Picnic

We have had such gorgeous weather, it is hard to believe we are going to be suffering in a few short months. The twins decided that they wanted to eat outside in the backyard and since I decided to take more pictures of everyday life I tried to take a somewhat natural shot of them. It was not to be. As soon as I got the camera out I was able to take a quick photo and then amid "my turn, my turn!" relinquished control to other budding photographers.

Beds and Breakfasts

Wow - I am getting positively wordy! Yesterday morning, Don took Mia out to Dennys for a daddy daughter date before work. She was able to stay dry at night for a whole week and it looks like we have only one left in pullups at night. Frankly, I was surprised given the dubious bedwetting genes handed from both of her parents. Rest assured readers, we are not in pullups either. They left as we were getting Ryan out the door (he catches the bus at 6:40am) and I think she must have said "bye" fifteen times and in such a way that made it seem like she was going to be gone for a year instead of an hour. By her reports she had bluberry pancakes, sausage and bacon, some of Daddy's french toast and her OWN apple juice. Oh what fun it is to be a big girl!

The Laundry Queen

At it again-- my cloth drawer is empty and the cloths are being folded in perfect squares and stacked just so. Mia loves to fold rags, towels, and blankets for me. It is so funny to see her in the middle of the kitchen floor going to town on those cloths. If I don't save them for her out of the laundry and stuff them into the kitchen drawer, she will find them and take them all out and fold them and stack them. Then she comes to me and says, "You're welcome".
She is also a meticulous room cleaner, though usually only upon request. She can make her bed without any blanket wrinkles, hang up all her shirts and put all the rest of the clothes in the right drawer. By contrast, when the boys are asked to clean their room, they shove all the toys onto the shelf in such a way that one hard look will have them come tumbling down; all clothes, clean or not, go into the laundry hamper; they have no idea what "making a bed" means to the rest of the world; and they feel that the room is clean when you can see more than half the carpet and any given time. Now if I can finish off by teaching her how to do the rest of the laundry, mop kitchen floors, and make a few basic recipes, we'll be in
business! Mia, you're the greatest!

Little Things

You know, I always mean to blog more. Most of my friends and family can get it done at least once a week, maybe more. It is not like I work full time outside the home or have some great project in the works, but somehow I am always startled when another month rolls around without a post. One of my friends had a book made that published all her posts and I thought...hmmm, if I actually did that on a regular basis - what a great journal! So here it goes again, more resolution to break out the camera more than every so often. A couple of days ago, my dear sister in law invited Mia over to play. It isn't very often that the twins are separated for play dates. It just takes twice as much effort and I think people feel bad just inviting one. They go everywhere together - exercise group (a babysitting co-op that lets us moms work out a few times a week), preschool co-op, even doctor and dentist appointments. (Hey, I am remembering why I don't get around to doing this very often). We always mean to do different things for them, but real life and practicality get in the way. I can count the number of times on one hand since they were born that I have had Wyatt all to myself. After consoling him about not going over to his cousins (with the promise of a popsicle and special mommy time), we headed home. I was really grateful for the chance to play with Wyatt one on one. I could do things that I wouldn't have done with both of them there, like play horsey on the trampoline. They get so upset if you do something with one child and then don't do the exact same thing with every child in the house and my back just can't take one hundred and two horse rides. We also worked on writing his name. We have worked on this only one other time in the past and were inturrupted several times by the handwriting queen herself, bragging on her latest essay. With just Wyatt there, he mastered the same skill we were so frustrated with before in minutes! There is so much in him that doesn't get seen because he is lumped in with louder sibs (not that I don't absolutely adore said siblings, however they can be LOUD). It was fun to see Wyatt express himself in fun ways! I love you bud!