Those two handsome tykes hanging out in the wagon are my fraternal twin nephews, Aydan and Brendan.  Mom, dad and I trekked down to Houston to meet them for the first time on Sunday.  And holy crap, it was awesome.

I’ve been trying to compose these words that I’m writing for two weeks, ever since my mom and dad found out that my older brother, David, was the father of two twin boys.  There’s not really any great way to tell the story of the how’s and the why’s and the when’s and the wtf’s of the past.  What I can tell you, however, is the story of now, the story of this Sunday past.

That’s Aydan with his mom, Jamie.  Jamie is an incredible person.  She juggles a full-time job and two almost-one year old babies on her own & she’s not just barely getting by.  During the 6 hours we spent with her in her home I was constantly blown away by what an amazing job she’s doing raising these two babies.  I mean, look at the way she’s looking at Aydan in that picture!  That smile–that full bore, 100%, to-the-max smile–is the same smile that spreads across her face every time she looks at those kids.  And it’s a contagious smile, too.  In fact, if that smile was any more permanent in her house, she’d have to label it.  I only say that because Jamie shares my affinity for obsessive organization.  Everything that takes up a semi-permanent presence in her house is labeled.  And I mean Everything.  Perhaps this is the secret to maintaining your sanity whilst raising twin boys on your own.  I’ll see if I can get a study group together for that.

This is Brendan.  He has blue eyes.  After both families spilled out a verbal Brief History of Eyecolor, my mom hit cloud 9 when it was decided that perhaps she was the person who donated to Brendan the Blue Eyes Gene.  Grandmothers are made happy quite easily, I’ve learned.

Here’s mom holding Aydan.  This picture was taken about 5 minutes after we saw the boys for the very first time.  I was proud of mom’s restraint.  In this photo I’ve captured her resisting the carnal urge to gobble some baby cheeks.  Her lack of gobbling didn’t stop the oogling, though.  Ooooh, baby cheeks are delicious.

Dad, as you can tell here, was equally as elated as my mom about the babies.  Dad tends to look pretty sober in pictures; he’s not a big ’smile for the camera’ kind of a guy.  On Sunday I (easily) doubled the number of photos that exist on this planet of my father smiling.  It wasn’t hard–he didn’t stop smiling all day long.  Aydan’s pulling his hair in this one, and Brendan is looking at me to make sure I capture the greatness of his brother grabbing Grandpa’s hair with my camera.  He’s very advanced that way.  He knows that good tricks are made better by capturing them on film.

And that’s me and Aydan.  And we’re both really, really happy.

Rocky Mountain Camp 999 will have a member meeting on November 11, 2009 at 5:30 PM at the home office.  Our home office is located at 8000 East Maplewood Ave., Suite 105; Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111.  We are also making this meeting available by teleconference if you are not able to attend in person.  Contact Michaela Franklin, Consul Commander, for dial-in instructions.  Her email address is mfranklin@denverwoodmen.com.

Agenda

Minutes of our previous meeting as well as the Banker’s report can be found at the bottom of the side panel of this Blog.

Upcoming Events

Woodmen’s Denver Fall Food Drive

Our Denver Fall Food Drive will take place Wednesday, November 11, 2009.  Drop off your non-perishable food items to the home office and they will be delivered to the Rocky Mountain Food Food Bank in Denver.  We are having a luncheon for all participants of the food drive at noon on Wednesday, November 11 so let Jerry Christensen know if you plan to attend the luncheon (if you have not done so already).  Jerry’s email address is jlc@denverwoodmen.com.

Operation Christmas Child 

Once again, Rocky Mountain Camp 999 is participating in Operation Christmas Child as its Operation Santa’s Elves campaign for Woodmen of the World/Assured Life Association.  Operation Christmas Child is a worldwide outreach program of Samaritans Purse.  During the months of November and December, gift-filled shoe boxes are collected and distributed to hurting children around the world.  Rocky Mountain Camp 999 is collecting shoe boxes to be dropped off at the home office before noon on December 3.

Here is how to pack a shoe box, complete with gift ideas.

Members of Rocky Mountain Camp 999 are also volunteering at the OCC processing center on Thursday, Decembre 3, 2009 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM.  Be sure to let Michaela know if you are interested in volunteering.  Michaela’s email address is mfranklin@denverwoodmen.com.

Yes, we just got through Halloween and are still chowing down the remnants left behind from that holiday.  And we have yet to get through Thanksgiving; will it be turkey or ham!  But the Holidays are approaching and as we think about how we can help make the Christmas Holidays special for those in need, especially children, we have to bring up the “H” word now.

Operation Santa’s Elves is a national campaign sponsored by Woodmen of the World and/or Assured Life Association to help bring the joy of Christmas and Santa to the lives of needy children right in our own neighborhoods.  These economic times have created more need among families unable to provide their children with Christmas gifts than ever before; enter, Operation Santa’s Elves! 

