White Elephant

Each of the classes at the twins' preschool are named after animals.  There are two 4-year old classes named White Elephant and Red Elephant.   Jacob and Mason are both in the White Elephant class.  As you know, white elephant is an idiom and, if you check out Wikipedia you'll find the following definition:

"A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth."

The twins are obviously in the right class and I think you'll agree that this sums up Jacob and Mason perfectly.

Just like his daddy

This evening, Jacob went poops on the toilet.  After he'd finished we ran their bath.  When Ann called Mason in for the bath she said "I don't want to take a bath in the stinky bathroom".  Like father like son?

Just like her daddy

Uh-oh.

This happened yesterday afternoon. What a little stinker. She's on the move. Oh yes. And clearly we need to watch the crazy one a little bit better. I heard from Nana that Harvey did the same thing as a child. Except he stuffed all of the "toilet roll" (as they say in England) into the toilet and flooded the house. No wonder where she gets it from.

 

He did it!

I'm proud to announce that our little Jacob finally seems to be not peeing in his pants at night. Harv and I decided to take away his pull-ups security blanket and put him in underwear. In addition to creating a "special sticker chart" with a Chuck E. Cheese incentive. He had to go 7 days in a row without ANY accidents and then he got to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Well wouldn't you know it, the little guy did it! I'm so proud of him. Really. You have no idea. I just hope he doesn't regress or I haven't jinxed us because of this post. Anyway -- I thought it was blogworthy. Here are a couple pics from the momentous celebration.

Oh yeah, and as a side story...here is the dialogue that took place Friday morning when Jacob woke up.

Me:  Morning Jakey.
Jake:  Ummmfff.
Me:  Time to get up.
Jake:  Hummmffff.
Me:  Wow! You had no accidents. AGAIN!! I'm so proud of you.
Jake (big smile)
Me:  Well, I think you should go try and pee.
Jake:  No. I'm tired.
Me:  Jacob...I think your penis wants to go to the bathroom.
Jake:  I think my penis wants to go to Chuck E. Cheese!!

 We celebrated Saturday morning with "Pizza Pancakes"! Thanks for the great idea Burke and James.

Then later on in the day, Jacob and Mason had the BEST TIME EVER when daddy took them to  Chuck E. Cheese.

More Fall Pics

I mean...we ARE in New England. How could I not post tons of pics of cute kids in leaves?

Fall Is In The Air

Fall is here. And that means we have lots of leaves in our front yard. The kids love leaves. They are the next best thing to the bouncey castle we bought them for their 2nd birthday. Yay leaves.

Back in Action

So I left Friday afternoon around noon. And I was so excited. I was going on vacation. Kind of. I mean, who wouldn't be excited. The weird thing was, is that about 10 minutes before I left I just got so sad. Really. And truly. It was the weirdest thing. I cried. In front of my kids. Mason says to me, "Don't worry mommy. You can call us. Plus you'll be with Jill." Harvey was like, "Jeez...you're acting like you're going off to war or something...you'll be back in 2 days." Ha. I was a bit sad. I have to admit. But about 10 minutes into my journey I totally got over it. Ha ha.

As far as I can tell, all was well. Mason and Jacob were with Grandma and Grandpa all weekend being spoiled. They went to lunch at a fancy restaurant and fed ducks. Jacob liked the Mallards because their heads were green. Duh. They stayed up late. Watched lots of movies. And went to the circus on Sunday. They came back with tons of stuff...an elephant toy, a new spinning magic wand, a program, two cups that had slushies in them or something like that. And apparently they ate popcorn, cotton candy AND pretzels there. When Harv and I took them to the Circus a couple years ago, we bought them 1 popcorn to split between them. Clearly, we don't know how to have a good time.

Harvey got to spend some one on one time with Skye. They worked on standing. Stacking blocks. And he even brought out a simple, 3-piece Melissa and Doug puzzle.

Moral of the story is, they don't need me here. Maybe I should go away more often.

Hobroken Bound

Tomorrow I'm headed to Hoboken for my friend Gillian's 40th birthday. Woo-hoo! Can't wait. Seriously. I will miss the kiddos. And Harvey. But will be back soon enough. My parents are actually taking the kids Saturday afternoon and keeping them overnight and taking them to the circus on Sunday. So you know they will have a great time. And Harv will get to spend some alone time with little Skye. Ahhh.

