them individually. Family time is obviously more efficient and I love efficiency.
But with our loud crowd of six, I treasure one-on-one time with my kids. I speak only for myself when I say this becomes even more important as they get older.
I could open a debate on quality vs. quantity time but I’d rather not. I’d rather just say that I think our family needs both and it is a constant struggle.
Today I’m golfing with the girls. Because I can.
Because making the time for these kids of mine who drive me crazy is more important than anything else on my “to do” list.
Life Lesson (LL): Quality time is my primary love language and this weekend I was reminded of that to my core.
Share a Life Lesson (SALL): How do you make time for your kids individually? Any special rituals or traditions you share are sure to help another mother!
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Categories: Finding the Funny, Life Lessons, Teens, Tweens
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Friday, July 25, 2008, by Sherra
Finally, I’m back home and get to sleep in my own bed!
Don’t get me wrong - I had tons of fun during my two weeks of travel golfing, working and seeing old friends.
But I did miss my bed and my pillow…
…and my family.
It’s a bonus to come home to a clean house and a husband who missed me.
This was waiting for me on my night stand.
PhilBillPaul is nice like that - as I know I’ve told you all before. You can read about his niceness here or here.
Now you have photographic evidence. I won’t tell you what the card said because it was so sweet it might hurt your teeth like too much buttercream frosting on a cupcake. Or that white filling in a Krispy Kreme doughnut.
Well, maybe not that sweet but perhaps he wouldn’t want me to share it here on the internet for the world to read. He’s also kind of private so you can imagine how much he likes me to blog about him.
So let’s not talk about his sweetness and instead talk about my sugar addiction and cry for help that no one answered…
It seems no one called PhilBillPaul to have a food intervention when I arrived home this morning.
I thought that’s what friends are suppose to do for each other?
HELLO?
On my first night back last night, he took me to a small Italian restaurant called Porto Bello that we heard good things about from The Grunter and his girlfriend.
The service was excellent. It is a small family-owned restaurant and one of the sons came out to introduce himself and answer any questions.
They made me say WOW before I even tried the food.
I should tell you the food also made me say WOW!
After chicken ravioli in a pink sauce and lovely conversation with my darling husband, here is what we had for dessert…
Chocolate ganache cake with raspberry sauce.
There was also créme brulée.
I share that in case you are tracking my caloric intake and if so please do not tell me the total.
I do hear by solemnly promise to not talk or write about food, especially dessert for a long, long time.
This past week, I was beginning to feel like I had a food and restaurant blog.
I’m going to get back to my regular life now and try to stop eating so much.
And wear elastic waistband clothes.
Thank goodness maternity-style tops are back in fashion. I am still trying to lose the baby weight I gained with those darn twins.
I can still say that even though they are 17 now, can’t I?
Have a great weekend and enjoy a great dessert with your family!
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Categories: Finding the Funny, Food, Friends, Raves
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Wednesday, July 23, 2008, by Sherra
Or maybe I am.
I’ll let you decide.
Here is what we’ve been doing in Phoenix.
First, welcome gifts in my room at “Hotel Kim”
I’m not sure why she put those multi-grain pretzel nuggets in there. I think it was suppose to be a funny trick. Don’t worry, I didn’t fall for it and accidentally eat something healthy.
Next, a few lovely purple gifts from my friend Leigh Anne.
Have you seen these new premium M&M’s? Very tasty but we must warn you there is no candy coating crunch on the outside which felt a little wrong when popping an M&M in your mouth.
We got over it and ate them anyway. We’re flexible like that.
You may have already read about the WOW experience we had at Oregano’s on Sunday night with pizza and that amazing pzookie.
Monday I introduced my friends to a WOW straight from the Midwest and brand new to Phoenix.
Culver’s hasn’t made it to Georgia yet so I had to have the four food groups in the picture.
My oh my, who here has experienced Culver’s?
They are not in every state yet but when they get to yours, promise me you’ll order cheese curds in my honor.
