MIA...again

For anyone who might still be looking at this dearly neglected blog of ours, I just want to reassure that yes, we are still alive and well. I am sorry for being so absent and for not filling you in on the happenings of our little family. There is not a day that goes by without me thinking "you know, I really need to get caught up on the blog. I haven't journaled in "X" number of days/weeks/months"...but, as you are well aware, that long overdue update has yet to occur. Well folks, that is something I plan to resolve RIGHT now...even if it means I have to stay up all night, I WILL get some updates posted on this blog.

Stay tuned for the upcoming blog blitz!! Here's a semi- recent photo for stopping by...yup, those are my [silly, crazy, goofy, always-entertaining, beautiful] girls!

Just Call Me Little Miss Smiley...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Ribbon Week...

For this year's Red Ribbon Week, the girls' school focused on being drug free as well as living a healthy lifestyle. Each day the students were given a different theme that they could dress up for (red shirt day for being drug free, sweats day for getting out and exercising, team jerseys for team work/working together, etc.). To go along with the themes, the students were also given a special homework assignment that reinforced the topic of the day. All week, we have discussed healthy eating choices and how we can live a more active lifestyle. More than once I got called out by the girls on a not-so-healthy decision (such as my Dr. Pepper habit), but it also helped the girls to better understand why I (try to) always have both fruit and vegetables in their lunches, and why I don't allow them to have sugary juices and sweets too often. It has been a very educational experience for all of us, and hopefully this week's focus will help us all remember to make healthier choices.

I didn't get pictures of all the days, but I did manage to snap a few on jersey day. We aren't super fanatic sports followers, so since we didn't have "official team jerseys" the girls opted to wear some old jerseys from Doug's sporting years. They LOVED them...and looked awfully cute sporting their Dad's old tops.

 

 

  

Fall Festival...

Tonight was the annual fall festival at the girls' school. They were super excited and couldn't WAIT to go. This year, Aiden decided she wanted to be a vampire and Reilly opted to be a ghost. The girls really, REALLY wanted store-bought costumes this year but it simply wasn't in the budget. SO, after making a trip to Goodwill and the clearance fabric bin at Walmart, these are the costumes we came up with. 

 

 

Aiden kept telling me she wanted a long, fancy red dress. I found one at goodwill for $5 and simply had to remake/alter the top and the straps to get it to fit my little girl. I also found the cape at goodwill for a dollar, and the belt was made from some trim I had in my fabric stash. 

 

She seemed pretty happy with the final result.

 

Reilly was very specific with her costume wishes this year. "Mom - all you have to do is get a white sheet and cut holes out for the eyes. It's been a little chilly in the evenings and I didn't have any spare white sheets, so I bought enough clearance fabric to double-layer and create a more form-fitting ghost costume than the traditional charlie-brown-sheet-over-the-head. I also used some scraps of black lace to fill the eye holes so they could be larger and help with air ventilation. 

  

Reilly thought it was great that didn't have to smile for all of the photos because, as she kept saying "You can't see my face anyway, Mom...so it's okay if I don't smile."

 

Mac didn't don a costume for the Fall Fair, but she was awfully cute in some festive tights and an old pumpkin tee (Reilly's favorite, as previously documented HERE)

 

Even with vampire teeth and fake blood, I really do think I have the cutest little "ghouls" around!!

Love Ya Sister...

Found this in Reilly's notebook in the car today...it made me smile.

Happy Birthday Uncle Dan...

Tonight we had a special visitor...Uncle Dan (Doug's brother) came up so we could get wild and crazy and celebrate his birthday! The girls love, love, LOVE their Uncle Dan and were super excited to throw him a party. I actually baked and frosted (gasp) a cake, and while I am no Betty Crocker I think the cake turned out absolutely delicious. I used a box mix but altered the recipe slightly to make it a little more moist. I'll type instruction below in case anyone wants to try it (WARNING: the moistness of the cake may be slightly addicting, causing you to want to bake more and more and more. At least, that's what happened to me...and I don't like to bake. So, just wanted to let you know.) Enough of my rambling, here are the pics of our fun-filled fiesta!

  

Chocolate chocolate chip...YUM

 

My taste testers (Reilly lost her battle with the chocolate and ended up covered in it, hence no shirt above)

My attempt at frosting to make it look it pretty  

  

Lighting of the candles...the girls were enchanted by the flames

  

 

Topped it off with some vanilla ice cream and we were one fat and happy group!! Thanks for giving us a reason to celebrate, Uncle Dan!! We hope you had an absolutely wonderful birthday!!

