Utah Day 21- Fishing with Grandpa

Everyone,

This is probably the main event of our trip. Since last year, my dad and I have been planning this fishing trip to our regular lake in the Uinta Mountains. When I was in high school, we would go every year (or close to it) to Beth Lake. We fished some, hiked some, and mostly came back empty handed. I think I've only ever seen a fish caught from there 3 or 4 times. But we still go because we love the lake and love the tradition.

Last year we tried to go to Beth Lake with Butterfly and start going with her. But it was so early in the season that we got near it and couldn't drive the car any further without chains. The snow was very deep. And I bet the water was still frozen in some places. We settled for walking around Trial Lake that year. My dad sunk to his hips in snow that time and we figured we should probably go before we lost Butterfly in a snow drift. On the way down, we saw a sign for a little fish farm and thought it would be good to stop and let Butterfly actually catch a fish. We did. Butterfly talked about it for months after.

So this time we planned to go up to Beth Lake, fish for a bit, and then stop back down at the fish farm and catch a few more fish. Best friends Mink and Spider decided to come along. We got a late start. Okay, a really late start. I think we left over an hour after I had planned. By the time we got up to the Uintas, there was time enough for a short picnic at the lake instead of actual time spent at the lake.

And by the time we got to Trial Lake (about 20 minutes down from Beth Lake) we decided to just stop. So we had another visit to Trial Lake this year. Minus the 5 feet drifts! But it was just as cold, if not colder. Wow it was cold. We had planned on eating at the lake and ended up eating in the cars because we were so cold. My mom took the old sleeping bag that we had brought up to sit down on and wrapped it around herself to keep warm. This was the sleeping bag that had been sitting in my parents garage for ages. This was the same sleeping bag that my mom said it was a good thing none of us had to sleep in it and we were just using it for ground cover. She wrapped her self in the thing. It was that cold.

Dad and Butterfly did a few casts out into the lake, we froze and ate lunch in the car. We then proceeded to drive the wrong way home and realized that they have finally paved the road to Beth Lake and we probably could have made good time going up there. Oh well.

We stopped off at the fish farm and got all set up to fish. All it is is an old guy who lives there and has 2 ponds. One with big fish, and one with little fish. He and his wife were sitting on the porch in their rockers as we drove up. He smiled when he asked us if we wanted worms. He left us alone next to his ponds as we fished. He smiled when we cleaned the 2 fish we caught. He smiled when Juice caught a fish with his bare hands! He waved us on our way from his porch. I don't know why but I've been thinking about him and thinking he probably has a very good life.

The two fish we caught were big; a 14 inch and a 16 inch trout. It took us maybe 20 minutes to catch them. We gave them to my in laws who love fish. Juice wanted to know if the guy had actually cleaned them because they were still thrashing around as he gave them to his parents. That was over an hour since they had been caught. Let's all say it together: eww!!

After fishing, we cleaned up and went to a party at my Uncle's house. They have a new baby horse and I got to pet her and run my hands over her sweet baby horse spiky mane and pet the other horses. I miss being around them. (The horses and my family.)

We tried to take some family pictures but they didn't turn out all that great. Still, we tried. We also tried to get all of the great-grand kids together for a picture and that was funny. In every picture someone was blurry except for the two oldest kids who could actually hold still. It was still very difficult to do with 4 infants (all boys!), 3 pre-schoolers (2 boys and Butterfly), a toddler (girl), and 2 school aged kids (girl and boy). I think we got one okay one. We stayed longer than I wanted to but had a good time anyway. We stayed up way too late trying to get everyone to bed. (Which is why this is 3 days late. It also put me late for all the other posts and now I have to play catch up which I hate! This is why I'm kind of terrible at writing in my paper journal all the time. I hate missing days and then I feel bad I miss them and want to go back and write about them but I'm irritated that I feel like I have to do that so I just don't and then I never write.)

We had a great time fishing and a great party after!

Safire

Utah Day 19- Juice's Family

Everyone,

We got a late start this morning. I woke up 3 times with Professor last night (I think). Combine that with the hiking we did yesterday and I was beat. So Juice was sweet and let me sleep in. Well, everyone got up at 8 am and Juice took Butterfly and Professor downstairs with him. I fell asleep with Pirate and we both didn't get up until 11:30am. I only got up because Pirate was putting his hands all over my face. He lit up like a lighthouse when I opened my eyes. Man I love these kids!

We had a nice quiet morning, a nice quiet lunch and I wish I could say a nice quiet afternoon. We were able to go out to Juice's oldest brother's house today for dinner. (Remember Flower my niece helper? This is her dad.) Both boys were sleeping and Butterfly was in need of a nap herself. But we got everyone into the car (with all the kids screaming...that was fun) and headed out. Juice had gotten directions and we were on our way.

The reason why we got everyone into the car right at nap time was that we were hoping to miss the traffic and be there for the afternoon a little too. The drive there was a breeze. We drove right to it, as Juice's directions said we should. And then...Juice realized that he didn't have a house number. Wait, the directions are only half here. Yes, we are in a residential area and Oldest Brother's house should be here some where. We tried to call him. No luck. We tried to call Juice's parents. No luck. We ended up getting a hold of Juice's sister, Splats, and she gave us the address. (In the meantime, we drove up and down this street picking out houses that could be Oldest Brother's. The ones without trucks, with very little work for the lawn and without major frilly stuff. I think we had it narrowed down to 5 houses that we were going to knock on if no one got back to us.)

So yeah, that address Juice had? WAY OFF. As in at least 15 miles and half an hour of driving off. I called my mom and had her look up directions from where we were to Oldest Brother's house. We got there 30 minutes later.

As we pulled up, there was a strange car and a strange guy walking out the back door. Who was that? Oh, it was Next Brother and that was his car. We didn't know that he would be here. We thought it was just going to be Oldest Brother and maybe Juice's parents would be there. Turns out, everyone was there except for Splats and her family (picking up Seraph from the hospital, yay!) and Oldest Sister and her family who live in Idaho. So basically it was his brothers today.

Among the group was Flower. Oh how we miss and love Flower. I want her to come and live with me all the time. She can help me hold babies, be spit up on, play with Butterfly and talk books with me. It was great to have her and everyone there. We had a little bbq and Butterfly and her two young cousins (Flower's little brother and Next Brother's boy) played outside and on the tramp. I barely saw Butterfly all night she was entertaining her cousins so much.

Oh, I almost forgot. As we got to the house, Next Brother was on the tramp and Butterfly was introduced to him. She then took her turn introducing me and her brothers to him. "This is my mom. She's a little crazy." Um, what?! Where did she get that!? And she said it so seriously. It was funny but strange for her. Looks like I'm not the only crazy one in the family.

The boys were not happy all night long. I think they were tired. I did take them to the wilderness yesterday after all. There were lots of people, lots of noises and lots of unfamiliar faces. Pirate basically had a melt down and I had to hang out in their basement with all the lights off to get him to calm down and go to sleep. He didn't sleep long. Just long enough for me to get Professor to sleep with lots of bouncing on Flower's bed. And I tried and tried to get Pirate to go back to sleep but he would not let me put him down. Finally, I did to go tell Juice it was time to go.

We gathered up Butterfly from the trampoline and her cousins and got her in her pjs. She started to cry. They boys started to really cry because they were in their car seats and not sleeping. Everyone is trying to say good bye to everyone else. Oldest Brother said, "I don't think we've had this much noise in the house ever." Yeah, we were that loud.

