I always said that the girls, even as newborns, despised my singing voice which is why I rarely hummed anything. I would feed them listening to classical music because even if I wanted to, it would be close to impossible to hum along well and besides, the girls enjoyed listening to all the various instruments (and no singing) in the lovely sonatas we heard. Now that they can talk, Carolyn cringes when I sing anything and says "Turn it off! Turn off the noise!" Noise. My voice is considered "noise". So much for my dreams of singing backup with Springsteen or Mick Jagger. (you do know they were banging on my front door begging me to tour with them, right?)

Preschool is going very well. We only had one class this week, and I daresay, the girls missed school. They were asking for their teacher all week and it was pretty hard to get them to take a nap most of this week. Today, they fell asleep within minutes of being put in their cribs. Today's activity was painting mini-pumpkins. Their teacher, Debbie, is just a whiz at knowing what will enthrall children of this age to the point of total distraction so that when a parent says "bye bye" they barely acknowledge the departure. I have my first co-oping day next Tuesday (11/14) and then we have "parent-teacher" conferences (can you believe they start at 2.5?) next Thursday. Everybody is enjoying a break and the chance to do something new two times a week. The girls get to socialize with munchkins their age, and do fabulous, albeit messy artwork and I get to actually get some laundry done, do some straightening and...are you sitting down? Take a SHOWER! I won't share my hygenic habits over the course of the last year, but suffice to say, I look and smell alot fresher.

The girls are actively enjoying running...and then purposefully falling backwards in the big piles of crunchy brown fall leaves that have collected in neighbors' back and front yards as well as the park. We have some leaves in our yard but bless my husband, he really likes our lawn to be well groomed..so we escape elsewhere. It's really funny, and we have captured some of this on film. Currently, their favorite game is to watch their sister run into a big pile and then fall backwards while yelling "WOAAAAAA!!" Then, there is a round of giggling, and the next sister takes her turn. One thing that I think is a standout amongst multiples is their ability to take the ordinary and turn it into a game by themselves. I've been sitting down more (PRAISE the LORD) and letting them create their own fun. Frankly, it's less frustrating for everyone. The books say to let them sort out their own issues with each-other at this age, but that is slow going...or perhaps my mediation skills simply need more sharpening. By the time I figure out how to do all this well, they'll be in college anyway.

Carolyn's favorite game right now is anything that involves chasing. Helen prefers to jump on the couch and pretend she is splashing in a bathtub. Both girls can count to 12, but seem to omit the numbers 5 and 6 while counting.

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving at Aunt Claire and Uncle George's in a few weeks. I've been explaining that turkeys say "gooble-gooble" and that we eat turkeys on Thanksgiving. This year, the girls will sit at the big people table (in their booster seats). It will be the 2nd time in a year that they agree to eat string beans. They've only agreed to eat the fresh variety (not from a can) at Aunt Claire's (last year at Thanksgiving time) and have since refused every which way I've prepared them. I'm delighted their little digestive systems will get a treat of string beans after 365 days.