Home and Brides

Don't you be worrying your pretty little heads-

We made it home safely.

We got in around 7pm on Friday. My bum was happy to be out of the car. Very, very happy.

I haven't found my camera in Ruthie's car since. It is playing hide and seek. I'm losing. Otherwise I would have uploaded my state-by-state signs. Needless to say, we went through the final states to get to Ohio.

Thursday night at the hotel I woke up in the middle of the night to tinkle and thought "ohh! I should turn on the TV to see if the wedding has happened!" So.... I turned it on and surprise, surprise- Kate Middleton was getting out of her car and getting ready to walk down the isle!!! I was like "RUTHIE! RUTHIE! Get up! The wedding is starting!!"..... and so we watched the wedding together. It was fun. Every little girl's fairy tale. After the wedding, we fell back asleep. Sweet, sweet, kid-less sleep.


When I got home, I let my girlies watch the footage of the wedding. It was stars in their eyes- and weddings in their heads.

Saturday morning Nunnums went to the thrift store and bought some fancy schmancy sparkle filled dresses, I dug out my wedding dress from the closet (which I'm pretty sure hasn't fit me since I saw that little line turn blue on the stick for the first time.......um..... 9 years ago?) and Ruthie got to try it on and play in it.

We thought: Photo shoot!!







Maggie decided that her dress was too itchy..... so she just put on her other dress instead.

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All of the posing has made the girls need a wedding cake.

Guess what I'll be making tonight.....

Day 3

Today was a long day.... like 659 miles long.....

We made it through the rest of Nebraska... then onto Iowa, Missouri, and finally we are resting our head in Illinois.

As we were driving along- we needed gas, a potty break, and some food in the tummy..... the next exit on the road just so happened to be Cozad, Nebraska.

It turned out to be the most awesome decision that we made all flippin' day.

After gassing up we saw this funny little Mexican restaurant......
With an enormous, life size, cement elephant in the front.

upon closer inspection, it also had a half dozen faded cement deer & a happy brown bear that were CHAINED to the elephant's leg! But wait... there's more!.....

There were fake flowers attached to the twigs-that were once called plants- AND... AND..... the topping to this awesome find is: a giant pile of POO, made out of cement was under the elephant's tail.

I know, right?! Awesome!

Ruthie and I struck up conversations with the lady at Dairy Queen, where we found out some awesome stuff about the town.... like the fact that the owner of Dairy Queen was the one who put the cement under the elephant's bum....

and some more little odd facts about the town.

Ruthie and I were so fascinated by this dinky little hole of 1500 people. We decided we needed to investigate the town a little more... so we ventured into "downtown".


They have a Robert Henri museum.- apparently Robert's family liked making towns....
There is one stoplight in the town. They have a soda shop, a Chipper Hall (I like calling Chip- Chipper.... so it made me think of him... awwww....), a run down theatre- who's posters said the last showing was of Open Season , which opened in 2006, a mural, an antique store that's only open on Saturday.... and a few other little things. It had us smitten.

All the locals were soooo friendly.

They also told us that on Pump 7 at the gas station- the 'secret' that just the locals know of, is that it's 5 cents cheaper per gallon- just FYI to anyone going to Cozad, Nebraska....


It was quite an adventure.



On the plus side.... Louise was much, much calmer today. Thank goodness for kitty drugs......

Days 1 & 2

I'm not going to lie.... if you don't like 'vacation pictures'.... you won't much like this post. Sorry. But I hope you'll stick around anyway.

Tuesday morning was a little difficult. I think it started by only getting like 3.5 hours of sleep... and having Captain Kangaroo fly the airplane into Chicago. That plane bounced and bounced and it was a little nerve wracking.

On my flight from Chicago to Salt Lake City..... my emotions got the best of me. I broke down crying three separate times. I cried because I felt guilty over leaving the kiddos. I cried because I was missing Chip (sappy!), and finally, I cried when I saw the beautiful, majestic Rocky Mountains from the airplane. I haven't seen those gorgeous mountains in three long years. It was so nice to see them again. You never realize how much you miss the simple things that remind you of home.


As our plane was about to land the pilot came over the speaker and said " For those of you who are continuing onto Vegas- you're in for a treat, Warm weather, sunny skies, and happiness for all. For those of you who have to get off the plane in Salt Lake.... HAHA! It's snowing!"

And it was.....

Guess what I packed? Capri's, short sleeved shirts, and one pair of sandals. What was I thinking?

My Sis-in-law, Leah picked me up from the airport. We did a slow-mo-run-to-each-other-with-over-exaggerated-movements-into-a-hug.... It was awesome. I think the people in the Taxi line were a little worried over our mental health.

After Leah picked me up she took me out to lunch at the most delicious place.... The Garden- which is in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. (BEAUTIFUL building!) They even had butter in little balls on the table... with fresh roses...

We went out of our comfort zone, and got their specialty dish...... deep fried pickles. They were actually pretty darn good. Odd.

This was our view during lunch.
The Salt Lake Temple. Breath taking.


Leah and I. (Fun fact- for those of you who don't know: Leah and I graduated in the same high school class.... AND We both got married on the same day, just a few hours apart. How fun is that?!)

Sweet little Ian. Holy cow this little man is so darn cute! He was a little stinker- he would talk and talk and do deep hearty giggles.... and you would bring out the camera- and he'd pull this face. You can tell he's going to have TONS of personality!

This is Rylan. I haven't seen this guy in 3 1/2 years. He's grown a little since then. He's so charming and hilarious. I brought him a fart noise machine thing- exactly what every 7 year old boy wants.... and he'd go around sticking out his little bum bum, hold the toot machine behind him, and do a little booty wiggle. Sass-o-frass!

