Bed Springs

Jim has decided that there must be a set of springs on my side of the bed. When I sit down on the bed I immediately pop back up and go to do something else (besides going to bed). Last night I sat down, popped back up to go set my alarm, and when I sat back down Jim grabbed onto me and said "I got you...I thought you were going to spring off the bed again."

I have some sort of syndrome where you can't just do something like go to bed...you have to stop and move the laundry, empty the dishwasher, pick up the socks littering the floor, load the car, etc. all while you are in the process of brushing your teeth on the way to bed. You can't just go down and turn off the lights in the playroom...you have to carry a load of toys down the steps, feed the cats, change their water, find something that needs to come upstairs, etc. You get the picture.

I think it is called Multi-distractitis or something like that.....

Learning

Jo is not always walking yet, but she stands up a lot and takes steps. She even walked across the kitchen tonight. I guess once she is walking I can put her in some of the longer 12 month dresses we have. Right now if she wears a longer dress she ends of crawling on the hem and gets really frustrated because she can't stand up because her feet are on the dress.
However, her brothers don't quite get the idea that she is not really steady yet when she is standing. It's kind of funny because you can watch her make adjustments to her balance while she is standing...she throws her little tummy out or pulls it in to adjust. The boys bump into her and knock her over all the time. She does seem to be motivated by their running around however. We have a lovely running circle in the house (den, hallway, living room/dining room, kitchen, den, hallway, living room/dining room, kitchen, den.....) They boys take off around it and Jo wants to go with them. They run up and play with daddy and she wants to be right there in the mix.
She has also started really copying the sounds that she hears. I was driving a few days ago and I took a turn quickly so Doug said "whoa, whooooa, whoooooa." Then, from the middle seats where Jo sits I hear "whoa, whoa, whoa." Doug gave her a goodnight kiss last night and sort of smacked his lips when he gave the kiss. So then Jo started smacking her lips. I have a feeling she is going to keep all of us on our toes.

Must...stop...the...pain...

There are some days when you think you might just be your own worst enemy...or in our case it is our family.
Today we helped around the church for a work day. In the process Doug managed to drop a toy car on my head and Jo's (we were cleaning toys in the nursery and he ran it off the roof of the little Tyke's house).
Then when we were home Doug tripped over my feet and managed to bang his chin on the play train table and gained a scrape.
I don't know if Andy and Doug are growing or if it is just that we are outside more lately with the nicer weather but Andy's scratches have scratches and Doug's bruises have bruises. Jim is recovering from multiple things and said that his wounds have wounds. I have aches on my aches (I don't think I will be carrying Jo in the backpack for much longer...)
It has been a very busy weekend so far and we have Sunday still.

My guys

Here are a few more of the professional pictures we took with Nana.

Today I had to go pick up something on campus while I had all of the kids. So I strapped Jo on my back and the boys walked with me. I can't park anywhere close to the building I work at so we parked and rode the campus bus. Of course the boys where very excited about this. They have only been on the bus once before. That time we were looking for something cool and free to do (it was hot and we were still in the RV at that point). That time we got on the bus, rode a big loop, and got off. This time it was a bit more complicated because we had to get off, go to my desk, and then walk back to the bus stop and get back on. The boys did a good job of staying with me. They did swap seats a few times but they both enjoyed seeing things out the window and Doug comments "This seat comfortable mommy". When we got on the bus both times for some reason pretty much all of the other passengers were college age girls. Let's just say that was an audible "ahhhhh" when we got on. Doug was very appropriately wearing his shirt that says "Ladies Man" on it. He had quite a little chat flirting with the girls sitting near us on the bus.

Optimist or Pessimist

I don't know if I am an optimist or a pessimist. I used to firmly label myself as an optimist. Then, after a few things in college made me a little more jaded, I am not sure where I fall. I know that it is not just a matter of whether the glass is half full or half empty. Some one truly pessimistic might say that it doesn't matter because the glass is going to get spilled anyway. Someone who is totally optimistic might say it doesn't matter because I can always get a refill.

