Twins & a Toddler

It's For The Birds

Last week we took Pete out of school on a Friday for a Family Field Trip to the Aquarium near us.  It seemed like a good enough reason and it's educational, right?  The kids haven't been for about two years, the littles were 2 and really didn't remember going in the past.  Cuppie was a bit leary since we kept mentioning going through the shark tank, but she calmed down when we told her the name of the headliner rayshark was Sweat Pea. 

The kids were really good and enjoyed looking at the fish, the alligators and such but the hit of the day was the avairy.  Honestly, not my favorite place to go into but we knew Pete really enjoys going in so I sprung for the little tiny cup of nectar and inside we ventured.  It's a mine field in there people.  Birds are dropping stuff left and right since it's like an open buffet for them.  Pete immediately starts hunting for an unsuspecting bird to feed and I am looking for cover for the littles and I.  The helper in the area see's me eyeing the birds and says, "It's just like water really, but watch out for the Kukaburro above you, he eats mice."  Nice.  As we are watching the birds, there is this little tug on my arm.  I look down and Linus wants to tell me something.  I lean down for him to tell me and in the softest voice he says, "I want a cup like Pete to feed the birds."  So I start looking for a cup, Pete's bird stole her cup and dumped it out but the nice man who shared the helpful information about the bird to watch out for, found me one and off Linus went to find a bird.  Within a few minutes the worker had a bird for him and offered to put it on his arm.  I never would've thought Linus would do this but here he was with a bird on his arm and excited as could be.  I asked Cuppie if she wanted to feed a bird and as you can tell from the photo above, she was ready to get out of the avairy as fast as she could!

The other two highlights of the visit included the "let's all touch sharks" tank.  Pete and Linus were all over the tank touching sharks, Cuppie and I touched a pajama shark quite a few times but could never get the bigger black one to come close enough. 

By far the funniest part of the day was when the kids were chasing the penguins in the tank.  I swear this penquin was playing chase with the kids swimming back and forth as they chased him from side to side. 

All in all, a great Family Field Trip.  The littles are growing up so fast, and so is Pete.  It's nice to be able to get away with taking her out of school for these outings.  In a few years it won't be so easy.  As for the littles, I still think of them as too little to do certain things but I'm gradually reprograming my mind.  Next time we head to an avairy, I'll remember to get two cups for Pete and Linus and send A in with them.  Cuppie and I will hang out nearby petting sharks.

Little Chefs

Meal times at our house suck, particularily dinner.  I know it is harsh to use a word like that but it pretty much sums it up.  We try to always sit down as a family for dinner time.  Breakfast and lunch are typically on the fly and people are here, there and in all different directions but dinner time, we are all typically home and at the table.  The problem is our kids are picky eaters.  Probably no more than most kids but picky none the less.  They have a handful of meals that they rotate through and A and I usually prepare a meal for ourselves.  We've tried offering different foods to them, forcing them, etc.  It's not worth the fighting to be honest.  So instead we try to complement the meals the best we can.  And occassionally we succeed in getting one of them to try something new.  If we are having fish, they have "their fish", if we have chicken, they have chicken nuggets, etc.  But it just gets boring making the same things over and over again for them. 

Last week we were delaying making dinner for the kids as neither was inspired over how to present their food again.  So I asked Cuppie to make the menu for dinner.  She grabbed a pencil and paper and got to work.  With some spelling/letter help, she picked a protein (no shocker- chicken sticks), vegetable (carrots), fruit (apples and grapes) and pudding for Pete and yogurt for her and Linus.  Then she got to work on preparing the food.  She did most of the work herself, except for the oven work and some of the othe tasks requiring a knife.  The girl was super proud of the food she put on the table for her siblings and Pete and Linus were chomping at the bit for their turn.  So far, they've each had two turns at making dinner for the family. 