The Committee of Fraternal Affairs and Woodmen/Assured Life invite you to participate in Operation Santa’s Elves by seeking out a local organization or program that assists in providing Christmas gifts to kids that would not otherwise receive anything for Christmas.  Regardless of the program or its name, we want to count it towards Operation Santa’s Elves. 

For many members and camps/lodges, these are projects that we do every year.  However, when we compile them into one nationwide report, the impact that we make as a Society becomes larger than life and can be shared by all of us.   It becomes more than just one individual’s or camp’s/lodge’s act of kindness.  We are taken beyond ourselves and our community to other cities and states. 

Take the national fall food drive for example.  What Jenny and I did seems very small when looked at individually; our neighborhood drive resulted in only 37 pounds of food collected.  But when included in our national efforts, our 37 pounds of food grew to 741 pounds.  Not to mention the food provided by monetary donations!  It really is true; every little bit helps.  So, please help us with Operation Santa’s Elves and let’s see what we can accomplish together.

Online Resources – Click on the Logos

“Although SantaSearch and Operation SantaSearch do not supply gifts directly, we do try to put you in contact with agencies that can assist you.”

“The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.”

Operation Christmas Child began in the United States in 1993 with 28,000 shoe box gifts.  Since that time, more than 69 million shoe box gifts have been hand-delivered to needy children in more than 130 countries.   Fill a shoe box with personal gifts, school supplies, candy, necessity items, family photos and notes of encouragement and drop them off at a location near you.  Here is how to pack a shoe box.  Find the nearest drop-off location here.

The Adopt-A-Family (AAF) program matches impoverished families with individual or group sponsors to provide for their tangible needs at Christmas. Without the benefit of an adoption, these families would be looking forward to a very grim holiday. Being adopted is designed to be a once or, on very rare occasions, twice in a lifetime event for recipient families.

Reporting Operation Santa’s Elves Projects

Whatever you do, Report The Results of Your Event or Activity!  Even on an individual member basis.  We want to hear about it.  Let’s share how we got involved!  You can even share by posting a comment to this Blog.  We have two ways you can report:

1. Download a Paper Report Here
2. Report Online

So, please help us network on ideas and projects.  The resources posted in this Blog are by no means the only projects out there that qualify for Woodmen/Assured Life’s Operation Santa’s Elves.  Post a comment about organizations that you know of in your area and let’s work together to bring Christmas and Santa into the lives of those kids and their families that are hurting right now.

From All of Us at Woodmen of the World and/or Assured Life Association

Happy Holidays!!

We are well into the Fall season heading straight for the Holidays!  Ok, so maybe I am the first to mention the H word.  But it is true and they will be here (the Holidays that is) before we know it.  So, here is the latest on a couple of initiatives for Woodmen of the World and/or Assured Life Association.

National Member Fall Food Drive

We have had a slow start to our national fall food drive; at least based upon the reports that we have received thus far.  To date we have distributed 177 pounds of food to local food banks as well as $250 in donations; thanks to our growth ring matching gift program.  This represents 8.43% of our goal to collect and distribute 2,100 pounds of food to local food banks/pantries.  Please help us reach our goal and don’t forget to report back to the home office.  Click on the National Member Fall Food Drive tab at the top of this Blog for details, reporting forms and ideas.  You can even report online quickly and painlessly. 

Neighborhood Fall Food Drive

Jenny and I conducted a neighborhood food drive.  We distributed flyers to all the residents on our street and asked them to participate by placing a bag of food on their front porch/stoop for collection the following week.  Click Here to see the flyer that we used.  If you would like the home office to design a similar flyer for your use, we would be happy to do so.  Our collection resulted in 37 pounds of food for our local food bank in Castle Rock, Colorado.  Due to a death in the family, our collection was postponed 1 week which affected our results.  I am sure your results will be better. 

SocialVibe Results

Our online poll resulted in 33% of respondents wanting to support the Children’s Miracle Network on our Blog.  21% preferred the American Red Cross and 17% like Stand Up 2 Cancer.  We may share the wealth among these top vote getters, but we will start with the Children’s Miracle Network.  Help us support this great organization by clicking on “Click Here to Help for Free” on the SocialVibe badge to the left of this Blog.  You will select some word choices to compose a fun little story.  When you ckick on submit, Colgate Smile will make a small donation to the Children’s Miracle Network.

Upcoming Benefit Deadlines

National Scholarship Program – March 15, 2010 – Click Here for Guidelines and Application

Summer Camp Grant Program – May 15, 2010 – Click Here for Application

We had a good local ministers’ fraternal yesterday, though I wish we could drop the use of the word ‘fraternal’.

I felt a little like the odd one out, being the only non-Anglican in the group. But it was great to spend time with the new rector, and I’m glad to report that his soup is up to the usual high standard expected by fraternal members.

And I’m glad that it seems we’re going to focus more on mission in the months to come. That’s good news!

