Practice makes Perfect: Introducing the Skills Bros Jr

Ball control is one of the most basic soccer skills, and my boys have been practicing keepy-ups (kicking the ball up with one or both feet without letting the ball touch the ground) since they were in first grade.  I remember when doing 5 keepy-ups was a challenge. They were so frustrated and impatient to do more, but Alfie and I reminded them of their experiences with the Shred Sled -- that they would only improve with practice.

So they practiced.

Good bye, grade school

Yesterday we said goodbye to the end of an era.  The Pea has graduated from middle school; next year she'll be starting high school.  3Po and Jammy have graduated from grade school; next year they'll be starting middle school.  We've closed the chapter on the elementary school years.

So You Athletes Think You Can Dance? Yes, We Can!

When friends and family think of my sons, the first words that come to mind are probably: Identical. Twins. Soccer. Tough. Solid. Maybe Cello and Videogames and Drawing and Athletic. Maybe Dark Haired. I would add Handsome and Brilliant and Imaginative and Loving and a million other complimentary adjectives that make it obvious I'm their parent.

Show your DisneySide with a Mickey Paintball Party

The boys have wanted to try paintball for some time now.  They've always loved Nerf and laser tag, so I guess paintball is just the next step.  But I've always been hesitant because I've heard lots of stories about paintball being painful.  I've seen photos of bruises from paintball pellets and I've read stories of little boys sitting out birthday parties because they got hurt.

Fortunately, our local paintball place has a gentler option: Splatmaster, which features guns that release the paintball pellets at half the speed of regular paintball guns.  Since 3Po wanted to celebrate his 11th birthday with a paintball party, I figured Splatmaster would give everyone a good first experience while minimizing the bruises.  And since I had recently been selected to host a DisneySide party, I figured I'd combine the two and throw a Mickey Paintball party!  I was a bit nervous that the boys would think Mickey was a bit babyish, but 3Po was delighted with the idea. How could I have doubted?  The party was a big hit.  You're never too old for Mickey Mouse!

Disney DIY: How To Make a Mickey Paintball Bandana

When you sign up for a paintball birthday party, you'll probably be told that the paint is washable, but you probably don't want to be wearing your best clothes. Recommended clothing includes long sleeved shirts, long sleeved shorts, close-toed shoes, and bandanas.

Since 3Po was celebrating his 11th birthday with a paintball party, I thought it would be fun to make bandanas for all his guests. And since we were giving the party a Disney theme, I decided to add a Mickey silhouette to the bandanas!  I bought 4 yards of plain white cloth, cut them into 20-inch squares, and hemmed the edges.  Then I stenciled the designs on with freezer paper.  Freezer paper stencil designs are so easy to do and the produce such great results.  I used freezer paper stencils to make Mickey shirts for last year's DisneySide party, and the project went so well, it was pretty much a given that I'd use the technique again this year.  Here's how I did it:

Halloween Costumewatch 2014: Chinese Dragon

I don't mind spending on Halloween costumes -- it's my favorite holiday, after all -- I try to encourage the kids to alternate between buying a costume one year, and then making or assembling it the next. I've been kind of lax in enforcing it with the boys, so this year I redoubled my efforts to get them to make their own costumes, and save a few bucks in the process.  As it turned out, I think I spent more on raw materials for this year's costumes than if I had just bought costumes from a store.... but we did have a great time making the costumes, and they ended with kickass costumes that will blow those generic store-bought costumes out of the water!

Coloma Outdoor Discovery School, Day 3

We had some surprise visitors on the morning of Day 3!  Click to read about what happened on Day 1 and Day 2.

I couldn't believe it when Joanna and I woke up on Day 3 of our Coloma adventure:  it was almost 7:00 a.m.!  The girls were so tired that they had actually slept in! We spent the early morning packing up our sleeping bags and things, and cleaning up our dorm. The girls were determined to win the Golden Dustpan Award (a glittery gold bead for their pouch), so they made sure all their trash was thrown away, and swept the floors till they gleamed.  Once everyone was packed up and ready to leave, we had breakfast (bacon, eggs, and biscuits -- The Pea was right when she told me three years ago that I should definitely volunteer to chaperone the boys to Coloma because the food was so good!).

