Energy burner

Why did I not do this long ago? You know..Thursdays are practically the only days they still nap and I believe its all because of gymnastics. They are so excited to go, and are really learning quite a bit. Lilly's frustration at time seems to over take her because she wants to do everything right, right there, right now. So we are working on not giving up and asking for help. Drew is the only boy in the class and of course the most chatty. What. A. Surprise.

There rotate bars and beam every week, so hence the different outfits you will see.









Maybe you should concentrate on what you are doing Drew.

It's the most wonderful time of the year.....

Let me just tell you that there is an energy and excitement around our house with Christmas in the air. Every morning, every car ride, every dinner conversation, Drew says, "It's Christmas time MAMA!" Yep...it has been confirmed he is our kid now. The verdict is still out on Lilly :-)


Lilly led the way during our Christmas tree shopping. Whatever tree her sticks touched was going to be the tree. She kept changing her mind though, so we were patient.



Once the tree was home, Drew was very happy to help with the ornaments and unwrap each one to see what would be revealed.


Drew wanted the star and snowflake ornaments to go high up on the tree like, "they are in the sky"


Lilly joined in with her brother and shared some sweet moments decorating together.


Lilly was very proud of her choice of placement of all the red ornaments.


Just to give you a closer look at the spacing. Well done Lilly. Well done.

Add another letter in the mix

So we are still doing some at home letter work and letter B week was fun. But the highlight(by far) was our field trip to the bowling alley. I was laughing pretty much the entire time. If I wasn't laughing I was making sure Drew didn't drop a 10 pound ball on his foot, or Lilly wasn't putting her hands on the moving belt where the balls come back up.


We were the ONLY people there in the entire bowling alley(besides the employees). I think this worked to our advantage with two three year olds running around.


We helped them at first, but they caught on pretty quickly.



This was pretty much Drew's permanent expression while we experienced the bowling alley. He was in heaven.


Lilly and I were on the "nemo" team and here is an example of our team work and high five skills.(we did lose in the end, much to team T-rex's pleasure)



Six pound ball, but still a little challenging to hold correctly.




This is just outright disgusting at a bowling alley.


Lilly's after a roll, bowling, happy dance


Slipping during the dance

Things we have learned from our Uncle Mattie...

Number One:
How to be cute.


Number Two:
How to build rivers out of sand at Howarth Park. Mattie admiring his landscape and planning his path for the river.




Number Three:
How to do some amateur UFC fighting moves as well as the ever important, "tap out..tap out when you've had too much Drew or Lilly"



Number Four:
How to hustle people for money like on the streets of New York in this, "Which cup is the grape under" game.


No matter how much explaining and moving the cups in slow motion happened...they always picked the original cup Mattie put the grape under. Hence Mattie's laughter.


Number Five:
If there is anything I want my kids to learn from my brother...it really would be how to play the guitar. Drew attempting here on a Kings of Leon Song.


They already miss him and ask every morning, "Mattie coming to play??" After I explain he had to go on an airplane home, they say, "Mattie goes to work, okay."

Sand Anyone??

We are so lucky to live a 40 minute(if that) drive to the ocean. Lilly(my dirty, messy, texture loving child)and Drew(my no thank you to new things, doesn't like to pick of peanut butter and jelly toast because jelly gets on his fingers child) both love the beach. This is a great thing for Todd and I who just get a chance to be kids again and enjoy it through their eyes.

The masterpiece begins....


Then it moves closer to the water where the discovery of sand and water together make way better creations....

(I didn't get a picture of the finished sand castle/fort/McQueen tunnel house because the destruction derby came on fast and swiftly.

Completely fascinated by the ocean. The intrigue of the waves and the realization of "BIG OCEAN WAY OUT THERE MOMMY!!!"


A beached whale or a kid scoping out food at a picnic in the distance?


My favorite part of the beach. Finding sand in mouths, hair, eyes, ears, crackers later that you thought never touched the sand....

ahhh, yes and just regular body part cracks. Let's not forget how we all find sand there after a trip to the beach.

Happy Birthday America

Holidays mean Daddy's are home more than normal and twins get to go to BBQ's, big parks, ride trains, attach balloons to our wrists, play baseball(really, what is the 4th of July without some baseball?), and stay up late.



Why is a good family picture such a rarity these days?




Waiting patiently for the train to round the corner. You can feel and witness their eagerness to board the train in their stillness...toddlers are not still too often :-)




The face off between toddler with a wooden bat and two dogs. All parties want the same thing.....THE BALL. I am proud to report no dogs were injured in any way during this exchange. She really views them as her close friends.

The bigness' night out

Todd and I are very lucky to have family close enough to be able to do something like a special night out with ONE child. Lilly was with my mom for a sleep over when Drew got his night out with us. I think if Drew could have planned it himself, it wouldn't have been any different. All things that Drew deems fun, exciting, or related to chocolate were involved.

We all know Drew's fascination with NASCAR-McQueen-fast cars would lead us to this place. He was talking about riding the small NASCAR all day long leading up to our evening out.

The menu for the evening:


Drew making a wish in the foutain that he would be old enough or tall enough to ride the Go Carts.


Drew heard the angels singing down upon him when he caught a glimpse of this view


Todd rode with him and said he was pretty quiet(unusual for Drew)but just took everything in. A few times Todd said he would shout, "Bumpy daddy bumpy"



We ventured inside to a place of pure joy for Drew. A land of loud video games, basketball, and ski ball(a favorite of mine as a kid)

AS you can see...Drew's alingment with the hoop is right on, but that darn plastic piece was in the way.


Here is our remedy for the plastic piece. We showed you basketball game.


I am sure it won't surprise any of you that Drew couldn't get away from the video games where you drove cars.


Look at the face. Pure concentration meets pure elation.


The night wouldn't be complete for Drew without a giant(for him) chocolate chip cookie from Mrs. Fields Cookies.


Not only did we leave the mall with a cookie, but Drew got a new hat to support the local college. What a fun night for the Bigness.



Until our next special night out with Lilly...I wonder where she would like to go?