FYI...

Okay, here's some crazy info that I just got off AOL. Don't look to me for it's validity, blame AOL. I thought this was so interesting though. Thought I'd share.

Power Foods:

-Sunflower Seeds keep you from going grey! (so do crabs, oysters, almonds, cashews and B6!) Who knew???

-Apples reduce your risk of cancer!!

-Salmon can lower your risk of heart attack, high blood pressure, plaque build-up, lower your triglycerides and cholesterol. Walnuts, flax seed, soybeans, avocados and olive oil are also highly recommended for the same reason.

-Olive Oil can stave off skin aging and wrinkles. So can whole grain breads and nuts.
Tofu can promote hair regrowth for those who have receding and thinning hair.

-Blueberries can help your memory and fight off some cancers.

-Hot peppers can boost the metabolism as well as coffees and green teas.

-Eggs, chicken, fish and lean cuts of meat can reduce muscle loss.

-Water can fight the effects of dehydration in skin which in turn causes a younger looking skin. Get your 8 glasses of day folks!

-Carrots, Spinach and Beef can protect the eyes from age related diseases.

Here are a few anti cancer diet foods:
Tumeric, Japanese Green Tea, Ginger, Pomegranate Juice, Brussels Sprouts, Bok Choy, Chinese cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Garlic, Onions, Leeks, Shallots, Chives, Soy Products, Oranges, Tangerines, Lemons, and Grapefruit,
Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, and lastly, my favorite, dark chocolate!

So now you know. There's your grocery list. Get out there and shop!!!

Nakedness again...

Okay, like I said in the previous post, I'm not one to be naked or even talk about it but this story deserves a post. The boy/girl twins were in the bath tub when the little dude climbed in with them. Boy Wondertwin sees his brother and deep thoughts ensued. He then states, "Daddy has a big penis". How do you respond to that? He goes on to say, "My little brother has a little penis, and my sister's penis broke." I made sure to write that one down. It's definitely a story I'll be tempted to tell at his wedding rehearsal dinner...not that I will. All of them would be devastated, especially my husband...or maybe he would be honored? IDK.
From that day on we began to separate the twins for baths. Seemed like it was time. =)

Blog Gold

I just hit Blog Gold. It's not my gold but it's a story that has to be told. I ran into my high school friend at the gym. We were talking about a million different things but we somehow stumbled upon high school friends etc. Apparently her husband (her high school sweetheart) belonged to a different atheletic club previously. He had to change clubs due to an unfortunate incident that still has me in hysterics...and involuntary vomitting in my mouth. So, J (we'll call him) was sitting down on a bench in the locker room, tying his shoes. Up walks our high school principal to say hello. The catch? This high school principal was BUCK NAKED! Remember J was sitting on a bench so you can imagine what he saw when he looked up. Yes, our high school principal!!! The image is permanently engrained on J's brain and unfortunately, the imaginary image is now burned on mine. Yuck! Needless to say, my friend J now belongs to our gym and refuses to visit the other one AGAIN!

Time to put some clothes on...

Okay, I'm a pretty modest person. I like to have clothes on at all times, if possible. I'd wear attire in the shower if wet clothes weren't so heavy. My children have rarely seen me naked, and to shelter them from future nightmares, I'd like to keep it that way. Yesterday was a rare time when I happened to pass my four year old son on the way to the shower. With a somewhat shocked look on his face, he said, "Mommy, is that your vagina?" (Remember he has a twin sister so he is fully aware of the female body.) I answered honestly, "Yes, Boy WonderTwin. That is my vagina." He looked up at me and said, "Oh mommy, I love your vagina." Yep, time to put some clothes on.

Strange...

Facebook is such a strange phenomonon...unexplored and undiscovered. Ettiquette is non-existant thus far on Facebook. It seems like some rules that exist in the real world should carry over to the virtual world. So far...not so much. I could write all day on this subject but I'll spare you for now. Look forward to more venting on this subject at a later date.
So what brought this on? When I got on Facebook (about 2 years ago, maybe...) there were very few friends on there. Most of the ones who were on worked with college students, thus, they had to be on FB too. I started to find high school friends a few months into my FB experience but most were not good friends, only acquaitances...and 15 years ago. Anyway, I remember requesting a friendship with a kid I went to elementary with. He was the "new kid" in the 6th grade. After being in our school about 2-3 weeks, he asked me to "go with him". I remember not liking him...not that I didn't like HIM but I was 12. Not really into "going with" boys then. Anyway, I didn't know what to do when he asked me to go with him. Instead of telling him no, I sought advice from another girl in our class. Her wise advice was to "go with him" and then dump him at the school skating party. She thought that was an effective way to deal with the "new kid" so I took her advice (turns out she had a little crush on the "new kid" and ended up going with him the following week.) I went with this boy for several days and when it came time for the skating party, I was nervous. I didn't want to skate with him...heck, I didn't want to "go" with him. Anyway, I remember skating right past him and saying, "Consider yourself dumped". Apparently he was really upset. He must have been because he never spoke to me AGAIN. Keep in mind, we were in school together for 6 more years...and we even had a lot of friends in common. It didn't hurt my feelings but I did find it odd.
Okay, so back to 2009 and Facebook. I requested his friendship when I first got on FB. I never heard from him. I requested again b/c I hadn't been accepted. Still nothing. I was sure that he was still bitter from how I shattered his heart in 1985. I know I can have that effect on men. Today, relief came. I opened my facebook to find a friendship request from the "new kid". Whoosh, now I feel better. Apparently it only took 24 years to get over me...or maybe he doesn't even remember the incident. Hopefully I'll never know.


P.S. I did accept his friendship by the way...although I was tempted to deny and write, "consider yourself dumped." I've matured a little since 1985. Just a little.

