I am totally keeping these sketches in case they become famous fashion designers one day

Over breakfast this morning, I casually mentioned to my mom that the girls needed new summer nightgowns and asked her to keep her eyes open for some. I was just about to take a bite of oatmeal when Ree shouted "I know, Wela, you could just make some!" Heh. The girls plumb forgot about breakfast and started rattling off wild clashing color combos and intricate designs that made our heads spin. Oh my... I figured we might as well make an art project out of it and drew some outlines and asked them to color what they really wanted. Ro is thrilled that she'll soon be wearing these lovely ensembles: Ree is beside herself with excitement that these two beauties will soon show up: And I am dying to see what my mom comes up with on this project.

Yeah they're funny and they wear funny clothes

Overheard this weekend: "Ree, we're going to a soccer class, not a fashion show!!!" Heh. A slightly exasperated TubaDad was apparently trying (in vain) to get Ree to get her to exchange her fancy yellow slip-ons for tennis shoes. And yes, this really is what they chose to wear to soccer class. They certainly stand out in the midst of the t-shirt-and-athletic-shorts-clad horde: (Ree left, Ro right) Here, BobBob, we show you how to use it: (Ro left, Ree right, both wearing pajamas in the middle of the day. Again.) What you mean you can't see, BobBob?: I'm not sure how well the iPad works with four people attempting to control it at the same time, but hey at least BobBob finally laid a finger on it: At the restaurant tonight, the server asked the girls what flavor of icecream they'd like (since it was included with the kid meals), Ro hemmed and hawed, asked him to repeat the flavors four or five times, then finally said "Um... I think we're going to need to see a dessert menu." Bwah ha! (Ree left, Ro right, and they ended up ordering and completely polishing off a creme brulee and some chocolate-covered mint fish, much to our amusement)

Fashion Friday (or maybe I should call it Fashion Flashback)

It's Fashion Friday, time to look at a few zany fashions that Ro and Ree came up with this week. The first set of outfits just screams "normal" if you ask me. Seriously, I'm probably losing perspective living with these crazy-layer-upon-layer dynamos, but I think they could walk downtown in these plain little outfits and not even attract a single stare (which is not usually the case, oh my no...): In the pic, by the way, Ro was holding the camera remote and directing the location for her photoshoot, and Ree didn't want any part of it. Then, at the absolute last second, Ree cried "Wait, Ro!!!! Oh, wait for me!!!!" and tried to vault over the arm of the chair and crawl into the picture. On Wednesday, the girls refused to wear regular clothing. So Ree walked around all day in a Minnie Mouse outfit, while Ro wore her old Halloween flower costume from 2007 (it was the first costume she ever wore and it will nevereverever be thrown away). Don't try to come between this girl and her arts and crafts, which in this case involved a whole bunch of wax paper. Minnie is Serious about her crafting. Which reminds me, I'm out of wax paper (again) and need to add it to the shopping list (again). Sweet Posy, hitting the pretend high notes: Think they've grown any since then? Awwwwww! Ree still regularly wears her bee outfit too, although it's a bee belly shirt by now and I have to help her pull it on it's so tight. Happy friday, I hope all your weekends are great ones.

It's insidious, isn't it?

Want to know what I saw when I looked in the backseat on the way to dinner last night? Yeah. I can't really believe it either. TubaDad has now sneaked two Apple devices into our PC-lovin' house—his iPhone for work and some new gizmo called an iPad that can hook into the audio/video system in the car. And you'll notice that the four-year-olds are blissfully in possession of both of them.

Cheese please!

We sure do love food in this house. Oh man, there's probably nothing we won't eat (which isn't a good thing according to my too-tight jeans). Anyhow, lately the girls have really gotten into cheese plates, which thrills me to no end because I ♥ ♥ ♥ LOVE ♥ ♥ ♥ a good cheese plate! Mmmmm. Ro and Ree are so funny when we go grocery shopping, arguing with each other over which cheeses we should buy and lobbying hard for their old favorites or strange new ones that catch their eyes. It's fun. On the last trip to Whole Foods we picked up small wedges of smoked gouda, fontina, a really funky crumbly white cheddar (cheddar cabot clothbound cellars at jasper hill), gruyere, and sheep's cheese (sheep cordobes mitica). Then I've been making cheese plates with different fresh and dried fruits, nuts, spreads (apple paste or honey), salamis, crackers, etc. Yesterday we lived on the decadent side and had cheese plates for lunch. Wheeeee! This was mine: And then the girls each had one of these: Think they liked it? Heh.: Sometimes I just plop a bunch of stuff on a big cutting board and we all nosh on it: Oh yeah, that's good: Mmmm. Now I'm getting hungry. Might just need to whip up a tiny little plate of goodies! PS: Speaking of food, the girls were sooooo happy that I made them bentos for lunch today. I need to make them more often, and then actually take pics when I do. It's just tough to hold them off long enough to get pics. Today they had Crazy Bugs (a new organic mac and cheese), baby carrots, blackberries, no-sugar-added applesauce with raisin happy faces, and a gingersnap for dessert. Four thumbs up from the girlies (although I gave them too much mac and cheese and ended up putting about half of it back in the fridge). You can see other bentos the girls have devoured here.

