Prehistoric Fun!

On Sunday, we took advantage of our Mothers of Multiples group rate at Dinosaur World, a statue park about 30 miles north of our town.  The girls love reading about dinosaurs, and we made sure to brush up on our prehistoric reading before our visit.

While it seemed kinda hokey to those of us outside the preschool set, the girls had a fun time seeing all the many kinds of dinosaurs.  We read each of the informational signs in front of the displays, and by the midway point of the park, the girls were pretty good about guessing whether the dinosaurs were plant-eaters or meat-eaters, and whether they were fast or slow.

Obligatory "walking in" photo!

Ta da!

Stegosaurus, one of our faves!

Feigning horror at the T-Rex!

I can't reach him!

In addition to the dinosaurs, there were also some wooly mammoths.

Between the toes of a T-Rex!

This guy is pretty big!

Triceratops is another fave!

This guy seemed pretty ominous, leering over the pathway.

Baby A, pretending she has a horn on her nose...right before she charged her sister...

And of course we spent a little time on the playground before we left.

The girls loved this slide!

And of course they had to climb inside the T-Rex head...say aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!

It was a really hot day, but the vast majority of the park was very shady.  It was a really fun afternoon...and we topped it off with some ice cream before we headed home.

Super-sized fun, indeed!

I'm Just Not Ready to Tell My Girls about 9/11

Last September 11^th, my girls were 3 ½.  It was a Tuesday.  As we passed the fire station on the way to preschool, the girls asked about the enormous flag that was suspended from one of the ladder trucks – a tradition in our town on this day.

I told them something along the lines of, “This day is the anniversary of a really challenging day for our country.  There were a lot of very brave people, like firefighters, who were very courageous on that day.  So on September 11^th, we remember that day, and we honor the heroes who serve our country, like the firefighters.”

That satiated the girls, and they talked about “brave firefighters” for the next few weeks, whenever we passed the fire station.

Over the weekend, Hubby and I watched a documentary on 9/11.  Hubby did some additional reading yesterday, and last night at supper he was telling what he’d read.  He was talking in general terms about “the planes”.

The girls, of course, were curious.  I wasn’t thinking about the conversation we’d had last year, or about the big flag in front of the fire station.  If I’d been on my game, I might have referenced that.

I chose a vague route instead.

“Daddy is talking about something that happened in the history of our country.  It’s a big concept, one we’ll talk about more when you are older.”

I believe in answering my children’s questions as open and as honestly as possible.  We’ve had lots of discussion on religion.  We’ve had a frank discussion about guns.  And I’ve answered anatomical questions about why boys go potty standing up.

The topic of 9/11 is not one I’m ready to discuss, though.

This morning, completely coincidentally, the girls are pretending to take a trip to New York.  One day – in the not-so-distant future – I will tell them what happened there, and in Washington, and in a field in Pennsylvania, on 9/11/01.  Not today, though.

We’ll make a trip downtown to see the enormous flag.  I’ll reiterate our thankfulness for the bravery of so many who serve our country.  But I’m going to shield their innocence for just a little while longer.

Getting My Craft On...For the Girls' Room!

As part of a coping mechanism ahead of what I know will be an emotional transition...moving my BABIES to big-kid beds...I am diverting my attention onto something fun and therapeutic.

I originally had plans to involve the girls in decorating their bedroom at the new house.  They helped pick out their new furniture, and several months ago we browsed online for bedding.

Over the past few weeks, though, I've decided I'm going to surprise them by having everything pulled together as a grand reveal.  I can't imagine ever doing one of those middle-of-the-night bedroom makeovers for my sleeping beauties, so this is probably the best chance I'll have to wow them with room decor.

Their new beds are ready to be delivered as soon as we give the furniture store the green light.  I have their comforter sets -- different from what we'd originally looked at online -- ready and waiting, too.  I only need to buy lamps, and we'll be set.

I wanted to do a couple of little personal things to set off the room.  The girls LOVE wreaths, so I decided to make a ribbon wreath to hang on their door.

I bought a wire wreath form, which was surprisingly inexpensive.  I spent a couple of evenings tying on about $15 in ribbon.  I have a couple of light green ribbons, one wider and one more narrow...some wide white grosgrain and some wide pink grosgrain...one spool of fancy sheer pink ribbon...and a little bit of a slim brown ribbon to break things up a bit.  I cut my ribbon into approximately 7" strips and tied simple knots...easy-peasy!

I know the girls will be beyond excited to see this welcoming them to their new digs!

The other little touch I'm adding are these monogrammed frames for their nightstands.

Those are 5x5" wooden frames I got for about $5 each from the craft store.  I bought those script wooden letters and put on a couple of coats of white paint and then glued them to the front of the frames.  I chose some scrapbook paper to match the girls' bedding...and viola!

I cannot wait to see the girls' faces when I show them their room!

If I can swing it, I hope to turn my attention to their bathroom next...I have a huge bag of seashells I've collected over many years of beach trips.  I think I may finally put some of those to use!

I am having a blast pulling together these fun little details for my babies...and it is helping to keep my mind off what will surely be an emotional transition.  Sniff, sniff!

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!

Architects in Training

The latest addition to our arsenal of art supplies?  These awesome shape templates...

