Life With The Mitroka's

Arts and Crafts

2009-07-12T16:22:00.003-05:00

The girls love doing crafts, and we are trying to be better at letting them do them. Sponge painting was fun, especially when Elizabeth painted Daddy's arm. Beading was much more successful then I thought. They both were able to do it. Elizabeth is a big perfectionist. She won't do it if she isn't good at it. After a while she gave up and wanted Mommy to do hers.

Garden

2009-07-12T11:22:00.008-05:00

We decided a little late in the season to start our first garden, but it is looking good so far. We have cherry tomato, regular tomato, cucumber, red pepper, green pepper, banana pepper, jalapeno (I think), basil, and cilantro plants. It looks great and is already getting big. I haven't been to successful with the plants I have done in the past, but this seems to be more of Tim's baby so I bet it will turn out just great.

Leaping Lizards!

2009-07-10T19:53:00.002-05:00

Well maybe the lizards don't leap, but man oh man do we have lizards and frogs EVERYWHERE! I know that we would have new "nature" here, but no one told me the quantity of these things. They are all over the yard and climbing all over the house. The girls love to run around with our next door neighbor Hailey and catch them. She is a big nature freak and is rubbing off on the girls, especially Emily. We cleaned off some plastic chairs we had outside the other day and each time I picked up a chair, there were more frogs living on it. One or two after the first chair, then four, then seven....you get the drift....lots of frogs. Now I don't mind the lizards and frogs so much, but we have had a few snakes, them I mind a lot. Oh well, trying not to put my fears on the girls. I think I have been successful so far.

Bangs

2009-06-29T07:00:00.002-05:00

I took the girls to get a haircut at this cute Wild West haircut for kids place the other day. It was about a 20 minute drive but I thought it would be worth it. I could not imagine them sitting in a regular chair and letting someone come at them with a pair of scissors. They needed the distraction. They did really well. Elizabeth ended up needing to be help the whole time but Emily was a champ and kept using the lady's water bottle to wet down her own hair. The lady took a little of Elizabeth's back and not much off Emily's. I did have her put bangs on both which I instantly hated. Oh well. It looks cute with their hair up though. So with all this heat we have been having it shouldn't be a problem since I have their hair up most of the time.

Little Girl Beds

2009-06-05T17:46:00.002-05:00

About a month ago, yes I am very slow to put things up on here, the girls decided they could climb in and out of the cribs. They thought it was great fun. They had been climbing out for some time but hadn't figured how to get back in. I think this kept them from attempting to get out during nap time. Well this day changed everything. They were in and out of the crib probably 20 times. Then they would come to the door and try to get out. I was sitting on the floor for 40 minutes holding the door closed. Eventually they landed back in their cribs and fell asleep. The problem with all this was not the climbing out so much as the in. They kept landing on their heads and their necks kept snapping back...ouch. So that night Tim came home early to change the cribs into toddler beds and I went to a million stores trying to find the best bedding that would get them excited to stay in the new non-confining beds. They love their princess little girl beds and we have only had a few problems with them getting out of bed. Mostly Emily goes over to Elizabeth to tell her that its okay and no crying when she is upset and bedtime. Too cute.

Gymnastics

2009-06-03T20:44:00.003-05:00

While Grandma and Grandpa were here in April, we took the girls to a trial gymnastics class. They are such climbers and hangers we thought it might be good for them. The man at the gym failed to tell us that the class he had us coming to was actually for 3 year olds and was not parent participation. A big deal. We are waiting for class and our two angels are running around trying to go into the room, which they weren't allowed in yet, wile the other kids stood in line and waited to be brought into class. I was ready to walk out without even trying, but we stayed. The girls actually did really well. They listed and followed along just was well as most of the kids. I was asked to come in and help just because they were so little and there were a lot of kids. The girls had a blast and really surprised us. Unfortunately they canceled the class I was going to sign them us for, so we can't go. Maybe in the fall.

(Kim, they were making them do monkey walks...I had such bad flashbacks to Scranton judo!)

Budding Artists

2009-06-02T07:51:00.003-05:00

We had our firsts experiment with paints the other day. They girls had a great time and only made a big mess, as opposed to an enormous mess. They painted to big pieces of cardboard and some hands legs and hair. They had a blast and keep asking to do it again.