Tuesday Kim took us to Butterfield’s for breakfast. Sorry, we forgot to take a picture of our eggs, bacon, sausage, crispy hashbrowns, pancakes and pecan waffle.
I would like you to know that I was the only one who didn’t eat pancakes.
Okay, I was also the only one who ate a pecan waffle.
Next, we headed over to Sprinkles Cupcakes for dessert.
You should know that we saved these for our afternoon snack lunch.
We kept telling each other it was okay to eat like this because we are
“on vacation.”
Because that’s what friends do for each other.
Just like Ann and Toni said when we had those vittles in North Carolina last weekend.
I may have a more serious problem then a sugar addiction.
Could someone call PhilBillPaul and tell him to get me in a recovery program as soon as I step off of the plane in Atlanta? In addition to the new wardrobe in a bigger size, I’m pretty sure I’m going to need some professional help after eating like this for a week two weeks.
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Categories: Finding the Funny, Food, Friends, Raves
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Friday, July 11, 2008, by Sherra
I’m in North Carolina for the weekend with two of my
all-time favorite girlfriends.
We’re all staying at my friend Toni’s house.
I drove up from Atlanta in the afternoon. Ann flew in from Illinois late Thursday evening.
I’ll tell you more about the fun we’re having later but today I just wanted to share our grocery trip to pick up a lemon cake because on this same trip last year, we bought a fabulous lemon cake and had a piece every night.
We now believe it to be a tradition so Toni had to order it from her local grocer and we went to the grocery before dinner and before Ann arrived.
Here’s the spread of vittles we ended up with…
YEE-HAW!!!
Yes, it seems we forgot to buy any protein and just ended up with enough sugar and carbs to get us through the weekend of golf, hysterical laughter and the love of girlfriends.
Notice there are no vegetables out of respect for me but we did get a daily serving of fruit with those three bananas. Whew–I’m pretty sure we’ll need our potassium because we look out for each other that way!
We miss you Kim and hope you’re having a great vacation in Utah!
Hope you all have a sugar-filled weekend of love.
xo
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Categories: Finding the Funny, Food, Friends
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Wednesday, July 9, 2008, by Sherra
I know I said that we could all vote but since I made up the award, I also made up the rules and therefore am allowed to change them.
First, I’d like to just say that I know it is a hard job to be a wife and *good enough* daughter-in-law when you find yourself in a no-win situation. I know that for many of you, living in your no-win circumstances creates more stress to the already hard job of, not just being married, but of staying married. So to Ann, Peggy, Tammy, Lisa and all the other “not good enough” wives out there, I bow to your struggle and hope you can hear my applause as I clap for you sitting at my laptop!
I don’t miss the irony of the fact that these bad mother-in-law situations are based on the very relationship that every one of us should be supporting. Women banding together to support one another through life. What the heck is wrong with the mother-in-law who doesn’t get that?
Um, probably a subject for another day.
Meanwhile, I must give you the update before I announce the winner.
Granny is gone and I miss her already.
She keeps the house running smoothly, does more laundry than is humanly possible and makes me feel a little less crazy…
A little less crazy…because she sees what pig-children we’re raising and she knows I’ve tried for all these years to show them the right way.
A little less crazy…because she hears their smart mouths and knows that this has never been acceptable and I haven’t given up.
A little less crazy…because she sees her firstborn PhilBillPaul’s quirks (a.k.a. annoying habits) and knows I’m not a total nag. They bug her too!
Most importantly, Granny has kept coming back for over 20 years and has never made me feel judged or made me feel like I wasn’t “good enough” for her son or a “good enough” mother to her grandchildren.
I just wanted to be sure you all know that I don’t take that for granted.
So when she calls from the Atlanta airport on a layover and wants to come stay for a week, you can understand why I welcome her with open arms!
As for the WINNER of Wife of the Year…
It really isn’t me because Granny makes it too easy.
