Denise! It's still August!

Those were the words from my darling husbands mouth as he's noticed me sneaking the Halloween goodies into our decor. I just can't help it. I saw a couple of trees with golden orange leaves and all the stores have thier witching little goodies out. I found this screen and fell in love with it. Had to have it.

I'm going to Schoo'

Aubrey was delighted to go to school for the first time. She got to be a visitor for the day at Auntie Dani's school. Here she is with their special WuBBy and and a backpack with a change of clothes, and a lunch. She just had this beaming face all day and for the rest of the day. She came home with a report card and had super behavior!

I'm Back!!

Well it's been a long week without our computer. It's amazing how much I missed the silly thing. All I do is simply click on, check some mail, do some blogging' chat with friends and family briefly throughout the day. But those five minutes here and there really molded my days, and it was amazing how much I missed those couple of minutes. It was my brief escape.

So for the last week I found myself standing in the kitchen pacing around for those five minutes of downtime here and there throughout my day, Mmmmm what can I do with all this 'free' time? My house is nice and sparkly clean, I've dusted the ceiling fans, refinished the kids table in the kitchen, stenciled their seats with an appropriate letter. It was an unfinished table and chairs (see old blog posts, I'm sure you can catch a glimpse of it somewhere).

Well I'm back, I have some catching up to do. Stay tuned.

Bunnies, Bunnies, Bunnies

Whitey, brownie, black ears, cotton tail, fuzzy, and Herbert Meninger. These are the bunny names in a Curious George episode. Reagan has seen, seen it and seen it a hundred times. This is her new friend she takes EVERYWHERE, actually there are 6 of them she has named. They are beany babies Grammy B had given to them when they were babies. They have been resting comfortably on a book shelf, then in a basket. Ray found them and with a squeal of delight she gingerly picked each one out, examined them, named them and cradled them in her arms. Here she is giving cotton tail a 'treat'. Her pretend play is so beautiful to watch. She is so gentle and loving with her little critters. Even when we play out side she'll find a frog, a caterpillar, butterfly, or dragonfly and she will quietly get close and examine it and what it is doing. Or she'll tip toe over to me and walk me over, holding my hand. She'll whisper a question about their wings or ask some other inquisitive little questions. She'll then say (loudly) bye bug! Have a nice day!She even pets the frogs when they don't jump away, and grabs the earthworms out of the garden when I'm weeding. She'll put them in a safe place and shout her well wishes to them. Ants on the other hand, don't have a chance! Squashed!

Growing Girls

Oh my word! I was watching my girls the other day and I was realizing how tall the are, and how much they are not babies (well they are but they aren't). I remember holding them and they were so sweet and small, together the weighed no more than 13 pounds! Now time seems to slip by and I realize I need to cut their hair, or pack away some pants that are to short, T shirts that don't fit over their heads.
Edie, I can't seem to keep shoes on her that fit. One day she is a size 2 now she is almost in a 5. I'm assuming it's non-stop until....well forever!
Mom and I are planning to make their invitations for their third birthday! It's amazing how three years have just flown by!

1,2,3

Monkey see, Monkey do, Monkey... do. OK It's official have three, two and a half year olds. It's amazing how Edie wants to keep up with her sisters. She attempts everything, EVERYTHING they do, from pretend playing with baby dolls, going up and down stairs, coloring with crayons, taking big girl showers, going on the potty ! swimming in Aunties new pool and being goofy after tubby time. She is one of them. Granted she doesn't really talk yet, but she understands everything you say to her! She can identify pictures, and she can get her point across without words. She'll either use her scowling eyes, or a shaking head (body) saying yes or no, or she'll take you by the hand and bring you to the fridge point and give the sign for milk.