This is cool!  I am learning more and more about blogging and the various tools and applications that are available to give our Blog a positive vibe!  Woodmen of the World and/or Assured Life Association is all about helping others and the communities in which we do business.  Now, that has gotten even easier through SocialVibe.

SocialVibe is a widget (a blogging term for tool or application) which we can add to the DenverWoodmen Blog that allows us to raise money for the charitable cause of our choice (from a list provided) by partnering with a paying brand sponsor.  It doesn’t cost us anything, nor does it cost anything to you, the reader.  The way it works is that each time one of our readers clicks to complete a sponsor activity, that brand sponsor will make a micro-donation to our cause without any obligation.  Pretty cool.  So now the question becomes – “What Cause?”

Here are some of our choices:

American Diabetes Association – self explanatory

World Food Programme - Aims to raise awareness and funds for hungry childen around the world, with an emphasis on those 59 million children who go to school hungry every day, and end global hunger. 

Stand Up 2 Cancer - is a new movement to attack cancer oce and for all by pushing promising scientific breakthroughs to the finish.

Chilren’s Miracle Network - is pretty well known to many of us, but they raise funds for children’s hospitals.

American Red Cross - self explanatory

IAVA - addresses critical issues facing new Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and their families, including mental health, Traumatic Brain Injury, a stretched VA system, inadequate health coverage  for national guardsmen and reservists, and outdated GI Bill educational benefits.

Here’s your assignment.  Complete the poll below to help us decide which cause should recieve our support.  Click on the names above to learn more about those charities you are not familiar with.

The United Grand Lodge of England’s website has had a pretty professional-looking redesign. It’s much more accessible to the non-mason and spells out, in a more articulate, eye-catching and , above all, contemporary way, what we are about.

Ok…so we aren’t suggesting by the title of this Blog that you actually fling food.  At least not in the literal sense.  We don’t want to encourage a food fight!  Or do we?  You know, a friendly competition among Woodmen of the World and/or Assured Life Association camps/lodges and individual members may benefit our new national member event taking place from September 1, 2009 through October 31, 2009.

From Fall Fling to Fall Food Drive

Everywhere you look remnants of the current economic conditions can be seen and felt.  Our society experienced it first hand with low registrations/interest for the San Diego Fall Fling.  So low, in fact, that the Board of Directors decided to cancel the event and directed management to come up with an alternative national member event that will accommodate members’ fraternal gathering and sharing, yet limit their financial commitment to participate.  So we are bringing the national member event directly to you and your community.  No travel required!  Just a little imagination and planning on your part.

National Member Fall Food Drive

September 1, 2009-October 31, 2009

Utilization of local food banks/pantries throughout the country is on the rise as more and more Americans lose their jobs.  Food Banks/Pantries are in desperate need of food donations and we have yet to hit the holiday season when food drives and donations are most popular.  For this reason, we have moved our national member event focus from the Fall Fling to the Fall Food Drive!!

Join us in this national member event and plan a food drive for your local food bank/pantry.  Be creative.  It will be more fun and it will benefit your neighborhood, community, town or city.  The Society will give national recognition to the camp/lodge and the individual member that donates the most food.

Our national goal is based on 2% of our total membership of around 21,000 members.  That involves 420 members and if we assume 5 pounds of food for each of those 420 members, we will have collected 2,100 pounds of food.  Help us achieve our goal and get involved today!  Get your camp/lodge involved.

Need some ideas?  Click Here for some fun ideas for your event. 

Finally,  whatever you do, Report The Results of Your Event!  Keep track of the number of pounds of food and other items that you collect; even if you are one member donating food, we want to hear about it.  Make sure you share how you got involved!  We have two ways you can report:

1. Downloadable Reporting Form 
2. Report Online.   

Also, TAKE PICTURES and send them to the home office for inclusion in The Pacific Woodman magazine and future DenverWoodmen Blog.

Remember Matching Gifts Programs

Camps/Lodges.   Remember the Camp/Lodge matching gifts program as you consider your participation in the National Member Fall Food Drive!  If your camp/lodge has not used its full $1,000 allowance for the matching gifts program for this year, you should consider making a financial donation to your local food bank/pantry and the Society will match up to your camp’s/lodge’s unused matching gift balance.  This is a great way to make a financial impact as well as donating food!  Click Here for the Camp/Lodge Matching Gift Request Form.

Benefit Members.  Remember the Growth Ring Matching Gift program as you consider your participation in the National Member Fall Food Drive!  If you are a benefit member and have not used your $50 matching gifts yet this year, you should consider making an individual financial donation to your local food bank or pantry and the Society will match up to $50 of it.  Click Here for the Growth Ring Matching Gift Request Form.

What a huge success our Child Rescue Foundation Pencil Project was!!  Thank you all who donated to this worthy cause.  Together we donated 20 backpacks each filled with school supplies as well as additional miscellaneous school supplies and four boxes of 3-ringed binders!  Great job!!  For our first time supporting this this very special project, we count it among our successes.

