Riels day

Rielee spent the day with us today. First we went to garage sales, and she was the only one who found anything, buying two stuffed animals, a horse and a Stitch football(?) for Macee. Then we took her to her game where she had 3 good hits and did some good fielding as shortstop, too. After we came home and had lunch, she and I played cards for awhile then we took her down to the trail so she could ride her scooter and play at the playground. It was good to spend the day with her since she will be gone next weekend, she and Des are leaving for Disneyland Thursday.

Friday-2 sick girls

It was only a matter of time before Harper caught Ava's cold, and today was the day. She was pretty miserable but perked up some with tylenol. Both girls wanted mostly my attention this morning, wanting to be held. That is, until Papa left to take Rielee to school, first they thought he might be taking them outside when he put on his shoes, when that didn't happen they were just plain upset, but then decided they missed him and gave him a hug when he got back. Harper really hated her runny nose, and if I couldn't get to it quick enough, she would use her arm to wipe it!

Ava's cold

Auna with a sick looking Ava (I had just put vaseline on her face since her nose was getting sore from being wiped). She had a little fever today but was still in a good mood.
I am going to miss having Auna and Parker around in the afternoons, they are so good at playing with the girls and keeping them entertained.

Harper keeping an eye on Parker, they were a little worried that he was trying to share their pillows with them during their sacred bottle-time!

Sleepy heads

Harper and Kitty
Such sleepy girls today, they slept until 8, down for naps by 10, then we had to wake them up at noon to feed them before they went with Grandma and Papa Anderson, and that wasn't easy.

Ava with Bear

Cows & walkie-talkies

We took the girls out for a walk this morning and ended up over at Gabe and Des'. Papa noticed the cows were near the fence but we had to put the girls up on the excavator so they could see them, there was too much mud to walk over any closer. Later in the day, Uncle Alan came over and he had his walkie-talkies with him. The girls really got a kick out of playing with them. He left and went to his shop, and then the girls went over there with Papa to borrow a tool. Uncle Alan ended up letting them borrow the walkie-talkies, Ava got to carry them home and she was so

serious about it, she just came running over with them, holding on tight! Auna played with them, trying to show them how to push the button down and talk.

Tired Monday

Ava and Harper were so tired this morning, but they finally woke up when Rielee came over. We let them sit down at the little table and have breakfast with her and they thought that was really cool. It is always an intense play session with Rielee in the morning, and then a crying session when she leaves for school... The girls were ready for naps by 10, slept until noon and woke up happier than I have seen them since the teething began. They played and played, tickling, laughing, fighting and making up, and I saw them give each other several spontaneous hugs. What a fun afternoon. This video shows them getting in a little tiff but working it out, Ava is in the black shirt.

Easter

Our Easter was at Cathy and Bob's house this year, and once again, it was a wet one. But the rain didn't dampen anyone's spirits. We had a wonderful potluck and then took the kids out to hunt eggs. The annual "kid picture" taken just before the egg hunt.

The start of the egg toss, Cathy is holding the medals for the winners. I had so many good pictures and couldn't decide which ones to use, but as I was looking through them, this one stood out. This game is so serious to everyone, Will and Cale had won it for the last two years, but yet there are so many smiles on everyone's faces, it is so much fun. I just love it that our family has been playing this game for all these years, it is always fun and brings us all together for so many laughs. Cathy helped us to laugh this year--Gabe and Emmy were partners and won, so they are posing with their medals and Cathy says "oh, what a sweet father/daughter moment"...huh? What? What is she saying? We witnessed a "senior moment"! It was so funny! Alan and I were laughing so hard we could hardly walk back up to the house!

From start to finish, a great day.

Easter morning

Charb, Kelly and the kids came up this morning for an Easter breakfast. It was so funny, the twins walked in wearing the very same dresses I had put in their baskets! They looked so cute, and were very proud of their fancy shoes. Luke and Lexi looking for some Easter lotto winners, I didn't hear if they won anything.

Harper liked her sunglasses she got in her Easter basket, and would hold very still with her eyes shut while you put them on her. She and Ava also like the bubbles. Emmy, who came home from Central for the holiday, and Auna came over to visit with everybody, too.

