I love blog giveaways...

I have two friends that started their own blogs with giveaways (citrus and perch). They do reviews on some really great stuff and almost weekly (I think) they do a contest to give away a certain item. All you have to do is make a comment! I haven't won anything from them, but it has added a new facet to my blog addiction--entering blog giveaways anywhere and everywhere I can! I started commenting on a bunch of giveaways just a couple of weeks ago and I have already won two great items. I just wanted to share with you all what I've won...
Crayons A Go Go --I think this is so much cuter than putting crayons in a ziploc bag.
Frecklebox personalized book with Audrey's name (since hers is a little harder to spell), although now I want to get one for Lucy!

It's so much fun to read about and maybe even win a bunch of great stuff! Today I found a CUTE tutu giveaway here & there are six ways to enter. She custom makes them AND with every hundred comments she'll give away another tutu. All you have to do is comment on which tutu is your favorite. Since there are six ways you can enter, the odds of winning are pretty good if you do more than one (thus the reason for this post). This is the link to her Etsy shop, I want the one below for the girls. Isn't it cute?

Tuesday twin tidbit

Fun times in the kiddie pool...They figured out the crawling thing, so now I have to be careful not to trip over one of them. They follow me EVERYWHERE!

Mandi & Lily come to visit

We had a ton of fun and hope we get to play again soon. Thanks for coming over! Lily let Lucy wear her elastic of ribbons!

Oh me, oh my...

Little Lucy has learned a new sound today "VLA VLA VLA VLA VLA." She has been doing it all day, it is quite loud and a bit incessant. So cute, right? Well, I took the girls to Walmart and Costco and I'm somewhat pooped. Audrey fell right asleep when we got home, which is what I expected (and planned) both girls would do. Yet, little Lucy with her VLA VLA VLAing (and some random sobs) won't fall asleep, oh and she woke up poor Audrey. I blame teething and maybe too much grocery shopping (who knows). I have a pounding headache and just want some peace and quiet. Please, oh please little Lucy go to sleep. Oh me, oh my...I need a nap. What do you women do when you're ACTUALLY really sick (I'm just being a whiner) and kids are being, ummm, so cute?

Tuesday twin tidbit

I know my mom loves videos, so today's tidbit is a videofest. These are just some of the things I do for entertainment with the girls. I probably shouldn't be teaching them to compete against each other huh? Obviously, they haven't quite figured out the crawling thing yet, but they are always on the move. Next is a conversation between Audrey and Mr. Lion, then giggles with a plastic bag. The last video is of Lucy getting what she wants, the snotsucker.

Sara: Supermom, Superwife, Superwoman!

On this, my first official Father's Day, I'd like to pay tribute to Sara, an extraordinary woman and the love of my life.

Marriage has a funny way of allowing you to fall in love with the same person so many times and in so many ways. When I first met her, I loved Sara for her independent, free-spirited nature, which was a stark contrast to my traditional, conservative, dull self. She was daring (evidenced by committing to a life next to me), full of life.

At BYU and beyond, I saw her evolve to take on her new role as wife and student head on. She has the flexibility to adapt to new challenges without compromising the traits and characteristics that make her unique. She went from wanting to study horticulture, to sociology, and eventually settling with economics. Those of you who battled your way through Econ 110 like myself will know that was no small feat.

As we struggled with the challenge of wanting to start a family, through each disappointment, even when I was ready to give up for a while, she never once hung her head in defeat. Her calculating nature combined with a "never-say-die" attitude kept her from giving up on that goal.

Since Lucy and Audrey came into our lives, Sara has taken on yet another role, the most important she'll ever undertake. The maternal instincts she has developed almost from night to day have me falling in love with another facet of Sara I didn't know existed. As a new mother of twins she has risen to the challenge yet again and has surprised us all. Her resiliency has helped her weather the storms of extreme fatigue and sleelplessness while giving Audrey and Lucy the love and protection that makes them light up when she walks in the room.

Through it all she has made me one very lucky dad, a role that still seems too big for me to fill. I'm lucky to have her example inspire me to do my best.

Our first garden...

I am most excited about these herbs. I planted cilantro, two kinds of rosemary & sweet basil. I hear cilantro is hard to keep from shooting up flowers, so we'll see how I do. I love cilantro in salads and of course, in fresh salsa! I also found a recipe that is supposed to be like the rosemary bread from Macaroni Grill, which we love, so again I'm excited. Basil goes great on homemade pizza and I'm putting some in the lasagna German wants me to make him for Father's Day...oh yum. It's only 8:00am and I'm hungry for dinner!

