... and babies make four: Our life with twins. : October 2019

Typically Fall is my favorite time of year, but this year is off to a rough start since the weather has not “dipped” below 90 degrees FOREVER! I love the crisp air and curling up next to the fire pit under a blanket – I don’t like sweltering in the sun. The kids don’t seem phased though and have already insisted on the Halloween decorations both inside and outside the house. Of course, this now means that i get asked daily if it is Halloween yet. The current costume plans are for Riley to be Princess Jasmine and Landon has requested to be Ash Catcher (?) the Pokemon trainer. I can assure you that Riley's costume will not change as she loves the costume we got for her in Disney World, but Landon may make a last minute decision so I will keep you updated.

We have had a pretty busy start to the school year for the kids and full time work for me. We seem to have it down to a rhythm now though making it all much easier. We do our reading at night before bed and we lay out our clothes for the next morning. I get their vitamins and things together in the morning while I am making my lunch and we see each other in passing before I leave for work. I pick them up from a friends as soon as I get off and we all go home and crash for a bit as apparently Kindergarten is exhausting. They love riding the bus "home" from school and the Hubby drops them off in the morning. We chose to put them in separate classrooms and I think we definitely made the right decision. They have two completely different learning styles and it is showing already as Landon is flying through his reading each night. He has a firm grasp on the concept of sounding out words and is able to read us some short stories. It is a bit more challenging for Riley and she becomes very frustrated with herself quickly. I don't think she recognizes all the letters yet - especially the lowercase letters- so we are doing some extra work with those at home. I think she will "catch up" in no time and my hope is that they both learn to enjoy reading as much as I do. They both love school though and come home with stories. When we sit down for dinner, Landon will say " so is anyone going to ask me about my day?" or Riley will say "so everyone, how was your day?" and it makes me laugh every single time.

We are also in full swing with all of our activities. Riley is still taking dance lessons weekly and they are both in tumbling as well. Landon has joined the Cub Scouts and Riley has joined the Daisies. They love to play outsides with the neighbors - when it isn't so hot. I recently got them some EZy Rollers and Landon has gone out every night since to play with his "chair on wheels." In the house, Landon loves to play with his Legos. His current toy of the moment his a Charmander that my parents built with him at Build a Bear and it has started his affinity for Pokemon. He has a beautiful imagination and will "find" Pokemon everywhere we go. I am afraid to introduce him to that Pokemon Go game as I feel like I would never have possession of my phone again, but at the same time I want to see the joy on his face in seeing the Pokemon in "real life." Riley loves to draw and play with her Princess Barbie dolls. Currently, the new favorite in the house for both of them is Mario Cart on the Nintendo Switch. It is requested nightly when we walk in the door from school, so I usually will let them play for a little bit as some down time.

Our biggest adventure over the last month was DISNEY WORLD! We have been planning this trip for many moths now, but we didn't tell the kids about it until we literally an hour away. It was an amazing experience and i loved getting to see their faces as they met some of their favorite characters. As we finished one of the first rides we went on, The Little Mermaid, Landon ran out screaming "This is Amazing!" We walked into the Magic Kingdom on the first day with zero wait for them to meet Micky and Minnie and I could not have planned a better entrance into the week. We had a few rough moments along the way - Landon became sick, but we pulled off an amazing trip for them and it was actually pretty thrilling for us as well. For me, there is nothing better than seeing the look of amazement and joy on their faces. Riley got a princess makeover and we went back into the Magic Kingdom for the firework show at night with her dressed like Princess Jasmine. The smile on her face as everyone called her Princess made my day. Landon was able to build his his very own droid. We took them to a character breakfast and they got to meet some of their favorite characters from Disney Junior. I definitely think we picked the right age to go as they are still talking about it and I am hoping that memories were made that will last a lifetime.

Landon and Riley continue to grow and change before my eyes on a daily basis. Being around so many other kids at school has "broadened" their vocabularies in interesting ways. Riley informed me yesterday that something was "cray cray" and I didn't quite know what to say back. The Hubby loves it when we catch her singing some top 40 song from the backseat also. Riley continues to eat everything while Landon is still cautions, but he is improving. I think school lunch has a hand in that as he comes home and tells me everyday what he eats and since they have such a short lunch period we have also seen some improvement in him eating faster! Overall, nothing new to report - just getting used to the new "normal" in our house and I wouldn't change a thing - except maybe a little less arguing between the kids. ha ha.