History Made!!

Emily (l) and Madeleine (r) holding a replica of Mom's ballot voting for President Elect Obama.

Emily and Madeleine wearing the stickers Mom and Grandpa were given as their "official ID" to wear while knocking on doors last Sunday.

Picture taken in February - Emily on the left and Madeleine on the right, showing support for Mom's candidate of choice during the primaries.


P.S. Virginia goes BLUE!!!

Happy Halloween

Madeleine (l) and Emily (r) checking the lawn for fairy dust before trick-or-treating.

Emily - "Ballerina Fairy"


Madeleine - "Normal Fairy"

Emily and Madeleine's fourth Halloween was an overwhelming success. Deciding on our costumes took some doing. Both girls based their costumes on their respective duvet covers. Emily announced she wanted to be a ballerina and Madeleine wanted to be a fairy. However, when Emily realized fairies have wings and ballerinas don't; she decided to be a ballerina fairy. So....we had a "ballerina fairy" and a "normal fairy".

This year's festivities began with our Pumpkin Parade and Party at school and culminated with traditional evening activities - all in one day (tired and overly-excited little girls who were pretty wound up on Friday evening). This year there was significant anticipation of trick-or-treating with requests for said activity immediately following our nap....long 3 hours to wait until we could leave the house. The highlight of our costumes was wearing our hair in buns "that's what fairies do"... and we got to hand out candy to the "big kids" who came to our house!

Madeleine "Scarecrow" in the parade.

Emily "Scarecrow" in the parade.

Emily at the end of the table and Madeleine to Emily's left (in stripes) at the party.

We are already looking forward to next year.

Jack O Lanterns, Apples And An Owl

Emily and her jack-o-lantern.


Madeleine and her jack-o-lantern.

Emily and Madeleine made the promised trip to "Pumpkinville" where they acquired pumpkins that could actually be made into jack-o-lanterns (much to their mother's relief)! We had actually never carved jack-o-lanterns before and the process met with approval.

Last Monday the girls' class went on their first field trip to Bush Neck Farms. The class learned all about apples, got to ride behind a tractor to the orchard and each student got to pick his or her own apple. Overall, a very good day.

The class on the vehicle the tractor pulls around the farm.

Madeleine (l) and Emily (r) with some cutouts at Bush Neck farms.

Mr. and Mrs. Farmer Brown reading a book about apples to the class.

Madeleine (l) and Emily (r) with the apples they picked themselves!

Recently the girls returned to the Virginia Living Museum. The temporary dinosaur exhibit has moved on and there is now an exhibit about sound (not good for adults who don't like noise!). This trip we walked the loop outside and had a great opportunity to spot wolves, turkeys, coyotes, deer, foxes, etc. We also got to pet a screech owl who is a rescue animal for obvious reasons.


Our friend the screech owl.

The Open Seas

On the ferry....Madeleine on the left and Emily on the right....a little bit windy!

In a brand new adventure Emily and Madeleine crossed the James River on a ferry! I had decided to go to College Run Farms to get our pumpkins and to get there we had to take the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry, something I had thought would be a big deal...it was actually very easy. This new activity involved driving 10 minutes from our house, waiting for the ferry, boarding the ferry, getting out of the car during the ferry ride (a whopping 10-15 min) and watching seagulls. Emily and Madeleine were concerned they did not have their life jackets (which their mother took as a good sign they are inheriting her safety-oriented paranoia), but were calmed when it was pointed out we had their car seats (because those would help in the water!). Madeleine and Emily had a wonderful time and seem to feel they have earned their sea legs.

College Run Farms was a nice place to get pumpkins, although we opted to choose from those already at the farm stand rather than hike through the soggy mud to the U-Pick section. Once again the girls were fascinated by the mini pumpkins and gourds and each brought home three. Much to their mother's consternation they had no interest in traditional Halloween pumpkins, instead preferring a variety called "Long Island Cheese" which, near as I can tell, are good for pies and basically a glorified squash...there is no making jack-o-lanterns out of these! Emily and Madeleine are finally willing to watch It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, which their mother has been forcing on them for four Octobers now (I thought they'd like the colors as infants)...we still don't like the skeletons in the very beginning, but the show is growing on us. The day we got our pumpkins, we watched the show with them...after the girls, and pumpkins, took their naps.

