On Considering Inconveniences

Randomness

2012-01-15T15:40:00.001-05:00

I'm bored, so I thought I'd update. The boy and I got to be on the news right before Christmas. It was really embarrassing for me, but he did a great job. The camera must add 50 or so pounds :) Also, the boy is now 11. :( He's getting really tall. But he's still so thin that I have to get slims with an adjustable waist and tighten them. When I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, I was surprised and pleased when he told me that he wanted a day out with just me. So we are going to go out one day to either Tellus or Fernbank(probably Fernbank because we have a yearly pass).

wow. I think that's all there is to say.

Here's a cute story for you.

One day, I was in the kitchen cleaning, and M suddenly noticed a picture of the last supper hanging on the wall(it's an antique my m-i-l gave me). He stopped what he was doing and said, "Momma, is that a picture of Jesus?" "Yes, it is," I said. "Oh," he said. "So that's what he looks like."

New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T22:43:00.000-05:00

Well, it's here again. New Year's eve. The girl is with her cousins. the boys are sleeping. splitcat is with his family. I am home watching random bits of korean t.v. on the internet. Splitcat may or may not be home soon(It's 10:20pm) I have to work in the nursery at church tomorrow so I didn;t want to stay up too late. I'm kind of hoping everyone sleeps in. The nursery has been a little crazy lately with lots and lots of little babies. and lots of pregnant people in the church means lots more babies to come.

I never finished my 37 before 37 list, but I've got six months left. I've always thought it was cool that my birthday is exactly 6 months from Christmas. So I am officially 36.5. There are alot of things to look forward to this year. 2 weddings. The boy will start middle school in August. the twins will start kindergarten.

Speaking of the boy, his birthday is coming up very quickly. He will be 11. He's a handsome lad.

So, thinking back this past year, it's been a pretty quiet one. I am thankful for that. I'm not sure I've learned anything new this year, skill wise. I haven't been crafting for a while. I've gotten interested in new music much more this year. I think I've bought more cd's this year than in my whole life. What am I listening to? My favs have been We Were Promised Jetpacks(I just ordered their newest cd with my christmas money), Villagers, Radiohead(King of Limbs). I am waiting with bated breath for a new Mumford and sons album. Thankfully there's lots of them performing on youtube.

Of course, I shouldn't leave out my addiction to Korean t.v. I'm not sure why everyone makes fun of me. I've actually learned alot. but yeah, one of my new year's resolutions is to be a little less addicted. Maybe get some laundry done.

I should also mention that I think I've made more friends in the past year than in the 10 previous ones(combined). It was at times a little overwhelming to find myself wanted after so many years of having no one.

So anyway. Happy New Year. I shall leave you with a new artist I've been watching on youtube.

Fangirl Friday

2011-10-28T12:51:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm a total fangirl now. I love my kdramas. So I am going to share some of my faves with you.

First, Best ending ever........You're Beautiful. (I believe it is still showing on Hulu)

The first time I watched, for some reason they did not subtitle the songs(which were a major part of the plot), so I looked it up the final song on youtube later, and I will not lie. I cried buckets. This drama is definitely in my top 3 favorites. It's silly, wacky, and a tear jerker all at once. So, here is Jang Geun Suk as Hwang Tae Kyung singing what "What would I do." (As a side note, he is squinting throughout the song because he is trying to find someone in the audience). One thing I have really come to like about many shows is that the actors actually sing the songs, it's not them lip synching to someone else's voice. All three male leads in this show have great voices--Two of them have their own bands in real life.

Here's a fanvid of one of the songs from the show's fictional band A.N. Jell with scenes from the show. I will sadly admit it took me well into the 2nd or 3rd episode to figure out why all their fans wore angel wings.

2011-10-19T09:39:00.000-05:00

Last night when Splitcat came in from work, I heard him say, "Why do you have underwear on your head?" I went up to see who it was, and W had a pajama top(it looked like undies from afar) on the top of his head. As I was chatting with splitcat, I happened to glance up and see W in the kitchen doorway and heard him say very quietly, "My hair was in my eyes." Puzzled, I looked a little closer, and well, his hair was no longer in his eyes. I started laughing and he ran off. I almost couldn't stop laughing, but I managed to tell splitcat what he had done. We had to go looking for him. He was hiding under his bed. We got him to come out.

He had cut a good two inches off the front of his hair. He did really need a haircut, it was in my plans for this week, but he beat me to it. Thankfully it wasn;t too short. So I stuck him in the bathroom and finished cutting it. It looks pretty bad because my hair scissors broke and I needed to buy new ones, so I had to use just regular scissors. Thankfully his hair is so wavy you don;t notice the hack marks too much.

As all this was happening, I remembered about an hour before when I went into splitcats office to use the computer, W was there and he dropped a pair of safety scissors and ran out. I wondered what he had been up to. If I had looked in the garbage, I would have seen. At least he knew to put the hair he cut in the trash. :)

Never a Dull Moment

2011-10-11T13:52:00.001-05:00

The thing about having 4 kids is this....someone is always up to som,ething. M has decided he doesn't want to go to school. So as it neared time to leave yesterday, I was busy chasing down W to change his clothes when I heard M say "I'm going to hide your keys." I had a momentary thought to chase him down, but I just gotten W in my grasp, and I wasn't sure if he'd really do it.

He did.

He hid my keys.

I could not find them..

Yes, I was not happy.

About 11:30 I said, since it's too late for school, can I have my keys back. He went and got them and gave them back.

When I told my book club girls, their reaction was "did you beat the crap out of him?" No, I did not. He will be suffering over the long haul as his privileges have been removed for some time.

Seriously, I am glad my kids are smart, but really, I could live without these sorts of ideas. And to think he's only 5. What's he going to be like at 15?

I need a nap.

Time to Play

2011-10-01T18:43:00.000-05:00

Fall has fallen! Well, sort of. It did get up to the low 90's the other day, but the past two days have been gloriously fallish. So of course we took the kids out to the park to play. It ended up being an exciting outing. After many years of trying, P finally figured out how to swing. He and I have both been frustrated by his inability to swing. We would try every time we went to the park. I don't know what magic finally happened, but he did it. He was so excited. So was I. I have no idea what was so difficult for him . Perhaps it was a certain timidity or fear. He does not like when he doesn't feel in control of himself, and swinging requires a bit of letting go. Perhaps the fact that school is going well for him has given him a little more courage. I'm so happy to have my smiling boy back. We've only had one big incidence of bullying this year, and the kid got caught. P was more excited by the fact that everyone was talking about him than worried about someone being mean to him.. I'm sure there have probably been more times that people have not been nice, but he will rarely tell me or his teachers. I'm glad that we will be able to leave elementary school on a positive note(at least I hope it will keep going this well).

Ten Things I have learned

2011-09-30T07:17:00.003-05:00

from watching Korean T.V. Dramas

1. Sweet and happy girls are not too bright and tend to be clumsy(and her parents are usually embarrassing)
2. If you are eavesdropping, stay until the end of the conversation
3. Smart girls are evil and/or manipulative
4. You never get over your first love(I guess it's good I married mine, then)
5. say what you mean and mean what you say
6. Don't interrupt people when they are trying to declare their love because you think they don't like you
7. Guys who are jerks have hearts of gold hidden beneath their handsome exteriors
8. The nice guy almost always loses
9. Product placement is key
10. True Love conquers all

Seriously, I think have learned a few things from my recent obsession/addiction. It has made me think about the nature of misunderstandings and the roles we play in them. In fact, I just cleared up a small misunderstanding about an email splitcat sent me(he had no idea what he had written could be read in several different ways). It's so much easier to simply ask the meaning of something instead of spending hours or days dithering over what you think it means. Of course, sometimes this is easier said than done. I have a tendency to dither rather than ask. But I am learning.

It's Friday

2011-08-26T18:35:00.002-05:00

And we've made it through the first two weeks of school. P is doing amazingly well. He loves his teacher. He comes home fairly happy. Does his homework without complaint. I feel like I have entered the twilight zone or something. But, of course, I have learned with him to take it one day at a time and to rejoice in the good, and move past the bad. But two weeks of good is pretty much a miracle.

Also, you may have noticed a new link on my sidebar that says Follow me on Pinterest. This is a sort of on-line wish -list, idea board, collection of things I love. It's fairly addictive and fun. I have a few invites left if someone wants in. This has proven a great tool for my Craftster swapping. I used to use Wist, but it kept locking me out of my account, so I gave up.

splitcat is waiting for the computer, so I must away. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Pandas at Atlanta Zoo

2011-08-12T15:30:00.001-05:00

Pandas at Atlanta Zoo, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

Took the kids to the zoo today for a last day before school fun day. The pandas were very cute. IT was very hot outside. More pics over at Flickr. I must go bake cupcakes for twins birthday party tomorrow!

Summertime

2011-07-30T12:26:00.001-05:00

Summer time is nearly over. As summers go, it has been a good one. Not too much fighting, not too much heat, way too much humidity. But that means it has been raining, which is a good thing. The trees are actually still green instead of parched brown.

Things I've done this summer:
Vacation to the Smoky Mountains
Painted my bedroom furniture
slept in (thank you splitcat)
turned 36
cleaned stuff out and taken it away
opened an Etsy store
cleaned out our storage unit(our wallet thanked us)
plus all the everyday life that goes on.

The children start school in two weeks. Well, two of them do. The twins are doing another round of pre-k, so they will be starting the day after labor day. We decided it was best to hold them back. I need to try and get them both into speech therapy as soon as school starts. I may work with them at home on reading skills, and depending on their emotional status at the end of the year, start them in first grade. We'll have to wait and see.

This year has gone by really fast. Every year seems to go by more quickly. I still time my years by the school calendar, rather than the actual calendar, so I feel like it is time to take stock and examine where I want this year to go. I feel far more sane now than I have in a long time. It's kind of nice. I hope it lasts.

Weight loss is always high on my to-do list. But not because I want to be skinny, but because I need to be healthy. I am getting back to my homemade beauty routines, which always makes me feel better to know what I am washing myself with. I have even forayed into homemade deodorant(so far it works quite well). Knowing how insanely sensitive I am to chemicals really makes me think about what I am putting into and onto my body. Now I just need to make better food and beverage choices.

This year I also hope to do better keeping up with everyone's school work. In some ways I am glad the twins won't be in kindergarten because our school gives them tons of homework which is mostly parents doing something. Mulitply that by 2 and add a fifth grader and a third grader. P did not have a good year last year, and I really want to help him have a better one this year. But that means I have to stay right on top of him and his work. And if you haven't noticed, I have a hard time staying focused sometimes.

Perhaps I need to set some tangible goals for the year. Like a 30 before 30 list, except it would be a 37 before 37 list.

I guess I have some thinking to do!

(yes, this is double posted on my blogs so I remember to make a list)

Happy Birthday!!!!!

2011-06-24T19:20:00.002-05:00

Wow, two posts in one day.

Anyway,

Tomorrow is my 36th Birthday. We took the kids out to the movies and then for ice cream today. We saw Rio at the $1.oo movies. It was pretty good. I think everyone liked it. I think splitcat and I are going out tomorrow. We haven't decided what we are doing yet. He surprised me on our last date and took me to Amicalola Falls( I thought we were going to the movies). He has a bunch of gift cards from the end of the school year, so we will probably use some of them up.

Also, I would like to send belated birthday wishes to my sister, to her new youngest daughter, and her oldest son(whose birthday is actually today).

Speaking of my sister's new daughter. I had meant to announce this some time ago, but forgot. My sister and her husband recently adopted a beautiful little girl. She just turned 2 and they have had her since she was 6 months old. They have been doing foster care for quite some time, but we all knew she belonged with them right from the beginning. She looks just like my sister except for her eye color. We are all so happy to have her as part of the family. So we now have 9 children between the two of us between the ages of 2 and 16. It makes going out together quite an andventure.