He and I got to play the Wii- he even taught me a few new moves. :D

At the end of the day, Leah brought me over to Brian and Sarah's place- where we got to have some silly times and lots of giggles.

Brian and Sarah treated us to old fashioned frozen custard. Holy Yum, batman! It was so darn good- I'm a convert.
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Wednesday morning I woke up to a kitty in my face.... and a nice fat cold in my nose and throat! BUMMER-Pile! Just what I wanted as I started out my long trip.....


I realized as we were pulling away, that I never took a single picture of Brian and Sarah- so I told Brian to pose as if Sarah were with him..... This is what he came up with. :D

..... and Ruthie and I were on our way!

If I haven't told you, Ruthie also has to bring her cat along with us on this trip....
Louise is her name. She is quite the unfortunate cat. She has lots of teeth missing, feline leukemia, and panic attacks...............

......... ohh, did I forget to mention, that when Louise has a panic attack, she drools profusely? Like buckets, and buckets of drool. Frothing bubbles of cat spit. Then she opens her mouth and pants during the middle of it. And.... of course, Louise didn't want to be in her kennel, she escaped and decided to do this on my lap.

Yum. Cat drool.

At least I was able to get pictures of her doing this... as it was quite funny.

Today we were able to get through Utah, Wyoming, and 1/2 way through Nebraska.
It was fun playing 'eye-spy' with Ruthie in the car through Wyoming.
"I spy something brown and circular"
"Sagebrush?"
"Yep! How did you guess?!" (It was the ONLY thing in Wyoming aside from clouds.)

There was even a beautiful double rainbow to greet us in Nebraska. Lucky us!

Until next time.....

(p.s. The kids are all still alive...... I think Nomi is getting 100 more grey hairs.....)

Panic Attacks and Car Rides

I have yet to be without my babies over night since they were born.... and I can count on one hand the nights that I've ever been away from he girls...... and yet.... I am leaving them for four days, starting tomorrow morning.

I'm starting to freak out a little.

It all started 2 weeks ago (shortly after my AHHHHHHH posts)- when I got a call from my mom-in-law wondering if I wanted to fly out to Salt Lake City and drive across country with my S-I-L, Ruthie. Mom said she would come and stay with the kiddos if I wanted to do something like that. Since it was during my little melt down moment, I instantly said "HECK YES!"

The flights got booked shortly after.

I am now about to pick up my mom-in-law from the airport in about 45 minutes, then I need to pack, do dishes, and I'm off at o'butt-thirty in the morning to the airport.

While I know my kiddos will totally be okay, after all Chip will still be here, and my mom-in-law has successfully-without killing anyone-raised 5 kids of her own...... I'm still nervous. Heck, we get babysitters like 2 times a year... if that. I am just NOT used to not having my kiddos with me. This is going to be weird.

But what will be fun?
1) flight across country without children.
2) my sis-in-law Leah will be picking me up from the airport and I get to meet my new little nephew for the first time... and see my oldest nephew for the first time in like 3 years!! That will be so awesome!
3) I get to stay the night with my bro-in-law Brian and new sis-in-law Sarah while we are in SLC. They just got off their honeymoon- so they will be extra lovely and adorable. :D
4) I get to to a crazy road trip with my other sis-in-law Ruthie for like 3 days! ahahahaha... it's gunna be so super cool.
5) my in-laws are paying for the whole trip- so it's 'fun for free' week.

While I am going to miss my family like crazy, I'll also be surrounded with family- so I think I'll be okay.

This is a big step for me. From this week on I can never say "I can count on one hand the nights I've been away from my kids"... now I'll have to use both hands to count.

I can do this.

I'll be okay.

They'll be okay.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Easter

This year we started off our Easter celebration by doing a scavenger hunt in Giant Eagle. The little kid space (free babysitting= they know us by name, as we go there all the time.....)- put on a little hunt throughout the entire store.
While Michelle and Jason were out of town celebrating Jason's b-day (Happy B-day Jason!) Chip and I kept their two oldest kiddos for the night ....(these are Geneva's older sisters...... luckily there were no mishaps, and everyone kept their hair for the weekend.) We had such a blast running around the store, following clues, and filling our bags with treasures. :D

We decided to do our actual Easter dinner a week early, as Opa and Oma were in town. It's always more fun to celebrate holidays when family is in town.

Opa and Oma brought the kids a basket full of fun- that included these funny bunny ears w/matching bow ties. I tried for probably a full ten minutes to get a good group picture.....
these were the good shots.

Dexter and Miles weren't exactly happy about the ears. (which I think is pretty dumb, considering they look so darn cute with them on :D)

(Dexter w/Maggie and Miles w/Alli)

Maggie was giving herself bunny ears, while she was wearing bunny ears. It was a little redundant, but she thought it was hilarious.

After the ear shots- Alli cornered Miles with both of the bow ties, and made them into little hair bows. She was giggling the whole time. It was hilarious.
It's a good thing Miles just dealt with it........
these make for good blackmail in the future.

Aside from the completely burnt ham- we had a really fun Easter weekend. We even made Resurrection Rolls- an idea that my friend Rachel gave me. It made a good impression with the girls and they were really impressed when the marshmallow disappeared.


I hope you all had a fabulous Easter!

Answers-

Thanks everyone for playing "Ask Breezi"... it was a fun game and made me think-
then again, who likes thinking? It's exhausting. Totally exhausting..... but fun. Such a vicious circle.

Here's answers to your questions: (You're jumping up and down with excitement right now, huh?)

