Summer Sayings....

Summer is well underway for us and I just want time to FREEZE for a bit. I know August will come quick and these days, for the most part, are pretty darn fun! I'm working when they are at camp(s) and hanging with Grandma Linda & Grandma Jody, so the pressure of school drop-off, pick-up, etc. has been lifted for now. We wrapped up the soccer season after Jeremy & I both felt they were finally getting the hang of the game. We have them in 'serious' swim lessons with the hope of seeing some progress this summer. We've already done an Indians (Baseball) Game and a rafting trip at Turkey Run State Park, we had our friends visit from Kansas for a couple days too. The lake visits will be frequent and we all sleep well at night! Here are some of my favorite quotes of the last couple weeks.

Lilly yesterday, dropping off at camp, asked 100 questions from where they could go to the bathroom to what they would have for lunch. When I said my good-byes, I crouched down and asked if she had any other questions. "Yes, I have one...are we going to live here?"

After the baseball game and meeting the mascot, Addy began analyzing characters again (never been a big fan, but her fear is easing). "Mama, I'm not scared of those characters anymore so we can go to Disney where all the characters live now." Me-"That's good babe, what makes you not scared anymore, was it Rowdy?" "No, I just know they aren't real, cause when you look down, they have people feet."

Dad was tickling Addy before bed, and she turned around with a VERY serious face. "Dad if you do that one more time, you won't be able to tuck me in bed tonight."

Lilly after I came downstairs, ready to head out to a friend's wedding, "Mommy, you look so beautiful, like Ariel, you know, without the mermaid parts."

Over breakfast after Daddy left for a Bachelor Party (Lilly) "If daddy is going to a party for Mr. Kevin, why can't we go?" "Well, when there is a wedding, sometimes the boys just get together for a boy party, it's called a bachelor party, but don't worry, we'll have our own girl party here." "Only boys for a party, what do they do? Just get together and be stinky?" Yup.

"If daddy is going to a party for Mr. Kevin, why can't we go?" "Well, when there is a wedding, sometimes the boys just get together for a boy party, it's called a bachelor party, but don't worry, we'll have our own girl party here." "Only boys for a party, what do they do? Just get together and be stinky?" Yup.

After "helping" dad garden, I get girls bathed. Post-bath, I tell Addy to go get her panties on....'ugh, I don't get it, why do I have to wear them EVERY day?"

 

Picked the girls up from pre-school today, Addy to the Director "We only have three more days of school here until summer vacation." Lilly corrected her, "Sissy, it's not vacation, it's LAKE SEASON!."

At Butler, with our friends and a fellow alumna, I ask Lilly if she'd like to go to school there, her response. "I'll go here if you want to come too." (melt!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturdays

I love Saturdays. I love the occasional day when we can wake up with no plans and the whole day ahead. The girls love Saturdays too. They love big breakfasts made to order. Jeremy and I try and take turns getting to sleep in every once in a while, so the girls will capitalize on this and take advantage of having the full attention of one of us to color pictures, paint toe nails, dress-up, cook or play games. Here are some pictures to highlight the last few fun Saturdays we've had together.

Lilly & Addy as super-heros as they celebrate a friends birthday in fashion (these were their outfits for the weekend-the refused to wear anything else)

A little yard work turns into BIG fun with dad at their great-grandparents house

Puppet shows are a Saturday favorite-Lilly collects her admission cost and they set the dolls up as their audience--too cute!

Some Saturdays are best for snuggles & cartoons

Easier?....Yes-Easy?....Never

So, this is what they meant when they said it got easier. The tantrums haven't ended, the "I do it" phase remains in full swing and they know EXACTLY how to push each others buttons and mine, so I wouldn't ever say it's easy....but, it was easier to wrap my brain around traveling with them. It was easier to have them sleepover at my girlfriend's house with us and not worry about all the hassle of pack and plays and packing food. It was easier to take them to a waterpark, stay in a hotel, travel for longer than 2 hours in the car....all of that was easier and we are so thankful!

We headed to Great Wolf Lodge in Ohio last weekend for a mid-winter family getaway. They were the perfect age to do it. They understood that it was a special adventure, they got to skip on a nap, stay up past their bedtime and enjoy every minute of their time with us! The big slides are over 3 stories tall and they were troopers climbing those stairs again and again and again. They LOVED the wave pool and the 'pre-school' slides pictured below were a hit too. Can't wait for next year!

Daddy & his little fish

Addy-totally fearless with mommy by her side!
Lilly waiting for the waves to turn on in the wave pool--this was her favorite I think!
Lilly is quick to tell you this 'orange' slide was her favorite and the 'family' raft ride!
Where's Addy?

Check out the same crooked smile in this pic--like "take the shot and get out of our face mom!"

Didn't Pumpkin Patches Used to Be About Pumpkins?

Maybe some places they still are, but around here, pumpkin patches seem to be about ANYTHING but the pumpkins! Pony rides, check. Hayride, check. Giant inflatables, check. Trains, check. Anyway, despite having some strong-willed opinionated little girls this weekend, we managed to make it tantrum free for a couple hours to enjoy the fall weather and pick our pumpkins!

On the hayride

Burning off energy on the 'giant cloud'

They loved this!

