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.

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.

The things kids say

I try not to use certain words and phrases around the kids, things like: that sucks, hate, stupid, etc. Last night at dinner, Alden asked me where my hot dog was (the kiddos got hot dogs, steak, and broccoli--Nick cooked), I told him I didn't get a hot dog and he said "that's a bummer" and gave me a slice of his. What a sweetie.

Mr. Convincing

Tonight as we put the kids to bed, Alden asked Nick to lay down with him. Nick said he had to go help me clean up because people were coming over, Alden told him I can clean by myself (apparently men stick together). Nick said "no, daddy needs to be nice and help mommy". Alden leaned in close and whispered "be naughty daddy, lay down". Hahaha!!! I'd much rather be snuggling with my little man than doing dishes!

Alden's newest thing is playing tricks. The other day in the car he asked where Ruthie was, I replied that she was in her carseat, and he said "No, that not Roo, that's just a stuffie", then laughed his head off. Of course I had to pretend that we left Ruthie at home and that made him laugh even harder. Little trickster.

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.

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.

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!

Alden is potty trained!!!

My little sweetie is turning into such a big boy! We started potty training over Thanksgiving weekend while we were visiting my dad. I guess things just finally clicked for him and it's been pretty smooth sailing. Back when Roo decided to potty train, I figured I may as well try with Alden, but no dice. He could hold it for hours but wouldn't pee in the toilet no matter what I tried, he insisted on a diaper. Anyway, he looks so stinking cute in his little briefs, he even has little boxer briefs for the super hubba-hubba look. We are still wearing diapers for poop, and for overnights. I'm not quite ready to close the final chapter on this last shred of babyhood. This is a great step for him, preschool requires that he be potty trained, so I'm glad that's out of the way before next fall. We are working on his aim, maybe he and Nick can both learn at the same time! Haha.

Is there such a thing as too sensitive?

On Friday night Nick was reading Dumbo to the kids. It's one of their favorite movies and they love the book too. When Nick read the page where Dumbo's mommy gets locked up for going crazy, Alden got very very upset, and kept asking where she went, then he finally dissolved into tears. It was so sweet and sad at the same time. He was inconsolable until finally we read the page where Dumbo flies and then is reunited with his mom.

He has so much empathy in his little soul, I don't want that to change but if he's this emo as a toddler, what will I be dealing with when he is a teenager?

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.