Name Dropper

Okay, so some of you have heard stories about how Mike surprises me as I learn about him. He is always dropping names (not that I often recognize them) about people he has rubbed shoulders with. Well, today Tony Hawk (the pro skater whose name is on all of my boys clothes and nearly all of their favorite XBox video games) was making arrangements for an event they're doing at the hotel for which Mike has some responsibility. So, Tony is talking to someone else, but keeps looking at Mike. It takes a minute for Mike to recognize him because it's been 20 years since they hung out. (I am chuckling about that phrase, and you'll see why.)

So, Tony asks, "Where do I know you from?"
Mike: "Probably Al's Skate shop."
After a couple of seconds, the Hawk-ster says "SKEMBO!"

Apparently, my husband did something in a skate competition that the legendary Tony Hawk remembers. Turns out, as Mike was trying to complete his minute and thirty seconds of tricks, his pants were falling down. In sheer determination, Mike went on like there was nothing wrong while he mooned the spectators and judges. Now that's something people don't forget--even when they become mega-successful. Did I say name dropper?

*whew!* I love my honey!

Pretty Girls

Emylie and the twins were the only kids here over the weekend. This is what they looked like before church. I showed Emylie how to put on her makeup and fixed her hair (wig). Her natural hair is coming in really nicely, and she is not wearing the wig at school any more. She still wears a hat a lot since the hair is very short and patchy. Most of the bald patches have at least some light peach fuzz.

We had a pretty good weekend together. We didn't get to go shopping like she wanted to (because there just isn't much point in it at this point in the pay cycle) but we did go to a friend's for a barbecue where she got to flirt with a boy who is only slightly younger than she is. I miss having her around, but it was nice for it to be just the two of us. She did a good job helping with the babies--especially carrying them, since she and I were the only ones to go to church since Mike had to work.

Week Two

We did it again. Family home evening for two weeks in a row. This week Arren gave the lesson on keeping a journal. She gave everyone a journal. The kids were excited enough about it that we didn't even need to tell them that our FHE activity was writing in them. They automatically started doing it.

It is 11:30 and I hear Mike's car pulling up just now. Time for me to publish.

It's a Gas

Anastasia is so talkative. She is getting louder too. She loves to hear herself. Amelia is also discovering that she can use her "words" to get attention too. This morning they were having a little shouting competition. They crack me up. Two is fun. They also try to copy pitches I sing them. I don't know if I have said this, but I love that they love to hear me sing.

Oh, Thursday the twins and I were out with the realtor looking at houses without any gas. Mike had the card with money on it. I got a hold of him to meet me with it, but then I got lost, being on a side of town (a town of the city) that I am unfamiliar with. About that time my cell phone died. My car coughed like it would die about the same time I saw a motorcycle cop. I pulled my car into the parking lot he was stalking unsuspecting motorists from and explained my plight.

He let me use his cell phone. Mike was soon on his way to get me. The officer offered to wait until he arrived. The cop had been about to leave that location. But being a very effective public servant, he decided to continue issuing citations while he waited. Essentially, I ruined 3 people's day, by having a challenging day of my own.

Don't forget to keep checking the family history blog. I have added a couple of letters this week, and will do another one soon.

School Picnic

The kids have been asking for me to bring the babies to school. Now that sick season is over, and since Andrew and Claire had the same lunch time because of a school picnic I put the twins in the stroller and walked to the school. Whew! I am out of shape! It is only two blocks and I was pooped by the time I got back--plus it is really humid today.

I did not get any pictures of Andrew and his classmates, though they were all excited about the babies. Here are some pictures of Claire and her friends with them. Amelia is in the stroller. Anastasia is in Claire's arms. Marissa, on the left of the group picture is twin to Lauren whose head is turned behind Claire.