Sooo Tired

2009-06-02T07:02:00.002-05:00

I think it was safe to say they had a busy morning and were very ready for their nap!

They were like this for at least 1 minute.

Swimming

2009-06-02T06:10:00.004-05:00

We have been doing a lot of swimming lately. The girls are doing great with their water wings, they can swim all on their own.This is great because now one of us can take them both to the pool alone if we need to. The love the water and seeing all the other kids at the pool. They also like playing with the noodles and tubes we have for them. Our one neighbor lets them throw rings for them to swim and get on the bottom. We have been having a great time.

Our First Egg Hunt

2009-04-22T06:12:00.003-05:00

Elizabeth and Emily participated in their first official easter egg hunt on base. It was really nice because they had sectioned off a field by ages so the girls were with infants to two year olds. The eggs were everywhere so there was no problem with all kids getting some. They were eager to start and we had to hold them back untill the horn went off. They seemed to know just what to do and took off once the signal went. It was too fun to watch. They had a great time and didn't even care that there were treats inside which was a good thing because we took them all away. They were not 2-year old friendly. There were also crafts, animals egg dying and a lot of bounce houses. We walked around te boucy houses for a while and Emily went in for a bit but Elizabeth didn't want to this time. We also played with a bubble machine by the DJ and made an egg magnet. They really enjoyed the "party" and mentioned it the other day when we drove by that area of base.

(Not sure why I never posted this, just found it in my list of oposts, here ya go)

Off We Go

2009-04-22T05:49:00.003-05:00

Well sort of anyway. These are the new tricycles that Uncle Pat bought Elizabeth and Emily for their birthday. The always ask to go out on them which is hard because we both need to be here for that to happen. They haven't really gotten the peddling down, but love to ring their bells. After a few minutes they like to get off and push the trikes on their own. We are quite a sight walking down the street.

Strawberry Picking

2009-04-16T15:35:00.006-05:00

Two weeks ago we took the girls to a farm about 45 minutes away and went strawberry picking. We all had a great time. The week and days before we had tons of rain so the fields had actually been underwater the day before. That meant a lot of the crop was ruined and it was a little muddy but the girls didn't seem to mind and we still ended up with a good batch of berries. They quickly got the hang of it although they needed reminding not to pick up the fuzzy green ones, yuck! Within a few minutes they were eating the right off the vine, which the man told us was okay. They were an organic farm apparently which made us happy.

After we filled our basket and took a break to sample some more, we went over to their "petting zoo." It wasn't all that but the girls still liked getting close to the animals. We had a very fun day.

Random Play

2009-04-13T18:35:00.006-05:00

Here are three video's daddy took while mommy was away.

Aspiring Chefs

2009-04-13T18:11:00.003-05:00

The girls love to help out in the kitchen. I must say we don't have them do it as much as we should. More chances will hopefully lead to less mess and better pouring skills which is their primary role each time. We were making cupcakes and the girls were excited to wear their new aprons (thanks Kim K!)

They also made cookies with daddy the other day and were anxiously waiting to sample.

Cake Time

2009-04-04T12:04:00.004-05:00

We made two cakes for the girls. Elizabeth had the care bear cake, my first attempt at decorating. And Emily had the Tink cake, Aunt Kathy decorated that one for her. Funny thing is Emily wouldn't eat a bite and Elizabeth had just a little. We have odd eaters. Not big cookie fans either. They are not their mothers daughters.

Gulf World

2009-04-04T06:19:00.003-05:00

We are not doing a great job at catching up on our posts, but here are some more pictures from the girls birthday. As their "party" we went to Gulf World. It is like a small Sea World. The nice things is it is literally 2 minutes away. The girls liked it, although we had to leave a little early due to melt-downs.

A few more pictures

2009-03-31T16:38:00.002-05:00

A few more pictures from Gulf World.

Elizabeth and Emily Turn 2

2009-03-15T18:30:00.006-05:00

The girls turned two on Feb 21st. I know way behind on posting about it. We had Grandma and Grandpa Scanlan here as well as Aunt Kathy, Uncle Chris, Jackson, and Brady. Of course the girls were the first up so we let them open some presents in our room first.

Then we let them out to see their big present. A play kitchen. They walked right by it and went for some balloons and other gifts on the table but got there eventually. They had a lot of fun opening gifts. They really got into it, much better then Christmas.

