Sigh

This is a really hard job, girls. I'm so tired.

Home At Last!

After seven days of driving we are here! Had a couple of complications upon arriving but all is well now! Yeah! We are home!!!

Bathing Suit Shopping

I'm guessing most of you cringed just reading the Title of this blog. Nikki and I went together last night and let me tell you if you have to buy a bathing suit going with a friend is the way to do it! I have not laughed that hard in a long time. Our first stop was Old Navy, we were guessing it was a long shot but thought we'd try anyways. We both grabbed "sexy" one pieces, the kind with seriously plunging fronts. Well lets just say I don't think "the girls" are supposed to be hanging to your stomach in those suits, Nikki and I pretty much fell over laughing at the sight of our post nursing breasts in those suits. So after attempting again at Marshals for a suit Nikki had the great idea to go somewhere that catered to woman not teens. We headed to Nordstroms where yes the price tags were much higher but so were "the girls"! Thank the Lord for underwire! We found some really cute suits that we felt pretty good in and will look pretty good poolside in Vegas!

This is my Life

"Hi there, what did you do today?"

"I Cleaned my kitchen."

"What else did you do?"

"I cleaned my Kitchen. I Cleaned my Kitchen. I Cleaned My Kitchen!"

Road Trip (Catch Up)!

I have not had internet the past three nights so I will provide a slide show of sorts to catch you up! These three days and nights were as follows: San Antonio, Tx to El Paso, Tx then El Paso, Tx to Tucson, Az then Tucson to Lake Havasu City, Az and today we went LHC to Bakersfield, Ca.

Gotta Love TEXAS!!!

Not a good idea to hand a toddler a Kleenex and leave her unattended for a few moments. We had to pull over and fish this out of her nose. Hopefully she learned!

Sweet (toothy) Smiles!

Couldn't resist capturing these adorable little buns!

Fun in the El Paso sun!!!

Now in Tucson! The cacti are so cool to see, out of the ordinary for us!

The sign Andy has been waiting for! We ate at In-N-Out in Phoenix!

This is the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Az. I learned that this is the original London Bridge from England. In the 1960's it was taken apart piece by piece and shipped to Az.
Here we are having dinner at a brewery. This is where I took the above pic, great dinner view!
Here is a park on the lake, it is beautiful! It was hotter 'n hadies - 106 degrees. Yuck!!!
We decided to endure the unbearable heat long enough to document ourselves! :)
Yeah!!! California Dreamin'!!!
A Joshua Tree in Southern California!

We are in Bakersfield tonight and will leave early in the morning for our last day of driving!!! Tomorrow we will arrive at Travis AFB! This is very exciting to us - the moment we have been waiting for for over a year and a half!

Wordless Wednesday

Things That Are Happening When The House Is Quiet

Guilty Pleasure

In our house the worst shows, after soap operas, are "Reality Shows" J man can't stand them with quite a passion, too staged, too preying on emotions and too reminiscent to the Romans and the Coliseum. That said, my new guilty pleasure that I have fallen for is the reality show starring Tori & Dean. Previously known as "Inn Love" now "Home Sweet Hollywood". What sucked me in was the fact that she has an almost 1 year old and is 6 months pregnant with the second! I love baby drama, it makes my life seem easy! Then after watching it I thought they were so sweet to each other and it was cute and well I got hooked in and even watched the Marathon of it the other night. What a way to waste 3 hours!

What's your guilty pleasure?

Mom, I'm so itchy!

He's playing it up for the camera, but he is so miserable!

Rabbit Hunting and Scarlet Fever: It's like I'm in Western

Weird couple of days. Let me go back a couple of years first though, to add to the weirdness. Noah used to be obsessed with making spider webs out of thread. One day (about 2 years ago) he made one in a bush. That evening he ran in upset saying that there was a dead rabbit outside. Well, when we went to look, yep you guessed it - It was all tangled up in Noah's "web". I think it had had a heart attack. Skip forward a couple of years to yesterday. I went outside to check on Noah and found him very upset. "Mom", he said, " I threw a rock at a squirrel and it turns out it was a rabbit. I think it's dead!" Sure enough, girls. At age 7 my son has accidentally killed two rabbits. I'm pretty sure people starving in the wild have been unable to throw a rock at a rabbit and kill it, or snare one in a hand-made trap for that matter! Noah also has had a sore throat for a couple of days and broke out in a HUGE rash that has spread all over his body. I suspected scarlet fever and I was right. We just got back from the doctor. Brant is out of town leaving me to care for the homestead and my eldest son has scarlet fever, but at least I know we won't starve! Rabbit stew anyone?

