Kids Say...

I have the most amazing, and often strange, conversations with the twins these days.  Most of the things out of their mouths are pure comedic gold.  Sometimes, if I remember, I jot them down or text them to myself.  Most, I forget, and they are golden nuggets of conversation destined to be forgotten forever.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Upon hearing a loud, awful scraping sound.

Allie: That's awful!  That sound tastes horrible!

Me: Tastes?  Sounds have taste?

Allie:  Yes.

Me: How did that sound taste?

Allie: Middle-size.

Ryan:  Mom!  I just saw a woman who traveled to the city!

Me: What city?

Ryan: The Iowa City.

Me: How do you know that is where she traveled?

Ryan: I saw it on her purse.

My fortune in a fortune cookie said I would receive great care and comfort in old age.

Me:  How wonderful!  This means you will take good care of me when I'm old!

Allie:  Yes.  I snuggle with you all the time.

Me: Yes, but this says you will snuggle with me when I'm old!

Allie: I know.  That's why I snuggle with you.  You are already old.

Ryan: I am a prince.  Allie, you are a princess.  You will always be my princess and I will always be your prince.

Daddy: How far do you guys think you can run?
Allie: All the way.

Upon hanging up the stuffed letter of his name (room decor that had fallen down):
Ryan: I hanged it up by myself!  Now it looks great AND I know who I am!

Upon moving a worm from the sidewalk to the grass.
Allie: I helped it get to its home!  I saved it!  I'm like a super hero!

Ryan on music:
"I like this song.  It sounds happy."
"I like this song.  It sounds like dancing."
"I don't like this song.  It makes me feel angry."
Or, for his most favorite songs, "Get ready to dance."

Ryan: Mommy, it makes me really angry that I didn't get to go to your wedding.

Me: I'm sorry, but you weren't born yet.
Ryan: Yes, I was!  I was just sitting in the car being angry that you didn't take me inside.
Allie: And I was in the car juggling.

Confession: I have had this post for a while.  I have been slowly collecting and building it for several weeks.  I am interrupting the Thankful posts to sneak in this post so I don't completely forget to post it!

Another Week of Thankfulness

This month is flying by too quickly.  I keep seeing Christmas decorations hanging or hearing carols on the radio.  I'm dragging my feet and holding onto my month of thankfulness for all I'm worth.

November 8

Me: Surprise Story Time.  We went to preschool, on a day that was not our normal day, for Dads and Donuts - a special morning where the dads were invited to a special circle time, donuts and cider, and to spend some time in the classroom participating in their kid's favorite preschool activities.  It was amazing (I was acting as photographer, so I got to be a fly on the wall).  After, Lucas was meeting up with a friend and fellow preschool dad for breakfast.  The twins and I needed to fill the time and I figured we would just go to the town's (amazing) library.  When we got there we found out it was story time and were invited to stay.  It turned out to not be just any story time but critter day.  A local gentleman brought in all of his animals for the kids to see, touch, and learn about.  It was awesome.  Even better, completely unplanned several of our friends showed up too!  Best surprise turnout of the morning ever.

Ryan: New Mama Bear.  Ever since the twins learned to do buttons, they are obsessed with clothes that button, especially pajamas.  But pajamas with buttons are more difficult to find than one would think.  Gigi found some that are not only adorable and button up but that came with toys that have matching pajamas.  Since Ryan's has a little bear peeking out of the pocket (that he named "Baby Bear") the Teddy Bear had to be named "Mama Bear."  He loves Mama Bear (and her peek-a-boo baby).

Allie: New Baby Doll, Heart.  Allie's new baby doll is the one that came with her set of pajamas.  The heart I cannot explain.  I was actually busy hosting a Norwex party during bedtime and Lucas did the thankful hands.
In their new jammies.  For some reason, Allie took the doll's jammies off... 

