Well, we have two ear infections. E. and W. I haven't gotten much sleep this week. But I did manage to have a really good time a 4boydad's new abode. There were 14 children ranging in age from 4 months to 11. Everyone pretty much had a buddy their age. But there were only 4 girls out of the 14 children. When we left, the girl burst into tears when she heard her dad say the word Hot dog. Apparently she hadn't finished hers and wanted to go back. It was very tragic.

It's been a busy week, I've been to the pediatrician twice. I'm supposed to go out of town on Tuesday to a conference in Alabama. Please pray for everyone to feel better. I was going to take the twins, but I think I may leave them with my sister. I need a break.

I am looking forward to Christmas, but it has kinda creeped up on me. I think I am finally almost done with my shopping. I took a Benadryl, so I am sorry if I don't make much sense.

If I don't talk to you before, Have a lovely Christmas.

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I fixed the computer. Apparently God had some things he needed me to work out before I kept writing. And since I'm writing about wisdom and understanding, I prayed to have a clue to what I was doing. And it certainly helped. But the real fix was of the old fashioned kind(But I think God inspired). I noticed the cover of the computer tower was loose, so I just kind of randomly pressed it down and suddenly heard a whirring start up kind of noise. The hard drive reconnected and I was able to boot up normally. My files are now on disk and I am putting them also on our good computer. Splitcat is going to open her up and make sure it is reconnected firmly before I use it again. And I will always back up now.

Took the twins and the girl to splitcat's christmas party. M. slept throught the noisiest part. W. was sort of awake, and when about 9 teenage girls crowded around the stroller, he took one look and went into hysterics. He was also very gassy. They had their vaccinations yesterday, so they are not quite up to standard. I'd better go fold some laundry so I can do some more. It is so nice to have a machine again.

Good News and Bad news

Good News,

The boys had their four month check up today. W. weighs 13 lbs 13 ozs and M. weighs 15 lbs 4 ozs. They are doing very well. I had a laugh when I came across P.'s four month visit as I was cleaning tonight. He weighed 17.5 lbs. He was a chunky baby. Now he's really skinny. He's always pulling his pants up. E. is too, but for different reasons. She has chronic plumber's bottom. I had forgotten that was why she's always worn dresses.

Bad News,

The computer I was using to write my novel crashed. As in the hard drive crashed. Most of it was on our good computer, except all I have done the past few weeks. And no, I hadn't backed it up on disk yet. Yes, I have learned my lesson. I think I can remember the basics of what I had written. But hopefully we can recover it. sigh.


Thanks again to everyone who left an answer to last weeks question/topic. I was blessed by your stories of provision and healing.

Here's a holiday themed question.

What is one of your favorite Christmas memories?

One of my fonder memories was Christmas my senior year of high school. We didn't put up a tree or do anything extravagant, and I got season tickets to the opera and a bottle of perfume-that was it. I just remember it being a simple and happy time as a family.

Also it snowed our first Christmas in New Jersey and it snowed on splitcat and I's first Christmas. P's first Christmas was also very special. He was so confused. The girl is really into it this year and wants to know on a daily basis why we don't have a baby Jesus in our front yard like her grandma and the people across the street. I had a few moments of worry as she seemed to be confusing Jesus and Santa. She also keeps telling me we have to bake gingerbread men. I am looking forward to spending this Christmas with my new big family of 6. It seems so weird that this time last year I didn't know I was pregnant with twins. They are such a part of our family already. It's hard to remember life before them.

It is late, so I sould probably go to bed. Thanks for tuning in.

Testimony

Praise the Lord! We have a washing machine!!!! We were given 2 separate gifts of $200(so $400 total) to put towards this purchase. We were able to buy a machine comparable to the one I killed instead of a lesser one. We had to pay less than $50 out of pocket. WooHoo!!! Isn't God good!

