Brothers

I asked the Little Dudes the other day "Do you like being twins?" Without skipping a beat, both immediately responded with a firm "YES!" They truly are a dynamic duo and witnessing their bond has been such a privilege. I have managed on occasion to capture "twin moments" on camera, but, not as often as I would like.

This week an unexpected package arrived via FedEx from a very talented long-time family friend. Upon opening the box, a watercolor painting of two young boys was revealed. As I took a closer look, I realized it was a painting of my Little Dudes with their likeness and intimacy captured so poignantly. The painting was reminiscent of a photo I had taken awhile back. I quickly headed to the computer to search for the photo taken in August 2007. I am so touched that a photo of my boys inspired her to invest her time and talents. She managed to recreate such a tender moment and I feel honored that we have a piece of her artwork to display.

"Brothers"

The photograph that started it all

Proud owners

Mardi Gras School Style

As I picked Big Sister up from school on Tuesday, she was adorned with numerous strands of beads on top of her Catholic School uniform. She could hardly contain her excitement as she entered the car. "Mom, guess how I earned my beads?" I was certain the criteria were different than that of those frequenting Bourbon Street, but, I do have to admit it stopped me in my tracks. She quickly pointed out which strand was awarded for completing her class work, turning in homework, following directions and behaving. Once we returned home, she quickly changed into festive Mardi Gras colors, along with her doll Chrissa, to show her spirit.

According to Big Sister, the highlight of the day was experiencing the Louisiana Style King Cake her classmate brought to share. I quickly had to look up "Kings Cake" and discovered that it was a cinnamon-roll like cake inside with sugary icing decorated with traditional Mardi Gras colored sprinkles on the outside. A plastic baby usually is hidden inside the cake and if you are the lucky individual to get the slice with the baby, you are responsible to purchase the cake the following year. I was assured by Big Sister that it was very tasty and a "cool" tradition for celebrating Mardi Gras.

10 and Counting!

To add to the Speed Racer fascination, the Little Dudes have become huge aficionados of the Chevy Corvette. Whether we are in the car or braving the temps in the jogging stroller, we are on a "Corvette" hunt. They are mesmerized at the sight of one in the flesh and just "ooh and ahh" at any chance they can. In the past three days, we have seen ten of these impressive machines in an array of colors driving in and around our town. I am not certain what spurned the interest, but, something tells me it stems from our love for Speed Racer.

I have learned so much scouring the Internet searching for any and all information about Corvettes. The Little Dudes think a trip to the Corvette Museum and Corvette Plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky would be a worthy vacation destination (it looks really cool). We have gone to the Chevrolet site and designed our own Corvettes to the tune of $50K-115K! Little Dude M insists that we need to purchase one of these fine driving machines. He promised that he would definitely go on all "Daddy trips" if Hubby invested in an Atomic Orange Coupe. In lieu of a "real" Corvette, Little Dude M and Little Dude B are now proud owners of matchbox replicas!

According to the Little Dudes, this is the coolest logo ever!
Typical view from my rockin' Chrysler Mini-van

Not the most practical Mom-mobile, but, it is snazzy


Little Dude M's favorite...Atomic Orange

Doll of the Year

This past fall, Big Sister became a huge fan of all things American Girl. Over the years, we have received catalogs but had truly not given it much attention. Early in the fall, Big Sister brought home the book "Meet Samantha" from the school library. From the first chapter, I was hooked! I quickly pulled out the magazines, perused the website, and became familiar with the characters and declared American Girl fabulous.

We have spent the past couple of months reading the stories of Samantha, Molly, Josephina, Felicity, Kaya and Kit. During bedtime, we typically read a chapter aloud and Hubby and I vie to be the one to read the next chapter with Big Sister. These historical fiction books are about strong young girls living during the Civil War, Women's Suffrage, the Great Depression, and World War II. Big Sister has become a sponge wanting to read anything related to these time periods in history.

Over the past couple of years, American Girl has released a "Doll of the Year" which is only available for that year. Big Sister could not wait for December 31, 2008 when the doll for 2009 would be named. Chrissa, was an instant hit with Big Sister. Chrissa is the "new student" in school and finds herself subjected to bullying and cattiness. Big Sister spent hours staring at the flyer becoming familiar with all things Chrissa. I told her to start saving her money if she wanted to purchase an American Girl. Fortunately for Big Sister, she was monetarily spoiled by her relatives for her birthday. On her 7th birthday, we went to the American Girl website to order the beloved Chrissa. Chrissa arrived last Thursday and Big Sister is one proud owner!

4 yr old Observations

"Mom, you are hotter than a Starbuck's!" This was uttered by Little Dude M after putting his hand to my head. He has witnessed me blowing my nose endlessly, coughing to the point of doubling over, and spending a Saturday morning in bed fighting a fever. He told me at bedtime he wished I would be healthy again...me too.

"You are not taking good care of us!" This actually brought me to laughter as Little Dude M spouted these words to Hubby last night during bath time. We had just returned from a movie theater trip to watch the "Tale of Desperaux" and a McDonald's dinner. He was fried! It was past his bedtime, he was shivering as he was in transition from the tub to pj's, and to add to the mix, a developing cough had appeared. He was disappointed that we had vetoed a book in favor of prayers and getting tucked.

I can not wait to share these comments with him in the future!