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Q: But I wanna know what happened to your weight loss posts and if you're still doing WW!
And I wanna know how you got to be so dang cool! :)

A: Well, first off- I just am cool. There's no rhyme or reason for it. As for the weight lost posts- well, it all started off with my scale getting jumped on a meeellllion times by two girls who thought the glowing numbers were awesome- and getting broken. Without constant checking in, I just am not motivated- and I totally sabotage myself- it's horrible. I need to get back on the boat. I need to. I need to conquer my emotional eating coping habits.
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Q: I want to know if, as a Mom, you think Maggie is more of a handful than your twin baby boys? Also, do you think that her beautiful red hair has anything to do with it, as I've heard red hair is the true sign of an energetic child.

A: I have always said that God sent Maggie down to me first- because if I can handle Maggie, I can handle anything. I am not sure if the red hair has anything to do with it- I just know that SHE is my crazy one. But.... just so everyone knows, so I can get this out there: Maggie is incredibly sweet. She is my snuggle bug. She is very tender hearted-and tries to make everyone feel happy. She is just a good little girl- aside from the awful compulsion habits she has....

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Q: WHEN THE HECK ARE WE GOING TO SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN??

A: Well, Lora- when are you getting your bum-bum down to Columbus?? (**crossing my fingers that you'll say tomorrow**)

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Q: May I have one of your babies? Please?

A: You take one- you have to take all four. Deal or no deal.

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Q: Ok, Breezi, with four kids, twin baby boys included, when do you find time to scrap book, quilt, do everything that a mom has to do, and blog??? You're my hero!

A: Thanks, Valeria. You're so sweet. :D And to answer your question..... I don't sleep. That's how I do it all. Well... I guess, to be truthful, I do sleep- but only about 4 1/2 hours each night. It's the only way I can get everything done.
I think the reason why I am driven to get everything done- is because I really feel passionate about the family history behind blogging (journaling) and scrapbooking.

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Q: My question is: If you had four hours all to yourself, how would you spend them?

A: Sleep. I've missed it lately.- and to have sleep without anyone bothering me, hogging my bed, or crying waking me up would be absolute heaven.

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Q: Can I ask two questions? I thought of another one this morning as I was attempting to look presentable. How do you find time every day to actually look put together? I am lucky to throw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I hardly ever do my hair or put on make-up!

A: Yep- Amy, You totally can ask two questions. And I'll answer them both. Lucky. :D
#1- I have perfected the 'messy bun'.... and wear it every day. It takes me all of .5 seconds to do it.
#2- I have to put on make up- as I look like a zombie without it. I don't want to scare anyone. Scaring people is against my policy.
#3- I don't ever 'put myself together'. My key to um... success... (if you want to call it that)... is I threw away all of my 'slummin' it clothes. I spent the first four years of being a mother as a frumpy mom. I never felt good about myself, I never was motivated to do anything, and I just wasn't as good as a mom (aka. lazy)- so I ditched everything frumpy (baggy shirts/sweats/hole-filled items/anything unflattering)- and treated myself (when there was a big sale) to some new clothes- and ta-da... there's nothing else to wear, but presentable stuff. Throw on a necklace and earrings- and you're "put together" in a snap.

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Q: I am trying to think of a good question but I can only come up with the typical swallow and a coconut one. So hows this-What is a really good question to ask you and then will you answer it?

A: I'd have to review Monty Python to get your swallow/coconut answer... (do they ever really figure out what type of swallow it was?)
Let's see... hum... a really good question to ask me? Okay, What's my favorite type doughnut?. The answer to that is Boston Cream. Yum. Love me some pudding filling with chocolate on top. :D (if anyone wants to bring some by- I'd be okay with that...... )

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Q: What in the world were you thinking when you came to church with your twins for the first time?

A: We had to get out of the house with the babies as some point...so why not then? Plus when the babies were just a few weeks old, they just slept a lot.
Twins really aren't as hard as I thought they would be. You just have to do everything twice. If I could do it, anyone can.

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Q: I want to know with all your scrapping, what do you ACTUALLY have done? (Because I do a lot of not getting anything finished. You know?)

And then.... What are your upcoming projects and thoughts on projects?

Since I don't know how big the digs are where you live, are you guys squeezed for space, especially with the double-baby paraphernalia ... and are you thinking of moving into something bigger anytime soon?

And finally, what are the chances you might head back to Idaho for a visit?? Because that would be a-mazing.

A: #1- What do I actually have done... humm.....well, I have scrapbooked up until 2008/2009 (and even a few pages of 2010 have been done! Woot!) Alli has about 8 albums, Maggie has 5, our wedding album is mostly done, Christmas albums, Chip's art project albums, and a few "family" albums (they didn't "fit" in Alli's or Maggie's.) I have yet to print a single picture of the boys yet, that I haven't mailed to family... so they still aren't technically alive yet. lol.

#2- upcoming projects? Let's see- I want to finish up my scrapbooking challenge project, and then do the 1st book of scrapbooking challenges (I'm working backwards). Plus I need to finish sewing a quilt that I made for Chip's bro's wedding, Finish about 4 block of the month quilts that are sitting around, Make two purses (for a Tim McGraw concert I'm going to! hehehe), finish all the un-scrapped pictures that are everywhere waiting to be done, Someday I want to sew the girls quilts for their beds, and there's always many, many, many more projects after that. I'm going to be lucky if I get caught up before I die. I can't wait for retirement.... hopefully I can get something done.

#3- Are we squeezed for space? Well... in two words: Heck Yes. We have just under 1000sq feet- with no basement, no dish washer, and the boys are sleeping in our room. Yeah... a little cramped. When we moved to Columbus we never, I mean NEVER thought we'd actually stay past the 2 years it'd take Chip to get through grad school at OSU. The Lord, of course, laughed at our plans. We had to stay.... but we never knew how long- and with not actually wanting to stay here, we never bought a place, because we never wanted to go through the process of not being able to sell our house (due to bad market), etc..... and all that shenanigans. So we just stayed in the same place. Our plans are to move to Idaho (Boise area) as soon as Telesaur "poofs" and we can make that our full time job. (prayers appreciated.)

