Fab 8 Friday!

We returned from our mini-vacation late Saturday, to many fun adventures on the home front…plenty of things to make this week fabulous!

1)      While the girls (and Hubby) were napping on Sunday, I made Fudgy Brownie cookies.  I gave the girls each a cookie for snack.  They are super ooey-gooey (especially when they’re still warm!), and I have never seen two messier girls!  They were in absolute heaven with their chocolate confection, which made the fact that we almost needed a bath afterwards, worth the cleanup effort.

2)      As part of our Father’s Day tradition, I broke out the finger paints for the girls to make handprints this week.  I was super brave, allowing them to paint at the table, whereas before I’ve always strapped them into their highchairs for finger painting expeditions.  We came away with some excellent handprints, and they had fun doing some free-form painting.  And…Mama survived the mess with [relatively] minimal stress!

3)      I bought a new bookshelf to corral the girls’ books in the den / kitchen area, which I hope will cut down on some of the strewing of toys and books from the den to the living room.  I usually assemble things once the girls are in bed…but I decided to be adventurous and ask if they wanted to “help” Daddy and me put it together.  Of course they were game.  They did a pretty good job of following directions, and they were so proud to be able to hand me a screw or hold something in place.

4)      Baby B has been a vehement thumb-sucker since she was about six months old, but only when she sleeps.  We’ve been talking to her for months and months about trying to stop.  She recognizes that her right thumb is not “smooth” like her left one, and she seems to want to stop…but it’s such a habit that she always succumbs to it overnight.  I asked her this week if she’d like for me to put a sock on her hand for bedtime, and she was so excited!  And I am SO proud that B has woken up with her sock still on for the past two nights!

5)      B is also so proud of her accomplishment.  The first morning, I told her she was due a celebration.  I asked what she wanted, and she immediately said, “Bagels!”  And she requested to go with Daddy to pick them up by herself.  She and Daddy loaded up – B, still wearing her pajamas – and off they went.  Her smile was priceless!

6)      While Daddy and B went to pick up bagels, I let Baby A help me unload the dishwasher.  She was such a good helper!  She put away the silverware, and a few bowls and utensils in lower cabinets.  I could tell she felt like such a big girl.

7)      Our swim lesson on Wednesday got cut very short (due to no fault of our own).  The girls and I were dressed in our swimsuits, so we decided to do something else before heading home.  We went to the water park, our first visit.  We only stayed about 45 minutes, but the girls had a BLAST!!!  There is a huge kiddy area that is about 2 ½’ deep, with sprinklers and a small waterslide.  It was too funny, that the girls could walk, but they didn’t seem to realize it.  They were laughing hysterically as I kept trying to coax them to put their feet down.  I took them down the waterslide a couple of times each, and then I asked if they wanted to go themselves.  Daddy (who wasn’t dressed to swim) made sure they got up the slide, and I waited at the bottom.  They were SCARED to sit down, but once they did, they were SO PROUD at coming down themselves.  And…don’t tell their swim coach…but they actually got their faces wet at the bottom of the slide.  Woo hoo!!!  We’ll definitely be going back to the water park one day, and it will be even more fun when Daddy gets in so we can each man a baby.

8)      Daddy has been practicing counting with the girls over the past couple of weeks.  Together, they count to 100 several times a day.  I was so thrilled, listening to B count by herself one morning.  She made it all the way to 39 without flaw, and then shouted, “80!”  Oh, well…I’ll take 39, I guess.  :)

So thankful for lots of fabulousness this and every week!