So this morning started out with me accidentally knocking over one of the boy's glasses of grape juice. The good news is that the junk mail soaked most of it up and after I cleaned everything up the counter was clear.

"Man dupe"

It took me a minute to figure out what Andy was asking about. He said "Mommy, I want man dupe"
I was thinking ...uh, if I can figure out what you are trying to say I will let'ya know. I think this was even one of those times that he took my face in his hands and made me look at him while he told me "I want man dupe."

Somehow, I'm not sure how, I realized that he was asking to watch the DVD we got through Netflix. We had tried watching it the day before and after a few minutes Andy was saying he wanted something else. So I don't know if it just had 24 hours to percolate or if it was the fact that Doug found my collapsible music stand and the boys have set it up and will stand at it and sing (YAYAYAAAAAAYAYAYAAAAA or LALA LA LA) and Andy perhaps suddenly realized that the DVD was music.

He was talking about The Blue Man Group. If you are not familiar with this group then you might remember them from the Intel commercials (in the 1990's I think). I hadn't realized that they actually have a rock band associated with them and had just assumed that they were performance artists. We watched The Complex Rock tour (which there is a preview on their website) and now that I have watched the DVD at least 3 times...I think I am ready to send it back.

This is like lone of the songs they did in the rock concert we saw on the DVD.

Uh...

Is it just me or is there something fundamentally wrong with hearing Billy Joel's Piano Man being played on the campus carillon chimes at 5:00 in the afternoon.

Secret Addictions

So I grew up with a dad who was into watching car races...not a huge fan but he did record the big races on Sunday so he could watch them. I never sat down and watched one with him.

Fast forward about 20 years...Now I have my own son, who coincidental, goes by the same name my dad did and I wonder...is there something in a name?
My dad was really into trains (half+ of our basement was dedicated to model trains). Doug likes Thomas, but he actually really likes the videos that are of the real thing...or at least not animated shots.

My dad...science type guy. Doug's favorite video lately was called "The Big Boom" (volcanoes, sonic booms, blowing up buildings and the science behind them). Doug was really bummed when I had to return the video to the library.

My dad...liked planes enough to get his pilots licence. Doug likes planes also.

My dad...liked watching car races. Doug loves watching car races. I think his favorite is Monster Truck racing but he'll take anything on wheels going at high speeds. Did you know that they even race school buses?...on dirt tracks? ...on a figure-eight course? Imagine....

Anyway, so this has caused me to watch way more racing and speed stuff then I ever imagined. This has also introduced me to a TV show that I actually like to watch and recently added to our DVR list. It is called Pinks and the spin-off that I like even more is Pinks All Out.

I never would have guessed that I would be into it.

More about the Easter Bunny...

Today the kids and I got to spend some time outside because it was warm enough. When we came back inside I had turned my computer on (warming it up to do some work on the old tax program) so naturally the boys noticed that the computer was on. They love to watch the picture slide show that is my screen saver but often wiggle the mouse and then of course the screen saver goes away.
I was doing something in another part of the room when Doug pipes up "Mommy, I need that."
When I looked over, even though there was originally no programs open, Doug had somehow managed to open up Internet Explorer and get a picture of an XBox 360 on the screen. I told him that he couldn't have it, when Andy suddenly says "The Easter Bunny has it."
According to Andy the Easter Bunny has an XBox 360 at his house.
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How Andy knows I am not sure. Perhaps it is related to the fact that "Pete" ate dinner with us tonight....fortunately, "Pete" ...being imaginary... didn't need an extra plate and didn't eat too much.

Over use

Last summer I took a class in "Life Span Development" and I remember reading that when children learn languages it is more common for them to under use a certain word then to use it in too many cases...

