Twins

  • Happy Birthday Brina & Karlie!!!

    Today is my little ones birthday!  It seems like it was yesterday we were in the hospital and NICU with them.  Even though their due date was in April they decided to come 7 weeks early.  They have brought so much joy and laughter to our life!  It has been wonderful watching them learn and grow.  We pray daily that God will continue to develop them into beautiful young women with a heart for Him.

    Happy 6th Birthday Brina & Karlie!!!

    Our sweet girls - Karlie and Brina!

    This picture was taken a couple months ago.  Now both girls have glasses!

  • Giveaway Today (2/18): TWO 20% Off Amazon Mom Diaper Coupons!!!

    In honor of my Twin Daughters Birthday today I am giving away

    TWO Amazon Mom Diaper Coupons for 20% Off!!!

    Two lucky winners will receive the codes for an additional savings on their diapers by the end of today!  All you have to do to enter this giveaway is sign up to follow my blog (if you haven’t done so already) and leave a comment below by 10 PM EST on Friday, February 18, 2011 telling us how you follow Blessings Multiplied.  You can get a BONUS entry into the drawing if you leave a separate comment below sharing with us one of your biggest joys in raising little ones!  After 10 PM EST on February 18th I will randomly draw a winner from those who have entered the giveaway.  The codes are good through February 28, 2011.

    Sign into your Amazon Mom account to receive 30% off diapers everyday (15% that Amazon Mom‘s receive, plus the 15% from Subscribe and Save).  This coupon will allow you to save an additional 20% Off your diaper purchase.  Giving you an 50% discount!

    Amazon Mom is a free membership program offered by Amazon for Moms, Dads, parents, and caregivers of children from pregnancy through the toddler years.  Amazon Mom gives members discounts on products for the family.  You can join by signing into your Amazon account if you already have one and indicating it you’re a Mom, Dad, or caregiver of a child.  To learn more about this program check out my earlier post.

  • Finding a Warm Spot!

    Our little feather friend found a warm spot between our storm door and back door! She was surprised to see us heading out to play in the snow!

    Recently we had a good 6 plus inches of snow in South Carolina which is pretty rare.  The whole family was out for a little bits throughout the day.  Brina and I lasted the longest the first round of snow playing.  I ended up carrying her up the hill to the house after sledding.  We got inside had hot chocolate, read books, ate lunch, had Snow Ball Ice Cream, did some laundry and relaxed before heading back out.

    The next time when the girls were all bundled up ready to head outside Jake opened the back door to let them out and we were startled to find a “friend” that must have tried to follow Brina and I inside to find some warmth!  We weren’t too excited about having a small bird flying around our house so we sent the girls out the garage then Brina came around to the back of the house to free the bird who was caught between the storm door and the back door of our house.  I think the bird was happy to find such a warm spot until she encountered us.  I am sure she was very glad find another warm spot away from the house!  Even the birds are looking for warmth on the snowy days.  I am thankful for a warm home especially during these cold days.

  • Family Celebrations: Valentine’s Day

    We had a blast celebrating Valentine’s Day together as a family.  The day was so packed full of fun that I didn’t have time yesterday to post what we were up to so I am doing it today!  Here are little snip-its of our family celebrations!

    Brina and Karlie's Valentine Breakfast Goodies

    While Brina and Karlie were getting dressed for school we set out a little box of sweethearts and heart necklaces for them to enjoy.  They ate heart shape blueberry pancakes and saved their candy until after school.  Although they did wear their heart necklaces ALL day!

    Special Valentine's Surprise on my Steering Wheel!

    Jake went with the girls to pick out something special for me.  They left these little goodies on my steering wheel.  When I got into the van to drive Brina and Karlie to school I noticed my Valentine’s surprise.  They picked out a flower, kitten candy and a Valentine’s Day card.  They each wrote their names and drew me a picture.  In my card I had a heart family of four, so cute!

    Valentine's Day Gifts

    Daddy and the girls each received a package of “Nerf Darts” for Valentine’s Day.  Now when we have our little nerf wars we won’t be knocking each other over to get a dart, hopefully.  Karlie was so excited she hugged the package, spun around, and ran out of the room (to get her nerf gun, of course).  Brina had her nerf gun loaded first and Mom was the primary target since I was cooking and couldn’t defend myself, don’t worry I got them back!

