Oh acronyms...  Who doesn't love them?

Although clearly I don't understand them - WWWW should be WWRW.  Because it's "reading" and not "wreading."

Go ahead and revoke my degree - it's just in music anyway :P

My sister visited and left me with quite a few library books, plus I've had the chance to go on my own and check out some gems - here's what the kids and I have been reading lately:

 

They don't *always* read together...

 

But when they do, apparently Cecilia tries to kick the babies away...

 

(and those weren't even staged - they just happened to be reading two of the books here with another behind them!)

 

ONE

Anything by Sherwood Smith

 

Don't you love it when you discover an author who has written a LOT of books and you can read them ALL right in a row?  It's one of my absolute favorite things in life (like the TV shows you blow through on Netflix - way better than waiting for each new episode to come out!).

 

 

 

I just finished The Spy Princess and have started A Posse of Princesses (the description is horribly written, it's really good so far!).  Fair warning:  I read a lot of young adult fiction about princesses.  Honestly, I love YA fiction because there's almost never anything inappropriate that makes me uncomfortable (except the somewhat morally relativistic Tamora Pierce, but I can trust my judgment enough to read her books...).

 

Anyway, The Spy Princess is about (obviously) a princess who ends up being part of a revolution to overthrow her horrible uncle, the king.  It's very reminiscent of Shannon Hale/Robin McKinley/Dianna Wynne Jones, so obviously I love it!  If you're a fan of the princess/magic/fantasy genre, you'll love it too :)

 

TWO

 

Magic Tree House books

 

 

A friend recommended these as good first chapter books to read aloud - John Paul's reading level far surpasses these, but they're perfect for his (and Cecilia's) attention span, and the chapters are short enough for bedtime reading (I refuse to read long stories for bedtime - when it's that late, I just want them to go to sleep!!!).  We've only read one so far, Afternoon on the Amazon, but I'm planning on going back to the library and picking up more, because they love pretending they're Jack & Annie and going on different adventures!  The baby tub has been turned into a canoe so that they can sail down the Amazon River, and I'm a monkey who has to throw "mangoes" at them.  Yup, I get all the good characters.

 

THREE

 

The Magic School Bus

  

I love The Magic School Bus, the books AND the TV show.  Honestly, if there were a homeschooling curriculum based on the series, I think that's what we would do for kindergarten next year.  We have a couple of our own, and I just checked out The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor, which the kids are loving!  We've been making sea urchins out of play dough and toothpicks, and they've been playing Magic School Bus all day long this week - for some reason I have to be Arnold, although sometimes John Paul takes a break from being Ralphie (the fat one?) and Phoebe (the girl who always talks about her old school) and he's Arnold.  For some reason he says Cecilia is either Wanda (the Asian one) or Dorothy Ann (the know-it-all)...

 

FOUR

 

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

 

 

I picked this up on a whim from the library and am glad I did!  Cecilia and John Paul love to be told the classic fairy tales, but I get tired of it...  Cecilia loves the pictures, John Paul loves that it's a book, and I love how the words flow -

 

"Aaah," she sighed.

"Bravo!" she cried.

"That is my kind of chair!"

 

Nothing like books that are fun to read for adults and kids alike!

 

FIVE

 

The Temperament God Gave Your Kids

 

 

 

I'm still working on this one - it's a short, easy read but after I read chapter about how to deal with your choleric child, I had to stop because IT WAS MIND-BLOWING.  John Paul is perhaps the most choleric person there has ever been and I had NO idea, and our temperaments clash so very much that all the conflict we have makes SENSE now!  This was recommended to me by several people, and I'm really glad I've started reading it.

 

Whew!  I meant for that to be short, and then it actually ended up being 5 books, so I'll link up with Hallie's Five Favorites (hosted by Grace this week!) AND Jessica's What We're Reading Wednesday link up.  Happy Wednesday!

She Just Goes On and On and On...

Last night Andrew had to leave earlier than usual for his Monday night rehearsal, so I was totally on my own for bedtime.  I had gotten Elizabeth totally to sleep and put her in the crib when I heard… 

 

BANG!

Her little eyes shot open, but all was quiet and she slowly closed them again while I kept my hand on her back.

 

BANG!

 

Eyes open again, took a liiiiittle longer to close…

 

“Mom Zebwa!”

 Eyes open, about to close…

“Mom Zebwa, I need you!”

 Sigh.  I leave her and she starts sobbing as soon as I close the door.

 The problem? 

 “Um…  Dis hurts?”

She points to a very small little scrape on her knee, so small I’m not sure it can even be classified as a scrape.

 Awesome.

So Elizabeth went to sleep in the swing, and then so did Mary Claire after she insisted on biting me repeatedly instead of nursing to sleep.  After I got the big kids to bed, I moved the babies to their cribs and endured no fewer than 5 night wakings (total, not each) through the night.  No, not tired at all.  Not me!

What was John Paul doing during all this, you wonder?

 

Well, he found our voter registration cards and decided they needed to be updated:

 

Not sure if I'll be turning him in for election fraud or not...  I think they might go easy on 4-year-olds, right?

