Day 30...End of NaBloPoMo!

Everyone,

So how did everyone like my 30 days of posting? Do remember that I challenged myself to write every day of December too so you won't stop hearing from me yet!

Juice is in Chicago this week for his annual trip for some trade show. I get to get take out for a week while he's gone. Tonight was Mexican food. Yum! Of course, I seemed to be the only one that ate it...the boys and Butterfly only ate apple sauce and then threw the rest around the kitchen. Not my idea of fun!

I ran about 10 errands today. Some early in the morning after I dropped Juice off at the train station. Some during Butterfly's dance class. Some even after! It just seemed like I had a ton of little tiny things to do. Things that would have been easier without 3 little tag-a-longs. But we made it work. With a lot of bribing. My kids LOVE chocolate. I can get them to do anything with a promise of that stuff. Professor even knows how to say it.

Speaking of Professor, he is my little talker! He says several things now.
Shoes
Cracker
Mama
Chocolate
What's that?
Noodles
Socks
Snowman
Tree
Lights
Pretty
Dog
Woof
Kitty
Meow
Roar
oh no!
No
Block
Baby

Pirate, on the other hand, is still stuck with "uh-oh". He does now say, "uh-uh" when he wants to say no. But other than the few times he's said Daddy, nothing else. I think we always knew at first that Professor would be the talker and Pirate the thinker. For a long time I wondered if I had named them correctly. I wonder if other mothers of twins worry about that. Sometimes I think of how their lives might be different with different names. I don't regret the names they got, it's just something I think about.

Safire

Thanksgiving 2009

Everyone,

A list of 20 things I am thankful for in no particular order:

1. A healthy body. These kids keep me running full tilt and I'm grateful I can keep up with them.

2. A healthy husband. Juice is my right hand, my partner in life, family, and love. Can't do anything without him! Plus, he spent this morning playing football with the guys in the ward and is limping around and I kind of miss having a big physical helper around. :)

3. Brown boxes from home! My parents sent (well, they left it with us) some things to start off our Christmas season. And my Nana, great lady that she is, sent us a box of fun little things.

4. Web cams and Internet. I was able to talk to my family this morning, and Juice is talking to his family now. I love being able to see the person and show them the kids and how big they've gotten! Although, Juice's family won't see the kids because they are sleeping.

5. Friends. We were able to spend the afternoon/evening with my good friend Lolli and her family. We had such a good time and such good food. Thanks Lolli!

6. Music. I love turning on music to suit my moods. I also really miss being able to play my instruments and think I should get out my violin more often.

7. Unlimited long distance. I love being able to call anyone I want any time I want. Awesome!

8. Juice's job. They have been very good to him and I'm so grateful he has stability in it.

9. Soot the puppy. What a cute dog we have. She does great with picking up all the spills and is very gentle with the kids. She plays with me, sits on my lap, has cute puppy dreams, and obeys me. It's great!

10. Family. We have the greatest kids. Our extended family is pretty great too! I love being an aunt, a sister, a daughter, a sister-in-law, a niece, and a granddaughter. I love how all these different titles tie me to different people.

11. Our house. It's tiny. It's often dirty. There are crayons and markers on the walls (thanks Professor) and we don't have a yard or a play room. Or a basement. But it's ours and it keeps us warm.

12. My church. I love knowing where I came from, who I am, and where my life is going. I love the peace that the gospel brings. I love having a relationship with my Heavenly Father.

13. Internet shopping. I really love to Internet shop. In fact, most of my Christmas is from my Internet shopping. I love that I get different points for shopping online and can get free stuff from it. Also, I love not having to take my kids into the store because that's a pain.

14. Cameras. I really like taking pictures. Even though I haven't taken a whole lot lately because my computer crashing because of my 12,000 plus pictures kind of killed my desire to put ANY more pictures on my computer. I still really like taking them. I love looking back on them and remembering how small the kids were, or how small I was!

15. Books. I love to read. I think it's the best kind of entertainment. I don't nearly have enough time to do it.

16. Movies. Sometimes it's nice to just veg out and watch something.

17. Bob the stroller. Seriously, I think I am doing so well with the whole twin thing because of this stroller. What an awesome piece of equipment. It hauls kids and stuff, is warm, easy to turn, and goes through sand amazingly well.

18. Chocolate covered raisins. Yum!

19. Hot hot showers and no water bill. Our HOA pays our water bill. I can take as long of showers and I have time/hot water. This is probably why the kids get into so much trouble while I shower.

20. Diapers. Enough said.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Safire

Check List

Everyone,

I stayed up late talking to my mom tonight for our weekly chat (hi mom! Great to talk to you!) so tonight's entry will be things I did today.

All four of us up, dressed, fed, and exercised. The kids love to do my exercises with me (and get in the way sometimes) and it's very cute. You should see them try and do push ups!

All four of us out at the mall exchanging too small pajamas for not too small pajamas. And seriously, for a children's store, the Ch*ildren's Pl*ace is really NOT stroller friendly.

