Thanks for the Memories, August!

August has been a whirlwind!  I CANNOT believe that the girls have been in school THREE WEEKS today.  (I guess that explains where the time has gone!)

So...before the month ends, here is {one} first-day-of-school picture.  The girls posed like this on their own...look at those long legs!!!

Despite the back-to-school busyness, we've packed in a lot of fun, too...

...several trips to the library to keep these girls entertained...

...a mommy-and-me trip to the trampoline park, where these girls gave me a run (er, jump) for my money...whew!

...a family trip to the yogurt shop (during which Daddy agreed to a selfie!)...

...and the kickoff of the soccer season...

I'm supremely thankful, among all this BUSY, that the girls still made time for play at home.  Here they are, having "built a TV", putting on a show for Mommy and Daddy before bedtime.

~ Thanks for the memories, August 2016! ~

Of Cats and Kids and Playing

We added our precious furry boys to our family a year ago in December.  They are such a treasure, but they’ve caused us to change our ways around the house in some respects, too.

The boys are a bit on the rambunctious side, AND they will run off with anything small.  (I’ve never seen a cat do that before!!!)  That prompts us to keep the kitties in the basement when we’re not home.  (That always sounds terrible to me, but it’s a fully finished space as big as our first house!)  When we are home, we close all the bedroom doors to limit the kitties’ roaming.  (They’re angels when they’re with us in the common areas.)

So…when the kitties are out and about, we’re generally hanging out in the kitchen, living room, or den.  And…this has very nicely coincided with the girls’ obsession with reading.  So…we spend a lot of time as a family reading or playing cards and hanging out with the kitties.

Sounds wonderful, right?  It is!

Except…

The girls don’t spend nearly as much time just playing as they used to.  The vast majority of their toys are upstairs in the playroom / bonus room, and those are rooms we close from the kitties.  The girls have their “quiet time” on Saturdays and Sundays, and they usually play then.  But – by design – that’s their time to themselves.

So…

It’s been such a beautiful treat to happen upon my girls playing so nicely a couple of times recently.  

One day, I came home from grocery shopping and Hubby was in the basement with the kitties.  I sneaked upstairs to the most wonderful sight.  I stood in the hallway and watched the girls, unbeknownst to them.  They were playing with their snap circuits, working together to figure something out.  

How I loved listening to their conversation.  “I’m trying to make the flying saucer, but I can just get the fan to work.”  “Here, let me show you what I think will get it.”  They communicated so nicely, helped each other respectfully, and delighted with each other when they got what they were looking for.

Even after I interrupted them, they continued to play so well.

And then earlier this week, I came home to Hubby cutting the grass, and the kitties were in the basement by themselves.  I could hear the girls in their playroom.  “Do you have any baby food?”  “No, we can just make our own.  Here, I’ll mush up some bananas.”

They had a very elaborate setup with their baby dolls and a full meal.  This time, they were waiting on me to join them.  “Mommy, will you play with us?!”  When I went into their playroom, there was a seat for me at their little table, and they had even saved the best piece of cake for me.

These exchanges used to be a daily thing…in our old house, where their toys were in the den…before kitties…before school and work.  I enjoyed them then…but I absolutely treasure these precious moments now.

Sister Show

When I got home from work today, the girls immediately presented me with a “program”, one that outlined the “show” they’d been working on to present to Daddy and me. 

Sleenky and Sisters.

We are going to do sleenky tricks and how we like being sisters.

They were SO excited.  There was lots of whispering and planning leading up to the big event.  After supper, as promised, they escorted us upstairs, where they’d lined two chairs with blankets for us to sit on.  They “hid” behind a pile of pillows, and then began their show.

First up, there were sleenky [i.e. "slinky"] tricks.  They illustrated how they could move the slinky from hand to hand.  Then The Amazing Baby A illustrated how she could build a tall tower of blocks.  And The Incredible Baby B showed how she could force two magnets together.

