Well this is not one of those videos.
Here are Ro and Ree in their first (and hopefully not last) gymnastics show:
Little sweeties. They're still superstars in our book.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
I would have bet anyone a million dollars, and I would have lost
Our sweethearts graduated from the little-kid class at preschool today. Craziness, I tell you, pure craziness. It seems like only a couple of months ago that they started going to preschool a few mornings a week, but actually it's been a year and a half. And in that time they have changed completely from little babies to honest-to-goodness kids.
After a brief summer vacation, they go into the Big-Girl preschool class (then one year later it'll be time for Kindgarten). Wow.
I went back into our picture archives so I couldweep a little over show a nice portrait of Ree and Ro on the first day of preschool and compare it to one taken today, and GET THIS, I didn't take one single shot of them looking at a camera!!! Can anyone out there reading this right now actually believe that?! I would have bet a million dollars that I had a nice picture (or twenty or thirty) of the girls all gussied up and on their way to their first-ever morning of school. And I would have been wrong wrong wrong. Incredible. I take, oh I don't know, somewhere in the neighborhood of 15GB of pictures a month, and somehow that hugely auspicious occasion didn't merit even a few seconds of photographic attention?! Gah. I guess I'll be turning in my official mamarazzi card now.
I do have a quickie snapshot of our precious tiny girls on the playground that first day. But that's it.
Oh well. Here are the girls on the second or third day of preschool (doesn't have quite the same ring to it as saying "the first day," does it?). November 30, 2007, 2 years old:
And here they are today, on their last day. Ro, funnily enough, is wearing the same pink shirt on both days. May 29, 2009, 3.5 years old (18 months later and WAYYYYY grown up):
I know everyone says this, but hold your babies tight, because in an instant they won't be babies anymore.
After a brief summer vacation, they go into the Big-Girl preschool class (then one year later it'll be time for Kindgarten). Wow.
I went back into our picture archives so I could
I do have a quickie snapshot of our precious tiny girls on the playground that first day. But that's it.
Oh well. Here are the girls on the second or third day of preschool (doesn't have quite the same ring to it as saying "the first day," does it?). November 30, 2007, 2 years old:
And here they are today, on their last day. Ro, funnily enough, is wearing the same pink shirt on both days. May 29, 2009, 3.5 years old (18 months later and WAYYYYY grown up):
I know everyone says this, but hold your babies tight, because in an instant they won't be babies anymore.
Fashion Friday (the evolution of an outfit)
It's Fashion Friday, time to see the fancy and fanciful outfits that the kiddos put together this week.
For the first outfit, Miss Ree was somewhat obsessed with multiple colors (as you'll hear several times on this video), and Miss Ro once again grabbed her favorite pink ruffly polka dot skirt (and then tried to claim that her head-to-toe-pink ensemble was also multicolored. Ahem.). Doesn't Ro's cool nonchalance—the little shrug with "Dass just a neckliss"—kill you?!
This second one I like to call "The Evolution of an Outfit." These three pictures took place over about 5 minutes, and are pretty typical of how the girls steadily modify their outfits as the day goes on. The changes continue all day long, and by the end of the day it's pretty rare for them to have on anything at all that they were wearing at the beginning of the day. (Do I even need to mention how pissy I get about the insane amount of laundry these two mites generate?)
All of Ro and Ree's past Fashion Friday outfits can be seen here.
Now it's your turn!
Share the grins and give us a link to an outfit that your kiddo put together! Fashion Friday is now a regular weekly feature, so grab your camera, turn those kids loose in the closet at least once a week, and show us what happened.
1. Wanda (At Last....)
2. Tonggu Momma
3. 6daysweek
4. Mahmee
5. Doubly Blessed
6. Me-Me and Monkey First timer!
7. greyautumnrain
8. Indiana Lori
9. Teresa
10. Double Happiness
11. Rylee For Life
12. Hotomom
13. ellie
14. When Chinese Eyes Are Smiling
15. You're next! Click below to share your own url:
All of Ro and Ree's past Fashion Friday outfits can be seen here.
Now it's your turn!
Share the grins and give us a link to an outfit that your kiddo put together! Fashion Friday is now a regular weekly feature, so grab your camera, turn those kids loose in the closet at least once a week, and show us what happened.
1. Wanda (At Last....)
2. Tonggu Momma
3. 6daysweek
4. Mahmee
5. Doubly Blessed
6. Me-Me and Monkey First timer!
7. greyautumnrain
8. Indiana Lori
9. Teresa
10. Double Happiness
11. Rylee For Life
12. Hotomom
13. ellie
14. When Chinese Eyes Are Smiling
15. You're next! Click below to share your own url:
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Can anyone think of a good caption for this photo?
Heh heh. That's Ro in the pink and Ree in the yellow, by the way.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Ten random things that made me smile today
1. TubaDad and the girls made some blueberry muffins for breakfast.
2. Ree was running around the back yard today with a plastic rocket launcher and hose slung over her shoulder like a leaf blower saying "I da gardener, mama, see?!"
3. We just got two big new Birds of Paradise plants, and are going to plant the gorgeous creatures in the backyard today.
4. Ro made lunch for herself and her sister today. She got out the plates, picked the food from the fridge, and put everything just the way she wanted it. Suh-weet! Her lunch menu consisted of salami and bacon, baby carrot pieces, leftover mexican rice, goldfish crackers, pita bread that she asked me to cut "like a pizza," string cheese, and grapes.
5. The girls were singing songs today in their own inimitable fashion.
6. After singing, they said they deserved a candy and ran for the kitchen, climbed up on the counter, and pointed to my secret stash, which is completely not secret.
