haircuts

We're all set for Orlando when it comes to our hair. Allen visited my "barber shop" a few days ago and is enjoying his shorter hair. Ross got a haircut last night and is looking good! And yesterday afternoon while waiting for Allen to come home on the bus, Abby got her bangs trimmed. I moved the scissors and comb aside, forgot about them and we sat together on the porch and talked until Allen came home. As I was looking at the papers in Allen's bag, Abby came up behind me and said something like, "I want to cut you hair" and then all of a sudden I heard the clip and saw strands of my hair on my shoulders. Ahhhhhhh! (I look a photo of a nice clump next to a pen for size perspective). I couldn't even yell at her, but said in a sad voice, "Abby, you don't cut Mommy's hair," which sent Abby into tears. My hair was in a ponytail so I couldn't really tell where she clipped it from (the tail, the hair on the side) and even after my hair out and looking in the mirror I still can't find where it came from. I'm pretty lucky that Abby's barber debut didn't ruin my image completely.

minivan: part two

We went to Honda last night and looked at Odysseys and the 8-passenger Pilot. We've decided that we are going with the minivan (as much as I don't want to be a minivan mom yet) and keep the 8-passenger option. After looking at the Odyssey we stopped back at Toyota to compare the insides: too similar with a tricky 8th middle seat.

Today will be spent straightening the house, cleaning the microwave, working on dinner (tonight we're having Cafe Rio Pork Salad), doing laundry, checking out RideMax, 2 piano lessons, and the beginnings of packing for Disney World.

minivan

Now we have to upgrade vehicles and the choices have been narrowed down to Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey. We went to a Toyota place last night and test-drove a Sienna. I liked it better than I thought I would. I grew up with a minivan, I learned to drive using a minivan and it's weird to think I'm going to own one soon. But which should we pick -- the Odyssey or the Sienna??

staying up late

Do you know what two games are fun to play hours after you should have already gone to bed?

Ticket to Ride Europe

AND

Tetris Attack (Super Nintendo)

Oh, yeah! The latter brought back memories from college days. It's also fun to eat magic cookie bars while you play. I highly recommend it! I'm looking forward to more game nights with Annette and Caleb.

fun with wax

We got a great groupon deal at Madame Tussaud's wax museum. We had a lot of fun and took a lot of silly pictures...

Allen posed by himself and asked for us to take a picture. He doesn't even know who the Clintons are :) I don't know what it is about wax but some of the people look so real that it's a little creepy to get too close. But that didn't bother Allen and Abby -- they were going right up to them and pulling on their clothes and grabbing their hands.

Ross (playing Booth) is in the shadows.

• After the wax museum we walked to Ross's office (in the rain) and saw the view from the roof.

Looks like happy kids at the end of the day.

Ford's Theater

We showed up in the afternoon and got tickets for Ford's Theater. We saw the museum (artifacts in the basement -- the pistol that Booth used is very small), listened to the ranger talk (on the theater's stage) and went inside the Peterson House (where Lincoln died). I remember going inside when I was younger. It's been closed the last few years for renovation so we thought it would be fun to go while Annette and Caleb were in town. Abby sat by Annette and Caleb during some of the ranger talk which was really good. My view of the Presidental Box from my seat. This is the room (across the street from the theater) where Lincoln died in the Peterson House. Of course, that is not the original bed. The real bed is at the Chicago History Museum, and we've seen it there.

sites on Sunday

It was a beautiful Sunday in D.C.. We made three stops in the afternoon: Arlington Cemetery, the Iwo Jimo Memorial, and the Pentagon Memorial. This is the view from the front yard of Robert E. Lee's mansion (Arlington House) on a hill in Arlington Cemetery. Did you know that Arlington Cemetery originally was Robert E. Lee's plantation? Once he led the confederate army, the federal government took over his land, used him home and buried their dead on his property.

This is a view from the Arlington House hill looking down at JFK's grave (the Eternal Flame) and the Lincoln Memorial.

Some of the graves...

Annette and I... two pregnant women! Ross calls this a "conference" photo because that's the style they put in the May and Nov. Ensigns.