Visitors

Alright Family, Friends, and Strangers, since installing our hit counter a few days ago we now know what we've long suspected...you are out there! Please everyone feel free to leave comments if you want.....as long as they are nice that is :) Don't feel your eavesdropping or uninvited however you've found us we would love to hear from you!

First Zoo Trip

Yesterday was our first family outing to the zoo and it ended up being a
pretty perfect day. Warm but not hot, relatively rested kids and not ridiculously crowded. The girls loved seeing all the animals and everything was either a "Woo-Woo" (which is their word for Dog) a "Ki-Ki" (Cat) or a "Bir" (Bird). Their little fingers were constantly pointing at things and they couldn't take it all in fast enough. J and I had fun too and it was one of those days where everything is lovely and you love being a family.



Kaelyn and I monkying around (haha)







Elyse wondering "Is this thing real?!!" Kaelyn wondering "Whats up there?"





This is us falling into the pull of the zoo store
or should I say me...I insisted we get them
something for their first official zoo trip. I promise
it won't happen next time and look how happy
they are!! They didn't let those things go the rest
of the day, slept with them last night and are
presently carrying them around!! (I know I'm a
sucker)


Last interesting tidbit about our trip happened while the girls were
eating lunch. They were sitting in their wagon and J and I were sitting on
a bench. I was watching the people walk by who were watching the girls, they were getting lots of "ohh how cute" and waves and were waving back.
One couple walked by and the girls waved at her she smiled, waved at them and nudged her husband to look at them. He smiled, she waved bye and they went on. As they were moving on I noticed her cute leather bag. As they walked away a guy walked up to us and said, "That was Conan O'Brien!" then some teenagers went chasing off after them and a few minutes later came back in our direction. J asked them if they talked to him and they said they just said "Hi" but he wasn't doing pics or autographs and obviously trying to not draw a crowd. Anyway that was our little celebrity moment. His wife is from Seattle...I wondered if their kids were somewhere in the zoo with someone else and if they had to take off because they had been recognized, kind of sucks being "famous" sometimes, not sure it's a price I'd want to pay.

So there is our zoo adventure! We can't wait to go again!

One Year!

Look at the difference one year can make! The one pic was taken this time last year and the recent one was just this past weekend. Amazing!

Road Trip Day #1 - San Antonio, Texas

Here is the family and how each of them pass their time in the car!




All right. We have come to some very note-worthy conclusions for those of you who may take extended trips as young families. Conclusion #1: If you chose to pump your self and your children full of fast food crap for the duration of your road trip, tac an extra TWO hours onto your travel time. We drove a supposed 7 hour trip today that took us 9 hours. Three stops to the tune of 2.25 hours. Discouraging!
Conclusion #2: Yoga is possible while driving in the car, scratch that, van 70 mph down the freeway. Let me explain. Unbuckle your seat belt, turn around and face the wee-ones in the backseat, straddle the center console and place one foot on your seat and one foot under your husbands leg on the drivers seat, stand up and bend over while leaning all the way back to reach the pacifier that has been thrown to the floor on the far back side near the sliding door. This is down-face dog - road trip style!

What?! Not again!

I was in a funky part of town full of funky people (of course) and I saw a funky cool guy (I say this so you know he was definately not a nerd) anyway HIS PANTS WERE TIGHT ROLLED! Is this coming back? You know what I'm talking about, right? The fold over and roll up method we so meticulously used in elementary school? I guess it was inevitable. I said I would never wear bell bottoms, and most of my pants are flare (which is just a modern bell bottom). I said then that I would never wear tapered jeans and I love my urban outfitter skinny jeans (which are just the modern taper). Am I doomed to return to the tight roll? Whether or not it is returning, I have just confirmed the fact that I'm getting old by acknowledging my own mortification at a fashion trend from my younger years resurfacing.

