See'n double?

I met Kara Vance when she and her husband, and their twin boys, came to rent an apartment at the apartment community I managed.  Her boys were 5 days older than Ryan and we hit it off immediately.  When I had Lydia and Emily, the fact that there were NO twins in my family, I "blamed" Kara for my twins.  

Kara was part of a twins club in her former hometown and really wanted to be part of a twins club in our area.  There was a twins club years before, but there had not been one around in a few years.  After meeting two other twin moms, Chris Rivera, and Monica Pangle, we started our own twins club and it went on for almost 8 years.  

Several times we tried to pass our club on to other MOMs who would head it up.  "Fresh Meat" so to speak.  People with fresh ideas and people who were not tired of doing it all these years.  When this did not happen, after the 8 years, we decided to disban.  We had stopped having meetings and the club was at a point that it was nothing like it once had been.  Two MOMs took it over, but they have not done the same things and are not using the club for its intended purpose.   

Tonight, three years later, we had an ARCMOM (Augusta/Rockingham Counties Mothers of Multiples) "old school" reunion.  All the MOMs who were members in our day were invited with their twins and families.  Crazy how big they have all gotten!  After the twins shot, we took a picture of all the members and their families.  We were trying to stay out of the sun and the pictures turned out a little dark, but you can still see everyone if you make the pictures bigger.  It was a fun night!

Twins Club Egg Hunt

Today was our ARCMOM (Augusta/
Rockingham Counties Mothers of Multiples) annual egg hunt day. The kids first egg hunt of the season. We dug out our baskets from the closet and headed to Purcell Park. Once there we decided it was too wet from last night's rain so we headed over to ARCMOM's meeting place, the March of Dimes House. After two rounds of the kids racing around to find the plastic colored eggs filled with candy, stickers, tatoos and plastic rings; they were all satisfied with their findings. The little kids were more interested in the eggs than what was inside and got caught up in looking at the first egg they picked up and not hunting for anymore:). The ARCMOM egg hunt is always a fun event.

Twins Party

Last night was our twins club (ARCMOM) holiday party. We decided to have our holiday party in November as a result of the fact that the hall where we have the party was booked up for December, but we still wanted to have the party before Christmas so we could offer a photographer again for family Christmas pictures. In addition, the photographer took a group picture of everyone that came to the party. 11 of our members and their families came to the party. As our gift to our MOMs (Mothers of Mulitples) we made little tote bags with the words "World's Greatest MOM Hands Down" painted on one side and with some help from some teenagers, the kids painted their handprints on the other side of the tote. Not only was this a great gift for the MOMs, but it was a neat activity for the kids as well.

Pictured below are Lydia (standing), Emily and Ryan with their good friends, Abby, Glenn and James (next to Ryan) (my good friend Kara's kids). James and Glenn are five days older than Ryan and Abby is 5 weeks younger than Lydia and Emily--I "caught" my twins from Kara:)

My Parents are Exhausted!

This past Saturday was ARCMOM's (Augusta Rockingham Counties Mothers of Multiples) 3rd annual Twins Club picnic. There were about 56 people there--the majority of them children. (several families had already left when we thought to take a group picture). Sue Frease's son Jackson arrived in a shirt with the words "My parents are exhausted" scribbled across it. I believe this should be our new motto.

Mike took Ryan fishing with his new fishing pole after we ate dinner. Lydia and Emily tagged along for a while. All of the kids played on the playground and everyone had a super time!! We had prepared for very hot weather, packing water toys and water balloons, etc. but when we arrived it became a little overcast and the wind began to blow a little bit. The weather was perfect!

I have been so fortunate to be a part of this group! All of these mothers are amazing women and I am privileged to know each one of them!!

March of Dimes--Walk America

Today ARCMOM participated in it's second March of Dimes Walk America. Mike, Ryan, Lydia, Emily and I all did our three mile "stroller walk" with our teammates. It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time!! Attached, is a picture I took of my kids and my friend, Kara's twins. Her boys are the same age as Ryan (5 days older) and we have been friends since the boys were 10 months old. She also has a two year old little girl who was born 1 month after Lydia and Emily. Our families joke that I "caught" my twins from her. If that is the case, I sure am glad I met her! L to R: Ryan, Lydia, Emily, James, Glenn (Abby-Kara's daughter-stayed home with Dad). Thank you so much to those of you that donated! As a club, we raised almost $800.00. It was a great day!!