There was a robot demonstration, which consisted of the girls running around “like robots”, having their batteries run down, and then recharging themselves by the wall.

My favorite part was the “sister show”.  Each baby held one end of the slinky, and they coordinated to move it from hand to hand.  Then they bicycled their legs.  And then – upon my suggestion – they tried singing the A-B-C song alternating letters.  (That didn’t work out perfectly, but they had fun!)

The show ended with a grand finale, catapulting the slinky down the stairs.

How incredibly heartwarming it was to see the girls working together, professing their sisterhood.  And how sweet it was to see their first “show”…which reminded me of the many, many “shows” I put on by myself, and certainly any time I had a friend over, when I was a little girl.

What a great gift to come home to!!!

What's Old is New

I don't know if it's a function of me being an only child, one who was pretty particular about her things, at that...or that my mom was a bit of a pack rat...or maybe a combination of both...but when I reached adulthood, I still had the majority of the toys I had as a child.

Over the past 10 years, some things I've parted with [farewell scary trap of a crib and rocking horse with rusty springs].  Some things I've kept [about half of the girls' books were mine as a kiddo].  And some things are hanging out in our garage [gulp].

A couple of things taking space in our garage were a wooden table and chairs set, a little rocking chair, and a doll cradle (that I remember most fondly as a bed for my childhood cat).

Over the past year or so, I'd been plotting how to recondition these items for the girls.  They would require some minor woodworking, and -- while I could probably have figured it out -- I was hoping I might run across someone a little more proficient than me.

During our move last month, we had a couple of painters over at the old house.  They seemed pretty handy, so on a whim I asked if they would be interested in a little project.

One of the guys jumped on the opportunity...and my old things now have a prominent place in our new house!

The girls have put these to such good use.  They just love having things just their size!

They did the "heart" sign of their own accord, and that was fine by me!

Getting Abby and Lily ready for their nap. :)

There may be some comparison pictures of me somewhere...I'll have to check with my dad when we're home over the holidays...but it's plenty enough for me to recall my fond memories of playing with these items three decades ago [gulp].

SUPER Stuff on a Sunday!

So much silly, SUPER stuff at our house this week!

1)      Baby A came running up to me: “Mommy!  ‘Gulp’ has four letters!”  The girls are on the verge of sounding out words, and I thought that was pretty awesome!

2)      One sweet little memory I don’t want to forget is how excited the girls get to watch the chickens cooking on the rotisserie when we go to Sam’s.  They’ll stand there and wave, “Hey, chickens!”  Hahaha!

3)      At Sam’s, they have most of their prices displayed in really big signs (at least in comparison to regular grocery stores).  Baby A read almost every sign to me…correctly!  “Mommy, that costs fifteen dollars and eighty-seven cents!  Mommy, that costs five dollars and twenty-four cents!”  She solicited quite a few laughs from people shopping near us.

4)      On Wednesday, we’d planned to meet a friend at the park.  She had to reschedule, but the girls and I went ahead with a hike, a little bit of play time, and then a picnic lunch.  It was so incredibly pleasant, and it just made this mama’s heart smile!  The girls were full of pep on the 1.25-mile hike, even up the hills!  They played nicely for a few minutes on the playground, and didn’t protest or drag their feet when it was time to leave the playground.  We found a nice picnic table for our lunch.  I opened their containers, and they ate every morsel, with no spills and no requests for help.  WOW!

5)      On Friday morning the girls and I went to Panera for a mid-morning snack.  We’d been in the habit of doing that last school year, before doing our weekly grocery shopping, but we haven’t done it much over the last few months.  It was so nice to be back in familiar surroundings with my babies!

6)      We hadn’t been out for breakfast in a while, either, so we hit our favorite country-cooking restaurant on Saturday.  The girls ate French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon, and they didn’t leave a morsel on their plates!

