I wish...

It's amazing how many ways one can finish that sentence. Hundreds of possibilities. 

I wish....

And it seems those wishes are constantly changing. Or are they? 

In high school it's i wish he would call. I wish he would hug me. I wish he would kis me.

When we get out into the big bad world it's i wish I had money. I wish I had gone to college. I wish I got paid more than minimum wage. 

And then we find that special someone and it goes back to what we wanted in high school. Wishing he would call, or txt, give you a hug or a kiss. And the big one, I wish he would ask me to marry him.

In my case, kids were next. But it wasn't just I wish we could start a family. It was also I wish we knew why we can't. And I wish we didn't have to keep waiting. Or I wish we weren't disappointed yet again this month. 

What's next on the wish list? I wish he would call. I wish he would txt me. I wish he wasn't being good. I wish he would kiss me. I wish he would hug me. I wish I went to college. I wish I had a job that paid more than minimum wage. And so on. 

Life, at least these days, seems to be like a vicious circle. How does one break this circle? Sometimes a girl, no matter how old, just doesn't know what to do.

Fall is here!

I came to another realization this week...the girls and I haven't done a craft for a REALLY long time. So what to I do?? Call on all my fb mommies and scour Pinterest. I have come up with a lot of fall ideas. And I'm so very excited to do them all! 

First on the list is going to be a tree on our kitchen/deck door. With a tree, leaves both real and colored, pumpkins, corn, and an acorn or two. 

This afternoon started the first step. Coloring the leaves! 

I emailed Jake a punch of links to free fall coloring pages. Leaves. Pumpkins. Cats on pumpkins. Fun things for little girls. Daddy even got in on the fun coloring. I labeled them with who colored them and then cut them out. 

I also have the next pages labled for coloring tomorrow. 

I'm excited to color the pumpkin with the kitty on top. It will be interesting to see how the girls do. Hannah did really well with the leaves. She didn't stay in the lines, and at first didn't even want to color on the side with the leaves. But when she decided it was ok she stayed in the general shape. Hailey had fun mixing all the colors together as only Hailey can. 

I also have bags ready and labled for when we go with daddy on a walk to find real leaves. 

You can never be to prepared with twin toddlers :) 

I can't wait to post the final project. After everything is taped to the window. I'm sooooo excited about this project! Stay tuned for the next post :)

72 days!

I realized this morning that I'm in big trouble. Well, for more reasons than one, but this is about Christmas. It's only 72 days away!! Being my favorite holiday, yes I am counting down. 

But with only 72 days until the actual day of Christmas I am way behind. Usually by this point I know have a list made with everyone's names. Usually by this point I know what we are giving most of those people. Usually by this point I even know what has to be made and by when. This year...

Nothing. Well, except for my mom and dad but that's an easy one. An extremely easy one with the pics Jennifer took last night :)

Oy, not sure where to even start for the nieces and nephews. Let alone my girls. 

I need all the help I can get this year. 

I <3 Pinterest!

I am absolutely addicted to Pinterest! I love that I can find anything I want. From something to cook for dinner, to disposal cleaners, to how to move and everything in between. 

But today I put two ideas into use. Putting plastic bags over hanging clothes so the are ready for our move next week. 

But my favorite from today, was this...

Coloring in a moving box! The girls had just as much fun coloring as we did watching them. 

One of my friends Erin even got in in the fun this evening. 

Who can say anything bad about a task that entertains the girls several times in one day? I sure cant! 

Babysitter TV

The last few months Jake and I have been in the process of selling and buying a house. It has been one mess after another. It has been so stressful. It has actually just been horrible. 

And because of this whole mess, Jake and I have done nothing but fight. If we are talking we are fighting about one thing or another, or so it seems. We have come to a point where we are just done. Done with the stress from the purchase of the new house. We have decided to back out and just rent. Yet, still we fight. Oy

But that's not the point of this post. The point is that I'm stressed about everything. And because of that, today the TV is babysitting. More specifically Rio is babysitting. Normally i feel like I'm not being a good mom and I hate having the tv on so much. But today, I don't think I can keep my cool long enough to keep them entertained. 

I am so ready to get everything figured out and for life to go back to normal. 

