Ramblings from Alabama

Daddy’s creativity leads to a brilliant idea and a potential bedtime disaster is successfully averted…

Mary and Elise were very proud of the towers they built.  Elise named hers “Mustard” and Mary’s was “Ketchup.”  Go figure.

They look happy in these pictures, but you should have seen and heard them when the towers fell over and broke into a few pieces.  It wasn’t pretty.  And I couldn’t help but laugh, mean mommy that I am.  And do you think they just snapped the pieces back together?  Oh, no.  The pieces that broke from the topmost part of the tower had to be disassembled and put back on the base of the tower.  One.  At.  A.  Time.  With crying and upset girls through the whole rebuilding process.

Lord, please give me patience.  Amen!

MaMa, Cara, and Aunt Weenie (my aunt and therefore the girls’ great aunt) came last week for a visit.  Thank you, Southwest Airlines, for your wonderful $39 fares!  We had a lovely time chatting, eating, watching movies, shopping, playing with the kids, and going to the Botanical Gardens.  We were all good and worn out by Sunday!

Playing a fishing game that MaMa brought…

MaMa, Aunt Cara, and Nora sharing puffs…

Mary and Elise with a dinosaur at the Botanical Gardens…

Playing in the sunflowers…

The terrific trio: Aunt Weenie, CaCa, and MawMaw…

The “big reveal”…

Last night we went to the library for a Halloween party.  We listened to stories, played games, and had snacks.  It was a lot of fun, except for the usual things…too many kids (and adults) in too small a space with me trying to navigate a stroller amidst the chaos, and Elise always running ahead and Mary always lagging behind.  WAY behind.  She really lives in her own little world, that one!  We went with Ivy and Eli, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a good picture of Eli in his elephant suit with the girls.  But this one of him by himself is adorable.

Today the girls are super excited about playing with friends this morning, Daddy coming home this afternoon, and trick-or-treating tonight with more friends.  So we’ll likely have more pictures coming for those of you (MaMa and Gramma!) who can’t get enough!

Mommy: Guess who’s coming home today?

Elise: Daddy!

Mommy:  Yes!  Do you miss your daddy?

Elise:  I miss my daddy.  I love my daddy.

Mary: That’s Elise’s daddy.

Mommy: That Elise’s and Mary’s and Nora’s daddy.  I miss Daddy, too.

Mary: That’s not your daddy.

Mommy: No, he’s Mommy’s husband.

Elise: He’s your husband.

Mary: I miss your husband.

For trick-or-treating at the church, we made crazy hats to wear.  That was Sunday.  I am still finding stickers all over the house, because what’s more fun than making a crazy hat?  Dismantling the crazy hat, tiny little sticker by tiny little sticker.

Here we are carving our pumpkins.  Mary and Elise were a big help in getting the goop out of the middle.

Here are the finished products.  The big one is “Mommy and Daddy’s punkin.”  I did it last, and I wanted to try a different sort of face, so I used different shapes for the eyes, ears, and nose.  Elise said it was yawning because it was tired.  That’s about right!

#644: They enjoy even your most mediocre chili and want “More chili, please!”  (And you would not believe what her lap looked like after this meal.)

#645: They entertain you during your least favorite chores.

#646: They have a good eye and clever ideas for home decorating.

I haven’t listed the other 643 reasons, but trust me…they’re there!

Last weekend we made the much-anticipated annual trip to the local pumpkin farm with our friends Mike, Ive, and Eli.

I hated to choose this picture with Mike shielding his face (the sun was brutal in this phto-op spot), but it gives you a good view of Eli and his awesome elephant costume his grandma made him, so that trumped getting a good view of Mike!

The kids enjoyed the corn bin and had to be pulled out of there by cold parents eager to get moving again.

Jumping on the hay covered mattresses was a big hit with Mary and Elise.

Mike and Eli went down a long, steep slide!

The swings were fun, until Elise decided she wanted to go higher and then, immediately after having her request fulfilled, decided she wanted to get down.  So she did.  And that explained why she had dirt all over her back when I came back to the play area after feeding Nora in the van!

Face painting!

I tried to enjoy my soda on the hayride out to the pumpkin farm.

But this little girl’s gotta have her Diet Coke!

Trying to find that elusive perfect pumpkin…

We had a wonderful time at Lyon Family Farm.  This picture says it all.

Normal people would go home after such an adventure.  We went straight to a birthday party for twin friends who were turning four years old.  It was at the Little Gym of Huntsville, so the girls were able to jump around and play on lots of kid-sized gym equipment.  Of course, they didn’t wake up and start really enjoying everything until about 5 minutes before we needed to leave, but they had a great time anyway!

…what our Halloween costumes are?  These are the hats.  Mommy has to dig out her sewing machine to finish up the suits.

No fair “guessing” if you already know!

Remember when Mary and Elise were 6 months old…same age Nora is now?