7. We got out an old box of wrapping paper odds and ends, ribbon, and miscellaneous crap that's been in the closet for four or five years. And the girls have played with it for days. They've been making "magazines," cutting up a storm, glueing everything together, wrapping untold number of faux presents, and just enjoying the heck out of it. Don't know why I didn't think of this before.
8. We sold a whole pile of no-longer-used baby things on Craigslist this weekend, which makes me a little sad, until I see the $625 sitting on the desk. Wheeeeee! 9. I can't even believe I'm admitting this one, but it makes me laugh every single time, so what the heck. I put a bell in Ro's bathroom, and anytime she needs a wipe she primly taps it twice "ding-ding" and I head upstairs. Ha!! It's way better than her screaming "mama I poooooooooooooooop" during naptime or bedtime.
10. Ro hadn't fallen asleep during naptime, but had been making a bunch of noise in her room. So I went upstairs to check on her and found that she had rearranged her ENTIRE room. Seriously everything. The bed was turned a different direction, the fluffy pink rug had been carefully repositioned, the doll crib was across the room. That kid kills me. Oh, and last night during bedtime I asked her if she had put anything in her cabinet yet (it used to be a cd cabinet) and she nodded enthusiastically and said "Yes, mama, I put two balls of Kleenex in each cubby." And dang if she hadn't.
Nice day. What made you smile today? :-)
2. Ree was running around the back yard today with a plastic rocket launcher and hose slung over her shoulder like a leaf blower saying "I da gardener, mama, see?!"
3. We just got two big new Birds of Paradise plants, and are going to plant the gorgeous creatures in the backyard today.
4. Ro made lunch for herself and her sister today. She got out the plates, picked the food from the fridge, and put everything just the way she wanted it. Suh-weet! Her lunch menu consisted of salami and bacon, baby carrot pieces, leftover mexican rice, goldfish crackers, pita bread that she asked me to cut "like a pizza," string cheese, and grapes.
5. The girls were singing songs today in their own inimitable fashion.
6. After singing, they said they deserved a candy and ran for the kitchen, climbed up on the counter, and pointed to my secret stash, which is completely not secret.
7. We got out an old box of wrapping paper odds and ends, ribbon, and miscellaneous crap that's been in the closet for four or five years. And the girls have played with it for days. They've been making "magazines," cutting up a storm, glueing everything together, wrapping untold number of faux presents, and just enjoying the heck out of it. Don't know why I didn't think of this before.
8. We sold a whole pile of no-longer-used baby things on Craigslist this weekend, which makes me a little sad, until I see the $625 sitting on the desk. Wheeeeee! 9. I can't even believe I'm admitting this one, but it makes me laugh every single time, so what the heck. I put a bell in Ro's bathroom, and anytime she needs a wipe she primly taps it twice "ding-ding" and I head upstairs. Ha!! It's way better than her screaming "mama I poooooooooooooooop" during naptime or bedtime.
10. Ro hadn't fallen asleep during naptime, but had been making a bunch of noise in her room. So I went upstairs to check on her and found that she had rearranged her ENTIRE room. Seriously everything. The bed was turned a different direction, the fluffy pink rug had been carefully repositioned, the doll crib was across the room. That kid kills me. Oh, and last night during bedtime I asked her if she had put anything in her cabinet yet (it used to be a cd cabinet) and she nodded enthusiastically and said "Yes, mama, I put two balls of Kleenex in each cubby." And dang if she hadn't.
Nice day. What made you smile today? :-)
Play Silks giveaway winner
We have drawn a winner in the giveaway contest for 3 Extra Large Play Silks from Dream Spun Kids. I printed out all of the entries, put the slips of paper in a bucket, and had the girls' mix them up and then draw out two names (a winner and a runner up).
While I was cutting up all the slips of paper, Ree thought it looked purdy fun. So she ran outside and got her own bucket, a little pair of kid scissors, and some plain paper. Then she very studiously cut up her own papers. Cute. I'm guessing we're going to be playing "giveaway" for a few days here.
Here's the official process:
And the winner is "happygeek," who was actually commenter #1 on the contest. Neat! Happygeek, please email me and let me know your shipping address as well as which three colors you'd like for the Play Silks. My email address is in the sidebar. (Note: We also drew a runner-up, who gets the prize if the winner doesn't claim it for some reason, and the runner-up is "fuzzandfuzzlet.")
Thanks everyone for playing, this was fun.
Here's the official process:
And the winner is "happygeek," who was actually commenter #1 on the contest. Neat! Happygeek, please email me and let me know your shipping address as well as which three colors you'd like for the Play Silks. My email address is in the sidebar. (Note: We also drew a runner-up, who gets the prize if the winner doesn't claim it for some reason, and the runner-up is "fuzzandfuzzlet.")
Thanks everyone for playing, this was fun.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Funny day at the aquarium
Three funny things happened at the aquarium yesterday...
First, while we were all walking to the aquarium, Ree tripped and smacked into the sidewalk so hard that folks nearby gasped. Their gasps quickly turned to snickers when, instead of crying, she immediately grabbed the precious churro she had dropped and started blowing it off while saying adamantly to us "It ok, it clean, I blow it off, I can still eat it."
Second, while we were in the splash zone, Ro and Ree were jostling around with a bunch of other kids at a water play area and a little boy opened his mouth really wide and chomped down on Ro's hand. I pulled Ro out of there and told his mom, "Oh my gosh, he just bit my daughter!" But instead of apologizing or talking to the little boy about it, the lady just looked at me kind of vaguely, shrugged a little, and said "Well he was playing with that toy first..." Wow.
