ZigZag Zeal

My son Jake is a football player.

Youth football is crazy, you never know what you will see at these games. I have seen crazy dad’s who yell at their sons in front of the whole team, trying to re-live some crazy fantasy of their youth.  I am always shocked at the parents more then the kids, if you ever need a good lesson in good & very bad parenting go watch a youth football game.  Anyway, back to my football story...

I love sitting there in the stands watching Jake play even though I am a nervous wreck thinking about what injury is he going to get today the entire time. I love to watch Jake zigzag down the field with such determination and I smile when his teammates offer a hand to get up after a tough play. I love to hear his name over the loud speaker when he has a great play, especially love hearing other parents say “keep your eye on number 45, he is good.”

I loved watching Jake's twin sister on the sidelines cheering for the team, she was a great cheerleader. She was the “flyer”, you know the girl who gets thrown up in the air and relies on other young girls to catch her also known as the give-mom-a-heart-attack landings. She quit the cheer team last year but that’s okay, I love sitting in the stands with her where I know she is safe.

I love that my youngest daughter always looks for Jake on the field, is the first to run to him and hug him after the game and that even though he is a teenager he remembers to hug her back.

To make your own sport's mom shirt click here:

http://www.zazzle.com/personalized_football_mom_tshirt-235092320383545684?gl=Graphix_Vixon&group=womens&lifestyle=fashion&t_text1=JAKE%27S%20MOM&rf=238413649595441313

My favorite football memories of all though is when they have a really tough loss and my son Jake comes out of the locker room and walks back to the car with me slowly because he is so sore and tells me how he much fun he had. That alone is reason enough to love the game of football.

Yielding Yes-man

My son Jake likes to call himself the “ladies man.”
Mom thinks he is more of a yielding “yes-man” thanks to growing up with three bossy sisters.

http://www.zazzle.com/i_do_as_she_says_tshirt-235452180327846408?gl=SnakesMom&group=kids&lifestyle=classic&rf=238413649595441313

One thing is for sure, my son Jake has been enrolled in a dealing-with-women-boot-camp his entire life. Thankfully, his sisters will always be around, just in case Jake does end up with a bossy wife… I am sure they will step in and let her know that is entirely their job and to stand down.

XoXoXoXo

Hugs and Kisses.
There is nothing like a hug when you are hurt or sad.
Nothing even comes close.
A hug from Jake or his sisters can truly turn my whole day around.
It still brings tears to my eyes when I think back to all the times Jake would get scared of something and run to me with his arms straight up in the air, huge tears running down his cheeks from those big brown eyes, saying “momma, momma, momma” the whole way to me.
I often wish I had a magic wand I could wave to get even one of those moments back, but I don’t.
I always thought it was so funny how I could pick him up, give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek and like magic the tears went away and it was back to playtime.  Kind of made me feel like I had the magic touch!

http://www.zazzle.com/love_my_cry_baby_boy_necklace-177287953646988167?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

Now that Jake is almost grown and very unlikely as a teenager to ever run to me screaming "momma, momma, momma" with his arms in the air, I can only carry these cherished memories in my heart.
Have you hugged someone today?

Womb Wars

Years ago during my twin pregnancy, I ended up having five ultrasounds before the babies were finally born and a very funny thing was going on in each of those ultrasounds.
I like to call it the “womb wars” because during all of those doctor visits, staring at the little screen I always layed there watching my two little precious babies literally beating on each other.  They were not messing around in there either, it was like something you would see on a WWF episode.
I remember being paranoid that they would be born all bruised up or with black and blue eyes, I even asked the doctor if it was possible for them to hurt each other, which she quickly told me to stop worrying and that they would be fine. 
Jake’s twin sister must have won all those womb wars because even though he was born a full 31 minutes earlier then her, she was the boss long before her arrival.

http://www.zazzle.com/custom_a_princess_like_me_cartoon_speckcase-176330345716649067?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

Jake is about four inches taller then his twin these days but every once in awhile when she gets that little twinkle in her eye, he is still smart enough to take cover!

Vivacious Valor

Vi·va·cious

active, lively, animated, spirited and full of life

Val·or

bold, determined, heroic, courage and brave

Two words which describe my twins accurately.

Both have shown courage while others folded.

Both are spirited, full of life and can make you smile when you feel like all hope is gone.