I am not so sure that is true for Doug. Here are a couple of his common over uses:
Acorn= he uses it for acorns, popcorn, and corn as in corn on the cob
Soccer Ball= anything...and I do mean anything that is a ball shape is a "soccer ball"...no matter how much I correct him or model for him. Any ball (basket ball, football, baseball, etc.) is a soccer ball and anything that looks like a ball such as the meatballs on his plate of spaghetti tonight.

To brighten your day

I may actually post something later...just busy trying to get back in the groove after being away from my desk space for Spring Break.
This is a link my mother-in-law sent me. Just click, drag and click...whatever with your mouse.
Enjoy

Flower Garden

Did'ya know

Did'ya know that Easter Bunnies are afraid of dinosaurs?

We went to an egg hunt sponsored by our church on Saturday. It was great because they had a ton of activities doable by toddlers. They painted pictures, decorated cookies, hunted eggs, etc. The egg toss was interesting...Andy looked like he was getting ready to throw the discus and for Doug and Andy it ended with Andy beaning Doug on the head and the egg breaking...at least Doug wasn't coated with egg goo after that but that was the part that he remembered when we talked about the egg hunt at home. Jo had a good time too. She found 2 eggs with the help of mommy and a little girl gave her an egg which Jo had a death grip on for the rest of the time.

Saturday night we went to put the boys to bed and Doug said "I scared." Now Doug can be very silly sometimes and will say "I scared" to some of the strangest things, but usually he says this with a small grin on his face. This time he actually seemed a bit upset. When I asked him about it he said he was scared that the Easter Bunny was going to take his dinosaur [stuffed animal].

I started thinking about how scary some of the things associated with holidays can be. Santa breaks and enters, the Tooth Fairy breaks and enters, the Easter Bunny breaks and enters...the thought of a strange person entering your home can be scary to an adult...not just a two year old. Even with reassurances that the Easter Bunny is nice, knows Santa, and only leaves gifts and therefore will not be interested in taking his dinosaur...Doug was still upset.

In the morning the boys were higher than a kite. They were so excited about the toys the Easter Bunny had left and particularly the chocolate bunny in their baskets that they didn't really notice any of the eggs until I got them hunting for them. Then I repeatedly heard phrases like "I see an egg" "there's an egg" and "I got one, I got one."
When I asked Doug if he was having a good Easter he informed me that his dinosaur had scared away the Easter Bunny.

I Too Tired

We had a full day. We went fishing with Nana and Pop (caught a plastic bag, a log, and Pop found some balls washed up on the shore...not actual fish on the line besides the bait).
The boys played and refused to nap (Jim did nap however). The kids got to play at a park.
Then we suddenly remembered that we had a church service this evening so the kids got to play in the nursery. When we went to pick them up Doug was saying "I too tired."
Andy swore he wasn't tired and wanted to eat more dinner, but he fell asleep in the car on the way home.
Jo had some happy time with mommy and daddy before she conked out...and now it is time for me to go to bed.

More pictures

Jim counted Jo taking eleven steps today. She can lift things up while standing, can drink from a sippy cup while standing, can squat down and stand back up, and can get to standing by herself without the aid of something to pull up on. I think at this point she mostly needs to be convinced that walking is more efficient then crawling.

Eewwwww

Note- this post is not for the squeamish.
The kids needed a bath tonight and while we normally pass them through the shower (Jim baths and I catch) he was out of commission because he may have gotten some poison ivy on his arm (not from our yard) and we didn't want to get it on the kids.
So it was time for the tub. When we do tub time I have been bathing all of the kids together and usually they do well (and they enjoy it).
So I get everyone stripped and in the seconds between me getting Jo's diaper off and getting into the bathroom to start the water....Doug pees on the floor (no we are not potty trained yet). So then I have to get all the kids in and the pee cleaned up.
The kids are having fun. We have our usual squabble over who gets to hold the cup (MOMMY GETS THE CUP! I need it for dumping water to rinse children!). Kids are having fun... Everyone wants to dump water on Jo.... Normal bath.
Then Doug and Andy start laying on their tummies and messing around. Doug manages to swallow a bunch of bath water. This is, of course, toward the end of the bath time so there is shampoo in the water. Next thing I know is that Doug is throwing up into the bathwater. Of course he is not toward the drain but toward the back of the tub. Not only that but there are a ton of toys in the tub....and he manages to hit Jo. The main thing in the puke...chunks of meatball from the spaghetti we had from dinner...chunks too big to go down the drain.
Eeeeewwwww.
We ended up draining the water and then turning on the shower, but the whole time I am having to holler at the kids to stay in the tub (don't want it tracked all over the house).
At least Jo was young enough not to be grossed out by it.