Sharing

Anastasia and Amelia are gaining more control over their bodies. Anastasia is always a day to a week ahead of Amelia. Anastasia has started twisting her body in a way that will soon lead to rolling over. They are doing a lot more reaching and grabbing. They try to support their bottles, but most of the time they actually push it out of the way. The other day I was holding Amelia in the crook of my arm while I was on the computer and she reached her hand up to my cheek to get my attention. Very sweet and tender.

Last night they cracked me up. I laid them next to each other within arms reach. They each took turns sucking on the other's fist.

Family Home Evening

We invited Scott and Arren over for family home evening, but Scott was working. That was fine, because so was Mike. We didn't do anything special, but we did it. Andrew gave the lesson on the Holy Ghost from the back of the Gospel art Picture Kit image of a girl being confirmed. Then we had singing time, with Isaac doing an impromptu one-finger piano accompaniment followed by a very special *wink, wink* treat of yellow cake with no icing. Andrew is leading the music, and though I look pained, I was just singing. Claire didn't take any pictures of Arren.

We have not had family home evening very regularly because we thought we should do it on Saturdays when we had all the kids here. But that just never works out, so I figured we could just start having it on Mondays, then try for Saturday when the weekend kids are here. Not that it will happen, but having it on Mondays increases the chances that at least someone will get it.

Insomniac

Last night the babies slept wonderfully for the first time in a long time. I did not because Mike and I were talking about important stuff. For a few nights previous, they had been off schedule. Though they slept for 4 hours at a time, only one was up every 2 hours. Last night I didn't really get to sleep until blah blah blah, are you sick of this subject. I need to take a shower and go to bed.

Another day

I did not get any laundry at all folded yesterday, but I did put that on the top of my (Never written down) to do list. I had everything folded this morning and everything put away, with the help of the children, by tonight. I am really trying to get better about not spreading my laundry into a week-long project that dirties my living room for 3-4 days.

As soon as I had that done, amid feeding, loving and playing with my PRECIOUS babies and they were settled down, rather than going back to sleep, I started stripping the old finish off of one of my 3 solid wood book cases. I got the shelves and top stripped and sanded, now I just have to sand the sides, and it will be ready for its new coat of stain and varnish. I don't know one wood from another, but this one is beautiful.

Amelia and Anastasia ate their first rice cereal today. It doesn't matter whether I feed them 4,6, or 8 ounces, they want to eat every 2 or 3 hours. They will sleep for four or five hours a night, though they have slept 7-8 hours a couple of times. Maybe the cereal will help with that. I did not put it in their bottle like I have with the other kids, I just spoon-fed them. Anastasia had a little easier time figuring out how to swallow it, but she may just have been hungrier.

Tonight was Wednesday, so I made the kids a box dinner and took Isaac to scouts. They did a service project cleaning up from the recent storm damage.

Mike got home tonight from two days of business in Florida, and had to go into work tonight. Since it is midnight, I am not going to write any more.

Special dinner

I had been planning for a couple of days to use the chicken I had thawed. Isaac made sure I did because he loves it. I also bought corn on the cob, which I only tend to do when they have a good special on it. Little rice for filler makes for a great dinner.

Isaac fired up the grill for me, even though he had offered to grill hamburgers a few days before and Mike said no because Isaac doesn't look good without eyebrows. He is a Boy Scout. He has to be competent with fire. After he lit it, he made the comment that there was a big flame for such a little fire when he started it up. After I took the chicken off the grill I noticed that there were singe pom poms at the end of his eyelashes and a bunch of burnt hair around his face. Fortunately, his eyebrows lie close enough to his face that they were unscathed.

Back to taking the chicken off the grill. That included putting out a fire. We had blackened chicken en flambee. The wings and drumsticks had very little meat under their coating. The breasts were actually nice and juicy once you took off the *ahem* skin? I'm not a bad cook, usually, I just occasionally get caught up with other tasks.

