A new twist to the seventh inning stretch

The kids have been obsessed with baseball lately. This afternoon they were playing inside, Alden was the batter and Ruth was the pitcher. He was actually being the leader for a change, it was so cute. Ruthie threw the ball at him and farted really loudly at the same time, then she turned and ran away with a scared look on her face. Alden struck out then said "hey pitcher, I need my pitcher!" From the bathroom I hear "umm....the pitcher has to go poo poo". After the pitcher went poo-poo they decided to do some work on the fireplace. Alden tried to chip up the tiles with his hammer, but luckily he mostly made noise rather than damage. He also told me we need to replace a wall with a new one. He's quite the little construction worker, I love it!

They really do love each other

We went swimming at a friend's house today, it was so nice to cool off. I was pushing Ruth around on a float and Alden was holding on to the side. I told him to kick his feet and I let go of the float, Roo said "push me mama" and Alden said "don't worry Woof, I got ya" as he kicked all the way over to the step so Ruth could get off the float. Those little moments make me forget how they torture each other, Alden's favorite thing to do is take away something Ruthie is playing with and hold it above her head.

Telling tales

Lately the kids have been mega tattletales, and it drives me nuts. We walked past another mom and kid at Target and the kid had spilled Slurpie on his shirt, they said in unison "Mooommmm that boy spilled Slurrrrpie...." Um....okay thanks. Later we pass a kid who is standing up in the cart: "Mooommmmm that girl is standing up in the cart".....on and on and on "Moommmm that baby isn't wearing shoes...." "Mooommmmm that lady is taking a long time to checkout..." over and over and over they told on people all over the damn store. Thank goodness we weren't at Walmart or the Grocery Outlet or they would have had even more things to tattle on, like babies in diapers chugging baby bottles of Mt. Dew. As I loaded them in the car I told them I was done with hearing them tattle on people, and they need to mind their own business, not the business of others. I hear Alden start to tell Ruthie something as I close the back door, and by the time I open mine I hear Ruthie say "Mooommm, Aldens' minding other peopleses businesses still..." Oy.

Home and hole free

Nick finally got home after midnight Thursday night (so Friday morning I guess??). After forking over both an arm and a leg, a tow truck deposited him in front of our house. Yesterday morning he took my car to Firestone in Merced, they patched the tire free of charge and said there is no reason why America's Tire couldn't patch it, and yes I do need new back tires but not urgently and not for the price I was quoted. Yay, finally something positive! The tire was patched quickly and we were able to still make it to the circus in Fresno. I'd been talking to Ruth and Alden about it all week and they had a wonderful time. Ruthie's favorite part was when Gravity the naughty clown was caught by the Ringmaster, and Alden's favorite part was the elephants pooping.

Field trip to Forte Frozen Yogurt

This afternoon the MOMS Club of Merced went on a field trip to Forte Frozen Yogurt, in downtown Merced. The kids were read a story about energy conservation and then made their own frozen yogurt concoctions! Forte features 12 different flavors of frozen yogurt, including multiple sugar free options, plus a zillion toppings like Oreo, fresh fruit, and cheesecake bites. Ruth made a strawberry fro yo with mini M&M candies, rainbow sprinkles, and mochi balls. Alden the purist had Hershey's Chocolate Kiss fro yo and rainbow sprinkles. Mama had strawberry fro yo with fresh strawberries and cheesecake bites. It's a really cool place and I hope it survives the Merced economy that seems to run new businesses out of town in months.

Satchel came along for the trip.

If you look closely you'll see they are wearing the ice cream outfits Grandma Bonk made.

Doing a little coloring sheet, Ruth wrote her own name. Both are now on display at Forte. See how my little gentleman crosses his legs, and my little lady has hers spread apart? Nice.

Disneyland recap and pictures

We celebrated Ruth and Alden's third birthday at Disneyland! A good time was had by all. I have more pictures to add but these are a preview. We stayed at the Castle Inn and Suites, it was a little shabby but clean and the price was excellent. We went for 3.5 days and I think that was the perfect amount of time, we arrived on Wednesday afternoon and hit the park after checking in to our hotel, then went all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The lines got progressively longer as we went into the weekend, and the line for the Princess Fantasy Faire was absolutely ridiculous. Next time we are going to pony up for the breakfast at Ariel's Grotto, so we can meet the princesses and skip the crazy line.

We saw Goofy on Main Street!

Waiting for Tinkerbell at Pixie Hollow

Spinning on the teacups

The carousel in Fantasyland

We love Pluto!

Twin love

Nick is cutting Ruth and Alden's nails while they draw.  

Alden:  "Hold my hand Roof."

Ruth:  "Be ray-ally ray-ally gentle da-ta."

Alden:  "Be soft."

Ruth:  "See, it's not too bad."

Alden:  "No, not too bad."

Both:  "See? All done!"

Alden:  "Can I trim your nails dada?"

