The Amazing Sarah

I think Sarah is pretty amazing. Everything she does impresses me. Maybe it shouldn't. Maybe she is just typical of her age. I don't know. But I think she's pretty amazing.

This morning, Bethie was going to the washroom, Katie was sitting on the floor next to the toilet "folding" laundry, and I was sitting on a stool telling the twins to hurry up. Sarah peeks her head into the washroom and spots all the action. She races in, slowing down only to grab Bethie's two bears. Then, much to my surprise, she gives the bears to Bethie! I was super de-duper impressed! Not only can she tell the twins apart, but she knew that those bears were special to Bethie.

Later in the morning, Sarah and I were in the kitchen and the twins were sitting on the floor with their noses 6 inches from the television watching "Super Why" (great show). Sarah crawled into the living room. She saw Katie's headband on the floor, picked it up, crawled past Bethie, and gave it to Katie. Amazing!

Fancy Nancy Invades Our Home

The twins got a book from the library called "Fancy Nancy". It's hilarious because Katie could easily pass for Fancy Nancy. She is very into being posh and looking spectacular!

Yesterday, Mum and I bought the twins some summer clothes. They were quite impressed with our selection and immediately declared themselves to be "fancy". They were so pleased that they insisted that I take a picture of them looking fancy before they would leave for daycare. Here are my fancy girls:

Katie had to make sure that the bag of fluffs made it into the picture. Apparently, they are fancy too!

Goin' Green

As of April 22, Loblaws started charging for their plastic bags. At first, I was annoyed. I spend hundreds of dollars a week on groceries and the least they could do is throw in the bags for free. Nope, 5 cents for every bag. I "re-use" these plastic bags. We line all of our garbages with these plastic bags. We change our garbages OFTEN! I have a baby that poops all morning long. The twins are still in Pull-Ups at night. Now, I have to pay for my once free garbage bags?! I must confess, I was very bitter.

I went grocery shopping yesterday. I couldn't help but noticing that the majority of customers had fancy little eco-friendly shopping bags, including my own mother! Pas moi. The cashier asked me if I would like my groceries in bags. "Yes, ma'am" I said, "they make it so much easier considering the incredible volume of food that I will have to haul to the car, and then into my house". I could almost hear the collective gasp of everyone in the store. Then she produced these bags that are absolutely wonderful! They are bigger than the previous plastic bags, and sturdier too! I was thrilled. I told the cashier to not pack my bags so much (she was very stingy with the bags) because I wanted lots of these super bags. To my great disappointment, I only got 14 bags. I will definitely have to try harder next time.

Also, on the Loblaws website, you can print a coupon that allows you to have a free grocery bin if you spend $60 or more this week.I got a free bin! I have already put it to good use. It is acting as a toy box in our kitchen. I'm absolutely loving Earth Week!

Speaking of Earth Week and environmental concerns, does anyone know of a chemical that I can spray into my garden to stop the growth of weeds? Yes, there is several different things that I can do to reduce weeds, but I prefer the Chem Lawn approach.

Our Day

Today was the first day that actually felt like summer. The five of us had a great day. Our objective was to wear the children out. Didn't work (Bethie never tires), but we had fun nonetheless.

My baby at the park.

Katie (left) and Bethie on the swings. Dan will push these kids forever. Very patient man.


Yup, that's BETHIE climbing the monkey bars! That's as high as she got. Monkeys they are not.


Katie - stopping for a quick dance on the way to the beach.

Bethie - dancing her heart out (Bethie started dancing first)

Bethie the Brave (she was on a roll today) dipping her toes in the water. By the time we had left, she was running up and down the beach and in and out of the water.

I thought Sarah might want to get her toes wet. She didn't. That water is pretty darn cold!

We stopped for another ride on the swings and a quick slide (Katie pictured) before we went home.

Our first picnic of the season! Katie is on the left. This is the new picnic table that Mum got for Sarah's birthday. Funny, it's not Sarah's birthday yet (Friday) and she didn't get to use it (she's in her highchair). What a lucky birthday girl!

Last week, I made Dan move a plant that was in the front garden. We never filled the hole as I am going to buy a new plant for that location. Since then, Bethie has been obsessed with filling the hole with water. Please, note the colour of the socks.