The end of a summer

This morning I got a txt just before 8am from a friend, so naturally I can't go back to sleep even though Jake has the girls. So as I'm laying here listening to Jake chase the girls around upstairs I started thinking about the summer. 

There have been hundreds of laughs, stress (house sales crap), tears, new words, adventures, lots of tough conversations, friends and family. I even worked out with my sister in law. 

But today is the 12th of August. How did this happen? We leave for Burlington on Thursday the 15th! That means we have been here almost 8weeks! Where has the time gone?

We have had so much fun and I can't wait to do a post with some pictures. BUT there is also so much we haven't done. I feel like i haven't been able to connect with any friends...Jess, Pansy, Melissa, Sharree, Shauna, Beth, Cassie, and the list just goes on and on. I made a new friend at Ami's wedding (Laci) but haven't been able to get together with her. We have seen family, but has it been enough to tide us over until Christmas? 

I was looking back at a post I did in June about our busy summer. I remember thinking as I was pitting pen to paper so to speak that it seemed like we had a lot of spare time even with all the events we had planned. Somehow time has gotten away from us again.

I can hear the girls upstairs (and coffee) calling my name. I better get up and moving. I'm not going to sleep these last few lake days away. 

Enquirer

Jake and were standing in line at Fred meyer a few days ago. While I wait for the lady in front of us to be done, I naturally look around. This is one of the magazines I see. 

Here's the thing...WHO CARES?!? Why is the weight of an actress important? Fat. Thin. Big boobs. No boobs. And so on. Why is this something the public cares about? 

Normally I would just look right past something like this. But that day, I just couldn't. I decided I didn't want to wear my low cut swimsuit from last year. 

Mistake. Big mistake. 

I had tried on suit after suit. A size 14 was to small. It has been no secret that over the past year I have struggled to lose weight. It took 5 months to lose 10 pounds. That's less then 1 pound a week. Can we say frustrating? 

Ok, back to the picture. Who says a woman has to be skinny? The media, that's who. We see skinny women all over, magazines, advertisements, movies, tv shows, and so on. 

I remember watching the movie Pitch Perfect wondering why it was ok to have a charecter named "Fat Amy". I also remember being sadded at her response to why she called herself that. It was something to the effects of "You are just going to call me fat behind my back..." 

It's true. It's totally true. We, especially us women, judge others. But I think we judge ourselves more harshly then we do other women. And it's all because of things like this magazine cover. 

I am not looking forward to the day one of my girls comes home crying because another little girl made fun of her...but I know it will happen. It always happens. I just hope I can raise my girls to not judge based on weight, or skin color, or religios beliefs, or every other thing we are all judged on. 

I hope my girls grow up to love themselves as well. I struggle with weight, but I try to eat healthy and excersise. I don't want them to grow up thinking those are the only things that are important. It's about being happy with yourself. Being healthy. Who you are inside. NOT how much you weigh. 

Oh am I in trouble!

Little Miss Hailey has always been our little daredevil. Not afraid of anything, except the monster at the end of the book. The first time in the water for the summer she chargers right in. She tries to push the limits all the time. Going one step further after we told her she was far enough away. We are constantly telling Miss Hailey to be careful. 

Miss Hannah on the other hand is the complete opposite. She isn't sure about shadows when walking down the driveway. Always investigates new textures before touching them with her feet. When climbing off the toys at Carls Jr on the way over to the lake, her feet didn't touch the floor (by maybe an inch) making her upset and scared to get down. She earned the name Hesitant Hannah, and that name has suited her...

Until today. 

 We always though Hailey would be the first one to climb out of the crib. For the last few days she has even been working in it when I go to get he girls out of bed after nap. I've been getting Hailey out of bed first so she doesn't figure out how to climb out on her own. 

Apparently I was wrong. It wasn't our adventurous Hailey but our cautious Hannah who crawled out of the crib first. And of course, in true twin fashion, Hailey climbs out as soon as I close the door. 

Now that I'm putting pen to paper so to speak, it shouldn't surprise me that Hannah was the first at this. Hannah has always tried so hard to do things. Practicing and practicing until he gets it right. She was the first of our girls to sit, and stand, first to crawl and walk. It might have taken her 2 weeks to master standing but she was still the first to stand. 

Hailey just watched and stood up when she was ready. There isn't much practicing for Hailey, she just does it. 

