Techie Twins

Here are my technology-savvy twins. Evie is using the iTouch and Gavin is using the iPad. They are both enjoying the solar system apps!



"Watch out Daddy - pretty soon we'll know as much as you!"



On another note, Gavin has bronchitis. He had a mild cough all week that took a turn for the worse on Friday. I took him to the pediatrician and now he is on an antibiotic, which he hates. Let's hope Evie doesn't catch this one!

Thursday Cuteness

Here are some random cute photos from our week...

Getting the twins ready for school...Evie always gets dressed first, while Gavin attempts to negotiate with me to "stay in 'jamas for a couple more minutes." Evie is wearing a new pink track suit which I happen to think is totally adorabe, in my very biased opinion!

Evie's ready for school the next day in a new heart T shirt from Grandma:


Now she's ready for bed in her favorite yellow pj's:

Evie reads a book with Grandma:

Playing XBox, sort of. Daddy played a game and Evie pushed buttons on the pink controller:

Gavin, in his pajamas again, on the couch with Grandpa. Those are Gavin's favorite pajamas. He has worn them so much that there is a tiny hole in one foot and another one starting in the other foot. They are a 3T and the rest of his pj's are 4T, so I am just going to let him wear them out. He won't fit in them for too much longer!

Puddles Are The Greatest

Last Wednesday we took advantage of the warm(er) weather and played outside for a while. The fresh air felt great!

We started out drawing with chalk on the driveway - a favorite activity, which Gavin has been repeatedly asking to do!

Next we inspected a storm drain, got our mail, stomped on some remaining snow, then moved on to the puddles. There are LOTS of puddles on our street, and Gavin was happy to splash in as many of them as possible.

Mr. Innocent - "Who, me?"

We decided that the puddle with mud on the bottom was dirtier than the puddles on the concrete, so Gavin was stepping in the muddy one and then "rinsing" his shoes in the other one.

My Morning in the Cat Room

Last week I got to volunteer in Gavin's classroom (the Cat Room). At this age, volunteering means playing with the kids and doing what they do. It was so much fun to see Gavin interact with his friends. I was totally impressed with how well he followed directions.

As soon as we walked into the room, he took of his coat, hung it up in his cubby, and washed his hands. Then he went to play with his friends as the rest of the class arrived. (I had to take pictures of just Gavin, to respect the other kids' privacy.) Here, Gavin was playing blocks with his friend Ella. They told me they were building castles and steps.




Gavin watched warily as his teacher showed him how to build a "bear cave" by molding brown play-doh over a cup. He was not interested in touching the brown play-doh (neither were some of the other kids).




The "house center" is one of Gavin's favorite play areas. There are dress-up clothes and accessories...



...as well as a stove and fridge. Gavin made me some "eggs:"




We did art, snack time, story time, motor time, music time, and went on a "bear hunt" throughout the school. (The kids are doing a "bear unit" if you haven't already guessed!) Then it was time to go get Evie from her classroom (the Bluebird room) and head home!





We had a great time together. I am looking forward to more volunteer days in the spring!

Learning the Solar System

Francis put a couple space-related apps on his iTouch and our iPad. Gavin is quite fascinated by the planets, and he especially loves Mars and the moon. Here he is naming the planets as they scroll along the screen:

Church Playgroup

Our church has started a weekly playgroup and we LOVE it! It's in the late afternoon, so we can go even if Gavin takes a nap. It's free and you don't have to be a member of our church to attend. Gavin has had so much fun here! Everyone has at least a little bit of cabin fever at this point in the winter, and it is great for the kids to be able to run around.

Gavin makes a new friend each time we go. We brought his scooter - many of the kids bring scooters or small riding toys. He scooted around for a solid hour with his new friend here:

He was so tired and happy when we went home! I took a video of the two of them, below:

(All you Happeners out there - you may recognize St. Thomas' carpeted gym!)

Evie just wanted to sit and watch the other kids and eat her snack. There was a lot to watch! She especially likes it when a mom brings in a small baby - one that is smaller than her. She thinks babies are quite entertaining!

Bathtime Fun

Evie has not enjoyed her bath lately, so I just have photos of Gavin the tub. Yes, he is still sitting in a baby tub. He and Evie LOVE it and don't want to have a bath in the "big tub" yet. I have learned that with toddlers, there are some battles that are not worth fighting. This is one of them! The kids can stay in the baby tub until they physically don't fit anymore - it's fine with me.

Here is Gavin spitting...this totally cracked Evie up before she got sick. She wasn't laughing this time because she was just too worn out. She is feeling a lot better though, and was able to go back to school.

At the end of the video, Gavin is asking me to "try the blue camera." I am trying to decide which camera I want to use and I am testing out two of them at the moment. Every time I take a picture or video, Gavin makes sure I take the same picture or video with both cameras. This way I will have lots of files to compare!

Kids Share Everything

Last week Gavin had a cold that he gave to me and Francis. I really hoped that Evie could avoid it, but unfortunately she has it now as well. Of course, for her it is more than a cold. Hers is more of a cough, along with a fever, really gross diapers, and a lack of appetite. She stayed home yesterday and I will keep her home today as well. We went to the pediatrician yesterday - nothing is really wrong with her. No infections or ear / throat issues, but she has an antibiotic so that she doesn't get worse.

Here is a cute video of Evie from about 2 weeks ago. Grandpa Vic made a big deal about her having the hiccups one day, and the next day she was still giggling about it (and still hiccuping).

Blizzard!

Here are the obligatory photos of the Blizzard of 2011. I know I am a few days late in posting them, but my excuse is that I still have Gavin's cold.




Here is the weirdly shaped drift in front of our garage door - higher than the van's bumper!




The kids and I did not venture outside on Wednesday (the day the blizzard "finished"). School was cancelled that day and the next.


Evie getting her nebulizer:




Gavin with static-y hair from the couch:

Getting Evie Moving

Last weekend, to my great delight, Evie got into the "downward dog" yoga pose. You can see Gavin doing it too, in the background. They used to do this all the time when they were younger but haven't done it a long time.



I try to get Evie to stretch every morning with me...she doesn't always do it, but that day she did!



Evie was in the mood to move around, because she (and Gavin) imitated me pretending to be a cat. They were crawling and stretching:



I decided to take advantage of her open-mindedness and ran through the leg postitions we learned in gymnastics over the summer. Here is "big legs":



Pike position:




Butterfly:

Whew! Time for a cheese break:

Evie has been getting more social in school. She patted every kids' head in "Duck Duck Goose," and even held hands with one of the boys. Gavin is talking so much that the speech therapist told me she needs to set new goals for him. School has been a great thing for our family!