Too many apples?

So, what happens if you eat a lot of apples? I know applesauce is something to kind of stop you up, but is it the same with fresh apples?
As mentioned before, when Grandma and Grandpa Velicer visited on sunday they brought us about 20 lbs of fresh orchard apples in different varieties. Nicholas and Celia do like apples, but I usually cut them up into slices for them. On Tuesday I peeled an apple and let Celia crunch at it. Nicholas saw her and asked for one too. They happily ate their apples until I had to take them away. Nicholas was going to eat through the core. He was unhappy that I took it away, so I offered him another. Of course, then Celia wanted another. So.... 2 apples each later I have yet to find out what is going to happen. At least they are good for you! When I was pregnant for them I LOVED apple juice and fresh apples, so maybe they got this from me? :)
p.s. Nicholas is in Celia's winter coat because he wanted to wear it. He is into wearing other people's clothes and trying on people's shoes lately.

The apples on the right were Nicholas' and the left were Celia's. The whole apples were the sizes they began at.

Halloween Part 2

Sunday afternoon Grandma and Grandpa Velicer came for a visit. They always bring us goodies like meat from up north, fresh cheese.... and this time 4 - 5lb bags of orchard apples! Yum!!!
Grandpa Velicer even got a deer this fall already, so he brought some venison sausage. I'm not usually a fan of venison, but I did try it, and I have to admit it was pretty good. ha ha
We had lunch together and visited. Nicholas and Celia put on their costumes after nap was done and showed off to Grandma and Grandpa. Nicholas wasn't as shy this time as he can sometimes be. Celia always warms up to Grandma and Grandpa Velicer pretty good so she was content to sit on their laps. At one point I made them a PB & J for snack and let them take bites in the livingroom. Every time Celia took a bite she would go back and sit on Grandpa Velicer's lap. It was pretty cute and I think Grandpa V really liked how she would sit by him.
We had a great visit. Thanks for coming!!!!

I have to throw some flashback pics in!
January 2007

October 2008

Celia and Grandma V.
Who's this silly guy? ha ha
And a picture of Daddy. Hmmm.... mommy thinks Daddy looks pretty cute!

Our Halloween 2008

For those of you who guessed on the halloween costume poll, here are the answers! Nicholas was a dragon and Celia was a clown. lol I am not even sure either of those were options. I didn't know what Celia was going to be when I made the poll, and I thought Nicholas' was a dinosaur. Sorry! I couldn't change it once it was started.
This was a very fun halloween. We don't really celebrate it too much. We stay away from the spooky stuff and just stick with silly costumes and fall fun. But, this was a very fun day (sunday was trick or treat for us). Grandma and Grandpa Velicer came for a visit on sunday (I plan to post those pictures soon). Afterwards, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Maus' house to help pass out candy to the trick or treaters. Nicholas and Celia got the idea of getting candy and putting it in the kid's bags. Some of the masks were spooky and they didn't like that though!
After a while, Grandma M. prodded us to take Nicholas and Celia to the next door neighbor with gift bags as trick-or-treat bags. We whined a bit cause it was snowing only an hour earlier, but we went. It was great! We went to all the neighbors we know. It was cold, but N&C loved it. Since they don't know how to say 'thank you' yet, they would just say 'hi' and 'bye'. Nicholas, our normally shy child, was pretty outgoing with everyone since he was being given candy. He even stopped an adult on the sidewalk and said "hi!" really loud. It was cute.
They had a great time and when we went back in to Grandma's house Nicholas cried. He wanted to keep going!

After dinner we took them to our friend's house who was having a post trick-or-treat party. That was also so much fun. There were other kids there and N&C had so much fun with the older kids. They kept their costumes on most of the day. Nicholas even wanted the dragon head up. We had snacks and sat by the fireplace and had such a nice time. We got them to bed at about 8 PM (which is an hour later than normal), but they did excellent. We were so happy to be able to get out and do something like that. Thanks Nicky and Matt!!!

Here is our sweet green dragon and our precious clown!

Handing candy out the door with Grandma

Bubble Party

Every evening at about 5 PM I start dinner. We usually eat by 5:30. I've read that the 5:00 hour is a prime time for toddlers to be fussy and I definitely find that is our prime time. I purposely give them a nice snack at about 3:30 or so to keep them from being too hungry, but by 5:00 they are hanging on my legs crying for me to hold them because they are getting hungry. Oftentimes Jason is home by then and he can take them to go play, but some nights that isn't possible if he is home a bit later or has things he needs to do.
So for friday evening I pulled chairs again to the sink (being careful) and filled the sink with lots of bubbles (drained most water out). I gave them spoons and other fun utensils to play with. So they stood there and giggled and played with the bubbles while I cooked dinner next to them (but definitely not close enough for them to get burned by the stove). They started putting bubbles on their faces, looking at each other and giggling so hard at what the other looked like. It was adorable.
It worked! So then once dinner was done we wiped up the bubbles off their faces and hands and came to eat. And they were nice and clean for dinner time.
We like to eat dinner as a family most every evening. So though it can be hectic to make dinner for all of us and entertain them while cooking, we like that time together for dinner.
Here are our bubble kids. :)