Then, while we were waiting in line to get back into the aquarium after lunch, an older man in a khaki-colored jacket stepped around Ro and Ree to cut in front of us. No big deal, and I didn't even give it another thought until TubaDad later whispered, "Did you see who that man and woman were?" I can't believe he was so right and I was so oblivious! Grabbed a quick surreptitious video of them later, can you tell who they are from my dark little video? Heh.
Funky day.
Then, while we were waiting in line to get back into the aquarium after lunch, an older man in a khaki-colored jacket stepped around Ro and Ree to cut in front of us. No big deal, and I didn't even give it another thought until TubaDad later whispered, "Did you see who that man and woman were?" I can't believe he was so right and I was so oblivious! Grabbed a quick surreptitious video of them later, can you tell who they are from my dark little video? Heh.
Funky day.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Fashion Friday
It's fashion friday again, time to see what happens when we let the kiddos run wild and free in the closet and pick their own fashion.
For the first fashion entry this week, Ro (left) wanted Rainbow Ponies for her hair (this picture should give a good view of them, I know Catherine had asked for a close-up), and Ree wanted two ponytails with some neat orange and purple bug and flower hairbobbles we got at the dollar store a couple of years ago. Ro wanted multiple layers of pink, which she shed as the day got hotter. Ree picked purple and yellow clothes "because I really yike doze colors, mama."
The next day, Ree (left) confidently grabbed an orange sleeveless embroidered polo shirt, peach skirt, and light peach capri leggings. I thought it was going to look hideous, but no, cute as a button on her. Ro wanted lots of color and lots of dots, I think she accomplished both and her outfit makes me smile. She went with dotted t-shirt, red shorts, pink dotted legwarmers, and dotted socks. Heh.
For the last outfit, Ree (left) wanted yellow and pink. She picked the shirt first and then rooted around for suitable bottoms but all the ones she really wanted were in the laundry. So she settled for this pink skirt, which she said was "too yight" (too light). She picked the new yellow and pink bear hair bobbles she chose from the Daiso store. Ro wanted her new pink outfit — "da one dat all matches, mama." She picked this outfit out herself at the store, I think it might be the first outfit she's gotten to pick out and purchase, and I'm guessing it won't be the last. Heh. She's also wearing new hair bobbles from Daiso, these ones are little pink dice, and is very into precisely tucking in her shirts lately. The Jellies are the shoes of choice this week. The pink ones (my faves) are from Old Navy, and the purple ones are from Target.
Wow, their hair is getting long! All of Ro and Ree's past Fashion Friday outfits can be seen here. Ro and Ree are choosing their own outfits three times a week now, so on the weeks I have my act together, you'll see three photos for Fashion Friday.
Now it's your turn!
Share the grins and give us a link to an outfit that your kiddo put together! Fashion Friday is now a regular weekly feature, so grab your camera, turn those kids loose in the closet at least once a week, and blog about it.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend! TubaDad returned from another business trip today and he's taking tomorrow off, so we'll have a four-day weekend. (squeal!!)
The next day, Ree (left) confidently grabbed an orange sleeveless embroidered polo shirt, peach skirt, and light peach capri leggings. I thought it was going to look hideous, but no, cute as a button on her. Ro wanted lots of color and lots of dots, I think she accomplished both and her outfit makes me smile. She went with dotted t-shirt, red shorts, pink dotted legwarmers, and dotted socks. Heh.
For the last outfit, Ree (left) wanted yellow and pink. She picked the shirt first and then rooted around for suitable bottoms but all the ones she really wanted were in the laundry. So she settled for this pink skirt, which she said was "too yight" (too light). She picked the new yellow and pink bear hair bobbles she chose from the Daiso store. Ro wanted her new pink outfit — "da one dat all matches, mama." She picked this outfit out herself at the store, I think it might be the first outfit she's gotten to pick out and purchase, and I'm guessing it won't be the last. Heh. She's also wearing new hair bobbles from Daiso, these ones are little pink dice, and is very into precisely tucking in her shirts lately. The Jellies are the shoes of choice this week. The pink ones (my faves) are from Old Navy, and the purple ones are from Target.
Wow, their hair is getting long! All of Ro and Ree's past Fashion Friday outfits can be seen here. Ro and Ree are choosing their own outfits three times a week now, so on the weeks I have my act together, you'll see three photos for Fashion Friday.
Now it's your turn!
Share the grins and give us a link to an outfit that your kiddo put together! Fashion Friday is now a regular weekly feature, so grab your camera, turn those kids loose in the closet at least once a week, and blog about it.
| 1. Buckeroomama 2. Indiana Lori 3. ellie 4. Wanda (At Last....) 5. greyautumnrain | 6. Doubly Blessed 7. Mahmee 8. Leidy Journey Unscripted 9. Sweet Potato Pi 10. Deb | 11. Ginny 12. Our Life's Journey 13. Rylee For Life |
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Another bento, and some thrift store finds
While the power was out on Tuesday, I went through old pictures that were saved on my laptop and found this bento that I never posted. Not sure why, it must have been a busy week (as compared to all the other weeks that are so uneventful and slow, haha).
This one was a dinner for the girls, and had dry salami chunks on panda food picks, bacon-wrapped green beens (I just steamed a few green beans then wrapped them in microwaved bacon), black olives, bird nests made from coiled whole wheat buttered noodles, and cutie oranges for dessert.
The girls were kind of lukewarm on the whole wheat pasta stuff, by the way, and actually so was I. The next time I'll use Barilla Plus pasta instead, which we all love (it has extra protein, which is nice if your kids don't eat enough meat). You can see all of our bento pictures and read about where we get the equipment by clicking "Bentos" up at the top of our site.
