It’s been an interesting few weeks. Last week we went trick-or-treating at my office which is always fun. There is always a good turnout and a lot of people at the office participate. The kids end up getting way more candy from my office than they ever would going door to door. They both looked adorable too.

We also had Luca’s 18-month conference at school. She is meeting all of her milestones, which I already knew for the most part, but it is nice to hear it from someone else too. Her teacher, Jana, has been at her school for 30 years now. Lola also had Jana as a teacher. Jana has seen it all at this point, so when she told me that she thinks Luca will potty train by the time she is 2 I should have believed her right? Instead I gave her a look of “huh”? I then proceeded to say “no way”. She said “well, I could be wrong, but I really think she will”. So literally the next night Luca went potty on the toilet. Then she went again the next night. And then for the kicker….last night she pooped on the toilet! What!? She is 18 months old! I’m not ready for this…it is SO much work to deal with underwear and dribbles and accidents, I would rather deal with diapers for a little while longer. We’ll see what actually happens though. This could just be a little random phase.

We went to a birthday on Sunday for a girl in Lola's dance class.  The party was at the dance studio and all the kids got to jump around on the tumbling mats and equipement.  They loved it!  I really loved it because my girls got to go all out for an hour and work off some of their energy.  As for Lola's dance class, she has been going for 3 weeks now.  It is a 'combo' class which includes tap dancing, ballet, and tumbling - 20 minutes of each.  She really seems to enjoy it and has been doing a decent job of listening to the teacher! 

We also went to the pumpkin patch last week.  We wanted to go before it turned cold...the main reason I wanted to go was to have Lola stand by the measuring board to see how much she has changed from last year!  Otherwise, I just realized last night that this weekend is daylight savings! I am usually prepared for this a few weeks ahead of time, but it popped up on me. I like to gradually ease the kids into it over a weeks’ time, so I guess I will have to start tonight. It is getting much easier to adjust to time changes though. It was way more of a pain when they were small babies.

I am going to San Francisco in a few weeks for a conference called Greenbuild. I have gone 6 of the last 7 years, and every year Ryan and I talk about him going with me, but it never works out. This year we forced it to work out! He is going to go with me for 3 days of the conference. I am really looking forward to it.

 

She's not really doing herself any justice by standing on the downhill...

Birthday party

Lola eating her cake
like a popsicle

Party at the girls' school. 
Lola hanging with Little Red
Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf! 

Halloween and other stuff...

It’s almost Halloween time! Luca is going to be a chicken, which is what Lola was a couple of years ago. Lola is going to be a princess (again) and wear the same dress she wore last year. It still fits…actually, it fits perfect. Last year it was too big. I told her since she was re-using last year’s dress that I would order her a new wand. I also ordered her a necklace and earrings set too. I got them last week but haven’t shown her yet. If I show her now, they will for sure be broken by Halloween. She will be thrilled! I think the main reason why she is excited about wearing the dress again is because I put it away after Halloween last year, mostly because it has glitter on it and I was sick of it getting everywhere. She asked about it a few times and I just changed the subject. She asked again a month ago and I got it out, and she was so excited and said she wanted to wear it again. Score one for me!

My parents took the girls last weekend. They have been taking them once a month and I LOVE those weekends because I get so much done at home. It’s a double bonus because the girls love going there too, so everybody wins. I installed a new light fixture installed in the basement to replace the broken one, cleaned out the basement, got the yard cleaned up, storage shed cleaned out, and toy cabinets cleaned out. Cleaning out the cabinets was kind of sad. Our goal was to get rid of some stuff, and to also put some toys in the basement in a bin so that we can switch them out from time to time. We basically got rid of all infant toys. I was a bit sad because it really seems so ‘final’. Actually, what really made it seem ‘final’ was when I got rid of 4 pairs of baby shoes. I asked Ryan a couple of times if he was sure we wouldn’t need them in the future, and after a few eye rolls he said (for the 100th time since I started asking a year ago), “no”. So there you have it…no more kids! He would have another if we could guarantee it is a boy, but alas it doesn’t work that way.

My niece Olivia is making great strides in her ability to sit up. She now has leg braces, a body brace, and a stander to help her bear weight on her legs. I really hope that she can become one of those kids who has Muscular Dystrophy but that makes great strides above and beyond others who also have the disease. She seems to be doing very well in gaining strength. I think about her every day and hope, hope, hope that she will be able to walk and at least be somewhat of a normal kid. We will be doing some fundraising for ‘Cure CMD’ (cmd = congenital muscular dystrophy) in the upcoming months and I am very excited about raising money for something that hits so close to home!

Health (and quick) dinner goals...

I've got to start figuring out dinners ahead of time.  I wanted to get better about it a while ago, but haven’t.  It’s time.  I just found a bunch of slow cooker recipes that can be frozen ahead of time so I am going to try some this weekend.  We are really lucky because our girls go to school 3 days/week so Ryan is home on Wednesdays and I’m typically home on Fridays.  That only leaves Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday dinners as “scramble together whatever I can find in 10 minutes after I walk in the door at 5:30pm” dinners.  We also try to eat healthy most of the time so this is becoming even more important to us, and I really want to try to limit the processed foods as much as we can.  I’m not going to be super crazy about it though because I really am okay with my kids having chicken nuggets and hot dogs every so often, just not every week!  J 

I got some recipes from this blog so I plan to start with some of these and see how they go! 

http://www.ringaroundtherosies.net/2012/02/freezer-cooking.html