The beginning of summer

The school year ended very quickly for me and we rushed right into summer.  We went to the girls' first  Durham Bulls ball game and they were pretty good, but we need to work on sitting in chairs (this goes for church and other places too).  They had popcorn and ice cream and it was hot but great.

 Together we have been living as a family of 4, which is nice for a change.  I'm home when Dave is home more often and it has felt so wonderful.  The girls helped him clean up blood from Sam's scraped knees.  Mike was right in giving her bandaids for Christmas.  She is like her uncle.

We work out together!

And Catherine learned how to drive.  She was so adamant she could do it herself that she pushed my dad's hands off the wheel saying "I do it!"  Sigh, she really is my little clone.

After that we went to the beach and had a wonderful time, as usual.  I can't wait until we can stay there even longer.  We have a tent, I think we need to break it out.  We are spending the summer potty training.  Catherine has sort of made progress, but Sam still thinks the diaper is better.  On Monday we are taking the sides off their cribs and making 'big girl beds'.  Wish us luck, and we'll keep you updated.

All of May at once!

Well, the month of May was quite crazy so this is the first chance I've had to update the blog.  Let's start with Mother's Day.  My mom was here and we went strawberry picking and to the park.  The girls were great at picking strawberries.  They didn't squish too many, didn't eat any off the ground (though they tried), and had a great time pointing out the best ones and putting them in the basket.

"You'll have to talk to my agent, but she's on the phone right now."

At the park Samantha got very adventurous.  She really doesn't seem to be afraid of much, which I guess is why her knees and shins are always such a mess.  Catherine is much more skittish at trying new things.  However, once she sees Samantha trying it, she'll do it, including the big slide (which on second thought was too big).

It is hard to see, but Samantha is trying to wave.

When our school ordered caterpillars we got some too and had a wonderful time with them.  The girls loved to check on them, and Dave couldn't believe how quickly they grew.  Once we got the cocoons into their new home it wasn't nearly that interesting, nothing was moving around.  But, when they hatched, holy cow it was so exciting!  They showed the butterflies to everyone, including holding the phone up to the container so my dad could 'see' them.  I was surprised when we released them that they didn't want to hold them.

Then we went to the beach.  Dave showed the girls how to bury themselves and Catherine was a great help with that.  The first day Sam spent playing in the sand, didn't really go into the water until it was time to rinse off and go.  Then she suddenly remembered how much she liked it and didn't want to leave.  The next morning we told her where we were going and she wouldn't let it drop.  She tried to get Dave towels and keys so we could go.  Then she put her suit on over her jammies!  She couldn't wait to get there and spent most of the time in the water.

We filled our time in between with lots of reading and bouncing and building and adorable faces and singing and dancing.  Samantha spends a lot of time entertaining others when we are out with her dance moves, especially at the Cuban restaurant playing salsa music.  Catherine, on the other hand, loves to sing and often repeats as many words in a song as she can.  The best part is that when we play "Sweet Caroline" and she hears "touching me" she hears "touching knee" and that's what she does.  It is hilarious!  More to come, and hopefully more often because I'll be out for the summer, woo hoo!

Spring has sprung!

Hooray Spring!

 

I know I say it all the time, but I love Duke Gardens.  If I had been a student at Duke I think I would be there every day.  I've been watching for the flowers at school and the house to see when the tulips would bloom so we could go back and see everything alive and beautiful.

Look at the flowers, Daddy!  Here's the ball Daddy, throw it again!  They run and look and smell and point and play and kick.  They also say 'bye!' to everything.

Look at that beautiful hair!  Unfortunately she is just like her mommy and nana and her face gets red a the slightest temperature increase.  Samantha loved looking at the petals from the dogwoods and pears falling down like snow.  She is very quick to answer any question you ask her about numbers or letters or pictures, but if you ask her nicely she lets Catherine go first.  She always says "Catherine turn" when it is something she doesn't want to do, like get out of the tub.

One of Catherine's new favorite things to do is to climb.  I'm sure it will be any day before she is fully out of her crib.  She's been on top of it but never gotten all the way down.  She climbs the outside of her crib and the chairs and every time she does it she says 'climb!'  Though she is slower to answer a question, you can see her think her way through it, making sure her answer is correct.  We wish she would get her colors right, everyday everything is the same new color.  Before it was pink, recently everything is blue.  She is also much better at sharing with Samantha.  While she makes sure that Samantha gets a turn, she is always quick to say "please" with her arms outstretched, making it sound more like a demand.

Sigh!  I could sit in a spot like this with a book for hours.  Below you will see pictures from our newest joy!  Uncle Mike and Aunt Alyssa got them a trampoline for their birthday.  It took us a while to remember to bring it home from the store and then a little longer to get it set up (and then fix the middle bar with padding after I took these pictures).  Once we got it going it has been a big hit.  They love to go into the garage and bounce.  In between bouncing they climb out to play with the easel letters and chalk and ride their tricycles.  Apparently the garage is now a playroom.

Easter break

Look at the girls in their pretty Easter dresses!  They love to stand in one spot and wait while you say 'ready, set, go!' and then they run to you.  I finally realized that I can use it to get them together to take a picture.  I know the ground is so tilted, but Samantha looks so much taller than Catherine.

One of Catherine's newest skills is smiling when you ask her.  Sometimes she has such a pretty smile, and sometimes she does the typical 'all teeth eyes closed' smile.  We think it is adorable any way.  Samantha is wearing a bathing suit that I just loved and couldn't resist buying, but we need it in a bigger size to get her through the summer.  I need to find it because I love how she looks like one of those synchronized swimmers from the old movies. 

After the girls behaved very well at Easter Sunday mass (we were so proud, it was one of their best ones yet) we hunted for eggs at Nana's house.  Both girls walked around with their buckets putting in eggs they found.  Heidi helped, and then they were easily distracted by balls and our running game.

They put their buckets on their heads, ran around, and had a great time.  Catherine decided to take both buckets around for a while.  When she did carry one bucket she walked around with it on her elbow like a little old lady and her purse.  Then they brought all their eggs to show Daddy.

We ended break with my birthday which included a girls day at the mall, a hockey game (the girls did great with their sitter!), brunch at Guglhupf (so yummy!), time at the park, and Carvel birthday cake.  There was blue icing everywhere, but it was awesome.  We also had our 2 year doctor appointment.  Catherine is 19 lbs 14 oz and 30.5 inches tall.  Samantha is 25 lbs 13 oz and 32 inches tall.  We think she is a little taller than that though.