#4- What are the chances of me visiting Idaho? well... hum... I haven't been home in almost 3 years. 3 years on the 4th of July to be exact. I haven't seen my dad since then either. Super sad. I would go back home in a heartbeat if I could- and we had the extra few grand to pay for all the plane tickets- and Chip could actually get time off to go with me, as I can't really fly with the two babies and two big kids by myself. That'd be air-travel suicide.

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Alright, that concludes "ask Breezi".

Thanks for playing!!

Until next time......

Opa and Oma

On Saturday night we had some awesome visitors show up at our doorstep. My grandparents drove from Virginia to come and play with us for a few days! Woot, Woot!!

I don't know what exactly happened, but I have more pictures of the fish at the zoo during their visit (thanks, Alli) than I have pictures of my grandparents with the kids. What the what?!

Since Opa and Oma were in town we decided to celebrate Easter with them- yeah, the bunny already came to our house.... I'll have to post pictures of that later- , but I was so ticked off.... before church I put the ham in the crockpot under the "warm" not 'high or low'... but warm. When we got home from church- my stupid ham was burnt to a crisp. Yummy. Toasted ham.
ugg. At least my rolls turned out perfectly.

Monday, Opa Rudi had to answer about a million e-mails for work, so he stayed at the hotel, while I took my grandma to my favorite quilt store. There was much drool pouring from our mouths.. pretty fabric everywhere, ideas forming for new projects, basking in the new fabric scent... (heaven!) I found a few yards of fabric that I absolutely needed, and when I turned my back, my grandma had paid for it for me! Even more of a score :D .... and then we went to Costco for lunch and to pick up some goodies- all of which she also paid for. (Grandma's are the absolute greatest!! Thanks, Grandma!)

I felt I needed to take a picture of the boy's first experience sitting in a shopping cart without their infant car seats. The Costco carts work perfectly for twins, but I'm a little concerned about what I'm going to do at other stores that don't have two seats.... I'll have to brain storm.

Speaking of storms.......
Tuesday we went to the zoo to play. It started out a little windy and cloudy... and turned into a massive downpour with thunder and lightening- which later that night turned into tornado warnings along with the sirens blaring all night long. Yippie.

So this is our group shot at the zoo- with our nifty umbrellas, dashing out towards the car.....

On Tuesday night we went out to our favorite Mexican restaurant. Super yum! The food was delish, the conversations were funny.... and Opa let Miles play with a new toy.....

..........his pocket knife.


...... and a butter knife too!

Opa is just giving Miles more options than just stupid baby toys. I think Miles will be a stronger person for it.

It was so funny how 'into' the knives Miles was.

Of course, we couldn't end the trip without the traditional leg rub between men.


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A big thanks to Opa and Oma for driving all that way to come and visit us! We had lots of fun!
We love you guys :D

Ask it.

It's that time of year again-
Ask Breezi.

Yep- here's your chance to ask Breezi (that's me... just fyi).... any question that you've been thinking about. (Well... ones that I would know the answer to, anyway.)

I will answer all of your questions on Friday night. :D

Get your thinkers thinking.... Let's have fun with it!

Visitors

One of the traits that I inherited from my mother is that I become a total freak a few days before someone comes into town to visit (You can have my dad and Chip testify to that one....)

It's not that I don't enjoy company to come over... because I totally do. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having people come and play!!!! I just tend to freak out (a little) and try to make everything white-glove- test- clean. I clean stuff after I've already cleaned it. I sweep the entire floor about 18 times a day until the company arrives. I vacuum about 5 times an hour until they arrive. I clean and re-clean the kitchen counters....

You would think this is good, right??

Wrong.

If a child drops so much as a wrapper I freak out- ALL OVER THE PLACE. If someone leaves a dirty dish in the sink- holy cow- I want to stab them with a steak knife. If someone ya know, does anything that causes me to have just one more ounce of work - it's grounds for that person to become a victim of my wrath.

I'm starting to think my children are picking up on this.....

As Maggie (a non-reader/just figuring out different letters) was playing with the alphabet letters on the back of the door today- I noticed she put this up:


Maybe I should chill out a bit....




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you're right, it'll probably never happen.

The Good and The Bad

It's against my very nature to ask for help. I hate admitting that I can't do it all. It's very defeating- and I usually feel depressed afterward. (I'm an odd duck, I know...)

After months and months (well... since the twins were born) my dear friend Michelle has been asking to help me by watching all of the kids so I can get stuff done. I've always said no.......

..... until yesterday.

This next week my grandparents are coming in town for a few days, and the next week my mom-in-law is coming to stay with the kids while I make a cross-country get-a-way trip with my sis-in-law (another story... don't worry, you'll get the details. It'll be a blast!).... So I decided I needed to get this place ship shape. Ya know, like cleaning my carpets (that haven't been clean since right before the babies have been born.... and have been peed on/poo'd on/thrown up on (by cat and baby alike) /spilled on/ you name it, it's been done to the carpet...) and also finally get the girls' room done after we got that bookshelf back in February. So I asked Michelle if the offer still stood. She said yes! Woot!

I drove the kids over to her house, went and picked up the carpet cleaner and away I went.....

I vacuum my house probably 5-7 times a week, sometimes twice a day..... but yesterday I moved all furniture, vacuumed baseboards, cobwebs, stairs..... I emptied the container before I started yesterday..... this was junk in the container is my after picture. Gross, huh? Grody, gross, gross.

I felt I needed to take a picture of my feet without babies crawling all over them. It felt soooo liberating to take a step without worrying who I was going to step on.

I was so excited to finally just be able to get all that stuff done. I even had a slight skip in my step....