Melinda and Diane are contenders because their MILs actually live with them but I think once you establish your boundaries and get into a routine, that would be a good thing…even Melinda admitted her MIL isn’t that much trouble and they both say they get childcare help which is a bonus no matter what!
JOANNE IS THE WINNER!!!!
Because 5 & 1/2 weeks is too long for a house guest, I don’t care who it is!! Then she did it again two years later for 6 weeks. WOO-HOO!!
Or we could ask her why she invited her back???
But sometimes the reasons show themselves later.
I’m pretty sure they have shown themselves since she shared this…
She now lives 8 miles from us since my FIL passed on Thanksgiving.
I must say that the kids love her and my husband does in small doses, like dinner or the movies. I’m the one who listens to her concerns, gives her practical advice, and makes her laugh when she’s down.
The line that got me though was this one that is a perfect little lesson we could all learn from…
It turns out that not expecting much from her for myself has been really good for our relationship and we have now started to become friends!
Congratulations Joanne and what a gift you have given your husband, your family and your MIL by making her a part of your life.
Just in case they haven’t noticed, I did!
Thanks to all of you for being candid and sharing - it’s exactly the kind of thing that I hope will continue to happen here often!
As opposed to you all laughing at my issues and dysfunction while keeping yours hidden. (tiny lol)
Truly, you’re all winners in my book!
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Categories: Finding the Funny, Friends, Little Lessons, Rants, Raves
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Monday, July 7, 2008, by Sherra
Hard to believe that April was the last Wiener Dog Monday.
I was sure it would be at least a monthly event.
But life has a way of keeping us busy and distracted and we sometimes easily forget about the wiener (dogs) in our lives.
Luckily, my buddy Ann has a unique way to remind me about wieners (dogs) just when I almost forgot what started the whole wiener topic in the first place.
But before I share the story she sent me via email this weekend, I wanted to share this fabulous little gift that arrived in the mail probably way back in April after all the wiener talk.
My friend Leigh Anne sent a cute little cookie cutter so I could make wiener (dog) cookies.
It was a sweet gift but Leigh Anne obviously forgot that I do not roll cookies, pie crust or knead dough. Those are my self-imposed baking rules.
But in honor of Wiener Dog Monday, I did buy a roll of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough, rolled it out between two sheets of wax paper and created these wiener dog cookies…
Yes, I am aware that they have abnormally large heads and one has an odd-shaped front foot. So now you all know why I don’t roll out cookies. Quit laughing Leigh Anne - I know yours would have turned out much better than mine!
Now, on to the email from Ann which could also go under the category of “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” (if I had that category). Or it could go under the category of “That’s Just Wrong on So Many Levels” but I’ll let you make up your own mind after you read the real life news story.
And not that there is any relation but I lived in a small town named Roscoe where my mom and one sister still reside.
POLITE WARNING: Do not read while eating.
Directly from Ann’s email:
OMG!!! Consider this article for Wiener Monday!!! Dan and I were enjoying this lovely Independence Day morning by reading the paper out back and he read aloud to me this article:
Lapdog gnaws off owner’s toe: A disabled Alton woman decided to have her one-year-old miniature dachshund, “Roscoe,” euthanized after it is believed to have gnawed off her right big toe while she was asleep. Linda Floyd, 56, who has no feeling in her toes because of nerve damage from severe diabetes, discovered the toe was missing after awaking from a nap. A veterinarian said the toe had been bandaged because of a healing hangnail and that may have somehow attracted the dog.
(The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus, Friday, July 4, 2008-Illinois News)
Ann’s opinion after the story:
…I think she could have done something better than have the poor dog killed, though!
Of course, I had to read this aloud to PhilBillPaul and Granny and we agreed that we thought killing the dog was a little harsh. Then again, PhilBillPaul had a pretty good point when he said, “How exactly would you word that ad in the paper?”
Owner took a nap, dog ate toe. Carnivorous wiener dog free to good home.