Progress

Nana and Pop came to visit for a few days and boy did we get a lot done.
Jim and Pop got all the door knobs and deadbolts changed out (we had deadbolts that needed keys from both sides and I just didn't want to need to find a key for an emergency in the middle of the night), trees trimmed, curtains hung, a storage room cleaned out (we hadn't opened it since the day we moved in), and more. Nana whipped through some sewing projects for clothes that needed fixing. I got a few pictures hung which helped get some more boxes out of the way. It was a busy, busy few days and we definitely feel more like OUR home now.

Portraits

Nana took the kids to Portrait Innovations. The camera lady was very understanding. Doug really just wanted to play with the legos in the waiting room. He got stubborn and didn't want to smile until mommy started trying to get him to talk about Thomas the Tank Engine. Andy was trying to follow directions, but he really just wanted to stack the blocks that they have for props. Jo was asleep when we got there but she was really photogenic and got very smiley toward the end. We ended up with some great pictures and a CD of the entire photo session. Woohoo for owning the copyright!

These are some that DID NOT make the cut for printing.

Jedi Name!

Cast off your old name! Your Jedi name is ZIMSU BRIDA of the planet Cenogen! Find your Jedi Name!

Battle Cry

What Is Your Battle Cry?

Zang! Who is that, striding over the mini-mall parking lot! It is Susan Z, hands clutching a thorned whip! And with an ominous bellow, her voice cometh: "I'm going to brutalize you for such a long time, the Earth will spin twice as fast!"

Find out! Enter username: Are you a girl, or a guy ?

created by beatings : powered by monkeys

Accents

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
The Inland North
Boston
North Central
The Northeast
The South
Philadelphia
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Like my sister, this is only sort of right for me. I actually grew up in Idaho but with parents from the Midwest.
I remember when I first moved to the South, my twin sister Lisa would talk to me on the telephone and give me a hard time about my vowels getting longer. The wierdest accent moment I have had was when I was interviewing with an assistant superintendent from a school district. I had a really good conversation with him for about 30 minutes, but then he stopped me and said "Hey, did you grow up in the west but with parents who are from the Midwest...like maybe Minnesota?"
Uh...yep. It turns out that he was a speech therapist before he went into administration. I felt like Eliza Doolittle.
I definitely still get the "you're not from around here" from people here in the South.

Cupcakes

This weekend we made cupcakes. Andy got to choose the frosting flavor because I let him smell two flavorings and decide which one he wanted. We frosted the chocolate cupcakes with white peppermint frosting and then sprinkled them with green sugar for St. Patrick's day.

Monday Doug ate 4 cupcakes. He had one with me and my permission. Later he brought Jim the empty paper from a cupcake. Then we were outside and Jim noticed fresh frosting on Doug and asked him about it. Doug didn't really say anything, but upon coming into the house we found another empty cupcake paper. After coming in from outside we went to change the kids' diapers and next thing I know I turn around to find Doug holding a cupcake out and Jo has her face buried in it. So he was banned from cupcakes for the rest of the day.

