Wordless (Where has the time gone) Wednesday

Luke-- May '07

My Question is...

Who wouldn't enjoy scrubbing tough, stuck-on food from a crockpot or lasagna pan when they can stare at these "little sprouts" while they're doing it?

(I'm not implying that I'd ever let a crockpot or pan sit long enough to become a dried, nasty mess.)

Pardon the Interruption

"Darn you Chocolate Cake!"

That's what I kept saying during each of my encounters with my Mother-in-law's Chocolate Layered Masterpiece these past two days. She iced it with a bubblegum shade of pink cream frosting and sprinkled it with light coconut flakes, then brought it over here for our niece's 4th Birthday Bash that we hosted yesterday.

The problem--it was much more than we needed, and then it was left on our counter after the party ended and people cleared out. Gaaa! So not only did I invite myself into its presence unannounced just before bed last night, I did so this morning, minutes after I lifted my head from my pillow (what?), then quickly before our families filed into our house for the twins' Dedication Party after church let out. Wait! Not to forget the piece I snuck in place of the Carrot Cake served to our 26 guests for dessert today, AND the piece I shared with the friends who happened to stop by this evening for a quick chat. No lie people, I have a serious problem!

I don't even like Chocolate Cake.

Or so, that's what I thought. Honestly, I thought I preferred more of the Plain White Cake with, possibly, a raspberry curd filling. Or maybe, a mouthwatering, feather-light Sweet Lemon Mousse. My head usually never turns when chocolate and cake are mentioned in the same sentence. But, obviously Norah and Hazel tweaked a little something during the 37 weeks they were bakin' in there causing my baked good preference to go haywire for the Dark Beauty of cakes.

And to think there's no point to this post. I don't really have much to say, or more appropriately the energy to say it . Because I'll be honest..and you know I will be, we've been going in 4-wheel-drive since Saturday morning. We enjoyed a visit yesterday morning from a friend from the city, followed by the Birthday party in the afternoon, followed by overnight guests, followed by the dedication of Norah and Hazel, followed by an even bigger bash back at our house again, followed by a quick play at the park to distract the big kids from realizing how tired they truly were due to no afternoon naps, and finally followed by a surprise visit from friends and their 2 young children this evening. (Thankfully we put the children to bed at 6:30 and they are nonethewiser of our vistors.)

So, pardon this interruption. Go on with your activities, as I will too.

...Eating Chocolate Cake that is.

Today I:

Didn't make my bed. Ahh, Yuck!

Went to 3 garage sales. One of which I found Dumb & Dumber on DVD for 50 cents. Bonus!!

Opened the bag of Peanut Butter M&M's that's supposed to be for the girls' dedication party on Sunday...and I ate way to many.

Found myself wondering what percentage of organic eaters are smokers. Hmmm..that'd be interesting.

Sent 2 pieces of fun mail. (Well, Luke opened the mailbox, Julia put them in, and Luke closed it. So, I didn't really do anything--except chaperone.)

Maaaaajorly overcooked the kids' Mac-n-Cheese noodles for lunch. They didn't seem to care one bit.

Ate my leftover Chickpea Curry for lunch.

Realized that Luke's never had a Canker sore before today. I hope he never gets one again.

Laughed myself to tears while watching Norah and Hazel giggle uncontrollably in their park swings.

Folded a load of clothes in the kids' bathroom while the little girls splashed around in the tub.

Examined my husband's hard work ethics as he wheelbarrowed 56,000 trips of river rock to the space below our deck.

Tried hard not to show that I really did feel bad about filling up a box of the toys from Julia bedroom floor, stowing them in the front closet on the top shelf, and reminding her that what she plays with isn't my responsibility to clean up before bed.

And, loved standing back and watching how much fun Luke has when he is granted the ok to climb the stepstool to the kitchen sink, turn the water on, suds his hands, scrub his fingers and face, rinse and dry himself ALL BY HIMSELF. "I do it! I do it!" he says.

What'd you do today?

Grocery Gala Girls

Let me tell you about this picture: This was taken today while my girls and I were kicking off our first monthly Girls Grocery Gala. Usually the big kids are dropped at the grocer's daycare and the little ones and I gather meal items for the next week or so frolic around talking with the friendly staff as they fuss over the precious cargo in my cart. But today was different, Luke was up for playing with the "big trucks" in the daycare without his big sister, so Julia grabbed her own cart and off we went.

You see that "big girl" in the red? Oh, I could eat her up! (Except when she's jumping up and down in the kitchen, whining that she wants a treat from the treat bucket after I told her that she doesn't need a treat every day because they're bad when overconsumed.) She was the best...without even being told. But if I would have reminded her to "remember [her] manners" I'm sure she would have replied with her often heard phrase, "Mama, I'm always good. You don't have to tell me that." During our 1 hour Gala she informed me: that she has "always loved" the premixed blueberry drink that comes in the gallon container--which I'm sure had a lot to do with how cool it looked in all its bright-sugary-blueness, her "very, very favorite thing" is 99 cent, mini bubble blowing kits--that I'm positive she's never owned, and she thinks she "would like to eat the purple M&M's the best,"--which are the dark chocolate, and I highly doubt that. The things that girl comes up with crack me up.

