It's Over

Greeting cards have all been sent (not by me, of course), the Christmas rush is through. Our delayed Christmas is over with no fanfare. The kids are all here for the whole week. Isaac will be going to the New Year's eve dance and the girls will be going to stay the night with our next door neighbor from Coppell. We will probably play games with the two remaining boys after we get the babies in bed.

I really like New Year's Eve. There's not as much hype as with Christmas, so there is less let-down if it doesn't turn out. As a young person it was great to be able to stay up so late for it. Even though I stay up till midnight pretty regularly, there's just something about New Year's that makes me happy. I like the idea of big get-togethers and organized parties, but if that doesn't happen we can just watch parties on TV.

Maybe it is just all the great memories of playing Monopoly and whatever with friends, or going to the church dances, or there was the year I spent at Disneyland. More recently I went to my friend's anniversary ball and got to party with my husband for the first time. That is one of my favorite memories with him so far.

Then there is the anticipation of the coming year and the sudden (if unfounded) belief that empowering change is possible. I don't know. I just like it. Have a wonderful and blessed new year.

Christmas Ditty

I love Christmas and I love all of my faithful readers (and even my unfaithful click-by's), so I wanted to give you a little something. I had the idea to do this a couple of days ago, but I couldn't do it while the babies were sleeping because they would wake up, and I didn't want to do it while they were screeching in the background. Since Christmas is upon us, we just have to take what we can get, so I let them screech in the foreground. You probably wanted to see them more than you wanted to see me, anyway.



Have a most Merry Christmas. And be excellent to each other.

My Honey

I took the big girls to the mall recently. Their main hope was to find Twilight T-shirts. As I was looking at the group shot T-shirt, it struck me that Emmett looked a lot like the pictures of Mike as a strapping young man that I had been looking at over Thanksgiving. Maybe you can't see it, but I can fantasize.

Family Reunion Revisit

My family met Marla's family for the first time last year when we went to Utah for the Lay family reunion. Yeah, that's how long it takes me to upload a video.



Some Dinosaurs are scarier than others. And some people are sillier than others. It's a magical leopleuridon, Charlie. He's showing us the way. Thomas, sorry about the rated ex content.

The Truth About Blending Families

This is stinking hard. It doesn't matter how good the kids are, how everyone gets along or how much you all love each other, there will be conflict. When there are only four days a month that everyone is together, progress in conflict resolution is exceptionally difficult. That is compounded by the fact that there are other parties involved outside the home who have concerns about the children, and often differing views that may be in direct conflict with your own goals and resolutions.

Fairness. It doesn't matter how hard you try, the biological children or the step-children will feel like you are showing favoritism or being somehow unfair. You absolutely cannot discipline a step-child as severely as you do your own children because the history of love isn't there to balance out the severity, so any correction to the step kids makes you the wicked stepmother. Then, because you are not as harsh with them, your own children feel like you love them less. Somehow balancing that is an extraordinary feat.

But the children are the smallest part of it. The biggest problem is having two different child rearing perspectives (same as any parenting relationship) and then having experience-reinforced child-rearing opinion. That may not be such a problem in a relationship with passive, amiable people. Two stubborn thick-heads in this situation multiplies the difficulty. Mike and I spend an average of 20 minutes every weekend that the kids are here, locked up in our room discussing how to deal with a child or situation. It is rarely a calm discussion.

It's just stinking hard.

It Starts

Everyone says "Twins, how do you do it?" I say: After the third month it was easy. They hold their own bottles, put food in their own mouths and just play together. It is a lot of fun.

That was before yesterday. Amelia* was listening to her echo as she yelled into an empty pitcher. A short while later, I heard the same sound, followed by sloshing. I followed her the sound to the bathroom where she had finally discovered the toilet. I knew this was coming. So I wash her hands and take off her wet shirt.

I was trying to put away dishes from the dishwasher. Anastasia figured out that she could open the cabinet any time she wanted. Both of them decided to pull out the contents of it.

While I am still trying to clean the kitchen and decide what to make for a dinner, I hear a tinkling sound that I expect is a spoon on a glass bowl. I didn't worry about it because it sounded like she was on the floor by the dining room table, but I couldn't think of why the bowl would be there. Still I continued to work.

The sound of breaking glass sent me running. Anastasia had pushed my ice cream bowl from the night before off of the couch and onto the concrete. How she got up on the couch, I don't know. I put her down and grabbed the broom and dustpan.

Before I can get that done, I hear Amelia screaming in the kitchen. Trash is scattered on the floor and she has her finger stuck in the partially intact raw-edge lid of a tin can. I take it out. No blood. I clean up the trash and put in a new bag as quickly as I can so I can get back to the broken glass before they do, and make sure they don't undo the trash again before I can finish the glass.

Once the glass is cleaned, I sit on the couch, TV on with both babies in my lap and wait for Mike to get home.

*The names given here may not reflect the actual perpetrator, but a close approximation.

Tall Enough for Trouble

Have I mentioned yet that the girls absolutely love the phone. Some of you have even received calls from them. It was the first thing they ever fought over. They are getting strong enough to play tug of war with each other and the phone.

