The Johnsons... in South Carolina

My Simple Family

2012-01-16T14:34:00.003-05:00

Our family was fortunate enough to have today off from work and school. We were looking forward to this day to run some much needed errands. We loaded up the car and started down our long list. After four stops, we had some lunch out as a family. Everybody had a great time. We continued on with our errands, ending with the final stop as the twins nodded off in their car seats. I ran in to make a quick exchange, and came out to find all three kids asleep.

Scott and drove home with all three of our sweeties snoozing behind us. We pulled in the driveway and both agreed to do the 'ole, "Who can get the baby in the house without waking him/her" routine. You know this one... where you unbuckle and gently pull the sleeping kid out from the seat without startling him/her, then walk up the stairs, careful to skip over the squeaky one two from the top, and finally put the sleeping child in their bed... and he/she continues to sleep??

Luckily all three kids (Yes, Emily has been known to nap every day on the weekend) stayed asleep, and Scott and I were left with some quiet time to read (or blog).

I realize that in a few years our weekends will likely be more lively with the kids activities. And I also realize that a few years after that our kids will be busy with their own things without us. So today was special, in that it really wasn't. We were just a mini-van full of a family running errands and grabbing a bite on Harbison Blvd. just like many other families around us. But I'm so thankful we were together... having fun doing nothing really.

When our kids grow up and are out of the house, I think it will be these days I will miss the most. I actually like packing the diaper bag, using high chairs at restaurants, and pulling out the stroller at every stop. I like that Emily entertains the twins, and that they giggle at her while I help Scott pick out a new pair of pants for work. Simple things.

Christmas Top Ten

2012-01-02T20:10:00.002-05:00

There is so much I could write about our Christmas trip to California. But since I've proved to fall off the blog bandwagon, I will stick to a top ten list in no order of importance.

10. Christmas morning after we did the present thing, we went to my parents church... the church where Scott and I got married, the church where I grew up, the church where I feel everybody still knows me. I love that place. And even though I had to take the twins out of the service after a few worship songs, all was good, because I got to sit in a room full of girls I grew up with while we watched our children play. What a fabulous time.

9. My sister and her husband James are pregnant with their first. I couldn't wait to finally see her with her new little baby bump. I'm so excited for the two of them, and their precious baby due in June!

8. Christmas morning my kiddos opened a gift from my parents that revealed a trip to Disneyland. The twins didn't really get it, but Emily understood. Waiting four days until after Christmas was a little difficult, but boy was she excited! I should probably post specifically about Disneyland... maybe that will be next. We had a wonderful time!

7. I hate the Houston airport. There are few things that I feel that way toward, but the Houston airport is definitely one of them. Scott says its because the place was named after Bush, but whatever the reason, that airport is the most disorganized, unreliable, poor airport in the entire county. (In my opinion of course.) After an amazingly easy trip out, the trip home was miserable. And not because we traveled with three kids... our kids did an awesome job. But because eight hours waiting in an airport for a crew to show up, only to end up with a cancelled flight is no way to end a wonderful trip. Ugh.

6. Costco. Scott loves to go to Costco with my mom. Its pretty funny. One thing he asks to do each year is go to Costco and then have lunch at his favorite Bakersfield restaurant, "Flames and Skewers." Of course we always do this.

5. And another thing about Scott. My mom knows all of his "favorites" and has each of these things waiting for him. Everything to his favorite hair gel, to his favorite cereal, drinks, and snacks. The house is full of "Scott's favorites." Sometimes I think she likes him more than me! :)

4. My dad took Emily to horseback riding lessons. Well, let's back up. Before he took her to horseback riding lessons, he asked her what she would need before riding a horse. She told him she'd need to dress like a cowgirl. So he took her to the "Cowgirl store" (Western Warehouse) where the nice man outfitted her in new boots, hat, belt buckle, wranglers, and a new "cowgirl" shirt. Then he took her to ride a gentle horse named "Shotgun." The lady giving her the lesson was amazing, and totally did an excellent job. By the end of the hour, Emily was fearlessly cantering around the ring. I was amazed... and a little scared at her lack of fear. My dad sort of opened a can of worms, because it looks like Scott and I will be finding a place for her to take lessons around the Irmo area.
FYI- The shirt she picked out was checkered, because Woody and Jessie from Toy Story have a checkered shirt, so don't all cowboys/cowgirls? Hilarious.

3. Being so far away, Scott hasn't had many opportunities to get to know our new brother-in-law James. I've always wished for my husband and whomever Mindy married to be close, just like Mindy and me. While in Bakersfield there were several nights when everybody said their goodnights, leaving only James and Scott to talk to each other. I was so thankful that time was made. I know Scott enjoyed getting to know his brother-in-law. We just love James!

2. Traditions. Every year my mom buys us all new pajamas, and every year we open one Christmas gift on Christmas Eve. Of course Mom chooses, and the one we open in our new pajamas. Scott has an issue with wearing any clothing before its washed, so Mom now actually washes and dries the pajamas before wrapping them. (I tell you, she spoils him!) Well, this year was no different, except not only did we get new pajamas, but each couple got a new game to play. We put the kids to bed, and spent the rest of the evening drinking wine and playing games. It was one of my favorite nights for sure.

1.Family and friends. We were able to see a lot of family and friends this trip. Emily loves to play with her friends Ryan and Issa, and we all loved getting to see some great friends in Fresno, and our friends from Colorado. Seeing our kids interact with their grandparents is always precious, and makes the time so tender. As much as I'm glad to be home, I always look forward to Christmas in California.

The Messy Times

2011-10-08T13:30:00.003-04:00

I've started three different posts in the past two weeks, and none of them have made their way to publications. Hopefully this one will be different.

We've had a bit of a mess lately. Almost three weeks ago Scott and I came home on a Monday after work to find water dripping out of our circuit breaker box. Surely this is never a good thing to see. Scott did some investigation that included a crawl to the opposite end of the crawl space access door, and found there was a PVC pipe that was spraying water all over. An hour later, a plumber had come out a fixed the problem, but let us know there was a huge mess, and it had been spraying for a long time. At least a month or two.

Long story short, we had a mold mediation company come and rip out all of our flooring in the kitchen, including the sub floor. They took out and replaced a few floor joists, and cleaned up the remaining wood, painted it all down with a special miro-ban material, and installed a new sub floor. Our cabinets, appliances, and counter all had to be removed as well, leaving our kitchen (That we'd just remodeled 5/2010) looking like a construction zone.

After almost two weeks in a hotel, we're now back in our house. We have our cabinets installed again, with a temporary counter top and running water in our sink. Our flooring won't be done for another week or so, and our appliances are still sitting in our dining room, which leaves our dining room table in our living room, and all the boxes from the cabinets and pantry lining the walls downstairs.

But the entire thing hasn't been so bad. When we were in a hotel, our friend and neighbor who works at the Hilton in downtown Columbia gave us the presidential suite at a rate that was well within the insurance company's guidelines for reimbursement. Emily thought she was Eloise. We were so thankful. It was like a really bad situation turned in to something Emily won't ever forget.

And the first weekend we were out of the house, we decided that since we had to be out of house and eating out anyway, why not take a road trip and see the beautiful Tennessee smokey mountains? We made the most of it, and had a great time.

So right now, I sit in my overly-cluttered living room, watching the Gamecocks play some football. (They're winning right now, by the way.) I really have nothing to complain about. This too will pass. Chances are we will love our new kitchen and flooring downstairs much more than the floor we installed just a little over a year ago. Everybody is healthy, and nobody got sick because of the mold, thank goodness. We are back to sleeping in our own beds, and I'm planning on trying out a few new crock pot recipes next week.

When the "normal" of life gets interrupted by a mess, I realize just how lucky we are. We've had so many little "messes"- things that we didn't expect to happen, that just sort of rocked our lives for a moment... twins (more than one baby at a time, seriously?), Emily being in the NICU (we expected with twins, but surely didn't expect it from our first little girl) moving away just a few short months after Em was born, and other little messes that we've dealt with along the way. And the "messy time" will come again. I just hope that between now and then that I will remember to be thankful, and to not take the little things for granted.

Life with the Johnsons

2011-09-16T12:43:00.002-04:00

Life has been really full lately, so as I've thought how to update the blog the only reasonable way I could come up with was a bulleted list of random happenings in our home. Things that are "on my mind" so to speak. And here we go!

- Today is Friday and I'm at home. That's because this morning when I dropped the twins off at Shari's, Elsie and I were going up the stairs and she fell on the stairs. After hours of watching the lump on her head, and having her extremely loose teeth checked and x-rayed by our wonderful pediatric dentist, she and Eli are now napping upstairs. This leaves me with a very hectic morning behind me, a current headache, and an unexpected peaceful afternoon. Glad the morning part was over. It was scary to say the lease.

-We have a new addition to the family. Emily Grace is the proud owner of Lucy Anna, a ten week old kitten. The kitten showed up one day, and never left. We've looked for owners, had her microchip-scanned, but nobody ever claimed her. Three weeks, and a $100 vet bill later, we've officially claimed her as our own. She's super sweet, let's the kids hold her, and has a motor on her that you can hear ten feet away. She lives outside, mostly on the side of the front porch. Emily plays with her every day. They have quickly become best friends.

- School. School is going very well. Besides my nervousness about the first time leaving them with a sub, with less than stellar sub plans today, I'm loving the group of lovelies that I spend my days with. There is so much personality, and as I get to know each of them, I just love them so much more. All groups I've had love me to read with them. But there's something different about this group. They don't just love me reading to them, they CRAVE it. We're reading a chapter book right now called Crash, and they BEG for me to read more throughout the day. So its becomes this transitional thing where I will give some instructions on what to do to prepare for whatever we're doing next, and they BEG me to read a chapter while they're doing it. Then they silently attend to whatever they need to do, and listen so intently, just pleased to hear one more chapter. Its awesome. And I love it.

- The House. With the start of school the housekeeping, laundry, cooking, and shopping are once again struggling. I love to be the domestic diva of my house. I love running a household that's spick and span, neat and orderly, cute and inviting. But this is hard for a working mom of three precious kids and one lovely husband. And somewhere I've come to this awful belief that if a house is clean, tidy, and inviting, then the lady who runs it is successful. And my definition of my success sometimes solely rides on whether or not my house is perfect. Ridiculous? Absolutely. I'm learning to working to remind myself that what really matters is the love that goes on in the house....not the dust bunnies that may or may not exist. This is a work in progress.
** It does help, however, that there was a groupon the other day for a cleaning service to come for five hours and clean your house (up to 2500 sq. ft.) for half price. I bought one, and I can't wait to use it!

- Scott and I are starting a small group in our home. A group from church will meet in our home after the second service for lunch and our Bible study time. With everything Scott has going on with his dissertation, I will be the one mainly facilitating the group, but he will co-lead it with me. We're really excited about it.

- Scott and I have been running. This week was sort of a bust with only a couple runs that got in, but for the most part we're keeping it up. We both run about three miles 3-4 times a week. Its like therapy for me. I've forgotten how much I believe in physical and mental health going hand in hand.

- And its beautiful too. My three mile run takes me to one stretch with no houses for about 1.5 miles. Its mostly woods on both sides of the road, but at the end of the road there is a corn field. One night last week, I was out for a run and seven deer darted out not ten feet in front of me. They'd come out of the corn field and I just about peed my pants I was so startled. Once I got over my initial surprise, I was just taken aback at the beauty of this great place we live. I continued on my run, and since it was about dusk, the fireflies were out. Just me running, in the woods, with God's beauty surrounding everything I could see. How awesome it is!

Well, I'm off to spend my relaxing time at home making dinner for my family. The temp has dropped almost 25 degrees over night, making our high just above seventy. I've decided to celebrate the coming of fall by opening every window in the house, and making a big beef stew loaded with fresh veggies. Dinner with the fam tonight should be a good one!

Last Week

2011-07-26T11:53:00.006-04:00

Last week while Scott was here we decided to make a brief trip to Fresno to visit some dear friends of ours, Jean, Debbie, and Pat. Once we got to Fresno we went straight to their children's bookstore. Its probably the best kids bookstore I've ever seen. Think Shop Around the Corner from You've Got Mail...only much better. The store is entirely kid centered, and the boooks are thoughtfully selected. I love it. Of course everybody in our family found a book or two they coudln't leave without. I even found a fabulous book that I can't wait to share with my classroom that is apparenlty out of print. The store had one copy left, and since I found it before Scott, it gets to come home with me! Yeah!

After spending a wonderful afternoon swimming, cooking out, and talking with friends, we got up the next morning and set out to meet some other friends of ours, Steve and Lisa and their two cute kids Audrey and Joseph. We loaded up the cars (Steve and Scott in one, and Lisa and I in another) and set off for the Kings Canyon and Sequoiah National Parks to see the "big trees."

We had a fabulous time. Personally, I thought the car ride up was just as fun as anything. Catching up with friends is always good, and a car ride to the mountains was the perfect opportunity. I'm certain Scott felt the same way about his time with Steve.

Once we got there and had lunch, we began to take the hike to through Grants Grove. There were several giant sequoias on this path. The kids looked with awe... well mostly. Emily didn't really think the trees were all that big. She wasn't nearly as impressed as I thought she would be. She kept telling me there certainly were bigger trees some place else. Finally, after assuring her that no, these were the biggest, she seemed to understand the importance. Elsie seemed to be very impressed with the "Big Tees! Big Tees!"

Emily had a great time hanging with Joseph. If only we lived closer. I'm sure these two would enjoy hanging out more.

The kids all loved running up and down the path with each other. Every once in awhile Eli would get a little too far in front of the group. Elsie handled it though. She would run up to him and yell, "Eyi! Stop!" Then she would grab him by the shirt and walk him back to the group. Poor Eli. I have a feeling there will be more of this bossiness to come.
Scott and I decided to drive the long way through the Sequoia National Park to get to Visalia, and then hit the 99 back to Bakersfield. This was a great trip. We loved the beautiful mountains, the foreign travlers, and the clean crisp air. We stopped several times to see the sights, and just take in the view. This one is of Emily is looking down at the Kings Canyon Park behind her, and the Sequoiah Park is on the other side of her. Simply beautiful! There was a controlled burn going on while we were there, so I feel like it probably wasn't as clear as other days. But still, it was amazing.

On the back side to Visalia we got stuck in a traffic jam for over an hour. Apparenlty there was road work where construction crews demolished one of the lanes for a ten mile stretch. These roads are the curviest roads you can imagine, so taking out a lane on a two-lane windy road must be dangerous work. We sat and waited for the hour, and then when it was finally time for us to, we had a pilot car take us down the mountain on a one-way stretch that rivaled the show Ice Road Truckers.

Luckily for us, our fearless driver got us all home safe!

It was a tremendous trip! We are so thankful our kids could see the "giant trees" even if only Emily remembers. I hope that we can return soon when they are a bit older. Its truly amazing to see such old, strong, beauty.

Carmageddon

2011-07-14T07:42:00.002-04:00

If anybody has ever flown in to LAX on the 405, you know about the horrific traffic that can plague a trip. LA is notorious for horrible traffic. The 5, the 405 the 10. Scott and I have been stuck in them all. Just a few years ago my parents and I took Emily to Disneyland (Scott didn't make it to CA that time) and we were stuck in traffic on I-5 for so long I thought my dad was going to turn the car around and cancel the trip all together. On the way home from Disney my mom and I were talking about how much fun we had, and recalling some of the things that were certain to be life-long memories. My dad could only mutter that none of that was worth the traffic that we had to endure to get there. Part of me agreed.

That is why I am dreading the trip from the airport to my parents house on Saturday morning. The 405 (one of the most traffic-plagued freeways I've ever seen) will be shut down for just over 50 hours in a section around Sepulveda Blvd. Our flight in to LA arrives just a few hours after the shut-down begins.

Time magazine has an article here that refers to this traffic mess as Carmageddon. Airlines have began offering "Carmageddon flights" from LAX to both Long Beach airport and the Burbank airport. These flights sold out in less than two hours.

Scott was looking around the web this morning and he even found there is a special app that I could download to my iPhone that would show the best ways to navigate in through carmameddon. I think we'll give it a try.

Both my mom and dad are coming in both of their cars to pick us up. We don't all fit in one car, especially not with our luggage. Surely this traffic mess will provide us with countless hours (I'm afraid this is no exagerration) of conversation with either my mom or dad. But since I remember my dad's aversion to traffic from the Disney trip, I think I'll claim the seat in mom's car.

The influential

2011-07-13T09:00:00.004-04:00

When Emily was born we had a pediatrician in Clovis. He was supposed to be "the best of the best" and we felt fortunate that he would be our pediatrician. However, Emily had horrible spit-up issues. I mean, we packed the diaper bag with three extra outfits, and literally a half dozen burp clothes. No exaggeration. When I brought her for a two week well check up, I suspected she had reflux, and while the doctor complained about her lack of weight gain, he told me that reflux was "a laundry issue, not a medical issue." I will never forget that quote. His answer to the lack of weight gain was for me to immediately stop nursing and start her on a prescription high caloric formula. Thankfully I was able to muster all of the new mommy self-confidence I had (there wasn't much at this point) and tell him that I didn't agree. I think he literally rolled his eyes.

Since we were moving in only a few weeks, we looked forward to finding a new pediatrician here in Irmo. I did lots of research and found a pediatrician in the area that was supposed to be fabulous. Unfortunately, he was not accepting new patients, but would we like to make an appointment with his colleague? Sure. Its not like we had a lot of options.

From the moment Scott and I met our new pediatrician, we liked him. He immediately told us Em had reflux, as suspected by the spit up, but also because her poor little esophagus was worn raw. Stupid Clovis doctor! He wrote us a script for Prilosec, and while the improvement was gradual, it was there. I didn't have to stop nursing (an idea our new pediatrician was absurd) and our confidence as parents grew as Emily did too.

Since then there have been many, many trips to see our doctor. Emily once had an ear infection for weeks were she would literally scream for hours and multiple rounds of antibiotics didn't have any affect. She had tonsils the size of walnuts that caused her to snore louder than a drunk sailor. Those had to go. Surgery it was. Then the twins came along and brought their own share of hernia surgeries, potential blood autoimmune issues (this was Elsie, and while it took three weeks for the results to show "normal" levels, in the end it turned out just fine) and multiple seasonal allergy issues. With our climate and humidity Emily can get a staff infection from a bug bite, and Eli breaks out in an eczema rash if he merely looks at a tomato. They're not unhealthy kids by any means, but we've made lots of trips to see the doctor. Many times I was in tears and feared that I could be leaving with a prescription for drugs or even a referral to a mental health specialist. But our pediatrician never fails to offer comfort and assurance to Scott and I as well. He never makes me feel ignorant, or like a hypochondriac. He has young kids himself, and I believe him when he tells me that Scott and I are doing a great job.

But most importantly, he knows and loves our kids. Emily thinks he hung the moon and can fix anything. After the earthquake in Haiti, our doc went there to help offer his services for anybody who needed them. I brought Emily in for a well check up shortly after his return, and when she told him, "I prayed for you every day while
you were in Haiti" he got teary and hugged her so tight. After the "big wave" hit Japan, Emily wrote a letter telling him to go to "where the big wave was" to help all the people. She just knew he could help all those people in Joplin, MO.

When I brought Eli in yesterday for potential pink eye and allergy issues, our doc told us that he had been back to Haiti several times, and he actually partnered with a few others to open an orphanage in Haiti. He gave me the website to share with Emily so she would see their faces, and pray for them by name. He and I talked about how important it was to help our children know about the world that exists outside of Irmo/Lexington. We talked about a missional perspective of the world. I left so thankful that Emily has this wonderful person as her doctor. To not only help her with her ailments, but also to share how he's using his gifts to bless those near and far. What an amazing example.

Then I started thinking about Em's Kindergarten teacher. She just returned from Honduras with her church. I've showed Emily several of the pictures from FB of her beloved teacher on this mission trip. Emily beamed. She was proud to know her very own teacher was a missionary! Emily's class had learned all about water last year, and took action to raise money to construct a well in a school in Nicaragua. This left Emily with a beginning understanding of how life was different for children in other countries.

And then there's our own church. Several students and leaders are taking a team back to Belize. There have already been teams there to help construct a church building and to build a bridge where the only way across the gorge was the old bridge that had been destroyed in a storm. All these things have been shared with Emily in her class at church.

