Costumes :)

We weren't able to get any Halloween pictures on Halloween night :( But the kids went to their first Halloween party last weekend and I got a couple of cute pictures. Cal was a Train Engineer (which was great b/c we already had everything that we needed and didn't have buy anything) and Lissi was a Butterfly (costume found at a yard sale last summer!). My cuties! They loved Trick or Treating and Lissi even collected a little bit of money for Unicef. Most people looked at her little Unicef box with a totally blank look and were confused how to put candy inside (insert rolling eyes icon).

Singing on the bunks

My mom had requested a movie of the kids singing on their new beds (which they frequently do). After a few tries I got the perfect video. Both kids were singing, they were happy, they were doing great, until......Cal missed his ladder step and fell head first onto the ground. Although I did catch the drama on video, I've decided to spare him (and you) the tragedy.

So here instead is a later (and much less enthusiastic) version of "baa baa black sheep"

Apple Festival x2

We had so much fun last weekend at the Apple Festival with cousins that we went again with friends this weekend! Unfortunately, the second trip's temperature was about 30 degrees colder and off and on POURING rain! We didn't make it very long before we had to go home and warm up!

Capris at the Pumpkin Patch

Cal had his very long awaited and anticipated preschool field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. He chose the largest pumpkin he could find (Wink could barely carry it) and got pulled around in a wagon. He also wet his pants in the outhouse, 10 seconds before sitting on the toilet. Aaaaack! He couldn't make it the last 10 seconds. This hasn't happened in at least a year. So Wink goes to the car to find a change of clothes (being the good mommy I always keep in the car). Unfortunetly, the "good" mommy has never bothered to switch the clothes in the car and the pants and underwear were 2 sizes too small for him! So he got to run around in the freezing morning wearing "oh so fashionable" capris.

New necklaces

I ordered something from a long distance friend. In my box were my ordered items along with 2 beaded necklaces for the kids!!! Score! Cal has even been sleeping with his at night. Would you expect anything less from a boy dressed in a red "love" dress along with matching tights?

Building up my business

We are currently taking a Dave Ramsey class at church, and I've been listening to his program on podcasts. Most of it makes a lot of sense. So, in an effort to build up some of our savings (something we are not good at), I want to expand my private practice. I'm thinking of working with a couple of clients on Saturday mornings in our bonus room. I'm going to try for word of mouth advertising and see how that goes. I think I'll create a flier and email it to friends and colleagues in the area. Maybe I'll call this "Saturday Morning Speech". It has a nice flow and ring to it!

I'm realizing, however, that we may need to move up the new carpet plans for the bonus room to NOW as opposed to next summer......

Night 2 of bunks

The kids are sleeping in their new bunk beds for the 2nd night. They LOVE the new beds! I think they are pretty fun too :) But Lissi can barely sit up in the lower bunk without hitting her head, so I hope she doesn't get claustraphobic as she grows bigger (and never gets up suddenly in her sleep!)

Last night before they fell asleep I overheard Cal tell his sister, "I love you". It melted my mommy heart.

Ode to Craig's List (and equivalents)

Oh Craig's List you save us dough
When back and forth to new homes we go
We sell and buy and sell and buy
And now we have a new dresser high!
Our white changing table is gone
Our crib buyer was not a con
Our treadmill has run away
But a new bunk bed has come to stay!
With some pieces removed, and others to add
We understand that "bartering" is more than just a fad.
No richer now, nor poorer we know
The kids' room is transformed...how fast they grow!

Lissi carries on the swim cap tradition

In efforts not to be outdone by her brother's pics in this same hat, Lissi posed in her namesake's old swim cap.

Calling all Elmo fans!

We celebrated with Elmo for Lissi's party. It was sponsored by the letter "F" and the number "2" so we had a scavenger hunt for items starting with "F" (there were 2 of each). The kids measured up with Elmo, and we ate Elmo cupcakes.

Happy Birthday big girl!

You are 2 years old! What a big girl!!! To celebrate you pretended you were 21 and ate Lime Daiquari sherbet!

Painting

We've been in the "middle of painting" since before our trip to Virginia. Now at last the furniture has been put back and I can use the room again! We're also trying to clear it out of "stuff" while going through this process. I'm starting to sell some things to form an "Ikea fund". Hopefully, I'll raise enough money to pay for some new Ikea furniture such as toy and media shelves for this room.

We don't have any great before and after pics, but you can see the cabinets before and after in these pictures:

Who knew it could be cleaned?

After spending years cleaning the dirt out of the kitchen floor cracks with my whimpy and somewhat non-existent fingernails, I have a new discovery. The floor can be cleaned! Really cleaned. Not just mopped, or wiped with a cloth, or even bristled with a toothbrush. It can be scrubbed and scrubbed with a heavy duty cleaning brush. But there are two additional secrets (little known and heavily guarded secrets). Scrubbing works best with steaming the exact area to be cleaned AND vinegar to loosen the dirt. Now you too know the secrets for a cleaning a vinyl/linoleum or whatever kind of floor I have. Oh, did I mention that it takes about six HOURS of intensive labor to clean 60 square feet?!!

Me, the new NPR podcasting fanatic

Podcasting and I have just become good friends. I mean REALLY good friends. Its hard to find me around the house or taking a walk without listening to a podcast. My newest and most favorite podcast is a hilarious new quiz-show. I'll listening in reverse chronological order (who me?!) so the news I'm now learning is more and more out of date. Oh well. I'm certainly laughing a lot!

The following is part of the 7/15/07 transcript from "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me"

Q: Researchers at Iowa State University studying 72 married couples found out that the key to a happy marriage is how often the wife…..

