Why can't Mormons send flowers?

{kalling all kavemen}

MY dear dad... has decided to run for city council in my hometown Kuna. I have to admit that I am not at all surprised by this... my whole life my dad has always pushed himself to be better and to make a difference. He has been a big supporter of boy scouts and has helped my brothers through the scouting program. He cares about what kind of education his children receive and what kind of town his children grow up in. Being in the Air Force for 21 years he has lived many places as well as been to many places with business travels. He's seen what life is like and grew up very fast after he left Oregon and his family's farm. I admire my dad SO much and am SO proud of him for wanting to run for city council. It makes me want to strive harder for my dreams/goals/expectations... SO all you Kavemen... Lady Kavemen too... when the time comes get out and vote... preferably for my dad, Doug Hoiland... but just vote, let your voices be heard so who ever is elected can better Kuna and make the community's dreams come true. For more information about my dad's campaign see http://doug4kuna.blogspot.com/

{silly brown fish}

WELL... we have made it 13mo and 20days. Now we have to start over... it finally happened. To be honest I am surprised it hasn't happened until now... since there are 2 of them... while the boys took their bath tonight, the brown fish made an appearance... the first ever, but not the last... most likely. Needless to say it is a wonderful thing that we now have 2 bathtubs... need I say more...

{da da da da}

Last night Matthew put Keegs hoodie on him and he refused to take it off the whole night. He wore it like this the whole time and thought it was the funniest thing. Looks like we have a super hero on our hands... By the way it isn't tied around his chin, he was just able to keep it on his head all by himself.

{skebby night}

Tonight we ate spaghetti for dinner... which to be honest was kind of shocking. Up until recently the boys haven't been too keen on anything tomato based... but they ate the spaghetti up as the evidence on their faces show. Needless to say they had a bath afterwards...

{guess it's time to get a slinky}

This week has been full of surprises. The first being now both boys can climb the stairs, and Carter can go down the stairs as well. When we first discovered this, we decided to put the gate in the middle of the platform so the boys could practice but not get into trouble upstairs... we haven't baby proofed upstairs except for their room. The boys thought this was great and spent most of the day on the platform throwing things down the stairs... now if only Keegs would learn to go down the stairs we would be set.

{testimonies are like toothbrushes}

...everyone should have their own.

Last week I had given up. We went to church and Matthew and I ended up walking the halls almost all of sacrament meeting. And by the end I had had it and said we were going home. I just didn't see the point of us going to church if both of us ended up walking the halls the whole time.

Everyone I know says one of two things to me about being a mom of twins... "I really don't know how you do it, it must be really hard..." or... "You're life must be extremely busy..." and my life IS extremely busy and sometimes it is really hard. BUT I wouldn't change it for the world... that being said, there are certain aspects of being a parent of twins that most people take for granted...

...because both boys are not walking... which grocery store has carts with 2 seats? if i need to go to a store that has only one seat will I have enough room for the things I need and a baby in the cart?

...oh I wish I could go out to eat with friends during the day, but because neither boy is walking I have to take the stroller... does the restaurant have enough room for me to park my stroller and cater to the lunch rush?

...well, Matthew is TDY again and I have to skip church because I can't handle both boys by myself for 1 hr let alone 3hrs...

...does the store I need to go to have a handicap door? if not can i open the door and manage 2 boys in a stroller by myself? I know there are plenty of women out there who have children close enough in age that they need a double stroller too, but when you have 2 kids exactly the same age who are at the same development level is completely different...

...I can't go pay rent until Matthew gets home because our rent place has stairs and no elevator...

...I wouldn't be able to go to the DMV or post office with the boys because they are not very stroller accessible...

...and the list goes on and on...

I am by no means complaining or looking for sympathy. But I just wanted others to understand what brought me to my breaking point last week... It had been kind of a rough week. I was burned out, and I really wanted to go to church and feel the spirit.. AND don't go saying, "well if you didn't feel the spirit at church then it's no ones fault but your own..." I LOATH that misconception. It is true that you have to play a big part in feeling spiritual, but I believe there are unforeseen circumstances that can keep you from feeling the spirit or feeling it as strong.

...SO I really needed my spiritual cup filled, and I didn't hear either talk or get to take the sacrament because my children wanted to crawl around. Mind you they weren't being naughty per say, but they didn't want to sit and play or be content, they are almost 14mo olds for heaven's sake and they are VERY mobile... and they are 4mo shy of going to nursery...

...I know every parent goes through walking the halls with children in transition, like us... but most parents get a break... We don't.

