Happy Thanksgiving!

 On Monday, Izzy's class celebrated Thanksgiving by inviting parents to bring in a dish to share and then stay and eat.

 Before the onslaught.

 Choices, choices.  I made mom's fruit pizza which was a hit.  The bread and desserts where located in another area which was a good idea.  I don't think the kids would have ate their lunch first if they saw those.

Story time while setting up.

On The Move

 There have been a few days recently with great weather.  That has let us get outside for a break.  Since the babes are learning that they can get around quicker by walking, I brought out their walkers while Izzy scooted on her scooter.

 Freedom!  I'm much quicker than my brother.  That could also be that my walker is easier to push outside.

 I love to walk.  At one point, I headed in the opposite direction towards the street and was upset when mommy pulled me back.

Izzy is getting pretty good at her scooter and is now learning to use the break... when she remembers.

 A typical day at my house with pre-walkers.   I had one push toy and thought I could get away with only one.  Then I thought I could get a 2nd one for Christmas.  But I quickly learned I need two and now... Micah & Victoria seem to know which one is which and there are fewer melt downs.

Random Fun

 Just because I think they are so stinking cute in overalls.  Thanks Oma!

 I was washing the bedding and took out the mattress to let Izzy & the twins play on it.  At some point, I came back into the room only to find Izzy made a bed for her stick horse.  I just wander what goes through her mind sometimes.

 While the twins were making a mess of the kitchen with Nala's food, Izzy decided her My Little Pony needed a bath.  She was pretty busy at the sink washing her, putting conditioner in her hair and rinsing her.  I think I remember Diane and I doing the same things with our Barbie dolls.

 For you Opa, the twins love Izzy's play kitchen.  Izzy may have 'outgrown' playing in it as much.  But the twins are starting to use it.  I was thinking of taking it apart and using that space for something else.  Now I think it is staying until they 'outgrow' it as well.

Over the years I've enjoyed Izzy helping me in the kitchen whether it was washing dishes, cooking or just watching me.  The tower has been integral in that.  Now Izzy has to share.  Two can fit in pretty good.  Three is definitely a crowd but doable... at least for now.

Bowling Party

 One of Izzy's classmates had her 4th birthday party at a local bowling alley.  Bowling in New England is a bit different than what I grew up with.  It is candle-pin bowling.  The balls are small so good for little ones.  The pins are skinny as well.  Izzy had a good time and didn't do too bad.  No strikes but averaged knocking down 6-7 each frame.  You get to throw 3 times though so that leads to better scores.

 Izzy and her classmate Shea bowling at the same time.  Not too bad aiming.

 Waiting our turn was a bit of a struggle.  That always leads to silliness with friends (Shea & Liam).

 A friend caught this picture of Izzy and I.  It is one of my favorites.  I think our faces say it all.

 In action....

Showing off our party favors like true fashionistas.

The Evolution of Trouble

 Life with twins is truly a journey of observations.  There are times I want to pull my hair out and at the same time just sit back and watch.  Today was one such day.  While putting things away in the kitchen, Micah took a wooden spoon out of the dishwasher and proceeded to use it almost as intended, stirring Nala's food.  That caught Victoria's interest.  I was able to catch pictures documenting their evolution into making a mess.  Mind you, the white bowl is Nala's water bowl.

That was one happy boy despite being soaking wet.  Izzy came in to help clean up.  She had a little brush and dust pan.  I took a broom and swept everything together.  The problem was those two simply chased us around messing up our piles before we got a chance to pick them up.

Happy Halloween!

 Drum-role.......  Izzy finally made a decision to be a My Little Pony for Halloween this year.  If anyone else is inundated by them, you know there are 6 main ponies, all girls, and one dragon who is a boy.  Izzy wanted to be Rainbow Dash.  She wanted Victoria to be Twilight Sparkle and Micah to be Spike.  I've attached pictures of what they look like for reference.

 My Rainbow Dash

She wanted to make sure everyone noticed that her costume also had the cutie mark on her bum.

 My Twilight Sparkle

 My Spike

 Every year, Izzy's school has a costume parade to the park and then there are snacks with Wayne making a musical appearance.  Unfortunately this year, it was a bit misty so the party was inside each classroom.  By the time I was done with Izzy, the toddlers were all out of their costumes because they were getting too hot.

 We went to my friend Kiran's house to trick-or-treat as we did last year.  Micah & Victoria came for a bit as well.

 Here are the girls out getting all sorts of candy.  Izzy really came home with a gold mine.  This year she really understood how to get the candy without prompting.  Leelah & her ran ahead of us most of the night to get to the next house.

 Back at Kiran's house, her youngest Vishal and the twin had more fun exploring.

It was a Happy Halloween for us!

Double Trouble

As Micah and Victoria gain skills, their mischievousness is coming out.  Recently, I was exchanging all the kids summer clothes for their winter ones and putting them in a Rubbermaid bin to take into storage.  Micah & Victoria got a kick out of pulling out all the clothes.  I don't know how many times I picked them all up only to have them do it again.  I'm sure this is just the beginning.

Happy 36th Birthday

About 2 weeks ago was my 36th birthday and Izzy wanted to make sure we got a cake to celebrate.  She accompanied me to pick it out and decided that the Barbie cake was perfect.  Before we dug in, I managed to get a family pic of all of us.  There were many attempts to get everyone to look at the camera.  In the end, the twins were more excited about the candles so I settled for this pic of their faces showing that.  Izzy was disappointed when she discovered that the Barbie was only half of doll.  She then asked if we could make a cake with a whole Barbie.  Not sure I want to try that feat.

It's Halloween Costume Time!

After weeks of having Izzy change her mind on what she wants to be for Halloween, she finally made her decision... and that of her brother & sister.  So this past weekend I headed out to the fabric store to get all the materials to make their costumes.  Here is my cart which a lot of people stared at as I wheeled around the store.  Now all I have to do is fine the time to finish these costumes.  Instead of spoiling the surprise, I figured it would be fun to have you all guess at what she wants to be given this amount of fabric color choices!

Izzy's 1st Homework Project

 Our first assignment was to decorate a box that can stay at school.  Each week 2 of Izzy's favorite items will be housed here for safe keeping.  I'm assuming they mean her artwork or other crafts.  We stopped at a local craft store and Izzy picked out the paper and decorations.  She's big now into super girls and so this paper was perfect.  I thought it was hilarious and tried to name them all.  There were 3 I still don't know.  My favorite was She-Ra and Cheetara from ThunderCats.

We even had to decorate the inside with sticky hearts.

Here is the final product... with alot of help from mommy.

Haircut Time

 This weekend we headed to the hair salon to get Micah's hair cut.  It was the first one and some fun since Izzy didn't get her first haircut until she was almost 2.5 years old.  He did well but wanted to always turn around to see what the lady was doing.  So that I had to hold him.  I wasn't expecting to be in the pictures otherwise I may have had my hair done at the same time!

 Ta Dah!!! Aren't I handsome!

 Of course big sister needed to have her hair cut as well.... literally.  She got gum in her hair earlier that day.  Instead of trying home remedies, we just gave her a trim.

Only a few inches shorter but still long enough to braid which is her current favorite hair style.

1st Day of School

 Earlier this month Izzy started her new school... Pre-K!  She moved to a completely different building.  She enjoys being dropped off without her brother & sister since they are dropped off first.  We have to walk the stroller to the back off Micah & Victoria's school to leave it there for pick-up time.  I guess Micah knew his sister was no longer downstairs in preschool because we found him looking out the window when we were back there.  It was almost like he was saying... take me with you, please!

 Inside on on the first day of the week, the kids are suppose to draw a picture of what they did over the weekend.  The teachers then help them write this on the bottom.  By the end of the year they are encouraged to be writing some of this themselves.

On the way out the door we found this little guy hanging out.  Izzy immediately knew that this creature was the same one her cousin Avery had after our last visit to the farm.  Sometimes her memory is amazing.

Micah & Victoria's 1st B-day Party

 This weekend we were able to celebrate Micah & Victoria's birthday with a few friends.  We had invited over Izzy's old friends, Leelah & Jonah.  They all now have younger siblings so there were 2 generations together to have some weekend fun.

 I think this face says it all..... I love playing with my cake!

 This is the face Victoria gave right before bursting out crying because big sister shoved my hand into the frosting.  Don't you know I HATE things that are wet or sticky!

 It was so fun to watch Micah.  Izzy & Victoria were alike... not wanting anything to do with frosting.  He is my only baby who enjoyed his 1st birthday cake.

The older kids got cupcake which they were excited to eat as well.