My Flag Flies for Grandpa

Memorial Day, 2008, and I think of one great soldier who risked much to ensure all of our safety. Even in his last years, his anger toward the Japanese and the Axis powers was very real, as he saw first-hand the evil they were capable of. I only wish I could remember the story word for word, but driving in the car with my grandpa one day, he confided in me the worst day of his life, during the war when his ship docked and he stepped off for an officer's meeting while his crew waited for him onboard. He choked back tears when he told me that soon thereafter, his ship was hit by enemy fire and hundreds of his men perished in an instant. It was evident that he would have much rather given his own life than watch his dutiful men lose theirs.

He carried memories like that with him his entire life. We civilians will never understand the burden our soldiers bear - all for us. I cannot imagine sending my twins off to war, yet I also cannot imagine anything more noble, selfless and American for them to do. I'll let them choose, of course, yet I can only pray they never see the evil of battle like my Grandpa did. And it's days like today that, I hope, most of us garner up at least the tiniest bit of respect and gratefulness for our men and women in uniform.

Grandpa, I proudly fly my flag in the front yard today. It's for you. I'll always remember.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

There is nothing cuter to me than watching Evan and Owen emulate their daddy. From making funny faces in the bathtub to dunking basketballs, their Dad is No. 1!

Unless they want Mommy, that is.

Which is fairly frequently. But the cool thing is that, usually, Owen prefers Daddy and Evan would rather be with Mommy. Nate and I don't argue - it makes life a little easier. But we're REALLY having to watch what we say and do. These little monkeys pick it ALL up, even when we don't think they could be possibly listening. We're pretty sure they've taken to saying the "S" word, and Nate and I are in arguments over who taught it to them. Then again, "shirt" and "sit" sound the exact same as the offending word. So maybe they're still innocent little angels.

Who am I kidding?

Back to the Grind

The Reynolds family is learning to make the very most of our time together since I returned to work in January. As a result of this newfound thinking, I obviously moved this blog to the backburner. But the kids are napping, and it's Mothers Day, so I'm doing this right now for myself.

The main reason? Time goes by so fast and we so easily forget all the cute and funny things that happen as the twins grow up. Just yesterday (it seems), they were stumbling around on four chubby feet and bumbling inaudibly. But today? They're singing almost the entire alphabet pretty darn clearly, pointing out every character in their Sesame Street books and shaking a pointed finger at us as they exclaim "no!"

Nate and I are so thankful for Evan and Owen's daycare, Butterflies and Bullfrogs. Miss Julie and the rest of the crew there are wonderful and have taught the twins so many things. They truly look forward to school every morning and, occasionally, don't want to be picked up! They're turning into such big boys. They can almost put their shirts and shoes on all by themselves, and they can actually eat without covering themselves from head to toe in applesauce and macaroni and cheese. I think they watch the "big kids" and emulate their actions. It's so fun to pick them up and figure out what they learned each day!

My job's good. It's a brand new position, which comes packed with two shoulderloads of pressure and responsibility. But it's nice being back at AQHA. As for Nate, God graciously answered our prayers May 7 as Pantex called (finally!) to offer Nate a job. We are so grateful. Nate starts June 2, and already he's a changed person. Such a weight lifted off of his hard-working soul. We pitty the poor fool who takes his place at Eco-logical. But we must move forward with heads high. This move opens so many doors for him and comes with a few extra thousand bucks to play with.

So, on this - my second Mothers Day as a proud mom - I exclaim that life is good. Being a mother is great. And being a mother of TWINS is truly twice as nice.