I guess that is all. Oh, I meant to add on my last post that there are a few more pics of our trip on Flickr. You can click on the pics to take you there. The last pic is from splitcat's acct, so it will take you to his pictures.

So,

Happy Birthday!!!!!

2011-06-24T18:35:00.003-05:00

At long last! We went on vacation! This year is splitcat's parents fiftieth anniversary, so they took the whole family(there were 18 of us in all) to the Smoky Mountains. We stayed about 15 minutes outside of Gatlinburg, TN. The girl rode with her grandparents, so it was just us and the boys on the trip up.

We stopped at Chickamauga on our way.

We did the driving tour. A huge storm blew up and followed us all the way to our cabin. At one point it was raining so hard you could barely see the road. Splitcat's cousin, who went the scenic route through North Carolina and the National Park was delayed by several hours due to downed trees. It was apparently quite a storm.

The girl went to the Dixie Stampede that night with her cousin and Aunt. We hung out at the cabin with John's nephew and his girlfriend.

The next morning my father-in-law, niece, my nephew's g-friend, E, and I all went horseback riding. If I had a bucket list, horseback riding would have been in the top ten things I've always wanted to do. It was fun, but not something I think I will pick up as a hobby.

Here is my horse, he is the spotted one on the left. He was extremely obstinate. He really wanted to stop and chew the flowers the whole way.

The trail we rode on was very pretty as it skirted a large valley and went partway into the forest. We went first thing in the morning so the weather was really beautiful. My horse did not want to follow in line. We were always about 2 feet to the right while the other horses followed nicely in line.

Taking pictures on the back of a horse is not easy.

That was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me.

While I was riding horses, splitcat and his nephew were fishing in the Little Pigeon River. Only the nephew caught anything. But later that day me and the boys went back to the spot they fished from to enjoy nature.

Well, most of us enjoyed nature. He saw the beware of bears signs and kind of got a little nervous. There were reports of a mama and two cubs about a half mile up the trail, so we stuck by the riverbank and the road.

On Friday the grandparents took the kids to the WonderWorks Museum, and splitcat and I took the morning to explore the Roaring Forks Motor Trail. We had hoped to hike to the Grotto Falls, but the parking lot was full, so we explored the empty spots along the way. Splitcat helped me learn how to take waterfall pictures with his camera.

While we were discussing camera settings, a car stopped and started pointing frantically to something behind us. Thankfully it wasn't a bear.

It was a beautiful drive with lots of fun little spots to explore. I really wanted to go back later with the kids, but the weather never cooperated.

We stopped in Gatlinburg on the way home and had lunch at Bubba Gump's. It was pretty tasty.

And that's pretty much all I did. Saturday the brave people went white water rafting. I am glad I didn't go, plus someone had to stay and watch my kids, everyone had already been really nice about keeping an eye on them while we went out . A nasty storm blew up right after they got on the river. I watched it from the safety of our cabin. Our cabin was right on the edge of the National Park, so we had a lovely view of just mountains. Watching the clouds was a favorite activity in the cabin. This is the beginning of the storm from our perspective

After the storm:

We didn't do much else because of the weather. Sunday morning we had family portraits done. I don't have a copy yet. It went better than I expected. But M refused to smile.

Monday we stopped at Clingman's Dome on our way out of the park. The twins ran the whole way up. We got there a little too early so the view wasn't too good. It was also very very sad. The Hemlocks and Fir trees have been attacked by insects and are being wiped out across the park.

So, that was our trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. I would love to go back and do much more hiking. I am hoping we can get our kids out hiking this summer and fall in the North Georgia Mountains.

Partied Out

2011-05-20T06:14:00.001-05:00

Partied Out, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

Apparently the lasts day of school was just too much for him.

Graduation

2011-05-19T06:59:00.002-05:00

Can you believe it? The twins have graduated from Pre-K. It's hard to believe they are almost 5 already. We are trying to decide if we are going to send them to Kindergarten next year. One is ready, one is ready academically, but perhaps not emotionally. They turn 5 the day school starts. So we could hold them back without any problem. So please pray that we would have wisdom and make the right decision for the boys.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T19:56:00.001-05:00

Easter-W2, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter today! We are egg-hunted out over here.

Skating Party

2011-04-03T13:17:00.002-05:00

We had a skating party on Friday as the last celebration of the girl's 8th birthday. My sister, 2 girls from work, and I all chipped in and rented out the rink for 2 hours. It was really fun. I was a little worried about the twins. I had no idea how they would do skating. They did great! W was trying to get up and get going before I had even laced his skates. They both just took off. We had to keep getting on to W because he wanted to skate on the rink instead of the carpet. Thankfully they have a carpeted walkway that goes all the way around the rink. So a good time was had by all. M was surprisingly taken with the whole skating thing. He usually has a tantrum when he hurts himself, so I was a little worried about what would happen when he fell down. Splitcat got him on video.

Candle light breakfast

2011-03-29T12:30:00.001-05:00

Candle light breakfast, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

The power went out the other morning right as it was time to get up for school. Of course, it came back on just as it was time to leave. We had fun having breakfast by candlelight. I was a little sad when the lights came back on. It was really quiet without all the electricity.

Looking Glass Clock

2011-03-02T21:01:00.001-05:00

Looking Glass Clock, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

I don't usually post my crafts here, but I really love this one. It's a clock that runs backward. I made it for a swap on Craftster. Click on my Flickr to see what else I made. I am pretty proud of the stuff I made for this swap. I didn't want to give any of it away! It was an Alice themed swap.

Baby Lady

2011-02-25T07:43:00.002-05:00

I seem destined to be the baby lady. I quit my job this year, ready for a break from the crying and diaper changing. They've been through 2 teachers already. Now, it's back to me. I will only be working Mon and tues(until my boss can find a replacement), so it's not too bad. There were just 2 babies, now there are 3. Hopefully I won't get too bored. So, no more spending all day watching Netflix or playing on POGO. It's back to the grind for me.

February has been a busy month. I've been busy crafting for swaps over on Craftster. I'm in an ongoing embroidery swap, did a Wall Art Swap and I am finishing up an Alice in Wonderland Swap. I am enjoying it. The kids have been out of school all week this week for winter break. So that's been exciting. Splitcat is assistant coaching middle school boys soccer this year, so we haven't really seen much of him lately. He's also been busy collecting coins for pennies for patients. Their school was 5th in the nation last year for donations. He told the high school he would shave his goatee if they raised a certain amount of money. Today is the last day and they need to raise another 4,000 or so to make it to his goal. However, that's how much they raised last year on the last day. So splitcat may have to shave this weekend. He's only shaved it off once since I've known him, and he did it over winter break and grew it back in so no one at school saw him beardless. I think it's funny that his students want him to shave.

The weather has been amazingly beautiful. We've been playing outside alot.(photos by splitcat)

Well, I am subbing today, so I must go gather the troops and take myself to work. Thanks for stopping by. Will update on the whole beard thing.

2011-01-22T19:48:00.003-05:00

Well, January is nearing its conclusion. It's been quite a month. We spent almost a week completely iced in. Thankfully we never lost power or anything. And splitcat had the foresight to go grocery shopping before all the crowds hit, so we had enough food and such. All in all it was a pleasant time. I kind of hated that everyone had to go back to school. The worst part was that the garbage didn't come for 2 weeks. But it worked out because splitcat had to clean up the garage to get out the extra garbage cans.

While we were iced in we celebrated the boy's tenth birthday. He thought missing school was a great way to spend his birthday. He also had to miss his scheduled dr's appt. He was devastated. The in-laws braved the icy roads and brought him(and us) some Dunkin Donuts(his favorite treat). We also made a cake and gave him a book about weapons. Last night we went out for pizza with splitcat's parents and he received a nintendo DS Lite and a couple of games for it. Next weekend will be another party for splitcat's extended family, and sometime in February I am going to take him and his boy cousins out for the day.

He is growing into a fine young man. He is still struggling with school, but his appetite for knowledge is pretty voracious. The highlight of the past few weeks for him, though, is that splitcat is letting him play Medieval II: Total War. He has been playing an older version of civilization, so we thought he was ready to move on.

He is a funny, funny kid. In the car on the way to the pizza place last night, we passed a house that had horses in the yard. One of the twins yelled out excitedly that he saw some cows, so he was quickly informed that those were horses. Which led the boy to make a remark about how cows had lots of "pee-pees" but that milk came out of them, not pee. We quickly informed him that those were called udders(I guess I need to get him a book on animal husbandry). Of course, a general discussion broke out about the word "pee-pee." His sister(of all people) informed us all that they were called "weiners." (and yes, we were laughing really hard in the front seat). And in his most authoritarian voice, the boy said, "Actually, the real word is......(dramatic pause)....the Urinator of Doom."

In other news: the bible study I attend has started back up, so I now have something to do that involves people over the age of 10. I am amassing quite a pile of stuff to send to the thrift store. It's taken me a really long time, but I almost have my stuff down to a manageable level. Now, if I could convince everyone that they only need 7-10 changes of clothes, I would have a lot less laundry to pile up everywhere.

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T20:11:00.002-05:00

I am happy to report that we are all feeling much better. Antibiotics are wonderful things. Splitcat, the twins, and I all ended up on them. One of the twins is still coughing, but otherwise well.

We had a white Christmas here in Ga. The last measurable snow on Christmas day was in the late 1800's. There was a small amt in 1993. I remember that one because it was splitcat and I's first Christmas together. I think everyone had a nice Christmas--aside from not feeling so well(it at least kept us from overeating). I finally got new dishes(the light turqoise ones-they are more a robin's egg blue). I've been looking for new dishes for two years, and splitcat didn't have any objections, so i went for these. I still need to get a few more, but I have enough to use for now. From splitcat I also got a new iron(I asked for one), a new watch, and ironically, another new watch from my mom(if you don't follow the links, the watches are from the same line from fossil-one says hope, the other peace). Those were the big things I received.

Last Tuesday we were able to go to the Ga Aquarium with our two older kids, and splitcat's Sister, her daughter and his brother's son who is in from out of town. It was SOOOOOOO crowded, but we still had a pretty good time. We got lucky and were able to watch one of the general feedings in the big tank and watch the fish go a little crazy. I could have sat for hours watching them all swim around.

Tonight I find myself having another New Year's Eve alone(well, the kids are here, but they are in bed). Splitcat got a last minute invite to the Chick-fil-a Bowl a the GA Dome with his family. His nephew is in the marching band at FSU, so they are all going to see him play his last game(he should graduate this year).

So...it's a New Year soon. Hope you all have a Happy one.

Prayer Request

2010-12-21T11:38:00.002-05:00

For my few readers out there, I would like to make a prayer request. We are just about all sick. I have been sick since Thanksgiving with a bad cough and on Sunday it turned worse, and I went to the dr. yesterday and I have bronchitis, a sinus infection and a double ear infection. Splitcat is currently at the dr. with the twins, one has sinus issues, the other a really bad cough. And splitcat is also sick with a bad cough. We were both sick with fevers yesterday, but I was ordered to do nothing but rest(I had a 102.2 fever by the time I got home from the dr.), so poor splitcat has been having to take care of everybody. The boy has a mild cough, and the girl is well. So I would appreciate any prayers for us. I am starting to feel better already but still don't feel terribly well. Thank you.

And if I don't get a chance to post again this week, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Why I Don't Do Christmas Cards

2010-11-24T15:43:00.002-05:00

Afer about 120 pictures, I got a few usable ones. Here are my favorite unusable pictures.

Johnny Flynn and Laura Marling - The Water

2010-10-22T19:47:00.001-05:00

I know I am a little early, since I usually post music on Saturday. BUT I JUST FOUND OUT JOHNNY FLYNN WILL BE IN ATLANTA NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I MUST GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I need a babysitter for next thursday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(preferably someone free, ha ha).

Okay, sorry, I got a little excited there. I've been waiting for him to come to Atlanta for a couple of years now.