The issue is compounded by them being old enough now to reach the height of the average table. This was when we were still in Missouri.

I put lights up outside my house on the trees, hedges and garage door. It was pretty easy because the trees are only a few years old. I won't take pictures because it is exceptionally unimpressive.

How to Tell Who's Who

People always ask me how I tell the twins apart. Simply put, every once in a while, I endanger one so that she gets an injury, making it obvious who is who. But I make sure that both are neglected equally. This time it was Amelia. She fell off Grandma's bed and met a nightstand or something on the way down. The pictures in blue are before it happened.

Anastasia is just plain silly. They ate a lot of bread and potatoes while we were there. Obviously my little chubbies are not on a low-carb diet.

Far West Missouri Farm Fun 1

The first day we spent on the farm, Grandpa saddled up the horses and worked with the kids on them a little bit. Shortly thereafter he stepped in a mole hole and twisted up his ankle. That made the whole week a little less fun for him.

The next day Mike arrived with Mikey and Lexi and Mike saddled up the horses to let the kids and himself ride. I didn't manage to because I was making pie and taking care of babies. Consequently, I did not get any pictures of them.

Was it then Thanksgiving that I finally got to ride? There was plenty of time to because when we got our late start (10am on dressing the turkey) and although the turkey had been in the fridge 3 days, it was still pretty frozen. Then, although we preheated the oven we did not put the turkey in for another 40 minutes. Then after we put it in, one of us (probably me) managed to turn off the oven. A few hours later the whole thing was still cold. We finally ate around 7.

Far West Missouri Farm Fun 2

The golf cart is the way to get around on the farm--Especially when you are saddle sore from trying to control a stubborn, green broke horse. Unfortunately, no one waited for Lexi, so she is walking bow-legged down the hill behind Emylie.

Grandpa and Mike let the kids do a little shooting, but everyone had had their turn by the time I arrived with the camera. I was up in the farm house (soon to be Bed and Breakfast) trying to get the babies down for their nap and heard the guns going off. As far away as they were, it was loud enough I was afraid it would wake the barely sleeping babies. This was on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

Bed and Breakfast Progress

It has been six weeks since I last visited Missouri, and progress continues on the Bed and Breakfast conversion.





The front gate has been converted into an ultra-classy wheelchair ramp that flows flawlessly into the flagstone patio.





While we were there, the trim around the porch was put up, so that wood is no longer visible.










There is a little wrap-around deck in back, and there will be a balcony above it. What was the porch is now a garage. I think all the siding had been installed by the time we left.

Why Am I Sitting in This Computer Chair?

I drove all day yesterday, and today drove another 4 hours today to get the kids back to their dad's house. My joints are stiff and I am still a little saddle sore from Wednesday's horseback riding. I would post pictures, but I think my camera is out in the van, and I have no interest in going out to get it. I am waiting for my dear husband to return home. He is on his way back from Missouri a day behind me.

It will be so nice to be together in our own bed again. Last night when I got the kids home and into bed (around 10:30), I crashed and remember nothing until the alarm went off at 6:30--and I felt like I had hours yet to sleep. We were active and worked hard while we were with Mike's parents (that's what it takes to have a lot of fun) and our nights were fairly sleepless. We had the babies in our room, and they did not do well with all the commotion.

Once again, my tiny party animals want to be part of whatever is going on. Napping was very difficult for them, and when we were finally able to get them to sleep, it was on a king sized bed--that's safe, right? Nice and big. Amelia bailed onto the concrete and hit a nightstand or something on the way down. She's got a black eye. She's not a black guy. (Say it out loud and it will make sense, but you still won't get it because it is a private joke.)

Anyway, the weather was great, if not a little chilly. The work on the bed and breakfast continues (at 7 in the morning while we were trying to sleep in it). It will be great when it is up and running. I hope all of you who are remotely interested in Midwest LDS Church History vacations stop there in the future. Check the Far West Missouri link on the right for more info.

Like I said, we went horseback riding, played with the donkey, fed the pig, collected and ate eggs from the chickens (2 1/2 dozen deviled eggs for Thanksgiving), shot skeet--or tried, played Mexican Train dominoes, ate, made food, ate, made food, ate, wandered on 40 acres, made trips "to town" took turns babysitting, and hung out with Aunt Marissa, Grandma, and Grandpa.

Oh yeah, we went to see Twilight. That was just for the five of us who have read the book, but have not already seen it. (Grandma and Grandpa went to the midnight showing on opening.) The theater itself was a big part of the experience. It is such a small town that the movie theater is a corrugated metal warehouse with used seats from some other theater that had long since outgrown them. There were only two bathroom stalls made from 2x4's and pressed board (the not even plywood stuff.) It only took about 10 minutes in the theater to get used to the smell of urine--that or I just began to subconsciously think of the tiny town of Forks as a stinky place. As far as the movie itself, I didn't like Edward at all. He is unique looking, and acted well enough, but he's totally not my kind of gorgeous.