    Expression of "love"!

    I had a package of Starbursts so I spelled the word “Love” on the table.  The girls thought this was so neat.  They were excited that they could read the word and could barely wait for Daddy to come home so they could eat the word!

    "I Love You" Balloon

    I picked up an “I Love You” balloon at Dollar Tree for $1.  The girls thought this “ape” was so adorable and managed to drag it almost everywhere they went for the rest of the night!

    Brina celebrating Valentine's Day with her class!

    I was able to help with the girls Valentine’s Day party.  The kids had a lot of yummy treats to celebrate the day.  Brina was so excited to have me come spend time with her in the classroom.

    Karlie enjoying chips during thier Valentine Party!

    Karlie ate all the non-sweet goodies first, including a yogurt and Doritos, as you can see from her orange mouth she really enjoyed the chips.  She was telling all her classmates that I was her Mom and that they should wish me “Happy Valentine’s Day”!

    Homemade heart shape Valentine's Day white pie pizza!

    I made homemade heart shape white pie pizza with mushrooms and olives on top for supper!  The girls thought it was funny the pizza was a heart and the slices were different shapes from “normal” pizza.  It was a fun and easy way to spread the Valentine cheer!

    Minor casualty, nerf dart was shot into the oven!

    I was pulling the pizza out of the oven in the middle of a nerf dart storm and this little guy didn’t survive.  It managed to hit the hot oven, when I went to pull it off the dart tore.  The girls were sad that a dart was broken but it gave me an opportunity to demonstrate why they shouldn’t be aiming in my direction while cooking!

    It was a super fun day with the family.  Having children have makes the Holidays even more of a special treat, they get excited about celebrating.  I am thankful everyday for my family and the memories we create together.

  • Celebrating Valentine’s Day!

    We love Holidays at our house!  It is a wonderful time to celebrate with those you love and making more wonderful memories together!  We started our weekend of fun on Friday.  Jake and I had the opportunity, through swapping babysitting with friends, to go out for our Valentine’s celebration on Friday, February 11th.  I will be sharing a little more about our adventure throughout the week.   It was amazing time with my man and many great new memories were made.  On Sunday we made blueberry heart pancakes with strawberry sauce and had the left overs this morning for breakfast!

    Making pancakes with the family!

    Batter’s ready on for the pancakes, love turning everyday food into a fun celebration for special occasions!  If you are excited the whole family will have a blast too!

    Brina got a cup full of frozen blueberries all by herself to add to the pancake batter, so exciting!

    Brina helped get the blueberries out for the batter.  She got them out of the freezer, measured the blueberries, and mixed them into the batter before cooking the pancakes.  Even better is we talked about the memories behind the blueberries we were using.  We picked the blueberries fresh from a friends yard during a fun evening together.  Thankful for friends, fellowship, memories, and the opportunity to enjoy such amazing fruit during the winter season.

    Frozen blueberries now in the pancake batter!

    The blueberries are so delicious!  The girls always love it when we add them to their pancakes and I like that they are getting extra fruit!

    Baking the blueberry pancakes on the griddle!

    We purchased the heart shaped pancake form at Dollar Tree several years ago and still use them regularly (it came with a star and bear shape as well).  The girls enjoy getting super special shaped blueberry pancakes.

    The heart shaped blueberry pancakes are ready!

    The pancakes were delicious with the big juicy blueberries in the shape of a heart!

    Flash frozen whole strawberries!

    We pulled our flash frozen whole strawberries out.  The girls and I had a great time picking them at a local farm and froze the ones we didn’t eat right away.  One of our favorite ways to eat pancakes is with frozen pureed strawberries instead of syrup, healthier and delicious!

    Pureed strawberry sauce for the pancakes!

    Once the strawberries had thawed for awhile I pureed the strawberries to use as sauce to dip the pancakes into.  The family loves it and tastes amazing. We typically just puree the strawberries, if you want it a little sweeter you can add a little bit of sugar or honey.