Both have stood up for strangers whenever they felt a person simply needed a friend.

http://www.zazzle.com/girl_boy_twins_love_ornament-175283707967440926?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

My twins are my heroes and I am very proud of them.

 They are more loved then they will ever know or sadly that I can ever explain in my writings.

My oldest daughter and youngest daughter also have many unique qualities I am very proud of, they are mom's heroes too but this post is dedicated to my twins.

Who are the heroes in your life?

Unexpected Unbelievable Ultrasound

Finding out that you are going to have twins is very exciting, especially when you are five months pregnant and not expecting it at all, like me.
I was big, very big but the doctor thought the reason I was so big was because my first baby was nearly ten pounds at birth. Yes, you read that right. Imagine my surprise having such a large first baby. Anyway…
When the big day finally came around to have the ultrasound I was so excited and when I got up on the ultrasound table the technician looked down at me and said “let’s start with baby A.”
I laughed at her and replied “I know I am huge but I am not having twins, just one huge baby.”
She laughed and said “okay, well let’s take a look” while she put the cold gel on the giant bulge that used to be my tummy. “Yes, your having twins, this is baby A and this is baby B.”
I just laid there looking at the screen in disbelief and excitement then said calmly “can you tell me the sex of each of the babies if you can see it.”
The ultrasound tech started laughing hysterically.
“Are you kidding me, is there three?” I said.
She stops laughing finally and explains to me that the very moment I had asked the sex of the babies, baby A had been in the right place at the right time, making it very obvious to her that I was going to have a JAKE! She then told me that baby B was going to be a girl, which was a little harder to figure out since thankfully, girls have a way of being a little more discreet.

http://www.zazzle.com/red_bird_with_babies_art_mousepad-144672204525788315?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

Looking back it is hard to believe that was fifteen years ago, one of the best moments of my life.
Have you ever had a unbelievable or unexpected gift from God that changed your entire life?

The Toybox Torture

When Jake and his twin sister were a little over a year old, she came up with a pretty good trick, she would begin the day by using a step stool and climbing into the tall toybox to perch herself on top of the pile of toys until lunchtime. She was smart enough to figure out that if she sat there on top of all the toys that she had all the power, she alone could decide what and if Jake played with for the entire day. She could also bark off orders to Jake to go and retrieve anything she might need that was not inside of the toybox, trust me she had the power that he would in fact scurry off to get anything she asked for.
I was always quite surprised that Jake put up with this kind of monarchy like he did but there really was no way that he would have had the patience or endurance to sit on top of that pile of toys for 2-3 hours at a time like she did and he knew it, he was way too much of a on-the-go kid.
They did talk and share toys the entire time she was in there, but there was the occasional hit to Jake’s head by a toy when he tried to take something out without following the proper procedures, such as begging and pleading for it first.
I think this was yet another way she had her own little way of telling Jake without words that she was in fact the queen of his castle, like he did not already know that!

http://www.zazzle.com/funny_little_girl_cartoon_speckcase-176592956236351536?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

Even at the age of one Jake knew that there can only be "one" and he was not likely to be the "one" anytime soon, unless of course she said he was the "one" for a very brief minute or two.

Stitches, Staples & Shiners!

Jake's Lifetime Injury List Excluding Scrapes & Bruises (everything mom can remember at least)
1. The very first shiner ~ black & blue eye compliments of twin sister smacking him with a building block before the age of one. He can always look back at the pictures of it and see where his troubles all began.
2. Stitches under chin ~ pushed by twin sister and fell into the coffee table, age 1.
3. Staples to the head ~ pushed on the stair steps by twin sister, age 5.
4. Dura bond (medical glue) to the forehead ~ rode bike into corner of the house while looking down watching his feet instead of the driveway, also age 5.
5. Dura bond again ~ ear lobe injury from messing with kitchen cabinets, age 6.
6. Staples on side of head ~ fell outside on back stairs of house, age 6.
7. Staples to back of head ~ rough housing with friend and hit edge of table, age 8.
8. Staples to side of head ~ playing with friends outside, age 9.
9. Sprained wrist ~ Football injury, age 10.
10. Stitches on two fingers ~ Shot by twin sister with BB Gun after letting her use it for the very first time, after a full year of him using it safely by himself, age 11.
11. Bruised ribs ~ Football injury, age 11.
12. Sprained thumb ~ Football injury, age 12.
13. Sprained ankle ~ Football injury, age 12.
14. Surgery to abdomen ~ to fix hernia Jake was probably born with, age 13
15. Bruised tailbone ~ Football injury, age 13
16. Stitches on two fingers ~ Just last week, after pulling a hunting knife out of a bag, after it had wiggled out of it’s case, age 14.

