Random Pictures

I have been a neglectful blogger.  I admit, it has been a week since my last post.  The terrible 2's are zapping all of my energy and getting on the computer has not been my first priority.  This is why today's post will be a hodge podge of things that have been happening at my house.

Number 1 and to me the most exciting...

We have gotten rid of our high chairs!! We are all now sitting together at the table for meals.  It really has opened up the kitchen, not to mention one less "baby" item in the house. **smile**

Number 2... Olivia loves dressing up Reese in her old princess costumes! Reese seems to really like it too.

Number 3...  Pumpkin carving time!!  Who else out there LOVES to bake the pumpkin seeds after carving your pumpkin???  I do think the seeds are the best part - great snack. I was very apprehensive about the mess, but it turned out not to be so bad. The kids did love playing in the squishy guts of the pumpkins!

My pumpkin is on the left and Greg's pumpkin is on the right.

Number 4... Lunchtime!!  My friend Renee and I took all of the kids (her 3 and my 3) to lunch and I had to snap a picture of all the kids.  5 total high chairs!!  It's craziness!!

Number 5... Cute pics of Reese and Olivia.  Even when Reese is upset, she still is cute! Olivia just loves to pose for the camera.

Number 6... OK, lunchtime again!!  This time the kids all had their costumes on.  We went to lunch right after music class where they wore their Halloween costumes. Notice the HUGE iced teas in the picture.  This restaurant has the best sweet tea in the state!  Giant glasses plus free refills - now that will put anyone in a good mood. :)

Number 7...  Reese, at 2, is picking out her own clothes.  Today - it was big head Dora.  No matter what I did to sway her pick, she always went back to big head Dora. The girl sure does have a mind of her own.

My Sweet Little Boy

My sweet little boy, who is so calm and layed back, has turned a corner this week. (Look, isn't he so calm and layed back!!!)

Isn't he sweet - just sucking his thumb!

Oh, this corner he has turned is not a very good corner!  All of a sudden, the boy in him has decided to come out.  Personally I think he had the best teacher with Reese - I know she taught him everything.  He's been slowly watching, taking notes and has finally gotten up the courage to act. 

"Hmmm, now is the time to show them what I've got!"

My sweet little boy has been in time out more times this week than I care to count. He has been climbing on furniture, getting in the trash, standing on the dining room table swinging the chandelier, hitting his sisters, ignoring me when I tell him no, and laughing when he gets into trouble!  (And that's just scratching the surface.) The only saving grace for me is that he stays in time out when I put him there.  I really think he likes it. So, when does the terrible 2's end???

Family Fun Day

Olivia's preschool had their annual Family Fun Day this past weekend.  They do such a great job organizing a fun couple of hours for the families of the school to hang out and have fun.  This year we weren't able to stay very long due to Reese and Will's nap schedule (and boy did their crankiness show in full force!) but we did get through every station.  

When we arrived, there was a fall scene set up with a photographer so we could get our pictures taken. I tried to have just the three kids in the picture, but no such luck - I ended up in the picture with them. After the picture was taken, we were off to the woods behind her school to see the "outdoor education" spots. They had a spider web made out of ropes that the kids had to climb through.  Reese and Will really loved trying it even though it proved to be a little difficult. 

Next, we hiked on the path to get to the campfire, rope swings, tree swings, and game area.  The kids were able to roast marshmallows and play for a little while. 

After that we walked back up to the school where the kids were able to pick out a small pumpkin and decorate it.  The last craft was making a bird feeder to hang in our tree.  

Reese was getting so tired that she was able to get Grandpa to carry her!!

Halloween Party

Last night we went to the Twin's Club Halloween Party. This was a good trial to see how the kids would do in their costumes before Halloween.  Olivia is a witch, Reese is a butterfly, and Will is an astronaut. They looked absolutely adorable.  I was a little nervous taking them because Reese is in the middle of her "terrible two" stage. At the drop of a hat she will melt down and have a really hard time pulling herself back together. Surprisingly though, she did pretty well.  As soon as we arrived, Olivia found some girls her age and started doing crafts.  Reese found crayons and colored for at least a half an hour.  Will on the other hand - he found the snack table. The boy is the pickiest eater and doesn't eat anything, but when he saw all of the cookies he must have thought he was in heaven! I could not get him away from the cookie table. I think it was because he hardly ever gets sweets and once he tasted a cookie, he was hooked.   I have to give him credit for being resourceful - when he couldn't reach a cookie, he took a paper plate and tried using it as a tool to scoop the cookies closer to him!  Here are a couple of pictures from the party.

