Three Crazy Kids

Jay asked Joseph today who was in charge and Leah yelled out "Leah's in Charge!". And when Jay asked Joseph what we have for dinner on Thanksgiving along with pumpkin pie Joseph responded with "Casserole". Um good guess but no. He does however understand the concept of being thankful which is more important than the turkey anyway (even though the turkey is quite delicious) Joseph is more of a peanut butter and jelly guy, and recently he has started making his own sandwiches. Unfortunately I think that our school district is "nut free" which means we won't be able to take advantage of this next year. But back to the comedy....Hannah said something quite hillarious today as well, Jay and I can both remember how funny it was and that we cracked up, and that we were in the girl's bedroom, but neither of us can remember what she said. Good thing that on Sunday I remembered to send myself an email with a reminder of some other things to write about on the blog. One of the topics was "Hannah Pink". Hannah has freaked out on several occasions when she has not been granted her wishes for pink. For example when she was forced to wear the dreaded purple mittens instead of the pink gloves. And the other morning when Leah was given the pink shirt and Hannah was left with the "other color". We have had similar crying fits when giving someone else at the dinner table the pink plate instead of Hannah. Needless to say, we have created a monster. I think we started this early on by always having her be the one in pink so that people could remember "Hot Pink Hannah". It can't be genetic, because I sure as hell don't feel the same way about the color. Though I've come to terms with it within the context of having two little ladies and it certainly doesn't bother me to have them wear it. Another funny tidbit about Joseph is that he frequently says "For real?" I suppose that could also come from me but I don't say that nearly as often as I say things like "Dude" and "Are you kidding me?" I took him shopping with me at Kohls last weekend and the funniest thing was that he thought that you could "borrow" toys from the store, so he kept loading up the cart with hot wheels and super hero stuff until it finally sunk in that the store in fact was not like the library and we had to pay for all of our items (and it was not his birthday, and it was not a holiday, and so on and so forth). And now in closing, an explanation for why Leah was able to boldly exclaim that she was "in charge", Leah is the one who repeats just about everything that comes out of your mouth. As you are talking to her she carries on a two way conversation with you by repeating in paraphrases what you have just said, using two or three word statements. It's quite amusing for now, but is really going to get me into some trouble later if she continues to repeat everything that comes out of my mouth.

What to Do at the Zoo?

We arrived at the zoo this morning to find out that we were too early. Winter hours apparently means a 9:30 wake up call for the animals, so we took the family out for bagels to kill some time and have a snack. Unfortunately they didn't have chocolate chip bagels, but fortunately everyone agreed on a blueberry one instead. Unfortunately neither of the little girls were very interested in their blueberry bagel, but fortunately the tall juice boxes provided enough energy for a few hours at the zoo. When we arrived back at the zoo, our first stop as always was the Aquatics and Reptile House. We were the only ones in it, which was pretty awesome. Leah in particular enjoying running around from tank to tank instead of the usual stroller confinement. We then moved onto sea lions and were pleased to find that our friend the polar bear was out and about (we don't see him much over the summer), and then it was on to Hannah's favorite animal the Elephant. Joseph put in a request for Lions so on our way out we strolled through Big Cat Country and spent some time watching the three baby lion cubs before heading out. We also might have seen an attempt at making new baby lions, which we may have taken a picture of, but decided not to post.

Fall Quotes From Steelers Fans

Joseph:
"I want to stay up early tonight" Clearly he means late. And last night we did in fact give him 30 extra minutes before bedtime.

Hannah:
"No way Mommy" Or No Way, or No Way Leah, and said in quite a serious deep voice with emphasis on the waaaay.

Leah:
"Special Treat?" Repeated over and over with an incredible amount of enthusiasm and a twinkle in her eye, in reference to leftover candy from Halloween.