I am pleased to say however that Jake has a incredibly high pain tolerance and has always taken the medical procedures in stride and is usually more upset about the low number of stitches or staples he receives, I guess this lessons the bragging rights at school or something.  Once he even got a doctor to add one staple, after much begging!

http://www.zazzle.com/funny_doctor_cartoon_button-145269752468705774?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

As you can see by the size of this list, Jake is a very injury prone boy, which drives me (mom) crazy!!  I am constantly praying that my little boy has had enough injuries to last him a entire lifetime! Thanks to all the wonderful doctor’s who have used great skill to leave Jake with only a few noticeable scars that are all thankfully under his hair! 
Now, how many staples, stitches or shiners have you had in your lifetime?

Remarkable Revelation

Jake has always been one for getting along with other kids and makes new friends easily with his outgoing personality, so you can imagine the surprise I had when the principal called to say Jake had literally pounced on a boy while out on the playground in 1^st grade.
After a lengthy talk with the principal about the investigation he had done into the event, I was very surprised to hear that Jake’s twin sister provoked Jake to tackle this poor boy on the playground.
She in fact liked this little boy and because kids have such a weird way of showing it, she set a series of events into motion just to get his attention.
1. She told Jake that this boy (pointing him out) on the playground was being mean to her and to watch out for her while she played.
2. She casually marched straight across the playground to the boy and told him that it would be fun to have a pushing contest and that he should go first by pushing her.
3. She laughed her little butt off when Jake tore through the playground and tackled this boy to the ground.
4. She sat in disbelief when the three of them had their very first visit ever to the principal’s office and she feared the inevitable punishment that was coming to her when the truth came out.
Jake and this boy went on to be very good friends and the principal used the opportunity to explain to Jake’s twin sister that she has a pretty big responsibility as a good sister not to provoke her brother to defend her.

http://www.zazzle.com/brother_sister_warning_tshirt-235303045038732911?gl=SnakesMom&group=kids&lifestyle=classic&rf=238413649595441313

Jake learned that day that things are not always as they appear and that sometimes sisters have horns.

Questioning Quandary

When Jake and his twin sister were finally able to talk and be questioned as to “who did this or that?” Jake always spoke first and admitted to things there was no way he could have ever even done. No matter if he was there or nowhere near the scene of the crime, he always said he did it. He never wanted to see his twin cry and would even cry too if she got punished for anything. This went on until they were about 8 or 9 years old, and now that they are teens, forget it, he would rat her out in a flat minute.
Thank goodness though he finally stopped this practice and let her get punished for things he did not do, it did however take a lot of talks about how she needed to learn to be responsible for her own actions.

http://www.zazzle.com/blame_me_mug-168769114697573295?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

The funny thing is… even when she was very little she would in fact say that she had done it (with a little naughty smirk on her face) even with Jake standing there trying to take the blame, this often led to a argument between the two of them over who really did it, which was quite comical actually for any parent to watch.

Priceless Peacemaker

Having three sisters means growing up around a lot of wars.
There are the standard wars over toys, the bitter feuds over the last popsicle in the house and of course the knock down drag out clothing wars.
Jake has seen his fair share of wars but it never gets any easier.
If the war draws sides in the sand though, forget it, he will always be on the side of his twin sister even if he knows she is wrong.
We like to call Jake the “peacemaker” because he hates to see his sisters mad at each other, he will often do or say something funny just to make them smile.
Jake is the type of kid who will go from bedroom to bedroom trying to make negotiations or stretch the truth in one sisters favor just to get the other to forgive her.

Jake is also a boy who keeps his mouth closed if it is a no win situation like the one in this cartoon, he knows when to say nothing when you have nothing good to say, just like his momma taught him.

http://www.zazzle.com/no_way_can_i_win_this_speckcase-176296725712094280?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

The funny thing is, this “peacemaker” attitude only applies to his sisters since he is a fan of war type video games and of course "peace" is never a option when it comes to playing Monopoly against his own mother, so apparently his peacemaking attitude does have it’s boundaries.

