Yep, I was born four decades ago on 8/30. Man, 1971 was far out. Can you dig it?

Highlights & lowlights from the groovy & radical year

• The median household income (in current dollars) is $9,028
• A gallon of gas is 40 cents
• A postage stamp goes from 6 to 8 cents
• Richard Nixon is president and removes the gold/silver backing from the US dollar
• The US Supreme Court rules that busing public schoolchildren may be ordered to achieve racial integregation
• The 26th Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified, lowering the voting age to 18
• Abortion is still an issue left up to the states
• Nixon says “the end is in sight” about war in Vietnam, although the final withdrawal of troops is four years away

Zeke says, “Play-doh rocks!”

• Charles Manson receives the death penalty
• Jim Morrison dies at age 27 and Duane Allman at age 24
• Films include “Love Story,” “Dirty Harry” and “Willy Wonka”
• TV shows are “The Partridge Family” and “The Odd Couple”
• Hit songs are “Brown Sugar” and “Maggie Mae”
• The innovative year sees the introduction of the soft contact lens, the cat scan and the microprocessor
• DuPont discovers Kevlar
• Sharp creates the pocket calculator
• IBM attributes first-use of the floppy disk
• Programmer Ray Tomlinson creates the first network-based email, using the “@” symbol to separate user from machine.

Gabriel agrees, “Play-doh is great stuff!”

The big four-oh

We began the low-key celebration the weekend before my birthday. Stephen treated me to an early-morning nap on Saturday while he fed the kids’ breakfast. Then per my request, we feasted on Chinese food take-out for dinner.

I began my birthday day renewing my license at the DMV. Not quite Hawaii (where I was on my 30th birthday), but it actually wasn’t as torturous as I thought it would be.

That night, we had a lovely dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Stephen and Houston had to bolt a bit early as not to be late t-ball practice. (Yep, Houston’s finally playing t-ball, which makes Daddy very happy. He hasn’t had a game yet, but he’s really into it so far. It doesn’t hurt that his team is led by Coach Holder — his coach from basketball, who Houston just adored.)

Before he left, Stephen notified our waiter that it was my birthday. Thus, the wait staff sang me the obligatory birthday ditty in Spanish, made me wear a sombrero and then put whipped cream on my nose. Gabriel and Zeke were fascinated by the whole exhibition.

“Play-doh gives me the giggles,” Houston remarks.

Pleasurable play groups

August was jam-packed with play dates. A particularly fun one was with Miss Beth, Matthew and Jonathan on 8/19. I brought the boys’ stock of toy swords, shields, guns and light sabers, not knowing if this would be a smart or regrettable decision. Turns out it was a brilliant move ’cause every kid at the park (including girls) ended up sharing the weapons and doing battle injury-free.

On 8/27, Moms Club had its summer party at a marina, where the group had rented a pontoon boat. After playing and eating, we scored a ride on the boat’s initial trek around the lake. Being the twins first time on a boat and Houston’s first on a motorized vessel (except one time when he was a baby), the kids were thrilled.

The kids were also excited about throwing rocks into the lake, so much so that Gabriel walked into the water with his shoes on and then slipped into a shallow area when barefoot. Of course, the next boat ride was taking off right during his comedic plunge, so all the passengers saw Gabe’s goof in typical 3-Amigo style. Classic.

Kindermusik — a hands-on musical-immersion program for children — gave a free demo at the Moms Club social on 8/25. I ended up just taking the twins ’cause Dina and Kara were in town. Gabe and Zeke had a sublime time making music and playing with friends, while I enjoyed the break of having a little lighter load.

“Play-doh is so versatile,” explains hat-man Zeke.

Awesome outings & travel

While the twins and I were out, Dina and Kara took Houston to his first visit to Chuck E. Cheese. Needless to say, it was paradise for him. And then that afternoon, a nearby gas station/eatery had a day-before-school-starts celebration, which had free pizza, slushies, goody bags and a huge inflatable slide. A fun, but exhausting day.