I can't think of a good transition from bentos to thrift store shopping, so just picture that screeching sound when you run the needle over a record and I'll jump right in.
A few folks heard me say that Ree's purple sequin vest on fashion friday was from a thrift store and asked about our other thrift store finds. I'm always happy to talk about a good bargain, so here's a pic of the most recent goodies for the girls that I've found at local thrift stores. The items averaged $1.50 each, and I really like the purple tie-died t-shirt (Ree can't wait till it's out of the laundry and she can wear it), the red-white-and-blue halter dress (which I'm thinking will look cute for the 4th of July), the red and orange butterfly overall dress from Pumpkin Patch, all the Gymboree shorts, and all the fun sparkly or velvety princess dress-up stuff in the bottom row. The pink sequined dress is going to be used as a photo backdrop for a bento, then my mom will convert it into a long vest for the girls' dress-up box.
Fun stuff!
I usually browse around for a few minutes after I drop off bags of stuff for donation. So far I've managed to drop off FAR more than I bring home, which I'm sure TubaDad appreciates. Heh.
This one was a dinner for the girls, and had dry salami chunks on panda food picks, bacon-wrapped green beens (I just steamed a few green beans then wrapped them in microwaved bacon), black olives, bird nests made from coiled whole wheat buttered noodles, and cutie oranges for dessert.
The girls were kind of lukewarm on the whole wheat pasta stuff, by the way, and actually so was I. The next time I'll use Barilla Plus pasta instead, which we all love (it has extra protein, which is nice if your kids don't eat enough meat). You can see all of our bento pictures and read about where we get the equipment by clicking "Bentos" up at the top of our site.
I can't think of a good transition from bentos to thrift store shopping, so just picture that screeching sound when you run the needle over a record and I'll jump right in.
A few folks heard me say that Ree's purple sequin vest on fashion friday was from a thrift store and asked about our other thrift store finds. I'm always happy to talk about a good bargain, so here's a pic of the most recent goodies for the girls that I've found at local thrift stores. The items averaged $1.50 each, and I really like the purple tie-died t-shirt (Ree can't wait till it's out of the laundry and she can wear it), the red-white-and-blue halter dress (which I'm thinking will look cute for the 4th of July), the red and orange butterfly overall dress from Pumpkin Patch, all the Gymboree shorts, and all the fun sparkly or velvety princess dress-up stuff in the bottom row. The pink sequined dress is going to be used as a photo backdrop for a bento, then my mom will convert it into a long vest for the girls' dress-up box.
Fun stuff!
I usually browse around for a few minutes after I drop off bags of stuff for donation. So far I've managed to drop off FAR more than I bring home, which I'm sure TubaDad appreciates. Heh.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Had a bad twin moment yesterday evening
It was the first bad twin moment I've had, where I got outnumbered by the girls and didn't know what to do.
The girls and I were out at a local mall (we were on our own last night and needed a little activity). At one point, we all held hands and stepped onto a down escalator, just like we've done a million times before. Only this time little Ree faltered for some reason. She jerked her hand out of mine, started to sit down, jumped back up because I was freaking out, then stepped back really quickly, got back off the escalator, and burst into scared tears, refusing to move. I frantically tried to coax her back on, but she was so scared it was fruitless.
By this time, Ro and I were halfway down, and I knew I couldn't make it back up the descending stairs carrying the wiggling 35lb Ro while wearing flip flops. Ugh! So I was stuck on a descending escalator with one girl while the other girl was frozen and screaming at the top. I yelled to Ree not to move a muscle, that I would be right back, then Ro and I scurried the rest of the way down, ran around to the up escalator (they were in an X formation so we had to run around and out of sight of Ree for about twenty freaking long seconds), and rode the damn thing back up. I yelled the whole time to her (we could still hear each other even when we couldn't see) then finally got back to the top and ran around to the other side and scooped her up. Poor little thing was frantic, but thank god she listened to me and didn't move.
Talking it over later with my dad, he figured out I had a WAY better option, and I just wanted to share it in case anyone else finds themselves in the same situation. I should have told Ree to say put, continued to the bottom with Ro, then pushed the emergency stop button (there's one at the top and bottom of every single escalator). Then we could have all easily walked on the stopped escalator toward each other and both kids would have been in my line of sight the entire time. Scared the crap out of me. I won't make that mistake again.
~~~ Update: Just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone for your caring and empathetic comments. And thank you also to the folks who shared that when you hit that stop button the escalator will stop abruptly, so please warn everyone loudly to hang on before pressing stop. Great advice.
Talking it over later with my dad, he figured out I had a WAY better option, and I just wanted to share it in case anyone else finds themselves in the same situation. I should have told Ree to say put, continued to the bottom with Ro, then pushed the emergency stop button (there's one at the top and bottom of every single escalator). Then we could have all easily walked on the stopped escalator toward each other and both kids would have been in my line of sight the entire time. Scared the crap out of me. I won't make that mistake again.
~~~ Update: Just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone for your caring and empathetic comments. And thank you also to the folks who shared that when you hit that stop button the escalator will stop abruptly, so please warn everyone loudly to hang on before pressing stop. Great advice.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
No power, no American Idol, no American Idol post
Nooooooo! Our blasted power went out tonight -- right after I put the girls to bed and right before I sat down to enjoy a blissful hour of television watching the last American Idol performance.
Can you freakin believe it?!!!!!
TubaDad was out at a business dinner, so I was alone in the house with two hysterical girls who wanted to know why the house was suddenly plunged into complete darkness. I got them calmed down and put little battery-powered lanterns in their rooms. (Side note: please pray the batteries live long enough for them to fall asleep.)