There’s no good ending to this Wiener Dog Monday. Just a sad story that really had two unhappy endings. My personal opinion is dogs shouldn’t sleep in people beds and up until now that was just because I have pet hair issues. Now I have a whole other reason I had never even considered.
On a totally unrelated note…there is still time to nominate yourself for the Wife of the Year Award and I’ll announce the winner on Wednesday. Just click on the link and leave a comment nominating yourself and tell us why!
Granny leaves tomorrow and we will seriously miss her - even though she did try to ride in my front “I am running for Wife of the Year” seat in the car Sunday - which I thought was a little pushy. 
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Categories: Finding the Funny, Friends
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008, by Sherra
Nominations are now opened.
Feel free to nominate yourself.
Because I am.
Nominating myself that is.
Here’s why.
Phone call at 11:40 a.m. yesterday…
Me:
Hello
(Okay I might have said “What?” because I don’t really like to talk to anyone before noon.)
PhilBillPaul:
Don’t freak out…
As you can see he’s been diligently working on improving his communication skills.
That kind of opening line always has a calming effect on me.
…but my mom is at the Atlanta airport and if we can find a good flight for her to get back to Austin, she’d like to come to the house and stay with us for a week. (She was flying home from visiting her sister in Florida.)
Me:
Silence
PhilBillPaul:
Obviously I am at a customer’s doing my job so I can’t get on the internet. Do you think you could get on your computer and see if you could find a good airfare for her so she could stay?
Me:
Silence
PhilBillPaul:
I mean, if that wouldn’t stress you. She has a two-hour layover and if we can find a flight she’d like to stay.
Me:
I’ll look.
PhilBillPaul:
Thank you! Call me back if you find something.
Me:
Bye.
I open my laptop, do a quick search for a one-way flight.
At 11:54 a.m. I call Granny on her cell phone and tell her what I have found. She says that sounds great and I book the flight for her. I tell her that I’ll call PhilBillPaul and one of us will come and get her and call her back in a few minutes.
The airport is 46 miles straight through downtown Atlanta which could be 46 minutes IF there is no traffic.
Which would be when pigs fly.
Just in case you’ve never driven through Atlanta.
I call PhilBillPaul and tell him his mother has a ticket for next Tuesday and he’ll need to take a 1/2 day off work to take her to the airport next week.
I ask him where he is (he travels throughout the metropolitan Atlanta area almost daily for his job) and he is not really close to the airport. But he says he should be done in about two hours if she could “hang tight” at the airport then he could go get her so I wouldn’t have to.
He knows I’m in the middle of a big work project and I really don’t have time to stop and take three hours to go down to the airport and back.
Here is more of his always-improving communication skills…
PhilBillPaul:
Will you call her and ask if she can wait at the airport for two hours?
Me:
NO.
You call her yourself and take care of getting her to the house.
PhilBillPaul:
Okay, you’re right. I should call her back. I’ll handle it from here. Thanks for getting her the ticket.
Come on now - I’m not bragging but I would like to know how many of you would welcome your mother-in-law to your home for a week long visit with two hours notice?
I should tell you one more thing that does make a big difference about how much spontaneity I can handle.
I love Granny.
The kids love Granny.
PhilBillPaul is very lucky that we all love Granny.
He is also lucky that Hormone Hell Week was last week or he wouldn’t have a calm, flexible wife who booked a flight for his mom.
Good timing Granny!
I cannot name one friend I have that would welcome their mother-in-law for a week in their home with virtually no notice.
Bring on the nominations - just leave a comment below and then we can all vote next week on the winner. (Remember to click through to the blog to leave your comment if you are reading this through an email update or RSS feed reader.)
Please don’t let me win this award uncontested.
I’m all about a good healthy competition!
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Categories: Finding the Funny, Moments
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Friday, June 27, 2008, by Sherra
Flexible that is.
Well, let me clarify. She is very flexible as an athlete. She is, after all, the one we called our circus baby.