Never fear, a trip to Pumpkinville has also been planned. I don't know about your community, but in ours, a place with homemade Sesame Street characters is rare and we are not going to give up the opportunity for our yearly visit.

Emily
Madeleine
Emily (L), pumpkins, Madeleine (R) watching It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

In non-pumpkin news, we have been to Busch Gardens on the past two Saturdays. However, these visits are noteworthy as we did not take the stroller!! Don't get me wrong, our Graco DuoGlider has been my loyal companion for many months (especially since moving here) and it is always in the back of my car - just in case it is needed, but we have started to physically outgrow it (although it is a nice mobile time-out zone). I think this is one of those times where being twins slows things down - a singleton would have been out of the stroller a while ago, however when I'm faced with two, running in opposite directions, I'm keeping them pinned in place. The girls did a great job walking all over the park and we did not hear complaints until I made the mistake, the first week, of praising their efforts on our way out of the park (the next week I knew to wait until we were on the tram to the parking lot). The solo adventure was a bit of a double-edged sword: we didn't have to lift the occupied stroller on and off the tram, drag it around, keep track of it, find space for it on the park's train, etc. However, the stroller's occupants were a bit drunk with their new found freedom and had some fun darting away from us (resulting in one young lady being placed in time-out temporarily).

Busch Gardens has been undergoing some improvements. The "glockenspiel" in "Germany" now sort of functions which is rather thrilling. And, in truly exciting news, they are adding a Sesame Street section which will open next spring! There is an entire Sesame Street park in Pennsylvania, which we have half-heartily contemplated visiting, but this takes its place and doesn't involve hours in the car!

While at Busch Gardens we spotted caramel apples and made some at home (shockingly those made at home did not cost $6 each!). While we approve of putting sugar, in any form, on all things possible, we found the apples a bit daunting. However, once they were cut in wedges - success was ours! We have also recently put up our Halloween decorations including our lovely vinyl tablecloth that is black with purple and orange jack-o-lanterns...it is actually a great weight loss method as everything looks absolutely disgusting on this tablecloth.

And finally, for those who try to keep track of who is who, we have new shoes. Madeleine's are white and pink and Emily's are brown and pink. Also, generally - but not always, Emily tends to choose warm colors, leaning towards pink, yellow, red, etc. and Madeleine, prefers cool colors as in green, blue, purple, etc. This is true, not only in clothing, but choice of color crayons, paper, etc.


Emily (sorry it is blurry - life is like that sometimes)

Madeleine

Madeleine

Emily

The Big Questions

Playing with branches TS Hanna blew down, still windy out, having lots of fun. Madeleine in the light pink shirt and Emily in the dark pink shirt.

Early in September the National Hurricane Center was forecasting Tropical Storm Hanna making landfall somewhere in the Carolinas and moving up from there. Not at all related, our first weekend after moving to Williamsburg two years ago, Tropical Storm Ernesto ripped through here and I was not impressed. We lost power (most importantly air conditioning), one of our trees still leans (apparently my solution of hoping a storm with wind blowing the opposite direction to straighten the tree hasn't worked) and we watched a ball literally float around the backyard while hoping the crawl space would not flood - it didn't (and we now have flood insurance).

So, when I saw TS Hanna's forecast I made enough ice cubes for the entire neighborhood and went to the store to buy additional ice. I put the ice from the store in the ice chest and moved it out of the garage and into the house to keep it as cold as possible. This time, since we were prepared, we did not lose power and I was thrilled. When I emptied the ice chest I left it in the living room with the lid open as the garage is not air-conditioned and gets very humid in the summer; I wanted the chest to thoroughly dry before I put it away. I propped the chest's lid open with a toy broom, in the event a curious cat decided to hop in when the girls and I were out - I didn't want the lid slamming shut and suffocating the cat. On our way out the door, Madeleine removed the broom and I put it back and told her I didn't want the kitties to die.