I had to take Mike to the Airport this morning at 4am. He is going to Florida for some sort of meeting. He will be back tomorrow night, so it is not a big deal, I just didn't get much sleep. The babies have finally figured out that they can go to sleep before 11pm, but not last night. Then they woke up only 3 hours later wanting to eat again--even with eating 8 ounces at each feeding. 2 hours later I went to the Airport and an hour after that, they wanted to eat again, which was fine because it was time to get the kids up for school. Anastasia woke up gassy an hour later, so I put her in the swing, but that only satisfied her for 1/2 hour. After another 1/2 hour Amelia was up and they were both ready to eat. I gave up on sleeping. I guess I will get dressed and see if I can fold the 6 batches of laundry I washed yesterday, but I will bathe the girls first. Their pj's smell like rotten milk--ugh!

Happy Taxes

Mike and I had an appointment with our Tax prep guy Saturday. Mike has never used a professional. We did not file last year, and he was not too enthusiastic about doing it this year because he thought we wouldn't get much. Even though we have 8 kids (we only had 6 in 2007, we only get two for the child tax credit. Two other parents get two each. Still, I knew that two would be worth something. Mike was already dragging his feet because somehow he owed the IRS 2,000 dollars. I figured if we could file last year's taxes that would pay off that debt and this year we could get $2,000 to keep.

WELL!our tax man got us $8,000! And I have NO problem with his $500+ fee. Mike didn't either, and he said he will be taking our taxes to him every year. This year there is an economic incentive, too that the IRS is shelling out--which amounts to a couple thousand dollars that contributes to that number. Did you know about that?

Before the tax appointment, I took Claire to the mall because she was needing a special mommy daughter day. She also had some money and gift cards that were burning a hole in her pocket.

Oh, and before that, I worked on my bedroom a little more. My husband noticed when he got home Friday that I had done something in my room. He said, "I see you destroyed the room." I confided to him that I figured if I pulled everything out he would help me finish--and he did! Not that it is finished, but I am writing to you from a clean desk with tidy cables and wires tucked carefully behind it--and no dust bunnies.

Before that, I made creamed eggs and toast for brunch. It was too late for breakfast because we slept in. Now I am going back to bed. Mike has been up all night. He thought he was going to have to go into work at 3:30, so he figured he would stay up all night, rather than wake up, but he texted me at 4:30 that they said they would not be ready for him until 6, so he stayed up for nothing. The babies woke up about that time. The computer was still on, and I couldn't resist posting.

Clean Your Room!!

So I have Randa syndrome. I have worked with my kids on reorganizing and arranging their rooms, but mine is full of cruddy, dusty nooks and crevices. So I started working on it yesterday, but I don't think my husband noticed at all. Yesterday's minor efforts combined with todays should have a noticeable effect. My babies are playing on the bed, alternating between staring at each other and the ceiling fan while I work. And I found a package of gum, so I have cinnamon fresh breath! Eclipse has a hard shell, so I don't know if it was stale. :)

The kids walked to school again today. I actually took them for two days because we had horrific thunderstorms. We have 3 dead trees in our front yard and one of them fell over at the root--or lack thereof. Fortunately it was not especially tall and it fell away from both our house and the neighbor's. Mike's car was just clear of one of the fallen branches of the other dead tree. There was debris all over the neighborhood. Anyway--my kids walk to school. It is two blocks to the elementary and exactly one mile to the middle. That makes my life more simple than some of the rest of you. Thank goodness I don't have to pack up the twins every morning to take the kids somewhere.

Last night I sang for a relief society program. I was Mary at the cross and the tomb. The song I sang was Day of Tears. I did not feel like I sang very strong, because the range was so low on it, but it was emotional. Arren performed just before me and did a great job. She has a sweet, classical voice. I have never gotten to hear her perform solo--except when she has done vocals on our Rock Band game, but that's just messin' around with silly songs we don't really know. It was a really emotional program. It was the perspective of various women in Jesus life. It's all on a CD titled "Women at the Well."

So now it's time to quit blogging and get back to cleaning.

