Teamwork

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Today was the mardi gras parade at the kids' school. Beads, beads, beads! Who can't have fun with beads? A good time was had by all.

The boys' class led off the parade. Here Ella and Charlie are making some music to start things off.

Anna and Joseph are tooting their horns too


Will and Christopher led off for their class

Helen was checking things out during the parade

Will and Helen were happy when the parade was over and they got to hang out with Mom and Dad. Actually, though, they were much better than Charlie and Joseph were at their age. The boys always immediately cried when they saw us. Will and Helen said hi, and kept on walking through the parade!


Joseph is showing off his mask


Charlie is enjoying himself


Where can I get more beads, Daddy?

The kids in the boys' class were tossing them from the balcony!

Never mind, I would rather just hang out with Daddy anyway

Makes My Monday

Target now has a great dollar aisle. No, that's not what makes my Monday -- although I do really love Target. Anyway . . . one day I picked up two sets of flashcards of the U.S. states in that dollar aisle, and put them in a "toy bag" full of cheap toys that we used to keep for an elaborate, long-abandoned system that we had in place to reward good behavior. Those cards have been sitting in that toy bag for well over a year.

The other day, the boys found them. I would not let them play with them (visions of one hundred cards strewn all over our house), but told them they could take them on the airplane when we flew to go skiing. They did, and they played with them the entire time they were in Ruidoso. On the return trip, Charlie challenged Cort in a game of "name the state from just looking at the shape," and Joseph challenged me. Cort and I both lost, legitimately. Both boys recognize almost every state, only getting tripped up on things like New Hampshire versus Vermont. That is amazing, I think, and even though I got whipped, it makes my Monday!

Go Rockets Lose Bobcats!

We took the boys to see the Rockets play today. We bought the tickets for an arm and a leg at a school auction, but it was still worth it. I am constantly telling Cort how lucky he is that his 4-year-olds love, love, LOVE sports. They watched the whole game -- more than I did (I had to go to the bathroom during the first half, but they didn't want to go with me for fear they'd miss some of the game). They did agree to go grab a pizza during halftime, but insisted that we must be back in our seats by the time the players were back on the court warming up.

All decked out for the game


Charlie celebrating a Rockets score


Joseph holding the sign he made: Go Rockets. Lose Bobcats. Go Yao Ming.


With Mom and Dad at the game

Maddux Family Moment

Joseph and Charlie reading the sports page with Dad

18 and counting

No, I'm not talking about the Duggar family. I'm talking about our Friday night standby, affectionately known as Baby Happy Hour. BHH was born on a fall evening in 2004. Before kids, every Friday we would attend happy hour after work, and eventually end up at dinner somewhere with all of our friends. When we had kids, we were not going to let those pesky progeny change our plans. We were going to be the cool parents, and kids weren't going to keep us from our happy hour! I know, you are thinking, best-laid plans, right. You know what the commercial says, having a baby changes everything.

But we did it. Charlie and Joseph attended their first happy hour, at Onion Creek, the Friday after they came home from the hospital. The next Friday, we welcome their new friend Cate to happy hour. We modified our plans only slightly, conceding to frequent only bars with outside decks (smoke isn't good for infants, we'd heard).

Then one fall evening at Onion Creek we arrived for happy hour early. Luke was now walking well and was into everything. His baby brother Sam had arrived, meaning that their mom and dad had to handle an infant and a roaming toddler. Cate, Charlie, and Joseph had started eating solids. By the time we got there, we had to feed babies from a baby jar, then a bottle. Cate's mom nursed her in a bathroom stall. We had only been there half an hour--the whole time feeding babies--when we had to leave our beers half-drunk in order to put the kids to bed.

So the three couples hatched a plan, which we affectionately called baby happy hour. We would have our own happy hour, but at one of our houses instead of out at a bar, every Friday night. The tradition has held strong for well over four years now. And it's such a good idea, many of our kidless friends show up too. And we've added a few families along the way.

Which brings me to the title of this post. This week, the aforementioned Luke and Sam welcomed twin baby sisters, Anna and Tess. With these new additions, the "baby" (and now, kid) aspect of baby happy hour has grown to--get this--eighteen children. All age six and under! And those are just the regular attendees. It doesn't count five or so occasional attendees. And for the "and counting" . . . there are two more babies on their way!

So, here's to Luke, Jack, Cate, Charlie, Joseph, Ellia, Claire, Avery, Sam, Jane, Frances, Vaughn, Helen, Will, Meredith, Vince, Anna, Tess, and the two more on the way. We enjoy every Friday night we get to spend with you kids, and our friends, and I know we will miss it when the time comes that you all no longer want to spend your Friday nights with us.

Helen's first haircut

Helen had her first haircut today. It was much needed. She has such fine, wispy hair -- so different than mine -- and I have no idea what to do with it. The boys get their hair cut with Cort at our neighborhood barber shop (Doug's barber shop, which was featured in the movie Rushmore). So I had to venture into new territory with Helen. I ended up getting her hair cut at a place called Little Lords and Ladies. It seemed a little over the top -- not to mention outside the loop (which, for non-Houstonians, is Loop 610, and there isn't much that warrants me driving that far), but turns out they are very nice there, very good with kids, and do a very good job.

Helen was great during the haircut, possibly due to the fact that they gave her a lollipop. She even let them blow dry her hair. She now has a cute little bob.

After the haircut we stopped by Target. What else better for a mother and daughter to do on a day off together? For the record, I don't think we technically shoplifted anything. But, when I returned home, I found several plastic Target hangers in my purse.