Here is where it started, one harmless cookie!

You can see the look of desperation as he tries to figure out how to get more cookies!

"Maybe nobody saw me sneak this cookie - I better eat it fast!"

Helmet? Check!

I can say that I feel good knowing that when Olivia is riding a bike or a scooter, she knows that she is to wear a helmet. Since we have been playing outside a lot, Reese has finally caught on to the concept of wearing a helmet too.  We have an extra one that fits her pretty well and she wears it when we are outside playing. The other day when we went outside, Reese put on her helmet so she could ride in the cozy coupe!  I felt a little bit better knowing that when she is going 1/2 mph, she'll be safe!!

Fairies can golf too!

I bet you didn't know that fairies could golf.  Well, I looked out the window and this is what I saw...

So yes, Fairies can golf! *smile*

Crazy October Weather

I can not believe that it is the middle of October and we were outside playing in the water. Our weather has been crazy.  The normal highs are in the middle 60's for this time of year.  The past 4 days or so have been in the middle 80's!! Today it was so warm that we broke out our ginormous water slide.  Olivia had so much fun playing with some of her friends in the neighborhood and Reese and Will had a blast when they got up from their nap!!  It is sad to know that reality will be sinking in around Thursday when the temps drop back down to the 60's!!

It's field trip time

This past Friday, Olivia's preschool, I mean Pre-K class, (as she always corrects me) went on a field trip to a country market.  I was so excited that I was able to go with her on this trip.  I have been on lots of field trips before with my own classes when I was teaching, but this was the very first time going as a parent!!  She was such a big kid the whole morning.  I thought she would want to hang out with me and be my partner but I took a back seat to all of her friends. It was a little sad for me, but at the same time, I loved watching her interact with all of her friends.  

There were 4 stations that we visited.  First, we went on a tractor ride around the farm and stopped at a bee hive where bees were making honey. Here is Olivia on the tractor.  She does love the tractor rides!

Then, the kids went through a corn maze.  Luckily the maze was marked with white paint to help everyone get through without getting lost!! Here is Olivia and her buddy going through the maze.

Next, we visited a "play" area.  At this station the kids were able to "pretend" milk a cow, lasso a cow, play in the big piles of hay, and play in a pit of corn kernels! 

Finally, the last stop was to see all of their animals! There were bunny rabbits, donkeys, sheep, pigs, chickens, and ponies.  Before the kids left, they were able to pick out a pie pumpkin to take home.  Check out Olivia's catch of a pumpkin! She loved the fact that her pumpkin had green all over it!

One of the best parts for her was being able to ride a big kid bus!  Here she is waving bye as the bus leaves to take the kids back to school.

'in o up Mommy

Reese and Will's new word of the week is window - or as they say, "in o".  They love pointing to the window in the car and the house and saying "in o up" or "in o down" (in Reese's case, she just yells "in o").  The other day, I put the canopy up in the stroller so the sun wouldn't be in Reese's eyes.  There happens to be 2 plastic sides that she can look out and she now calls this her "in o". Every time we are in the stroller I hear "in o, in o" until I put the canopy up. 

Yesterday, Will took the meaning of window one step further.  They were playing outside and it happened to be sprinkling.  I first went to Reese and put up her hood.  Then Will came to me and said "in o, in o" until I put up his hood.  This morning too, he was trying to grab at his hood saying "in o, in o".  I just had to laugh as I was trying to explain to him that it is a hood and not a window!  

You know it's Fall when we go apple pickin'

This past weekend we went to an apple orchard close to our house and had such a great time. We had never been to this particular orchard before and didn't know what to expect, but it turned out to be a blast!  When we first got there, we looked at all of the beautiful mums and tried to teach Reese and Will to smell the flowers, not pick the flowers.  We ended up getting a couple to take home and plant in front of our house. Here is Will smelling the flowers.

After we were done looking at the mums, the tractor arrived to take us to the best apple pickin' site.  This had to be the highlight of the morning.  Who doesn't love riding on a tractor??  Here is Olivia and then the three of them from behind.

When we were dropped off at the trees, we started picking and eating the apples.  There was a nice clearing between the rows of trees, so Greg and I sat down and watched the kids pick the apples.  Here are some pictures of our apple picking.

After apple picking, we rode on the tractor over to the pumpkin patch.  They had a huge corn maze that we went through and then it was off through the fields to find the perfect pumpkin.  

After a fun morning at the orchard, we left with mums, apples, caramel dip, apple cider, AND the perfect pumpkin.