Giggles and Hugs

The twins' newest game is to chase each other up and down the hallway, and giggle happily when they see each other. And repeat...

Here is Gavin running around the coffee table and hugging Evie:

Art Class

I finally remembered to bring the camera to art class last week. It's not like I have anything else to keep track of, right? Here are Evie and Gavin, sitting in our usual spot in the classroom. I like to sit at the end of the table, in between them, so I never have my back to either one of them. That would just a recipe for a big mess!

I took these right when we got there - that's why everything still looks neat!

The teacher gave us a more complex project this time. We (parents) had to cut out construction paper trees, then glue them onto the big paper, then try to get the kids to use crayon over leaf stencils and then watercolor over the entire thing. Well, after using watercolor last week, Evie and Gavin just wanted to paint water all over their papers. This time I held onto the cup of water despite Gavin's protests, and we had NO spills!

I gave Evie trees that are shaped like hearts. When the teacher walked by, she said, "Oh, hearts again! Evie's our little heart girl!" (I put hearts on her watercolor last week.) So I thought that comment was sweet and also ironic, because I haven't told her about Evie's heart issues. And all of Evie's pediatric cardiac nurses think of their patients as "heart babies," so I do too!

Evie kept trying to peel her heart trees off of her paper after I had glued them on. Luckily, Gavin didn't try that, but he did try to stick the safety scissors into the glue stick and mash the glue around. Anyway, I gave him triangle trees:

This project was called "Enchanted Forest." I can't wait to see what we do next!

Playdate!

Last Friday we got together with our twin friends Felix and Pierre. Gavin loved their little tents:

Felix showed Gavin one of his animal books:

At first Evie thought she would rather hang out with her snack than three boys...

Then she decided this fire truck was petty cool:

See you guys again soon!

Playdate!

Today we had a playdate with my good friend Gina and her two younger children, Trevor (age 3) and Gianna (10 months). Trevor brought over a pumpkin pail filled with his favorite cars, and Gavin and Evie went nuts playing with them and dumping them out. Trevor was happy to learn that all his cars "worked" on our little train track, so that was a big hit right away. Here are Gavin, Trevor and Gianna playing by the train:



Gavin and Trevor had a blast playing together! It seems we have more little girl friends than little boy friends, and it was really neat to see Gavin make a new buddy so quickly. Trevor kept up a steady stream of chatter, and Gavin was interested in whatever he was doing. After playing cars, they played together in our little play house, turning on the light and pushing all the buttons that made noise:





After that, Trevor used the toy dustbuster to clean the entire floor! What a helper!

Gianna crawled everywhere and was delighted to play with new toys. This gourd that we picked up at the pumpkin patch was a big hit...



Evie had to chomp on the gourd as well:

We all had a great time and can't wait to get together again!

Evie Learns the iPhone

Uncle David came over last Saturday. We drove the kids over to Toys R Us to exchange some birthday clothes that were the wrong size, and David entertained them while I shopped. I usually don't get to buy their clothes, so this was a lot of fun! Later, Evie woke up from her nap before Gavin, so she got in some undivided uncle attention. First she wanted to watch Gavin sleep on the video monitor:

Then Uncle David got out his iPhone, and the monitor was history. David taught Evie how to scroll through the photos on his phone (Gavin's not the only one who loves technology!):

Kids-n-Cats

Last week we went to visit Auntie Di and the cat cousins. The kids and the cats were all excited to get together, and the cats were definately worn out afterward.

"No Auntie, I'm wasn't tapping this stick toy on your cabinet, or your blinds, or your lamp..."

"Hey Fergie, I'll give you a cheddar bunny if you come out of there."

Auntie Di helped Gavin play a game that she plays with the cats. You just lay on the stick toy and they run over and try to get it!

Gavin and Evie gave LOTS of hugs to the cats, and the cats were very tolerant of it! Diana said that the cats don't let her and Uncle Kevin hug them that way - the kids kind of lay their heads on the cats' backs and give a little squeeze.

We got out the laser pointer for the cats to chase, but guess who ended up chasing it instead?

Pumpkin Patch

This afternoon we braved the October chill and visited Sonny Acres pumpkin patch in West Chicago. We were just glad it wasn't raining! Francis and Nana & Grandpa Cermak all had the day off. We discovered lots of pumpkins, corn stalks, and all kinds of fun things.





"I need more pumpkins over here, Grandpa!"



The kids were delighted to discover part of a tractor:



Gavin was a little more interested than Evie:




Gavin investigates the chickens with Nana:



Time for a big hug!

There was an old train engine replica:

And another tractor - the whole thing this time! Gavin got in the seat with a little boost from Grandpa:

He was happy as a clam in the driver's seat:



Evie gave it a try also:

Also, we want to send out a big congratulations to Auntie Clare for running the Chicago Marathon in 5 hours yesterday. What an amazing accomplishment!

Playdate!

This week we had a playdate with our friend Laura and her daughter Keira. The weather was nice enough for us to go outside, and the kids all had a good time playing with our cars.






Gavin pushed Keira around in Evie's car:

"I've got another tooth coming in right here, Mom!"

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to Evie and Gavin! It has been two years of wonder and giggles, ups and downs, lots of diapers, and lots of silliness. Here are two pictures from when they were about five weeks old...so tiny and precious!

Art Class

Today in art class, we worked with watercolors. The teacher told us to brush water all over the paper first, and then put the paint on. She gave everyone a little cup of water to rinse their brushes, and of course, within 30 seconds Gavin had knocked his water over...on the table, the floor, and his paper. Another class, another mess! At least it was just water.

Evie and Gavin had so much fun brushing water on their paper that they had no interest in using any color. What you see below is the end result of me "guiding" them to the paint!

Gavin's:



Evie's: