Mischief and Mayhem Always Follow Trouble

2 years!

2016-04-02T20:16:00.001-07:00

I never planned to stop blogging, but without a good ipad app for blogger, I didn't have much choice. I don't get much time on an actual computer anymore and our desktop just bit it. Our hard drive went kaput, which I guess isn't too unusual when it's 7 years old! However, I'm using my 9 year old laptop! There's not much on it. I cannot multitask at all with it, but it works. I've managed to almost completely finish the yearbook on it and that's all I really needed it to do. Once again, there's not ipad app for that!

Soo... 2 years. The twins were preschoolers and 4 years old. Adia was only a 1st grader and had just turned 7. They're so much bigger and noisier and usually fun, but I've also learned that 6-7 year olds are NOT my favorite. I'm sure it's just a preview of the teenage years, but ugh. So. Many. Time. Outs.

We just started the soccer season. Adia plays on a U10 team. It's her second season and she loves it. She hurt her knee the night before the season started though and she's still favoring it. I predict a doctor's appointment in our near future. It's hard to tell if it's really hurt or she's milking it for all it's worth. It's horrible to say, but true.

This is the twins' 3rd season playing soccer. Adia watched them last spring and decided soccer might be interesting. Now she's addicted. She even likes to watch it on tv and we went to an Oregon Ducks game last fall. The twins are playing U8! They're the smallest on their team, but they're pretty fearless too. I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing, but at least they enjoy it.I'll be spending the next 6-8 weeks being a crazy soccer mom. Practices M-Th and games every Saturday. We won't talk about the stinky soccer gear. Best way to clean shin guards anyone? Blech.

Adia's been busy in 3rd grade. I can't believe the school year is almost over. Isn't it still September? It's been flying by. She loves her teacher, but her class gives her a headache. Lots of very noisy kids. Luckily her teacher understands and lets her read and work in the hallway when it gets particularly loud. The twins adore their teachers and are having an awesome year. Leia's reading chapter books and wants to be a librarian when she grows up! Mira's showing a talent for math. She's been learning multiplication facts from Adia. She's reading too and getting better every day, but doesn't seem to enjoy it quite so much as her sisters.

We're up to 2 cats and 2 dogs. We've had Lola for almost a year now. She's my little goofy chiweenie. She's the ultimate destructo-pup, but I love her so frickin' much. She requires daily walks or she gets bored and eats the couch, shoes, benches, anything really. She's so full of love and adores the girls. Her whole body wiggles when she's happy, especially when the girls come home from school. Her daily routine starts with a potty break outside, quickly followed by waking up Adia. She runs into her room, jumps on her bed and covers her face in kisses. It's the funniest thing ever. Cheeto still grumbles at Lola, but I think he'd miss her if she suddenly disappeared. I know she was unhappy when he spent the day at the vet getting his teeth cleaned. She likes the cats too. Naia's her buddy. I often catch them curled up together. When Naia went missing last week, Lola wouldn't rest until she was found. Lola's relationship with Tiger is a little more strained. She likes to chase him, he likes to fight back. Luckily there's been no bloodshed yet.

Since our hard drive died and I hadn't backed up all my pictures in 3 months, I lost most of them. I've been able to salvage some from facebook, walgreens and shutterfly, but sadly, it's not all of them. It makes me sad, but paying $750 to recover them, just didn't make sense. That was more than a new desktop! So I'll have to make due with what I have.

I hope to write more soon. Maybe when the new computer comes.

Wordless Wednesday

2014-04-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

Many Changes

2014-04-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

It's been 6 months between these pictures. How has she aged so much?

October 2013

April 2014

Teeth, Warm Weather, a 5K and Papa's Birthday

2014-04-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

Adia lost teeth number 3 & 4 this month. Daddy says she has an ogre mouth. I'm just glad she can sort of eat again. Biting is still a problem and she has 2 more loose teeth.

The weather finally warmed up and we had several beautiful days. That led to more after dinner walks and trips to the park. The girls were stoked.

And spring planting:

Adia and I also did a 5K with her BFF's family. Her BFF's mom and I ended up chasing the girls almost the entire time, but we had a blast since they were belting out "Let It Go" almost the entire time, complete with arm motions and jumps.

We had more park time.