Lilly, smiling in order to get the camera out of her face :-)

Addy, typically too busy for pictures

Addy's getting to be a pro at the pony rides!

Lilly finally got on! After watching for a while, with Daddy by her side, she was willing!

Almost too big to carry
Perfect size!

They weren't overly enthusiastic for this contraption, but entertained us nonetheless!

All smiles--fun family day!

Sometimes we forget...

Sometimes we forget our little munchkins are ONLY 2! We stay up at night and talk about how fun it will be to camp and fish and swim and hike with them and when it snows, we get as excited as we used to when we were kids.

So, when Indy got hit with 7 inches last week, what else was there to do? We layered up and head out to the hill Jeremy had "scouted" earlier in the week with our 2 shiny new sleds. The wind chills were in the single digits....not winning any parenting awards on this one. One trip down each (Daddy & Lilly on the left/Addy & Mommy on the right) and then in the car and home for hot chocolate...I guess there is always next year?

For now, we'll stick to the "bunny hill" in our neighbors yard, video linked, here.

Toddlers and falling leaves....

It's true my toddlers have spent much of the last couple weeks, testing my patience. We've been stripping off clothes during naps, taking off diapers at night, crawling out of cribs, figuring out how to unzip crib tents, going on hunger strikes and refusing to eat anything healthy, ripping pages out of books, throwing tantrums, making unruly demands and generally being misbehaving 2-year olds. But amidst the total pandemonium that is my house, I'm previewing glimmers of well-respecting young girls. Here are a few things that have made my heart hurt with pride recently.

• When one of the girls sneezes, the other one says "God bless you, sissy."
• I was told a long time ago, that consistent language is key when raising kiddos and I've come up with some mantras that come out of my mouth several times a day. Addy & Lilly have adopted some of these mantras and repeat whenever necessary. Addy reminds her sister "Don't forget peas and tank-ews" and Ms. Lilly has been caught telling the boy in her class, crying after drop-off, "Mommy's always come back."
• When at the grocery the other day, the clerk coughed and Lilly told him to "cover his cough".
• Addy asks for a lot of "one-mores". When daddy leaves in the morning for work, she'll get her hug and kiss and then follow him to the door for "one-more hug, peas, daddy" "one more kiss, peas, daddy".
• They sing entire songs now, knowing most of the words to "Five Little Monkeys", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Old McDonald Had a Farm" and more.
• We know our alphabet and can easily count to 10, they correctly count objects out and have surprised us recently memorizing the days of the week song and knowing that we have school Tuesday and school Thursday, they are learning shapes AND they know most colors but default frequently to "pink"...when all else fails, it's pink.

Thankfully we don't have a lot of leaves to rake, but I was loving some of the leaf pictures popping up on the blogosphere, so we headed out to a park close enough to us that we biked and took some festive fall pictures. Indiana is beautiful this time of year and I'm reminded why I LOVE living somewhere with four seasons. I'll look back to these pictures come February. Enjoy them!

Addy...."One, two, three....up"
Climbing the rock to get a view of ALL the leaves
Lilly....a bit scared at first, but diving in and playing peek-a-boo within minutes
Addy...charming the camera

Fall Family Fun...

Just when I thought I couldn't sing "It's raining, it's pouring the old man is snoring..." one more time, the sun came out for the weekend! We ventured out for some good fall fun...

"Follow the leader, sissy"--Addy
"Look, dad, I picked this one just for you."--Lilly
"I got the goods, let's check out the pumpkins."

Lilly, thinking she could be a supermodel even in the middle of a dirt field...
These girls LOVE Saturdays and spending time with their daddy
Lilly among the sunflowers

Addy, taking time to stop and smell the flowers....

Have I mentioned that I LOVE our new camera. We splurged on a Nikon D90 for our 30th birthday presents to each other (with a bit of help from both sets of parents). I'm still learning a lot about digital SLRs and am hoping to enroll in a workshop in November so I know how to use all its amazing features, but we are having fun with it. I'm trying my best to capture the wonder and amazement on their faces as they soak up each adventure. They are soooo eager to learn and remind me every day to SLOW down and teach, they can talk endlessly about a caterpillar on the sidewalk or the blueberries that found their way into their pancakes and when I'm rushing to get out the door, I have to remember that almost every minute of their day is a chance to learn something new. This is my newest mommy challenge.

7 Blogs in 7 Days...Day 3

I don't even remember when the Indiana State Fair was, but these pics got lost on my camera memory card, not downloaded for weeks, so here we are! Keep in mind, I'm not really a fair person, so this was out of my element and I only visited the swine barn, horse barn and sheep barn armed with enough Purell to keep my girls germ free for the rest of their lives. The girls had a blast, they love visiting new places and seeing all the animals.

"I'll take a deep fried Snickers bar, chocolate covered bacon, fried cookie dough and an elephant ear for dessert."--Addy, the girl will eat anything anywhere!

Lilly, very curious in the 'do-it-yourself' exhibit, but always wanted "Daddy do it" before she gained the confidence to do it alone---here, she is milking bessy the cow
Addy driving the pink tractor, not quite big enough to reach the pedals, but not for long!
"Mom, they told me I could organize the grain bin--got any of your color coding stickers?"--Addy, adopting some of mom's annoying habits!