November 9

Me: Winning the Rivalry.  I haven't talked much about football this year.  Partly because our teams have not had stellar seasons.  Partly because our children, for the first season ever, have taken sides and support their teams fervently.  We have actually watched more football as a family, but the lines are clearly drawn, we watch and cheer as a house divided, and the youngest family members take it VERY seriously.  We have been anticipating the MI vs. NE game with some trepidation.  With neither of our teams playing well, the outcome was completely unpredictable.  My team won (I believe that is 2 out of 3, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)!  And I am thankful.  But it also made my son cry...and that made it slightly less fun.  That's what you get for siding with Daddy...
Cheering for their teams.  You have to listen for Ryan as he runs in and out of the picture because...

...this is what happened when I tried to keep them in the picture together...

Ryan: Daddy.  Even though he encouraged him to root for a losing team...

Allie: Daddy.  In all seriousness, they have an amazing Dad who does so much for them.  Including bedtime that evening.  We are all thankful for him!
Eating Donuts with Daddy.

November 10

Me: Visiting Friends.  Truthfully, this was a rough day.  The twins had been developing a cough, and the night before I had spent most of the night up with Ryan...and I got pee'd on twice.  I was completely exhausted, and the kids were both "sick" in that they were stuffed and had coughs but it somehow had no effect on their energy level.  Since Sunday is kind of a busy day for Lucas, I was home all day with no energy and hyper yet cranky (because they didn't feel well) kids.  But the day was topped off with the arrival of friends from up north.  It was so fun to stay up talking and hang out with them.  

Ryan: Allie.  Such a good brother.

Allie: Poppy has no more work!  He's off the boat and Allie is so relieved.  At prayer time, she prayed for everyone on Poppy's boat - who are surely lonely without him.
Giving Daddy the presents they made.

November 11

Me: Sleep.  After the night I had Saturday, and staying up late with friends on Sunday, I was dragging by Monday.  Lucas, who technically had the day off, stayed home a little longer from lunch and let me nap on the couch.  I definitely appreciated the extra sleep!

Ryan: New Pajamas.  These are the pajamas from Gigi again.  In fact, after the first night they wore them, they begged me to wash them so they could wear them again...which they did the next night.  And 2 nights later he is wearing them again!

Allie: Ryan.  They love each other so much!
I was taking pictures when I suddenly turn to see Lucas blindfolded!  It is an activity where they have to match items based on touch.  Leave it to Allie to test Daddy!

Ok, I know this picture is sideways.  I literally did everything I could to turn it.  In my pictures folder and editing program it is upright, but no matter which way I turn it, when I upload it to the blog it is sideways.  I like it though...so you'll just have to turn your head...

November 12
Me: My Pediatrician's Office.  I loved our pediatrician in MA.  His whole office.  A lot.  I thought I would never find a pediatrician and staff that I loved as much.  Every time I have to call our pediatrician's office I am so thankful I found them.  The staff are wonderful and helpful.  Our pediatrician is amazing.  They never make me feel like I'm an overly obsessive parent, they always listen to me, and they make an effort to really connect with my kids.  Can you tell we  had to visit the pediatrician?  The kids had lingering colds/coughs that hadn't gotten terrible, but had gone on for longer than I was comfortable.  We know so many people that have battled colds that turned into bronchitis that turned into pneumonia that turned into laryngitis.  I wanted to make sure we weren't heading into that cycle.  It turns out they have secondary sinus infections.  The doctor affirmed that once it gets to be over a week, it is a good idea to bring them in even if their symptoms don't seem to get worse.  She told me that what I had been doing in the meantime definitely prevented ear infections.  Most importantly, the nurse remembered the twins' favorite game of counting the numbers to find our exam room and started it (I usually prompt the game) even though we haven't been there in months!
Ryan &Allie: We forgot.  Honestly, I'm impressed we made it this far into November before we forgot a night!

November  13
Me: Picture Day.  Our preschool asks for parent volunteers to take the school pictures and put together the directory each year.  Since I love taking pictures, I volunteered.  Today was picture day and I got rare access to the day-to-day workings of the preschool.  I loved every minute.  I love seeing the way things run.  Everything I see makes me love our preschool even more.  Such an incredible learning environment.  I also loved getting to finally put faces to the names the twins throw around each day.  I'm always hearing that they played with so-and-so or a new shirt is super cool because so-and-so at school has the same one.  Now I actually know who these kids are!  And I LOVED interacting with preschoolers during the picture taking - the cheesy smiles, the funny things they say, their excitement over a visitor in the classroom.  They provided many smiles that lasted throughout the day.
Ryan: Caleb.  A new best friend who got to come over for the afternoon.  He and Ryan spent the whole time playing with the train table.  They were in little boy heaven.  Except for when Allie crashed her toys into their trains...because she was feeling left out...
Allie: Mommy.  Sweet girl.  Melts my heart.

