Trick-or-Treat!

We had such a great time last night on Halloween! We fed the babies dinner and got them into their monster costumes right after. They loved wearing them and were warm on a chilly night. We started out by heading to a neighborhood block party and then ventured out in the wagon for some trick-or-treating. We took a lot of pictures and even got video of the only house they got out of the wagon for-- Auntie Shan's. She was so sweet to have made them special muffins and they LOVED them. They loved staring at all of the other costumes around them and the jack-o-lanterns, too. We got them home and in bed by 8:00, which isn't too bad since their bedtime is usually 7:00. Luckily, they slept all night long without a peep! I was excited that we gave our candy to Auntie Shan since she ran out early (her street was hopping). That means there's none around here tempting me!

Happy Halloween!

Can't wait to post some photos of our 2 little monsters! But for now, you'll just have to enjoy the Halloween card I made this year:

And since it's officially Friday, here's a Flashback from last Halloween:

The Best Medicine for a Cold, Rainy Monday

Isn't that laugh contagious??

The Pumpkin Festival on Flashback Friday

Today Darrell and I left work early and took L&D to Ticonderoga Farms Pumpkin Festival. It is just down the street and I heard from several people that it is great for the little ones. There was only about 10 people in the entire place when we arrived. So, that meant no waiting in line for the hayride or slides. First, we stopped to see some goats and peacocks, too. On the hayride, we stopped at the corn crop and found some pumpkins. We got some good photos there. After that, we went down the slides and had so much fun! Actually, I think Darrell and I had more fun than the babies!! Then we went and roasted marshmallows to make s'mores. Libby ate almost my whole s'more. She also loved the plain marshmallows, too. In the end, we all had a great time, but I think L&D were happiest when trying to eat the hay. Funny thing is, Libby had hay in her diaper tonight. Bet that must have been itchy! They went to bed a little early and we haven't heard a peep since.

Some videos of us going down the slide:
Darrell was out of breath by the time he filmed Drew and me:

As I try to do on many Fridays, I'm flashing back to one year ago this month. Look how much they've changed!!

Pumpkin Patch

Today was a BEAUTIFUL Autumn day-- the leaves are changing colors, there's a slight breeze, and it was in the 60's all day. We decided to go on a nice drive through a few small towns with a lot of farms and stables along the mountains. It was really gorgeous. We headed about 30 miles from our house to Hollin Farms where they have a huge pumpkin patch where you actually pick your own. They had apples, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, and even pigs! We had a nice time even if it was rough terrain for 2 newly walking tots. But we had a blast and they loved the pigs snorting! Take a look...

Mama and Drew Day

Poor Libby was sick all weekend and wouldn't you know it was the weekend we were invited to 2 birthday parties. On Sunday morning, Drew seemed to be feeling fine-- just a slight drippy nose here and there. But he played like normal, so I brought him to Charlie's Carnival Birthday party while Darrell stayed home with Libby. We had so much fun just the 2 of us. We really need to try and do that more often because it was just so special for both of us. Anyway, Drew was a little hesitant to leave my side for quite a while because there was so much to look at-- a moon bounce, carousel, pony, carnival games, cotton candy, and kids galore. It was fun! He wasn't too interested in the Moon Bounce at all, so we ditched that. We ate some PBJ sandwiches (did I already blog that the pediatrician has given us the green light for PB??-- they LOVE it), rode the carousel, and then took a ride on the pony. Here are some photos from the Carnival (don't you love his preppy outfit? That was one of my favorite Carter's store purchases this summer!)

It was great, but I was sorry that Libby had to miss it. But I did a little research and found a big farm with the largest pumpkin patch about 30 miles from here. The website says they have farm animals and ponies, too. So, I would like to try and check that out next weekend. It should be a beautiful drive down Rt. 50, plus the leaves are starting to change, so it should be nice.