Point of the story, besides the bragging about getting out of here for the weekend is that I bought a sparkly shirt to wear to the party on Saturday night. When I showed it to Jacob he said, "Oh Mommy...you look SO beautiful. I think Gillian is really gonna like it."

When I showed Mason she said, "Oh Mommy, you look like Cinderella. So beautiful."

Both were kinda melt your heart moments. I want them to stay this age and live with me forever. At least this morning I did...

Splish Splash

Skye birdy boo is getting too big for her little tub. So tonight we decided to bathe her with Jacob and Mason. Plus, we figured it would be easier on us...only one bath instead of two. I was a little hesitant to put her in the tub because I didn't know how she would react. And we had such a hard time transferring the twins. First we put the twins in bath seats. Then into the tub. And it took a while. 

But Skye was absolutely fine. No crying. No hesitation. But then again, she was in the tub with her brother and sister who she just can't get enough of. But yeah, no problems. She was great and really enjoyed herself.

Jacob on the other hand wasn't too pleased. He got really upset and pissed and started to cry when Harv and I put Skye in. Still not sure why. Clearly, he didn't want her invading his Mason time. Or maybe he thought it made him a baby cause a baby was in the tub? Dunno really. When I asked him why he got so upset he just replied, "Cause I did." As he does. But that's why he's not in any of the pics below. 

So happy to be in the tub.

Girls club!

Trying to pull up on the side of the tub.

Party Store

Today we went to the party store to buy some Halloween decorations for our new suburban home. There were a bunch of scary ghosts and goblins and bloody zombies up. I have to say, Mason and Jacob were a tiny bit scared. But they are 4. So I assured them that everything was just pretend. And not real. I'm an awesome mom, right?!?

I posted some pics below of Jacob and a mannequin. And Mason and a mannequin. I'm still not sure why, but Jacob insisted that I take these photos. 

A B C D E F G

Skye loves the alphabet. And is already spelling out words. Not really. But I wanted to post this picture because I'm obsessed with my kids and how good looking and cute they are.

Halloween is a comin'

Even though Halloween isn't for like, 21 days, the kids are really REALLY excited for it. Mostly because I already got their costumes (which I won't reveal here) AND they both remember last year and really really like candy. Oh yeah, and I told them we're having a Halloween party. And on top of it all, we live in the suburbs now so we can really celebrate - decorate our house, go trick-or-treating in a real neighborhood. It's kinda nice. I have to say. Anyway, we're getting into the spirit early this year - here are pics from the YMCA mat room, yesterday, after swimming.

Little boogs up close and personal.

Cheeeeeeeeeese. Yes, we have swimming hair.

Our potato head pumpkins. The cowboy belongs to Mase, the Vampire, Jake.

Great footage of "the scoot".

More great footage of "the scoot".

Sticks and Stones

A couple days ago Mason threw a rock at Jacob when they were playing out in the front yard. I know. She's a total biatch. I was making dinner and all of a sudden I heard Jacob screaming at the top of his lungs. I ran outside...only to find out that Mason threw a rock at him. Little shit. The worst part was that she was totally laughing. Poor Jacob. She was given no treat that night after dinner, which for Mason was a huge deal. She said she threw it because "It was in my way." Honestly, I don't know if she actually understood how dangerous it was. But now she does.

When I was talking to Jacob later that night, he was still a little upset by it. I asked him if he still wanted to marry Mason. First he said yes. Then he said, "Nah. I think maybe I'll marry Skye instead."

Hunter's 1st Birthday

Last Saturday was Hunter's 1st birthday party. I can't believe the little guy is already 1. I swear, he was just born like a second ago. But then again, if that were true then I would still be pregnant. Which could explain why my belly is STILL so big. Except it doesn't. Because I am not pregnant. Hmmm.

Anyway, we spent the day with Hunter and the rest of the fam and everyone had fun. Happy Birthday Hunter! You rule.

Here are pics of the momentous occasion.

 The guest of honor in his ball pit. Yes, Hunter, the shirt makes you look 1.

 Skye - pre partying.

 Showing off her 4 teeth.

Had to post this one. 

Aww...great family photo! Even Ernie made it!

Grandpa and his youngest grand kid.

Ahhh...3 generations.

Just the cutest twins in the universe hangin' in Uncle Andy's hammock. Livin' the dream!

Birthday boy with proud mama.

 Look who's walking.

