Identical? ~ Part 2

I posted a few months ago about how we have wondered whether Piper and Rosemary are identical.  As time has passed, Gary and I think there is a better and better chance that they are indeed identical.  Then tonight I showed Gary this photo I took of the girls this past weekend:

Check that out.  Seriously.  What part of them does not look alike?!!  Even their ears are the same.  Not that you can see it in this photo, but their hair color is the same.  Nose, eye color, eyelashes, lips, everything. 

So, after seeing that photo, Gary and I ordered the DNA test that will tell us whether the girls are identical.  We’ve thought about it for a while and finally went for it.  Hopefully, we’ll have results in about 3 weeks. 

In the meantime, please feel free to vote in the poll to the right on whether you think they’re identical or not.  And comment if you have any questions you want to ask before you vote! 

This is going to be fun!

First Haircut

We have a photo session with the fabulous Heather Swanner coming up soon, so I wanted the kids to have haircuts beforehand.  Even though Peter has been cutting only Piper and Rosemary’s hair lately, we thought that he’d do a great job with Henry’s hair as well.  And since the other 3 kids were getting their hair cut, it only made sense to get Penelope’s hair cut, too.  She didn’t exactly have a mullet yet, but you could totally tell that one morning we were going to wake up and it would just be there.

Penelope only agreed to have her hair cut if she was holding a sucker and sitting in Gary’s lap.  And she was pretty discriminating about her haircut.

In the end, all things considered, I think her haircut went very well, and she looked great once it was done.

After Penelope’s haircut, Rosemary, then Piper, then Henry had their hair cut.

After the haircuts, we grabbed lunch at Dreamland (delicious!) then walked across the street to play on a playground.  Piper had no fear.  Gary, on the other hand, was a little nervous about Piper’s climbing skills and didn’t move far away.

But we didn’t have any trips to the ER this past weekend!

Definitely a great – and productive – Saturday. 

A Hiking Weekend

This past weekend we took the kids on two hikes.  We all had a great time and really enjoyed getting outside in some cooler weather.  On Saturday we went to Moss Rock Preserve, and Sunday we went to Oak Mountain.  Here are some photos from our grueling 1.5 hour 0.4 mile hike on Saturday (no seriously, zero.point.four mile hike – Gary and I could have sworn it was several miles):

Best Buddies

I’ve always thought that Henry and Penelope were going to have a strong relationship.  At first I wasn’t sure if it would be a good, close relationship or not!  When I was pregnant, whenever Henry would sit in my lap, Penelope would kick him.  Enough that he noticed.  Penelope never did that to Piper or Rosemary – just Henry.

After she got here it took Henry a little while to adapt, but now he is Penelope’s protector.  If Piper or Rosemary takes away anything she was playing with, Henry quickly takes it back and says, “Baby was playin’ wit it!”  Then Henry will go over to Penelope, put his hand on her shoulder, return the toy, and squat down and say, “Here you go, neh-oh-pee.”  

Now Piper and Rosemary take care of Penelope, too, but not quite to the same extent as Henry.  Henry always makes sure that Penelope is okay if she falls down, and if she is unhappy Henry will sit down and happily play with her.   If she wants, sometimes he even holds her hand and they walk around a bit. 

Henry is just the best big brother!

Just Some Photos. . . .

(Henry really wanted my Starbucks, so I gave him my empty cup.  He walked around with it, “drinking” from the cup for a while.  I was shocked at the level of imitation he has mastered.)

 (Have I mentioned before that our Dora undies are our favorites?)

(The kids tried to climb these trees, then Daddy jumped in and tried, too.  Rosemary announced, “Daddies no climb trees!  Monkeys climb trees!”)

Happy Friday!

First Soccer Game

Friday night was the kids’ first soccer game.  Except that we call them “playdays” instead of games because we practice for 30 minutes or so then play a short game.  The kids started out by practicing by jumping over some cones.

A coach from the soccer club showed up to lead the kids through some exercises, then the kids played a game.

Looks like the kids had a great time, doesn’t it?  Now, the kids keep telling us that they had a great time.  But the photos above misrepresent things just a bit. . . .

Let’s start with this photo:

That’s Henry.  Holding on to my leg for dear life.

He was there for quite a while.

And here’s what the kids did when they first saw those orange cones they were supposed to jump over.

Well, that’s what the girls were doing. 

Henry was holding onto my leg.

And then here’s what the kids were doing as the other kids were being led through some exercises.

While the kids were doing everything except what they were supposed to be doing, Penelope decided to start kicking the soccer ball around a bit herself.

Seriously.  Penelope would totally have gone out there and done everything that the kids were supposed to be doing.

There was this one moment with Henry, though, when I thought he was going to get in on some action in the soccer game.

He was accidentally standing on the soccer field during the game.  And the kids started getting closer and closer to him.

I started getting excited.  I mean really excited.  He was practically going to be in the middle of the pack of kids playing soccer.  He may even accidentally touch the soccer ball!  They got closer.  And closer.  And closer. . . .

And he ran.

Toward us.

As fast as he could go.

Oh well.  We’ve got lots more games.  At least the kids had fun and can’t wait for the next game!