Over a week?

First of all, I’m a little shocked I haven’t blogged in over a week.  And really, have no excuse.  And second, LOOK AT MY TICKER ------->  Over there – on the right.  THREE DAYS!  3 days until my hubby whisks me away on our 5 year delayed mystery honeymoon!  I absolutely cannot wait!  I am ready for the change, the trip, the time with my hubby, and of course, the SURPRISE DESTINATION!  I was told this week there is snow in the forecast for our destination, but I’m not sure whether or not to believe it…

So, Saturday, the girls turned 9.  We had a baseball game, dinner with my parents, and presents at the house.  Sunday, we went to church, then got some special treatment at lunch because we knew the manager of the restaurant, then got a HUGE surprise when the girls got to meet a real, live MOVIE STAR:

LUCKY!  And she was so nice.  They are in the area filming a movie called “Cowgirls and Angels.”  After winding down from the exciting lunch, the girls’ birthday party at Swick’s took place.  The girls and their friends enjoyed making pizza, opening gifts, eating pizza, then playing glow in the dark mini-golf.  I think the Twisters had a GREAT birthday weekend!

The past week was filled with the usual – gymnastics, baseball, t-ball, dance, and it was the 2^nd to last week of school for the girls.  Thursday, Britt and I got the opportunity to go to LifeChurch.tv Oklahoma City campus to attend the All-Staff meeting, and then to get a tour of the Central Offices in Edmond.  It was a real treat – and we got to know some of our local volunteers better in the meantime.  We were very impressed with the Digirati Den – which brings you youversion.com.  What an AMAZING team of people and what they do boggles my mind!  Friday morning, I attended a 2 hour long variety and talent show at the girls’ elementary school, then on Saturday I spent HOURS at my sorority house cleaning and organizing.  It all just goes by so FAST!

Today was a special treat for Emma and Britt.  They got the opportunity to go to Pawnee and be in the crowd scenes for the “Cowgirls and Angels” movie!  They said it was HOT, and fun, and entertaining, and sunny, and HOT!  And they are glad they did it, but I am just excited to see the final product!  We are big Bailee Madison fans here!  LOVE Wizards of Waverly Place and the movie Letters to God.

So, my bed time is approaching fast and furious.  I have to get some good rest while I can!  I know I am going to be TOO EXCITED to sleep in the next few nights as my trip approaches and the anticipation mounts!  Oh – and the stress of farming my kids out all over to relatives in our absence – that always stresses me out!  I am off to bed, but promise to check in before I leave on my trip!

Neun, Nueve, Neuf, Nove, Nio, Dokuz, NINE!

Nine years ago today (May 13), I was wandering waddling through my cluttered house in Lewisville, TX thinking about my last few days as a childless woman.  I knew I had 3 more days until my twin babies would be born at Baylor Hospital – Grapevine, TX, and I knew I had a Dr’s appointment and paperwork at the hospital the next morning.  I knew I had family coming to stay with us for a few days, and I needed to straighten up the house, finish packing my hospital bag(s), and make a Target run (which was between my house and the hospital, so there was a stop planned there after the aforementioned appointment).  I had plenty of time.  Or so I thought!  Little did I know that in just a few short hours, I would be holding 2 precious, orange-headed baby girls who would rock my world and change everything about my life as I knew it up to that point.

Their arrival was a little hectic, and life has been hectic ever since! And I love it that way!  When they were tiny babies I liked to pick out their physical differences like Emma had no hair, Lara had TONS; Emma’s 2^nd toe is longer than her big toe, Lara’s is shorter; Lara has detached earlobes, Emma’s are attached, etc etc etc.  But now that they are growing into young ladies, the differences are SO much greater!  The way the approach life, their interests, the books they read, the friends they make, the areas they succeed in, the areas they have to work hardest in – are all different.  And it’s still fun to look at them and identify those differences.  To embrace them.  I love them both so much – and so differently!  Even the way I discipline them has to be different.  They are truly 2 unique individuals, who just happened to come into the world on the same day.

We are gearing up for another busy weekend!  Last night we bought all the birthday party supplies!  The girls each got to invite 3 friends to go to Swick’s Pizza  for a birthday party where they will make their own pizzas and play a round of glow-in-the-dark mini golf.  The party theme is “Way to Glow” and Britt is making each child a personalized glow-in-the-dark T-shirt to wear, and I got a ton of those glow necklaces and a few glow-in-the-dark bracelets for each kid to wear over in the dark room.  Should be fun!  Tonight, Twin A is staying home with me to make cake balls for her party (after Jake’s T-ball game!) and Twin B is going to Yukon with her “Other Dad” to make homemade pizza.  Emma opted to stay home so she wouldn’t have to get up too super early for her 10:00 baseball game.  See – it’s a busy weekend!  After the baseball game, they are having lunch with their Other Dad, then that afternoon/ evening they will open presents with us (the Five Dream Weavers) and my parents.  Then, the party is on Sunday!

They are growing up.  And I can’t slow it down!  I recently read a book called “Moms' Ultimate Guide to the Tween Girl World” by Nancy Rue and while I think we have not gotten to some of the issues presented, it feels good to be a little more prepared.  I would recommend this book to all my friends who are moms of tween girls!

