Super Saturday!

Wow! we are busy people! But busy is a good thing & it was soooooo nice out too! This morning we met up with some other families with twins and went to a historic village for Sugar Bush weekend. They tap the trees there & were boiling some syrup right on the spot so we had fresh taffy on the snow as soon as we got there. Tasty!

Other than Honey, we all thorougly enjoyed our little cup of maple candy. Lovey & Sweetie begged for more but at $2 each, we must moved on! We went down and saw the animals in the barns and they loved that! We ran into lots of people we know, cousin Drew & crew, old coworkers and clients, people from church & playgroup, even Teena! It's a big event & with the sunny warm weather, it drew a big crowd. On the way out we ran into Drew again & he just happened to have some leftover taffy cones so we got one for Lovey & Sweetie to share. They thought that was a terrible idea! They each wanted their own & I had to fight the stick away from them every time it was the other's turn (the things I'll do to save $2!!). I gave Lovey a turn for one last bite & there was still a huge gob of candy on there. Didn't that little bugger open her mouth wide & clamp her teeth down on the stick & pull the whole thing off???? Sweetie went ballistic, screaming mad! and I didn't blame her ONE bit! We saw Drew's wife shortly after this & they were still trying to get rid of their melting stuff so Sweetie ended up getting another bite after all but it wasn't pretty there for a few minutes! Needless to say we made a quick exit & got home for lunch.

THIS is the CRAZIEST thing I've ever seen. Who eats off a freakin' stick???

Ok, time for some serious, high speed eating! Ain't sharing MINE!

Oh yeah, sweets for the Sweetie, let me at it!

Everyone went outside this afternoon & I got the kitchen cleaned & mopped, baked a cake & some muffins & cleaned the bathroom too. They were all really excited to play on their swingset again. The snow had been too deep for them to walk through so they haven't used it in months. They played out there for a little over an hour!

Murray did their bath after they came in & I was still doing my chores & getting stuff ready for supper. Shortly after the girls got out of the tub, our dinner guests arrived. Dianne & her 2 girls & her 6 mth old twin boys came over. The girls had a blast playing with her daughters and they seemed to enjoy themselves too. They all sat at the Dora table and chattered away. The guests brought Timbits so those were a big hit & were gone in record time. Dianne seemed to enjoy a break & having dinner made for her. Her husband will be home on leave in 14 days and she's reallllly looking forward to having his help again. AND we're going to trade off on some babysitting while he's here. I'll go & keep her kids while they go out & then she'll come here some night so Murray & I can take off for a bit.

Speaking of free babysitting! Have I mentioned that I love my cousins lately??? Ryan & Shawna are coming here next Sat afternoon & Murray & I are going to a movie, maybe get dinner afterwards.... I'm sooooo excited! We haven't gone out by ourselves yet this year! My mum's here every Friday & watches the girls so I can run errands etc but I hate to ask her to stay the evening too often and we don't get many babysitting offers (go figure eh?) so I'm taking them up on theirs for sure! Besides, come the fall, I'll be able to return the favour (well, on a smaller scale anyway!) when they have their baby. It'll be sooo much fun to have a new baby in the family. It'll have been over 3 years since we've had a new addition so I'm pretty jazzed about that too! I hope it's a girl so I can give them the things that Aunt Brenda (Ryan's mom) bought for our girls before she died. She had so much fun shopping for outfits & went a little nuts at Carters!

Friday Fun!

Considering I got a decent amount of sleep last night (highly unusual!) I was feeling rather tense & cranky this morning & everything seemed to take forever. Lovey's having more accidents in her pants than Sweetie so I don't know what's going on with that. We had Lovey on the potty at 9:30, 11 & midnight last night & she still peed the bed.... There's no talking her back into a diaper now, she even fights it if we try to slip one on her in her sleep! It's soooooo frustrating though, all these puddles and extra clothing & bedding to wash *sigh*

I decided to keep them busy and do some baking this morning which they love so that went well. They get excited about having their own 'job' and will fill up their measuring cup over and over again quite contentedly until I'm actually ready for that particular ingredient. So we have a nice batch of chocolate peanut butter chip cookies if anyone wants to come over for a visit. I wouldn't wait too long though. Dessert just doesn't last around here!
Bye Grammie!