All four of us out at Ikea on an errand for Daddy. He needed a new lamp. I go there to get the $8 lamp and leave minus $50. Why is that? Butterfly had a grand old time in the kid's play area and then we had lunch there. Yum!

All four of us drive home in horrible rush hour traffic. The kids napped...I did not. The kids were awake when we got home. I was tired. They refused to come inside. We ended up playing outside for over an hour. In this hour the following happened: Pirate made himself a mud puddle and promptly sat in it. I spent at least half of the time trying to wrangle both boys down the street to get the mail while Butterfly fought the remaining leaves off the tree out front. I finally managed to get everyone inside when the sun started to set. It was not without some tears.

All four of us rejoiced when Daddy came home. We had dinner, the kids had baths and then to bed. I braved the store for a few things for tomorrow and a free redbox movie rental. Now to find time to watch it!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!
Safire

Thrifty Shopping

Everyone,

Where else can I go with my good friend Lolli on a rainy Monday morning and come home with 2 horses, 2 electrical outlet covers, one book and 7 movies (2 of which haven't even been opened yet!) and spend less than 20 dollars?  Our favorite thrift store Unique of course!

Pretty basic day for me.  Seriously, I'm at a loss of what to write about today.  Juice's input is that I should make a list of some kind.  Of how many times I said no.  Okay...

I tried...I just can't get ALL of them down.  It's too many to say.  Butterfly had a rough morning, and Pirate had a rough evening.  Professor has been my sunshine for awhile now.  He's so cute with his big dimple and happy face.  Butterfly this morning didn't want to go to the store and Pirate had a fascination with the dog food this evening.  And the dog water.  And shoes.  Yeah...  He also go a time out for whipping Butterfly with a toy, and then another time out for getting out of the time out spot.  Poor kid.

Anyone have one of those cool meme things that were floating around last year?  Anyone?

Safire

What Happened Today

Everyone,

We all had one DRY night. Last night, I told Butterfly that she could get a book at the used book store today if she was dry last night. This morning, she was so put out and grumpy that she declared she did not want to get a new book. EVER. Never ever ever!

Okay then. No book today.

How much do you want to bet that she will remember it in a few days at the most inconvenient time and demand that we go get the promised book that second. And then there will be another fit because I won't be able to.

Good times in my house let me tell you!

On a totally unrelated note, I do feel rather accomplished today. I cleaned my living room and vacuumed with my new vacuum! (Yay for early Christmas presents) I did two loads of dishes. I went to a doctor's appointment with just my book for company. (Thanks Juice! That's an awkward appointment to take kids to.) I even went out and saw a movie with my friend Lolli! I haven't seen a movie in about 6 months, and then we only go to the kid movies. Although this movie may as well have been a kid's movie. It was okay, but not great.

And now, I'm exhausted. Time for an early bed!

Safire

All Hallow's Day

Everyone,

Today we did all the fun stuff I meant to do in the week leading up to Halloween.  I didn't get to that because of my awesome adventure out of state (without kids or a hubby!) but I will talk about that later on this week.  (Remember, a month of writing starts today!)

Yesterday we were able to go to a pumpkin patch and Butterfly went trick or treating with her dance friend.  Today after church and naps we carved our pumpkin, made homemade doughnuts (yes I did!  They are tasty!) and drank cider.  It's been a good Halloween this year. 

Today was the boys' first day in nursery.  Yay!  Guess where I spent most of my church time?  Yep, in nursery.  Professor was a champ.  He walked right in and played great all 2 hours.  Pirate, on the other hand, was upset.  He cried and cried and cried until I couldn't take it anymore.  Poor thing.  He sat on my lap sucking his thumb doing the after sobbing breathing.  This transition is going to be fun.  Ugh.  Juice came in a little later and we switched off.  I really hope the boys learn to like nursery because I could use the break.

Pictures to brighten your day!

Safire

Just a Few Admin Notes

Everyone,

I have been enjoying my forced hiatus from the blog this month. I say forced because the kids and Juice have been sick. Oh so sick too. Pigs have been mentioned but never fully diagnosed. I remained above it all (amazingly enough! Knock on wood.) but I have been buried under needy kids and a very cranky hubby. He is not a good sick person, FYI. I, in turn, have been eating too much of the Halloween candy and craving doughnuts.

What I have not been doing is checking my blog. Or really anyone's blog lately. I'll get back onto the band wagon next month. Why next month? Well, first off because it starts on Sunday! (Also, daylight savings time, yay for another hour of sleep.) And then there is this:
That's right. It's my 3rd year doing this (I think?) and I'm looking forward to it again. If anything, November will be my best documented month ever. Look for me every day in November and December because I need to challenge myself a little. I know a few people that's going to make very happy (hi Nana!) so this should be fun.

