Here it is, Monday night, and I have NO IDEA where the last 4 days have gone.  It was a CRAZY and WONDERFUL four days, but man, it went "bye-bye" before I even blinked.

Jane and Emma are finally feeling a bit better (aside from the really super-duper runny noses, of course), and Hershey was able to get himself some much-needed rest, so we packed the days full of activities, family visits, and bonding time with our Little Ones.

After the first full day of rain and errands, I had already had it with the girls marching around, screaming and crying out of boredom (our one hour story hour trip just wasn't quite stimulating enough), I whipped out the finger paints and let the girls go WILD.







It was awesome until Janey literally started EATING the paint.  I'm still finding paint splatters in random places around my house, even though they were contained to the dining room table.  No bueno.

Friday we spent pretty low-key, taking a trip to get our bangs trimmed and having "MeeMa, Granpabob, and Nanneeeee" over for a semi-quiet dinner. 

Saturday morning, the girls were right back to their old tricks, sweet talking Daddy into sharing his Pop-Tarts with them, which they then proceeded to give rides in their baby carriages just before demolishing them all over the floor.





Saturday night was an amazing unofficial kick-off to the holiday season.  Every year for the past few years, from now straight through until my birthday in January, we get to spend every weekend with our "framily" - Suzanne, Scott, Hailey, Erin, Rich, Daniela, Kevin, Krystle, Will, Lindsay, Joe, Alie, Dave, Leo, Bernice, Cindy, Artie, Loni, Jimmy, Noelle, Jerry, and in the last 2 years, the newest additions, Ryan, Olivia, Luke, Isla, Adelyn, and little baby Joni (Loni and Jimmy's bun-in-the-oven).  From holiday to birthday to anniversary celebrations, we bring the par-tay for almost 12 straight weeks.

This year, we started the festive season with Ryan's first birthday celebration.  And oh, what a celebration it was!
















We even got to end the night with a good old fashioned jammy party!





We are in some serious trouble in a couple of years.  The Groff clan packed it in at around 8:45 (one full hour past the twins' bedtime) and the girls slept the whole ride home.  When we got home, we simply took off their hats and jackets and rolled them into bed, thinking that these are going to be some of the BEST years.  Jane and Emma took a THREE HOUR nap yesterday, and Hershey and I are still trying to recover from the festivities.  Sometimes I feel like I rest more when I go to work!

I hope that you all enjoyed the "holiday" weekend as much as we did!  Do you have any big plans for the holidays??  Ways that you de-stress during one of the most stressful times of the year?

Happy Monday everyone!  xoxo

I've been trying to get into the swing of blogging more regularly, but with Jane and Emma constantly On.The.Go, it's hard to find time to sit down to write.  So I started making a PLAN for when I write, and what I write.

This weekend, we were chock full of a good time. We came home from Avalon last Wednesday and got right back into the swing of things. Saturday morning we met up with our friend Erin and her daughter Olivia for a walk at the duck pond.  That afternoon, my family joined us for a little shindig because my aunt was in from Texas and she has not met our little twincesses yet!

The girls really took to Aunt Michele.


My Nanny was in all of her glory with all of her girls around her.


Emma hammed it up for the camera.


The next morning, we met up with Erin and Olivia again for a walk at the Ramapo Reservation.  My glutes were so not ready for that hike, but the girls were!  Despite the looks on their faces, they had so much fun gabbing it up with their little friend Livy.

In life, it is so important to have people by your side to bear witness.  Many people have touched my life while passing through, but there are only a select few who have known me through good and bad and thick and thin, and I am so lucky to call those people my friends -- no, my family. 

The part that makes me seriously Happy-Like-Pharell is that my kids get to have awesome friends just like mine.  And I know that because my friends all have kids who are the same age as my kids.  

This post is dedicated to my family -- my friends who have become my sisters and my brothers.  People who are not tied to me by blood, but who have stuck by my side through some really great and really tragic times in my life regardless.  Growing up and moving around so much as an only child was lonely, so I am so unbelievably grateful to know that my daughters not only have a home to grow up in now, but also a  built in network of friends who will always just be a phone call away.  People who they can share stories with and who they can roll their eyes at their cray-cray parents with.  







It is so much fun to watch Jane and Emma forming this bond with their friends already, even at this young age.  But the most fun part is to stand beside my best friends, my sistahs-from-another-mistahs, and watch our children together.  To hold each other's kids.  To watch my kids form bonds with these people who I have grown to love so incredibly much.  I could not survive this life without them, and Jane and Emma are so blessed to have them in their little lives.

Get ready for cuteness overload...






















This weekend we are hosting our first ever clam bake with our familyfriends.  Pray for me.  

Hope you all had a great weekend, and cheers to it almost being the weekend!

xoxo