Sep 21
Everyone,
1. All the kids were in bed by 7pm tonight. The boys were asleep at 7:01pm, and Butterfly shortly after. Why? We had a very busy day playing with friends all day long. No one got a nap. Butterfly was super cranky. So was I.
2. I spent a good portion of the day today reading about underwater point and shoot cameras. Anyone else have one out there that they love? Anyone?
3. With Christmas on my mind, it occurs to me that Butterfly now has a teacher. Do people give their teachers presents nowadays? And if so, what?!
4. Butterfly asked me today what three 11s plus 2 was. I asked her what she thought. Her answer after a minute? “35.” You know what? She’s right.
5. Trying to put both boys in the same crib to nap was a good and cute idea at first. They both laid down side by side. They giggled together and started kicking their legs. It just went downhill from there. But it was sweet at first!
Safire
Safirelife lists
Nov 09
Everyone,
And ALL the kids are in bed. Why so early you ask? We just couldn’t take it anymore. There was crying. There was whining. There was yelling. There was a broom. It was not pretty.
It all started earlier today when I was trying to shower. Normally the boys are very good when I shower and just kind of play in my room and pound on the door. Not today. By the time I came downstairs all clean and refreshed, they had scattered the dog food and the dog water across the kitchen. Professor was stuffing as much into his mouth as he could get and Pirate was splashing in the puddles.
This has been an on going battle for us the past week or so. I kind of flipped out on them and snatched up Professor and took him to the sink. I rinsed his mouth out with water and dug at least 5 pieces of kibble out of his cheeks. He was NOT happy. Then I stripped off his wet clothes and child gated him out of the kitchen. I turned on Pirate. I stripped off his wet clothes and put him crying next to his brother on the other side of the gate.
Then I swept up soggy kibble from the far reaches of the kitchen and dining room area. I also did some dishes, laundry, and put dinner in the crock pot. The whole time the boys are screaming on the other side of the gate. By now Butterfly is yelling at me because she can’t hear her movie. Mommy needed a time out. Since I’m almost 30, does that mean I can hang out in my room for half and hour? Please?!
Lunch time and nap time came early today because I just couldn’t take it. I did some internet research on Christmas presents and then it was all too soon to go to dance class. Butterfly burst into tears when I came into my room (where she naps because they are all sharing a room right now) and yelled at me because she hasn’t had time to sleep! She had 2 hours of time to sleep. She just chose to play instead. So now she’s sobbing while getting her dance clothes on. And the boys are sobbing because they are stuck in their cribs.
On the way out to the car (we did eventually get outside), I met up with a neighbor. This neirghbor is old and nice but she talks. A lot. And very slowly. And not all in English. Any other time and I would have taken some time to say hello but not today. We were late and I was flustered. I shoved screaming kids into their car seats while she stood next to the car. I said goodbye (nicely) and got in and pulled away. We made it to class on time. Whew.
I took the boys to the library where we got a ton of M books (it’s M week here!) and a book for me to read as well. By the time dance class was over, the boys had had it. They wanted out of the their stroller, they wanted to walk. But when I let them out, they ran in two different directions. I had now had it. Back into the stroller they go, screaming. Butterfly came right out of class and asked for a milkshake. Uh, no.
Pirate screamed all the way home because he ripped a library book and Butterfly took it away from him. No one but Juice and I ate dinner tonight because it was “yucky”. If they don’t eat, they go right to bed. I can not deal with tired AND hungry kids. It is an unspoken rule in our house. Well, not anymore I guess.
Anyway, I think I’m off to bed myself. What a long and arduous day.
Safire
SafireButterfly dance class, everyday life, hard days, life
Oct 04
Everyone,
Well, obviously I am being a bad blogger. I have no excuses but three small ones that I have to keep safe. And clean. And fed. Especially fed. They do not like having empty stomachs.
So, let’s play catch up! Here is my calender that I write everything down on and here are some quick highlights of the past few weeks.
Saturday Sept 19th we went to Mt. Vernon to their fall festival. It was a lot of fun until they shot off the cannon and scared the boys. Also, they were hungry. They had some awesome people dressed in period costumes selling stuff and the regiment patrolling the ground. This is why we were talking about artillery during A week. Professor spilled hot chocolate all down his shirt here and I still can’t get it out. Any ideas?
We had D week which was loads of fun! We talked about Dalmatians, dragons, dinosaurs, did a lot of dot to dots, had a date with Daddy to go visit the dogs (they went to the local pet shop and pet the puppies), and Lolli, AJ and me and Butterfly (no boys, they stayed home with Daddy) went to get doughnuts and feed the ducks.
We went apple picking. We brought home 6 huge bags full of apples. Much thanks to my friend Lala (not Lolli) who was kid less that day and climbed up in the trees to get the apples. I would say this day was kind of a bust because I had zero fun. Maybe I’ll do it again when the boys are 4 which is in about 3 years. Still, it was an experience and I’m glad I went!