But she does things her way, in her time frame and has always marched to the beat of her own drum.
She is also the dominant twin. “They say” (whoever “they” are) that one twin is typically the more dominant twin. We watched this from the very beginning. She was a tiny bully. She plucked Wizzy’s binky out of her mouth. She scooted and crawled over to Wizzy and took whatever toy she had or was even thinking about having. She learned how to jump and catapult out of her crib and land in Wizzy’s crib and jump on her.
One day I heard Wizzy crying intermittently and I quietly went around the corner to see why and Roger Leroy was hitting her and with a gleam in her eye saying,
“Cye, Wizzy, cye again”
She has overcome the speech impediment but not necessarily her penchant for teasing and tormenting her twin whenever she can.
Stubborn and quirky are words that describe her.
On her first birthday, it took about seven adults watching her and saying “Sit back down” to keep her in her high chair. Even when strapped in, she was a little Houdini baby who could get out of anything.
At one year-old they each weighed 16 pounds. 16 pound tiny people are not suppose to walk.
Or try to climb out of the cart at Home Depot.
Only by God’s grace did I catch the hem of her dress before she hit the concrete floor head first.
Here she is stuck in a toy bucket…
I think she had underwear on but I can’t really remember.
Here she is sleeping with a ball balanced on her eye. PhilBillPhil found her this way and he took this picture.
Are you getting the quirky vibe yet?
Here she is with Silly Putty.
Yep, we have all done that with Silly Putty, haven’t we?
Here she is on our driveway wrapped and tied up in her bedroom comforter…because we always take our bedding outside to play with it on the driveway.
I think they referred to this as the “burrito game” and she would then free herself from all the knots her siblings had tied. This, by the way, was at her request.
She can walk on stilts, bounce down the street on a pogo stick, juggle, ride a unicycle and shoot a basketball and make the shot on the unicycle. She has yet to meet a sport she couldn’t play and excel at.
She is “mama junior” to Scary Baby and has always had a special bond with her. She makes good grades and has an internal drive to do her best. She excels at anything she puts her mind to.
When she’s not irritating her twin sister, they have a lot of fun together.
Like last summer when they went to Tampa. They went over to Luci’s Alzheimer’s facility several times.
She fell in love there.
His name is Oscar.
Another picture I had to frame. Pure joy in both their faces as he gave her a kiss when she went over to tell him goodbye.
And when she’s not being a total jock or an L.C. (Little Crud as PhilBillPaul refers to her) or rolling her eyes at me…
She actually cleans up nicely and is a beautiful young woman.
We love you, circus baby…
P.S. Celebrate with me that The Twin Birthmonth Party is now
OFFICIALLY OVER!!! 
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Categories: Finding the Funny, Milestones, Moments, Rants, Raves
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Wednesday, June 25, 2008, by Sherra
It is official!
They are seventeen years old today.
Here’s that “bday plan” I told you I’d share. As if this very neat and tidy written plan gave them permission to plan TWO MORE DAYS of birthday festivities.
Huge sigh…
Here are those tiny babies I had seventeen years ago and was sure I would die while birthing two babies…
Luckily I had PhilBillPaul to remind me that while I was having two babies I needed to relax and these were his exact words, “Because they don’t come out at the same time.”
That made me feel sooooo much better.
5 pounds 13 ounces and 6 pounds and 1/2 ounce still adds up to TWELVE pounds of babies and NO ONE in my family had twins.
Lucky for us and for them, they were pretty darn cute…
And it was nice to have a next-door neighbor who had her first baby eight weeks before I had the girls. We were both rookies at this parenting gig and we helped each other in those early years. Thanks Elizabeth for helping me with my three even when you just had one. (Who would have ever guessed we would both have four now? Neither of us!)
All through my pregnancy, one of my closest friends in my life was back in Tampa, calling, checking on me and cheering me on. She was so excited that I was having twins. Because she is a twin. She thought it would be really cool if I could have them on her birthday. Since I was due in late July, I told her I probably couldn’t schedule that for her.