We may go through what feels like a ream of paper every week, but I love few things more than the amount of drawing, coloring, cutting, and pasting that goes on in our house.  And if this happens to set the girls on the path to being artists, or architects, or engineers, that's OK, too.  :)

Missing My Family This Labor Day

Since the girls were born, we've made the trip to Sweet Home Alabama every Labor Day weekend.  We look forward to it all summer...good food, good fun, and good family time.  My dad always hosts a cookout for one side of the family.  There is a visit to Aunt GG's house, and there's time with Aunt Alison.

Until a few days ago, we thought we were closing on the new house this past Friday.  Of course we didn't plan our trip, thinking we'd be spending our days shuffling boxes five miles down the road.

When the closing schedule changed, it felt too late...too spur-of-the-moment...to plan a quick trip.  We are already way out of sorts with selling our house and moving.  We honestly didn't consider making the trip.

Most of our family will come to visit at some point when we move into the new house.  And those who can't, we'll see them at Christmas...which will be here before we know it.

That all makes sense...it's the right decision...but still, I find myself missing my family and our traditional Labor Day pictures on this Labor Day weekend.

2009, A and B with Mommy in Granddaddy's porch swing

2010, A and B, also known as "Miss America"

2011, B and A with Mommy and Daddy at the state park

2011, B and A with Aunt Alison...the girls' first time to meet Little Baby A

2012, A and B hug Aunt GG

2012, B and A feeding the ducks with Daddy and Granddaddy

"Y'all come back, now, ya hear?!"

My heart is in Alabama this weekend.

Super Stuff on a Sunday!

It’s been another busy week of school and new house stuff, but thank goodness there’s been a lot of SUPER to see us through!

1)      One day after supper, A told me, “I have a homemade tooth.”  I didn’t understand, so I asked her what she meant.  “I like everything you make, Mommy.”  I finally put that together with my explanation of Daddy’s “sweet tooth” a few days prior.  Hahaha!

2)      The girls wanted to help me make supper last week.  I had plans to make fajitas, so I asked if they wanted to peel the onions.  They got all the skins off, and then after I cut the onion into slices, they separated all the slices into individual pieces.  They were so proud at what they’d done…although it made poor A cry and she didn’t understand why.  Bless her heart!

3)      I have a habit of calling the girls “tiny”…as in, “You’re my sweetest tiny,” or, “You’re my tiny baby girl.”  The girls know that, even after they’re grown, they’ll always be my tiny babies, and they like to reassure themselves (and me!) of that.  Often, in response to, “You’re my tiny baby,” my Baby A will say, “And you’re my tiny mommy,” in the sweetest little voice.  Melt.

4)      While we were visiting the new house, we decided to take our first walk in the new neighborhood.  I cannot wait to explore all the new spaces...together with the girls!

5)      Last weekend we went out for breakfast, and we decided to try Panera.  Panera is our go-to for coffee and a mid-morning snack, and occasionally for lunch, but we’d never taken the girls there for a full breakfast meal.  It was such a nice, peaceful time, and it was pretty sweet to remember that Hubby and I used to enjoy breakfast there from time to time…long before the girls were born.

6)      Daddy loves to practice numbers with the girls…these days, that’s usually writing a big number and having them say it correctly.  It was so cool to hear the girls practicing themselves one evening after supper.  They were bent over a 300+ page story book, calling out the page numbers for the various stories.

7)      The girls were really focused on maps for a couple of days this week.  I heard them looking at one of the world maps we have, pointing things out to each other.  “That’s an island,” and, “Those are in different time zones.”  Hee hee!

8)      One morning before breakfast, I complimented the girls on how incredibly nicely they were playing together.  I reminded the girls how blessed they are to have each other.  “You know Mommy didn’t have a sissy to play with when she was a little girl.”  My A piped in immediately, “But you do now!”  Yes, I do...two, in fact.  And I'm so thankful they share each other with their mommy!

9)      The girls were in a disagreement over something play-related, and I heard B tell A in a very calm, yet firm, voice, "Sissy, this is my decision." Hee hee!

10)   The girls were talking about how thing will be when they grow up. My A said she would have twins "...but I'll just keep one and give the other one to Sissy." Bwahahaha!

11)   The girls were working on some sort of mystery "collages" at the table. I heard B say to A, "I'm going to line these pieces up with the cardinal directions." Hee hee! Apparently even an artist should be organized. (And she might just get that from her mama!)

12)   I love four-year old mispronunciations...B accidentally said "puffet" for "puppet", to a chorus of giggles. And A apparently combined "colander" and "pollen" to get "pollander".

13)   "Mommy! That man on the motorcycle is almost naked!" "And that's not safe!" It was just a guy with no helmet and a very sparse tank top, but you'd better believe it made me pause, though!

14)   My A wanted to play with a particular toy by herself, so she declared she was going into the living room. Not 10 seconds later, B whined, "Mommy! I'm lonely by myself in the den!" Twin sisters...can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

15)   On Friday we met our friends A&E at Jackson’s Orchard.  It was a HOT day, but it was so sweet to see our little ladies playing together.  For some reason, my A&B were feeling a little shy, but A&E invited them to play right away, and by the end of the morning, they were all holding hands.  So sweet!  And to top it off, we all went to lunch together…all four girls did a great job, and the parents actually logged some semi-coherent conversation!

All four kiddos, going down the big slide, almost at the same time!

So thankful for lots of SUPER!