Katie (pictured) and Bethie decided to add all the yard rubbish they could find to the water hole. They told me that they were cooking dinner for the bad guys, and cackled at how disgusting it was.

My princesses. Katie (front and center, of course) and Bethie are covered in dirt. You can't really tell how filthy they are from the picture. Check out Bethie's socks now.

Bethie's socks. I know, thrilling picture. But I thought little girls were cleaner than this!


My baby taking a break from trying to walk. Today, she took 4 steps all by herself. She just stood up and walked!

Crappy Counting

We have started teaching the twins basic math skills, specifically addition and subtraction. I will grab the fruit bowl and say "If Katie has 2 apples and Bethie gives her another one, how many apples would Katie have? How many would Bethie have?". We come up with all sorts of things they can add and subtract throughout the day. They are starting to be able to do this basic math "in their heads" (without props to count). We are pleased and proud.

Last night, Bethie needed to use the washroom. Katie and I sat on the floor and waited for her to complete her business. Bethie, realising she had an audience, started to perform. She started singing songs. This was followed by her counting in English and then in French. Katie and I applauded her and told her how clever she was. Wanting to continue the comand performance, Bethie started with her subtraction.

Bethie: If I have 2 poops in my bottom then I poop, how many do I have left?
Katie: ONE POOP!!!
Bethie: (hangs on to the toilet seat, tenses up, grunts, does a poop) Nope, there are zero poops left!

For Sale : Twins

Twin girls ages 3. 98cm and 34lbs. Light brown hair and blue eyes. Perfect working condition, except for wonky eyes (glasses will be provided). Between 7am-5pm, the twins are happy, charming, sweet, considerate, affectionate, and delightful. Between 5pm-10pm, they morph into stubborn, bossy, wilful, tyrannical dictators. Expect food lovingly prepared that remains unconsumed, routines that must be followed precisely (or fits will ensue), and never-ending "good nights".

Blue Bear, Pink Bear, Big Bird, Brown Bear, and a week's supply of fluffs will be provided. No returns or refunds will be accepted for the first 15 years. Not sold individually.

Katie the Beautiful

The other day, in the early hours of the morning, I thought I could faintly hear the pitter patter of little footsteps running around upstairs. I wasn't sure though until I heard the hairdryer go on. I shouted upstairs to the twins asking them to come down. Katie emerged. I asked her what she was doing in the bathroom. She said "I was putting on make-up. I couldn't come down until I made myself beautiful!".

Great. The child has gunked up all my make-up again! Wanting more details, I asked her what kind of make-up she used. She replied "purple". This stumped me as I do not own any purple make-up. I smelled her face, and she definitely had something on it. Although I couldn't see anything, the smell was somewhat familiar.

Hours later, when I finally went upstairs, I saw my "purple make-up" left on the floor. It was my deodorant. Cute.

What Disease?

I have sickly kids. They also seem to be more sick than other kids. For instance, one little girl at daycare will get a cold, my little girl will get strep throat. When strep throat is going around the daycare, my child gets Scarlet Fever. They also get bizarre illnesses, too. Last spring, Bethie got Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. The doctor explained this was a variation of Hoof and Mouth Disease that is present in cattle. I got confused (I just had my C-section and was still drunk with exhaustion) and thought she was saying that my child had Mad Cow Disease. When I asked if Bethie was going to die, it was all the doctor could do to contain her laughter (I was already crying at that point!).

So, I guess it should be no surprise that the twins have just been diagnosed with Fifth Disease. As far as illnesses go, this is a pretty good one to have. The girls don't even realise they are "sick".

It's called Fifth Disease because there are "five classic rash-associated infections of childhood". They are as follows:

1. Measles
2. Scarlet Fever
3. Rubella (German Measles)
4. Fourth Disease
5. Fifth Disease

Really? Who came up with these names? They only needed five names, but bailed on the last two. It cracks me up!

All Dressed Up For The Ball

Last night after daycare, the twins and I were outside playing. When Dan called us in for dinner, both girls raced in and stripped naked. When I asked why they were naked, they informed me that they were going to The Ball because they were princesses. However, every self-respecting princess needs a beautiful gown. The girls had to improvise. Here are the results:


I asked them what they were going to do at The Ball. They replied "Kick it!". They crack me up!