A: How often she gets her way…. They took these 72 couples and they asked them to rate their levels happiness. And then the video taped them as they discussed some topic of importance and difficulty between the couple. The result: the happiest couples according to BOTH the man and the woman, keep in mind, were the ones in which the husband quickly, intently, and enthusiastically gave in to the wife’s demands.

To which one female panelist replied: further proof that there is a god!

Pumpkin patching a little early

Gorgeous September weekend! Time for the pumpkin patch (minus the traffic and crowds!)....Of course we had to go on the hayride. The kids (and Wink) also did the cow train ride (Wink looks slightly squished!).
The bad news was that this day's events were too much for Wink and he was in a lot of pain afterwards.

My new favorite store

We were at the mall today attempting to get some t-shirts and shorts for the adults in the family (yes, our kids are WAY better dressed than us). As we were "leaving" we walked into a store that was new to us. It was my idea of clothes heaven! No dry-cleaning. Lots of cotton. Relaxed. Tons of designs with embroidery (I'm a sucker for that). Even lots of teacher clothes with apples and cute buttons. I ended up trying on clothes for more than an hour! The kids helped by trying on my clothes themselves :) They also raced the double stroller around and around the clothes racks. The poor saleswoman that helped me was ultimately VERY disappointed that in spite of the tons of clothes I had tried on and $200 worth of clothes that I WANTED to buy... I refrained from going over-board and only bought 3 things. But no worries.... I'll be back! I got on the mailing list and now I hope I'll be back with coupons!

Wondering what to buy me? Click here: Gift certificates please! :)

How did it come to this?

Obviously not. Wink just received his in the mail. Riddle me this: The fact sheet says that he does not have to pay for metered parking (over 30 minutes) when his permit is displayed. Why does having a disability exempt him from paying for a meter?

My thought is that I WANT to exercise and get in as many steps as I can (heck, I'm a card carrying pedometer woman!) so I have no intention of taking advantage of this permit. However, after searching up and down the parking rows at the mall today, I actually started to look for handicapped parking! Fortunately, I found regular parking. In spite of this, Cal insisted on putting the permit up on our rear-view mirror. Upon leaving the mall, he was quite upset that I increased my visibility by taking down the permit.

Back from the east coast!

We returned from the east coast yesterday after being away for more than 2 weeks. We flew to Virginia to visit our dear friends Mark and Bethany. After being there for 2 days, we drove to New Jersey and visited Wink's cousin Ashley and her family, my brother, Wink's step-brother, Wink's aunt, old college friends, and new-ish adoptive family buddies. After staying in Ashley's gorgeous home for a week, we headed back south to Virginia. It is quite amazing that when google maps says you will be driving for "6.5 hours", how that REALLY means your journey will take over 10 hours! Although many people think we are very lucky to have no kids in diapers, our bathroom stops are constant. I admit, that I'm the cause of some of these stops. But I at least don't start yelling "Peep! Peep!" while on the NJ Turnpike. After paying our toll and pulling over to the side of the road, the girl wouldn't go on our handy-dandy "Inflate-a-potty"! Aaaarrrrgh! So then I got totally lost trying to get into a fast food place so we can take her to an actual toilet.



Eventually we made it back to Virginia and the temperature went up about 20 degrees. We had hoped that Bethany would give birth while we were visiting. It would have be my first (and probably only) witness of the miraculous beginning of alife. Alas, no baby while we were there.




There are way, way, way too many pictures to post here. To see them all, go to my picture site (email me if you need the address).

We arrived back home at 10:30 am. We putted around for a bit, then all went to get haircuts from a cheap place down the street (except Lissi, I just can't justify spending money on her haircut yet). Then we went to bed. The kids slept for about 16 hours and I slept about 14 hours. Wow! Wink was not so lucky :( After all that sleep I got up and started back to work. First day of work. Summer vacation is now officially over. :( :( :(

Lessons on flying

from the viewpoint of a 4 year old:

1. Hold your little sister's hand and dart in-between people when boarding. Sneak your way to the front of the jetway and then disappear into the depths of the plane. Scare the flight attendant to death (why are there 2 little kids unaccompanied on this plane?!).

2. Insist that you are thirrrrrrsty from the instant you get on the plane and for the next 20 minutes. Don't "understand" when mom tries to explain how FAA regulations now prohibit her from bringing along 2 juice boxes and a cup of milk for each child.

3. Use scotch tape to tape up your mouth and then pretend your parents did it to you.

4. When the drink cart finally comes around, drink through the airlines entire supply of orange juice.

5. Go to the bathroom (needing help-OF COURSE). Return to seat. Go to the bathroom (needing help-OF COURSE). Return to seat. Go to the bathroom (needing help-OF COURSE). Return to seat.

6. Go through the nice bag of toys your mother packed and dump most of said toys out. Do not pick up any toys that landed on the ground. Whine when the ones that slid under your seat are nowhere to be found. Make your mother bend herself into knots (and come close to vomiting) trying to locate these yard-sale toys.

7. Turn the fan on full-blast to yourself and your mother. Stand on your chair and "blow dry" your hair. Encourage your little sister to do the same.

8. Under no circumstances should you sleep. It does not matter if you got up at 4:00am or that the rest of your family is trying desperately to sleep. Do not allow shut eye!

Married 10 years!

It's our 10th year anniversary today! Wow! We re-watched our wedding video and pre-wedding silly movie put together by our college friends. Quite amusing. We've changed a lot (hopefully for the better!) in the last 10 years!!!!