On our way to the car, the girls and I had the following conversation:

"What is die?"

"Dying is when you leave Mommy and Daddy forever and ever and go up to God."

"Where is God?"

"God is in Heaven."

"You know someone die?"

"Yes, my grandma and grandpa died and went up to God." I am now buckling carseat straps.

"I don't want my Mama Bapa die! I keep them forever!" with note of terror.

"Okay, you can keep your Mama and Bapa and Oma and Opa forever." backing out of the garage, "Hey, look at that bird in the sky."

And so the whole dying conversation has been revisited, repeatedly, for several weeks now. Thankfully, I did catch myself when I nearly told Emily and Madeleine that dying is like going to sleep for a long time (epiphany was when I realized this could seriously derail bedtime) and instead told them your body just turns off and your heart stops thumping. Somehow, we got around to when Madeleine and Emily will die and being a moron I told them when they are really old and have white hair. Unfortunately, instead of reassuring them this is far in the future, it has led to all kinds of consternation and I am now faced with two three-year-olds who are contemplating their own mortality. About a week ago I totally caved and told them they did not have to die if they did not want to. I know kids are killed in car accidents and kids get sick, but for now, I'm playing the odds.

In other, less dramatic, news...the girls are very much enjoying preschool. They did not enjoy the weekly fire drills, however now that September is over it will only be monthly, but otherwise school is "fun". Once a month there is a "chapel" service and all of the classes sing a song. This time Madeleine and Emily's class sang Jesus Loves Me . Apparently, in past years the three-year-olds have basically stood there and cried; this was not the case this time. Click here for a video of our stage debut. Our girls are framed by the teachers waving arms and Emily is in the white shirt while Madeleine is in the cranberry - front row. It was very dark in the chapel and I thought it would be tacky to show up with spotlights....we'll save those for their beauty pageant debut!

On non-school days we have been going to Colonial Williamsburg, etc. We also had our friend Ella come over and the next week we got to go to her house...very exciting. Emily and Madeleine also discovered that the beaters from the hand mixer are pretty nifty on the rare occasion that Mom bakes. We also killed time one day by planting tulips. There is some frustration that the tulips are not growing yet, but the concept of waiting until spring seems to be sinking in.

Emily

Madeleine

Planting tulips: Madeleine placing a bulb in the dirt and Emily waiting her turn.

In an early request, I was informed that Emily would like Santa to bring her pink sheets with pink butterflies and Madeleine would like a purple train with purple hearts. Madeleine's request prompted Emily to also request a train, but she would like a pink train with pink hearts. These requests were followed with the very earnest question "You think the elves can make that?" Yes. The elves, with some assistance from an independent contractor elf, should be able to handle that.

School Days (Thank God!)

Emily (L) and Madeleine (R)

Miss Madeleine
Miss Emily

Today was Emily and Madeleine's first day of formal preschool (their mother has not stopped tap dancing for joy). While we are veterans of Mother's Day Out, or "Miss Deena School" as we call it, this was our first day of being in a room where moms don't volunteer and the expectations are a bit more structured. We will have three of those days each week - goody!!

The day was monumental for several reasons, one of the more significant being that both girls' clothing actually matched and, yes, I ironed! Usually my standards are that: 1. they are not naked and 2. the clothing stopping our nudity is clean....beyond that, the girls pick out what they would like to wear for the day and I couldn't care less if tops match bottoms, etc.

The three-year-olds class is aptly named "Little Monkeys", so I made the girls monkey pins to wear on the first day (my future success in the jewelry business is highly unlikely). The girls wore their pins for a test-run on Sunday and within 10 minutes one of the ears on Madeleine's monkey had broken off. We decided the ears were too much bother and modified both monkeys to be earless. Grandma and Grandpa sent monkey pajamas and our young ladies were thrilled to be monkeys at night as well.