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Yummy Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cake Recipe

(originally taken from HERE)

1 box devil’s food cake mix

1 small pkg Jello instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips (mini or regular, whatever you have on hand)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a very large bowl, mix together everything except chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into cake pan of choice (I normally use two 9-inch pie pans). Use the cooking times on the back of the devil’s food cake box as a guide, but I usually have to add 10-15 minutes to whatever it says due to my wonky oven. I do the toothpick check, and if it still isn't done, I check on it every 5 minutes until it is. I think this took about 45 minutes for my two 9-inch pie pans. I recommend storing any leftovers in the fridge due to the sour cream and milk, but I'm not sure if that's something you HAVE to do. 

Read more at http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dessert/the-best-chocolate-cake.html#ixzz2H6TQq2ar

Friday Night Lights...

Tonight we attended our first local football game. After seeing the high school on an almost daily basis for the past 2 1/2+ years, the girls asked if we would ever SEE one of the games. It happened to be homecoming, and I thought the girls would get an extra kick out of the seeing the floats and the princesses, so we decided to make it a late night and attend the football game. The lady at the ticket booth was super nice and let the twins in for free - after chatting them up about the princesses and everything they'd get to see. Then, Doug and the girls stocked up on kettle corn and licorice ropes while Mac and I found a seat close to the 50 yard line where we could see pretty much everything.

 

  

  

 
Aiden and Reilly ditched us a little after the 2nd quarter to go sit with a friend from church, who happened to be sitting a few rows in front. Talk about a flash forward to later teen years when I'm sure they will want to ditch us ALL the time. It was cute seeing them interact with my friend, whose daughter (whom the girls absolutely ADORE) was playing with the high school band for homecoming, and watching them break out a little and exercise a little independence and personal freedom.

 
Doug and MacKenzie entertained themselves with licorice ropes and silly faces. 

  

We didn't make it much past half-time, unfortunately, BUT everyone had a great time and I think tonight's game could be the start of a very fun family tradition!

F is for Friday....and Fire

Today proved to be very exciting for our little street. What started out as an afternoon at the park for us and two of our neighbors turned into a frantic race home after seeing a growing, black column of smoke rising from the VERY close proximity of our houses.

Imagine this. It's Friday afternoon. The kids have finished a busy week at school and are ready to blow off some energy at the neighborhood park. The girls see quite a few friends at the park, including two of our neighboring families. Everyone is having a grand time - playing, laughing, chatting. You notice a strong smoke smell and someone comments "Is someone throwing a barbecue without us?" There are a few chuckles, but withing minutes the air gets hazy and smokey. You and a few of the moms walk from the playground to the street when you notice a thick column of smoke rising from the next street down. You look at the roof lines of the houses and the realization hits you like a ton of bricks...that smoke is coming from YOUR street, very close to YOUR house. Your heart drops.

As other moms start to scramble for their phones, you find yourself quickly gathering the kids, the stroller, the scooters, and everything else. You hastily leave the park, one set of neighbors ahead of you, the other coming quickly behind in their car. As you approach the corner, someone runs past yelling "Who has the yellow Mercedes? Who has the yellow Mercedes?" That's not yours, but that car belongs to the grandparents of family who lives directly across the street from you. You try to stay calm but the fear is rising inside you. You know the family isn't home - the grandparents and the son were at the park with you, the parents are away for an anniversary over-nighter. But the dog is in the side-yard, and you know she must be terrified. You turn the corner and instantly see a huge fireball. You cross to your side of the street and get a little closer so you can see what's going on. The fire is two houses down and across the street from your own. The fence and a truck are on fire, but it seems to be spreading and the smoke is ridiculously thick. The firefighters have already arrived and are doing their thing. The crowd of spectators is growing, and you find yourself praying the fire doesn't spread. You make sure your kids are safe with your neighbor and out of the way before you go to the get the dog. You have to. She is part of the family and you know she has to be terrified. You quickly cross the street, move through the crowd and the smoke, get to the gate, and find her trembling and panting. Relief. She's okay. The leash must be inside, so you latch on to her collar and guide her away from the chaos. You get back to the your kids, only to find 2 of them confused and crying (insert guilt trip here). You grab everyone in a hug, let them know it's all going to be okay, and sit back to watch the growing blaze with wonder, awe, and amazement. 

Once the fire was under control and things calmed down a bit, the girls forgot entirely about being scared and had a great time. One of the firemen asked the kids to help him turn off the hydrant - they each got to take a turn. They also got to go on the truck and see all the cool buttons and gadgets. They thought it was awesome. At the end of the day, no one was injured, no homes were hurt, but there was an estimated $90,000 worth of damage and a whole lot of excitement. I was a little too preoccupied to get photos, but I did manage to snap one once the chaos subsided. 

