Christine told me two cute stories about the twins last night.

Elizabeth was sitting on the potty. She sang 'It's Laura's fault [from VeggieTales].' Then she stopped and said 'Wait, Momma, can I tell you something? She started singing again, this time with different words: 'It's Junior's fault, he broke the plate.' She's my little comedienne.

Wil loves the parrot on the Candyland CDROM. If you give it the wrong colored berry to eat, it says 'Squak, not that kind.'. That just kills Wil. He, of course, pronounces it 'Fwawk'. One day he was playing with the program, and it was nap time, and that made him mad. So Christine went and lay down with him. He was still mad. But he fell asleep, and then a smile came to his face. And Christine knew he was dreaming about that parrot. Sweet.

I saw my Back Yard Burgers receipt in my car. It reminded me of when Wil and I went on our date about two weeks ago. We went to lunch. I asked Wil what he wanted. He answered 'french fries'. I'd been wanting to try BYB, so that's what we did. Then we went to Lowe's. Then we went and got his hair cut. I told him if he sat still he could have a treat, and he was good, so we went to Albertson's and he picked out a donut. We had a nice date. I love that boy.

The other day when the twins and I were driving around, I happened to see some folks we know in their car. I said 'There's Pam and Joey in that car.' Elizabeth said 'Who's in that car?'. She concluded that I knew who everyone was in every car.

Elizabeth likes for someone to hold her hand while she poops. Tonight she said 'Daddy, do you do hands when you poop?'.

I said 'No.'

She's also trying to figure out what makes the big poops come out. Is it when she grunts? Is it because she bends over? She's not sure.

We went to the JCPenney Home Store today to look at lamps. We told the kids we were going. I told them we might see 'Lampy', a character from 'Larry-Boy and the Angry Eyebrows'.

First we had to go to Virginia's, through Tulsa horse country (north of Jenks).

I asked 'Do you think we'll see a horse?'.
Wil asked 'Do you think we'll see Lampy?'.

I went to breakfast with Bryan early this morning at Krispy Kreme. I'd forgotten my wallet, so I stopped by the house on the way to work. Wil had just wakened, so we greeted one another with hugs. Elizabeth slept with us in the big bed last night. Don't know if she was already awake, but she heard us and showed up. I couldn't bring donuts home today because Wil has been pooping in his pants and we think he's sick or something and just doesn't know what's happening until it's too late. So he's on the BananaRiceApplesauceToast diet until he successfully puts poop in the potty. When I left I got kisses from everyone (not a given with Elizabeth) and gathered my stuff. Christine asked for another kiss, and they both did, too, so that was nice.

There's a "terrible twos" story coming, so let me say something good about the twins' 3rd birthday party first. No one cried, no one fought, everyone had fun. Maybe I'll find a good photo to post. Maybe one where Sean is wearing Clifford ears.

Albertson's has grocery carts with little cars on the front that are only big enough for one child to sit in. The only time I've seen parents with more than one child use them, it was a disaster. This evening the twins saw them for the first time. We weren't going to be in the store long, so I decided to take the risk. We made it to the checkout line, then I had to carry my screaming, crying son to the car while dragging Elizabeth behind us. Somehow the bagboy kept up.

Okay, I'll try to write daily, and I'll just write the best thing that comes to mind within a reasonable amount of time.

The twins and I were feeling the same way. I was home last night, but left before they got up this morning. And I was missing them. I was going to call and ask if thy could come by work (which is now about 2 miles away) to say hi. Then Christine called to say the kids were asking about me and could they come over and see me. It was a short visit, but it was nice. And I'm off tomorrow (I get thursdays off and work sundays), so we'll have some more time together.

I don't exactly know why I haven't been updating here. Because Christine hasn't? Because I've been playing too much Civilization 3?

Scott shamed me into it. Yesterday was the twins' birthday. As Kathy has noted, we had a bunch of little kids over Saturday morning. Christine did an amazing Clifford theme. There was a Clifford cake. Wil said, while they opened presents, that it was his best birthday party ever.

Yesterday, we had Merritts muffins and opened presents. The kids got skates and protective paraphernalia. I think they enjoyed it.

One of my favorite Elizabethisms: Golma Grahams [Golden Grahams].

Here's a sound I can't believe we don't use in English: 'fw' (at least I can't think of any occurrences, can you? Any other languages that you know of that use it?) Wil uses 'fw' in place of 'sw'. So, when he talks about Swiper the fox from Dora the Explorer he says 'Fwiper', as in 'Fwiper, no fwiping.' I love it.

He has trouble with 'sp', too, as in Spud the Scarecrow on Bob the Builder. He says 'Fud'. I love that, too.

Here's a long overdue Zoo report. I don't remember much of what the twins said, but it was a great evening and I wanted to record some of the things they did and saw, as well as the animals' names so we remember them the next time we go to the zoo.

Member's Appreciation Night at the Tulsa Zoo was May 16 this year. It was an overcast, but lovely evening. We brought the kids' new umbrellas and at first all they wanted to do was use their umbrellas. But they soon lost interest once we got started on the Behind-the-Scenes Tours. These tours were a wonderful addition to last years' Docent Talks.

