Wordless Wednesday

Our Day in the Sun, After Many Days of Rain

After more than a week of non-stop rain in Northern California, the rain and clouds broke just long enough to give the twins and I a couple of hours in the sun on Saturday afternoon. Paige, Taylor and I piled into the car, loaded up our bikes, and took to one of the nearby lakes in our community. The afternoon was spent biking and hiking. Oh, and we also got chased by geese!

Paige takes her bike off-roading.

We walk softly, and carry a big stick.

Yelling "hi" and waving at the man rowing.

Taking a break from biking to do a little hiking among the boulders.

Paige takes off towards the geese, she knows she's got the advantage on the bike.

Shhhhh, very quiet now, do you see these geese?

A cruise along the water's edge and a flock of Canadian geese to complete our outdoorsy experience.

This goose was NY-city style aggressive. It was relentless, fearless and wouldn't stop chasing us.

I think that's some kind of a warning sign when it spreads and fans out its wings at you...

It eventually came over and started to chase Paige on her bike.

After our bike ride, we run around the paths along the water's edge.

What a great day biking and hiking - let's hug!

And, let's blow kisses!

Snow, Snow, Snow and More Snow

1st Week of Preschool

Going to preschool. It's like a big rite of passage. And, the twins started that rite of passage this week. It was such an exciting week for Paige and Taylor - going to school, meeting their teachers, making some new friends. Amazingly enough, they also had none of the first-day jitters you often hear about when children start preschool for the first time. The big school building, the new faces and voices, the classrooms - it was just one, great adventure for them!

I also was expecting to get reports back from the teachers at the end of the first and second days that the girls were missing each other. Mike and I had decided to place Paige and Taylor in separate classrooms to help encourage their individuality and to have their own time and space to interact outside of their twinship. Paige and Taylor are very close because of their special twin relationship. Mike and I always encourage that unique bond and would never do anything to sever that relationship. Their relationship as twins provides a really important support system to each other. However, at the same time, we also want the girls to have an opportunity to explore and develop their own social and academic growth. We want Paige and Taylor to blossom as individuals while still respecting their special closeness as twins. I thought it might be a rough transition this first week, but as it turns out, it was not. The reports from both of their teachers was that the girls did great, didn't ask for their sister, and took right to the activities, projects and the other children! What a great week!

Still at home, Paige is so excited for her first day of preschool.

Taylor and Paige were little chatterboxes the morning of their 1st day of preschool.

I spent about 5 minutes in the classroom at the start of the morning, just to be sure all would be well with Paige before I left the classroom. Here's one quick picture I took of Paige during free-play right before I left.

I also spent about 5 minutes in Taylor's classroom on the first day of preschool. Here's one picture I took of Taylor as she was placing her name tag on the "Look Who's In School Today" attendance chart.

Taylor during free-play in her classroom.

When I came to pick Paige and Taylor up from school, I was met with two happy, bubbly girls who came running to me and gave me the best hug I'd had in a long time from them. My heart was shooting stars as I saw them and picked them up and as they spent the next several minutes telling me all about their new school. It was a great week!

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We did. It was a lovely holiday. We did a little something different this year. We traveled to Oregon to visit some old friends. We certainly missed seeing our extended families this Christmas, but did at least have the opportunity to call everyone on Christmas morning from our hotel room in Oregon.

Christmas, and all holidays for that matter, are so different now with children. It's like every emotion, every experience is magnified in its own wonderful way! Everything seems so much more enjoyable, meaningful and special now that we share it with kids!

Paige and Taylor were so sweet and cute to watch this Christmas. They loved every minute of their Christmas in their hotel room (from setting out snacks on Christmas Eve for Santa, sleeping together in a big bed in their very own hotel room (apart from dear ol' mom and dad's room), to waking up Christmas Day to discover that Santa had followed them all the way from California to Oregon just to make sure that they would have plenty of presents to open)!

The twins were thrilled with all their gifts! Thank you to all of our family who gave so many wonderful things to Paige and Taylor this year. And, of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't also say a BIG THANK YOU to the family for all the presents given to Paige and Taylor's mom and dad too!!!

Mommy & Me Day

It is December 23rd and our Christmas shopping is all done, the hustle and bustle to get ready for Christmas is done and now it's time to just enjoy the Christmas season. As a treat, Mike gave all 3 of "his girls" a gift certificate for lunch to "Cheesecake Factory" today. Having little girls is so much fun and the older that they get, the more I enjoy them and their company. Today, they were absolute angels at the restaurant, and I even noticed that they copied me when I put my napkin on my lap before the meal (it was the first time I observed them to do that all on their own and without any prompting from me; and let me tell you, that moment of good table manners from the twins made mommy so very proud.) It was truly a delightful day and I couldn't have asked for better company at "Cheesecake Factory" than my 2 beautiful daughters...

A fun mommy-and-me lunch in the city.

We also grabbed a little cheesecake to go for the Christmas holidays!