"My belt-scarf"

The other day, Lucia asked me, "Mommy, can you help me put on my belt-scarf?"  When I looked over, she was attempting to thread her daddy's belt into the loop, which she had already twisted around her neck (like a scarf)! Who knows? We might be onto a new fashion trend here.  Paris, Milan, NYC.... watch out for this up-and-coming little designer!

Sunday "do"

This creation (courtesy of Troy) got several "oohs" and "aahs" on Sunday.

Hip, hip hooray!

Our pool is finally open.  Lucia's been waiting and waiting for it, and finally got to use it over the weekend with her buddies.

Helping Daddy over the weekend

Our azaleas needed a really good cut-back.  Troy tackled that task, as well as cleaning off the gutters and shutters this past weekend, with some "help."

The "before" photo

The 'help"

along with the older helper (seen only with brush here)

who worked so hard she needed a break!

Magnolia's popping again!

We love the fragrance of this time of year, courtesy of our HUGE magnolia tree.  The blooms appear plentiful this season, and we hope it continues!  Sorry there isn't a scratch-and-sniff version of a blog so you could enjoy it, too!

The amazing carpet cleaner

Again, with my new-found consternation about chemicals, I researched carpet spot cleaners last week on EWG website.  We have been in dire need of something to remove the scattered spots on our living room rug, but we also have a baby who now crawls and is learning to walk on it.  The one I thought I might prefer isn't made any more (Seventh Generation) and so I ordered the Simple Green Natural carpet cleaner online.  It finally arrived at the local Home Depot and we tested it out the other night.  Awesome results!

Drumstick

Little girl now has half a tooth up and one more trying to push past the gum line. She prefers "real" food over any pureed baby food, as evidenced by our supper the other night. She lunged for the teriyaki chicken drumstick and happily gummed the small bits she managed to gnaw off. She was not going to be deterred in any way!

The day I have been waiting for (until it happened...)

People always say "enjoy this stage" and I have.  Honestly. Every stage. However, deep down somewhere I've been secretly hoping for the day that I could put the baby down and both she and her older sister would play together.  This momentous occasion took place a couple weeks ago.  The rush of delight made me run for my camera and snap the photo of two girls dumping over a container of toys and playing for several minutes without needing Mommy.  YES!  But, you know the rest of the story.... be careful what you wish for, right?!  They still play together, and often it's harmonious, but other times, I need my referee whistle.  Yes, I'm thrilled to be hands-free, but I still need those eyeballs in the back of my head open all the time.

The amazing silly putty

I discovered an unopened two-pack of silly putty in our laundry room.  As the weather commanded us to stay indoors yesterday, we opened the package and the silly putty delighted the pre-schooler and her mom!  I am simply amazed by this stuff.  I even googled silly putty because I got wondering who invented it and what makes it so amazing.  Wikipedia provided some informative answers again  (although I didn't really understand some of the chemistry that was being mentioned)! Ours wasn't quite so "liquid" as they claim but it might have been sitting on a shelf for awhile now, so we'll excuse it.  We really had a lot of fun stretching it, snapping it in half, twirling it, bouncing it, etc.

Happy Monday morning, everyone!

Just in case you were worried about us not having an idyllic, easy, and mess-free day, here's a photo to prove otherwise. Kids don't have shirts on due to spillage of breakfast. And next to me is the stove where oatmeal spewed over while I was trying to multitask.  But I love the life that is mine. OSHA may come in and require ear plugs, though!

Train, train, train

Our latest fascination with trains also provided a great bribery tool.  We softened the nighttime pacifier withdrawal with promise of a train set.  It worked!  The train store in town sells ALL kinds of trains and accessories.

Inflatable bounce house weekend

Friday night, our town closed off part of downtown to road traffic and held a community safety festival.  After perusing the display of old police vehicles, looking at the fire engines and into the ambulance,and also winning a free play pass at a taekwondo studio, our daughter wanted to play in the bounce houses set up in the lawn.  So, she scampered through the bounce houses multiple times, thoroughly relishing the fun.

Then, the next morning, our town also hosted Train Day festival in conjunction with Amtrak.  Free train whistles, free balloons, free candy, free music, and again, free inflatable bounce houses!!

