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!

Super Stuff on a Monday

So thankful for so much super stuff again this week!

1)     This past week the girls were studying modes of transportation at school.  The girls collected pictures of planes, trains, and automobiles from magazines, and I usually ask them if they want to draw something on the envelope that they carry to school.  I drew a very simple car on a Post-It note, and Baby A copied it so incredibly intently.  Baby B drew a bus and and a dump truck, and beside it there was a grey blob.  I asked her what it was, and she said, “This is a shadow of myself.”  So poetic she is…HA!

2)     Baby B has been so very affectionate lately.  She’s been all about planting big, huge kisses…and that’s just fine by me!  One day she said, “I have a surprise for you, Mommy!”  What is it?  “MUAH!!!” right on the cheek.  “There it is!”

3)     Tuesday was such a cold day, and I decided to surprise the girls with some homemade hot chocolate.  They were so excited, and I can hardly stand the cuteness of seeing their tiny little hands wrap around our itty-bitty espresso mugs.

4)      The girls are still SO into hide-and-seek.  They just cackle when I exclaim to the “seeker”, “You’d better not lose my baby!” or, especially, “You’d better not lose my husband!”  HA!

5)     On Wednesday we invited “Grandma” June over for homemade muffins to celebrate her birthday.  The girls were so excited to sing Happy Birthday to her, and they thought it was so special that she had a candle in her blueberry muffin.

6)     On Friday we hosted a new friend for a play date.  Miss S is not quite two, but she is the spunkiest little thing you’ve ever seen.  The girls were absolutely delighted to see her checking out their toys, and my heart melted when Baby B held S’s hand every time she crossed the room.  So sweet!!!

7)     On Saturday we took advantage of a relatively warm (to mid-January, anyway) day and made a trip to the zoo.  It had been about two months since our last trip, and the girls were so happy when I surprised them with the day’s plans when they woke up that morning.  And immediately they started talking about lunch, too.  They think they can’t go to the zoo without lunch at Macaroni Grill.  ;)

8)     I had my monthly MoMs meeting on Sunday, so the girls were home with Daddy for a couple of hours.  It’s so nice to come home to two smiling, bouncing babies.  They’d had so much fun with their daddy…they were so proud to show me how they practiced jogging in place, doing basketball bounce passes, and competing in four-legged “crab” races.

9)     The girls got a really cool magnetic puzzle of the US for their birthday.  Baby B was playing with it one afternoon, and she called out, in distress, "Mommy! I can't find Oregon!!! It goes under Washington, and I can't find it!!!"

10)   I am always amazed at the girls’ pretend games.  When we visited the children’s museum in Charlotte this summer, there was an exhibit showing how animals are tracked with cameras on their backs.  The girls still remember that, six months later.  “The blood pressure cuff [from the doctor kit] is a camera on the dolphin's back so we can see where he swims."

Fab Friday

What was it that made our week so fabulous???

1)      On Sunday we attended the annual NICU reunion at the hospital.  The girls were so excited to go, and they enjoyed seeing themselves on the slide show, eating cake, and taking a peek at the well-baby nursery.  When we got home, they started asking, “Mommy, why didn’t we get to see the room where the babies were getting born?”  Hmmm…I don’t think that’s part of the tour. 

2)      One morning I was listening to the girls pretend play.  A said, “I’m in Yugoslavia.”  B jumped in right away…”No, Sissy, you’re in former Yugoslavia.  That’s old.”  Their Daddy was so proud.

3)      On Tuesday I was feeling industrious, and I had a real hankering to make some cookies.  I’d pinned this recipe for Pumpkin Spice Kiss Cookies, and when I happened upon that candy at Target on Monday, I decided it was meant to be.  Baby B was not-napping upstairs, so I let Baby A help me in the kitchen.  She’s the master at lowering and raising the bowl on the stand mixer, and she was a true help in unwrapping 20 Kisses!  It was actually a great exercise…it seemed to take quite a bit of coordination to unwrap the Kisses without squishing them (there were two or three that didn’t make the cut)…and it was a great counting exercise for her, too.

4)      Since I’d had the one-on-one time with A on Tuesday afternoon, I took B with me for a quick errand late Tuesday afternoon when Daddy got home.  She was so excited to accompany me to the bead store, and she chatted like a pro with Miss Emily, the owner. 

5)      On Wednesday morning we met our sweet friends M&C, who will turn three next month, at our local orchard.  It was the perfect morning…low 70’s, overcast, and we had the place almost to ourselves.  I love-love-love seeing our girls playing with their friends.  After we played and snacked and played some more, we went to buy some apples.  Walking back from the playground, B and C held hands the entire way…so sweet!!!  And all the kiddos – who just happened to be in matching sets (which is rare for our foursome) – willingly sat on a bench for a picture.

6)      The petting zoo is up at the orchard in preparation for their fall festival days.  The girls were so excited to see their “friends” (goats, sheep, and an alpaca) from last fall.  I was so surprised they wanted to feed the animals!  I bought a handful of feed…Baby B changed her mind, but A let a couple of nice goats nibble from her palm.

7)      Baby B wasn’t feeling very well on Wednesday afternoon.  I was afraid she was coming down with a cold, but all she was worried about was whether she’d be able to go to school on Thursday.  I told her she could go if she felt well.  And she repeated that several times, “Mommy, I can go to school tomorrow if I feel well, right?”  The very first thing she said when she woke up on Thursday morning – still groggy from sleep – was, “Mommy, I feel well!  I’m going to school!” 

8)      When I came to pick the girls up from school on Thursday, Ms. E told me, “They are so polite.  They have the best manners.  I can tell you really work with them on that at home.”  SCORE!!!  I do my best to encourage the girls to be polite and respectful, but it makes me beam to know they carry those habits with them.  YESSSS!!!