This morning, Executive Director and Founder of Child Rescue Foundation, Inc., Joanne Kappel (pictured here with Michaela Franklin, RMC 999 Consul Commander on the left and Deborah West, RMC 999 Banker on the right), picked up the supplies we had gathered.  This organization exists and runs solely on the volunteer efforts of their staff and all those who volunteer their time in support of this organization.  Child Rescue Foundation, Inc. reaches over 15,000 children per year through its various projects.  The Pencil Project alone impacts over 900 kids.  So, those of you that donated to our drive can take pride in knowing that your donation will go directly to a child today and immediately impact their life.  Great job, Rocky Mountain Camp 999 and other Means-Knaus tenants.

By use of the title “Share the Wealth,” I am not suggesting a program like Huey Long’s Share Our Wealth (a.k.a. Share the Wealth). My concern with this particular entry is not the redistribution of wealth or capping ones personal wealth. It is about sharing the wealth we have with those that are less fortunate, or with those charitable organizations that capture our individual passions.

Growth Ring Matching Gifts Program
Woodmen of the World/Assured Life Association helps our members give back or share the wealth through the Growth Ring Matching Gifts program; planting seeds of growth. The Society matches up to $50 of a benefit member’s financial donation to a charitable organization. Click Here for a request form and guidelines. Remember, you must be a benefit member (a certificate-holder) of Woodmen of the World/Assured Life Association. Donations must be given to entities recognized by the IRS as existing for religious, charitable, scientific, literary or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children and animals. Funds are limited, so get your request form in as soon as possible.

Service
As one of the cornerstones of Woodmen of the World and/or Assured Life Association, Service gives us all an opportunity to think and live outside of ourselves; people helping people, or sharing the wealth.  

Service is manifested in so many ways; whether it is to volunteer at a fund-raising or community service event, or contribute financially to a worthy cause.  We hope that as a member of Woodmen of the World/Assured Life Association, you are engaging in service to others or a favorite non-profit organization. We would like to hear about it. Share with others how you are engaged in service to others. You may inspire others to action! That is what this Blog is all about; inspiring each other by sharing ideas and programs.

This is a must read for new members of the Blue Lodge. There is a lot to learn as new Masons and I hope this helps a little. I am sure that if you ask a fellow brother any questions they will help you on your journey, remember we are here to make good men better do not be afraid to ask questions.

A link that discusses a little on a some terminology when in lodge hope this helps some of the new Masons.

This video link tells a good story about Masonry in general and how we have changed please give it a watch.

Paternal and fraternal handiwork. They lead us by the hand and we are all supposed to join hands. But I remain unconvinced that society is one big happy family.

I am not sure where this year has gone, but here we are approaching the end of summer and embarking on fall activities. One of those activities is the San Diego Fall Fling.

We have received only 2 registration forms for the event and the deadline for registrations is August 17, 2009. There are members who have indicated that they will be attending, but we have not received their registration form as of this date. Yours truly is one of them!! We are a procrastinating membership for some reason… If you are like me, are planning to attend this national member event, and have not completed your registration, please do so before the August 17, 2009 deadline. If you have not made a decision, please consider this a personal invitation to join us in San Diego.  It will prove to be a great time had by all! 

And Remember the Children’s Book Drive

If sunny Southern California is not enough to make a decision on attending the San Diego Fall Fling, how about good ol’ fashioned fraternalism?  Members attending the event are asked to bring a new or slightly used children’s book to be donated to The Bookman of San Diego. Books will be collected during the reception on Friday evening of the event. Join us for a great time in San Diego!

We received our first backpacks in support of our Child Rescue Pencil Project.  Remember, we will be collecting school supplies until August 15, 2009, so you still have time to participate. Follow the link to the Child Rescue Foundation Pencil Project for more information and a wish list for 3 different age categories.  Please bring your school supplies to the home office and we will deliver them to the Child Rescue Foundation.

We have also posted the draft minutes of the last meeting as well as a current Banker’s Report for your review.  An email notice will be sent for our next Camp meeting.  Hope you are enjoying your summer!

Welcome RMC 999 Members!

Hey!  Welcome to Rocky Mountain Camp 999’s new blog!  We will use this venue to share news and events with members of RMC 999.  We also have the capability to post member polls whereby we can vote on a project or idea online.  We hope that each of you will share ideas for future projects and events so that we can all have the benefit to comment and respond. 

Child Rescue Foundation’s Pencil Project

We will be collecting school supplies for the Child Rescue Foundation’s Pencil Project during the month of July.  We will close the collection process on August 15, 2009, so you have until then to participate.  Follow the link to the Child Rescue Foundation Pencil Project in the text of this blog for more information and a wish list.  Please bring your school supplies to the home office and we will deliver them to the Child Rescue Foundation.  Thank you all for your support of this project.