We left the party pooped and as I put Drew into his carseat, I noticed his nose started to REALLY run. Oh no! We decided to skip the next party that afternoon and spent the rest of the day, night, and today going through about a case of Kleenex with both of them! Fortunately for Drew, there was no croupy cough from him. Just an icky nose. This afternoon we went for a bike ride to get some fresh air. They have grown so much since the last time we used the trailer (this summer) because we had to adjust the helmets and seatbelts. They seemed to like it much better this time! I love how they are looking at each other here... but I wonder what they are thinking!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

First and foremost, I cannot go one more day without blogging about Darrell's birthday this week. He turned 38 on 10/8 and I have not had a second to blog about it til now! We had a fun evening, but I have to tell you a funny (or maybe scary) story about me and my wonderful memory. I rushed to pick up a bucket of Popeye's and a Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake (his favs) after work while Darrell went to pick up L&D from daycare. Well, we had a nice dinner and then a little cake. Then, it was time for baths, story, PJ's, and bedtime. I had to do some Cayenne Paper work and Darrell watched some TV. Well, the next morning, I woke up and realized I forgot to give him his bday present!!!! I literally jumped out of bed and told him. I felt like the biggest idiot. I mean, where on Earth has my memory gone and will it ever return? I really can't believe I did that. This is exactly why I can't wait for L&D to get a little bigger b/c I'm sure they'll help me remember LOTS of things (like who had what toy first, who wants to watch what show on TV, etc.) Well, we had a 2-night celebration b/c Darrell got to open his present (some new clothes) the next night. Here is a photo of him with L&D on his REAL birthday (sans gift):
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!

Baby Signing Time Vols. 3 and 4

We were so lucky to have the chance to preview the upcoming releases of volumes 3 and 4 of Baby Signing Time. Libby and Drew just LOVE volumes 1 and 2, so we were very excited to see more. We've watched them a few times and they get excited to see Alex, Leah, Hopkins, and Rachel. I'm glad to have the chance to review them because there were a lot of things we liked.

First, the songs are really catchy as always with pictures and videos of lots of different children doing the signs. I REALLY like how Rachel is repeating the word and sign over and over several times before singing that part of the song. This is really apparent in "A New Day" as she repeats "day" over and over-- and not just saying, "Day, sign day." Instead, she does it just how we SLP's recommend-- by saying the word several times, but by adding other words to each repetition. For example, she says something to the effect of: "DAY- your finger shows the sun going across the sky- DAY. You sign it- DAY. When I wake up, it's a new DAY. DAY," etc. These may not be her exact words, but it's something to this effect.

I was so happy to see "Outside" since I use these signs a lot to talk about "wind, sun, rain" etc!! What a sweet little song, too. Plus I didn't ever teach them "outside" itself, so it was good to have that sign included.

We really like the song "Strollin'" because it reviews tree, leaf, flower, grass, etc. which are things we often see on a walk in the wagon. Plus the tune is really catchy. Take a preview here:

It's great to see "Stop and Go" since these are important signs and ones I always use with my special education students-- STOP is really important to express to have a child stop yelling, stop kicking, stop crying, stop playing, and most importantly-- stop running (big safety risk). "Wait" is also a good one and one I use a lot with my students.

Baby Signing Time never disappoints in including a tear-jerker song at the end of each DVD. Vol. 3's "Tiny Hands" is definitely one! It was also so great to see Leah and Alex and how much they've grown up in real life. Amazing!

I really hate to say ANYTHING negative about BST because L&D have both learned so much from volumes 1 and 2. But there were some things that made me think a little bit... For example, I wondered why some words were chosen b/c I don't feel that they are signs (or words even) that a baby up to 36 months would use on a regular basis. For example, "new" in "A New Day". I know Rachel wanted to show this sign because it's part of the song title, but I guess I just don't see a child using "new" all that often. But it may just be me?? I also got confused b/c I think "A New Day" and "Sunny Day" should really be together in 1 song. Especially b/c "A New Day" only reviews 2 signs-- "new" and "day". Whereas "Sunny Day" goes into sun, cloud, sky. I do, however, like how "Starry Night" is the same tune as "Sunny Day"-- good for repetition.

