Bedbugs and bookworms

I made up our bed then brought the girls some books to read while Daddy was in the shower. Left to clean the kitchen, this is what I came back to:

Entomology

Avy loves bugs. If she finds a fly she tells me to catchitcatchit! If there are ants on the ground she's going to pick them up. Spiders she's a little more cautious of, but in a jar she'll observe forever. Ellie wants to like bugs, but she's like her Daddy - out of the house and not on her, and then they're ok. Put an ant on her though and whoo! Watch her dance and squeal.

For the record, I don't shower my girls with bugs. Ellie will ask Avy for her latest pet bug and when Avy shares Ellie immediately does her shiver-dance. Very entertaining ;)

She's patiently waiting for the roly-poly to unroll. A hard lesson for a 2 year old :)

Fine Motor Play

I love Montessori activities - they tend to be simple (stuff I have around the house) and the girls get so absorbed in them. This one is a fine motor activity geared around sewing (and yes we'll be teaching the boy too :). All it takes is squishy cabinet liner, a couple tapestry needles and yarn and some embroidery hoops (ok, those I had to pick up from the thrift shop).

They love this one. It took them a little while to figure out pulling the yarn all the way through - they kept wanting to just move the needle in and out of the same hole - but now we'll have some hilariously-large-stitched hoops by the end of a 30 minute play. Win!

Nerds in training

We had a microscope when I was growing up, and I loved to take samples of the various wildlife around us and put it in slides. I mentioned this wistfully to my Dad, commenting on how it would be several years before I could excuse buying one. He sent us this! It's perfect for the girls - they love pushing the buttons and seeing the display screen. We're learning about zoom in/out largely, but the girls were fascinated to see their fingers up close!

Dressup: Earring Edition

I was digging through my collection of costume jewelry (kickback to my days on the stage...) and found some gloriously gaudy earrings that I figured the girls would like. I was expecting to clip them onto their clothing but oh no, they knew where they went! I can see they're going to need a bigger closet...

Subject matter not as cute

But has great potential!

A couple of you have asked to see what the twin pregnancy looks like so I figure it's of general interest. Here I am at 26 weeks:

I'm almost at 29 weeks now and the maternity clothing I wore all last time is getting too tight - I'm going to take that as a sign everyone's growing healthily ;)

Most recent Dr's appointment was yesterday and everyone is healthy and huge (Momma included). We passed the gestational diabetes and anemia tests with flying colors! My thyroid is a little low (just on the twin pregnancy scale, fine otherwise) so we're getting supplements for that - otherwise all is well and Dr expects me to hold out until December 5th. I'm going to need a wheelbarrow....

Two months to go! Then the fun really begins :D

Garden on loan

Our neighbors are out of town this week and gave us full run of their garden - told us to pick flowers, carrots, beans, tomatoes, anything. Don't have to offer twice to me!

The girls don't typically like carrots, but turns out if you stick them in the dirt and put a green top on them, they'll devour them. Go figure.