Little Miss Chatterbox

Miss Madison has recently become a Little Miss Chatterbox. She's constantly talking and it's almost always amusing. The last couple of days, she's been talking about walking in the rain to go bowling and when I ask her about how she's going to pay for it, she talks about going to work to get money. When I told Joe about it, he told me that I should try to get it on video but I honestly didn't think she'd repeat it almost exactly the same as she did the first time!! Here's a short clip! BTW, I LOVE how animated she is when she talks! Oh and you'll hear Lexi chime in that she wants to go too!!

Can You Guess?

Can you guess where we've spent the majority of our time the last couple of months?

If you guessed outside, you were right! Since the beginning of May, we've spent almost every nice day outside for at least an hour or two - sometimes the entire day! Nate has a pair of Nike sandals that he wears every single day - can you tell? His legs and ankles are super dark brown...even his toes are nice and bronzed!! But the centers of his feet are bright white! It cracks me up every single time I look at them! The girls are nice and brown as well but because they often wear no shoes, they don't have the drastic tan lines. (Don't worry moms, he wears sunscreen!)

Summer School

Nate officially starts the summer program on July 7th but he loves doing school work so much that each day we've been doing worksheets. I've found tons of worksheets that I can print from the net and we have a couple of workbooks we've been using. He gets SO excited each day when it's the girls naptime because that's when we sit down together and do them. He gets quite impatient if I don't have something already prepared and he has to wait.

Here's a short video clip of him doing one of the worksheets last week. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABE!

I finally asked my sister-in-law if it was ok if I could post pics of my nephews here and she said sure. Just in time too since yesterday was Gabriel's 2nd birthday. Happy Birthday Big Guy! Since we live halfway across the country and I couldn't get pictures on his big day, these are some that we took in May when we visited. He has the brightest blue eyes ever!!

Fun With A New Lens

Joe has a couple of weddings to shoot this summer and one of them is on Saturday. He's been eyeing a new lens for a while and finally decided on buying a Sigma 10mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens. The thing is AWESOME! While I haven't had the chance to really play with it yet, here are a few shots that Joey took. I love the effect and I can't wait to see some of the photos he gets at the wedding on Saturday.

Maddie

I love that it makes her head look huge and her body tiny!!
Nate playing outside in his pjs before bed! If you click on the photo, you can really see how the edges are curved - the awesome effect of the lens.
Funny face Nate!

A Change from Photos of Kids

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, since Nate has started school, the improvements that he's made are remarkable. I give a lot of credit to the teachers/therapists that he works with at school and I like to give them a gift at the end of the year that shows (at least I hope it does) how much I appreciate all their hard work throughout the year.

This year I decided to do Teacher Survival Kits. They're a bit cute-sy but I really liked the idea. I altered Chinese Takeout Boxes from Michaels and liked how they came out (it was my first attempt). Inside, I put things like a travel size pack of kleenex (with a tag that said "To dry the tears...yours and theirs"), a pack of Starburst (with a tag that said "For when you need a BURST of energy"), a glue stick (because you're the GLUE that holds the class together), etc. and then topped it off with a GC to Target. I also handmade each of them a thank you card.

Last year, I made bookmarks using some of Nate's artwork from that year and put his picture and the year on it. This year, I put his artwork on the front of a card and then had him write the message on the inside of the card (with me telling him how to spell the words). Then we included a couple of pictures.

Nate's thank you card (front)

I had this scrapbooking paper so I put some on the inside of the card so it was easier for him to keep straight lines. Worked great!!
And these are the survival kits.

A Massachusetts State

Bird Sighting in NH

When I moved to New England 10 years ago, I had my first learning experience quite early on. The Massachusetts State Bird is not a feathery friend but a middle finger that usually flies quickly from your vision while in a moving car. :) And so, for your viewing pleasure...the Massachusetts State Bird...

Natey givin' his momma the bird!

And another without the bird present...
And a disclaimer I should've put on here earlier this week...you're going to get so sick of seeing photos of the kids. Now that summer is officially here, we'll be spending tons of time outside and while the kids play, I tend to pass the time by snapping shots. Most of them corny and technically not great, it's what gets me through the long days! :) Soooooooooooo here are some more!

And a lovely photo of the girls feet...can you tell which girl is which? LOL Just kidding! Maddie's on the left, Lexi the right.

Maddie "dead-heading" my petunias for me. Sometimes she got a bit overzealous and picked some that weren't quite dead. But that's ok...she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Oh yes...the bubble machine, which I thought was long-time dead due to overfilling with bubbles by the children, was brought back to life by a new set of batteries. So guess what the children have been doing this week? You guessed it, overfilling the bubble machine with bubbles!! Here's Lexi with a bubble in front of her forehead and showing me her shovel.

