Children's Bridge Foundation Auction

Attention e-bay Shoppers
CB is having on auction on e-bay all this week until 8 pm Friday night. Please stop bye and support this organization. CB was the agency that brought our family together and they have been FANTASTIC in their support.

Grapefest

It's not much put I have managed to upload a few pictures of the "Sweet-Sweets" on an all-day outing to the Niagara Grape Festival where Mommy enjoyed copious amounts of "grapes", good food and good company, plus an eager "Auntie" Marie made the all-day affair a huge success.

Sophia (below): "Do ya think we should trust that camera crazed Momma to take us anywhere? She seems a little high strung."

Alyssa: "Jeez, I don't know Sophia...let's just stand here and pretend we're frozen."

Me: Sighing.....this is so typical , the girls standing "frozen" on the front porch waiting to be escorted rather than use their God given legs which are perfectly coordinated with the rest of their body parts and can somersault, pose, dance, run, skip, hop, and too-many-to-mention other physical feats, but God forbid should they walk down those 5 steps to the van!

Auntie Marie was our angel for the day and entertained the girls. The girls LOVED her and all the attention.

My girls love their stuffed animals, any size or shape doesn't matter. Adversely, they detest dolls. Soft cuddly dolls, hard plastic dolls, Barbie dolls, you name it they dislike them. Dolls usually become projectile objects in our house followed by Sophia or Alyssa exclaiming, "I don't wannit" or "I no likeit". This throws me for a loop because I LOVED dolls, all kinds but I am not exactly sure what age I was when my love affair with dolls began.

I, being the over-analytical sort, wonder if this has anything to do with their orphanage experience and the competition with the other "babies" there for the Nannies attention.

I will always wonder what sort of affect those first 9 months of orphanage life has had on them.

Teacher Training

I knew that teaching 4 -5 -6 year olds was not going to be at all like teaching prepubescent 12-13 year olds, but................... what does one do when a 4 year old is obstinate and flat out refuses to do what you ask? I don't think sitting on the carpet with the rest of the class is too much to ask!?! And what do you do when the 4 year old says her MOMMY is the boss????? And even when you pick her up and put her on the chair she screams and shadows you back to the carpet where the rest of your 20 angels are waiting for some words of wisdom, only they can't hear you because "Miss 4 Year Old" is going to stand there and scream?

This has now become my world.......there are very few discipline options as compared to the good 'ol days of teaching grade 8, she can't write....lines/essays/letters of apology are out....can't send her to the office 'cause she doesn't know where that is and she probably would deter and run out the front door of the school, and then what would happen to my teaching certificate?????

Every day so far I have come home with a pulsing headache from the noise and constant demands of teaching a JK/SK split.

Sophia and Alyssa have trained me for the physical demands of my new role but generally speaking, my girls LISTEN and COOPERATE with me, you know, the BOSS of the household. But these little munchkins at school still have to learn that there's a new boss in town and it's not their Mommy and Daddy when they are at school.

But there are some real cuties, one boy in particular who wants to kiss me all the time, on the LIPS, luckily I have been able to avert the lips and his kisses have landed in the cheek area (whew)....but then , this same boy will throw himself down on the carpet and cry if he can't play with his airplane during circle time. So, so cute! (heavy dose of sarcasm).

Here is some free parental advice: Put your child in an organized "school" like day care BEFORE going to school... their future teacher will be forever grateful.

Make sure your child can SPEAK clearly and articulate words properly....don't encourage the cuteness of "baby talk" at home........

Make sure your child can at LEAST identify the first letter of their name (upper case people), before coming to school. They will be able to find their coat hooks, name on the board etc.. alot easier. If you think they know it, mix it up with a bunch of other letters and have them FIND it.

Your angels are SPONGES so go ahead and teach them stuff.............................won't hurt them, especially stuff like knowing their colours and LETTER IDENTIFICATION of their NAME in lower case and the first letter in upper case of course. Just like you would normally write it.

While you're busy teaching the letters of their name don't forget to teach them the snake letter (S) and the L. SNACK and LUNCH are 2 very important times of the day and they won't know what to eat when and they may just eat everything at once or their lunch at 10 am. SHOW your monkey where their stuff is in their backpack...don't pack away solo.....get them involved.

Label EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING.................................

I guess that's enough freebies for one post... more will be forthcoming I'm sure of it.