Parent Teacher Conferences & Current Events

We had a few enlightening and somewhat humorous comments during parent teacher conferences for the kids last week. No real surprises but apparently our eldest tends to "hide during cleanup time". Every time the teacher walks to one side of the room to give instructions, Joseph walks to the other side. We know he understands cleanup time and where things go, because the teacher hears him giving other kids instructions from across the room telling them where they should put things. He also gets excited and likes to participate and doesn't do well with raising his hand or waiting his turn to talk. (Hmmm.....that sounds vaguely familiar.....I wonder where I've heard that before....) We've been trying to work on not interrupting for a while but I think that will be an ongoing effort over the next few (or ten) years. Amazing how in just a few months though he has made so much progress with art and writing skills. Now when he draws a person you can actually tell it's a person (a big head, eyeballs, mouth, ears, arms, legs...very humpty dumpty-esque) and he's starting to write JOSEPH CONWAY instead of just his first name. He even attempted Dominic the other day on his own, and had a few of the letters correct just from sounding it out. So that was Joseph on Tuesday.....and then we had the girls reviews on Friday. Would you believe that little Leah has turned into little miss type A? She leads the charge....takes her hand off the wall during line time when she thinks no one is looking and then puts it back when the teacher turns around. She tries to get on Joseph's bike every chance she gets and she is quite the climber/adventurer. She knows how to do things but if she's not in the mood to do them then she won't do them (like match colors or some other exercise she knows how to do at school) We're pretty sure that she wakes Hannah up every morning and while she definitely loves her sister (they were apparently giggling and "wrestling" with each other the other day at school, at least that's what they said they were doing when the teacher asked) but apparently she also takes out all of her aggression on her. The comment next to "Plays well with others" for Leah was that she's Mastered it, except as it relates to her sister. She pulls Hannah's hair, hits her, takes toys away from her....but plays very nicely with everyone else in the room. Hannah on the other hand usually only hits when provoked (like when Joseph swats at her first). And Leah has a little thing with eating crayons. Needless to say we don't do as much art at home as we should. Usually ends with a very purple or red tongue. With Hannah the most humorous comment was related to her eating. She's usually done with her food while others around the table are still getting served (Leah is in fact the slowest eater in the class) Hannah has been known to shove fist-fulls of food in her mouth and do a happy dance in her chair when food arrives. She's a pretty happy go lucky, friendly and social girl.... but only around those she sees every day....shy around others. And Hannah's a bit on the emotional side, like her brother, and is prone to tantrums and is brought to tears if you use a sharp tone with her. She's mastered the body parts and her favorite animals are elephants and pigs (her pig noise is an actual snort, which she just demonstrated while watching Shrek when the three little pigs came on the screen). Both girls repeat a lot of what you say but usually in just two word phrases, and Hannah is always very quick to answer questions and be a helper. She just needs reminding if there is more than one instruction to be given. With winter approaching Hannah and Leah have discovered mittens and are in love with them. They get very frustrated if their thumb doesn't go in the right spot and the other day Leah was beside herself because I made her take hers off when she got to her classroom and she wasn't done with them yet. I think towards the end of the week we'll actually be busting out the winter coats for all three kids and I know that the girls will be excited because they already try to put them on along with their boots and prance around in hats every chance they get. (they walk into their closet and take all that fun stuff out and parade around their room) I actually managed to loose one of Joseph's winter coats between last year and this year, but he has others so no immediate concern. Jay is in London this week and I suspect he'll be wearing a coat too. And enjoying some fish and chips or bangers n mash when he's not working. Last night we actually went out to dinner after a quick trip to Lowe's (Gina was home with the kids) and Jay ordered a burger since red meat isn't quite the same in Europe. (Just like clam chowder in WI isn't quite the same as clam chowder in Boston...I went out there for a few days for work and the seafood was quite delicious). Tonight is wine and cheese, along with some drama. Gina and I will be catching up on all the must see tv from the past week after the kids are in bed.

Trick or Treat!