Smile!

2010-10-22T07:19:00.001-05:00

Smile!, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

One of my Craftster and Flickr friends started a new group on Flickr called No Frown Found Friday. This is my entry for the day. I wish I could say they are all still smiling, but M(the blonde one) has been awake since about 2:30 this morning. He woke me up every hour or so to change his movie for him. He's been whining for about 10 minutes now about really random stuff. I see a nap in the near future, for both us.

All 4 kids are fighting off something. We've had runny noses and slight fevers, so I let everyone stay home today. Splitcat has to stay late tonight for the football game, so we may go meet him later for a late lunch/early dinner. If everyone is feeling better. Although on most days I am happy to send everyone off to school, there are days that I like having everyone near me. Today was one of those days. I like to have them near so I can ambush them with hugs and kisses. Tell them how much I love them. Of course, these are things I do every day, but it's more fun when everyone is already in a good mood from staying home from school.

I decided before I even had kids, that I would not be obsessive about attendance. I had perfect attendance for about my last 6 years of school, and it really did nothing for me. I learned when I was a full time worker that it was better to stay home and recuperate when not feeling well than to go to work sick and infect everyone. So I give my kids the same grace. Hopefully by Monday we will all be ready to face the world again.

So, if it's Friday, and you are reading this, smile(they are infectious), give someone a hug(they just might need one), tell someone you love them(for extra points,tell your parents, nothing makes me happier than to hear my kids say I love you).

Happy Birthday to Splitcat

2010-10-20T20:50:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to Splitcat!

We had a family party tonight. I made fried chicken and mashed potatoes. This was the first time I have tried fried chicken. It turned out quite tasty. We had cupcakes for dessert, then we took splitcat's present (a fire bowl) outside and had a fire and made s'mores and roasted marshmallows. I still smell like smoke, and it feels so right. I have really missed the outdoors in the past few years. Hopefully we will have lots of fun this fall making fires and spending time together as a family.

I am looking forward to spending many more years celebrating with splitcat.

Rainbow

2010-09-27T19:21:00.001-05:00

rainbow, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

It finally rained today. It's been a while. It was one of those weird days where there was blue sky, sunshine, and rain. I kept an eye out for rainbows all day. After dinner, I looked out the twins window and saw one. It lasted a really long time. I did doctor up this photo a bit because the sky was such an odd color and I was standing in the garage because it was still raining. So my colors were all screwy. The sky was not quite this blue, but more grey.

Happy 15th Anniversary

2010-09-16T05:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Anniversary, Splitcat.

2010-09-13T06:21:00.001-05:00

NEWSFLASH--Updated

2010-08-27T15:56:00.003-05:00

Splitcat just called from school. He was just interviewed by Janine Turner on the Constituting America Tour. I can't tell you why yet. But they may post the interview online. We don't know. He didn't know they were going to be there today until school was almost out. They weren't there for him, but he was involved with why they are there. I will tell you why as soon as I can. Well this post is about as clear as mud. But all will eventually be revealed.

Update. Okay, it's been officially announced, so I can share. One of splitcat's students won in the video category of this year's contest. You can see her video on the CA website. There is a link on splitcat's blog.

Birthday Time

2010-08-17T17:42:00.001-05:00

4/365, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

Sunday was the twin's 4th birthday. Can you believe it has been four years already? We celebrated with McDonald's and Cake. Lots of Disney paraphernalia(Toy Story and Cars are their current favorites).

They are beautiful boys. M(the blonde one) is extremely talkative, inquisitive, and very much like his sister(moody is the nicest word that comes to mind). They play together most days. W is a loner, you are not always sure what he is talking about when he decides to actually say something. He loves Lego with a passion that equals that of his father and older brother.

I love my boys. I get as many hugs from their little arms as I can.

Twins Room Makeover

2010-08-12T12:58:00.002-05:00

So, we have finally gotten around to redoing the twins room. They have been sleeping in the living room most of this year due to window issues(we are finally having all our windows replaced! yay!). This room used to be a rather Eeyore blue with their white cribs. Now, we have big boy beds thanks to my mom and the Salvation Army Thrift Store. I had a fabulous trip to Ikea a couple of weeks ago and found the bedding and way too much other stuff.

Below: The closet. Still working on this one. The little dresser is from Ikea. We hope to get the larger one eventually.

Below: Light fixture also from Ikea(I had way too much fun there). They love it. W spent at least fifteen minutes turning it off and on saying, "It's morning!" when he flipped it on, and "It's night'" when he flipped it off.

Below: A happy boy in his new bed. He has slept in his bed every night since we set it up! yay! I get my living room back.

I still have a ways to go decorating. I am making art to put on the walls, so expect periodic updates. I also want to buy posters from here. I want this one , this one, or this one. The first one is a must have. It is exactly what I've been looking for in a larger poster for their room. Plus, W has a new obsession with all things space.

Play Time

2010-07-17T15:05:00.002-05:00

My grandmother took the kids and I out to lunch at McDonald's today and then to the secret park. I forget how it came by the title of "the secret park," but I think it had something to do with the fact that every time we go, there is no one else there. So here are some pics from our adventure.

Stairs

2010-07-16T10:46:00.001-05:00

Stairs, originally uploaded by splitcat.

I was going to try to get a photo of her today, but her cousin is over to play, so i am stealing this one from splitcat. He is good a capturing her. She is much too like her mother in some ways, but still her very own person. She is so lovely, so demanding, so sweet, and so obnoxious. yes, she is definitely a girl.

Innocence

2010-07-15T09:17:00.001-05:00

W3, originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

He carried two cups with ice around with him as I went on a morning photo shoot. I don't know why, but I wish I knew.

Happiness is....

2010-07-14T10:50:00.001-05:00

Happiness is...., originally uploaded by Fiorinda.

At long last...it's mine. I've been waiting for this purse to go on sale since the first time I saw it. I found it, of all places, at Crabtree and Evelyn.

This is the pattern called "Sittin' in a Tree," by Vera Bradley. The style is called "Alice."

Happy Belated Birthday to me! Yep, I am now 35. Had a quiet birthday volunteering at the Salvation Army. Lest you think I am nicer than I am, I have to let you know that my mom is the assistant to the director in her county, so I have been vounteering at her store every once in a while. Which is fun. I have a thrift store addiction, and they have better prices than goodwill.

Anyway. I'll try to post a little more often since I've figured out how to post through Flickr.

My Mom is Special.....

2010-05-03T20:25:00.004-05:00

Today was the 1st annual Mother's Tea at the MMO where I work. As usual, there was the questionnaire to make us giggle at how little(or how well) our children know us. After comparing the answers the twins gave for me with those given for their father, I think they are a tad obsessed with food.

According to Boy M:

I have Black eyes and White hair. I am 9 yrs old. I look the prettiest when I am wearing a dress. My favorite thing to do is eat chicken and fries. He likes it when I cook fries. I like for him to help me clean up. My favorite color is black. And I am special because I like orange juice.

According to Boy W:

I have blue eyes and black hair. I am 1 yr old. I look prettiest when I am big enough(which is, I am sad to say, all the time. At least someone appreciates the weight I've gained). My favorite thing to do is eat chicken. He likes it when I cook chicken. I like for him to help me take a bath(please note, bathing this child is about as fun as bathing a cat. I do not let him anywhere near when I want to bathe. He may be referring to the last two times he flooded my kitchen with the sprayer on the kitchen sink). My favorite color is purple. And I am special because I eat carrots.

As you can see from the above picture. It was really really humid today. And the air wasn't working in my classroom. It was really yucky. I had forgotten how much I despise humidity. It gets me all out of sortish.

Since I was feeling out of sortish I stopped and got McD's for me and the twins. I left them alone to check my email and such and to switch over the laundry. I thought I heard some water running, so I ran upstairs and found M in the kitchen sink. This is the 3rd or 4th time they have sprayed water everywhere, so I gave them the what for, and M very graciously admitted it was all his fault, that his brother didn't need to be punished because he was innocent. So while M was supposed to be in time out, I took the towels I had used to mop up the water down to wash. He was already crying, so I didn't think much of it when his hysteria level when up a bit. Then I heard him say he was bleeding. Yes, I ignored him. He has a set list of phrases he knows will make me come running. So when I exited the laundry room I was a little shocked to see that he was indeed completely covered in blood. He looked like he had been shot in the head.When I finally got him all cleaned up, the actual cut was less than half an inch or so long, but it was pretty wide. After getting the opinion of my neighbor at the bus stop, I dropped the other kids off with her, and took M to the immediate care center. He got 2 stitches. Of all the injuries my kids have had, I think these are the first stitches. They are dissolvable so I don't have to take him back. I was very proud of how brave he was. He didn't cry or make a fuss. He got really quiet when they wrapped him up in this papoose thing to keep him still, but he did not freak out or anything. He's a good kid at heart.

Oh yes. How did he get this cut in the 60 seconds I was downstairs? His sweet brother whacked him(completely unprovoked) in the head with part of a nerf gun(one of the hard plastic ones that shoots foam pellets). He was completely unremorseful. When questioned his response was that no, that was P's. So he was blaming his absent brother because it was his toy. He was bad all day at school. I was told that he not only inflicted several types of bodily harm to his brother, but that he also walked up to him and licked him in the face.

2010-04-20T07:09:00.002-05:00

We spent part of Sunday at Red Top Mountain. They had a small living history exhibit going on.

2010-03-19T07:04:00.002-05:00

Life continues here at the Chintizibobs. The girl celebrated her 7th birthday last weekend with all the hoopla that accompanies such events. I bought her a new outfit that looks very cute on her and makes her look like a sweet little girl intead of a teenage wannabe. It's hard to find clothes for little girls these days unless you want them to look like Hannah Montana.

I am doing something I would have never guessed I would ever do in a million years. All for the love of my little Daisies(have I mentioned that I am the leader of a Girl Scout Daisy troop?).
I built a vermicomposter. And what is that you ask? Basically, you keep a bunch of worms in a bucket and feed them your compost, then after a while you collect their poop to use as fertilizer. OCD and red worms are so not a pleasant combination. Thankfully splitcat has no squeamishness with worms. I did manage to feed them last night. But I will confess to several shudders of horror at the grossness of a clump of worms.

The twins continue to wear me out. They are currently enjoying our Friday Munchkins(donut holes) and Scooby-Doo.

That is all.

"Under the table and dreaming"

2010-02-17T15:11:00.002-05:00

Hot off the presses:

He was trying to poop(he must be a little stopped up, he does this thing where he bends over as far as possible to help things along--he's done this since he was a baby).

Gullible is under "J" in the dictionary

2010-02-16T19:46:00.002-05:00

We've gotten some good laughs from the kids lately. Oldest boy P is the main provider. He goes beyond gullible. We've been telling him deliberate untruths for years trying to get him to question what people say to him, but it is apparently not working. Here are a few examples.

A few weeks ago, just as I was getting everyone settled in after school, I hear a blood-curdling scream, then heart breaking sobbing. Thinking he had fallen down the stairs or lost a limb or something, I ran to see what was the matter. I wish I knew exactly what he said, but he was crying so hard all I could make out was that he somehow managed to get pee on his arm, so now he was going to die. It was hard not to laugh. He really thought he was going to die. I explained that if he was lost in the desert with no water that he could actually drink it, so he would not die because it touched his arm. He was very quickly reassured. So my hope is that his aim will now improve and he will quit dousing the bathroom floor.

Sunday, we had a good time messing with him. After lunch, he said, "I have a question." My reply was "I only answer questions between 2 and 5pm." I was in another room at the time, so when I walked back in the kitchen, splitcat informed me that P had gotten out of his seat to check the clock in the kitchen and since it was only 1:45 he went and sat back in his seat to wait.

