Third time's a charm, right? The results of rainy day shaving cream project Take 3.

Alrighty, call me crazy but I had one more try at the rainy day shaving cream project. I mean, people were saying they did it in classrooms with their preschoolers, for pete's sake. Clearly, this was something I should be able to do. I did listen to all the advice, though. Boy did I listen. I planned and schemed and visualized success. Then I crossed my fingers and we dove in. This time, I severely limited the amount of shaving cream, I doled it out in small bowls (Ro and Ree never held a can in their slimy, active little hands), I gave them paintbrushes, and filled the bathtub with warm water. We used the Skintimate shaving cream that starts as fun pink squiggles and turns to foamy cream as you play with it: Notice that the shower curtain is open here and the water is running. Yes, I was oh-so-hopeful: I'm happy (and slightly incredulous) to report that the project actually worked this time. They played quietly, they didn't paint each other, and if they got any near their eyes they could quickly rinse it themselves in the bath water. The sight of this little bowl sitting so peacefully in the corner just made me happy. Such a marked contrast to the panic I felt last time: And this here is the best, and most-telling photograph of the whole project. If you examine it closely, you'll see that I have dragged a comfy chair into the bathroom and am sitting down (sitting!!) listening to some tunes. Oh it was glorious. Just glorious: The girls were quite expressive with their painting. Ree got a little extra creative with her feet: Oh, and I took this picture because the little drowned rats just looked so cute, but it occurred to me later that it shows some of the differences in the girls' features (Ree left, Ro right). Folks are always asking me how to tell them apart, and here are some of the physical clues (in case you can't see their bracelets, because Ro's bracelet is on her right arm and Ree's is on her left arm): Ree's face is a little bit wider, her eyebrows (particularly when she's animated) have more of a pointy arch in the middle, her nose is a little wider, and she always holds her jaw clenched, so it looks more square than Ro's. Ro's chin typically looks a little pointier, she has a little bit more upturn to her nose (you can see it if you look at the nostrils). You can really see what I'm talking about with Ree's pointy eyebrows and the difference in their noses here (Ree left, Ro right): Hm, I should probably mention that they switched sides in this one, so Ro is now on the left. That wouldn't have confused anyone, would it? Heh heh. Silly girls. Oh, and this photo shows how they can make faces that mask the physical cues and make it nearly impossible to tell them apart unless you're their mama. Love those wrinkly little adorable feet: Anyhow, that's the update. The shaving cream project Take 3 went swimmingly. Woohoooo—we're calling this one a success at last and will now proceed to other things on the Rainy Day Activity List.