We went to Papa and Gramma's for a family dinner and got to enjoy the park again. We were also there last week to celebrate Papa's birthday. The girls love birthdays and couldn't wait to celebrate and eat cake. The park was also at the top of their list.

This last weekend was spent at DiDi's house. The girls were so excited to be there. On Sunday we went and saw "The Little Mermaid". Much of the cast were former or current students of DiDi. The girls LOVED it. The twins were especially surprised when they got to meet Ariel and Eric after.

It was incredibly hot in Florence though. It wasn't windy either, which is unheard of!

Legos!

2014-03-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

The weekend after Adia's birthday, we headed to Portland for Bricks Cascade. The girls were excited to see (and buy) tons of legos and also ride the "train." We left home super early.

The girls got free mini figures and immediately wanted their picture taken with the Lego Movie display because duh, Everything is AWESOME!

There were a lot of repeat exhibits this year and the girls quickly lost interest. They mostly wanted to shop. Adia loaded up on Lego jewelry. She has a cool rainbow necklace, purple ring and barrette, and a pink and purple bracelet. They also bought some lego friends and mini figures.

They were starting to get hungry and hunger = epic meltdown with the girls. It was time to leave. We jumped back on the train and headed to eat lunch.

After lunch we headed to Powell's. You can't go to Portland without going to Powell's and what's better than legos, but books! The girls went nuts. The twins didn't remember Powell's from last time and they were in awe. "Mom, this bookstore is HUGE! Look at all the books!" They were in shock and they stocked up on books. It was starting to get late and we still needed to use up their Build a Bear gift cards. Once again, the twins had no memory of build a bear and they had an absolute blast.

We weren't thinking about it being a Saturday so when it came time to eat dinner, everywhere had a 30-45min wait. We ended up trying somewhere new and it took so long, Mira took a few bites and fell asleep at the table.

And as if life wasn't hectic enough, the Sunday after Adia's birthday party, I discovered Mira was infested with lice, which promptly jumped heads and got Leia, Adia and me. Luckily we caught Adia's early and they were eradicated. We spent a week sleeping on the playroom floor while I vacuumed everything twice a day, boiled hair stuff and fried everything I could in the dryer. I also combed and nitpicked hair more than I thought possible. Last Tuesday I chopped my hair off and dyed it (yay pixie cuts!), Leia cut off quite a few inches and Mira lost about an inch. Apparently it wasn't enough though because while washing hair on Sunday night, I found more on Mira. Lice - 1, Mom - 0. So it's back to treating heads, combing hair, vacuuming, sleeping in the playroom and frying everything in the dryer again. I'm losing my mind.

And if that isn't bad enough, Leia ran a fever all weekend while vomiting and spent Monday not being able to eat at all. Luckily, she seems much better today.

At least we had some sunny days where we went for walks and played at the park.

Adia also had a girl scout birthday party at Skateworld. I'm much better at roller skating than ice skating. Mira absolutely hated it and Adia thought it was harder than ice skating.

Happy Birthday Adia!

2014-03-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

And then she was 7!

Almost March?!

2014-02-24T18:54:00.004-08:00

Adia hasn't worn her doctor's coat in a long time. I think it's because it disappeared in her trunk of dress up clothes (it's ridiculous how many she has!). Well, she found it a few days ago and wow has she grown! She got it 3 years ago for her 4th birthday.

And the rain came back with a vengeance. We've had almost 8 inches of rain this month and another storm is headed our way. It always seems to pour when it's time to pick up Adia, but at least the twins have fun.

Cheeto has really fallen in love with Mira and Adia. They've finally got to the point where they'll just sit or lay and he doesn't have to worry about getting kicked, punched, sat or rolled on. He sleeps with Mira or Adia most nights and hasn't been in my bed very often. However, the last few days he's appeared under the weather.

Daddy was supposed to do the Polar Plunge for Special Olympic Oregon earlier this month, but it was rescheduled because of our crazy snow and ice. This last Saturday was plunge day! It. Was. Cold. Actually, it was only 36 degrees. My hands and feet went numb despite wearing shoes and gloves. I'm always amazed that Daddy does it year after year. This was year 3 and he's hoping to raise even more money next year.

DiDi spent the weekend with us too. Tiger was happy. Naia actually tolerates DiDi's presence. Naia doesn't particularly like other people except her "pack" and even that's pushing it some days. She's Adia's cat and follows me around in hopes I'll give her a treat, but she doesn't actually like to be touched much.