The best though, was when he asked about St. Valentine for Valentine's day. It was around 5:15pm when he asked. So splitcat told him that St. Valentine would be at our house at 5:30pm. P wondered how he would get in. So we told him that he came in through the toilet. We encouraged everyone to use the bathroom before 5:30 rolled around, because that would just be awkward. Then I told them that they would each be given a toilet scrubber, and they had to go scrub all the toilets really quick, because he came out of whichever toilet was the cleanest and if he was pleased with how clean it was, you got an extra surprise. P and E both fell for it. We had a good chuckle over it.

Now for some sweet twins stories.

This weekend all three boys were roughhousing and W got over excited and bit P. He was sent to his room to contemplate his behavior, and for him, was surprisingly docile about it. He usually lasts about 5 seconds in time out. When at last he emerged he went straight to P and said, "I'm sorry" and gave him a hug. No one had told him to apologize, and getting a coherent sentence out of him is usuallly an exercise in frustration. So it was very sweet to see that he does understand what apologizing is about. Even P was surprised and was very sweet about it.

Today as we were getting out of the car after school, I took a load of stuff into the house then went out to get the twins. They like to talk to the neighbors dog while they wait for me to unbuckle them, so I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention, but right as I went to get M out of his seat he was going, "Go away, go away, get out of here." Then he noticed me and smiled and said, "I wasn't talking to you Momma, I was talking to the puppy." His language skills have seriously blossomed lately. As we were walking in the house he remarked on how "breezy" it was outside.
On Saturday, when we ventured out into the snow I asked him if he liked the snow. His response was, "Oh yes, it's very beautiful."

Speaking of snow. I think this is one of the best snows we have had in a long time. Here are some pics.

2010-02-07T21:07:00.002-05:00

I just spent way too long tagging photos in the Photoshop Elements organizer, and came across these two photos I had meant to blog.

First-from September, this is the sort of mischief my boys like to make. My entire bathroom(which is pretty small) was covered in water.

Why sleep in your bed when there is a perfectly good hallway to sleep in? These days they are sleeping in the living room. Their room gets really cold at night and Baby M gets scared if the door is closed. We've had to start locking our door at night because Baby W sneaks into our bed in the middle of the night, on my side, and gradually takes over. It makes for a very uncomfortable night of sleep. M has been waking up every night between 2 and 4 for the past few weeks. I'm not getting enough sleep. I've never figured out why he won't go back to sleep when he wakes up. W just settles right back down and to sleep when he wakes up.

2010-02-05T09:35:00.004-05:00

Well, we made it through Christmas and New Year, and suddenly it's February. You have probably been asking yourself, where is that girl? Why isn't she blogging? I miss her so very very much.

One of my biggest obstacles of late are the little dudes. They have learned to open the gate at the top of the stairs and follow me where they are not allowed. They keep sneaking down and destroying their older brother's Lego projects, which gets me in trouble. So they are currently in time out in their room. Hopefully they aren't destroying too much. They have become extremely destructive lately. All of my walls have now been written on.

Another thing distracting me is the Playstation 3 we purchased just before Christmas. I bought Splitcat Fallout 3, and we are both pretty addicted. I keep telling myself I am going to quit, but it hasn't happened yet. It didn't help that we now have a much nicer television to play on, and its all in my bedroom. If I sit too close I get motion sickness. It's beautiful.

Netflix. Why did we wait so long? Now we just need to hook up the wireless modem so we can stream straight through our PS3 into our room. I should be receiving the original Muppet Movie today.

Crafting. Instead of posting more pics here, please feel free to visit my Flickr page(bookmarked on the right). I have been participating in swaps on Craftster. It was fun, but I am taking a break.

Working. I have gone from 3-4 babies to 6-8 babies seemingly overnight. Several of the new babies have never been left before, so they cry alot. Yesterday my shoe was christened with baby puke. Thankfully, I wasn't wearing my Converse.

I have a new habit of photographing my shoes. I'm not sure why. But it's fun.

I also finally learned how to download actions in Photoshop Elements, so that is fun. Here is the first one I did.

I've been exploring photography at bit more lately. I am enjoying it. (again, feel free to peruse my Flickr page, I update it a little more than I do here)

Lastly, I was inspired by one of my swaps to do retelling of a classic fairy tale. Perhaps I will share more on that later. Splitcat and I had fun working out the plot one night over milkshakes at Steak-n-Shake.

I guess that is all for now. Peace.

I almost forgot, the boy turned NINE!! How in the world did he get so old? There was much cake and Lego. His nice uncle gave him his old PS2 since ours was dead and splitcat and I took over the PS3. So now he can play all his old games again. That made him quite happy. He's a lovely boy. He has a delightfully odd sense of humor, he's really cute, and everything I always hoped for in a son. Although I still miss the days when he was a baby, I really enjoy getting to know him as his own person. He is still young enough to think it's okay to tell your mom that you love her. I secretly hope he never thinks otherwise.

I'd better go let the hoodlums out. Seriously, they are making me crazy. Just another year and a half until they start school. Of course, then I have to keep up with 4 sets of homework and four kids whining about not wanting to go to school. I guess every age has its challenges. But I am not sure they can get worse than the age of 3. I'll post something happy about them soon. They are really cute and now that they talk, they are pretty funny. Their latest favorite movie to watch is the new version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Baby M dances along with the Oompa Loompas.

The Advent Season

2009-12-02T20:53:00.004-05:00

There is much excitement in the Chintzibob household. It is that marvelous time of year when thoughts of sugarplums dance in all of our heads. A few years ago Splitcat and I decided to start a tradition for our family in this season to make it a memorable one for all, as well as to teach the children why we celebrate Christmas. I did not really know what Advent was all about, but I was willing to give it a go. It has become a favorite tradition of all. For the first year, P. was the recipient of the Lego Advent Calendar. This is the first year that has not been part of our evening.

We try to keep it very simple, most nights the kids get a small piece of candy or toy. I knew it was an important part of my children's lives when P. told me he was making an advent list. He wanted some new Heroscape figures. That is exactly what he has been getting. The girl is a little more difficult to buy for. She loses small things or they end up in the babies mouths. She got a golden dollar last night and a Indiana Jones Lego mini-fig tonight(the one that is a girl). The twins just get a piece of candy. It has been really nice to spend a few minutes all together every night thinking of the birth of our Savior. P. seems to understand a lot more this year, even in the excitement of getting a present every night.

On Sunday night we had a tree decorating party and a pre-Advent reading to prepare us for the first night. I was touched by the reading and prayer that splitcat gave. Then I found out he wrote it, so I received permission to post it here. I hope you like it.

Bible Reading: John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginnning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

Most Gracious Father and Bringer of Peace, we ask for humble spirits as we prepare for this season of remembrance of your gift to us, Your only Son.
We pray that we will not be distracted by earthly gifts, but will continually give "glory to God in the highest" for the Saviour who was born for us on Christmas Day.

We ask that this Christmas tree will be a reminder of your unbounding love for us and that
-the green of the limbs will be a reminder of the evergreen life that you bring into our watered hearts.
-the beautiful ornaments will remind us of the daily wonders and blessings that you grant us everyday.
-the angel at the top of the tree will serve to remind us that you forever watch over us.
-the wood of the trunk will remind us of the wood of the manger in which the baby Jesus lay and the wood of the cross on which He hung for us.
--the lights will remind us that in Christ is life and that life is the light of man, your light shines in the darkness, and that it was the Word of God that spoke the light itself into the world: "Let there be light." (Oldest child lit the Christmas tree at these words).

2009-11-02T20:59:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the long delay in posting. We ended up going through three or four rounds of Lice. It wasn't pretty. Then life just happened. So here I am again.

I just discovered something sort of fun. Last week when I was looking at my flickr stats, I found that someone had used one of my embroidery pics as a sample on their website. Since the pic linked directly to my flickr account, I did not mind. I thought it kind of cool. That was one of my favorite designs from my summer tea towel swap.

Tonight I was looking at the blog for the Embroidery pool I belong to and found myself quoted Here. I thought that was kind of fun.

My embroidery skills have vastly improved. Did I ever show you my new shoe? I've only finished one so far.

In other news. Splitcat and I took a very needed weekend away to Highlands, NC.
We saw lots of waterfalls. It was really beautiful.

I am busy getting rid of stuff. I have 4 bags waiting to go to the thrift store. I have already dropped off two garbage bags full and a box. I gave away 2 full bags to different people. And that is just in a few days worth of cleaning out. I have 3 big totes to go to my parents for storage. And I have swapped out summer clothes for fall/winter. And caught up on the laundry. Now the trick will be to stay caught up.

Apologies

2009-09-08T12:13:00.002-05:00

I apologize for not finishing up my twins birthday post. I got sick. P and E got Lice. The twins never stop moving. So there are some excuses if you feel like you need them.

Mostly, I realized there are almost no year two photos on our flickr accounts and didn't want to bother with uploading them.

So let's forge ahead to year 3. Very recently, in fact.

Twins Turn Three

2009-08-13T20:39:00.002-05:00

Well, here we are, three years later. I cannot believe it. Where have the past three years gone? I don't really remember much. So here is a photo retrospective of the twins first 3 yrs. done in three parts. Here is year One.

32 Weeks---Can you believe I went 5 weeks past this. Man, I was huge!

Mom and Baby A

Boys in hospital

Crying

So small

A bit bigger

First Christmas

First Christmas

6 months

The Beach--right around their first birthday

First Birthday

So there is year one in a nutshell. Tomorrow, Year 2.

The Pox-redux

2009-08-10T12:15:00.003-05:00

The eldest child has the chicken poxes. poor kid is missing the first week of school.

2009-08-04T22:57:00.002-05:00

For the two people who read my blog who aren't my friends on Facebook, I'm bored, not sleepy, and can't think of anything better to do, so I am posting some of the pics I took to show everyone my hair. So, yeah. Here.

I asked him to cut the back a little too short so it would take longer to grow in. It will be exactly how I like it in about a week.

So. Anyway. How's it going out there? I wish I had something more entertaining to blog about than my hair. I could start one of those blogs where you put a picture of your daily outfits. Because I dress so well.

I could blog about potty training, but then I'd have to think about potty training. Which I am not a big fan of.

The twins will be 3 soon. That will be a good thing to post about in a couple of weeks when it is actually their birthday.

I could blog about how I am now obsessively hoarding coupons and scouring sales ads for deals since I now have to actually follow a budget. Doing good so far. Saving money. Lost a few pounds from not eating out every day. So that's good. I got free toothpaste the other day. It was on sale for $1 and I had a $.50 coupon that was doubled. Free is always good.

That pretty much uses up all my ideas. so. bye.

Singing Saturday

2009-08-01T20:44:00.001-05:00

I know. I remembered two weeks in a row. How amazing is that. This week's video doesn't have pictures, just the lyrics. This is Daniel Bashta, who happens to be the worship leader at my church. I love this song. This is what our worship service is like. I love it.

ALICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-07-28T21:06:00.002-05:00

AAACK

Here's the trailer for the New Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton

Thanks Hanna for the link.

I have to say I don't care if he mucked about with the story. It's Tim Burton. And Johnny Depp(though I don't really expect anything new from him). And Helena Bonham Carter. And spats. Alice is wearing spats. I have been planning on making some, now I must before everyone else. Totally geeking out.

Singing Saturday

2009-07-18T12:22:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I did a singing Saturday. Here, for your enjoyment is Regina Spektor. The first song is from an older album The second is from her new album(which is lovely)

P goes wild

2009-06-27T12:34:00.002-05:00

He gets his moves from his dad. And I was afraid he'd just stand there doing nothing. This was taken with a camera, not a video camera, but I think you'll be able to see which one is mine.

Birthday

2009-06-25T21:44:00.003-05:00

Today was my birthday. I am now 34. woohoo?

The kids are at VBS all week, so I had a nice quiet morning to myself. I got to take a shower and no one knocked on the door or walked in. then I had a lovely nap.