All of these people and experiences in her life have helped develop a missional understanding in Emily. This morning she was talking to me about how we had given up cable for the year that I was a stay at home mom. We'd been clear with Emily as to why we made this choice, and she understood that cable was a bill that we had to pay monthly. We went an entire year with no T.V. but now not only do we have cable but we also have Netflix. Emily asked me how much the cable bill cost. I told her and she walked away. Later this morning she asked me if we could donate to the orphanage if we turned off the cable. I was blown away. I think this will be a decision that she will eventually change her mind about. I told her we needed to talk with Daddy about this decision, and that we would probably need to wait until we got back from our trip to California. But that if she wanted to give up cable, that would be an excellent way to help support the Haiti orphanage. Emily beamed.

This morning my heart is swollen. Our Emily is so precious. I'm so thankful for the people in her life that show her what it means to serve God by serving others.

The Deer

2011-07-09T07:43:00.002-04:00

On Monday before our Fourth of July festivities began, Scott and Emily decided to go on a nature walk. The twins were napping, and it was one of those rare times when I decided to take a nap too. I was exhausted!

Scott and Emily walked out the door just before I went to sleep. I woke up over an hour later and they weren't home. I waited another hour, and they still didn't show up. My mom called, and I was on the phone with her voicing my concern and asking how long until I contact Search and Rescue when Emily bardged in to the house.

"Mom! Quick! There's an emergency! Mom! You have to come quick!

Oh no. My first thoughts were that something had happened to Scott, which made me heart drop to my toes. I quickly realized that he was coming up the stairs right behind her. Once I saw that he was fine, I had no clue what this emergency may be.

Apparently, they walked over four miles. Scott said they talked about all sorts of things while exploring nature. They followed a turtle to see where he was going. They saw all sorts of birds. They looked at all sorts of trees and vines.

And then when they were making their way back to the house, they saw a deer that had\ obviously been struck by a car. The deer was laying in a ditch on the side of the road. It could hardly be seen until they walked right up to it. It was in a lot of pain, and panting hard. They had no idea how long it had been out there.

So this was the emergency. And to Emily, it was a huge emergency.

A few years ago, my class read a series of books about expansion (think urban sprawl) and we ended up deciding to collect materials for a wildlife group here in Columbia. I remembered this group, and how they cared for hurt animals, or animals who had been displaced by construction. I called only to find out that they were closed (it WAS Independence day!) and that they referred all injured deer calls to the Department of Natural Resources.

So I called the Dept. of Natural Resoources and put in notice about the injured deer. We were told that since it was hard to see from the road, that it would help if we could wait by the deer until an officer showed up. We loaded the mini-van, and were off.

When Emily and Scott showed me the deer, they noted that it had rolled over, exposing its very broken bone-exposed legs. The poor deer! Emily was so concerned.

It wasn't until the two sherriff deputy cruisers rolled up that Scott and I fully understood what the phone dispatcher that I talked to meant when she said "officer." All of the sudden Scott and I had the realization of what was to happen next. Our head snapped towards each other as our eyes told us we were both thinking the same thing. Deputies have guns. I don't exactly know what Scott was execting, but I guess I was expecting some sort of DNR "officer" to come with an animal truck, where the deer would be loaded up and taken away to be cared for. This is absolutely ridiculous, as we live in a state with an overpolulation of deer to the point where they frequently open deer season to include doe. Why would this one deer be one they would want to save? While the deputies parked, I quickly realized I hadn't thought this all the way through.

We walked away from the deer to talk with the officers. They were totally nice and understanding about not wanting to leave an animal in such severe pain, which made me feel better about the thoughts I was having about wasting their time on a probably very busy holiday weekend.

We walked back across the street to show them the deer, all the while waiting for an opportunity to ask the deputies if they could wait before bringing out their guns so we could promptly drive away so Emily wouldn't have to see.

But as we showed them the deer, we instantly noted that it must have just died. The heavy breathing was gone, and it wasn't moving. Its eyes distant, not jerking around like before.

*deep sigh*

Emily wasn't going to have to witness the Bambi being shot by the deputies. I have to admit that I have never been so excited for a deer to die.

On the way back home, Scott told Emily that she was a person of action, and that she decided to do something when she saw something was wrong. He explained that the deer had probably been passed up by dozens of people, not to mention the car who must have hit it. I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw her beaming in the back seat. I loved that they take their nature walks together. I loved seeing the pride on her face when Scott noticed her responsibility and action. I also loved that we didn't see a deer get shot.

Thanks deer. I'm pretty sure this is one of those instances that Em won't ever forget.

Post Vegas

2011-06-29T08:30:00.009-04:00

I would have posted earlier, but I am still in recovery mode.

Where to begin.

First of all, I flew in Friday morning and met my sister and her friends at the airport. I arrived at the airport before Mindy, so it was one of those rare post-911 moments when I was actually able to wait for her at her gate when she got off the plane. We were super excited to see each other!

We took a hummer limo (as seen below) to the hotel, where we promptly put on our swim suits and went to the pool.

Now you may think, "Hotel pool. That's not too outrageous. That seems relatively calm."
But you'd be wrong.

It turns out, D.J. Pauly D from the Jersey Shore was there to spin some music. He was supposed to be there at noon, and didn't show up until three. But that didn't deter the almost four thousand people from paying an outrageous $50 cover to get in and wait for him. Luckily, as hotel guests, we didn't have to pay to get in. Which was good since we literally couldn't find a place to put our things. The entire place was packed like I've never seen. I friend of mine commented on facebook that it looked like I was in the scene of MTV's Spring Break. Yep. Felt like it too.

Then in the evening we got ready to go out to a club. I put on my tall gold heels and was ready to go. We stayed out super late, and had a great time.

The next day we went back to the pool, which was wasn't nearly as busy as the day before. But I still found it weird that I was I.D.'ed at the door when it was only 9 a.m. Apparently beer and alcohol is served at the pool from the moment it opens in the morning, to when it closes in the evening.

After a day at the pool, we went back for a brief nap, and then started getting ready for dinner. We walked through some gorgeous hotels before finding a spot for dinner. Then we went to a wonderful show.

That's right. We say Thunder from Down Under. I don't really have anything else to say about that. Google it if you wish.

After the "show" we went to a series of clubs that were within out own hotel. One of these clubs was having Shaq's retirement party. At about 2 in the morning, I finally gave up and walked back to our room by myself. I was having a great time, but 2 in the morning was about all I could handle. I was exhausted.

The following morning we spent some time in the hotel spa. The hot tub and steam room was just what my tired legs and feet needed after two super-late nights in heels.

After an afternoon spent walking through more hotels and seeing some beautiful shopping, we made our way back to the airport to fly home.

I had a wonderful time with my sister. Mindy was absolutely gorgeous, and I the entire trip made me even more excited to see this beautiful sister of mine marry the man she loves. I've never been happier for her! Here are some of my favorite Mindy pictures from the weekend!

If the Shoe Fits...

2011-06-22T23:44:00.005-04:00

On Friday I'm flying to Vegas. Yep. Me. In Vegas.

My little sister is getting married in August, and her bachlorette party starts Friday in Vegas. Friday is my birthday. This is terrific because Scott and I got married on my sister's birthday. Yes, it is possible to narrow down every Saturday in an entire season and arrive at only one possible date that just happens to be your little sister's birthday. She was cool with it, but made us promise that we could get married on her birthday only if we shared our first anniversary with her on her twenty-first birthday, which of course, we did.

So now her bachlorette party is on my birthday.

My sister and I are not alike at all, but we're super close. Many qualities that I love about her are those I wished I possessed myself. However, with those differences comes this Vegas trip. My sister will probably rock the Vegas. Me... well, not so much. When I got the itinerary of weekend events, I just about fell out of my chair. Let's just say there will be lots of... "clubbing." Me. In a club. (Its okay if you giggle, I giggle nervously just thinking about it.)

I don't want to be totally out of place in this Vegas scene, I mean my little sister has ten other friends coming, and as the risk of sounding like a high schooler, I want to fit-in at least somewhat. And I didn't think my typical Loft sundress and fake pearls would do the trick. So Scott and I went to the mall and I got some "appropriate attire" that I'm sure I will never ever wear again.

Today I returned to the mall to get a pair of shoes and a couple pairs of earrings to go with my new "Vegas outfits." My friend Amber went with me, and I told her that I was thinking about getting some gold flats, like some gold hercules sandals. Maybe something like this:

Amber just sort of looked at me, and asked if I had talked to Mindy about this. I told her that I'm sure Mindy would agree. Amber insisted that I call Mindy right then and there and ask her opinion.

Fine.

I called Mindy, and the conversation went sort of like this:
Me: Hey Min. I'm looking at shoes for Vegas, and I'm thinking about some gold hercules sandals. That's fine, right?

Mindy: Wha??? Flats? In Vegas? I don't think they even let you in the club with FLATS?!? No Malisa, no way... (laughs and giggles in the phone at her big sister's ignorance of "appropriate Vegas club attire")

At this point, Amber asks to talk to Mindy. I hand her the phone, and this is what I hear:

Amber: Hey Mindy, its Amber.
(silence)
Amber: Yeah I know, (rolls her eyes playfully at me) Uh huh... I know! That's what I told her..... Yep.... (laughter) yeah, I will... no problem... bye!

I get the phone back from Amber.

Mindy: Boy I'm I glad that Amber went with you shopping today. YOU should be glad too! Flats in Vegas! Hahahahahaha!

The phone call ends.

So, Amber and I spent the next hour and a half looking for appropriate foot attire. And these are similar to "wonderful appropriate club foot attire" that we found.

If a single pair of shoes could symbolize the difference between my sister and I, these shoes do it. Pray for me. I don't want another broken leg. I hope my sister appreciates all the sacrifices I'm making for her. :)

Waste

2011-06-21T08:25:00.002-04:00

One of our favorite restaurants to go to for lunch after church used to be Chipotle. When we lived in Fresno we would go frequently with the Portelas. Obviously we missed this restaurant when we moved to SC, so we were thrilled when one of our favorites opened on Harbison Blvd.

We've been several times, however I've noticed a trend that I don't care for. Every time I wait in line to get my food I watch as the people in front of me give their order, and when things don't look just right, the food is thrown away and the server starts over.

Last time we went, the waste was extraordinary. First of all, the lady in front of me asked for three steak tacos. Apparently the server thought she meant three orders of steak tacos. There are three tacos in an order, so the server began steaming tortillas for nine total. The customer quickly realized the miscommunication and explained it to the server, who promptly threw the extra six tortillas in the garbage. Then the customer asked for one with rice and beans. The server thought she meant one with beans, and another with rice, but no. The customer wanted one with rice AND beans, and the others with none. This resulted in adding beans to the one with rice, and throwing yet another tortilla (this one with steak too) in the garbage.

Then we began our order. My mother in law said that she wanted black beans, the server added pinto. Another burrito in the trash. I asked for two burrito bowls. The server steamed two tortillas, and then upon realizing her own mistake, threw both tortillas in the trash.

But the real clincher was with the kids' orders. I ordered quesadillas for the kids, with Emily's being a full kid's meal, complete with a side of both rice and beans. I watched as the server wasn't pleased with cheese the oozed out of the foil during the heating process (she threw these away) and then when adding the rice and beans to the kids plate, she didn't like the way the beans overflowed in to the next compartment of the disposable tray, so she threw the entire thing away and started again.

Now I realize that in the restaurant business you give the customer what they want and yearn for complete satisfaction and yada yada yada. But really? I was shocked at the waste.

Scott's class went on this awesome trip to a camp north of here. There are many things that he shared he loved about this camp, but one of the big things was the kids are taught not to waste anything. The camp emphasizes making meals without waste and the kids are expected to take only what they will eat, and the group strives to complete a meal without waste.

I could only wonder what these kids would have said in this situation. I wish I could have known what an appropriate thing would be to say, however I sat their silent. Bummer.

Reading

2011-06-18T16:46:00.005-04:00

Every once in awhile Scott and I will find ourselves looking for something to do after dinner is over and the dishes are put away. Many times we find ourselves going to Rita's for italian ice, and then to Barnes and Noble. For some reason, this happened many Friday nights in a row. A few of those times I had a gift card to spend.

Spending money at Barnes and Noble has never been an issue for me. However, I always find myself in a quandary. I will walk straight to the kids section, and begin perusing through the newest children's literature. But then I wander over to the newly expanded "young adult" section and find several titles there too. Eventually I remember that I AM an adult, so maybe I should check out the best sellers shelf, or find one of those titles my friends have mentioned were great.

So which books do I get? Almost all of the time, I go for the children's lit or young adult. I guess there is something so wonderful about sharing a great book with somebody that makes it that much better. Some favorites I enjoyed talking with kids about this year were The Hunger Games Trilogy (I also loved talking about this books with several friends of mine who also loved this book), The Evolution of Calpernia Tate, The Underneath, and A Long Walk To Water. (Though I think I'm missing some...)

This summer started out with my reading through so many things. I re-read Crazy Love. And then I sped through the latest Nicholas Sparks book. But then I started reading what just may be the best book I've read in years. I just finished it today, and I think Scott is thrilled because he's been claiming neglect for the past couple of days.

The Help is an amazing book that looks in to the relationship between female black maids an their female white bosses. Its brilliant in every way. It was one of those books that I had to make myself put down. Several times I just couldn't, like the time this week that I stayed up until 2 a.m. reading. Then when I did put it down to MAKE myself do housework, I couldn't stop thinking about not only the characters in the book, but the lives of those who lived in Mississippi in the 1960's... both black and white. I've always thought that the best books were those that continue to make me think and question long after I finish the last page. This certainly meets that requirement.

The movie comes out in August, and while I'm certain it will not be as good as the book, I've already told Scott I want to see it. Here's a trailer:

Summertime

2011-06-16T20:53:00.005-04:00

Every summer I have a lot of things I want to get done. Of course, not everything gets completed before the summer ends, but I do accomplish many of my goals. This summer is no different.

I was thinking this evening about everything I wanted to "get to" this summer. Things like learning how to pickle cucumbers, reading certain professional development books, and cleaning out my closet (I still have my Y2K millennium dance party in there from college!)

Emily was sitting beside me as I went through this mental list. So I started talking with her about things she wanted to do this summer. At first she told me about going to VBS, visiting family, and going to the beach. But when I started telling her about the things I wanted to learn this summer, she immediately responded with what she wants to learn. She said she wants to learn how to tie her own shoes (Boy do I hope she's successful with that one!) in addition to learning how to whistle and snap her fingers. She also said that she really wants to lose a tooth.

Whistling, tying shoes, snapping her fingers, and losing teeth. In my mind, these are all rights of passage that come with growing up. Then it occurred to me: She wants to grow up!

I don't know I how I feel about this. On one hand, I remember so many things that signified growing up when I was little. Not things that many of us share like learning to drive a car or staying home by myself for the first time, but specific things that signified "growing up" for me. Things like the "Moving Up" song at RBG. (Talk about building school community!) and getting to go off the high dive at the pool. Others I thought about were not going to children's church during the service, but actually having to sit through the whole sermon. Or getting to ride my bike on the other side of Kranenburg Ave. without my parents watching me cross Nord Rd. Thinking about this made me wonder what specifics will enter Emily's mind as a symbol of growing up. I can't wait to see what those things will be for her.

But on the other hand, I can't believe my little girl wants to GROW UP! How can this happen? I'm frequently reminded how fast time goes, and with each passing month that my twins are not just two, but two and a few months now, I just can't help but wonder how this can be possible. And to think Em will be in the first grade next year makes me second-guess myself and think maybe I miscalculated somehow.

Somebody once explained to me that the older we get, the more years we have in our memory. So each year becomes a smaller percentage of our entirety. For example, for a 6 year old, one year is only 1/6 of their life, or 17% of their life so far. Whereas my birthday next week makes me 31. Making my past year only 3% of my entire life. Doesn't that automatically make a year seem to go by faster and faster?

Maybe this is the reality that I face as I get older. Perception is everything I guess. And it seems to me that my Emily has grown way too fast, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. I guess the only thing to do is hold on tight.

Things you may not know about Scott Johnson...

2011-06-12T20:18:00.005-04:00

Scott and I have some friends who marvel at the many new things they learn the more they hang with Scott. A similar comment was made to me by a neighbor this afternoon, and yet again a few days ago. I started to think about it, and decided this was worthy of a blog post. I'd be curious to know which things shocked/humored/horrified you the most...

1. Scott was originally a music major before he changed majors to education. He marched in the Rose Parade carrying his tuba three years in a row.

2. There is a large tattoo on his upper right arm.

3. When he was (much) younger, he got in trouble with the cops more than once. One specific instance was when he and his brother were throwing hot tar off the top of a building down on to the cars below.

4. He spent a month backpacking across Europe

5. He's had seven different surgeries

6. He accepted Christ on March 26, 1992 when he was 19.

7. He once lived with a friend's grandmother. She spoke no English, so he learned quickly. I still love to hear the way he orders at a Mexican restaurant.

8. Scott listens to crazy rap, heavy metal, and various other genres of music. (all but country, which he swears gives him headaches.) His favorite group is Rush, but he's also a big fan of Ozzie Osborne.

9. He was once a state ranked tennis player

10. In high school he had long blonde hair and wore a long dangly skull earring.

11. In high school he had a teacher tell him that he would never make it in college. His teacher also told him that she hated him.

12. While living in southern California he would ride his bike from the city of Santa Fe Springs all the way to Seal Beach every day.

13. His wife loves him! But I'm sure you already knew that!

Painting

2011-06-07T16:55:00.003-04:00

The twins love to color with Emily at the table. So the other day I decided to get out some water colors and let them try it out. Elsie took things very seriously, and sat for over thirty minutes with the paints and her masterpiece. Emily has always loved to paint, so Elsie just sort of watched her and caught on to dipping the brush in the water and then the paint. Eli caught on to one thing: Dumping the cup of water upside-down. We had a short few minutes while I took pictures when things were relatively calm with all three, but shortly afterward, Eli had to be removed from the table. He's such a boy!

Sunny, with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms

2011-06-06T16:11:00.004-04:00

Summer always comes with a series of loud afternoon/evening thunderstorms. Last night was no exception. Emily had a friend over and they were watching a movie and munching on popcorn. Emily is sort of weird like her parents, and she typically marvels at the thunder and lightening. It was very apparent that her friend was very much afraid of the storm. As Emily watched her friend cringe at the flashes and jump at the rumbling that shook the house, Em tried to make her feel at ease by saying, "Ya know... that loud thunder is only the sound of angels bowling." (Just as she said that, one of the loudest bolts struck in a simultaneous whip of thunder) Emily paused, and then said, "See! There must be an angel up there doing a victory dance because she got a strike!"

It was a good effort. But it didn't help. Her sweet little friend was scared silly.

By this morning I thought the thunderstorm was a something of the past, so I was a little surprised at the following (precious) conversation that we had on the way to the grocery store:

Emily: Hey mom, take a look at the sky
Me: Yeah, what do you notice?
Emily: Do you see all those clouds gathered around the sun?
Me: Yep
Emily: Its like the clouds are the angels and the sun is God and He's gathered them all around to make an important announcement.
Me: So, what do you imagine that announcement may be?
Emily: I think He's telling them to stop bowling, because its scaring the kids.

All I could do was smile. Because once again, Emily Grace left me speechless. I love that kid.

Summer is here! (and so is my first of many posts!)

2011-06-04T14:47:00.003-04:00

Sometimes things just turn out perfectly for me to go to Em's school and participate. Water day was one of those days. My own students had 10:45 dismissal every day last week, and for some reason (I hear something about snow day make-up hours) teachers were able to leave at 11 a.m. This worked out just perfectly for this mom! I raced across town and enjoyed every moment during the final days of Kindergarten!

With summer comes the opportunity for me to update the blog more often. Like most teachers, summer is a time of reflection. A time to consider all the wonders of the year that has passed and to consider the different ways of approaching the year to come. I have many thoughts, ideas, and questions as I form my goals for the next year with fourth graders. But one goal I have for home is to update this little blog weekly... even during the school year. A task that will be fun, I'm sure!

Until then, I'll enjoy every moment of this summer with my sweet family. And what a better way to start off the first blog post of summer than to show of our sweet Emily and her classmates during the last day of school!

Nicaragua Water Project

2011-04-21T20:49:00.003-04:00

Emily's class has learned all about water this year. They've learned how much water a child in the U.S. uses and how that compares to children in other countries. They've learned about the availability of water here, and how its not always available in other parts of our world. The result is an effort to raise money for clean water for children in Nicaragua. Scott and I are continually amazed and thankful for this wonderful class and their fabulous teacher. Amazing, right?

