Twilight Movie

Russell and I went to see Twilight saturday morning with 2 other couples from our ward/apartment complex.  

Now the 4 of us who had read the books (Me, Russell, Christy, and Lisa) loved the movie, and the other 2 (Ben & Justin) thought it was entertaining, but cheesy and really rushed.  I would have to agree with them that the movie felt rushed.  There just wasn't enough time to get all the great scenes from the book in there!  There were some pretty cheesy parts, but I didn't mind them at all.  Justin made the point that it seemed they made the movie for people who read the book, and I think he is right there.  

My only real disappointment was that they didn't have the part where Bella gets woozy at the sight of blood in biology class and Edward takes her to the nurse.  That is one of my favorite parts of the whole Twilight series because it helps develop their relationship and it shows the humorous side of each of them, especially Edward.

I thought all the Cullens were pretty close to perfect (especially the good Dr.- hubba hubba)

So, except for that one part I was waiting for that never happened, I thought the movie was pretty darn good.  Can't wait for the next one!

Homework With Momma

So I was in my bedroom doing homework (reading and taking notes) when Madylin walked in the room and said "buck?"  That means "up" in the twins' language.  They both say it just like that.  So I let her up on the bed and she grabbed a pencil and started coloring all over my notes. I gave her her own piece of paper and got back to work and then in walks Morgan.  She also asked "buck?" and got on the bed with us.  I gave her a piece of paper and Russell brought her a pencil and they sat like this with me for at least 15 minutes just making little marks on their papers.  It was really cute and Russell even took it upon himself to take a picture (good job, honey) .  They ask to color every day, but they prefer pencils to crayons.  I dunno- weird.

"The Thrill of Thrift"

My other blog, "The Thrill of Thrift"  is now up and running.  Just 2 little posts so far, but I've got much more in store for the next couple of weeks.  This is just a creative outlet for me and I hope you guys can enjoy it and get something useful out of it from time to time.  I am obsessed with finding steals and deals, thrift shopping, trash-to-treasure, garage saleing, CVSing, and coupon clipping.  You'll see a little of all of this on my blog.  I honestly get giddy when I bring home a lot of stuff or a one-of-a-kind piece for hardly any money out of pocket!  (And if you're not CVSing yet or have not heard of it- be on the look out for when I post about those steals!)

If you're interested in feeling "the thrill of thrift," check out this blog from time to time.  I won't be updating it as often as Twinserkins, but at least once a week I hope to have something up there to share!

Happy Birthday Russell!

Today is Russell's day.  He is a whole quarter of a century old! So anyhow, I thought I would post a little "Ode to Russell," if you will.  I'll try not to make it too mushy, okay? If you don't want to read it I understand, it's more for him anyway, and for journaling purposes.  But if you want to wish him a happy birthday, leave a comment and I'll make sure he reads them!

Russell is a great hubby and supports me in anything I do.  He has come to every volleyball tournament I have coached in for the last 3 years just so I wouldn't have to drive alone and so that I wouldn't have to be without him and the girls for a whole day.  He even took over my club team for a couple of weeks after I had the twins.  He is always encouraging me to go out and do something fun for myself and he is ALWAYS willing to watch the girls while I do it.  He adores me and always makes sure I know it.  

I couldn't ask for a better dad for my children.  His girls love him SO much and get so excited when he gets home from work.  And the really great thing is that he gets excited too!  He is the perfect partner for me I picked the perfect person to have twins with, I'll tell you that!  He is a very hands-on kind of dad- he is very organized and involved and doesn't just leave everything to me.  He takes more responsibility than most dads and always wants to know everything about every doctor visit, every tooth coming in and every thing they eat and do during the day (sometimes it's kinda annoying actually, but I secretly love it).

One of the reasons I fell in love with Russell is because he was and is such a good uncle and so great with kids.  I saw him with his niece and nephew and with my nieces and nephews and knew that he had something special when it came to his love for children. 

Here he is with his sister's daughter, Staci on our wedding day and here we are with my brother Spencer's kids.

These are my 2 best friends- my mother and Russell.  It means the world to me that they get along so well.  They are really great friends now and  it's awesome. He really is a great son-in law and I think my parents are lucky in that respect.

Silence is usually NOT golden around here . . .