Adia's 7th birthday party is this coming weekend so we've been trying to clean up the house. I told the twins that I'd tackle their room today and this was what I woke up to this morning.

Gee, thanks girls. Adia's assisted in the mess. They all helped remake the beds with clean sheets (DiDi's taught Adia well) and they all carried in the stuffed critters and pillows that were piled in the hallway. They earned the Popsicles they're eating in this picture and Adia was reading to them about Smokey the Bear. He visited her classroom today.

We had a beautiful day today. It was sunny and warm when we picked Adia up from school and to our surprise, dozens of ladybugs were crawling all over the grass! The twins were ecstatic and couldn't wait to show Adia when she came out of her classroom.

I'm hoping we'll be getting the twins bunk bed soon. The twins and I talked about it today and they're very excited about it. If they can sleep in their own beds all night, I told them we could get bunk beds sooner than their birthday. We'll see. Leia rarely sleeps in her bed all night

Wordless Wednesday

2014-02-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

Thawing Out

2014-02-09T10:37:00.001-08:00

Ah, freezing rain, I haven't seen in you many years. The last time I remember being iced over was in college and it was a few inches of ice on everything. I ice skated to class. It was terrible. This time we had 1/4-1/2 inch on everything. Our mailbox was an ice block, the butterfly tree was completely bent over our peach tree and the tree by the shed was bent completely over and touching our roof! We never lost power, but I thought for sure that we would. The lights did some flickering and brown outs, but the power stayed on.

We didn't get a whole lot more snow after the original dumping, but the girls had fun playing in what was there. Leia's still not so sure about the white stuff, but she had more fun this time than last. It helped that the temps were in the 20s and not near zero. The girls really liked trying to make a snow fort with sand toys.

Now the snow is turning to slush. We're supposed to have temps in the 40s this week and lots of rain. I think we're making up for the incredibly dry winter we've had.

Snow Way Snow Day!

2014-02-06T17:04:00.001-08:00

Yep, you've got to be kidding me! Last week we went to the park and the girls were out in the sun in short sleeves. Today, we're under 3 inches of snow with at least 3 more predicted to fall overnight and tomorrow. The twins had preschool today and I helped at Adia's school. It took 20min to drive 5 miles to get the twins to school. It normally takes us 7 or 8 min. It took another 20 minutes to get Adia back to her school and she was late.. like 5-10min late. It was ridiculous. If I wasn't scheduled to volunteer in her room that day, I might have just said forget it! While still at her school, the snow starts coming down even heavier. While I was still there and less than an hour into the school day, the district decides to send the kids home at noon. Gee, thanks.

At that point it was time for me to head back out to get the twins. I fishtailed a few times (vans + snow/ice = disaster) and saw a 3 car accident, but I made it. Grabbed the twins and then it was time to head back out to get Adia. I walked this time. I didn't even want to try to drive. The roads were getting slicker and nastier and the snow even heavier.

The girls haven't quite decided if they like snow at this point. Adia knows it means no school and she doesn't like that. Leia hates being cold. Mira is the one who likes it the most. We tried to make a snowman, but the snow is too powdery.

February

2014-02-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

Adia's been working on her first science project. She wanted to make cakes with and without baking powder. It turned out how she expected so she was happy and she got to eat the results.

We've been doing our weekly library trips with the twins. They love story time.

Adia went to a friend's birthday party this last weekend and ice skated for the first time ever. She said it was the most fun she's had in her entire life. Lets just say she isn't a natural. I think she spent most of her time either flat on the ice or in the process of falling. She even managed to take me down with her. She had fallen behind me and tried to climb up the back of me. That did NOT end well. I fell backwards and landed in her lap! Luckily neither of us were injured, but I was laughing so hard I was crying. When I looked down, all I could see were her tiny skates on either side of legs. She was shocked, to say the least. I so wish someone could have filmed it.

Then we met up with DiDi and the twins at Costco and headed to Red Robin after. Then it was frozen yogurt before DiDi had to go home.

Now we're preparing for freezing weather, just in time for Daddy to do the polar plunge. Timing is everything.

Wordless Wednesday

2014-02-05T11:20:00.003-08:00

Sunrise

2014-01-30T19:55:00.002-08:00

Leia: My favorite thing today was the morning sunset. It was so pretty.
Me: You mean the sunrise?
Leia: Yeah, that's it. I don't remember seeing one so beautiful before.