Halloween is a holiday that tops the favorite list for just about every member of the Conway family (we neglected to dress up Rosco this year). Jay had two costumes planned, one for manning the door and passing out treats and one for the party we were going to on Saturday night. (Scary guy at the door and Schlitz Boy for the party....friends were Blatz Man and Strohs Guy and I was one of the Three Blind Mice) For the house, Jay had also planned an elaborate setup with a fog machine, strobe light, and sound effects but alas, the fog machine I bought on clearance at the end of last year worked for all of 5 seconds, so we had to miss out on that effect. As you can see, folks get pretty into decorating around here and we are no different (we'll need to stock up for next year!). The kids enjoyed trick or treating on Friday night in our old neighborhood (Joseph exclaimed "Trick or Treat.....This used to be my house! at our former doorstep on 75th Street) and Saturday night in our new neighborhood. We did have quite a "trick" on Friday night when Joseph went over to touch one of the cool decorations and then came to find out that it was a real monster. (person in costume of course) He likes to scope out all the cool monsters and graveyards and spiderwebs so just about every day this month we've either taken a drive or a walk past newly decorated lawns and favorite scenes around town. The girls are starting to enjoy things as well, and this year Hannah really mastered yelling "Trick or Treat" for the camera. She's a bit quieter at the doors and both girls still struggle a little with keeping up and walking up all the stairs around town. Leah was perfectly content to sit in the wagon and try to get into all of her candy. Their care bear costumes were a big hit, though we did have to shove Hannah's head into the hood as it seems that extra 1/2 inch made her almost too tall for the costume. Joseph chose his mummy for nighttime trick or treating but was batman during the day at school on Friday. He'll be dressing up tomorrow too. I think I'll just wear something orange with some festive socks.

Hannah & Leah 2 Year Stats

Hannah Lu
Height: 35 1/4 in (85%)
Weight: 29 1/2 lbs (83%)
Head: 48 1/2 cm (75%)

Leah Rose
Height: 35 in (80%)
Weight: 28 lbs 15 oz (80%)
Head: 48 cm (65%)

Fall Family Fun

For many years I always said spring was my favorite season, because my birthday is all after all in the spring and who doesn't like celebrating a good birthday (ha ha), but now if asked the question I would say Fall. (And I am sometimes asked this question as I do have a four year old). I like the cool but not cold weather, I like the fires and pretty colors, I really like the start of the fall lineup on tv (I'm a drama queen, what can I say), Jay loves the start of football season, and we all love apples, pumpkins, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Joseph in particular really goes crazy over Halloween. Costumes, Decorations, Treats, the whole works. Walking or driving around to look for cool or scary or festive houses is now part of our daily routine. He's also a bit of an apple fanatic, eats them almost every day and yesterday he showed us the proper way to pick an apple off the tree (he learned at school). Hannah and Leah also picked their own and seemed to enjoy doing so. Though they didn't like the wind so much, as while it was sunny it was a very blustery day (as Joseph and Winnie the Pooh like to say). This year I also very much like fall because it's the end of a somewhat crazy busy period of our lives and we are now back to normal (whatever that is!) and getting to do fun stuff, relax, and spend time with family while enjoying the new house that no longer has any gross carpet, leaky roof, or crazy colors. (well, except in the dining room which is covered with two very unflattering patterns of wallpaper as pictured in the prior birthday posting. That will be our winter project!)

Hannah and Leah are TWO!

And they can tell you that too! And when you ask "Who is Four?" they shout "Jo Jo"! Though now we are starting to work on having them call their big brother Joseph. They run around, enjoy doing art projects, love to dance, like having books read to them, and they both tuck their babies into bed at night. Hannah is still quite attached to her nuk and I think Leah will always be attached to her thumb (we have no plans to remove it). They are done with cribs and starting to use toilets, and they are very familiar with the word NO. Hannah's most frequently used phrases are "I need more" and "I need help" and Leah quite often asks for help finding her "Bear Bear" and has been caught several times now taking Hannah's nuk away from her and running into the closet with it to hide. They are both fascinated with shoes, and hats, and coats and have quite a love for all that is fashion. Leah is quite the milk drinker whereas I think Hannah is just ok with it (and Joseph hates it). It gets pretty loud at dinner time when everyone is either pumped up and re-energized or frustrated that they didn't get their favorite meal, but it gets much quieter at 7pm when the girls go to bed and reaches pure silence at 8pm after Joseph goes down. We're a house full of extremes and excitement and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Popular Morning Scene

The girls frequently wake up before Joseph and wander their way into his room through the bathroom, sometimes landing in his bed saying "Jo Jo sleeping" or "Jo Jo wake UP". Though in this particular scene we had already changed the girls before they went running over and crawled into bed with him. Joseph's room has blue walls (with a hint of grey) and new dinosaur bedding that he had a hand in picking out. The orange T-Rex (and sale price) sealed the deal.

