Parker's 1st guitar lesson

We had a visit from Charb and Kelly and the babies this morning, bearing birthday gifts for Parker and I since they can't make it up during the week. Parker got a Target gift card which he used to purchase a new Nerf gun. My gift was the Johnny Jump-up, that not-so-good picture is of Ava trying it out. I think it will be a big hit with the babies. Charb was so happy to find the Johnny Jump-Up, as he swears he can remember using the one he had as a baby.

Parker had his first guitar lesson this afternoon. He was excited about it and seems eager to learn. After the lesson, we stopped at Target so he could use his gift card. Rielee found a new puzzle and some "I-Carly" underpants, she was so excited to get those, it was really funny. Auna found a new top. When we got home, I fixed a spaghetti dinner for everyone, and then the girls and I made Valentine sugar cookies.

Cootie

Our Saturday consisted of housecleaning until Rielee and Parker came over to stay the night with us. Rielee wanted to play a game of Cootie, and it was .25 movie weekend, so we also watched a couple of movies.

Friday

Today was a busy one. The kids were home since they didn't have school, and we also had the babies. Parker and Auna were lots of help with them, feeding, dressing, holding, and playing with them all day. Parker fed 3 bottles. Everything except changing diapers, of course. Poor Ava was bored to sleep watching Papa work on his puzzle. Rielee and I made cardamom bread and cinnamon rolls, wearing the matching aprons we got last year. The rolls turned out yummy, but I forgot to take the bread out of the oven so it had a really hard crust, but the kids and Papa ate it anyway. Laury, David and Alan stopped by to visit the babies, too.

Later in the afternoon, we dropped the babies off to Kelly at the school and continued on to White Salmon, where the boys and girls basketball teams were playing. The girls won, and the boys lost a close one.

Harper rolls over

Today was a big day for Harper. I was down on the floor with them, just starting to video some tummy-time action, and she rolled over on to her back for the first time. I was so surprised but got it on a shaky video. The days of them staying put are definitely getting shorter.

That is also Harper in the exersaucer, they are both liking that now, too. They were pretty easy on Grandma today, completely in sync with naps and bottles. I just had to have one in the swing or bouncer and hold the other one, and the naps were peaceful. If I tried to lay them down, they would wake up in a couple of minutes. I guess they were pretty fussy last night so they were tired today, and that system worked the best. They are sleeping in their cribs now, still in the swaddle blankets. Charb said they went down at 10:30 last night and got up when I got there at 6:30 this morning, Kelly said she was up once rocking Harper. All in all, they were pretty happy

girls all day.

Rielee is a such a creature of habit. Whatever quirky little things Papa has told her she will hang onto regardless of how I try to convince her its a bad idea. He told her long ago that he always crumbles 5 crackers in his soup (he calls it "filler"-from the old days growing up when he needed to fill up the bowl) and eats 2 more with butter on them. So, every time we have soup for lunch, she wants 7 crackers, just like Papa, and of course she can't eat them all. Today I gave her 3 crackers, and she piped up with the "but Grandma, Papa has 5+2". Even though Papa has cut back on the crackers since we are eating healthier now, he needs to work on her. She is such a healthy eater when Papa isn't influencing her, she reminds me of a lot of Macee, they both love fruits and vegetables. She doesn't have much of a sweet tooth either, but she will lick all the frosting off a maple bar.

More puzzling

We had a very happy Rielee today. She had asked for an I-Carly puzzle a couple of days ago, so Papa surprised her with it today. She sat down and did the whole thing without stopping, and then left it on her table, didn't want to take it apart. It was her first 100 piece puzzle, and she was proud that she did it since it said for "5 and up" on it. She wanted to do a craft after that, so we got out the paint and she painted some big red hearts to cut out tomorrow and decorate the playroom with. I also painted her hands and she made hand prints that she can use to make Valentine cards, she got a big kick out of that.

