Holidays with the Pests...

Another holiday season has come to an end with wonderous gifts for all. Despite the rough schedule, Aron and Alyssa did wonderful for Christmas in Cleveland. Both sets of grandparents and great-grandmas doted on Aron and Alyssa. This year, Alyssa got her first Barbie, Aron got a bunch of toy cars from the movie Cars and we got a bunch of books. We even got a Hungry Hippos game which is fast appearing to be the new favorite game of choice. And after all the shredding of wrapping paper and excitement, we had a couple of tired Twinnies. At one point in time, we had a snoring contest between Grandpa V. and a small but powerful Lyssie. If it wasn't for all the noise, we would never have figured out that there were two in the bed. Any bets as to who won? (Hint, hint: It was the one that was about three feet tall.)

The holiday break has allowed us some time to unwind and relax a little bit. Alyssa let her hair down and even combed it, too. We also had a visit from Aquaman one day. On the coldest day, we had to put warm sleepers on the kids, which afterwards they insisted on a group picture. Nowadays, we often hear the two of them playing together very nicely. We even got to experience Alyssa comforting Aron when he got hurt. Sibling love is wonderful but is kind of not fun when they are fighting over the same toy.

Holy Batman, its balloons!

What a fast, furious, and fun past couple of months it has been for the B's!

The summer came to an end with a trip to Grandma B's tomato patch where the Twinnies got to pick a ton of tomatoes of all sizes. (Since then, all tomatoes that we get from anywhere are tomatoes from her garden.)

Since the beginning of September, Mommy, Aron, and Alyssa have been going to school. Aron and Alyssa are in a different classroom from the one Mommy is teaching in but we all get to eat lunch together. It has been both fun and tiring, with the Twinnies often collapsing either on the way home or shortly after. So far, we are benefiting from school which shows in our thinking and speaking. We now have complete thoughts and logical steps being made in our thought processes. For example, if Mommy can not buy something for our wonderful Twinnies, the typical response is, "I know! We go home and get money from the Piggy Bank!" Mommy's reply is that there may not be enough money for the object of desire, which prompts the follow-up comment of: "I know! Call Daddy and Daddy will bring home money at work!"

October brought a massive sugar rush as Batman and Robin left Gotham City to prowl the streets of the Squirrel Hill subdivision with their friend, Leonard. Despite having deposited the contents of his stomach into a porcelain bowl shortly before leaving, Aron made the rounds for almost two whole hours. He was not willing to stay home and not wear his Batman outfit that he was looking forward to for almost a month.

November brought out the best of the BuckNuts in our house, and I got to say that sometimes it turned a tad scary. However, the biggest game of the OSU season just happened to be the same day as Ms. Amy Y's baby shower, which left the Twins with Daddy during the game. But when Mommy returned, she had some wonderful gifts for her well-behaved little angels, courtesy of Ms. Amy. Seeing how happy they were at a bagful of helium-filled balloons almost made me overlook the fact that Aron was wearing Alyssa's shirt. Oh, I guess it was okay. We like to dress ourselves nowadays anyways and it is always a riot when Daddy or I get to see what is picked out. :-)

And of course, to all of our family and friends who frequent this blog, we wish every one a

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rock Lobster!!

Or better known as....

Leaving on a Jet Plane part 5!!

We have done it again, another trip to that wonderfully hot and humid state known as Florida. We saddled up the troops and piled in the plane, all before the sun was up. However, if you asked the troops, the sun needed to be helped up by "tickling it awake." ("Sun comes up and we wake up. Sun goes down and moon comes out, time to sleep.") This time, things were a little slower than in the past as Great-Grandma was a little under the weather. However, it did not stop the Dynamic Duo from feeding her crispy noodles and sliced almonds from Wendy's, not to mention the daily trashing of her humble abode.

