Twinning is Winning

We ran to Target on Friday to get diapers, and of course I wound up walking through the Junior's and Women's clothing departments. And inevitably got sucked into the sale racks. BUT I found two sweaters that were less than $6.00 each. One of them is camo print, and the big draw for buying it was because I could match Jonah! (hashtag cool mom)

I mean, who wouldn't want to match their child?

And not only did I match him (after I purposely washed his camo shirt so we could be twins the very next day), I matched Noelle on Thursday. My sister bought us matching sweaters from Old Navy for Christmas, and I finally convinced Noelle to wear hers.

I knew she'd be a tough cookie to convince since she has a thing against long sleeves. Thankfully she was willing to wear it as long as we rolled up the sleeves. And she was so excited to match, she convinced me to wear our matching Toms, even though it was entirely too cold to not wear boots.

I hope I can pull off this whole being twins with my kids for a long time. I mean, Noelle will still want to do it when she's 13, right?

Mall Adventuring

Last Thursday, before the impending blizzard was scheduled to arrive, I took the kids out for one last adventure before we got stuck at the house. I know Jonah, and I know myself, and he and I especially need time not spent at home. I packed us a lunch, and we headed out to a local mall. The kids got to play in the little play area, we sat down and ate our lunches, we took a ride on the carousel, and then grabbed a treat at Panera before heading home. We ran into two different friends from church, including one with a beautiful brand new baby girl!

There is also a spot at the mall that has a couple of those quarter rides, but I never put money in them. Noelle and Jonah LOVE it though, and will just get in and out of the different rides, and push all the buttons. Even though they see other kids actually riding the rides, they don't ever push the issue when I tell them I don't have any quarters (which is actually usually true!)

Lunch was turkey and cheese sandwiches, which is a current food in the rotation that they will eat (protein, yay!). We also had cheese balls that I had picked up at the grocery store because Jonah exclaimed "balls!" when he saw them. And I knew Luke would enjoy them. The giant container is now hidden out of sight and have been forgotten about (possibly by everyone except me...)

Luke and I always question whether we should bring a stroller when we take the kids places. Rarely do they stay in it, but I like to have it at the mall so that they have the option to sit, and so that I have somewhere to store the diaper bag and coats. And sometimes, it's necessary to strap a cranky, non-cooperative Jonah in and rush through the mall to our car.

After the carousel, they both decided they wanted to walk, and I encouraged them to hold hands so that they would at least stick together. They both are pretty good about wanting to hold hands and I snapped some pictures as I walked (very s l o w l y) behind them. I love that they have each other, And it makes my heart so happy when Noelle says that Jonah is her best friend (granted, she also says that about Roxy, my parent's dog, and total strangers she meets at the play ground.)

Jonas Weekend Fun

This past weekend, Maryland got slammed with Jonas, one of the biggest blizzards in recorded history. And thankfully we all survived being shut in the house together for way too long!

being princesses together

Friday morning I took the kids to a Frozen event at the library, but similar to the morning of the Cinderella event, the littles were driving me bananas. After threatening to not go (empty threat because I needed out of the house for a bit before we were trapped!), we eventually got ourselves out the door to the library. There were quite a few little girls dressed as Elsa and Anna, which Noelle fixated on and complained that she didn't have a princess dress on. But once we got into doing all the crafts (Elsa and Anna puppets! a sparkly snowflake! and more!) she was a lot happier. Noelle was not a big fan of the hot chocolate, but Jonah had a chocolate mustache after chugging his down!

Luke's parents and Lydia picked up Chick Fil A and came over for lunch. Luke was working from home so we all got to enjoy one last social hurrah before the snow started. My sister also came to hang out for a bit and left soon after the flakes started falling. (And after a local policeman stopped outside looking at our cars still parked on the street.)

I don't know the official amount for our area, but I think we got a bit over two feet of snow from the time it started falling on Friday afternoon through the early A.M. on Sunday. Luke did some shoveling on Saturday, and then spent quite a few hours digging us out on Sunday once the snow stopped and the sun was shining.

We watched movies, made some yummy treats, and did some crafts. The kids went out for a little while on Saturday while it was still snowing, but Noelle didn't last too long. Jonah sat outside and ate the snow while Luke shoveled, and continued to eat it when we brought some inside to play with in the kitchen. After playing outside on Sunday, Jonah was more than ready to come inside after he lost his boot in the snow and got hit in the face with the shovel.

Today is a snow day (a.k.a NO SCHOOL!), and Luke is working from home again so it feels like the weekend has been extended. We've been playing with the neighbors and keeping ourselves busy!

Blizzard 2016

Dear Luke,

Thank you for shoveling the snow! Thank you for taking care of our little family, and taking the time to make sure that we'll be able to escape (eventually!)

Thank you for being willing to spend so much time out in the cold! This year especially, I have reached a high level of wuss and do not want to be out in the cold. Like at all.

Thank you for taking our littles out in the snow and tossing them into the piles and drifts bigger than them. They love it, and I can tell you do too!

MLK Day

This past Monday was Martin Luther King day, and it was a fun treat to have Daddy home with us! We planned for a fun relaxed day together with some fun thrown in for the kids. After a treadmill run (I've only run outside three times since the beginning of the year!), Luke and I did a 21 day fix workout (plyometrics is so much jumping!) with the kids running around us. Which involved lots of distracting them with goldfish and fruit snacks so that we wouldn't step on them. Parenting win right there!