We've even branched out to looking for recipes together to find a new dish that they'd like to try.  Linus choose from Rachel.Ray's kids cookbook, pasta with tree tops (pasta, brocholi and parmesean cheese).  Pete made breakfast for dinner on her night.  She mixed the pancakes, poured the batter on to the griddle, and even flipped a few.  She also decided to make french toast.  This is a kid who will not eat eggs.  But she made them, flipped the bread in the egg mixture cooked them and then ate almost all of it!  Success!  I swear if we had made this for her, she would not touch it.  Who knows what else our little chefs will branch out to.  Hopefully this will help encourage them to try a few new foods and if not, they should be able to start making their own meals by the time they are 5 and 7!

Let's Go Play In The Snow

We've had a bit of snow this week.  So much that school was cancelled in our area for most of the week.  The little kids also missed school this week due to snow.  The downside to all the snow was it was extremely windy out in addition to the winter temperatures so we couldn't just shove the kids outside and tell them to keep their mittens on!  Plus, all three have some form of a cold so there really wasn't much snow play at all. 

That is until yesterday, it was a balmy 28 degrees so the girls and I went outside to build a snowman (Linus declared it was just too cold to go out and opted to run errands with Mama instead).  We tried and tried but the snow just wouldn't cooperate and pack together.  We then tried to dig a tunnel through Pap's mountain (the big piles of snow that Pap has shoved to the end of the driveway), but we just kept running into ice.  So instead, Pete and Cuppie played on the swingset and then Cuppie set out to climb Pap's mountain.  Cuppie also created a number of snow angels.  After about 40 minutes Pete and I went in to get dinner ready, it took another 15 mintues to get Cuppie in!  Girl had a good time in the snow.

The Tappers

Linus and Cuppie started tap lessons this week.  Cuppie has been wanting to take tap lessons for a while now and we figured, why not have Linus take them too.  The first class was a riot.  Tap shoes are quite slippery, so add those to the feet of four year olds and you've got a comic act in the making.  I think for Linus, the best part was all the noise that he could make with his shoes.  That made him quite happy.  Cuppie concentrated very hard and did well with the steps. She has been "tapping" at home in her Minnie Shoes so she was extremely happy to be doing it with real tap shoes.

The kids did their best to follow Miss Patrice's instructions but at times the kids all looked like they had no control over their feet and heels went where toes go and vice versa but fun was had by all.  This week we need to work on a few steps with them both but I think they are going to like taking tap class.

Psst.  Don't tell Linus but he is wearing girl's tap shoes!  We are borrowing shoes from the "shoe bin" at class and the girl's shoe fit his feet perfectly while the next boy's pair was just a tad too big.  It won't be long before his feet grow again so we are going to wait to buy him his own pair.  Until then, they boy rocks in his swisher pants, tube socks and girlie tap shoes!

Making Our Own Folklore

When I was younger, my Mom (aka Grammy) decided to try out a new casserole dish.  I don't remember what is was called but it had ham, cheese, potatoes and the like in it.  Like most kids, my siblings and were not so keen about trying new foods, kinda like my own kids.  We bitched and moaned about having to eat this new food.  We faked gagged, we whined, cried and did all the other things kids do.  Mom repeated over and over that we were going to eat it and like it.  It was not toxic.  It contained all the foods we liked.  We best just shut up, eat it, enjoy it and be glad that we had food on our plate. 

We each tried a bite and about gagged.  We told her it was awful, it's gross, Mom, you are killing us.  She told us to shut up and keep eating!  (We've all been there as Mom's.  I know I have.)  About 20 minutes later Mom finally got her plate of dinner and sat at the table.  She took one bite and immediately started apologizing to us for making us eat the meal.  She had made a mistake with one of the ingredients and ended up over salting the dish...a ton.  It was truly inedible. 

We've never let her hear the end of it.  It is a story we bring up a few times each year.  Especially now that we are adults. Our kids will remember it because they will hear the story through the years.  We also share the story of "sea breeze", A's family talks about how they jumped over the railing from the second floor to cushions down below when her parents were gone, or the time Uncle B tossed the dog out the second story window to see if she could fly like Under Dog.  We all have these stories and our kids will have them too.  It's our own family folklore. Twenty years from now our kids will gather round the dinner table and one of them will say "remember the time Mom ran over George Wallace!"

