Twin toddlers

The girls slept really well last night, from 8:00 p.m. - 5:00 a.m. when we gave them a bottle and then they went back to sleep until 7. Papa took Rielee to school and they were upset, wanting to go outside, too. Ava grabbed a shirt and put it around her neck and then found a shoe and went to the door. Harper brought me my shoes. So as soon as Papa got back we went out for a walk.
We were just going to go for a short one since it was kind of chilly out, but both girls started to point and hold out their hands like they were calling for Maggie so we had to do the usual routine and go over to see Maggie and let her run around.
Both are walking so well now, as this video shows. The only way I could think of to get them to both make an entrance on cue was to have Papa offer them goldfish crackers, which they love:

Ice cream trip

The highlight of Ava and Harper's day was going to visit Aunt Laury at work. They were so excited to see her, even though she had stopped by to visit them just before she went to work.
They both walked in like big girls.

They sat on the chairs for a little bit, I got a bowl of ice cream and Ava tried a couple of small bites, Harper wouldn't take any off the spoon, but did lick a little off Papa's cone. Soon they wanted to get down and wander around the shop and look at everything, so we didn't stay very long.

Since they are spending the night, they got to play with Auna and Rielee after school. Then later when Papa took Rielee to soccer practice, Uncle Alan came over to visit and stayed until they got back. He was a big help to me with entertaining them.

Emmy & James

A late entry but I couldn't leave it out, although I almost did because all my pictures were blurry. Sunday we celebrated Emmy's 19th and James' 13th birthdays. Laury made the cutest cake with a scene from the living room of Emmy's house on it. This is Emmy's last year as a teenager and James' first-which is hard to imagine on both counts. Emmy drove home from Ellensburg for the day just to have a party with James since they have celebrated their birthdays together since they were little, and it's a tradition, and traditions mean a lot to Emmy and James.

We all got to meet little Bridget on Sunday also, and what a sweetie she is, with more hair than Ava and Harper have combined. It was a fun party.

No tears Tuesday

Rielee and Kinzee (she is daughter of the volleyball coach) looking cute at the match against Ridgefield tonight, unfortunately the Rockets lost it in 5. Rielee fell asleep for the night on my lap in the 3rd game.

Ava and Harper were so excited this morning to see all the Halloween decorations that Rielee had put out yesterday. There was a lot of pointing going on, and worried looks at the witches, although they still wanted to hold them. They danced to the "Monster Mash" song, once, before they really looked at those scary guys, then they didn't like it, so we put it away.

Rielee was pretty teary leaving for school with Grandpa Gourde, so we explained to him what the going on with her. When we talked to him later he said she did just fine when they got to the school, and that he told her on the way there about how the same thing happened to him when he was in kindergarten. He told her he cried every day and had to go and find his older sister, he told her it lasted a week, then he was fine and she would be fine, too. When Papa picked her up, she said she didn't cry at all.

She did it

Rielee has been struggling at school for the past week or so. The problems first started when she saw a student get in trouble in the cafeteria, she was afraid she was going to do something wrong and get in trouble, too. With help from her Mom and the teacher, she worked through that but then decided she didn't want to go to school at all and would cry every morning. It was so upsetting to all of us since she has always loved going to school and was doing so well. But today she did it, she made it through the school day without crying! Her reward was to get out our Halloween decorations. Here she is holding the "Monster Mash" musical decoration that I have had for many years. She used to be afraid of it but likes it now. Hopefully, she has turned a corner and will get through this little setback. If she makes it through tomorrow, she gets to decorate her house.

This is the spring off the trampoline after Papa and Parker got it off the lawn mower blades Saturday...

Bath time is so much easier now that the girls get in the tub together. They really enjoy it, too. We had them until 1 today and then they went to see Kelly's folks.

Harper

And these are a couple of the pictures Mikinzi took of them.

Ava

A full day of kids

David and Laury showing Max to Ava and Harper this morning. We had the twins until noon today, then we took them to see their other Grandma and Papa in Vancouver. Harper is walking all the time now and Ava is really picking up her speed.

Auna came over this afternoon to show me her new hair cut, she got bangs, I thought she looked so cute!