This trip, we managed to do it all. A few days before we left for Florida, we had watched an episode of Jon & Kate plus Ei8ht where the family went to a beach. Of course, I immediately got the quick, "Mommy, I wanna go to the beach!" as soon as the episode started up, and we were able to do this fun little sidetrip during our visit. Alyssa and I went "surfing" in the ocean while Aron decided he would rather collect shells, sand, and coconuts. (Yes, I said a coconut. It washed up on the shore and was carried to our towel.) At the end of the day, Mommy was as red as a lobster, and the A-Team was exhausted. But the fun did not stop as the following days brought playtime at the mall with the large breakfast foods, a flat tire with half a day waiting on repairs, and a visit to the splash pad. Similar to the trip down, the trip home was uneventful with Alyssa snoring during takeoff from the Tampa Bay airport until shortly before landing at C-bus.

Now comes the hard part.... PRE-SCHOOL!!! Yes, you read it correctly. The A-Team is now enrolled in a part-time school program, and I will be seeing a sight that I did not think I would see for another year. See, Mommy was planning to take her time to research the schooling options available to her for the 2009-2010 school year, not to mention working on perfecting that dreaded potty thing but ended up enrolling Aron and Alyssa in a partial day school as well as returning to work. Many things tend to happen fast for us, such as the entire instant family. I guess what takes some families a few years to obtain we like to do in about two minutes, or in about three days. :-) At least we tend to need the same things for both of the them at the same time, and it is a form of organized chaos that I would never trade for anything. :-)

WE'RE THREE and that's Bananas!

So what is more crazy than a house full of rambuncious toddlers hyped up on sugar? Well, to be honest, there is nothing really crazier than that, and that is half the fun.

We survived the Family Birthday Week with our minds somewhat intact. Aron and Alyssa were old enough to do a Birthday Calendar where each night, a sticker was placed on the correct day to mark that the day was over, bringing them one day closer to their party. All the while, we were practicing singing our Birthday Song and taking individual shopping trips to buy presents for each other. And when the day arrived, we all had fun in our own way, with Alyssa swimming in the little pool with all the boys while Aron mowed the lawn. Aron even got his first tattoo! :-)

And now for something completely different....

There are many fine programs for a pre-school aged child to watch during the day. One of them is Yo Gabba Gabba, which encourages such faces to be made like the ones below. I suppose that is what happens when someone on the TV says, "FUNNY FACES!" and promptly makes themselves look like a pufferfish. :-)

Summertime has arrive for the A Team, and we are already very hot. Temperatures are already hitting mid 80 F degrees, and last years' dinopool is just not enough anymore. (Global warming supposed to be a myth? Umm....NO!) It makes going outside to play in the previously loved playhouse and workbench just not worth it sometimes and I know it is going to get worse. Still, our summer regime will include weekly trips to the Columbus Zoo, Library storytime, Jumpy Place, and twice a week to the YMCA for Mommy's exercising. We can even sprinkle in some Playgrounds if the Twinnies are well-behaved for the day.

And does any one remember the wonderful book about monkeys drumming on drums with their thumbs, or even the chant about the monkeys jumping on the bed? Well, as far as I know, these are two separate books and not normally meant to be smashed together in a hodge-podge of insanity but yet here we are with the monkeys drumming while jumping on the bed. I just do not remember any of the monkeys wearing boots..... I guess that is okay because it is a lot better than having an Alyssa cry, "Roller coaster!" at the zoo and throw a fit because she is two feet too short to ride. :-) Oh, yeah...here comes the Three's!

Still figuring this one out...

The family is working hard on potty training. Up until a few weeks ago, Alyssa would sit on the potty but quickly get up and run away, giggling all the way as she ran with her little baby butt hanging out. Recently, something changed and Alyssa decided to try the potty thing, with wonderful success. She patiently sits on the potty while singing Twinkle Twinkle, with some obvious substitutions in the lyrics. Because we are actively trying to get people listening to their bodies and doing their business in the potty, we often have two pairs of nakie heines running around.