And now to my "Parenting Moment of the Day". We took the pictures of the girls before breakfast as there was a much higher probability their clothing would be clean at that point (I ironed, I want proof!). Till left for work and the girls and I went into the house to eat breakfast, etc. That is when I saw the monkey pins (on which I spent a shameful amount of time - shameful in that my skills are so lacking) on the table. We had forgotten to put them on for the pictures. So, I put them on the girls after breakfast and asked if we could go back outside to take a couple more pictures. I was told to say "please". I said "please". I was told the girls were too busy watching T.T. (T.V. for the rest of the world, but whatever) - I knew there was a reason I had kept T.V. at an arm's length up to this point. I mentioned that it would be really fast, they had already seen this episode of Little Einsteins and that I had worked really hard on the pins. Nope! So, in a fit of maturity and emotional health, I told the girls I was mad and I would never ever make them another pin! Judge all you want - when they are older I will tell them I was in labor for 23 hours, it took three attempts for the epidural to work and while most women have several years to regroup between deliveries I had a whopping nine minutes! The more emotionally mature parties relented and we went outside and quickly took pictures with their monkey pins on...however the smiles are not as genuine as the girls are merely saying "cheese" instead of laughing at their father's antics while their mother takes pictures, as in their individual pictures. At least the oldest toddler in the group was pacified.

I had told the girls that if they missed Mommy when they were at school they could just touch their monkey pins and know I was thinking about them. Emily asked if this worked if they missed Daddy too and Madeleine told her "yes". I also told them that all the mommies would come back, just like at "Miss Deena School". During dinner tonight Emily informed us that one little boy cried and he didn't have a monkey pin and "maybe he didn't go to Miss Deena School" so he didn't know mommies come back, "but he was happy on the playground."

Preschool was a huge success in the opinion of Madeleine and Emily and Madeleine informed me in the car on the way home, with a note of awe in her voice, that "the girls go in one bathroom and the boys go in a different bathroom!" How about that?

The Magic Of Age Three

Emily (left) and Madeleine with a bear at the Harrison, ID playground.

Without so much of a glimpse of the homesickness that plagued last year's summer trip to Spokane, Emily and Madeleine rated this summer's journey as a success and were asking "Why we leave 'Pokane" as the plane backed away from our gate. Their mother is taking this as a sign we should visit longer (read - avoid heat and humidity) next year. The difference between age 2 and 3 was startling in the girls' willingness to try new things and engage in those already sampled.

We spent the first few days in Spokane playing with our special toys, some of which are rather noisy, that live at Grandpa and Grandma's house, exploring the park and eating Wheat Thins (a tremendous hit and something Mom does not buy on a regular basis).

Our only disappointment was the fact we had wanted to feed the ducks like we did last summer, but the Spokane Park Dept. has decided these ducks are wild and should no longer be fed (After decades of being fed by the general public, the ducks seem to take umbrage with this new policy). Sadly, we had spent weeks saving heels and scraps of bread and had even gone to the effort to fly them across the country (in multiple zip-loc bags in an effort to reduce crumbs in our clothes). We did go visit the ducks, who are no more wild than I am as they expectantly waddle toward anyone who hesitates on the pond's edge, and took our bread scraps to the birds at the lake; who fled from the boat and the bread being thrown at them - demonstrating the correct behavior of a wild bird.

Madeleine in yellow and Emily in blue at the fountain at the Duncan Gardens in Manito Park.

Madeleine in blue and Emily in yellow running through the Duncan Gardens.

Upon our arrival at the lake we quickly fell into the daily routine of a morning boat ride (to get M&Ms!), usually to Harrison where we had to walk up the big hill and could play on the playground, followed by lunch and nap, then swimming. Emily and Madeleine showed new enthusiasm for driving the boat and took great delight in "turning" the boat which means the captain of the moment would grab the wheel and sharply turn it in one direction....kept the adults on their toes.