First we went to the Elephant Barn where we met Gunda, the oldest inhabitant - person or beast, at the Tulsa Zoo. Her keepers told us how they care for her and showed us how she's learned some "tricks for treats" that help them do their jobs, like presenting a foot or opening her mouth for cleaning. We also got to go into the "barn" to see where the elephants stay when they aren't in the yard. The twins especially liked going in all the animals' "houses." They also learned the other elephants' names are Suki and Sneezy and that a male is called a bull.

On to the Aldabra Tortoises.... if you haven't seen one of these enormouse tortoises before it's worth a visit to your nearby zoo. They're fairly interesting. The kids and I have often stopped to watch them slowly munching grass or making their way to a shadier spot in their yard. This time the twins were invited into the yard to PET the biggest one! And, believe it or not, Elizabeth was the first one across the fence! The keeper showed her where "Al" likes to be scratched and how to pet him. She did a really good job following instructions.

In the African Savanna we went into the giraffes' house. The twins were most interested in the baskets that Sam and Georgina eat out of. There is also a basket only 6 feet up were there to ever be a baby. Wil and Elizabeth loved that idea and wanted to know where the baby was. They are very interested in babies of all types and like to play baby or care for their "babies" at home. Later in the evening we waited in line to see the baby kangaroos. They thought that was neat, though I'm not sure the wait was worth it.

For the first time ever we got to see the lions when they were active. They were roaring up a storm. It was pretty amazing.

We also got to go into the polar bears' cages and outside into their pool area. Elizabeth, and maybe Wil too, wanted to go swimming. The polar bears names are Frosty and Marushka.

It was also the first night of "Wings of Wonder," the butterfly exhibit. Even now, a month later, Wil sometimes talks about seeing the butterflies at the zoo. We will definitely want to go back to it again before the exhibit closes in October.

Other highlights included ice cream, popcorn and, of course, riding the train. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Zoo is one of the best things about Tulsa.

Christine and I make a lot of lists. So Elizabeth does, too. She gets little pieces of paper and writes on them. She and I came across one of these lists tonight.

E: Oh, my list.
S: What's the list for?
E: For the grocery store.
S: Oh, yeah? And what's on it?
E: Cheese sticks [string cheese].
S: Right...anything else?
E: Carrots.

Go figure.

Since we're moving in a week, the house is in total disarray. After going to the garage many times in the same day to get screwdrivers, I finally just left them in the house (and haven't used them since).

Wil got up from his nap that day (Thursday) and came to sit on my lap while I was working on the computer. He saw the screwdrivers (one flat, one Philips) and smiled a big smile.
W: Daddy, can I share your screwdivers?
How could I refuse? I said 'Sure.'
W: Daddy, we are sharing your screwdrivers together!

The twins are doing great imaginative play together. But sometimes it's hard to keep up with who's who and what's what. Monday in the car Elizabeth was playing with a little pink ball.
E: Momma, see my baby sib?
M: Oh, your baby Fib? [From an episode of VeggieTales which they'd been playing earlier.]
E: No, my baby SIB?
M: Elizabeth, I don't know that word. Can you tell me more about it?
E: It go in the water.
M: Your baby ship? [Could be VeggieTales, a Bible story or Spot.]
E: No, my baby SIB? [moving it around]
M: FISH!

Typical conversation around our house these days:

Daddy: Elizabeth, could you get in your chair, please?
Elizabeth: No, I Emmy [from DragonTales].
D: Wil, could you get in your chair, please?
E: No, he Max [from DragonTales]. Daddy, can you be Ord [from DragonTales]?
Wil: Nooo. I no want Daddy to be Ord, I want him to be my daddy.
E: No, you have to be Ord.
D: You twins are driving me crazy!
E: No, I Emmy.
D: Elizabeth, you need to answer to Elizabeth.
E: No, I no want to be Elizabeth. I Emmy.

*Daddy puts himself in timeout.*

We saw Veggie Tales Live with Josh, Ms Kathy and Mr Shawn last Saturday. I loved watching Wil bounce in his chair along with the music. He really enjoyed it until they changed their "Dave and the Giant Pickle" story. Larry-Boy is in the video but wasn't in the live show. Wil cried. Then at the end when Elizabeth realized it was over and Laura hadn't appeared, she cried. Both kids were crying about the Veggies that weren't in the show as we left the theater. However, Wil was able to talk about the parts he liked while we were driving home, and before the night was over Elizabeth was able to tell us she liked the "pink girl" (stage manager) and the dancing.

Elizabeth is generally shy around strangers, but she is becoming more social lately. Yesterday on her date with Sean a man asked her, "What's your name little lady?" She responded, "I not a lady. I a girl." Not polite, but cute. And I'm surprised she said anything at all.

Then this morning in the grocery store she was singing and the cashier commented on it. Elizabeth gave the woman her prettiest smile and sang louder. She was making up a song about the Banana Nut Muffins we were purchasing, so that was funny too.

I usually wear a robe in the morning, but the other day I took it off before breakfast. Wil said, "Now Momma isn't Momma anymore."