Read Around The Park

The Junior League of Owensboro offered a “Read Around the Park” event today at Moreland Park. There were games with books given away as prizes. Owensboro High School football players in several locations read stories to the children and dressed as characters from children’s books. Benji and Trey Davey recognized the Cat-in-the-Hat, but the six foot plus tall feline scared them, and they wouldn’t go near him. However, the moment they saw “Clifford the Big Red Dog”, they ran to him with hugs for a long lost friend. We have read a number of Clifford books, and he is among their favorites. While not a reading activity, the boy’s favorite activity was a giant inflatable bounce house with an attached slide. They would slide down, run around and climb up to the top to slide down again and again. The naps came easily this afternoon.

Stow’n Go, Very Cool

Our new(er) van rocks! It has so many new features that our older van didn’t. One of the best new gadgets is the stow’n go seats. Our ‘98 Caravan had easy-out roller seats, which allowed us to unlatch and roll our bench seats out of the van when cargo space was needed. We typically kept our third-row seat in storage and would have to go get it and lift it back in the van when we needed a fifth passenger seat. Our 2005 Town and Country’s stow’n go seats fold completely into under-floor compartments when extra cargo space is desired. When we decided to take all six of us together in the van to Evansville last Friday, I just unfolded the third row seats from the floorboard and locked them in an upright position. It took about 30 seconds. Now how cool is that?

Ice in April

Tonight we were playing in the living room after dinner and watching TV when I heard something rattling the windows. It sounded like someone pouring pennies out a bucket, and the noise intensity kept increasing. The boys and I jumped up and ran to the dining room windows to see pea-sized hail falling on our front lawn. The sharp little falling ice pellets shredded the leaves on the trees and bounced on the ground. Near our window, a column of ice flowed down powerfully from our roof’s valley and crushed the plants where it hit the ground. When it stopped a few minutes later, the ground was cover in white as if it had snowed. The boys had many questions that I couldn’t answer. Soon, the rain and warm evening temperature melted all the ice in April, but not before we snapped a photograph.

Mexican Railroad Dominoes

When Grandma Roe visits, Benji begins looking for her red bag. He knows where she keeps her gifts. This time she brought Mexican Railroad Dominoes with the intention of teaching them the game Mexican Train. Emanating from a central hub, each player creates one or more chains, or “trains”, with the object of playing all the dominoes in his or her hand. Each player is given a special little engine piece, which is part of the game. Unfortunately, our three-year olds’ fascination with the game pieces prevented her success in teaching them the actual game on this visit, but perhaps by her next visit they will be mature enough to ride the Mexican train.

Bunker Training

For the fourth time in eight days, the sound of the sirens sent us to the basement during a tornado warning. This one was a surprise, so we were not as prepared. Before, we had watched the severe thunderstorms approaching on television and packed bags to take downstairs if needed. This one just came out of the blue, and we only had time to grab the boys and head downstairs. Needing to occupy the twins’ attention, Daddy slipped around the corner to a secret place in the basement and emerged with a small bag of new Thomas trains. For the boys, all thoughts of tornados were instantly forgotten, and Great Grandmother Mac’s couch was suddenly transformed into a train station. They were almost sad to leave when the all-clear was given.

Mall Walk

Cabin fever was affecting everyone, especially the boys. Day after day of rain had prohibited their ability to go outside and play. Needing to blow off steam, Daddy and Grandma Roe took the boys to Town Square Mall Saturday to exercise. We started out holding their hands, but it felt like being pulled by a powerful motorboat without the benefit of water skies, so we let them loose. Pushing rope uphill might be easier than directing two loose three-year-olds through a crowded mall. There was too much to see and explore. Thankfully, the twins did yield to our pleas to stick together. The mall was neither crowded nor empty, which was a blessing. We could have easily lost them in a crowd and their excited screams to each new discovery were barely heard above the other shoppers’ noise. It was a fun and productive activity.

Happy Easter

What a blessed Easter this was. It wasn’t perfect. Rain prevented an outside egg hunt and Grandmother Edds wasn’t feeling very well, but we had our precious family around us to worship, visit and share the special season. Grandma and Granddaddy Roe traveled all the way from Florida to spend the holiday with us. We rose early Sunday morning, got everyone dressed and fed, and then the six of us headed to a very full church service. Afterwards we enjoyed a fine brunch at home and, for the boys, a finer afternoon nap. After Pa and Granny arrived later that afternoon, we got the boys up and gathered in the living room where baskets were waiting. Davey and Benji then began collecting the eggs hidden around the downstairs area. Sandy prepared a delicious Easter dinner for us and everyone had a wonderful time.