7)      When we got home from breakfast, we decided on a family walk in the neighborhood.  The girls asked to go in their jogging stroller.  :)  Daddy and I took turns pushing them, and it was such a sweet throw-back to when they were smaller.  In fact, it was almost exactly four years ago we got that stroller…it’s served us well!

8)      On Saturday we needed to be at the new house to accept delivery on some appliances.  The house was cleaned a couple of days ago, so for the first time we got to relax a bit.  I took one of the girls’ storybooks, and we made official use of the reading room.  I loved seeing them lounging on the carpet, taking it all in!

My dream WINDOW SEAT is behind the girls!

9)      One morning I told B that she was a funny girl. "Yes," she said, "the funniest I've ever seen." She's humble, too.

10) And I overheard the girls playing…B said to A, "Sissy, do you want to go on a hunt for Christmas trees and dinosaur babies?" I love their imaginations (even if they do have their time periods a bit confused).

So thankful for this SUPER stuff!

Planning for the Future

For as long as they’ve been able to answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” the girls’ answers have been consistent, “A vet and a mommy.”

(And that might just make my heart swell every time!)

Over time, the girls have gotten into some serious details when they describe how things will work.

The girls will, of course, share an office.  B will be the vet in the morning, while A stays home with all of their babies.  (B consistently talks about having one baby, while A has recently said she will have twins.)  In the afternoon, A will take her turn as vet, while B takes on the baby duties.

Their vet office will be dedicated to Misha and Sasha (our cats), and there will be a special room for Sasha to come for her checkups.  It’s very important that Sasha be comfortable and not scared.

As for transportation, the girls apparently plan to share a vehicle.  My A talks about how she will drive, and B will be in the passenger seat.  And then B will pipe up and say that some days she’ll drive and A will be the passenger.  “Where will Mommy sit?” I ask.  “In the backseat.  You can relax and be comfortable.”

There is always talk of lunch, too.  The girls love to volunteer how they will take me to lunch.  “Who will pay?” I ask.  “You can pay, or I can,” they both say.  “Well I’d prefer if you paid,” I tell them.  “OK, Mommy!” followed by huge smiles.

Over the past few days, B has been talking about how Granddaddy (who is an architect) will design her office for her.  I thought that was super sweet, to hear her thinking through those details, unprompted.

It never ceases to amaze me how their little minds work.  And how I love to hear their plans for the future – together.

Super Stuff!

Lots of super stuff this week!

1)      Upon entering a public bathroom, I reminded my A not to touch anything she didn’t have to.  She paused, and then commented, “I can scratch myself because myself is clean.”  Thank goodness it was a one-seater…I just cackled!

2)      I never get tired of hearing the girls say so emphatically, “Mommy, you make THE BEST [fill in the blank]”.  Like when we ate breakfast out on Sunday, the girls got French toast.  “Yum!  This is good French toast!”  But that was immediately followed by, “Mommy, you make THE BEST French toast!” as if they don’t want to offend me.  HA!

3)      I love to see my babies girls running and skipping.  We’ve spent plenty of time at the park, in the neighborhood, and in the yard lately.  Baby A, in particular, loves to hold my hand while we skip together.  It won’t be long before she’s skipping way ahead of me, though…she’s FAST!

4)      One morning, Baby A had been working really hard on an art project. She came to show it to me, and I told her how neat it was (and genuinely it was pretty cool!). I bent down to give her a kiss, and she whispered, "I'm proud of myself, Mommy."

5)      I had to laugh when I heard the girls’ excitement one afternoon.  B exclaimed, “Mommy!  Daddy is shaving his face!”  And A piped in, “Yay, Daddy!  Good job!”  Hee hee!

6)      On Tuesday we had a play date at M&C’s house.  The girls were SO excited to learn we were going over to play with M&C…AND for them to see Little Baby A.  My A could not get enough hugs in with M&C…too sweet!

