Tired Mommy needs a nap

Today we went to the library for story time, followed by lunch at Chic-fil-a. That sounds simple enough. But nothing about it was simple. Not that we didn't have a great time... because the entire trip was fabulous (except that I got a parking ticket.)

However, even though it was very fun, it was also very tiring. And while I normally don't make it a habit to sleep during the day I thought that this day deserved an exception. I couldn't wait for the three kiddos to fall asleep so I could take a little siesta.

I went in to check on the twins, and this is what I saw:






A very awake Elsie, pointing her sweet toes, kicking, and sticking them in between the crib slats. She didn't fall asleep until well after Eli and Emily. So by the time she fell asleep, I only had twenty minutes before the other two woke up. Oh well.

But those sure are some cute toes!

Laughing my way through the morning

This morning has been CRAZY! I seriously can't recall another morning when it was so crazy that I had to walk around in giggles just to keep from going in to hysterics. And I'm glad I laughed, because it is just really funny!


**Warning paragraph below contains gross details!**
First of all, Scott mentioned as he was leaving for work that he smelled something, and maybe I needed to check the babies diapers. I'd just changed them both, and didn't think much of it. But then a few minutes after he left, I put Eli in the play room while Elsie finished up her breakfast. When I returned to the kitchen Elsie had a huge mess coming out of her diaper, through her flannel jammies, down the high chair, and dripping on the kitchen floor. Let me sum it up with two words: Brown liquid.

After I got Elsie upstairs, bathed, and all cleaned up, I walked down stairs to find that Eli has pulled down each toy storage bin (eight in all) and dumped them out on the play room floor. Good thing most of Em's small toys are upstairs! He had also rolled himself over to the shelf with the puzzles and had dumped over five of them on the floor. He was VERY pleased with his mess!

Emily was asking to play "dance party" which is where I turn on music and she dances around with the babies in their jumper-roos. I thought this sounded like a fabulous idea, but when I went to put the CD in the DVD/CD player, it wouldn't read correctly. It seemed like something was lodged in there, so I got a chopstick and eventually pulled out two jelly beans and a hair rubber band, but this didn't help. The CD still wouldn't play.

So I bring in the boom box from the other room and put music on. The babies had a great time while Emily danced, and for twenty minutes there seemed to be normalcy (or as normal as a house with a five year old and twin babies can get!)

Then I heard the recycling truck pull in to the neighborhood, and instantly remembered the recycling that I forgot to put out. I sent Emily out in her jammies to put the items in the bin, and as she returned she told me the sliding van doors were both open. I couldn't figure out how this could have happened, but as I used my remote to close them, Ethel, my cunning devilish cat leaped out from the inside of the van. It was at this point that I remembered she hadn't been fed, and I knew instantly she'd left a "treat" in my van. Yep. I was right. The cat has a serious vindictive side.

I'd just cleaned up the mound left on my previously spotless car mat when I noticed it was 9 a.m. and the babies were starting to fuss. Time for their naps. I put them upstairs in their cribs while Emily continued to dance to her tunes downstairs. Apparently the fussing through the monitor was too loud and from what I understand, Emily was trying to turn up the volume dial when she tripped and accidently turned the dial to the loudest volume possible. One would think she would simply turn down the dial, but no. She ran out to the garage and hid in a box with a blanket over her head, crying.

At this point let's just stop to survey the scene. I had two babies fussing in their cribs. My big girl was crying in a box in the garage from fear of the music, that was still blaring loud. I had a cat who was seriously ticked from the lack of a timely breakfast. And there was still "brown liquid" all over the high chair and kitchen floor.

Yep. That was life this morning. Hysterically crazy. And its only just after 10!

Kate Gosselin impersonator

I was looking at Elsie's hair this morning, and couldn't help but notice how familiar the style was. I couldn't put my finger on it at first, but then finally figured it out. She looks like Kate Gosselin. Elsie is rocking that now infamous hair style!

Five year old chores

When Emily turned four a year ago, we began showing her how to make her bed. At first I had to simply cringe at the crinkles and ruffles in the bedding and it was everything I could do to not go fix it. But she practiced and practiced and can now successfully make her bed with minimal ruffles in the blankets. She even snuck in Grammy's bedroom during our stay at Christmas and she made Grammy and Papa's bed.



Now that she is five we decided she could now learn to dust and vacuum her room. What a rite of passage, don't you think? Of course learning a new thing like this is a novelty at first that will surely wear off soon. But for now, Emily enjoys using the vacuum and the dusting spray. She especially likes using her daddy's old sock as a dusting mitt, because that is just so silly! :)












In the process, Emily has figured out that if she doesn't do a REALLY good job picking up her Polly Pockets, they easily become vacuum food. This was a tragedy at first, but she is MUCH better at REALLY picking up her room now.... which is an unsuspected bonus for me!