We received a promotional from Chick Fil A for a His and Her free breakfast entree for January, February, and March, so we planned to head over once we were all showered and dressed so that we could get our breakfast and let the kids play for a bit. We got there around 10:40 and they were all out of breakfast foods! So sad! We contemplated leaving, but a) I knew Noelle would be upset if we left without some play time, and b) I was going to start getting hangry if I didn't get some food and caffeine soon! So we had a super early lunch, and it was delicious, as always! (Seriously, in the past 8 days, I've had CFA three times, and I'm not even close to getting tired of it.)

One of the employees, who has to recognize me and the kids by now, came over and discreetly asked me if we wanted ice cream for the kids. I figured why not- it would add to the fun. We hadn't ordered kids meals, so she brought over two kids meal books and I went and exchanged them for ice cream. What blessed, super sugared kids we have!

After playing for awhile, we had a surprisingly drama free trip to the grocery store to get our shopping out of the way, and then headed home to play. Jonah napped, Noelle watched some t.v., and then Aunt Lyd came over and cooked us some yummy Asian curry dinner. And then Lyd and I watched the first two episodes of season six of Downton Abbey while enjoying some ice cream. All in all, a fun family day!

Cinderella

Last week we met some friends for a fun Cinderella program at the library. I had snapped a picture of the flyer when I first saw it back in December, and when I was scrolling through my pictures on our drive back from Hershey, I remembered to register Noelle for it. And told a few friends who I thought would enjoy it as well!

Noelle woke up ready to go to the library right away, and put on her Cinderella dress. Jonah was a bit cranky (we're working on some anger issues!), and then Noelle was getting impatient, so by the time 9:30 rolled around, I was ready to say forget it, and let them both sit in their rooms! BUT I knew it would be better for all of us if we got out of the house, and we had friends coming from a different county to meet us at "our" library.

Cinderella dress wearing at the mall

We went right to the train table at the library so Jonah could play for a little bit, and met one of our friends as we waited for the show to start. Once the time came, we followed everyone (including multiple little girls dressed in princess dresses!) into the room. The two women leading the program showed the kids different Cinderella books with multiple variations of the story, and then they did a puppet show of Cinderella with an assortment of animals playing the characters.

As soon as the puppet show started Jonah stood up, and started throwing a fit when I tried to get him to sit down. I didn't want him blocking anyone's view and gave up trying to get him to sit, so we headed to the back of the room. And then he started getting cranky there, so we went out to the lobby. He and I missed most of the puppet show, and I'm kicking myself for not bringing fruit snacks (his current most favorite thing!) to keep him occupied. But Noelle loved it and I'm pretty sure she had no idea I even left the room. (I also took NO pictures because I was dealing with Jonah!)

After it was over we all headed to Chick Fil A for lunch and some fun in the play place. I did almost leave when Jonah got angry and started throwing his chicken because I cut it up into smaller pieces. And Noelle wouldn't listen when I told her to finish her chicken before eating french fries. It was a fun morning, but it's also obvious I have two toddlers with strong wills of their own. I'm so thankful for my friends being understanding, and for walking alongside me in this motherhood journey!

Hershey and a Half Birthday

Yesterday Jonah decided to wake up at the normally quiet hour of 5:20 a.m. Since my alarm was already going off at 5:30, I got myself ready for my run and grabbed him out of his crib. He was mostly content playing with toys in the basement while I ran on the treadmill, but I did have to hop off at one point to help him get his princess heels on, and then again to assist him with his Cinderella dress. Oh the joys of having an older sister and wanting to copy everything she does!

This past weekend, my roommate from college and her husband decided to fly into Harrisburg, PA at the last minute to visit us and our friend who lives in Hershey. It was so much fun seeing all of them, and catching up since I hadn't seen my roommate since her wedding. We went over to Hershey World to do the factory ride (and get our free candy of course!), and then grabbed treats in the Hershey cafe. Noelle was sick with a super runny nose, so she mostly kept to herself, and Jonah only took a short nap on the way there and on the way back, but considering all that, they both did really well!

Last week we had a MOPS play date at Storyville, which is a really cool play area for kids at a library. It's free, and they have so much! A pretend store with pretend food and cash registers, a play house with kitchen and dress up clothes, a little tree house, mailboxes with pretend mail, and so much more. Luke had taken the kids when I was on the women's retreat, and Noelle has always reminded me that she's been to "Stoweyville" with daddy but not me. It was fun, though a little chaotic trying to keep up with Jonah and still keep an eye on Noelle.

On Tuesday last week, Noelle got to celebrate her half birthday at school. All the kids with summer birthdays get the opportunity to celebrate sometime around their half birthday, and the parents and siblings of the child are invited to come that day during the special snack (provided by the parent) and to sing Happy Birthday. Because of allergies I was given a specific list of what was allowed, and Noelle decided she wanted Oreo's (as well as Elsa and Olaf napkins.) When Jonah and I got there, they were having their play time in the big muscle room (where they go when it's cold or rainy), and Noelle ran right over and gave me a hug. She was proudly wearing her birthday crown, and it was fun watching her class play. Then we went to their classroom, sang Happy Birthday, and she blew out four candles. I'm so not ready to have a four year old- thank goodness I still have over five months!