    Fresh strawberry sauce for dipping the pancakes into!

    Everyone got their own strawberry dipping sauce dish for their blueberry pancakes.  Yummy!

    Ready to eat our pancakes with sprinkles and strawberry sauce!

    The fresh blueberry pancakes are ready to eat.  For an extra bonus we have hugs and kisses sprinkles as well as strawberry sauce for dipping!  Delicious!  What a fun way to start off the Valentine’s Day celebrations as a family!

  • Savings with an “Amazon Mom” Membership

    Amazon Mom is a free membership program offered by Amazon for Moms, Dads, parents, and caregivers of children from pregnancy through the toddler years.  Amazon Mom gives members discounts on products for the family.  You can join by signing into your Amazon account if you already have one and indicating it you’re a Mom, Dad, or caregiver of a child.

    Some benefits to having an Amazon Mom account:

    • Free Membership
    • 30% off Diapers & Wipes
    • FREE Two Day Shipping with Amazon Prime
    • Exclusive Offers
    • Discounts & Special Promotions on Products
    • Automatic Additional 15% Discount on Subscribe & Save
    • No Fees, Risks or Obligations
    • Age Appropriate Product Recommendations

    You should receive a confirmation email shortly after you sign up for Amazon Mom, make sure to click the link in the email to confirm your subscription to Amazon Mom in order to start receiving benefits.  Any caregiver of children can qualify for an Amazon Mom membership.  The majority of savings are targeted to those who are pregnant through the toddler years although you can still join even if you have older kids!   You can often find additional coupons in magazines to stack on top of the Amazon Mom savings.

    For more information regarding the benefits of an Amazon Mom account click here.

  • Life Simplified: Hosting in Our Home

    One of my goals in 2011 is to simplify my life more by enjoying the blessings and not wasting what God has given us.  I have been sharing with you the successes and challenges on those specific areas in my life as I go through them.  One of the areas I am working on is making the best use of my time.  While spending time hosting family and friends in our home is important to me I must also make sure there is time on the schedule to spend with my immediate family.  The girls are growing up fast and the times we have together are precious.  In order to make sure I don’t go overboard I am setting a goal for myself and asking for your help to keep me in line.

    Here are the current challenges I am working on:

    Explanation of the Goal: As a family of four we LOVE hosting people in our home!  We are blessed to have a home to share with family and friends  whether it is for a party, game night or just to hang out together.  I would probably host a get together several times a week if we had the time, money, and energy to do it.  Part of learning how to simplify my life is making decisions on what to do with my time.  Hosting typically requires time for cleaning, cooking, prepping, and/or decorating for guests.  It is my goal to host at least one other family in our home once a month but no more than four.  When I spend time hosting that means I must give up some for something else.  Having up to 4 hosting events in our home means that there will be time to spend together as a family of four.  I want my girls to have the experience of hosting even at a young age.  Sharing our home and their toys is a valuable skill they can learn at an early age, but they like anyone, need a time to relax and refresh.

    We have already started working on this goal.  We had 3 families of three over in the month of January.   February is a busier month in our household not because of Valentine’s day but because we will be hosting the girls birthday party.  One of the many benefits to having twins or higher multiples is their birthday parties hit at the same time.  Brina and Karlie’s birthday party will be our major event this month and we have at least one other hosting event already on the schedule.

    I will share with you the challenges, successes, and updates as I go through this journey so you can keep me accountable or even go through it with me by participating  and sharing your story. Taking the extra time to invest in the lives of others is important to our family.  I hope that we have been able to host many people in our home without going over board.  It is important to me to make time for my family on the weekends as well as the people around us!

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

    Photo by MaryTClark

  • Getting My Attention

    Do you ever have those wild stressful days?  Recently I had one of those days when I had a lot going on and the girls were trying to help but they were slowing down the process.  Since we had to get going soon I told them to relax quietly together so I could finish up the last few items then we could leave.  It was one of those rushed days that are more stressful than usual and I had over committed myself.