Bunker Sweet Bunker

It was like the theme of the 1993 movie “Groundhog’s Day”, where the protagonist finds himself repeating the same day over and over again. For us, it was a line of severe thunderstorms moving along a route from Dallas to the Great Lakes with our house right on that path. Every day for over a week, the weatherman would predict the same storm coming at us. Most of these severe thunderstorms included tornado activities. We had already made a midnight run to the basement on Tuesday night and welcomed the Grands to join us on our midnight Friday visit. Jim and Karen had enjoyed the full basement experience on a previous stay, but on this trip they were blessed with two bunker visits as sirens sent us downstairs again on Saturday afternoon. Sandy is seriously considering installing a refreshment station to create a homier little bunker.

A Good Friday in E’ville

Good Friday was a company holiday for Sandy this year. We wanted to do something fun with Grandma and Granddaddy Roe, but it was a rainy day outside so we decided to drive to Evansville and visit their Museum of Transportation. Inside they have a number of fine transportation exhibits, but our favorite is the model trains.  This 1950’s vignette of downtown Evansville features three moving HO gauge trains. The large model is actually constructed inside a real remodeled passenger train car. Outside is a full sized steam locomotive with a club car and a caboose all under roof, which was a blessing on this rainy old day. The boys enjoyed showing the grands all the features of the museum’s exhibits and running merrily around the empty train station.  

Family Prayers

One night several weeks ago, we showed the boys how to pray before bedtime. Kneeling down at the foot of our bed, we began by learning the children’s prayer “now I lay me down to sleep”. Benji quickly memorized it and Davey wasn’t far behind. After each standard prayer, we would remember various people in our lives and ask God to help them with their issues or thank God for our blessings. It has become a nightly family ritual. Grandma and Granddaddy Roe arrived here for a stay this afternoon, and after a nice meal and visit, they joined us for family prayers before bedtime.

Benji’s Bear Care Project

In addition to polar bear articles, Mommy has acquired quite a collection of brown bear items too. When the twins came along, a lot of her ornamental bears went into hyperactive storage. This wooden bear holding his welcome sign has been able to avoid the cave and found a home in our bedroom. Benji is a very perceptive child and is prone to making quite insightful observations about things. He noticed this bear one day on his way to the bathroom and returned to suggest that bear was lonely. He then gathered together some of his bears and some of their friends to visit the lonely bear in our bedroom. Once the grisly was presumably cheered up, he and his friends returned to their own bedroom.

Tornado Warning

Benji, I had the strangest dream last night. We were sleeping peacefully in our beds when sirens sounded.  I then felt like I was being scooped up and carried away. I was tired and didn’t open my eyes but had the sensation of descending two flights of steps wrapped in my pillow and blanket, and then coming to rest on a cool, soft surface in a dark, damp place. It was comfortable and soon I drifted back to sleep in spite of the sound of footsteps making trips up and down stairs. Later, I was aware of the television weatherman talking and the sound of a hard rain outside. I must have drifted back to sleep because I was again startled by a lifting sensation and the feeling of ascending upstairs. It must have been a dream because I woke up this morning safe in my own bed.

Davey TV

Trey Davey is consistent. His television preferences mirror his eating habits; he is not adventurous. Davey would prefer a diet limited to only his established favorites rather than try anything new. This can be very discouraging for the care taker, who is trying to introduce our young man to a vast world of new and interesting things, but Davey’s enthusiasm for his few favorites is charming and contagious. Trains are his favorite. Turn on the program Chuggington or insert a Thomas DVD and he’ll watch with complete focus and concentration. Just about any train program will captivate him. He also likes many of the Disney Jr. shows such as Oso, Jake and the Neverland Pirates and The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Davey is very sensitive and rejects anything he perceives as scary, even the train in the movie Casper. We don’t want to encourage more TV viewing, just a wider variety.

Easter Baskets on Palm Sunday

The boys (sort of) enjoyed the fruits of their labors during the Easter egg hunt yesterday. While they were sleeping last night, Mommy replaced the candy in the eggs with healthy snacks such as animal crackers, yogurt raisins, and Goldfish. At some point, the boys are going to discover what they are missing, but we’ve been able to keep them on the healthy path for more than three years now. Sandy’s OMOM friends have been astonished that we’ve been able to keep our boys away from candy and fried food for so long. It really hasn’t been that difficult except at Easter and Halloween.