One thing I have been obsessing about lately has been a website called Swagbucks. Basically it's a search and earn site where you use their search engine and they reward you with bucks. Then you can turn in those bucks for prizes. What kind of prizes you ask? Things like electronic stuff, mp3s, gift cards, and more. I am loving the amazon gift cards. I get about $5 a week from amazon and it's been buying part of Christmas this year. Seriously, sign in here and start earning easy money!

So, let's recap. We have been sick. Everyone is feeling better (it's almost 9pm and I hear the boys and Butterfly saying, "uh-oh! uh-oh!" and laughing. They are feeling better!) and I will be writing every day soon. Also, sign up with swagbucks and earn some dough!

Everyone up to date?

Good.

Safire

End of NaBloPoMo...or is it?

Everyone,

30 days have come and gone. I feel like there should be some kind of rhyme at the end of that sentence but there isn't. So. 30 days. Yay to Laura, my Dad, Zuke and Melissa, Roommate Julia, Karen, and Valinda who all made it with me!

The last 2 years of doing NaBloPoMo has been good. This year was the easiest yet. And because I always go through blog withdraw after November, I don't want you to suffer the same fate. I intended to push myself just a little harder this year and write for another month. Yes people, every day you can come back here and see me.

I have always been a voracious journal writer (ask my parents) and I have found that writing in my paper journal isn't as fun anymore. Frankly, I feel like I never find the time to do it. When I do, Butterfly wants to color in it and crosses out whole sentences. (True story.) So I just gave up. I don't even think I've journaled the boys birth in there. I may have to put that one down.

I have about 30 journals. My first one was an early Christmas present from my Nana when we were living in Colorado. I was 7. It was white puffy plastic with little hearts and fairies on it. And it had a lock and a key. This made the book really indescribably important. I HAD to write in it. And I did. Off and on until I was 12. Mostly it was drawings of my room, the fish in my fish tank dying and how mad I was at my friends. Then when we moved to Utah and got all of our stuff out of storage and into our house in North 4o, I found that little book unpacking. I sat down right then and there and wrote about how upset I was moving to Utah and how much I missed Colorado.

I think from that journal entry on until Butterfly was born I wrote almost every day. I took my journal to camp, on trips, to college, even on my honeymoon. I even have a picture of Juice on our honeymoon writing in his own journal. I think he has about as many as I do. Yes, I have read them. No, he has not read mine because I think he gets bored or frustrated with me and stops. I even get bored and frustrated with myself and stop when trying to read them.

While people my wonder what the point is of journaling, I have one practical application for it. Right after Butterfly was born, we got a letter from the dmv. It said we owed over 1000 dollars in parking tickets and fees. We were dumbfounded. We had never even seen the ticket. Or any notices. We were over a year late pay and they were going to start putting a collection agency on us. Ouch. They stated where and when our car was cited, and I knew someone had to have made a mistake. Out come my journals, and I have a detailed account of what we did that day. (Mostly I was ill with being newly pregnant and went to work and came home that day.) Juice had to fax that over to the dmv to prove that this was an error. I think they might have been a little impressed that I would journal what I did on some random day. Either that or they were bored or frustrated with me because I moaned a lot about how ill I was. Ticket problem no longer a problem.

When we move from Maryland (which we always say we are going to but haven't actually done anything about it), I will shut this site down and open a new one for our new area. I intend to have this one published for my family history and my journal. I'd love to have both of these months on file. Who knows, I may even make it a habit and blog every day.

Then again, probably not. But I'd like to take this small step and hopefully get next month on the books as well. Hope you come along for the ride and maybe cheer me on a bit?

Thanks! See you tomorrow!
Safire

Thanksgiving Eating and Recovery

Everyone,

Thanksgiving was great! We had such a good time and had a bunch of good food. The turkey turned out perfectly (see picture). We had an impressive spread and enjoyed every bite. Butterfly and Vinny ate well. Well, Butterfly only wanted to eat cranberries (and probably ate 4 servings of it) and Vinny only wanted to eat butternut squash. And neither would touch the other. I had a great meal. It could have been relaxing.

Only that Lala and I decided to feed our babies solid foods for the first time. For all 3 of them. Mimi is just a few weeks older than my boys. We really didn't plan that for dinner time, they were just all hungry at the same time. So out come the sweet potatoes and the mess! I have to admit, I have been putting off feeding the boys solid foods. They were interested, they had had little bites. I just didn't want to go into the realm of actual solid foods because of the mess. But I am over that hurdle and on we go to solids! They both ate the entire bowl of sweet potatoes and were asking for more at the end.

Today was a little less messy because they learned quickly to keep their hands out of the way of the spoon or they don't get the spoon. Of course, Professor then sticks his hands in his mouth and manages to get it all over everything. Ahh...reminds me of Butterfly! Pirate is turning out to be a tidy eater and hopefully that will stay true.

