Trying To Catch Up

I keep promising myself that I am going to get this thing up to date, and then I don't do it (I think the last several posts have begun with this sentence!). So many things have been happening lately that I want to blog, but I refuse to put them on here till I have gotten current. I am ready to throw my hands up and just start where we are now, but I am going to make one more attempt:

November

When we were living in Utah, we tried to get up in the mountains each fall for a family picture. For 2009, we went to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (a Civil War battlefield) here in Georgia. Looking back at this picture, I can't believe how much the boys have grown!

Emma got my camera and snapped this picture of Jonathan. As well of this one of William.

December

For some reason, I don't have any pictures of Christmas. But I do have a few other ones from December.

This is a picture of Emma wearing the pillowcase dress I made for her. She only wore it this one time, and informed me that she will not ever wear it again. (I don't know why...I think she looks adorable in it!) We will try again this fall and winter to get it on her! I also got this picture of my three little cuties! Looking at it, I realized that my kids could pass for triplets if the boys were bigger! I didn't realize how similar they all look until I looked at this picture! Here is another picture of all the kids together. Emma loves being a big sister and having fun with her brothers! Stay tuned... there is more to come!

October 2009

Not that I can remember too much from October (seeing that it is now JULY), but I do remember that one morning I took the kids outside for a chocolate chip muffin picnic for breakfast. I also remember that they really loved it!

This is Jonathan, eating his muffin at the kid picnic table. And here is William (and yes, they are still in their pajama tops! I did put some jeans on them, though!). I don't remember what day this was, but I think that Emma just looks so darn cute in the Cozy Coupe- and I love the colors of the car and her shirt. In October, Emma participated in her first ever Primary Program. She wore this dress that her BB bought for her, and she looked so pretty! She also memorized her part for the program and several of the primary teachers commented on how well she did!And of course, October means Halloween. Here is William digging in the "scary hand candy bowl" at the ward Trunk or Treat (that was held in the gym). The boys had gotten flu shots the day before and didn't feel that great. That didn't stop them from eating candy, though! (A note about the bowl: My dad got the bowl at one of his "auction" trips and it scared Emma to death. The hand moves and it makes noises. Anytime anyone would come over to our house, Emma would lead them to the closet where we kept the bowl and tell them to get it out, take it home with them, and throw it away!) Here is Jonathan- unhappy about his costume, and not feeling well. I felt like I totally scored on the costumes, though. I waited till the day of Halloween, went to the Walgreens down the street, and got each dog costume for $2.50. I think they were regularly $10 or $15 each! Emma wanted to be Woody from "Toy Story" for Halloween, but most older people didn't know who Woody was when we went Trick or Treating. So, she was pretty frustrated by the end of the day since everyone kept telling her she was a pretty cowgirl!

Slacking

How did I let another month slip by without posting a single thing? I made a resolve to blog more often...and I didn't follow through! I don't know why, I just didn't. There was a time when I made sure to keep this thing updated, with pictures, each and every month. If you look back to the first few years of blogging, I think I only missed one, maybe two months. Lately, I have been getting further and further behind. I feel like my life is full of chaos and I feel totally unorganized when it comes to things that require some attention (other than feeding, clothing, or diaper changing!) from me. So, this is my ramble, along with a new, slightly more determined resolve to keep blogging.

September Stuff

Our month of September was full of fun, fun and more fun! Here are some of the highlights:

We went to Tennessee for a little visit and Emma got to go around and pick raspberries with her Jefe (that is what we call my dad- it was his special request.) at the farm. Dad has expanded his plant operation to include lots of berry plants. He has raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. (Pictures of his strawberry set up will follow!) Later on in the month, Aaron had a training for work in Miami. Since I have never been, his hours would be managable, we got our Moms to take turns keeping the kids, and I went to Miami for a few days.

This is the pool that I lounged by all day, reading books and working on my tan. These are the palm trees that I lounged under, while reading books and working on my tan. While we were in Miami, we went to a mall area that was at the edge of the ocean called Bayside. We found a little stand that was selling Latin foods, and Aaron had to have some of the things he had on his mission. We ate arepas and choclo, and Aaron was even able to score his mission drink- Colombiana. We also took a boat tour around the bay. Here is a picture of us on that tour. In September, there was also a storm system that came through the Atlanta area and dumped quite a bit of water on us. The neighborhood drainage creek runs through our yard and it overflowed into the yard. I have never seen this much water in that area. The area just beyond the lower "trees" is the place where the water runs under the road. It was so full of debris and the water turned into a huge swirling mess as it tried to get under the road. You can see where the water goes under the road, and then follows the "creek" into my neighbor's yard across the street. It was truly amazing to see the power of the water. It was also a little scary too. We got a little bit of water in the basement, but nothing really to worry about. It was enough to soak some cardboard boxes, but I got to it all quickly enough that we didn't have to throw anything away. We learned our lesson, and went to all plastic boxes, and bought a dehumidifier! And finally, here are a few pictures of the boys. This one is William. And this is Jonathan. We had a little muffin picnic outside on their table. Fun times!

So Many Things to Show You...

It has been quite some time since I have done a real blog post. I blame life for being so hectic and out of control. I just realized that I haven't posted pictures of the kids since August. Oops! I am hoping to update over the next few days to get caught up to now! Here is the rest of August (for the first part of August, you can go here.