Triathlon Training

So I don't know how updated I've kept you all with my triathlon training but so far swimming has been by far the hardest thing for me. (Granted our first bike ride isn't until this Saturday...) The first three times we went I felt I was drowning with the amount of water I seemed to suck in and I swear I don't know how I was doing it but somehow I managed to feel like I was tripping in the water. I'd be swimming along fine (well at least moving forward) then all of a sudden my arms, body, and legs seemed to tangle with the water. Sounds weird but that is how uncoordinated I sometimes felt. Then last Thursday it all kind of seemed to click together and I was finally doing it, I was swimming! It felt great! Then the busy Father's Day weekend hit and then PMS and then a case of Blizzardites (that's the absolute need to eat a Snickers Blizzard and life can not go on until you do) and we didn't get back into the pool until this past Wednesday thankfully I think I've hit the point where I now "have it" and though there may be times I "lose it" I can seem to get back in the swing of things...or should I say the swim of things (haha). So anyway now for a little bragging, Nikki and I swam 1/2 a mile both Wednesday and Thursday and then promptly ran 2 miles! Go us! I'm loving feeling like I'm training for something as opposed to just exercising. It makes it about strength not weight. Just for an FYI our triathlon is on August 17th, the day after I turn 30! WooHoo! Anyway this is such a big part of my time and thoughts right now so just wanted to share how it's going.

The Tatt!

The house is messy in these photos! The tatt's a bit shiney and new, the green will fade a little when it heals, but . . . Here it is! Big, huh?

Oh, summer!

My favorite part of every day:
Brant comes home with Noah pulled behind his bike (He's been taking Noah to Science camp that way every day this week). Noah goes to the playground with his friends. Brant puts Juan on his back and I put Ruby on mine. We head out to the garden with a big bowl and gather spinach, lettuce, dill, and basil and maybe do a little weeding. Then we walk back home, collect Noah sometimes, and go inside to make an amazing fresh salad. We all sit down to dinner together and then most nights go back outside to play for a while. In the middle of winter when it was below zero outside, I dreamed of days like these. I am going to enjoy every minute of it!

Wordless Wednesday

They love playing with their silk scarves, it's hilarious because they can see through them and they run all over with them on their heads.

This is Elyse's idea of getting dressed.

Online for Now

Well here I am. As you know, my internet has been down for two weeks! ANNOYING!!! I am going to catch up and post a bunch of stuff I have been saving up. Also, we are moving out of our apartment on thursday and leaving for our roadtrip on friday! Wish us luck! I'll be in touch! :)

Climber!

Pretty resourceful for an 8 month old! I couldn't believe when I found him like this!!!

Tu-Tu!

Abigail has finally decided to try on her new tutu she got for her birthday from Antie Aly!

Progress Report!

Abigail has moved to the big potty! She loves it! The first two days she spent most of her time in the bathroom! Yeah for us - we don't have to clean out the little potty anymore!

Father's Day Went Out With A Bang!

Well, FD was good. We sort of celebrated all weekend. Sunday evening we were at a friends house and had a crazy situation happen. Someone knocked on the door and the girl who's house we were out (Tina) answered and turned around a said to call 911. I got Andy's attention and sent him to the door, he was oblivious to what was going on at the front door because we were kind of in the back of the house. Long story short, Tina's next door neighbor had shot herself and then ended up coming to Tina's door! It was touch and go for a while because we didn't know she had shot herself. One of the other girls that was there helped me get my kids upstairs in a back bedroom because we thought we were in danger. After six cop cars, two ambulances, and a fire truck showed up the situation was summed up and determined that she had shot herself, actually attempted suicide. Andy got some real life experience! He assessed her and aided her until the officials arrived. It scared me to the point of trauma and nausia (seriously). The idea that a dangerous and armed person was somewhere between us and the next house and my babies were there was not easy for me to handle. After all, it was okay but I'll tell ya - it was not a nice way to end the day.

Stuffocation

So I just listened to a sermon entitled "Stuffocation" from Stacy's church and the whole time all I could think about was these 2 picture frames I had just bought at Target for $2.50 each. I bought them because a) they were cheap and b) they are "summery" and I don't have any "summery" frames so I thought they would be cute with some 4th of July pics in them. Talk about marketing working on me.

The thing is I have perfectly good frames sitting on my mantle that I could just change the pictures out of to update instead of having spent $5 on ones that will probley chip in a ridiculous short span of time and end up at the goodwill (since I would feel too guilty throwing them away). For me that is what I have to be careful of, things that are cute and cheap, whether it's shoes, picture frames, or a shirt. The idea that these goods are just disposable is such a lie.