Anyway, we got the kids ready for bed and put Vinny and Mimi (Vinny's baby sister) in Butterfly's room. Vinny had the bed and Mimi had our pack and play. We then put Butterfly and the boys in the boys' room. The boys are still sleeping in the same crib and our other crib is up. The boys in their crib, and Butterfly in her old crib. She was thrilled to be sleeping in the same room with them. It also reminded me how big she has gotten. The crib seemed to swallow her up when she was a baby, and now she barely fits in it.

One funny story about them being together. Each time one of them cried, she would pipe up "A baby is crying Mommy!" as loud as she could and they would both stop crying. There was one point when I heard shrieks of laughter coming from their room. I sent Juice up to tell everyone to go to bed. He asked her if she was playing with the baby brothers. She said no. He said to go to sleep. She said, "But Pirate isn't asleep. He wants to play." Uh-huh. You aren't playing with them huh? In the end, they all ended up sleeping. Even Vinny and Mimi slept.

The adults, on the other hand, did not. After we cleaned up a bit and started a load of dishes, we played card games. One specific card game. We love this game. It is hysterical! (If you want to get Juice something for Christmas, we do not have 3, 5, 6, or 7. Just a hint.) In what game can you have shiny false teeth of doom or mutilate Santa's body to go up a level? We stayed up till 12:30am playing this game. Poor Juice kept getting cursed (there's a chicken on your head! loose one small item! this item is now useless but stuck to you!, you have to be generous and give away your stuff!) and yet he still won the game 5 of the 8 times we played. Everyone won at least once. Everyone had a dismal game somewhere in there. And every laughed till we cried at one point.

A big thanks to Lala, Vinny, Mimi, and MP for making this a crazy fun Thanksgiving!

The day after...ah the day after. We put up our tree. We opened a great box from my mom with our yearly Christmas ornaments and treats. Music to listen to, Christmas pjs for the kids, and caramel hot chocolate. My mommy loves me. This stuff is AMAZING and I think I had 3 cups yesterday.

In the Christmas box is a kids nativity that Butterfly had to play with instead of hanging up ornaments. Oh she hung a few up, but she "had important people to play with." The boys stare at the tree every time we turn the lights on. Pirate was especially interested in the ornaments and really really really wanted to eat each one. Professor liked the tree skirt. It's sparkly.

Now excuse me while I go have another cup of this and listen to my music. Thank you.

Safire

I See Now

Everyone,

I see now why parents of twins end up getting 2 of the same toys for their kids. It was not something I completely understood until this very moment.

You see, I got a small package in the mail today. It was a free sippy cup from a juice company. They only sent one. Well I've been letting the boys play with it by having one play with the lid and one play with the cup. It worked out great until I decided to be all cool and put a small green plastic ball on the inside of the cup and shut the lid. I showed the boys how to shake the cup and make the ball move around. Professor was most interested in it and immediately grabbed it out of my hands to play with it.

Then I looked at Pirate. Just sitting there. No toy. So I grabbed another green plastic ball and gave it to him. He took it in his hand. Our eyes met. His expression said, "What is this? You expect me to play with this little thing and you let him have that?" He looked at Professor with his cool cup. He dropped the ball and managed to maul Professor for the cup.

Toy wars begin!

Luckily Professor is as enchanted with the plain green ball. Even more so because he is currently crawling around the room chasing after it.

And of course, the cup is forgotten and Pirate is complaining that he can't get around the room and chase a ball too.

More on Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Safire

Thanksgiving 2008

Everyone,

I am (hopefully) enjoying the day spent with friends and good food. Here is a list of 20 things I am thankful for this year. In random order

1. Juice's job and it's stability.
2. Our house, small size notwithstanding.
3. Unlimited long distance.
4. Twice the baby love.
5. A spirited and sweet girl.
6. Juice
7. The internet
8. My lapple.
9. My camera and the desire to take better pictures.
10. Friends who buy us pizza because they heard we had a hard night.
11. Boys who go to sleep at 6pm
12. My healthy twins born safely
13. Juice's flexiblity with his schedule.
14. Juice's work proximity.
15. Pirate's happy kicking legs.
16. Professor's big blue eyes.
17. Butterfly's logic (she was having a really rough morning and we were trying to make it to church and she stopped crying long enough to tell us that she would be much happier if she was able to watch a movie to church. We laughed, no movie though.)
18. Good books that suck you in.
19. The gospel.
20. The church.

We are so lucky to have all that we do. I have been trying hard to remember the thanks more than the wants in every day life right now.

Safire

Thanksgiving Round Up

Everyone,

We are having Butterfly's BFF Vinny and his family over for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I am excited! I had planned out all week what I was going to do to prepare and make it easier on me. I'm thinking I just planned myself out a stressful week though because I am not even 1/3 of the way through my list. For lack of something else to say, here is my list: (bold I've finished)

THANKSGIVING 2008

Food:
Turkey (defrost starting Monday)
mashed potatoes, as soon as the turkey goes in
cranberry sauce, Tuesday
rolls, Wednesday
salsa, Wednesday
snack prep, Wednesday
veggie prep, Wednesday


House:
clean living room
vacuum
clean downstairs bathroom
put away favorite toys
dust tv
clean off extra table
wash table cloths
get out extra chairs
wash china serving dishes
clean out and pack up extra kitchen stuff (I have to explain this one. I typically take Thanksgiving week to go through my cupboards and put away things I have not used in a year or pull out the things I only use once a year. I also throw away things that are broken and we are holding on to for some odd reason. I also throw away old spices and clean as I go. I have not done this for several years so I had a lot to go through. Good news, I can now shut my junk drawer.)