Mum arrived shortly after lunch & I took Murphy out for a short run to try and burn off some of my antsy-ness. I did feel better & it was so nice to be out by myself in the daylight & feel the sun for a little while. When I got back, I decided to tackle my stuff for the clothing sale. I got alot of it sorted out. I'd mostly jumbled the outgrown things in with the winter things & the stuff to sell and had to figure out what we were keeping, what to get rid of & what needs tagging. Now that I've got that much done, it doesn't seem too bad now.

Training them in the art of tv viewing.. ; ))

Every week when she comes, she's amazed at what the girls can say & do. This week she got them to tell her the whole Cinderella storyline & with only a little prompting from her, they filled in all the details, even the dog becoming the footman for the carriage! Then they played at the kitchen table while she watched (and did my dishes! looooooooove my mummy!). They used their new metal Easter eggs that split in half as helmets for their stuffed animals while they were on a "bikeride" and then they ah-tenda-bee'd that they were telephones & they 'called' each other and chatted. I see this stuff and take it all in but don't notice the things that Mum does & don't know whether it's impressive or not. I figure they've heard Cinderella 4000 times by now, they freakin' well should know how the thing goes! LOL

By the time Mum left the girls were pretty content & I was able to get supper ready without any major blow ups. The weather was so nice today & it was still light after supper. Since we'd hardly been outside all week, I suggested we make a break for it & go for a walk before getting them ready for bed.

They were like little rubber balls running down the road! They raced and hollered and laughed like they'd never been in the great outdoors before! Poor Sweetie couldn't keep her pants up. She was in such a good mood, she didn't care or even notice the breeze in the back!

For an impromptu activity, it was pretty fun! They were so funny running around as fast as they could, no one could catch Sweetie. Then they all decided they'd try to catch ME and had trouble running and laughing at the same time! They fell down & jumped right back up with no tears or fuss, they just wanted to be on the tear. Now, taking them out for a run right before bed wasn't the greatest way to get them settled down but that's OK, lots of time for sleeping later!

Another day in!

Lovey & Honey... awwwww!


"Are the other girls coming Mumma?" Sweetie asked as she entered the kitchen where I was getting supper. I had no idea who she was expecting so asked what girls? She replied "Honey & Sweetie....no, Honey & Lovey!" (so if you occasionally have trouble getting the right name out, don't worry, they can't even do it sometimes!!!). I asked what her sisters were doing & she told me they were sleeping! I went down to check & sure enough, there they were out like a light. How adorable is this?? Almost makes it hard to believe the screaming & fighting from earlier in the day... but I try to soak up these images and freeze them to hold onto because I know this sweet time in their lives is going to be over before I know it.

They'll be three soon and that means that within a few short months, they'll be going on FOUR! Time is escaping on me & as much as I love to see all the new things they learn (well most of them!) and hear all the amazing things they can say & share with me, I'm so dreading this 'growing up' stuff because I know it only leads to abandonment. As much as I'd love to pull off the Gilmore Girls relationship where everything's easy & fun with mother & daughter, I know it's unlikely to live like they do on tv. If that were possible I'd definitely have better hair & wardrobe!

I worry a lot about time running out and I'm terrified to send them off to SCHOOL, it's almost like an enemy who's coming to steal them away from me. The control freak in me is losing her mind that I have to let them go off to this other land where I don't rule and have no say over who they hang out with and are influenced by. Will I have done enough & taught them enough by then? Will they get picked on? (pity the fool who tries to boss around Lovey!) Will they have lots of friends? Will they be smart? I like to think I'm doing a good job around here but I read too many books about families with teenage girls & how easily things can go wrong, communications shut down, mistakes are made and all is lost... damn that Jodi Picoult!!! I didn't need to know about the rainbow game, stoneface or suicide pacts!!! I'll just try and block that all out for another 10 years or there won't be enough hair dye in the world to cover the grey I'll bring on myself!

Ok, back to cutesy toddler talk! Today while Shirley was here, I was getting Honey to help me make the bed. She started on her side and pulled the top quilt up right away. Then she looked at it & realized she'd forgotten to smooth the sheet & blankets underneath. She wrinkled up her brow & "hmmph, I better start over!" Oh the stuff they come out with! I cracked up right there!

Another good day for Sweetie, only one teensy accident all day. She had several yesterday though and eventually gave up on the underwear and asked for a diaper again. I was tired of the growing pile of laundry so I let her have one but I'm not sure if I should have done that or not....

Welcome Back Shirley!