The movie stuck really close to the book, so if you like the book, you should like the movie. For a low budget, independent film it was great. I wish they had spent a little more money on getting a really good makeup artist. That may have been half of my problem with Edward. Anyway, it was fun going with Lexi, Emylie, and Marissa. Mostly, I loved being with my husband. It is so rare for us to be able to do things together. I love him. Speaking of which, he is still on his way home, and I am not quite ready for his arrival.

Hope you didn't miss me too much while I was gone. Good to be back with y'all.

Decorations Are Up

The kids were here this weekend for the last time before Thanksgiving. Since we will be in Missouri for that, and it will be another 2 weeks after that before we are all together again, it was time to do our traditional put-up-the-tree Family home Evening. This year the kids and I crocheted a garland, instead of stringing popcorn.

I am so in love with my tree. It is full of red bows that symbolize being eternally bound to God through the blood of Jesus Christ, which purifies us, symbolized by the white garland. I still haven't bought the candy canes, though that will be generously interspersed among the other ornaments. They, of course symbolize the shepherd's crook, reminding us that angels came to the shepherds, announcing the birth of the Christ, and that Christ is, himself, the Good Shepherd. The remaining decorations on the tree include glass balls that make me think of the "worlds without number" that God has created.

Then, through all that, are ornaments that represent the years of my life. Some were school projects made by my children. Some we made together. Some are from friends and family. Each reminds me of a moment in time in this little life of mine.

When the kids helped me put the tree up and decorate it, it made more of a mess than anything. This is what it looked like on Tuesday afternoon.

A short time later, it looked like this. Once again, you have encountered a rare opportunity to see my house.

The wall was red when we moved in. It worked out okay, so we have not changed it.

Still Growing

My babies are now tall enough to reach what is sitting on the edge of the table. We spent all day out yesterday, so they didn't get much sleep. We started Anastasia back on physical therapy. We took her to the craniofacial specialist to see if her head was lopsided enough to warrant a molding helmet. The answer was no (Yea!) She reinforced my opinion that the asymmetry on the back of her skull was not as bad as most torticolis babies because she was a tummy sleeper.

That is kind of a pet peeve of mine. The "back to sleep" SIDS campaign promotes back sleeping like it is the cure for SIDS, when so little is understood about the "disease." What is not explained in the campaign are the behavioral markers, etc that make it a real concern. Infants of a healthy weight, at birth and through gestation who have active neurological responses are at extremely low risk. Each parent has to evaluate the information and their children for themselves and make their own judgement. Skull formation was much more of a concern to me than SIDS (before I even knew Anastasia had torticolis) and she preferred sleeping on her tummy. On her back I was at risk for not being able sleep for any length of time. Having twins and a history of very negative effects of sleep deprivation on my mental and emotional well-being, I made the best choice for me and my children. The most important thing to remember about medical "recommendations" is that they are based on generalized and incomplete data. Parents have to make intelligent choices about what is best for their specific circumstances.

Anyway, the specialist recommended aggressive therapy to get Anastasia's tilt straightened out and thought that everything else was great. Christen is her therapist. They (everyone in the PT dept loves the twins) were so excited to have the babies back and were amazed how much they have changed in the month they were gone. They put Kinesia tape on her neck like you saw on a few of the Athletes during the Olympics. I totally don't get how it works. I just hope it means that it will help Anastasia be an awesome beach volleyball player. Okay maybe that is a distorted notion of causal relationships. Still...

Oh, we had our first frost here last Sunday. We are having a roller coaster of warm and cool days, but it is all fantastic, cool fall weather. We got snow last year, so I don't expect it this year.

What to Say?

I haven't blogged for a couple of days, so it't time again, but I don't really have much to say. It is an all-the-kids-are-here weekend. Isaac is on a scout campout, but I fear lest he be rained upon and his tent blow away. It is getting very cold and windy out there. I did not realize how cold it was until I dropped him off. He should have brought an extra blanket.

A friend gave us a copy of the new World of Warcraft expansion. He is a devious, devious man, and I question the genuineness of his friendship, but I feel for his wife and will ever sympathize with her plight as a lonely WOWdow.

This weekend we are putting up the Christmas tree. Next weekend the kids will be here, we will hopefully be in MO for Thanksgiving, and we don't want to wait an additional 2 weeks after that, or I might as well be married to my ex who thought Christmas should wait for the passage of his birthday on Dec 7. Perish the thought!

In closing, there must be something I can say to remind you what a precious delight my babies are. Ah, yes. We have graduated to the forward facing car seat. They are now 10 months old and are demonstrating all the necessary skills to be part of our family (dance, rythm, and musicianship --on multiple instruments and voice, as well as remarkable intelligence with hints of athleticism).

I shall now go watch Napolean Dynamite, already in progress.

Day Trip With Kids

This weekend has been pretty full. I know it's Wednesday, but I was on a roll and didn't want the weekend to stop.

I was supposed to have the kids this weekend, but Emylie had an all-region choir concert (middle school) in East Texas in the town I lived in before I got married two and a half years ago. Rather than bringing them to Dallas, I picked them up from their dad and we had a day together--except for Emylie who was in rehearsals. We had a picnic in the park and played on the playground. Babies got to swing go down slides, and ride Merry-go-rounds. We went to the train station, played in a caboose, and watched the people load on and off the Amtrak. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. We drove by the old house, which still hasn't resold, even with a paint job because it is such a crappy structure. It is a great house, but it has so many problems. I got to see the flowers I had planted were still thriving.