A perfect day

We had such a good day today. The babies were so happy and they are getting to be so much fun. Harper will squeal with delight when she does her little "workout" with Papa or I. Ava talked to me, telling me a very long, sad story when I was trying to get her to take a nap. They really like to play now, and are grasping at toys, although a lot of the time they end up bonking themselves in the face with whatever they've got ahold of. If they are lying too close to each other, they reach out and grab each others hands or ears. I put on the TeleTubbie tape again today for Harper, but it was at the end and the TV came back on, and I found that she seems to like The View just as much as the Tubbies. Papa said he thought she also really liked Hot Pursuit (which is a cop show about police chases).

We took them outside in Rielee's red wagon and pulled them around a little bit. They weren't very comfortable at first but once they settled in, they relaxed and even started to doze off. Rielee was happy to get out and swing at the playfort. I took some pictures of them, once again almost stumping myself taking individual pictures. I can't tell them apart. When we took them back today, Kelly thought she was talking to Ava and it was Harper, so it happens to all of us. They are so much alike in little things, too, like today, Ava found her tongue, and played with it all day, most of the pictures I took of her this morning, she had her tongue out or was chewing on it. Then this afternoon, Harper started the same thing. They both seem to have the same tooth coming in on top, too. Charb said he thinks that Harper has Reba McEntyre (I think I spelled that wrong) ears, though I think Ava's are the same, she is just bigger so it doesn't look quite the same.

Intervention-nahh

Charb was laughing (I think) this morning when we met him and he said he was thinking of having a "Grandparent's Intervention". It seems that he thinks the Twin's Grandparents, both sets, are perhaps holding them too much and when they (the parents) get them home and try to put them down, the twins cry...So, I took this picture today as proof that no, I do put Ava down after she falls asleep. I don't hold her all the time.

One problem, however, could perhaps lie with Papa and Harper, who today power-napped so soundly for so long that he even forgot about picking up Rielee from school.

Fortunately, it dawned on me with about 5 minutes to spare, and she wasn't the last kid left.

It is just so easy with two babies for each of us to be interacting, playing and holding one of them whenever they want to be held. They do entertain themselves more and more every day now. Soon they are going to be up and moving and won't want to be held and cuddled as much. So we, as their Grandparents, intend to hold them all we can while we can. We have a feeling that Charb will understand.

Rielee was slightly put off at the news that the babies were here, again, when I picked her up, but she got over it quickly when I reminded her that it was Friday and her treat-day, and Papa would take her back to town later. She told me that she thought that Harper was going to be the "wild" child, that she just had that look in her eyes. Oh oh.

I tried out the Tele-Tubbies video with Harper today, and she liked it. Sat in her swing kicking her legs and getting so excited while watching it.

Finally-babies

We were so glad to get the babies this morning, our week had seemed slow without them. Harper woke up just after we got them home so we played with her, she had a bath and ate and was down for a nap when Ava woke up at 8:00. Ava woke up hungry so she did everything in the reverse order. We sat them in the chair for a picture, but Papa said it looked like they were in a line-up, we couldn't get them to smile, took several serious, big-eyed pictures, and in this picture it looks like Ava has told Harper to "just look away from the camera, maybe they will stop". The middle picture is when we were both walking them, with their heads back over our arms, Papa always has Harper. Auna is holding Harper, too, she had to stop by after school for a baby fix. Laury was here to visit in the morning, and Cathy brought Jillian up to play with Rielee.

Jillian and Rielee thought that Jillian should be able to swing in the baby swing or get in the baby's walker. What a couple of strong-willed little girls those two are, very similar personalities! Can't imagine what it will be like when the twins are Jillian's age...wow, and all indications are that they will follow suit and be just as rambunctious.

Puzzle season

It's jigsaw puzzle season at our house, always an exciting time of year. Rielee came over this morning just in time to help Papa finish up the puzzle he got from the kids for Christmas. She wasn't too thrilled, though, since all he left her to do was 1 piece of a house and the water. She wanted to play Barbies too this morning, and we played for an hour or so until all the Barbies were fighting with each other and it was time to quit. Then she made some bird pictures and a card for Will, and played Starfall for awhile.

Parker came home from school today proudly wearing a new shirt and hat he got from his girl friend Morgan for Christmas. In the picture he was showing me how his Dad will perch his hat on top of his head to look funny, and he looked funny, too. We also got a good laugh when he took off his coat and realized that he still had the price tag hanging off his shirt, but fortunately nobody noticed it at school.