On Sunday, when Daddy was working with Aron on nuggets in the bathroom, Alyssa was running around in the living room and playing with toys. Daddy announced that it was time to hand out rewards for doing things in the proper place, but Alyssa walked up to Daddy all distressed. Apparently, she did not believe that she deserved M&M's because she did something horrendous in Daddy's shoe. (Trust me when I say that Daddy and Mommy can not figure out HOW this happened but of course we took pictures of it! :-) Currently, our best guesses are for a walk-by fall out from about two feet high.) Alyssa was mortified that she did this and was really worked up about it at the time. We both had to remind her that accidents do happen and it was okay, but just try to let us know if something needs to be tended to. :-) Now she jokes about it with us when we ask who's shoe she would prefer. Alas, it has been repeatedly answered as, "Daddy's!"

And at the end of the day, when everyone is tired from working, playing, and making a mess, the Daddy Monkey likes to watch TV with the Baby in the kid's room. Some of the other family members also join in the viewing and others still just climb into bed with assistance from Alyssa. :-)

Snow snow snow.....

About thirty years ago, a nasty little storm made its way through Ohio. During that time, people stayed holed up in their homes, slowly digging their way out of their drives and neighborhoods. Alas, I have no memories of such events, but I was told that I happily played in drifts taller than myself, while Daddy walked up the middle of Wellington Avenue to the corner store to get milk. (I know, what a big accomplishment to claim that I played in drifts taller than myself when I was a huge two-and-a-half feet tall and the drifts were more like five feet tall... [lol])

Jump in your Delorian, forward to thirty years later. Now, a pair of Twinnies and their puppies can be seen repeating the same scene as their parents did. This time provided a little less snow but all the joy to 2.5-year olds. This time, the snow was still all the fun and worth the wait but the wind got to all us a lot sooner. Imagine that.... twenty minutes of prep time, a gazillion layers, and a generous slathering of A&D ointment to ensure no frozen butts to a diaper results in an incredibly long five minutes.

Aron seemed to have the most trouble due to the wind getting the best of him. That and the fact that he could not stand up very well in the snow. I think that they had fun but it was quite cold out and Aron tends to not like such things as cold or unfamilar or even Mommy or Daddy being more than ten feet away. Kira and Alyssa, on the other hand, had a blast. I would guess that if Alyssa could manage it, she and Kira would be racing from one side of the yard to the other. It did appear that that entire two legs not being as fast as four, plus the entire "wrapping me like a mummy," contributed to the Lyssie not getting that wish. Even poor Barney had issues in the snow. I mean, if your commode is taller than your butt, how the heck are you suppsed to do your business? All in all, even though we barely made it off the deck and the lighting was not the best in the pictures, we seemed to all have fun. ;-)

Cool Cats and exhaustion...

A few months back, the Bappas got some cute sunglasses for the kids. It appears that they have more fun taking the glasses off and putting them in the cases more than wearing them. At least we got to get a picture of them before they were removed again.

And with the arrival of the later months of winter comes a new wardrobe for summer. This year's fashions include tye-dyed t-shirts, skorts, and a few "Attitude" shirts that seem to say it all.

Meet the Dinosaurs...

As a fan of those large lizards that roamed 65 million years ago (and not that infamous 8,000 years ago), I have wanted to take the kids to the Cleveland Natural History Museum for some time. I thought that they would get a kick out of seeing the dinosaurs and the other things in the museum, but it turned out that I was half right. While the dinosaurs were impressive, the hands-on section of the museum that was geared to the younger crowd made a bigger hit than a bunch of preserved animals and skeletons. And what could be better than digging up a dinosaur of your own? Even our little stud muffin picked up a girlfriend while hanging out at the digsite. I was impressed on how many animals and their accompanying noises that the kids knew. Aron even knew that a seal made a kind of barking while clapping thier fins. Needless to say, Grandma and Grandpa V. were a little exhausted by the end of the day, and everyone slept good that night. To top it all off, Aron and Alyssa got to play a few chords on Uncle Don's guitar. We had to do some minor surgery to reclaim the pick after little fingers dropped it into the sound box of the guitar.