Music Time!

This was taken with my mom's camera a month ago. We have "music time" on a regular basis, and the boys really enjoy it.

so much fun and practically free

I don't think I ever could have predicted how much fun could be had from a $2.68 set of 3 plastic funnels from the hardware store.


The boys like to make bubble volcanoes.




They also like to put the "hats" on me, themselves, and each other and say "happy birthday!"


We've been going to Lake Hi*awatha Park quite a bit since the weather improved. It's just a 15 minute walk from our house. It has a great playground with sections for all ages, a park building with classes and programs, a kiddie pool, and a beach. Two summers ago, I walked wistfully by with my babies, often running the stroller over the grass so the movement would keep my boys asleep. Last summer I anxiously followed my newly mobile boys around on the playground, and now we are all over the park. Someday, we'll probably even use the ball fields for t-ball. I'm sure we'll be at the kiddie pool a lot this summer. The beach has been a big hit lately.












On the way home, we checked out the ants on the sidewalk. No*ah is rather afraid of insects (Me*agan said he climbed into her arms like a monkey and said "let me hold you!" when he saw a bug in the sidewalk the other day), but he was pretty interested from the safety of the stroller. Speaking of strollers, we've been taking the train to church on Sundays. It's about a 35 minutes stroller ride each way, but the boys have done very well so far. They are at a very friendly stage, waving at everyone, and singing the "cleanup song" for people who are raking or picking up leaves. I pack a lunch for the way home and they eat their sanwiches in the stroller so they can go right down for their nap when we get home. It's a little messy, but it works. They also like to look at books while riding along, sometimes trading wordlessly when they've tired of the ones they're holding.


Snacktime on the front steps. The boys like to watch the neighbors.


A moment of affection between brothers.


Aw, shucks, bruddah.

Jo*el and Meag*an took care of the boys for a bit from this past Friday afternoon until Saturday evening. I went to a hermitage an hour a way overnight, mostly to spend a little time in solitude. There are 24 one-room cabin hermitages at Pacem in Ter*ris, all there for silent retreats of up to 8 days. Their mission says "we seek to provide a simple and restful environment where the faithful can repsond to God's call to "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:11) After 24 hours of prayer, reading, writing, and sleep, I was greatly refreshed and glad to see my family again, though next time, I'd love to stay for two nights. I get a lot out of alone time, and don't get much of it these days. My life is full, busy, rich, fun, and noisy. What a blessing this time was for me!

When I got to the hermitage, I had a meal with the staff at the main house. Of the 12 other guests at the table, 2 others were also mothers of twins! We joked that we didn't need to explain our need for a little quiet and rest. One had 15 month old twins and two other children - I can't imagine what that must be like. At the hermitage, I was able to sleep from about 10:30 until 9 the next morning. I hiked for over an hour in the rain, then came back into my little cabin for some tea just in time to watch the hail come down. I know that sounds awful, but truly, it was perfect.

This is what my cabin looked like:



In addition to what you see here, there is just a simple twin bed (wih no twins in it!) and on the side of the cabin there is a screen porch with an Adirondack chair. When "hermits" leave, they prepare the cabin for the next hermit to benefit from. What a nice idea - that's not something we humans are terribly good at, I think to myself on this Earth Day.

I could've spent the whole time at Pacem just watching the deer and the birds out the big picture window.