Ear aches and warts

Today was busy taking kids to the doctor. First we took Rielee to meet Gabe at the drs. office, she developed ear infections in both ears over the weekend. She was prescribed amoxicillin and given some numbing drops. She was in pretty good humor as long as she had Motrin in her though. We stopped at the credit union on the way to the dr. and she and Papa turned in some of their change. We took in about 2/3 of their "stash" and there was over a $100. She plays with that darn change every day, and the last time she had to "sort" it out all over the floor for the kajillionth time, I told her some of it was going to the bank, there was too much. We promised her a visit to Target for a toy after the dr. visit, (but she couldn't find the Furreal parrot she wanted or anything else that wasn't over her monetary limit or just a toy for the sake of buying a toy and not something she would ever play with), and instead decided she wanted some Little Bear toothpaste and a Barbie toothbrush, and she found a new top she liked. Oh, and we stopped briefly at Ross for a pair of "dancing" shoes, as she calls them, those plastic toy high heels she likes, so she was happy.
This afternoon I picked up Parker from school and met Des at his dr. appt. so he could get a big wart removed from his hand. But the appt. was with the wrong dr., so this one just put a different type of wart remover on it and they made an appt. with the right dr. to have it removed next month.
Then Charb called to let me know they have half-day school tomorrow so the babies are going to stay down there with their Grandma and Gr.Grandma. I told him I was going to start having withdrawal symptoms-he said we would have them Th. and Fri. and Sat. night, too, if we wanted. Yes, we want!

Windy night

It was so windy last night that Auna and I were up half the night. She had been sleeping on the couch but the wind woke her up so I let her go back to sleep in my bed and I slept in my chair.
Parker went to sleep at 10:30 and he listened to the wind for a little while but then slept through the rest of it. We all slept in until 8:30, then I made them breakfast, Parker's favorite- fried spuddies and french toast. Then we headed to town. They both found treasures they wanted to buy at Ross, so they were happy. We ran a couple more errands and then picked up a Panda bowl for them to eat on the way to Target. After a stop at the mall, so Auna could buy a bracelet at Claires, we headed home. Then we got busy cleaning up all the blown down fir limbs from the storm. Now they are finishing up watching "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs".

Sunday night madness

Parker was staying over night with us since the rest of the gang is in Eugene for volleyball. He decided to ask Auna to stay over also. They entertained themselves by decorating a couple of BK crowns--it kept them busy for quite awhile, and they are threatening to wear them when we go shopping tomorrow. I love these times when they are getting along and being silly. They posted a couple of messages on FB to Emmy and were disappointed that she didn't comment, so I let them call her. They put her on speaker phone so they could both hear her.

There is no middle ground where Parker and Auna are concerned, they are either having a blast or they are bickering like siblings would. A couple of weeks ago, Parker actually shared a piece of his toast with Auna, and I was so shocked I almost fell off my chair!

Friday in Camas

Harper buckled-up, tummy-time for Ava

We went down to Camas Friday to watch the babies since we wanted to take off early to drive to Ilwaco for basketball. I should have taken a change of clothes, though. I was playing with Harper on the floor, had her standing on my stomach, bouncing her up and down. She was loving it, squealing and laughing.... until she spit up all over herself and me. Then later after she had eaten and taken a long nap, I was playing with her again with same results. Less bouncing is the lesson here, I think, duh. My new cologne-Eau de Babyspit.

We took them to Mom and Dad at Union about 2:00, where they are very popular with all of the gals in the office.

Little droolers

I think the babies might be teething, there seems to be a lot of drooling and bubble-blowing going on.

I liked this picture of them sitting in the chair because you can actually see their little eyelashes, and it looks like they have some hair on their heads but it is an illusion from the overhead lighting... One obvious difference in them is that Harper, on the right, still has some semblence of a neck, whereas Ava's is long gone. The big news though, is that Ava rolled over last night at home. Kelly said she had this look on her face like "what was that, what happened?" She did while she was mad, of course, when she goes into her super-human arching-with-her-head-back-to-the-left act. But it still counts. We keep trying to get them to roll and then ask ourselves "WHY?"-right now they just stay in one place, once they start rolling, it will seem like a blink of an eye and they will be crawling, climbing, and running out the door (hopefully to go over and bug Uncle Alan!).