Allen got ahead of the group and climbed the hill and sat under the tree waiting for us to catch us. Seeing him wearing a baseball hat with his Sunday clothes and silver bow tie was funny.

This is the mast of the U.S.S. Maine. After it sank the Spanish-American War started. Allen in the Arlington amphitheater. Watching changing of the guards... where everyone stands and remains silent. Keeping kids quiet for 30 minutes makes this event highly overrated in my opinion. We went through a lot of fruit snacks.

• The next stop was Iwo Jima. This memorial isn't downtown like you would think. It's actually close to Arlington Cemetery in Rosslyn, Virginia. I didn't realize it was so BIG! See that figure in front with the white shirt? That's Allen next to the large statue.

Here's Abby and Ross on the other side. Abby wearing her pretty dress from Annette's wedding. This is the next 8x10 that is going to hang with our living room/breakfast room collection of black and white photos of us at D.C. places. The kids posed great for Ross.

• The last stop was the Pentagon Memorial.

Those "benches" have water and a light under them at night. The way the bench faces represents if the person who died was either in the plane or in the building at the time of the 2001 plane crash. The markers are placed according to a time line (along the side) by birth year. Allen loves rocks and instead of throwing them (like we asked him not to), he wrote his name.

Here's a story from the day: while we were in Arlington Cemetery we saw JFK's grave and then looked to see if we could find Robert Kennedy and Ted Kennedy. At one point a security guard (not wanting to yell, but to get our attention) made a loud "spspspsps" wisping sound over and over until we stopped. We were a little confused and wondered what we had done wrong (security in D.C. likes to always tell people what to do and not to do... sometimes it gets a tad annoying). He told us we were getting close to Ted Kennedy's grave and his daughter and granddaughter were in front kneeling/praying and he wanted us to wait and give the family some space. "They aren't dressed very nice for being Kennedys," I thought as I saw them walk off in a t-shirt and old jeans. They knelt at Robert's grave (the guard removed the chain so they could get on the lawn right in front) and then they drove their minivan out of the cemetery with poodle inside. Not only did we see an elite political family that weekend, but we did temple work for royalty.

So we had a great day with church meetings, nap time and then visiting sites.

beans, beans

"This is nuts," Annette said when she came into the nursery at the end of playtime. (She's in the nursery in her ward and there are only 5 kids.) Today we had the bean box out with scoopers and measuring cups, the hopscotch set put together, and puzzles (for our opening activities), as well as the kids' favorite weekly toys. The bean box had moved off the plastic mat (that I put out to help contain the beans) and were all over the room. It took a little longer to clean up, but the kids loved it. I'm all about happy, busy nursery kids which makes it easier for the nursery workers to chat too.

Many in the ward heard our great "having twins" news and congratulated me while eyeing my tummy. I'm not really showing yet, however, my nylons were a little uncomfortable today. Wearing maternity clothes while carrying Abby didn't start until week 25, but will be much sooner with these babies, I'm afraid.

We had taco salad for lunch followed by Ross Bars (variation of O'Henry Bars), then cleaning up the mountain of dishes, settling the kids down with storytime and quiet time, and now blog/newspaper time. Later today we hope to visit Arlington National Cemetery.

kitchen time

For our date last night we threw a softball back in forth in the front yard for a little bit and then played about 10 different video games.

This morning we dropped Ross off to help with a move and then headed to Allen's sensory class. Once Allen was inside with his group, Abby and I did some grocery shopping for this week's menu. I bought more food than usual because Annette and Caleb will be here to eat and Caleb has Celiac disease so I took extra precautions about what I'm making (lots of mexican dishes, meat and potatoes, cereal dessert treats--rice krispie squares, muddy buddies, carmel corn).

After the class we headed to Target to exchange a toy. I got Allen a Lite Brite for his birthday but when we opened it there were no pegs inside as promised on the box. Having to exchange that reminded me of two exchanging experiences in college during the same year: I had to return a DVD I bought because the disc was not inside AND I took the bus to the Provo Town Centre to return a pair of shoes because the box had two left shoes... and the embarrassing thing is that I never wore them for about 4 months after my purchase. (Now when I buy shoes, I make sure to have a left and right-footed one). Also at Target I tried to have my watch battery replaced (this is my Mickey Mouse singing watch that I was excited to have in Disney World), but they no longer change watch batteries. Now I get to try an overpriced jewelry store with two kids in tow.