Rielee reading and sunshine

Rielee sat down with the twins this morning and read them 3 books before she had to leave for school. She got a piggy bank today as a prize from the principal for having 80 points in her Reading class. I have been very impressed with her kindergarten teacher Mrs. Stankey and Mr. Merzoian, who teaches her 1st grade reading.
The twins were bothered by their teeth again today, Ava really didn't feel well. Harper ate some breakfast, but Ava just wanted to be held and only ate a few bites from Papa . Both took a 2 1/2 hour nap and didn't want much for lunch. They played outside for a long time in the afternoon. The sunshine felt so good, even though the wind was still kind of cool.
We heard a some new words from Harper today, her favorite "NO, mine" and she also said "backpack" clear as a bell. I have decided that Ava might be a vegetarian as she will not eat any meat, if she finds even the tiniest speck in her mouth, she'll pick it out and hand it to us. Maybe when those molars are in she will change her mind. Ava also gets very nervous if Sesame Street is on TV. She likes Elmo, but those other monsters are too scary for her.

No photos please

Now they don't want me to take their picture, I had to have Alan take some for me this morning.

Harper will even hold her hands up in front of her...wonder who she might have learned that from?

Ava-still teething

Ava was still bothered by her teeth this morning. Didn't want to eat anything except the marshmallows out of a little Lucky Charms cereal we gave them while I cooked breakfast. She only wanted brocolli for lunch.
By the time we went outside to play, she was feeling a little better. We only had one of the cars outside and Harper claimed it, so Papa went and got the trike. Ava played on that for a little while, but still wanted a car so we finally had to bring the other broken one out for her, but then Harper wanted that one...so Ava got the other one. She didn't care though.
It was cute today, when Auna came over, she asked Harper how her day had been and Harper answered "good"!
I picked Rielee up from the bus stop today. She rides to school on the bus 2 mornings a week, and home 3 days. The bus stop is at the church on Studebaker road. There are 20 some kids from Castle Rock that go to Toutle. After that, we went to watch the Rockets softball team beat Stevenson in a lopsided doubleheader, they won both games in 3 innings, 15-0 and 19-0.

Kids at work

After a freezing morning, it finally warmed up enough in the afternoon to take the girls out for a walk. They have been a little cranky because they both have molars coming in, but outside they are very happy campers. The older kids have half-days for the next two weeks for conferences, and I love having them around to entertain the twins. Today though, after the girls left, I put them to work. I hired Brock (who is working for money to go to the Kansas Jayhawks basketball camp in June) and Parker to haul brush and cut fern fronds. I think they hauled 5 loads . Also, Auna and Rielee picked up cones, a penny per cone. Rielee had a little trouble counting, she went from 199 to a million. I told her I couldn't compute how many pennies are in a million, she better have 200, she ended up with 299, Auna had 900. They all worked hard, and kept at it even though they got rained and hailed on.

Sat/Sun

Parker was a happy boy when he got home from the NRA banquet. Ann had won a wood plaque with the Declaration of Independence craved on it, and she gave it to him. He has been doing a report on Ben Franklin so he was thrilled to get it, and planned on taking it to school to show his teacher. He jumped out of bed at 6:00 a.m. this morning to get ready to go snow boarding with Michelle, James, and 2 of James' friends. We met them at Target at 7:20, and they just got home exactly 12 hours later. He was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open on the way home. Sounded like they had a great time.

Parker stayed with us Friday night. Macee had Regionals in Corvallis so she and Des left yesterday, Gabe had a class in Portland this morning and was going down after that. Parker had pictures and a game this morning. He got on base by walk and was thrown out stealing 2nd. They lost 5-4, but led the game until the 6th inning, it was a good game. He said he is starting to like baseball a little better now. After his game we went to the mall, then hung out at home until it was time for him to go to the NRA banquet with his Grandpa. He enjoys going to it because there is good food and lots of cool stuff to look at, and the possibility of winning something in the raffles. He posed for me before he left.

Papa is learning

Every morning after breakfast, Papa sits down at the computer with the girls for some Starfall fun, all he has to say is "let me get my glasses" and they know that it is time. They don't want to do the ABC's now, preferring the stories and games. After that, it's bath time, and Papa has gotten quite comfortable with putting them in the tub and washing their hair. He has always helped me, but now he will go ahead and get started on his own. When they get out of the tub, he dresses Ava, I dress Harper, they won't have it any other way... While she was in the tub today, Harper noticed an owee on her knee from falling down outside yesterday. So after they were dressed, Papa put a bandaid on it and then put one on her baby's knee, too. Both she and Ava were very serious about the whole process.

Charb surprised us and came up to get the girls this afternoon. We got a kick out of watching them dance around to music on his phone, they really seem to like hard rock.