One blissful hour

Today I met up with my friend Patty, we had a picnic at the park and enjoyed the sunshine.  In fact, we enjoyed it so much we left a pair of Crocs, my water bottle, a ziploc of goldfish and the kids' water bottle behind!  I went back for these items, but holy moly where is my head these days?

Anyway, Patty offered to watch the twins so I could go to the grocery store by myself.  I was skeptical b/c the kids are rarely away from me, I figured they'd revolt and want to come with me.  Ha!  Once we got to Patty's house and they saw Merrick's brand new wooden kitchen, they all but forgot my name.  

Going to the grocery store alone is a very different experience from shopping with two almost three-year old kids.  I didn't have to hunt down a cart w/two seats, I only wiped down the handle not the whole seat, and I was able to complete my list in about 15 minutes, plus another 3 for getting an iced latte at the in-store coffee bar.  I did miss the back and forth banter, Alden usually holds the list and Ruth quizzes me on random things and asks if we are going to buy beer and Cheetos for daddy.  

Tonight as I was looking at the circular, I told Roo that chicken breasts are on sale.  She grabbed the Longs ad and said "I sink (think) beer and wine are also on sale mama".   Thanks Roo.  She still has her little lisp,  I love it.  Her little tongue peeks out when she talks and her mouth makes the cutest little shapes.  

The other night I was brushing her hair and she was being very....theatrical.  Alden walked up and said "hey, what are you doing to my baby girl?"  He's such a protective big little brother.

3 going on 13

Last night at dinner Ruth was being silly, she grabbed some pasta from the serving plate instead of from the pile on her plate.  I told her she had some noodles on her plate and she said "Oh, I didn't realize that mama, sorry".  What kind of not quite 3 year old says she didn't realize?  OMG.  She had a bad case of the wiggles too, and was squirming all over the place.  After Nick told her to sit still for the 1000th time, she sighed, and said "Daddy, why you being difficult tonight?"

Bathtime Conversations

I love eavesdropping on the kids during their bath.  Tonight Ruthie decided our little rubber frog is her baby, and the baby needed to visit the doctor.  Alden is playing the part of the doctor.

Ruth:  My baby has an ouchie.

Alden:  The doctor is clo-sed.

Ruth:  My baybeeee neeedzz the docTOR!

Alden: The.doctor.is.clo-sed.,

Ruth:  OPEN!

Alden:  Okay, what you want?

At this point I stepped in and asked if the baby needs a bandaid.  Ruthie looked at me like I'm totally clueless and said "Mommy, only if it is an ima-gin-na-nary bandaid cuz we in the water".  I mimed handing a bandaid to Alden and he put it on the frog.  All was well.

Little Diva

This morning Alden pulled out a hunk of Ruthie's hair, they were having some sort of argument. We separated them, I took Roo to the bedroom with me so I could finish drying my hair and getting dressed. I placated her by promising to brush her hair and let her put on a little makeup. Alden had to sit in timeout without his precious brown blankie from nana. This boy is ATTACHED to that dang blanket. Anyway, I brushed Roo's hair and put a bow in and I figured she forgot about the makeup promise. Not so. I should've known better. We were running late for story time, so I rushed us out the door. As soon as the other kids quieted and sat down so we could begin, Ruthie yelled out "Wait, I forgot my makeup!!" She was rather upset so I had to give her my clear Chapstick, whew. That girl, oy. She's already better at applying makeup than I am.

Hello Kitty

Roo and I are sitting at the dining room table, eating Sees chocolates from the boxes my dad sent us (thanks dad, we will call you tonight!). She pulled all of the paper cup thingies out of her box and piled them on the table.

She says:
"I'm taking out the trash cuz I don't like to eat trash. Oscar the grouch does like to eat trash, but I don't". I grabbed her up and gave her a big hug, then I asked her if she loves me. She leans in for a kiss, but when I lean in, she licks my nose and says "I love soda".

I wish I had hidden cameras, she's sitting here in her bling tee that says Big Sister, wearing baggy Hello Kitty underpants, with a side ponytail. She's her own person, and I love it.

Why that lady no find a freaking spot?

I need to stop underestimating my kids. We were driving through a parking lot and this woman was blocking the lane, I muttered something about finding a freaking spot rather than jamming up everyone else. From the backseat I hear a little voice say: "why that lady no find a freaking spot mama?". Oops. Then Alden piped up with a "what's the heck!?". They've also learned to say dammit, courtesy of their father. We passed a big billboard and Alden told me the sign said a naughty word, he totally just wanted me to ask what naughty word so he could bust out with a dammit. When we leave places Ruthie likes to say "us bouncing now", sometimes we bounce AND roll. Yeah, my kids are hip to the late 90s-early 2000 slang. Haha.