The first day Emily was "driving" as we approached the dock and, in an effort to avoid a collision with said floating wooden platform, Grandpa had to take over a bit more than Emily deemed necessary. This led to a complete temper tantrum and hasty retreat from the freshly-docked boat. The next morning when we went to get in the boat we realized the blower had been left on in the chaos of the previous day and the battery was dead. None the less our quest for "chocolate m's" (as M&Ms are called) had to go on. Luckily, Uncle Paul had recently obtained a paddleboat and so a very brave and self-sacrificing Grandpa and Mommy loaded Emily and Madeleine in the paddleboat and headed for the marina at the end of our bay. Two of us got candy and two of us got lactic acid in our thighs, but all of us got a boat ride. The battery on the motor boat was recharged and there was no workout the following day.


Emily (left), Madeleine (right).

Grandpa, Madeleine (purple shirt), Emily (dotted shirt) and a couple more Harrison bears.

Captain Emily.

Captain Madeleine.

When the Virginia Circus rolls into town it cramps things a bit at the lake if the entire family is there. So Uncle Kyle and Aunt Chessy generously (wisely) sleep in a tent. I offered to take the tent and they could be in charge of the girls for the night, but my offer was not accepted. Last year the girls would only peek in the tent and have spent the rest of the year convinced that their aunt and uncle live in a tent at all times. This year they: 1. saw Kyle and Chessy's "real house" and 2. could not get enough of the tent, thinking it is the niftiest thing they have seen in a long time.

Emily (pink) Madeleine (blue) "helping" Uncle Kyle set up the tent.

While Kyle and Chessy were at the lake we took the opportunity to celebrate Uncle Kyle and Aunt Liz's birthdays (which we had missed). Basically, we will take literally any excuse that results in cake.
Uncle Kyle, Madeleine (purple), Aunt Liz, Emily (pink). Upon taking this picture I realized that nearly three and a half years after the girls' birth this is the first picture of both sets of the family's twins. Guess it goes to show our family doesn't get into the "twin thing" a whole lot. It always amuses me when strangers are shocked I don't belong to a "twins group", as if you are not allowed to leave the hospital with twins unless you have a membership card to one of these groups.

While we were not in the Pacific Northwest for the 4th of July, Uncle Paul bought a few fireworks for us to see when we came. While we were not the biggest fans of any firework requiring lighting, we did think pop-its were pretty spiffy and are still looking for more.

Madeleine (blue), Uncle Paul, Emily (pink)

Aunt Liz was once again a constant source of creative ideas, craft supplies and glue. The girls would go through gallons of glue if given the chance. I was recently informed my crafts at home are not as much fun as "Aunt Liz crafts".

Emily in pink, Aunt Liz, Madeleine in purple.

Our faithful paddleboat - Madeleine in blue, Emily in pink.

Our last evening at the lake the girls discovered they could "walk buoys" down the road and took to it with great enthusiasm. They dragged the buoys up and down the driveway and road, singing to them most of the time. I think the buoys were a combination of babies and dogs as sometimes they were encouraged "over here baby" and other times they were clicked at the way you click to a dog you are calling. The buoys were eventually sung to sleep (click here for video) and Uncle Paul graciously promised to sing to them every night in our absence.

Madeleine (left) Emily (right)

Madeleine carrying her "tired buoy". Emily's just had to walk home.

Madeleine left, Emily right, wearing shirts they tie-dyed with Aunt Liz, "walking" Cindy - buoys are easier to handle!

Emily and Madeleine picking "fuzzy flowers" - dandelions - at the park our last day in Spokane

Bapa, Emily, Madeleine and Mama waiting for the plane at the Spokane airport.

Gate C18

Emily working on her noodle necklace for Grandma on the flight from Norfolk to Las Vegas.

Madeleine making Grandpa's noodle necklace on our flight to Las Vegas from Norfolk.

If you are ever stuck in the Las Vegas airport and outnumbered by preschoolers who "want to be done riding airplanes", I highly recommend gate C18. Gate C18 affords a lovely view of the runway and should you be fortunate enough to snag chairs by the window, your traveling companion(s) can be distracted from whining, asking how many more hours, etc. by being told about every 90 seconds or so - "There goes another airplane!"

