voss voyage

Just thought I'd post a few random pictures of our life this past week. The twins have been really sick with ear infections. Jenna had one for a week, and then Natalie. Of course it took three trips to the pedi (and $90 of co-pays) to finally get diagnosed. Hopefully they are good for awhile. I can't imagine this turning into a chronic thing. I feel for my friends whose kids have had to go through this. Add caption Allison and Patrick had some special time together this weekend, so Mia and I decided to paint nails. She was SO proud! The twins are fascinating to watch. Jenna likes to search and destroy. She is either putting stuff in random drawers in the kitchen or eating something non-edible. Natalie is my little thinker. She is constantly trying to figure stuff out. The other day she took a sheet of stickers, peeled them off one by one and stuck them on her shirt (much like Mia does). She also tried to figure out how to put a highlighter and pen cap on a crayon. W...

Natalie 20lbs 9oz (19%) 29 1/4 in (19%) Head: 17 1/2 in (17%) *Latest nicknames= Bugga; Bugga-Boo; Nattles *"Talks" all the time. Sometimes it seems like she is having a full conversation of just babble. It's hilarious. *Real words: ma-ma, da-da, uh-oh, "here-you-go," this, bye-bye, up *Signs: more, up, milk, bye-bye, kiss *Loves games. Natalie will spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out games. Dropping things in a box, simple puzzles, anything with a ball. *Loves the remote & phones...but only if they are real. She can turn the tv on, turn the volume up, and mute the tv; call my friend Robn (she almost only calls Robn!!!) and use the ipad/itouch/kindle pretty good. *Doesn't like to get messy when eating--and still prefers to be fed *Not a whole lot of interest in real walking. She will walk on her knees and crawl mostly. She has stood up and taken several steps on her own, but doesn't want to practice this very much. *The dominan...

We traveled south to visit Patrick's sister, Sonja & her family, for Easter Weekend this year. I hope this will remain a yearly tradition. It was a fabulous weekend, minus a couple of blips. But really, with four small children, I don't think I can ever expect an uneventful trip. And what fun would my posts be if there wasn't some drama, right? :-) The drive down was....well....interesting. Rain, heavy traffic, a crying baby, and a tired 3 year old. We decided to stop at McD's early on to pacify the kids. The minute we pulled in, 3 fire trucks, 3 police SUV's and an ambulance followed us. Seriously?!?! Apparently a lady had passed out in her car while going through the drive-thru. The kids were entertained while we did food and bathroom breaks. The woman was fine and going to the hospital for testing. How Natalie wished the drive down went. She already has her "younger" sister doing the work!! Allison & Mia adore their cousins, Talia (...

My kids made out really good this year with many Easter Egg Hunts. We ended the several-week-long extravaganza with a great party at Amber's house. This is where we used to have playgroup and it brought back a lot of memories for me. What a wonderful day! The Easter Story Ready to hunt eggs Enjoying the loot Arranged marriages are in our future :-) L-R: Natalie, Noah, Jenna, Ethan Natalie tackling Ethan. Both are Twin A. They are used to this and don't cry about it. I love it and am so happy to have friends to share the 'twin moments' in life with me! Amber's lovely table Butterfinger cupcakes. Recipe credit:  http://www.plainchicken.com/2010/02/starring-rolls-butterfinger-cupcakes.html Super yummy!

Jenna is right on the verge of walking. She has taken about 5-6 steps alone. She still prefers to crawl, but she is oh-so-close. Natalie likes walking on her knees. I think its really funny. I finally got a video of it. She is crying but that just makes it more real :-)  Oh, and the screaming in the background is my wonderful 3 year old.....I think her older sister is pestering her. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68oqtXkQ7X0

Someone recently told me that we are quick to get pictures of the big events, holidays & milestones; but forget to take pictures of the regular stuff because its so regular. I am guilty of that exact thing. I keep meaning to take a picture of the girls reading together under the blanket, but never do. I'm trying to do better at doing this. Maybe committing to post pics on the blog will help me stay accountable....we'll see about that! A typical outfit for my 5 year old. The twins gloves, Mia's leggings and of course a leotard! All dressed up with the bows still in Most of the pictures I take look like this.  Valentines Day 2012. One of my girls favorite people, our neighbor and babysitter, Maggie-- age 14 Sweet Jen-Jen-Jenners @ 13 months Does anyone else have this annoying car that plays 3 little tunes? Natalie pushes the button 100X/day...fast enough so you never hear each 'song' all the way through. Also notice she never got ful...

I was on a roll for awhile updating my blog. Then I decided to give up Facebook for Lent and kinda gave up reading blogs, too. All of a sudden its been weeks since I posted. Here is a little recap of what I've been doing with all the time I used to spend paroozing the net.... 1) Our first and only snow. Notice the DRY pavement in the picture. We had snow for about 2 hours, and yes, this cancelled school for the entire day. I mean, really?!?!?!? 2) Since the blizzard, we have been spending a lot of time outdoors!  In 2011 we didn't have a spring. It went from winter to summer in 1 day. This year we didn't really have a winter, and we've had a glorious spring so far. My daffodils bloomed in January! The kids have loved the park. Once summer hits here in North Carolina, the parks are too hot. So we really have limited time to enjoy them. With the twins almost walking, its been really fun to meet friends and enjoy the 70-degree weather. My pansies bloomed all ...