Coloma Outdoor Discovery School, Day 2

Day 2 was Hiking Day for the students of the Coloma Discovery School (see what we did on Day 1 here!).  We woke up bright and early at 7:00 a.m.  (actually, the girls in our dorm woke up at 6:00 am because they were so excited, much to the dismay of my dorm parent partner Joanna and I) and fueled up with a delicious breakfast of eggs, sausage, and french toast.  We filled our backpacks with water, sunscreen, snacks, and lunch, met up with the members of our town, and set off to explore the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park and the Monroe Ridge.  The whole camp spent the day outdoors, with each town starting at a different landmark so we wouldn't all crowd into the same location.

Coloma Outdoor Discovery School, Day 1

Fourth Grade seems to be the time when the schoolwork starts getting serious:  the colorful carpets are gone, the cute room decorations are kept to a minimum, the books and binders come out more frequently than the crayons and glue.  Fortunately, the big kids still get to play: Fourth Graders at our school get to take a 3-day field trip to Gold Rush country as part of their California history unit.  The Coloma field trip is something every kid looks forward to (those with older siblings wait for this trip for years!). The Pea went to Coloma 3 years ago; this year, it was 3Po's and Jammy's turn -- and mine as well.  I was chosen as a parent chaperone, so I got to experience the whole thing!

Letter to my sons, March 20 2014

Today is Day 2 of 3Po's and Jammy's 3-day school field trip to the Coloma Outdoor Discovery School.  The boys and I (I'm chaperoning them!) will be traveling back in time to 1849, going on hikes, panning for gold, and participating in all kinds of hands-on activities designed to teach kids about life during the California Gold Rush.  They'll have read the letter I wrote to them last night, and tonight they'll be reading the letter that Alfie wrote to them, written as though we were living in the Gold Rush era and they were away seeking their fortune.  I went the extra mile to make the letters look old, staining the paper with tea and using a vintage font (Yes, I printed the letters -- no way I'm going to hand write them!  My desire for authenticity only goes so far!).  I found a vintage postmark and stamp online and printed them on the envelopes.  I even printed out the vintage photo that we had taken in Virginia City in December.

I doubt if the boys will be feeling homesick at this point.  They'll be having too much fun, and besides, they'll have the comfort of knowing that I'm close by (even though I won't be assigned to their dorm or to their classes, so I won't really be seeing them much).  But I hope these letters remind them that we're still thinking about them and cheering them on as they have fun and learn.

Letter to my sons, March 19 1849

photo courtesy of ushistory.org

I can't believe it has been three years since we sent The Pea off on her first overnight class field trip!  She was in 4th grade when she attended the Coloma Outdoor Discovery School to learn about life during the California Gold Rush -- and now, 3Po and Jammy are going on the same trip.  This time, I'm coming along as a chaperone!  I didn't volunteer to chaperone The Pea's class because I had to stay and take care of the boys.  I'll admit, I also didn't want to give up my smart phone and internet connection for three whole days.  But The Pea had so much fun that I regretted not going, so I resolved to volunteer when the boys' turn came.  This time around, The Pea is old enough to get herself to and from school, and I've arranged for her transportation to and from her dance classes.

Happy 10th Birthday 3Po and Jammy!

Ten years ago, two little boys entered my life.  I was nervous, scared, unprepared, unsure.  The year that followed was one of the most difficult of my life.  But I wouldn't trade that year, or my boys, for all the riches on earth.  They were exactly what we needed to make our family complete!

Holiday birthdays often get lost in all the celebrations, and that has certainly been the case for 3Po and Jammy on my blog -- but not this time.  I haven't posted anything since Christmas (I think that's my longest dry spell ever) but I was determined to give their double-digit birthday the acknowledgement it deserves.  So I'm delaying the 2013 Highlights posts, the Ski Trip posts, the Family Game Night posts, the New Year's Resolutions posts and all the other posts I have planned in my head.  Those can wait.  What can't wait is my message for 3Po and Jammy:  

Happy Birthday, Boys.  These last ten years have been a wild, wonderful ride.  I'm not going to dwell on all the twin cliches -- double trouble, twice blessed -- even though they're true.  The chances of having identical twins are about 0.4%, or 1 in 250, but the chances of having both of you were one in a million.  Your daddy and I definitely won the lottery when we had you!

