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

Reflection.  In teaching, reflection is a big part of what we do.  I was recently observed by my principal and he challenged me with reflection.  How can I SHOW that I reflect on my practices?  How can I PROVE that I am always thinking about what I can do better, and that I'm implementing strategies to make me better at what I do?

Parenting is like teaching in many ways.  After I put Jane and Emma to bed at night, I fill bottles for the next day and spend time with Hershey, but I'm always thinking about how I could have done something better for them.  How I could have BEEN better for them.

For the sake of reflection, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the month of October, and give you the top 10 things that I learned about being a Mommy in the tenth month of the year.

10.  At some point, you have to start putting bibs on the kids AT ALL TIMES.  Unless you want to do their laundry 413 times a week or just start taking out stock in Old Navy Baby and burning their clothes.  Then go right ahead and live dangerously.