Rielee and Parker spent the night with us while Des and Gabe went to work at the Amphitheater (to raise funds for Macee's Senior class party). Auna and Rielee made sugar cookies, then I thought Rielee was playing on the Disney website but she had switched over to Starfall. She gets tired of it periodically but keeps going back to it. After dinner she wanted to play with the dominoes, but just to build stuff not play a game.

After Parker got home from football practice and we had dinner, Parker and Papa went out to the shop to work on Parker's lawnmower. He had mowed over one of the big springs from the trampoline and it was stuck in the blades. After that job was finished, he settled in with Madden on the Playstation.

Outside or bust

Harper and Ava
I was planning on waiting to take the girls outside this morning since it was cold and raining hard. However, when Papa had them in his room playing with them and then said "let's go OUT in the living room and see what Grandma is doing?"--it triggered a meltdown and my plans went out the window. So out we went. They looked a little stiff and uncomfortable in their coats, and they didn't know what to make of the rain, but Papa got grins out of them when he let them coast fast. It was a quick ride and they didn't protest when it was time to go in.

Picture day

I asked Mikinzi Fudge, a friend of Emmy's who does photography, to come over this afternoon to take some pictures of Ava and Harper. We took them out in the wagon beforehand to figure out some good backgrounds. Papa asked them to give each other a kiss and they actually did it, although Harper is kind of a sloppy kisser so it's just as well that they wouldn't do it for Mikinzi.

She got some very cute pictures which I will share once we have them edited.

Cookies

Ava really relaxes in her carseat...

These are the happy faces I see when I offer the girls a cookie, they love vanilla wafers.

Once again the twins started the day off early, so we were trying to nap them early when Alan came over to visit this morning. They protested the naps so we gave up and took them for a ride in their cars over to visit Uncle Alan in his shop. Ava would have loved to be set free in there with so much good stuff to explore. Alan also took the the girls and us out to see all the planes he has in his motorhome. After the car ride, we decided to take a real car ride and go into Longview so I could look for a couple of jackets for them at Kid's Resale. Laury has credit there she is sharing with me, and I was lucky to find them both a nice warm coat. The girls fell asleep on the way to town so we brought them home and they slept in their carseats until lunchtime, Papa thought it was so cute the way Ava always has one leg up and over the side when she sleeps in it.

2 cars

A big day for the girls since they both have their own car now, thanks to Aunt Laury who found it on Craigslist. Our first outing with the cars was a short one in the morning since by the time we got them dressed and ready to go, it was pouring down rain. Uncle Alan noticed us out there and came over to visit, his rain-dropped shirt shows how hard it was raining. He entertained both girls with books and then Ava with the blocks.

High fives

We took them out again in the afternoon, they really love the new car because it has a battery-operated horn.

The twins were once again thrilled to see Auna after school today. Parker and Rielee tried to pry them out of her arms so they could hold them, but they wouldn't go for it, so they all squeezed together for a group hug.

Feels like fall

Rielee flying her kite while Gabe was busy cleaning and closing up the pool.

Saturday was taken up by Rielee's soccer game and Parker's football game (they won, he had 3 tackles). Rielee got quite a workout at her game since they only had 4 kids show up. Her face was very red by the end. It was Parker's turn to spend the night with us and Auna came over, too, so we watched a Jackie Chan movie that we all enjoyed. As soon as Auna left, Parker was ready for bed, 9:30-what a nightowl! He slept in till 8:30, had his usual breakfast of spudatos and french toast (which I suspect is the real reason he likes to spend the night) and went home about 9:00.

Rielee came over in the afternoon asking first for a jar to catch "something really pretty with wings". She was calling it a firefly for some reason, but it was actually a grasshopper and I had to catch it for her, she is planning on taking it for show and tell. Then she was back with the kite and needed help getting it started, she did really well flying it. Helps that she can run fast.