It was funny going back. The kids were a little nostalgic. "Oh! I remember that when we always used to..." But the first thing they said was something to the effect that I had sure moved up. It really is a crappy little forgotten town. There is a lot of work going on to renew it, but you have to have an entire community who cares, and when 3/4 of the population is in poverty, there just are not enough resources to care.

When I got to Emylie, it was 20 minutes before she had to be lined up to get onstage. That was just enough time for me to find out that she needed black shoes and a skirt, which were not available at her dad's house. Fortunately, I knew where Wal-Mart was, dashed there, found the necessary items plus a dressy shirt for under $20 in 20 minutes. She was in the front row (I don't make tall kids). I was so glad to have been able to be there for her.

Afterward we went out for dinner and ate the pumpkin pie I had brought, which I spent an entire day making from scratch (including boiling down a pumpkin), because that is what Emylie always gets for her birthday. I gave her some art supplies as well. She has taken to sculpting. She is doing it "professionally" because her friends are willing to pay for the dragons she is making.

Isaac made it through a whole grading period at the top of his game. We are thrilled that high school has brought some maturity and responsibility. Funny thought: I have found a huge percentage of my friends from Whittell high school on Facebook. Many of them were freshmen when I was a senior. I now have a child that is the age I remember them.

Claire and Andrew are having a little trouble being away from mom as much as they are.

Babies just woke up, and I didn't do what I wanted to do while they were napping. Ah, well, such is the life of a domestic administrator.

Lighter

Political season is over. No more heavy discussions. This blog isn't about the big world, its about my little world and what matters most to me, so you get to see pictures today! Cheers, and Bottoms up!

Two weekends ago I mentioned a trampoline campout with the kids. Claire, Emylie and Lexi's friend Lynzee are on the trampoline. Mikey and Andrew are trying to cause mischief underneath it.

I don't know where Lexi was at this exact moment--probably getting more bedding. We brought out most everything we had so they would be super-snug.

It is fall here. These are the dazzling colors of our changing leaves. Okay, so its not New England. And, by the way, this is my new house. I also have.......a shrubbery! I don't like it. My arms and back were very sore from cutting it down by a third with loppers. No I don't have a hedge saw. Maybe I'll get one for Mother's day. Hopefully not, I'm just thinking of the year I got a lawn edger. Mike, however is not that kind of guy. Maybe we'll get one for Isaac for his birthday ;)
You will have to click on the picture to full size it to see my Halloween decoration on the porch. That pumpkin is now on a pot on my stove waiting to be mushed into pie filling.

Emylie had her birthday on Sunday, but this weekend is when we have her. She always gets a pumpkin pie 100% from scratch from me for her B-day. She is 13 and a full-on teenager. She is an amazing young woman. She has a profound intellect, being a studious observer. Her ability to observe makes her an outstanding artists. She is loyal to her friends and family and prefers one-on-one conversation to large social gatherings.

I heard a thunk and a fuss, but by the time I got there, there the sadness was gone. Amelia figured out how to climb into the toy box. Anastasia loves her toy sister.

Change

Yes, I'm very disappointed. I am anxious (in the anxiety sense) about what the future holds. However, I am calm and resigned.

Before McCain nominated Palin for VP, I had no interest in him, except as opposition to Obama. I expected that Republicans could not hold on to the Presidency with approval where it has been. It is just the cycle of politics.

The great advantage to Obama's win is that Mitt Romney can run again in 4 years, where if McCain won, he would run again in '12, and if he won Palin would be a shoe-in canditate in '16, blocking up 2 elections minimum, and possibly 3. And if there were that may succesive terms of Republican rule, America could not possibly sustain support for another term. As is, we get a break from the Republicans and get reminded of what America is like under Dem's, so we can appreciate a need for Republican balance.

Some are concerned that Obama meets the description of the Anti-Christ in Revelation. I am not convinced of that. I do find it interesting that in our post 9-11 world our country selected someone with some Muslim background and sympathies. I don't think that is wrong, as much as it is an interesting commentary about our perception of differences and enemies. During the Cold War and before, there was a national hype that was government and media supported about who was a danger to our country. If you even went to a meeting a communist attended, there was a huge shadow over your head, and you were considered a threat to national security.

Perhaps the McCain campaign percieved that Americans were still subject to communist hysteria (20 years after the end of the cold war, making legal voters who never knew that world) and reasoned that questioning Obama's associations would create fear and suspicion as in years past. They failed miserably in the campaign on so many counts.

I am glad we don't have that sort of xenophobic hype or stereotyping prejudice any more. But now it is like we are not allowed to have enemies. I am not talking about Muslims here, but Jihadists who have declared war on us. The social standard of tolerence need not apply there.

