Soothing sisters

 Ava and Harper might fight like cats and dogs at times, but let one of them get hurt, and the other one is right there to try to sooth her.  This morning, Harper suffered a Grandma-inflicted injury (I accidently caught some of her tummy skin in her sleeper zipper after she went potty-ouch!) and Ava went right to her with her little dog and quickly got her smiling again.  Their bond is so stong.

Blazers game

I had the best time last night at the Blazers game.  Thanks to Parker for taking me. 

Last fall, Parker and I were talking basketball.  I told him about a time when his Dad was little, the Blazers were in the playoffs, 1976, I think,  Laury and I, his Dad, Charb and another little girl I was babysitting, waited in line at the Coliseum all day for tickets, but when we got close to the ticket booth, they sold out.   And all these years, with Papa hating the Blazers, I've never had the opportunity to go to a game.  So he told his parents that he had an idea of what I might like for Christmas and they got me Blazer tickets.   

It couldn't have been a better game, they were down by 21 points, came back and won it at the buzzer.  Parker did not stop grinning the entire time we were there.  We went early and sat courtside to watch the players warm up, that was fun.  It was all so much fun, and we had quite an adventure finding the car afterwards, did a lot of walking before we found the right parking garage and we were just about as happy finding the car as when the Blazers won the game!  What a great night.

 

Lexi v'ball, girls brownies

 We went to LCC this morning to watch some of Lexi's tournament.  This picture of Luke was the only good one I took while we were there.  We left after her second match and took Ava and Harper with us to spend the night.  Papa went back in the afternoon to watch the rest of the tournament, Lexi's team took 3rd, he forgot to take a camera so no picture of Lexi today. 

I had a busy afternoon with the girls.  After naps, Rielee came over and they frosted and decorated heart brownies.  Ava was very happy because she loves chocolate, Harper doesn't like it but she got over being upset when I said we would take a crazy ride in the red car and deliver some to everyone in the neighborhood.  Then she got busy and decorated one for Alan and Auna.  Ava frosted two and ate one, Rielee decorated the rest.  We found Alan in his shop and the girls had a great time  playing with all the magnets he has on his filing cabinet.  After that we did a couple of Valentines crafts which included some painting, which is always a great time because they love it so much.

Parker's 1st basketball game

Parker, #20, at the start of his first 7th grade game.  They beat Stevenson 55-13, Parker scored 18 points, had several rebounds and steals.  A great start to the season.

Big girls

 They both climbed up in my chair this afternoon and Ava gave me exactly 2 seconds to take a picture, no luck there but Harper cooperated.  Ava was anxious to get back to her books.  She loves books and gets them out everyday to sit on the couch and read.

  We heard all about the 'big girl" beds they got at home this weekend, they are so proud of them.  They said that Daddy "made" them, but I am pretty sure he just assembled them.  Kelly sent this picture of them both in Harper's bed. 

Will's birthday

Today was Will's 19th birthday.  Emmy made him a special "healthy" peanut butter/banana pie with a crust made of nuts.  It was really yummy. 

Parker got to go to  El Compadre with the Dolan's for Will's birthday dinner. 

 

Parker is spending the weekend with us since the rest of the family is in Eugene for a volleyball tournament.  He spent Friday night at the Dolan's, he was so anxious for Will to get home (and Emmy and Jason, too, of course) so he could go out and shoot hoops with him.  He enjoys the time with Will and said they have some good talks. 

This morning we went to town but didn't stay for long since Parker and Papa were anxious to get back home to shoot hoops and watch football.  Parker went to open gym in the afternoon, then went back to the Dolan's to hang out with Will. 

 

Early risers

Ava and Harper sure surprised us this morning when they decided to get up at 5:30!  Harper might have been cold since she wanted to sleep in her lighter pj's instead of a sleeper.  We had a good morning, they took a really long bath and played with legos with Papa for a couple of hours.  Rielee came over right after they went down for naps, she stayed home today, she had been feeling better and went to school Wed. and Thursday but basketball practice last night took a toll on her.

 

She camped out on the floor watching the Lion King until they woke up, and then perked up considerably after they all had lunch.

Rielee's blanket was their "dance floor" and they took turns putting on shows and dancing together to the Kidz Only music channel. 

Thursday

Harper eating popcorn and Ava playing with ponies at the girls game.  They were really good there, Jillian and Bridget were there, too, so they had someone to play with.  Rielee was there but she didn't feel very well.  They played with Jillian and Bridget in the morning also.  On the way down to Aunt Cathy's, I mentioned maybe just dropping them off to play for awhile but Ava wasn't ready for that, so I stayed.  After a little while though, she told me to go home.  Cathy said the kids played great together and got along well. 