I am looking forward to this weekend and celebrating the birth of my first babies 9 years ago.  They are beautiful, energetic, smart, fun, and wonderful young woman.  This journey of motherhood they are leading me on is inspirational, educational, rewarding, and the hardest thing I have ever done.  And I wouldn’t change it for the world!  Yesterday’s Tweet:

I can only imagine

People have said that to us a lot over the last few days.  As in, “I can only imagine what you are going through” and “I can only imagine how hard this is for you.”  When I hear this phrase, I always think of the Mercy Me song (see below).   “I can only imagine When all I will do Is forever  Forever worship You I can only imagine…”  And that song means so much to my husband and I – we both tear up every time we hear it.  And now is no different!  I love this song so much; I have chosen to use it for the background music for the slide show I am preparing today for the funeral on Monday.  I have also written the obituary (remember how I said my spiritual gift is administration?  Yeah…) and I hope to post it to my blog this afternoon.

I forgot to mention that while at his employer’s office Monday, we learned that Brian had never designated a beneficiary on either his employer provided life insurance policy or his supplemental life insurance policy. WHAT?!?!?!?  If you, dear reader, have life insurance, I am imploring you NOW to make sure the beneficiaries are listed, and they are CURRENT!  Britt just checked on ours, and mine is good, but he needs to change his.  We already knew my brother didn’t have a will (Britt and I don’t either, but we will at least have a signed letter by the end of the week and a will by the end of the month!), but the life insurance fiasco was news to us.  I see FAIL written all over the HR department on that one!  So, due to not having a will and life insurance issues, this whole experience just become even harder, as we will have to go into probate and there are LOTS of questions and issues to be settled.

Tuesday and Wednesday really went by in a blur.  On Tuesday morning, I somehow managed to get my kids up, talk to them about why Daddy and I were gone for 2 days, what we knew (and didn’t know) about Uncle Brian’s death, AND get them all to school relatively on time.  Later that morning my mom, dad, husband and I met for over 2 hours with the funeral director at Strode Funeral Home.  Do you have any idea how much it SUCKS to pick out caskets, liners, flower arrangements, those little pamphlet things (they have a name it escapes me with a million other things these days), the verse to be printed in there and all the other things that have to be done for a funeral?  (Sorry, Mom, I know you hate the work sucks, but it does…)  And, BTW, I think I have a new business venture to pursue once I can breathe again.  The cover art for said “pamphlet thingies” that we had to pick from was HIDEOUS!  I get that most people die old and they like floral prints that look old, or whatever, but it was torture to pick one for a strong, vibrant young man like my brother.  I think I embarrassed everyone with me by all the remarks and gagging sounds…

After a nice lunch at Mexico Joe’s (where we ran into our first friends since we had been back in town), we all went back to my parents’ house.  That afternoon we spent more time making lists, thinking, planning, organizing, and of course crying.  The funeral director had told us at that point Brian’s body had been “released” from the county morgue in Texas, but had not been transported back to Stillwater – that was to be done either late Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.  My mom was ready for him to be OUT of Texas.  We knew the funeral home was in the process, but it just seemed so slow.  At one point in the afternoon, my folks had gone over to my grandmother’s house, Britt was running some errands and picking the girls up from school, and I was supposed to be writing the obituary.  I was completely alone for the first time in DAYS.  While the silence felt nice at first, I was glad to be watching the clock and knowing that Britt and my girls would be back soon.  It was nice to reflect and cry alone, and I got most of the obituary written, but hearing those Twisters burst through the door was a DELIGHTFUL sound!

Tuesday night Britt and I were scheduled to go to a banquet dinner, even had my parents set up to babysit, but at the last minute we backed out.  I didn’t want to get dressed up, and neither of us wanted to leave our kids.  So, we ate the tons of yummy food that friends had brought to my parents’ house, and played with our kids, and worked on finding pictures, tweaking the obituary, and enjoying our family.

Wednesday morning, everyone had decided to try to have a normal morning.  Mom and Dad went to work.  Britt went to work.  Emma and Lara walked to school.  I was planning on dropping Jake off at day care, then going to training at work (as to not fall behind on my certificate course work).  But, God had other plans.  And this all led to another sad tweet from me:

You see, when I got to the day care, the adorable 4 and 5 year olds were all dressed for Spring picture day.  Not Jake. He was in the T-shirt he had slept in the night before and basketball shorts and had the WORST cowlick ever.  On the mad dash home to find him better clothes (and hair product), my cell phone rang – indicating the girls’ elementary school.  It was Emma; she had forgotten her ADHD meds – and she really needs them.  I told her to wait for me, I would be right there.  When I finally got home, the shirt I wanted for Jake was nowhere to be found!  Long story short – Emma did get her meds and get to class on time; Jake’s shirt was found and ironed and his cowlick tamed mere MOMENTS before his turn to get pictures; I missed my training.  But, I got to have a long chat with a longtime friend and fellow believer, and it really brightened my day.  God is SO GOOD!