And it was gone so quickly too.

2014!

2014-01-26T21:48:00.001-08:00

How can it already be 2014?! This is the year the twins start Kindergarten! So far it's been a pretty good year, except for the sickness that befell us for a big chunk of January. First Adia missed 2 days of school because of a high fever. Then Daddy missed a few days of work because he had a fever that wouldn't leave and some serious fatigue and lethargy. I think he slept for almost 24hrs straight.

Mira got hit next. She didn't have a fever, but was dealing with some serious stomach issues. She had a severe accident in her sleep. I'll never forget the horrible mess. I'd rather clean up puke any day over that. It was awful. Luckily Daddy was home and healthy enough to help. The twins and I ended up sleeping on the living room floor in a big pile of blankets and pillows. I'm glad Mira's accident was a one time thing and she was quickly on the mend.

When Adia was feeling a bit better, she wanted to try out her new sewing machine. I figured we could make a simple pillow using it. Sadly, the sewing machine came unthreaded and there was no way I could thread it again. The needle is itsy bitsy. So, we finished her pillow on my sewing machine instead. I think it came out pretty good.

When everyone was feeling better, we headed up to Gramma and Papa's house. Cheeto was excited to go too. He's been a little depressed lately with the girls back in school. Naia wanders around looking for Adia during the school day and Tiger has taken to sleeping on her bed until she comes home.

Mira filled her pebble jar again so she was able to go pick a prize before heading to Gramma and Papa's. She couldn't settle on anything until the girls found some foam swords. I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I let them each get one. They have been the best and worst toy ever. They had a blast fighting with each other and against Papa, Daddy and Unky Eck.

Our weather finally cleared a bit. We've been living in the freezing fog and it's been miserable. The fog burned off at the end of the last week and we were able to go to the park. On Friday, Adia did the monkey bars for the very first time. It was so cool to see. She's always thought she couldn't do them so it was wonderful to finally see her believe in herself.

DiDi came up on Saturday. It was another sunny, but chilly day so we went to Dorris Ranch. I've always wanted to explore it, but the last time we tried to go, it was closed. The girls did their usual complaining at first, but once we finally made it to the river, they didn't want to leave. We took Cheeto with us and he was more than ready to go when we got back to the car. I don't think he's walked that far in his entire life. He's been laying in bed most of today. Now the girls want to go back. Hopefully next time it will be a bit warmer and we'll know the trails better.

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

2013-12-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

The girls are in love with this song. They listen and sing it constantly. Leia drops out and starts doing somersaults...

Christmas Programs and Christmas

2013-12-30T11:51:00.005-08:00

Adia had her school Christmas program just before winter break started. They sang lots of interesting Christmas/Hanukkah songs. Their theme was holiday celebrations from around the world. They sang in several different languages even and kids played instruments. Adia surprised us by playing the xylophone. The girls insisted on wearing their Christmas dresses to the performance so I made sure to get pictures of them beforehand.

That Saturday was Gramma and Papa's Christmas party. The girls had fun running around, playing with trains and eating way too much junk food. And then it was Christmas. DiDi stayed over Christmas Eve. We open presents Christmas Eve and Santa presents on Christmas morning. Adia and Mira were completely happy with their presents, but Leia was a grump about everything. She's going through a bit of a rough patch and it's been trying.

Christmas morning brought happy faces thanks to Santa and then we went out to breakfast before heading over the Gramma and Papa's house.

And then we were off to Gramma and Papa's house for more presents and Christmas dinner. The girls were excited to see Unky Eck and Auntie Colie too. Adia got a bigger bike that's pink and purple. She's so excited to be able to ride a bike again.

We also celebrated DiDi's birthday. I made her an apple pie the night before.

DiDi spent the night with us and on her actual birthday, she took all 3 kiddos home with her. Mira and Leia came home last night, but she took Adia back with her. Adia gets to have some quiet game playing time while the twins and I have been vegging. The critters were more than happy to have some of their kids home. Naia's been following me all over, mewing and acting weird. I think she misses Adia. They're close buddies.

