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

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.

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

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.

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

This pretty much sums up my life at this moment.

Just Because I feel like it

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

"Men at Work signs to disappear."

This story makes me so proud to be an Atlantan.

Random Randomness

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

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.

Sad news

I will be out of town for the next few days. My grandmother passed away yesterday. It was my dad's mom, not the one who lives with my parents. She has been very ill for a very long time and was in her 80's. So it wasn't totally unexpected. I will be traveling to Pensacola, Florida with my sister and her family and my mom. Please pray for us to have a safe trip, and for everything to go well with splitcat who will be home with all my kids. The plan right now is to be back thursday night.

This is somewhat hard because tomorrow is my birthday(33). My grandfather, this grandmother's husband, passed away on my birthday 7 yrs ago. Today is my nephew's 13th birthday, and thursday is my parents 38th anniversary. (June is a busy month in my family. My sister's birthday was on the 14th and her anniv on the 20th. That is one reason I didn't get married in June). So it is hard when what should be a time of celebration becomes a time of mourning. Please keep my dad(his name is Eddie) in your prayers, too as he deals with his siblings in all the settling of the estate, etc. Thanks.

Another day, Another Blog

Well, because I don't already have enough blogs, I've added one more. This one is purely for my creative pursuits so that I don't clutter up my other blogs. You can find it here. I've been reposting some of my older projects as well as some new ones. Have fun!

Facebook

I joined. It took me forever to figure out. But it was worth it. Now I can see my cyberfriends lives, and most wonderful of all, found a long lost friend. She was my best friend in high school, but she moved to Australia when she got married. And we completely lost touch. I would hear about her from mutual friends, but that was all. We spent this morning chatting(well, it was late at night for her, even more mind boggling is that it is fall!). It was good to start catching up. I hope we get to communicate more now. I have really missed her. So if you know my real name, maybe I'll be your friend, too :).

We went to the park after dinner. It was really humid. The babies didn't like the swings like they used to. I thought M was going to have a heart atttack. His whole body tensed and turned red from holding his breath. Once he relaxed a little he almost liked it. I didn't know splitcat was filming this video, he was waiting for W to slide, but he got lost in thought at the top. That's me cackling in the background. He heard me laughing and that's what snapped him out of it. The longer we were there, the curlier W's hair got. I'm so glad I got one curly head out of 4. It's fascinating.

It's Ballet time! Tonight is rehearsal. I'm so glad they got to wear tutu's this year. Last year their main dance was tap, so they wore a jazzy red number with fringe and feathers. This year they are doing ballet as their main dance. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the top layer of her skirt is a pale lavender.

I always wanted to be a ballet dancer because the costumes were so beautiful.

Endings

School is out. The girl finished yesterday, the boy today, and Splitcat winds up post planning sometime next week. Our summer plans are currently non-existent. We are waiting to see if anyone signs up for summer school. If enough kids sign up, Splitcat will be teaching summer school. I'm torn between wanting him to teach and wanting him to stay home. Summer school is a fairly lucrative thing to do. But the thought of being alone with my kids most of the summer is a little daunting. The twins are very very very busy. The boy and girl are either having a great time together or screaming at each other like banshees. Taking everyone outside to play is nearly impossible when I am by myself. The girls next door left for Las Vegas as soon as they got home from school today, so I can't get them to help me. Is it sad to be scared to be left alone with your children? Actually, I'm not scared, it just makes me tired to even think about.





Anyhoo, P had a pretty successful year. He got his standardized test scores back--1=does not meet, 2=meets, 3= exceeds. He scored 3's on all 3 sections. The girl was really ready for school to be out. She did well this year, also. Next week is her ballet recital and then we are done with all our school year commitments.

We are all finally over our latest bout of gastroenteritis. Looking back on my blog, we all had one this same time last year. I had forgotten that P missed his last day of school last year because he was puking. I won't go into details, but twins with diarrhea is not pleasant.

Scoot Over

Baby M(below). He looks a lot like my dad. Maybe it's the hawaiian shirt.

Baby W. He looks like my Father-in-law's father. They both love to carry the bubble bottles around. I bought an automatic bubble blower so everyone can play in the bubbles.