My children wanted to give me a party so splitcat grilled me some steak and potatoes, I embroidered, and the kids played in the sprinkler. (see splitcat's flickr for photos. I'm too lazy and tired to upload them right now.) Then we had cake. The babies love cake now. So it was a good day.

Miscellaneous Miscellany

2009-06-18T12:42:00.002-05:00

Had a busy weekend last weekend.

Friday night I attended The Fray concert at chastain. I had a lovely time. The opening band was called Jack's mannequin, they were also quite good. The only downside to the show was that it poured. Like, at some points it was raining so hard I couldn't keep my eyes open. My wallet, which was inside a bag, wrapped in a towel, was still wet on the inside on Sunday. It took until tuesday for my shoes to dry out. There was also a beautiful lightning show. Sure, sitting in a big stadium in a thunderstorm is not the brightest of ideas, but I didn't want to go home. I'm glad I stayed.

Saturday I got to go to the birthday bash at my local Bare escentuals store. I've been wearing their basic makeup for a couple of years, so I wanted to expand. I had my makeup done and got some free samples. It was fun. Then saturday night we went to my niece's birthday party. The babies behaved tolerably well.

Sunday was my day in the nursery at the church where I work. I am working every other Sunday for a while. I get paid. After last sunday I am not sure I get paid enough. There were 4 workers and 10 babies and we had to have help. They all screamed and cried the whole 2nd service. I think we ended up calling 5 moms to get their babies. We never do that. It was bad. Sunday night we had cake and ice cream for my sister's birthday.

Isn't my life exciting?

Also, an update on the ants in my car. They apparently loved my car. Even after I cleaned it out somewhat. Last week I went to get my diaper bag out of the car and it was full of ants. Then when I went to get M out of his carseat I glanced down and saw hundreds, if not thousands, of ants. They had laid eggs in my van. It was so gross. So I spent two hours in the heat and humidity vaccuuming my car. Thankfully all of the rear seats come out.

The humidity has struck. I hate humidity. The only good thing is that some of our drought restrictions have been lifted, so my kids can play in the sprinkler 3 days a week.

I guess that is all for now. I need to go finish my next embroidery for my craftster swap.

Summertime

2009-05-31T21:45:00.002-05:00

Even though it's not officially summer by the calendar, summer is nonetheless here. Everyone is out of school, but I start back at the mmo tomorrow. After a week home with everyone, I am glad I have a job. I love my children immensely. But.... When a simple trip to the post office that is only about 3 miles away takes way longer than it should, the mere thought of taking them all to the park or somewhere, anywhere, is not so fun.

I can't totally blame them for the Post Office Fiasco.
I am doing a swap on craftster that requires me to mail out something approximately once a week. I didn't make it the day I was supposed to go because there was a thunderstorm. So I decided we'd best go after breakfast the next day. It wasn't raining, snowing, sleeting, or anything. I tell the older kids first thing that we have to go to the post office sometime after breakfast. This is not met with much applause since it would cause P to miss some of his precious videogaming time. So as it rolls around to 9 I tell everyone to go get in the car.

Here's where it gets ugly.

There were (gasp, shriek, scream) ANTS in the car. This happens every spring after it rains for several days. We live on what is probably the largest anthill in the world. But they are not fire ants. They are just those little teeny tiny ants that like to eat sugar(there is plenty for them to eat in my van). This is not the first time my children have seen ants, and really, there weren't that many. But for some reason, P is "really creeped out" by bugs lately. So it's 9 in the morning and my oldest child is standing in the middle of the yard shrieking while I get the babies buckled in. After some time I convince him to get in the car. He's not happy about it, but he does it. Now it's the girls turn. But instead of shrieking in the yard she stands in the middle of the van sobbing. Which freaks Baby M out, so he starts crying. P, who has seen the light by this point helps me convince her to sit down so we can get there instead of having to sit in the antridden car while she cries. No one's happy, but at least we are finally driving down the road--I'm laughing hysterically, because otherwise I'd be crying. In the back of the van I can hear them talking about the general unpleasantness of the situation. Then in a very matter of fact tone, P says "This is why I don't travel."

Meanwhile, my entire extended family is on vacation, in Orlando(they are going to SeaWorld and Busch Gardens). I am wondering if I will get a vacation this year. splitcat is taking the student govt kids on a retreat to Blue Ridge where they will go rafting down the Ocoee. It's not exactly a vacation. but it's mountains, and i am not chaperoning. i need more mountains in my life.

The twins will be 3 in August. I will be 34 soon. very soon. How can they be 3 already?

okay, enough with my rambling. I'm going to bed.

Mother's Day-updated

2009-05-10T14:13:00.005-05:00

My husband is outdoing himself this year in the present department. First, diamonds for christmas, now, the only other thing I wanted--A new Serger!! Here it is. It has lots of positive reviews at Amazon and other places. I've got to go, but wanted to spread the good news :)

Okay, so I actually had a fun-filled weekend of festivities.

On Saturday, I went to Mittie's Tea Room with my mother, grandmother, my sister and her 2 girls, and my girl(plus 3 American Girl Dolls). We didn't actually have "tea," but Mittie's makes some of the best chicken salad ever. We had a lovely time. Since my mom called ahead to let them know we were coming, we had a little sun porch all to ourselves. It was very nice.

All Dressed up and Someplace to Go

Saturday night we dropped the kids of at a Parent's night out at the church where I work. The high school kids were trying to raise money for camp. So splitcat and I went to Five Guys where I had a hot dog and fries. We sat outside and enjoyed the cool spring breeze and the 80's music coming in over the radio. Then we went to Brandsmart and wandered around. We picked the kids up early because it was already way past their bedtime. Thankfully they had a great time.

Sunday, I took the kids to church while splitcat went on a run with his brother. Then home to try to nap. Then to the in-laws for more Mother's day celebrating. A good time was had by all.

So it was a very busy weekend. I also have a busy week ahead with projects due for P and a costume to make for E. I'll be glad when school is over.

2009-05-07T21:48:00.002-05:00

Since my life is pretty boring here are some pictures to keep you entertained

Yes, I am a mean mom. Actually, they found some of the girls ponytail holders and asked me to put them in their hair. They have one at the back, too.

Here is the hailstorm we had a couple of weeks ago. I was picking up the girl at ballet when it started. This was the worst hail we have ever had. There ended up being a little more than this.

That is all.

A new way to sleep and other miscellany

2009-04-18T20:07:00.005-05:00

When I went to get the babies up from their nap on Easter Sunday this is what I found.

I ran downstairs and told splitcat to get his camera. We all trooped in and out and they just kept sleeping. When we finally woke them up M's first words were "knees hurt." It's probably a good thing I went in there. His knees were completely locked.

We had a lovely Easter weekend. Two family get togethers with lots of egg finding fun.

Today I went to the Big Shanty Festival in downtown Kennesaw. They had a civil war renactment going on, so there were random cannon shots. Cannons are loud. It reminded me of when I lived in New Jersey and the National Guard would have a tank in the 4th of July parade that would shoot blanks. Anyway. I was interested in seeing what people were selling in the arts/crafts part of the festival. Lots of dog leashes, handmade baby things, semi-precious wire-wrapped jewelry, pottery, and a little bit of actual art. I bought a print for P. with a space theme which was met with not much enthusiasm, but it is a signed and numbered print, so maybe one day he will appreciate it. The girl went with me(and her grandma J met us) and she got to have her face painted and hair done(I'll try to remember to put up a pic when it gets loaded on the pc). I found something cool for my mom for mother's day. But I'll probably give it to her on Monday because I can't wait. My m-i-l bought me a really pretty pottery bowl(but I won't get it til Mother's day because, unlike me, she can wait to give people their presents). It was not very expensive because it was a student piece from the parks and recreation class.

On Wednesday of this week, my brakes went out. Thankfully, I was in my neighborhood, driving very slowly because something didn't seem right when I backed out of my driveway. It is a strange thing to have no brakes.

Splitcat has taken up running. Today he ran in his second 5k. He improved his race time by 2 minutes.

My boss decided to have an 8 week summer session at the mmo. The mothers were practically giddy with glee. I think I will be working. Most of my babies are planning on coming. I am getting a new baby on Monday who is only 8 weeks old. It will be nice to have a newborn again.

Did I ever mention that we rearranged all the kids bedrooms over spring break? P and E now have their own rooms and the twins are in the bigger bedroom. They have much more room to play. I removed the sides from their cribs(as you can see in the above pics). I think they are finally actually sleeping in their beds, or at least W does. The first couple of weeks they would sleep on the floor. M liked to sleep behind the door. It reminded me of how P used to sleep behind the door when he was little. We finally settled into a night time routine with the twins, and that has helped them at bedtime. It was pretty awful there for a while. But now we have a very involved routine that requires hugs from each member of the family, two stories-each has to be read by both parents, being rocked and sung to, then hugs, then crying and wanting more hugs. M is the best at attempting new delaying tactics. I keep waiting for him to ask for a glass of water.

Bubbles

2009-04-01T07:54:00.003-05:00

2009-03-13T07:48:00.002-05:00

My friend Dana sent me this video on Facebook, and I had to share. If you don't have chik-fil-a where you live, this song sums up how many of us feel about it. I can't tell you how many times I've craved it on a Sunday(it is closed so the workers can go to church).

2009-03-09T20:54:00.002-05:00

Singing Saturday on a Monday

2009-02-23T18:43:00.003-05:00

I heard this song for the first time this weekend at the retreat I was serving on. It sort of became an unofficial theme song for some. It was written and sung originally by John Mark McMillan. Watch here for the story behind the song. Here is a link to the lyrics. (I've been listening to more of his music and I really like it)

Truly there is nothing greater than the Revelation of His passion and love for us. His love is devastating, and like she says at the end, If you have encountered the Father's love, you will never be the same.

2009-02-06T22:33:00.001-05:00

Last week

2009-02-03T22:32:00.003-05:00

This is what I saw when I went to get the twins up. I knew Baby W(the curly one) had gotten out of his bed because I heard him at the door. I thought they were fighting through the crib bars. But no, he had climbed in his brother's crib to try and take his toy(a little toy electric piano).

After I took the last picture I saw something strange in the viewfinder. What's that on the wall? Why, it's red crayon. And yellow crayon. Little stinker W had put crayons in his pockets. And decorated his wall. He can't help himself. When he gets any sort of writing utensil he must write on the wall.

Fun times

WooHoo

2009-01-08T19:32:00.002-05:00

Guess What?!?

My Converse made it to Craftster's Top Picks of 2008 in the Shoe category!!!!!!

Some small changes

2009-01-07T16:42:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to alert everyone to the changes on my sidebar. You can now easily access my other blogs..and see if it's been updated since the last time you checked it. Also, the blogs I read links are updated as people post. I like this new feature on blogger.

Here's a view of the sky when I went to the bus stop today. I am going to try to take the camera(not splitcat's new one, the old one) with me when I walk to the bus and see what I can see.

It's been a very weird weather day here. It would pour rain for about 30 minutes, then the sun would shine very brightly, then rain, the rain and sunshine at the same time. It was almost 70 degrees yesterday, today the wind is howling around my house and it feels in the 40's-50's, it may be warmer without the wind. These clouds were going by really fast.

One Resolution Down

2009-01-05T18:15:00.002-05:00

Well, I've fulfilled one of my resolutions. Unfortunately it's not the clean house or the dishes. However, I have learned something new. Inspired by this post at Hanna's Life is Cool, I went armed with coupon to Hobby Lobby and spent my Christmas money on a quilling kit. I have always wanted to try quilling, just never have gotten around to it. So here's what I've done so far:

These cards are all from the starter kit

This is my first attempt at design. It's supposed to be an "H" It's not glued down, so it's a little wonky. Plus, Baby M destroyed the right half of it after I finished this photo. The colors are all off, too. It is off-white, pink, a melony pink, and red. Quilling is very difficult to photograph in my dungeon, um, I mean living room(It's in the basement with very poor lighting)

This is supposed to be an "O," but it looks more like a backwards "Q." The scale is also wrong to go with the H(my goal is to spell HOPE), but I like the overall look of it. It's actually orange and yellow.