But, we got on the road and the boys fell asleep about 10 minutes later and we sang to each temple we passed; Bountiful, Salt Lake, Jordan River and the new one in Draper. Once we were home, I had to spend another hour or so calming the boys down and putting them to bed because they were once again woken up. Poor kids. Hopefully they will sleep well tonight! I know I will!

Safire

PS- Again pictures in the camera downstairs. More later.

PPS- A tropical storm is headed for our house in Maryland. I suddenly want to be home!

Utah Day 18- Photowalk #2

Everyone,

Today Dad and I decided to take another photo walk. But this time we headed to the mountains. We were going to go to Golden Spike (where the east and the west railroad came together) but we got kind of a late start. The boys were cranky this morning, and I wanted to run back to the big taxidermy store and get pants I saw for 9 dollars. Seriously, a good deal since they were even more marked down at 7 dollars! Sweet!

Anyway, we decided to go to Mt. Timpanogos instead. But then the trail head to the cave was closed. We went anyway. I stopped off at the ranger station and got a list of trails in the area. We decided we'd like to see some water so off we went to a place called Crystal Lake. Now, I don't know if it's crystal clear because we never made it to the lake but we had a great time taking pictures.

We took the boys with us today and wore them on the hike. It wasn't too bad, although I was pretty tired by the end. I got some great pictures and my dad and I had a good long talk. The boys did marvelously, sleeping the whole way up and back down. The paper the rangers gave me said the trail was 2.5 miles long. I think we went all but that half mile. We were close, but it was getting more steep and rocky as we went and the sun had already passed the ridge. So it was getting dark. And the last think I want to do is hike downhill on a rocky path in the dark. So we went home.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures. Enjoy!

Safire

Utah Day 17- Roommates

Everyone,

This morning I was able to meet up with 2 of my roommates from college, Michelle and Julia and their kids. It was great to see Michelle especially because I don't think I've seen her since our year at Ricks ended.

I have vivid memories of that year. It was probably my most demanding year socially. We had a roommate that we did not get along with. (We being Julia and I.) It was the year I had my horse and I think fondly back on that often. I remember Michelle sitting on the counter to do her makeup. I remember when her and her husband started dating that year. I remember our food fight at the beginning of the year. I remember another roommate buying herself a fake diamond ring (don't remember the reasons) and having it get caught between a chair and the wall and having the stone crack. I remember walking to class with another roommate and hearing her magnetic atom kit rocking in her back pack.

I remember getting a lot of A's that year. I remember feeling like I had hit my stride with school and I felt like I was acing everything except French. (I did too.) I went to a lot of dances with Julia on Wednesdays. I didn't dance much beyond the line dances, but I felt it was important to go and have a good time. I met the girl who became my roommate at BYU the next year. I think I feel like I changed the most that year. I think about it often.

So it was great to see Michelle and Julia and see how much we have changed in 7 years! Michelle assures me she still sits on the counter to do her makeup. Julia still has a great laugh. It's amazing to see them being mothers. And good ones too! Sometimes I wish we could go back to that year and all it's crazy hard fun times. But I know that we wouldn't give up these kids now for anything.

Who knows, maybe we'll see our kids being roommates one day. That would be weird and cool at the same time!

Safire

Utah Day 16- Rain and Water

Everyone,

It was raining so hard this morning when we got up we decided to postpone fishing. Butterfly had woken up early and was excited to go so she was a little upset we weren't going. I think a movie and some play time with my strawberry shortcake house and dolls fixed that.

We decided to go for a photowalk /hike instead. A photowalk is where you take a walk with the intent on taking pictures. At first, it was just supposed to be me and my dad but then Juice thought it would be fun to go on a hike and Butterfly was raring to go out. We didn't want to leave my mom out so she had to come and the boys too. We all piled in our 2 cars, decided to go to Jordan River and left.

Okay, we left a lot later than I thought we would. The boys are just cluster feeding like mad and I think I nursed one after the other from 10 till noon today. They were still hungry when we left but the milk factory had to shut down in order to aid in production.

We got lunch before we left at the local burger place. Dad and I ordered mini-shakes and some burgers and we were horrified to see the mini-shake was several inches higher than a big 56 oz cup. Holy cow! It was good but filling and I think I only ate half of it.

We found the trail no sweat and unloaded everyone to go walking. I had forgotten just how cold a rainstorm would be this time of year in the mountains. I think we went about 10 steps down the trail and I asked my mom if she would take my boys home. It was freezing! They had no coats yet and even though I had wrapped them in blankets, they were visibly shivering. So back home with Nana and the rest of us stayed to walk.

Juice was not expecting this to be a photowalk and thought it was a hike so he was a little frustrated that we kept stopping at first. But then he realized what we were doing and helped wrangle Butterfly. We threw rocks in the river, caught grasshoppers, looked at horses, found a semi-feral cat, took about 100 pictures, and walked half a mile. I had a nice time.

We rushed home and I fed the boys. Juice took a nap and Butterfly ran and played. Still. Where does she get the energy?

My Nana had a get together for us tonight. We had pizza and various and assorted salads. I think Butterfly ate 3 pieces of bread and butter. It was fun to be with my extended family and relax. We sang Happy Birthday to my uncle. I miss being a part of every day life with them. I didn't take any pictures but I was able to eat dinner without holding a baby. This is probably my thing I'm going to miss the most. I know when we go home it will be down to me and Juice and we won't have all these extra hands. Sigh...

Anyway, we drove home slowly to admire the lights in the valley and the stars that look so bright here. Butterfly called them strange the first night, but now she really likes them. (Both the stars and the lights.)

Everyone is asleep and I should be too. More fun planed for tomorrow!

Safire

Utah Day 15- Music and the Spoken Word

Everyone,

I went to see my brother sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir this morning. Every Sunday they have their Music and the Spoken Word broadcast. I think today was #4158. Yes, they have been doing it every week for close to 80 years. It was really cool to see him sing and to see all of the production stuff that goes behind the scenes for their broadcast. I was going to type up a bunch of stuff on them today but I am exhausted and so you get links. To learn more, see here.

We were running very late so I forgot my camera. I was so sad! I wanted to get a picture of him, or at least a picture of the whole choir singing. Once upon a time I thought I posted a video of them singing but I can't find it so no links there. And then once I thought he had a picture of him singing in the choir on his blog but I can't find it there either. So no pictures at all. Go to the website above to see what it looks like.

I think I must really be tired.

We went to Juice's ward where he grew up and showed off the kids. Everyone loves the twins. It's so fun to have them. We love them too.

Both boys have been cluster feeding in the evening and I think they may be coming up on a growth spurt. It makes me hungry and tired. It's been raining all evening and we were planning on going fishing tomorrow but we may have to postpone that. I don't know if I'm ready to take everyone up to the mountains in the mud. We'll see.

Safire

Utah Day 14- Moose and Cougers

Everyone,

It was a busy day today. We got up early and headed out to the huge enormous so big it has it's own aquarium sports equipment store today and had breakfast. We were met there by Mink and Spider. We had a wonderful buffet breakfast (which I think I ate the most out of all of us...) and then we walked around the store. I bought a few new t-shirts and a new pair of pants. Sadly, twins have done some damage to my stomach and none of my jeans at home fit me. (They call it twin-skin because your stomach is just a mass of stretched out skin.) So if I want to wear something besides my shorts this winter, I thought I better get some interim jeans. I hope I only ever have to wear these jeans after I have a baby! Hopefully I can go back to my old ones soon.

Anyway, after watching them feed the trout and getting fishing licences for my dad and me for our fishing trip next week, we came home for a quiet afternoon. (The store even has a dog kennel and horse corral! So you can ride your horse to the store if you want! Sweet!)