My mother's day gift

My family has learned that I like to receive money for holidays. I tell them it is the gift of shopping. So my sister and I went to the mall on Monday to spend my Mother's day money. I had been thinking about buying myself a guitar with the money splitcat was giving me from our economic stimulus check, but I found this very cute little guitar at a new store in the mall called Banjo.com. It was very cheap, but had a sweet little sound, and so I decided to get it. Part of my thought process was that with four small children, I needed something that could take a beating. That morning I had been looking online at guitars and the girl spotted a pink one and said she wanted to learn to play the guitar when she was old enough. So I couldn't pass this one up. When I showed it to her that afternoon she was speechless. When I let her sit and strum on it she practically glowed. The babies were also very attracted to it, so I have been practicing while they are in bed. But yesterday I decided to let them touch it. Baby W. was mildly interested, but quickly wandered off. Baby M was totally fascinated. So I sat him on the couch and put it in his lap. He was exhausted(we've all been battling the most recent stomach bug since thursday), but that didn't deter him. He started out upright and slowly fell over. He cried when I took it away.

Hannah Montana: Cliff Notes for Parents

Rhett and Link are my favorite youtubers. Check them out.

The strange ways of 9 year olds

I think I mentioned in an earlier post about the girls that live next door. They are 9 and 11. The older girl is very much a thinker. The younger, well, the best analogy I can come up with is that she reminds me of Spongebob. Warning:if you are squeamish about dead rabbits, do not continue.

So anyway, On the way to the bus yesterday I spied a dead bunny in the road. Not sure of how traumatic this would be for the boy(totally not traumatic, but has ignited an interest in what we would do if there was a dead deer in the road), we took a wide berth around it. I saw the older girl stick her head out the front door, but before I had a chance to tell her to watch out, she went back inside. So we went on the bus stop. When I heard them coming, I walked out into the road a little, and I didn't see anything, including the rabbit. I stepped a little further into the road(there is a tree that obscures the view that I had to go around). Walking down the street were the 2 girls, the younger one carrying the rabbit by its feet. I instantly went into "mom" mode and yelled "Drop It!" She looked up, startled. "Drop the rabbit!" She lets go and the poor rabbit plummets to the ground and they both take off running to the bus stop. Her sister and I say at almost the same time--"Don't touch anything! Wash your hands when you get to school!"
Apparently this is not the first dead animal she has picked up and carried around. They both said that it looked like the rabbit was still breathing, but I think the wind was blowing its fur. The older girl said, "it's chest was moving up and down, but it had blood coming out of its mouth."
I tried to explain that if it was bleeding from its mouth, there wasn't anything we could do for it. I told them to ask their dad to bury it when they got home. I didn't think he would, he doesn't strike me as that kind of dad, but I figured it would make them feel better.
Fast forward to the next morning. I asked if their dad buried the rabbit, I had noticed it was gone. No, they said, he said he wouldn't do it. We did. They buried it under some flowers.

Gross.

Karenee had this on her blog, so I thought some of my readers might also enjoy.(click on the picture)

In other news, I took the boys for a very belated well check up yesterday. Baby M weighs 33 lbs while Baby W weighs 25. M is about 1 inch taller than W. The dr recommended that I take them for speech evaluation. Mainly because P was so speech delayed(he was 3.5 before he really began speaking). They each have a few words, but not as many as they should by this point. She also said I could have M evaluated at the same time to see if he has true food aversions or is just extremely picky.

Right now my main goal in life is simply to make it to the end of each day(meaning--all the kid's are in bed and asleep). However, Baby M likes to stay up late. But the good that has come from this is that I am learning to live in the now instead of either reminiscing about the past or daydreaming about the future.

Miscellaneous thoughts

As I was moving the wet laundry to the dryer today I had the thought that Splitcat and I have been together almost fifteen years. Then I realized that I am 32. That means I have been with him for almost half of my life. This is not a bad thing, but I was a little startled.

BabyM is now obessessed with touching the computer. A few minutes ago he discovered our external DVD-ROm drive and opened it. The look of glee on his face made it hard to tell him no, but I did anyway. he also loves to walk around talking and singing into his sister's microphones. I had to take him to the dr last week. he had a sinus infection.

I did something smart for once. I took the girl to her 5 yr well check up on Friday. I hadn't told her that she was getting shots. Turns out I had them all done last year, so she didn't have to have any. I told the dr I didn't remember much of last year and I was surprised I did something that smart. The girl is very healthy and was very well-behaved for the dr. I'm taking the babies tomorrow for their well check. I'm behind on their immunizations. Everyone was so sick all winter I held off.

So why haven't I been posting much? I was sick for a couple of weeks, but other than that, life is pretty boring(and that's not a bad thing).