Well, now this just opens a new can of worms for me this summer! Like I said, I'm in trouble! 

At least I can enjoy this beautiful weather between going down to check on the girls. 

Bubbles!!!!

It is a beautiful day in Tiger territory today! I went to coffee and a little shopping with a friend. The girls got some uninterrupted daddy time. And jake gets to coach his BE Blaze. Not to mention the amazing weather! 

There is no question that these girls like water. Always have, and I hope they always will. They also both love bubbles! So, what better thing to do but combine the two? Kiddie pool + dish shop + water = great entertainment for Hannah & Hailey! 

We've gone from being slightly afraid of the giant pool of white, saying "icky" when we touch the bubbles to standing in it...

...to thoroughly enjoying...

...to deciding all our balls needed to be in the water too...

We have even played all the bubbles away...

What a great way to spend a beautiful afternoon! 

Hailey says...

We are constantly amazed at what Hailey can say. I swear, the words that come out of this girls mouth! (And no, no swear words yet.) Jake and I decided we should make a list of everything the girls say, and what better place to do that then in a blog? So here we go.

Hailey says....

No (well duh) 

Hi

Cat 

Dog

Cheese

Nakey (naked)

Avocado

Read

Caterpillar (first said on 6/15/13)

Boobo

Mom

Dad, dada, daddy

On

Meow

Moo

Ribey (instead of frog)

Cloth

Blanket

Bottle (started as baba)

Bakey (for blanket)

Bink

Go

Bird

Boobies

Baby

Caillou (how could I forget that one) 

Help (when she needs help and when she wants to help you)

Kipper

Balloon

Spoon

Yumm

Down

Okay 

Etein (Einstein)

Abade (not really sure what this is, apple maybe)

Boo

Juice

Ball

Ouch

Deesty (sister)

Boat

Duck

Mine

Bubble

Shhhhh

Hot

Cookie

Ear

Eye

Mou (mouth)

More

Gone

Now

Wow

Woah 

Walk

Hat

Run

Hair

Egbert (a charecter on Poppy Cat)

Hurt

Button

Nana

She has started saying two word sentences as well. 

Hailey says...

It broke

I fall

I bonk

Oh no

Hi babe

A bird (for Angry Birds)

Oh boy

Go way

I color

I down

My juice

My <insert any of the previous words>

Right there (first said 6/16/13 in the bath)

Thank you

It <insert any of the previous words>

I scared (first said 6/19/13)

I drive

Jail bird (said 6/22/13)

Even THREE word sentences come out of this girls mouth. She has said...

I rip it (said 6/19/13)

Hailey is also learning letters. So far she knows...

W

E

C

A

(Most of these she is able to point out)

She is also learning numbers. So far, we have heard her say...

One

Two

I know there are so many more words our little Hailey says. I will update this post with more as we think of them and as she says new words.

Hailey at 18 1/2 months

Sick. Sick. Sick!

I am so sick and tired of being sick. Not really me, but it seems someone in our house is always sick. Just when I think the cold and flu season is done and over with someone else gets sick. This time it's all 3 of the Martyn girls.

We had a really easy pregnancy, none of the normal multiples problems until the very end. Delivery went well, I healed from the c-section much better then I thought I would. The girls were born at good weights and healthy, not having to stay in the hospital longer then I did. We had our first cld in July last year, 2012. And then really nothing until spring break 2013. 

My dad blames himself but who knows where they really got it. We had one crazy bad cold after another. One of those colds even landed miss Hannah in the emergency room. TWICE in one day I might add. 

So we get cold after cold after cold, teething, pneumonia, ear infection and possible pneumonia, more teething, and then we get better. So what do we do? We go to the Oregon coast for a few days with my parents. And then what happens, what else but another cold. Ugh,  I swear we are being punished for not being sick the first year and having an easy pregnancy.

The girls finally did get better, thankfully. But, now we are sick again! Does it ever end?? Or are we doomed to always have someone sick in our house? Ugh! 

At least the girls are happy today, bring sick and all :)

But, because of this cold we girls have....this mama can't go to Zumba Zumba :(

Sunshine and summer time

I am just now able to get this post to upload, a week after writing it. But the pictures are just to cute not to post...