Today, Nana and Pop have come up to visit us during Spring Break. After dinner we went out on the deck to have some cupcakes (it is easier to eat them out there then deal with cleaning up crumbs). We get the cupcakes distributed to everyone and I peel the paper for Doug. Then I turned to see if Andy needed help with the paper from his cupcake.
His cupcake is gone...completely gone....paper and everything.
I asked him if he ate the cupcake. He says "yes"
I asked him if he knew where his paper was...he said "I not know"
I think he ate the paper....

Name Generators!

I love name generators. My sister linked this one (which is a random one) but I promise more to come because I love them!

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Sister Broadsword of Patience.

Get yours.

New Challenge

So now with the whole imaginary friend stuff the tough part is going to be determining "who" is hanging around and what is pretend.

For instance, it is Spring Break so we have extra time with the kids and were able to go outside this morning. When we came in both boys needed diaper changes. After Jim got both kids done Andy hung around and proceeded to use 4 more wipes "to change the diapers of his people."

In the afternoon Doug fell asleep for a nap and Andy was playing downstairs with the kitchen stuff. He told me that "the JoJos" (yes...plural...he has two) were helping him in the kitchen. I got out of him that they were babies and were not Jo. They also don't help with the construction stuff.
Later I talked with him about it more and the Jojos may not be "permanent" but just a one time pretend play activity.

Oy, parenting is interesting stuff.

Full House

Today at church we saw our baby sitter, Ben. I mentioned Andy's entourage and Ben said that he hadn't known names, but that Andy had mentioned "his people" helping him build things outside. So I was at least able to supply some names.
I mentioned it to the church nursery worker as we were dropping the kids off. She was intrigued and then when we came to pick the kids up after the service she said she was a little weirded out because apparently Andy now has "Zack" and the nursery worker said she spent the entire time trying to figure out where "Zack" was.

I suppose if you were going to run a construction zone (one of Andy's favorite playtime activities) then you would have a crew full of people also. So now we have Pete, Katie, The Other Katie, and Zack. I wonder if anyone else will show up.

No signs of any imaginary friends for Doug...but (and I don't think I have mentioned this before) he still occasionally pretends to be a dog. If you ask him if something tastes good he will often say "Woof Woof" and then pant.

Jo also took 4 steps today. Next thing I know she will be running....oh and I think I am in for another climber...she was standing on a box happily playing the piano (couldn't find my camera in time) and yesterday she was standing on the seat of her brothers' John Deere Push tractor.

As you can tell there is no lack for interesting things at our house and I don't think imaginary play is in any danger of extinction from my brood.

Imaginary Friends Update

Ok, so this evening Andy told me that "my friends" are driving (he was sitting on a shelf in a book case pretending to drive) after I had asked him what he was doing. So I pressed a little more.
He has three imaginary friends. One is Pete (although Pete wasn't with them for the driving adventure...I'm still not sure where the name came from unless it is really a misunderstanding/miscommunication of previous discussions about "My People").
Then there is "Katie" and "The Other Katie". He will very proudly tell you that he has Two Katies and they are good workers. I think this name comes from our baby sitter's younger sister.

Ben shares an apartment with his sister who is currently working on a nursing degree. Back in the days when we were in an RV the kids saw Katie when I would drop them off with Ben (who is now coming to our house) and there have been a few times that Katie has watched them solo.
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Even from when the boys were Jo's age and would flirt with other people while we were out Doug would flirt with anyone (I used to joke he would wave at a post if he thought it would wave back...) and Andy had a preference for teenage girls.

My Pirate Name!

My pirate name is:

Captain Bess Bonney

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Pete

This morning I was introduced to Pete.

You might ask, who is Pete?

Well....ask Andy. I was introduced to a blank spot on the floor and then found out that his name was Pete.

Pete "works" with Andy apparently. I am honored that I was introduced because when I asked if Doug knew Pete I was told that he doesn't. I asked Andy if he was going to introduce Daddy to Pete. He wasn't.

I was intrigued and mentioned it to Jim. Jim said, "Oh, he has had imaginary friends for at least a little while because the other day Andy made me hold the door for them....but I didn't know their names."
Me: "There's more then one?"
Jim: "There's at least two."