Since we've been home I've been on the phone with my mom and sister and I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen making Ross Bars (like O'Henry Bars), stuff for breakfast (bacon and hard-boiled eggs) and Zuppa Toscana (Italian soup) for dinner. Tonight after dinner we're going to the temple with Annette and Caleb. I can't wait.

laundry helper

We spent the morning at a new park (because our favorite park is blocked off due to construction). Allen went off to school and Abby and I had lunch together. I sang to/rocked Abby for a while (which ended up putting me to sleep) and then took a rest while she emptied the laundry basket of clean clothes all over the floor. (It will be nice someday when she can put the clothes in the drawers where they belong). Now we're doing playdough and making spaghetti for dinner. I'm excited to have a date night with Ross tonight.

blogging 101

Tonight I taught a Relief Society class on blogging. Here is a picture of my basket of "sweet" and motivational thought: "Be Proud! You're learning the TWIX of blogging." Email me if you want a hardcopy of my handout. Below are a few things I showed during my presentation.

• Here is a short 2-minute video on how to create a blog:

• Here is a link about to embed YouTube videos in your blog.
• Go to this post for good information about publishing your blog into a book.

(Note: Thanks to those that responded with opinions and tips on blogging a few weeks ago. I included some of your quotes on my handout).

Happy blogging, everyone!

Firefly Movie

Here is a video that the McLean Stake youth made last month:

The Cheese

Today's Cheesy Tidbits:

1. Allen rode Miss Mary's bus today to preschool for the first time. He'll come home on it too. He was very, very excited. I grew up right by my elementary school and always wanted to ride the bus. Ross always rode the bus (he and his siblings called it "The Cheese"). Allen lives by the school AND still gets to the ride the bus. Talk about having the best of both worlds.

2. Speaking of cheese, Abby and I had cheese toast for lunch. So yummy! Cheese and toast are my favorite foods.

3. After breakfast, Annette and Caleb headed off for Gettysburg and mission sites in West Virginia. I gave them umbrellas, our GPS, a bag of groceries and a cooler containing several things as well as string cheese.

4. At playgroup today I led the music time. We sang two songs about the "the cheese" (Bumpity, Bumpity Yellow Bus and Wheels on the Bus) as well as many others.

Today has been a very "cheesy" day. And something different, I had a piece of Doublemint gum in the car and I had to smile when I thought of the word "double." I'm so happy.

seeing double

We found out today we are having twins. Yep, my wish came true! Our excitement level has doubled.

Ross told the doctor, "there is always a surprise at these visits." (i.e. I went in for a routine appointment alone and found out I was pregnant with Allen; Abby's due date caught us off guard by several months; and now we're having two babies at once). He's right. There is always a new surprise!

The whole family was at the appointment so during the sonogram we saw two sacks and two little hearts beating on the screen. Our due date is Nov 30th, but being a diabetic carrying twins it will be earlier than that. In the words of Ross, "we have bad news (we HAVE to buy a bigger car now) and good news (because we're having twins)."

Other exciting tidbits:

1. Annette and Caleb fly in tonight! Annette is also pregnant and due at the beginning of October. We're excited to see them!

2. We bought a double wagon for the kids off Craigslist this morning after the doctor appointment. I guess it's kind of their "gift" from the twins. We walked Allen to school in it today. It was much different pulling 2 than pushing a stroller. And it was a little easier.

3. Allen's party yesterday was a blast! It went better than I thought. It was a really fun day.

4. This is my 600th post!

5. Our Disney World trip is coming up in 12 days. I can't go on any big rides (Abby and I will be ride buddies because she isn't tall enough to go on the big ones either), but I'm still super excited for a vacation. The doctor did say I could go on Pirates of the Carribean. Yo ho!!