TubaDad is home now, and after I finished bitching about how there is absolutely nothing you can do at night without power -- no reading books, no tv, no internet, no nothing -- he said "Hey do you want to borrow my wireless access card? Then you could at least put up a blog post explaining what happened..." Hell yes!
So I've got about one bar of laptop battery left and am putting up this post asking for your help. Please leave comments/summaries about the show in the comments section so I can read them tomorrow morning and get my American Idol fix. I need to know what happened. So bummed...
The most popular bento yet
My mom got us some cute new square bento boxes, so I just had to try them out for lunch today. Oh man, I practically lost a finger getting these lunches down on the table. The girls inhaled everything, I'm not even sure they chewed. They didn't say anything for awhile, except for "mmmm" and "yum" but then they ran out of food and yelled "more food on a stick, mama!" Cute. I'll definitely make this one again.
Avocado, salami, and string cheese kabobs (I stuck the food on big shish-kabob sticks and then cut them shorter to fit in the boxes), dill pickle, baby carrots, pita bread, and blueberries. Only one girl's bento box shown.
If you want to see other bento treats the girls have chowed on, they're here.
Monday, May 18, 2009
A giveaway for play silks (because everyone needs to play!)
It's no secret that Ro and Ree love to play. It's the first thing they do when they wake up, the last thing they do before bedtime, and the main goal of everything in between. And the more far-fetched and imaginative the play, the better, in their opinions (and mine!).
So, in the spirit of imaginative play, we're offering a fun giveaway from Dream Spun Kids (don't you just love that store name?). The giveaway is for a set of 3 Extra Large Play Silks in your choice of colors.
If Ro and Ree got their hands on these bright, flowy play silks they'd use them as shimmery tablecloths in their elaborate tea parties, tie them into fancy princess headbands, or wrap their bodies in colorful billowy silks and put on dance shows. Fun stuff.
To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below mentioning your favorite item in the Dream Spun Kids store. Comments/entries will be accepted until midnight on Sunday 5/24. The winner will be drawn at random and announced the morning of the 25th.
PS: You can get bonus entries by posting about the contest on your blog, getting a friend to enter the contest and say that you referred them, or buying something from Dream Spun Kids.
If Ro and Ree got their hands on these bright, flowy play silks they'd use them as shimmery tablecloths in their elaborate tea parties, tie them into fancy princess headbands, or wrap their bodies in colorful billowy silks and put on dance shows. Fun stuff.
To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below mentioning your favorite item in the Dream Spun Kids store. Comments/entries will be accepted until midnight on Sunday 5/24. The winner will be drawn at random and announced the morning of the 25th.
PS: You can get bonus entries by posting about the contest on your blog, getting a friend to enter the contest and say that you referred them, or buying something from Dream Spun Kids.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Snapshots of a day (* updated)
Shanny over at Bless Your Heart is holding her spring Photo Bloggy Days, where participants take a snapshot every hour or two to show what's going on in their lives on a typical day. I was supposed to do this on either Friday or Saturday, but didn't read the rules until today. Oops. Oh well, here's our day anyhow.
7am wakeup (girls' choice, not ours)
7:30ish make Batter Blaster pancakes for breakfast. Have you used this stuff? It's fun and tastes pretty good too.
8:30 chillin' on the recliner couch in syrup-covered PJs.
9:30 hitting the pool early to keep cool on this blazingly hot day. Water was almost chilly. Sweet!
While TubaDad and the girls were swimming, I curled up under a shady umbrella and read a little. Has anyone read this book yet? I'm liking it so far (just started) and will post a review of it when I'm done.
11:00 we completely ran out of snacks and had to leave the pool to go grab sandwiches. Tactical packing error on my part, I forgot how hungry the girls get when they're swimming and should have brought WAYYYY more food.
12:30 I had to pick up a prescription and some more sunscreen (we've dusted every single can in the house this week), so TubaDad and the girls walked around a nearby Farmer's Market while I ran in the drugstore. They got some strawberries.
1:30 naptime, ahhhhhh.
2:30 working on this post, while watching a little tv (The Real Housewives of NYC Reunion show, which, by the way, was insane. These women could not have fought more if they had donned spandex and starred in their own Women of Wrestling show. Holy catfight, batman.)
2:30 and TubaDad is off getting the van's oil changed and hitting the car wash. He just sent me a pic snapped with his Blackberry. Damn!
3:30 Ree's up and wants to "do someping." So we made some refreshing spa water and sucked down half of it. Will have to make more when Ro gets up. If you want to make it, just fill a pitcher with water, add a sliced orange, sliced lemon, and sliced cucumber and put it in the fridge for at least an hour to chill and soak up the flavors. Pour it over ice and slurp it down. The stuff rocks. (Oh, and we used lemonade here instead of lemons because the fridge is empty, um, not the same.)
Alrighty, have to go—typing on the computer when the girls are awake is just foolhardy. So I'll finish the rest of this day-in-the-life peek tonight and update the post. More later. ...
4:30 TubaDad hosed down the patio and table and the girls played their heineys off in the water for about an hour and a half. There's hardly anything better than some buckets and some running water, is there?
6:00 we sat down at our newly clean outdoor table and feasted on crab legs, artichoke, garlic bread, and cherry tomatoes (well, everyone ate cherry tomatoes but me, I don't like raw tomatoes).
7:00 we topped off the gourmet feast with some Ding Dongs for dessert. Quite a hit with the ladies.
7:30 we shucked off our crabby clothes, hosed the table off again, and all took showers and baths.
