Like father, like son. Like mother, like daughter.

We try to keep from comparing or labeling the kids too much, but as they grow older their individual personalities and talents surface more and more.

For instance, there's a side of Soph that we refer to as Ms. Sophie.  When playing in this mode she speaks like a preschool teacher, saying things like, "Michael, you have two choices.  Either we can play with your trains, or we can make a puzzle.  What's your choice?" She also seems more mommy-like at times as she takes care of her Sweetie (stuffed bunny or doll or our cat) and says things like, "Sweetie, let's go get you a bath before we go to the museum."  The other day when we took Michael for a haircut, she walked up to him as he approached the chair, put her hands on her knees and said, "Aren't you excited?  You get to have your haircut!"  That's Ms. Sophie.

Michael has a very similar Mr. Michael/daddy-like side as well, and it's incredibly sweet.  However, Sophie is in that mode a lot more often.

Sophie is also quite the student.  She will practice something and practice it until she gets it right, urging you to quiz her again and again until she's there.  This happened with learning to spell her name (back during the summer, I believe) and recently as she learned to play "Twinkle, Twinkle" on her toy computer in piano mode.  She now plays it on Grandma's piano and anything else with a keyboard of that kind.  She also followed my verbal instructions on how to draw a cat the other night and wanted to "play that game" again and again.

The kids learn at the same pace for the most part, but Michael is more likely to sit on his own and figure something out while Sophie pushes you to be her tutor. However, they both enjoy an enthusiastic celebration of a new skill or discovery, no matter how they reach it!

Speaking of figuring things out, Michael is especially drawn to anything car/train/gear/machine-related.  Today he climbed out of the pool at swim lessons and just stood there staring at his feet.  Confused, I told Mike I hoped he wasn't peeing or something.  "No, he's watching the water splash in and out of the drain."  I hadn't even noticed the drain around the edge of the pool, but no doubt Mike himself had at some point considered how that whole system worked.  That's the kind of thing his mind will wander toward while I'm thinking about how obvious it is that the rec. center was built in the late nineties (greenish-teal and purple accents everywhere).  Michael also loves to look around, inside, or behind any barrier to how things work, and he'll ask all the how's and why's that are necessary.

This is why it made me laugh the other morning when I made Michael's bed and found this:

Apparently when he came downstairs to get something from the playroom, it wasn't exactly a snuggle buddy.  (It's a toy motorcycle that can be taken apart and put back together with little tools.)

Again, we try not to compare or pigeon-hole our kids, but they are who they are, and like it or not, who they are is often a lot like us.

Our own Toy Story

 

 Heading out to the backyard to sled...

Sophie: Do we have two of these new sleds?
 

Me:  Yes, we do.  Do you know who gave them to us?

Sophie: Who?
 

Me:  Aunt Sharon.
 

Sophie: Aunt Sharon?!?  I love Aunt Sharon.
 

Me: Well, she and her two sons had these two sleds that they didn't need anymore, and they thought of two little ones who would probably have a lot of fun with them.

 

Sophie:  (thoughtful pause) Sophie and Michael!
 

Me: You got it, peanut butter.

 

 

Snowed in with my buddies

Like so much of the country, we spent several days last week hunkered down at home waiting out the cold and snow.  Sadly, Mike had to drive in to work, but I was given the gift of three snow/cold days at home with my kids tacked onto the end of our holiday break.  When the holidays fall in the middle of the week like they did this year, I tend to head back to work craving more lazy weekdays at home.  These extra days were just what I needed.

Along with getting a few home organizing projects, phone calls, and general housekeeping taken care of, the kids and I tried out a few crafty activities such as playing with snow indoors...





...making snow ice cream (we used 4 cups snow, 1/4 cup 2% milk, 1/4 cup flavored coffee creamer, and chopped hazelnuts)...



...making and playing with gingerbread play dough...





...and obviously hanging out in jammies a whole lot!  Movies and snuggling by the fire were key to our winter survival as well, of course.

Speaking of jammies, just check out how cute these peanuts were on Christmas morning.



Precious.  So glad I got some extra time with them!