The kids and I spent the afternoon and evening at my mom's on Friday. P had taken off his shirt because it was hot and I forgot to tell him to put it back on for dinner. So his little cousin was asking him why he wasn't wearing a shirt, and he explained to her that he could go without a shirt because he was a boy. Girls can't go without shirts because they grow those bumps on their chest. My mother said that my 12 yr old nephew was trying really hard not to laugh out loud when he heard this.

My mom and our friend Cathy drove down to the revival last night. She called me when they got in the building to tell me what happened while they were in line. They started talking to the man behind them and he told them how he was delivered of his cigarette addiction at Brownsville, so my mom shared how she had been delivered of cigarettes back in the seventies. Then a lady standing nearby said, God really set me up. Turns out she wanted to be delivered of her cigarette addiction. So my mom pulled out her anointing oil(she usually has one or two vials in her purse) and they all prayed over the lady and went with her to throw out her cigarettes. I thought that was pretty cool.

I was trying to think if I had any news about Baby W. he's been fussy lately. He's becoming quite the escape artist. At the grocery store last week I had the twins in one of the racecar carts. They were both buckled in. I stopped in the magazine aisle and tunred to look at the magazines for about 30 seconds. When I turned back around He was sitting in the front part of the cart. Then at my mom's he saw a bag of cheerios on the counter and climbed up the barstool and helped himself--this is scary because my mom has travartine floors. He's fast.

And Baby M is becoming quite the nature lover. He likes for me to open their blinds at naptime so he can see out and on our way upstairs he always stops to look out the sidelights at the front door. He gets mad when I put him in the car instead of letting him play outside.

It's time to get the girl ready for school. Hope everyone has a good day.

Revival

If anyone is interested....

A healing revival has begun in the last month in Lakeland, Florida. Todd Bentley of Fresh Fire Ministries came for a speaking event and is now planning to stay as long as he needs to. GodTv(DirectTv channel 365 or god.tv) is broadcasting Live every night from 7-11pm or you can watch the 10 am and 7pm services on ustream.tv. Look for the religion channel and Ignited Church.

Some recent pictures

Birthday

Hunting for Eggs at Grandmas

I've been postponing writing this post and feeling guilty about it. It was the girl's birthday on the 14th. But I haven't been much in the mood to say nice things about her. As her father just wrote on his blog, since she just turned five we are entering the third year of the terrible twos.

On a good day, she is a lovely, well-mannered, beautiful, sweet little girl.

The hardest part of learning to deal with her is the realization that she is very much like me.

This is our latest struggle. Despite the fact that I have told her she is beautiful just about every day of her life, she now equates her beauty with her clothes. We argue over her clothes most days. She told me the other day that if she doesn't wear pretty or fancy clothes, people don't tell her she is beautiful. So in her mind, if someone doesn't tell her she is, then she is not. And she's just five. I totally understand her need for affirmation, because I have it, too. Now I try to be careful about how I praise her looks. I tell her I think she has a beautiful face, and her dress is pretty, too. Or if she is wearing something plain and simple, I will still compliment her outfit as well as her self. The other morning Splitcat asked if I had seen what she was wearing. I said yes, I'd helped her put it on. Did it remind you of anyone he asked. She looked just like you. She apparently overheard this and later that day changed back into this outfit and asked me who she looked like. What I found surprising is that she wanted to look like me. It really makes you look at your self when someone wants to be like you.

I have a lot of compassion for her. I was sick and pregnant during a time when she needed me. She is the middle child. She is the only girl. In some ways I am proud of her because she will not allow herself to go unnoticed, in this she differs greatly from me. When she spends the night at her grandmas, the whole atmosphere of our house changes. It is very quiet. Even without her saying anything, the atmosphere revs back up when she comes home. I am not so proud of the way she usually chooses to make her presence known, but I hope she always fights for herself. I see the makings of a strong and compassionate woman in her, and I can only pray that the Lord gives me the grace to teach her and train her up.

To end on a happy note. She has finally entered the world of dolls. She got a new "grown-up" doll for her birthday, so now we are acquiring matching outfits for her and her dolls(the dress she is wearing above came with a doll dress). I made her a really cute one of black with white polka dots. She is a very good momma to her dolls, making sure they put their coats on when we go outside, and wrapping them in blankets at bedtime.

I love you, E. Happy fifth birthday.

At long last, I finally got some pictures of my room. The first 2 pictures are the before. And yes, that is a crying baby in the middle of my bed. I can't believe it's been a year since I took these.




Here are the after pictures.

