Friday's at the Zoo!

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear.....

For Christmas the twins great grandmother gave them very nice teddy bears. I had determined that something so costly shouldn't be played with and for the past month the teddy bears have been collecting dust on their book shelf. They other day I changed my mind (I'm great with consistency!) and decided instead of collecting dust for the next twenty years perhaps these bears could become a favorite stuffed animal. So off came the tags and into their cribs they went.

Patrick is a fan of comfort objects. He loves his blanket and still insists on having it to sleep. He has his pacifier (only at nap time and bedtime!) and usually snuggles his blanket, drinks his bottle, and holds his pacifier while he falls asleep. Cassidy is..........ummm..............independent among other things. She could care less what is in her crib when she goes to bed at night and for that matter I'm convinced she'd care less if I was around or not so long as she was fed and had someone to indulge her wants every once in awhile. Patrick is quite clingy and cries pitifully if I go anywhere without him. Not Cassidy, she smiles, waves, and says "bye-bye Mama."

In any event, you can see how I was quite surprised when she started carrying her teddy bear around with her. At night she tucks him under her arm and cuddles him to sleep. In the morning she is standing up in her crib, holding her teddy bear wanting to get out.

Here are a few pictures of her and teddy this morning:

They're ganging up on me!

The twins love getting into mischief together. Whenever there is silence, I know they are up to something incredibly mischievous. It's as if they have planned ahead and made a pact of silence in advance (something I have yet to get out of them even when I demand it!) Quietly they sneak to whichever door they are plotting to ambush and once inside gleefully wreak havoc on said room.........all without a single peep. Not a scream of excitement, a laugh, or single word uttered. I'm telling you it's truly amazing. Whenever I want them to be quiet there is an over abundance of screaming, laughing, shouting, and various other LOUD sounds coming from their direction.

This morning after they broke into Payton's room twice in a ten minute period, I put them both into time out (a first!) and let them go at it for three minutes. I thought they would cry, scratch, bite, and behave in an equally unsuitable manner. I suppose the two I's of toddler training (isolate and ignore) were not being followed since they were together and laughing quite proud of themselves. They had the audacity to ENJOY their time out together and instead of punishment thought time out was wonderful!!!! Here is a picture of them both laughing at me................

I'm outnumbered...........

Pretty Pretty Princess???? Not so Much...

We love hand me downs! It just so happens we have a large supply of "boys" sleepers. Who says Cassidy can't wear them too? Not I! She looks a little boyish but she'll never know the difference:) For some reason I don't think Steve w0uld be too happy if I was dressing Patrick in pink...............

Here are a few pictures playing around the house this morning.

Peek-a-Boo!

The twins are getting much better at using silverware!!!

Two sets of Twins.....

Cassidy behaved quite horribly at Jake and Viva's this week. She spent most of the visit in time out............perhaps next week will be better. Here are a few shots of the foursome in a semi-cooperative state....and full of attitude!

Hockey, Hockey, Hockey

We had a six day mini break thanks to a combination of snow (ice) days and the MLK weekend. For some reason I feel like today is a "break" now that Steve is back to work and Payton is back at school- I only have two children to clean up after instead of four! The house is a disaster, my arms are sore from dragging two screaming misbehaving toddlers around the rink all weekend, and I have NO food in the house. Enough complaining!

We really did have a good weekend! Payton's teamed played in the Polar Bear Tournament and won the squirt AAA division. Congrats boys!

New Years Resolutions.........

Kara and I finally got together with all the children today. Among my other new year aspirations was getting together on a consistent basis. We really have been slacking the last few months. Today we were overachievers and got the five little ones together while making meat loaf to freeze for the next four months! No blood was shed and our families have dinner! Now to follow up next week with something equally ambitious..................

Bouncin' Bears

We went on a new adventure today and discovered Bouncin' Bears. Previously we'd tried to go but alas, it was full. Today luck was on our side and we made the cut. All three kids had a blast and I was quite impressed with the twins climbing skills on the ladders and their lack of fear on the big slides.