It's New York, Daddy

Well apparently, as many of has previously thought- kaylee is kinda sharp. We have been reading a Hello Kitty book I picked up on Friday. We have read it once or twice per day since then and in one of the last 'chapters' of the book it talks about Hello Kitty driving across the country. One of her stops is NYC to see the Empire State Building...here is a picture of her tall building that she proudly showed Daddy saying, "Look Daddy! It's New York."


*she also dressed herself...her dress is on backwards :)

What They Say

Here are a few choice quotes from the kids.

K- I don't want the red-shin (redskin) blanket. It is not comf-ter-bull.

Me-Did you have fun playing with your friends?
A- No. I did not. I wanted to be home.

There are more to come...I need to go tame my wild beasts with some breakfast

A Little Stubborn?

You decide.

Alex helped Kaylee pull out some of her stuffed toys that were stuck in their toy shopping cart. Kaylee was asked to say thank you- she wouldn't. Fast forward 50 minutes later (45 of which was pure crying and upsetness) she finally gave into me and said 'thank you'. Once the words came out of her mouth she had the biggest smile on her face- she was proud!
I mean what is 50 minutes when you can feel pride in pulling yourself back together and manage to say 2 words :)

Stubborn? Yes? No?

Next Time We Wear Dark Shirts

Flavor of today was: Raspberry Pomegranate (aka. red one)

Lesson learned...wear dark shirts to "ice cream frog"

Don't Break The Mouse

Oh my Alex. Told me tonight, "Don't break the mouse again. You understand?" referring to her nightlight whose lightbulb burnt out a few nights ago.

Yep. She is 2 1/2 years old. She did the same thing to me last night, but it was more of a lecture rather than a straight command like it was tonight. Last night she told me something along the lines of, 'don't touch the mouse. You have to be careful not to break the mouse. If you want to touch it, you come to me.'

Well then- I've been told who's who when it comes to the mouse nightlight! Two (or more) really great parts of this new 'attitude':
1. She listens to what I say (I may frequent a few things she said)
2. She spoke so kindly while being direct
3. She is showing empathy (which isn't new but always wonderful to see)

A Geen Rainbow

Kaylee worked hard at organizing her soy beans :) she told me she made a 'Geen rainbows'...aka green rainbow. And then Alex tried to copy kaylees hand position :)

Always Fun With The Pig And Cow

When we visit Frying Pan Farm Park I always ask the girls if they want to see the "pigs and cows". If I ask if they want to go to "the farm" they will start talking about Grandmom, Ban-pa and Spit Dawg. So we took a trip to see the 'pigs and cows' and as usual it was a great time. We went with Ben and Miss Kim and with Miss Kim's help the girls got to ride the merry-go-round for the first time! I was so excited and so proud of them! I wish I had been able to get a picture but next time. :)

How's That Hay?

Doesn't taste so great, does it?! You can't eat everything you see sweet liliana

October Is Here

One of the neighbors had a little party and the girls were happy to attend. They love a party! There was a pumpkin decorating area where Alex decorated her pumpkin with stickers then per her usual self pulled all the stickers off. Kaylee took Alex's now Un-decorated pumpkin and decorated it for herself. Lily was in the middle of all the fun! She sat right in and was ready to play before anyone else started; she is so ready to be a big girl!

There was a scare crow building area and the girls were less than interested in the hay, so they quickly moved on to bobbing for apples. That game quickly turned into throwing apples into the bucket once they saw their good friend Ben lead the way. All 3 two year olds like throwing the apples into the water again and again.
Where was Lily?! She was happy sitting in the hay with the pumpkins and other neighborhood kids, hunting down fallen snacks :(, or being loved on by GG and GG's mom. Lily is a party all of her own! She sometimes is my most independent, but not usually (and I say that with love).

Second Breakfast

This is what happens when you don't clean up right away after a meal...a second breakfast.

Ugh. Fruit Flies

If you didn't already know, they are gross. We have been having a serious fruit fly problem recently. I'm not sure where they came from either which makes me annoyed, but I think I have the issue finally under control (for the most part). I set out a vinegar trap and I have washed my drains and sink with bleach. Turns out those little buggers were getting cozy in my sink drain! Disgusting. I think the bleach taught them a lesson :)
I always wash my bananas before setting them out, but after this awful week or more of fruit flies making our house their home, I'm done with fresh fruit for a little while :( here is to mandarin oranges! And our apple from picking the other week.

A Few Weekends Ago

Greg and I had the great opportunity to get out of town and leave the girlies with Grandmom and Ban-pa's for the weekend. And while Greg and I were enjoying actually spending some quality time with each other the girls were living it up on the farm. When to girls woke up the day we were leaving there was no 'good morning' or 'hi, mommy and daddy' it was just 'We go to the farm to see Grandmom and Gampa and Spit Dawg, Momma.' and all you can do is smile and say, 'why yes dear, yes you are!' :)
Now before we leave for any overnight trip or an extended length of time, we let the girls pack their backpacks. It is so funny to see what each packs; sometimes the bags are full to the brim and other times there is only one or two objects-either way they have always been satisfied with what each has chosen. This time at 7:15 in the morning, Kaylee packed her bag so full of books that when she went to put it on she fell to her butt because it was too heavy and Alex just packed a few random non 'matching' toys. It is such a cool moment watching their little brains work and seeing them plan for the future, so special.
I know the girls had fun! The pictures certainly showed it- and the videos too.

Thanks mom and dad. It was a fantastic weekend. We are thankful for your constant support and love not only towards us, but especially to our special little ladies. Xoxo


**and can you tell that Alex is comfortable at the farm?

If You Give A Kid A Marker...