...so we came home early last week, I was in tears, and Matthew pulled me into his arms and said, "I know you had a rough day... rough week... and you really wanted to feel the spirit, but to be honest when we were waiting all that time to get pregnant, every time we went to church I told myself I couldn't wait to walk the halls." THAT's when it hit me... I used to think that too. And I realized it was my own fault for feeling the way I did. I knew that I needed to be responsible for my attitude and take control and remember that it is just good to be in the church building on Sunday even if something keeps you from being in the the whole meeting. So yesterday I decided to have a completely better attitude about church and my kids. Yes, Matthew ended up walking the halls most of sacrament meeting, we both walked the halls during Sunday School, and I walked the halls almost all of Relief Society, but I came home feeling much more fulfilled, and ready to start the week because I knew my testimony was stronger than a kid's temper-tantrum.

{guess it's time to go for a walk}

Well... can you tell the boys really like their wagon? or more specifically Carter. I left the room for a few minutes and came back to this...

I don't know whether to think this is totally adorable, or completely scary that Carter climbed... ALL by himself into the wagon. Although I would love to take them for a walk, it is currently in the 50s, very windy, and raining... maybe tomorrow... I hear it is suppose to be in the low 70s...

{little boys and boxes}

What is it with kids and empty boxes? Or in our boys case boxes/laundry baskets/toy buckets... We never taught the boys how to play with any of these things, they just instinctively know how fun and creative it is to play with any thing they can crawl into.

{our afternoon}

SO we had an eventful afternoon... or more accurately lunch. Keegan refused to take a morning nap so smack dab in the middle of lunch this is what happened... he had only finished his mac 'n' cheese and then promptly fell asleep before I could serve him anything else.He woke up later wanting more to eat and by then Carter was awake so I finished feeding them lunch.

Carter was particularly funny today. Since they were good during lunchtime and neither of them threw any food on the floor I decided to reward them with a M&M cookie. Mind you before today the first time they ever tasted M&Ms was about a week ago. It wasn't that we didn't want the boys to eat M&Ms, we just had never thought about giving M&Ms to the boys. Anyway, I gave each boy half of a cookie and Carter would take a bite, point to his cookie, look at me, and then grunt. Then he would take another bite, point, look at me, and then grunt. He did this every time he took a bite until the cookie was gone. It was the funniest thing I have seen in a while. It was almost as if he was trying to tell me "good cookie mom..." Now if only he could actually say any of those words we would be making progress...

ps: do you just love Carter's hair today? He doesn't like to have it combed and he does the "downward dog" move a lot throughout the day. I walked into his room after his nap to him practically standing on his head. One of these days he is actually going to do a somersault and not even know it...

{keegs first haircut}

Last week we decided that it was time for Keegan to have a haircut. What finalized our decision was that he had some stray hairs that went down to his chin, and he was constantly getting food in his hair when he ate because it was SO long. He did really well and sat still, for the most part. His hair is still shaggy long, but at least it is manageable now and he doesn't look so much like a girl.

After... doesn't he look SO precious?

{finger painting}

One night the boys were playing with their food, so Matthew thought it would be a good idea to let them finger paint with pudding. It turned out to be a huge success. They loved every minute of it... even the bath afterwards.

creating art... and tasting it too...
Keegs painting

Carter tasting his art

Keegan tried a little too

Carter's painting...

Unfortunately we didn't keep their first art work because we were pretty sure it would mold. So we took pictures and plan on having them developed so we can hang them on the fridge that way.

{zoo adventures}

Matthew's cousin Jami and her daughter Camber were kind enough to come watch the boys for us while we attended the ball. So we decided since the next day was Camber's birthday that we would go to the Cheyenne Mt Zoo. We had quite a time, some of which...

-a broken shoe

-a rest in a HUGE lawn chair
-imitating the gorillas (speaking of which did y'all
know that you can purchase orangutan art at the zoo?)

-observing wildlife in it's natural habitat. (you can't tell from this angle, but these 2 were in their 40s, at least. Matthew insisted on snapping this shot because it was just too funny to pass up)

-posing pretty

-oh I saw my mom at the zoo... ya know OSU beves

-having a spin on the carousel

-trying not to sweat too much

-eating lunch (this chimpunk insisted on eating

everything the boys dropped on the floor during lunch time)

-and trying not to have a bath from the giraffe tongue

(didn't you know it was wear yellow day at the zoo? in Jami's defense she was wearing yellow first, and I decided to wear it too. so I was the copycat...)

