milestone?

A new, and not completely cool, milestone was reached tonight.

The RGs were tucked in around 8:30pm. At 9, 9:30 and 9:45pm I was back in their room urging them to quit gabbing and go to sleep.

Apparently, they had a lot to talk about tonight.

At any rate, the final visit was prompted by raucous screeching and tormented crying.

All Roo.

Which always means Em is provoking her or messing with her stuff.

(Not that it doesn't happen the other way around. Just not tonight.)

When I opened the door, Em had barely made it back into her bed and was in the process of pulling up her covers. Roo had her blanket over her head.

Em smiled angelically at me.

I asked Roo, "What happened? Why were you screaming and crying?"

She pretended she couldn't hear me.

When I repeated the question, she mumbled some gibberish under her breath and then smirked. Em continued to look angelic.

So, no answer forthcoming, I admonished them, told them goodnight and closed the door.

Immediately, I heard Em apologize to Roo for messing with her dolls.

Roo told her it was okay.

They covered for each other!

It's a whole new world now.

overheard

Em, on the way home from a fun get-together with 2 other sets of twins.

[random sobbing from the back seat]

To herself: "That's okay, Em. Don't be sad. You had fun! You put on a great show."

-------------------

Roo, playing in our bed while J tried to sleep just a bit longer.

[looking over at J as he snores; big shrug]

"And the bear snores on."

culture club

Thanks to an amazing review site for our area, we learned of a summer storytime being held at a local art museum.

So, we polished up our manners and reviewed the no-touching rule and struck off for some culture.

It was fabulous!

The docent read Katie and the Mona Lisa to the children while we sat among the paintings. Afterwards, she led a short discussion of the surrounding art while referencing the story. Just as everyone was getting the wiggles it was time to transition. We moved on to an instillation piece that the children were allowed to touch. Bonus!

The girls found it rather magical and were reluctant to leave.

However, the trip through the modern art wing really captured their imaginations. By the time we stopped for a reading of When the Cows Got Loose, both Em and Roo were paying more attention to the art on the walls than the story. In my opinion, that's not a bad thing.

At the conclusion of storytime we were afforded the opportunity to meander the museum on our own. How lovely to have access to this for the remaining weeks of the summer.

We'll definitely return.

The Culture Club

Thanks to (mostly) good behavior, Em and Roo had their outing extended. We picked up J from work and grabbed lunch at one of the awesome food stands around here.

Because nothing says culture like food out of a travel trailer.

Today it was fancy tacos and amazing cake balls.

Em and Roo were smitten with the idea of cake on a stick. Who can blame them?

Everything's better on a stick.

inmates...asylums...

You know that saying about the inmates running the asylum?

It's starting to feel like that could happen here at any moment.

J and I had a pow wow tonight about our new strategeries where the RGs and discipline are concerned.

Why?

A few things have happened lately.

-A couple of runaways just for the power trip of it all. One of which was a mad dash into a parking lot.

-Explosive reactions where the anger is taken out on a twin instead of the parent or situation they're mad at

And the one that almost made me bust out laughing while simultaneously making my blood boil...

Me: You're being very disrespectful.

Her: {gunslinger stare} Yes.

Her: And misopedient

Me: Yes you are being disobedient.

Her: And rude!

Her: And ugly!

Her: {more staring}

bunk beds

After they helped each other finish a single prayer (filling in forgotten names, adding important blessings), Roo leaned over to kiss Em goodnight.

"See you in the morg-ing." she said.

Then, she climbed into Em's bed and pulled the covers up over them both.

Roo explained, "We in a bunk bed."

A brief reminder of what a bunk bed looked like did nothing to deter her insistence. They were in a bunk bed. End of story.

To give them enough room, I pushed their beds together.

Thinking over it, after closing the door, I remembered the book Roo's been pouring over of late.

The Best Storybook Ever.

In it is a tale of a baby bunny and what his family imagines he will be when he is grown. The final illustration shows the baby, all grown up, as a father rabbit.

He is lifting a bunny high into a four-tiered bunk bed. Below, sleep the baby's siblings.

Two to a bed.

Of course. Bunk beds.

tutus are for suckers

The RGs attended the birthday party of some sweet playgroup friends.

The trio celebrated turning 5 with a princess, superhero and pirate party.

It was awesome.

Lots of yummies, dressing up, toys, play equipment and bouncing with good friends.

Em and Roo each received a tutu, fairy wand and princess tiara for favors. But, they (not so secretly) longed for the boys' favor bag with the pirate/superhero loot inside. As we exited, I was able to exchange their bags and handed them over once we got to the car.

You would have thought it was Christmas!

So, for 2 days now, we've had a couple of buccaneers running about, with super hero capes on for added measure. They've answered nearly every question with "Argh!!!" and are in character for at least 50% of the day.

In fact, Roo has a complete alter ego now named Pirate Finnegan.

I was told this evening that "I not pirate Em now, just Em."

It's hard to tell when they switch back to regular people sometimes.

a little paint on the barn

Em asked me for a "shadow brush" this morning.

I was getting ready for the day and putting on my makeup. She wanted to do that, too.

I keep a set of make-up brushes just for the girls to play with.

(Ever since finding Roo dusting with one of my blushers.)

Playing makeup isn't a new thing.

But today, she wasn't satisfied with the brush. Em said she wanted "some paint".

Here's the result.

Check out those eyes!