Living in During - The Blog

I took a step yesterday that I have been considering for a while.  I started a second blog, Living in During, which is devoted to our DIY and decorating projects.  I have imported posts on those topics from Shared and Doubled and have a couple of new ones scheduled to post on Living in During this week and next.  From this point on, that's where I'll share updates to our house, organization projects, and crafts that we undertake.  Shared and Doubled will now be devoted to posts about our family.

I believe this will allow me to write more personally on Shared and Doubled and to work on monetizing and increasing traffic to Living in During (I felt strange embarking on that for the family blog in the past).  There is likely to be some overlap here and there, of course, but I hope Shared and Doubled's regular readers will follow both! 

The Laundry Closet

I'm not sure if I should be relieved or disappointed that I planned a wedding and had babies before Pinterest entered my life.  Knowing how much I relied on message boards and blogs for ideas and support for both, I know pinning would have entered into those experiences had I recognized the possibility.

I have, however, bought a new home that begs for DIY remodeling and creative organization in the age of Pinterest.

"Pinspired" by Ana White's design and others like it, for example, we turned our hall linen closet that already had some shelving into a laundry organizer.  Our big laundry baskets from the old house didn't fit in the shallow closet shelves, but I found that Ikea carries smaller ones, the $4.99 BLASKAs.  They are actually the perfect size for a load as we tend to load baskets with as much as possible.  That was $40 well spent.

We store our sheets on the top shelf, and the clothes steamer, iron, and ironing board to the side.  We keep our towels and all other items that might otherwise go in a linen closet under our bathroom sinks.

As one might predict, I labeled the baskets.

I waited a couple of months to see what our loads tend to really be, and we now have a basket for Mike, Carrie, Sheets, Michael and Sophie, Dry Cleaning, Delicates, White Towels, and Colored Towels. Clearly we do laundry primarily by person rather than colors, but that works fine for us. The kids have easy access to the closet as well and know where to put their dirty clothes.

Mike also has a basket in our spare bedroom closet for clothes he wears to the gym.  Distance from that one made sense.  ;)

Of course, if you wish to do this but don't already have shelves in a closet, this project would require a little more time and money.  I would probably look into putting one or two $15 HYLLIS shelving units in a closet.  These baskets would stick out about four inches off the front, but that could still work, I think.

Our system keeps the laundry routine moving smoothly--if a basket is full, throw it in--and with little accumulation around the house, it's exactly what I hoped for!

I linked up to Love of Family and Home.  Go check out some more inspiring projects!

Little Minnows

Michael and Sophie had their first swim lesson today!

We never did parent-and-child classes (seemed like a risky commitment with twins--what if one parent is sick or out of town?), but we tried to make up for that over the years with visits to our old recreation center's pool and swimming on vacations.  Still, this is a preschool level class at a pool they had never been to, with instructors they had never met before today, and with no parent participation to ease the inevitable nerves.  They did quite well all things considered.

As all the kids were sorted into groups outside the pool based on experience, Sophie started to cry a little.  I tried not to be a total helicopter and stepped up just to remind Sophie that we were still there watching and to ask what the instructors would prefer me to do.  One asked that I just walk Sophie over to the zero-entry space where the lesson would begin, and the rest of the group would meet us there.  Once the two teachers and Michael were there and sitting in the water (Michael and Sophie are the only Minnows--rock on, private lessons!), Sophie walked right up to join in and was a champ the rest of the time.  Soon after that Michael chose not to roll onto his belly and blow bubbles as instructed, but he seemed to be just testing out how much choice he had and participated fully in the rest of the lesson.

Mike and I got a kick out of watching the kids kick their feet in the water, jump off the side of the pool into the instructors' arms (so brave!), swim with barbell floaters, and collect rings from the bottom of the pool.  Michael and Sophie are just crazy cute kids, if I do say so myself, and a little distance seems to make that even more obvious.  It was also clear that both kids were having a blast and should be thrilled to go again next week.

Please, no pukies! Please, no pukies!

After seeing The Naptime Decorator's post today of her most popular posts of 2013, I curiously looked at my stats.  I didn't look very long before getting completely sidetracked by the few posts I never finished and never published.  

