Don't you love it when

your words come back at you? I know that when I get frustrated at the dogs, I often say, "I've had it dogs, hush!". Today as the UPS truck went by our house (which for some reason disrupts the dogs terribly), Caroline yelled, "that is IT dogs. I've had it. HUSH!". She even had my hand gestures down pat...this is some scary stuff! She has also snapped at her bunny and put bunny in time out after I have done it to her. If I sound HALF as bad to Caroline as she does when she is acting like me, I need to reform my ways pronto!

No "anti-dentites" in this family!*

Sam and Emma LOVE their toothbrushes, but not having their teeth brushed by me.

*Do you remember that episode of Seinfeld?

This is so nice...

I love feeding the babies and holding them while they eat, but sometimes this is also very nice...Emma has just started holding her own bottle and it is a wonderful chance for me to get a few things done!

Brayden

Caroline has a great class of friends and Brayden is one of her favorites. I think they are both a little on the more quiet side and really enjoy each other's company. He is kind and gentle with her and I know she adores him. I love that we have met so many great families that we see both in school and out and here are some cute pictures of some get-togethers with Brayden last week. Caroline getting a rainbow painted on her face at the Mardi Gras celebration at school.

Brayden getting his face painted at the Mardi Gras celebration.
are they not too cute?

what hams!

trying to persuade Brayden to eat his "nuggies"

Playdough

Play dough is a big hit at our house! We leave it on the table in Tupperware and she gets to play with it whenever she wants to. My friend Stephanie mentioned that she used her garlic press with her son when they played with playdough, so I dug ours out...big fun!
I'd like to note that it was right after dinner when these were taken, hence the messy face from eating and hair leftover from nap time :)

Love these faces

Nap time is great...a well needed break from the swirl of happy chaos, but I also love getting them up from their naps because these are thehappy faces that greet me as I open the doors!

Happy Birthday Gramps!

My grandfather's birthday is today and the kids helped me to make a "card" for him! Because my grandparents love pictures of the children so much, we figured that they would like this better than anything that Hallmark had (they are as biased about the kids as much as I am!). Thanks Amy for the inspiration :)

Play Date

We had a great time on this rainy, dreary day just staying at home. Caroline and I met some great friends at her school and they came over today to play. There were four "big" kids and four "little" ones (3/8 were mine alone) and everyone was so well behaved and played so nicely. It is such a treat to be with other Moms and kids that we both enjoy so much! Thanks for coming over guys!

That girl knows her trains

All of the Thomas trains have names (luckily, they are printed on the bottom for moms who are just learning). Caroline, like most kids with an interest in something, knows the names of the trains she has, and some of those she doesn't. I think that several of them look alike (Edward and Thomas for instance), but she always nails them...kids are amazing.

Valentine's Day

We got to go out to dinner, just the two of us while Matthew's parents visited the children. What fun! We went to Michael Dean's and then ran errands afterwards, which doesn't sound romantic, but sure is easier without three children and a double stroller. We had a wonderful night and the kids enjoyed watching Cars and having chocolate cake. Thanks for a great night M and Doc!

You've got mail...

The kids received Valentines yesterday from my parents and grandparents. Caroline loved me handing her her very own mail and the twins loved holding something that probably feels like something that is usually quickly taken away (paper books of Caroline's, my magazines, Daddy's work papers). They are also getting an "in person" Valentine because Matt's parents are coming tomorrow night to celebrate with the children (and we get to eat out, just the two of us!). Matthew and I don't really buy gifts for each other for Valentine's Day and we don't usually go anywhere overly extravagant for dinner, but I just love it. The cute cards and candies, the school parties, and giving little treats to the people you love most...how fun.

Our Little Valentine

We have been looking at Thomas the Train tables for some time now and found one on Craig's List that came with many, many trains and track. We couldn't wait for May to give it to her for her birthday, so Valentine's Day it was here (even that we did early!). Here she was coming down the stairs to it this morning...but we soon moved it to her room, away from the prying little fingers of Sam and Emma. I didn't know that you actually needed an engineer's degree to put the track together...but it was fun.



I love that she can be such a girly girl with her pink bows and painted fingers nails and yet, still play with cars and trains!

Must be bad...

The weather has been awesome! Here it is February, and we are playing outside without jackets?! Because of this warm weather, we have been at the park in between naps, every day...which means the house has taken a back seat to our fun. Today after we got back from the park, this is the conversation that ensued:

Mommy: Caroline, please go play in the living room, I am going to clean the front part of the house.

Caroline: Good idea, it's a mess there. I saw lots and lots of crumbs and dog hairs there.

Wow. How bad it must be for a two year old to take notice. O'well...as soon as they are awake, we are going back on down...the rest of the house can wait, it's just too great outside!

Play Park

Our neighborhood has a great park and it was nice to get all of the kids outdoors today. We could have had on flip flops and short sleeves because it was so warm! How fun!