Jillian's visit

Cathy brought Jillian up to visit today. Jillian surprised her Grannie by quietly playing as she looked around at everything, as she is usually quite a chatterbox. Ava and Harper were very happy to see her. There was a meltdown though when they left because Aunt Cathy said "bye-bye" and the twins started waving--but they thought they were going, too. Anymore, we are careful to spell and not to say any of the following words: bye, go, going, out, outside, and we don't put on shoes or a jacket in front of them either. We have to sneak out quietly, if they hear anything that lets them know you are going outside, they are heading for the door and if they can't go along, then it is tantrum time. They will scream, cry, lay their heads down on the floor face down, inconsolable. So we try to avoid triggering this reaction.
We met Charb at Costco with them, Rielee went with us since she was riding up to the volleyball match in Stevenson with them. Rielee sat in the backseat between Ava and Harper and they were excited to have someone back there with them. It was a noisy trip though because if she wasn't looking at them or talking to them, they would squeal at her to get her attention. We finally put on some kid music and they all quieted down listening to it.

Who's who

Harper's little birthmark is shrinking and going away, much to our dismay. So often it is how we tell the girls apart. Lately they have been looking so much alike, for not being identical they look so very similar, today I was confused about who was who two different times. For half of our morning walk, I thought I was pushing Harper when actually it was Ava, and I got confused when I was dressing them, too.

We really need two cars! It was Ava's turn to ride on it, and Harper made a bee-line for it and climbed on, too. I am so upset because Laury found another one at a garage sale this summer and we turned it down, what were we thinking.

To save on some of the driving this week, the girls are spending the night with us, then we will take them back tomorrow afternoon on our way to Stevenson for v'ball. They were really good all day, they entertain themselves more now that they are toddling around. I got out the little dollhouse for them and it was a big hit. Doni came up to visit and play with the them as did Alan.

They were worn out by 7:30 and sound asleep in bed by 8:15.

Silly girls

Lately Ava and Harper have been starting their day by playing at the kitchen together.

They were in great moods this morning. Alan came over, and they played and played. Ava was cracking us up by doing this funny little crawl where she swings her head back and forth and wiggles her hips. She walks a lot now, but still crawls whens she wants to get somewhere fast since her walking is pretty slow yet.

Harper is fixated with straps and buckles. She played with her carseat for the longest time this morning, then this afternoon she was on tip-toe checking out the highchair's straps.

After school chaos

High-fiving
This picture was taken in a moment of calm while Ava and Harper were having a snack this afternoon. They are starting to interact more now and will sometimes share food with each other, actually that might also just be a way to get rid of something they don't want to eat, too.
After Papa left to pick up Rielee, though, they both got tired and had meltdowns as I tried to hold both of them which really just makes them both very upset. Finally Papa and Rielee came home, Uncle Alan came over, then Auna and Parker got home from school. Things got better for a little bit after a bottle, then both babies wanted Auna to hold them, and Papa and Parker were hotly debating the best way to butter toast(?!)...then it was time for one last diaper change and loading them up to go home.
And what will tomorrow bring since today it was our turn to dole out the prune juice, oh boy!

Soccer, football and babies, too

Rielee had her soccer jamboree this morning, she played really well and scored 2 goals and grinned the entire time.

Parker's football team played 2 games at their jamboree in the afternoon. He did great, having 6 tackles and catching a pass. He was frustrated in the first game, though, because the kid he was going up against as defensive end kept grabbing him and throwing him down.

Ava and Harper came up in the evening to spend the night with us.

Rielee spent the night also to be our helper with the twins. We played outside for awhile and let the twins go down the slide.
We tried to get a nice picture of the 3 of them after their bath this morning but Ava didn't really want to participate.

Today we took the twins out to play and Harper got pretty good at climbing and sliding down.

Rielee's room

Rielee has Mrs. Stankey as her teacher this year, and Mrs. Stankey loves animals. Walking into her classroom is like entering a pet store. There is a lizard tank, turtle tank, large aquarium, 2 ferrets and a guinea pig. Des helped in her room yesterday and said someone had brought in a very large spider in a plastic box. So today when I took Rielee to school and she was showing me around, I was keeping an eye out for that spider. Rielee and her friend noticed I was a little wary and assured me that the spider was gone. When I left Rielee gave me a kiss and then held out Cocoa, the ferret she was holding, "give Cocoa a kiss, too." I had to pass. Rielee is definitely in the right classroom.