{celebrating 6yrs cinderella style}

Ever since Matthew joined the Air Force I have been bugging him to take me to a Ball. Most bases have at least a couple of Balls every year, and with living in an area where there are 5 bases, there are plenty of Balls to attend. It all started at the beginning of August when Matthew called me from work asking if I had a formal dress, and asked how I would like to spend our anniversary all dressed up. I promptly said, "I have the dress I wore to your dining out at your OTS graduation." To which he informed me that I better get shopping because we are going to be attending the NDIA Ball in 2 weeks. I was SO excited and immediately contacted Matthew's cousin Sharalyn who lives in Denver. She attends a lot of formal affairs and I knew she would be the perfect person to help me find the perfect dress... plus I just love spending time with Sharalyn and am constantly looking for a reason to visit her. SO off we went to go shopping. She took me to the Cherry Creek Mall in the heart of Denver. They have a Saks, Norstroms, and a Neiman Marcus and a bunch more Name Brand stores... I was in heaven, although we didn't find my dress there. So off we went to another mall the Pine Creek Mall and after much searching I found my dress. I knew what I wanted, and I knew I wanted to look classy and timeless. I was nervous because until last year the NDIA Ball was reserved for Lt. Cols. and above. Earlier that week Matthew had informed me that although we should have fun at the Ball I needed to pull out my charming manners. The NDIA Ball (National Defense Industrial Association) is pretty prestigious. All of the local companies associated with Space Command have the opportunity to purchase a table that seats 10 people for a couple of thousand dollars. Then they are required to donate at least 4 chairs to military members. We ended up sitting at a table that Honeywell Aerospace bought. We were seated with 2 Lt. Cols and 4 men who were various CEOs of Honeywell as well as 2 had brought their wives as a date. So we were in high quality company. The meal was to die for. It was a 5 course meal and I ate almost all of it. I tend to be a polite picky eater. What I mean by that is my mom taught me that if I don't like something to politely decline or suck it up and try it. I knew that this night I wouldn't be able to be picky. The salad consisted of spinach and goat cheese with a variety of fruits. I can't stand spinach or goat cheese, but this meal was SO divine I couldn't pass anything up. We were nervous about the amount of alcohol that would be served. Because lets face it, anyone who knows anything about the Air Force can confirm how much service members like to serve a variety of alcohol. The evening started out with a cocktail hour from 6-7, which we were nervous about because although we knew we could order a soda, we knew that most people there would most likely order so form of alcohol. But to our relief all the beverages were served in a short fluted goblet so no one really knew what anyone was drinking. Then we knew that dinner would be served with at least a red wine and a white wine. The last formal event we attended for the AF we had the hardest time getting the serving staff to keep our glasses full with water. They didn't understand why we would want water instead of wine or sweet tea. Well the Ball was much more accommodating. It helped that 8 of the 10 people at the table mostly drank water. The only 2 people who were enjoying the wine was the 2 Lt. Cols. So we weren't self conscious about that either. The only thing we had to worry a little about was most of our table had coffee with dessert, which wasn't too bad either. I know people tend to like coffee with dessert, but who drinks coffee at 10pm at night and hopes to get home and sleep??? So the night was overall a blast. I loved every minute of it, and Matthew was able to make quite a few contacts who would be able to help him progress in his AF career. On the way home Matthew turned to me and informed me that maybe we should be going to more AF Balls if for nothing else but to meet people and show face. I told him it sounds good to me, it was SO much fun getting all glammed up for the night. It was the best way to spend celebrating our 6yr anniversary.

I had so many complements on my dress that I knew I picked the right one. I was quite nervous about finding the right dress. I didn't want to look like I had just bought a prom dress and I didn't want to look like mother of the bride. This dress was perfect. A majority of the women there wore floor length ball gowns and most were in dark classy colors. I only saw a handful of women in flashing colors or inappropriately short/low cut dresses. I had quite a few women ask me where I found my dress. It was quite flattering.

{it's raining, it's pouring, it's... hailing}

NO. this isn't snow. although it sure looks like it huh... Believe it or not, we actually get somewhat severe weather here in the springs. Well people here firmly believe it is SEVERE, but when you grew up in tornado alley, ie: Papillion, NE... then this is nothing... hey all from papio, remember in '96 when we had softball size hail?

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago we were having some major rain/hail/lightening/thunder for this area at least. Here are some pictures of the storm... what amazed us wasn't the hail it was how fast it was coming down... this accumulated within 10 minutes...

This is a park behind our house, and this day is how we found out why there is a big "dip" in the ground... this seriously filled up within 10-12 minutes.

This is yet another time we were wishing the stupid owners would suck it up and install a garage door opener...

Our neighbors across the street...