And even though I'm about a day short of a week, I'm posting...because if I wait it will be another several days!

30 Days of Thankfulness

I can't believe it is November again already.

Confession: I never took down last year's Thankful Tree.

I wanted to save those adorable little hands that perfectly captured a month of the twins most important things, but I hadn't figured out exactly how yet.  I didn't want to take them down before I had it figured out for fear I would lose them.  So I left them up.  Plus, the wall would look really empty (Almost all of my walls look empty.  Like we just moved in.  I have trouble committing to wall art).  But then it was the beginning of November again, so I had to take the leaves off the tree and put them somewhere safe until I figured out exactly the best way to save them.  At least it will be in place for me to take down this year's thankful tree...although I will probably leave it up all year again...

This year I felt myself longing for November.  I couldn't wait.  When I immerse myself in gratitude, it seems to overflow to everything.  It's almost as if I suddenly can't find anything for which I wouldn't be thankful.  This year, October was emotionally exhausting and I was desperate for the deep peace and joy that accompanies an attitude of gratitude.  So far, it has been successful.  It makes me wonder why I wait for November?  Maybe, like Christmas in July, I should start celebrating Thanksgiving in June...

Anyway, without further ado, our first week of Thankfuls.

November 1

Me: Lots of Cleaning.  It made me laugh when I remembered that was a common theme last November.  Perhaps November is when I truly do my fall cleaning?  With the twins helping so much lately, it has freed me up to do some of the deep cleaning that tends to fall by the wayside - like cleaning my kitchen and bathroom cabinets with Murphy's or removing stains from carpet.  Every deep cleaning project I accomplish makes me feel lighter.

Allie: Cera & Baby Cera.  Cera is a stuffed TriCERAtops that my dad gave me when I was little.  My parents kept it and Allie claimed it as hers this past year.  Then she got a small stuffed triceratops on a trip to the zoo, and that became Baby Cera.  Currently, we have a whole triceratops family, but these two are her favorite.  I love how much she loves one of my favorite childhood toys.

Ryan: Ruffster & Bumble.  I'm sure Bumble is fairly self-explanatory (isn't it great that he is still a favorite?!), but are you confused about Ruffster?  So was I.  Ruffster is Lightning's dog.  You didn't know Lightning McQueen had a dog?  He doesn't.  Not in the movies.  But Ryan's Lightning adopted one of Ryan's small toy dogs.  According to Ryan, he was broken-hearted when Ruffster decided he wanted to be Lightning's dog instead of Ryan's.  But now it makes him happy that Lightning and Ruffster are happy.

November 2

Me: A Baby Fix.  We were at the birthday party of one of the twins' little friends.  Another one of the mothers there (who I have hung out with a few times) was there alone with her three boy - all under three.  I watched her trying to keep up with the 3 year old and 18-month old while holding the baby and figured the least I could do was offer to hold the baby and free up her hands.  Thankfully, she took me up on the offer.  The result was an extended time of baby holding.  I got to feed him and burp him and hold him while he napped.  Pure heaven.  The mom was worried that she was inconveniencing me until Lucas informed her that I am a known baby hog and she should feel free to demand her baby back whenever she wanted him!

Allie: Thanksgiving coming up.  It didn't take long for them to get caught up in all of the Halloween Hoopla that preceded the holiday.  They were pretty disappointed when it was over.  Excited about another holiday (and the hoopla that comes along with it), Allie is anticipating Thanksgiving.  I haven't told her yet that our Thankful Tree is about all the hoopla there is aside from the actual day...

Ryan: 2 Lightnings and Mack.  Ryan has several Lightning McQueen cars, but apparently 2 that are extra special.  Mack is the semi that carries Lightning in the movie.  Ryan doesn't have an actual Mack (like the licensed character toy) but he does have a car carrying semi that takes the Lightnings wherever they need to go...in Ryan's room...