I picked Alli up from school, got gas (at 84 cents a gallon- thanks to fuel perks!), and was on my way over to Michelle's house to pick up the rest of the crew..... when I got a call.

It's the call that no mother ever wants to get. Ever.

It made my heart fall to the pit of my stomach.

"Maggie cut off ALL of Geneva's hair".....
"All of it?!?!!".....
"Yep... all of it." ........

WHAT-THE-WHAT?!?!?!
Yep.. she totally did.

From what we can get out of Maggie... this is what she was thinking:
She and Geneva decided they loved each other so much that they wanted to get married, but they couldn't get married if they were both girls- so Geneva asked Maggie to make her a boy. They somehow managed to find a pair of kid safety scissors, and quietly-ohh so quietly- snip by snip, made Gen a boy. Maggie was sooo happy that she was able to help her friend that she proudly went and told Michelle and Jason (ear to ear grinning) "I made Geneva a boy!!"
Jason and Michelle weren't as proud of Maggie as she was... Apparently Jason was really really ticked off (rightly so...) and yelled a lot. He must have really been yelling- because now whenever the boys hear any loud noise or yelling- they start crying hysterically.

Michelle has also been crying-


I felt I needed to take a picture this morning of my feet how they normally are. Swarming with babies.



I'm never asking for help again. The fates just don't like me.....



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On other news- I bought a bunch of headbands today that I'm going to prettify all up for Geneva.

Comic....

I decided yesterday, as I was talking to my mom on the phone, that my life plays out like one reads a comic strip. A little mischief, some crazy in the middle, and a cheese ball punch line.

We have two baby gates at our house. One between the piano and cozy chair to block the boys from climbing up the stairs- and one in the hallway between the living room and kitchen area. Unfortunately for us, the one that is between the kitchen and living room is about 8 inches to short.

When we first put that gate up, the boys were deterred by the simple sight of a blocking object, and they never thought to look around and notice a gaping hole. Now that they have elevated their thinking status from "cute little slug slowly exploring the world around me" to " speed demon, what mischief can I get into" they have finally noticed that gap.

As I was on the phone with my mom I noticed that Miles has found his way through the gate and is now in the vast expanse of the kitchen (those who have seen my tiny kitchen can now laugh at the description). So I run in the kitchen, pick up Miles, and bring him back to the living room. I set him down in the furthest corner of the room, hoping that he would forget about the 'kitchen wonderland of wonder' and find the bear bell (My grandma Adah got the boys each bear bells- ya know... bells that hikers strap on them to scare away the bears. She said that if I clip the bells onto the boys, I'd be sure never to lose them. She's right... They are hard to lose while they jingle...... Ah ha hah ha... grandma cracks me up.) that he loves playing with. No sooner do I set Miles down, do I notice that Dexter is now in the kitchen grinning from ear to ear and shrieking with delight (a noise I can only describe as something that would be heard coming out of a velociraptor.) So I leave Miles in the living room to go get Dexter from the kitchen. I grab Dex, bring him to the farthest corner of the living room, set him down- and then notice that in the short 30 seconds it took me to grab Dexter and return him to the living room- Miles had again found his way into the kitchen. I kid you not... this repeated itself about 6 times. Miles then Dexter then Miles then Dexter..... The sad part was I couldn't block the stupid kitchen with what was in arms reach, so the maddening cycle just kept repeating itself.

My mom was laughing hysterically the whole time over the phone as I was growling in frustration. She's great for moral support like that.

Finally to stop the madness I gave them those little Gerber crunchies. God Bless the makers of those crunchies. They are my heroes.


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I now have a box (or three) blocking and re-blocking that little 8 inch gap. It might dampen their Lewis and Clark explorer's spirit for a week or so.... if I'm lucky.

Big Boys

(Dexter standing/ Miles kneeling)

Today I took the babies to their "9 month" doctor's appointment. Yeah... I know, they are 10 1/2 months old. They were too sick on their actual 9 month appointment date to go in and get their shots, and with our co-pay as high as it is, I wasn't going to go in and not get everything done all at once..... like-ya-know-what-I-mean?

So here are their stats:

Miles:
Weight: 22lbs 10oz (75%)
Height: 28 3/4 inches (50%)
Head: (50%) - I forgot to write down the actual size, but I do remember her saying the percentage....

Dexter:
Weight: 21lbs 6 oz (50%)
Height: 28 1/2 inches (50%)
Head: (50%)
(Dexter is the most average size baby out there.....)


The surprise of the day came when the doctor was examining these two little guys and diagnosed their rash.......

They have had a runny nose for the past 3 weeks- which I assumed due to the amount of drool these guys are spittin' out (They remind me a little of a bulldog- only with slightly smaller cheeks) that they were teething. About a week after the excessive amount of drooling- they both developed a rash all over their bodies. Small red bumps with little white circle rings around them, head to toe. I assumed that this was due to an allergy of some sort- most likely due to a new food, so I cut out all solids, and just gave them formula. Even with the amount of desitin and cool baths we were giving these babies- the rash never went away.

I called the dr's office on Monday to ask the nurse about it. She said it just sounded like a virus of some sort and to give the babies Benadryl and Aveeno anti-itching lotion. So I went out and got both. Boy howdy, do I ever wish that I can give these babies Benadryl for no reason... they slept TONS and TONS!! It was awesome- They each woke up to eat around 7:30... and then fell back to sleep until just after 9am! Woot!! (Guess who also slept in.... yeah... that'd be me.)

Anyway, today the doctor was looking at the boys and diagnosed the bumps:
Strep..... with a side order of yeast infection.

I had no idea that strep could be anything other than strep throat....the things you learn as parents.

So the babies are on some heavy doses of antibiotics and a prescription cream for their bum bums. Wheeeeee. (I'm so giddy, because I LOVE getting medicine spit out on me twice a day by two babies..... my new perfume is cherry flavored amoxicillin, just in case you want to copy me.)