Obsessed Over Outlets

When Jake was around the age of two or three he had a fascination with outlets, thankfully I had outlet safety covers on all of them throughout the entire house. So I thought…
One day though, he watched his dad take a outlet cover off with a screwdriver to paint a bedroom, and this changed the game entirely.
Later that night after I put Jake to bed, he got out a small screwdriver he had hidden in his room earlier in the day (good eye, dad) and proceeded to take all the outlet covers off in his room, place them in a pile and then go to bed.
The next morning I stood in disbelief and almost in tears, thinking about what could have happened with Jake sticking a screwdriver into even one of those outlets. That was the last time he got his hands on a screwdriver!

http://www.zazzle.com/child_safety_humor_tshirt-235589998994987361?gl=SnakesMom&group=kids&lifestyle=classic&rf=238413649595441313

It just goes to show, no matter how safe you think you are… there is always going to be something you never thought of that comes up. Kids are crazy!

Naughty & Nice

If there is one thing Jake knows, it is that his three sisters will always be there for him.  They may be naughty and cause him a lot of grief, injuries (thanks twin sis) and much humor at his expense but they can also be nice, loving and very supportive when a boy needs a friend.
He may wonder what life would be like not having them around (much quieter) or ponder the thought of a life with a brother, there is no way he would trade his life of having 3 crazy sisters.

http://www.zazzle.com/my_three_sisters_cartoon_tshirt-235689975247730890?gl=SnakesMom&group=kids&lifestyle=classic&t_text1=&t_text2=&t_text3=&rf=238413649595441313

Mom (me) loves to tell Jake, "just think someday when you are married and have a woman telling you what to do, it won't be anything you are not used to!" 
Jake usually laughs and adds "then I can have a bunch of daughters, that would be just my luck."

Monopoly Man

Jake loves to play the game Monopoly! 
He likes to play with me (mom) and his little sister also known as "the traitor" because she always sells me out and makes trades with Jake that end up killing me by the end of the game.
This picture is what the typical game looks like in the end, it is no wonder I TRY to stay in jail so I can hide from having to pay all that high rent to him!

The trade off for 'lil sis is, he lets HER out of paying him rent when she lands on his properties...as for me his own MOTHER, the one that gave birth to him, he takes every single last dollar!

http://www.zazzle.com/custom_smart_boy_speckcase-176452332966032499?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

I guess I should just be happy I taught them to work together but I really did not mean for that to be against ME! lol

License, Louie & Love

LICENSE:
Since I have been sharing all these true childhood stories about Jake's life since birth, I do not think I have ever actually said how old Jake is right now, but you can probably guess his age when I tell you that this summer he will be taking drivers training.  Yes, Jake and his twin sister are almost 15 years old and that means they will be driving on their own by the end of next year!  I can only imagine the stories that milestone will bring.... which is why I created something to warn people next year.

http://www.zazzle.com/new_driver_cartoon_tshirt-235451436743450024?gl=SnakesMom&group=mens&lifestyle=fashion&rf=238413649595441313



LOUIE:

Louie is Jake's new puppy he rescued from the aminal shelter around Christmas time.  This "puppy" is already huge and I can only imagine how big this bullmastiff mix is going to get but he loves Jake and is a very loyal companion already.  This picture is of Louie when Jake got him, today he is already big enough to jump up and lick Jake's face and Jake is just taller then me at 5' 7".

LOVE:

There are no words to describe my love for my son Jake or his three sisters all I can do is hope they feel it in their hearts each and everyday.

