Another milestone - I can sleep in!

This has been going on for a few months now but it just dawned on me that it truly is another milestone.

This weekend I did not wake up until 8:30am. This is sleeping in for me. I had heard the girls awake at the ungodly hour of 6:30 am but then I somehow fell back asleep. They had gone downstairs and turned the TV on.
I. LOVE. TV.


Motorola TV Ad Photo Credit: MS Blue Sky via Flickr

I know we participated in Turn Off TV Week and for the most part we don't watch TV during the week. At this point, I'll take an extra 2 hours of sleep while they cram all of their TV watching into a Saturday morning.

Have I made a deal with the Devil? No! It's TV. It's what kids are supposed to do on a Saturday morning. I did it. YOU did it. We survived...we even prospered some of us. And we had much happier parents because of it.

More importantly, I am a much better parent getting those extra 2 hours of sleep.

Reaching this kind of milestone only reminds me why I do not want to have another baby (or two). I can't go back to the newborn sleepless nights. I can't. I can't and I won't. And so what begins as a milestone for the Twofer, is also a milestone for me and my uterus.

And I'm ok with that.
Janine

Turn Off TV Week Survival Guide and Giveaway

***UPDATE 5-10-09***
Winner of the Outdoor Prize pack is...Stacy!
Congratulations!
*******************
Last week my kids participated in Turn Off TV Week. Note, I did not say ‘family’, I say my kids. I actually did not watch TV either. The Mister, however, cheated just about every night when the girls went up to bed. But who’s counting.

I was in full support after having been part of the Subway / NIH WE CAN! effort to fight childhood obesity. Actually, it was easier than I thought, even with one kid sick and home from school on one of the days! Here are some of the things we did that helped us survive.

We Made a mural in honor of Earth Week

I am not a crafty gal but I do have a large roll of white paper. I laid out about 5 feet from a roll of white paper I had in my non-crafty craft closet, grabbed the glitter glue, markers and stamps they got from the Easter Bunny, and told them to have at it while I cleaned up from dinner.

Murals = Cool

We played board games

Now that the Twofer are almost 6, they have kid versions of games that even I can get into…. Princess Monopoly, Cranium Cadoo, and various card games. Yet reality is, we’re playing those games on the floor in the family room…in front of our tv…that is turned off. Depressing. So, why not add a little gambling? Whoever loses has to empty the dishwasher. The next person to roll a 6 has to get Mom a glass of water...you get the idea

Play-Doh anyone

For real, I can't remember the last time they just sat and played with Play-Doh. That roll of white paper came in hand again...

Play-Doh = Cool

We made dinner together

Em was definitely into this. And has been asking every night since if she can help. We stepped it up a bit and I allowed her to do some cutting with an actual knife, AND crumble up the ground beef as it was cooking. But it just isn’t real cooking until someone gets burned and Em wound up with burn on her tummy. Yes, her tummy. Long story, but it involves my cook top being located on an island in the kitchen and the lack of a child guard that has since been put back.

Other things we did besides watch TV

• Went to the library and read books.
• Had friends sleep over…with no TV – yes, they were game for it!
• Went shopping, ran errands, got ice cream (no TV means yes to spending money)
• Took a bath! (Girls have been showering but a nice leisurely bath with lots of toys was very entertaining)
• Played outside…a lot.

Which leads me to the giveaway...

I have in my hot little hands a big box filled with all kinds of outdoor toys that YOU can enter to win!

Win ALL of this great outside stuff!

Contents Include:
Balls
Bubbles
Baseball bat game
Some kind of racquet game
Frisbee thing
Chalk
Butterfly net
A kite and
a $10.00 gift card to Subway!


Here's what you need to do (as ALWAYS, separate comment for each!)

1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite "No-more-TV-today!" activity
2. Tweet this post (click on '30 sec ago' for the link)
3. Email a link to this post to 5 friends and cc me (scarytwins [at] yahoo)
4. Grab my button and put it on your site (leave link)
5. Do 10 squats, 3 Hail Mary's and pat yourself on the back (just making sure you're paying attention)
6. Blog about this topic and include link to this post

Contest ends Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 11:59 pm!

Doing my squats,
Janine

Thanks to Subway for providing the great outdoor prize pack!

So, remember those Yanni Voices?

Yes, you do. Remember how I 'interviewed' them at Blissdom 09?
Well One2One Network just reminded me (and asked me to remind you) that the Yanni Voices concert will be on PBS starting March 2nd!

Now YOU can see what all of us at Blissdom were madly tweeting about as we got to experience Nathan Pacheco and Ender Thomas live and in person. Now YOU can enjoy Nathan, Ender, Chloe, Leslie, and the entire, amazing group of performers from the Yanni Voices Live from Acapulco show starting March 2nd on your local PBS station!

Full Disclosure: I was never a huge Yanni fan. I had nothing against the guy, but I always thought of his music as something I'd hear waiting to get my teeth cleaned.
Listen up.
I. Was. Wrong.

Take a sneak peek:




The mix of vocal and stage performers and the incredible light effects blends so well with Yanni's music that we were all mesmerized watching on the big screens at Blissdom 09. I hear it had the same effect on those who went to the Mom2.0 Summit. Now I'm going to see what the Twofer think of it. I bet they won't be able to take their eyes away for a minute.

Check your local PBS listing for March 2nd and look for Yanni Voices Live.
In the DC area it's playing Monday, March 2nd at 8:00pm on WETA and I can't wait to see the full show.

Watch and enjoy then tell me what you think!
Were you a Yanni fan before? If not, are you now?

Janine

Another amazing National Geographic show

Clear your calendar this Sunday night, December 21 at 9:00 p.m. ET for the premier of National Geographic Channel's In The Womb: Identical Twins.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to see an advance copy and I was amazed by just how different identical twins can be, and why.

You can see the moment when a single cell rapidly multiplies into a blastocyst and see the many milestones as identical twins grow in-utero. Learn what happens when one identical twin doesn't fully develop, and why identical twins are not always subject to the same diseases.

My twins are obviously not identical but like most people (with or without twins) the idea of 2 identical children is fascinating. National Geographic covers several sets of identical twins including 2 boys one of whom weighed 6 1/2 pounds at birth while his 'identical' brother weighed just over a pound. Another set of twins had no contact with each other for 40 years and yet lead parallel lives.

Plus, the show explores what behavior is a result of nature versus nurture and how scientists can study the effects of genes on someone's personality.

The 4-D ultrasound is very cool and had me thinking back to my own pregnancy when the Twofer would kickbox each other on that little screen!

The girls really want to watch it and my only hesitation is the c-section part, and the fact that they don't really know how babies are made. I can hear it now, "Mommy? What's sperm and how do you get it?"

But I'd love for them to see what 2 babies inside a mommy's tummy looks like since they are used to hearing me tell stories.

Enjoy the show and I'd love to hear what you thought!.
Janine