In Vol. 4, I love to see emotions in "Can You Feel It" as it reviews emotions, like happy and sad:

Another great tune shows opposites like hot/cold, yes/no (signs I use a lot) in "Opposites". Maybe now that "NO" is used by Rachel, Libby and Drew will actually respond to it when I use it!!!

"That Tastes Good" does a nice job at showing foods looking different, depending on how they're cooked-- e.g. a raw apple as a whole/slices vs. those in a jar.

"In the Sky" shows "bubbles", which is a sign I couldn't remember recently and meant to look up since we started blowing bubbles a lot (plus they love when I blow bubbles with my gum and to see them in the bathtub)!

"Toy Box" adds things that L&D are so into right now-- telephone and music! If only they had "dance" to go along with it.

I wish these DVD's could go into volumes 5 and 6, and 7 and 8 and... because I know we could come up with all kinds of signs to use. Some that I would hope to see eventually include more attributes, like colors, shapes. Also, more toys (blocks), transportation (stroller, wagon, truck), animals (dinosaur, sheep, pig, butterfly), and foods (yogurt, eggs, cheese, bread, cookie), feeding words (cup, plate, spoon, fork), and action words (sit, stand up, walk, run, jump, dance). But I guess everyone could have their own list, which would make it near impossible to include them all!

But overall, BST does not disappoint with developing 2 more wonderful additions to our DVD library! It looks like Volumes 3 and 4 are available now (and can be bought separately) as I found in this trailer: Go to their website for more info: Baby Signing Time

Oh, and 1 more thing I found out from YouTube... the little girl Fireese, who I showed in a previous post, was contacted by Rachel and is included in the new BST DVD's. Pretty cool!

Croupy Cough

When I picked up the kids from the sitter on Friday, I noticed Libby had a very runny nose and seemed sleepy. She ran and ran and ran like a faucet and then Saturday night she woke up at about 11PM with the worst barking cough I've ever heard. This scared her, too, because she started crying a lot and it sounded so awful and hoarse. We took her out into the cool night air and sat on the swing for a while. That helped immediately-- I was really surprised. We went back inside, sat with the humidifier, and watched Florida spank LSU. It was not a good night. We put her back down at around midnight and to our surprise, she slept all night until 8:30 AM. This was such a relief. She's still a little crabby and her nose continues to run a marathon, but she's doing a lot better. Unfortunately, she'll have to miss the 2 bday parties we were invited to today. I'm going to take Drew to the 1st one (a carnival) and Darrell will take him to the 2nd one (with a balloon artist). He should have fun time getting some one-on-one time with Mommy and Daddy today. Uh, oh--- as I type this, Darrell is bringing them up for a nap and just informed me that Drew's nose is running like hers was on Friday. Oh no!! Maybe we'll have to ditch the parties after all. :( But there will be more...

Busy Weekend

We had such a great weekend! On Saturday, we decided to go to Burke Lake Park, which is only about a 30-minute drive. I have heard from several people how fun it is to have a picnic, ride the train, and ride the carousel. So, we packed up, headed to Subway for sandwiches-to-go, and drove down there. It was a beautiful day-- sunny without a cloud in the sky and about 70 degrees. It was fun having a picnic on our blanket and I think L&D were stunned to have so much freedom to run and explore. I'm so happy we got our Baby Signing Time Volumes 3&4 DVD's because one teaches signs for leaf and tree. We got to use those (along with the one for train) a lot! We liked it so much there that we are looking into having their 2nd birthday party at Burke Lake Park. I know that is 6 months away, but I think it would be a lot of fun to celebrate there!

After that, we went to Cox Farms down the road and bought a pumpkin for our front porch. We ended up with 2 other mini pumpkins for 2 special toddlers, too! I planted some mums and decorated for Halloween today, so we are ready for some trick-or-treating!

Here are photos from the park:

A short video from the train (they were both so tired by this point and were just looking all around):