Kind Kid

My son Jake is a natural born kind kid, he does not like it when people are unhappy or sad and he will try to pick you up with a joke or a simple smile. Jake does however have the "tough guy" in him though that will draw a line in the sand and fight when he needs to.
While in middle school his twin sister’s friend that is quite tall, I mean really tall for that age was continuously picked at everyday by a boy who had a locker near hers, so badly so, that she did not even want to go to school because of it.
So one day I get the dreaded phone call that no parent likes to receive, Jake had been suspended for fighting at school.
Jake mad about having been suspended for doing the right thing in his mind did not want to talk about it, thinking there was no way I would understand and just went up to his room when he got home. His twin sister however was ready to share the news though since she was so thrilled that her brother defended her friend, she raced to tell the story.
Apparently Jake had told the boy more then a few times to leave her alone and that the “giraffe” jokes were just not that funny but this boy would not let it go and continued and when she started crying because of his hurtful words, Jake simply had enough and shut him up.

http://www.zazzle.com/best_friends_forever_cartoon_necklace-177528332687495276?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

That was the last day that the bully ever tormented his twin’s friend and after hearing that my son did what I would expect him to do there was no at home “suspension”, just a good talk and a pat on the back for doing the right thing for someone who really needed a friend.

Judge & Jury Jake

From the very moment Jake saw the movie Toy Story he was hooked, there was something about Buzz Lightyear that he just loved, probably all those gadgets.  Jake quickly grew a entire collection of Toy Story toys but he especially loved his first Buzz Lightyear which had "JAKE" on the bottom of the foot, thanks to me and my handy dandy black permanent marker.
Every night Jake would sleep with that Buzz and one Woody in his bed (now that he was finally sleeping in a actual bed), one night though in the middle of the night...
Jake came out into the living room where I was still awake and with tears running down his face, he stood there crying and mumbling the words "Woody pushed me out of bed" over and over again.
Needless to say, I could not get Jake to go back to sleep until I removed every last woody from his bedroom, he was convinced that Woody had not only pushed him out of bed but that Woody was the bad guy and would continue to pull tricks on him if he let even one of him stay in the room.

http://www.zazzle.com/bad_boy_cartoon_speckcase-176265266459609931?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

The next morning, Jake was still convinced that Woody had in fact pushed him out of bed and that day all of the Woody's were packed up in a box and put away for good, that is the power of being the judge and jury over who you let into your life and who you send packing.    

Identifying Independence

Attending parent teacher conferences when your child or children in this case (twins) are in 2nd grade is usually pretty standard stuff, you go over the basics (math, reading, etc.) and the teacher tells you how your child is progressing. This particular conference though took a very strange turn when the teacher said something quite unusual to me…
She said “Jake does not appear to know what to do, unless a girl is telling him what to do.”
Without a ounce of hesitation or thought I said the unthinkable “well, there is nothing wrong with that.”
She moved on quickly with the academics, with a small grin on her face.
On the drive home though thinking about the conversation is when it really hit me, was I raising the perfect male? Or a house full of take-charge women that will go out into the world and dominate? What can I do to change this situation?

　

http://www.zazzle.com/living_with_women_tshirt-235237834928513964?gl=SnakesMom&group=kids&lifestyle=classic&rf=238413649595441313

Later that night I called a family meeting at the kitchen table and asked Jake if he does in fact know what to do if a girl is not telling him what to do, he laughed loudly and said “Yes, but life is so much easier if I do just do what they say."  (lol, the perfect male!)

Humorous Hernia Help

Jake had a hernia a little over a year ago and had to have a minor surgery to repair the spot in his abdomen, according to the doctors this was caused by a weak spot in the abdominal wall that Jake was probably born with.  Anytime a parent hears the word "surgery" though it is sheer panic, you just want to get it over with and everything get back to normal, sometimes it gets back to normal a little too quickly...
After the outpatient surgery Jake was quite groggy and his little sister felt very bad for him, she sat next to his bed for hours reading to him, talking to him and bringing him things to make him feel more comfortable.  After a good night's sleep, Jake was back up moving around and ready to eat of course, he sat down at the kitchen table to have a bowl of cereal and little sis pulled up a chair.
Little sister said to him "I took such good care of you, I read you like thirty books, rubbed your hand and brought you drinks."  Jake (not even thinking about the result) responds "I don't remember any of that."
Being seven years old, little sister just saw red because of this, stood up, screamed "YOU BIG JERK" and stormed off to her room and slammed the door.

http://www.zazzle.com/i_am_sorry_cartoon_card-137275190151170548?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

Jake sat there for a minute and then remembered a good lesson learned much earlier in life from dealing with his two other sisters and that is to apologize, apologize, apologize!