Now on to Norah and Hazel. Do you see them? Ohhh...aren't they cute! Well, besides that, do you see how Hazel is missing a bow? Yea, I'm sure you can figure out who the guilty party is. And there is really no sneaking it back in. Hazel's head is under high surveillance when her sister is around.

How about my goes-with-me-everywhere clipboard. Do you see that sticking out of my braided yellow bag? That's holding some recipe print-outs from Brittany's blog. I am taking the next step in healthiful eating..and I'm so excited. Some out of the ordinary items we bought today were: Leeks, Grapeseed oil, Salmon packets, ground ginger, and organic black beans. We LOVE black beans but have officially moved on to the organic, pesticide-free ones.

Oh, one more thing. That jean skirt I'm wearing. I'd wear it every day if I wanted to do laundry more than once a week. So when I'm not wearing it, I wear my blue or khaki Gap cotton stretch skirt. Why? Because I LOVE skirts in the summer--for me and my girls. As soon as it gets warm enough to wear sandals, I'm wearing a skirt. And, what would I do without my friend Kristi who informed me that Oprah says it's ok to wear jean skirts until you are 35. I have a good 7 years to go. But to be honest, I don't give a lick what Oprah says anymore.

That's it for now folks. I have roughly 22 more stories about this picture. But, the little girls are up from their naps and...."babies gotta eat."

Wordless What day is it anyway?

Easy

Ohhh. See! The weather warms up and we're back into last year's routine of packing a lunch, running a few errands, and stopping at the park to play the morning away. And although we have 43 lbs of extra baby and a few more diapers joining us, look how easy it is!

See, easy, easy, easy. Each specially wrapped PB&J was gobbled down along side a single baby carrot, pickle, some apple slices, and Monterey Cheese. Minus a few jelly handprints atop my shoulder from the unrestrained 2yearold, such a snap of easyful easyness.

Both children forgot about how easy it is to want what the other has--just because... and they played together pleasantly. How easy! Let me just lay* back on my fuzzy blanket, start brainstorming my 'to do list, and bask in the easyness of it all.

That is...until I realized how uneasy it makes me feel when my explorative 10montholds shove chunks of wood chips in their mouths.

..and how uneasy it is to keep two busy bodies from shoving everything they touch--in their mouths. But really. How can anything be anything but easy when you're enjoying sunshine and 65 degree weather at the park?

*kidding. Do you actually think I'm able to take my eyes off of our 4under3 for more than 2 seconds at a time?

I always knew they'd be famous.

Julia and Luke are sportin' their hip Resadesign product in this photo. Every mother has a favorite item to dress their child in, right? Don't you? These two shirts are my favorite. And believe me, they wear them often.

And what's almost as fun as dressing my scrumptious sweeties in these shirts---it's winning contests because of them.

We sent a picture of our little models over to RD's April Giveaway Contest, and we won!!! (But really, how could we not?!)

...Now to go shopping with our prize money.

Regardless..it's a wonderful day.

Yeah! I'd say each day gets easier and easier for our family of 6. Like today. It ran much smoother than, say, a day 2 weeks after the twins were born. But occasionally, we have our bumps in the road. Like yesterday!

Now that I'm trying to think back at what exactly made the bumps in the road, I can't remember, but I do know that come 7 o'clock, I was ready to tuck everyone in tightly and throw myself on the couch, or better yet in bed.

Oh yes!
Now I remember one bump. The little girls have colds. The kind where if you miss a wipe for 10 little minutes, the unwiped has made its way to their chin. This didn't seem to bother Hazel, but Norah verymuchso. This little cold kept my fabulous sleeper from her first love---sleep. I knew right away when she woke half way through her 2 hour afternoon nap that something was very wrong. And since she had been pulling on her ear all day, I was sure what it was. Seven o'clock came along and I figured she would be reaching for her crib. And she did, until she was laid down in it. While Hazel drifted off quickly and quietly, Norah did the opposite.

Now you have to understand the twins. In the arena of sleeping, they've followed in their siblings footsteps. When they turned 2 months old, they were taught that their crib was their friend and they'd be seeing it on a regularly scheduled basis. It took almost a month, but since then they go down willingly and wantingly. (I love making up my own words on my blog.) So when Norah put up a fight against this cozy favorite of hers, I figured she was in pain. Ahhhh. Not the Urgent Care!

To make a long story...shorter, I took little "Norie" across town, waited for an hour in the waiting room, got skipped over accidentally, waited another 15 minutes, was called back to a tiny, uninteresting, quiet, boring room, and waited another 45 minutes to actually see the doctor.
All the while I was praying God would sugarcoat my facial expressions, and blow sweet, understanding phrases out of my mouth when conversing with the staff there. A double dose of patience would have been nice, too, since I unfortunately don't have much of it when it comes to messing with my 7 o'clock-10 o'clock unwind/rejuvinate/refresh/pump me up for the next day/do what I want to do...block of time.

