Playdates

Monday morning, the boys and I went to our first Moms of Multiples playgroup. There were 3 other moms there, the host had boy/girl twins that turn 2 next month, one mom had girl twins that turned two in December and the 3rd mom had boy/2 girl triplets that turn 2 next week! There was one mom with twin boys a few months older than Evan and Carter that wasn't able to make it. It was so much fun. Even though the boys were the youngest ones there, they did fine. The host had so many fun toys and the boys had a blast playing. We were there for 2 hours and only left because it was getting really close to the boys lunch/naptime. Normally, we have to leave because one of the boys decide it's time to go. :) It was so nice to get together with some other twin (and triplet!) moms. There are so many things about being a mom that are universal. There's some things that all moms, whether they work, stay at home, have one or 10 kids, have boys or girls, etc understand. Actually, I think most things about being a mom are universal, but there's some things about being a mom of twins that only other moms of twins understand and it was so nice to get to talk to them. This playgroup actually meets weekly, so I'm really looking forward to getting to be a part of it. The boys had a blast too, so it's going to be good for all of us.

Here's the boys playing at the playdate on Monday.

The boys eating their snack Monday afternoon. This is what Evan decided to do with his bowl when he was done eating.

 
Of course, it's monkey see-monkey do around here, so Carter had to try it.

Today, we met my friend Robyn and her daughter Aubrey at Yoder's for a playdate and lunch. Robyn and I used to work at the doctor's office together and we were 2 of the 3 girls that were pregnant at the same time. Aubrey was born the same day as the boys, their first playdate was in the hospital when we walked down the hall to visit Robyn in their room. :) Aubrey was such a sweetie and talking up a storm! She could say so many different words and phrases. She also has chickens at home and her babysitter has a goat, so she was a pro with the animals, it was so fun to watch her feed them and pet them. The boys saw her feeding the goats, so they decided they wanted to also. (they've only fed the chickens) they thought the goats licking their hands was so funny! Aubrey even inspired Carter to pet a chicken! I love how they learn from watching other kids. Well, I love them learning from other good kids doing good things, I should say. We're looking forward to some more playdates now that the weather has warmed up.

I like to "spot" the boys as they climb up the ladder and go down the slide because they've slipped on the ladder before (with me right there to catch them, luckily) but they do NOT like me "spotting" them at all. They both will tell me "no" as they go up and if I get too close to them, they will remind me that they are big boys now. I was with Evan at the chickens, and Carter thought he'd run off and try and get up the ladder real fast before I could get over there. They think they're such big boys now!

 Aubrey feeding the goats.

Swinging like big kids. a

I love playdates and now that the weather is getting warmer, it really gives us so many more options on places to go and things to do.

Weekend Recap

Greg had Friday off, so we enjoyed a nice, three day weekend. Friday, we ran some errands in the morning and then came home so the boys could take an early nap. When we were all sick, I found a house cleaning deal on Living Social. It was a great deal and we had our appointment on Friday to get the house cleaned. The girls got to the house about 12:45, so we woke the boys up and took them out to Mexican for lunch, then to Snip-It's to get their hair cut, and to the park, and then home. It was so nice coming home to a clean house. Everything was done--dusting, mopping, vacuuming, the bathrooms, etc. It takes so long to clean the entire house and with the boys, it's not always possible to do it all at once. So, I have to clean it in sections, which I hate. I love having the entire house cleaned at once.

This is our trick to get the boys to leave the park without fussing. :)

Saturday, we woke up and headed to Harrisonburg which is about 30-45 minutes away to go to the Green Valley Book Fair. It was opening day for the year, which is supposed to be the best day to go because it's the day with the biggest selection of books. The boys fell asleep on the way there, and it ended up being the only nap they got all day. When we got there, we saw it was a madhouse, so I went in and got some books, I had a couple in mind that I wanted, but was hoping to browse a little while I was there, but it was so crazy, it was impossible to browse. I was really happy with what I got the boys though, and it was definitely worth the drive up there. On the way home, we stopped at a park to let the boys stretch their legs before the drive home. It was a wooden castle that looked really fun. The ages on the sign said 2-5, but I can't imagine the boys being old enough to play on it at 2. We didn't realize this until after the boys started playing on it, it just didn't seem safe for their age. We let them go down the slide and then pushed them on the swings for awhile and left. When we got home, we put the boys down for a nap, but they weren't having it, so we decided to go ahead and do our grocery shopping for the week. After we got home, the boys played really good until we put them to bed. I guess they had a lot of energy stored up after being in the car all day.

They're so cute when they're sleeping!

This is the park we went to. It's really cool and is perfect for older kids.

The books I picked up at the fair.