Obviously, I am no longer talking about Barack Obama. He is not a professed Muslim. Rev. Wright's church was bible based (if only tenuously). Yes we need to love everyone and accept their differences. What is tragic is the extrapolation beyond that that it is not okay to disagree with others; to stand up for your personal convictions. The extrapolation worsens to a modern philosophy that there is no right or wrong to defend or fight against, respectively. If we would just give up all our ideals and convictions or avoid sharing them we could have world peace, the philosophy continues. Loving the sinner means being required to love sin. Loving our international neighbor means accepting opressive leaders in the name of peace. Again I stray from my original topic to clarify that when I think of social demand for acceptance of sin, I am thinking of things like homosexuality and abortion, which I certainly don't associate with Muslims or even terrorist who abhor those sins as well. The whole philosophy I am discussing at this point is radical leftist atheism (which with the modern doctrine of evolution--not Darwinian evolution--to me qualifies as a religious creed.)


Back to my original intent: Dennis Miller said on Monday that if Obama won he would not spend the next 4 years bad-mouthing the president, even though he is a 100% McCain supporter. He is tired of criticism and negativity. I totally agree. Of course, since the media is always more kind to a Democrat, it won't be too much of a problem. Still we can only weaken our country by being more unkind to and critical of our leaders than we are of our enemies--even when our leaders have brought us to victory over our enemies. Sickening.

It is time to heal and pray that despite liberal leadership, the body of Americans will have an increasing sense of morality and decency. Our economic future depends on it. The over-riding theme of the Book of Mormon is 'Inasmuch as you keep the commandments of God, living with faith in Jesus Christ who should come, you shall prosper in the promised land of the Americas.'

There is much more to be said about that, but I have micro concerns of my own for today.

Revealed

I was sustained yesterday as the Ward Music Director. I had been substituting in Primary, leading the childrens music as a long term sub and was loving that. I was hoping that I might permanently be called to that. Instead, I have to work with the adults. I am supposed to select songs for the main congregational meeting, direct them, and select special numbers as well as direct the choir.

This is the first calling I have had (including Visiting Teaching) since before the babies were born. I am really glad to be doing something. I think people think it is so hard to have twins that they have been afraid to ask anything of me. Silly. In fact, that probably contributed to my decision to write a religious themed musical theater production. I was really tired of not doing anything and decided it was time to take initiative myself, and not wait to be asked. Now I have that on my plate and have been given an additional assignment. But when it is something you love, it never feels like work.

Ugh! I Cheated Myself

I am sitting here dressed, hair fixed, makeup and Cookie Lee accessories ;) on with an hour before we have to be at church, which gives me time to feed and bathe babies and remind my husband about 20 times that it is time to get ready.

But thank goodness I had a little extra time to check my computer before the babies woke up because the clock indicates that I have TWO hours to be ready for church. Of COURSE it's daylight savings time! I could have slept another hour. My blessed husband, who did not go to sleep until 3;30 because he was playing World of Warcraft gets a one hour respite from my nagging. I get to blog, the babies get a long bath, and the rest of the kids will just be doing what they would anyway at the homes of their other parents.

Yesterday I went to the CORSA club meeting with Mike and the babies, Cash (who is the actual member of the club) Arren and Scott. CORSA is for owners and afficcianados of Corvairs. Again, everybody loved the babies, not only because they are adorable, and there are two of them, but they are magnificently behaved. One of the ladies chatted with me for at least 15 minutes about her grandsons and aunts who were twins.

Somebody said to me when I was pregnant with the twins, "When you have twins, you have to listen to everybody's twin stories." It's true. Everybody knows twins are cool, and they want to let you know that they are somehow connected to that coolness. "I have sisters who are twins." My aunt... My brother-in-law... My best friend's sister had twins. My godson married a twin. etc, etc. It doesn't bother me, and I don't blame them. You kind of get the same effect with pregnancy, but because it is more common than twins, there is not quite the degree of fervor.

It is Fast Sunday and I have plenty of time to think about how I'm not eating breakfast. I am fasting for God to guide Americans as they make their decisions about the presidency and other leadership. Time to let the babies splash in the tub.

Canton Trade Days

The first weekend of every month is Canton Trade Days. I have been interested in going for a long time, but never have. My friend Theresa was coming with her friends Thursday and asked me if I would be interested in joining her. It is less than 1/2 hour from where I live.

Other than having to pay $5 for parking and $25 to buy a Red Flyer Wagon to drag the babies around because I didn't check to make sure my stroller was in the back of the van before I left, it was pretty good. There were lots of booths and vendors selling handicrafts, imports, "antiques" and used junk. There were also some samplings of homemade salsas and preserves, etc. Homemade candles and soaps shared space with Tupperware distributors, homeopaths, beauty supplies.

My babies are absolutely perfect. They sat up in the wagon and watched the people ooh and aaah at them, smiled appropriately and never complained about a thing from 9 until 2. They were a little fussy around 11, so I repositioned them so they could sleep, which they did for a little while--until somebody said "ooh! how precious!" too loud.

I only bought a christmas ornament personalized with the year and every child's name. I still need to get "Baby's first Christmas" ones, but we now have our annual family one. Today should be another good day for the babies to sleep since they got 40min total naptime yesterday--though they did go to bed 1 hr. early.

We had a visit from a member of the Bishopric last night to offer me my first calling in our new ward. Stay tuned for more information on that.