Yesterday afternoon I found out that my brother’s body had made it back to Oklahoma and was at Strode Funeral Home, which was good news.  The bad news?  The body is completely un-viewable.  Not only by the public, but even for the family.  I will spare my readers the gory details, but just know we feel a grave injustice has been done to us.  And we have to request a copy of the autopsy report in writing from the Tarrant county Medical examiner’s office, so I mailed that yesterday.  Who knows how long before we actually get our hands on the document - which may or may not provide answers.

 At 2:30 the 4 of us met at the church to meet with the pastor and go over the service for Brian.  My mom told the Pastor lots of Brian stories, and deferred all planning and note taking to me (again, Administration…).  We all enjoyed describing Brian to Pastor Tim and helping him get to know Brian a little bit better.  We spent a lot of time talking about Brian’s scouting activities and his high school shenanigans.  As well as talking about his precious daughter and the times he’s shared with her over the past 4 years.  We picked songs, order of service, discussed pall bearers, and felt a sense of finality by making these decisions.  We still need to pick a few bible verses to share, and I am going to research and see if there is any Boy Scout ritual for a funeral as well.

We tried to make yesterday as normal for my kids as possible – after lots of chaos and missed appointments and lessons, etc. for the past few days.  After school, the girls got haircuts – I wanted them to look nice for all you out of towners!  ;)  Then, I sent my poor, sweet, DILIGENT and dutiful husband to Wal*Mart (or Best Buy) to purchase a 500 Mb portable external hard drive.  He looked like a deer in headlights when I tried to tell him what I needed.  I told him to ask where they were, then call and read the boxes to me.  Luckily, he only had 2 to pick from at the Wal Marts, and it was any easy decision as the other one had 1 terabyte of memory, and I’ll NEVER need that much!  After all our errands were run, we gathered back at my parents’ house to eat more of the delicious food we have been blessed with, then the Five Dream weavers were off to LifeChurch!  Konnect and Little LifeKids for the Little Weavers, and LifeGroup with our closest friends for the Mister and I.  We knew we would find lots of friends in the lobby when we dropped the kids off and picked them up later, and we were not disappointed.  What a GREAT time of fellowship and food.  I love my LifeGroup and my church!

Today is Thursday and my goal for today is the slide show.  Mom has a pile of pictures at her house I will go pick up soon and start scanning.  She and my dad have gone to Lewisville to tie up some more loose ends today, and will be back tonight.  Britt is at work, Jake’s at day care and the Twisters are at school.  I am home alone, in desperate need of a shower, and about to tackle another job in honor of my brother.  I’ll get to rest soon, right?  Yes!  And in the arms of Jesus, no less!  I can ONLY imagine!

Spring Break Rewind

Technically, we still have 2 more days of Spring Break.  But, my babies are coming home in about 4 hours, and all chaos will ensue at that point, so there is no time like the present!  

Spring Break is an interesting time in our house.  The Hubs and I both work for the University, so while our week is (painfully) slow at work, we still have to be there.  (Seriously, on Friday, I got to work at 8:10 and literally did not see another soul on campus as I walked from my parking lot to my office!)  Plus, we don’t really have anywhere else we are going, so we work.  And Little Man’s day care is paid in full for the week, so he hangs out there with the few of his friends with parents like us that work on Spring Break.  The last 2 years, the Twisters have spent this week with their Other Dad in the Oklahoma City area.  While this time affords us two-on-one time with our son, it still seems eerie not to have the girls in the house!

One bonus to them being gone (besides the food bill for the week is drastically lower)?  We (OK, my husband) got to clean their room!  All I wanted to do was completely strip and wash every piece of bedding they have.  He went through and thoroughly picked up, cleaned, rearranged, and threw stuff away – going so far as to buying large tubs at Wally World to “organize” the floor of the closet.  Among the “missing” items he found was a Nintendo DSi game, one SwitchFlop flip flop (no idea where the other one is), and the FLOOR!  You can actually see it!

Our boy really missed his big sisters this week.  Mainly because I think they entertain him better than we do, but I also think he honestly admires them, looks up to them and loves them.  Almost every day while he was at school, he “forgot” they were out of town and he would ask about them on the ride home, or open their bedroom door when we got here to see what they were doing, only to be disappointed.  We allowed them to take the cell phone we have as an extra line (we call it the “house” phone and it stays in the house unless there is a good reason one of the girls need to take it with them), and that was a new twist.  Monday, we didn’t hear from them at all.  Tuesday, I texted them to tell Lady Bug that a friend was trying to get a hold of her.  Wednesday got a couple of “I miss you” and “I love you” texts.  (I thought that was so sweet, I even tweeted about it!) Thursday, they blew up my phone (Tweeted about that, too!)
  I got a video of one of them singing a song, several texts with various messages, a picture of an owie – all also sent to their Dad and Nana -- and a couple of calls asking when they could come home!

TODAY!  They will be home today!  And then (because the original plan was for them to stay until Sunday) we are taking them to my parents’ house to spend the night so the Mister and I can have date night!  Time to reconnect, revisit our dating days, and recharge – Monday morning will come too soon, and no one will be ready for it!