7)      And my A&B are still SO taken with Little Baby A, now seven weeks old.  At one point she was in her bouncy seat, and my girls sat beside her and sang songs.  They are in love!

8)      On Tuesday afternoon the girls were so surprised to get three letters!!!  One was a thank-you card from a birthday party, and then they each got a note from Miss Demara and their very own picture of Little Baby A.  They were so incredibly proud!

9)      The girls absolutely crack me up, how serious they can be.  They will go to great lengths to explain the simplest of things.  I could hardly keep a straight face this morning as A was telling me about something with a very prevalent milk mustache.

10)   Overheard: "Sissy, you're not supposed to have a smile on your face when you're doing something not-nice."  Hahaha!  Do I really even want to know???

11)   We came across this super-cool cardboard stable on clearance at the craft store last week.  The girls had a great time coloring it, and they’ve played with it every day since.  I know it won’t last forever, but it’s fun while it’s still standing!

12)   The girls got an unexpected present this week from some friends who dropped by, dry erase markers and a dry erase book and board.  I thought they already had every art supply known to man…but this definitely completes their collection.  It’s been hard to tear them away from drawing over the past couple of days, and I love it!

Super Stuff!!!

Super highlights from my super-sweet girls!

1)      My baby girls are early to bed and early to rise, so their bedtime is a couple of hours before sunset.  They understand that the sun is up longer in the summer, although it’s still late.  Still, I know it’s not super comfortable for them to sleep in broad daylight.  My precious A asked me one morning, a sad look in her eyes, “Mommy, when will it be winter?”  In December, I told her, about six months from now.  “Will it be dark then when I go to sleep?”  Bless her heart for thinking ahead!

2)      I took the girls to the local craft store for their summer “craft camp” one morning.  The crafts that day were focused on Europe.  I stood for a few minutes, watching everyone get started.  The teacher held up a beaded structure and asked the kids – most of them school-age – what it was.  My B belted out the answer right away, “The Eiffel Tower!”  And where is the Eiffel tower?  “France!” A answered.  I was so proud of them for knowing the answer, but even more so for volunteering in front of a room full of older kiddos!

3)      I bought the girls some tracing paper this week, and they have been enthralled!  They’re getting better and better at holding the paper still and tracing over an image…usually something from a coloring book.  Then they’re content to color in their drawing.  They love mixing elements from different pages…a puppy from one page, next to a flower from another page.

4)      Baby A traced a picture of a bus one morning.  All by herself, she wrote the word “STOP” on the top of it.  The girls can’t read yet, but they’ve memorized quite a few words!

5)      We had a big family adventure on Saturday.  We loaded up bright and early and drove waaaay out in the country to an old country store that was originally founded in 1869!  It’s now owned by a former colleague of mine and his wife.  We ate a hearty country breakfast…and what a treat all that scenery was!

6)      Daddy has been telling the girls about “the boondocks”.  He has them trained to answer the question, “Where is Mommy from?” with “The boondocks!”  I find it marginally funny. 

7)      I haven’t formally admitted “defeat”, but I will confess that the last week we’ve been doing “quiet time” as opposed to nap time.  Sigh.  Some days, though, that’s been going pretty well…like when B declared she wanted to set up the train tracks to go all the way around the ottoman…and A built a “duck palace” (like at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis), complete with a functional-looking faucet for fresh water.  I love watching my babies play! 

8)      B exclaimed to her daddy one morning, “Daddy!  Want to practice some numbers?”  I love how much fun they find in numbers!!!

9)      From the back seat one day, Baby A said excitedly, "I have so many things I can teach you, Mommy!" Yes, you do, Baby Girl. Little does she know it goes far beyond her swimming prowess and tumbling moves.

10)   We finally bit the bullet and bought BIG GIRL BEDS for my BABIES.  Thank goodness we have another month or so before they’re delivered…I need that additional time to prepare myself.

Very thankful for so much super to report!