A Day in the Life...

Me: Copper, this is our new table. Copper: That's not a table, mom. Me: Yes it is, I just have to put the legs on. Copper: Oh, right, so the table can run away.

Dakota loves to color.   Especially with a lot of crayons at once.   This is how Micah colors.  She rips up the paper.  And she eats crayons.      And this is how Micah looks after she's unattended while I'm in the shower.  A lovely bruise-looking slab of eye-liner.  I wouldn't expect anything less from her...   And this is Copper, buttering up at 9:00 o'clock at night.  Full of sugar (thank you Valentine's Day at preschool and unlimited access to candy) and wide awake...    :)

Micah can rip apart a room in less than ten seconds.  She takes books, one in each hand, and throws them behind her just in time to pick up another one to hurl.  She rips up, jumps on, throws away, and takes apart everything she gets her hands on.  She climbs up everything.  She crawls under everything.  She leaves Nothing untouched.  She is the most curious girl I've ever seen.  She is busy, busy, busy.  And she is messy.  Her hair looks adorable for the few minutes after I've done it each morning.  Then it is filled with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and anything else she finds.  She pulls and tugs it until it's in her eyes and all over her face.  She cannot eat anything and stay clean.  One tiny small M&M will leave her covered.  She can have a binkie in her mouth and each hand and it's not enough. She is really funny. And cute. When Kota is taken to the sitter's, or my mom's, or my sister's, or i...

"Multiples don't walk around in lockstep,  talking in unison,  thinking identical thoughts.  The bond for normal twins,  whether they are identical or fraternal,  is based on how they,  as individuals who are keenly aware of the differences between them,  learn to relate to one another" -Pamela Patrick Novotny (author of The Joy of Twins)  It is pretty neat to have twins in the family and a big sister that loves them more than anything.

Dakota got a cold during Christmas and it's just lingered.  A fever came last Wednesday and hasn't stopped on its own.  Poor thing.  Antibiotic for ear infection, chest xrays and swab for RSV, and she just has to wait it out.  Hoping Micah doesn't follow.  As much as I've tried to keep binkies and sippies separate, they swap spit all day. Shandee mistook this pic of Kota for Micah.  The more I look at this picture the more Micah I see in Kota's face.  Guess they look more alike than I notice sometimes!  Even when they are sick they are super pretty and adorable. Meanwhile, talking to Copper:  Tim: Copper, do you want chicken for lunch? Copper:  No, chicken tomorrow. Tim: What do you want today for lunch? Copper: I can't remember. Tim: So you can't remember what you want today but you know you want chicken tomorrow? Copper: Yeah, Tim.

In our kitchen we have puke golden oak cabinets and railings.  I actually think that's the name of it- puke golden oak.  Not really my taste.  So after a bit of research into what I wanted, I picked this dark, expresso-colored stain and went to work. I'm WAY happy about how it's turning out. Clean, sand, clean, stain, wait, second coat, wait, third coat, wait, finishing clear coat, wait, second finishing clear coat. About a week for all the coats and finishes and waits.  Good thing I like this sort of project because it's time consuming and slow coming.  Mostly because I don't have all day to work on it.  I'm applying it with a sock, it's a smooth glide.  Although, twice now my latex gloves how broken underneath the sock and I didn't realize it until I pulled them off to find my hand completely expresso-colored. This past weekend I tried to do one coat while holding Micah.  Needless to say, she looked like she had a magnific...

Every year when we get our tithing settlement statement I wonder where the crap our money goes. Seriously. Then I think: That's before taxes. Before $1200 in hospital bills every year Before 10% plus $1200 in tithing/fast offerings Before $3600 in student loans every year Before $12,000+ in house payments Before $8,000-$10,000 in child care Before insurances, food, gasoline, phones, utilities, car maintenance and some fun (and btw, our fun is pretty low key- like going out for ice cream or dinner).  Living.Is.Expensive. So I'm pretty grateful for a fantastic husband who works hard.  And I'm grateful for a good job that pays pretty well.  Well, you know, for as well as state jobs pay.  Grateful for the divine way life has of working out- how it led me to the right people to put me in the right places at the right time.  I applied for graduate school on a dare.  I didn't really have any desire to get my master's degree.  But I got in so I ...