November 3

Me: The Grandpas & Grandmas.  Every couple of months, our church is responsible for doing a service at a local Assisted Living.  It is always one of my favorite things.  Maybe because I used to be an Activity Director and it makes me feel like I'm back in my element.  Maybe because the twins always sing a song and they are so stinking cute.  Maybe because the residents adore my children almost as much as I do (and many told me they come to our services specifically to see the twins - they've watched them grow up!).  I enjoy the time of fellowship with the residents (whom the twins call the Grandpas and Grandmas) and I enjoy taking the twins giving them the opportunity to entertain and interact with the residents.  I want my children to have as deep a love for Seniors as I have!  My favorite part is at the end when they shake every resident's hand and say, "I'm happy to see you!"  So cute.

Allie:  Nana &Poppy.  The first family to make the list!  I should add that, although there wasn't enough room to write this on the hand-leaf, she specifically said, "Nana who is all alone at home and Poppy who is all alone on the boat."

Ryan: Lightning's Grandma.  Much like Allie has created a family out of her various stuffed triceratops, Ryan has created a family out of his various Lightning McQueen cars.  Apparently, one of them is Lightning's Grandma and he is very thankful Lightning has her.

November 4

Me: A Morning Off.  Normally, we have playgroup on Monday mornings.  This particular Monday it was supposed to be at our house.  I sent the reminder out early the previous week though (I was so proud of myself for being so organized) and, as a result, everyone forgot by the time Monday rolled around!  But I really enjoyed having a surprise free morning to catch up on some things.  I've been working on clearing out places and de-cluttering. It was a great opportunity to get some of that done.  And the twins and I baked muffins!  They love to help in the kitchen, so it was fun to take some time to do one of their favorite activities together.

Allie: Papa & Gigi.  Always careful to keep things even, she couldn't bear to have one set of grandparents on the tree without the other.  And she is genuinely thankful for her 4 doting grandparents.

Ryan: Baby Bumble.  Like his family of Lightnings, he has a family of caterpillars.  Baby Bumble is the small version of his beloved Bumble.

November 5

Me: Free Time.  Every Tuesday, while the twins are in preschool, I have my morning.  Wednesday, I have Bible Study and Thursday I always have various errands or Sunday School lesson prep or something, but Tuesday is mine.  This particular morning, I enjoyed the beautiful fall weather on a long walk and then spent some time by the lake reading my Bible.  It was glorious.

Allie: People at the Chinese Buffet.  We went to a Chinese Buffet for dinner after their swim lessons, but honestly, I have no clue to whom she is referring.  There wasn't any person, or group of people I remember her specifically noticing.  But apparently, she is thankful for (or praying for?) all of the people at the Chinese Buffet that night.

Ryan: Train Tracks. Ryan LOVES driving over train tracks.  If we aren't crossing any in our regular travels, he begs for me to go out of our way just to drive over some.  He loves the bump and rumble.  He loves looking for trains (or seeing some train cars parked) nearby.  He often considers his day complete once we have driven over some tracks.  And there is a spot in the town where they go to preschool where you cross 5 sets of tracks that are all together.  That is pretty much his favorite place ever!

November 6

Me: Paying with Cash.  I hate grocery shopping.  I had been putting it off and I finally buckled down and went (almost a week overdue).  When I got to Meijer (the second store of the trip), their computers were completely down - meaning they couldn't electronically process any credit cards.  Regardless of their many announcements that they could only handle cash transactions, everyone was still trying to use their credit cards...and to process those transactions an employee had to call the credit card company and do it all over the phone and then manually override it at the register - which took a long, l-o-n-g time.  And they were having to do this for every single transaction because no one had cash.  I was relieved once I finally made it to my turn because we do an all cash budget so I was planning on paying cash for my groceries anyway!  I was able to move through quickly and smoothly.  Although, when one of the employees saw me taking my receipt she got all excited and thought that the computers were back up because no one else had used cash so she assumed I hadn't either!

Allie: Losen (Pronounced low-sen).  Allie's stuffed duck.  I never actually knew his name before today.  But he was re-discovered and Allie is so happy she found him again.