She may eat it? Yep, I guess so. Perhaps I should give Laura Numeroff, the author of 'If You Give A...' book series this concept for a new book. It could take off, who knows?
But in all seriousness...who does this? Oh my Alex.

To Blog Or To Read

Well I may do a little of both because I have been neglecting both :( I have 5 books sitting on my kindle all on a 3 week loan, so I'm pretty sure some of those will have to be returned without being read. I can always rent them again.
But I have been neglecting my blogging duties, so here are a few posts for your enjoyment (well, I hope you enjoy)

A Few More Pictures

The girls loved their picking :) they also loved taking pictures...you'll see Alex's handiwork in this post :) though kaylee took the awkward picture of me :)

Apple Pickin'

The girls has a good time picking apples yesterday- Kaylee was more into it than Alex but each had a good time. Alex liked walking Spit through the orchard.
Each had plenty of turns to be lifted by Ban-pa to pick some apples and we found some good trees with apples on lower branches for them to reach by themselves. Lily was such a happy camper in her wagon. She liked reaching into the paper apple bag to pick just the perfect one for her to try! It was pretty cute seeing her inspect an apple and then put it back and pick up another until just the right one was chosen :)
Striblings Orchard was a great place to visit- lots of apples, plenty of varieties, and this orchard happens to have late season apples which was perfect for us!
No trip up to the foothills is complete without a stop at The Apple House in Linden. They have the best donuts! Made fresh right in front of you their apple butter donuts are certainly not to be missed :)
What a busy day it was and somehow my little knuckleheads didn't nap, but come bedtime...they were practically sleep walking into bed.
Thanks grandmom and ban-pa for another great day full of memories!

Like Christmas?

The girls (all of them) were up by 5:30 this morning happily chatting and playing in their respective rooms. I am thankful for that because I was still laying in bed trying to calm myself from an intense dream :/ I don't like
Being stressed while sleeping esp. When pregnant.

But why would today be like Christmas? Well, I think the girls are excited about today's outing- Apple Picking!!! Why else would they wake up so early? :) before bedtime we talk about our day and then talk about the plans for the next day (if we have something planned)- so we talked about apple picking and the girls knew who was coming with us immediately! Grand mom and ban-pa, of course :)

Earlier this month I asked the girls if they wanted to go apple picking and they responded with an enthusiastic "with Grandmom and Ban-pa!?" there was no "yes, I would like to go." or "sounds fun" it was an instant implied "YES!" with the request for their favorite people.

So, off we go today to a new orchard for us, Strickland orchard, right around the corner from the strawberry patch we went to earlier this summer. It is supposed to be a high of 75ish in the mountains, a perfect apple picking morning if you ask me! I'll post some pictures upon the return from our adventure. For now I'm going to pack some snacks and a few wet cloths to wipe the apples clean in case a little one wants to have a taste test.

Ban-pa Wednesday

Wouldn't be complete without a trip to Sweet Frog Frozen Yogurt :)
The girls seemed to have a fine day with Ban-pa hanging out at the house while I went to the doctors office to get a check up on little #4. (who by the way, is perfectly healthy sounding :)). Once I returned from my office visit the girls declared they wanted to go to 'sveet fog Fo some I ceam'. How can one resist such a 'sveet' request?

So here are the girls...Alex was sharing he pink ice cream with Kaylee. It is so cool hearing them interact with one another. Here is one conversation that took place:
A: I got a beeg bite!
K: careful Addy wit your beeg bite
A: I be careful Tee-tee wit my beeg bite
K: okay Addy, be careful

And then when Alex was sharing her pink ice cream Kaylee reciprocated and gave Alex some of her 'blue like my bike' ice cream....she even added 'someshing special' aka. A sprinkles.

Love these girls and the time they get to have with their grandpa...it is truly a gift that no money could ever buy! We are truly blessed.

Beds Are So Yesterday

Apparently the floor is the new bed. Recently the girls, Alex namely, has been wanting to sleep on anything...besides her bed. I'm not sure what is going on with that but it seems like daddy and I have made a good decision to get real big girl beds for Christmas.

Rewind: last night. Oh what a night. I mean if my bladder wasn't getting me ready for baby #4 my twins sure were. Those who know me know I'm big on making good sleepers so when sweet Alex woke up at 2:30 in the morning and told me she had to go pee pee. So I can't possibly say no since the night diaper is the last diaper we have to ditch before being fully potty trained...so as I'm taking Alex to the potty and Kaylee wakes up in hysterics. Why? You may ask. Well, my dear kaylee just HAD to go to bed with her 'tap shoes' (aka. Dress Mary Janes) and there are somethings you don't argue with. Daddy took off her shoes around 10:30 last night and she didn't notice then but she did at 2:30 am and queue the sirens!
Little Kaylee was so upset about those shoes! Luckily, I can easily leave Alex on the potty and tend to the shoeless :) I put the shoes on and then she need to use the potty...15 minutes later she was done on the potty. (side note: neither actually went potty). So back to bed we go, or back into their room we go.
Kaylee got in her bed and Alex curled up in the Boppy pillow...alright I guess. I tucked them both in and off to 'bed' they went.
4am: Alex creeps out her door- 'I have to go pee pee!' and we are in the same cycle as earlier, minus the shoe fiasco. But this time Alex curled up in the rocking chair in her room. I advised her that sleeping in the chair would not be a good choice and she chose to sleep in the Boppy, again.
Sweet, crazy girls what am I going to do?! :)

Yep...

You know those simple and fun activities you give your kids so you can get a little done around the kitchen? Sometimes things just aren't that easy- I've seen this done before during my teaching days, the top of the glue bottle spontaneously pops off...so I'm going to give Alex the benefit of the doubt :)
That's a full bottle of glue- awesome.