It started with a trip to the grocery store.  Pete vacummed the house and earned four quarters.  I had a few items to get for our family birthday party later in the day so the girls rounded up three dollars in quarters to buy a special treat for themselves and off we went.  The girls selected a bag of cheese puffs with their money (oh how excited they were) and we returned home.  As I was coming up the driveway we spotted Zeus and George playing in the front yard.  They were happy as could be because it was raining out and they were rolling and wresting in the mud and dirt.  As I got closer to the house, I slowed down to enter the garage.  I was barely moving.  The dogs typically will come around the back of the car and "shadow us" pulling into the garage.   I'm not sure what happened next but I heard a lot of yelping from George Wallace and felt the thump of running over a small animal.  That was George Wallace!

George took off running around the back of the house, through his doggie door and was trying to get into the house at the back door.  I parked the car, left the girls still buckled in and dashed off after George.  I picked him up in a towel and started banging on the door to be let it.  As I looked back in the yard, Pete was standing about twenty yards away watching me and George.  I assured her that Geroge was fine and to go get Cuppie out of her car seat.  Once in the house, I handed George off to A who was in the bathroom getting ready.  I told her that George got hit by a car in the driveway.  She looked at me puzzled and said what.  I replied with "I RAN OVER THE DOG!"

I left A to tend to George and went to get the girls out of the car.  Thankfully I don't think Cuppie really understood what had happened and Pete believed me when I told her George was ok.  Plus, they had this bag of cheese puffs they really wanted for lunch.  A cleaned up George and we assessed his injuries.  He was walking ok, had some swelling and a nice bit of road rash on his upper leg.  He was quite shook up but otherwise ok.  We checked with the vet and was told what to do for him.  Turns out he is a pretty tough little dog.  Besides being banged up a bit, he is back to his normal self.  Yesterday he started pestering the cat again and he is walking with only a small limp.  I'm about back to normal too.  I spent most of Sunday muttering to A that I ran over our dog. 

The main reason I wanted to document this story is so in twenty years when they start retelling it I'm sure they will try to "embelish" it.  I can quietly point to the entry and say no kids, that's not what happened.  Mom wasn't driving 50 miles an hour and she wasn't trying to run over George.  I know this story will live on...mostly because when I was leaving the house today to take Pete to school, A yelled out " Have a good day honey, and don't run over the dog!"  

Counting on Two Hands

It's official.  Pete is has passed the age where you can count it up on one hand.  She is now one whole hand plus a thumb.  Yep, Pete is now 6, and I have no idea how it got here so fast.  When the kids were babies, countless experienced Mom's told us over and over again that they grow up fast.  It doesn't seem that way when they are little but now I get it. 

The road from 5-6 was one of adventure and growth for Pete.  For those of you who follow the website, you'll remember that Pete started her 5th year with a busted up nose.  To this day, we have no idea how it was not broken but it healed and took a few more beatings through the year.  Yesterday at her first basketball game, she got hit in the nose by a ball and we all had a moment of thinking we were going to have another year of birthday photos marked with a swollen nose!  Thankfully, it was not a problem, just a bump.

During the year, Pete had quite a few milestones.  She learned how to ride a two wheeled bike, she got married to her boy H in April, welcomed a new member to the family (George), completed her first year of t-ball, mastered swimming, can bait her own fishing hook and remove the fish she catches, completed her second year of soccer, and started kindergarten at a new school.   She took her first trip to Disney, and decided what she wanted to be when she grows up.  It was a busy year for our girl.

Even with all that growth, Pete is still our little girl.  She loves animals, Webkinz, Pap's Noodles (Ramen Noodles) and jelly sandwiches.  During the week we have to work to wake her for school but on weekends, she comes in at the crack of dawn.  She is an awesome big sister and plays really well with her siblings 90% of the time.  She is doing great in school and loves to share with us what she learns, especially about science and nature. 

