pa!

also known as uncle pat.. 

these were a doozy...

a long, long time ago, i was inspired by this post to make the boys some hooded towels.  the ones we had were teeny, tiny and we were seriously stretching every last use out of them.  when i read about how merrilee had just used some terry cloth she had (kind of like, oh this old thing? when someone asks you about the new dress you just spent $300 on), sewn some trim on, and voila!, new towels appeared, i felt like it was within my abilities... weeelll, i wouldn't necessarily say that now, but i have learned some new things.  like sewing towels takes a heavy duty needle and heavy duty thread.  and that my purchase of a rotary cutter is the best one i've made in awhile.  and that bias tape is a friggin' hassle.  i ended up just buying ginormo bath towels, and searched far and wide for the perfect fabric for the trim.  the one merrilee used was so yummy; it reminded me of candy, so i wanted to find something similar.  i ended up finding one that i loved at a local fabric store - i kind of wish the nice lady who taught me how to make bias tape had also told me that the yummy fabric i was buying was too stretchy to use for this purpose.  that made it a tad more difficult, but there was no turning back.  she gave me a little paper example of what i was supposed to be doing, and i looked up on youtube just to be sure.  i bought a few new tools and i was on my way...  here are almost all of my steps - i remembered to take pictures of the whole process!!! i'm on my way to becoming a real blogger... :) 

step 1: measure (kind of) how big the boys need their towels to be

translation: spread towel on floor, hold down the boys, and estimate how big the towels need to be

step 2: marvel at your new rotary cutter... ahhhhh

step 3: spend way too much time and watch the same youtube video 14 times 

trying to figure out how the hell you're going to line up the stripes

step 4: sit at the sewing machine until your left bum falls asleep

because you HAVEN'T figured it out yet...

step 4 1/2: decide you'll put that imperfection somewhere non-obvious

step 5: pat yourself on the back when you finally get the hang of it

step 6: iron and iron and iron your strip in half

(and figure out your new iron is a piece)

step 7: the hard part: sew the trim onto the towel,

wondering if this is worth it and if it will even look good

step 8: get over the fact that it's definitely not perfect,

but that it was made with love (and lots of frustration)

step 9: actually manage to get a picture of the towels in use!

step 10: play peek-a-boo with your adorable children

18 months!

i realize i've gotten a bit lazy about posting updates on the boys every month.  i blame them.  oh, and the fact that after they're in bed and i do have a little time to relax, that's exactly what i do.  relax = sit on the couch and blankly stare at the TV, where no doubt some really, really good reality show is on, slowly ridding me of any sort of intelligence i had.  so onto much better things: these boys!  i think i've heard this before, but didn't really realize how much they would really come alive at this age!!  they just keep getting cuter, sweeter, smarter, curiouser (i know, not a word, just wanted to stick with the theme) and every day, we can't believe how awesome they are.  they're both walking, liam at about 16 months and finn at 17, and they've started to talk - a lot.  i've always wondered what that means, when a 1 1/2 year old is "talking".  well, it means that when he says "BAAA", he could be referring to a ball, bath, bonk (a very fun game that can sometimes hurt), or what a sheep says.  or "DO", going up in inflection at the end, means shoe or door.  i love it.  their little brains are absorbing all the time and they want to see everything, bark like the dogs, not hold your hand at the pool, walk down the stairs by themselves,  put the shapes through the lid over and over again, and say "uh-oh" every time they drop something.  they still haven't understood that when they do it on purpose, it's not a chance for them to say uh-oh.  still adorable, nonetheless.  we travelled up to omaha a week ago for a little bear's birthday party and drove back in the same day... it was hot, the drive was long, but for some reason, at dinner, they were in really good moods.  so i snapped a few pictures of them - they aren't wearing suspenders, those are the straps on their highchairs.  serious cuteness.

i love this show.

early monday morning...

liam: what? is something off? i didn't wake up early and craft a plan to get the alarm clock into my bed...

come party with noah!

