Three Years

Three years ago today:

I really can't swallow that it's been three years. Wasn't I spooning baby food into their little mouths just last month?

I remember, when they were born, thinking, "Three years from now, things will be so different. Easier. Calmer. Predictable. But three years is an eternity away, so let's just get through today."

I blinked a few times, and now it's three years later.

I was dead wrong about the easier-calmer-predictable idea, but I can say unequivocally: It's been a blur. A fog. A joyous, chaotic, incredible ride. And I wouldn't trade this journey for anything.

I also now firmly believe that all babies should come into this world in pairs. (Sorry, moms.)

Early this morning, I was determined to make it a perfect day for Madeline and Isaac. We were going to play all day. Read stories. Frolic at an indoor play land. Giggle and snuggle and celebrate. Nothing would frustrate us. We would have a quintessential utopia of birthday bliss--Mommy and her precious duo--relishing our togetherness every minute of today.

That was at 6:36 a.m.

By 7:30 a.m., I was cleaning up the second pee pee accident of the morning, had one twin in timeout for hitting, and had the other twin (who was wailing) in the bathtub due to excessive poop crusted on her bottom. I knew then that their birthday would be pretty much like every other day at our house.

Age three:

As a side note, I stumbled across the picture below tonight, as I was looking through iPhoto and reflecting back on the last few years. Notice the little man in the middle. I chuckled--it sums up pretty much everything about how the twins' arrival rocked Nathan's world. In one brief day, he went from being the youngest child to the middle child. Nothing could have prepared him adequately, at age 2 1/2, for how his life would change.

During the twins' first year of life, I discovered that Nathan was the hardest part of getting through that first year. Forget the sleepless nights or marathon nursing sessions. A two-year-old dealing with newborn twins is a doozy.

Nathan has weathered the storm. He is still my sweet little boy, and tonight, on his brother and sister's third birthday, I watched him play (nicely!) with his little brother. They chattered excitedly to each other as the toy space ship blasted into outer space. They took turns putting the astronauts into the ship and into Isaac's new space robot. Nathan was thrilled to play with his kid brother (or at least with his kid brother's birthday toys).

And tonight, watching those two brothers play, I knew that all of the challenges of the last three years has been 110% worth it.

Winter Quotes

Disclaimer: I am not obsessed with Minnesota weather. But our winter here has been memorable and given me much food for thought.

Last week, the temperature rose to thirty-five degrees, and then the following day, it almost reached fifty. We shed the extra layer on our two-in-one down coats and went outside to breathe in the comforting, balmy air.

The mountains of snow surrounding our house slowly began to melt. The snow on the trampoline finally (finally!) disappeared, and the kids leapt over the snow mounds in their way to climb on and jump.

I saw snippets of green, in miniscule bits, and I even heard birds chirping. My eyes had to adjust to seeing greenery again. I almost put on flip flops and a straw hat to run to Lowe's to buy some seeds.

And then, three days later, the temperatures plummeted and we got another foot of snow. Another foot. To add to the many we've received in the last (almost) four months.

The snow blew sideways, and heavily, and steadily, for two days. The entire world was white.

For a while now, I have been trying to find deeper meaning in the winter season. I did a bit of searching and found some quotes on winter that I am going to borrow:

"Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they do when they stick together."
-- Verna M. Kelly

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." -- Anne Bradstreet

"The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination." --Terri Guillemets

"There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you.... In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself." --Ruth Stout

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home." --Edith Sitwell

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show." --Andrew Wyeth

"Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, when they complained about the heat." --Author Unknown

"In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer." --Albert Camus

See the Little People

See the little people play hockey.

See the little people don their skates, knee guards, elbow guards, helmets, and gloves.

See the little people climb onto the ice, lunge for the wall, and fall, one by one. whoosh. whoosh. whoosh. whoosh.

See the little people slide, crawl, and lurch across the ice to the group.

See them reach for an adult and grasp the secure hold of the hockey stick as they stand.

See the little people learn to skate, week after week, fall after fall, one halting skate stroke after another.

See them fall intentionally so they can learn to stand on their own.

See the little people begin to drill, standing at the blue line and racing for the far wall.

See the little people hang on to the nets...

...while a coach pulls them across the ice.

See the little people fall again. whoosh. See them debate the idea of staying put.

See the little people begin to skate independently. See their parents cheer from the sidelines.

See them fall. whoosh.

whoosh again.

See the little people pick up speed.

See them race, from one side...

...toward the other.

See them drill, dragging a partner--on knees--across the ice...

...and back again.

See the little people play goalie.

See the little people.

See the little people play hockey.

Clothing Choices

Sometimes we really question Isaac and Madeline's choices of clothing ensembles.

But, based on their clothing choices, we never have to question their genders.

Recommendations

The recent discoveries of a gem of a book and a lesser-known movie make for two great recommendations.

I have recently finished this book, Giants in the Earth, by O.E. Rolvaag. I had never heard of the book, and it was recommended to me by a friend who lived in Norway for two years. The book, considered a modern classic, tells the story of Norwegian immigrants in the late 19th-century who settled the Dakota territory. It echoes the experience of the Swedish immigrants who settled Minnesota, which is why I decided to read it. Even more interesting is the fact that the book was written in Norwegian and first published in Norway, although it is about a uniquely American experience. The book was later translated into English. The book was a quick, entertaining, and insightful read. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

The other recent discovery was the movie Something the Lord Made, which apparently was an HBO movie in 2004. Brian put the movie on our Netflix queue, and I reluctantly sat down to watch it with him one night last week. I was skeptical. "More surgery?" I thought. "Our lives are saturated with thoughts of surgery! Let's watch a show that has nothing to do with surgery!" But the movie started, and I was instantly captivated. Although it is a bit jumpy in places, it is an excellent, thought-provoking show. Highly recommended.
Enjoy!

MoA Amusement Park

The Mall of America has an indoor amusement park. It's ridiculously expensive, and we never thought we'd go.

But a friend at church generously gave us free passes, and so on a recent school holiday, we spent the day riding the rides--including roller coasters--at this unique Minnesota attraction.

Of course I took almost no pictures, so these few will have to do.

Emma and the Bee

Forget major sporting events.

The local school spelling bee had all the drama of suspense and competition, disappointment and triumph, that I'll ever require.

The spelling bee went on for two hours.

The winner spelled words like "xanthic," "orthographize," and "phalans."

Here is the winner right before she spells the final word and wins the bee:

The winner was a sweet and shy "new girl" from Virginia, who surprised even herself.

At the end, she got a standing ovation, with cheers and loud applause, from three hundred people. But this sweet and shy girl said she didn't notice that people were standing. She was too busy blushing and looking at her feet.

Afterward, she was mobbed by about twenty cheering fifth graders.

And this sweet, shy girl has been grinning ever since.