Children:
bathe
love
adore
pick out nice clothes for pictures

Me:
blog for today and tomorrow
go to bed early
set out games we want to play
run to post office


See? Lots still to do. But the important stuff is pretty much done. Except for the rolls which I'm avoiding doing by blogging here. Juice came home early because he just couldn't stand it anymore and will helpful in getting everything done. Or at least playing with the children so I can work.

Lala (Vinny's mom) is bringing desert, and a side dish and a green salad. Yay I don't have to think about those. Hope every one's Thanksgiving is as wonderful as I hope ours will be!

Safire

2 Tags

Everyone,

I've been tagged twice this time (love these things during NaBloPoMo!) and so I thought that's what I would do today before I got down and messy with some Thanksgiving dinner prep stuff.

This first tag is from MommyKnows. If you're interested in some power ranger action, she's got a few to give away!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My Aunt and my great grandma. Two great names.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Hmm...I may have cried two nights ago when the boys would not sleep. I was so tired.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Only my first name signature. But I practiced that one.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey or ham. Working at a cafeteria making 400-500 sandwiches a day turned me off of roast beef. Even though it's pressed meat, it still bleeds. Ew.
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Probably, depends how nicely I asked.
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Some.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS. Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No. I would have before kids, now I'm turning into a scared cat.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Golden Grams, Strawberry Shredded Wheat, Cap'n Crunch...anything really sugary. Oh, and Basic 4.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No. They have no ties.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Physically? No. Having the boys did a number on my body. Mentally, some. If I get enough sleep.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Anything fruity or Safeway brand moose tracks with fudge.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? If they seem friendly and outgoing.
15. RED OR PINK? Red.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? The twin skin flab of a stomach that makes it hard to fit into any pants.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My mom. She needs to move closer. Or I do.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Wait, sending? Did I miss something?
19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? I have bare feet at the moment, but I will spend a lot of the winter in my brown slip on shoes.
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? glass of water
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? I can faintly hear the TV on in the living room, I am in bed with my laptop. (weird same answer as MommyKnows! Strange!)
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? blue
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? I love a horse barn...the hay, the manure, sweet smells!
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My parents answering machine yesterday. Funny they never called back...
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes! She’s a cool chick.
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Anything horsey, jumping, racing, pulling. I don't like to watch any ball sports.
27. HAIR COLOR? Brown
28. EYE COLOR? Blue.
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes.
30. FAVORITE FOOD? popcorn.
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? I much prefer a happy ending.
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? The Nanny Diaries. Eh.
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Pink.
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Fall and Spring
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Kisses
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Popcorn
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Whoever feels like it
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND. Whoever doesn’t feel like it
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Currently not reading anything. Huh. I probably should be reading something...did we have a book picked out for book club this month?
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I don't use a mouse pad on the lapple. But I did buy Juice one that has a picture of us on our honey moon on it. It's faded so bad you can barely see us but we looked cute and happy.
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? No tv, but I did watch Ugly Betty online.
42. FAVORITE SOUND. Silence.
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles!
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? England, no, probably Scotland.
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I can whistle through my tongue.
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Colorado. Proud to be sort of a native!
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? MusicMan because he hasn't posted in over a month yet he said he was going to try to do it once a week, Chef since she is doing NaBloPoMo and might need this, Karen just because, and Zuke and Melissa.


Second tag:

Here are the rules:
Go to your photos and open the 4th folder.
Post the 4th picture in your folder.
Tag 4 more people.

(I've seen this one with different numbers but since I was tagged with the 4, I will go with 4. My favorite number anyway.)
Look! Itty bitty baby boys! So cute!! Professor in yellow and crying, and Pirate in blue with his old man face. They were so tiny.

Tags for this one: Jill, Valinda, FlowerMaiden, and Julia.

Safire

PS- If you made it this far and want to see baby/kid pictures of me, go to my Dad's blog. He's been blogging his autobiography which I have been loving. Also included are pictures of him as a baby, my brother, my parents at their wedding, etc.

Remember I said I hit the jackpot? Yeah...

Everyone,

So a few days ago I blogged about how I thought I hit the twin jackpot because we had such easy going boys? And remember how I said it would probably change because that is just blogging karma?

Totally true.

Saturday night, the boys were up every. single. hour. Maybe I should say that I was up every single hour. The boys at least got some 2 hour shifts in there. They were off an hour so every hour I was up with one of them. I thought maybe I had gotten their sleep schedule off or something. It was a purely awful night. Juice was very helpful, if a little annoyed at the boys. I was just happy it was a weekend and he was home and willing to be woken up.

