Dancing Skirts (You may call them tutus)

But Olivia calls them dancing skirts.  And she wants to wear them all the time.  Like over her clothes to preschool.  Or to bed.  Which thanks to Carter's jammies, is totally possible.  Even Owen gets in on the action....

A glimpse into our weekend

Friday Night High School Football

And Olivia in her must-wear-all-the-time "dancing skirt"

Followed by the largest ever, simultaneous, twin meltdown.  Disaster. 

No pictures included.

Saturday Morning

Started the morning with a large Owen meltdown because he DID NOT want to go to the park.  Who doesn't want to go to the park?  Luckily, Olivia was still interested and went with Papa. 

Ready for basketball season

Then they skipped naps, and napped in the car (which just doesn't count)...

That lead to an all-out twin meltdown where they were carried out of The Legends crying. 

No pictures included.

Backyard marching band

And a few hours of surprisingly few meltdowns.  Although, they aren't technically asleep yet. There's still time.

Get an idea of what life is like with two two-year-olds?  Exhausting. 

Sar Ko Park

Making Memories....one park at a time!  This park has a special place in my heart, as it was only a few blocks from where I grew up.  My sister and I took fishing lessons there when were kids.  We went to the Lenexa BBQ every year.  

It was recently completely updated.  And it is amazing!  A great path, a beautiful lake, and playground to keep O&O busy for hours.  And a train caboose they can climb on!

Plus, we had perfect weather to go explore it with Mimi.

Singing Itsy Bitsy Spider

Singing ABCs
(Sorry, I'm lazy and haven't been putting videos on vimeo, which makes them not viewable for some people.  I'm working on it.  I'll attempt to improve :))

Maybe it's only me, but now that they sing their ABCs for no particular reason, I think it is absolutely adorable.  Is that just because it's my kids?  Plus, I love how Olivia sings louder as soon as Owen starts to interrupt. 

Speaking of singing for no particular reason, Owen just completed quite the rendition of Twinkle Twinkle in his bed.  And Olivia sings Happy Birthday to me at least once per day. 

Pigtails and Stickers

2 year olds are exhausting.  The conversations we have are hysterical.  The fits are out of control.  The little things that cause the fits are so minor it's unbelievable.  And as soon as a fit is over, they are adorable again. 

In order to combat the fits, we've started sticker charts.  When they fill their charts with stickers, they get to pick a surprise from the treasure box (or bag in our case).  I've probably taken 20 pictures of them standing in front of the sticker charts, and I really don't have one decent one.  This is the only one that is remotely useable:

In case you can't read the chart, here are the things they must do to get stickers:
1.  Go to school with no crying
2.  Walk like a big kid (mostly out of school at the end of the day; major problem right now)
3.  Go on the potty
4.  Clean up your toys
5.  Eat dinner at the table (dinner is hard at the end of a school day, they need to eat dinner at the table and have pleasant conversation)
6.  Go to bed with no crying

Most of these things are more recent issues in our house, after school started, and after we took away binkies.  I must admit, I am shocked that they haven't gotten more than 3 stickers each in one day.  Some of these things seem so simple to me!  Ha!  I'm hoping once they get to pick their first surprise from the grab bag, they'll be even more enthused to keep earning stickers!

Since I talked about the hard things, I'll try to do another "According to...." post with all of the adorable things they say an do.  

Olivia has been wearing her hair in pigtails this week.  I told her this morning I needed a picture, so she and Owen immediately went to the front porch, sat down and said "Cheeeeeeessseeeeee". 

The Greatest Show on Earth

Today was circus day!  Owen and Olivia's first trip to the circus!

Ready to go.....

Play time at Mildred's Coffeehouse before heading to Sprint Center. 

Lola was making them laugh, buzzing her lips, so they were trying to do it too.

Most of my pictures are horrible, but I really wanted to show one with Owen's green coat

With their toy/snack.  Mimi let them each choose one thing. 

Owen chose a motorcycle dude, Olivia a light-up spinny thing, and Lola chose cotton candy (that comes with a pink plastic wig).

I was shocked, but Olivia loved her new ear protection headphones and the noise didn't bother her at all.  She even sat by herself for awhile. 

All 3 kids were great.  Olivia eventually took off her earmuffs, and sat on Aunt Kelsey's lap after intermission and clapped the entire time.  Owen was in awe.  Lola said "Hey Mom!  This is soooo cool!!".