When I went to the store to make my purchase I felt like I was supposed to share this testimony with someone there. I completed my purchase and mentioned in passing how we were given the money, but I did not attribute it to the Lord. While I was walking out I was berating myself for being such a poor witness. Then a man at the front bade me a good afternoon and said "God Bless You." Then he noticed the twins so I stopped to chat with him. I said, "since you said God bless you, let me tell you how he has blessed me today." So I told him how the Lord had provided the amount of money we need for the washing machine. Then I told him about our van. We chatted and then he thanked me for sharing my testimony. He had been in an accident right outside his workplace and his car was totaled. He said he had been thanking the Lord for keeping him safe and that my story had really blessed him when he was feeling kind of down. So you never know what good your testimony will do. So instead of a question this week, share with me something good the Lord has done for you. It could be a financial blessing, a healing, how you got saved, etc.

Here's one more from me.

I was healed at the age of four after falling out of a moving car. They were planning plastic surgery on my face because much of my skin had been scraped off. Within two weeks I had completely new skin. The doctor did not recognize me and asked what had happened. I told him that Jesus had healed me, and he said, I guess he did(or something like that).

So share as much as you want. It is important to remember what the Lord has done for us. And if whoever sent the anonymous gift is reading, thank you so very much, the Lord blessed not just us, but also a total stranger.

Growing Boys

The boys have been growing like weeds. Especially M.(on the right in both pictures). The first picture was taken in Sept. when they were about 4 weeks old. It's now 10 weeks later. We have finally been able to get them to interact with each other, and it is very sweet. They smile at each other and sometimes even talk to each other.

We had a nice time shopping yesterday. The twins behaved beautifully. My mother-in-law got to experience the mall with twins. We sat in the mall to feed them and had oodles of people stop and/or stare and smile. At one point a mom with 4 yr old twin girls stop to chat and then a pregnant lady stopped and said,"I had to stop, I'm having twins!" It was pretty funny. We met lots of people who had twins or were a twin. I didn't buy much, but my mil bought my Christmas present. I got a beautiful new wool coat. It is almost ankle length, and has a hood. But I have to wait until Christmas to get it. I made it to the mall at 5:25 and home about 11:30. W. decided to wake up at 3:45, so I just left early. At 5:30 there were people with huge bags of stuff leaving. I'm not sure if I will go next year. Every year it gets a little more crowded. This is definitely the year of the ipod and other electronics. Most of the sales centered around things you can stick your ipod in. We don't have an ipod and need a new washing machine, not a new DVD player. Yep, our washing machine gave up a few weeks ago. Not good when you have 4 children, 2 of which spit up on a regular basis.

In the afternoon we went to the in-laws and I set up their tree. It's their first year with a fake tree. They got lucky and got a really nice one after Christmas last year. When I was done, the kids and my niece put the ornaments on.

Thanks to everyone who has participated in my interactive post thus far. If you haven't, please read the previous post and add your answer in the comments section.

Something New

I'd like to try something new. Not exactly a meme, but an interactive post. I will ask questions, and you will leave me answers in my comments section. You may remain anonymous if you so desire, but I expect all my regular readers to respond. So I should have at least 5 responses-1 or 2 from Canada, 2 or 3 from Georgia(including Scientific Atlanta(I miss you L.)), 1 from Arizona, and hopefully 1 from Lee College, and 1 from New York(see, I know who reads my blog(well, I know where you live, but not always who you are)).

I decided that you guys know all about me, but I don't know much about some of you, including who you are, so we can all get to know each other through random questions. And if everyone responds, you will have something to read in between my postings(which are getting further and further apart). So here we go.

Today's questions are about cars.

1. What was your first car? Did you pick it out or did your parents ? How old were you when you got it?
2. What kind of car do you drive now? Does it fit your personality?
3. Of all the cars you have ever owned, what was your favorite car and why.

Here's my answer.

