MyTwintopia

It was a couple of years back that I first came across the "Want, need, wear, read" gift giving mantra for parents. The idea is a way of simplifying the buying of gifts for kids and it suggests buying them
Something they want Something they need Something to wear Something to read I like this concept because for me it's a much needed guideline. I tend to celebrate special occasions with a range of gifts. I buy something then find something that will be so much better and before you know it, I have a pile of gifts. Limiting myself to a smaller number with a purpose is exactly what I need.
However, I did some thinking and decided to modify the "want, need, wear, read"  to better suit my gift-giving style. So I came up with my own little gift buying formula - Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit -  which I practiced for the first time this birthday for the girls. Here's how it worked Something for the body: Similar to something to wear, but for future it can also be experien…

Ever so often, I "meet" a blog that inspires me; one of those is Krissy's B-Inspired Mama and today I have the priviledge of guest posting over there.
Do check it out. I especially enjoy her "Mama Knows Best" series which showcases wise nuggets from experienced parents. 

Since I have kids in twos, I have wisdom-sharing moments in twos as well. Samantha from Cherry Pie Twins asked me to contrubute to her "Twin Moms Wisdom" post. It's a must read if you got twins and enjoy the idea of staying sane. Pop on over and have a good read!

PS: I just survived a 4 hour flight alone with 2 year old twins! I got lots to share over the next one week.

Taking cupcakes to the daycare was a big part of my 2nd birthday party plan for the twins. Unfortunately, the daycare informed me that some parents had complained about their kids being given cake so birthdays had to be celebrated with fruit. Bummer! Time to change plans. I considered Edible Arrangements but their products would be better appreciated by adults. Next option? Fruits by mommy. Ha! After some consultation with google and Pinterest, I decided to make 2 fruit trays - one for each birthday girl.

Equipment needed:
Cookie cutters (from Micheal's. Buy those with sharp edges to cut fruit comfortably)
Paring knife
Cookie tray or suitable presentation container (Also bought at Micheal's)

Fruit used:
Seedless watermelon, honey dew melon, red grapes, green grapes, mini oranges, pineapple

Main tip for toddler fruit tray arrangements:
Sizing is the most important thing when making a fruit tray for toddlers. The pieces of fruit need to be either bite-sized or real big that they have t…

And so the countdown begins! In less than 24 hours, I'll be mom to 2 year old twins. Be generous with the tissues and the stress balls if you please

My heart is too full and all my words feel too empty for me to write a halfway decent post.

In a few days, my princesses will be 2 years old. I’m all sorts of nostalgic and overwhelmed. Where did the time go? Where did my babies go? And who are these very opinionated young women living in my house rent-free? As their birthday looms closer, I’ve been reflecting on the good, the bad and the ugly parts of my second year as a twin mom; or rather the highlights, the lowlights and the WT??? Permit me to share
The Highlights My Project 52: To take a photo of the girls every week of their second year and put a photobook together. Looking through those photos brings so many poignant memories like the first visit to the park when they were terrified of going up the slide, the second visit to the park where my confident daredevils insisted on going on the big kid slides (and messing with mommy’s blood pressure). I"m missing photos from 4 out of the 52 weeks so I feel quite good about this. Follow up: For this third year, I plan on doing a project 52 but this time it’ll be 52 experienc…

Clothes, paper and toys! The 3 banes of any home with young twins. I’ve already sorta developed systems for taking care of excess clothes and organizing paperwork. The toys were the last (very daunting) frontier to be conquered. Our last month’s home move was my opportunity to finally organize the twin’s toys. Here’s my 10 step program on toy organization for toddler twins 1.STOP BUYING: At least temporarily. I had developed the habit of regularly coming home with some new toy that was guaranteed to make the girls smarter, stronger, happier etc. I had to tell myself that I am in no way compromising their future SAT scores if I occasionally visit Walmart without checking out the toy aisles 2.TOY POLICY AND VISION: Once I stopped buying and gave myself a breather, it was time to define my toy policy. This will be my guideline for all future toy acquisitions and definitely is not a one-size fits all. For us, the toy vision I have is avoid battery-operated toys with all the obnoxious lights…

According to the parenting experts, stacking blocks is a developmental milestone for children between the ages of 1 and 2. So like any parent who spends far too much time on Babycenter and parenting blogs, I bought my twins a set of nesting/stacking blocks just after their first birthday. They chewed on them, kicked them but would not stack ‘em so when it was time to move in February, I conveniently forgot to pack the blocks. 2 months later, I repented and bought another set of blocks and these ones had a “Cat in the hat” theme. Surely NOW the girls would stack ‘em like smart babies are supposed to do? No! They threw them, stood on them (and fell off them) but would not stack them. I was not impressed and decided that stacking was just one skill my girls were not interested in developing so when I got a chance to review a free Green Toys Build-a-Bouquet, I wasn’t expecting much.
Straight out of the box, the girls couldn’t figure out how to stack the pieces so I had to give them a demons…