Time to feed the babies breakfast.

Really, I love Mondays

When everybody is here, the babies don't sleep. They take 1/2 hour naps and are fussy. They have gotten used to quiet daytime. They are ultra social, and love their siblings. Therefore, they don't want to miss a moment of the party. The slightest sound reminds them they might be missing something.

When Monday rolls around and the kids are all back in school, the babies sleep all day to make up for lost time. I can get a lot done that way.

Did I mention Amelia got another tooth in? That's five in her little mouth at 9 months. And she bites.

Monday morning they were both on the bed with Daddy and Mommy. Anastasia started giggling and crawling away, like "chase me Daddy, I want to play!" It was cold and the blankets were warm. They love burying their faces in the pillow and kicking their legs waiting for us to grab or tickle them. Sometimes I'll be working and hear the two of them giggling. They will be doing something like playing peek-a-boo in the curtains with each other. The joy of it is not something that can be described. It is just amazing to watch their faces as the hidden thoughts of their mind pass across them; to see the wonder of developing intelligence.

This precious time is so short.

Bug

I caught the facebook bug. I should be able to settle down, now that I have almost 100 friends and contact established. I spent way too much time on it, but I think there was some value in the time spent. Still, I prefer blogging for it's pace and permanence. Facebook is about clips and personal soundbits. Here I can express myself at length (or brevity if I prefer). It is all mine, and not cluttered.

The kids slept out on the trampoline last night. They actually made it through then night. The low was in the mid 40's. I think it was usually that cold on Nevada nights that I spent outside in my youth. It is unbearable to sleep outside in Texas summer. Fall is beautiful.

Now I am going to work on my project.

NOW Pictures

This is what it looks like when I am trying to blog--or anything else. I am always on the computer these days--it seems, anyway.







I have started training the babies how to climb up and down the stairs. I am tired of carrying them. They are not good at it unless they are crawling up, I have planted a bottle a few steps above them, and they are not too tired and hungry to play my little game.
















Anastasia has picked up the habit of propping her foot on the table when she eats. I haven't even tried to tell her it's not polite to do your stretches at the table.

No Pictures

I had a couple of pictures I was going to post, but I got them off my camera-or tried-and they weren't there.

I had the kids this weekend. We visited the old neighborhood. Claire and Emylie went to the mall with our old neighbor Sybil. She doesn't have any kids of her own, and is not expecting that she will ever be able to, so she likes to spoil other people's children.

Mike went to help his friend, Cash, put an engine back in his car. We thought the boys would be able to play with their old friends, but no one was home. We went over to Scott and Arren's house to hang out. Isaac and I did tanagram puzzles (love them)and were trying to get Andrew interested, but he wasn't biting. The babies crawled around on the nice, soft shag carpet and occasionally had to be steered away from the cat dish. Isaac and Emylie had to get back right away because they had a mini-youth conferences, because they are just mini-youth. They are at a dance right now. They will be back around ten-thirty. I am excited for them.

Mike is still working on the car. So it has been just Claire and Andrew and I with the babies. It has been kind of nice. I helped Andrew build a Hot Wheels city with our many road pieces, and I cut his hair.

Claire was out on the trampoline while I was cutting Andrew's hair, and since we are far enough out of the city that you can see a few stars, she was asking about constellations and I showed her a couple. I love my kids so much. There is always so much that I want to do with them, but I hardly ever end up doing anything at all with them. I love them all so much.

Also, if you had given up on checking Mike or Lexi's blog, they have been better lately. I put another letter on Lay Family History and did a post on my visit to Kirksville in case anyone was looking for some extra reading.

Political

Just got done watching the final presidential debate. I have been fairly non-political in past years because of disillusionment in the government. However, as a democratic republic, we, as citizens have the responsibility to be involved in our own governance. So here I go.

Barack Obama creeps me out. Watching him tonight I thought of my ex-husband, who studies communication tactics and carefully shapes his image. He had the same bird-like tilt to his head with excessive eye blinking and measured responses that I have come to associate with a dishonesty so deep that the individual doing it believes the lies himself. Your assent to his duplicity is presumed and no defense is needed. Call it charisma if you like; I call it manipulation.

People who are chronically dishonest know how to mince words and shade terms to subvert truth without being able to be caught in an outright lie; the masters of truth by technicality. It is this technical approach to truth that allows them to accept their own dishonesty. Enough about my ex, let's get back to the debate.

Obama appeals incessantly to the middle class, which he defines as people making up to $250K (per anum, I presume--wouldn't that be nice). It's all about what he is going to do for us. We have the highest number of votes, after all. 5% of the population makes 95% of the money, so although the 5% has the power of money, we the 95% have the power of politics. Is it moral for the majority vote to exercise power over the economic majority and require that their economy trickle down to us?

It could be argued that the rich have become such because of the labor and spending of us, the middle class--one big Wal-Mart, millions of itty-bitty us 88 cents at a time. Shouldn't there be a success tax where they give us regular bonuses and kickbacks for helping them become what they are?