So I guess I learned exactly why Miles scoots his bum across the floor- just like a dog does- every time he goes potty. Yeah... he's just itchin' the rash. (I really need to video tape that... it's pretty funny.... and yes, I laugh at his pain.)



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I was just tallying up the poundage that I get to carry with me everywhere:
2 babies: 44lbs even
2 car seats: 9.7lbs each (I had to look it up) = 18lbs 14oz
1 purse: 10lbs (You think I'm joking.... but just ask Michelle, she'll vouch for me.)
1 diaper bag : 10 lb
I'm hauling around 82lbs 14 oz.... and trying to wrangle Maggie at the same time......
and usually nobody opens the doors for me.

Under this arm flab... I'm pretty sure I'm packin' some big guns.

***Just something to think about: when you see a mom fighting her way in the door... ya might want to think about opening it for her... her load might be quite heavy.***

Sing Off.

Once you hit the 5th and 6th grades there were two prized jobs at school.

#1- Crossing Guard

#2- Lunchroom helper

I was so cool that I got to do both.

If you got chosen to be crossing guard, there was no real reward- other than having ultimate power when telling the grown-ups driving the cars that they had to stop. Heck- I got to wear an orange vest, hold a mini stop sign, and place some orange cones in the middle lines on the road. It was pretty pimpin'. I even got cocky most days and made people stop even when there were no kids actually there to cross the road. Then I'd stand in the middle of the two lanes with my mini-stop sign up and do a little booty shake for the adults. They would usually honk their horn and yell out the window that they would tell my mom of my behavior.....then yell something about being late....... but deep down, I knew they loved it.

If you got to be the lunchroom helper there were quite a few perks. You got a free lunch (holla!), you got to be excused to lunchtime 15 minutes early, and got to stay out at lunch 15 minutes later (set-up and clean-up), you got to serve the food (sometimes), and at the end of your shift you always got an icy cold chocolate milk- which at my school was only served on Friday, so it was a super treat when we got one when it wasn't Friday (We were convinced that if you shook your chocolate milk carton long enough with enough force, it would indeed turn into chocolate pudding.... which it never did anything other than get super frothy, but we always just chocked that up to not having enough time or strength to shake it into its true pudding like state.).

The down side to lunch room duty was that you actually had to work. There were three jobs. 1) scraping dirty plates into the garbage. 2) loading the industrial dishwasher. 3) unloading the dishwasher and stacking trays to be used the next day.

We never got to pick who was in the crew with us- it just got assigned. Imagine my horror when I got assigned to do lunchroom duty with my grade school nemesis.... Amy. (Que evil 'dun dun dun' music) We used to be best friends. We had the ritual sleepovers together-She got me a hermit crab for my birthday (without asking my mom if I could have a live animal as a present)- we had mini-yard sales together {we'd just go around the house grabbing random objects that either belonged to us or our parents, and set up a couple of card tables in the yard and hope that people would stop and buy stuff. We always made a few bucks... (Sorry mom... we did it when you were at work. You never knew... ha ha ha- I'm assuming when you live with me when you're old and senile, you'll probably pay me back.) }- and Amy and I also had one thing that we knew to be true in common: We were the best singers in the world. Like-In-The-Whole-World. We each knew that we got a bum break being born into such a small town and we'd never get to see the bright lights of Hollywood, because we had the meanest- most dream crushing- uncool- parents ever. (We were little honkey diva's.) Sadly, things turned south in our friendship due to a boy or something (who really knows now...except whatever it was I'm totally sure it wasn't my fault what so ever.) and whatever the offense was, it sealed the coffin on our friendship. F-O-R-E-V-E-R.

So there I was, just learning that Amy and I were assigned to lunchroom duty together. I brushed it off and decided to be the bigger person. I totally outsang that witch while I was scraping off dirty trays. All my friends agreed that I was better too (and probably louder). Looking back it felt a little like a scene from West Side Story- Sharks -vs-Jets.... There was some singing, some dancing, and of course, we each had our own entourage.

During the time frame that we had to work together in the cafeteria, we were also auditioning for the lead of a knock off version of Pirates of Penzance school musical. Ohh yeah. The music director, Miss Van Horn, told Amy and I that it was down to the two of us.

It was a sing off.

I'm sure the lunch ladies dreaded the time we entered the lunchroom during those two weeks.

First Amy sang the auditioning song, then I would sing it better. I was soooooo going to get the part. And it would go back and forth for our whole shift together.

When Miss Van Horn posted "THE LIST" of who got what parts..... I had to put my tail in between my legs and walk away shamefully. I didn't get the part. Amy made sure to rub it in- big time. I'm pretty sure that Miss Van Horn gave her the part because she pitied Amy. .... right?

At least I'll always have the memory of winning those two glorious weeks of sing offs- in which my scraper was my magical microphone to the souls of all those in the cafeteria.

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I'm totally over not getting that part.

Totally.



(but..... it should have been mine.)

Revelations From A Toilet Stall

I have been super blessed to have so many good things happen to me while in public bathrooms.

Today was no exception.....

As Alli and I were sitting in separate stalls in the Micro Center (computer geek nerd store- where we were hanging out for Family Home Evening.....) She felt she needed to get something off her chest.