OMOM’s Egg Hunt

Today the Owensboro Mother’s of Multiples organization hosted an Easter Egg hunt at the Owensboro Museum of Science and History. They used the Playzeum room, which is an indoor playground. The Owensboro Rotary Club raised the money to build the Playzeum back when Pa and Daddy were members. Today we had seven families participate with seven pairs of twins plus a few older siblings. As veterans of last year’s hunt, Trey Davey and Benji knew exactly what to do and quickly collected their quota of eggs. Then they climbed all over the indoor playground equipment until they were exhausted.

Seeing Double

We were recently shopping in our local Target store when we saw our Owensboro Mothers of Multiples friend Kasey and her three daughters. Katarina is the oldest, and Kaley and Kelsey are her twin sisters. Those twins look about the same age as our boys, but are actually more than a year older. They will begin kindergarten in the fall. Judging by all the blushing, giggling and bashfulness, these twin girls are attracted to our younger men, and Trey Davey is quite pleased with all the attention. On this day, Benji seemed unimpressed with the pretty girls and more focused on climbing on the shopping carts.

Monster Truck

There really are monsters out there, and this is Benji’s and Trey Davey’s favorite. It is usually parked about a mile from our house at a car lot on the northwest corner of 20^th and Triplett Streets. This is along a common route we take to the city’s east side, and every time we head in that direction the boys want to go see the Monster Truck. Recently, the truck was moved across the street and parked on top of a small Japanese car to attract attention to a new business on that busy street. The boys went crazy when they first saw it and wanted to go see it. The highly modified Ford pickup is actually a publicity tool for the Daviess County Sherriff’s Department to illustrate their efforts to crush local Meth labs. All the boys understand is the big green machine is cool.

Benji’s Slide

I love this slide. All I can think about as I slip quickly through its cylinder is how mature it makes me feel. The folks wouldn’t even let Davey and me play on this equipment the first time we visited this park. Instead, we had to play on the preschool structure. That’s a fine unit, but way to elementary for my skills. I wanted to climb on the big boy unit designed for kids 5 to 12 years old. They let me try it on our next visit, and I immediately climbed up into the lower clubhouse, then up a ladder to the upper clubhouse. Daddy helped me the first time while Mommy worried. Once I slid down the two-story slide that first time I owned it. It was mine. And from then on, I wanted to do it again and again, all by myself.

The Legacy House

Downtown multi-family housing units are commonly grand old homes that have been subdivided into apartments. What caught Pa and Granny’s eye about this home in 1970 was that it was solidly designed as a 4-plex money-maker. It is located on a quaint little street one block from Brescia University. Great Grandmother Embry bought it from them in 1980, and she lived in one unit and rented the other three units to provide her with retirement income. For 25 years, we visited her here every few weeks. When her mother died in 2005, Granny inherited the house back into her possession. The boys and I visited the grands here today to see the many improvements they’ve made over the last few years. As solidly as this nearly 100 year old house is built, it may be providing retirement income for the boys many years from now.

Air Hockey Dave

We went to a birthday party recently at a place called U-Bounce where they had this funny looking game. I watched some of the older boys play it, and then gave it a try myself. It is called air hockey. Air is blown through little holes in the top of this table, and that makes this little red disc float, which is kind of fun to watch. I pushed it around with my finger, and it slid all over the table. Another boy showed me how to hit the disc with this short plastic bat and make it go fast around the table. That was fun except when it slipped under the table top seam and into a shelf below. That was really annoying. Someone should repair that slot in the table so the disc won’t slip inside.

Little Engineers

As the temperatures outside have risen, we have begun to dip more and more into the t-shirt and shorts drawer. There we have found a number of new clothing articles that are now large enough to wear. Among our new threads are these train engineer t-shirts. Mommy bought them for us last summer at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. She bought them one size too big so the shirts would fit us this summer. We opened them at Christmas, but forgot about them. Today we were able to wear them for the first time. To complete the ensemble, we donned our Chattanooga Choo Choo engineer’s caps and played with our trains all morning.

Happy Birthday Mommy

I first met Sandy in person the weekend before her birthday. Counting that first one, this is the eighth birthday she’s shared with me. While The Olive Garden has become our favorite choice for birthday celebrations, each has been different and its own unique blessing. My parents joined us beginning the second year and for every year afterward. I’m not sure Sandy fully envisioned four of her birthdays ago when we started down the parental path how precious the sound would be of her twin boys singing “Happy Birthday” to her, but tonight she enjoyed their serenade. By looking at her smile you can tell Sandy loves celebrating her special day with her local family.