Take a Poll

Thank you for the kind words regarding our Blog!  Like Chuck Cloud, I hope we can use this Blog to share ideas and thoughts, talk about our Society, promote community service and volunteering….. or even take a poll.  I see from a few of the comments that you will be attending the San Diego Fall Fling.  How about taking a poll so we can see how many will be taking in the fun in the San Diego sun?!  Vote below by selecting your answer and then click the vote button.

“United We Serve”

On Monday, June 22nd, President Obama kicked-off an initiative known as “United We Serve.”  Now whether you agree with President Obama’s policies or not, he has stepped into our arena with this new initiative which the White House is launching in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service.  United We Serve is ”encouraging Americans to create meaningful change in their communities by engaging in service.”  Hello!  That is what we are all about.  Our Camps/Lodges have been doing this for over a century now!!   United We Serve will run from June 22nd through September 11, 2009.  All the tools for participating in this initiative can be found at Serve.gov.  Check it out!!  There are suggestions for projects and getting started.  The areas of focus for United We Serve is education, health, energy, the environment and community renewal.

Now is the time to act.  Get your camp/lodge going on planning a project, or you take on a project or community service on your own.  Please use the comment feature of this blog to share some project ideas with other members.  Whatever you do, please follow up by letting us know what you are planning and when.

Attention all members of Woodmen of the World and/or Assured Life Association!!   Join us for our first biennial national member event; The San Diego Fall Fling.  The event will be held at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort and Spa in Coronado, California October 29, 30 and 31, 2009.  We have negotiated a fantastic room rate and have a number of great activities to choose from.

• Visit the world famous San Diego Zoo
• Spend some time at the sensational SeaWorld
• Tour the oldest operating winery in the area, and enjoy wine-tasting and lunch — did we mention there would be wine-tasting?
• Tour the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier and Museum to get a taste of life at sea aboard one of America’s longest-serving aircraft carriers.

Click Here for a Registration Form

Hello Everyone! Enormous thanks go to our wonderful MoM’s who have agreed to “try out” for HDYDI! We are beyond thrilled that so many of you are reading along with us, and we hope you enjoy our contest week. Please vote for the author you would like to hear more from, as the authors with the most votes at 12:00am Eastern Time on Sunday, June 7th, will be invited to write for HDYDI. Enjoy and PLEASE VOTE!

Our story begins with two Aggies meeting on E*Harmony in 2005, and getting married in February 2006.  We started our family early; we had our first child in August 2006. While still getting use to our first son we were pregnant again.  Thinking nothing of it I went to the doctor to find out that we were having spontaneous triplets.  So I carried our triplets for 36 weeks 6 days and had the perfect pregnancy with no complication or limitations put upon me. Four months later we were pregnant again with our last child.  So if you are asking yourself, “I do not think they know how that happens!”  We do and we finally decided that we would have 20 children unless we had surgery to prevent that from happening.  So we are a family of 7 with 5 children under the age of 3.  When our children were small we called them the “zoo” because they were gated in our house.  Now that they are older we call them the “safari” because they roam my house.  You can find our adventures, experiences, and the confessions of a tired mother on our blog: The Wilcoxson’s.

After we found out that we were having triplets there were several things that went through our mind, one of them being that we could not logically escape being a minivan family.  With that dilemma out of the way we had to find a stroller.  We decided that we would get a triplet stroller and still have our single stroller as well.  The nice thing about strollers is that you have some protection from the public and some warning when the grandmother or curious mother gets too close to the stroller.  What happens when the stroller is no longer an option or something that your child dreads?

With our oldest almost 3 and the triplets turning 2 they are at the stage where they no longer want to be strapped into the stroller, but want some of the freedom that comes with being in a family with singletons.  With that want and need for independence my husband and I had to find a way to give that desire to our children.  Independence was not going to come at the cost of safety though.  Holding hands was not an option because my husband and I do not have enough hands.  We like to tell people that we cannot play man-on-man with our children but zone defense.  So the searching began. 

There was an option for leashes, but I could see that in the newspaper: “Mother of 5 decides to walk her children like a dog walker.”  We did not need anymore attention than we already receive when we are in public.  Then one day I was looking at educational toys on the internet and found the solution.  With a little engineering and some common sense we were going to make this work for us.  You see I found a toy for beading animals or cars at One Step Ahead.

We decided that a rope with 5 animals on it would do the trick.  So my husband and I ordered the beads, got some nylon rope and decided that we were going to put the tractor and the barn at the end so that mommy and daddy could have a bead as well.  Each child gets an animal and then there is a loop for their hand when they get older and do not want to hold onto the animal any longer.

After we put our “leash” together we had to try it out before we went into public with it.  For about three weeks we walked to the mail box and around our street to get the kids use to the walking together and the distractions around them.  Then we moved up to using it at church for about a month.  Now my kids will not go anywhere unless they know that the animals are in the bag.  I am so proud of them because they do not let the animal go unless we give them permission and they do not let other people distract them from the “mission” at hand.