Roller Coaster

2009-03-12T13:28:00.004-05:00

Well on Feb 21st the girls turned 2. So hard to believe. A short time before they received their first gift. Thanks Jerry, Nancy, and Amanda for the awesome gift. It was the first thing they ran to the moment they got out of the crib in the morning for about a week straight. They love it and are pretty good at taking turns.

Tim's Toy Shelf

2009-03-11T18:28:00.004-05:00

We have been trying for some time now to find a nice toy shelf for the girls without breaking the bank. One day a few months ago, Tim decided he would simply build it. I do believe this is the first "woodworking" task he has ever taken on. He did a great job and is already planning to make a bookcase for them too.

It's Been a While

2009-02-26T13:25:00.002-06:00

I haven't posted in a few weeks it seems. We were busy celebrating the girls second birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Scanlan as well as Aunt Kathy, Uncle Chris, Jackson, and Brady. We did lots of fun things and I want to take the time to show pictures of everything because we had lots of fun. Stay tuned.

Dancing Queens

2009-02-08T17:18:00.006-06:00

We didn't really watch the Super Bowl, but did catch Bruce at halftime. Tim was teaching the girls to dance. Normally they just spin in a fast circle untill they fall. I didn't get it on this video, but we even got the girls to say "Bruuuce!" Just like they were at the concert. Fun times.

Oh how they've grown!

2009-02-02T14:33:00.012-06:00

As the girls turn two shortly, I felt myself looking back at our time together, finding out we were pregnant. Having to wait a week to tell anyone because Tim was away on a mission. My growing, growing, growing belly. Working throughout the pregnancy and then having my water break (while sitting on our brand new couch). Getting transferred to a second hospital, having the ambulance get lost and Tim waiting for an hour more for our arrival. All those hours of pushing. Our NICU experience and then these crazy two years. We have gone through a lot as a family, moved two times, spent 15months apart from Tim, and are now back together here in Florida as if nothing ever happened. Its been a long bumpy road and I couldn't help but want to go back and remember it, good and hard.

Little Miss Giggles

2009-01-30T13:45:00.003-06:00

We were stuck in the house all day. The girls have runny noses again, my guess from all the temp changes. Nothing too new to report. But here are a few from the other day. They are wearing their new shirts they got from Ben and Jude. Thanks boys.

Story Time with Daddy

2009-01-27T18:59:00.000-06:00

Just a little clip. Trying to learn how to post video. We just got back from the park and the girls are spending some two on one time with Daddy. They LOVE to read books.

Christmas cookies

2009-01-27T13:10:00.000-06:00

I am going to go back and put up some of my favorite moments from the past three months. We are behind on snapfish so I thought this might be better then sending the 400+ photos we have right now.

Anyway, I thought it would be a nice tradition to have the girls bake Christmas cookies. We ended up doing it Christmas Eve after church and dinner. Not recommended but after getting delayed in New York, it was the only time left to get it done. Thank goodness Grandma Mitroka was here, she pretty much took over the task, Thank goodness. The girls loved it and kinda got the hang of it too. The cookies turned out great as well. Grandma just sent me this picture so I thought it would be a good memory to share.

Terrible 2's?!?!

2009-01-15T15:58:00.001-06:00

Well we are not quite two yet but we threw our first all out embarrass the crud out of mom fit today. Leaving the gym, the girls wanted to play on this tiny little slide they have outside. However, it is located next to an large open body of water. Drainage ditch? Pond? Not sure. Now being a mom of twins, just cant do these things. Well they threw themselves to the group screaming kicking. Pretty much had to drag Elizabeth to the car while Emily was under my arm. Not a pretty sight, Then Emily planted her face into the cement (she's ok) and precede to tantrum on the parking lot while I strapped Elizabeth in. Yea I got at least one good look. No thank you, I don't need any help. It's all under control here. Oh my. (I will try and get a picture of this thing they want to play on. It's pathetic compared the their slide here.)

OK, OK

2009-01-15T15:35:00.000-06:00

Alright Brittney and Meg. That was a bad attempt at a start way back when. Somehow I just don't find time for the computer anymore. But, I am going to give it a try again. Give me a few days and hopefully I will be as good about writing here as I am about checking your blogs. Lets face it, I stalk you guys. Miss you both too.

Getting Started

2008-07-23T13:43:00.000-05:00

Writing this post as a way to figure out how this all works. Will write more later.