Lego lovin'

 It seems he's discovering a new toy every day.  Today it's Mega Bloks.  He got a set for Christmas and we have so much fun building stuff.  Can you see he's sitting inside the bin where we store them?  As usual, all up in the mix of things.

On a side note, baby boy got one of his molars in already.  I knew it was coming and that it was gonna be a biggie, but he handled it like a champ.  He's so not a fussy baby, and for this I am so grateful.

Our favorite things

We have some new 'toys' that we're enjoying around the house.  Ryan loves my new Ipad.  She has no idea that it's not hers.  She likes to play SuperWhy games and watch the one Justin 'Beaver' video I downloaded.  She's a whiz at using it.

Reese is crazy about her artwork.  We busted out the easel 'weasel' today and she went to town with the painting.  They both did actually, but Reese painted 3x as much as Ryan did.  They both had lots of fun with the paint and mixing colors.  I've already got it hanging in the hallway.

 Planet Earth painted by Reese. 
She cracked me up when she told me that the green is the grasslands.

 Our family by Reese.

Ryan has the Picasso thing going on.  

She loved mixing red and yellow to make orange, her favorite color.

Juggling it all

I really want to work on one of my hobbies right now.  I go back and forth between digital scrapbooking and traditional scrapbooking.  I'm not crafty or artsy.  My pages are really simple and generic but I do like to put photos on paper instead of just having everything saved on my computer.  I just wish I had more time to do it all.  I sit down to scrap but the piles of laundry and dirty dishes in my sink nag at me.  I know I'm not the only one that feels this way.  It's hard to juggle it all--kids, work, cleaning, and trying to have hobbies/time for ourselves. 

As I organize my photos I realize how behind I am.  This is what I'm working on today, while trying not to feel guilty about all the other stuff that needs to be done:
 

 I'm scrapping our Christmas cards photos from the past few years.  I'm 3 years behind.  Don't worry, I'll catch up someday.

Sleepover & dinner in

The girls went to Grandma & Grandpa's house for a sleepover with Haley. They were so excited and we got an update that they played school most of the night.

While the girls were away Cory and I went to Dana & Scott's house for a dinner in.  It was a great night.  Ryder & Masey played and crawled around while we ate yummy Mexican food and margs.  We missed the girls but having just one kid to take care of seems like a vacation for us.

Sleeping baby

There's nothing better than a sleeping baby.  He woke up with a little bit of a cough this morning and was up early with Cory and I.  Now he's back to sleep in my bed and looks so peaceful sleeping right next to me as I work on the computer.

Busy day

It started off with dance class at the community center.

 Then we got a call from Misty and she said they were heading to the zoo.  We grabbed a few essentials from home and headed over to meet up with them.  The impromptu meet-up turned out great.  We had fun checking out the animals, ate lunch by the pond, and then romped around the kiddie play area.  We left a little before 3pm and the kids were bushed.  They all slept on the way home and stayed asleep awhile when we got home.  Can't wait to go back again soon before it gets too hot.

 Ry on the carousel.

 Ree was so excited to ride on her dolphin.

I spotted this lovely little garden on the way out.  Had to take a photo because I really want to create something like this on our side yard.  I don't know a lick about gardening but that may have to be something I look into this year.

Ryan

She is one of a kind.  The child is pure comedy with the stuff she says but the best part is she's not really trying to be funny.  Yesterday she told my mom, "Mimi, monkeys FREAK me out like frogs freak you out!"  She said monkeys freak her out because they throw things.  She says this kind of stuff with a totally straight face and has us cracking up. 

She's always asking me, "Mommy, what's so funny?"  It's you, my little comedy girl.

Our little artist

This is Reese's drawing of a heart.  

She puts them on everything.  She started writing her name a few months ago and she's gotten really good.  Now she writes everyone's name in our family and draws a heart after each one.  This is what she did at preschool today.  I love it.

 Her teacher couldn't believe that she knew how to write each person's name in our family.  She pulled me aside and said how great she is doing.  This is always nice to hear as a parent.  I told her that writing and drawing is Reese's thing right now.  She seriously writes names, draws, and colors all day long at home.  I'm really proud of her.

Here is our entire family that she drew.  Ms. R helped her write the names on this one.  I love that she drew Ryan in orange and herself in yellow because those are their favorite colors.  So thoughtful :)

Mirror Mirror

 I wonder what it's like to look at your sister and see a mirror reflection of yourself?  I will ask our girls someday about this.  In the meantime, I just watch them and I'm fascinated by them.  Their little idiosyncrasies, the fact that they are genetically identical but could not be more different, and most of all the mirror images that they are of each other.  I read somewhere that 25% of identical twins are mirror, which amazes me even more.  It started with their teeth coming in on opposite sides, then it was their hairline-one parting on the left, the other on the right.  Now I know for certain because Reese is left handed and Ryan is right handed.  I love these photos where you can see how similar & different they are all at the same time.

They got the camera again....

and I found some funny ones.  There were 42 photos when I downloaded the camera. Most of them were of their toys and a few shots of Sesame Street on the TV.  I really like this one of Ryan.  Her dimples are so cute!

 

Reese writing names on the milk jugs--red is for Ryder, orange is for girls.

Duck tails

I am so in love with this hair.  It's getting longer and curling up in the back like little duck tails.  

He's so stinkin' cute!

Boomerang

Reese is our little boomerang.  She LOVES sleeping in our bed and we always make her start off in her bed, but at some point in the night she always comes in to sleep with us.  I will put her back in her bed sometimes but she just comes back in.  Last night she slept in her bed until midnight and then came in our room.  About an hour later I moved her back to her bed.  I tucked her in, turned on the heater so the room was warm and cozy.  Thought for sure she'd stay.  Nope.  Back in our bed, nuzzled in between Cory and I at 3am.  Boomerang, I tell ya.