Ganson Family Scrapbook: August 2023

Highlights of November 2022:

-Still cacooning with Marvel and Marvens as much as possible

-They did attend their first house church at Grandma and Grandpa's house AND they attended church at Pathways one time. It was a little rough trying to keep them quiet and not throwing things. We ended up in the hallway.

- I got my first mammogram! (Welcome to my 40s!) 😆

-We had our first follow-up visit with our social worker, Kim.

-The Trailblazers won first place (both boys' team AND girls' team) in the state meet in Camden, SC. Micah helped score for the boys!

-Abby got tested for allergies (to help figure out why she was getting such crazy hives)

- We had our family pictures taken - with all seven of us!

-Lilly Zieber came back from her YWAM trip to Lebanon/an Indian reservation in Minnesota. She shared one Saturday about her experience and we took M&M with us to hear her. Ben or I always had to step out with the twins, but we got to hear bits and pieces at least.

- We took a trip to Maryland for Thanksgiving! The twins did so much better than we thought they would - both on the long car ride, and at my parents' house.

We did lots of outdoor time. We tried to get outside at least once a day - either to the playground or to go for a walk or just to play in the backyard. They love the swings.

Marvens

Packing bags at CC for a "Thanksgiving meal" a local food pantry would be handing out:

A new favorite game! Marvel and Marvens love when we hide something (like their little orange car) in the kitchen. They wait in the hallway until we yell, "ready!" then they come running in to find it.

Caleb has the orange car hidden in the front of his shirt :)

Someone dropped off a bag full of clothes for us. The twins immediately wanted to put ALL of the pants on at the same time:

Letting them feed themselves yogurt. I don't know how Marvel ended up with such a big blob on his head:

Marvens mad that Marvel was trying to wipe his face off:

Finally brave enough to try the trampoline:

The last weekend before the time change (when it would get dark in the evenings earlier), we went to Glencairn Gardens and had a picnic.

Going to State for Cross Country. The twins LOVE being in the car, but this trip was about an hour and half both ways. They decided an hour is too long!

Trying to get them to eat vegetables. After the first week home, they got super picky with their food.

We went to see the Thompsons play basketball for Providence. We didn't realize how crowded and how many people would be there! But the twins did good after we got some seats (and bought some chips). This was kind of their first time in a crowd.

Just trying out the potty..

Putting a diaper on baby...

Hands are praying...

Joyce's neighbor bought these little Nike outfits for the twins. The outfits are 18 months, so the pants fit great, but the jackets didn't last long.

Marvel:

Marvens:

Loving the zippers :)

They LOVED throwing their balls down the hill and then bringing them back up. I thought they looked like cute little penguins waddling up the hill...

They also love carrying in the groceries when Walmart delivers them:

Marvel loved pulling his hood up, but his ears would stick out. I thought it made him look like the little brown bear on his shirt. :)

The pantry doors became the official "photo spot", and so the twins put their "babies" in front of the doors and told me to take a picture. :)

Abby getting tested for allergies. There weren't any MAJOR allergies, but there was some reaction to dust mites, cockroach dust, cantelope, and a couple other small-reaction items. The doctor did scratch her skin and showed us how it turned into a hive. Evidently, a lot of times girls Abby's age go through a phase where their skin just gets super sensitive.... she could develop hives all over her body just from her sock elastic being too tight. Thankfully, for most people it just goes away on its own.

Trying on winter coats to get ready for Maryland:

It's hard to suck your thumb with mittens on!

Marvel woke up from his nap before Marvens, so he sat at the island with us while I helped Caleb finish up some science fair work. The twins have started calling me "Mom" instead of "Mama" or "Mommy"...

The appropriate coffee cup I was drinking out of ...

Abby's cute little creation she made at Genny Ruth's house:

Tin whistle at CC:

Tin whistle parade. Those poor neighbors!

Week 12 in Essentials is always fun games to review!

Abby's team's gingerbread house:

A friend at CC gave us a whole bunch of magnatiles:

I took the van to get new tiries put on it. I had no idea we would have to wait so long. THAT was kind of mess with the twins. We did our best hanging out with stickers and playing babies.

One morning Marvens was up before Marvel. He was so proud of the block tower he made!

I love his grin here. Ben said he looks like a used car salesman. "Tell them Marvens sent ya!"

They love pulling their pants down for some reason:

One month check up at the doctor! Marvel had gained 4 pounds, and Marvens had gained almost 5 pounds since their last visit. (6/7 pounds since they had come home.)

Listening to Micah's skullcrusher headphones that vibrate. Hilarious! I've never seen them hold that still before.

Photo at church. Micah had already left to meet friends for lunch:

Trying out the roof carrier on the van

Trying to figure out how to turn off the water line incase we got a leak while we are gone in Maryland:

First big roadtrip! Even though they can't sleep well in the van, the twins did much better than we thought they would.

Meeting Le'Ella:

Playing with Piper

Marvel told Abby that his Playmobile guy had Stinky Caca and needed a diaper

The way the twins lined the cars up to guard the door

We took a trip to Ollies to do some Christmas shopping. It did not end well. Marvens did not want to put away a "ball" (which was actually an LOL doll) and he cried and cried and cried all the way through the checkout line and too the van. Even Marvel kept trying to rub his back and say, "Shhh shhh shhh."