1. My first car was a 1987 Honda Accord. It was dark blue, 4 door, automatic. And it had the flip up headlights. My parents picked it out. I couldn't handle another day of car shopping with my dad(I love him lots, but shopping for big ticket items with him can be, well, not fun). So one Sunday after church my parents went out and came back with my lovely car. I couldn't have picked better. It's nice when your parents know you so well. Now I wonder what I was thinking, letting them pick for me. I was 17. I didn't get my driver's licence until I was 18. I think I got it one week before I left for college. (I was in a bad wreck when I was 14 and it left me with very little desire to drive, but my mom said she refused to drive me to college).

2. I currently drive a Ford Windstar(can't remember the year). It may not fit my personality, but it does fit my family. And it is burgundy, which is one of my favorite car colors. And it was free. I get to drive the Toyota Corolla on my rare ventures alone. It's a nice little car.

3. My favorite car to drive was my Honda Accord. I loooooooved that car. But all the electrical systems failed a few years after we married. I liked the way it looked, I liked the way it drove. I liked the way I fit in it. The other cars I have been part owner of have been serviceable and decent, but not nearly as fun as my Honda.

See, that's not too painful.

Let the answering Begin!!

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers and my Americans in Canadian Exile readers. We did the usual Turkey with my parents and family. P. didn't want to eat the turkey because he only likes it when it's flat(lunch meat from the deli). But he did eat some and liked it. Splitcat played the hero and took the 6 big kids outside to play football(the twins are still too small :)). I have apparently gone insane and will be joining my mother-in-law for our annual day after Thanksgiving shopping spree at 6 am. I think I have to take the twins with me, so I won't be gone as long as I usually am.

for your entertainment

Your Vocabulary Score: A-

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

Your Social Anxiety Level: 48%

You have moderate social anxiety. It's possible that you have a serious social anxiety problem. But it's also likely that you can help yourself, by getting out more and trying new, scary activities. No one's secretly judging you. So be yourself, and if you screw up, just laugh.

Are You Socially Anxious?

Your Inner Child Is Happy

You see life as simple, and simple is a very good thing. You're cheerful and upbeat, taking everything as it comes. And you decide not to worry, even when things look bad. You figure there's just so many great things to look forward to.

How Is Your Inner Child?

You Are Scooter

Brainy and knowledgable, you are the perfect sidekick. You're always willing to lend a helping hand. In any big event or party, you're the one who keeps things going. "15 seconds to showtime!"

The Muppet Personality Test

Still Alive

Just wanted to let you all know I'm still here. I 've been busy with fussy babies, and too tired to blog. I finally realized that W. is teething. We had a big front come through this week and I think that was what was making him so fussy. It gave me a horrible headache, too.

The boys are now three months old. I can't believe how fast they have grown.

Here is Twin A or "W"


Here is Twin B or "M"



They are truly delightful babies. I still can't believe how good tempered they are.

I took everyone to the park last week. I wanted to spend some time outside.



The girl is wearing her new pants(the ones that fit). Anyway, it was a windy day so we didn't stay too long. But it is a lovely park with a stream and small waterfall. I can pretend I am in the mountains instead of Cobb County.

I'll try to blog more often. I'd hate to lose the few readers I have. :)

Blog Tour-The Cubicle Next Door

I loved this book. My sister also loved this book. It's not a book I would usually choose, but I am glad I read it.

This is a very sweet modern love story.

Here's the basics from the Blog Alliance Blog


This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is posting about The Cubicle Next Door.

If you like blogging...which you must if you are reading this...you will think this book is blogarific. After each chapter, there is a blog entry. The book is written in first person and contains some hilarious blog antics.

Imagine that you are an anonymous blogger, one who uses a silly name instead of your own, then imagine blogging about your work. Now imagine blogging about your cubicle mate of the opposite sex and calling him by an anonymous name.

I know some who have done just that.

But now imagine that your cubicle mate has discovered your blog and begins to read it out loud to you. EVERY MORNING.