I have found that as our children grow older the independence and freedom that their singleton friends have will take some strategic planning on our part to give them the same freedom or a resemblance of that freedom.  No matter if we are in a stroller or walking we will always attract attention and people looking on like we are aliens from another planet because we have more than our normal quota of children in our society. 

Post #2: I Have Two Turning Three, by Alix

Alix is mother to nearly-three-year-old identical twin boys, Nathan and Max.  She spends her time in one of the following ways:  working from home (read: balancing her lap top in one hand while reading Cool Cars for the forty-seventh time while simultaneously microwaving leftovers for dinner), staying up late (read:  loading dishes and folding three hundred size-3T tee shirts), and relaxing (read: actually sitting down while the boys run circles through the house).  Luxurious, it is not.  But fun?  Oh, yeah! Alix works part-time, mostly from home and shares child care with her husband, a university professor.

I found out I was having identical twins at 9 weeks.  Just for the record, this is not a post about the always-humorous but repetitive “I fainted on the ultrasound table!” or “My husband threw up on the ultrasound tech!”.  Or even, “I thought I was having a heart attack!” (O.K., I actually did briefly think I was having one, but that’s for another post).  However, I will say that for the most part, the weeks following this very unexpected news are now a total blur.  One of the few distinct memories I have from that period is of my mother-in-law saying to me, “I’ve gathered that parents of twins say the first three years are the hardest.”  She wasn’t saying this in a patronizing way.  On the contrary, I think she felt a bit of the overwhelming sense of awe and fear that I’m sure I was feeling (but can’t really remember now).  THREE YEARS?? That moment I do remember.  That moment is stamped so clearly in my mind I can actually remember the glare of the fluorescent kitchen light overhead as I tried to absorb this concept (and, of course, failed).  Who can absorb three years??

Fast-forward to May 2009.  My identical twin boys, Max and Nathan, will be turning three in one month.  This is definitely not a post about how everything has suddenly become efficient, peaceful and orderly in our home, nor is it a post about how I pine for those oh-so-difficult-yet-magical early days with two babies (really, I don’t, but again, that is for another post).  Rather, this is a post about the evolution of our family, and the ever-changing challenges of raising two boys born on the same day.

My husband and I spent the first year or so reminding each other that the boys would eventually sleep through the night (they did), they would actually use the bathroom and thus eliminate the need for refrigerator-sized boxes of Costco diapers (again, they did) and would become more independent (still waiting on that but optimistic).  And at every point, we were surprised that the things we waited so eagerly for happened so quickly that we only remembered how eagerly we awaited their arrival after the fact.  I have no idea if this is the same for parents of singletons, but certainly we were so busy and exhausted that all sorts of things in our household were only noticed after the fact (lack of clean laundry, groceries, gasoline in the car, etc.).

The second year of the boys’ lives, the death grip of exhaustion lessened.  I was still nursing, but only in the mornings and before bed, which felt incredibly liberating compared to the hours I’d spent nursing every day during the first year.  The boys were now sleeping, eating regular food, and walking.  Somehow, though, people seemed to think that life must have gotten a lot easier for me than it really had.  People would stop me and say, “Wow, that first year with two must really have been rough, eh?”.  Or, “I bet you feel lucky to have survived that first year!”.  And as I madly chased after two toddling boys incessantly moving from one source of danger to another (and often in opposite directions), I thought to myself, “What the hell??  I’m still just surviving here, people!  Isn’t that obvious?!”  And my mother-in-law’s words came back to haunt me. 

And I knew then, I just had to make it to three.

And here we are.

I decided to host a birthday gathering for the boys, their first big celebration of this sort.  They are really excited to have a party, and I realize that I am, too.  I feel as though this celebration is for all of us.  We have made it this far.  We got to three.  We got to three!!

The boys’ third year will, I know, bring its own round of challenges.  The boys will start preschool in the fall and my husband and I are finding it hard to imagine not having them running through the house trailing laughter and chaos all day long.  This will be a big transition for all of us, one of many.  I remember a parent of twins saying to me, “The days pass so slowly, the months and years, so quickly.”  So true. 

Three, here we come.  I think we’re ready.

Post #3, By Sarah

My name is Sarah and I’m a mid-thirties mother of four.   After a seemingly normal full-term pregnancy, my first baby, Abigail, was born sleeping in June 2006.  In an odd twist of fate, I became pregnant with spontaneous identical triplets a few months after Abigail’s death.  Against the odds, the girls were delivered at 35 weeks, 6 days gestation.  I work full time in the wonderful world of tax and enjoy photography, writing and running in my very limited free time.  I currently blog about our daily craziness at http://thegreatumbrellaheist.blogspot.com/

Today, as I pushed over sixty pounds of toddler in our triple jogging stroller, I thought of that common question asked of parents of multiples everywhere.  When does it get easier?  If you peruse any message board for caregivers of twins, triplets and more, you will see that question asked over and over and the response is usually the same.  It doesn’t get easier.  It just gets different.  So now, as I listen to my three toddlers scream in their cribs because going to bed is such torture, I really do wonder when it will get easier.  My husband, Rich, and I have told ourselves that the magic age will be five.   It seems better than choosing three or four and then being disappointed and I don’t think I can make it to seven or eight. 