What a big girl!

Blueberry Muffins

Last July we went blueberry picking. I posted the details here. That day we picked over ten pounds of fresh blueberries. I loaded up the freezer, and we've been enjoying them ever since.






One of our favorite ways to use the blueberries is in Kathy D's blueberry buckle recipe. On Sunday morning Emily decided she wanted blueberry muffins for her birthday breakfast. I whipped up this recipe and put them in the muffin pans (without the topping). They were fabulously delicious. And now that the twins are able to eat a larger variety of foods, they were able to appreciate the wonderful recipe and blueberries as well! I think they enjoyed them very much!









Sadly, our blueberry supply has diminished, as we're down to half of a quart bag. I am so very much looking forward to July, and the wonderful blueberries to be picked at the blueberry farm! What fun!

Preschool birthday bash

Emily's birthday is Sunday. She will be five years old. Today in preschool she brought in cupcakes to celebrate. And yes, we did dye the frosting to match the cupcake on her sweater. Ridiculous, yes. But I did have a stronger sense of accomplishment when it matched to a tee. Thanks Wilton Co.

Emily had a fabulous time, and I got to stay for almost the entire morning of preschool. I'm reminded again that Emily's teachers are fabulous. From circle time, to centers, to the Bible story, the morning was fun for everybody. The kids learn so much while playing with each other. I am continually amazed at how organized these wonderful ladies are in order to pull this off every day.

I'm sure you can see by her smiles that she had a great time, and she has some great little friends in her class. Out of the eighteen kids in her preschool class, eight of them were born in March. Crazy. Right now we have seven different invitations on our fridge from classmates and other friends. Team that up with Emily's own birthday party, and the preschool celebrations, and that is a whole lot of birthday hoopla! The little girls in the class all seemed to be talking about it, as Emily's is the first of the long line of birthday fun.

And of course the babies joined me. Easy and cooperative, they sat in their stroller and watched the "big kids" play and have a great time. They ate their bottle and dozed off for a quick sleep before waking back up to go home. Emily showed them off to whoever would listen. She was grateful to have them at her school for her birthday as well!

Random updates

- Yesterday the kids and I went to Charleston with Paul and Mary. We had a fabulous time. Charleston is one of my favorites cities. We really didn't have too much on the agenda, however there is always so much to do. Scott had to work, but I did bring him back some of his favorites from the candy store. Something about the smell of hot pralines does me good!

- Sunday is Emily's birthday. Her big birthday party will be the following Saturday. Besides her own party, she has an additional five birthday party invites for her friends' birthdays. This kid is seriously social. Don't know where she gets that from!

- It snowed last night. Just enough to dust the ground and cancel preschool for Emily today. But for the second time this season, the snow reminded me of the beauty of God's creation. Falling snow is peaceful, graceful, and fabulously special.

- Scott and I are not house-bound. I know sometimes when we're out with the twins people must think it looks like too much work, and it would be easier to just stay at home while they are little. They must think I am nuts. What they don't realize is that staying at home all the time would make me nuts. I'm thankful for our sweet babies and the way they love to experience our world as we show it to them one small piece at a time.

- A couple weeks ago Scott found one of my favorite drinks at Trader Joes. It is called Framboise (sp?) and it is a Belgian berry beer that is very sweet. When I've ordered it at restaurants it comes in either a champagne or wine glass. The other night we drank some, and it was heavenly. I don't remember if it was Woody or Heather who first introduced it to us. Yum!

- The big 3-0 is looming around the corner. I'm noticing wrinkles all the time. The other day Emily asked me why I put on make-up, and I told her that having kids made my skin wrinkle. She replied, "But you only have three kids." I guess she saw way more than three wrinkles. Good point, Em. Good point indeed.

-There is a great little farm down the street that sells organic fresh produce. He grows all sorts of vegetables across from his house and sells them in a cute little shed on the side of his driveway. Right now he has fresh brussel sprouts! Too bad my family would hang me up by my toenails if I try to serve them! I with my dad lived near. He loves brussel sprouts.

- Elsie is finally off her horrible antibiotics. They gave her a horrible diaper rash that seems to only be clearing up with a great product called "Butt paste." Emily loves to say the name of the cream because she knows she won't get in trouble for saying "butt." Its the little things in life I guess.

- Scott and I began watching the very first season of Lost. We didn't know what all the hub-bub was about when the final season began showing a few weeks ago. We found the entire series in full episode on Hulu.com and we're now hooked. We are still t.v. free at our house, but this way we can still watch our favorite shows. This has become a quick favorite, even though we're only on season 2 now, and have a long way to go!