What are we up to...

I finally have my arms back around my life again - phew. Things just caught up with me and I had to slow it down and get things back on track. You know how it is. We've had a fun few weeks around here. The kids have been on fire and keeping me laughing and busy. I have completed the daunting task of switching the kids summer & fall/winter clothes, only to have it reach back into the 70's all week when I thought the cool weather was here. Figures. Into the bins I went to drag the shorts back out. I guess I was a little premature on packing things away...*mental note to self - don't try to do the clothes swap with the kids hanging around - totally counterproductive and takes 10 x's longer.

We've had a language explosion around here which is so much fun to watch. I feel like I live with 2 parrots - they repeat EVERYTHING, and at least a hundred times until I acknowledge that they are speaking. Remember when you were a kid and you used to mimic your brothers and sisters by repeating everything too many times to count until they lost it? I feel like that some days. Only those little voices hardly make me mad...here's JD's latest rendition of Happy Birthday. We were on our way to a friends birthday party and he was practicing.



At that particular birthday party there was a real live firetruck. Each of the kids got to squirt water with the fire hose - both boys gave it their best try. Sadly, I was helping them wait in line so I didn't get any photos of it (update, someone sent me photos of the kids with the fire hose). We also had cousin Emily's 3rd Birthday party last weekend. We had a great time and had another rocket cake - we've got a family full of Little Einsteins fans.

This week the kids finally are big enough to stand on stools in the bathroom to brush their teeth. We've been waiting for this day for a while now - previously when they would try to stand up, their chins were hitting the vanity and they couldn't reach the sink. Well, we're there! I snapped a few photos of them admiring themselves in the mirror. JD is a total ham! He thinks he's pretty handsome - and he reminds us of this while staring at himself in the mirror.

Each night when we do the bedtime routine, we're now into the 'stalling' techniques to stave off bedtime as long as possible. It's always entertaining to see what they will think of next. We read MANY books before bed, and always the same ones. For posterity's sake, I want to post the favorites here so I have them to refer to later. I'm sure they are all of the same ones that other 2 year olds love to read. Isn't it amazing how they can read the same book 10 times a day and still want to read it again and again and again and again? Even though they recite the words to me when I turn to the next page, they still find it entertaining - not at all boring. Here I am ready to poke my eyes out and they read it like it's the first time they've ever read it. Ah, to be 2 again. Here are the fav's - in no particular order (but we have to read every single one before lights out):

And there are MANY things required in the crib in order to go night night. Cole has 2 hand knitted blankets (by Mimi), Diego, baby Jag, water, 2 books and bear. JD has his 3 small blankets, 1 large blanket, Diego, baby Jag and his water. Now he screams about 5 minutes after I close the door and wants me to hold him in the rocking chair. The sap that I am, I actually love this and savor every last second of it - it won't be long before he will have no part of me snuggling and holding him in the rocking chair.

We have a fun weekend coming up. We're taking the kids to Jellystone Park - yes, the home of Yogi Bear! It's about an hour and a half from here and we'll be pseudo-camping (luxury cabin). No doubt it will be an interesting adventure. Stay tuned for updates after the weekend. We'll make sure it's well documented!