one of my favorite little guys is turning one this sunday, and since i've been a lil' lax about posting my work, i thought i'd share this invite i made especially for him (and his wonderful mama).  the party is safari-themed, and i have to say this is one of my favorite things i've done.  can't wait for sunday!

san francisco in pictures

didn't realize until too late that the meltdown is smack-dab in the middle

oh, liam...

benbo is one!

happy first birthday to the happiest, sweetest baby i know.

there is seriously no place like home.

i'm trying to figure out the best way to share our awful exhausting loud long tiring great trip to san francisco without droning on and on about how awesome it is traveling with 18 month-old twins. so here goes.

first mistake: not booking outrageously expensive non-stop flight to san francisco.  believe me, it would have been worth it.  arrive at airport to find our flight to minneapolis has already been delayed.  lily waits in line while bryan pushes boys around so liam's restless screams don't fill the terminal (naptime has been interrupted by said delayed flight).  wonderful man behind counter does the best he can and finds us seats on the next available flight from minneapolis to san francisco - FIRST CLASS SEATS.  stroll around the airport, feeling high on life and loving delta prematurely, as they will shortly be taking their first flight flying first class... or so they think (insert evil laugh here).  board airplane and prepare for a short 58 minute flight up to minnesota.  hear flight attendant come over speaker to tell passengers we are 8 people over the weight limit, so will be needing volunteers:  as a consolation for volunteering, receive $400 travel vouchers and be guaranteed a later flight.  take off 50 minutes later than scheduled as a result of the fat-ness on the plane.  arrive in minneapolis only to be put in a holding pattern because of weather (later discovering it was golf ball-sized hail).  holding, holding, holding... diverted to rochester because of weather.  land in rochester at 6:30 pm.  filled in on plan: re-fuel, get back in the air within 15 minutes and back to minneapolis.  sweet.  wait for fuel truck.  wait for fuel truck.  watch as severe weather slowly approaches rochester. wait for fuel -- another plane pulls in in front of us, having also been diverted to this dinky airport. check watch: 7:30.  continue stuffing food in boys' mouths.  say a quick 'thank you god' for my sweet boys who did surprisingly well, given the situation.  finally get fuel in plane.  hear pilot come over speaker telling us we cannot reverse the plane, therefore we cannot take off because other plane is also getting fuel, and is blocking our way out. check watch: 8:00.  call delta and get booked on 9:30 (last flight of the day) to san francisco.  other plane moves, finally take off at 8:30.  land in minneapolis at 9:00, wishfully thinking if we run like hell, we can still make the 9:30 flight.  oh, wait a minute, someone's occupying our gate!  sit on runway for 30 minutes.  if you've figured out the math, you've figured out that our last flight has left the building.  with empty seats on it because they didn't want to wait for more severe weather to hit.  along with 14 million other disgruntled people pissed off at delta, stand in line to see what prize we get for enduring such hell.  well, lily gets the radisson and bryan gets holiday inn.  apparently, you scan your boarding pass and the machine spits out what it thinks you deserve.  we were good, i guess, because others only got meal vouchers.  whoa.  luckily, i was able to call the radisson and plead with them, trying not to lose it, so bryan and the kids could in fact, stay at the same hotel as me.  stand in line at baggage claim (where those 14 million other people somehow were already), only to be told it was going to be an hour for our bags.  check watch: 10:30.  talk to other family also flying to san francisco, told we were not getting our bags.  NOT.  they were going on to the west coast without us.  only two people working in baggage claim that night, not happening, lily losing it, tears streaming, father of other family making sure i was ok, hearing liam and finn crying and not caring that other people maybe thought i was a bad parent for not having enough energy to feed them more food tend to them...  making it to the radisson, managing to get a hotel room with 2 bathrooms (what?!) and enough space for the boys to roam, and climbing (completely. wiped. out.) into our sleep number bed at midnight, all the while cursing delta's name...

stay tuned for part two: the good part - san francisco!


oh, and if you're wondering about the first class, it was only a dream... different flight, different seats, sad bryan and lily.