8:34 (yes I'm counting, haha) the girls are in bed and TubaDad and I are going to clean up the kitchen and then plop down on the couch and watch some tv—I might even sit through that Real Housewives reunion again just so he can see the trainwreck for himself. The girls were so wound up after bath, by the way, that we had to do separate bedtime routines, each girl in her own room. Worked like a charm, as usual. The second we separate them, the activity level abruptly goes down to what I imagine is "normal" for non-twins.
Hmm, the last parts of the day were almost all about eating. :-) Well I guess that's pretty typical for us. The rest of the day was a pretty typical one, too. If it hadn't been so hot we probably would have gone out for a quick afternoon activity before dinner, but otherwise a pretty standard day in the life. G'night all, the couch is calling my name.
7am wakeup (girls' choice, not ours)
7:30ish make Batter Blaster pancakes for breakfast. Have you used this stuff? It's fun and tastes pretty good too.
8:30 chillin' on the recliner couch in syrup-covered PJs.
9:30 hitting the pool early to keep cool on this blazingly hot day. Water was almost chilly. Sweet!
While TubaDad and the girls were swimming, I curled up under a shady umbrella and read a little. Has anyone read this book yet? I'm liking it so far (just started) and will post a review of it when I'm done.
11:00 we completely ran out of snacks and had to leave the pool to go grab sandwiches. Tactical packing error on my part, I forgot how hungry the girls get when they're swimming and should have brought WAYYYY more food.
12:30 I had to pick up a prescription and some more sunscreen (we've dusted every single can in the house this week), so TubaDad and the girls walked around a nearby Farmer's Market while I ran in the drugstore. They got some strawberries.
1:30 naptime, ahhhhhh.
2:30 working on this post, while watching a little tv (The Real Housewives of NYC Reunion show, which, by the way, was insane. These women could not have fought more if they had donned spandex and starred in their own Women of Wrestling show. Holy catfight, batman.)
2:30 and TubaDad is off getting the van's oil changed and hitting the car wash. He just sent me a pic snapped with his Blackberry. Damn!
3:30 Ree's up and wants to "do someping." So we made some refreshing spa water and sucked down half of it. Will have to make more when Ro gets up. If you want to make it, just fill a pitcher with water, add a sliced orange, sliced lemon, and sliced cucumber and put it in the fridge for at least an hour to chill and soak up the flavors. Pour it over ice and slurp it down. The stuff rocks. (Oh, and we used lemonade here instead of lemons because the fridge is empty, um, not the same.)
Alrighty, have to go—typing on the computer when the girls are awake is just foolhardy. So I'll finish the rest of this day-in-the-life peek tonight and update the post. More later. ...
4:30 TubaDad hosed down the patio and table and the girls played their heineys off in the water for about an hour and a half. There's hardly anything better than some buckets and some running water, is there?
6:00 we sat down at our newly clean outdoor table and feasted on crab legs, artichoke, garlic bread, and cherry tomatoes (well, everyone ate cherry tomatoes but me, I don't like raw tomatoes).
7:00 we topped off the gourmet feast with some Ding Dongs for dessert. Quite a hit with the ladies.
7:30 we shucked off our crabby clothes, hosed the table off again, and all took showers and baths.
8:34 (yes I'm counting, haha) the girls are in bed and TubaDad and I are going to clean up the kitchen and then plop down on the couch and watch some tv—I might even sit through that Real Housewives reunion again just so he can see the trainwreck for himself. The girls were so wound up after bath, by the way, that we had to do separate bedtime routines, each girl in her own room. Worked like a charm, as usual. The second we separate them, the activity level abruptly goes down to what I imagine is "normal" for non-twins.
Hmm, the last parts of the day were almost all about eating. :-) Well I guess that's pretty typical for us. The rest of the day was a pretty typical one, too. If it hadn't been so hot we probably would have gone out for a quick afternoon activity before dinner, but otherwise a pretty standard day in the life. G'night all, the couch is calling my name.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Fashion Friday
It's fashion friday again, time to see what happens when the kiddos are in charge of the fashion.
The girls picked three wild outfits this week. Is it just me or are they getting a little crazier (or possibly more confident) each week?
Ree in purple, Ro in pink, and no those are not knee socks, at least they weren't originally. Ro liked this pink polka-dot skirt so much she even wore it twice this week (thanks Ozimum for the awesome skirt, Ro thinks you have the BEST taste).
Ro in yellow, Ree in red. Ree originally had a red fleece over the dress and a hot pink rhinestone belt (you can see the full outfit here), but she got hot and took off a few things:
And for the third one, you really need to see a video to get the full effect:
Whooboy...
All of Ro and Ree's past Fashion Friday outfits can be seen here.
Now it's your turn!
Share the grins and give us a link to an outfit that your kiddo put together! Fashion Friday is now a regular weekly feature, so grab your camera and turn those kids loose in the closet at least once a week. (There are no rules—pics can be old or new, taken on any day of the week, and in a blog post on an image site. And if you make a mistake on the Mr Linky entry below, I can fix it in a jiffy, just let me know.)
Ro in yellow, Ree in red. Ree originally had a red fleece over the dress and a hot pink rhinestone belt (you can see the full outfit here), but she got hot and took off a few things:
And for the third one, you really need to see a video to get the full effect:
Whooboy...
All of Ro and Ree's past Fashion Friday outfits can be seen here.
Now it's your turn!