Groovy Grandparents

Having grandparents is one thing, having the funnest grandparents ever is quite another.
Jake and his three sisters along with Jake's one cousin are very lucky to have a set of grandparents who have a great sense of humor and love to shock the grand kids by doing unthinkably fun things.
One recent story is this past Christmas when my family and my sisters family decided to go in together on a gift for them and buy them a Wii gaming system, we thought this will be a fun thing for them to do during the winter to get some exercise.  We knew that our kids would also enjoy it when they went over to spend the night because of the games on there.  On Christmas day the grand kids hooked the system up for them and showed their grandpa how to play the bowling game, they played two times that day.
What the grand kids did not expect is what would happen next...
The very next time they went over to spend the night at grandpa and grandma's house they were all excited that they would be able to beat grandpa again on the Wii, well things did not go exactly as planned that night...
When I returned to pick Jake and his little sister up they had quite a good story for me on the ride home.  Apparently, grandpa had been spending his evenings (since it was winter and he could not get out to garden) on the Wii bowling game and had figured out exactly where to throw the ball to get a strike each time.  The kids were just blown away by how good grandpa was and that he could just crush THEM on a video game.  The grandparents definitely earned a lot of "cool groovy grandparent" points that weekend!

http://www.zazzle.com/custom_love_my_five_grandkids_coaster-174461869459598952?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

The lesson Jake learned that weekend was don't ever count any opponent out just because of their age, everyone is as young as they feel!!

Football Frenzy

Jake loves to play football and no matter what he is going to play. 
There have been seasons where he was a key player for the team, a season where he sat out a lot, a few seasons where his team won almost every game and a season where his team was lucky to even win one, through it all though Jake always played.
Jake has finished games even after being hurt in the first quarter and once played with a sprained wrist (hiding it from the coach of course), this boy is dedicated and all heart when it comes to the game.
He seems to leave it all out on the field because win or lose he just loves to play, I guess some people are just born with it.

 http://www.zazzle.com/football_sports_postal_stamp_postage-172836050798856794?gl=Graphix_Vixon&rf=238413649595441313



Explosively Exhausting Energy

When Jake and his twin sister were born it became quite clear that Jake had more then enough energy for the two of them.  He never quit moving, never, not even when he was sleeping, his liitle legs just kept moving as if he was even dreaming about doing adventurous things. 
One of the many fun gifts for Jake and his twin sister was a set of Graco Johnny Jumpers, which for those of you who do not know is a hanging seat that attaches to a interior doorframe and it allows babies to jump. 
One of the perks of having two doorways in the hallway that faced each other was the twins could play and jump in their Johnny Jumpers and watch each other. So we thought...
From the very moment Jake got into his, he was a jumping maniac, he jumped so high and so far he could almost even get his seat to reach across the hall to his twin sisters.  This kept her so entertained she forgot to ever even jump in hers!
Jake jumped for so long one day that his twin grew tired of watching and laughing that finally she just laid her head down on the tray (which had Cheerios on it) and when big sis got home from school and woke her up she had Cheerios stuck to her cheeks which made everyone have a good laugh.

http://www.zazzle.com/i_do_my_own_stunts_cartoon_mug-168953421489181277?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

Whether you are the jumper like Jake or you prefer to just stay safe and watch, life is always a leap worth taking .

Demanding Diva

Since the day Jake was born he has been bossed around by either his big sister or his twin sister so when he heard he was going to be a big brother at the age of five the very first thing out of his mouth was "I hope it's a boy" and the next was "Good! Someone for me to finally boss around."

It's a Girl!

Poor Jake took it all in stride and he did really love the idea of being a big brother, this was finally his big chance to be the boss of someone younger then him.
That is until little sister arrived and gave that undeniable look he had seen many, many times before, that look that told Jake right off the bat that she was going to be trouble with a capital "T".
He was right, little sis has bossed Jake from the time she found her voice to this day, even though she is much smaller and five years younger.
She used even sit in her room and scream his name and then start some sort of evil countdown of "Waiting, Waiting, Waiting" until he arrived. Talk about demanding, it was always "do this", "do that", "help me with this"...etc..
Day to dawn, morning to night, pitch black to daylight his little sister was always demanding something.

http://www.zazzle.com/just_call_me_princess_speckcase-176346878013527046?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

Jake understands now that the demanding divas in his life will always boss him no matter their age or even their size.