Emma started Preschool in August. Her preschool is run by one of the local Baptist churches, and I (and she) have loved the school and the teachers. By the way, that is her favorite shirt, and I love those shoes! Remember the dance move called Running Man? She totally looks like she is doing it here! I don't remember when or why, but at some point we went up to Tennessee for a visit. Here are the boys trying to figure out how to drive Jefe's 4 wheeler. (That is Jonathan in the front, and William riding in the back.) This is a close up of William, courtesy of Emma's photography! And Jonathan, again, taken by Emma.

A Shameless Plug for Erin Summerill Photography

My dear friend Erin, Erin Summerill Photography, is having a give away on her photography blog. She is an awesome photographer in the Utah Valley area. You may remember some of the pictures she took of us when she was just starting out in photography. Now, she has built quite the photography business and I am so proud of her!

The other great thing about Erin, is her house remodeling, desk building, handyman- husband, Mark. Mark has started making some beautiful frames for Erin's pictures, and you can see them here. (I am begging Aaron to get me the corkboard in the frame. I love that thing!)

So, head on over to her photography site, check out her pictures and the blog area of her site. And while you are there, leave her a message saying that you came from my blog so I can win her contest!

Just some funny stuff

I know I haven't done a good post in, like, FOREVER, and that there are some of you who just want to see pictures of the kids, but I will get to that a little later. Emma has said some funny things lately, and I want to post them while I remember them.

Emma keeps asking me questions about the things that happened in "Allison Wonderland." She keeps referring to Alice as Allison.

We recently watched the movie "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." (Cute movie, by the way.) Emma keeps referring to the main character, Flint Lockwood, as "Flip Flop Wood." We also watch the Disney Channel show, "Sonny With a Chance," on occasion. She gets the movie and the show titles mixed up which results in "Cloudy With Meatballs of Chance."

And last, today, she was asking about the "Cat corner" in our yard. Long story, but when we moved to our house, the previous owners had buried their pet cats in the back corner of the yard. When the previous owners finished building their new house, they came back and dug the cats up and took them to their new house. (Note: The story is much more detailed and disgusting, but I am not putting that on the blog! Ask me about it sometime...) ANYWAY, we call that part of the yard the cat corner since that is where the cats were. Today, when Emma asked why we called it that, I explained it to her. That it was kind of a cemetery. She said, "Oh, you mean like a greatyard?" Yeah...I guess...

Law

You've heard of Murphy's Law, right? Its the one that says, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." It's one of my Dad's favorites.

Which brings me to some of my Dad's Laws:

• No good deed goes unpunished.
• If you keep doing what you're doing, you will keep getting what you're getting.
• I'm not going to say I told you so, but I previously informed you. (I don't know that that one is a law per say, but the law is that when we do something dumb, he will say that...)

After an incident this morning, I decided to come up with MY own laws, "Mommy Laws" if you will:

• Clean carpets will be puked on. (Aaron and I spent last night cleaning all the carpets/rugs in the house. Upon returning home from taking Emma to preschool this morning, Jonathan puked all over the place. Luckily, it was outside and in the van a little. But now I won't let him get on the carpets.)
• Clean diapers will get pooed in (within 5 minutes of clean diaper being put on). (This one is a no fail around here. I have given the boys a fresh diaper, only to have to change it 5 minutes later, more times than I can count.)
• Mommy's black shirts will get snotted. (Probably serves me right for wearing a black shirt. BUT it seems that every time I wear a black shirt, my kids wipe their noses on it. I have learned to lovingly refer to the snot streaks as "slug trails.")
• Slobbery kisses are the best. (Nothing melts my heart like a big slobbery, sometimes open mouthed, kiss from my boys. They are so sweet, and rarely ever turn down my request for a little lovin'.)
• Nothing is better than being a "Momma." (Do I really need to explain?)

While life as a mommy isn't always glamorous, easy, or even clean, I can tell you that there is nothing else I would rather do with my life. My life as a mom, even with the "Mommy Laws," could not be any sweeter. And I try, every day, to remember that. I have heard so many people say, "They grow up so fast," or "This is just a phase." I know they do, and I know it is. And I also know that when its gone, it is gone. One day my carpets will stay clean, my black shirts won't have a shimmery trail, and my boys won't want to kiss me, and my kids will be embarrassed by their Momma.

Love your life, live by its laws, and learn to throw your hands up and say, "Oh, well!" Enjoy it while its here.

Hello, Old Friends!

Hello, old friends (since you are the only ones left that check my blog anymore)! I hope that you are all well and that you had a nice Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, etc., etc. It has been that long since I have posted anything that required much effort!

We have been pretty busy around here, with the holidays, hosting Christmas for ourselves and our families, and entertaining the various viruses that seem to think our family is hospitable. I am ready to be done with tissues, barf bowls, and repetitive sheet washing. But something tells me that this will be part of my life for the next few years and that I better just get used to it!

I am thinking of making it a habit to share more of my inner thoughts and funny "mommy moments" here. Is anyone interested in reading them? (Emma just says the funniest things, and the boys are developing such fun little personalities that I can't bear to keep it all to myself. And I am experiencing some things that I think only the mom of twins (or multiple boys) can fully appreciate. Like, for instance, when I found the boys dumping water by the cup full out of the toilet (which, luckily, had been flushed prior to the incident). Where did they get the cups you ask? They are the cups we use to bathe them with-you know, the rinsing cups.) So give me some feed back!