Emily and Madeleine handled our cross-country flight beautifully and are now in the process of trying to adjust to local time (we are in our second full day here). We have had "lunch" at 9:30 AM two days in a row, followed by a rather substantial nap. Thursday night (arrival night) they went through their standard procedure of happily going to sleep in their beds here, crashing for about an hour or so, then waking disoriented and hysterical. At this point parents are faced with the options of throwing the girls out the window, running back and forth to their room all night as they wake every two hours or so, or just putting them in our bed. We obviously go for the last option - one night only. I'm honestly suspicious Madeleine would have made it through the night in her own bed had her sister not sounded the alarm; once she was in my bed (barely awake walking across the hall to get there) Madeleine crashed, not be heard from again until about 5 AM, while Emily clung to me all night.

The portable DVD player bought about 30 minutes of peace on the plane (was hoping for more), but the dyed noodles with which we made necklaces and small notebooks in which we stuck stickers paid off dramatically. The girls were also intrigued by the picture of the people using the oxygen mask in "the airplane book" (the safety instruction card). In light of recent events with Qantas Airlines I told the girls that sometimes you need special airplane air if the pilot decides to go down really fast. I also told them that if Mommy, or any other grown-up, put the mask on them they are to leave it there until a grown-up takes it off and it covers your entire face so you will not be able to suck your thumb. I should have my head examined. We probably spent a total of an hour, over the course of the trip, discussing whether or not the masks were needed at this point, that they cover the entire face, are we going down too fast and need the mask, etc. etc. etc.

While the girls did a great job, it is a bit wearing to lug two kids, and all of their "accessories" across the country. While in the Vegas airport, I saw a man wearing a baseball cap with a message that appealed to me, and while it is not complimentary to my children it is tempting to have a T-shirt made with the same message for when we fly at Christmas - "I'm Grumpy and I'm with Dopey".... I won't as I usually don't wander around with writing on my chest, but the message has some validity.

Two days before we left Williamsburg Till and I had put the girls in their room (they like to play a bit "without grown-ups" before their baths) and were getting their bath ready, toothbrushes set-up, etc. Madeleine was ticked about some perceived injustice and was howling at the top of her lungs. There is that point in the evening when parents' patience is running low, couple that with the classic situation where nothing you can do is going to make the upset child happy and there is no point wasting your time. So, we told Madeleine we'd be right back, we had to get baths ready, she should play and feel better and we closed the door. Things quieted down just a bit and then there was a definite increase in both pitch and volume. I opened the bedroom door to find Emily sitting on Madeleine's back, she had pinned Madeleine to the floor, and "thumping" her with a shoe (it's a light weight sneaker). As I removed Emily from her sister I asked why in the world she was sitting on Madeleine and was told "she no stop crying". While I completely empathise with the inclination to sit on a screaming child who will not be consoled, it is not permissible and apparently not effective. Emily was removed to her bath and Madeleine was consoled. It was also pointed out to Miss Madeleine that Emily is heavier by only eight ounces and Madeleine is allowed to fight back a bit. It appears there are no hard feelings.

Yesterday we went to the playground at the park, picked dandelions and clover for a lovely centerpiece and discovered "fluffy" dandelions - they were left at the park and not brought to our grandparents' yard. This morning I heard a conversation in the girls room about 4:35 so I got up and took a shower. When I got out I heard flat-out caterwauling. I went in and told the girls it was early and while I had had a chance to shower, I'd like to dry my hair too. They said, "Sure, no problem, please excuse us. Take all the time you want, put on a little make-up!" No, really, I changed them out of diapers, flipped the wastebasket upside down, brought in the portable DVD player put it on the "wastebasket table", turned on Cinderella and enjoyed another hour of peace and quiet during which I finished getting ready and got to talk to Mom in peace. The DVD player pays off!! Just not on a Boeing 737, but pays off none the less.

This morning we went to Safeway (huge adventure as we don't have Safeway in Williamsburg and apparently it is startling different from our Virginia grocery stores) and this afternoon will probably go to see Uncle Kyle and Aunt Chessy's house and meet their kitties.