This post I stumbled on from earlier in the year reminded me why I sent Mike a couple of texts urging him to take precautions (wash hands a lot, shower as soon as he gets home) while he's playing poker today with friends who have been sick recently.  Influenza and the Norovirus are knocking family after family off their feet.  Am I paranoid?  Read on to see why! (There are no near-death experiences involved, just stuff that made me whine a bit.)

From January 2013

If Michael and Sophie remember anything specific about their first official gymnastics class from today it might be meeting their teacher Ms. Michelle, or swinging on the ropes and rings, or balancing or something like that.

Mike and I will remember it as the day after the stomach bug sent us straight to hell, how we watched both kids tumble like champs all the while hoping nobody, including ourselves, puked.  And nobody did!  Miraculous.

Sophie was sick earlier this week.  We came home from the zoo on Sunday after only seeing penguins, birds, and reptiles because about 20 minutes into the adventure Sophie wanted to be held and then asked to go home.  We knew that was a pretty bad sign.

On Monday my mom came, and kiddo seemed back to her playful self by the afternoon.  

However, on Tuesday morning, just as I was wrapping up my morning routine and putting my coat on for work, Sophie threw up.  Twice.  I was too late (by two minutes!) to put in for a substitute teacher in the online system, so I had to make phone calls, email sub plans, and once again re-adjust my vision for how this week would go.

By Wednesday morning Sophie didn't have a fever and hadn't puked in 24 hours, but Mike stayed home since she was still pretty lethargic.

My mom came on Thursday and emailed me that we might want to plan to be home on Friday as Sophie just still wasn't herself yet.  I called Mike, he prepared to be home on Friday just in case, and I made a mental note to dock Sophie's first year of allowance to cover one week of missed child care.

But since the kids had been well for over 24 hours and all looked good, they did go to child care on Friday. 

I, however, stayed home after enduring a night of my own stomach bug torture--it hit me around 11 PM Thursday night.  Amid my agony I took a mental account of this week's damage: two sick days, two days of sub plans, incomplete plans for next week to finish at home by Monday, and an out-of-control stack of ungraded work for me to return to. So not my style.

At least I got a day to myself to recover...

Except that by noon the child care center called to say Michael was flushed, sleepy, and just not himself.  He didn't have a fever or anything, but he fell asleep at the lunch table without eating anything.  I called Mike so we could figure out our game plan,  knowing from experience that our boy was sure to throw up at any second, and I was still in rough shape myself.

To my further dismay, Mike answered his phone from our driveway.  He had come home having gotten sick at work.  

So at this point, twelve hours into the stomach bug and feeling the need for rest and assistance myself, I was essentially a single parent with two kids to pick up, and lots of puking still on the horizon. I knew grandparent back-up was unavailable, so I did my best to take on the "a mom must do" mentality.

I'm pretty sure the kids' teachers felt sorry for me with my sick-day hair, no make-up, and shaky hands as I tried to put the kids' coats on.  They kindly helped me get the kids out the door, but I had to sit down in the lobby for a few minutes to settle my stomach.  Thankfully, Michael was willing and able to walk to the car along with Sophie, and she was relatively cooperative about climbing in the car herself (there's typically a little silliness involved).  

Once home, I rolled out the nap mats, turned on Little Einsteins, and we chilled like that well into the evening--with the exception of when Michael did in fact puke.

This is where the draft ended.  I don't recall much more, so I'm glad I documented that much as it reminds me, at least, why I feel something akin to PTSD when I hear of highly-contagious garbage going around.  It also brings to mind this post about the kids' first stomach bug.  Ominously, these two posts were written in the middle of the last two Januaries.

Alrightly, time to wash hands again, kids!!!

Ginger

We became an elf family this year!

Aside from sitting in a toy airplane on top of the fridge one day and sipping syrup on a kitchen counter on another, most days Ginger just returned from the North Pole to sit simply on a cabinet or table or shelf to be discovered there by Michael and Sophie in the morning and to do her scout elf duty.

On Friday, coincidentally on my last day of work before Christmas, Ginger left a note for Michael and Sophie at the top of the stairs saying that Santa knew they had been good and wished for her to do some tricks to make them laugh. After reading that note we found this:



On Saturday she left another note for the kids explaining that her favorite color is red (favorite colors are a big deal around here lately) and that she hoped their Cheerios would be extra cheery thanks to the milk she had prepared.