The Cubicle Next Door is set in a civilian's view of working on a military post. That in itself is funny enough...then add that the main character is a tree hugging, anti-SUV lover, with a thing for Bollywood movies. (Her favorite it Bride & Prejudice.) Suddenly this civilian hippie is thrown into a cubicle next to an Air Force Pilot/Teacher who drives...yep...an SUV. Can't you feel the love?

Also, The Cubicle Next Door has some wonderful moments of self discovery.

Blog Tour-The Election

This week's tour is for Jerome Teel's The Election.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
Jerome Teel is a graduate of Union University, where he received his JD, cum laude, from the Ole Miss School of Law. He is actively involved in his church, local charities, and youth sports.He has always loved legal-suspense novels and is a political junkie. Jerome and his wife, Jennifer, have three children-Brittney, Trey, and Matthew-and reside in Tennessee, where he practices law and is at work on a new novel.


About The Election:

Ed Burke has waited a lifetime to become president of the United States. He's not about to let his nemesis, Mac Foster, stop him now...especially when he's sold his soul for the Oval Office.

Claudia Duval has lived a rough life. And finally, things have turned around for her after meeting the wealthy Hudson Kinney. But is all what is seems?

When a prominent citizen is murdered in Jackson, Tennessee, attorney Jake Reed doesn't want to know the truth. He just wants to get his client off. But as he investigates, he uncovers a sinister scheme. A scheme that would undermine the very democracy of America...and the freedom of the entire world.

God Bless Grandma J and JC Penney

In the best news of the week, The girl will be starting school on Wednesday. Grandma J found her a place at her best friend's preschool and one of her teacher's is another friend. I know she will be treated well there. We went to the mall on Monday to buy some clothes for school. At Penney's I found the plus size section for little girls. And while I find it mildly disturbing that they call it plus sizes, I found her two pairs of pants that fit!!. she got some really cute embellished jeans and some plain ones. I am going to order her some khakis online because they were sold out.

In other good news, M. has slept through the night twice now. He weighs about 13 lbs. W. is doing 8-9 hours pretty consistently. But now that the time change is upon us, I am going to have to work at getting them to start their night after 6 or 7pm. Right now they are going to bed at about 5 or 6, so when time changes it will be 4 or 5. My goal is for them to sleep from 7 to 7 or 6 to 6. M. is still struggling with reflux. He is taking zantac, but it only helps a little while. I've started feeding him his rice instead of putting it in his bottle. He likes food. It seems to be working better, too. He hasn't been able to get into a deep sleep unless he was snuggled really close, so I got a tiny hot/cold pack and warmed it up and put it in his blanket last night. It seemed to help him settle down better when he would reflux. I hope this works. I've been falling asleep at night holding his pacifier in. not the most comfortable way to sleep.

Lego Star Wars II is totally cool. I'm 91% done. I play in the middle of the night while I wait for the boys to go back to sleep. The only thing I don't like is that it is harder to use your lightsaber than in the first game. I do like all the bonus missions and that there are more levels where you fly.

I guess that catches me up.

Clothing

It's time to get some warm clothing for the older kids. I took the girl to the store this morning to get a few items. She is 3 yrs old(will be 4 in March). Generally speaking, most 3 yr olds wear between a 3 and 4T. She wears a 6/6x. Which is in the girls sizes, not the toddler sizes. This poses several problems. 1. Her legs are not a 6/6x length. 2. the clothes look too grown up for a 3 yr old. She's not fat. She's wide. She has always been big, I was too when I was little. I try not project my own issues with finding clothes to fit onto her, but it is just as frustrating to buy her clothes as it is to buy myself clothes. I bought her a pair of size 7 capri jeans. They are a little loose in the waist and the hem comes to just below her ankle, a perfect pair of jeans. I guess the good thing is they could possibly fit her for the next 3 yrs and eventually actually be capris on her. Poor baby.