I can't wait to see what year 6 brings for you.  If it is anything like year 5, it's gonna be a fun ride.  Happy Birthday Pete!  Mommy, Mama, Cuppie, Linus, George & Magi all love you tons.  And so do the countless butterlies, moths and catepillars you shared your love with this summer.  They just didn't stick around long enough to share their love with you.

Sledding!

With all the snow we had last weekend, it was just right for sledding.  But it was just too cold to make it to our favorite sledding hill.  Add to the mix flying solo parenting and taking three kids out in the bitter cold, it just didn't sound like a good formula for success.  So we put off sledding till later in the week and yesterday the temps finally rose and A declared it a day to go sledding.  Once Pete got home from school, we bundled up the kids, grabbed the sleds and walked up to the neighbors.  They have the perfect sledding hill right out their front door!  Even George came along. 

In the past year, Linus and Cuppie would only go down the hill with someone else, not this year.  They are all solo and sledding.  Much more fun for the Mom's.  Even Cuppie wasn't deterred after she sledded right into the soccer net - SCORE! 

Winter Break Recap

I'm way behind but wanted to do a recap of our winter break before I forget what all we did.  It was the first winter break for Pete now that she is in all day Kindergarten.  She was very excited to be on break and we were also excited to have her back at home more.  We had 16 days of family togetherness.  16 days people.  I think 7 would've been better.  But, we made it work and here's a list of what I remember we did!

• Took the kids caroling with the twins club at the nursing home.  Feliz Navidad was a popular with the kids as was Jingle Bells and Frosty.  The nursing home is a great place to take kids caroling because they can be as loud as they want and no one cares because they can't hear them anyway!  (that's what our tour guide kept telling us).
• Helped the kids decorate gingerbread sleighs.  Must remember that this is a great project for the kids to do with Uncle B!
• Took the kids Christmas shopping for gifts for each other, it was nice watching them each pick out gifts that they thought the other would like.  We did not let them pick out gifts for us or A and I would've gotten dresses from Pete, a colored whisk, and god knows what else.  I think next year we will let them earn the money and take them to the dollar store to buy for each other.  Much cheaper.
• Visited the movie theater 3 times.  We saw Alvin and the Chipmunks, Princess and the Frog and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  Our kids love going to the movies and thankfully there was a nice selection of kid friendly movies playing at our local budget theaters.
• Let the kids help wrap their gifts for each other and for our families.  No one seemed to notice but I did give them fair warning that this year the gifts looked like they were wrapped by 4 and 5 year olds!
• The kids spent some time with all their cousins.  Including the one's who are temporarily in Italy.  I'm so glad they get along with all the cousins and wish we could see them all more (including the local, a few hours away and the in another continent cousins).
• Was once again reminded that if the kids are playing quietly, I must go check on them and not just assume that they are just playing quietly.  Yes, those are charming men, tanks and helicopters on the ceiling fan.
• Learned that Linus really can write some letters in the alphabet.  In a desperate attempt to try and fill some time during break we started creating "daily plans" for the kids.  It contained a list of items they needed to do each day (get dressed, work on puzzle, eat lunch, do workbook pages, etc).  Linus jumped on the workbook plan and spent 20 minutes working on writing his letters.  Up till then, he knew the letter A by sight but that was about it!
• Created a ton of Perler Bead creations.  If you need a Lightening McQueen, heart or other perler bead project, let me know. 
• Allowed the kids to master their sword fighting skills on Wii Sports Resort and ventured into the Princess Wii game.  Princess Cup and Princess Pete are getting better at casting magic spells and working together to save the princesses.  

Overall it was a great family break and I know if we'd only had 7 days together it wouldn't have been enough.  Maybe 12 is the magic number.  After all, there are 12 days of Christmas.

Where are the Clean Up Elves?

It's been two days now since Christmas and I'm wondering where the clean up elves are?  It's really not fair of Santa to come and deliver all this wrapping paper, boxes, wire ties, ribbons and bows and not send a clean up crew the next day to help assemble, sort and clean up. 