Twins are funny

Twins are really so entertaining, and this is such a fun age to watch them grow and develop. Our little DynamicDuo, have developed such funny little likes and dislikes. Harper likes things just so. She chose the blue highchair as hers, prefers the orange-topped sippy cup, and always wants to wear the same bibs. Ava also is particular about the bibs. They play a lot of pretend nowadays, always putting their stuffed animals and babies in the highchairs and pretending to feed them. Or they will go in the playroom and play at the dollhouse with the little dolls and Barbies. Harper is also very independent outside, she has mastered going up and down stairs, even the high ones at Alan's shop, she would not let Papa help her go down them today, but she was right, she could do it by herself. She insists every day on sitting on the big girl swing, doesn't want to be helped, she can do it herself, and get off it by herself. Ava loves to run and is fast at her little side-skip move she does. They both continue to love to hunt for rocks, the bigger the better. Rielee and Parker stayed with us for a couple of hours tonight. Parker spent his time pressure-washing the basketball court and then shooting hoops. He has been practicing lots lately and is getting better every day. Rielee and Auna dug up 4 worms for Rielee's collection, and then we played with Play-Doh.

Separation anxiety

Seems like adjusting again after spring break is going to take a little while for Ava and Harper. They are very nervous if either Papa or I leave the house. Today Papa went to town for an hour, they cried when he left and when he got back it was like a love fest, they kept hugging and hugging him, even hanging on to his legs when he put them down. Then when we took them back to Charb, Harper cried and wouldn't let go of me. Thankfully, we got them outside a couple of times again today, still windy enough to require hats on though.

Auna and Ava

They were so happy to see Auna and Parker after school. Auna came in and read several books to them before it was time for them to go home.

We went to the Rocket's doubleheader in Ridgefield after meeting Charb there, they split, losing the first game 2-1 in 9 innings, winning the second 4-0.

Back in the swing of things

We missed having Ava and Harper so much over spring break and couldn't wait to see again this morning, but when we brought them in the house-they didn't want anything to do with us! It was awful. Wouldn't sit on our laps, wouldn't come to us, wouldn't even make eye contact with us. They were thrilled, however, to see Big Dog, Baby, and the rest of the toys. It was a good half an hour before they started to warm up to us. Then they wanted to play in the playpen, and started laughing when I played peek-a-boo with them. Whew! When Rielee showed up before school, they were very excited to see her. We had two chances today to take them outside, Ava wanted Papa to swing with them.

Rielee had her first t-ball game tonight. She did a good job. She is learning to bat left-handed, just like her sister. I think she had the most fun playing in a mud puddle that was close to where she was fielding.

We're lonely

This is Rielee in April '07, at about the same age as the twins are now. This rhodie was blooming, as it always does in late March/early April. It isn't blooming this year, not even close. I called Kelly today, Papa got on the other phone, just to check in, and, well, actually to hear Ava and Harper-even though they don't talk on the phone yet, just hearing them playing in the back ground was so nice. This has been the longest week without them around. Rielee's caterpillers came in the mail today. She was disappointed though, because for some reason she thought I had ordered 10, and she only got 5. She is stuck on 10 of everything, she wanted 10 chickens and 10 goldfish, too.

Too quiet

It was a very quiet day without the twins, too quiet.

But Rielee was over and we made breakfast together before I took her to school, she even got our aprons out. I think she kind of enjoyed having me to herself, although she really misses the "babies" as she still calls them.

After Papa picked her up from school, we met Des in Longview for Rielee's first Spanish lesson. She is taking them through the Parks and Rec dept. and said she really liked it.

I had to laugh when Papa took this picture of us, I previewed it and said I thought I looked old, Rielee looked at it and said "yeah, you really do look old Grandma".

Friday

We took the girls out for a ride in their cars today, but they didn't want to stay in them for long. I suggested we take a walk but then they got distracted by the stepping stones. We count them as they walk on them, and they went up and down that trail about 20 times. We got a package today and Papa gave the girls some of the peanuts to look at. I showed them how to lick them and stuck one on my forehead first, which got me some weird looks. Then I put some on their foreheads and they thought it was really funny, but they didn't want to do it themselves.

In the afternoon, we took them back to Kelly at the high school and Harper made a bee-line for an old keyboard she spotted under a table. Pretty soon she was packing it around like she had a real treasure.

Next week is Evergreen School District's spring break, we are missing them already.