Rebecca the Arsonist

Conversation in the car today

John: I want to be a fireman. I'm going to drive one of the big green firetrucks and Natalie is going to ride with me.

Me: That would be a good job. You could help people if their houses catch on fire.

John: Yeah!

Rebecca: I want to catch people's houses on fire.

Happy Halloween!!!

I have been wanting to post pics of the kids costumes, but was trying to wait until Halloween.

The girls had their Halloween party and costume parade at school on Wednesday. They usually parade outside around the school, but because of all the rain they had to parade through the playroom. A little anti-climactic if you ask me. It wasn't even raining that day, but I guess the teachers thought it was too wet outside. G.G. came up and got to see the girls and their friends in their costumes.

John's class parade and party was Friday, and it was also inside. This time it was actually pouring out, so I understood. :) They went up and down the hall and around the playroom. After posing for a few pictures the parents took off and the kids proceeded with their Halloween festivities. After picking John up we got the girls in their costumes and headed off to my mom's work so she could see them and they could trick or treat around her office. My mom thought ahead, and being the wonderful Maw Maw that she is, went around beforehand and gave candy to her coworkers to hand out to the kids.

Saturday we made a trip to Grandma June and Grandpa Bud's house and then over to my Dad's house so all the grandparents could see the costumes. Natalie was being a bit bashful for some reason, but they had a good time and started filling their treat bags before trick or treating even began.

Finally we made it over to our friends house for trick or treating. It has become a yearly tradition to go over there for dinner and then trick or treat around their neighborhood. They have a ton of kids in their neighborhood and everyone participates. Our street is like a ghost town on Halloween. No kids at all. The only trick or treaters we ever get are the neighbors grandkids. For some reason though I still go buy a big bag of candy every year. The kids filled their treat bags and we went back over to Mike & Julie's to hang out, let the kids play, and hand out candy to the rest of the goblins. I love how near the end of the night all the older kids (teenagers) come out to trick or treat. There were 2 guys that cracked me up. One was just wearing jeans and a hoodie. When Julie asked what he was, without even hesitating he said "I'm Nicholas Cage." Another guy was wearing jean and a Michael Jackson t-shirt and said he was a Michael Jackson fan. Awesome costumes guys! :) After the kids downed as much sugar as they could we took 3 overly tired kids home, brushed teeth like crazy, and listened to the silence as they all fell asleep immediately.

Natalie's lip job

Good news! It seems that Natalie won't be in need of a lip job anytime in the near future! Modern medicine can keep all their injectibles for plumping lips, my daughter found a natural way to get a movie star mouth. Poor baby slipped on a book and smacked her mouth right into her bed. She bit into her lip pretty good. Lots of blood, but all is well. A cold washcloth, a little ice, and lots of snuggles and she was good to go.

Jail is not fun!

Holy cow. I slacked off here for almost a month. What's been going on...

John has had 2 field trips at preschool already. The first was to a local park with farm animals. We had been there before, so he wasn't quite as excited as some of the other kids. The second was to the fire/police station. That one he loved! He came home with a fire hat and tons of information about calling 911, stopping - dropping - and rolling, and that jail is not fun.

John and his best friend from preschool

Natalie and Rebecca are well into the terrible twos. Rebecca spends a lot of time screaming and Natalie has decided she needs to be carried everywhere. They are both loving preschool and I basically have to beg for a kiss goodbye before they run off to play.

Halloween is coming up way too fast. The kids costumes are pretty much done, but since my sewing machine is messed up I will be going to my mom's house this weekend to finish them up. The are going as Alice in Wonderland characters. John is the Mad Hatter, Rebecca is the Queen of Hearts, and Natalie is Alice. Someday John is going to realize that he can decide what he wants to be for Halloween, but until he does I am loving the themes. :)

Oh, and during my break here I went and turned 30. Blah!

Conversation with John

We were discussing twins...

Me: Remember when Mommy's tummy was really big?

John: Yeah

Me: Well, Natalie and Rebecca were in there. They were really tiny and then they grew into babies in Mommy's belly. When a mommy has 2 babies in their belly, the babies are twins.

John: (appalled) They walked right in your mouth and went down to your BELLY?!

First Days of School

It's official. All the kids are now in school. John had his 1st day last Friday where I stayed with him, and his first day by himself was Monday. He is going 3 days a week and loving it. Most of the kids from last year are in his class, as well as a few new friends. He has already been planning his show and tells for the next week. This week he took a tractor one day and a hammer the next. Next week he plans on bringing his tae kwon do belt and maybe one of his trains. I really wish I could be a fly on the wall during show and tell to see what the kids say about the treasures they bring from home.Hugs from Becca

Hugs from Natalie

The girls had their 1st day on Monday, where I stayed with them, and then their first official day by themselves was Wednesday. They did great. They remembered the teachers from John's class, so they were fine being left with them. We got a few new pieces of art to add to our growing collection. I came to pick them up just a few minutes early so I got to peek in while they were singing. It was so cute watching them participate with their class. I can't believe they are getting so big!

Hugs for Rebecca

Hugs for Natalie

the girls and I after their 1st day

Sleeping in beds hasn't been going so well. The first couple of days were alright, but now, I don't think they sleep at all during nap time. They empty the dresser and the toy box. Get in each others beds, and basically just play and make a big mess. Then, when it is time to get up they are exhausted.

After the girls took a nice rest on the living room floor yesterday, we headed outside. All the kids are getting so much more adventurous. John is close to being able to reach the monkey bars which I'm sure means a trip to the ER for a broken arm is in our near future. Natalie has no fear whatsoever. She has learned to climb the rock wall and is now climbing the rope ladder. She falls and gets her legs stuck, but just keeps going back for more. Even Rebecca has started getting into the action. She used to be scared to climb the steps and now she is scaling the bar ladder and working on the rock wall. It's neat to watch them learn how to do all these things, but I have about 15 mini heart attacks every time we play outside.

Natalie on the rope ladder

spinning on the tire swing

Rebecca on the slide

Natalie

Rebecca lounging on the fold up chair they have started taking up the playhouse area

John swinging

These are some strange kids I have. After playing on the swingset, John found the girls old pool floaties and they all decided to wear them on their heads. Natalie

Rebecca

John

Big Kids

Summer is coming to an end, and we are all ready for school to start. John's 1st day is tomorrow and the girls start on Monday. I'm hoping to get out tonight to pick up a first day of school outfit for John. I also need to find his other tennis shoe which seems to have been missing most of the summer since he has been wearing flip flops.


John made his bi-yearly trip to the dentist and was pleased to find out he has 20 teeth, just like he guessed. I was pleased that there were no cavities. He sat very well and the only issue we had was the dentist put mint toothpaste on the brush without asking what flavor John wanted. He hates mint so he kind of freaked out when it touched his mouth. The dentist even had to get a new toothbrush out because John said he could still taste the mint even after it had been washed off multiple times.

We had a few "big" birthday celebrations in the last few weeks. Mike turned 30 and his sister turned 40 within a week of each other. For Mike's birthday we had a weekend at the Lake sans kids. For Lin's we went to Grandpa Bud and Grandma June's house for dinner. The kids had fun playing with all their cousins. They also loved feeding the fish in the little patio pond.

Last weekend the girls ended their stay in cribs. We had a few climbing out incidents, so out came the toddler beds. They have been doing pretty well in them. Rebecca will stay in hers. Even when she wakes up in the morning she will just sit in bed and wait for someone to come get her. Natalie is needing a little more reminding about staying in bed. So far she has ripped down the window shade, poured sunscreen all over the floor, and emptied out the closet. Ugh.