As you've probably guessed, our house still looks like Santa's sleigh vomitted all over the grand room and dining room.  Toys are everywhere!  The goal was to start moving things out of the kids room that they have outgrown to make room for the new loot but so far we've not made too much of a dent in the process.  I have a feeling it is going to be an on going project.  So until then, my dining room/toy room is filled with toys and gifts from the two Christmas's away from the house (Grammy and Nana's) and the grand room is filled with goodies from Santa, my foyer has a Radiator Springs in it as well as the coveted "pink princess piano". 

The kids really enjoyed this Christmas and Linus keeps talking about what Santa is going to bring him next time...like tomorrow.  I fear the poor boy is in for many mornings of disappointment as I think he believes there will be more presents each day. 

On Christmas morning, the girls came over to wake us around 7:15 am.  Cuppie touched me on the arm and very calmly said, "he brought me the pink princess piano."  Santa could've just brought her that and she would've been fine I believe.  She has had much joy playing with it and filling the house with princess tunes.  How lucky are we. 

Linus is loving all the gifts he received.  I don't think he can pick one favorite until he has gotten each one out of the box and played with it.  I've noticed that the average time he spends on a toy is approximately 5 minutes before moving on to the next box. 

Pete has been excited with many of her gifts.  She has 5 new Webkinz to add to her family and she was thrilled with the remote controlled Wall-E from Santa.  However, I do believe when she asked him for Wall-E that she wanted the real Wall-E, not one that she controls.  If you ask her what her favorite gift is, she will tell you ice skates.  It was a last minute request that she submitted to the big guy and we cautioned her that he may not be able to fufill it at such a late date.  She understood and was disappointed when it wasn't under the tree but very excited when Aunt C and Uncle S were able to surprise her with a pair.  (Thankfully cousin K had a pair in the garage that she had outgrown!)

I'm happy to report that all the kids were thankful for the gifts they received.  They all said thank you and not one had any major meltdowns or fits over the presents family and friends picked out for them.  Whew.  We practiced a lot with pretend gifts and scenarios such as what do you say if you get a dirty toothbrush?  The girls both would reply oh thank you very much while Linus would say, we should just throw it away!  Still have to work on that. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and if you see those clean up elves anywhere...please send them to my house next.  We could really use them here.

Squirrels for Christmas

 Twas the night before the night before Christmas and all through the house are remnants of the holiday and crafts everywhere.  There's a pencil in the tree with a straw thingie beside it.  A garland of snowman on the mantle, made by Pete with love.  Cuppie's gingerbread garland is on the back of the tree in a spot that only a 4 year old could reach.  Linus choose to hang his on the large glass candy jar, for all to see, it's a festive spot.  The tree has two sections of lights that have gone out, I'm not sure we'll know what to do with a tree that has all working lights. 

The Santa that sings Jingle Bells was brought up this week.  He lasted a day before getting his plug removed from the wall.  I wish we could "unplug" The Wiggles Christmas album but the kids still love it just as much as the new Alvin and the Chipmunks cd.  The kids all made gingerbread sleighs this year with help from Mommy and Mama.  I remember the gingerbread train being easier last year and then A reminded me that it was easier because Uncle B did it with the kids! 

Today we spent the day wrapping gifts for friends and family.  The kids were eager to help with the wrapping, so many of our gifts look like they were wrapped by 4 and 5 year olds.  They also wrapped the gifts they purchased for each other and now they are under the tree.  Cuppie keeps asking when we are going to play the penguin game and I keep having to hush her and remind her that it is a gift for her sister.

Tonight is the last night that Christopher the Elf will report back to Santa.  He will be with us tomorrow and by the time he returns to the North Pole, Santa will be on his way.  I can only imagine what his report will be as the kids can hardly contain their excitement and their jumping and wrestling and running through the house. 

Tomorrow Grammy has requested that Mary, Joseph and the wise man/girl perform the manger scene.  The donkey wasn't invited so the crew is still discussing if they will perform.  In addition to the manger scene, I'm hoping we get a performance of Phineas and Ferb's S.I.M.P (Squirrels in my pants).  The girls are getting quite good at the dance moves.

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas!