Favorites at Four

Lucas

Favorite Food: Macaroni & Cheese

Favorite Toy: Silver Surfer, Ironman, Hulk

Favorite Song: ABC & Sail 

Favorite Show: Ninja Turtles &Super Hero Squad 

Favorite Movie: Incredibles (and JackJack Attack) 

Best Friend: Mem  

Favorite thing to do: Play with Hulk   

Favorite color: Blue & Green    

Favorite thing about Daddy: He kisses me 

Favorite thing about Momma: Huggin

Favorite thing about Sister: fightin   (I truly believe he means play fighting/sparring!)

Favorite thing at Preschool: do dinosaurs  

When I grow up I wanna be: a baseball player 

Favorite thing about myself: Skating  

Favorite Lovie: Bear 

Favorite Clothes: My Spiderman clothes  

Favorite vacation: Mt Scott Pool  

Favorite Pajamas: Ninja Turtles  




Abigail:

Favorite Food:  Chicken and Rice

Favorite Toy: My horsey and my bunny

Favorite Song: No one, Glorious, and Heck & Trouble

Favorite Show: Garfield and Curious George

Favorite Movie:  Incredibles

Best Friend:  Isla and Charlotte

Favorite thing to do:  Play with my zoo

Favorite color:  Green and Pink

Favorite thing about Daddy: Hugging

Favorite thing about Momma: Kissin

Favorite thing about Brother/Sister:  Dancing

Favorite thing at Preschool: play with Isla and Charlotte

When I grow up I wanna be: Donut delivery (this stems from a Curious George episode ;) )

Favorite thing about myself:  Playing a puzzle by myself

Lovie: Whitey

Clothes:  my ice cream shirt

Favorite vacation: the hotel

Pajamas:  heart jammies



And now they're four...

Yesterday, our twins turned FOUR YEARS OLD.

 

I know.

 

Came up quick, didn't it?

 

I'm actually not one to say it "flies by", because...well... I don't really feel like it does most the time. But suddenly looking at my Big Kids...no longer babies, no longer toddlers...I'm feeling like it's been an instant.

 

We had their party the Saturday prior to their actual birthday, and perhaps some day I'll get around to posting about it, but today I wanted to show you yesterday. Luke and Abbey's actual 4th birthday ;).

 

Dave and I got up before them and hung streamers and balloons around. They didn't know what to think about that...

 

 

 

 

We let them open their gifts from us...



(Abigail hugging the little white stuffed bunny we got her. Babygirl LOVES stuffed animals these days)

 

 

 



Then the kids helped me make sprinkle pancakes, a birthday tradition around here...

 

 

 

Ab's sportin' her new SuperGirl jammies!

We lit candles and sang Happy Birthday to each birthday kiddo...

 

 

The kids played for a bit and then we got ready to head to lunch at their choice of restaurant. David and I got super lucky, they picked Hopworks. We rarely go out to eat, but when we do it's usually Hopworks. Good food, decent prices, and a kids play area right next to the tables. Everybody wins.

 

I kept trying to get one of my cherubs to take a picture with me. Luke came over to me, but darted back to the train table before the flash even went off. So Dave took one of me alone...ha!

 



 

 



I had also told the kids they could pick where ever they wanted to go that day.

 

I should have specified they needed to agree on the same place.

 

Luke wanted to go the Aquarium, and Abbey to the Zoo.

 

Of course, right?!?

 

And David had a convention he needed to attend that afternoon, so I was solo parenting. In the Spirit of Birthdays, I said we'd do both =). (we have memberships to both, so they were both no cost that day)

 

It was raining a bit at the Zoo, but we had fun!

 



 

Our little Ham ;)...

 



(can you see the tiger in the back there?)

After we'd seen everything we wanted to see at the Zoo, we headed across town to the Aquarium.

The kids loved the touch pool...

Giant eel...

Jellyfish!

 

Both kids touched sting rays, and eventually worked up the nerve to touch the baby sharks and puffer fish...

 

Abbey has never met an animal she doesn't love. She once threw a 7 minute fit because I off handedly told her she could never have a pet squirrel in the house. True story.

So when I asked if she wanted to go in the bird area, she was all over it! 

 

 

Luke was much  more hesitant (me too!), and opted to wait for Sister in the climbing area...

 

 

Abbey made her way over to join him, checking out the boa constrictor on her way...

They climbed and climbed until I finally told them it was time to head home, at which point Luke announced he'd worked up the nerve to go in the bird cage.

 

And so he did...

And he loved it!

 

 

Happy birthday to our amazing, beautiful, hilarious, intelligent, kind-hearted, thoughtful, crazy, strong, AWESOME kids!!

 

We love you all the way to the moon and back. 

Bunk Beds!

In January, we made a big leap in our house...Abigail and Lucas got bunk beds!

We'd been talking about building bunk beds pretty much since we bought the house. We knew space was limited, and they were a great way to maximize some. I'd been checking out beds for awhile now, just trying to decide what I wanted. I knew I wanted a very solid set, as obviously bunk beds double as a climbing structure for two 3-year-olds =). I also knew I wanted the top bunk low, like below my shoulders. I wanted to be able to peak in easily at my sleeping babe =)

I finally picked out a set I liked, and Dave and Uncle Tony created plans, shopped for wood and supplies, and got to work!

The twins were SO THRILLED to watch this process throughout the morning!

Luke testing it out for Daddy...

Pretty excited kiddos!

