Busy Mom Juggles the Challenge of Twins, Health Business and Community Service

Susan Rimmerman

Busy Mom Juggles the Challenge of Twins, Health, Business and Community Service

By Patricia Hudson

There are people in this community that just stand out. They do things. They care about others. They have an interesting tale to tell. Susan Rimmerman is one of those people. Susan and Russ Rimmerman met in 1997, on an Internet Relay Chat room in Omaha, Nebraska. “We chatted for a while before meeting in person, we started dating January 1998,” recalls Susan. “We have been married for 22 ½ years!” Susan is a stay-at-home mom and runs Special Moments, a home business of custom acrylic and vinyl merchandise. Russ spent 5 ½ years in the Air Force, and now works at Microsoft as a Cloud Solution Architect. They transferred to Houston in 1999. “We discovered the Cypress area and loved it, and the school district so much that we built our second home in Cypress seven years ago,” comments Susan.

What is it like to be the parents of twins?

Being a twin mom can definitely be challenging, but I wouldn’t have life any other way. Jaxen and Owyn are our second set of twin sons. Their older twin brothers Nathan and Kaleb were born via emergency c-section at 24 weeks on Oct 25, 2012. Kaleb passed away 14 days after he was born, and Nathan passed away 21 days after he was born. The boys know all about their big brothers and we always make sure to include them in our special occasions. Having Jaxen and Owyn saved me from a dark time in my life after losing Nathan and Kaleb. They gave me hope, a reason to smile and a reason to live my life again. After being on hospital bed rest, the boys were born at 32 weeks and spent five weeks in the NICU before we could take them home. Once we got home, we had no idea what to do without our NICU nurses. The doctor told us if everyone was alive at the end of each day, we did our job. That is what we have been doing since. It was just Russ and I taking care of the boys. We did it all on our own as we don’t have family that live close by. It wasn’t easy at first, but once we got into the swing of things, everything came so easy to us and it all felt natural to have twins.

Photo Credit: Kelsey Splawn Photography

Some days, I miss them being little babies. I truly enjoyed those moments with them. They are growing up way too fast for us, time needs to stand still a little longer. Watching twins interact with each other is amazing. They have a connection like no other. When they were one, we gave them a sugar cookie for the first time. Once the sugar kicked in, they couldn’t stop laughing. I would fake sneeze and they would crack up. They were the happiest babies ever and easy to take care of. Now that they are older, life isn’t as easy as when they were babies. They love to challenge us, keep us on our toes, and keep us busy with activities.

Where do the twins attend school? What are their favorite classes?

The boys are now seven, and in 2nd grade at Keith Elementary School. Owyn’s favorite classes are Science and math. Jaxen’s favorite classes are art and science. Owyn wants to be a chef and own his own restaurant and Jaxen wants to be a heart surgeon.

Extracurricular activities?

Baseball, basketball, cooking classes, Cub Scouts, swimming, camping,

You are a family of travelers. Business or pleasure?

Russ and I have always loved to travel and experience different cultures. We wanted our boys to experience this as well, growing up. So far, we have taken them to Costa Rica, Panama, and a few states over the last few years.

Favorite destinations?

I would have to say that our favorite place so far is Panama. We traveled all through the country to see as much as we could in 14 days. The boys would say their

favorite part of that trip would be the Sloth rescue hotel we stayed at. The boys were able to hold sloths and feed them daily. We took them horseback riding through the countryside, played at the beach, fed the wild monkeys off “monkey island,” and ate amazing food.

Susan, you are active in the PTO and in the community?

I am currently the VP of Primary Fundraising with the Keith PTO Board the last 3 years. I absolutely love raising as much as I can to help our amazing school. Last year, I changed up how we did our main fundraiser and went through Step It Up. We raised just under $56,000 in two weeks. Seeing all the smiles on the students faces at our events or when they see us setting up something fun warms my heart and makes all the hard work worth it. With the money we have raised the last few years, we have been able to buy the kids a new playground, shade to cover it, and painted games on the flat top.

You have lost a considerable amount of weight; have you made changes to eating habits, exercise?

I have limited my intake of calories each day. I mostly eat fruit, veggies, and a little bit of chicken, I cut out pork, beef, most carbs and sweets, which helped me lose 148 pounds. Cooking everything fresh helps me stay healthy and make sure my family is healthy, as well. I had a lot of extra

skin and had a couple of major skin removal surgeries and a mommy makeover done.

What are your family favorite "go to" meals?

I wanted our boys to have healthier eating habits than what I had growing up. So, I started with making the boys baby food from scratch when they were six months old. It didn’t take them long to move onto solid food because of that. We prefer to have everything fresh and made from scratch as much as possible. Their favorite meals are homemade pizzas in the pizza oven (made with fresh dough and sauce from scratch) and grilled vegetables. If I need a fast dinner, I will make a batch of chicken enchiladas or fajitas. Owyn LOVES to cook and helps me in the kitchen. My boys LOVE sushi and had it the first day of school!

What do you consider to be your biggest family challenge?

My twins are growing up way too fast! While it’s fun to watch them grow and learn new things every day, it’s mixed with sad emotions when I realize that seven years has already passed since they were born and that they’re already almost halfway to being old enough to move out on their own.

What are your favorite activities to do as a family?

We enjoy camping, traveling, going on adventures, snuggling for movie nights, and taking them on our Anniversary date night. We cherish every moment together because we know life is short and tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone.

Is there such a thing as leisure time in your schedule?

When the boys are at school, I am busy working on PTO, filling orders for my business, or getting things done around the house. If I do get a little bit of downtime for my hobbies, I love to read, scrapbook, create new items for my business, plan parties/events. My husband finds it relaxing to hang out with the boys in the pool or grill with them.

If you know of an exceptional Greater Fairfield, Bridgeland/Blackhorse Ranch, Towne Lake, Coles Crossing, or Cypress Creek Lakes individual or family that needs to be featured in an upcoming issue of PinPointe Magazine, please contact me: texasteacher024@outlook.com.

Photo Credit: SeaGlass Photography