Really?

We've got a little problem with whining over here. We made it through the temper tantrum phase with Mallory a while back, and now Anna Claire is trying our patience big time with the whining ~ over everything...sippy cup the wrong color, missing lovies which inevitably end up to be right beside her, too much toothpaste on her toothbrush, chair pushed too close to the table, not wanting her hair brushed, Mallory's leg touching her...you get the idea.

When Darby mentioned the book The Boy Who Cried Over Everything a few days ago, I didn't even think, I just hopped straight over to Amazon and ordered it. It was waiting for us on the doorstep this afternoon after we got home from running errands, and when I read it I couldn't believe it ~ at the end of the book, the bird dies!

Did you read my post from earlier today? Do you see the irony in this? Two dead birds in one day. Really?

It is a cute story, though, and you should have seen the look on Anna Claire's face as I was reading it to her...she was thinking hard {about the whining and yes, about the dead bird, too}. Despite the dead bird, I think this little book might go a long way in helping us curtail all the whining going on around here.

Bedtime Stories

I've been trying to do a better job of keeping y’all up-to-date with all Anna Claire and Mallory’s shenanigans lately. With the girls and I having been sick most of September, I got out of the habit of updating often and rarely even picked up my camera. :’-(

Things are still busy as ever, but I’ve made a pledge to myself to do a better job posting here {which shouldn’t be too difficult since the holidays are right around the corner}. The girls are growing and changing and getting smarter and smarter by the day…there is so much I don’t want to forget, and since I haven’t touched their baby books in over a year, I’m going to spend some time here on the little things…like our current favorite bedtime stories. I am so thankful {I think I’ve said it before} that the girls love, love, love books. We have shelves and baskets of books all over our house {and even in the car}, but we have a few titles we specifically save for bedtime...

Llama, Llama Red Pajama
Quick as a Cricket
Goodnight, Gorilla
Goodnight, Moon
The Big Red Barn
Mary Engelbreit’s Mother Goose
Treasury of bedtime Stories {"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and "Henny Penny"}
The Jesus Storybook Bible {"David and Goliath"!}

The rule is two books and then lights out, but don’t think for a minute the girls don’t try to trick us into reading more than just two books. And honestly, things do get a bit tricky because sometimes they are happy to sit and listen to the same two stories if they can agree, but other times they want different stories…so is that two stories total, or two stories per girl {totaling four books}? You’d think it would be as simple as Mallory choosing one book and Anna Claire choosing another {and maybe it could be}, but if you have ever had two-year-old twins named Anna Claire and Mallory, you know nothing is really all that simple.

And the only thing that will divert their attention from wanting one more story, mommy is our other bedtime ritual of singing “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.” Yes, the Toy Story obsession continues, though Mary Poppins has recently taken top spot {which I find practically perfect in every way!}