 

And in typical John-Paul-is-the-most-contrary-child-ever fashion, he made his own note: 

 

PO 5 AM (polls open 5 am)

AC 6 AM (and close 6 am)

 

That's gonna be a great election turnout, I can already tell.

 

---

 

Sometimes (a lot of the time) the kids do things that are naughty, but so funny that I have to try HARD not to laugh.

 

Example?  John Paul was writing with that same pen as last night, and I left the room for a few minutes.  When I returned, Cecilia had pen ALL over her arms and belly (because she's been refusing to get dressed lately.  It's awesome.).

 

I assumed she had drawn on herself, until I looked closer and could distinctly make out the numbers 2, 3, and 8.

 

Yup, she let John Paul draw all over her.

 

In pen.

 

Ballpoint pen, so it CAN'T have felt good!

 

I don't think they saw me laugh...

 

---

 

I found an awesome bathroom trick on pinterest that makes bath time possible with twins without buying those expensive bath seats!  Last time we tried bathing them together, they were slipping and sliding all over the tub (on purpose) so much that I just about had a heart attack...  It's hard enough keeping ONE baby from standing up all the time in the tub, try keeping TWO from killing themselves at once!

 

 

Check out what fits them perfectly?  A laundry basket!

 

And since we buy ours in packs of 6, it's easy enough to find an extra one lying around.

 

They LOVED it!  They only sat on each other a little bit, and their weight counterbalanced enough that even when they tried to pull up, they didn't tip it over.  And there was no room to slip and slide!  Andrew got them both washed with absolutely zero tears, it was a miracle!

 

 

Not to mention totally adorable!  It reminded me of Cecilia's favorite book back when we found out we were having twins.

 

One baby in a bathtub?  Pretty cute.  Twins in a tub?  Nothing cuter!

Fall Mom Style + Mantilla Link-up

Apologies if this showed up in your newsfeed - I'm still figuring out polyvore!

Anyway, with the slightly declining temperatures (for a few days at least), I started to realize just how close fall is getting!  But the problem is, I really have no idea what I wear in the fall...

See, last fall I was about a million weeks pregnant and basically lived in the same maternity yoga pants and maxi skirt until I gave birth (and then I continued wearing the yoga pants and the maxi skirt for at least a month afterwards...).

Two weeks post-partum, still wearing that skirt...

And the fall before that, I think I mostly wore dress pants.  Now that pants are pretty much out of the equation (I'm holding on to a couple pairs that have always fit well, just in case), I really have to figure out what works with my situation - I think I've got the idea of layering down, thanks to advice from friends (although I still need to get some new leggings and tights).  But he *type* of skirt to get is tough, since the winter-weight skirts tend to feel either too frumpy or too fussy to wear at home (all those wool skirts are lovely, but there's only so much room for dry clean only in this house!).

So here's what I've got so far, from clothes I mostly already have:

Fall Mom Style by rosiehill425 featuring a merona skirt

 

I just got a great new (to me) J.Crew denim skirt from Twice and I'm hoping to get a couple more pieces there if possible - I love that they list the measurements of the clothing, because I have a much better idea of whether something will fit or not (If you sign up through my link you can get $10 off!).

The plum pencil skirt in the collage above is soooo attractive to me - such a perfect color for fall and winter, so I definitely need to find one that's long enough to work for me.  I find I need something at least just below the knee, or playing with the kids on the floor gets too difficult.  And since my color palette tends toward the blues and blues and some more blue, I definitely need to add a scarf or two to punch things up.  I'd like at least one versatile dress as well, so I'm keeping my eye on new arrivals at Twice to see if anything jumps out (shirt dresses, wrap dresses, and faux-wrap dresses are all nursing-friendly).

What I'd really like to do is see if I can avoid buying new clothing (except leggings and tights, since you can't really find those used), so I'm going to be hitting up some thrift stores after the kids are in bed to test the waters.  If I can add to my wardrobe without breaking the bank, maybe I'll save enough money to replace my falling-apart purse!

What are your favorite fall staples?  I know I'm excited for turtlenecks and boots!

Oh and here's today's outfit - it felt fall-ish in the morning but by the time Mass was over (9:30ish) I was way too hot!  I love this dress but the length is just too short for me to wear with kids because I keep thinking my butt is showing every time I switch positions!

Dress:  Target, years ago

Tights:  Target?  No idea...

Booties:  DSW

Scarf:  Forever 21

Oh and that veil...  It's hiding, but it's there - I pretty much have to wear my hair up so that it doesn't fall out completely, but the kids haven't managed to pull it off my head yet.  It's actually something extra that they can fiddle with, and anything that occupies them is gold!  

Andrew's been wanting me to veil for years, but I kept refusing because I said it would mess with my hair, or the kids would pull it out, or I couldn't find one I liked...  And then I realized these were stupid, prideful reasons to refuse something that my husband really wanted (and he's always been very quiet in his desire, so it's not like he forced me into it!).

