As Fun as a Barrel of Monkeys

Well, we may not have a barrel, but we certainly have two!
When I learned we were having the girls, I started imagining all the fun things we would be able to do with them once they were born. Then they were born and I realized we couldnt do much of anything with them! Once they become engaged and mobile, books and toys and crayons were just teethers to be gnawed to bits. They are finally growing into those little girls I had imagined many moons ago: playing, creating, singing, demanding...
Last week I decided to make finger paint out of flour, water, and food coloring. They dont try to eat everything like they use to, but I thought it would be better to start out with an edible "paint".
(Nora's face is covered in chocolate ice cream--that's my girl!)
To our surprise, Ella took right to the finger painting. This is surprising because if she gets the smallest amount of food (such as yogurt) on her hands, she has a meltdown until it is wiped off. Turns out Nora was the sissy this time around. You can see her looking at her hands, wondering what is the world she is supposed to do with this! (I love how intense Ella looks here--she meant business!)
I mean, she really got into it.
A new favorite hobby: "playing" Connect Four.

With the Toys R Us gift cards we got from the Koontz's (for their second birthday), we got more track for the girls' Thomas the Tank engine set up. They are really into Thomas right now.
Ella takes her job watching over the trains very seriously.
We are still going strong on the potty training business. They are using the frog potties several times a day. We now have potty charts on which they can put their stickers after they go potty.
Nora, playing with blocks
Just to round out our week, I went to see a friend's band. Carl wet to BSU with Andrew and I and was on a mini tour with his metal band--Coffinworm--and they played in Philly.
They had no place to stay, so this is what the girls woke up to see in the morning:
And they handled it pretty well.