Snow Days

2013-12-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

I don't remember ever having 4 snow days in a row or even 4 snow days in one school year. Adia just had a 6 day weekend because of the snow. Between the 7in of snow that wouldn't melt and the below zero temperatures followed by the threat of freezing rain, it just wasn't safe to have school in session. The girls enjoyed the first couple days, but by Tuesday, they were all ready to have school again.

In order to stay busy during all those snow days, we did some cooking. The first day we made and decorated gingerbread cookies. Then I made brownies. We also made snow ice cream. Mira and Adia really liked the snow ice cream. Leia didn't care for it at all.

We did get to have some sledding play dates with friends. We went to the park nearby with Mr. S.

The next day, since school was again cancelled, we visited G, E and A. However, our plans were delayed when the girls loaded up in the van, but the van refused to start. Luckily we were able to get a jump from a friend and after the sledding play date we got a new battery. :( Yeah, not what I wanted to spent $100 on this month.

Leia had been sniffly for a few days at that point, but I figured she just had another cold. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and then slept for 3 more hours. She woke up after dinner and was burning up. She looked miserable, complained of a sore throat and didn't want to eat. Just before bed I asked her if she wanted tylenol for her fever and she agreed to take some, but also wanted a puke bucket. Just seconds after she swallowed the meds, they all came right back up. It was terrible. She slept pretty well, but I knew she'd be missing school the next day if it wasn't cancelled. She woke up feeling much better, so I was a little relieved when school was cancelled too.

When we didn't get a "school is cancelled" text on Friday, Adia was overjoyed. She couldn't get ready for school fast enough. While most of our side streets, driveways and sidewalks were still slick and slushy, the weather was definitely warming up.

Daddy took the girls to Gramma and Papa's house on Saturday while DiDi and I went to Portland to see my childhood best friend. We haven't seen each other in nearly 15 years. It's definitely been way too long, but I'm so glad we were able to go. We got back long after the girls were asleep, but they got some DiDi time on Sunday.

Sunday was much warmer than it had been in days. So warm that the girls were running around outside without coats and weren't complaining about being cold. DiDi and I, with help from our neighbor, chiseled all the ice off our driveway. Our driveway doesn't get a whole lot of sun so it was a sheet of ice. Mira actually slid and fell on it early in the day.

So now it's back to hopefully more normal, seasonal weather.

Oh Christmas Tree

2013-12-15T22:01:00.000-08:00

We happened to luck out and get our tree right before the big snowfall. I couldn't even imagine trying to get a tree after that point. The roads were so slick and the weather freezing cold. It was still pretty cold at the tree farm and since we went after school, we didn't have a whole lot of daylight left. We froze. Mira was being super grumpy so she didn't end up in many pictures. Leia ended up being carried by Unky Eck because she was freezing cold and tired.

When we got home, the tree wouldn't fit in our tree stand. Papa had to take it out back and chop off a section of it. Then it was time to decorate it. I'd like to say that the girls are getting better about it, but they still fought over who put what on the tree. They ended up going to bed late, which wasn't the best thing when they were already exhausted.

Daddy had the next day off so we ran a bunch of errands. We bounced from place to place and I'm glad we did since the weather was so terrible the next day.

Let it Snow...

2013-12-09T08:00:00.001-08:00

Can we be done with snow now? I've discovered I don't mind snow if it's around for a little bit, we can play in it, don't need to go anywhere and then it melts. End of story. That, however, did not happen to us this time. Starting December 1st, it was predicted we'd get snow on Friday. It was supposed to be 1-3", a nice dusting to play with and perfect timing since Adia already had no school that day. We woke up on Friday to about an inch. I wasn't too impressed. The girls were desperate to play in it so they did. I figured it would be gone in a few hours. Oh... I was so incredibly wrong.

It soon started snowing again around 10am and it. Didn't. Stop. It snowed all day long, from big flakes to miniscule ones, but it was constant. When we went back outside around 2pm, we had 5in and it was still snowing.

By the time we went to bed, there was almost 7 inches of snow on the ground.
The next morning, when Daddy came home from work, we took the girls on a forced march in the snow. I can officially say, Leia does not like snow. Maybe if she was completely bundled in thick waterproof snow clothes, she'd feel differently, but we don't own that kind of stuff.

Sadly, I have no snowman to show you. The snow is too cold and powdery to make one. Speaking of cold, we have yet to get above freezing. The snow is still with is and Adia's school is already cancelled on Monday. I wouldn't be surprised if Tuesday also gets cancelled. We aren't supposed to thaw until Wednesday and driving is dangerous out there.