Twins on Tandem

This bicycle-built-for-two has been in Great Uncle Gene Ray’s family for nearly half a century. The newspaper featured a photo of Great Aunt Peaches and him riding it back in 1974. Cousins Marc and Logan rode it over to our house today to say hello. Sometimes called a twin, the technical term for this type of bicycle is a tandem, which refers to the seating arrangement (fore to aft, not side-by-side), not the number of riders. A bike with two riders seated side-by-side is called a sociable. Marc says the tandem is easier to maneuver city streets than two separate bikes riding side by side and easier for the riders to talk than two bikes riding front to back. Our twins can’t quite reach the pedals yet, but maybe we’ll find a tandem of our own by the time they can.

Big Boy Chairs

There’s been a change in our eating habits in restaurants these days. For several months now, the boys have been resisting high chairs. Sandy and I liked high chairs because they strapped down and contained the children, and I suppose the twins disliked them for the same reasons. When we noticed their legs hanging down below the foot rests, we acknowledged the time had come to consider other options. In most restaurants, a booster seat is still required in order to elevate our preschoolers up to table level. This use of booster seats has also required moving from tables to booths, where the booster seat is more stable. Also, a select few restaurants offer seating that accommodates the boys without any boosters at all. They just love sitting at the table like big boys.

Visiting Cousins

This was Julie’s cleaning day, and we always take our afternoon naps in the car on those days. After the boys awoke, we called Great Aunt Gay Nell (Peaches) to see if she was available for a visit. She said that her son Marc and grandson Logan were there from Lexington and invited us to come over and join them. Mark is my closest cousin in age and we were roommates in college. Logan is 10 years old and shares the twin’s affinity for trains. As soon as we arrived, Logan started bringing out his train books and toys to show his little second cousins. Soon Aunt Peaches’ quiet home was filled with Edds boys happily laying around and talking all about choo choos.

Birthday Benchmark Photos – 3 Years 4 Months

 

Our boys have now turned 40….months old. At this advanced age, development is slower and changes are more subtle from month to month than in their first year. It is difficult to say, for instance, that they have made any noticeable advances since last month’s benchmark photo other than they are now flying the black and gold colors of Mommy’s University of Missouri over the blue and white colors of Daddy’s University of Kentucky that they wore last month. Noticeable, but immeasurable, is the volume of concepts they are beginning to understand. For instance, they know Missouri is Mommy’s team and Kentucky is Daddy’s team, and when they see either team’s logo show up on TV or on a license plate, they point it out. When you consider that they don’t yet read, this is amazing.

Movie Night with the Grands

Sandy had a doctor’s appointment in Nashville today, so we made arrangements for Pa and Granny to babysit. Our trip was delayed by over an hour due to severe storms in Nashville. In fact, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center was locked down for a time as the storm passed directly over us. For this period, all offices and waiting rooms were evacuated and everyone was directed to stand in hallways. At home, the twins lobbied their grandparents for a DVD after dinner. They selected their current favorite movie, 1,001 Dalmatians, and loaded it into the DVD player. A button must have been mistakenly pushed because the movie began playing in French. Pa and Granny got a big kick out of the gaffe, and since the boys didn’t complain, they left it alone. The Grands were surprised how well they could follow the story, even in a foreign language.

Cruising Dairy Queen

Yesterday’s warm weather encouraged us to play and exercise outside. We were having so much fun that we failed to check the clock and allowed lunchtime to come without any preparation. As a special treat, we decided to walk a couple of blocks over to Dairy Queen for lunch. The boys, sporting nifty sunglasses, rode in style in their new stagecoach wagon. Not having any way to secure our ride outside, we drove the wagon right into the restaurant. Upon seeing us arrive wheeling the boys behind us, friends already dining there said with a smile, “we had no idea that this was a drive-in Dairy Queen.”

Gone, but not Forgotten

Their riding trains appeared under the tree on Christmas morning, and then disappeared two days later. Mommy and Daddy quickly determined that these toys were too big and loud for indoors, so just as quickly as they appeared, the two shiny trains were gone again. In response to their frequent requests, we promised to get their riding trains out once it was warm and dry enough to go outside. Today was the day; the weather was accommodating and the batteries were charged. The boys helped me lay the tracks, and then they rode the rails to their hearts’ content.

Junior Prom

It seems like it was just yesterday when the boys were starting preschool, and now they are attending their Junior Prom. For various reasons, neither of their parents attended any of their proms, but our twins are not following those dance steps; they are stepping out on their own. Not that they have a lot of free time to chase girls, with all their academic and athletic demands, but they don’t have to – the girls are calling them, constantly, day and night. Who could blame them? Brains, brawn, and boyish good looks are a powerful combination. The novelty of being twins has always brought them positive attention, and now with their classroom and ball field accomplishments, their fan base has greatly expanded, especially among young girls. Let us hope that our hunks can keep it all in prospective and just enjoy this April first event.