Ryan: Allie.  Aww.  I love when they are thankful for each other.

November 7
Me: An afternoon home.  Normally, on Thursdays, we hang around the town where the kids are in school until Lucas is finished with his class.  But he had people from the church he needed to visit, so he was traveling separately from us.  This meant we were completely free to leave whenever we wanted.  It was lovely to be able to have an afternoon at home to get some things done.
Allie: Ryan.  Aww.
Ryan:  Bee Bee.  This is a little teddy bear in a bee costume that he lost and found again.  He's been the happiest little guy.

And because it took me almost 2 weeks to get the first week of thankfuls posted...I would say it is probably best to expect weekly thankful posts.  Feel free to play along and share the things for which you are thankful as well!

Halloween

Coming up with costumes was a bit of a challenge this year.  In past years, I simply picked for them.  This year, they had opinions.  Too many, actually.  My mom, with the best intentions, sent them the Wishcraft catalog.  I am not exaggerating when I say that hours were spent pouring over this catalog and dreaming about various costumes.

 Months and months ago, Ryan told me he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween.  He actually has never seen the movie (he saw a clip - the part with the creepy kid - and was so freaked out that he refused to watch the movie), but he has always loved Buzz.  Months ago, he decided he wanted to be Buzz for Halloween.  He was so certain that, even though it was May and Halloween was far away, I checked with a friend whose son had been Buzz the year before to see if she had his costume and would be willing to sell...just in case he didn't change his mind over the next 6 months.  In the end, he didn't!  While he considered a few other costumes, his desire to be Buzz was too strong.  While store-bought costumes drive me insane (you pay so much money for the most cheaply made costume you could imagine), I knew I couldn't make a decent Buzz in the amount of time we had left...so we bought a Buzz.  He hung up the costume in his room like a decoration.  He hugged it every day.  And when he put it on he was beyond happy.  Totally worth it.

 Allie had much more trouble deciding.  Every day, she wanted something different.  One day she wanted to be a butterfly, the next Princess Ariel, the next a fairy, the next a bat.  Sometimes, within minutes she would announce 3 different things she was going to be for Halloween.  There were too many options and she wanted to be them all!  Finally, 2 weeks before Halloween, I told her she had to decide. She had to pick 1 costume and that would be it.  Other ideas could be saved for next year.  She thought about it all day and finally settled on an Octopus.  I looked online for a costume to buy, but they were all really expensive, and not even that great.  So I looked for a DIY costume and found this.  Hers is more monochromatic (and definitely looks more like an octopus), but she spent a lot more on it.  I found a hoodie and 4 pairs of women's knee high socks that all matched and ran with it.  Personally, I love the pink polka dot and stripe octopus :)  And so does Allie!  

 Last year, we got to be with Nana.  This year, it didn't work out, so we planned on trick-or-treating around our lake.  One thing I always do is plan for our costumes to work in the cold.  We live in Michigan, and it isn't out of the realm of possibility to have snow on Halloween.  These costumes were all set for a full outfit underneath.  Unfortunately, it didn't snow.  It rained.  I suddenly found myself hitting up the stores for clear rain ponchos, and convincing them that their costumes would look best with rain boots...I was worried our trick-or-treating wasn't going to work out.

 We started at the trunk-or-treat at the Fire Station (which had been moved indoors).  By the time we left there the twins had more candy than they needed (as well as popcorn that they snacked on throughout the night - which was fabulous because then they were too full for much candy by the end).  We went to a few houses of church people, friends, and neighbors, but didn't actually do much traditional trick-or-treating.  Actually, we spent a fair amount of time at each house talking with our friends - so much that even though we only went to 6 houses we were out for well over and hour!

My happy Octopus.

 When we got home, we let them eat a few pieces of candy while we skyped with the grandparents (Nebraska Grandpa and Grandma and Little Grandma, they wanted to skype with you as well, but it was getting way too late.  However, they were thinking of you!).  Despite the rain, they considered the night a HUGE success :)

To infinity and beyond!