Easter Morning

Sarah - on the hunt for Easter eggs


Success!

The twins get a turn searching for eggs. Katie is on the left and Bethie is on the right.

Katie (left) and Bethie with all their "loot". Don't panic, they will only get a fraction of it. I think that they have already forgotten about their boxed chocolate.

Sarah, being denied Easter eggs, had to find an alternative food source. None of us noticed this happening. When I realised that she wasn't making any noise, I tracked her down. She wasn't pleased to see me!

Learning Disabilities

Since the day that the twins were born, I have been obsessed with the thought that something was wrong with them. I have asked their doctor if they had autism because they seemed a little bit like ...blobs. I asked if their wonky toes would prevent them from ever being able to walk. I repeatedly expressed my concerned over their wonky eyes (turns out I was right about that one!).

From time to time, I create new fears. Dan, being the loyal partner that he is, becomes my greatest ally in the quest to seek out evidence to prove my theories. The latest "scare" came after I read an article in Today's Parent about learning disabilities. After reading two paragraphs on gross- and fine-motor problems, I had diagnosed my children as having a learning disability. There was one sentence that I fixated on "They don't draw; they scribble." My children scribble! Dan and I studied their art work in despair. We just knew that our sometimes angelic angels were going to have hard lives due to this impairment.

Then it happened. One day, Bethie drew a picture of Granny. At the same time, Katie drew a picture of our family.

Bethie's picture, "Granny"

Katie's picture, "Our Family"

Although the likeness isn't "dead on", we are pleased by the artistic genus of our children.

Easter Fun

Dan has a family tradition of decorating hard-boiled eggs and then the "Easter bunny" hides those eggs. He and his brother took great delight hunting these eggs Easter morning. Really! I can only speak for myself (and my brothers, most likely) but I'm sure if my parents hid hard-boiled eggs that I had decorated, those eggs would still be there. My brothers and I did search frantically for the chocolate Easter eggs that were hidden.

Dan wants to continue the tradition of hiding self-decorated Easter eggs. I prefer to hide chocolate eggs. We have decided to do both (actually, Dan decided to hide just hard-boiled eggs and I pointed out that he had made a mistake). The deal is that when the time comes that the children have no motivation to find hard-boiled eggs (and the time will come), I am not going to be the one hunting down the rejected eggs!

However, the twins are only three years old and took great delight in decorating the Easter eggs today. Here are some photos.

Bethie - dying an egg

"Big Sarah" and Bethie - putting stickers on the eggs

Dan and Katie - both insisting that this particular egg is their own to decorate (I had to keep reminding Dan that this was for the children!)



A group shot - Sarah, Dan, Katie, Bethie

Somebody...

The other night at dinner, Katie asked if she could have some chocolate milk. I informed her that she could...after dinner. This did not go over well. This is the conversation:

Katie: I want some chocolate milk now!
Me: After dinner.
Katie: Who is going to get me some chocolate milk?
Me: I will...after dinner.
Katie: Somebody go and get me chocolate milk.

Dan and I ignore her and continue our conversation. She runs from my chair to Dan's, and back again in desperation.

Katie: No one is getting off their chair! Somebody get off your chair and get me some chocolate milk.

Much to her confusion, neither of us moved. In fact, we didn't respond to her at all.

Katie: I don't see somebody standing up to GO GET ME CHOCOLATE MILK!

"Somebody" stood up at this point. Me. But it wasn't to get chocolate milk. It was to plunk our bossy little dictator in her chair!

Just Like Dad

Dan experienced a "traumatic event" as a child. When he was a small boy, he went to the washroom all by himself. After a moment, his parents heard him calling for help. They rushed into the washroom to discover two little arms and two little legs sticking out of the toilet. The rest of him had fallen into the toilet! I have heard this story many, many times. I've always regretted that his parents did not take a picture.

Last night, Bethie was in a panic to use the washroom before Katie. Not because of any reason other than she didn't want Katie to be first - like always. She raced into the bathroom, climbed up on the stool, and sat on the toilet. In her haste, she forgot to ensure the potty seat was on. It wasn't. She, like Dan thirty some odd years earlier, fell into the toilet. Dan and I couldn't help ourselves. We laughed! However, instead of getting the camera, Dan extracted our 3 year old out of the toilet. Too bad!