A special thank you to the firefighters of Costa Mesa FD for their quick response and very efficient handling of the situation. The fire spread very quickly and could have been much, much worse if it hadn't have been for this remarkable group of men!!

Friday is Fun Day...

It's hard not to have a fun time when these three girls are around...

  

 

 

Autobiography in a Bag - Reilly

Today, Reilly had the chance to present an "autobiography in a bag" to her first grade class. Basically, it was a way for Roo to introduce herself to her new classmates. Despite her shy-in-front-of-a-big-group tendencies, Reilly was super excited about this assignment and she had a hard time deciding which 5-6 items she would choose to represent who she is. SO, here is what she ultimately decided on...

Swimsuit - because Reilly is a little fish who LOVES the water. In a pool. In the tub. In the ocean. In the sprinklers. This girl love.love.LOVES. the water. Period.

Kitty Beanie - because Reilly loves kittens and she loves fun hats. Last year, she had a pink & black beanie with braided tassels down the side...she wore it almost every day. The year before that was her pink-poofie-pompom beanie. This was the cap she picked out for this year...and she has worn it almost every day since we bought it.

LPS - Reilly loves to play with her Little Pet Shop animals. She names every single one of them and talks in different voices for the different animals...I love listening to her when she plays; it's always entertaining.

Glitter nail polish - from the time she was a toddler, Reilly has loved to get her toe-toes painted. That love continues today, and she almost always finds some way to integrate sparkles and bling into her mani/pedi's.

 Doll - Reilly loves dolls...I swear if it weren't for the top rail on the bunk, this child would probably fall out of her bed nightly on account of all the room her dolls take up.

Notice the sparkly alpha stickers on the brown paper bag? And the recurring pink and orange colors? Sparkles and pink...two of Reilly's favorite things. And if you look closely at the photos, you will see her other favorite animal (a turtle), her favorite place to eat (Old Spaghetti Factory), and some of her favorite pictures from the past 6 years.  

And here is my little Roo on "her" day...all smiles, as cute as can be (sorry for the blurriness - the camera on my phone is going out). I love you Reilly!!

Back to School, Back to School...

Today is the first day of the new school year. For Aiden and Reilly, the morning was filled with mixed feelings of excitement and uncertainty - they were excited for their teacher but were a little nervous because they didn't know of any girls from last year who would be in their class. At least they knew they would have each other, so that helped to calm some fears. We had everything prepped and ready last night (lunches, back packs, first day outfits, etc), so this morning was smooth sailing. The girls chose to eat hardboiled eggs, yogurt, and cinnamon muffins for breakfast. MacKenzie slept through all of the morning's hustle and bustle, waking up just before we needed to leave.

 

 

 

Of course I made the girls suffer through a first day of school photo shoot...but they were willing to oblige their ol' mom since they got to do some silly poses as well (typical from my two little characters). Once the pics were taken, we set off to school. Roo had a minor meltdown or two along the way (first about how the tongue on her shoes was bunching, then about wanting to go back to kindergarten and not first grade and how she was afraid kids might laugh at her "silly hair"...which I happen to think is adorable and fits her personality perfectly). It nearly broke my heart to see my little Reilly, who usually radiates confidence and positivity, to be filled with so much uncertainty and doubt about this morning. We were able to talk it out, give hugs and kisses, and after I wiped away her tears and Aiden promised to help her in class if she was feeling sad, we were off again to start their first day of first grade.

The school campus was filled with the expected chaos of the first day. We saw old friends and met some of the girls' new classmates. After just a slight hesitation, the girls went right on in to their classroom, dropped their lunches off, found their desks, and started chatting with their deskmates. Another set of quick hugs and kisses to me and MacKenzie, and then the girls said good-bye and that it was okay for me to leave.

The start of school brings mixed emotions for me as well. I am excited for Reilly and Aiden and I love watching them grow and develop and learn...all things that I know will happen this year. But I am also sad that I won't get to hear their laughter and chatter during the days when they're at school...their giggles are infectious and can brighten the worst of moods. I will no longer hear cries of "pikachoo" from the backseat as we go about our morning errands, and I will once again have to choose my own songs while driving in the car (the girls have become quite vocal about which songs they like to hear...and sing along to while driving). While the girls are in class, I will be MacKenzie's sole source of entertainment...poor little thing. I have loved watching Aiden and Reilly be big sisters to Mac and I know she will miss them as much as I will during the day. Hopefully, I can keep her as happy and occuppied as her sisters always seem to...but even so, I know the littlest one will be all smiles and giggles when after-school pick-up comes this afternoon!