November

2013-12-08T20:00:00.000-08:00

Looking back at November, it looks like we didn't do very much. Honestly, it was one of those months where I blinked and it was December. I mostly remember everyone being sick (fevers, puking, lots of coughing and recovering from bronchitis for Daddy) and Adia played her first basketball game.

The month started with Adia's best friend's birthday party. The twins bowled too. Mira lost interest (hello getting sick), but Adia and Leia liked it.

The twins and I had quite a few days just the three of us. They still get confused by Adia being in school all day, but they enjoy picking her up because they get to hang out with Mr. S. He's in the same class with Adia this year.

We also discovered that the twins like tea. They're really their daddy's daughters.

Then came basketball. We had basketball practice twice a week and games on the weekend. Adia loves basketball and it's a good thing since she's a kick butt shooter. We just need to work on dribbling (which she's gotten so much better at) and defense. She's just not aggressive enough with kids she doesn't know. She did make a basket in one of the games she played. So proud of her.

And then the sick returned. Adia ran a fever all weekend and was wiped out. Coughing, sore throat, exhaustion. I felt so bad for her.

And in true Adia fashion, she was running full tilt on recess and smacked directly into a classmate. She had to find one of the biggest boys in her class who's built like a brick. I got a call just before pick up that Adia was in the office and had had an accident at recess. Her forehead was bleeding and they weren't having much luck getting it to stop. I picked her up and debated taking her for stitches. Luckily, after she was all cleaned up, we discovered it was more of a scrape than a gash/cut. Stitches wouldn't do any good. I bandaged her up and said a little prayer that she was ok and so were her glasses. I don't think her eye doctor would have appreciated replacing 2 pairs of glasses in 2 months. My little tough cookie bounced right back and was ready for basketball practice that night (along with team pictures). I predict she'll have a scar from it, but that's because she's really bad about picking scabs. Otherwise, it's completely healed already.

To add insult to injury, it was just a couple days before Thanksgiving! Adia was in charge of the pumpkin pies. She did an awesome job.

Thanksgiving morning brought the Turkey Stuffer 5K. I'm not sure what I was thinking. It was freezing cold, way too early and I'm completely out of shape. Adia, however, has been running around like a maniac thanks to basketball so she had more than enough energy. I spent most of the 5K chasing her. On the plus side, we finished in 48min. That's a record for us, but for the next 2 days, I could barely move or walk.

When we got back home, Adia curled up with Papa. She was exhausted and still recovering from the sick.

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious. Somehow everything ended up being ready about the same time. We all ate too much and the girls were so very happy to have their GiGi and Unky Eck with them this year. The next day we went and saw Frozen. The girls loved it. I have the songs stuck in my head and it was enjoyable, but I like Tangled more.

October

2013-12-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

October is always a fun month around here. The weather is still nice and there's so much to do. Pumpkin patch, fall festival, the park, and of course, Halloween. The month did start out rainy though. It followed the wettest September on record. Yep, that was fun. We missed many days walking to school and had to wait in the rain at pick up.

At least it was a nice day for bring a loved one to lunch day. Adia chose DiDi and she was able to walk Adia to school.

Adia went to the pumpkin patch with her class and I got to chaperone. It was fun and frosty. At least it was dry.

That weekend was our annual family pumpkin patch trip. It didn't rain on us (yay!), but Adia got bit by a turkey and Mira was knocked flat by a mean pygmy goat.

We managed to squeeze in my birthday, a corn maze and carving pumpkins all before Halloween. Not an easy task. Adia was a pumpkin emptying fool. Mira only would remove seeds if she had a spoon. Leia wanted nothing to do with the guts.

Adia had picture retakes just before Halloween too. She broke her glasses the day before school pictures and her old glasses just didn't look right. Luckily we had her new pair back for retakes.

We went to Gramma and Papa's for Halloween. It was cold and wet, but Adia and Leia had fun. Mira had been battling sickness (the same sick that Adia gave Daddy and I weeks before), so she only did a little trick or treating before curling up with Unky Eck and his iPad. I made Mira's pikachu costume, Leia's Princess Peach dress and Adia's vampire cape.

And that was October.