I moved the dresser to where the entertainment center was and put this small nightstand where the dresser was. I got the vanity table last spring and I love it. One day I'd like to have all the furniture be ivory colored, and I have a brass bed, but it needs a serious polish, and I haven't had the time. I also have a different duvet cover, it is all ivory with embroidery. but it needs to be ironed. So I can go between the quilt and the duvet cover to change the look a little.

I still haven't totally decided on all my artwork. I tend to change things alot. Sorry I couldn't get wider pictures, my room room is fairly small.

So there it is.

What can you say but Wow.

It's been a while. I had a good time on my retreat. It was a little weird to have nothing to do but wander around and pray, but weird in a good way.

Since my last few posts have been about illness, I decided I should write about something frivolous.

But what?

There's American Idol. I have never really been a fan, but I would watch the final few episodes. For some reason I started watching this season. When the final 24 episode came around, I still didn't have a favorite picked, but I liked the guys better than the girls. Then, out of nowhere, this guy with long dreadlocks comes out and I have my favorite. Yes, I will admit it here. I am a Jason Castro fan. You can look him up on youtube if you care. He appeared practically nowhere in the early episodes, mostly because they couldn't get permission to air the songs he sang. So I had no idea what he was going to sound like. Vocally, David Archuleta is way better, but he lacks something. I always feel like I am watching a chorus concert soloist. You don't get a sense of style, but his voice is amazing. Jason has a style of his own. The videos of him singing before Idol on youtube cemented my decision. So. As embarrassing as it is. I'm a fan. But I don't vote.

Which leads me to a question I have been thinking of posting. What is something you have never done?

I've never voted on a reality show
I've never ridden a real train
I've never sent a text message


On another subject entirely, I have tentatively found a church. I've been going since Thanksgiving, but I've missed alot. I've had a hard time catching the vibe, so I decided to go on wed nights to get to meet people. There are about 1000 people in the congregation. My main concerns were that it was an offshoot of the non-movement known as the emerging church or that it was a seeker-friendly church. I asked the teacher tonight if they were affiliated with either of these things, and he told me no. I was relieved. What I really like about this church is that the teaching is very simple and straight forward, and out of the Bible instead of the latest Christian self-help book. I think this is where I am supposed to be for now, of course, that can change. I have two new friends to take with me. The little girls(they are 9 and 10) who live next door went with me this past Sunday. They live with their dad, grandad, and 16 yr old uncle. So since I was nice to them, they've kind of latched on. When I mentioned I was going to church, the younger girl immediately asked if she could go with me, then her sister wanted to go, too. They are very lonely.

I guess that is all. I should go to bed now.

A quick update for those who care. Splitcat and Baby M succumbed to the bug earlier this week. I have not gotten it, nor do I intend to. It's been a long month. But tomorrow I leave for my retreat. This is a retreat for teenagers(this is the girl's weekend). I attended when I was 18 and have worked on quite a few weekends in various positions. This weekend I am a prayer person. There are six of us whose sole job for the entire weekend is to pray. I am doing the 2-4am shift, as well as praying throughout the day. I figured I was used to being up at that time anyway. My first inclination was to ask for another position, but I realized that spending a weekend in prayer sounded fairly blissful. I can wander about as I wish and be alone! I know I'm going to miss my kids. I always do. But momma needs some rest and rejuvenation. And Debbie needs to spend some time with the Lord. But there is almost always opposition in the spiritual realm when you work on one of these weekends. So thanks for all your prayers this past month, I truly appreciate them.

Please keep praying for us. Baby W. is still having diarrhea and the girl was sick again yesterday. I don't know if they just didn't get better or if they got it again. Splitcat and I are just battling colds.

The babies have been up all night. It is 4:13 am. Do I just stay up or should I try to get less than 2 hrs of sleep. I think I'll try to get some sleep.

Please Say

A blessing for Splitcat who has come to the midnight(or 1am) rescue again. This time for the Girl. You may recall that P. had a stomach bug a couple of weeks ago. I had thought we were out of the woods, then on Sunday baby W. woke up listless and ashen looking. I was going to leave him at home while I took everyone else to church, when I put him in his pack-n-play he threw up everywhere. I stayed home to take care of him and he was fine by dinner time. As soon as we got the girl cleaned up she was back to herself and I put her back to bed with a garbage can.

Please also pray that no one else gets this bug. I seem to have gotten the cold bug that splitcat had last week. Who knows, it could be the same virus working itself out differently in each of us.