We did make it to church the next day. A little late, and all three kids were in tears. But we made it! Ugh. I had Professor on my lap laying down and he bent his head back to look at something Butterfly was doing and I got a flash of white. Wait...what was that?

Teeth. Two new ones. On the top. Ah ha! That would explain his horrible sleeping. But what about Pirate? Why was he such a terrible sleeper? I immediately stuck my finger in his mouth, much to his chagrin. My finger scraped on one tiny little tooth on the bottom. It's there. It's hurting. It's just not clearing the gum line. His little gums are so swollen and he is drooling up a storm.

They both went to bed at 4:45pm yesterday and slept until 10pm, 3am, and 7am. A much better night for me. But today I'm feeling it. I think I may go to bed early. They did again today.

Lesson learned. I am never going to blog about how wonderful the kids are again. Who am I kidding. I probably will tomorrow!

Safire

Service

Everyone,

Yesterday morning I had the great opportunity to serve. I have been feeling a little down in the dumps lately. Just going crazy by the constant need of three small children and the rising desire to change my name from Mommy and run away. I do love being a Mom and really it's all I wanted to do (that and raise and ride horses) but it's a draining job.

My church has started joining in with our community and doing the Share Program. Basically, you perform 2 hours of community service in a month and you are able to get discounted groceries. We did it last month and it was really great to have these groceries supplement our food bill. I actually forgot about it last month but luckily the ladies in the ward looked out for me and delivered it to our house.

This month, I was determined not to forget and showed up at the church at 7am. They put me right to work. I bagged meat for awhile, and then helped another lady put labels on peach pies that we got. I listened to my fellow workers and they talked about the economy, their willingness to help with whatever (or their teenagers lack of willingness to help) and we even sang a few Christmas songs. (And with me being the only white person in the group, these songs were rocking and beautiful!)

It was great. I left with my 2 bags of groceries and a hugely relaxed heart. I felt renewed, recharged. Something that I have been searching for this past week and not finding it. Nothing seemed to help and I always came away from these things feeling anxious and sad. But this was different. This was uplifting, different, easy. I came home with a bounce in my step, renewed patience and love for my family. And all it took was half an hour.

I had such a good time I am thinking of taking Butterfly with me next time. She would love to put things in bags and it would be a good way to show her some service. And hopefully we will both come home loving life.

Safire

Home Times

Everyone,

Today our short window of outing time was filled with going to the hardware store. I was kind of hoping to go out and do some kind of family outing this weekend. Juice had Thursday afternoon off, along with all day Friday this week. It has been wonderful to have him home. We were able to get all of our normal Saturday chores done on Friday and so I thought we could have a play day on Saturday.

Then I thought, it's going to be Thanksgiving next week and I don't want to go to the hardware store by myself/on black Friday. So we went today and will plan on doing something fun next weekend.

We left the hardware store with some no see no touch mouse traps for when he goes away next week. We also got some hooks for various art projects that are going on in my house and for stockings. I never know where to put Butterfly's stocking. I think last year we hung it from the corner of the blinds next to the Christmas lights in our window. That's not going to work this year since there are only 2 corners. So I bought some sticky hooks and we will hang them from the wall in our dining room.

On Friday, I was able to go to hang out with the ladies at my church and learn about vinyl lettering. This is a lot of fun! I even made something. I'm not terribly crafty so this is big for me. See, isn't it cute?
I put the letters on the board, and Juice hung the hooks and the wire for me. Originally I thought I would get more vinyl letters and make name tags to put up for everyone on the hooks. But then I thought I would do pictures instead. I've spend the evening browsing a bunch of sights for some small reusable picture frames and I think I found some on etsy. No matter that there are more things there than we have members of our family. We will just pick the most important ones...prayer, song, lesson, treat, prayer. It's what we do right now anyway. As the kids get older, we'll rotate through some things. Anyway, this is one of 2 home decorating projects I have in my head with vinyl lettering. The next one to come later.

Butterfly saw Juice making the marks for the hooks and asked if she could too. I said sure, it was just pencil and Juice would know his own marks. I went to do a baby related thing and came back to find her tracing the letters with her pencil. Good thing pencil erases or she'd be in bigger trouble.

Still no sign of mice. It's been almost a week now. Juice is convinced we have them but they have stored away enough food to sustain them for awhile. I kind of agree with that. I mean, the mouse I saw was not the first one I saw in the house (I thought I saw one in the kitchen about a week before I saw this one in the living room.) Soot periodically goes nuts at our heat vent in the corner so I'm pretty sure there is something in there. Also, we randomly get dog food under the couch. Hmm...all signs point to a mouse but not very active ones here. I am still banking on the fact that we have several. Hopefully when Juice gets back from his traveling he can plug up the numerous holes we have in our house. One can only dream.