Wordless Wednesday

Boys' first ski trip

This past weekend, we took the boys skiing! We are firm believers that skiing is the sort of thing you have to take up early in life, so we thought it was high time we took them. I think I was 3 when I started, and here they are almost 5! Luckily, since we have a few more logistical issues with four kids than my parents did with just one, we were able to make a quick trip to Ruidoso, New Mexico. My parents have a (non-ski) cabin there, so they hung out with Will and Helen while we took Charlie and Joseph to Ski Apache.

We flew to El Paso and drove from there to Ruidoso. Because the plane was not full, we were able to get seats for Will and Helen without paying for them (yay!). That meant that our family took up two rows, just by ourselves! With the help of an amazing contraption called a Go Go Babyz Travelmate, the airport and airplane all went fairly smoothly. (With the possible exception of the descent on the first leg, but what can you do when we are crazy enough to take a toddler on an airplane when he has an ear infection? Poor Will. He was MUCH better on the way home -- after several days of antibiotics.)

Helen and Joseph on the first row (with Mom).

Will, Dad, and Charlie on the second row.

Clearly, this was BEFORE the descent.

The trip was great. Charlie and Joseph attended "Kiddie Corral" ski school for 4 to 6 year-olds, leaving Mom and Dad with time to enjoy skiing by ourselves at our own pace, and even to hang out a little bit at the lodge bar. In the afternoons, we picked them up and skiied with them for awhile. The first day we might have been slightly unprepared for how NOT self sufficient they were on skis. One trip on the lift and down the bunny slope was all we managed. The second day they had definitely improved, and we got smarter by opting to take our skis off to help them learn. Next year, we are planning to go for longer so they can really learn how to ski. Or, at least, maybe how to stop on their own.

Charlie in ski school

There he goes!

Working on the "pizza" (i.e., snowplow)

And there goes Joe!

Oops! There went Joe.

And back at it again.

Family pic

Our little skiiers!

Finally, it was just nice to get away. Very relaxing and, although the kids had their moments, all in all they were pretty good. Will and Helen also got to spend some quality time with Grandad and Gransan, which was nice because usually Charlie and Joseph monopolize all of their time!

Look at all the deer in Grandad and Gransan's yard!

See how relaxed Dad looks sitting on the porch with Helen, Will, Charlie, and a beer?

Way Back When-esday

Another pre-kids picture for Way Back When-esday. This was during our trip to Alaska with my parents. We are on a whale-watching kayak trip in Glacier Bay. Hands down one of the coolest things we've ever done. Technically, we are only sort-of pre-kids here. C&J had already been conceived and joined us on this trip in utero. They did not get to see the whales though. Below is one of the amazing whale pictures that we took on this trip. No zoom lens or anything. Wow. Another place we hope to take the kids someday.

Moving on

Last Monday morning when they got up (the day after the Superbowl), the boys immediately noted that there would be no more football until August. So sad. But, being four (wait - "No, Mom, we're four and three quarters!"), they persevered.

This is what they made at school last week:

And this is what they made at school this week:

So, apparently, we are now fully into basketball season.

Hide and seek at the doctor's office

When you have a twin, you have a built-in playmate wherever you go. Even the doctor's office can be fun! Unlike those boring grownups, a playmate your own age never tires of fun games of peekaboo and hide-and-seek.

"Where's Helen?"


"There she is!"

"And there's Will - peekaboo!"

We had a perfectly nice trip to the doctor's office, with two almost perfectly behaved toddlers. (Unlike the poor woman whose blog I read because she also has two sets of twins, though I have had doctor trips eerily similar to the one she describes -- but Cort doesn't believe me, because he was able to join me today and, of course, everyone was on their best behavior for some reason!) Will has two ear infections and the crud (my medical term) and Helen has just the crud, but no wheezing or anything and we got antibiotics for both (love our doctor - "Do you just want some antibiotics for Helen too?" "Why, yes, what a splendid idea!"). We should be good as new in a couple of days. Not that they look very sick in these pictures anyway.

Makes my Monday

We now have four stools in the bathroom.  I have no idea why it took us so long to do this.  Having four stools GREATLY simplifies our life.  No more crying, whining, pushing, or pulling to try to get an open spot at the sink.  It is, truly, the little things in life that make the biggest difference.  Having a full set of stools makes my day--or at least my mornings and evenings!

Newest accomplishment

Helen has learned how to jump.

So you think we're into football around here?

A post in honor of the end of football season this past weekend. This actually may be a good thing, since I've been seeing a few signs lately that maybe we are watching a little too much football. For example:

When looking through a picture book, Will identifies a ball, orange, onion, egg, and wheel as "ball." He identifies a football as "football."

We can only understand a handful of what Helen says, but one of her understandable words is "touchdown!" Maybe that's because she throws two hands straight up in the air when she says it.

My birthday is January 19. On January 12, Charlie told me that it was only "a touchdown and an extra point" until my birthday.

This is what Joseph did at school during "free work."

This is the scoreboard for an imaginary game between the New Orleans Saints ("N.O.") and the San Francisco 49ers ("S.F.). Note that it shows the number of points, first downs, "intersepshuns," fumbles, time outs, safetys, "saks," and just about any other statistic you could want to know from a football game.

This is Joseph's list of Texans players, with their numbers. #90 Mario Williams, #1 Matt Turk, # 37 Domanick Davis (I know, he doesn't play for the Texans anymore, but Will has to wear hand-me-downs so still has his jersey), #1 Kris[t] Brown, #12 Jacoby Jones, #20 Ste[a]ve Sla[y]ton, #81 Owen Dan[y]els, and #80 Andr[ay] Jo[h]nson.

Wordless Wednesday

Trouble

Can't you just tell we are in for it with her?