A cookie monster

On Friday Celia, Nicholas and I made chocolate chip cookies. I let them stand on kitchen chairs pushed against the cupboard so they could stand and watch/help. They thought it was pretty cool. They got to help pour things in and hold on to the mixer. Unfortunately at one point I went to get the eggs from the fridge and Nicholas slipped and fell off the chair. Yikes. He cried for a bit, but then was happy to taste a chocolate chip. We'll have to be much more careful next time.
So they tasted some chocolate chips and then after the dough was spooned onto the pans we periodically watched the cookies turn from dough to cookies.
They were so excited to have them come out of the oven. I always tell them to back up and that the oven is really hot and would give a BIG owie. So they do really well standing far back. After the cookies were cool we had cookies and milk. Celia was a very neat eater (and the 2 pics I got of her weren't so flattering - eyes half shut). So here are some pictures of the cookie monster himself.

Pumpkin Painting!

Nicholas and Celia used paint to decorate the pumpkins we picked from the pumpkin farm. I spread out a paper bag with finger-paint paper on top and then a pumpkin on the paper. Then with little bowls of paint and Q-Tips they painted. They surprised me with how well they did. They were so intent and interested. It was really neat to watch them work.
The video shows them at work and in the background you can hear our basement being worked on (the framing is almost done!).

Our first trip to a pumpkin Farm

In the mouth of a pumpkin face:



Sunday we planned to take a trip to a pumpkin farm. I had seen an advertisement for hay rides and thought it might be fun. On our way out the door I checked on-line to see the exact address of the place and saw it was $7 a person for a hayride (pumpkin included). I wasn't sure if they were charging for all of us, but it seemed most likely. So, we decided not to spend $28 and went to a different pumpkin farm where we knew we could just walk around and pick out 2 small pumpkins for Nicholas and Celia.
It turned out to be a nice trip. This farm has a large bird enclosure with emus, peacocks, ducks, geese, swans, and chickens. Nicholas and Celia really enjoyed watching them. They sat on some pumpkins, picked up colored field corn, and ran around. It was a nice trip and for their two small pumpkins it was only a total of $4.00. We figured we would rather spend the money when they are a little older - maybe next year. This year, I think I will let them go at their pumpkins with the finger paint. :)

First look at all the crazy birds:
The Ogre twins.

Celia loved sitting on pumpkins. ha ha
Yeah I don't like sitting on pumpkins. You had your 2 second photo opportunity . . .
Looking at the geese running A freaky emu....

Nicholas' favorite song

I have a CD called Disney's Buddy Songs. Its pretty sad when this is one of my favorite Cd's too. I need to get out more. Although I will say, its a pretty great CD!
Anyway, Nicholas LOVES the song 'Candle on the Water'. Its a song from Pete's Dragon and the lyrics are really sweet. I've caught him a few times swaying in front of the Cd player in the play room all by himself. Today I saw him and finally got a few seconds of it on video. When he hears that song he gets all excited and goes to listen by the Cd player. Personally, my favorite (well, I like them all) is 'I want to be like you' from The Jungle Book.

Hiking

Friday afternoon my mom (Grandma M) called and asked if N&C and I would like to go to a hiking trail right near our house. We agreed and went. It is about 3 minutes from us, but we've never been there. I didn't know it was so nice! I really like it. There are many trails that go pretty far. Its so beautiful. Well, I think Nicholas and Celia hiked about a mile! By the end they were dragging. ha ha And they slept really well that night (and ate dinner pretty good). They might be outdoorsy kids since we take them on walks, bike rides in the trailer, stroller rides, swimming, camping and now hikes.
It was so fun. Grandma found Nicholas a walking stick and he actually used it like a walking stick without us showing him how. They had fun running in the crunchy leaves. We took drink breaks too. And the cool thing is it is free. :)
We also went again this sunday afternoon for a little walk. We took a different trail that was pretty sunny (and it is amazingly warm today!). Nicholas has been kind of cranky. I think he has teeth coming in but I'm not sure which.
Here are some pictures from our walk - and the leaves above are scanned in leaves from our walk as well.

Priceless

Having twins . . . thousands of dollars (in the first year)

Having someone your exact age to laugh with you. . . Priceless.

Silly kiddos!