Oh, and by the way. In the shot of the whole class, our kid is the one on the top left. Apparently the tree is attacking her. It wouldn't be Emily unless a tree attacked her, or the like! :)

Check out the video here.

Spring Top Ten

2011-04-21T07:26:00.006-04:00

Spring is my favorite time of year for so many reasons. Today I woke up so aware of the blessings in my life that I couldn't contain myself. I've always been a list person, so I thought it would be appropriate to begin a list of everything Spring is bringing to life.

1. Our kids. I need to get more pictures posted this afternoon because they are so stinking cute.

2. April is always strawberry month. Last Saturday was the first time we went this season. We picked three gallons of berries. Right in the middle of the picking, the skies opened up and the rain came down, like torrential downpour rain. My kids giggled and stomped in the mud, and rather than the rain ruining out time, it actually made our time better. I loved it.

3. Spring Break.

4. The animals are out. Last week I came upon seven deer crossing the road. One stopped and just stared at us for what seemed like minutes. Even Eli said, "Whoa Mommy. Stop. Stop. Stop!" And Emily has a new pet turtle named Prince Phillip. He was found by a pond, an Em is sure he already loves her. Oh, and I can't forget the wrens, larks, hummingbirds, jays, and cardinals who come to our feeders in the backyard. I watch them and am reminded of our Creator's creativity.

5. Only four more weeks until I'm a stay at home mom again for the summer. I have so many plans for this summer!

6. Our pool doesn't open until the first of May, however, our kids are having a blast playing with water in the backyard. The three of them played outside for over three hours straight yesterday afternoon and on to evening. It was fabulous to watch them play together. I pray that they will continue to love and enjoy each other every day like yesterday.

7. My Bible study is in the middle of an awesome Beth Moore study of the Tabernacle. The study book is called A Women's Heart: The Dwelling Place of God. We're half-way through and I already think I like it more than Daniel or the Patriarchs, which is saying a lot. I've learned so much already.

8. Cleaning. I have some cleaning to get to, and some of it is slowly being cleaned off the list. But doing this with twin two year olds is not always convenient to say the least. However, the other day I was trying to figure out how to mow the lawn with the twins out there with me. I flooded one of my raised vegetable beds that doesn't have any plants in it yet, and then stuck the twins (in diapers only) in the middle of the muddy mess. Then I closed the garden gate and mowed the lawn! I felt quite accomplished when I was done, and thankful for my Rosedale roots! We Rosedale gals know how to get something done! :)

9. Right now there are so many flowers blooming. My favorite is the purple lantana that has overtaken my flower bed in the front yard. I love the flowers all over the yard!

10. The kids are growing. And growing. And Growing! Emily can read so many books its amazing. Every day she seems to amaze us with the growth she's making as a reader and a writer. And the twins seem to learn more words a day than I can keep up with. Right now Eli calls Elsie "Aya" and Elsie calls Eli "Makeen." I have no idea why, but watching them communicate with each other is just about the best thing ever.

Well, later this morning the twins both have dentist appointments. I'm not sure that appointment will be much of a blessing, but we'll see!

Emily's Birthday

2011-03-27T12:44:00.004-04:00

One specific area that I've slacked off from since going back to work is this blog. Something had to give I guess, and while it bums me out that I'm no longer keeping track of these precious moments with our blog, it does excite me when I can steal a few moments for an update.

Emily is six. Wow. I don't even know what to say about that, so I will move on to the birthday festivities. Emily decided that rather than having a birthday party, this year she would like to go to Atlanta for the weekend and get an American Girl doll. The weekend was planned, and off we went!

The very first place we went was to the American Girl store. Emily and I knew exactly which girl she was going to get, and Saturday just happened to be the last day they would sell this beautiful doll. Her name is Felicity, and she is from the 1774 era. (And no, I really did let Emily pick, but I have to admit that I was thrilled to begin reading all the American Revolution events during the Felicity American Girl books! What can I say? I love fourth grade Social Studies!) Now this store is amazing! But somehow, the twins quickly grew tired of looking at expensive dolls in boxes. So while Emily and selected the necessary accessories, Scott took the twins to roam the rest of the mall. What a good dad, huh? (Hold that thought... you may change your mind in a few sentences!)

Once we purchased the doll, her accessories, and had her ears pierced (Yep, that's right. The doll got her ears pierced, and much to Scott's dismay, it was more expensive than when Em got her ears pierced!:) We walked out to find this precious pair with Daddy. I quickly informed Scott that not only was the Felicity doll from the 1774 period being permanantly retired, but so was her best friend Elizabeth... the same Elizabeth from all the storied that Emily and I read together. Surely we couldn't leave without Elizabeth, right? Luckily for me Scott agreed. (Really, it wasn't that hard.) I rushed back in to get the doll while Scott showed the kids this awesomely huge clock in a jewelry store.
Now here it where it gets interesting. Scott jokingly tell Emily that he had a giant magic marker so she could print her name on the back of her Felicity doll. No joke, another mom who overheard did a triple take paired with an audible gasp before she caught on that he was joking. But not only that, it turns out while they were looking at the giant clock, Eli started loudly pointed to the clock while YELLING "Big Cock!" Scott's response to the horrified on-lookers? "Oh its okay. We're from South Carolina, its okay to say cock!" *deep sigh*

The rest of the trip was rather uneventful. Emily randomly saw a girl from her class in the food court. She had also gotten her first American Girl doll. The girls were thrilled to see each other!

It wasn't until we got to the hotel room that we gave Emily the Elizabeth doll. She was one happy girl!

The next day we went to the Coca Cola museum. We had a great time except that once we got to the tasting room with over 60 sodas from around the world, both Scott and I realized at the same time that Emily doesn't even like carbonated beverages of any sort. Um... what were we thinking? Emily politely refused tasting many of the beverages and when asked why she didn't speak up about not even liking Coke she simply replied, "I didn't want to be a rude birthday girl!" Even now, neither Scott or take the blame for coming up with the Coke Factory tour. As far as we're concerned, it was somebody else's horrible idea. Luckily, our family had fun anyway!

Finally, here are some cute pictures of the kids playing at the Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. Notice Emily "helping" her twins down the slide! It was a great way to get out some energy before the long car ride home. And yes, Emily brought her dolls to all of the day's events!

Happy Birthday to our sweet girl!

This is what makes Saturday fabulous

2011-02-19T08:11:00.002-05:00

We have plans to finally spend the weekend out doing fun stuff. After three weekends in a row with sick kids, we're very much looking forward to plans at the zoo in the beautiful 75 degree weather today.

However, I doubt a fabulous zoo trip can top this unexpected moment that I walked in on this morning.

Thank you Lord for delighting me with this blessing.

And of course, a Saturday morning with three kids wouldn't be complete unless somebody was put in time-out for some reason or another. This morning it was Elsie, who seems to think the world belongs to her. Poor girl.

This is the Stuff...

2011-02-07T18:40:00.004-05:00

I was sitting in traffic on Lake Murray Blvd this afternoon while this diesel blocked three lanes of traffic so he could back in to a furniture store loading dock. I was so anxious to get home to my sweet family after work, as always, but especially on this day. Scott had taken the day off work to be with our sick sweeties and when he took them to the pediatrician we found out the girls both had double ear infections, and Eli was suffering from some icky virus that was leaving him tired, congested and relentlessly coughing. I couldn't wait to get home and wrap my arms around them all. And I couldn't even find my cell phone to call home and check in.

While I sat that there getting more and more frustrated at the nerve of this diesel guy (I mean, if you know you have to block three lanes of traffic to make this delivery, could you not choose 5:00 traffic as a delivery time?!) I reached down to look through the package from the pharmacy. I had two sets of antibiotics and one cough medicine. But when I looked at the antibiotics, they hadn't been mixed. Ugh. So now I had to wait for the diesel truck to MOVE and then I had to jet back to the pharmacy to wait in that awful line (again!) so I could get the meds mixed.

As I continued to sit, I reflected on the stressful school day. I had two sweeties complaining that they didn't feel good but neither had a temp. so they were returned to class to mope the rest of the day. I had one high-energy friend that forgot "part of his routine" this morning and was doing everything but pulling out my hair FOR me. Throw in a little fourth grade girl drama, and the afternoon was just not as fun as most. *deep sigh*

And then I heard this song.

My entire perspective changed as I began to feel for the poor diesel driver who probably wasn't from around here and had no idea the trouble this delivery would cause to an already congested road. As I passed I gave him a little wave and a smile, and he looked at me and smiled back with relief. No doubt other passersby weren't extending much southern charm.

What a difference a great song can make!

My Grocery Gamer!

2011-02-02T20:07:00.003-05:00

When Emily was just a little thing I had a feeling she would appreciate my couponing. She must have only been two or three when she pushed her baby stroller in the living room and asked me if I could watch her baby while she went grocery shopping. I promised to take good care of her baby doll, and as she exited the room to go "shopping" she turned to her baby and said, "What's that baby?" (silence as she pretended to be listening to her baby) "Oh, I'm sorry baby but we're not going to get that today at the store. Its not on sale, its not on the list, and I don't have a coupon!"

Fast forward to today and just look at my happy little shopper! We went to Publix this evening after the babies went to bed. Emily carefully scanned the aisle looking for the items that were buy one get one free sale items to match with my coupons. When we got to the check out station Emily was just as excited to hear the total as I was: $32.19 for all of this!

Hey! Nice hat!

2011-02-01T15:48:00.005-05:00

Elsie has several friends who needed to wear a special device on their heads in order to even out the heads. I'm surprised at how common it has become. Well, apparently Elsie decided that she needed one of the special hats too! She has worn it much of yesterday and today. I think she feels she is making a fashion statement!

Carnitas Tacos

2011-02-01T07:44:00.002-05:00

I could get used to this being at home thing. I love teaching, but I also love being a Mommy at home all day. I certainly don't like that the twins were sick, but that's not to say I haven't enjoyed every moment with them at home.

We didn't figure out they were sick until after I'd already gotten completely ready for the day yesterday, which included putting this meal in the crock pot. Turns out, I got to be home all day smelling the house as it cooked. I couldn't wait for dinner, and it turned out great!

Here's the recipe:
2 lbs. pork loin
1 chopped onion
3 diced carrots
2 chopped chipotle chilies in adobe sauce
2 T. adobe sauce (from same can)
2 cans white kidney beans
1 can dice tomatoes
3 T. tomato paste
1/2 C. water
1 1/2 T. oregano
1 t. cumin
2 t. kosher salt
1 t. black pepper
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
chopped cilantro
sour cream
sliced limes

Cut the roast down the middle and put in crock pot. Add all other ingredients, except sour cream, lime, and cilantro. Cook on low for eight hours. Shred pork and mix all together. Serve with warmed corn tortillas with lime, sour cream, and cilantro as garnish.

And the best part? If you use low-fat sour cream, this dish is only 6 weight watchers points! And it tastes delish!

My morning

2011-01-31T11:47:00.003-05:00

Elsie was sick on Saturday morning, and so even though we had great plans to head out and enjoy the wonderful weather, we played it safe and stayed at home. Well wouldn't you know Elsie was fine the rest of the day? Isn't that the way it goes? So of course the next morning we brought her to church. We didn't even think about it. And she was just fine. And then last night happened. Let's just say I elected to use disposable diapers after the first major yucky diaper change. And I felt HORRIBLE for bringing in the church nursery!

So this morning we were left with that big question: Does she go to Ms. Shari's, or do we keep her home? She never ran a fever, and she hadn't had yucky diapers in hours and hours. So we decided to bring her.

Once we got to Shari's house Elsie just didn't seem right. She was too mellow and almost lethargic. Our pediatrician always tells us temperament over temperature, so I decided to call school and tell them I'd need a substitute. I wasn't about to leave my baby feeling so yucky.

So that's what I did. I drove to school so that I could throw together some lesson plans, with Elsie in tow. I still wasn't sure what's wrong with her, but something just wasn't right. Once I got to school, I walked her in on my hip, and when I got about half-way up the walkway to the building, the guy who teaches next to me caught up and asked what was going on. I was just in the middle of explaining Elsie's weird symptoms when Elsie projectile vomited all over me and the pillar I was standing next to.

Horror movies don't have anything on a puking baby for a young guy with no kids of his own. I felt so bad, both for Elsie but also for my friend. It was pretty gross! Needless to say, I never got to my classroom.

I decided to go back to Ms. Shari's to pick up Eli, who surely was exposed to her germs. I didn't want him to pass those germs on to the other littles.

I get him home, and he puked in the driveway.

Nice. So far one of them has been asleep while the other pukes. It has worked out well this way. Because if both of them were up "getting sick" at the same time, I don't know what I'd do.

Its been quite a morning. Luckily in between the piles of yuck on the floor, the dirty diapers, and the crying there have been many moments of cuddling, snuggling and cartoon watching. I love those parts. I'm sure my sweet baby girl and boy will feel better soon. Hopefully its REAL SOON! :) But I'm enjoying my day with these sweeties all the same.

Drapes (finally) and other things

2011-01-11T15:28:00.004-05:00

We've lived in this house for almost six years. Hard to believe, eh? During all this time we've almost painted every room in the house. One of the last ones to be done is our bedroom. It has sort of been the last on our priority list. Our bedroom is referred to as the "soccer bedroom" because of its ridiculous size. So painting it has always seemed like it would be a big task.

The previous owner put up some great drapery rods from the four windows in the bedroom. I've always loved the rods, but have never purchased drapes for them. Finally they have drapes! I used some Christmas money and got some great chocolate brown drapes that go great with the color now, but will also be great if we ever get around to painting the room a color we like better.

And this is a picture taken from our bedroom window. We're still snowed in. Its really quite beautiful even though much of the snow has melted away. However there is still a lot of ice on the trees, which means ice on the road. Scary stuff. I doubt we'll go to school on time tomorrow, if we even have school at all.

Snow!

2011-01-10T14:45:00.005-05:00

The weatherman called for snow, which is a rarity in South Carolina. They canceled school today, and announced early last night. So we made sure the kitchen was stalked with milk and bread, and then went to bed last night anxious to see what we would wake up to! It didn't stop snowing until past noon, and we ended up with over seven inches! Wow! What tremendous joy!

I'm sure I've mentioned before about how fabulous our neighborhood is, but let me explain why! First of all, I love that when the weatherman calls for snow, the moms in the neighborhood begin getting out snow pants and passing them around the 'hood to whoever has a child that could benefit from them. Its fabulous! But also I just love that the neighborhood pool area turns in to the coolest sledding hill! Everybody begins to gather and kids go down on sleds, toboggans, or anything plastic they can find.

Here is Emily going down with some friends, and the girls helping each other back up the snowy hill. Emily and I also went down together a couple times. It was a blast!

Eli wasn't such a fan of the snow. He refused to keep gloves on (and they were really only wool mittens) and when he fell in the snow this one time, he freaked out and declared himself "done." I didn't blame him. Elsie was not far behind, as she also didn't care for the cold, but she did manage to have some fun in the wagon with her friend Reagan from down the street. What cute babies!

I'm back with random updates!

2010-09-18T07:23:00.004-04:00

I guess I haven't blogged so much for obvious reasons. Going back to work has made me really analyze how I spend my time so that any extra time can be spent with the kids. However, as I finish up the fourth week of school and things fall better in to place, I realize that I want to get back to my old blogging hobby.

There wasn't really a great way to get back in to things, except for one of my random posts, so here goes!

Malisa's random thoughts... posted in no particular order, but rather as they flow in and out of my head:

1. Scott is up early this morning. He's at the Lake Murray Dam run. It starts in five minutes, and I pray for him to do his best. This is a 10K run. Yep, that's right. 10k = 6.2 miles. Scott has turned out to be quite the runner. I'm so proud of him! Not only is he skinnier than he's been since before we got married, but he has researched and learned so much about being a runner. Its been fun to watch him on this journey. He's inspiring!

2. I'm up to a 3 mile run, tops. I have horrible shin splints that cause me to limp after my third run of the week. So far, this had kept me from expanding the number of runs I do a week, or adding more miles. But the way I figure it, my cast hasn't been off for quite two months yet, so I think I'm doing okay for now.

3. One of my besties is getting married today. My friend Amber and I met years ago when I first moved to South Carolina. She's been my "single" friend for the past five years, the one who drops in for dinner whenever and is thrilled to share a home cooked meal with us, no matter how simple it may be. I love her dearly, and so does my entire family. She's been a chosen family member, so to speak. And the wonderful man she's marrying fits right in. My Emily loves them both, as do the rest of us. I'll be sure to post some pictures of Em in her flower girl dress, and me in my bridesmaid dress. Its sure to be a fun day! And the festivities start in just a few hours with hair appointments!

4. Mrs. Shari, the fabulous lady who keeps the twins, was put in our lives by God. He obviously knew the state my heart was in when I had kids and worked, and therefore He put Shari in our lives to ease the situation. She was wonderful with Emily, and just to be expected, she's wonderful with our twins. Its easy to see how they love her too. One quick story to signify her fabulousness: I dropped the twins off and noticed that Eli was stinky. I laid Shari's changing pad on the floor to change him, just like she does. Eli ran over, laid done, and was perfectly still. Once I started changing his diaper, he threw his hands over his head. Now, at home, this child is like trying to diaper a tiger. He rolls all over. His hands go straight to the "yuck." And the entire thing is quite disasterous. However, Shari apparently explained how they do diaper changes, and this is how they do them. Expectation raised, and the twins raised with it. Fabulous!

5. Yesterday was the bridal luncheon at noon, and so I took a personal day off work. Since I had nowhere to be in the morning, I went Emily's school and spent the day with her in Kindergarten. Her wonderful teacher (I could write an entire blog post devoted to her teacher's fabulousness) even arranged for this day to be "Leaf Day" when I mentioned this rare chance to come in to class. So I got to run a station as the children investigated all about leaves. Then I got to go to the library with the class, and to see the cafeteria where Em eats lunch. Of course I also saw Scott and his class. The entire morning was just what I needed. Emily is in a wonderful setting with wonderful people. I'm so pleased that she gets to go there to learn every day. I could never ask for more for her Kindergarten year.

6. I love my job. Turns out I this teaching thing is a fiber in my inner-being. It is who I am. It is what I love. I marvel at the brilliant things my kids say, and the hysterical things they say. When I look at where we were when we walked in the first day of school, and how our community has begun to build since then, I am so amazed at what they can accomplish.

7. With the extra job, comes extra income. And I share this not because its important, but because I think so many of us have experienced this. Scott and I got our first paychecks of the year. And since we were making it work on his salary, we were thrilled to finally have a cushion with my income. And then, the very next day, our garage door broke. Like, it won't open at all, the spring snapped in half and the rollers are rusty broken. Isn't that the way it always happens? And my first instinct is to be incredibly disappointed, but I had to force myself to change my attitude and be grateful that this garage door didn't break until after we could afford to fix it. What a blessing! Because it turns out, replacing garage doors is expensive!

8. Eli and Elsie have colds. Probably just the first bug of the season, but now they are congested in their chest, especially Eli. Neither of them are running a fever, or even have a change in their temperament. But I know its coming. I pray that they will be fine, and the chest congestion clears up on its own, however, I'm anticipating a trip to the pediatrician this week. And its only September!

Speech

2010-08-09T19:26:00.002-04:00

I read this speech from a link posted on facebook. Basically its a speech written by a high school valedictorian. She turned in a "fake" speech to her administration before delivering this one at the actual ceremony. Its absolutely amazing. As I continue to think about school, my classroom, and future students, this speech continues to rock my thoughts.

Random thoughts for today

2010-08-06T21:06:00.002-04:00

My posting hasn't been as regular lately. My cast came off last Tuesday, and while I'm supposed to where my boot, I haven't worn it since the day after I got it. Scott grumbles about a waste of a $40 boot, and I grumble about being asked to where the dumb thing in the first place. I was told to "wean" myself off my crutches until my strength came back enough to support my leg. Little did my doctor know that I had been walking on my casted leg for a little over two weeks prior to the "coming off" date. Obviously he didn't notice the hole in the heal of the cast. I was grateful when he viewed the x-ray and declared my leg had healed "perfectly." Scott rolled his eyes as the doctor said "perfectly" because once again I got away with not following the rules.

Anyhow, all that said, I have been enjoying every moment with it off. The very next day I cleaned out the garage. I've cleaned out linen closets, bathroom cabinets, and Emily's bedroom which once again could have used a backhoe. We've been to the beach, the pool, and to town more times than I can think. I've been moving in to my classroom, and cherishing time with the kids during these last few days.