Share the grins and give us a link to an outfit that your kiddo put together! Fashion Friday is now a regular weekly feature, so grab your camera and turn those kids loose in the closet at least once a week. (There are no rules—pics can be old or new, taken on any day of the week, and in a blog post on an image site. And if you make a mistake on the Mr Linky entry below, I can fix it in a jiffy, just let me know.)
| 1. Tonggu Momma 2. Wanda (At Last....) 3. Buckeroomama 4. Mahmee 5. Sweet Potato Pi 6. greyautumnrain 7. Cherith 8. Katie-Bug | 9. June 10. Joan 11. Double Happiness 12. Michal 13. Mozi Esme 14. KiT @ 4 Ways 2 Say Love 15. Teresa 16. Our Life's Journey | 17. Rylee For Life 18. Me-Me and Monkey First timer! 19. Stephanie 20. ellie 21. LadyBug Journals 22. Hotomom |
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
American Idol, judges get to pick the songs
How on earth did I forget that it was AI night?!! If that dear sweet old DVR box hadn't recorded the show I don't even know what would have happened... (shudder) Alrighty, the girls are in bed and I'm settling into the recliner with a favorite blanket to watch the not-quite-live show, ahhhhhhh.
Crap! One of the kids is screaming my name. Back in a sec.
Ok. You wouldn't think that going up and down one flight of stairs would make me winded (pathetic). Restarting the show...
Danny singing Paula's choice for him of "Dance Little Sister" by Terence Trent D'Arby: Cool song choice, I went to one of Terence's concerts somewhere around 1989 or 1990. Oh my lord, both of the girls are screaming for me again!!! (must keep my cool and be nice, breathing, breathing, back in a sec.) Ok, they're back in bed again and it's time to watch the show. Nice raspy sound in the beginning for Danny. A good match for his voice. Hm, the chorus wasn't great, I couldn't help comparing it to the original song, and Danny came up lacking. Eh, I didn't love it when all was said and done. This is a total aside—sorry—but has anyone else suddenly found themselves wearing (gag) reading glasses now that they've hit forty-something? Detestable freakin things. How on earth are you supposed to type on your laptop while watching tv? I've got the damned things perched on the end of my nose and keep twisting my head up and down to alternate between looking through them or not and it's driving me crazy and making my neck hurt and my eyes feel kinda tweaky.
Kris singing Randy and Kara's choice of "Apologize" by One Republic: Love the grand piano. Hey he sounds pretty good, nice tone to his voice, nice variety, and a really fine job of singing while playing well. Ooo, the judges didn't agree with me at all. Wow, that was certainly a cat fight between the judges. Yeouch.
Adam singing Simon's choice of "One" by U2. Like the controlled, soft start. He sounds good. Uh, oh, he started the screamy thing again. The high notes were pretty good though, to be objective. Why does he flick his tongue in and out when he's singing. Yuck—seriously not attractive. The song clip seemed really short and choppy to me. I guess that's mostly a function of the time limit they put on every performance, but I think they could have done a better job of arranging it. Hey I just noticed that Simon has what looks to be a big splotch of makeup on his chest. Is that from Paula smacking him? Is she wearing heavy makeup even on her hands?!! Crimony.
Danny singing his own choice of "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cochrane: Ok, we're four seconds into the song and I can already tell I don't love it. I appreciate that you want to start softly and build up, but it doesn't sound like he's singing at 100%, like he's not getting enough breath or can't quite hear himself on the monitors or something. He sounded better toward the middle and end, so I'd give him one halfhearted thumb up, I guess. Oops, the judges completely disagreed with me again. Too bad, I'll bet America agrees with me.
Kris singing his own choice of "Heartless" by xxx (he mumbled so badly that I couldn't hear the band's name and I'm too lazy to Google it): Neat mix of sounds in the beginning. I liked the way he got into the song and I enjoyed the guitar playing and the way he was all alone up there on the stage. Kind of make or break, eh? I think he did a good job but it was a little risky.
Adam singing his own choice of "Crying" by Aerosmith: Have to admit I couldn't wait to see what song he chose. The boy is captivating, even though I'm kinda tired of his singing style. Nice beginning, but I didn't like it when the background singers joined in (not his fault though?). Net net: it was a typical Adam performance, wasn't it? He's not going to capture a big segment of the over-forty crowd. But I guess that's not really the audience that record producers are aiming for anyhow. I think Danny's going home tomorrow night and we'll see Adam and Kris in the final. What do you guys think?
PS: The girls and I romped through a field of poppies on the way home today and took I-won't-admit-how-many pictures. And almost all of them came out! I'll try to narrow it down and pick a few to share tomorrow, here's one in the meantime.
Danny singing Paula's choice for him of "Dance Little Sister" by Terence Trent D'Arby: Cool song choice, I went to one of Terence's concerts somewhere around 1989 or 1990. Oh my lord, both of the girls are screaming for me again!!! (must keep my cool and be nice, breathing, breathing, back in a sec.) Ok, they're back in bed again and it's time to watch the show. Nice raspy sound in the beginning for Danny. A good match for his voice. Hm, the chorus wasn't great, I couldn't help comparing it to the original song, and Danny came up lacking. Eh, I didn't love it when all was said and done. This is a total aside—sorry—but has anyone else suddenly found themselves wearing (gag) reading glasses now that they've hit forty-something? Detestable freakin things. How on earth are you supposed to type on your laptop while watching tv? I've got the damned things perched on the end of my nose and keep twisting my head up and down to alternate between looking through them or not and it's driving me crazy and making my neck hurt and my eyes feel kinda tweaky.
Kris singing Randy and Kara's choice of "Apologize" by One Republic: Love the grand piano. Hey he sounds pretty good, nice tone to his voice, nice variety, and a really fine job of singing while playing well. Ooo, the judges didn't agree with me at all. Wow, that was certainly a cat fight between the judges. Yeouch.