While jake is up at a basketball tournament, that seems to run our lives for the time being, the girls and I are out enjoying this beautiful weather! 

I am counting down the days, 25 to be exact, until we get to go to the lake for the summer! 

I know the girls went swimming in the lake last year.

I know they went for boat rides last year. 

I know they played in the sand last year. 

But I can't wait to do all those things again with them this summer! 

Summer travels

For the past 7 summers, Jake and I have spent a large amount of time driving back and forth across the state. Forth of July. Basketball tournament in Liberty Lake. Our weekly trip in August. That changed last year with the girls. It's a little more difficult to drive back and forth with little ones. That and with only Jake working, have to save money someplace. Last summer the girls and I ended up being at the lake most of the summer. It was so nice, but we all missed daddy a ton! 

This summer we are doing mostly the same thing. And with an action packed summer the girls and I are headed over Thursday the 27th of June. 

Our busy schedule...

June 29th...Ami's bridal shower

July 3rd...Jake drives over

4th of July

July 5th...Jake drives home

July 6th...Ami's bachelorette party

July 11th...rehearsal 

July 12th...mani/pedi with the bride and other bridesmaids

                 Rehearsal dinner

                 Staying at a hotel with bride and bridesmaids

                 Jake gets into town

July 13th...Wedding wedding wedding

July 14th...Jake has to go home again.

July 16th...Jake and BE Blaze drive to Liberty Lake for a tournament 

July 17th...Silverwood with Jake, the team and my sister-in-law Caitlin

July 18-20th...watch a few basketball games at the tournament 

July 21st...Jake might have to drive the team home and get our cats, just to head back to the lake for the rest of the summer, until the middle of August 

And that's just what we have planned. I know my God sister and her kids are going to visit us in August. Along with a friend and her daughter over the 4th of July weekend. And possibly more friends and family in August. I know we will have a lot of time with Nana and Pop mixed in all summer too. And cousins. And of course more friends. Not sure we are going to rest at all on our vacation. Oy. But that's what summer vacates are for, right?

So, what started this post was a call to Southwest Air trying to get a few tickets for Jake to come back and forth a few times. I guess Southwest did away with the direct flight from Seattle to Spokane several years ago, that's how much we fly I guess. I was having issues looking up flights on the computer so i called to talk to someone. The shortest flight to get Jake to Spokane was going to be from Seattle to somewhere in California to somewhere in Arizona to Spokane. And that was the shortest. Seriously?! It would take all day, plus over $300 to go what would take 4 1/2hrs and an $80 tank of gas. Craziness I tell you.

Oh well, on to their competition to try to find a flight for Jake. And in the mean time, I need to start packing to move...yep, we sold our house but that's a whole other post :)

Our little family

These past few weeks have been busy for our family. The girls are finally feeling better, and sleeping through the night for past 5 nights I might add, and so the are getting their energy back. Jake's summer basketball league has started and it seems like he is always gone. Ad me, well being a wife and mom of twins, I'm always busy.

One of the new things with the girls is they like to color. Both of them are always asking to color. Even Hannah, who still doesn't has as large of vocabulary as Hailey, is constantly asking to color. "Color, color". It's really cute. One of our problems is staying on the paper. But there is enough on that subject for a whole other post. 

Last night, while Jake was down in Seattle with his boys, the girls and I were cleaning up. They had been coloring for most of the evening while I made a triple batch of hamburger soup. While we were cleaning up I gathered all of their colored pages from the day and stacked them on the counter. A little later in the night I knocked them down or some thing. While stacking them again one page caught my eye.

Now Hailey likes to have you draw things for her. Her favorites are cats, balloons, really just those two. Hannah likes stars and hearts. Cats too.  Hailey will ask for you to draw something and then ask again as soon as you are done. Here are what most of the pages look like...

Or Hannah's famous drawings...

So this drawing that caught my eye was done by Jake. And it just made my heart so happy.

Looks like mom and dad are even holding hands! Hannah, aka Bananna, even has more hair in the drawing then Bop :) Dads and daughters can be so cute. 

I love our little family <3

Cloud dough

I am always looking for fun things for the girls and I to do together. Unfortunately, a lot of the days over here are spent in doors due to bad weather. That and it seems we have had on cold or flu after another. 