I officially start back to work next Thursday. Depending on the moment, my response to returning to work is either complete excitement, or breaking down in to tears. I have no control over which way the pendulum of emotions will swing at any given time. All I can say is that my heart breaks at the thought of leaving my babes, but my heart also longs to return to the job I love. Ih never thought it possible to want two things.

Finally, my last random thought for today is about our last minute trip to the Zesto in Chapin for ice cream cones. I often reflect on the things I remember most about my childhood, and I wonder what Emily will remember and cherish about her childhood. I would like to think that our impromptu trips to Zesto for a chocolate dipped cone will be among those remembered things. I love to see the look on her face when, after the dinner dishes are done, Scott or I will say, "I think we need an ice cream from Zestos." Definitely a sweet spot in my day today.

Video insight

2010-07-22T11:53:00.002-04:00

Now that the twins are mobile they seem to play more together. This is very cute, and we love to watch them seek the other out. They both seek Emily out, however Eli is the one who constantly follows Emily around and copies her every move. I love this first video because it not only shows Emily playing her favorite thing (she calls it "dance party" and it basically involves turning the music up and dancing around the living room as she sings in to a pretend microphone) but it also shows how sometimes having a twin can be troublesome.

Eli is definitely mobile. He is walking around everywhere. The biggest motivator to walk is that he can get to where he wants to go with the ball in his hand. He would get upset when he'd have to put his ball down to crawl. Now he is often found walking around with his ball. What a typical boy!

Kids live here

2010-07-17T18:16:00.003-04:00

Today's been a lovely lazy day at our house. While our family is a family of "do-ers and go-ers" we also very much enjoy to just be home with each other. I love our home, and was thinking today about how a house reflects the interests of the occupiers. Several times today I caught myself admiring the evidence of our interests, and all I could think was, "Kids live here."

I noted some of my noticings below. Some are funny, others are odd, and some resulted in a mental cleaning list.

- I always wanted the T.V. to be in an armoire so it could be closed in and out of sight, so when we bought new livingroom furniture five years ago, we bought a big armoire to hold the T.V. with big doors that enclose it. Well, those doors now stay open, and are pulled all the way back on the hinge. This is for two reasons: 1.) When Emily is dancing around to music in the livingroom, she likes to see her reflection in the screen and 2.) Eli likes to wait for Elsie to stand in front of the T.V. and then close the doors on her head.

- Our eat-in kitchen is a toy/sitting room. Scott and I have two chairs in the corners, and toys line the walls in big toy furniture bins. This screams "kids live here."

- Smudges. There are smudges all over, and no matter how often I clean, they always return. Some smudges to note are the twins' mouth and nose smudges on both the storm door in the front, and the french doors to the backyard. Other smudges are the snot smudges that are smeared on the "time-out" wall. It took me forever to figure out where the glossy marks on the wall were coming from until one day when Emily was in time out. She was sitting cross-legged and rocking on her legs from side to side, wiping her snotty nose from one end to another. Gross? Yes. And certainly an indication that kids do in fact live here.

- The tub in the upstairs bathroom is full of toys. Never mind the giant giraffe painted on the wall.

- There is whole milk in the refrigerator. I don't know who else drinks this stuff. Nasty gross, but somehow my babies love it.

- In our backyard we have a swing set/structure with a slide, a trampoline, and baby ladder and slide, a water table, a sprinkler mat for the babies, a sandbox, and two plastic picnic tables. It looks like a Little Tykes Factory threw up back there, but our kids love it!

- There's a mini-van parked out in front.

- We have very little art hanging on the walls. Instead we have lots of pictures of our kids. We like it this way.

- Every cabinet requires a certain skill to open. Sometimes the potential opener has to press down on a hidden tab, and other times a magnet is required to retrieve the contents of the cabinet.

- And finally, you can tell kids live here because of the sounds. Sometimes its not good sounds, like crying, fussiness, or a parent at the end of a fuse. But most of the time its baby babble, giggling, or the days events being told by Emily. I think our house has good sounds. As I type right now I hear Scott through the baby monitor. Eli is talking babble to him, while Elsie fusses away. He is going back and forth between making silly sounds to Eli, and making comforting sounds to Elsie. Our house definitely indicates that kids live here.

Sleepy Babies

2010-07-12T17:59:00.002-04:00

We had a play date with friends last week. By the time our little friends left, the twins were too tired for lunch. Luckily, I had my iPod handy and caught Elsie before she drifted off to sleep!

My Funny Kid

2010-07-06T10:31:00.002-04:00

So this morning Emily was really in rare form. The make-believe play was fabulous, and I was cracking up all morning. Not only was pretending to be "She-Ra, the secret agent from Romania," but then she was pretending to be "Caroline, the poor mother of sixteen children without any food."

When she was "Caroline" she walked in wearing one of Scott's old ratty t-shirts over her clothes, and a dish towel wrapped around her head. She told me she was "gleaning" the fields. I wondered if perhaps she'd been taught the story of Ruth in Sunday school the other day, because that's really what she looked like, except "Caroline" had sixteen children, who were all hungry.

My little Old Testament character and I had a wonderful little conversation that made me giggle. I thought I would share.

Emily, uh, I mean Caroline came in to the room and said:

Caroline: Oh poor me. I am just so hungry, and I don't know what to do about feeding my sixteen children.

Me: Oh, you poor old lady. Do you need some help?

Caroline: Well, its just that we have such a long journey ahead of us, and not a camel is to spare. And my kids are so hungry.

Me: I don't have a camel to give you, but I can give you some fresh spinach and carrots to help feed your children.

Caroline: None of my children like carrots or spinach. Do you have any cheeseburgers?

Me: Nope. I only have fresh veggies.

Caroline: My kids don't like most fresh veggies. They only like fresh asparagus sauteed with mustard. Do you have any of that?

Me: Sounds like your children are picky eaters who must not be too hungry! Sorry, I have no asparagus or mustard.

Caroline: (deep sigh) Well, I guess we'll be on our way. We have to get on a boat for 62 days and we will have no food. (deep sigh)

Scott's Beingnets

2010-07-04T08:08:00.002-04:00

This morning when I woke up to a fabulous smell. When I walked downstairs I saw Scott standing in the kitchen over a plate of these warm wonderful beignets. The twins woke early this morning and since Scott was already up, he decided to make them from scratch.

I came and took a seat in my chair, and Scott quickly brought me a plate with a hot cup of coffee. He was anxious to see what I thought, and I was anxious to take a bite. They were wonderful!

Carolina/Clemson Rivalry

2010-07-02T20:18:00.003-04:00

College sports in our town are huge. We live in the South Carolina where every citizen cheers for one of two teams: the USC Gamecocks, or the Clemson Tigers. During football season cars go down the interstate with decals, stickers, magnets and flags shouting their allegiance to their team. Our PTO meetings at school are planned around home games. And restaurants advertise their "tale-gating specials" as the entire city seems to tale gate beginning hours before a game. The rivalry between the two teams is huge. One of my friends is engaged to a man who went to Clemson. She is a Carolina (USC) grad. Before every rivalry game, the two bet against each other's team. The loser has to sport a sticker from the opposing team on their car for three weeks. This is just an example of the fun rivalry in our state.

Scott and I are not big football fans, but I enjoy watching a good football or baseball game. We claim to be Gamecock fans, just because we pay Scott's doctoral tuition to the school, and we might as well enjoy the fun that comes with following a college team. Of course this last week the Gamecocks won the college world series. This was a huge feat, and a major celebration in our town. Not only did over 14,000 fans welcome the team as they returned to town, but our governor ordered the Gamecock flag to be flown above the statehouse. And of course a parade is being scheduled.

But one picture I saw really made me giggle as I considered the rivalry between the two schools. Carolina beat Clemson earlier in the series. I thought this was fun to share!

Blueberry Picking

2010-07-02T16:10:00.005-04:00

Fruit picking has quickly become one our family traditions... Strawberries in the spring, blueberries in the summer, and apples in the fall. This morning we headed out to Lexington to pick blueberries. Grammy got to go pick apples with us a couple years ago, and this was the first time she was in town to pick blueberries with us.

We had a great time, broken leg and all. We learned from yesterday's shopping experience and brought a beach chair with us. Grammy pulled the wagon with the twins, and Scott carried all our gear. Once we found a great picking spot, he put my chair down and I was in charge of picking the low blueberries. The system worked out great, and we ended up with nearly 8lbs!

Eli and Elsie quickly figured out that the green blueberries don't taste as fabulous as the deep blue ones. We put bibs on them and let them eat them straight from the bushes. They thought this was fabulous!
They were much more interested in what was going on than last year! What change a year can bring!

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I'm sure we will have several blueberry recipes to come, however I know my family looks forward to our favorite blueberry buckle recipe!
What a fun day!

P.S. Daddy was with us too, however Scott was very much interested in picking as many blueberries as possible. I guess he realized that with a five year old, twins, and a mommy with a broken leg our blueberry picking potential was minimal.

Today's adventures with Grammy

2010-07-01T15:23:00.004-04:00

Today we decided to go out and do a few things. You may be surprised to know everything we did, and when I tell you, you may wonder how in the world we did it all with my broken leg. Let me just say this: I'm glad we all had a sense of humor about it all. But I will get to that in a minute.

First of all we decided to go and get Eli's hair cut for the first time. We took him to this awesome place in Forrest Acres called Hair Doodles. I have to say I was a little nervous that he would throw a huge fit. However, the lady that cut his hair did an awesome job. First of all, she had a special seat for him. She got him all strapped in and then she gave him a small cup of animal cookies. She also gave him a toy with buttons. Eli loves buttons. How could he not have a great time? Cookies and a toy and he was ready to go! I have to say that Jenny from Hair Doodles did a magnificent job. And Eli did a magnificent job at staying still... or as still as a fourteen month old little boy can manage. Looks pretty good, don't you think?

Next we went to Chipotle. This is the only Chipotle anywhere near us, so whenever we trek out to Forrest Acres, Chipotle is always the lunch spot of choice. The babies and Emily ate quesadillas, and the rest of us had burritos. It was fabulous as always.

After that we drove back to our side of town to do some shopping. We went in to Kohl's to look for some baby things for Miss Elsie Faith. We thought she would stay in her twelve month clothes a little longer, but her rolly polly legs didn't allow for it. She is officially in 18 month clothes. We also wanted to get Emily some new "First Day of Kindergarten" outfits.

Well, here is where we run in to the problem. I have no problem going in to Chipotle, and other places and soon finding a seat. Getting from point A to point B doesn't bother me. But when I'm standing around on my crutches for a long time, my one leg gets tired.

We first walked in to Kohl's and I automatically began thinking, "Wow. This store is much bigger than I remember." I guess everything seems bigger and farther away when you have to rely on crutches. After just a little while standing around and shopping for baby clothes, my leg began to hurt because it was so tired. I kept trying to mentally chant to myself, "You are a flamingo. Think like a flamingo." But it just didn't work. Finally I told my mom that I would just wait in the car. I didn't want to ruin everybody else's fun and make them leave, so I thought waiting in the car was a good solution.

But Grammy didn't agree one little bit.

She told me no, that waiting in the car would not work, and she immediately got that "I'm thinking of a plan" look on her face. I started to object, but she put up her finger to remind me once again that she would not take no for an answer. The next thing I know she tells me to "wait right here" and she took off in the opposite direction.

We already went by customer service and found they had no accommodations to help a one-legged mommy shop, so I couldn't figure out what in the world Grammy was up to. The next thing I know she returns holding one of these:

That's right. Grammy went to the outdoor furniture section and found a chair for me to sit in. After we finished in one section of the store, Scott would wheel the babies in the stroller over to the new section, I would crutch myself behind, and Grammy was followed, dragging the outdoor lounge chair behind her.

Yep. That's our Grammy. She doesn't take "no" for an answer.

The best part about this story was telling my dad. I told him the entire story and as he cracked up in the phone, he said, "Yep. We're from Taft!" Hysterical. Absolutely hysterical!

The final part of our day was when we stopped for ice cream. Marble Slab is one of my favorites. Its like Cold Stone, but local, and much better. Scott stayed in the car with the twins while we went in and ordered our ice cream. When we returned to the car Scott mentioned that the twins were getting pretty fussy. Once again Grammy had the situation under control. Don't you like how she handled it?

She is Grammy. Hear her roar!

2010-06-26T21:32:00.003-04:00

After this entire broken leg drama, my mom and I just couldn't handle that, 1. My leg was broken and 2. We lived so far away, and my mom wasn't here to help.

So my dad stepped in. Thank you God. And thank you Dave Driskill. We love you so much! He sent my mom to take care of us for the week, and we couldn't be more grateful.

Last night my mom caught a red-eye and arrived in Charlotte this morning by 9 a.m. Now for some of you, a red-eye sounds atrociously dismal. But I must say... My mom rocks the red-eye. Grammy has this routine down! She drives up in the evening with my dad after he gets home from work. They eat dinner at a snazzy restaurant in Manhattan Beach. Then he drops her off at the airport. She gets there in time to make her flight, and he makes it home before bed time.

Mom has mastered packing her bag in just one suitcase. This shocks and amazes everyone. If you know my mom, you know she has a certain relationship with all things with a sole. But I must say, I didn't believe it at first, but this time she actually traveled with only her carry-on and one suitcase. Nothing checked this time. Mindy is still asking, "But what did she do with the shoes?"

She takes a Tylenol P.M. and sleeps the entire trip. And even though she'll kill me for mentioning, I must add that one time on her red-eye trips she was so "out" after the Tylenol PM that she didn't even notice the horrible turbulence felt by every other passenger on the plane. It wasn't until the plane was taxiing in to the gate that the gentleman beside her said, "Gosh. You were really out. That turbulence didn't even jostle you out of sleep at all!"

But the moment that plane lands, Grammy is ready to go! She always has a fresh change of clothes which she changes in to with a fresh coat of lipstick, and she's off! No jet-lag for this grammy. No way. She's ready to embrace the grandbabies!

So far today she's changed countless numbers of diapers, washed many, many dishes, and cleaned the toys off the floor several times. No breaking her leg! We've had lunch at one of our favorite places, and take-out here at home this evening. She's bathed, read stories, snuggled, and fed all of the kids. She has re-stocked the pantry and refrigerator with every necessity. She was only in the house for an hour before she sent Scott upstairs where he took a much deserved three hour nap.

She is here. She is in charge. She is Grammy. Thank goodness!

The big 3-0!

2010-06-24T21:59:00.004-04:00

For my big 3-0, I decided to post the first 30 memories from my life so far as they popped in to my head. So in no particular order of importance or chronological order, here you go:

1. My sister and I acting out horribly non-PC skits with the church puppets one weekend when Mom brought them home to practice a skit for church. I don't think I've heard my parents laugh that hard since.

2. Watching in horror/laughter as Emily pulled the skirt of her dress up over her head for the ENTIRE dance recital routine in front of a crowd of hundreds.

3. The day I called Becky to tell her I was going to marry Scott, even though it was only after the second date. Her response? "But he's balding?" I will never, ever forget that! :)

4. When I was roommates with Jenny, all the times I woke up literally talking a mile a minute as she closed her eyes, put out a hand, and asked me to please wait until she'd at least started to brew the coffee. (I learned to love coffee from her, but I think she soon realized a caffeinated Malisa was even worse!)

5. Standing in the produce aisle in the Save-Mart on the corner of Fruit and McKinley, and talking to Scott on the phone telling me he'd been offered a job/PhD program at the University of South Carolina. I was seven months pregnant. And in my hand that wasn't holding the cell phone, I was holding one roma tomato.

6. When I won a trophy in Kindergarten for the Flower Show (only RBG, huh?) and racing in to my grandparents house to show my Popo. (grandpa)

7. Being at a duel swim meet in high school, touching the wall and pulling my head up to see I beat "that other girl."

8. Sitting in the parking lot at the pool to my (now) neighborhood with my mom, looking at the house Scott and I bought, and then meeting my friend Wyche, my very first friend in South Carolina. She was strolling her new born baby Joe, who was only weeks younger than Emily.

9. In high school, my dad waking me up in the middle of the night after we'd had an argument, and walking through the almond orchards for hours until we'd resolved them. And then going to Zingos truck stop for an early breakfast since it was near 4 a.m.

10. The night Scott proposed.

11. Sitting on the table with the ultra-sound tech and seeing more than one heartbeat.

12. Training at the olympic training center with my college swim team.

13. Running through my grandparents house with my cousins, stealing Grandpas fried chicken as we passed through the kitchen, and healing him cackle as he pretending not to notice.

14. When Jay introduced me to Becky the first time at that weird dance club in Fresno. 804? Or some name like that. We were instant friends.

15. My sister rescuing a kitten from a cardboard box in the parking lot of the salon where she worked at in high school, and convincing me to keep her. I still have that cat. Her name is Ethel. I love her.

16. Sitting in the living room with my dad when the phone rang to hear my mom was in an accident... rear ended by a drunk driver.

17. Walking in to the classroom of my first teaching job ever, and being simultaneously scared out of my mind, and thrilled to no end!

18. Watching T.V. at home on a fog delay morning, I think I was in Kindergarten, and seeing the Challenger explode.

19. The first time I held Emily after the first day of her being in the NICU.

20. The back patio on a Flordora house, and all the conversations Scott and I had with our friends. I still don't remember what Adam and I discussed, but I know it must have been deep.

21. Opening the door as a little kid, and Santa being on the front porch.

22. Driving up to Yerington Nevada as a kid to visit my great-grandparents, and sitting outside to eat Great-Grandma Audrey's chicken and dumplings.

23. The time my mom was trying to teach me how to drive stick, and I couldn't reverse out of a parking spot. I stalled and a car honked. My mom shot out of the car and told the lady to cut me some slack, and have some patience! And then she got back in the car and I saw she was wearing her shirt that said, "Today I will commit to one random act of kindness. Will you?" Ha ha!

24. Singing a solo in the "Angels Aware" choir performance at church with Peggy Biller.

25. Working all those summers at the R.B.G. pool with Ed Edgmon. I wouldn't trade those summers for anything!

26. Driving home after picking up the cake for my big 13th birthday party when a car had pulled out in front of my mom, and she had to slam on the breaks. It landed face down, and was completely wrecked. My mom and I cried and cried, and then laughed hysterically.

27. Bringing the twins home from the hospital.

28. Collecting some random toys with Mindy, and burying them in the backyard with plans to dig up the "treasure" later. I still remember at least two of the toys, and I think they should still be there in my parents backyard.

29. The afternoon after Scott decided to confront his boss, and when I came home I found him in the bath tub with a six pack of beer and Mac Addict magazine.

30. Heading out for a walk with the twins when Scott yelled at me to "come here quick!" And Emily had broken her arm!

Cleaning Emily's Room

2010-06-23T20:40:00.005-04:00

Right now Emily and Scott are upstairs cleaning Emily's room.

This is a big deal. This could take a lot of time. This could take a lot of energy. This could take a backhoe.

Now I haven't been in Emily's room for a couple of weeks for many reasons. Its at the top of the stairs and down the hallway and with the giant mess that is surely living in there, I'm sure its not handicapped accessible.

And since I haven't frequently the place where she sleeps I really don't know what it looked like before Scott and Emily got started. But from I've gathered, it must be horrible. In the past week I've seen Emily bring down and "put away" about fifteen different stuffed animals and dolls. And then there was the entire tinker-toy Barbie princess palace that surely never got put away. Then there was the time she took al the jewelry out of her jewelry box and put it all on at the same time. And then she "put that away" her "penny collection." A couple days ago she put on five different dresses before choosing one, and since she has never hung up clothes before, I'm certain those things are all on her closet floor. And yesterday she was playing dress up with her multiple Halloween costumes/dance recital outfits. Those, also, are guaranteed to be on the floor. In case you haven't gathered, Emily doesn't "put away" very well.

Of course this is not counting the numerous toys she's gotten out and played with that I don't know about. Or the art supplies at her little plastic desk. Or the "decorations" she told me all about rearranging.

All i can say is that I love my husband dearly. And I appreciate his efforts to return her room to the state it was pre-broken leg. Good Luck Scott. And if I don't hear from you in a couple of days, I'll call the fire department to go in after you!

UPDATE:
Scott made it out alive, and is happy to report the room is now clean. He is my HERO! He brought downstairs 5 cups, 6 library books and 1 very large bag of trash. It reminded me of the time I was brave enough to assist Becky in cleaning out the trunk of her car!