Too dang smart

I was talking to Ruthie about getting rid of her bunty (pacifier), she's turning 3 in May and I just feel like she needs to give it up! Right? Maybe not. She's usually very generous so I suggested we box up her bunties and mail them to babies who don't have any, I tried this tactic a few weeks ago and it didn't go over well, so I tried again. The following conversation ensued:

Me: So we are going to mail your bunties to babies who don't have any, right?
Roo: No.
Me: Why?
Roo: Dey's mommy can go to Target and buy der own.
Me: Sometimes they can't do that honey.
Roo Dey have lots of colors at Target. My bunties is mine.

Cheers, not just for glasses!

Ruthie is very into "cheers-ing" just about anything, ice cream cones, crayons, drinks, dollies, and now......vaginas. We went to our favorite thai place the other night, it's THE BEST thai restaurant in Merced, and of course, it is freaking closing at the end of the month because of the stupid economy. Ruthie insists on bringing her Chloe doll everywhere, it is the ugliest thing ever, but she treats it like an appendage. The service was a little slow, so the kids were getting punchy. I heard Ruthie saying "cheers, cheers, cheers", I looked over and she was doing this weird dance, I asked what she was doing and she said "me's cheers-ing geenas with Chloe, cheers, cheers, cheers" while basically dry humping her doll. OMG, this girl. She cracks me up, I love her so much.

Twin love

The kids and I went to the mall today, of course we had to make a potty stop and this sweet scene unfolded:

The three of us crowded into a stall at JC Penney, Alden decided he wanted to stand to pee, so I got him into position and he let loose. I was encouraging him and he was smiling, then all of a sudden Ruthie leaned in and gave Alden a bear hug and said "Good job, I'm so proud of you Awwlden"! The hug knocked him a little off balance and the spray went a little crazy, but I hardly noticed through my misty eyes. I love it when they are so caring and supportive of each other.

This evening my dear friend Patty and I went shopping for the family my SAHM group has adopted for the holidays, we had a blast while Nick entertained the twins and Patty's son. When we got home Roo was asleep but the boys were up, waiting for their mamas. Alden's been waiting up for me when I have a rare evening out, it is so cute, he always looks a little surprised to see me then runs up for a hug.

I telling you last time!

"I want to watch Handy Mandy! Last time mama, I mean it! I not joking around."

Well, I suppose it is good that she's listening and understanding me when I say things to her.......

Christmas 2008 formal pictures

I took the twins to Kiddie Kandids on Friday, we always have good results there, although some minor injury ALWAYS occurs before we step up to the platform for pictures. For their 2nd birthday session, I accidentally pinched Ruthie's thigh when I was snapping her onesie. This time Alden slammed his fingers in a drawer. Oh well, I think they are pretty darn cute!

More funnies

Wearing only her baggy underpants, Ruthie walked into the kitchen. She had one of I'm Up To No Good smirks on her sweet face, and she said:

"I hide-a my bunty inna my panties, dat's how me rolls."

and turned and walked away.

As she was walking, I noticed a little tail in her undies, sure enough, she'd stuck her bunty (pacifier) in her panties to hide it from Alden.

Alden's favorite song is "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" but he puts his own special spin on it:

Head
Shoulders
TESSICLES AND PENIS
AND BUTT
AND FARTS
AND BAGINA
HAHAHAHAHA

OMG, I'm not sure I'll be able to take him to story time at the library next week, that dang song is a staple. I can just picture him busting out with his special lyrics and those stuck up bitches from last week running out of the room in horror.

Some Ruthisms

Aunt Squeaky is getting married on Halloween, this weekend Ruth and I attended her bridal shower. Poor Roo was very confused about why everyone was coming to Auntie Amy's house to take a shower. When I told her it was almost time for the shower to start, she said: "I don't WANT to take a shower"!

This weekend there was lots of wedding talk, and on the ride home from the festivities, I asked the twins if they were going to get married someday. Ruth said "Mama, us getting married". I asked for clarification and she said "Me and Alden, us getting married". Well, I guess that is one way to save money on their weddings. We might need to move to Arkansas.....

Today we met up with Nick for lunch, as we were leaving he took Ruthie to the potty. When they came back he showed me a wet spot on the back of her jeans, she likes to lean back when she pees, which results in a stream of urine shooting over the front of the bowl. It's lovely. When we were loading them into the car, Nick decided to take off her pants since we were just going straight home for naps. Ruthie yelled "Mama, daddy peepee onna my pants, now I naked!" I said: "Daddy peeed on your pants?" She yelled: "Yup, him peed on my pants!"

On the ride home from lunch, both kids were a little punchy. Ruthie had her bunty (pacifier) and she decided to hide it from Alden. From the backseat I hear: "Mama, I hidda my bunty in my bottom. It's inna my panties", then she has a fit of giggles. Me, horrified, driving on the freeway: "Your bunty is in your booty?" Her, giggling: "Yup, I hide it from Alden so he no take it." Giggle giggle giggle. OMG. I don't know where she actually hid it, but it was in her hand when we pulled up in front of our house.