Jolly Days

Twins' first ride on the awesome carousel at the Children's Museum

Do you think Brian is comparing his figure to Barbie's?

Maggs is always such a goof-ball!

First down the slide: Daddy and Maggie, followed by Rachel and Ben.

I couldn't allow the twins to miss out of the fun, so Rachel and I took them down the giant slide at the end of the day. Poor Bree - her bib flew up in front of her face, and she missed the entire ride down!

It was such a fun day at the Children's Museum. We're going to miss our membership this coming year, but we have decided to allow it to expire since it's so difficult to venture there with all four kids unless there are at least two adults present. Just doesn't seem worth it to have the membership right now. Hopefully, we'll renew the membership in a couple more years - when we no longer have to drag a stroller into the restroom! Oh, how I long for that day!

Christmas Morning 2010

Santa came, Santa came! Ben was awake at 1:00am, begging to go downstairs and open the gifts. He laid down next to me in bed, and he continued to ask me every 20 minutes when we could open gifts. Finally, at 4am, when the babies woke up to be fed, I told him that he could wake Maggie when I finished feeding the twins. When the bottles were empty, I went to get Ben, and he was sound asleep next to Daddy. Maggie was the next to wake up at 6am. I told her to wake Daddy and Ben. She got them, and then she came back to me and said, "Mommy,.. Java,... Babies.... SANTA CAME! Let's go downstairs!" We were finished opening the gifts and cleaning up the mess by 7am! It was a ton of fun, though. The twins mostly ate wrapping paper. Ben and Maggie were thrilled that Santa brough Pillow Pets to all four kids. This was the best Christmas Brian and I have had since the beginning of us. We are so blessed!

Christmas Eve 2010

Christmas Eve with Brian's family. Zhu Zhu pet's were the BIG HIT this year. Even Betsy and Bree enjoy watching them scurry around our house.

Snow Angel

My little angels in the snow. Ben has been SO thrilled to see all this snow before Christmas. Every night, after dinner, he suits up and goes outside to play for a bit. Maggie, of course, has to follow. It's nice to see them enjoy it so much. It seems like we had so much more snow when I was a kid. Or is it that I just remember it that way? I seem to remember playing in the snow every day of Christmas break each year. Seems like the pond would always freeze too because I can't remember a single winter when it wasn't cold enough to go ice skating several times.

178 Days, Revisited

Ben .................................. Maggie

Betsy ..................................... Bree

If you go back to my post from October 2007, you'll see that I got the same photo of Maggie at 178 days that I did of Ben at that age. Nothing special about 178 days. I just loved the photo I got of Ben on that day, so I tried to get the same one of Maggie. Today, the twins turn 178 days old. Although Betsy is feeling under the weather, I put her in the same bathrobe, and I took photos of the girls to match those of Ben and Maggs. I'm so happy I did! It's really fun to compare how they look at exactly the same age.

Scott's pics of the girls

Uncle Scott's photo shoot of the twins: 12/4/2010 (5 months, 9 days)

Betsy in white cap, Bree in pink

Gaudete Sunday

For the third Sunday in Advent, I dressed my three girls in purple, purple, and pink.
(One lady at our church actually noticed, and it TOTALLY made my day!)
Somehow, I doubt that Ben will allow me to dress him in purple next week for the fourth Sunday.

Happy St. Nick's Day!

Last night, before bed, four little pairs of boots were lined up near our front door. Ben insisted on leaving out their boots instead of their shoes (and he un-did the straps on his) to really maximize their loot potential!

This morning, after waking at 5:45a.m., the kids found their boots filled with 3 pieces of chocolate, 2 candy canes, and some new pj's. Bree and Betsy got new binkies instead of candy. Ben and Maggie each got a book too. Ben's contained a kit for a little paper Christmas tree. He had the entire thing assembled before breakfast.

Gingerbread Shacks

We did a SMALL gingerbread house project yesterday to get in the holiday spirit. I helped the kids put their "shacks" together using gingerbread flavored graham crackers, and then they decorated them. I ended up hot-glueing Maggie's house together, finding that MUCH easier than using the frosting. I figured they weren't going to eat them anyway.

I figured wrong. Ben ate every piece of candy from his the moment he finished his house. This is truly unlike Ben as he's the kid who tries to save his Halloween and Christmas stocking candy, doling it out piece by piece. Maggie usually dives right in. You can see by Ben's house that he didn't leave a piece of candy uneaten! Maybe Maggie just ate so much as she was pulling it from the bags that she was able to restrain herself when it came to pulling it from her creation. Ben's poor house looks like it was hit by a tornado!

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Ben and Maggie both had Thanksgiving celebrations at school today. Ben came home dressed like a little Native American. He decorated the shirt, filled with symbols, himself. He and his classmates ate lunch in the hallway at school (really gourmet, huh?), feasting on chicken legs, carrots and celery, applesauce, and corn muffins (all the standards eaten by the pilgrims and natives). Maggie had a Grandparents Day feast at preschool. Since none of her grandparents could be there, Daddy was her "special friend" who came for lunch. They served pizza and a communal fruit salad. She and Daddy made this cute turkey together.

Who can resist a sleeing baby?

I wish these pictures weren't so dark, but I didn't want to wake the babies using the flash. I couldn't resist taking their pictures this morning before I left for work. Bree (in the dots) almost always sleeps with her little hands behind her head. So funny! Betsy (in the stripes) likes to have something next to her face for cuddling, even if it's her own sleeve.

Grumpy Gorilla

Ben has this giant gorilla. All the kids love it. Great place for taking twin-pictures!
(Betsy on the left, Bree on the right)

Heavy Cheeks

Betsy was having a ball jumping in the "Jumparoo" yesterday afternoon. We looked away from her for a minute, and when we came back to her, she was sound asleep, snoring and everything. I think she got too tired of holding up those cheeks!

Does she really look 30?

Maggie's teachers tell me that she dresses like a 30-year-old woman. I suppose I dress her like I dress myself. I just love the look of a polished little three year old. Grandma Karen is to blame for this sweater. I wish it came in my size!

Ben, my BIG Diddle!

Ben's school picture finally came in. It seems to me that most kindergarteners smile without showing their teeth. Not my kid! He smiled just like I coached him to do! Now that I can compare Ben and Maggie's school pictures, I think Ben looks even more like me than Maggie does. Ben, my "Diddle-Bug" looks bigger and more mature than ever before!