Until my blood pressure spiked and the midwife said, “We need to induce labor and deliver these babies today.”
“WAIT” I might have squealed in the doctor’s office that day. I didn’t have my little bag packed for the hospital that they tell you to have ready. I had no childcare for The Grunter. I was huge and uncomfortable and high risk and delivering twins in the heat of an Atlanta summer is an added bonus but I wasn’t ready that day!
She gave me no choice and said she’d meet us at the hospital. We had only lived in our neighborhood for four months but southern hospitality was alive and well when neighbors we barely knew pitched in and took care of The Grunter who was not yet two.
As we got off the exit for the hospital, I called Luci and said, “I have until midnight tonight, right?” You would have thought she was having the babies. She screamed and was so excited and added another request…which I thought was a little greedy… since I was trying to comply with the birthday request…”If they’re two girls, name them Luci and Lori, okay?”
Because up to this point, we only knew that “Baby A” was a girl so “Baby B” was going to be a surprise.
I delivered twin daughters 4 weeks early on Luci and Lori’s birthday.
Because that’s the kind of friend I always strive to be.
In Tampa near their first birthday Luci and Lori got to hold the twins that were born on their birthday but are not their namesakes! As you can see, Luci and Lori are as fraternal as my two lovelies.
Last year for their milestone 16th birthday, they got to spend the week with Luci and Lori and their families in Tampa. This was, of course, before I knew we’d be having this Birthmonth Party this year for their 17th year.
I did have one special request for Luci. I asked if she could “recreate” as best she could, the picture of her and Lori with my twins. It’s a big deal for them that Lori, the firstborn, was paired with Roger Leroy and Luci was paired with the younger (by 18 minutes) Wizzy.
Being one of my funny friends, Luci not only complied with my request…they actually woke up the girls before they were leaving early on the last day my girls were flying home. Not such a great picture of the girls but I still framed it and it always makes me smile.
Luci is the friend who brought PhilBillPaul to the hospital after the car crash. She and I were roommates before I got married. She has been there through the best of times and the worst of times and continues to be one of those lights in my life and we have loved each other through some giant life milestones.
It is a double birthday today in our extended family.
Happy birthday to Luci (and Lori) too!
Okay, I’ll wrap up this double long post (that’s what happens when you have twins) with a photo tribute to these daughters of mine who continue to tempt me to start drinking alcohol. Stupid mom #2 pointed out that the reason we have baby pictures is to remind us of how cute they were when we’re not feeling the cute during these teen years. Sage observation!
They were pretty darn cute kindergarten girls.
Basketball at church at age seven was darn funny to watch. This was Roger Leroy’s boy haircut stage and she loved it.
Daddy really loved having twin daughters. In the early days, they were “chick magnets” if he pushed them in the stroller at the mall. Looking back now, I guess I should have been more concerned about this…but I was too tired to care.
5th grade uniforms made me very happy! Roger Leroy’s hair growing back also made me happy.
A giant growth spurt in 6th and 7th grade made Wizzy very happy.
In the early years, they actually let me (okay, it was a rule) fix their hair. And they wore girly colors like pink and purple. I obviously did not win on the girly shoe or sandal selection.
Apparently I traumatized them because they will wear nothing in any shade of pink or purple now unless it has a basketball or cross country logo on it.
As you can see, they have also been traumatized by a mother who took pictures incessantly. Some day they will be grateful for this. Some day they will understand the historical value of a picture like this one taken in 1997…
And they will forgive me for insisting PhilBillPaul take them out last night to pose for this one…
Look at the joy on their faces. It is so sweet that we have that moment captured on film.
In spite of all the ups and downs of parenting them, we couldn’t imagine our life without them. We are very proud of the young women they are becoming…
And every single day we tell them we love them. Because we do.