On Sunday she made a "snow" angel.  Although the kids did get a kick out of that, Sophie requested more red milk.



Perhaps in response to Sophie's request, last night Ginger left a note saying she would only be hanging around for a couple more days.  She also asked, "What color is the Grinch?  Go have some milk to see!"

The ornaments she strung are ones Michael and Sophie have been making over the last few weeks.  She must have overheard us talking about stringing them in the playroom doorway.



And that colored milk got a big laugh again.  Silly Ginger!

Tomorrow I bet she'll be in the Christmas tree so she can easily hitch a ride back to the North Pole with Santa.

I'm very glad that Ginger came to us.  We will definitely miss her and look forward to her return next year!

A glimpse of winter

Here's a quick glimpse into some Christmas and winter fun from this last week...



Last Saturday we picked out a tree in 20 degree weather and decorated it on Sunday.  This is the view from the landing upstairs.  Looking at it, especially from up there, fills me with joy, gratitude, and awe, so I think we picked a good one.

While we could (and surely will) put some living room furniture in that space as well, I'm really enjoying how functional it is empty.  Furniture would just get in the way of our "ice skating" in slippers.

On Wednesday evening we attended our 4th Christmas party at the kids' child care center.  Like last year, Sophie tried to sing in the two-song class concert and tried to muster up the nerve to sit with Santa, but once again both events led her to tears.  Another kid kept bumping her as they stood to sing, and her big smile and excited waves turned into flustered sobbing.  She spent the concert snuggling on my lap.  Later she walked right up and started to talk to Santa, but when he and Mike both leaned down to lift her onto the big guy's lap, she screamed in terror (for real...terrrrrror), her feet kicking in a blur as Mike carried her away.  She really tried!

Michael participated in the concert, but he was hidden a bit behind some taller kids, so the video isn't great.  He said he would sit with Santa after Sophie, but her reaction caused him to politely decline his turn.  The sweetie.

Sing it with me: Maybe next year.  However, Mike does have a work party this week and the kids know they can try again to talk to Santa there, so they're thinking about it.



Prior to the songs and Santa, we hung out in the kids' classroom for a bit.  I got there a little early and changed the kids into fancier clothes than the finger-paint and spaghetti stained gear I usually pick them up in, sitting in the same spot you see above to do so.  This is where the teachers sit for circle time, and within half a second of sitting there I had a dozen preschoolers around me showing off their sparkly shoes and tambourines and...that spot is asking for it.  When Mike arrived and offered to read "Sleeping Beauty" to Sophie in this spot, I almost warned him. Instead I enjoyed watching him get initiated as a preschool teacher.

This morning we welcomed the first big snow in our new house and finally put that little hill to the use we envisioned back in September.



Happy winter!

Phase One: Before and Afters

One of the things that drew us to our new house is its not-so-badness.  We know it will feel pretty comfortable until we are able afford to take on the heftier projects, and in the meantime it has some nice, neutral features and the potential to be lovelier with some quicker fixes. For example it came with...

...white cabinets that are in great shape, including some uppers with glass doors and a wine rack...

...big windows with a view of a grassy hill and trees...

...an island with storage, electricity, and space for my little chefs-in-training...

...all open to a family room with a fireplace.

And here's how those spaces look today!



In addition to painting (Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter color matched by Valspar again), Mike replaced the brass knobs, handles, and hinges in the kitchen and hallways.  

New appliances freshened things up quite a bit.  I love the oil-rubbed bronze doorknobs that we added throughout the house, but I'm considering switching again to nickel drawer and cabinet pulls for down the road when we update floors and counter tops in the kitchen, but that's a ways away.  Right now I think the dark ones add some necessary warmth and contrast.

The family room lamp and kitchen pendant are from Ikea.  The drum shade you might recall from the old place.

As much as I look forward to updates to our fireplace facade and so on, I'm finding myself much more patient about improvements with this second house than I was with the first.  We'll get there!

This is my favorite view right now, the one I see when crashing on the couch after a long month of settling in!