Crib Craziness

Going way back in time to when neither Jake or his twin sister could walk, back to when Jake was very good at pulling himself up on everything he could reach (Jake walked just before 11 months, so somewhere in the 10 month range).
One morning when I opened the door to the twins bedroom I got a very big surprise, one crib empty and one crib with two babies in it.  I remember thinking maybe their dad or their older sister had moved Jake from his crib to his twin sisters crib, so I brought it up at dinner time and they both denied ever moving Jake and kind of looked at me like I was nuts, even suggesting that I had probably moved Jake and forgot about it or something. Yeah, right like that happened, misplacing babies was not my thing.
The following morning though of course, I opened the door and sure enough there was Jake and his twin sister both grinning from ear to ear and bouncing up and down in her crib.
Long story short... from the minute Jake was able to,  he began climbing out of his crib every night, crawling across the room and climbing up into her crib, where he got a good night of sleep probably watching over her.

http://www.zazzle.com/girl_boy_twins_love_ornament-175283707967440926?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

This crib craziness continued until the cribs went away and the Little Tykes Race Car beds arrived, which is another crazy story all together!
It is crazy what a boy will do for the sister he dearly loves, that is a love he was born with.

Bad Boy Bus Bully

One regular afternoon when Jake was in middle school, he was riding the bus home with his twin sister, his older sister (picked up at the high school) and a three older boys from the neighborhood who started picking a fight with him.  Jake gave as good as he got in the bickering back and forth until the bus stopped and let them all out at the bus stop.
As the bus drove away out of sight, one of the older boys known for being the "bus bully" pushed Jake from behind and knocked him to the ground.  Jake not one for backing down especially not in front of two of his sisters, got up and stood his ground.
The problem is, there stood Jake against this older boy, two his bully friends and two sisters who were both giggling and acting as if they could care less if Jake got a good beating as they started walking toward home. 
Then came the even bigger push from behind that took Jake and the fight to the ground.  The situation looked pretty bad for Jake until something very, very unusual happened...
In a split second decision something grabbed hold on Jake's twin sister's heart and in that split second she turned back from her walk and went right over to the fight and out of nowhere landed one good punch on the bus bully and said "don't you ever mess with my brother."
The fight was over. 
The bus bully got up very embarrassed about the fact that he just got schooled by a girl, covered his face with his hands and high tailed it home.  The bully's friends decided quite quickly that they wanted none of that and headed on their way home too.
Jake's twin calmly turned back around, without a word, grabbed her backpack off the ground and headed home. 
Jake got up and just stood there in silence for a long time, he just could not believe that his twin sister who likes to act like he means nothing to her, had actually just done what she did to that bully.

http://www.zazzle.com/sister_pledge_necklace-177832718710363476?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

From that day forward, Jake always knew in his heart that his twin sister would be there for him when it matters the most.

Addictively Amusing

When a boy gets his first bike it is a very big deal and Jake was no exception, he was so excited to get a big wheel bike he could hardly wait to get outside and ride it.  He rode that big wheel up and down the driveway for hours having fun, every once in awhile he would stop and pick up a little stone or just for the fun of the taking off again.  The day was going great for Jake, he was really enjoying his big wheel, that is until big sister got involved... 
Seeing Jake having all this fun, big sister decided to make things a little more interesting by telling Jake that his trip up the driveway would be so much more fun if only he would let her tie a jump rope to the front of his big wheel and pull him with her bike.  Hearing the words "more fun" is all Jake needed to hear and he was in on the plan, he even ran to get the jump rope when big sister suggested he could get it faster then her.
After big sister tied the rope real tight to both bikes she got on her bike, turned her head to look back and said "okay, here we go."
That ride down the driveway was so fast, Jake just grinned from ear to ear, he never even noticed when big sis had taken the turn at the end of the driveway and passed him going back the other way.  This is when the fun came to a screeching halt because when that jump rope pulled Jake's bike all the way around, Jake did not go the same way his big wheel did.  Jake ended up with two band aids on his knees, one on a elbow and a few tears streaming down his cheeks that afternoon, big sister was highly amused that she did not have one scratch on her pretty little legs.

http://www.zazzle.com/sometimes_you_have_to_cry_mug-168146180587716915?gl=SnakesMom&rf=238413649595441313

Jake learned that day that sometimes it is best to just be happy with what you have and maybe big sister's idea of "more fun" is not exactly more fun.