Snow...

Someone please tell my why it takes 8 million hours to get to Lowes when it has only snowed an inch? You would think living in Columbus would produce people who can adapt to their sometimes snowy environment. Normally I wouldn't choose to go out in that mess but tonight it wasn't my decision. We have been waiting on our sink (and our plumber) to complete this never-ending bathroom renovation. Our sink has arrived and our plumber was to arrive as well. He called at 5:30PM telling us that he was on his way. I then had to run out and buy some silicone for the granite top. One hour after he was supposed to arrive, he calls and says he isn't coming. I was already at Lowes buying the Silicone. That sucked~! So, I made a stop at Toys R Us to get Boy WonderTwin's birthday present. It's some Ninja Turtle thing that he has been begging for since Christmas. Shhh...don't tell him! =)
Hopefully all of this traffic will pay off with enough snow to have some fun tomorrow...we shall see.

The Little One

Amazing to watch little people develop. Being a parent gives me a daily perspective on God. Although parenting is partially God's role in our lives, He is far beyond that of a parent. He is our Father though and as our Father, He fulfills a parenting role, I guess. It's no mistake that much of humanity eventually takes becomes a mom or a dad, I think. I've learned more than I could have imagined as a mom. Recently I've been learning more about total depravity. I'm always curious when people talk about how "sweet" or "innocent" my children are. Now, maybe there are kids out there who appear to be innocent, but I'm the first to say...mine are NOT! Total depravity was obvious from at least 9 months on and technically from birth. If I tried hard, I'm sure I could find earlier examples. Presently, the depravity seems beyond TOTAL if that's possible! Take little dude for example. He's like the littlest duckling, swimming his hardest, trying to keep up. One of his fave lines is "Me do it too, mommy". He seems to be dreadfully afraid to be left back. It's all about ME. I didn't teach him that and honestly, the twins are pretty giving toward him so they didn't teach it to him. It's naturally engrained in the little dude. Me, me me!!! I kinda get it. If I wasn't trained not to be all about ME, I'd relish in it too. ME ME ME! If I'm honest, I'd admit that under all the niceties of adulthood...I still want it to be all about me. My job is to fight that inner self and teach little dude that it's all about God and others. We're working on that one...together!

Pretty Powerful

50 degrees in January?

Amazing what we're thankful for! Today it hit 50 degrees and after negative 10 degrees, it felt really good. I sent the kids out today. I just love it when it's "warm" outside AND there is snow on the ground. Something kind of cool about that. What's even better is when I can send my kids out to play and I can stay inside...where it's quiet! Ahhh...silence is so rare.

A Trip To Target

So, I made the dreaded trip. A very generous friend gave each of my children a $50 gift card to Target for Christmas. As thankful as I was for the gift cards, the thought lingered in my head that I would have to actually TAKE them to Target to spend these cards. With 3 children, age 4 and under, Target is not my favorite destination. In fact, the only favorite destination I have for this brood is their own beds! Naptime! That is when I'm truly happy...as any mom can attest, I'm sure.
With gift cards in hand, we planned our trip to Target. You would think these children were heading off to Disney! I'm not the typical mom. I avoid Target (or any retail store, especially Walmart) like the plague when I have kids in tow. Without kids? Target is better than a night out on the town.) I just can't handle it. The entire time, while within the confines of the store, I'm saying, sit down, don't climb on that, put that down, don't run into her, don't put that in your mouth and of course, no, you can't HAVE THAT! I set a rule when we enter. We aren't buying ANYTHING for you (unless it's on major sale)!
The trip just isn't worth it...the kids leave disappointed and I leave frustrated. I have one wise friend who buys popcorn and drinks for her kids as they enter the store. I distinctly remember getting ICEEs on my way into Gold Circle as a child. Looks like my mom knew that trick too.
Mean me though. I just can't follow suit. I want them to learn to listen and act properly without having to buy off their behavior. In my stubborness, I have convinced myself that I'm going to teach my kids that materialism is "evil" and not to covet. Hmm...I haven't accomplished that one yet but I'm still working on it.
Anyway, the 4 of us survived the trip to Target...just barely. Everyone got the toy they wanted and it was actually enjoyable. Maybe because we were spending someone else's money. It's been 4 days since we made the voyage. Every single day since, the kids have asked when we're going back to Target. Never, I say!

Should I be concerned?

So there is a little boy who wants to take my 4 year old daughter to the Caymans. I know people say that kids grow up so much faster these days...but isn't this kind of wild? I told her she can't go. A fit ensued of course.

Understanding History

How do you explain history to a 4 year old? Ever since I decided to homeschool the twins for PreK, I made it a point to expose them to as many things as I could. Being an election year, I took them to an Obama event at the local high school football stadium, in our bathing suits! I wanted them to get a glimpse of history. I would have taken them to the McCain event that I attended too but it was past their bedtime! =)
Today was historic in our nation's history but how do you explain that to a child who knows neither black nor white, slave nor free, rich nor poor? To them, everyone is their friend and anything is possible. After several failed attempts at explaining the historical significance of the day, I finally relented on the explanations. I simply sat them in front of the television and asked them to watch. I said, "Someday this will mean something to you." They even sat still for a few minutes. A lot to ask of 2 four year olds and a 2 year old. Maybe they will be telling this story to their grandchildren one day.

Kissed by a Caped Crusader

If you would have asked me 10 years ago, there is no way I could or would have imagined this life for myself. Having 3 kids in 25 months was not in the plans. Thankfully God knows so much more than we do and He gives us more than we can ask or imagine. I never would have thought I could be kissed by Batman AND Spiderman in the same day. Now I'm a blessed girl!