An attempt at quilled jewelry. This is actually black and white.

So, I've accomplished one thing on my list.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T21:02:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year to my readers.

It is New Year's Eve. Where has the year gone? I don't remember much. It's been a long year. I am ready to start new.

I am currently alone in my New Year celebrating. Splitcat has gone to his sister's to be with his family. I was also invited, but I would have no fun because I would spend the whole time chasing the twins and trying to avert meltdowns. So here I am, home, the kids all in bed. I've got the Morningstar New year's conference on God Tv playing and I've caught up on all my favorite blogs. I don;t know when Splitcat will be home.

We had a very nice Christmas. The girl got her American Girl Doll(Felicity). Then she also got a wardrobe for all her doll clothes from Grandma J, I also got her a tea table and chairs for her dolls, My mom and Grandmother gave her doll clothes, and my dad made all the girls beds for their dolls. My nieces got bunk beds and E. got a four poster with a trundle. He made them from the crib all 4 of my sister's children slept in. Splitcat got his little girl her first real jewelry-a necklace with her birthstone--it will live in my jewelry box to be worn on special occasions.

The boy got a camera. I looked at just about every camera out there. I wanted to spend about the same amount as I did for the girl. There were a few cameras in my price range, then when I went to the American Girl store to get the girl's doll, I wandered into Wolf Camera. They had a bunch of cameras on clearance, and I was able to get him a Canon Powershot. It is an older one, but is still selling online for quite a bit more than I paid. He loves it. I was a little worried. He really likes that he can take movies with it. I am hoping to start him a photo blog to encourage his creativity. It's been a rough school year for him. He also got some other random things.

The twins got a little kitchen set and their own vacuum cleaners (from grandma J) and some other toys from my family

Then, in a fit of madness, I bought a Wii. I shouldn't have. But I did. My mil got me the Wii fit. We all are enjoying it.

Since splitcat bought his camera and that was part of his Christmas, I bought him a few random things.

When he asked what I wanted I told him I didn't really need much. Some new striped knee hi socks would be nice. Or just some money so I could decide later(I want to get new dishes). And I wouldn't mind some diamond earrings. I have very sensitive ears, and I can't really wear earrings more than a few hours unless they are gold or silver. So I have always wanted a pair of simple diamond earrings I could wear all the time. I think I've been telling him this since we had our first Christmas 13 years ago. So I guess you know where I am going with this. He bought me diamond earrings. I was very surprised. They are princess cut(square) in white gold. And large enough that you can see them, but not too big. They are just right. He didn't know I bought the Wii(and a bunch of games). In a fit of buyer's remorse I offered up my earrings for return. After all, I was the one who overspent this Christmas. But I think I've changed my mind. I'm not giving them up :). For many various reasons they are nearly as meaningful to me as my engagement ring. But there's going to be a bit of belt-tightening around here for the next few months. Which is good, because I really need to stop eating out. Oh, and I also got a pack of Twizzlers, Fun-Dip, and Chocolate Covered Cherries(all my favorite candies). I got a little bit of cash from my mom and grandmother I am going to save for my dishes if I can ever find some we both like.

So that was Christmas

So what about this New Year. What are my hopes and dreams for me? In no particular order:

To have a clean house. All the time.
To leave the wilderness, or at least see the light at the end of the tunnel.
To attend the Blue Ridge Writer's Conference
To finish revising my novel
To spend more time with my daughter
To read and study my bible more consistently
To be a better wife
To be a better mother
To learn at least one new thing
To get new dishes(I really want these, but I've been told we are too old)

But what I want most is to be a Light.

I do not know what this new year holds. I know some struggles from the past year will roll forward with the clock tonight, but that's okay. But I am choosing to leave some of my own personal struggles behind. Some are not worth the attention and others can only be solved by letting them go. I choose to look forward at this new year with hope. I know that no matter what happens in the world this year, I can say, "It is well with my soul."

Edit: Splitcat came home around 11. When we went up to bed around 12:02, the girl came stumbling from her room wondering what all the noise was for. People were setting off fireworks in our neighborhood.

Singing Saturday

2008-12-13T22:59:00.002-05:00

Because I have nothing better to do, I am starting a new tradition of posting new songs I like, thus, Singing Saturday. This may only happen once, since I have a terrible time remembering anything past 2 seconds ago.

So for the inaugural edition here is a new band from Sweden called First Aid Kit singing a cover of Tiger Mountain Peasant Song by Fleet Foxes. First Aid Kit is comprised of 2 sisters who are both still in their teens. I stumbled across this totally randomly one day and was struck by their voices and harmonies.

No Soliciting

2008-12-10T07:22:00.002-05:00

Would it be rude to put a sign in my front window that said

NO SOLICITING
Please do not knock on my door or ring my doorbell unless I am personally acquainted with you. Chances are, someone in this house is asleep right now, and it won't make them very happy if you wake them up, especially if it's the lady of the house. I have no desire to buy a vacuum cleaner, or any magazine subscriptions. I really have no desire to become a Mormon or Jehovah's Witness. I don't need any free estimates or brochures about free estimates. Please, don't waste my time or yours.
Have a Nice Day.

2008-12-08T16:26:00.003-05:00

Splitcat recently purchased photoshop elements. I feel like I have a new toy. Here is one of my first experiments. I changed the background, took out all the color, then colored parts of it. Don't look too close, it's a little messy. But it looks okay if you keep it small. :) I have always wanted to be able to colorize b/w photos. So I am experimenting alot.

Thanksgiving at my parent's house

2008-11-29T17:14:00.004-05:00

Don't be fooled by the sad look. I was told that he was eavesdropping on his cousin's video game conversation. And yes, he needs a haircut, too.

And yes, his shirt is on backwards. He has some sensory issues(which is why I wait as long as possible between haircuts). I guess I should cut his tags out. Though I'm not sure why it bothers him less to have the tags in the front.

Hanging out in the fig tree

We had a nice Thanksgiving at my parent's house. I went Black Friday shopping with my M-i-l, then we went to their house last night for dinner. Except for needing to purchase a few gift cards, I am done Christmas Shopping. WooHoo. Most of it is even wrapped. Now I've got to clean up the living room so we can put the tree up. And I colored my hair. I was told I look 10 yrs younger. I guess if it makes my dh happy, I shouldn't complain.

Thanksgiving break is almost over. I am sad and glad. But Christmas break will be here before I know it.

2008-11-26T15:34:00.002-05:00

We started working on Christmas photos today. Splitcat is still learning how to use his camera. Today was the girl and me. We got a few decentish shots.

The black and white really show off my gray hair. Those stripes are not highlights. Splitcat delicately suggested that perhaps I should think of coloring my hair or getting a different haircut. Apparently I am starting to really resemble my mother :).

Splitcat got a new filter that makes lights into stars. That's why the candles. In the picture below I had just asked her how she would feel if she got an American girl doll for Christmas. She was telling her Daddy which ones she wanted.

And just because they are so darn cute(W really needs a haircut)

Okay, so they both need haircuts.(and a hairwash would probably not be a bad thing)

My thoughts on Twilight-the books and the movie

2008-11-22T17:29:00.004-05:00

First, I must say I am not a huge fan of books about vampires. It's been done to death lately. YA lit is awash in the supernatural right now thanks to Harry and the resurrection of LOTR and Narnia. I have avoided the Twilight series simply because it was about vampires. But I figured as a hopeful YA writer, I should see what the fuss was about. So I bought a cheap copy of Twilight at Walmart since the Library never had any copies available. (mild spoiler alert) When I finished I was thoroughly annoyed. It wasn't particularly well written. Bella was annoying, Edward was just weird, but Jacob Black had won me over. It was probably his character that kept me reading. Imagine my delight when the next installment was mostly about Jacob. The writing was a little better. Edward and Bella were still annoying in the same way Romeo and Juliet are annoying. For some reason I find love that takes itself so seriously to be annoying. But that's probably just me, I tend to see the absurd in everything. Eclipse was my favorite. There was more action, more of all the characters, and Jacob finally has his moment with Bella. I knew she would never be his, but I'm glad he got his chance. Breaking Dawn is one I need to read again. It was so oddly different from the other books. I guess because it moves from the real world mixing with the vampire/wolf world, to being largely about the vamp/wolf world. As a whole I found I liked them. But I never really could like Bella.

Then I realized that Bella is truly the "everygirl." What girl has not found herself utterly in unexplicable love. That all consuming can't eat, can't sleep, can't keep your eyes off him love. Obsessive, maddening, and then it turns out he feels the same way. The joy, the rapture, the awkwardness, the nervousness. You are afraid to believe it is true, that you might wake up from a dream.

And this, I think, is the appeal of the saga. It's not the vampires, it's the love story.

I watched the movie trailers on youtube. I was strongly reminded of an afterschool special. Do they do those anymore? Then my sister had the idea of going to the 12:01 showing. It seemed like a fun idea. We don't get out much :). We had a blast. They had 7 theatres open at the AMC. We went to no. 13. We got there around 10, and there were quite a few people there. It was fun to see everyone in their t-shirts taking pictures and generally making an event of the evening. My sister's 13 yr old son went with us. He was relieved to not be the only guy. He wanted to show his ticket stub to all the girls at school the next day.
The movie finally started, and thankfully there was only a small contingent of screamers in our theatre that were quickly hushed. My initial reaction of thinking of an afterschool special was dead-on. The beginning was hokey, awkward, and exactly what real high school is like. We're weren't sure(I'm still not) if they meant it to be so campy or if it just came across that way. Somehow I suspect it was supposed to be a bit campy. How can a teen melodrama not be campy? But as hokey as parts of it were, there were also brief moments of brilliance. Robert Pattinson had some perfect moments of Edwardness. He also had moments when he seemed to be channeling the character of "Roman" from Days of Our Lives(the dark brooding eyebrow lift look). Overall, once all the character introductions were over, the film settled into itself. With the actual film, I thought it needed some editing help, especially at the beginning. Some of the scenes and transitions were choppy and shot at strange angles. There were a lot of close-ups. It was strangely like the book. You were totally immersed in Edward and Bella's obsession with one another. I guess that was the point. There was a lot of giggling in the audience at some of the moments of intense "looking." You knew you shouldn't be giggling, but it was comical and endearing at the same time. Especially if you remember giving and receiving those looks. I'm still not sure about the casting of Jacob. Taylor Lautner is definitely cute, and has the sunny disposition of Jacob in the first book, but I wonder if he can handle the intense Jacob of the latter books--if he is recast in the role. Kristen Stewart was totally Bella.
I really wished they had made it a little longer. It could have used 30 more minutes. I suppose we'll get all the cut scenes on the DVD. It was certainly not a piece of artistic cinema, but the first Harry Potter was pretty bad, too. But it still drew us in and made us part of their world, hokey parts and all. I would see it again just because it was fun. They don't make enough fun movies anymore that aren't full of potty humor and swearing. It was so refreshing to see a movie with no swearing. And where the characters don't immediately fall into bed upon their first glance. I personally think the suspenseful sort of physical relationship is much more interesting to watch than people just jumping into bed. I hope they get a bigger budget for the next movie. I think it has a chance of being much better than this one.

oops, I almost forgot to add that once I read the excerpt of Midnight Sun(Twilight from Edward's perspective) on Stephenie Meyer's website, I liked Edward. Robert Pattinson's portrayal made me like him better, but reading from his perspective made me like him alot. I still think Bella is annoying.

2008-11-21T18:19:00.005-05:00

Val tagged me for a meme to write seven random facts about books. Since she wrote about her personal experiences about books, I shall do the same.