The following is our conversation:


Alli: (in a really thoughtful voice) Mom, I really need to tell you something.
Me: Ohh yeah, Alli? What do you need to say?
Alli: Well, I've been noticing that I feel different. I've known for some time now....
Me: Oh yeah?
Alli: Yeah. I've known since I was born that I'm different from other people.
Me: (secretly wondering if Alli was going to 'come out'- so-to-speak). Really? How have you known you're different?
Alli: Well mom, I'm different from everyone- because I'm the Queen of the World.
(to which the lady in the 3rd stall started snorting like crazy, trying to keep in her laughter)
Me: Ohhhh really? Queen of the world, huh?
Alli: Yeah. Being the Queen of the world, well, it's hard for me to fit in with regular people.
(SHE WAS COMPLETELY SERIOUS, PEOPLE!! IT WAS HYSTERICAL!)
Me: I bet it's been super hard for you to relate to those around you, huh?
Alli: sigh...Yeah. It has.


(no wonder why Alli has a hard time fitting in at school! It's not because she's one of 6 white kids....nope... not at all....... it's because she's actually the QUEEN OF THE WORLD- and it IS really hard to relate to the peons all around her. My mind has been put to rest now that that mystery has been solved.)


Just so you know..... I have royalty in my family.

The rest of you are just peons.

If you would like to start paying your taxes to the Queen of the World, let me know, I'll give you my address.

The one about the talents

This topic (among many others) has been weighing on my mind lately.

Talents.

I'm not quite sure how to write about it, but I know it needs to be written.

Talents are important. Everyone has them. They can benefit just the person who owns them, or they can benefit multitudes. Talents are hard to obtain and easy to obtain all at the same time. .

Talents are even spoken of in the Bible. Yep... (Matt 25).... and you can take the Parable of the Talents in many ways- after all, parables as we know are stories that Jesus told that have many different layers, to be understood by all- but the deeper layers/meanings/understandings await within to those who are ready to hear it. But here, I'm just talking about the surface version of the talents... plain ol' whatcha can do good talents.

In my life I have been blessed with a wealth of knowledge by those who have taken the time and shared their talents with me. Whether the talent has been one of patience, teaching, coaching, listening, helping, whatev... They have been so kind to bless me with their talents.

When blogging was first introduced to me like 2 1/2 years ago by my friend Andrea, I was completely put off by it (You can totally ask her... it was gnashing of teeth.... ). First: Technology scares the crap out of me (Yeah... I don't even have a texting plan on my phone.... ), Second: Would anyone even be there to listen to my rants? Why would anyone in their right minds care about my life, Third (but most importantly): I never felt that I had a talent to write. I barely passed English (yeah.. my 1st language) with a C- and I only got a C because if I got any lower, I'd be grounded- like for-ev-a. I am very insecure about my writing. If there wasn't spell check (or online dictionary available), I'm pretty sure people would think I wrote like a total hillbilly, and most likely wouldn't be able to figure out what the heck I was saying.

I finally succumbed to blogging because Andrea made me. (I was the secretary for our Young Woman's group at church- and it was a way to write down the minutes of our meetings.... ) And let me tell you what. I will be eternally grateful for Andrea, as she was the one who showed me the way.

Not only have I been able to keep a personal record of my family's history (which we are encouraged to do by our church), but it helped me through a very, very rough patch- I struggle with depression- and by writing down my thoughts and feelings- it helps as a therapy of sorts, it has also helped me to find some wonderful dear friends that I've met through the world of blogging, and finally it also helped my talent of writing. (Not to brag or anything- but several people have said I should write a book! HA! Could you just imagine? It'd be called "Chicken soup for the crazy person's soul.... cause if you're reading this, you must be crazy." How's that for a title! hehehe)

Another talent that I have been working on is my talent of singing. I mentioned a while ago that I joined a community choir back in the fall. (I'm a 2nd soprano... in case you wondered.) I have always loved, loved singing (Which my mother/father/brother can all testify to you of my many bathroom concerts I put on over the years.... ), but I am always scared of people judging me- so I never liked to sing solos at church or anything to share that talent. (Stupid fears.) I have gained so much from joining this group. Thanks to the sharing of their talents of our choir director (who puts in hours and hours preparing/finding songs/recording arrangements/dealing with me) and our pianist, and the other ladies in the choir- also including the talents of the ladies who watch my 3 crazy kiddos so I can sing- I have improved my talent tons and tons- which has in turn helped me to bring joy (hopefully joy) to the elderly people at the nursing homes that we go and sing to. - and as a by product, I gained new friendships (and people to blogstalk) that I probably would have never had the opportunity to have had before.

Sharing your talents, help other people to grow talents, which help them to share the talents. It's such a happy circle.

When Chip and I first got married I pretty much only cooked bean soup and hamburger helper. Let's say this with as much sarcasm you can muster "Yuuuummmmmmyyy!". While my sweet mother helped me as a youth to learn to cook, apparently I didn't pay much attention to her. Through the talents of others who cook and share (cookbooks/blogs/cooking group at church) I have- much to the delight of my husband- been able to find a love of cooking and baking- and I get to pass that on to my children as I introduce new foods to our family. (But seriously... I only cook what I can see a picture of... so if you have a cooking blog- add pictures, or I'll never make your dish. Ever.) - Some friends of mine and I started a cooking blog to help document our favorite things. (http://fourgirlscooking.blogspot.com)

Scrapbooking and quilting are also things I love doing. It's only because of the talents of others that I have embraced it. I have tried to pass that on by doing my scrapbooking challenge blog, as well as introducing others to the joys of scrapping/quilting. (and there is nothing quite so satisfying as watching your children's eyes beam with excitement as they are looking through THEIR scrapbook pages. They feel so loved, knowing I took the time to document them.- which also goes along with watching my kids love all over the quilts/clothes/stuffed animals that their loved ones have made for them)
http://our52challenges.blogspot.com/ <- scrapbooking blog
http://breezianne.blogspot.com/ <- a splattering of things I've made- obviously, I don't get to craft as much as I want to...
http://christmasquilters.blogspot.com/ <- my mom gave 6 members of our family quilt blocks of the month for Christmas last year. After we get them all put together, she'll share her talent of quilting- and do that beautiful artwork on our quilts.