I love you baby girls…
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Categories: Finding the Funny, Milestones, Teens
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Monday, June 23, 2008, by Sherra
We have recently learned that 5 days in Nashville is not significant enough birthday celebration for twin girls turning 17.
Um, and who decided this?
NOT the parents.
Appparently, the Nashville trip falls under the Never Enough Syndrome.
Because getting to personally meet AND touch Taylor Swift was not enough.
Wednesday, which is their actual birthday, I’ll be sure to show you the sheet they tossed on my bed entitled “Bday Plan” early last week.
Because when I was growing up, we spent the whole MONTH celebrating whoever was born that month. NOT.
In a family of six, that would be half the year spent celebrating birthdays.
Don’t get me wrong, we do celebrate (quietly, in our hearts) being the parents of four healthy children. We really do.
But these twin daughters of ours are testing our patience more than usual.
I’m sure it’s because they are twins and have had to share everything.
Starting with my womb. As if this is my fault?
They’ve shared a room. They’ve shared a birthday cake every year.
Mothers of multiples, no judgment here please! Remember we all get to choose whether we dress them alike and if they are split up in school and if one cake with two names works for our family and all those other major decisions that parents of multiples are plagued with.
On the positive side, they are literally best friends and it warms my heart…when they aren’t fighting.
Today I thought I would take a few moments to post about ONE twin instead of two. Yes, I confess, it is hard to not consider them a unit even though they are not siamese. Heck, they’re not even identical. It’s just easier to refer to The Grunter, The Girls and Scary Baby.
So today, I choose Wizzy.
Because as the younger of the two, she always seemed to have to go last for everything.
Well, that and her twin was the dominant a.k.a. bully twin for many, many years.
So here is my photo tribute to Wizzy who is the biggest people-pleaser of our four kids.
She is a peace keeper and a friend to all. She is funny and kind. She is sweet and fiery. She is a leader and is always the first to help. She has a huge heart and loves everyone.
She displayed athletic talent and basketball skill very early. Check out those Converse Chuck Taylor high tops!
She was the best belated Father’s Day present PhilBillPaul has yet to receive.
She let me dress her up in girlie clothes for years. She’s still the *easy* twin to shop with for clothes!
She is unique in every way. She didn’t really resemble her other 3 siblings and is our only redheaded child. Then her cousin visited from Texas and we realized she is a Humphreys through and through. We are still amazed at how much they look alike!
She was the last lucky duck to ride (and drive) Grandad’s golf cart. They had so much fun together with special one-on-one time!
She wasn’t so lucky on Friday when she went to play golf and an errant shot from another hole hit her in the stomach while she was selecting her club. I almost cried when she came home and showed me this horrible mark on her stomach. Notice that she smiled and let me take a picture. Did I mention she finished the round and injuries don’t get in the way of competition.
Disclaimer: Not a lesson she learned from me. I would have stopped playing and drove home crying and stayed in bed for a few days.
Finding out a “redneck” golfer (I’m trying to be nice here) did not even yell “FORE” which is proper golf etiquette when you hit a bad shot and you MUST warn everyone within the sound of your voice.
Thank goodness that she is okay and it didn’t hit her in the head–we would have spent the weekend in the hospital.
Sidenote: If you don’t know or understand all the intricate rules of golf, do us all a favor and learn them before you come out on the course and ruin the game for others. There are books that you can read about the rules or if you can’t read, watch a video. Or, you can’t learn the rules, take up a less complicated sport.
Finally, my lovely, tall, lanky daughter is truly a delight to be around. She wakes up singing like a bird (not inherited from either parent) and really does try to make the world a better place.
Before she embarks on her next journey to make a new friend, help a stray animal or bring a smile to a stranger’s face she has an important job to do. She needs to go shopping for some new jeans because Sunday night she bent over and split her favorite jeans and even if mama could sew, I don’t think we can repair these…
We love you, precious daughter…
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Categories: Finding the Funny, Milestones, Moments, Raves
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