 And wearing belts! Ahh...Harold has the best smile.

Having way too much fun. It is her bffs' birthday afterall.

Just bouncin. As you do.

11 Months Old

Last week my little Skye bird turned 11 months old. Seriously. No joke. She is going to be a year old! I can't believe it. It actually makes me a little sad that her zeros have gone by so fast. But happy that she is doing way more and sleeping well. The girl has teeth. Four of them. She still isn't really crawling but she's a champion scooter. Seriously, she's wicked fast. On her ass. Funniest thing ever. She's also starting to try and pull herself up on things. It's so funny. We've lowered her crib yesterday because of this. Although when placed on her back she is rendered helpless. It's funny because I've seen her turn over. But the girl really doesn't know what to do. She's still eating anything and everything and pooping like a champ. And really is just a good good GOOD baby.

Nice hat!

I just thought this picture was really cute so I wanted to give it, it's own post. Great hat, right? It was Mason's. And I'm SO happy I get to use it again.

Break the Fast

Cousin Mark surprised us by coming over to our house for "Break the Fast" on Yom Kippur. We fasted. Until about 6:00. I'm sure God noticed. I hope so anyway.

This is how we lunch in the suburbs

Just your usual fall day in Winchester, Massachusetts.

Storyland Part 2

So as mentioned before, going to Storyland was a total success! And we couldn't have done it without help from Grandma who watched little Skye birdy boo Friday night and Aunt Jennie who watched her all day Saturday.

We arrived Friday night to our hotel -- which was just a run-of-the-mill cheapish ski chalet type place. The kids thought it was the BEST THING EVER. "We've never seen such a fancy hotel before." Which I guess is true, since they've never really been to a hotel. Or at least one they can remember. They got a kick out of sleeping in the same room as mommy and daddy. And they also loved sleeping together in the "big bed". I, of course did not sleep well because I was so nervous one of them was gonna fall out. Oy. Mind you, we didn't arrive to the hotel until about 10:30 at night. The kids probably didn't fall asleep until 11:45 or so. Mason just didn't want to go to sleep. At one point she was laying on the floor saying that she "hates hotels" and she just wanted to go to Storyland. At 11:30 at night. Yes, my eldest daughter is cuckoo for cocoa puffs.

Jacob, Beary and Mason gettin cozy.

We got up the next morning and enjoyed our complimentary continental breakfast. The kids were psyched to have so many cereal choices. And a waffle maker. Ooh la la. It was the healthiest meal of the day by far.

We arrived at the park and it was a bit overcast and a little rainy. Boo! I thought. But the kids didn't even notice. And Harvey didn't care. I was totally over ruled. They ran in...and well, had, like, the best time ever. 

When we first entered the park...I thought I would save myself for a Fried Oreo delicacy at some point, but ended up indulging on Mason's chocolate ice cream instead.

Harv went on most of the rides with the kids. Mostly because I don't really like spinny rides. Or droppy rides. Even if they are for 4-year-olds. I like roller coasters. And went on that one. I kinda felt like my mom, not going on any rides but sending my dad while I waited and waved and took pictures. I can't help it. I AM turning into my mom.

We saw a show. Which Mason participated in. Mason met Cinderella - which she was totally star struck by. Went on a water ride where Mason screamed and cried because she was shot in the head at the beginning of the ride by  a water gun (everyone was getting shot in the head...that's why the ride was fun) but Mason didn't think so. She cried and screamed. And kept getting soaked. After, I payed $5 for her and Jacob to stand in a human sized dryer for 3 minutes. It was well worth it. Totally calmed her down.

We stayed all day - rode the antique cars at the end which hold a special place in my heart.

Oh yeah, and one other funny thing, is that every once in a while in the morning the kids will say, "Are we going to Storyland today? You know we really loved Storyland. That would be fun." Whackos.

Check out the pics below from our special day.

It's really hard to get them to look at the camera.

I just HAD to post this pic again. 

Live action. Can you stand it?

Swan boats. They went slow...but still packed a punch.

Mason volunteered to help out in the show about fall colors.

Check out her moves.

Pre-lunch of popcorn and cotton candy.

My little Jacob. Happy as a clam.

Roller coaster. Polar coaster, actually. We all went on this one twice!

Jacob's favorite turtle ride. Be careful...if you are pregnant or have a heart condition do not watch this video.

Lovin life!