Shoe shopping

We went out for an early morning walk today taking the twins over to visit Maggie and let her run around for a little while. We decided we would take them back early and go to Target in Vancouver to look for some boots or shoes for them. Unfortunately, little Ava has very chubby little feet and couldn't fit into any boots but there was one pair of cute shoes that fit, so we bought them each a pair. They were getting sort of bored with shopping so I gave Harper the shoe box, she proceeded to chew the size tag off of it and then put it on her head. When we got home Papa went over to watch Rielee's soccer practice, but he was late and she was leaving. She had just got her team shirt though so he got a picture of her in it. She got to come home with him and wanted to make some jewelry so we got the beads out and she made a bracelet and necklace before she had to go home for dinner.
Rielee was really happy because she gets to lead her class in the Pledge of Allegiance for the next week since she was the only kid in her class that knew it.
She has also made a couple of friends so she is feeling good about her new school.

School starts

CR started school today so we headed over to take a picture of Parker and Macee, Rielee wanted to be in the picture, too.

Then Auna came over to our house to see the twins and let us take her picture, and Rielee's again, too.

Papa's music lesson with Ava and Harper.

It sure was a long quiet day in the neighborhood with the kids in school. We missed all our helpers, and our day seemed very, very long without them. Auna stopped by after school and the twins let out a yell when they saw her, Ava even said "hi", I don't know who was happier to see her, us or them. Harper was a little out of sorts today with another tooth coming through. Ava is very serious about walking now and took about 20 steps to Auna. Harper got her mojo back today and started walking some, too, she took a break from walking this weekend.

Labor Day

Parker and Auna spent Sunday night with us, I let them sleep in a little but not too long since they are going to have to get up early for the first day of school tomorrow. Parker was his usual party-pooper self last night, crashing before 10 o'clock. Auna stayed up later watching TV.

This is how Des picked apples today so she and Macee could make pies, she said she really felt like a country girl, what country she felt like she was from I'm not sure! It looked pretty scary to me though since Gabe's old boom truck is so rusty, but he and Steve worked on it and got it running again so it can go to the auction.

6:30 wake up

Harper wearing Rielee's sunglasses

Ava and Harper slept from 9 to 6:30 this morning. Harper was in a pretty good mood and wanted to climb into this little basket like she does the laundry basket, but once she was in it, she realized it wasn't very comfortable. Ava was still tired and a little grumpy so after they had breakfast they went back to bed for a little while.

Ava kissing a dog picture in the book, they both love dogs and say "woof woof" now.

Auna and Rielee came over to play with the twins, Uncles Alan and David and Aunt Laury came over also. The babies were so excited to look out the window and see Max and Sara out on the deck.

Charb and Kelly picked them up about 2:00, then the house got way too quiet.

Twins overnight

Ava and Harper came up this early morning to spend the night with us. They got here just in time to go the the Mark Morris Volleyball Jamboree with us (where the Rockets won all their games). They were very good there and kept happy by the goldfish crackers Aunt Des was feeding them.

Harper making a phone call, looks like a serious one

Parker came home with us to be our helper for the day, and then Auna showed up to help also. They took the girls on several stroller and car rides. I made spaghetti for dinner, which the twins love, and also green beans and garlic bread, they loved those, too. I also got to change a total of 6 messy diapers, seems the girls are over their constipation due to the prune juice their other Grandma gave them yesterday morning...

After dinner, Parker and Auna wanted to go to the Riverfront Trail to ride scooters and skateboard. Charb and Kelly had left the double stroller so we used it. Then they decided we were going all around town, with a stop for ice cream cones and to say hi to Penny at the shop. All was well until my feet and shins started to ache on the way back and I realized I had forgotten to put on my tennis shoes and had my flipflops on...good grief, taking twins anywhere is so difficult sometimes, it's a wonder I had anything on my feet.

Ava is really trying to walk now, if she is standing she will walk as far as she can first, then drop and crawl when she loses her balance. Harper is a climber, she will try to climb on everything, but her favorite is her Dad's old little rocking chair, she climbs up, turns around, sits down, slides off, repeats and repeats until she gets tired and hooks her leg on the side and partly falls off. If Ava gets anywhere near it, she will shove her aside and get on it herself. Funny to watch them.