Sunday, we planned on going to church, but because of the time change, we slept later and just didn't get ready in time. So, after breakfasts and some play time, we ran to Target. We wanted to take the boys somewhere fun, but everything was closed and it was too cold to go to any of the parks. So, we decided to take them to Petsmart and let them look at the animals. They looked at the birds, cats, gerbils, fish, and then we went over to the dogs being groomed and they watched them for a little while. I did feel a little weird treating Petsmart as our own personal zoo, but the boys loved it and it gave us something to do. When we left, one of the employees had a HUGE german shepard and let the boys pet him. It was so cute to to hear them laughing and giggling when the dog licked their faces. They weren't scared at all to pet him and they were so gentle. I'm so glad that they love animals. I remember taking them to the county fair last year and Carter wanting no part of the petting zoo, so I'm glad they're past that.

At Petsmart

When we got home, we fed the boys lunch and all 3 boys went down for a nap. I took advantage of the time and went out and did a little shopping. There were a million things that needed to be done around the house, but I was really in the mood to go shopping. There's a few projects that I found on Pinterest that I want to do, so I got the stuff to do those, but I can't blog about them yet. :( They're not gifts, really, but I want them to be surprises, so I'll have to blog about them later.
After the boys woke up from their nap, we let them play outside in the yard, went for a quick walk, and then took them to the park.

The boys aren't the only ones who enjoyed the park. Here's Greg swinging.

That pretty much sums up our weekend. :)

Welcome Back Warm Weather!

Monday, we got 5-6 inches of snow. It looked like this.

Tuesday, I took the boys to the mall in the morning and it was pretty cold.

Carter, still wearing his hat. He's turning around and waiting on Evan to come push him down the slide.

The boys love finding our shoes and putting them on. They both had one shoe from a pair on the other day, I wish I had got a picture, it was so cute!

Wednesday, it was in the high 60's. Yay! Welcom back warm weather!! I took the boys to the park for a MOPs playdate. The boys were definitely enjoying being outside after being cooped up for a couple of days. They played hard! I didn't even get a chance to socialize. It'd be much easier to socialize at these playdates if it wasn't for all the kids! ;) Just kidding. After Greg got home, we took the boys to another park.

There was still a little snow on the ground.

We were there a little over an hour. The boys explored the park when we first got there, I pushed them on the swings for a few minutes, and the rest of the time was spent going down the slide. They'd go down, go around to the stairs and up to the slide and go down again. Over and over. They actually did it together, they usually split up at the park, but this time, they stuck together. It was cute, at one point, Evan got ahead of Carter and was about to go down the slide and noticed Carter hadn't made it back around and to the stairs. He got up, and went to the stairs to wait on Carter so they could go down the slide together. I love that they're becoming such good friends and playmates.

These were taken at the other park that Greg and I took them to after he got off work. Carter likes to sit down several inches back from the slide and then he scoots up to the slide.

The boys had on thin, long sleeve shirts, they didn't even need jackets. I can't believe that this picture and the first picture I put up of the snow were taken 2 days apart.

Today, it got up to 71! The boys and I ran to Sam's Club first thing in the morning for a couple of things. I love our business membership (a sweet patient at the doctor's office I worked at hooked us all up with business memberships) I get to take advantage of the business member's only hours and instead of waiting until 10 when they open, I can start shopping at 7am. After our little errand, we took a walk around the neighborhood. Both boys love cars, trucks, tractors, construction, etc. but, Carter especially loves all the construction vehicles and stuff around our neighborhood. He got a big kick out of walking by one of the houses being worked on. After our walk, I packed a lunch and met a friend and her two girls at Yoder's. My ol' go-to warm weather spot. The boys had a great time and afterwards, we ate lunch there and then went home. The boys took a great nap and when they woke up, we went to the gym.

The boys are all about sharing their food and drinks. Apparently, Evan didn't want his last few bites of waffle this morning, so he gave the rest to Carter.

 I hardly ever go to Sam's Club without Greg, it's been several month,s at least. As soon as we walk in, both boys start looking around and Evan starts saying "Daddy, Daddy?". It's so funny how they pick up on these things, they know that Greg is with us when we go there and looked for him.

On our walk.

At Yoder's.

This slide is very fast. Last time, Carter faceplanted in the dirt after going down it. I hold their hands when they go down to make sure they don't fall. I also help them up the ladder, because they both slip on it. But, they think they're big boys and do NOT like me helping them. Carter would pull his hand away or push mine away and yell "No!" and Evan would wait until my attention was on Carter or talking and try and hurry up down the slide.

 We picked up a movie on the way home. Greg picked out "Thor" to watch tonight. So, I am enjoying a glass of wine and spending a little time on Pinterest this evening. One of the blogs I follow, Karen at Home, is doing a Pinterest challenge. You pick a project that you pinned on Pinterest, complete it and then link up with her and blog about your project. I'm going to go through some of the items I've pinned and pick something so I can participate.  I'm going to try and pick something fairly easy, but I'm really excited to have an excuse to do a fun project. This is Greg's 3 day weekend, and we have a busy weekend planned. It's supposed to be sunny this weekend, so in addition to the things we have planned, I'm sure we'll make some time to get outside with the boys.

I hope everybody is having a good week!