Then, a wonderfully compassion doctor opened our door to see us. What a honey he was. So gentle with Norah. So calm and collected. He checked her over and said what I thought only was said in dreams. Bad dreams. "Her ears are fine. She just has a cold. This is the worst of it, so expect it to be better soon." Ahhh. Ahhhh. It's 10 o'clock and we waited over 2 hours for a 2 minute visit with the doctor???

We packed up and headed home. Norah was such a little trooper. She did a great job putting on her happy face 3 hours past her bedtime. I on the other hand needed a little pursuading. Which is just what I got when we walked in and I found this waiting for me on the kitchen table.



Almost instantly, my impatience vanished, my irritability departed, and I was thinking, "What a great day!"

Neck and Neck

When the girls first learned of their ability to mobulate in the crawling position, they both went their separate ways. The reason being is that the minute you put Hazel* down she was off beelining it to the farthest corner she could find, while Norah* normally ventured only a few short feet from us. That's where she would decide to sit back up and just enjoy the show. But how could you blame the girl? Carrying 2 whole, extra, pounds is a lot of work.

However, now we're finding that wherever one is, the other is also. Norah has moved her speed up a few notches allowing her to, literally, hold her own weight a little better. Here...some examples. If we're playing in the loft (which is where the above picture was taken) and the kids' bathroom door is open, the little girls' faces light up with glee as they kick it into high gear in hopes of reaching the toilet before I notice. If they're not playing in the bathroom, they're following eachother around from room to room. If we're in the kitchen, they follow eachother around the island like a little mini, 2-person marching band. Their favorite spot to stand is at the windows while staring out at the flapping umbrella on our deck. And, if we're in our bedroom, they're both shoulder-to-shoulder pulling toiletry items out of daddy's bathroom drawers. I do love watching them interact, which is becoming more and more often. Lately they have been squaking at eachother when they are face to face.

To have a built in highchairmate, tubmate, cribmate, strollermate, not to mention a playmate from day one....what in the world would that feel like?

*Hazel on left, Norah on right. How many of you knew that?

I Just Can't Help Myself

Almost every night, right before I crawl in bed, I go downstairs and check on Norah and Hazel. I make sure their room is the right temp, that one is not crowding the other in a corner of their crib, and that...well, they're still there. And don't you agree, babies look so much bigger and older when they're sleeping? I can't help but pick each one up and snuggle together in their rocking chair for a few moments before I leave their room. During the day if one or the other isn't hanging out with me in the frontpack, I get NO cuddle time with them. They're at the stage where they have to go, go, go. So, I get my cuddle time with them while they're somewhere off in dreamland.

Like last night, I picked Norah up first and we rocked in the dark. She's our hard sleeper, so she didn't even break in her heavy breathing pattern while I was kissing her cheeks, rubbing noses with her, and smelling her nighttime baby breath. She laid motionless in my arms as I stared at her. "Were you my little Baby A," I whispered as I snuck in for another smooch. To think she was my "head down, bigger baby, solid puncher, photogenic one" just a little over 10 months ago. After about 4 or 5 minutes of rocking, Hazel lifted her head from the crib. As her eyes focused and she saw what was going on, she flashed her intoxicating smile and shook with excitement. That's when I laid Norah back down and switched babies. Except, this time I took Hazel out into our basement living room to snuggle with daddy. Both girls love their daddy, but Hazel shows it more intensely. As soon as she lays her eyes on him she squeaks, smiles, giggles, and shakes her entire body. And that's exactly what she did when she saw him sitting on the couch. She got a few minutes of kisses and hugs from daddy, then she was right back in her crib joining her sister in dreamland.

This bedtime routine has always been my favorite. Even back when Julia was a baby. I think of it as my relaxation session-without the water, bubbles, and candles. Who needs a whirlpool tub when you can get your snuggle on with the last two babies of your family?

My Favorite Singing Artists

As you may already know, I love music. If I'm not singing, humming, or beatboxing during the day, I have the radio set to our Christian station from town, or I'm streamlining KTIS on the computer. Julia and Luke have surely inherited/picked up on those traits and seem to be following suit. Grandma Net's Children video songs are often heard flowing from Julia's lips, and Luke's known for singing himself to sleep before naps and bedtime. Here are my favorite artists doing a little acapella.

Hazel's Wordless Wednesday

Walks

There are few things better than: an early morning pushing/pulling walk with your children, while the sky is cloudless, the sun is warm enough to wear flipflops, capris, and a short sleeved shirt, the birds are serenading you down the sidewalk, and the smell of spring is in the air.

(An early evening walk with daddy down a conservation trail, along side Mallards and sprouting flowers is another.)