Calluses

I just sat down to read everyone's blogs and there started to be thunder and lightning. I can hear the rain now, too. Thank goodness I got back from the church before all that. When I said I was singing and had to get a costume ready the other day, it was just a rehearsal. Tonight was the final rehearsal. Thursday is the real deal.

I left the older kids and took the twins with me. You know how awkward and heavy those stupid infant carrier seats are. Two of them are ridiculous. My hands are tingling with the developing calluses--but at least both hands are even--same with my muscles. There has to be a better way.

I saved it in the wrong format, so it can't be posted online. Mike didn't get a chance to help me convert it.

I decided to a little video editing. It is a little over 5 minutes of me and the babies playing together. I cut out a bunch, so hopefully, it is not too long and boring. They were half as old then as they are now. They are 14 weeks old now. Okay, I tried to post it using the blogger video, but I had to post it on YouTube instead.

Party

I am REALLY not good about giving my kids birthday parties. However, since Andrew took the initiative, invited his classmates and insisted that I make invitations, he got one. There were at least 7 of his friends there, and one of Claire's. They all brought presents, too. I got him a rescue submarine because his friend, Zack has one and he just thought it was cool. I actually got the right one! He was excited.

I got home from picking up Emylie just before it was time for the party to start. Fortunately, Mike had been able to get off work in enough time to coerce the kids into doing their chores (which I had done a bit of before I left at 1:30. The house actually wasn't too embarrassing. They played on the trampoline for a while, then they came in and ate chips and drank soda. Andrew opened his presents, Mike came home with the cake (because he felt like cupcakes were not enough). We sang the song. Andrew blew out the candles. They ate the cake or cupcakes according to their preference. Some went home. Andrew opened his toys and played with a few. The rest of the kids went home.

Devanie Day

It may sound like you are on Devanie's blog, but no, it's just Janika having a uncharacteristically active day.

I woke up the kids this morning and made sure Andrew's invitations were cut and ready to take to school. He wanted to have a birthday party today, but you will see why that was not possible. It will be tomorrow night instead. I also helped Claire with her math homework before she left because she just has a hard time with long division. That was the first time I got a C, myself.

Then it was time to feed babies. Then I had to find a home inspector and set up for him to look at the house we are buying before midnight tomorrow. So I looked in my email for the list of inspectors that the realtor sent to me and made the call. While I was at it, I checked the rest of my email and everybody else's blogs. I even replied to a couple of friends and was sure to comment on everybody's blogs. After that, I made my costume for our Relief Society Women at the Well presentation tonight. Then I took a little time to practice my song, though I really need to practice with my accompanist since I never have.

Because it was Andrew's birthday I made cupcakes--2 batches--one for school and one for the party. I did homemade frosting (see it's not Devanie's blog) and put a decorative dollop on top and garnished it with chocolate sprinkles.

Though I did not eat, I did get a shower and dress myself nicely to deliver the cupcakes before school got out on my way to the accountants to get my taxes done, babies in tow. I did take time earlier in the day to play with the babies a little bit.

I am sitting down for a minute before I make dinner for my kids to be done before I leave for Relief Society around 6:45. I would like a little nap. I'm afraid the kids won't get dinner if I do that.

When my husband and I get home I will serve him some delicious cheesecake, because that's what he likes for his birthday. Oh, I also finished all but the last page of my Ensign. Man, I feel like a woman! (With painful mastitis)

Chunky

My babies are getting fat! They have probably doubled their birthweight now, being just over 12lbs. They are just plain chubby. They are not satisfied with any less than 8 ounces. Amelia can sit up by herself for a few solid seconds pretty consistently, but I think Anastasia did it first. Anastasia loves to talk. Whenever I say I love you slowly, she tries to mimick the sounds and does a pretty good job of it. Amelia does some talking too, but she likes to be an observer.

In other news Thursday is Andrew's Birthday. Oh, and it's Mike's birthday. It is 11:30, and he is almost home from work. He has to be in by 6:30am. I know Dove is totally used to that, but he's not, and he probably won't be done until 9:00 that night. Happy Birthday, honey!