What great memories!  

Drums

Olivia was thrilled to watch the marching band at high school football last night.  Since we were standing down on the track with Papa Russ, she got to touch the drums that were sitting waiting for halftime. 

She was in heaven :)  We need advice on what her first "real drum" should be.  What's still small enough for a 2 1/2 year old?? 

No Love School

That's what Olivia cried in the car on the way to daycare this morning...over and over...."No Love School.  Mama come get you!"  And by "you", she means "me" - she gets confused on pronouns. 

Day #2: She actually had a better day yesterday.  She still cried all morning, but took a good nap and had a better afternoon.  Owen had another great day.  But then he refused to leave school.  Yes, I can't get one kid to go to school, and the other one planted himself in the middle of the room with a toy and said "I stay here".  Ms. Penny was laughing with me.  We (Mimi was there, too) had to bribe Owen with ice cream to leave school. 

Day #3: Owen wakes up so excited to go to school.  Olivia was hesitant, but then when we got in the car, had a complete meltdown and cried the entire way.  When we got to her classroom, she kept crying, but reached for the teacher.  Maybe that was a positive sign?  Or she just realizes I'm going to leave whether she's crying or not.  Check back here later for an afternoon update.  My goal is to get out of there without bribery :)

The First Day

Tuesday was their first full day of school.  They were both very excited when they got up and as we ate breakfast.  I am not used to getting them up and about so quickly though, so that will be an adjustment for all of us. 

When we got to their classroom, they were both sad that they didn't get to go straight outside to play, which is how it went on their transition days last week.  And then Olivia lost it.  Total meltdown.  Owen had already found some cars and was waving at me "Bye Mommy!".  The teacher peeled Olivia off me and I left (crying of course). 

Thank goodness, I ran into Uncle Justin and Lola in the parking lot.  Lola ran right into Olivia's classroom and helped her get calmed down.  Love Lola! She was thrilled to be a big helper. 

Olivia cried almost all day.  Except when she was napping, or when Lola was with her.  How can you resist when a whimpering little girl says "Get Lola!  Lola come again".  If I were her teacher, I would have done the same thing!  Lola, Olivia, and Ms Penny greeted me at the door when I arrived at the end of the day.  They were all chipper, but I believe they spent most of the afternoon in Penny's office so Olivia would be more comfortable. 

Owen on the other hand, had a fabulous day!  He played and colored and ate a great lunch.  And apparently he prefers to organize the toys and put them back where they belong before moving on to a new activity.  He was determined to pick up the entire classroom before he would leave.

Since I didn't get pictures in the morning, I took a few when we got home.  They are showing off their "1st day of school surprises" - new drumsticks for Livie and a new Thomas train crane car for Owen. 

And their first day of school reports....

I was so relieved to hear that Olivia took a good nap, and Owen at least rested quietly.  

Hope to get a better report today, but Olivia cried before we even walked into the school building today. 

Family Weekend

Prepare for a long, rambling post.  It's been a long, crazy and mostly fun weekend! 

First things first.  Last week was our last week with Nanny Linda, so we made her have picture day!  

We love Linda and can't wait to see her again for just a night out. 

Justin's parents, grandparents, sister, and aunt and uncle were in town this weekend.  We spent time playing at their hotel, bass pro shop, the aquarium, and took some new family pictures!

Our first visit to the Sea Life Aquarium....

 

I think these pictures are pretty good sample of how family photos went down.  This was even with m&m bribery.....

Owen and Olivia took quite the stand against naps this weekend.  They spent much more time playing in their beds than sleeping.  Considering Olivia has always been emotional in large crowds, skipping nap did not have a positive impact on her days.  

First, Hudson's First Birthday Party.  She missed presents and cupcakes.  When she woke up, she ate a cupcake upstairs by herself and looked around and said "Sing Happy Birthday Hudson?".  Ha.  She had missed the whole thing. 

You'll notice in her aquarium picture above that even then she has a puffy sad lip.  She cried on my shoulder almost the entire time.  She almost fell asleep on the way home, but then still didn't take a nap.  She fell asleep in the car on the way to family dinner.  Right before she slept, she got her laptop and said "I work.  I soooo busy". 

Tomorrow is their first full day of daycare/school!  Hope they nap better at daycare than they have been at home!