 

Babies/measuring

Harper took this picture of all the babies -  Rielee's baby, Harper's black (haired) baby, Ava's Princess baby and Rielee's Panda outfit baby

We were measuring their height  - Ava is 38" tall, Harper 37", then they had to measure us.  We had a busy afternoon, we took them to the feed store to pick up some suet cakes, then we went to the bakery.  They picked out sugar cookies but didn't like them very much since the frosting was hard, they helped Papa finish his cinnamon twist instead.  When we got home, Rielee called and invited them over to play.  They played at her house, and then she came back with us.  Rielee wanted to make a snowman picture with the girls so they had fun doing that.  The twins were sad to see her go.

Cupcakes

After their bath this morning, we made cupcakes and little cakes. As they were decorating them,  Harper decided she wanted to give her cake to Alan, and Ava wanted to give hers to her Mom. When they left to deliver Alan's, Harper asked Ava to carry it, but just as they got to Alan's porch, the cake slid off the plate onto the ground. They came back in the house and I asked what happened, Papa said "Ava air-mailed it", then Harper stomped her foot, crossed her arms, and said "Ava mailed it!"and started to cry. Ava felt terrible, so I asked her if she wanted to give her cake to Alan instead, I told her that her Mom would understand and it would make Harper happy, so she agreed.  Harper also had one little green cupcake left, so she took that for Vera.  I wrapped them up tight, Harper carried hers very carefully and Papa carried Ava's cake until they got to the door, then she handed it to Vera, since Alan was gone to town. 
 Before the start of the Rocket girls game tonight, Macee was surprised when she was given a ball and honored for scoring over 1,000 points in her career.   Way to go Macee!

More snow

We found Ava and Harper a little tent to play in, they were happy when Papa looked inside to see how things were going.  It snowed today for about 4 hours, it didn't amount to much but it was enough to excite the girls.  They couldn't wait to get outside and play in it after their naps. 

They were making little snowballs and throwing them at each other and us, and Harper even made a couple of snow angels. 

 Rielee was home sick today with a fever and sore throat, Papa and I took turns staying with her after Macee left for school but then Gabe decided to work from home so he could be with her.  

Rielee's first basketball game

Rielee played her first basketball games today.  She did really well dribbling and on defense.  Her team is made up of mostly 3rd graders, none of whom have ever played before.  They played more experienced teams and got beat big time.   Rielee was very upset about losing, plus she didn't make a basket, and in the second game she got hit on the cheek and came out crying.   Kind of a rough start to her career!

Bridget's visit

Harper and Bridget

We had a busy morning.   First, Laury and David came over with 2 little bakery sacks for the twins, each with half of a maple bar in it.  They were sure excited to get those.  Then, Cathy brought Bridget up to play, the girls got along really well.  Bridget was happy and busy, checking out the toys.  They played with the kitchen a lot and did lots of cooking.   

Snowman pix

No snow today, but we made snowman pictures anyway.

Legos

The twins were in full motion all day.  Papa was playing legos with them this morning and Harper would run with the little airplane into the kitchen and back,  yelling "coming in for a landing!" and then zoom it under his legs, I guess that was the runway.  

Ava's cheek/Lexi and Auna volleyball

We went to Vancouver this morning to watch Lexi's club team play. This is  Ava's cheek  after
Dexter bit her yesterday.  She was over being  upset about it, just said Dexter "scratched" her. 
Dexter will be moving to a new home without little kids.

Lexi played all around, she's never played front row before but she did great and  had
several aces, too.  Her team won 2 matches while we were there.

After a trip to Costco, we made it back to Longview in time to watch Auna's team play and they ended up
winning their tournament.  Auna played great, too. 

Blanket forts

Thursday:

The girls played in their blanket forts all morning, and their babies spent most of the day there.  They helped me make cinnamon and dinner rolls, and we washed Ava's little dog in a bowl in the sink.  They got a kick out of that, but Ava worried when I put him in the dryer, she said she was afraid he would "break up". 

Ava in her blanket fort

Playing in the snow

 The girls couldn't wait to get outside and play in the snow this morning.  As soon as the sun came out, they hurried to get all their gear on since Rielee was afraid it would all melt away.  The trees were starting to drip a little, but there was still plenty of snow to play in.  Harper went down the slide first and said her bottom got really cold.  They tried swinging, too, but the swings had a couple inches of packed snow on them, so they didn't stay on for long.

Ava and Harper insisted on switching up their gloves, no matching for these two.  Auna came over today to see them and she was wearing mismatched socks, as were the girls, they were so proud that they were just like her!