Maybe we shop there because the lower cost is our kickback. But that comes at the price of putting the neighborhood country mart out of business so we don't get as many choices as we might like. That is the model of the free market economy. Obama doesn't like the free market. He wants to impose order to it.

The BIG problem with social justice is that it is conceived and administered by government. The redistribution of wealth, known as socialism, though noble as an ideal, has been proven century after century as unadministerable. Why? Because of human greed and government corruption. We complain again and again about corruption in government. We see the "public servants" taking entitlements and self-aggrandizing as a rule rather than an exception, and we expect them to take the money we, the middle class, "deserve" and use it wisely for our benefit? PU! LEEEEASE!!

Pause here and come back later if you need to.

I am a republican because, as a rule, the party leans toward limiting government programs, supporting private initiative for social improvement, and advocating the rights of the local governments and businesses to determine how best to govern themselves.

My party preference is also because I wholeheartedly believe that government CAN legislate morality and has for years (as in Thou shalt not kill translates into a prison or death sentance for those who do). Amorality is lawlessness. Without conservative values the fabric of society decays, crime increases, and our personal security is lost. The good of society must be balanced with the good of the individual. The individual may not want to deliver an unplanned baby, but if society condones foeticide then life itself loses value and killing becomes rational, if only by a small degree.

As far as the redistribution of wealth, God has clearly revealed in the scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that all flesh is equal and that Zion is where there are no poor because everyone is to give all that they have, and then receive back what they need. The distribution is administered by the bishops of the church (who are not elected or appointed, but called of God). This has been successfully executed for brief periods of time in scripture, but has ultimately failed because of greed and pride among the members. The only way for it to succeed is to have God himself preside over it with his incorruptible justice, mercy, and love. This will happen when He reigns on earth for a thousand years of peace. God will not demand contribution or seize assets by legislation or force. He requires the heart and a willing mind. Those who are allowed to live on the earth during his reign will be those who love their neighbor as themselves; who are not willing to live in comfort when another struggles for survival.

Redistribution of wealth can only be done on a voluntary, individual basis when overseen by God. It is absolutely impossible to do otherwise. Those socialists who have no faith in God must be commended for acknowledging the need for human equality and for hoping for an ideal, but there will always be the one leader who wants power and wealth for himself who will destroy the hope of the many and subject them to his will. God must be the moral compass and giver of inalienable human rights or man will always be subject to the injustice of man.

Thank you for getting this far (even if you did mindlessly skim a bit).

Weight Gain

When people gain weight they start having trouble with joints. I have stairs and my knees are absolutely killing me. I carry 20+% to 40+% of my body weight up and down the stairs 3-6 times a day. It is time for the twins to learn how to walk. They each weigh about 25lbs, and have no chance of getting lighter.

Amelia (I think I already said this) scaled 4 steps the other day. That kind of behavior needs to be encouraged. She is also standing and letting go of things for brief periods of time. No, I am not anxious for my babies to grow up, I just know my limits. I can't carry these two much longer without seriously jeopardizing my physical well-being.

Amelia is also very adept and clapping now. Anastasia can blow properly into a flutophone/recorder instrument, and is now deliberately doing an inhale whistle. She learned how to do it because she always does it accidentally with the tight way she holds her lips and breathes in when she is concentrating. I have imitated it and she has repeated my imitation, proving that she is able to do it consciously. She has my Mariah Carey range and likes the sound of her own voice. She enjoys singing to my Charlotte Church CD with me. Both of them are good at matching pictches. Amelia bounces up and down to the music when it has a good beat or cadence.

Right now (who knows if the pattern will last) Amelia has a tendency towards tidiness when eating her food. She would rather have me put it in her mouth so she doesn't make a mess with it. Anastasia digs in, smears and smushes.

I am sleeping through the night these days. I am not sure if the babies are, but I haven't heard them. A couple of nights their door or mine has been shut, making it difficult to hear them. If they have had trouble, they have been able to deal with it themselves. This is as good a time as any to learn self-reliance. I was wondering if I was ever going to get a full night sleep again. Of course, I still have to deal with a husband who won't go to bed when he should. Speakin' of which, let me see if I can work on that.

5 Quirky Things About Me

1. It's what's on the inside that counts. I am not good at keeping my house tidy--putting shoes away, finishing laundry, making kids pick up, vacuuming, I almost never dust or do windows, but I always put everything in my cabinets and drawers exactly the same way--well, I'm not as meticulous with my closet, but all pans, canned goods, silverware, dishes etc are stacked the same way, rotated by date and predictably positioned.

2. I walk very close to the walls in hallways and on stairs and take a longer path in rooms, walking where most people don't in an attempt to even out foot traffic wear on floors

3. I could eat frosted mini-spooners (yeah, the Malt-O-Meal version) every morning for the rest of my life--with 15- 20 in the bottom of the bowl, frosted side up with the heaviest frosting in the back so that I can eat the best last. All cereal I eat holding the bowl tipped forward so the milk doesn't get on the cereal in the back until just before I eat it so that the last bite has the same moisture/consistency as the first bite. I eat several small bowls rather than one big soggy bowl. If the phone rings after I have poured the milk, they will have to leave a message.

