I put this one in because it's such a funny picture of Jonathan. He's such a ham!

Over the past 9 years I have helped rake Zerita's yard. Her yard has more leaves than you can imagine. This year was no different. Although I didn't do much "raking," I did do some chasing.




Henry is trying to help, but the rake is too much for him to handle.








Jonathan isn't sure about all this!








We didn't want to risk the boys being loose in Zerita's house. It is not toddler-proof. Antiques, Wedgewood China - you get the idea. Our solution was the stroller. They ate lunch and watched the Wiggles very contently!

Our family went to the 21st annual Fantasy of Trees this morning. This is fun event benefits Children's Hospital where our boys spent the first 29 days of their lives in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). We like to go to events that benefit Children's Hospital since they took such great care of our boys!


The boys enjoyed riding on the carousel! We were concerned at first because Henry didn't like the carosel at Dollywood in the spring. But he loved it today! Can't you tell? He's the one with Rob.



As I said in an earlier post, our boys love balls! So when they saw the "Holiday Hoops" game they wanted to play! Althought they weren't big enough to throw the balls in the hoops, they sure liked trying! See why we can't tell them apart from the back...? Any educated guesses? It took us a few minutes to figure it out using some of the clues in the picture, but we are certain now.





Henry and Jonathan have had enough of Fantasy of Trees! Hopefully they will enjoy it more next year!

We went this morning to see Shannon Stanfield who does all our pictures. It was quite an accomplishment to get two almost two-year olds to smile. I saw several good pictures in his digital camera, so hopefully we'll get some good ones. Check back early next week for the bloopers.....and hopefully some good ones, too. We could just use the afro pictures below if nothing turns out.

I got this recipe from a friend about 7 years ago. I made it many times since. It's a great alternative to Marshmallow-Topped Sweet Potato Casserole. My mother-in-law called yesterday to see if I was going to make it on Thursday. I guess I can consider it "my" dish at Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

Ingredients

6 medium-size sweet potatoes (about 3 lbs.)
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
2 tbls. all-purpose flour
2 tbls. butter or margarine, softened


1. Cook sweet potatoes in boiling water to cover 30 to 40 minutes or until tender. Let cool to touch; peel and mash potatoes.

2. Combine mashed sweet potatos, sugar, and next six ingredients in a large mixing bowl; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.

3. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 2-quart casserole.

4. Combine brown sugar and remaining ingredients; sprinkle over sweet potato mixture.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Yields 8 to 10 servings.

It's been a fun week here at the McTwins' home. Enjoy the pictures below!



The boys went to visit their friends, Ashlee and Marshall on Wednesday. Here's a bit of what they got into...or should I say that Ashlee and Marshall's mom got them into this! All you experts out there....which one is Henry and which one is Jonathan?




If you look carefully, you'll notice that there's something down Henry's shirt. It's wooden blocks. He thought they'd slide through and land on his toes. He didn't think about the snaps at the bottom of his shirt.





Now it was time for Ashlee and Marshall to visit us. All four of them wanted their picture taken. I just wasn't fast enough to capture all the cheesy smiles. Henry looks so much shorter than Jonathan in this picture. That is not the case. He's about an inch taller. Marshall and Jonathan look like they are accusing someone of a little gas.




This was their attempt at "Ring Around the Roses." Who made that mess around the roses?? Surley it wasn't these four.

Today is Popaw's birthday. We just wanted to share some recent pictures of his birthday dinner with Rob's family.

Henry loves to be with Popaw!




Jonathan is enjoying drawing while everyone else finishes their dinner.

Our boys love basketballs, footballs, bouncy balls, ping-pong balls, golf balls - you get the idea. So, if you've ever seen 60 ping-pong balls bouncing at the same time then you'll know why 7:27 is one of our boys' favorite times of the day. It's time to choose the Lotto Numbers for the day. The boys run in to the room, scream, "Baw, baw, baw, baw." It's quite a funny scene. Although we don't play the lottery, we hope that we will benefit from the scholarships in 16 years. They would have loved Captain Kangaroo.

I have a friend, Cindy, who has 19 month old triplets. I've know Cindy as long as I can remember. Her mom and my dad graduated from high school together in 1958. So, we go WAAAAY back. All during my childhood, my family and her family would get together on December 23 for dinner. I can't remember a time during my childhood that we didn't do this. Now all us "kids" are grown up and have eleven kids between the four of us - this includes a set of twins and a set of triplets.

Cindy and I have gotten to know each other much better over the past two years. I had my twins on December 22 (close to the 23rd - I actually thought of this as they rolled me into the operating room for my emergency c-section) at almost 32 weeks. Cindy had her triplets on April 17 at just past 32 weeks.

Here's a few pictures from our play date today.


This is where we WOULD have taken a picture of all five toddlers together if they would have stayed in one place for two seconds.


Jack, Caitlin, and Josh


Josh, Henry, and Jonathan tearing the house apart





This is a picture from our play date in August. We actually got them all in one shot.

There is much excitement in the air! After 13 years in a high school theater, the unthinkable is happening! We are moving into our building! We will have our final meeting at West High School on November 13. Our first official meeting in the building is November 20. Our grand opening is Saturday, December 3 and Sunday, December 4. We can't wait!!

These are pictures from yesterday's move. (The boys and I just came to get a peek!)


This is the foyer.




Here's Allyson and Erika unpacking the kitchen.




This is Jill, Laura, Laura, and Lillian unpacking our senior pastor's books.




As one who used to work at our church office, this picture really makes me smile! Look at all those cabinets!



These are super servants - Krissie, Zerita and Brian.



This is the new Resource Center. After rolling books around in boxes for years, it's nice to have some shelves!

On Sunday, a crew of people helped move everything into our new church building. (More to come on that!) Obviously, Henry, Ally, Jonathan and Maddie were a big help! They are ready to meet in the new building!

Maddie's mom, Jenny, was VERY good at getting four toddlers to laugh at the same time. Maybe she's available for our Christmas picture session.

I am thrilled to announce that Brian and Zerita are engaged!! Brian propsed on Tuesday, November 1. Two weeks before I had the privilege of going with Brian to help pick out the ring. They are planning their wedding for March 18.

It has been a joy to observe Brian and Zerita through their courtship. They have honored and trusted the Lord throughout the process. I can't wait to see what God has in store for them!

I wanted to post some pictures of our recent care group camping trip. The weather couldn't have been better for a November camping trip! The s'mores were the best...if only we had ketchup and mustard for our hot dogs - inside joke for those who attended.

We decided to leave the boys home with Nana. We don't think our experience would have been as enjoyable with two 22 month olds. Maybe they'll be up for a camping trip in the spring. (Kristie - what do you think?)

When the boys woke up from their nap today, Jonathan had taken off his shirt and had it under Elmo. I tried to help him get his shirt back on, but he insisted that Elmo have it. Then I remembered the episode of Elmo's World from earlier in the day. It was about "Getting Dressed." I dug out the preemie clothes and found two shirts that would work perfectly...with the sleeves rolled up. The scary thing is that these shirts were too big for Henry and Jonathan while they were in the NICU, and the Elmos aren't very big either. (See earlier post with picture on October 12.)