Ghosts, Ghouls and Goblins

Super cute Halloween material! I've had a great time shopping and digging through the baskets of discontinued prints, you can't beat the price on some of this stuff. So far it's been brights, and pastel baby prints, they are cute and all but I've been drawn into the oranges and fall pallet lately. I found this one sitting right on top. It was a sure sign that fall is right around the corner. We all know how much I love all things Halloween. I'm a flutter with the the earthy smells October brings. I love the indecisiveness I have when it comes to picking out the perfect pumpkin. The rustling of dry corn stalks, and all the glory that nature displays makes my heart smile. Along with that are the ghosts, ghouls and goblins in store front displays that fill me with delight. Seeing a black cat actually makes ME smile. I love all times of year, but this time is truly my favorite. I'm ready to plant some mums, wear a sweater and drink hot coffee again (pumpkin spiced of course). I wanted to share this cute WuBB with all of you, it made me smile and I hope it does the same for you!

Mommy, I'm all gooey...

When it gets eerily quiet you know something is wrong. I entered the kitchen to find Reagan lubing her sisters heads with Daddy's hair gel. This slimy, gooey substance is water resistant. So I cleaned each little head with warm water it seemed to get worse. Aubrey had it in her nose and her ears. Look closely at the pictures you will notice a glob of goo handing from her nose. I wasn't happy but at the same time I kept letting out a chuckle. Aubrey kept saying 'mama are you angry or happy?' Guess I was sending some mixed signals. I cleaned them up and sent them to their corners!! Let the cleaning begin.

So even after washing they were still a little sticky, and ironically Aubrey's hair sprouted a significant statement.

Best Mac & Cheese Ever!!

It's a staple in our house. Growing up I was always a fan of out of the box shells and a packet of an orange cheese like substance that you squeezed out of a foil pouch. Viola dinner is served.

Todd introduced me to the deliciousness of home-made macaroni and cheese. What a difference!

A while back I mentioned that Todd and I had received new pots and pans. A stainless steel collection. My favorite pan is called a saucier. It makes the best cheese sauce. Here is a picture of my creamy, smooth, and hearty Mac & Cheese. Yum. It certainly is not a fat-free meal, more of a comfort food. Sticks to your ribs, and keeps tiny tummies full, well full for a little while. It's amazing how quick kids burn off a plate of pasta.

Reward Center

This is our new 'Reward Center'. I found this pocket system at a Teach and Learn shop in Hooksett. Loved the place!! It was great, I got so many great ideas for the girls, but for now we need to stick to a couple basic skills.

How it works?

As you can see Aubrey has stars with numbers (1-20), Reagan has hearts (1-20), and eventually Edie will have flowers (1-20). Each time they go potty they get a number. They get a smiley face card for using good manners and having good listening. Then finally they get a cupcake card for picking up toys, taking a nap and getting dressed.

These are things we've been struggling with on a daily basis, Now they can see their results, and interact by putting the little cards in each pocket. It's helping us recognize numbers too!
We've been in big girl undies for most of the time, just a diaper at night.

THE REWARD...

a sparkly pencil. They love it. Each night Daddy comes home, looks at the board and comments on the girls day, then he hands out the reward and the girls get to draw with their reward. Then it's set aside in their own special pencil box.

So far so good...

Good Morning Campers

Just after sunrise, and sunset.
The weather was absolutely perfect. The water was warm and we lingered Friday, All day Saturday, and Sunday morning. The girls and I came home to let Todd fish Sunday morning. I know he had been itching to go and it was such a beautiful day. We came home to wash all the linens and towels we had used and we'll go back and pick him up around nap time. I think he was excited to fish solo not having to worry about his babies on the dock or his wife launching the barbie fishing pole into the drink as she attempted to cast with a toddler in her lap. I found the humor in it, he did not.


We had a blast! The girls had a fantastic time as did Todd and I. It was very relaxing and calming, a great escape from the day to day. They girls are at such a great age where we can do things like this for the weekend, and we are always ten minutes from home. We figured out we just need to run the clock out, let them get utterly exhausted, hey isn't that summers are all about.