I might not have thought about it too much but Fern recently posted about her kid's imaginary friend (or imaginary grandmother in their case). I would imagine, as she said, that multiples having imaginary friends is unusual. I never had one as a child that I know of but I am a twin myself. I almost wonder if there is a genetic aspect to it because Jim apparently had "Tommy Tomato" and "Chuckwagon" when he was little and they were with him until "Tommy" and Chuckwagon" moved to California. Jim was wondering if it might be somehow related to lucid dreaming...which is a skill Jim has that I definitely don't have. The extent of my lucid dreaming is that I suddenly realize I am in a horrid situation that I have finally concluded is a dream and the only thing I can control is telling myself to wake up to get out of the nightmare.

I will be interested to see if I get introduced to anyone else and when Pete makes his next appearance.

**Edit-I learned this evening that Jim was particularly hard on his imaginary friends....when they left him for California Tommy Tomato fell off the wagon and was run over by Chuckwagon...oh, my***

Animals...

This morning Doug & Andy and I spotted a bird building a nest on top of one of the columns on our front porch. I will be interested to see if the bird continues or gets scared away.

We also managed to see a lizard that was hiding in some things in the back yard. I am slowly making progress on the backyard but it is hard to tell if you haven't seen the "before" because there is just so much to do.

Fortunately so far no more squirrels in the house.

Up!

Jo has started reaching up when she wants to be picked up...it is so cute because she puts her arms up and looks up at you with the cutest eyes just expecting to be picked up. That just started in the last few days.
Today she also started going "pp...ppp...ppp" when she wants to be picked up. I can't believe how quickly she is growing up.

Oh, and without coaxing this morning she stood up in the kitchen (which she can now get to standing without pulling up on anything) and took two steps toward me. Wow! I was so excited I called Jim on his cell phone even though I knew it was during a class time.

Preschool

Well...I found a preschool that was one I thought looked good, have heard good things about it, still has two slots in the appropriate class for next year, is reasonably priced, reasonably close to home, etc. etc. etc.

The boys are officially enrolled...the only thing I didn't fill out on the application was the information about a local contact who can act as parent in the case of an emergency...gotta decide who and ask them but I wanted to get the form in so that we had our slots.

Now the interesting thing about filling out the form was that it had some personality/development questions on the back side. It was...ummmm....interesting to complete to say the least.
Jim felt that the questions were a load of bunk. (Well, he didn't use THAT exact word but what he did say isn't really meant for polite company).
I can sort of see why they ask them...me coming from gifted education and with a little background in early childhood. However, there is only one three year old class so it is not like they can separate children who throw temper tantrums, or separate children who are terribly shy or such. Also, even with my years of baby-sitting and early childhood certification and constantly looking up benchmarks and such I still felt like it was hard to decide "Do they talk well?" I think so...and I think they have a pretty good vocabulary, but I still have to interpret some things for other people and even I occasionally run into a word that I don't understand. Is Doug "domineering?" I don't think so...I think he is more "overwhelmingly friendly" when he meets a new child and he does differentiate between how he interacts with younger or similar age children versus how he interacts with older children. Do I think Andy is prone to "dare devil behavior" ...no but I think he is very confident of his skills and most of the time he is right about what he is capable of doing...we do tend to play on the big kid equipment because they get bored on the little kid stuff.
I try to expect a lot out of my kids and we get compliments all of the time when we are out, but my buttons are not the same as someone else so while I might be fine with Doug jumping in my lap suddenly someone else might find it alarming...I know he is just very enthusiastically showing affection and is not doing it in a mean way. I'm just feeling my way along as a parent and concentrating on the things I deem important.
So I filled out the paperwork to the best of my ability. I know the staff there is very experienced and that they have dealt with several sets of twins...my two, while so different and independent, are protective of each other so I just pray that their teacher next year will be as strong willed as they are.

