Happy Halloween!

The weather was perfect.
The kids were pumped.

We got our first trick-or-treater at 3 p.m. so Lilly got very excited and eager to get going. We were finally ready to head out by 4 p.m.

The girls waited on the porch for their brothers to get ready.
The "puppy bog" and purple unicorn.

Gabe was ready first.

Poor Luke. Not only did we wake him up; we gave him to Ella to hold. She was not holding him and the picture had to be snapped quickly. He sits up pretty well so I think he was wondering what was going on.

Gabe kept smiling at me as we got started.

Ella's very first house. She was unsure but excited at the mention of "candy."
This child will do anything for candy or chocolate.

Lilly left Ella in the dust. I had imagined this fairy tale in my mind of Lilly holding Ella's hand and helping her up each step to retrieve the candy and then back down smiling, giggling, and hand-holding.
I did a little self-talk and let it go.

Ella took her time to pick just the right piece.

I think she ate at least 5 suckers throughout the hour we spent trick-or-treating.

Family shot. Wait, where are the boys?
Hee hee, they were fine nestled in their stroller.

I was pushing the boys and people kept stopping me to get a peak (double infant stroller = freak show) so Andy and Ella headed off to get more candy.

Lilly was very upset she wasn't trick-or-treating with her friends Lindsay and Claudia so halfway through I connected with my friend Kristen and she took Lilly with her little friends to do a loop.

We stopped to change Luke's diaper. Hey there smiley skeleton!

After Lilly left us we just strolled along while Ella ate her 5th sucker.
The kid can scarf down sweets.

We ended the night with a party at the DiNunzio's where I sat childless while everyone passed around the boys and Lilly and Ella played. It was relaxing and nice to chat with some adults!

Happy Halloween!

Preschool Halloween

Today was Lilly's preschool Halloween party. We were allowed to stay in the classroom for 10 minutes to snap a few photos.

Lilly chose to be a pink unicorn or as Andy informed me last night, Lilly is riding a pink unicorn. This devastated me. I thought she was a pink unicorn. When I realized he was right I wanted to run out at 10 p.m. the night before her party and make her a real unicorn! Then, I came to my senses and went to bed.

Lilly and Lindsay

Lilly posed and smiled with her friends and their moms but not for me. Sniff sniff. I also have a sore throat and a raspy voice and couldn't call out to her to get her to look in my direction.
It was like fighting off the paparazzi so I happily settled for side angles.
Man these twins have chilled me out...

Lilly held her unicorn by the neck instead of by the reigns. I thought it was funny.

Lilly with her "Skippers" class.

The best part about Lilly's Halloween costume this year is that it was $10 on the clearance rack at Target last year. We passed by and she saw the costume and she declared she was going to be a pink unicorn next Halloween.
Fast forward a year and she is standing by her declaration! No fuss, no high price tag, no worry. The costume was hanging in her closet and she happily trotted off to school. Yay for simplicity!

This weekend I took the girls to a local fall festival. It was very last minute but the girls had a great time. It made me sad that we didn't go as a family as we have in years past but the boys were sleeping soundly and I had to just 'let it go' and understand that some things have to give while the boys are infants.

The highlight of the event for me and the girls every year is the pony ride. Ella and Lilly both love taking pony rides. This was only Ella's second ever and she was just as happy as she could be.

Lilly knew the names of all the ponies by the time her ride ended. She also loves horses and ponies. So cute!

The girls made a craft, painted pumpkins, got some freebies, ate some candy and soft pretzels, got ID cards made with the police department, jumped in the large inflatable jumpy thing, danced to the music, and watched the kids climb the rock wall...

Last year they let Lilly climb. This year they said she had to weigh 45 pounds.
She was bummed.

Lilly also couldn't wait to see the fire trucks. I wasn't sure why but as soon as she started telling the fire fighter all about "stop, drop, and roll" I realized she'd had a visit from the fire department at her school and was excited to see them again.

We went into the "Safe House" and they turned on the smoke and taught Lilly what to do if there is ever a fire at her house (God forbid). Ella was not digging it but Lilly was proud as could be saying, "Stop, drop, and roll" over and over. The firefighter kept saying, "Yes, if your clothes are on fire" but Lilly wasn't hearing him.

It was a beautiful day, albeit a bit hot. The girls had fun and that's all that counts!

Where's Waldo?

When I was teaching, I had a parent one year donate ten Where's Waldo? books to my classroom. I didn't know what I would do with them but chucked them in a basket in my classroom library. The quickly became a class favorite. That year my kids begged me to look at the Where's Waldo books. I began to use it as an incentive in the classroom and when kids finished their work and were looking for something quiet to do they could sit on the rug and look at one of the books. They loved it. Who knew searching for a little dude in a Dr. Seuss hat and shirt could be so much fun?