1. I read the Twilight series in less than 4 days. I didn't think I would like them.
2. My best friend and I used to go to her house and spend hours reading. Her house had books stacked everywhere. I thought it was wonderful. We were in elementary school. My sister thought we were weird. My best friend is now a Librarian.
3. In high school, while everyone else was reading books like "Flowers in the Attic," I was reading Thomas Hardy, the Bronte's, Tennyson, and William Blake.
4. Splitcat and I had part of our first date at a used bookstore.
5. I read Gone With the Wind when I was twelve.
6. In high school, my AP English class was reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest, but my mother wouldn't let me read it, so I did my project on Jane Eyre.
7. My favorite male characters in novels are Paul Atreides, Edward Rochester, Mr. Darcy, Arthur Dent, and Faramir. My favorite female characters are Jane Eyre, Elizabeth Bennett, Lirael, Sabriel, Tally Youngblood, and Harry Crewe.

I'm Back

2008-11-21T02:51:00.002-05:00

From seeing Twilight. Only 3 hrs until it's time to get the kids up for school. I'll try to do a full review in the morning, but I had a great time. We got to the theatre around 10 and had a good time visiting and watching people. There were more guys than we expected, and we were not the oldest people there. A good time was had by all.

2008-11-13T17:03:00.002-05:00

Sorry I haven't really been posting much. Life is mostly boring. I kind of vegged out after my retreat weekend was over.

So, what's been going on in our corner of the world?

The babies are talking pretty well. It is wonderful to be able to communicate with them. Baby M says "sa" for yes, and Baby W says "Okay," but it comes out okaaaaaaaaaay, with a definite southern accent. M's eyes light up when he has successfully communicated with you. W. stopped climbing out of his bed, thankfully. They are loving school.

I have been working 2 days a week. I am mostly enjoying it, but it makes me tired. I was loving tuesdays, because I only had one baby, now I have 3 on tues and 4 on thurs. They are 3 mos, 5 mos, 7 mos, and 13 mos. They are all pretty mellow. I've been attending a bible study on weds. It is a weight loss study. I have lost 9 lbs in 10 weeks. So I have almost lost all the weight I gained after the twins were born(I lost some last winter and kept most of it off). I think that some of my loss is due to the fact that I am getting more than 3 hrs of sleep every night. Two years of sleep deprivation was very unpleasant in many ways. I still have a ways to go to get back to my pre-baby(the first one) weight. But now that I am no longer insane, I think I can get there.

The big kids are doing well. The girl is learning to read, the boy reads voraciously.

Now I am trying to figure out what to get everyone for Christmas. I think I am going to get out some toys the twins have never played with and wrap them. I have a whole box of puzzles they have never seen. I am going to donate some to their classroom and then give them the rest for Christmas. I have so many toys, there is no reason to buy them more.

Oh, and my sister and I are going to the 12:01 showing of "Twilight." Her 13 yr old son is going with us. We will probably be the oldest people there, and he may be the only boy. But we thought it would be fun. We don't get out much.

Keith Green-Make My Life a Prayer

2008-11-02T21:33:00.001-05:00

This pretty much sums up my life at this moment.

Just Because I feel like it

2008-10-27T14:59:00.002-05:00

The title says "Wonderful Savior" but I think that is wrong. That's a different song. These guys are my favorite worship band. This is not my favorite song, but the only decent video on youtube. They are from the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.

What I Found

2008-10-21T16:29:00.002-05:00

When I went to get the boys out of bed this afternoon. The drawer was already broken, but the rest of the mayhem was generated by that curly headed boy. He's holding a stack of wipes. I found a bunch of wipes wadded up in the clothes basket. I wondered why the monitor quit working. I never even thought it might be unplugged. Now what do I do? I guess it's time to empty the room and take the side off thier cribs.

Homecoming

2008-10-12T21:24:00.003-05:00

here is a sneak preview of homecoming. Splitact will be posting more photos on his website sometime eventually.

Here is a bonus picture. I am not sure who built the really tall one. It was either splitcat or P.

2008-10-05T16:28:00.002-05:00

Well, the pox have passed. I'm still watching the boys for any signs, but we are almost out of the danger zone. Thank you for all your prayers.

In other fun news, I almost got to take Baby W to the ER this week. I know, it's been awhile. When I first started this blog I spent alot of time in the ER. Here is what happened.

When: Thursday around 11:30
Where: Preschool--the younger 2's class
Who: Baby W, my sister, my mom

In an attempt to snatch a toy from his brother(who was actually no longer playing with aforementioned toy), Baby W made a grab and dashed

Right into the door.

Cue: Crying

Compassionate Aunt L picks up W to comfort him as he is crying.

As soon as she touches him, he stops crying.

And his eyes roll back in his head as his body stiffens and he appears to quit breathing. She shakes him gently, but it is a few moments before he comes to.

My mom brings him down to the infant room where I am working. It had been a really long day. There were 8 babies and most of them cried all day. She brings me W and he is completely white. She hands him to me, and he is completely limp, but beginning to show signs of returning to normalcy. Mom takes him back to class.

Near the end of the school day I go to check on him. I'm standing in the hallway holding him when he throws up.

Now we are all freaked out and assume he has a concussion. From running into a door from a distance of about 2 feet. It just doesn't make sense. After a call to the nurse hotline we decide to take him to the ER. But I have to stop by my house to get my new insurance card and someone has to go to my house to wait for the big kids to get off the bus.

But by the time we got home, W was perfectly normal. So I called his pediatrician(who had been closed for lunch earlier) and they said I could just bring him there(a savings of $75). My regular dr isn't there, but I see one I really like.

As soon as I begin describing what happened, he knows exactly what went wrong.

W is not concussed. He had a breath holding spell. Basically, he fainted. And it could happen any time he gets a blow to the head until he is 5 or 6. Woohoo.

Stupid Chickens

2008-09-22T10:51:00.003-05:00

In case you are not on facebook, I just found out one of the twins(M-that blonde one) has the chicken pox. The dr. was kind enough to check and see if my older kids have had their booster vaccinations, and E is the only one who has. That means P and W are both at risk for getting it. Please pray that no one else gets it. Splitcat just left this morning to go on a school retreat and won't be back until Wednesday(he knew M had a rash, but we thought it was hand/foot/mouth) so he doesn't know that m has the chickens and unless he borrows a cell phone and calls me, he won't know. Meanwhile, we are in quarantine until Thursday or so.

God Bless the Portrait People

2008-09-03T18:07:00.003-05:00

If you ever want the grandparents to know how your kids really act, take them with you to have portraits made. Five minutes in and I'm sweating. My poor m-i-l. She was a trooper. I won't bore you with the details, but I need a vacation. I was impressed with how nice the people at the place were, considering my children were rampaging through their studio. If I ever get the courage, I'd go back. The nice thing is we got a cd with all 83 pictures on it. The ones above are just a few. The big kids were there, too.

Boy, oh boy

2008-08-29T19:08:00.002-05:00

Though I am well acquainted with the joys and woes of unrequited love, I was not quite yet prepared to have a conversation about it with my oldest child.

I noticed as he got off the bus on Monday that his cheeks looked really red. I assumed it was hot on the bus. Then, once everyone was off the bus, he said, Momma, are my cheeks red. I said yes, did someone slap you? No, he said. Are you blushing? I asked. No. I'm in loooove.
You are? Yes.

Then he tried to make me guess who. She sits across from him on the bus. He was acting all giddy and silly. Very much like someone in love. What he told me next was quite surprising. She doesn't love me, but that's okay. I'm still in love with her. How do you know? I asked. I asked her. (Wasn't expecting that). I also told her I wanted to kiss her. (Really wasn't expecting that). I tried to explain that it was okay to be in love, but you can't go around telling people you want to kiss them. I burst his bubble a little. But I don't want him to get in trouble. But I had this vision of him at 17, full of angst ridden unrequited love. He's so much like his daddy.

Then, on Wednesday, I drove to the bus stop on my way home from the mall. When we got home I asked the boy to wait outside with Baby M, who was asleep in the car, while I took W up to bed. Sure, he says. I take W up to bed and take his shoes and socks off, then head back outside. I don't see P. anywhere. Where are you? I yell. then I look around to the other side of the van and see a very white behind. Pull your pants up!! I yell. What?!! he says. I needed to go to the bathroom. That's when I realize that I had jokingly told him to use a tree at the bus stop the other day when he got off the bus and had to go really bad. He said no way! so I didn't really think about it again. He couldn't understand why I was so upset that he peed on the tree that's about 2 feet from the road. I was laughing so hard, I nearly didn't make it to the bathroom myself.

For your amusement

2008-08-26T09:51:00.003-05:00

I somehow stumbled across the results of the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Apparently Mr. Bulwer-Lytton is the man who first penned the words "It was a dark and stormy night." Therefore, the contest is to see who can come up with the worst first lines of a book. There are several categories. My favorite was from the romance category:

Bill swore the affair had ended, but Louise knew he was lying, after discovering Tupperware containers under the seat of his car, which were not the off-brand containers that she bought to save money, but authentic, burpable, lidded Tupperware; and she knew he would see that woman again, because unlike the flimsy, fake containers that should always be recycled responsibly, real Tupperware must be returned to its rightful owner.

Jeanne
Novato, CA

Have fun!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch,

It's a dark and stormy day here. It was pouring this morning at bus time. Then a while after I got back, I heard our storm sirens going, and we were under a tornado watch. fortunately the suspect cloud activity was south of us, but it has been raining off and on all day. I just hope it slacks off at afternoon bus time. This kind of weather makes my head feel weird. I think the babies are affected, too. They've not been in a good mood and have runny noses. My sewing machine stopped working right last night. I am going to go see if it is anything I can fix. It seems to be a bobbin problem. It's probably time for a tune up. I am glad work is starting nexr week, I could really use a paycheck.

WooHoo

2008-08-25T06:20:00.002-05:00

My Converse have made it to the "featured project" category on Craftster! I feel so affirmed in my footwear choices. :)

We got to go see my in laws new house this weekend. We had our first family get together for the twin's birthday. We are all jealous of how beautiful their house is. Then, two deer came through the woods at the back and stood there quietly and ate while we all gawked at them. I saw another one a little later.

I've been sewing all week, but I keep forgetting to take pictures. I'll get around to it one day.

hope everyone is having a good day.

Peanuts

2008-08-20T06:53:00.002-05:00

The boy has discovered the world of Charlie Brown. I had an old Peanuts book on the shelves in their room, and he discovered it the other night. Splitcat gave him a giant hardback treasury last night, and he is already nearly halfway through. I am so glad he likes it.

In other news, some of you may remember that I worked on a girl's retreat last spring. Well I will be working on the fall one, too. But this time I have to work hard. For those who know what I am talking about, I am going to be Head Cha. If you don't know what that means, basically I'll be doing a lot of administrative work(collecting permission forms, money) and making sure the weekend runs on schedule and everyone is doing their job so the director can concentrate on the girls attending the weekend. I am excited. But I am once again shamelessly soliciting your prayers. I know, I'm a demanding blogger. I don't know if you will be hearing a lot from me in September because I will probably be very busy, but I'll try to keep everyone udpated with pictures of the twins, since I know that is the main reason some of you read me.

Happy Birthday Boys!

2008-08-15T17:08:00.003-05:00

My Boys are 2 today. It's hard to believe it has been 2 years. They continue to be delightful and wonderful, even with all the trouble they manage to get into. Their personalities keep growing more every day. Baby W is mischievious and loves to climb. Baby M is quiet, until he opens his mouth. They are fun and a challenge. I am looking forwrd to them talking to know what they are thinking. Habby Birthday Boys!

2008-08-14T20:57:00.003-05:00

My in-laws closed on their old and new houses yesterday. When we went over to say goodbye to the old house and get a few things we had stored there, they brought down 2 quilts my f-i-l's mother had made. One was in fairly good condition, but the other was covered and seemed to have quite a bit of damage. Since my f-i-l wanted them to stay in the family, I, of course, took them both. So the other night I began the process of unwrapping the damaged quilt. It was quite fun, since I did not know what I was going to find.