Safire

7 Months Old

Everyone,

The boys turned 7 months old on Tuesday. 7 MONTHS! Wow time really does fly. I think I hit the twin jackpot because they are just easy going happy boys. (Now that I've said that, things will change.) They play really well on the floor and with others. Butterfly is a great entertainer and they think she is the most wonderful thing besides Mommy. They will even not eat if she is in the room because they insist on watching her. Makes for interesting times at our house. They are starting to really notice each other and I hear them chatting to each other in their crib in the morning. Yes, they are still sleeping together in the same crib. I do have 2 cribs, both up even. But I find they sleep a little better with the other there. On the down side, they do wake each other up at night. Mostly I think it's Pirate waking Professor up who then cries. I go get Professor because I hear him and then Pirate cries like I've taken his best friend away. They are both getting up at night lately. I think they must be growing. They down at 5:30pm these days, up at 11pm, up at 3am, up at 5am and then up at 7am to start the day. And really, those moments of them being up is about 6 or 7 minutes and back down. I have been feeding them but not feeding them as long as they want at night. Occasionally they will skip one or all of the feedings depending on their sleep during the day.

Pirate is my happy happy boy. He still laughs all the time, but has been a little more serious these past few days. I think he's getting a little bit of separation anxiety because he cries whenever we leave the room. He still does not sit up. Nor does he have any interest in it. He is up on his hands and knees a lot rocking furiously. Most of the time he is also crying when he rocks. He so wants to be able to move! He does scoot back and back himself into corners or away from toys. He still does the superman move which is very cute. The only thing touching the floor is his belly and his arms and legs move furiously. I keep trying to get a video of this but my movies are chaos. Kind of like life right now.

He weighs 17.5 lbs and is 27.5 inches long. This is according to my scale and tape measure since no doctor visit this month. I really feel like he grew all of a sudden this month. He seems a lot bigger than Professor. His eyes are also going through some drastic change in color. They used to be a blue with a brown ring near the pupil. Now, the brown is spreading out through the rest of the eye. He will have brown eyes like Butterfly and Juice. His hair also grows straight down like Butterfly's did. Butterfly and Pirate have the same coloring. I imagine they will grow up looking quite similar. He is my little thumb sucker and it's just so cute! He has a major fascination with Professor's binkie and swipes it all the time.

Professor is a mama's boy. He does not like to be very far away from me. Since he is moving, he always moves in my direction. He still leans in my direction whenever someone else is holding him. And when I hold him, he hooks his arm around mine and holds onto my shirt for dear life. Like I said, he is a mover. He has the rolling around the floor thing down pat. He can get wherever he wants to by rolling. He also does the army crawl thing. Elbow, elbow, hip in the air with leg flung forward, drag other leg up. It's still very early in his crawling and he gets tired and frustrated more often than not but he does do it.

He is 16.7 lbs and is 26 inches long. With my tape measure. And all of his clothes on too. He has 2 teeth on the bottom and bright blue eyes. When we give him a bath, he just looks so bright after. His hair is that bright shiny blond. And he's got a serious cowlick that makes his hair go over to one side. He has discovered his tongue and it's almost constantly out of his mouth lately. He is pretty emotional and cries/talks/moans/screams more often than Pirate. He is fascinated with paper and cups. He really really wants a drink out of any cup you put near him. He also is in love with food. I have given them little bits of bread to gnaw on during dinner and he cries big sobbing tears whenever his bread is gone.

Cute cute boys!

Safire

PS- We got our first snow today! It fell but nothing stuck.

PPS- Still no other signs of mice. Hmm...maybe a fluke? Maybe they moved next door? Maybe word got around that Soot is a mighty mouse killer and they don't come over anymore? Please let one of these be the case. I'm sick of tiptoeing around the house.

Taken From Another Blog

Everyone,

I saw this list on The Busy Body and had to borrow it. By the end, I was wondering how many on the list I have done. Everything in bold I've done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (does orchestra count? I think it should.)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain (ok, we aren't talking about a huge mountain)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning - either that or just really bad gas.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching (not specifically but seen whales from a cruise ship)
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (the outside, still trying to get inside)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (three actually)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

Hey, 45 out of 100 isn't bad! Almost half. There are a few things I would like to do, like see Paris and the Great Wall of China. There are things I don't want to do, like sit on a jury or be involved in a law suit.

Still no sign of any more mice. Maybe they don't like organic sugar free peanut butter.

Safire

Ahhh, or is that arg?

Everyone,

We had another day at home today. I had nothing planned. I thought I would be able to play with the kids and have a nice day and hopefully get the boys 7 month old stats and pictures done. Well, the boys woke up at 5am, ate for half an hour or so and by the time I had gotten back into bed, Juice's alarm went off. Normally I just roll right back over and go right back to sleep but I thought I may as well get up and get going so I would have all of nap time to go through my emails. The boys were talking too so I figured I would just get everyone up. Apparently I sleep through their talking and wake up when they wake up AGAIN in the morning because I threw the schedule off.