4. I am such a cheapskate (from years of poverty) that I will rework furniture dozens of times in an attempt to redecorate. Design on a Dime has a $1,000 budget? Holy Cow, I don't think I have ever spent more than $200 on a room. It's all hand-me-downs and throw-aways renewed with an occcasional clearance bedding, drape, or rug, unless I find $1 a yard fabric I like and make it myself. Paint is magic.

5. I pray kneeling on my bed with my fanny up and my head on the pillow like a Muslim because of years of having a top bunk.

That's what I get for catching up on everybody else's blogs, I get tagged. Now I tag Kim, Dove, Marla, Consie, and Dee.

Trip Report

I am home. The babies are happy to see their daddy. Amelia doesn't have to flirt now with every man she sees. Today is their 9 month day.



They had fun riding in the car with grandma and grandpa--especially since mama was in the back seat with them. They love to play peek-a-boo and will take any fabric or clothing item and try to put it over their head--even socks. Sometimes they get tired of the paparazzi.






The babies got to play with their Uncle Mark for a couple of days before he went to Belfast, or some other place in the UK. They played in Grandma's store and in Grandma's basement, and anywhere else we set them down.

I was busy the first four days transcribing their guest log into an excel sheet so we can create a database and grow the Far West Historical Society. Then I worked on the website. Those pages should be posted as of this evening (Saturday), so please check it and tell me what you think.

They started work on the farm house this week as well. They are adding 8 feet to the back (which they are pouring concrete for the supports for) and extending the porch all the way across the front. They had to take off all the vinyl siding so they could replace it with a consistent masonite planking.

I spent one morning helping Dee (see the Gordons at right) get her garage packed so they could move into the house they just built. I got a picture of Abigail and Zeke holding...we thought it was Amelia, but I'm not positive. Grandma posted that on her blog. Apparently Zeke loves babies and always wants to hold them, but Mom S and I decided that it would be okay if they got married so that I could at least have a shot at red-headed grand-babies.

Despite all that, we managed to squeeze in a little fun. We were shopping for shoes and got stuck in Kohl's, darn it! We came out with the usual spankin good clearance deals. Now the girls and I are set for our summer/spring wardrobe for next year.

In Far West, Missouri

I have been in Missouri for a week now. I spent most of the time, so far doing data entry so that the visitors log here at the Far West Country Store can be converted into a database. I am trying to help my in-laws with promotions, marketing, and information disemination so that their Deseret Bookstore/visitor information center/gift store can grow into the historical village and gathering place that they envision.

That is also why I am writing a theatrical production to be presented here next year, and every year thereafter. Our tenative time for it is the last two weeks of July. That way, people who want to do a church history tour can go to the Hill Cumorah pageant, then to the Nauvoo Pageant, then here, to the Far West pageant. Yeah, its a major project. My time will be thoroughly occupied. I am going to need a ton of help.

The first day I was here I drove up to Kirksville/Brashear where my mom and dad bought a house and where my dad's family is from. On the Lay Family History blog I have posted letters written in 1913 from Kirksville by my Great grandmother, Clara Gibson to her new husband Henry Lay. The house she lived in is no longer there, but I saw the neighbors house, which she refers to in her letters. The neighbors house was bigger than I expected. I will post more about that on that blog when I get a chance.

Now you know.

Losses

I lost my brain. There is a sad resignation and a subdued helplessness. When I plugged in my computer that I was setting up as the kids computer, it wouldn't boot up. The hard drive crashed in the move. Mike says he can still retrieve the data off of it. Fortunately I handed my dad all the genealogy information I had collected on that computer, and I guess it is on the new familysearch.org. However, I had no back-up for my book that I had about five chapters of. It was about the trauma I experienced at the termination of my first marriage. My intention was to get it all out so that I would have a memory of it, without feeling like I had to hold on to it inside of me. I saw that as an important part of my healing process. Now I have to just plain let it go--maybe.

The other sad thing is that I had two older computers that had stuff on them--I have no idea what--that got left behind in the move. They are now lost forever. It was only little parts of my brain that I have no power to recall. I don't know what I have lost, so I can't be terribly sad about it, but something is gone.

The other loss is of a much more practical necessity. The new microwave (that I have previously complained about here) was set to cook for 20 minutes with nothing in it. It is completely fried and lifeless. Someone thought it was a timer. Someone was wrong. Someone is loved and will be forgiven because Someone was trying to help. Someone should not comment if they read this and give themselves away. This post is not about Someone it is about things I lost.

Mike is going to be building a couple of websites in the next couple of weeks, and since he is not used to working from home with me and the babies are around, I am going to take them to see Grandmas in Missouri (since my parents are there this week). I will also be taking that opportunity to continue working on a project that relates to that area. Sorry, I just try to say as little as possible about intentions, and just report on accomplishments. You'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway, keep on truckin'.

Whachu Talkin' 'Bout Willis?

Anastasia is doing her Zoolander.


















The babies love playing on my bed, but mostly they love getting their picture taken or videos of themselves. Anastasia is the especially hammy one. Amelia is studying the camera.

























Anastasia was helping me unpack boxes in the girls room and fell asleep on the job.