The boys had some pretty good naps, and I read a little of Breaking Dawn. Good book! We decided to go to Provo this afternoon and headed out as soon as the boys were awake.

We took our own sweet time getting to the bookstore at BYU and we missed it by 7 minutes. It closed! I thought it might have closed for the football game they had going on but no, it really just closes at 6pm on Saturday. So we got some jamba juice (waited forever for it too) and walked down the little river path they have by the bell tower. I was glad I brought my camera and got some pretty good shots of Butterfly.

We stopped by Sensuous Sandwich, and off home. Baths, books and beds were had by all.

Safire

Utah Day 13- Work and Play

Everyone,

Today we had another quiet day. Well, it was pretty quiet for me because I took a 4 hour nap this afternoon. It was heaven! I have been having strange dreams about trying to find something or doing a cooking show with my friend Valinda and cooking up our kids. Weird huh?

Odd dreams aside, we've had a good day today. We went to my mom's work to show off the babies and that was fun until Professor started wailing. Did I mention my mom works in a large-ish call center? Yeah, all heads turned my way and I dashed for an empty office and closed the door. He was okay after a few minutes of nursing, but was still rather whiny. Everyone ohhed and ahhed appropriately and we were forgiven for being somewhat loud. It was fun to see all my mom's work friends and put names with faces again. Mom works at a great place where they know all of us and really took some delight in seeing the kids themselves. (I suppose it helps that they read this too! Hi guys!)

I took a very long nap, as I said, this afternoon. The boys slept as well. Juice and Butterfly played outside. Juice rolled down the hill with Butterfly and has been kind of queasy ever since. It sounds like he has a touch of altitude sickness which is sad. We used to run and play here all the time and now when we come to visit we need to take it easy. Boy we really are getting used to Maryland.

Speaking of, Butterfly asked to go home to her own house today. Poor girl. She's having a rough time sleeping here. To save on some weight, I did not bring her little crib light with us and I should have. I thought she'd be okay without it. I guess I thought wrong.

My mom took her grocery shopping while I slept. Lots went on while I dreamed about trying to fit my 3 year old in a blender.

We went over to my brother's house today and played rock band. I did okay. We also had some yummy dinner of sandwiches and strawberry spinach salad. Yum yum! We had a great time and Butterfly cried all the way home that she wanted Cappy so much! Where was Cappy?! I want to stay with Cappy! It's nice that she loves her cousin so much.

Safire

Utah Day 12- Home

Everyone,

Today I thought Butterfly needed a down day so we spent the day at home. Okay, she spent the day at home with the boys and Nana. I did laundry all morning (yay clean socks!) and relaxed with a book. Juice had one of his best friends come over so they spent the morning carrying around babies and playing strawberry shortcake with Butterfly. It's really funny to watch almost 30 year olds on the floor saying, "Don't do it Strawberry!" or "My name is Lemon Pie." Especially since one of those guys is a bachelor. Very cute.

Anyway, Juice and I took advantage of our free babysitting and did some work at the temple. It was relaxing to be there. I can see the new Corner Canyon Temple from my bedroom window and I am looking forward to doing work there when we come back next time. Butterfly cried because she couldn't come to church with us and play with the toys.

While we were out, we bought some fresh fruit. I love Bear Lake raspberries. So good!

This evening the boys have been majorly cluster feeding and I've had one attached to me for close to 3 hours. (One after the other.) They are both currently sleeping in their beds and hopefully I will be shortly. :)

Here is the picture from yesterday.
Yay for the first ever Cousin Camp 2008!

Safire

Utah Day 11- 4 Grandkids

Everyone,

I was just sitting here trying to think of what we did today and what to title today. The only thing I could think of was I am so tired. Then I asked myself, why am I so tired? Well, because this morning we decided to take all 4 grand kids to the local picture place and get their pictures done.

Holy cow. Have you ever tried to take pictures of a 3 year old and 3 infants? No? It was tiring. And somewhat stressful. And the amount of stuff that exploded out of our bags at the picture place was amazing. Add that to the props that Butterfly insisted on taking down and scattering all over as she played with made for The Family Takeover. The pictures were not A+, but not bad either. I kept meaning to scan one or get it off the CD they gave us to show you today but the whole thing left me beat.

Cappy's Mom (whom I don't have an Internet name for...) pointed out in one of the shots of the 4 of them together that there were tears and red eyes. The girls at the photo studio worked hard and we at least had them all looking at the camera and Butterfly was the only one smiling. Of course, she also looks like she's throttling her brother and hugging Cappy. (He is her favorite baby right now.)

Butterfly ruined her dress I so lovingly picked out as we were headed out the door. Miss Independence had to climb into my dad's huge truck (where her car seat currently is) all by herself. Well, climbing up involved dragging her dress against the truck somehow and the dress now sports a huge black streak. We were able to hide it by putting a baby on her lap in the pictures.

We were met at the picture place by BFF Mink and Spider to get Spider's 2 year old pictures taken in her 70 year old dress. It was crocheted by Spider's Great Great Grandmother and has been passed down a lot. It is a beautiful dress and I love that I was able to see her in it. We then went with them to get ice cream, because that was how we bribed the toddlers into pictures. Yum!

Naps were long and plentiful.

Tonight my mom and I took the boys to Cappy's Mom's community play. It was cute! They did School House Rock and Cappy's Mom helped direct it. She had free tickets that we used. The kids did a very good job and Professor was in fine form squealing and wanting to be bounced. Pirate found his thumb tonight and has been busy trying to keep it from going between his lips and his gums.

When I got home tonight and was trying to put the boys down, they were being so cute. I had Professor laying next to me and feeding Pirate. Pirate would unlatch, look down and Professor and smile. Professor would then squeal in delight and talk to Pirate until Pirate decided food was more important and go back to nursing. This happened several times and I finally had to move Professor so that Pirate would finish. It is so much fun to have twins!

Safire

PS- Fire all out. No word yet on who started it.

PPS- Am I boring all of you with my daily updates? No one seems to be commenting...

Utah Day 10- Children's Garden

Everyone,

Today I went with my best friend and my mom to the Children's Garden here. Between us we had 5 kids. (Butterfly, Pirate, Professor, Cappy, and Spider (Mink's daughter). We had a great time! Right when you go in there is a huge sculpture of Noah's Ark. The boat has animals hanging out windows and out the top. It sits in a shallow pool of water and at different times different animals spout out water. Since today was 2 dollar day, the place was packed! Butterfly instantly wanted to go into the water and waded a bit before she went with Nana over to the jumping water fountains. She loves the water.

I fed the boys, we changed several diapers, and Butterfly got very wet. So we decided to go look at the bear cave. Butterfly had a ball climbing through the 'tiny tunnel' down to the bear. But it was so crowded in there we left. We saw some fish, wandered around for a bit and discovered the stage. The stage was off to the side and we had it to ourselves for several minutes. That was perfect! Both Butterfly and Spider had a great time hamming it up on stage.

The only down part to the outing today was my stroller. I miss my BOB stroller! I think next time I come I may have to risk putting it through the airport. I have 2 umbrella strollers and some stroller connectors so they go together but it's hugely wide. And the umbrella strollers don't recline and don't have shade. Or storage even. It was hard to get them through the crowds. And Butterfly so wanted to ride. Poor kid. At least on BOB she can.

My boys were unhappy today and we decided to head on home a little earlier than we wanted. We had lunch and I hope everyone had a nap. I know we did!

Safire

PS- The fire is still burning, but I think it's mostly contained now. We are still getting buzzed every 15 minutes by helicopters dropping flame retardant and water on the fire to get it out.