Swimming with toddlers is a challenge, We used some arm swimmies on the girls and set a rope system so they could keep their feet on the bottom and not go too deep. Of course we sat right at the rope and had our hands on someone at all times, so it was impossible to take any pictures. I turned in early on Sat night. I was up with the girls at 6am, made some coffee and heard this thundering whirl of a helicopter. It's something we have been hearing on a regular basis.



Those of you who live in Goffstown, New Boston, Weare, and Deering may be framiliar with the big orange signs along the side of the road. They say THIRO USA structure, then some numbers. It starts in Goffstown by the Villa with #1 and goes all the way into Hillsborough up to structure #200. I found this info online and thought is was interesting.
PROFILE OF THIRO

Founded in Victoriaville in 1952, Thiro is a general contractor
specializing in the construction and maintenance of electrical transmission
and distribution lines as well as power houses and substations. Thiro's name
comes from its founders, Messrs. Thibault and Roux. The Company serves
primarily the Québec market as well as the northeastern United States.
In Québec, revenues are drawn from Hydro-Québec and engineering firms. In
the US market, the clientele is more diversified and includes several public
utilities companies. Thiro expanded its operations into the United States and,
in 1987, founded a subsidiary-Thiro USA Inc.-in New Hampshire. Thiro employees
and equipment were then assigned to it. Thiro USA specializes mainly in the
construction and maintenance of electrical transmission and distribution
lines. It operates in the New England states: Connecticut, Maine,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont as well as in New York
and New Jersey. The territory targeted by JJL Déboisement Inc. (a division of
Thiro Ltd.) is principally the Outaouais region, the Hautes-Laurentides and
Abitibi.
The Company actually has 350 employees: 100 at Thiro, 75 at JJL
Déboisement Inc. and 175 at Thiro USA.
According to André Laramée, President and CEO, "The decision to buy
Thiro, a highly efficient company, is due among other things to the fact that
Thiro has developed recognized expertise in a primary economic sector that is-
moreover-about to begin a growth cycle. Beyond that, these two key elements
fit perfectly with CVTech Group's investment policies and criteria."

For more information go to
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2005/09/c8328.html

or type THIRO USA into any search engine. Pretty interesting.

Therefore the helicopters we have noticed at the lake and over our house for the last two weeks are bringing in new utility poles. It was interesting watching them fly over the lake last weekend. It was even more interesting to see it hover right over our little cove and drop these enormous utility poles with precision. I snapped a couple of pictures. The girls were waving and saying 'Hi Grammy B!!'

The Bottom Line

Here is a potty training update for all of you that have been asking what it's like to potty train twins. I'll start by saying ugh, not only have I been gradually potty training them, but there are two of them and I have an inquisitive toddler that has to be where they are.
Let's see Edie is 15 months old. I've been working on it for about 18 months. I introduced it to the twins during the last few months of my pregnancy with Edie. They took on to it really well, then drifted away from it for a bit while Edie was having tummy/bummy problems.
Recently, with the healthy digestion of the littlest tummy, the twins have been so good about going and they have been in big girl pants right up to bedtime. Even in their swimsuits they are pretty good about getting in to the bathroom before an accident happens.
I will admit, I did use a food reward, I used gummy bears. It worked like a charm! They were willingly going on there own all throughout the day. Hooray! Here is a little glimpse, twins come two at a time, so do their potty habits. It has been parallel since day one, I know if one has to go the other usually does too; so there is the first good thing.
The second and third good thing, I'll only have 1 child in diapers. Which is how it is all day. So I'm not burning through a pack of diapers a day! This is great, we've even gone on a few adventures in big girls pants. We usually go out to the lake house in big girl pants, and come home in big girl pants. We even went to Target (used the public rest room there) and back.

Cheeky

It's the begining of August, we've had a stretch of exceptionally nice weather, and every time the sun shines I don't mind seeing these cheeks. She is just so dang cute, coming or going!