While I was a little sad that this was the first year they didn't have costumes that went together, I loved seeing their individual creativity, imagination, and personality come into play.  Allie was thrilled that her costume was homemade, that she would be able to wear the clothes later, and that she got to dress up as a sea creature (she's obsessed with all marine life).  Ryan loved buying a perfect costume, becoming one of his favorite characters, and impersonating Buzz all night long.  So much fun.

We love our costumes.

They were a little sad this morning that Halloween is over.  They couldn't believe there were no more parties or places to wear their costumes.  They couldn't believe there was only 1 night of trick-or-treating.  They didn't want all of the costume fun to end.  But tonight we break out the Thankful Tree fun, and hopefully looking forward to Thanksgiving will make up for the fact that Halloween is over!

Catching Up

Of course, there will be at least 1 Halloween/costume post...so I wanted to do a quick catch up before then.

In preschool they have "Practical Living" lessons each week.  Thus far, they have all been cleaning.  The twins have been excited to try their new skills out at home, so one Saturday morning, I set them loose.  I could barely keep up (I was trying to pick up the rooms ahead of them).  We've started to make it a weekly tradition.  My house has never been so clean!

 We attended cousin D's birthday party.  I forgot to charge my camera battery, so I only got a few pictures before it died (wah-wah).

 We carved our pumpkins!  A favorite activity every year.

Ryan was NOT a fan of getting out the goop.

 Allie loved it.

 Ryan ended up enlisting Daddy to get the goop out for him.

 The kids had grand ideas for their pumpkins this year.  Allie wanted an owl and a bat.  Ryan wanted a really silly face.  Lucas and my pumpkin carving skills were definitely pushed to the limit!

 While waiting, Allie played "mad scientist" with the goop.

 The girls' Owl & Bat pumpkin.

The boys' Silly Face

And we are literally, as I type, getting ready for the first of our Halloween festivities.  The twins are so excited about their costumes, and their enthusiasm is contagious!

Field Trips

Oh, dear.  I've been really bad about keeping up.  I am fairly confident that about the time we adjust to our new crazy schedule, the semester will be over and it will change (theoretically, it will be less crazy...).  Here are the pictures from our week of field trips...at the end of September!

Our first was our annual Moms Group trip to see the cows.  Always a favorite.

Petting the baby cows.  These were less than a week old!

 A new highlight this year was catching them cleaning out some of the pens.  They moved all the cows over to the other side of the barn, and then used a Bobcat to scoop and dump all of the (pardon my french) poop.  The boys all thought it was awesome.

This picture was my favorite.  Notice Ryan in the back with his eyes covered.  You can't hear it, but he was screaming, "Nooooo!"  He thought the Bobcat was going to keep coming through the gate and run over his friends.  When he discovered the gate stopped the Bobcat, he went and joined them for a closer look!

 Climbing the hay bales, always a favorite!

 This picture is completely overexposed, but I love how D is trying to balance her juice in her dress!

 H sitting so ladylike...in the hay :)

 Because some of the kids were in direct sun while the others were in shade, the group pictures did not turn out.  As a backup, I took pictures of each cluster of kids with my camera settings adjusted for the different lighting.  Look at the group at the top of the hay...

 The next field trip was with their preschool.  It just happened to be at our local orchard, one of our favorite places on earth (or at least one of our favorite local places).  We got to see it in a whole new way during the field trip!

The whole group walking out to the orchard...and the twinners holding hands - to make sure they stuck together :)

 Being taught how they pick the apples.

 Each child (and adult!) got to pick their own apple.  The twins were super fast picking theirs.  So fast that I didn't get a chance to adjust my camera settings...so the pictures are way overexposed.

 Notice Allie's sad face?  Look closer at her apple.  The bees LOVED the apples and came around as soon as the kids bit into theirs.  Having recently discovered she is allergic, Allie was bummed that she could not finish her apple without fear of the bees.  She ended up giving it to me.

 On the hay ride!!

 I'm sure the highlight of the day was the donuts and cider they all got at the end.  This is not a new experience for the twinners (in fact, we've been going there every Friday morning for donuts since the beginning of the summer), but donuts are always amazing.

While it was slightly unfortunate that these two amazing field trips ended up happening a few days apart, it made for an amazing, adventure-filled week!