It was tacked about every 2 inches. It took about an hour to snip all the knots.

It was probably a very brightly colored quilt when first made. This is the center portion of the quilt. There are 2 more panels that aren;t showing. The long strips are very badly damaged; the fabric has pretty much disintegrated. I am going to try to rescue the blocks that are in good shape. There was water damage done to it at some point, so I am going to try to take each block and clean it. Then I have plans I cannot share at this time. But it was really cool to unwrap this piece of my husband's family history.

First Day of School

2008-08-11T06:44:00.002-05:00

Today is the first day of school. My baby girl got on the bus and headed off to kindergarten. I could tell she was nervous and excited. Two little boys from down the street are in her class. Her teacher seems nice, and one of the little boys' older sister had her, and liked her. I think the boy will be good, too. My only concern is that he is sitting next to the little boy who bullied him in kindergarten. So we'll see how it goes.

Babies are crying, must go. I'll update with photos later.

My dream shoes

2008-08-07T16:57:00.003-05:00

Sometimes dreams do come true.

Some of you may remember my shoe post from my other blog long time ago. I mentioned that I really wanted the new Converse xx-hi tops. Well, with my birthday money I bought them. I thought they made a beautifully blank canvas and set out to embroider them by hand. It was a somewhat painful process. Then my mother shows me her newest machine embroidery cd, and the designs were exactly what I was looking for. So on Tuesday I went over to her house and we embroidered my shoes. We chose a phoenix and she altered the design to make it longer to fit more of the shoe. Then I added some small colored "jewels"(they were iron-ons) and it really gave the design some depth. I think I may have to be unfashionable and wear them even though it is still a little hot here. I looooooove them. I posted them at Craftster and have gotten a good response.

2008-08-03T20:57:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I posted a Johnny Flynn video. I've been waiting for the album to come out, and lo and behold, when I went to Borders the other night it was somewhat prominently displayed(I thought I would have to order it through Amazon). What makes it even better is that it was on sale, and I had a gift card. I can't stop listening to it. So here's another video.

Not much else going on around here. One week of summer vacation left. I will be working again this year at a Mother's Morning Out program at a nearby church. My old boss is starting a new program. I will be the Infant room "teacher." Right now there is just one baby enrolled. I am really looking forward to taking care of babies again. My babies are about to turn two. I will just be working 2 days to start, but the boys are going to go three days. They need to be around people besides me. The girl is starting Kindergarten. I can't believe it. P. will be in 2nd grade. I am at that confusing point where I will miss everyone, but I can't wait for school to start. My sister's kids start tomorrow. Splitcat doesn't go back till the middle of next week. I am glad, so he can be here for the girl's first day of school. Now that I am getting normal amounts of sleep, I think I will be able to deal with school much better. The last two years were pretty hard, trying to keep up with very little sleep. Baby M has been sleeping well for the last couple of months. He still has random bad nights, but they are getting fewer and farther between. I almost feel sane.

A Perfect Day?

2008-07-29T15:48:00.002-05:00

I think today has been a nearly perfect day. The kind of day I wish every day could be. I woke at 9:30(I know, I can't remember the last time I slept that late). Splitcat had already fed and watered the two big kids, so I just had to take care of the twins. Everyone played quietly all morning and thanks to last night's trip to the library, I read. Then lunch and the twins off to bed. I read some more. I go lay in bed to read, splitcat joins me with his book. So I was laying there reading, and suddenly I was overcome with, wait, what was that feeling? Could it be happiness? Even a moment of bliss? Sleeping babies, quietly playing children, and books. What more could I ask for? Then, just a few minutes ago, the twins playing quietly, splitcat playing some combination of Barbie and spiderman with the kids, rumbles of thunder and rain pouring outside my living room window, the feeling came again. Although the day is not yet through, and something could go wrong, it won't matter. It's been a lovely day.

2008-07-21T11:32:00.002-05:00

Here are some pictures of the twins from this past weekend. My BIL and his wife got a new puppy and brought him with them to visit. Baby M( the one in my lap) has recently begun to be interested in dogs. He became quite possessive when some of the bigger kids tried to take the dog from him.

Below: W. found a ponytail holder on the floor and brought it to me. He knew it went in your hair, so I gave him a ponytail. He needs a haircut. people think he's a girl.

Prince Charming. My sister gave this costume to P. So when M. found it, he had to put it on. The boot covers go over his entire leg.

2008-07-16T10:50:00.002-05:00

Nothing too exciting to blog about. But the other day as the kids were winding down for the night, someone decided to watch Blue's Clues. I was cross stitching and Baby M had cuddled up next to me with several stuffed animals and his blanket, when out of nowhere, he points to the tv and says, "goggie. blue." I had heard him say goggie a few times, but this was the first time he said Blue. We don't watch Blue much anymore, it used to be a staple around here. Looks Like we may be watching it again. The boys can also both say their older brother's name. They escape from the living room and run into splitcat's office where P is often playing video games or Lego and point at him and say his name. He gets a kick out of it. The girl's name is a bit more complex to say, so they don't call her anything. There is also a build-a-bear in the office that was given to splitcat by his student's a couple of years ago, so when no one is in there, and M escapes, he runs to the bookshelf the bear is on and points at it yelling, Mommy, mommy, beer. Beer. Then he giggles, then he cries when I tell him no and bring him back to where he belongs. He loves stuffed animals. W still mostly babbles. M is definitely leading the way when it comes to talking. When splitcat comes in the front door after being gone, M yells, Daddy, daddy. W. just giggles and tries to escape. I love it when they start talking. It is fun to know what goes on in those little minds.

Me and the girl have been sick this week, me with a cold, her with a random middle of the night throw up. SHe's feeling much better today. I feel a little better, I think my fever is gone. The babies have runny noses, but are mostly happy. the've taken to having screaming matches during their nap time. I usually give them a snack then put them to bed, and they will play for up to an hour or two. They get really loud, and I think about getting them up, but by the time I get up the gumption, they are asleep. My other children did not take naps at this age. I am so glad the twins do.

2008-07-10T14:38:00.001-05:00

"Men at Work signs to disappear."

This story makes me so proud to be an Atlantan.

Random Randomness

2008-07-08T21:15:00.003-05:00

I have not posted for a while so here are some random things for your entertainment

Fourth of July

My church is located very near the official fireworks display of the town. When the building was formerly a discount dept store, people would park in the lot to watch. So, now that it is a church, they want people to feel welcome to continue to do so. So what they do is open up the church building and have people available to give tours or directions to the bathroom. They also hand out bottled water(free) and have the coffee house open. They played videos in the lobby and in the sanctuary the whole night, and someone did music outside, too. We got there early because my bil was on parking duty, so we got a prime spot in the grass on the front sidewalk. We had an excellent time. Alas, splitcat volunteered for twin duty. They would have been miserable, so he let me go with the two older kids and spend the evening with my sister and her family.

This is from the bottom end of the sidewalk. At the very end is a sculpture of Jesus kneeling down with a smile and his arms held open. Scattered down the sidewalk are sculptures of various men, women, and kids. Every time we walked past Jesus on our way to the bathroom, the kids would give him a high five.

I would like to report that my kids absolutely loved the fireworks. They were both excited about seeing them. P promised he wouldn't cry. In the past, he has retreated indoors. He doesn't like loud noises. So I told him we'd try this year. He was sitting alone when it started. I quickly brought him to sit in my lap. He kept his ears covered and whimpered. I felt obligated to warn him that there would be a grand finale at the end. This caused him to burst into tears. I got him to calm down pretty quickly, though. I told him I was very proud of how brave he was. When it was over his first comment was...next year can we stay home and watch the fireworks on tv?

So what else is going on around here? Not much. We've had some very intense thunderstorms each evening. Last night we were hearing lots of sirens. But at least it has been raining.

I have some things I need to post on my blog of craftiness. I just haven't taken any pictures. I have lots of things brewing in my head that I want to make.

For a minute we'll pretend we're on Xanga and I let you in on what I am listening to.

I listen to this over and over and over. One day, perhaps, I'll buy the album. Until then, I just keep youtube up in a separate tab. Aside from this, I have also been listening to the soundtrack from the movie "Once." Good stuff. I've been trying to redefine my musical tastes, since I've pretty much had none for the past seven years. I seem to have emerged on this side of motherhood with a taste for various shades of folk music . Weird, huh. Here's another song for your viewing pleasure. Not sure if this album is out in the US yet. (Nope, not til the end of July)

I've been looking for that creative place I once inhabited. I sank briefly into that melancholic state that I once found productive, but that is no longer the place for me. When I am creating a garment I find inspiration in whimsy and absurdity. I have always been most comfortable with the absurd. I think at one point it may have been because I didn't think there was anything of me that was real. I suppose there is a fear somewhere deep inside that I am just a poseur. If I am afraid I am, does that mean I am? It's getting deep in here. Anywho. So anyway, I've fallen off this train of thought.

I finally saw some fireflies. They have been scarce these past few years. Or perhaps it is I who have been scarcely outdoors. Oh, for an hour in a swing on a spreading lawn while the fireflies frolic and we speak of other things than how we really feel. and love drifts between us on the wind until we breathe it in and words become mundane.

Can you tell I am writing mostly stream of consciousness? My sister got quite a kick out of it the last time. (and no, I am not pregnant, nor have I been drinking or taking sudafed). I think I am high on thunderstorms. I think I mentioned once a long time ago that I find them invigorating.

Yikes. It's after midnight. I'd better be off to bed. I am tired of having insomnia.

I'm back

2008-06-28T12:03:00.003-05:00

from Florida. It was very very very hot. Thankfully the graveside service was in the morning and was family only, so it was brief. This was the first time in many years that the whole family was together. so we made sure to get pictures, because it is highly unlikely we will ever all be together again. Here is me with all my girl cousins(and my sister). We were standing on a hill so those on the left look shorter than they are. And if you don't know which one is me, I am not either of the blondes, those are my cousins Joy and Jena. When I was little, I was the only one who wasn't blonde. I didn't really know my older cousins, but we spent a lot of time with Joy and Jena. My sister used to be a blonde, too, but not anymore. It was good to see everyone.

Funerals, of course, are always a little sad, but I knew last summer that it was probably the last time I would see my grandmother. There were other things that made me sad.

I received an unexpected gift from my Uncle Jimmy. Jimmy never married or had kids(that we know of) and has lived with his mother for the last few years. He doesn't work, he fell off too many ladders when he was a house painter. He drinks alot. But after the grave side service he was still fairly coherent, and I was at his house with my parents while everyone changed clothes. He went back to his bedroom, then came back out to the living room and handed me a box. Don't say I never gave you anything, he said. I looked at it and it was an old box that said "Bible Promises." I looked at my dad, a little confused. That used to sit on our dining room table, and we read a verse every night at dinner, he said. I asked Jimmy if it was really for me. he said yes. It was his, he had brought it home from church when he was a kid. As far as I know, he has never given away anything. When we were kids he would tell us if we paid him a quarter we could sit in his lap. We never took him up on the offer. Then my sister stopped by to pick me up and he had a present for her. He said he had something for our cousin Dana, too. I told him thank you, and that I would sit it on my table for our family to read from at dinner. As we were leaving, I realized that he was giving away pretty much all his possessions. He doesn't have a use for any of these things in his life. But he didn't try to sell them or put them in the trash, he actually thought about who he could give them to. So I realized that my sister, cousin and I are his heirs. He gave us the things that once meant something to him. It may have been a long time ago when they meant something, but he remembered. I burst into tears as my mother, sister and I were walking out the door at this unexpected kindness from a man that has burned every one of his bridges. We don't know what is going to happen to Jimmy, now that his mom is gone. She took care of him until she couldn't even take care of herself. But I will say a prayer for him every time I see the small part of his life he gave to me.