Truly beautiful girls, inside and out

Ro and Ree, I know I tell you a hundred times a day that I love you, and I kiss your sweet-smelling heads every chance I get, but you are just such special little girls. And I am the luckiest girl in the world to get to spend every day with you. Sweet, silly baby Ree. You are always willing to share anything that you have, and are so generous with your hugs and beautiful smiles. You were the first one to figure out how to swing by yourself, and one of your greatest pleasures is to swing crazily high in your backyard for hours without having to wait in line or get off the swing before you're good and ready. You love to draw and it seems like everything you draw lately has smiley faces on it somewhere. Your drawings are as happy as you are. You adore dancing and music and you love to sing (loudly), especially with your sister. You delight in dragging all of your blankets downstairs and then snuggling up with your whole family and having a blanket party—even just saying the words "blanket party" makes you giddy and squealy with happiness. Smart, brave little Ro. You are the first to conquer any new athletic skill, and love to run forever, travel endlessly across the monkey bars, and make up new tricks on your trapeze bar. You were the first to learn how to write letters, and one of your favorite things these days is to staple massive amounts of paper together and then make the coolest books with various pictures and words. You love to sing (just like your sister), and sing so loudly that anyone in the vicinity just has to listen and laugh. You have more patience than any kid I know—the other day you waited almost an hour in line to go on a new roller coaster. All of your friends bailed out of the line after a few minutes, but you were unwavering. And after we finally got on, you turned to me in the middle of the first insane drop and grinned hugely saying "Mama, this is crazy!" You both make me laugh every single day. Seriously, how could four-year-olds be so funny? And you have so much creativity and joy. For each of you, your sister is your best friend, and I often think how wonderful it must be to grow up being able to talk with and play with your best friend anytime you want to. Ree and Ro, I love you.

Well I didn't give up my PC, but there's finally an Apple in the house

Some of you might remember TubaDad's unsuccessful attempt to convert me from a PC to a Mac. Ah, it did not go well... But don't feel too sorry for him, he has finally managed to sneak a little Apple into the house by replacing his work BlackBerry with a new iPhone. The women of the house were initially dubious: No one wanted to touch the thing: Little Ro sucked it up and decided to be the guinea pig with a spelling game (you can see that Ree is not optimistic about her chances for success): Next, Ree got a crack at it: They went back and forth a few times, and then, somewhere between ordering enchiladas (Ro) and burritos (Ree) and getting our chips and salsa, there was an abrupt shift in the air and the girls suddenly and passionately declared that they loooooooved the little iPhone. The legs started dancing and kicking: And we started to see twin-blocking: Note Ro's not-so-subtle leaning approach, and Ree's shoulder-shrug block: I'd say it's official, the little iPhone got a thumbs-up from everyone (even from me). Now we just need to find out the coolest apps to download. Any suggestions?

Fashion Friday (rain, rain, go away, no one cares about you anyway!)

It was pouring rain when I snapped this pic of Ree in her fashionable spring outfit. Crazy torrential downpours. And the girls had been cooped up in the house for days. Well little Ree refused to let the crappy weather get her down. She ran into her closet and assembled the brightest, springiest outfit ever, then ran downstairs and joyfully rode her bike in tiny circles on our covered front porch. Rain, rain, go away, no one cares about you anyway! She's got on about eleven layers, that I can see, including all of her fanciest jewelry at once, legwarmers on both her arms and legs, a tank top over a long-sleeved blue top, capris under her skirt, kneesocks over her legwarmers, etc. Now that's some good fashion. These girls always make me smile.

The cost-per-use is going down by the minute

You know how we got a backyard playstructure over Easter? Well we'd been looking for awhile. But the brand-new Rainbow ones were outrageously priced (honestly, you could buy a used car for what they're charging!). So we looked and looked until we found a used one on Craigslist that met everyone's criteria (I wanted affordable, TubaDad wanted something BIG that the girls wouldn't grow out of, Ro and Ree wanted monkey bars and swings). And the girls have spent joyful hours on that thing every single day since we got it. I am not even exaggerating—HOURS. So the little cheapskate in me is publicly declaring that behemoth was worth every penny. "Mama, come on here with us! What do you mean your butt is too big?": "Oh yeah, I'm awesome, I can do the monkey bars now": Ro is always dangling from one thing or another. That girl has callouses on top of callouses: Ro hops on the swing and then yells for assistance every time "One! Great! Push!": The grab-and-go bar on the slide might be more aptly called the mid-air-launch bar: "I fink I can, I fink I can": Ro is a cheesy little monkey: When she isn't swinging (her favorite thing in the world), Ree loves to be upside down: "Hi mama!" (giggle giggle): "Here sister, I'll help ya": "You're almost there": "Hey we both made it": "Ok, now it's my turn, hold the rope, Ro": "I gotcha, Ree": "I did it!": "Look at me, mama, I'm at the top, whee!": This picture just kills me. Ree is smiling sweetly and Ro is smugly communicating that she is king of the world: Hanging from the trapeze bar: Hey, what's under here?: "Is that my bedroom window, mama?": "No, I fink it's that window": "Whatever, I'm going to show you how to use the old baby slide properly": Little cuties. I was playing with the manual settings on my camera while getting these pics, and half sun/half shade really made things challenging. Who cares, though, I learned a lot, and we all had fun. PS: I had a request to post a pic of the whole thing, so here's a quick snap of it. It has a big canopy that goes on top, and we usually use the rope swing in the third swing slot, but it's moved aside temporarily because we had a bunch of kids over.