Utah Day 9- FIRE!

Everyone,

We decided to go to the mall today to shop for clothes for a picture that my mom wants to do of all the grand kids together. So as we are trying to get things together and get everyone ready, I glance out the window. Huh, that looks kind of like a big fire on the mountain. (Big being relative as in I am far away and I can see a bright spot on the mountain that looks like a huge bonfire but it's small at the moment.)

That moment did not last too long. It seemed like right before my eyes that tiny bright spot took off in all four directions and suddenly, the small bright spot was a fire. The smoke started billowing and the fire started racing. We sat on my mom's porch and watched it engulf the mountain in front of us. My dad mentioned a few tricks he learned as a forest fire fighter back in the day. I took a ton of pictures but my camera battery died so no pictures now.

We did eventually get to the mall after we determined the fire was not going to come down the mountain and engulf the house. To date, over 600 acres burned and about 60 homes had to be evacuated (but were let back in tonight). Wow that thing moved fast!

I am frustrated with boy clothes at the moment. We found a ton of very cute dresses for Butterfly for this picture, but nothing really great for the boys! I suppose my desire not to dress the the same all the time fueled my frustration. I want them to be coordinating, not matching. So to find 2 coordinating things, along with a dress and another coordinating outfit for Cappy was near to impossible. Plus the boy clothes section is pathetic in size compared to the girl clothes section. And why do baby boy clothes need words on everything? Anyway, we left without any luck and a ride on the merry-go-round for Butterfly.

After dinner, my mom and I went back out looking and finally gave up on the whole summer outfit plan (so everyone could wear their outfit again) and went with fall/winter stuff. We did find 3 jumpers that are the same but different colors (one brown, one blue, one green) and a dress that would go for Butterfly. Hopefully she'll wear it. She has become picky with her clothes lately.

I better go find my battery charger so you can see the fire.

Safire

Utah Day 8- Sunday!

Everyone,

We have been here a week now and we're having a ball! This morning I surprised myself and was able to get everyone dressed and ready for 9am church with my mom. Okay, we were about 10 minutes late, but that's still really great. My mom's church is right next to the new Draper Temple (as in they share the parking lot when it's finished) so we sang several rounds of "the temple song" for Butterfly. Now that I think of it, I should have taken some pictures. Maybe I'll go up there and do that since it's literally 4 or 5 blocks away.

I spent most of church in the mother's lounge (as I always do feeding babies) and it made me miss my own church. I was alone in this mother's lounge. At home, I think there are 5 of us nursing new babies and it's so much fun to go in there and chat. The only other mom that came in today was someone to change a diaper with an older child and she muttered under her breath to her 4 or 5 year old that he didn't need a diaper change, that daddy only said that to get them out of his hair. Wow, not something I would say to my child! Anyway, this mother's lounge has also sparked a desire to change the furniture in the mother's lounge in Maryland. I think I may be on the look out for free couches when I get back.

After church, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's for some yummy turkey dinner. I ate my fill (no small feat right now) and sat down to feed a baby. 4 hours later, I finally woke up. Apparently I am tired. I did have a few baby swaps in there, but I mostly sat on the couch and slept. Butterfly played hard with Juice's old toys and he had a great time playing with her. She fell asleep on the way home and didn't wake up being put in her bed. Or getting a night diaper put on her. Or anything.

We watched a movie with my sil and Cappy. Now, off to bed!

Safire

Utah Day 7- A Date!

Everyone,

Today was a very low key day. Juice and I decided to get up early and go have a breakfast date to take full advantage of my mom and her desire to babysit our kids. Since we've only had one other date since the boys were born, (thanks to Bee on our anniversary) I was way excited to go.

So Juice got up early, got ready, and poked me awake to ask if we were going to go. He got a moan from me and decided to go get Butterfly who was waking up. She jumped on me, got another moan and begged Daddy to go get breakfast for her. So he did. I finally woke up, fed the boys, and sleepily came downstairs. See, my kids have caught colds and Professor is apparently super needy when he is sick. He was nursing on and off all night so I think I got about 2 hours of sleep. BUT, I was determined to get out so around 10am, we finally left.

I wanted to go to the Iceburg where I used to work but they stop breakfast at 10am. Dang, we'll have to try again another day. So off to Denny*s! Yummy. As we were driving home, I noticed a barber shop and pulled over so Juice could have his hair cut. They butchered him a bit and he looks kind of funny. But I got to sit for about 45 minutes and not do anything. No one needed me, nothing needed my attention. It was great! What a fun date!

We spent most of the rest of today at home resting because the kids are sick. No fun to have sick kids!

Safire

Utah Day 6- Great Grandparents

Everyone,

Today we went to see my grandparents. It was so nice to spend some time at Nana's house and just relax. She watches my nephew Cappy a few days a week so we were able to spend the morning/afternoon with him as well. Boy are there a lot of babies around! (And I do realize that I got the lions share of babies at the moment but still...there seem to be a lot of babies.)

Nana made yummy yummy chicken and I'm a little afraid I ate her out of house and home. (Hello nursing twins and can't get enough to eat all the time.) But she made 2 different kinds of chicken that were awesome and potatoes and jello with Mandarin oranges in it and danishes and candy and little cakes. Yum! Butterfly had jello and ham for lunch, I had everything else.

We also got to see my cousins Bee and Brother Bee since they live right next door. They took Butterfly over to play and that was nice because I could just focus on the boys. I also watched a good movie with them that I can't remember the name of. It had Cary Grant in it and was very cute. Nana says I need to rent Mrs. Millie (I think?) because she feels it's a very good portrayal of England during WWII which was where she was during it. I'm excited to add it to my list!

I have pictures but it's late and I'm tired so I'll update this post in the morning with them. It's fun to see my grandparents with their great grandchildren. I hope that I will be able to see my great grandchildren as well.

JUICE IS HERE! My mom picked him up at the airport and brought him to my Nana's house. I love having him with me. I missed him and all the help he gives me, especially at night. Now that he's had several days of uninterrupted sleep, he should be good to help me. And he's off of work for 3 weeks too so this should be fun.

Safire

Utah Day 5- Twins!

Everyone,

Today we had a nice quiet morning.  Butterfly woke up fairly happy and had a good breakfast and watched a movie.  The boys played while I ate, had their mid-morning meal and went down for naps.  And then I took a super long hot shower.  Ahhh...so nice to relax in the hot water!

Butterfly and I had a good lunch while the boys played, they ate again and napped and we watched tv while we waited for my mom to get home with her car so we could go visit family.  I almost left Butterfly at home because the moment came to leave and she had a huge tantrum.  She did calm down enough to come and then crashed in the car.  But when we got to my sil's house, she was happy and loving having all her cousins around.

And we got to meet twin cousins Angel and Seraph!  They are SO CUTE.  And so light!  I picked Angel up and thought I was going to throw her to the ceiling.  And Splats was holding both of my boys and said to hurry up with pictures because her arms were getting tired!  But it was so fun to see the 2 sets of twins together.  I love love love that she had twins the same time I did so that now we can talk about twin stuff together and will have a partner to bounce ideas off of. 

Someone is crying so I have to go.  I'll leave you with some pictures!

 

And Flower was there too!  We love Flower!  (So in the back...Butterfly and Flower, left to right: Finch, Bear, Rabbit...and the twins: Pirate, Professor, Angel and Seraph.

Good looking group!