And I've been trying to brush up on my french braiding skills. Since our unfortunate mirror incident a year or so ago, it's been a fight to let Lexi (who has the longer hair) put them in. I finally threatened her with not playing outside if she didn't let me do it. Yeah, I know...I'm horrible. As soon as Maddie caught wind of not going outside if you didn't have a braid in your hair, she volunteered for 2 braids (but only got one). Here's my second attempt at a double french braid (the day before I did it and wasn't photo worthy) on Lexi.
And another of my Natey...gosh, I love that face.
Maddie amongst the bubbles.
Keeping a close eye on that bubble machine, I tell ya...

A Few More Summer Pics

Here are a few more photos from the last couple of weeks.

Maddie being silly.

Lexi catching bubbles on her wand.
Nate taking a break from the pool.
And my favorite...Maddie telling daddy not to spray her with the hose!

As of tomorrow afternoon,

I Have A Kindergartener!

I'm sad (in a way) to say that tomorrow is Nate's last day of preschool. I'm sad because this program has been a part of our lives for more than 2 years; Nate started the day after he turned 3. It's amazing to think about how far he's come in that time. When he first started, he didn't speak more than a word or two, he rarely made eye contact, he wouldn't play with other children, etc. Now he talks up a storm, has recently begun asking tons of questions and loves playing with his friends from school.

I didn't take any photos last year and I so wish I would have. So I made sure that I got at least a couple of pics this year (of which I'll share in a minute). I just have to take the time to thank the entire preschool team for all the hard work they've put in, not only with Nathaniel, but with the rest of the children as well. This group of women are fantastic and saying thank you just doesn't seem to be enough. I could never, ever repay them for all that they've done for Nate and I'll forever be greatful. Thank you Sarah, Karen, Stacey and Elaine!! We're really going to miss the preschool next year!

And now onto the photos!

Here's Nate's EOY photo! I always take it by the front door so I have comparison pics from year to year.

The last day for the Tuesday/Thursday class!
Nate with his teacher! She was wonderful!
Nate with his SLP! Nate will continue to see her next year and I'm elated! She's fantastic!
Nate and the Para! She started in the preschool late into the year but they hit off right from the start! Another fantastic member of the team!

Nothing major...just a few pics from this week. These were taken with my puny Canon so they're not the great quality that I normally have with the "big" Canon. :) Still, couldn't help but share...

Nate before school the day it was 102. He looked like he was ready for the beach.

Took these this morning before we went to the school for a quick meeting. Lexi Lou Who in this shot.
I really wish I would've used the 40D for these shots because the girls were loving having their pics taken and they were cute shots. Look for similar (yet better) shots at a later date. I can see an impromptu photo shoot happening. Maddie left, Lexi right.
Just being silly.
As a parent of twins, I constantly get the question "how do you tell them apart?" For us, we've never had much a problem claiming "they don't look anything alike". I saw this picture and went whoa...they really DO look alike! No wonder everyone asks how we tell them apart. :) I normally tell people that they have different jaw line structure and Lexi has fuller cheeks but in this picture those two things look exactly the same to me. Sooooo, for most people here are the easiest ways to tell them apart - 1: Ask them their name! They'll tell you who they are! 2: Maddie has bangs and her hair is a little shorter. 3: Lexi has purple earrings and Maddie has diamond earrings. 4: Maddie has a strawberry on her left side and Lexi has an au lait spot on her right upper thigh. That was the reason, as babies, we never had to keep different colored nail polish on them to tell the difference. If you're around them for any length of time, you can really tell that their personalities are very different. Their cries and screams also sound different.

The Hot Days of Spring

Whew. I think Mother Nature is trying to kill me. Seriously. We're on day four of 95+ degrees...and we finally broke down and put in the air conditioners. Today topped out at 102 and the upstairs was a sweltering 97. UNBEARABLE!

The kids and I holed up in the basement since there's a/c down there already. Coming upstairs to use the bathroom and make meals was horrific! :) But alas, the air conditioners are now in upstairs and boy is it nice! By tomorrow morning, we should be at a cool, dry 75 degrees!!

On Saturday, we were at Walmart and picked up this inexpensive pool for the kids. When we were looking at them, all 3 kids said they did NOT want to go in the pool. By the time we were home, 2 of 3 had changed their mind. It didn't take long for the 3rd to reconsider. All 3 of them have had colds/running fevers for the last 5 days or so. Even with the fevers and not feeling well, they had a great time!! Enjoy the pics! Maddie's wearing the blue swim suit, Lexi the pink/white.

Nate in mid-jump!

Maddie in mid-fall - look at that pony whipping!!
Nate playing with the basketball.
Getting the pool with the slide was the best decision we made that day! Lexi sitting pretty!
SPLASH! WHEW, that's cold!!
Seriously? You want to take my picture? I'm too busy!
You can take MY picture!!

The Hot Days of Spring Continued

Cheese!

Ok mom, I'm getting bored with the pics thing. Would you STOP?
Uh, did you NOT understand the meaning of STOP?
I've had enough. I will NOT look at your stinking camera another minute. I'll ALWAYS give you a smile Mommy! (Lexi)
...Except when I'm guzzling water!
Boy it sure is hot out here, huh?
Don't ya just love the curl of that pony?