Baby Steps

Jo isn't walking yet but I have coaxed her into taking one step. She has done this three separate times but after that initial step she drops down and crawls to me.

Of course the next question I always ask myself is why I want another one running in the opposite direction...

Noses

Around our house noses make sounds. Sometimes it is the fairly standard "beep" that other people's noses seem to make when pressed...but mine usually says "meep" (just for some variation). Jim's nose says "uh...uggaa!" like a fog horn.
The boys think this is really cool and tonight I found out that Andy's nose says "meep" just like mommy's.

Yesterday Andy kept pressing and pressing and pressing on my nose. I got a bit tired of it so meeped down to silence and said that I needed new batteries. Andy did the exact pretend hand motions to open my battery compartment, put in two new batteries and then put the screws back in.

Lazy

The boys were just really cuddly in this picture....

You Know....

You know you're married with children when a date ends at the grocery store to get milk for the kids and cash to pay the babysitter.....

Snow!

It was 80 degrees only two days ago and this is what we woke up to....

Great Day!

We (the kids and I) went and visited my friend April and her new baby Aidan. Then we went to McDonald's. Ironically Andy, my loud one, was complaining that it was too loud...which it wasn't. I think he just wanted there to be more kids his own age at this particular McDonald's. Then we stopped at a Cake & Pastry store and the kids (including Jo) got free cookies and also free ice cream that they were sampling. One of our baby-sitters from church (who we knew would be working) was there ...the boys gave her a big hug when we went in. It also turned out that one of the students from the class I am helping with was also working there and had incidentally just brought a poster she had made for my class to show to her co-workers. The boys had a marvelous time visiting everyone and eating the goodies...Jo had a death grip on her cookie.
It was a good day.

Job Update

Just an update on the job front. I have applied for a few on-campus jobs...but Jim and I were talking about things and thinking about it and decided that if we can free up some money that is currently going to child care that perhaps I can continue on as a GA next year. So I am looking at putting the boys in a preschool and then using that time to work from home while I watch Jo. Three will need to be a couple days I pass the kids to Jim for the afternoon and hopefully that will cover everything. Now I have to see if there is an opening in a decent preschool with openings for two.

2nd attempt at loading the video....

I took a small movie with my digital camera. Of course right after I did it then Andy got in the chair with the other kids and was goofing around.
Normally Andy is helpful with Jo and most of the time he doesn't mind having her around, but his personality is just not the little party animals that Doug and Jo are.
There is no audio with it of course...but the audio would have mostly consisted of hearing my voice say "be gentle with Jo...be gentle, watch out for your sister..." If you are wondering what Doug says at the end it is "Not working, mommy."
They are so used to the digital camera flashing to take a picture, so he thought it wasn't working.

**Edit- I guess there is audio! I didn't realize it because I usually have my computer sound muted. The main voice you hear is Andy asking to watch Bob the Builder. Cool...didn't know that the digital camera had audio!**

Hair Cuts!

We trimmed hair again this weekend. I did Jim's hair and then while I held Jo, Jim did Andy and Doug. I passed on getting a hair cut this time. The pictures are a bit out of order...but check out Doug's "reverse Mohawk." They did look good in the end and got a lot of positive comments at church this evening.

cookies!