That morning I took them to Target to pick out sheets for their new beds, since we don't own any twin sized sheets. I told them they could each pick out two sets, and they could pick whatever they wanted. 

We walked down the "Boys aisle" and the "Girls aisle" (pet peeve of mine...whose to say a girl doesn't want Batman sheets? Or a boy Doc McStuffins? Argh) and they each deliberated for a bit before making their final choices.

Ab's ended up going with Hello Kitty and Horses, while Luke chose Spiderman and Toy Story.

They're actually in each others bunks here, but this is the finished (for now) project! We eventually want to paint them, but for now they are sanded, sturdy, and safe =).

David and I worried it might be a battle over who got the top bunk, but the kids actually decided it themselves without a single argument (thankyouJesus). 

Whenever we talked about building the beds, they'd both say "and Lucas will be on the top one, and Abbey on the bottom!". 

We're glad it worked out that way, because I had some legit fears about Ab's being on the top bunk. She is a wicked crazy sleeper! Even though there is siding around nearly the whole top bunk, I just felt uneasy about her crazy sleeping antics. 

Think I'm overreacting? 

We found her -asleep- like this one night...

 

True story.

I think they've each enjoyed having their own little space, and while Luke feels lucky to be on the top bunk (he especially likes to peer out the window from up there =) ), Abbey loves her "cave" down below! She snuggles in with her 3,247 lovies (which never all fit on her little toddler bed) and is so happy.

We've been pleased with how well they've shared their space as well. The rule is, you're not allowed on the other person's bed - in their space- without their permission first. So far, they each seem pretty welcoming =).

This picture is blurry, but I wanted to post it because it's a moment that warmed my heart. 

I heard them up and chatting one morning, but they weren't yet calling for me to see if they could get up. I peaked in on them and found this...

...they were both sitting up on Luke's bunk, watching the outside world, and talking together.

Our babies are growing up.

On raising boys...

I grew up in a house with all girls. Four sisters, to be exact. My husband grew up in a home with two brothers. Each of us was so excited at our ultrasound when we learned we were having one of each - for many reasons - but one of them being that I would get to watch a boy grow up, and Dave a girl.

I wish I could articulate how much fun my son is, but I don't think I'll ever be able to do it justice. Our Luke is many things; brave, tough, smart, handsome, crazy observant, kind, empathetic, witty, private, loyal, curious, sensitive...and most of all FUN.



Luke has tons of energy. Like, A LOT of energy. The boy wakes up in the morning and GOES. Even if he's watching a TV show, he's playing on the side.
He was very young when I recognized I was going to have to be creative about giving him ways to get his energy out. In a 900 sq foot home with a small (SMALL) yard, I was going to have to get used to getting out and about more than I would have liked in order to give him a chance to explore and get his energy out. If he doesn't get the chance to do so, he tends to make naughtier choices ;).


 It's better for all of us to get out and play where there is room to run. It's an important part of childhood, and we're lucky to have so many opportunities around us. But some days we can't fit it in, or we just need a day at home, or someone's under the weather, etc. Some days we just have to spend the whole day at home. On those days, Luke finds the funniest ways to get his energy out...

Like having me move the coffee table and running circles in the living room...




Last night he was running from the laundry room door into the living room and jump kicking the chair & 1/2. He did this about ten times (complete with Ninja headband on, naturally) and then turned to Dave and said "Daddy, I'm just a little bit trying to break the chair"
It was hilarious.


And he is SUCH a Ham. I asked him the other night if he wanted to do something, and he replies "Sure Momma! It would be my pleasure. Momma? 'it would be my pleasure' means 'sure, I'd love to!"
hahaha.






"Need something off the top shelf? I'll get that for ya Momma!"



This boy...



What amazes me most about this boy - what makes me feel so incredibly lucky - is he's just as quick to be gentle. He has such a tender heart, and he is the first to ask why someone is sad or scared. When he plays too rough (it's truly not often, but it happens) he consistently recognizes it himself and always apologizes before being asked. He HATES to hurt anyone!

Sweet boy feeding a baby doll it's bottle =)

 

Pretty much every day I feel lucky that I get to know our Luke. He is SO fun, and such a rich blessing in our lives!

Lately...

We've had such a fun start to 2014. Dave has been on Winter Break from work and we've loved having him home so much!!


I picked up extra hours at work while he was home, so he had lots of Stay-At-Home Daddy time =) - which is so good for all of us.



One day they packed up and headed to the Zoo!

Even though it was a cloudy, damp day, they saw tons of animals out!



My People =)



We've also had lots of fun hanging out at the house, playing with our new toys from Christmas...

What can I say? The boy is serious about his tools.



One of the reasons it's so fun to have Daddy home is he comes up with super fun activities, like teaching a pair of 3 year olds the Art of "Jump Ball"...

I also had them help with house chores, like cleaning the bathroom. They insisted on helping me with the mirror, which they also used as a place to rest their hands for balance...a bit counter productive, but fun ;)

We've played games, like CandyLand and Go Fish. It's fun to have kids old enough to play games! So far, we have one twin who is a gracious loser and one...who needs to work on it a little bit ;)

Today after Church the kids and I went to a birthday party for one of their sweet little classmates. Luke and Abbey had SO MUCH FUN here and completely wore themselves out. I put them to bed at 6:30pm tonight and they didn't fight it at all!

We've also battled some viruses already this year, which made for lots of down time...

...which always makes me grateful for Netflix Watch Instantly.