Here's a classic Where's Waldo? scene...

Tonight, when I was juggling this, that, and the other I placed Luke down so I could make Lilly and Ella some fruit salad. The Rubbermaid of hand-me-downs someone gave me today worked just fine. Where's Lukey?

I laughed when I looked over to see Gabe blending in with his bouncy seat.
Where's Gabe?

These little boys are fun. Ella kept coming into the kitchen saying, "Mommy, baby stuck" referring to Luke in the hand-me-downs. Ha. Gives me a chuckle just thinking about it.

3 Months

Today the boys are 3 months old. I can't believe it.

They're buddies.

Sweet baby boys growing and changing every day.
Our blue-eyed and brown-eyed boy.

They wouldn't smile for me at the same time. They do smile. Their whole faces light up when they grin. They're such good boys.

Before long they'll be sitting up and then crawling. I can't even think about time moving so quickly.

Luke getting his exercise (I love this picture).

Gabe (awful cell phone picture) getting his exercise. He's come a long way already! Yay, physical therapy!

They boys are amazing. They are sweet, cuddly, adorable, good eaters, good sleepers, and a very welcome addition to our family. We love you sweet baby boys.

Grapefruit

I received an email from one of the preschool moms about ordering organic produce that would be delivered. The "will be delivered" part really was appealing to me so I ordered a small fruit box. The fruit arrived yesterday and there were 6 pears, 6 oranges, 6 bananas, 2 kiwis, 1 avocado, a bag of grapes, and 2 grapefruits.

This morning I was taking a shower when Andy peeked in and said, "Lilly and I tried the grapefruit. She didn't like it. I didn't like it either." I said, "Did you put sugar on it and spoon it out?" He smiled and said, "No, never knew about that."

I finished my shower remembering my mom eating many many grapefruits over the years. She would coat the halved grapefruit with sugar and scoop each little wedge out while moaning, "Mmmmmmm."

I had completely forgotten this memory of mine and I smiled remembering. I couldn't wait to get downstairs and have Lilly try it the way her grandmother did.

She loved it.
She said, "This is delicious. It's sour and it's sweet! Mmmmmmm!"

Here is the grapefruit Andy prepared for Lilly:

I always get upset over my poor memory. I have even seen doctors over my inability to recall details and memories. Apparently some people are blessed with a very good memory and others are not. I was not.

Today, it was nice to remember.

Bike Ride

Andy just took the girls on a bike ride to a playground on the other side of the neighborhood. On the way they're dropping off a gift at a dance teacher's house from Lilly's dance school. Lilly was so excited to carry the gift on her bike handle. Ella was just happy be riding on her new hand-me-down bike.

Life is good.

Pumpkin Patch

I love love love fall.

I love the leaves changing colors, hayrides, S'mores, pumpkins, spiced apple candles, stew, the smell of a fire burning, tights, sweatshirts, turning the heat on in the car with the windows down...

I think if I ever had to miss a year of taking a hayride to pick a pumpkin I may die. It would be my last dying request.

Last week we picked the perfect fall day to pick our pumpkins. We weren't sure how we'd pull off the babies on the hayride but assumed we'd each wear one. On the way to the farm we decided we'd leave them in their carriers and I'm glad we did.

I cannot stand the way I look in these pictures (nothing like pointing out a flaw). It was windy and my face looks foreign to me. After having each of our babies I never felt I looked myself for months afterward. Then, one day I'd wake up and look in the mirror and see the old me. Well the old me has not returned but I like having a picture with my girls even if they don't recognize who has her arms around them.

I love the excitement of just stepping off the hayride in search of the perfect pumpkin. The thrill is in the air.

Lilly searched and searched for the perfect pumpkin. This was not it.

Mommy and Ella liked this warty one.

I'm not sure why but Ella became totally overwhelmed. She is very funny and spunky but also shy and sensitive. Andy ended up taking her to the far end of the pumpkin patch and helping her find a small pumpkin.

This is my favorite picture because of the genuine joy on Andy's face.

Lilly tried to carry the pumpkin back to the hayride...

...but Farmer Tom stopped and helped her. He is awesome.

The boys chilled amongst the pumpkins and vines. Luke was sleepy but Gabe was happy as could be.

Every time I walked back over to check on the boys Gabe smiled at me.

Ella recovered and we made our way back to eat some warm apple cider donuts.

Then reality set in and we spent 45 minutes feeding and changing babies.
But we still had a wonderful time!

I can't wait for Halloween.