Violette Between

This week's blog tour is for Violette Between by Alison Strobel.

From the book:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Alison Strobel graduated with a degree in elementary education, and in the summer of 2000 she moved from Chicago to southern California where she taught elementary school for three years. It was in Orange County that she met her husband, Daniel Morrow, and the story developed for her first novel, Worlds Collide.

Violette Between is a poinant story of a true artist. When the love of Violette's life, Saul suddenly died, she died too. Then she meets Christian, who also is morning the loss of a loved one.As Violette and Christian begin to feel something that they both thought was impossible, tragedy strikes again. Christian finds Violette on the floor of his waiting room, that she had been painting to look like a New York rooftop restaurant.

As Christian holds a vigil at her bedside, begging her to come back to him, Violette is in a coma, traveling to a place where she meets her beloved Saul. And she finds that she may not want to come back! What would it be like to choose a place between the past and the present?

From me:

What I enjoyed most about this novel was the ending. I was taken to a place that I wasn't expecting. I found it thought provoking, not only about choosing to love again after loss, but about learning how to leave the past behind to make room for the future. And before you say to yourself, “well, duh,” this is something I’ve only recently learned for myself.

One of the many things I have learned about myself as I have worked though my hoarding issues is that I was not just a hoarder of paper, bags, clothes, shoes, etc, but that much of my hoarding was an attempt to keep every memory of the past intact. This was manifested in the physical realm by boxes full of ticket stubs, playbills, Christmas cards, and totally random stuff that I was given from various people (like rubber bands, price stickers, etc.). I sorted through these boxes as we were making room for the twins, and I realized that most of it had lost all significance to me since I was delivered of my hoarding compulsion almost two years ago. I took five large plastic boxes of memories and condensed them into 2 and ½. I will probably be able to get rid of even more the next time I go through them.

I was keeping things in a box from a fear of forgetting my past rather than for any true sentimental reasons. Keeping the letters my husband sent me while we were dating makes sense. Keeping the rubber band that Josh gave me in the fifth grade doesn’t (actually, it’s kinda scary that I remember that). I threw away just about every card I’ve ever been given, but I kept my letters from my best friend M.J. (who shouldn’t feel bad if she throws my letters away, since that’s what normal people do). I threw away programs from dozens of concerts, but kept the ones I where I was a featured participant (which was a lot since I was a music major). And I kept all my high school band awards, having forgotten that I was voted outstanding flag corps member (several years), outstanding senior band person, and my academic and music letters. It is good for me to remember that I am at heart a musician, even though life and my own choices have taken me away from the music world.

So I won’t say I didn’t shed some tears as I did this necessary housecleaning, but they were the good kind of tears, good-bye tears. I am learning that I cannot allow the past to be the most important part of my now. I have found my memories to have much more meaning now that I don’t clutch them greedily. They have become a treasure instead of a burden. And I am still sometimes taken by pleasant surprise by the memories brought back by a song on the radio, a smell in the air, or even the weather.
But now I am looking forward to all the new memories I will be making with my family and making my peace with the past.

Dr. Visit Today

The boys are growing well. W. now weighs 10 lbs and has moved from the 13th percentile to the 19th, and M. weighs 11 lbs 15 oz. and moved from around the 25th to the 61st. They are only a 1/4 inch different in height, but their head circumfrence is 2.1cm different, which doesn't sound like much, but it puts W. in the 6th percentile and M. in the 34th. They had three shots and an oral vaccine. They now have a vaccine for the rotavirus. I highly recommend never having the rotavirus. P., E., and I all had it a few years ago(one of the perks of working in childcare). Everyone is fussing, so I better go, Have a nice day.

The stars were still out when we left for the bus stop today. There's just soething wrong about that.