After a big trip to New Zealand, Shirley's back! She first started coming over shortly after the babies came home from the hospital. As a former maternity nurse, she knew her stuff and the girls gave her lots of opportunity for cuddles. She still comes each week for a couple of hours to play with them and it's still a huge help. (will I ever be self sufficient??) I can relax or get some chores done, usually a mixture of both. The girls were excited to see her and she brought them each a little stuffed koala bear which they've been carrying around all day. They sat and read books, they showed her Sweetie's new super bouncy bed, they played with their babies. I managed to finish the novel I've been engrossed in the last couple of days & baked a pan of squares and did some laundry, all interrupted. What a treat!!!!!!

For a minute, I was SOMEBODY again!

I have a cousin who used to think I was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Well hopefully I have more than one but I'm referring to the one who plays the violin. When he was little, we had soooooooo much fun & ohhh the status I had! Then he got older and I wasn't so amazing anymore, eventually he got all teenager-ish and hardly even glances my way anymore. But every now & then he throws me a bone. Shortly after he turned 16 he tracked me down at church to show me his beginners. Since he had no idea where I'd be, I knew he had to have put some effort into that. I was soooo excited that he wanted to share that with me. It was just a quick flash though and then he was off, back to his aloof self. But tonight, I sat and talked to him & we actually had a whole conversation!! He was paying attention to me and I was eating it up with a spoon, terrified I'd blow it, say the wrong thing and he'd shut down. I was surprised to hear him say he's never liked playing that violin at all even though he plays beautifully. I can only imagine how it'd sound if he actually liked playing!

He mostly studied his shoes while we talked but I'll take what I can get. He's never going to be an adoring 2 year old again so I'll have to content myself with these occasional moments. : ) This is probably good practice for when the girls realize their mummy isn't a super hero.... but don't anyone tell them just yet please?

Anna Came to Play!

What WILL they think of NEXT?

Ok, these kids continue to surprise me and crack me up when I least expect it! (I guess that's their job though right?) We were in the kitchen working on some crafts and I'd gone to wash my hands. As I'm coming back down the hall, I hear them talking about their eyes. I turn the corner to see them twisting their heads this way and that, bobbing them up and then down, eyes squinting, rolling back into their heads, eyelids fluttering. I'm wondering if there's some sort of seizure going on!! Then they start saying "can't see my eyes! I can't see my EYES!!" I almost collapsed from giggling so hard. Have you ever thought to try to see your own eyes without the benefit of a mirror? Well, THIS is what it looks like when you do! Kids think of the darnedest things. ; )))

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Happy Birthday dear Nanny, Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!

Walkabout

Sunday, the day of rest, time with family.... sounds good doesn't it? Well the girls have been driving Murray crazy all day and Honey's been a bit cranky so he thought he'd get her out for a walk, just the two of them. No problem, they're dressed & just about out the door when the other 2 catch on to this plan! Sweetie's on Day 2 of life in the panty lane so she can't go anywhere before she goes to the bathroom. I expect resistance & then that will mean she has to stay inside. Lovey has also been holding out on us so I figure Honey's quality time with Daddy is safe. Unh unh! Those 2 little turkeys just about trip over each other in their newfound haste to get to the toilet! That was the fastest trip of the day I'm sure! They get dressed quickly after some argument over whether or not they needed to keep their tights on and when Daddy started to leave without them, that settled that & off they all went, holding hands. Almost makes me want to go with them but I'm greedy to have a few minutes with the house to myself so I can enjoy some peace & quiet.... to do fun stuff like clean the bathroom and fold laundry! Oh well, it beats working intermittently between referreeing fights over toys & books. I'll take what I can get :)

Sweetie's did quite well today, even went to church diaperless without incident. She had no trouble on the walk, stayed dry on the car ride to my parents'. Through the whole day she only had one accident so I'm impressed with that! She seems to be taking this business quite seriously. Dare I hope?!?!?!? Is that light I see at the end of the tunnel? or is it just another oncoming train? Stay tuned for the next episode of Diapers of Our Lives....

M&D got back from their trip & we drove Jordie back up there. He seemed pretty happy to be home again. Since Mum didn't h ave a chance to make any supper, we had to order out, CHINESE!!!! (you can tell how upset I was about that!) The girls must have been pretty tired from their walk since they fell asleep not long after we left the driveway. Then they were fairly cranky there so we didn't stay too long & got them home to bed before things got ugly.

Murray's gone out for his long run tonight in the cold, brrrrr! He said he'll be home by midnight. Poor guy! Hope the training pays off for him.