We had another letter week, T this time in honor of the Christmas Train that came through town. It was promoting the new Christmas Carol movie and it was really fun. And free! We had a great time riding the train down there, and back and lunch at the train station. Such fun! We also watched Tarzan, read books on toys and trains and turkeys, and even made our own turkey out of a toilet paper roll. I had a bunch of word find stuff I got at the Christmas Train and asked her to find all the T’s instead of all the words. It’s now her favorite thing and begs me to print off more from the computer.
We’ve been going to the PRC a lot lately, at least once a week. It’s a lot more stressful than when I just had Butterfly going there. She is great and can do whatever she pleases while she is there. But the boys want to dump the gravel on the ground or touch some one’s newly painted picture with their hands or eat play dough… I go because I think it will be good for them one day but man am I tired after. The teachers even take pity on me and shut the gravel play area while we are there. Otherwise I spend the entire time sweeping.
I got together with my friend Lala and we did a marathon bake with all those apples we picked. We made pizza pockets, small apple pies, and more. It was yummy and fun and my feet and calves ached for days after. But now I have some easy stuff in my freezer. I also spent most of the day yesterday while listening to conference making apple sauce. I really need to learn how to can the stuff because right now, it is filling up my fridge!
This up coming week is going to be hectic. Not only do I have something written down for every single day (even Saturday and Sunday!), but I am preparing for my parents visit next week. I am still trying to organize all my pictures so I don’t have any today. I’ve got to come up with a better system but I just can’t seem to keep on top of it.
Life is full and rich. I’m loving it and it makes me sleep well at night. I have so many projects swirling though. I’ve taken to making lists before I go to bed, only to add to them in the morning. I’m trying to focus on the pictures right now, which means I have neglected my email/blog/computer related stuff lately. So sorry if you haven’t heard from me!
Hopefully I’ll make some time for the blog at least.
Safire
SafireLala and Vinny, life, local stuff, Lolli, playing catch up, preschool
Jul 15
Everyone,
It seems like every time you go on vacation you come back and have to jump back into real life. I was gone for 6 weeks. I had a lot of jumping back to do. And today was the day to do it. I had a big list of 16 things to do today. I got 8 things done. They included bank, post office, going through stacks and stacks of mail, and making some doctor appointments for me and the boys. I figured since Flower is here I’ll be able to go to the eye doctor by myself. Also, the boys will be 15 months old on Saturday. Can you believe it?!
We also went outside and played for awhile. Flower took Butterfly over the park behind our house. Professor walks more outside than he does inside. He took 12 steps in a row carrying a big stick yesterday. He also walked across my living room by himself this afternoon. He is so close to walking on his own.
I started up Netflix again and we’re off to enjoy a movie!
Safire
Safiredaily list, life
Feb 27
Everyone,
Today was a nice low key day. We went to Lala’s house for NayNay’s 1st birthday. It’s amazing to me that a whole year has gone by for her! Soon it will be the boys’ first birthday. I just can’t believe it.
I had a longer post in mind but I haven’t been able to think about it coherently so I’ll have to try tomorrow morning. Juice has the day off so I might be able to sit down with our taxes and do them. And maybe grocery shop. That would be nice.
Someone is calling, “Mamamama!” upstairs (I think it’s Pirate, no wait, it’s both!) so I better go feed the masses.
Safire
SafireLala and Vinny, life
Feb 25
Everyone,
It’s been one of those days again. I really should not be surprised when stuff like today happens, but I always am.
We did not have a terribly busy morning. It’s wash day so I don’t really plan much so I can stay home and run through the 8 loads we do a week. I never ever make it through all the loads in a day but I do try. Butterfly napped this afternoon. The boys have been super clingy and super poopie lately. I guess eating a ton of pancakes yesterday (okay, they split one between them) and avocados this morning is a sure fire way to get things moving. I think I changed 5 poopy diapers between them today. And, the cast has now been befouled. Good thing it’s coming off in 4 (!!!) days because our house is starting to have…a smell. It’s like a freshly cleaned outhouse smell. And when you open that diaper…hooo doggie. That’s a not so freshly cleaned outhouse smell. 4 days…I can last 4 days. Right?!
Anyway, I don’t know what got into me but I decided at the worst possible moment of the day to make bread. Lunch time is not a great time to try and warm water and honey and yeast together. I had Pirate clumping after every step I took, and Professor hugging my leg and alternately bawling or biting me. I must admit the hugging part was pretty cute. Butterfly thought it was so cute she would do it on my other leg. And all mommy wanted was for butter to melt! Why won’t this stupid butter melt?
Bread got made with Butterfly’s help. I even let her make her own mini loaves. She was in charge of sprinkling the flour as I needed while I was kneading (haha…it’s late and I’m getting punchy). I thought she would tire of it but she didn’t. She even kneaded her own little loaves and they turned out great. I made 2 loaves this time. One for me and one for a fellow twin mom in my Moms of Multiples group who was having a rough day. She lives pretty close to me in a historic house and has 3 older kids. I’ve met her once before but she called our local leader who called me and that’s how I made dinner for them. Including the bread. I hope she liked it.
About 10 minutes before I was supposed to leave for my bi-monthly church meeting, the house exploded. Or imploded. The boys were screaming, we discovered that Butterfly had peed in her sleep at nap time and her sheets and panties were soaked but not her pants. I still can’t figure that one out. Dinner was not done so I was running out the door with no food. Juice was beyond tired and hungry and a little snappy. I left in a big hurry happy to be out of the house for at least a little bit.