{manitou springs, beer, and paparazzi}

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to visit Manitou Springs. It had been a while since we last went and we were in desperate need of getting out of the house. Well we didn't realize that the day we went there would be a huge beer festival, but that's okay because we stayed away from where the festival was being held. Still because of it, Manitou Springs was pretty packed and we were stopped numerous times with people commenting on the boys and how cute they were, how we make parenting look easy, and asked the usual questions...

are those twins?
are you sure they are twins, one is so much bigger than the other and they look nothing alike?
how do you do it? it must be hard/miserable/exhausting...
and the list goes on and on... and by now we are pretty use to the questions and having our day/meal/life interrupted by inquiring minds. BUT what happened next, I was never prepared for and left me feeling very used and unsafe...

We had been walking around and decided to visit our favorite candy shop. SERIOUSLY this place has fudge that, dare I say, is better than See's Candy and Godiva Chocolate... We were standing next to the fudge counter trying to figure out what to order when Matthew overheard a group of early 20 something women commenting on how cute our boys were. Next thing we knew one of the girls had the nerve to take a picture of the 4 of us while we were ordering fudge. I was LIVID, I insisted Matthew go over and confront this girl because I knew she took a picture of us and we had no idea who she was or what she is capable of. SO... he confronted this girl who outright denied the photo, with some lame excuse... "I was trying to take a picture of the candy." We didn't really know what to do, we wanted to call the police, but we weren't sure they could do anything. So we hurried and paid and left.

The day wasn't a complete bust. I found the most perfect birthday present for my mom. I am having a hard time not spilling the beans and telling her since her birthday isn't until December.

Carter going for a ride in the space ship.
Keegs going for a ride...

This bench was right outside the candy shop... Do you like our shadow?

{wagon days}

Here are more pictures of the boys with their wagon. They really truly love this thing. We take them on walks regularly in it. They love facing each other and sometimes they hold conversations.

{two 13mo old boys=trouble}

Okay, so I have been HORRIBLE at keeping up with the blog this summer. But what can I say, life happens in this household. SO...

The boys are now 1yr old...

ACTUALLY, they are now 13mos old, but who's counting...

They had their 12mo checkup at the end of August. I know. I know. But what can you do when Tricare has a hard time scheduling appointments for service members and their families from 5 different bases???

anyway, the stats:

carter
weight: 20lbs
length: 30.7 inches
head circumference: 19.25

-LOVES anything with cheese, especially mac 'n' cheese. For the longest time I thought it was hilarious how much this boy loves cheese, and then one day someone asked me what I craved while I was pregnant. Go figure... mac 'n' cheese
-very mobile, climbs like crazy and has been scooting around furniture for the past month or so.
-LOVES to dance, we turn on music on a regular basis and dance, he particularly loves the Beach Boys.
-has the Hoiland picky eater gene... It's not so much that he doesn't like food, he just won't try it if it looks funny or disgusting. SO we end up forcing him to until he realizes that hes had it before (pureed) and that he once liked it.
-Carter is very cuddly. Many times throughout the day he will crawl up to me and hold his arms up in the air wanting to be picked up. He loves sitting on my lap in the morning before breakfast and watches Curious George.
-Carter now is the proud owner of 8 teeth... 4 on top and 4 on bottom. (the 4 front) We have recently started brushing the boys teeth and so far so good... as long as after a few minutes we let them do it themselves.

keegan
weight: 18lbs 8oz
length: 29 inches
head circumference: 18.5 inches

-keegs is still our little guy, but we are not worried. He is still progressing and is closing the gap on Carter in height. He too LOVES cheese, mostly mac 'n' cheese... wonder why.
-He is VERY vocal, he says mama and dada and recently added ball to his vocabulary. But when Carter steals a toy or has a toy that Keegan wants he resorts to yelling, which in turn makes Carter bawl like crazy...
-Keegan is the opposite of Carter when it comes to food, he will try anything put in front of him and then decide if he likes it or not. We have gotten him to try some pretty funny things... ie: watermelon and pear pudding, sour patch kids, and pickles...
-Keegan had his first official hair cut a week ago, he was the proud owner of some hair that reached to his chin.
-now has 10 teeth, all 8 front teeth and 2 bottom molars.
-Keegan is also quite mobile, although not as adventurous as Carter. But since they came in a pair, they have stuck to being a pair. They follow each other around like crazy and play together most of the day.

The wagon Nana Susan and Papa Doug gave them for their birthday, which they happen to LOVE. Keegan loves it so much he crawled in it by himself the other day.
Opening presents from Grandma Ranae and Grandpa Rick.

Riding the alphabet train mom and dad bought us...