We moved into our current home approximately 18 months ago.  The girls, who were 6 months old at the time, began to share a bedroom.  It was a new experience for all of us.  My husband and I debate the room sharing situation on what feels like a daily basis.  We can discuss and theorize all we want – the hard truth is that our standard builder’s special only has 3.5 bedrooms.  The .5 room is an office and seeing as Grammy, my mom, sleeps over quite a bit, we only thought it appropriate to give her a bedroom.  That leaves us with three girls in one room.

I have good friends who are twins and they shared a bedroom until their early 20’s.  I remember being slightly jealous of their camaraderie because I was not lucky enough to have a sister.  I have convinced myself, through a sleep deprived thought process, that once the girls are older, they will enjoy sharing a room.  I expect there to be a lot of comforting going on.  You know what I mean.  One of them wakes up afraid of the dark and her sister will tell her that it’s okay.  Okay, maybe if I believe hard enough, it will happen.

When the girls were about 18 months old, we pushed their three cribs together to form a big square in the middle of the room.  We thought it would be fun for them to share books and dollies during that wind down period prior to falling asleep.  For the most part, this crib configuration worked out.   We experienced a few incidents of book stealing and book tossing.  And by book tossing, I’m referring to a book landing on someone (possibly on the head) while she is sleeping.  It’s not very pleasant – I can assure you.  But then there was the night that I crept into their room to check on them and found Emily and Allie holding hands through the crib slats, asleep.  My heart just about burst open.

We, unfortunately, separated their cribs last month after I caught Allie pulling Anna’s hair.  The girls didn’t complain too much about the new set-up – not that they really could, anyway.  We were hoping that having some space between them would lessen the number of times that they awaken each other.  It hasn’t.

Of course, having the girls share a room means that there is a constant source of entertainment for us when listening in on their conversations.  The latest phase is Allie, the oldest of the three by 30 seconds, telling her sisters to go to sleep.  That’s exactly how she says it.  “Emmy, go to sleep.”  You see, although my girls are genetically identical, their sleep habits are not.  Allie seems to require and/or want more sleep than Emily.  Anna, the middle child, varies.  Allie has decided that the other two should conform to her sleep schedule.  

So back to when does it get easier.  At six o’clock Sunday morning, an alarm went off in the girls’ room.  We keep a sound machine and a Bose CD player in there and apparently, one of the girls accidentally set the alarm while they were “exploring” their room before either nap or bed.  And by alarm, I mean the annoying beeping kind.  Rich ran in there to turn it off and optimistically thought he could sneak out unnoticed.  I listened to events unfold over the monitor from the warmth and comfort of my bed.  Rich picked up Emily, who was the first to spot him, hoping to prevent her from awakening the other two.  Anna started in on one of her uncontrollable crying jags while Allie yelled, “Anna, go to sleep.”

In some sense, life is easier, although different, now.  It is far easier for one adult to care for three toddlers versus three infants.  When mornings such as these occur, my husband and I take turns napping.  I can nap at any point during the day so I always offer Rich the first adult nap slot and I take the next one.

And yes, at almost 26 months old, my girls still sleep in their cribs without crib tents.  I am blissfully unaware of any attempts of crib escape.  Believe me, they will be sleeping in those cribs for as long as possible.

Do your multiples share a room?  If they do share a room and you had the resources, would you separate them? 

Post #4: Best-Laid Plans, by Jen from Diagnosis: Urine

I’m a freelance writer, and mom to a 6-year-old, 4-year-old twin boys, and a 2-year-old. I worked full-time until February 2007, and since then we’ve relocated for a job, lost that job, experienced unemployment, and have lived to tell about it. My blog, diagnosisurine.blogspot.com, is an attempt at entertaining people with my angst over transitioning from breadwinner and go-getter to stay-at-home mom to a tiny quartet of destruction.

Like many others before me, I was at my most knowledgeable during my first pregnancy. I had researched it all. I had a birth plan, an infancy plan, and a toddlerhood plan.

But, alas, “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men…” You can guess how long my plans lasted.

Having twins two years later was like my first go-‘round all over again. I relearned everything, from the mechanics of breastfeeding to the mechanics of folding the double stroller. I did it while working full-time, mostly from home, while caring for a 2-year-old as well.

A baby’s cuteness blinds people to the reality of caring for a newborn. “Enjoy every minute of it!” kindly grandmothers admonish in the grocery store, and you smile and nod but fight back tears thinking of how very tired you are, and how the baby only sleeps when you’re out of the house, and how the longest stretch of sleep you’ve had in a week, is 30 minutes.