Conway Kids, How Cute!

I think this may be the longest I've ever gone without posting something....though I have been taking pictures all the while. I am after all, still me. And the kids are, still quite cute. Hannah in fact knows how to cheese for the camera, and will ham it up when given the opportunity, whereas Leah will turn and run away and refuse to look in your direction when the photo snapping device appears. Joseph, well he could go either way. Sometimes he likes to make all kinds of different faces and then review them himself in the viewer. He hasn't started approving his own photos yet, so for now I still have control. He took some pictures with the camera at school of his friends, and so far he's having a good time with 4K (they call it kindergarten, some might call it preschool). He learned about apples and had some fall homework where he had to cut out his own apple on paper and then color it, and then the class went to an apple orchard to learn about the types of different apples and pick their own from a tree. This past weekend he had to draw a bat and come up with an interesting bat fact to share with his class (he told his friends that bats eat mosquitoes, and I in turn learned how to spell the word mosquitoes) The girls have been getting some assignments too and I have to say, they are doing a good job at introducing us slowly to this homework concept but it causes just a bit of fear of what is to come. Joseph can now zip up some of his coats and the girls can both put theirs on (and you must let them do it by themselves or brace yourselves for quite a scene, they are both quite independent). When Hannah does it she then shouts, "I did it, I did it!" and Leah sometimes will clap and say "Yea". The girls have the same reaction when they go potty. They aren't doing it all the time, and we're not really able to keep up with it, but they practice at daycare quite a bit. It's possible that underwear is in our future. Twin beds are also in our future, but we haven't gotten around to that yet. As you can see, the girls crib mattresses are on the floor in their room and that's what we've been using ever since our little escapee (Leah) started treating the crib like a playground jungle gym. And as it turns out, she just likes to escape. She frequently makes appearances long after her bedtime, to the point where Joseph now says as part of his bedtime routine "but I'm hungry and thirsty, don't let Rosco in here, watch for Leah, and I love you". We have found Leah in Joseph's room on several evenings, or noticed her head poking around the corner of his doorway with what appears to be a smirk, and have also had Joseph get out of bed several times to alert us to the wandering girl. Hannah however sleeps through all of this, and lays quietly in bed after being tucked in for the night. Then in the morning you find them either giggling together on one of their mattresses covered in blankets, or a few times we've found them in Joseph's room attempting to wake him up. The three of them do enjoy each other's company...most of the time.

Someone's Getting Older....

Joseph was pretty excited over Jay's birthday this weekend, he finally got to go out to dinner! (he'd been asking for weeks) And then of course there's the pizza and the cake. Jay got to enjoy a Steelers win, which was a nice end to a long weekend of painting and doing things around the house. As you can see, the dining room has not yet been tackled, but is currently targeted for this winter. We're going to try and take a break over the holidays before tackling wallpaper. After all, it is football season so we have to give dad at least a few Sundays off. ;) Happy Birthday Jay!

Weddings, Ring Bears, and Dresses

We all had a great time at Trish & Troy's wedding this past weekend, especially the Ring Bear Joseph (I kept trying to enunciate the bear-er, but couldn't get it across). He was excited to play a part in their special day, and was only mildly disappointed when he found out there wouldn't be cake during the ceremony and that he wasn't going to be able to make a speech using the microphone. Hannah and Leah looked quite lovely in their little dresses. Leah's was actually a last minute purchase an hour before the wedding because when I took her intended purple dress out of the bag, I discovered the security tag was still on! After driving all around town trying to find a store that could remove it, I gave up and just bought a new dress. Problem solved, and a fabulous time was had by all!