We headed up to the mountains for the annual Houston Family Reunion on 8/21. It was nice to see familiar faces, like Cousin Terry, Uncle Clay and Aunt Naomi, as well as get to meet some distant relatives on Stephen’s side of the family.

It was amusing to beckon our Houston from afar and have about half the people in the room think I was calling them. And come to find out, there is a Houstonville, NC, which was settled by the ancestors of the same name and is located just a couple hours away.

On 8/28, we went to see the Greensboro Grasshoppers. It was the twins’ first-ever baseball game and Houston’s first of 2011. The boys did amazingly well devouring hotdogs and popcorn while in our seats. Then we played on the inside-the-stadium playground for most of the game, while Daddy got his baseball fix.

The game was super-hero theme, so the boys donned their capes and saw Buzz Lightyear, Spidey, Wonder Girl and Captain America; although, they were as impressed with the Chik fil-A cow. The kids got to run the bases at the end of the game, which was a spectacle, for sure. Thanks for the tickets, Uncle Greg!

“Yep, Play-doh hats are all the rage,” adds Cousin Kara.

Today, we went on what was supposed to be an apple-picking outing with Moms Club, but the orchard was out of pick-your-own apples. The other moms decided to leave, but we stayed and opted go on a nature hike instead. The orchard was teeming with friendly Blue Monarch butterflies, other cool critters and big tractors.

We ended up finding a huge Golden Delicious that the boys shared and three small Red Delicious apples for each. They were happy as clams with our small score. And honestly, I think the kids had as much fun throwing rotten apples as they would have picking them.

The boys’ banter

On the way drive home, Houston asked me about something I knew he would eventually notice: “Mommy, why is half my head wet and the other half dry?” I reminded that when Mommy was giving birth to him that he was cozy and didn’t want to come out. This not only gave him his “special eye,” but it also keeps him from sweating on the left side of his head/face. And that was that.

Pregnancy and child birth is an oft-talked-about topic with the kids. Recently, Houston brought up an inevitable topic — one I thought would come much later. He asked, “Mommy, how do babies come out?” Daddy and I decided (and hoped) that answering “the birth canal” would suffice. It did … for a second. Then he queried with wondrous curiosity, “”Is it, like, a hole?” I simply replied, “Yes, yes, it is,” praying he would lose interest. He has … for now.

Zeke went through a stage where he would say “I hate people!” when he found himself stymied by a task. “Do you really hate people?” we asked. “Yes, but I like babies,” he replied. And then “I hate baby owls!” was a standard for a while after that. Luckily, Zeke has discovered the word “frustrated.” The baby owls are now safe.

I’m quite proud of this still nature shot — one of my best to date.

Gabriel’s way of expressing angst is exclaiming (with clinched fist, of course), “Oh, no, not again!” He just looks like a little angry man when he does it. Luckily, he still loves people, babies and owls.

And both Zeke and Gabriel like to yell, “Sing it, Mommy,” when we’re jamming our Veggie Tales CDs in the car.

The funny, profound, witty, silly, poignant and adorable things the twins say are too voluminous to cite them all. And much of their progress with speech, comprehension and overall communication is due to their yearlong relationship with Miss Pat. They had their final sessions with her this week and it was bitter sweet. Sure, we’re all ready to move on, but she has become such an integral part of our lives. Thanks for everything, “pretty Pat!”

They’ll be info on Miss Jessie, church and other awesome stuff in the next blog. I’m also playing catch-up on pics. These Play-doh shots are from Kara’s visit all the way back in June. Click the top photo for part 1 and the above one of HL and Kara for part 2.

Finally, here are the awesome photos from Houston’s 4th birthday. I know the party was nearly two months ago, so I apologize for the delay. A sincere “thanks” goes out to Cousin Meredith for snapping and sharing many of the unforgettable shots.

I had the house all to myself this weekend. Houston and Stephen went on a father-son campout with church at Hanging Rock State Park. The sometimes rainy adventure included canoeing, lake swimming and hiking to a waterfall. This was Houston’s first real camping trip and Daddy reports that is was a success.