10 Things I Didn't Have to Deal with Teaching Grade 8:

1. Students peeing with the bathroom door left wide open for the world to see.

2. Nose- picking in the middle of circle time. (Very distracting)

3. Students going home wearing other student's clothes.

4. Students fighting over who gets to hold my hand.

5. Debating (with myself) as to whether or not "Johnny" should be allowed to lead "Jake" around the class on all fours with a tie tied around his neck as the pet dog at the house centre.

6. How to walk in a line in the school, without getting lost.

7. Being kissed, hugged and basically showered with affection throughout the day by my adoring students.

8. Cleaning yogurt tube explosions off of clothes.

9. Little boys peeing in the drain on the bathroom floor versus the toilette.

10. Students asking me if it's SNACK time or LUNCH time.

Another note...............Day care for Sophia and Alyssa has been a huge transistion...I had been warned that they would get sick alot but after 4 visits????? Urghhhh I have also borne witness to the dreaded "depersonalizing" of my highly individual twin girls...yes they are being called "the twins" and "twin" by the other munchkins at daycare. I clearly hear them yell out "bye twin" as I take Sophia or "bye twins". My back bristles with disdain as I tartly replied to the ignorant child, "they HAVE names girl-in-pink shirt". There, how do YOU like it????





The girls graduated from "Baby Stars" in their gymnastics class to the "Toddler Stars" this fall and they are proud to wear their new body suits to class, where they may attempt a somersault if they feel so inclined. But they look so darn cute in their matching leotards.



September has been a month for weddings......been busy observing other peoples entrance into wedded bliss. Sigh....

Why do I all of a sudden feel so old???????Could it be because one of the weddings was a friend's son????? I think so............but damn them all we stayed to the very end and danced all night. How's that for old?
A couple of pics from the summer of the girls shopping for their favourite type of toys.

Tiny Tots

They may have their Dora backpacks ready to head off to "school" next week but my tiny loves still fit snugly in the bathroom sink. In our eyes they will always be, "our little girls" no matter how much they grow or how old they get. Alyssa is the top bathing beauty and Sophia is below.

Picture below is some of the gang that we travelled to China with..........

Out of Steam

We are still here, still married and in the same house (mind you it has been improved considerably since the last post), with the same Chicanos, you get my drift..........
I have simply RUN OUT OF STEAM....................SURPRISED????? Probably not, the trip to Ottawa was the beginning of the downward spiral...........exhaustion has set in I need to take a vacay from life in general. Things are piling up and am already getting butterflies in my stomach thinking about going back to work in 2 weeks. When we received S + A on December 4th, 2005 I emerged myself in my new mommy "job" completely and without abandon, and lost a piece of myself in the process. I rationalized that I was okay with everything since I had waited sooooo long for these 2 gifts of life. I was fooling myself and everyone else around me....my life BK was a certain way because I LIKED it that way..........I know I can't change everything back but I am trying to get some of it back. I am re-entering the work force after a 2 year hiatus into a grade I have NEVER taught before and I am nervous yet excited at the same time. I know this may sound strange but I am also feeling sad...............
S + A have their new Dora backpacks ready for "school", please don't call it daycare......(another topic for another day). The girls did swimmingly at their first couple "trial" runs at "school". Mommy and Daddy shed the customary tears.................but the girls thrived and we are thrilled with their progress.
I have so many things that I want to do before I return to my life as it once was...........I don't know where to begin...........I am scared and anxious and nervous and sad.......................
Paralysis of emotions???? Please send me some lovin' this way.....

Wordless Wednesday

Attitude anyone?

Body Language

How many ways can you say "I love you" without saying "I love you"? Apparently LOTS! Check out the body language between these 2 , clearly saying I love you over and over again. The picture above, (taken in China), is very indicative of what they were like in the beginning. The lock and hold grab onto an article of their sister's clothing. The lock and hold grab transferred to DH or myself and they were so unbelievably strong, (for such wee things), that we had to pry their fingers apart to get them to let go. (Only 13 pounds each at 9.5 months). They were also very aware of where their sister was at all times.

The second pictures is of the girls watching their first Baby Einstein video in the hotel room in China. I still remember it clearly (Noah's Ark), the girls were instantly hooked and watched it oh, about a thousand times since. This was also a special day because this was the day Nonna and DH went to visit S + A's orphanage while I tried out my new "Mommy" role for the first time solo. I nearly kissed their stinky feet when Dh and Nonna finally returned to the hotel that evening.