Safire

4 Months Old

Everyone,

The boys are 4 months old!  Wow!  They are growing and changing every day.  They are starting to notice each other and will give each other big smiles when they are both in the mood.  They also love to be near each other and frequently 'check in' with each other as they roll around on the floor.  Yes, they are rolling!  Not very far and not too fast but they are rolling as much as I expected them to.  They just did their first plane ride a few days ago and passed it with flying colors.  They are well traveled little boys and are easy to take places as long as they are fed promptly and mommy is around.  They both have a very easy going sweet nature and together make a fun set of twins. 

Pirate is my big boy.  He loves to eat and will eat all day long if I let him.  (No weights or heights as we are in Utah.)  He is ticklish and laughs when you bounce him up and down.  He is easy to laugh, even easier to smile and is very happy go lucky.  He sleeps through the night (most nights).  He has a longer torso than Professor so I find that a lot of clothes that Professor fits in, Pirate does not.  It looks like his hair is going to be brown as well as his eyes (like Daddy and Butterfly).  Butterfly must have him sit next to her in the car (no ideas why).  He does not take a binky but seems to have found his thumb in the past few days.  He rolls onto his stomach all the time but I don't think I've seen him roll to his back.  I frequently have to go save him from evil belly time.

Professor is my snuggle baby.  Boy does he love to be held and held and held.  He also tucks so nicely into the crook of your arm.  It's easy to hold him.  He is my binky baby and loves that thing.  I worry sometimes about later when I'll have to take it away from him but I'm trying not to think about it.  Another thing with the binky, is that he only eats as much as he has to.  He is not a comfort nurser and would perfer the binky for that.  Which is probably why he weighs close to a pound less than his brother.  But he's happy with clear bright blue eyes and a huge face splitting grin.  It looks like he has the dimple that Butterfly has but it's shallower (maybe his cheeks aren't as chubby).  He has bright blond hair that swoops nicely to the right already.  Thank you daddy for that hair line.  He can roll front to back and is already trying to get up on his knees on his belly.

 And a cute picture of Butterfly to leave you with!

Safire

Utah Day 4- Baby Palooza!

Everyone,

Today has been a visiting day. Cappy came early again this morning and was smothered by Butterfly exclaiming "I love my cousin!" My BFF Mink came over with her daughter Spider and kept me company. (Also loaned a hand...she makes a mean sandwich!)

I think Butterfly might be a little too rambunctious for Spider. She kept yelling "Girl!" as Butterfly ran through the house. It was pretty funny to watch. We were also able to introduce Spider to the wonderfulness that is sidewalk chalk.

The boys all took 2 hour naps today, and Butterfly took a fairly long one as well. It was heaven to have all the children sleeping at once. Thank you nap gods for that little gift. :) I did not nap (but should have) and instead poked around online and read a little of my book club book for next month. I also did some laundry. Which did not get done and is still sitting in the dryer. Maybe I should get that...

Butterfly went to 'school' at my aunt's house and her daughter (who is 12) and the neighborhood kids. She had a great time and brought home a workbook page of a few letters and a book. She is going to LOVE real school.

Cappy's Mom came by and we went grocery shopping for another friend of mine to come over and have dinner. Zuke and Melissa and their 3 kids came for dinner. I got to meet Melissa and Tyler and Addison for the first time. It was so much fun to have them here! Tyler and Butterfly hit it off and I think that Vinny has some competition. They ate, ran through the sprinklers and wore themselves out. Can I just say I love having a yard?! My dad has a cute picture of all the kids in their pjs that he'll have to put up on his blog or something.

(Speaking of my dad, don't forget to enter his pay it forward contest!)

It was funny to see 4 car seats and 3 sets of small shoes floating around the entry way.

Now I am exhausted and will once again crash in the bed. Hopefully Professor will sleep better tonight since the past 2 nights he's only slept when he's been jammed up next to me. Right now, he is sleeping peacefully in his crib. I love to hear them both breathing so restfully. Now I'm going to go get some of that rest myself!

Safire

Utah Day 3- Being an Aunt

Everyone,

Today I had my nephew Cappy with me all day. Boy is he a cutie! He has the most expressive eyes and great chubby cheeks that I kind of wish my boys had more of. I love chubby cheeks on a baby.

Anyway, today has solidified my desire not to have triplets. Twins are hard enough, thank you very much! There were a few screaming moments today when I was feeding one of my boys and Cappy had decided that I had been away from him long enough. But you know what? We all got through it and everyone was happy at least some time today.

Butterfly was happy because I let her watch the Pixar shorts movie about 5 times. Partly because I had my hands full of babies and mostly because I can't figure out how to use my dad's 500 disk dvd changer/player. The Pixar movie happened to be the one loaded so that's what we watched.

Cappy was happy because we played peek a boo and he took 2 very good naps.

Pirate was happy because he ate and was looked at. He is one smiley kid, that one.

Professor was happy because he had his binkie. And his mommy. Nothing else matters.

I was happy because I got my hair cut today by someone who works in a grown up salon. Not one with cartoons on. I had her layer it and thin the bottom out a bit. It looks much better than it has been. I thought about doing the color but my hair is falling out (thank you no more pregnancy hormones) and I just didn't want to pay for it and have it all fall out.

Butterfly also got her hair cut and she looks so cute! Just a trim for her (and really for me but with layers) and we both look a little more put together. I like it.

I am headed to bed early because I am exhausted.

Safire

Utah Day 2- My Room

Everyone,

I do love coming back to my parents house. It's not the house I grew up in. We moved here the summer before I turned 16. But as my parents built the house, I got to pick out my room and watch it go from bare bones to my room.

Even though I haven't lived here in about 10 years, it is still very much my room. My brother's room, on the other hand, was turned into an office for my mom. And then it was a living room for me and Juice when we were living here before our move to Maryland. And then it became another office. Or maybe it became my living room and then an office. I can't quite remember. Now, it's Butterfly's room. She has my old bed to sleep in, toys and my old desk. Wow that room is big when you take stuff out of it.

Back to my room. I still have my bedside table, my dresser and my book case in here. My walls still have pictures from my high school orchestra and a picture of my good friend and her then boyfriend now husband and me and Juice in old clothes from a date at the local amusement park. My bookcase is filled with my books and small horse figurines. I have shelves on the walls with horse shoes and my high school diploma on it. I noticed today that I have my tassel hanging from my door handle and wondered that it had lasted 10 years being on that door. There is a yarn ball hanging there too and I have forgotten the significance. My dresser has 2 drawers full of stuff that I'd like to keep. Like all the origami Juice gave me in high school, and the bouquets I carried at friends' weddings. I even have all the flowers I ever got in high school for dances.

In my closet hangs my wedding dress, and my high school letterman's jacket. (Man that thing was comfortable!) It also has old toys, and several boxes of things like glasses and plates from my wedding. I didn't want to send them back because I will eventually use them when my current set wears out. It's jam packed with more stuff.

It's nice to come home to this room, and see my younger self. Some things have changed, like the size of the bed and the fact that there are 2 cribs in here now, but I feel calm here. The Beach Boys sing a song about a room and where it's a place you can go and tell your secrets too. I feel like that is this room. It has always been mine. And it's a place where I started out being nothing but myself. And I still don't have to be anything else but me when I'm in here. I like that.

Safire

Utah Day 1

Everyone,

I thought it would be a good exersize to post every day while I'm here in Utah.  So here I am!  It's almost midnight (which means my body thinks it's 2 am...I am dead beat) I'm dedicated huh?  Very tired so airplane highlights in bullet form.