Random Monday Post

2010-06-21T14:26:00.002-04:00

- I went to the grocery store today with Scott and Emily. Mary stayed home with the twins, so we weren't quite the spectacle. Getting out of the house was good. Even if it was just to the grocery store.

- I'm thinking of cutting off my hair on Thursday. It may be fun to honor my 30th by getting an actual style to my hair. And I think I've let my hair grow long enough to donate to Locks of Love... something I've always wanted to do.

- The babies are getting better at taking one nap per day. We've weened off that morning nap by watching a baby DVD and having a snack. That little quiet time helps them get through the morning without going to sleep. Now their afternoon nap lasts just about two hours. That's a fabulous thing!

- I go back on Thursday for my cast to be put on. I think as soon as we reach that milestone, I won't have to worry about propping for the swelling, and I can find new and inventive ways to help out around the house. Right now I mainly sit with it elevated.

- My ladies group is starting a new Bible study tomorrow on prayer. I'm looking forward to it!

- Scott and I are trying to figure out how to begin moving things in to my classroom. The organizational process of moving in to a new room always thrills me. This was one part of teaching at a year-round school in Fresno that I didn't mind. Yes, I know that makes me a little weird.

-Elsie has learned to blow kisses . This may be one of the cutest things ever!

Happy Monday to everybody!

I will forever set-off airport security

2010-06-19T22:27:00.003-04:00

A day after surgery, and here are some of my post-of thoughts:
(WARNING: I'm pretty heavily drugged on pain meds so I'll try my best to make sense!)

- As if our family wasn't already super slow going through airport security, I will now make us even slower. Hello Mr. TSA and his wand.

- Nobody should ever show a post-op patient the x-ray picture of an ankle with seven screws and a plate. Seriously? Wait until the patient is no longer requiring heavy dosages of demoral and then show the picture as a claim to her amazing recovery and general "toughness."

- The wonderful picture of my metal ankle is now hanging on the fridge to remind everybody in the house how super tough Mommy is, and it may also serve as a reminder to pick up the toys!

- The surgery was done at a surgical center. I've never been in a surgical center before, but my first thoughts were that it must cut down on cost. No peeing in a fancy screw top urine specimen cup. They just use a Dixy cup. Scott said it was like surgery with a coupon. I liked this very much.

- I'm amazed at how they numbed my leg. The anesthesiologist isolated my sciatic nerve, and then blocked it. How cool is that? I couldn't even feel anything at all until the block wore off last night around six. That was probably the worst pain I've ever been in. And its over now. So see there? Only good things to come!

- Demerol + Fenergan = Malisa on drugs. There were times today when I couldn't even carry on a conversation, much less remember a conversation had taken place. I hate being out of control like that, but unlike my cesareans, ibuprofen just wasn't going to do the trick this time.

- My husband is awesome. Have I mentioned that lately? He's awesome.

-Scott's dad and step-mom (Paul and Mary) have helped so much with the kids. Its nice to have them here to help in situations like this one.

- While I was in surgery on Friday, Emily had her little performance for VBS. I asked Amber (or Ammer) to go and be Emily's "person." Not only did she record the performance for me to see, but she took Emily to Grouchos for lunch, and then Barnes and Noble. Finally, the went to David's Bridal to try on flower girl dresses. I am so grateful that my Emily had such a great day with one of her favorite people.

- I turn thirty next week, and for my special present, I will get the post-op wrap and splints taken off and will get a new cast to sport. Happy Birthday to me!

-South Carolina still has a drive-in movie theatre. I think I have Scott talked in to taking us there. It should be fun, and its something I can do with my bum leg.

- I got breakfast and coffee brought to me in bed. And this evening I got de-caf coffee and a slice of cake. Yum!

Eli's favorite

2010-06-17T17:23:00.002-04:00

Eli isn't feeling very well today. I think its his teeth that are trying to poke through on top. But whatever the reason, his not feeling well has resulted in him being very snuggly today. I've been in my chair (where I have been all week!) and he has crawled over to me multiple times to be picked up and snuggled.

This book seems to be his favorite. I've read it cover to cover, twice already today. This has been by far the longest my little boy has ever sat in the same place. I've enjoyed every minute!

The Dishwasher

2010-06-16T09:44:00.002-04:00

This is the toy of choice for the twins. Especially Elias.

The way our new set-up works the play area is in the large eat-in kitchen area. I sit in my chair and watch as Scott does the kitchen chores. One of my favorite things to watch is when he tries to load the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. The moment he pulls the door down, Eli and Elsie stop what they're doing and crawl straight over to pull themselves up and play in the dishwasher. No other toy holds their attention agains the magic dishwasher.

In order to actually get the dishes loaded, Scott has to rinse every dish and keep them in the sink. Then he opens the dishwasher and loads up as many dishes as possible before the attack of the twins. Its a race every morning to see what he can shove in before they are there to pull the items back out.

And forget unloading the dishwasher when the twins are awake. That job is reserved for when they're napping. There is just no other way to do it. Eli is very helpful with the silverware, however the other dishes he just throws across the floor, resulting in broken items. Its really quite funny.

I guess I should just be thankful they haven't taken an interest in the oven!

Surgery Friday

2010-06-15T17:24:00.003-04:00

I went to the doctor today. After he reviewed the x-rays he decided I needed surgery to insert a metal plate to properly set my ankle and foot bone. I'll have a fairly large (4-5 in.... I think that's large!) scar on my ankle and up my leg.

I feel a little guilty about being so bummed. But I have to say I'm bummed. I feel like I'm missing out on the entire summer with my kids. I'm not able to go anywhere like the zoo or anywhere that requires a lot of walking around. And I certainly can't drive myself anywhere.

The worst thing about needing surgery is that my "six weeks" in a cast will start over from the surgery date. I woke up today so excited that one week was down. And now it will have to start over on Friday. I'm sure the time will pass quickly, but it is just a bummer.

In the mean time, Scott is doing everything he can to cheer me up, while he stays up beat. I'm sure the idea of an extra couple of weeks in a cast was not good for him either. I'm sure he's ready for me to be up and back to my normal mommy duties as soon as possible. When the tech took my cast off, I was pretty shocked at the look of my leg. My calf was almost non-existent. I couldn't believe how much my muscle went away so fast. And my foot was bruised all the way around. I couldn't believe it. I told Scott I was embarrassed at how ugly my leg looked. He responded, "Honey, they probably cast penises around here. They won't think anything of your leg." That's my husband. He says the most absurd things with such a straight face, it leaves me to actually have to wonder if he's serious or not.

The most ironic thing of it all is that for my wonderful 30th birthday I will get to go to a post-op appt. to determine if the swelling is down enough for me to get a cast. Ugh. I guess its better than my last birthday .

UPDATE:
Okay, so my pity-party is over. I need to stop my whining and realize that in just a few short months, none of the circumstances regarding my broken ankle/leg will matter. When I remember all the drama that came with last summer (Em's broken arm, baby twins needing hernia surgeries, Scott's kidney stones/surgery) none of that matters anymore. There were no lasting effects. Nothing that impacts our lives. It was just a time, and when that time passed, so did the difficulty. I'm sure it will be the same way with my dumb ankle.

I'm taking a class at church on Sunday nights about being a peacemaker. One of the verses we looked at last week was from Philippians 2:5, "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had." Well that just sort of sets the standard pretty high, huh? :) I will work on that!

The Walmart Adventure

2010-06-13T14:53:00.002-04:00

Many of my friends know that I'm not a fan of Wal-Mart. In fact, when we lived in California I had so many bad episodes at Wal-Mart that Scott told me I wasn't allowed to shop there. He feared for my safety. There was one time when this man was shouting obscenities at another customer because she accidentally bumped her cart in to his. He continued to shout at her, and she was in tears. I politely asked him to stop. Well, his obscenities were then directed at me and were so loud, the Wal-Mart security guard escorted the man out of the store. And another time this woman on a ride-on shopping cart was busily eating a bag of family-sized Fritos when she accidentally ran me over as I reached for a deodorant from the bottom shelf. Then when she kindly apologized, Frito spewed from her mouth and actually landed on my arm.

It was then that I vowed to shop at Target. I considered the extra money I spent as insurance to my mental stability.

However, when we moved to South Carolina almost five years ago, we quickly noticed that the Walmarts here were very different from the Walmarts in California. They are clean. They are well-stocked. They are not heavily crowded, and the staff are normally friendly.

Well, take that Wal-mart background and consider this adventure:

We were out of many items on Saturday morning. Scott told me that we needed to go grocery shopping, and since he literally hasn't done much grocery shopping since we've been married, he wanted me to come with him. When he suggested I ride on one of the electric shopping carts, I was absolutely mortified. Now I realize that there are many people who rely on these carts to get their shopping done, and I'm thankful the stores provide them. But the idea of sitting in one with everybody watching was a little upsetting. I absolutely refused. Scott didn't understand why, but when I reminded him that we were a family with a five year old daughter, a double stroller carrying twins, a dad, AND A BROKEN-LEGGED MOM IN A RIDE ON SHOPPING CART, he quickly agreed that our family would quickly turn in to the freak show parade upon entrance to Wal-Mart.

So we compromised.

I told him I would ride the electric shopping cart, IF he would drive us all the way to Newberry county so we could do our shopping in that Wal-Mart where nobody would know us.

What can I say? He loves me, and he agreed. Isn't that fabulous?

So off we go on the interstate to Newberry County. Now just think of the logistics of actually getting every out of the car and in to the store! Scott pulled up in front, where I hobbled out. I went inside to figure out if there was a check-out system or whatever was required for me to ride in one of these carts. Then Scott unloaded all three kids with the double stroller and wheeled them in.

And then the freak show parade began.

About the third time somebody said "hahahah! DOUBLE TROUBLE!" to Scott, I thought he was going to explode. I've learned to appreciate the silly comments from strangers, but Scott still gets annoyed, and I'm afraid one day he will spout back, "They aren't any trouble at all, thank you very much!"

This Wal-Mart was far busier than any Wal-Mart we normally frequent, and the crowded aisles made it nearly impossible to make it down the shopping list.

Finally we were almost all the way finished and this big red light started blinking on my motorized shopping cart. Then the beeping started. You know what "beeping" I'm talking about! The "she's going in revers, move the heck out of the way!" beeping. Apparently the battery was going dead, and so the beeping continued until a manager could turn it off. But we didn't know this.

So survey the scene with me. I was in the main aisle of Wal-mart with a beeping, battery-dead motorized shopping cart in a strange town with twins nearing fussy time, and a daughter who appropriately added to the chaos by stating, "I really need to go to the bathroom.... LIKE RIGHT NOW" as everybody watched with sly grins on their faces. Scott and I looked at each other in horror, not knowing what tragedy to conquer first, but knowing that the only one capable of handling ANY of the empended doom was Scott. I was stuck with this awful purple cast on my leg that made me incapable of doing anything worthy of saving the day. So instead, I just began to cry. In Wal-Mart.

Now I'm not saying I know what hell is like, but it can't be too different from what I experienced at Wal-Mart last Saturday. Just sayin'

Scott finally found a manager who came with a new ride on motorized cart. I hobbled over to the new one while Scott unloaded and re-loaded the groceries to the new cart. My foot, which normally remains elevated all day had been down, and was throbbing. And I was so upset by the entirety of it all. Poor, poor Scott.

By the time we got back to our home I was so relieved. I vowed never, EVER to go to a grocery store in a cast again. Our Wal-Mart freak-show parade has made its last appearance.

Emily Grace

2010-06-11T20:26:00.002-04:00

I felt the need to update on Emily Grace this evening. This girl is just growing up so fast! This evening we had a birthday party for one of her friends. Emily was to dress up in princess attire for the event. I braided her hair, and she put on jewelry to accessorize. All of the sudden I just couldn't believe how grown up she is! My beautiful little girl will be in Kindergarten next August?! How did this happen? Please tell me how!

So, in light of that realization that hit me like a ton of bricks, I bring to you an update on Emily Grace:

-Emily tells me all the time that she is going to marry Peter Pan. When she's playing make-believe, she is always the mom, Peter is the dad, and she has boy/girl twins names Brock and Jordan. (Brock and Jordan are actually two boy-girl twins who were on Emily's soccer team, and go to her preschool.)

-Even though her "babies" are named Brock and Jordan, the rest of her dolls and teddy bears still have food names. Her favorite bear is names Guac (as in guacamole) and her first ever dolly she still refers to as Sushi. We thought these names would eventually be replaced, but so far they've stuck.

-Emily cracks me up with her names for things. She refers to my crutches as stilts. She refuses to understand what I'm talking about if I call them "crutches."

-When my grandparents called the other day, Emily got on the line to say hello to them. But rather than get on the phone with a polite "hello!" she said, "What's up!" ---- I still don't know where that came from.

-Emily is in a phase where clothes fit in to one of three categories: itchy, too tight, or too loose. There is no in-between. There is no winning the argument. It doesn't matter how new or old the clothes are. She will complain. I solve this by saying very sweetly, "You have two minutes to put on any top and any bottoms that you chose or you get a spank. Then, if you still don't get dressed, you will have a spank for every minute that goes by." You would be surprised how many mornings we go through this. And now that I have a broken leg Em thinks maybe she can get away with this. But darnnit if Mommy isn't the MOST STUBBORN MOMMY IN THE WORLD! She even climbs up stairs one-legged like to make sure Em gets dressed. --- My goal is to have this phase come to an end before Kindergarten starts. And if you were wondering, yes... we've had lots of "interesting outfits" the past few weeks. But at least she's dressed.

-Emily loves My Little Ponies. She likes to line them all up and play "Pony Parade" for her brother and sister. Elsie thinks this is fabulous, but Eli just likes to knock them down and giggle.

-Emily is happiest when she plays outside. Since I haven't been out to the garden much, she often comes inside to show me all the tomatoes she's picked. Some are read and ready to eat, and others... well... not so much. We haven't had a single tomato in a salad yet because Emily eats them all the moment they are ready. I'm glad she likes tomatoes.

- Emily was in the kitchen the other day when I was complaining to Scott about somebody. Emily gently touched my arm and said, "Jesus wants you to be nice to everybody Mommy. Even the annoying ones!" I would have probably cracked up if I didn't feel so convicted by my five-year old! I was reminded again how much we model 100% of the time... even when we think they're not listening!

- AND FINALLY: This evening as we talked about the up and coming chick-fil-a down the street (the source of all things wonderful!) Emily said, "Mom, if they don't build toys in there like McDonalds did, I think we should take our bucks someplace else!"

Too much to ask?

2010-06-10T20:20:00.003-04:00

So I was talking with my mom via email today, and I shared this dream with her. Thought I would share it here too!

Next week is my appt. where I find out if I need surgery to repair this ankle/bone issue. As I sit in my chair in my empty room, I keep thinking about how this appt. could go. I keep asking God to preform some sort of miracle. And then I day-dream about the possibilities. Somewhere on the line of "knowing our God can do anything" and "being extremely impatient and selfish" my dream falls somewhere toward the latter. However, who are we to determine what our God can do, right? So with that, I give you my day-dream:

I walk in to the x-ray room after they remove my adorable purple cast. The x-ray tech takes a few pictures of my ankle/leg. He reviews the computer images before coming in and, seeming dissatisfied with the images, takes a few more with different angles. He examines those, and just while I am beginning to think I caught the guy on his first day of work ever, he leaves with the images. He interrupts the orthopedist who is in mid-consult with another patient. "Doc, you have to see this!" The tech shows the doc the images, which reveal no break at all! They keep thinking there must be something wrong with the angle, and the doc orders the tech to take one more x-ray.

After the x-ray shows the same result, and after much head scratching and eye brow wrinkling, the doctor has no other choice by to send me home with no cast, and no explanation.

The next day I get up, and notice the scale shows I've lost another two pounds and am still on track for my weight loss. I decide that since my leg is feeling good as new, I should continue with my jogging plan. I head out down the road with a skip in my stride. Just as I'm rounding the bend, Bono from U2 begins singing "Its a Beautiful Day" as the forrest squirrels, deer, and birds all sing along.

So I ask you... is that too much? It could happen, right? Okay.... so take out the part about Bono, and couldn't my leg be healed in just one week? I think I'm going to goole it to find out if its ever happened before. I'm losing my mind with all this time on my hands.

Thankful Thursday

2010-06-10T13:13:00.002-04:00

Here's a list of things I'm thankful for today:

- All the meals brought by neighbors and friends. I'm quickly thinking we may be the neediest family in the SJP, and I'm looking forward to returning the favor. We've had some amazing dinners. What a load off to not worry about dinner!

- The neighborhood girls: So far we've had three different "mommy helpers" come over and play with the twins. I can't even carry a baby because of the crutches, so its so nice to have young girls come over and help us with the babies.

- Scott has a meeting today. He really needed a break, so these meetings that he has all day today and Friday are really great for him.

- I'm thankful for Scott's step-mom, Mary, who is taking care of us today, and Meesh who is taking care of us tomorrow.

- Yesterday Meesh brought us a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. They were fabulously wonderful. Not sure if that makes a her a good friend or not! :)

- McDonalds. Unhealthy? Yes. But it made for a great drive-thru lunch today that served as a chance to get out of the house.

- Time. I'm thankful for time to sit in my chair and plan for next year. I've already bought a teaching lesson plan book. Sounds lame. But I'm excited!

- Blocks. I stack them up. The twins knock them over. They think its hysterical every time. Glad I can make them laugh. It makes me feel better.

- Brownies. One of the sweet kids down the street just brought me the sweetest homemade card and a plate of (still warm) brownies.

- Eli's chocolate face after he helped me eat a brownie.

- Watching Robin Hood with Emily in our bed. Fun times.

Big Good News!

2010-06-09T08:58:00.004-04:00

When we first decided for me to stay home, we thought it would be just for the one school year. It made sense because it would be Emily's last year before she went to Kindergarten. As this year went on, I went back and forth so many times about what I wanted. I absolutely love staying home with my kids, but I do miss teaching very much.

A few months ago we got a call from Shari telling us she would have two openings for the twins. This was absolutely delightful! We never imagined she would have even one, much less two spots for the twins. This was really when I began thinking and praying about returning.

I went to the job fair last winter. It was me and every student from USC graduating with a teaching degree. I handed out my resumes, and talked with the principals. Than a couple weeks ago I got a few calls to go on interviews.

On Monday I got a call offering me a teaching position. I don't want to get too detailed, as the paperwork is still being finalized at the district office. But I can say its not at the same school that I left, but it is fourth grade with people that I know well. I'm excited. I'm ecstatic actually!

At first when I broke my leg (also on Monday!) I was furious that this was taking away from the excitement about finding a job. But now I'm thinking of it as a an opportunity for me to sit down and plan. I have so many thoughts about so many things. Now I'm spending my time with my notebooks and professional development books. I'm enjoying coffee in my chair, while the kids play, and I read through my books. I'm doing everything I can to be positive, and focus on any benefit that can be found with a broken leg.

I'm looking forward to everything this next school year will bring, and while I will certainly miss being with my kids all day, I will also look forward to balancing life between my passion to teach and my passion to be the best wife and mom I can be.

I'm over it

2010-06-08T18:45:00.002-04:00

So I've tried this entire broken leg thing, and its just not working for me. I'm over it.

Scott has been tremendously helpful, but not being able to walk over to the crib and pull out an upset baby makes me so upset. Its hard to depend on everybody to do everything for me.

The orthopedist said that in one week they will remove the cast and x-ray my ankle again to make sure the leg bone hasn't slipped. If it does slip, they will have to surgically put in a plate to correctly stabilize and align it. The doctor said that while it could happen, it isn't likely. I'm concentrating on the "not likely" part.

Things I'm thankful for today:
- My husband is fabulously awesome. End. of. story.
- Emily shampooed and blew dry my hair today. What a sweetie!
- My neighbors brought us a delicious dinner this evening.
- I probably won't have surgery. Fabulous news!
- Scott is home. Thank goodness!
- The babies like to crawl over to my chair and pull up with their hands in the air until I pick them up and put them on my lap.
- The cast is great at protecting my ankle/leg from babies pounding their toys on it.
- The doctor was very nice, and very helpful.
- The doctor agreed that ibuprofen was sufficient, and didn't say I needed to take that other pain med.

All in all, great things. Really great things. Six weeks in a cast will go by fast, and I'm sure it will all be over soon.

Oh Bother

2010-06-07T18:44:00.003-04:00

So I broke my leg today. What a bummer.