I am also looking for activities to do that don't make a crazy mess, and something we could do without having to find and pull out all of my craft supplies. I'm not even entirely sure what box in the garage most of the stuff is in. Pinterest led me to cloud dough. 

Easy: flour and baby oil. The recipe I found was 8 cups flour to 1 cup baby oil. Not knowing if the girls would like it I did half (4 to 1/2) but I didn't like the texture so I added another 1/2 cup oil and about another 1/2 cup of flour. 

It's a rather wired mix but I think the girls will like it. Now I jut have to wait for them to get up from their nap to try it out. So far I've had fun playing :)

Cloud dough II

I thought for sure Cloud Dough would be a hit with Hannah & Hailey ...but I guess not. The girls really wanted nothing to do with the dough. 

Hannah would touch it, but only because I did too

And really, she was much happier carrying it, along with many many rocks from the little table to the steps. 

All the while Hailey is walking back and forth saying "More bubble more bubble"

Hailey could care less about the cloud dough. 

Oh well. I'm definitely glad I only did 4 1/2 cups of flour rather then the whole 8. I guess we will try again in a couple days. Maybe with dada

House for sale

We absolutely love our house. It is our first home. Where we brought our girls home to. And where we have tons of memories. But we have sadly outgrown our 3bdr, 2bath, 1220sq ft house. There isn't enough room for family to come visit. It gets cramped even with one extra person, let alone 2 or 6 more. We just don't fit any longer, plane and simple.

When this house sells I will be sad. We picked the paint, the floor, the fixtures (well some of them) and have made this our home.

I love the Christopher Robin green in the girls room! I love the "Always Kiss Me Goodnight" above out bed! I love our out of place, passed down pictures by our kitchen table! I do love this house. And I will definitely miss it. 

But I am also looking forward to a larger house. A house that is big enough to have family visit. Where my parents can come and stay for more then just a day or so and not feel like they are walking all over each other in the tiny room. We want to have a play room for the girls and a scrapbook room for me. I'm prett sure Jake is tired of always having scrapbook stuff out in the dining room. (It's all packed away right now, but I find myself wanting to sit down and scrapbook or craft of some sort)

With selling a house and having little kids, aka twinsdos, it has been a challenge keeping our house clean. Someone walked through our house this Sunday, and I know there were random toys thati just didn't get picked up here or there. But oh well, they are buying the house not the stuff in it, right? Lets hope someone sees it that way and likes this house as much as we do :) I'm ready for new...

Breakfast breakfast breakfast!

I am standing in my kitchen waiting for breakfast to cook. The girls are I'm the living room watching their favorite show, Caillou, and Jake is down in Marysville with the BE Blaze first summer basketball tournament of the season. 

Normally we have scrambled eggs, banana or some other fruit and toast...boring right? Today I'm mixing it up and trying my hand at French toast. I'm pretty sure I have NEVER med French toast before. Waffles yes. Pancakes, I'm pretty sure. But waffles, no. And apparently I'm not doing a good job either, just burned one. Oh well. First of many I'm sure.

So, as I'm standing here, I get to thinking that I need more ideas for breakfast. So...where do I start? My cook books are all packed in a box someplace in our garage as we are trying to sell our house and our kitchen is pretty small so everything had to come off the counters. (Oh! Blog idea just popped into my head.) anyway, cookbooks won't work as a resource. Pinterest, totally. Allrecipes.com? Maybe, but I usually don't find anything I like on that website. 

Hailey deciding if the French toast is worth a try or not:

Hannah testing the toast:

Well, I guess I better get looking. Not sure French toast was a hit with the girls. Even with a little bit of butter and powdered sugar. Oh well. Needless to say, I'm open to suggestions, because that looks pretty good to me!

Time has disappeared

.
18months ago today, my little girls were born. I'm not sure how the last 18mo have gone so fast, but they have. The girls are now crazy, running, sweet, loving adorable little girls. And they are the loves of my life. ( Along with their father of course :) I can't imagine my world with out them.

With that being said, I am returning to the blogging world. I was away for so long using the excuse that I didn't have time, and honestly there are tons of things I should be doing right now. But, I am taking this time for ME. And I hope to continue taking time for me, recording my thoughts, thinking things out on "paper" and recording the journey we call life.

So, here's to the start of a new, or rather rekindled relationship with my blog.