It's been a long week. M. decided to have a bad case of silent reflux. I am fortunate in that it didn't make him cry hysterically(a common occurence with reflux), but he grunted all day and night with occasional bouts of crying. I have always called him "Grunty" because he grunts when he is hungry, gassy, tired, or needs his pacifier replugged(again and again). But you could tell he was in pain. I was exhausted, he was exhausted. He would sleep for 20 minutes or so then would make a face and start grunting or crying and have a terrible time going back to sleep. He would gag and choke and cough. I felt really bad for him. It seemed to happen suddenly, but he's been showing signs of it all along. I switched his formula(in case that had made it worse) and added some rice cereal. And I had to move him back to sleeping in his carseat. I had both boys sleeping in the bed, falling asleep on their own(woohoo!). But elevating the mattress makes them slide around too much. I think he did okay earlier in his little life because I was nursing and he was sleeping upright. But for everybody's sanity I had to quit nursing. I simply don't have the time to take enough care of myself. He got too hungry for me. And I can't spend all day nursing.

It was a difficult decision for me to make. Rationally, I knew that quitting was the right thing to do. Emotionally, I was very torn. This was the most successful I have been with nursing. I was so proud, watching my little guy plump up. Nursing P. was a nightmare. He ate every 2 hrs around the clock for almost 2 months and I would often have to give him some formula in addition because he couldn't get full. I didn't last as long with the girl. I made it 6 weeks before she would nurse for an hour then drink an 8 oz bottle. I discovered I functioned on a much higher level once I quit. I knew that would be the case again. But I knew this would be my last opportunity, and putting into practice all I have learned since my other children made it a much more pleasant experience. But I found myself not being able to eat until after noon every day and then I was scarfing down dinner whenever I could--not a healthy way to eat to fill a baby's tummy. And I was quickly becoming exhausted. I have felt so much better since I quit. Plus the boys can spend the night away and I can eat and drink whatever I want.

I can tell it's fall because I feel the urge to write poetry. The summer is not so inspiring. It's just hot. But fall and spring, for different and various reasons send me into the contemplative mood which is conducive to the writing of poetry. I haven't actually written any, but I can feel it stirring deep down in my soul.

My poor body is starting to really tell me how much it was strained being pregnant with the twins. This week my knees have begun to make themselves known. I've been trying to walk as much as possible, but I still tire very quickly. Plus getting up and down off the floor and running up and down the stairs all day hasn't made them happy. My kneecaps have been feeling like they are on fire. They were better today, so hopefully will continue to get better.

I don't have anything specific to blog about today. But I figured I should try. The weather here has been beautiful. It's a little warm today, but has been very fall like earlier in the week.

I took the girl to get her hair cut today. We had a deal, if she would stop sucking on it, she could grow it out. After a rough morning, she decided to put chunks of hair from either side of her face in her mouth and suck on them(as an act of defiance). She refused to remove them, so I took her to get her hair cut. She didn't seem to mind.

I guess that is all

Brotherly Love

We've got a lot of sharing going on over here. The Boy so generously gave his sister his disease. We caught hers early so it's not as gross. His is clearing nicely. Not much else going on here.

Yuck

Update: It is indeed impetigo. He also was wheezing and had a horribly gooky nose due to allergies. We came home with 4 prescriptions. Children are expensive. These are the times when socialism seems like a good idea.


My oldest son has a nasty rash around his mouth. It looks suspiciously like impetigo. If you are my mother-in-law and are reading this and were planning on coming over this afternoon, I may need you to take the twins to your house so I can start disinfecting, if it is indeed impetigo. I'll call you when I find out. I hate infectious diseases, they make me have to clean.

Your nose isn't moveable

In case you didn't know, your nose is fixed in place on your face. My 3 yr old niece just learned this. She was trying to help W. with his pacifier, but it was in upside down. I was trying to tell her to turn it around, but she wasn't listening. Instead, she grasped his little nose and tried to move it out of the way. My grandmother and I first thought she was just pinching his nose closed, but she was just trying to help him breathe.