Gone Missing

2013-12-07T16:30:00.003-08:00

Yep, I've gone missing. It's been one of those years. I thought it was supposed to get easier as the twins got older, but instead I've found other ways to stay insanely busy. There's PTO, Girl Scouts, Adia's basketball, volunteering in Adia's classroom, yearbook and also all the stuff at home. And now we're under 7 inches of snow...yes, 7 inches of powdery snow that's supposed to hang out for a few days. That's unheard of for us, but I'm dreading the next couple days when it partially melts and refreezes and then is followed by freezing rain. Hello ice storm... again... I'll never forget skating to class 10 years ago.

So here's the highlight reel of the last 5 months or so.

July -
We went camping. Adia had fun, Leia doesn't like sleeping in a tent, and Mira puked all over herself while waiting for fireworks, twice. Unky Eck came back from 2 years in Mongolia so they were psyched to see him.

Then it was back home for the twins' birthday party.

Blueberry Pie for Mira and chocolate cake with strawberry frosting for Leia.

August -
Gramma and Papa sold their house on the coast and moved inland. They're about 35min away from us now and the girls love their new town, the fruit trees, huge park and lots of places to walk.

The girls also took swimming lessons, but I'm not sure they actually got anything out of it.

And Adia did a basketball camp where she learned to dribble and discovered she could shoot.

September-
It was back to school in September. Adia started first grade and both twins were finally in preschool.

We had some nice play dates before the rain started again.

Four Years Old!

2013-07-08T19:36:00.001-07:00

The twins are four and fabulous today! I can't believe it's been 4 years since I first held them.
Brand New (Mira left, Leia right)
1st Birthday (Leia left, Mira right)

2nd Birthday (Mira left, Leia Right)

3rd Birthday (Mira left, Leia right)

4th Birthday! (Mira left, Leia right)

Busy Summer Days

2013-06-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

It's only 10 days into summer vacation and we're finally able to take a small breather. It won't last long since we're headed for camping NEXT WEEK! And then it's the twincesses' birthday when we come back. I'm not ready for camping and I'm barely ready for their birthday party. I did finish birthday shopping for them. The invites have been mailed. I'll need to buy tableware, a pinata, make cakes and pick up snacks, but overall, I'm not as unprepared as I feel. Camping is another story. Daddy doesn't get to join us this year. The girls are bummed, I'm bummed and stressed. I've never set up the tent before, but luckily Papa will be there and Unky Eck gets to come home just in time. Adia's started a countdown on when she sees him again. And DiDi's coming camping again too.

Mira and Leia had their last day of school on June 13th. Mira had a little preschool program. It was so cute! You could definitely hear her singing. She was really into the songs and performing for everyone. She gave both her teachers huge hugs and has been asking nearly daily when she'll be going back to school. Summers are tough when you're little and still love school. Adia actually hugged her teacher goodbye this year. That's a first ever and tells you how wonderful her teacher was. I think we'll all miss her. At least she'll still be at the same school so we can drop in and say hi. I can't believe how much the girls have grown this year. Adia can read and write and has gained so much confidence. She is even willing to order for herself at restaurants and talk to adults. Before this year she was painfully shy with adults she didn't know. While stranger danger is important, hers nearly led to anxiety attacks. Truthfully, I understand completely. I hate talking to people I don't know and I suck at small talk. It's just not who I am. And I still avoid phones and calling people. I'm definitely an email/text message/twitter/facebook person.

After school ended, we headed to the coast to celebrate Daddy's birthday. Daddy's now 30! He took a week vacation for his birthday and we had some wonderful days on the beach. He also got to attend Mira's preschool program. We had a small party for Daddy at Gramma and Papa's house on Friday. Auntie Colie was able to come, but Brad had to work. We were bummed, but we hope to see him soon. The girls really love him. I made Daddy a Earl Grey Cake with lemon curd filling and vanilla butter cream. It was a hit. It actually tasted like lemon poppyseed. DiDi took the girls home with her and Daddy, Auntie Colie and I passed out on the couch. We're such partiers. It's weird to think that that was the last birthday party we'll ever have there. Gramma and Papa accepted an offer on their house and put an offer on one 35min from us so they'll be moving this summer!

