A 90 degree day

Ok, it is not what you think. It wasn't 90 in Boston today. That is the temp one of our angels set the house at. The kids were playing in that corner early in the evening and I had gone up to "draw" their bath. My room temp OCD came in really handy. I noticed that Dylan's room was 69 degrees. I had put the little space heater in there earlier as the house has been turned down to 60 and his room was registering 65/ 66. It has been so cold here that I thought his room could use a little boost. I thought it odd the room would be that warm with the heater at the setting I put it at. As I was walking down the stairs I noticed a nice warm draft and heard that familiar "clink" of the radiators. Went over to the thermostat and was shocked to see it set PAST 90. Luckily I caught it before it went past 70. Ahhhh, kids.

Today also marks day one of "serious bribery". Probably won't find this in any parenting book or magazine, however, after about 2 weeks of Sophia getting up many times after being put to bed and STILL being awake after 9pm I put into action Plan Desperation. I did the unthinkable and gave Dylan a BIG chunk of chocolate in front of Sophia and told her she couldn't have any because of her bedtime fiascoes. I did show her the last chunk and said she could have it TOMORROW, if she went to bed nicely tonight. Ugh. Not off to a great start so far. She has gotten up once, but that was to make "poo poos" and she did it all on her own except the wiping, which I was glad to help with. I think I am hearing stuff up there, but not sure. Fingers crossed this works.

Independance day, a little early.

Sophia has been wanting to dress her herself much more lately. She has been taking her jammies off in the morning, putting them on at night and now and then putting her pants on for the day and shirt too. I have been choosing (sometimes with her help) her outfits for the day, though. Today, however, she did ALL the choosing and dressing herself. And though I probably wouldn't have put the pink shirt with polka dots together with the red pants, I think it is GREAT that she got everything herself and proceeded to put it on too.

Uh oh, speghettio

Yup. If you guessed Dylan's latest "catch phrase", you are right. Much cuter when he says it, of course.

We survived a hot one today. I think I much prefer the 70 degree days. I feel old thinking that. I remember not too long ago being at work and my boss telling me this was his ideal kind of weather. I couldn't have disagreed more. How boring is THAT?! You can't hang out at the beach and enjoy 70 like you can 90's!

Wow, how time flies. This post has been sitting in my draft box a while. I recall wanting to add to it, but life and kids "came up" and now I suppose I should just post it as is before I forget my own name.

Rabbits, Arbors and Macgyver

This little rabbit (among others) is kind of like our pet. Though we can't pet or hold them, we also don't have to feed or clean out their cages. We just get to enjoy them and step in their piles of poop all over the lawn. Hmmmm, that cage isn't looking too bad right now...Went to the Arboretum yesterday to let the kids run wild with their ride on toys. There were a few puddles remaining from the morning's rain and Dylan found then all.Off we go into the (groomed) wilderness. Sophia and Dylan's pilgrimage up the hill, each carrying their own riding device.

Then, WEEEE WEEEE WEEEE, all the way down.

Classic Sophia "pose". She loves to sing and use hand/ arm gestures so this position is very typical to see.

Walking with dogs. S and D were quite taken with this pack of dogs.

Our other adventure this weekend involved going out on the boat after the kids' naps. We packed a dinner and planned to bbq some burgers on the boat next to an island. Ethan remembered the grill and extra propane tank and I remembered the food and flipper. Neither of us remembered the lighter. Hmmmm. After searching the entire boat the only lighter Ethan could find was the spark plugs for the boat. SO..... I turned the key and he held the plug in the BBQ and I held my breath. It worked! It lit, however the wind was strong and it didn't stay lit. phooey Carrot sticks, spinach dip and cheese sandwiches it was. I was very impressed with the Macgyver move. Looking him up on the net to get the spelling right I found out the show was and America-Canadian production. HA! I guess our family is more true to the show than I first thought!

All Her Ducks/ Trucks in a Row

I love seeing this kind of thing. Sophia lined up her cars on the couch before going upstairs for bath. I couldn't resist taking a million pictures of Dylan in these glasses. Too cute.

Monkey See Monkey Do Part 2

Today, Dylan learned he is able to crawl into his car seat on his own... just like Sophia. And just like Sophia, he can stand in it and look into the back of the truck. Only everything is slower. And when we are in a hurry he is of course more insistent on doing it himself.

Skeletor and the princess

Sophia and Zach on the couch in front of the boob tube. We didn't have time for many pictures and this turned out to be the best of ten. Zach in his fav skeleton jammies and little S with her eyes glued to her "half hour tv".

Today started pretty rough - Dylan in melt down most of the time (waking at 4.40 didn't help, I am sure). I lost it at lunch and felt bad afterwards. Recomposed, got him BACK on my lap, finished lunch and kind of made up. The best part was nap time. Ok, so nap time usually IS my favorite time, but today was extra good. I put Sophia down first as I often do and brought Dylan into her room while I tucked her in. She curled up in her "favorite cozy spot" in the corner against the pillows between the bed and wall. She put Lamby over her head as always and started her journey to sleep. I then took Dylan to his room and after a diaper change, got him in his sleep bag. He started to squirm and I was getting nervous he would give me a hard time. So, I followed the normal procedure for this scenario and held him over his crib and gave him the choice: bed or sing. This works to snap him out of his fuss and he always chooses "sing"... except today. He chose bed. I put him down hesitantly and he just lay there. I then slowly started walking away waiting for him to change his mind, but nothing. I left the room, closed the door and STILL nothing. I heard a little giggle kind of noise and thought maybe he thought this was a game so I quietly went back into the room and there he was just like Sophia - curled in the corner of his crib, head in his bears and the little Gymboree monkey on his head like Lamby was on Sophia. And he did it. No "Twinkle Twinkle", no "Now's the time for you to sleep", no snuggle (sniff, sniff). Just went down.