The baby-blindness goes double for twins. I remember getting a lot of, “Oh! You’re so blessed!” But I didn’t feel especially blessed. My boys were healthy and for that I was grateful, but in all honesty we’d tried for one baby, and we couldn’t afford two. I spent the twins’ first year steeped in guilt for all the times they cried and I could only comfort one of them, for the times I snapped at my daughter, for the way my marriage and the housework were neglected, and for the concessions my employer and coworkers had made for me.

When people saw me out with three kids under three and said, with a chuckle, “It only gets worse!” I wanted to cry or smack them, depending on the day.

I’m here to tell you the truth: It does get better.

My twin boys are four now. My oldest daughter is six, and we even added a fourth – our youngest daughter is two. I work for myself now, so I get to stay home and figure out my own hours. It is worlds easier than our lives were four, three, or two years ago.

Now, because I’m here to tell you the truth, I’ll also admit that it still sucks sometimes. There are speech delays, potty training crises, typical childhood phobias and obsessions that are only magnified by the presence of four children experiencing them simultaneously under one roof. Yes, there are days I hate this.

Today, for example, wasn’t out of the ordinary, but I’m three hours past the deadline for submitting this post. There were fevers and diarrhea and encounters with neighborhood dogs and trampolines, and minor squabbles and tricycle jousting, and that was in the course of about an hour. I do the best I can. Most of us do. Sometimes my best involves a “teachable moment” and a cute blog post with pictures, and other days it turns into me growling at the kids, each word punctuated with brief, terse silence; followed by a blog post lamenting my numerous failures.

So, in case this is the only post of mine you ever read – especially since I am late and will be lucky to be included at all – please know that it does get better. I promise you, what you go through during the newborn and toddler years with your twins is exhausting and punishing and of course it’s worth it, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. And it’s not 18 years away.

This whole story somehow sounded unbelievable because Ajay is in Goa alone while his wife Kajol and six-year-old daughter Nysa have flown to Germany for one of Kajol’s close friend’s marriage. To know that despite being a bachelor for the time being Ajay stuck to a 10pm bed routine came as a bit of a shock.

Until recently, Ajay Devgan was known for his nocturnal adventures and now actually he hits the bed by 10pm every night. Even when he is
shooting outdoors, like he is currently for his home production All The Best – Fun Unlimited in Goa, unit hands staying in the same hotel as him insist that the actor-producer has dinner by 9pm and heads for his bed exactly an hour later.

When the actor was poked in for the for the reason, he revealed a innocent story.

Ajay explained that at home he is the one who puts his daughter Nysa to bed every night.

“I have two drinks and then I spend some time playing with Nysa and see her off to bed. Once Nysa is asleep, I have my third drink, eat dinner, watch some television and then go to bed. However, off late
his six year-old angel has been insisting that he should have dinner with her and sleep immediately. Many times I just skip the third drink. In recent months I have started eating my dinner at 9pm after
which I read for an hour to Nysa. After reading to Nysa for an hour, I automatically fall asleep with her. Even when she is not around, I start yawning at 9pm and I just tell whoever I am with to please excuse me because I can’t stay up post-10pm,” said Ajay.

The adoring father is indeed a transformed man now..and the credit lies with the little angel of his.

Amigos…

Às vezes vivemos uma vida, que muitos podem dizer que é muito monótona, pois estamos presos á muitos valores que a maioria das pessoas acha ser correta, vocês devem estar se perguntando por que eu estou falando sobre isso, pergunto á vocês: Seria capaz um homem amar duas mulheres com a mesma intensidade com qual ele amaria apenas uma?

Muitas pessoas diriam que não, pois é difícil amar apenas uma, mas tenho uma revelação a fazer para vocês, no meu caso eu consigo sim. No inicio quando conheci minha nova amada, foi muito legal, nos conhecemos e fomos a cada dia mais nos aproximando e logo senti dentro de mim uma coisa que há muito tempo não sentia por outra mulher, um sentimento tão intenso que só sinto pela minha esposa.

Posso dizer hoje a todos vocês, que amo de paixão minhas duas amadas, sem fazer diferenciação de nenhuma delas, sinto como se fossemos apenas um, adoro fazer amor com elas, de beijar as suas bocas e amo de paixão quando estamos juntos, seja assistindo um filme ou simplesmente só de estarmos juntos é maravilhoso.

Hoje me sinto um homem realizado, sou muito feliz com minhas amadas e gostaria de deixar uma mensagem a vocês caros leitores e amigos:

Aproveitem cada minuto de suas vidas, vivam intensamente, amem e deixe amar, seja com uma mulher ou homem ou os dois, não importa, o que realmente importa é ser feliz.

Deixo aqui também um grande declaração de amor ás minhas amadas com um trecho dessa música:

“Eu sei que vou te amar, por toda minha eu vou te amar…”

Amo vocês minhas lindas…

Esse é um pequeno texto que compartilho com vocês, logo voltarei contando mais de nossas aventuras, Aguardem…