They napped at 8am. Only for 45 minutes. Not long enough for me to do anything. Especially since I had to get Butterfly all situated and play with her for a few minutes, clean the kitchen from breakfast, wipe the floors down again and clean off the kitchen table.

They napped again at 11:30. But only for about 45 minutes again. I was trying to feed Butterfly and myself lunch when they completely melted down and she ended up eating by herself. Then I ate cold macaroni which is not my favorite. They were up and down until I put Butterfly down for a nap early at 12:15pm because I was DONE. And it was only noon.

I let them fuss/scream/sob for about 20 minutes while I took a moment to myself. I hate doing it, but frankly, I had to have a moment. If I didn't have a moment when they weren't hanging on me or Butterfly wasn't jumping on me or anything like that I was going to run screaming from the house. I tried putting the boys back down but no luck. So I got Butterfly up after an hour or so and we all came downstairs to try and get some pictures of the boys.

No luck. These guys were tired, cross. I think I might have been too because it frustrated me and I had to put the camera away.

And then the internet went out. Ugh. I hate it when the internet goes out because then I can't do anything really. Kind of sad how much I depend on the internet.

Not that I had any free hands to use the internet because the boys were cross and tired and only wanting to be held. Thank heavens my friend, we'll call her Lavender, came over after work. She is my kids eastern Grandma and she helped me so much by holding one of the boys so I didn't have to hold both. We had an adult conversation. Even better! I had a nice hour and half with her and then she left and Juice came home moments later.

The boys were all smiles and laughter for Juice. I started dinner, got the boys down, and ate. I helped Juice clean the kitchen again and then read Butterfly the same book 3 times. This is the first time I've had a chance to sit since my imposed break at noon. No wonder I am so tired and feeling a little frazzled.

My book club is tonight so hopefully I will be able to have a recharge with my friends. And Juice has Friday off since he traveled on Saturday so maybe I can get another recharge then too. I think I need it!

Safire

PS- No mice again today. We are bating the traps with peanut butter but nothing is disturbed. Either we're not putting them in a good place or they just aren't hungry. Juice is going to block off some holes before he leaves again in a week and we're going to get some no touch traps so I can at least set them out at night.

PPS- A very boring entry. Sorry. I'm feeling off.

Tagged

Everyone,

So I've been tagged by my friend Marisa and since I can't think of anything better to write about today, I'll do it. But I refuse to perpetuate the tag. Do it if you'd like.

8 Favorite TV Shows: (I watch most of these either online or by dvd)
1- Ugly Betty
2- Grey's Anatomy
3- Private Practice
4- Northern Exposure
5- Gilmore Girls
6- Pushing Up Daisies
7- The Dog Whisperer
9- Animal Planet (yes I used to watch that station all the time.)

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1- Freaked out over a mouse.
2- Screamed and watched said mouse jump into the air.
3- Cleaned till I dropped.
4- Changed several diapers (around 9).
5- Blogged.
6- Set up my Christmas cards.
7- Walked to the post office.
8- Watched Professor and Pirate fight over Professor's binky.

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1- Seeing my family again.
2- Having my own mailbox near my house.
3- Having a garage.
4- Not having to worry about mice.
5- Seeing the boys and Butterfly grow up, along with any other siblings.
6- My 10 year anniversary (and hopefully accompanying cruise to Alaska)
7- Having a bigger kitchen table.
8- Having a horse and miles of near by trails to explore.

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1- Red Rock Canyon Grill
2- Canton Delight (Chinese take out)
3- Pizza Hut
4- Chipotle
5- Cheeburger, Cheeburger
6- Baja Fresh
7- Chick-Fil-A
8- Bajio (in Utah)

8 Things on my Wish List:
1- A horse and all accompanying stuff.
2- A bigger mouse free house.
3- A little trip by myself with my Mom and/or BFF Mink to some random place we've never been. (sans kids)
4- An itunes gift card.
5- Awesome lenses for my camera, with image stabilizer.
6- A work out partner.
7- Fios
8- Horseback riding lessons.

There you go Marisa!

A mouse update: no mice in traps today, but we are starting to find droppings around. Juice is thrilled that Soot was so helpful and plans to have her just as helpful if we need her to be. I am freaked over every little movement out of the corner of my eye. I am making plans to try and plug up some more likely holes and we are not leaving dog food out overnight anymore. We need to go get some different traps because I think they are running under the cupboards and the snap traps we have won't spring under there. I am never moving to NYC because apparently they have lots of mice there. (Every single website I read on it was geared towards New Yorkers. Sorry.)

We went to the resource center with friends from my moms group today and that was fun! They had shaving cream out for the craft and Butterfly managed to get it all over. My friend made mention about how Butterfly just really spreads herself out and boy does she ever. She is a boisterous little girl, but happy and friendly. They had a great time together and I had a nice chat. Seriously loving the resource center more this year than last. And I loved it lots last year!

Safire