Yep, we made roll-out cookies again. The boys had spotted the tin with the cookie cutter alphabet letters sitting on the counter. So...
I started by finding a recipe. Currently I only have two cookbooks unpacked (and I haven't unpacked my recipe box yet...though I know which box it is reported to be in). I do have a big book of cookie recipes that I got for Christmas (which is what I used last time). I was sure that what I had in the fridge was margarine and last time when we made cookies they definitely would have been better with the butter the recipe called for. So I looked through the book and sure enough every one of the roll-out recipes called for butter. So I went online. I found a recipe that looked good and copied the ingredients.
So we started to make the cookies and sure enough...it was butter in the fridge...not margarine (although I was a little short so I used a bit of margarine also). The boys are getting pretty good about helping dump in ingredients...and they can tell you now that cookies take sugar, eggs, and flour. I started chilling the dough and decided to try and make a short cut by using the freezer instead of the fridge. When I started setting up to roll out the cookies I suddenly remembered that last time I had used a (mostly) straight sided glass because my rolling pin appears to have mold on it. (It was in a bottom box and might have gotten wet...I am debating about how to deal with this issue...) Of course the glass that I used last time was in the dish washer and I didn't even think about washing it until afterwards. So I ended up using my hands to push out the dough.
Then I got the dough out of the freezer and I will tell you...this is the stickiest dough I have ever dealt with. I ended up finishing up the cookies this morning and even over-night in the fridge this stuff was sticky. It could have been a bit aggravated by me using my hands, but I think it would have been sticky regardless.
I was originally going to make the letters of their names, but we ended up just doing the first letter of each child's name (although at some point when my back was turned...one of the boys cut out an N).
The cookies did taste good and were so tender, but good gracious...when they said "chill for 1-2 hours" they really mean stick in the freezer for 2-3 hours.
I think I might hide the cookie cutters for a little while...at least until I get MY recipes out and the rolling pin issue fixed.

Hmmm....

So here I sit...trying to upload a little video I tried with my digital camera. It is not super great or anything, but something I decided to try. It just says processing....processing...processing....

So I think I will abandon the film until tomorrow (since I am up too late already) and just put in a few pictures of my goofy bunch. Andy has really started acting goofy for cameras and is very interested in seeing what the picture looks like after it is taken (gotta love digital cameras). Doug just likes being silly and playing with Jo (who wants to egg her brothers on). It actually takes a bit of time to get Jo settled down after putting the boys to bed. She is happiest while we are saying good-night, being up on the bed with Doug. She will lean into him and flirt, and then will hold onto his headboard and jump up and down with a huge grin on her face. She has also taken to "helping" me with the laundry. She will lean in (sometimes almost falling in) to the basket and then pull something out. She will then hold it up to me and when I take it and say "thank you" she will get a huge smile on her face and reach in for something else. Andy's eyes are closed in the picture because I told him to smile so he put on his biggest cheesiest smile. And of course Doug is very into trains. I actually came across a newspaper article about model trains that had a picture of my dad on it with a train on his shirt and holding a train. My dad passed away before the boys were born and Doug shares his name and love of trains with my dad. When I showed the boys the picture Doug said, "my trains" and then said "need freight cars."

New Word!

Jo has a new word!
She has already been saying mamama, and da and she says somethings close to Doug for both boys. She says num num for yummy foods and she waves bye-bye, shakes her head for no (and when you say no no she shakes her head).
Well, yesterday twice...at different times of day, she smiled at the cat and when I said cat she said "..at"
It is her first real word!

Genetics at work

It is amazing to me how very different Doug and Andy are. I know that they are no more alike than two siblings, but still you would think they might have a little more in common. My mom would say "It's not their fault they were born at the same time."

Anyway, Andy is such a daredevil...he has no fear. It was nice today so we ate lunch out on the deck after church. Andy wanted to look over the edge, reach out to trees, etc.

Doug is definitely more cautious. All along the way he has been more cautious. He crawled, walked, etc. later than Andy because he was just more cautious about trying new things.
I am afraid that this comes from my side. We were walking out from going to the store and the path that we took to get to the car took us over a drainage grate in the parking lot. Doug would not walk across it and kept saying "I fall, I fall." Even when he was past it he was still looking back and saying "I fall." I am afraid that I know from experience that he is in for many years of having his heart stand still when walking up those metal mesh/open stairs. Even now I still find it a bit unnerving.

Did you know....

Did you know that the sound of milk leaking through a wicker chair seat onto the kitchen floor is the same as the sound of someone peeing.....

Oh, and spilling your milk doesn't mean that you have "finished" it.