After Breakfast....

After breakfast the twins got to open their gifts from their sisters.  All the gifts were made from the heart with lots of love!

Marcella made Eben the sweetest little Gingerbread Boy from air-dry clay.  It is much like a paper doll in that Eben can dress the Gingerbread Boy and take on and off eyes and buttons.

Marcella also gave Eben a wand- he loves to do "Turn!" magic!

For Eleanor, Marcella made a beautiful Butterfly Mobile to hang over her crib.  It is made from coffee filters.

Theresa gave Eben and adorable little man with eyes that can turn into hearts!

For Eleanor, Theresa found a great triangle rock and painted it to be a pizza for the play kitchen!

Then she made them a cool spotting scope for when we play Bruja or pirates.

Twins Third Birthday, Part One-Morning

The twins had such an enormous time celebrating their third birthday I have decided to post the big week day in several postings.  The theme was Hansel and Gretel and Casey and I had so much trouble fun designing and making a gingerbread house for each twin.  The girls had a blast helping us make candy decorations.  We had so many firsts for the twins in the days leading up to the Big Three like scissors and more importantly Potty Training! 

The day after their birthday we put them in underpants and after four days the accidents greatly decreased and we now we feel the twins are trained.   We still have an occasional poopy accident but they both tell us regularly when they need to pee.  Potty training twins was definitely another multiples hurdle- some days I felt I spent the entire day in the bathroom and then there is still the bathroom congestion after meals-especially when the girls are home.  It's like clockwork- everybody has to go and then we find the entire family in the bathroom and no one wants to use the upstairs-it's very entertaining!

All right, now I'll return to The Big Day!  Along with all the great Hansel and Gretel decorations, we surprised the twins with new Thomas and Dora plates and cups at breakfast.  Here was another twin first- they get to use their cups at our water cooler.  We still use sippies at the table and everwhere else, but now the twins can use their cups in the kitchen if they want a nice cool drink of water from our cooler- this is big stuff!

Oddly enough, the twins' birthday was my last day of work at the ECC due to some issues with KAUST and them refusing to pay daycare costs despite the fact that I have a signed contract saying they would.  My salary does not cover the cost of two in daycare so I had to reluctantly stop work.  Casey stayed at home for this special day and got to take the twins to Theresa's Rock Adventures Open House.  

Scissor Fun

A few days before the twins Big 3 day we attended one of their classmate's third birthdays and received the cutest scissors in the party favor bags.  As soon as we got home all four kids went straight to work cutting and creating.  This was actually the twins' first time to use scissors-they loved it!

Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas

We celebrated the "Angelic Doctor's" Feast Day (Jan. 28) quite simply this year with angel and dove shaped pancakes for breakfast and then later in the evening we read a brief passage about this patron saint of scholars. 

Annual KAUST 5K

We were able to partcipate in KAUST's annual 5K again this year.  Casey and I both finished under 35 minutes (each pushig a bike chariot).  Marcella jogged with us for about half of the way.  It was a cool morning and we had a lot of fun visiting after the run with other parents while the kids enjoyed some water fun and bouncy castles that recreation services put out.

We spent the afternoon relaxing: Marcella crashed on the couch, Theresa crafted, and the twins did dress up and puzzles. 

 

I recently put this end table in our foyer as a puzzle table- it has been great having a surface to work on puzzles without having to move the puzzle for eating or some other set up.  I brought several large puzzles back with us and am looking forward to keeping them out while we work on them for a few days.

Eleanor loves wearing her veil and long blue gown- she is our Fancy Nancy!

Marcella and the Kings

I had planned to purchase some gold wrapped alomond roccas to put out on Three Kings Day but Marcella surprised us by making a beautiful Three Kings box and placed all sorts of treasures inside including some of her St. Nick gold coins.  She did this all on her own in the morning not even knowing of my plan.  She also made us a lovely Playmobil Nativity.  Happy Three Kings Day!

Happy 2012

Well, we are all settled back into our KAUST routine.  The Christmas break was wonderful and so restful.  It was cold most of our visit and we are having cooler weather here as well.  It is great being able to wear long sleeves and pants and not break into a sweat.

From the pictures below you will see our hotel room in New York....we ended up having to stay a night there due to a flight change.  This surprise extended layover was actually quite fun for us- the kids loved being in a hotel and we got to take a nice taxi ride around Manhatten.  The airline paid for our hotel (two connecting rooms) and food which made the delay much more bearable.  The weather was below freezing the entire 24 hours of our layover so we triple layered the kids and myself while Casey braved the weather in short sleeves.  Hopefully, if this happens again, we will get to see New York under warmer conditions; Central Park looked fabulous but it was way too cold to enjoy this trip.

Our tomato plants were in full production upon our return and we are still enjoying them.  We have planted another round as well.  We love sprinkling them with our German rosemary salt.

Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Eve

Double Tree Hotel-extended New York layover

taxiing around Manhatten below freezing

tomatoes round one

tomatoes round two