Our Scarecrow THIS Year

I've always made scarecrows with my classes at school for Halloween, and since Ella and Zoe were 18 months

we've made them at home too.

This post is dedicated to the making of this year's scarecrow.

First we stuffed the pants.

Then we stuffed the shirt . . .

. . . . and added the gloves.

After Mr. Pumpkin Man got his head, hanky and shoes

he got a great big kiss from Ella and Zoe . . .

. . . and a great big hug!!

After all that work Zoe and Ella decided their pumpkin man needed a nap, and covered him up so he was nice and cozy.

Later in the day we put our scarecrow out front

and found ALL of our pumpkins too.

It all went really well, except for Zoe's brief meltdown.

And then the one Ella had after Zoe calmed down.

But everything ended just fine.

I wonder if we can find anymore pumpkins??

The Circus

Last Saturday we went to the Minneapolis Shrine Circus, and all four of us enjoyed 'the greatest show on Earth'. Each act was so entertaining for ladies and gentlemen, for boys and girls of all ages : )

We saw tigers (crazy).

*click on photos to make larger*

We saw ponies (loved their colors).

We saw acrobats (oh my goodness).

We saw Sheep Dogs doing tricks (I think they are smarter than the average person -- these dogs were hilarious).

We saw lots of hula-hoops in rainbow colors (wow!!).

We saw jugglers

(though the girls thought their Dad should have been part of this act).

We saw elephants. We loved the elephants.

And we even rode ON an elephant!!

It was AWESOME!!!!!

This is not us, but it's what we would have looked like if someone had taken a picture : )

Here we are after the elephant ride.

We even saw CLOWNS (another big hit)!!

And of course, the show ended with The Human Cannonball.

Ella enjoyed herself so much she was dancing while sitting

(which is not easy to do).

And this is how Zoe looked while watching the acrobats and dancers.

The actual circus event was fabulous,

but I'm really getting a kick out of watching and listening to Ella and Zoe pretend to be the Wild Kitty Trainer, The High Wire Walker, The Silly Clowns, The Acrobat Dancers, The Juggler, etc., etc.,

I love how much of the circus came HOME with us.

And we didn't even buy one souvenir!

Big Girl Beds

3 1/2 years ago Ella and Zoe shared one crib, and because they both had pretty significant reflux they each slept in their own Danny Sling. I picked out their cribs while on bedrest and loved the cherry wood and Jenny Lind style so much. After having the girls in the NICU for a total of 57 days, I really loved watching them sleep

in their own bedroom.

When they got a little bigger they even shared their crib with friends.

Once in a while we'd put them in their own cribs, for shorter naps.

But for almost 6 months they liked it best right next to each other.

Once they outgrew the need for their Danny Slings it was always entertaining to see how they would wind up after they would fall asleep. Many times they would mimic each other's positioning,

even in separate cribs.

I loved watching my babies sleep in their cribs.

Or not sleep.

This 'Crib Bliss' went on for almost two years.

Right before their 2nd birthday

this is how I found Ella and Zoe one morning:

They were official crib climbers.

That afternoon Tom picked up two crib tents

(a twin-parent recommendation).

We let the girls 'play' in their new tents

before we put them in their cribs . . . .

. . . . and this is how they slept for the next year and a half.

They LOVED their crib tents. When I would tuck them in at night both girls would tell me 'I love you' and then say 'Zip me up Mama!!!'. It worked really well.

Tom and I LOVED their crib tents too.

We loved zipping them up -- knowing they were safe and sound

AND couldn't wander around.

Many friends (parents of multiples and parents of singletons) recommended keeping the girls in their cribs as long as possible. We liked that idea a lot. We actually both kind of dreaded the day we would make the move to toddler beds.

That day came last Friday.

After 3 1/2 years Ella and Zoe now sleep in Big Girl Beds.

They loved their crib tents but they LOVE LOVE LOVE their new beds.

So much that they spend an awful lot of time talking and laughing and playing when they're supposed to be sleeping.

I can't say I blame them, the freedom must be exhilarating : )

They are tired little girls,

but very very happy.

Today was the first day they actually slept their full nap-time,

and were quiet after just a few minutes when I tucked them in tonight.

Even though we dreaded making the big change, and sleep was off for a few days, I am so happy for Ella and Zoe.

Although it is bittersweet.

I really did love their cribs and crib tents.

Does anyone know if there are toddler bed tents??

Skeletons

About a month ago the girls and I were in Michaels shopping with my Mom. All of the Halloween decorations were out and caught our attention -- it was all fun to see, except for thelife-size-witchy-skeleton person that started moaning when you walked by it. That was creepy and kind of scared Ella and Zoe. I didn't want them to be freaked out so we got a book on the human body that had great pictures, and spent a lot of time talking about our bodies; skeletons in particular. I even found two skeleton dolls at the dollar store that they love so much they sleep with them : ) I felt good about all this, like a somewhat negative was turned into a positive.

Then Tom showed the girls a flyer that had lots of different Halloween costumes. Once Zoe saw the skeleton she was sold --

THAT was what she wanted to be for Halloween.

Ella thought it looked like a good costume idea too.

I actually thought it was a cute idea (two 3 1/2 year old girls dressed as skeletons) but I had already talked with Ella and Zoe about their costume choices and we had decided on flowers. Their preschool has a 'Trunk or Treat' event so I thought I could decorate the back of my RAV4 to look like a garden to tie in the theme. And even though we're okay with skeletons, other families with young children might not be, and overall I thought flowers would be a safer choice and more appropriate. Plus, I love flowers and girly costumes : )

But I couldn't get those skeleton costumes out of my head.

And when I was at Walmart the other day they had two kits in the girls' size left, so I bought them. They were THRILLED!!! Seriously -- their reaction was so funny. Once they both had their skeleton costumes on they started running around the house and didn't stop for a good half hour, so I figure the costumes totally were worth the money just for that. And I know I'm biased, but I think they look awfully cute too, especially with the lace socks and rose-colored fingernail polish (which you can't really see in the photos).

So now Zoe and Ella have two skeleton costumes in their dress-up drawer, and they're pretty happy about that. As for Halloween -- we're still going with the flower idea (I found an idea in a parenting magazine I just love and my mom helped make the costumes this past week). Zoe and Ella are excited about their flower costumes too. They LOVE anything Grama makes for them, and they say they're going to wear the costumes as pajamas after Halloween,

which is an added bonus.

So we're all good over here, for right now anyways.

I have to laugh at how things change in 3.5 years -- when the girls were little I could put them in anything without even a discussion. But preschoolers definitely have their own ideas, that's for sure. And poor Tom, he asked if he could be in charge of choosing their costumes next year. Again, I had to laugh. I think our days of choosing their costumes are a thing of the past.

Riding Lawn Mower + Grama Dianne = FUN Times!!

We headed out to Buffalo for an overnight and some of the fun this time included Grama Dianne taking the girls for a ride on the riding lawn mower -- Big Stuff!! Zoe was content watching at first but Ella couldn't get on Grama's lap fast enough. She thought it was awesome (and I think she really thought she was driving).

It didn't take long before Zoe joined right in though,

and thought it was pretty awesome too.

What a fun Grama!!

*click on pics to enlarge*