Mother's day card

I was privileged to get TWO cards from hubby and kids.  One was store-bought (and funny!) and the other was hand-made and very sweet.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for sunscreen

Hard to believe, but I just spend an hour and half researching sunscreens.  Our kid with sensitive skin makes me skittish about what I plaster on her body.  In the midst of ordering more of the usual kid sunscreen, I started reading, and then reading and then reading some more.  The one we usually use that I thought was organic with limited chemicals and safe????  Not quite so per the EWG. Prior to my reading and research, I gave serious consideration to the spray-on kind of sunscreen since we'll be spending a lot of time by the pool this summer.  Not anymore. Sigh.  (Or scream!). My paranoia about chemicals and toxins has increased dramatically in the past couple of years, so we'll be shelling out much more money for sunscreen from this point forward.  Sigh.  (Or scream!).

Anything you can do, I can do....

Little sister tries very hard to be like her big sister, and especially LOVES her big sister's tricycle.  She was pretty pleased with herself for the brief amount of time she sat in it.

Cardboard bird house

One evening, Lucia sat at the kitchen table with a couple pieces of paper and tried to make a birdhouse all by herself.  Troy watched her for a bit (finally figured out what she had in mind), and then offered his assistance.  Together, with PINK duct tape, they taped together the cardboard pieces that he had cut, decorated it with circles, rectangles and squares, and then hung it up outside.  We are anxiously waiting for a bird to nest in there. How cool would that be?!

Trail hiking at the lake

We returned to the lake for a brief hike last weekend.  The kids enjoyed the fresh air (as did Mommy and Daddy!).  Why did 60 degrees feel so cold? Wind! The trees protected us quite well, but the winds at the beach whipped through all layers of clothing. The best part? Not another person on the trail.

We ate our picnic lunch there, too.  You-know-who made us laugh with her antics.

Mexican pizza chef

One evening, we decided to make Mexican pizzas, and Lucia jumped right into the assembly of ingredients.  Ok, technically, this dish is entirely a made-up American food and not Mexican at all, but wow... the result was fantastic.  We devoured the tasty tortillas topped with seasoned ground beef, black beans and cheese which were broiled to perfection.  The salsa and cream cheese on top of the melted cheese just added the right touch.

Milestones by nine months

Hard to believe, but nine months ago, our lives changed dramatically again.  Our youngest daughter joined our family of three to make it a lively family of four.  We are much blessed by her belly laughs and big grins.  We've made adjustments to accommodate baby's needs, we've learned to be more patient, we've grown in ways words can't explain, and we've loved and been loved more than ever.  We are thankful.

She started rolling over at four months, army-crawling at six and half months, really crawling and pulling to stand at seven months, started babbling (LOUDLY) at seven months, and waving bye-bye (accented with "BAH") at eight months.  She tried rice cereal at four and half months (blech!), tried and pretty much poo-pooed jarred baby food at five months and beyond, loved yogurt since six months, preferred real food since eight months although baby food pouches occasionally pass muster.  Scrambled eggs, tofu, soft bread, puffs, sweet potato and anything soft and mashed taste better than prepared baby food, appparently.

Teething signs like drooling and gnawing seemed to have started months ago, but her first tooth on the bottom just popped through the gum line yesterday.  She's been hollering in pain for a couple weeks now, though, poor thing.

We eagerly await the next adventurous milestones....

Indoor picnic lunch

Last week, we cleaned the house as best we could with two girls following after and pulling things back out, as we had "special" company (if you know what I mean).  So, the day our company was to arrive, we ate a picnic lunch on the rug.  We would have gone outside, but rain prevented us from taking the rug outdoors.

Twins, two years apart

I am going to keep posting these type of photos because I am constantly amazed at how our girls look so similar!

GB #2

GB #1

Ballet class #4: Hula hooping

The girls wore pink tutus and pranced around.  Lucia seemed to enjoy herself again.  She was especially happy to see Daddy who popped into the class for the last few minutes, and his presence stirred her into more fun-filled action. She really liked hula-hooping, and these much smaller hoops appeared easier to maneuver than other hoops she's tried before.

Spring Art Festival

Last Saturday, we strolled around the town's spring art festival at a local park with some friends.  The town's police and fire departments showed off their vehicles, and the children were allowed to sit in them.  Hopefully, they won't sit in the back of the police car for real, ever. We ate lunch downtown at the soda fountain again where their anniversary special included 57 cent hot dogs. Some little girl got a special treat of an ice cream cone.

University Bell Tower

Our girls played in the grass in front of the University bell tower, then Lucia tried out one of the seats at the base of the tower.