How do I feel about it?  I don't really notice it most of the time, and I think it makes me feel a little less self-conscious about how the kids behave, because I know that nobody's thinking, "Oh they must be so terrible because they never come to Mass!"  Not the best reasons, I know, but I'm not the deepest thinker, let's be honest.

Linking up with Jenna and the lovely Brit who's guest hosting at Fine Linen & Purple this week - I love this guest hosting, great idea!  And Brit's is one of my favorite bloggers - her photos are so beautiful and her boys are SO cute and hilarious.  Definitely one of those bloggers that I would be friends with in real life!  Go check out her blog for some of the most beautiful little boys (with the most amazing eyes) you'll ever see!

7 Quick Takes - Back to School!

--1--

Sometimes I see all the back to school pictures moms of school-aged children are posting and I think I should start taking pictures of what I wore every first day of school.  And then I remember that that would be weird, because I'm a teacher and not a student...  Although it would actually have been pretty awesome the past 5 years:

First year:

Didn't start working until January, 14ish weeks pregnant?

Second year:

6 weeks post partum, probably pretty similar (or rather larger...) to the first year picture!

Third year:

20ish weeks pregnant with Cecilia.

Fourth year:

7 months post partum and actually fairly normal-looking...

Fifth year:  

26ish weeks pregnant with twins, large and in charge.

Sixth year:

9ish months post partum and fairly normal-looking.   

--2--

Am I really in my 6th year of teaching?  Granted, the first year I only worked half the year, and the third year was the same...  But still, time has flown!

--3--

In the race for teeth, Elizabeth has pulled WAY ahead, cutting her two top teeth this past week.  Mary Claire STILL only has one on the bottom right!

--4--

 Speaking of babies, they're pretty hilarious these days - they tend to follow each other everywhere and want to play with the same toys all the time...

 

"Oh hey sister, that looks like a good toy!"

 

 

"Here, move out of the way so I can have a turn!"

 

 

"Yeah, that's good.  You sit on the floor and I'll play."

 

 

"No, YOU sit on the floor, and I'll play!"

 

 

"Oh hey, the window!"

 

 

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that window!!!"

 

 

"Mom, did you need something?"

 

--5--

 

 

Of course, the allure of toys isn't exclusive to baby toys...  After all, train tracks are pretty awesome too!

 

--6--

 

Mary Claire is clapping.  Cutest. Milestone. Ever.

 

 

In motion!

 

"Cool.  Got it."

 

--7--

 

This happened between breakfast and morning nap yesterday:

 

 

Independent play...

 

Independent catalog reading...

 

Independent puzzling...

 

So I got to eat my cereal and drink my coffee in peace!  It DOES get easier, moms of twins!!!

 

Right now they're even playing with their music cube together while I blog and make dinner!

 

Check out more quick takes at Jen's!

 



5 Favorites - Cherry Tomatoes!

We went tomato picking on Monday.  Did you even know that was a thing?  Apparently it is, and it's the best. idea. ever!  $1.49/pound for all you can pick, way cheaper than the farmer's market or the grocery store.

Soooo in honor of the 10+ pounds we picked, here are some ideas for how to use that abundance!

Do you see those buckets?  They're each 3/4 full of delicious, mostly ripe cherry tomatoes!  If you go picking, get a lot of almost-ripe ones too, since the ripe ones tend to split on the way home and will need to be used immediately.  The unripe ones can be set aside to ripen in a few days and are a little sturdier.  

Dump them in the sink with a cup of vinegar and 10 cups of water, and let them sit for a while before you start sorting.  I took all the split ones and set them aside for immediate eating/cooking.

ONE

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Garlic

Cut a few cups of those babies in half!  Have you seen the trick where you put them between two lids?  Not the most uniform/prettiest, but if you're cooking them anyway this is SO much faster than cutting each one individually!  I use a serrated knife to make sure I get through the skin without smushing them.

Place them on a baking sheet with a few cloves of garlic and half an onion, cut into wedges.

Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and olive oil.  Bake for 2 hours at 300 degrees, stirring every once in a while (I did low and slow because if I had tried high, I would have gotten caught up nursing a baby and they would have burned!).

Eat them straight, as a pasta topper, puree them and can for AMAZING pasta sauce, or use them in a roasted cherry tomato soup (just sub them in for canned tomatoes in this recipe).

TWO

Use that slicing trick again and some fresh corn and make this delicious corn and tomato salad.  It was even better as leftovers the next day!

THREE

Pair them with feta and fresh oregano for a tasty side dish!

FOUR

Slice them in half and use them to top a pizza - I love them on flatbread with fresh mozzarella, basil, and just a little olive oil and salt drizzled on top.

FIVE

Well, this isn't one of my favorites...  But when I heard the infectious giggles coming from the playroom, I had to check it out:

Looks like he's just eating the tomatoes, right?

Look harder...

Ah yes, he has discovered the explosive power of those seeds!

Of course, Cecilia had to follow suit...

I couldn't help but laugh and grab the camera!  They had a stern talking-to afterwards, though!

Linking up with the lovely Hallie and all the others with their Five Favorites!