I have a blog???

Oh yeah!

I wish that I had clever stories for you about how busy we were trying to squeeze the last bit of summer out. But, I don't. I think staying up until all hours with the Olympic brouhaha, watching Mikey Phelps win his 736th medal at the water cube and the Chinese 7 year olds take the gold in gymnastics zapped my energy quota for the month.

The girls really enjoyed the Olympics...mainly the swimming (paddle, paddle, GO!), Track and Field (RAAAACE! RAAAAACE!) and diving (letting out a resounding OH! when they hit the water and clapped with everyone else). I think the funniest part was the night the trampoline competition was on. They stood in front of the TV, their little heads bouncing up and down with the athlete.

The first weekend in August, we threw a baby shower at my brother's house for him and his wife Denise to celebrate the upcoming arrival of their baby girl. We did a casual backyard BBQ, inviting the whole family rather than just the traditional "ladies only" fare. It was nice to see both of my Grandmas and a few aunts, uncles and cousins I hadn't seen in quite a while. Troy and Denise received some very nice gifts and are more than ready for Libby's arrival. I will post when she arrives!

Maddy was so wiped out riding home from the shower that she didn't even bother taking puppy out of her mouth-

and Abby was just along for the ride...

The third weekend this month, I traveled up to Ely to have a girls weekend with two of my college friends Hollee (who lives in Ely) and Cora (who traveled DOWN from Manitoba). It was a great weekend of catching up, laughs and food...okay and some drinks...without kids!

Another fun thing that has kept us entertained is the bouncy house we inherited from Jason and Wanda. Their boys are no longer using it, so they passed it down to us. It is GREAT! It is small enough that it folds up into a neat little duffle bag, and then we can just pull it out, plug it in, and it is "jumpy time!"

We even got a little brave and took the girls out to the State Fair with us one morning. We got out there early to have breakfast (yes, there is breakfast at the fair) and go through the barns and eat a few fun things. A few nights later, Dave and I went out again by ourselves.

Going down the big slide. I am on the left with Maddy, Dave is just behind with Ab. Every time we went over a bump, the girls would yell out "whee!"

The girls love butterflies, so we thought we were awesome parents by taking them into the butterfly house. Um, the girls didn't enjoy it like we thought they would. They were fine until the butterflies started to land on them. Here is Maddy after one landed on her head (you can kind of see it on her left pigtail). And being the good mom I am, I just took pictures while she was frightened.

A few landed on Dave's arm while Abby watched. One landed next to Maddy on the arm of the bench and she is trying to get away from it.

On to the sheep....

After the Oink booth with their crowns...

Let's see, what else.... Oh! Abby is potty training!!! Here she is on her Dora potty seat with her beloved red ladybug rainboots on. Don't you wear your rainboots when you go potty?

She loves her boots so much that they occasionally go to bed with her-

Here is just a cute one of Maddy! She doesn't enjoy the potty as much as her sissy - this week was the first week she didn't scream when you put her on it. But Dogger is just c-u-t-e!

This week, my brother Troy's baby will be born, so I will update when she arrives. On September 16, the girls start ECFE classes again. This year, we will be in a class for multiples which will be interesting. I also start a class that evening at Century College for 8 weeks covering Perioperative Nursing...in short, "How to be an Operating Room Nurse 101." Classes are Tuesday evenings for 4 hours, then I will have 64 hours of clinical time somewhere. I have been trying to get into this class for 2 years, so I am amped to start!

Thanks for checking in!