The kids were outside, the twins in the stroller, and I ran back in to get the beach towels that were in the exact place Emily said they weren't. I was rushing to get back out to the babies, when I tripped over this toy and landed on my ankle.

It hurt pretty bad, and I was rolling around screaming for Scott. Then when he got there I screamed it him to leave me alone and told him that I would be fine. Funny how we treat those we love when we're in pain.

Eventually we went to the urgent care where an x-ray revealed it was indeed broken. I go tomorrow to the orthopedist where I plan on talking him in to giving me just a walking cast. Surely he will agree, right? I'm praying he will. I was given some oxycodine which I didn't fill at the pharmacist. I'm already part crazy, so giving me that type of medicine would result in a full out whack-o Malisa. All prescription pain meds give me horrible nightmares, make me nauseous, or both. I'd rather take ibuprofen.

So right now I am already bored to tears, thinking of all the things I wanted to get done today, and probably won't get to do for another four to six weeks. Holy goodness. That's a long time! I'm also pretty bummed that I was doing so well with my running routine, and now that is obviously out. Surely they make video exercise dvd's for people with broken limbs, right? If not, then I know what my "get rich quick" idea will be! :)

Until then I am thanking our Father for the wonderful friends who came and watched our kids so Scott could drive me to the hospital. And our friends that brought us dinner. What fabulous people. And I'm also praising God for knowing how much I would need a husband like Scott. He doesn't need to be told what time the babies need to be fed, or changed, or put to bed. He knows how to do everything around the house, and effortlessly slipped in to the roll of both dad ad mom as he fed the twins and put them to bed. He is just that fabulous. And my sweet Emily is worried about my leg, and already gave me her "get well soon" bear that she got when her tonsils were taken out. I just love that girl.

I'm thinking this is the verse I need to memorize this week:

"See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The LORD GOD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."
Isaiah 12:2

Great dinner, great article!

2010-05-26T08:52:00.002-04:00

Scott and I decided to go out for dinner last night at Carolina Ale House. This is a favorite restaurant of ours, however we've not been since the twins were born. We loaded up the car, and prayed for a decently behaved dinner.

Turns out, the kids were the most well-behaved children that we've ever seen in a restaurant. I don't know what the deal was, but nobody cried, threw anything, or knocked anything over. The twins were content to sit in their high chairs and eat their food without event. Emily had the best manners, and say quietly and patiently while we waited for our food. All in all, it was an excellent time for us all.

On another note, I noticed the headline on a newspaper box as I exited the restaurant. I didn't fork over the buck to buy the newspaper, but did come home and find the article of interest on-line. I thought this was very interesting.

I've often encountered this type of issue with other moms. I was once in a Chick-Fil-A with the twins, and Eli was asleep in his baby carrier with his head slumped over. (His head was ALWAYS slumped over, despite the best efforts of Mom, Dad, and Grammy!)

A lady walked over to me and said, "I know you're busy eating, but if I bring his baby carrier to you, would you PLEASE fix his head from flopping over?!"

I was furiously angry, and responded, "He likes his head like that. I would fix it, but he'd put it right back in the same spot, so no, I won't but thanks for your concern!"

I know moms all have stories like this. I thought this article did an excellent job discussing this issue.

Family Devotions

2010-05-25T07:49:00.003-04:00

I've always complained that one thing that frustrates me about public school is the way our government makes social problems the responsibility of the classroom teacher. Many social problems in recent history have resulted in legislation requiring schools to teach children about the issue, thus making schools responsible for teaching what I believe should be taught at home. Some examples are sex ed, dietary habits, and very recently, financial planning.

Now I totally understand that many children aren't fortunate enough to have families that discuss anything together, much less difficult issues. And I realize that its better for children to be taught these things in the one place where they are together and all will be reached, which is the public school.

But I worry that it takes the load off the family from doing something that I think is its job. I don't want to have the attitude of, "Well, the school teaches our kids how have healthy eating habits, so we don't need to worry about it."

So now that I'm off my soap box, here is the issue that I'm having: I feel like the church and the family have this same relationship. I believe the church's job is to HELP the family teach their children about Jesus. I want our kids to learn about Jesus primarily at home. And while I know that modeling daily living and conversations with our Emily are effective ways to teach, I also wonder if we should be doing more. We read her toddler Bible to her, we've gone through the whole thing over the past few months. Its a great little kids Bible that has just about every story from the old to new testament. We've gone through a nightly devotional with her, but when it was over, I never found anything to continue with. I want to make sure we're not relying so much on our church teaching our kids, that we've given up the responsibility to do so at home.

Now I'm looking at family devotionals, and talking with Scott about implementing them during our evenings. I've had a few different ones that looked interesting that I need to look more closely at, and we need to find a protected time each night that would allow us to do this. Does anybody have any advice about how their family devotional time works in their house?

Strangers

2010-05-24T21:03:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted a good Emily quote in awhile, and thought it was high time.

A week or so ago, I sent Em out to get in the car for preschool. She walked out the front door and saw a man in our front yard, and immediately started talking to him. At first I totally freaked out until I realized that it was just the meter reader, and he probably just wanted to get back to his job.

Once we were all buckled in the car and backing down the drive, I explained to Emily that talking to strangers like that could be dangerous, and that it is not safe to go up to men in the front yard and talk to them. I tried not to be too scary sounding as I explained that there are not nice people in the world and that Daddy and Mommy want Emily to be safe. She told me she understood, and I told her I loved how friendly she was.

Well, this morning we were doing our grocery shopping at our favorite grocery store. The bagger walked us out and loaded up our groceries while I loaded the babies in the car. (This is why its my favorite grocery store... they always help me load my car!)

As the bagger turned to walk away, he asked Emily, "Are you always so helpful to your mommy?"

She just stood there.

Knowing that she wasn't a quiet kid after he just witnessed her talk endless in the check-out line, he assumed she must not have heard him, so he repeated himself.

She continued to stand there, and actually turned her head away.

For the life of me I couldn't figure out how my normally polite young lady could be so rude! I told Emily, "Honey, the nice man just asked you a question. Tell him how you are always so helpful to mommy!" (I'm sure there as an edge in my voice!)

She very timidly said, "Yes, I'm helpful to mommy." And the man turned to go.

After I got in the car, and before I could get any words out, Emily grabbed my shoulder and said, "Mommy. You really need to make up your mind about this stranger thing. I'm really confused right now."

Ahhh. So THAT'S it. I felt like such a doofus. And once again I was reminded that my five year old is smarter than I am.

Front Porch Conversations

2010-05-23T16:54:00.004-04:00

The evenings have been just gorgeous lately, so each night Scott and I have been enjoying them on the front porch. We have an adult tasty beverage while we listen to music and talk. It has quickly become one of my favorite times of the day when we get to enjoy some time together after the kids are in bed.

Its also the time when we get to seriously talk about life. Lately I've sort of dominated the conversations with all things job related. Will I go to work next year? What if I really, really miss teaching? Does that make me a bad mom? Why can't I have both things: teaching, and stay-at-home-mommy? What if I don't find a job? What if I stay home another year or two?

Let's just say... Scott is patient. And has tremendous faith. I worry about things out of my control, and Scott relies on Him bigger than us all. I still try to control things.

So the other night I sort of came to the realization that I felt I hadn't learned much lately. I haven't attended conferences, been involved with cohorts, read professional literature. And I told Scott I missed this learning.

He looked at me said that I needed to start valuing the things I HAVE learned this year. And when I stopped to think about it, there have been some great things that I've learned. I've learned how to save crazy amounts of money with coupons and menu planning. I've learned to can, make jam, bake bread, and all sorts of new recipes. I've made my own baby food, used cloth diapers successfully for over a year (with twins even!). I've made a household calendar and learned to manage the tasks around the house in a way that keeps me sane, and allows Scott the most time to spend with the kids when he gets home from work.

Sometimes moms don't stop to think about all the things we "learn" when we stay at home, or the things we teach to our kids on a daily basis. It was good for me to hear those words of encouragement from him, and I thought it may be good to pass it on to other moms who also may need to give themselves credit for the every day happenings around the house, however mundane them may seem.

I don't know where God will bring me next year. I may be at home with my twins, I may be in a classroom with students. But no matter what happens, I will remember to value what I've learned at home.

Our Tough Girl

2010-05-22T20:29:00.005-04:00

The recreation department does a "Mud Mania" day every year. I showed Emily pictures on the internet, and she said she would like to do that. So this morning Emily dressed in yucky clothes, and we headed off to the park to watch Emily conquer the muddy obstacle course!

Elsie and Eli were her biggest fans! Here is Elsie giving her awesome big sister some "good luck" smooches!

Here she is going through the obstacle course:

Emily wasn't quite sure about the kids getting mud all over their heads. This was about as muddy as she got!

When the kids were done playing in the mud, the fire department sprayed them off with a fire hose! It was quite the set-up!

Kitchen re-do

2010-05-13T08:06:00.005-04:00

We've lived in our house for almost five years now. I have mentioned many times that I absolutely abhorred the wallpaper in the kitchen. But truth be told, there wasn't much in the kitchen that I liked. But the wallpaper was certainly the worst.

We never really did anything with the kitchen because one project seemed like it would snowball in to another with no end.

Before we moved in, the home inspection revealed a slight mold issue with the floor leading to the back door. Well, we were told the owners "replaced" the floor. And they did. They replaced the 4' x 1' strip of floor where the issue was with 12" tiles, and framed it in. Yuck! But what were we going to do? We realized this the day before closing.

So then, the sliding door broke. We couldn't pop it out to adjust or replace the rollers because that would mean busting out the tile, which meant replacing the floor, and since the carpet was horrible in the living room, shouldn't we go ahead and replace it in there and in the dining room as well?

You can see where I'm going with this.

But finally, this past month we've done some great things to our kitchen. Our counter tops (which for my CA friends, are Formica... gross huh? Everybody has Formica, except in the super expensive houses where they have granite.) were painted and sealed, forever removing the mauvey-gray grossness. The cabinets, which were previously a "pickled maple" (I just called them pink!) were painted and then glazed with a brown-sienna color, the entire downstairs was replaced with laminate wood, the wallpaper was removed, and the walls painted, and a plaster backslash was added.

I just love it!

Here are some before and after pictures. These before pictures were actually the pictures we took of the kitchen before we bought the house, oh so long ago. Sadly, it was still the way the kitchen looked (with our furniture of course) up until a few weeks ago when the renovations began.

My new mission

2010-05-11T08:14:00.003-04:00

One of my best friends is getting married! Scott and I are totally excited for them as their Sept. 18 date quickly approaches. Emily will be the flower girl (how excited is she?!) and I am a bridesmaid.

Very exciting, however this event has spurred what I like to call the, "Get skinny before Amber's wedding" mission.

So far so good, as I've been walking/jogging three miles out of the neighborhood and back around. A few ladies from my neighborhood are joining me, and we leave at 7:40 every other day or so.

Now as a swimmer, I've always held to the belief that "swimmers don't run." And often times when my knees are aching this phrase come back to me. But the one thing that makes it so much better is where we go walking/running.

If you have never been to South Carolina before, you're really missing out on what I think is a really beautiful place. EVERYTHING is green, and the woods are filled with not only different types of oak and pine, but also magnolia, birch, and cedar. Between those trees there is such a variety of vines and foliage. So much so that you couldn't just "stroll through the woods" because you'd be accosted by all sorts of greenery that would block your path. And along the roadside where I run there is honeysuckle in bloom everywhere. It smells so wonderful. And between the honeysuckle are tons and tons of wild blackberry bushes with the beginnings of green berries that will be ready to eat in a few weeks.

The road we go down has very little traffic, only a few houses, and woods on either side. The trees meet in the middle, and it is simply gorgeous. At the end of this road is a small alfalfa field that has just been harvested, so there are huge round bales of hay every so often in the field. Beside this field is an old barn, and a horse stable with a half dozen horses.

Simply gorgeous.

So while I probably will never enjoy the "running" part of my mission, I'm so thankful for the beauty that I get to see each time I go. Maybe one day I will think to drive down this road with my camera to show you just what I am trying to describe.

Strawberry Picking

2010-05-08T14:49:00.004-04:00

One of our favorite things to do is to visit the Pick Your Own farms in our area. If you've ever wanted to find a place near where you live, a great website to visit is this website.

Strawberries are at their prime right now, so our family trekked out to Lever Farms this afternoon to pick our fill. We returned with nearly three gallons of beautiful ripe strawberries, and three very red children!

I'm pretty sure there was never a pair as happy as the twins! I brought their little mesh eating tool (you put food in it, and they suck it through the mesh bag... no choking!) and they ate a TON of strawberries. The only part they didn't like was when Mommy had to refill it. Eli, who is still developing patience, screamed every time until I could get a new strawberry loaded in his mesh bag.

Needless to say, we had to strip the twins down to their diapers before loading them in the car, and all three kids went straight from the car to the bath tub. Now its nap time for the kiddos, and Scott too.

And when Emily wakes up, we're making strawberry jam!

I love days like this with my family!

Nap Time Shenanigans

2010-05-06T08:31:00.002-04:00

Nap time is always such an elusive time. Some weeks go by with perfect nap times where all three kids sleep at the same time for at least an hour. Other weeks, well... it just doesn't happen that way!

Its funny to me that Emily is my best napper. She goes down fairly easily, and sometimes will actually put herself to sleep if she's particularly tired. Her naps are consistently two hours long. Just as the sun rises, Emily takes her nap. And yes. She is five.

But the twins? Well, that's a different story. We haven't had a good napping week in awhile now. Their morning nap is quick, at just one hour. And their afternoon nap is a little more than an hour too, but not at the same time.

Imagine this: I put both babes down in their cribs with their blankie and paci. I turn on the white noise, and slowly leave the room, closing the door behind me. Then for the next twenty to thirty minutes I hear them babbling to each other. Not fussing. Just babbling back and forth, with the occasional outburst of giggles. Its seriously the cutest thing ever.

But eventually, Eli gets tired, and lays down to go to sleep. This really makes Elsie mad. She stand up in the corner of her crib (the closest she can get to him in his crib) and she yells. She looks right at him and just tells him off! This goes on for about ten minutes straight, and Eli sleeps through the whole thing. Then Elsie begins to cry. She sobs and sobs and just can't figure out why her partner in crime left her.

And then finally, when Eli has been sleeping for about forty minutes, Elsie nods off to sleep. Eli sleeps for maybe another fifteen minutes and then wakes up, which leaves me with a whopping fifteen minutes to myself.

Just like a girl to talk a boy to sleep, huh?

The twins are 1!!!

2010-05-04T18:48:00.012-04:00

Eli and Elsie had a fabulous backyard bash on Saturday to celebrate their first birthday. We had friends and family over for some dinner and cake and ice cream. I'm sure neither of the babies knew what was going on, but they both had a great time!

Here are some pictures of the event:

Some milestones associated with their birthday:
Eli-
- Pulling up and cruising along tables and other furniture
-Crawls over to where I am and pulls up on my leg while whining "Mamamama"
- Is now drinking out of a sippy cup after months of hitting out of my hand whenever I brought one near
- Loves to swing in the backyard, and loves to dip his feet in the pool.
- Loathes diaper changing. All I have to do is lay him on the changing table and he begins crying "Neh neh neh." (No No No)
- Gives big wet open mouth kisses.
- Points to each member of our family when we ask, "Where is ______ ?"
- After he wakes each morning he loves to crawl in the bathroom and pound on the shower door until he gets daddy's attention. Then he breaks out in to the biggest smile of the day. I think he believes Daddy is playing hide and seek with him, but just isn't a good hider.

Elsie-
-Just began crawling for the first time on her actual birthday after being reffered to a physical therapist by our pediatrician only the morning before. (I've since canceled the referral.)
- Has a grin that rivals any, and isn't afraid to flash it to ya!
- Cranes her neck in the grocery store to gain the attention of strangers, and when they grant her their attention, she grins widely and kicks her feet. I'm pretty sure this brings joy to even the meanest customers.
- Makes kissing noises as she kisses. Especially loves to kiss her white "Merry Christmas" bear.
- Has rolls that cover her knee caps.
- Cocks her head to one side and waves, just like a southern belle should.
- Gives her brother and sister hugs.
-Loves to eat all foods, and makes "mmmm mmmmm mmmm" noises like she's savoring every bite. She especially loves cottage cheese.

Hard to believe these two beautiful babies are already a year old.

Plans to look forward to

2010-04-24T08:14:00.005-04:00

Saturdays have a way of filling up fast at our house. Each week we talk about what we want to do on the quickly approaching Saturday, and by the time the day finally gets here we have to pick between many things. I like it this way.

Today Emily has soccer pictures, and then her soccer game. After her game, we're heading out to the Sparkleberry Fair. I'm not sure what to expect, as I've never gone, but Emily and Scott went last year and Emily is totally looking forward to going again. Last year I was as big as a house and on bed rest. They went without me, and while I was certainly grateful for Em to have some alone time with her daddy, I remember being bummed that I was by myself and couldn't go.

That said, I'm sure we'll have a great time today.

Oh, and next Saturday is another big event: The twins' FIRST BIRTHDAY! Can't wait! My mom flies in on Friday morning, and we haven't mentioned it to Emily. Our plan is for me to drop Em off at preschool and then pick up my mom from the Columbia airport. Then when I go to pick up Emily my mom will be in the back seat to surprise her! Sounds like fun, right? Just ask my mom how many times she's almost blown it while talking to Emily on the phone! :)

UPDATE:
No sooner than five minutes after I clicked "publish post," it started to rain. No joke. I guess that's why its good to have many potential plans for a Saturday. Oh well. And I also forgot to mention that this Saturday morning was especially fabulous because Scott got up with the twins at their 6 am wake up time, and when I woke up an hour and a half later, I came downstairs to coffee, pancakes, bacon and eggs. Now that is what I call a good husband with a fabulous plan!

Remember this book?

2010-04-23T11:11:00.004-04:00

A few months back, Katie posted about a great book that allowed her to enjoy fresh bread every day. You can re-visit her post here. I thought this sounded like a wonderful book, but wanted to check it out from the library to make sure I would use it before making the purchase. Well, apparently the book is very popular because I was put on a huge waiting list. Finally it was my turn, and Scott picked it up from the library for me on the way home from work yesterday.

I tried my first recipe this morning, and will let it rise and chill all afternoon before baking the first loaf this evening. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Katie- Are there any "must bake" recipes that you and John love most?

Mornings at our house

2010-04-13T07:42:00.003-04:00

On preschool mornings we are forced to follow a rather rigid schedule in order to get Emily to school on time. Basically the schedule starts at 6 a.m. and doesn't stop until we're out the door at 8:30. Its the only way to get everybody changed, fed, dressed, and not leave the house in a tornado!

However, Tuesday and Thursdays are non-preschool mornings and I enjoy these mornings very much. Here is a brief insight to how our home looks as my three kiddos enjoy each playing with each other.

Notice that Elsie is in the play room while Eli is in the kitchen. If he makes enough noise, she becomes interested and leans over as far as she can to see what he's up to. She still has very little motivation to crawl as nothing he does is quite THAT interesting!

Twins update

2010-04-08T07:01:00.006-04:00

I haven't posted updates in awhile regarding what the twins are up to these days. I figured it was high time.

I will start with Eli:
- He is ever increasingly aware of his sister... what she is doing, what she wants to play with. On more than one occasion I have watched him stop what he was doing to just sit and watch her. Sometimes when she does something he thinks is funny, he will giggle and smile as he watches. I'm pretty sure this means he loves her very much, which overflows my heart with joy.
- He crawls. and crawls. and crawls. I keep thinking that all this chasing around should make me skinny. He certainly keeps me on my toes! He often crawls over to where I am am pulls on my legs, whining, until I pick him up.
- He is also pulling himself to standing. Whoa. Not quite cruising yet, but its sure to follow for sure!
- Eli loves the front storm door. With the weather being so gorgeous, we often have the front door open to see out through the storm door. Eli loves to walk over to it, pull himself to standing, and bang while he watches the goings on outdoors. The door sometimes doesn't close all the way, which presents a hazard. One day last week I was walking through the living room and saw him sitting on the welcome map on the front porch, looking at me through the storm door with a big proud smile. Needless to say I was scared out of my mind. We now keep the storm door locked.
- He loves outdoors. Anything outdoors is his favorite.
- Eli (and Elsie too) pretty much thinks Emily is the coolest kid on the block. There is nothing that she does that isn't fascinating. They both look at her in awe as she sings, reads, or plays with them. In their eyes, Emily was born first to be the provider of entertainment.

