Birthday party Part II

Catie really enjoyed the cake.



Miranda is very concerned that Uncle Mark is not giving back the coveted fish shirt quickly enough.


The bubble puppy was hit.


And presents from family far away.

Birthday Party for Catie and Miranda

It's hard to believe but the twins are three years old. Today we celebrated their birthday with a Wetzel family party.



Getting ready to blow out the candles.


Catie's excited about the chocolate cake.


Miranda spent a good part of the party making sure that the balloons were safely gathered.

Erika vacuums

This is the first time Erika has done legitimate housework. She even asked to do it.
Afterwards commenting, "That was hard work."

Typical night at the Wetzels

Jason takes a creative writing class

Jackie found a continuing education class called "creative writing:Sci Fi/fantasy" and signed me up. It meets 6 Tuesdays in a row for 3 hours. The instructor's name is Cat Rambo and we had our first session last week.
A couple things:
1) It was unusual for me, but I was the only person in the room with a job
2) I was the only student who did not use the character of "dungeon-master" in a particular exercise.

In class, we had a list of characters, and a list of conflicts....
Students must pick two characters and one conflict and then in a 5-minute timed exercise write a story. Then we all read our stories out loud. Next week we are to have these stories polished up.
Inexplicably, I chose the following:
* A chess player
* An omniscient entity
* A terminal illness.

And now I'm stuck with these.

Although the title of any story involving these three things practically writes itself: "checkmate, I know you are dying" We'll see what happens from there. Suggestions welcome.

Catie and Miranda at Toddler Group

Catie and Miranda have been enjoying their time at Toddler Group. They really like playing with the train set. Miranda is in the pink.



Another fun game is pushing your twin around on the fire truck.


However, Catie's favorite thing to do is the big slide.

Erika activity

Erika's activities

Counting party

Erika decided that we needed to have a "counting party" and invite some friends over. Since it's a little weird, we sold it as a tea party. There was a numbers theme, and cupcakes and a cake which was decorated by committee.



For some reason, it was determined that everyone needed to wear balloons on their heads since they were all Yaks.

Antlers?

Friend, Thea, here is pictured with a balloon taped to her head. Life is good.

Spring-like weather

For two days, we've had sunshine in the PNW. Now that the yard is not a big mud pile, the girls are enjoying the outdoors. Below Catie enjoys the slide. She also likes to run up the slide too.



Erika and Reddy the Raccoon sing a song on the stage. (a.k.a. the deck for the new door. note the cammo tarp to cover the newly removed siding.


Catie and Miranda enjoy their new watering cans. It has been two days without rain. The grass looks like it needs some water.


Miranda pauses for a picture.

Sailing to Ohio

The toy chest has been repurposed as a boat. The destination? Ohio.



Catie (pink) and Miranda (purple) have their winter coats for the snowy weather. Erika decided that a shirt will be enough.

A walk in the park

Last weekend the whole family went on a walk at one of our favorite parks with the twins' toddler group.

Bedtime Fun

Warning, parent kryptonite ahead.

Catie starts the cute factor



Miranda brings it up a notch with her big eyes.


And Erika adds her star wattage to the mix.


Now, how are parents expected to have regular bedtimes when faced with such charm?

Fun in the snow

The back of our house was a winter wonderland this past week.


Erika in her element.


Catie conducts important experiments with snow, water, and cold.


Miranda tries to catch a snowflake in her mouth

Fun in the snow

Bookshelf fun

Pajama Night

OK, this happened in late Jan., but I'm just getting caught up with the pictures.

The Toddler group had it's pajama night where a band comes to play for the kiddos in their PJs.
Oh, what a difference a year makes. All three girls danced from the first song. Notice Erika in the stripes dancing with her pals Danelle and Thea.


Catie and Miranda needed some extra space to do their own dance, so they hung out in the back. I loved how they were dancing with each other.



Catie gets a close-up


Miranda demands hers.