"Home from China" pictures of the girls lovin' each other.

This is a photo of a "bear/choke" hug almost gone bad. Momma had to intervene on this one as Sophia was going into dangerous territory. Even while partaking in daily chores (Sophia sweeping and Alyssa watering the plants), the girls find time to sneak in a smooch.

A very unique situation with multiples is the early onset of learning the skills of negotiation. Here Sophia is "negotiating" a trade with Alyssa, the blessed miniscule piece of toilet paper (yes the fetish is still going strong as ever), for the coveted watering can. Alyssa is having no part of it.

The girls use the word "same", usually to convince their sister (and themselves) that no one is getting the short end of the stick. They use the word "half" ALL the time. Whenever something is particularly desired, Momma resorts to "halving" it. Numerous unsuspecting items have become victims to the scissors. (and if they can't be halved, they get thrown into the black hole ..someday to return...I still have Dorothy the Dinosaour hidden in my hope chest). So now, the girls request things to be "halved" so they can share, and avoid all the hubabub. And of course they know, because they live it every single second, the meaning of "sharing" and taking "turns". Now we just have to get them to LIKE sharing and taking turns. (sigh)

Have a great weekend everyone, we are off to our long overdue and much anticipated reunion. I am a little bit nervous about the 6 hour drive to Ottawa with "Double Trouble". They will either be GREAT or we will be needing a vacation from the vacation. I will post some pictures (hopefully) when we return.

CB Reunion Picnic

Is anybody out here in blogland planning to go to the CB picnic this coming weekend in Ottawa??? 'Cause we ARE!! And I am soo excited to see our travel group mates (it's been nearly 2 years!!!!). Can't wait...and I would love to know if any of you out there are planning to go???????????????Do not be afraid, I only stalk in blogland, the stalkerazzi queen doesn't do real life!

Nickname Meme

I was tagged a looooong time ago by the Seventh person, but I have the memory of an elephant and I haven't forgotten, just been a little preoccupied. Our family nicknames are kinda boring but nonetheless here they are. (after all a tag is a tag is a tag I say)



Will start with the oldest and then progress to the youngest family member, so I guess I go first. I was called "Lady Di "after Lady Di became known, "Di", "Dee",(I don't really like Dee), and "Diana Banana" by my pesky brothers. I actually was called "Diane" by the entire world until I got into highschool when a very perceptive teacher said your name is actually DIANA, I said WHAT TF???!?!?! I went home interrogated mom and sure enough my name WAS DIANA and NOT DIANE (never realized that I was writing Diana, but pronouncing it Diane). So from that day forward I pronounced that EVERYONE was going to start calling me by my correct name. So then my nickname became "NA".............because whenever anyone would say "Diane", I would immediately correct them and add the NA, (firmly and emphatically and thus more than likely annoyingly). It is sooooooooooooo hard to teach an old dog new tricks, to this day my family still calls me "Diane".



Then theres HIM, DH. Flavio is his name and "Fabio" is his nickname. "Flip" is also another teenage nickname which has now become extint .



Next is my darling little Alyssa. She gets called "Alpha", "Sa Sa", and Alise. Nonna and Nonno call her "Elisa" (a pronunciation difficulty in the Italian language). And of course she gets called "Sophia" quite a bit by everyone other than her Momma.







Our baby of the family, by a whole 40 minutes is Sophia. She gets called "Sophie", "Fia", and "Sophia-Bea". Same problem as sis, she gets called "Alyssa" alot too.



We have generic terms that we use when referring to both of the girls such as, "The Girls", "Double Trouble", "Monkeys", "Chickadees", "Chicklets", "Chickies", and "Sweet-Sweet". We NEVER, EVER refer to our girls as, "The Twins".







There you have it the nicknames for the gang.
"Flip with the "Sweet-Sweets".
"Sweet" on top is of course, our "Alpha", and the bottom Sweet is our "Fia".


He kinda looks like he needs a little help, Momma was too intent on getting the photo. Look at that, there's a third baby balanced on his head! A regular juggler my man is.

New Developments

I knew I shouldn't have laughed so heartily at her twin escapades. I should know better than to think that I would get through the terrible 2's with only a few not-so-terrible occurrences (am NOT including the excessive whiny times-they ARE terrible)

Sophia and Alyssa are Not attempting the great escape from their cribs. Yes, my girls are content to remain IN their cribs and create havoc from there just as nicely as some other children prefer to do out of their cribs. Both of my angels decided that nap time was going to be a good time to have some fun experimenting with liquids and solids. Off went their shorts, next came the very dry diaper that Momma had just firmly attached to each girl. Not firmly enough though apparently.