• Pirate did not sleep one wink on the plane until we were landing.  Literally.
• Professor was either sleeping with my Aunt or charming the flight attendants.
• I got MANY bad looks from people when they cried.  From other mothers even!
• They did not cry for long, except when the drink cart was in the way of us switching babies and boy did Professor want his mommy!
• Butterfly watched the same movie twice.
• She drained my lapple battery.
• We then moved on to notebooks and crayons which lasted 2 mintues and we landed.
• She spilled 2 cups FULL of orange juice.
• Not on her.  Poor floor.
• We did the tour of public bathrooms.
• She does not like the toilets that flush themselves and leaps up when someone next to us flushes.
• It made for some interesting bathroom trips.
• I miss Juice.
• And I miss Soot and my house.
• But I'm happy to be here with my parents.
• I met my new nephew Cappy and he is so cute!
• I no longer view Utah as my "home".
• It's hard to cram 3 car seats in the back of a mercedes.

More tomorrow.

Please go comment on my dad's pay it forward contest!  (Can you believe that's the only thing I forgot to bring?!)

Safire

Congratulations!

Everyone,

We have a winner! The winning comment out of 18 is.....#3.

MY DAD.

Yes, people, my father has won my contest. And Dad, you don't need to contact me about how to get your prize out to you. I will see you on Sunday when you come to pick me up at the airport and can give it to you when we get back to your house. Thanks for saving me some postage! :)

Now, remember everyone else: you have another chance to win this string! When my Dad puts up his contest on his blog, go over there and enter to win. Who knows what he will send out. He's a pretty great guy so I think he would think of interesting things to pay forward. I will let you know when he does it.

I'm off to pack up Melissa's package!

Safire

While I'm Out Being a Tourist...

Everyone,

You can enter my new contest! About, oh, 2 weeks ago, I received my other package. I put anything up on here because I was in the throws of twin infant 3 year old toddler no help mode. I enjoyed my pink package sent by Anna in Australia. See, here's a picture of my lovelies:

Butterfly keeps asking me to open the earrings so she can "try them on" or hold them up to her little ears. I have to say that the earrings are my favorite part. Love new jewelry! Also, the card she sent along had a book mark that we've been using to read Charlotte's Web. And the pink pen is currently all over my couch cover because someone (ahem...me) let a small 3 year old child draw on paper with it. Hairspray should get that out right?

So since I have gotten my package, I've been gathering things to put in this person's winning package. Let's just say that I've gone to a lot of touristy things lately and I've just picked up a few things that could be interesting. Leave a comment on this post by Friday at 3pm EST (which is when I should be coming back from the boys' 4 month appointment...4 MONTHS people!) and I will name a winner that day (or night...it will probably be that night) and I hope to send out the package on Saturday. Before my month long visit west. So you better be prompt in getting me your address! (Or if you are one of my family/Utah readers...I will bring it on the plane.)

And remember when Melissa won the other contest? Well, she is getting some interesting stuff too! (I won't say so she will be surprised.) I will send her package out on Saturday too. Thanks for being patient with me Melissa...you won't be disappointed!

K, now comment away. You can even comment more than once to up your odds if you want. Tell us your favorite tourist place or a touristy tip. You know, like you have to have a smart trip card to get out of the metro stations here. Or Annapolis has great fudge at the store by the wharf. Things like that.

Safire

An Adventure

Everyone,

A few ladies in my ward were getting together to have lunch and explore one of the many many place to go in the state: Havre De Grace. It's a cute little town on a point of land where the Susquehanna River meets the Chesapeake Bay. I thought since Bee was here, we would tag along and see some of the area that I haven't seen.

So we all got up early, met everyone at the church and off we went. Butterfly happily watched a movie in the van (whose name is Fern Tree) and the boys slept great. Our lead car promptly got lost when we got to Havre De Grace. We ended up going over the Susquehanna River by mistake and I watched the driver of the car have an argument with the toll lady. We really did make a wrong turn and ended up on the bridge with no where to go because of construction. In the end, we didn't have to pay the toll and went back over the bridge. We got back into town, only to turn around yet again. By this time, both boys are screaming because they are hungry and Butterfly is crying because she has to potty. By the third time turning around, I gave up and stopped. I was smart this time and brought our little potty with us and some plastic bags. So Butterfly was able to use the potty, I fed the boys and then took care of the potty. Not my finest moment but at least she didn't have an accident in the car and I didn't have to rush around the town trying to find a bathroom for her.

Anyway, we met back up with the ladies and walked around the boardwalk on the river. Pirate was having a really hard time and so I had to stop and feed him again in the hot sun. Ugh...he was covered in sweat because I covered him up so he wouldn't burn. He did get rosy cheeked and stayed that way all day. He was dead set on being carried all day long and I was never so happy for my wrap. After the boardwalk, Professor was having a hard time so I had to stop again and the ladies decided to go on ahead.

Bee and I decided to walk the town to meet everyone for lunch. It was fun but a little hot. And then when we finally found the restaurant, everyone was sitting outside. I had been carrying Pirate (who finally fell asleep!) so I was really hot. I almost asked the waitress to fill up a pitcher of water and ice and leave it for me. I drank quite a bit and filled up our water bottles there. Lunch was okay. All the other ladies had sea food and they said it was wonderful. I do not eat anything that lives in water so I ended up with a turkey wrap. Bee the same.

After lunch, we went our own way and walked back to the van which we left by the light house. We stopped off at a famous ice cream place for something cool. It was good but I have to say our local ice cream place is better ice cream. But it was a welcome break and we sat inside. I fed the boys again and they finally calmed down and stopped crying.

We had a nice time wandering around the light house and taking a bunch of pictures. I ended up feeding the boys (yes AGAIN...they eat a ton all the time but does it stop me? No.) looking out at the river while Bee and Butterfly played. (Something about the cannon from the war in 1812 being a look and listen scope.)

We finally got everyone piled into the car, strapped in and Butterfly announces she has to go potty. So I decided to drive to the public bathrooms I'd seen signs for in town. Well, she couldn't wait and there was an out house by a construction site. Boy was it awful though. So she again used her little potty and I did not have to use a plastic bag this time. Yay.

We then headed home. Both boys slept some, and Butterfly watched more movies in the back. Well, we didn't leave till about 3:30pm and I forgot it was Friday. Guess what that means? TRAFFIC. Boy did we ever hit traffic in Baltimore. I gave up and went towards Columbia since I know how to get home from the mall there. We ended up stopping at the mall to feed the boys. But then we had to have a potty break (for the big girls) so we loaded everyone up in the stroller and went inside. We had a cookie, came back out and loaded everyone back into the car. The whole thing took almost an hour. Just for a potty break. Ugh.

(An aside...I forgot to lock the wheels on my Bob so when I lifted it up to put it into the car, one of the wheels rolled away. I didn't notice until I tried to take it off and it wasn't there. I could not wrap my mind around where it would have gone. Some guy had to come out of his car and get it for me and bring it back because I had no idea where it ran off to. A little embarrassing because he said, "I'm amazed you didn't see that roll away." Sleep deprivation is my only excuse.)

After the mall, it was smooth sailing and we were back home. Ahh...home.

My Aunt and Uncle and Bee's Brother come into town tonight. We have stuff going on every day next week, and then we're off to Utah!

Safire

Busy busy busy

Everyone,

We have been busy here. Out playing! Today is a day to recover so I hope to get the rest of the pictures organized and maybe a nap. I am tired!

On Monday we were able to go to Annapolis with my friend Laura and her little boy Andrew. Butterfly and Andrew are a week apart. Included in this trip was a trip to the water front, a tour of public bathrooms with 2 newly potty trained 3 year olds, and lunch outside. We had a great time and apparently I didn't take any pictures worth showing. So here are a few that Laura took.