Harper worked out with Papa today, she gets such a kick out of it, as does Papa. He says "1-2-3-PULL" and she pulls her little head up and together they pull her to standing. She has done it enough times that, on "3", she is lifting her head. He must have worn her out because she took a very long nap afterwards.

Apprentice princesses

Rielee came in the house today with another bad case of bed head but she had her crown on and was feeling good. Every time I turned around, she was putting it on Ava or Harper. They didn't seem to mind, and sat with it on for a long time. They aren't as sensitive to wearing hats now, it seems.

We sure noticed their screams today, and how much louder and piercing they are. I had changed Harper's diaper and asked Steve to put her pants on so I could fix her a bottle, and suddenly I hear this hideous screaming, like something horrible happened to her, and she is just mad at getting dressed, (maybe cause Papa is such a slow dresser)! She let out one shriek that was really high-pitched and that pretty much wore her out, cause she slowed down after that one. They do have little tempers, these two!

Rielee home sick

No babies today, but Rielee didn't go to school due to a cough. After she ate a big breakfast, she started feeling better and was ready to play. Right about then, I started to get a migraine and had to take some pain med., so Papa was the designated playmate.
He kept her busy, or vice versa with various games. After a couple of hours and a short nap, I played a couple of games of Go Fish with them. They finished up their play time by sorting the change. She loves that money, we decided maybe she could have a future as a banker, but more likely she will be a just be an expert shopper instead.

I have you all to myself

Rielee was a happy girl when we picked her up from school today. The first words out of her mouth were "No babies today, I have you all to myself!"

Papa played with her for awhile, they were singing and making "music" by pounding on a tin cup with a screw driver and shaking coins in a cup, then Papa had Zak the Rat dancing to the beat. She wanted her nails done next since here polish was pretty chipped, so she ate lunch while I did that.

Then she and I played McDonald's drive-thru, where I order food through the back of the kitchen playset and she fixes it. Then she did some flying on my feet and some "flip-a-roonies" where I am lying on my back and flip her over my head and she lands on her feet. All the kids have loved doing that and I told Rielee that it wouldn't be long before the twins would be trying it, too. We were talking about baby-proofing the house once they start crawling, so she decided to pretend she was Ava and crawl around and get into everything, so I would know what I was up against, I guess.

(I can't imagine what that will be like, with two of them motoring around getting into stuff!)

Then she wanted to pretend we were lions and cheetahs and have a cat fight. After I got tired of that, she ended up in the bathroom, playing in the sink, which Papa cannot tolerate since she has almost flooded the bathroom many times, so then it was naptime.

Fortunately, it is always easy for her to sleep on Mondays since Papa lays down with her. Thank goodness.

16's Pre-qualifier

We spent today watching Macee, Tierney, Maddie, and Megan (Heather's niece) play at the Beaverton Courts. They played well and won all their matches, which moved them to 4th in Gold. This isn't a very good picture but the best I could get, I didn't want to use my flash while they were playing since we were sitting so close (you can see Coach Heather sitting in the background though). So this is Macee, and teammates Alexa and Taylor, I think, in the back.
It is a lot of fun to watch these girls improve their skills, they are a very competitive team. Macee had a good day serving, with several aces.

A little sick

The babies have coughs, congestion, and runny noses, but still had moments today when they were happy, and played a little. I lined up the bouncer, their play mat, and one swing and they went from one to another all day, when I wasn't walking or rocking one of them. I thought they might sleep better propped up in the bouncer or swing, and Harper did, Ava only took 2 short half-hour naps all day. I figured out that they will stay in the bouncer if I turn it on and then bounce it with my foot, too. That was helpful.
Des was telling me that at Rielee's pre-school Tuesday, the teacher was telling the kids that next year when they are kindergarteners, they will have to stay in their seats, or else they might get sent to the office to talk to the principal, Mr. K. Rielee piped up and said "Oh, Mr. K is my boyfriend Kyle's Dad!" Then on Wed., when we were making cards, she wanted to make one for Kyle, and she wanted to tell him she loved him, and then she whispered to me, "and don't tell Papa this, but I want to tell Kyle I want to kiss him"-and then we had a little talk about how that would not be appropriate...so she wrote the letter and left that part out.
I think maybe the girl has watched one too many ICarly shows with Auna and Parker.