To celebrate 3Po and Jammy's 10th birthday, here are 10 fun facts about their birth:

The year my sons fell in love with reading

“Reading one book is like eating one potato chip.” -- Diane Duane

You can't stop at just one.  Unless you don't really care for potato chips.  Strange as it may seem, there are people in this world who don't like potato chips.  Or maybe they just haven't found the right flavor....

3Po aces our Fire Drill

A couple of months ago I bought two fire extinguishers for the house: the first, to replace the 10 year-old extinguisher for the first floor, and the second, for the second floor, which has never had a fire extinguisher until now.  Alfie showed everyone where he installed both fire extinguishers, but when he quizzed us about it a month later, our fire safety savvy was sadly lacking.  None of us could remember where they were!  3Po, however, showed us that whatever his lack of fire safety savvy, he had other kinds of savvy:

Hangin' with 3Po: How to throw a Rock Climbing Birthday Party

What's harder than climbing a mountain?  How about planning two boys' birthday parties in a single weekend?  Jammy had his 9th birthday party on Friday, and 3Po had his on Sunday, but it wasn't as tiring as it sounds, because I outsourced the location and activities to a trampoline park (for Jammy) and a rock climbing gym (for 3Po).  Just like the twins themselves, the two parties had striking similarities --  the celebrants, most of the guests (and therefore the presents), the birthday cake -- but each one was different, and special in their own way.  Here's how we celebrated 3Po's birthday:

How teammates become friends

This past weekend the boys went on their first-ever overnight soccer tournament, the NorCal State Cup for U9 boys in Davis, CA.  Davis is less than 2 hours' drive from home, but their team had four games spread out over 2 days, and 2 of those games started at 8AM (7:15AM if you count their warm-up time) so everyone agreed it would be best to stay at a motel on Friday and Saturday night.

I love watching their games, but with the holidays approaching and The Pea's Nutcracker rehearsals going and with our trip to the Manila looming on the horizon, taking a whole weekend off for soccer seemed excessive.  Then we all came down with colds and flu the week before, so everyone was stressed out trying to recover.  3Po and Jammy shook off the virus by Thursday and I scraped through on Friday, but Alfie had to miss the whole thing, which was a huge blow since he's their biggest fan.  The team hasn't been playing too well either, so I was not optimistic as I drove off, leaving a miserable Alfie and an ecstatic Pea (ecstatic because didn't have to go) at home.

Halloween Costumewatch 2012: Evil Jester (part 1)

Now that 3Po and Jammy have passed the superhero/ Star Wars stage, all they want to be for Halloween is something scary and gruesome.  Skeleton.  Grim Reaper.  Zombie Rock Star.  Swamp Creature.  And this year, Evil Jester.  Who would even think up of such a costume? But as soon as they saw it, they wanted it.

Halloween Costumewatch 2011: 3Po

Next up on Halloween Costumewatch is 3Po. He decided to be a ninja this year, which is awesome, because a couple of years ago my sister gave us her kids' old ninja outfits. It has been many years since I have been able to force convince my kids to wear the Halloween costumes I want them to wear, so these ninja outfits have been sitting in storage, just in case, and I was about to give them away. Fortunately I didn't, and one of them fit 3Po just right.

Yup, that's my dad

3Po: Mama, why did you buy a devil bathrobe costume for daddy?

The Most Disgustingly Delicious Sandwich Ever

Last Friday was the kids' first day of summer vacation, so I was pretty lax about what I gave the kids for lunch. I just put out a bunch of stuff and told them to get creative. 3Po and Jammy really took my instructions to heart, because they came up with The Most Disgustingly Delicious Sandwich Ever. Here's how to prepare it: