Two toddlers helping make Rice Crispy treats equals one big mess!!!

Photos

Sometimes this blog is simply a way to share some cute photos. This post is no exception. The dresses have little lady bugs all over them (that's my nickname for my children) and they are just too cute. Courtney is leaning into Kennedy - she's not THAT much small than her sister.

Kennedy and Courtney with their handsome grandpa.

Kennedy in the middle of some groovy dance moves.

Courtney entranced by "Diego" on television.

New swimsuits

Today's post is brought to you by the letter "M" M stands for Mommy, Me or our favorite word, Mine

We got new swimsuits for all the girls. Janna was too busy running to let me take a picture. The babies were a little more accommodating. They were also trying out some new tricks.

I'm the girl in a box

My family is a varied thing. If you were married to someone, we keep in touch. If you are a good friend of the family, we keep in touch. Family is family, we don't care if it's blood relatives or not. This is one of the things I've loved about my life and I've passed this on to my children.

My brother in law Bill fits right into this. He's also big on family. My girls love their uncle Bill and he does a great job of loving them in return. His father lives in Ohio but comes to visit on occasion. My girls now have an adopted grandpa to dote on. Last time he was here Janna spent most of the visit cuddled up with him talking away.

Bill Sr. came for a visit recently. Since it was his birthday we made him a cake while Tina & Bill took him to dinner. They got here kind of late so the twins missed him. Since Janna helped make the cake she decided to wait up for him. Once here she was really excited to see him. We get out the cake to eat and David says he's worried because its so late and Janna is about to eat chocolate. We let her anyways. She ate and then started playing. We're all sitting at the table talking when we notice Janna has gone pretty quiet. We go over to the box Janna was playing in and this is what we find.

Noise

Kennedy was being fussy outside and started whining at me. When I tried to calm her down or talk to her she said, "Mommy, no. I don't want to hear any noise!"

I guess she told me.

Advice

At the park I met two other twin moms today. My girls were playing when one got there. She glances over at my girls and says, "oh good, you're not one of those moms who always dress their kids alike." I started laughing while thinking she didn't get a good look at my girls. She then noticed they were dressed alike but different colored shirts. So she says, "well coordinated is okay." I told her 95% of my girls clothes matched completely, 4% coordinated with the occasional 1% that didn't match at all. Some of their clothes even match their big sister.

The whole while I'm thinking, why do you care? These are my children. There's been several instances lately where people felt the need to give me their opinion as if I care or need to know. Why is that? Do you think it's going to change my mind or make me do things differently? Am I hurting you? If so by all means tell me. Otherwise, I don't care. People who love and care about me, that's completely different. Virtual strangers - back off.

Go give your opinion to the mom who sat and texted while her son bullied some other boys on the playground until they cried. Who then pulled her sons pants down in front of everyone (not five feet from a bathroom) and let him pee on the grass as several older girls ran away yelling EEEWWWW.

Janna's African Grey Project

Janna has been assigned a project on the African Grey Parrot. She made one out of clay (see the picture) and she colored some pictures of one as well. We wanted her to get a true idea of the animals so we took her to a bird store called "A Parrot's Cove." They told her all sorts of neat things about the birds. Like you can't tell a male versus a female unless you do a DNA test. Sunflower seeds are like giving a baby a snickers bar - major junk food. She also got to hold a few birds. The African Grey Parrot loved her hair and kept trying to eat it. He also loved the sparkles on her shirt.

She also got to hold a macaw. If you listen you can hear the macaw saying "hello" He said, "I love you" but I turned off the camera too soon. Janna had a blast! The twins came but were a little more hesitant about holding the birds. I didn't want them holding them anyway so I was fine with that.

FYI: The clay bird has seeds, leaves and berries as its food.

at the park

The girls had a ball on the bouncy slide. Courtney and Janna stayed in there forever. Kennedy went in if her big sister would help.

Kennedy also got to try her hand on a merry go round.

Shopping girls

When I'm in the store we have a rule, if the girls want to walk they have to hold on to the cart. They are great at it, mainly because the penalty for letting go is you must sit back in the cart. For some reason grandma thought this was amazing that they actually held on the entire time and never let go. Here we are at Costco with grandma as they are "helping" me with the cart.

Kennedy's song

Kennedy loves to sing. While most of the time its songs I've taught her, she enjoys making up her own. This morning I could hear her singing a tune I didn't recognize. I didn't understand all the words although I did catch daddy and button. It's adorable. I love when my girls sing.

Is it naked time?

I'm changing Courtney out of her Sunday clothes into play clothes. Once her dress if off she runs away. I call to her saying come back here so I can get you dressed. She yells at me, "need naked time!!!" Even as I catch her and am struggling to get her dressed she's repeating herself, "need naked time!!"

I do have to admit, I think it's grandma's fault (tee hee). While at grandma's recently she noticed a problem with the shirt the girls were wearing. So she took Courtney's shirt off to mend it. When she tried to put it back on; Courtney said no so she let her run around with no shirt. Now most times when Courtney wants to be naked and I don't let her she tells me, "want grandma"