The next morning we went out to breakfast and then met up with DiDi and the girls. Gramma and Papa were having a showing so they had to clean their house. DiDi, Daddy, the girls and I headed up to Heceta Beach. The last time we were there the twins were only a few months old and Adia tried to get swept out to sea. The weather seemed pretty awful. It was foggy and sprinkling off and on, but the wind was almost non existent. We decided to "hike" up to the lighthouse. The girls have never gone up there. They complained most of the way, but when we reached the top, they were in awe. They loved it and now whenever they see a lighthouse, they get crazy excited. After hiking down from the lighthouse, the girls played on the beach. They got thoroughly soaked themselves and got completely sandy. In true Cheeto fashion, he just wanted to sit in the car. The dog doesn't do outdoors for very long.

We then headed back to Florence to meet up with Gramma on Bay Street. We had lunch at Mo's, which Adia loves because she likes their lemonade and they have a gluten free menu! After some time at Gramma and Papa's house, Adia went home with DiDi and we got the twins to sleep in Auntie Colie's bed. They sleep really well in the same bed and generally sleep all night on their own. We're working on sleeping all night in their own beds and going to bed without a parent in the room. It's slow, but seems to be working for the twins. The next morning, we ate breakfast and headed to the beach. Daddy wanted to go for a run so Papa dropped him off at Honeyman, told him how to get to South Jetty and off he went. He got lost, ended up going 8+ miles, but he eventually found us again. DiDi and Adia also met us on the beach. Once again, the weather seemed icky. It was really foggy, but no wind. By the time we left a few hours later, it was hot and sunny and we were a tad pink.

That water is crazy cold, by the way. My feet were numb by the end, but the girls loved it. After a shower and nap at Gramma and Papa's house, I met with DiDi at the bowling alley for Tanae's 7th birthday party. The twins have never been bowling before and it's been a few years since Adia went. Mira and Adia loved it. Leia lost interest, but came back after hanging out with Tanae. They used bumpers and the twins used a cool contraption for rolling the bowling ball. Adia actually picked up her ball and chucked it almost like really bowling. The finger holes were a bit big for her. And in true Leia fashion, she wasn't really paying attention and still got the highest score.

After bowling, it was time to head home. Adia stayed with DiDi and Daddy, the twins and I headed home. The twins and I just hung out for the next couple days and on Wednesday we went to story time. Later that afternoon, DiDi and Adia came back and the twins headed home with DiDi. Adia and I hung out for a few days and on Friday, DiDi and the twins met us at the movie theater for Monsters University. The girls loved it, or they loved the goodies, I'm not sure. DiDi spent the night and the next morning we headed to Addi's. The twins requested a giant pancake to share.

Later that afternoon we tie dyed shirts. The girls did really well. I stripped them down to their undies and they only slightly dyed themselves. Their shirts turned out awesome though. I think they're the best ones we've ever done.

Strawberries

2013-06-10T22:02:00.005-07:00

It was fishing last weekend and strawberries this weekend. I took the girls to pick strawberries for the first time. We've done blueberry picking a few times, but we've never picked strawberries. We tried to go last year, but the place was unexpectedly closed. This year was a total success. Adia and Mira were my star berry pickers, as usual. Leia picked a dozen or so, ate a couple and declared she was done. She spent the rest of the time dancing along the rows and "helping." Adia filled her entire bucket by herself and Mira's was almost completely full. She was also covered in strawberry juice. Thank you Oxyclean. After picking nearly 15lbs of berries, they got to play and meet some animals.

Adia really loved the goats. Mira fed one of the sheep.

Then it was back to the playground.

Today Adia had her last field trip of the school year. She played miniature golf for the first time and loved it. It's definitely something we'll have to do again this summer. She had trouble eating the pizza though because her second bottom incisor was barely hanging on. Daddy and I offered to pull it out all day long, but she wouldn't let us. She hardly ate at dinner because biting and chewing proved difficult. She's also getting her 6 year old molars on the opposite side as before. Mira and Leia devoured dinner, however. Mira's eyes lit up when she saw meat on a stick. That's her kind of food.

After dinner, when the girls were supposed to be cleaning up the playroom, they started horsing around. I told Daddy that I bet Mira punches Adia in the face and knocks her tooth out. I was close. Mira hit Adia in the face with a plastic chair and out came her tooth. She's now 2 teeth down, the tooth fairy was out of cash so she had to use nickels and dimes, and Adia's speech is rather interesting.

And the girls all piled onto Daddy's back which reminded me of a similar picture from almost 2 years ago. They've all grown and changed so much.