Adam singing Simon's choice of "One" by U2. Like the controlled, soft start. He sounds good. Uh, oh, he started the screamy thing again. The high notes were pretty good though, to be objective. Why does he flick his tongue in and out when he's singing. Yuck—seriously not attractive. The song clip seemed really short and choppy to me. I guess that's mostly a function of the time limit they put on every performance, but I think they could have done a better job of arranging it. Hey I just noticed that Simon has what looks to be a big splotch of makeup on his chest. Is that from Paula smacking him? Is she wearing heavy makeup even on her hands?!! Crimony.
Danny singing his own choice of "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cochrane: Ok, we're four seconds into the song and I can already tell I don't love it. I appreciate that you want to start softly and build up, but it doesn't sound like he's singing at 100%, like he's not getting enough breath or can't quite hear himself on the monitors or something. He sounded better toward the middle and end, so I'd give him one halfhearted thumb up, I guess. Oops, the judges completely disagreed with me again. Too bad, I'll bet America agrees with me.
Kris singing his own choice of "Heartless" by xxx (he mumbled so badly that I couldn't hear the band's name and I'm too lazy to Google it): Neat mix of sounds in the beginning. I liked the way he got into the song and I enjoyed the guitar playing and the way he was all alone up there on the stage. Kind of make or break, eh? I think he did a good job but it was a little risky.
Adam singing his own choice of "Crying" by Aerosmith: Have to admit I couldn't wait to see what song he chose. The boy is captivating, even though I'm kinda tired of his singing style. Nice beginning, but I didn't like it when the background singers joined in (not his fault though?). Net net: it was a typical Adam performance, wasn't it? He's not going to capture a big segment of the over-forty crowd. But I guess that's not really the audience that record producers are aiming for anyhow. I think Danny's going home tomorrow night and we'll see Adam and Kris in the final. What do you guys think?
PS: The girls and I romped through a field of poppies on the way home today and took I-won't-admit-how-many pictures. And almost all of them came out! I'll try to narrow it down and pick a few to share tomorrow, here's one in the meantime.
Monday, May 11, 2009
A two-bento day (and the answer to "notice anything different?")
I made an egg salad sandwich a couple of days ago and popped a couple of the eggs into these fun hard-boiled egg shapers my mom had found at the Daiso store. And then, every time I opened the fridge that little bunny and bear were practically begging to be put in a bento.
So the girls got bento lunches today.
(Animal shaped hard-boiled eggs, hush puppies, black olives, shaped rice balls, orange yogurt, and mandarin orange slices)
When dinner time rolled around, I figured we'd just grab leftovers out of the fridge and wing it. But some of the plastic bento containers were still strewn around the counter and Ro and Ree were just dying to make their own bento dinners. Well what the heck, why not? We had a whole bunch of time to kill since TubaDad is away again on a short business trip. So I wheeled over the Learning Tower, let them pick their own containers, and handed them food to put in. They did pretty well and had a ball. And, um, not too terribly much of the food ended up on the floor. (cough cough)
Yes, they're wearing pajamas during the day. Again. And yes, I did straighten things up a just a weensy little bit before snapping this picture. Heh.
(Leftover steamed rice with black sesame seeds, microwavable pork roast, steamed broccoli, fishy container with A1 sauce (don't gag, we ran out of soy sauce, sorry!), apple slices)
After the food stopped flying, Ro said she wanted to take her own peeshur, so I handed her the camera. Interesting angle...
PS: The sharp-eyed folks who said the one of the girls' hair was parted on a different side (in the below post) were correct! Ree (in blue and green) was wearing hers parted on the left side, as usual, while Ro (in brown and pink) had hers parted on a new side, the right side. Both girls still have their bracelets on, Ree on the left and Ro on the right, but I think they were hard to see in the photo. The guesses were great -- I particularly liked the one that guessed "they are standing still???" Ha! Oh, and Ree isn't sporting new self-styled bangs, as far as I know (hmmmm, that's not saying much, is it?). She's just always had a whole bunch of wild wispies on that one side.
(Animal shaped hard-boiled eggs, hush puppies, black olives, shaped rice balls, orange yogurt, and mandarin orange slices)
When dinner time rolled around, I figured we'd just grab leftovers out of the fridge and wing it. But some of the plastic bento containers were still strewn around the counter and Ro and Ree were just dying to make their own bento dinners. Well what the heck, why not? We had a whole bunch of time to kill since TubaDad is away again on a short business trip. So I wheeled over the Learning Tower, let them pick their own containers, and handed them food to put in. They did pretty well and had a ball. And, um, not too terribly much of the food ended up on the floor. (cough cough)
Yes, they're wearing pajamas during the day. Again. And yes, I did straighten things up a just a weensy little bit before snapping this picture. Heh.
(Leftover steamed rice with black sesame seeds, microwavable pork roast, steamed broccoli, fishy container with A1 sauce (don't gag, we ran out of soy sauce, sorry!), apple slices)
After the food stopped flying, Ro said she wanted to take her own peeshur, so I handed her the camera. Interesting angle...
PS: The sharp-eyed folks who said the one of the girls' hair was parted on a different side (in the below post) were correct! Ree (in blue and green) was wearing hers parted on the left side, as usual, while Ro (in brown and pink) had hers parted on a new side, the right side. Both girls still have their bracelets on, Ree on the left and Ro on the right, but I think they were hard to see in the photo. The guesses were great -- I particularly liked the one that guessed "they are standing still???" Ha! Oh, and Ree isn't sporting new self-styled bangs, as far as I know (hmmmm, that's not saying much, is it?). She's just always had a whole bunch of wild wispies on that one side.
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