I think most parents of young toddlers would agree with me when I say that when your kiddos are not in sight and they are being really quiet it is NOT a good thing.  I can't tell you how many times we have been sitting in the living room when the girls walk off together to another room. Russell and I will be talking and after a few minutes, we realize that we haven't heard a peep from the two little angels.  Typically when this happens we walk in on something like this. . .

We keep the laundry stuff in the hall closet and, as we learned on this day, the girls now know how to open that door.

This is the box of fabric softener sheets . . .

Follow the trail of loose dryer sheets and you will find this . . .

Awww. There are those angels in the laundry basket blowing their cute little noses all over the new fabric softener sheets.

And Morgan is being very thorough- really getting a good nose cleaning with her sheet.

Don't worry- I threw away those dryer sheets!

My First "Tag"

So I was tagged by my bestest friend Melody.  I've never been tagged before so I am kinda excited.  Sometimes tags are lame, but I saw other people do this one and secretly wished for someone to tag me with it!  Here is the 4th picture in my 4th photo file . . .

This was taken at the Route 66 fair in San Bernardino in 2005.  There is me in the hideous  yellow sweatshirt. In the red is my roommate at the time- Audrey Hunzeker (now Loera) and in the grey sweatshirt is another roomate/volleyball teammate- Jessica Nelthorpe (now Williams).  Kevin Durr in the goofball behind us. Sorry Kevin, not the most attractive picture of you!

I tag Audrey L., Liesl (the only one I know!), Jessica F., Christy A., and Nicole H. 

It's easy . . .get to it!

Fun Sister Things

These are just some of the cute moments we caught on camera last week . . .

Madylin was sitting drinking some milk and Morgan came up and sat behind her and hugged her from behind. (I wasn't home when these pictures were taken. That's why the girls' hair is in their faces- driving me nuts!) 

Ahhh. It's so nice when they like each other- the rest of the time I just want to lock them in separate rooms where they can't see or touch each other!

Here is Morgan doing rasberries on Madylin's belly.

And of course, Madylin giving Morgan rasberries.

Alumni Day

This past weekend I got a chance to see all my old Cal State buddies and play some volleyball again.  I was a member of the Cal State San Bernardino volleyball team for 4 years and LOVED it!  The athletic department hosted an alumni event on Saturday and so I got to go see a lot of my old teammates.  We got to scrimmage for a couple of hours and it felt so good to be playing again!  And especially in that gym.  I even did pretty well.  That evening they fed us dinner along with our families and there were pictures of all the teams from the past few years up and so I saw me in all of my old team photos and it seemed like a completely different person to me. We all stayed to watch the new team (including a few of my old teammates that are still playing) beat UC San Diego to take 1st place in the conference.  It was great. 

Here are some of my former teammates at the dinner.  Brie, Ash, and Cat. We are all still close.

People don't usually understand how important volleyball was to me and how much a part of me it was- the girls were my family, as were the coaches, and I got to do something I was good at.  I used to miss those volleyball/college days so badly I could just cry- now I see my beautiful girls and they come running up for hugs and I know that it's all how it should be.  I was pregnant during my last season, so I knew it was going to be my last even though no one else did. I got closure, which I was grateful for.  I still have 1 year of eligibility that I didn't go back and use after I had the girls, although I was tempted.  I'm glad I didn't use it- I would have missed so much of the first 7 months of the twins' lives had I done it.

I guess God DOES know us better than we know ourselves, huh?

Here are 2 of the greatest blessings that came from volleyball- Brie and Ashley.   They were 2 of my bridesmaids and are still 2 of my best friends.  

Cal State is now ranked #3 in the nation in Division 2.  They will host Regionals- good luck guys!

"The Voting High"

Be prepared- the following post is cheesy. . . 

So the election may not have turned out exactly how I wanted, but for the first time I did my part!  Which means I get to complain, right ( ;  

At 23 years old I voted for the first time and I gotta tell you- I thought it was pretty exciting.  I know people do this every 4 years and it is not such a big deal, but I am kind of proud of myself.  I had this kind of cool feeling.  Kind of like I was being heard by somebody important and they had to listen and take me seriously.  Does everyone feel this way when they vote?  Or maybe it was because this election was so remarkable, so momentous and different.  I hope that I get this "high," if you will, every time that I vote.

 My first sticker!  

I had my neighbor take a picture of Russell and I after we voted.  I know, I Know- cheesy.

 

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is not only election day, it is also my mother's birthday. Wish her a happy one!

(This is one of my favorite pictures of my mom- it was taken on my wedding day)

Vote! Vote! Vote!