Cute Eli story: While on the beach Elsie and Eli were getting tired, so I put them in our little beach sun hut so they could sleep. Eli wasn't having it, so he sat up and watched me as I patted Elsie's back. Elsie was very tired, and just stayed laying on her tummy. After awhile of patting her back, Eli reached out and gently began patting Elsie's back too. It was simply precious!

Elsie is next:
- Elsie is the most social baby I have ever met. No clue where a child of mine could be so social?!? :) For example, last week we were at the grocery store and I had one of the big carts that has room for two babies to sit in. (LOVE that about Kroger!) I was looking at cereal, all the sudden this lady down the aisle started laughing out loud. She told me that Elsie smiled really big, and craned her neck until the lady caught her eye. When the lady smiled back, Elsie waved her little hand. So cute to see this little girl bring joy to people she doesn't even know. Reminds me so much of Emily!
- She loves to eat! I pretty much give everything we're eating to the babies now, with exceptions for high allergy foods of course. Elsie puts food in her mouth and literally savors her favorite foods. She loves cottage cheese, and rigatoni. She eats all sorts of vegetables with green peas being her favorite. We all love to watch her eat.
-She doesn't move. She literally sits in the same spot until I pick up. She doesn't like to lay on the ground, she like to sit, and that's what she does. She plays with the toys around her, and can reach forward, bending almost in half to reach things in front of her. But no toy is motivating enough to actually try and crawl. She is just too content to sit.
- Elsie's hair in completely out of control. It stands up all over, and the top is much longer than the back and sides, which creates this massive tuft of hair that blows in the wind. And she LOVES when her hair blows in the wind which makes her a huge fan of the ceiling fan!
-Elsie is still very fascinated with textures. Her favorite books are those with different parts to touch and feel. However, she absolutely abhors the grass. Touching the grass is awful, and she throws a massive fit if just one of her toes touches the stuff.
- She is my morning girl. She wakes with a happy grin on her face the moment she wakes. I'm sure she will grow up to annoy her college roommates with her 6 a.m. zest for life, just like I did to my college roommates.

Cute Elsie story: We went to this obnoxious tourist restaurant while on vacation (there is seriously a whole other post that needs to come regarding this restaurant). It was a buffet, so I tried to find things the babies could eat. I brought back a plate and cut up some rigatoni for Elsie and Eli. Elsie thought it was the most splendid food ever! She loved the ricotta cheese. But Eli didn't really care for it as much, and began tossing some of his food on the floor. Elsie didn't mind when he was tossing the green beans on the floor, but every time he tossed a piece of her beloved rigatoni on the floor, she would whine and whimper at the tragedy. She kept looking at me to make it stop, and got upset at Eli for wasting such a yummy item. I couldn't help but laugh!

Myrtle Beach

2010-04-07T19:22:00.005-04:00

Hi friends! Yes, we're still here, and no nothing is wrong. I guess I just let blogging get away from me for a few weeks. Have we been busy? Yes. But hasn't everybody? No excuse really. But I will try to update some of favorite things about the past few weeks by blogging every day this week to catch up!

But first of all, I have to tell you about our fabulous trip to Myrtle Beach. While we've been in South Carolina almost five years, we've never been to Myrtle. I guess we're such big fans of Charleston and Edisto Island that we never consider spending our time in Myrtle. However, Scott went to a conference there last fall and he said he thought the kids would love it. We were gone for three days, which was plenty enough time. It was the perfect chance for us to spend time on our family, just connecting and loving on our kids. Simply perfect!

(before I go any farther, I must admit that I have more than a couple loads of laundry waiting for me, a dishwasher to unload, and a hungry husband. Can you say... procrastination? But I was just so excited to share the pictures from our trip!)

Here are some of my favorites from the day we spent out on the beach. Notice the pictures of the twins before the water touched them, and after. They liked to sit and watch the water more than they liked being wet!

And I have a funny Emily story that must be told:
Emily came running up to us saying she needed to to pee. Scott explained that she should just pee in the ocean, to which Emily responded, "Seriously?" So off she went, only to return a minute later. "But everybody will see me going potty! That's just ridiculous!" she said. Scott told her to just sit down in the sand in the water, and nobody would ever know. So off she went. She returned one more time, told us we were ridiculous, and then went out for a final time.

I guess Scott and I were busy giving crackers to the babies, because all of the sudden I look up to find Emily, and I see her pulling off her swim suit, right there in the ocean!?! I RUN towards her, yelling at her to stop. She took one look at me, and knowingly said, "I told you this was ridiculous!"

I still don't think she understands that we meant to leave the swim suit on, but whatever. The damage was done. I am still giggling about it!

Lots of fun times on this trip. And I feel so lucky to have three kids who travel as easily as these three! Emily has always been an awesome traveler (did she have a choice?) but to have twins who sleep so well in a hotel and act so well at restaurants is truly a blessing. More than one person told us they would have waited a few years before going on vacation with little ones, but we just shrugged it off and remembered to be thankful for their good car behavior, sleeping habits, and eating routines. Now I guess I just have to get that laundry done, and figure out what we're eating for dinner!

Oh, and the new picture on the top of the blog was taken after breakfast one morning. With early risers like ours, breakfast is before seven. We'd go down to the awesome hotel breakfast, and then take a stroll with the kids still in their jammies. It was a fun way to start the day!

Tired Mommy needs a nap

2010-03-18T14:33:00.003-04:00

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

2010-03-11T09:17:00.002-05:00

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

2010-03-10T14:37:00.002-05:00

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

2010-03-10T09:18:00.005-05:00

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

2010-03-09T07:44:00.005-05:00

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

2010-03-05T16:58:00.002-05:00

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

2010-03-03T07:42:00.003-05:00

- 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!

Imagined Conversations

2010-02-22T17:03:00.004-05:00

The babies were happily playing with their toys on the floor this afternoon when I sat down with them to cut out my coupons. I quickly realized I forgot my scissors, and ran upstairs real fast to grab them.

This is the conversation that I imagine took place when I was out of sight:

Eli: She's gone! Can you reach any of that fun stuff?
Elsie: I don't think mommy wants us to touch her papers.
Eli: But let's just see if you can grab it... reach!
Elsie: Okay, I guess it won't hurt. (reaches behind her and grabs the paper)
Eli: Way to go sister! You're awesome! Now hand me some before she gets back!
(Elsie hands him a stack of papers)
Eli: Woo Hoo! I am a ripping and crinkling machine!
Elsie: Great idea Eli! We're having a big time!

I guess this is only an inkling of what is to come!

Charlotte

2010-02-21T08:37:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went to Charlotte for the day with Scott's dad and Mary. We had a great time. It was the perfect reason to get out of the house and do something for the day. We left shortly after eight, and arrived at Bass Pro. Emily loves this place. She doesn't understand the animal heads everywhere, and has asked on numerous occasion about the reindeer that got stuck in the wall. I think that she really believes that on the other side of the wall is the remainder of that reindeer's body. Lucky for us, the other side of the wall is inaccessible, and we're saved the drama of that realization.

We had lunch at one of my mom's favorite restaurants. When guests come to visit we always bring them to Sticky Fingers. It is a great local chain with fabulous ribs.

We did some strolling through the mall, and then headed to Costco where we found lots of Costco favorites. These include: costco breakfast muffins (you know, the ones that are completely fattening and will add one pound each, but are completely heavenly??) new socks all around, and.... TRI-TIP!!! That's right! Perfectly trimmed, Costco tri-tip! Now, please understand that years ago I found out that the Southern population doesn't understand tri-tip. It isn't found in any grocery store, meat market, or warehouse shopping center. I did find a butcher at Publix who has at least heard of a tri-tip (he has friends in Texas) and he made his best attempt to cut one for me. It was good. Very small, and somewhat of the wrong shape, unlike what I'm used to. But I paid almost twenty dollars for it. Needless to say, I haven't been back to ask him to cut me one of those 8.99/ lb tri-tips since! My mom has on occasion lined the inside of her suitcase with frozen tri-tip. Right now there are four tri-tips in my fridge, and Scott and I are in a state of tri-tip bliss!

Finally we made a short trip to Trader Joes. I got my favorite coffee, Scott got his favorite peanutbutter pretzels, and some other great things.

The day was great, the kids were fabulous, and we had a very nice time getting out of the house.

Dress up

2010-02-18T16:05:00.005-05:00

We have a large bin in our playroom filled with all sorts of dress up pieces. Emily has always loved to play dress-up and I am sure she was thinking her little sister would want to join in the fun.

That isn't exactly how it panned out. Elsie was happy touching the different textures of the pieces, but dress-up it turns out just isn't her thing.

Emily however did find another willing participant who was much better at cooperating.

I think he enjoyed himself, don't you?

A day in the life...

2010-02-16T08:20:00.002-05:00

Actually, more like an hour in the life. A very funny hour.

Yesterday evening was quite comical. And really comical is the only way to describe it. But before I go into detail, I must explain the latest illness to strike the Johnson household. Elsie has a virus. Luckily it has only struck her so far. I thought when she developed a mild fever on Friday that it was just a typical reaction to the vaccines that she'd received at her well visit the day before. But when the fever spiked to 104.0 on Saturday, we realized this was more than just a vaccine reaction. After another pediatrician visit we found that the virus caused a secondary infection in her ear, and that she also has thrush. Poor sweetie! She is only comforted when she is held, but now she has antibiotics and slept well last night for the first time in days.

Ahhh. Okay. So knowing that, please picture my funny evening. I was in the middle of dicing chicken for dinner when I had to stop and feed the babies. Scott was trying his best to feed a very sick Elsie, and I was feeding carrots to Eli when he spit them all over me. And I mean ALL OVER ME! My face, hair, neck and and shirt were covered in pureed orange yuck. So I brought him up to the bedroom to towel off, and then began undressing the twins for their bath while Scott prepared the tub. While I spent two seconds walking Elsie in to Scott, Eli wizzed all over the floor. Nice. Then when I picked up their diapers, Elsie had a lovely tootsie roll that fell out. And in one fluid, non-stop motion the tootsie roll fell to the floor and I stepped in it. Barefoot. Ewww!

Once that mess was cleaned up, I walked back downstairs to rediscover Emily in time-out. (for not cleaning up her toys after being asked about a zillion times!) I noticed that she was rubbing her nose against the wall, and upon further inspection I see streaks of what else? Boogers! I guess that's what happens when a semi-obedient girl is forgotten about in time-out!

After I talked with her and disinfected the wall, I noticed my coupon organizer on the floor. Upside-down. With every coupon strewn about. And if you know anything about me, you know that I often get three sets of Sunday coupon inserts which means my coupon organizer is full. Very full. And dear reader, you should be horrified. I know I was!

I ignore the coupon organizer, secretly hoping the issue would go away, and I walk in the kitchen to resume the dinner preparation I had started over an hour earlier. But the chicken breast I was dicing looked funny. Hmmm. Yep. Dakota (our lab/chihuahua/boxer mut) had eaten half of the raw chicken breast. The remains were hanging off the cutting board, dangling from the counter top. Where was Dakota? He was trembling from underneath the kitchen table.

What else does one do after these event? Laugh. Hard. Then you call your mom to explain how hilarious the evening went. And when she says "oh honey, I'm so sorry!" You tell her it is really okay. Because one day the house won't be this crazy. It will be quiet, and calm. And I hope when it is that Scott and I will remind ourselves of nights like last night as we wish we could go back just for one crazy, chaotic night.

Carolina Snow

2010-02-13T10:24:00.005-05:00

We rarely get snow in South Carolina, but when we do it is a big event. Yesterday afternoon the snow began falling and continued for most of the night, ending around midnight. We played in it a bit last night, and again this morning. What fun!

In our neighborhood there is a big grassy hill that goes from the top of the road, down to the pool and sand volleyball court. This big hill makes a great sledding hill, and whenever we get any snow it is covered with neighborhood kids and their make-shift sleds. We saw kids sledding on rubbermaid storage container lids, big metal mixing bowls, and boogie boards. Emily has a shark boogie board, and that is what she is riding with her friend Joseph, who she affectionately calls "Jofus."

The snow is simply magnificent! We've had such a special Saturday morning in the snow. And its so beautiful! Of course fun in the snow has to be followed by a hot cup of cocoa!

9 month appt.

2010-02-11T19:59:00.004-05:00

The babies had their nine month appt. today. The big news of the appt. was that Elsie had finally caught up, and passed her brother in weight! She nows weighs one ounce more than Eli! We all decided it was because of her chunky thighs!

Here are the nine month happenings of Elsie and Eli:

-Eli weighs 16 lbs 10 oz and Elsie weighs 16 11 oz
- I've been giving them more and more finger foods lately. The other day I slow-cooked a whole chicken and fork-shredded it before giving it to them. They thought this was fabulous. And while Elsie thought the bits of mushy/steamed broccoli was great, Eli thought I was surely trying to poison him.
- When I sit Eli down, he quickly flops backward so he is laying down, and then precedes to roll and roll and roll. Elsie on the other hand will sit as long as I'll let her. She hates falling or flopping backward. Crawling is not in her near future, as she feels laying on the ground is beneath her.
- Both babies sleep fabulously (right now). As long as they are healthy they are sleeping well. Normaly bed time is around 6:45 and wake time is 6 a.m. I'm trying to push back the bed time to 7 p.m. so that maybe, just maybe we could stay in bed until 6:30. Apparently all of our three children have my cheery morning disposition. (and no, that's not sarcasm. I'm annoyingly chipper in the morning. Ask Jenny. I think this was one thing she HATED about living with me! :)
- Eli has horrible eczema on his face. We've tried numerous oinments and lotions. We've followed doctor's orders regarding creams and applying it as many times as we've been told with no avail. Just a few days ago it had gotten so bad that poor Eli began rubbing his itchy face on his crib sheets until he had blood all over. It made my heart drop. Today we got a new prescription steroid that we're hopeful will help.
-While Eli grew out of his reflux, Elsie still struggles and requires Zantac twice a day. When her reflux gets out of control she has a hard time sleeping, which is normally an indicator that her dosage needs to be readjusted for her ever-growing weight.

I still am in shock at them being nine months old. Didn't I just have them? Wasn't I pregnant with them just yesterday? Again, I need to remind myself that it goes by too fast, and that I need to slow down and
enjoy EVERY. SINGLE. MOMENT. (Don't even get me started on my almost-five-year-old!?!)

Bed Time

2010-02-09T18:55:00.002-05:00

Bed time rituals and routines are somewhat of a necessity in our home. Even when the kids are sick, teething, or having reflux issues we try to stick to it. We have the bath time, the play time, the last bottle, the snuggles and kisses, and then lay them down in their crib.

However, the twins each have their own way of nodding off to sleep. They do it so regularly, that I knew I should be able to catch it on video without a hitch. I tried to tonight, and they didn't disappoint. I think it is rather funny, and so true to their differing personalities that I wanted to share!

Eli:

Elsie:

*And don't worry... every night I go back in and pull Eli's blanket back down!

Emily Grace

2010-02-05T12:54:00.004-05:00

Emily just keeps growing. I try to make her stop, but she doesn't listen! In the past few weeks she has talked incessantly about her big five year old birthday that is coming up in March. There are seven other children in her preschool class (yes! EIGHT out of 18!) that are also born in March, and I think much of the birthday hoopla is perpetuated by the little girls discussing their parties at school.

When Emily was two she attended a birthday party for her friend Ella at a place called American Cheer Xtreme, or ACX. I guess this place made quite an impression on Emily, because she has requested to have her birthday there. I'm a backyard birthday type of mom, but was willing to make an exception this year as I instantly potential relief that comes with not having to have my house clean to welcome 18 preschool guests and their mommies.

The date is set, and the party is being planned at ACX. Emily is thrilled! She can invite a total of 20 children, and while you may think that a little girl may have a hard time finding 20 children to invite, Emily already has a list of many more than 20. I guess she'll have to think that through in the coming weeks before we send out the invitations!

Just today the UPS man brought a box to the door for me. Emily was at the door questioning if it could possibly be for her. I asked her what she thought may be coming via the UPS man, and she answered, "ACX may be sending me something, mom. You never know!" Then she promptly went upstairs, wrote something on a piece of paper, and taped it to the outside of the storm door. I looked and saw it said "101 ACX." Emily told me this was so that ACX would know her address in case they wanted to mail her something. :)

Anyhow, I guess all this birthday talk from Emily makes me remember all the birthdays she's had in the past. I included some pictures, starting with her first birthday and ending with last year when she turned four. It really does go by just too fast!

Much better!

2010-02-04T19:21:00.004-05:00

Today I woke up and told myself that I was going to have a better attitude, no matter what the day brought. It worked, and for the most part, we had a very, very good day. Thursdays are my favorite because we don't have to be anywhere, and if we want we can stay in our pajamas all day long and play till our hearts content.

While both babies are still recovering from their viral infection, I feel much better. I still need pain meds to keep my teeth from feeling like they are severely in pain, but it is totally manageable. Today has been the first pain-free day all week, and I am so grateful! I was thinking about it this afternoon- I have taken more pain meds with this toothache/sinus issue than both of my c-sections combined!

And finally, I have to share about our dinner time at our house. I was trying to prepare dinner while Scott fed the babies. Emily was playing with her toys. But I want you to try and visualize our long galley kitchen with its (very many times mentioned) ugly upside-down rose wall paper, with the babies strapped in their high chairs, cheerios all over the floor, Emily rolling her toys across the kitchen floor, me chopping vegetables for dinner in-between singing to keep the babies happy while the babies fuss and shout between spoonfuls of baby food that Scott is giving them while he dances around the room to "our house." All with loud music in the background.

It was chaos. It was loud. It was our house at dinner time. And I loved every minute of it! A good attitude makes such a difference! Once again I am reminded that as a mom, my attitude has so much impact on my home and those who live in it!

Life

2010-02-03T19:04:00.002-05:00

... is overwhelming at the moment. And it seems like this moment is lasting forever! Right now I feel like I can't keep up with anything. Things like the laundry, dishes, house cleaning, etc. are piled up all around our home as constant reminders of my shortcomings.

To be brief, let's just say I've had some tremendous mouth/tooth pain this past week. Turns out it is from a sinus infection (I didn't know that could happen!?!) and I'm on antibiotics that slowly seem to help. But it literally feels like I need a series of root canals. I'm on 1000 mg of ibuprofen for pain. And I am NOT a medicine taker.

And Eli is sick. We took him to the Sunday pediatrician's office when he was really congested and yucky. We were told it was viral and to expect his twin sister to get it shortly. After many days of a healthy Elsie, we thought we'd dodged that bullet. However this evening Elsie was very fussy and had a little cough that I'm afraid is only the beginning.

I have a hard enough time keeping up with life when everything is "normal" but I don't feel anything like normal right now. I'm praying the antibiotics will make a break through in the next day or so, but I'm also remembering the sinus infection that almost landed me in the hospital with pneumonia during my pregnancy.

Most of all I know that I have a horrible attitude, and I need to change it. I have talked a lot about my attitude in the past year as I've been shown over and over again how my bad attitude effects the tempermant of my entire family, the climate of our entire home. I will chose to focus on the blessings we've been given even when I feel crummy. And I will look forward to spring.... which bring nicer weather, kids outside, and less viruses!

The twins playing together

2010-01-28T15:15:00.002-05:00

Sharing was never an issue with Emily Grace. Because she was an only child for so long, she is always so glad to have a playmate that not sharing has never occurred to her. With the twins however, it will be a different story. Here is the the beginnings of what is to come.

He rolls

2010-01-28T11:09:00.003-05:00

Eli has figured out how to roll all over the place. While Elsie is content to sit and play for great lengths of time, Eli would rather fall over from a seated position and roll to whatever catches his eye. Just today he was rolling away to get to the bowl of Emily's snack, that was a definite no-no. He is very quick!

I was taking some pictures of our sweeties the other afternoon, and I think this catches Eli's quick speed at rolling, as well as his fondness for my camera.

Getting out of the house on time with a smile...

2010-01-25T14:30:00.005-05:00

On preschool days (M-W-F) I start my day at 6:30 with a list of tasks to attend to. In order to get everybody out of the house and on time for school, I have a lot of work to be done. First I change a set of diapers, and then I go downstairs and give the babies their bottles while I make coffee and unload the dishwasher that runs each night. I make breakfast for Emily, and possibly help Scott out with making his lunch. I makes sure Scott has everything he needs for his day before I kiss him goodbye.