9)      One morning, while I was making breakfast, Baby A apparently wanted to tell me something.  She excitedly said to her sister, “Sissy, go hide!”  B ran off to find a good hiding spot.  Baby A told me something (inconsequential), and then just hung around.  I finally asked, “Do you need to go find your sister?”  “Um, no…”  HA!!!  That sneaky little girl of mine!

10)    “Mommy, when will we go to Antarctica to see the penguins?”  And later, “Mommy, when are we going to San Diego?”  It always cracks me up when the girls ask such random questions.  At least I know we’ve been reading in our penguin book about Antarctica…not sure where the San Diego question came from, though!

So thankful for a week full of fabulous!

Fab 5 Friday

Another fabulous week at A & B Enterprises!

1) Friday we had some pretty cool weather, and – after being out and about quite a bit the previous two days – we hung out at home. When Daddy got home, he turned on the fireplace for us, a treat usually reserved for after the girls are in bed. The girls were in such a mellow mood…we read and drew and just relaxed. It was just so nice to sit together as a family and enjoy a quiet afternoon.

2) On Saturday we had planned to go out to dinner for Mommy’s birthday…but…the girls didn’t nap, and we told them we would not be going to dinner. I didn’t want to “reward” them for their behavior, but – frankly – Mommy needed a little pick-me-up. I decided to finally introduce the girls to popcorn. I set up a blanket in the den, like a picnic, and we all enjoyed a fun afternoon snack. (And no one choked!)

3) As we were finished dinner one night, Hubby said something about Pakistan. He uses a more British pronunciation, and the girls both jumped in – vehemently! – to “correct” him. I could not contain my laughter (and my pride…not at them correcting their daddy…but at their passion for world geography)!

4) The girls have been all about puzzles and games over the past week. It is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G to observe how quickly their skill levels have progressed, just within a couple of weeks, it seems. Baby A has become really good at Memory, and they are both completing 25-piece puzzles by themselves. Wow!

5) We’ve had several days of beautiful weather this week, and we’ve spent a lot of time outside. Weather and schedules permitting, we love to go for a long walk / jog in the stroller in the mornings, and a walk hand-in-hand in the afternoons. The girls love to count how many kitties and puppies we see along the way. One particularly beautiful afternoon, we called a sweet neighbor, “Grandma” June, to go with us for some yogurt and then went for a walk with her. And another afternoon, the girls and I ran a quick errand and came home just in time for a neighborhood walk with Daddy as he got home from work.

This is the good stuff!

Super Stuff on a Saturday

Pardon the long list, but we really did have a super week...such that I didn't have time to type it up on Friday...much less could I narrow it down to only five things!

1) As part of our Valentine’s Day celebration, we went to our favorite sushi restaurant for lunch on Saturday. The girls devoured their chicken and shrimp teriyaki, and shared our edamame, miso soup, and salad. I love seeing our baby girls – sitting like big girls – in a restaurant that so feels like “home” to us.

2) And while we were having lunch, Daddy was chatting soccer with the sushi chef. I didn’t think the girls were listening, but when Noi mentioned “Thailand”, B piped up (loudly!), “I know where Thailand is!”

3) We had a great turn-out for our MoMs group Valentine’s Day party. It was so much fun to see our girls interacting with their friends…doing crafts…eating a snack. But it sure did make them seem like big kids!

4) Spur of the moment, we got an invitation to visit some friends on Sunday afternoon. I love having friends who will invite you over on a whim.

5) And while we were at our friends’ house, they brought their (big!) dogs in, just so the girls could say hello to them. The girls LOVE to look at Noah and Napster in their backyard, and they talk about those "puppies” all the time. I was so proud of A and B for talking so nicely to their furry friends (even though the girls kept their distance).

6) We had a Valentine’s Day-themed play date at our house on Tuesday. It was fantastic to be surrounded by my best mommy friends…and the girls’ best friends…everyone feeling so comfortable and having fun together. It really warmed my heart that the kiddos came running into our house and knew just where to go, and what they wanted to play with. I’m so thankful we have such a wonderful group of moms and kiddos to call our friends.

7) During the play date, I guess B may have been feeling a little insecure with all the activity in the house. She kept coming up to me, just to say, “I love you, Mommy,” and then she’d run off again to play. Melt.my.heart.

8) Daddy brought home a bouquet of tulips for all his ladies for Valentine’s Day. Multiple times a day, the girls will glance up and say, “Those are such beautiful flowers!”

9) The weather hasn’t allowed us to get outside much over the past week or so. Thursday afternoon it wasn’t raining, so we bundled up for a walk in the neighborhood, hand in hand. As I was putting B’s shoes on, she said, in dramatic fashion, “We haven’t been for a walk in…like…seven months!” Her fluent use of the word “like” and gross exaggeration scared me a bit…but I couldn’t help but laugh.

10) Playtime is not always harmonious, but sometimes it is. I’ve heard some of the sweetest things this week. While they were playing with something, B said, “I'm not sure how that works, Baby." And then A, "Here, let me try.” They're already figuring out that two heads are better than one.

11) And Baby A is always so nurturing with her baby doll. After being away from the house for a couple of hours, she makes a beeline for her baby. Snuggled with her baby on her little couch, she called out, “Abby is resting on my chest, Mommy! I’m holding her hand!”

12) And the quotes of the week? A couple of times, the girls have called out to each other from across the room, “Hey, soul sister!” And on Sunday, I told the girls we were having shrimp cocktail for supper, which they love. Baby A wandered into the kitchen as I was getting dinner ready and declared, “Mommy, I’m ready for cocktails!” Aren't we all, Soul Sister...aren't we all...

Here's to another super week!