Bee's one request when she was visiting here was to go to the beach. Funny, that was Flower's request as well! So we packed up the car and drove out to the beach. We had been there with Flower just a few months before. We had a few friends invited but they were unable to make it due to tire trouble. We still had a pretty good time. It was very windy that day and my little shade thing kept blowing over. We ended up taking down almost half of it which at least gave us a little square of shade.

We had to leave the bug netting off. I didn't think it would be a big deal but apparently it was. The biting flies were ferocious! Poor little Professor got bitten on his head and he was UNHAPPY. I don't blame him because they bit me on my ankles several times. Ouch! At least we had a tiny pup tent for Butterfly that I commandeered for the boys and they took a small nap inside.

Today at the beach was full of marine wildlife. Beyond the several seagulls (which Butterfly calls geese) and the tiny fish in the surf, we saw some baby crabs, a horse shoe crab, and jelly fish! The jelly fish were annoying. They were big and hurt! Both Bee and I got stung and we didn't even go swimming that deep. The jelly fish also made it so Butterfly did not want to be in the water. We had fun playing in the sand and eating hot dogs and enjoying the sound of the water. Juice did not have as good of a time this time. It was hot, the flies were bad and I frequently left him with both boys to go play in the surf with Butterfly and Bee. I had a great time. So did Bee. But this is a big note to myself: go to the beach in June and not August.

In between playing around the area with Bee, we've been having some down days. We've been playing some card games and watching a lot of movies. It's been great to have someone here to play with Butterfly. She has declared Bee her cousin and not mine. I apparently can't have any cousins. I think it's fun that she loves our helpers so much. It makes it that much easier!

Tomorrow we're off on another adventure!

Safire

Pictures...pictures

Everyone,

I just looked at my pictures from when the boys were first born and up through now. I have over 700 pictures spanning 3 months. Yikes, how am I ever going to go through them and organize them!? I have to because eventually I'll be scrapbooking them (probably in about 2 years...I am horribly behind) and I really won't remember what was happening or who was what unless I at least label some of them. I did at least get all of July done so if you're on my picture list, you should have gotten them.

We are having fun with Bee. It was so nice for me this morning to lay in bed until 10am and know that Butterfly was taken care of. We haven't done much beyond grocery shop and regroup from no help but we're off on some adventures next week. I can't wait for the beach again!

A friend at church just gave me a huge bin full of boy clothes. Mostly 18 month to 4T. This is going to be a huge help when they are older! She said she wished she had 2 of everything, but I'm glad she doesn't because it looks like the boys' body types will be different and I would have ended up buying 2 separate things anyway. She gave me a bunch of really cute sweaters and such so I'm excited for them to be old enough to wear them. She says she is excited to see the clothes on my boys and remember her boy in them. Ahh...good times.

A big shout out to my sil and her twins who are finally home from the hospital! We can't wait to meet them!

Safire

Ahhh...help!

Everyone,

That is a sigh of relief in the title, not a scream for help. We have help again! My wonderful cousin is here for about 2 and a half weeks. She is 15 and so fun and cute! We're going to call her Bee on here. Anyway, it's been so nice to have another set of hands, although Pirate screams bloody murder whenever she picks him up. I think it's a combination of a few things with him. (I'll get into it later.) And Professor is happy as long as he's full and someone is holding him.

Today we went to a park with my mom's group. One of our members had moved away and was here visiting and settling on her house. So we went to the park to visit with them and let the kids play. Butterfly was so cute. At one point all the girls were in the train, she found me, got a huge smile on her face and said, "Mommy I'm playing with all my friends!" She was so happy. It was so cute. I like that friends are starting to be a big part of her life.

Wednesday night I was able to go out with the ladies in my church and have a nice dinner and some kid free swimming and conversation. It was great. Just what I needed. Although I did worry about leaving Juice with all three kids. He did fine and there was no one crying when I walked in the door. Little did I know that Professor was breathing in between screams when I came in. Still, he was easily calmed and I was happy to be home.

On Thursday, we had a dentist appointment in the morning. It was fun to show off the boys to our dentist. She is very nice. I got x-rays, the first time in about 18 months. And I have a cavity. Yay. It seems like every time I go to see her I am either pregnant or I have a cavity.

From the dentist, I had to rush off to the airport to pick up Bee since her flight was about half an hour early. Apparently they had a good tailwind. Juice had another bout of 3 kids and no mommy. I walked right up to her at the baggage claim and we walked right back out to the car. We hit a little bit of traffic on the way home but nothing the HOV lane couldn't fix.

By the time I got home, Pirate had had enough! Where was his mommy! He spent most of that night plastered to my side wanting to nurse. Poor kid. And Professor was grumpier than normal. Butterfly took right to Bee after a moment of shyness. She keeps saying that Bee and Flower are her best friends.

Oh, I hear someone waking up so I have to go. Pictures soon! And the other contest!

Safire

Movies

Everyone,

I seriously do not watch our cable any more. Between Butterfly wanting to watch her shows, me limiting her tv time, and the fact that there is nothing on, we decided to cancel our cable. I guess it comes at a good time since we will not be using it for an entire month and why pay for it when we won't use it. I only use our dvr and it has been empty for over a month now. Plus, I figure all the shows I do watch I can watch online anyway. So out goes cable.

And in comes netflix. I've never had an account with them before. I just spent the weekend looking at the movies and finding a few I'd like to get. Okay, 103. I am totally excited about doing this (although I probably should have waited until after our Utah trip because I won't use them for a whole month and pay for it when I'm not using it). Are there any movie recommendations out there? What should I rent? So far most of my list is my little pony movies for Butterfly and some of the new releases I was never able to go and see in the theater. I am up for anything not R rated or scary.

Apparently, the warehouse is in the next town over so you can get your movies every other day if you watch them the day it comes and drop them in the box before 5pm that same day. I am just really excited to get some serious movie time in and hopefully be able to watch something new besides Dumbo and Nemo.

Safire

Ward Party

Everyone,

Each year our bishop has a huge ward party at his kid camp. We swim, we eat, we talk, and the men play stick ball. We all look forward to it every year. This year we had another great time. We got there really early (because I thought it started an hour before it really did...otherwise we would have been an hour late) and Juice and Butterfly swam while I sat with the boys and talked to the ward ladies.

Butterfly came dragging Juice about an hour later and said she was done playing with Daddy, she wanted to play with Mommy. So I went to the pool and sat and chatted with more friends while Butterfly splashed with best friend Vinny. She wanted to play in the big pool so I convinced her to slide down the big slide with me. (My camera battery was dead or I would have a picture...these pictures are from my friend Laura.) So we climbed up 3 layers of webbing and got to the top. I sat her on my lap, told her to be prepared to go under the water and take a big breath and hold it. And down we went! As we hit the water I heard her say, "Ohhh!" as all the air she was holding rushed out. Down in the water we went and she starts to flail. I got her out of the water before I got my head out and she's trying so hard to get to the edge of the pool. She climbed out as fast as she could and I asked if she wanted to do it again. "No!" We played in the kiddie pool the rest of the time.

I think I ate probably 5 hot dogs. The boys were a hit (as always) and Butterfly played some more in the pool with Daddy after dinner. Then the men played stick ball (in which Juice was a goalie and totally blocked the bishop which was the talk of church on Sunday) and Butterfly played in the playground. I sat and fed/held the boys and talked some more. I talked a lot at this thing and it was so much fun!

We are looking forward to next year's party!