It is so neat to have twins - but it must be pretty cool to be one. I think about how its so cool that they have someone to giggle with for something only a toddler or small child thinks is funny. We were at the Farmer's Market over the weekend and we often get many comments on our twins when we are out. Most common are, "You have your hands full!" "They must keep you busy!" "Glad its you and not me". But I always say "They are actually a lot of fun". And I noticed as we were out Jason would have that reply too. Its true, they are a lot of fun.
There was a lady talking to me as I waited in line to buy some vegetables and she said "well you got it over in one time didn't you. Thats nice, but I'm sure you are so busy". I told her, "Actually I kind of prefer it this way. Its been a lot of fun to have 2 at once".
Sure there are tough times, but I really would never change it for anything in the world. They are really awesome tots.

*Celia is really starting to talk more. Today she said: purple, bee, pee pee, down and bubble.

Yay for Celia!

Celia is starting to talk more!!!

Just in the last few days she is really picking up. :) I was thinking I would really work with her for a month or two and if I didn't see much increase in her speech, I would ask to have her evaluated. But, I figured she would start to talk more.
This last week she has started saying words Nicholas says. New words she can say: 'owie', 'bus', 'fish' (sounds like -ish), and MOMMY! She said mommy on Tuesday for the first time. It sounds just like how Nicholas says it, but in her little girl voice (he he he). She is trying more first letter sounds too. Its so fun to see her getting going.
A friend of mine mentioned giving her choices and having her say her choice even if it doesn't come out just right (like milk or water); and then praising her for her attempts. So when she wants out of her crib, she has to try to say 'down' before I will get her out. I've been really asking her to try and the last few days she tries before I ask her too.

Nicholas' first fever at 20 months old

Poor Nicholas has his first fever. He was cranky sunday evening and then monday he was cranky again. Then at about 4pm monday we came in from outside and he just wanted me to rock him. He felt a little warm, but I'm not good at just feeling kids for fevers. So I rocked him for almost an hour while Celia was a good girl and looked at books (thank heavens she was being happy and content). He even fell asleep while I rocked him. So at 5pm I took his temperature and it was 102.3. By the way, toddlers don't like you to even attempt rectal temperatures. That made him mad. So we did the under the arm temp and also a temp with a digital pacifier (pacifier is less reliable).
So Jason took Celia to swim class alone and Nicholas had some motrin and fell asleep. He slept for an hour and then woke up after Celia was home. He didn't want anything to eat until I mentioned ice cream. That perked him up. He ate some ice cream and then a bowl of baked beans. Fabulous dinner - ha ha. He drank a big cup of milk and played and then went to bed at 7:45 pm with Celia (later than their normal 7 pm).
I woke him up for Motrin at 11pm and he slept well through the night. He woke up at 8am (celia woke at 8:30) and his temp was 100.7 with the pacifier temp (probably lower than actual). So more motrin for him.
He isn't having any other signs though. I'll watch the temp today and see how he is. So far no one else in the family is feeling this. Maybe its a slight ear infection or a viral thing? There could be a rash in a day or so? We'll see...

My new hair

I know this is Nicholas and Celia's blog, but I had to post my new haircut. :) I found this lady on naturallycurly.com. I've been to her one time in spring and I really like her. She 'gets' curly hair. Curly hair is a whole 'nother ball game. She is about 52 years old and loves her job. She's been cutting hair for 30+ years. To me that was unique since I always tend to see women in their 20's and 30's cutting hair. Anyway, I really like her. Its a 45 minute drive to her, but she is worth it.
My hair was below my shoulders. I told her I was up for anything and to do what she wanted. She said "I love to hear that. You made my day". I was happy to find a person who is willing to tell me what to do with my hair. Worst case... I hate it and it grows back. But, I knew I wouldn't hate it.
There was a huge pile of my hair on the floor. Sometimes I feel a little sad like I am saying goodbye to an old friend, but I like my new cut so much that I was more like "SEE YA!". lol
Anyway, not the greatest picture, but gives you an idea.
Celia took about 1/2 hour to warm up to me after I came home. She looked at me with such a serious face for a long time like "are you still the same mommy?". Reminds me of when my Dad would shave his beard and I would cry since I missed my old Dad. lol Kids are funny that way.
Anyway, I am happy with it!

Getting Chilly

Fall is definitely here. We went outside this morning at their usual outdoor time and it was pretty cool. It was about 45 degrees at 10am. They were bundled in warm coats. Of course children seem sort of oblivious to cold weather sometimes. Being a Kindergarten teacher I would have recess duty and be shivering while children run and play like it is 80 degrees outside. So, after 15 minutes or so I brought them inside. It always takes some getting used to cool weather each Fall. Then in Spring when it hits 50 it feels like summer has come.

Nicholas is saying "Mommy" so cute now. This evening he would say "mommy" when he wanted something from me. Its so cool to hear! He is really doing well talking now.