That wasn't quite enough though, Sophia, who seems to be able too pee anywhere and avoid tinkling on herself , wet every sheet, quilt, and blanket that WAS in her crib. After thoroughly soaking these items they were all tossed out of the crib. I guess she enjoyed the experience but draws the line at sleeping in her own urine. Alyssa, not so pee suave, ending up soaking all her bedding plus the shirt on her back and her legs etc.....She had tossed all of the pee-drenched items out of the crib also, but was in discomfort due to her urine soaked top. Alas, nap time was shortened, and Mommy enters the room to the disaster described above. No pictures were taken to protect the innocents' nakedness.

Note to Mommies in waiting: Mattress protectors are a MUST have item for your beds/cribs.

So in lieu of pictures of the episode above, I have some other pictures of the girls looking much more civilized and frankly, looking incapable of the pee drenched scene described above. Sophia actually did her first twirl ever in her dress completely initiated on her own. Oh, my aching heart! And of course Alyssa followed suit.

Sophia was pretty peeved with me in these pictures for not putting the GREEN barrette in her hair.

CLOSE UP

No, not of MOI! I wouldn't do that to you without fair and ample warning so you could say, shield your eyes or better yet but on a blindfold. Just a close up of my cupboards to satisfy the gawkers (said with affectionate undertones of course). The look is antiqued and the pictures still don't really reflect what it actually looks like in reality. But these pictures are better than the others down below.

Kitchen Facelift

This picture to the left is one of the before pictures of the kitchen. It is quickly becoming a distant memory as the new and improved kitchen is replacing the old and dated. Enjoy the before and afters of our nearly done facelifted kitchen.

Halleluia, praise the Lord...Kitchen upstairs is now complete. Ah, who am I kidding? It is almost complete.....Out went the cooktop and in went our stove that had been in our furnace room for a year!!!

Anybody looking for a perfectly good used cooktop? It is gas to boot. Great deal.....I'll let you in on a secret, I originally wanted to keep the cooktop and this beautiful stove was to replace the electric stove in the basement. Alas, no right-minded pipefitter would attempt this feat since our basement is completely finished, would cause way too much damage and would be exorbitant in cost. Not worth it! Decision made, sell cooktop keep stove upstairs (this way I get an extra oven to boot). Now have 3 ovens in the house. No need for S + A to have an Easy Bake Oven. 4 ovens in one house would be over-the-top! They can go crazy baking mommy, (and daddy) some delicious baked goodies, souffles, gourmet meals. Don't laugh they have already mastered making Jell-O. Alyssa learned pretty quick what hot meant when she stuck her finger in the liquid jell-o right after I added the HOT water. She is still fearful to do the finger taste test after the COLD is added. A lesson well learned.

Speaking of S + A here are some pictures (taken today), of the lovely's clearly reminding their mother to take some time to smell the flowers on the way. Gotta love these girls.

I don't know why these pictures turned out a little blurry. I guess ya'll know what to get me for my birthday! (insert chuckling here) Photography lessons would be nice too. (iinsert more chuckling here)

Trades, Shmades

Have I told you lately how much I detest tradespeople in my house?? Well, I do. I am a control freako and when these people are here they take over my control. For instance, right at this instant I am holed up in my beaudouir (no Dh is NOT here with me), because elle tradeswomen is in the kitchen glazing my cupboards. Our lives are held ransom to the times that these people can come. What would I rather be doing right now? Sleeping, of course! Grrrr......

Wordless Wednesday

Sophia giving me "the foot".

Wordless Wednesday

A blast from the past.....these are a few of my favourite pictures of the girls when we first arrived home from China....Sophia's first diaper change at "home sweet home".
Alyssa hamming it up with her bib (above photo).Belly laughing (Sophia above)Sophia examines Alyssa's orifice.............

Blissfully Happy?