Then I make the babies their food. I give them their puffs to munch on to hold them over, and then feed them their bowls of food. This in itself is quite the task. Elsie doesn't like long waits between bites, so many times I find myself getting in the cycle of pick up pink bowl, give spoonful, put pink bowl down, pick up green bowl, give spoonful, put green bowl down. Over and over and over.

Then when they are done eating, I clean them both off, taking great care to remove any crumbs of food from their necks. Then its time to clean up their high chairs. This means the seat where they drop pieces of food, the trays, and the high chair toys that hang off the side. Once those are washed, dried, and secured back on the chairs, I wash their bowls, spoons, bottles, and bibs.

Finally, as soon as all of this is finished, its time to move all three kiddos upstairs to get ready for preschool. I settle the babies down in the pack and play while Emily attends to her list of four things to do: get dressed (I have clothes laid out for her) brush her teeth, make her bed, and brush out her hair. I shower while she is doing this and get myself ready to go. Then I finish Emily's hair for her before changing both babies out of their jammies. Then Emily turns out all the lights while I load the babies in their car seats. I make sure she gets all of the proper outer wear that the day's weather requires, and its off to the car we go!

Seriously... this is what 6:30-8:30 looks like on preschool days in our home.

Most days there is some sort of hang up: one of the babies doesn't think I should shower, but would rather I held him or her, Emily doesn't like the shoes I picked out, or even more often, Emily doesn't like the socks. (She has serious issues with the sock seem that goes across her toes. That sock seem has created some serious drama on occasion!)

But this morning, everything was smooth. Emily did exactly what she was supposed to, checking her way off the sheet as she went. She was glad that when she sat down she had enough time to watch an entire Clifford video before we needed to load up the car. She played with her brother and sister, which allowed me to get myself together with more time than normal (my hair is actually styled today!). We didn't forget anything either!

I dropped Emily off feeling quite proud of us for being so on top of it, and on a Monday morning no less!? And then I returned home to find a message from Emily's teacher on the answering machine: Emily's fabulously cute rain boots were bothering her. She took them off, and refused to put them back on. Something about her not being able to run like a cheetah. Could I please bring her some tennis shoes?

Ugh.

And I thought I was doing so well this morning!?! Oh well. I'm so glad Emily doesn't have preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays! Wednesday will be another day to try it all over again!

Kids and Activities

2010-01-21T21:49:00.002-05:00

Its that time again. Time to sign Emily up for soccer. She played in the fall, with Scott as her coach, and it was a great experience. Before soccer, Emily participated in a year-long dance class where she took ballet and tap. That..well... that wasn't such a great experience as Emily quickly got tired of it, and the recital... well we all remember this don't we?

But before we just sign her up for soccer, Scott and I wonder if there is some other activity that she would enjoy. Should we see if she would like gymnastics? Karate? T-ball? What if we pay the registration fees for whatever activity we think she would like best, only to find out she hates it? Do we really make a four year old child stick with something that she really had no idea what it was all about to begin with? Lucky for us, Emily sticks it out, or at least she did with the dance thing. And she liked soccer, so that was no problem.

I guess my issue is that I want to expose Emily to as many different activities as possible so that she can have the final say as to what she would like to do. But how can she say she's interested in children's theatre if we never expose her to that? Or whatever other activity.

The older I get, the more I value my experiences with extra-curricular activities as a child. Yes, most of them were athletic, but as a young girl I got to play volleyball, basketball, softball. I ran cross-country. I learned how to jump hurdles, high jump, and throw a shot-put and discus. And of course I participated on a swim team. When I came to the age when I needed to focus on one of these, I chose swimming. But how awesome was it that I had been exposed to so many different things?

This experience was very rare, and I wish I could replicate it for my children. I guess the best thing we can do is expose Emily to different activities as a spectator. Any other ideas?

Volunteers in Haiti

2010-01-20T14:44:00.003-05:00

I called our pediatrician's office this afternoon to see about an appt. for Elsie and Eli. Nothing too urgent, just that I think Elsie's wakefulness at night is due to her being uncomfortable with reflux, and maybe another stronger medicine is in order.

Anyhow, the front office girl knew who I was when I called because we are there so often. (I'm serious... I think she recognized my voice!) She told me that Dr. Cope is in Haiti volunteering his time until next week. She had just got word that his plane had landed safely there.

We will be praying for Dr. Cope and his safety, as well as for the children that he will serve. I'm grateful for doctors like him, who jump on the chance to serve our God in the middle of a horrible event like this.

Mission Accomplished!

2010-01-18T08:17:00.007-05:00

We've had a high chair situation in our home for awhile now. Simply put, it is that we have Emily's old high chair that I love, but they no longer make it in the same pattern. I REALLY didn't want two different chairs in the kitchen, so I asked Scott if we could sell Emily's used chair and buy two new ones. He said that was ridiculous, and a waste of money. And yes, I have to agree.
So as the babies neared the point of growing out of their bumbo seats, I scoured the Craigslist pages for every city in our state, hoping to find a chair like Emily's. After two months, my efforts paid off. A lady outside of Greenville was selling a chair exactly like Emily's for a fraction of the cost of a new chair. So not only was I getting my two matching chairs, but I was saving money too! Scott wasn't nearly as excited as I thought he should be, but I think was just glad to be done hearing about my search!

We decided to make a day of it on Saturday and head off to Greenville to visit their children's museum after we picked up the high chair. This museum was FABULOUS! There is a similar museum here in Columbia that is actually much bigger, but it was very fun to go to a new place with new exhibits. The only bummer was that the Blue Men Group have sponsored a sound wave exhibit that won't open until next weekend. From what we saw, it too proved to be awesome, but was unfortunately unavailable. Scott thinks it may be based off the preschool they opened. I am very intrigued by this exhibit, and want to go back!
The kids all had a great time, the twins included. The water lilly play table was ingenious! We spent a lot of time there. All the other exhibits were fabulous too, and each were set up around the theme of "I can be a...." as they explored different areas. Emily had fun pretending to be a race car driver, engineer, dietician, scientist, farmer, and various other things.

There was also this huge climbing tower that was constructed of steel and wavy plexi-glass. Emily thought that was fabulous, and just after a few minutes of play, she had five other girls her age all following as she hollered, "Come on guys! This way!" Yes, well... we like to say Emily isn't bossy...she just has good leadership skills! The little girls all followed as Emily gave them each direction like a good leader should!

After many hours, it was time to return. Scott and I always enjoy driving around our state. It was a beautiful drive and was a wonderful day-trip. And a special thanks to Justin for the adorably cute shirts! :) This was the perfect day to dress the kids alike, and these cute tops were a perfect choice! Thanks!

Haiti

2010-01-14T09:49:00.004-05:00

I am a lame movie-watcher. I am the one who leaves the room when violence erupts on scene. It is not gun violence that bothers me so much, probably because that just doesn't seem real to me. I can sit through the final scenes of Training Day no problem. But it is the physical violence that bothers me, or more like haunts me. I think this has worsened since I've become a mom.

There have been times that I've wanted to see a movie that looked like it had a great story, but I was worried it could be too much. Scott will then preview, and then re-watch it with me, telling me when to leave the room. The most recent movie we watched like this was Inglorious Bastards. Great movie. But you bet I ran out of the room several times.

Anyhow, I tell you this to explain what a dumb thing I did this morning. I got an mass email asking that I pray for the people in Haiti after the horrible earthquake. There was a CNN video linked to the email, and I opened it up and began to watch. I guess I expected news reporters telling the latest information, but rather it was video taken just seconds after the quake hit. The dust hadn't even settled and people were running everywhere. There were people literally holding their arms out between stories of leveled buildings. There was much screaming.

I'm sure these images will haunt me for weeks. Not because they are more graphic than movies I've seen, but because they are actual people, not actors. I can't imagine what it must be like to be a citizen of Haiti today. I can't imagine what they saw and what they are going through. But I will pray.

Happy Birthday Scott!

2010-01-13T13:38:00.003-05:00

For Scott's birthday I wanted to surprise him with one of his favorite meals. When I started thinking about the meals that I make, I couldn't come up with one that was his all-time favorite. Maybe goolash? Seriously, this is one of his favorites, but such a throw-together, easy dish, I couldn't possibly serve it on his birthday.

So I asked Emily, "Hey Em. What do you think is Daddy's favorite thing to eat for dinner." She doesn't even look up from coloring as she automatically answers, "Gas station fried chicken."

There you have it folks. My husbands favorite dinner. Emily was spot on.

For those of you who don't live in our area, there is a Exxon Quickway on the way to the lake that serves fried chicken. A friend at work introduced me to it when she recommended we get the fried chicken for our school tailgating party there. I won't lie, I was totally skeptical at first. I don't even like to eat a Subway sandwich out of gas station. But I went ahead and tried some, and it was fabulous! Later when Scott tried it he was head over heels.

Along with the fried chicken would be a potato salad and cole slaw that I will make. And of course a birthday cake.

However, we had a change in plans. Though today is his birthday, looks like we won't be celebrating until Friday. Eli has a terrible stomach bug that he's slowly recovering from, and Emily was sent home from preschool as it turns out she has a sinus infection.

I called Scott and told him about the kids, and our plans that we had to change. He didn't mind that we had to change until Friday. And I think he was pretty excited about Gas station friend chicken. Good job Emily. You know your father well!

I included some pictures of Scott from the last time our family pictures were taken. I thought they celebrated Scott doing something that he does so well... being a dad!

Happy Birthday to Scott! We love you so much!

I'm glad my husband understands me

2010-01-11T21:54:00.004-05:00

Many of you know of my bathroom wallpaper. It is grotesque. It is slapped on with awful colors and an awful texture, and an awful floral pattern of ugliness. And our house is not that old. Its just that whoever was here before us had really outdated taste. Yucky!

Anyhow, I have talked a lot about our kitchen wallpaper which we have yet to conquer. Really the only reason we haven't is just out of fear. We use that kitchen as the center of our lives. We're always in the kitchen, and with three kids projects have a way of not being completed in the given amount of time. And also, the kitchen is a really big area, with A LOT of wallpaper.

Now back to our master bathroom. The bathroom itself is really quite nice if I do say so myself. There are two entrances from the bedroom, and there is a wall that doesn't go all the way to the end of the room, so that each entrance walks in to a separate counter and sink vanity. THe shower is on one side, the garden tub on the other, and on the far end of the bathroom are three doors. Two lead to big his and her walk-ins, and the third to the toilet.

So what a shame that this gorgeous and lovely bathroom is masked by this awful wallpaper!??

Well, tonight I decided I have had it! While taking my bath I decided to peel just a bit. It came really easily off the wall. I kept peeling. It kept coming. I took a quick peak at Scott to see what he was doing in the bedroom and found him busy on the lap top. I kept peeling.

Before I knew it I had three entire sheets of wallpaper that I had peeled off the wall. And then he noticed.

"Honey? What are you doing? You're peeling the wallpaper off the wall aren't you?"

Yes, well what I failed to mention before is that I have done this once before. About three years ago I was in the downstairs half bath and I decided I had had enough of that wallpaper too. I started peeling and just as Scott was coming down the stairs and around the corner, I walked out of the bathroom with my arms loaded with peeled ugly wallpaper.

I wish I had a picture of the shock on his face.

And now here we are again. Me, full of great intentions to get this paper off, and the walls painted a beautiful shade of... well I haven't thought that far. And Scott fully recognizing that beyond my great intentions is the reality that he will be totally helping me in the completion of this project.

A high school boyfriend of mine had a wonderful mom that I loved. She was once talking with me about how marriages work (and don't work) and she said, "If a marriage can survive hanging drapes, a marriage can survive anything." Simplistic, I know. But i've always thought that saying holds so much truth.

Scott and I make a great team in everything we do, but almost nothing is done in the time frame that we'd like. With a four year old, and twin babies, our bathroom project may take awhile. But that's okay. Anything beats looking at that awful wallpaper!

Great.

2010-01-11T17:36:00.003-05:00

Because if there was one thing I hoped for every day it was for more Sarah Palin.

Differences

2010-01-11T13:28:00.005-05:00

It amazes me how much three kids can be so different. I think that some people don't fully realize how different children are, and how much personality they have even at such a young age. These little people that God has given us amaze us every day. And I think they amaze others too. Especially Miss Emily Grace. I can't tell you how many countless times we've been out in public and her sweet personality has dazzled strangers. She truly has so much to offer the world, and I am so excited to see exactly how she will do that!

Anyhow, in honor of our three sweet-peas, I wanted to share what I've been thinking about and appreciating them each for, as individuals.
First of all is Miss Elsie Faith. This child is a heart-stealer. Watch out! Some of my favorite things about Elsie are:
- Her entire facial smile. Its not just her mouth, its her eyes, nose and cheeks too!
- Her patience with her brother. Even at this young age she puts up with a lot of his antics and rarely gets upset.
- Her contentment. Elsie can stay in the same spot with some toys and play for over an hour and is just content to watch what is going on around her and play.
- Her desire to be at home. When we return from picking Em up from preschool, or return for the grocery store or church, I feel like if Elsie could talk she would say, "Oh! I am just so glad to be home!" She loves routine and her family. Staying at home and being with us is at the top of her list. And how fun to know that about her already!

Next is our ornery and curious Eli! Some of my favorite things about Eli are:
- His curiousness. Animals are at the top of his curiosity, with Dakota being his favorite. Eli will truly be a boy with his dog.
- His hair. Seriously? Have you seen this boy's thick head of hair that stands up all over the place? Its a conversation starter for sure!
- His activeness. If there is anything to pull, push, grab, hit, or kick, Eli is on the move! My mom nick-named him "Bam-Bam" and it just fits so well! So far he has overturned countless bowls of baby food, three water glasses (one all over me at a restaurant), and just about every day he empties the napkin holder.
-His love for attention. Every night around 10 or 11 p.m. just as Scott and I are about to go to bed, Eli wakes up. When I go in to see what the problem is, I find our boy with wide awake eyes, throwing his legs up and down to make as much noise as possible. Its as if he KNOWS that Elsie could wake up, so he makes lots of noise so I will hurry up and pick him up. It works. He lights up with a big smile when he sees Scott, and its like Eli needs just an extra half-hour to have us to ourselves. A bad habit? Yes. But we enjoy it every night!

Finally is Emily Grace. I guess as she has gotten older I have found more and more out about her. The list could go on and on, but here are my favorites:
- Her love. I've never met a little girl who loves her younger siblings like Emily. And she is just so PROUD of them! I'll never forget when they were first born and we took them to church for the first time. There was a lady entering the front door at the same time as us, and she was probably running late like we were, but she didn't pay much attention to the two car seats. Emily very quickly said, "Excuse me. Did you see our babies? I have TWO babies!" The lady didn't hear at first, and so Emily repeated herself until the lady finally acknowledged the twins.
- Her energy. I've always said I could make millions if I could sell her happy energy.
- Her smarts. Sometimes I believe she is really smarter than me, and while it is funny, it is probably true, and definitely scary!
- Her ability to see what is important in life. I don't remember many times when Emily has gotten into arguments with friends about toys, or fought with me about wanting to wear certain clothes. Now this may certainly come as she gets older, but as for now the most important thing to Emily is her relationships with people. Christmas wasn't about santa and presents (though she did enjoy that too!) Christmas to her was about a birthday party for Jesus, and a time for us to visit those people we love so much. I hope this never changes for her.

Anyhow, I guess I've just been thinking a lot today about how God created three totally different children for our family. Its exciting to see them interact with their differences and to enjoy each one for exactly who they are.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2010-01-10T16:41:00.000-05:00

In honor of my Dad's 50th birthday, Emily helped put together a little video in his honor. Please enjoy, and take special note to 3:21 in the video when the finale takes a downward turn and Emily and I erupt in laughter. Too funny!

California Christmas in a nutshell...

2010-01-09T20:04:00.006-05:00

So we've been back in town since New Years, however, I'm a little slow getting back to normal with our day. Unfortunately, blogging hasn't made its way back in my schedule. Sorry about that. I even had a good friend call me and ask if I was okay! :)

To catch up, I will try to post all about our Christmas vacation with pictures and brief information. Overall, we had a fabulous time. It wasn't the big break that I had anticipated (what was I thinking... babies on the other side of the country, with a three hour time difference, and I thought it was going to be a relaxing break?) and there was so much that we didn't get to do, but that is always the case. My mom and I always plan, but then end of so tired that we're grateful to hang out together at home. My parents just completed a beautiful renovation of their living and dining area, and we loved hanging out there with them.

First of all, the flight was fabulous. On the way out Emily was a little excited and bouncy, which got old, but who could blame her? She'd been looking forward to this trip for weeks! On the way home, the flight was rather empty (which is why we fly on New Year's Eve!) and Scott and Emily got their own row, and I got my own row. I got Elsie to sleep and laid her across the seats, and then got Eli to sleep and laid him along side Elsie. Then Emily fell asleep. They all slept for over two hours, and because there wasn't a lot of air traffic, our flight was a little less than four hours long. It was splendid! Best flight ever!

Now for the trip. We did a whole lot of hanging out at my parents house which was wonderful. With twin babies and a four year old, we didn't go in to town very often. Rather, we hung out at my parents' house and enjoyed each other. Highlights for Emily was baking with Grammy, Miss Penny, and me, and also watching "tooners" in Grammy and Papa's big bed. The twins enjoyed all the attention, and took it all in stride. Elsie especially enjoyed when my dad got home from work every day and did is patented Papa Dave whistle. It didn't matter where she was or what she was doing, when he walked in and whistled, she would turn and find him and give him a giant Elsie smile. It was truly priceless.

Eli fell in love with Miss Penny who put him to sleep so easily! She would snuggle with him on the couch and rub his fuzzy hair, and he'd be out in no time. Not to mention that she loved to carry him around in the baby bjorn. He loved that he could grab things and pull at things.

Christmas morning was a great time. There was one package in particular that Emily had asked to open the entire week prior. I think the initial conversation regarding this present began on the day of our arrival and went something like this:

Emily: Oooohh. Look at that big present!
Grammy: I wonder who it could be for?
Emily: Um, Me!

She was excited about all the things she got, and of course the twins were just as excited about the wrapping paper and packaging as they were anything else! But really they enjoyed their new toys as much as we could have anticipated. We spent many hours on the floor on a blanket playing with them.

After Christmas we had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends. My aunt, uncle and cousin came and we enjoyed them and my cousin's sweet son. My uncle Steve had a really cool RC car that he let Emily drive. She ran it in to a tree, and when she found out that he wasn't going to get upset with her, she ran it into everything. She especially liked to run it through my mom's flowers, and she would cackle while she did it. It was pure joy.

Scott and I took an overnight trip to Fresno. My parents watched the babies, and luckily that was one of the best nights that they had with sleep. We headed up and had dinner with some great friends, and then we met up with our old group of friends at a favorite place for drinks. This was one of my favorite nights, as we hadn't seen our friends in such a long time. I enjoyed every moment of it, and Scott and I both enjoyed our first night away from the kids since the twins were born. We were very appreciative to my parents, though I think my mom was thrilled to have them to herself!

All in all, Scott and I were glad to be home when we got here. We loved our trip and look forward to it every year. We're thankful that we can see our family and friends, and that even though some of them we only see once a year, we pick right back up where we left off. We are truly blessed!

Babies Babies everywhere!

2009-12-24T18:49:00.003-05:00

One of the things I looked forward to during our visit to California was introducing the twins to all of the other babies born to our friends in the past year. I couldn't wait to meet the new little people myself, and I've enjoyed seeing our friends and their precious babies.

Here are some highlights:

These are all the "E" babies! From the left is Ellery, Evie, Eli, and Elsie. There was a quite a crew that gathered together for pizza to celebrate all of our friends being near for Christmas. Becky and I hadn't seen each other since her wedding in Colorado the summer before last. It was too much time gone by. We were both grateful for our fabulous husbands who agreed to walk all our kids around Lowes long enough for she and I to enjoy a quiet moment at Starbucks together. I think Jay and Scott know how much we miss each other.

Jenny and I always get Ryan and Emily together to play when we're out. They love to play in Ryan's Pa's backyard. They get muddy together and have a big time. Now Jenny and I look forward to getting the twins together with Jack. We're quite certian they will get along just as fabulously!

I've seen so many cute pictures of Katie's little guy Henry. It was great to see him in person today, and to see him crawl around like a pro. Even though he was born just one day before the twins, he reminds me of the fun things to come with my babies as he is quite mobile. (I'm also reminded of the baby-proofing that goes with the upcoming milestones!)