So now I’m home and it’s the first time I’ve had to sit down for longer than 10 minutes all day. It’s 10:15 pm. I still have to switch out some more laundry (I think this will be my last load, and it’s all of Butterfly’s wet bedding) and feed the boys and go to bed myself. Whew. I’m tired just typing that.
Safire
Safirebread making, callings, cooking, life, Moms of Multiples group
Feb 18
Everyone,
I do a lot of thinking while I nurse the boys. Unlike Butterfly, I am not able to nurse them and watch movies or read books. (Not that I have a hand free to hold the book, but that’s another post.) Just like Butterfly, they smile at me if I look at them and no milk is swallowed. So I spend a lot of time staring off into space and thinking.
One of the things I think about is my home schedule. Namely my cleaning schedule. I think I have our day to day schedule all worked out. But now, I need to add in some regular cleaning to the list. I figure if I do 15-20 minutes a day I may actually keep up on things and not take away from being with the kids too much. They will play by themselves for that long if they are entertained with something. Like today. With my pots and pans.
So, here goes:
Monday- Mop day (includes all floors vacuumed and the kitchen/dining room area swept and mopped)
Tuesday- Toilets (includes the sinks and bath tubs too)
Wednesday- Wash day (laundry! Baths and hair)
Thursday- Their day (meaning I clean bedrooms, toys, and dust)
Friday- 5 a day/finish up day (menu planning for the week or two, taking stock of what I have in the pantry, and finished up anything I didn’t do through out the week- like folding laundry)
Saturday- shop/show day (this is the day we typically do our grocery shopping or touring around the city…showing the kids the world)
Sunday- rest
I figure if I stick to this, I should have a fairly clean house. If I stick to it.
Since it’s Wednesday, how have I done? It’s almost 3:30pm and I’m just now starting on my laundry…the only chore I’ve done this week so far. Looks like this Friday may be busy!
Safire
Safiredaily list, daily stuff, life
Feb 17
Everyone,
Too busy playing Sim Animals. Wow it’s addicting!
I finished an entire book in about 2 days today.
Both boys have been getting into mischief, as always. Pirate’s cast is really starting to smell.
I talked to my Dad for over an hour today about plans to visit in the summer. Looks like we are “go” for launch sometime in June.
We had yet another day at home.
And will probably have another tomorrow.
Butterfly spent all day in her pjs and loved it.
She also spent all day playing tea party.
Juice has now taken over the Sim Animals and is busy building a kingdom. Guess I’ll go watch.
Safire
Safirelife, randomness, Wii
Jan 15
Everyone,
We all have our set of nicknames at this house. We never call each other by their Internet names (except for Juice, that was a nickname of mine for him in college). But we do have a long list of other things people go by here.
Such as: Juice, Daddy, and Darling.
Butterfly’s nicknames are:
Honey
Sweetie Pie
Sister
Big Sister
Baby Girl
Baby Princess Monkey Dog (that was hers today, she wanted to be a baby, a princess, a monkey, and a dog. Okay then.)
Pirate’s nicknames are:
Mr. Grabby
Pirate-Boy (except insert real name)
Happy Boy
Smiley
Professor’s nicknames are:
Mr. Independence
Mr. Explorer
Columbus
Sweet Boy
Mischief Maker
Want to know my nicknames?
Darling
Mommy
Mama
and my newest one that I’m really not liking?
Mudder
She tries to say mother but it just doesn’t come out right. I have no idea why I don’t like it. I just don’t. And she calls me it all the time. What happened to Mommy or Mama? I have no idea where she got this from and why she INSISTS on calling me that. I’ve even asked her not to call me that and she still does.
I’m hoping it’s a phase.
Safire
Safirefamily, life
Nov 05
Everyone,
My sister in law just sent me a slew of pictures of her and her 3 kids. And their new house (which looks fabulous!). It made me realize that I haven’t put out my pictures for 2 whole months. Which means that everyone on my list is bound to get over 200 pictures to look at from Sept and Oct. I know my parents won’t mind…but will everyone else? Oh well if they do! Now the trick is to write captions to aforementioned 200 pictures.
This morning, I did my weekly scrap booking with my friend Laura. Butterfly had a great time with her 2 youngest, and I actually finished my Hawaii pictures from over a year ago. There has got to be close to 30 pages of just Hawaii. I am going to have to re-think my yearly scrapbook, since I don’t think I can put any more than 100 pages in it. I guess I’ll just have to split it up or stop starting in August.
Juice has been home sick today again. He shut himself up in the office and worked all day. His cough is doing better. He is also feeling a little happier and is not so morose. And with him home, I got to go out while Butterfly was supposed to be sleeping for her nap and buy myself a new book. Oh, and get Juice’s glasses fixed since they broke for the 5th time this year. Butterfly is hard on those things! Only 2 more months till he can go and pick out new, less fragile glasses.
Safire
Safirelife, NaBloPoMo, scrapbooking, sickness 2007