I also planted some spearmint to put in our mate drink, German and I love the added flavor! Then a row of green bell peppers which incidentally, aren't looking too hot.

This is our flower bed in the front yard with a zuchinni plant in the middle. It needs to grow more, so it doesn't look so barren.

We share this part of the yard with our neighbors (the Bailey's), so we tried to make it match. More flowers and two little butternut squash plants.

Then in the backyard I planted four tomato plants. Two beefsteak tomato, one cherry tomato and one yellow tomato. I wanted to see if one does better in a pot...we'll see.

Last but not least, this lonely smooth pumpkin plant is doing quite well. I love homemade pumpkin pies made from real pumpkin.

Any tips or pointers would be much appreciated! I've been reading alot, but anyone who has some experience (good or bad) with growing these plants in Utah, please feel free to enlighten me. THANKS! I hope you are all enjoying summertime.

Tuesday twin tidbit

Today the girls kept me company outside while I finished planting some more flowers and herbs. This is my very first time having my own garden, so we'll see how it goes. I hope I can keep everything alive and maybe even harvest something edible. The girls love being outside and going on walks. I love it too, because they usually end up like this.

Lu and Me

Audrey is getting a top tooth, so she hasn't been napping too well. Yesterday she was acting tired, so I put her in her crib and she fell asleep pretty quickly. I didn't want Lucy to wake her, she's a bit noisy at first, so I put her on my chest and we laid on the couch together. She was quite squirmy for a little while, but then settled down. I was going to get up and put her in her crib, but I loved cuddling with her. She fell asleep and looked so cutie pahtootey--I was wishing for a camera within reach. I realized my phone was on the floor and I took a few pictures with it. Sorry the quality is so crappy, but I'm glad I captured the moment. She hasn't fallen asleep in my arms since she was 2 months old. I loved it! (She only slept 30 minutes, though and wouldn't go back to sleep. Needless to say she was a bit cranky later, but it was worth it.)

Tuesday twin tidbit

This is a story I read on Melissa Zuber's website and I thought it was hilarious. And I know it is long, but trust me it's worth it. It will be crazy fun when the girls start talking...

A 3-year-old tells all from his mother's restroom stall By Shannon Popkin

My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and does it quite well. He talks to people constantly, whether we're in the library,the grocery store or at a drive-thru window. People often comment on how clearly he speaks for just-turned-3-year-old. And you never have to ask him to turn up the volume. It's always fully cranked.There've been several embarrassing times that I've wished the meaning of his words would have been masked by a not-so-audible voice, but never have I wished this more than last week at Costco. Halfway, through our shopping trip, nature called, so I took Cade with me into the restroom. If you'd been one of the ladies in the restroom that evening, this is what you would have heard coming from the second to the last stall: "Mommy, are you gonna go potty? Oh! Why are you putting toiwet paper on the potty, Mommy? Oh! You gonna sit down on DA toiwet paper now? Mommy, what are you doing? Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?" At this point I started mentally counting how many women had been in the bathroom when I walked in. Several stalls were full .. 4? 5? Maybe we could wait until they all left before I had to make my debut out of this stall and reveal my identity. Cade continued, "Mommy, you ARE going stinkies aren'tyou? Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy! Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty? Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy! Oh ... Mommy! I'm trying to see in dere. Oh! I see dem. Dat is a very good girl,Mommy. You are gonna get some candy!" I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side of me. Where is a screaming newborn when you need her? Good grief. This was really getting embarrassing. I was definitely waiting a long time before exiting. Trying to divert him, I said, "Why don't you lookin Mommy's purse and see if you can find some candyWe'll both have some!" "No, I'm trying to see doze more stinkies. Oh! Mommy!" He started to gag at this point. "Uh oh, Mommy. I fink I'm gonna frow up. Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!! Dat is so gross!!" As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall. I quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject. I began to reason with myself: OK. There are four other toilets. If I count four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this embarrassing monologue will be long gone. "Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now? I want you to be done going stinkies! Get up! Get up!" He grunted as he tried to pull me off. Now I could hear full-blown laughter. I bent down to count thefeet outside my door. "Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy? You wooking under DA door? What were you wooking at, Mommy? You wooking at the wady's feet?" More laughter. I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess the situation. "Mommy, it's time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now,Mommy." He started pounding on the door. "Mommy, don't you want to wash your hands? I want to go out!!" I saw that my "wait 'em out" plan was unraveling I sheepishly opened the door, and found standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud. My first thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought, "Where's the fine print on the 'motherhoodcontract' where I signed away every bit of my dignity and privacy?" But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought, I'd sign it all away again, just to be known as Mommy to this little fellow.