There are those of you who have the talent of time, or talent of friendship, or the talent of listening and acting on the Spirit of the Lord- directing you to help one of His children, or those who have the talent to read, yes... read. (I totally rely on you guys to help me find the good books. If I physically sit down to read a book, it's instant narcolepsy time. BUT I love to read books, so my solution is to read books on tape as I do other things... only some books I find 1/2 way through are totally inappropriate-so if you find a good book I can get from the library on CD- be sure to let me know about it.)



Obviously You don't have to start a blog about each one of your talents, although, if you do- you're sharing helps other people to gain knowledge..... (other people, like me, for instance).


Just as in the parable of the talents- even if we only have just one- it's important to share it, not hide it. Only then can you be a 'good and faithful servant' of the Lord.





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(p.s. if you do stalk my blog and are inspired to start one... or if you have one and you stalk me, let me know... I'd love to start stalking you!)

Plate = Full.

Holy Moly, my peeps.

I. Am. Feeling. So. Over.Whelmed.

Let's all sit down with a warm cup of cocoa, and I'll tell you a nice little story.

Once upon a time(about 19 months ago)- in a land far, far away (Columbus, Ohio), two happy people decided they would become pregnant with their 3rd child. They were so excited as that little digital pee stick blinked "pregnant" the next month (yeah... I sneeze and I get pregnant) They jumped for joy at the prospect of another little person coming down from heaven to join their family.

The fates decided that one baby was not enough- no, not enough indeed, and at 20.5 weeks along, this happy couple found out that not one... but TWO babies would be joining the family. With a deer in the headlights look- the happy couple trudged on.

While two babies seemed unfathomable, the happy couple knew that the Lord would never send them more than they could handle. (Why, ohh why, does the Lord trust us so much??!!?!)

Fast forward to the babies turning 8,9,10 months old.... and mobile.

While still having perfect trust that the Lord didn't screw up (but just really, really wanted a good laugh), the happy couple has now turned frazzled couple.

This past week I had a complete. breakdown. Seriously. Me. the one who stay up until 2am-every night (er... morning?) crashed at like 6pm.....

This is how my week has been going:

Step one: fold 8 loads of laundry
Step two: go potty.
Step three: return to laundry only to have it all ripped from it's neatly folded piles in the baskets and thrown around the floor with two babies laughing and throwing socks like it's Marti Gras beads.

---------------------------------
Step one: Lay Dexter down to change his diarrhea diaper
Step two: Miles decides that he wanted to get to a standing position using the piano bench as his leverage.
Step three: Undo Dexter's diaper
Step four: look at Miles, just as the (very heavy) piano bench is falling on his chest, and the lid of the bench flips open and smashes his little face.
Step five: hop up and rescue the screaming Miles
Step six: Dexter notices he's free.... and decides to get his poop everywhere... and while he's at it, sprays the floor with tinkle too. What's one more thing? right?!

(P.s. The only reason that Miles doesn't have broken ribs is that he was protected by Angels. There is no other logical reason. That bench must weigh close to 40-50lbs... as it's full with books. He does have a nice bruise on his cheek from the accident.. but other than that, he's perfectly fine....... his mother, however, still has a tick.)

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Step one: put babies to bed at night
Step two: Babies decide to tag team, and one or the other of them is up on the hour, every hour- and decides that they are positively STARVING every time.
Step three: parents get ZERO sleep.

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Step one: Ask Maggie to entertain the babies while I take a shower
Step two: Maggie teaches them how to scream.
Step three: The babies now scream all the time and think it's funny.
(High pitched- girlie screams. I want to gouge my ears out.)

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Seriously, I hadn't even been able to do the DISHES for about 4 days (which is super gross, AND I don't have a dish washer.... so it just piled up and piled up) Every time I tried to do anything- and I do mean, ANYTHING- the babies got into something. The first time I attempted to do dishes, they ripped the cover off of a library book (or two) and chewed it (them) to pieces. (It was a 'fun' joint activity they did.), the second time I attempted dishes, they got into the cat food and litter (and yes... I do have baby gates, and USE them.... they, however have the power of teamwork, and manage to get over/around the gates. Stupid babies.). The third time I attempted doing dishes, the babies decided to climb to the TOP of the stairs (about 18 stairs up...) and gave me a flippin' heart attack. There were a lot more times I tried, and a lot more disasters. I finally gave up. I just sat and cried. We ate out/got fast food like 3 nights this week. I couldn't take it, anymore.

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Remember how I went to Ikea a month and a half ago and bought a cool bookshelf for the girl's room?? Yeah.... things STILL aren't put away. I can't do anything without the double trouble duo getting into everything in sight. And if I stick them in their playpen to play... they end up screaming at me the whole time. I can't get stuff done while getting screamed at.

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I have been to stressed out to even SCRAPBOOK. And that's sayin' a lot.

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Meanwhile, the Mr. of the story has been wigging out because his job pretty much is 24-7 (and his immediate boss is a "happy person". And by "happy person" I mean makes us want to swear), and he hasn't been able to work on Telesaur, AND we still haven't even gotten a single job posting yet.
(While we know, through fervent prayer, that this is what we are supposed to be doing..... that whole 'patience' lesson is getting a little old. I mean, 3 years to get it from point A- to launching... and now it's been up for a whole month and no job postings? ARRRRRGGGGG! Frustrating to say the least.)


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back to the story:

So the happy, yet stressed out couple knows that this too shall pass.... some days they wish that they are 20 years past this and looking back "fondly" remembering the good ol' days.

The End.

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Sorry I had to dump.

It's just been one of those weeks.

Maybe next week the babies will decide that crawling/walking around everything/climbing on everything sucks and will be content to sit on the floor and play quietly.

One can hope.