Although he looks 6, HL turned 4. (Click pic to see Part 1 photos.)

Gabriel and Zeke spent a weekend in the mountains with Granny and Grumps. This was the twins’ first time to be away from home for the night without big bro. Granny says, “They were good as gold!”

Gabriel had his first allergist appointment in late July. Just like Zeke, he tested negative to all 50 allergens pricked on his back during the skin test. Also like Zeke, Gabe was diagnosed as having cough-variant asthma (dry, unproductive coughing at night) and was prescribed similar medications. The hope is that they’ll both outgrow the condition. In the meantime, the meds are helping tremendously, allowing a better night’s sleep for the entire fam.

The aforementioned allergy test is a fairly traumatic procedure for kids, so I decided not to lug all three boys to the doc, which is so often what I do for medical appointments. Instead, I dropped Houston and Zeke off at Bizi Kidz, as suggested to me by a gal from Moms Club. Although a bit pricey, it’s nice to know there’s a safe drop-in childcare facility available when the need arises.

Zeke “helps” push Kara & Gabriel down the slip-n-slide.

We wrapped up last month with a weekend trip to Virginia to attend Meredith’s going-away party. Our beloved niece/cousin moved to New Orleans for adventures and a fresh start. Cousin Casey is also there, attending Tulane, so she won’t be totally without fam. Anyhoo, we wish you the best in the Big Easy, Merdy!

We kicked off August by paying off all of our outstanding longterm medical bills. These included payment plans from Zeke’s CCAM surgery and the hospital balance for having all the babies, as well as the twins’ NICU stay. What a great way to start to month.

Speaking of medical stuff, Miss Pat gave Gabriel and Zeke the Preschool Language Scale assessment in early August. They each scored 82 in “auditory comprehension” and 86 in “expressive communication,” with a total language score of 86. Read: they tested better than 86 out of 100 kids their age. Way to go, boys!

The funny thing is that even though Gabe and Zeke were assessed separately, missing and getting correct completely different answers, they got the exact same scores. Sure, they are genetically identical, but that is pretty zany stuff.

Houston & Zeke blow out the candles. (Click photo to see Part 2.)

Then last week, the twins got screened once more by an occupational therapist. Pat, Stephen and I wanted to put concern over Gabe and Zeke’s occasional clumsiness to rest and see what the OT had to say, now that Gabe and Zeke are older and their intermittent bouts of having two left feet are increasingly infrequent, yet still present. Diagnosis: growing pains.

The sometimes aching and agonizing growth of a child’s body can effect “proprioception” — the unconscious awareness of body position — so the body seeks sensory input elsewhere. And since the receptors for the proprioceptive system are located in the muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints and connective tissue, this can obviously physically manifest itself in a child being blunderous or graceless.

The OT said the twins don’t need therapy. Instead, we should promote activities the kids already enjoy — climbing, hanging, catching/throwing, batting, pulling/pushing, swimming, playing with resistant toys (like Legos), pounding/rolling (Play Doh), hiking, wrestling, etc. — as well as try a few other fun suggestions. Their clumsiness should continue to decrease and be gone by about age 4.

Houston & Gabriel open the birthday gifts. (Click pic to see Part 3.)

Some current favorite topics of exploration for the kids include volcanoes, tornadoes and the moon, and the “what would happen” queries that arise from those subjects. For instance, “What would happen if … I was in the volcano … on the moon … inside a tornado … the lava got me … the tornado got my house?”

The twins are also interested in how they were inside of Mommy at the same time. Zeke often asks, “Was I in your lung?” or “Did I kick your lung?” I suppose that’s because when heading to Granny’s, we drive pass the children’s hospital where he got his “yucky taken out,” so his lobectomy has been discussed more than usual as of late.

Potty talk is also quite cherished these days. If the 3 Amigos can work doo-doo, poot, penis, booger or ear wax into a sentence, they do it gleefully and unapologetically. Ooh, boys are so gross.