Will got a technical?!

The first picture of the twins was taken just as we told them that Will got a technical foul in his game against Ridgefield last night. Ava said "REALLY!" and Harper said "No way, not Will, I don't believe it!"...then they asked if the rumor they heard was true that he first cussed at another player and then slapped the Ref when he called the foul on him. I told them, no, Papa started that rumor, he didn't really do anything wrong, just the Ref making a weird call about him staying out of bounds after he threw the ball in or something...but it does make a good story.

Rielee was my helper today as I bathed Ava & Harper. She wanted to help undress Harper, but when it came to pulling off her clothes, she was afraid she might hurt her, so she just unsnapped everything for me, and took the pictures also. Papa took her to McDonald's for lunch so she could get some chipmunks, but that was sort of a bust. Somehow, they thought they asked for different chipmunks, but ended up with 3 Theodores. So she kept 2 -" twin Theodores" and will try to exchange the other one. Oh, and they also managed to come home without any milk for her or drinks for us in the Happy Meals. We never go to McDonalds so Papa was out of his element, I guess.

Just Riels

We just had Rielee today, since Ava and Harper are spending a couple days at their other grandparent's house. She was very excited to have us all to herself and was a real sweetie, and we spent our time playing with play-doh and Barbies, and she also made a nice card to give her Granny for her birthday.
Tomorrow we promised her a trip to McDonald's for a Happy Meal, since they are giving out the Chipmunks figures with them, and she is trying to collect the whole set. She is quite the Chipmunk fan.

Their baccck!

After 2 weeks without them, we were so happy to have the twins back with us today. They are a little bigger, more expressive and even laughed out loud. First Ava laughed at Uncle David's "barking" sound, and later when I undressed her for her bath, she laughed when I took her onesie off, like it tickled her. Harper got right back into her "workouts" with Papa, where she does pull-ups, and she is stronger than ever. I am betting that she will be the first to get moving, just because she is so strong. However, when I put her on her tummy today, it was only a couple of minutes before she was howling mad because nothing was happening and that darned old head of hers just wouldn't stay up like she wanted. Ava is a little more mellow and happy to lie around, if she isn't wanting to be held, although she has started on Papa's workout program, too.

Rielee was her normal busy self after school today. She wanted so much to play pretend Mommy and kept trying to feed Harper with her doll spoon and give her the doll bottle,and Harper got frustrated because she wasn't getting anything, but things were touching her mouth...so I had to get Rielee busy with a craft which turned out to be a bigger project than I intended, of course. She made a Dora mailbox out of a kit, then had to paint it, put stickers on it, write letters to put in it, then write a letter to Kyle, too, put stickers on that, draw a picture of him, etc.

I hope Jillian is available for a playdate tomorrow.

A new year

We invited the TV-challenged neighbors over to watch the Rose Bowl with us today. Laury, Auna and I played a game of Scrabble. Winner-Laury. Will showed up later with the Monopoly game. He plays aggressively, and showed little emotion as he quickly took out his Mom of the game. Auna and I were able to skirt by his hotels on Boardwalk and Parkplace, but then Will's lack of cash caught up with him and he was gone when he landed on one of Auna's properties. The game drug on and on as Auna and I went around and around the board, but finally she landed twice on my properties, bye-bye Auna. Winner-Aunt.
Oh, by the way, I also won the 31 game last night at their house. $6.00!
Watching the Rose Bowl proved to be a challenge, since Steve had to keep flipping back and forth between the game and the Matrix marathon that was also on, and frustrating everybody.
Like he hasn't seen every Matrix a dozen times, and it was a close game, excuse me. I took the remote away from him once, but he got it back.

All in all, though, it was a fun way to start the new year.