    After completing the necessary tasks I went to find the girls,  they had been quiet the past fifteen minutes so I was interested in finding out what had captivated their attention.  My heart about burst when I went into the dining room.  They were standing at the table taking turns reading The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm together.  As I stood there listening to them share story after story and point out the pictures on the pages I was so happy that they were  sharing this time together.  It was amazing how much they remembered from going through the book with them even though it was several devotional books ago.

    However, at the same time I was convicted because it was a fast paced day and I hadn’t taken the time that morning to do my devotions.  God used my sweet girls to grab my attention and gently remind me of the importance of having quiet time each day.  How I chose to live my life has a ripple effect on my family and the people around me.  I am thankful for these quiet reminders.  I trust that God will continue to do a work in my life.

    We do devotions with the girls in the evenings before bed (most nights).  They always look forward to reading together.  Typically,  Jake will read them a chapter from a book we are going through together then I will do the devotional book with them.  If time is tight we just do the devotional book.  During the Holidays we were staying up too late so we would just pray with them before tucking them into bed at night.  We are excited to get back into the routine and see all the neat things that they will learn this year.

  • Life’s a CIRCUS!!!

    Sometimes every day life begins to feel like one circus act after another.  As a family of four there is always plenty of fun happening around our house. Even though life has a way of getting busy it is important to take some time to relax and just have fun!  Go to the circus and let yourself laugh!

    I had the privilege of chaperoning my girls kindergarten class to the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus.  It had been years since I have been to the circus and the girls had never gone.  We had a blast!  It was a challenge keeping all the kids together especially since a bunch of other schools were attending the same day but we managed to keep track of our troops and everyone made it home safely.  Here are a few pictures from our adventures.

    Karlie and Brina at the Circus! I could NOT pry their eyes away from the circus long enough to take a picture, it was that much fun!

    The clowns were a big hit for both of the girls!

    So much visual stimulation! Always a lot of fun stuff to watch!

    The beautiful horses captivated the girls attention!

    The kids were impressed with the strong men and swings!

    A couple of the kids had their eyes covered because they didn't want to see the lady fall!

    The "Donut Wheel" bike was a big hit with the kids!
    The girls were glad to see the Tigers caged at the circus & loved their "tricks"!

    The elephants were a huge hit with all the kids!

  • Be My Valentine: Cookie Surprise!

    Window Pane Heart Cookies made with love by the girls and their friends!

    We made these fun window pane Valentine Cookie Surprises this week.  The girls had a blast cutting out the cookie shapes and adding the hard candy to make window panes!  They taste pretty yummy too with the variety of flavors and textures.  The cookie dough is your basic sugar cookie mix.  We added the hard candies in the middle to make the cookies extra special.  It was a wonderful baking adventure with our girls and their friends who were spending time over at our house.  After having 5 young girls cooking in the kitchen it was a mess but they were so proud of their creations and goodies that it was worth the extra clean up time!

    Sugar Cookies

    • 1/3 cup Butter or Margarine
    • 1/3 cup Shortening
    • 3/4 cup Sugar
    • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
    • 1 Egg
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
    • 2 cups All Purpose Flour
    • 20 to 40 Hard Candies (We used a variety of Lifesavers, Root Beer Float Hard Candies & Candy Canes*)

    1.  Beat butter and shortening on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add sugar, baking powder, and a dash of salt.  Beat till combined, scraping the bowl so everything is well blended.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Gradually add the flour into the mixture.

    2.  Cover and chill dough for 1 to 3 hours to make it easier to handle when making cookies or cutouts.

    3.  Lay down wax paper and lightly flour.  Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness.  Use a variety of cookie cutters to make the shapes you want.  Place on lightly greased cookie sheet.

    4.  Cut out a heart shape in the middle of the cookies.  Fill the hole with a crushed hard candy.  The candy will melt during baking creating the glass window pane hearts in the middle of the cookies. *We tried using up extra candy canes but they didn’t melt well (they tasted good) but I would stick to the one color hard candies like life savers!

    5.  Bake at 375° for 7 to 9 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are firm and light brown.  Cool until the middle window are set then transfer to a platter.

    Surprise Valentine's Cookie - this one had three different flavors!