Safire

Trip Planning

Everyone,

Me and the kids are going to Utah in a few short weeks. Yes, me and all 3 kids. We are staying a month. I am 2 parts excited and about 10 parts nervous. Mostly I'm nervous for the flight home. Because the flight to Utah we will be accompanied by my aunt, my uncle, and their two kids who are 15 and 13 (I think...). We will have lots of hands to pass babies and Butterfly around to. It's the flight home with just me and the kids and Juice. I'm glad he is coming (after a week or so in Colorado for training) to take us home because the airline won't let me fly with two infants and a toddler. I asked.

One thing that has been eating at my brain lately has been what to bring. Seriously, I never want to fly to my mom's house again because just the sheer volume of stuff I have to pack into two bags is overwhelming. I'm hating that the airlines are now charging for a second checked bag. So now 4 people's things need to be stuffed into two bags. Stress!

Things I have to bring for Butterfly include a potty seat (she really won't sit on the big seats unless there is something there...luckily I have a portable one which means I should probably port along some Clorox wipes), clothes, shoes, dresses, toys, books, pull ups, etc. She is worried that Nana's house will not have toys. I've decided to let her play with my old ponies if I can find them in the garage.

For the boys, they are a little easier to travel, only because people are so nice in letting us borrow things. My only big stress right now is one car seat. I really don't want to take our car seats since I've seen the pieces they can come back in. So my best friend is letting me use her infant seat...I just need to borrow one more or buy one on Craig's list or something. I just need it for a month or so.

I refuse to take my awesome Bob stroller with me on the plane. Because seriously, that thing cost me close to 700 dollars and I refuse to give it to the baggage people. So we are taking one umbrella stroller and some stroller connectors and my mom has another umbrella stroller. Butterfly has graduated to walking for this trip. We're going to be going slow.

I am so excited to meet my brand new nieces Angel and Seraph, nephew Cappy, visit temple square to show Butterfly the temple, go fishing and participate in my mom's first "cousin camp", have quality girl time with my best friend, visit visit visit, see my family and Juice's family and Flower, show off my cute sweet boys, see all my Maryland friends who are going to be in Utah the same time (it's so weird how many of them there are!), have a birthday party at my mom's house with all my friends like I used to in high school, play my brother's wii and totally beat him, er, rock at rock band, and just enjoy being in Utah. Each time I talk to my mom there are so many more things I want to do. It's a good thing I'm going to be there for a month!

It's going to be great. Now to go write out my packing list....

Safire

Winner winner!

Everyone,

We have a winner! Congrats to Melissa at A Journey in Faith!

Please email me at safirecat at gmail dot com with your address for your prize. You have a choice of prizes: A DC Museum Tour or Bits of Maryland.

To everyone else who commented, never fear! You'll get another chance when I get the other prize. Or you could contact Melissa and try to follow this string and win it! Gifts for everyone!

Safire

A Package!

Everyone,

We know our UPS guy and our mailman by name. We love our UPS guy who brings Soot treats, chats every time he drops off a package, and waves at us through the neighborhood if I happen to be walking around with the kids. (Yes, I actually do this sometimes.) Anyway, I give him water or Gatorade on those really hot days, and cookies, etc when I have them. He's just a great guy.

Our mailman, well, he hates our dog and is not terribly nice. Maybe it's just me. He does bring me fun things like this:
What is it you say? Well, remember the pay it forward contest that I won? It came! And I got some really good things thanks to Courtney over at A is for Beautiful. She sent some really fun things! A calender, some magazines with yummy recipes, some note cards and stickers (Butterfly's comment "Can I share your C's?") and some fruit snacks and trail mix. Yum!
And the trail mix and the dinner list are my favorite things! The trail mix has some kind of big chocolate ball with caramel on the inside and it is so good! Yum!

I am also looking forward to looking through the magazines and getting some new recipes. Because frankly, I'm getting a little tired of what we're eating all the time. She also sent a desert cook book and I am so thrilled to be able to eat these things again. I think I will let Butterfly pick one and make it with her during the winter. She will love it!

So what does this mean to you guys as readers? My own pay it forward contest is on! You have until Saturday, July 26th to leave me a comment here and I will randomly pick a winner and send you your own package. Then, when you get my random gifts, you have to have your own contest and pass along the love. Hence the pay it forward concept. So comment away! And if you're looking for something to comment about, tell me your favorite ice cream. (This is what Courtney had us comment on too!)

Safire

PS- Afraid you won't win? Never fear! I won 2 of these contests and when I get the second package, I will have another contest! So be on the look out!

3 Month Update

Everyone,

The boys are 3 months old today. Can you believe it? Time has flown. Probably because I get very little sleep and things just kind of run together. Anyway, here is an update on each boy.

Pirate is my chunky monkey. He weighs in at 13 lbs even and is 24 inches by my measuring tape. His head is just shy of 16 inches. He is serious about eating and will eat at great lengths and with gusto. He also would probably sleep through the night if I would let him. Yes, I wake him up to eat. I only do this because I'm up feeding Professor and I may as well feed Pirate too since I'm already awake. He is also the great diaper escaper and is the one that leaks out all over me (3 times today!). He loves to smile and will smile and giggle at anyone who is talking to him. (Makes Butterfly's day.) If you tap him gently on the mouth, he will break into a huge Muppet smile (you know, where the mouth opens and the head flings back) and laugh. An endless source of entertainment for me and Juice. He also thinks it's pretty funny when you wipe his mouth off. He has rolled over once about a week ago from front to back. And he has the sweetest smile that really comes out in his eyes. What a cute boy he is!

Professor is one sweet kid. He is a little more high strung that Pirate and is, as always, the louder of the two. He wakes up every day around 6 am, happy as a lark and singing like one too. He is full of cute baby sighs, grunts, ahhhs and ohhhs. He talks talks talks all the day long. He also has a dimple in his left cheek that makes his face cute and sweet and oh so kissable. Yesterday he was crying next to me while I was nursing his brother and he reached up, grabbed Pirate's hand and hung onto it for dear life. He calmed right down and fell asleep holding hands. So cute. I think his eyes are going to stay blue because they are bright bright blue. He is 24 inches and 12 lbs, 5 oz. His head is just shy of 16 inches as well. He is rolling back to front more and more. Today he did it twice to sleep on his belly. I can't wait until he does it every time because this kid has some serious startle reflexes. He sleeps best with us in bed, specifically with me curled around him. He is the reason I get very little sleep.

As twins, they are fairly easy going babies. I'm amazed at how much work they are together. There are a lot of diapers (at least 6 per kid per day...about 84 diapers a week) and a lot of feeding time. My butt goes to sleep on a regular basis and I eat tons to keep up with them. I have been reading other twin blogs and something stood out for me. Her twins were sleeping awful and so she read a book (something about healthy sleep, happy child) and it said to put the kids to bed early early. So she started putting her twins to bed around 6pm and treating any other waking after that as night waking. So I did it. And boy does it work! They sleep between 12-14 hours now. Going to sleep around 6-7pm and sleeping until 8-9pm. They are also having some regular naps 2 hours after they wake, and every 2 hours after they wake no matter what. It works for us and they are happier since I started it.

Juice wants to interject that they are cute. That's all.

Butterfly as a big sister is doing well. She is in panties pretty much full time at home but she is asking for diapers on a daily basis. I am not giving in. She treats the babies okay...pats them and likes to hold them for about .5 seconds. She also asks me to put them down on a regular basis or she says things like "There goes Professor." When he starts to cry. It's very cute. She is liking them more and more since they started smiling at her and watching her like an adoring fan base.


Safire