Hapy Dada D

The girls' handiwork

My handy artwork

Yum

That's about what I was able to get Kaelyn to say (the title) it was pretty darn adorable. We had a great Father's Day. Started off with strawberry waffles which is one of J's favorite breakfasts, I'd made a sign that took up our big wall in the kitchen and we had presents sitting at the breakfast table, all nice and festive. After breakfast J opened his presents from the girls and I. First was art projects from the girls so adorable if I do say so myself and second a bad ass knife from me. (his pick) We then headed downtown and walked around the sculpture park and Pike Place Market taking a break to have fish and chips for lunch. It was the first really beautifully day in a long time and there were tons of families out enjoying it and people wishing Dads "Happy Father's Day!" really nice and small town feeling , for the city that is :). We finished off the afternoon with naps at home and then had yummy fajitas for dinner. A great day...one I wouldn't mind having :)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

We are all so blessed to have men in our lives who are such wonderful Father's to our children.

Finger Painting

So we got home from the park and dinner this evening and I stripped the girls down and decided to work some more on the finger painting projects I'm doing for Father's Day. Elyse had her turn and once I got her cleaned up I got Kaelyn up in the chair for her turn. Kaelyn is happily playing with the paint as I hover over her to make sure it goes on the canvas as much as possible. I hear Elyse start fussing but don't really pay any attention to it until a minute later when it turns to crying. I look down and yes you've guessed it she was finger painting on the floor with her poop. I let out some sort of strangled sound and because I have Kaelyn's hands trapped in mine, as she had started getting a little wild, I am practically flinging her into the sink to clean off her hands and yelling "Yuck, Yuck!" at Elyse hoping it doesn't end up in her mouth. I then throw Kaelyn into their room close the door to contain her grab Elyse throw her in the tub and quickly wash her off. They are both screaming bloody murder and of course all the windows are open and there are people outside with a moving van who I'm sure are thinking "What are we moving into!". Anyway once E is clean I throw them both in their cribs with some books so I can clean up the floor (thank you God it was on the tile!). So there you go that was how I spent my "Friday" night now I need some W & C's!

30 in Vegas 40 in Italy

Yes, we haven't even made it to Vegas and I'm already dreaming of where I want us to all go for the big 40th and Italy is the hands down winner. I saw this place in a magazine and I'm drooling over it.

http://www.terredinano.com/

The To Do List

1) Have a quiet time
2) Exercise
3) Sort bills
4) Pay bills
5) Clean master bathroom
6) Clean kids bathroom
7) Vacuum
8) Clean slider
9) Wash kitchen floor
10) Clean ridiculous pile of magazines and catalogs that have built up!
11) Make dinner

Do all this while caring for 17 month old twin girls.

Hmm....anyone think I was feeling a little optimistic when I wrote this last night, or maybe deranged is a better term!

Wordless Wednesday

Like Father Like Daughter

(this pic screams J)

Big Brown Eyed Covered in Hummus Girl

Flight of the Conchords- Business Time

In honor of our romantic blunders! Brant and I laugh so hard at this!

In the middle of...

Latest non romantic blunder of mine...

me "You know what sounds good?"
him "what?" ( I'm sure thinking along certain lines)
me "A BLT!"
him "Laughs" (thankfully my hubby has a good sense of humor)

Advice, please.

Juan has always been a fabulous sleeper. Generally around 11-12 hours at night and a 2-4 hour nap in the day. Sometimes more. When I put him down for a nap, he usually hugs his ducky and bear close and smiles at me often saying, Bye Bye or Night Night. So . . . for the last two days he has absolutely FREAKED OUT when I put him to bed. He sobbs sooo hard. I have tried to let him cry it out, but he will stand crying to the point that he starts to fall asleep standing up, but still won't stop sobbing. I even let him cry in 1/2 hour increments , which both of you know feels like an eternity when a kid is crying so hard. I had to let him fall asleep in my bed last night and now as I type (at 10:30 p.m.) he is still lying awake on the couch. It is like he's afraid of his crib or his room. I'm sad for him. I'm worried for his health. I'm sad for me! Help, girls! To top it off Brant is gone 3 nights every week throughout June and then we go to Chile and I leave this child with my poor unsuspecting family. Let me know what you guys think.

Comic strip