No, I haven't been enjoying some pints. Lack of blogging (and stalking) is simply due to the continued renovations going on at our house. I miss those days of blogging and stalking at whim. (sigh)

Potty Updates:
Sophia has done her #1 business twice now, once on the potty and once in a pail in the backyard, (that's my classy gal). She has also broken one of the changing tables by performing her gymnastics on it. Alyssa has continued to "fake" her business whenever Sophia goes. (Seems we all need a little praise). We are definitely going to go commando around here when the time comes for some serious training. Thank you so much for all of your helpful tips and suggestions.
We have taken back the trampoline that was still-in-the-box-from-Costco because DH got scared when our neighbour sprained her ankle on hers. It will be back next year, no worries.
I am a phys. ed. major, and a trampoline is a MUST HAVE item. Too tired from reno's to really put up a fuss about it right now. Gotta run, the mud -slinging drywaller is aknockin' at my door.

Quote of the Day

"Life is far too short to wear bad clothing."

Welcome All!!

I guess I don't drink enough before blogging.

Mingle² - Online Dating

Updates

Craziness over here. Reno update, the kitchen island came in on Thursday, and the new and improved fireplace arrived yesterday. Out went the old one with the $300 receiver attached to the back. Yikes! Quick call to JOE, (the remover, dry waller, and framer) and maybe , (if we're lucky),we will get it back today. Crown moulding went up in the kitchen last night, and finished around 12pm. Girls decided that last night they would have a night wake up....finally fell asleep at 4 am. Painter for the kitchen cupboards is here today, as well as the granite guy (maybe ...this is the 3rd rescheduled time, dam tradespeople), and of course JOE the drywaller (hopefully with the thermostat) to finish surrounding the fireplace. At times, our house looks like an episode of Debbie Travis with all of the tradespeople traipsing around. On top of all of this craziness had to deal with a "rodent" problem in the basement, hence the post from yesterday.

New Fireplace on left, out with the old on the right.

As if renovation mania isn't enough we also had some S + A issues surrounding elimination of food wastes. As I have made it very clear, I am in no way, ready to begin training S + A to do their business on the potty. Diapers are just way easier right now because there is WAY too much going on and I know my limitations. However, I am ready for the big event. I have all the necessary paraphernalia including new Pooh undies, a jar of M + M's (which are slowly dwindling) , and 2 pottys.

Hello Mr. Potty x 2.

It all started during dinner, Sophia was complaining that her belly was itchy, I checked it out and noticed that SOMEONE had put on her diaper a tad tight, (doesn't take a detective to figure that one out) and it was cutting into her belly..

So I undid the diaper, to allow her some relief, then thought, "what the hey, let's let her run free, sans diaper" ........I gave her strict instructions to let me know if she had to pee and we would put her on the potty. I pulled the potty's out of hiding and they were standing on guard. I remind you, this was a spontaneous, off the cuff decision.....I think I am screwing my potty training success. So of course, Alyssa had to run free as well even though she had no diaper -cutting-into-her belly issues. A fringe benefit of having a twin.

Sophia eventually did a pee-pee on her potty (first time), so the fanfare began. M + M's were distributed (supposed to get 1...hahahaha,as if)...twin sister benefitted as well. Pictures were taken, "special" Pooh underwear was donned, , did the Happy Dance, and of course lots of praise. We did everything to make her feel extra special except perhaps calling the Pope, however we did call Nonna, (she is pretty POPE-like if you know what I mean). Alyssa, of course received all of the benefits attached to Sophia's big moment...she grabbed a handful of M+M's and got to wear her "special" Pooh undies also.

Pooh stayed dry for all of 15 minutes. I had left the girls with DH for all of 15 minutes and that's when the havoc broke out. Alyssa sat in the hamper and peed in her new undies. Sophia, I guess wasn't quite finished on the potty, and peed in her Pooh undies, somewhere, and am still looking for those undies. (Dh removed panties, and alas they must be somewhere , probably with all of the lost dryer socks).

Lessons learned:

-M + M's won't work as a reward with twins, (and 1 will definitely not satisfy). Guess I'll just have to eat what's left in the reward jar.

-Need to purchase many, many more pairs of "special" undies

-Never leave the girls unattended during potty sessions

-Hide all hampers or items that may be mistaken for a potty

-Teach certain someone not to strangulate children with diaper, and therefore the WHOLE issue could have been avoided.

-Be prepared for many extra baths.

*If I have missed any lessons, please feel free to add to the comments section.

**Now, the girls sit on the potty fully diapered and make the necessary grunts, jump up and say, "chocklit".

I am so, so, screwed when potty training happens "for real".

A picture of a proud Sophia with her M + M's, sporting her "dry" Pooh undies.

Here Mousie, Mousie

Mousie says "HI", but we prefer he was OUTSIDE.