down on the farm

took the kids to pa dutch country last weekend for some wholesome summer fun. it was the first ever Cousins Meet up. :o) we had a great time. it was much less hassle than the beach(no wet, sandy swimsuits, no carting gear to and from the beach etc) and the kids absolutely LOVED staying on a real farm. m loved the tractors. k loved the kittens and the chickens..and j just loved RUNNING! the kid was seriously crazy with the running. the farm was a 100 acre playground for sure. we'll definitely be back....

da bes da bo durls

that's right. j learned a new song... and it isnt a nursery rhyme. it's the theme song to Hannah Montana. :o) i had no idea he ever even really heard the song since we dont watch the show-but m often watches the show that is on prior to HM so apparently my little songbird was all ears the few times we've left the tv on during the opening credits.

we were in the store the other day. there was no music on and i swore i heard "da bes da bo durls" coming from the stroller. i kept thinking, "what song is that?"...then the next morning, while the kids were eating breakfast i heard the first few notes of the song and saw j's reaction just as the chorus came up and he joined in ....

funny. the kid is 21 months old. he knows maybe 100 words -tops-but can SING the theme song to a Disney show!

we survived

another family vacation at the beach! despite one sicky baby who ended up with a 104 fever in the er...

the rest of the trip was great. good time was had by all...and even our little diva-who hates the sand and getting splashed ended up LOVING the beach! Just dont get any sand on her!

Headed to the beach!

why
does
it
take
4
days
to pack
for
a
three day
vacation
?

car is loaded. no room to spare. kids are next
then
three days at the beach!

4th of July

July 4th, 2008. Came and went. Picnic with family. Good time had by all. And most of all, M overcame his INTENSE fear of FIREWORKS! Poor boy. He has tossed and turned, fretted and cried over fireworks for two years...ever since he first saw a very small display of them just after he turned 2 yrs old. Seriously. It was his OBSESSION. Even in the dead of winter he would bring up the topic and immediately get flustered, furrowed brow and all. But by the end of the day, the kid was HOLDING a sparkler and smiling with pride! It was definitely a moment. Small potatoes and a rite of passage for many kids as they grow up. Holding a sparkler on Independence Day. BIG MILESTONE IN OUR HOUSE! way to go M! I am really proud of you!!!!

THIS is why i should not have real pets

So, this morning i was hanging here with the babies. M was sleeping over at my parents house so it was just me and the twins. We had been up early and the dynamic duo was a little on the cranky side. Needless to say, by 8am it was already shaping up to be a long day!
I decided to cordon them off in the living room and take a quick (and i mean QUICK) shower. I gave them each a juice box and turned on Little Einsteins..and hopped in the tub. I was in there MAYBE 4 - 5 mins tops. I was toweling off when i heard the distinct sounds of someone opening the top of the hermit crab cage. Now, this cage sits atop a chest that is about 4 feet tall...and the twins are all of 33-34 inches tops...so i RUSH OUT to see what is going on.

To my horror, i see miss K, standing tip toe on the arm of the love seat....leaning as far as she can...one arm bracing her weight and one arm stretched into the cage with a crab in her hand.
I gasped and K got scared, so she dropped the crab. I rushed over and got her down-before she fell and cracked her head. (she is a total daredevil!). I brushed her off and took her to the kitchen to purell and wash her hands. On the way back into the living room i noticed the Blue hermit crab (the one we call Lady) on the ground...crawling away. So, i scooped it up...gave it a quick once over and dropped it back into the cage. Only, when i put it IN the cage...i do a real fast count of the crabs and realise, there are only 4 crabs in there and we have FIVE crabs!

So, i start looking under the chest, around the chest....IN the chest and nothing. I put the babies in their cribs to keep them outta the way and scour the whole room. I am on my knees...looking under the baseboards...moving furniture. NOTHING. I dumped the toybox ....NOTHING. NOTHING? NOTHING!!!!!!!

I was sad that the little crab would die a horrible death of dehydration (or possibly had been pulled apart by chubbly little toddler hands already)....but i was even more sad that the little critter was SURE to STINK after death...as that is what i keep seeing/reading about with these crabs. I HAD TO FIND THIS THING!

I turned the love seat over...nothing. I flipped the couch...nothing. I checked in the kitchen-thinking maybe the kids would have tossed it over the gate....nope. kitchen was empty. no crab.

Finally, AN HOUR LATER.....I decide to recheck the love seat since that was the chair K had been standing on and the chair J was sitting in when i came out of the shower. I started pulling out the lining from the bottom first. NOTHING. I place the chair back where it was supposed to be and sat down ready to give up. THen, for whatever reason, i felt my hand around the cushions....and LO AND BEHOLD...between the cushion and the lining...

THE MISSING CRAB....
Who was fine and well, and definitely not stinky!


SOOOO many lessons learned.
And i am definitely shying away from any pets for this family!!!!!

dear m

dear m

today was your last day of your first year at preschool. you have had an amazing year... when you started, i had no idea what to expect. would you cry at drop off every day? would you make friends? would you be a good listener? would you ever be fully potty trained????

as the year has drawn to a close-i have found you really matured over the last 9 months. it has definitely not been an easy year (outside of school) for you-yet you have done beautifully in your class. you never once gave me a hard time at drop off. every day we got there and you walked right into the class room. you knew all of the kids by name-even knew what kind of cars their parents drove with in weeks of school starting. you were invited on playdates and to birthday parties... you refer to all of the other kids as your friends or in some cases, your buddies. :o) you learned the entire alphabet-by sight and sound. you know 3 digit numbers by sight and the other day in the car i heard you count to EIGHTY! you still love books and got to enjoy reading a lot of new stories in your class. your teachers were wonderful, patient ladies who always planned fun activities for you to try/songs to teach you etc. many days you would come home singing a new song to k and j in the car.

you have come so far in such a short amount of time. you amaze me all of the time with your abilities-and all that you can do at just four years old.

so, my sweet boy...even though you and i spend a good deal of the day at odds over freshness and temper tantrums, let me take this opportunity to let you know that you have made mommy very proud!

i love you!